Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/05/eric-spoto-breaks-bench-pressing-world-record/
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Thursday, May 23, 2013
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
This Guy Built the Most Incredible Spider-Man Suit Ever
Though building out the armor required for an Iron Man suit is obviously (some would say imposingly) impressive
This is something Tobey Maguire Andrew Garfield Peter Parker would wear.
MoonSpider admits that he didn't actually make the suit himself but he connected all the right and talented people to get his creation off the ground. Still, it's impressive as hell. There are hidden zippers all around the suit, sneaky shoe uppers tied to the feet and incredibly detailed color representation. It's pretty much perfect.
The whole process is fascinating if you're into the DIY process (or appreciate thoughtfully detailed cosplay). MoonSpider first got the Spider-Man suit pattern in a digital painting file for printing on 4-way stretch lycra fabric at a dye sublimation printer. He describes the printing process, as basically "a giant printer that uses heat transfer to move fabric dyes from a printed color panel directly into the surface of the fabric by sublimating the ink from solid to gas."
The eyes are fantastic too. He got the frames made from black onyx and the lenses from flexible mirrored plastic with a white vinyl overlay. Perhaps the most important detail was to get the perfect seamstress since sewing in zippers to make the whole suit look like one piece is pretty difficult.
If you want to read more about the whole Spider-Man suit process (and you really should), head over here. It cost MoonSpider around $600, with a lot of the resources found from The Replica Prop Forum.
So, so good. [Imgur via Reddit via adafruit]
Source: http://gizmodo.com/this-guy-built-the-most-incredible-spider-man-suit-ever-509000354
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Whole-cell vaccine was more effective than acellular vaccine during CA pertussis outbreak
Whole-cell vaccine was more effective than acellular vaccine during CA pertussis outbreak
Monday, May 20, 2013Whole-cell pertussis vaccines were more effective at protecting against pertussis than acellular pertussis vaccines during a large recent outbreak, according to a new Kaiser Permanente study published in Pediatrics.
Whole-cell pertussis vaccines, also called DTwP, were available from the 1940s to 1990s, but were associated with safety concerns that ultimately led to the development of acellular pertussis vaccines, which are also called DTaP. By the late 1990s, the United States had switched from whole-cell to acellular vaccines for all five recommended infant and childhood doses.
The study, which followed the 2010-2011 pertussis outbreak in California, examined 10- to 17-year-olds who received the recommended four pertussis-containing vaccines. The researchers evaluated the risk of pertussis during the outbreak according to the number of whole-cell and/or acellular pertussis vaccines these participants had received as infants and toddlers.
Despite high levels of vaccine coverage, pertussis epidemics have arisen every three to five years since the 1980s, with progressively higher incidence rates over time. "Studies have suggested that protection following the acellular pertussis vaccine is less enduring than following the whole-cell pertussis vaccine," said lead author Nicola Klein, MD, PhD, co-director of the Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center and a pediatrician. "Although reasons for the recurrent pertussis outbreaks are complex, waning protection following five doses of acellular pertussis vaccine plays a central role, at least in recent epidemics."
The study included 138 individuals with confirmed pertussis, 899 individuals who had a lab test indicating they did not have pertussis, and 54,339 individuals who were similar to those with confirmed pertussis on sex, race/ethnicity, medical clinic, and membership status.
Increased number of acellular doses from zero to four was significantly associated with an increasing percent of positive pertussis tests. On average, individuals had a 40 percent increased risk of pertussis for each additional acellular dose received (as compared to receipt of a DTwP dose) between ages 1-24 months.
Teenagers who were vaccinated with four doses of acellular vaccines were at almost six times higher risk of pertussis than were those who had received four doses of whole-cell vaccines. Persons who received mixed whole-cell and acellular vaccines had an intermediate level of risk between those who received all whole-cell or all acellular vaccines. Those who received mixed vaccines were at nearly four times higher risk of pertussis than were those who received all whole-cell vaccines.
Earlier studies by Kaiser Permanente have shown that protection from the fifth dose of acellular pertussis vaccine wanes substantially during the five years after vaccination among children 4 to 12 years of age who have only received the acellular vaccine. The current study included only individuals born in 1999 or earlier, for whom at least five years had passed since receipt of the fifth pertussis vaccine.
Since 2005, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has recommended boosting with reduced antigen content acellular pertussis vaccine, also known as Tdap, for persons 11 years and older. The study found that a booster dose of Tdap did not overcome the advantage in protection from pertussis seen among those who had received four doses of the whole-cell vaccine.
"The results indicate that a booster dose of Tdap does not overcome the advantage in protection from pertussis afforded to those who previously received four doses of the whole-cell vaccine," Dr. Klein said. "Despite this, boosting the newly emerging cohort of acellular pertussis vaccine-only teenagers with Tdap remains the best means currently available to help protect this group against disease."
Studies demonstrate that whole-cell and acellular pertussis vaccines administered to infants trigger different immune responses that at least partially persist through the teenage years, but long-term clinical consequences of such differences have been unknown. The results of this study, the researchers said, suggest that variations in immune responses induced by primary immunization during infancy play a central role in protection from disease years later. Additionally, the study highlights the need for new pertussis vaccines that provide both an improved safety profile and long lasting immunity.
###
Kaiser Permanente: http://www.kp.org/newscenter
Thanks to Kaiser Permanente for this article.
This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.
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Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Chesapeake names Anadarko executive as new CEO
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) ? Chesapeake Energy has named Anadarko Petroleum executive Robert Douglas Lawler as its new CEO.
The appointment of the 46-year-old Lawler comes after a tough year during which Chesapeake's board ousted its founder and the company worked to shore up its finances.
The new CEO takes over as Chesapeake continues selling assets to pare down an enormous debt burden. Chesapeake intends to sell $4 billion to $7 billion in assets this year. It has sold about $2 billion so far in deals that have either been signed or finalized.
Former CEO and Chairman Aubrey McClendon built Chesapeake into the nation's second largest producer of natural gas by aggressively acquiring drilling rights on land throughout the country. When natural gas prices slumped to decade-lows in early 2012, the value of those rights plummeted, as did the revenue generated from the gas produced from the land. That put Chesapeake in a financial bind that it has been trying to free itself from by selling drilling rights to other oil and gas companies.
It also exposed some controversial perks that McClendon had arranged, including the right to invest personally in all of the company's wells. Investor uproar in the spring of 2012 over the perks and the way McClendon financed his investments led the company to remove its founder from the position of board chairman.
Even though subsequent internal investigations into McClendon's activities turned up no improper conduct, the company announced early this year that McClendon would leave the company because of "philosophical differences" between McClendon and the board.
Lawler is senior vice president for international and deep-water operations at Anadarko Petroleum. He also will join the Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake's board. The appointments are effective June 17.
Lawler is a petroleum engineer with 25 years of experience in the exploration and production industry.
Chesapeake shares rose 1.5 percent to $20.57 in premarket trading Monday.
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Monday, May 20, 2013
Tea party looks to take advantage of moment
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) ? Is the tea party getting its groove back? Shouts of vindication from around the country suggest the movement's leaders certainly think so.
