Study subjects who expressed a preference for sweet over savory tastes also tended to be more agreeable. Karen Hopkin reports.
October 30, 2011
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With Halloween around the corner, parents are fretting over what all that candy will do to their little goblins. Well, it might just make them sweeter. Because people who prefer sugary snacks actually seem to be more kind. So says a study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. [Brian Meier et al, Sweet taste preferences and experiences predict prosocial inferences, personalities, and behaviors]
We often describe personality or behavior with taste-related terms. Think of someone who?s bitter, or sour or maybe even a little picante. But do our tastes in food really reflect who we are?
Scientists looked for a link between a love of sweet things and the tendency to be generous or generally agreeable. College students answered a series of questions about their character?whether, for example, they?re soft-hearted or enjoy insulting people. Then they rated their liking for a variety of foods, from cake and ice cream to cranberries, sauerkraut and salsa. And it turns out that kids with a sweet tooth see themselves as sweet.
And maybe they are. Those that liked candy more than crackers were more likely to volunteer around campus or for additional studies. So if you?re looking to score a little milk of human kindness, try putting out a plate of cookies.
JERUSALEM ? A tiny, exquisitely made box found on an excavated street in Jerusalem is a token of Christian faith from 1,400 years ago, Israeli archaeologists said Sunday.
The box, carved from the bone of a cow, horse or camel, decorated with a cross on the lid and measuring only 0.8 inches by 0.6 inches (2 centimeter by 1.5 centimeter), was likely carried by a Christian believer around the end of the 6th century A.D, according to Yana Tchekhanovets of the Israel Antiquities Authority, one of the directors of the dig where the box was found.
When the lid is removed, the remains of two portraits are still visible in paint and gold leaf. The figures, a man and a woman, are probably Christian saints and possibly Jesus and the Virgin Mary.
The box was found in an excavation outside the walls of Jerusalem's Old City in the remains of a Byzantine-era thoroughfare, she said. Uncovered two years ago, it was treated by preservation experts and extensively researched before it was unveiled at an archaeological conference last week.
The box is important in part because it offers the first archaeological evidence that the use of icons in the Byzantine period was not limited to church ceremonies, she said.
Part of a similar box was found three decades ago in Jordan, but this is the only well-preserved example to be found so far, she said. Similar icons are still carried today by some Christian believers, especially from the eastern Orthodox churches.
The relic was found in the City of David excavation, a Jerusalem dig named for the biblical monarch believed to have ruled a Jewish kingdom from the site.
The politically sensitive dig is located in what is today the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan, just outside the Old City walls in east Jerusalem, the section of the holy city captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war and claimed by the Palestinians as their capital.
'All that is in the works, man,' Prodigy tells MTV News' 'RapFix Live.' By Nadeska Alexis, with reporting by Sway Calloway
Rick Ross Photo: Spiff TV
As Mobb Deep prepare to roll out theirBlack Cocaine EP in November, followed by their ninth, self-titled album at the top of 2012, Prodigy and Havoc are looking to expand their horizons with a series of new collaborations. One artist the Queensbridge duo are particularly keen to work with is Rick Ross.
During Wednesday's episode of "RapFix Live," Prodigy told MTV News correspondent Sway Calloway that he has already reached out to Ross for a feature.
"All that is in the works, man. We like Rick Ross," Prodigy said. "I'mma be honest: We come from an era where longevity and consistency is key, and in the beginning, I ain't really see that in him. Then while I was locked up, he was dropping more and more music. I was like, 'Damn, I'm starting to like this dude.' That's when I was like, 'We need to holla at son and do some music with him.' "
After wrapping up a three-year prison stint for weapons possession in March, Prodigy said he headed directly to G-Unit's NYC offices, where he met with 50 Cent — who signed the group to G-Unit in 2005 — to discuss the collaboration. 50 Cent and Rick Ross have a notorious beef, which hit fever pitch in 2009 when Fif launched a full-scale attack against Rozay on his blog ThisIs50.com.
"The first day I came home, I went to the G-Unit office and told [50 Cent], 'Listen, Mobb Deep needs to start doing songs with everybody. We need to start reaching out to people even if we got little conflicts — people like Rick Ross, people like Lil Wayne, everybody that we respect and we like their music — and start doing songs with them.' "
50 Cent's answer? "He was like, 'Yeah, you right.' "
Prodigy didn't talk specifics about his intended Rick Ross collaborations, but during an earlier episode of "RapFix Live," the Bawse himself confirmed that fans could expect a Mobb Deep collaboration soon.
"I respect him most definitely, as being a Boss," Ross said of Prodigy. "When he was released, he gave me a call a few days after that. We spoke on the phone maybe once or twice, and it was a genuine conversation, us just touching bases. We most definitely put a record or two on the table, and just to be frank, I was always a fan of the homie, HNIC."
Are you looking forward to a Mobb Deep and Rick Ross collaboration? Let us know in the comments!
Mining companies say the decision could cost the regional economy billions of dollars. Environmentalists say mining near the Grand Canyon would mar a unique natural treasure.
