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Time for a little porn math -- Pippa Middleton = 5 Octomoms ... because TMZ has learned a major company is offering Kate's little sister a whopping $5,000,000 ... for JUST ONE SCENE.

Vivid Entertainment honcho Steven Hirsch sent Pippa Middleton the letter, saying he thought Pippa Middleton was the star of the Royal Wedding and that her "beauty and attitude" would make her a huge adult star. The fact she had some semi-racy photos surface this week probably didn't hurt either.


But get this -- Hirsch is also offering $1 million to another member of her family for doing a scene ... Pippa Middleton brother James! (S)

Click here to read the letter (in pdf file)

HOBOKEN, N.J. – A commuter train crash that left dozens with mostly minor injuries and the derailment of an empty Amtrak train in a tunnel put Monday morning's commute in jeopardy in New York City, where travelers were urged to allow extra time even though additional buses and ferries would be provided and most agencies planned to honor each other's tickets.

The PATH commuter train, headed here from New York, crashed at about 8:30 Sunday morning as it pulled into the last station on its route, injuring 34 and shutting down the tracks for hours. Some service was restored later.

None of the injuries was considered life-threatening, though several victims were taken away on stretchers or put in neck braces as a precaution, Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer said. The injured, who mostly sustained cuts and bruises, were taken to three area hospitals for treatment, and most, if not all, were expected to be released later in the day.

PATH train service into and out of the station in Hoboken, just across the Hudson River from New York City, was suspended for about 11 hours because of the crash, but some service resumed on at least one of the station's three tracks around 7:30 p.m. Sunday, giving officials hope that the morning commute wouldn't be as hectic as initially believed.

Port Authority and city officials said crews would be working through the night as needed to make repairs to damaged track and other areas of the Hoboken station. It was hoped that at least two of the tracks would be ready for the commute.

The PATH, or Port Authority Trans-Hudson, system is the main transit link between Manhattan and neighboring New Jersey urban communities and suburban commuter railroads. It handles nearly 250,000 passenger trips each weekday, fewer on weekends.

A few hours after the PATH crash, an empty Amtrak train derailed in New York's East River tunnel on the other side of Manhattan. No crew members were injured, Amtrak spokeswoman Danelle Hunter told the Daily News. A broken rail led to the derailment, the Long Island Rail Road said.

It reduced its Monday schedule for trains operating into Penn Station, canceling 13 trains and planning to divert six others. The agency warned of delays of up to 20 minutes.

Riders of Amtrak and New Jersey Transit were likely to experience delays and service changes as well. Both are also routed through Penn Station, which serves half a million passengers daily and is the country's busiest train station.

Passengers on the PATH train said it had been a routine trip until they suddenly were knocked around by the impact at the station.
"People were stunned, but nobody was really going crazy or anything," said Tom Gordon, of Jersey City, who was riding in the train's front car with about 15 other people. "I didn't know what had happened at first."

Gordon, who was headed home from his security job at a New York City apartment building, said he was half-asleep as the train pulled into the station on track No. 2. But he was quickly awakened and jolted from his seat by the crash.

He was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor arm and rib injuries and left Sunday afternoon with his arm in a sling.

The cause of the crash remained under investigation, but city police said it appeared that a mechanical failure was to blame. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey were investigating.

Officials said the train's motorman would be tested for drugs and alcohol, which is standard policy in such crashes. They said there was no reason or evidence to suggest that the motorman had been impaired at the time of the crash.

Witnesses described the scene at the station as "controlled chaos," saying people were mostly calm but very concerned for the injured. Zimmer praised the efforts of emergency responders from Hoboken and surrounding communities who answered their call for assistance.

"Everyone did a great job," she said.

Zimmer said updated information on service disruptions would be posted on the city's and Port Authority's websites. (s)

VASSALBORO -- Donald Crabtree says he opened the Grand View Topless Coffee Shop in 2009 so that he, his staff and his customers could smile.

Crabtree isn't smiling anymore.


"I wanted to have some fun; I wanted to see people smile," Crabtree said. "I started the topless coffee shop to do that, and it did. But now my smile's gone. I've fought that fight for more than two years now and no matter how hard I try to make this work, somebody sabotages me."

The shop, which has featured topless waitresses serving coffee, garnered national media attention when it first opened in this rural community, provoking outrage among many residents. It has prompted Vassalboro and many other communities to adopt ordinances regulating where and when sexually oriented businesses can operate.

Crabtree's original building, a former motel, burned to the ground in a June 2009 fire that investigators say was the result of arson. The man charged with the fire, Raymond Bellavance Jr., who was in a relationship with one of the waitresses, is awaiting trial.

But Crabtree, 43, said the final straw for him was the recent notice of violations from the town over large signs he set up. One advertised a benefit topless car wash, while a portable sign proclaimed, "Boobies Wanted." Crabtree said he removed the signs Thursday night, after he was given seven days by the code officer to do so or else face legal action.

Many in town will be glad to see the shop go away. At public meetings and in letters to the editor, residents of Vassalboro and surrounding communities have bemoaned not only the business, but what they view as the negative attention for the town.

The Rev. Steve Rogers of the Vassalboro Baptist Church said he's pleased the shop will close.

