Magnetic field of sun said
about to make 180-degree flip


Something big is about to happen on the sun.  According to measurements from NASA-supported observatories, the sun's vast magnetic field is about to flip.

"It looks like we're no more than three to four months away from a complete field reversal," said solar physicist Todd Hoeksema of Stanford University. "This change will have ripple effects throughout the solar system."

The sun's magnetic field changes polarity approximately every 11 years.  It happens at the peak of each solar cycle as the sun's inner magnetic dynamo re-organizes itself.  The coming reversal will mark the midpoint of Solar Cycle 24. Half of solar max will be behind with half yet to come.

Hoeksema is the director of Stanford's Wilcox Solar Observatory, one of the few observatories in the world that monitors the sun's polar magnetic fields.  The poles are a herald of change. Just as Earth scientists watch this planet's polar regions for signs of climate change, solar physicists do the same thing for the sun. Magnetograms at Wilcox have been tracking the sun's polar magnetism since 1976, and they have recorded three grand reversals with a fourth in the offing.

Solar physicist Phil Scherrer, also at Stanford, describes what happens: "The sun's polar magnetic fields weaken, go to zero and then emerge again with the opposite polarity. This is a regular part of the solar cycle."

A reversal of the sun's magnetic field is, literally, a big event. The domain of the sun's magnetic influence (also known as the "heliosphere") extends billions of kilometers beyond Pluto. Changes to the field's polarity ripple all the way out to the Voyager probes, on the doorstep of interstellar space.

When solar physicists talk about solar field reversals, their conversation often centers on the current sheet.  The current sheet is a sprawling surface jutting outward from the sun's equator where the sun's slowly rotating magnetic field induces an electrical current.  The current itself is small, only one ten-billionth of an amp per square meter (0.0000000001 amps/m2), but there’s a lot of it: the amperage flows through a region 10,000 km thick and billions of kilometers wide.  Electrically speaking, the entire heliosphere is organized around this enormous sheet.

During field reversals, the current sheet becomes very wavy. Scherrer likens the undulations to the seams on a baseball.  As Earth orbits the sun, the planet dips in and out of the current sheet. Transitions from one side to another can stir up stormy space weather around this planet.

Cosmic rays are also affected. These are high-energy particles accelerated to nearly light speed by supernova explosions and other violent events in the galaxy.  Cosmic rays are a danger to astronauts and space probes, and some researchers say they might affect the cloudiness and climate of Earth. The current sheet acts as a barrier to cosmic rays, deflecting them as they attempt to penetrate the inner solar system. A wavy, crinkly sheet acts as a better shield against these energetic particles from deep space.

As the field reversal approaches, data from Wilcox show that the sun's two hemispheres are out of synch.

"The sun's north pole has already changed sign, while the south pole is racing to catch up," Scherrer said. "Soon, however, both poles will be reversed, and the second half of solar max will be underway."

When that happens, Hoeksema and Scherrer will share the news with their colleagues and the public.


Arrests aim to break up ties
of prisons gangs and Mexicans

 
A coalition of federal, state and local authorities Tuesday morning arrested eight defendants named in a federal grand jury indictment that outlines an alliance between the Mexican Mafia prison gang and the La Familia Michoacána drug cartel that sought to protect and expand the cartel’s drug trafficking activities across the United States.

The seven-count indictment, which names six members of the Mexican Mafia, three associates of the prison gang, and four people directly linked to the La Familia cartel, outlines a venture between the criminal organizations that participants referred to as the Project, and which involved the highest levels of La Familia. The indictment alleges that participants in the Project sought to give La Familia members free rein to sell methamphetamine in southern California and to provide protection for incarcerated cartel members in exchange for money and methamphetamine going to Mexican Mafia members.

The indictment that outlines the Project and related drug trafficking activities names 13 defendants, eight of whom were arrested Tuesday morning. Four were already in custody prior to Tuesday’s arrests and one is a fugitive. During the course of this investigation, authorities seized more than 600 pounds of methamphetamine and charged an additional six defendants in state court.

The Mexican Mafia is a powerful prison gang that controls much of the drug trade and other criminal activities within California state prisons, county jails and some federal prisons, according to the indictments unsealed Tuesday. The Mexican Mafia also exercises control over and directs the narcotics trafficking activities of Latino street gangs across Southern California and in prisons. The indictment concerning the Mexican Mafia-La Familia Project represents the largest crackdown on the prison gang’s members since the United States Attorney’s Office brought a series of cases against the leadership of the prison gang in the 1990s.
       
