ISRAEL could attack Iran this spring in a bid to stop Tehran from producing a nuclear weapon, an unnamed defence official has told CNN.

Israeli officials asserted at a security conference yesterday that Iran already has produced enough enriched uranium eventually to build four rudimentary nuclear bombs and was even developing missiles capable of reaching the United States.
Much of the agenda appeared aimed at strengthening Israel's case for a strike, if it chose to make one.

The Iranian foreign minister noted that Israel, as the only country in the Middle East which has nuclear arsenals, poses a threat to the region's security

President Barack Obama maintains that the US is reserving the right to attack Iran if it one day feels it must, but an Israeli strike on Iran is more likely than a US one in the near term.

Posted: 7:35:48 AM  

One of the biggest features seen on the lower third of the Moon in the video is the Mare Orientale, a 560 mile-wide impact basin that straddles both the Moon's near and far side.

Near the bottom of the screen, the video shows the 93-mile-wide Drygalski crater - recognisable from the distinctive star-shaped formation in the middle. It's a central peak within the crater, created billions of years ago by a comet or asteroid impact.

Posted: 7:23:12 AM  

"These periods of deglaciation saw massive climate changes," Huybers said.
"Sea level increased by 130 meters, temperatures rose by about 5 degrees C, and atmospheric CO2 went from 180 to 280 parts per million."

Not by driving a car, ey ??

These statistical findings agree exactly with what Milutin Milankovitch, a Serbian geophysicist, proposed in the first half of the 20th century.

Huybers emphasises that these cycles are only one factor among many.

"'It could also be that orbital forcing causes a rise is atmospheric CO2, and that it's the increased CO2 that drives the loss of ice sheets," he said.

"In all likelihood, both CO2 and increased summer radiation contribute to deglaciation.

They're both expected to push the climate system toward less ice."

Posted: 7:18:03 AM  

Freezing weather has been sweeping towards us from eastern Europe where temperatures plummeted to -30c (-22f) this week and up to 150 have died.

A level three amber cold weather alert - the second most serious - was issued, which warns of health risks to the elderly and vulnerable, and the likelihood of disruption to transport.

Level four 4 would mean a major cold weather incident, in which normally healthy people are at risk from the cold.

The alerts are tied in to the Government's Cold Weather Plan and are relayed to organisations such as Age UK, which help the elderly through winter.

The military have been put on alert should conditions deteriorate to a level four.

Posted: 7:13:25 AM