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சென்னையில் நிறையப் பேருக்கு இதை டைடல் பார்க்குக்கு எதிரே ஓடும் சாக்கடை என்ற அளவில் மட்டுமே தெரியும்.
Monday, 31 December 2012
Friday, 28 December 2012
Gang-rape victim dies, PM says death won't go in vain
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Gang-rape victim dies, PM says death won't go in vain
Today early at 4.45 a.m A young woman who was
gang-raped and tortured in the capital of India .She was died in Singapore early
Saturday. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said it was up to "us all to
ensure that her death will not have been in vain".
The victim, whose name has not been revealed, "passed away peacefully at 4.45 a.m. with her distraught family and Indian diplomats by her side, Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital's Kelvin Loh said.
The victim, whose name has not been revealed, "passed away peacefully at 4.45 a.m. with her distraught family and Indian diplomats by her side, Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital's Kelvin Loh said.
The 23-year-old woman she was suffered from multiple-organ failure
after she was raped by six males, including a juvenile, in a moving bus
in Delhi for around 40 minutes Dec 16 and dumped her by a roadside.
The six accused have been arrested and now they are in Delhi's Tihar Central Jail.
Authorities in India shifted the
woman, who had been on ventilator support since her rape, to Singapore
Thursday in a last ditch attempt to save her life.
"Despite all efforts by a team of eight specialists
in Mount Elizabeth Hospital to keep her stable, her condition continued
to deteriorate over these two days," Loh said.
"She had suffered from several organs failure due to the rape and also following serious injuries to her body and brain.
"She was courageous in fighting
for her life for so long against the odds but the trauma to her body was
too severe for her to overcome."
B.D. Athani, medical
superintendent of Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital, said the woman had been
speaking to her mother and other family members earlier, giving the
impression that she would somehow survive.
But her condition deteriorated
rapidly after a third operation, with a fatal infection spreading to her
chest, lungs and intestine, he said.
Expressing his deepest
condolences, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said it was up to "us all to
ensure that her death will not have been in vain" and India becomes "a
demonstrably better and safer place for women to live in".
He said he joined the nation "in conveying to her family and friends" his deepest condolences at this "terrible loss".
"I want to tell them and the
nation that while she may have lost her battle for life, it is up to us
all to ensure that her death will not have been in vain.
India's High Commissioner to Singapore, T.C.A. Raghavan, said the woman's family was "shattered".
"It was very trying for the
family. The girl of course was unconscious," he said. "I must say they
(the family) bore the entire process with a great deal of fortitude and
courage."
He said her body would be flown to India Saturday afternoon.
The prime minister said already we have seen the emotions and also energies this incident has been generated and now these are perfectly understandable reactions from a young India and an
India that genuinely desires change.
"The need of the hour is a dispassionate debate and inquiry into the critical changes that are required in societal attitudes.
"The government is examining, on
priority basis, the penal provisions that exist for such crimes and
measures to enhance the safety and security of women."
The horrific gang-rape, in which
the crucial gang rape they used an iron rod to torture her, triggered angry
demonstrations across india against growing sexual crimes against women.
A policeman died in one such protest in Delhi.
The Indian government vowed to fast track the trial of the accused.
Android (operating system)
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Galaxy Nexus, a phone recommended by the Android Open Source Project for software development
Android (operating system)
Android is the world's most popular mobile platform. With Android you can use all the Google apps you know and love, plus there are more than 600,000 apps and games available on Google Play to keep you entertained, alongside millions of songs and books, and thousands of movies. Android devices are already smart, and will only get smarter, with new features you won't find on any other platform, letting you focus on what's important and putting you in control of your mobile experience.
Android is a Linux-based operating system designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices.Initially developed by Android.Inc., whom Google financially backed and later purchased in 2005.Android was unveiled in 2007 along with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance: a consortium of hardware, software, and telecommunication companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices. The first Android-powered phone was sold in October 2008.
(R)Evolution
Android is open source .Additionally,Android has many developers that extend the functionality of devices, written primarily in a customized version of the Java programming language.In October 2012, there were approximately 700,000 apps available for Android, and the estimated number of applications downloaded from Google Play, Android's primary app store, was 25 billion.
