Rover drills second rock sample

21 May 2013 Last updated at 08:57 ET By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News

Nasa's Curiosity rover has drilled a second rock sample to deliver to its onboard laboratories.

The powder was taken from the interior of a target dubbed "Cumberland" by the science team.

This rock is about 2.75m from the site where the rover acquired its first drill sample in February.

Analysis conducted on this earlier powder revealed details of a past environment that would have been favourable to microbial life.

Curiosity's instruments determined the rock to have been laid down billions of years ago in a benign water setting, possibly a lake, and to retain markers for key chemical and energy conditions required for biology.

The new Cumberland sample, which will be delivered to the rover's Sam and Chemin labs in the coming days, is expected to confirm this assessment.

Curiosity has now spent 280 Martian days in the planet's equatorial Gale Crater.

For most of this period, the robot has been investigating a small depression called Yellowknife Bay. The location is about 500m east of Curiosity's August 2012 touchdown point.

The mission team is keen to get the robot moving towards the main mission destination - the foothills of the big mountain that dominates the crater floor.

It will likely take many months to get to Aeolus Mons (also known as Mount Sharp).

When Curiosity does set out on this big drive, it will stop briefly to re-examine some rocks it saw on the way into Yellowknife Bay.

This outcrop, referred to as Shaler, is a classic example of cross-stratification, a rock structure built in a turbulent flow of water.

The panoramic landscapes featured on this page were assembled by Ken Kremer and Marco Di Lorenzo from pictures sent back by Curiosity's navigation cameras.

Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22612819#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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Obama exhorts good deeds by Morehouse graduates

President Barack Obama receives an honorary degree during the Morehouse College 129th Commencement ceremony, Sunday, May 19, 2013, in Atlanta. Morehouse is the historically black, all-male institution that counts Martin Luther King Jr. among its alumni. It is Obama's second graduation speech of the year. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama receives an honorary degree during the Morehouse College 129th Commencement ceremony, Sunday, May 19, 2013, in Atlanta. Morehouse is the historically black, all-male institution that counts Martin Luther King Jr. among its alumni. It is Obama's second graduation speech of the year. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama gestures as he speaks during the Morehouse College 129th Commencement ceremony, Sunday, May 19, 2013, in Atlanta. Morehouse is the historically black, all-male institution that counts Martin Luther King Jr. among its alumni. It is Obama's second graduation speech of the year. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama smiles during prayer at the Morehouse College 129th Commencement ceremony, Sunday, May 19, 2013, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama waves to a crowd gathered at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on his way to give the commencement speech at Morehouse College, Sunday, May 19, 2013, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Amis)

ATLANTA (AP) ? President Barack Obama, in a soaring commencement address on work, sacrifice and opportunity, on Sunday told graduates of historically black Morehouse College to seize the power of their example as black men graduating from college and use it to improve people's lives.

The president said his success was due to "the special obligation I felt, as a black man like you, to help those who need it most, people who didn't have the opportunities that I had ? because there but for the grace of God, go I. I might have been in their shoes. I might have been in prison. I might have been unemployed. I might not have been able to support a family. And that motivates me."

Noting the Atlanta school's mission to cultivate, not just educate, good men, Obama said graduates should not be so eager to join the chase for wealth and material things, but instead should remember where they came from and not "take your degree and get a fancy job and nice house and nice car and never look back."

"So yes, go get that law degree. But if you do, ask yourself if the only option is to defend the rich and powerful, or if you can also find time to defend the powerless," Obama said. "Sure, go get your MBA, or start that business, we need black businesses out there. But ask yourself what broader purpose your business might serve, in putting people to work, or transforming a neighborhood."

"The most successful CEOs I know didn't start out intent on making money. Rather, they had a vision of how their product or service would change things, and the money followed," he said.

For those headed to medical school, Obama said, "Make sure you heal folks in underserved communities who really need it, too."

Before Obama arrived in Atlanta, thunderstorms drenched hundreds of people who gathered on the campus lawn for the outdoor ceremony, forcing many guests to wear clear plastic ponchos over what amounted to their Sunday-best clothes. Rain began falling again, accompanied by more thunder and lightning, minutes after Obama began to speak.

"I also have to say you all are going to get wet," he said. "I would be out there with you if I could. But Secret Service gets nervous, so I'm going to have to stay here, dry. But know that I'm with you in spirit."

Obama urged graduates to "inspire those who look up to you to expect more of themselves."

Obama used the speech to once again share his personal story of growing up without a father, confessing that along the way he made unspecified bad personal choices "like too many men in our community."

"Sometimes I wrote off my own failings as just another example of the world trying to keep a black man down," he said. "I had a tendency to make excuses for me not doing the right thing. But one of the things that all of you have learned over the last four years is, there's no longer any room for excuses."

Speaking in personal terms as he often does when addressing predominantly black audiences, particularly of black males, the nation's first black president also spoke intimately of his desire to be a better father to daughters Malia and Sasha than his absent father was to him, and to be a better husband to his wife, Michelle.

He told the graduates to pay attention to their families, saying success in every other aspect of life means nothing without success at home.

"I was raised by a heroic single mother and wonderful grandparents who made incredible sacrifices for me. And I know there are moms and grandparents here today who did the same thing for all of you," he said. "But I still wish I had a father who was not only present, but involved. And so my whole life, I've tried to be for Michelle and my girls what my father wasn't for my mother and me. I've tried to be a better husband, a better father, and a better man.

"It's hard work that demands your constant attention, and frequent sacrifice. And Michelle will be the first to tell you that I'm not perfect," he continued. "Even now, I'm still learning how to be the best husband and father I can be. Because success in everything else is unfulfilling if we fail at family.

"I know that when I'm on my deathbed someday, I won't be thinking about any particular legislation I passed, or policy I promoted. I won't be thinking about the speech I gave, or the Nobel Prize I received," said Obama, 51. "I'll be thinking about a walk I took with my daughters, a lazy afternoon with my wife, whether I did right by all of them."

The speech was Obama's second commencement address of the season, following remarks last Sunday at Ohio State University in Columbus. His third and final graduation address will come Friday at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

About 500 students received undergraduate degrees on Sunday and became "Morehouse Men."

After the speech, Obama joined about 100 people at a fundraiser at the office of the foundation of Arthur M. Blank, co-founder of Home Depot and owner of the Atlanta Falcons. It was the first of six money events that officials say he will headline for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is recruiting candidates and strategizing to keep control of the Senate in next year's midterm elections. Democrats will be defending more Senate seats than Republicans, including six held by long-serving Democratic senators who have decided not to seek re-election.

After briefly discussing the economy, early childhood education, energy independence, climate change and infrastructure, Obama said "the good news is we've got good, common-sense solutions that we can implement right now," on those issues. "The bad news is there's a shortage of common sense in Washington."

He told the donors, who paid anywhere from $10,000 per couple to $32,400 per couple to attend the fundraiser, that their support is important because it will help elect more non-ideological senators like Michael Bennet, D-Colo., "who don't come at this thinking there's just one way of doing things." Bennet chairs the campaign arm for Senate Democrats and introduced Obama at the event.

