Another ecological treehouse hotel is in the natural reserve at Rio Claro , Antioquia, (Colombia).

In the past, other hotels have held the title of largest hotel in the world, in terms of the number of rooms. Some of these include the Rossiya Hotel near Moscow's Red Square, and the Ambassador City Jomtien in Pattaya, Thailand. Other large hotels being considered for development that may one day take the title are in Penang, Malaysia and Macau.

Myrtle Beach Hotels

Galactic cosmic rays have just hit a Space Age high, new
data from a NASA spacecraft indicates.

"In 2009, cosmic ray intensities have increased 19
percent beyond anything we've seen in the past 50 years," said Richard
Mewaldt of Caltech. "The increase is significant, and it could mean we
need to re-think how much radiation shielding astronauts take with them on
deep-space missions."

The surge, which poses no threat to Earth, was detected by NASA's
ACE (Advanced Composition Explorer) spacecraft.

The cause of the surge is solar
minimum, a deep lull in the sun's activity that began around 2007 and
continues today. Researchers have long known that cosmic rays go up when solar
activity goes down, because strong solar activity inflates and bolsters a
protective bubble around our entire solar system.

Right now solar activity — marked by sunspots, solar flares
and space storms — is as weak as it has been in modern times, setting the stage
for what Mewaldt calls "a perfect storm of cosmic rays."

A shower of rays

Galactic cosmic
rays come from outside the solar system. They are subatomic particles — mainly
protons but also some heavy nuclei — accelerated to almost light speed by
distant supernova explosions.

Cosmic rays cause "air showers" of secondary
particles when they hit Earth's atmosphere, where they can pose a threat to
orbiting satellites — a single cosmic ray can disable a satellite if it hits an
unlucky integrated circuit.

Though some have suggested that cosmic rays might be behind
the Earth's current warming climate, research has shown
no firm link between these invading rays and global warming.

Cosmic rays also pose a health hazard to astronauts. Several
reports have outlined
the risks from cosmic radiation that might exist for future missions to
Mars or stints on the moon.

The sun's magnetic field — the heliosphere, which surrounds
the entire solar system —is our first line of defense against these highly-charged,
energetic particles.

But the current state of solar activity means the solar
system isn't as protected right now.

"We're experiencing the deepest solar minimum in nearly
a century," says Dean Pesnell of the Goddard Space Flight Center, "so
it is no surprise that cosmic rays are at record levels for the Space
Age."

Perfect storm

Mewaldt lists three aspects of the current solar minimum
that are combining to create the perfect storm:

The sun's magnetic field is weak.
The solar wind is flagging.
The heliosphere's so-called "current sheet" is
flattening.

"Measurements by the Ulysses spacecraft show that solar
wind pressure is at a 50-year low," Mewaldt said, "so the magnetic
bubble that protects the solar system is not being inflated as much as
usual."

A smaller bubble gives cosmic rays a shorter-shot into the
solar system. Once a cosmic ray enters the solar system, it must "swim
upstream" against the solar wind. Solar wind speeds have dropped to very
low levels in 2008 and 2009, making it easier than usual for a cosmic ray to
proceed.

The flattening of the magnetic field's current sheet is also
making it easier for cosmic rays to penetrate the solar system's defenses.

To picture the
current sheet, imagine the sun wearing a ballerina's skirt as wide as the
entire solar system with an electrical current flowing along the wavy folds.
That is the "heliospheric current sheet," a vast transition zone where
the polarity, or direction, of the sun's magnetic field changes from plus
(north) to minus (south). The current sheet is important because cosmic rays
tend to be guided by its folds. Lately, the current sheet has been flattening
itself out, allowing cosmic rays more direct access to the inner solar system.

"If the flattening continues as it has in previous
solar minima, we could see cosmic ray fluxes jump all the way to 30 percent
above previous Space Age highs," Mewaldt said.

Before the satellite era, it was not possible to measure
cosmic rays directly, since they don't penetrate to the ground.

No worries

Earth is in no great peril from the extra cosmic rays. The
planet's atmosphere and magnetic field combine to form a formidable shield
against space radiation, protecting life on the surface.

In fact, humans have weathered storms much worse than this.
Hundreds of years ago, cosmic ray fluxes were at least 200 percent higher than
they are now. Researchers know this because when cosmic rays hit the
atmosphere, they produce an isotope of beryllium, 10Be, which is preserved in
polar ice. By examining ice cores, it is possible to estimate cosmic ray fluxes
more than a thousand years into the past. Even with the recent surge, cosmic
rays today are much weaker than they have been at times in the past millennium.

