Longest-Running Earth Observation Satellite to Retire

A Landsat 5 image of the Wallow Fire, the largest wildfire in Arizona’s history. In this image, acquired on June 15, 2011 the burn scar is red, ongoing fires are very bright red, smoke is blue, water is black and dark blue and bare ground is tan. Image added July 23, 2012. CREDIT: NASA

After documenting the changing face of our planet since 1984, the longest-running Earth-observing satellite, Landsat 5, will retire soon, the U.S. Geological Survey has announced.

The satellite, which will be retired in the next few months, has long outlived its initial three-year mission. It has circled Earth more than 150,000 times and snapping over 2.5 million images of the planet’s surface along the way. Throughout its prolific career, Landsat 5 has captured images of the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Chernobyl disaster, the expansion of sprawl around cities like Las Vegas, deforestation in Mexico, and even crowds descending on the U.S. capital to witness President Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration.

“Any major event since 1984 that left a mark on this Earth larger than a football field was likely recorded by Landsat 5, whether it was a hurricane, a tsunami, a wildfire, deforestation, or an oil spill,” USGS Director Marcia McNutt said in a statement. “We look forward to a long and productive continuation of the Landsat program, but it is unlikely there will ever be another satellite that matches the outstanding longevity of Landsat 5.” 

The first series of maneuvers to safely lower Landsat 5 from its operational orbit is expected to occur next month, according to USGS officials.

This year marked the 40th anniversary of the entire Landsat program, which is a collaboration by NASA and the USGS, an agency of the Interior department. Besides Landsat 5, the only other currently operational craft from the program is Landsat 7, which launched in 1999 and has also outlived its three-year design. [Photos: Landsat's Best 'Earth as Art' Images]

With one mission ending, another is about to begin. NASA is scheduled to blast Landsat 8 — also called the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) — into orbit on the back of an Atlas 5 rocket in February 2013. The new satellite arrived at its launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California last week, NASA officials said.

LDCM has two instruments. One is the Operational Land Imager, which will collect data in visible, near infrared and shortwave infrared wavelengths. It will also conduct observations in two new spectral bands — one designed to help coastal waters, the other to detect hard-to-see cirrus clouds, according to NASA officials. The other instrument is the Thermal Infrared Sensor, intended to measure the temperature of the Earth’s surface.

“Both of these instruments have evolutionary advances that make them the most advanced Landsat instruments to date and are designed to improve performance and reliability to improve observations of the global land surface,” Ken Schwer, LDCM project manager at NASA Goddard, said in statement.

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Earth Quiz: Do You Really Know Your Planet?

You live here, so we figure you ought to be well grounded in Earth facts. But you might find these questions a little tough and tricky. Good luck!

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Earth Quiz: Do You Really Know Your Planet?

You live here, so we figure you ought to be well grounded in Earth facts. But you might find these questions a little tough and tricky. Good luck!

0 of questions complete

Longest-Running Earth Observation Satellite to Retire http://www.space.com/19043-landsat-5-earth-satellite-retiring.html

China consumers driving economic rebound: survey

A woman shops for handbags at a Gucci luxury boutique at the IFC Mall in Shanghai June 4, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Carlos Barria

BEIJING | Wed Dec 26, 2012 6:06am EST

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s consumers are leading an uneven recovery in the world’s second biggest economy that has retailers expecting stronger sales in six months, early results of a national survey showed on Wednesday.

The China Beige Book survey of more than 2,000 executives revealed that the retail sector had the strongest revenue growth and business expectations in the fourth quarter of 2012.

The survey broadly detected a mild economic recovery with the hard-hit sectors of real estate, mining and manufacturing – to a lesser extent – joining retail at the head of the upswing.

“The revenue growth pickup was notable in luxuries and durable goods – furniture, appliances, and autos,” said the survey, conducted between October 26 and December 2 by New York-based CBB International and based on the U.S. Federal Reserve’s economic report of the same name.

