Haunting Space Bubbles Shine in Amazing Hubble Telescope Photo

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A haunting landscape of star systems, bubbles, and shock fronts lies toward the constellation of Taurus in an amazing photo taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Perhaps the most striking feature of the Hubble Space Telescopeviewis an apparent star embedded within a rust-colored cloud, toward the upper left corner. Although the bright spot, better known as XZ Tauri, appears to be a single star, it's actually a binary star system with one of those two stars also a binary system, making a total of three stars within a single system. The cosmic objects are located about 450 light-years from Earth.

A hot bubble of gas can be seen as the small orange lobe very close to the top left of XZ Tauri. It's speeding out from the star system, leaving an imprint spanning tens of billions of kilometers. As the gas travels, it hits slower moving material, and the shock of impact triggers pulses of light.

A similar phenomenon is occurring above and to the right of XZ Tauri, where wisps of deep red can be seen embedded within the blue clumps. The bright blue patch contains a young star known as HL Tauri. When narrow gas streams from the newborn star hit an interstellar cloud, the shock of impact lights up the target, a sight better known as a Herbig-Haro (HH) object, according to a Hubble mission statement.

In the bottom right of this Hubble image is another Herbig-Haro object known as HH 30. Although the source is hidden from view, its reflected light and prominent, knotty jets can be seen blasting out into space.

A version of this image won third prize in the Hubble's Hidden Treasures image processing competition.

Follow Shannon Hall @ShannonWHall. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

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Haunting Space Bubbles Shine in Amazing Hubble Telescope Photo

Model 344 Level 8 Paper Shredder with Particles Smaller than NSA Requirements – Video

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Model 344 Level 8 Paper Shredder with Particles Smaller than NSA Requirements
http://www.monomachines.com/shop/sem-model-344-high-security-paper-shredder-level-8.html - Model 344 Level 8 Paper Shredder with Particles Smaller than NSA Requirements.

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Model 344 Level 8 Paper Shredder with Particles Smaller than NSA Requirements - Video

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Homeland Insecurity: Checkpoints, Warrantless Searches and Security Theater

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Since June 2013, the American public, press, and policy-makers have been debating the implications of Edward Snowdens disclosures of mass U.S. government surveillance programs, most established after the 9/11 attacks. Our reliance on modern communications technology and its connection with our basic constitutional rights of free speech and Fourth Amendment protections against warrantless seizures and searches is at the heart of that debate. But while that controversy has raged very publicly (even globally), another series of U.S. government search and seizure activities have only recently started to receive the scrutiny they deserve. And just as the over-reach by the NSA sparked what I have previously termed the digital resistance movement, these other searchesconducted by elements of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)have sparked a more traditional form of citizen resistance.

Enter the VIPR

Less than three years after the 9/11 attacks struck American commercial aviation carriers, Al Qaeda-inspired terrorists targeted a different kind of transportation system Madrids commuter rail network. Just over a year after that attack, terrorists struck the London bus and subway system. Fearing U.S. transit systems would be next, DHS officials responded by creating Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) teams, composed of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Federal Air Marshall (FAM) personnel, augmented by state or local law enforcement organizations. Touted as a means of deterring and preventing terrorism, the VIPR program has grown from a single team in 2004-05 to over 30-teams and an annual budget of over $100 million today. As the number and scope of VIPR operations have grown, so has the controversy surrounding their employment.

Warrantless searches and internal checkpoints are characteristics of totalitarian political systems.

While VIPR teams began as extensions of security at major airports, TSA officials gradually began pushing VIPR operations beyond airportsto major transit systems in Washington, Houston, Boston, New York City, and most recently, Chicago. Multiple published reports over the past several years have documented warrantless baggage searches by VIPR teams on these transit systems. TSA officials claim that the judicially-created special needs exception to the Fourth Amendment provides them with the legal authority to conduct such searches. In 2011, a VIPR teamtook overthe Amtrak station in Savannah, Georgia and conducted warrantless searches of detraining passengers. The same year in Tennessee, VIPR teams conducted warrantless searches of trucks atweigh stations.

Over the last decade, VIPR teams have conducted thousands of such searches (according to Congressional testimony by TSA officials) and uncovered no terrorists. Indeed, the November 2013 shooting at Los Angeles International Airport was a demonstration of how the alleged deterrent effect of random VIPR operations was no deterrent to a determined gunman. The same month, the Government Accountability Office published areport calling into question a key component of VIPR teamsBehavior Detection Officers and the validity of the operational concept underlying their use. The ACLU has declared the VIPR program a direct assault on the Fourth Amendment. In the 113thCongress, Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) tried tokill the VIPR programaltogether, regrettably without successbut it is very likely Garrett will make another attempt in 2015.

VIPR teams represent an expensive and ineffective counterterrorism tool whose tactics and practices are, in the view of privacy and civil liberties community, constitutionally abhorrent. However, VIPR is not the only DHS component engaged in attempted or actual warrantless searches of the travelling public.

