10/1/2005:

Intermediate Word:  nonesuch -  (a) non-existent  (b) one-of-a-kind  (c) preposterous  (d) light overcoat
Difficult Word: - tisane  (a) shoulder cloak worn by cardinals  (b) to adroitly dodge questions of allegations  (c) herbal medicinal beverage  (d) 17th-century country dance

Black Hole Lurks in Invisible Galaxy - Space.com  In a strange reversal, astronomers have detected a massive black hole but can find no traces of the surrounding galaxy that should be feeding it.  Instead of a galaxy, the researchers detected a cloud of ionized gas about 2,500 light years in size near HE0450-2958. Dubbed “the blob,” the researchers believe this gas cloud is what’s feeding the black hole, allowing it to become a quasar. Adding to the mystery is the detection of a deeply distorted galaxy located 50,000 light years away.
Sun Has Binary Partner, May Affect Earth - SpaceDaily  The phenomenon known as the precession of the equinox, fabled as a marker of time by ancient peoples, is not due to a local wobbling of the Earth as modern theory portends, but to the solar system's gentle curve through space. This movement of the solar system occurs because the Sun has a companion star; both stars orbit a common center of gravity, as is typical of most double star systems. The grand cycle–the time it takes to complete one orbit––is called a "Great Year," a term coined by Plato. While the findings in Lost Star are controversial, Dr. Richard A. Muller, professor of physics at UC Berkeley and research physicist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, is an early proponent of a companion star to our sun; he prefers a 26 million year orbit period. Cruttenden uses 24,000 years and says the change in angular direction can be seen in the precession of the equinox.    

Europeans Want Missile Defense Too - SpaceDaily  Many of Europe's governments may be skeptical about America's ambitious ballistic missile defense development program but their publics are not. A new study sponsored by advocates of BMD found that more than two-thirds of Europeans want NATO to deploy such systems to protect them. Some 71 percent of Europeans favor the deployment of a NATO missile defense capability able to protect the continent from attack by missiles bearing weapons of mass destruction, according to a poll that was jointly sponsored by the George C. Marshall Center for Security Studies and Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, the two organizations announced in Rome last week.  




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