MOUNTAIN VIEW, California | Thu Mar 28, 2013 7:17pm EDT
MOUNTAIN VIEW, California (Reuters) - The first crossing of the United States by a solar-powered plane is expected to start in just over a month, its creators said on Thursday, as they make final preparations for an attempt two years from now at the first round-the-world flight without any fuel.
Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard and project co-founder and pilot Andre Borschberg, whose Solar Impulse made its first intercontinental flight from Spain to Morocco last June, aim for their plane to take off from near San Francisco in early May and land at New York's John F. Kennedy airport about two months later.
With the wingspan of a jumbo jet and weighing the same as a small car, the Solar Impulse is just a test model for the team as they build a new aircraft they hope will circumnavigate the globe in 2015.
The project began in 2003 with a 10-year budget of 90 million euros ($112 million) and has involved engineers from Swiss lift maker Schindler and research aid from Belgian chemicals group Solvay -- backers who want to test new materials and technologies while also gaining brand recognition.
Unveiling the current plane at a news conference at Moffett Field on San Francisco Bay, Borschberg highlighted the cramped conditions of the cockpit in the Solar Impulse.
"That's a bad economy seat - you would not fly on this airline," he joked. "The next one should be good business class."
While the current plane was set up for 24-hour flights, the next one would have to allow for up to five days and five nights of flying by one pilot - a feat never yet accomplished.
Meditation and hypnosis were part of the training for the pilots as they prepare to fly on very little sleep, Borschberg said, adding that some sort of autopilot system would have to be built on the next plane to allow for some rest.
The plane runs on about the same power as a motor scooter, he explained, powered by 12,000 solar cells built into the wing that simultaneously recharge the batteries - with storage equivalent to that of a Tesla electric car.
The plane has already flown a 26-hour flight, back in 2010, to prove continuous flight was possible with charging taking place in the day and battery power working at night.
Piccard, asked about the downside of solar-powered flight, agreed that there is a price paid for the small carrying capacity and massive wings.
"In that sense, it is not the easiest way to fly," he said. "But it is the most fabulous way to fly, because the more you fly, the more energy you have on board."
The first stop for the Solar Impulse as it crosses the United States will be Phoenix, followed by Dallas and then one of three cities: Atlanta, Nashville or St. Louis. It will then stop outside Washington D.C. before heading on to New York.
"It carries one pilot and zero passengers, but it carries a lot of messages," Piccard said. "We want to inspire as many people as possible to have that same spirit: to dare, to innovate, to invent."
Piccard has a pioneering legacy to maintain. His grandfather helped his father, Jacques, build a revolutionary submarine that Jacques co-piloted on the deepest-ever dive. Bertrand said he believes the basic idea behind this spirit is to find out what you deeply believe, and then try the opposite.
"Innovation is not about new ideas, it's about getting rid of old ideas."
(Reporting by Braden Reddall in San Francisco; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Tweetdeck, the Twitter client that's more popular (and useful) than the company's own native desktop app, is getting a version bump that has everything to do with filters. Available for Windows and Mac users now, the update lets social tweakers get granular as they sort through columns and search with new content and user filters. Keen to see a column filled with only RTs? You can do that now, as well as filter by using select terms, media, verified users and lists. A minor visual refresh is also bundled in that gives users the option to expand column width and choose from more font sizes, alongside a couple of handy new shortcuts. If you're running Tweetdeck now, it's likely you'll be prompted to update. Or you can head to the source below to get things started now.
Researchers have identified genetic risk factors that may accelerate a teen's progression to becoming a lifelong heavy smoker.
The team of scientists from the U.S., the U.K. and New Zealand examined earlier studies by other research teams to develop a genetic risk profile for heavy smoking. Then they looked at their own long-term study of 1,000 New Zealanders from birth to age 38 to identify whether individuals at high genetic risk got hooked on cigarettes more quickly as teens and whether, as adults, they had a harder time quitting.
Study participants who had the high-risk genetic profile were found to be more likely to convert to daily smoking as teenagers and then progress more rapidly to heavy smoking (a pack a day or more). When assessed at age 38, the higher-risk individuals had smoked heavily for more years, had more often developed nicotine dependence and were more likely to have failed in attempts to quit smoking.
"Genetic risk accelerated the development of smoking behavior," said Daniel Belsky, a post-doctoral research fellow at Duke University's Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development and the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy. "Teens at a high genetic risk transitioned quickly from trying cigarettes to becoming regular, heavy smokers."
A person's genetic risk profile did not predict whether he or she would try cigarettes. But for those who did try cigarettes, having a high-risk genetic profile predicted increased likelihood of heavy smoking and nicotine dependence.
The findings appear March 27 in JAMA Psychiatry. They were supported by multiple grants from the U.S. National Institutes of Health, as well as the U.K. Medical Research Council and the New Zealand Health Research Council.
