Friday, March 29, 2013

'Journey' sweeps Game Developers Choice Awards

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? "Journey" arrived on top at the Game Developers Choice Awards.

The artsy video game developed by thatgamecompany swept the 13th annual ceremony Wednesday with six wins, including game of the year and the innovation award. "Journey" was also honored for best audio, game design, visual arts and as best downloadable game.

"I really think the success of 'Journey' is because we're standing on the shoulder of the giants," said "Journey" designer and thatgamecompany co-founder Jenova Chen.

The wordless but emotional downloadable PlayStation 3 game casts players as a mysterious scarfed figure that must trek across a desert, through temples and toward a towering mountain. Other players appear online in the game, but they aren't able to communicate with words or sound.

"If you've played the game, you can imagine how difficult it was for the team to go through it," said Chen. "Particularly at the mountain, right before the end. It was very, very stressful. I actually had to go see a psychiatrist."

Selected by a jury of game creators, the Game Developers Choice Awards honor the best games of the past year.

Other winners at the Moscone Convention Center ceremony included Ubisoft's island shoot-'em-up "Far Cry 3" for best technology, Telltale Games' interactive zombie drama "The Walking Dead" for best narrative, Fireproof Studios' puzzler "The Room" for best handheld/mobile game. Arkane Studios' stealthy revenge tale "Dishonored" won the inaugural audience award, which was chosen by online votes.

Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, masterminds of such seminal role-playing games as "Baldur's Gate," ''Knights of the Old Republic" and "Mass Effect," were honored with the lifetime achievement award.

"Spacewar!" developer Steve "Slug" Russell received the pioneer award for his contribution to video games. Russell's "Spacewar!" was created in 1962 and is considered to be among the first digital computer games.

Chris Melissinos, creator of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's "The Art of Video Games" exhibit, was presented with the ambassador award, which recognizes individuals who have helped advanced the gaming industry.

"Thank you to all the game creators who have provided me with a lifetime of inspiration," Melissinos said while accepting his trophy. "You've had a much larger impact on the world than you may believe."

___

Online:

http://www.gamechoiceawards.com

___

Follow AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/derrikjlang/ .

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/journey-sweeps-game-developers-choice-awards-034152039.html

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Thursday, March 28, 2013

It Only Hurts When I Laugh: ?Pirates of the Chemotherapy? Earns a ...

The Roxboro Little Theater performed Paul Schutte's "Pirates of the Chemotherapy" on March 22-24 at the Kirby Theater

The Roxboro Little Theater performed Paul Schutte?s ?Pirates of the Chemotherapy? on March 22-24 at the Kirby Theater

EDITOR?S NOTE: Dawn Reno Langley is a Durham, NC-based author who writes novels, poetry, children?s books, and nonfiction books on many subjects, as well as theater reviews. She is also Dean of General Education and Developmental Studies at Piedmont Community College in Roxboro, where she oversees the theater program at the Kirby Cultural Arts Complex, and a member of the Person County Arts Council. To read all of Dawn Langley?s Triangle Review reviews online at Triangle Arts & Entertainment, click http://triangleartsandentertainment.org/author/dawn-reno-langle/. To read more of her writings, click http://dawnrenolangley.blogspot.com/ and http://poetryandgardening.blogspot.com/.

Anyone who?s had a mammogram can understand why Judith (Tina Powell Kennedy), one of the lead characters in Paul Schutte?s Pirates of the Chemotherapy, puts off having the test until it?s too late. That all-too-common reality was only one of many reality checks brought to the stage in the performance by the Roxboro Little Theater, under the direction of Pam Barth, on March 22-24 at the Kirby Cultural Arts Center in Roxboro, NC.

A metaphor for the ways in which pirates and breast cancer survivors share both their missing ?parts? and their strengths, the dramatic comedy celebrates how both are challenged by life?s adversities and choose to fight, even when the only thing they have left is their will to survive. With six local women in the leads, this simple production launches itself into the hearts of the audience, most of whom can name a relative or friend who has taken on the breast cancer battle. The stories each of the six characters in the play tell resonate with both the female and male members of the audience. Judith?s reluctance to have a mammogram evokes knowing nods from the women, whereas Doris? (Maggie Bonafair) blatant sexuality arouses guffaws from both males and females alike.

Playwright Paul Schutte?s delicate balance between characterization and caricature is deftly handled by the play?s director. Pam Barth, an actress herself, has coached her actresses to embody their personas with both understanding and understatement. For example, though Doris? brassiness can tend to be over the top, she tempers it with empathy for twenty-something Peace (Madeline Phillips), who claims to be the reincarnated grandmother of Marilyn Monroe.

Jan Kerr?s character Nancy, the motherly founder of the group, takes no guff from Doris (often telling her ?Shut up, Doris?); but Nancy is a traditional woman whose support for the group goes so far that she covers her own already-growing hair in order to maintain solidarity with the other women. Winnie, played by Karla A. Mitchell, battles her cancer the same way she battled her cocaine addiction: with a tough urban spirit and a wry sense of humor. Though each of the woman has her own battles, they all pull together for Karen (Kim Demetriades) when her husband takes everything she has and leaves.

When Winnie suggests that the women battle their disease in a humorous, strong manner reminiscent of the way handless/eyeless pirates battled their enemies, the relationships between the women strengthen and the comedic aspects of the play take over. Throughout the stories spun by the cohort of women who have come together in a breast cancer support group, dramatist Paul Schutte also underlines the unique ways in which cancer attacks each person whose body it invades, as well as the inimitable differences of the people themselves. This is a story about strength and perseverance in the face of practically devastating odds. It is also the story of the power of women when they bond through laughter and adversity. Many studies have shown that laughter is the best medicine; and by offering this production, the Kirby Cultural Arts Complex also succeeds in delivering a powerful show that has made a difference in donating its proceeds to the Relay for Life for Cancer Research.

The Kirby Cultural Arts Center performance season will end this season?s performance series with Sweet Potato Pie with the Church Sisters, a night of bluegrass performances delivered by ?sweetgrass? female voices at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 13th.

PIRATES OF THE CHEMOTHERAPY (Roxboro Little Theater, March 22-24 at the Kirby Theater in Roxboro, NC).

SHOW: http://www.personcounty.net/index.aspx?page=191&recordid=1072.

VENUE: http://www.personcounty.net/index.aspx?page=387.

OTHER LINKS:

Pirates of the Chemotherapy (background): http://www.piratesofthechemotherapy.com/ (official website) and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pirates-of-the-Chemotherapy/125933590755873 (Facebook page).

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Tagged as: Kirby Cultural Arts Center, Pam Barth, Paul Schutte, Pirates of the Chemotherapy, Roxboro Little Theater

Source: http://triangleartsandentertainment.org/2013/03/it-only-hurts-when-i-laugh-pirates-of-the-chemotherapy-earns-a-hearty-argh/

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Easter Ideas: 8 Quick And Easy Holiday Crafts Using Paper (PHOTOS)

One of our favorite things about making homemade holiday decorations is how we can personalize them to our specific style. But if you're a craft-lover who's been intimidated by tackling elaborate DIYs, we've got something more suited for your comfort level. Today's Easter ideas go back to the crafting basics: paper! From weaving together a basket made of brown grocery bags to creating confetti-filled pi?atas, the variety of projects you can create are endless. In the slideshow below, we've pulled together some of our favorite projects that bloggers have conjured up. Go on and take a look.

  • Paper Eggs

    These colorful <a href="http://craftandcreativity.com/blog/2013/03/12/papereggs/" target="_blank">paper eggs by Craft and Creativity</a> are perfect gifts and/or decorations for the Easter season.

  • Easter Chicks Candy Treats

    These chicks make for the most adorable treat packages to give your kids. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6fOl6OF3gM" target="_blank">The Kitchen Table Stamper</a> has all of the details for this craft.

  • Pi?ata Eggs

    In the mood for smashing something around? Well you might want to try making these super-easy pi?ata eggs. Head on over <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/25/easter-ideas-pinata-eggs_n_2945141.html" target="_blank">to our feature </a>of A Subtle Revelry's craft.

  • Tiny Flower Baskets

    Nothing reminds us of Easter more than a basket of spring flowers. These miniature paper baskets by Paper N Stitch are adorable Easter gifts for family and friends. Learn more <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/20/easter-ideas-tiny-flower-baskets_n_2902413.html" target="_blank">on our feature of the same craft</a>.

