How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
News
NASA's Kepler mission scientists have discovered a new planetary system that is home to the smallest planet yet found around a star similar to our sun.
The planets are located in a system called Kepler-37, about 210 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lyra.
The smallest planet, Kepler-37b, is slightly larger than our moon, measuring about one-third the size of Earth. It is smaller than Mercury, which made its detection a challenge.
The moon-size planet and its two companion planets were found by scientists with NASA's Kepler mission to find Earth-sized planets in or near the “habitable zone,” the region in a planetary system where liquid water might exist on the surface of an orbiting planet.
However, while the star in Kepler-37 may be similar to our sun, the system appears quite unlike the solar system in which we live.
Astronomers think Kepler-37b does not have an atmosphere and cannot support life as we know it. The tiny planet almost certainly is rocky in composition. Kepler-37c, the closer neighboring planet, is slightly smaller than Venus, measuring almost three-quarters the size of Earth. Kepler-37d, the farther planet, is twice the size of Earth.
The first exoplanets found to orbit a normal star were giants. As technologies have advanced, smaller and smaller planets have been found, and Kepler has shown even Earth-size exoplanets are common.
“Even Kepler can only detect such a tiny world around the brightest stars it observes,” said Jack Lissauer, a planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. “The fact we've discovered tiny Kepler-37b suggests such little planets are common, and more planetary wonders await as we continue to gather and analyze additional data.”
Kepler-37's host star belongs to the same class as our sun, although it is slightly cooler and smaller. All three planets orbit the star at less than the distance Mercury is to the sun, suggesting they are very hot, inhospitable worlds. Kepler-37b orbits every 13 days at less than one-third Mercury's distance from the sun.
The estimated surface temperature of this smoldering planet, at more than 800 degrees Fahrenheit (700 degrees Kelvin), would be hot enough to melt the zinc in a penny. Kepler-37c and Kepler-37d, orbit every 21 days and 40 days, respectively.
“We uncovered a planet smaller than any in our solar system orbiting one of the few stars that is both bright and quiet, where signal detection was possible,” said Thomas Barclay, Kepler scientist at the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute in Sonoma, Calif., and lead author of the new study published in the journal Nature. “This discovery shows close-in planets can be smaller, as well as much larger, than planets orbiting our sun.”
The research team used data from NASA's Kepler space telescope, which simultaneously and continuously measures the brightness of more than 150,000 stars every 30 minutes.
When a planet candidate transits, or passes, in front of the star from the spacecraft's vantage point, a percentage of light from the star is blocked. This causes a dip in the brightness of the starlight that reveals the transiting planet's size relative to its star.
The size of the star must be known in order to measure the planet's size accurately. To learn more about the properties of the star Kepler-37, scientists examined sound waves generated by the boiling motion beneath the surface of the star.
They probed the interior structure of Kepler-37's star just as geologists use seismic waves generated by earthquakes to probe the interior structure of Earth. The science is called asteroseismology.
The sound waves travel into the star and bring information back up to the surface. The waves cause oscillations that Kepler observes as a rapid flickering of the star's brightness. Like bells in a steeple, small stars ring at high tones while larger stars boom in lower tones.
The barely discernible, high-frequency oscillations in the brightness of small stars are the most difficult to measure. This is why most objects previously subjected to asteroseismic analysis are larger than the sun.
With the very high precision of the Kepler instrument, astronomers have reached a new milestone. The star Kepler-37, with a radius just three-quarters of the sun, now is the smallest bell in the asteroseismology steeple.
The radius of the star is known to 3 percent accuracy, which translates to exceptional accuracy in the planet's size.
For information about the Kepler Mission, visit the mission page at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/main/index.html .
Dr. Tony Phillips works for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson on Friday raised concerns regarding the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)'s announcement that local air traffic control towers could be shut down because of sequestration.
Towers at the Napa County Airport and the Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport could be closed as a result.
“These political games being played by the House Majority in Washington are costing real people their jobs here at home and unnecessarily putting people’s safety at risk,” said Thompson. “This needs to stop. If sequestration goes into effect we will see arbitrary, harsh, across-the-board budget cuts that Republicans, Democrats, economists and business leaders all say would send our economy into a tail spin and cause essential government services, like air traffic control, to close.”
Thompson said that, in California alone, sequestration would more than 225,000 jobs.
“Instead of this manufactured crisis, we need a balanced, bold plan that creates jobs, cuts spending, reforms our tax code so that everyone is paying their fair share and protects Social Security and Medicare. That’s what I am working for,” he said.
Both the Napa County Airport and the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport would be forced to furlough or release a number of employees if their respective air traffic control towers close, even temporarily.
