Dalai Lama to be absent from Desmond Tutu birthday after visa controversy
October 4, 2011 No Comment
Tibetan spiritual leader’s office and activists suggest South Africa caved in to pressure from China to hold up entry visa The Dalai Lama says he has been forced to pull out of Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s 80th birthday celebrations because South Africa did not grant him an entry visa. Civil rights campaigners reacted furiously to the news, claiming that South Africa had buckled under pressure from China, its biggest trading partner, which regards the Dalai Lama as a dangerous separatist. Tutu had invited his fellow Nobel peace laureate to deliver a lecture to mark his milestone birthday in Cape Town on Friday. Officials from the archbishop emeritus’s office started the visa application process in June but were hit by a series of bureaucratic delays . On Tuesday, the Dalai Lama’s office finally gave up. “His Holiness was to depart for South Africa on 6 October, 2011, but visas have not been granted yet,” it said. “We are, therefore, now convinced that for whatever reason or reasons, the South African government finds it inconvenient to issue a visa to His Holiness the Dalai Lama.” A candlelit vigil outside the South African parliament in Cape Town on Monday night drew around 250 protesters demanding that the Tibetan spiritual leader be allowed into the country. Instead there was bitter disappointment on Tuesday morning, when it was announced the eight-day trip had been called off. Civil rights campaigners blamed the government with expressions of anger and shame. Nomfundo Walaza, chief executive of the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre , said: “I’m shocked and dismayed that they would let it come to this point. I still had hope after the vigil last night that we would wake up this morning to hear the visa had been issued. “It’s a shame. I think it’s the darkest moment in the history of this country for this to be allowed to happen. We worked so hard on this, we put our heart and soul into it. For a religous leader of the Dalai Lama’s standing to be refused is not acceptable. It’s sad that this is what our democracy is all about.” She had not yet spoken to Tutu, Walaza added, “but I’m sure he is devastated.” Ela Gandhi , who had planned to present the Dalai Lama with a peace prize in the name of her grandfather, Mahatma Gandhi, said: “I’m very disappointed. We were looking forward to him coming and to presenting the award. “I really feel the whole situation has been handled so badly. It’s discourteous for a person of his stature to be told to wait for so long. For a person of peace to be treated like this is wrong.” She continued: “Everybody thinks this is because of pressure from China. It’s very sad that another country is allowed to dictate terms to our government. It’s going back to aparteid times. I am ashamed of my own country.” Activists who had been campaigning for the 76-year-old spiritual leader’s visit joined the condemnation. Hennie van Vuuren, director of the Institute for Security Studies in Cape Town, said: “I’m deeply disappointed that the South African government didn’t find the wisdom to do the right thing. It makes no sense given that the Dalai Lama recently went to Brazil and Mexico. It shows the issue cannot be about China alone. “South African foreign policy is increasingly showing incoherence. It undermines the strong human rights record of this country. It flies in the face of the desire of most South Africans to uphold our constitutional democracy.” South African foreign ministry officials have consistently denied accusations they were bowing to pressure from Beijing. Asked for his reaction to the Dalai Lama’s decision, spokesman Clayson Monyela said: “We don’t have a reaction. He’s cancelled his trip and that’s it. “We have not said no. We’ve not refused him a visa; the visa was still being processed. It’s only on 20 September that he submitted his full paperwork. In some countries, a visa can take two months. I don’t know why people are criticising the government.” The Dalai Lama visited South Africa in 1996, meeting the then president, Nelson Mandela, but was prevented from attending a Nobel laureates’ conference in the country two years ago , when the government said his visit would distract from preparations for the football World Cup. At the time, Tutu called the decision disgraceful, and accused the authorities of bowing to pressure from China. Dalai Lama South Africa Africa Desmond Tutu David Smith guardian.co.uk
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Damien Fowkes pleads guilty to slashing Soham killer’s throat and admits manslaughter of child killer Colin Hatch A fellow prisoner has admitted trying to kill the Soham murderer, Ian Huntley. Damien Fowkes, 35, pleaded guilty at Hull crown court to slashing Huntley’s throat in Frankland prison, Durham, in March last year. Fowkes, from Northampton, also admitted the manslaughter of the child killer Colin Hatch, who was strangled at Full Sutton prison near York in February this year. He was initially charged with Hatch’s murder but his guilty plea to manslaughter was accepted on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Fowkes appeared before the court on Tuesday in a sealed dock surrounded by five prison officers. An application for him to come into court in handcuffs was rejected by the judge. The prisoner spoke to confirm his name and enter his pleas. He denied murdering Hatch but admitted manslaughter. Graham Reeds, prosecuting, said this plea was acceptable. The court heard how Fowkes shows “strong psychopathic traits”. Crime Prisons and probation Soham murders UK criminal justice guardian.co.uk
