cleanup sirup: February 2013

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Extinct sea predator sliced prey with toothy spiral jaw

Helicoprion, an extinct creature that roamed the seas some 225 million years ago, might have used its toothy spiral jaw to slice and dice prey before swallowing it, suggests?a new study of its fossilized jaw.

By Stephanie Pappas,?LiveScience / February 27, 2013

A fossil Helicoprion jaw from 270 million years ago, found in Idaho.

Ray Troll

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An ancient sea predator had a spiraling whorl of teeth that acted as a lethal slicing tool, according to new scans of a mysterious fossil.

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Helicoprion?was a bizarre creature that went extinct some 225 million years ago. Like?modern-day sharks,?Helicoprion?had cartilaginous bones rather than calcified ones, so the only traces it left in the fossil record were weird, whorl-like spirals of teeth that look quite unlike anything sharks sport today.

The dearth of fossil evidence has led to multiple attempted reconstructions of what?Helicoprion?would have looked like. In some, the tooth whorl is placed on the upper jaw, curling outward like a spiky elephant trunk. In others, it's on the lower lip, giving the fish a fearsomely pouty expression. Researchers have also debated whether?Helicoprion?was more like a modern shark or another ancient group of cartilaginous fish, the chimaera. [25 Amazing Ancient Beasts]

Now, a team of researchers from led by Leif Tapanila of Idaho State University has scanned a tooth whorl fossil from the Idaho Museum of Natural History using computed tomography (CT), the same type of technology used for disease screening in medicine. This technique provides a more detailed look than ever before at the tooth whorl, revealing the only way the whorl would've fit into the creature's mouth is if it took up?Helicoprion's entire lower jaw and grew continuously in a spiral, curling under itself like a conveyer belt of teeth. Previous reconstructions pictured the spiral as an appendage on the tip of the jaw, the researchers wrote Tuesday in the journal Biology Letters.

The scanned specimen, found in Idaho in 1950, dates back about 270 million years. It's about 9 inches (23 cm) in diameter, about half the size of the largest?tooth whorls?ever found. For comparison, the diameter of a regulation men's basketball is just over 9 inches.

When?Helicoprion?bit down on prey, the tooth whorl would have been forced backward, slicing and dicing the meal and moving it down toward the throat. Few?Helicoprion?fossils show signs of tooth breakage, suggesting that the fish likely ate soft-bodied animals such as?squid.

The anatomy of the jaw also confirms that?Helicoprion?belonged to a group called the?Euchondrocephali, a Greek word meaning "three cartilaginous heads," for the way their jaws fuse. These fish share characteristics of both cartilaginous sharks and bony fishes. That makes?Helicoprion?a distant relative of today's rabbitfish, ratfish and other chimaeras.

Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter?@sipappas?or LiveScience?@livescience. We're also on?Facebook?&?Google+.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/7ExCMeG4y84/Extinct-sea-predator-sliced-prey-with-toothy-spiral-jaw

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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Matt Riddle cut from the UFC after second positive test for marijuana

Last week, Matt Riddle talked about how he mended fences with UFC brass over his positive test for marijuana. This week? He tested positive again and lost his job. According to MMA Junkie, Riddle tested positive for marijuana after his UFC on Fuel 7 bout with Che Mills, and was then cut from the UFC. Riddle also tested positive at UFC 149.

While it's true that Riddle has a medical marijuana card in Nevada, he knew full well that the UFC tested for the drug. Whether that drug should be banned is not the point. It is, Riddle knows it's banned, and Riddle broke the rules.

If your boss banned red shirts for no reason at all and you were suspended for wearing your favorite red shirt to work, are you going to wear it again? Yes, you can talk about how your boss is crazy for banning red shirts and work to change his mind on red shirts, but you can't wear the shirt and expect to slide by.

It's also important for UFC fighters to walk the line these days as the promotion looks to trim their roster. UFC president Dana White recently noted that they have approximately 100 fighters to trim from their roster. Riddle made it too easy for them to pick his name.

UPDATE: The UFC released a statement on Riddle's release, which reads in full:

Matthew Riddle tested positive for marijuana metabolites following his bout at UFC on FUEL TV 7 in London, England on February 16, 2013. This is Riddle?s second failed drug test for marijuana within the past seven months. Riddle previously failed a post-fight drug test due to marijuana following his UFC 149 victory over Chris Clements.

As such, the UFC organization is exercising its right to terminate Riddle for breach of his obligations under his Promotional Agreement as well as the UFC Fighter Conduct Policy. The UFC organization has a strict, consistent policy against the use of any illegal and/or performance-enhancing drugs, stimulants or masking agents. The outcome of the bout against Che Mills was changed to a no contest and the results of the positive test will be reported to the official Association of Boxing Commissions MMA record-keeper.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/matt-riddle-cut-ufc-second-positive-test-marijuana-183853926--mma.html

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Rapid Charging Can Decrease Your Battery's Lifespan (But It Doesn't Matter)

Rapid Charging Can Decrease Your Battery's Lifespan (But It Doesn't Matter) Many USB chargers provide additional power to charge batteries faster. Less waiting is a clear draw, but many say doing so reduces battery life. Technically it does, but not enough to really matter. Green energy site Green Batteries explains:

For practical purposes with batteries that are designed to be quick charged, for example, Sanyo, GP, POWERhaus, that is not true. It is important to use a battery charger that has been specifically designed to rapid charge NiMH cells. Actually there is a much greater likely hood of reducing the life of a NiMH battery by using an "overnight" charger than by using a smart fast charger. Overnight chargers rely on the fact that you will unplug them after a number of hours. If you forget to unplug them they can continue to charge the batteries longer than they should. Overcharging WILL reduce the life of batteries. From a strictly technical sense, a battery that is always slow charged will likely last a little longer than one that is always rapid charged. However, the difference is so small that it is not likely to be noticeable for most users.

