Friday, May 31, 2013

The World's Newest Artificial Heart Is Half Cow, Half Machine

The World's Newest Artificial Heart Is Half Cow, Half Machine

Using cow parts to save ailing human hearts isn't anything new?you could even be sitting next to one of our more bovine brethren right now and think nothing of it. But the newest cow-to-heart integration takes a bit of a deeper dive into science fiction land. Soon, a French medical company will begin testing a "bioprosthetic" heart on actual human patients that is part cow, part synthetic, and loaded with software.

Created by Paris-based medical firm Carmat, the man-made heart carries two chambers, just like Mom used to make. But that's pretty much where the similarities end, since each chamber is divided by a membrane (made of tissue swiped from a cow's heart) with blood on one side and hydraulic fluid on the other. A motorized pump in the device moves this fluid through the chambers, putting force on the membrane, which in turn, forces the blood to flow through the other side. According to Piet Jansen, chief medical officer of Carmat:

The idea was to develop an artificial heart in which the moving parts that are in contact with blood are made of tissue that is [better suited] for the biological environment.

Other than the dividing membrane, the valves themselves also come from cow heart tissue. In their new role, though, these cow valves are embedded with sensors meant to identify pressure increases. When it notes changes, an external control system will adjust the flow of blood as needed?like when the patient is jogging, for instance.

The artificial hearts will be tested on patients in four different European cardiac surgery centers before being given to patients waiting for a heart transplant. If the tests are successful, this new heart could offer some much needed hope to the roughly 5.7 million people in the United States suffering from heart failure at any given time.

And thus begins the era of the cowborg. [MIT Technology Review]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/the-worlds-newest-artificial-heart-is-half-cow-half-m-510471485

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Will Smith Seduced M. Night Shyamalan With 'After Earth' Pitch

Director explains how signing onto 'After Earth' was like saying 'yes' to a date with your crush.
By Todd Gilchrist

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1708267/after-earth-will-smith-m-night-shyamalan.jhtml

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Water-rock reaction may provide enough hydrogen 'food' to sustain life in ocean's crust or on Mars

May 30, 2013 ? A chemical reaction between iron-containing minerals and water may produce enough hydrogen "food" to sustain microbial communities living in pores and cracks within the enormous volume of rock below the ocean floor and parts of the continents, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder.

The findings, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, also hint at the possibility that hydrogen-dependent life could have existed where iron-rich igneous rocks on Mars were once in contact with water.

Scientists have thoroughly investigated how rock-water reactions can produce hydrogen in places where the temperatures are far too hot for living things to survive, such as in the rocks that underlie hydrothermal vent systems on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. The hydrogen gases produced in those rocks do eventually feed microbial life, but the communities are located only in small, cooler oases where the vent fluids mix with seawater.

The new study, led by CU-Boulder Research Associate Lisa Mayhew, set out to investigate whether hydrogen-producing reactions also could take place in the much more abundant rocks that are infiltrated with water at temperatures cool enough for life to survive.

"Water-rock reactions that produce hydrogen gas are thought to have been one of the earliest sources of energy for life on Earth," said Mayhew, who worked on the study as a doctoral student in CU-Boulder Associate Professor Alexis Templeton's lab in the Department of Geological Sciences.

"However, we know very little about the possibility that hydrogen will be produced from these reactions when the temperatures are low enough that life can survive. If these reactions could make enough hydrogen at these low temperatures, then microorganisms might be able to live in the rocks where this reaction occurs, which could potentially be a huge subsurface microbial habitat for hydrogen-utilizing life."

When igneous rocks, which form when magma slowly cools deep within Earth, are infiltrated by ocean water, some of the minerals release unstable atoms of iron into the water. At high temperatures -- warmer than 392 degrees Fahrenheit (200 degrees Celsius) -- scientists know that the unstable atoms, known as reduced iron, can rapidly split water molecules and produce hydrogen gas, as well as new minerals containing iron in the more stable, oxidized form.

Mayhew and her co-authors, including Templeton, submerged rocks in water in the absence of oxygen to determine if a similar reaction would take place at much lower temperatures, between 122 and 212 degrees Fahrenheit (50 to 100 degrees Celsius). The researchers found that the rocks did create hydrogen -- potentially enough hydrogen to support life.

To understand in more detail the chemical reactions that produced the hydrogen in the lab experiments, the researchers used "synchrotron radiation" -- which is created by electrons orbiting in a humanmade storage ring -- to determine the type and location of iron in the rocks on a microscale.

The researchers expected to find that the reduced iron in minerals like olivine had converted to the more stable oxidized state, just as occurs at higher temperatures. But when they conducted their analyses at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource at Stanford University, they were surprised to find newly formed oxidized iron on "spinel" minerals found in the rocks. Spinels are minerals with a cubic structure that are highly conductive.

Finding oxidized iron on the spinels led the team to hypothesize that, at low temperatures, the conductive spinels were helping facilitate the exchange of electrons between reduced iron and water, a process that is necessary for the iron to split the water molecules and create the hydrogen gas.

"After observing the formation of oxidized iron on spinels, we realized there was a strong correlation between the amount of hydrogen produced and the volume percent of spinel phases in the reaction materials," Mayhew said. "Generally, the more spinels, the more hydrogen."

Not only is there a potentially large volume of rock on Earth that may undergo these low temperature reactions, but the same types of rocks also are prevalent on Mars, Mayhew said. Minerals that form as a result of the water-rock reactions on Earth have been detected on Mars as well, which means that the process described in the new study may have implications for potential Martian microbial habitats.

Mayhew and Templeton are already building on this study with their co-authors, including Thomas McCollom at CU-Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, to see if the hydrogen-producing reactions can actually sustain microbes in the lab.

This study was funded by the David and Lucille Packard Foundation and with a U.S. Department of Energy Early Career grant to Templeton.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/P_rYgzb5klo/130530132541.htm

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Kalamazoo Humane Society offering 20 dollar spaying and neutering

KALAMAZOO (WKZO) -- You can get your pet spayed or neutered for just 20 dollars all next month, thanks to the Kalamazoo Humane Society. The organization's Aaron Winters says that the offer's coming as part of the "Did You Know?" campaign.

It's designed to inform people that they can get their pets spayed or neutered at a very young age, younger than many might realize.

He says to qualify for the 20 dollar spaying or neutering, your animal must be under six months of age. Normally, the procedure costs a lot more. It's being made possible, thanks to a grant from Petsmart Charities. To find out more, go to www.kazoohumane.org .

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Source: http://wkzo.com/news/articles/2013/may/30/kalamazoo-human-society-offering-20-dollar-spaying-and-neutering/

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Land-based carbon offsets: False hope? Forest and soil carbon is important, but does not offset fossil fuel emissions

May 30, 2013 ? Leading world climate change experts have thrown cold water on the idea that planting trees can offset carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels.

Professor Brendan Mackey of Griffith University Climate Change Response Program is the lead author of an international study involving researchers from Australia and the U.K. Their findings are reported in "Untangling the confusion around land carbon science and climate change mitigation policy," published in the scientific journal Nature Climate Change.

"While protecting and restoring natural forests is part of the solution, the reality is that for all practical purposes fossil fuel CO2 emissions are irreversible," Professor Mackey said.

The findings highlight the urgent need for policy-makers worldwide to re-think the issue as many decision-makers, national and internationally, assume that fossil fuel emissions can be offset through sequestering carbon by planting trees and other land management practices.

"There is a danger in believing that land carbon sinks can solve the problem of atmospheric carbon emissions because this legitimises the ongoing use of fossil fuels," Professor Mackey said.

