[unable to retrieve full-text content]The campaign to label foods containing genetically modified organisms is gaining ground in some parts of the U.S. But GMO ingredients are found in some 70 percent of foods we buy in the U.S. Would a ubiquitous GMO label scare off consumers, or would they learn to accept it and buy anyway?Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NprProgramsATC/~3/anjVnk18lXY/so-what-happens-if-the-movement-to-label-gmos-succeeds
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Sunday, October 20, 2013
Egypt's Crackdown On Islamists Spreads To Mosques, Charities
Members of the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi shout slogans against the military and interior ministry in front of Amr Ibn El-Aas mosque after Eid al-Adha prayers in Cairo, Oct. 15. A crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood has expanded now to charities and mosques linked to the Islamist group.
Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters /Landov
Members of the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi shout slogans against the military and interior ministry in front of Amr Ibn El-Aas mosque after Eid al-Adha prayers in Cairo, Oct. 15. A crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood has expanded now to charities and mosques linked to the Islamist group.
Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters /Landov
Mohammed is a teacher, and for the past 17 years, he has also worked with an Islamic charity in Cairo. But a little more than two weeks ago that charity was shut down.
Security forces raided its office, took everything and began searching for the head of the board of directors because he's connected to the Muslim Brotherhood — the Islamist group of ousted President Mohammed Morsi.
Mohammed, who asked that only his first name be used, fled.
“ We had hoped the political crisis here would not affect charitable work. But now, people will suffer. These are dark and depressing days.
He left his job and his home, worried he'd be arrested. Thousands of people have already been rounded up, some just on suspicion of being connected to the Brotherhood.
This week marked Eid al-Adha, the Feast of the Sacrifice, one of the holiest days on the Islamic calendar and a time when charities work overtime to help the poor. But Mohammed doesn't know how he can help this year.
The organization he worked for supported 2,000 families, providing school uniforms for the children, a monthly stipend, and for Eid, gift baskets and money.
"We had hoped the political crisis here would not affect charitable work," Mohammed says. "But now, people will suffer. These are dark and depressing days."
Since the military coup on July 3 that removed Morsi, the authorities have been systematically trying to break the Brotherhood and reclaim control of the country. The crackdown, which began with the group's leaders and rank-and-file — has now spread to mosques and charitable organizations.
Mosques As A Political Base
Using its vast social network, the Brotherhood dominated elections after Egypt's 2011 uprising. Mosques and charities were major parts of that network, but those outlets are closing for the Brotherhood.
A physician collects medical equipment and medicines from the remains of the partially destroyed Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque compound hospital on Aug. 15 in Cairo.
Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images
A physician collects medical equipment and medicines from the remains of the partially destroyed Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque compound hospital on Aug. 15 in Cairo.
Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images
Heba Morayef is the Egypt director for Human Rights Watch.
"All of these charities that are either controlled by members of the Muslim Brotherhood or affiliated loosely with the Muslim Brotherhood are now seen as a potential space for organizing politically by the authorities," Morayef says. "I think that's why they want to go after them and control them."
And they're doing it with the mosques, too. Morayef says under the autocratic leaders of Egypt's past, the mosques were always tightly controlled to ward off opposition political organizations.
But after Morsi was elected president, the Brotherhood began to send its own people to the pulpits. Many Egyptians accuse the organization of using religion to bolster its political standing and control the state.
"We will see a reversal and much tighter control overall over the mosques," Morayef says.
Licensing Preachers, Closing Mosques
Recently, the Ministry of Endowments banned all preachers who are not licensed through Al Azhar, the thousand-year-old center of Islamic learning in Cairo. Already-licensed preachers must now be vetted and reaccredited. And the ministry is shutting down all small, unregistered mosques.
The reason? Officials say it's to distance religion from politics.
As a result, places like Mohamed Atteya's small outdoor prayer space are no longer functioning. A preacher and engineer, Atteya shut it down when the new rules were announced.
Many Egyptians support the new controls; they say they will keep extremism at bay. But 70-year-old Atteya worries.
He has stopped preaching at his makeshift downtown mosque. He says he didn't want any problems as an unlicensed preacher.
"Since there is a decision, whether I agree or I do not agree, I have to obey it," he says. "This is the regulations. ... I am an old man."
But, he says, what's happening is wrong. The mosque is for all Muslims, not just for the state. He says the military-backed government is enforcing stricter regulations than ever before, even during the reign of Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted in 2011.
"They are afraid of the popularity of the Muslim [Brotherhood]. [It] is not a group, but it is an idea, and this idea, it is very difficult to be taken from the hearts of the people," Atteya says.