  • Paper Bag Easter Basket

    We all have some extra grocery bags lying around. So why not put them to use as baskets? Head on over <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/03/easter-craft-ideas-make-a_n_1398429.html" target="_blank">to our feature</a> of Ellinee's idea for more information.

  • Paint Chip Egg Garland

    Have some of these color swatches lying around? Turn them into a beautiful garland. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/24/easter-ideas-diy-paper-egg-garland_n_2933455.html" target="_blank">Read our feature</a> of MPMK's idea for more information.

  • Paper Flower Eggs

    These paper flowers add a unique and elegant touch to the traditional egg. Read more <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/04/easter-craft-paper-flower-eggs_n_1401127.html" target="_blank">at our feature</a> on Such Pretty Things' Easter egg idea.

  • Finger Print Name Cards

    Our very own Editor Shana Ecker decided to share her adorable finger print name card craft for the Easter holiday. To learn how she made these, head on over <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shana-ecker/easter-craft-diy-finger-print-name-cards_b_1403330.html" target="_blank">to our article for the inside scoop</a>.

If you want even more Easter ideas, check out our our board on Pinterest.

Have something to say? Check out HuffPost Home on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram.

**

Do you have a home story idea or tip? Email us at homesubmissions@huffingtonpost.com. (PR pitches sent to this address will be ignored.)

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/27/easter-ideas-paper-crafts_n_2957631.html

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Engineers enable 'bulk' silicon to emit visible light for the first time

Mar. 27, 2013 ? Electronic computing speeds are brushing up against limits imposed by the laws of physics. Photonic computing, where photons replace comparatively slow electrons in representing information, could surpass those limitations, but the components of such computers require semiconductors that can emit light.

Now, research from the University of Pennsylvania has enabled "bulk" silicon to emit broad-spectrum, visible light for the first time, opening the possibility of using the element in devices that have both electronic and photonic components.

The research was conducted by associate professor Ritesh Agarwal, postdoctoral fellow Chang-Hee Cho and graduate students Carlos O. Aspetti and Joohee Park, all of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering in Penn's School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Their work was published in Nature Photonics.

Certain semiconductors, when imparted with energy, in turn emit light; they directly produce photons, instead of producing heat. This phenomenon is commonplace and used in light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, which are ubiquitous in traffic signals, new types of light bulbs, computer displays and other electronic and optoelectronic devices. Getting the desired photonic properties often means finding the right semiconducting material. Agarwal's group produced the first ever all-optical switch out of cadmium sulfide nanowires, for example.

Semiconducting materials -- especially silicon -- form the backbone of modern electronics and computing, but, unfortunately, silicon is an especially poor emitter of light. It belongs to a group of semiconducting materials, which turns added energy into heat. This makes integrating electronic and photonic circuits a challenge; materials with desirable photonic properties, such as cadmium sulfide, tend to have poor electrical properties and vice versa and are not compatible with silicon-based electronic devices.

"The problem is that electronic devices are made of silicon and photonic devices are typically not," Agarwal said. "Silicon doesn't emit light and the materials that do aren't necessarily the best materials for making electronic devices."

With silicon entrenched as the material of choice for the electronics industry, augmenting its optical properties so it could be integrated into photonic circuitry would make consumer-level applications of the technology more feasible.

"People have tried to solve this problem by doping silicon with other materials, but the light emission is then in the very long wavelength range, so it's not visible and not very efficient and can degrade its electronic properties," Agarwal said. "Another approach is to make silicon devices that are very small, five nanometers in diameter or less. At that size you have quantum confinement effects, which allows the device to emit light, but making electrical connections at that scale isn't currently feasible, and the electrical conductivity would be very low."

To get elemental, "bulk" silicon to emit light, Agarwal's team drew upon previous research they had conducted on plasmonic cavities. In that earlier work, the researchers wrapped a cadmium sulfide nanowire first in a layer of silicon dioxide, essentially glass, and then in a layer of silver. The silver coating supports what are known as surface plasmons, waves that are a combination of oscillating metal electrons and of light. These surface plasmons are highly confined to the surface where the silicon dioxide and silver layers meet. For certain nanowire sizes, the silver coating creates pockets of resonance and hence highly confined electromagnetic fields -- in other words, light -- within the nanostructure.

Normally, after excitation the semiconductor must first "cool down," releasing energy as heat, before "jumping" back to the ground state and finally releasing the remaining energy as light. The Penn team's semiconductor nanowires coupled with plasmonic nanocavities, however, can jump directly from a high-energy excited state to the ground state, all but eliminating the heat-releasing cool-down period. This ultra-fast emission time opens the possibility of producing light from semiconductors such as silicon that might otherwise only produce heat.

"If we can make the carriers recombine immediately," Agarwal said, "then we can produce light in silicon."

In their latest work, the group wrapped pure silicon nanowires in a similar fashion, first with a coating of glass and then one of silver. In this case, however, the silver did not wrap completely around the wire as the researchers first mounted the glass-coated silicon on a sperate pane of glass. Tucking under the curve of the wire but unable to go between it and the glass substrate, the silver coating took on the shape of the greek letter omega -- ? -- while still acting as a plasmonic cavity.

Critically, the transparent bottom of the omega allowed the researchers to impart energy to the semiconductor with a laser and then examine the light silicon emitted.

Even though the silicon nanowire is excited at a single energy level, which corresponds to the wavelength of the blue laser, it produces white light that spans the visible spectrum. This translates into a broad bandwidth for possible operation in a photonic or optoelectronic device. In the future, it should also be possible to excite these silicon nanowires electrically.

"If you can make the silicon emit light itself, you don't have to have an external light source on the chip," Agarwal said. "We could excite the silicon electrically and get the same effect, and we can make it work with wires from 20 to 100 nanometers in diameter, so it's very compatible in terms of length scale with current electronics."

The research was supported by the U.S. Army Research Office and the National Institutes of Health.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Pennsylvania.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Chang-Hee Cho, Carlos O. Aspetti, Joohee Park, Ritesh Agarwal. Silicon coupled with plasmon nanocavities generates bright visible hot luminescence. Nature Photonics, 2013; 7 (4): 285 DOI: 10.1038/nphoton.2013.25

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/U1h28iUkbn4/130327133517.htm

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Monday, March 25, 2013

Syrian rebels capture area bordering Israel

Syrian opposition forces on Sunday captured a stretch of land along the country?s southern borders with Israel and Jordan, a human rights group said.

?Fighters loyal to Al-Nusra Front, Al-Yarmuk Brigade, Al-Mutaz Billah Brigade and others took control of Al-Rai military checkpoint? in the country?s southern Daraa district, AFP quoted the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights saying.

The al-Nusra Front, also known as Jabhat al-Nusra, was labeled an al-Qaeda in Iraq affiliate organization and outlawed by the United States in December.

?The fighters seized the site after regime forces retreated. The 25-kilometer [15.5 mile] area located between the towns of Muzrib and Abdin is now out of regime control,? the organization said, naming a town near Jordan and another in the Israel-controlled Golan Heights.

Earlier on Sunday the IDF retaliated when bullets fired from Syria hit army vehicles in the Golan and destroyed the outpost from which the shots originated.

Fighting between Syrian rebel groups and the forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad has raged in the area adjacent to the Israeli border for months. Last week, rebel fighters captured one village and parts of others on the Golan Heights near the 1974 ceasefire line patrolled by the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which was created after the Yom Kippur war.

Two videos updated last week to YouTube claimed to show members of the Quneitra Liberation Collective during and after battle, celebrating with cheers after taking the town of Khan Arnabeh.

Though the combatants did not display flags or other symbols common to Islamist and al-Qaeda-linked groups [which are also fighting in Syria], some of the men shown sported beards and head coverings typical to Islamic groups.

Source: http://www.timesofisrael.com/syrian-rebels-capture-area-bordering-israel/

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Buddhist-Muslim violence spreads in Myanmar

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) ? Anti-Muslim mobs rampaged through three more towns in Myanmar's predominantly Buddhist heartland over the weekend, destroying mosques and burning dozens of homes despite government efforts to stem the nation's latest outbreak of sectarian violence.

