Bungie shows off 'Destiny' characters on video

Devin Coldewey , NBC News ? ? ? 13 hrs.

"Halo" creator Bungie has been sparing with details on the gameplay of its next big project, "Destiny," but liberal with concept art. The veil was lifted a little further Friday with the release of a video showing characters making the jump from concept to in-game model.

The video was shown at Bungie's panel at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. While it doesn't contain any actual gameplay, there's plenty of info to be extracted from the character models and animations.

For instance, the "Cabal" fighters are heavily armored and likely fill the role of tank. The three classes shown at the end ? Titan, Warlock, and Hunter ? fit neatly into the "warrior, wizard, rogue" archetypes already in place in thousands of games.

Sharp-eyed viewers will identify several influences, from "Warhammer 40K" and "Star Wars" to manga like "Appleseed" to, of course, Bungie's previous games. A batch of concept art was also released, which Kotaku has kindly collected here.

More substantial information about the game itself will likely be given out at E3 in June.

Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is coldewey.cc.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2a254d92/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Cingame0Cbungie0Eshows0Edestiny0Echaracters0Evideo0E1C9145348/story01.htm

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Afghans warned: the taxman is coming after you

By Katharine Houreld

KABUL (Reuters) - One of Afghanistan's most surprising success stories lies tucked away on a potholed street notorious for suicide bombings and lined with rusting construction equipment.

The work of the country's top tax collector is more inspiring than the view from his office in Kabul. Taxes and customs raised $1.64 billion last financial year, a 14-fold increase on 10 years ago. That means, now, the government can pay just over half of its recurrent costs such as salaries.

Thanks to tougher enforcement procedures, Afghanistan's tax to GDP ratio today stands above 11 percent - ahead of neighboring Pakistan's dismal 9 percent.

Increasing revenues is vital as donors begin reducing aid ahead of the 2014 drawdown of NATO troops, who have provided the backbone for security since U.S. forces invaded after the September 11 attacks on the United States.

By the end of this year the United States alone will have spent $100 billion on Afghan reconstruction. But future pledges are a fraction of that.

"We are largely dependent on international aid. We would like to be independent," said Abdurrahman Mujahid, the new head of the revenue department. "I would like a sustainable Afghanistan for all the children."

Despite rising revenues, the government will rely heavily on donors for years to come. Taxes, customs and mining revenue will only meet $2.5 billion out of a $7 billion budget this year.

Most of the revenue comes from large corporate taxpayers, who complain their payments have not improved power cuts, potholed roads or security.

Corporations pay a flat tax of 20 percent - the same rate for an individual earning over $2,000 a month.

But unlike developed countries where personal income tax generates a sizeable chunk of revenue, most Afghans scoff at the idea of giving the government some of their meager earnings.

The average annual income, in a country ranked one of the world's poorest, is just $470, according to the World Bank. Those making less than $100 a month don't have to pay tax.

"It's not a good government," said moneychanger Abdurrahman Arif, 28, as he held a wad of soiled notes and scanned for customers. "I don't pay tax. The rich people don't and the government should go to them before they come to me."

Afghanistan has a similar problem to neighboring Pakistan - the very wealthy don't pay their share, and weak institutions often have little way of forcing them.

Authorities admit that taxing the rich isn't easy in a country where the powerful often command militias. But Mujahid promises tax evaders will "be introduced to the law enforcement agencies".

SUBSTANTIAL ACHIEVEMENT

Much of Afghanistan's money is in an undocumented black economy. Corruption is endemic and the country produces 90 percent of the world's opium. Billions of dollars in cash leave the country every year in suitcases.

The security situation is discouraging. Taliban and other militias have made gains in many areas as foreign combat forces wind down their missions.

But some Afghans still manage to make money. Many businesses are fuelled by the aid dollars that have poured into the country over the last decade. Luxury supermarkets, travel agencies and stationery shops crowd the capital's streets.

A U.S. embassy official in Kabul commended Afghanistan's ability to raise tax revenues.

"It's a pretty substantial achievement," the official said, but noted the nation still faced a large funding gap, partly because of its huge security bill.

"It's going to continue being a problem until they can get revenues from the extractive industry, and that's going to take some time," the official said, referring to Afghanistan's rich but undeveloped mineral deposits.

Donors currently pay for just under half Afghanistan's operating costs - mostly government salaries - and more than three-quarters of all development projects like roads, dams and electricity equipment.

Rampant corruption means this money is often stolen, angering donors, fuelling anti-government rage and keeping aid from some of the world's neediest families.

Donors hope that if Afghans foot more of the bill for public services they may become less tolerant of graft from their leaders.

PUGNACIOUS PREDECESSOR

Mujahid, the new head of the revenue department, has large shoes to fill. His predecessor Ahmad Shah Zamanzai oversaw much of the department's growth and didn't shrink from confrontation.

When a vice-president refused to pay tax on income from renting out houses he owned, Zamanzai threatened to leak it to the press. Elections were approaching. The vice president paid up.

Under Zamanzai, the tax department jailed more than 20 tax evaders, froze bank accounts, slapped on travel bans and shuttered the premises of businesses that refused to pay.

In one showdown, he took on the glitzy wedding halls that have mushroomed up in the capital. When the 60 or so venues refused to pay their dues, he had police padlock a dozen of the biggest until the rest fell into line.

