Astronomers: Billions of 'super-Earths' in habitable zone of red dwarf stars

If you're trying to count how many planets could be candidates for harboring life in our galaxy, this might blow your mind: Scientists now say there could be billions of them.

Astronomers working with the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) HARPS instrument estimate that in our galaxy, there are tens of billions of rocky planets not so much bigger than Earth orbiting red dwarf stars within the habitable zones of those relatively cool stars. A habitable zone is the area in a star system where liquid water can exist on a planet's surface without boiling away or staying frozen.

Specifically, the planets that have astronomers so excited are called super-Earths, meaning they can have up to 10 times more mass than our planet. That's important distinction because some scientists believe these super-Earths have a better chance of being habitable than planets about the size of our Earth.

While scientists have previously concluded that every star in the Milky Way has at least one planet in orbit around it, this is the first time they've been able to get a good count of just how many super-Earths might exist.

Still, scientists haven't concluded what "habitable" means in this context. Sara Seager, a professor of planetary science and physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told CNN in an e-mail that while the ESO result is exciting, there's a lot more work to be done. Since a super-Earth would likely have a more massive atmosphere than Earth, such a planet would be much hotter than Earth and liquid water on the surface might not be possible.

Xavier Bonfils, of the Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble, France, said in a release that these new observations indicate that 40% of all red dwarfs have rocky planets orbiting in their habitable zones. Our own sun is a hotter G V, or yellow dwarf, star and is more than twice as massive as a red dwarf.

Because about 80% of stars in the Milky Way are red dwarfs (also referred to as M-class stars), this leads to the conclusion that tens of billions of rocky planets exist in habitable zones in our galaxy. The Jupiters and Saturns of the galaxy, which are more massive and gaseous giants, are more rare around red dwarfs.

A lot of these promising planets are relatively nearby neighbors. The estimates suggest that there are 100 super-Earths in habitable zones around stars 30 light years or less from us.

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New York city schools want to ban 'loaded words' from tests

New York (CNN) – Divorce. Dinosaurs, Birthdays. Religion. Halloween. Christmas. Television. These are a few of the 50-plus words and references the New York City Department of Education is hoping to ban from the city’s standardized tests.

The banned word list was made public – and attracted considerable criticism – when the city’s education department recently released this year’s "request for proposal" The request for proposal is sent to test publishers around the country trying to get the job of revamping math and English tests for the City of New York.

The Department of Education's says that avoiding sensitive words on tests is nothing new, and that New York City is not the only locale to do so. California avoids the use of the word "weed" on tests and Florida avoids the phrases that use "Hurricane" or "Wildfires," according to a statement by the New York City Department of Education.

In its request for proposal, the NYC Department of Education explained it wanted to avoid certain words if the "the topic is controversial among the adult population and might not be acceptable in a state-mandated testing situation; the topic has been overused in standardized tests or textbooks and is thus overly familiar and/or boring to students; the topic appears biased against (or toward) some group of people."

CNN's Belief Blog – all the faith angles to the day's top stories

Matthew Mittenthal, a spokesman for the NYC Department of Education, said this is the fifth year they have created such a list. He said such topics "could evoke unpleasant emotions in the students."

"Dinosaurs" evoking unpleasant emotions? The New York Post speculated that the "dinosaurs" could "call to mind evolution, which might upset fundamentalists.”

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'Little guy' wins high court fight over property rights

Washington (CNN) -- The Supreme Court gave an Idaho couple another chance Wednesday to challenge a government ruling barring construction of their "dream house," an important property rights defeat for the Obama administration.

The justices unanimously ruled Chantell and Mike Sackett can appeal a compliance order that said wetlands on their residential lot were improperly filled with rocks and dirt. A building permit was then revoked.

"Since the agency's decision was final and since the Sacketts have no other adequate remedy in a court, they may bring their suit" under federal law, said Justice Antonin Scalia.

The couple's supporters had billed this as "David vs. Goliath" fight against the Environmental Protection Agency.

"We're here to stand up for the property rights and the constitutional rights of all Americans," Mike Sackett told CNN in January, when the case was argued at the high court. "We felt blindsided by the EPA, and we remain determined to fight."

The high court had displayed wide support for the Sacketts during oral arguments 10 weeks ago.

"If you related the facts of this case -- as they come to us -- to an ordinary homeowner," Justice Samuel Alito asked the government's attorney, "don't you think most ordinary homeowners would say this kind of thing can't happen in the United States?"

What happened has become a six-year fight pitting business and property rights groups against the federal government and many in the environmental community. The effect could be huge for the longstanding tension over the balance between commercial and private development, and maintaining clean air, water, and soil.