President Thein Sein had declared an emergency in central Myanmar on Friday and deployed army troops to the worst-hit city, Meikhtila, where 32 people were killed and 10,000 mostly Muslim residents were displaced. But even as soldiers restored order there after several days of anarchy in which armed Buddhists torched the city's Muslim quarters, the unrest has spread south toward the capital, Naypyitaw.

A Muslim resident of Tatkone, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Meikhtila, said by telephone that a group of about 20 men ransacked a one-story brick mosque there late Sunday night, pelting it with stones and smashing windows before soldiers fired shots to drive them away. Speaking on condition of anonymity because of security concerns, he said he believed the perpetrators were not from Tatkone.

A day earlier, another mob burned down a mosque and 50 homes in the nearby town of Yamethin, state television reported. Another mosque and several buildings were destroyed the same day in Lewei, farther south. It was not immediately clear who was behind the violence, and no clashes or casualties were reported in the three towns.

Edginess over the situation spread Monday to the nation's largest city, Yangon, more than 500 kilometers (300 miles) south of Meikhtila, although no actual unrest was apparent.

Rumors circulated that a busy market called Yuzana Plaza would be burned down, leading many shopkeepers to close for the day. In Mingalartaungnyunt, an eastern suburb of Yangon, more rumors led to additional shop closings and police arrived to secure the area, although no violence took place.

The upsurge in sectarian unrest is casting a shadow over Thein Sein's administration as it struggles to make democratic changes in the Southeast Asian country after half a century of army rule officially ended two years ago this month.

Similar violence that rocked western Rakhine state last year, pitting ethnic Rakhine Buddhists against Rohingya Muslims, killed hundreds and drove 100,000 from their homes.

The Rohingya are widely denigrated as illegal migrants from Bangladesh and most are denied passports as a result. The Muslim population of central Myanmar, by contrast, is mostly of Indian origin and does not face the same questions over nationality.

The emergence of sectarian conflict beyond Rakhine state is an ominous development, one that indicates anti-Muslim sentiment has intensified nationwide since last year and, if left unchecked, could spread.

Sectarian and ethnic tensions are not new in Myanmar, which is also home to small Christian, Hindu and animist minorities.

Muslims account for about 4 percent of the nation's roughly 60 million people, and during the long era of authoritarian rule, military governments twice drove out hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, while smaller clashes had occurred elsewhere. About one third of the nation's population is comprised of ethnic minority groups, and most have waged wars against the government for autonomy.

Analysts say racism has also played a role. Unlike the ethnic Burman majority, most Muslims in Myanmar are of South Asian descent, populations with darker skin that migrated to Myanmar centuries ago from what are now parts of India and Bangladesh.

The latest bloodshed "shows that inter-communal tensions in Myanmar are not just limited to the Rakhine and Rohingya in northern Rakhine state," said Jim Della-Giacoma of the International Crisis Group. "Myanmar is a country with dozens of localized fault lines and grievances that were papered over during the authoritarian years that we are just beginning to see and understand. It is a paradox of transitions that greater freedom does allow these local conflicts to resurface."

"If a democratic state is the nation's goal, they need to find a place for all its people as equal citizens," Della-Giacoma said. "Given the country's history, it won't be easy."

The government has put the total death toll in Meikhtila at 32, and authorities say they have detained at least 35 people allegedly involved in arson and violence in the region.

On Sunday, Vijay Nambiar, the U.N. secretary-general's special adviser on Myanmar, toured Meikhtila, visiting displaced residents and calling on the government to punish those responsible.

Nambiar said he was encouraged to learn that some individuals in both communities had helped each other and that religious leaders were now advocating peace.

Muslims in Meikhtila, which makes up about 30 percent of the city's 100,000 inhabitants, appeared to have borne the brunt of the devastation. At least five mosques were set ablaze from Wednesday to Friday, and most homes and shops burned were Muslim-owned.

Chaos began Wednesday after an argument broke out between a Muslim gold shop owner and his Buddhist customers. Once news spread that a Muslim man had killed a Buddhist monk, Buddhist mobs rampaged through a Muslim neighborhood and the situation quickly spiraled out of control.

Residents and activists said the police did little to stop the rioters or reacted too slowly, allowing the violence to escalate.

One Muslim man in Meikhtila named Aung Thein, whose family has fled, said the situation was still tense there.

People are still threatening Muslims who have attempted to return to their destroyed homes to sift through the rubble and salvage their belongings, he said.

"We only want to return to our homes and rebuild our lives," he said.

___

Associated Press writers Todd Pitman and Grant Peck contributed to this report from Bangkok.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/buddhist-muslim-violence-spreads-myanmar-060529329.html

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Paralyzed 9 years ago, Iraq vet prepares to die

Tomas Young is "ready to go" as he puts it. After nine years of suffering and with his body quickly deteriorating he has decided to end his struggle.

Young, 33, was paralyzed from the chest down by a sniper's bullet in a battle in Sadr City, Iraq on April 4, 2004, less than a week after he got to the country. He had joined the Army just two days after September 11, 2001 and assumed he would be sent to Afghanistan. Now nine years after that battle he is choosing to end his suffering. He is in hospice care and getting ready to die.

"I just decided that I was tired of seeing my body deteriorate and I want to go before it's too late," Young said in phone interview with ABC News from his home in Kansas City, Missouri. "I've been doing this for the past nine years now?and I finally felt helpless every day and a burden to the people who take care of me and that's why I want to go."

Young and his wife Claudia Cuellar are receiving guests for a few more weeks. During that time, Young will say goodbye to friends and family and then will stop receiving medications, nourishment and water. They don't know how long it could be after that time he will die, but they believe it will be one to three weeks, but it could be as long as six weeks.

They don't consider it suicide, just an end to his suffering.

"I'm not the boy who would always think suicide if maybe something goes wrong," Young said. "I put lots of time into this. I considered the facts that people I know who love me and would prefer that I stick around, and my only hope is that they realize that they're being selfish in wanting me to just stick around and endure the pain."

Young and Cuellar have decided to go public with their story. First, in an article in the Kansas City Star because they want to change the perception on death and dying in this country as well as continue to shine a light on the anti-Iraq war activism Young has been focused on since becoming paralyzed. He was the subject of a 2007 documentary "Body of War" produced by Phil Donahue. It showed Young dealing with the excruciating physical effects of his injury including post-traumatic stress, as well as his work against the Iraq war.

Cuellar says since the first story was written about his choice to die last week they have received mixed reactions of people supporting Young's decision as well as people urging him to "hang on" or "fight a little more." She says it's because people can't fathom his daily pain.

In 2008, he suffered a pulmonary embolism and anoxic brain injury which he believes was because he was taken off of blood thinners. It affected his speech as well as impaired the use of his arms. Cuellar and Young met when she saw the documentary and she began visiting him when he was in rehabilitation in Chicago after the embolism. They married last April.

"He was a para[plegic] and he was independent and functioning independently so he rolled the ball up the mountain to learn how to be a paraplegic and then four years later...he has the embolism he gets rolled back all the way down the mountain and he now has to live like a partial quadriplegic," Cuellar said.

Since then, they estimate, he takes between 35 to 45 pills a day. He has mucus, but because of his paralysis cannot cough it up so Cuellar presses it out of him ten to fifteen times a day. He takes more pills for waves of nausea that hit him throughout the day, antibiotics for infections, his vision is fading, and he's had increased nightmares they believe because of the increase in pain medications. His colon was removed in November and he now can't eat solid food. Young's speech is also quite blurred so his wife jumps in when needed.

"We've had to increase the pain medication over time quite consistently and incrementally so increase in pain meds will decrease his faculties somewhat so he is becoming forgetful a little bit. He was always very clear before," Cuellar said.

She also must clean "pressure sores" on his buttocks where Cuellar says she can see the "living bone."

"I hope people understand that we are not just deciding to stop feeding because things are kind of difficult," Cuellar said. "It is an insurmountable challenge every day and I don't know how we get through. We get through with each other."

So, how exactly does this happen in the age of modern medicine and to a man who served his country bravely?

Young says it's been a "long process" since he began experiencing "severe abdominal pain in July of 2009" and he hasn't just been struggling with his deteriorating body, but with the health care system, calling the Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospital a "factory." He left in October against medical advice.