The Duke researchers developed a new "genetic risk score" for the study by examining prior genome-wide associations (GWAS) of adult smokers. These studies scanned the entire genomes of tens of thousands of smokers to identify variants that were more common in the heaviest smokers. The variants they identified were located in and around genes that affect how the brain responds to nicotine and how nicotine is metabolized, but it is not yet known how the specific variants affect gene function.
It makes sense that the genes on which the group based their risk score are involved in nicotine metabolism and sensitivity, said Jed Rose, a Duke nicotine addiction researcher who was not involved in this study. "Addictions are a learned behavior and it requires reinforcement through neural pathways."
In their first step, the researchers found the genetic risk score they developed was able to predict heavy smoking among individuals in two large databases created by other researchers.
Then they turned to their New Zealand sample of 880 individuals of European descent to see whether the genetic risk score predicted who initiated smoking, who progressed to heavy smoking, and who developed nicotine dependence and experienced relapse after quitting.
Genetic risk was not related to whether a person tried smoking, which 70 percent of the sample had. One reason for this was that so-called "chippers" -- smokers who consume cigarettes only on weekends or smoke only one or two per day -- had even lower genetic risk than nonsmokers.
Genetic risk was related to the development of smoking problems. Among teens who tried cigarettes, those with a high-risk genetic profile were 24 percent more likely to become daily smokers by age 15 and 43 percent more likely to become pack-a-day smokers by age 18.
As adults, those with high-risk genetic profiles were 27 percent more likely to become nicotine dependent and 22 percent more likely to fail in their attempts at quitting. By age 38, a study participant with high-risk genetic profile had smoked about 7,300 more cigarettes (one "pack-year") than the average smoker.
Study participants who did not become regular, heavy smokers during their teens appeared to be "immune" to genetic risk for adult smoking problems. "The effects of genetic risk seem to be limited to people who start smoking as teens," said Belsky. "This suggests there may be something special about nicotine exposure in the adolescent brain, with respect to these genetic variants."
"Adolescence is indeed a period of high risk for nicotine addiction," said Denise Kandel, a professor of sociomedical sciences in psychiatry at Columbia University, who was not involved in this study. "The results illustrate why adolescence is of crucial importance for the development and targeting of prevention and intervention efforts. How this genetic risk affects brain functions, which in turn affect reactions to nicotine, remains to be determined."
The risk factor the team developed "may not be sensitive or specific enough to be a clinical test, but it may have public health uses," said Rose, who is the director of the Duke Center for Smoking Cessation and co-developer of the nicotine patch.
"Public health policies that make it harder for teens to become regular smokers should continue to be a focus in antismoking efforts," Belsky said.
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Duke University: http://www.duke.edu
Thanks to Duke University for this article.
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Deciding between investing in silver or investing in gold can be difficult, because it is largely a personal choice. Silver and gold are both precious metals and make for good investments when you want to protect your wealth against inflation. But there are serious differences between the two in terms of market size, volatility, and availability.
Market Size
The silver market has always been, and will continue to be, much smaller than the gold market. The amount of bullion gold for investment available is estimated to be twice as much as that of bullion silver.
What's more, the price of gold has been up to 97 times higher than that of silver during the last hundred years, making the gold market many, many times more valuable than the silver one.
Volatility
The relative smallness of the silver market compared to the gold market makes silver more volatile. So much so that sudden rises or slumps in the value of silver are extremely common. Obviously, this makes investing in silver possibly more risky than investing in gold.
But also possibly more rewarding, since the price of silver can also grow faster than that of gold. 2010 is a good example of a year when the price of silver - at least in the first half of the year - has risen much more than the price of gold.
Availability
There are far more known deposits of silver in the earth than there are deposits of gold. While some believe that gold availability is going to dwindle in the years to come, since most of the major gold deposits have been already mined, nobody seems to worry about the availability of silver.
The greater availability of silver suggests that silver will not become nearly as expensive as gold. It also suggests that silver prices can more easily fall than gold prices, since the growing scarcity of gold will conserve the latter's value.
So, Silver or Gold?
The essential things to consider are these:
? The gold market is much bigger than the silver market.
? Gold is, and will continue to be, much more valuable than silver.
? The price of silver can increase (as well as fall) more often and more significantly than the price of gold can.
? Silver deposits are widely available, whereas gold ones are growing scarcer.
All this means that neither silver nor gold is the better investment, but that you should choose the one most appropriate for your situation and purpose. Investing in silver can mean bigger return on investments in the short-term, but also more risks, whereas investing in gold can mean more stability and fewer risks, but also smaller return on investments in the short-term. If you are looking for best?alternative investments?such as?investing in silver?or investing in gold, experts at Compare the Financial Markets will help provide valuable assistance.
Russell Ivanovic, Philip Simpson, and Matt Kelsh of Shifty Jelly talk to Marc, Seth, and Rene about being indie in Australia, making Pocket Weather, and why they decided to go Android first for Pocket Casts. Note: All accents in this show are, we assume, fake.
