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For the first time, astronomers have discovered seven Earth-size planets orbiting a single nearby star - and these new worlds could hold life. This cluster of planets is less than 40 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius, according to NASA and the Belgian-led research team who announced the discovery Wednesday. The planets circle tightly around a dim dwarf star called Trappist-1, barely the size of Jupiter. Three are in the so-called habitable zone, the area around a star where water and, possibly life, might exist. The others are right on the doorstep. Scientists said they need to study the atmospheres before determining whether these rocky, terrestrial planets could support some sort of life. But it already shows just how many Earth-size planets could be out there - especially in a star's sweet spot, ripe for extraterrestrial life. The more planets like this, the greater the potential of finding one that's truly habitable. Until now, only two or three Earth-size planets had been spotted around a star. "We've made a crucial step toward finding if there is life out there," said the University of Cambridge's Amaury Triaud, one of the researchers. The potential for more Earth-size planets in our Milky Way galaxy is mind-boggling. The history of planet-searching shows "when there's one, there's more," said Massachusetts Institute of Technology astrophysicist Sara Seager. "With this amazing system, we know that there must be many more potentially life-bearing worlds out there just waiting to be found," she said. NASA's Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the science mission, said the discovery "gives us a hint that finding a second Earth is not just a matter of if, but when," and addresses the age-old question of "Are we alone out there?" "We're making a step forward with this, a leap forward in fact, toward answering that question," Zurbuchen said at a news conference. Last spring, the University of Liege's Michael Gillon and his team reported finding three planets around Trappist-1. Now the count is up to seven, and Gillon said there could be more. Their latest findings appear in the journal Nature. This crowded yet compact solar system - 235 trillion miles away - is reminiscent of Jupiter and its Galilean moons, according to the researchers. The ultracool star at the heart of this system would shine 200 times dimmer than our sun, a perpetual twilight as we know it. And the star would glow red - maybe salmon-colored, the researchers speculate. "The spectacle would be beautiful because every now and then, you would see another planet, maybe about as big as twice the moon in the sky, depending on which planet you're on and which planet you look at," Triaud said Tuesday in a teleconference with reporters. Years are exceedingly short in this star system - the planets take just one and a half to 20 days to orbit Trappist-1. The Leiden Observatory's Ignas Snellen, who was not involved in the study, is excited by the prospect of learning more about what he calls "the seven sisters of planet Earth." In a companion article in Nature, he said Gillon's team could have been lucky in nabbing so many terrestrial planets in one stellar swoop. "But finding seven transiting Earth-sized planets in such a small sample suggests that the solar system with its four (sub-) Earth-sized planets might be nothing out of the ordinary," Snellen wrote. Altogether, astronomers have confirmed close to 3,600 planets outside our solar system since the 1990s, but barely four dozen are in the potential habitable zone of their stars, and of those, just 18 are approximately the size of Earth. Gillon and his team used both ground and space telescopes to identify and track the seven Trappist-1 planets, which they label simply by lowercase letters, "b'' through "h." As is typical in these cases, the letter "A'' - in upper case - is reserved for the star. Planets cast shadows on their star as they pass in front of it; that's how the scientists spotted them. Tiny, cold stars like Trappist-1 were long shunned by exoplanet-hunters (exoplanets are those outside our solar system). But the Belgian astronomers decided to seek them out, building a telescope in Chile to observe 60 of the closest ultracool dwarf stars. Their Trappist telescope lent its name to this star. While faint, the Trappist-1 star is close by cosmic standards, allowing astronomers to study the atmospheres of its seven temperate planets. All seven look to be solid like Earth - mostly rocky and possibly icy, too. They all appear to be tidally locked, which means the same side continually faces the star, just like the same side of our moon always faces us. Life could still exist at these places, the researchers explained. "Here, if life managed to thrive and releases gases similar to that that we have on Earth, then we will know," Triaud said. Chemical analyses should indicate life with perhaps 99 per cent confidence, Gillon noted. But he added: "We will never be completely sure" without going there.    ....