"At the VA the doctors seem to think they are so much better than all of their patients and if you try to say, 'Oh what if it's like this?' or 'What if we go down this road?' and they say, 'No, no that won't work,'" Young said. "I said (the VA) was more zoo-like, it's actually more like a factory. Like patients are on an assembly line."

They said the treatment at a private hospital he went to was better, but Cuellar said "there is still this drive towards procedures, surgeries, drugs, procedures, surgeries, drugs."

"When we felt like we had enough of procedures, surgeries, and drugs there isn't a space allowed to begin to talk about transition into hospice or feelings about suffering or death and dying. Even with medical professionals they don't want to talk about it," Cuellar said.

They said when they first approached Young's doctors with his wish to go into hospice they said due to his young age he wasn't the "typical hospice patient."

"This is what happens when a country sends their sons and daughters to war," Cuellar said. "Broken bodies come back and broken bodies deteriorate over time just like a diseased body and just like an aging body and this is the reality. I'm sorry if it doesn't fit your profile of somebody who is 90 years old and about to die going to hospice."

In order to be accepted in a hospice, Young must be "terminally" ill, which he technically is not. They were able to be accepted when he was ruled to have an "inability to thrive." He now has in-home hospice care from Crossroads Hospice.

"All we want to do is go home," Cuellar said, referring to the time before the ruling was made. "We don't want to be in a hospital, we don't want to be in an ER, we don't want to go into a nursing home?we felt like we were like Frankenstein. They just wanted to keep cutting open, stitching up, going in, another pill and this is a dehumanizing process."

Although Young has been involved in protesting the Iraq war for years, his final piece of political activism is an open letter he wrote to former President George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney accusing them of war crimes.

"You may evade justice, but in our eyes you are each guilty of egregious war crimes, of plunder and, finally, of murder, including the murder of thousands of young Americans--my fellow veterans--whose future you stole," it reads in part.

ABC News' Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz has covered the war in Iraq extensively even writing a book, "The Long Road Home" about the battle in Sadr City in which Young was injured in.

She sat down with the man who saved Young and others, Robert Miltenberger several times since the battle He served as a staff sergeant in Sadr City in 2004.

Miltenberger, who was awarded the silver star for his bravery told Raddatz in 2005 that he thought about Young and others oftenm, telling her the memories were "haunting." In November 2011, she interviewed him again and he said he had told Young that he apologized to him for what happened right after he was paralyzed.

"I was telling him that I was sorry that I lied to him, that he wasn't paralyzed, that people were lying on his legs and he was just numb from all the weight and stuff," Miltenberger recalled. "He said it was okay. He didn't blame me."

Young's reaction to hearing those words was that "I've never had any hard feelings and I never considered it lying. I was just trying to keep my head above water."

Young said he would like to talk to Miltenberger before his life ends.

Young says he wants the country to learn from his struggle that "war is the last resort" and in future conflicts the American government should try diplomacy and "if they are still not cooperating they should send in a small group of elite trained forces not 125,000 19-year-old kids whose first cultural experience is eating at the Olive Garden or Taco Bell. "

"I want our government to try every possible outlet with the country before invading it, before going to war," Young said.

Young added that if the United States does go to war then "all boxes must be checked."

"Make sure that the soldiers, marines, and sailors have the best body armor, the best armor around their vehicles," Young said before Cuellar added, "And having a healthcare system that will take of you when they get back. I mean, they just can't be abandoned when they sacrifice for their country."

Young's mother Cathy Smith, whom he says has worked as a "pit bull" on his behalf, is also almost always by his side.

He said "she's come around to the conclusion that it would be far more selfish for her to want me to stay alive and be in pain the rest of my life than just let me go."

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wounded-iraq-vet-prepares-die-122209007.html

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Tuesday, March 12, 2013

PFT: NFL, GE to partner in concussion study

Percy HarvinAP

The Seahawks have made a bold, aggressive move to trade for Vikings receiver Percy Harvin, the 2009 NFL offensive rookie of the year.

And while the deal hinges on both Harvin passing a physical and the Seahawks and Harvin working out a contract, a source with knowledge of the situation tells PFT that the terms of a new contract are in place.

Harvin currently is traveling to Seattle.? On Tuesday morning, he?ll take a physical.? If he passes the physical (and it will be regarded as a shock if he doesn?t), the trade will be called in to the NFL after the new league year begins at 4:00 p.m. ET, and the contract will be signed.

Despite a report that Harvin wants to be paid in the range of Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald and Lions receiver Calvin Johnson, both of those players are in the range of $16 million.? Per the source, Harvin?s deal won?t be close.

In reality, Harvin?s deal will be more in line with the current one-up high-jump that began last year with Bucs receiver Vincent Jackson with five years, $55.5 million, and which was extended by Chiefs wideout Dwayne Bowe and his five-year, $56 million deal.

Key factors to consider when assessing Harvin?s deal include the fact that he was still under contract for one year at $2.775 million; Jackson and Bowe were both starting from scratch.? While the total money could push Harvin past the $12 million annual threshold, the new-money analysis would yield a lower average.? A

Also, Harvin has been a major pain in the butt for the Vikings, pretty much since he got there.? The Vikings were ready to move on for a reason, and the Seahawks are assuming the risk that Harvin will bring with his immense talent a penchant for causing problems.? Getting Harvin into the second tier of receiver contracts given his history would be an accomplishment.

If Harvin becomes a headache, the Seahawks can?t claim ignorance.? Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell spent two years with Harvin in Minnesota.? Bevell has seen the highs and the lows, and everything in between.

But, in reality, Bevell needs Harvin to be on his best behavior for only one year.? After making it to the interview list for multiple teams after the 2012 season, another potent performance by Seattle could launch Bevell into a head-coaching job of his own.

Which would put him miles and miles away from Seattle before Percy starts causing problems in the Pacific Northwest.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/11/nfl-ge-to-partner-in-concussion-study/related/

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Venezuela election race starts, sources say Capriles to run

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles will challenge the late Hugo Chavez's preferred successor for the presidency of the South American OPEC nation next month, sources said on Sunday, setting the stage for a bitter campaign.

Capriles will face election favorite and acting President Nicolas Maduro. The pair have until Monday to register their candidacies for the April 14 vote.

The election will decide whether Chavez's self-styled socialist and nationalist revolution will live on in the country with the world's largest proven oil reserves.

Capriles, 40, a centrist state governor, will formally announce his decision to run later on Sunday, two sources in his camp said.

"There's a lot of negativity around. It's going to be tough, but we're going to do it," one of the sources told Reuters. "Henrique's made his decision. He's not backing down."

Former vice president Maduro, 50, a hulking one-time bus driver and union leader turned politician who echoes Chavez's anti-imperialist rhetoric, is seen winning the election comfortably, according to two recent polls.

Maduro pushed for a snap election to cash in on a wave of empathy triggered by Chavez's death on Tuesday at age 58 after a two-year battle with cancer. He was sworn in as acting president on Friday to the fury of Capriles.

Capriles, the youthful Miranda state governor who often wears a baseball cap and tennis shoes, lost to Chavez in October. But he won 44 percent of the vote - the strongest showing by the opposition against Chavez.

Capriles has accused the government and Supreme Court of fraud for letting Maduro campaign without stepping down.

Although the ruling Socialist Party is favored to win, opposition supporters are trying to raise their spirits.

"There's no reason to think that the opposition is condemned to defeat," Teodoro Petkoff, an anti-government newspaper editor, said on his Sunday morning talk show.

Maduro has vowed to carry on where Chavez left off and ratify his policy platform. He acknowledged he has big shoes to fill.

"I am not Chavez - speaking strictly in terms of the intelligence, charisma, historical force, leadership capacity and spiritual grandeur of our comandante," he told a crowd on Saturday.

Chavez was immensely popular among Venezuela's poor for funneling vast oil wealth into social programs and handouts.

The heavy government spending, along with currency devaluations, has contributed to annual inflation of more than 20 percent, hurting consumers.

"Maduro's success will depend on if he can fix the economy and its distortions," said a former high-level official in the Chavez government who declined to be named. "If he does that, he could emerge as a strong leader instead of one who is an heir."

DIFFICULT RACE

Maduro's first official meeting on Saturday was with officials from China, who Chavez courted to provide an alternative to investment that traditionally came from the United States.

