"If there is no basis to the , then how do you explain the suns alignment with the center of our galaxy that is predicted to occur on Dec. 21?"

Putting as earnest a look on my face as possible, I replied, "Youre absolutely correct the sun will indeed be aligned with the center of our galaxy on Dec. 21." I then quickly added, "But of course that happens every year on Dec. 21." []

The look on my inquisitors face was priceless. "Really? But how can that be?"

The sun's annual path

As the Earth moves around the sun, we see the sun change its position against the background stars a full 360-degree circle around the sky during the course of a year. That apparent path is known to astronomers asout toward the sky.

As it turns out, the moon and the seven other planets that comprise thealso move in orbits whose planes dont vary too greatly from that of Earths orbit. As a result, the moon and the other planets also appear to stay relatively close to the ecliptic.

The sun never deviates from the ecliptic and so as Earth travels around it, from our perspective, it will always take the exact same path against the same background stars every year.

Since when were looking towardwere also looking toward the center of the Milky Way, when the sun reaches that same point on the ecliptic in Sagittarius on Dec. 21 every year, the sun and the galaxys center are indeed aligned.

The ecliptic is a very important feature because it marks "the pathway," so to speak, for the sun, moon and planets as they move across the sky. Most sky charts plot the position of the ecliptic for this reason, for it provides sky watchers with a clue as to where one or more of these objects will appear.

Because theyre not located exactly in the same orbital plane as Earth, the moon and planets usually are not found exactly on the ecliptic line, but rather within several degrees of it. Thus, instead of a line, we find the moon and planets wandering along the sky within a band that encompasses the entire sky, which we call the zodiac.

The ecliptic runs exactly along the middle of that zodiacal band.

The 'classic 12'

The word "zodiac" is derived from the Greek, meaning "animal circle." A sort of "celestial zoo."

And with the sole exception of one of the "classic 12"that belong to the zodiac, all of the zodiac members refer to living things. Many of these constellations are named for animals, such as Leo, the Lion, Taurus, the Bull and Cancer, the Crab, just to name a few.

The sole inanimate member is Libra, the Scales.

All of these names can be readily identified on sky charts and are familiar to millions of horoscope users (who ironically would be hard pressed to find them in the actual sky.) []

If we could see the stars in the daytime, we would see the sun slowly wander from one constellation of the zodiac to the next, making one complete circle around the sky in one year.

Ancient astrologers were able to figure out where the sun was on the zodiac by noting the last zodiacal constellation to rise ahead of the sun, or the first to set after it. Obviously, the sun had to be somewhere in between.

Each month a specific constellation was conferred the title, "house of the sun," and in this manner each month-long period of the year was given its "sign of the zodiac."

Some discrepancies

A couple of years ago, a board member of the Minnesota Planetarium Society caused quite a stir when he pointed out that the zodiacal sign that had been assigned for a given month in the newspaper horoscope is not where the sun actually is for that month.

He pointed out that, in reality, todays astrologers continue to adhere toby at least a millennium. For instance, according to astrology, youre a Leo if you were born between July 23 and Aug. 22 because thats the time of year where the sun supposedly is in the zodiac.

That might have been true 1,000 years ago, but no longer. In fact, on July 23, the sun is not in Leo, but in Cancer. This discrepancy is due to the "wobble" of the Earths axis (known as precession).

As a consequence, there then came the revelation (even though it has been known by astronomers for a long time) that astrologers continue to adhere to star positions that for all intents and purposes are out of date by 10 centuries or more.

Outcasts of the zodiac

One thing that I have never been able to understand is why astrologers fail to recognize Ophiuchus, the serpent holder. He certainly should be considered as a card-carrying member of the zodiacal fraternity since the sun spends more time traversing through Ophiuchus than .

It officially resides in Scorpius for less than a week: from Nov. 23 to 29. It then moves into Ophiuchus on Nov. 30 and remains within its boundaries for more than two weeks until Dec. 17. And yet, the serpent holder is not considered a member of the Zodiac.

