Sunday, March 31, 2013

Egypt says will not discuss emergency loan with IMF

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-says-not-discuss-emergency-loan-imf-103701708.html

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T-Mobile's new plans: Ten frequently asked questions

T-Mobile SIM Card

T-Mobile just dropped one helluva big change on us, completely redesigning its plans and how it sells devices.

No matter how simple they are or how you explain them, there are bound to be questions left unanswered. We've been keeping an eye on the burning questions people are having regarding the changes, and done our best to answer them below. We implore you to first take a look at our full set of announcement posts from Tuesday, where we break down the gritty details of the different plans, as well as some device announcements and other details:

Still curious to know a little more about T-Mobile's new rate plans? Hang around after the break and see if we can clarify a few things.

read more



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

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Saturday, March 30, 2013

Corporate Limo Party Is A Classy Service To Make An Impact

By: Ronald Arny Corporate Limo Party Is A Classy Service To Make An Impact

Drive in a limousine is immersion in the world of leisure. For corporate limo party there are models of upscale road transport that accommodate different numbers of people. The reason could be any to hire this service but the end is one and it is the comfort of the riders and their exposure to ultimate luxury. It is very common now to have such corporate events in order to celebrate success of a company or an organization. Sense of participation is given to the employees and they become more responsible in their work towards the company. The ride to the venue is very short but it has a significant importance and makes the day.

The best possible transport of the road is available now in state of US. It is a luxurious service that is for the executive class. During the ride they enjoy the features of the vehicles and the expertise of the chauffeurs. Sometimes they are entertained with the complimentary drink on the way to the destination. The riders enjoy the skills of the drivers and the luxury of the cars. They get to the venue of party or meeting in a style and in a fresh mood. Stretched limo and normal limo are present their in the catalogue of the limo service providers. The customers have the liberty to select the car of their choice for the purpose of transportation. The service is used for many other objectives and the customers feel pride to hire it.

The service is a blessing to enjoy the high class that a vehicle could offer in the road transport. The variety of the vehicles and their maintenance is compulsory to attract the customers. In addition to the availability of the resources the dealing of the booking staff and that of the chauffeurs with the guests also play a vital role. The mode of the party sets the theme of the ride and the service providers strictly follow it. For a meeting or a conference a corporate limo service is rather sophisticated and serious in outlook as compare tot that of the celebration of the success.

The interior and exterior of the vehicles are very well maintained to give one hundred percent to the clients and never let them down with the service quality. The drivers are also well aware of the needs of the customers so they act accordingly. The vehicles in the lot have different per hour charges and that are mentioned on the websites of the service providers. The customers can ask for the charges of a particular limo on a specific day and time on the website as well as on the phone.


About the Author:
Ronald Arny is the Junior marketing executive at Washington DC Limo Services. You can find more information or ask him any question about Corporate Limo Party or Washington DC Limo Services

Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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  • Orlando Airport Transportation Tips - Three Things You Should Know By: Mike Butter | Mar 29th 2013 - Are you a "Sea World" lover? Will you ever need a shuttle to MCO Airport or top-notch transport to the many exciting, world-class Central Florida attractions?
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Monte Paschi says lost billions in deposits after Feb scandal

MILAN (Reuters) - Customers' deposits at Italian bank Monte dei Paschi fell by "a few billion euros" after a scandal erupted in February over loss-making derivatives trades at the lender, the bank said in a document posted on its web site on Saturday.

Monte dei Paschi last week reported a higher-than-expected net loss for the whole of 2012 on the back of a rise in provisions for bad loans and 730 million euros in losses on the derivatives trades, which are at the center of a fraud.

But it has yet to make clear what impact the scandal itself had on its first quarter results.

"The illicit nature of the derivatives trades and their consequence on the bank's assets exposed the bank to reputational damage that was immediately translated into...the withdrawal of a few billion euros in deposits," the bank said in a document for shareholders attending its April 29 meeting.

The bank's chief financial officer said after the earnings were released on Thursday that it was "quick in recovering ground in March" on lost deposits in February.

"January started off well...we were somewhat impacted in February but we were quick in recovering ground in March," Bernardo Mingrone told analysts on a conference call.

But he declined to give a forecast on the level of deposits at the end of the first quarter of 2013 or to indicate the outlook for net interest income and loan loss provisions.

(Reporting by Jennifer Clark; editing by Naomi O'Leary and Patrick Graham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/monte-paschi-says-lost-billions-deposits-feb-scandal-164701865--finance.html

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How Have Your Pets Changed Your Life? | Care2 Healthy Living

  • Katie Waldeck
  • March 29, 2013
  • 2:45 pm
  • 10 comments

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Study after study has shown all of the positive impacts of having an animal companion ? less stress, better health, more exercise etcetera. But for many of us, the benefits of having our beloved pet are more intangible than that. Unconditional love? Happiness? Something that cares that you?re feeling down? Indeed, it?s no wonder people have kept pets in their lives for thousands of years.

So what?s your story? How have your pets changed your life? Tell us about it in the comments!