“Retailers’ mood remains quite hopeful, with 72 percent forecasting higher sales in six months, up 4 points on last quarter. A remarkably low 6 percent foresee declines,” it said, adding that 61 percent of retailers reported higher sales in the Q4 survey than in Q3.

The biggest bounces were seen in coastal Guangdong province, Beijing, the northeast and central regions of China – locations which Q3′s survey found had the biggest spending falls.

The retail rebound was not evenly distributed, however, with Shanghai and the southwest region recording falls in spending.

The survey’s findings are reflected in the most recent raft of economic indicators from China, revealing a mild rebound taking hold in Q4, and in policymaker comments.

China’s retail sales grew 14.9 percent year-on-year in November, ahead of the 14.6 percent forecast in a Reuters poll.

China is on course to end 2012 with the slowest full year of growth since 1999 and while the 7.7 percent rate forecast in a benchmark Reuters poll is way above the world’s other major economies, it is far below the roughly 10 percent annual growth seen for most of the last 30 years.

Weakness in the external environment remains a key drag on an economy in which exports generated 31 percent of gross domestic product in 2011, according to World Bank data, and where an estimated 200 million jobs are supported by foreign investment, or in factories producing for overseas markets.

RECOVERING, REBALANCING

The upside to the patchiness of the recovery is that it is being driven by services, which are calibrated more towards domestic demand. Geographic rebalancing away from prosperous coastal areas was also evident in the survey, with firms in the western region recording the highest revenue growth in Q4.

The survey had mixed findings for labor markets, with a 3 point rise to 34 percent in the proportion of firms citing an increased availability of unskilled labor, while 20 percent said shortages had increased.

Some 34 percent of firms increased their workforces in Q4 from Q3. Wage rises were reported by 52 percent of respondents.

Bankers questioned in the survey said credit conditions eased in Q4, but fewer firms borrowed. Meanwhile, banks and firms said loan rejections rose slightly, to 16 percent, and exposure to companies with excess production capacity was cut.

“Few corporate loans went to new customers: three-fifths of bankers say under 20 percent did — an astonishingly small number,” the survey said.

“Most were debt rollovers or loan increases for existing clients. This is not yet a period of strong expansion.”

The China Beige Book survey of face-to-face and telephone interviews compares conditions with the previous quarter and asks respondents to anticipate conditions three and six months ahead.

The survey sample includes executives from manufacturing, retail, service, transport, real estate and construction, farming, and mining. Respondents ran businesses of every size from the micro-level – employing up to 19 staff – to large firms with more than 500 employees. It also canvassed opinions from 160 bank loan officers and branch managers.

A detailed report of the survey’s full findings will be published in early January.

(Reporting by Nick Edwards; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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Bahrain commutes death terms of police assailants

DUBAI: A Bahraini appeals court on Wednesday commuted to life imprisonment the death sentences of two Shiites convicted of killing two policemen during last year’s unrest, lawyers said.

Ali Abdullah Hasan al-Singace and Abdul Aziz Hussein, who were sentenced by a special Bahraini court in May last year, will now be jailed for life.

The court reduced the terms of four others held over the same case from life imprisonment to 15 years in jail, the lawyers said. A seventh defendant, whose sentence was also commuted to 15 years behind bars, remains at large.

The group, all Shiites, were accused of running over two policemen, Kashif Ahmed Manzur and Mohammed Farouk Abdulsamad, during the uprising in the Sunni-ruled kingdom.

Their trial began on April 17 last year, with state media reporting at the time that the defendants were accused of committing voluntary homicide of public officials with “terrorist” intentions.

The national safety court’s verdict the next month drew international condemnation, with Amnesty International urging Bahrain to scrap the executions.

The court was set up under a state of national safety, a lower level of emergency law declared by King Hamad in mid-March 2011. In June the same year, the king lifted the measure.

Since February last year, Bahrain has been shaken by Shiite-led opposition protests that the authorities accuse of being exploited by Shiite Iran across the Gulf.

At least 80 people have died since the start of the unrest in February 2011, according to the International Federation of Human Rights.

