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Greetings,
Happy Reading for today.

best,
<Karen>

1)
Space Weather News for Feb. 9, 2008
http://spaceweather.com
SPACE STATION AURORAS:  Astronauts onboard the International Space Station
have been enjoying some colorful auroras this month caused by solar wind buffeting
Earth's magnetic field.  Some of their photos have just been beamed back to
Earth and you can see them on today.
Earlier today, space shuttle Atlantis docked with the space station to deliver the new
Columbus science laboratory, which will be installed during a spacewalk on Feb. 10th.
As they work, the combined crews should be alert for more auroras.  A solar wind stream
is heading for Earth, due to arrive Feb. 10th or 11th, possibly sparking a new  round of geomagnetic storms.
Meanwhile, the shuttle and the space station are putting on a show of their own. 
Last night, the two spacecraft orbited over Europe where photographers captured their flight. 
The space station has grown so large that amazing details are now obvious in the eyepieces
of ordinary backyard telescopes. See the photos.

2)
NOVA: "Astrospies"
http://www.pbs.org/nova/astrospies

Tuesday, February 12 at 8 p.m.
Check your local listings as dates and times may vary. Broadcast in
HD where available.

Millions remember the countdowns, launchings, splashdowns, and
parades as the U.S. raced the USSR to the moon in the 1960s. But few
know that both countries also ran parallel space programs, whose
covert goal was to launch military astronauts on spying missions. In
this program, NOVA delves into the untold story of this top-secret
space race, which might easily have turned into a shooting war in
orbit.

Coproduced by investigative journalist James Bamford, acclaimed
best-selling author of The Puzzle Palace and Emmy Award-winning
producer Scott Willis, "Astrospies" uncovers new clues about the
tensest period of the Cold War, when the U.S. and USSR were on the
verge of war and desperate for intelligence on each other's nuclear
capabilities.

Here's what you'll find online:

Watch the Program
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/astrospies/program.html
"Astrospies" will be available to view online starting
February 13.

Secret Astronauts
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/astrospies/profiles.html
Meet eight astronauts from the Manned Orbiting Laboratory
program.

The Race Today
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/astrospies/racetoday.html
Historian Asif Siddiqi discusses the space programs of China,
India, and other new players, and their impact.

Space Race Time Line
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/astrospies/timeline.html
Examine turning points in the heated competition between the U.S.
and USSR to dominate space.

Spy Photos
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/astrospies/photos.html
A surveillance-image specialist examines photos of Iraq, North
Korea, and other political hotspots.

Also, a video preview, Links & Books, the Teacher's Guide, and more:
http://www.pbs.org/nova/astrospies


3)
President Bush Meets with Cabinet, Discusses Budget Cabinet Room
Fact sheet Fact Sheet: The President's FY09 Budget
Fact sheet Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2009
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming. I just met with my Cabinet,
where we discussed a lot of issues. And one issue we discussed is the budget.
I submitted the budget today to Congress -- it's on a laptop notebook, an e-budget.
It saves paper, saves trees, saves money. I think it's the first budget submitted electronically.
Jane Lee at the Office of Management and 
Budget at the White House said that the budget was transmitted to 
Congress via e-mail. Since the budget is a public document, no 
encryption was needed or used. She did not know what file format was 
used, but she said it was digitally signed and authenticated using the 
Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) standards.
Also, President Bush's statement above was actually said after a 
cabinet meeting on Monday. A full transcript can be found at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/02/20080204-1.html

4)
Device Gives New Meaning to "Power Walking"
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/207/1
The latest fad in self-powered wrist wear is the kinetic watch, a device that converts the momentum of a swinging arm into milliwatts. But researchers have unveiled a new accessory for your knees that puts the trendy timepiece to shame. Generating more than 1000 times more energy, the "Biomechanical Energy Harvester" may provide a green way to power the portable devices of the future.
Every time you take a step, you use two different groups of powerful muscles connected to the knee. The first group pushes to kick the lower leg out. Just before full extension, the second group pulls to put the brakes on. But for Max Donelan, director of the Simon Fraser University Locomotion Laboratory in Burnaby, Canada, and his colleagues, this braking process is just useful energy going to waste. His team has created a modified knee brace with a drive train that converts the mechanical energy into electricity. "A similar principle is used in hybrid cars to make electricity when you press the brakes; it's called generative braking," says Donelan.
Six volunteers wore the braces while they walked on treadmills. Embedded sensors detected the angle and velocity of their legs, switching the device on only during the braking phase of each swing. As the team reports tomorrow in Science, the braces produced 5 watts of power--enough to run 10 cell phones. And although it took a bit more effort to swing the added weight of the brace--the prototype weighs 1.6 kg--the walkers didn't have to work harder when the power-harvesting mechanism was turned on. The amount of oxygen they consumed--a measure of metabolism and effort--didn't increase. "Our generator actually helps your muscles out," says Donelan, "by decelerating your limbs for you."
If the researchers can lighten the load of the device, the first users will likely be people whose lives depend on reliable, portable power: patients with insulin pumps, for example. Douglas Weber, a team member and mechanical engineer at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pennsylvania, believes that it will also be incorporated into the design of cutting-edge neuroprostheses--artificial limbs directly controlled by brainwaves and deep-brain stimulators for Parkinson's disease patients. Eventually, the device might prove useful for anyone off the main power grid: soldiers, relief workers, hikers, even normal folks with cell phones and personal digital assistants.