The Sacketts bought a small parcel of about two-thirds of an acre in the Idaho Panhandle in 2005, near the shores of the resort community of Priest Lake. They hoped to build a three-bedroom home, surrounded by neighbors' houses, and had obtained a county permit. Gravel had already been laid for the foundation when EPA officials told them their land was a wetland. That barred any development.

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Southern Miss takes disciplinary action against students for derogatory chant

Five members of the University of Southern Mississippi pep band have had their scholarships revoked and have been removed from the band after they yelled a derogatory chant at a Puerto Rican player during an NCAA basketball tournament game last week.

The school announced the disciplinary action in a statement Tuesday, saying the five "have been forthcoming, cooperative, contrite and sincerely remorseful."

"They acted rashly and inappropriately, and now see the gravity of their words and actions," Vice President for Student Affairs Joe Paul said. "This is a teachable moment, not only for these students but for our entire student body and those who work with them."

The students will also be required to complete a two-hour training course on cultural sensitivity, the school said. The school has not identified the students.

TV cameras captured the incident during the University of Southern Mississippi-Kansas State University game at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh on Thursday.

As Kansas State point guard Angel Rodriguez shot free throws, several people could clearly be heard chanting, "where's your green card."

The university's president apologized to Rodriguez, saying the chant wasn't representative of the university.

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New York Times adds bricks to its paywall

The New York Times announced on its website Tuesday evening that it has decided to cut the number of free stories nonsubscribers are allowed to read in half.

People without a subscription can read 20 free stories per month on their website, but beginning in April, that number drops to 10. Nonsubscribers will also continue to get free access to the home page. Links from Facebook, Twitter and search engines will not count toward the total.

The paper says the move "will strengthen our ability to continue providing the world's most insightful and investigative reporting in journalism today, as well as support the ongoing development of digital innovations and apps that make The Times an experience you won't find anywhere else."

The technique, known as a paywall, is an increasingly popular strategy among conventional news outlets to find new sources of revenue with the collapse of classified advertising and explosion of online media.

The New York Times said in a statement online that "the change provides us with an opportunity to convince another segment of our audience that what The Times has to offer is worth paying for."

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Crews find balloonist who fell from 17,000 feet amid storm

A search-and-rescue team on Monday found the body of a missing hot air balloonist who had crashed in Georgia three days earlier.

Acting on a tip from a witness who saw an object falling Friday, authorities dispatched a helicopter in the direction she described and quickly found the body of Ed Ristaino of North Carolina, according to Ben Hill County Sheriff Bobby McLemore.

"We were relieved that we found him," McLemore said. "But that still leaves recovery."

Teams made up of state patrol officers, forestry units, neighboring sheriff's department personnel and volunteers scoured areas east of Fitzgerald in south-central Georgia, where the balloon basket went down.

At least seven helicopters and planes and more than 100 people on the ground participated in the difficult search, McLemore said.

Ristaino had taken five skydivers up in his hot air balloon around 6:45 p.m. Friday when he noticed the wind picking up and realized he was driving the balloon toward a large incoming storm system, McLemore said.

"The storm was pulling the balloon closer towards it, so he asked the skydivers to bail out. He had them jump from about 5,000 feet."

While the five skydivers landed safely and were picked up, Ristaino and the balloon continued heading southeast and rose another 2,000 feet, McLemore said.

"He went up into the clouds and had radio contact with his ground crew and told them it was hailing on him, there was lightning and rain and heavy wind," he said.

An updraft carried Ristaino up to about 17,000 or 18,000 feet above ground before a downdraft collapsed the balloon and sent him plummeting.

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Something's rattling small Wisconsin town

Mysterious explosions. Unexplained shaking. Something's going on in Clintonville, Wisconsin, but nobody seems to know what it is.

The sounds -- variously described as rattling pipes, clanging metal, thunder or firecrackers -- have continued on and off since early Sunday night in just one part of the small town of 4,600, located about 180 miles northeast of Madison.

Accompanying the sounds are vibrations that have shaken homes and household objects in the northeast corner of town, city manager Lisa Kuss said.

The sounds were loud enough Monday morning that a CNN journalist could hear them during a cell phone conversation with Kuss.

The baffling phenomenon does not appear to have caused any significant damage or injuries, according to Kuss.

Workers peered into manhole covers and utility crews tested for leaking natural gas and other problems, but no one has yet to find anything amiss, Kuss said.

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Afghan shooting suspect showed different side in Iraq

The man identified Friday by sources as the U.S. soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians betrayed no animosity toward civilians in a different war zone, according to an account posted on the U.S. Army's website that describes a firefight in Iraq in January 2007.

"I've never been more proud to be a part of this unit than that day, for the simple fact that we discriminated between the bad guys and the noncombatants and then afterward we ended up helping the people that three or four hours before were trying to kill us," says Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who was then a team leader in 1st Platoon, C Company. "I think that's the real difference between being an American as opposed to being a bad guy, someone who puts his family in harm's way like that."

