INTERSPAGO

E.T. phone Rome. Four hundred years after it locked up Galileo

VATICAN CITY – E.T. phone Rome. Four hundred years after it locked up Galileo for challenging the view that the Earth was the center of the universe, the Vatican has called in experts to study the possibility of extraterrestrial alien life and its implication for the Catholic Church. "The questions of life's origins and of whether life exists elsewhere in the universe are very suitable and deserve serious consideration," said the Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, an astronomer and director of the Vatican Observatory. Funes, a Jesuit priest, presented the results Tuesday of a five-day conference that gathered astronomers, physicists, biologists and other experts to discuss the budding field of astrobiology — the study of the origin of life and its existence elsewhere in the cosmos. Funes said the possibility of alien life raises "many philosophical and theological implications" but added that the gathering was mainly focused on the scientific perspective and how different disciplines can be used to explore the issue. Chris Impey, an astronomy professor at the University of Arizona, said it was appropriate that the Vatican would host such a meeting. "Both science and religion posit life as a special outcome of a vast and mostly inhospitable universe," he told a news conference Tuesday. "There is a rich middle ground for dialogue between the practitioners of astrobiology and those who seek to understand the meaning of our existence in a biological universe." Thirty scientists, including non-Catholics, from the U.S., France, Britain, Switzerland, Italy and Chile attended the conference, called to explore among other issues "whether sentient life forms exist on other worlds." Funes set the stage for the conference a year ago when he discussed the possibility of alien life in an interview given prominence in the Vatican's daily newspaper. The Church of Rome's views have shifted radically through the centuries since Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake as a heretic in 1600 for speculating, among other ideas, that other worlds could be inhabited. Scientists have discovered hundreds of planets outside our solar system — including 32 new ones announced recently by the European Space Agency. Impey said the discovery of alien life may be only a few years away. "If biology is not unique to the Earth, or life elsewhere differs bio-chemically from our version, or we ever make contact with an intelligent species in the vastness of space, the implications for our self-image will be profound," he said. This is not the first time the Vatican has explored the issue of extraterrestrials: In 2005, its observatory brought together top researchers in the field for similar discussions. In the interview last year, Funes told Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano that believing the universe may host aliens, even intelligent ones, does not contradict a faith in God. "How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere?" Funes said in that interview. "Just as there is a multitude of creatures on Earth, there could be other beings, even intelligent ones, created by God. This does not contradict our faith, because we cannot put limits on God's creative freedom." Funes maintained that if intelligent beings were discovered, they would also be considered "part of creation." The Roman Catholic Church's relationship with science has come a long way since Galileo was tried as a heretic in 1633 and forced to recant his finding that the Earth revolves around the sun. Church teaching at the time placed Earth at the center of the universe. Today top clergy, including Funes, openly endorse scientific ideas like the Big Bang theory as a reasonable explanation for the creation of the universe. The theory says the universe began billions of years ago in the explosion of a single, super-dense point that contained all matter. Earlier this year, the Vatican also sponsored a conference on evolution to mark the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin's "The Origin of Species." The event snubbed proponents of alternative theories, like creationism and intelligent design, which see a higher being rather than the undirected process of natural selection behind the evolution of species. Still, there are divisions on the issues within the Catholic Church and within other religions, with some favoring creationism or intelligent design that could make it difficult to accept the concept of alien life. Working with scientists to explore fundamental questions that are of interest to religion is in line with the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI, who has made strengthening the relationship between faith and reason a key aspect of his papacy. Recent popes have been working to overcome the accusation that the church was hostile to science — a reputation grounded in the Galileo affair. In 1992, Pope John Paul II declared the ruling against the astronomer was an error resulting from "tragic mutual incomprehension." The Vatican Museums opened an exhibit last month marking the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first celestial observations. Tommaso Maccacaro, president of Italy's national institute of astrophysics, said at the exhibit's Oct. 13 opening that astronomy has had a major impact on the way we perceive ourselves. "It was astronomical observations that let us understand that Earth (and man) don't have a privileged position or role in the universe," he said. "I ask myself what tools will we use in the next 400 years, and I ask what revolutions of understanding they'll bring about, like resolving the mystery of our apparent cosmic solitude." The Vatican Observatory has also been at the forefront of efforts to bridge the gap between religion and science. Its scientist-clerics have generated top-notch research and its meteorite collection is considered one of the world's best. The observatory, founded by Pope Leo XIII in 1891, is based in Castel Gandolfo, a lakeside town in the hills outside Rome where the pope has his summer residence. It also conducts research at an observatory at the University of Arizona, in Tucson.

