Jay Z, Barclays Opener

NEW YORK (AP) — The newly built Barclays Center is the home of the Brooklyn Nets, and Jay-Z, an investor in the team, christened the venue Friday night in uniform, sporting a Nets hat and jersey as he rapped two dozen jams onstage in front of thousands. Jay-Z performed for an excited and rowdy crowd of 18,000, wearing a jersey that featured his last name, Carter, and the number four. It was his first of eight shows at the venue. As he emerged onstage, a video highlighting some of Brooklyn's historical moments — like when it was named an official borough of New York City — played in the background. There were also pictures of famous faces who were born in Brooklyn, from Michael Jordan to Al Capone to Aaliyah to Adam Yauch of Beastie Boys.

Jay-Z opened the show with the hometown anthems "Where I'm From," a song about his upbringing in Brooklyn's Marcy projects complex, and "Brooklyn Go Hard." He followed that with a tribute to one of Brooklyn's icons: the late Notorious B.I.G. He performed some of the rap vet's hit "Juicy" as the crowd joined in.

"Sing loud so he can hear you in heaven," said Jay-Z, who also held a moment of silence for the rapper, who was shot to death in 1997. Another Brooklynite — Big Daddy Kane — made an appearance, performing songs like "Ain't No Half Steppin'" and "Warm It Up, Kane." He received a roaring cheer from the crowd when performing old-school dance moves with two dancers in all white. Jay-Z said Friday's concert was incomparable to most of his other top-level performances, including the Grammys, Glastonbury or Coachella. "Nothing feels like tonight," he told the crowd multiple times. MadOne

Gossip Mill: Sep 30th, 2012

George Clooney has banned Stacy Keibler from “hanging out” with Kim Kardashian, reveals Star. The mag says the Oscar winner became “enraged” when his girlfriend recently spent time with the reality star because he feels the Kardashians “have no talent,” and being friends with Kim will “hurt” Keibler professionally.

Ashton Kutcher has “secretly proposed” to Mila Kunis, reveals the National Enquirer. The mag says that, although Kutcher is not yet divorced from Demi Moore, the actor “loves Mila and wants to marry her.”

Lady Gaga’s weight gain is due to a “life-threatening medical condition,” reports the National Enquirer, which explains the singer “has a family history of the auto-immune disease lupus.”

Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom recently had a “huge fight,” and now their marriage is “in jeopardy,” reveals In Touch. The mag says Odom is “mad because their fertility issues were aired” on “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” after he told Khloe he didn’t want the topic broadcasted.

Tom Cruise is ready to “move on” from Scientology,” reveals Star. The magazine explains that after “three failed marriages, a slumping career and the fear of losing Suri, Tom is desperate for a new life.”

Chris Brown and Nicole Scherzinger were spotted kissing recently at a Los Angeles club, reveals X17Online. The couple was “dancing close” and “being all touchy-feely” before they openly “started kissing,” reports the site.

Kristen Stewart is telling friends that her on-again boyfriend Robert Pattinson is a “lousy” and “boring lover,” reports Star, and that she got “more sexual pleasure” from Rupert Sanders, with whom she cheated.

Angelina Jolie is exhibiting “signs of deadly hepatitis C,” and may soon need a “life-saving liver transplant,” reports the National Enquirer. The mag says her loved ones are worried she contracted “the killer virus with reckless behavior during her wild young days, including heroin abuse.”

Saturn's Glorious Rings Dazzle in NASA Photo

NASA's Cassini spacecraft snapped this angled shot of Saturn, showing the southern reaches of the planet with the rings on a dramatic diagonal. Saturn's icy moon Enceladus is visible as a tiny white speck in the lower lefthand corner. Space.com

Ancient Water Streambed Discovered On Mars

A NASA rover's discovery of an ancient streambed on Mars is exciting, but it’s far from the first solid evidence that the Red Planet was once a warmer and wetter place. On Thursday (Sept. 27), scientists announced that the Curiosity rover had found rocky outcrops containing large and rounded stones cemented in a conglomerate matrix. The discovery suggests that water had flowed fast and relatively deep — perhaps hip-deep, in fact — through the area billions of years ago.

But Curiosity's find didn't exactly surprise mission scientists. They chose to set the $2.5 billion robot down in the Red Planet's huge Gale Crater, after all, because Mars-orbiting spacecraft have spotted signs there of long-ago water activity — from channels and alluvial fans to minerals that form in the presence of liquid water.And these more recent observations build on evidence for a wet ancient Mars that goes back four decades and has been accumulating ever since. 

Curiosity's mission may also shed light on when and why Mars dried out long ago. Scientists plan to drive the 1-ton robot partway up Mount Sharp, which rises 3.4 miles (5.5 kilometers) into the Red Planet sky from Gale's center. They're keen to explore Mount Sharp's base, which harbors clays and sulfates, orbital observations have shown. About 2,300 feet (700 meters) up, however, these deposits peter out. If Curiosity climbs high enough to cross this threshold, it could help scientists piece together a history of wet Mars, dry Mars and the transition between the two, researchers have said. Space.com