Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RightCelebrity/~3/_ukRfUZj0xk/
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Tuesday, January 31, 2012
The Kardashian Sisters Go Topless For Denim Line
The Kjardashian girls know what sells, and they have it going on in the topless pic for their demin line. i know a lot of people will be checking out the ad, but will they buy the jeans? When getting a steady stream of negative press take your top off! Hey, its worked before! the Kardashian sisters already have their own clothing line for Sears and are now expanding with a denim line. I think this is a great idea. I love their clothes, and girls with curves need some good denim! Of course Celebuzz has all the deets, which you can see here, and they spoke with Kardashian Kollection co-creator Bruno Schiavi. He told them, ?We?re very excited about it. It launches in about four weeks. The girls love denim. And then we are really excited about home. Home looks incredible. There are three designs in home, everything from bed to cushions and pillows to bathroom accessories and shower curtains. Home is spectacular so we can?t wait for that. And swimwear of course is to die for. We are shooting our new swim campaign actually in January. We?re very excited about that.? The ads are cute, but I am [...]
Democrats spend big in Ore. special election (AP)
PORTLAND, Ore. ? Determined not to lose another friendly district because of a sex scandal, Democrats and their allies have pumped more than $1 million into an Oregon special election race that has turned into a vicious exchange of attacks over the airwaves.
Voters are deciding who should replace former Rep. David Wu, a seven-term Democrat who resigned last year following a string of bizarre news stories that began with photos of the congressman wearing a tiger costume and ended with a young woman's accusation that he made an unwanted sexual advance.
Voters have until 8 p.m. Tuesday to return their ballots in the all-mail election.
Republican Rob Cornilles, a sports business consultant, has tried hard to extend the scandal that brought down Wu to the Democrat who wants to take his place, former state Sen. Suzanne Bonamici. She says the race is about the future, not about Wu.
Bonamici and independent groups that support her have gone after Cornilles for missing tax payments for his business and for inconsistent statements about the number of jobs his company has created.
Oregon's 1st Congressional District is the state's economic engine, encompassing downtown Portland and the fast-growing western suburbs that are home to the Silicon Forest high-tech hub and the global headquarters for athletic-wear giants Nike Inc. and Columbia Sportswear Company. It stretches across agricultural communities to the Pacific coast. Democrats have represented the district since 1975, and its voters overwhelmingly supported President Barack Obama.
But Democrats do not want to see a repeat of what happened last year in a heavily Democratic New York district, when a Republican won a special election after Rep. Anthony Weiner acknowledged sending provocative text messages and resigned.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has spent $1.3 million to boost Bonamici. Political committees for a union, abortion-rights groups and a super PAC allied with Democrats have also chipped in with their own mail or television ads.
Democrats insist they're not scared. They've likened their investment to an insurance policy to avoid any doubts about the party's strength that would inevitably follow a loss in a liberal state like Oregon. The National Republican Congressional Committee has spent just $85,000 on the race.
Cornilles, 47, is making his second bid for the seat after losing to Wu in 2010. He's centered his pitch on his experience running a sports-marketing firm, hoping to swing an upset with a relentless focus on jobs and a run toward the center. Unemployment in the Portland area dropped to 7.8 percent in November 2011, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Bonamici, 57, is mixing traditional Democratic themes of protecting Social Security and Medicare with a pledge to tackle the national debt by getting Washington's priorities in order.
Without reliable public polling it's anyone's guess how close the race will be.
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Monday, January 30, 2012
The Obama Campaign Is Now Using Mobile Payments Device Square For Fundraising
The latest technology to be adopted by the Obama campaign?Square. The mobile payments device is now being used by the Obama for fundraising, says the company. Staff, fundraisers and others are being equipped with the card reading devices, says Square, enabling the campaign to take donations on the go via Android devices, iPhones or iPads. "Whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, running for president or local assembly, Square makes it easier than ever for candidates, organizations and volunteers to fundraise for their cause," said a spokesperson for Square.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Df7cy5kc0cU/
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Charge Your iPhone With a Book [Desired]
Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/6BI7f6oSSnk/
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No crowing from Donovan after win against Dempsey
Everton's Landon Donovan, left, shakes hands with Fulham's Clint Dempsey before their FA Cup fourth round soccer match at Goodison Park, Liverpool, England, Friday Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Tim Hales)
Everton's Landon Donovan, left, shakes hands with Fulham's Clint Dempsey before their FA Cup fourth round soccer match at Goodison Park, Liverpool, England, Friday Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Tim Hales)
Everton's Landon Donovan, left, shakes hands with Fulham's Clint Dempsey before their FA Cup fourth round soccer match at Goodison Park, Liverpool, England, Friday Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Tim Hales)
Everton's Landon Donovan vies for the ball against Fulham's Bryan Ruiz, left, during their FA Cup fourth round soccer match at Goodison Park, Liverpool, England, Friday Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Tim Hales)
Everton's Landon Donovan, right, vies for the ball against Fulham's Clint Dempsey during their FA Cup fourth round soccer match at Goodison Park, Liverpool, England, Friday Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Tim Hales)
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) ? There was no crowing from Landon Donovan after he led his Everton side to victory over Clint Dempsey's Fulham in England's FA Cup.
After all, the U.S. teammates will be on the same side again soon enough.
Donovan set up both Everton's goals in Friday night's 2-1 win and United States international Tim Howard was in goal for Everton.
The former New England Revolution forward has scored 15 goals for Fulham since August, including a hat trick earlier this month in a 5-2 win over Newcastle.
"It was a little bit of an American invasion. It was nice to see Clint. In my opinion, he's been one of the players of the season in the Premier League and obviously Timmy here is nice to have."