He has adopted his mentor's touch for the theatrical, accusing imperialists, often a Chavez euphemism for the United States, of killing the charismatic but divisive leader by infecting him with cancer.

Emotional tributes were paid at a religious service at the military academy housing Chavez's casket on Sunday, where people continued to gather.

Chavez railed against the wealthy and scared investors with nationalizations. In heavily polarized Venezuela some in the well-to-do class toasted his death with champagne.

Venezuela's opposition coalition backed Capriles as its candidate on Saturday. Capriles says, if elected, he would copy Brazil's "modern left" model of economic and social policies.

Given the state resources at Maduro's disposal and the limited time for campaigning, Capriles faces an uphill battle.

"If the opposition runs, they'll lose. If they don't run, they lose even more!" tweeted Andres Izarra, who served as information minister under Chavez.

The opposition rank-and-file is heavily demoralized after losing last year's presidential race and getting hammered in gubernatorial elections in December, stoking internal party divisions.

"There's no doubt that it's an uphill race for Capriles," local political analyst Luis Vicente Leon said. "Maduro is not Chavez. ... (But) the trouble is that given the race is so close to Chavez's death, emotions get inflamed and the candidate probably continues to be Chavez rather than Maduro.

"The big challenge for Capriles is not to campaign against Chavez but to try to take the fight to Maduro ... trying to show the huge gap (with Chavez) and relate it to the daily problems Venezuelans face."

(With reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez, Simon Gardner, Terry Wade, Pablo Garibian, Deisy Buitrago, Mario Naranjo and Enrique Andres Pretel)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/venezuelans-mourn-chavez-election-set-mid-april-003501503.html

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Monday, March 11, 2013

Astronomers conduct first remote reconnaissance of another planetary system

Mar. 11, 2013 ? Researchers have conducted a remote reconnaissance of a distant planetary system with a new telescope imaging system that sifts through the blinding light of stars. Using a suite of high-tech instrumentation and software called Project 1640, the scientists collected the first chemical fingerprints, or spectra, of this system's four red exoplanets, which orbit a star 128 light years away from Earth.

A detailed description of the planets -- showing how drastically different they are from the known worlds in the universe -- was accepted Friday for publication in The Astrophysical Journal.

"An image is worth a thousand words, but a spectrum is worth a million," said lead author Ben R. Oppenheimer, associate curator and chair of the Astrophysics Department at the American Museum of Natural History.

Oppenheimer is the principal investigator for Project 1640, which uses the Hale telescope at the Palomar Observatory in California. The project involves researchers from the California Institute of Technology, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Cambridge University, New York University, and the Space Telescope Science Institute, in addition to Oppenheimer's team at the Museum.

The planets surrounding the star of this study, HR 8799, have been imaged in the past. But except for a partial measurement of the outermost planet in the system, the star's bright light overwhelmed previous attempts to study the planets with spectroscopy, a technique that splits the light from an object into its component colors -- as a prism spreads sunlight into a rainbow. Because every chemical, such as carbon dioxide, methane, or water, has a unique light signature in the spectrum, this technique is able to reveal the chemical composition of a planet's atmosphere.

"In the 19th century it was thought impossible to know the composition of stars, but the invention of astronomical spectroscopy has revealed detailed information about nearby stars and distant galaxies," said Charles Beichman, executive director of the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute at the California Institute of Technology. "Now, with Project 1640, we are beginning to turn this tool to the investigation of neighboring exoplanets to learn about the composition, temperature, and other characteristics of their atmospheres."

With this system, the researchers are the first to determine the spectra of all four planets surrounding HR 8799. "It's fantastic to nab the spectra of four planets in a single observation," said co-author Gautam Vasisht, an astronomer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The results are "quite strange," Oppenheimer said. "These warm, red planets are unlike any other known object in our universe. All four planets have different spectra, and all four are peculiar. The theorists have a lot of work to do now."

One of the most striking abnormalities is an apparent chemical imbalance. Basic chemistry predicts that ammonia and methane should naturally coexist in varying quantities unless they are in extremely cold or hot environments. Yet the spectra of the HR 8799 planets, all of which have "lukewarm" temperatures of about 1000 Kelvin (1340 degrees Fahrenheit), either have methane or ammonia, with little or no signs of their chemical partners. Other chemicals such as acetylene, previously undiscovered on any exoplanet, and carbon dioxide may be present as well.

The planets also are "redder," meaning that they emit longer wavelengths of light, than celestial objects with similar temperatures. This could be explained by significant but patchy cloud cover on the planets, the authors say.

With 1.6 times the mass and five times the brightness, HR 8799 itself is very different from our Sun. The brightness of the star can vary by as much as 8 percent over a period of two days and produces about 1,000 times more ultraviolet light than the Sun. All of these factors could impact the spectral fingerprints of the planets, possibly inducing complex weather and sooty hazes that could be revealed by periodic changes in the spectra. More data is needed to further explore this planetary system's unusual characteristics.

"The spectra of these four worlds clearly show that they are far too toxic and hot to sustain life as we know it," said co-author Ian Parry, a senior lecturer at the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge University. "But the really exciting thing is that one day, the techniques we've developed will give us our first secure evidence of the existence of life on a planet outside our solar system."

In addition to revealing unique planets, the research debuts a new capability to observe and rapidly characterize exosolar systems in a routine manner, something that has eluded astronomers until now because the light that stars emit is tens of millions to billions of times brighter than the light given off by planets. This makes directly imaging and analyzing exoplanets extremely difficult: as Oppenheimer says, "It's like taking a single picture of the Empire State Building from an airplane that reveals the height of the building as well as taking a picture of a bump on the sidewalk next to it that is as high as a couple of bacteria."

Project 1640 helps scientists clear this hurdle by sharpening and darkening a star's light. This technical advance involves the coordinated operation of four major instruments: the world's most advanced adaptive optics system, which can make millions of tiny adjustments to the device's two 6-inch mirrors every second; a coronagraph that optically dims the star but not other celestial objects in the field of view; an imaging spectrograph that records 30 images in a rainbow of colors simultaneously; and a specialized wave front sensor that distinguishes between residual starlight that sneaks through the coronagraph and the light from planets, allowing scientists to filter out background starlight more effectively.

Altogether, the project has produced images of celestial objects 1 million to 10 million times fainter than the star at the center of the image, with only an hour of observations. It is also capable of measuring orbital motion of objects.

"Astronomers are now able to monitor cloudy skies on extrasolar planets, and for the first time, they have made such observations for four planets at once," said Maria Womack, program director for the Division of Astronomical Sciences at the National Science Foundation. "This new ability enables astronomers to now make comparisons as they track the atmospheres, and maybe even weather patterns, on the planets."

Researchers are already collecting more data on this system to look for changes in the planets over time, as well as surveying other young stars. During its three-year survey at Palomar, which started in June 2012, Project 1640 aims to survey 200 stars within about 150 light years of our solar system.

"The variation in the spectra of the four planets is really intriguing," said Didier Saumon, an astronomer at Los Alamos National Laboratory who was not involved in this study. "Perhaps this shouldn't be too surprising, given that the four gaseous planets of the solar system are all different. The hundreds of known exoplanets have forced us to broaden our thinking, and this new data keeps pushing that envelope."

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/astronomy/~3/KTHAn9Mumes/130311173756.htm

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Saturday, March 9, 2013

Long predicted atomic collapse state observed in graphene

Friday, March 8, 2013

The first experimental observation of a quantum mechanical phenomenon that was predicted nearly 70 years ago holds important implications for the future of graphene-based electronic devices. Working with microscopic artificial atomic nuclei fabricated on graphene, a collaboration of researchers led by scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley have imaged the "atomic collapse" states theorized to occur around super-large atomic nuclei.

"Atomic collapse is one of the holy grails of graphene research, as well as a holy grail of atomic and nuclear physics," says Michael Crommie, a physicist who holds joint appointments with Berkeley Lab's Materials Sciences Division and UC Berkeley's Physics Department. "While this work represents a very nice confirmation of basic relativistic quantum mechanics predictions made many decades ago, it is also highly relevant for future nanoscale devices where electrical charge is concentrated into very small areas."