All planes at both airports would be operating in uncontrolled airspace. Currently, almost all flights in and out of these airports is during controlled air times. Should these air towers close, the closest FAA air traffic control towers would be at the Sacramento International Airport and the Oakland International Airport, Thompson's office reported.
Sequestration is a result of the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction, or “supercommittee,” failing to reach a solution to cut government spending last year. Legislation was written that said if no compromise was reached by the supercommittee then $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts would take place over the next decade.
These cuts will come equally from defense and non-defense spending. It is estimated that sequestration would result in cuts totaling $85 billion in the remaining months of this fiscal year.
Thompson represents California’s Fifth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – An accrediting body has placed Yuba College and its Clear Lake Campus on probation while school officials work to resolve shortcomings at the college and district level relating to planning, resource allocation and the assessment of student learning.
Last week the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges reaffirmed the college's accreditation but imposed the sanction of probation, according to district Chancellor Dr. Douglas Houston.
The accreditation commission offered 11 recommendations to Yuba College, covering areas such as institutional planning, student learning assessments, allocating resources to meet institutional priorities in an integrated planning fashion and professional development, Houston said.
“It is serious? Yes,” said Houston. However, he added, “I'm absolutely confident that we will resolve all of the shortcomings.”
Yuba College – which stretches across eight counties – is one of the oldest community colleges in the state, founded in 1927. The Clear Lake Campus is located off of Dam Road in Clearlake.
One of the key tasks for Houston, who took over the district's leadership in July of 2011, is to make sure the district addresses the issues raised with its accreditation, which it has held since 1952.
Accreditation is a voluntary, peer-review accountability process that periodically evaluates institutions based on standards of educational practice and effectiveness in order to make quality improvement in the interest of student success, the district reported.
And while it's voluntary, Houston said the district has no choice but to participate in order to ensure that, among other things, students who attend are eligible for federal student aid and that their units transfer to other educational institutions.
“It's a uniquely American process of accountability,” he said.
Houston emphasized that the probation sanction does not apply to the Woodland college campus.
The probation sanction came after the commission's accreditation visit last October and the commission's meeting in early January when it reviewed evaluation visits from several dozen two-year colleges throughout California, Hawaii and the Pacific Islands.
While the probation sanction was imposed, at the same time the commission commended the Yuba College faculty, staff and administrators for “the positive campus climate. The team perceived the college community to be thoughtful and very optimistic about the future of the college;” and for “the dedication and enthusiasm of its administration, faculty and staff toward the teaching and learning process, the students, and the institution.”
Campus officials said the commission also noted in its report, “Yuba College serves a wide geographic area, where many of its residents do not have convenient access to higher education opportunities; these are provided through the college’s off campus locations; the college is commended for these outreach efforts.”
The commission also commended the Yuba College library faculty and staff “while struggling with budgetary and relocation challenges to multiple off campus locations, they continue a heroic effort with success of offering services and innovation of much needed services to students; as well as all other members of the campus community;” and the Yuba College culinary arts program “for its service to the college community.”
Houston said the accreditation team’s recommendations had actually already been identified by the college’s administration, faculty and staff through a comprehensive self-evaluation process.
The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges did not respond to Lake County News' request for comment about the findings.
Budget, morale impact college's efforts
Houston, who previously worked with the Lassen Community College District to overcome a similar probation issue, said Yuba College is working to having the issues resolved by its fall deadline. “We're not going to take any chances with respect to this.”
Among the sanctions the accreditation body can take, warning is the least severe, followed by probation and then “show cause,” he said.
The probation sanction, Houston explained, is used when the accrediting body is concerned that an institution isn't taking its recommendations seriously.
In Yuba College's case, that's because the issues the college is working on now were first identified in a 2005 accreditation visit, Houston said.
The recent accreditation update process began with an 18-month self-evaluation by the college, with the commission then sending a team of educators to verify what the college's self-evaluation found, he said.
Yuba's self-evaluation acknowledged that it had not made complete progress on addressing its accreditation issues. “That's a red flag to the commission now,” Houston said.
Houston said many institutions in California have had such similar sanctions imposed on them in recent years.
“Many of us are struggling, particularly with the budget issues we've had for the last half a dozen years,” he said.
He added, “The budget has exacerbated our ability to respond to these kinds of requirements.”
Houston said the district also has dealt with morale issues, with the search process for his job focusing on finding an individual who would restore civility, harmony and collegiality. “At the very time we should have been building all of that, folks weren't working together well,” he said.
In the last year, said Houston, there has been “substantial cultural and climate change” in the district, with some new administrators, including acting dean Art Pimentel at the Clear Lake Campus, and a new president, vice president and vice chancellor.