Fulham took an early 1-0 lead against Everton when Danny Murphy converted a 14th-minute penalty.
But Donovan, in the sixth game of his second loan spell from Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy, set up a 27th-minute equalizer for Denis Stracqualursi and then provided the assist for Marouane Fellaini's 73rd-minute winner.
It was a rare bright spot for Everton this season, which is in the bottom half of the Premier League, closer to the relegation zone than to England's last qualifying spot for European tournaments.
"Realistically, unless we go on some kind of amazing run, it's going to be difficult for us to finish in the top six and qualify for Europe so this is our last chance to win something," Donovan said. "It means a lot to the guys."
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Sunday, January 29, 2012
British police arrest 5 in tabloid bribery probe (AP)
LONDON ? British police searched the offices of Rupert Murdoch's British newspapers Saturday after arresting a police officer and four current and former staff of his tabloid The Sun as part of an investigation into police bribery by journalists.
The arrests spread the scandal over tabloid wrongdoing ? which has already shut down one paper, the News of the World ? to a second Murdoch newspaper.
London's Metropolitan Police said two men aged 48 and one aged 56 were arrested on suspicion of corruption early in the morning at homes in and around London. A 42-year-old man was detained later at a London police station.
Murdoch's News Corp. confirmed that all four were current or former Sun employees. The BBC and other British media identified them as former managing editor Graham Dudman, former deputy editor Fergus Shanahan, current head of news Chris Pharo and crime editor Mike Sullivan.
A fifth man, a 29-year-old police officer, was arrested at the London station where he works.
Officers searched the men's homes and the east London headquarters of the media mogul's British newspapers for evidence.
The investigation into whether reporters illegally paid police for information is running parallel to a police inquiry into phone hacking by Murdoch's now-defunct News of the World.
Police said Saturday's arrests were made as a result of information provided by the Management and Standards Committee of Murdoch's News Corp., the internal body tasked with rooting out wrongdoing.
News Corp. said it was cooperating with police.
"News Corporation made a commitment last summer that unacceptable news gathering practices by individuals in the past would not be repeated," it said in a statement.
Thirteen people have now been arrested in the bribery probe, though none has yet been charged.
They include Rebekah Brooks, former chief executive of Murdoch's News International; ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson ? who is also Prime Minister David Cameron's former communications chief; and journalists from the News of the World and The Sun.
Two of the London police force's top officers resigned in the wake of the revelation last July that the News of the World had eavesdropped on the cell phone voicemail messages of celebrities, athletes, politicians and even an abducted teenager in its quest for stories.
Murdoch shut down the 168-year-old tabloid amid a wave of public revulsion, and the scandal has triggered a continuing public inquiry into media ethics and the relationship between the press, police and politicians.
An earlier police investigation failed to find evidence that hacking went beyond one reporter and a private investigator, who were both jailed in 2007 for eavesdropping on the phones of royal staff.
But News Corp. has now acknowledged it was much more widespread.
Last week the company agreed to pay damages to 37 hacking victims, including actor Jude Law, soccer star Ashley Cole and British politician John Prescott.
The furor that consumed the News of the World continues to rattle other parts of Murdoch's media empire.
As well as investigating phone hacking and allegations that journalists paid police for information, detectives are looking into claims of computer hacking by Murdoch papers.
News Corp. has admitted that the News of the World hacked the emails as well as the phone of Chris Shipman, the son of serial killer Harold Shipman. And The Times of London has acknowledged that a former reporter tried to intercept emails to unmask an anonymous blogger.
News Corp. is preparing to launch a new Sunday newspaper ? likely called the Sunday Sun ? to replace the News of the World.
___
Jill Lawless can be reached at: http://twitter.com/JillLawless
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Saturday, January 28, 2012
Florida GOP Voters: Romney Is Most Qualified to Beat Obama (ContributorNetwork)
LARGO, Fla. -- With only days before the Florida Republican primary, the four remaining candidates are working to gain the favor of undecided voters.