The study found that protecting natural forests avoids emissions that would otherwise result from logging and land clearing while also conserving biodiversity. Restoring degraded ecosystems or planting new forests helps store some of the carbon dioxide that was emitted from past land use activities.

"These land management actions should be rewarded as they are an important part of the solution," Professor Mackay said.

"However, no amount of reafforestation or growing of new trees will ultimately off-set continuing CO2 emissions due to environmental constraints on plant growth and the large amounts of remaining fossil fuel reserves.

"Unfortunately there is no option but to cut fossil fuel emissions deeply as about a third of the CO2 stays in the atmosphere for 2 to 20 millennia."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/Z3g2c_0BCBA/130530095020.htm

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Ardent conservative Bachmann to not seek re-election to Congress (reuters)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/309043263?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Thursday, May 30, 2013

Tornadoes touch down in Oklahoma, Arkansas

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) ? At least three tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma, including one in Tulsa, and two more hit Arkansas on Thursday as a powerful storm system moved through the middle of the country. At least nine people were injured.

The National Weather Service confirmed at least one tornado touched down Thursday night in the Tulsa suburb of Broken Arrow. However, the tornado did not appear to be a strong twister like the deadly one in suburban Oklahoma City last week.

Meteorologist Pete Snyder with the weather service's Tulsa office said it appeared the roofs of some buildings were damaged, and police told the Tulsa World that they didn't have any reports of buildings being destroyed.

Earlier in the day, tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma and Arkansas, injuring at least nine people.

The National Weather Service reported two tornadoes on the ground near Perkins and Ripley in north central Oklahoma and another west of Oden, Ark.

Thursday's tornadoes all appeared to be much less dangerous than the top-of-the-scale EF5 storm that struck Moore, Okla., on May 20 and killed 24 along its 17-mile path. The U.S. averages more than 1,200 tornadoes a year, but top-of-the-scale storms like the one in Moore ? with winds over 200 mph ? happen only about once per year. The tornado last week was the nation's first EF5 since 2011.

All nine of the injured Thursday were in Arkansas; two of the injuries were attributed to a lightning strike in Rogers. Lightning was also believed to have started a fire that destroyed two floors of a condominium building in northwestern Indiana.

Some trees, homes and power lines were damaged in Arkansas, and the National Weather Service confirmed that tornadoes touched down in Montgomery County and in Clark County. Emergency Management spokesman Tommy Jackson said first responders had trouble reaching a destroyed home where one person was hurt because a number of trees were blocking the road.

In Oklahoma, Perkins Emergency Management Director Travis Majors said there were no injuries or damage there. Ripley, about 10 miles east of Perkins, did not seem to have significant damage. The Payne County emergency management director did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

Storms also caused problems in the western Iowa town of Onawa, damaging buildings, breaking windows, tearing awnings and blowing down trees and a stoplight. National Weather Service meteorologist Dave Fobert told the Sioux City Journal that the damage apparently was caused by a thunderstorm, not a tornado.

Some strong winds blew through Moore, in suburban Oklahoma City, on Thursday, but the weather didn't cause significant problems for crews cleaning up from last week's tornado.

Organizers pushed back Thursday's start of the Wakarusa Music Festival north of Ozark, Ark., as threatening weather approached. After a series of storms moved through the area, Franklin County Emergency Manager Fred Mullen said no flooding was reported at the site, located along Arkansas' Pig Trail scenic highway.

In addition to tornadoes, the storms were bringing rain and hail. Flooding was also a concern in parts of Missouri, Iowa and Illinois through Sunday.

This spring's tornado season got a late start, with unusually cool weather keeping funnel clouds at bay until mid-May. The season usually starts in March and then ramps up for the next couple of months.

Of the 60 EF5 tornadoes since 1950, Oklahoma and Alabama have been struck the most, seven times each. More than half of these top-of-the-scale twisters have occurred in just five states: Alabama, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

___

Associated Press writers Ken Miller in Oklahoma City, Jeannie Nuss in Little Rock, Ark., and Seth Borenstein in Washington contributed to this report

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tornadoes-touch-down-oklahoma-arkansas-030940006.html

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Religious Influence In U.S. Seen As Decreasing, But Most Americans Want More: Survey

A majority of Americans believe that religion's influence in the nation is waning, yet also think society would be better off if more Americans were religious, according to a new survey.

The results, released Wednesday by Gallup, represent some of the lowest ratings Americans have given to religious influence in the United States since the organization first began asking about the subject more than 40 years ago.

About 77 percent of Americans said religion is "losing its influence" on American life, while only 20 percent said religion has gained in influence.

The numbers are similar to responses given in recent years about the role of religion in the U.S., but the gap has gradually widened between how many believe religion's influence is increasing and how many believe it's decreasing. Only in the year after the Sept. 11 attacks and in 2005 were Americans more likely to believe the national role of religion was increasing. But the latest responses represent some of the worst ratings given to religion's role since 1969 and 1970, during the Vietnam War and in the midst of countercultural movements around politics and sexuality.

"In general, highly religious Americans are neither more nor less likely to say religion is losing its influence than those who are not religious. There is, however, a modest relationship between Americans' ideology as well as partisanship and their views of the influence of religion, with liberals and Democrats more likely than conservatives and Republicans to say religion's influence is increasing in American society," the group said in a statement.

In tandem with that downward trend, about 75 percent of respondents also said it would be good if more Americans were religious. This belief was more prevalent among Americans who regularly go to church and who said religion is important in their lives. But the survey also found that more than half of respondents who "seldom or never attend" a place of worship and "close to one in three Americans who say religion is not important to them personally" said society would benefit if more Americans were religious.

"The fact that most Americans think the country would be better off if more Americans were religious shows that many of those who believe religion is losing its influence may think this is a negative state of affairs," Gallup said in its statement.

Researchers stressed that the survey's results don't represent Americans' own religious beliefs, such as how often people go to religious services or the importance of religion in respondents' daily lives.

Gallup conducted the survey via telephone May 2-7 with a random sample of 1,535 adults. The margin of error was 3 percent.

  • #1: Mississippi (59 percent)

  • #2 Utah (57 percent)

  • #3 Alabama (56 percent)

  • #4 Louisiana (54 percent)

  • #5 Arkansas (54 percent)

  • #6 South Carolina (54 percent)

  • #7 Tennessee (52 percent)

  • #8 North Carolina (50 percent)

  • #9 Georgia (48 percent)

  • #10 Oklahoma (48 percent)

  • #51 Vermont (23 percent)

  • #50 New Hampshire (23 percent)

  • #49 Maine (25 percent)

  • #48 Massachusetts (28 percent)

  • #47 Alaska (28 percent)

  • #46 Oregon (30 percent)

  • #45 Nevada (30 percent)

  • #44 Washington (30 percent)

  • #43 Connecticut (31 percent)

  • #42 District of Columbia (32 percent)

  • #42 New York (32 percent)

  • #42 Rhode Island (32 percent)

Earlier on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/29/religions-influence-us_n_3354499.html

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Kelly Osbourne Slams 'Hypocrite' Lady Gaga On Bullying

'Fashion Police' star calls out Mother Monster in July issue of Cosmopolitian.
By Emilee Lindner


Kelly Osbourne on the cover of Cosmopolitan
Photo: Cosmopolitan

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1708201/kelly-osbourne-lady-gaga-bullying-cosmopolitan.jhtml

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Early Crichton novels to be released as e-books

NEW YORK (AP) ? Ten early novels that Michael Crichton wrote under pen names while he was in medical school are coming out as e-books.

Open Road Integrated Media announced Thursday that it was releasing the first e-editions of "A Case of Need," ''Odds On" and other suspense thrillers.

Crichton wrote the books while studying at Harvard Medical School in the 1960s under pen names including John Lange, Jeffery Hudson and Michael Douglas.

