Wednesday, September 17, 2008
'Upside Down Rainbow'
Exceptional atmospheric conditions created a rare and stunning display in the skies above Cambridge.At 4.45pm on Sunday, a circumzenithal arc - which looks like a bright, upside-down rainbow was visible above the city.
Cambridge-based astronomer Jacqueline Mitton captured the stunning sight, caused by sunlight being refracted through ice crystals high in the atmosphere, with her camera. The phenomenon is rarely seen outside the polar regions.
She said: "The conditions have to be just right: you need the right sort of ice crystals and the sky has to be clear. It's quite surprising for this to occur somewhere like Cambridge, usually it is in places that are colder."
The intensity of the colors in the rainbow was heightened by the sun being at the optimum spot in the sky - 22 degrees. A Met Office spokeswoman said: "They are fairly rare. It is convex to the sun and is formed by refraction in suitably-oriented ice crystals and may show vivid rainbow coloring, as in this case."
Astronomer Jacqueline Mitton took this shot of the 'upside-down rainbow', a rare atmospheric phenomenon, which appeared above Cambridge over the weekend.
A duck that’s chicken of water
A Chinese farmer is baffled after he bought a duck that has feet like a chicken and is scared of water.Curious villagers in Huangjin village, Xicheng town, are flocking to the home of Fu Haiwen to see the duck.
Fu said he bought the duck and was surprised to see it did not have webbed feet.
"It never went with the other ducks to swim in the river," he explained.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
In the News
The woman was unhappy with the ears of her rabbit
A woman dialled 999 because a rabbit she bought via a newspaper advert did not have floppy ears, Central Scotland Police have said.
The force is urging the public not to dial 999 unless they are faced with a genuine emergency.
The reminder comes after operators, who receive 34,000 999 calls a year, said the number was being dialled for "wholly inappropriate reasons".
.
Federal Workers Owe Billions in Delinquent Taxes
The Internal Revenue Service is trying to collect billions of dollars in late taxes from nearly half a million federal employees and retirees that did not pay more than $3.5 billion in taxes owed last year.
The agency with the most delinquent employees was the U.S. Postal Service. Nearly 4.2 percent of its 747,000 workers are delinquent.
The IRS would not provide comparable data for the general population.
The Executive Office of the President, which includes the White House, has 58 employees who did not pay more than $319,000. More than 1,000 Capitol Hill workers are on the list.
.
Cell Phone Ban for California Operators
The state's top rail safety regulator said Monday he would seek an emergency order banning train operators from using cell phones, as federal investigators sought to determine whether the engineer of a commuter train was text messaging before a crash that killed 25 people.
Michael Peevey, president of the California Public Utilities Commission, said some railroad operators have policies prohibiting the personal use of cell phones, but they're widely ignored."Our order would make it the law and we'll go after violators. We owe it to the public," he said.
.
A check-up by the check-out
Dentist opens supermarket surgery.
A dental surgery has opened in a supermarket in Greater Manchester. Sainsbury's say that the private dentist clinic in its Sale branch is the first in a supermarket in the UK. It will be open seven days a week and follows the opening of a GP surgery at a Sainsbury's supermarket at Heaton Park, Manchester, in March.
A woman dialled 999 because a rabbit she bought via a newspaper advert did not have floppy ears, Central Scotland Police have said.
The force is urging the public not to dial 999 unless they are faced with a genuine emergency.
The reminder comes after operators, who receive 34,000 999 calls a year, said the number was being dialled for "wholly inappropriate reasons".
.
Federal Workers Owe Billions in Delinquent Taxes
The Internal Revenue Service is trying to collect billions of dollars in late taxes from nearly half a million federal employees and retirees that did not pay more than $3.5 billion in taxes owed last year.
The agency with the most delinquent employees was the U.S. Postal Service. Nearly 4.2 percent of its 747,000 workers are delinquent.
The IRS would not provide comparable data for the general population.