When there is a conflict in society, the imam of a mosque should never take sides, he adds. That's because those who pray behind the preacher are from both sides of the conflict, he says, so one side will be angered and the instability will grow.
All those who pray at the mosques are Muslims, he says, adding the authorities shouldn't have a monopoly on God — nor should anyone else.
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Whales Don’t Spray Water Out of Their Blowholes
Contrary to what you may have seen in such movies as Pixar’s otherwise extremely entertaining Finding Nemo, whales don’t spray water out of their blowholes. Further, the whale’s trachea doesn’t connect to the esophagus of the whale; so when Dory and Marlin went down the whale’s throat, in real life, they’d have simply been eaten.
Source: http://gizmodo.com/whales-don-t-spray-water-out-of-their-blowholes-1445483468Similar Articles: hayden panettiere fiona apple constitution day Cal Worthington Yosemite Fire
Superman Can't Outfly Marriage Struggles! Tom Welling Headed For Divorce!
Guess he isn't immune to the Kryptonite that is marriage.
We kid, we kid!
But srsly, Tom Welling is unfortunately finding his marriage of ten years coming to an end.
Jamie White Welling filed the divorce docs due to "irreconcilable differences." After ten years of marriage, it seems the Smallville actor and his wife separated almost one year ago.
Although they do not have any children together, his wife is seeking spousal support.
But does this mean she has to divorce Clark Kent as well? How does that all work?!
[Image via AXELLE/BauerGriffinOnline.]
Tags: divorce, irreconcilable differences, love line, marriage, separated, smallville, spousal support, superman, support, tom welling, wedding waltz
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Verizon third-quarter earnings, revenue beat Wall Street estimates
By Sinead Carew
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Verizon Communications Inc on Thursday posted stronger- than-expected third-quarter earnings and revenue driven by wireless growth, sending its shares up nearly 4 percent.
While wireless customer growth was slightly below Wall Street estimates, its Verizon Wireless venture with Vodafone Group Plc posted good profit and revenue growth as customers spent more on data services. Verizon has agreed to buy out Vodafone's 45 percent share of the venture.
The subscriber shortfall caused some concern the company, the first U.S. telephone operator to report this quarter, was losing market share to rivals such as T-Mobile US Inc.
New Street analyst Jonathan Chaplin said that while Verizon's financials were "outstanding," "there were clear signs that a resurgent TMUS is impacting even Verizon."
Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo conceded some lower-spending customers moved to rival services in the quarter, but said some customer additions were delayed to the fourth quarter mostly due to supply constraints involving Apple Inc's iPhone. About one-half its smartphone sales were iPhones.
Still, Shammo told analysts on the company's quarterly conference call that "we continue to gain market share."
The executive said that 8.4 percent service revenue growth at Verizon Wireless was sustainable in the short term but expected the growth rate to decline in the future.
Verizon Wireless added 927,000 net retail subscribers in the quarter, compared with Wall Street expectations of about 1 million customers, according to eight analysts, with estimates ranging from 900,000 to 1.2 million.
While much of Verizon's growth was from customers connecting devices like tablet computers, Verizon said phone customers, still made up the most of its growth at 481,000.
Verizon said it expects wireless customer growth to improve sequentially in the fourth quarter but did not give specific estimates.
ENTERPRISE WEAKNESS
Verizon reported a third-quarter profit of $2.2 billion (1.3 billion pounds), or 78 cents per share, compared with $1.59 billion, or 56 cents per share, a year ago.
Excluding unusual items, Verizon earned 77 cents per share in the quarter, compared with Wall Street expectations of 74 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Its wireless profit margin was 51.1 percent, based on earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization(EBITDA) as a percentage of service revenue, and above its target range of 49 percent to 50 percent for the full year.
Rethemeier said the profit margin would likely come down in the fourth quarter due to steep holiday season costs, since the company kept its wireless margin target for the year despite the strong third-quarter number.
Revenue rose 4.4 to $30.28 billion from $29.01 billion. Wall Street expected $30.16 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Strong wireless service revenue growth for the quarter was offset by a decline of 3 percent in its global enterprise business and a slower 4.3 percent rise in its consumer business, which includes its FiOS television service.
Verizon's enterprise business was affected by government budget cutbacks and cost cuts in the private sector, according to Shammo, who expects the business to remain flat in 2014.
"Generally speaking, enterprise customers continue to be cautious regarding new investment decisions," Shammo said.
Verizon shares rose 3.7 percent to $49.02 in morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange.
