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Amazing photo shows 'swarm' of stars

Tens of thousands of stars can be seen clustered together in a new image.

A ball of some of the oldest stars in the universe looks like a swarm of bees in a new view from an observatory in Chile.?

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The photo, released today (May 9), was taken by a European Southern Observatory telescope and shows 100,000 stars crowded together in Messier 55, a globular star cluster located roughly 17,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius (The Archer). It is one of about 160 globular clusters orbiting the outskirts of our Milky Way galaxy.

Scientists suspect the stars in globular clusters formed from single clouds of gas that condensed to make stars around the same time, around 10 billion years ago. That makes these stars some of the most ancient known. As such, they provide valuable archaeological evidence about what the universe was like not long after the Big Bang is thought to have given rise to it.

"As this formative period was just a few billion years after the Big Bang, nearly all of the gas on hand was the simplest, lightest and most common in the cosmos: hydrogen, along with some helium and much smaller amounts of heavier chemical elements such as oxygen and nitrogen," scientists with the European Southern Observatory wrote in a statement.

Astronomers estimate the universe is about 13.7 billion years old. In contrast, our own star, the sun, formed only 4.6 billion years ago, and is made of more complex, heavier elements that were around at this later epoch.

The new image was taken at the 4.1-metre Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) at the Paranal Observatory in Chile's Atacama desert.

The cluster Messier 55 (also known asNGC 6809) is easily visible through a small telescope, and stretches about two-thirds the width of the full moon across the sky. It was first observed in 1752 by French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, and later added by another French astronomer, Charles Messier, into his famous catalog of bright objects.

Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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Fry's stocks unlocked Nokia N9, is slightly misinformed about its specs

Sure, Nokia's Lumia 900 and 808 PureView may have garnered much of the spotlight lately, but lest we forgot about its flagship MeeGo handset. If you've been anxiously hoping to somehow score an unlocked N9 in the US sans gray-market importers, apparently Fry's Electronics has you covered. Phone News spotted a listing for the phone in the store's latest weekly ad -- although upon closer inspection, it appears that the retailer isn't too sure about its actual specs. Aside from describing the 3.9-inch slab of polycarbonate as a 4.3-inch device, it's also flubbed on the OS, calling it "Mego." Perhaps the most interesting error, however, is that the handset's ClearBlack AMOLED display is listed as Super AMOLED -- Samsung's competing technology. Assuming these are merely copy errors, you'll be able to pick one up for a spendy $600. Hit up the source link below to view the full ad.

Fry's stocks unlocked Nokia N9, is slightly misinformed about its specs originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 May 2012 02:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In-School Tests Suggest Overweight Boys and Girls Benefit From ...

Newswise ? BOSTON?(April 4, 2012) ? Improving or maintaining physical fitness appears to help obese and overweight children reach a healthy weight, reports a new study from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. Researchers analyzed four years of data from in-school fitness tests and body mass index (BMI) measurements of students in grades 1?7 in the city of Cambridge, Mass.

In the study published online March 15 by the journalObesity, Sacheck and colleagues examined the association between weight status and fitness levels by assessing student performance on five fitness tests. Regardless of their weight, students were classified as ?fit? if they passed all five tests and ?underfit? if they failed one or more tests.

The assessments taken between 2004 and 2007 coincided with a city-wide weight and fitness intervention that prompted improvements to gymnasiums, promotion of physical activities outside of school, professional development for physical education teachers and issuing ?Health and Fitness report cards? to parents. The 2,793 students in the study participated in bi-weekly school gym classes plus a daily recess, and annual assessments of their BMI and physical fitness.

?Of the 1,069 students who were initially obese or overweight, 17% achieved a healthy weight within the one to four year study period compared with 6.3% of students who began the study at a healthy weight and became obese or overweight.? said Jennifer M. Sacheck, Ph.D., senior author and an assistant professor at the Friedman School. ?It is encouraging to see any kind of reversal in unhealthy weight patterns, considering Centers for Disease Control statistics indicate child and adolescent obesity rates rose approximately 13% between 1980 and 2008.?