They say the IRS acknowledgement that it had targeted their groups for extra scrutiny ? a claim that tea party activists had made for years ? is helping pump new energy into the coalition. And they are trying to use that development, along with the ongoing controversy over the Benghazi, Libya, terrorist attacks and the Justice Department's secret seizure of journalists' phone records, to recruit new activists incensed about government overreach.
"This is the defining moment to say 'I told you so,' " said Katrina Pierson, a Dallas-based tea party leader, who traveled to Washington last week as the three political headaches for President Barack Obama unfolded.
Luke Rogonjich, a tea party leader in Phoenix, called the trio of controversies a powerful confluence that bolsters the GOP's case against big government. "Suddenly, there are a lot of things pressing on the dam," said Rogonjich.
It's unclear whether a movement made up of disparate grassroots groups with no central body can take advantage of the moment and leverage it to grow stronger after a sub-par showing in last fall's election had called into question the movement's lasting impact. Republicans and Democrats alike say the tea party runs the risk of going too far in its criticism, which could once again open the door to Democratic efforts to paint it as an extreme arm of the GOP.
"Never underestimate the tea party's ability to overplay its hand," said Democratic strategist Mo Elleithee. "Just because there is universal agreement that the IRS went too far, that should not be misread as acceptance of the tea party's ideology of anger."
At the very least, furor over the IRS devoting special attention to tea party groups claiming tax-exempt status is giving the tea party more visibility than it has had in months, and it's providing a new rallying cry for tea party organizers starting to plot how to influence the 2014 congressional elections. The law allows tax-exempt organizations to lobby and dabble in politics as long as their primary purpose is social welfare.
The tax-agency scandal ? it has led to the acting IRS commissioner's ouster, a criminal investigation and Capitol Hill hearings ? seems to validate the tea party's long-held belief among supporters that government was trampling on them specifically, a claim dismissed by ousted commissioner Steven T. Miller. He has called the targeting "a mistake and not an act of partisanship."
Nevertheless, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., elected in 2010 with tea party backing, said the IRS scandal "confirms many of the feelings that led to the tea party movement in the first place."
"What's happened here is a reminder of, this is what happens when you expand government," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. "That and the disaster that is Obamacare is going to be a real catalyst in 2014 and beyond."
Tea party activists hope they also can drive support ahead of the elections by stoking widespread suspicions that the Obama administration and State Department are hiding key details about the September 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans. The seizure of Associated Press phone records also plays into their argument that government is too intrusive.
Tea party activists have tried to take advantage of the issues that have put some of their central tenets ? limited government and civil liberties ? in the spotlight.
From around the country last week, they headed Washington to hold a news conference on the Capitol steps and meet with members of Congress. Those who stayed home jammed House and Senate phone lines with calls urging congressional action as the IRS saga unfolded. An email from Teaparty.org that was sent to activists proclaimed: "We've worked so hard these past few years and it's paying off! We're witnessing the unraveling of a presidency at an unprecedented rate."
Freedomworks, a national tea party group, spent the week circulating petitions for congressional hearings and encouraging leaders of local groups who believe they have been targeted by the IRS to include their story on a national database to build the case against the agency.
"Perhaps all this attention will break something loose," said Jim Chiodo, an activist from Holland, Mich.
It wasn't long ago that the tea party was the hot new political kid on the block, bursting onto the national scene during the contentious summer debate over health care in 2009. Over the next few years, the loosely affiliated conservatives and civil libertarians would leave their mark on the 2010 elections by helping Republican candidates win Senate races in Florida, Kentucky, Utah and Wisconsin and scores of House races.
Those victories resulted in House and Senate Republican caucuses getting pushed to the right in legislative battles, making life difficult for Obama and his Democrats in an era of divided government.
But the movement's success was muted in 2012 when Republicans nominated the establishment-backed Mitt Romney for president, though he did little to inspire the tea party. He lost, and so did many tea party-backed House and Senate candidates.
Now, tea party activists say they are emboldened and won't be afraid to recruit candidates to run in Republican primaries against incumbents who appear to go easy on the Obama administration, particularly in light of the IRS scandal.
"It's one of those issues we should just raise hell about," said Nashville Tea Party leader Ben Cunningham.
Some say they're now even more suspicious of government than before.
"I personally feel so vindicated," said Mark Falzon, a New Jersey tea party leader. But he added: "What's scaring me now is what's going on below the water line that we're not seeing."
Republicans say that the tea party will have an opportunity come 2014 to make its mark again, particularly with Obama not at the top of the ticket. Also, they say that with Obama's health care law going into effect and with the slew of latest controversies, they now have concrete issues to point to when arguing against government overreach.
"Suddenly, this is a very real demonstration of too much power ceded to government bureaucrats," said Matt Kibbe, president of Freedomworks. "This is no longer theoretical."
___
Associated Press writers Steve Peoples in Boston and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.
Follow Thomas Beaumont on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Tom_Beaumont
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tea-party-looks-advantage-moment-131128674.html
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Axel Mercado is a Health and Fitness Coach. He's a certified Physician Assistant (PA-C) with a Master?s degree in Public Health (MPH) and a Bachelor?s (BS) degree in Physician Assistant Studies. He practices internal medicine, specializing in wound management. As a Health and Fitness Coach, Primary Care cllinician, and internist, he has helped hundred?s of individuals achieve their weight and health goals.Coughing eddie murphy Stephanie Bongiovi stanford football guy fieri Jill Kelley hope solo
Sunday, May 19, 2013
How To Turn Your Android Phone Into A Gaming Powerhouse
Your Android phone isn't just for widgets, talking, Google Now and photos. It can also be one of the world's best gaming platforms, if you're willing to spend a little time on it.
Once the domain of tinkerers and super-nerds, Android devices have exploded in popularity over the last couple of years, spurred on by the emergence of superphones like the Samsung Galaxy S 4, HTC One and Google's own Nexus 4.
Despite this increase, there remains the perception that - at least in terms of gaming - Android phones are somehow a step behind the iPhone. That things like piracy, a lack of apps and convoluted system specs are hindering the development of games on the platform.
I'm here to tell you this is bullshit. Chances are that if you own an Android phone, and picked it up within the last 18 months, you've got in your pocket a silent killer in terms of portable gaming.
Below you'll find four steps you can follow to turn that humble little smartphone into something a little more gamey.
1. USE GOOGLE PLAY
Well, duh. But if you're a new user, or someone contemplating making the switch, this is important.
Android users have a bad reputation for pirating software, including games, and in many ways that's a fair assumption. Pirating games for the platform is way too easy.
Don't be that guy.
Be the guy that visits the newly-redesigned Google Play Store (Android's equivalent of Apple App Store) and sees that, hey, nearly every big (and small) iPhone game is there too. Just as cheap. Just as plentiful.
To get you started, here are ten of the best games available in the store.
You'll even find some hot exclusives. Kairosoft's entire catalogue of addictive-as-hell management games is on the Play Store, for example, while only a handful have ever made it to the App Store.
