• NASA’s Chandra Finds Fastest Wind from Stellar-Mass Black Hole
  Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have clocked the fastest wind yet discovered blowing off a disk around a stellar-mass black hole.
• NASA Awards Engineering Support Services Contract
  NASA announced the selection of Analytical Mechanics Associates Inc. of Hampton to provide engineering services to support research and technology development for the Langley Research Center
• NASA’s Spitzer Finds Solid Buckyballs in Space
  Astronomers using data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope have, for the first time, discovered buckyballs in a solid form in space. Prior to this discovery, the microscopic carbon spheres had been found only in gas form.
• NASA Contract Modification For Engineering And Support Services
  NASA has signed its final contract option with InfoPro Corp. in Huntsville to continue engineering technicians and trades support services for the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center.

“Preliminary estimates indicate an accumulation which can vary between 42 and 84 billion cubic meters. It is too early to say whether Neptune block will be developed commercially or not,” the companies said.

Petrom Group: solid results for Q4 and January – December 2011 reflect improved operating performance underlined by continuous investments and a favorable price environment

• Clean Q4/11 results up compared to Q4/10: Petrom Group’s clean CCS EBIT was 76% higher, supported by a favorable crude price environment and continuously high investments; clean CCS net income attributable to stockholders is up 65% to RON 1,282 mn;
• Sustained investments and operational efforts led to excellent operational performance: stabilized production volumes in Romania; exploration efforts increasingly bear fruit; good progress with the power projects development as we marked our entry into the power business
• Outlook for 2012: E&P will focus on further stabilizing production volumes and the progress of exploration initiatives; increased focus on G&P with full commercial operation of the Brazi power plant now anticipated for H2/12; R&M will continue operational optimization and progress of the Petrobrazi modernization program

• Results for Q4 and January – December 2011, (0.22 MB, PDF)

The 12.76 carat diamond was unearthed at the Argyle open pit in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia.

The diamond will be known as The Argyle Pink Jubilee.

The Argyle Pink Jubilee is a light pink diamond, similar in colour to The Williamson Pink, which is the diamond that Her Majesty The Queen received as a wedding gift and was subsequently set into a brooch for her Coronation.

Expert diamond polisher Richard How Kim Kam, who has worked for Argyle for 25 years, started work on polishing the amazing pink diamond in Perth today.

After two months of careful assessment and planning, it will take about 10 days to cut and polish the diamond as a single stone. Richard said “I’m going to take it very carefully. I know the world will be watching.”

When the diamond has been cut and polished it will be graded by a team of international experts and showcased to the world before being sold as part of the iconic Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender later this year.

Argyle Pink Diamonds Manager Josephine Johnson said “This rare diamond is generating incredible excitement. A diamond of this calibre is unprecedented – it has taken 26 years of Argyle production to unearth this stone and we may never see one like this again. The individual who gets to wear this remarkable pink diamond will be incredibly lucky indeed.”

More than 90 per cent of the world’s pink diamonds come from the Argyle mine.

Large pink diamonds tend to go to museums, are gifted to royalty or end up at auction houses like Christie’s auctions. Christie’s has only auctioned 18 polished pink diamonds over 10 carats in its 244 year history.

About Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto is a leading international mining group headquartered in the UK, combining Rio Tinto plc, a London and New York Stock Exchange listed company, and Rio Tinto Limited, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Rio Tinto’s business is finding, mining, and processing mineral resources. Major products are aluminium, copper, diamonds, thermal and metallurgical coal, uranium, gold, industrial minerals (borax, titanium dioxide and salt) and iron ore. Activities span the world and are strongly represented in Australia and North America with significant businesses in Asia, Europe, Africa and South America.

The public commemorative events on Wednesday 22 February 2012 are:

Service to mark the 1st anniversary of the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake
8am-8.45am, Latimer Square

This service is focused towards the families of those lost and first responders.  The public are welcome to attend. Members of the public can view the service on a large screen.

Civic Memorial Service
12 noon-1.30pm, North Hagley Park

This is a public event for the whole community. The service include musical accompaniment from Christchurch school children, the reading of the names of the 185 lost and an observance of two minutes’ silence at 12.51pm

Christchurch Earthquake Awards
2pm-4pm, North Hagley Park

This is a public event for the whole community where we recognise our earthquake heroes.

Mayor Bob Parker is pleased that there is a strong community focus to the commemorative events and hopes many Christchurch residents will come together on Wednesday 22 February.

“We experienced tremendous loss in 2011 and while it is important to remember those lost, we also need to look ahead to the future as a community.  The public commemorative events will provide us with the opportunity to collectively reflect on the events of the past year” he says.

The Civic Memorial Service is the main public commemorative event and many Christchurch residents are expected to attend.  To make travel around the city as easy as possible, the Council suggests residents take a bus, bike or walk to Hagley Park.  There will be limited parking areas as well as taxi and drop-off places.  For information about the bus timetable and route information visit www.metroinfo.co.nz

St Johns first aid will be in attendance and toilets will be on site.  Residents are asked to bring their own food, drinking water and a rug to sit on.  Alcohol is strictly prohibited at the event and there will be security on site to ensure public safety.