The famed Navajo Code Talkers, the elite Marine unit whose

NEW YORK – The famed Navajo Code Talkers, the elite Marine unit whose unbreakable code stymied the Japanese in World War II, fear their legacy will die with them. Only about 50 of the 400 Code Talkers are believed to be still alive, most living in the Navajo Nation reservation that spans Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Many are frail or ill, with little time left to tell the world about their wartime contribution. But on Tuesday, 13 of the Code Talkers, some using canes, a few in wheelchairs, arrived in New York City to participate for the first time in the nation's largest Veterans Day parade, set for Wednesday. The young Navajo Marines, using secret Navajo language-encrypted military terms, helped the U.S. prevail at Iwo Jima and other World War II Pacific battles, serving in every Marine assault in the South Pacific between 1942 and 1945. Military commanders said the code, transmitted verbally by radio, helped save countless American lives and bring a speedier end to the war in the Pacific theater. They were sworn to secrecy about their code, so complex that even other Navajo Marines couldn't decipher it. Used to transmit secret tactical messages via radio or telephone, the code remained unbroken and classified for decades because of its potential postwar use. "We were never told that our code was never decoded" or given identities of the original 29 Navajos who created it, said Keith Little, 85, who joined the Marines at 17 and remembers crouching in a bomb crater amid heavy fire on Iwo Jima. "It was all covered by secrecy. We were constantly told not to talk about it," Little said. The Code Talkers felt compelled to honor their secrecy orders, even after the code was declassified in 1968. The oldest of the 13 living Code Talkers is 92, and the group includes one of the original 29. Many Code Talkers who served in the war were young farmers and sheepherders who had never been away from home. "The code did a lot of damage to the enemy," said Samuel Tom Holiday, 85, of Kayenta, Ariz., who also is joining the parade. He was a 20-year-old Code Talker when he and two other Marines went behind enemy lines on Iwo Jima to locate a Japanese artillery unit advancing on American forces. Once the unit was located, Holiday transmitted a coded message to Marine artillery, which fired a big shell at the Japanese. After the Marine rifleman proclaimed it "right on target," Holiday messaged "Right on Target" to a Navajo Code Talker in Marine artillery. Though the Code Talkers transmitted information on tactics and troop movements, orders and other vital battlefield communications, they did not know at the time how those messages figured in the greater battle strategy. Today "there's a certain elation about" knowing how much their work affected the outcome of the war, said Little, who runs a family ranch in Crystal, N.M., on the Navajo Nation. Before the code, the Japanese intercepted and sabotaged U.S. military communications at an alarming rate because they had expert English translators. American forces then devised ever more complicated codes, but that increased the time — sometimes hours — for sending and decoding them. The code, based on the ancient Navajo language, changed that. In the first 48 hours of the battle of Iwo Jima, six Code Talkers worked nonstop, transmitting and receiving more than 800 messages about troop movement and enemy fire — none deciphered by the Japanese. What confounded the enemy most was that Code Talkers could use distinctly different words for exactly the same message. Recognition from the U.S. government and awareness of the Code Talkers — even within the Navajo community — has been slow to come. It wasn't until 2000 that the Congressional Gold Medal was bestowed on the survivors of the original 29 Code Talkers and silver medals on the rest. The 2002 film "Windtalkers," starring Nicolas Cage and Christian Slater as two Marines assigned to protect Code Talkers in Saipan, helped shed further light on the group. At least five of the Code Talkers died just this year, creating an urgency for the Navajo Code Talkers Foundation to create a museum in their honor in New Mexico, near the Navajo capital of Window Rock, Ariz. It is slated to open sometime in 2012. Yvonne Murphy, a foundation board member and daughter of Code Talker Raymond R. Smith Sr., who died seven years ago, did not hear of the Code Talkers until she was 16. "I saw this outfit lying on the bed ... a Marine gold-colored shirt," she said, the uniform of the Code Talkers, laid out with some Navajo jewelry. But it wasn't until she was in her 30s "that I was able to grasp the whole concept," added Murphy, 45. The Code Talkers in New York this week hope to highlight their efforts and financial needs for the museum. On Tuesday, they attended a ceremony aboard the USS Intrepid, a World War II warship, to commemorate the 234th anniversary of the Marine Corps. They planned to visit ground zero later in the day. "Our language was used to help win the war," Holiday said. "After we're all gone, there will be no one to tell the story."