Basically, stop charging when your device has reached capacity if you want to preserve the battery's life (as we've noted before). If you can't monitor this manually (as most of us can't when we're sleeping), a power-conserving charger can help (such as the Belkin Conserve series). Either way, don't worry so much about fast charging?just unplug your device when after you're done.

Battery Myths vs. Battery Facts | Green Batteries

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/dgfzIyx70nU/rapid-charging-can-decrease-your-batterys-lifespan-but-it-doesnt-matter

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Russia's foreign minister defends anti-gay bill

MOSCOW (AP) ? Russian foreign minister has defended a bill that's now pending in the Russian parliament and, if adopted, will target the gay community.

Russia's lower house of parliament on Jan. 25 voted to support a bill that makes public events and dissemination of information about the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community to minors punishable by fines of up to $16,000. The bill still requires the parliament's and the president's final approval.

Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday that Russia "has no international obligations to allow propaganda of homosexuality."

Lavrov insisted that since homosexuality was decriminalized in the early 1990s, gays have enjoyed full rights in Russia. But he said that Russia "has its own moral, religious and historical values."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-26-Russia-Gay%20Rights/id-2bfc67a8829247b39a7e0eb6a065c9d2

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Pharmacist sentenced to 2 years Pa. steroids case

PITTSBURGH (AP) ? A pharmacist has been sentenced to 2? years in federal prison after pleading guilty to helping a former Pittsburgh Steelers team doctor illegally distribute anabolic steroids in an investigation spun off from a national crackdown on the performance enhancing drugs.

William Sadowski, 47, of Robinson Township, pleaded guilty in November to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute anabolic steroids and human growth hormones, or HGH, and was sentenced Tuesday by Senior U.S. District Judge Maurice Cohill Jr.

Sadowski has acknowledged helping Dr. Richard Rydze illegally distribute the body-building substances and other drugs used to prevent their negative side effects or, at least, mask their use. On Tuesday, the married father of two told the judge he let greed and profit cloud his judgment.

"I started worrying more about the bottom line than doing the right thing the right way," Sadowski said, tearfully.

Rydze, 62, has denied wrongdoing, pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial in the alleged steroids conspiracy that began a few months after the Steelers cut him from their medical staff in 2007 after more than two decades.

The team and Rydze have previously said he didn't supply steroids to Steelers players, though the investigation that targeted Rydze and Sadowski spun off from a national probe that included Applied Pharmacy Services in Mobile, Ala., which was identified as a supplier in U.S. Sen. George Mitchell's landmark 2007 report on steroid use in Major League Baseball.

The Alabama pharmacy was raided in August 2006 and shut down by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency. Its customer list included baseball players, including Gary Matthews Jr., some World Wrestling Entertainment personalities, and former heavyweight boxing champ Evander Holyfield, who has denied using steroids, let alone obtaining them from APS. The Alabama raid resulted in the conviction of five staff pharmacists, and several doctors across the country who obtained steroids illegally through the pharmacy.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Kall argued that Sadowski deserved prison to deter other pharmacists, and because he knew he was operating his Pittsburgh-based ANEWrx pharmacy illegally.

"He was essentially living a double life," Kall said, referring to 20 friends and family members there to support Sadowski.

Among other things, Kall said Sadowski "took over" the Alabama pharmacy's business once it shut down. Sadowski also faces sentencing March 4 in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court for filing fraudulent Medicare claims at a previous pharmacy, Kall said.

Sadowski's defense attorney in that case, James Wymard, attended the federal court sentencing and said he's hopeful Sadowski's sentence on those charges, filed by the Pennsylvania attorney general's office, will run concurrent to the federal sentence.

Federal prosecutors said Sadowski's pharmacy was licensed to dispense prescription drugs in at least 44 states and that he hired a registered nurse, John Gavin, 51, to "research the status of criminal prosecutions across the county for illegal distribution of anabolic steroids and HGH." Sadowski's pharmacy allegedly developed drug combinations, or "stacks," that included steroids, HGH and other substances ? many used to legitimately treat breast cancer and other maladies ? that, when taken with the steroids, were meant to prevent their undesirable side effects.

Gavin has previously pleaded guilty and is scheduled for sentencing March 26.

Rydze's patient base was so broad in Pittsburgh that federal authorities took the unusual step of having FBI agents from Ohio investigate. Kall, the prosecutor who handled Tuesday's sentencing, is also based in Cleveland, where U.S. Attorney's spokesman Michael Tobin declined comment on the sentencing.