Seriously, there are enough quality games on there already that we could end the guide right here and you'd be set. Luckily, we're not ending the guide here.
Those remaining developers who either delay bringing their games to Android, or don't do it at all, usually cite piracy as one of the big concerns. The more people actually pay for apps and games on Android, the more of these developers will be encouraged to bring their wares to the platform. So do it.
2. GO RETRO
Let's say you want to play something more substantial than most mobile titles can offer. Or a classic game from your childhood that, for better or worse, isn't available on the Play Store. The great thing about Android phones is that you can still play these games, and it's a lot easier - and more legal - than you might think.
Two of the most popular means of running old PC games on modern systems - DOSBox (for old DOS games) and ScummVM (for old adventure games) - both have versions available for Android devices.
Before we go any further, then, you're going to need install these three applications:
While that last link isn't necessary, you're really going to want it. What DOSBox Manager does is let you create a quicklaunch screen for the games, so instead of having to enter command prompts every time you want to play a game (which is normally how DOSBox works), you just tap some box art, same as a regular app/game.
The quickest, easiest and most legal way to get hold of old PC games is to visit a site like Good Old Games. Many titles you can purchase there are supported by DOSBox, so all you need to do is download the game to your PC and copy the files over to your phone.
Tom DuPont has written a great in-depth guide to this process which you can read here.
If you need help using DOSBox Turbo and/or getting your games running, the best place to start is the app's site, which has helpful (and easy to understand) walkthroughs and guides.
ScummVM is an easier proposition, but if you have trouble setting it up, the official guide gives you a great walkthrough on getting set up.
A word of caution, though: be careful which games you bring over. Your phone has limited inputs, most likely just a touchscreen, so trying to play a fast-paced RTS or shooter might not be the best idea. Slower, mouse-driven genres like adventure and turn-based strategy are a good place to start.
Unless, that is, you want to...
3. GET A CONTROLLER (OR USE A MOUSE)
It sounds crazy, I know. Buying an external controller for your phone defeats the entire point of playing games on a portable device. But the fact of the matter is, as phones become more powerful, phone games become more powerful, and it's a tragedy that people try to play something like Real Racing using touchscreen or tilt controls. Stick a pad on there and some of these newer games will feel like a console game, instead of just looking like one.
There's also the benefit it brings to the retro games you'll be playing. Use a gamepad and suddenly all those amazing old shooters are playable. Connect a bluetooth mouse to your phone and anything you can't play with a pad, you can probably play with it.
Doing this is pretty simple; provided they don't need drivers, Android natively supports bluetooth peripherals, including keyboards, mice and control pads. It'll even display a mouse cursor if it detects one. Just find your phone's bluetooth settings and pair it up.
To save you buying a gamepad, there's an app that lets you connect a PS3 pad to an Android device (though note: your phone needs to be rooted for this to work). Alternatively, you can sync a Wii Remote, since it also connects via Bluetooth (and can be configured with this app).
If you don't have a spare controller or mouse already lying around, or are looking for something a little more tailored, you can always try dedicated controller solutions like the MOGA Pro.
Again, this might sound crazy since you can do this a lot more easily on a regular computer, but consider this: old PC games weren't designed to run on giant 23" desktop monitors. You either stretch their visuals until they look like garbage, or run them in a window.
Phone screens, though, are at the cutting edge. Relatively tiny yet packing amazing colours and now sometimes even 1080p resolution, they breathe new life into your old games. Trust me, fire up something like Colonization or X-Com on a contemporary phone and it'll look better than ever.
4. GET A BIGGER BATTERY (OR BATTERY PACK)
The one major downside to the crop of modern Android smartphones is that, almost to the last, they've got terrible battery life. Most can barely last a single day, even with infrequent use. If you're planning on playing a game at home, that's not a problem, but let's be honest, how often will you be playing a phone game at home?
Running 3D graphics - or even just leaving a big bright screen on for long stretches - will kill your battery. So if you're serious about gaming on your Android phone, you should think about getting a bigger battery (if your phone supports removable batteries) or an external battery case/charging pack (if it doesn't).
5. SIGN UP TO ONLIVE
It's easy to forget about the company these days after all the problems it went through last year, but streaming service OnLive is still around, and it works on Android devices. Your mileage may vary depending on your device - it's more suited to tablets than phones - but if you've got a gamepad solution for your phone, and your connection is fast enough to pull it off, you can play all kinds of games that would normally never be available on the platform.
OnLive runs through an app you can get here. It's currently only available in North America and the UK.
?-
That should about cover it! There's enough here to get you started on turning your Android phone into a go-to games platform. If you've got something to add, though, let us know below!
Howtu is Kotaku's guide on how to get the most out of your gaming.
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Saturday, May 18, 2013
Weekend Reading: The DH Summer Edition - ProfHacker - The ...
- In ?Famous Authors? Handwritten Outlines for Great Works of Literature,??Emily Temple gives her readers some inspiration in showing you how famous authors planned out their novels (which may inspire you to check out Amy Cavendar?s review of Scapple,?a terrific new mindmapping app): ?Writing a novel (or a story, for that matter) is confusing work. There are just so many characters running all over the place, dropping hints and having revelations. So it?s no surprise that many authors plan out their works beforehand, in chart or list or scribble form, in order to keep everything straight. After the jump, you?ll find a mini collection of those planning papers, so you can take a peek into the process of some of your favorite authors, from James Salter to J.K. Rowling.?
- Last weekend,?Roopika Risam and I hosted an Open Thread on Postcolonial Digital Humanities (#DHPoco) asking a question inspired by Martha Nell Smith, the founding Director of MITH: ?Has the Digital Humanities been a Historical Refuge from Race/Class/Gender/Disability??: ?In 2007, Martha Nell Smith observed: ?When I first started attending humanities computing conferences in the?mid-1990s, I was struck by how many of the presentations remarked, either explicitly?or implicitly, that concerns that had taken over so much academic?work in literature?of gender, race, class, sexuality?were irrelevant to humanities?computing. [?]? Scientific matters of mathematics?and computation, objective and hard, do not seem to be subject to the concerns?of gender, race, or sexuality. 2 + 2, so the reasoning goes, always equals?4, whether you are black, a woman, a queer, a straight, or whatever. HTML,?SGML, XML?the codes that make words and images, texts, processable?and TEI conformancy are supposedly gender-, race-, class-neutral.?The codes?always work, and the principles always apply, whatever one?s personal identity?or social group (or so many seemed to believe).? In your view, how much of this has changed since Smith?s article was published, if anything?? The thread has now generated over 150 comments, which some people have indicated is overwhelming.?New readers may thus find our latest lighthearted summary of the thread useful. You are welcome to edit and contribute to the summary by editing the embedded Google document.
- Introducing peer-reviewed research on Facebook! TechCrunch?s Josh Costine?tells us, ?If subjects like ?XORing Elephants: Novel Erasure Codes for Big Data? get you all worked up, you?ll dig the??Research Publications At Facebook? site, which collects scientific papers written by Facebook employees and researchers. Ranging from hardcore engineering to the sociology of social networks, the library puts Facebook?s open-sourced knowledge all in one place.?