Earlier:
What Should You Do if You Find a Baby Bird?
5 Incredible Things Dogs Sense About You

Read more: Animal Rights, Behavior & Communication, Cats, Dogs, Everyday Pet Care, Humor & Inspiration, Inspiration, Less Common Pets, Pets, Spirit, ask the readers

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Katie Waldeck

Katie is a freelance writer focused on pets, food and women?s issues. A Chicago native and longtime resident of the Pacific Northwest, Katie now lives in Oakland, California.

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Source: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/how-have-your-pets-changed-your-life.html

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Confederate flag comes down at old N.C. capitol

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) ? A Confederate battle flag hung inside the old North Carolina State Capitol last week to mark the sesquicentennial of the Civil War is being taken down after civil rights leaders raised concerns.

The decision was announced Friday evening, hours after the Associated Press published a story about the flag, which officials said was part of an historical display intended to replicate how the antebellum building appeared in 1863. The flag had been planned to hang in the House chamber until April 2015, the 150th anniversary of the arrival of federal troops in Raleigh.

"This is a temporary exhibit in an historic site, but I've learned the governor's administration is going to use the old House chamber as working space," Cultural Resources Secretary Susan Kluttz said Friday night. "Given that information, this display will end this weekend rather than April of 2015."

Kim Genardo, the spokeswoman for Gov. Pat McCrory, said the exhibit that includes the Confederate battle flag will be relocated, possibly across the street to the N.C. Museum of History.

The decision was a quick about-face for the McCrory administration, which initially defended the display. Many people see the flag as a potent reminder of racial discrimination and bigotry.

State Historic Sites Director Keith Hardison had said Thursday the flag should be viewed in what he called the proper historical context.

"Our goal is not to create issues," said Hardison, a Civil War re-enactor and history buff. "Our goal is to help people understand issues of the past. ... If you refuse to put something that someone might object to or have a concern with in the exhibit, then you are basically censoring history."

North Carolina NAACP president Rev. William Barber was shocked Friday when he was shown a photo of the flag by the AP.

"He is right that it has a historical context," Barber said. "But what is that history? The history of racism. The history of lynchings. The history of death. The history of slavery. If you say that shouldn't be offensive, then either you don't know the history, or you are denying the history."

Sessions of the General Assembly moved to a newer building a half-century ago, but the old Capitol building is still routinely used as a venue for official state government events. McCrory's office is on the first floor, as are the offices of his chief of staff and communications staff.

The Republican governor was in the House chamber where the Confederate flag hangs as recently as Thursday, when he presided over the swearing-in ceremony of his new Highway Patrol commander.

The presentation of the Confederate battle flag at state government buildings has long been an issue of debate throughout the South. For more than a decade, the NAACP has urged its members to boycott South Carolina because of that state's display of the flag on the State House grounds.

Prior to taking his current job in North Carolina in 2006, Hardison worked as director at the Mississippi home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, which is operated as a museum and library owned by the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The group has led the fight in the South for the proud display of the Confederate flag, which it contends is a symbol of heritage, not hate.

Hardison said the battle flag was displayed with other flags described in the diary of a North Carolina woman who visited the Capitol in 1863. A large U.S. flag displayed in the Senate chamber is reminiscent of a trophy of war captured from Union troops at the Battle of Plymouth.

"I thought, wouldn't it be wonderful to recreate this?" Hardison said. "I think we were all thinking along the same vein. ... The Capitol is both a working seat of government, in that the governor and his staff has his office there. But it is also a museum."

Hardison pointed out that the national flag used by the Confederate government, with its circle of white stars and red and white stripes, is still flown over the State Capitol dome each year on Confederate Memorial Day. The more familiar blood-red battle flag, featuring a blue "X'' studded with white stars, was used by the rebel military.

David Goldfield, a history professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and author of the book "Still Fighting the Civil War," said the battle flag can hold starkly different meanings depending on a person's social perspective.

"The history of the Confederate battle flag, how it was designed and formulated, how it has been used through the years, clearly states that it is a flag of white supremacy," Goldfield said. "I know current Sons of Confederate Veterans would dispute that, saying 'Hey, I'm not a racist.' But the fact remains that the battle flag was used by a country that had as its foundation the protection and extension of human bondage."

The NAACP's Barber said the McCrory administration eventually made the right call, but questioned how the decision to hang the flag was made in the first place.

"A flag should represent a banner of unity, not division," Barber said. "A substantive symbol and sign of our best history, not our worse. We cannot deny history but neither can we attempt to revision it in a way that glorifies the shameful and attempts to make noble that which is ignoble."

___

Follow Michael Biesecker at twitter.com/mbieseck

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/confederate-flag-old-nc-capitol-coming-down-234855125.html

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Friday, March 29, 2013

Schoolboy Q Jokes And Bullies His Way Through New York Show

Black Hippy MC gives fans a taste of Oxymoron at two sold-out shows Thursday night.
By Rob Markman


ScHoolboy Q
Photo: Getty Images

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1704573/schoolboy-q-new-york-show.jhtml

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Rockford business offers course on social media - WREX.com ...

ROCKFORD (WREX) -

With Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vine, Pinterest, and more clogging up the internet, it can be difficult to manage all of your social media accounts at once, but a Rockford business wants to help.

