This Just In:First Interstellar Meteor Confirmed

According to The Harvard Gazette,two scientests with the Harvard University Department of Astronomy,Dr.Amir Siraj and Dr.Harvey Loeb,wrote a paper called "Discovery of a meteor of interstellar origin."The paper described the meteor as originating from an unbound hyperbolic orbit,or interstellar space.This meteor was discovered when Dr.Siraj,at the suggestion of Dr.Loeb,went combing through NASA's Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CINEOS) and found CINEOS 2014-01-08,a meteor that measured only 1.5 ft/.457 m across.It was traveling an estimated 45 kilometers per second/100,662.1 mph and ignited into a fireball off the coast of Papua,New Guinea on 8 JAN 2014.This was three years earlier than interstellar object Oumuamua.Comet 21/Borisov was discovered by Crimean amateur astronomer and telescope maker Gennadiy Borisov on 29 AUG 2019.*Dr.Siraj said:But what was unusual about this meteor was that this object had a very high impact speed and the unusual direction at which it encountered our planet.Anything traveling that fast is too fast to be captured by the Sun's gravity.It must have been ejected by a neigbouring star and sent our way if it was traveling with such velocity.*On 1 March 2022,LTGEN John E. Shaw,Deputy Commander U.S. Space Force,sent a memorandum to NASA Science Mission Directorate,then under Dr.Thomas Zurbuchen.Dr.Joel Mozer,chief scientest of Space Operations Command,the U.S. Space Force service element of U.S. Space Command,reviewed analysis of additional data available to the Department of Defense related to the finding.Dr.Mozer confirmed that that the velocity estimate reported to NASA was sufficiently accurate to indicate an interstellar trajectory.

Hubble’s Inside the Image: Stephan's Quintet - YouTube - NASA Goddard - cosmology

The four distant galaxies of Stephan's Quintet are about 290 million light years away,while the closer galaxy is only about 40 million light years away,so right next door.The distant galaxies are headed for a merger.It's believed that most galaxies have experienced a merger,including the Milky Way.*Cosmology is the study of the origin,evolution and structures of the universe.*Dr.Jennifer J. Wiseman is a senior astrophysicist at NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt,Maryland,and Project Scientist for the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.She got a bachelor's degree in Physics from MIT and a PhD in Astronomy from Harvard University.For her role as Hubble Project Scientist,she made the list of women in leadership positions on astronomical instrumentation projects.Dr.Wiseman is a Christian.*Information by NASA Goddard and augmented by Andrew Taylor

Joy Covey,Helped Grow Amazon.com

Joy Covey,a high school dropout who rose to become a formative leader of Amazon.com,was killed Wednesday,September 18 in San Mateo County,California.She was struck by a minivan while cycling downhill on Skyline Boulevard near Portola Valley and was pronounced dead at the scene,a California Highway Patrol spokesman said.She was fifty years old.
The brilliant and beautiful blonde had been named to Fortune magazine's Most Powerful Women in Business 1999.The daughter of a doctor and a nurse,she dropped out of San Mateo High School in her freshman year,but passed the high school equivalency exam and graduated from Cal State Fresno in 1982 at age 19,when she passed the CPA exam,scoring second best in the nation.She worked for accounting firm Arthur Young LLP before attending Harvard,from which she earned her MBA and JD degrees in 1989.
Ms.Covey worked in Silicon Valley as chief financial officer for audio software firm Digidesign,Inc.,shepherding it through its IPO and eventual sale to Avid Technology,Inc. before accepting the CFO position at the fledgling Amazon.com in Seattle in 1996.At the time,it had only 150 employees.Her special role at Amazon was to help founder Jeff Bezos recruit senior management and be the firm's Wall Street liaison,sharing the money-losing company's vision with nervous investors.This freed Bezos to focus on the retailer's all-important customer experience.
A multimillionaire from her Amazon stock options compensation,Covey resigned from the rat race in 2000 to pursue her interests in extreme sports and the environment,earning her pilot's license and becoming a trustee and Treasurer at the Natural Resources Defense Council.She was appointed to the board of JetBlue Airways in 2003.
Ms.Covey is survived by her son Tyler,eight.Our sincere condolences to her friends and family.

