Here are a few latest news headlines:

Trial of Gulf oil well cap extended for 24 hours; Gulf Coast finds itself in limbo

NEW ORLEANS — The Gulf Coast found itself in an odd moment of limbo today: The oil has been stopped, but no one knows if it’s corked for good. (read article)

‘Whale’ superskimmer drops out of Gulf oil spill response

The Coast Guard said “thanks, but no thanks” to the superskimmer “A Whale” Friday, as the 1,100 foot-long converted iron ore freighter failed to make a sizeable dent in the Gulf oil spill during a 24-hour testing period. (read article)

FACTBOX-BP’s next steps on killing Gulf leak

(Reuters) – BP Plc (BP.L) (BP.N) was testing pressure in its ruptured Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday and monitoring for signs that the April 20 blowout damaged it.

So far, the test that started the afternoon of July 15 has showed pressure slowly rising, therefore indicating no damage. If that’s the case, a new cap installed July 12 on the wellhead could possibly shut in all oil flow if oil-capture vessels at the surface must disconnect and move when a hurricane approaches.

The first of two relief wells remains on target to intercept and permanently plug the leak by mid-August.

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July 18 update: Feds, BP meeting to discuss “why pressure may be low” says Commander Thad Allen

BP says it plans to keep gulf oil well cap closed

In a press conference Sunday morning, a BP executive said that a mechanical “cap” used to shut off the geyser still seems to be holding. As a result, he said, the company now plans to keep it closed indefinitely — or at least for a few more weeks, until a “relief well” can plug the leak near its underground source. (read article)

Obama Administration Approves First Direct Taxpayer Funding of Abortion Through New High-Risk Insurance Pools
Wednesday, July 14, 2010

(CNSNews.com) – If you want proof that President Obama’s Executive Order on taxpayer-funded abortion was a sham, look no further than Pennsylvania, says House Republican Leader John Boehner (Ohio).

Boehner and other Republicans point to reports that the Health and Human Services Department is giving Pennsylvania $160 million to set up a new high-risk insurance pool that will cover any abortion that is legal in the state.

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Maryland Becomes Second State to Offer Federally Funded Abortions under Obamacare

Maryland will join Pennsylvania as the second state to use federal tax dollars to pay for abortions under the new health care law signed by President Barack Obama in March, according to information released by Maryland’s State Health Insurance Plan. (read article)

Obesity Rating for Every American Must Be Included in Stimulus-Mandated Electronic Health Records, Says HHS
Thursday, July 15, 2010

(CNSNews.com) – New federal regulations issued this week stipulate that the electronic health records–that all Americans are supposed to have by 2014 under the terms of the stimulus law that President Barack Obama signed last year–must record not only the traditional measures of height and weight, but also the Body Mass Index: a measure of obesity.

The obesity-rating regulation states that every American’s electronic health record must: “Calculate body mass index. Automatically calculate and display body mass index (BMI) based on a patient’s height and weight.”

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Few additional links:

Earth’s upper atmosphere collapses. Nobody knows why.

An upper layer of Earth’s atmosphere recently collapsed in an unexpectedly large contraction, the sheer size of which has scientists scratching their heads, NASA announced Thursday….The collapse occurred during a period of relative solar inactivity – called a solar minimum from 2008 to 2009. These minimums are known to cool and contract the thermosphere, however, the recent collapse was two to three times greater than low solar activity could explain. (read article)

Scientists baffled by unusual upper atmosphere shrinkage

(CNN) — An upper layer of Earth’s atmosphere recently shrank so much that researchers are at a loss to adequately explain it, NASA said on Thursday.…The thermosphere, which blocks harmful ultraviolet rays, expands and contracts regularly due to the sun’s activities. As carbon dioxide increases, it has a cooling effect at such high altitudes, which also contributes to the contraction. (read article)

Minor Earthquake – But Strongest Ever to Hit D.C. – Shakes Capitol Region

Washington (AP) – A minor earthquake shook residents awake in the DC area early Friday, rattling windows and jostling dishes but apparently causing no serious damage. (read article)

Summer solstice: it’s a stormy time for the Sun – June 21, 2010
Last night marked the summer solstice – the longest day of the year, and the period when the Sun reaches its northernmost latitude and highest point in the sky at noon. For me and my fellow solar physicists, the summer solstice offers an excellent opportunity to study our solar system’s fiery star. (read article)

What’s wrong with the sun?

