BANGKOK (AP) ? Oil inched toward $100 a barrel after Iran again threatened to block shipments of crude from the Persian Gulf in the wake of the European Union's widely expected decision to embargo imports of Iranian oil.
Benchmark oil for March delivery was up 9 cents at $99.67 a barrel at mid morning Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.25 to settle at $99.58 a barrel in New York on Monday.
Brent crude was unchanged at $110.58 on the ICE futures exchange in London. It gained 72 cents on Monday.
Tanker traffic out of the Persian Gulf has concerned oil traders for weeks, with Iran saying it could close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's crude is transported, in response to sanctions by the West.
On Monday, the EU said its refineries will stop buying Iranian crude after July. It also froze assets of Iran's central bank. The sanctions are meant to force Iran to talk with the West about its nuclear program. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful, but Western nations suspect it is trying to build nuclear weapons.
The embargo itself isn't expected to affect world supplies, although markets would get reshuffled. Analysts say China, which is one of the biggest buyers of Iranian crude, probably will buy more Iranian oil at below-market prices when the embargo begins. China would reduce imports from other oil-producing countries, which would then sell more to Europe.
"Iran needs to sell its oil to someone," independent analyst and trader Stephen Schork said. "Outside the West, Iran really has only one buyer: China. That means China's probably going to get some sweetheart deals."
Experts say Iran doesn't have the firepower to close off the strait, which is the only way to get from the Persian Gulf to the open sea. But a conflict there could clog the waterway with military vessels and force the world's refineries to wait for crucial oil shipments.
In other energy trading, heating oil rose 0.8 cent to $3.01 a gallon and gasoline futures added 0.1 cent to $2.79 a gallon. Natural gas futures were up 5.7 cents at $2.58 per 1,000 cubic feet.
COMMENTARY | The talk in the political arena is the Jan. 31 Florida primary, and the two-week period leading to the primary. Political pundits question whether Mitt Romney can hone his debate skills, whether Rick Santorum is stumping for a vice presidential bid, or whether Ron Paul is now a mere afterthought in the primary process. However, the main focus is the momentum Newt Gingrich gained as a result of his upset of the Republican establishment favorite Romney, in the South Carolina primary, and how the Republican establishment in Washington accepts it.
The Washington Republican establishment, who worked with Gingrich when he was speaker of the house in the mid-'90s, are his friends, but not his fans. Nevertheless, instead of trying to appease, Gingrich seems to confront them. A Jan. 23 Associated Press article quoted Newt Gingrich as saying, "I think you're going to see the establishment go crazy in the next week or two."
While Gingrich was Speaker of the House, his roughshod demeanor, power-hungry personality, and lack of ethics created waves, and, in disgrace, he resigned from the house in 1999. Those in today's Republican establishment, who worked with him when he was Speaker of the House, see him as a divider, not a unifier.
But the older Republican electorate remembers his successes, such as when the Republicans took over the house in 1994, welfare reform and leading the drive to balance the budget, more than his failures.
Therein lies the dilemma. The Republican establishment does not want to back Gingrich, while, at this time anyway, the Republican electorate favors him. The rub is a 100 percent unified effort is necessary to defeat President Barrack Obama in the 2012 election. In spite of this, less than a year before the election, both Gingrich and the Republican establishment are throwing jabs at each other, while their electorate awaits a meeting of minds from their leadership.
It's evident a compromise is necessary from both sides. It's been 13 years since Gingrich resigned as house leader, and he admits his mistakes, both in D.C. and in his personal life. He says he asked God for forgiveness, and put that part of his personality make-up behind him. If God forgave Gingrich, shouldn't the Republican establishment do the same?
On the other hand, though, if Gingrich came to God with an attitude of contrition, should he not approach the Republican establishment in the same manner? If he does, and the Republican establishment does, wouldn't the electorate be appeased, and all three can concentrate on the similar mission of winning the election in November?
TAMPA, Fla. ? A suddenly scrambled Republican presidential contest shifts to Florida after Newt Gingrich stopped Mitt Romney's sprint to the GOP nomination with a convincing victory in South Carolina.
The air of inevitability that surrounded Romney's candidacy is gone, at least for now. His rivals, led by Gingrich, have until Florida's Jan. 31 contest to prove South Carolina was no fluke.
Larger, more diverse and more expensive, Florida brings new challenges to Gingrich, who again must overcome financial and organizational disadvantages as he did in South Carolina, whose primary he won Saturday.