Nothing Fast About Recovery

You don't get a fast recovery,Harvard economist Ken Rogoff points out.It doesn't mean you're about to enter something worse.The larger risk is government debt.There is always a sovereign debt problem after a crisis as spending explodes.He thinks housing prices still have further to fall,but a double dip recession is about as likely as in a random year.He wouldn't say there's an elevated risk of one.
There are fears that slowing Chinese growth and the Euro Zone debt crisis could hinder recovery.As China normalizes and grows,it's going to have bumps like everyone else.To think it's all upside is just absurd.Property prices and leverage are probably the best indicators you're going to have a problem.China cannot keep growing its exports at the same rate it's been doing.At some point,they have to redirect their strategy.
The Euro Zone banking system has moribund banks in it,but it's not gonna get better if there's denial,Professor Rogoff believes.
Results of stress tests of Euro Zone banks are to be released this month.U.S. banks passed a similar test earlier in the financial crisis.
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What Goldman Sachs Does

Goldman Sachs has been dominating the business news,but many may not understand what the company actually does.Professor Samuel Hayes of the Harvard Business School says Goldman Sachs affects all of our lives.It serves as brokerage and researcher for pension funds;raises money for cities and towns;facilitates new issues of stock for companies we work for or invest in;and engages in trading for its own profit.
Goldman Sachs has a lot of influence through its alumni in government.Two of them went on to become U.S Treasury Secretary,but the alumni are active all over the world.Professor Hayes is sure there are elements of both resentment and actual misconduct fueling the current furor over the company.Goldman Sachs should know that the perception of this behavior is damaging.They will have to live with it for a long time,in the professor's opinion.
Goldman Sachs is 140 years old.It employs 35,000 people worldwide.In recent years,its proprietary trading has grown in importance,which has been criticized by some as being less than socially useful.

MedImmune Recognizes Student Researchers

A panel of MedImmune judges awarded cash prizes to three student researchers recently.They are considered the next generation of scientific leaders in respiratory diseases,inflammation and autoimmunity(RIA).The students and postdoctoral fellows submitted abstracts on RIA research and presented them at MedImmune's Gaithersburg,Maryland headquarters.
A first prize of 2,000 dollars went to Eric Boilard,postdoctoral student at Harvard Medical School and Brigham&Womens'Hospital for his arthritis research.Dr.Anthony J. Coyle,Ph.D.,vice president of R&D,said the research submitted could pave the way for further understanding of these diseases and could potentially help in the development of new therapies.
MedImmune is committed to investing in future scientists and promoting health and science education,Senior Vice President of R&D Buhija Jallal stated.MedImmune,a division of Astra Zeneca,has a pipeline of over 100 research projects and product candidates.It has facilities in the U.K. and the Netherlands,as well as in the U.S.

Some Good Sectors

Mortgages,municipal bonds and corporate bonds are attractive,Mohamed El-Erian thinks.The critical question is,what mistake can I afford to make? If you can't,then wait.When you have a new world emerging,you have to scale your investments.There have to be mid-course corrections.You have to adjust.We live in a very fluid world,the former manager of the Harvard Endowment noted.

Health Uncle:Activity and Cancer

A survey of 52 different studies spanning a 20-year period by Washington University Medical School and Harvard University indicates that exercise,whether recreational or work-related,may lower your odds of getting colon cancer by up to 24%.A Japanese study echoed the finding.The Japanese researchers found that risk reduction is in proportion to the amount of exercise:the more active you are,the better.These researchers think that exercise may be beneficial because it strengthens the immune system,lowers body fat,and lowers levels of hormones responsible for tumor development.Consider taking the stairs to the office,instead of the elevator.It may protect your lower intestine,as well as fortify your heart.

Hints of a Recovery

Already,there are signs of economic healing,Mr.Summers pointed out.Key credit spreads are already substantially narrower than last fall.Credit costs are declining.It is our hope that the program will create virtuous circles.The housing cycle must be contained by direct intervention by GSEs to bring down mortgage rates,and through setting of standards directed at payment relief,preventing foreclosures.Lower mortgage rates function like tax cuts.Taken together,these steps address each of the vicious cycles.They will permit the normal processes of economic growth to re-engage over time,the former Treasury Secretary and president of Harvard University predicted at The Brookings Institution.

Bernanke Provides Context

Speaking at Harvard University,Ben Bernanke,Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve,has put the current situation in historical context.So far,the U.S. economy has dealt with the oil shock pretty well,Mr.Bernanke said.The Fed has learned the lessons of the 1970s.Maintaining a commitment to price stability remains a top priority.Fixing inequality by limiting economic dynamism is a step in the wrong direction.Inflation today is significantly higher than he would like,but is lower than in the 1970s.There is little indication of the beginnings of a wage-price spiral today.Inflation is up 1% this year,compared to 6% in the 1973 oil shock,which was a result of war in the Middle East.Still,the rise of some inflation expectation indicators is of significant concern to the Federal Reserve,the central banker noted.Crude prices today are up more than four-fold,much like the 1970s,but the economic slowdown today is more due to housing and financial problems than to the price of oil,Mr.Bernanke reflected.