Galactic Views (38)

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SPACE WATCH

Hubble Peeks Inside a Stellar Cloud
NASA – Bright stars, shining through what looks like a haze in the night sky, are part of a young stellar grouping in one of the largest known star formation regions of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. The image was captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope‘s Wide Field Planetary Camera 2.

The stellar grouping, known to stargazers as NGC 2040 or LH 88, is a loose star cluster whose stars have a common origin and are drifting together through space. There are three different types of stellar associations defined by their stellar properties. NGC 2040 is an OB association, a grouping that usually contains 10–100 stars of type O and B–these are high-mass stars that have short but brilliant lives. It is thought that most of the stars in the Milky Way were born in OB associations.

A version of this image was entered into the Hubble’s Hidden Treasures Image Processing Competition by contestant Eedresha Sturdivant. Hidden Treasures is an initiative to invite astronomy enthusiasts to search the Hubble archive for stunning images that have never been seen by the general public. Image Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA and D. A Gouliermis. Acknowledgement: Flickr user Eedresha Sturdivant

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French Socialists Test Ride Obama Platform

By Paul Roderick Gregory – French voters went to the polls today to winnow a ten-candidate presidential field down to the “right-of-center” incumbent (Nicolas Sarkozy) and his socialist challenger (Francois Hollande). The two will face each other in a  runoff election on May 6. A Sarkozy loss would be the first of an incumbent French president in  thirty years. It would threaten the German-French sponsored European Union rescue package.

The French election previews the U.S. November election contest between incumbent Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney in the following four ways:

• Both Obama and Hollande offer almost identical leftist platforms.
• The sorry state of the economy gives both challengers a hefty leg-up.

A Google search confirms that the U.S. media has largely ignored the striking overlap between Democrat  Obama’s and Socialist Hollande’s electoral platforms. Today’s New York Times indirectly lets the cat out of the bag.

In its In France, Using Lessons from Obama’s Election Campaign, the Times reveals that Obama loyalists  have been working behind the scenes to teach French socialists community-organizer techniques. more> http://is.gd/FAgNHG

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• Is There Really Any Difference Between Hollande, Sarkozy, Obama And Romney? (businessinsider.com)
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California’s population growth seen slowing

Reuters – The University of Southern California‘s Price School of Public Policy report’s population projections, based on 2010 Census data, differ markedly from state projections made in 2007 by California‘s Department of Finance.

“The population level previously expected for 2020 is not reached until 2028 (44.1 million). And the 50-million population mark previously anticipated for January 2032 is now expected in January 2046, fully 14 years later,” the report said.

At the same time, the most populous U.S. state will be growing markedly older, with population growth among its seniors ages 65 and older projected to quadruple in the coming 20 years, the report said.

A growing senior population could alter California’s finances and economy dramatically. more> http://is.gd/5UHgdO

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Rivals seek delay of Verizon cable deal review

1980s Dodge Ram Van Verizon (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Jasmin Melvin – Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N), DirecTV (DTV.O) and others asked U.S. communications regulators on Tuesday to suspend their 180-day clock for reviewing proposed multi-billion dollar airwaves deals between Verizon Wireless and several cable operators.

The Federal Communications Commission is on the 96th day of its review of Verizon Wireless’s plan to buy about $3.9 billion worth of wireless airwaves from cable companies including Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) and Time Warner Cable Inc (TWC.N).

The cable operators would be allowed to resell Verizon’s mobile service as part of the deals. Verizon Wireless is a venture of Verizon Communications (VZ.N) and Vodafone Group Plc (VOD.L).

Verizon rivals Sprint, Deutsche Telekom AG‘s (DTEGn.DE) T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS Communications (PCS.N), have all complained to the FCC about the bigger company’s cable deal on concerns that it would give too much market power to the already dominant company. more> http://is.gd/n1dCHe

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Ericsson raises hopes mobile gear market stabilized

By Simon Johnson – World number one mobile network gear maker Ericsson (ERICb.ST) beat expectations for earnings and margins in the first quarter raising hopes that recent market weakness has bottomed out.

Ericsson said operators remained cautious due to the macroeconomic environment. Ericsson’s caution chimed with that of rivals Huawei and Nokia Siemens Networks which have warned the soft global economic outlook could prompt telecom carriers to cut investments.

Ericsson hinted at a pick up in the key North American market after six months of slack demand. “I don’t see the cautious operators there,” Ericsson Chief Executive Hans Vestberg said. more> http://is.gd/zDMRyd

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