Studio Frya has developed a workshop to help people better navigate their social media world while learning how to maximize results for profitability.

"We're looking at a little bit of automation and some conscientious aggregation so that people can publish content and get it out to a lot of different resources all at the same time," Studio Frya Managing Partner David Griffin says.

The class will be held on Saturday, March 30 from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Regional Design Center in Rockford. Visit www.brownpapertickets.com to sign up.

Source: http://www.wrex.com/story/21821495/2013/03/28/rockford-business-offers-course-on-social-media

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7 Easy Steps for Launching a Startup

The first step is to perfect your world-changing widget. Computer-aided design (CAD) software used to be pricey and hard to use, but new tools such as Autodesk 123D Design, Blender, Google SketchUp, and Tinkercad make designing virtual 3D objects easy. Or build your widget by hand, and use Autodesk's 123D Catch to convert digital images of it into a CAD file.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/engineering/gonzo/7-easy-steps-for-launching-a-startup?src=rss

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Thursday, March 28, 2013

How to build a very large star

Mar. 27, 2013 ? Stars ten times as massive as the Sun, or more, should not exist: as they grow, they tend to push away the gas they feed on, starving their own growth. Scientists have been struggling to figure out how some stars overcome this hurdle.

Now, a group of researchers led by two astronomers at the University of Toronto suggests that baby stars may grow to great mass if they happen to be born within a corral of older stars ?with these surrounding stars favorably arranged to confine and thus feed gas to the younger ones in their midst. The astronomers have seen hints of this collective feeding, or technically ?convergent constructive feedback,? in a giant cloud of gas and dust called Westerhout 3 (W3), located 6,500 light years from us. Their results are published in the upcoming month in The Astrophysical Journal.

?This observation may lift the veil on the formation of the most massive stars which remains, so far, poorly understood,? says Alana Rivera-Ingraham, who led the study while she was a graduate student in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Toronto, Canada, and is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Plan?tologie in Toulouse, France.

To study the formation of high-mass stars, Rivera-Ingraham and collaborators used high-quality and high-resolution far-infrared images from a space telescope launched by the European Space Agency in 2009 ?the Herschel Space Observatory. This telescope?s two cameras recorded light that is not visible to the naked eye, spanning a range from infrared radiation partway to the microwave region. Exploiting these cameras, scientists including Peter Martin, Professor in the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Toronto, created the HOBYS Key Programme to study the birth of very massive stars in nearby giant clouds of gas and dust in our own Galaxy, including W3. Research on HOBYS at the University of Toronto is supported in part by the Canadian Space Agency and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Scientists track the regions of the gas cloud where stars are about to form by mapping the density of dust and its temperature, looking for the most dense regions where the dust is shielded and cold. ?We can now see where stars are about to be born before it even happens, because we can detect the cold dust condensations,? says Martin. ?Until Herschel, we could only dream of doing that.?

Stars are born in the denser parts of gas clouds, where the gas gets compressed enough by gravity to trigger nuclear fusion. The more massive the newborn star, the more visible and ultraviolet light it emits, heating up its surroundings ?including the dust studied by Herschel.

?The radiation during the birth of high-mass stars is so intense that it tends to destroy and push away the material from which they need to feed for further growth,? says Rivera-Ingraham. Scientists have modeled this process and found that stars about eight times the mass of our Sun would stop growing because they run out of gas.

But astronomers do see stars that are more massive than this theoretical limit. And by looking at W3, Rivera-Ingraham and her collaborators have found clues to how this might be possible.

The researchers noticed that the densest region of the cloud, in the upper left of the image, was surrounded by a congregation of old high-mass stars. It is as if previous generations of large stars enabled the next ones to grow also massive, and close to each other. The scientists suggest that this is no coincidence: each generation of stars might have created the right conditions for another generation to grow comparably or even more massive in its midst, ultimately leading to the formation of a rare, massive cluster of high-mass stars

Like young high-mass stars, older stars also radiate and push gas away. If such older stars happen to be arranged favorably around a major reservoir of gas, they can compress it enough to ignite new stars. The process is similar to the way a group of street cleaners armed with leaf blowers can stack leaves in a pile ?by pushing from all sides at the same time. This corralling of dense gas can give birth to new, high-mass stars.

A large newborn star will push its food source away, but if it is surrounded by enough large stars, these can keep nudging gas back at it. With such collective feeding at play, the young star could grow very massive indeed.

Next on the to-do list of the astronomers is to test their idea by simulating the situation with computer modeling, by measuring gas motions, and by comparing their results with data from other giant clouds studied by HOBYS. Only then will they be able to discern the mechanism ?collective feeding or not? that gives rise to high-mass stars in these giant clouds.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Toronto. The original article was written by Johannes Hirn.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. A. Rivera-Ingraham, P. G. Martin, D. Polychroni, F. Motte, N. Schneider, S. Bontemps, M. Hennemann, A. Menshchikov, Q. Nguyen Luong, Ph. Andre, D. Arzoumanian, J. -Ph. Bernard, J. Di Francesco, D. Elia, C. Fallscheer, T. Hill, J. Z. Li, V. Minier, S. Pezzuto, A. Roy, K. L. J. Rygl, S. I. Sadavoy, L. Spinoglio, G. J. White and C. D. Wilson. Herschel Observations of the W3 GMC: Clues to the Formation of Clusters of High-Mass Stars. The Astrophysical Journal, 2013 (in press) [link]

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/astronomy/~3/3bB0L5Phh6g/130327092340.htm

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Florida school apologizes after students stomp on 'Jesus'

By Bruce Schreiner and Gilma Avalos , NBCMiami.com

Florida Gov. Rick Scott has waded into a religious-infused campus controversy, asking the state university system chancellor to look into a classroom lesson at Florida Atlantic University in which students were instructed to stomp on sheets of paper that had "Jesus" written on them.

