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2010 Census ALERT…BEWARE!

The Census Is Getting Personal

New Planet Found; May Be Cosmic Rosetta Stone

A newly discovered gas-giant planet with a nearly circular orbit around its parent star is the first Jupiter-like planet outside our solar system—or "exoplanet"—that can be studied in detail, a new study says.

Located about 1,500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Serpens, the planet Corot-9b passes in front of its star every 95 days, as viewed from Earth. Each of these "transits" lasts about eight hours.

When Corot-9b is positioned between its star and Earth, some of the light from its star passes through the exoplanet's atmosphere before continuing on to our planet.

By studying this filtered starlight, astronomers may be able to determine what molecules make up Corot-9b's atmosphere.

If that's the case, Corot-9b could become a "Rosetta stone" for exoplanet research, said study co-author Claire Moutou of the Laboratory of Astrophysics of Marseilles in France, referring to the artifact that helped decipher ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.

(Related: "Distant Planet Mapped for First Time, "Hot Jupiter" Features Fierce Winds.")

"We hope that when we can investigate this planet, it will have characteristics which are close to other giant gas planets outside our solar system," Moutou said.

That's because Corot-9b's physical properties are thought to be representative of many gas giant exoplanets in our galaxy. So studying Corot-9b in detail could shed light on worlds that do not transit, and thus are impossible for astronomers to research.

New Planet Similar to Jupiter and Saturn

The filtered-sunlight technique has been used to study the atmospheric compositions of other gas exoplanets with great success.

However, those planets orbit much closer to their stars than Corot-9b and are thus much hotter.

As a result, these "hot Jupiters" are not thought to be good analogs for low- and moderate-temperature gas giants, which astronomers think make up a large bulk of exoplanets. (Get more facts about the universe.)

In contrast, the distance between Corot-9b and its star is about ten times greater than that of hot Jupiter systems. Its surface temperature is estimated to be between -4 degrees and  320 degrees Fahrenheit (-20 degrees and 160 degrees Celsius).

While no one has seen Corot-9b up close yet, Moutou imagines it looks very similar to the gas giants in our own solar system.

For instance, Corot-9b is probably a gaseous, cloudy planet like Jupiter with lots of moons and rings like Saturn, she said.

Ker Than

for National Geographic News

Two radical arab terrorists board flight – Sit with Marine

Two radical Arab terrorists boarded a flight out of London .

One took a window seat and the other sat next to him in the middle seat.

Just before takeoff, a U.S. Marine sat down in the aisle seat.

After takeoff, the Marine kicked his shoes off, wiggled his toes and

was settling in when the Terrorist in the window seat said, 'I need to get

up and get a Coke.'

'Don't get up,' said the Marine, 'I'm in the aisle seat, I'll get it

for you.'

As soon as he left, one of the Terrorists picked up the Marine's shoe and

spat in it. When the Marine returned with the Coke, the other Terrorist

said, 'That looks good, I'd really like one, too.'

Again, the Marine obligingly went to fetch it. While he was gone,

the other Terrorist picked up the Marine's other shoe and spat in it.

When the Marine returned, they all sat back and enjoyed the

flight.

As the plane was landing, the Marine slipped his feet into his shoes

and knew immediately what had happened. He leaned over and asked his

new neighbors...

'Why does it have to be this way? How long must this go on?

This fighting between our nations? This hatred? This animosity? This spitting in shoes and pissing in Cokes?'

THE FEW. THE PROUD.. THE MARINES.

Citibank exposes 600,000 customers’ Social Security Number

Ralph Remakel received a Citibank letter postmarked Feb. 16 that notified him of a recent Citibank error. It turns out he wasn't the only one.

In late January, Citibank mailed year-end tax statements to 600,000 Citi customers via the U.S. Postal Service that included the customers' Social Security numbers ... on the outside of the envelope.

Citi called the mistake a "processing error."

Although the nine-digit numbers were not identified as Social Security numbers (they were printed at the lower edge of the envelope with other numbers and letters and resembled a mail routing number), Citi still reacted to the mistake. EVP and Director of Citibank Client Services Norman White sent customer notification letters to every affected Citi customer during the week of Feb. 15, apologizing for the error.

The letter offered Citi customers the option to enroll in a free, 180-day credit monitoring service arranged by Citibank, but White also encouraged customers to regularly review activity on their accounts.

Remakel said he did not take advantage of Citibank's credit monitoring service offer.

"It’s like small change compared to the effect of me getting my Social Security number compromised," Remakel said. "Who would would really see it except the post office? But it’s not like it’s hidden in any way. What’s the easiest way to take someone’s identity? Their Social Security Number."

(See the full text of the letter below)

Citibank said in a statement that the company believes the error produced little to no risk to its customers and that it has been corrected for all Citibank's future mailings.

"Although there is little or no risk to our customers, we decided to be completely transparent to our customers by notifying them of the error," the statement said. "It is an important part of our commitment to our customers to be fully transparent and to give them the peace of mind that comes from banking with people they trust."

Remakel, however, was not satisfied with his notification letter.

"I was almost to the point of calling them and saying, 'Hey, for your blunder, how about wiping out everything I owe you?',” he said.

Full text of Citibank's notification letter:We are writing to inform you that due to a processing error the nine digits in your Social Security number, along with a string of other numbers and letters all resembling a mail routing number, were printed on the lower edge of an envelope containing a year-end tax statement that we mailed to you recently.

We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Do not hesitate to contact us at 877-478-6597

Saturn moon could be hospitable to life, new images suggest