Gliese 581g, New Planet Discovered 2010, New Earth? - Gossip Jackal

New Planet Found 20 Light Years Away

Earlier this week, Astronomers discovered a new planet, Gilese 581G. According to astronomers, this new planet could actual have inhabitants, as it is close to earth in its attributes, however it’s daytime on the planet all throughout the year, the sun shines continuously 24 hours a day.

Even though evidence show that the planet can sustain extraterrestrial life, astronomers still do not know if the planet has any form of intelligent life. Edward Seidel from The National Science Foundation stated, “If we do discover life outside our planet, it would perhaps be the most significant discovery of all time.

Gliese 581g is 20 light years away from the Earth, so it may be years before any more information is known about the planer or if the is other life forms out there.

Gliese 581g, New Planet Discovered 2010, New Earth?

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McNabb earns one of his sweetest wins - FOXSports.com

Updated Oct 3, 2010 11:31 PM ET

Donovan McNabb couldn’t keep the poker face forever.

Amid massive media hype, McNabb had masterfully downplayed the personal revenge factor entering Sunday’s game at Philadelphia. Even some of McNabb’s new Washington Redskins teammates didn’t know just how badly their quarterback wanted to prove the Eagles erred by trading him this offseason — especially to a division rival.

Browns 23, Bengals 20Rams 20, Seahawks 3Packers 28, Lions 26Broncos 26, Titans 20Saints 16, Panthers 14Ravens 17, Steelers 14Falcons 16, 49ers 14Jets 38, Bills 14Texans 31, Raiders 24Jaguars 31, Colts 28Redskins 17, Eagles 12Chargers 41, Cardinals 10Giants 17, Bears 3Patriots at Dolphins

McNabb, though, did crack following a 17-12 victory. And he did so in an unfamiliar setting: the visiting locker room McNabb had never before frequented at Lincoln Financial Field.

After being presented the game ball by Redskins coach Mike Shanahan, McNabb expressed the emotion behind closed doors that he wouldn’t share publicly.

“Everybody makes mistakes in their lifetime,” he said. “(The Eagles) made one last (offseason).”

For at least one game, McNabb was right.

Not that he was going to disclose such sentiment with outsiders. McNabb refused to elaborate on his postgame speech during a meager four-minute news conference. However, McNabb did confess to a sense of relief after being squarely in the NFL spotlight for an entire week.

“You couldn’t watch any TV without people talking about (me) coming back to Philadelphia,” McNabb said. “One thing I didn’t want my teammates to see was the fact it became a distraction for me. I tried to go through the same regimen. Those guys saw me in the locker room laughing and joking. I thought today we were a truly focused bunch.”

That bunch is more responsible than McNabb for this victory.

He wouldn’t have bragging rights without a strong Redskins running game — Ryan Torain and Clinton Portis combined for 125 yards and one touchdown — and a solid defensive effort. McNabb’s second-half play was abysmal after a strong start. He completed only two of 11 passes for 10 yards as Washington couldn’t add to a 17-6 halftime lead.

The performance would have justified Philadelphia’s decision to cut ties with McNabb — provided the Eagles had won and gotten more productivity under center Sunday.

Michael Vick went down with a rib/chest injury at the end of the first quarter and didn’t return. That pushed Kevin Kolb into action for the first time since he was hurt in the season-opener.

The player originally projected as McNabb’s replacement justified Eagles coach Andy Reid’s decision to stick with Vick in the starting lineup even when Kolb was healthy. None of Kolb’s 22 completions gained more than 18 yards. On the rare occasions that wide receivers DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin escaped tight coverage from Washington’s secondary, Kolb already had locked onto shorter passes to running backs and tight ends.

The tentative Kolb played like a quarterback with only three career starts. The Redskins also knew Kolb wasn’t the same caliber rushing threat as Vick, whose timetable for a return is currently unknown.

“When things broke down, Kolb ran but (Vick) would have gotten some first downs,” Redskins free safety Kareem Moore said.

Kolb and Vick both got little support from an Eagles squad that committed far too many mental mistakes and penalties (eight for 80 yards). Reid is among the goats. He got the offense flagged for delay-of-game on a fourth down from the Redskins 1-yard line by not getting a play into Kolb on time. The Eagles (2-2) were then forced to settle for a field goal right before halftime.

Wide receiver Jason Avant made an even bigger gaffe. He bobbled what would have been the game-winning touchdown pass on the final snap. DeAngelo Hall intercepted Kolb’s desperation throw to seal the victory.

McNabb raised his hands in the air to celebrate and then walked to midfield for a hug with Reid, his coach and mentor for 11 seasons. McNabb also received an embrace en route from smiling Redskins linebacker London Fletcher.

“We had a little extra motivation: To come in here and get a victory against a team that basically said, ‘You’re not good enough. This is what we think of you: We’ll trade you within the division,'" Fletcher said. “Today, he got the best of them.”

Fletcher tried to make McNabb comfortable before the game. Walking to the pregame coin toss, Fletcher told McNabb that he and the Redskins “were going to do this together.”

“He knew that,” Fletcher said, “but I just wanted to reiterate it to him, let him know we’ve got your back.”