"We don't have the kind of money at least one of the candidates has. But we do have ideas. And we do have people," Gingrich, the former House speaker, told cheering supporters after his victory. "And we proved here in South Carolina that people power with the right ideas beats big money. And with your help, we're going to prove it again in Florida."
Romney struck a defiant tone before his own backers gathered at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds, saying: "I will compete in every single state." He wasted no time jabbing at Gingrich, saying: "Our party can't be led to victory by someone who also has never run a business and never led a state."
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, third in South Carolina, pledged to compete in Florida and beyond. His presence in the race ensures at least some division among Florida's tea party activists and evangelicals, a division that could ultimately help Romney help erase any questions about his candidacy.
Texas Rep. Ron Paul likely will not be a factor in Florida. He already had said he was bypassing the state in favor of smaller subsequent contests.
As the first Southern primary, South Carolina has been a proving ground for Republican presidential hopefuls in recent years. Since Ronald Reagan in 1980, every Republican contender who won the primary has gone on to capture the party's nomination.
Returns from 95 percent of the state's precincts showed Gingrich with 41 percent of the vote to 27 percent for Romney. Santorum was winning 17 percent, Paul 13 percent.
But political momentum was the real prize with the race to pick an opponent to President Barack Obama still in its early stages.
Already, Romney and a group that supports him were on the air in Florida with a significant television ad campaign, more than $7 million combined to date.
Gingrich readily conceded that he trails in money, and even before appearing for his victory speech he tweeted supporters thanking them and appealing for a flood of donations for the Jan 31 primary. "Help me deliver the knockout punch in Florida. Join our Moneybomb and donate now," said his Internet message.
Aides to Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, had once dared hope that Florida would seal his nomination ? if South Carolina didn't first. But that strategy appeared to vanish along with the once-formidable lead he held in pre-primary polls.
Romney swept into South Carolina as the favorite after being pronounced the winner of the lead-off Iowa caucuses, then cruising to victory in New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary.
But in the sometimes-surreal week that followed, he was stripped of his Iowa triumph ? GOP officials there now say Santorum narrowly won ? while former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman dropped out and endorsed Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry quit and backed Gingrich.
Romney responded awkwardly to questions about releasing his income tax returns, and about his investments in the Cayman Islands. Gingrich, the former speaker of the House, benefited from two well-received debate performances while grappling with allegations by an ex-wife that he had once asked her for an open marriage so he could keep his mistress.
By primary eve, Romney was speculating openly about a lengthy battle for the nomination rather than the quick knockout that had seemed within his grasp only days earlier.
MILAN (Reuters) ? Italy's goal of refinancing some 90 billion euros of long-term debt by the end of April is beginning to look within reach after months when the weight of its debt burden looked likely to tip the euro zone even deeper into crisis.
In spite of this month's mass downgrade of most euro countries by credit rating agency Standard & Poor's, Madrid romped through a debt sale on Thursday with support from cheap ECB lending to banks and steady interest from domestic investors.
The same factors should also help Rome.
Saddled with a 1.9 trillion euro ($2.5 trillion) public debt, Italy is the euro zone's third largest economy and investors have long feared it may prove too big to bail.
The amount of debt it must refinance between February and April looked almost unmanageable in November after international investors fled Italian bonds, driving even the country's three-year borrowing costs to nearly 8 percent.
But a fall in short-term yields after Italian banks awash with cheap ECB funds snapped up domestic bonds at recent sales has improved the market picture for Italy, now rated among the lower investment grades at BBB+ by S&P, on a par with bailed-out fellow struggler Ireland.
"I am convinced Italy can and will make it," said Intesa SanPaolo fixed-income analyst Chiara Manenti. "Recent auctions tell us tensions eased slightly. Looking ahead, the return of a net demand also on medium- and long-term maturities and a stop to disinvestments from abroad are crucial for Italy," she said.
Much hinges on efforts to persuade investors to accept deep losses on Greek debt, key to avoiding an unruly default there.
"It certainly isn't our main scenario, but we can't assign a zero probability to the event of Italy being shut out of debt markets. In the short term there are risks relating to a possible Greek default," said Matteo Regesta, a strategist at BNP Paribas in London.
Italy itself came dangerously close to sliding towards default in late 2011 and has since been striving to regain market confidence under the leadership of a new technocratic government headed by former EU Commissioner Mario Monti.