Among other things, Rydze had a contract to perform physicals for the agents who worked at the Pittsburgh FBI office, and at least one staff member in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Pittsburgh was a patient of Rydze's. Neither that person nor any FBI agent is accused of obtaining steroids from the doctor.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pharmacist-sentenced-2-years-pa-steroids-case-193558066--spt.html

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Pippa Middleton to write cookery column for Waitrose

LONDON (Reuters) - Pippa Middleton, the sister of the Duchess of Cambridge, is to give cooking tips to the masses in a new column for supermarket chain Waitrose.

Middleton, 29, will write a column for the upmarket chain's monthly magazine, Waitrose Kitchen, called "Pippa's Friday Night Feasts".

Her foray into kitchen advice comes after she released a book called "Celebrate" last year, which was a guide to entertaining through the year and built on the experience she gained working for her family's party-planning business.

The book by the sister of Britain's future queen was both praised and pilloried in equal measure but did not sell well and was quickly discounted in book stores.

William Sitwell, editor of Waitrose Kitchen, said readers would enjoy Middleton's relaxed and easy entertaining ideas.

"Pippa will be an excellent contributor to the magazine, bringing with her a wealth of experience of entertaining, gained in part from working at her family's party business," he said in a statement.

Her first column will appear in the magazine's April issue and will feature casual dining ideas and recipes.

Middleton said her column would be an "exciting opportunity to share my own passion and enthusiasm for food and entertaining and I can't wait to get started".

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith; Editing by Michael Roddy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pippa-middleton-write-cookery-column-waitrose-191015949.html

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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

GM switches to AT&T from Verizon for OnStar wireless service

NEW YORK (Reuters) - General Motors Co has chosen AT&T Inc to provide high-speed wireless service for its 2015 car models, dropping its long-term provider Verizon Wireless.

OnStar - best known for connecting drivers to live operators who provide directions or summon emergency help after an accident - will start using AT&T in its 2015 models, which go on sale in mid-2014.

The companies will discuss their partnership on Monday at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona.

GM is hoping to boost car sales and OnStar subscriptions by expanding its offering to include advanced applications such as video streaming for passengers for most of its Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac models.

It is also looking into possibilities such as wirelessly sending customers alerts about possible engine problems or sending data or even video from a car to the owner's mobile device to show what's going on next to the vehicle in case of any problems, according to Phil Abram, a GM executive director.

For their part both AT&T and Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc , have been ramping up efforts to expand their services beyond cellphones as they seek to continue growing in a market in which most people already have smartphones.

GM said that Verizon Wireless, which has been the company's wireless provider since 1996, would still support OnStar services for all existing GM vehicles and any new models that come out before the 2015 models are launched.

Abram declined to say exactly why the company was switching to AT&T but said that "AT&T's vision with what we want to do with the connected vehicle was very highly aligned."

Abram also declined to comment on the terms of the deal with AT&T or how the service will be priced. OnStar has more than 6 million customers in the United States, Canada and China and charges $18.95 a month for its most basic service, or $28.90 a month for its premium package.

AT&T already has wireless deals with car makers including Ford Motor Co and Nissan Motor Co .

But the OnStar agreement is its biggest deal so far, according to Glenn Lurie, president of the AT&T division that is dedicated to expanding wireless connections beyond phones.

"Economically we're very very happy with the deal," he said.

Lurie would not provide pricing details for the service but the OnStar subscribers could potentially add their car to an AT&T shared data plan, which allows customers to add multiple devices to a single account.

"You could see the car be another device in your portfolio of devices," Lurie said.

Such an arrangement could help improve the popularity of connected car services, according to Forrester Research analyst Charles Golvin said.

"It could lower the barrier to adoption if a customer could add their car as another device on their AT&T plan rather than having to opt in to OnStar and pay a separate bill every month," Golvin said.

Lurie said he expects roughly 20 million new cars sold from 2015 to 2018 to have wireless connections, citing an analyst estimate that roughly half of U.S. cars would be connected by 2016.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew; Editing by Richard Chang)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gm-switches-t-verizon-onstar-wireless-053945381--finance.html

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Industry Ink (2-25-13) : MusicRow ? Nashville's Music Industry ...

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napa1 Top Napa Valley winemakers and Nashville songwriters will come together to pair music and wine with stories behind their creations. Napa in Nashville will be held March 7 at Nashville?s Hard Rock Cafe, beginning at 6 p.m. The evening will include wine tasting with the winemakers and performances from several top songwriters.

Currently confirmed songwriters include Pat Alger (?Unanswered Prayers,? ?The Thunder Rolls,? ?Small Town Saturday Night?), Tony Arata (?The Dance,? ?I?m Holding My Own,? ?Here I Am?) and Dave Berg (?If You?re Going Through Hell,? ?These Are My People,? ?Stupid Boy?), with additional performers to be announced.

Proceeds from the event will benefit Notes For Education, supporting arts education for today?s youth and the continued development of the artists of tomorrow.