Scott said in a letter Tuesday to State University System Chancellor Frank Brogan that he was "deeply disappointed" by the recent incident in an intercultural communications class and said it raised questions about "the lessons being taught in our classrooms." He said he wanted a report on the incident and how it was handled, as well as a statement of the university's policies to ensure such "lessons" don't occur again.

"As we enter the week memorializing the events of Christ's passion, this incident gave me great concern over the lessons we are teaching our students," Scott wrote in the letter.

A FAU spokeswoman told NBC 6 that the university received Scott's letter and appreciated his perspective.

"Florida Atlantic University is deeply sorry for any hurt that this incident may have caused the community and beyond," wrote Lisa Metcalf, the school's director of media relations, in an email. "As an institution of higher learning, we embrace open discourse in our classrooms, but with that comes a level of responsibility. The exercise was insensitive and hurtful; it will not be used again."

She added that lessons learned from the incident "will help us ensure our educational opportunities always reflect the university?s core values."

Youngest Bachelor's Graduate at FAU Gets Master's

Scott cited news reports indicating students were told by the class instructor to write "Jesus" in large letters on a sheet of paper and to place the paper on the floor in front of them. The students were given a brief time of reflection and then were told to step on the paper and tell the class how they felt.

The exercise has outraged religious leaders such as the Rev. Mark Boykin, who plans to lead a march from his Boca Raton church to FAU to condemn the assignment next week.

"We find this to be unconscionable, completely unprofessional and unacceptable," he said.

At least one student found it so unacceptable that he refused to participate. Ryan Rotela, a devout Mormon and a junior at FAU's Davie campus, claims he was punished for doing so.

His lawyer Hiram Sasser shared the notice of charges that Rotela received from FAU for violating the student code of conduct.

"You are requested to attend a Student Conduct Conference," the notice read.

"In the interim, you may not attend class (SPC 3710) or contact any of the students involved in this matter ? verbally or electronically ? or by any other means," the notice stated.

Dr. Charles Brown, FAU's senior vice president of student affairs, said that Rotela was never up for punishment for refusing to participate in the exercise, however.

"We apologize to all of our students and the community and people beyond the community who felt it was too sensitive," Brown said.

Scott applauded Rotela, whom he spoke with on Tuesday, "for having the courage to stand up for his faith."

"I told him that it took great conviction and bravery to stand up and say what he was asked to do was wrong, and went against what he believed in," Scott said in a statement.

Sasser said that Rotela is again in good standing with the university. He has re-enrolled in the class, but one that is being taught by a different professor.

Florida Gov. Scott to Universities: No More Tuition Hikes

State University System spokeswoman Kim Wilmath said officials would work closely with FAU in preparing a response to Gov. Scott's concerns.

"The State University System prides itself not only on its commitment to academic freedom, but at the same time, its awesome responsibility to the people it serves," she said in a written statement. "We are gratified to know that FAU has apologized for any offense the exercise has caused and has pledged never to use this exercise again. Clearly, there were things the university could have done differently by its own acknowledgement."

The governor didn't seem satisfied with the apology, saying it was "in many ways inconsequential to the larger issue of a professor's poor judgment."

"The professor's lesson was offensive, and even intolerant, to Christians and those of all faiths who deserve to be respected as Americans entitled to religious freedom," Scott said in his letter. "Our public higher educational institutions are designed to shape the minds of Florida's future leaders. We should provide educational leadership that is respectful of religious freedom of all people."

This story was originally published on

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2a0d3bc9/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C270C174850A0A70Eflorida0Eschool0Eapologizes0Eafter0Estudents0Estomp0Eon0Ejesus0Dlite/story01.htm

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James Franco Talks About Celebrity Hookups To Howard Stern (VIDEO)

James Franco Talks About Celebrity Hookups To Howard Stern (VIDEO)

James Franco at Spring Breakers premiereJames Franco is refreshingly honest and opened up to Howard Stern about his sex tape and how he rejected Lindsay Lohan’s sexual advances. Howard Stern pressed Franco about his friendship with troubled actress Lindsay Lohan, admitting he felt she was troubled and turned her down. The actor opened up about his friendship with the “Mean ...

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Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/03/james-franco-talks-about-celebrity-hookups-to-howard-stern-video/

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New type of solar structure cools buildings in full sunlight

Mar. 27, 2013 ? A Stanford team has designed an entirely new form of cooling panel that works even when the sun is shining. Such a panel could vastly improve the daylight cooling of buildings, cars and other structures by radiating sunlight back into the chilly vacuum of space.

