Brightness variations of sun-like stars

"Astronomers are left in the dark, and for once, we do not enjoy it," says Christine Nicholls from Mount Stromlo Observatory, Australia, lead author of a paper reporting the study. "We have obtained the most comprehensive set of observations to date for this class of Sun-like stars, and they clearly show that all the possible explanations for their unusual behaviour just fail." The mystery investigated by the team dates back to the 1930s and affects about a third of Sun-like stars in our Milky Way and other galaxies. All stars with masses similar to our Sun become,

towards the end of their lives, red, cool and extremely large, just before retiring as white dwarfs. Also known as red giants, these elderly stars exhibit very strong periodic variations in their luminosity over timescales up to a couple of years.

"Such variations are thought to be caused by what we call 'stellar pulsations'," says Nicholls. "Roughly speaking, the giant star swells and shrinks, becoming brighter and dimmer in a regular pattern. However, one third of these stars show an unexplained additional periodic variation, on even longer timescales — up to five years."

In order to find out the origin of this secondary feature, the astronomers monitored 58 stars in our galactic neighbour, the Large Magellanic Cloud, over two and a half years. They acquired spectra using the high resolution FLAMES/GIRAFFE spectrograph on ESO's Very Large Telescope and combined them with images from other telescopesachieving an impressive collection of the properties of these variable stars.

Choosing An Mp3 Player ?

Picking up a model from a wide range of players can be thought. Some tips to help you decide :
The market is flooded with many players that are cheap & look great, but may last only a while. Don't go by looks alone. Best to play more for a good brand rather than risk losing it all on something cheap.

Display. Most Mp3 players have small screens. But choosing one with a big enough screen that displays JPEG & BMP digital files can be useful for viewing digital images conveniently.

Advanced features. Some models are capable of creating play list. Look for smart play lists, song-rating methods, automatic volume control, Wi-fi, blue-tooth, audio recorder, FM radio.
Storage capacity. Get the most space you can afford. If you are going to make this supplement your home entertainment system, then space better be large. In general, those with hard disk offer more space than those with flash memory. But flash memory won't suffer a mechanical breakdown or skip musical beats when jerked about or played while jogging. Also look for a slot/plug-in for SD & flash cards.
Battery life. Check the manual to see hoe long dry cells will last. it may be wise to buy a player that uses rechargeable batteries. Check whether the manufacturer has a guarantee plan that replaces inbuilt-rechargeable batteries that may fail.
Headphones and sound. Finally its all in the sound. Don't buy any music system without really listening to it. Get a player with a standard 3.5-mm head hone jack, and not an "only ours" proprietary jack. Switching to better headphones, too, can make all the difference.
Dock. Make sure a compatible dock for the player is available. Invaluable especially if you're rigging it to a home system, because the dock will keep the player charged.

street paint.....!

Can you imagine what is it?? Nothing but the street paintings its true....Street painting, also commonly known as street art, is the activity of rendering artistic designs on pavement such as streets, sidewalks, and town squares with impermanent materials.
Street painting has been recorded throughout Europe since the 16th century. Street painters in Italy are called madonnari because they often created pictures representing the Madonna. In England they are called screevers.In 1972 the first International Street Painting Competition was held in Grazie di Curtatone, Italy. The goal of the competition was to record and publicize the work of the last practitioners of this traditional art form. The eldest painters were already in their 90s. The 1972 festival resulted in national recognition of the validity of the art form, causing a new generation of street painters to emerge.
The first street painter in the US was Sidewalk Sam, who began painting in the streets of Boston in 1973.Over the past decades various artists have developed new styles based on the work of artists such as Andrea Mantegna, M. C. Escher, Michelangelo, Hans Holbein and others. Today this work is called anamorphic or 3D, although in the past it was called one-point perspective.

2010 Ducati 1198R Corse Edition

The world welcomes the new Ducati 1198R Corse Edition which features an aluminum tank with new graphics which make it lightweight and cool. It comes with a paddock stand, a full Termignoni exhaust, and desk plaque of authentication. Like its siblings, this stunning machine is a candidate to the race track. Pricing is speculated to be around $40,000 based on the previous model which costs $43,000 without the updates.

Motorola Droid

If you thought Motorola had lost their touch in the phone game, you were dead wrong. This new Motorola Droid will feature a large 3.7” inch touchscreen display, slide-out keyboard, 5 megapixel camera with dual-LED flash, 16GBs of storage, integrated Gmail and Exchange push support, and the ability to run multi-applications at once. $200.

