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April 21, 2014
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John Ericson: Trying hard to be 'positive' but never succeeding? Blame Your Brain
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April 9, 2014
Jonathan Tobin: Why Did Kerry Lie About Israeli Blame?
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Jessica Ivins: A resolution 70 years later for a father's unsettling legacy of ashes from Dachau
Matthew Mientka: How Beans, Peas, And Chickpeas Cleanse Bad Cholesterol and Lowers Risk of Heart Disease
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Dana Dovey: Coffee Drinkers Rejoice! Your Cup Of Joe Can Prevent Death From Liver Disease
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April 4, 2014
Amy Peterson: A life of love: How to build lasting relationships with your children
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Dan Barry: Should South Carolina Jews be forced to maintain this chimney built by Germans serving the Nazis?
Frank Clayton: Get happy: 20 scientifically proven happiness activities
Susan Scutti: It's Genetic! Obesity and the 'Carb Breakdown' Gene
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Jewish World Review
April 23, 2013/ 13 Iyar, 5773
NASA Kepler mission brings sci-fi closer to reality
By
Dale McFeatters
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Americans who lament that this country can no longer seem to do anything great are overlooking technological wonders like NASA's Kepler mission and its search for habitable planets.
The Kepler space telescope, launched in March 2009, has led to a breakthrough in planet hunting. Aimed at a specific patch of the Milky Way, it already had identified 115 planets. And, NASA announced last week, Kepler has found the two most Earthlike worlds yet -- and the ones most capable of supporting life -- in a five-planet system named Kepler-62 in the constellation Lyra.
The most promising planet for life is Kepler-62f, 40 percent larger than Earth but the right temperature and right in the middle of the habitable zone. The other planet, Kepler-62e, is 60 percent larger than Earth and on the inner edge of the habitable zone.
NASA's William Borucki, head of the Kepler project, called 62f the best planet Kepler has yet found. Alan Boss, a planetary expert and member of the team, said this discovery alone justified the approximately $600 million cost of the mission.
Kepler, like other NASA missions, has accelerated the speed of discovery.
For the sake of argument, let's say that astronomy -- the systematic study of stars, planets and the universe -- dates back to at least when Stonehenge was built to track solstices and equinoxes.
For those intervening thousands of years, astronomers vainly tried to locate a planet outside our solar system. Although it seemed mathematically unlikely, the empirical evidence was that our solar system was alone in having planets and that Earth alone was inhabited.
That changed in 1992 with the discovery of the first "exoplanet," a planet outside our solar system. Other discoveries followed, but these were of gas giants, larger than Jupiter, incapable of supporting life.
The search was on for rocky planets, roughly the size of Earth, orbiting a star at a distance called the "Goldilocks zone," where it is not too hot, not too cold, with moderate temperatures hospitable to life.
In the brief time we've known of exoplanets, astronomers have discovered almost 1,000 of them, along with more than 2,700 "candidate" bodies, potential planets for which proof is still lacking.
The Kepler system is 1,200 light years away, or 708,000 trillion miles, dampening any immediate visitation prospects. But the lesson of exoplanets is never to say never.
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Previously:
• 04/22/13 It's over: The end of any expectation Americans have of privacy in a public place
• 04/19/13 Chicago sinkhole, a possible recreation site
• 04/17/13 Not too early to think about Joe v. Hillary
• 04/15/13 Maybe they should go back to flying carpets
• 04/12/13 For U.S. food aid, healthful reform proposed
• 04/11/13 Obama sends Congress a $3.77 trillion budget
• 04/10/13 A new death ray, a la Buck Rogers
• 04/09/13 China's patience may be running out
• 04/05/13 Dementia a threat to nation's health and finances
• 04/01/13 North Korea rattles the guns of war
• 03/29/13 Justifying the costs of ex-presidents
• 03/26/13 Congress OKs funding, pats itself on back
• 03/25/13 The more babies, the merrier and the more solvent
• 03/22/13 The quick red fox jumps --- oh, never mind
• 03/21/13 Living large on no dollars a day
• 03/20/13 Cyprus, chaos and the butterfly effect
• 03/19/13 What Obama's visit to Israel lacks in substance, it makes up for in symbolism
• 03/18/13 Visit the USA! It's not as much hassle anymore
• 03/15/13 Iraq War spurred medical progress, at great cost
• 03/14/13 In death, Chavez escapes a final indignity
• 03/13/13 Deficits falling -- maybe
• 03/12/13 Jobless rate dips, almost in spite of Congress
• 03/11/13 Rescuing remnants of the hated Berlin Wall
• 03/08/13 Mr. Paul Goes to Washington
• 03/05/13 Dennis Rodman puts up diplomatic air ball
• 03/04/13 Congress faces reality, passes anti-violence act
• 03/01/13 Titanic II: If at first you don't succeed ...
