PLEASE NOTE:
*
CCNet 15/2003 - 13 February 2003 2003
-------------------------------------
"What is the probability that a civilization will not
destroy itself
once its very intelligence grants it the means of
self-destruction? This
planet has been around for 4 billion years, intelligent life for
perhaps
200,000, weapons of mass destruction for less than 100. A
hundred--in the
eye of the universe, less than a blink. And yet we already find
ourselves on the brink. What are the odds that our species will
manage to
contain this awful knowledge without self-destruction--not for a
billion
years or a million or even a thousand, but just through the
lifetime of
our children? Those are the stakes today. Before our eyes, in a
flash, politics has gone cosmic. The question before us is very
large and
very simple: Can--and will--the civilized part of humanity disarm
the
barbarians who would use the ultimate knowledge for the ultimate
destruction? Within months, we will have a good idea whether the
answer is yes or no."
--Charles Krauthammer, 13 February 2003
(1) "TARGET STAR WAR SYSTEM ON ASTEROIDS"
BBC News Online, 12 February 2003
(2) PLANETARY DEFENSE CONFERENCE: PROTECTING EARTH FROM ASTEROIDS
Ron Baalke <baalke@zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>
(3) METEOR STRIKES MAY CREATE BIOTIC CONDITIONS ON ICY MOONS
Harvey Leifert <PR.74206@prnews2.com>
(4) SURF THE WEB TO SEE THE SUN-DANCING COMET
ESA, 12 February 2003
(5) SHOCK, HORROR: THE END OF UNIVERSE IS CANCELLED
The Sunday Telegraph, 9 February 2003
(6) OPEN UNIVERSITY DEVELOPS RESEARCH TEAM TO PROMOTE THE SEARCH
FOR
EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL LIFE
Peter Bond <PeterRBond@aol.com>
(7) VIOLENT TRUTH BEHIND GENTLE GIANT
Andrew Yee <ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca>
(8) COMET OF 1618 AND THE THIRTY YEARS WAR
Hermann Burchard <burchar@math.okstate.edu>
========
(1) "TARGET STAR WAR SYSTEM ON ASTEROIDS"
>From BBC News Online, 12 February 2003
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2747015.stm
The UK missile station earmarked for the "Son of Star
Wars" defence shield
should also be used to protect against asteroids, a peer has
suggested.
The idea could bring new work for RAF Fylingdales in North
Yorkshire, which
is to be used for America's controversial missile defence plans.
Crossbencher Lord Tanlaw wants to know whether the base, as well
as the
Menwith Hill station, could be used to warn against
"nature's missiles of
mass destruction".
He pointed to the threat posed by "hazardous near-Earth
objects or asteroids
that endanger the population".
Spending difference
Lord Tanlaw continued: "It seems to me that vast sums of
money are being
spent on proper defence of the country."
But very little money appeared to be spent on guarding against an
asteroid
impact, something which would need exactly the same system, he
argued.
Junior Defence Minister Lord Bach said the question was important
and
promised to find out the answer.
Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon this month agree to the US request
for
Fylingdales to be upgraded for use in its National Missile
Defence scheme.
The decision has already been attacked by some Labour
backbenchers, who fear
the scheme could spark a new arms race and prove expensive.
Lord Bach said America would pay for the upgrade.
But the UK would foot the bill for the predicted
"minimal" rise in the
station's £18m annual running costs, he added.
Copyright 2003, BBC
============
(2) PLANETARY DEFENSE CONFERENCE: PROTECTING EARTH FROM ASTEROIDS
>From Ron Baalke <baalke@zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>
http://www.aero.org/conferences/planetdef/
Planetary Defense Conference:
Protecting Earth from Asteroids
February 23-26 (M-Th), 2004
Hyatt Orange County
Garden Grove, California
The Planetary Defense Conference, sponsored by the American
Institute of
Aeronautics and Astronautics and The Aerospace Corporation, will
address key
technical issues associated with defending Earth from approaching
near Earth
objects (comets and asteroids). The threat will be approached
from three
warning levels: short-term (less than ten years warning);
medium-term (ten
to 30 years warning); and long-term (more than 30 years warning).