Here are thoughts from Florida Republican voters on the candidates they plan to back on Tuesday:
"I'm voting for Mitt Romney. Although his positions do not parallel my ideology entirely, I'm a realist and know he will attract the independent voters. The independent voters will decide this election so we need to be realistic. I admire Newt's tenacity but I believe Gov. Romney is the only candidate running who can win the election. Obama must go." -- Steve Finkle, airline ticket agent, Seminole
"I am... leaning towards Mitt Romney. Out of all the Republican candidates, he is the most qualified to win in a race against Obama this November. I agree with most of his policies, but what I like most about him is his personal stability. He is a man a faith with a stable home life. ? A candidate like this is essential. I am a Catholic woman. Voting for someone who is pro-life as well as pro-marriage (a man and a woman) is very important." -- Marien Silva, college student, Miami
"Gov. Romney is the best candidate for the Republican nomination. He fixed the Olympic Games by reducing budgets, raising funds, and changing the leadership of the Games. While governor of Massachusetts, Romney took on a huge deficit, turned it around and in three years had a surplus of over $600 million. All the attack ads on Romney are completely solidifying my support of Mitt Romney. It is crazy that the other candidates are trying to use his 2010 tax return against him. All it shows is that [he is] a financially smart businessman who knows how to handle a budget and spend money wisely. Isn't that what this country needs most? In these economic times, America needs a leader that can and will fix our budget. I firmly believe that leader is Mitt Romney." -- Colleen Fitzgerald, director of operations at Dress for Success, Lake Worth
" I think many of those who actually research the issues would choose almost anyone over Obama. I liked Ron Paul for a while because of his strong pro-life stance and push for smaller federal government, but he doesn't really have a handle on foreign affairs. Mitt Romney might have good ideas for the economy, but he's vague on other issues. And, Gingrich, he's just ridiculous. Therefore, I'm going with Rick Santorum." -- Chelsey Kruschwitz, art student, Palm Harbor
"I strongly support Ron Paul. He has been ideologically consistent for more than 12 terms. He is called the champion of the Constitution, and his views are based on Christianity and morality. In a candidate I look for someone who is incorruptible. That is the problem with politicians nowadays because they are so easily corruptible by lobbyists who work for corporations for their own interests. And though this may sound like a bunch of 99 percent propaganda, but it just seems funny how Mitt Romney and Obama's top contributors are a lot of the same corporations, not to mention Newt who did lobbying himself, and Santorum who has been called the most corrupt man in Congress. Ron Paul's top three supporters are U.S. Army, Air force, and Navy. This can't just be a coincidence." -- Scott Ruane, college student, Ave Maria
"I am not for Newt Gingrich, I am with Newt Gingrich. I believe his experience in Washington and ability to work within party lines gives him an advantage. His ability to articulate his vision and the vision of Americans is without a doubt his strength. In debates, Gingrich, appears calm, focused, and ? almost presidential. [Although] Newt Gingrich was not perfect in his political career, he has generated more jobs working with President Regan and Clinton than Barack Obama could ever hope for. His personal past does not influence my opinions of him, [but rather] makes him appear more human. I don't want a candidate that appears perfect, because let's face it, nobody is perfect. Also that fact that Newt has found grace and forgiveness in the Catholic Church is very powerful. I am with him all the way to the White House." -- David Rollman, sales merchandiser for Total Wine, St. Petersburg
"The principles of a candidate are far more important to me than simply whether or not a particular candidate can beat Obama. Part of the primary process is being able to send a message to the party about what principles or issues are important to the base. Therefore, whether I vote for someone who constantly speaks of the family as a fundamental building block of society [like] Rick Santorum or the only GOP candidate willing to cut defense spending [like] Ron Paul, I won't necessarily expect them to be the next president -- or even win the Florida primary -- but I hope that at the very least the GOP leadership takes note of their messages and adapts its stances accordingly." -- Gregory Colker, college student, Ave Maria
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NASA mission piles on the planets
NASA's Kepler planet-hunting mission has confirmed the existence of 26 more planets beyond our solar system. Msnbc.com's Alan Boyle explains how the confirmations were made.
By Alan Boyle
The science team for NASA's Kepler planet-hunting mission nearly doubled their list of confirmed planets beyond our solar system in one fell swoop today, announcing the discovery of 26 planets spread among 11 star systems. Their sizes range from just a little bit bigger than Earth to super-Jupiter-size, but they're all closer to their parent stars than Venus is to our own sun.
The accelerating pace of discovery is matched by the diversity seen in the worlds discovered so far, one of the Kepler mission's co-investigators, Harvard astronomer Dimitar Sasselov, told me today.
"There is more diversity out there than our limited imaginations could come up with, which is good," he said.
The $600 million Kepler mission, launched in 2009, now has a list of 61 confirmed planets, and another 2,326 planetary prospects that have yet to be confirmed. At this rate, Kepler's worlds could soon account for the majority of the exoplanets detected beyond our solar system ? a tally that now stands at more than 700.
"Prior to the Kepler mission, we knew of perhaps 500 exoplanets across the whole sky," Doug Hudgins, Kepler program scientist at NASA Headquarters, said in a news release. "Now, in just two years staring at a patch of sky not much bigger than your fist, Kepler has discovered more than 60 planets and more than 2,300 planet candidates. This tells us that our galaxy is positively loaded with planets of all sizes and orbits."
The Kepler space telescope searches for other worlds by staring at more than 150,000 stars in that fist-sized patch of sky, straddling the constellations Cygnus and Lyra. Kepler's instruments can detect the faint dips in starlight that occur on a regular basis as a planet passes over the disk of its parent star, as seen from Earth. By analyzing the patterns of those passes, also known as transits, Kepler's scientists can figure out the orbit and the size of a potential planet ? but not its mass.
An alternative method has to be used to confirm that Kepler is actually looking at a planet rather than something else, such as mutually eclipsing binary stars. The mission's early discoveries were confirmed by looking at the candidates' stars with ground-based telescopes and checking for the telltale gravitational wobbles that are caused by big, close-in planets.
Transit timing variations
Most of the planets added to the list today were confirmed using a different backup method. The Kepler mission's astronomers analyzed subtle changes in the intervals between the transits, caused when multiple orbiting planets exert gravitational pull on each other. The resulting data on acceleration and deceleration can be used to confirm the planets' existence and calculate their masses.
"By precisely timing when each planet transits its star, Kepler detected the gravitational tug of the planets on each other, clinching the case for 10 of the newly announced planetary systems," said Dan Fabrycky, an astronomer at the University of California at Santa Cruz and the lead author for a paper confirming four of the planetary systems, known as Kepler-29, 30, 31 and 32.
Other newly confirmed planetary systems include Kepler-25, 26, 27 and 28, described in a paper with Fermilab's Jason Steffen as lead author; and Kepler-23 and 24, which was the focus of research led by the University of Florida's Eric Ford. In today's release, Ford said the transit timing variation method "dramatically accelerated" the pace of planetary discovery.
Yet another study, led by Jack Lissauer, a planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center, detected five planets around Kepler-33, a star that is older and more massive than the sun. Those five planets range in size from 1.5 to five times the width of Earth, and they're all closer to their parent star than Mercury is to our own sun.