Within the four-year study period, 27% of the 1,882 students who were underfit at baseline became fit.

?Obese and overweight girls who achieved fitness were almost five times as likely, and obese and overweight boys were two and a half times as likely, to reach a healthy weight than those who stayed underfit,? said first author Adela Hruby, a Ph.D. candidate at the Friedman School. ?It turns out that maintaining fitness is beneficial, too. We observed that obese and overweight girls and boys who both started and ended the study being fit were more likely to have a healthy weight by the end of the study.?
Staying fit also benefitted healthy weight boys and girls; they were more likely to maintain their weight than those students who declined from fit to underfit over the course of the study.

Maintaining or achieving a healthy weight appeared to be most closely associated with cardiorespiratory fitness, which was assessed by the students? performance in a 20-yard shuttle run (a 6-minute, back-and-forth run between two markers). Incremental improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness was associated with achieving a healthy weight in children who were obese or overweight at baseline and with weight maintenance in healthy weight students who were fit at baseline.

Sacheck noted additional research is needed to explain the current results. ?Because ours is an observational study using just annual measures, it is unclear whether students who became fit did so before they lost weight or whether they lost weight before they became fit,? she said. ?Long-term intervention trials that assess both fitness and nutrition could provide more data to determine the role of improved fitness in weight loss.?

A range of options exist for increasing child fitness. ?Federal guidelines call for at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise per day and most of that should fall into the category of cardiorespiratory fitness that builds the capacity of the heart and lungs, such as soccer or dancing,? Sacheck said. ?In addition to organized sports, school recesses or walking to school counts toward that one-hour goal. Parents can help by being active with their kids and limiting time spent watching TV or playing video games.?

The authors propose schools as leading advocates for physical activity programming and policies, such as in-school fitness testing. ?Although data on childhood fitness and health outcomes is still evolving, there is a body of research showing relationships between the two in adults, such as reduced risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. If studies continue to show the same for children, there is an even stronger case for fitness testing in schools where large groups of children can have access to such an evaluation.?

This study was funded by grants from the American Heart Association. Student data collection was funded by a United States Department of Education Physical Education Program (PEP) grant to the Cambridge Public Schools.

Hruby A, Chomitz VR, Arsenault LN, Must A, Economos CD, McGowan RA, and Sacheck JS. Predicting Maintenance or Achievement of Healthy Weight in Children: The Impact of Changes in Physical Fitness.?Obesity, March 15, 2012; doi:10.1038/oby.2012.13.

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'Shore's' Situation improves, ends treatment

Charles Sykes / AP

Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino

By Us Weekly

Mike Sorrentino's situation has drastically improved.

The MTV reality star -- better known as The Situation -- has completed his treatment program, Sorrentino announced on his official website Thursday.

"He is now stronger and better than ever, and excited for this new amazing chapter in his life," according to a statement, which also says that Sorrentino has "a whole new outlook on life."

PHOTOS: Meet the "Jersey Shore" cast's parents

The "Jersey Shore" party boy announced on March 21 that he's addicted to pills. "I have voluntarily taken steps to get control of a prescription medication problem I had due to exhaustion," Sorrentino, who was reportedly at Utah's Cirque Lodge, explained at the time.

VIDEO: Snooki and JWoww tell The Situation to "grow up"

A source recently told Us Weekly that Sorrentino, 29, "had a bad drug problem a few years ago" and even did a pre-"Shore" stint in rehab. About a year ago, Sorrentino's abuse of oxycodone and Xanax had gotten so out of hand, "MTV producers wanted to put him in rehab," an insider revealed. Ex-castmate Angelina Pivarnick also recalled that, while filming the Miami season in 2010, "he got in trouble for having pills."

What does Sorrentino's sobriety mean for his future?