RP inflation looms at long end, debt auction eyed

Reuters

A bleaker inflation outlook would nudge longer-dated Philippine debt yields up around 5 basis points this week and keep yields steady at the shorter end of the curve, traders said Monday.

Investors are opting to park their funds in shorter maturities rather than longer tenors after the central bank last week said annual inflation, which hit a 14-year high in June of 11.4 percent, would remain at double-digits longer than previously thought.

"Yields will likely be steady this week due to lack of fresh leads, but there was continued upward pressure due to inflation fears," said a debt trader from a local bank.

"The central bank said annual inflation could peak at 12 percent and it was not ruling out further rate hikes."

The monetary authority, which raised rates by an aggressive half-a-percentage point last week, forecast annual inflation would peak at 12 percent later in the year or in early 2009 and warned that inflation was spreading across the broad economy.

The trader said market players were also waiting for the auction of 182-day and 364-day Treasury bills later for yield direction.

The government will sell P6.0 billion worth of six-month and one-year paper at an auction on Monday, and traders expect the bills to fetch an average rate of 6.65-6.7 percent and 6.75-6.8 percent respectively.

The government sold 182-day bills at 4.675 percent at the last successful auction on Jan. 21, and it sold 346-day bills at 6.747 percent at an auction on July 7.

Another trader said investors were also waiting for the outcome of the government's retail Treasury bond issue.

The public offer is open until July 29, and the trader said the government may later decide to reduce future debt sales if it raised a good amount of funds from the retail bond sale.

The Bureau of Treasury sold P9.124 billion worth of its retail bonds to banks at a price-setting auction on Friday, more than initially planned due to strong demand.

Interest rates to weigh down RP shares next week: dealer

Agence France-Presse
Philippine share prices are likely to continue taking a beating next week from high interest rates, spawned by inflationary pressures both here and abroad, a dealer told AFP on Friday.
"Interest rates in the Philippines and likewise globally now have a tendency to be pushed upwards due to inflationary concerns," said Nestor Aguila of DA Market Securities Inc.
"Investors are not looking at equities. They would rather be positioned in interest bearing instruments," he said.
While many local stocks are trading below their book and net asset value, investors still want to see how their quarterly earnings fared in the face of higher oil prices and higher inflation rates, said Aguila.
"Investors... would want to get a get a deeper discount on these issues before we start nibbling on them," he said.
For the week to June 13, the composite index fell 6.75 percent or by 184.97 points to 2,554.73 points.
Average daily turnover rose to 3.323 billion pesos from 2.41 billion pesos in the previous week.
Aguila said the index would move between 2,500 to 2,630 points in the coming week.

Finland regains karaoke crown, keeps on singing

Agence France-Presse
HELSINKI - A Finnish club set the world record Friday for the longest karaoke session of 216 hours, with the participants vowing to keep going and set a new watershed mark of several weeks.
"The official from the Guinness Book of World Records has given us a certificate and the record is now held by Kouvola Karaoke Club and Finland," Arto Nikunen, the president of the club, told AFP when the marathon had lasted for 216 hours.
The previous record of 214 hours was held by a club in China.
Last year Kouvola, a small town some 135 kilometers northeast of Helsinki, went head to head in an intense karaoke battle with its Chinese rival, when the two sides kept breaking each others' records.
Nikunen's club held the record for just six days last August and this time they want to avoid a similar disappointment. They have increased the number of karaoke machines to six from two and are even prepared for power outages.
"We want to hold the record for longer than six days like we did last year. We want to make a hefty record, so it would be difficult to break it," said Nikunen, whose new favorite karaoke song is the Beatles' "Let it Be."
Kouvola's goal is to reach 600 hours of non-stop karaoke singing, which would be reached on July 27.