Crucially, Italy can count on the support of the European Central Bank both through its bond buying program and an unprecedented liquidity boost. At a December 21 ECB tender of three-year funds, Italian banks took 116 billion euros, almost a quarter of the total.
This cheap funding, analysts say, has fuelled demand for short-term Italian and Spanish paper at recent auctions -- a trend which Rome plans to exploit. With more ECB cash up for grab at a February tender, Italian investors would have enough to fill up any void resulting from lack of foreign interest.
"Domestic investors are likely to continue to participate --and indeed are incentivized to do so in order to protect existing exposure," Citi analysts wrote in a report last week.
Italian investors held 54 percent of the country's 1.6 trillion euro bonds and bills in June, the Bank of Italy said. Analysts estimate this share may have risen towards 60 percent.
"Like many issuers, Italy is relying more and more on its domestic investor base," said Citi analyst Jamie Searle.
To better target retail demand at home, Italy will also start issuing directly to small investors through electronic platforms in the first quarter of 2012.
Maria Cannata, in charge of debt management at Italy's Treasury, said on Tuesday that a higher domestic debt ownership helps but that Italy's debt is too great to rely almost exclusively on local buyers.
WOOING FOREIGN BUYERS
Domestic investors make up the bulk of demand for Italian short-term debt but its sales of longer-term bonds must also target foreign buyers. PM Monti went to woo them in London this week.
Unlike short-term rates, longer-term yields have retreated only modestly. At around 6.40 percent, 10-year yields are two percentage points above three-year ones and not far from the 7 percent mark that has led other countries to seek bailouts.
"It is the 10-year sector where the battle for market access is likely to be won or lost, hence the particular importance of the end-month BTP auctions," Citi analysts said in their report.
Italy is due to sell five- and 10-year BTP bonds on January 30, at an auction that will settle on February 1, when nearly 26 billion euros of BTPs and about 10 billion euros in coupons mature.
Ten years is the longest maturity Italy has attempted to sell since offering an off-the-run 15-year bond in mid-October.
Maturities longer than 10 years fall outside the scope of the ECB's bond purchases, traders say, and these buys are key in indirectly supporting demand at Italian bond sales.
With virtually no bonds maturing in January, Italy has pre-funded some of its redemptions this month. Intesa estimates net issuance at auctions settled in January at up to 39 billion euros including next week's sales of Treasury bills, zero-coupon and inflation-linked bonds.
Cannata said on Tuesday Rome would certainly boost issues of short-term bills, commercial paper and bonds with a maturity of up to three years in the first part of the year.
Once past the February-April refinancing hump, which represents 45 percent of 2012 medium and long-term maturities, Italy would have minimal redemptions in May and June.
But significantly shortening Italy's debt average life of seven years would increase refinancing risks. S&P warned last week that this would weaken an important credit strength for Italy and the Treasury is well aware of the danger.
"Already in the second half of the year we will necessarily have to return to a more uniform distribution along the yield curve to (ensure) a shortening in the average life of the debt ... remains modest," Cannata said. ($1 = 0.7757 euros)
SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) ? The Texas Congressman whose proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) prompted dozens of websites to go dark or run protest messages this week said Friday he is pulling the measure from consideration "until there is wider agreement on a solution."
"I have heard from the critics and I take seriously their concerns regarding proposed legislation to address the problem of online piracy," U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, a Republican from Texas and the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, told Reuters in a telephone interview.
"It is clear that we need to revisit the approach on how best to address the problem of foreign thieves that steal and sell American inventions and products," Smith said.
(Reporting by Jim Forsyth; Editing by Daniel Trotta)
In recent months, there's been some hand-wringing about a "Series A Crunch" ? namely, a glut of startups raising seed and angel funding, then struggling once they need to raise a proper Series A. But in a recent interview, 500 Startups founder Dave McClure said the complaints are misguided.
NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Verizon Wireless and its cable partners are willing to give U.S. communication regulators confidential details of their agreement but objected to a request for information from Sprint Nextel (S.N), DirecTV (DTV.O), T-Mobile USA and others.
Verizon Wireless has announced it would spend almost $4 billion to buy wireless spectrum from the cable companies as part of broader agreements that include formation of a joint venture and cable operator resale of wireless services.
Spectrum sales need approval from the Federal Communications Commission because it regulates the transfer of a spectrum license.