Earlier this month Houston held a forum at the Clear Lake Campus, where he found morale high and students and staff optimistic.
“I know we're going to get this work done because the obstacles that stood in our way are actually behind us,” said Houston.
In a written statement, YCCD Trustee and Board Chair Brent Hastey said, “I’m really proud of how the administration, faculty and staff at our colleges have committed to working together to improve student success Yuba College and the Yuba Community College District is a very different institution that it was just a few years ago because of that new commitment to collaboration and yet is unchanged in its commitment to students and our communities.”
Email Elizabeth Larson at
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – At its meeting Wednesday night the Upper Lake Union School District Board voted to institute daylong kindergarten at the district's elementary school beginning in the 2013-14 school year.
The board voted 4-0 on the proposal put forward by district Superintendent Valerie Gardner. Board member Don Meri was absent.
The vote was one of several the board took Wednesday night to address budgeting challenges, among them, the elimination of the middle school principal and an art teacher position, as Lake County News has reported.
Instituting extended day kindergarten is anticipated to help address several challenges the school faces.
For one, it will help better manage student attendance.
Gardner explained that schools receive state funding based on school attendance. As an example of how important that attendance is, it was noted that a 1 percent attendance change can earn – or lose – the school about $26,000.
Student attendance in kindergarten has been of particular concern for school officials, as Gardner explained that kindergarten sees one of the highest absentee rates due to a lack of transportation.
That's because, for some parents, getting the children home when school ends midday creates challenges that in many cases lead them to simply keep children home, school officials explained.
They were seeing children missing 60 to 70 days of school annually, Gardner said.
Not only does that lose the school attendance-related funds, it resulted in many children arriving in first grade unprepared due to having missed so much school time, according to Gardner.
She said that in areas with high poverty rates, all-day kindergarten is a good way to address transportation, attendance and other issues that keep children from school.
One county school district, Konocti Unified, currently has extended-day kindergarten, Gardner said.
Shelly Mascari, director of the Child Care Planning Council, confirmed to Lake County News that Konocti Unified is the only district currently offering extended-day kindergarten.
“Other districts are discussing this option to meet the educational needs of students and families,” said Mascari, who added that she's a proponent of the full day kindergarten option.
Along with extended-day kindergarten, Upper Lake Elementary's programs will increase the number of children eligible for transitional kindergarten, which is for students who will turn 5 years old between Oct. 2 and Dec. 2.
Gardner said kindergarten roundup is coming up soon, and in the weeks ahead she will have more information available for the community to explain the new kindergarten offerings.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Lake County 4-H invites the community to attend the annual Presentation Day on Sunday, Feb. 24.
The event begins at 1:30 p.m. at Lower Lake Elementary School, 9240 Lake St.
Presentation Day is a 4-H public speaking event with both competitive and noncompetitive categories.
There will be more than 20 presenters, and an impressive selection of demonstrations, educational displays, illustrated talks and public speaking presentations.
The youth who participate in this event may advance to Sectional and State level 4-H public speaking competitions, and also qualify to apply to give their presentation at this year’s State Fair.
The 4-H Youth Development program is part of the University of California Cooperative Extension.
For more information on the 4-H program contact U.C. Cooperative Extension, 883 Lakeport Blvd., Lakeport, telephone 707-263-6838.
State Controller John Chiang has published new compensation figures for local officials across the state.
The update includes 2011 wage data from various local "special districts," including land reclamation, levee, hospital, water, police, fire, transit, transportation planning, and waste districts.
It's part of Chiang's Web site, www.publicpay.ca.gov , which offers maps, search functions and custom report-building tools.
The site also allows users to download raw data for their own research.
The latest update includes data from nearly 1,500 districts, covers approximately 99,500 positions and a total of $5.42 billion in wages.
The controller completed an overhaul of the public pay Web site in late 2012, adding additional search, browse and mapping functions.
Chiang also updated the wage figures for employees of the state of California and the California State University System, as well data for community college districts.
For the latest posting, 167 districts did not file in time, or filed incomplete records. The total compliance rate for today’s update was 89.8 percent.
Those visiting www.publicpay.ca.gov can:
- View compensation levels on map graphics, and search for compensation by region;
- Develop charts, trend-line and trend graphs;
- Quickly see lists of top earners at cities, counties, and other local governments;
- Generate side-by-side comparisons of local government payrolls;
- Create local agency summaries;
- Export custom reports or raw data from the site.
A series of video tutorials also are available to guide users through the new site's interface. The site currently includes compensation data for 1.5 million positions at cities, counties, higher education institutions, special districts and state departments.
Since the site's launch in 2010, it has registered more than 6.2 million page views online. It is the most comprehensive wage data site of any state in the nation.