Zamanzai was appointed head of the state-run Pashtany Bank as part of a bureaucratic reshuffle this month. His first task, he said, would be to use skills honed in the tax department to extract overdue loan repayments from powerful Afghans.

But the tough tax enforcement has angered some businessmen.

Najib Ullah Latify's spotless factory, full of humming machinery and rows of workers in blue overalls and yellow hard hats, stands a few minutes drive from the tax office. High Standard Pipe employs 850 people and supplies pipes for projects providing clean water all over Afghanistan.

Latify said he'd expand but harassment from the tax man was hurting his business.

In recent years, he says, he's been repeatedly overcharged by the tax office and promised refunds have not been credited. Officials frequently offer to slash his tax bill in return for bribes, he added. When he refuses, he says, officials disrupt his imports and suspend his license.

"I don't know what to do, I have shouted everywhere that they are ruining my business," he said.

"I don't mind paying taxes. Even if 60 percent of it is spent on drinking and shopping and trips for (politicians') wives, maybe 40 percent will go to schools or hospitals. But they must tax me correctly."

The new tax chief, Mujahid, was not familiar with Vitaly's case, but promised to investigate. More than 10 tax collectors - whose basic salaries start at $180 a month - have been fired for corruption in the last two years.

"Corruption is a part of public life in Afghanistan," said Mujahid. "We have the aim to make this department corruption-free."

This year he's planning to finish computerizing tax records, usher through a law on Value Added Tax, and strengthen collection in the provinces - more than 90 percent of government taxes currently come from the capital.

"There's a lot of achievements, but for sure we have problems, and the biggest problem is corruption," he said.

(Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/afghans-warned-taxman-coming-075922090.html

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Dax Shepard & Kristen Bell Welcome Baby Girl!

Dax Shepard & Kristen Bell Welcome Baby Girl!

Adorable couple Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard have welcomed their first child. The “Parenthood” actor, 38, announced his “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” fiance, 32, had given birth to a baby girl on his Twitter page. Dax revealed the very presidential name they gave their daughter, Lincoln Bell Shepard. Shepard joked around, writing, “She has her mom’s ...

Dax Shepard & Kristen Bell Welcome Baby Girl! Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/03/dax-shepard-kristen-bell-welcome-baby-girl/

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Devin Velez Knew 'American Idol' Time Was Up

'Just the fact that America was voting for me, that's crazy!' Velez says about his time on the show.
By Gil Kaufman, with reporting by Kelly Marino

Devin Velez and Ryan Seacrest on "American Idol" Thursday night
Photo: Fox

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1704577/devin-velez-american-idol.jhtml

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Taking the US-bound Smart Electric Drive for a spin (video)

The eponymous "Smart car" has been buzzing around city streets in the US for over five years now. It's actually called the Fortwo, thanks to its limited seating capacity, and while it didn't prove to be an immediate hit, sales have been steadily increasing. An electric version of the car has been available in limited numbers overseas for years now, but finally this year it's coming to the US. And this is it. We got a chance to drive a green vinyl-wrapped Smart Electric Drive around some city streets ahead of the opening of the New York International Auto Show and came away reasonably impressed by this $25,000 EV -- the cheapest on the market. Join us after the break for our impressions.

Gallery: Smart Electric Drive test drive

Filed under: Transportation

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/4MO2eMNYtvs/

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Weekly Ketchup: New Tomb Raider Reboot In the Works

This week's Ketchup includes movies development news stories that include new roles for Anne Hathaway and Matthew McConaughey, and news about the sequels Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

This Week's Top Story

THE TOMB RAIDER REBOOT MOVIE IS STILL IN THE WORKS

Based upon the existence of this story, we can now gather that the notion of there ever being another Tomb Raider movie was hinging upon the success of the recently released videogame reboot that took Lara Croft back to her first adventure as a young lady. Something else that this is a sign of is that this was a slow news week. Anyway, the Tomb Raider reboot also has a new studio in the form of MGM, which is not really that surprising inasmuch as MGM is the place where they've never met a reboot or remake they didn't love. The two movies starring Angelina Jolie were produced by Paramount Pictures, and then Warner Bros was trying to get a reboot going for a few years there, too. There isn't much else to know or report about this Tomb Raider reboot, except that one might speculate that the new movie might follow in the steps of the new video game, and de-age Lara Croft to tell a similar "my first adventure" type of story. The success of a movie like The Hunger Games might, therefore, have also been a factor in this project continuing to attract attention from a studio like MGM.

Fresh Developments This Week

#1 MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY OFFERED LEAD ROLE IN CHRISTOPHER NOLAN'S INTERSTELLAR

With eight films now under director Christopher Nolan's figurative belt, a movie fan might feel like they have a pretty good grasp for the sort of actors that Nolan might be considering for his next project, the sci-fi movie Interstellar. Nolan in the past has been pretty big on Aussies (Guy Pearce, Hugh Jackman) and Brits (Christian Bale, Tom Hardy). Right when such choices appear to be that predictable, that's when the news hits that Christopher Nolan has offered the lead role in Interstellar to Matthew McConaughey. Which was the Internet's cue to start breaking out the "lawbreaker" and "alright alright alright" jokes. Because those are things characters played by Matthew McConaughey have said in movies that people have seen the trailers for. Paramount Pictures has scheduled Interstellar for a release date in November, 2014.