Since the Verizon Wireless agreement with cable operators, including Comcast (CMCSA.O) and Time Warner Cable (TWC.N), is much broader than a spectrum sale, its rivals and consumer advocacy groups asked for details of the other elements of the deal.
"Without the ability to review the larger transaction in its entirety, it is impossible to assess whether there will be public interest harms associated with this proposed transfer," they wrote in a Wednesday letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.
They asked Genachowski for help in "acquiring the information necessary to adequately evaluate the proposed transactions and relationships" so they could give the FCC its comments on the deal.
However, in a meeting last week with the FCC, Verizon Wireless and its partners argued that commercial agreements do not need FCC approval and "have no bearing on whether the spectrum sale is in the public interest" so they do not need to be part of the FCC review.
Privately held cable provider Cox Enterprises outlined the details of the meeting in a filing dated Wednesday with the FCC.
The partners also told the FCC that the spectrum license agreement and the commercial agreements "are not contingent upon each other" so either could go ahead even if the other were not approved, according to the filing.
They said they would provide the FCC with details about the commercial agreement on a confidential basis to help with the review process even though they did not believe it was obliged to do so.
Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications (VZ.N) and Vodafone Group Plc (VOD.L), also said that the commercial arrangements are a separate transaction unrelated to the spectrum purchase that is being reviewed by the FCC.
The Justice Department is looking into the antitrust implications of the deal, focusing on the marketing arrangements.
(Reporting By Sinead Carew; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
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A wealth of habitable planets in the Milky Way Public release date: 11-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Gertie Skaarup skaarup@nbi.dk (45) 35-32-53-20 University of Copenhagen
Six years of observations of millions of stars now show how common it is for stars to have planets in orbits around them. Using a method that is highly sensitive to planets that lie in a habitable zone around the host stars, astronomers, including members from the Niels Bohr Institute, have discovered that most of the Milky Way's 100 billion stars have planets that are very similar to the Earth-like planets in our own solar system Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, while planets like Jupiter and Saturn are more rare. The results are published in the prestigious scientific journal, Nature.
"Our results show that planets orbiting around stars are more the rule than the exception. In a typical solar system approximately four planets have their orbits in the terrestrial zone, which is the distance from the star where you can find solid planets. On average, there are 1.6 planets in the area around the stars that corresponds to the area between Venus and Saturn" explains astronomer Uffe Gre Jrgensen, head of the research group Astrophysics and Planetary Science at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen.
Searching for exoplanets
Over 1000 exoplanets have been found in our galaxy, the Milky Way, and most have been found using either the radial velocity method or the transit method, both of which are best suited to be able to find planets that are large and relatively close to their host star. With the radial velocity method you can measure that a star rocks in small circular motions due to a revolving planet's gravitational force. With the transit method you measure periodic changes in the brightness of a star. When a planet moves in front of the star, there is a little dip in the star's brightness and if this little dip occurs regularly, further observations can reveal whether there it is a planet. With both methods you most often find large planets in such small orbits around their stars, that they have no equivalents in our own solar system.
Habitable exoplanets
In order to find planets similar to the planets we know from our own solar system, researchers must use a third method gravitational microlensing observations. But the gravitational microlensing method requires very special conditions concerning the stars location in the galaxy.
Uffe Gre Jrgensen explains that you need to have two stars that lie on a straight line in relation to us here on Earth. Then the light from the background star is amplified by the gravity of the foreground star, which thus acts as a magnifying glass. When the stars pass close by each other in the sky, astronomers can observe the light from the background star first increase and then decrease again. If there is a planet around the foreground star, there might be a little extra bump on the light curve. But if the planet is very close to the star, the bump 'drowns' on the light curve, and if the planet is very far from star, you do not see it. "Therefore the method is most sensitive to planets that lie at an Earth-like distance from a star," explains Uffe Gre Jrgensen.
It is rare that two planets pass by each other closely enough to create a microlens. We have therefore implemented a strategic search on two levels. Every starry night the research group scans 100 million stars using telescopes in Chile and New Zealand. If the scanning identifies a stellar location with a possible microlensing effect, it is automatically registered and all researchers are notified. Then the best 'lenses' are observed more closely at high resolution and their light curves are analysed. One of the places this is done is at the Danish 1.5 meter telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile.