This photo provided by 20th Century Fox, shows Jerry Lewis, left, and Robert De Niro in a scene from the movie "The King of Comedy." The Tribeca Film Festival will close with a 30th anniversary restoration of Martin Scorsese?s ?The King of Comedy.? This year?s festival will thus bow out on April 27 with a classic from one of its founders: Robert De Niro. In the 1983 dark comedy, he stars as the aspiring comedian Rupert Pupkin, whose obsessive celebrity hounding leads to kidnapping. Tribeca co-founder Jane Rosenthal said it had always been a goal of Scorsese?s to use the festival to showcase restored and rediscovered films. The 12th annual Tribeca Film Festival opens April 17.(AP Photo/20th Century Fox)
This photo provided by 20th Century Fox, shows Jerry Lewis, left, and Robert De Niro in a scene from the movie "The King of Comedy." The Tribeca Film Festival will close with a 30th anniversary restoration of Martin Scorsese?s ?The King of Comedy.? This year?s festival will thus bow out on April 27 with a classic from one of its founders: Robert De Niro. In the 1983 dark comedy, he stars as the aspiring comedian Rupert Pupkin, whose obsessive celebrity hounding leads to kidnapping. Tribeca co-founder Jane Rosenthal said it had always been a goal of Scorsese?s to use the festival to showcase restored and rediscovered films. The 12th annual Tribeca Film Festival opens April 17.(AP Photo/20th Century Fox)
NEW YORK (AP) ? The Tribeca Film Festival will close with a 30th anniversary restoration of Martin Scorsese's "The King of Comedy."
This year's festival will bow out on April 27 with a classic from one of its founders: Robert De Niro. In the 1983 dark comedy, he stars as the aspiring comedian Rupert Pupkin, whose obsessive celebrity hounding leads to kidnapping.
Tribeca co-founder Jane Rosenthal said it had always been a goal of Scorsese's to use the festival, with which he's closely associated, to showcase restored and rediscovered films.
The 12th annual Tribeca Film Festival opens April 17.
Mar 26 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $3,787,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,154,500 4. Steve Stricker $1,820,000 5. Phil Mickelson $1,650,260 6. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 7. John Merrick $1,343,514 8. Dustin Johnson $1,330,507 9. Russell Henley $1,313,280 10. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 11. Keegan Bradley $1,274,593 12. Charles Howell III $1,256,373 13. Michael Thompson $1,254,669 14. Brian Gay $1,171,721 15. Justin Rose $1,155,550 16. Jason Day $1,115,565 17. Chris Kirk $1,097,053 18. ...
Swarming robots could be the servants of the futurePublic release date: 28-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Beck Lockwood beck@campuspr.co.uk University of Sheffield
Swarms of robots acting together to carry out jobs could provide new opportunities for humans to harness the power of machines.
Researchers in the Sheffield Centre for Robotics, jointly established by the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University, have been working to program a group of 40 robots, and say the ability to control robot swarms could prove hugely beneficial in a range of contexts, from military to medical.
The researchers have demonstrated that the swarm can carry out simple fetching and carrying tasks, by grouping around an object and working together to push it across a surface.
The robots can also group themselves together into a single cluster after being scattered across a room, and organize themselves by order of priority.
Dr Roderich Gross, head of the Natural Robotics Lab, in the Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering at the University of Sheffield, says swarming robots could have important roles to play in the future of micromedicine, as 'nanobots' are developed for non-invasive treatment of humans. On a larger scale, they could play a part in military, or search and rescue operations, acting together in areas where it would be too dangerous or impractical for humans to go. In industry too, robot swarms could be put to use, improving manufacturing processes and workplace safety.
The programming that the University of Sheffield team has developed to control the robots is deceptively simple. For example, if the robots are being asked to group together, each robot only needs to be able to work out if there is another robot in front of it. If there is, it turns on the spot; if there isn't, it moves in a wider circle until it finds one.
Dr Gross said: "We are developing Artificial Intelligence to control robots in a variety of ways. The key is to work out what is the minimum amount of information needed by the robot to accomplish its task. That's important because it means the robot may not need any memory, and possibly not even a processing unit, so this technology could work for nanoscale robots, for example in medical applications."
This research is funded by a Marie Curie European Reintegration Grant within the 7th European Community Framework Programme. Additional support has been provided by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
The robots were showcased on Channel 5's The Gadget Show this week and will be demonstrated at this year's Gadget Show Live, to be held at the NEC in Birmingham from 3-7 April 2013. For more information go to: http://www.gadgetshowlive.net/
###
Notes for Editors:
1. A YouTube video of the robots in action can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e12RicAy1Q
2. The Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sheffield - the 2011 Times Higher Education's University of the Year - is one of the largest in the UK. Its seven departments include over 4,000 students and 900 staff and have research-related income worth more than 50M per annum from government, industry and charity sources. The 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) confirmed that two thirds of the research carried out was either Internationally Excellent or Internationally Leading.