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London says Italians contravening 2008 accord with 2012 dates clash in a hullaballoo that underlines serious issues for industry After a summer of peace, hostilities have resumed between the rival cities of Paris, Milan, New York and Paris for supremacy in the fashion industry. The latest flashpoint is the catwalk calendar for next September. Milan fashion week has announced dates which clash with those of London. The organisers of London’s shows have been joined by those of New York’s in claiming that this directly contravenes an agreement in 2008, when this problem last flared. Mario Boselli, head of the Italian catwalks’ governing body, claims that the deal was only valid for three years. The British Fashion Council on Tuesday confirmed the standoff, saying: “Camera Nazionale della Moda [the Italian body] and Chambre syndicale [the French one] have announced dates for September 2012 that contravene the fashion week dates agreement of September 2008. “We are in direct discussion with our counterparts and hope to resolve the matter over the next few weeks. We have a great deal of support from both international and domestic media and retailers in retaining the dates agreement.” Behind the brinkmanship and ego-battles lie serious issues for the industry – and it is London fashion week that is most at risk, occupying as it does a vulnerable five-day slot directly between New York and Milan. New York is unwilling to move dates earlier next year, citing the closeness to Labor Day weekend, the US public holiday, which causes production issues, and London designers fear that dates too early in September will be logistically impossible in the immediate aftermath of the Olympics. Italian designers, however, feel that their 2012 dates (as designated in the 2008 agreement) do not allow enough time for production of the clothes in time for delivery to stores. With pressure at both ends, it is London whose slot stands most at risk of feeling the squeeze. The clashes also highlight the broader issue of an antiquated catwalk show calendar at odds with the needs of the modern fashion industry. Designers are looking for ways to steal a march on a set up where clothes are not on sale for six months after the catwalk shows, citing the opportunity this hands to fast-fashion chains to cash in on catwalk trends before designers can. Deliveries are moving earlier, “pre-season” collections becoming more important. Burberry customers watching the show online can order online direct from the catwalk and receive their clothes before they hit stores. There is a growing feeling in the industry that the traditional catwalk set up is creaking. It is propped up by a deep fondness for catwalk as theatre and, at times, art form. But the stately tour of four cities is rooted in a time when fashion was a more leisurely pursuit, and does not reflect the frenetic business it is today. Perhaps more crucially, there is a widening chasm between the once all-important front row – the makeup of which has changed only marginally in recent years – and the huge shift in the balance of power which has happened in fashion. The rise of power bloggers and online retailers expanding into the trendsetting territory which once belonged to glossy magazines has changed the industry in ways which makes the courtly seating arrangements of the catwalk look dated. All rows, front to back, will be busy on Tuesday in Paris debating the rights or wrongs of this battle. The Italians contend that they had assumed New York fashion week, which began on Thursday 8 September this year, would begin on Thursday 6 September next year. However, a global magazine company has sided with New York and London. The industry paper WWD reported on Tuesday that Jonathan Newhouse, chairman of Conde Nast International, has written to inform Boselli that Vogue editors worldwide like the current schedule. “We at Condé Nast do not want the schedule to be changed. We very much oppose moving the Milan shows earlier so that they overlap or conflict with the London fashion shows – or with the New York fashion shows or those of any market,” he siad. Newhouse even suggests that Vogue editors – including, potentially, the editor of Italian Vogue – would not attend the Milan shows if they were scheduled in conflict with London or New York. According to Boselli, Italian designers are showing a united front in “reflecting and rethinking the situation”. He predicts a decision will be reached “well before the end of the month.” Fashion weeks London fashion week Milan fashion week Paris fashion week autumn/winter 2011 Paris fashion week New York fashion week Jess Cartner-Morley guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …London says Italians contravening 2008 accord with 2012 dates