Spotify for iOS gets a much-appreciated interface makeover

Spotify gave its Android app a very overdue interface overhaul last year. The iOS version wasn't in quite as dire straits, but we'd still call today's redesign a long-needed modernization that pulls out some of the clutter. Its 0.6 update mostly brings in useful concepts from the Android version, including the always-on Now Playing strip and the seemingly inescapable navigation sidebar. The update also solves a handful of stand-out flaws, such as reflecting the right track on the lock screen -- about time, really. Listeners will need a Premium subscription for more than just radio, but everyone in Spotify-supported countries can grab the update today.

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio/Video

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Via: Spotify

Source: App Store

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/27/spotify-for-ios-gets-a-much-appreciated-interface-makeover/

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Rackspace Social Media Support Team Wins Customer Service ...

Rackspace?s Social Media Support Team this week took home a silver award for Front Line Customer Service Team of the Year at the seventh annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. The award is an awesome recognition of our passion for customers and Fanatical Support.

The Rackspace Social Media Support Team lives by the ethos of ?Be Helpful.? The team actively monitors social media networks for conversations about our products, services, or other areas where Rackers have subject matter expertise. When we find these conversations, we strive to provide prompt, accurate, and helpful responses.

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service are the world?s top sales, contact center and customer service awards. The Stevie Awards organizes several of the world?s leading business awards shows including the prestigious American Business Awards^SM? and International Business Awards^SM. The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, which are judged by many of the leading figures in business, honor and ?recognize the accomplishments of sales, customer service, call/contact center and sales professionals worldwide.?

The Social Media Support Team was examined by a panel of business professionals, which named it a silver award winner in the Front Line Customer Service Team of the Year, under the Customer Service & Call Center Awards Team category.

More than 1,100 entries from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted to this year?s competition, an increase of 10 percent over 2012.? Finalists were determined by the average scores of 120 professionals worldwide, acting as preliminary judges.? Entries were considered in 30 categories for customer service professionals, including Contact Center of the Year, Award for Innovation in Customer Service and Customer Service Department of the Year; 41 categories for sales professionals, ranging from Senior Sales Executive of the Year to Sales Training to Coaching Program of the Year to Sales Department of the Year of the Year; and categories to recognize new products, services and solution providers.

More than 100 members of eight specialized judging committees determined Stevie Award placements from among the finalists during final judging this year.

Want to see just how Fanatical the Rackspace Social Media Support Team is? Check out this video:

Social Media Support Team Delivering Cake to Awesome Racker

Source: http://www.rackspace.com/blog/rackspace-social-media-support-team-wins-customer-service-stevie-award/

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IronKey Workspace W300 (64GB)

Whether you're a salesman on the road, a telecommuter shifting between the workplace and a home office, or just want the freedom to take your work environment from one PC to the next, the IronKey Workspace W300 may be the portable option you're looking for. Like the previous Editors' Choice Kingston DataTraveler Workspace (32GB), the IronKey Workspace W300 (64GB) is far more than a flash drive, certified for Windows To Go, a portable, bootable version of Windows 8 that lets you go from one system to the next without giving up your IT-certified operating system. And with a slim yet rugged design and IronKey's renowned security, the Workspace W300 is our new Editors' Choice for Windows To Go devices. It's basically your PC in your pocket.

Design and Features
The Workspace W300 doesn't stray far from the usual IronKey aesthetic, with a look that is similar to the IronKey Personal S200 ($79.00 list, 4 stars), with a rugged ABS plastic enclosure and epoxy filling to protect against both physical threats, like water, dust and shock and preventing any hardware tampering.

Available in 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB capacities, the drive measures 0.35 by 0.82 by 3.19 inches (HWD) and weighs only 0.7 ounce. Unlike the chunky Kingston DataTraveler Workspace, it's small enough that it won't crowd out adjacent USB ports. The oblong drive has a lanyard loop on one end, making it easy to attach to a key ring, while the USB plug is covered by a cap that snaps firmly into place, keeping out dirt and grime when the drive is not in use. There is no cap storage on the drive, however, so you will need to take care not to lose it.

Security goes well beyond the physical, with built-in password protection, and BitLocker 256-bit AES full disk encryption. It may not have the hardware-based access protection of the Aegis Secure Key, but the IronKey products have a well-deserved reputation as some of the best secure drives on the market.

Using the drive is a reasonably simple process. The drive plugs into any USB port of the host PC?USB 3.0 is preferred, but not necessary?and the host PC is then powered on or restarted, booting from the USB drive. This may require resetting the boot options in the host PC's BIOS, or accessing a boot manager at start up. Once the boot sequence begins, you'll see the Windows 8 logo, and you'll be guided through a brief setup process. Accept the license requirements, log in with a Windows ID, and you're good to go. The initial setup takes a few minutes, but afterwards, booting from the drive happens in a matter of seconds.

The drive itself is fast, with a USB 3.0 connection offering average read speeds of 300MBps and write speeds of 200MBps. By comparison, the Kingston DataTraveler Workspace has similar average speeds of 250MBps (both read and write). The speedy drive, when used with a USB 3.0 connection, is noticeably nimble.

Formatted in NTFS instead of the FAT32 used by most flash drives, the Workspace W300 is compatible with most Windows 7 or Windows 8 computers. Minimum system requirements are standard for Windows 8 and most Windows 7 machines: a processor with a clock speed of 1GHz or more; at least 2GB of RAM for 64-bit systems (or 1GB for 32-bit), and DirectX 9-capable graphics.

Once you boot to Windows 8 from the drive, all of the necessary drivers are already in place, letting you use the host PCs monitor, keyboard, mouse, and networking devices?but not the hard drive. The bootable OS stays isolated from the host PCs hard drive, keeping the user from snooping on the local machine, and preventing any transmission of malware from one to the other.

Though not made purely for storage, you do have some storage space on the bootable drive. Our 64GB review unit came with 46GB of free space, but you can also use a second flash drive or external hard drive for expanded storage space.

During use, you'll be able to install and run programs as you normally would onto the drive, and Internet Explorer comes preinstalled. You can install Microsoft Office onto the remaining space on the DataTraveler Workspace, and use that to launch your Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files and work on them. Because it reads as a fixed drive, rather than a removable drive, you don't have to install a special bootable version of the programs.

A couple of caveats: You won't be able to access the Windows Store or any of the Windows 8 Apps available through the drive. Also, the size of your primary drive is limited to the remaining capacity of the flash drive. Aside from the differences in storage, the user experience is exactly like using Windows 8 on any other PC, though you may notice the occasional lag when connected via USB 2.0. Once you're done, simply unplug the drive, and it's like you were never there.

For the flexibility of a full operating system that you can use on any PC, the IronKey Workspace W300 is an excellent choice, though many people will be better served by the private browser on the Victorinox Swiss Army Slim Flight or the secure partition options on the SanDisk Extreme 3.0 (64GB). With all of the features offered by the Kingston DataTraveler Workspace, but with IronKey's excellent security and a slimmer design. As a result, it replaces the Kingston as our new Editors' Choice for Windows To Go devices.