PHOTOS: Craziest "Jersey Shore" moments ever

"Clubs aren't going to want him to promote while stone-cold sober," an industry source told Us of the MTV star, who commands up to $25,000 per club appearance. "His out-of-control character on the show is what's appealing about him."

Will Mike be less "appealing" now that he's apparently beaten his addiction? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.

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Data Protection and Recycling Computer Hardware

Data Protection And Recycling Computer Hardware

We've been running online computer resale, repair and recycling companies for a number of years and throughout the whole period, the most important (and I can't stress this enough) part of the operation has been the protection of personal and corporate data/ information. This cannot be stressed enough. Everything from replying to emails to surfing the web and recycling/ disposing of your computer exposes you to fraud and identity theft.

The most overlooked portion of a computer's life is that of it's disposal and the protection of the data on it's hard drive. Skipping or binning your computer without first thinking about the safety of your personal information is simply crazy. It's like throwing your credit card in the garbage bin without first cutting it up.

Using a professional recycling service isn't always the best solution. Similarly, the local municipal recycling center will not be the best place to just take your old computer. You need to treat the hard drive or remove it first. Professional services will ensure your old computer does not end up in landfill, but they usually don't guarantee that your data will be removed. If your used computer ends up on the Ivory coast, it's data will probably be accessed and your personal information stolen. Paying for recycling does give you some surety in that there's a form of contract in place and monies have changed hands for a service, but always check first to ensure that data destruction is included as part of the contract- and always insist on a certificate to say that the hard drive has been wiped or destroyed.

Wiping your own data is the best option and software like dBan offers the best and most secure way of doing this. The other option open to you is to remove the hard drive and take a sledge hammer to it. For corporates, computer recycling usually costs money and if it doesn't, the service most certainly involves resale for export, where information may be accessed on other continents- well outside the shores of your parent country and the laws that protect a company's rights. Remember, if in doubt, ask. Look for a level of professionalism and a service from your chosen recycling company designed to ensure client retention.

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New Zealand Travel Insurance!!! | hshmexico.org

Wherever you are traveling worldwide you need to have travel insurance coverage for you and your belongings. There are different types of travel insurance that traverse may possibly avail while traveling any destination worldwide. These kinds include annual and single trip holiday insurance, one way or full trip insurance, winter sports cover and insurance coverage for backpackers, families and enterprise trips. If you take New Zealand flights have to get travel insurance. Possessing travel insurance supplies you extra peace of mind when you are flying away from your house. It can be got by paying a minimal amount typically you require to spend five to 6 pounds for your one way flight insurance coverage. Paying a few pounds is significantly greater than the hassle and frustration you have to face if your luggage was to get lost or stolen or if you had been to fall ill.

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Your travel insurance is not pricey but your baggage lost or sickness can be a lot costly.

Travel insurance has created its special spot in the tourism business for the rewards it provides. Travelers taking flights to New Zealand opt for this cover due to the fact its rewards overweigh its expense. If we make a thorough comparison of the benefits of possessing insured with drawbacks of getting not insured we will be finding much more points for acquiring insured. Now-a-days practically all the travel and tour operators offer this service. They provide travelers with a speedy and straightforward way to view some of the greatest deals on the market. You might view them and make a thorough comparison to pick the best 1. It can be effortlessly bought at discounted rates along with you low-cost flights to New Zealand.

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Get your travel insurance coverage with any one the leading travel and tour operator like 7-Continets Travel.

They are operating air travel in UK because 1986. They do not only provide worldwide travel but are now also proud to give travelers insurance cover. You might get insurance cover at the time you are buying low cost New Zealand flights from them. Now let us take a look at its various types.

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Annual Insurance coverage: If you obtain annual insurance it will provide you protection for the trips you could take throughout the year.

Single Travel Insurance: It gives you protection for the only trip you have bought it for.

Backpacker Travel Insurance coverage: provides standard travel cover at an economy cost specifically for the travelers of age beneath 35.