#2 AFTER THE AVENGERS 2, MARVEL PHASE THREE IS ALL ABOUT... THE DEFENDERS?

The first movie of Marvel's Phase 2 (Iron Man 3) is still not yet released, but already, we know about the six movies after it that Marvel has planned, taking us into Phase 3 already. Phase 1 and Phase 2 are both known to end, respectively, with The Avengers and its sequel The Avengers 2, but news came this week that Phase 3 might end quite differently. Let's put the pieces together: Last week, the news broke that Robert Redford has been cast as an unspecified S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. There's also been rumors of Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth from Game of Thrones) being cast in a cameo role in Thor: The Dark World as Brunnhilde the Valkyrie. And finally, we know that the second movie of Phase 3 is expected to be Doctor Strange (after Ant-Man in late 2015). Tying in with all that are the reports this week that the third Phase 3 movie will be Namor the Sub-Mariner, devoted to one of Marvel's oldest characters (dating all the way back to 1939), who also, by the way, predates by two years the more famous DC Comics "Atlantis monarch" character Aquaman. We also know that Marvel plans on using the Hulk in more movies in the future, but not necessarily in another solo Hulk movie. Which brings us, finally, to what exactly ties Doctor Strange, Namor, Valkyrie, Robert Redford's mysterious character (who might be "Kyle Richmond"), and the Incredible Hulk? That answer may come in the year 2017 with the release of the final movie of Marvel Phase 3... The Defenders, based upon Marvel's other major superhero team which isn't The Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Inhumans, the Eternals, Alpha Flight, West Coast Avengers, Force Works, Midnight Sons, the Invaders, S.H.I.E.L.D., S.W.O.R.D., the Warriors Three, Heroes for Hire, X-Force, X-Statix, Excalibur, the New Mutants, The Initiative, Power Pack, the Runaways, Young Avengers, Pet Avengers, the Great Lakes Avengers, or the Champions. That's right, The Defenders, that 1970s team of misfit superheroes that started around the trio of Doctor Strange, the Hulk, and Namor the Sub-Mariner, and grew to include... anyone that wasn't already in a super team, because... why not. It sold comics... for a while. And then... APRIL FOOL'S! (admittedly, a few days early, but this column only gets published on Fridays, and April 1st is a Monday this year). We swear The Defenders is the only joke entry in the Weekly Ketchup.

#3 PEPE LE PEW, CHARLES BOYER AND THAT ONE GUY FROM THE ARTIST, MEET... BATROC THE LEAPER!

For all these many years since we first heard that Marvel might really someday make a Captain America movie, those who love all things cheesy about superhero comics have wished (perhaps secretly, perhaps in denial) that we could maybe someday have a movie that featured Batroc the Leaper. There are basically two types of comic book fans, and that division can come right down to what they think of Batroc; it's basically a question of whether or not they like "fun" (and those on the anti-Batroc side of course deny that they despise fun). Batroc is French, has a ridiculous accent, speaks in puns, wears purple with a silly mask, kicks people in the head, and calls himself a "lea-PAR." Well, anyway, that day has finally come, it appears, because current UFC Welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre has reportedly been cast in Captain America: The Winter Soldier as Batroc the Leaper. Keep in mind that we don't know how big of a role Batroc actually plays in the film (it might be one scene or even just part of a montage or something), but it appears to be real. Georges St-Pierre isn't technically French, but he does come from the French part of Canada (Quebec), which might make him even more "French" than actually being French would. Walt Disney Pictures has scheduled Captain America: The Winter Soldier for April 4, 2014.

#4 ANNE HATHAWAY AND CHLOE MORETZ TO PLAY PALS IN LAGGIES

Director Lynn Shelton (Humpday, Your Sister's Sister) is still definitively "indie," but the cast that she's able to recruit for her films continues to work its way up the "A list" ladder. Anne Hathaway, Chloe Moretz, Sam Rockwell, and Mark Webber are now all in "deep" negotiations to star in Lynn Shelton's next indie film, Laggies. If all goes through, Hathaway will play a late-20-something who is freaked out by her boyfriend's (Webber) wedding proposal, and so she spends a week pretending to be a teenager hanging out with an actual 16 year old (Moretz). Laggies sounds like a movie that premieres at Sundance, and so it probably will the next time the festival occurs, which will be in January, 2014.

#5 CLINT EASTWOOD MAY ABANDON A STAR IS BORN FOR JERSEY BOYS

The continued stumbling blocks for two different musicals may combine to ensure that at least one of them actually gets produced sometime soon. And the winner is... the Jersey Boys movie, based on the hit Broadway musical, itself based upon the true story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. And likewise, the loser may be Warner Bros' long-standing attempts at making another A Star is Born entry. The defining factor here may be whether Clint Eastwood really does sign on to direct Jersey Boys, rather than work on A Star is Born, which he's been developing with Warner Bros for several years now (formerly with Beyonce Knowles, more recently with Esperanza Spalding). As for Jersey Boys, the last we heard, it was a project that Jon Favreau had been considering directing, but then he dropped out, which may be where Eastwood steps in (if he does).