"The approach that was used to verify the Kepler-33 planets shows that the overall reliability of Kepler's candidate multiple transiting systems is quite high," Lissauer said in today's release. "This is a validation by multiplicity."
Five of the newly confirmed planetary systems (Kepler-25, 27, 30, 31 and 33) contain a pair of worlds that are bound together in a 1:2 resonance. That means the inner planet makes two circuit for every one circuit made by the outer planet. Four other systems (Kepler-23, 24, 28 and 32) have two planets that are linked in a 2:3 resonance, like Pluto and Neptune in our own solar system.
"These configurations help to amplify the gravitational interactions between the planets, similar to how my sons kick their legs on a swing at the right time to go higher," Steffen said.
Fifteen of the 26 planets announced today are Neptune-size or smaller, and the orbital periods range from six to 143 days.
Great expectations
Sasselov marveled that so many of the worlds being found by Kepler are in multiple-planet systems. He recalled that when the Kepler mission was proposed to NASA, more than a decade ago, "there was one little sentence that said maybe two or three of the systems will have multiple transiting planets."
None of the planets announced today would be conducive to life as we know it, because their orbits are so close to their parent stars. It's likely to be just a matter of time before Kepler achieves its main goal ? confirming the existence of Earth-size planets in Earthlike orbits around sunlike stars. Unfortunately, it may be a matter of more time than initially expected.
Funding for the Kepler mission is due to run out in November, but the mission's scientists "don't have enough to statistically complete the core goal of the mission," Sasselov said. It turns out that the data collected by the telescope is "noisier" than expected. That means more observations will be required to confirm the mission's trickiest planetary finds.
The Kepler team has applied for a four-year extension, and is currently waiting for a decision from NASA executives.
More about the planet search:
The planetary confirmations are described in four research papers:
- "Transit Timing Observations from Kepler: II. Confirmation of Two Multiplanet Systems via a Non-parametric Correlation Analysis'' by E.B. Ford et al., The Astrophysical Journal.
- "Transit Timing Observations from Kepler: III. Confirmation of 4 Multiple Planet Systems by a Fourier-Domain Study of Anti-correlated Transit Timing Variations," by J.H. Steffen et al., Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
- "Transit Timing Observations from Kepler: IV. Confirmation of 4 Multiple Planet Systems by Simple Physical Models'," by D.C. Fabrycky et al., The Astrophysical Journal.
- "Almost All of Kepler's Multiple Planet Candidates are Planets, and Kepler-33 5-planet System," by J. Lissauer et al.
Alan Boyle is msnbc.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. 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.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/26/10245353-nasa-mission-piles-on-the-planets
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Friday, January 27, 2012
Oh Great: Chunks of Fukushima's Corroded Radioactive Uranium Could Survive in the Ocean for Years [Science]
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Thursday, January 26, 2012
With little to show in Syria, Arab League turns to UN
The Arab League wants to raise Syria's violent crisis at the United Nations?? but it faces Russian reluctance.
? A daily summary of global reports on security issues.
Skip to next paragraphFrustrated by months of failed efforts to mediate an end to Syria's violent crisis on its own, the Arab League is turning to the United Nations for help.
Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby and Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani wrote to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon requesting a meeting to discuss UN Security Council support for their peace plan, Reuters reports.?The Arab League's various efforts to mediate in Syria, including a monitoring mission that has been abandoned by six member states, have had little impact.
On Sunday, the Arab League leaders presented a peace plan to Damascus that called on President Bashar al-Assad to step down, transfer power to his deputy, and permit the formation of a unity government. Syrian Foreign Minister?Walid al Moualem responded that Syria rejected the plan and lambasted the league for "abandoning their role as the Arab League."
"We no longer want Arab solutions to the crisis," he said Tuesday, according to a separate Reuters report.?"Heading to the Security Council will be the third stage in their plan, and the only thing left is the last step of internationalization.??They can head to New York or to the moon. So long as we are not paying for their tickets it is none of our concern."
The observer mission, sent to Syria to monitor its implementation of a peace plan agreed to in November, was controversial from the start because of its leader's poor human rights record and its tight control by the Syrian government, which largely prevented observers from interacting with the opposition. Yesterday the six Gulf states began removing their 55 observers, saying the mission had been ineffective. Violence has continued since their arrival, with dozens of deaths.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Syria agreed to extend the mission by another month. The observers who left will be replaced by additional observers from the countries still participating.
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Want To Make A Giant Telescope Mirror? Here's How
Enlarge Ray Bertram/Steward Observatory Temperatures inside this giant oven will reach 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit. Large blocks of glass inside the oven will melt as the whole oven spins around at a rate of five times per second, creating a curved and smooth telescope mirror.
Ray Bertram/Steward ObservatoryTemperatures inside this giant oven will reach 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit. Large blocks of glass inside the oven will melt as the whole oven spins around at a rate of five times per second, creating a curved and smooth telescope mirror.
The world's largest mirrors for the world's largest telescopes are made under the football stadium at the University of Arizona.
Why there? Why not?
"We wanted some space, and it was just used for parking some cars, and this seemed like a good use," says Roger Angel.
Angel is the master of making big mirrors for telescopes. For 30 years he has been using a method called spin casting to make the largest solid telescope mirrors in the world.
At the moment, he's making the second of seven mirrors, each 27 feet across, that will go into the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT), which will be sited on a peak in the Andes Mountains in Chile.
In the old days, you made mirrors by ladling molten glass into a mold. With spin casting, "we just put these chunks of solid glass, lay them over the mold while they're cold," says Angel.
Then they heat the furnace to 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit. At that temperature the glass chunks melt, turning into a clear, syrupy liquid that oozes into the mold. Having the furnace spin while this is happening encourages the glass to flow into the parabolic shape it will eventually become. It will stay in the oven for two-and-a-half months while it slowly cools down to room temperature.