Papers, please

Throughout the southwest United States and at selected points near the Canadian border, U.S. Customs and Border Protection operates a series of inland checkpoints on American highways, sometimes as much as 100 miles inside the United States. Most Americans who do not live in areas where the checkpoints are located are probably unaware that these inland CBP checkpoints have existed for decades, legitimized by an ill-considered Supreme Court decision inUnited States v. Martinez-Fuerte.

That case, which involved three separate incidents involving the transportation of illegal aliens into the United States, examined the question of whether the use of such checkpoints for warrantless seizures and visual inspection (read searches) violated the Fourth Amendment. Writing for the Courts majority, Justice Powell asserted that given the huge problem of illegal immigration and CBPs responsibility of to prevent it, under the circumstances of these checkpoint stops, which do not involve searches, the Government or public interest in making such stops outweighs the constitutionally protected interest of the private citizenIn summary, we hold that stops for brief questioning routinely conducted at permanent checkpoints are consistent with the Fourth Amendment and need not be authorized by warrant. The courts reasoning seemed to be thus: Abiding by the traditional probable cause standard was too burdensome to the effort to stem illegal immigration.

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Homeland Insecurity: Checkpoints, Warrantless Searches and Security Theater

NRA representative to discuss Second Amendment rights, gun control at Lehigh Valley event

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A man exercises his right to open carry as he questions NRA lobbyist Suzanne Anglewicz during a March 2013 CEPTA event in Emmaus.Precious Petty | lehighvalleylive.com

A National Rifle Association representative is scheduled to speak this month at an event in Emmaus.

The Concerned East Penn Taxpayers Association on Feb. 17 is hosting Lexy Ruscak, a grassroots coordinator for the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, according to a news release. The institute is the association's lobbying arm.

Ruscak is slated to discuss the state of gun rights in Pennsylvania during a 7:30 p.m. talk at Emmaus Fire Co. No. 1, 50 S. Sixth St. A question-and-answer session is planned during the event, which runs until 9:30 p.m.

Ruscak's expected to focus on how new laws will affect Keystone State residents, specifically how they may limit local gun control laws, a proposed ban of human silhouette targets and whether publishing information about concealed carry permit holders is legal, the release says.

CEPTA hosted NRA lobbyist Suzanne Anglewicz in 2013, drawing about 75 people for a March event.

Precious Petty may be reached at ppetty@express-times.com. Follow her on Twitter @precpetty. Find Lehigh County news on Facebook.

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NRA representative to discuss Second Amendment rights, gun control at Lehigh Valley event

Redditcoin Is Abandoned, Just 4 Months After Being Announced

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Despite announcing its new bitcoin rival less than six months ago, Reddit has quietly dropped plans for its so-called "Redditcoin" cryptocurrencyafter firing lead engineer Ryan X. Charles.

The original concept for Redditcoin was that it would embrace the Reddit community at largewith 10% of shares distributed to users of the site in recognition of their part in Reddits success.

"I was won-over by the then-CEO Yishan [Wong], who had an awesome vision for the future of reddit, including cryptocurrency as the financial system of the internet city that is reddit," Charles wrote online. "However, Yishan suddenly and unexpectedly resigned his position a month or two later, probably due to exhaustion."

Yishan Wongs departure late last year apparently scuppered the kind of forward drive needed to bring the project to fruition.

"I figured the worst thing that could happen at Reddit was that we could launch something and it would fail," Charles notes. "What actually happened was that we launched nothing and I got fired. In only four months. This was worse than the worst outcome I thought was possible."

While cryptocurrency may still be in Reddits long-term vision, for now it seems that those waiting for Redditcoin could be hanging on for a long, long time.

Its not all bad news for cryptocurrency fans, however. While digital currencies have long been volatile commodities, last week the startup Coinbase announced the first-ever licensed U.S. bitcoin exchangecomplete with insurance to protect traders. It may be small recompense for people excited about the potential of Redditcoin, but it still demonstrates how cryptocurrencies are slowly entering the mainstreamwhether critics like them or not.

[via The Guardian]

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Redditcoin Is Abandoned, Just 4 Months After Being Announced

Bitcoin Shop, Inc: Building a Universal Digital Currency Platform and Ecosystem – Video

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Bitcoin Shop, Inc: Building a Universal Digital Currency Platform and Ecosystem
Watch a presentation by Bitcoin Shop #39;s CEO Charles Allen, recorded on January 29, 2015 at the RedChip Global Online CEO Conference. Bitcoin Shop, Inc (OTCQB: BTCS) plans to build a universal...

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Bitcoin Shop, Inc: Building a Universal Digital Currency Platform and Ecosystem - Video

Does Bitcoin still matter?

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Bitcoin has a marketing problem.

Talk of the digital currency has petered since its introduction in 2009, and much of what remains hasn't been good for P.R. Discussions about Bitcoin can sound like inscrutable technobabble to non-adherents (most people fall into this category), and the system has been dogged by hacking and fraud, making a concept that is hard to wrap your head around also hard to get behind.