#6 ANDY SERKIS GETS SIMIAN COMPANY FOR DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES

We've been hearing so much about the humans in the sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes that it might have been forgivable if someone guessed that Andy Serkis would remain the only "name actor" attached to play any of the apes. But, alas, nope, we finally have news of someone else playing an ape, and she's even a lady type person. Judy Greer (Arrested Development) has been cast as Cornelia, the female chimp love interest for Caesar. This will presumably mean that Greer will soon have lots of little ping pong balls attached to her personage, if this sequel is filmed the same way the first movie was. Filming of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes starts in April, and 20th Century Fox is expecting to release the film on May 23, 2014.

#7 AFTER A ROUND OF DIRECTOR WHACK-A-MOLE, MATTHEW VAUGHN FINALLY DECIDES UPON THE SECRET SERVICE

Director Matthew Vaughn's name has come up a few times after X-Men: First Class, most notably with either the sequel X-Men: Days of Future Past, or as one of the contenders to direct Star Wars Episode VII. We finally know now what he will be directing next. The answer keeps Matthew Vaughn at 20th Century Fox, for whom he will direct an adaptation of the Mark Millar comic book The Secret Service. As the title suggests (albeit deceptively), The Secret Service is about the world of spies and other espionage-type craft work. 20th Century Fox has scheduled The Secret Service for a release date of November 14, 2014.

Rotten Ideas of the Week

#8 HUGH GRANT TO STAR IN A COMEDY CURRENTLY TITLED UNTITLED HUGH GRANT COMEDY

This was a slow news week. How slow? Even with an April Fool's Day joke, there was still enough space to cover a Hugh Grant comedy that reunites him with the director of Two Weeks Notice, which in most weeks probably would have not made the 10 story cut. Writer/director Marc Lawrence has also worked on movies like Miss Congeniality (and its sequel) (as screenwriter, not director), and Did You Hear About the Morgans? Lawrence's RT Tomatometer has many more green splotches than "Fresh" tomatoes, which is why this untitled comedy is one of the week's Rotten ideas. Marisa Tomei, J.K. Simmons, Alison Janney, and Chris Elliot will also costar in this story of an Academy Award winning English screenwriter who takes a job at a small college where, instead of picking up young students, he instead falls in love with an older single mother (Tomei). And love (and possibly other high jinks) ensues.

#9 ALL FOUR NINJA TURTLES ARE NOW CAST... EVEN IF THEY'RE NOT TEENAGE OR MUTANT

There are stories, hopefully every week, that remind this writer what a fun job he has, getting to cover the hottest movie development news. And then there's Michael Bay's reboot (as producer) of (not Teenage, not Mutant) Ninja Turtles, of which, yeah, this is the part where it feels more like a job. So, we now know the names of the four actors who have been cast as the four turtles. And sure, enough, they are indeed names. Alan Ritchson (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire), Pete Ploszek, Jeremy Howard, and Noel Fisher have been cast, respectively, as Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello, and Michaelangelo. Paramount Pictures has scheduled Ninja Turtles, which will also costar Megan Fox, for release on June 6, 2014.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1927146/news/1927146/

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2 female Marines unable to complete demanding officer course

By Courtney Kube, Pentagon Producer, NBC News

WASHINGTON -- Two female officers entered the demanding Marine Infantry Officer Course this week ? only the second time in the history of the course that women have been allowed to compete to become ground combat leaders ? but neither passed the grueling obstacle course on Thursday, military officials said.

The women made it through the first few days of the course.

Of the 110 students who began the course this week, 96 are still enrolled ? the women were joined by 12 of their Marine brothers who also failed to complete the obstacle course entirely or could not complete it in the time allotted.

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The Marine Infantry Officer Course is 10 weeks of intense field training at Quantico, Va. Marines are tested to endure rigorous physical tests and written exams with little food or sleep, all of which push the men and women to their physical and mental limits. About 400 Marines take the course each year, and one in four drops out.

In January, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta directed the U.S. military chiefs to study whether more combat-related jobs could be open to women.

The military services must report back to Chuck Hagel, Panetta's successor, with their findings by May 15.

Months before Panetta?s directive, the Marine Corps asked for women to volunteer to try the course as part of the ongoing effort to open more military billets to women.

So far four women have volunteered, but none have successfully completed the course.

Two female lieutenants entered the course last September ? the first women ever allowed to do so. While both women eventually dropped the course, one of them made it well into the second week before an injury forced her out.

The two women who volunteered for this latest round will not likely be the last.? A U.S. military official tells NBC News that five more female Marines are already waiting in the wings to enter the course this summer.

Related:?

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Tablet computers acceptable for reading EEG results, study says

Mar. 29, 2013 ? Mayo Clinic physicians in Arizona have shown that tablet computers can be used to analyze electroencephalogram or EEG results outside of the clinic or hospital. Their study findings were recently presented at the American Academy of Neurology conference in San Diego.

"The fact that this gives doctors the ability to read EEG results from anywhere can only help patients in the long run," says Matthew Hoerth, M.D., a neurologist at Mayo Clinic in Arizona.

Click here to hear Dr. Hoerth explain the study.