Open Road CEO Jane Friedman published many of Crichton's books while she was an executive at Alfred A. Knopf and HarperCollins.

Crichton's many best-sellers have included "Rising Sun," ''Jurassic Park" and "Disclosure." He died in 2008 at age 66.

Other novels being released as e-books by Open Road include "Easy Go" and "Zero Cool."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/early-crichton-novels-released-e-books-122233092.html

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State Legislation Approved to Increase Boating Safety | The Sag ...

Posted on 28 May 2013

Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. announced Friday that the State Assembly has passed legislation to increase boating safety in New York State by requiring all individuals born after 1995 (18 and younger) who operate a mechanically propelled boating vessel to complete a boating safety course.

The bill, which seeks to reduce the number of boating accidents and related deaths in New York State, phases in requirements for operators of mechanically propelled boating vessels to obtain state-issued safety certificates beginning with boaters who are currently 18 years of age. Anyone born prior to 1995 and people who are renting boats for a period of less than 60 days are exempt from the safety requirements.

A report from the state Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation found that, of the 26 boating fatalities which occurred in 2011, 85 percent of them were caused by individuals with no known boater safety training. Only four of the reported fatalities were individuals who had taken boating safety courses.

?Boating traffic on our East End bays and harbors increases significantly during summer months,? said Thiele. ?With so many families out on the water, we must take every step to ensure their safety.?

The boating safety courses required by this legislation average eight hours of total classroom time and are provided free of charge in some circumstances. The courses consist of safety information deemed appropriate by the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

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Source: http://sagharboronline.com/sagharborexpress/page-1/state-legislation-approved-to-increase-boating-safety-23609

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Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Finally, an Electric Razor That Gets Cooler As You Shave

Finally, an Electric Razor That Gets Cooler As You Shave

Shaving with an electric razor saves you the hassle of dealing with messy shaving cream and dull blades that can leave your face all cut up. But the friction generated by an electric razor's moving blades usually causes the head to heat up, which can in turn irritate a dry face. The only alternative left is to let your beard grow free, or try Braun's new CoolTec Shaver which promises to eliminate both stubble and heat.

Using what Braun has dubbed "Thermo-Electric Cooling technology" the razor features an aluminum cooling bar that draws the warmth away from the blades and your face like a heatsink. It's also blessed with a three-blade cutting system to chop down whiskers both tall and short in a single pass, and a charging station that uses an alcohol-based cleaning system.

Pricing hasn't been confirmed since the CoolTec Razer won't be available until August, but anyone who relies on an electric shaver will probably be happy to drop a few hundred bucks if this lives up to its promises.

[Braun via Uncrate]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/finally-an-electric-razor-that-gets-cooler-as-you-shav-510179679

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Turner Finance Loans Gibraltar | A Ezbukz Blog For Financial Help

Art materials manufacturer Daler-Rowney is responsible for helping the career of romantic painter J.M.W. Turner.

The English landscape artist was supplied with art materials by The Rowney Company, an early incarnation of Daler-Rowney, during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century.

Turner was a family friend of Richard and Thomas Rowney, the two brothers who founded The Rowney Company, and later appointed the firm as official lithographers, a method of printing artwork onto paper or other suitable art materials.

The son of a barber and wig maker, Turner created drawings from an early age which his father would exhibit in his shop window and the artist would later enter the Royal Academy of Art aged only 14 years old.

Turner is regarded as the person who developed landscape painting as an art form and is also known as one of the greatest masters of British watercolour landscape painting thanks to his famous depictions of English locations.

The artist's work is thought of as a Romantic precursor to Impressionism and Turner was often criticised for creating paintings which contained factual inaccuracies and unintelligible objects.

He once told a young artist: "What you do not know yet, at your age...is that you ought to paint your impressions. I did not paint it to be understood, but I wished to show what such a scene was like."

Turner became a full member of the Royal Academy in 1802 and was prolific during his life, leaving nearly 30,000 pieces of his work to the British Nation upon his death in 1851.

Just before he died Turner is reported to have said: "It is through these eyes, closed forever at the bottom of the tomb, that generations as yet unborn will see nature."

A crowd of people attended Turner's funeral at St Paul's Cathedral, where he was buried at his request, and the artist lies next to Sir Joshua Reynolds.

There is statue of Turner at St Paul's Cathedral as well as the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Royal Academy of Arts.

The artist has left a lasting legacy in Britain as in 1984 a prestigious annual art award, the Turner Prize was named in his honour and the Winsor & Newton Turner Watercolour Award would follow later.

A public poll organised by the BBC in 2005 discovered that Turner's "The Fighting Temeraire" was Britain's "greatest painting" and in 2010 "Modern Rome -Campo Vaccino" was bought by the J. Paul Getty Museum at auction for .9 million.

Source: http://ezbukz.com/consumer-finance-help/turner-finance-loans-gibraltar/

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Top investors seek to buy Club Med in $700 million deal

By Dominique Vidalon

PARIS (Reuters) - Club Mediterranee's top shareholders plan to take over the French holiday firm in a bid that values it at around 541 million euros ($700 million), to accelerate its shift to fast-growing emerging markets.

Chinese investor Fosun International and AXA Private Equity said on Monday they would team up with management to offer 17 euros a share for the stock they do not already own - a 23 percent premium to Friday's closing price.

Chief Executive Officer Henri Giscard d'Estaing, who has spearheaded Club Med's upmarket shift and expansion away from recession-hit Europe, said the friendly bid would give the group the group freedom to focus on emerging markets.

"We need to be free from short-term constraints for the next four to five years," he said.

Founded in 1950 and listed since 1966, Club Med was a pioneer of the all-inclusive holiday resort.

But it fell on hard times in the past decade because of stiff competition and an unsuccessful expansion into services, and its more recent drive to recast itself as an upmarket operator has been hampered by a flagging European economy.

One Paris-based trader, who declined to be named, said Fosun's involvement would help Club Med's achieve its aim to make China its second-biggest market after France.

Club Med aims to operate five villages in China by 2015, including three by the end of this year, Giscard d'Estaing said.

Beyond China, Club Med is speeding up expansion in Russia and Brazil, with the goal to lift the contribution of emerging markets to sales to 33 percent by 2015 from around 25 percent.

At 1355 GMT, Club Med shares were up 22.4 percent at around the proposed 17 euros offer price, but well short of its 2007 high of almost 50 euros.

Club Med, which operates around 70 resorts, said it would appoint a committee of independent directors to assess the offer, which is expected to be filed in the next few days.

WEAK EUROPE

The bid comes as travel firms and airlines across Europe have seen bookings fall in recent months.

Club Med said on Monday operating income at its holiday villages in the first-half ended April 30 fell 6.4 percent.

Bookings in Europe over the last eight weeks were down 4.6 percent, mostly due to a weak French market, while they jumped 13.9 percent in Asia. Net debt at the end of April stood at 112 million euros, down from 123 million a year ago.

Club Med competes with global hoteliers Intercontinental and Accor , as well as tour operators TUI Travel and Thomas Cook .

The move does not necessarily signal a new wave of takeovers in the sector, according to Christian Jimenez, who heads the Diamant Bleu Gestion fund.

This is "a very specific takeover," he said. "Fosun was already in the capital and intended to raise its stake and Club Med's management backs the deal."

AXA Private Equity holds 9.4 percent of Club Med, while Fosun owns 9.96 percent.

Giscard d'Estaing, who became CEO in 2002 and who is the son of former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, is also taking part in the deal. He currently owns less than 0.01 percent of the share capital. He will remain CEO if the takeover goes ahead, with Michel Wolfovski remaining deputy CEO.