In the February 2009 article, Bales was described as a participant in an attempt by the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment to recover a helicopter that had been shot down in Iraq, killing both pilots.

The ensuing battle -- which succeeded -- left 250 Iraqis dead, 81 wounded and 410 detained; none of the 2-3 Infantry's soldiers was hurt or killed, the article says.

A number of the Iraqi casualties were civilians, and the battle's clearing operation turned into a humanitarian one, the article adds, again quoting Bales: "We'd go in, find some people that we could help, because there were a bunch of dead people we couldn't, throw them on a litter and bring them out to the casualty collection point," he is quoted as saying.

Bales, who is in his late 30s, was flown Friday to a prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He has not been identified officially, but a senior military official and a defense source both identified him to CNN. The military's policy is not to identify suspects until they have been charged.

He is accused in a weekend shooting spree in two villages in Afghanistan in which nine children, three women and four men were killed.

The circumstances regarding the incident remain unclear.

The military is investigating whether alcohol may have been a factor, senior military officials said. One of the officials said alcohol was found on the base in the area where the suspect lived. It was not clear whether the alcohol belonged to the soldier; a toxicology screening was conducted but the results have not been returned, the official said.

Prior to his deployment to Afghanistan, the soldier had lost part of a foot in Iraq and suffered a traumatic brain injury, according to his lawyer, John Henry Browne. The Seattle attorney said the screening for the concussion was minimal.

The soldier had not wanted to deploy to Afghanistan on what ultimately became his fourth combat tour, Browne said, citing conversations with the soldier's family. Bales had served three times in Iraq.

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Georgia man gets life after murder conviction in day care shooting

A Georgia judge Thursday sentenced Hemy Neuman to life in prison without the possibility of parole after jurors convicted him of fatally shooting a father outside a suburban Atlanta day care center.

DeKalb County Judge Gregory Adams delivered the sentence less than two hours after a jury of nine women and three men found Neuman guilty of malice murder "beyond a reasonable doubt, but mentally ill."

"This situation was brought about by your hands," Adams said, adding that the act "appeared to be a planned execution."

In November 2010, Russell "Rusty" Sneiderman was shot multiple times in the parking lot of Dunwoody Prep after dropping off his then-2-year-old son in what police described as a "cold and calculated murder."

The jury had three options, after beginning deliberations Tuesday: to find Neuman guilty of murder, to find him guilty but mentally ill or to find him not guilty by reason of insanity, as he'd pleaded.

They chose the second course. That meant Adams could either have sentenced Neuman to life in prison with the possibility of parole in at least 30 years, or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Neuman will be evaluated for mental illness in prison, and if diagnosed as mentally ill will be treated while incarcerated.

After the verdict was delivered, Steve Sneiderman described his 36-year-old brother as a "good provider," "devoted son," "wonderful brother" and a "great father" to his two children.

"He had limitless potential, which now can never be realized because of this man," Sneiderman told the court Thursday, referring to Neuman.

Neuman himself spoke a short time thereafter, saying "everybody lost" in this case -- making specific reference to Sneiderman's son and daughter and his own three children. He called the man that he killed "a good man."

"I am so, so, so sorry. I can't say it enough," Neuman said.

During closing arguments and again Thursday after the sentence was handed down, defense attorney Doug Peters claimed that the victim's widow had "manipulated our client, who was mentally sick."

"I believe she preyed upon him and used him to commit the crime that she is responsible for," Peter said Thursday, noting that he did not believe that Andrea Sneiderman knew specifics of the shooting plan even as he suggested she inspired it.

She has not been charged.

Following the sentencing, DeKalb County District Attorney Robert James did not elaborate on whether Andrea Sneiderman might be charged later. He said only that "it is something that we have under review right now."

"Justice has been served here," James told reporters, saying the focus Thursday should be on Rusty Sneiderman and not his widow. "I want to thank God that finally, after a year and a half or more, this family -- a good family -- is able to begin the process of healing."

At the time of the shooting, Neuman was Andrea Sneiderman's supervisor at work and both the defense and prosecution accused her of having an affair with the defendant. She denied the accusation in her testimony during the trial.

"There was no affair. Who kills someone else's husband?" Andrea Sneiderman said, claiming that Neuman said he'd cared about her, her husband and her family before the shooting.

The jury also found Neuman guilty of using a firearm in the commission of a felony. Adams sentenced Neuman to five years in prison for that charge, to be served concurrently with his life sentence.

Witnesses testimony and evidence presented during the trial showed Neuman tried to disguise himself, staked out the victim, conceal his plan and later conceal evidence tied to the shooting.

On the day of the murder, witnesses told police they saw a man -- later proven to be Neuman -- come up from behind Sneiderman and open fire in Dunwoody, a community about 15 miles north of Atlanta. The shooter then fled the scene in a silver minivan without a valid license plate.