The
conference intends to define several possible threat scenarios
and develop
potential responses to each. Focused conference topics include:
o examining current and future detection
capabilities and options
o considering current and future techniques,
hardware and systems that
are available to mitigate threats
o discussing national and international policy
implications of mounting a
planetary defense effort
o developing recommendations for future work,
strategies, and policies
o developing recommendations for
demonstrations, experiments, and
near-term activities
o discussing public safety and disaster
preparedness implications of
possible asteroid or comet
impacts.
Technical paper abstracts are currently being accepted
electronically
through AIAA's Web site at http://www.aiaa.org.
=========
(3) METEOR STRIKES MAY CREATE BIOTIC CONDITIONS ON ICY MOONS
>From Harvey Leifert <PR.74206@prnews2.com>
Meteorites crashing into Jupiter's icy moon Europa at hypersonic
speeds have
likely triggered electrical impulses that could change the
chemistry of that
frigid world. Borucki et al. report for the first time that
electrical
discharges result from the impact of a projectile striking a
block of ice at
high speed. The authors speculate that Europa's colored ice, seen
by the
Galileo spacecraft, may result from yellow-brown organic
molecules created
by impact-induced electrical impulses passing through the icy
surface. The
researchers propose that meteor impacts could also generate
organic matter
in the outer Solar System, but that Europa, with its widely
conjectured
underground ocean, might contain organic material under its
craters where
complex living matter can seep onto the surface from cracks in
the ice.
Title: A new energy source for organic synthesis in Europa's
surface ice
Authors:
Jerome G. Borucki, Dale P. Cruikshank, NASA Ames Research
Center, Moffett Field, California;
Bishun Khare, SETI Institute, NASA Ames Research Center,
Moffett Field, California.
Source: Journal of Geophysical Research-Planets (JE) paper
10.1029/2002JE001841, 2002
============
(4) SURF THE WEB TO SEE THE SUN-DANCING COMET
>From ESA, 12 February 2003
http://sci.esa.int/content/news/index.cfm?aid=14&cid=37&oid=31434
12-Feb-2003 Only the most dedicated of sky watchers will have
seen the
latest comet, called C/2002 V1 (NEAT). It has hovered near the
limits of
naked-eye visibility in the evening sky since January 2003.
However, you
would need a pair of binoculars, pointed in exactly the right
direction, to
see anything. Log onto the Internet instead, and let the ESA/NASA
space
probe SOHO show you more about this comet than you would usually
see.
The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) is an ESA/NASA
space probe to
study the Sun. One of its instruments is the Large Angle and
Spectrometric
Coronagraph (LASCO) that blots out the disc of the Sun, creating
an
artificial total eclipse. LASCO is a spectacular comet-observing
tool
because of its combination of high sensitivity and large field of
view.
The Sun's large gravitational field provides the central force
for comet
orbits. Comets themselves are icy messengers, often from the
outer Solar
System that fall through the inner solar system, before heading
back into
the celestial reaches. On the way, they provide observers on
Earth and in
space with fleeting opportunities to catch a glimpse. Astronomers
discover
comets all the time. If first seen by individual observers, they
are named
after the discoverer. Nowadays, more and more comets are first
seen by
automated telescope patrols, designed to scan the skies looking
for objects
that could pass close to Earth. These discoveries are given
catalogue
references, as is the case for Comet C/2002 V1.
The last comet to pass through the SOHO field of view made its
journey
during the last week of January 2003. Now, armchair observers all
around the
world have a chance to view another comet, C/2002 V1. This time,
the show
may be more spectacular because C/2002 V1 (NEAT) will pass very
closely by
the Sun.
The comet was discovered by NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Tracking
programme
(NEAT). At that time, it was 25 000 times fainter than the human
eye can
perceive. Initially, the comet became so bright that astronomers
wondered
whether they would be able to see it during the day, as it
rounded the Sun.
During January 2003, the comet failed to brighten as hoped. Now,
it is
expected to disappear from view to Earth-bound observers about 11
February
2003, as it heads towards the Sun for its closest approach on 18
February
2003. It will not be lost from all sight, however, as in space,
SOHO will be
watching. Astronomers expect C/2002 V1 (NEAT) to pass into LASCO
instrument's field of view, early on 16 February and stay there
until 20
February.