An EEG is a painless procedure that uses electrodes attached to a person's scalp to detect electrical activity in the brain. Brain cells are constantly communicating via electrical impulses, even when someone is asleep. This activity shows up as wavy lines on an EEG recording.

The objective was to determine whether a computer tablet is an acceptable alternative to the traditional laptop for remote EEG interpretation. The findings showed that the tablet cost significantly less and weighed less than the laptop and had a comparable screen resolution. The greatest disadvantage to the tablet compared to the laptop is screen size. Boot-up time was significantly longer for the laptop and desktop. An EEG is one of the main diagnostic tests for epilepsy and may also play a role in diagnosing other brain disorders. The epilepsy division at Mayo Clinic in Arizona interprets EEGs for Mayo Clinic Hospital as well as three other institutions across Arizona, where they have remote access for interpretation to all locations. "With high volumes of EEGs and multiple systems and facilities to read from, the efficiency of technology is essential to many physician practices," says Dr. Hoerth. "Despite the marginally smaller screen size, the ease of use, accessibility, and reliability make the tablet a viable option for its integration into the tele-EEG practice.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Mayo Clinic.

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

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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/4wz4sRG5Wm8/130329161134.htm

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Harry Potter actor Richard Griffiths dies after surgery

LONDON (Reuters) - British actor Richard Griffiths, best known for his roles in 'Withnail and I' and the Harry Potter films, has died at the age of 65 after complications following heart surgery, his agent said on Friday.

Griffiths spent almost four decades in radio, film, on television and on stage, and received some of his industry's top awards for his role in Alan Bennett's play "The History Boys".

The portly actor filled the screen as the lascivious Uncle Monty in the cult 1987 film 'Withnail and I'.

But younger fans will remember him for his portrayal of a much crueler avuncular figure - Harry Potter's red-faced and bullying uncle Vernon Dursley.

Daniel Radcliffe, who played the boy wizard and performed with Griffiths in the stage play "Equus", said the veteran performer had encouraged and coached him and helped him get over his nerves.

"Richard was by my side during two of the most important moments of my career ... any room he walked into was made twice as funny and twice as clever just by his presence. I am proud to say I knew him," Radcliffe said in a statement.

Griffiths' agent, Simon Beresford, described him as "a remarkable man and one of our greatest and best-loved actors". He said Griffiths died in hospital on Thursday.

The actor was born in Thornaby-on-Tees in Yorkshire, northern England, the son of a steelworker. Both his parents were deaf and he learned sign language to communicate with them.

After studying drama in Manchester, he worked in radio and theatre, building a reputation as a Shakespearean clown.

He reprised his role as teacher Hector in a film of "The History Boys" in 2006. One of his best known roles on television was a cookery-loving detective in "Pie in the Sky".

On stage, he was known for his intolerance of mobile phones ringing during performances, and halted plays several times to complain and even eject offending audience members.

Nicholas Hytner, director of Britain's National Theatre, said Griffiths' unexpected death would devastate his "army of friends".

"Richard Griffiths wasn't only one of the most loved and recognizable British actors - he was also one of the very greatest," Hytner said in a statement.

Griffiths was given an OBE in 2008 and is survived by his wife Heather.

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/harry-potter-actor-richard-griffiths-dies-heart-surgery-130557398.html

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Study Links Early Baldness to Prostate Cancer in African Americans (Voice Of America)

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From 'Star Wars' To 'Indiana Jones': Harrison Ford Weighs 'Ambitious' Sequels

Han Solo actor tells MTV News he's considering returning for sequels like 'Blade Runner.'
By Kevin P. Sullivan, with reporting by Todd Gilchrist

Harrison Ford
Photo: MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1704441/harrison-ford-star-wars-indiana-jones.jhtml

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Windsor: Marriage 'is magic' (CNN)

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The Jaw-Dropping Reason Congress Drafted DOMA: 'Moral Disapproval of Homosexuality' (Atlantic Politics Channel)

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Large robotic jellyfish could one day patrol oceans

Mar. 28, 2013 ? Virginia Tech College of Engineering researchers have unveiled a life-like, autonomous robotic jellyfish the size and weight of a grown man, 5 foot 7 inches in length and weighing 170 pounds.

The prototype robot, nicknamed Cyro, is a larger model of a robotic jellyfish the same team -- headed by Shashank Priya of Blacksburg, Va., and professor of mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech -- unveiled in 2012. The earlier robot, dubbed RoboJelly, is roughly the size of a man's hand, and typical of jellyfish found along beaches.

"A larger vehicle will allow for more payload, longer duration and longer range of operation," said Alex Villanueva of St-Jacques, New-Brunswick, Canada, and a doctoral student in mechanical engineering working under Priya. "Biological and engineering results show that larger vehicles have a lower cost of transport, which is a metric used to determine how much energy is spent for traveling."

Both robots are part of a multi-university, nationwide $5 million project funded by U.S. Naval Undersea Warfare Center and the Office of Naval Research. The goal is to place self-powering, autonomous machines in waters for the purposes of surveillance and monitoring the environment, in addition to other uses such as studying aquatic life, mapping ocean floors, and monitoring ocean currents.