The Faculty of Engineering has a long tradition of working with industry including Rolls-Royce, Network Rail and Siemens. Its industrial successes are exemplified by the award-winning Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) and the new 25 million Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (NAMRC).
The Faculty of Engineering is set to
ensure students continue to benefit from world-class labs and teaching space through the provision of the University's new Engineering Graduate School. This brand new building, which will become the centre of the facultys postgraduate research and postgraduate teaching activities, will be sited on the corner of Broad Lane and Newcastle Street. It will form the first stage in a 15 year plan to improve and extend the existing estate in a bid to provide students with the best possible facilities while improving their student experience.
To find out more about the Faculty of Engineering, visit: http://www.shef.ac.uk/faculty/engineering/
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Swarming robots could be the servants of the futurePublic release date: 28-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Beck Lockwood beck@campuspr.co.uk University of Sheffield
Swarms of robots acting together to carry out jobs could provide new opportunities for humans to harness the power of machines.
Researchers in the Sheffield Centre for Robotics, jointly established by the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University, have been working to program a group of 40 robots, and say the ability to control robot swarms could prove hugely beneficial in a range of contexts, from military to medical.
The researchers have demonstrated that the swarm can carry out simple fetching and carrying tasks, by grouping around an object and working together to push it across a surface.
The robots can also group themselves together into a single cluster after being scattered across a room, and organize themselves by order of priority.
Dr Roderich Gross, head of the Natural Robotics Lab, in the Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering at the University of Sheffield, says swarming robots could have important roles to play in the future of micromedicine, as 'nanobots' are developed for non-invasive treatment of humans. On a larger scale, they could play a part in military, or search and rescue operations, acting together in areas where it would be too dangerous or impractical for humans to go. In industry too, robot swarms could be put to use, improving manufacturing processes and workplace safety.
The programming that the University of Sheffield team has developed to control the robots is deceptively simple. For example, if the robots are being asked to group together, each robot only needs to be able to work out if there is another robot in front of it. If there is, it turns on the spot; if there isn't, it moves in a wider circle until it finds one.
Dr Gross said: "We are developing Artificial Intelligence to control robots in a variety of ways. The key is to work out what is the minimum amount of information needed by the robot to accomplish its task. That's important because it means the robot may not need any memory, and possibly not even a processing unit, so this technology could work for nanoscale robots, for example in medical applications."
This research is funded by a Marie Curie European Reintegration Grant within the 7th European Community Framework Programme. Additional support has been provided by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
The robots were showcased on Channel 5's The Gadget Show this week and will be demonstrated at this year's Gadget Show Live, to be held at the NEC in Birmingham from 3-7 April 2013. For more information go to: http://www.gadgetshowlive.net/
###
Notes for Editors:
1. A YouTube video of the robots in action can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e12RicAy1Q
2. The Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sheffield - the 2011 Times Higher Education's University of the Year - is one of the largest in the UK. Its seven departments include over 4,000 students and 900 staff and have research-related income worth more than 50M per annum from government, industry and charity sources. The 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) confirmed that two thirds of the research carried out was either Internationally Excellent or Internationally Leading.
The Faculty of Engineering has a long tradition of working with industry including Rolls-Royce, Network Rail and Siemens. Its industrial successes are exemplified by the award-winning Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) and the new 25 million Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (NAMRC).
The Faculty of Engineering is set to
ensure students continue to benefit from world-class labs and teaching space through the provision of the University's new Engineering Graduate School. This brand new building, which will become the centre of the facultys postgraduate research and postgraduate teaching activities, will be sited on the corner of Broad Lane and Newcastle Street. It will form the first stage in a 15 year plan to improve and extend the existing estate in a bid to provide students with the best possible facilities while improving their student experience.
To find out more about the Faculty of Engineering, visit: http://www.shef.ac.uk/faculty/engineering/
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Mar. 27, 2013 ? A computer model provides important clues for the production of tightly packed electronic components.
Greater numbers of ever-smaller components are required to fit on computer chips to meet the ongoing demands of miniaturizing electronic devices. Consequently, computer chips are becoming increasingly crowded. Designers of electronic architectures have therefore followed the lead of urban planners and started to build upward. In so-called 'three-dimensional (3D) packages', for example, several flat, two-dimensional chips can be stacked on top of each other using vertical joints.
Controlling the properties of these complex structures is no easy task, as many factors come into play during production. Faxing Che and Hongyu Li and co-workers from the A*STAR Institute of Microelectronics, Singapore, have now developed a powerful modeling method that allows large-scale simulations -- and optimization -- of the fabrication process, which provides welcome assistance to designers.