"That kind of approach, if we get a critical mass in the Senate, and we can potentially get a critical mass of folks like that in the House, means that the sky's the limit," Obama said. "Nothing can stop us."

___

Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-05-19-Obama/id-78c991a3f1f4412386a15f5ead6de0c6

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Pinhole Cameras That Are Actually Meant To Be Used

If you've been searching for a pinhole camera to enjoy and then pass on to your children, you're in luck. Industrial designer and carpenter Elvis Halilovi? has created a beautiful line of handmade pinhole cameras. Wait, you haven't been looking for that? Huh. Okay. Nonetheless! These oddly compelling wooden boxes will make you feel like you've always wanted one. That's the point of Kickstarter, right?

ONDU Pinhole Cameras has already raised a $10,000 goal, plus almost $33,000 extra. The cameras are made from local wood and come in six different dimensions, requiring different standard film sizes. Prices range from $60 for the Pocket Pinhole to $200 for the Sliding Box Pinhole. All the pieces are held in place by magnets and the camera is totally manual. No lenses. It's a good way to remember that all those digital filter effects are based on something you can actually produce. [Kickstarter via Colossal]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/pinhole-cameras-that-are-actually-meant-to-be-used-508781143

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D. Wayne Lukas' Preakness Win Gives Him Triple Crown Record: Column

BALTIMORE -- The old guy still gets up crack-of-dawn early.

Not because D. Wayne Lukas has something left to prove, or anything more to gain. He already has it all: Fame, fortune, a bronze plaque in the Hall of Fame and ? after lightly-regarded Oxbow stunned Orb on Saturday at the Preakness ? he has the top spot in the Triple Crown trainer's record book, too, passing "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons with No. 14.

"It's been a while," Lukas chuckled, "but it never gets old.

"I ran last with the first horse I started. The second one doesn't even finish," he added a moment later. "What a roller coaster."

Lukas was thoroughbred racing's first organization man, a former Wisconsin high school basketball coach who brought the principle of "flooding the zone" from the court to the race track.

When he cracked the big time with a horse named Codex at the Preakness in 1980, fans of the sport still thought of it as art, but Lukas relied on cold-blood science. The top trainers at the time were folksy guys like Woody Stephens and wise-cracking Charlie Whittingham, but Lukas was undeniably corporate.

The gravel outside his barns was always perfectly raked, his buttoned-down shirts pressed to match. While his more famous rivals focused on one or two quality horses, Lukas overwhelmed the game with quantity, setting up cookie-cutter operations in dozens of barns from coast to coast and bringing three, four and sometimes even five mounts to the Kentucky Derby.

By the mid-1990s, he perfected the approach, at one point winning six Triple Crown races in a row with four different horses. He shuffled jockeys like a deck of cards and balanced the competing demands of those owners, all the while never taking his eye off the ball or the business. But then rivals like Bob Baffert and disciple Todd Pletcher, who borrowed liberally from Lukas' playbook, began stealing his thunder.

Now 77, Lukas hadn't won a Triple Crown race since 2000 and became a sort of eminence grise, holding court regularly outside his barn at the classic races, more charming than competitive. His return to Derby year after year, despite not having a real shot to win it, became a kind of running joke.

Just two weeks ago at Churchill Downs, Lukas poked fun at himself on that very topic. When someone reminded him he'd brought 44 horses to the Derby ? a race he'd last won with Charismatic in 1999 ? he laughed and said, "I lied to you; 35 of `em I didn't want to run."

Yet Lukas never lost his zeal. He's still the first trainer up on a horse and out on the track in the morning, and every bit as gracious as always. While the entire sport was focused on Orb, trainer Shug McGaughey and the potential to see the sport's first Triple Crown winner in 36 years, Lukas sidled up to him two mornings ago and said "We got another one on the agenda."

Standing outside his barn in shirt sleeves, McGaughey told the tale after getting beat, without being entirely sure whether that encouraging bit about another big win was meant for him or for Lukas himself. Either way, McGaughey was hard-pressed to think of someone more deserving. That sentiment rippled through the trainers' ranks.

"We were out of it early," said Baffert, who became a close of pal of Lukas' over the last few years, "and after it was clear Orb couldn't win it, we all got behind Wayne and (jockey) Gary Stevens."

That part of this win will go largely unnoticed by some, but not Stevens. At 50, the jockey now has nine Triple Crown wins on his resume ? three at each of the classics ? but Stevens was out of the sport for seven years. In a nice bit of symmetry, Lukas gave Stevens his first Triple Crown-winning mount with Winning Colors.

"Wayne put me on the map," Stevens recalled. "When you win that first classic, your phone starts ringing, people want you. ... This is super, super sweet and it happened for the right guy."

Not long after, the "right guy" was asked about his travel plans for Oxbow, who's likely headed for the Belmont after a stop at Churchill Downs.

"4:30 tomorrow morning," Lukas announced, "if you want to watch him load on that van. My truck driver and I will get in that big old truck, and we'll head down the road and make about two Wendy's stops on the way and be in Louisville, Ky., but 5:30 tomorrow night.

As a few reporters rolled their eyes, Lukas continued, "Some of us in this great nation get up and get after in the morning. Others sleep in."

None of that would have surprised Baffert, or any of the other members of the fraternity.

"Wayne loves it so much, when he goes, I'm pretty sure we're going to find him lying in the shed row one morning and holler, `Hey Wayne, why are you sleeping?'"

___

Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.org and follow him at Twitter.com/JimLitke.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/18/d-wayne-lukas-preakness-triple-crown_n_3300347.html

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Orb favored to take Preakness, set up Triple try

Oxbow, with an exercise rider aboard, gallops at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Friday, May 17, 2013. The Preakness Stakes horse race is scheduled to take place May 18. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Oxbow, with an exercise rider aboard, gallops at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Friday, May 17, 2013. The Preakness Stakes horse race is scheduled to take place May 18. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Exercise rider Jennifer Patterson gallops Preakness Stakes favorite and Kentucky Derby winner Orb at Pimlico Race Course Friday, May 17, 2013 in Baltimore. The Preakness Stakes horse race is scheduled for Saturday. (AP Photo/Garry Jones)

Kentucky Derby winner Orb, right, with exercise rider Jennifer Patterson aboard, is escorted onto the track by Anna Martinovsky at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Friday, May 17, 2013. The Preakness Stakes horse race is scheduled to take place May 18. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

A groom washes Kentucky Derby winner Orb after a workout at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Friday, May 17, 2013. The Preakness Stakes horse race is scheduled to take place May 18. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Hall of Fame trainer BobBaffert looks for his Preakness Stakes entrant Governor Charlie during a morning workout at Pimlico Race Course Friday, May 17, 2013 in Baltimore. The Preakness Stakes horse race is scheduled for Saturday. (AP Photo/Garry Jones)

BALTIMORE (AP) ? Orb is ready for his whirl at history.

The Kentucky Derby winner was in a playful mood the day before the Preakness, making faces for photographers between nibbles of grass outside his stall at Pimlico Race Course.

"I couldn't be more pleased with the way he's doing," trainer Shug McGaughey said at his final pre-Preakness media briefing Friday morning. "I can't see any adversity. I would have to think it would take a pretty darn good horse to beat him if he goes over and runs his race."

