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New Image Is Worth 1,235 Potential Alien Planets

s Kepler mission is worth 1,235 potential alien planets. Created by a devoted mission scientist, the image takes stock of the Kepler observatory's prolific planet-hunting results so far.

The illustration shows all of Kepler's candidate planets — which await confirmation by follow-up observations — crossing the face of their host stars. This provides scale, and it's also a nod to Kepler's planet-hunting strategy: The spacecraft detectsby measuring the telltale dips in a star's brightness that occur during these planetary "transits." []

The graphic is the brainchild of scientist Jason Rowe, who created it in an attempt conveyto the masses in a clear, concise manner.

"The graphic itself has been great to show to people. There is lots of interesting astrophysics that one can present," Rowe, a member of the Kepler team at NASA's Ames Research Center and the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute, told SPACE.com. "My favorite one so far is that planets can be just as big as some of the smallest stars." []

In Rowe's graphic, the parent stars of Kepler's potential alien worlds are arranged by size, with the largest at the top left of the diagram and the smallest at the bottom right. For reference, our own sun is shown sitting by itself, just beneath the top row. Both Jupiter and Earth are depicted transiting the sun in the illustration, researchers said.

To create the graphic, Rowe wrote a program with scientific plotting software, creating synthetic stellar images that were properly scaled to one another. []

NASA launched the $600 million Kepler observatory in March 2009 to seek out planets circling alien stars.

To do that, the spacecraft is staring continuously at a single patch of the sky, watching for tiny changes in the amount of light coming from every star it sees. Astronomers use other telescopes to follow up Kepler's findings in order to confirm whether or not the candidate stars do, in fact, host exoplanets.

To date, Kepler has discovered 1,235 possible planets, with 54 of those candidates located within the so-called "Goldilocks zone" — that just-right range of distances around a star in which liquid water could exist on a planet's surface.

Based on the amazing wealth of planet candidates from Kepler, astronomers have estimated that our Milky Way galaxy could hold as many as 50 billion alien planets, with 2 billion of those perhaps being .

You can follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter: . Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter and on .

Nelson hits 3 at buzzer to give Magic dramatic win

Jameer Nelson swished a 3-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer to give the Orlando Magic a dramatic 85-82 win over the Denver Nuggets on Friday night.

The Magic led most of the final period, but struggled at the line and let the Nuggets tie the game with 5.7 seconds to play.

Dwight Howard led five Magic players in double figures with 16 points and 18 rebounds. Hedo Turkoglu had 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, while Nelson, Brandon Bass and Jason Richardson all added 13 points.

Wilson Chandler scored 20 points, Danilo Gallinari added 17 and Nene 14 for the Nuggets, who had a four-game winning streak snapped and lost for the 17th time in their last 18 trips to Orlando.

The Magic survived poor shooting and a plethora of turnovers to take a four-point edge into the final period.

Orlando didn't shoot particularly well from the outside all night, but it found its range late. The problem was, so did the Nuggets.

Back-to-back jumpers by Chandler and a pair of free throws by Gallinari made it 72-71 with 6:02 left. Richardson nailed a 3 to put Orlando back up four, before Chandler answered with another jumper to make it 75-73 and forced a Magic timeout.

A runner in the lane by Kenyon Martin pulled Denver within 77-75 before Turkoglu drained a deep 3 to put the Magic up five with just 3:01 left.

Another 3 by Chandler made it 80-78 and the Magic went inside to Howard, who was fouled and hit 1 of 2 free throws to push the lead back to 81-78.

It continued to be a free-throw contest the rest of the way.

Orlando failed to capitalize on a Denver turnover and Nene's two free throws cut the lead to a point. Bass was fouled underneath on the ensuing possession and like Howard could only convert on 1 of 2 to make it 82-80.

Turkoglu came up with an errant Nuggets' pass and was fouled in the frontcourt by Chandler with 14.2 seconds to play. But he missed both free-throw attempts and Denver called timeout after grabbing the rebound.

Turkoglu was then called for a foul on Gallinari with 5.7 left as he drove to the basket. He hit both ensuing free throws to set up the Magic's final shot.

The first half was a sluggish affair throughout, with both teams never quite able to sustain lengthy offensive runs.