These factors have allowed Android to become the world's most widely used smartphone platform and the software of choice for technology companies who require a low-cost, customizable, lightweight operating system for high tech devices without developing one from scratch.
Android had a worldwide smartphone market share of 75% during the third quarter of 2012 with 500 million devices activated in total and 1.3 million activations per day.
The World’s Most Popular Platform
Millions of people already use Android because it makes your mobile device so much more powerful and useful. On Android, the home screen, web browser, email and everything in between are designed to make your life easier. And because Android is open, you can create a unique mobile experience that’s just right for you.
Application
with every Android smart phone you get the "essentials" that I call bloatware. As you all know, it comes with a default music, camera, gallery, GPS, and other apps that you can find replacements of in the Android Market app store. It is from my personal experiences that I have found the 10 best apps (most of which are free) you wont want to be caught dead without.
Thursday, 27 December 2012
Nelson Mandela Recover from hospital
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Nelson Mandela Recover from hospital
Nelson Mandela has been discharged from a two-week spell in hospital after he was admitted for treatment for a lung infection and gallstones.
The former South African leader is to receive treatment at his home in Johannesburg after he was discharged on Wednesday night, a government spokesman said.
South Africans began praying in earnest for Madiba, the clan name by which he is affectionately known, after he was admitted on December 8. The 94-year-old's time in hospital is the longest since he was released from jail in 1990 after 27 years behind bars.
He was taken into hospital for routine tests which revealed he was suffering from a lung infection and gallstones. He then underwent surgery to have the gallstones removed.
"He is not yet fully recovered, but he has sufficiently moved forward so that he can be discharged," Mac Maharaj, a government spokesman, told the local broadcaster, eNCA. "He is sufficiently well to be home."
Mandela has a history of lung problems dating back to the days during which he was in jail as a political prisoner.
He was visited on Christmas Day by South Africa's president, Jacob Zuma, who said he was in "good spirits" and looking "much better".
But this Christmas was his first away from home since he was released from jail.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner, and South Africa's first black president after the end of apartheid when he was elected in 1994, he retired from public life in 2004 due to his fragile health.
Before his retirement, he used to host a Christmas feast for poor children in his home village of Qunu.
Despite this, however, he has continued to receive high-profile domestic and international visitors, including former US president, Bill Clinton, in July.
Tuesday, 25 December 2012
Tsunami Disaster & Tamil Nadu
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Tsunami waves do not resemble normal sea waves,
because their wavelength is far longer. Rather than appearing as a breaking
wave, a tsunami may instead initially resemble a rapidly rising tide, and for this
reason they are often referred to as tidal waves. Tsunamis generally
consist of a series of waves with periods ranging from minutes to hours, arriving in
a so-called "wave train".Wave heights of tens of metres can be
generated by large events. Although the impact of tsunamis is limited to
coastal areas, their destructive power can be enormous and they can affect
entire ocean basins; the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami
was among the deadliest natural disasters in human history with over 230,000
people killed in 14 countries bordering the Indian
Ocean.
Tsunami Disaster & Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu suffered a loss of Rs.47 billion, accounting for two thirds of the total losses suffered in south India, followed by Kerala (Rs.13 billion), Pondicherry (Rs.5 billion) and Andhra Pradesh (Rs.3.4 billion).
Tsunami waves do not resemble normal sea waves,
because their wavelength is far longer. Rather than appearing as a breaking
wave, a tsunami may instead initially resemble a rapidly rising tide, and for this
reason they are often referred to as tidal waves. Tsunamis generally
consist of a series of waves with periods ranging from minutes to hours, arriving in
a so-called "wave train".Wave heights of tens of metres can be
generated by large events. Although the impact of tsunamis is limited to
coastal areas, their destructive power can be enormous and they can affect
entire ocean basins; the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami
was among the deadliest natural disasters in human history with over 230,000
people killed in 14 countries bordering the Indian
Ocean.