"In a six year period from 2002 to 2007, we observed 500 stars at high resolution. In 10 of the stars we directly see the lens effect of a planet, and for the others we could use statistical arguments to determine how many planets the stars had on average. To be exact, we found that the zone that corresponds to the area between Venus and Saturn in our solar system had and average of 1.6 planets the size of five Earth masses or more," explains Uffe Gre Jrgensen.
Billions of habitable planets
The microlensing results complement the best existing transit and radial velocity measurements. Using transit measurements, the American Kepler satellite has identified a very large number of relatively small planets in orbits smaller than even the innermost planet in our own solar system, Mercury, while many years of radial velocity measurements have revealed a large number of very large planets in both very small orbits and slightly larger orbits.
"Our microlensing data complements the other two methods by identifying small and large planets in the area midway between the transit and radial velocity measurements. Together, the three methods are, for the first time, able to say something about how common our own solar system is, as well as how many stars appear to have Earth-size planets in the orbital area where liquid what could, in principle, exist as lakes, rivers and oceans that is to say, where life as we know it from Earth could exist in principle," says Uffe Gre Jrgensen.
He explains that a statistical analysis of all three methods combined shows that out of the Milky Way's 100 billion stars, there are about 10 billion stars with planets in the habitable zone. This means that there may be billions of habitable planets in the Milky Way. For thousands of years people have been guessing how many planets there might be out there among the stars, where we could, in principle at least, live. Today we know this.
Are we alone in the universe?
But it is one thing, that the planets have the right temperature to be habitable in principle, but quite another thing, whether they are inhabited whether there is life and perhaps even intelligent life on the planets.
"There are so many unique events in our solar system that have created the basis for the development of life on Earth. Comets brought water to our planet so that life could arise and a series of random events set in motion an evolution that lead to humans and intelligent life. It is very unlikely that the same circumstances would be present in other solar systems," believes Uffe Gre Jrgensen, "but perhaps other coincidences in other solar systems have led to entirely different and exciting new forms of life. Recent research of planets around other stars has shown us that there is in any case billions of planets with orbits like Earth and of comparable size to the Earth."
###
For more information contact:
Uffe Gre Jrgensen, Astrophysicist, Associate Professor, Head of the research group Astrophysics and Planetary Science, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen
+45 3532-5998, +45 6130-6640, uffegj@nbi.dk
http://www.nbi.ku.dk/english/
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
A wealth of habitable planets in the Milky Way Public release date: 11-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Gertie Skaarup skaarup@nbi.dk (45) 35-32-53-20 University of Copenhagen
Six years of observations of millions of stars now show how common it is for stars to have planets in orbits around them. Using a method that is highly sensitive to planets that lie in a habitable zone around the host stars, astronomers, including members from the Niels Bohr Institute, have discovered that most of the Milky Way's 100 billion stars have planets that are very similar to the Earth-like planets in our own solar system Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, while planets like Jupiter and Saturn are more rare. The results are published in the prestigious scientific journal, Nature.
"Our results show that planets orbiting around stars are more the rule than the exception. In a typical solar system approximately four planets have their orbits in the terrestrial zone, which is the distance from the star where you can find solid planets. On average, there are 1.6 planets in the area around the stars that corresponds to the area between Venus and Saturn" explains astronomer Uffe Gre Jrgensen, head of the research group Astrophysics and Planetary Science at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen.
Searching for exoplanets
Over 1000 exoplanets have been found in our galaxy, the Milky Way, and most have been found using either the radial velocity method or the transit method, both of which are best suited to be able to find planets that are large and relatively close to their host star. With the radial velocity method you can measure that a star rocks in small circular motions due to a revolving planet's gravitational force. With the transit method you measure periodic changes in the brightness of a star. When a planet moves in front of the star, there is a little dip in the star's brightness and if this little dip occurs regularly, further observations can reveal whether there it is a planet. With both methods you most often find large planets in such small orbits around their stars, that they have no equivalents in our own solar system.
Habitable exoplanets
In order to find planets similar to the planets we know from our own solar system, researchers must use a third method gravitational microlensing observations. But the gravitational microlensing method requires very special conditions concerning the stars location in the galaxy.
Uffe Gre Jrgensen explains that you need to have two stars that lie on a straight line in relation to us here on Earth. Then the light from the background star is amplified by the gravity of the foreground star, which thus acts as a magnifying glass. When the stars pass close by each other in the sky, astronomers can observe the light from the background star first increase and then decrease again. If there is a planet around the foreground star, there might be a little extra bump on the light curve. But if the planet is very close to the star, the bump 'drowns' on the light curve, and if the planet is very far from star, you do not see it. "Therefore the method is most sensitive to planets that lie at an Earth-like distance from a star," explains Uffe Gre Jrgensen.