(Reporting by Sinead Carew; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/verizon-third-quarter-earnings-revenue-beat-wall-street-125802608--finance.html
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Saturday, October 19, 2013
Oyster turns the page on its subscription e-book service, now open to all
Previously requiring an invitation, subscription based e-book service Oyster has today gone live to all and brings a universal iPhone and iPad app to the App Store to make full use of it. If you read a lot of e-books, Oyster's $9.95 monthly subscription fee could be right up your street, with a library of over 100,000 books.
The app is free to download, and many of the books within the Oyster library are from HarperCollins, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and all kinds of smaller publishers. The choice isn't going to come close to something like the Kindle store at this point, but for the price of a book a month you're opened up to as many pages as you can turn. Grab the iOS app from the App Store link below, or head on over to the Oyster homepage to sign up. The first month is free, so take a look and let us know what you think of it.
- Free (monthly subscription applies) - Download Now
Source: Oyster
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Michael Bay Gives Play-By-Play Of How He Got Attacked By 'Drugged Up' Guys on Transformers Set!
You can't script an attack this crazy!
Director Michael Bay is talking for the first time since being assaulted in Hong Kong while filming Transformers 4!
The Hollywood heavy-hitter took to his personal blog to get the facts straight about what went down on the set this week. According to Bay, this was all an attempt at extortion!
It all started on their first day of shooting when the crew had to deal with a group of greedy brothers! Michael explained:
"…some drugged up guys were being belligerent asses to my crew for hours in the morning of our first shoot day in Hong Kong. One guy rolled metal carts into some of my actors trying to shake us down for thousands of dollars to not play his loud music or hit us with bricks."
The film had previously paid a fair price to all of the vendors on the street where they were shooting for their inconvenience. But the Mak brothers, as police later identified them as, wanted MORE money!
Michael put his foot down and told them that wasn't going to happen! He described the confrontation:
"I personally told this man and his friends to forget it we were not going to let him extort us. He didn’t like that answer. So an hour later he came by my crew as we were shooting, carrying a long air conditioner unit. He walked right up to me and tried to smack my face, but I ducked."
OMG! Who uses an A/C unit as a weapon?!
Security soon pounced on the guy but it took SEVEN of them to bring him down!
Bay described the assailant as being like a zombie in Brad Pitt's movie World War Z because in addition to his super strength, he actually tried to bite one of the guards!
Holy hell! That is scary!
In the end, it took 15 Hong Kong police in riot gear to take away the four men charged with the attack! They were all placed under arrest and dragged from the set.
Michael's injuries weren't serious and he refused medical attention. And as he puts it, they had a great day shooting after all of this went down!
Woah! What a way to start the work day!
[Image via Ramey Pix.]
Tags: arrest, assault, attack, film flickers, filming, icky icky poo, michael bay, movie, scary, scary!, security, shooting, transformers
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6 ways social media can boost your business
October 16, 2013
If your company isn't fully taking advantage of social media, it might be missing out on opportunities to connect with customers, gain market share, and bring needed talent into the organization.
Experts say virtually every type of business can benefit from using social media as a business tool.
"We really are seeing interest and the potential for business value across the board," says Jeffrey Mann, research vice president at Gartner. "No one is immune, although it will be easier for some than others."
The most likely to see value, Mann says, are knowledge-based and highly collaborative industries, such as media, education, consulting, and high technology; industries or organizations that aren't hamstrung by regulation; and organizations with younger employees who are accustomed to working with social media.
To continue reading, register here to become an Insider
It's FREE to join
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Senate Leaders Announce Budget Deal
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., walks to the Senate floor following lunch with fellow Democrats, at the Capitol on Tuesday.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., walks to the Senate floor following lunch with fellow Democrats, at the Capitol on Tuesday.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Senate leaders announced a bipartisan agreement on Wednesday aimed at avoiding a default and restarting the government after House Republicans failed to produce a plan of their own that could pass muster.
"This legislation ends a standoff that ground the work of Washington to a halt this fall," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called the proposed deal "far less than many of us had hoped for, but far better than what some had thought."
Reid said bipartisan compromise is hard, "this time, it was really hard," referring to the weeks-long partisan standoff that left the government partially shut down and nearly forced a default on the nation's debt.
But the crucial act of passing the measure remains. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who led a quasi-filibuster of an earlier agreement, decried the compromise but said he would not block the new measure.
Absent that obstacle, the agreement was expected to easily pass the Democratic-controlled Senate, but it will have a tougher time in the GOP-dominated House.