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the IronKey Workspace W300 (64GB) with several other flash drives side by side.

More flash drive reviews:
??? IronKey Workspace W300 (64GB)
??? Roccat Apuri
??? PocketDesktop (16GB)
??? LaCie XtremKey USB 3.0 (32GB)
??? Victorinox Swiss Army 16GB Jetsetter Flash Drive
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/62q1ZfalSpY/0,2817,2415960,00.asp

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Exclusive: Flowers Foods to win Hostess' Wonder Bread - source

(Reuters) - Flowers Foods Inc is set to buy Wonder Bread and some other brands owned by Hostess Brands Inc for $360 million, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, giving the No. 2 U.S. baking company a bigger slice of the fast-consolidating bread business.

Pending approval from a U.S. bankruptcy court judge, Wonder Bread, along with Butternut, Home Pride, Merita and Nature's Pride, will go to Flowers after no other bidder stepped up to make a competing offer, the source said.

Shares of Flowers, which makes Nature's Own bread and Tastykake snacks, were up 2 percent in late afternoon trade, as the deal is expected to boost the company's margins and earnings.

Wonder Bread, known for its soft, spongy texture and polka-dot wrapper, is an iconic American brand that has been around for decades.

Hostess, which is liquidating its business after 82 years, was set to run an auction on Thursday for the brands, but there will be no auction since there were no other bids, said the source, who declined to be named as the process is private.

There will be an auction for the Beefsteak brand, for which Flowers bid $30 million, since Hostess received a higher bid from Mexico's Grupo Bimbo , the source said. Bimbo bid $1 million more for the Beefsteak brand, though its $31.9 million bid includes a $900,000 breakup fee.

Hostess declined to comment. Flowers did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

A Bimbo spokeswoman declined to speculate on how the auction process may unfold, noting that the company has already said there may be Hostess assets that might make strategic sense.

"We'll just have to see how that plays out," spokeswoman Monica Breton Salazar said.

Flowers agreed in January to be the "stalking horse" bidder for bread brands including Wonder Bread, which set a floor for the bidding and was subject to a court-supervised auction.

Flowers, founded in 1919 in Thomasville, Georgia, has grown over the years through a string of acquisitions. It was the one-time owner of well-known names including Keebler Foods and Mrs. Smith's pies.

SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst William Chappell expects the Hostess deal to add at least 30 cents per share to Flowers' earnings once the brands are integrated. He expects to hear more about Flowers' estimates and strategy at a company-sponsored analyst meeting in New York next month. He has a "buy" rating on the stock.

MORE TO COME

Hostess expects to run two more auctions next month. One would be for the Hostess snack cake brands, including Twinkies and Dolly Madison, for which private equity firms Apollo Global Management LLC and C. Dean Metropoulos & Co set the bidding at $410 million.

Grupo Bimbo, the world's largest breadmaker with U.S. products including Entenmann's cakes, Arnold bread and Thomas' English Muffins, was also a candidate to bid for Hostess' snack cake brands which include Twinkies, sources previously told Reuters.

The other auction would be for its Drake's cake business and additional bread brands. So far, McKee Foods, maker of Little Debbie snack cakes, offered $27.5 million for Drake's, which includes Ring Dings, Yodels and Devil Dogs.

United States Bakery Inc, also known as Franz Family Bakery, agreed to pay $28.85 million for the Sweetheart, Eddy's, Standish Farms and Grandma Emilie's bread brands.

Bimbo agreed to buy the North American Sara Lee bread business in 2010 as the company sought to expand its reach in the baked goods market. Selling fresh bread is often a difficult business, as there are a lot of low-cost store branded players.

Hostess obtained permission late last year to wind down its business after a strike by its bakers union crippled the company. The sale of its brands and assets is being run by Joshua Scherer of Perella Weinberg Partners.

Flowers shares ended 2.3 percent higher at $28.32 on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday. Grupo Bimbo shares were up 2.7 percent at 33.87 pesos in trading in Mexico City.

(Reporting by Martinne Geller in New York; Editing by Soyoung Kim, Tim Dobbyn and Matthew Lewis)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-flowers-wins-wonder-bread-unchallenged-bid-source-155354880--finance.html

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Hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy Grand

With devices like the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note, Samsung has been an integral part of the push towards bigger screens on smartphones. But traditionally these larger, higher-resolution devices have been aimed towards the high-end, carrying expectedly high-tier price tags. Today at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, we saw a device that aims to defy that convention.

The Galaxy Grand is a mid-range smartphone with high-end ambitions. Its 5-inch screen and Galaxy Note-like aesthetic give it the appearance of a premium handset, though like most Samsung smartphones it’s bright, white shiny and plasticky. There’s no ‘S-Pen’ stylus to be found, but aside from that the Grand offers a fairly complete Samsung software experience. You’re getting the latest version of the company’s TouchWiz UI, which runs on top of Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. The software package even includes newer additions like multi-window support -- Samsung’s method for running more than one app on-screen at a time.

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/VNY6A5hTL6w/story01.htm

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Video: 2 vortex trails with 1 wing stroke

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

As of today, the Wikipedia entry for the hummingbird explains that the bird's flight generates in its wake a single trail of vortices that helps the bird hover. But after conducting experiments with hummingbirds in the lab, researchers at the University of California, Riverside propose that the hovering hummingbird instead produces two trails of vortices ? one under each wing per stroke ? that help generate the aerodynamic forces required for the bird to power and control its flight.

The results of the study could find wide application in aerospace technology and the development of unmanned vehicles for medical surveillance after natural disasters.

The researchers used high-speed image sequences ? 500 frames per second ? of hummingbirds hover-feeding within a white plume (emitted by the heating of dry ice) to study the vortex wake from multiple perspectives. They also used particle image velocimetry (PIV), a flow-measuring method used in fluid mechanics, to quantitatively analyze the flow around the hummingbirds. PIV allowed the researchers to record the particles surrounding the birds and extract velocity fields.

The films and velocity fields showed two distinct jets of downwards airflow ? one under each wing of the hummingbird. They also revealed that vortex loops around each jet are shed during each upstroke and downstroke.

The researchers therefore propose in their paper published online last month in the journal Experiments in Fluids that the hummingbird's two wings form bilateral vortex loops during each wing stroke, which is advantageous for maneuverability.

"Previous studies have indicated that slow-flying bats and faster flying birds produced different structures in their wakes," said Douglas Altshuler, formerly an assistant professor of biology at UC Riverside, whose lab led the research. "We have been investigating the wake structure of hovering hummingbirds because this allows us to decouple the effects of different types of wings ? bat versus bird ? from different forward flight speeds.

Hummingbirds each weigh 2-20 grams. Because they can hover with high precision, they are able to drink nectar from flowers without any jiggling movement to their bodies. Besides using upstrokes and downstrokes, hummingbirds can rotate their wings. They can even flap their wings from front to back with a 180-degree amplitude.