Teddy Roosevelt can rest easy. The Obama administration on Wednesday formally unveiled a plan to ban new uranium and other mining claims on 1 million acres of federal lands bordering the Grand Canyon for 20 years ? a move that follows in the footsteps of the 26th president's efforts in the early part of last century.
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With the price of uranium soaring on international markets, thousands of new mining claims were posted in recent years on lands near the canyon ? some within site of public viewing areas. Now, all nascent claims will be blocked from development, although a handful that had already reached a required federal threshold for development may ultimately proceed.
The administration move was telegraphed in June by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, who at that time, announced an "emergency" six-month extension of a ban on mining development in the area. He also endorsed the most restrictive of several options then under consideration to "ensure that all public lands adjacent to the Grand Canyon National Park are protected from new hard-rock mining claims, all of which are in the watershed of the Grand Canyon."
Wednesday's announcement was unveiled in a press release without other fanfare by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
?The Grand Canyon is an iconic place for all Americans and visitors from around the world,? said BLM Director Bob Abbey in a statement. ?Uranium remains an important part of our nation?s comprehensive energy resources, but it is appropriate to pause, identify what the predicted level of mining and its impacts on the Grand Canyon would be, and decide what level of risk is acceptable to take with this national treasure."
The "preferred alternative," he noted, would allow for "cautious, continued development with strong oversight that could help us fill critical gaps in our knowledge about water quality and environmental impacts of uranium mining in the area.?
There remain 11 uranium mining claims that, before the 2009 federal freeze, had already attained the he status of "valid and existing rights" and which could go forward, the BLM reported.
But several environmental groups would fight the validity of those claims in court, said Roger Clark, a spokesman for the Grand Canyon Trust. There is already one uranium mine ? the Arizona 1, owned by a Canadian company ? with ongoing operations.
Despite the fact that we know little-to-nothing about Sam Raimi's sure-to-be-excellent "Oz: The Great And Powerful," aside from its intriguing A-list cast and basic premise of course, we're pretty sure it's going to be one of our favorite movies of 2013. Raimi just seems like the perfect person to take us back to Oz, and [...]
PHILADELPHIA ? A pair of abortion clinic workers pleaded guilty Thursday to third-degree murder in two deaths at a Philadelphia clinic where seven babies were allegedly killed with scissors and a woman died from a drug overdose.
Andrea Moton admitted her involvement in the death of one baby. Sherry West pleaded guilty in the February 2009 death of Karnamaya Mongar, a Bhutanese immigrant. Neither women had formal training to work at the clinic in Philadelphia run by Dr. Kermit Gosnell.
Gosnell and nine employees, including his wife, were charged earlier this year after a gory grand jury report detailed the conditions at the West Philadelphia clinic where Gosnell allegedly performed illegal late-term abortions and babies born alive were killed by having scissors stabbed into their necks to sever their spinal cords.
Gosnell has denied the allegations.
Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams called the clinic a "house of horrors" in announcing the charges in January.
Moton, who knew Gosnell through his niece, worked evenings to assist with abortions, but, like the others, had no relevant training or license. She assisted with procedures and cut the spinal cords of aborted babies.
Moton and West each pleaded guilty to related charges, including taking part in a corrupt organization.
West, 52, of Newark, Del., was charged with third-degree murder, drug delivery causing death, illegally performing an abortion after 24 weeks, conspiracy, participating in a corrupt organization, evidence tampering and other charges. She has been in custody since her January arrest on $2 million bail.
West, a long-time Gosnell patient hired in October 2008, worked as a medical assistant. She had no formal training but performed ultrasound exams, administered anesthesia and monitored patients in the recovery room, according to prosecutors.
She also had hepatitis C, but she took no precautions to protect exposing patients to the disease, authorities said. She was paid $8 to $10 an hour in cash for full-time work. She was present when patient Karnamaya Mongar died on Feb. 18, a grand jury report investigating the incident found.
Besides being unlicensed and untrained, staff had warned Gosnell that West and another co-defendant, Lynda Williams, were sloppy and unconcerned with their work, the report said.
First Google.org-funded geothermal mapping report confirms vast coast-to-coast clean energy source Public release date: 25-Oct-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kim Cobb cobbk@smu.edu 214-768-7654 Southern Methodist University
Earth's heat could out-produce coal plants
DALLAS (SMU) New research from SMU's Geothermal Laboratory, funded by a grant from Google.org, documents significant geothermal resources across the United States capable of producing more than three million megawatts of green power 10 times the installed capacity of coal power plants today.
Sophisticated mapping produced from the research, viewable via Google Earth at http://www.google.org/egs/, demonstrates that vast reserves of this green, renewable source of power generated from the Earth's heat are realistically accessible using current technology.
The results of the new research, from SMU Hamilton Professor of Geophysics David Blackwell and Geothermal Lab Coordinator Maria Richards, confirm and refine locations for resources capable of supporting large-scale commercial geothermal energy production under a wide range of geologic conditions, including significant areas in the eastern two-thirds of the United States. The estimated amounts and locations of heat stored in the Earth's crust included in this study are based on nearly 35,000 data sites approximately twice the number used for Blackwell and Richards' 2004 Geothermal Map of North America, leading to improved detail and contouring at a regional level.