The Nuggets led by as many as six points, thanks to a solid effort by Nene (eight points) and Gallinari off the bench with nine. Orlando also didn't help its cause with 10 turnovers that led to 13 Denver points.

The Magic trailed by three points at the end of the first quarter, before finally getting a late second-quarter burst and took a 47-42 lead into halftime.

Denver led 33-28 with 5:14 left in the half before being outscored 19-9 the rest of the period.

Richardson led the Magic with 10 points, followed by Bass with eight. Turkoglu was also active with seven of Orlando's 11 assists.

Notes: Magic guards Gilbert Arenas and J.J. Redick both sat out Friday night. Arenas was out with a sore left knee and Redick with a lower abdominal strain. It was the sixth game Arenas has missed due to injury this season. Before Friday, Arenas had last missed a game on March 1 with the same condition. Redick missed his fifth straight game with the abs injury and sat out for the 11th time this season. ... Gallinari played for the first time since sustaining a left big toe fracture Feb. 25 during Denver's one-point loss at Portland. He had missed consecutive eight games. ... Denver coach George Karl said that he will have minor surgery next week to remove a filter in his chest that prevents blood clots from going into his heart and lungs. Karl, whose throat and neck cancer is currently in remission, said he's been told by his doctors that it's not a serious procedure. "They feel I'm healthy enough and said that it's a positive thing because they feel I'm healthy enough for them to take it out," Karl said during the pregame Friday. "So that's what we're gonna do next week. A 30-minute procedure. No problem."

How Career-Changers with an Entrepreneurial Spark Literally Dream Up Their Winning Business Ideas

Many people dream of starting their own home-based business or small company, but finding the right product or service is often challenging. Some budding entrepreneurs solve the problem by actually dreaming up successful ideas in their sleep," says Dee Adams, author of a new guide entitled Finding Your Niche: Discover a Profitable Idea for a Business at Home or Elsewhere. For free book excerpts, visit

Consider: In the early 1900's, the first African-American woman to become a millionaire, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, Madame C.J. Walker, stated that she started her company with a formula for a hair care product that came to her in a vivid dream. And take the Glazed Honey Ham Company's, eventual owner, Harry Hoenselaar. He invented a superior meat slicing machine and patented it in the 1940's. The design was based on detailed images that Hoenselaar saw while he slept.

"At first glance, these examples may seem mysterious, but there is a logical explanation. Several of Madame Walker's family members were barbers, so the industry was not foreign. And before she started her manufacturing concern, Walker sold hair care products for another company. A year later, she started experimenting with her own formulas. Walker reportedly had problems with hair loss, and that would have increased her motivation to find a better product. Hoenselaar, a salesman for a meat company, skilled at slicing meat, frequently carved hams off bones for customers because it was a difficult task for them to execute," says Adams.

Adams points out that Walker and Hoenselaar, confronted with specific and persistent obstacles in their daily working lives, discovered solutions while in a highly relaxed state.

In controlled studies, researchers analyzed over 10,000 dreams from hundreds of people and found that the content often reflects their daily concerns. Most individuals don't remember their dreams, but some people can, especially if the dreams are vivid, and the dreamer is skilled at recalling visual details in other situations while awake, according to psychology textbook co-authors Don and Sandra Hockenberry.

"Walker and Hoenselaar used the information they dreamt up to become successful in business. Hoenselaar's company is still in existence, and Walker's company survived well into the twentieth century. There are other cases of modern-day entrepreneurs who have started ventures based on specific dreams, but waiting for that kind of inspirationis impractical for most people interested in finding a business that they can start. Each person has to create their own game plan in order to uncover the right idea; a map geared to their personal circumstances," says Adams.

Finding Your Niche takes a practical, entertaining, and offbeat look at how entrepreneurs uncover ideas and how to avoid the common mistakes made when choosing with a startup.

Adams has written and published business literature on the issue for more than 70 university, community college, and public libraries across the country.

Visit her blog:

Finding Your Niche, 7.5 x 9.25, 148 pages with index ISBN 978-0-9831539-0-0 Adobe Digital EBook, 118 pages, hyperlinking, word search function and printing.ISBN: 978-0-615-19706-7                

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Dee AdamsNiche Creativity1-888-813-2603Email Information

American Apparel posts yearly loss, may file for bankruptcy

Floundering hipster brand American Apparel (APP.A) posted a loss of $86 million in 2010, and said it may have to file for bankruptcy protection if it did not manage to get enough funds to keep going, a filing dated March 31 said.