La Familia Michoacana and it successor, Los Caballeros Templarios (the Knights Templar), is a major drug cartel based in the Mexican state of Michoacán and is responsible for the trafficking of hundreds of thousands of pounds of controlled substances, including methamphetamine, from Mexico into the United States,” according to the indictment.

       
Army major admits shootings
 in which 13 persons died


U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Hasan has presented his opening argument in a Fort Hood, Texas, courtroom, telling jurors, known in military trials as panel members, that evidence will show that he opened fire on the base on Nov. 5, 2009.  He has been charged with 13 counts of murder for the shooting and could face the death penalty.  But, he may have shortened the trial process by not disputing the government's evidence.

In opening statements, Hasan, who is representing himself, conceded that the evidence would show that he was responsible for the shooting that resulted in the deaths of 12 fellow soldiers and a civilian.  Hasan said he had changed sides to defend his religion, Islam, from U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Former military lawyer Greg Rinckey of the Tully Rinckey firm in Washington says such an admission in court is highly unusual.

"It is very odd for a defendant to say, 'I was the shooter,' however; it appears clear that he is trying to make some religious rationale for the shooting.  He is trying to justify it in some sort of way as some sort of jihad," said Rinckey.

In their opening statement, military prosecutors summarized evidence that they said would prove that Hasan had planned and carried out the attack.  Later, they brought to the stand several witnesses who testified that Hasan had purchased weapons and practiced with them on a shooting range.  When they presented a handgun as evidence, Hasan said, "Your Honor, that is my weapon."

In capital cases, military law does not allow for a guilty plea and prosecutors are required to present evidence before a jury, which is called a panel.

In addition, military courts allow panel members to ask questions of witnesses, according to Rinckey, but not directly.

"Basically, they have to write out their questions, the judge has to review it and then the defense and by the government and, if there is no objection, the question is usually asked by the judge," he said.

Rinckey says the government has a large amount of evidence and testimony to present and panel members could slow down the proceedings considerably if they ask many questions.

"We do see panel members in these cases asking questions, usually they are very involved in the cases and it can sometimes take several hours to go through the questions, especially if there is an objection," he said.

Rinckey says it is probably too soon to tell how long this trial might last.  He says it should take at least two weeks for the government to present all its evidence, but it is difficult to speculate on what Hasan might do.  The presiding judge, Col. Tara Osborn, told the panel the trial could last months.
 

Purchase of Washington Post
seen as a hopeful sign


That Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is buying The Washington Post surprised many in the news industry.  But, as some analysts say, the deal may be good for the struggling newspaper business.

Known for breaking major stories, The Washington Post has been an icon of print journalism for decades.  But faced with declining circulation and a sharp drop in operating revenue, Washington Post Chairman Donald Graham told employees the paper stood a better chance with a new owner.

“We knew we could keep the Post alive, we knew it could survive.  But our aspirations for the Post have always been higher than that," said Graham.

Newspapers have been losing readership and advertising revenue to on-line rivals.

Bezos, the world’s 11th richest man, offered to buy The Post for a quarter of a billion dollars.   Some call it a smart move by Bezos and a timely one for the Washington Post.

Author and media studies professor Paul Levinson says it was time for the newspaper to dive into the digital age. 
 
“Because the future of newspapers is online.  This doesn’t mean that print newspapers will go out of existence. As a matter of fact, the best chance that printed newspapers have to continue is if they have a vibrant, active, growing, online presence and that’s what Amazon can do for Washington Post," said Levinson.

After decades of Graham family ownership, Bezos assured the family and Post employees that the paper's mission and character would not change - promising to leave operations to the paper’s managers.

Chris Tolles, the CEO of Topix, an online news community that reaches millions, says the Post is an important voice in the news business and U.S. politics. 

“I think it’s one of the top three or four big newspapers in the United States and its editorial pages carry weight. They’re read by presidents and Congress and their families," said Tolles.

The Post earned its strong reputation by breaking stories such as the Watergate scandal, the Pentagon papers and more recently, disclosures about the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs.
 
 
Obama says housing market
needs to be strengthened in U.S.


In his latest speech on the U.S. economy, President Barack Obama has outlined steps he says need to be taken to strengthen the U.S. housing market. 

The president flew to Phoenix, which was among American cities that suffered the most from the housing market collapse of 2009, to deliver his latest speech on the economy and his proposals to help extend recovery and help the middle class.