The Greek
historian Thucydides
suggested in 426 BC that tsunamis were related to submarine earthquakes,
but the understanding of a tsunami's nature remained slim until the 20th
century and much remains unknown Major areas
of current research include trying to determine why some large earthquakes do
not generate tsunamis while other smaller ones do; trying to accurately
forecast the passage of tsunamis across the oceans; and also to forecast how
tsunami waves would interact with specific shorelines.
Over 6,500 killed by tsunami in south India
"Sunday's deadly tsunami waves have now claimed almost 6,500 lives on India's southeastern coast. In India, Tamil Nadu is one of the worst affected states where 3,000 people are reported dead. In Andaman & Nicobar Islands as well, 3,000 people have been killed. In Pondicherry, 337 people have died and hundreds of fishermen are still missing. 97 casualties have been reported from Andhra Pradesh, while the toll in Kerala has touched 150... More than 300 people have died in Cuddalore too while the death toll in the state capital Chennai is 200...."
Facebook takes FIRE in UK over' disingenuous' accounting
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Facebook takes FIRE in UK over' disingenuous' accounting
Facebook takes FIRE in UK over' disingenuous' accounting
Just how much tax should Facebook pay in Europe? In 2011, the
social network skated away with a tax bill of just €3.2 million (about
$4.7 million) in Ireland despite garnering gross profits of $1.35
billion there — an effective rate of less than half a percent. UK Labour
MP John Mann is calling the company’s actions "disingenuous" and
"immoral," as the continent-wide debate about how to tax multinationals
continues to build steam. Earlier this year, Mann had similar words for Google,
which he said should be brought before the country’s Treasury Select
Committee "to justify their failure to pay proper taxes." And that
company, along with Amazon and Starbucks, ended up facing questions from UK legislators last month about their tax practices.
Forbes insists that the system is working just as politicians intended — the EU’s single market structure demands that multinationals set up shop in one location in order to do business across the whole continent, and it makes sense for them to set up where tax treatment is most favorable. But what’s actually happening isn’t so cut and dried. The accounting technique that Facebook and others are using is called "Double Irish" and it lets Facebook lower its tax bill by paying itself royalties that it can write off as business expenses. Here's how it works: Facebook sets up two Irish subsidiaries, the first of which owns the non-US rights to its intellectual property, but is a tax resident of the Cayman Islands, which charges no tax. This Cayman Islands-based Irish company then licenses its intellectual property to the second Irish company. These royalty payments are subtracted from the second (Irish Irish) company’s revenues before it gets its tax bill, letting it book much lower income than it would otherwise be able to. In Facebook’s case, The Guardian reports that it paid nearly $1.2 billion to itself in licensing and royalties. So despite bringing in gross profits of over $1.35 billion for the year, the impoverished Facebook Ireland actually recorded a $24 million loss.
The fact that companies are going to try to maximize profits and minimize expenses, including taxes, goes without saying, but recent evidence shows that public pressure can force them to pay their fair share. Starbucks agreed to voluntarily pay £20 million (about $32 million) in taxes in the UK over the next two years to avoid a country-wide boycott. The next question: is Europe ready for a boycott of Facebook? So far, the social network has been banking on a "no."
Sunday, 23 December 2012
CHOOSE PRIVACY SETTING ON YOUR FACEBOOK
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CHOOSE PRIVACY SETTING ON YOUR FACEBOOK
Remember those privacy controls Facebook announced last week, alongside the rather less friendly news that you would no longer have the option to hide when Facebook users are searching you?
Well, those changes are finally here. As of 10pm ET, you should start seeing a small symbol with a lock in the top right hand corner of your screen. Click on it, and you've got a list of "Privacy Shortcuts" in plain English -- namely, Who Can See My Stuff, Who Can Contact Me, and How Do I Stop Someone From Bothering Me.
That's a whole lot better than what used to be in that spot -- a dizzying array of privacy options in a control panel that was hard for the average user to decipher.
"We believe that the better you understand who can see the things you share, the better your experience on Facebook can be," writes Samuel Lessin, a product manager at Facebook, in a blog post. All users will see the new shortcuts by the end of Friday, presuming the end of the world doesn't intrude.