The opposition in Shiite-majority Bahrain insists the premier stand down and that the government be headed by the leader of the elected majority in parliament.

Bahrain commutes death terms of police assailants http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-89EKCgBk8MZdE.gif

International Real Estate: Real Estate in Japan

Ayumi Nakanishi for The New York Times

This crescent-shaped house built into a mountainside near Tokyo is on the market for $ 2.1 million (180,000,000 Japanese yen). The room in the foreground is the master bedroom. More Photos »

MINIMALIST HOUSE WITH MOUNT FUJI VIEWS OUTSIDE TOKYO

$ 2.2 MILLION (18 MILLION YEN)

This sleek crescent-shaped two-bedroom house on steel poles, dating to 2008, is built into the side of a slope in the Atami mountain range. Its flattened tubular contours and galvanized metal exterior give it a more-than-passing resemblance to a spaceship. It is built on a single level, principally of light Japanese cypress, and is entered from a central point below, via a glass-enclosed staircase. The ceiling is nearly 10 feet high in the middle, tapering down to eight feet at either end. Nearly every room abuts the elongated C-shaped rear wall; the glass wall across the front offers panoramic views of Mount Fuji. The architect, Shigeru Ban, is internationally known for his minimalist structures, and for his creatively designed temporary shelters built to house victims of war and natural disaster.

Designed with under-floor heating and central air-conditioning, the structure extends over almost 2,000 square feet. The entry staircase opens to a reception area in the spacious central living and dining room, whose floor-to-ceiling glass front wall looks out over treetops to mountains beyond. Its defining feature is a freestanding metal fireplace, which the architect designed to conceal a supporting beam. Sliding panels in the glass wall connect the living area to a terrace made of Japanese cypress and extending the width of the house.

The living and dining area adjoins the kitchen, which has a Gaggenau stovetop, a Miele oven and a peninsula topped in white Corian. The white-stained wood cabinets by the high-end Japanese company Kreis & Co. were custom-made to fit into the curved rear wall. Beyond the kitchen is a bedroom, currently functioning as a den and home office, with a 50-inch flat-screen television, which is being sold with the house. On the terrace just off the den, framed in a cypress box, is the onsen — or hot tub — designed by the Japanese company Hinokisouken to function on water from a natural hot spring.

On the opposite side of the living area, at the far end of the home, is the master bedroom, isolated from the communal space by a large rectangular wooden unit about the size of a travel trailer, its convex back fitting snugly into the concave rear wall. This freestanding structure, made of white-stained wood, houses the bath facilities: a tile-lined shower with a rain showerhead by the German company Hansgrohe, and a separate half bath with leatherlike black walls, a granite floor and an automatic flush toilet by the Japanese company INAX. The architect has hidden closets behind an exterior wall of the bath unit. Like its twin room on the other end, the space has two glass walls.

The terraced yard is landscaped with Japanese sago palms and jasmine, among other plantings. The property is part of a 570-acre private development called Dialand Resort Estate, comprising about 600 homes and a swimming pool, a clubhouse, tennis courts, golf courses and parks, all patrolled by security.

“All the houses are different,” said Norman Chong, the current owner, “that’s the beauty of it.”

The development lies between the towns of Hakone and Atami, which are known for their hot springs. Mr. Chong estimates that 60 percent of the homeowners are either weekend residents or retirees. Of the remainder, who are working residents, half commute to Tokyo. The express train to Tokyo takes about an hour — as does the drive, when traffic is light.

MARKET OVERVIEW

Japan is a buyers’ market, said Erik Oskamp, the owner of Akasaka Real Estate in Tokyo. “Owning property in Tokyo is probably half or a third of the monthly price than if you rent,” he said, “and still people are not buying; that’s how depressed the market is. You always have to explain to people, ‘We’re still here, Japan still exists.’ “

The housing stagnation dates to 1991, the year that diminished expectations about Japan’s economy sent property values into a nosedive.