Jellyfish are attractive candidates to mimic because of their ability to consume little energy owing to a lower metabolic rate than other marine species. Additionally, they appear in wide variety of sizes, shapes and colors, allowing for several designs. They also inhabit every major oceanic area of the world and are capable of withstanding a wide range of temperatures in both fresh and salt waters. Most species are found in shallow coastal waters, but some have been found in depths 7,000 meters below sea level.

Partner universities in the project are Providence College in Rhode Island, the University of California Los Angeles, the University of Texas at Dallas, and Stanford University. Priya's team is building the jellyfish body models, integrating fluid mechanics and developing control systems.

Cyro is modeled and named after the jellyfish cyanea capillata, Latin for Llion's Manemain jellyfishJellyfish, with "Cyro" derived from "cyanea" and "robot." As with its predecessor, this robot is in the prototype stage, years away from use in waters. A new prototype model already is under construction at Virginia Tech's Durham Hall, where Priya's Center for Energy Harvesting Materials and Systems is based.

"We hope to improve on this robot and reduce power consumption and improve swimming performance as well as better mimic the morphology of the natural jellyfish," Villanueva said, adding that the project also allows researchers such as himself to better understand aquatic creatures live. "Our hopes for Cyro's future is that it will help understand how the propulsion mechanism of such animal scales with size."

A stark difference exists between the larger and smaller robots. Cyro is powered by a rechargeable nickel metal hydride battery, whereas the smaller models were tethered, Priya said. Experiments have also been conducted on powering jellyfish with hydrogen but there is still much research to be done in that area.

In both cases, the jellyfish must operate on their own for months or longer at a time as engineers likely won't be able to capture and repair the robots, or replace power sources. "Cyro showed its ability to swim autonomously while maintaining a similar physical appearance and kinematics as the natural species," Priya said, adding that the robot is simultaneously able to collect, store, analyze, and communicate sensory data. This autonomous operation in shallow water conditions is already a big step towards demonstrating the use of these creatures."

How does the robot swim? Its body consists of a rigid support structure with direct current electric motors which control the mechanical arms that are used in conjunction with an artificial mesoglea, or jelly-based pulp of the fish's body, creating hydrodynamic movement.

With no central nervous system, jellyfish instead use a diffused nerve net to control movement and can complete complex functions. A parallel study on a bio-inspired control system is in progress which will eventually replace the current simplified controller. As with the smaller models, Cyro's skin is composed of a thick layer of silicone, squishy in one's hand. It mimics the sleek jellyfish skin and is placed over a bowl-shaped device containing the electronic guts of the robot. When moving, the skin floats and moves with the robot, looking weirdly alive.

"It has been a great experience to finally realize the biomimetic and bio-inspired robotic vehicles," Priya said. "Nature has too many secrets and we were able to find some of them but many still remain. We hope to find a mechanism to continue on this journey and resolve the remaining puzzles."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Virginia Tech (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University), via Newswise.

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

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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/top_news/top_environment/~3/kLqBg1DBw1g/130328124807.htm

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Finnish hotel seeks professional guest for 35 days

HELSINKI (AP) ? Fed up with the neighbors? Pipes burst in the kitchen? Or, you just want to get away from it all for a while?

Hotel Finn in the heart of Helsinki might just be the ticket ? they're seeking a "professional sleeper" for 35 days to test their rooms and write all about it.

Hotel manager Tio Tikka says he thought up the stunt to help promote the hotel after lengthy renovations.

Tikka said Wednesday that they were looking for a "dynamic person to write a quality blog" about their daily experiences at the basic hotel, which has no bar or restaurant.

Requirements: Fluent Finnish and English, Russian a plus. The job opens May 17 with applications closing end of April.

So far more that 600 would-be hotel sleepers have applied.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/finnish-hotel-seeks-professional-guest-35-days-160346380.html

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Oscar Pistorius' brother on trial for road death

VANDERBIJLPARK, South Africa (AP) ? The brother of double-amputee athlete Oscar Pistorius went on trial in a South African court Wednesday for the death of a woman in a road collision in 2008.

Carl Pistorius, who faces a charge of culpable homicide, or negligent killing, wore a dark suit and was accompanied by his sister, Aimee. Oscar Pistorius, who was charged with murdering his girlfriend on Feb. 14, was not present. The Olympian hasn't been seen in public since he was granted bail at Pretoria Magistrate's Court on Feb. 22. His lawyers plan to challenge his bail restrictions on Thursday.

Initial proceedings in Carl Pistorius' case at Vanderbijlpark Magistrate's Court south of Johannesburg focused on a request by South Africa's national broadcaster, SABC, to show the trial proceedings live on national television or record them for later use.

Magistrate Buks du Plessis said reporters could attend the trial but turned down the SABC request, saying he wanted to guard against "emotional hype" and that any public interest in the trial stemmed only from the intense interest in the murder case against Oscar Pistorius. News photographers were not allowed to cover the trial while it was in session.

"He's not a celebrity in his own right," du Plessis said of Oscar's brother. Addressing Carl Pistorius, the magistrate then said: "Apologies to you, sir."

Carl Pistorius smiled and nodded.

Defense lawyer Kenneth Oldwadge said the legal team for Oscar Pistorius had been "overwhelmed by the media," and that similar press scrutiny would make it difficult to work in court during the older brother's case. Oldwadge cited a comment by the judge in Oscar Pistorius' bail hearing that the media treated the athlete like some kind of unusual "species" instead of a human being.