In addition, because theand planets are often positioned either just to the north or south of the ecliptic, they sometimes appear within the boundaries of several other non-zodiacal star patterns.

The revered Belgian astronomical calculator Jean Meeus has pointed out that there are actually 22 zodiacal constellations in which the moon and some of the planets from Mercury to Neptune can occasionally enter.

In addition to the 12 classical zodiacal signs and , we can also add: Auriga, the charioteer; Cetus, the whale; Corvus, the crow; Crater, the cup; Hydra, the water snake; Orion, the hunter; Pegasus, the flying horse; Scutum, the shield; and Sextans, the sextant.

And in case youre interested, in the upcoming month, the moon will be in Orion on May 13, Sextans on May 19 and Ophiuchus on May 26.

I guess you can say that so far as the celestial zoo is concerned, these three constellations are on the outside of the cage looking in.

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for the New York Times and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, New York. Follow us on , and . Original article on .

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Each year, nearly 100 million patients across the U.S. access websites like , , andto provide feedback about experiences with their physicians.

Only those physicians with near perfect overall and bedside manner scores, as voted by their patients, are selected for the Compassionate Doctor recognition. Of the nation's 870,000 active physicians, only 3% were accorded this honor in 2012.

The Compassionate Doctor certification is part of the Patients' Choice recognition program, where patients rate and vote for their favorite doctors.

Dr. H. Kurtis Biggs commented on the recognition: "This is quite an honor for me. I am very pleased to have been selected and grateful to my patients who went out of their way to rate me and give me positive reviews."

For more information on this Compassionate Doctor, please visit Dr. H. Kurtis Biggs's .

Following the publication of Dr. H. Kurtis Biggs's selection for the Patients' Choice Award, American Registry seconded the honor and added Dr. Biggs to The Registry of Business Excellence. An exclusive recognition plaque has been designed to commemorate the honor. The doctor's custom wall plaque is .

For more information on Dr. H. Kurtis Biggs, located in Naples,FL call 239-261-2663, or visit .

This press release was written by American Registry, LLC with approval by and/or contributions from Dr. Biggs and was distributed by PR Newswire, a subsidiary of UBM plc.

Patients' Choice provides in depth information on doctors in your area who have been recognized and awarded for outstanding patient care and expertise. The Compassionate Doctor certification is the honor role of physicians who have received the highest overall and bedside manner ratings by their patients. American Registry, LLC, recognizes excellence in top businesses and professionals. The Registry includes over 2 million significant business and professional recognitions. For more information, search The Registry at .

Contact Information:Dr.H. Kurtis BiggsPhone: 239-261-2663Email Address:

SOURCE American Registry

"Star Trek" (Namco Bandai/Paramount, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, $59.99) takes that notorious Kirk-Gorn showdown and stretches it out to an eight-hour adventure. The game, alas, doesn't have any of the low-fi charm of "Arena" it's just a flat-out mess.

The story lands somewhere between the events of J.J. Abrams' 2009 "Star Trek" reboot and this month's "Star Trek Into Darkness." The Vulcans are settling on a new planet with the help of the world-altering Helios device until the Gorn pop through a wormhole and scamper off with the darned thing. It's up to Kirk, Mr. Spock and the rest of the Enterprise crew to stop the reptilian savages from flipping the switch on Helios that turns it into a galaxy destroyer.

Forget about setting your phasers on stun; the object of this "Star Trek" game is to have Kirk and Spock kill every Gorn that stands between them and Helios. It's a dispiriting, cynical approach that rejects the core values of Gene Roddenberry's Federation particularly, respect and cooperation between wildly different life forms in favor of a scenario in which it's OK for the heroes to slaughter hundreds of aliens because they look like lizards.

It's the same formula that's made "Halo" and "Gears of War" into blockbusters, but "Star Trek" lacks their attention to detail. As in "Gears," you're meant to find cover and then engage, but alien bullets still managed to find me no matter where I was hiding. On the other hand, the enemies are so dumb you may not even need cover; frequently, Gorn warriors just stared my way as I strolled up and unloaded my phaser.