?$60 includes wine tasting, food and live music.?Visit?www.notesforeducation.org?for tickets and more info.

? ? ?

Tate Music Group has added Doug Briney to its roster.

??We are happy to be partnering with the good people at Tate Music Group,? said Doug?s manager, Michael Stover of MTS Management Group. ?Tate has worked with some of Doug?s biggest influences, including Lee Greenwood.? So, to have him on the same label is a real dream come true for him. We are looking forward to getting Doug in the studio to cut his Tate Music Group debut.?

Briney, known as the Alaskan Cowboy, is based in Anchorage, Alaska. He is a 2012 Independent Country Music Association award nominee. His debut CD, It?s All Country has received international airplay and chart success, placing in the Top 20 of the Roots Music Report charts for several months. His next release, his first for Tate, will be recorded in the coming weeks. He will be singing the national anthem for the beginning of the Iditarod Trail race in March.

? ? ?

Ticket Summit??s? Executive Director, Dr. Molly A. M?rez, was recently honored by both Collaborate Magazine and EXPO Magazine. Collaborate included M?rez in its ?40 Under 40? list while EXPO recognized her on its Elite list for the second year in a row. More information about this announcement can be found in the attached press release.

? ? ?

Renegade Radio Nashville has partnered with Curb Records for an informative music industry radio show, The Road To Music Row. Featuring Taylor Childress, VP of Curb and Sidewalk Records, as well as station co-owner and voice Captain Jack Aponte and radio personality and country recording artist Lindsay Lawler, the show airs every Wednesday night from 5-6 p.m. and provides listeners with an in-depth discussion about the inner workings of the music industry.

?We?re always trying to be innovative and take Internet radio to the next level,? said Aponte. ?We?re excited to offer listeners a glimpse into what goes on behind the scenes in the music industry with our new show. It?s especially exciting to have the label?s perspective that Taylor Childress offers.?

To learn more about The Road to Music Row, visit www.renegaderadionashville.com

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Category: Featured

About the Author

Jessica Nicholson is a staff writer with MusicRow Enterprises. Her previous music journalism experience includes work with Country Weekly magazine, TasteofCountry.com and Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) magazine. She holds a BBA degree in Music Business and Marketing from Belmont University.

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Source: http://www.musicrow.com/2013/02/industry-ink-2-25-13/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=industry-ink-2-25-13

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Video: Scientists find genes linked to human neurological disorders in sea lamprey genome

Monday, February 25, 2013

Scientists at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) have identified several genes linked to human neurological disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injury, in the sea lamprey, a vertebrate fish whose whole-genome sequence is reported this week in the journal Nature Genetics.

"This means that we can use the sea lamprey as a powerful model to drive forward our molecular understanding of human neurodegenerative disease and neurological disorders," says Jennifer Morgan of the MBL's Eugene Bell Center for Regenerative Biology and Tissue Engineering. The ultimate goals are to determine what goes wrong with neurons after injury and during disease, and to determine how to correct these deficits in order to restore normal nervous system functions.

Unlike humans, the lamprey has an extraordinary capacity to regenerate its nervous system. If a lamprey's spinal cord is severed, it can regenerate the damaged nerve cells and be swimming again in 10-12 weeks.

Morgan and her collaborators at MBL, Ona Bloom and Joseph Buxbaum, have been studying the lamprey's recovery from spinal cord injury since 2009. The lamprey has large, identified neurons in its brain and spinal cord, making it an excellent model to study regeneration at the single cell-level. Now, the lamprey's genomic information gives them a whole new "toolkit" for understanding its regenerative mechanisms, and for comparing aspects of its physiology, such as inflammation response, to that of humans.

The lamprey genome project was accomplished by a consortium of 59 researchers led by Weiming Li of Michigan State University and Jeramiah Smith of the University of Kentucky. The MBL scientists' contribution focused on neural aspects of the genome, including one of the project's most intriguing findings.

Lampreys, in contrast to humans, don't have myelin, an insulating sheath around neurons that allows faster conduction of nerve impulses. Yet the consortium found genes expressed in the lamprey that are normally expressed in myelin. In humans, myelin-associated molecules inhibit nerves from regenerating if damaged. "A lot of the focus of the spinal cord injury field is on neutralizing those inhibitory molecules," Morgan says.

Jennifer Morgan and Ona Bloom are using an ugly fish with a beautiful spinal cord, the sea lamprey, to study mechanisms of recovery from spinal cord injury at the MBL in Woods Hole, Mass. Credit: Diana Kenney/MBL

"So there is an interesting conundrum," Morgan says. "What are these myelin-associated genes doing in an animal that doesn't have myelin, and yet is good at regeneration? It opens up a new and interesting set of questions, " she says. Addressing them could bring insight to why humans lost the capacity for neural regeneration long ago, and how this might be restored.

At present, Morgan and her collaborators are focused on analyzing which genes are expressed and when, after spinal cord injury and regeneration. The whole-genome sequence gives them an invaluable reference for their work.

Morgan, Bloom, and Buxbaum collaborate at the MBL through funding by the Charles Evans Foundation. Bloom is based at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research/Hofstra North Shore-Long Island Jewish in New York. Buxbaum is from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.