Among the challenges of producing tightly packed computer chips is the need to prevent warpage of the underlying silicon wafer as electronics components are stacked on it. Warpage leads to a number of unwanted effects. "Strong warpage can cause wafer breakage, it makes tight packing more difficult and some processing machines cannot handle high-warpage wafers," explains Li. The degree of warpage depends on many design and process parameters, and optimizing the procedure experimentally is time-consuming and costly.
Using their computer model, Che and Li studied a wide range of parameters that influence the warpage of an 8-inch diameter silicon wafer. They focused, in particular, on how a silicon substrate responds to the deposition of layers of copper -- through which electrical currents eventually flow. "This is the first time that a model has been able to predict warpage [at] the level of the entire wafer," says Li. Moreover, the stress on the wafer can be determined accurately. The calculated values agreed well with experimental data. Importantly, with the computer simulations, the researchers could explore regimes that cannot be easily studied experimentally, such as how the depth of the connections between layers influences wafer warpage.
The next goal is to simulate even larger wafers with variable connection sizes, explains Li. "Today, there are two industry standards for 3D packaging applications, 8-inch and 12-inch wafers, but the latter are becoming increasingly important," she says. The team's model is applicable to these larger wafers, too, but it requires optimization. Currently, Che, Li and their co-workers are collecting warpage and stress data for 12-inch wafers. They will use these data for developing their model further, according to Li.
The A*STAR-affiliated researchers contributing to this research are from the Institute of Microelectronics
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).
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Journal Reference:
Faxing Che, Hongyu Y. Li, Xiaowu Zhang, Shan Gao, Kenghwa H. Teo. Development of Wafer-Level Warpage and Stress Modeling Methodology and Its Application in Process Optimization for TSV Wafers. IEEE Transactions on Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology, 2012; 2 (6): 944 DOI: 10.1109/TCPMT.2012.2192732
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
There are a lot of fitness. It includes items pozycjonowanie for example fitness gyms, diet program, utilizing certain products and building very good behavior. There are several stuff a person can do to be match and health. The next post provides guidance to help you could make health and fitness program that works for you.
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Soft drinks are one of sugars.
You need to usually make sure you are in order to prevent traumas. Try out jogging upright and be sure that you pull back again shoulders pulled again. Your elbows need to then be located at 90-education facets. Ensure that your arms transfer an opposite your ahead foot.
After the huge success of the first Hunger Games movie, the excitement is building for the next film in the franchise: Catching Fire! As the release date of November 22 (slowly) inches closer, take a look at the official character portraits straight from the Capitol -- including Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Haymitch, Finnick, President Snow and more!
Relationships and marriage are about give and take, forgiving and forgetting and finding the good in one another and then letting that person shine. In the words of Wilfred A. Peterson ?It is not only marrying the right partner, it?s being the right partner.?
Chris & Anne Marie fell in love as kids, and then again just a few years ago. When they asked us to do something creative for their Toronto engagement photo shoot, we of course were game for anything they had in mind, but this idea they came up with was not the first thing that came to our minds. Actually Anne Marie and Chris knew all along what they wanted to do, and what they didn?t want for their engagement session. Couples who have known one another as long as Chris and Anne Marie, tend to have a unique outlook on relationships.
For their engagement photos they wanted to showcase the opposite of their relationship, and really stage scenes that would shock their friends and family. So the 4 of us came up with a storyline for a series of photos where Anne Marie and Chris would repeatedly try to kill one another in freak household accidents,and sneaky revenge plots. Only a couple who possesses a great deal of love and respect for one another could ?execute? such a shoot. You have to have a twisted sense of humour to enjoy these photos. For us, this shoot was so much fun, I am still laughing ?as I remember us all squeezing into the bathroom with Ryan hugging the toilet to get one of the shots below. Well worth it!
To our nearly dead and nearly wed clients, thank you for such a fun shoot. Your wedding will be to die for!
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Democrats are ready to muscle expanded background checks and other gun curbs through a Senate committee, giving President Barack Obama an initial if temporary victory on one of his top priorities.
The Senate Judiciary Committee was to debate a bill Tuesday that would broaden the requirement for federal background checks to nearly all firearms purchasers. It was also considering a ban on assault weapons and an increase in federal aid for school security, though senators may not consider the assault weapons measure until later in the week.
Requiring background checks for private gun transactions between individuals ? they're currently mandatory only for sales by licensed dealers ? is a centerpiece of Obama's proposal to reduce firearms violence. The system is designed to prevent criminals, people with severe mental problems and others from getting guns.
Tuesday's meeting comes five days after the panel approved Congress' first gun control measure since December's carnage at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school that left 26 students and educators dead. That bill, by the Judiciary Committee's chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and others, establishes long prison terms for illegal gun traffickers and straw purchasers, people who buy a firearm for criminals or others forbidden to buy one.
The Judiciary Committee is expected to approve all three bills it is debating this week, with full Senate consideration next month.
"The American people need to speak up and be heard," Leahy said Monday of what it will take for gun measures to clear Congress.