clash in a hullaballoo that underlines serious issues for industry After a summer of peace, hostilities have resumed between the rival cities of Paris, Milan, New York and Paris for supremacy in the fashion industry. The latest flashpoint is the catwalk calendar for next September. Milan fashion week has announced dates which clash with those of London. The organisers of London’s shows have been joined by those of New York’s in claiming that this directly contravenes an agreement in 2008, when this problem last flared. Mario Boselli, head of the Italian catwalks’ governing body, claims that the deal was only valid for three years. The British Fashion Council on Tuesday confirmed the standoff, saying: “Camera Nazionale della Moda [the Italian body] and Chambre syndicale [the French one] have announced dates for September 2012 that contravene the fashion week dates agreement of September 2008. “We are in direct discussion with our counterparts and hope to resolve the matter over the next few weeks. We have a great deal of support from both international and domestic media and retailers in retaining the dates agreement.” Behind the brinkmanship and ego-battles lie serious issues for the industry – and it is London fashion week that is most at risk, occupying as it does a vulnerable five-day slot directly between New York and Milan. New York is unwilling to move dates earlier next year, citing the closeness to Labor Day weekend, the US public holiday, which causes production issues, and London designers fear that dates too early in September will be logistically impossible in the immediate aftermath of the Olympics. Italian designers, however, feel that their 2012 dates (as designated in the 2008 agreement) do not allow enough time for production of the clothes in time for delivery to stores. With pressure at both ends, it is London whose slot stands most at risk of feeling the squeeze. The clashes also highlight the broader issue of an antiquated catwalk show calendar at odds with the needs of the modern fashion industry. Designers are looking for ways to steal a march on a set up where clothes are not on sale for six months after the catwalk shows, citing the opportunity this hands to fast-fashion chains to cash in on catwalk trends before designers can. Deliveries are moving earlier, “pre-season” collections becoming more important. Burberry customers watching the show online can order online direct from the catwalk and receive their clothes before they hit stores. There is a growing feeling in the industry that the traditional catwalk set up is creaking. It is propped up by a deep fondness for catwalk as theatre and, at times, art form. But the stately tour of four cities is rooted in a time when fashion was a more leisurely pursuit, and does not reflect the frenetic business it is today. Perhaps more crucially, there is a widening chasm between the once all-important front row – the makeup of which has changed only marginally in recent years – and the huge shift in the balance of power which has happened in fashion. The rise of power bloggers and online retailers expanding into the trendsetting territory which once belonged to glossy magazines has changed the industry in ways which makes the courtly seating arrangements of the catwalk look dated. All rows, front to back, will be busy on Tuesday in Paris debating the rights or wrongs of this battle. The Italians contend that they had assumed New York fashion week, which began on Thursday 8 September this year, would begin on Thursday 6 September next year. However, a global magazine company has sided with New York and London. The industry paper WWD reported on Tuesday that Jonathan Newhouse, chairman of Conde Nast International, has written to inform Boselli that Vogue editors worldwide like the current schedule. “We at Condé Nast do not want the schedule to be changed. We very much oppose moving the Milan shows earlier so that they overlap or conflict with the London fashion shows – or with the New York fashion shows or those of any market,” he siad. Newhouse even suggests that Vogue editors – including, potentially, the editor of Italian Vogue – would not attend the Milan shows if they were scheduled in conflict with London or New York. According to Boselli, Italian designers are showing a united front in “reflecting and rethinking the situation”. He predicts a decision will be reached “well before the end of the month.” Fashion weeks London fashion week Milan fashion week Paris fashion week autumn/winter 2011 Paris fashion week New York fashion week Jess Cartner-Morley guardian.co.uk