"We fought the good fight, we just didn't win," Speaker of the House John Boehner told Cincinnati station WLW-AM. In a statement, he said while his party will continue to fight against the Affordable Care Act, the House will not block the passage of the bipartisan agreement reached by the Senate.
Reid and McConnell said the agreement includes the formation of a bipartisan committee tasked with working through some of the most contentious fiscal issues.
At one point around noon, the Dow had increased more than 200 points.
Update at 3:33 p.m. ET. Blocking Will Not Be A Tactic:
Speaker of the House John Boehner says while his party will continue to fight against the Affordable Care Act, the House will not block the passage of the Senate measure.
"Blocking the bipartisan agreement reached today by the members of the Senate will not be a tactic for us," Boehner said.
He goes on:
"In addition to the risk of default, doing so would open the door for the Democratic majority in Washington to raise taxes again on the American people and undo the spending caps in the 2011 Budget Control Act without replacing them with better spending cuts. With our nation's economy still struggling under years of the president's policies, raising taxes is not a viable option. Our drive to stop the train wreck that is the president's health care law will continue. We will rely on aggressive oversight that highlights the law's massive flaws and smart, targeted strikes that split the legislative coalition the president has relied upon to force his health care law on the American people."
Update at 3:24 p.m. ET. 'We Fought The Good Fight':
"We fought the good fight, we just didn't win," Boehner told Cincinnati station WLW-AM.
He said that the deal gives Congress time to sit down and work on the bigger fiscal issues. As for the vote, which is expected later today, Boehner said he would meet with his caucus, but he expects them to vote for the motion.
"There is no reason for our members to vote no," Boehner said, adding that he expects the government to reopen on Thursday.
Update at 2:51 p.m. ET. What's In The Deal?
The deal struck by Reid and McConnell is seen as a pretty major concession from Republicans.
If you remember, this all started when Republicans demanded to defund or in some way delay the Affordable Care Act by inserting language into the bill that funds the government. That impasse shut down the government and talks suddenly turned to the Oct. 16 debt ceiling deadline. Republicans again insisted on modifications to Obamacare as well larger concessions on bigger fiscal issues in exchange for an extension of the country's borrowing authority.
This deal, The New York Times explains, contains "virtually no concessions to Republicans, other than some minor tightening of income verifications for people obtaining subsidized insurance under the new health care law."
The paper adds:
"Under the agreement, the government would be funded through Jan. 15, and the debt ceiling would be raised until Feb. 7. The Senate will take up a separate motion to instruct House and Senate negotiators to reach accord by Dec. 13 on a long-term blueprint for tax and spending policies over the next decade.
"Mr. McConnell stressed that under the deal, budget cuts extracted in the 2011 fiscal showdown were not reversed, as some Democrats had wanted, a slim reed that not even he claimed as a significant victory."
Update at 2:41 p.m. ET. Conservative Group Urges 'No' Vote:
The Club for Growth, a key conservative influencer, is urging a "no" vote on the Reid-McConnell deal.
"There are no significant changes to ObamaCare, nothing on the other major entitlements that are racked with trillions in unfunded liabilities, and no meaningful spending cuts either," the group said in a statement. "If this bill passes, Congress will kick the can down the road, yet again."
Unlike yesterday — when a similar announcement from Heritage Action helped to derail a House proposal — this probably won't have a huge effect. If the Senate compromise is to pass, it will be with votes from Democrats and Republicans in the House.
Members of the Tea Party caucus were likely going to vote against the measure, anyway.
Update At 1:20 p.m. ET. House GOP To Meet At 3 p.m.
House Republican leaders were set to brief their caucus on the Senate proposal at 3 p.m. ET, Reuters reports.
Update At 1:00 p.m. ET. Carney: 'Pass It Swiftly'
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, speaking at a briefing shortly after the deal was announced on the Senate floor, called on Congress to take the agreement and "pass it swiftly."
"As soon as possible is essentially the recommendation that we have here," Carney said, warning that the debt ceiling deadline was ticking down.
Asked whether President Obama had gotten any assurance that the proposed spending measure would pass both houses of Congress, Carney said the White House applauded the Senate leadership for its efforts but "we are not putting odds on anything."
Update At 12:30 p.m. ET. Reid, McConnell Announce Deal
The deal would reopen the government at least until Jan. 15 and push the debt ceiling up until Feb. 7, the leaders say.
Update At 12:05 p.m. ET
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid spoke took the floor briefly to say he was waiting for Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to arrive before making any announcement.
