Will Saturday's 'supermoon' destroy the Earth?

No, it won't. You people really need to learn to calm down.?

Astronomers call it perigee-syzygy; the rest of us call it "supermoon." Either way, the alignment of the sun and moon will coincide with the moon's closest approach to Earth on Saturday (May 5), resulting in the biggest full moon of the year. But don't worry, it won't break Earth.

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Saturday's supermoon will be especially super. Richard Nolle, the astrologer who coined the term "supermoon," defined it as a full moon that occurs within 12 hours of lunar perigee, or the point in the moon's slightly non-circular monthly orbit when it swings closest to our planet. On Saturday, the timing of the two events will be almost perfect: the moon will reach its perigee distance of 221,802 miles (356,955 kilometers) ? the closest lunar perigee of 2012, in fact ? at 11:34 p.m. Eastern Time, and it will fall in line with the sun (thereby becoming full) just one minute later.

Thus, our satellite will loom even larger than the?supermoon of March 19, 2011, when perigee and full moon fell 50 minutes apart. Nonetheless, just as last year's supermoon passed by without triggering any of the earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and chaos that were predicted by some corners of the Internet, this year's event will almost certainly be similarly tame. Seismologists have found no evidence to believe that supermoons heighten seismic activity ? at least not over and above the effects of run-of-the-mill moons.

Under normal conditions, the moon is close enough to Earth to make its weighty presence felt:?It causes the ebb and flow of the ocean tides.?The moon's gravity can even cause small but measureable ebbs and flows in the continents, called "land tides" or "solid Earth tides," too. The tides are greatest during full and new moons, when the sun and moon are aligned either on the opposite or same sides of the Earth. [Photos: Mysterious Objects Spotted on the Moon]

According to John Vidale, a seismologist at the University of Washington in Seattle and director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, particularly dramatic land and ocean tides do occasionally trigger earthquakes. "Both the moon and sun do stress the Earth a tiny bit, and when we look hard we can see a very small increase in tectonic activity when they're aligned," Vidale told?Life's Little Mysteries?during the furor surrounding last year's supermoon.

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Tymoshenko ends hunger strike in Ukraine; former premier moved from jail to hospital

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UFC on Fox 3 ratings dropped off from previous shows

Though Saturday's UFC card on Fox was the best of the three cards that have aired on the network. Unfortunately, it was also the least-viewed of the three. Saturday's fights pulled in 2.25 million viewers, less than the four million plus who watched UFC on Fox 1 and 2. The UFC won the key demographic of adults 18-49, but lost badly in overall ratings to CBS' "48 Hours Mystery."

There are several reasons for this drop-off in viewers:

-- Lack of star power: The main card was not stocked with bankable stars, like in the past two events. There was no belt on the line, no outspoken promoter like Chael Sonnen, no well-known former champ like Rashad Evans. While Josh Koscheck has the reputation of being an MMA bad boy, it wasn't anywhere near what Sonnen and Davis brought to the last card. The shame is that the performances were great and had nothing to do with the names written on a fight card.

-- Mayweather/Cotto: Though the UFC did not go up directly against the marquee boxing match-up of the year, the Floyd Mayweather/Miguel Cotto bout did not help. Much of the week's pre-fight coverage was devoted to the big boxing event instead of MMA bouts, and contributed to the lack of buzz around the UFC fights.

-- No football: Something that hurt the UFC that they had no control over is that there was no football to promote the events. For the UFC's first two events on Fox, the NFL was in-season and gave considerable promotion to fights. Cain Velasquez appeared on set with the NFL on Fox crew, and ads were run throughout games. Without football and its broad audience and huge ratings, the UFC didn't have as much of a promotional push to pull in casual fans.

Did you watch Saturday's fights? Why or why not? Tell us in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

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The Malicious Hacker's Ever-Sharper Eye

Targeted attacks on organizations and Web-born infections like the recent Flashback outbreak on Macintosh computers will continue to poison the security landscape in 2012, according to Symantec's John Harrison. Targeted attacks -- attacks aimed at specific individuals within an organization -- were a "rising tide" last year, averaging 94 a day by November, according to Symantec.

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Fujitsu unveils two new LifeBooks, shows some Ivy Bridge zen

Fujitsu's teased us before with Intel's hot new chipset, but now it's getting ready to actually ship two notebooks with Intel's third-gen Core i7 CPU. The first, like others before it, will be a refresh of an older model, the LifeBook LH532, with its last-gen i7 tech swapped out for Ivy Bridge. Other specs will stay the same, with 2GB of system memory, NVIDIA GeForce GT620M graphics with 2GB of VRAM and a 15.6 14-inch 1366x768 high definition TFT LED wide screen. The LifeBook LH772, on the other hand, is an all-new model which will have the same Ivy Bridge i7 horsepower and screen, but the addition of a 2GB NVIDIA Optimus graphics and 4GB of RAM. Being more upmarket than its cousin, it'll have added touches like Onkyo Box Speakers, a DTS UltraPC II Plus sound system and a fingerprint sensor.

