More than 1,200 new planets discovered through Nasa Kepler space telescope

More than 1,200 new planets discovered through Nasa Kepler space telescope | TheNews Linzer

More than doubling the number of confirmed planets orbiting alien stars, astronomers said that the discovery is a step toward finding Earth-like planets

Nasa added more than 1,200 new planets to the known galaxy on Tuesday, more than doubling the number of confirmed planets orbiting alien stars.

Revealing data from the Kepler space telescope, the astronomers said that the discovery is a step toward finding Earth-like planets. “This gives us hope that somewhere out there, around a star much like ours, we can eventually discover another Earth,” said Ellen Stofan, Nasa’s chief scientist.

Analysis on data from Kepler found that 1,284 candidates have a 99% chance of being a planet, of 4,302 potential planets detected by the telescope. Kepler searches in particular for planets in the “habitable zone” – close enough to a star for water to pool on the surface of a planet. Not so close that the star scorches water out of existence, as on Mercury, and not so far that water only persists as ice, as on Pluto. Continue reading...

Published By - Theguardian.com- Tech News, Politics news, UK and world political comment and analysis: Tuesday 10 May 2016 20.21 BST

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US unions plan attack on Donald Trump in attempt to derail presidential bid

Concerned labor group leaders are organizing ad campaigns and phone banks as Trump’s populist message on trade and jobs draws in union voters The prospect of a Donald Trump nomination has labor leaders scrambling to hold the line as the Republican frontrunner’s appeal to disaffected working-class voters threatens to upset the traditional political calculus. The majority of America’s almost 15 million unionized workers can be usually be relied upon to back the Democratic candidate in a presidential year, but leaders are concerned by Trump’s populist message on trade and jobs – and his insistence that union workers are just one of many groups on a long list of those he claims “love” him. Published By - Theguardian.com - Sports New, LifeStyle News, Politics news, UK and world political comment and analysis: Tuesday 26 April 2016 12.00 BST

North Carolina's 'bathroom bill' battle embarrasses residents on both sides | TheNews Linzer

The escalating fight over LGBT rights has turned the historically sophisticated, inclusive southern state into a battleground of intolerance In the family of southern states, North Carolina has long been the cousin who made it. It enjoyed excellent universities, world-class industries, smooth roads and political stability. A whole class of people arose called “halfbacks”: people who retired from the north-east states to Florida, only to realize North Carolina was better and moved halfway back. Now, with the state squaring off against the federal government about who can use which bathrooms, the state finds itself at the pointy end of jokes, and lumped in with more strident southern states like Mississippi and – most bitterly – South Carolina. It’s unfamiliar for North Carolinians. It’s uncomfortable. And many are asking: how did we get here? How did the high-achieving, well-educated cousin end up with a black eye and busted knuckles, reeling over a public toilet? Continue reading....

From Uber to Eric Schmidt, tech is closer to the US government than you'd think

Twitter was scrabbling to defend the appointment of a Chinese head with government ties, yet US tech has a busy revolving door with its own government What’s worse for a Silicon Valley executive: ties to the Chinese military or friends in the US Defense Department? Twitter found itself confronting that question this week after it hired Kathy Chen, a former engineer for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), to head up ad sales and business development in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Internet freedom activists and Chinese dissidents, who have to skirt Beijing’s digital censors to use Twitter, said it was a betrayal. The spat illustrates the delicate balancing act technology companies face as they are forced to expand overseas to grow. In the US, Silicon Valley, like any industry, has embraced and relied on close relationships with former government officials both for technical talent and to help grease the wheels as they confront regulatory issues. Alphabet’s executive chairman, ...

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