- Launching next week: What Jane Saw, a very interesting digital recreation of Jane Austen?s view of an 1813 art exhibit at the British Institution in Pall Mall, London: ?On 24 May 2013, two centuries to the day that Austen viewed the 141 paintings in that exhibit, this site will open its doors as a public e-gallery, offering the modern visitor a precise historical reconstruction of that long-lost Regency blockbuster.?
- It?s been twenty years since Paul Gilroy published his seminal The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness, a book which has expanded American studies to Atlantic Ocean studies, particularly with reference to the African Diaspora. Africa in Words is running a series of posts on the book. Check out Nara Improta?s first post, which offers a useful summary and contextualization of the book and its impact: ?For Gilroy, the common experience of the Black Atlantic is based on memory. The Black Atlantic is an articulation of the past, rooted in the suffering and in the way people dealt with pain. And for him, the best form of expression of this suffering was music. However, music was more than just a way of transforming pain into pleasure; it was more than a reaction to oppression. It also included an intellectual message. In this sense, Gilroy argues that music should be studied without placing it in a Hegelian hierarchy in which it is seen as a pure form of expression of the soul. On the contrary, he explains that we should not overlook the intellectuality that is part of this form of art. From the syncopated rhythm to the content of the lyrics, for him, Atlantic black music was an intellectual production and should be studied as such, taking into consideration its complexity and seeking to understand its role in social history.?
Finally instead of a video, here?s a DogHouse Diaries comic from Mashable on how technology has made everything (including world domination) something you now do from your computer:
Big Summer Sky Image Credit:?Meena Kadri?on Wikimedia Commons
Past and Present Comic Credit: DogHouse Diaries on Mashable
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Source: http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/weekend-reading-the-dh-summer-edition/49443
Colleges face enrollment shortfalls, offer discounts: report
By Andrea Burzynski
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Many leading U.S. colleges and universities face a shortfall in enrollment for fall classes and will offer price discounts as they compete for students in an ever expanding higher education market, according to Forbes.
The magazine highlighted 50 public and private U.S. colleges listed in the Princeton Review's "Best Colleges" list that are still accepting students in their 2013 freshman classes.
In their scramble to fill empty seats, colleges are likely to offer significant tuition discounts in the form of grants in a type of free market pricing that goes on behind the scenes, Forbes said.
"There are many more colleges in the United States than is economically viable," wrote Matt Schifrin, managing editor of investing content at Forbes Media. "Many colleges make deals with families, offering significant rebates to their advertised prices."
Among colleges still seeking students for fall classes are Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, the University of Maryland, College Park, The New School in New York City, Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, and Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, according to Forbes.com.
Its list includes more selective schools but the National Association of College Admissions Counselors counts 288 colleges nationwide that have reported having space for incoming freshmen this fall.
The rising price of college tuition scares families and parents, but they can get discounts if they look, Schifrin said.
Average tuition and fees alone at private nonprofit four-year institutions rose $1,173 or 4.2 percent to $29,056 in 2012-13, according to the College Board. The costs are not much lower for out-of-state students at public four-year institutions where average tuition and fees rose $883 or 4.2 percent to $21,706.
Although most colleges ask for deposits from accepted students by May 1, Forbes said it's not too late to apply.
Most schools on the list offer grants and scholarships to at least 90 percent of their incoming freshman, with some schools' average grants exceeding $20,000.
For example, 99 percent of incoming students receive a grant or tuition rebate from Juniata College, a private liberal arts college in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, according to Forbes.
If students meet certain academic qualifications, they should not expect to pay more than half of Juniata's 2013 tuition rate of $45,590, even if their family's household income is above $200,000, it added.
Even schools that have taken measures to control costs are experiencing shortfalls. Despite a tuition freeze and a lower price tag relative to many private universities, the public St. Mary's College of Maryland still has space for 150 students, according to the Washington Post.
Private not-for-profit schools are the most likely to offer discounts in the form of grants. Schifrin said there are also relative bargains to be had at public schools, though the percentage of students who receive grants tends not to be as high.
(Reporting by Andrea Burzynski; editing by Patricia Reaney and Andrew Hay)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/colleges-face-enrollment-shortfalls-offer-discounts-report-200340803.html
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Powerball jackpot closing in on another record
Cathy Raymond, of Oklahoma City, displays the Powerball Lottery tickets she purchased in Oklahoma City, Friday, May 17, 2013. Powerball officials say the jackpot has climbed to an estimated $600 million, making it the largest prize in the game's history and the world's second largest lottery prize.(AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Cathy Raymond, of Oklahoma City, displays the Powerball Lottery tickets she purchased in Oklahoma City, Friday, May 17, 2013. Powerball officials say the jackpot has climbed to an estimated $600 million, making it the largest prize in the game's history and the world's second largest lottery prize.(AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Elizabeth Dillard, left, of Oklahoma City, shows store clerk Mobi, right, the numbers she wants in the Powerball Lottery as she purchases tickets in Oklahoma City, Friday, May 17, 2013. Looking on at center is Lindsay Horn. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Sandra Ortiz, center, fills in her numbers while waiting in line to buy Powerball tickets outside Bluebird liquor store in Hawthorne, Calif., Friday, May 17, 2013. Powerball officials say the jackpot has climbed to an estimated $600 million, making it the largest prize in the game's history and the world's second largest lottery prize. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
FILE - In this June 20, 2012 file photo, workers from the Quaker Oats plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, react as their winning $241 million Powerball ticket is scanned at the Iowa Lottery headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa. Work pools for big jackpots are often fraught with controversy, resulting in lawsuits, broken friendships and worse: delayed payouts. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
A clerk dispenses a Powerball Lottery ticket in Oklahoma City, Friday, May 17, 2013. Powerball officials say the jackpot has climbed to an estimated $600 million, making it the largest prize in the game's history and the world's second largest lottery prize.(AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) ? Less than 10 months after three tickets split a world-record lottery prize, the jackpot for Saturday's Powerball drawing was nearing historic territory once again.
Should nobody pick the correct six numbers, the prize money will roll over to next week's drawing and almost certainly eclipse the $656 million doled out to winners in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland in the Mega Millions game in March 2012.
But the record could fall Saturday night too if a flurry of last-minute ticket purchases pushes the jackpot much above its current $600 million level. Since the previous drawing on Wednesday, it had grown by at least $236 million.
"If there was no chance, you wouldn't do it," said New Jersey attorney Rubin Sinins, who represented five construction workers who claimed a colleague cheated them out of a share of a multimillion-dollar lottery jackpot.
It seems simple enough: Just correctly pick five white balls out of a drum of 59 and one red one out of a drum of 35.
However, the odds of a single $2 ticket hitting the correct combination are about 1 in 175.2 million. That's slightly less likely than randomly drawing the name of one specific female in the United States: 1 in 157 million, according to the last census.
With such an astronomic payoff available for the lucky ticket holder, some buyers are content to settle for just a share of the winnings.