Prosecutors say Carl Pistorius was driving an SUV in March 2008 when he collided with a female motorcyclist. The woman, Marietjie Barnard, died in a hospital. Although the culpable homicide charge against Carl was initially dropped, it was reinstated this year because forensic evidence and reports from the accident scene became available, according to prosecutors.

The Pistorius family said last month that Carl deeply regretted the incident but insisted it was a "tragic accident." He was not under the influence of alcohol, the family said.

Oscar's legal team filed an appeal against some of his bail conditions on March 7, objecting to him being not allowed to travel outside of South Africa even though a magistrate said he was not a flight risk when granting him 1 million rand ($108,000) bail. They're also challenging an alcohol ban and a ruling that Pistorius cannot speak with residents at the gated estate where he shot girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp dead in the early hours of Valentine's Day.

The athlete denies murdering Steenkamp and says he shot her by mistake, fearing an intruder was in his home. Prosecutors say he killed her intentionally following an argument.

Oscar Pistorius must appear in court again on June 4.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/oscar-pistorius-brother-trial-road-death-081952252--oly.html

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Biological transistor enables computing within living cells

Mar. 28, 2013 ? When Charles Babbage prototyped the first computing machine in the 19th century, he imagined using mechanical gears and latches to control information. ENIAC, the first modern computer developed in the 1940s, used vacuum tubes and electricity. Today, computers use transistors made from highly engineered semiconducting materials to carry out their logical operations.

And now a team of Stanford University bioengineers has taken computing beyond mechanics and electronics into the living realm of biology. In a paper to be published March 28 in Science, the team details a biological transistor made from genetic material -- DNA and RNA -- in place of gears or electrons. The team calls its biological transistor the "transcriptor."

"Transcriptors are the key component behind amplifying genetic logic -- akin to the transistor and electronics," said Jerome Bonnet, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar in bioengineering and the paper's lead author.

The creation of the transcriptor allows engineers to compute inside living cells to record, for instance, when cells have been exposed to certain external stimuli or environmental factors, or even to turn on and off cell reproduction as needed.

"Biological computers can be used to study and reprogram living systems, monitor environments and improve cellular therapeutics," said Drew Endy, PhD, assistant professor of bioengineering and the paper's senior author.

The biological computer

In electronics, a transistor controls the flow of electrons along a circuit. Similarly, in biologics, a transcriptor controls the flow of a specific protein, RNA polymerase, as it travels along a strand of DNA.

"We have repurposed a group of natural proteins, called integrases, to realize digital control over the flow of RNA polymerase along DNA, which in turn allowed us to engineer amplifying genetic logic," said Endy.

Using transcriptors, the team has created what are known in electrical engineering as logic gates that can derive true-false answers to virtually any biochemical question that might be posed within a cell.

They refer to their transcriptor-based logic gates as "Boolean Integrase Logic," or "BIL gates" for short.

Transcriptor-based gates alone do not constitute a computer, but they are the third and final component of a biological computer that could operate within individual living cells.

Despite their outward differences, all modern computers, from ENIAC to Apple, share three basic functions: storing, transmitting and performing logical operations on information.

Last year, Endy and his team made news in delivering the other two core components of a fully functional genetic computer. The first was a type of rewritable digital data storage within DNA. They also developed a mechanism for transmitting genetic information from cell to cell, a sort of biological Internet.

It all adds up to creating a computer inside a living cell.

Boole's gold

Digital logic is often referred to as "Boolean logic," after George Boole, the mathematician who proposed the system in 1854. Today, Boolean logic typically takes the form of 1s and 0s within a computer. Answer true, gate open; answer false, gate closed. Open. Closed. On. Off. 1. 0. It's that basic. But it turns out that with just these simple tools and ways of thinking you can accomplish quite a lot.

"AND" and "OR" are just two of the most basic Boolean logic gates. An "AND" gate, for instance, is "true" when both of its inputs are true -- when "a" and "b" are true. An "OR" gate, on the other hand, is true when either or both of its inputs are true.

In a biological setting, the possibilities for logic are as limitless as in electronics, Bonnet explained. "You could test whether a given cell had been exposed to any number of external stimuli -- the presence of glucose and caffeine, for instance. BIL gates would allow you to make that determination and to store that information so you could easily identify those which had been exposed and which had not," he said.

By the same token, you could tell the cell to start or stop reproducing if certain factors were present. And, by coupling BIL gates with the team's biological Internet, it is possible to communicate genetic information from cell to cell to orchestrate the behavior of a group of cells.

"The potential applications are limited only by the imagination of the researcher," said co-author Monica Ortiz, a PhD candidate in bioengineering who demonstrated autonomous cell-to-cell communication of DNA encoding various BIL gates.

Building a transcriptor

To create transcriptors and logic gates, the team used carefully calibrated combinations of enzymes -- the integrases mentioned earlier -- that control the flow of RNA polymerase along strands of DNA. If this were electronics, DNA is the wire and RNA polymerase is the electron.

"The choice of enzymes is important," Bonnet said. "We have been careful to select enzymes that function in bacteria, fungi, plants and animals, so that bio-computers can be engineered within a variety of organisms."

