About 100,000 nearby stars could harbor planets with inhabitants who could have discovered us and who could be trying to contact us. ...... “PLATO might even detect the transits of exoplanets, whose possible inhabitants would be able to see the Earth transiting the Sun,” Heller said. “Such a crazy setup would offer both them and us the possibility of studying each others’ planets with the transit method.”ET Search: Look for the Aliens Looking for Earth
Astronomers propose hunting for civilizations on worlds that can see our planet cross the Sun
By studying these eclipses, known as transits, civilizations on those planets could see that Earth has an atmosphere that has been chemically altered by life. “They have a higher motivation to contact us, because they have a better means to identify us as an inhabited planet,” Heller says. ...... roughly 10,000 candidate stars. If these stars have planets, and if the planets have intelligent life forms, they could have long ago spotted the blink of an Earth transit and begun beaming signals towards us .......... One of the closest known stars in the zone is Van Maanen’s Star, only 4 parsecs away. It is a white dwarf star, the remains of a stellar explosion, and may or may not have planets orbiting it. But if they did exist, they would provide a ringside seat for watching Earth. ....... hunt directly for planets in the zone—and to look for aliens who might be looking for usHunt for Intelligent Aliens Should Focus on 'Transit Zone'
Scientists searching for signs of intelligent extraterrestrial life should put themselves in the aliens' shoes, a new study suggests. ...... cosmic geometry dictates that Earth's solar transits are visible from a limited swath of the sky ..... The transit zone contains about 100,000 stars ..... every Milky Way star hosts at least one planet on average, and many of these worlds orbit in the "habitable zone" — the range of distances from a host star where water may exist in liquid form on a planet's surface. ...... "If any of these planets host intelligent observers, they could have identified Earth as a habitable, even as a living world long ago, and we could be receiving their broadcasts today"
Exquisitely detailed 520 million-year-old fossil shows individual nerves
"As usually happens with amazing discoveries, when I first saw the material it took me a bit of time to make sense of what I was looking at. After a little while, however, excitement kicked in after realizing that not only was this an exquisitely preserved nerve cord, but also that it has impossibly thin individual nerves sticking out from it!" ....... Bead-like clusters of nerve tissue called ganglia (which act like "mini-brains along the nerve cord," according to Ortega-Hernández) each controlled a single pair of the animal's many legs. ...... Scientists have seen animals of similar age with preserved ganglia before, which Ortega-Hernández believes is the result of the fatty content of that nerve tissue — some of those chemicals may make it more prone to fossilization than other soft stuff in the body is. But Chengjiangocaris kunmingensis also shows a few dozen delicate, tiny individual nerve fibers sprouting out from the nerve cord and ganglia. .......Bihar gets 3,017 MW power from central quotaIronically, while the shrimp-like creature's nervous system has revealed itself to researchers, its legs remain mysterious.
....... "We have to bear in mind that each nerve strand is about 10 times thinner than a human hair," Ortega-Hernández said, "so being able to recognize this level of neurological detail is simply amazing."
more than 5,000 MW was proposed to be generated from three ultra power projects in the next six years to make Bihar a power surplus state.
Google's Computers Are Making Thousands as Artists
Google’s DeepMind recently learned how to think like a world-class Go player, and last week the group announced DeepMind Health, which will work on learning how to diagnose like a doctorIndia cannot afford to lose China's support: Chinese daily
India cannot afford to lose China's support by joining the US in patrolling the disputed South China Sea as it needs Chinese help for economic growth and for success of BRICS ...... "The New Delhi government pursues pragmatic diplomacy and strives to reach a balance between the US and China. Some interpret New Delhi's refusal (to jointly patrol the SCS) as retaliation against Washington's approval of weapon sales to Islamabad last year." ...... the fundamental reason is that New Delhi understands the significance of a sound China-India relationship to the nation's development. India cannot afford to lose China's support, which serves as an economic engine for the nation's growth ....... New Delhi has officially taken over the presidency of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) from Moscow last month and will host the eighth summit in a few months' time. A friendly atmosphere is significant for the upcoming summit ...... It said conducting joint patrols in an attempt to court the US in this backdrop is inappropriate. "By refusing the US proposal, India is taking a stand and showing goodwill to China." ......Vietnam invites India to explore resources in South China seaOn February 26, it said "any move by India to join the US navy for jointly patrolling the disputed South China sea will be against its national interest and it would divide Asian countries and further escalate regional tensions."