Updated At 11:05 a.m. ET. House to Vote On Senate Plan
A House leadership aide tells The Associated Press that the GOP-led chamber will vote on the emerging Senate plan, but it's still "unclear" if there are enough votes to pass it.
It's also not clear when a first vote would take place or in which chamber it would happen.
Updated At 10:55 a.m. ET. Report: Deal Reached On Senate Side
Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire tells The Associated Press that it's her understanding that Senate leaders have reached a deal and that a formal announcement was forthcoming.
"I understand they've come to an agreement but I'm going to let the leader announce that," Ayotte said.
Updated At 9:40 a.m. ET. Deal Reportedly 'Very Close'
Reuters, quoting a "senior Senate aide," says that Senate leaders are "very close" to announcing a deal on the debt limit extension and that the chamber would move "quickly" to pass it.
The news agency reports that the Senate leadership is "in talks with House leaders on ways to win fast passage" of a deal in both chambers.
A senior Republican U.S. Senate aide tells NPR's Tamara Keith "we're still working on things. Should know more later this morning."
Here we pick up our earlier post:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) were set to pick up the pieces following a fractious and fruitless night in the House that did little more than run down the clock.
"Given tonight's events, the Leaders have decided to work toward a solution that would reopen the government and prevent default," McConnell spokesman Don Stewart said in a statement. "They are optimistic an agreement can be reached."
Their effort to forge a deal acceptable to both parties to restart the government and renew its authority to borrow was given fresh urgency on Tuesday by a warning issued by Fitch Ratings, the third-largest credit rating agency, which said the debacle in Washington meant it was placing the country's long-term credit rating under review for a potential downgrade.
Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has said that the government's ability to pay its bills cannot be guaranteed after midnight Wednesday, but the exact moment when that occurs might be days or even weeks later.
If you haven't been following every twist and turn, here are the latest events from each chamber:
In The House:
On Tuesday evening, House Republicans tried and failed to produce their own plan for ending the stalemate. In the end it wasn't Democrats who scuttled their efforts, but divisions among GOP lawmakers.
In the early evening, the House had crafted a plan to end the shutdown and raise the debt ceiling in exchange for some changes in the Affordable Care Act, which has been a key stumbling block throughout the weeks of negotiations. But when Heritage Action for America, a lobby group affiliated with the conservative Heritage Foundation weighed in against the plan, what little resolve that might have existed quickly evaporated.
As Politico writes of House Speaker John Boehner:
"[Battered] from three years of intra-party battles, [he] was caught between at least three different GOP factions as he tried to craft a compromise agreement: Republicans who didn't want to slash government health care contributions for Capitol Hill aides, members who thought repealing the medical device tax was a giveaway to corporate America and conservatives, who thought Republican leaders were too soft on Obamacare.
"Boehner was unable to craft a deal that would satisfy all of the groups, forcing him to shelve his plan and show the world — again — just how hard it is for him to rule the raucous House Republican Conference.
"No amount of political gymnastics would help him reach the crucial 217 vote-level to send a bill to the Senate. GOP aides said that Boehner was — at a minimum — 20 to 30 votes short of the target."
Meanwhile, In The Senate:
Amid the disarray in the House, the Senate "quickly moved to pick up the pieces," as The Washington Post writes. Senators restarted talks of their own and were thought to be close to a deal before they adjourned just after 10 p.m.
Presumably the Senate plan would be close to a proposal outlined Tuesday that would fund the government through Jan. 15 and raise the ceiling until Feb. 7 in exchange for "substantive" discussions on entitlements and other Republican budget priorities.
The White House has hinted that it would agree to such a deal.
Even so, Politico, quoting unnamed sources, says that "the deal is essentially done."
"Reid and McConnell are expected to brief their respective caucuses Wednesday, hours before the country could fail to pay its bills for the first time in history. Cooperation will be needed from members of both parties in order to avoid default as well as to end the first government shutdown in 17 years. And a Senate plan will need to clear the House."
And passing the House is still the biggest question.
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Asian stocks gain on US debt deal hopes
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Asian stock markets rose Tuesday, tracking gains on Wall Street, where shares were boosted by signs that Washington was moving closer to a deal that would avert a debt default by the U.S. government.
Two days from a deadline to increase the U.S. debt ceiling, investors remain focused on developments in Washington. Most think a deal will be reached in time and stock markets were holding up.
The U.S. has to increase the amount of debt it can sell by Oct. 17 or face a possible default, a scenario that could derail the U.S. economic recovery and roil international markets.
Investors in Asia "are hoping that the US can have a deal done to resolve the debt limit problem in coming days, so I think that's the biggest news for the Asian markets," said Jackson Wong, vice president at Tanrich Securities in Hong Kong.