Sneiderman, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, received an MBA from Harvard and was an active volunteer with the Georgia chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Neuman, then 48, was arrested nearly two months after the shooting.

During his trial, which began last month, the prosecution had argued that Neuman was not insane.

James, the district attorney, urged jurors to "use your common sense ... and you apply it to determine whether or not somebody is malingering or telling the truth."

"He's insane, he sees angels, he sees demons, he's crazy. 'Something's wrong with me,'" James said, repeating assertions made by Neuman and his defense team. "If you cannot trust the ingredients on this insanity sandwich, then I'm going to ask you -- don't eat it."

Doug Peters said that he and other defense team members plan to talk soon with Neuman, to discuss what their next step will be. But he suggested that an appeal should be forthcoming.

"We still do believe that a jury should return a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity," Peters said. "We didn't get that this time, but we're not about giving up."

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New Jersey court orders Mega Millions winner to share jackpot

Americo Lopes, a New Jersey construction worker who scored a Mega Millions lottery jackpot in 2009, tried to cheat his fellow workers out of their share of the pool by claiming the ticket as exclusively his own, a jury has ruled.

Five other construction workers based in Elizabeth, New Jersey, will share the jackpot after a state court ruled unanimously that Lopes had fraudulently claimed the entire bounty. The $38.5 million ticket amounted to $24 million after Lopes chose the cash option.

The plaintiffs were identified as Candido Silva Jr., Carlos Fernandes, Daniel Esteves, Candido Silva Sr. and Jose Sousa, according to court spokeswoman Sandra Thaler-Gerber.

They are expected to be awarded about $2 million each, after taxes and attorneys' fees, she said.

"They feel vindicated," said attorney Rubin M. Sinins, who said the group of workers had chipped in on the pool since 2007.

New Jersey's The Star-Ledger newspaper reported that Lopes responded to the ruling by saying "They robbed me."

His wife, Margarida, added that "justice was not served today," the newspaper reported.

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Florida teen's shooting by watchman questioned

Answers remain in short supply as to why an unarmed teenager was shot and killed two weeks ago.

Trayvon Martin, 17, was walking toward the home of his father's fiancee in a gated community in Sanford, Florida, around sunset on February 26.

The neighborhood watch captain, 28-year-old George Zimmerman, saw the teen on the property and called 911.

According to CNN affiliate WFTV, Zimmerman, who is white, described Martin to a dispatcher as a suspicious black man.

Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee said the 911 dispatcher told Zimmerman not to confront Martin, but by the time police arrived, the teenager lay dead with a gunshot wound in the chest. He was carrying a small amount of cash, some candy and an iced tea.

Unarmed teen shot in self-defense?

Zimmerman told police he shot Martin in self-defense, but that doesn't sit well with Martin's parents.

"When you add it up, it just doesn't even make sense," said Ben Crump, the Martin family's attorney. "Trayvon Martin, a kid, has a bag of Skittles. (Zimmerman) had a 9 mm gun. Trayvon Martin didn't approach George Zimmerman, George Zimmerman approached Trayvon Martin. So how can he now assert self-defense?"

Police say a gunshot can be heard on the 911 calls recorded that night.

Sanford police said Monday the calls will not be made public until the investigation is complete, but the Martin family is pushing for the tapes to be released sooner.

"It will tell us why (Zimmerman) just disregarded, just ignored the police instructions when they tell him to stay put, they'll be there in a few minutes. On those 911 tapes is going to tell you why he said he's not going to follow their instructions. And most importantly, it's going to tell us his mentality when he confronted this 17-year-old kid," Crump said.

Numerous attempts to contact Zimmerman by CNN were unsuccessful, and it is unclear whether Zimmerman has retained an attorney.

Under intense pressure from the community, city officials in Sanford held a press conference on Monday.

"We are going to complete a thorough and fair investigation and present all the information to the state attorney's office so justice can be rendered," Lee said.

Police said they have not charged Zimmerman because there are no grounds to disprove his story of what happened.

"The evidence and testimony we have so far does not establish that Mr. Zimmerman did not act in self-defense. We don't have anything to dispute his claim of self-defense, at this point, with the evidence and testimony that we have," Lee said.

Lee said the directions the 911 dispatcher gave Zimmerman to not accost Martin when the incident arose were not mandatory instructions.

"That is a call taker making a recommendation to him. He's not under a legal obligation to do that, so that is not something we can charge him with. But it would have been a good outcome ... if Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman never came in contact with one another."

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911 calls show passengers' fear during flight attendant's rant

For several fear-filled minutes last Friday, three passengers on board American Airlines flight 2332 in Dallas called emergency dispatchers to report a flight attendant's apparent meltdown, asking for help and trying to make sense of her strange rant.