Homes and buildings chilled without air conditioners. Car interiors that don't heat up in the summer sun. Tapping the frigid expanses of outer space to cool the planet. Science fiction, you say? Well, maybe not any more.

A team of researchers at Stanford has designed an entirely new form of cooling structure that cools even when the sun is shining. Such a structure could vastly improve the daylight cooling of buildings, cars and other structures by reflecting sunlight back into the chilly vacuum of space. Their paper describing the device was published March 5 in Nano Letters.

"People usually see space as a source of heat from the sun, but away from the sun outer space is really a cold, cold place," explained Shanhui Fan, professor of electrical engineering and the paper's senior author. "We've developed a new type of structure that reflects the vast majority of sunlight, while at the same time it sends heat into that coldness, which cools humanmade structures even in the day time."

The trick, from an engineering standpoint, is two-fold. First, the reflector has to reflect as much of the sunlight as possible. Poor reflectors absorb too much sunlight, heating up in the process and defeating the purpose of cooling.

The second challenge is that the structure must efficiently radiate heat back into space. Thus, the structure must emit thermal radiation very efficiently within a specific wavelength range in which the atmosphere is nearly transparent. Outside this range, Earth's atmosphere simply reflects the light back down. Most people are familiar with this phenomenon. It's better known as the greenhouse effect -- the cause of global climate change.

Two goals in one

The new structure accomplishes both goals. It is an effective a broadband mirror for solar light -- it reflects most of the sunlight. It also emits thermal radiation very efficiently within the crucial wavelength range needed to escape Earth's atmosphere.

Radiative cooling at nighttime has been studied extensively as a mitigation strategy for climate change, yet peak demand for cooling occurs in the daytime.

"No one had yet been able to surmount the challenges of daytime radiative cooling -- of cooling when the sun is shining," said Eden Rephaeli, a doctoral candidate in Fan's lab and a co-first-author of the paper. "It's a big hurdle."

The Stanford team has succeeded where others have come up short by turning to nanostructured photonic materials. These materials can be engineered to enhance or suppress light reflection in certain wavelengths.

"We've taken a very different approach compared to previous efforts in this field," said Aaswath Raman, a doctoral candidate in Fan's lab and a co-first-author of the paper. "We combine the thermal emitter and solar reflector into one device, making it both higher performance and much more robust and practically relevant. In particular, we're very excited because this design makes viable both industrial-scale and off-grid applications."

Using engineered nanophotonic materials the team was able to strongly suppress how much heat-inducing sunlight the panel absorbs, while it radiates heat very efficiently in the key frequency range necessary to escape Earth's atmosphere. The material is made of quartz and silicon carbide, both very weak absorbers of sunlight.

Net cooling power

The new device is capable of achieving a net cooling power in excess of 100 watts per square meter. By comparison, today's standard 10-percent-efficient solar panels generate the about the same amount of power. That means Fan's radiative cooling panels could theoretically be substituted on rooftops where existing solar panels feed electricity to air conditioning systems needed to cool the building.

To put it a different way, a typical one-story, single-family house with just 10 percent of its roof covered by radiative cooling panels could offset 35 percent its entire air conditioning needs during the hottest hours of the summer.

Radiative cooling has another profound advantage over all other cooling strategy such as air-conditioner. It is a passive technology. It requires no energy. It has no moving parts. It is easy to maintain. You put it on the roof or the sides of buildings and it starts working immediately.

A changing vision of cooling

Beyond the commercial implications, Fan and his collaborators foresee a broad potential social impact. Much of the human population on Earth lives in sun-drenched regions huddled around the equator. Electrical demand to drive air conditioners is skyrocketing in these places, presenting an economic and an environmental challenge. These areas tend to be poor and the power necessary to drive cooling usually means fossil-fuel power plants that compound the greenhouse gas problem.

"In addition to these regions, we can foresee applications for radiative cooling in off-the-grid areas of the developing world where air conditioning is not even possible at this time. There are large numbers of people who could benefit from such systems," Fan said.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Stanford School of Engineering. The original article was written by Andrew Myers.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Eden Rephaeli, Aaswath Raman, Shanhui Fan. Ultrabroadband Photonic Structures To Achieve High-Performance Daytime Radiative Cooling. Nano Letters, 2013; : 130311121615001 DOI: 10.1021/nl4004283

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/electricity/~3/STQ2QlQf-MY/130327132544.htm

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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Tucker Carlson to co-host "Fox & Friends"

NEW YORK (AP) ? Fox News Channel says veteran conservative commentator Tucker Carlson will become co-host of the network's weekend morning show, "Fox & Friends."

Carlson will replace Dave Briggs, who left Fox at the end of last year. His co-hosts on the weekend chat fest are Alisyn Camerota and Clayton Morris. Carlson will continue to make other appearances on Fox News programming.

The commentator, known for his bow ties, is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Daily Caller. He worked at both CNN and MSNBC before joining Fox News.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/carlson-named-co-host-fox-weekend-morning-show-215153542.html

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Anthony Johnson wins at heavyweight and Josh Burkman scores a KO at World Series of Fighting 2

Breaking sports news video. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL highlights and more.

