Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/05/david-beckham-to-retire-from-professional-soccer/
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Friday, May 17, 2013
Sunday, May 5, 2013
More hurricanes for Hawaii?
May 5, 2013 ? News of a hurricane threat sends our hearts racing, glues us to the Internet for updates, and makes us rush to the store to stock up on staples. Hawaii, fortunately, has been largely free from these violent storms in the recent past, only two having made landfall in more than 30 years.
Now a study headed by a team of scientists at the International Pacific Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, shows that Hawaii could see a two-to-three-fold increase in tropical cyclones by the last quarter of this century. The study, which appears in the May 5, 2013, online issue of Nature Climate Change, though, leaves open the question, how worried Island residents should get.
"Computer models run with global warming scenarios generally project a decrease in tropical cyclones worldwide. This, though, may not be what will happen with local communities," says lead author Hiroyuki Murakami.
To determine whether tropical cyclones will become more frequent in Hawaii with climate change, Murakami and climate expert Bin Wang at the Meteorology Department, University of Hawaii at Manoa, joined forces with Akio Kitoh at the Meteorological Research Institute and the University of Tsukuba in Japan. The scientists compared in a state-of-the-art, high-resolution global climate model the recent history of tropical cyclones in the North Pacific with a future (2075-2099) scenario, under which greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, resulting in temperatures about 2?C higher than today.
"In our study, we looked at all tropical cyclones, which range in intensity from tropical storms to full-blown category 5 hurricanes. From 1979 to 2003, both observational records and our model document that only every four years on average did a tropical cyclone come near Hawaii. Our projections for the end of this century show a two-to-three-fold increase for this region," explains Murakami.
The main factors responsible for the increase are changes in the large-scale moisture conditions, the flow patterns in the wind, and in surface temperature patterns stemming from global warming.
Most hurricanes that might threaten Hawaii now are born in the eastern Pacific, south of the Baja California Peninsula. From June through November the ingredients there are just right for tropical cyclone formation, with warm ocean temperatures, lots of moisture, and weak vertical wind shear. But during the storms' long journey across the 3000 miles to Hawaii, they usually fizzle out due to dry conditions over the subtropical central Pacific and the wind shear from the westerly subtropical jet.
Surprisingly, even though fewer tropical cyclones will form in the eastern Pacific in Murakami's future scenario, we can expect more of them to make their way to Hawaii.
The upper-level westerly subtropical jet will move poleward so that the mean steering flow becomes easterly. Thus, storms from Baja California are much more likely to make it to Hawaii. Furthermore, since the climate models also project that the equatorial central Pacific will heat up, conditions may become more favorable for hurricane formation in the open ocean to the south or southeast of Hawaii.
"Our finding that more tropical cyclones will approach Hawaii as Earth continues to warm is fairly robust because we ran our experiments with different model versions and under varying conditions. The yearly number we project, however, still remains very low," reassures study co-author Wang.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
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Flight behavior of hungry malaria mosquitoes analysed
May 3, 2013 ? Malaria mosquitoes go to work cautiously before landing on human skin and biting. Just before a mosquito lands, it reacts to both odours and heat given off by the human body. Researchers at Wageningen University came to this conclusion after studying images made with infrared-sensitive cameras.
Their research was published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE on 2 May.
Most malaria mosquitoes prefer human blood. They fly in the dark while their host is sleeping. In order to locate a host, they focus on traces of carbon dioxide, released by all animals, and on characteristic human odours. At a distance of 1.5 m from their host, they mainly follow body odours. Just before they land, however, heat radiating from the human body also plays a significant role.
The researchers and technicians at Wageningen University, which is part of Wageningen UR, worked with colleagues from Noldus Information Technology BV using video recordings and automated 3D image analyses to clarify how malaria mosquitoes find their host.
In order to investigate seeking behaviour in mosquitoes, the researchers placed the insects in a special dark wind tunnel measuring 60 by 60 cm, with a length of 1.6 m. The air stream had a constant temperature and humidity, and a speed of 20 cm/second. The flight of each mosquito (Anopheles gambiae) in the tunnel was filmed by means of infrared-sensitive cameras.
When human odours were absent, the mosquitoes continued to fly into the wind through the tunnel.
As soon as the researchers added an odour to the air stream, the mosquitoes followed a complex and long route to the source, and this took about twice as long as without odours. Adding a heat source (34?C, the same as human skin) again doubled the length of the search and was crucial for finding the odour source. Adding heat caused the flight pattern to change drastically whenever mosquitoes came near (about 20 cm) to the source. The exact mechanism of landing will be the subject of a future investigation.