If he can defeat eight rivals in the 1 3-16-mile Preakness on Saturday, it would set up a Triple Crown try in the Belmont Stakes in three weeks. Orb is the even-money favorite, and there's a growing feeling that this 3-year-old bay colt may be special enough to give thoroughbred racing its first Triple Crown champion since Affirmed in 1978.

"We'd sure love to have that opportunity," a relaxed and confident-sounding McGaughey said. "Probably the racing world would love to see it, too."

Orb extended his winning streak to five with a thrilling victory in the Derby two weeks ago, when jockey Joel Rosario patiently guided the colt from 17th to first in the final half mile over a sloppy track.

In the Preakness, Orb will break from the No. 1 post, a spot that has seen only one winner ? Tabasco Cat in 1994 ? since 1961.

"Who knows how this race is going to go, but I don't think it will be a problem," Rosario said of the inside post. "He's a horse that comes from behind, so I really don't think it will affect him. I'm just excited to go into this with a horse who has a chance to win."

A chance?

While rival trainers aren't conceding the race, most agree Orb is the best of the bunch.

"Orb, he's a freak. Right now, everybody should be rooting for Orb, except for the connections of the other horses in the race," trainer Bob Baffert said ? and he's got a horse in the race, 12-1 choice Govenor Charlie. "Anybody who's not rooting for Orb, there's something mentally wrong with them."

Baffert has been there before. Three of his five Preakness winners had also won the Derby, but were unable to complete the Triple Crown with a win in the Belmont. He says the Preakness is the least stressful of the three races.

"There is absolutely no pressure, believe it or not because you've just won the Derby," he said. "You're flying high and everybody's excited. You don't think about it. The next one (the Belmont) is the pressure."

Getting to the next one may sound easy. It isn't. Six of the past eight Derby winners did not win the Preakness, and McGaughey is well aware of the pitfalls.

"There are a lot of ways you can lose. Freaky things can happen," he said. "You hope he doesn't get in any trouble, you hope he handles the track, you hope he handles the kickback of the dirt, you hope he handles the day."

Among the challengers are Goldencents, who did not take to the slop at Churchill Downs and finished 17th after winning the Santa Anita Derby in April.

"Orb's not like a one-race hit. All year long he's been super impressive," said Goldencents trainer Doug O'Neill, who won the Derby and Preakness last year with I'll Have Another, only to scratch the colt the day before the Belmont because of a tendon injury. "But we've seen Goldencents do some brilliant things in the afternoon. If he does, I think he can beat him."

It might be Itsmyluckyday's lucky day. He's another highly regarded colt who did not handle the sloppy track and finished 15th in the Derby.

"He's given me every sign that he's ready for the war; he's ready for the race; he's ready for the battle," trainer Eddie Plesa Jr., said. "Let's just get it on."

Or it could be Departing, one of the three horses in the race who did not run in the Derby. Orb knows Departing well ? the two were pals growing up at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Ky., and ran around together in the same field. The gelding has won four of five starts, and comes into the Preakness off a win in the Illinois Derby.

And, of course, there's D. Wayne Lukas, who has three of the nine entries in Oxbow, Will Take Charge and Titletown Five, a colt owned by Green Bay Packers greats Paul Hornung and Willie Davis. Lukas, like Baffert, has five Preakness wins, and his next victory in a Triple Crown race would give him a record 14 ? one more than "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons.

Oxbow was sixth and Will Take Charge eighth in the Derby, while Titletown Five is a maiden winner who ran fourth in the Derby Trial.

"You have to be careful about that much emphasis on one race," Lukas said of Orb's Derby win. "You change the surface, you shorten the race, you put him in the one-hole. These are things he'll have to overcome. He's the best horse. It's his race to lose. But it only takes one horse to spoil your day."

Weather could be a factor, too. The latest forecast for Saturday is calling for a 50 percent chance of rain with temperatures reaching the low 70s. Post time for the race on NBC is 6:20 p.m.

While Orb will take his shot at becoming the 34th horse with a chance at the Triple Crown ? 11 have done it, 19 failed and three others did not run in the Belmont ? several other historic milestones are in play. Rosie Napravnik will be aboard 5-1 second choice Mylute in an attempt to become the first female to the win the Preakness and Kevin Krigger, who rides Goldencents, looks to become the first black jockey to win since Willie Simms with Sly Fox in 1898.

Orb is owned by Ogden Mills "Dinny Phipps and Stuart Janney III, first cousins who have been breeding and racing their own horses for decades. McGaughey has been with the Phipps Stable for 28 years, and is one of the most respected trainers in the business.

"Shug always does right by his horses," Baffert said. "He represents what racing was like back in the day. And how cool would it be if the guy that finally gets (the Triple Crown), does it the old-school way?"

And, as McGaughey says: "'We're excited about giving him a whirl to see if we can get it done and go on to the next step."

___

Follow Richard Rosenblatt on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/rosenblattap

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-05-18-RAC-Preakness/id-e89b2c1da822418fa2661bcb1d58bd5d

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Probe begins after Conn. commuter trains crash

Emergency workers arrive the scene of a train collision, Friday, may 17, 2013 in Fairfield, Conn. A New York-area commuter railroad says two trains have collided in Connecticut. The railroad says the accident involved a New York-bound train leaving New Haven. It derailed and hit a westbound train near Fairfield, Conn. Some cars on the second train also derailed. (AP Photo/The Connecticut Post, Christian Abraham) MANDATORY CREDIT

Emergency workers arrive the scene of a train collision, Friday, may 17, 2013 in Fairfield, Conn. A New York-area commuter railroad says two trains have collided in Connecticut. The railroad says the accident involved a New York-bound train leaving New Haven. It derailed and hit a westbound train near Fairfield, Conn. Some cars on the second train also derailed. (AP Photo/The Connecticut Post, Christian Abraham) MANDATORY CREDIT

Injured passengers are transported from the scene where two Metro North commuter trains collided, Friday, May 17, 2013 near Fairfield, Conn. Bill Kaempffer, a spokesman for Bridgeport public safety, told The Associated Press approximately 49 people were injured, including four with serious injuries. About 250 people were on board the two trains, he said. (AP Photo/The Connecticut Post, Christian Abraham) MANDATORY CREDIT: CONNECTICUT POST, CHRISTIAN ABRAHAM

Passengers leave the area where two Metro North commuter trains collided, Friday, May 17, 2013 near Fairfield, Conn. Bill Kaempffer, a spokesman for Bridgeport public safety, told The Associated Press approximately 49 people were injured, including four with serious injuries. About 250 people were on board the two trains, he said. (AP Photo/The Connecticut Post, Christian Abraham) MANDATORY CREDIT: CONNECTICUT POST, CHRISTIAN ABRAHAM

Injured passengers are transported from the scene where two Metro North commuter trains collided, Friday, May 17, 2013 near Fairfield, Conn. Bill Kaempffer, a spokesman for Bridgeport public safety, told The Associated Press approximately 49 people were injured, including four with serious injuries. About 250 people were on board the two trains, he said. (AP Photo/The Connecticut Post, Christian Abraham) MANDATORY CREDIT: CONNECTICUT POST, CHRISTIAN ABRAHAM

Emergency personnel work at the scene where two Metro North commuter trains collided, Friday, May 17, 2013 near Fairfield, Conn. Bill Kaempffer, a spokesman for Bridgeport public safety, told The Associated Press approximately 49 people were injured, including four with serious injuries. About 250 people were on board the two trains, he said. (AP Photo/The Connecticut Post, Christian Abraham) MANDATORY CREDIT: CONNECTICUT POST, CHRISTIAN ABRAHAM

FAIRFIELD, Conn. (AP) ? Two commuter trains packed with rush-hour commuters collided in an accident that sent about 70 people to the hospital, severely damaged the tracks and threatened to snarl travel in the congested Northeast Corridor.