At the World Series of Fighting's second show on Saturday, one-time UFC welterweight won over one-time UFC heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski. As seen in the highlights above, Johnson had Arlovski hobbled at the end of the first round, but Arlovski was saved by the bell. Arlovski's jaw was reportedly broken in the bout that was Johnson's first fight at heavyweight.

As a welterweight who was bigger than other 170 lbers in the UFC, he struggled with his weight cut and missed weight three times. He moved to light heavyweight last August, and now won his heavyweight debut.

In other WSOF action, Marlon Moraes won his fourth straight by knocking out Tyson Nam with a headkick. Paulo Filho, the troubled one-time WEC champ, dropped a decision to Dave Branch.

Josh Burkman knocked out Aaron Simpson in the first round. After the fight, he said the win earned him a title shot, but questioned if one-time UFC title contender Jon Fitch had earned the WSOF title shot against him.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/anthony-johnson-wins-heavyweight-josh-burkman-scores-ko-142146575--mma.html

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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

UFC lightweight champ Benson Henderson goes 2-1 at jiu-jitsu tournament

UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson will fight Gilbert Melendez on April 20, but he took on other competitors over the weekend. Henderson competed in the 2013 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championships. He won his first two matches, but lost 8-0 to Jaime Soares Canuto.

Henderson, a brown belt in jiu-jitsu, decided to do the tournament for fun. It wasn't a break from training for the bout with Melendez. Henderson's coach said he did six rounds of MMA sparring on Saturday before competing on Sunday. Instead, it was just a little bit of competition.

He tweeted about the tournament:

What are your thoughts on Henderson competing just weeks before his fight? Speak up in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-lightweight-champ-benson-henderson-goes-2-1-200528627--mma.html

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Obama Administration Pushes For Assault Weapons Ban Vote, But Says No National Gun Registry Needed

The Obama Administration says despite Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's decision to exclude the assault weapons ban from comprehensive gun control for lack of votes, the President still supports it and urges the Senate to vote publicly on the proposal to eliminate "military-style weapons" from American streets as an amendment.

Speaking in today's White House Briefing, Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest said "it will be a question for all 100 members of the Senate to ask themselves about whether or not they think that voting for and supporting an assault weapons ban would actually do something to reduce gun violence in communities all across the country. So, we're - - going to have that - we're going to have that debate."

Related: Reid Pulls Assault Weapons Ban from Gun Legislation

Earnest also made clear that despite NRA fears, the President does not support a National Registry of legal gun owners.

"That is not something that the president has supported", said Earnest. He said the White House has no intention of taking away guns from law-abiding citizens. "What we want to make sure is that we're keeping guns out of the hands of people who shouldn't have them, but without interfering with the ability of law-abiding citizens to get their guns that they would like to buy."

The President does support background checks, but asked if those could be carried out without a national list of all those owning weapons in the United States, Earnest said, "He's not seeking a registry."

Over the weekend Republican strategist Karl Rove insinuated otherwise on ABC's This Week. Rove told George Stephanopoulos "if there's one thing that scares a lot of people who believe in the Second Amendment, is the federal government keeping a national registry of gun sales, and gun purchasers, and gun owners."

Related: Karl Rove on 'This Week '

The Senate is expected to debate and vote on extending background checks to gun dealers and private sales when it returns from Easter recess. The NRA opposes the measure with Wayne LaPierre saying on NBC's Meet the Press, "It slows down the law abiding and does nothing to anybody else".

Still the White House indicated today it not only wants the Senate to vote on "universal background checks," it wants members of the Senate and House to vote publicly on the now-dead assault weapons Ban.

Related: Bloomberg, NRA Brace for Showdown on Guns

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-administration-pushes-assault-weapons-ban-vote-says-190404056--abc-news-politics.html

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Robin Roberts, model Vodianova getting DVF Awards

NEW YORK (AP) ? Diane von Furstenberg, herself an inspiration to some, is honoring the women she looks up to, including newscaster Robin Roberts.

Recipients of this year's DVF Awards were announced Monday. They include Roberts, who gets the lifetime leadership award for the "extraordinary grace and courage" she has shown in her fight against breast cancer and a blood disorder, according to a statement from von Furstenberg's Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation.

Model Natalia Vodianova is being recognized for her charity work to help children in her native Russia.

The public participated in online voting for the People's Voice Award nominees, celebrating women who use "vision, resources and commitment" to further positive change.

Each DVF award winner receives $50,000 for her cause.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/robin-roberts-model-vodianova-getting-dvf-awards-155308883.html

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How the Planck discovery could point toward a new physics

Captured by the European Space Agency's Planck space probe, the?most detailed map of the early universe reveals a host of unexpected anomalies.?

By Clara Moskowitz,?SPACE.com / March 22, 2013

This European Space Agency graphic shows a map of the universe that depicts the anomalies seen when comparing the Planck space observatory's map of the universe's cosmic microwave background and the standard model of the cosmos. Image released

ESA and the Planck Collaboration

Enlarge

Europe's Planck spacecraft has revealed the most detailed map yet of the earliest light in the universe, which reveals some tantalizing anomalies that could point toward new physics.