Crommie is the corresponding author of a paper describing this work in the journal Science. The paper is titled "Observing Atomic Collapse Resonances in Artificial Nuclei on Graphene." Co-authors are Yang Wang, Dillon Wong, Andrey Shytov, Victor Brar, Sangkook Choi, Qiong Wu, Hsin-Zon Tsai, William Regan, Alex Zettl, Roland Kawakami, Steven Louie, and Leonid Levitov.

Originating from the ideas of quantum mechanics pioneer Paul Dirac, atomic collapse theory holds that when the positive electrical charge of a super-heavy atomic nucleus surpasses a critical threshold, the resulting strong Coulomb field causes a negatively charged electron to populate a state where the electron spirals down to the nucleus and then spirals away again, emitting a positron (a positively?charged electron) in the process. This highly unusual electronic state is a significant departure from what happens in a typical atom, where electrons occupy stable circular orbits around the nucleus.

"Nuclear physicists have tried to observe atomic collapse for many decades, but they never unambiguously saw the effect because it is so hard to make and maintain the necessary super-large nuclei," Crommie says. "Graphene has given us the opportunity to see a condensed matter analog of this behavior, since the extraordinary relativistic nature of electrons in graphene yields a much smaller nuclear charge threshold for creating the special supercritical nuclei that will exhibit atomic collapse behavior."

Perhaps no other material is currently generating as much excitement for new electronic technologies as graphene, sheets of pure carbon just one atom thick through which electrons can freely race 100 times faster than they move through silicon. Electrons moving through graphene's two-dimensional layer of carbon atoms, which are arranged in a hexagonally patterned honeycomb lattice, perfectly mimic the behavior of highly relativistic charged particles with no mass. Superthin, superstrong, superflexible, and superfast as an electrical conductor, graphene has been touted as a potential wonder material for a host of electronic applications, starting with ultrafast transistors.

In recent years scientists predicted that highly-charged impurities in graphene should exhibit a unique electronic resonance ? a build-up of electrons partially localized in space and energy ? corresponding to the atomic collapse state of super-large atomic nuclei. Last summer Crommie's team set the stage for experimentally verifying this prediction by confirming that graphene's electrons in the vicinity of charged atoms follow the rules of relativistic quantum mechanics. However, the charge on the atoms in that study was not yet large enough to see the elusive atomic collapse.

"Those results, however, were encouraging and indicated that we should be able to see the same atomic physics with highly charged impurities in graphene as the atomic collapse physics predicted for isolated atoms with highly charged nuclei," Crommie says. "That is to say, we should see an electron exhibiting a semiclassical inward spiral trajectory and a novel quantum mechanical state that is partially electron-like near the nucleus and partially hole-like far from the nucleus. For graphene we talk about 'holes' instead of the positrons discussed by nuclear physicists."

To test this idea, Crommie and his research group used a specially equipped scanning tunneling microscope (STM) in ultra-high vacuum to construct, via atomic manipulation, artificial nuclei on the surface of a gated graphene device. The "nuclei" were actually clusters made up of pairs, or dimers, of calcium ions. With the STM, the researchers pushed calcium dimers together into a cluster, one by one, until the total charge in the cluster became supercritical. STM spectroscopy was then used to measure the spatial and energetic characteristics of the resulting atomic collapse electronic state around the supercritical impurity.

"The positively charged calcium dimers at the surface of graphene in our artificial nuclei played the same role that protons play in regular atomic nuclei," Crommie says. "By squeezing enough positive charge into a sufficiently small area, we were able to directly image how electrons behave around a nucleus as the nuclear charge is methodically increased from below the supercritical charge limit, where there is no atomic collapse, to above the supercritical charge limit, where atomic collapse occurs."

Observing atomic collapse physics in a condensed matter system is very different from observing it in a particle collider, Crommie says. Whereas in a particle collider the "smoking gun" evidence of atomic collapse is the emission of a positron from the supercritical nucleus, in a condensed matter system the smoking gun is the onset of a signature electronic state in the region nearby the supercritical nucleus. Crommie and his group observed this signature electronic state with artificial nuclei of three or more calcium dimers.

"The way in which we observe the atomic collapse state in condensed matter and think about it is quite different from how the nuclear and high-energy physicists think about it and how they have tried to observe it, but the heart of the physics is essentially the same," says Crommie.

If the immense promise of graphene-based electronic devices is to be fully realized, scientists and engineers will need to achieve a better understanding of phenomena such as this that involve the interactions of electrons with each other and with impurities in the material.

"Just as donor and acceptor states play a crucial role in understanding the behavior of conventional semiconductors, so too should atomic collapse states play a similar role in understanding the properties of defects and dopants in future graphene devices," Crommie says.

"Because atomic collapse states are the most highly localized electronic states possible in pristine graphene, they also present completely new opportunities for directly exploring and understanding electronic behavior in graphene."

###

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: http://www.lbl.gov

Thanks to DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 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 63 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127212/Long_predicted_atomic_collapse_state_observed_in_graphene

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Reconstruction of Earth climate history shows significance of recent temperature rise

Reconstruction of Earth climate history shows significance of recent temperature rise

Friday, March 8, 2013

Using data from 73 sites around the world, scientists have been able to reconstruct Earth's temperature history back to the end of the last Ice Age, revealing that the planet today is warmer than it has been during 70 to 80 percent of the time over the last 11,300 years.

Of even more concern are projections of global temperature for the year 2100, when virtually every climate model evaluated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) shows that temperatures will exceed the warmest temperatures during that 11,300-year period known as the Holocene ? under all plausible greenhouse gas emission scenarios.

Results of the study, by researchers at Oregon State University and Harvard University, were published this week in the journal Science. It was funded by the National Science Foundation's Paleoclimate Program.

Lead author Shaun Marcott, a post-doctoral researcher in Oregon State's College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, noted that previous research on past global temperature change has largely focused on the last 2,000 years. Extending the reconstruction of global temperatures back to the end of the last Ice Age puts today's climate into a larger context.

"We already knew that on a global scale, Earth is warmer today than it was over much of the past 2,000 years," Marcott said. "Now we know that it is warmer than most of the past 11,300 years. This is of particular interest because the Holocene spans the entire period of human civilization."

Peter Clark, an OSU paleoclimatologist and co-author on the Science article, said many previous temperature reconstructions were regional in nature and were not placed in a global context. Marcott led the effort to combine data from 73 sites around the world, providing a much broader perspective.

"When you just look at one part of the world, the temperature history can be affected by regional climate processes like El Ni?o or monsoon variations," noted Clark. "But when you combine the data from sites all around the world, you can average out those regional anomalies and get a clear sense of the Earth's global temperature history."

What that history shows, the researchers say, is that over the past 5,000 years, the Earth on average cooled about 1.3 degrees (Fahrenheit) ? until the past 100 years, when it warmed ? 1.3 degrees (F). The largest changes were in the northern hemisphere, where there are more land masses and greater human populations.

Climate models project that global temperature will rise another 2.0 to 11.5 degrees (F) by the end of this century, largely dependent on the magnitude of carbon emissions. "What is most troubling," Clark said, "is that this warming will be significantly greater than at any time during the past 11,300 years."

Marcott said that one of the natural factors affecting global temperatures over the past 11,300 years is gradual change in the distribution of solar insolation associated with Earth's position relative to the sun.

"During the warmest period of the Holocene, the Earth was positioned such that Northern Hemisphere summers warmed more," Marcott said. "As the Earth's orientation changed, Northern Hemisphere summers became cooler, and we should now be near the bottom of this long-term cooling trend ? but obviously, we are not."

Clark said that other studies, including those outlined in past IPCC reports, have attributed the warming of the planet over the past 50 years to anthropogenic, or human-caused activities ? and not solar variability or other natural causes.

"The last century stands out as the anomaly in this record of global temperature since the end of the last ice age," said Candace Major, program director in the National Science Foundation's Division of Ocean Sciences, which co-funded the research with NSF's Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences. "This research shows that we've experienced almost the same range of temperature change since the beginning of the industrial revolution as over the previous 11,000 years of Earth history ? but this change happened a lot more quickly."

The research team, which included Jeremy Shakun of Harvard University and Alan Mix of Oregon State, primarily used fossils from ocean sediment cores and terrestrial archives to reconstruct the temperature history. The chemical and physical characteristics of the fossils ? including the species as well as their chemical composition and isotopic ratios ? provide reliable proxy records for past temperatures by calibrating them to modern temperature records.