At the beginning of his presidency,  Obama made a speech in Phoenix focusing on the bursting of the real estate bubble.

Tuesday he said the housing market is beginning to heal with home prices rising the fastest in seven years, sales and construction up and foreclosures down by two-thirds.

Obama told an audience at a high school that despite steps his administration took, Americans still need more help refinancing their mortgages, and overall the housing system needs more reform.

"We have got to turn the page on this kind of bubble-and-bust mentality that helped to create this mess in the first place. We have got to build a housing system that’s durable and fair and rewards responsibility for generations to come.  That is what we have got to do," said Obama.
 
Obama called on lawmakers to do more to help homeowners refinance at current rates, and urged simplification of regulations blocking qualified people from getting loans.

He said he supports efforts in Congress to wind down quasi-government institutions Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, companies whose lending practices were at the heart of the housing collapse.

The companies, he said, "made huge profits buying mortgages knowing that taxpayers would ultimately be left holding the bag if loans went bad."  Such practices, and Wall Street's collapse, helped to kill Main Street.

Fixing America's broken immigration system, Obama added, would help more people buy homes and increase values. 

Obama said "no program or policy will solve all the problems in a multi-trillion dollar housing market, but said steps he has outlined can restore stability and other things.

"If we take the steps I talked about today, then I know we will restore not just our home values, but also our common values.  We’ll make owning a home a symbol of responsibility, not speculation, a source of security for generations to come, just like it was for my grandparents, I want it to be just just like that for all the young people who are here today and their children and their grandchildren," said Obama.

Obama ended his speech in Phoenix with another call for an end to political gridlock in Washington and for lawmakers to set aside slash-and-burn partisanship to help the economy.


Curiosity marks a full year
in traveling around Mars


It has been 12 months since the Curiosity rover landed on Mars.

NASA says, in that time, the rover has driven across more than 1.6 kilometers of Martian terrain.  It has found evidence of an ancient stream bed and signs of wet conditions from multiple periods. 

Curiosity was the first rover to bore into Martian rock and reveal that the interior of the Red Planet is actually gray.

NASA scientists say Curiosity has already answered the mission's core question: Was ancient Mars capable of supporting simple forms of life, such as micro-organisms? 

"Mars was habitable in its past," said Jim Green, director of the planetary division at NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

"We found all the ingredients of life as measured in this material that's deposited in this ancient riverbed," he said, referring to Curiosity's findings of hydrogen, oxygen and other elements.

Curiosity has 10 scientific instruments, amounting to a roving laboratory. 

The space agency says the rover has fired more than 75,000 laser shots to vaporize rocks and soil and study their composition.  It also has provided more than 70,000 images to give a new view of Earth's neighbor. 

Curiosity is not a life-detection mission, but its findings provide the groundwork for the next Mars rover, to be launched in 2020, says NASA's Green.

"Knowing that Mars was an environment that was habitable in its past, we're going to start seeking the signs of potential life that could have existed on Mars," said Green. "And that, if we could answer that question, will change everything."

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden says Mars is the most Earth-like of the planets in the solar system.

"If life exists beyond Earth, and I am one who believes that it may very well, Mars, for me, is the most likely place that that life will be found," he said at an event to commemorate Curiosity's first anniversary on the Red Planet.

As NASA plans future Mars missions, Curiosity is traveling in the deep,150-kilometer-wide depression called Gale Crater.  It is heading toward Mount Sharp, where it will study the lower layers of that Martian peak and search for clues about the planet's evolution.


Two flu deaths in China blamed
on infection from live poultry


Scientists researching a new strain of bird flu in eastern China are reporting the first case of probable person-to-person transmission of the so-called H7N9 virus.

The findings were reported Tuesday in the British Medical Journal and focus on the case of an adult woman and her 60-year-old father, who became ill in March after a routine visit to a live poultry market. Despite medical care and eventual hospitalization, the father died six weeks later. 

Researchers say most patients appear to have visited live poultry markets or otherwise had close contact with live birds seven to 10 days before the onset of the illness, which has sickened more than 100 people and resulted in 43 deaths since first appearing in March.

In the father-daughter case, the report says the previously healthy 32-year-old woman had no direct exposure to live poultry. But she provided direct and unprotected bedside care for her ailing father, and became sick about a week after her last contact with him. She died one month later.