Based on the additional data, primarily drawn from oil and gas drilling, larger local variations can be seen in temperatures at depth, highlighting more detail for potential power sites than was previously evident in the eastern portion of the U.S. For example, eastern West Virginia has been identified as part of a larger Appalachian trend of higher heat flow and temperature.
Conventional U.S. geothermal production has been restricted largely to the western third of the country in geographically unique and tectonically active locations. For instance, The Geysers Field north of San Francisco is home to more than a dozen large power plants that have been tapping naturally occurring steam reservoirs to produce electricity for more than 40 years.
However, newer technologies and drilling methods can now be used to develop resources in a wider range of geologic conditions, allowing reliable production of clean energy at temperatures as low as 100?C (212?F) and in regions not previously considered suitable for geothermal energy production. Preliminary data released from the SMU study in October 2010 revealed the existence of a geothermal resource under the state of West Virginia equivalent to the state's existing (primarily coal-based) power supply.
"Once again, SMU continues its pioneering work in demonstrating the tremendous potential of geothermal resources," said Karl Gawell, executive director of the Geothermal Energy Association. "Both Google and the SMU researchers are fundamentally changing the way we look at how we can use the heat of the Earth to meet our energy needs, and by doing so are making significant contributions to enhancing our national security and environmental quality."
"This assessment of geothermal potential will only improve with time," said Blackwell. "Our study assumes that we tap only a small fraction of the available stored heat in the Earth's crust, and our capabilities to capture that heat are expected to grow substantially as we improve upon the energy conversion and exploitation factors through technological advances and improved techniques."
Blackwell is scheduled to release a paper with details of the results of the research to the Geothermal Resources Council in October 2011.
Blackwell and Richards first produced the 2004 Geothermal Map of North America using oil and gas industry data from the central U.S. Blackwell and the 2004 map played a significant role in a 2006 Future of Geothermal Energy study sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy that concluded geothermal energy had the potential to supply a substantial portion of the future U.S. electricity needs, likely at competitive prices and with minimal environmental impact. SMU's 2004 map has been the national standard for evaluating heat flow, temperature and thermal conductivity for potential geothermal energy projects.
In this newest SMU estimate of resource potential, researchers used additional temperature data and in-depth geological analysis for the resulting heat flow maps to create the updated temperature-at-depth maps from 3.5 kilometers to 9.5 kilometers (11,500 to 31,000 feet). This update revealed that some conditions in the eastern two-thirds of the U.S. are actually hotter than some areas in the western portion of the country, an area long-recognized for heat-producing tectonic activity. In determining the potential for geothermal production, the new SMU study considers the practical considerations of drilling, and limits the analysis to the heat available in the top 6.5 km (21,500 ft.) of crust for predicting megawatts of available power. This approach incorporates a newly proposed international standard for estimating geothermal resource potential that considers added practical limitations of development, such as the inaccessibility of large urban areas and national parks. Known as the 'technical potential' value, it assumes producers tap only 14 percent of the 'theoretical potential' of stored geothermal heat in the U.S., using currently available technology.
Three recent technological developments already have sparked geothermal development in areas with little or no tectonic activity or volcanism:
1) Low Temperature Hydrothermal Energy is produced from areas with naturally occurring high fluid volumes at temperatures ranging from less than boiling to 150C (300F). This application is currently producing energy in Alaska, Oregon, Idaho and Utah.
2) Geopressure and Coproduced Fluids Geothermal Oil and/or natural gas are produced together with electricity generated from hot geothermal fluids drawn from the same well. Systems are installed or being installed in Wyoming, North Dakota, Utah, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
3) Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) Areas with low fluid content, but high temperatures of more than 150C (300F), are "enhanced" with injection of fluid and other reservoir engineering techniques. EGS resources are typically deeper than hydrothermal and represent the largest share of total geothermal resources capable of supporting larger capacity power plants.
A key goal in the SMU resource assessment was to aid in evaluating these nonconventional geothermal resources on a regional to sub-regional basis.
Areas of particular geothermal interest include the Appalachian trend (Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, to northern Louisiana), the aquifer heated area of South Dakota, and the areas of radioactive basement granites beneath sediments such as those found in northern Illinois and northern Louisiana. The Gulf Coast continues to be outlined as a huge resource area and a promising sedimentary basin for development. The Raton Basin in southeastern Colorado possesses extremely high temperatures and is being evaluated by the State of Colorado along with an area energy company.
###
SMU's Geothermal Laboratory in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences conducted this research through funding provided by Google.org, which is dedicated to using the power of information and innovation to advance breakthrough technologies in clean energy.
Editor's Note: To explore the new Enhanced Geothermal Systems maps built on SMU's research via Google Earth, download the latest version of Google Earth at http://www.google.com/earth/ and then download and open the file at http://www.google.org/egs/downloads/EGSPotential.kmz.
SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools.
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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.
First Google.org-funded geothermal mapping report confirms vast coast-to-coast clean energy source Public release date: 25-Oct-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kim Cobb cobbk@smu.edu 214-768-7654 Southern Methodist University
Earth's heat could out-produce coal plants
DALLAS (SMU) New research from SMU's Geothermal Laboratory, funded by a grant from Google.org, documents significant geothermal resources across the United States capable of producing more than three million megawatts of green power 10 times the installed capacity of coal power plants today.