International Real Estate: Real Estate in Japan http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/12/26/greathomesanddestinations/26-GH-IHH-SPAN/26-GH-IHH-SPAN-articleLarge.jpg

'Meet the Press' Got the Green Light for Magazine Demo with David Gregory

EXCLUSIVE

An official from the D.C. police told a member of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that David Gregory COULD display a high capacity magazine on “Meet the Press” Sunday … TMZ has learned.

Well-placed law enforcement sources tell TMZ … a staffer from “Meet the Press” called ATF before the show aired to inquire about the legality of David holding the empty magazine during a segment on gun control.  We’re told the ATF person contacted the D.C. police to find out if the District of Columbia — the place where the show is broadcast — had a law prohibiting such a display. 

Our sources say the D.C. police official informed ATF David could legally show the magazine, provided it was empty.  An ATF official then called the staffer from “Meet the Press” to inform them they could use the magazine.

D.C. police released a statement today, saying “NBC contacted the Metropolitan Police Dept. inquiring if they could utilize a high capacity magazine for this segment.  NBC was informed that possession of a high capacity magazine is not permissible and the request was denied.”

It appears “Meet the Press” may have gotten 2 different answers from law enforcement.

David is currently being investigated for displaying the magazine.

'Meet the Press' Got the Green Light for Magazine Demo with David Gregory http://ll-media.tmz.com/2012/12/26/1226-david-gregory-nra-magazine-1.jpg

Plane crash in Myanmar leaves 2 dead

www.myawady.net.mm/AFP/Getty Images

An ageing Burmese plane carrying 65 passengers, including foreign tourists, crash-landed in eastern Shan state, leaving two people dead and 11 others injured, the airline and officials said. 

A plane packed with foreign tourists made a fiery crash landing in Burma on Christmas Day, leaving two people dead and 11 injured.

The Air Bagan plane was en route from Rangoon to Heho airport in Shan Province when the engine gave out, forcing the pilot to land about two miles from the runway in a rice paddy. The plane might have hit overhead power cables, local media reported.

The plane was carrying 65 people, including 51 foreign tourists visiting Burma over the Christmas holiday. Six crew members were also on board.

Two Americans, two Britons and one South Korean man were among those taken to the hospital in nearby Taunggyi, according to Air Bagan officials. Two French tourists were also slightly injured.

Ma Nwe Lin Shein, a tour guide, died in the crash, Air Bagan said in a statement. A motorcyclist identified as U Pyar was killed as the aircraft skidded to the ground.

Kyodo/AP

Firefighting officials examine a passenger plane that crash-landed in a field near Heho airport in Shah State, Myanmar, on Dec. 25, 2012, killing two people.

The airplane’s black box has been recovered and was being taken to Singapore for examination.

Air Bagan released a statement in English on Wednesday saying it “deeply regret the deaths of two persons and tender its condolences to the bereaved families.”

Survivors described seeing smoke and flames coming from the front of the plane near the engines. As the aircraft neared ground, a flight attendant threw open a cabin door.

www.myawady.net.mm/AFP/Getty

The Myanmar ageing Fokker-100 plane in wreckage.

“Suddenly we just hit the ground and then it was all red and orange,” Swiss survivor Leandre Guillod told the Mirror.

“I was pretty much at the back … there was an opening above the wing, there was lots of fire so me and my girlfriend just jumped because we thought it was better to get out as soon as possible before it might explode, Guillod said.

Two pilots were among those injured.

Five Australian tourists also survived, with one man lightly injured and treated at the scene. A south Australian couple on holiday told the Advertiser newspaper the plane seemed to encounter problems with “no warning.”

Anna Bartsch and Stuart Benson of Adelaide were sitting at the back of the plane peering out the window when they began hearing “thuds.”

“There were no warnings. We were just looking out the window admiring the countryside a few minutes before the plane crashed,” Bartsch said.

“It was only once the plane had hit the ground (and) I saw flames coming from the outside of my window that I felt fear,” she told the Advertiser.

AP

A local looks at wrecked parts of Air Bagan passenger plane in Heho, Shan State, Burma.