It will pass by the Sun at less than a tenth of the distance
between the
Earth and the Sun. There is a small chance that the Sun's
gravitational
field could pull it to pieces. "Even if that doesn't happen,
the fly-by
itself should be impressive enough," says Bernhard Fleck,
SOHO Project
Scientist.
Watch the comet's journey live on the Internet:
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime-images.html
or
http://soho.estec.esa.nl/data/realtime-images.html
=============
(5) SHOCK, HORROR: THE END OF UNIVERSE IS CANCELLED
>From The Sunday Telegraph, 9 February 2003
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2003%2F02%2F09%2Fwspace09.xml
By Robert Matthews, Science Correspondent
Professor Hawking, we have a problem. Nasa, the American space
agency, is
expected to announce this week that it has proved the existence
of "dark
energy", a cosmic force that counteracts gravity and will
keep the universe
expanding forever.
The announcement will effectively demolish the theory that life
will be
wiped out in a "Big Crunch" when the universe
collapses, and should end
decades of academic dispute over the forces at work on the
universe.
In the past, scientists ranging from Prof Stephen Hawking, the
Cambridge
University physicist, to Albert Einstein, have argued that the
universe
eventually will stop expanding and then implode under the force
of gravity,
destroying all life.
Nasa's research indicates, however, that this analysis is wrong.
Using a
satellite - the Microwave Anistropy Probe (Map) - which has spent
the past
year peering into deep space, Nasa has discovered a pattern of
"hot spots"
which, it says, proves that the universe is accelerating.
This means that "dark energy" - the only force that
could cause this
acceleration - does exist, and that the universe is expanding too
quickly to
collapse under gravity, ruling out the possibility of a "Big
Crunch".
Prof Anthony Lasenby, an astrophysicist at Cambridge University,
told The
Telegraph that the announcement would transform our view of the
universe.
"It will be an epoch-making event," he said.
Another scientist explained: "It is like throwing a ball in
the air. If
gravity were the only force at work, the ball would eventually
slow down and
then start to fall back. What this shows is that the ball is not
slowing
down but is in fact accelerating away."
The Nasa discovery is understood to be one of the most
significant in the
history of cosmology and, coming only days after the loss of the
space
shuttle Columbia, will provide a timely reminder of the value of
the
agency's scientific work.
The behaviour of the universe is a subject that has troubled some
of the
greatest minds in science.
In 1917, in order to balance the equations in his General Theory
of
Relativity, Einstein argued that an unknown force - which he
labelled the
"cosmological constant" - was counteracting gravity and
keeping the universe
a constant size. In the wake of subsequent astronomical evidence
that the
universe was expanding, however, he abandoned this idea, calling
it his
greatest mistake.
The new data will show that Einstein's attempt to fiddle his
equations using
this "cosmological constant" may have been right,
albeit for entirely the
wrong reasons.
In his 1998 bestseller A Brief History of Time, Prof Hawking
claimed that
the universe would eventually implode.
This assessment was challenged in 1997 when, after observations
from
ground-based telescopes, astronomers began to argue that gravity
was
counteracted by a "dark energy" that was causing the
universe to expand at
an ever-increasing rate.
Nasa's study, however, the most detailed of the whole sky, is
poised to
settle the controversy. It uses measurements of the heat left
over from the
Big Bang, in which the universe was born 14 billion years ago, to
demonstrate that the universe is expanding rapidly and is safe
from
collapse.
Last night Prof Hawking remained undaunted by the Nasa findings,
saying that
he had continued working on his theories and had discovered that
they were
"quite compatible with the universe expanding forever"
and the existence of
dark energy.
Although Nasa's discovery means that the universe will go on
forever, the
same is not true for human life. As the universe expands, all the
energy
needed to keep the stars and galaxies alight will be used up.
What will remain is a universe full of black holes, which after
trillions of
years, will explode to leave nothing but dark energy.