Sophisticated mapping produced from the research, viewable via Google Earth at http://www.google.org/egs/, demonstrates that vast reserves of this green, renewable source of power generated from the Earth's heat are realistically accessible using current technology.
The results of the new research, from SMU Hamilton Professor of Geophysics David Blackwell and Geothermal Lab Coordinator Maria Richards, confirm and refine locations for resources capable of supporting large-scale commercial geothermal energy production under a wide range of geologic conditions, including significant areas in the eastern two-thirds of the United States. The estimated amounts and locations of heat stored in the Earth's crust included in this study are based on nearly 35,000 data sites approximately twice the number used for Blackwell and Richards' 2004 Geothermal Map of North America, leading to improved detail and contouring at a regional level.
Based on the additional data, primarily drawn from oil and gas drilling, larger local variations can be seen in temperatures at depth, highlighting more detail for potential power sites than was previously evident in the eastern portion of the U.S. For example, eastern West Virginia has been identified as part of a larger Appalachian trend of higher heat flow and temperature.
Conventional U.S. geothermal production has been restricted largely to the western third of the country in geographically unique and tectonically active locations. For instance, The Geysers Field north of San Francisco is home to more than a dozen large power plants that have been tapping naturally occurring steam reservoirs to produce electricity for more than 40 years.
However, newer technologies and drilling methods can now be used to develop resources in a wider range of geologic conditions, allowing reliable production of clean energy at temperatures as low as 100?C (212?F) and in regions not previously considered suitable for geothermal energy production. Preliminary data released from the SMU study in October 2010 revealed the existence of a geothermal resource under the state of West Virginia equivalent to the state's existing (primarily coal-based) power supply.
"Once again, SMU continues its pioneering work in demonstrating the tremendous potential of geothermal resources," said Karl Gawell, executive director of the Geothermal Energy Association. "Both Google and the SMU researchers are fundamentally changing the way we look at how we can use the heat of the Earth to meet our energy needs, and by doing so are making significant contributions to enhancing our national security and environmental quality."
"This assessment of geothermal potential will only improve with time," said Blackwell. "Our study assumes that we tap only a small fraction of the available stored heat in the Earth's crust, and our capabilities to capture that heat are expected to grow substantially as we improve upon the energy conversion and exploitation factors through technological advances and improved techniques."
Blackwell is scheduled to release a paper with details of the results of the research to the Geothermal Resources Council in October 2011.
Blackwell and Richards first produced the 2004 Geothermal Map of North America using oil and gas industry data from the central U.S. Blackwell and the 2004 map played a significant role in a 2006 Future of Geothermal Energy study sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy that concluded geothermal energy had the potential to supply a substantial portion of the future U.S. electricity needs, likely at competitive prices and with minimal environmental impact. SMU's 2004 map has been the national standard for evaluating heat flow, temperature and thermal conductivity for potential geothermal energy projects.
In this newest SMU estimate of resource potential, researchers used additional temperature data and in-depth geological analysis for the resulting heat flow maps to create the updated temperature-at-depth maps from 3.5 kilometers to 9.5 kilometers (11,500 to 31,000 feet). This update revealed that some conditions in the eastern two-thirds of the U.S. are actually hotter than some areas in the western portion of the country, an area long-recognized for heat-producing tectonic activity. In determining the potential for geothermal production, the new SMU study considers the practical considerations of drilling, and limits the analysis to the heat available in the top 6.5 km (21,500 ft.) of crust for predicting megawatts of available power. This approach incorporates a newly proposed international standard for estimating geothermal resource potential that considers added practical limitations of development, such as the inaccessibility of large urban areas and national parks. Known as the 'technical potential' value, it assumes producers tap only 14 percent of the 'theoretical potential' of stored geothermal heat in the U.S., using currently available technology.
Three recent technological developments already have sparked geothermal development in areas with little or no tectonic activity or volcanism:
1) Low Temperature Hydrothermal Energy is produced from areas with naturally occurring high fluid volumes at temperatures ranging from less than boiling to 150C (300F). This application is currently producing energy in Alaska, Oregon, Idaho and Utah.
2) Geopressure and Coproduced Fluids Geothermal Oil and/or natural gas are produced together with electricity generated from hot geothermal fluids drawn from the same well. Systems are installed or being installed in Wyoming, North Dakota, Utah, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
3) Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) Areas with low fluid content, but high temperatures of more than 150C (300F), are "enhanced" with injection of fluid and other reservoir engineering techniques. EGS resources are typically deeper than hydrothermal and represent the largest share of total geothermal resources capable of supporting larger capacity power plants.
A key goal in the SMU resource assessment was to aid in evaluating these nonconventional geothermal resources on a regional to sub-regional basis.
Areas of particular geothermal interest include the Appalachian trend (Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, to northern Louisiana), the aquifer heated area of South Dakota, and the areas of radioactive basement granites beneath sediments such as those found in northern Illinois and northern Louisiana. The Gulf Coast continues to be outlined as a huge resource area and a promising sedimentary basin for development. The Raton Basin in southeastern Colorado possesses extremely high temperatures and is being evaluated by the State of Colorado along with an area energy company.