Three patients remained in critical condition Saturday morning, with two of those stable, according to officials at two Bridgeport hospitals.

The crash happened Friday evening on the Metro-North Railroad, which serves the northern suburbs of New York City.

Passengers described a chaotic, terrifying scene of crunching metal and flying bodies.

"All I know was I was in the air, hitting seats, bouncing around, flying down the aisle and finally I came to a stop on one seat," Lola Oliver, 49, of Bridgeport, told The Associated Press. "It happened so fast I had no idea what was going on. All I know is we crashed."

About 700 people were on board the Metro-North trains when one heading east from New York City's Grand Central Station to New Haven derailed about 6:10 p.m. just outside Bridgeport, MTA and Bridgeport officials said.

The train was hit by a train heading west from New Haven to Grand Central on an adjacent track, MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said. Some cars on the second train also derailed as a result of the collision.

"We're most concerned about the injured and ultimately reopening the system," Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said from the scene about three hours after the crash.

A team from the National Transportation Safety Board was headed to the area to survey the crash site Saturday morning with Malloy, U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy and other Connecticut officials, according to Malloy's office.

Officials planned to update journalists on the crash following the tour.

Malloy said most people in the crash were not seriously hurt. Among those critically injured, he said, one's injuries were "very critical."

The nursing supervisor at St. Vincent Medical Center said Saturday morning that 44 people from the crash had been treated there, and that five of those were admitted. One of the five remained in critical condition but was now stable, the supervisor said.

Bridgeport Hospital spokesman John Cappiello said two patients were admitted in critical condition, and one of those was now stable. The hospital treated 24 other patients from the crash, and many had been released already with the rest expected to be released by late Saturday morning, Cappiello said.

The Metro-North Railroad, a commuter line serving the northern suburbs, described it as a "major derailment." Photos showed a train car askew on the rails, with its end smashed up and brushing against another train.

Malloy said there was extensive damage to the train cars and the track, and it could take until Monday for normal service to be restored. He said the accident will have a "big impact on the Northeast Corridor."

Amtrak, which uses the same rails, suspended service indefinitely between New York and Boston.

Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch said the disruption caused by the train accident could cost the region's economy millions of dollars.

"A lot of people rely on this, and we've got to get this reconnected as soon as possible," Finch said.

Investigators Friday night did not know what caused the first train to derail. Malloy said there was no reason to believe it was anything other than an accident.

Passenger Bradley Agar of Westport, Conn., said he was in the first car of the westbound train when he heard screaming and the window smash behind him.

"I saw the first hit, the bump, bump, bump all the way down," he said.

Agar had returned to work this week for the first time since breaking his shoulder in January. And since he was still healing, he thought it would be safer to take the train than drive.

The area where the accident happened was already down to two tracks because of repair work, Malloy said. Crews have been working for a long time on the electric lines above the tracks, the power source for the trains. He said Connecticut has an old system and no other alternate tracks.

By late evening, Bridgeport Police Chief Joseph Gaudett said everybody who needed treatment had been attended to, and authorities were beginning to turn their attention to investigating the cause.

"Everybody seemed pretty calm," he said. "Everybody was thankful they didn't get seriously hurt. They were anxious to get home to their families."

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority operates the Metro-North Railroad, the second-largest commuter railroad in the nation. The Metro-North main lines ? the Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven ? run northward from New York City's Grand Central Terminal into suburban New York and Connecticut.

___

Associated Press writer Michael Melia contributed to this report from Hartford, Conn.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-05-18-Trains%20Collide-Conn/id-487f6e94e0a4472fa0439c4dcbac9cc5

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Google?s new Hangouts app will soon support SMS

By Ros Krasny WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A potentially fatal hog virus, porcine epidemic diarrhea, has been found in the United States for the first time, government and private industry officials said on Friday, posing a new threat for the country's struggling pork producers. PEDV, an incurable condition that causes diarrhea, vomiting and dehydration in hogs, has been identified in Iowa, the largest producing state, and possibly beyond. The severity of the outbreak is not yet known. The virus exists in much of the world but has not previously occurred in the western hemisphere. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/google-hangouts-app-soon-support-sms-231506937.html

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High-testosterone competitors more likely to choose red

Friday, May 17, 2013

Why do so many sports players and athletes choose to wear the color red when they compete? A new study to be published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, suggests that it may have to do with their testosterone levels.

The new study, conducted by psychological scientist Daniel Farrelly of the University of Sunderland and colleagues, demonstrated that males who chose red as their color in a competitive task had higher testosterone levels than other males who chose blue.

"The research shows that there is something special about the color red in competition, and that it is associated with our underlying biological systems," says Farrelly.

The researchers believe that the link may explain why many sports stars wear red clothing ? Tiger Woods, for example, famously chooses to wear a red shirt on the last day of a major competition.

Choosing to wear red "may, unconsciously, signal something about their competitive nature, and it may well be something that affects how their opponents respond," Farrelly explains.

Farrelly and colleagues recruited 73 men to participate in the study, and they were unaware of the study's aims. The men were told that they would be performing a competitive task and that their performances would be placed on a leaderboard. The participants then chose either a red or blue symbol to represent them in the table and completed the competitive tasks. They also answered questionnaires aimed at gauging whether various personal reasons may have affected their color choice.

To determine participants' testosterone levels, the researchers took saliva samples at the start of the study, before the participants knew about the competitive task, and again at the end.

The data revealed that men who chose red had higher baseline testosterone levels, and they rated their color as having higher levels of characteristics such as dominance and aggression, than men who chose blue.

Color choice did not, however, seem to be related to actual performance in the competitive task. The researchers believe that direct competition, in which opponents can be seen wearing red or appearing red, may be necessary for the red advantage to occur. Along these lines, previous research has shown that wearing red can be advantageous through its influence on opponents' perceptions, leading them to view red competitors as being "high quality" competitors.

###

Association for Psychological Science: http://www.psychologicalscience.org

Thanks to Association for Psychological Science 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/128298/High_testosterone_competitors_more_likely_to_choose_red

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Deadly tornadoes rip through northern Texas

Mike Fuentes / AP

Johnny Ortiz, left, and James South, right, carry Miguel Morales, center, who was injured in a tornado, to an ambulance in Granbury, Texas, on Wednesday May 15, 2013.

By Andrew Rafferty, Staff Writer, NBC News

At least six people are dead and scores more injured in Texas after deadly tornadoes?ripped through the northern part of the state late Wednesday, authorities said.

Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds said at a midnight news conference that the death toll could go higher. Fourteen people were unaccounted for, Deeds said.

Along with the six fatalities, NBCDFW.com reports there may be as many as 100 people injured in Granbury, Texas, a town of about 8,000. Officials said that local hospitals have called in extra staff and area schools and other buildings were being used to treat the injured. Some of the injured were being taken to Forth Worth hospitals as the hospital in Granbury filled.

Images of Granbury revealed leveled homes, badly damaged cars, trees uprooted and power lines down. ???

"The house started shaking," one witness told NBC?s Dallas affiliate. ?We were in a closet. You could hear it -- it sounded like a train going off. It was scary."

?It was like hell,? another witness said.

The tornado was part of a system of severe thunderstorms that spawned tornadoes throughout northern Texas. Also hit was Creburne a town about 30 miles east. Also hit by a twister was the small town of Millsap, about 40 miles west of Fort Worth.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This story was originally published on Thu May 16, 2013 12:39 AM EDT

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2bfb3d24/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A50C160C182860A450Edeadly0Etornadoes0Erip0Ethrough0Enorthern0Etexas0Dlite/story01.htm

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Star Trek Into Darkness Review: The Fun of War

Making a Star Trek movie must be hard. A movie like Star Trek Into Darkness has to simultaneously treat its source material with acknowledgement, if not respect, and make itself feel new and original. There are a lot of ways to do that, but JJ Abrams seemed to choose, ?Just make it fun and figure the rest out.? He chose wisely.

Some light spoilers ahead, obviously. Including NOT the villain. (Changed our minds on that.)

Let?s be clear up front: I'm by no means a Trekkie. I?ve only seen a few of the original series episodes, and none of the older movies. Enough of TNG, Deep Space 9, and Voyager sunk in on Saturday afternoons that I'm familiar with those worlds, but not much beyond understanding internet pop culture jokes. This seems important, since Into Darkness feels like it was made exactly for me.

Star Trek exists in this weird, long-running common knowledge pool where even a lax science fiction fan is familiar enough with the tropes and story pillars to understand a large amount of references. It?s almost like Greek mythology in that way. You might see a tribble on the screen, and not remember exactly what it?s called or what it does, but know it was in that one episode or something. And that?s enough. For some more hardcore fans, the references might be excessive or even hand-holdy. But for casuals, they suggest a deeper, only slightly offscreen history to nice effect. We know there was a different timeline. We know Spock and Kirk ought to be best friends. We know who the villain is.

Oh, right. Benedict Cumberbatch is a well known Star Trek villain, whose reputation to fans is wielded to set tone as much as his commanding performance. And he?s marvelous, mostly, as a Terminator force of hyper-intelligent, amoral nature. You never feel like anyone around him is remotely safe while he?s on screen. But while he?s set up as a grand villain, attacking highly visible Federation targets, he?s never given a very big stage to play on.

The rest of the performances are generally strong without really standing out; Kirk and Scotty get some good turns (Simon Pegg squeezes out a ton of genuine concern and fun into his limited role), but everyone else mostly goes where the next explosion or threat of an explosion demands they do. Zachary Quinto's Spock is especially trapped in this loop, as his predictable I?m-feeling-more-emotions thread has to be played out, largely, in action scenes.

What makes character development difficult, though, also keeps the film humming along at a brisk pace. Abrams? ability to do two or even three things at once without making a scene feel like a noisy mess keeps the storytelling clear. Even when Kirk is fighting off an impromptu checkup from Bones while debating Federation law with Spock and ambushed by a brand new member of the crew?all at once?you always have a clear sense of what?s going on and why.

That Abrams is such an adept juggler makes it even more flummoxing that the stakes never seem very high. The worst potential outcome, it seems, is that one (or two) crews might eliminated and an Admiral could start a war with the Klingons. That would be bad, of course, but it?s not the same as the threat of literally exploding the Earth in the first movie, and worse, you get the sense that everyone in the theater would probably rather see a Klingon war anyway.

Instead, we get an intricately plotted story whose second half resembles a hostage movie?set almost entirely on a disabled Enterprise and another ship?more than the action-packed first Star Trek. That?s not entirely bad! But if you?re going to set up a claustrophobic atmosphere, it would be nice to take a breath and have some quieter character moments, not just cram the (still fun) action set pieces into the smaller space.

There are a lot of places Into Darkness could have gone, or decisions it could have made, that would have made it a more impactful film. It?s no The Dark Knight, for sure. But every last second of it is enjoyable, even if it doesn?t seem to be aiming for much more than that. And frankly, why would it?

Source: http://gizmodo.com/star-trek-into-darkness-review-the-fun-of-war-507643153

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Fitbit now syncs to Galaxy S 4, broader Android device support is coming

The state of Fitbit wireless syncing is far from ideal for Android users, but the company's latest step is proof that it's slowly getting better. Today, Fitbit updated its Android app to bring wireless syncing to the Galaxy S 4, which follows a previous update for the Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II. According to Fitbit's blog, its difficulty in supporting more devices stems from software differences on various Android smartphones, which causes trouble regardless of whether the device includes Bluetooth 4.0. On the upside, just yesterday, the Bluetooth SIG announced that Android will gain support for Bluetooth Smart Ready and Bluetooth Smart devices in the coming months, which Fitbit reckons will solve much of the compatibility issues that it and other device manufacturers have faced. So, if you have a Galaxy S 4, take the opportunity to get syncing your fitness data today -- it won't be long before other Android devices get to join in the fun.

Filed under: Misc, Software, Mobile

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Source: Fitbit

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/yRX3JjTOrAU/

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London's best free and affordable baby, toddler, children and family ...

May 15, 2013 by admin

Family Events Saturday 18^th May

Archikids, City of London.? Come down and join in the activities at this London children?s free architecture festival.? All around the City, different hands-on events and activities bring London?s structures into fascinating lessons of detail, design and function while being fun and free.? Just to name a few of the numerous events: One New Change will be hosting tunnel making, making and 3-D city with sting, making structures with candy and sketching the skyline on the roof terrace windows (if you have not been up here ? GO, it?s amazing) ; Exchange Square will have activities that investigate how architecture interacts with landscapes, building a city with cane, and a scooter trail; Leadenhall Market will have bridge-making and shelter making?. Do check out the rest of the events.? If you can?t make Saturday, head down on Sunday

Chelsea Fringe Festival: World?s End Estate Community Gardens, Green Peas Events.? Head down to Chelsea for a fantastic afternoon of nature crafts for 2-8 year olds as part of the Chelsea Fringe Festival.? Choose between making nature collages, veggie print-making, painting and tactile, messy play with lentils, beans, rice and more.? Free, but booking strongly recommended.? Please contact Anna at info@greenpeasevents.co.uk/ tel: 07949392708, www.greenpeasevents.co.uk (they do fantastic birthday parties and events)

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Saatchi Gallery Family Art Workshops.? Take part in an artist-led workshop learning about the current exhibit, this week the focus is Sergei Vasiliev. 1-2:30, ?7

National Portrait Gallery: Storytelling and Family Art Workshop.? Toy?s Wardrobe: all toys have special outfits.? Learn a little bit about some selected portraits and follow up with an art activity. 10:30-11:15 and 1:30-2:15 for ages 3+.?? In addition to this, you can make your own Jumping Jack for children ages 5+ 11:30 ? 1pm and 2:30-4pm.? All free

Don?t forget about Love Swimming Fast Track Swimming:? Book a fast track lesson with Bila and Rui at the end of May and take a ?swimming staycation? read my review of my son?s marked development during his fast-track course.? ?Fast-track is an affordable and highly effective way for beginners (I am not exaggerating, Bila got my son to swim in two lessons) to advanced swimmers who will work on technique.