Burma, which has undergone a huge democratic shift in the past two years, has also seen a boom in its tourism industry.

The country, also known as Myanmar, was under economic sanctions for years and as as a result, many airlines were unable to modernize their fleets. The country does not publish safety records, the Mirror reported.

WATCH: Survivors describe Burmese plane crash

vcavaliere@nydailynews.com

Plane crash in Myanmar leaves 2 dead http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1227396.1356527378!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/article-myanmar.jpg

Photon Devices Could Outperform Traditional Computers

A new kind of light-manipulating device — built by researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia and elsewhere — does what no ordinary computer could ever do. Credit: Alisha Toft

Quantum computers will be able to perform tasks that silicon-based computers wouldn’t be able to do, like cracking the codes that protect bank transactions. Several research teams have revealed solid evidence that quantum physics does embody a level of complexity that classical computers could never match. The new devices these groups have built are much simpler to build than quantum computers but could some day perform some of the same tasks.

The scientists published their findings in the journal Science¹ ² and in pre-prints in arXiv³ ⁴. It’s been theorized previously that there are many obstacles to quantum computing, such as the fact that certain quantum particles, like photons, have behaviors that are impossible to predict using ordinary computers.

In the most recent studies, researchers have injected four identical photons into a network of beam splitters on a chip¹. Thanks to quantum interference, which happens when photons strike a beam splitter simultaneously, the photons take a different path through the optical maze each time the experiment is run. Detectors spot the particles at the end of the run, revealing the probabilities of arriving at all possible destinations.

Without the device that the researchers constructed, calculating these probabilities would be mathematically difficult, yet not impossible. Every added particle doubles the computational difficulty. If 100 photons were put in such a device, the most powerful supercomputer on the planet wouldn’t be able to crunch the numbers.

The experiment could be scaled up to that size, but generating large numbers of identical photons will require getting the timing just right and this won’t be easy. Thankfully other teams are working on similar projects as well. A team in Australia unveiled their own prototype² and two more groups, in Austria and Italy, describe similar experiments³ ⁴.

These machines are proofs of principle, and their construction has only been recently possible thanks to the ability to produce simultaneous batches of identical photons with high reliability.

References

1. Spring, J. B. et al. Science http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1231692 (2012).
2. Broome, M. et al. Science http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1231440 (2012).
3. Crespi, A. et al. http://arXiv.org/abs/1212.2783 (2012).
4. Tillmann, M. et al. http://arXiv.org/abs/1212.2240 (2012).

[via Nature]

light, quantum computing, quantum mechanics, quantum physics

Photon Devices Could Outperform Traditional Computers http://scitechdaily.com/images/boson-sampling.jpg

Central African Republic: Protesters Blame France for Rebel Advance

Hundreds of protesters angry at a rebel advance in the Central African Republic threw stones and tore down the French flag at the French embassy in the capital, Bangui.

The demonstrators say France, the former colonial power, has done little to deter rebels who have taken over large parts of the country’s east and north.

“France has a tendency to abandon us,” a protester told news agency AFP. “We no longer need France. France may as well take its embassy and leave.”

The French ambassador says the protests sere “particularly violent”.

Most of the protesters were reportedly youths close to the country’s ruling party, the Kwa Na Kwa, and the embattled President François Bozizé.

AFP reports the offices of Air France were also attacked.

The instability caused Air France to order its weekly Wednesday flight from Paris to Bangui, which departed just before 11am Paris time, to return to the French capital.

Rebels, known as the Séléka alliance, have in recent weeks taken a string of towns in the country’s north.

They took control of the central town of Kaga Bandoro on Tuesday despite the presence there of troops from neighbouring nations meant to shore up the weak national army.

They are now reported to be advancing towards Bangui.

“We call on the boys and girls of the Central African Republic, on defence and security forces still loyal to the regime of François Bozizé…to lay down their arms immediately,” Séléka announced in a statement.