The flight, which was on the ground, never took off, and no passengers were hurt.

But the 911 calls, released Tuesday, show the mutual confusion of the callers and the 911 dispatchers as they tried to piece together information, which was sparse on both sides of the phone line.

"We're on flight 2332 and, um, they're talking over the radio about crashing our plane," the first caller, a woman, told the emergency dispatcher.

"OK, who is talking about crashing your plane?" the dispatcher asked.

"The attendants, over the PA," the caller said. "Please help us."

Obviously perplexed, and wanting to confirm the bizarre report, the dispatcher repeated the information.

"You're currently on board the flight, and the attendants are announcing over the PA system..."

"Yes," the caller interjected.

"...that they're going to crash the plane?" the dispatcher asked.

"Yes," the caller said.

"Did they say why?"

"No," the caller answered.

The dispatcher implored the caller not to hang up, asked for her name and phone number, and asked precisely what the flight attendant said.

"Her specific words were, 'This plane is not going to take off before it crashes,'" the passenger said.

A second female passenger called, and the dispatcher told her help was on the way.

"Listen, we've got people that are coming to you. I need you to give me some information so you can help me fill them in, OK?" the dispatcher said. "(You are) going to be OK. As long as that plane doesn't take off, you are still fine. You are still on the ground, right?"

The passenger confirmed the plane was still on the ground and said a passenger in the back of the plane had just gone up front.

"OK, don't be alarmed. He may be a sky marshal," the dispatcher said. "They fly armed and they are in plainclothes. So don't be alarmed."

The man, it was later learned, was another passenger who helped detain the flight attendant.

The third 911 caller, a man, asked "Are you all aware of what's going on on flight 2332 right now?"

"It looks like they're physically restraining a flight attendant," he said. "She's lost it. People are helping out."

Finally, another call came from the airport control tower, saying the matter was nearing a resolution.

"Flight 2332 returning to the gate. Altercation on board. Fight being reported," the control tower official reported.

Friday morning's event at Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport was a rare disruption blamed on a flight attendant, but did not appear to involve any criminal intent. Local and federal officials said they had not filed charges against the airline employee, adding to speculation she had suffered a mental breakdown.

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Intense rains cause flash flooding, spur evacuations in Louisiana

A burst of intense rain caused perilous flash flooding Monday in parts of Louisiana, spurring the rescues of hundreds -- from people marooned inside their homes to middle school students stranded on a bus.

According to the National Weather Service, southern Louisiana was pelted with an estimated 15 inches of rain in six hours, with on-and-off rain continuing for hours after that.

"I'm 46 years old, native to this area, and have been through several hurricanes, and I've never seen anything like this," said Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office spokesman Kip Judice.

Hours after the biggest pocket of rain hit, Judice said that 10 rescues were under way around 6:30 p.m. This is in addition to the more than 150 such operations that took place earlier to get people out of residences and cars.

One of those involved 16 adolescents whose bus became stuck after more than 4 feet of water covered the road, said Judice. Boats and dump trucks were used to reach the children and bring them to safety.

The town of Carencro was among the hardest hit communities in Lafayette Parish, according to Capt. Craig Stansbury, who is also from the Parish Sheriff's Office. He noted there were reports of water as high as 8 feet on some roadways.

Stansbury said fire department vehicles, tractors and conventional boats and air boats were being used to reach those stranded in homes and cars.

"A lot of things that we have at our disposal, we're just going to go ahead and utilize," he said. "Whatever it takes to get to the people."

One of the worst hit parts of the state was St. Landry Parish, where Government Administrative Director Jessie Bellard estimated 2,000 people had been affected so far. A state of emergency has been declared for the parish, though there are no known injuries or fatalities there or elsewhere.

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Defense rests case in Rutgers roommate-spying trial

Defense attorneys rested their case Monday in the trial of a former Rutgers student accused of spying on and intimidating his gay roommate, who later killed himself by jumping off New York's George Washington Bridge.

The defense rested without the defendant, Dharun Ravi, testifying on his own behalf.

With the prosecution declining to offer a rebuttal and the jury heading home for the day, the next step Tuesday will be closing arguments from both sides. After those, the jury will weigh Ravi's guilt on 15 counts including bias intimidation, invasion of privacy, tampering with physical evidence, witness tampering and hindering apprehension or prosecution.

The case caught national attention in fall 2010, after the suicide of Ravi's roommate Tyler Clementi. His death stirred discussion about bullying, with President Barack Obama releasing a videotaped message less than a month later condemning such treatment.

Ravi and Molly Wei -- who admitted joining Ravi to watch a surreptitious webcam encounter involving Clementi and another man in September 2010 -- were later charged in the wake of Clementi's death.

Facing two counts of invasion of privacy, Wei reached a plea deal in May 2011 that required her to testify against her friend and former high school classmate, as well as to complete a three-year program on cyberbullying and do 300 hours of community service.