In Houston, city firefighter John Paetow and a dozen of his colleagues kicked in $10 each for the drawing, as they do occasionally when a the stakes soar into the lottery stratosphere.
"With firemen it's a camaraderie thing," said Paetow, 59. "It just makes sense to pool our money; it buys more tickets, gives us a better chance of winning."
Even if Saturday's drawing doesn't top last year's Mega Millions jackpot, it's already the highest in Powerball history, surpassing that game's $587.5 million record set in November 2012.
A major reason for the sales surge is that last month, Powerball landed the nation's most populous state as California joined 42 others that offer the game. California lottery director Robert O'Neill said the state had brought "sunshine and good fortune" to Powerball.
The Multi-State Lottery Association conducts the drawing live Saturday night from Tallahassee, Fla. The balls are weighed and X-rayed, and there are practice runs before the official televised version.
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Bombs at mosques in northwest Pakistan kill 15
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) ? Bombs that exploded outside two mosques in a village in northwestern Pakistan killed at least 15 people Friday, underlining the challenge of militant violence facing a new government set to take power under the leadership of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
The blasts at the two Sunni Muslim mosques also wounded 70 people, said tribal police officer Mohammad Jamil Khan. Both of the mosques were badly damaged, and the roof of one of them collapsed. The mosques were located in Baz Darrah village in the Malakand district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said another tribal police officer, Badshah Rehman.
Shahid Ali, who was in the first mosque that was attacked, said the explosion came just as worshippers were starting Friday prayers.
"I rushed out with others and saw several people bleeding and crying," Ali told The Associated Press by telephone. "There was dust and smoke around."
Ali rushed to the second mosque after it was attacked and saw that its roof had caved in and it was on fire.
"Many people are buried under the rubble," he said.
Rescue workers were trying to retrieve the dead and wounded from the debris, Rehman said.
Ameer Wahab, an injured college student at a hospital, said he was among more than 100 people inside the main hall of the mosque where the Imam (prayer leader) had just finished the Friday sermon when a deafening bang was heard from the veranda of the mosque.
"I don't know how I managed to get out of that hell. There was fire and debris, my feet, my face was burning and something hit me at arm," Wahab told The Associated Press.
Dr. Zardost Khan at Dargai Hospital, where Wahab was admitted, said 35 injured and one dead were brought to his hospital while many more injured and dead were taken to other hospitals in surrounding areas.
No one has claimed responsibility for the blasts, but suspicion will likely fall on the Pakistani Taliban.
The Sunni militant group has been waging a bloody insurgency against the government for years that has killed thousands of civilians and security personnel. The militants have attacked Sunni mosques in the past, perhaps because the worshippers did not follow their extremist brand of Islam.
The Pakistani army has mounted multiple operations against the militants in the northwest, but they have proven resilient and continue to carry out near-daily attacks.
The Taliban recently launched a series of attacks in the run-up to national elections on May 11 in an attempt to derail the vote. Pakistanis defied the militant group by coming out in large numbers to cast their ballots.
Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N Party was the big winner in the election and appears set to form the next government. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Party, led by former cricket star Imran Khan, is expected to form the provincial government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Both politicians have called for negotiations with the Taliban, and Khan has even said that Pakistani troops should stop battling the militants and pull out of areas of the northwest. Now he faces the task of applying his election platform to the challenges of governing one of Pakistan's most violent areas.
Sharif's government will also seek to turn around Pakistan's economy, which is hampered by power outages that last up to 18 hours a day in some parts of the country.
Pakistan has turned to neighboring Iran to help deal with the crisis. On Friday, a spokesman for Pakistan's Ministry of Commerce said that Iran is providing electricity to several towns and villages in southwest Baluchistan province at cost of around $3 million a month.
Paying for the electricity is complicated by U.S. sanctions preventing financial transactions with many Iranian banks because of the country's suspect nuclear program, said Mohammad Ashraf. Therefore, Pakistan plans to pay for the electricity by exporting wheat to Iran.
"This food supply doesn't come under international sanctions Iran is facing," Ashraf said.
Iran sent Pakistan a bill for $53 million for electricity supplied up to mid-February, said Ashraf. Pakistan plans to pay by sending Iran 1 million tons of wheat. The Pakistani government on Thursday approved sending 100,000 tons of wheat as the first installment. The first ship carrying about 30,000 tons is expected to sail to Iran sometime next week, Ashraf said.
Pakistan also has plans to build a pipeline to import natural gas from Iran, despite the threat of U.S. sanctions.
____
Associated Press writers Zarar Khan and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad and Sherin Zada in Mingora, Pakistan contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bombs-mosques-northwest-pakistan-kill-15-160424745.html
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Minnesota's health insurance exchange board will elect chair at first ...
The new MNsure Board, which oversees Minnesota's health insurance exchange, meets for the first time today, to elect a chair and set a schedule for future meetings.
The 1 p.m. meeting, open to the public, will be in the conference room of the state Revenue Department, 600 Robert St., St. Paul.
The meeting, scheduled to run until 4:15 p.m., also will include an overview of the health exchange from April Todd-Malmlov, MNsure executive director.?
MNsure is scheduled to begin enrollment in October for health care coverage beginning in 2014. It will enable consumers to compare health plans side by side, get access to federal tax credits for affordable coverage, and enroll in Medical Assistance.
Officials say an estimated 1.3 million Minnesotans are expected to access quality health coverage using MNsure by 2016.
Gov. Mark Dayton appointed the seven-member board last month. The members are:
- Thompson Aderinkomi, founder and CEO, RetraceHealth.
- Pete Benner, a consultant on health care, labor relations, and public policy, and former executive director of AFSCME Council 6,
- Brian Beutner, former CEO of mPay Gateway and former?UnitedHealth Group executive.
- Kathryn Duevel, OBGYN, Affiliated Community Medical Care (retired).
- Tom Forsythe, vice president of global communications, General Mills.
- Lucinda Jesson, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Services
- Phil Norrgard, director of human services, Fond du Lac Reservation.
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Friday, May 17, 2013
Mile-wide tornado rips through North Texas town
>> go! i win! what's in your wallet?
>>> seven people remain unaccounted for after a string of tornadoes, one a mile wide devastated northern texas overnight, claim the lives of six adults, leaving over 100 houses damaged or destroyed. at this hour, over 20,000 people remain without power and 37 people have been treated at area hospitals. nbc's gabe gutierrez is live in granberry, texas with the latest.
>> good afternoon, initial findings this was an ef-4 tornado, with winds of 166 to 200 miles per hour. seven people are still accounted for, down from this morning when we heard that 14 people were unaccounted for. several of those other people have been found. but six people are dead in this community. which is suffering from a devastating blow. the hardest hit neighborhood in granbury was built mostly by habitat from humanity there were two other separate twisters in texas that also did some damage around the fort worth area. here in granbury, six people are dead, seven unaccounted for. search and rescue efforts are under way as other residents struggle to clean up the damage. back to you.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
[BLOG] Optimism continues for the national commercial real estate ...