###

Smith JJ et al (2013) Sequencing of the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) genome provides insight into vertebrate evolution. Nature Genetics: DOI: 10.1038/ng.2568

Marine Biological Laboratory: http://www.mbl.edu

Thanks to Marine Biological Laboratory for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127000/Video__Scientists_find_genes_linked_to_human_neurological_disorders_in_sea_lamprey_genome

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Non-volatile bistable memory circuits for highly energy-efficient CMOS logic systems

Feb. 25, 2013 ? Non-volatile bistable memory circuits being developed by Satoshi Sugahara and his team at Tokyo Tech pave the way for highly energy-efficient CMOS logic systems. The details are described in the February 2013 issue of Tokyo Institute of Technology Bulletin.

Developments in low power, high performance CMOS logic technology are vital to the future of microprocessors and system-on-chip (SoC) devices for personal computers, servers, and mobile/smart phones. Much of the processing in these computing systems is carried out using a volatile hierarchical memory system in which bistable circuits such as static random access memory (SRAM) and flip-flop (FF) play an essential role for fast data-access. However, the power to these bistable circuits cannot be switched off without losing their data. This inability to turn off power is a fundamental problem for energy consumption in CMOS logic systems.

The method for saving energy in CMOS logic systems, called power-gating, uses architecture to cut the supply voltage to idle circuit domains, effectively putting them to power shut-off state to avoid leakage and thereby save static energy.

Satoshi Sugahara and his team at the Tokyo Institute of Technology have proposed a new architecture of power-gating using non-volatile SRAM (NV-SRAM) and non-volatile FF (NV-FF) circuits, called non-volatile power-gating, so that the size of logic circuit domains for power-gating is optimally designed, supply voltages to the domains are cut at the optimum times, and the energy cost of the logic circuits is worthwhile.

Over the past few years, Sugahara and his team have been developing non-volatile bistable memory circuits (NV-SRAM and NV-FF) required to establish non-volatile power-gating systems with better overall performance and energy efficiency than conventional power-gating systems [1]. In particular, the researchers have built pseudo-spin metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (PS-MOSFETs) for use in the non-volatile bistable memory circuits.

The PS-MOSFET can be configured with an ordinary MOSFET coupled with a spin-transfer torque magnetic tunnel junction (STT-MTJ), and it can reproduce the functions of spin-transistors -- in which different electrons spin states or magnetization configurations of the ferromagnetic electrodes are used to control transistor output1. Spin transistors can also store non-volatile information1. In a typical bistable memory circuit, an inverter loop consisting of cross-coupling two CMOS gates is used to store each memory bit. In the new non-volatile bistable circuits, PS-MOSFETs are added to the inverter loop.

Previous attempts to build non-volatile bistable circuits with STT-MTJs have resulted in performance degradation, because the STT-MTJs interfere with their fundamental circuits of the inverter loops. To overcome this problem, the team designed NV-SRAM and NV-FF circuits using PS-MOSFETs. In these circuits, the STT-MTJs can be electrically separated from the inverter loops by the PS-MOSFETs and thus have no degradation effects on the bistable circuit performance.

The NV-SRAM and NV-FF circuits built by Sugahara's team have performed well under tests so far, compared to conventional SRAM/FF circuits. They also developed architectures for minimizing break-even time (that is an important performance index of power-gating) of the NV-SRAM and NV-FF circuits, including a 'store-free' shutdown, wherein existing data is not rewritten, thereby dramatically saving energy.

These new transistor and circuit designs could be pivotal in the development of faster, more energy-efficient processing in future CMOS logic systems. Most importantly, as the researchers state in a recent publication2-5, "Proposed architectures have excellent compatibility with present microprocessor/SoC technologies," and "Proposed non-volatile bistable circuits using PS-MOSFETs can dramatically reduce the energy issues caused by static power dissipation in advanced CMOS logic systems"

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Tokyo Institute of Technology, via ResearchSEA.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

Satoshi Sugahara et al. High performance logic systems for less power. Tokyo Institute of Technology Bulletin., February 2013 [link]

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/technology/~3/7k9H2VUmXU0/130225102139.htm

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Live from ASUS at Mobile World Congress!

Asus presser

We've live from ASUS on the first official day of Mobile World Congress here in Barcelona, Spain. Chances are we're about to get some Android tablet action dropped on us.

So check in after the break for all the liveblog action, starting at 1:30 p.m. CET, or 7:30 a.m. EST. Morning, U.S. folks!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/sWYKNXxaJqc/story01.htm

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More Choices, Less Commitment ? The Gospel Coalition Blog

"If I lived in Iowa, I'd be married with four children by now." Gregg Blatt is the CEO of Match.com's parent company. He's a 40-something bachelor living in Manhattan, and it's not entirely clear whether his wry comment aims to slight Iowa or New York.

Either way, it's clear that overwhelming choice can cripple commitment. Blatt himself wonders whether the glittering promise of online dating?your perfect match is only a click away?encourages us to become never-satisfied consumers of relationships, always looking to upgrade. And if we suspect we can easily find a superior choice on the Internet, how might that knowledge negatively affect the desire to invest in our current relationship, or even marriage? Assuming we one day get tired of compulsive consumption and decide to stop playing the field, will we be able to? Might the intoxication of choice lead to the death of commitment?and contentment?