Copyright 2003, The Sunday Telegraph
===========
(6) OPEN UNIVERSITY DEVELOPS RESEARCH TEAM TO PROMOTE THE SEARCH
FOR
EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL LIFE
>From Peter Bond <PeterRBond@aol.com
[mailto:PeterRBond@aol.com]
This release from the Open University is forwarded for your
information by
Peter Bond, Royal Astronomical Society press officer (space
science).
Forwarding does not imply endorsement by the Royal Astronomical
Society.
****************************************************************************
******
Issued by:
Media Relations Office
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes
MK7 6AA
United Kingdom
Direct Lines: +44 (0)1908-653343/ 653256 / 653248/652580
Fax: +44 (0)1908-652247
E-mail: Press-office@open.ac.uk
News site: www.open.ac.uk/media/
PR4687
For immediate release
10 February 2003
OU DEVELOPS RESEARCH TEAM TO PROMOTE THE SEARCH FOR
EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL LIFE
A new Interdisciplinary Centre for Astrobiology (ICA), being
launched at the
Open University (OU), is set to enhance the OU's position as a
leading
national and international arena for OU and other scientists to
collaborate
on research into where life is most capable of developing
elsewhere in the
Universe, and on how to find it.
Astrobiology is a very broad, rapidly growing field of scientific
research
dedicated to understanding the conditions necessary for the
development of
life and how it might be found beyond the Earth. It is an
area where OU
researchers are at the forefront.
The new centre will combine scientific expertise from the OU's
Planetary and
Space Sciences Research Institute (PSSRI), the OU's Department of
Physics
and Astronomy, and other departments.
OU Professor of Astronomy Barrie Jones, chair of the ICA steering
group,
said: "We now have the technical ability to determine if
there is life on
Mars and elsewhere in the Solar System. Take Europa, Jupiter's
largest moon.
It probably has an ocean covered by ice. Once there is
liquid water there
is the possibility of life.
"New planets are constantly being discovered. Scientists
have recently
mapped more than 90 planetary systems with more than 100 planets.
Within a
few years we will be able to see if planets in other systems were
or are
inhabited."
The Interdisciplinary Centre for Astrobiology will:
· Study the formation of planets and investigate how the basic
organic
materials needed to form life are produced in the Universe.
· Investigate the origin and evolution of life on Earth,
including the study
of extreme environments and the habitats of extremophiles i.e.
life forms
that survive in extreme environments.
· Explore through space missions, new telescopes, and computer
modelling,
potential life- sustaining habitats elsewhere in the Solar System
and in
planetary systems that exist outside our own.
Much of the work in the OU's Planetary Science and Space Research
Institute
and a significant proportion of the research in the OU Department
of Physics
and Astronomy are already in astrobiology.
The Interdisciplinary Centre for Astrobiology will promote
interaction
between these scientists and with people external to the
OU. Such
interaction will lead to the development of new projects.
Editor's Notes.
The Interdisciplinary Centre for Astrobiology launch will take
place at the
Open University, Milton Keynes campus, at 1.30pm on Monday
February 17th.
Two eminent scientists will present the latest research in
astrobiology:
"The Microbiology of Impact Craters" by Dr Charles
Cockell (British
Antarctic Survey), and "Self-organization, Emergence,
Astrobiology and All
That" by Professor Juan Perez-Mercader (Centro de
Astrobiologia, Spain).
There will be an opportunity to tour the laboratory facilities.
Throughout
the meeting there will be a display of posters on astrobiology
research and
teaching at the OU.
For more information and reservation details contact Ms Tracey
Moore at
T.J.Moore@open.ac.uk
ASTROBIOLOGY CENTRE CONTACTS
Professor Barrie Jones
Tel: +44 (0)1908-653229
E-mail: b.w.jones@open.ac.uk
Dr. John Zarnecki
Tel: +44 (0)1908-659599
E-mail: j.c.zarnecki@open.ac.uk
Professor Nigel Mason
Tel: +44 (0)1908-655132
E-mail: n.j.mason@open.ac.uk
Dr. Ian Gilmour
Tel: +44 (0)1908-655140
E-mail: i.gilmour@open.ac.uk
=========
(7) VIOLENT TRUTH BEHIND GENTLE GIANT
>From Andrew Yee <ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca>
Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council
Swindon, U.K.