###
SMU's Geothermal Laboratory in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences conducted this research through funding provided by Google.org, which is dedicated to using the power of information and innovation to advance breakthrough technologies in clean energy.
Editor's Note: To explore the new Enhanced Geothermal Systems maps built on SMU's research via Google Earth, download the latest version of Google Earth at http://www.google.com/earth/ and then download and open the file at http://www.google.org/egs/downloads/EGSPotential.kmz.
SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools.
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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.
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Aixulram
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If its cool id like to reserve a female character, but i also wanted to know if there is a plot? if not its cool, i was just wondering.
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Professional photographers know the drill: every few years, Canon or Nikon announces a game-changing DSLR, often prompting top photogs to unload their complete kits and switch to another system in a never-ending attempt to shoot with the best. This time, Canon is first out of the gate, with its flagship EOS-1D X -- the latest in a series that dates back to 2001 with the EOS-1D. As you've probably noticed, the company's new top model looks virtually identical to its decade-old ancestor, but is otherwise a far cry from that four megapixel CCD sensor-sporting dinosaur. We've been anxiously awaiting an opportunity to check out Canon's new $6,800 18.1 megapixel full-frame model since first getting word of the beastly camera last week, and just had a chance to go hands-on during the company's Pro Solutions event in London. Jump past the break for our impressions and a video walkthrough.
Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry walked a fine line when presented with questions about President Barack Obama's birth certificate -- which was released by the White House earlier this year -- in a new interview with Parade magazine published online.
When asked if he believes the president was born in the United States, the Texas governor said, "I have no reason to think otherwise." Pressed on the nature of his answer, Perry added, "Well, I don't have a definitive answer, because he's never seen my birth certificate."
Here's an excerpt of the subsequent exchange that went down on the birth certificate issue:
But you've seen his.
I don't know. Have I?
You don't believe what's been released? I don't know. I had dinner with Donald Trump the other night.
And? That came up.
Perry said that Trump doesn't believe the document released by the White House is "real." Asked if he agrees with the sentiment, the Lone Star State Republican said, "I don't have any idea. It doesn't matter. He's the president of the United States. He's elected. It's a distractive issue."
Leading up to the release of Obama's "long form" birth certificate in April, Trump captured headlines and sparked controversy with his persistence in raising doubt over the president's birthplace.
Trump went as far to release his own official birth certificate. Upon the release of the president's birth certificate, Trump said that he was very "proud" of himself.
Click here to see a photo of the president's birth certificate released by the White House.
BALI, Indonesia ? U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is in Indonesia's resort island of Bali to begin his first visit to Asia as Pentagon chief.
Panetta arrived Saturday on an overnight flight from Washington and will begin a series of meetings Sunday.
He told reporters flying with him that his main message in talks with Indonesian and other Asian leaders is that the United States intends to remain a "Pacific force" for decades to come.
An important backdrop to Panetta's weeklong Asia tour is the intense pressure at home to slash defense spending as part of a deficit-reduction effort.
DES MOINES, Iowa ? Evangelical activists are Iowa's most potent Republican voting bloc and the fight for their support is in full swing among the presidential candidates competing to emerge as a more conservative alternative to early front-runner Mitt Romney.
A half-dozen GOP contenders flocked to Iowa on Saturday in hopes of gaining any edge with this influential group barely 10 weeks before the state's Jan. 3 caucuses.
These voters have yet to rally around any single candidate aggressively courting them, seeking the kind of lift that carried former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to victory in the leadoff caucuses in 2008.
In fact, with 1,000 social conservatives expected to hear from six candidates late Saturday in Des Moines, there are deep divisions among these voters about where to throw their support.
"I don't see anyone galvanizing people like they did for Mike Huckabee," said Steve Scheffler, president of the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition. "And I'd be lying if I told you that can change in one event."
Activists attending the coalition's forum at the Iowa State Fairgrounds awaited pitches from three candidates who have made the most aggressive appeals so far ? Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum ? as well as from three others in the field ? businessman Herman Cain, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul.
The candidates planned campaign stops throughout the day, such as Perry's early pheasant hunting excursion with U.S. Rep. Steve King at the Loess Hills Hunting Preserve outside of Akron, a small town in the western part of the state.
Perry and King had breakfast at a lodge, where they talked for more than 30 minutes as two of King's sons and two of his grandchildren looked on. King hasn't endorsed a 2012 candidate and wouldn't commit to backing Perry. But hunting is "an instantaneous bond," King told reporters before the two went off.
The forum didn't draw Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who has led national GOP polls all year and was in New Hampshire on Saturday. Despite an aggressive effort by the event's planners, he declined an invitation, in part because he is well-known in Iowa from his 2008 White House run and is skipping multicandidate gatherings in the state.
It's also true that he has had a touchy relationship with evangelical conservatives, many of whom are leery of Romney's Mormon faith and his changed positions on social issues such as gay and abortion rights.
He has attended national meetings of conservatives, including the Values Voter Summit in Washington this month, but is emphasizing economic, rather than social issues.