• 02/27/13 Telecommuters back to office!
• 02/26/13 Federal agencies to make sure public feels pain, too
• 02/25/13 You've been good citizens. Now get out
• 02/21/13 The drones are coming, ready or not
• 02/20/13 Deadbeats undermine the best of intentions
• 02/19/13 Artificial retina offers eye-opening promise
• 02/14/13 State of the Union needs new purpose
• 02/13/13 Instead of black helicopters, fluffy white blimps
• 02/11/13 Congress, no vacation until its work is done
• 02/08/13 Saturday letter delivery an expensive luxury
• 02/07/13 William Howard Taft, from president to mascot
• 02/01/13 Economists unfazed by brief pause in growth
• 01/31/13 African drone base would be a first step for U.S.
• 01/28/13 Senate timidly tinkers with filibuster rule
• 01/25/13 North Korea on 'settling accounts' with U.S.
• 01/24/13 Iran will invent world domination
• 01/23/13 High-school graduation rate hits a high note
• 01/21/13 Congress will spend year resting up -- who knows for what
• 01/17/13 Inaugurations inevitably include a slip-up
• 01/16/13 Once again, an al-Qaida threat from a faraway place
• 11/30/12 Soon your car may resemble Hal --- 'I'm sorry, Dave'
• 11/27/12 Faint -- very faint -- signs of optimism on fiscal cliff
• 11/26/12 Black Friday fatigue --- or not
• 11/23/12 China plans world's tallest and fastest building
• 11/22/12 Lonely, unattached planets looking for company
• 11/19/12 Americans will be diminished by loss of Twinkies
• 11/16/12 'E' in email stands for 'everybody'
• 11/14/12 Congress has chance to end year on high note
• 11/09/12 In Washington, expect new kind ofgridlock
• 11/02/12 Paranoia tops Chinese leaders' agendas
• 11/01/12 Preparing to lead from rear in another war
• 10/31/12 Happy to forget
• 10/30/12 Hurricane Sandy clouds election outcome
• 10/29/12 New meaning to the crime 'stick up'
• 10/25/12 Riding out the apocalypse in Costco
• 10/22/12 We love our troops, but some of us love ripping them off even more
• 10/18/12 Search for our next world narrows; get used to heat
• 10/16/12 Your license plate may be an open book
• 10/12/12 Cycling anti-dopers finally get their man, Lance Armstrong
• 10/12/12 Discovery: Roadside trash on Mars?
• 10/11/12 Millennials, the cheapest generation
• 10/08/12 Gang of Eight hopes to ride to deficit rescue
• 10/04/12 Confessions of a federal bootlegger
• 10/01/12 Rover Curiosity finds potential site for base Organizing
• 09/27/12 Future of cars --- nobody at the wheel
• 09/25/12 Imelda's shoes should be preserved and displayed
• 08/23/12 Capital's Reflecting Pool reflecting again
• 08/16/12 Putin and Pussy Riot forever linked
• 08/15/12 Hypersonic flight -- N.Y. to L.A. in 36 minutes
• 08/09/12 Coming to a dealer near you: All new 2013 Curiosity
• 08/08/12 What to do about killer cats?
• 08/06/12 Congress takes needed rest from inactivity
• 08/03/12 Manhattan Project worthy of national parks
• 08/01/12 In Russia, fearing the power of punk
• 07/31/12 Why Barack Obama needs Bill Clinton
• 07/30/12 Safeguard Fed's independence
• 07/26/12 Government spying on everyone not necessarily all bad
• 07/19/12 Kim Horatio Alger Jong Un, prodigy
• 07/18/12 The Fed and Congress: Who's on first?
