Monday, October 3, 2016

On Friday, European Space Agency’s (ESA) spacecraft Rosetta ended its mission, crashing into Jupiter-family comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Rosetta is the first spacecraft to orbit a comet; it traveled in space for twelve years and about eight billion kilometres (about five billion miles).

The ESA’s Darmstadt, Germany control centre ceased to receive signals from the spacecraft, confirming the Rosetta mission’s end, at 11:19 UTC. Mission controllers said it was traveling about 90 centimeters per second on impact (two miles per hour), about a walking pace.

Almost two years ago, in November 2014, Rosetta successfully landed a probe called Philae onto 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, with amongst its goals better understanding how the Solar System was formed. Philae’s discoveries included the presence of molecular oxygen and nitrogen on the comet. It also discovered water on the comet which, according to the scientists, had a different distribution of hydrogen isotopes from the water on earth.

The spacecraft studied the gas, dust, and plasma immediately surrounding the comet during its final approach.

ESA’s director general Johann-Dietrich Wörner said, “Rosetta has entered the history books once again[…] Today we celebrate the success of a game-changing mission, one that has surpassed all our dreams and expectations, and one that continues ESA’s legacy of ‘firsts’ at comets.”

Saturday, December 10, 2005

Australian Federal Police (AFP) have arrested six people following a breach of security at the secretive Pine Gap Joint Defence Facility in central Australia on Friday.

The members of the group Christians Against All Terrorism (CAAT) breached base security at dawn and two of them infiltrated two perimeter fences and scaled a building, before being arrested. Two of the protesters photographed themselves atop a building inside the spy base.

A Northern Territory police spokeswoman said three men and two women had been charged over the incident while another woman would be summoned to appear in Alice Springs court next week over obstructing police. The spokeswoman said the activists had allegedly cut holes in the external and internal fences at the defence facility. She said the combined charges carried a maximum penalty of seven years jail.

The group claims it was the first break-in of its kind at Pine Gap. The group spoke yesterday of their efforts to conceal a digital camera memory stick in the clothing of key members to avoid the images being confiscated by police.

Four of the protesters are from Queensland, one is from New South Wales, and the other is from Victoria. They say they wanted to conduct a citizens inspection of the controversial Pine Gap facility. “We could not allow the US and Australian governments to continue to conceal the role of Pine Gap in the ongoing war in Iraq,” said Sean O’Reilly of the group. “It’s time the Australian public knew the reality of what is happening on our land.”

Group member Jessica Morrison claims there is a lot of secrecy surrounding the facility. “So for me it was an attempt to come to a place that I think propagates death and start to proclaim truth,” she said.

Two of the group were released on bail facing charges, including: unlawfully entering a prohibited area destroying or damaging Commonwealth property; trespassing on Commonwealth land; damaging property under the NT law. A sixth member was arrested for aiding and abetting but was released without charge.

Up to 30 police officers were stationed at a roadblock at the turn-off to Pine Gap at 6:00 a.m. local time and Gap staff were ordered to remain in their cars at the roadblock.

CAAT member Brian Law, said four of the group split into two groups and entered the base in a co-ordinated movement. He said four members walked 10km through thick scrub and entered the base at 4:00 a.m. local time. Mr Law and the fourth member arrested, former human shield Donna Mulhearn, 37, (taken hostage by militants in Fallujah in Iraq last year) were released.

Mr O’Reilly said the group conducted a citizens’ inspection in protest at Pine Gap’s involvement in the ongoing war in Iraq after the group had been refused official entry by Defence Minister Robert Hill. “We could not allow the US and Australian governments to continue to conceal the role of Pine Gap in the ongoing war in Iraq,” Mr O’Reilly said.

It was unclear last night whether the group would be charged under the Federal Government’s tough new anti-terror laws. They were bailed to face the Alice Springs Magistrates Court next Wednesday.

Monday, April 7, 2008

The Australian Bureau of Statistics is responsible for some of Australia’s largest surveys, including the Census of Population and Housing, held every five years. At its head is the Australian Statistician. The current Statistician, Brian Pink, started in his position on March 5, 2007, following the retirement of predecessor Dennis Trewin. Wikinews recently caught up with Brian Pink to talk with him about his first year in the position, as well as his previous tenure as Government Statistician at Statistics New Zealand, and the state of mathematical education in Australia.

((WikiNews)) : Good afternoon.

Brian Pink: Good afternoon.

((WN)) : And congratulations on spending a year as Australian Statistician.

BP: Yes, it’s gone very quickly. (laughs)

See the discussion page for instructions on adding schools to this list and for an alphabetically arranged listing of schools.

Due to the damage by Hurricane Katrina and subsequent flooding, a number of colleges and universities in the New Orleans metropolitan area will not be able to hold classes for the fall 2005 semester. It is estimated that 75,000 to 100,000 students have been displaced. [1]. In response, institutions across the United States and Canada are offering late registration for displaced students so that their academic progress is not unduly delayed. Some are offering free or reduced admission to displaced students. At some universities, especially state universities, this offer is limited to residents of the area.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Wikinews interviewed author Amy Scobee about her book Scientology – Abuse at the Top, and asked her about her experiences working as an executive within the organization. Scobee joined the organization at age 14, and worked at Scientology’s international management headquarters for several years before leaving in 2005. She served as a Scientology executive in multiple high-ranking positions, working out of the international headquarters of Scientology known as “Gold Base”, located in Gilman Hot Springs near Hemet, California.

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

A new $35m Holocaust memorial in Germany officially called the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe was dedicated during a ceremony Tuesday. The memorial commemorates the suffering the millions of European Jews who were held in concentration camps by the Nazi regime. The dedication comes just a day after the 60th anniversary of the Allied Victory in World War II.

U.S. architect Peter Eisenman designed the new memorial, which is contained in one block square very close to the parliament and the new US embassy in the heart of Berlin, Germany. The memorial consists of over 2,700 gray concrete blocks representing the helplessness of the Holocaust victims. The blocks are covered with an anti-graffiti substance which was made by the same company that produced the Zyklon B poison used in the genocide. They are all of different shapes and sizes, and are set on a sloping hillside, designed to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere.

The memorial has met with criticism. Many have pointed out that the memorial is only for the Jews who died, and does not represent the millions of gypsies, homosexuals and mentally-handicapped people who were also murdered. It has also been said that while the memorial commerates those who died, it does not ask any questions about why the atrocity happened. However, there are plans for memorials commemorating other victims of the Nazi regime. Under the abstract memorial there is a place which informs visitors about Holocaust.

The ceremony, which Chancellor Gerhard Schröder attended, included prayer led by a Jewish rabbi and speeches reflecting on the Holocaust given by a survivor and leaders of the Jewish community in Germany.