Skiers on New Year's Eve will get best view of the blue moon

It may become known as the great blue moon boo boo.

Reports of Australians celebrating New Year's Eve under a rare blue moon have been shot down by astronomers.News websites, including this one, were quick to follow up on a report in yesterday's The Age newspaper, which referred to a blue moon occuring on New Year's Eve.

The only problem is, that report was incorrect.In Australia, at least.The phrase blue moon refers to when a second full moon occurs within a calendar month. With the lunar cycle taking roughly 29.5 days, it generally happens every two to three years. The moon itself does not change colour.

A blue moon is scheduled for 7.13pm New Year's Eve, but astronomers work in Greenwich Mean Time.

Because Australia's time zone is ahead of England, the full moon will actually occur at 5.13am January 1, Brisbane time.The fact that it doesn't fall in the same month means it can no longer be considered a blue moon.

Mark Rigby, curator of the Brisbane Planetarium, said the term full moon referred to the specific point when the moon was on the opposite side of the Earth to the sun."If you were in London you could celebrate on New Year's Eve under a blue moon, but not at our latitude," Mr Rigby said.

"It is a specific moment in time when you have the sun, Earth and moon all in a straight line."

Australians devastated at losing this astronomical boost to their celebrations can take solace in the fact we will be compensated with an even rarer event: a month with no full moon.After New Year's Day's full moon, Australia will experience a blue moon on January 30, followed by no full moon at all in February. We will then have a second blue moon in March, coming on March 30 after a first full moon on March 1.

The last blue moon occurred in Australia in 2007, but the last time February had no full moon was 1991. It is not due to occur again until 2018.

Obama says U.S. to hunt failed plane attack's backers

"We will not rest until we find all who were involved and hold them accountable," Obama said, interrupting his year-end vacation in Hawaii to assure Americans that his administration was doing all it could to ensure security after a Nigerian man managed to smuggle explosives onto a Detroit-bound flight.

"The American people should be assured that we are doing everything in our power to keep you and your family safe and secure during this busy holiday season," he said.

Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, is charged with attempting to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane as it approached Detroit on a flight from Amsterdam with almost 300 people on board.

Abdulmutallab has told U.S. investigators that al Qaeda operatives in Yemen supplied him with an explosive device for the attempted December 25 attack and trained him on how to detonate it, officials said.

Russia to work on new nuclear missiles

Russia will work on a new generation of atomic weapons to strengthen its nuclear deterrent, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday, just hours after Moscow test-fired one of its most feared missiles.

Medvedev said that Russia and the United States were close to a landmark deal on cutting arsenals of Cold War nuclear weapons, but that Moscow would still push ahead with the development of new strategic offensive weapons.

"Of course, we will develop new systems, including delivery systems, that is, missiles," Medvedev told the directors of Russia's three main state-controlled television channels.

Medvedev said Washington and Moscow had agreed most of the remaining issues for a deal to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I), which led to the biggest reduction in nuclear weapons in history.

"Despite the fact that we will prepare and sign this treaty, we will nevertheless develop our strategic offensive forces because without this there is no way to defend our country," Medvedev said, several hours after the armed forces test-fired a nuclear capable missile.

Tell Google that you’re with fresh things over your website

All of us know the traffic on the web, both in terms of traffic as well as content; Search engines face a difficult task today. So the fresh content is becoming much more important.

The Years Shortest Day

Today is officially the shortest day of the year and December 21 marks the astronomical event which sees the Earth tilting farthest from the sun, and occurs at precisely 12:47 EST.

December 21, or Winter Solstice marks the official first day of winter and also see’s the astrological sign of Capricorn come into the zone.

According to history, the Latin phrase “solstice” means the “sun stands still,” and has an accident history of celebrations and ceremonies dedicated to the shortest day where Yule festivals were held. You can find out more about Winter Solstice.

Celebrations still continue to this day, where Fairbanks, Alaska are hosting an event called “Solstice Fest,” a festival which involves live entertainment, fireworks and a light show.

Barcelona beat Estudiantes to win the Club World Cup

Barcelona secured a record sixth piece of silverware this season with a 2-1 extra-time victory over Estudiantes in the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi.

Lionel Messi's 110th-minute goal capped a stunning comeback by Barca after they had trailed since the 39th minute.Mauro Bosselli gave Estudiantes the lead before substitute Pedro Rodriguez equalised with a minute to go.

The Catalan side have also won La Liga, the Copa del Rey, Champions League and European and Spanish Super Cup titles.

This was the second time in succession in the competition that Barcelona have had to come back from a deficit to earn victory after they fought back to beat Atlante in the semis.

However, Barca could have been ahead early on in the final but instead of shooting after being released by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Xavi chose to pass and over-hit his lay-off to Thierry Henry.

'Lukewarm' climate change deal in Copenhagen

The UN climate conference in Copenhagen today approved a deal to tackle global warming proposed by world leaders, after an accord Barack Obama brokered with China, India, Brazil and South Africa.

But the UN Secretary General today admitted the non-binding agreement at the conclusion of the conference was not "everything everyone had hoped for", as he confirmed a deal had finally been done.

Delegates have agreed to "take note" of the American-led Copenhagen Accord, despite criticism that there are no long-term targets to cut emissions and it is not a legally-binding treaty.

Obama had brokered the agreement with China, India, Brazil and South Africa to tackle global warming, which included a reference to keeping the global temperature rise to just 2C - but the plan does not specify greenhouse gas cuts needed to achieve the 2C goal.

Russia Arms Treaty "Close"

President Barack Obama said Friday that the U.S. and Russia were "quite close' to agreeing on a successor to an expired nuclear arms control treaty.Mr. Obama had wanted a new deal in place before the end of the year, but that appeared unlikely.

Emerging from private talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on the sidelines of the U.N. climate conference, Mr. Obama expressed confidence that a successor pact will be agreed to in a "timely fashion." Medvedev said technical details still needed to be worked out.

Both leaders made only brief statements to reporters and took no questions. Neither one said anything about a possible timetable for signing a deal.

"We've been making excellent progress," Mr. Obama said. "We are quite close to an agreement. And I'm confident that it will be completed in a timely fashion."

Hollywood hopes an ensemble cast boosts Blu-ray

Although prices for some Blu-ray players dropped below $100 this holiday season, customers are hesitating to jump into the next-generation video format. Even people who already own Blu-ray players are still buying movies on DVDs.

One big reason: Blu-ray discs won't play on standard DVD players found in cars, computers and bedrooms.

Now Hollywood - which is banking on the pricier Blu-ray discs to help lift sagging home video sales - is stepping up its efforts to win customers. Studios are packaging Blu-ray discs with regular versions on DVDs, and throwing in so-called "digital copies," which can play on computers and iPods.

Over the past month or so, "Up," ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" and many other hit movies were released in such combo packs. Universal is releasing its "Bourne" movies on "flipper" discs with Blu-ray on one side and DVD on the other.

NASA Chief Meets With Obama

NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden is scheduled to meet with President Barack Obama at the White House Wednesday.

The two will likely discuss the findings of the Augustine Committee, which spent the summer reviewing the agency’s plans for human space flight after the shuttle fleet’s scheduled retirement in 2010.

NASA’s Constellation program is set to return astronauts to the moon by 2020, but the committee recommended eight options, six of which would cancel the Ares I rocket.

Meantime, an Alabama senator inserted a provision in the recent end of the year spending bill, forbidding NASA to cancel the Constellation project without congressional approval.

Much of the work for Constellation is out of NASA’s Huntsville, Ala., facility.