"We began this study to investigate how the hummingbird used its tail while hovering," said Marko Princevac, an associate professor of mechanical engineering and a coauthor of the research paper. "After all, many insects also hover, but they have no tail. Instead, however, our research showed something interesting about the hummingbird's wings: the bilateral vortex structure. Hummingbirds hovering should cost a lot of energy but these birds are able to hover for long periods of time. Ideally, unmanned vehicles need to be operated with a very limited energy supply, which is why understanding how the hummingbird maximizes its use of energy is tremendously beneficial."

The video shows that the hummingbird produces two trails of vortices -- one under each wing per stroke -- that help generate the aerodynamic forces it requires to power and control its flight. Credit: Altshuler Lab, UC Riverside.

Sam Pournazeri, a former Ph.D. graduate student in Princevac's lab and a co-author on the paper, explained that in a downstroke, the air pressure difference developed as a result of wing movement creates flow from the bottom to the top of the wing. The result is a circular movement or vortex.

"Based on theories in fluid mechanics, this vortex should close either on the wing/body or create a loop around it," he said. "It's these loops that provide circulation around the wings and cause the hummingbird to overcome its weight. Hovering requires the bird to create a lift that cancels its body weight. Although the two-vortex structure we observed increases the hummingbird's energy consumption, it provides the bird a big advantage: a lot more maneuverability."

Next, the research team plans to study the hummingbird in a wind tunnel to closely observe how the bird transitions from hovering to forward motion, and vice versa.

"Current technology is not successfully mimicking how living things fly," Princevac said. "Drones don't hover, and must rely on forward motion. Research done using hummingbirds, like ours, can inform the development of the next generation of drones."

###

University of California - Riverside: http://www.ucr.edu

Thanks to University of California - Riverside for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 23 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127012/Video____vortex_trails_with___wing_stroke

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Study reveals stem cells in a human parasite

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

From the point of view of its ultimate (human) host, the parasitic flatworm Schistosoma mansoni has a gruesome way of life. It hatches in feces-tainted water, grows into a larva in the body of a snail and then burrows through human skin to take up residence in the veins. Once there, it grows into an adult, mates and, if it's female, starts laying eggs. It can remain in the body for decades.

A new study offers insight into the cellular operations that give this flatworm its extraordinary staying power. The researchers, from the University of Illinois, demonstrated for the first time that S. mansoni harbors adult, non-sexual stem cells that can migrate to various parts of its body and replenish tissues. Their report appears in the journal Nature.

According to the World Health Organization, more than 230 million people are in need of treatment for Schistosoma infections every year. Most live in impoverished areas with little or no access to clean water. Infection with the worm (also known as a blood fluke) can lead to damaging inflammation spurred by the presence of the worm's eggs in human organs and tissues.

"The female lays eggs more or less continuously, on the order of hundreds of eggs per day," said U. of I. cell and developmental biology professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator Phillip Newmark, who led the study with postdoctoral researcher James J. Collins III.

"The eggs that don't get excreted in the feces to continue the life cycle actually become embedded inside host tissues, typically the liver, and those eggs trigger a massive inflammatory response that leads to tissue damage."

Children are especially vulnerable to the effects of infection, in some cases experiencing delays in growth and brain development as a result of chronic inflammation brought on by the parasites.

The new study began with an insight stemming from years of work on a different flatworm, the planarian, in Newmark's lab. Collins thought that schistosomes might make use of the same kinds of stem cells (called neoblasts in planarians) that allow planarians to regenerate new body parts and organs from even tiny fragments of living tissue.

"It just stood to reason that since schistosomes, like planaria, live so long that they must have a comparable type of system," Collins said. "And since these flatworms are related, it made sense that they would have similar types of cells. But it had never been shown."

In a series of experiments, Collins found that the schistosomes were loaded with proliferating cells that looked and behaved like planarian neoblasts, the cells that give them their amazing powers of regeneration. Like neoblasts, the undifferentiated cells in the schistosomes lived in the mesenchyme, a kind of loose connective tissue that surrounds the organs. And like neoblasts, these cells duplicated their DNA and divided to form two "daughter" cells, one of which copied its DNA again, a process that normally precedes cell division.

"Stem cells do two things," Newmark said. "They divide to make more stem cells and they give rise to cells that can differentiate."

Collins had labeled the cells with fluorescent markers. This allowed him to watch how they behaved. He noted that over the course of a few days, some of the labeled cells migrated into the gut or muscle, to become part of those tissues.

"We label the cells when they're born and then we see what they grow up to become," Collins said. "This is not conclusive evidence that these cells are equivalent to the planarian neoblasts, but it is consistent with the hypothesis that they are."

The researchers went deeper, determining which genes were turned on or off, up or down in the proliferating cells as compared with the non-dividing cells. They identified a gene in the proliferating cells that coded for a growth factor receptor very similar to one found in planarians. When the researchers switched off the parasite's ability to make use of this gene (using a technique called RNA interference in worms grown in the lab), the proliferating cells gradually died out.

"We postulated that these cells are important for the longevity of the parasite," Collins said. "Now we can start asking which genes regulate these cells."

"We started with the big question: How does a simple parasite survive in a host for decades?" Newmark said. "That implies that it has ways of repairing and maintaining its tissues. This study gives us insight into the really interesting biology of these parasites, and it may also open up new doors for making that life cycle a lot shorter."

###

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: http://www.uiuc.edu

Thanks to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 36 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127019/Study_reveals_stem_cells_in_a_human_parasite

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Pound Foolish: Exposing The Dark Side Of The Personal Finance ...

At a time when we have more personal finance advice than ever before, why are so many Americans in bad financial shape, and why do we say money is our number one worry in surveys?

Helaine Olen, who has written about personal finance for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and many other publications, wanted answers. So she investigated the world of financial advisors, TV personalities, academics, brokers, and regulators.

What she found was faddish advice, rampant conflicts of interest, and a Horatio Alger narrative that holds individuals completely responsible for their own failings and lets crooks conveniently off the hook.

It?s all recounted in Olen?s entertaining book?Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry.

She spoke to MintLife?s Matthew Amster-Burton about bad investments, free steak, and the limits of preaching personal responsibility.

MintLife:?You used to write the Money Makeover series for the Los Angeles Times. I love reading the financial makeover in my local newspaper, but I?ve always wondered what would happen if you went back and visited these people 10 years later.

What did you find when you did that?

Olen:?I found generally that people who were in decent shape remained in decent shape. The people who weren?t mostly were not.

That being said, there were a couple of caveats. One is what happened to California real estate. Some of my subjects had bought property, you know, in very high-end areas. Keep in mind that this is a Los Angeles-based feature.

So, my subjects who had bought property in places like West LA before the run-up, and held on and didn?t take second mortgages and the like, ultimately did okay.

Some of my people really did suffer serious setbacks. One in particular I?m thinking of was on track to retire a multi-millionaire. Part of this was because he was a pilot for one of the airlines.

