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Negative public opinion about foreign countries an early warning signal for terrorism

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 18 (ANI): People’s negative views toward the leadership and policies of other countries may be an indication that a terrorist act may be carried out, say researchers.

Alan Krueger, a Princeton University economist, and Jitka Maleckova, of Charles University in the Czech Republic, came to this conclusion after analysing public opinion polls and terrorist activity in 143 pairs of countries.

Writing about their findings in the journal Science, the researchers say that there is a strong relationship between attitudes expressed toward a foreign country — indicated in surveys on foreign leaders’ performance-and the occurrence of terrorism against that country.

“Public opinion appears to be a useful predictor of terrorist activity,” said Krueger, the Bendheim Professor in Economics and Public Policy.

“This is the first study to relate public opinion across countries to concrete actions such as terrorism,” he added.

He pointed out that the notion that public attitudes can contribute to terrorism has been inadequately explored to date.

According to him, the study’s findings attain significance as they suggest that public opinion may provide a valuable early warning signal of terrorism, and help researchers better understand the causes of terrorism.

The researchers carried out their study by mining public opinion polls of residents in 19 countries in the Middle East and northern Africa conducted by Gallup.

They asked the respondents whether they approved of the job performance of the leaders of nine large countries.

According to the researchers, the countries selected for the study are world powers in terms of size, population or military strength, are the United States, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Russia and the United Kingdom.

The opinions, both positive and negative, were linked to the number of terrorist attacks conducted against the nine world powers by people from the 19 countries between 2004 and 2008. The terror attacks were compiled by the National Counterterrorism Center.

Based on the findings, Krueger says that there is not a direct connection between poverty and terrorism, contrary to a popular view.

He adds that economic status has more to do with target countries than it does with the states where the attacks originate.

He says that countries with advanced economies as well as a high degree of civil liberties are most likely to be the targets of terrorism.

The researchers admits that the study does not explain whether terrorists act in response to public opinion or whether they are simply reacting just like the larger public to external events.

However, he insists that, in either case, public opinion surveys can provide a powerful indication of the likelihood of terrorist activity.

Krueger believes that greater disapproval of another country’s leaders or policies may result in more terrorist acts because it increases the number of people who provide material support and encouragement for terrorism, and increases the number of people interested in joining cells and carrying out terrorist acts themselves. (ANI)

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Forgotten memories still exist in the brain

September 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 10 (ANI): A new research by UC Irvine neuroscientists suggests that memories exist even when forgotten.

With the help of advanced brain imaging techniques, the study’s scientists discovered that a person’s brain activity while remembering an event is very similar to when it was first experienced, even if specifics can’t be recalled.

“If the details are still there, hopefully we can find a way to access them,” said Jeff Johnson, postdoctoral researcher at UCI’s Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory and lead author of the study, appearing Sept. 10 in the journal Neuron.

“By understanding how this works in young, healthy adults, we can potentially gain insight into situations where our memories fail more noticeably, such as when we get older,” he said.

“It also might shed light on the fate of vivid memories of traumatic events that we may want to forget,” he added.

In collaboration with scientists at Princeton University, Johnson and colleague Michael Rugg, CNLM director, used functional magnetic resonance imaging to study the brain activity of students.

Inside an fMRI scanner, the students were shown words and asked to perform various tasks: imagine how an artist would draw the object named by the word, think about how the object is used, or pronounce the word backward in their minds. The scanner captured images of their brain activity during these exercises.

About 20 minutes later, the students viewed the words a second time and were asked to remember any details linked to them. Again, brain activity was recorded.

Utilizing a mathematical method called pattern analysis, the scientists associated the different tasks with distinct patterns of brain activity. When a student had a strong recollection of a word from a particular task, the pattern was very similar to the one generated during the task.

When recollection was weak or nonexistent, the pattern was not as prominent but still recognizable as belonging to that particular task.

“The pattern analyzer could accurately identify tasks based on the patterns generated, regardless of whether the subject remembered specific details,” Johnson said.

“This tells us the brain knew something about what had occurred, even though the subject was not aware of the information,” the expert added. (ANI)

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The Universe is flat, but not entirely

May 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, May 19 (ANI): In a move that is reminiscent of scientists rejecting the view held by many people in the medieval times that the Earth is flat, a team of researchers has dismissed the notion that the Universe is completely flat.

According to a report in New Scientist, when it comes to the universe, “flatness” refers to the fate of light beams traveling large distances parallel to each other.

If the universe is “flat”, the beams will always remain parallel. Matter, energy and dark energy all produce curvature in space-time, however.