Negotiations between Republicans and Democrats over the weekend failed to reach a conclusion either on raising the debt ceiling or the partial shutdown of the U.S. government, which has now entered a third week.
Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average added 0.2 percent to 14,425.04 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.6 percent to 23,351.84. South Korea's Kospi was 0.8 percent higher at 2,036.56. Taiwan's stock index rose 0.9 percent to 8,347.55.
China's Shanghai Composite index bucked the trend, down 0.3 percent at 2,230.62.
Wong said recent economic data from China has been mixed, with investors still not sure whether the Chinese economy will stabilize after a prolonged slowdown.
Markets in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines were closed for holidays.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 64 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 15,301 on Monday.
The Standard & Poor's 500 rose seven points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,710. The Nasdaq composite rose 23 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,815.
In energy trading, benchmark crude for November delivery was down 13 cents at$102.28 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The euro rose to $1.356 from $1.3554 late Monday. The dollar dropped to 98.45 yen from 98.67 yen.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asian-stocks-gain-us-debt-deal-hopes-043853044--finance.html
Tags: affordable care act David Frost us open tennis Antoinette Tuff Lavabit
Power outage shuts down 'South Park' production
NEW YORK (AP) — Nothing much interferes with "South Park" lampooning its targets.
But Comedy Central says an ill-timed power outage shut the show down Tuesday night, preventing completion of this week's scheduled episode.
Comedy Central said Wednesday that all the computers at South Park Studios were down for hours, from animation to editing to sound. The planned episode, "Goth Kids 3: Dawn of the Posers," couldn't be finished.
A repeat, "Scott Tenorman Must Die," was scheduled Wednesday night instead.
"South Park" co-creator Trey Parker says he regrets missing an air date but acknowledges. But he says after years of tempting fate by delivering the show on a last-minute basis, "I guess it was bound to happen."
"Goth Kids 3" is now scheduled for next week.
"South Park" airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. Eastern.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/power-outage-shuts-down-south-park-production-210528796.html
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Would This Bike With Storage Inside the Front Wheel Even Be Rideable?
They don't need gas, they can weave in and out of traffic, and you don't even need a licence to ride one. But unless you tack on a set of panniers or a basket, bikes are notoriously lacking in storage space; a problem that Industrial Designer David Hotard might have eliminated with his novel Transport bike, which features trunk space inside the bike's front wheel.
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Category: Cricinfo fiona apple Government Shutdown 2013 engadget Disney Infinity
Friday, October 18, 2013
These Classic Nike Sneakers Are Actually Made Out of Cigarette Packs
We've all felt it: The unique kind of envy that results from encountering something you want, but can't afford. For some of us, it's the new iPhone. For others, it's an eight-foot-long hot tub boat. For artist Jason Ruff in his younger years, it was sneakers and cigarettes—which serve as materials for his latest project.
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C$ steady on benign CPI data; U.S. economy in focus
By Leah Schnurr
TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar was little changed on Friday after a benign domestic inflation report and as investors tried to gauge what impact of the recent U.S. government shutdown would be on the world's largest economy.
The uncertainty weighed on the greenback, though the currency cut some of its earlier declines, and kept the loonie largely to a narrow trading range.
A partial shutdown of the U.S. government, which was resolved earlier this week, has raised concerns about how much of a bite it will take out of the already fragile economic recovery. That casts some uncertainty on Canada's economic prospects, as the United States is Canada's largest trading partner.
Investors are also speculating that the impact from the shutdown will see the Federal Reserve maintain the current pace of its economic stimulus program for longer than had been expected.
On the domestic front, the loonie saw little reaction to data that showed the annual inflation rate was unchanged in September, leaving the Bank of Canada with plenty of room to keep interest rates low.
"The Canadian dollar is going to be sidelined, realistically, and I don't see us getting out of our recent ranges," said John Curran, senior vice president at CanadianForex.
Curran sees the Canadian dollar staying within a range of C$1.01 and C$1.06 for the remainder of the year.
The Canadian dollar ended the North American session at C$1.0294 versus the greenback, or 97.14 U.S. cents, just a tad weaker than Thursday's close of C$1.0293, or 97.15 U.S. cents.
The United States will be releasing economic reports that were postponed by the shutdown over the coming weeks. Chief among them will be September's unemployment report, which will be released on Tuesday.
Canada's annual inflation rate was unchanged at 1.1 percent in September and core inflation held at 1.3 percent, both under the Bank of Canada's target rate of 2.0 percent, according to Statistics Canada.