Control of Club Med will exercised through a joint venture that will be 46 percent owned by Fosun, 46 percent by Axa Private Equity, and 8 percent by 400 Club Med managers.

Should the buyers secure 95 percent of Club Med, they reserve the right to squeeze out other shareholders.

Dominique Gaillard, managing director of Axa Private Equity, said that after four years, shares may also be listed in Hong Kong.

($1 = 0.7734 euros)

(Additional reporting by Alexandre Boksenbaum-Granier; Editing by Mark Potter and Louise Heavens)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/top-investors-seek-buy-club-med-700-million-143654056.html

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10 things to know about the Indianapolis 500

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? The 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 is Sunday with a wide-open field and a pair of drivers trying to join the elite list of four-time winners. Two Americans start on the front row, along with Carlos Munoz, an unknown Indy 500 newcomer who grew up idolizing Juan Pablo Montoya ? a fellow Colombian who won "The Greatest Spectacle In Racing" as a rookie.

Lurking back in the sixth row are Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti and Takuma Sato, the three drivers who raced for the win last year.

Here's 10 things to know about Sunday's race, which starts at 12:12 EDT:

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FOUR TIMERS: There are two drivers trying to win their fourth Indianapolis 500 to join an exclusive club that currently only has three members. Rick Mears was the last driver to win a fourth Indy 500, joining A.J. Foyt and Al Unser Sr. in the group in 1991. Now 22 years later, both Franchitti and Helio Castroneves both have a shot Sunday at grabbing win No. 4. Franchitti is the defending race winner, while Castroneves picked up his third victory in 2009.

___

FAMILY CURSE? Marco Andretti will start on the front row in third, the highest starting spot of his career. No matter how Andretti starts his season, he always goes into the Indy 500 as a contender because of his race craft at the speedway. It just so happens, though, that Andretti is off to the best start of his career this year and is second in the standings. He also feels far more confident about his chances this year than he did last season when he said the race was "mine to lose." He'll be trying to break the "Andretti Curse" that has plagued the family and made Mario Andretti's 1969 victory their only win.

___

BAR SET HIGH: Last year's race was considered one of the best in Indy 500 history as Franchitti, Sato and Dixon raced down the stretch for the win. Sato spun and wrecked as he attempted to pass Franchitti on the final lap, and the Scot sailed o his third victory. Dixon finished second and Tony Kanaan wound up third as three of Dan Wheldon's closest friends swept the podium on a day dedicated to the late driver. It set the bar high for Sunday, but three different winners in the first four races of the season has raised expectations that this year's race could be another thriller.

___

AJ'S GOAL: AJ Allmendinger is making his Indy 500 debut seven years after he left open-wheel racing for NASCAR. He had the best job of his career with Roger Penske when he was suspended last July by NASCAR for failing a random drug test. Penske has given Allmendinger a second chance in IndyCar and there are some who believe he's got a solid chance to win on Sunday. Allmendinger starts fifth, but his Penske Racing teammates believe he's got the best car of the group and has deftly handled traffic all month. Allmendinger figures if he wins the race, Penske will have to add more races to his schedule. So far, next week's doubleheader at Detroit is all Allmendinger has planned this season.

___

GOOD WILL HUNTING: Will Power went into the Indy 500 last year riding the momentum of three straight victories. He's not won a race since, though, and said this has been the most low-key month of his career because he's ranked 18th in the IndyCar standings. His races this year have been plagued by problems no fault of his own. The tone was set in the season-opener at St. Pete, where J.R. Hildebrand hit Power's car while under caution. Although Power has 16 career victories, he's never won on an oval and has never won an IndyCar championship ? leading him to lament he's never won anything important. A win Sunday would take care of that.

___

USA, USA: The field of 33 cars has a red, white and blue feel this year with 11 Americans in the race. Leading the charge is Ed Carpenter, the local guy who starts on the pole for Sunday's race. An American driver has not won this race since Sam Hornish Jr. in 2006. Four-time winner Foyt has an American in the field with newcomer Conor Daly, and believes an American winner would give the race and the series a boost. "I think what made Indy as great as it was before (was) that 90% of the drivers were American drivers," Foyt said. "I think that's where everybody builds a big fan base. Our hero is going to Indianapolis, and we want to follow him."

___

HONDA vs CHEVY: It seems to be deja vu for engine manufacturer Chevrolet, which dominated all the practice sessions for a second consecutive year. But it was Honda who claimed the big prize last season, with signs that it had some more speed on Carburation Day. It happened again this year as Honda driver Simon Pagenaud shot to the top of the speed chart in the final practice session, and Honda drivers claimed six of the top 10 spots.

___

PRIDE OF JAPAN: Among the Honda drivers who has a chance to win Sunday is Sato, the current IndyCar points leader. He became the first Japanese-born driver to win an IndyCar race last month at Long Beach, and he nearly won Brazil until James Hinchcliffe snatched the victory away with a pass in the final turn. Sato is trying to overcome last year's nightmare finish in which he went for the win on the final lap but spun as he tried to pass Franchitti.

___

GIRL POWER: There are a series-tying four women in Sunday's field after Katherine Legge arrived last week, pieced together a deal to drive a third car for Sam Schmidt and qualified it in the field on her first day back in an Indy car since last September's season finale. It remains to be seen just how competitive the women are on race day. Legge was eighth fastest on Carb Day, but it's Simona de Silvestro who may have the best chance to run up front. Driving for KV Racing this year, she's shown speed with a Chevrolet engine and nearly scored a podium finish at St. Pete. Ana Beatriz and Pippa Mann are the other two women in the field. The stakes were raised by Danica Patrick, who qualified fourth in her 2005 debut and became the first woman to lead laps at Indy.

___

HOME SWEET HOME: There's a familiar feel to the Indy 500 this year as Jim Nabors returns to sing "Back Home Again in Indiana" a year after missing the race because of heart surgery. A video was shown of him performing the song at his home in Hawaii was aired instead. Florence Henderson, an Indiana native who played Carol Brady on TV's "Brady Bunch," traditionally sings "God Bless America" is skipping the race because of illness. Indiana singer-songwriter Jon McLaughlin will perform instead. Christian music singer Sandi Patty will perform the national anthem for a record sixth time, and San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, a former Colts quarterback who is part-time owner of Panther Racing, will drive the pace car.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/10-things-know-indianapolis-500-115750138.html

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Monday, May 27, 2013

Robots, drones tested to help Australians with farming

8 hours ago

Salah Sukkarieh, professor of Robotics and Intelligent Systems at the University of Sydney, Australian Centre for Field Robotics, stands next to one o...

David Gray / Reuters

Salah Sukkarieh, professor of Robotics and Intelligent Systems at the University of Sydney, Australian Centre for Field Robotics, stands next to one of his robotic aircraft in his laboratory in Sydney April 24, 2013.

SYDNEY ? Moving carefully along a row of apple trees, two of Australia's newest agricultural workers check if the fruit is ripe or the soil needs water or fertilizer.

Meet "Mantis" and "Shrimp", agricultural robots being tested to do these tasks and more in a bid to cut costs and improve productivity in Australia's economically vital farm sector, which exported the U.S. equivalent of $38.8 billion of produce in 2012.

Australia is one of the leaders in the field and, with a minimum wage of about $15 U.S. an hour and a limited workforce, has a big incentive to use robots and other technology such as unmanned aircraft to improve efficiency.

It hopes to tap fast-growing Asian neighbors, where the swelling ranks of the middle class increasingly want more varied and better quality food from blueberries to beef.

"The adoption of new technology is going to be crucial for Australia to maintain its competitiveness in terms of the global agricultural sector," said Luke Matthews, commodities strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

"If we don't adopt new technology, we can give up on these high-flying ambitions of being the food bowl of Asia."