This research at Wageningen demonstrates that the interaction of odour and heat is effective in bringing mosquitoes to a host. This is the first study to make malaria mosquito flight behaviour 'visible' in the dark and it demonstrates that insects are extremely good at orientating themselves towards their host at night. This discovery means that existing odour traps can be enhanced by, for example, adding a source of heat, or by changing the position of the bait in relation to the trap opening. This is one of the ways of controlling malaria, still a serious disease affecting millions of people in large parts of the world. The new information on transmission by the malaria mosquito can be used to combat the disease more effectively.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Wageningen University and Research Centre.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Jeroen Spitzen, Cornelis W. Spoor, Fabrizio Grieco, Cajo ter Braak, Jacob Beeuwkes, Sjaak P. van Brugge, Sander Kranenbarg, Lucas P. J. J. Noldus, Johan L. van Leeuwen, Willem Takken. A 3D Analysis of Flight Behavior of Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto Malaria Mosquitoes in Response to Human Odor and Heat. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (5): e62995 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0062995
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
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/top_news/top_health/~3/kgLlrNcJpG8/130503105109.htm
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Friday, May 3, 2013
Chinese police bust million-dollar rat-meat ring
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police have broken a crime ring that passed off more than $1 million in rat and small mammal meat as mutton, authorities said, in a food safety crackdown that coincides with a bird flu outbreak and other environmental pressures.
Authorities have arrested 904 suspects since the end of January for selling and producing fake or tainted meat products, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement posted on its website on Thursday.
During the crackdown, police discovered one suspect surnamed Wei who had used additives to spice up and sell rat, fox and mink meat at markets in Shanghai and Jiangsu province.
Police arrested 63 suspects connected to the crime ring in a case valued at more than 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) in sales since 2009.
Despite persistent efforts by police, "food safety crimes are still prominent, and new situations are emerging with new characteristics", the ministry's statement said, citing "responsible officials".
Police confiscated more than 20,000 metric tons (22.046 tons) of fake or inferior meat products after breaking up illegal food plants during the nationwide operation, the ministry said.
Food safety and environmental pollution are chronic problems in China and public anxiety over cases of fake or toxic food often spreads quickly.
In April, many consumers lost their appetite for poultry as an outbreak of the H7N9 bird flu virus spread in China. Sales dropped by 80 percent in eastern China, where the bird flu has been most prevalent, although experts stress that cooked chicken is perfectly safe.
In March, more than 16,000 rotting pigs were found floating in one of Shanghai's main water sources, triggering a public outcry. Over-crowding at pig farms was likely behind the die-off and their disposal in the Huangpu river.
The public security ministry said police had confiscated more than 15 metric tons of tainted pork in Anhui province, although as much as 60 metric tons had been sold in Anhui and Fujian provinces since mid-2012.
But it was the rodent meat in particular that people couldn't stomach, with Internet users turning to the popular microblogging site Sina Weibo to vent their outrage.
"Rats? How disgusting. Everything we eat is poison," one user wrote.
(Reporting by Michael Martina and Sally Huang; Editing by Paul Tait)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chinese-police-bust-million-dollar-rat-meat-ring-055530036.html
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YouTube says the battle with TV is already over
NEW YORK (AP) ? YouTube vs. TV? YouTube says the battle ? if there ever was one ? is over.
In a flashy presentation to advertisers Wednesday night, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt declined to forecast that Internet video will displace television watching. Instead he declared: "That's already happened."
Schmidt said "the future is now" for YouTube, which recently passed the milestone of 1 billion unique visitors every month. But, he added with the Third World in mind, if you think that's a large number, "wait until you get to 6 (billion) or 7 billion."
Schmidt and YouTube, which billed the event as a "brandcast," shifted away from the video platform's relationship to TV. A year ago, YouTube seemed to have its sights set on reinventing television by funding the launch of more than 100 channels from well-known media brands and Hollywood personalities.
But that initiative went unmentioned at Wednesday's presentation, held at a Lower East Side pier as part of a week of "NewFronts," (digital media's version of the TV tradition of promoting programming and selling ads). Though the model for the evening was TV, YouTube used it to distinguish itself as something entirely different.
"It's not a replacement for something that we know," said Schmidt. "It's a new thing that we have to think about, to program, to curate and build new platforms."