If the universe’s space-time is positively curved, like the surface of a sphere, parallel beams would come together. In a negatively curved, saddle-shaped universe, parallel beams would diverge.

Thanks in part to the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) satellite, which revealed the density of matter and dark energy in the early universe, most astronomers are confident that the universe is flat.

But, that view is now being questioned by Joseph Silk at the University of Oxford and colleagues, who say it’s possible that the WMAP observations have been misinterpreted.

In a research paper accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, they took data from WMAP and other cosmology experiments and analyzed it using Bayes’s theorem, which can be used to show how the certainty attached to a particular conclusion is affected by different starting assumptions.

Using modern astronomers’ assumptions, which presuppose a flat universe, they calculated the probability that the universe was in one of three states: flat, positively curved or negatively curved.

This produced a 98 per cent probability that the universe is indeed flat.

When they reran the calculation starting from a more open-minded position, however, the probability changed to 67 per cent, making a flat universe far less of a certainty than astronomers generally conclude.

“It’s a reasonable assumption that the universe isn’t entirely flat,” Silk said, adding that the calculation reveals how strongly astronomers’ prejudices can affect their conclusions.

“They’ve developed a statistically rigorous way of examining the question,” said David Spergel of Princeton University, the spokesman for WMAP.

According to Silk, astronomers need to achieve a 99.9999 per cent level of confidence on the flat universe, high enough that the case starts to look compelling no matter what the starting assumptions are.

It’s possible, however, that no measurements will ever be able to get to that level of accuracy. (ANI)

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Super-sensors to measure ‘signature’ of inflationary universe

May 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 4 (ANI): Scientists have built super-sensitive microwave sensors that would help provide evidence in support of the “inflation theory” of the cosmos, which says the universe expanded rapidly from a subatomic volume.

The new detectors, built at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), were made for a potentially ground-breaking experiment by a collaboration involving NIST, Princeton University, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and the University of Chicago.

This is part of a long-standing project at NIST’s Boulder campus plays a critical role in the study of the cosmic microwave background (CMB)-the faint afterglow of the Big Bang that still fills the universe.

This project previously built superconducting amplifiers and cameras for CMB experiments at the South Pole, in balloon-borne observatories, and on the Atacama Plateau in Chile.

The new experiment will begin approximately a year from now on the Chilean desert and will consist of placing a large array of powerful NIST sensors on a telescope mounted in a converted shipping container.

The detectors will look for subtle fingerprints in the CMB from primordial gravitational waves-ripples in the fabric of space-time from the violent birth of the universe more than 13 billion years ago.

Such waves are believed to have left a faint but unique imprint on the direction of the CMB’s electric field, called the “B-mode polarization.”

These waves-never before confirmed through measurements-are potentially detectable today, if sensitive enough equipment is used.

If found, these waves would be the clearest evidence yet in support of the “inflation theory,” which suggests that all of the currently observable universe expanded rapidly from a subatomic volume, leaving in its wake the telltale cosmic background of gravitational waves.

“The B-mode polarization is the most significant piece of evidence related to inflation that has yet to be observed,” said Ki Won Yoon, a NIST postdoctoral scholar.

“A detection of primordial gravitational waves through CMB polarization would go a long way toward putting the inflation theory on firm ground,” Yoon added.

The data also could provide scientists with insights into different string theory models of the universe and other “unified” theories of physics.

The new NIST detectors may also have applications closer to home, such as in reducing glare in advanced terahertz imaging systems for detecting weapons and contraband. (ANI)

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Jay-Z defends Michael Phelps’ pot smoking incident

April 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New York, April 20 (ANI): Jay-Z has defended Olympic gold medallist Michael Phelps’s pot smoking incident, saying it was a young mistake.

Phelps, who has won 14 career Olympic gold medals, the most by any Olympian, had been keeping himself at bay from the spotlight since his controversial marijuana pictures surfaced in January.

And hip-hop mogul Jay-Z offered to explain the reason for the ace swimmer’s actions.

“You look at all these people who graduated from Princeton and Harvard, who are supposed to be pillars of the community – every day [they're] in the newspaper arrested for some kind of financial fraud,” the New York Daily News quoted him as telling told Cigar Aficionado magazine.

“Then you look at someone like Michael Phelps. He’s 23. What’s he gonna do? He’s a kid. He’s going to experiment,” he added. (ANI)

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Earthshine reflects Earth’s oceans and continents from Moon’s dark side

April 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Melbourne, April 8 (ANI): In a new research, scientists have shown for the first time that the difference in reflection of light from the Earth’s land masses and oceans can be seen on the dark side of the moon, a phenomenon known as earthshine.