MintLife:?Right.

Olen:?We all know what happened to the airlines after 9/11, and his was one that had gone into bankruptcy. So his salary was cut by 40% and his pension was cut by more than half, and he started investing in real estate to make up the losses.

His original house, i.e., the one in the nice area of Los Angeles that he owned, has continued to do well for him. The stuff he invested in, not so well.

MintLife:?Nearly everything written about personal finance?I?m certainly guilty of this myself?is about how if you make the right decisions, you?re going to turn out okay.

It?s as if the last five years didn?t happen, because you still hear exactly the same things over and over.

Olen:?I would say almost the last 30 years. It?s not a problem that started in 2007.

MintLife:?True.

Olen:?This is a problem that really begins in the 1970s and early 1980s when two very powerful currents meet each other. One is the start of income stagnation and income inequality, which of course leads to wealth inequality.

And the second is the do-it-yourself system, what academics like to call responsibilization or financialization.

We went from a world where a lot of people had pensions to where almost no one had pensions. And you were supposed to be in charge of this at a time where increasing numbers of factors were going against you.

We just started doing this cheerleading, right? It makes sense for a number of years because of the great bull market of the 20th century, from 1982 to roughly 2000.

So we all think we?re geniuses, right?

We?re putting money into the stock market and it?s going up. And we start to believe this contradiction that our stock gains are both inevitable and they?re a result of our own genius.

MintLife:?I run into this all the time. I talk to people who say, ?I bought Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) at just the right time. I can do this, why can?t everyone??

In most cases it?s because they?re not talking about their losses.

Olen:?Right. That?s what I would say. Tell me about eToys in 1999.

MintLife:?A lot of the book talks about the need for, I guess I would call it, common sense regulation.

And every time I write about something like the dangers of equity indexed annuities, or leveraged ETFs, or even student loan reform, I often hear, ?Look, in the right hands these are useful tools, just like a sharp knife is a useful tool. If we regulate them, we?re going to damage innovation, damage the economy.?

Olen:?The first thing you have to understand is we?re dealing with thirty years of a powerful ideology that regulation is bad in a free market. Lack of regulation in this area is a disgrace.

Are these useful tools for some people? Absolutely.

Can people get into real trouble with them? Absolutely.

This stuff is sold to people as a way of protecting themselves, when in fact it does no such thing.

It?s like giving somebody a sharp knife to butter bread. It?s not going to work out well for an awful lot of people. Equity indexed annuities are, for most people, not a great idea.

If they were such a great idea, then why are the commissions so high on selling them?

No positions in stocks mentioned.

Source: http://www.minyanville.com/trading-and-investing/personal-finance/articles/Pound-Foolish253A-Exposing-the-Dark-Side/2/26/2013/id/48381

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AT&T turns on LTE in 6 more markets

AT&T announced this morning that it has flipped the switch and turned on LTE in more markets.

Any of you in the following locales will be fortunate to have AT&T LTE soon. The new markets are:

• Tunica, Mississippi
• Athens, Tennessee
• Lafollette, Tennessee
• Tallahassee, Florida
• Salinas and Monterey, California
• Lawrence, Kansas

Always good to see the expansion of LTE and higher speeds it brings.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/P5sHonw_a5k/story01.htm

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Scientists find surprising new influence on cancer genes

Feb. 24, 2013 ? Small stretches of DNA in the human genome are known as "pseudogenes" because, while their sequences are nearly identical to those of various genes, they have long been thought to be non-coding "junk" DNA.

But now, a new study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) shows how pseudogenes can regulate the activity of a cancer-related gene called PTEN. The study also shows that pseudogenes can be targeted to control PTEN's activity.

Published in the latest issue of the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, the team's findings suggest a much larger role for pseudogenes than previously thought -- a discovery that changes our understanding of the internal landscape of living cells, adding a new layer of complexity to an already crowded topography marked by multiple, overlapping, interacting gene networks.

Understanding how pseudogenes interact and control gene networks in the human body may lead to new ways of addressing diseases tied to problems that arise due to disruptions in these gene networks, said TSRI scientist Kevin Morris, PhD, who led the research in collaboration with scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and The University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

"This has improved our knowledge of how genes in cancer are regulated and how we may now be able to control them," Morris said.

Genes and Pseudogenes at Work

The focus of the human genome project, which decoded our entire DNA sequence a decade ago, was largely on genes -- the genetic sequences that encode proteins and thus control processes that govern and regulate all biological functions. But these genes are only a small part of the genome. The vast majority of DNA in the human genome is non-coding, meaning that it does not make protein.

In the early days of molecular biology, scientists called these vast stretches of DNA "junk" because of their presumed inactivity. Pseudogenes, which make up vast swaths of non-coding DNA, were considered part of the junk -- even though they resembled genes -- because they did not code for proteins.

The results from the new study contradict that view by showing these bits of genetic material playing a profound role in controlling the activity of human genes. The control or loss of control of genes can make the difference between healthy and diseased tissue. In cancer, for instance, some genes become more active, while other genes that should normally shut down a cancerous growth become suppressed.

In the new work, Morris and his colleagues showed that pseudogenes can influence the activity of a human gene known as the phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN). PTEN has long been implicated in cancer and is categorized as a "tumor suppressor" gene, meaning that it has the ability to arrest the growth of a tumor. But in many forms of cancer, PTEN is shut down, allowing the tumor to grow unchecked.

Intriguing Possibilities

Morris and his colleagues found that pseudogenes sharing sequences in common with PTEN can regulate the gene in two ways -- knocking it down by suppressing the "promoter" for the PTEN gene, preventing the gene from being expressed, or soaking up PTEN-targeted regulatory micro-RNAs affecting the PTEN protein after the gene transcripts have been expressed.

Some companies are already looking at pseudogenes such as PTEN as targets of potential new drugs, Morris said, and the new work is a proof of principle that targeting pseudogenes can modulate the growth of cancer cells grown in the laboratory.

The same principle may be applicable to other diseases where the aberrant activity of a normal human gene is in play -- or in infectious diseases, as a way of shutting down certain crucial genes belonging to viruses or bacteria.

Morris noted, however, there are many practical issues with controlling pseudogenes. Designing a drug targeting pseudogenes directly would be difficult to administer with current technology, as these drugs would need to be delivered into the exact cells where they are needed without spreading to other, healthy tissues where they could be toxic.

The article, "A pseudogene long noncoding RNA network regulates PTEN transcription and translation in human cells," by Per Johnsson, Amanda Ackley, Linda Vidarsdottir, Weng-Onn Lui, Martin Corcoran, Dan Grand?r, and Kevin V. Morris appears in the February 24, 2013 issue of the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.