In his absence, the stage at the fairgrounds will feature some rivals who can claim ties to the religious right, but not the commitment yet that Huckabee earned four years ago.
Polls four years ago showed that about half of Iowa's GOP caucus-goers considered themselves born-again Christians.
Bachmann built her campaign around outreach to conservative Christian pastors, who turned out in the hundreds in helping her win the Iowa presidential straw poll in August. But influential pastors say the group is divided, considering Bachmann's campaign has lost some of its steam, while Perry and Santorum have stepped up their appeals.
Likewise, Christian home-school activists, a well-networked group that worked behind the scenes for Huckabee, apparently have no preferred candidate.
Perry gained attention for a national day of prayer he hosted in Houston in August. But some of his luster with evangelical voters has faded in light of his 2007 executive order requiring school-age girls be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted disease that can cause cancer.
Santorum, an anti-abortion leader while in the Senate, has impressed social conservative leaders in Iowa, but trails Perry and Bachmann in fundraising.
___
Online:
Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition: http://ffciowa.com
A new image of the disk of gas and dust around a sun-like star has spiral-arm-like structures. These features may provide clues to the presence of embedded but as-yet-unseen planets.
"Detailed computer simulations have shown us that the gravitational pull of a planet inside a circumstellar disk can perturb gas and dust, creating spiral arms. Now, for the first time, we're seeing these features," said Carol Grady, a National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported astronomer with Eureka Scientific, Inc.
The newly imaged disk surrounds SAO 206462, a star located about 456 light-years away in the constellation Lupus. Astronomers estimate that the system is only about 9 million years old. The gas-rich disk spans some 14 billion miles, which is more than twice the size of Pluto's orbit in our own solar system.
"The surprise," said Grady, "was that we caught a glimpse of this stage of planet formation. This is a relatively short-lived phase."
A near-infrared image from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan shows a pair of spiral features arcing along the outer disk. Theoretical models show that a single embedded planet may produce a spiral arm on each side of a disk. The structures around SAO 206462 do not form a matched pair, suggesting the presence of two unseen worlds, one for each arm. However, the research team cautions that processes unrelated to planets may also give rise to these structures.
"What we're finding is that once these systems reach ages of a few million years, their disks begin to show a wealth of structure--rings, divots, gaps and now spiral features," said John Wisniewski, a collaborator at the University of Washington in Seattle. "Many of these structures could be caused by planets within the disks."
Grady's research is part of the Strategic Exploration of Exoplanets and Disks with Subaru (SEEDS), a five-year-long near-infrared study of young stars and their surrounding dust disks using the Subaru Telescope atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii. The international consortium of researchers now includes more than 100 scientists at 25 institutions.
"These arm-like structures have been predicted by models, but have never before been seen," said Maria Womack, program director for the division of Astronomical Sciences at NSF. "It is the first observation of spiral arms in a circumstellar disk, and an important test for models of planetary formation."
###
National Science Foundation: http://www.nsf.gov
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WOODSTOCK, N.Y. ? Photographer Barry Feinstein, who captured behind-the-scenes images from rock's golden age and shot iconic album covers for Bob Dylan and George Harrison, died in upstate New York on Thursday. He was 80.
Agent Dave Brolan said Feinstein, who lived in Woodstock, suffered various ailments and was hospitalized with an infection.
Feinstein's best known images include the picture of a skinny, side-glancing Dylan on the cover of 1964's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" and of Harrison sitting among garden gnomes on his 1970 solo album, "All Things Must Pass." But Feinstein had varied experiences that ranged from working as an assistant at Columbia Pictures, photographing Hollywood stars like Steve McQueen and Judy Garland and later shooting rock royalty of the 1960s and 1970s. He also made films.
Feinstein was friends with Dylan's early manager Albert Grossman. Brolan said the photographer got to know the rising music star on a long ride from Denver to New York to deliver a Rolls Royce to Grossman.
Feinstein's pictures gave an insider's view of Dylan's world. One well-known shot shows Dylan, with dark sunglasses and cigarette, in the back seat of a limousine with fans pressing their faces against the window.
Feinstein branched out to other rock work, shooting album covers for Janis Joplin's "Pearl" and for Eric Clapton, among many others. Despite his proximity to big stars, Brolan said Feinstein never betrayed their confidence.
"Barry would never tell you about anyone. He'd never tell you a Dylan story or anything personal. He would never talk about himself," Brolan said. "It was a hard push to get him to say anything about his work. He'd just say, `Look at the pictures, good luck.'"
"Hollywood Foto-Rhetoric," a book of Feinstein's evocative old Hollywood pictures and poems Dylan wrote in the early 1960s to accompany the images, was published in 2008.
Feinstein's still photographs were used in Martin Scorsese's documentaries on Dylan and Harrison.
He is survived by wife Judith Jamieson and two children from previous marriages.
After Qaddafi, some say prospects for orderly transition in Libya ? a traditionally divided, tribal society ? are not good. There is hope, however, that the homegrown nature of the rebellion will improve the country's prospects.
The death Thursday of ousted Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi ends speculation about the former dictator?s lingering power and fully shifts the spotlight to the country?s new leadership and its ability to govern all Libya.