By
In many ways, the U.S. economy is still very much in the recovery phase, following years of tumult and unrest ? but according to the California-based, nationally-focused real estate investment and development firm Bentley Forbes, things are starting to look up for the commercial real estate sector. The company is hardly alone in thinking so; in fact, to illustrate its point, Bentley Forbes points to a recent article from the San Antonio Business Journal, which suggests that, despite ?a sluggish economy and looming legislative and regulatory issues,? the country?s foremost real estate brokers still anticipate positive trends in the commercial sector.
?It is easy to point to the few storm clouds that continue to darken the economic horizon, but the bottom line is that people are getting back to work, and as such interest in retail and office space is increasing,? the company affirms. ?This is to say nothing of continued positivity in the multi-family residential sector. Commercial real estate has had a rocky few years, but the future looks very promising indeed.?
The San Antonio Business Journal report makes note of the most recent Market Trends Report from the Certified Commercial Investment Member Institute and the National Association of Realtors. The report examines the state of various commercial real estate sectors ? including office, industrial retail, and multi-family ? as of the first quarter of 2013, and generally speaking, the tenor is highly optimistic.
Indeed, one of the most important points made in the study is that commercial real estate transactions seem to be increasing; 53 percent of those surveyed say that they had more transactions in 2012 than they did in 2011. The study also notes that those transactions were driven by buyers more than by sellers.
Meanwhile, some 50 percent of those who participated in the survey claim that commercial real estate prices are similar to those from last year; 30 percent say that prices are actually higher. Rents are stable-to-rising, too, with 40 percent of those surveyed saying that rents in 2013 are similar to in recent years, and 32 percent saying they are higher.
?It is clear that there is an increased level of optimism in this industry, which is good news for all of us,? concludes Bentley Forbes
Source: http://journalrecord.com/2013/05/14/blog-optimism-for-national-commercial-real-estate-market/
Nvidia's portable gaming console Shield will hit retail in June for ...
Video games 
10 hours ago
Nvidia
Nvidia's new mobile gaming console, "Shield," will hit the shelves next month with a hefty starting price tag of $349.
The portable gaming console formerly known as "Project Shield" will arrive at select online and brick-and-mortar retailers next month, developer Nvidia announced Tuesday.
Nvidia first unveiled its mobile gaming device in a surprise move at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) under the comic book-like moniker "Project Shield." Now known simply as "Shield," the new Android-powered mobile gaming device and the first to be produced by a company best known for its line of graphics processing units (GPUs) and mobile processors will debut for $349 ? a high price point for a fading part of the market for gaming hardware.
Units will begin shipping to select stores including GameStop, Newegg, Micro Center, and Canada Computers in June, Nvidia said in blog post Prospective fans can begin pre-ordering the device on May 20, though anyone who previously signed up for the device's newsletter through Nvidia's website can begin pre-ordering the device immediately.
A major challenge that any mobile console developer faces is in securing enough quality software to make the device worth it. Seeing as Shield will enter the market at more than twice the price of the current market leader, Nintendo's 3DS, and without the proprietary Mario and Donkey Kong games that make its competitor such a unique product, this is a particularly pressing dilemma for Nvidia to resolve.
Given the relative openness of Google's Play store, the company may have found its savior in the Android operating system ? though, like PowerA's Moga controller or PlayJam's GameStick, the Shield console would still need to optimize Android games to the new hardware to make spending the extra cash actually worth it for customers.
Nvidia said that in addition to an unspecified number of Google Play store games and apps that will be compatible with the device, the Shield will come with two games, "Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2," an "Expendable: Rearmed." The company also said that it has entered into partnerships for five additional games ? "Costume Quest" and "Broken Age" from Kickstarter wunderkind Double Fine, "Flyhunter: Origins" from Steel Wool Games, "Skiing Fred" from Dedalord Games and "Chuck's Challenge" from Niffler.
Yannick LeJacq is a contributing writer for NBC News who has also covered games for Kill Screen, The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic. You can follow him on Twitter at @YannickLeJacq and reach him by email at ylejacq@gmail.com.
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This Liquid Hydrogen UAV Just Flew for Two Days Straight
In 2009, the Office of Naval Research's super-endurance drone, the Ion Tiger, flew for a record 23 hours, 17 minutes?the longest ever for a fuel cell-powered UAV. But late last week, the ONR demolished its own record with a 48-plus hour foray into the great blue yonder.
The original Ion Tiger relied on hydrogen compressed to 5,000 psi to power its all-electrical system on its record-setting flight?fantastic by fuel cell standards, but not that far off from other US UAVs that run on fossil fuels. However, by replacing the compressed hydrogen with a cryogenic fuel tank filled with liquid hydrogen?which boasts triple the energy density of compressed and 21 times the density of equivalent-weight batteries?the Tiger's 550-Watt engine can keep the 37-pound drone and its 6-pound payload aloft up to 14,000 feet for twice that duration. What's more, these electric engines are nearly silent, allowing the UAV to swoop as low as 1,000 feet without being audibly detected; it also leaves no con trail, and has a much smaller thermal signature than internal combustion engines.
The US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) worked with Protonex Technology Corporation, the University of Hawaii, and HyperComp Engineering to develop the Ion Tiger's fuel cells. The craft itself may soon see service as a long-linger ISR platform while its 2,500 W-hr/kg PEM fuel cell can be scaled up to support larger UAVs and other aircraft. [National Research Lab - Aerowiki - Science Daily - Images: ONR]
Source: http://gizmodo.com/this-liquid-hydrogen-uav-just-flew-for-two-days-straigh-504876691
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Celebrities aren't spared cancer battles
Celebs 
1 hour ago
NBC file
Like Angelina Jolie, Sharon Osbourne had a preventative double mastectomy.
Angelina Jolie announced Tuesday in the New York Times that she has undergone a preventive double mastectomy after being told that she carries the BRCA1 gene, sharply increasing her risk for breast and ovarian cancer.
"I choose not to keep my story private because there are many women who do not know that they might be living under the shadow of cancer," wrote Jolie, who lost her own mother to cancer in 2007. "It is my hope that they, too, will be able to get gene tested, and that if they have a high risk they, too, will know that they have strong options."
Fame and wealth didn't protect Jolie from the decision she had to make, and she's far from the first celebrity who's battled cancer.
Sharon Osbourne
In the fall of 2012, reality show star Sharon Osbourne, wife of rocker Ozzy, revealed that she too had a preventative double mastectomy upon learning that, like Jolie, she carried a gene that made her susceptible to breast cancer. "I've had cancer before and I didn't want to live under that cloud," she told Hello! Magazine. Osbourne was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2001.
Allyn Rose, Miss D.C.
Allyn Rose represented the District of Columbia in January's Miss America pageant. Before competing, Rose announced that she carries another genetic mutation -- not BRCA1 or BRCA2 -- and plans to have a preventative double mastectomy after her year as Miss D.C. Rose's mother, a marathon runner, died of breast cancer when her daughter was just 16, and Rose competed with the pageant platform of "?Breast Cancer: Planning a Marathon, Running a Sprint."