This work was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease and the National Cancer Institute, both components of the National Institutes of Health, though grants #R56 AI096861-01, #P01 AI099783-01, #R01 CA151574 and #R01 CA153124. Additional support was provided by The Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation, The Swedish Cancer Society, Radiumhemmets Forskningsfonder, the Karolinska Institutet PhD support programme, Vetenskapsr?det, and the Erik and Edith Fernstrom Foundation for Medical Research.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Scripps Research Institute, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Per Johnsson, Amanda Ackley, Linda Vidarsdottir, Weng-Onn Lui, Martin Corcoran, Dan Grand?r, Kevin V Morris. A pseudogene long-noncoding-RNA network regulates PTEN transcription and translation in human cells. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.2516

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/0-xoCUXm59A/130224142821.htm

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Ted Talks

Sen. Ted Cruz

Photo by Joshua Roberts/Reuters.

If it achieves nothing else, the Senate Republicans? filibuster of Chuck Hagel inaugurated the age of Ted Cruz. The day after the vote, the New York Times, Politico, and the Washington Post ran versions of the same Cruz profile. By accusing Chuck Hagel of lying on his disclosure forms and building consensus for a one-week delay?just a few more documents, please?Cruz had made enemies out of everyone on the conservative blacklist. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said Cruz had acted ?out of bounds.? Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, viewed by the right as an accidental senator who rigged the Republican primary to make sure she?d face Todd Akin, compared Cruz to Joe McCarthy.

That was exactly what Cruz wanted. All of it. Portraying his opponents as traitors-in-training has been Cruz?s shtick since he started running for Senate three years ago. On Friday, Jane Mayer dug into her 2010 notebooks and found Cruz telling an Americans for Prosperity crowd that Harvard Law School, in the early 1990s, employed 12 professors ?who would say they were Marxists who believed in the Communists overthrowing the United States government.? Cruz?s old professors, reached by Mayer, had no earthly idea what he was talking about. The Huffington Post borg repackaged this story with the headline ?TED MCCARTHY,? and the resultant comment thread outpaced the one beneath ?LOOK: What Women Really Look Like Naked.?

Cruz pulled this off with less than two months of experience in elected office. Before winning the Senate seat in Texas, he?d worked on the legal team for George W. Bush?s presidential campaign, and there his political resume ended. Cruz?s reputation, and his campaign pitch, grew out of his years as Texas?s solicitor general. Cruz argued nine cases in front of the Supreme Court, starting with Frew v. Hawkins, when he was just 34 years old.

In transcripts from those cases, Cruz sounds just like the senator who?s making life agony for Chuck Hagel. The difference is that he?s usually losing. There are no doddering ex-senators waiting patiently for their turns to talk, or journalists raring to write another ?Great Republican Hope?? piece. In their place: justices who want to shred his argument.?

Frew v. Hawkins, for example, was a disaster for Cruz. The state had given him a weak case: It was arguing that federal requirements for improving health care didn?t apply to Texas, because of state sovereignty guaranteed by the 11th Amendment. Cruz?s own arguments foreshadowed some of the theories that would become conservative gospel in the Obama years. In 2004, they were met with a wall of laughter.

?I will point out if signing a consent decree is a waiver of 11th Amendment immunity or sovereign immunity, then plaintiffs' argument proves too much,? said Cruz. ?It means every consent decree is utterly immune from Ex Parte Young. It means once a consent decree is there, the requirements of Federal law don't matter.?

?Only with the state attorney general,? joked Antonin Scalia.

Texas lost 9-0. His first notable, partial win came with Latin American Citizens v. Perry, the suit brought against the state for a mid-decade gerrymander. By a 5-4 margin, the court?s liberals upheld the mid-decade gerrymander, but struck down a district along the Rio Grande?the 23^rd district?that had apparently been drawn to minimize the Latino vote. Anthony Kennedy, siding with the liberals, wrote the decision. He also gave Cruz hell about the map.

?Do you want this court to say that it's constitutionally permissible to take away a number of minority voters from the district, but leave just enough so that it looks like a minority?? Kennedy asked. ?Is that a permissible use of race? It seems to me that's an affront and an insult.?

?Except the district court found as a factual matter that what happened in district 23 was wholly political,? said Cruz. ?It was not racial, so that the voters were not removed because of race. They were removed because of politics.?

?But the additional finding is that 50 percent were kept to make it look good,? said Kennedy. ?As this court has said, the legislature will always be aware of the racial composition of a district.?

In 2013, away from the bench, Cruz doesn?t have to be so cagey about race and politics. ?Democrats and the media are afraid of Marco Rubio because he is a smart, intelligent, conservative Hispanic,? he told reporters in Texas this week. At other times, he?s accused President Obama of wanting immigration to fail, so Democrats can hold onto the issue and call Republicans racist.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=ede817716f1a024a4f81896ce81c1125

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Quvenzhan? Wallis to play title role in "Annie" movie

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nine-year-old Oscar nominee Quvenzhan? Wallis will play the title role in "Annie," Sony's Columbia Pictures announced on Sunday.

"Annie" is due to hit theaters in 2014 during the winter holiday season, and is based on the stage play about an orphan's adventures in finding her family and a better life while overcoming the schemes of orphanage mistress Miss Hannigan.

President of production at Columbia Pictures Hannah Minghella expressed confidence in Wallis' talent and star power.

"With the recent Academy Award nomination and critical acclaim, Quvenzhan? Wallis is a true star and we believe her portrayal as Annie will make her a true worldwide star," she said.

"She is an extraordinary young talent with an amazing range, not only as an actress but as a singer and dancer, and we can't wait for audiences to further discover her."

Among the film's co-producers are Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith and Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter. Carter's 1998 Grammy-winning album "Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life" contains a hip-hop version of "It's a Hard Knock Life," a song from the original Broadway musical "Annie."

The hit musical was first made into a film starring Carol Burnett as Miss Hannigan in 1982. A made-for-TV version with Kathy Bates in the same role aired on ABC in 1999, and earned two Emmy awards.

Wallis is the youngest actress to ever be nominated for a Best Actress Oscar. She was nominated for her role as Hushpuppy in indie drama "Beasts of the Southern Wild," which also earned a nod for Best Picture. "Beasts" is Wallis' first acting job.

Among her other firsts, she will also be the first African-American actress to play Annie, who has been traditionally portrayed as a freckle-faced redhead.

Later this year, she will star alongside Brad Pitt and Michael Fassbender in Steve McQueen's historical drama "Twelve Years a Slave," based on the book by Solomon Northup.