The background check bill by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., would exempt only a narrow range of transactions from the checks, such as those between immediate family members or weapons loaned temporarily during sporting events. It would also renew the requirement that states and federal agencies report records on felons, people with major mental health problems, drug abusers and others to the federal background check system ? something that many states and agencies do poorly.
Schumer had hoped to win GOP support for his measure, and he spent weeks bargaining with conservative Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who carries an A rating from the National Rifle Association. Those talks foundered, and the measure the New Yorker is pushing seems sure to meet strong GOP opposition.
Coburn's backing could have helped Schumer win support from other Republicans and moderate Democrats from states with large numbers of GOP voters ? potentially crucial because the background check measure is likely to need 60 votes in the 100-member Senate. There are 55 Democrats, including two independents who usually side with them.
Schumer still hopes to broaden support by the time the background check measure reaches the full Senate by finding other GOP senators willing to negotiate changes in it.
As senators prepared to consider the measures, a dozen members of the clergy from Newtown collected 4,000 signatures of religious leaders from around the country on a letter asking senators to support expanded background checks, an assault weapons ban and other restrictions. The letter was published Monday as an ad in the Des Moines (Iowa) Register and was addressed to Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, top Republican on the Judiciary panel. The group planned to run the ad elsewhere as well.
The letter said that after gun violence in Newtown and other places, "To refuse to take the steps we know would reduce harm is a violation of religious values so severe that we are compelled to speak out."
The NRA, which opposes the background check expansion, is encouraging its members to contact Congress, association spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said.
Leaders of the GOP-run House have said they will wait to act until the Senate passes legislation. House Republicans have expressed little interest in requiring background checks for private sales.
Democrats say background checks help keep criminals and others from getting weapons, and say keeping records of private sales is the only way to ensure that those checks are actually conducted. Currently, the government must destroy records of checks it conducts within a day, but gun dealers must maintain paper records of the transactions for 20 years.
Republicans oppose record keeping as a step toward a federal gun registry, which is barred by law. They also argue that current laws need to be enforced better without imposing record-keeping requirements on additional gun buyers.
GOP senators prepared several amendments for Tuesday's debate, including one by Grassley imposing a mandatory minimum 1-year sentence for people who lie on paperwork submitted to licensed gun dealers. It was unclear whether Grassley would offer that amendment.
Since the federal background check system began in 1998, the government has received more than 118 million gun applications and turned down 2.1 million, or 1.8 percent, according to the Justice Department. The figures are through 2010.
Supporters of stronger curbs say those statistics show the large number of dangerous people denied firearms. They say extending the requirement to more sales would make it even more effective.
Opponents say broadening background checks would encourage more people to seek weapons illegally.
A 2004 survey of state prisoners involved in crimes that included guns showed that around 4 in 10 got their firearms from friends or family and nearly that many got them from unregulated street dealers. Only around 1 in 9 got them from licensed dealers.
WASHINGTON - President Obama's newly initiated charm offensive with Republicans just might work as he tries to resolve the recently enacted sequester cuts and attempts to avert another budget showdown near the end of the month, lawmakers on Capitol Hill said Sunday.
"If we're going to really get to an agreement, this is a good step," Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told George Stephanopoulos on ABC News' "This Week." "You have to start meeting with people. You have to start developing relationships. You've got to spend a fair amount of time figuring out what we agree on first."
"I'm welcoming with open arms. I think the president is tremendously sincere. I don't think this is just a political change in tactic," Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who called the president "my friend" said on NBC's "Meet the Press.
"It's time to start leading, and the way you do that is quit poking your finger in people's eyes and start building relationships, and I think he's got a great chance to accomplish a big deal," he said. "But, you know, you've got a lot of scabs and sores on people that it's going to take a while for that to heal."
Coburn and Johnson were among the 12 Republican senators who dined with Obama at the Jefferson Hotel earlier this week - the president's first overture in his GOP courtship. On Thursday, he sat down for lunch at the White House with Republican Rep. Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget committee, and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the ranking Democrat on the committee, a meeting Ryan described as his first ever detailed discussion with the president.
"This is the first time I've ever had a conversation with the president lasting more than, say, two minutes or televised exchanges," Ryan said on "Fox News Sunday." "I've never really had a conversation with him, on these issues before. I am excited that we had the conversation. We had a very frank exchange. We come from different perspectives. I ran against him in the last election."
Ryan said the budget plan he will unveil later this week will "promote repealing Obamacare and replacing it with a better system."
This week, the president is expected to continue his wooing of lawmakers, traveling to Capitol Hill over three days as he attends each party's weekly meetings.
"He's coming to the House conference, which I think is positive. He's only done that once before, but he should come and listen and communicate and try to find where we can find common ground, where can we bring that accountability back to government. That's what Republicans are looking for," House Republican Whip Kevin McCarthy said on CNN's "State of the Union."