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The announcement from Stockholm of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics is imminent 11.04am: Brian Schmidt: “It seemed too crazy to be right so we were a little scared. “I always look to Einstein because he got a lot right. Einstein’s idea that space itself has an energy is the simplest reason that the universe could be speeding up.” 11.02am: Nobel prize winner Brian Schmidt answering questions: “It feels like when my children were born…” 10.57am: More from the Nobel Assembly’s material: The growing rate of the expansion implies that the Universe is being pushed apart by an unknown form of energy embedded in the fabric of space. This dark energy makes up a large part of the Universe, more than 70 %, and it is an enigma, perhaps the greatest in physics today. No wonder, then, that cosmology was shaken at its foundations when two different research groups presented similar results in 1998. 10.54am: All three are relative youngsters for the Nobel prize. Perlmutter was born in 1959, Schmidt in 1967 and Reiss in 1969. 10.53am: One half of the prize goes to Saul Perlmutter at the Supernova Cosmology Project, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California, Berkeley, California. The other half goes jointly to Brian Schmidt of the High-z Supernova Search Team at the Australian National University and Adam G. Riess at The High-z Supernova Search Team at Johns Hopkins University and Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore. 10.51am: This explanation from the Nobel Assembly: In 1998, cosmology was shaken at its foundations as two research teams presented their findings. Headed by Saul Perlmutter, one of the teams had set to work in 1988. Brian Schmidt headed another team, launched at the end of 1994, where Adam Riess was to play a crucial role. The research teams raced to map the Universe by locating the most distant supernovae. More sophisticated telescopes on the ground and in space, as well as more powerful computers and new digital imaging sensors (CCD, Nobel Prize in Physics in 2009), opened the possibility in the 1990s to add more pieces to the cosmological puzzle. The teams used a particular kind of supernova, called type Ia supernova. It is an explosion of an old compact star that is as heavy as the Sun but as small as the Earth. A single such supernova can emit as much light as a whole galaxy. All in all, the two research teams found over 50 distant supernovae whose light was weaker than expected – this was a sign that the expansion of the Universe was accelerating. The potential pitfalls had been numerous, and the scientists found reassurance in the fact that both groups had reached the same astonishing conclusion. For almost a century, the Universe has been known to be expanding as a consequence of the Big Bang about 14 billion years ago. However, the discovery that this expansion is accelerating is astounding. If the expansion will continue to speed up the Universe will end in ice. The acceleration is thought to be driven by dark energy, but what that dark energy is remains an enigma – perhaps the greatest in physics today. What is known is that dark energy constitutes about three quarters of the Universe. Therefore the findings of the 2011 Nobel Laureates in Physics have helped to unveil a Universe that to a large extent is unknown to science. And everything is possible again. 10.50am: The prize is for discovering the expansion of the universe. 10.49am: From the Nobel Assembly: What will be the final destiny of the Universe? Probably it will end in ice, if we are to believe this year’s Nobel Laureates in Physics. They have studied several dozen exploding stars, called supernovae, and discovered that the Universe is expanding at an ever-accelerating rate. The discovery came as a complete surprise even to the Laureates themselves. 10.45am The Nobel Prize in Physics 2011 goes to Saul Perlmutter, Brian P. Schmidt, Adam G. Riess 10.45am: More Nobel prize trivia from @Nobelprize_org on twitter: Marie Curie received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 and Chemistry in 1911. 10.44am: From @Nobelprize_org on twitter: Facts: 188 individuals have received the #NobelPrize in #Physics since 1901, among them, 2 are women. 10.40am: As @simonfrantz points out on twitter, the last female Laureate in physics was Maria Goeppert-Mayer in 1963 . 10.37am: There have been some regrettable Nobel awards in the past. Perhaps the most worrying was the award in 1949 to Dr Egas Moniz of Portugal for discovering the therapeutic value of lobotomy. The New England Journal of Medicine hailed the procedure as the birth of a “new psychiatry”. The prize led to a rise in lobotomies, which were therapeutically worthless. 10.35am: Here is the live stream of the Nobel prize announcement. 10.22am: And so to day two of Nobel prize week and the pundits have been busy with their predictions as to who will be honoured with today’s award for contributions to physics. The Nobel Assembly is due to announce the winner, or winners, some time after 10.45am BST. We will follow events live here. Yesterday, three scientists won the Nobel prize in medicine for groundbreaking work on the immune system. The award was overshadowed with the sad news that one of the recipients, Ralph Steinman at Rockefeller University in New York, passed away a few days ago. The Nobel assembly was unaware of this when the award was announced and has ruled that the prize will stand. The prize earns the winner or winners 10 million Swedish kronor, or £934,000. So who are the hot favourites for today’s prize in physics? According to the news agency Associated Press, physicists working on quantum entanglement – which underpins hopes for superfast quantum computing – are strong contenders for this year’s prize. Those predictions draw on “> names put forward by the citation company, Thomson Reuters , which failed to predict