Dan Slater thinks so. His recent article in The Atlantic implies that online dating, far from making marriage easier, is actually making it harder?by making commitment less likely:

The positive aspects of online dating are clear: the Internet makes it easier for single people to meet other single people with whom they might be compatible, raising the bar for what they consider a good relationship. But what if online dating makes it too easy to meet someone new? What if it raises the bar for a good relationship too high? What if the prospect of finding an ever-more-compatible mate with the click of a mouse means a future of relationship instability, in which we keep chasing the elusive rabbit around the dating track?

Slater's dog-track metaphor is strikingly apt. The rabbit isn't real, it's never caught, yet the greyhound still obsessively chases it. And the multiplying "rabbits" (as provided by the proliferation of online dating services) deceive us into believing that the odds of catching one have improved exponentially. In reality, as our expectations of relational satisfaction have risen, so has the likelihood of disappointment?and with it, the chances that we will keep on compulsively chasing. Of course, this process suits the online dating companies. "[T]he profit models of many online-dating sites are at cross-purposes with clients who are trying to develop long-term commitments," Slater observes.?"A permanently paired-off dater, after all, means a lost revenue stream." That's why most of the users on Match.com?are return customers, coaxed back into activity by plaintive "How could you leave us?" emails, and the consumer's own relational restlessness.?

Lowering the Bar

Evidence also suggests that even if we do finally commit to someone, the multiplicity of options makes it less likely we'll stay committed. Psychologist Barry Schwarz, author of The Paradox of Choice, argues that "a large array of options may diminish the attractiveness of what people actually choose, the reason being that thinking about the attractions of some of the unchosen options detracts from the pleasure derived from the chosen one."

In 2011, Mark Brooks, a consultant to online dating companies, published the results of an industry survey titled "How Has Internet Dating Changed Society?" The survey responses, from 39 executives, produced the following conclusions:

"Internet dating may be partly responsible for a rise in the divorce rates."
"Above all, Internet dating has helped people of all ages realize that there's no need to settle for a mediocre relationship."
"Low quality, unhappy, and unsatisfying marriages are being destroyed as people drift to Internet dating sites."
"The market is hugely more efficient. . . . People expect to?and this will be increasingly the case over time?access people anywhere, anytime, based on complex search requests. . . . Such a feeling of access affects our pursuit of love. . . . [T]he whole world (versus, say, the city we live in) will, increasingly, feel like the market for our partner(s). Our pickiness will probably increase."
"Internet dating has made people more disposable."

That's frightening. But online dating is surely not the only cause of commitment-phobia. As Slater points out, gender may also play a role, though "researchers are divided on the question of whether men pursue more 'short-term mates' than women do." Certainly, with young women in the United States much more likely to graduate from college than their male peers, and college graduates much more likely to date other college graduates, men seem to have the luxury (or rather, the curse) of choice.

Then there is the pornography epidemic. It raises (or rather, lowers) the bar on what we expect of a prospective spouse because of its unremitting insistence on physical performance and cosmetic beauty, over and against mental and moral qualities. As Christian men, we may pray unctuously for the Lord to provide a wife of noble character (Proverbs 31:10-31), but our hearts are being continually conditioned to lust after the wife of maximal hotness. "Charm is deceitful," God protests, "and beauty is vain!" But we dismiss him like one of those impertinent pop-ups that gets in the way of what we really want to see.

Devastating Results

The devastating societal results are already being ruefully catalogued. The sexually graphic film?Shame (2011) sees a porn-addicted Michael Fassbender sloping from one brief encounter to another. Together in a hotel room with a beautiful woman who believes in monogamy, he is unable to perform. Because his only commitment is to an endless, open-ended lack of commitment, real intimacy eludes him. And by the time the film ends, we're not sure it will ever be regained.

Or take George Clooney in Up in the Air (2009). He plays a character whose aversion to emotional commitment means that, according to his own family, he has essentially ceased to exist. Taken in by the false promises of sexual "freedom," he has withheld commitment for years. And now that he wishes to give it, he's no longer free to do so.

Pointedly, The Velveteen Rabbit appears briefly in the film. It's a children's story about a stuffed toy rabbit who becomes real when he is loved. At one point, the rabbit asks the wise Skin Horse how the process happens.

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

It's a mesmerizing, sad story about how real love?real commitment?inevitably unmakes us. Perhaps that's partly why we're so afraid of it. But the story also explains why that "unmaking" is such a desirable thing.

It's how you become "real."

Our Undoing

Truly committing to another human being will certainly be our undoing. It requires substitutionary sacrifice: your life is subsumed in the quest for the other's contentment. In the case of marriage it means each person forsaking all others, which to the world looks like a very shabby prospect.

But this selfless giving of oneself to another human being holds unique power to make both the lover and the beloved truly beautiful. By losing their lives, they have gained them. But we can only taste this if we commit?and allow other to commit to us.