Agriculture now accounts for 2 percent of Australia's gross domestic product, but the government forecasts it could reach 5 percent by 2050. Its growth is particularly important now the once-booming mining sector is slowing.

Australia is the world's second-biggest wheat exporter and arable farmers are already using specialized technology aimed at improving efficiency, including satellite positioning software to allow farmers to map out land and soil to determine optimal inputs.

Using such technology to optimize the use of fertilizer can boost profitability at grain farms by 14 percent, according to a study by Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.

Plucky ability

A robot effortlessly plucking fruit is some way off, though a range of simpler tasks are within reach to add to existing technology such as automatic steering of harvesters.

Salah Sukkarieh, professor of Robotics and Intelligent Systems at the University of Sydney and developer of Mantis and Shrimp, says the next phase aims for robots to do increasingly complex jobs such as watering and ultimately harvesting.

"We have fitted them with a lot of sensors, vision, laser, radar and conductivity sensors ? including GPS and thermal sensors," said Sukkarieh, speaking at his laboratory housing a collection of both ground robots and unmanned air vehicles.

The technology could have the biggest application in horticulture, Australia's third-largest agricultural sector with exports of $1.71 billion in the last marketing year, since a fixed farm layout lends itself better to using robots.

Robots and an unmanned air vehicle that are being developed at the University of Sydney had passed field tests at an almond farm in Mildura, Victoria state, said Sukkarieh.

Propelled by sets of wheels and about the height of a man, the robots were named after the native Mantis shrimp because of the marine crustacean's 16 different color receptors, capable of detecting up to 12 colors. Humans only have four, three of which pick up colors.

This capacity to recognize color already allows the robots to sense whether fruit is ripe.

A scientist performs a field test with a 'Hexi-copter' air robot and two ground robots named Mantis and Shrimp, in reference to the marine crustacean'...

Reuters

A scientist performs a field test with a 'Hexi-copter' air robot and two ground robots named Mantis and Shrimp, in reference to the marine crustacean's 16 different color receptors, at an almond farm near the Victorian city of Mildura.

The data can then be processed by computer algorithms to determine what action the robot should take. This could be to water or apply fertilizer or pesticides, or to sweep and prune vegetation, and eventually the aim is to harvest the crop.

"If tomorrow we got an apple, orange or tomato farmer that wants a robot to go up and down these tree crops reliably and accurately, we can do that within six months to a year."

"The question is can we make them more intelligent," added Sukkarieh, who also sees the technology being attached to standard farm vehicles and foresees a fully automated horticulture farm within 10 years.

But no robots and apples

Australian farmers, who depend on seasonal labor for jobs such as picking fruit and vegetables, said they would welcome high-tech help.

"Berry picking by a robot would be difficult but if they could produce a robot, I could make a significant saving," said Allan Dixon, co-owner of the Clyde River Berry Farm in New South Wales, who typically takes on five people every year.

To get enough agricultural workers, Australia allows in some labor from neighboring Pacific island countries and East Timor, as well as using backpackers on temporary work visas.

Some fruit farmers remain skeptical.

"Apples will always need to be harvested by hand, due to their fragile nature. They bruise very easily," said Lucinda Giblett, director at Newton Orchards in Western Australia.

"We see no current opportunities offered by agricultural robots. Even as a pruning device, application is very limited," added Giblett.

Goal of supplying Asia

Further productivity gains will be needed if Australia is to reach its target of being the main food supplier to Asia.

A 2011 study by the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics and Sciences said around two-thirds of the increase in the monetary value of agricultural production in the last 50 years in the country was down to gains in productivity

Another survey by the Grains Research and Development Corporation showed 67 percent of respondents in 2011 used auto-steer technology to guide machinery such as harvesters and sprayers, up from 47 percent in 2008.

Obstacles to using more technology remain, however, including the cost of buying or renting equipment and slower growth in research and development spending. Some studies show growth in the use of satellite imagery and soil mapping has stagnated in Australia and the United States in recent years.

Regardless of whether it can meet its targets to supply more food to Asia, Australia is expected to play a big role in global food security by being one of the test beds for new ways to produce food more efficiently in often harsh conditions.

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2c6ef171/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Crobots0Edrones0Etested0Ehelp0Eaustralians0Efarming0E6C10A0A840A0A2/story01.htm

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Switched On: One box to rule them all

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

Switched On One box to rule them all

When Microsoft introduced the original Xbox, the company had a lot to prove. The console newcomer promised that it was laser-focused on building a great system for games. There wasn't much to distract it. In a time of DVDs and dial-up, "convergence" in the space was focused on the ability for consoles to play back movies rented at Blockbuster.

But everyone knew that the new kid on the box had an agenda beyond taking its share of industry profits away from Nintendo and Sony. Particularly versus the latter, Microsoft knew it would be engaged in a war for the living room and the future of digital entertainment distribution including, but beyond, games. Nothing came close to matching the processing power that consoles had brought to the living room, but no one had really cracked the broader application beyond disc-based games. It surely wasn't web browsing, as Nintendo and Sony had tried. Still, as streaming services from Netflix, Hulu, Pandora and others began to proliferate across lots of different add-on boxes, it made sense to add them onto Xbox Live (even if the programming wasn't) as well as the PlayStation Network.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/26/one-box-to-rule-them-all/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Sunday, May 26, 2013

Indy 500 passes midway point

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti charged to the front during a wild first half of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, both trying to win at a place that has caused plenty of heartache.

Kanaan quickly moved through the field from the outside of the fourth row in his bid to finally win at the Brickyard. The Brazilian had led 225 laps coming into the race, more than any other non-winner besides Michael Andretti and Rex Mays, yet has never taken the checkered flag.

He finished second in 2004 and has twice finished third.

Marco Andretti started on the outside of the front row and spent the first 29 laps playing leapfrog with Kanaan as the standard-bearer for his family bids to end the ''Andretti Curse.'' The family hasn't captured the fabled Memorial Day weekend race since his grandfather, Mario, won in 1969. Michael Andretti has been to Victory Lane twice as a team owner with the late Dan Wheldon in 2005 and Dario Franchitti in 2007, but never won the race as a driver.

Marco Andretti was second in 2006 in the second-closest finish in the race's history.

Franchitti, the defending race winner, and Helio Castroneves began the day in pursuit of their fourth victory. Only A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears and Al Unser have won the Indy 500 four times.

As the race reached the halfway mark, Team Penske roared to the front.

Will Power spent a stint in the lead before teammate A.J. Allmendinger, making his Indy 500 debut, picked his way through the field before falling back because of a problem with his safety belts. Allmendinger is a former open-wheel star who spent time in NASCAR before losing his ride after a failed drug test. He was given a second chance in the Indianapolis 500 by Roger Penske - the same Sprint Cup team owner who had fired him.

Allmendinger was cheered on by Sprint Cup champ Brad Keselowski, who was on hand to support his boss's teams before catching a quick flight to Charlotte for Sunday night's Coca-Cola 600.

''I want to experience the IndyCar life here and see what it's all about and how this race plays out,'' Keselowski said. ''I'm really excited to be here. This is my first Indy 500. I'm here soaking in one of the biggest races of the year with one of the best guys here, Roger Penske.'

The race began with a chill in the air - the temperature was 62 degrees, not much warmer than the coldest race in history (58, 1992). Thousands of fans who piled into the historic track were bundled up against a stiff breeze that swirled down the front straightaway, and many arrived late, some blaming new security measures put in place after the Boston Marathon bombings.

Several drivers said the colder weather could produce more speed - and more crashes. And it didn't take long for the first caution flag to come out.