Despite the fatalities, the report stresses that the ability of the virus to transmit itself still appears limited and non-sustainable.

It also says medical investigators interviewed 43 close contacts with the father and daughter. All were tested for the virus. All tested negative.

In April, Chinese scientists said they feared that H7N9 had in some cases spread from human to human. The World Health Organization later said there was no firm evidence, though, that this was the case.

Chinese scientists have scrambled to develop vaccines and other treatments for the H7N9 strain, while health authorities earlier this year slaughtered hundreds of thousands of birds in live markets to bring the outbreak under control.

China's official Xinhua news agency said emergency virus control procedures were lifted in May in eastern provinces and major cities, including Shanghai, Jiangsu and Shandong, where most of the infections occurred. 

A more common form of avian flu, H5N1, has killed more than 360 people worldwide in the past decade.


Immigration reform supporters
plan to pressure U.S. lawmakers


Supporters of immigration reform say they will be out in force this month pressuring members of Congress to pass legislation that establishes a path to citizenship for most of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. The Senate has passed a comprehensive reform bill, but the Republican-controlled House of Representatives is moving more slowly.

Supporters of immigration reform rally near the Capitol in Washington, hoping to convince lawmakers to act. House Republicans appear to be in no hurry, though, including Rep. Steve King of Iowa.

King recently sparked anger when he dismissed many young immigrants as drug smugglers in an interview with Newsmax TV. “For everyone who’s a valedictorian, there’s another 100 out there who weigh 130 pounds and they’ve got calves the size of cantaloupes because they are hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert,” he said.

Among those condemning King was Republican Speaker of the House, John Boehner. “What he said does not reflect the values of the American people or the Republican Party. We all need to do our work in a constructive, open and respectful way.”

The immigration debate has divided Republicans in Congress, especially over a path to citizenship. Many conservatives see that as amnesty for those who entered the country illegally.

Carroll Doherty, with the Pew Research Center in Washington, said, “They look confused about which direction to head and even about some of the basic principles of their philosophy. Do they present a more moderate face on issues like gay marriage and immigration or not?”

Moderate Republicans favor passing some version of immigration reform, said Republican strategist Ford O’Connell. “This is a signal to Hispanics, to Asians, to other minorities that we care about your plight because we understand that you are not going to listen to what we have to say on policy if you think we are going to deport your grandmother.”

House Republicans say they will not follow the Senate’s lead and pass a comprehensive bill. Their first priority is shoring up the U.S. border with Mexico.

Despite the slow progress in the House, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi remains upbeat. “I’m optimistic about it because it has to happen. We just cannot let this languish,” she said.

Failing to reach out to minority voters could have enormous consequences for a Republican Party trying to change its image, said O’Connell.

“That the Republicans are only concerned about white voters and they are not concerned about the rank and file voter, and I hate to tell people that if you kill immigration reform, in the long run you could wind up killing the Republican Party,” he said.

The House resumes debate on immigration when lawmakers return to Washington next month.
 

Japan marks anniversary
of Hiroshima bomb blast


Japan observed a minute of silence Tuesday to mark the 68th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima.

Survivors and relatives of victims were among 50,000 people gathered at a peace park in Hiroshima for a somber ceremony.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the crowd Japan has a unique responsibility to push for the end of nuclear weapons.

"We Japanese are history's sole victims of the nuclear attack, and we have the certain responsibility to bring about a world without nuclear weapons," Abe said. "And it is our duty to continue to remind the world of inhumanity."

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui made a similar pledge, calling nuclear bombs the "ultimate inhumane weapon and an absolute evil."

About 140,000 were killed in the days following the Aug. 6, 1945, U.S. bombing of Hiroshima. Three days later, U.S. planes dropped a nuclear bomb on Nagasaki, killing about 70,000 more.

The U.S. and its allies have argued the bombings were necessary and helped save lives by convincing Japan to surrender, bringing a quicker end to World War II.

The sensitive anniversary comes as Japan wrestles over a debate about the role of nuclear energy, following the country's 2011 earthquake and nuclear disaster.

Almost all of Japan's nuclear power plants remain shut down following the meltdowns at Fukushima, which spread radiation over a large area and forced thousands to flee.

Prime Minister Abe and his party want to restart the plants following safety inspections, but the plan has proved controversial for many in the energy-dependent nation.

Since the accident, there have been repeated safety concerns at the Fukushima power plant, where operators are struggling to contain radiation-contaminated water.