Couple Wears Dog Sweaters

A Newcastle couple have found a unique way of keeping their beloved dead pets close to their hearts – by having the dog hair made into woolly jumpers. Beth and Brian Willis lost their white Samoyed, called Kara, 12 years ago and Swedish Lapphund, Penny, in 2002.

After seeing a picture of Princess Diana wearing a dog fur stole at Crufts, they collected thousands of dog hairs from brushes and carpets.

The pair said the his and hers dog memorials were “warm and waterproof”.

Mr Willis, who worked for Pickfords Removals for 27 years, wears his doggy jumper into town every Saturday to do the weekly shop.

The 73-year-old said: “They are extremely warm and pretty much waterproof. I’ve always got a sweat on by the time I get from the bus to the shops.”. ..

“It is the most amazing stuff. It’s like mohair but more lightweight and more soft, and the more you wash it, the more soft and fluffy it gets.”

Mrs Willis added: “People are surprised when they find out we’re wearing dog wool clothes. Some think it’s disgusting and ask how we can do it, but it seems very normal to us.” – bbc

Dark matter revealed!

Scientists think the mysterious substance makes up most of the mass in the universe — but because it doesn’t give off light, visible proof of its existence is elusive. Theory suggests that the invisible stuff acts as gravitational glue that keeps the stars and galaxies from flying apart. Now, armed with powerful telescopes, tricky lenses and fast computers, scientists are at last bringing the evidence of dark matter to light.

For example, in this image, the yellowish galaxy cluster in the middle serves as a gravitational lens that bends the light of even more distant galaxies. Those galaxies appear as distorted blue streaks surrounding the cluster. Scientists can analyze the distortions to determine how dark matter is distributed in the cluster.

Super Clumpy

Dark matter, it turns out, may be rather clumpy stuff. This image shows a galaxy supercluster — a grouping of hundreds of interacting galaxies — about 2.6 billion light years from Earth. The bright blue spots are the visible galaxies, superimposed over magenta-tinted clumps that represent a detailed map of dark matter. The map was created by inferring how the light from even more distant galaxies is bent as it passes through the gravitational field of the supercluster, which is called Abell 901/902. Astronomers found that the supercluster’s galaxies lie within the clumps of dark matter, and the irregular shapes of the clumps match the distribution of the galaxies.

Invisible Scaffolding

This 3-D map of the large-scale distribution of dark matter in the universe provides compelling evidence that the invisible stuff serves as the scaffolding upon which the stars and galaxies are hung. The map reveals a network of filaments that grow over time and intersect in massive structures at places where galaxy clusters are located. To make the map, astronomers used ground and space telescopes to determine the shape of half a million distant galaxies. This galactic light was bent and warped by the gravity of other galaxies as it traveled to the telescopes. By analyzing the shapes of these distant galaxies, astronomers were able infer the distribution of dark matter.

Bullet Proof

For proof that dark matter really exists, scientists turn to this image of a collision between two massive galaxy clusters that contains a bullet-shaped cloud of superheated gas. Theory suggests that during such a collision, a type of cosmic air resistance should slow down the hefty hot gas — but not the dark matter. That’s what this image shows. The hot gas, pictured in red, is separated by the dark matter, pictured in blue. Scientists say the image serves as strong evidence that dark matter really does exist.

Train Wreck

A massive collision of galaxy clusters about 3 billion years ago has proven to be a train wreck of sorts for dark matter theory. The prevailing theory suggests that the force of gravity should keep dark matter and galaxies together even during violent collisions, but that hot gas should lag behind due to the cosmic equivalent of air resistance. This image, however, shows the dark matter (blue) separated from most of the galaxies (yellow and orange). Scientists speculate that a gravitational slingshot effect may have separated the galaxies from the dark matter, or that the dark matter is interacting with some force other than gravity. Neither explanation fits well with existing theory. A third possibility is that the observations and calculations are off. Further research may yield an answer.

Ghostly Ring

Some rings signify marriage, others a Super Bowl victory. This one may signify that dark matter exists. Astronomers made this composite image of a ghostly ring of apparent dark matter (mapped in blue) around a cluster of galaxies about 5 billion light years away. Computer simulations of the ancient galactic collision that created the cluster provide clues to how the ring formed. During the smash-up, dark matter fell to the center of the combined cluster and then started to slosh back out toward the edges. But the pull of gravity caused the dark matter to slow and pile up like cars speeding into a traffic jam on the freeway.

Cold or Warm?

Assuming dark matter does exist, is it cold or warm? If some of the universe’s earliest stars can be found, computer simulations suggest the issue could be resolved. Slow-moving particles of cold dark matter would have caused single, massive stars to form in isolation. Faster-moving particles of warm dark matter, in contrast, would have caused the stars of differing sizes to form on long, thin filaments of dark matter — as pictured here. Since small stars are long-lived, they may still be lurking in our universe. Scientists hope to find them with new telescopes. – msnbc

Man auctions his life

A man in Australia is auctioning his life — his house, his job, his clothes and his friends — on eBay, after his marriage broke up, saying he wants to start a new life.
“It’s time to move. A completely fresh start. I want to see where life takes me,” Ian Usher, 44, told Australian television on Tuesday from Perth in Western Australia state.

Usher said he was auctioning his life as “a package” with his house in Perth valued at around A$420,000 (US$385,000).

“Hi there, my name is Ian Usher, and I have had enough of my life! I don’t want it any more! You can have it if you like!,” reads his Web site www.alife4sale.com, which has a link to eBay for bidders.

Usher said his life auction, which starts on June 22, included not only his house, a car, a motorbike, a jet ski and a spa, but also an introduction to “great friends” and a job at a rug shop in Perth for a trial two-week period.

“When it’s over, I will just walk out the front door, take my wallet, my passport and start a new life,” he said.

Usher said his ex-wife had heard of his auction.

“Her last comment was, ‘it seems a bit mental to me’,” he said. – yahoo

Writer Arthur C Clarke dies at 90

British science fiction writer Sir Arthur C Clarke has died in his adopted home of Sri Lanka at the age of 90. The Somerset-born author achieved his greatest fame in 1968 when his short story The Sentinel was turned into the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

His visions of space travel and computing sparked the imagination of readers and scientists alike.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse paid tribute, hailing the writer as a “great visionary”.

Since 1995, the author had been largely confined to a wheelchair by post-polio syndrome. …

“Sir Arthur has left written instructions that his funeral be strictly secular,” his secretary, Nalaka Gunawardene, was quoted as saying by news agency AFP.

She said the author had requested “absolutely no religious rites of any kind”.

A farmer’s son, Sir Arthur was educated at Huish’s Grammar School in Taunton before joining the civil service.

He served in the Royal Air Force during World War II, and foresaw the concept of communication satellites.

Sir Arthur’s detailed descriptions of space shuttles, super-computers and rapid communications systems inspired millions of readers.

When asked why he never patented his idea for communication satellites, he said: “I did not get a patent because I never thought it will happen in my lifetime.”

In the 1940s, he maintained man would reach the moon by the year 2000, an idea dismissed at the time.

He was the author of more than 100 fiction and non-fiction books, and his writings are credited by many observers with giving science fiction a human and practical face. He collaborated on the screenplay for 2001: A Space Odyssey with the film’s director Stanley Kubrick. – bbc

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