Ski Insurance coverage: Accidental loss or theft of your personal or hired ski equipment is covered beneath this sort of travel insurance. If you take flights to New Zealand fromUK or some where else and have planned skiing, you need to acquire Ski Insurance coverage to get replacement skiing equipment in case of any theft or loss

This entry was posted in New Zealand Travel and tagged Insurance, Travel, Zealand. Bookmark the permalink.

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Muscletech Cell-Tech Pro-Series | Health & Fitness

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• Key Ingredient Combination Builds More Muscle and Strength than Creatine!
• 10,000mg Mega-Dose of Ultra-Pure Creatine
• 75g of Dextrose to Drive More Creatine into Muscles

If you?re an elite athlete, serious bodybuilder or just a guy looking to build muscle fast, you need one of the best creatine powder supplements available ??Cell-Tech? Hardcore Pro Series??from MuscleTech^??supplements. If you?re not taking this cutting-edge creatine supplement, you?re missing out on the opportunity to build more muscle and increase strength with what many pro bodybuilders claim to be the best creatine supplement available ??Cell-Tech Hardcore Pro Series!

The benefits of pure creatine supplements are second to none. They can help build muscle, increase strength and power and improve recovery time between sets. However, even as good as the best creatine supplements are on their own, there is a way to get even better results. And that?s what makes?Cell-Tech Hardcore?Pro Series?a notch above creatine powder supplements!

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Team MuscleTech^??researchers engineered?Cell-Tech Hardcore Pro Series?with a 10,000 milligram mega dose of creatine (that?s double the creatine of other leading creatine supplements). This powerful creatine supplement also contains 75 grams of insulin-spiking dextrose to help enhance creatine transportation to help build muscle and increase strength fast.

In a placebo-controlled study on 32 individuals divided into four groups and conducted at a physiology lab in Greenwich, CT, subjects taking the core ingredients in?Cell-Tech Hardcore Pro Series?with a hardcore training program built more muscle than those taking creatine with juice after 7 days (3.6 vs. 0.8 lbs.). In fact, after 28 days, subjects using the core ingredients in?Cell-Tech Hardcore Pro Series?gained an average of 4.5 lbs. of muscle, while subjects using creatine with juice gained only 1.5 lbs.

For powerful results that you?ll see and feel, Team MuscleTech researchers scientifically formulated?Cell-Tech Hardcore Pro?Series with a clinically proven dose of creatine. In fact, in a third-party 12-week study on 22 untrained subjects randomly assigned to one of three groups, subjects taking this dose of creatine in?Cell-Tech? Hardcore Pro Series?built over 4 times more muscle compared to subjects using a placebo (7.1 vs. 1.3 lbs.)

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NewsDaily: Geithner says far behind on housing finance reform

Geithner says far behind on housing finance reform

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Posted 2012/04/04 at 9:46 am EDT

CHICAGO, Apr. 4, 2012 (Reuters) ? Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Wednesday that the United States was far behind on reforming the country's housing finance system where the government's mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac provide funding for the bulk of U.S. home loans.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner testifies before a House Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee hearing on the FY2013 at Capitol Hill in Washington March 28, 2012. REUTERS/Jose Luis Magana

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"The biggest source of unfinished business in the financial reform effort is in the housing finance area," Geithner told the Chicago Economic Club in Chicago.

Geithner said he saw early signs of bipartisan consensus for reforming the housing finance market.

(Reporting by Rachelle Younglai; Editing by James Dalgleish)

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U.S. says working with oil producers to expand production

WASHINGTON, Mar. 27, 2012 (Reuters) ? The United States is working with Saudi Arabia and other major oil producers to ensure their production is expanded to help mitigate any supply disruptions and tensions caused by Western sanctions on Iran, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Tuesday.

U.S. World Bank pick to win broad support: Geithner

WASHINGTON, Mar. 24, 2012 (Reuters) ? Jim Yong Kim, the U.S. nominee to lead the World Bank, will win broad international support despite an unprecedented challenge by candidates from emerging economies, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in an interview.