• 07/17/12 Farmers markets require clean hands, common sense
• 07/10/12 Candidates play hooky from party conventions
• 07/05/12 One word, 'sorry,' unplugs Pakistani roadblock
• 07/04/12 A day to pursue happiness like good Americans
• 06/25/12 Joint venture: Finally testing legal marijuana sales
• 06/20/12 Steroid era not over with Clemens case
• 06/19/12 Summer without the jobs
• 06/15/12 World not ending, but maybe it should
• 06/13/12 Make the nation's laws; no experience necessary
• 06/11/12 The highway bill to nowhere
• 06/07/12 Planet Mars slated to become reality show
• 06/06/12 Spy agency magically produces two space
• 06/05/12 Make parties pay for conventions
• 06/04/12 Revised date for end of the world
• 05/31/12 Needed: A kinder, gentler . . . TSA
• 05/30/12 Keep U.N.'s hands off the Internet
• 05/25/12 Observe Memorial Day; it will only take a minute
• 05/24/12 Taxpayers taken for ride on subsidized EAS flights
• 05/23/12 Worsening traffic is a sign of recovery
• 05/17/12 U.S. needs a good third party
• 05/16/12 Earmarks quietly looking to make a comeback
• 05/15/12 Some good in war
• 05/14/12 Mayan discovery: It's safe to make plans for 2013
• 05/10/12 Save those 'Hillary!' buttons
• 04/18/12 Government service can be fun. Really.
• 04/17/12 Scandal, yes, but Cartagena had summit, too
• 04/16/12 When your car is smarter than you are
• 04/13/12 Lenders tiptoe back into world of credit risks
• 04/12/12 What do you mean you don't want a driver's license?
• 04/11/12 Smartphone anti-theft plan seems, um, smart
• 04/10/12 Bizarre process to choose a veep
• 04/09/12 From remote exurbs, cities don't look so bad anymore
• 04/06/12 We do want the fake Romney, not the 'real' one
• 04/05/12 Heaping even more indignities on air travelers
• 03/29/12 Blown away in Washington, D.C.
• 03/28/12 At the nuke summit an inadvertent moment of candor
• 03/27/12 A worse unemployment problem
• 03/23/12 The federal budget: A game of make-believe
• 03/21/12 In Iraq, blame the U.S., but drive American
• 03/20/12 Too late, bin Laden realized killing Muslims was a mistake
• 03/16/12 Hu and Wen leaving. China asks: What next?
• 03/14/12 Tide, favored by housewives and drug dealers alike
• 03/09/12 'Spring forward' obsessives and seasonal purists
• 03/08/12 Really, no place is safe when you think about it
• 03/06/12 Putin 'carousel voting' victory
• 02/28/12 Fighter of future still glued to tarmac
• 02/27/12 Every candidate has to have a tax-reform plan
• 02/23/12 Au revoir, mademoiselle: It's been bonne
• 02/21/12 A new way of attacking food-stamp fraud
• 02/20/12 Feds don't want you driven to distraction
• 02/15/12 Putin has found can't lose campaign issue: Promoting a randier Russia
• 02/14/12 Obama's budget lays down battle lines for the fall
• 02/10/12 Filming in D.C. creates hassle for Hollywood
• 02/08/12 At Lake Vostok, Russia taps into new realm
• 02/07/12 'Granny dumping' in prisons
• 01/30/12 National Defense Authorization Act indefensible
• 01/23/12 Barbie sparks fear among Iran's mullahs
• 01/19/12 From overseas, U.S. industry is looking good
• 01/18/12 American posterior a growing problem for mass transit
• 01/16/12 Planets and roaches
• 01/13/12 Not exactly a biblical plague, but certainly an annoyance
• 01/12/12 Fewer young Americans interested in driving
• 01/05/12 Majoring in unemployment
• 01/04/12 Cutting the military by blunt force
• 01/02/12 Pragmatic look at top words
• 12/22/11 Basketball the way to Kim's heart and nuclear weapons
• 12/21/12 Speculation and wishful thinking can get scary
• 12/20/11 A third Kim has North Korea by the throat
• 12/19/11 Congress pats itself on back for budget bill
• 12/15/11 The U.S. government is cashing in its chips, literally
• 12/14/11 TSA might try trusting its own people
• 12/12/11 That $1.2 billion? It's around here some place
• 12/09/11 State Department Creates ‘Virtual Embassy’ For Iran
• 12/08/11 If you've ever tweeted, you're in the Library of Congress
• 12/07/11 Discoveries go to the core of what makes us humans
• 12/06/11 Stealing elections badly in Russia
• 12/05/11 Sometimes paranoia is common sense by another name
• 12/02/11 When the U.S. truly became one nation
• 12/01/11 Last chance to snap up a Maybach
• 11/30/11 Iran wants respect without earning it
• 11/29/11 Surprise! ‘Spider-Man’ may weave a profitable web
• 11/28/11 Italians entertain novel proposition: Paying their taxes
• 11/25/11 No time to let up on al-Qaida
• 11/24/11 Congress Quietly Abolishing Friday
• 11/23/11 Cleaning up after supercommittee implosion
• 11/22/11 Jailing minors with adults adds to problems
• 11/21/11 Brilliant strategy? Action by inaction
• 11/18/11They're going to eat horses, aren't they?