The Executive Office of the President, which includes the White House, has 58 employees who did not pay more than $319,000. More than 1,000 Capitol Hill workers are on the list.
.
Cell Phone Ban for California Operators
The state's top rail safety regulator said Monday he would seek an emergency order banning train operators from using cell phones, as federal investigators sought to determine whether the engineer of a commuter train was text messaging before a crash that killed 25 people.
Michael Peevey, president of the California Public Utilities Commission, said some railroad operators have policies prohibiting the personal use of cell phones, but they're widely ignored."Our order would make it the law and we'll go after violators. We owe it to the public," he said.
.
A check-up by the check-out
Dentist opens supermarket surgery.
A dental surgery has opened in a supermarket in Greater Manchester. Sainsbury's say that the private dentist clinic in its Sale branch is the first in a supermarket in the UK. It will be open seven days a week and follows the opening of a GP surgery at a Sainsbury's supermarket at Heaton Park, Manchester, in March.
Monday, September 15, 2008
In the News
'B' is for Bribery?
Chicago School District Pays Students Cash for Grades
Good grades may have lost their currency in the school yard, but a new program paying students for their As, Bs and even Cs could be sending the wrong message, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday.
Up to 5,000 freshmen at 20 public high schools in Chicago will be tested every five weeks in five different subjects. An average grade of C earns students $20, a B pulls in $35 and an A is worth $50 — half in cash up front and the rest to be paid out upon graduation.
A straight-A student can earn $4,000 by the end of sophomore year through the Harvard-developed program, according to the newspaper.
Some, like chief executive of Chicago Public Schools, Arne Duncan, applaud the introduction of a "middle class" incentive to the mostly lower-income district. But others aren’t so keen in this very literal investment in education.
.
No More
Yorkshire Coast College have removed the words Christmas and Easter from their calendar so as not to cause offence to ethnic minorities or religious groups.
The Evening News was tipped off about the move by an outraged member of staff who described the college as "a joke" and Scarborough MP Robert Goodwill has slammed the initiative as "political correctness gone mad". A college spokesman said the decision had been made in accordance with Ofsted guidelines and was aimed at increasing inclusion and diversity.
Chicago School District Pays Students Cash for Grades
Good grades may have lost their currency in the school yard, but a new program paying students for their As, Bs and even Cs could be sending the wrong message, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday.
Up to 5,000 freshmen at 20 public high schools in Chicago will be tested every five weeks in five different subjects. An average grade of C earns students $20, a B pulls in $35 and an A is worth $50 — half in cash up front and the rest to be paid out upon graduation.
A straight-A student can earn $4,000 by the end of sophomore year through the Harvard-developed program, according to the newspaper.
Some, like chief executive of Chicago Public Schools, Arne Duncan, applaud the introduction of a "middle class" incentive to the mostly lower-income district. But others aren’t so keen in this very literal investment in education.
.
No More
Yorkshire Coast College have removed the words Christmas and Easter from their calendar so as not to cause offence to ethnic minorities or religious groups.
The Evening News was tipped off about the move by an outraged member of staff who described the college as "a joke" and Scarborough MP Robert Goodwill has slammed the initiative as "political correctness gone mad". A college spokesman said the decision had been made in accordance with Ofsted guidelines and was aimed at increasing inclusion and diversity.
10 Reasons Why Every Home Should Have a Cat
You thought that cats are good for nothing except eating and sleeping.
1. They can do your taxes for you.
2. They are good with computers.
3. They can guard your house for you.
4. Cats can drive you to work and fetch your kids from school.
5. Cats are good photographers.
6. Cats can help with the chores at home.
7. While cats may not help to bring home the bacon, they do help to bring home the fish.
8. They are always up to date on the latest trends. (exercising)
9. They are the most suitable candidates for Santa when Christmas is round the corner.
10. And last but not least, you can always depend on your cat to help save the day.Sunday, September 14, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