The rebels, who have so far encountered little resistance from the army, said that, “by the measure of security and the protection of civilians, we don’t consider it necessary to launch a battle for Bangui and send troops there, because General François Bozizé…has already lost control of the country.”

Séléka took up arms on 10th December, saying the government has failed to respect peace accords signed between 2007 and 2011 which offered financial support and other help to insurgents who laid down their arms.

Bozizé came to power in 2003 after a brief war and has repeatedly relied on foreign interventions to fend off rebellions and the spill-over from conflict in neighbouring Chad and Sudan.

Central African Republic: Protesters Blame France for Rebel Advance http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-89EKCgBk8MZdE.gif

Post mortem to be held on Christmas gorge body

Posted December 27, 2012 07:33:20

Police are hoping the results of a post mortem examination will help determine the cause of death of a person whose body was found in Victoria’s high country on Christmas Day.

An abseiler discovered the body, believed to be of a man, in the Mount Buffalo Gorge.

Search and rescue crews trekked into the gorge yesterday afternoon and recovered the body.

Police say they do not believe the death is suspicious.

Topics: accidents—other, accidents, mount-buffalo-3740, vic, australia

Post mortem to be held on Christmas gorge body http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-89EKCgBk8MZdE.gif

End 2012 on the Right Foot With a Resolution Run!

Don’t miss out on your next Must Have. Order or Gift a box now!

End 2012 on the Right Foot With a Resolution Run!

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End your year on a healthy note with a New Year’s walk or run near you. Often referred to as resolution runs, many organizations and gyms host races that will not only give you a running start into the new year, but will also serve as motivation for moderation on New Year’s Eve. Trade in your heels for a pair of kicks, and hit the streets — a short run may be just the thing to set you up for your best year yet!

New Year’s Eve Runs

New Year’s Eve can be one of those holidays where plans and parties always seem last-minute or budget-breaking. Hit the town in a new way; sign up to race into 2013 with your friends. Some runs, like the 10th Annual Race Into the New Year 5K in Rehoboth Beach, DE, start early, setting you up for a healthy night. For those who want to ring in 2013 while running, consider a midnight run.

Races in Idaho Falls, ID; Castro Vally, CA; and Philadelphia, PA go well into the early morning and allow for festive attire and a glow stick or two. If you are anywhere near Brooklyn, NY, then beat the Times Square crowd and sign up for The Last Run of 2012 — Brooklyn’s New Year’s Eve 5K. With hot chocolate and fireworks, what more could you ask for?

New Year’s Day Runs

If you need a little motivation to not go heavy on the punch bowl at your party, or just want a fun way to to put those resolutions to work, then sign up for one of the many New Year’s Day runs around the country. Life Time Gym is devoting an entire day to a fresh start with Commitment Day, a series of 5K races in over 30 cities nationwide on Jan. 1.

Other wake-up runs are taking place in Surgoinsville, TN, and Salt Lake City, UT. For something really crazy, sign up for the Color My New Year Run in Oshkosh, WI. The New Year’s Race in Los Angeles, CA, may not happen until Jan. 5, but the 5K or half-marathon will take you through the city streets at night!

To find more resolution runs near you, check out Active.com.

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Napoli turn down 55 mln-euro Cavani bid

ROME: Napoli have turned down a 55 million-euro offer for striker Edison Cavani with club owner Aurelio De Laurentiis indicating that the Uruguayan’s “warrior” spirit will be key to a Serie A title push.

“Cavani is a warrior who embodies all that’s best of the Napoli spirit and our supporters. It is because of this I turned down an offer of 55 million”, De Laurentiis told Radio Marte, without identifying the chasing club.

“Cavani has become the symbol of our resurgence. If I have kept him here it is not because of money, but a love for the club,” added the team chief of the 25-year-old who has scored 13 league goals this season.

Cavani arrived at Napoli having spent three seasons with Palermo.

Napoli are fifth in Serie A, 10 points behind leaders Juventus.