"Star Trek" is built for cooperative play, allowing you and a friend to control Kirk and Spock. If you're playing solo, be prepared for the awful artificial intelligence that takes over the other character. I played as Spock, and when I wasn't waiting for Kirk to quit lollygagging I was watching in horror as he kept wandering aimlessly into Gorn gunfire. There isn't much gameplay difference between the two officers both feel equally sluggish, as if the present-day William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy were hired to do their motion capture.

The Abrams-era Kirk and Spock, Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, do show up to deliver solid voiceover performances, though they're not given much to work with. Kirk's chatter is a tiresome combination of bluster and sexual innuendo, while Spock gets to constantly explain whatever the player has to do next, but their camaraderie somehow comes through.

That's as close as "Star Trek" gets to capturing the old magic. At one point, you do get to take the helm of the Enterprise, but that thrill quickly dissipates when the scenario turns into a stationary shooting gallery. It's an all-too-characteristic moment of this dismal adventure. Instead of exploring strange new worlds, "Star Trek" settles for rehashing the most exhausted cliches of sci-fi video games. One-half star out of four.

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Online:

http://www.startrekgame.com/

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Follow Lou Kesten on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lkesten

The U.S.-based group Resolve said in a new report that Kony recently directed killings from an enclave protected by the Sudanese military. Until early this year, according to the report, Kony and some of his commanders were operating in Kafia Kingi, a disputed area along the Sudan-South Sudan border where African Union troops tasked with catching Kony don't have access.

"The enclave is currently controlled by Sudan, and numerous eyewitness reports indicate that elements of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in Kafia Kingi have actively sheltered senior LRA commanders there and provided them with limited material support," the report said. "According to LRA defectors and other sources, LRA leader Joseph Kony himself first traveled to the Kafia Kingi enclave in 2010. He returned to Kafia Kingi in 2011 and was present there throughout parts of 2012."

In a series of makeshift camps near a Sudanese army barracks, Kony "continued to direct LRA attacks against civilians in neighboring countries and issue new orders for LRA fighters."

The Ugandan military with support from U.S. military advisers is the driving force behind the hunt for Kony. Ugandan army spokesman Col. Felix Kulayigye said the report vindicates Uganda's contention that the LRA is a beneficiary of Sudanese support. Ugandan army officials said late last year they believed Kony was hiding in Sudan-controlled territory, although now they believe he has moved elsewhere.

"We always knew Kony was hiding in Kafia Kingi," he said. "The way forward is that no country should be hiding a wanted criminal."

Kony watchdog groups are concerned that Kony can retreat to Kafia Kingi whenever his pursuers get close. Resolve said it has satellite imagery of the now-abandoned camp where Kony was reportedly seen in late 2012. The warlord is no longer believed to be hiding there, the report noted, saying he may have crossed to Central African Republic.

Sudan has consistently denied charges it supports Kony, a warlord wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Sudan's army spokesman Sawarmy Khaled denied reports on Friday that his country has provided shelter or refuge to Kony.

"The report is baseless and rejected. The Sudanese army has no renegade leaders. It is a united army and has no place for individual acts," he told the official state news agency SUNA. "The Sudanese army has no interest in adopting or sheltering rebels from other countries."

The United States government is evaluating the report that the LRA is operating in the Kafia Kingi region, said State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell Friday.

"The U.S. and the international community as a whole would take very seriously any credible evidence of support or safe haven being provided to the LRA," said Ventrell, citing a December statement at the U.N. expressing concern about the LRA's possible presence in Kafia Kingi.

"We continue to discuss our concerns about the whereabouts of Joseph Kony with all governments in the region, including with the government of Sudan, and we have encouraged Sudan to cooperate with regional efforts to counter the LRA," Ventrell added. "We're in a position now where two of the top five commanders are gone, the number of people killed by the LRA has gone down by 66 percent, and defections continue. So our pressure on the LRA continues."

