Photometric and kinematical study of nearby groups of galaxies around IC 65 and NGC 6962

We discuss the structure, galaxy content and kinematics of a sparse, probably collapsing group around IC 65 and an evolved rich group around NGC 6962Comment: Poster contribution on 2 pages with 2 figures to be published in ESO Astrophysics Symposia: "Groups of Galaxies in the Nearby Universe", eds. I. Saviane, V. Ivanov, J. Borissov

Dynamics and Shape of Brightest Cluster Galaxies

We identified Brightest Cluster Members (BCM) on DSS images of 1083 Abell clusters, derived their individual and host cluster redshifts from literature and determined the BCM ellipticity. Half the BCMs move at a speed higher than 37 % of the cluster velocity dispersion sigma_{cl}, suggesting that most BCMs are part of substructures falling into the main cluster. Both, the BCM's velocity offset in units of sigma_{cl}, and BCM ellipticity, weakly decrease with cluster richness.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figures, Proc. ESO Workshop "Groups of galaxies in the nearby Universe", Santiago, Chile, 5-9 Dec. 2005, ESO Astrophysics Symposia, eds. I. Saviane, V. Ivanov & J. Borissova, Springer-Verla

Ignore the vetoes, and forget about Coalitions of the Willing: How the U.S. can achieve higher levels of foreign public support for its military operations

In the early 2000s, the US gained a great deal of foreign criticism over its military operations in Iraq, and later, Afghanistan. But what determines whether the foreign public will support such interventions? In new research which uses survey research based in Japan, Atsushi Tago finds that the use of force in the Middle East by the US is most likely to be supported by foreigners when it also has the approval of the United Nations Security Council, and that much of that support continues even if the UN resolution is vetoed by Russia and China. Significantly, they also find that when the US forms a friendly ‘Coalition of the Willing’, this does little to increase foreign support for military actions

Kinematic analysis of the instep kick action of elementary school students in soccer ―focus on ball speed and rebound ratio－

The purpose of this study was to establish guidelines for proper selection of soccer balls for elementary school students. Ten youth soccer team players aged 8-11 years, who all kicked using their right foot, were included in this study. The participants were asked to perform an instep kick with full strength to hit a stationary soccer ball toward a target 8 m away. Two types of balls (with different masses) were used in the experiment. A size 4 ball weighing 360 g and a size 3 ball weighing 300 g. For data collection, a Vicon optical three-dimensional motion analysis system was used. For kinematic calculations, ball velocity, toe velocity, and rebound ratio (ball velocity / toe velocity right before impact) were calculated. A significant difference was observed in velocities in both kicks (

Obama’s visit to Hiroshima is viewed as “a sort of” apology by the people of Japan.

This week President Obama will visit the Japanese city of Hiroshima, more than 70 years after the city was destroyed by a US nuclear attack at the end of World War II. While the White House has stated that the President will not apologize for the atomic bombing during his visit – and has also made clear that his visit should not be seen as an apology – it is hard not to link the visit to the idea of an apology. Atsushi Tago and Kazunori Inamasu conducted a Japan-wide survey and a survey of Hiroshima residents. They found evidence that while neither the people of Hiroshima nor the Japanese public more generally are looking for an apology from Obama, even without a formal statement of apology, his visit is still seen to be “a sort of apology”