Committing to love at great cost to ourselves is the most desirable choice we can make in God's universe. He demonstrated this love for us on a tiny hill outside Jerusalem. He made the choice to love self-sacrificially. Forsaking all others, he committed himself to a particular people, at a particular time, in a particular place. Even the living God?powerful, sovereign, utterly free, whose triune nature means that he does not depend on others in order to love and be loved?nevertheless committed himself to love one bride.

Will we trade the deceptive and ever-declining thrills of choice-idolatry for the unique pleasures of commitment? We should do it, and soon. Because even if, by God's grace, our chains fall off, even if our dungeon flames with light, we may be powerless to get up and leave, because our hearts have been crippled. We put off commitment and venerate choice, idly believing that we will commit when we are ready. But when that day finally arrives, we may realize with widening eyes that we're no longer choosing sin. Sin is choosing us. We will have become imprisoned by choice.

And for those of us who have experienced this prison first-hand, isn't it strange when the world describes us as "butterflies"? That is too delicate, too lovely. Brothers and sisters, let me propose a more fitting insect: the moth. Drawn to the light but finally unable to enjoy it. Dulled. Restless. All-consuming.

Barry Cooper studied English at Oxford University and theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is the author of Discipleship Explored, and is co-author of the Christianity Explored evangelistic program. He writes the blog Future Perfect, Present Tense, and is currently helping to plant Trinity West Church in Shepherd's Bush, London.

Source: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2013/02/25/more-choices-less-commitment/

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Monday, February 25, 2013

Geneva Preview: Audi e-tron Gets Sensible with 153 mpg A3

Audi A3 e-tron

Remember Audi?s outrageous e-tron Concept? The R8-inspired supercar project claimed a locomotive-like 3,319 lb-ft of torque, a 0-62 mph time of 4.8 seconds, and 134 miles of range?and like many pie-in-the-sky concepts, the low-slung EV proved too futuristic for production.

Fast forward to the upcoming 2013 Geneva Motor Show, and the Ingolstadt-based manufacturer will be displaying their latest interpretation of e-tron technology, only this time it's far more feasibly packaged. Beneath the otherwise pedestrian exterior of the A3 5-door hatchback is a plug-in hybrid drivetrain producing 204 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque, which should scoot it to 62 mph in 7.6 seconds. The internal combustion portion of the proceedings is provided by a 1.4-liter, 150 hp TFSI powerplant, while remaining oomph is augmented by a 75 kW electric motor. In all-electric mode, this particular A3 is capable of achieving a hair over 80 mph, while covering a maximum range of 31 miles under EV propulsion... but here's the kicker: US fuel consumption is estimated at a positively moped-like 156.81 mpg.

Will the A3 e-tron become a reality? While John Pearley Huffman's 2009 test drive of the supercar concept left more questions than answers (and made a projected late 2012 launch seem rather unlikely) Glenn Derene's more recent scoot around Manhattan in an all-electric A3 e-Tron suggests this pipsqueak hatchback actually feels like an Audi, and has a decent chance of making production. So while Audi won't be taking the EV supercar route to future propulsion (a la Mercedes-Benz's SLS AMG Electric Drive), perhaps a production A3 e-tron will pave the way for future Audi exotics.

Related:?Audi e-tron Supercar Concept Test Drive, Audi A3 e-tron Test Drive

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/auto-blog/geneva-preview-audi-e-tron-gets-sensible-with-153-mpg-a3_?src=rss

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What?s Slowing Down Mobile Video Adoption? Android, Disagreements On HLS And MPEG-DASH Standards

Editor's note:?Bismarck Lepe is co-founder and president of products at Ooyala. Mobile World Congress kicks off next week, and business and technology leaders from around the world will converge in Barcelona to see what?s next in mobile tech.?But one thing you won?t find amid the keynotes,?networking gardens and after parties is a frank discussion about why mobile video continues to be a huge pain for viewers and broadcasters alike.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/cbcMmUbzzjw/

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All condemn pending budget cuts, spread blame

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The White House and Republicans kept up the unrelenting mudslinging Sunday over who's to blame for roundly condemned budget cuts set to take effect at week's end, with the administration detailing the potential fallout in each state and governors worrying about the mess.

But as leaders rushed past each other to decry the potentially devastating and seemingly inevitable cuts, they also criticized their counterparts for their roles in introducing, implementing and obstructing the $85 billion budget mechanism that could affect everything from commercial flights to classrooms to meat inspections. The GOP's leading line of criticism hinged on blaming Obama's aides for introducing the budget trigger in the first place, while the administration's allies were determined to illustrate the consequences of the cuts as the product of Republican stubbornness.

Former Republican National Committee chairman Haley Barbour, aware the political outcome may be predicated on who is to blame, half-jokingly said Sunday, "Well, if it was a bad idea, it was the president's idea."

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said there was little hope to dodge the cuts "unless the Republicans are willing to compromise and do a balanced approach."

No so fast, Republicans interjected.

"I think the American people are tired of the blame game," said Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H.

Yet just a moment before, she was blaming Obama for putting the country on the brink of massive spending cuts that were initially designed to be so unacceptable that Congress would strike a grand bargain to avoid them.