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The new map tracks small temperature variations in the glow pervading space called the cosmic microwave background (CMB). This light was released just 380,000 years after the Big Bang, and contains a record of how our universe came to be.

By and large, the new data from Planck agree with cosmologists' leading ideas about how the universe formed. The theory of inflation suggests that after the Big Bang, the universe ballooned rapidly from its tiny, hot state, doubling in size every 10^-35 seconds (a decimal point followed by 34 zeroes and a one).

But where the basic models of inflation say this expansion should have happened uniformly in all directions, the new Planck results suggest that might not have been the case. [Universe's CMB Radiation Explained (Infographic)]

"One of the features of inflation is it says there should be no preferred direction ? everywhere in the universe should be more or less the same," astrophysicist Marc Kamionkowski of Johns Hopkins University said March 21 during a NASA press call. "But when you look at the amplitudes, even by eye you can tell that one side of the universe looks different from the other side."

That is to say, the temperature variations in the CMB appear to be sized and spaced differently when Planck looks in one direction, than when it looks in the other.

There are other anomalies as well. The variations don't appear to behave the same on large scales as they do on small scales, and there are some particularly large features, such as a hefty cold spot, that were not predicted by basic inflation models.

Ultimately, the data show "some features that are surprising and very, very intriguing," said Charles Lawrence, U.S. Planck project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

"Hopefully in the process of understanding those features better we will be able to glimpse answers to some of our deepest questions."

Indeed, the map's deviations from what was predicted are not cause for disappointment among scientists, but rather exhilaration. They could even lead toward unraveling the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy, two perplexing constituents of the universe that have yet to be explained by mainstream theories.

For example, the new CMB measurements produce a new estimate for the age and expansion rate of the universe, which the Planck scientists calculate to be 13.8 billion years old, and 41.73 miles (67.15 kilometers) per second per megaparsec, respectively. The expansion rate is also known as the Hubble constant, and the new estimate is significantly lower than the values derived through other astronomical observations.

"This is one of the most exciting parts of the data, is this apparent tension between these different ways to estimate how rapidly the universe is expanding," said Martin White, U.S. Planck scientist at the University of California, Berkeley. "The hope would be that this is actually pointing toward some deficiency in the models or some extra physics."

The expansion rate of the universe is deeply connected to the idea of dark energy, which is the name scientists have given to whatever is causing the universe's expansion to accelerate. The finding could point toward a new direction of thinking about dark energy, including the possibility that it has changed over time.

"If it was different than the simplest models, if the amount of dark energy was somehow increasing with time in a given volume of space, then that would alleviate some of the tension," White said, and added, "that's a pretty radical thing to propose."

And getting to the bottom of the other anomalies in the Planck data may point to even more radical conclusions, such as the idea of multiple universes and bubble universes created by areas of the primordial universe that inflated at different rates.

It turns out that collisions between these bubbles of space-time are one possible explanation for why inflation might not have proceeded uniformly in all directions.

"The fact that these anomalies not only exist but exist on the very largest scales gives us some hope that we may be actually able to say something in the future about a multiverse," Kamionkowski said.

Follow Clara Moskowitz on Twitter?and Google+. Follow us?@Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on?SPACE.com.

Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/chGqRqrs8g0/How-the-Planck-discovery-could-point-toward-a-new-physics

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After car wreck kills her dad, 9-year-old climbs out of canyon, walks mile to find help

?

By Associated Press

LOS ANGELES ? A 9-year-old girl crawled out of a mangled SUV, climbed out of a canyon and walked about a mile in the middle of the night to find help after surviving a highway crash that killed her father in Southern California, authorities said Sunday.

The 2010 Ford Escape was launched about 200 feet down an embankment along a semi-rural stretch of the Sierra Highway in Acton about 1 a.m. Sunday, said California Highway Patrol Officer Cheyenne Quesada. The vehicle overturned several times.


The girl managed to extricate herself and walk through rugged terrain to a nearby home, but nobody answered the door, the CHP said. Then she hiked up the steep embankment and along the road to a commuter rail station where she flagged down a passing motorist at about 2:30 a.m.

?

"She walked quite a distance in a very, very threatening environment. It's very black out there, very dark," CHP Sgt. Tom Lackey told KABC-TV. "It's very steep and it's brushy and there's also coyotes in the background."

Responding officers found a man in his 30s had been killed, Quesada said. His name was not released but officials said he was from Los Angeles.

A helicopter transported the girl to Children's Hospital Los Angeles. She was treated for minor injuries including bumps and bruises and a cut on her face.

Television footage showed crews extricating the severely damaged black SUV from the canyon.

The CHP is investigating whether alcohol played a role in the crash.

?