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A central question for Libya and indeed for the Arab Spring will now be this: Can a democratic and representative government stabilize and unify a historically divided society in the absence of the kind of authoritarian rule that kept Libya together for four decades?
Historical precedent would suggest that the prospects for Libya ? a tribal society traditionally divided between the east, where the now-ruling opposition sprang up, and the west, where Colonel Qaddafi was in full command ? are not good, some political scientists who have studied political transitions say.
Yet one factor that Libya has going for it, they add, is that Libyans largely threw off their shackles on their own (albeit with assistance from NATO) and will not be trying to sustain a ?democracy? imposed from the outside.
?We would actually feel fairly pessimistic about the prospects for this [transition] to be successful and stable,? says Prof. Michael Greig, an expert in international conflict management at the University of North Texas in Denton.
?One of the key factors for survival of a new democracy is the social cohesion of the society,? says Mr. Greig, basing his conclusions on his study of 41 political transitions around the world over the last 170 years. ?The more diverse the society, the less stable these new regimes tend to be,? he adds, noting that Libya is a hard-to-unify tribal culture with ethnic diversity.
On the brighter side, Greig says, is the fact that Libya?s political transition was accomplished by indigenous forces and was not imposed from the outside.
?One area of optimism would be that Libya is not Iraq and Afghanistan,? he says, ?where the change in regimes was imposed by an outside power. Those kinds of regimes tend to struggle pretty significantly.?
Libya will be watched closely around the Arab region and indeed by powers, like the United States, concerned about the ability of inexperienced leaders to stabilize and control a fractured society.
One of the purposes of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton?s surprise visit to Tripoli Tuesday was to convey this concern to Libya?s transition leadership ? and to underscore American support for a timely and open political transition to a representative democracy.
The Libya scenario may have less in common with that of a country like Egypt, with its fairly cohesive society, than with other regional trouble spots like Yemen and Syria, some regional experts say. In those countries, authoritarian rulers continue to try to hold on to power in either tribally or religiously and ethnically diverse societies.
LOS ANGELES ? An expert in the powerful anesthetic blamed for Michael Jackson's death has told jurors there is no way the pop star could have caused his own death by swallowing the anesthetic propofol.
Dr. Steven Shafer is testifying on what is expected to be the final day of the prosecution's involuntary manslaughter case against Dr. Conrad Murray.
Shafer's testimony is a direct response to a report prepared by defense expert Dr. Paul White. White surmised that Jackson may have caused how own death by swallowing propofol.
Shafer says it's impossible for any propofol that's swallowed to enter the bloodstream, where coroner's officials found the drug after Jackson's June 2009 death.
Murray has pleaded not guilty. His attorneys are expected to begin their case on Friday.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
Michael Jackson's personal physician was giving the pop superstar a modern drug to help him sleep, but a prosecution expert told jurors Wednesday that in doing so he violated ancient principles for conduct between doctors and patients.
Dr. Steven Shafer, an expert in the anesthetic propofol that Jackson's doctor had been using as a sleep aid, said there were 17 violations by Dr. Conrad Murray that each put Jackson's life at risk.
Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter. He was Jackson's personal physician for roughly two months before the singer's unexpected death in June 2009. The cardiologist's attorneys will cross-examine Shafer on Thursday.
Many of the violations concerned modern life-saving equipment that Murray lacked when he gave Jackson propofol in the bedroom of his rented mansion, but Shafer said among the cardiologist's worst transgressions was he put his own interests ahead of Jackson's.
Since Ancient Greece ? and probably before ? Shafer said societies had held doctors to high standards. He quoted the Hippocratic oath, "'In every house where I come, I will enter only for the good of my patients.'"
Instead of honoring the ancient creed, Murray came to Jackson's rented mansion nightly and gave the singer propofol, a drug as a sleep aid, a use it was never intended for, Shafer said. He likened the Houston-based cardiologist to an employee, akin to a housekeeper, who wouldn't tell his boss no.
"Saying yes is not what doctors do," he testified. "A competent doctor would know you do not do this."
Shafer, a Columbia University professor and researcher who helped write the guidelines and warnings included with every vial of propofol, repeatedly said Murray's actions were unconscionable, unethical and illegal. He frequently travels to lecture on propofol's effects, and his testimony took a global view Wednesday as he described attending anesthesia conferences in China, research from Canada, and how hieroglyphs in ancient Egypt showed doctors interacting with patient.
But he said Murray's case is unlike any he's seen before.
"We are in pharmacological never-never land here, something that was done to Michael Jackson and no one else in history to my knowledge," he told jurors.
Shafer's testimony tied together pieces of prosecution's case against Murray laid out over four weeks. The professor reminded jurors that Murray had bought more than four gallons of propofol to use on the singer during his employment, was on the phone in the hours before Jackson's death and delayed calling 911 when he found the singer unresponsive.
"A patient who is about to die does not look all that different from a patient who is OK," Shafer said, adding that doctors cannot multitask and properly monitor a patient who is sedated.
"The worst disasters occur in sedation and they occur when people cut corners," Shafer said. In Jackson's case, "virtually none of the safeguards were in place," he added.