Using data from 73 sites around the world allows a global picture of the Earth's history and provides new context for climate change analysis.

"The Earth's climate is complex and responds to multiple forcings, including CO2 and solar insolation," Marcott said. "Both of those changed very slowly over the past 11,000 years. But in the last 100 years, the increase in CO2 through increased emissions from human activities has been significant. It is the only variable that can best explain the rapid increase in global temperatures."

###

Oregon State University: http://www.orst.edu

Thanks to Oregon State 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.

This press release has been viewed 37 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127213/Reconstruction_of_Earth_climate_history_shows_significance_of_recent_temperature_rise

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Microsoft Exec Nancy Tellem Explains What Xbox 360 Opens Up to Hollywood (Q&A)

With Sony spilling the beans on its PlayStation 4, Microsoft is still touting the strength of its Xbox 360 console. While a new Xbox is rumored to be coming as early as this holiday, in tandem with Sony?s next console, Microsoft is focusing on the entertainment growth of its current platform.

Microsoft now has an installed base of over 76 million Xbox 360 consoles around the globe, which is three times the number of original Xbox consoles sold. The Kinect sensor now sits next to roughly one third of those Xbox 360 consoles as Microsoft has sold 24 million Kinect sensors since launch.

And gamers aren?t just playing hit games like Halo 4 and Gears of War 3 on the console. Last year marked the Xbox?s biggest year for entertainment and games usage. Users gobbled up over 18 billion hours of entertainment in 2012, with entertainment app usage growing 57 percent year over year globally. Last year in the United States, Xbox Live Gold members averaged 87 hours per month on Xbox, an increase of 10 percent year over year. The Xbox Live community has grown to 46 million members, a 15 percent growth since last year.

Nancy Tellem, who left her role as consultant to CBS chief executive?Leslie Moonves?to join Microsoft as president of entertainment and digital media, has been busy explaining to Hollywood movie and television studios the opportunities that Xbox 360 and Kinect open up for consumers. Tellem talks about how new technology is changing the way Xbox gamers are consuming entertainment and interacting with ads in this exclusive interview.

How have you seen the recent evolution of social media and other technologies impact the way Hollywood looks at interactive entertainment?

I?ve gone to the agencies and studios and a lot of people really don?t fully understand what the Xbox platform is. They view it in the sense of it?s their kids? console that plays games and they don?t really play games, so they don?t really understand it. Part of my role here is trying to explain exactly what we?re building. It?s really opening people?s minds as to what the power and the capability that the Xbox platform has. What?s happening as you look at more traditional media, and particularly the social aspect of it, whether you?re looking at the Grammys where you actually see through social media that the West Coast feed engenders much higher ratings just because of the conversations that are taking place with what they?re seeing on the East Coast. Or you can see certainly during the Super Bowl where Twitter really lit up during that power outage time. You can see all the traditional networks are really using Facebook and Twitter as an opportunity to market and promote. There?s clearly openness and embracing of the social media and the value of these interactive experiences.

Are there still a lot of executives in Hollywood who don?t understand the gaming space?

From a gaming standpoint, there is a lack of understanding about what the gaming world is all about, but there is clearly an openness to the interactivity of what gaming offers, the complexity of the stories that are told with the layers of involvement that the gamers actually have with the content. There?s a higher amount of awareness that the gaming world and the stories that come out of it and there?s a lot of alignment with what we do in television creation and production.

When it comes to that interactivity what did you learn from the Grammy Awards and Academy Awards coverage on Xbox Live?

When you?re looking at both of those live events it gives a wonderful opportunity to engage as you?re watching the program to share with your friends and to have real-time conversations about what you?re watching. It?s a much different experience than sitting alone in your living room watching these events. The potential of what we can do to really light up these events is huge and hopefully in the next year or two we?ll be able to show in full splendor the value of this interactivity when you?re dealing with these live events.

What does Kinect open up to the entertainment experiences you?re developing?

From the Kinect standpoint it?s about using voice control without the need of a controller. It also allows you to curate in some respects or search for something through voice control. Gesture comes into the experience when you look at experiences like Nike + Kinect Training, which we developed with Nike. It?s a tremendous opportunity where you can really have a sense of who is in the living room and how you?re exercising. It can actually highlight what you?re doing wrong and help you get better. The idea there is that Kinect technology can really enrich any experience, whether it?s exercise or our Sesame Street experience with kids being able to be a part of a video and interact with the characters on the video. That kind of thing is so unique to our platform and we?re looking to expand that as we?re developing content.

What do you see NuAds opening up when it comes to Hollywood being able to connect with a gaming audience ?

The interesting thing is that we did have some interactive ads involving Subway and Toyota and what we found is that of the people that were watching ads, 37 percent actually interacted with it. That?s an incredibly high amount of interaction and certainly the kind of information that an advertiser would most definitely love to do. There are ways in which you can really engage. We did the presidential debates with NBC News and Rock the Vote, where effectively the way that we engaged people was to listen to the debates through the game implication of the debates. We would ask questions and people would vote in real-time and the engagement level was much, much more. From a creative standpoint and certainly being able to use this interactivity that the advertisers are looking to do is something that we can really deliver on Xbox and we can do it to a targeted audience. We can do it in a way that isn?t necessarily in the traditional way. It may make watching ads or connecting with these ads in a much more fun way and that?s where these NuAds have really shown the potential and the opportunity.

How are you expanding your voice controlled entertainment apps on Xbox?

We have over 100 voice controlled apps, which involves all sorts of entertainment partners like Hulu and Netflix and a great range of movie, TV and sports offerings. We?re adding 40 more apps which will involve the CW and other partners. We?re doing this on a global basis with apps that are in various markets.

How will Xbox SmartGlass technology enhance entertainment experiences?

With HBO Go, they tell you to go online to find out more about the cast. With Xbox SmartGlass technology this allows for this to be happening simultaneously on your device of choice. You can be watching Game of Thrones on your tablet and you can come home and throw it on to your TV. You can also experience the second screen experience on your tablet in real-time and sync to the content that you?re watching on the television. That?s the kind of things we?re working on with HBO about to really light up the Xbox SmartGlass technology.

How will all of this new technology that we?ve discussed impact the type of entertainment you?re developing?

Our focus is really building on what we?re doing now, which is creating a great television experience that is really engaging and robust. As we?re developing original content, either on our own or with partners, that?s going to be first and foremost what our focus is going to be. Developing compelling content is key and making sure that the interactivity, whether it?s with the Kinect technology or other interactivity, we?re working is organic and meaningful to the content itself. It?s showing that TV is truly best on Xbox and it?s a unique experience that you really can?t find anywhere else.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/johngaudiosi/2013/03/07/microsoft-exec-nancy-tellem-explains-what-xbox-360-opens-up-to-hollywood-qa/

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Thursday, March 7, 2013

Facebook exec's new book urges women to 'lean in'

NEW YORK (AP) ? For a book that has yet to be released, Sheryl Sandberg's "Lean In" ? part feminist manifesto, part how-to career guide ? has got a lot of people talking.

In the weeks leading up to the book's March 11 release, pundits and press hounds have been debating its merits. New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd called Sandberg a "PowerPoint Pied Piper in Prada ankle boots," and countless bloggers have suggested that Facebook's chief operating officer is the wrong person to lead a women's movement.

"Most of the criticism has to do with the position she is coming from," said Susan Yohn, professor and chair of Hofstra University's history department.

Sandberg, 43, hopes that her message of empowerment won't be obscured by the lofty pedestal from which she speaks. But is the multi-millionaire with two Harvard degrees too rich to offer advice? Too successful? Does her blueprint for success ignore the plight of poor and working-class women? Does the book's very premise blame women for not rising to top corporate positions at the same rate as men?

And just how big is her house?

The questions keep coming largely because few people have actually read the book. But in it, Sandberg seems to have foreseen much of the criticism. The book acknowledges that critics might discount her feminist call to action with an easy-for-her-to-say shrug.

"My hope is that my message will be judged on its merits," she writes in the preamble.