The research, conducted by researchers from the University of Melbourne and Princeton University, indicates that the brightness of the reflected earthshine varied as the Earth rotated, revealing the difference between the intense mirror-like reflections of the ocean compared to the dimmer land.

According to Sally Langford from the University of Melbourne’s School of Physics, “In the future, astronomers hope to find planets like the Earth around other stars. However these planets will be too small to allow an image to be made of their surface.”

“We can use earthshine, together with our knowledge of the Earth’s surface to help interpret the physical make up of new planets,” she said.

This is the first study in the world to use the reflection of the Earth to measure the effect of continents and oceans on the apparent brightness of a planet.

Other studies have used a colour spectrum and infrared sensors to identify vegetation, or for climate monitoring.

The three-year study involved taking images of the Moon to measure the earth’s brightness as it rotated, allowing Langford to detect the difference in signal from land and water.

bservations of the Moon were made from Mount Macedon in Victoria, for around three days each month when the Moon was rising or setting.

The study was conducted so that in the evening, when the Moon was a waxing crescent, the reflected earthshine originated from Indian Ocean and Africa’s east coast.

In the morning, when the Moon was a waning crescent – it originated only from the Pacific Ocean.

“When we observe earthshine from the Moon in the early evening we see the bright reflection from the Indian Ocean, then as the Earth rotates the continent of Africa blocks this reflection, and the Moon becomes darker,” Langford said.

“If we find Earth sized planets and watch their brightness as they rotate, we will be able to assess properties like the existence of land and oceans,” she added. (ANI)

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Michelle Obama talks about pros and cons of life in White House

March 7, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New York, March 7 (ANI): Being the First Lady of United States has not stopped Michelle Obama from holding on to her sense of humour or so it seemed when she spoke about the pros and cons of life in the White House.

Featuring on the cover page of Oprah Winfrey’s O Magazine, the mum of two revealed how she kept her personal life going even under the scanner.

The Princeton University graduate cited instances of what is left of the occasion when she tries to catch up with her friends, who already know everything about her beforehand.

“That’s the thing about being the first lady: You try to catch your friends up on what’s happening in your life, and they’re like, ‘We know-we read it in the paper,’” the New York Post quoted her as saying in the April issue of the O Magazine.

“I like to imagine she said, “Um, no doi!” she added.

Recalling moments of her daily life now, she said: “Once someone on my staff e-mailed to tell me that the president was on his way. But you could already hear the helicopter, so it was like, well, no kidding.”

She continued: “The girls don’t move. I’m like, ‘You want to see Daddy landing in the helicopter?’ ‘No, that’s OK. We already saw it.” (ANI)

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Lunar cycle can turn hurricanes into ‘monsters’

March 6, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, March 6 (ANI): A new study has determined that hurricanes strengthen more often under a new lunar cycle than at any other time.

The moon’s strange influence on Earth and its denizens is legendary. From fertility to suicide, most phenomena attributed to the Moon are almost exclusively superstition.

But, according to a report in Discovery News, Peter Yaukey of the University of New Orleans has found what he thinks is real evidence that the phases of moon drive hurricane behavior.

Storms that occurred in the Atlantic Ocean between 1950 and 2007 were more likely to form right after the new moon.

They also intensified 49 percent more often after a new moon than at any other time in the 29.5-day lunar cycle.

Over the last century, a smattering of scientific research has hinted that the moon may influence rain patterns, thunderstorms and other meteorological events, Yaukey said.

Explanations for why this is are many, but nothing conclusive has been shown.

“I had a lot of skepticism attributed to the moon, and I still do in a sense. It’s not enough to have a pattern in the data. You need to have a mechanism to explain it,” said Yaukey.

There are a range of possibilities.

Just as the moon pulls on Earth’s oceans and creates the tides, it also tugs on the air above it. Lunar atmospheric tides are thought to be weak, but could create favorable conditions for storms to strengthen.

The moon’s gravity may also pull cosmic dust into Earth’s atmosphere in a cyclical fashion, perhaps seeding cloud formation and precipitation.

The most promising explanation is internal tides encouraged by the lunar cycle.

The currents beneath the ocean surface could circulate warm water up underneath a storm, supplying it with the energy it needs to intensify.

But before scientists seek explanations for the connection they must make sure it’s real, according to Gabriel Vecchi of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association in Princeton, New Jersey.

“There’s an easy way to do an independent test for this. Go back and look back at Atlantic hurricane data from 1878-1950 to see if there’s still this pattern,” he said.

Only 13 percent of the world’s hurricanes occur in the Atlantic Ocean. So, if the moon is really influencing hurricanes, the signal should show up in Pacific and Indian Ocean storms, too. (ANI)

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