Napoli turn down 55 mln-euro Cavani bid http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-89EKCgBk8MZdE.gif

Thunderbirds guru Anderson dies

26 December 2012 Last updated at 11:14 ET

Thunderbirds was first broadcast in 1965

Gerry Anderson, creator of the Thunderbirds and Joe 90 marionette puppet superhero series, has died at the age of 83, his son has announced.

Anderson had been suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease since early 2010, and his condition had worsened in the past six months, Jamie Anderson said.

Gerry Anderson also created Stingray and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons.

Thunderbirds was filmed on Slough Trading Estate in Berkshire and was first broadcast in 1965.

Jamie Anderson announced the news on his website, saying his father had died peacefully in his sleep at noon on Wednesday.

“Gerry was diagnosed with mixed dementia two years ago and his condition worsened quite dramatically over the past six months.

“Having already decided with his family on a care home for himself earlier this year, he moved in there in October,” Jamie Anderson said.

Gerry Anderson spoke publicly about his disease in June 2012.

Speaking on BBC Berkshire he said: “I don’t think I realised at all. It was my wife Mary who began to notice that I would do something quite daft like putting the kettle in the sink and waiting for it to boil.”

He was an celebrity ambassador for The Alzheimer’s Society.

Thunderbirds guru Anderson dies http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/64943000/jpg/_64943994_000961940.jpg

Nelson Mandela released from hospital in South Africa

Odd Andersen / AFP – Getty Images

View images of civil rights leader Nelson Mandela, who went from anti-apartheid activist to prisoner to South Africa’s first black president.

By NBC News staff and wire services

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Former South African President Nelson Mandela was released from a hospital in Pretoria on Wednesday evening, a government spokesman told NBC News.

Mandela, 94, had been admitted more than two weeks ago for what were described as routine tests but then underwent surgery to remove gallstones.

Mac Maharja, a spokesman for President Jacob Zuma, told NBC News that doctors were satisfied with Mandela’s progess and that the anti-apartheid hero will receive “high care” at his Johannesburg home.

Zuma had visited Mandela on Christmas Day and had said he was “in good spirits.”

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“He was happy to have visitors on this special day and is looking much better. The doctors are happy with the progress that he is making,” said Zuma.

Mandela, who came to power in historic elections in 1994 after decades struggling against apartheid, remains a symbol of resistance to racism and injustice at home and around the world. 

He has a history of lung problems dating back to when he contracted tuberculosis while in jail as a political prisoner. But this is his longest stay in hospital since he was released from prison in 1990.

He spent time in a Johannesburg hospital in 2011 with a respiratory condition, and again in February this year because of abdominal pains though he was released the following day after a keyhole examination showed there was nothing serious.

Zuma, who has just been re-elected as president of the ruling African National Congress party, last week described Mandela’s condition as serious.

“The Mandela family truly appreciates all the support they are receiving from the public. That is what keeps them going at this difficult time,” said Zuma. 

Mandela spent 27 years in prison, including 18 years on the windswept Robben Island off Cape Town. 

After his release, he used his popularity to push for reconciliation between whites and blacks. This reconciliation is the bedrock of the post-apartheid “Rainbow Nation.”

Sworn in as South Africa’s first black president in 1994, Mandela stepped down in 1999 after one term in office and has largely been absent from public life for the last decade.

His fragile health has prevented him from making any public appearances in South Africa, though he has continued to receive high-profile domestic and international visitors, including former U.S. president Bill Clinton in July.

This article includes reporting by NBC News’ Rohit Kachroo and Reuters. 

Leon Neal / AFP – Getty Images file

More world stories from NBC News:

• Warm glow of Berlin’s ‘beautiful’ gas streetlights set to fade
• Poll: London Olympics cheered up gloomy Brits
• Video: William and Kate spend holiday with the Middletons
• Boy’s Christmas wish: Adoption of little brother caught in US-Russia spat
• Syria activists: Several die after Assad’s forces use ‘poisonous gases’
• US civilian killed by Afghan policewoman in ‘insider’ attack
• North Korea missiles could reach US, says South
• 6-year-old girl shot in face by Taliban and left for dead gets free surgery in US

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Pound-for-Pound, Megapiranha Out Bites T. Rex

Credit: Steve Huskey

Megapiranha is an extinct genus of serrasalmid characin fish that lived 8 to 10 million years ago, in the Late Miocene. It’s estimated to have reached lengths of up to 1.3 meters, which is about four times the size of piranha alive today. These estimates are based upon fossil specimens that have been discovered.