"I hate to see a business disappear, but ..." Rogers said, letting the word hang in the air. "That's really not the type of business Vassalboro needs. It's had an effect on the community and upset people. I think the majority of the town is going to be very pleased it's shutting down and hopefully whoever buys it will run a more family-friendly business."


Dan Feeney, Vassalboro's code officer, said he went to inspect the signs April 26 after receiving complaints. Feeney said Crabtree's signs are bigger than what's allowed under his local permit and under the adult-only business ordinance.

"It's not what's on the signs; it's the signs themselves," Feeney said Friday.

Feeney also informed Crabtree that he couldn't hold a benefit car wash on his property, nor sell lobsters there, because those activities would change the property's allowed use. Crabtree says he is a licensed wholesale lobster seller and is permitted to sell lobsters out of his truck.

Crabtree doesn't understand why he's not allowed to hold a benefit to raise money, even though he concedes a topless car wash is "probably pushing it a little bit."

Still, Crabtree feels unfairly targeted by complaints and town officials -- a contention that he's been making the last two years.

Crabtree claims that people have been spreading rumors about drug use and prostitution ever since his business opened, all of which he adamantly denies.

"These people are bound and determined to shut you down," he said. "I'm singled out, but I'm just trying to make a living like everyone else."

Even so, Crabtree said he'll cherish the nice people he's met the last two years, staff and customers alike, and he considers them all friends.

Regular customer Herman Jellison, 47, of Whitefield, said he's sorry the coffee shop will close.

"I don't blame him," Jellison said of Crabtree. "This town's been harassing him since he's been here. People really need to mind their own business."

Since the fire, the coffee shop has continued inside a trailer on the property. The property is listed for $169,000.


Crabtree says he doesn't attract nearly as many customers as he did at first, so he's reduced hours of operation and employs four women as waitresses. He has been attempting to rebuild the coffee shop building through donations and a building shell is now up, as is a section where he lives, but he's had barely enough money to get by.

The shop now charges a $5 door fee, which Crabtree says is basically a mandatory tip for the waitresses, and cups of coffee are $3 for the first one and $6 for subsequent ones.

Crabtree conceded that the decision to close the shop is as much about frustration with the town as it is a financial and psychological reality.

"The business is slowly dying," he said. "You can't win. I'm killing myself, is what I'm doing."

TIMELINE

• Jan. 6, 2009: Donald Crabtree receives approval from the Vassalboro Planning Board to open the Grand View Topless Coffee Shop on Route 3.
• Feb. 23, 2009: Crabtree opens the shop.
• June 2, 2009: Crabtree appears before the Planning Board for a pre-application meeting to discuss his proposal to extend hours of operation and add dancing and a disc jockey.
• June 3, 2009: Just hours after the Planning Board meeting, the coffee shop is destroyed in an early morning fire that investigators rule as arson.
• June 8, 2009: At the annual Town Meeting, Vassalboro residents overwhelmingly approve a new ordinance regulating sexually oriented business in response to the coffee shop.
• July 14, 2009: The Planning Board approves a permit for Crabtree to operate the business in a new building, once it’s constructed. Meantime, Crabtree later reopens the business in a trailer on the property.
• April 6, 2010: The state Fire Marshal’s Office releases the name of the man suspected of setting the coffee shop on fire: Raymond Bellavance Jr., who investigators said dated one of the coffee shop’s waitresses.
• May 5, 2010: Bellavance is arrested after U.S. marshals nab him in South Carolina.
• April 28, 2011: Vassalboro’s code officer notifies Crabtree that his business is violating town rules with two new signs placed on the property.
• May 2011: Crabtree says he will be closing the coffee shop once the inventory is sold in the coming months. (S)

Mark Zuckerberg is, at age 26, on the young side for a first-time home buyer these days. But the Facebook cofounder and chief executive isn’t exactly stretching financially to make his first purchase. Valued at $13.5 billion, and with a persona made famous by the Oscar-winning film The Social Network, Zuckerberg recently plunked down a relatively paltry $7 million for his first home.

The restored historic Palo Alto, Calif. abode encompasses 5,617 square feet on a 17,100 square-foot plot. It includes five bedrooms, five and a half baths, a banquet-size dining room, a music alcove and glassed-in porch. The backyard has a saltwater pool, a spa, an outdoor gazebo with a wood-burning fireplace and a carport. The lot, located on Edgewood Drive in the Crescent Park neighborhood, is shielded from nosy neighbors and gawkers by a wall and citrus trees. Crescent Park itself is a high-end neighborhood where median single-family homes went for an average of $1.9 million in February, according to the Zillow Home Value Index.

The young billionaire’s new pad hails from an earlier structure erected by William A. Newell, a physician and politician who helped establish and govern the area in the late 19th century. It was razed and rebuilt by another physician in 1903. Since then, it changed hands roughly seven times, going through several remodelings, before being acquired by the social media entrepreneur.

The property was listed through Sherry Bucolo of Alain Pinel Realtors. Both Bucolo and Facebook declined to comment on the sale, but public records indicate the deal closed in mid-March. As with most real estate transactions involving rich and famous homebuyers, the sale was conducted through a third party LLC.

The young billionaire has long been a fan of renting and of relatively modest digs. His last two places were rentals in the College Terrace neighborhood of Palo Alto, both of which were close to Facebook’s offices and significantly smaller than the new home.