Markets will be turning their attention to next week's interest rate decision from the Bank of Canada, but investors expect the central bank will keep rates steady at 1 percent.
The accompanying statement will likely be a bigger focal point, with investors sensitive to any change in tone that might indicate when the Bank will eventually raise rates.
Government bond prices were mixed across the maturity curve with the two-year bond off half a Canadian cent to yield 1.180 percent and the benchmark 10-year bond adding 22 Canadian cents to yield 2.534 percent.
(Editing by Kenneth Barry)
- Currency
- Finance
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Scientists develop heat-resistant materials that could vastly improve solar cell efficiency
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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 16-Oct-2013
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Contact: Mark Shwartz
mshwartz@stanford.edu
831-915-0088
Stanford University
Scientists have created a heat-resistant thermal emitter that could significantly improve the efficiency of solar cells. The novel component is designed to convert heat from the sun into infrared light, which can than be absorbed by solar cells to make electricity a technology known as thermophotovoltaics. Unlike earlier prototypes that fell apart at temperatures below 2200 degrees Fahrenheit (1200 degrees Celsius), the new thermal emitter remains stable at temperatures as high as 2500 F (1400 C).
"This is a record performance in terms of thermal stability and a major advance for the field of thermophotovoltaics," said Shanhui Fan, a professor of electrical engineering at Stanford University. Fan and his colleagues at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign (Illinois) and North Carolina State University collaborated on the project. Their results are published in the October 16 edition of the journal Nature Communications.
A typical solar cell has a silicon semiconductor that absorbs sunlight directly and converts it into electrical energy. But silicon semiconductors only respond to infrared light. Higher-energy light waves, including most of the visible light spectrum, are wasted as heat, while lower-energy waves simply pass through the solar panel.
"In theory, conventional single-junction solar cells can only achieve an efficiency level of about 34 percent, but in practice they don't achieve that," said study co-author Paul Braun, a professor of materials science at Illinois. "That's because they throw away the majority of the sun's energy."
Thermophotovoltaic devices are designed to overcome that limitation. Instead of sending sunlight directly to the solar cell, thermophotovoltaic systems have an intermediate component that consists of two parts: an absorber that heats up when exposed to sunlight, and an emitter that converts the heat to infrared light, which is then beamed to the solar cell.
"Essentially, we tailor the light to shorter wavelengths that are ideal for driving a solar cell," Fan said. "That raises the theoretical efficiency of the cell to 80 percent, which is quite remarkable."
So far, thermophotovoltaic systems have only achieved an efficiency level of about 8 percent, Braun noted. The poor performance is largely due to problems with the intermediate component, which is typically made of tungsten an abundant material also used in conventional light bulbs.
"Our thermal emitters have a complex, three-dimensional nanostructure that has to withstand temperatures above 1800 F (1000 C) to be practical," Braun explained. "In fact, the hotter the better."
In previous experiments, however, the 3D structure of the emitter was destroyed at temperatures of around 1800 F (1000 C). To address the problem, Braun and his Illinois colleagues coated tungsten emitters in a nanolayer of a ceramic material called hafnium dioxide.
The results were dramatic. When subjected to temperatures of 1800 F (1000 C), the ceramic-coated emitters retained their structural integrity for more than 12 hours. When heated to 2500 F (1400 C), the samples remained thermally stable for at least an hour.
The ceramic-coated emitters were sent to Fan and his colleagues at Stanford, who confirmed that devices were still capable of producing infrared light waves that are ideal for running solar cells.
"These results are unprecedented," said former Illinois graduate student Kevin Arpin, lead author of the study. "We demonstrated for the first time that ceramics could help advance thermophotovoltaics as well other areas of research, including energy harvesting from waste heat, high-temperature catalysis and electrochemical energy storage."
Braun and Fan plan to test other ceramic-type materials and determine if the experimental thermal emitters can deliver infrared light to a working solar cell.
"We've demonstrated that the tailoring of optical properties at high temperatures is possible," Braun said. "Hafnium and tungsten are abundant, low-cost materials, and the process used to make these heat-resistant emitters is well established. Hopefully these results will motivate the thermophotovoltaics community to take another look at ceramics and other classes of materials that haven't been considered."
###
Other authors of the study are Nicholas Sergeant, Linxiao Zhu and Zongfu Yu of Stanford; Andrew Cloud, Hailong Ning, Justin Mallek, Ber Kalanyan, Gregory Girolami and John Abelson of Illinois; and Mark Losego and Gregory Parsons of North Carolina State University.
