Strongest solar storm since 2005 hitting Earth

The sun is bombarding Earth with radiation from the biggest solar storm in more than six years with more to come from the fast-moving eruption.

The radiation is mostly a concern for satellite disruptions and astronauts in space. It can cause communication problems for polar-traveling airplanes, said space weather center physicist Doug Biesecker.
Radiation from Sunday's flare arrived at Earth an hour later and will likely continue through Wednesday. Levels are considered strong but other storms have been more severe. There are two higher levels of radiation on NOAA's storm scale - severe and extreme - Biesecker said. Still, this storm is the strongest for radiation since May 2005.


The radiation - in the form of protons - came flying out of the sun at 93 million miles per hour.
"The whole volume of space between here and Jupiter is just filled with protons and you just don't get rid of them like that," Biesecker said. That's why the effects will stick around for a couple days.
NASA's flight surgeons and solar experts examined the solar flare's expected effects and decided that the six astronauts on the International Space Station do not have to do anything to protect themselves from the radiation, spokesman Rob Navias said.


A solar eruption is followed by a one-two-three punch, said Antti Pulkkinen, a physicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and Catholic University.
First comes electromagnetic radiation, followed by radiation in the form of protons.
Then, finally the coronal mass ejection - that's the plasma from the sun itself - hits. Usually that travels at about 1 or 2 million miles per hour, but this storm is particularly speedy and is shooting out at 4 million miles per hour, Biesecker said.


It's the plasma that causes much of the noticeable problems on Earth, such as electrical grid outages. In 1989, a solar storm caused a massive blackout in Quebec. It can also pull the northern lights further south.
But this coronal mass ejection seems likely to be only moderate, with a chance for becoming strong, Biesecker said. The worst of the storm is likely to go north of Earth.
And unlike last October, when a freak solar storm caused auroras to be seen as far south as Alabama, the northern lights aren't likely to dip too far south this time, Biesecker said. Parts of New England, upstate New York, northern Michigan, Montana and the Pacific Northwest could see an aurora but not until Tuesday evening, he said.

Continue reading...

US vice president arrives for security talks in Pakistan

Islamabad, Jan 12 (DPA) US Vice President Joe Biden Wednesday arrived in Pakistan on a one-day visit to discuss the security situation on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and efforts to deal with the Taliban insurgency.
Biden flew in from Afghanistan to meet President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in Islamabad, a foreign ministry official said.
Biden was expected to try to convince the Pakistani military leadership to launch an operation in North Waziristan, which is considered the major source of cross-border militancy in Afghanistan.
He told reporters in Kabul Tuesday that Pakistan needed to do more to eliminate militant hideouts in its tribal region from where Taliban and Al Qaeda launch attacks on NATO forces in Afghanistan.
'It is going to require more pressure on the Taliban from the Pakistani side of the border than we have been able to observe so far,' he said during a joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Pakistan's economic meltdown and its impact on society was also to feature in the talks Wednesday, as the US administration is concerned about the slow pace of reforms to increase the revenue base in Pakistan.
It was expected that the vice president might offer more financial assistance to help Pakistan meet its challenges which include energy shortages, price hikes and rampant poverty.
Biden was also to discuss the military requirements of Pakistan as the country's armed forces need more weapons before any offensive action in tribal areas.

Continue reading...

NY subway riders shed trousers, skirts, modesty

Hundreds of New York subway riders, unencumbered by skirts, trousers or modesty, took part in a spontaneous showing of leg despite sub-freezing temperatures.

People take part in the 10th Annual No Pants Subway Ride in New York City

The 10th annual "No Pants Subway Ride" on Sunday saw hundreds of New York strap-hangers shed outer garments from the waist down, even as they wore seasonally-appropriate jackets, scarves, earmuffs and other winter garb on their upper halves.
At 2000 GMT, subway riders at six separate meeting points across the city, boarded predetermined subway cars, engaging in typically unassuming behavior like reading a magazine or staring off into space.
But as soon as the doors shut at the stop before they were due to get off, participants were instructed to stand up, shed their skirts and pants (trousers), which were to be secreted into backpacks, and briefcases.
"If anyone asks you why you've removed your pants, tell them that they were 'getting uncomfortable'" instructions to emailed participants said.
Once they exited the train, the commuters stood for a while on the subway platform pantless, providing maximum shock effect to their stunned fellow riders.
Many took participants donned festive underwear for the occasion, from polka dot bloomers to basic striped boxers, adding another a measure of frivolity to the unusual yearly happening, which also is staged in some 50 other cities in two dozen countries around the world.

Continue reading...

At least 43 dead, 100 hurt in Lahore blasts

LAHORE, Pakistan - A pair of suicide bombers targeting army vehicles detonated explosives within seconds of each other Friday, killing at least 43 people in this eastern city and wounding about 100, police said.

The blasts represented the fourth major attack in Pakistan this week, indicating Islamist militants are stepping up violence after a period of relative calm.

About 10 of those killed were soldiers, said Lahore police chief Parvaiz Rathore.

Several hours later another explosion reportedly hit the city, but there were no immediate details of casualties.

In the earlier attack, the bombers, who were on foot, struck RA Bazaar, a residential and commercial neighborhood where several security agencies have facilities.

Security forces swarmed the area as thick black smoke rose into the sky and bystanders rushed the injured into ambulances.

Video being shot with a mobile phone just after the first explosion showed a large burst of orange flame suddenly erupting in the street, according to GEO TV, which broadcast a short clip of the footage shot by Tabraiz Bukhari.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! Who are these beasts? Oh my God!" Bukhari can be heard shouting after the blast in a mixture of English and Urdu.

Pools of blood, missing limbs
Senior police official Chaudhry Mohammad Shafiq said 43 people were killed and about 100 were injured.

Some of the wounded were missing limbs, lying in pools of blood after the explosions, eyewitness Afzal Awan said.

"I saw smoke rising everywhere," Awan told reporters. "A lot of people were crying."

No group immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion quickly fell on the Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaida.

The militants are believed to have been behind scores of attacks in U.S.-allied Pakistan over the last several years, including a series of strikes that began in October and lasted around three months, killing some 600 people in apparent retaliation for an army offensive along the Afghan border.

In more recent months, the attacks were smaller, fewer and confined to remote regions near Afghanistan.

But on Monday, a suicide car bomber struck a building in Lahore where police interrogated high-value suspects — including militants — killing at least 13 people and wounding dozens. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility.

Also this week, suspected militants attacked the northwest Pakistan offices of World Vision, a U.S.-based Christian aid group, killing six Pakistani employees. A bombing at a small, makeshift movie theater in the main northwest city of Peshawar killed four people.

'Sign of desperation'
Rana Sanaullah Khan, the law minister for Punjab state, where Lahore is located, said the renewed attacks are a "sign of desperation" by the militants.

"We broke their networks. That's why they have not been able to strike for a considerable time," he said.

But the attacks show that the loose network of insurgents angry with Islamabad for its alliance with the U.S. retain the ability to strike throughout Pakistan despite pressure from army offensives and American missile strikes.

Kamran Bokhari, South Asia director at the STRATFOR global intelligence firm, said the blasts were not as sophisticated as others. He warned of a new Taliban push.

"This new wave was expected as they are under pressure to demonstrate that, despite the several hits they have taken, they continue to sustain operational capability," he said.

However analyst Khadim Hussain added: "The militant network is not substantially or reasonably damaged and they are still capable of striking."

The violence also comes amid signs of a Pakistani crackdown on Afghan Taliban and al-Qaida operatives using its soil. Among the militants known to have been arrested is the Afghan Taliban's No. 2 commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

Continue reading...