(Editing by Eric Walsh and Jackie Frank)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/quvenzhan-wallis-play-title-role-annie-movie-213840204--finance.html

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President's personal life hits French stage

In this photo taken Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013, French actors Daniel-Jean Colloredo, center, Marie Piton, left, and Dominique Merot perform in a scene of "Mr. Normal, His Women and Me," directed by Bernard Uzan, at the Tristan Bernard theater in Paris, France. A vow to keep his private life out of the public eye helped sweep Francois Hollande to power last year as France?s president, attracting voters tired of his flashy predecessor?s amorous exploits. Now, the words of the one-time dull Socialist are back to bite him in a new play. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon)

In this photo taken Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013, French actors Daniel-Jean Colloredo, center, Marie Piton, left, and Dominique Merot perform in a scene of "Mr. Normal, His Women and Me," directed by Bernard Uzan, at the Tristan Bernard theater in Paris, France. A vow to keep his private life out of the public eye helped sweep Francois Hollande to power last year as France?s president, attracting voters tired of his flashy predecessor?s amorous exploits. Now, the words of the one-time dull Socialist are back to bite him in a new play. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon)

In this photo taken Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013, French actors Daniel-Jean Colloredo, center, Marie Piton, left, and Dominique Merot perform in a scene of "Mr. Normal, His Women and Me," directed by Bernard Uzan, at the Tristan Bernard theater in Paris, France. A vow to keep his private life out of the public eye helped sweep Francois Hollande to power last year as France?s president, attracting voters tired of his flashy predecessor?s amorous exploits. Now, the words of the one-time dull Socialist are back to bite him in a new play. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon)

PARIS (AP) ? A vow to keep his private life out of the public eye helped sweep Francois Hollande to power last year as France's president, attracting voters tired of his flashy predecessor's amorous exploits. Now, the words of the one-time dull Socialist are back to bite him in a new play.

"Mr. Normal, His Women and Me," a comedy of errors set in the presidential Elysee Palace, is inspired by a real-life Twitter scandal involving his glamorous live-in girlfriend, journalist Valerie Trierweiler, and the elegant and influential mother of Hollande's four children, politician Segolene Royal.

The affair last year shook up Hollande's carefully cultivated dull image and hurt his popularity. And it immediately caught the attention of director and writer Bernard Uzan.

"When I first saw the tweet... it was a vaudeville before my eyes," said Uzan, referring to a message sent by Trierweiler during last June's legislative elections expressing support for Royal's political opponent.

Days later, Royal lost her bid for a parliamentary seat. Widely criticized as a vindictive move, the tweet went viral and dominated French media for days.

When writing the play, Uzan says he interviewed real politicians and used genuine quotes and anecdotes.

Indeed, the characters are very thinly disguised. The play features a portly, bespectacled protagonist called Francois Gouda ? named after a Dutch cheese ? who's chased around the Elysee by an obsessive ex-partner, Marjolaine Loyal, and bossy First Lady Nathalie Valtriere, who likes designer dresses.

Though it is fictional, the play ? which opened on Jan. 24 ? points out some uncomfortable truths about the last nine months, which have seen Hollande's popularity plunge at the same speed as the country's economic fortunes.

"I, as president, won't expose my private life to the eyes of the French," says Gouda, evoking Hollande's pledge a month before his election victory in May to not mix up his public and private lives.

Hollande's words were calculated to distance himself from his conservative predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy. He was criticized for letting his private life get too public during his presidency, divorcing his second wife Cecilia and marrying his third, former supermodel and singer Carla Bruni-Sarkozy while in office.

Two months after winning the election, it was Hollande in the hot seat, answering an uncomfortable question on Bastille Day about his own love triangle. His 27-year-old son, Thomas, was dragged into to the affair, dubbed "tweetgate," to defend his mother, Royal.

Mirroring the image political satirists paint of Hollande, the play shows the presidential character as incapable of controlling the two warring women who throw insults at each other.

To chuckles, an exasperated Gouda says, "I never asked to be here ... Why can't I just resign, like the pope?"

Actor Daniel Jean Colloredo plays the president as a weak, ridiculous leader ? steered by the characters around him, including his aide who tries to teach him the confidence to say "I am a winner" to a mirror. He eventually manages with a weak "we-we-winner."

"He really doesn't have the strength of character to choose either woman," said Colleredo.

Hollande's ex-partner Royal was back in the news this week causing controversy, with an announcement of her appointment as vice president of the new government-funded Public Investment Bank.

Top business leader Laurence Parisot questioned Royal's experience for the job, while journalists have called it a political appointment from the Elysee to keep Royal happy ? a charge she vehemently denies.

The play also tries to address the key question on everyone's lips: What is the irresistible appeal of Hollande, who has been nicknamed "flanby" after a bland custard dessert?

"We asked ourselves this, too. How can this (love triangle) have come about?" says Dominique Merot, the actress who plays Loyal. "He must have a lot of charm behind closed doors."

____

Follow Thomas Adamson at http://Twitter.com/ThomasAdamsonAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-23-France-All%20the%20President's%20Women/id-a215a8eb12a943f18d020b566d1b7ef7

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Video: Day after crash, Daytona readies for famous race

>>> let's begin with the massive crash a daytona that injured dozens of fans. the race will go on today in just hours, janet shuar janet shamlian joi ns us.

>> reporter: we were here when it happened. a horrifying crash, a car literally sheared in half. it soon became evident it was worse than that. the most serious injuries weren't the drivers in the cars, but the fans in the stands.

>> and contact!

>> reporter: a violent crash that started on the track and ended in the grandstand. the wreckage of a race car , large chunks of metal and a tire, flying into the air and hitting fans as high as 45 rows up. it was the final lap. drivers jockeying for a position, when a bump between cars turned terrifying.

>> tony stewart is going to win the race.

>> drive kyle larsen's car cut in half and tore through the fence designed to protect fans. one spectator posted this stunning video on youtube. a tire in the stands. people scrambling and waving to get help for the injured. mike wilkinson had a clear view from his seat but couldn't bear to watch.

>> i was stunned. my hand was over my mouth. i -- when i saw the car fly up and hit the fence and a fireball erupt, i turned away, i didn't want to see what happened.

>> reporter: others say it was a scene of complete chaos. nascar reports more than 30 hurt. 14 taken to daytona hospitals. among the most serious, a child in critical, but stable condition.

>> fans want to be close to the action at daytona . if you were to walk by the fence here, you will feel it. your hair will literally be sucked sideways because are you so close to the action. that's what fans want.

>> reporter: amazingly, kyle larsen walked away from the accident and no other drivers seriously hurt. they moved quickly to repair damage to the fence and retaining wall ahead of today's daytona 500 , its signature race. as nascar said, it would take a close look at what happened.

>> we need to take the type to study it, see what we can improve on and if we can, certainly the safety of our fans is first and foremost and we'll make that happen.

>> it can be risky business navigating the heavily horsepowers cars. as one driver said after the accident, we assume the risk. it shouldn't be the fans. and the speedway worked overnight to repair and replace the retaining wall and the fence that was damaged in the accident. daytona is ready for the signature race that starts at 1:00 eastern today. fans will be seated in the same stands where so many were hurt on saturday. lester.

Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50927570/

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Fox seeks to block new Dish 'Hopper' feature

(Reuters) - Fox Broadcasting Co has asked a federal judge to stop Dish Network Corp from letting customers who use its controversial Hopper digital video recording device watch its programs on tablets and smartphones.

The unit of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp on Thursday asked U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles to issue a preliminary injunction against Dish.

If granted, the injunction would also stop the second-largest U.S. satellite TV company from retransmitting live programs to computers and mobile devices via the latest Hopper set-top box. The second version of the Hopper DVR with these new features became available to Dish's 14 million subscribers on February 11.