Saturday Films:

Barbincan Family Film Club:Bugsy Malone ??Tickets are ?2, bring the kids and escape the cold while you chill and watch a movie.? Great price.? 11am, all ages.

Gate Picturehouse, Kids Club: The Princess Bride .? That?s right, THE PRINCESS BRIDE ON THE BIG SCREEN: Remember 1987? Billy Crystal, Mandy Patinkin, Christopher Guest, Robin Wright and so many more in this Rob Reiner classic (that will be me in the front row with two kids and a husband drinking the bloody mary ? unless we are at One New Change at the Archikids) Tickets ?1 with ?4 membership, popcorn and juice ?2.? My husband?s rainy day ace in the hole read the review, fabulous value for Saturday morning family time in a great location.? Also, head down the road to The Gold on Portobello Road and have a fabulous family-friendly meal in a pre-gentrified Notting Hill gem.? Be sure to get one of the balcony tables in the atrium area ? wonderfully food, cool venue and very family-friendly for slightly older kids.

Electric Cinema, Kid?s Club: This week?s feature, Finding Nemo; 10:30am.? Check out the newly refurbished Electric Cinema with its plush, red velvet beds, sofas and armchairs.? Looks like a great way for Dad to occupy the kids on a Saturday morning.? Tickets ?8 per person. All ages

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Family Events Sunday 12^th May

Camden Arts Centre, Make and Do Sunday.? Come and join artist Adam Walker as he leads the children through an activity designed around Dieter Roth?s new exhibit: Diaries.? 2-4pm, all ages, free.

Royal Academy of Art, Family Studio, Living Art.? Explore the historic artworks in the collection of the Royal Academy and bring them to life through re-enactment.? All ages, free, 11am-2pm.

Baby Rave, The Pirate Castle.? Why not bring the baby to a rave in Camden??? Head over to The Pirate Castle (very near Camden tube) ?Sunday 3:30-5pm.? Changing facilities, music at comfortable levels, older siblings welcome, food and drinks on sale.? Children ?3, adults ?6 (includes free drink) or ?4 for no drink? non-walkers go free!!!

Mwalimu Express, Rich Mix, Bethnal Green: This is a truly London activity ? come join the Saidi JJ Kanda and take the train to Zanzibar as this Sundays destination.? There will be a screening of ?As Old as my Tongue? celebrating the life of Zanzibar?s famous singer Bi Kidude.? Free, all ages ?

And on to the upcoming week:

For Babies and Toddlers:

Classical Babies, Knightsbridge: Come along for a jazz piano concert in the lovely hall at St. Columba?s on Pont Street.? Push chair friendly ( a few steps), good fun, near to Hyde Park and Harrods should you be looking for something to do after.? ?10 per adult, children free.

British Museum, Parent?s View of Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum.? ?12.50 (a bit more than my usual standard of a tenner) but bring the baby and come along to a fascinating tour and discussion of the current exhibit at The British Museum.? This promises to be a fabulous bit of brain candy!!? Tuesday, 21^st May, 10:30-1pm.

Electric Scream: Mondays, 11am.? Come and see Promised Land (Gus Van Sant?s exploration of fracking with juicy Matt Damon) ?Experience the luxury of the newly refurbished Electric Cinema.? This screening is only for carers with infants under 12 months, dim lighting, changing tables, quality food, even wine!!? ?15.50 for an armchair, very pricy but great fun.

Imagination Station, play music and movement for babies 4 months +: Fun and affordable interactive music and movement class for infants and toddlers.? Mondays at the Kensington Library, Wednesdays at the Forge Arts Venue in Camden, Fridays in Marylebone.? See web site for details.

Gate Picturehouse, Big Scream.? Tuesdays at 10:30.? ?Bring your infant under 12 months on for a screening of The Great Gatsby. Tickets are ?8.50.

Pippa?s Poppets:? SW1?s favourite singer and songwriter has a new venue ? GAMBADO!!!.? Bring your kids along to Pippa?s class and get one hour of play in Gambado after!!!? Wednesdays 9:45 for babies and 10:10 for toddlers.? Also, there is now an early morning class on Tuesdays and Thursdays at St. Saviour, St. George?s Square (just by the Pimlico Tube) from 9:35am for 4 months- 3 years. ?7.50 per class.? Mondays and Wednesdays at St. Gabriel?s Church, Pimlico.? Thursdays in Chelsea at Beaufort House (fabulous London family club) and Tuesdays in Knightsbridge.

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Source: http://www.london-baby.com/2013/05/whats-on-london-baby-toddler-child-and-family-events-18th-25th-may-2013/

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Vintage Target Poster Similar To Mad Men Ad - Business Insider

Illustrator Brian Sanders' hand-drawn, vintage-style poster for the "Mad Men" season 6 premiere drove fans wild with its hidden plot clues.

It drove Target historian ? yes, that's a real thing?? Tony Jahn crazy for another reason: He felt like he'd seen the ad before.

It turns out that the AMC commissioned poster bears a striking resemblance to a 1960s ad campaign from Dayton, Target's predecessor.

Here's the "Mad Men" poster:

And here's the Target one from 1964 (now on the company's blog):

What do you think?

In fairness to Mad Men and Sanders, AMC commissioned his poster precisely because it emulated ads from the period.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/vintage-target-poster-similar-to-mad-men-ad-2013-5

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Columbia seeks to change ?whites only? scholarship

May 15 (Reuters) - Post positions for the 138th running of the Preakness Stakes, to be run at Pimlico on Saturday (Post Position, Horse, Jockey, Trainer, Odds) 1. Orb, Joel Rosario, Shug McGaughey, even 2. Goldencents, Kevin Krigger, Doug O'Neill, 8-1 3. Titletown Five, Julien Leparoux, D. Wayne Lukas, 30-1 4. Departing, Brian Hernandez, Al Stall, 6-1 5. Mylute, Rosie Napravnik, Tom Amoss, 5-1 6. Oxbow, Gary Stevens, D. Wayne Lukas, 15-1 7. Will Take Charge, Mike Smith, D. Wayne Lukas, 12-1 8. Govenor Charlie, Martin Garcia, Bob Baffert, 12-1 9. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/columbia-seeks-change-whites-only-scholarship-141323865.html

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Andrew Joseph Stack Flew a Plane Into the Austin IRS Office 1 Week Before the Tea-Party Scrutiny Started (Atlantic Politics Channel)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

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Jalees Rehman, M.D.: Cellular Alchemy: Converting Fibroblasts Into Heart Cells

Medieval alchemists devoted their lives to the pursuit of the infamous Philosopher's Stone, an elusive substance that was thought to convert base metals into valuable gold. Needless to say, nobody ever discovered the Philosopher's Stone. Well, perhaps some alchemist did get lucky but was wise enough to keep the discovery secret. Instead of publishing the discovery and receiving the Nobel Prize for Alchemy, the lucky alchemist probably just walked around in junkyards, surreptitiously collected scraps of metal and brought them home to create a Scrooge-McDuck-style money bin. Today, we view the Philosopher's Stone as just a myth that occasionally resurfaces in the titles of popular fantasy novels, but cell biologists have discovered their own version of the Philosopher's Stone: The conversion of fibroblast cells into precious heart cells (cardiomyocytes) or brain cells (neurons).