? 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/29f0540a/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C240C174437810Eafter0Ecar0Ewreck0Ekills0Eher0Edad0E90Eyear0Eold0Eclimbs0Eout0Eof0Ecanyon0Ewalks0Emile0Eto0Efind0Ehelp0Dlite/story01.htm

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Sunday, March 24, 2013

Crowdfunding hope for human-powered helicopter project

Last September, the Gamera II team from the A. James Clark School of Engineering got so close to claiming the Sikorsky Prize of US$250,000 for human-powered helicopter flight that the American Helicopter Society must surely have been preparing to pull the dust covers off the safe and hand over the cash. Gamera II features a huge cross-shaped frame with enormous rotors at each of its four points, which are powered by sustained hand and foot pumping from a pilot at the center. It's a design that's been used by many of those attempting to nab the elusive prize (including AeroVelo's Atlas), but Georgia's Kenneth Huff has a rather more compact vision for success.

The project began in the spring of 2010, when Huff stumbled across some information about the Sikorsky competition while researching the building of an engine-powered single-seat helicopter that he was hoping to build after graduating from Middle Georgia State College.

"I am not sure how most people react to the question of human-powered helicopters, but I thought that it would be easy after reading about the competition," Huff told Gizmag. "I really didn't know what I was in for and after looking at Da Vinci III and Yuri I, I began to understand the nature of challenge."

A year later, he enlisted the help of two friends/fellow classmates (Neal Fischer, William Edwards) and requested a US$5,000 development grant from the College to work on a prototype and test the feasibility of building a human-powered helicopter that was much smaller than either Da Vinci III or Yuri I. At this point, the team had not come across the efforts of the University of Maryland's Gamera team, and AeroVelo hadn't yet embarked on its Atlas project.

Happily, the research proposal was accepted and work began on the first prototype. The aim was to develop a small coaxial human-powered helicopter that had the potential for reliable and practical recreational use, something that certainly can't be claimed for Gamera or Atlas. Banking on improvements in rotor efficiency allowing for a substantial reduction in the size of both frames and blades needed for lift, an additional grant in the spring of 2012 (along with a personal cash injection from Huff himself) allowed important design modifications to be made, along with the construction and testing of a new set of rotors.

The specs for the current prototype (and the next model) include a frame made of 6061 T6 aluminum, a 1:1 gearing ratio, and stacked rotors sporting a carbon fiber spar and S1223 airfoil with a weight of 15 pounds (6.8 kg) and total length of 12 feet (3.6 m). The total empty weight of the craft is 110 pounds (49.8 kg).

"The basic premise behind this design is that when the speed of an airfoil doubles, the lift quadruples," explained Huff. "We knew that we could reduce the area of the rotors by 75 percent when we doubled the speed. Take Yuri I for example, which had eight rotors all rotating at approximately 20 RPMs. If they had been able to double the RPMs to 40, then they could have eliminated six rotors or 75 percent of their rotor area."

"However, any aerodynamicist will inform you that drag also quadruples when the speed of airfoil doubles so there would be much more drag, which is completely true," he continued. "So we knew that our primary focus had to be to reduce the drag of the rotors (other teams are focused on reducing the power required by increasing the span of the rotor, which allows them to reduce the speed of the rotor needed to lift off of the ground). By using smaller rotors rotating at 60+ RPMs we knew that our rotors had to be as efficient as possible. So our efforts over the past two years have been to design the most efficient rotors that we possibly could without relying on previous designs or foregone conclusions about how a rotor should be designed."

Huff and the team now feel that they have developed one of the most efficient rotors ever designed, but have not been able to fully test it due to a lack of funds. They have another grant request in with the College, but impatience has got the better of them and they've headed to Kickstarter to both generate interest in the project and hopefully provide the cash injection needed to get their human-powered helicopter off the ground.

Though rotor testing has produced positive results, the simple aluminum frame topped by a pair of two-bladed rotors has yet to make it into the air. The maximum lift generated so far is 80 pounds (36 kg), while the minimum lift needed to get the craft to fly has been calculated at 240 pounds (109 kg).

"There is much more uncertainty about the feasibility our rotor design because it runs contrary to the design of all other successful human-powered helicopters," said Huff. "This uncertainty is compounded when coupled with the fact that we have been working on it for two years and have yet to have a successful flight. Furthermore, some aerodynamicists and human-powered helicopter enthusiasts may swear to the impossibility of our design but we believe that there is always room for improvement in any design and truly believe that practical human-powered vertical flight is possible and has the potential to one day be a recreational activity similar to hang-gliding, and we hope to prove it."

The developers are convinced that, with funding, the helicopter will be capable of lifting 300 pounds (136 kg) using 300 watts or less of power ? a fraction of that needed by other Sikorsky contenders. Direction of the current model will be controlled by shifting the weight of pilot, but plans are afoot for a cyclic control system that should offer more precision.

Kickstarter backers can pledge support for the project in return for various rewards (including framed posters, a 48-page book or a brass S1223 airfoil cutout), or can take a giant leap of faith and promise $10,000 or more, which will secure a fully functional, full-scale replica of the finished helicopter.

In the event of another team beating Huff and friends to the elusive Sikorsky Prize ? which requires a craft to stay in the air for 60 seconds, stay within a 10 meter (32.8 ft) square and rise to three meters (9.8 ft) at some point during the strictly human-powered flight ? development on the project will continue.

The Kickstarter pitch video is below.

Source: Kickstarter

Source: http://www.gizmag.com/kenneth-huff-human-powered-helicopter/26778/

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