J.R Hildebrand lost control in Turn 1 and slid into the outside wall. His car continued down the short chute before coming to a rest, where he climbed out of it without any injuries. It was Hildebrand who crashed on the final lap while leading two years ago.

''Just got a little loose in the middle of the corner, and I sort of got caught and spun around,'' Hildebrand said. ''We felt like we had a car that could run at the front.''

Most of the field had made its first pit stop when the second caution came out for Sebastian Saavedra, the 22-year-old Colombian driver for Dragon Racing.

The race resumed with pole sitter Ed Carpenter back at the front, though he also had a scare under caution. Carpenter was swerving back and forth to keep his tires warm when his car dived to the left, crossed through the grass in the corner and safely back onto the track.

Takuma Sato, who crashed while trying to pass for the lead on the final lap a year ago, also spun out exiting Turn 2. He managed to keep his A.J. Foyt Racing car out of the wall, though, and was able to stay on the lead lap when the race resumed.

Graham Rahal and teammate James Jakes were fined $10,000 for violating a rule that governs the way drivers blend back into the pack when they exit pit lane. Jakes was later assessed a drive-through penalty for a pit safety violation.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/indy-500-under-way-crash-163803362--irl.html

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High-tech industry big immigration bill winner

WASHINGTON (AP) ? More than any other group, the high-tech industry got big wins in an immigration bill approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, thanks to a concerted lobbying effort, an ideally positioned Senate ally and relatively weak opposition.

The result amounted to a bonanza for the industry: unlimited green cards for foreigners with certain advanced U.S. degrees and a huge increase in visas for highly skilled foreign workers.

And thanks to the intervention of Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the industry succeeded in greatly curtailing controls sought by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., aimed at protecting U.S. workers.

In exchange, Hatch voted for the bill when it passed the committee, helping boost its bipartisan momentum as it heads to the Senate floor next month. For Durbin and his allies in organized labor, winning Hatch's support was a bitter victory.

"There was an agreement with the tech industry and Sen. Hatch said he wanted more, and that was what it took to get his vote," Durbin said in an interview.

The tech industry "really used Senator Hatch's vote to improve their position in the bill. I understand that," Durbin said. "But I think in fairness now, I hope the industry is satisfied and they will not push this any further."

Hatch countered: "Look, these are companies looking to contribute to the American economy in a way that benefits American workers and American-trained foreign workers."

Even before the Judiciary Committee took up the bill, industry had seen key pieces of its wish list granted. The legislation written by four Democratic and four Republican senators awards a permanent resident green card to any foreigner with a job offer in the U.S. and an advanced degree in science, technology, engineering or math from a U.S. school. It also raised the limit on the H-1B visas that go to highly skilled immigrants from 65,000 a year to as many as 180,000.

But the increase in H-1B visas was accompanied by new requirements aimed at ensuring American workers get the first shot at jobs. High-tech industry leaders say they never agreed to those provisions; Durbin insists they did.

Once the bill language became public last month and tech industry officials began absorbing the details, they turned their attention to the next front in the battle: the Senate Judiciary Committee.

They found their champion in Hatch, whose state is an increasingly significant high-tech employer. Fortuitously, he had maximum leverage. Viewed as the one Republican swing vote on the committee, he was courted by the senators who wrote it, Durbin and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., among them.

Even as the tech industry remained largely supportive of the legislation in public, its lobbyists began working behind the scenes with Hatch's office on a series of amendments he would introduce in the committee to undo key provisions Durbin had pressed for.

The industry objected to using the unemployment rate in determining how much the number of H-1B visas could increase. One Hatch amendment would have taken the joblesss rate out of the equation.

A provision that required tech companies to offer a job to an equally qualified U.S. citizen over an H-1B holder was seen as unworkable by industry. Hatch sought to limit that requirement to companies most dependent on H-1B visas, thereby excluding many major U.S. companies.

The bill sought to bar companies from displacing a U.S. worker within 90 days of filing an application for an H-1B visa. Hatch alao sought to limit that requirement to heavy H-1B hirers.

Durbin objected to the changes. Unions, which had been largely quiet on high-tech issues while focusing on other priorities including a pathway to citizenship and a separate visa program allowing lower-skilled workers into the U.S., also spoke up in opposition.

But the AFL-CIO's opposition never was seen as a serious concern by senators or aides involved. They were confident that labor would not pull its support for a bill offering citizenship to millions over a provision affecting relatively few union workers.

Ana Avendano, assistant to the AFL-CIO president for immigration and community action, acknowledged that the union's strong support for a path to citizenship hampered its leverage on other issues.

"We have not veered from our commitment to the path to citizenship. But we are equally committed to other parts of this bill, and it makes our fight for our priorities more difficult," she said. "Tech was extremely fortunate that they found an ally on the committee that could open up a deal that had been sealed."

There was little opposition from other fronts. The companies that are the heaviest H-1B users ? and would therefore face the brunt of the restrictions under Hatch's proposals ? include technology companies based in India that have scant lobbying presence or constituency in Congress. An organization representing U.S. engineers and tech workers, IEEE-USA, has little clout compared with companies like Microsoft and Facebook.

As the Judiciary Committee began wading through amendments to the bill, Hatch was negotiating with Schumer over his amendments. Schumer wanted Hatch's vote for the bill without alienating Durbin.

Last Tuesday morning, the committee's final day working on the bill, word went out: There was a deal.

When the details emerged, Hatch had won much of what he wanted.

The unemployment rate would no longer be a factor in how high the H-1B visa cap could go up, as long as it was not 4.5 percent or above for the highly skilled professions in question. Only those companies most heavily dependent on H-1B visas would have to offer jobs to qualified U.S. citizens first, although the definition of an H-1B-dependent company was tweaked to make it slightly narrower. And the provision barring displacement of U.S. workers within 90 days was also limited in much the way Hatch sought.

The committee approved the changes, with Durbin voting "yes," though only after making clear his discomfort with the outcome.

The AFL-CIO refused to sign off on the deal, but remained supportive of the overall bill.

The tech industry pledged its support for the bill, and promised not to seek additional changes, according to Scott Corley, executive director of Compete America, which represents high-tech companies including Google, Intel and Microsoft.

In the aftermath, Durbin and labor officials accused the tech industry of taking advantage of Hatch's position on the committee in order to reopen a done deal, to the detriment of U.S. workers. But Corley insisted that the tech industry never had agreed to the restrictions in the original bill and was only trying to ensure the H-1B program would be workable for an industry that's good for American workers and the U.S. economy.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/high-tech-industry-big-immigration-bill-winner-122335675.html

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CA-NEWS Summary

Syrian opposition resumes tough talks on unity for peace push

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Syria's opposition resumed talks on Saturday aimed at closing their fractious ranks, crucial to launching an international peace conference, and government forces pressed an onslaught on a rebel-held town to try to gain the upper hand in civil war. Failure of the opposition to unite could weaken the hand of conference co-sponsors Russia and the United States in ending Syria's conflict, which has killed 80,000 people, threatens to spill across borders and whip up wider sectarian conflict.

Sixth night of violence in Sweden, but police say capital calmer

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Community patrols and a beefed-up police presence helped to calm violence around Stockholm overnight on Saturday but 20 to 30 cars were still torched in poor immigrant suburbs and serious incidents were reported outside the capital for the first time. The rioting in Stockholm abated after a week of masked youths vandalizing schools and police stations, setting cars alight and hurling stones at firefighters, police said.

British police arrest man after spy claim in soldier case

LONDON (Reuters) - British police arrested a man under anti-terrorism laws at BBC headquarters after an interviewee said security services tried to recruit one of the two men arrested after a soldier was hacked to death in a London street. Michael Adebolajo, 28 and Michael Adebowale, 22, are under armed guard in hospital after being shot and arrested by police on suspicion of the murder of 25-year-old Lee Rigby, a veteran of the Afghan war, on Wednesday.