Zuckerberg, who ranks 52nd on Forbes’ list of the World’s Billionaires, paid $1 million more than the previously listed asking price of $5.85 million. The $7 million paid is about what the home is valued in the expensive 94301 zip code, according to Zillow.com.

That might seem like a hefty price tag to many middle Americans, but it’s pee wee league among billionaires. Yuri Milner, a venture capital billionaire and Facebook investor, shelled out $100 million for an 11 acre, 25,000 square foot estate in the area earlier this year. In April, news broke that Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine’s wealthiest billionaire, had snatched up a London penthouse for $221 million, the most ever paid for an apartment anywhere.(s)

LOS ANGELES – The summer movie season officially kicks off with Paramount's "THOR" from Marvel Comics. The first weekend in May is a traditionally strong release frame and a debut in the $60-million-plus range should put the film at the top of the box office.

Australian newcomer Chris Hemsworth plays the title character and joins a strong cast including Academy Award winners Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins. IMAX and 3-D should enhance the revenue potential of the film, which earned $83 million overseas last weekend and topped the international charts.

Universal's "Fast Five" isn't backing off the throttle, though, and should earn in the mid-$50 million range. The fifth installment of the franchise has demonstrated incredible staying power, with midweek daily grosses of around $6 million, and by the end of the weekend, "Fast Five" should become the biggest hit of the year so far.

Likely to land in third place as a perfect alternative to all the testosterone-driven fare in the marketplace is Warner Bros.' romantic comedic drama "Something Borrowed." A gross in the $12 million to $15 million range is the sweet spot for this female-driven film that stars Kate Hudson and Ginnifer Goodwin as best friends in love with the same guy.

Sony is also offering a dose of comedic fun with the ensemble comedy "Jumping the Broom," which should draw a solid Mother's Day crowd for a fourth place debut of around $10 million. Angela Bassett leads an impressive cast in a story of two very dissimilar families descending on Martha's Vineyard for a wedding.

Rounding out the top five with around $8 million will be Fox's "Rio," which has been one of the biggest hits of the pre-summer period and flew past the $100 million mark last weekend.(S)

WASHINGTON – Newly released videos show Osama bin Laden inside his hideout, watching himself on television and rehearsing for Osama bin Laden propaganda videos. The clips were selected by the Pentagon from what it says it seized

Follow link bellow to watch the video:
Osama bin Laden Video

United States (U.S.) and Pakistan fight over the right to withhold Amal al-Sadah, the youngest wife of Osama bin Laden. Amal is now detained in Pakistan and the country on Wednesday (04/05/2011), rejected the American request to speak with Amal.

The 27-year-old woman, according to initial reports about the storming of the complex U.S. residence of Osama in Pakistan, Sunday, has tried to become a shield for her from the special forces raid Navy SEALs. However, the information the U.S. side later said she had been used as shields by Osama and killed. The report was corrected again by stating that the Amal is not dead, only wounded in the leg. Amal should come along helicopter transported U.S. troops, but because one of two helicopters that crashed while landing troops, Amal was abandoned. She was later arrested Pakistani troops.

Who Amal al-Sadah? The story about him began 11 years ago. At that time, she is a teenage girl who was taken from a quiet city in southern Yemen, first to Pakistan, then to Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. A year before the attacks of 11 September 2001, she became the fifth wife of Osama bin Laden. At that time, 18-year-old Amal and Osama 43 years.

The marriage was arranged a prominent Al Qaeda Yemen, Sheikh Mohammed Rashed Saeed Ismail. Ismail (his brother languishing in Guantanamo Bay detainees) told the Yemen Post in 2008, “I am a matchmaker (marriage) Osama with his wife, Amal al-hard, which is one of my students.”

In July 2000, Ismail accompany the new couple into Afghanistan. Last year, Ismail told a reporter Hala Jaber, “Even at a young age, she (Amal) is very religious and believe in the things that Osama, a man who is very religious and pious-believe.”

Marriage is also apparently a-political alliances to strengthen support for bin Laden in the land of their ancestors, Yemen. Osama’s bodyguard at the time, Abu Jandal, was responsible for delivering the dowry. “Sheikh (Osama) it gives me 5000 dollars and told me to send it to certain people in Yemen and the people that in turn brings money to the bride’s family,” said Abu Jandal in the daily Al Quds al Arabi in 2005.

In accordance with conservative Sunni tradition, the wedding celebration of all the affairs of men. “The bride is deemed to have approved the marriage with a trip to Afghanistan, so his presence (in marriage) is not compulsory,” he wrote in The Sunday Times Jaba after interviewing Ismail.

“People celebrate with meresital poetry and song, slaughter lambs, and eating food.” According to Abu Jandal, “the songs and joy mixed with the (sound) shooting into the air.”

A year after the wedding, Amal al-Sadah birth to a daughter in Kandahar (a few days after the attacks of 11 September 2001). The boy was given the name Safiya. Children that are possible, according to Pakistani officials, has seen his father shot dead on Sunday. Her mother, according to Pakistani sources, has the now recovered from the wound in the leg he sustained in the attack.

Yemeni passport of a woman who was found hiding in the complex they seem to belong with Amal, but the name in the passport does not exactly match the name. Yemeni officials said they were unable to identify exactly the passport and Pakistan has not made a request to repatriate anyone in the complex is the former residence of Osama.