"The space era has so far experienced a time of
relatively low cosmic ray activity," Mewaldt said. "We may now be
returning to levels typical of past centuries."

NASA spacecraft will continue to monitor the situation as
solar minimum unfolds, the agency said.

Death Rays
From Space: How Bad Are They?
Source
of Cosmic Rays Pinned Down
Images:
Solar Storms
Original Story: Cosmic Rays Hit 50-Year HighSPACE.com offers rich and compelling content about space science, travel and exploration as well as astronomy, technology, business news and more. The site boasts a variety of popular features including our space image of the day and other space pictures,space videos, Top 10s, Trivia, podcasts and Amazing Images submitted by our users. Join our community, sign up for our free newsletters and register for our RSS Feeds today!

"There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call 'The Twilight Zone.'" — Rod Serling
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — On a Friday night in October 1959, Americans began slipping into a dimension of imagination as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. They've really never returned.
"The Twilight Zone," first submitted for the public's approval by a reluctant CBS, has resonated with viewers from generation to generation with memorable stories carrying universal messages about society's ills and the human condition.
Like the time-space warps that anchored so many of the show's plots, Rod Serling's veiled commentary remains as soul-baring today as it did a half-century ago, and the show's popularity endures in multiple facets of American pop culture.
"I'm interested in the escapist ideas, the psychological nature of the stories," said Lauren Chizinski of Houston, a first-year graduate student in sculpting at Syracuse University who is among two dozen students taking a class on show and its 50th anniversary.
"The Twilight Zone" has been exulted in mediums such as pinball and video games and The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ride at Disney theme parks.
The original show — which ran just five seasons, 1959-1964 — led to a feature film by Steven Spielberg and John Landis in 1983, and is reportedly soon to appear again on the silver screen from Leonardo DiCaprio's production company.
It's also resulted in short-lived television series in the 1980s and in 2002, and has been the subject of scores of books, Web sites, blogs, comic books and magazines and a radio series. It's even inspired music from the Grateful Dead, Rush, Golden Earring and Michael Jackson.
"Even people who have never seen 'The Twilight Zone' know about it," said Doug Brode, who is teaching the Serling class at Syracuse and teamed with Serling's widow to write "Rod Serling and The Twilight Zone: The 50th Anniversary Tribute."
With quality writing, acting and production, "The Twilight Zone" pioneered a genre, said Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University.
"The whole idea of 'The Twilight Zone' jumped off the television screen and became a catchphrase, a buzzword for something much beyond the TV show itself," Thompson added. "When you say Twilight Zone, it's its own genre. The X-Files was working in 'The Twilight Zone' genre."
Its signature theme song even became part of popular language, allowing people to describe unusual or inexplicable moments with a simple "doo-doo doo-doo," Thompson said.
CBS has no plans to observe the show's 50th anniversary, said spokesman Chris Ender. The show has enjoyed nearly uninterrupted popularity through television, syndication and DVD releases and is under license to air in 30 countries, he said.
The Syfy Channel regularly broadcasts The Twilight Zone and plans a 15-show marathon Oct. 2.
Anniversary observances are planned in Binghamton, N.Y., where Serling grew up and went to high school; at Ithaca College in New York, where Serling taught from 1967 until his death in 1975, and which keeps Serling's archives; and at Antioch College in Ohio, where Serling was a student — met his wife, Carol — and later taught.
"I don't think he would have thought in a million years that Twilight Zone would be having an important 50th birthday or that it would still be on," said Carol Serling, who will attend the celebrations in Ithaca and Binghamton.
"Through parable and suggestion, he could make points that he couldn't make on straight television because there were too many sacred cows and sponsors and people who said you couldn't do that," she said, referring to the networks' reluctance to deal with contemporary issues in its prime-time programming.
There were 156 episodes filmed for the original series; Serling wrote 92 of them and other contributors included Richard Matheson and Ray Bradbury, two of the deans of science fiction writing.

In a time on television when suburbia was idealized in popular shows such as "Ozzie and Harriet" and "Make Room for Daddy," Serling offered a mixture of fantasy, science fiction, suspense, horror — and the show's trademark macabre or unexpected twist.

Serling had already earned acclaim for his television writing ("Requiem for a Heavyweight," "Patterns,") but found himself fighting CBS to get "The Twilight Zone" on the air. Serling would have repeated conflicts with network censors throughout his career.