...... China claims almost all of the South China Sea, where several other Asian countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Brunei have overlapping claims. ...... "The White House is just manoeuvring India for its own interests, and will not stop supporting Pakistan as a repay to India. The US administration is following a 'divide and rule' policy" ......From US perspective, China, Russia and India are all threatening its status as a superpower. The US does not want to see a stronger India
...... the likelihood for India to station its naval forces in the South China Sea remains quite low. Yet, it may strengthen its military presence in the Indian Ocean. For instance, there is Indian Navy's ambitious Project Seabird, which pursues the construction of facilities to berth the nation's aircraft carriers ...... "Strengthening its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region is the ultimate purpose for the US to propose US-India joint naval patrols. Washington believes that Beijing, which has already broken through the first island chain, is challenging its maritime hegemony" ...... "Freedom of navigation is never an issue in the region. The White House is just finding excuses to enter the waters and even attempting to station its forces in Philippine naval bases" ..... "Apart from drawing countries outside the region, such as India, Japan, South Korea and Australia, the US is also inciting South China Sea claimants to stir up trouble in the region. Over time, these countries will realise that it is the US, rather than China, that is militarising the South China Sea and destroying the peaceful and stable environment there"
Vietnam has invited India to explore and exploit natural resources within its 200-nauticalmile exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea region where China has deployed fighter jets and surfaceto-air missiles to the consternation of other countries. ...... The country's ambassador to India Ton Sinh Thanh on Wednesday said that Vietnam has sovereign rights and jurisdiction within 200 nautical miles of the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf in accordance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). ...... Vietnam claims sovereignty over both Paracel and Spratly Islands. "We have full historical evidence and legal foundation to confirm our sovereignty over these islands, which in fact have been owned and controlled peacefully and continuously by Vietnam since the 17th century when no other countries claimed their sovereignty over these islands. We are determined to protect our sovereignty over these islands," Thanh said. ..... The Vietnamese government had awarded India oil blocks in the SCS region amid growing defence partnership between the two countries that saw India placing a satellite tracking system in the country. Despite China's protests India continues to be present in these oil blocks from where ONGC Videsh Limited supplies oil to Vietnam. South China Sea is rich in hydrocarbons and marine wealth, including fisheries.India and the South China Sea Dispute
Recent developments have operational implications for India.
the PLA may already have established full radar coverage over the SCS. ...... Beijing operates from a position of strength in the South China Sea, wherein it has physical control over critical islands in the region. China has shown the U.S. and its allies that what matters in a maritime territorial dispute is the actual ‘possession’ of the islands, and as long as the PLA exercises military control over the features, it will exploit their location to support broader territorial claims. .....Former British Prime Minister Makes Millions Advising KazakhstanAs the disputed islands are militarized, it could imperil freedom of navigation, making Beijing the main arbiter of the accepted range of ‘legitimate’ operations in the South China Sea.
...... For Indian observers, it is useful to extrapolate known Chinese positions in the IOR, to assess Beijing’s likely strategic behavior after the PLA has established a foothold in critical Indian Ocean states. Could the PLA, for instance, play a role in assisting Sri Lanka, Pakistan or Maldives in securing vital sea and air pockets in the Indian Ocean? What could the implications of such a move be for India? As a key security provider in the Indian Ocean, New Delhi appreciates the need for greater stability in the region. Will India, however, accept an expanded Chinese role in securing important spaces in its primary area of interest? ....... Here, Indian analysts must take note of Chinese maritime tactics in the South China Sea. Notwithstanding its military deployments on disputed islands, China’s real “implements” of aggression are the maritime militias in the South China Sea. ...... According to U.S. naval sources, the presence of Chinese non-military vessels, including its coast guard and fisheries fleets, have jeopardized naval operations in the region, because such vessels are not governed by agreements like the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES). ..... While China depicts its non-military bodies as “law-enforcement agencies,” these centrally controlled militias often work together to achieve strategic goals. Their regular employment in dominating maritime spaces is an instructive pointer for Indian watchers. With the expansion of Chinese activities in the Indian Ocean, the presence of “non-grey” hulls in the Indian Ocean Region is likely to rise. Admittedly, this wouldn’t be to the same degree as witnessed in Southeast Asia. But even a relative increase in presence in the Indian Ocean could complicate the security situation in littoral South Asia. Already, China’s distant water fishing fleet is now the world’s largest and is heavily subsidized. Many, however, see China’s rise as a fishing power as indicative of its geopolitical aspirations. Indeed, just as the U.S. is now calling for a new Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES) to include state-aligned maritime assets,India might need a fresh set of rules of engagement to deal with increased Chinese non-military presence in the IOR.
.......... China’s maritime behavior is independent of multilateral attempts to lower temperatures in the region and aimed at establishing the image of a dominant power player in the Pacific. The timing of the missile placement at Woody Island coincided with U.S. President Barack Obama’s meeting with ASEAN leaders at California, where the participants sought to evolve a consensus for a peaceful solution to the disputes in the South China Sea, and the need for common norms and rules of behavior.Beijing’s actions, U.S. analysts point out, are in reality driven by the need to normalize the idea of Chinese military presence in contested territories.
........... China and the U.S. play the ritual of cooperation and conflict at sea with a practiced ease that is hard to overlook. .......New Delhi’s real dilemma is that while it opposes Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, it also disagrees with Washington’s interpretation of maritime law and the freedoms enjoyed by foreign warships in littoral spaces.