"Any time that both parties are talking, it's a good thing," he said. "Now, this should have happened four years ago. I'm glad it's happening now. But is this about politics or is this genuine?"
Democrats also said the president's outreach was a positive step.
"I think the meetings are a good idea because you understand each other better and you may get a measure of courage," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said on CNN's "State of the Union. "All of us come here to get a job done for the American people, and certainly that is the case with the president of the United States. He's been very bipartisan in his approach.
"These meetings are not something to say, well I'll do this with you now, and I'll do that with them later," she said. "I think it is let's get some things done together to make elections less important. Let's come together for the benefit of the American people."
But as the president makes strides to meet with Republicans in the coming weeks, Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., said he doesn't expect the outreach to result in an agreement immediately, saying on NBC's "Meet the Press," "I hope that he's genuine, but I don't think we'll be doing the Harlem Shake anytime soon."
Mar. 11, 2013 ? For years, researchers have developed thin films of bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) -- which converts heat into electricity or electricity to cooling -- on top of gallium arsenide (GaAs) to create cooling devices for electronics. But while they knew it could be done, it was not clear how -- because the atomic structures of those unlikely pair of materials do not appear to be compatible. Now researchers from North Carolina State University and RTI International have solved the mystery, opening the door to new research in the field.
"We've used state-of-the-art technology to solve a mystery that has been around for years," says Dr. James LeBeau, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at NC State and co-author of a paper on the research. "And now that we know what is going on, we can pursue research to fine-tune the interface of these materials to develop more efficient mechanisms for converting electricity to cooling or heat into electricity. Ultimately, this could have applications in a wide range of electronic devices."
To study the phenomenon, the researchers had to create the nanometer-scale thin films on a GaAs substrate, or foundation. The GaAs is first placed in a vapor deposition chamber. Molecules containing bismuth and tellurium are then introduced into the chamber, where they react with each other and "grow" into a crystalline Bi2Te3 structure on the surface of the GaAs.
Using advanced "Super-X" X-ray spectroscopy technology in conjunction with an aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope, the researchers were able to determine what was binding the Bi2Te3 to the GaAs -- and it was not what they were expecting.
They found that when the tellurium molecules were introduced to the vapor deposition chamber, the tellurium reacted with the GaAs substrate to create a new surface layer of gallium telluride, which was only one molecule thick. The Bi2Te3 then formed a thin film on top of that new surface layer.
Because gallium telluride does not react with Bi2Te3, the research team knew chemical bonding could not be holding them together. Instead, the two layers are held together by the weaker force of van der Waals bonds -- meaning the materials are held together by weak electrical forces.
"While these materials have been investigated previously by RTI and NC State, the state-of-the-art techniques applied by LeBeau and his team have revealed significant new insights into how the film grows," notes Dr. Rama Venkatasubramanian of RTI International, who is also a co-author of the paper.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by North Carolina State University.
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Journal Reference:
J. Houston Dycus, Ryan M. White, Jonathan M. Pierce, Rama Venkatasubramanian, James M. LeBeau. Atomic scale structure and chemistry of Bi2Te3/GaAs interfaces grown by metallorganic van der Waals epitaxy. Applied Physics Letters, 2013; 102 (8): 081601 DOI: 10.1063/1.4793518
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) ? First, he agreed to cut some of the more-graphic sex scenes. Now, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is trimming the title of his directorial debut.
The racy comedy originally called "Don Jon's Addiction" has been streamlined to "Don Jon."
At the film's screening late Monday at the South by Southwest film festival, Gordon-Levitt said he altered the name because some people mistakenly thought it was about porn addiction.
Though pornography plays a key role, Gordon-Levitt said "it's just a symbol."
He directs and stars in the story of a modern-day Don Juan, a New Jersey lady's man who prefers porn to actual sex ? even though he's having no shortage of the real thing.
Gordon-Levitt also plans to remove some of the steamiest scenes to ensure the film maintains an "R'' rating.
BRUSSELS (AP) ? The European Union banned the sale of new cosmetic products containing ingredients tested on animals with immediate effect Monday.
"This is a great opportunity for Europe to set an example of responsible innovation in cosmetics without any compromise on consumer safety," said Tonio Borg, the EU's top official on health and consumer issues.
Animal rights groups were quick to cheer the measure, but Cosmetics Europe, a trade body representing the EU's ?71 billion ($93 billion) industry, said the ban "acts as a brake on innovation."
While the industry's rabbits, mice or guinea pigs used in testing will now be spared, consumers are unlikely to notice immediate changes because products containing ingredients that were tested on animals before the ban can remain on the shelves.
The 27-country bloc's executive arm, the European Commission, claimed the decision "is in line with what many European citizens believe firmly: that the development of cosmetics does not warrant animal testing."
The EU has banned animal testing of finished cosmetic products since 2004. The ban on cosmetics containing animal-tested ingredients was first decided four years ago but initially left loopholes for certain tests following resistance from cosmetics companies.