New home sales slip, prices at 8-month high

WASHINGTON, Mar. 23, 2012 (Reuters) ? New single-family home sales fell in February while prices jumped to their highest level in eight month, according to a government report on Friday that was the latest to paint a mixed picture of the housing market.

Geithner: Economy on the mend, still needs help

WASHINGTON, Mar. 15, 2012 (Reuters) ? The economy shows encouraging signs of early expansion but still faces tough challenges that call for measures to create jobs to help restore fiscal sustainability, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday.

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Israeli cops evict Jewish settlers from Hebron

A school bus and truck in the West Bank have collided, killing at least eight children. Msnbc.com's Richard Lui reports.

Sebastian Scheiner/AP

A Jewish settler is stopped at a checkpoint manned by Israeli border police near a house illegally occupied by settlers in the West Bank city of Hebron, Wednesday.

By msnbc.com news services

Israeli police evicted Jewish settlers Wednesday from a building they said they had bought from a Palestinian in the heart of the West Bank city of Hebron, a frequent flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The presence of the 15 settlers in the two-story structure had caused divisions within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's mainly right-wing cabinet, where Defense Minister Ehud Barak, leader of a centrist party, has pushed for eviction.

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Netanyahu had asked Barak to give the settlers more time so they could present legal evidence of their claim to ownership of the building, which has been disputed by Palestinian authorities. But defense officials said they had entered without the approval of Israeli security authorities in a particularly sensitive area in the occupied West Bank.

A statement issued by Barak's office hours before the eviction said the government had a duty to "uphold the rule of law."

Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, a member of the Palestinian Parliament and leader of the Palestinian non-violent protest movement, joins UP w/ Chris Hayes from the Occupied West Bank where he is leading a peaceful movement that is rarely seen in U.S. media coverage.

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said police and paramilitary border police carried out the eviction in accordance with a government decision.

Rosenfeld said security forces met no resistance during the operation.

The settlers had sought to expand a settlement of some 500 Israelis in the heart of Hebron, a biblical city that is home to about 250,000 Palestinians and where enmity between the two groups runs high.

Burial site of Abraham
The biblical city is home to the traditional burial site of Abraham, the shared patriarch of both Jews and Muslims, and the only place where Jews live in the heart of a West Bank city. It has been a focus of Israeli-Arab violence for decades.

Though politically strong, Netanyahu has faced questions within his Likud party and other right-wing coalition partners about his commitment to the settlers, many of whom see themselves as exercising a Jewish birthright to biblical land.

In an announcement issued just minutes before the settlers were removed from the building, Netanyahu said he would soon ask the government to grant formal status to three West Bank settler outposts built more than a decade ago without state permission.

Netanyahu's move to approve those outposts retroactively raised speculation he was trying to mollify settler leaders angered by the Hebron eviction.

About 500,000 Israelis and 2.5 million Palestinians live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas which, along with the Gaza Strip, were captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.

Most world powers deem the Jewish settlements illegal and Palestinians fear their presence will deny them a viable state. Israel disputes this and has vowed to keep major settlement blocs under any eventual peace accord with the Palestinians.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

More from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

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Nike NFL Uniforms: Hit or Miss?

The world of fashion met the world of professional sports in Brooklyn today, as some of the NFL's biggest stars gathered with representatives from Nike and Commissioner Roger Goodell to unveil new uniforms for the league.

Dubbed the Nike Elite 51, the shirts and pants are meant to be more elastic and lighter. As you can see by this Chicago Bears mockup, the actual look varies little:

"The performance is so important for the athletes," Goodell said. "What we tried to do is innovate. Even if the look doesn't change, there's innovation... There'll be more to come."

Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens, Alex Smith of the San Francisco 49ers and Wes Welker of the New England Patriots were among the stars who modeled the new uniforms on stage.

Said Super Bowl hero Victor Cruz of the Super Bowl of the champion New York Giants:

"They're tight. You can't get pulled or snagged on. That's the biggest thing for me: making sure that I'm sleek and I'm fast and I can't be grabbed or held."

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