More plain English changes are rolling out across the site. For example, when you want someone to remove a photo you've been tagged in, here's the dialog box you're presented with:
Given the abundance of holiday parties, this is the time of year when such changes are most welcome. Facebook handy five-step guide to making it better when your drunken blunders end up splashed across the social network:
1. Visit the updated Activity Log to see what you are posted in
2. Use the new filters to see what photos are still out there that you may have hidden from your timeline
3. Use the multi Report and Remove tool to select those that you don't want tagged and click untag with one simple click
4. If you really don't want them on Facebook, use the new tool to ask whoever posted them to take them down, again with one click
5. Still have questions? Use the new privacy shortcut tool to type a question and get straight into the help center answers
Do you have the new privacy controls yet? Do they make more sense than their predecessors? Let us know in the comments.
Harvard Scientist Proposes a Way to Refreeze the Arctic to Combat Possible Global Warming Disaster
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Harvard Scientist Proposes a Way to Refreeze the Arctic to Combat Possible Global Warming Disaster
Artificial Heart
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UCLA doctors remove man's heart, replace it with total artificial heart
Portable power supply allows patient to go home while he awaits new heart
By Amy Albin
Chad Washington with total artificial heart and pump device
Imagine living without a heart. It is possible — if you have a new artificial heart pumping blood through your body. You can even go to the supermarket, watch your kid's soccer game or go on a hike.
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center has performed its first procedure to remove a patient's diseased heart and replace it with a SynCardia Temporary Total Artificial Heart.
Chad Washington, 35, underwent the seven-hour transplant surgery at UCLA on Oct. 29, led by Dr. Murray Kwon, an assistant professor of cardiothoracic surgery.
The temporary pump will act as a "bridge" until Washington receives a new donor heart.
"Historically, patients with a total artificial heart had to remain hospitalized while they waited for a transplant because they were tethered to a large machine to power the device," Kwon said. "Today, however, this device can be powered by advanced technology small enough to fit in a backpack."
"It sounds like a loud grandfather clock going 'tick-tock' in my chest, but it doesn't feel foreign. It's there to help," Washington said of the artificial heart. "I'm so glad to be living in an age where technology is moving so fast."
Washington, an aspiring chef is who is married and has a 4-year-old son, has suffered from heart disease since he was born. From the time he was 10 days old through adulthood, he underwent a series of heart-repair surgeries and had pacemakers and a defibrillator implanted.
Then his heart deteriorated. He received a heart transplant in February of this year, and for the first time in his life, he knew what it was like to live with a healthy heart. It gave him energy, and he was amazed that he could run 25 minutes on a treadmill.
Unfortunately, after six months of functioning perfectly well, the donor heart started showing signs of a serious form of rejection that did not respond to therapy. Washington's condition worsened. An immediate re-transplantation with a new donor heart was not an option because his body had built up antibodies that would likely attack a new heart.
Thankfully, the artificial heart offered hope.
"By removing the patient's diseased donor heart, we removed the source of his end-stage heart failure," said Dr. Ali Nsair, an assistant professor of cardiology at UCLA. "The total artificial heart — and being off immunosuppressant medications — allows his body to recover and get ready for a heart transplant in a few months."
Dr. Mario Deng, a professor of cardiology and medical director of the UCLA Advanced Heart Failure/Mechanical Support/Heart Transplant Program added that since the pump's energy source is portable, Washington can go home and resume normal activities with his family while he waits for a new heart.
"This ability to be at home with family is an important element in helping the patient to maintain a positive outlook during the waiting period," Deng said.
Approved by the Federal Drug Administration in 2004, the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart replaces both failing heart ventricles and the four heart valves. It works by providing a high volume of blood-flow through both ventricles, which helps to speed the recovery of vital organs and make the patient a better candidate for transplant surgery.
Once the total artificial heart is implanted, it is connected by two small air tubes known as "drivelines" to a large external driver that powers the heart while the patient remains hospitalized. When the patient's condition stabilizes post-operatively, he or she can be switched over to the smaller 13.5-pound Freedom portable driver, which can be carried in a backpack, thus giving the patient the freedom to leave the hospital.