American Apparel, known for its "Made-in-USA" clothes, has been under fire on a lot of issues, ranging from possible covenant breaches and a long-running sales slump to immigration probes of its workers and sexual harassment cases against its chief executive.

The company, which swung to a full-year loss from a profit of $1.1 million in 2009, is exploring alternative sources for its ongoing cash needs and has engaged a financial advisory firm, the filing said.

In February, the company had said some lenders had extended a credit agreement, but a default could still jeopardize its ability to continue as a going concern.

The securities filing also said creditor Lion Capital's designated directors Lyndon Lea and Neil Richardson have resigned from the company's board "to allow Lion flexibility in evaluating its options to optimize its investment in American Apparel."

American Apparel's shares had closed at $0.96 on Thursday on the American Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Bangalore; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

Egypt military says presidential election this year

Egypt will elect a new president by the end of the year, the ruling military council said on Wednesday, laying out more details of the political transition which Egyptians hope will produce a democratic government.

The new head of state would be elected a month or two after parliamentary elections scheduled for September, said Mamdouh Shaheen, a member of the military council which has governed since popular protests toppled Hosni Mubarak on February 11.

"The military council will give up legislative powers to the new parliament once it is formed and will give up the remaining presidential powers to the president once a new president takes office," Shaheen said during a news conference.

Candidates for the position held by Mubarak for three decades include Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa and former U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei, both civilians seeking a job held by former military men since the 1950s.

The election will be held according to new rules that open up competition for the position and limit presidents to two, four-year terms. Mubarak was in his fifth, six-year term when he was swept from power by a mass uprising.

Shaheen said Egypt needed a new president for "stability and development." The turmoil of the last two months has harmed Egypt's economy, dealing a blow to tourism among other industries. Reflecting uncertainty, the Egyptian pound is at six-year lows against the dollar.

Alia Mamdouh, an economist at CI Capital, said the timetable unveiled by the military this week had eased concerns that the interim period of military rule could drag on. "The sooner things settle down, the better for the economy," she said.

The military council is seen as eager to relinquish power as soon as possible to a civilian, elected government. It dissolved parliament and suspended the constitution a day after taking power from Mubarak.

Governing by decree, the military issued a temporary constitution on Wednesday that will serve as the legal basis for government until a new constitution is drawn up.

STATE MEDIA SHAKE-UP

The decree was drawn up in collaboration with legal experts and included amended sections of the old constitution that were approved by a referendum on March 19.

It reiterates the old constitution's stipulation that Islam is the religion of the state and says the principles of the sharia are the primary source of legislation.

It declares Egypt a democratic state, says peaceful protests are allowed and guarantees freedom of expression and free press.

The new parliament is set to draft an entirely new constitution -- a process that could take a year or more.

Shaheen said a committee comprising up to 200 people including judicial experts would be formed next week to work on a draft constitution to be put to the new constitutional body.

Egyptians who took to the streets to topple Mubarak are still pressing demands for deep reform to an autocratic system of government. While Mubarak has been removed from power, reformists are concerned by what they see as the lingering influence of some elements of his administration.

Activists have called for a large rally in central Cairo on Friday "to protect the revolution."

"The only concrete accomplishment is that there is no Mubarak and no Gamal," said George Ishak, a leading figure in the protest movement that mobilized in opposition to Mubarak and any moves for his son, Gamal Mubarak, to inherit power.

In an interview, he urged more aggressive legal measures against Mubarak and figures associated with his administration. He also said remnants of the hated state security agency, officially dissolved this month, must be uprooted.

In a move that met some of the reformists' demands, the interim government on Wednesday sacked the editors of leading state-owned newspapers, including the head of the flagship al-Ahram newspaper, Osama Saraya.

He was replaced by Abdel Azim Hamad, the former editor of an independent newspaper and an al-Ahram veteran who is a prominent political commentator.

"The restructuring of Egypt's media sector comes along with the spirit of change and as a response to the demands of the current phase Egypt is witnessing," Prime Minister Essam Sharaf said. Sharaf also decided on Wednesday to form a ministerial legislative committee to draft laws until parliament is elected.

(Additional reporting by Dina Zayed, Tom Perry and Sherine El Madany; Writing by Tom Perry)