Enlarge Ray Bertram/Steward Observatory The pieces of glass that technicians are arranging inside the rotating oven will melt down into the curved surface of the telescope mirror. Each piece of glass is hand-inspected.
Ray Bertram/Steward ObservatoryThe pieces of glass that technicians are arranging inside the rotating oven will melt down into the curved surface of the telescope mirror. Each piece of glass is hand-inspected.
A Hard Shape To Tackle
The first GMT mirror is getting its final polishing in a cavernous hall next door.
Enlarge Ray Bertram/Steward Observatory After the mirror is cast, it moves to the Large Polishing Machine, where the mirror's shape is refined and perfected ? down to the millionth of an inch.
Ray Bertram/Steward ObservatoryAfter the mirror is cast, it moves to the Large Polishing Machine, where the mirror's shape is refined and perfected ? down to the millionth of an inch.
Angel has made several mirrors as large as these. "But the shape of this mirror is more challenging by about a factor of 10 than the previous ones that we've made," he says.
That's because the shape is aspherical. Instead of being a shallow symmetrical bowl, one side of the mirror is higher than the other. It's a shape dictated by where the mirror will focus starlight once it's set in the telescope.
Not only is it devilishly hard to grind and then polish an aspherical mirror, it's hard to know when you've done it right. The mirror is 27 feet across, but the differences in height across the surface are smaller than a millionth of an inch.
Imaging The Skies
To see the earliest objects in the universe, astronomers need really big telescopes. That's because the light from these objects is very dim, and you need a big "light bucket" to capture the light they give off. Telescopes now use adaptive optics to correct for the blurring of the atmosphere, so large ground-based telescopes can do even better than the Hubble Space Telescope in resolving small objects, such as planets orbiting stars. Here's a look at some next-generation telescopes in the works:
Angel and his colleagues have developed three separate tests to convince themselves they've polished their mirror properly. No one wants a repeat of the experience of the Hubble Space Telescope. It also has an aspherical mirror, and it wasn't until the telescope reached orbit that astronomers discovered the mirror wasn't shaped exactly right. Luckily, the space shuttle astronauts were able to install corrective lenses that fixed the problem.
'Opportunity For New Discovery'
The giant mirrors will give astronomers two things they really want in a telescope: high sensitivity so they can see really, really dim objects; and high resolution so they can see fine details.
Wendy Freedman, an astronomer at the Carnegie Institution for Science and chair of the GMT board of directors, says to get a sense of GMT's resolving power, imagine you're looking at the face of the dime. "And you were to take that dime, and put it 200 miles away. Then with GMT, you could resolve the face of that dime. It's quite spectacular."
Freedman says the resolution of the new telescope should let astronomers see planets around other stars, and its sensitivity should let them see some of the earliest objects to form in the universe. Freedman says astronomers can only imagine what they'll learn when GMT starts operating.
"The opportunity for new discovery in astronomy usually follows when we make a big leap in sensitivity or resolution like this," she says.
But those discoveries are a ways off. It will be a while before the giant mirrors are shipped to Chile and assembled into a telescope. Under the rosiest scenario, the telescope won't achieve "first light," as it is known, until 2020.
Still, Freedman and Angel are convinced it will be worth the wait.
Source: http://www.npr.org/2012/01/26/145837380/want-to-make-a-giant-telescope-mirror-heres-how?ft=1&f=1007
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Tiny rustic farms battle for survival in Los Angeles area
A chicken, a raven and a peacock greeted Lisa and Ron Cerda when they moved into their southeastern Tarzana neighborhood almost two decades ago. It was just the sort of bucolic reception the couple hoped for when they fled crowded West Los Angeles for one of the city's rare residential-agricultural zones, a district that permits farming and the keeping of livestock.
Today, the Cerdas say their rustic neighborhood is threatened with extinction. Schools, synagogues and commercial businesses have crept into the district, despite dogged opposition from dozens of residents. The latest battle involves a proposal to demolish five single-family dwellings and construct a 37,500-square-foot elder-care facility.
"I feel like we're under attack," said Lisa Cerda, who heads Tarzana Residents against Poor Property Development. The group has appealed more than two dozen proposals for development projects in recent years, arguing that they were unsuitable for their neighborhood. "Once a precedent has been set and you allow an elder-care in an RA zone, you cannot prevent it from happening again."
The battle to preserve the rural flavor of residential-agricultural neighborhoods is being fought in several areas of Los Angeles County. In recent years, Tarzana's Melody Acres has tried to stop developers from subdividing large lots. Last year, the rural Richland Farms enclave of Compton has campaigned against new parking restrictions and stricter rules against keeping livestock. And in the Walnut Acres neighborhood of Woodland Hills, residents are trying to halt construction of a two-story, 76-bed nursing home.
The city's Planning Commission has given preliminary approval to the Tarzana project, but opponents have appealed and are awaiting a response. They cite concerns about increased traffic, trash and noise, and they claim that city officials are doing little to preserve the agricultural districts.
The special zoning designations date mostly to the 1920s, when Los Angeles and the rest of the nation were experiencing a boom in one-acre home-based farms.
Alan Bell, deputy director of planning for the city of Los Angeles, said the city has some 34,000 agriculturally zoned lots. Of those, 32 are being used for agriculture, while most of the others are used as single family residences, Bell said.
He rejected accusations that the city was trying to eradicate residential agricultural areas. "It's simply a consequence of people's preferences in use of land," Bell said.
Also, development plans in residential-agricultural zones were subject to vigorous screening and approval procedures, he said.