"This technology offers a lifeline for patients who are in severe heart failure and dying," said Dr. Richard J. Shemin, professor and chair of cardiothoracic surgery at UCLA and surgical director of the UCLA Mechanical Circulatory Support Program. "These patients have run out of medical options and require a heart transplant. The total artificial heart offers advantages over other devices used for mechanical support of patients awaiting a heart transplant. With the new Freedom driver for powering the device, the patients can leave the hospital, live at home and undergo rehabilitation, improving their clinical condition and quality of life as they await their transplant."
While at home, Washington will follow an exercise and nutrition plan tailored to help him build up strength and improve his health in anticipation of receiving a second donor heart.
"My family and I are so thankful for all of the support we've been getting from the doctors and staff here at the hospital, as well as our family and friends," Washington said.
Originally used as a permanent replacement heart, SynCardia's Total Artificial Heart is currently approved as a bridge to transplant for people dying from end-stage biventricular heart failure. There have been more than 1,000 implants of the Total Artificial Heart worldwide, accounting for more than 270 patient-years of life. The wearable driver is currently undergoing an U.S. Food and Drug Administration–approved investigational device exemption clinical study. For more information, visit www.syncardia.com.
The UCLA Mechanical Circulatory Support Program, directed by Dr. Richard Shemin, professor and chief of cardiothoracic surgery at UCLA, and Dr. Mario Deng, professor of cardiology and medical director of the advanced heart failure/mechanical support/heart transplant program, began in the early 1990s. Its primary mission is to provide cardiac support devices to patients while they await heart transplantation and to serve the rapidly growing heart failure population requiring lifetime mechanical circulatory support. For more information on the mechanical circulatory program and the heart transplant program at UCLA, visit http://transplants.ucla.edu/mcs.
Saturday, 22 December 2012
Master Blaster Announces Retirement in ODI
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Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar Announces retirement from ODI Immediately
New Delhi: Sachin
Tendulkar will not pad up against Pakistan next Sunday. After 23 years
of playing one-day internationals, the batting great has announced
retirement from the 50-over format of the game.
Sachin's
announcement came on a day that the Indian team for the two T20s and
three ODIs with Pakistan, to be played starting next week, is being
decided. Sachin has already stopped playing T20s.
The Board of
control for cricket in India (BCCI) released Sachin's statement on
Sunday morning. It read, "I have decided to retire from the One Day
format of the game. I feel blessed to have fulfilled the dream of being
part of a World Cup wining Indian team. The preparatory process to
defend the World Cup in 2015 should begin early and in right earnest. I
would like to wish the team all the very best for the future. I am
eternally grateful to all my well wishers for their unconditional
support and love over the years."
Tendulkar's retirement plans
have been intensely debated in recent times through a long patch of poor
form. The most prolific run getter in the world ever is 39 years of
age. He holds every batting record in the book.
Since last World
Cup, Sachin score only 315 runs in 10 ODIs. But in a glorious career,
Sachin has scored 18,426 runs in 463 one dayers. His highest score in
ODIs is 200 runs that came in 2010 against South Africa in Gwalior.
Sachin has scored 49 centuries and 96 fifties in this format.
He
made his debut on December 18, 1989, as a 16-year-old against Pakistan.
He played his last ODI on March 18, 2012, also against Pakistan in the
Asia Cup.
His last ODI hundred came in the Asia Cup in Bangladesh
in March this year, a feat that completed an unprecedented 100
international tons.
He was stuck on 99 tons for quite a while
after scoring two hundreds during India's successful World Cup campaign.
Tendulkar also has an mammoth tally of 96 ODI 50s to his credit.
Despite
the slump in his form, Tendulkar's overall tally of runs is unlikely to
be matched anytime soon given that the distant second-best in the list,
former Australian captain Ricky Ponting, has already retired from the
game with 13,704 runs under his belt.
Sri Lanka's retired great Sanath Jayasuriya occupies the third spot in the overall chart with 13,430 runs.
