Pink Panthers' trail glitters with jewels

Their timing was as impeccable as a tourbillon watch, a luxury timepiece whose name means whirlwind.

And after the diamond thieves disguised in women's wigs and flowing foulards had vanished, police detectives on several continents pondered a trail of more than €100 million in jewelry heists over the last four years and wondered whether the so-called Pink Panthers had struck again.

The whirlwind started near closing time, a favorite moment for diamond thieves to strike. As the second hand ticked, four men - three dressed as women with long blonde tresses, sunglasses and winter scarves - stood in front of an intercom and demurely requested to enter the deluxe Harry Winston jewelry store on Avenue Montaigne. It was a chilly evening within the golden triangle of boutiques that includes Dior, Chanel and Gucci, the ornate facades and trees resplendent with Christmas lights.

Buzzed in, the men rolled a small valise on wheels into the hushed inner refuge. Then they pulled out a hand grenade and a .357 Magnum. As Parisians strolled unawares past the store's wrought-iron gates, the robbers smashed display cases and barked out orders - and the names of some of the Harry Winston employees. They spoke French with strong Slavic accents.

Will Earth pass through the galactic plane in 2012?

Will Earth pass through the Milky Way’s galactic plane in 2012? And if so, what could that mean to Earth?

Much ado has been made of the winter solstice sun aligning with the galactic plane on December 21, 2012. But according to the computational wizard Jean Meeus (page 302 ofMathematical Astronomy Morsels), the solstice points were alignment with the galactic equator as recently as the year 1998.

In other words, the 2012 alignment isn’t unique. Consider the view from our local star, the sun. As seen from the sun, Earth crosses the Milky Way’s galactic plane (also called the galactic equator) twice a year, every year.

Or consider the view from Earth. As seen from Earth, the sun crosses the galactic plane – also called the galactic equatoron our sky – twice a year, every year. All of this is just part of Earth’s normal motion, as projected on our sky’s dome, as we travel around the sun and through the galaxy. Quite by coincidence, the ecliptic – the projection of the Earth’s orbital plane onto the stellar sphere – intersects the galactic plane near the solstice points. That’s why these points are so near each on our sky’s dome.

However, it’s true that the sun on the December solstice doesn’t return to the same exact spot in front of the backdrop stars every year. The solstice point slowly but surely moves westward through the stars at about one degree per every 72 years. (For reference, the sun’s diameter equals about 1/2 degree.)

Nine wins rights to Nigel Lythgoe show Superstars of Dance

AFTER a wild bidding war So You Think You Can Dance and American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe has sold the rights to his latest TV venture to Channel 9.

The British personality was in Australia to film a segment for Channel 10’s So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) and pitch the format for new program Superstars Of Dance to commercial networks Seven, Nine and Ten last month, settling on Nine’s offer. 

While Lythgoe and his professional partner Simon Fuller have harvested a strong working relationship with Ten through the Idol and SYTYCD franchises, in the end it was a case of money talks. 

“Despite very competitive bidding from all the local commercial networks, we are thrilled to have added this exciting new series to Nine’s slate for 2009,” said Nine’s head of acquisitions Les Sampson.