"You have to balance the need for the facility in a city with neighborhood impact," Bell said. "It's not just something that can happen without community input."
The Tarzana elder-care project is proposed by local businessman Evan Levi and the Levi Family Partnership, which operates other senior board-and-care homes in the Valley. The facility would house up to 156 seniors at the corner of Calvert Street and Yolanda Avenue.
Los Angeles Councilman Dennis Zine, whose 3rd District includes Tarzana and Woodland Hills, said he was strongly opposed to the destruction of the rural character of residential agricultural areas and has spoken publicly against the project.
"It's too large, there's not enough parking. It just does not fit this type of neighborhood," Zine said. "I agree with the need to have senior facilities, but they have to be in the right location."
The Tarzana neighborhood is one of the Valley's first farming communities. Flowering trees shade wide streets, and many of the original 1920s homes occupy lots of at least 17,500 square feet. Feathery-legged bantam chickens can be seen pecking through the grass along the roadside. In one three-acre compound surrounded by a slate-rock wall, footpaths meander through lush gardens. Owner Donna Marie Baker said she and her late husband battled a planned condo building in the 1990s and that she plans to fight the elder-care proposal as well.
The proposal does have its supporters, however, including the Tarzana Neighborhood Council. Kathy Delle Donne, chairwoman of the council's land use committee, said the proposed location for the project was "ideal" for an area that had long since ceased to be rural and needed "enhancement."
Levi, who is on the neighborhood council's board, said he chose the venue for the elder-care facility because of its proximity to the Discovery School, a private preschool he owns. The location would allow the school to continue its long-standing intergenerational program, which brings students and seniors together to participate in various activities more efficiently, Levi said. Right now, students are intermittently bussed to an elder-care facility that Levi owns in Sherman Oaks.
Levi said his project would have ample parking and not be an eyesore.
"It will be set back from the street with much shrubbery," he said. "It will look like a house and not an institutional building. We think this will be a prize for the neighborhood."
That was also the view of roughly a dozen area residents who submitted letters during a recent hearing on the matter. One writer, Tyler Inglett, wrote that he owned seven properties in the area, including four on Calvert Street, and that the project would provide jobs and "enhance the looks and feel of the area."
But opponents of the project remain steadfast.
"We're not just fighting for this patch," Cerda said. "We're fighting for Greater L.A."
ann.simmons@latimes.com
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Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Patterns of chromosome abnormality: The key to cancer?
Monday, January 23, 2012
A healthy genome is characterized by 23 pairs of chromosomes, and even a small change in this structure ? such as an extra copy of a single chromosome ? can lead to severe physical impairment. So it's no surprise that when it comes to cancer, chromosomal structure is frequently a contributing factor, says Prof. Ron Shamir of the Blavatnik School of Computer Science at Tel Aviv University.
Now Prof. Shamir and his former doctoral students Michal Ozery-Flato and Chaim Linhart, along with fellow researchers Prof. Shai Izraeli and Dr. Luba Trakhtenbrot from the Sheba Medical Center, have combined techniques from computer science and statistics to discover that many chromosomal pairs are lost or gained together across various cancer types. Moreover, the researchers discovered a new commonality of chromosomal aberrations among embryonic cancer types, such as kidney, skeleton, and liver cancers.
These findings, recently published in Genome Biology, could reveal more about the nature of cancer. As cancer develops, the genome becomes increasingly mutated ? and identifying the pattern of mutation can help us to understand the nature and the progression of many different kinds of cancer, says Prof. Shamir.
Looking at the big picture
As cancer progresses, the structure of chromosomes is rearranged, individual chromosomes are duplicated or lost, and the genome becomes abnormal. Some forms of cancer can even be diagnosed by identifying individual chromosomal aberrations, notes Prof. Shamir, pointing to the example of a specific type of leukemia that is caused by small piece of chromosome 9 being moved to chromosome 22.
When analyzing many different kinds of cancer, however, the researchers discovered that chromosomal aberrations among different cancers happen together in a noticeable and significant way. The researchers studied a collection of more than fifty thousand cancer karyotypes ? representations of chromosomal layouts in a single cell ? and charted them according to commonalities. The researchers were not only able to confirm different chromosomal aberrations that appeared in specific cancer types, but also for the first time identified a broader effect of pairs of chromosomes being lost or gained together across different cancer types.
It was also the first time that researchers saw a connection among solid kidney, skeleton, and liver cancers. While it was known that these cancers all develop in the embryo, they were previously analyzed independently. The TAU researchers have now confirmed that they share chromosomal characteristics and aberrations, much like various forms of leukemia or lymphomas.
Aberrations a driving force for cancer
Under normal circumstances, even a small change to a person's chromosomal structure can be devastating. For example, Down's syndrome is caused by a single extra copy of Chromosome 21. "But in cancer, there are many cases of extra or missing chromosomes. Yet cancer cells thrive more effectively than other cells," Prof. Shamir says.
Prof. Shamir hopes that future investigation into these chromosomal aberrations will give researchers more clues into why something that is so detrimental to our healthy development is so beneficial to this disease. Cancer is the result of sequences of events, he says, each causing the genome to become more mutated, mixed, and duplicated. Tracking these changes could aid our understanding of the driving forces of cancer's progress.
###
American Friends of Tel Aviv University: http://www.aftau.org
Thanks to American Friends of Tel Aviv University 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.
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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116946/Patterns_of_chromosome_abnormality__The_key_to_cancer_
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Rashida Jones unveils her rom-com at Sundance (AP)
PARK CITY, Utah ? Rashida Jones was almost upstaged by her famous father, Quincy Jones, at the Sundance premiere of her film, "Celeste and Jesse Forever," but the actress and screenwriter didn't mind.