Kony's LRA, which originated in Uganda in the 1980s as a popular tribal uprising against the government, has become notorious for recruiting children as fighters and forcing girls to be sex slaves. Military pressure forced the LRA out of Uganda in 2005, and the rebels scattered across parts of central Africa. LRA fighters are now believed to be operating mainly in the jungles of Congo and Central African Republic.

Ugandan Brig. Dick Olum, the top commander of African forces hunting for Kony, recently said he believed Kony had crossed to Central African Republic, where last month rebels deposed a president and expressed hostility toward foreign troops operating in the country. The lack of cooperation from the new government there forced the African Union to suspend military operations against Kony, who over the years has taken advantage of porous borders and weak governments to regroup.

The LRA is vastly diminished from previous years, and its forces now don't exceed 500, according Brig. Olum. Many of Kony's fighters have defected in the past year, and some of his top lieutenants have been captured or killed in combat. Last year an LRA commander believed to be Kony's military strategist was seized by Ugandan troops.

Sudan's support for Kony threatens progress made against the LRA, said the new report by Resolve.

"Unless addressed, it will also enable LRA leaders to outlast current counter-LRA operations," the report said. "Though international diplomats and military officials working to stop LRA attacks privately acknowledge recent LRA movement in Kafia Kingi, they have not adopted realistic strategies to prevent further support from Sudan to Kony's forces."

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Associated Press reporter Sarah El Deeb in Cairo contributed to this report

That's how some families who lost loved ones in December's massacre at a Connecticut elementary school view the Senate's defeat this past week of the most far-reaching gun control legislation in two decades, as they pledged to keep fighting for measures to prevent gun violence.

Neil Heslin, Erica Lafferty and Carlee Soto were among the Newtown, Conn., family members who spent a week on Capitol Hill describing how their loved ones died at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14.But their stories of horror and heroism were no match for a threat from the National Rifle Association to rate the vote, and concern from Republicans and a small band of rural-state Democrats.

Lafferty, whose mother, school principal Dawn Hochsprung, lunged unarmed at the gunman to stop him from firing the assault weapon, said she was "honestly disgusted that there were so many senators that are doing nothing about the fact that my mom was gunned down in her elementary school, along with five other educators and 20 6- and 7-year-old children."

The Senate rejected on Wednesday a series of gun control bills that would have tightened background checks for buyers, banned assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, and loosened restrictions on carrying concealed weapons across state lines, the last measure backed by the NRA.

Within hours of the votes, former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords accused senators who opposed the new regulations of "cowardice" in a piece published in the New York Times' op-ed page. Giffords was among 13 people wounded two years ago when a lone gunman opened fire as she met with constituents in a Tucson, Ariz., shopping mall, killing six others. She and her husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, had lobbied for the bills' passage.

On CBS' "Face the Nation," moderator Bob Schieffer asked Heslin, Lafferty and Soto Sunday whether the words "cowardice" and "cowards" were appropriate to describe Wednesday's vote.

"I do," said Heslin, who's 6-year-old son Neil Lewis died at Sandy Hook. "I feel they're not standing up for what they should be."

Carlee Soto, recounted her sister Victoria's courage to try to save her students, Neil Lewis among them.

"My sister wasn't a coward that day. My sister pushed the kids up against the wall, out of sight," she said, adding, "She protected her kids. Why aren't they protecting us?" referring to the senators who voted against the gun bills.

The families say the gun legislation would have strengthened laws already in effect rather than undercut the Second Amendment, which provides a constitutional right to bear arms.

"It's beyond me how these congressmen cannot stand up and support something that would prevent or help prevent something like this from ever occurring again," Heslin said.

"We aren't going to go away. I know I'm not," he added. "We're not going to stop until there are changes that are made."

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NEW YORK (AP) -- It can store the information from a million CDs in a space no bigger than your little finger, and could keep it safe for centuries.

Is this some new electronic gadget? Nope. It's DNA.

The genetic material has long held all the information needed to make plants and animals, and now some scientists are saying it could help handle the growing storage needs of today's information society.