Representatives of Dish did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Hopper has been controversial because its "AutoHop" feature lets subscribers skip commercials on recorded programs, including prime-time shows from Fox, ABC, CBS and NBC.

Networks have said this violates copyright law and can cut into revenue from advertisers who expect some subscribers to fast-forward over their advertisements.

But now Fox is fighting back against a new service on the device - the on-the-go app that lets subscribers transfer programs to devices such as Apple iPads, and watch them in planes, subway stations and other places lacking Internet access.

The updated Hopper also uses "sling" technology that redirects live and recorded TV signals to Internet-connected devices. Currently, all of Dish's channels ranging from ESPN to premium channels such as HBO or Showtime are available for live viewing on devices other than the TV, depending on the programming package chosen by customers.

But according to Fox, both of these services breached Dish's license agreement with Fox, and Dish's Internet retransmission service infringed Fox's copyrights.

The network said it will be "irreparably harmed" absent a preliminary injunction against Englewood, Colorado-based Dish.

"Fox granted Dish a limited right to retransmit Fox's signal over its satellite system, and Dish grants its subscribers the limited right to watch the programs retransmitted by Dish in their private homes. That is all," Fox said in the filing.

Sling technology was developed by Sling Media Inc, which was bought in 2007 by the company now called EchoStar Corp. The billionaire Charles Ergen controls Dish and EchoStar.

Analysts have said Dish created the Hopper DVR to fight back against retransmission fees, which cable and satellite companies pay to broadcast stations.

A March 22 court hearing is scheduled on Fox's request.

Last November 7, Gee rejected Fox's effort to block the AutoHop feature. Fox has appealed that ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The case is Fox Broadcasting Co et al v. Dish Network LLC et al, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, No. 12-04529.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel and Liana B. Baker in New York; editing by Matthew Lewis)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fox-seeks-block-dish-hopper-feature-160748848.html

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Pluto moon vote helps the case for Vulcan

M. Showalter / NASA / ESA

An image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, surrounded by four smaller moons. P4 and P5 will be getting new names. One of them might be called Vulcan.

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

The organizer of a contest to name Pluto's two tiniest moons can't guarantee that either one of them will be called "Vulcan" ??but if the name nominated by the original captain on the "Star Trek" TV show retains its lead in the voting, planetary scientist Mark Showalter promises to argue the best case he can.

"My starting position is that we should work with the names that received the most votes," Showalter told NBC News on Friday.

The "Pluto Rocks" voting is due to conclude at noon ET Monday, to be followed by a 1 p.m. Google+ Hangout sponsored by the SETI Institute, the place where Showalter works. Right now, Vulcan holds a commanding lead with about 140,000 of the 370,000 votes cast. But even if Vulcan holds onto that edge, don't expect Showalter to declare immediately that Vulcan is the choice.

"There will not be an announcement on Monday," he said.

---

For one thing, it's not totally up to Showalter to make the nomination. He's just one of the leading scientists on the discovery teams for P4 and P5, the two moons that were found in 2011 and 2012. All the members from each of the teams will have to agree on the names to be submitted to the International Astronomical Union for approval. Even then, the IAU could voice concerns about the names they submit, leading to alternate suggestions. Showalter said he's actually seen that happen in the case of the Uranian moon that ended up being called Cupid.

Kirk ... takes ... command
Vulcan wasn't on Showalter's initial list of prospects, but he added it to the ballot at the urging of William Shatner, the actor who played Captain James T. Kirk on the original "Star Trek" series in the late 1960s. Shatner favored the name because it was the fictional home planet of Kirk's pointy-eared science officer, Mr. Spock. "Let's hope the IAU thinks Vulcan is a good name," Shatner wrote in a tweet to his 1.35 million Twitter followers.

Showalter said Shatner's endorsement definitely skewed the results. "Early on, it's pretty clear there were some Trek fans who seem to have resorted to augmented voting technologies," Showalter said. But he's convinced that the groundswell of support for Vulcan is genuine, and he said he's "come up with a pretty good case" for using the name.

"I want people to feel that their vote counted," Showalter said.

The IAU's guidelines for Pluto's moons stipulate that they should be named after Greek or Roman gods who have some connection to the mythological underworld. Those guidelines worked for Pluto's three other moons, Charon (ferryman of the dead), Nix (goddess of darkness) and Hydra (a many-headed monster).

Vulcan has a family relationship to the underworld, in that he was Pluto's nephew. And in his capacity as the god of fire, Vulcan tended to hang out in the depths beneath Mount Etna and other volcanoes, rather than on the heights of Mount Olympus. That may not be Hell, exactly, but it's certainly the underworld.

Showalter admitted that it might be tricky to have the god of fire associated with one of the coldest places in the solar system. "It may well be there's a consensus that it's a great name, but not a great name for a moon of Pluto," he said. Also, the name Vulcan has been associated with a hypothetical planet that was thought to circle the sun within Mercury's orbit. The 19th-century French astronomer who discovered Neptune, Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier, spent fruitless years looking for it. Pluto's moon is in an entirely different place, but Showalter sees that as a potential plus.

"Maybe we'd be doing Le Verrier a favor by saying that when he was looking for the ninth planet inside Mercury's orbit, he was looking in the wrong direction," Showalter joked.

Some have said the name Vulcan should be reserved for a planet beyond our own solar system. In response, Showalter points out that there's no IAU procedure for giving names to extrasolar planets (beyond generic designations such as?Kepler-37b or Gliese 163c). That situation may change if planet-naming ventures such as Uwingu take hold. But in the meantime, Showalter feels that Vulcan should at least be given a fair shot at solar system fame.

Another moon to name
So it's virtually a sure thing that Showalter will try making the case for Vulcan. But what about the other Plutonian moon?

Right now, Cerberus is hanging onto the No. 2 spot in the voting, and unless Styx or some other name comes from behind in the next few days, Showalter will argue the case for Cerberus as well. That name fits perfectly with the mythological underworld theme, because Cerberus was the three-headed hound that guarded the gates of the underworld.

One drawback is that there's already an asteroid named Cerberus, and the IAU doesn't want newly named celestial bodies to be confused with previously named objects. Showalter said there are at least two ways around that issue: One is to argue that the asteroid and the moon wouldn't be confused. The precedent for this is Io, a mythological name that refers to a Jovian moon as well as an asteroid. Another way out is to change the spelling slightly ? say, to the Greek name Kerberos. One precedent for this is the Plutonian moon Nix, which uses an alternate spelling to avoid confusion with the asteroid Nyx. (By the way, there's already an asteroid named Vulcano, but that name is considered different enough from Vulcan,)

Opening the moon-naming process up to a vote has been a lot of work, even if it's a non-binding vote, and Showalter said he doubts that he'll do it again. But he's gratified by the response: The contest?attracted hundreds of thousands of votes from scores of countries around the world, generated more than 30,000 write-in suggestions for names, and gave Pluto fans and "Star Trek" fans lots to think about.