• 11/17/11 A pretend stick shift for pretend drivers
• 11/16/11 Clinton's ‘vast experiences’: Did NBC pick the wrong Chelsea?
• 11/15/11 Occupy protesters, you've made your point. Now, scat
• 11/10/11 Our vets are a national problem?
• 11/09/11 Requiem for a once-great sport
• 11/08/11 A toilet as smart as its occupant
• 11/07/11 Prerevolutionary gems in need of TLC
• 11/04/11 Feds must stop scam of stealing from dead children
• 11/03/11 Bank listens ‘very closely’ to customer lynch mob
• 11/01/11 TV that's leading the people away from ‘core socialist values’
• 10/31/11 NATO should not be a victim of its success
• 10/28/11 Iran mulls getting rid of president and presidency
• 10/27/11 Bienvenidos a Dayton and bring your businesses with you
• 10/26/11 Archivists long for Obama's teleprompter
• 10/25/11 United Nations to run the Internet?
• 10/24/11 Attention, world: You've got the cash. We've got the houses
• 10/19/11 Oil pipeline must be in America's future
• 10/18/11 U.S. plans ‘limited’ mission in an Africa with no limits
• 10/17/11 Social Security's grave mistakes
• 10/12/11 NASA's help-wanted sign for astronauts
• 10/10/11 Saving Thomas Jefferson''s chimneys
• 10/06/11 Uncle Sam's answer to deadbeats --- robo-calls
• 10/04/11 Christie should ignore jibes on his weight
• 10/03/11 Iran says its warships will head for Jersey shore
• 09/29/11 Europeans bristle at Obama's lectures
• 09/28/11 Jessica Rabbit for the defense
• 09/27/11 Russia learns outcome of next March's presidential election
• 09/26/11 Another try at leaving no child behind
• 09/23/11 This generation needs a job more than a name
• 09/22/11 In the lane next to you: A driverless car
• 09/20/11 Cloudy, cool, chance of falling satellite
• 09/14/11 Humanitarian extortion
• 09/13/11 Paging Dr. Watson; he's there in 3 seconds
• 09/09/11 Forecasting 100 percent chance of heavy metal
• 09/08/11 A jobs program at Obama's doorstep
• 09/07/11 Iran's government afraid of the water
• 09/06/11 Congress returns, tanned, rested and testy
• 09/05/11 Space nations must clean up after themselves
• 09/02/11 Osama bin Laden died a failure and he knew it
• 09/01/11 Time to retire political pie in the face
• 08/31/11 Labor Day celebrates what, exactly?
• 08/30/11 These arrestees really are framed
• 08/25/11 When in an earthquake, block traffic
• 08/23/11 A case for discretion in deportation arrests
• 08/22/11 Tough times or not, parents shell out for school
• 08/18/11 Being unpleasant for fun, profit, promotion
• 08/17/11 Time to prepare for the end game in Libya
• 08/16/11: ‘Super Committee’ starts facing reality
• 08/15/11: World's fastest plane disappears even faster
• 08/12/11: British cops track rioters through security cameras
• 08/11/11: Relax. There is no Death Star
• 08/10/11: House pages run final errands
• 08/09/11: U.S. treading water on job creation
• 08/08/11: Uncle Sam, the world's permanent guest
• 08/05/11: Most 9/11 victims not on federal death records
• 08/04/11: Russian PM calls U.S. a ‘parasite.’ He should be so lucky
• 08/03/11: Congress goes from one bind to another
• 08/02/11: D.B. Cooper may no longer be a mystery
• 08/01/11: Libya's latest weapon against NATO --- lawsuits
• 07/29/11: He'll always be known as Hot Wheels Handler
• 07/25/11: Recruiting children to save a dying town
• 07/22/11: Bachmann's admirable medical candor
• 07/12/11: Social Security's grave mistakes
• 07/08/11: Debt crisis need not be constitutional crisis
• 07/07/11: Startups entice new talent with kickball, treehouses
• 07/05/11: Stranded tourists get rare treat
• 06/30/11: The dollar Americans refuse to spend
• 06/27/11: The hangman doesn't cometh
© 2011, SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE
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