It is unclear whether bin Laden and Amal have another child. However, the leader of Al Qaeda that has more than 20 children from five wives. One of his sons were also reported killed in the attack on the complex in Pakistan’s Abbottabad.

CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen, bin Laden has written about marriage in his book, The Osama bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of al Qaeda’s Leader. Osama was first married at age 17 years with someone who was his cousin, Najwa Ghanem, perhaps two years younger than Osama. They had 11 children, but after living with the constant moving, Najwa eventually left Osama (and Afghanistan) a few days before the September 11 attacks.

Osama’s second wife was Khadijah Sharif, nine years older than bin Laden, a highly educated woman and a direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammad. They married in 1983 and have three children, but eventually they divorced while living in Sudan in the 1990s. In an interview with Al Quds al Arabi, Abu Jandal said Khadijah was not able to deal with their hard lives and eventually return to Saudi Arabia.

Osama’s first wife, Najwa, helping to organize the third marriage with Osama Khairiah Patience. Khairiah also highly educated women and a doctoral degree in sharia or Islamic law. The woman was married to bin Laden in 1985 and they had one child, a son. Bergen writes that it is not known whether she survived the bombing in Afghanistan in October and November 2001.

Then, there Siham Patience who married Osama bin Laden in 1987. They have four children, and like Khairiah, she was not caught in his footsteps since the invasion of Afghanistan. Amal al-Sadah is the fifth and youngest wife of Osama. Amal al-Sadah had repatriated to Yemen for his safety, but somehow he came back to where Osama.

According to Abu Jandal, bin Laden after the big family arrived in Afghanistan in 1996, they often ride the bus is escorted by a vehicle full of guards. He said the three wives of Osama live harmoniously in the same house. They often go to events-Osama family outing in a separate car followed the family bus. In such event, said Abu Jandal, the leader of Al Qaeda that would teach her how to use firearms.

CNN terrorist Observer, Paul Cruickshank, said, not surprisingly, the complex in Abbottabad who attacked U.S. forces on Sunday and although there are several children is not known how many people who is the son of Osama. “He tried to train his children to follow in his footsteps.”

Overall, according to Abu Jandal, bin Laden has 11 sons, some of whom ran away from the harsh conditions of life with their father into a more prosperous life together Bin Laden’s family rich. “The girls are not known with certainty the amount,” said Abu Jandal told Al Quds al Arabi.

A few weeks after the events of 11 September, bin Laden told the Pakistani journalist, Hamid Mir, that he had plans for his youngest daughter, Safiya. “I became a father of a girl after 11 September,” he said. “I named her Safiya, who killed a Jewish spy at the time of the Prophet. (My daughter) will kill the enemies of Islam like Safiya.” (Original story)

WASHINGTON – The world is expected to get its first glimpse at Osama bin Laden's daily life as the world's most wanted terrorist Saturday with the disclosure of home videos showing him strolling the grounds of the fortified compound that kept him safe for years.

The footage shot at the terror leader's hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and propaganda tapes made there, are expected to be released to the news media Saturday, U.S. officials said.

They are among the wealth of information collected during the U.S. raid that killed bin Laden and four others. The information suggests bin Laden played a strong role in planning and directing attacks by al-Qaida and its affiliates in Yemen and Somalia, two senior officials said.

And it further demonstrates to the U.S. that top al-Qaida commanders and other key insurgents are scattered throughout Pakistan, not just in the rugged border areas, and are being supported and given sanctuary by Pakistanis.

Despite protests from Pakistan, defeating al-Qaida and taking out its senior leaders in Pakistan remains a top U.S. priority. That campaign will not be swayed by Islamabad's complaints that the raid violated the country's sovereignty, a senior defense official said Friday.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive material.

Their comments underscore U.S. resolve to pursue terror leaders in Pakistan, particularly during this critical period in the Afghanistan war, as President Barack Obama moves to fulfill his promise to begin withdrawing troops this July.

Already the Afghan Taliban has warned that bin Laden's death will only boost morale of insurgents battling the U.S. and its NATO allies. Al-Qaida itself vowed revenge, confirming bin Laden's death for the first time but saying that Americans' "happiness will turn to sadness."

For its part, the U.S. has already launched at least one drone strike into Pakistan in the days since bin Laden was killed, and there is no suggestion those will be curtailed at all.

The strikes are largely carried out by pilotless CIA drones, and the expectation is that they will continue in the coming days as U.S. military and intelligence officials try to take quick advantage of the data they swept up in the raid before insurgents have a chance to change plans or locations.

The raid on bin Laden's compound deep inside the Pakistan border has further eroded already strained relations between Washington and Islamabad, and angry Pakistani officials have said they want the U.S. to reduce its military presence in their country. The Pakistani army, while acknowledging it failed to find bin Laden, said it would review cooperation with the U.S. if there is another similar attack.

Pakistani officials have denied sheltering bin Laden, and they have criticized the U.S. operation as a violation of their country's sovereignty.

But a senior defense official said recent protests by Islamabad about the raid will not stop the U.S. from moving against terror leaders that threaten American security.

Obama has made it clear that the U.S. will take action wherever necessary to root out al-Qaida, which has declared war on the United States and has been using Pakistan as a base to plot and direct attacks from there and other insurgent locations around the world.

The official also said there are no plans to scale back U.S. training of the Pakistani frontier corps and army. But the decision is up to Pakistan.