...... In particular, India does not concur with U.S. attempts at claiming a “right to uninterrupted passage” in coastal waters without the prior permission of the subject state – especially in areas that are deemed to be within a nation’s territorial waters. New Delhi’s view on the subject, in fact, broadly corresponds with Beijing’s – particularly on the need for prior notification by foreign warships before entering a coastal state’s territorial waters or EEZ claiming innocent passage. ...... Viewed through an Indian prism, unannounced forays through territorial waters and EEZs under the rubric of “innocent passage” or absolute “freedom of navigation” are a challenging proposition. Even though the UNCLOS permits continuous and expeditious passage – necessitated by the requirements of navigation – New Delhi does not concur with the practice of conducting maritime operations to score political points. New Delhi know it cannot support a U.S. maneuver, whose logic could be used to justify greater Chinese maritime activism near the Andaman Islands. For this reason alone, it is unlikely that U.S. and India will conduct joint patrols any time in the near future, even though New Delhi broadly supports the U.S. position on the territorial disputes.
Tony Blair and his wife Cherie have been Astana’s defenders in London for quite some time.
the estimated largesse ranges from $13 million to $27 million annually ..... which has seen him become a font for Astana’s talking points, whether in staking that Kazakhstan had an unparalleled diversity or in falsely claiming that Kazakhstan was the only country to give up nuclear weaponry. ....... has benefited inordinately from the former prime minister’s willingness to stump for a post-Soviet dictatorship. ...... In the United States, according to governmental records, the lone public relations firm helping massage Astana’s image is Portland Communications Ltd. — an outfit founded by Blair’s former adviser and PR head, Tim Allan. ...... Originally contracted in 2014 to help review Kazakhstan’s “bilateral investment treaties,” Cherie Blair’s Omnia Strategy raked in over $2.2 million from April 2014 to April 2015 ..... Omnia has also worked with the governments in Albania — where Blair serves as an adviser —The New Triangular Diplomacy: India, China and America at Seaand the post-coup leadership of the Maldives
. ....... Cherie Blair “is understood to have offered her Kazakh clients a reduced hourly billing rate” of some $1,360 per hour, “ultimately picked up by the country’s taxpayers.” All told, the agreement with Kazakhstan is worth nearly $700,000....... While the Blairs remain firmly ensconced in aiding the government in Kazakhstan — which has just detained another pair of journalists — Astana may well be wondering what, if anything, they’ve ever gotten out of the agreement.President Nursultan Nazarbayev is no closer to earning the Nobel Peace Prize he reportedly commissioned Blair to land, and Kazakhstan failed to win the competition to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.
As hydrocarbon coffers run dry, the government has notably cut back on its efforts to sway Western audiences, with fewer television commercials and junkets resultant.
As both China and India rise as naval powers their interaction with the United States will truly be a defining feature in the Indo-Pacific region.
As in the Cold War, so in the current power play between the United States and China, the rest of Asia will simply not submit itself to the discipline of a bipolar framework. Asia will actively shape and be shaped by the emerging strategic dynamic between Washington and Beijing. ...... Asia is home to many large states that are wedded to nationalism and territorial sovereignty, opposed to local ambitions for regional hegemony,committed to a measure of autonomy from the great powers, and determined to promote greater economic integration with each other. These are competing imperatives that do not sit well with each other but do define the contradictory nature of Asia’s rise. ..... India—the third largest economy in Asia, and the fourth biggest spender on defense in the Indo-Pacific after the United States, China and Japan. ...... India’s potential could contribute significantly to the new balance of power in Asia as recognized by both Washington and Beijing. ...... Delhi’s cautious response to America’s Asian pivot underlines India’s open-ended and deliberative strategy in dealing with the twists and turns in the U.S. strategy towards China. ...... With their growing and globalized economies, China and India are now dependent on the seas as never before in their history. Both are building large navies. ..... The rise of China and the emergence of India as naval powers has led to widespread recognition that the two oceans can no longer be seen as separate theatres but as a single strategic space—the Indo-Pacific. ........ While India’s main interest is in securing its primacy in the Indian Ocean littoral, its navy is making frequent forays into the Western Pacific..... Delhi’s deepening bilateral naval engagement with Vietnam, which is mired in territorial disputes with China, its support to the principle of freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, and its frequent joint naval exercises with Japan and the United States do raise eyebrows in Beijing. ........ Even as China and India build up their naval capabilities and step on each other’s toes in the Indo-Pacific, neither of them is in a position to supplant the United States as the dominant maritime power in both the oceans. ..... The U.S. military rebalance towards Asia is marked by a profound wariness of China’s growing power and great enthusiasm to strengthen the partnership with India. ...... Like everyone else in Asia, India wants to benefit from China’s economic growth but would like to limit the prospects for Beijing’s dominance of the region. ..... China, clearly, has the upper hand in the current triangular dynamic with India and the United States. It could accommodate either Delhi or Washington to limit the depth of a prospective India-U.S. strategic partnership.
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