Based on field studies carried out on the black piranha (Serrasalmus rhombeus), the largest living species in the carnivorous clan, Megapiranha may have had a stronger bite than alligators, sharks and even Tyrannosaurus rex. The largest of the 15 fish tested weighed 1.1 kg and measured 37 cm in length. It could clamp down on researchers’ equipment with a force of 30 times its own weight, a ratio which is unmatched among vertebrates. The scientists published their findings in the journal Scientific Reports¹.

Megapiranha paranensis, which could have reached lengths of up to 1.3 meters and weighed up to 73 kilograms, could have had a jaw tip bite force as high as 484 kilograms. Previous studies had shown that T. rex‘s bite force was about three times that of M. paranensis. However, T. rex is more than 100 times heavier than M. paranensis. Scaling down to size, M. paranensis has a stronger bite. They also had teeth fringed with tiny serrations, with stout circular rout, allowing them to slice through flesh, crush the shells of turtles, and pierce the armor plates of catfish that lived in the same ecosystem.

References

1. Grubich, J. R., et al., Scientific Reports 2, 1009, doi:10.1038/srep01009

[via ScienceNOW]

fossils, megapiranha, paleontology

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South Africa: Mandela Discharged From Hospital

Johannesburg — Former President Nelson Mandela was discharged from hospital on Wednesday evening, the Presidency said.

“He will undergo home-based high care at his Houghton home until he recovers fully,” said spokesman Mac Maharaj.

“We thank the public and the media for the good wishes and for affording Madiba and the family the necessary privacy.

“We request a continuation of the privacy consideration in order to allow for the best possible conditions for full recovery.”

Mandela, 94, spent Christmas Day in hospital, having been flown to Pretoria from his Eastern Cape home at Qunu on December 8.

He was diagnosed with a lung infection and also underwent gallstone surgery.

His current stay in hospital is his longest since he was freed over two decades ago.

Mandela has a history of lung problems having suffered from tuberculosis towards the end of his 27-years spent in prison.

President Jacob Zuma said in a statement on Tuesday, that Mandela was “looking much better” and was in high spirits.

Zuma had visited the former statesman, joining Mandela’s wife, Graca Machel and other family members, in presenting Christmas wishes to Mandela at his hospital bedside in Pretoria.

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Nelson Mandela leaves hospital

26 December 2012 Last updated at 14:16 ET

The former South African president, Nelson Mandela, has been discharged from hospital, where he has been receiving treatment for a lung infection and gallstones, the South African presidency said.

Mr Mandela was admitted 18 days ago.

His wife, Graca Machel, and the current South African President, Jacob Zuma, visited him on Christmas Day, when they said he was in good spirits.

Mr Zuma said doctors were happy with the progress Mr Mandela had made.

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Colts' Pagano doesn't let snow delay return

Updated: December 26, 2012, 1:40 PM ET

Associated Press

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INDIANAPOLIS — Colts coach Chuck Pagano beat the traffic and the blizzard Wednesday morning.

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Now all he wants to do is beat the Texans.

After spending the last three months battling leukemia, Pagano wasn’t going to let the snowiest day of the year slow down this week’s work schedule.

Instead, Pagano arrived early, met with the team and strolled onto the team’s indoor practice field for a short morning walk-through — his first on-field appearance since beginning the first of three rounds of chemotherapy treatments Sept. 26. He was scheduled to run the team’s full practice Monday afternoon.

And despite having the fifth seed in the AFC playoffs locked up, Pagano says he will play to win Sunday against Houston — meaning all of his uninjured starters will play.

Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press

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