the winners of yesterday’s prize. Last year, the Nobel prize in physics was won by two Russian-born scientists, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov at Manchester University , for their experiments with graphene, the strongest and thinnest material known. Before becoming a Nobel prizewinner, Geim made headlines for levitating frogs , an achievement that earned him an Ig Nobel prize from the irreverent sister awards . The potential of graphene-based products prompted the UK government to announce a £50m Global Research and Technology Hub to commercialise graphene products. A live stream of the Nobel awards will appear here as soon as the video is available. Nobel prizes Science prizes Physics Particle physics Ian Sample guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …The announcement from Stockholm of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics is imminent 11.04am: Brian Schmidt: “It seemed too crazy to be right so we were a little scared. “I always look to Einstein because he got a lot right. Einstein’s idea that space itself has an energy is the simplest reason that the universe could be speeding up.” 11.02am: Nobel prize winner Brian Schmidt answering questions: “It feels like when my children were born…” 10.57am: More from the Nobel Assembly’s material: The growing rate of the expansion implies that the Universe is being pushed apart by an unknown form of energy embedded in the fabric of space. This dark energy makes up a large part of the Universe, more than 70 %, and it is an enigma, perhaps the greatest in physics today. No wonder, then, that cosmology was shaken at its foundations when two different research groups presented similar results in 1998. 10.54am: All three are relative youngsters for the Nobel prize. Perlmutter was born in 1959, Schmidt in 1967 and Reiss in 1969. 10.53am: One half of the prize goes to Saul Perlmutter at the Supernova Cosmology Project, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California, Berkeley, California. The other half goes jointly to Brian Schmidt of the High-z Supernova Search Team at the Australian National University and Adam G. Riess at The High-z Supernova Search Team at Johns Hopkins University and Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore. 10.51am: This explanation from the Nobel Assembly: In 1998, cosmology was shaken at its foundations as two research teams presented their findings. Headed by Saul Perlmutter, one of the teams had set to work in 1988. Brian Schmidt headed another team, launched at the end of 1994, where Adam Riess was to play a crucial role. The research teams raced to map the Universe by locating the most distant supernovae. More sophisticated telescopes on the ground and in space, as well as more powerful computers and new digital imaging sensors (CCD, Nobel Prize in Physics in 2009), opened the possibility in the 1990s to add more pieces to the cosmological puzzle. The teams used a particular kind of supernova, called type Ia supernova. It is an explosion of an old compact star that is as heavy as the Sun but as small as the Earth. A single such supernova can emit as much light as a whole galaxy. All in all, the two research teams found over 50 distant supernovae whose light was weaker than expected – this was a sign that the expansion of the Universe was accelerating. The potential pitfalls had been numerous, and the scientists found reassurance in the fact that both groups had reached the same astonishing conclusion. For almost a century, the Universe has been known to be expanding as a consequence of the Big Bang about 14 billion years ago. However, the discovery that this expansion is accelerating is astounding. If the expansion will continue to speed up the Universe will end in ice. The acceleration is thought to be driven by dark energy, but what that dark energy is remains an enigma – perhaps the greatest in physics today. What is known is that dark energy constitutes about three quarters of the Universe. Therefore the findings of the 2011 Nobel Laureates in Physics have helped to unveil a Universe that to a large extent is unknown to science. And everything is possible again. 10.50am: The prize is for discovering the expansion of the universe. 10.49am: From the Nobel Assembly: What will be the final destiny of the Universe? Probably it will end in ice, if we are to believe this year’s Nobel Laureates in Physics. They have studied several dozen exploding stars, called supernovae, and discovered that the Universe is expanding at an ever-accelerating rate. The discovery came as a complete surprise even to the Laureates themselves. 10.45am The Nobel Prize in Physics 2011 goes to Saul Perlmutter, Brian P. Schmidt, Adam G. Riess 10.45am: More Nobel prize trivia from @Nobelprize_org on twitter: Marie Curie received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 and Chemistry in 1911. 10.44am: From @Nobelprize_org on twitter: Facts: 188 individuals have received the #NobelPrize in #Physics since 1901, among them, 2 are women. 10.40am: As @simonfrantz points out on twitter, the last female Laureate in physics was Maria Goeppert-Mayer in 1963 . 