The presentation featured performances by Snoop Dogg and Macklemore, as well as YouTube personalities like Felicia Day. YouTube focused on its global reach, community engagement and enormous audience.
"I thought that YouTube was like TV, but it isn't. I was wrong," said Robert Kyncl, YouTube's global head of content. "TV is one-way. YouTube talks back."
Some comparisons were inevitable. One fact highly touted was that more 18- to 34-year-olds watch YouTube than any cable network.
"TV means reach," said Kyncl. "YouTube means engagement."
Though companies like Yahoo and AOL have used their NewFront presentations to announce new slates of original programming, YouTube made no programming announcements Wednesday night.
It did, though, announce a partnership with the Association of National Adverstisers' Alliance for Family Entertainment to create more digital family content.
YouTube also celebrated DreamWorks Animation's purchase Wednesday of the teen-focused YouTube network Awesomeness TV for $33 million. DreamWorks CEO Jeffery Katzenberg appeared with Awesomeness founder and CEO Brian Robbins, the former "Head of the Class" actor.
"This is a whole new form of content, content delivery and content consumption," said Katzenberg. "It's the medium of the future and the future has already arrived."
___
Follow AP Entertainment Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jake_coyle
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Thursday, May 2, 2013
LeapFrog's LeapReader pen teaches reading and writing, on sale in July for $50
With its latest device, LeapFrog's continuing to fight the good fight: teaching kids essential skills through the power of consumer electronics. LeapReader's a sort of spiritual successor to the company's Tag line, maintaining the reading tool's pen-like form factor, while adding writing to the equation. The device continues to read out words and sentences, adding in the ability to trace letters and write them out on its special paper. LeapReader encourages kids to trace the lines of letters and then try things on their own, after a couple of goes. The pen's got enough space to hold 40 books or 175 songs, which can be played through an on-board speaker or via a headphone jack on top -- and you can also play books purchased for your Tag device.
Interested parties will be able to pre-order the $50 LeapReader on June 12th. It'll be hitting retail locations and LeapFrog's site early the following month, with a few months to spare before back to school rolls around. The pen's targeted toward kids aged four to eight (and, thankfully, is designed to only write on designated books) and will come in pink and green. Check out a demo video of the device after the break.
Filed under: Peripherals
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Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Ag secretary: NM horse slaughter plant should open
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) ? Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says the southern New Mexico plant that has been fighting for more than a year for permission to slaughter horses will open soon, unless Congress reinstates a ban on the practice.
In a telephone interview Tuesday, Vilsack said the department is working to make sure the process is handled properly for the opening of what would be the first domestic horse slaughter house in six years.
"We are going to do this, and I would imagine that it would be done relatively soon," Vilsack said.
Valley Meat Co. sued the Department of Agriculture last year, claiming that inaction on its application was driven by emotional political debates and that the delays had cost it hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The USDA re-inspected the plant last week.
"It will open unless Congress restores the ban on horse slaughter that they had in place," said Vilsack. "If that doesn't happen, then we are duty-bound to do what needs to be done to allow that plant to begin processing."
The Obama Administration opposes horse slaughter. Its recent budget proposal eliminates funding for inspections of horse slaughter houses, which would effectively reinstate a ban on the practice. Congress eliminated that funding in 2006, which forced a shutdown of domestic slaughter facilities. But Congress reinstated the funding in 2011, prompting Valley Meat Co. and a handful of other businesses around the country to seek permission to open plants.
The debate over whether to return to domestic horse slaughter has divided horse rescue and animal humane groups, ranchers, politicians and Indian tribes.
At issue is whether horses are livestock or pets, and how best to control the nation's exploding equine population. Supporters of horse slaughter point to a 2011 report from the federal Government Accountability Office that shows horse abuse and abandonment have been increasing since 2006. They say it is better to slaughter the animals in humane, federally regulated facilities than have them abandoned to starve across the drought-stricken West or shipped to inhumane facilities south of the border.
The number of U.S. horses sent to other countries for slaughter has nearly tripled since 2006. And many humane groups agree that some of the worst abuse occurs in the slaughter pipeline. Many are pushing for a both a ban on domestic slaughter as well as a ban on shipping horses to Mexico and Canada.
Vilsack says the administration understands the concerns and "needs to be more creative" in finding alternative solutions to horse overpopulation.
___
Follow Jeri Clausing on Twitter http://twitter.com/jericlausing
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