Giuliana Rancic
TV host Giuliana Rancic didn't want to have a mammogram as part of her infertility treatment in 2011, but her doctor insisted -- and Rancic later called it one of the best decisions of her life. The mammogram showed the early stages of breast cancer, and Rancic eventually underwent a double mastectomy.
Judy Blume
Beloved young adult fiction author Judy Blume revealed on her website in September 2012 that she had been diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma. Blume chose to have a single mastectomy and reconstructive surgery, though she later mused on her site that she wondered if she should have had both breasts removed. "A yenta with a sense of humor said, 'Honey... take them both off and get yourself a matched pair,' " Blume wrote. "She wasn't the only one who recommended that. And I admit, sometimes I think I should have."
Christina Applegate
Actress Christina Applegate was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008 and elected to remove both breasts even though the disease was contained to one. Applegate's own mother battled breast cancer, and the actress tested positive for the BRCA1 gene mutatation. ?I just wanted to kind of be rid of it,? she said. ?So this was the choice I made and it was a tough one.?
Kathy Bates
"Misery" star Kathy Bates underwent a double mastectomy in the fall of 2012, almost a decade after being treated for ovarian cancer. "I don't miss my breasts as much as I miss 'Harry's Law,' " she joked of her canceled show.
Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/celebrities-arent-spared-cancer-battles-1C9912898
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Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Lenovo G580
When most people think of budget-class systems, they invariably (and rightfully) think about compromises in looks or performance. The Lenovo G580 does a good job of subverting these preconceived notions, serving up a Windows 8-equipped laptop that merges good performance and an admirable feature set in an affordable package. For these reasons, it's our new Editors' Choice for budget laptops.
Design and Features
Measuring 1.35 by 14.8 by 9.65 inches (HWD), the G580 is slightly bulky, though its 5.09 pound frame is lighter than the Dell Inspiron 17-3721 (5.9 pounds). Like the HP Pavilion Sleekbook 15z-b000, its all-plastic chassis is decked out in a glossy black finish with a subtle glittery effect. As was the case with the HP 15z-b000, though, the Lenovo G580's frame has the unfortunate tendency of attracting a noticeable amount of fingerprints and smudging within a few minutes of use.
The tiled keyboard boasts comfortably rounded keys with the right amount of travel in each keystroke. This excellent typing experience more than adequately compensates for the keyboard's absence of backlight, especially since that's a typical omission at this price point. Ditto for the Lenovo G580's responsive touchpad, whose textured finish allows users to pinch and swipe through Windows 8 with a pleasant blend of comfort and accuracy.
The G580's 15.6-inch display has a maximum resolution of 1,366 by 768, making it capable of supporting 720P content. This feature can easily be taken advantage of thanks to the system's integrated tray-loading DVD burner. With its vibrant colors and crisp text, the display is just as easy on the eyes on the Windows 8 Start screen as it is in video playback. The Lenovo G580's speakers produce clear sounds when maxed out, which is generally loud enough to fill a small room.
I/O port selection on the G580 is on par with others in its class. There's a card reader in the front of the system, and the right side houses a headphone jack, USB 2.0 port, and DVD burner. The left side, meanwhile, sports an Ethernet port, VGA and HDMI outputs, and a pair of USB 3.0 ports, effectively yielding twice as much USB 3.0 connectivity as the Toshiba Satellite C875-S7340.
The G580's 500GB 5,400rpm hard drive offers a good amount of storage space for most casual users. There is, however, a chunk of preloaded software that ranges in usefulness. As is often the case, the software ranges from useful (Microsoft Office Starter 2010, Cyberlink PowerDVD burning suite) to extraneous bloatware (links to Evernote, AccuWeather, and Skype, FreeRide games, an Amazon.com browser app). Additionally, users will also find a bevy of proprietary software (Lenovo Energy Management, Companion, YouCam, and so on) and some trial software (30 days of McAfee Internet Security and Nitro PDF). The G580 is covered by a one-year limited warranty on parts and labor.
Performance
The LG580's performance extended to multimedia tests. It completed our Handbrake video-encoding test in a brisk 1 minute 18 seconds, leaving the Satellite C875-S7340 (1:28) nipping at its heels while others like the Inspiron 17-3721 (1:59) languished in the dust. Likewise, it breezed through our Photoshop CS6 test's dozen or so filters in a brisk 5 minutes 32 seconds, giving it a comfortable lead over slower systems like the Acer V5-571-6891 (8:43) and, to a greater extent, the HP 15z-b000 (10:59).
The G580 didn't rout the competition as resoundingly in our 3DMark11 tests, though (1,119 points in Entry-level settings; 205 points in Extreme settings), where it fell short of the HP 15z-b000 (1,134 and 213 points, respectively). At any rate, the G580's capacity for moderate media creation belies its affordable price, in turn allowing users to experiment with Photoshop and movie-editing without having to shell out too much cash. Conversely, the Lenovo G580 conformed to its status as a budget laptop in failing to produce playable frame rates in either Heaven or Aliens vs. Predator. Dabbling with photos and videos is one thing, but don't expect to play any high-end games on it anytime soon.
The G580's removable 48Whr battery lasted for 4 hours 3 minutes on our battery rundown test, finishing only minutes short of the class-leading Aspire V5-571-6891 (4:07). While this won't get you through an entire day on a single charge, it's nonetheless good for budget laptops, especially considering how poorly other systems like the Satellite C875-S7340 (2:39) and Sleekbook 15z-b000 (3:20) fared.
With its solid performance, terrific keyboard, and affordable price tag, the Lenovo G580 offers budget-conscious users a great opportunity to enter the Windows 8 fray without having to shell out more than $500 or settle for a ho-hum system. For these reasons, it unseats the Dell Inspiron 17-3721 as our Editors' Choice for budget laptops.
BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS:
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/PhHXYFF_20g/0,2817,2418844,00.asp
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Joyce Brothers, columnist, TV star, and $64,000 winner, dies
Joyce Brothers dies: After getting her start on 'The $64,000 Question,' Joyce Brothers offered advice on talk shows and in Good Housekeeping columns for decades.
This undated file photo shows Dr. Joyce Brothers in the studio of her radio show. The popular psychologist, columnist, and television and film personality died in New York City on Monday, May 13.
AP / File
EnlargeJoyce Brothers, the pop psychologist who pioneered the television advice show in the 1950s and enjoyed a long and prolific career as a syndicated columnist, author, and television and film personality, has died. She was 85.
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Brothers died Monday of respiratory failure in New York City, according to her longtime Los Angeles-based publicist, Sanford Brokaw.
Brothers first gained fame on a game show and went on to publish 15 books and make cameo appearances on popular shows including "Happy Days" and "The Simpsons." She visited Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show" nearly 100 times.
The way Brothers liked to tell it, her multimedia career came about "because we were hungry."
It was 1955. Her husband, Milton Brothers, was still in medical school and Brothers had just given up her teaching positions at Hunter College and Columbia University to be home with her newborn, firmly believing a child's development depended on it.