What would Spock think about all this? Leonard Nimoy, the actor who played the alien on the original "Star Trek" show, said via Twitter that "'Vulcan' is the logical choice."?I can imagine Spock saying that, but I can also imagine him uttering just one word. ...

Spock said, "Fascinating," a lot! Here are the times he said it. Enjoy!

More about Pluto and its moons:

---

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's?Facebook page, following?@b0yle on Twitter?and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Source: http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/22/17060016-star-trek-boost-helps-pluto-moons-discoverer-make-his-case-for-vulcan?lite

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UN rejects damage claim for Haiti cholera victims

UNITED NATIONS (AP) ? The United Nations rejected a claim for damages on behalf of more than 5,000 Haitian cholera victims and their families on Thursday, citing diplomatic immunity.

The claim was filed in November 2011 by the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, a Boston-based human rights group that contended the U.N. and its peacekeeping force are liable for hundreds of millions of dollars for failing to adequately screen peacekeeping soldiers.

It cited studies suggesting that the disease was inadvertently brought to Haiti by a U.N. battalion from Nepal, where cholera is endemic. A local contractor failed to properly sanitize the waste of a U.N. base, and the bacteria leaked into a tributary of one of Haiti's biggest rivers, according to one study by a U.N.-appointed panel.

Cholera has sickened nearly 500,000 people and killed over 7,750 people since the outbreak began in October 2010, according to the Haitian government. About half the people in the country of 10 million have no bathroom at all and sanitation access is the worst in the Western Hemisphere.

U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said the United Nations informed representatives of the claimant of the U.N. rejection on Thursday.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also called Haitian President Michel Martelly to inform him of the decision "and to reiterate the commitment of the United Nations to the elimination of cholera in Haiti," Nesirky said.

Brian Concannon, the institute's director, said that after 15 months, the rejection was a single sentence based on the world organization's immunity.

"We're disappointed more than surprised, but this is the typical U.N. response to claims of large-scale harm by their operations," he told The Associated Press. "We're disappointed because the U.N. is passing up a chance to stop cholera's killing, and to show leadership in promoting the rule of law."

Concannon, an attorney, said the institute's next step will be to go to a national court to seek compensation for the victims, "but we haven't decided which one yet," possibly in Haiti, the United States or Europe.

The institute was seeking a minimum of $100,000 for each bereaved family and $50,000 for each cholera survivor.

When the compensation claim was filed with the secretary-general and the claims unit for the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti in 2011, Concannon said he hoped the U.N. peacekeeping force would create a lifesaving program that would provide sanitation, potable water and medical treatment. He also said he wanted a public apology for the victims.

In December, Ban announced a $2.27 billion initiative to help eradicate cholera in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, which share the island of Hispaniola, and vowed to work aggressively to secure donations for the ambitious but still mostly unfunded 10-year plan.

Nesirky said Thursday that the secretary-general "again expresses his profound sympathy for the terrible suffering caused by the cholera epidemic, and calls on all partners in Haiti and the international community to work together to ensure better health and a better future for the people of Haiti."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2013-02-21-UN-UN-Haiti-Cholera/id-272f8381366b46bf8acd86d08f5110c8

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Siberian Caves Reveal Advancing Permafrost Thaw

Melting of significant portions of Arctic permafrost could accelerate climate change into a catastrophe

By David Biello

PERMAFROST CAVE: The frost crystals at the entrance to the Ledyanaya Lenskaya cave in Russia denote the region's permafrost, which has been in place for roughly 400,000 years, according to the cave's speleothems. Image: Vladimir V Alexioglo

Permafrost is not so permanent. Across the Arctic, swathes of once-frozen-solid ground have begun to thaw. If the records preserved in Siberian caves are accurate, much more of the region could melt if temperatures continue to warm.

Geoscientist Anton Vaks of the University of Oxford led an international team of experts?including the Arabica Caving Club in Irkutsk?in sampling the spindly cave growths known as stalagmites and stalactites across Siberia and down into the Gobi Desert of China. Taking samples of such speleothems from six caves, the researchers then reconstructed the last roughly 500,000 years of climate via the decay of radioactive particles in the stone. When the ground is frozen above a cave no water seeps into it, making such formations "relicts from warmer periods before permafrost formed," the researchers wrote in a study published online in Science on 21 February.

The details of the study reveal that conditions were warm enough even in Siberia for these mineral deposits to form roughly 400,000 years ago, when the global average temperature was 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than present. It also suggests that there was no permafrost in the Lena River region at that time, because enough water seeped into the northernmost cave to enable roughly eight centimeters of growth in the formations.

That was, in fact, the last time the formations in the Ledyanaya Lenskaya Cave grew, although other caves further south showed multiple periods of growth coinciding with other warmer periods. "That boundary area of continuous permafrost starts to degrade when the mean global temperature is 1.5 degrees C higher than present," Vaks explains. "Such a warming is a threshold after which continuous permafrost zone starts to be vulnerable to global warming."

Since Vaks's present is the "preindustrial late Holocene," that means the planet is already more than halfway there, having experienced 0.8 degree C warming to date. Such a thaw is no small matter, given that permafrost covers nearly a quarter of the land in the Northern Hemisphere and holds roughly 1,700 gigatonnes of carbon?or roughly twice as much carbon as is currently trapping heat in the atmosphere. Much of that carbon would end up in the atmosphere if the permafrost was to thaw further.

That may not have occurred during the warm period 400,000 years ago, known as Marine Isotope Stage 11 to scientists, which featured elements such as boreal forest on Greenland and higher sea levels. "The thawing was probably very brief because the layer deposited in the northernmost cave stalactite was relatively thin," Vaks says?too thin in fact to determine how long the warm period lasted. "We don't see any extraordinary increase in atmospheric CO2 or methane during MIS-11." And the Gobi Desert might benefit, enjoying wetter conditions in the future if the record in these caves is accurate.

It's not clear how far north such thawing might extend if global average temperatures continue to warm until they match those from long ago. "Now we are looking for caves with speleothems in northern Siberia to answer this question," Vaks notes, adding that the northernmost cave is already much warmer than in the late 18th century based on historical reports. But it is clear that global climates not much warmer than present are enough to thaw even more permafrost?as far north as 60 degrees latitude.

"The potential impact of these results extends to global policy: these results indicate the potential release of large amounts of carbon from thawed permafrost even if we attain the 2 degree [C] warming target under negotiation," says Kevin Schaefer, a scientist at the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center, who has also studied permafrost but was not involved in this effort. "Permafrost thaws slowly and the carbon will be released into the atmosphere over two to three centuries."

Already, such thawing Arctic ice?whether underground or at sea?has further opened up the territory to exploration for resources, particularly oil. At the same time, the big thaw will make getting the oil out more expensive?billions of dollars in infrastructure investments in pipelines, roads and the like will be damaged as the ground shifts beneath them.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=36834cd46cb4494860702371769087bd

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