SUNSPOTS come and go, but recently they have mostly gone. For centuries, astronomers have recorded when these dark blemishes on the solar surface emerge, only for them to fade away again after a few days, weeks or months. Thanks to their efforts, we know that sunspot numbers ebb and flow in cycles lasting about 11 years.

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The stakes have never been higher. Groups of sunspots forewarn of gigantic solar storms that can unleash a billion times more energy than an atomic bomb. Fears that these giant solar eruptions could create havoc on Earth, and disputes over the sun’s role in climate change, are adding urgency to these studies. When NASA and the European Space Agency launched the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory almost 15 years ago, “understanding the solar cycle was not one of its scientific objectives”, says Bernhard Fleck, the mission’s project scientist. “Now it is one of the key questions.”

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“The sun is waking up from a deep slumber, and in the next few years we expect to see much higher levels of solar activity,” said Richard Fisher, head of NASA’s Heliophysics Division, in the report released just days ago.

NASA: Cosmic ’superstorm’ more crippling than 20 Katrinas
A new government forecast warns a coming possible solar storm could eliminate – at least temporarily across large swaths of the world – power grids, air travel and communications, including those operating financial services and emergency systems, as well as GPS functions and even cell phones. (read article)

The new forecast suggests solar storms could be at its peak activity in 2012 or 2013.

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio
Astonishing new pictures from NASA that could help unlock the secrets of the sun — 10 times clearer than high definition TV — show giant flares and clouds of ionized gas erupting from the star.

Electronic Armageddon? Congress Worries That Solar Flares Could Spell Disaster
Solar storms occur when sunspots on our star erupt and spew out flumes of charged particles that can damage power systems. The sun’s activity typically follows an 11-year cycle, and it looks to be coming out of a slump and gearing up for an active period. (read article)

Nasa warns solar flares from ‘huge space storm’ will cause devastation

National power grids could overheat and air travel severely disrupted while electronic items, navigation devices and major satellites could stop working after the Sun reaches its maximum power in a few years.

Senior space agency scientists believe the Earth will be hit with unprecedented levels of magnetic energy from solar flares after the Sun wakes “from a deep slumber” sometime around 2013, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

In a new warning, Nasa said the super storm would hit like “a bolt of lightning” and could cause catastrophic consequences for the world’s health, emergency services and national security unless precautions are taken.

Scientists believe it could damage everything from emergency services’ systems, hospital equipment, banking systems and air traffic control devices, through to “everyday” items such as home computers, iPods and Sat Navs.

Due to humans’ heavy reliance on electronic devices, which are sensitive to magnetic energy, the storm could leave a multi-billion pound damage bill and “potentially devastating” problems for governments.

“We know it is coming but we don’t know how bad it is going to be,” Dr Richard Fisher, the director of Nasa’s Heliophysics division, said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph.

“It will disrupt communication devices such as satellites and car navigations, air travel, the banking system, our computers, everything that is electronic. It will cause major problems for the world.

“Large areas will be without electricity power and to repair that damage will be hard as that takes time.”

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Huge solar storm could hit Earth again

On Sept. 2, 1859, an incredible storm of charged particles sent by the sun slammed into Earth’s atmosphere, overpowered it, and caused havoc on the ground. Telegraph wires, the high-tech stuff of the time, suddenly shorted out in the United States and Europe, igniting widespread fires. Colorful aurora, normally visible only in polar regions, were seen as far south as Cuba and Hawaii.

Earth’s magnetic field normally protects the surface of the planet from some storms. In 1859, the planet’s defenses were totally overwhelmed. Over the past decade, similar but less powerful storms have likewise busted through, giving scientists insight into what will eventually happen again.

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Another article which I found interesting.

Jellyfish-like star spotted in the sky – June 22, 2010
The jellyfish-like object depicted is a sphere of stellar innards, blown out from a humongous star as it ages. The star is one of the most massive stellar residents of our Milky Way galaxy. (read article)