But Ravi, now 20, turned down a plea deal offered by Middlesex County prosecutors that would have let him avoid jail time in exchange for undergoing counseling, doing 600 hours of community service and disposing of any information that could identify the man who appeared in the web video with Clementi.

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Solar storms causing few problems on Earth

Geomagnetic and solar radiation storms hitting Earth after Tuesday's solar flares may not be as big as advertised, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday.

Together, such storms can affect GPS systems, other satellite systems and power grids, but none of these problems has been reported, even as the leading edge of the sun's coronal mass ejections from Tuesday hit Earth on Thursday morning, scientists said.

The geomagnetic storm has reached only G1 intensity on a scale from G1 (weak) to G5 (extreme), and the solar radiation storm is an S3 (strong) on a similar 1-to-5 scale, NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center said. Earlier, NOAA had predicted a G3/S4 event.

Still, the solar radiation storm has prompted some airlines to divert planes from routes near the north pole, where radio communications may be affected and passengers at high altitudes may be at a higher than normal radiation risk.

"Today we are using alternate routes for seven westbound flights to Asia. We will monitor possible solar impact to the operation in making decisions for tomorrow and future dates," Delta Air Lines spokesman Anthony Black said.

American Airlines put three high-polar flights – from the U.S. to Japan and China – on lower-altitude routes on Thursday, spokesman Ed Martelle said. And United Airlines rerouted four flights to Asia, according to United spokesman Mike Trevino.

The geomagnetic storm still could give earthlings quite a show Thursday night. The storm is expected to produce auroras, or northern lights, that may be visible as far south as the northern United States, said Physicist Joseph Kunches with the Space Weather Prediction Center.

Tuesday's solar eruptions included two solar flares - intense bursts of radiation from the sun - and two coronal mass ejections, which are releases of gas and magnetic fields from the outer sun. The coronal mass ejections reached Earth on Thursday.

Kunches likened the challenge of forecasting the strength of the storms to hitting a major league pitcher's fastball.

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2 dead, 7 hurt after man opens fire at Pittsburgh psychiatric hospital

A man walked into a Pittsburgh psychiatric hospital with a pair of guns Thursday and began firing, leading to injuries to seven people and two deaths -- including his own as police arrived and shot back, authorities said.

"This is a tragic day, a sad day, a senseless day," Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said after the shooting at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic.

City and hospital officials speaking at a Thursday evening press conference did not give the identity of the shooter, nor did they elaborate on what his motive might have been.

The assailant walked through the psychiatric hospital's front door with a pair of semi-automatic handguns around 1:40 p.m., according to Ravenstahl.

Officers from the University of Pittsburgh police department arrived within "a matter of minutes" and "engaged" the gunman, the mayor added.

"There is no doubt that their swift response saved lives today," said Ravenstahl, lauding the police officers' "courage and willingness to step up."

Like the man who is believed to be the shooter, no details were offered on the other person killed besides the fact he, too, was an adult male.

Those wounded were swiftly ushered to nearby UPMC Presbyterian. All are expected to survive.

Officials said two of five hospitalized patients have undergone surgery. The conditions of the five ranged from fair to serious.

Two victims were treated and released. One had an injury not related to a gunshot wound.

Medical center officials said the injured included hospital employees and a visitor.

"I expect all of these patients to survive and do well," said Dr. Donald Yealy, chairman of emergency medicine at UPMC, said in a statement. "As the busiest trauma centers in the region, we prepare for this kind of multi-casualty situation."

Ravenstahl said that a University of Pittsburgh police officer "was grazed with a bullet, and I believe he is doing well."

Steven Bartholomew, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said that his agency is "working with Pittsburgh police and other authorities in the investigation."

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Affiliate roundup: Woman saves driver who flipped her off

A sampling of Wednesday morning's headlines from some CNN affiliates nationwide:

BN9: Woman helps save driver that flipped her the bird

Kristyn Dominy helped save the life of a mother and child after their car burst into flames only minutes after the driver had passed her and flipped her off.

Dominy was driving in Crystal River, Florida, when a woman driving erratically sped past her.

"She did flick me off whenever she passed me," Dominy told CNN affiliate Bay News 9.

But as Dominy kept driving she saw something horrific.

"Whenever I came around that corner...is whenever I saw the vehicle up in flames," Dominy said.

That's when Dominy saw the woman was unable to escape the vehicle. The driver's child was also tangled in a seat belt and on fire, Dominy said.

“My first thought when I came around the corner and saw that her vehicle was on fire, I was thinking karma, but the same time, I could never, even though she flicked me off down the road, I could never just sit there and watch that happen.”

So she helped rip the child from the car and called 911.

Dominy said she didn't do anything special, but hopes that others will learn from her act of kindness.