Both LifeBooks will have Fujitsu's Face Sense utility, which uses a front facing camera to detect your presence, and pause the system if you're not there. Fujitsu is also touting its Takumi design philosophy, supposedly offering zen-like simplicity and attention to detail -- with features like multiple color choices, rounded keyboard outlines, leveled palm rests and dichromatic keys. Fujitsu hasn't announced pricing yet, but if you need to hit your tasks quickly but harmoniously, check the PR below for more details.

Update: The Lifebook LH532 is a 14" model, not 15.6". Apologies for any confusion.

Continue reading Fujitsu unveils two new LifeBooks, shows some Ivy Bridge zen

Fujitsu unveils two new LifeBooks, shows some Ivy Bridge zen originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 May 2012 08:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Soccer player defects from Cuba, requests asylum in US

Soccer player defects: A Cuban national soccer player disappeared while his team was playing in an Olympic soccer tournament in Tennessee.

Yosmel De Armas is a Cuban soccer player who has defected in order to seek asylum in the United States. While in Nashville, Tennessee last month for an Olympic qualifying soccer tournament, the Cuban midfielder was absent from his national team's final game against Canada, although he played on Saturday?s 4-0 loss to El Salvador.?

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When asked why the player skipped the game, the Cuban national coach said De Armas was sick and remained at the team's hotel. However, when the team left Nashville, the promising soccer player did not accompany his teammates on their return trip to the island nation.

Although US officials refused to comment about the player?s whereabouts, it was reported that De Armas was last seen in Miami.?

"We're preparing an asylum application to file with the Department of Homeland Security," attorney Alex Solomiany said, according to Reuters.?

The Miami-based lawyer, who?described his client as "nervous," said De Armas is "alone here"?and that he was on his way to Miami at the time of the game, contrary to the coach's allegations.

A rising number of Cuban athlete defections are explained by several factors: the continuous financial hardship the populace faces in Cuba, the plethora of defection precedents that make the process look easy, and the luring prospects of a better life, all coalesce to urge young athletes to follow this path.?

"This is another case of a Cuban sportsman trying to get a decent life, to try to take control of his own career," Omar Lopez told Reuters.? Lopez is general director of the Cuban American National Foundation, a Miami-based organization of Cuban exiles who seek political change on the island.

Four years ago, seven members of the Cuban under-23 national soccer team also sought political asylum after competing against its US counterpart in Tampa, Florida.?

"Of course, my heart will be in Cuba with my family, but I want to have the freedom to better my life, to play professional soccer, to be the best I can be, and for that we had to make this sacrifice," Yenier Bermudez told the Miami Herald, according to ESPN.

Since the 2002 CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central America, and Caribbean Association Football) tournament in Los Angeles, a total of 15 Cuban soccer players abandoned their teams and requested political asylum in the United States.

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Faced with Breivik's unflinching account, Norway surprises world with its civility

A reporter covering Anders Behring Breivik's trial marvels at the degree of civility Norwegians have shown him, considering the brutality of the July 2011 terror attacks and his lack of remorse.

In the first two weeks of Anders Behring Breivik's trial, the Norwegian man reiterated his conviction that he did the right thing when he killed 77 people on July 22, 2011 ? even if it meant shooting unarmed Labor party youth members as young as 14 trapped on an island or bombing government buildings in Oslo. Those killed were??legitimate political targets,? he said.

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The attacks were ?gruesome but necessary" for preventing Labor from continuing to undermine Norwegian society with its lenient immigration policies, Mr. Breivik said. The party had betrayed the country by promoting the Islamic colonization of Norway and ipso facto the ethnic cleansing of indigenous Norwegians. He would do it all again, he said.?

International onlookers have been shocked to see how civil the whole trial is proceeding, given the scale and brutality of his crimes ? together they are?the worst national tragedy the country has experienced since World War II ??and Breivik's lack of remorse.?

On April 16, the first day of the 10-week trial, a lineup of prosecutors, forensic psychiatrists, and the legal counsel for the victims all approached Breivik in court to shake his hand. Wearing a suit and neatly trimmed beard, he politely extended his right hand to greet them. Outside, people lined up orderly to enter Oslo District Court. There was not a single sign denouncing him, nor any banners calling for the death penalty.

On the second day of the trial, he was allowed to begin his six-day testimony of what happened in the years leading up to the attack, including his preparation for that day. At the end of the first week he recounted, in chilling detail, of how, after packing a ham and cheese sandwich that morning, he shot and killed 69 people at the Labor party youth summer camp on Ut?ya with a Glock pistol and Ruger semi-automatic rifle.

If this all sounds surreal, that?s because it is.?

It is surreal to see a well-dressed upper class man sit in a court and calmly explain how he killed Norwegians to prevent Norway?s demise. It?s incomprehensible to hear how a man, who supposedly had all the economic means and generous provisions of a cradle-to-grave welfare system, could turn into Norway?s most notorious killer in modern times. And that is part of what scares Norwegians: the thought that he is one of them.?

Despite the atrocity of his crimes and his behavior, Norwegians still want to see him get a fair trial. But that means?he has a legal right to explain himself in court, even if there is a risk that he spreads his propaganda. The trial is also key in determining Breivik's sanity, which is at the crux of this case. The prosecution even defended his right to keep reading from his prepared speech on his first day of testimony in spite of protests from the legal counsel for the victims, who were offended by his one-hour long monologue.?

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