Besides
his batting, Tendulkar was an effective partnership-breaking bowler and
finishes his ODI career with 154 wickets, including two five-wicket
hauls.
Tendulkar's Test records are as awe-inspiring. The
right-hander has 15,645 runs at an average of 54.32 in 194 Tests that he
has played so far. The tally includes 51 hundreds and 66
half-centuries.
Wednesday, 19 December 2012
SAVE WATER PLZZZ !
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SAVE WATER PLZZZ !
If You Put All Earth's Water In One Place, It'd Look Like This.
USGS/Public Domain.
While it looks like the planet's surface is covered mostly in water, the fact is there is very little water on this planet when you com
pare it to the size of the planet as a whole. The USGS created this image to give us a little perspective.
USGS states, "About 70 percent of the Earth's surface is water-covered, and the oceans hold about 96.5 percent of all Earth's water. But water also exists in the air as water vapor, in rivers and lakes, in icecaps and glaciers, in the ground as soil moisture and in aquifers, and even in you and your dog. Still, all that water would fit into that "tiny" ball. The ball is actually much larger than it looks like on your computer monitor or printed page because we're talking about volume, a 3-dimensional shape, but trying to show it on a flat, 2-dimensional screen or piece of paper. That tiny water bubble has a diameter of about 860 miles, meaning the height (towards your vision) would be 860 miles high, too! That is a lot of water."
It may be a lot of water, but almost all of it is not usable for us. Over 96% is saline water in the oceans, and of the fresh water that's left, most of that is locked up in ice at the poles, is underground were we don't reach it, or is in the atmosphere.
Perhaps this will give us some perspective on how truly precious a resource water really is.
Tuesday, 18 December 2012
Dec 21, 2012 Winter Solstice will not be end of the world
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Dec 21, 2012 Winter Solstice will not be end of the world
Dec 18 (TruthDive): Astronomers say
December 21 is the winter solstice as the day marks the astronomical
beginning of winter in the northern hemisphere. Every year, December 21
is the shortest day of the year and the longest night.
On Dec. 21 the Earth’s tilt of 23.5 degrees points its axis directly away from the Sun. This tilt causes the change in seasons. The sun will appear directly overhead along the Tropic of Capricorn, at 23.5 degrees south of the equator.
On this day, places on or south of the Antarctic Circle will receive 24 hours of sunshine and those on or north of the Arctic Circle will be in total darkness- this phenomenon is called Winter Solstice. Whereas, Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year, which occurs in June.
Every year, winter solstices have come and gone normally with minimal notice, but this year winter solstice has generated great interest among the masses. The 2012 winter solstice has been highly talked about in all media, including movies, TV series, books and the most important is the Internet. Thousands of websites are reporting about this upcoming winter solstice,2012.
But, December 21, 2012 is not a day of doom. This day coincides with another phenomenon apart from winter solstice, it is precession of the equinoxes.
We are fast nearing December 21, 2012; the day, many believe, the world is about to end as predicted by ancient Mayans. But, on this date, the sun parallels itself with the centre of the spiral galaxy — the Milky Way, which roughly happens every 25,920 years, and such a phenomenon is called as precession of the equinoxes.
Ancient Egyptians had knowledge about precession of the equinoxes. More light is shed on precession of the equinoxes in the circular Zodiac found in the temple of Hathor at Dendera in Egypt.
The Mayans, who were the regular watchers of the movement of stars across the sky, also measured precession of the equinoxes. Their Long Count calendar that started in 3114 BC, was set to end exactly on this winter solstice — December 21, 2012. But, definitely the world will not end on December 21
Sunday, 18 November 2012
Indo-American NASA astronaut Sunita Williams to return to Earth Today
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Indo-American NASA astronaut Sunita Williams to return to Earth Today
Houston: Record-setting Indo-American NASA astronaut
Sunita Williams along with two other cosmonauts will return to Earth
Sunday, after four months in orbit.Williams ceremonially handed over the command of the International Space Station to fellow NASA astronaut Kevin Ford on the eve of her departure from the complex on Saturday.