KESQ: School designates cuss-free zone

Enough with all those $*@$-ing words in school!

That's the message a high school in California has for students that let dirty words slip or nasty jokes fly. They've designated their school as a no-cussing zone as a way to set an example for kids. And it's all for a good cause.

"Clean language, clean campus, clean and respectful classrooms," that's the goal Ossil Macavinta, who is the head of the no-cussing club, told CNN affiliate KESQ. "If we can achieve that as a club, I think we will have more high performing students on campus."

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Indiana mom loses legs saving kids from tornado

Indiana mother who shielded her two children from tornadoes and lost her two legs after being pinned by her collapsing house, CNN received an outpouring of support from readers and viewers asking how they could help.

Some wanted to know if they could help pay for her medical bills, others wanted to wish her well, and others hoped to help her and her children because of Decker's act of bravery.

The family has set up The Stephanie Decker Fund and all donations will be sent directly to them.

Donations can be sent to the following address:

Fifth Third Bank

392 S. Indiana Avenue

Sellersburg, IN 47172

Make payable to: The Stephanie Decker Fund

Any questions can be directed to the Sellersburg location at (812) 246-0982 or the Fifth Third Bank Marketing offices at (502) 562-5355.]

You can also lend your help to all of the victims of the recent tornado outbreak by visiting CNN's Impact Your World page, which has various resources and ways to help.

[Posted Tuesday, March 6] A woman in Indiana lost part of both of her legs as she shielded her children from two tornadoes that slammed into their home.

Stephanie Decker was at home Friday when her husband texted her that a tornado was hurtling directly toward their three-story home in Henryville, Indiana.

Just minutes before the tornado swept through, Decker and her young son and daughter huddled in the basement. She covered them with a blanket to try to shield them from debris.

"I was reaching around, holding them and trying to keep everything away from them so it wouldn't hit 'em," Stephanie Decker told CNN affiliate WLKY.

The wreckage broke seven of her ribs and almost completely severed both of her legs.

"I had two steel beams on my legs, and I couldn't move. I was stuck," she told WLKY.

Then, another storm came roaring through. She again covered her children the best she could, taking the brunt of the debris as her home collapsed around her.

Joe Decker said his wife relayed some of the horror on an iPad, because when he first saw her, she was on a ventilator and unable to speak, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.

As the storm rolled through, Stephanie Decker told her husband, she turned and saw a large piece of debris begin to collapse. She pulled her daughter away just before it came crumbling down, according to the newspaper.

"She just kind of grabbed her and turned," Joe Decker told the Courier Journal. "She doesn't remember anything after that."

"Everything started hitting my back. Beams, pillars, furniture. Everything was just slamming into my back. But I had my children in the blanket, and I was on top of them, and I was reaching around holding them," Stephanie Decker told CNN affiliate WTHR. "And they are screaming, 'Mommy, I can't live without you! I don't want to die! Please don't let me die!' And I said, 'You're not going to die. We're going to make it.' "

The storm passed, and Decker looked around to see her home was gone.

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Fired employee kills headmistress, self in Florida high school shooting

(CNN) -- A fired employee of Episcopal High School in Jacksonville, Florida, returned to the school Tuesday, shot and killed the headmistress and then killed himself, authorities said.

The gunman, who was terminated earlier in the day and carried an assault rifle in a guitar case, went to the office of Headmistress Dale Regan, Undersheriff Dwain Senterfitt with the Jackonsville Sheriff's Office told reporters.

"He shot and killed Ms. Regan and then he killed himself," he said.

The sheriff's office later identified the suspected gunman as 28-year-old Shane Schumerth.

No students were believed to be involved in the incident.

"Our prayers go out to the Episcopal community," Senterfitt said, noting that he knew Regan personally and that his daughter had recently graduated from the same private school. "It's a tough day for us."

Regan had worked at Episcopal High School for 34 years, according to Kate Moorehead, dean of St. John's Cathedral in Jacksonville.

"We have full confidence that Dale Regan is already with God and in heaven," she said. "We ask you to please pray for us as a community."

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Super Tuesday: Romney wins 4 states, Santorum 3; Gingrich nabs Georgia

Columbus, Ohio (CNN) -- Mitt Romney will win four states and Rick Santorum three on Super Tuesday, while Newt Gingrich grabbed a vital triumph in Georgia, CNN projected.

However, the big prize of the night -- battleground state Ohio -- remained too close to call in a duel between Romney and Santorum.

Santorum's victories showed his continuing strength among conservative voters, while Gingrich's win in the state that sent him to Congress allows him to keep his campaign going.

The Santorum victories -- in Tennessee and Oklahoma primaries, and in North Dakota's caucuses -- also hurt Gingrich's Southern strategy after the former House speaker's triumphs in South Carolina and now Georgia, which both border Tennessee.