At the moment, neither the U.S. nor Asian markets have similar bans in place. While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration prohibits the sale of unsafe cosmetics, it doesn't require that animal tests be conducted to show that the cosmetics are safe.
Animal rights groups such as Humane Society International cheered the EU's decision on the full ban as a major step in stopping animals' suffering, saying the bloc has now become "the world's largest cruelty-free cosmetics market."
The group also said it hopes the course taken by the EU ? whose nations combine form the world's biggest economy ? will soon be replicated by the global cosmetics industry.
The phase-out of animal testing over the years in Europe has resulted in a dramatic drop in such activity among U.S. cosmetic and personal care product manufacturers looking to sell overseas. U.S. beauty makers generated about $38.2 billion in revenue in 2011, according to the latest statistics from the Washington-based industry trade group Personal Care Products Council.
"This had an impact on the U.S. cosmetic industry," said Kathy Guillermo, senior vice-president of laboratory investigation for the activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, known as PETA. "It also ushered in a whole new era of non-animal science" in Europe.
The cosmetic industry's European trade body, however, said the new EU ban threatens the industry's competitiveness and comes too early because there is still no alternative for some specific animal tests to ensure all the ingredients' safety.
Cosmetics Europe chief Bertil Heerink said "by implementing the ban at this time, the European Union is jeopardizing the industry's ability to innovate," putting the 27-country bloc at odds with its own goal of fostering a knowledge- and science-driven economy.
The sector's European cosmetic companies had 2010 revenues of ?71 billion, directly employing some 180,000 people, according to the EU Commission.
The Commission stressed it will engage with its trading partners ? for example the United States or China ? "to explain and promote the European model and to work towards the international acceptance" of the ban.
"The Commission will make this an integral part of the Union's trade agenda and international cooperation," it said.
The EU and the U.S. are currently launching negotiations aiming at reaching a free-trade agreement.
New cosmetic products manufactured outside the EU containing ingredients that were tested on animals could still be sold in Europe, but only if producers are able to document their safety to EU regulators without using data gathered through animal tests, said EU health official Sabine Lecrenier.
Cosmetic products that contain pharmaceutical ingredients that have been tested on animals because of the EU's rules governing pharmaceutical products can also still be marketed in Europe.
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Anne D'Innocenzio in New York contributed to this story.
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Juergen Baetz can be reached on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jbaetz
Solano County's first countywide gun buyback program today collected 344 weapons including a military rocket launcher and multiple assault rifles, according to Vallejo police Chief Joseph Kreins.
The buyback, conducted from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., drew in 113? handguns, 67 shotguns, 163 rifles, including multiple assault rifles and the? rocket launcher, Kreins said.
"The goal of the operation was simple: We wanted to get as many? illegal and unwanted guns off the streets of Solano County as possible,"? Kreins said in a statement today.
"We all know that these very firearms are often used to commit? violent crimes against our fellow citizens and in a variety of tragic? scenarios, including suicides," Kreins added.
A similar gun buyback in Santa Clara County last weekend had a starting budget of $150,000.??? In the end, the Santa Clara County sheriff's department said they received 1,116 guns, which included 47 assault weapons. They gave out about $114,0000, which means they had money left over.
Join us for the 19th event of our Myths and Realities Series of Public Debates. We are working longer hours than ever and are likely to remain at work for more years. The cost of living is increasing and wages for low and middle income earners may not stretch as far as they once did. [...]
Sony has suggested that its big PS3 Christmas game, Wonderbook: Book of Spells, didn't perform as well as it had hoped.
Asked if he was disappointed with the game's performance, Sony Computer Entertainment UK MD Fergal Gara told MCV: "It could have sold better, but it sold respectively well."
Announced at E3 last July, the Move exclusive Harry Potter spin-off is the first title in a planned series of Wonderbook games.
Next up for PS3's augmented reality peripheral is detective caper Wonderbook: Diggs Nightcrawler, which was recently given a May release date.
Gara said: "I am encouraged that we have more titles coming and it may just take a little longer to get it to settle in consumer's consciousness.
"It was also relatively expensive if you didn't already have a PS3 or a Move controller. But I think as people learn it's about more titles, then that would give it some added momentum."
SCE UK marketing director Murray Pannell also said: "From a marketing perspective, Wonderbook was an important step in becoming more family-focused as a platform. That is not an easy job and can take years to achieve."
Deciding between investing in silver or investing in gold can be difficult, because it is largely a personal choice. Silver and gold are both precious metals and make for good investments when you want to protect your wealth against inflation.
Russell Ivanovic, Philip Simpson, and Matt Kelsh of Shifty Jelly talk to Marc, Seth, and Rene about being indie in Australia, making Pocket Weather, and why they decided to go Android first for Pocket Casts. Note: All accents in this show are, we assume, fake.
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Public release date: 28-Mar-2013
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