Car more driver-focused, powerful; Rolls-Royce launches the ‘Ghost’

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 6: The Rolls-Royce has finally launched its much-awaited new model the ‘Ghost’ car in Kuwait. Addressing the media at the Sahara Golf Club, Peter Schoppmann, Regional Director for the Middle East Rolls-Royce Motor Cars said, “Since we first announced that work had begun on a new model series in 2006, anticipation has been building for the launch of this car. “The feedback so far,” he added, “shows the Ghost has surpassed all expectations. The Ghost is attracting new buyers to the Rolls-Royce brand who appreciate its fusion of timeless elegance, new technology and contemporary style.” Mohammed F. Alghanim, Group General Manager of Ali Alghanim and Sons Automotive, the sole dealer for the manufacturer of luxury cars in Kuwait, said, “We are extremely pleased to round out the year with the launch of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars highly anticipated new model.

The Ghost, he said, has been very well received in the Middle East and around the world thus far. “We expect a very positive start for the Ghost which will ensure Ali Alghanim and Sons Automotive continued sales growth in 2010,” he added. Ghost embodies the core values of Rolls-Royce and delivers contemporary, effortless refinement. While less formal than the Phantom family, the Ghost retains the essence of Rolls-Royce, and is engineered to be more driver-focused and powerful than any Rolls-Royce before it. A brand new 6.6 litre twin- turbo V12 engine, unique to the model, delivers a feeling of endless, surging power to the driver.

As one of Rolls-Royce’s most advanced, dynamically engaging cars, Ghost embodies the 21st century Rolls-Royce; a sleek, modern expression of over 100 years of engineering and design excellence. The first Ghost cars will be handed over to customers throughout the Middle East end of December 2009. From quarter four 2010, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars will offer five models: Ghost, Phantom, Phantom Extended Wheelbase, Phantom Drophead Coupé and Phantom Coupé. The Rolls-Royce Phantom range of cars is powered by a naturally aspirated direct injection 6.75 litre V12 engine that produces 453 bhp at 5350 rpm (338 kW/460 PS) and 720 Nm of torque at 3500 rpm. Rolls-Royce has 83 dealers around the world and currently eight showrooms in the Middle East region: in Abu Dhabi, Doha, Dubai, Jeddah, Kuwait City, Manama, Muscat and Riyadh.

KNOCK OUT THE KNEE PAIN

Fix It With Food: Knee Pain :

Millions of people have stiff, painful knees due to osteoarthritis. Remedies range from keeping active and dropping excess weight to steroid injections and even surgery. But research shows that you can take a tastier route to improvement:

Soya: People with knee pain reported less discomfort and used fewer pain medicines after eating soya protein every day for three months, according to US researchers. Soya is rich in isoflavones, plant hormones with anti-inflammatory properties. Study participants consumed a powdered soya drink mix that contained 40 grams of protein, but, says study author Bahram H. Arjmandi, PhD, you can get the same benefit from sources like flavoured soya milk, edamame (baby soyabeans), and soya chunks.

Fruit: In a study of 293 Australian adults, eating plenty of fruit reduced the risk of developing bone marrow lesions—a marker for worsening knee osteoarthritis and pain. The knee-friendliest fruits appear to be vitamin C–packed ones, like orange, papaya, mango, grapefruit and kiwi. The researchers suspect it’s the vitamin C in fruit that protects the knee joint and supporting structures.

Fish: Many studies have found that fish and fish oil ease the joint pain and stiffness of rheumatoid arthritis. Now a study shows that the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish may block not only the chemicals that cause inflammation in osteoarthritis but also the proteins known to wear down knee cartilage. Eat two servings of oily fish (such as mackerel or salmon) weekly or take one gram of omega-3s in capsule form every day, says nutrition researcher Dr Artemis P. Simopoulos.

DONT DRUNK & DRIVE

Every day in many contries many people are arrested for the driving due to intoxicated driving.......... but some time we came to know some of the incidends like wat happened to this young girl in Newyork city. now her whole family was untired of seeing her every day & worried of her future & more....So Plz dont drunk and drive see the example of the accident.Still u have ur license & more u be carefull while u drive . this situation should not be happen to anyoher person here after & we also pray to god bye ........take care