Contact Details:
Dr Louise Harra
Mullard Space Science Laboratory, UCL
Tel: 44 (0) 1483 204141
Fax: 44 (0) 1483 278312
Email: lkh@mssl.ucl.ac.uk
Alexi Glover
TOS-EMA
ESA/ESTEC
Keplerlaan, 1
Postbus 299
2200 AG, Noordwijk
Email: Alexi.Glover@esa.int
Julia Maddock
Press Officer, PPARC
Tel: 01793 442094
Email: julia.maddock@pparc.ac.uk
10 February 2003
Violent truth behind Suns Gentle Giants uncovered
By Julia Maddock
Solar Physicists at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory,
University College
London (MSSL-UCL) have discovered new clues to understanding
explosions on
the Sun.
Coronal mass ejections are violent explosions that can fling
electrified gas
[plasma] with a mass greater than Mount Everest towards the Earth
with
destructive consequences for satellites. They can originate from
active
regions on the Sun, long known to consist of forests of loops
filled with
plasma. These active loops are roughly 50,000 km in size.
However, active
regions
on either side of the solar disk are frequently connected by
giant loops,
which can bridge the Sun's equator. These loops have long been
thought of as
the gentle giants of the Sun, but in a paper to be published
early this year
in the journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics, the researchers
describe the
explosive characteristics of these giants.
An example of a giant loop can clearly be seen in the figure
where the width
of the arrow represents the size of the Earth. These giant loops
of plasma
are 450,000 km long -- large enough to engulf 40 Earths. If
Concorde could
fly along one of these loops, it would take nearly 9 days to
complete the
journey!
Coronal mass ejections are violent explosions that cause all
sorts of
effects from the destruction of satellites, to the creation of
the aurora.
These effects are commonly referred to as 'space weather'. Using
data taken
by the Yohkoh and SOHO satellites studying the Sun, the
scientists analysed the giant loops to see how frequently they
erupt. In the
past only one eruption had been observed and so they have been
considered
the gentle giants of the Sun that do not explode. The researchers
found that
not only can these huge structures be thrown away from the Sun,
but they can
also be heated up by a factor of 5, to temperatures of 14
thousand times the
temperature of boiling water. They investigated how the loops
explode, and
it was found that the longer the loop, the more likely it is to
erupt -- so
these are culprits to watch more carefully in the future!
Alexi Glover, part of the space weather team at the European
Space Agency
[ESA], explains, "These huge loops have been observed for
many years -- but
their connection with coronal mass ejections is only just being
understood.
In the future we hope to be able to predict coronal mass
ejections before
they take place, and step by step we are heading towards that
goal."
Because of our increasing reliance on communication and
navigation
satellites for TV, GPS and national and international security,
it is vital
that we understand how the Sun can release these explosions.
Dr. Louise Harra of MSSL-UCL says, "Space weather is a
rapidly developing
field, and a vital key to progress is by understanding in detail
the physics
of Sun. The UK plays a leading role in solar physics and these
new results
are helping us make substantial advancements in our understanding
of these
beautiful, but potentially hazardous, coronal mass
ejections."
Notes for editors:
The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) is
the UK's
strategic science investment agency. It funds research, education
and public
understanding in four areas of science -- particle physics,
astronomy,
cosmology and space science.
PPARC is government funded and provides research grants and
studentships to
scientists in British universities, gives researchers access to
world-class
facilities and funds the UK membership of international bodies
such as the
European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN), and the European
Space
Agency. It also contributes money for the UK telescopes overseas
on La
Palma, Hawaii, Australia and in Chile, the UK Astronomy
Technology Centre at
the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh and the MERLIN/VLBI National
Facility,
which includes the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank observatory.
PPARC's Public Understanding of Science and Technology Awards
Scheme funds
both small local projects and national initiatives aimed at
improving public
understanding of its areas of science.
IMAGE CAPTIONS:
[Figure 1:
http://www.pparc.ac.uk/Nw/Press/figure1_hres.jpg
(278KB)]
Figure 1 shows the soft x-ray image of the loop. Image taken by
Yohkoh, a
collaborative mission between Japan, the United Kingdom and the
USA.
Copyright Yohkoh team.