10.37am: There have been some regrettable Nobel awards in the past. Perhaps the most worrying was the award in 1949 to Dr Egas Moniz of Portugal for discovering the therapeutic value of lobotomy. The New England Journal of Medicine hailed the procedure as the birth of a “new psychiatry”. The prize led to a rise in lobotomies, which were therapeutically worthless. 10.35am: Here is the live stream of the Nobel prize announcement. 10.22am: And so to day two of Nobel prize week and the pundits have been busy with their predictions as to who will be honoured with today’s award for contributions to physics. The Nobel Assembly is due to announce the winner, or winners, some time after 10.45am BST. We will follow events live here. Yesterday, three scientists won the Nobel prize in medicine for groundbreaking work on the immune system. The award was overshadowed with the sad news that one of the recipients, Ralph Steinman at Rockefeller University in New York, passed away a few days ago. The Nobel assembly was unaware of this when the award was announced and has ruled that the prize will stand. The prize earns the winner or winners 10 million Swedish kronor, or £934,000. So who are the hot favourites for today’s prize in physics? According to the news agency Associated Press, physicists working on quantum entanglement – which underpins hopes for superfast quantum computing – are strong contenders for this year’s prize. Those predictions draw on “> names put forward by the citation company, Thomson Reuters , which failed to predict the winners of yesterday’s prize. Last year, the Nobel prize in physics was won by two Russian-born scientists, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov at Manchester University , for their experiments with graphene, the strongest and thinnest material known. Before becoming a Nobel prizewinner, Geim made headlines for levitating frogs , an achievement that earned him an Ig Nobel prize from the irreverent sister awards . The potential of graphene-based products prompted the UK government to announce a £50m Global Research and Technology Hub to commercialise graphene products. A live stream of the Nobel awards will appear here as soon as the video is available. Nobel prizes Science prizes Physics Particle physics Ian Sample guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …The announcement from Stockholm of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics is imminent 11.04am: Brian Schmidt: “It seemed too crazy to be right so we were a little scared. “I always look to Einstein because he got a lot right. Einstein’s idea that space itself has an energy is the simplest reason that the universe could be speeding up.” 11.02am: Nobel prize winner Brian Schmidt answering questions: “It feels like when my children were born…” 10.57am: More from the Nobel Assembly’s material: The growing rate of the expansion implies that the Universe is being pushed apart by an unknown form of energy embedded in the fabric of space. This dark energy makes up a large part of the Universe, more than 70 %, and it is an enigma, perhaps the greatest in physics today. No wonder, then, that cosmology was shaken at its foundations when two different research groups presented similar results in 1998. 10.54am: All three are relative youngsters for the Nobel prize. Perlmutter was born in 1959, Schmidt in 1967 and Reiss in 1969. 10.53am: One half of the prize goes to Saul Perlmutter at the Supernova Cosmology Project, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California, Berkeley, California. The other half goes jointly to Brian Schmidt of the High-z Supernova Search Team at the Australian National University and Adam G. Riess at The High-z Supernova Search Team at Johns Hopkins University and Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore. 10.51am: This explanation from the Nobel Assembly: In 1998, cosmology was shaken at its foundations as two research teams presented their findings. Headed by Saul Perlmutter, one of the teams had set to work in 1988. Brian Schmidt headed another team, launched at the end of 1994, where Adam Riess was to play a crucial role. The research teams raced to map the Universe by locating the most distant supernovae. More sophisticated telescopes on the ground and in space, as well as more powerful computers and new digital imaging sensors (CCD, Nobel Prize in Physics in 2009), opened the possibility in the 1990s to add more pieces to the cosmological puzzle. The teams used a particular kind of supernova, called type Ia supernova. It is an explosion of an old compact star that is as heavy as the Sun but as small as the Earth. A single such supernova can emit as much light as a whole galaxy. All in all, the two research teams found over 50 distant supernovae whose light was weaker than expected – this was a sign that the expansion of the Universe was accelerating. The potential pitfalls had been numerous, and the scientists found reassurance in the fact that both groups had reached the same astonishing conclusion. For almost a century, the Universe has been known to be expanding as a consequence of the Big Bang about 14 billion years ago. However, the discovery that this expansion is accelerating is astounding. If the expansion will continue to speed up the Universe will end in ice. The acceleration is thought to be driven by dark energy, but what that dark energy is remains an enigma – perhaps the greatest in physics today. What is known is that dark energy constitutes about three quarters of the Universe. Therefore the findings of the 2011 Nobel Laureates in Physics have helped to unveil a Universe that to a large extent is unknown to science. And everything is possible again. 