U.S. administration leaders have been careful not to directly accuse the Pakistani government of being complicit in the existence of sanctuaries that have cloaked bin Laden and his lieutenants. But U.S. lawmakers say it strains credibility that the most wanted man in the world could have been in living in a major suburb, one that's home to Pakistan's military academy, without someone knowing it.

CIA director Leon Panetta told lawmakers that "Pakistan was involved or incompetent," according to a U.S. official, who recounted to conversation on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door briefing.

Counterterrorism officials have debated how big a role bin Laden and core al-Qaida leaders were playing in the attacks launched by affiliated terror groups, particularly al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, which is based in Yemen, and al-Shabab in Somalia.

Information gathered in the compound, officials said, suggests that bin Laden was much more involved in directing al-Qaida personnel and operations than some analysts thought over the last decade. And it suggests bin Laden was "giving strategic direction" to al-Qaida affiliates in Somalia and Yemen, the defense official said.

Officials say they have already learned a great deal from bin Laden's cache of computers and data, but they would not confirm reports that it yielded clues to the whereabouts of al-Qaida deputy Ayman al-Zawahri.

Al-Zawahri is a leading candidate to take bin Laden's place as the leader of the terror group.

Obama met on Friday with the U.S. commandos who killed bin Laden after a decade-long search.

"Job well done," the president declared, addressing roughly 2,000 troops after meeting privately with the full assault team — Army helicopter pilots and Navy SEAL commandos — who executed the dangerous raid. Their identities are kept secret. (Original Articles)

There has been a long-lived bit of Apollo moon landing folklore that now appears to be a dead-end affair: microbes on the moon.

The lunar mystery swirls around the Apollo 12 moon landing and the return to Earth by moonwalkers of a camera that was part of an early NASA robotic lander – the Surveyor 3 probe.

On Nov. 19, 1969, Apollo 12 astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean made a precision landing on the lunar surface in Oceanus Procellarum, Latin for the Ocean of Storms. Their touchdown point was a mere 535 feet (163 meters) from the Surveyor 3 lander -- and an easy stroll to the hardware that had soft-landed on the lunar terrain years before, on April 20, 1967.

The Surveyor 3 camera was easy pickings and brought back to Earth under sterile conditions by the Apollo 12 crew. When scientists analyzed the parts in a clean room, they found evidence of microorganisms inside the camera.

In short, a small colony of common bacteria -- Streptococcus Mitis -- had stowed away on the device.

The astrobiological upshot as deduced from the unplanned experiment was that 50 to 100 of the microbes appeared to have survived launch, the harsh vacuum of space, three years of exposure to the moon's radiation environment, the lunar deep-freeze at an average temperature of minus 253 degrees Celsius, not to mention no access to nutrients, water or an energy source.

Now, fast forward to today.

NASA's dirty little secret?

A diligent team of researchers is now digging back into historical documents -- and even located and reviewed NASA's archived Apollo-era 16 millimeter film -- to come clean on the story.

As it turns out, there's a dirty little secret that has come to light about clean room etiquette at the time the Surveyor 3 camera was scrutinized.

"The claim that a microbe survived 2.5 years on the moon was flimsy, at best, even by the standards of the time," said John Rummel, chairman of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) Panel on Planetary Protection. "The claim never passed peer review, yet has persisted in the press -- and on the Internet -- ever since."

The Surveyor 3 camera-team thought they had detected a microbe that had lived on the moon for all those years, "but they only detected their own contamination," Rummel told SPACE.com.

A former NASA planetary protection officer, Rummel is now with the Institute for Coastal Science & Policy at East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C.

Rummel, along with colleaguesJudith Allton of NASA’s Johnson Space Center and Don Morrison, a former space agency lunar receiving laboratory scientist, recently presented their co-authored paper: "A Microbe on the Moon? Surveyor III and Lessons Learned for Future Sample Return Missions."

Poor space probe hygiene

Their verdict was given at a meeting on "The Importance of Solar System Sample Return Missions to the Future of Planetary Science," in March at The Woodlands,Texas, sponsored by the NASA Planetary Science Division and Lunar and Planetary Institute.

"If 'American Idol' judged microbiology, those guys would have been out in an early round," the research team writes of the way the Surveyor 3 camera team studied the equipment here on Earth. Or put more delicately, "The general scene does not lend a lot of confidence in the proposition that contamination did not occur," co-author Morrison said.

For example, participants studying the camera were found to be wearing short-sleeve scrubs, thus arms were exposed. Also, the scrub shirt tails were higher than the flow bench level … and would act as a bellows for particulates from inside the shirt, reports co-author Allton.

Other contamination control issues were flagged by the researchers.

In simple microbiology 101 speak, "a close personal relationship with the subject ... is not necessarily a good thing," the research team explains.

All in all, the likelihood that contamination occurred during sampling of the Surveyor 3 camera was shown to be very real.

A cautionary tale

On one hand, Rummel emphasized that today’s methods for handling return samples are much more effective at detecting microbes.

However, the Surveyor 3 incident back then raises a cautionary flag for the future.
"We need to be orders of magnitude more careful about contamination control than was the Surveyor 3 camera-team. If we aren't, samples from Mars could be drowned in Earth life upon return, and in all of that 'noise' we might never have the ability to detect Mars life we may have brought back, too," Rummel said. "We can, and we must, do a better job with a Mars sample return mission."