[Figure 2:
http://www.pparc.ac.uk/Nw/Press/figure2_hres.jpg
(423KB)]
Figure 2 shows the loop as it erupts into space as a coronal mass
ejection.
Image taken by the SOHO satellite, a project of international
collaboration
between ESA and NASA. Copyright ESA/NASA.
[Figure 3:
http://www.pparc.ac.uk/Nw/Press/soho2_hres.jpg
(182KB)]
Figure 3 shows an artist's impression of the SOHO craft orbiting
the Sun.
Copyright ESA.
============================
* LETTERS TO THE MODERATOR *
============================
(8) COMET OF 1618 AND THE THIRTY YEARS WAR
>From Hermann Burchard <burchar@math.okstate.edu>
Dear Benny,
the 30 Years War lasted from 1618 - 1648, leaving a devastated
Central
Europe. Presumably, the resulting decline of wealth and of
civilized life in
Germany has had a detrimental influence on the subsequent history
of the
region. The advent of the first year of this cataclysmic war was
heralded by a threatening comet in Novemver 1618, seen by many
European and
Far Eastern observers. This ominous event is mentioned, along
with other
astronomical portents that occurred throughout the war, on the
web site:
http://www.lwl.org/westfaelischer-friede/wfd-t/wfd-txt1-34.htm
The web site, that I stumbled on, quotes a contemporary author,
Hans
Heberle, who wrote in his ZEYTREGISTER: "But what gave me
cause and occasion
to write this booklet, it is as follows: Anno Domini 1618 a great
comet
appeared in the fall in and about November. Its sight was
terrible
and amazing and moved my soul, so that I began to write because I
thought
this must mean and bring to pass something great as indeed has
happened and
as the reader will find reported sufficiently herein."
Although three comets are mentioned for 1618, beginning in
August, it is not
clear to me from Yeomans, COMETS, whether these are considered to
be simply
three appearances of the same comet? In view of Heberle's
reaction to it,
it must have been very large in the sky: Its tail measured
104 degrees. Was
it particularly close to Earth so that there might have been some
influence
on terrestrial events? Is there anything known concerning
historical
fall-out (in more than one sense perhaps)?
Continuing with my translation from the above web site:
"Again and again
Heberle [in his autobiographical account of the 30 Years War]
notes
miraculous portents in the heavens, rains of blood, flames of
fire, which
terrified people in those days. Hardly a chronicle of the
times would have
failed to describe the comet of 1618, and as a signal of the
entry into the
war by [Swedish King] Gustav Adolf 1630 the sight in the sky of a
war among
two celestial hosts." (Was that a comet breaking up,
as e.g. comet Biela
did in December of 1845 [Yeomans]?)
Indeed, Yeomans reports a Japanese account of a comet for 1630.
Of course,
he lists a total of about 18 comets for the duration of the war,
which
perhaps is not an excessive number. Still, the coincidence of the
peak of
the Little Ice Age with this turbulent period of European History
and with
threatening comets and "wars in the heavenlies" as in
other ancient reports
does seem to suggest possible causal relationships. The next,
18th century
again yields similar correlations of climate breaks, wars,
revolutions, and
comets (see my CCNet note of 26 Sep 2002).
Such causes and effects have been suggested for other periods of
history, as
reported numerous times on CCNet and elsewhere (Bob Kobres on
ancient as
well as recent events, Mike Baillie on the Justinian comet(s),
and James and
Trevor Palmer on the Carolingian period: CCNet Essay 12 Dec
2000).
What is actually known of comets in close approach to Earth? Were
any close
enough for atmospheric dust loading to happen? Did fragments hit
the planet?
This requires precise observational data, which begin to be
available in the
West by the late 16th century.
Is there evidence for non-random clustering of comets? This could
explain
the growing body of evidence for comet impact clustering, as for
example in
the K-T extinctions as per Gerta Keller's recent reports. Even
when there
are observations of several comets in close temporal proximity,
there may have been a single Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt object coming
in from out
of the cold and subsequently breaking up as it rounded Jupiter
and the Sun.
This would be no more than a logical extension of the
Clube-Napier giant
comet hypothesis.
Best regards,
Hermann Burchard
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