Fibroblasts are an abundant cell type, found in many organs such as the heart, liver and the skin. One of their main functions is to repair wounds and form scars in this process. They are fairly easy to grow or to expand, both in the body as well as in a culture dish. The easy access to large quantities of fibroblasts makes them analogous to the "base metals" of the alchemist. Adult cardiomyocytes, on the other hand, are not able to grow, which is why a heart attack which causes death of cardiomyocytes can be so devastating. There is a tiny fraction of regenerative stem-cell like cells in the heart that are activated after a heart attack and regenerate some cardiomyocytes, but most of the damaged and dying heart cells are replaced by a scar -- formed by the fibroblasts in the heart. This scar keeps the heart intact so that the wall of the heart does not rupture, but it is unable to contract or beat, thus weakening the overall pump function of the heart. In a large heart attack, a substantial portion of cardiomycoytes are replaced with scar tissue, which can result in heart failure and heart failure.

A few years back, a research group at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease (University of California, San Francisco) headed by Deepak Srivastava pioneered a very interesting new approach to rescuing heart function after a heart attack. In a 2010 paper published in the journal Cell, the researchers were able to show that plain-old fibroblasts from the heart or from the tail of a mouse could be converted into beating cardiomyocytes! The key to this cellular alchemy was the introduction of three genes -- Gata4, Mef2C and Tbx5 also known as the GMT cocktail -- into the fibroblasts. These genes encode for developmental cardiac transcription factors, i.e. proteins that regulate the expression of genes which direct the formation of heart cells. The basic idea was that by introducing these regulatory factors, they would act as switches that turn on the whole heart gene program machinery. Unlike the approach of the Nobel Prize laureate Shinya Yamanaka, who had developed a method to generate stem cells (induced pluripotent stem cells or iPSCs) from fibroblasts, Srivastava's group bypassed the whole stem cell generation process and directly created heart cells from fibroblasts. In a follow-up paper published in the journal Nature in 2012, the Srivastava group took this research to the next level by introducing the GMT cocktail directly into the heart of mice and showing that this substantially improved heart function after a heart attack. Instead of merely forming scars, the fibroblasts in the heart were being converted into functional, beating heart cells -- cellular alchemy with great promise for new cardiovascular therapies.

As exciting as these discoveries were, many researchers remained skeptical because the cardiac stem cell field has so often seen paradigm-shifting discoveries appear on the horizon, only to later on find out that they cannot be replicated by other laboratories. Fortunately, Eric Olson's group at the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center also published a paper in Nature in 2012, independently confirming that cardiac fibroblasts could indeed be converted into cardiomyocytes. They added on a fourth factor to the GMT cocktail because it appeared to increase the success of conversion. Olson's group was also able to confirm Srivastava's finding that directly treating the mouse hearts with these genes helped convert cardiac fibroblasts into heart cells. They also noticed an interesting oddity. Their success of creating heart cells from fibroblasts in the living mouse was far better than what they would have expected from their experiments in a dish. They attributed this to the special cardiac environment and the presence of other cells in the heart that may have helped the fibroblasts convert to beating heart cells. However, another group of scientists attempted to replicate the findings of the 2010 Cell paper and found that their success rate was far lower than that of the Srivastava group. In the paper entitled "Inefficient Reprogramming of Fibroblasts into Cardiomyocytes Using Gata4, Mef2c, and Tbx5" published in the journal Circulation Research in 2012, Chen and colleagues found that very few fibroblasts could be converted into cardiomyocytes and that the electrical properties of the newly generated heart cells did not match up to those of adult heart cells. One of the key differences between this Circulation Research paper and the 2010 paper of the Srivastava group was that Chen and colleagues used fibroblasts from older mice, whereas the Srivastava group had used fibroblasts from newly born mice. Arguably, the use of older cells by Chen and colleagues might be a closer approximation to the cells one would use in patients. Most patients with heart attacks are older than 40 years and not newborns.

These studies were all performed on mouse fibroblasts being converted into heart cells, but they did not address the question whether human fibroblasts would behave the same way. A recent paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Eric Olson's laboratory (published online before print on March 4, 2013 by Nam and colleagues) has now attempted to the answer this question. Their findings confirm that human fibroblasts can also be converted into beating heart cells, however the group of genes required to coax the fibroblasts into converting is slightly different and also requires the introduction of microRNAs -- tiny RNA molecules that can also regulate the expression of a whole group of genes. Their paper also points out an important caveat. The generated heart-like cells were not uniform and showed a broad range of function, with only some of the spontaneously contracting and with an electrical activity pattern that was not the same as in adult heart cells.

Where does this whole body of work leave us? One major finding seems to be fairly solid. Fibroblasts can be converted into beating heart cells. The efficiency of conversion and the quality of the generated heart cells -- from mouse or human fibroblasts -- still needs to be optimized. Even though the idea of cellular alchemy sounds fascinating, there are many additional obstacles that need to be overcome before such therapies could ever be tested in humans. The method to introduce these genes into the fibroblasts used viruses which permanently integrate into the DNA of the fibroblast and could cause genetic anomalies in the fibroblasts. It is unlikely that such viruses could be used in patients. The fact that the generated heart cells show heterogeneity in their electrical activity could become a major problem for patients because patches of newly generated heart cells in one portion of the heart might be beating at a different rate of rhythm than other patches. Such electrical dyssynchony can cause life threatening heart rhythm problems, which means that the electrical properties of the generated cells need to be carefully understood and standardized. We also know little about the long-term survival of these converted cells in the heart and whether the converted cells maintain their heart-cell-like activity for months or years. The idea of directly converting fibroblasts by introducing the genes into the heart instead of first obtaining the fibroblasts, then converting them in a dish and lastly implanting the converted cells back into the heart sounds very convenient. But this convenience comes at a price. It requires human gene therapy which has its own risks and it is very difficult to control the cell conversion process in an intact heart of a patient. On the other hand, if cells are converted in a dish, one can easily test and discard the suboptimal cells and only implant the most mature or functional heart cells.

This process of cellular alchemy is still in its infancy. It is one of the most exciting new areas in the field of regenerative medicine, because it shows how plastic cells are. Hopefully, as more and more labs begin to investigate the direct reprogramming cells, we will be able to address the obstacles and challenges posed by this emerging field.

Note: An earlier version of this article was first published on the stem cell blog "The Next Regeneration".

?