Obama nodded to the squabble during his weekly radio and Internet address.

"Unfortunately, it appears that Republicans in Congress have decided that instead of compromising ? instead of asking anything of the wealthiest Americans ? they would rather let these cuts fall squarely on the middle class," Obama said Saturday, in his last weekly address before the deadline.

"We just need Republicans in Washington to come around," Obama added. "Because we need their help to finish the job of reducing our deficit in a smart way that doesn't hurt our economy or our people."

With Friday's deadline nearing, few in the nation's capital were optimistic that a realistic alternative could be found and all sought to cast the political process itself as the culprit. If Congress does not step in, a top-to-bottom series of cuts will be spread across domestic and defense agencies in a way that would fundamentally change how government serves its people.

Obama senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer told reporters the GOP is "so focused on not giving the president another win" that they will cost thousands of jobs. To back up their point, the White House released state-by-state tallies for how many dollars and jobs the budget cuts would mean to each state.

"The Republicans are making a policy choice that these cuts are better than eliminating loopholes," Pfeiffer said.

And, yes, those cuts will hurt. They would slash from domestic and defense spending alike, leading to furloughs for hundreds of thousands of government workers and contractors.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said the cuts would harm the readiness of U.S. fighting forces. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said travelers could see delayed flights. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said 70,000 fewer children from low-income families would have access to Head Start programs. And furloughed meat inspectors could leave plants idled.

In Virginia, for instance, 90,000 Defense Department civilian employees could be furloughed, including nurses at Army hospitals, said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. He also said ship-repair contractors could lay off 300 of their 450 employees.

"There is no reason that this has to happen. We just need to find a balanced approach," Kaine said.

White House officials also pointed to Ohio as another state that would be hit hard: $25.1 million in education spending and another $22 million for students with disabilities. Some 2,500 children from low-income families would also be removed from Head Start programs.

Officials said their analysis showed Kentucky would lose $93,000 in federal funding for a domestic abuse program, meaning 400 fewer victims being served in Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's home state. Georgia, meanwhile, would face a $286,000 budget cut to its children's health programs, meaning almost 4,200 fewer children would receive vaccinations against measles and whooping cough.

White House officials said Nevada would face military furloughs totaling $12.1 million in reduced pay, a $424,000 cut to pay for meals for seniors and an almost $2 million reduction for clean air and water programs.

The White House was ready with state-by-state reports designed to get hold-out lawmakers to compromise or face unhappy constituents.

The White House compiled the numbers from federal agencies and its own budget office. The numbers reflect the impact of the cuts this year. Unless Congress acts by Friday, $85 billion in cuts are set to take effect from March to September.

As to whether states could move money around to cover shortfalls, the White House said that depends on state budget structures and the specific programs. The White House did not have a list of which states or programs might have flexibility.

Republican leaders were not impressed by the reports for the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

"The White House needs to spend less time explaining to the press how bad the sequester will be and more time actually working to stop it," said Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio.

Some governors said the impasse was just the latest crisis in Washington that is keeping businesses from hiring and undermining the ability of state leaders to develop their own spending plans.

"It's senseless and it doesn't need to happen," said Gov. Martin O'Malley, D-Md., during the annual meeting of the National Governors Association this weekend.

"And it's a damn shame, because we've actually had the fastest rate of jobs recovery of any state in our region. And this really threatens to hurt a lot of families in our state and kind of flat-line our job growth for the next several months," O'Malley said.

Obama did not mention the budget cuts in remarks before his dinner with the governors Sunday evening at the White House; he is expected to address the issue in a speech Monday morning to the same group. But time is running out and hope is waning.

Suggestions intended to instill a spirit of compromise included a presidential summit at Camp David and even a field trip to watch "Lincoln."

Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy said it is past time for both sides to sit down to help dodge cuts that will hurt all states' budgets.

"Come to the table, everyone. Everybody. Let's work this thing out. Let's be adults," said Malloy, a Democrat.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., called the defense cuts "unconscionable" and urged Obama to call lawmakers to the White House or the presidential retreat of Camp David for a last-minute budget summit.

"I won't put all the blame all on the president of the United States. But the president leads. The president should be calling us over somewhere ? Camp David, the White House, somewhere ? and us sitting down and trying to avert these cuts," McCain said.

LaHood, who served as a Republican representing Illinois in the U.S. House, urged his colleagues to watch Steven Spielberg's film about President Abraham Lincoln's political skills.

"Everybody around here ought to go take a look at the 'Lincoln' movie, where they did very hard things by working together, talking together and compromising," said LaHood. "That's what's needed here."

LaHood and Duncan were the only representatives from the administration to appear on Sunday shows. The White House did not book any of its senior aides.

Barbour, Malloy and McCain appeared on CNN's "State of the Union." McCaskill was interviewed on "Fox News Sunday." Ayotte, Duncan and Kaine spoke with CBS' "Face the Nation." LaHood appeared on both CNN and NBC.

___

Follow Philip Elliott on Twitter: https://twitter.com/philip_elliott

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/condemn-pending-budget-cuts-spread-blame-211746860--finance.html

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