Winner of this year's National Space Club Press Award, Leonard David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. He is past editor-in-chief of the National Space Society's Ad Astra and Space World magazines and has written for SPACE.com since 1999. (Original Story)

Chelsy Yvonne Davy (born 13 October 1985)

Chelsy Davy refuses to marry Prince Harry. It was caused because he did not want to lose their identity.

Women who worked as a lawyer was said to have a relationship again with Prince Harry. So no wonder if she was seen attending the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

But, according to Britain's Mail, Davy has told friends that if she could not be married to Prince Harry. "That's not my life," she said as quoted by ShowbizSpy, Monday (02/05/2011).

information from one source, the couple are back together. "Harry's Chelsy admire because she is a hard worker. Once was when she was drunk, Chelsy Davy could finish the job well," said the source.

Yesterday, Chelsy has been to see Kate get married. "She said she too sacrificed her identity. And she did not want to be like that," he added.

Chelsy Davy had in mind was that the wedding was beautiful. "Chelsy Davy think marriage is beautiful and there is also a dance party. But not for the wedding itself. Now he wants is freedom for a career," he added.

Hot Sexy Nude Wafah Dufour

Mother's Day is Sunday, so every day this week we have ideas to inspire your gift-giving.

There’s just no better occasion than Mother's Day for mom and her mini-me to break out in matching fashion. And we’ve found something for every pair, whether their favored look is classic, feminine or flirty.

The season’s stripes have met their match in these timeless T-shirts and onesies by Yala Designs in a silky-soft, eco-friendly bamboo fabric and a multitude of hues. (Bamboo Dreams Kai Boatneck Top, $58, in three colors, and Bamboo Dreams Long-Sleeve Onesie, $30, in 11 colors, at www.yaladesigns.com.


Given the forecast and fashion inclination, these flapper-inspired fringed swimsuits by Inca are bound to inspire mutual adoration. We can think of many moms who would love one, with or without its pint-sized replica. Inca Jaden Monikini, $250, and IncaGirl Riley bikini, $75; Call (877) 286-5213.
And for the budding fashionista, how about a sweet floral frock to match mom’s? Milly Minis grosgrain-trim cotton Party Dress, $165, in sizes 2-6; for mom, a matching Colette Sheath Dress, $315, at www.millyny.com.

Speaking of flowers... If you’re considering a bouquet and looking for a destination to show off your wears, Brentwood Country Mart florist Botany is throwing a Mother's Day Flower Arranging Tea on Saturday. The workshop includes instruction and supplies to make two of your very own arrangements, for mother and tot, plus goodies from Farmshop. The cost is $50 per mother-and-child pair. For reservations, call (310) 394-0358.
-- Ingrid Schmidt
Wednesday: Tote-ally chic (S)

Photos Osama bin Laden was killed was a fake

Death photo of Osama bin Laden Fake! The face of Osama bin Laden who was killed bloodied spread widely on the Internet and published by Agence France-Presse. Pakistan Television said, the image is not yet officially confirmed its truth.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) said the combination of images clearly shows that the beard and the bottom of the picture most likely was cloned and placed on the body image that does not belong to Bin Laden. Tentative conclusions, most likely a photo of Bin Laden who was killed (left) is false. Compare with the photo of Bin Laden (right) during the life of the beard and lips are very similar. Death photo of Osama bin Laden Fake!

Bin Laden killed in intelligence operations in the suburbs of Abbottabad, 50 km (30 miles) northwest of the capital city of Pakistan, Islamabad, on Monday (05/02/2011). Bin Laden's death was officially announced by U.S. President Barack Obama in a speech that portrayed dramatically.

Related military operation that killed Bin Laden, the U.S. military source said, bin Laden was surprised by a small team of Navy SEALs attack which landed in the courtyard complex where he was hiding. It is said, bin Laden had offered to surrender, but he refused and then a shootout. Three supporters of Bin Laden, including his own son, were killed along with a woman who tries to act as human shields in the crossfire.

News related to Osama bin Laden is dead. The leader of the terrorist network Al Qaeda (54) is believed to be mastermind tragedy of 9 / 11, in which two planes deliberately crashed into the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center, New York, on September 11, 2001. More than 3,000 people were reportedly killed in the tragedy.

News about the death of Osama Bin Laden sticking out on May 1, 2011 after a ten-year manhunt against him.

United States President Barack Obama confirm the death of Osama Bin Laden news through a press conference on Sunday local time. Obama explained that intelligence agencies had known the location of Bin Laden's presence, which is then followed by offensive operations by U.S. military forces. Bin Laden is confirmed to have died in the attack after DNA tests and declared fit.

"Tonight, I can tell the American people and the entire world that America has led the military operation that killed Osama bin Laden, leader of Al Qaeda and the terrorists responsible for killing thousands of people, both men, women, and children."

In order to deal with drunk and unruly passengers, the cabin crew of Hong Kong Airlines is now required to train in martial arts.

She can take you down with a center punch back fist.

Hong Kong Airlines has made it mandatory for the cabin crew to train in wing chun — a kind of kung fu — in order to deal with drunk and unruly passengers, which apparently happens at least three times a week, according to Reuters.

