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Feb. 8, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Lofty ideals must be followed with grounded applications

Clifford D. May: Letter from the West Bank
Steve Rothaus: Judge OKs plan for gay man, lesbian couple to be on girl's birth certificate
Gloria Goodale: States consider drone bans: Overreaction or crucial for privacy rights?
Environmental Nutrition Editors: Don't buy the aloe vera juice hype
Michael Craig Miller, M.D.: Harvard Experts: Regular exercise pumps up memory, too
Erik Lacitis: Vanity plates: Some take too much license
The Kosher Gourmet by Susie Middleton: Broccoflower, Carrot and Leek Ragout with Thyme, Orange and Tapenade is a delightful and satisfying melange of veggies, herbs and aromatics
Feb. 6, 2013

Nara Schoenberg: The other in-law problem

Frank J. Gaffney Jr. : A see-no-jihadist for the CIA
Kristen Chick: Ahmadinejad visits Cairo: How sect tempers Islamist ties between Egypt, Iran
Roger Simon: Ed Koch's lucky corner
Heron Marquez Estrada: Robot-building sports on a roll
Patrick G. Dean, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: How to restore body's ability to secrete insulin
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: 3 prostate-protecting diet tips
The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen 7 principles for to help you make the best soup ever in a slow cooker
Feb. 4, 2013

Jonathan Tobin: Can Jewish Groups Speak Out on Hagel?

David Wren: Findings of government study, released 3 days before Newtown shooting, at odds with gun-control crusaders
Kristen Chick: Tahrir becomes terrifying, tainted
Curtis Tate and Greg Gordon: US keeps building new highways while letting old ones crumble
David G. Savage: Supreme Court to hear case on arrests, DNA
Harvard Health Letters: Neck and shoulder pain? Know what it means and what to do
Andrea N. Giancoli, M.P.H., R.D.: Eat your way to preventing age-related muscle loss
The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington Baked Pears in Red Wine and Port Wine Glaze: A festive winter dessert
Feb. 1, 2013

Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb: Redemption

Clifford D. May Home, bloody, home
Christa Case Bryant andNicholas Blanford Why despite Syria's allies warning of retaliation for Israeli airstrikes, the threats are likely hollow
Rick Armon, Ed Meyer and Phil Trexler Ex-police captain cleared by DNA test is freed after nearly 15 years
Harvard Health Letters: Could it by your thyroid?
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: When 'healthy food' isn't
Sue Zeidler: Coke ad racist? Arab-American groups want to yank Super Bowl ad (INCLUDES VIDEO)
The Kosher Gourmet by Nealey Dozier The secret of this soup is the garnish
January 30, 2013

Allan Chernoff: Celebrating 'Back from the Dead Day'

America isn't a religious country? Don't tell Superbowl fans!
Mark Clayton Cybercrime takedown!
Germany remembers Hitler rise to power
Israel salutes U. N. --- with the one finger salute
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: Get cookin' with heart-healthy fats
Ballot riles Guinness World Records
The Kosher Gourmet by Elizabeth Passarella Potato, Squash and Goat Cheese Gratin
January 28, 2013

Nancy Youssef: And Democracy for all? Two years on, Egypt remains in state of chaos

Fred Weir: Putin: West is fomenting jihadi 'blowback'
Meredith Cohn: Implantable pain disk may help those with cancer
Michael Craig Miller, M.D. : Ask the Harvard Experts: Are there drugs to help control binge eating?
David Ovalle Use of controversial 'brain mapping' technology stymied
Jane Stancill: Professor's logic class has 180,000 friends
David Clark Scott Lego Racism?
The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali The celebrated chef introduces us to PANZEROTTI PUGLIESI, cheese-stuffed pastry from Italy's south


Jewish World Review Dec. 7, 2011 / 11 Kislev, 5772

Discoveries go to the core of what makes us humans

By Dale McFeatters


Printer Friendly Version



http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | This week witnessed the announcement of two extraordinary astronomical discoveries, once again illustrating that we are not even on the cusp of understanding our universe.

NASA announced that its planet-hunting Kepler telescope had found a potentially life-sustaining planet similar to Earth. The planet, Kepler-22b, orbits a star much like the sun; has a year of 290 days, not too far off our own; has a balmy surface temperature of 72 degrees; observers speculate that it is almost the same color as Earth; and has water, although some scientists believe it may have too much water and that the whole planet is covered with it.

The planet is 2.4 times the size of Earth with a possible gas-liquid atmosphere that would make it uninhabitable by earthlings, at least with current technology. Even though Kepler-22b is not the sought-after Earth twin, it is the best candidate yet discovered.

The first extra-solar planet was discovered in 1995, and discoveries slowly picked up after that as detection methods improved. But the real breakthrough came in 2009 with the launch of the Kepler space telescope. Since then, Kepler has identified 2,236 candidate planets, 139 of them potentially habitable. And the Kepler has only just begun searching.

This is vital research, but of the most basic sort. If there is an Earth twin out there, we want to visit it, even colonize it. But Kepler-22b is over 600 light-years away and it would take a space shuttle, assuming we start building them again, 22 million years to reach it.

If there is alien life out there, the best opportunity of finding it is the SETI project, a complex of 42 radio telescopes, but its work was suspended over the summer for lack of funds.

Meanwhile, University of California, Berkeley, astronomers on Monday announced the discovery of two massive black holes, the largest yet, one of them 9.7 billion times the size of the sun. A black hole is formed by the collapse of a giant star in on itself, creating a gravitational hole so dense that nothing escapes, not even light or another star that happens to get too close. The black holes are more than 300 million light-years away, which, the Associated Press rather alarmingly points out, is "relatively close on the galactic scale."

These discoveries are pure basic research and it's not cheap; Kepler cost $600 million to build and launch. These discoveries have no immediate practical applications, although the methods used to make them do.

But the discoveries go to the core of what makes us humans: We can't stand not knowing.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

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Previously:


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





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