French soldier stabbed while on patrol near Paris

PARIS (Reuters) - A French soldier patrolling a business neighborhood west of Paris was stabbed in the neck on Saturday by a man who quickly fled the scene and is being sought by police, President Francois Hollande said. The soldier was patrolling in uniform with two other men as part of France's Vigipirate anti-terrorist surveillance plan when he was approached from behind around 1800 p.m. and stabbed in the neck with a knife or a box-cutter.

Egypt court rejects religious slogans in election law

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's highest court ruled on Saturday that parts of a revised election law setting out terms for a parliamentary vote were unconstitutional, casting fresh doubt over a poll that has already been delayed. The Islamist-dominated upper house of parliament had approved the law last month and sent it to the Supreme Constitutional Court to check the legality of the voting procedures for a new lower house.

Russian pro-, anti-gay activists arrested after defying ban

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian police detained around 30 pro- and anti-gay activists in central Moscow on Saturday, imposing the city's ban on gay rights demonstrations. The arrests, underlining Russia's tough response to public demonstrations by gay groups, coincided with the first ever gay rally in neighboring Ukraine, which was allowed by the authorities and protected by the police.

Hezbollah, Syrian government forces push for advance in Qusair

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian government forces and the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah launched a fierce campaign to seize more rebel territory in the border town of Qusair on Saturday, sources on both sides of the conflict said. Rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad said additional tanks and artillery had been deployed around opposition-held territory in Qusair, a Syrian town close to the Lebanese border.

Suicide car bombing in Russia's Dagestan injures 11

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A suicide bomber blew herself up in car near a police building in Russia's Dagestan region on Saturday, injuring 11 policemen and passers-by, Russian media reported. Dagestan, an ethnically mixed, mostly Muslim region between Chechnya and the Caspian Sea, has become the most violent province in the North Caucasus, where insurgents say they are fighting to carve out an Islamic state out of southern Russia.

Niger attacks launched from southern Libya: Niger's president

NIAMEY (Reuters) - Islamist militants who carried out simultaneous suicide attacks on an army base and a French uranium mine in northern Niger two days ago came from southern Libya, Niger's president said on Saturday. President Mahamadou Issoufou said the raids showed Libya was a source of regional instability, months after France launched an air-and-ground assault on northern Mali, which Paris warned had become a launchpad for attacks by al Qaeda-linked groups.

Madagascar president sets out terms for quitting election race

ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) - Madagascar's president Andry Rajoelina, under international pressure not to seek re-election in July, has set out the terms under which he would withdraw from the race, but warned that the specter of civil war loomed over the Indian Ocean island. Madagascar has been in political crisis since 2009 when Rajoelina seized power with military support, ousting former President Marc Ravalomanana and triggering turmoil that scared off investors and devastated the vital tourism sector.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-news-summary-001211224.html

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Well, I just took a look at the sheet and it seemed like each member is required to take two powers. I just want one, but I was putting a reserve on a second one if that is the case. I didn't know if we were allowed to just take one power, the opposite of your response.

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Trans fighter Fallon Fox wins unimpressively (Video)

Considering Fallon Fox won her first two fights in the first round, it was expected for the first openly trans fighter to walk through her next opponent, Allanna Jones at Championship Fighting Alliance on Friday. In her first nationally televised bout, Fox won with a submission in the third round, but it was not the overwhelming win that oddsmakers were expecting.

You can watch the full fight in the video above. Fox and Jones both made mistakes like keeping their hands too low and holding their chin out too far throughout the bout. They looked like two inexperienced fighters because that's what they are.

Much of the controversy that surrounded Fox was the perception that since she was born a man, she would have clear advantage over her opponents. As Sherdog's Jordan Breen pointed out, "So, did anyone watch that and think, 'Wow, what an insurmountable advantage Fallon Fox has, no one could ever beat her!'?" She beat a 2-1 fighter, but not soundly. When she goes up in level of competition, as she will do in the next round of the CFA tournament, she will have a hard time.

Related coverage on Yahoo! Sports:
? Antonio Silva eager to prove he's a cut above in UFC 160 rematch with Cain Velasquez
? Yahoo! writers, readers make their UFC 160 picks
? Four questions that will be answered by UFC 160

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/trans-fighter-fallon-fox-wins-unimpressively-video-142855590.html

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'Epic' has entertaining voice actors but ho-hum visuals

'Epic' is an animated tale following a human girl who befriends tiny forest-dwelling people.

If you ever imagined that a forest was inhabited by tiny leaf people, you were either dreaming, imbibing something other than water, or guilty of having way too much time on your hands. Blue Sky?s new animated 3-D film ?Epic? is indeed about tiny leaf people and the human girl, voiced by Amanda Seyfried, who joins their righteous cause in the battle against other equally teeny arboreal denizens.
?
Director Chris Wedge falls into the common animator?s trap of making the ?human? characters a lot duller than the nonhuman creepy-crawlies. Colin Farrell, Josh Hutcherson and Christoph Waltz join Seyfried in the voice-over corps, and their line readings are often more spirited than the visuals. Grade: C+ (Rated PG for mild action, some scary images and brief rude language.)

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Saturday, May 25, 2013

Tiger Global invests $50 million in Automattic's WordPress.com

By Sarah McBride

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Automattic, the company that operates blogging service WordPress.com, announced a $50 million investment from hedge fund and private-equity investor Tiger Global on Friday.

The investment comes on the heels of Yahoo's $1.1 billion acquisition of blogging company Tumblr, showing the high prices fast-growing services that targeting Internet users can command. The valuation for Automattic was similar, Fortune reported. A spokeswoman for WordPress declined to comment.

WordPress powers the blogs at companies such as CNN.com and Techcrunch, a spokeswoman said.

The investment bought out shares of existing shareholders, including early employees, rather than directly funding the company, wrote WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg in a blog post.

"Allowing early investors to lock in some returns releases any short-term pressure there might be on the company for a liquidity event and allows us to focus fully on the long road ahead," he wrote in his post.

The investment is part of a crop of financing where nontraditional investors make bets on venture-capital backed companies. They include private-equity firms such as Rizvi Traverse Management, which last year led a $200 million funding round in payments service Square, and mutual funds such as T. Rowe Price, which has invested in companies including micro blog service Twitter.

Many of these investors "come in with the ability to write checks larger than the entire size of most VC funds," wrote Mullenweg.

More top blogs run Word Press than any other publishing platform, according to a 2012 study conducted by Kingdom, a website monitoring service. Blogs it cited in the study include technology sites such as Tech Crunch and Boingboing and Hollywood news site Deadline.

While many organizations use Tumblr, it is heavily associated with individuals updating friends and others on their activities and interests, social-media style.

And while Tumblr's revenue is advertising based, the bulk of WordPress's revenue comes from fees to users who upgrade beyond its basic free service. It also derives significant revenue from charging large media companies to host their entire blogging platforms, said Automattic Chief Financial Officer Stuart West in a telephone interview. He declined to disclose figures.

Like Tumblr, WordPress is growing fast, with 50 million users today compared with 4 million five years ago, the company said. Tumblr launched five years ago and today has more than 100 million blogs in its network.

The largest single audience group for WordPress is users aged 25-34, according to consultancy comScore. For Tumblr, the largest group is users aged 18-24.

Earlier this year, Tiger led a $444 million equity investment in online survey company SurveyMonkey as part of a financing round that also allowed early investors and employees to cash out. Tiger partner Lee Fixel handled his firm's investment in both SurveyMonkey and Automattic.