Published at: 2017-02-23 00:00:05

A premier chamber forecasts a further spike in inflation spurred by the global market upturn while the official statistical agency already showed higher January rates. The Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) made the prediction in view of rises in both food-and non-food commodity prices on the international market, in a turnaround from a prolonged slump.     However, the trade body didn't mention how long the upturn could last. The MCCI, Dhaka has made the projection in its latest review of the economic situation in Bangladesh for the October-December period. Similarly, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) also revealed January 2017 point-to-point rate of inflation at 5.15 per cent, against 5.03 per cent of December 2016. The food inflation increased to 6.53 per cent in January from 5.38 per cent in December while the non-food inflation came down to 3.10 per cent in the month from 4.49 per cent in the previous month. There is, however, an offsetting factor. The chamber assumed that the calm on the previously troubled political arena would continue in the third quarter of the present fiscal year (Q3 of FY17) and help augment export, import, and remittance. It said the foreign-exchange reserves would wane in January and March due to a regular feature of payout to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) against imports. The MCCI noted that country's capital market marked a significant increase in the participation by investors. And on January 10, 2017, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) witnessed a sharp rise both in the key index and turnover. It found signs of improvement in manufacturing activities, as a political-peace dividend. "The manufacturing sub-sector grew by 11.69 per cent in FY16, 1.38 percentage points higher than previous fiscal year's 10.31 per cent," it said. The chamber body said it's imperative to achieve higher growth to get to the government-set goal of becoming a middle-income country (MIC) by 2021. The government will need to increase the rate of economic growth, accelerate export, and attract more investments as well as improve the overall infrastructure. "Also, to attain faster economic growth, the government will have to improve country's road and rail infrastructures, develop port facilities, increase power and gas production, and remove other infrastructure bottlenecks," it noted. At the same time, impediments such as the delays in execution of development projects, lack of skilled manpower and absence of decentralised government administration must be removed to restore the confidence of the business and investor community, it suggested. It pointed out that remittance inflow in the first six months of the current fiscal year (July-December of FY17) dropped by 17.62 per cent to US$6.168 billion from US$7.487 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal despite a significant rise in overseas jobs of Bangladesh nationals. The fall in remittances was mainly due to the decline in the incomes and savings of Bangladeshi expatriates working in the Middle-Eastern countries that suffered a huge slump in oil prices. Moreover, differences in the official exchange rate and the kerb market made the expatriates reluctant to send money through the banking channel. The trade body said the net foreign direct investment (FDI) in July-November of FY17 increased just 9.60 per cent to US$719 million from US$656 million in the corresponding period of FY16, which industry-insiders consider quite insufficient to meet the country's development needs. Services sectors were doing well but these will also need government support in specific areas. "Most importantly, the political harmony in the country should be maintained in order to achieve government's growth and inflation targets," it said. The metropolitan chamber also noted that adequate infrastructure, energy, policy continuity, skilled manpower, political stability and investment-friendly climate are the key factors for higher economic growth. jasimharoon@yahoo.com....

Published at: 2017-02-23 00:00:05

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel arrested an alleged arms trader along with one pistol, two magazines and four bullets from Iqbalpur area in Shibganj upazila of Chapainawabganj district. The arrestee was identified as Lal Chand, 25, son of Sentu Miah, a resident of Tarapur area of the upazila, according to UNB report. Tipped off, a team of the border force conducted a drive on Wednesday night and arrested Lal Chand, said Lt Col SM Abul Ahsan, commander of Chapainawabganj BGB battalion-9. Later, they recovered one pistol, two magazines and four bullets from his possession. A case was filed in this connection.....

Published at: 2017-02-23 00:00:05

A seven-day "Livestock Week' will begin Thursday, for the first time in Bangladesh, aiming to spread the message of ensuring adequate protein intake for people. Fisheries and Livestock Minister Sayedul Haque came up with the information while talking at a press briefing at the conference room of the ministry on Wednesday. Following the 'effective initiatives' from the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, the government is able to produce 730 million tons of milk instead of 346 million tons, 620 million tons of meat instead of 233 million tons, 11.92 billion eggs instead of 7 billion and 303.8 million eggs in the last five years though the country has a demand of 1.47 billion tons of milk, 71 tons of meat and 16.75 billion eggs, said the Minister. Due to the increase of production in livestock, the country is able to meet the demand of sacrificial animals. Besides, according to the UN report, Bangladesh got 4th place in the world in producing the fish and goats, he said. The Fisheries and Livestock Week will be concluded on February 27.  ....

Published at: 2017-02-23 00:00:05

Police recovered two firearms and six bullets from the house of former Jatiya Party MP Dr Abdul Kader Khan, who was arrested for his suspected involvement in the killing of Gaibandha-1 MP Manjurul Islam Liton, early Thursday. Acting on his information, a police team, led by Additional Deputy Inspector General (ADIG) of Rangpur Range Ahmed Bashir, conducted a raid on his house at Pashchim Chhaparhati village in Sundarganj upazila around 1.30am and dug out one pistol, one magazine and six bullets from beneath his home, said Superintendent of Police Ashraful Islam. It is believed that the recovered arms were used in the MP Liton killing mission, said the SP. Detectives arrested Dr Abdul Kader Khan, former Jatiya Party MP from Gaibandha-1, from his residence at Rahman Nagar Ziladarpara in Bogra district town on Tuesday. Earlier, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Rangpur Range Khandaker Golam Faruk on Wednesday claimed that former Jatiya Party MP Dr Abdul Kader Khan was the mastermind of the murder of Gaibandha-1 MP Manjurul Islam Liton. Liton was shot at point blank range by miscreants at his village home at Masterpara in Bamandanga union of Sundarganj upazila on December 31. He was admitted to Rangpur Medical College Hospital where doctors declared him dead.  ....

Published at: 2017-02-23 00:00:05