Follow Jalees Rehman, M.D. on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jalees_rehman

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jalees-rehman/cardiac-fibroblasts_b_3269270.html

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Infamous terrorist Carlos the Jackal tries to get released

PARIS (AP) ? Carlos the Jackal, the flamboyant terrorist and self-proclaimed revolutionary who was once one of the Cold War's most wanted men, is appealing his life sentence for orchestrating bombings in France two decades ago. Carlos, whose real name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, is serving two life sentences in France for a triple murder in 1975 and for the bombings in 1982 and 1983 that killed 11 people and injured more than 140. He's been jailed since 1994 after French agents whisked him out of Sudan in a sack.

HIS LIFE

The world first caught sight of Carlos in the 1975 hostage-taking of OPEC oil ministers ? a young man standing on the runway wearing sunglasses, a black Che Guevara beret and a Pierre Cardin leather jacket, according to one of his numerous biographies. Intelligence agencies linked him to the 1976 Palestinian hijacking of a French jetliner to Entebbe, Uganda, the four bombings in France and other hijackings, explosions and deaths throughout the Cold War. By his own account Ramirez, who joined the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and was affiliated with extreme-left European terror groups, killed 83 people over the years. "I'm a professional revolutionary. The world is my domain," he said at his 1997 trial.

For a time, his true identity was something of a mystery. In 1981 Mexican police claimed to have caught him, but their captive turned out to be merely an armed robber who bore a slight resemblance to the blurred image of a mustachioed young man who became the symbol of Cold War terrorism.

HIS LOVES

He threatened a campaign of terror against France in 1982 unless the government freed Magdalena Kopp, the West German left-wing radical who later became his first wife. That year, bombs exploded on two French express trains, a train station and in central Paris. In an autobiography after the couple split, Kopp claimed she was drawn to him even though his pet name for her was "the cow." France freed Kopp in 1985 and they had a daughter together. Ramirez divorced her and later was "married" in an unofficial ceremony to his French lawyer, Isabelle Coutant-Peyre, who remains with him to this day and was in Venezuela this week to lobby for his return there.

THE NICKNAME

His father, a wealthy communist lawyer, gave each of his three sons one name of Russian revolutionary leader Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. He got his nom de guerre after British tabloids learned that a copy of Frederick Forsyth's 1971 thriller, "Day of the Jackal," was found in one of his early London safe houses. The novel tells the story of a professional killer hired to assassinate French President Charles de Gaulle.

THE HUNT

For years, Carlos the Jackal was known only via a handful of hazy black-and-white photos. But the fall of Communism in 1989 spelled the end of his career, and Ramirez fled to Sudan, where he was captured by French agents with the apparent acquiescence of the Sudanese government. He's been jailed ever since ? something the outcome of this appeal is unlikely to change. The death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who called Ramirez a "revolutionary fighter" and helped keep him in cigars and Venezuelan coffee in prison, cost Carlos his most prominent supporter.

POP CULTURE

Carlos the Jackal was an inspiration for novels by Tom Clancy and Robert Ludlum, according to the British writer Colin Smith, who wrote a biography about the terrorist. Ramirez was the subject of the 2010 Golden Globe winning biopic "Carlos," a 5?-hour film which he denounced as "a travesty of historical truth." It was one of many movies and television shows that refer to Ramirez. A version of an early photo of Carlos appears on an album cover of the British band Black Grape.

___

Follow Lori Hinnant at https://twitter.com/lhinnant

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/carlos-jackal-ex-enigma-now-mired-court-131108169.html

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Groupon launches Breadcrumb iPad app, vows to not be a typical POS

Yesterday, Groupon POS appeared in the iTunes Store, but was quickly pulled. Now we know why. Breadcrumb POS, which is the official name of yesterday's leaked point-of-sale iPad app, is now officially available, bringing a simple interface and a handful of financial incentives. The application, which can be downloaded for free, charges vendors a credit card processing fee of 1.8 percent plus 15 cents per transaction, assuming you're swiping plastic from MasterCard, Visa or Discover. In an effort to get small businesses signed up, however, Groupon is offering to cover the fees on the first $5,000 in credit card transactions, a savings of $90 by our calculations, plus whatever you'd be paying per swipe.

The app enables you to log transactions, manage menu items and issue refunds, in addition to processing credit cards and emailing receipts. The POS uses Breadcrumb Payments for processing, with deposits posting within 24 hours, and can be paired with a card swiper and optional printer (you can email receipts if you'd prefer). There's also free 24/7 telephone support, should you run into any issues while using the system. Breadcrumb POS won't replace the more sophisticated Pro version, which is available starting at $99 per month, and retailers will still be able to use the Groupon Merchants App for redeeming vouchers and processing supplemental payments. If the new Breadcrumb POS sounds like a fit, snag some more info at the source link below.

Filed under: Software

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Source: Groupon

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/X_Bn8Gp6dAg/

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'Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes' Photo: Apes On Horses!

Caesar and his ape followers have evolved quite a bit since the events of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes." As seen in a Twitter photo posted by director Matt Reeves, a "new dawn" is coming in "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" where apes can ride horses. The image Reeves posted shows [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2013/05/13/dawn-of-the-planet-of-the-apes-photo/

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Israeli PM criticized for installing bed on plane

JERUSALEM (AP) ? Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will seek alternate sleeping arrangements when traveling after receiving a sky-high bill for installing a customized bed on a recent flight to London, officials close to the Israeli leader said.

Netanyahu found himself facing a public uproar on Sunday after Channel 10 TV reported over the weekend that he had spent $127,000 in public funds on a special sleeping cabin for the five-hour flight to attend Margaret Thatcher's funeral last month.

Netanyahu's office initially defended the decision, saying the prime minister had a busy schedule ahead of the flight and needed to be fresh for important meetings in Britain.

But following public criticism, officials close to Netanyahu said late Saturday that he had been unaware of the cost, and once informed, he ordered the bed be canceled on all future flights. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

The Israeli prime minister's office does not have its own plane, such as the U.S. presidential aircraft Air Force One. Instead, Israeli leaders must charter a plane when traveling abroad. Some commentators claim it would be cheaper in the long run to purchase and maintain a special plane reserved for official travel of the prime minister and other officials.

The uproar comes at a delicate time. Netanyahu's government is in the process of drawing up a budget expected to include painful austerity measures and tax increases due to a widening deficit.

On Saturday night, several thousand people took to the streets in Tel Aviv and other cities to protest the expected budget cuts. Netanyahu was meeting Sunday with top officials to discuss likely cutbacks in the defense budget.

Micky Rosenthal of the opposition Labor Party called for an inquiry into the prime minister's "scandalous behavior" according to the Maariv daily on Sunday.

"We thought that nothing could surprise us anymore when it came to the Netanyahus' personal behavior. Well, we thought wrong," wrote Sima Kadmon, a political commentator in the Yediot Ahronot daily.

"It is unbelievable that not a single person in the prime minister's inner circle saw how reprehensible this was. Not a single person showed a tiny bit of common sense. There was no one who anticipated just how angry people would be when they learned about this," Kadmon said about the custom-made bed.

Earlier this year, Netanyahu stopped buying ice cream from his favorite Jerusalem parlor after an Israeli newspaper discovered his office was spending $2,700 a year for the treat.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-pm-criticized-installing-bed-plane-113940440.html

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