Tuesday, September 11, 2001, dawned temperate and nearly cloudless in the eastern United States. Millions of men and women readied themselves for work. Some made their way to the Twin Towers, the signature structures of the World Trade Center complex in New York City. Others went to Arlington, Virginia, to the Pentagon. Across the Potomac River, the United States Congress was back in session. At the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, people began to line up for a White House tour. In Sarasota, Florida, President George W. Bush went for an early morning run. For those heading to an airport, weather conditions could not have been better for a safe and pleasant journey. Among the travelers were Mohamed Atta and Abdul Aziz al Omari, who arrived at the airport in Portland, Maine. Boston: American 11 and United 175. Atta and Omari boarded a 6:00 A.M. flight from Portland to Boston's Logan International Airport. When he checked in for his flight to Boston, Atta was selected by a computerized prescreening system known as CAPPS (Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System), created to identify passengers who should be subject to special security measures. Under security rules in place at the time, the only consequence of Atta's selection by CAPPS was that his checked bags were held off the plane until it was confirmed that he had boarded the aircraft. This did not hinder Atta's plans. Atta and Omari arrived in Boston at 6:45. Seven minutes later, Atta apparently took a call from Marwan al Shehhi, a longtime colleague who was at another terminal at Logan Airport. They spoke for three minutes. It would be their final conversation.

With who and for how long was Mohamed Atta's last phone call?

Water flowing over Earths surface or underground causes erosion and deposition. Water flowing over a steeper slope moves faster and causes more erosion. How water transports particles depends on their size. When water slows down, it starts depositing sediment. This process starts with the largest particles first. Runoff erodes the land after a heavy rain. It picks up sediment. Runoff carries most of the sediment to bodies of water. Mountain streams erode narrow, V-shaped valleys and waterfalls. Erosion and deposition by slow-flowing rivers create broad floodplains and meanders. Deposition by streams and rivers may form alluvial fans and deltas. Floodwaters may deposit natural levees. Erosion and deposition by groundwater can form caves and sinkholes. Stalactites and stalagmites are mineral deposits. They build up in caves as water continues to drip.

Which particles are deposited first when water flowing over Earth's surface begins to slow down?

Moscow (CNN) -- Divers have completed their search of a Russian cruise ship that sank last weekend with the loss of many lives, the Emergency Situations Ministry told CNN Friday. The official death toll has reached 114 -- including 66 women, 28 children and 20 men, the ministry said. The bodies of 15 people are still missing. There were 208 people on the "Bulgaria" at the time of the accident Sunday, of whom 79 were rescued. Divers have checked all the boat's compartments, the ministry said, and are now looking for more bodies around the boat as well downstream on the Volga River, where they could have been carried by the current. The area where search efforts continue has been enlarged to 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the scene, Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin said at a briefing Friday. Preparations are under way for the cruise ship to be raised from the river bottom in the coming days. Two large boat cranes, one from Moscow and another one from Volgograd, which will be used for the lifting, are on the way to the accident site. "We have asked the Emergency Situations Ministry to keep 23 divers at the scene to continue the search for bodies even during the lifting operation," Levitin said. Specialist military divers were brought in mid-week to aid in the search efforts. Four people face criminal charges over the sinking of the ship, which Russian media have called the most devastating river accident in the country's history.
How many people were charged?