It is rare that two planets pass by each other closely enough to create a microlens. We have therefore implemented a strategic search on two levels. Every starry night the research group scans 100 million stars using telescopes in Chile and New Zealand. If the scanning identifies a stellar location with a possible microlensing effect, it is automatically registered and all researchers are notified. Then the best 'lenses' are observed more closely at high resolution and their light curves are analysed. One of the places this is done is at the Danish 1.5 meter telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile.
"In a six year period from 2002 to 2007, we observed 500 stars at high resolution. In 10 of the stars we directly see the lens effect of a planet, and for the others we could use statistical arguments to determine how many planets the stars had on average. To be exact, we found that the zone that corresponds to the area between Venus and Saturn in our solar system had and average of 1.6 planets the size of five Earth masses or more," explains Uffe Gre Jrgensen.
Billions of habitable planets
The microlensing results complement the best existing transit and radial velocity measurements. Using transit measurements, the American Kepler satellite has identified a very large number of relatively small planets in orbits smaller than even the innermost planet in our own solar system, Mercury, while many years of radial velocity measurements have revealed a large number of very large planets in both very small orbits and slightly larger orbits.
"Our microlensing data complements the other two methods by identifying small and large planets in the area midway between the transit and radial velocity measurements. Together, the three methods are, for the first time, able to say something about how common our own solar system is, as well as how many stars appear to have Earth-size planets in the orbital area where liquid what could, in principle, exist as lakes, rivers and oceans that is to say, where life as we know it from Earth could exist in principle," says Uffe Gre Jrgensen.
He explains that a statistical analysis of all three methods combined shows that out of the Milky Way's 100 billion stars, there are about 10 billion stars with planets in the habitable zone. This means that there may be billions of habitable planets in the Milky Way. For thousands of years people have been guessing how many planets there might be out there among the stars, where we could, in principle at least, live. Today we know this.
Are we alone in the universe?
But it is one thing, that the planets have the right temperature to be habitable in principle, but quite another thing, whether they are inhabited whether there is life and perhaps even intelligent life on the planets.
"There are so many unique events in our solar system that have created the basis for the development of life on Earth. Comets brought water to our planet so that life could arise and a series of random events set in motion an evolution that lead to humans and intelligent life. It is very unlikely that the same circumstances would be present in other solar systems," believes Uffe Gre Jrgensen, "but perhaps other coincidences in other solar systems have led to entirely different and exciting new forms of life. Recent research of planets around other stars has shown us that there is in any case billions of planets with orbits like Earth and of comparable size to the Earth."
###
For more information contact:
Uffe Gre Jrgensen, Astrophysicist, Associate Professor, Head of the research group Astrophysics and Planetary Science, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen
+45 3532-5998, +45 6130-6640, uffegj@nbi.dk
http://www.nbi.ku.dk/english/
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Twitter / RJ Moeller: Wheaton College just got a ...Wheaton College just got a shout-out on a fake SNL commercial making fun of bad NCAA bowl games.Il y a environ 9 heuresvia web
LONDON (Reuters) ? China is due to overtake the United States to become the world's biggest oil importer within a year and a half, Goldman Sachs said on Monday.
U.S. oil imports have slid by 40 percent over the past several years as technological innovation in areas such as shale gas has boosted output, while demand has soared in China, Jeff Currie, head of commodities research for the investment bank, told a strategy conference in London.
"Within the next 12 to 18 months, China's going to surpass the United States as the biggest importer of oil in the world," he said.
Concord, N.H. -- South Main Street in downtown Concord is tough to navigate in front of the Capitol Center for the Arts as dozens of campaign supporters wave signs and rally support for their candidates. Newt Gingrich supporters grabbed the prime spot in the center of the crowd in front of the Capitol Center, while organized labor was stationed just off the side at the end of the crowd.
In recent months, there's been some hand-wringing about a "Series A Crunch" ? namely, a glut of startups raising seed and angel funding, then struggling once they need to raise a proper Series A. But in a recent interview, 500 Startups founder Dave McClure said the complaints are misguided.
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Public release date: 11-Jan-2012
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