In 1958, CBS bought Serling's teleplay, "The Time Element," which he hoped would be the pilot to his weekly series. The story was about a bartender who keeps waking up in Pearl Harbor knowing the Japanese will be attacking the next day but unable to convince anyone he's telling the truth.

But CBS shelved the series after buying it because the studio didn't think there was much commercial value in science fiction. Bert Granet, producer of the weekly CBS anthology series "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse," stumbled on the script and wanted it. He bought it for $10,000.

The story aired on Nov. 24, 1958, and became the Westinghouse series' biggest hit, garnering more audience reaction than any previous episodes. CBS finally decided to take a chance on Serling's series.

___

On the Web:

Rod Serling Memorial Foundation: http://www.rodserling.org

Doug Brode: http://www.TwilightZone50th.com

Ithaca College: http://www.ithaca.edu/rhp/serling

TEHRAN (Reuters) –
Iran said on Tuesday it would refuse to discuss a newly declared nuclear plant at forthcoming international talks and cautioned Western powers it could curb cooperation further if they repeated "past mistakes."

An Iranian MP suggested that parliament might advocate withdrawal from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if Thursday's Geneva talks with major powers fail and "if the Zionists (Israel) and America continue their pressure on Iran" -- a reference to policies including economic sanctions.

Washington has suggested possible new sanctions on banking and the oil and gas industry if Tehran fails to assuage Western fears it seeks nuclear weapons. U.S. officials believe sanctions could now have more effect, playing on leadership divisions evident since a disputed presidential poll.

Comments by Western and Iranian officials suggested little optimism ahead of the Thursday's rare meeting of the P5+1 -- permanent U.N. Security Council members China, Britain, France, the United Sates and Russia, as well as Germany -- with Iran.

"My expectation, or my hope, is that we will be able to get...the guarantees from Tehran, that the program in which they are engaged in is a peaceful program," EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana told reporters in Gothenburg, Sweden.

"I don't think it will be easy to ask for, but we will continue to engage."

Last week's news of a second uranium enrichment plant, under construction south of Tehran, added urgency to the Geneva talks. Uranium in less refined form can be used for power generation but in a more highly refined state is used in nuclear bombs.

Statements from Tehran on Tuesday allowed some ambiguity on Iran's readiness to talk.

"Iran will not discuss issues related to its nuclear "rights" ...in Geneva on Thursday," Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, told reporters.

"But we can discuss about disarmament, we can discuss about non-proliferation and other general issues," he said. "The new site is part of our rights and there is no need to discuss."

Iranian state Press TV quoted Salehi as saying on Monday Tehran was in contact with the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over a date for inspection of the plant.

Iran's IRNA news agency quoted MP Mohammad Karamirad, a conservative and member of parliament's foreign policy and national security commission, as saying Iran could close the door completely to cooperation with world nuclear authorities.

"If the Zionists and America continue their pressure on Iran and if the talks...do not reach a conclusion, then parliament will take a clear and transparent position, such as Iran's withdrawal from the NPT," he said.

Iranian missile tests on Sunday and Monday added to tension with Western powers, who fear a hardline leadership in the Islamic Republic could ultimately use a threat of nuclear attack to pursue its political ends in the Middle East and beyond.

Interfax news agency quoted a senior Russian diplomat as saying missile test launches by Iran should not be used as an additional argument for imposing sanctions against Tehran.

Iran denies any plans for nuclear weapons and portrays international pressure on it over its program as a Western plot, with deep historic roots, to isolate and destabilize the country.

ELECTION PROTESTS

Iranian lawmakers signed a statement expressing support for negotiations based on proposals put forward by Iran, which do not mention Tehran's own nuclear program.

"We recommend the 5+1 to use this historic opportunity," the 239 MPs said in a statement quoted by state broadcaster IRIB.

"If the group of 5+1 repeats past mistakes instead of using this opportunity, the Iranian parliament would take other decisions as it did in the past."

In 2006, the Iranian parliament passed a bill obliging the government to review the level of its cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog after the United Nations approved sanctions on Tehran over its atomic program.

The Geneva meeting is the first such encounter since the June re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stirred mass protests in Tehran and signs of division in the leadership over accusations of vote fixing. It is also the first since President Barack Obama took office, seeking to revive contacts.

Russia, though cautious on sanctions, has expressed concern about Iranian missile launches and about Tehran's nuclear program. President Dmitry Medvedev has said "other means" could be employed if Geneva talks failed.

(Additional reporting by Chris Buckley in Beijing, David Brunnstrom in Gothenburg, Sweden; Writing by Ralph Boulton; Editing by Samia Nakhoul)