"He's what he is and he will always be and has always been, way before I was here," Jones said Saturday. "I feel lucky to hang out with him. And we're different, too. People like us for different reasons."
She added that her dad loved the film, which explores the nature of relationships, marriage and its meaning in society.
Jones' first screenwriting effort (with co-writer Will McCormack) emerged from "pain, lots of pain."
"We're both very deeply feeling people, and we love to talk about relationships and love and feelings," she said. "We like to be as inappropriate as possible when things are grave and difficult, so I think it probably came from that place. It also came from, as an actress, reading so many scripts, you kind of intrinsically absorb storytelling script structure into your being without even knowing it, and we wanted to try and tell this story."
Jones stars in the film alongside Andy Samberg, Emma Roberts and Elijah Wood.
She brought her folks and her friends to Friday's premiere, but unveiling the film was still nerve-racking.
"I felt everything ? literally the whole spectrum of feelings," the 35-year-old said. "It felt 8 1/2 hours long. It's not, it's short. But it was 8 1/2 hours in the way that I was wanting to feel what everybody was feeling and thinking."
After the premiere, the cast celebrated at a party where Wood served as DJ and danced with Jones' mom, actress Peggy Lipton.
The Sundance Film Festival continues through Jan. 29.
___
AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is on Twitter: http:// www.twitter.com/APSandy
___
Online:
http://www.sundance.org/festival/
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Monday, January 23, 2012
News Corp's Mundofox launch challenges Telemundo, Univision (Reuters)
NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) ? News Corp. and Columbian broadcaster RCN Television Group have partnered to launch MundoFox, a new Spanish-language broadcast network "catering to the U.S. Hispanic market."
A direct challenge to the two biggest networks in the field, Univision and Telemundo, MundoFox will launch in the fall with an expected reach of 75 percent of households.
"There is an increasing demand for quality Spanish-language content in the U.S. from both viewers and advertisers," Hernan Lopez, President and CEO of Fox International Channels said in a statement. As of the 2010 census, 16.3 percent of the country is of Latino or Hispanic origin.
Univision is the top Hispanic network currently available and the fifth biggest network when it comes to prime time ratings. Its shows often beat major network shows, particularly during the leaner summer months.
Meanwhile, Telemundo has a smaller audience but also has the corporate juggernaut of Comcast's NBCUniversal pushing it ahead. One wonders how long this deal has been in the works as back in October Fox bought the U.S. broadcast rights to the 2018 and 2022 World Cup while Telemundo claimed the Spanish-language rights.
MundoFox's programming will come from RCN, the top broadcaster in Colombia, Fox International, Fox Deportes (a Latino-focused cable sports channel), Shine Group, NTN 24 and others.
The companies said that the network "will aim to bring a similar sensibility as the Fox Network to Latino audiences, with exciting entertainment, best-in-class programming content and differentiation from the limited options currently available to viewers."
(Editing by Chris Michaud)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120123/tv_nm/us_mundofox
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Sunday, January 22, 2012
Teen ending globe-circling voyage in St. Maarten
PHILIPSBURG, ST. MAARTEN (AP) ? A teenager from the Netherlands is about to end a yearlong solo journey around the globe aboard a sailboat nicknamed "Guppy."
Laura Dekker's web page says she's expected to arrive Saturday on the Caribbean island from which she set out on Jan. 20, 2011.
Dekker celebrated her 16th birthday during the trip and claims she'll be the youngest sailor to complete a round-the-world voyage. The Guinness World Records has said it won't back that up because it no longer recognizes records for youngest sailors to discourage dangerous attempts.
Several Dutch officials tried to block her trip, arguing she was too young to risk her life. School authorities have complained she should be in a classroom.
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RIAA Is "Deeply Grateful" to Justice Department for Thwarting Megaupload's "Sinister Scheme" [Piracy]
![Click here to read RIAA Is "Deeply Grateful" to Justice Department for Thwarting Megaupload's "Sinister Scheme"](http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/images/4/2012/01/small_4cad6a5b6ba84a260f119e87a7a2a40e.jpg "Click here to read RIAA Is "Deeply Grateful" to Justice Department for Thwarting Megaupload's "Sinister Scheme"")
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Saturday, January 21, 2012
European soccer's fight against racism not yet won
PARIS (AP) ? For fans of soccer, Feb. 1 promises to be a sad day.
John Terry, one of the most rugged, fearsome and admired defenders anywhere in the world, a natural leader who captains his club, Chelsea, and his country, England, will appear at a London courthouse to face a criminal charge that he abused a black colleague with a torrent of vile, racially insulting language.
Terry insists the whole affair is a misunderstanding. Born and raised in the ethnic melting pot of east London, he has played with or alongside black players all of his sporting life. Yet video from an Oct. 23 Premier League match appeared to show him shouting, "You ------- black ----" at Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand, whose brother, Rio, has long been Terry's partner in the England defense.
Terry was quick to issue a statement: "People have leapt to the wrong conclusions about the context of what I was seen to be saying." He vowed to "fight tooth and nail to prove my innocence" at the West London Magistrates' Court.
Still, this and other incidents in England and elsewhere in Europe are raising questions about whether efforts to stamp out racist behavior in the world's No. 1 sport have taken a big step backward after having made so many strides forward in the past decade or more. Have racist fans and players simply been lurking, unrepentant, under the surface, instead of being hounded out? Have soccer authorities, led by world governing body FIFA and its European cousin, UEFA, eased up too early in their often-stated determination to rid the global sport of all forms of discrimination?