Wing chun is a close-range form of combat and involves a lot of striking and grappling, according to wing chun instructor Katherine Cheung, who told the South China Morning Post that the martial art was ideal for airline crews.

"Wing chun can be used in small, confined spaces so it's suited for an airplane," Cheung said. "It's easy to learn but difficult to master."

Earlier this month, a flight attendant reportedly had the pleasure of putting her training to the test, wrangling a drunkard on a flight from Beijing to Hong Kong.

Airline spokesperson Eva Chan said that the close-combat martial art is particularly helpful for slight stewardesses looking to get an edge on heftier passengers.

"Normally, female cabin crew can't handle a fat guy, especially if he's drunk," Chan said. "But because of the training, she can handle it quite easily." (R)

Hot Kiss Kate Middleton and Prince William
One of the most anticipated traditions of the Royal Wedding is the kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. Crowds awaiting the iconic moment erupted in cheers when Prince William and Kate Middleton finally appeared and soon afterward came together for the royal smooch.

Dozens of tornadoes spawned by a powerful storm system wiped out entire towns across a wide swath of the South, killing at least 200 people in the deadliest outbreak in nearly 40 years, and officials said Thursday they expected the death toll to rise.

Alabama's state emergency management agency said it had confirmed 131 deaths, while there were 32 in Mississippi, 15 in Tennessee, 13 in Georgia, eight in Virginia and one in Kentucky.

The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said it received 137 tornado reports around the regions into Wednesday night.

Dave Imy, a meteorologist with the prediction service, said the number of deaths was the most in a tornado outbreak since 1974, when 315 people died

One of the hardest-hit areas was Tuscaloosa, a city of more than 83,000 and home to the University of Alabama. The city's police and other emergency services were devastated, the mayor said, and at least 15 people were killed.

President Barack Obama said he had spoken with Bentley and approved his request for emergency federal assistance.

"Our hearts go out to all those who have been affected by this devastation, and we commend the heroic efforts of those who have been working tirelessly to respond to this disaster," Obama said in a statement.

The storms came on the heels of another system that killed 10 people in Arkansas and one in Mississippi earlier this week. (R)

Five days after the passenger ship the Titanic sank, the crew of the rescue ship Mackay-Bennett pulled the body of a fair-haired, roughly 2-year-old boy out of the Atlantic Ocean on April 21, 1912. Along with many other victims, his body went to a cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where the crew of the Mackay-Bennett had a headstone dedicated to the "unknown child" placed over his grave.

When it sank, the Titanic took the lives of 1,497 of the 2,209 people aboard with it. Some bodies were recovered, but names remained elusive, while others are still missing. But researchers believe that they have finally resolved the identity of the unknown child -- concluding that he was 19-month-old Sidney Leslie Goodwin from England.

Though the unknown child was incorrectly identified twice before, researchers believe they have now conclusively determined the child was Goodwin. After his recovery, he was initially believed to be a 2-year-old Swedish boy, Gösta Leonard Pålsson, who was seen being washed overboard as the ship sank. This boy's mother, Alma Pålsson, was recovered with the tickets for all four of her children in her pocket, and buried in a grave behind the unknown child.

The effort to verify the child's identity using genetics began a little over a decade ago, when Ryan Parr, an adjunct professor at Lakehead University in Ontario who has worked with DNA extracted from ancient human remains, watched some videos about the Titanic.

"I thought 'Wow, I wonder if anyone is interested or still cares about the unidentified victims of the Titanic,'" Parr said.

A name for the unknown child?

In 2001, with permission from the Pålsson family, the unknown child's remains were exhumed from Fairview Lawn Cemetery, one of the Halifax cemeteries where Titanic victims were interred. Parr had hoped to investigate the identities of other victims as well, though decomposition interfered. Two of the coffins held only mud, and only a 2.4-inch-long (6 centimeter) fragment of an arm bone and three teeth remained of the unknown child. But this was enough.

From these remains, Parr and his team extracted DNA from a section of mitochondria (energy-producing centers of the cells) that rapidly accumulates mutations, called HV1. Mitochondrial DNA is passed from mother to offspring, so the team compared the unknown child's DNA sequence with samples from the maternal relatives of the Pålsson child. These didn't match.

They broadened their search to include five other boys under age 3 who had died in the disaster. Alan Ruffman, who became involved in the project as a research associate of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, ultimately tracked down the maternal lines of all six children (including the Pålsson child) with help from genealogists, historians, Titanic researchers, translators, librarians, archivists and members of the families.
By comparing the unknown child's HV1 with these other young Titanic victims, the researchers eliminated all but two of the boys -- Eino Viljami Panula, a 13-month-old Finnish boy, and Sidney Goodwin.

An expert analysis of the child's teeth put his age somewhere between 9 months and 15 months -- seeming to eliminate Goodwin, who was older. So, the researchers concluded the boy was Panula and, in 2004, published their results.

A second try

But doubts remained. Ultimately, a pair of leather shoes recovered from the unknown child and held in the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic caused the researchers to question the identification.

The shoes had been saved by Clarence Northover, a Halifax police sergeant in 1912, who helped guard the bodies and belongings of the Titanic victims, according to the museum's website. A letter from Northover's grandson, Earle, recounts how the victim's clothing had been burned to stop souvenir hunters. Clarence Northover couldn't bring himself to burn the little shoes, and when no relatives claimed them, he put the shoes in his desk drawer at the police station. In 2002, Earle Northover donated them to the museum. These shoes were too large for a 13-month-old to wear.