Shafer, who wrote the package insert that guides doctors in the use of the anesthetic, leaned forward and spoke to jurors directly at times, as if he were in a classroom. Indeed, the early portion of his testimony was a crash course in propofol, explaining its effects on the body and why despite being a remarkable drug, it needed to be used by skilled people in the proper medical setting.
The researcher told jurors that it appeared Murray intended to give Jackson large doses of propofol on a nightly basis. He said records showed Murray purchased 130 100ml vials of propofol in the nearly three months before Jackson's death.
Shafer said that is "an extraordinary amount to purchase to administer to a single individual."
Like other expert witnesses, Shafer based much of his opinions on the case on Murray's own words during a lengthy interview with police two days after Jackson's death.
He said the lack of record-keeping was a violation of Jackson's rights, especially since something went wrong.
"He has a right to know what was done to him," Shafer said. "With no medical record, the family has been denied that right."
When Shafer spoke of Jackson's family, a couple jurors looked out into the audience, where the singer's mother, father, sister Rebbie and brother Randy were seated.
Testimony has shown that Murray took no notes on his treatment of Jackson and didn't record his vital signs in the hours before the singer's death.
Shafer said he was testifying for the prosecution without a fee because he wants to restore public confidence in doctors who use propofol, which he called a wonderful drug when properly administered.
"I am asked every day in the operating room, `Are you going to give me the drug that killed Michael Jackson,'" Shafer said. "This is a fear that patients do not need to have."
Defense attorneys will begin calling their own witnesses. One of them will be a colleague of Shafer's at Columbia, Dr. Paul White, who was sitting in the courtroom during Wednesday's testimony.
Murray was mainly stoic as he listened to his medical skills and judgment were repeatedly called into question. White, seated behind him, took notes.
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AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch contributed to this report.
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McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP
WHO'S WHO IN THE CONRAD MURRAY TRIAL:The Victim: Michael Jackon
Known Aliases: The King of Pop, Omar Arnold, Josephine Baker, Paul Farance, Bryan Singleton, and Prince - to name a few, reports TMZ.
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During Tuesday night?s Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas, Nev., Texas Governor Rick Perry resurrected an old scandal by accusing former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney of hiring illegal immigrants to work on his home?s landscaping.
?You stood here in front of the American people and did not tell the truth, that you had illegals working on your property,? said Perry, who has had to defend his own record on immigration issues. ?And the newspaper came to you and brought it to your attention, and you still, a year later, had those individuals working for you.?
Romney denied hiring illegal immigrants. ?I?m running for office, for Pete?s sake,? he said at the debate. ?I can?t have illegals.?
The full story didn?t fit into 30-second sound bites. As Talking Points Memo?s Benjy Sarlin points out, the Romney hiring scandal dates back to two Boston Globe stories from the last election. Reporters travelled to Guatemala in 2006 and found locals who claimed to have worked on Romney?s property.
Romney did not hire the illegal immigrants personally, but he did hire the lawn-care company that employed them, Community Lawn Service with a Heart. The company?s owner claimed Romney never asked him about his workers? legal status.
The following year, the Globe went back and found Romney was still using the company, and that the company was still using illegal immigrants. The news came as Romney was attacking former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani for failing to crack down on illegal immigration into the city.
After the second story broke, Romney stopped using the company.
Perry aides?explained to Politico that they think the story deserved more attention then it received in the last election. ?When you make a holier-than-thou argument about it and you know about hiring illegals ? it seems kind of hypocritical,? Dave Carney, Perry?s senior political advisor, said. A Perry campaign press release blasted Romney as a ?fraud? on immigration.
Political observers are skeptical that the accusation will do any real damage to Romney?s perceived status as the GOP front-runner. Ed Rollins, a former Reagan White House strategist, told Politico he believes it was ?not a killer issue? in 2008 because voters already considered it old news.
?The key thing here is not lying about it,? Rollins said. ?I don?t know what the facts are anymore on this, but he better be able to produce the documents.?
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We've seen Microsoft's Xbox 360 Kinect accessory hacked to do some amazing things, but the new "wearable projection" system developed by an in-house team at the computer giant is on a whole new level. By utilizing parts of the Kinect hardware ? as well as implementing a tiny projector and other important bits ? the new "OmniTouch" concept can turn your hand into a multi-touch display.
The OmniTouch prototype device is first mounted on the user's shoulder, and pointed slightly downward. Then, when the wearer raises their hand, notepad, or other surface, the nifty gadget uses a special depth camera to sense distance and size of the projection surface. Using this data, it projects a keypad, keyboard, or other touch display for the user to manipulate. The system is even smart enough to detect changes in the projection surface, and can adjust its display in real time to match new conditions.
The prototype device is rather bulky and clearly isn't practical in its current state, but that may change in the future. Its creators believe that the technology could be miniaturized to be as small as a matchbox, making its potential uses much more exciting.
Actress sues Amazon for revealing her age on IMDb GENE JOHNSON - Associated Press - AP - 18 hours ago
An anonymous actress claims in a million-dollar federal lawsuit that her offers for roles dropped sharply after the popular Internet Movie Database published damaging?? More??Actress sues Amazon for revealing her age on IMDb
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Public release date: 25-Oct-2011
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