"We were winning," said Steve Rotheram, a British lawmaker who successfully lobbied for a parliamentary committee to take a new look at racism in sports, following the Terry case and others. However, "people have started to ask about institutional racism and, you know, whether or not the sort of improvements that we'd all hoped have happened over the past 20 years are actually embedded."
The inquiry will start gathering evidence in March. "We've got to be ever vigilant, to make certain that racism doesn't make a comeback," Rotheram said in a phone interview.
Some countries fight soccer extremists with greater determination than others. Some believe the only effective way to punish and ostracize extremist fans is by punishing their clubs. For others, a long-term solution is to educate fans so they police themselves and no longer tolerate bigots in their midst.
"One of the reasons why the UK and Germany, I would say, have been so successful in tackling this problem is through the peer pressure that was exerted toward those fans who were being racist ? when people used the logic of 'Well, how can you abuse the opposition black player when we have black players of our own?'" said Piara Powar, executive director of the FARE network, European soccer's anti-discrimination group, partly funded by UEFA.
"When that became the dominant feeling on the terraces and in the stands that was the start of a dynamic, which, in footballing terms, one couldn't challenge," he said in a phone interview. "It was nonsensical to abuse black players because they were also your own black players."
Nir Inbar, CEO of Israeli first division team Hapoel Tel Aviv, is a proponent of punishment. At a Dec. 28 game, Beitar Jerusalem fans racially abused his Nigerian-born striker, Toto Tamuz.
"They were singing, 'Give Toto a banana,'" Inbar, who was at the game, said in a phone interview. "It is horrible to have racism in a country (where) most of its citizens are Jews. It shouldn't be here. Racism is in our dark history. We suffered a lot from racism."
Rather than merely fine Beitar, Israel's Football Association docked two points from the six-time champion, a significant punishment for a club in danger this season of relegation from the top division.
"That's what needs to happen to tackle racism. That is how supporters understand the lessons, you know?" Inbar said. "Because they did not learn the lesson when the club is getting fined, they say, 'OK, the club has enough money.'"
"If it was up to me, yes, I would use this punishment more often."
In Spain, no club has ever been docked points because of racist chants or behavior by fans. Yet there have been occasions when such punishment might have been warranted. Most recently, supporters of Espanyol made monkey sounds ? "hoo-hoo-hoo" ? at Daniel Alves, Barcelona's defender from Brazil, in a Jan. 8 league match. The grunts grew as the game progressed and rolled from one section of the crowd to another, tracking Alves' moves across the pitch when he had the ball.
Esteban Ibarra of Spain's Movement Against Intolerance believes not only that Spanish soccer authorities are lax against racist behavior but that clubs knowingly turn a blind eye to extremist supporters because their chanting lends ambiance to games.
"Every team in the top flight has these ultras. They are the essence of these racist taunts and chants, and their idea is to try and get the stadium swept up in their cries, and sometimes that works," said Ibarra, spokesman for the lobbying group. "They are more aggressive and louder than the rest of crowd, which is generally passive in Spain. They are admitted because it helps (club) directors feel strong and powerful, these intimidating voices filling the stadium."
"At the moment, the ultras are able to get away with impunity and it's up to the bodies and club directors to change this. Neither are taking precautions to curb this," he said in a phone interview.
Espanyol took no action following the Alves incident even though club president Ramon Condal said, "If we can do something about those chants, we will."
The Spanish Football Federation said it won't investigate because the referee did not mention the monkey sounds in his official match report and because Alves said he didn't hear them.
In England, the Football Association also has never deducted points from a club for fans' racist behavior, although its rules allow it to do so.
"This course of action would very much be a last resort and in only the most serious of circumstances," the FA emailed in response to questions from the AP. "And instances of racist abuse have been very rare in the last 20 years."
Which is one reason why Terry's case and another involving Liverpool striker Luis Suarez came as such a surprise. An FA disciplinary panel found that during a Premier League match in October, Suarez used the words "Negro" or "Negroes" seven times in heated tussles with Manchester United defender Patrice Evra, who is black and who complained. The panel banned Suarez for eight matches.
That case plus the Terry incident have "shone a light into an area which we know is a problem, we know historically has been a huge problem, but that remained hidden ? that of player-on-player abuse, that of racialized interaction, racially abusive interaction, between players," said the FARE network's Powar.
However, he also said: "The biggest surprise for me was the way that Liverpool reacted."
The American-owned club's vehement support for Suarez ? players and manager Kenny Dalglish wore T-shirts featuring his picture and the team complained bitterly about the FA ? looked insensitive, crass and misguided to critics. Liverpool also had to apologize this month to an Oldham player who was reduced to tears by insults from its fans during an FA Cup match.
"Liverpool, probably, with hindsight, might well have acted differently," said Rotheram, the lawmaker elected by voters from the city. Liverpool versus Manchester United is one of the biggest rivalries in European soccer, "and because it was that particular football club and Liverpool Football Club, I think that the reaction was tribal," he added.
"In regard to its impact on the city, it's not been a positive impact, I can tell you."
In England, at events unconnected to the Terry and Suarez incidents but feeding into the debates they caused, a white woman was filmed spouting racial abuse on a London tram, footage viewed hundreds of thousands of times on YouTube.
This month, a judge also sentenced two white men for the 1993 murder of Stephen Lawrence, a black 18-year-old stabbed and left to die at a south London bus stop.
"The truth is that most people don't say overtly racist things at sporting events anymore because it is socially unacceptable. But that doesn't mean to say that there aren't racists in football crowds because, at the end of the day, football crowds reflect society," Rotheram said. "It is a societal problem."
___
AP Sports Writer Paul Logothetis in Madrid contributed to this report.
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