By that time, McNabb’s head was spinning. He seemed to spend as much time before kickoff saying hello to friends and former Eagles teammates as warming up. After his name was read over the public address system in pregame introductions, McNabb received a standing ovation from the Eagles fans with whom he shared a love-hate relationship.

Eagles faithful loved the fact McNabb led the team to five NFC Championship games and set the franchise’s major passing records. They hated the fact he never won a Super Bowl.

At age 34, the championship window may have closed for McNabb. The Eagles thought so by shipping him to Washington for a second-round draft pick. McNabb’s best moments — a 31-yard touchdown strike to tight end Chris Cooley, a 57-yard bomb to Anthony Armstrong and an 18-yard scramble for a key fourth-quarter first down — were eclipsed by his ineffectiveness as the game unfolded. While saddled with largely mediocre offensive talent in Washington (2-2), McNabb has yet to show he can raise the play of those around him.

McNabb, though, deserves to enjoy this moment for coming through in such a high-pressure situation. This victory further cemented his leadership status on a new team. And while he will never admit this, it didn’t hurt for McNabb to show he’s human after all.

“It was the first time I had really heard him say that (the Eagles) made a mistake by letting him go,” Cooley said. “Just to let that out I’m sure felt good for him. It was cool that he could express how he felt.”

Finally.

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Mark Zuckerberg's Most Valuable Friend - New York Times

EVERY Monday a bit before 10 a.m., Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, dashes off a quick e-mail to her boss, Mark Zuckerberg. “We have a routine,” Ms. Sandberg says. “I e-mail, ‘Coming in?’ He replies, ‘On my way.’ ”

A few minutes later, Mr. Zuckerberg, Facebook’s co-founder and chief executive, walks into the company’s headquarters here, says a few hellos and heads to a conference room where he and Ms. Sandberg huddle for an hour. The two executives end the week the same way, with a closed-door meeting on Friday afternoon. They discuss products, strategy, deals, personnel — and each other.

“We agreed that we would give each other feedback every Friday,” Ms. Sandberg says. “We are constantly flagging things. Nothing ever builds up.” At a recent meeting, for instance, they ironed out a disagreement between them over the details of Mr. Zuckerberg’s pledge to give $100 million to schools in Newark.

If all of that sounds a bit touchy-feely, well, it is. Ms. Sandberg, a well-regarded Internet executive, is known for her interpersonal skills as much as for her sharp intellect. And her regular meetings with the famously introverted Mr. Zuckerberg have helped to keep one of Silicon Valley’s most unusual business partnerships working wonders for Facebook.

Indeed, for a variety of reasons, Ms. Sandberg may well have become Mr. Zuckerberg’s most valuable friend.

Since Ms. Sandberg joined the company more than two years ago, Facebook has successfully navigated one of the more perilous stages in a start-up’s life: a period of hypergrowth. Facebook’s work force has expanded sixfold, to nearly 1,800, and its global audience has multiplied by more than seven, to half a billion. Revenue, once little more than an afterthought, is expected to balloon to around $1.6 billion this year, according to estimates from Wedbush Securities. (Facebook, a private company, doesn’t disclose its revenue.)

Part of the reason for that sales growth is Ms. Sandberg’s close ties to many of the world’s largest advertisers, relationships she first developed as a senior executive at Google. Ms. Sandberg also brought stability to Facebook, which had suffered from a long period of turmoil and the departure of several executives and early employees, including the company’s other co-founders.

“One of the reasons the company is doing so well is because the two of them get along so well,” says Mike Schroepfer, vice president for engineering.

Ms. Sandberg has focused on building the business, expanding internationally, cultivating relationships with large advertisers and putting her polish on things like communications and public policy. That has freed Mr. Zuckerberg to focus on what he likes best: the Facebook Web site and its platform.

Donald Graham, the chairman of the Washington Post Company, who once tried to hire Ms. Sandberg, says that in the last two years a lot of questions about Facebook’s viability have been put to rest.

“The combination of Mark and Sheryl is the primary reason,” says Mr. Graham, who is also a member of Facebook’s board.

These days, Ms. Sandberg is also juggling another duty: mounting a defense of Mr. Zuckerberg at a time when a new movie, “The Social Network,” portrays him as an aloof and conniving student who may have stolen the idea for Facebook from others. Ms. Sandberg will have none of that.

“He is shy and introverted and he often does not seem very warm to people who don’t know him, but he is warm,” Ms. Sandberg says of Mr. Zuckerberg, her voice rising with empathy. “He really cares about the people who work here.”

She can be just as protective of Mr. Zuckerberg in private.

At a technology conference this summer, for instance, Mr. Zuckerberg flopped during an onstage interview. He gave rambling answers to questions about Facebook’s privacy policies, became visibly nervous and started sweating profusely. After the interview, Ms. Sandberg encouraged him not to beat himself up over it, but to focus on parts of the interview that went well so he could do better next time, according to people briefed on their interaction who didn’t want to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.

“She really wants him to succeed,” says one of these people.

For all her achievements, there’s one area where Ms. Sandberg’s influence has yet to work its magic: privacy concerns. While Ms. Sandberg is not ultimately responsible for the features on the Facebook site — that’s Mr. Zuckerberg’s job — she is deeply involved in the planning that revolves around them. She readily acknowledges that Facebook has made mistakes.

“It is completely fair to say that we have had our challenges around privacy,” she says.

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