Researchers reported Wednesday that they had stored all 154 Shakespeare sonnets, a photo, a scientific paper, and a 26-second sound clip from Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. That all fit in a barely visible bit of DNA in a test tube.

The process involved converting the ones and zeroes of digital information into the four-letter alphabet of DNA code. That code was used to create strands of synthetic DNA. Then machines "read" the DNA molecules and recovered the encoded information.That reading process took two weeks, but technological advances are driving that time down, said Ewan Birney of the European Bioinformatics Institute in Hinxton, England. He's an author of a report published online by the journal Nature.

DNA could be useful for keeping huge amounts of information that must be kept for a long time but not retrieved very often, the researchers said. Storing the DNA would be relatively simple, they said: Just put it in a cold, dry and dark place and leave it alone.

The technology might work in the near term for large archives that have to be kept safe for centuries, like national historical records or huge library holdings, said study co-author Nick Goldman of the institute. Maybe in a decade it could become feasible for consumers to store information they want to have around in 50 years, like wedding photos or videos for future grandchildren, Goldman said in an email.

The researchers said they have no intention of putting storage DNA into a living thing, and that it couldn't accidentally become part of the genetic machinery of a living thing because of its coding scheme.

Sriram Kosuri, a Harvard researcher who co-authored a similar report last September, said both papers show advantages of DNA for long-term storage. But because of its technical limitations, "it's not going to replace your hard drive," he said.

Kosuri's co-author, Harvard DNA expert George Church, said the technology could let a person store all of Wikipedia on a fingertip, and all the world's information now stored on disk drives could fit in the palm of the hand.

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Online:

Nature: http://www.nature.com/nature

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Malcolm Ritter can be followed at http://twitter.com/malcolmritter

The airline's revenue climbed slightly, however, as the average fare increased almost $8 from a year ago.

Southwest said that bookings for the first three months of 2013 look strong. It said that based on bookings and ticket prices so far, a key revenue measure should rise by between 2 and 3 percent in January compared with the same month last year.

Although the rate of airfare increases has slowed since 2011, fares are still going up partly because airlines are limiting the number of flights, making seats more scarce. Southwest expects the industry as a whole to run about 1 to 2 percent fewer flights in early 2013 than in the same period last year.

Southwest, the nation's fourth-biggest airline, will consider cramming more flights into the busier middle of the day and reducing daily flights on some routes that aren't profitable enough.

"I hope what we have less of is eliminating nonstop service between city pairs but ... that is a possibility," said CEO Gary Kelly. He didn't name the routes that could be affected.

On a conference call, analysts pressed Kelly on whether he might reverse Southwest's "bags-fly-free" policy. Kelly said the policy helps his airline draw customers away from competitors more than offsetting money lost by not charging fees and that charging for bags now would damage the company's image.

"Customers hate bag fees, so I think by definition there would be an impact to the brand," he said.

Southwest reported fourth-quarter net income of $78 million, or 11 cents per share. That's down from $152 million, or 20 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items such as fuel contracts, the net income would have been 9 cents per share, beating the 7-cents-per-share forecast among analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Revenue ticked up 1.6 percent to $4.17 billion but fell short of the $4.20 billion that analysts expected.

Expenses rose faster, however, by 3.1 percent. Labor costs rose and maintenance costs jumped significantly as the airline continued to overhaul the cabins inside many of its planes.

Spending on fuel, the airline's biggest expense, rose a modest 0.7 percent. Southwest is forecasting a welcome drop in its first-quarter fuel bill, to $3.30 per gallon from $3.44.

The cost increases were still less than some analysts expected. Standard & Poor's analyst Jim Corridore said he expects revenue to rise faster than most costs in 2013.

The average fourth-quarter fare on Southwest and its AirTran Airways subsidiary was $148.02, up 5.4 percent from $140.38 a year earlier.

Passengers flew 1.4 percent fewer miles on Southwest than a year earlier, and planes were less full 79.6 percent occupancy, down from 80.5 percent.