Sandberg recognizes that parts of the book are targeted toward women who are in a position to make decisions about their careers. Still, she writes, "we can't avoid this conversation. This issue transcends all of us. The time is long overdue to encourage more women to dream the possible dream and encourage more men to support women in the workforce and in the home."

Published by Alfred A. Knopf Inc., "Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead" will be launched Thursday with a reception in New York City hosted by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Arianna Huffington.

It's true that Sandberg is wealthy. She also has a supportive husband. Mark Zuckerberg is her boss. And, yes, her home is a 9,000 square-foot mansion in Menlo Park, Calif.

But as a woman in Silicon Valley, Sandberg hasn't exactly had it easy, and her tale shows she's no armchair activist. After all, not many women would march into their boss' office and demand special parking for expectant mothers. But Sandberg did just that when she worked at Google. Company founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin complied.

After Sandberg moved to Facebook in 2008, she became even more outspoken on the issues facing women in corporate America. At a time when other executives, male or female, have largely stayed quiet, Sandberg has delivered speeches on topics such as "Why we have too few women leaders."

And she's no workaholic. In an age of endless work hours, Sandberg is famous for leaving the office at 5:30 to spend time with her family. She does admit, however, to picking up work once her kids have gone to bed.

Of the many inspirational slogans that hang on Facebook's walls, her favorite asks "What would you do if you weren't afraid?" ''Lean In" is about pushing past fear.

"Fear is at the root of so many of the barriers that women face," she writes. "Fear of not being liked. Fear of making the wrong choice. Fear of drawing negative attention. Fear of overreaching. Fear of being judged. Fear of failure. And the holy trinity of fear: the fear of being a bad mother/wife/daughter."

Sandberg peppers the book with studies, reports and personal anecdotes to back up her premise ? that for reasons both in and out of their control, there are fewer woman leaders than men in the business world and beyond. For example, the Fortune 500 has only 21 female CEOs. Sandberg is among the 14 percent of women who hold executive officer positions and the 16 percent of women who hold board of director seats, according to Catalyst.org.

For minority women, the numbers are even bleaker. Women of color, she writes, hold just 4 percent of top corporate jobs and 3 percent of board seats.

"A truly equal world would be one where women ran half our countries and companies and men ran half our homes. I believe that this would be a better world," she writes. "The laws of economics and many studies of diversity tell us that if we tapped the entire pool of human resources and talent, our collective performance would improve."

At less than 200 pages, plus a good chunk of footnotes, "Lean In" does not purport to be the end-all solution to inequality. It deals with issues Sandberg sees as in women's control.

"Don't leave before you leave" is one of her catchphrases, aimed at successful women who gradually drop out of the workforce in anticipation of children they may someday bear. "Make your partner a real partner" is another. She says everyone should encourage men to "lean in" at home by being equal partners in parenting and housework.

"Lean In" is, by and large, for women who are looking to climb the corporate ladder (which Sandberg calls a jungle gym), and ideally their male supporters. She hopes it's the start of a conversation. To that end, Sandberg plans to donate all of the proceeds to her newly minted nonprofit, LeanIn.org.

Sandberg's book shares personal details that reveal a fair share of stumbles and lesser-known tidbits. Did you know she was an aerobics instructor in the 1980s ?big hair, silver leotard and all? The book paints a picture of an exceptionally successful woman who admits to lacking confidence at various points in her career.

Sandberg writes about the "ambition gap" between men and women in the workplace ? that while men are expected to be driven, ambition in women can be seen as negative. She writes about parents' gender-based approaches to child rearing that teach girls to be "pretty like mommy" and boys "smart like daddy," as she's seen on baby onesies sold at Gymboree.

And she writes about "feeling like a fraud" ? that insidious notion, felt largely by women but men as well, that success is due not to her own merit but to some sort of gross oversight or accident.

Sandberg's book comes half a century after Betty Friedan's "The Feminine Mystique," which identified "the problem that has no name" among largely white, suburban housewives who felt unhappy and unfulfilled in their roles at home. Friedan, too, was criticized for focusing on a privileged swath of womankind.

"Lean In" is a call to action to make it easier for women to become leaders. It's a call for women to take space at the table, raise their hands, speak up and step up. It's a personal account of a woman who, through a mix of talent, luck and ambition, but also with plenty of internal and external obstacles along the way, managed to do that.

Feminist icon Gloria Steinem, whom Sandberg thanks in the acknowledgements and cites as inspiration, praises "Lean In" on her Facebook page, saying that it "addresses internalized oppression, opposes external barriers that create it and urges women to support each other to fight both."

She adds that even the book's critics "are making a deep if inadvertent point: Only in women is success viewed as a barrier to giving advice."

___

Follow Barbara Ortutay on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BarbaraOrtutay

___

Online:

Lean In the nonprofit: www.LeanIn.Org and facebook.com/leaninorg

Video of Sheryl Sandberg's 2010 TED talk that is the basis of her book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18uDutylDa4

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/facebook-execs-book-urges-women-lean-083717984--finance.html

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It looks like just three for SEC in NCAA

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Source: http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2013/mar/06/it-looks-just-three-sec-ncaa-20130306/

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Martha on Macy's trial: 'It's terribly important that we don't lose'

By Scott Stump, TODAY contributor

Martha Stewart spoke out Wednesday for the first time since testifying in her court battle with Macy's.

On TODAY, she recounted telling?Macy's Chief Executive?Terry Lundgren in 2011 that she was forming a business relationship with rival J.C. Penney Co.

Lundgren, she said, hung up on her.?

"Terry Lundgren is the consummate CEO,'' Stewart told Matt Lauer. "He is an excellent businessman. He should be able to discuss business in a business-like fashion. Hanging up on a woman ? businessperson ? I think was rude and not right.''

Lundgren has not spoken to Stewart since that conversation, and Stewart told Lauer that he would not speak to Stewart's daughter after she reached out to him. Now, Macy's has sued Martha Stewart's company for breach of contract.

"He would not speak to anybody involved, and that's kind of wrong,'' Stewart said.?

Lundgren testified on Monday that he hung up on her after she told him about the deal only one night before it became public.?

"I was completely shocked and blown away," Lundgren said. "I was literally sick to my stomach."

J.C. Penney announced on December 7, 2011, that it would launch Martha Stewart boutiques in about 700 of its department stores in 2013. Macy's, which was one of the first companies to do business with Stewart's company after her 2005 jail stint for obstructing justice and lying to federal investigators about a stock trade, claims it has the exclusive right to sell her products in specific categories.?

The lawsuit comes in the midst of reports that Stewart's company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, has reported a loss of $56 million in the last year and laid off 12 percent of its staff.?

"It's terribly important that we don't lose a case like this,'' she said.?

Stewart believes that her agreement with J.C. Penney will not affect the sales of her company's products at Macy's.?

"Really and truly we thought it would be good for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia to be able to build 700 stores for the showcasing of Martha product,'' she said. "I think our product is so strong at Macy's that (the J.C. Penney contract) will not hurt that at all. We are there for the Macy's consumer. We want to be where the consumer needs and wants us.''?

The dispute should have never reached this point, according to Stewart.?

"It should definitely have been resolved,'' she said. "It is a contract dispute. In our contract, we are allowed to have a store-within-a-store, or a Martha store (at J.C. Penney). That's what we were planning to do."?

"What's best for her stockholders is for her company to prosper and thrive and have their profits increase, but the way she's going about doing it, I think in the end, is not going to be good for her brand or her company," Michael Stone of Beanstalk Group Global Branding told TODAY.?

In her court testimony on Tuesday, Stewart claimed that sales of her brand had grown "static'' at Macy's and that she was hoping the business would exceed $400 million a year instead of the $300 million business it has done. Lundgren claimed in his testimony that sales of Martha Stewart products at Macy's grew 8 percent last year and that it will "continue to highlight the brand" in stores. ?

"I think I did all right (on the stand),'' Stewart told Lauer. "It's a very difficult thing to sit there for four hours and be asked complicated, convoluted questions. I think I understood most of the questions and answered them fairly and honestly."?

More:?Martha Stewart in middle of giant retail tug-of-war?
Martha Stewart defends J.C. Penney deal

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This story was originally published on

Source: http://todaynews.today.com/_news/2013/03/06/17208569-martha-on-macys-trial-its-terribly-important-that-we-dont-lose?lite

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