Parr and his team attempted the identification again, this time with the help of the U.S. Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory.

They looked at another, less mutation-prone section of the mitochondrial DNA, where they found a single difference that indicated that Goodwin might actually be the unknown child. The Armed Forces lab confirmed this when they found a second, single difference in another section of the DNA.

"Luckily, it was a rare difference, so that is what gives you 98 percent certainty the identification is correct," Parr said.

The loss of a family

Before he died, Sidney Goodwin was traveling on the Titanic with his parents, Frederick and Augusta, and five siblings from England to Niagara Falls, N.Y.

Carol Goodwin, a 77-year-old Wisconsin resident, heard about the ill-fated family from Frederick Goodwin's sisters, one of whom was Carol's grandmother.

"I can't say that it really startled me or amazed me," Carol Goodwin said of the news that the unknown child was her relative. "I guess maybe it had been so long in coming."

As a child, she learned about Frederick Goodwin's family by eavesdropping on conversations between her grandmother and her great aunt.

"They didn't talk about the children that much," Carol Goodwin told LiveScience. "It was their brother who was a favorite brother, how kind he was to them growing up."

Goodwin's interest in family history didn't spark until her 13-year-old granddaughter Becky saw a Titanic exhibit and wrote an essay for school. When her teacher wanted to submit the article to the magazine "Junior Scholastic," Goodwin wanted to check the facts first.

Now Goodwin is working on two books on the subject, a smaller one about the unknown child and a larger book she has titled "The Goodwins Aboard the Titanic: Saga of a Third-Class Family." (The family was traveling third class.) And, in a year, she and her husband plan to take a centennial cruise in memory of the Titanic.

On Aug. 6, 2008, relatives of the Goodwin family held a memorial service in Fairview Lawn Cemetery where they now believe Sidney Goodwin was buried under the unknown child's headstone. A cousin read the names of about 50 children who had also perished when the Titanic went down and a bell was rung for each, she said.

A soft, drizzling rain began to fall as the first name was read, and stopped when the list was finished, she recalled. Ultimately, the family left the headstone and the grave as it was.

"The tombstone of the unknown child represents all of the children who perished on the Titanic, and we left it that way," she said.

The remains of the rest of the Goodwins family have never been recovered.

"From those (unidentified bodies) that were buried in Halifax, I have read the coroner's reports for each of them, and nothing fits," she said.

An article describing the genetic analysis that led to the final identification of the unknown child's remains is scheduled to be published in the June 2011 issue of the journal Forensic Science International: Genetics and is already available online. (S)

6 Lost Cities Of The World
These ancient wonders are well worth a visit, even in troubled times.

Gazing at the Andean peaks soaring above the Lost City of the Incas and the lush valley below, it's easy see why it was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007. The 15th century A.D. Peruvian site was abandoned shortly after Spanish conquistadors invaded the neighboring areas, falling to ruin until 1911, when an American scholar stumbled across the remains.

History's once glorious metropolises have become ever more sought-after destinations as Americans get back into travel mode. Machu Picchu welcomes as many as 1 million tourists annually, and that number is said to be growing as much as 6% per year.

The Americas offer travelers dozens of lost cities to explore. Mexico has the Mayan city of Chichen Itza, with Mesoamerica's largest ball court and the hulking pyramidal remains of Teotihuacan, with its well-preserved, color-splashed murals. There's Tical in Guatemala and Copan in Honduras. Even the the Western U.S. boasts the tumbleweed-strewn ghost towns of two centuries ago.

Chichen Itza, Mexico
Country: Mexico
Civilization: the Mayans
Inhabited: 600 to 1000 A.D.

Site of one of Mesoamerica's largest ball courts, this royal city is located near a massive underground cenote, or sinkhole, where the bodies of human sacrifices were dropped.

Derinkuyu Underground City, Turkey
Country: Turkey
Civilization: possibly the Phrygians
Inhabited: Approximately eighth century B.C.to 10th century A.D.


This underground network has more than 10 floors and room for up to 50,000 people, plus livestock. It is rumored to have been a hideout for early Christians escaping Roman persecution.

Machu Picchu, Peru


The results of the survey suggest that ease of learning the local language and adapting to the local culture are areas in which the U.S. fares well in as an expat destination--despite low scores in organizing finances and health care.

Angkor, Cambodia
Country: Cambodia
Civilization: the Khmer Empire
Inhabited: ninth century to 15th century A.D.


More than a thousand temples, including Angkor Wat, populate this long-time Khmer capital. It declined after a successful attack by invaders from what is now Thailand.

Pre-Roman Carthage, Tunisia
Country: Tunisia
Civilization: the Phoenicians
Inhabited: 650 to 146 B.C.


Carthage was home to the Roman Empire's arch-nemesis, Hannibal. It was burned and the earth salted during the final Punic War.

Pompeii, Italy
Country: Italy
Civilization: the Roman Empire
Inhabited: seventh/sixth century B.C. to 79 A.D.


Pompeii was a cultural center and vacation destination for Roman high society until it was destroyed in 79 A.D. by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Left behind are naturally ash-encased mummies.

Click here to see the full list of 15 Lost Cities Of The World