This article was written by Mark Shwartz, Precourt Institute for Energy at Stanford University.
Related information:
Fan Research Group
http://www.stanford.edu/group/fan/
Braun Research Group
http://braungroup.beckman.illinois.edu/
Global Climate and Energy Project
http://gcep.stanford.edu/
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 16-Oct-2013
[
|
Share]
Contact: Mark Shwartz
mshwartz@stanford.edu
831-915-0088
Stanford University
Scientists have created a heat-resistant thermal emitter that could significantly improve the efficiency of solar cells. The novel component is designed to convert heat from the sun into infrared light, which can than be absorbed by solar cells to make electricity a technology known as thermophotovoltaics. Unlike earlier prototypes that fell apart at temperatures below 2200 degrees Fahrenheit (1200 degrees Celsius), the new thermal emitter remains stable at temperatures as high as 2500 F (1400 C).
"This is a record performance in terms of thermal stability and a major advance for the field of thermophotovoltaics," said Shanhui Fan, a professor of electrical engineering at Stanford University. Fan and his colleagues at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign (Illinois) and North Carolina State University collaborated on the project. Their results are published in the October 16 edition of the journal Nature Communications.
A typical solar cell has a silicon semiconductor that absorbs sunlight directly and converts it into electrical energy. But silicon semiconductors only respond to infrared light. Higher-energy light waves, including most of the visible light spectrum, are wasted as heat, while lower-energy waves simply pass through the solar panel.
"In theory, conventional single-junction solar cells can only achieve an efficiency level of about 34 percent, but in practice they don't achieve that," said study co-author Paul Braun, a professor of materials science at Illinois. "That's because they throw away the majority of the sun's energy."
Thermophotovoltaic devices are designed to overcome that limitation. Instead of sending sunlight directly to the solar cell, thermophotovoltaic systems have an intermediate component that consists of two parts: an absorber that heats up when exposed to sunlight, and an emitter that converts the heat to infrared light, which is then beamed to the solar cell.
"Essentially, we tailor the light to shorter wavelengths that are ideal for driving a solar cell," Fan said. "That raises the theoretical efficiency of the cell to 80 percent, which is quite remarkable."
So far, thermophotovoltaic systems have only achieved an efficiency level of about 8 percent, Braun noted. The poor performance is largely due to problems with the intermediate component, which is typically made of tungsten an abundant material also used in conventional light bulbs.
"Our thermal emitters have a complex, three-dimensional nanostructure that has to withstand temperatures above 1800 F (1000 C) to be practical," Braun explained. "In fact, the hotter the better."
In previous experiments, however, the 3D structure of the emitter was destroyed at temperatures of around 1800 F (1000 C). To address the problem, Braun and his Illinois colleagues coated tungsten emitters in a nanolayer of a ceramic material called hafnium dioxide.
The results were dramatic. When subjected to temperatures of 1800 F (1000 C), the ceramic-coated emitters retained their structural integrity for more than 12 hours. When heated to 2500 F (1400 C), the samples remained thermally stable for at least an hour.
The ceramic-coated emitters were sent to Fan and his colleagues at Stanford, who confirmed that devices were still capable of producing infrared light waves that are ideal for running solar cells.
"These results are unprecedented," said former Illinois graduate student Kevin Arpin, lead author of the study. "We demonstrated for the first time that ceramics could help advance thermophotovoltaics as well other areas of research, including energy harvesting from waste heat, high-temperature catalysis and electrochemical energy storage."
Braun and Fan plan to test other ceramic-type materials and determine if the experimental thermal emitters can deliver infrared light to a working solar cell.
"We've demonstrated that the tailoring of optical properties at high temperatures is possible," Braun said. "Hafnium and tungsten are abundant, low-cost materials, and the process used to make these heat-resistant emitters is well established. Hopefully these results will motivate the thermophotovoltaics community to take another look at ceramics and other classes of materials that haven't been considered."
###
Other authors of the study are Nicholas Sergeant, Linxiao Zhu and Zongfu Yu of Stanford; Andrew Cloud, Hailong Ning, Justin Mallek, Ber Kalanyan, Gregory Girolami and John Abelson of Illinois; and Mark Losego and Gregory Parsons of North Carolina State University.
This article was written by Mark Shwartz, Precourt Institute for Energy at Stanford University.
Related information:
Fan Research Group
http://www.stanford.edu/group/fan/
Braun Research Group
http://braungroup.beckman.illinois.edu/
Global Climate and Energy Project
http://gcep.stanford.edu/
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/su-sdh101413.php
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