On the technical side, the transcriptor achieves a key similarity between the biological transistor and its semiconducting cousin: signal amplification.

With transcriptors, a very small change in the expression of an integrase can create a very large change in the expression of any two other genes.

To understand the importance of amplification, consider that the transistor was first conceived as a way to replace expensive, inefficient and unreliable vacuum tubes in the amplification of telephone signals for transcontinental phone calls. Electrical signals traveling along wires get weaker the farther they travel, but if you put an amplifier every so often along the way, you can relay the signal across a great distance. The same would hold in biological systems as signals get transmitted among a group of cells.

"It is a concept similar to transistor radios," said Pakpoom Subsoontorn, a PhD candidate in bioengineering and co-author of the study who developed theoretical models to predict the behavior of BIL gates. "Relatively weak radio waves traveling through the air can get amplified into sound."

Public-domain biotechnology

To bring the age of the biological computer to a much speedier reality, Endy and his team have contributed all of BIL gates to the public domain so that others can immediately harness and improve upon the tools.

"Most of biotechnology has not yet been imagined, let alone made true. By freely sharing important basic tools everyone can work better together," Bonnet said.

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Journal Reference:

1. Jerome Bonnet, Peter Yin, Monica E. Ortiz, Pakpoom Subsoontorn, and Drew Endy. Amplifying Genetic Logic Gates. Science, 28 March 2013 DOI: 10.1126/science.1232758

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/ED1fLVQ-WsM/130328142400.htm

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Russians raid Amnesty International Office in Moscow | Ya Libnan ...

The Russian authorities on Monday raided the local headquarters of the human rights group Amnesty International, the latest in a continuing series of office searches intended to put pressure on nongovernmental groups.

The head of Amnesty?s office in Russia, Sergei Nikitin, said in a telephone interview that officials from the general prosecutor?s offices and from the tax police arrived unannounced on Monday morning to conduct what they described as an ?audit? and demanded a list of documents, most of which Mr. Nikitin said were already on file with the government.

?They?re sitting and waiting for me to bring the originals and copies,? Mr. Nikitin said. ?This is ongoing because we, of course, were not expecting them today.?

He added: ?They don?t have any concrete complaints. They say it?s a regular check and other clich? phrases.?

Last week, the authorities conducted a similar raid at the offices of Memorial, an international historical society and human rights group that has operated in Russia and other post-Soviet states for more than two decades.

Pavel Chikov, a member of Russia?s presidential human rights council, said offices of dozens of nonprofit organizations had been searched across Russia in March, including at least 20 organizations on Monday.

?We can definitely say it?s been the most active day for these searches so far,? he said in a telephone interview.

The Kremlin has taken steps in recent months seeking to clamp down on nonprofit organizations, particularly those that receive financing and other support from abroad, and the Russian Parliament has adopted a battery of legislation including various new restrictions and requirements.

Depending on how they are financed, certain groups, for instance, are now required to register as ?foreign agents.? And certain types of nonprofit groups working in the political realm are barred from employing foreigners in leadership positions.

A representative for the Ministry of Justice told the Interfax news service on Monday that information from the raids would be used to check compliance with the new law on foreign agents. The ministry has not made any charges under the new law since its adoption last year.

Some groups that received substantial financing from abroad, including organizations that worked with the United States Agency for International Development, have moved their offices out of Russia. In September, the Kremlin ended its cooperation with U.S.A.I.D., which had included more than 20 years of partnership on various projects, including public health and civil society campaigns in Russia.

In the past, Russian officials have used a number of bureaucratic tactics, including complex registration schemes and even accusations of software piracy, to disrupt the activities of nonprofits they do not trust.

In February, President Vladimir V. Putin cautioned top officials in Russia?s security services, the F.S.B., to beware of nongovernmental organizations that may ?meddle? in the country?s internal affairs.

In Moscow, Mr. Nikitin said the prosecutors and tax police were accompanied by a crew from the government-controlled NTV television channel, which is known for producing salacious reports about critics of the government.

?Right behind them came employees from the state television NTV, who aren?t leaving and are trying to break in,? he said. ?They?re knocking, calling, and this is creating additional difficulties for us in this unpleasant situation.? He added that the officials on site professed no knowledge of how NTV had learned of the raid.

On Thursday, NTV showed footage from a raid at the offices of Memorial, in a segment titled ?Memorial Is Hiding Its Revenue From the General Prosecutor.?

But Mr. Nikitin said the government?s actions were far more concerning. ?All of this is a form of scaring us. It?s a way for them to show that they aren?t taking their eyes off of us,? he said. ?You can call it a toughening of the government?s relationship to rights organizations, because in the past we have never faced these smear campaigns.?

NY Times

Source: http://www.yalibnan.com/2013/03/27/russians-raid-amnesty-international-headquarters-in-moscow/

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The Ocean Is Safe from Swarms of Man-Sized Robo-Jellyfish?For Now

While there's still a debate over whether the world's real jellyfish population is exploding or not, a team at Virginia Tech is working hard to supplement the prehistoric blobs' numbers with robotic monsters of their own. Huzzah? More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/57YDLGRjokQ/the-ocean-is-safe-from-swarms-of-man+sized-robo+jellyfishfor-now

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