The Civic Memorial Service will go ahead rain or shine.  Residents are asked to check the weather reports in the morning and bring warm clothing and wet weather gear if needed.

For further information on the public events and community events throughout the city visit this page.

Google presents new logo of electromagnetic waves on the screen color running from right to left.

Heinrich Rudolf Hertz was born on February 22, 1857, in Hamburg, and died on January 1, 1894, in Bonn.

According to USGS, the earthquake occurred at 3.58 local time (11.58 GMT) with epicenter at 14.5 kilometers east-southeast of Sikeston, Missouri and 25.7 km southwest of Cairo, Illinois. The epicenter was located five kilometers deep, writes CNN.

The earthquake was felt in 13 states, the farthest place from the epicenter was in New Bern, North Carolina, from 1287 kilometers away, according to USGS. Besides those in Missouri, Illinois and North Carolina, residents of states Pennsylvania, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kansas, Arkansas and Oklahoma have also said they felt the earthquake.

Bill Weir, ABC News journalist, has produced a report in one of Foxconn factories in China.

“On arrival we were greeted by an Executive Director of Foxconn, who declined to confirm that these buildings are working on secret projects for Intel, Nintendo, Dell. I was told that this is the first time a reporter is allowed access here, “said Bill Weir.

The team had to wear special suits and protective masks and make numerous air showers, because a single speck of dust can destroy an entire production line.

“To achieve an iPad 141 steps are required. I was amazed that the employees are young, no one looks to be over 30 years. Most come from poor villages, hoping to earn $ 2 per hour. I expected more automation, but most of the steps by which the products are made are made ​​by hand. Working in two shifts, employees can make up to 300,000 rooms iPad day. To assemble an iPad it takes five days and 325 pairs of hands “said the reporter.

“Most times I think how tired they are, I think the rest,” said one employee who assembles aluminum housing 3,000 each shift.

Japanese engineers join UN mission to build roads and bridges in Juba, South Sudan. Photo: UNMISS

The group of 120 engineers from the Japanese Ground Self-Defence Force (GSDF) follows the arrival of an advance team of 34 logisticians from Japan last month, the mission (UNMISS) reported yesterday.

By next month a full contingent of 330 engineers will be in place, as will road rollers, excavators, bulldozers and water tankers.

South Sudan, which became independent from Sudan in July last year, has hardly any tarmacked roads or other basic infrastructure, a legacy in part of years of civil war in Sudan.

Colonel Toru Namatame, who heads the Japanese unit in UNMISS, said his team specialized in “horizontal engineering” and its main role would be constructing roads and bridges.

Hilde F. Johnson, the head of UNMISS and the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for South Sudan, voiced her gratitude to Japan for the new contingent.

“The arrival of the Japanese Engineering Contingent is a welcome addition to the mission and its efficiency will only strengthen our efforts to provide assistance to the new nation,” she said today.

In a statement, Margareta Wahlström, the head of the secretariat of the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), voiced concern for the consequences faced by those countries traversed by the Danube, whose sudden thaw is taking many by surprise.

“The thaw is now setting in along the Danube. While thousands of people remain snowbound from Serbia to Bulgaria, there are warning signs that destructive floods will add to the loss of life and economic assets particularly in places where there is an absence of flood management infrastructure such as dams and dikes,” Ms. Wahlström stated.

According to media reports, the quick thawing of Europe’s second longest river has sent massive ice floes careening into boats and bridges, causing widespread damage to river vessels. The cold front had previously frozen large tracts of the waterway, making it unnavigable in areas of Germany and the Balkans.

“This severe winter in which hundreds of people have died has highlighted several weaknesses in our built environment and our ability to prepare for worst–case scenarios,” Ms. Wahlström said. “Vulnerable communities across Europe have been cut off from transport, schools, health facilities and electricity in many cases.”

The cold spell which has paralyzed much of Europe also reportedly killed more than 300 people in Ukraine, Poland, France and Italy as extremely low temperatures and substantial snowfalls blanketed the continent.

Ms. Wahlström commended Bulgaria’s decision to inspect over 500 dams throughout the country and to release the water from some dams and reservoirs to contain the Danube’s eventual floodwaters.

However, she also urged governments to undertake better planning for the possibility of future extreme winter weather patterns

“The unpredictability of severe weather events leads to high human and financial costs,” she added. “More focus on winterisation planning will be a wise investment in the coming years.”

• NASA’s Chandra Finds Fastest Wind from Stellar-Mass Black Hole
  Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have clocked the fastest wind yet discovered blowing off a disk around a stellar-mass black hole.
• NASA Administrator Announces Senior Leadership Changes
  NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced Tuesday changes to his senior leadership team. Associate Administrator Chris Scolese was named director of NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and Robert Lightfoot, director of the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., will serve as acting associate administrator.
• NASA Contract Modification For Engineering And Support Services
  NASA has signed its final contract option with InfoPro Corp. in Huntsville to continue engineering technicians and trades support services for the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center.