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Like all stars, our Sun is powered by the fusion of hydrogen into heavier elements. Nuclear fusion is not only what makes stars shine, it is also a primary source of the chemical elements that make the world around us. Much of our understanding of stellar fusion comes from theoretical models of atomic nuclei, but for our closest star, we also have another source: neutrinos created in the Sun’s core.Whenever atomic nuclei undergo fusion, they produce not only high energy gamma rays but also neutrinos. While the gamma rays heat the Sun’s interior over thousands of years, neutrinos zip out...

In late September, Richardson announced that the Navy would be getting rid of all of their enlisted ratings and that the service would be headed in a new direction. Military officials said that the purpose for the change is so that service members can more easily adjust to civilian life and no longer be defined by their job titles by broadening their career fields. The decision received a great deal of backlash from sailors since Navy ratings have been around for centuries. The ratings system was also scrapped because of Navy Secretary Ray Mabus’s order to make ratings “gender neutral”...

Mike Mullen's Surprise Promotion By Tom Bowman CNO will carry a reputation as a pragmatist and problem-solver to the JCS Chairman’s office. When American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the Pentagon on 11 September 2001, Admiral Mike Mullen was talking budgets with then-Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Vern Clark. Suddenly he felt something that reminded him of an earthquake in his native California. His office down the hall was closer to the impact. It quickly filled with smoke. His staff said the plane, slicing into the Pentagon some four floors below, appeared to roll under their feet. “It was a...

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (NNS) -- Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Mike Mullen accepted on behalf of the Navy the EA-18G Growler in a formal roll-out ceremony at The Boeing Company's facility here Aug 3. The Growler will replace its aging predecessor, the EA-6B Prowler, as the Navy’s air platform for electronic warfare. “The EA-18G Growler is a first-class aircraft with a key mission at a critical time in our history,” said Mullen. Naval aviation, he explained, has been a very integral part of the nation’s defense in both peace and war. “As we have seen in operations Enduring Freedom...

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Next to the close relationship the Navy shares with the Marine Corps, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), Adm. Mike Mullen said he considers the Navy's continuing partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard as the "single most critical relationship we can possibly have when it comes to securing the maritime domain," during his speech at the 18th Annual Suface Navy Association National Syposium Jan. 10. "We talk a lot about the Navy-Marine Corps Team, and we should," Mullen told the audience. "But we are also going to start talking about the Navy-Coast Guard Team." He said that the...

Subject:Gulf Coast Visit Admirals, I made a day trip to the Gulf Coast this weekend to visit with and thank our Sailors for the extraordinary work they are doing in the recovery and relief effort. I spent time in at the Seabee base in Gulfport, NSA New Orleans and NAS/JRB New Orleans, as well as aboard HARRY S TRUMAN, BATAAN, TORTUGA and IWO JIMA. It was at once both a grim and an incredibly uplifting experience. Some of my impressions. First, the pictures on TV don't even begin to do justice to the scope of the devastation. I saw whole...

PENSACOLA, Fla. (NNS) -- Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Mike Mullen presented the Purple Heart to Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Jonathan D. Bryant Aug. 19 during an all hands call at the Naval Aviation Memorial Chapel aboard Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla. Bryant received the decoration - one of the world’s oldest military decorations still awarded today - for injuries he received in combat while serving his second tour of duty as a corpsman with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) in May 2004. He was wounded while assisting injured Marines during a prolonged gun battle in Western Iraq....

ANNAPOLIS, Md., July 22, 2005 – Fighting the war on terror demands extraordinary capabilities and focus, and today's military leaders are setting the example for the young men and women in uniform following in their footsteps. That's the message the Defense Department's top civilians delivered here today as they said goodbye to the chief of naval operations and welcomed aboard his replacement. Amid traditional bells, pipes and ceremony, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Gordon England, secretary of the Navy and acting deputy defense secretary, praised outgoing CNO Adm. Vern Clark for his leadership and vision in leading the Navy...

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Vern Clark meritoriously advanced the 2005 Sailors of the Year (SOY) to chief petty officer during a ceremony July 21 at the Pentagon. The advancement was Clark’s last official act before his retirement. CNO Shore SOY, Hospital Corpsman 1st Class (FMF) Shannon R. Dittlinger; Atlantic Sea SOY, Aerographer’s Mate 1st Class (AW/SW) Richard B. Rainer; Pacific Fleet Sea SOY, Aviation Electronics Technician 1st Class (AW/SS/NAC) Matthew J. Waxenfelter; and Naval Reserve Force SOY, Utilitiesman 1st Class (SS) Thomas E. Mock each received a Navy Commendation Medal prior to receiving their anchors....

Description: Clayton Swisher talks about the 2000 Camp David summit between Ehud Barak, Yasser Arafat, and Bill Clinton and argues that the popular understanding of what happened there is inaccurate. Mr. Swisher says that while Mr. Arafat is largely blamed for spoiling the negotiations, the U.S. and Israeli teams were just as, if not more, responsible for the talks falling apart. He also challenges reports that claim that Mr. Arafat was offered upwards of 98 percent of the occupied territories in exchange for peace. This event was held at American University in Washington, DC. Includes Q&A. Author Bio: Clayton Swisher,...

Harold Wilson, that British politician more canny than admired, usefully reminded his audience that things can change very quickly in politics. "A week is a long time," he said, in politics, and we have seen this over and over in the American scene these past months. After all, only nine weeks ago former vice president Al Gore blessed the insurgent campaign of Howard Dean and most pundits thought the race was over. All that was needed was the anointing of the former Vermont governor as Democratic party standard-bearer to take on US President George W. Bush in November. Overnight Senator...

American Culture:  Is it Christian? Pastor Joe Fuiten, February 12, 2003     What kind of a nation is America?  How do you tell?  Some people will always answer that question by pointing out our sins.  This is easy to do because our sins are many and sometimes quite flagrant.  However, in what nation has that not been true?  I would suggest to you that the Bible has always been true, and that in every nation, in every time, its words “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” were true. Someone has said, “Culture is...