But the establishment in late January of the first regulated U.S.-based Bitcoin exchange, by Coinbase, a major broker, may help legitimize the Bitcoin and protect investors. The second such exchange is in the works, fronted by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, two of the largest-known holders of Bitcoin currency.

"Bitcoin has a sales job to getting people to trust it, which is ironic because it was set up to be a trustless system," said Paul Vigna, who co-wrote with Michael J. Casey "The Age of Cryptocurrency: How Bitcoin and Digital Money are Challenging the Global Economic Order," released Jan. 27. "It is sort of opaque and hard to understand and esoteric because it is so new."

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Money has evolved from coins to credit cards to digital currencies, but will consumers buy in to the latest trend? CBS News' Ines Novacic reports...

In their book, Vigna and Casey explore the various avenues of potential for a software-based monetary system that lets people anywhere in the world exchange value without banks or other institutions intermediating (or meddling).

About $50 million worth of Bitcoin transactions are done on an average day, a drop in the pan compared with the tens of billions performed by the likes of Mastercard and Visa, but not a negligible amount. Businesses such as Overstock.com are beginning to accept Bitcoin as a payment option and some companies even pay employees in Bitcoin.

For better or worse, Bitcoin is not going away any time soon, and Casey and Vigna contend that digital currency could change the global economic landscape and prevent financial collapse.

Or not.

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Does Bitcoin still matter?

HNSKY, Hallo Northern Sky planetarium program, minor planets & comets wide field – Video

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HNSKY, Hallo Northern Sky planetarium program, minor planets comets wide field
HNSKY, Hallo Northern Sky planetarium program, minor planets comets wide field. This animation made with the HNSKY program shows the movement of the comets and minor planets across the ...

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HNSKY, Hallo Northern Sky planetarium program, minor planets & comets wide field - Video

Comets Sign Midfielder Cody Hoffman

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February 2, 2015 - Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) Missouri Comets INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (February 2, 2015) - The Missouri Comets have announced the signing of free agent Cody Hoffman on Sunday before the MASL transfer window deadline. The midfielder will be added to the team's roster immediately. Per club policy, terms of the agreement will not be disclosed.

Hoffman, 19, started in all nineteen games for Jefferson College in his freshman year recording two assists. In addition, the Kansas City, Missouri native played for Comets assistant coach Doug McLagan in the Futura FC Academy for ten years.

"I am really excited to join such a great team and extremely honored to share the field with the guys," Hoffman said. "I am very grateful to Vlatko [Andonovski] for giving me the opportunity to play professionally at a very young age."

During his high school career at Lee's Summit North, Hoffman earned Missouri High School Soccer First Team honors as a senior as well as the KC Star All Metro team. He also holds the LSN single season scoring record and is a three-time Missouri State Cup Champion.

"We all know how good the team has been this season and I just want to help the guys out there." Hoffman said. "Practicing and player with the team has and will continue to prepare me for the upcoming challenges."

Hoffman will travel with the team for this weekend's road games against the St. Louis Ambush on Friday at The Family Arena and against the Wichita B-52s on Sunday at the Hartman Arena.

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Name: Cody Hoffman

Position: Midfielder

Number: 3

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Comets Sign Midfielder Cody Hoffman

World Tourism Trends, Wright Sites, Cancun Time, NYC Garden

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WORLD TOURISM BY THE NUMBERS

More people are traveling worldwide, more of them are from China and many of them are heading to Europe, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

Tourist arrivals overall were up worldwide in 2014 over the previous year by an increase of 4.7 percent. The UNWTO said Europe was the most visited region in the world with over half the world's international tourists adding up to 588 million arrivals, an increase of 4 percent or 22 million overnight visitors over 2013. Biggest increases were in Northern Europe and Southern and Mediterranean Europe (7 percent), while Western European arrivals were up 2 percent. Arrivals in Central and Eastern Europe were unchanged after three years of increases.

China has been the world's largest outbound market since 2012. Outbound trips from China increased in 2014 by 11 million over the year before, bringing the country's outbound total to 109 million trips, the UNWTO said. Travel from Russia decreased 6 percent in 2014 while travel from Brazil grew by 2 percent, the WTO found.

International tourist arrivals in Asia and the Pacific increased 5 percent last year by 13 million to 263 million. North America saw an 8 percent increase in international tourist arrivals, and arrivals to Central and South America increased 6 percent, doubling their growth from the previous year and exceeding world averages.

The UNWTO said international tourist arrivals in the Middle East were up 4 percent, while Africa's international tourist numbers grew by an estimated 2 percent, an increase of about 1 million arrivals. The organization noted the continent saw more tourists despite the Ebola outbreak, but added that the findings were based on "limited and volatile data."

For 2015, the UNWTO is forecasting another increase in international tourist arrivals between 3 and 4 percent. The organization expects increased demand as the global economy improves, driven partly by a decline in oil prices.

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT SITES

The U.S. is nominating 10 buildings in seven states by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright to be included on the World Heritage List, which recognizes important cultural and natural sites.

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World Tourism Trends, Wright Sites, Cancun Time, NYC Garden