Image of Messier 101, or the Pinwheel Galaxy, showing 'straight' arms, slightly squarish in appearance. A team of astronomers theorize that our galaxy may resemble M101. Image: NASA/ESA.
Brazilian astronomers have proposed a new model to explain the structure of our galaxy, the Milky Way. The new model suggests that our galaxy may have one more arm than previously thought and that these arms are more straight than curved.
The astronomers, led by Jacques Lepine at the University of Sao Paulo, used data from clouds of gas to develop their new proposed model.
In order to study the structure of the Milky Way, the astronomers studied spectra created by Carbon monosulphide clouds, contrary to the common method of analyzing spectra from clouds of ionized hydrogen. This method was used in hopes of producing an accurate ‘face-on’ map of our galaxy.
The postulated extra arm, if indeed actual, will increase the number of known arms from two to three. Previously, in 2008, the number was changed from four to two. This new arm is estimated to be about 30,000 light-years from the center of the Milky Way and is thought to have a “strong inward curvature”.
The new model also suggests that our Solar System is in one of the straightest parts of an outer arm of our galaxy.
According to Lepine and his team of researchers: “Drawing a map of the Milky Way is a challenging task, since we only have an edge-on view of the galaxy in which we reside. … We may not ever know exactly what our galaxy would look like when viewed from other worlds, but we’ll keep trying.”
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It’s 3 am in Brazil and birds are singing outside my bedroom window. As I recall, in the US don’t most birds sleep at night like the rest of us? However, I adore these nighttime songbirds as a symbol of the unique pleasure of Brazil.
I’m so content living in Brazil that sometimes I start singing, too. I can do this when I’m sober, by the way, and my Brazilian wife takes no notice of my behavior. Other times, my expatriate exuberance manifests itself in sleeplessness. During the night I’ll awaken to the songbirds, stirred from my dreamy slumber with thoughts of the upcoming day. I don’t want to sleep for fear of missing anything.
Could it be that, like me, the birds can’t control their exuberance and are forced to sing instead of sleep? Are they are so filled with wonderment at the joy of living in Brazil that they need to express themselves continually?
It seems everyone in Brazil is having too much fun to sleep. Brazilians are singing all the time. Like other Latin American cultures, Brazil personifies the living customs of an ancient oral tradition. Simply stated for my tired brain: Brazilians love to communicate — in words, songs, or gestures.
Brazilians will strike up conversations anywhere at any time with anyone: clerks, strangers, cashiers. In fact, it’s considered rude for a Brazilian to enter a room without speaking. For example, the waiting room in a doctor’s office or an occupied elevator requires at least a hello to the strangers. In the US, it’s considered impolite to speak to anyone you don’t know.
Learning to wait on long lines is an acknowledged rite of passage in Brazil. I’m not saying there aren’t lines in the US. Even there, teenagers will spend seven hours waiting for AC/DC concert tickets. However, while standing on line at the post office in the US, it’s not common to begin a conversation with a stranger. Brazilians who visit the US return home and describe to their astonished friends how they’d seen Americans on lines reading, rather than talking to those nearby. When I mentioned this custom of silence to a Brazilian woman, she replied, “Why wouldn’t you talk to people in line? It helps to pass the time.” What an excellent technique for adapting to adversity, I realized — talk your way through it.
Talking is so ingrained in Brazilian culture that it’s not considered rude to repeat yourself. Even talking (or singing) to oneself is acceptable. And not only do Brazilians love to talk, they enjoy listening. Thus the popularity of telenovelas. Visit any store or office in Brazil, and you will hear the employees talking about last night’s episode of the soap opera. (more…)
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Bulgaria-descended Dilma Rousseff has a narrow lead before the second round of Brazil’s Presidential Elections on October 31, 2010.
Rousseff, the favored candidate of outgoing Brazilian President Lula da Silva, running from the Workerts Party, ended the first round with 46.5% of the votes vs. 32.5% for her competitor Jose Serra from the Social Democratic Party.
According to a poll of the Brazilian Institute of Public Opinion and Statistics (IBOPE) conducted October 11-13, Rousseff enjoys the backing of 49% of the voters, while Serra has 43%, as cited by BTA. This one predicts a 53-47% win for Rousseff when expected null and void votes are subtracted.
Another poll of Vox populi carried out October 10-11, shows 48% for Rousseff and 40% for Serra. This is forecast to translate into a 54.5-45.5% win for the candidate of the Workers Party.
Even though she is still in the lead, Rousseff, who is the daughter of Bulgarian immigrant Petar (Pedro) Rousseff, is believed to have lost much momentum from a month ago when had a 20%-lead over Serra (having actually reversed Serra’s lead since the beginning of 2010). This is said to result largely from corruption allegations about Dilma Rousseff’s substitute as head of the cabinet of outgoing President Lula da Silva.
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Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega insisted while in Washington on the need of the international community to “coordinate” and “reach some kind of agreement” during the next G20 summit in order to put an end to the “currency war” that puts world recovery in danger.
During the gathering in Seoul, ”we must try to reach some sort of agreement to organize this (currency) dispute which, in the end, is purely commercial,“ Mantega said in a conference held at the Council of the Americas institute in Washington.
”It’s better to coordinate (…) if not, each country is going to seek its own interests and we’re going to damage free trade and free currency flow,“ he insisted.
The ”currency war,” term introduced by Mantega, was the main topic of discussion during the annual International Monetary Fun (IMF) and World Bank meeting, which concluded last Saturday in Washington, without great progress on the matter.
During the meetings, Mantega made a claim to developed countries, such as the United States and Germany, to resume fiscal stimulus policies instead of betting on “aggressive” monetary policies that are not resulting in an improvement of domestic demand and that are also provoking a very strong appreciation of currencies in emerging nations, such as Brazil.
Despite not having received a favourable answer to his demands during the IMF meetings, Mantega highlighted that his intention is to continue insisting on a coordinated action since, on the contrary, not only will the recovery of advanced economies be “that much slower,” but also, a real “risk” of falling for “trade protectionism” and “restrictions” for the free flow of capitals exists.
Mercopress
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The world will travel to Brazil for the next World Cup while in the meantime the South American powerhouse will tour the globe in their bid to become World Cup winners for the sixth time in 2014.
New coach Mano Menezes and his team looked very much at home in the English midlands on Monday when they beat a gritty Ukraine side 2-0 at Derby County’s Pride Park, the latest venue to host the team who remain football’s biggest attraction.
At face value Brazil playing Ukraine in a provinical English city on a Monday in October can be seen as just another money-spinner in an already over-crowded international calendar.
But neither Derby County nor Menezes sees it quite like that and television channels also reflected huge interest with the match televised live to more than 100 countries around the world.
John Vicars, Derby’s vice-president of operations, told Reuters before the match the game clearly was one of the most prestigious Derby had ever hosted.
“We had only had two weeks to organise it after plans to stage it in the Middle East failed to materialise.
“We had a phone call from the agency that organises Brazil’s friendlies outside Brazil to see if we could host it instead as we are one of a number of clubs they deal with.
“You don’t say ‘no’ to Brazil, do you, and of course it was a tremendous honour for us to do so. As long as we break even which I am sure we will, we will be happy“. (more…)
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