Williams along with Aki Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Russian Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko will return to earth on Sunday.This exchange of command by Expedition Commander 33, Williams, who along with Malenchenko and Hoshide have lived on the space station since mid-July, heralds the beginning of Expedition 34.
"We have left the ship in good shape and am honoured to handed over to Kevin as we are going soon home and the ship is again in good hands," Williams said while handing over the command.
Ford, who has served as an Expedition 33 flight engineer since arriving at the station Oct 25, will become commander of Expedition 34 at the time the Soyuz TMA-05M carrying Williams, Hoshide and Malenchenko undocks from the station today at 5:26 pm EST for a landing in the steppe of Kazakhstan several hours later.
Their return will wrap up 127 days in space since their launch from Kazakhstan on July 15 last, including 125 days spent aboard the station. Ford and his crewmates, Flight Engineers Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin, will tend to the station as a three-man crew until the arrival of three additional Flight Engineers in December.
NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield, and Russian Federal Space Agency cosmonaut Roman Romanenko are scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Dec 19 and dock to the station two days later for a five-month stay.
Hadfield will become the first Canadian to command the station when Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin depart in March, marking the start of Expedition 35
Wednesday, 14 November 2012
5,000 relics from Titanic to sell in New York
5,000 relics from Titanic to sell in New York
NEW YORK – Five thousand items recovered from the Atlantic grave of the Titanic, from a 17-ton piece of the hull to china used to serve first-class passengers, will go on auction in New York a century after the liner sank.
The unprecedented collection will be sold as a single lot by Guernsey’s Auctioneers on April 11, exactly 100 years after Titanic’s maiden voyage in the city where the doomed ship had been destined when it was holed by an iceberg off Newfoundland.
Guernsey’s described the auction as “historic,” saying it was “the first and only sale of objects that have been recovered from the wreck site of Titanic 2.5 miles (four kilometers) below the ocean’s surface.”
The auctioneers estimate the lot will sell for a whopping $189 million.
The items, a handful of which went on display Thursday, are a sometimes ghostly reminder of the 1,500 people who perished when the supposedly unsinkable White Star liner, sailing out of Southampton, England, went down.
Arlen Ettinger, president of Guernsey’s, said the collection had to remain as a single lot to “perpetuate the memory of this great ship” and “so that future generations will always have the opportunity to see it.”
The auction house said the sale “is subject to certain covenants and conditions to ensure the collection will be properly maintained and available for public display.”
Included are everything from shaving kits to children’s toys, tobacco pipes, and the brass buttons on the smart navy blue uniforms worn by Captain Edward Smith and his officers.
Hints of the glamorous life on board abound, such as crystal decanters from the first-class cabins, a battered chandelier from the A la Carte Restaurant, silver platters and blue-and-gold porcelain dishes.
Remnants of the great ship’s working parts will also be on the auction block. The compass monitored by watch officers in the wheelhouse is for sale, along with a running light, a trio of bronze whistles from a funnel, and a bell.
Among the most poignant objects is a well-preserved megaphone. The auctioneers say it may have been the one used by the captain as he directed the evacuation into lifeboats and gave his final command: “Abandon ship.”
Alex Klingelhofer, the vice president of Titanic Collections and a conservator, said Titanic immediately gripped the world’s imagination as a “floating city” and a ship “of dreams and hopes.” Carrying 2,200 people, it was at the time the largest moving object built.
When the ship sank, “what was a single tragic event has become one of the most significant events of the 20th century,” she said. “It still resonates with people today.”
The items were recovered in a series of expeditions since 1987 by a company called RMS Titanic, a subsidiary of Premier Exhibitions, which creates museum and other exhibits.
Paul-Henry Nargeolet, head of underwater research for the company, recalled the discovery in 1987. When the team in a special submarine saw the wreckage, “we could not speak for 10 minutes.”
They saw “the most beautiful part of the ship… it was easy to imagine people living on it.”
Premier Exhibitions said it “intends to direct a portion of the proceeds generated by the sale to the Titanic Preservation Trust, an endowment fund created by the company for future conservation and maintenance of the artifacts removed from the wreck site.”
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