10.50am: The prize is for discovering the expansion of the universe. 10.49am: From the Nobel Assembly: What will be the final destiny of the Universe? Probably it will end in ice, if we are to believe this year’s Nobel Laureates in Physics. They have studied several dozen exploding stars, called supernovae, and discovered that the Universe is expanding at an ever-accelerating rate. The discovery came as a complete surprise even to the Laureates themselves. 10.45am The Nobel Prize in Physics 2011 goes to Saul Perlmutter, Brian P. Schmidt, Adam G. Riess 10.45am: More Nobel prize trivia from @Nobelprize_org on twitter: Marie Curie received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 and Chemistry in 1911. 10.44am: From @Nobelprize_org on twitter: Facts: 188 individuals have received the #NobelPrize in #Physics since 1901, among them, 2 are women. 10.40am: As @simonfrantz points out on twitter, the last female Laureate in physics was Maria Goeppert-Mayer in 1963 . 10.37am: There have been some regrettable Nobel awards in the past. Perhaps the most worrying was the award in 1949 to Dr Egas Moniz of Portugal for discovering the therapeutic value of lobotomy. The New England Journal of Medicine hailed the procedure as the birth of a “new psychiatry”. The prize led to a rise in lobotomies, which were therapeutically worthless. 10.35am: Here is the live stream of the Nobel prize announcement. 10.22am: And so to day two of Nobel prize week and the pundits have been busy with their predictions as to who will be honoured with today’s award for contributions to physics. The Nobel Assembly is due to announce the winner, or winners, some time after 10.45am BST. We will follow events live here. Yesterday, three scientists won the Nobel prize in medicine for groundbreaking work on the immune system. The award was overshadowed with the sad news that one of the recipients, Ralph Steinman at Rockefeller University in New York, passed away a few days ago. The Nobel assembly was unaware of this when the award was announced and has ruled that the prize will stand. The prize earns the winner or winners 10 million Swedish kronor, or £934,000. So who are the hot favourites for today’s prize in physics? According to the news agency Associated Press, physicists working on quantum entanglement – which underpins hopes for superfast quantum computing – are strong contenders for this year’s prize. Those predictions draw on “> names put forward by the citation company, Thomson Reuters , which failed to predict the winners of yesterday’s prize. Last year, the Nobel prize in physics was won by two Russian-born scientists, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov at Manchester University , for their experiments with graphene, the strongest and thinnest material known. Before becoming a Nobel prizewinner, Geim made headlines for levitating frogs , an achievement that earned him an Ig Nobel prize from the irreverent sister awards . The potential of graphene-based products prompted the UK government to announce a £50m Global Research and Technology Hub to commercialise graphene products. A live stream of the Nobel awards will appear here as soon as the video is available. Nobel prizes Science prizes Physics Particle physics Ian Sample guardian.co.uk
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Explosion outside government buildings in Somalia’s capital kills students, soldiers and civilians An explosion outside government buildings in Mogadishu has killed at least 65 people and wounded 50, the co-ordinator of the capital’s ambulance service has said. “We have carried 65 dead bodies and 50 injured people,” Ali Muse told Reuters. “Some are still lying there. Most of the people have burns.” He said students, soldiers and civilians were among the dead. Somalia Africa guardian.co.uk
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Explosion outside government buildings in Somalia’s capital kills students, soldiers and civilians An explosion outside government buildings in Mogadishu has killed at least 65 people and wounded 50, the co-ordinator of the capital’s ambulance service has said. “We have carried 65 dead bodies and 50 injured people,” Ali Muse told Reuters. “Some are still lying there. Most of the people have burns.” He said students, soldiers and civilians were among the dead. Somalia Africa guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Explosion outside government buildings in Somalia’s capital kills students, soldiers and civilians An explosion outside government buildings in Mogadishu has killed at least 65 people and wounded 50, the co-ordinator of the capital’s ambulance service has said. “We have carried 65 dead bodies and 50 injured people,” Ali Muse told Reuters. “Some are still lying there. Most of the people have burns.” He said students, soldiers and civilians were among the dead. Somalia Africa guardian.co.uk
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