Earth's twin planet

Earth's twin planet will be found by the end of the year 2010.

January 27 2010 : The first Earth-like planet outside the solar system will have been discovered by the end of the year, one of the world's leading astronomers said yesterday.

Professor Michel Mayor, the scientist in charge of the team who detected the first extrasolar planet in 1995, claimed that the chance of finding a planet that is habitable for humans is now imminent.

The astronomer, of Geneva University, said that recent technological progress that allows the observation of planets outside the solar system now makes the prospect of locating a planet of a similar make-up to Earth extremely likely.

Professor Mayor said: 'The search for twins of Earth is motivated by the ultimate prospect of finding sites with favourable conditions for the development of life.

'We’ve entered a new phase in this search.'

He was speaking at a conference at the Royal Society to mark the anniversary of the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, known as SETI.

Among those in attendance included representatives from Nasa, the European Space Agency and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs.

Professor Mayor said that Nasa's Kepler spacecraft is likely to be the first to locate the ideal planet to sustain human life because it is carrying the largest telescope to ever have been sent beyond the Earth's orbit.


The telescope, which is in orbit around the Sun, is monitoring more than 100,000 stars every half hour and is focused on a star field in the Orion spiral arm of the Milky Way.

More than 400 extrasolar planets - or exoplanets - that orbit stars similar to the Sun have been discovered in the last 15 years, Professor Mayor told the conference.

But most of these planets are too large to be habitable for human life, due to having active tectonic plates that would make foran unstable environment.

The smallest planet found to date, he said, is approximately 1.7 times the size of Earth.

It is also imperative for the planet to be at a certain distance from its star so that its water would be liquid.

Professor Mayor said: 'If the planet’s too close, it will be blazing hot and all the water will evaporate and if it’s too far away, it will be ice.'

It is hoped that within about four years Kepler will have located planets of the same size as Earth that are also in the 'habitable zone', he added.

Australia provides attacks dossier to India

Most attackers of Indians in Australia are youth.

January 27 2010 : Australia government has handed over to India a police dossier of high-profile attacks on Indians over the past year, which reveals that nearly half of the attackers were juveniles.

The dossier, prepared by Victoria Police, was handed over in recent weeks, after Australian foreign minister Stephen Smith telephoned his Indian counterpart S M Krishna on January 11 to express his condolences over the murder of Indian student Nitin Garg in Yarraville.

"It shows nearly half of those arrested between March 2009 and January 5 - three days after the Garg killing - were under 18," the Age newspaper reported.

The dossier shows that among the 18 high-profile cases, two cases of assault reported in May and June last year remained unsolved, the paper said.

Sources said the Australian government initially resisted providing more information to Indians as it deemed racial appearance to be a limited indicator of ethnicity because it was only based on a subjective police assessment.

It claimed people described as Indians could originate from countries such as Mauritius and Fiji.

The dossier shows that of the 18 cases, two people were run over by a train and there was no foul play. While three cases remained unsolved, 33 people have been arrested over the remaining 13 cases.

Indian youths in Australia

Under pressure from the Indian government, Australia has finally informed New Delhi about action taken in 18 high profile cases of assaults against persons of ‘Indian appearance.’ According to the dossier submitted to the government, nearly half of those arrested so far or on the run are juvenile or under 18 years of age.

As the dossier lists attacks till January 5, it does not include many recent high profile cases including the murder of a youth from Punjab whose body has still not been sent back. Australia earlier resisted India’s demand to be informed about the cases involving Indians because it claimed that appearance was a limited indicator of ethnicity and the person could originate from about 20 countries such as Mauritius, Fiji and Malaysia.

However, what tilted the balance was the conversation External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna had with his Australian counterpart Stephen Smith last week.

According to sources, Mr. Krishna insisted on Australia giving a detailed report on the action taken in cases of violence against Indians. The Ministry of External Affairs did not subscribe to the Australian hypothesis that appearance was a limited indicator of ethnicity and pointed out that the attacks on Indian nationals were too many to be explained away with such arguments.

Of the 18 high profile cases against persons of Indian appearance between March 2008 and January 5 this year, two were run over by train and no foul play was suspected. Three cases remain unsolved and 33 have been arrested in the remaining 13 cases.