Tiger extended its offer to WordPress in April, before Yahoo's acquisition of Tumblr was announced, West said.

Automattic's venture backers include Polaris Partners, True Ventures, and the New York Times Co.

(The story corrects to "automattic" from "wordpress" in second paragraph, name to "Rizvi Traverse" in sixth paragraph, and spelling of name to Mullenweg from Mullen in seventh paragraph)

(Reporting by Sarah McBride; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tiger-global-invests-50-million-automattics-wordpress-193241637.html

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Two volcanoes erupting in Alaska: Scientists are monitoring and providing alerts on Pavlof and Cleveland volcanoes

May 24, 2013 ? Two of Alaska's most active volcanoes -- Pavlof and Cleveland -- are currently erupting. At the time of this post, their activity continues at low levels, but energetic explosions could occur without warning.

Located close to the western end of the Alaska Peninsula, Pavlof is one of the most active volcanoes in the Aleutian arc, having erupted more than 40 times since the late 1700's.

Pavlof has been erupting since May 13, 2013, with relatively low-energy lava fountaining and minor emissions of ash, steam, and gas. So far, volcanic ash from this eruption has reached as high as 22,000 feet above sea level. The ash plume has interfered with regional airlines and resulted in trace amounts of ash fall on nearby communities. The ash plume is currently too low to impact commercial airliners that fly between North America and Asia at altitudes generally above 30,000 feet.

Cleveland, located on Chuginadak Island in the Aleutian Islands, is also one of Alaska's most persistently active volcanoes. It has exhibited some sign of unrest almost annually since the early 1980's, with at least 19 confirmed eruptive events since then.

The current episode of eruptive activity at Cleveland has been characterized by single, discrete explosions, minor ash emissions, and small flows of lava and debris on the upper flanks of the volcano. On several occasions, ash-producing explosions have occurred reaching as high as 35,000 feet.

A small lava dome formed in the summit crater of Cleveland volcano in late January, 2013. At that time, the dome was about 300 feet in diameter and remained that size until a brief eruption on May 4 explosively removed a portion of the dome. The presence of a lava dome increases the possibility of an explosive eruption, but it does not necessarily indicate that one will occur.

Start with Science

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is responsible for monitoring and issuing timely warnings of potential volcano activity. The USGS and its partners operate five volcano observatories, and monitoring of these two volcanoes is coordinated through the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO).

AVO is a joint program of the USGS, University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, and the State of Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.

Scientists at AVO were able to detect unrest at both Pavlof and Cleveland volcanoes that confirmed eruptive activity was occurring. AVO immediately sent notifications out to emergency-management authorities and those potentially affected.

When Will the Eruptions Stop?

Volcanic eruptions can last weeks to months, and sometime years, so the exact timing is unknown for when these two volcanoes will rest. AVO will continue to monitor them and provide updates in the event of future activity.

Detecting Signs of Unrest

Signs that the volcanoes were becoming restless were determined through a combination of monitoring data.

At Pavlof, a strong thermal signal was observed in satellite data at the summit that coincided with elevated seismic levels. Soon after these observations were made, more satellite data and pilot reports indicated that ash emissions were occurring.

At Cleveland volcano, explosions from the summit vent were detected by an infrasound array and seismic instruments on Umnak Island about 80 miles to the east, and later a thermal feature was observed at the summit in satellite imagery, which indicated hot material at or near the surface. The pressure sensors in the infrasound array pick up air waves generated by volcanic explosions. Because of the relatively slow speed of these waves, it took nearly 40 minutes to detect the explosion from that distance and issue an alert.

Ash Cloud Forecasts

AVO's analysis of the eruption, including the amount of ash and the duration of the explosive phases, are key inputs into the forecasts by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service (NWS) of where the ash cloud will form and drift. These forecasts by NWS are used by the aviation industry to avoid flying into the ash.

The USGS developed a new ash cloud dispersal and fallout tool -- a computer model known as Ash3d -- that is being employed by AVO. The tool details where, when, and the amount of ash fall that is expected to occur. This information helps guide decisions on whether planes can safely land or depart, health warnings, potential impacts to infrastructure, and even when ash will stop falling and cleanup can begin.

Monitoring Tools

Pavlof is monitored with on-the-ground seismic stations (although only three of the seven instruments are currently operational), satellite remote sensing, and web cameras operated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). A regional infrasound network operated by the University of Alaska Geophysical Institute has also helped detect explosions from Pavlof and Cleveland volcanoes.

Cleveland does not have a local seismic network and is monitored using only distant seismic and infrasound instruments and satellite data. Without local seismic instrumentation, scientists cannot forecast eruptions and smaller eruptions can be missed, especially because in the Aleutians, clouds commonly obscure the volcanoes in satellite data.

Updated Alerts and Webcams

Visit the AVO website (http://avo.alaska.edu/) for updated alerts and activity reports on Pavlof (http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Pavlof.php) and Cleveland (http://avo.alaska.edu/activity/Cleveland.php) volcanoes. Virtually travel to these locations through an AVO webcam of Cleveland volcano (http://avo.alaska.edu/webcam/Cleveland.php) and a FAA webcam located in Cold Bay about 37 miles west of Pavlof (http://akweathercams.faa.gov/sitelist.php).

Alaska has 31% of all Active Volcanoes in the United States

Alaska's volcanoes make up about 31% of all active volcanoes in the United States. There are 52 that have been active within the last 10,000 years and can be expected to erupt again. At present, 28 are monitored with ground-based instrumentation, and all are monitored daily using satellite remote sensing.

See a full list (http://www.avo.alaska.edu/volcanoes/) of all volcanoes in Alaska and view an interactive map (http://www.avo.alaska.edu/map/index.php?monvolcs=on&othervolcs=on) of their location.

Although most of the volcanoes in Alaska are remote and not close to populated areas, millions of dollars of air freight and 20,000-30,000 people fly over active Alaskan volcanoes daily traveling between North America and Asia. In fact, the Anchorage International Airport is ranked the fifth busiest air cargo hub in the world based on tonnage. In addition to the threat that volcanic ash poses for aviation safety, the economic impacts due to disruption of air traffic can be substantial. One study estimated costs of five billion dollars from the week-long closure of European airspace caused by the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallaj?kull volcano in 2010.

USGS Science for Volcano Hazards

USGS science is helping keep what are natural events from turning into major disasters.

The United States has approximately 169 active volcanoes, and more than half of them could erupt explosively. When the violent energy of a volcano is unleashed, the results can be catastrophic. Lava flows, debris avalanches, and explosive blasts have devastated communities. Noxious volcanic gas emissions have caused widespread lung problems. Airborne ash clouds from explosive eruptions have caused millions of dollars damage, including causing engines to shut down in flight.

To keep communities safe, it is essential to monitor volcanoes so that the public knows when unrest begins and what hazards can be expected. USGS efforts have improved global understanding of how volcanoes work and how to live safely with volcanic eruptions.

The USGS Volcano Hazards Program (http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/) operates a total of five volcano observatories in cooperation with universities and state agencies. They are the Cascades Volcano Observatory, Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, California Volcano Observatory, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, and Alaska Volcano Observatory. USGS also monitors and reports on volcanoes in the northern Marianas Islands.

In April, 2013, AVO celebrated 25 years of monitoring and studying Alaska volcanoes.

Learn More

Find out about the National Volcano Early Warning System (NVEWS) (http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/publications/2009/nvews.php), which is a proposed national-scale plan to ensure that volcanoes are monitored at appropriate levels given their associated threats.

Watch a video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X64IhvYYlw) about USGS science on volcano hazards.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/Ylh9qmVdgkc/130524180252.htm

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