But the young family found itself struggling on her husband's residency income. So Brothers came up with the idea of entering a television quiz show as a contestant.
"The $64,000 Question" quizzed contestants in their chosen area of expertise. She memorized 20 volumes of a boxing encyclopedia ? and, with that as her subject, became the only woman and the second person to ever win the show's top prize.
Brothers tried her luck again on the superseding "$64,000 Challenge," answering each question correctly and earning the dubious distinction as one of the biggest winners in the history of television quiz shows. She later denied any knowledge of cheating, and during a 1959 hearing in the quiz show scandal, a producer exonerated her of involvement.
Her celebrity opened up doors. In 1956, she became co-host of "Sports Showcast" and frequently appeared on talk shows.
Two years later, NBC offered her a trial on an afternoon television program in which she advised on love, marriage, sex and child-rearing. Its success led to a nationally telecast program, and subsequent late-night shows that addressed such taboo subjects as menopause, frigidity, impotence and sexual enjoyment.
She also dispensed advice on several phone-in radio programs, sometimes going live. She was criticized by some for giving out advice without knowing her callers' histories. But Brothers responded that she was not practicing therapy on the air and that she advised callers to seek professional help when needed.
Despite criticism of the format, the call-in show took off, and by 1985, the Association of Media Psychologists was created to monitor for abuses.
Dr. Drew Pinsky, who has offered his medical expertise in radio and television formats first pioneered by Brothers, was among those sharing reaction to her death Monday.
Cutting Carbon Dioxide Isn?t Enough
A thermal power plant in Changchun, China. Even as we try to reduce CO2 production, what happens to the CO2 already in the atmosphere?Photo by STR/AFP/Getty Images
According to data being gathered at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, which has been monitoring atmospheric carbon dioxide since 1958, the CO2 concentration in the Earth?s atmosphere officially exceeded the 400 parts per million mark last week, a value not attained on Earth since humans were first human.
This ominous milestone comes at a time when the evidence that human activity is resulting in unprecedented climate change is now overwhelming. More important, perhaps, even if all greenhouse gas production ceased immediately, this elevated carbon dioxide level would persist in the atmosphere for thousands of years.
Indeed, even moving relatively quickly toward a carbon-neutral economy will still result in a net increase in CO2 in the atmosphere for the foreseeable future. But that is moot, because we are nowhere close to moving quickly in this regard anyway. Fossil fuel reserves have effectively increased, due to improved technologies for extraction, and investment in alternative energy sources has been limited due to artificially low prices on carbon-based energy. As a result, 2012 was likely another record year for human-induced CO2 production.
So in addition to undertaking dramatic global efforts to reduce present and future CO2 emissions, we need a strategy for addressing the carbon already up there. Recently, a broad group of geologists, planetary scientists, climatologists, social scientists, and physicists convened at the Origins Project at Arizona State University, which I direct, to explore such strategies. (Disclosure: Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, the New America Foundation, and ASU.) As an upcoming paper being prepared by 15 of the participants* at the meeting will argue, we came to a broad consensus that there is an increasingly urgent need to seriously consider removing and sequestering CO2 directly from our atmosphere.
This effort should not be confused with ongoing efforts to capture CO2 and sequestering it at its source, for example, from outgoing flue gas from coal-fired power plants. That area is important, too, but it?s already being explored, and the technological demands are quite different.
Extracting CO2 from the atmosphere, even with its current level of 400 ppm, is very different?and in some ways more difficult?than extracting it from flue gas, where the CO2 concentration is much greater. But on the brighter side, extracting ambient CO2 from the atmosphere does not have to be anywhere near 100 percent efficient. Both of these factors imply different constraints on the extraction process that will affect its ultimate cost.
There are two parts to the extraction process. First, one removes CO2 from the air by using a sorbent, which is a material that can absorb gasses. Next, the CO2 has to be extracted from the sorbent and sequestered, presumably by pumping it deep underground at relatively high concentration or by binding it to minerals?a bit like how we handle nuclear waste. But another possibility includes actually converting it back into fuel. One particularly attractive possibility that has been proposed involves using an ?exchange resin? sorbent which binds CO2 when dry and releases it when wet. In this way the evaporation of water could actually be used to help reduce the energy burden associated with binding and subsequently extracting the CO2.
Note that direct air capture is also not to be confused with so-called ?geoengineering,? which attempts to lessen the impact of climate change using other global (and potentially environmentally hazardous) interventions, unrelated to the root cause. Put another way, direct air capture would treat the disease, not merely the symptoms.
Though there could be huge advantages to directly extracting carbon dioxide from our atmosphere instead of from its source, there has been almost no R&D funding to explore making it a reality. Meanwhile, literally hundreds of billions of dollars have been put into subsidies for fossil fuel exploration and production. If direct air capture proves economically competitive at all, it could potentially be scaled to control atmospheric concentrations with falling marginal cost. More important, from a political and economic perspective, it could perhaps be carried out by any country, independent of whether that country is a net energy producer or user, and it would not affect ?competitiveness.?
At present, it is difficult to determine the cost of direct extraction. (See a recent piece in the Atlantic, in which my ASU colleague Daniel Sarewitz and the University of Colorado at Boulder?s Roger Pielke Jr. write that estimates range from $20 per ton of CO2 to two orders of magnitude higher.) By comparison, the current world production of CO2 is approximately 30 billion tons. But without R&D support to test several technologically viable proposals, it will be impossible to determine if this approach, including the feasibility of sequestering the extracted CO2, is at all practical, cost effective, and safe. If it is, the modular production of air capture units would result in economies of scale, and units could be shipped in standard containers anywhere in the world, away from population centers in dry wastelands.
Given the risks of increasing CO2 levels in the atmosphere, and the difficulty of slowing current production, at the very least some modest government R&D support of this important possible alternative seems appropriate right now to help safeguard our future.
The road to sustainability will be a long one. At best it may be decades before we are able to wean ourselves off of fossil fuels. The possibly drastic upheaval that climate change may bring for future generations as a result of the activities of present and past generations suggests that at the very least we should seriously consider cleaning up our own mess, and doing it now. Direct air capture may be one way to do that. Not funding research into this possibility even as we pursue other important research to address climate change seems, in this sense, negligent.
This article arises from Future Tense, a collaboration among Arizona State University, the New America Foundation, and?Slate. Future Tense explores the ways emerging technologies affect society, policy, and culture. To read more, visit the?Future Tense blog?and the?Future Tense home page. You can also?follow us on Twitter.
*Update, May 13, 2013: The 15 participants in the paper are Lawrence M. Krauss, Kip Hodges, Ariel Anbar, Arjun Helmsath, Sander Van der Leeuw, and Manfred Laubichler of Arizona State University; Wallace Broecker, Klaus S. Lackner, and Scott Barrett of Columbia University; Jeffrey Severinghaus and Ralph Keeling of University of California-San Diego; J. Michael Hall (NOAA, retired); James Anderson of Harvard University; Ray Piierrehumbert of the University of Chicago; and James Hansen (NASA, retired).
Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=6713e169fbddb6345f8708d5ad596131
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