Super Tuesday results

"It looks we're going to get at least a couple of gold medals, and a whole passel full of silver medals," Santorum told cheering supporters in Ohio, where he was running slightly ahead of Romney in a race too close to call.

Romney, meanwhile, easily won as expected in Virginia, Vermont, Idaho and Massachusetts, the state where he served as governor and considers home. In Virginia, two of his challengers -- Santorum and Gingrich -- failed to qualify for the ballot.

The Super Tuesday contests in 10 states put 419 delegates up for grabs. Based on the partial results, CNN estimated that Romney had accumulated 292 delegates to 121 for Santorum, 77 for Gingrich and 52 for Texas Rep. Ron Paul. It takes 1,144 delegates to win the Republican nomination.

For Gingrich, who represented Georgia's sixth congressional district for two decades, the victory provided a new boost after a string of defeats since his only other primary triumph in South Carolina.

"Thank you Georgia! It is gratifying to win my home state so decisively to launch our March Momentum," Gingrich said Tuesday night in a Twitter post.

"There's lots of bunny rabbits that run through," Gingrich later told supporters in Georgia. "I'm the tortoise."

A Gingrich campaign source also told CNN on condition of not being identified that the former House speaker will become the third GOP candidate to get Secret Service protection starting Wednesday. Romney and Santorum already have that protection.

Super Tuesday live blog

Romney entered Super Tuesday off of three wins last week and a growing lead in the race for the nomination to face President Barack Obama in November.

In remarks to supporters in Boston, Romney focused on Obama in trying to sound like the presumptive nominee.

Citing unemployment that remains above 8%, Romney said the figure is just an "inconvenient statistic" in the eyes of the Obama administration.

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Following mistrial, N.C. man convicted of murder in beating death of pregnant wife

Months after his first trial ended in a hung jury, Jason Young was convicted Monday by a North Carolina jury of first-degree murder in the beating death of his pregnant wife.

Michelle Young was discovered dead in 2006 in the bedroom of her Raleigh home. Her husband, Jason, first went on trial last June but a jury could not unanimously agree on a verdict.

But that was not the case Monday, when several of Michelle Young's relatives embraced and wiped away tears after this jury's decision was announced.

Afterward, Judge Donald Stephens said he had no reason to set aside the verdict and ordered Young to be sentenced to life in prison without chance of parole.

According to Stephens, Michelle Young "wasn't just murdered, she suffered a beating the likes of which we seldom see."

Jason Young, now 37, struck her over 30 times, seemingly only stopping after "he was exhausted," said the judge.

"The evidence suggests that the assailant was overcome completely by anger and rage," the judge added. "And even then, he had the energy to strip her of her engagement and weddings rings because, in his mind, she was unworthy of wearing them."

Saying the "fingerprints of domestic violence are all over this case," Stephens said Jason Young "had not only a motive" to kill his wife "but the circumstances pointed directly to him."

Meredith Fisher, the victim's sister, said she answered a call from Jason Young requesting that she drop by his home to pick up some computer printouts that "were said to have been ... a belated anniversary gift," according to a search warrant.

After entering the Raleigh home on November 3, 2006, Fisher found her bloodied sister dead on her bedroom floor as well as the victim's daughter alive on the other side of the bedroom.

The defense contended Jason Young first learned about his wife's death later that day at his mother's home in Brevard, North Carolina, and was contacted by an investigator as he was heading back to Raleigh.

Another search warrant said that Jason Young hung up on a phone call from a detective, and, "He refused to come to the scene or to continue speaking with investigators. Mr. Young did not inquire as to his daughter's well-being or to the nature and/or cause of his wife's death."

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Police find child's body at bottom of 30-foot hole in New Mexico

Recovery crews in southern New Mexico were working to reach a child's body at the bottom of a 30-foot-deep hole Sunday.

Authorities believe the child is Samuel Jones, who went missing Saturday, Carlsbad Police Department spokeswoman Lt. Jennifer Moyers said in a statement.

Officials think the child died when he fell into the hole in his neighbor's yard, CNN affiliate KOAT reported.

"We initially began with rescue procedures. Unfortunately, it was discovered that the conditions inside the hole were not survivable, the amount of oxygen that was there, the temperature, that type of thing," Carlsbad Police Chief Daniel Fierro told CNN affiliate KRQE.

A detective searching for the 4-year-old Sunday morning spotted the body when he shined a light into the neighbor's well, KOAT reported.

It could take a day for mining crews to reach the body safely, state police said.

"It breaks my heart, that little boy down there," heavy equipment operator Paul Kartscner told KOAT.

Crews were digging a trench from the side of the hole and shoring up the sides, KOAT said.

Investigators, who said Saturday that they feared the boy had been abducted by a stranger, said Sunday that they were treating the case as a homicide until they determine a cause of death, KRQE reported.

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