Southwest earned $421 million in 2012, its 40th straight profitable year, a streak that Kelly called "a remarkable feat and a record unmatched in the airline industry."

Southwest shares rose 3 cents to $11.39 in afternoon trading. They have gained about 50 percent since last August, rising along with other airline stocks. Investors have been encouraged by stronger financial performance at the airlines and the possibility that a potential merger of American Airlines and US Airways would increase the industry's ability to raise fares.

Perhaps not coincidentally, the debut, falls on Presidents Day weekend.

The film - which, according to the network, "thrillingly chronicles the final days of President Lincoln and the treasonous plot by one the most notorious, yet complex villains of all time" - stars Billy Campbell ("The Killing") as Lincoln and newcomer Jesse Johnson as his assassin, John Wilkes Booth.

Ridley and Tony Scott produced the project, with Tom Hanks hosting and narrating the two-hour film.

Following this U.S. premiere, and its 10 p.m. re-airing, the film will debut globally in 171 countries and 38 languages in March on the National Geographic Channel.

National Geographic is also working on an adaptation of O'Reilly's follow-up book, "Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot," with Scott Free Productions once again producing.

Apple Incdropped 10.4 percent to $460.69 after the technology giant missed Wall Street's revenue forecast for a third straight quarter as iPhone sales were poorer than expected, lending credence to recent concerns its days as the dominant player in consumer electronics may be on the wane.

The drop wiped out roughly $50 billion in Apple's market capitalization to $432 billion, leaving the company vulnerable to losing its status as the most valuable U.S. company to second place ExxonMobil Corp , at $417 billion.

A trio of economic reports helped buoy the market, with data showing a decline in weekly jobless claims and an increase in manufacturing, while a gauge of future economic activity climbed.

"The claims numbers are clearly a big surprise and were very good numbers - they imply we may have a good employment number for the month of January," said Hugh Johnson, chief investment officer of Hugh Johnson Advisors LLC in Albany, New York.

"You have Apple and technology on the one side and the rest of the market on the other side."

The gains marked the first time the S&P 500 had risen above 1,500 since December 12, 2007 and put the index on pace for its seventh straight advance, its longest streak since October 2006.

The advance for the S&P, and muted declines in the Nasdaq in spite of the decline in Apple, were viewed as a positive sign, as investors take encouragement from an improving global economy and move into stocks more closely tied to economic fortunes, such as industrials.

General Electricrose 0.5 percent to $22.06 and United Parcel Servicegained 2.4 percent to $82.30. Of the 10 major S&P sectors, only technology , off 1.5 percent, was lower.

The Dow Jones industrial averagegained 58.82 points, or 0.43 percent, to 13,838.15. The Standard & Poor's 500 Indexadded 1.78 points, or 0.12 percent, to 1,496.59. The Nasdaq Composite Indexdropped 14.25 points, or 0.45 percent, to 3,139.42.

The domestic data meshed with those overseas showing growth in Chinese manufacturing accelerated to a two-year high this month and a buoyant Germany took the euro zone economy a step closer to recovery.

Apple's disappointing results drew a round of price-target cuts from brokerages. At least 14 brokerages, including Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank, cut their price target on the stock by $142 on average. Morgan Stanley removed the stock from its 'best ideas' list.

In contrast to Apple, Netflix Incsurprised Wall Street Wednesday with a quarterly profit after the video subscription service added nearly 4 million customers in the U.S. and abroad. Shares surged 37.6 percent to $142.10, its biggest percentage jump ever.

Diversified U.S. manufacturer 3M Coreported a 3.9 percent rise in profit, meeting expectations, on solid growth in sales of its wide array of products, which range from Post-It notes to films used in television screens. The shares slipped 0.2 percent to $99.28.

Corporate earnings have helped drive the recent stock market rally. Thomson Reuters data through early Thursday showed that of the 133 S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings, 66.9 percent have exceeded expectations, above the 65 percent average over the past four quarters.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Nick Zieminski)