Feb. 27, 2013 ? In experiments mimicking a natural environment, Duke University researchers have demonstrated that the silver nanoparticles used in many consumer products can have an adverse effect on plants and microorganisms.
Fifty days after scientists applied a single low dose of silver nanoparticles, the experimental environments produced about a third less biomass in some plants and microbes.
These preliminary findings are important, the researchers said, because little is known about the environmental effects of silver nanoparticles, which are found in textiles, clothing, children's toys and pacifiers, disinfectants and toothpaste.
"No one really knows what the effects of these particles are in the environment," said Benjamin Colman, a post-doctoral fellow in Duke's biology department and a member of the Center for the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (CEINT).
"We're trying to come up with the data that can be used to help regulators determine the risks to the environment from silver nanoparticle exposures," Colman said.
Previous studies have involved high concentrations of the nanoparticles in a laboratory setting, which the researchers point out, doesn't represent "real-world" conditions.
"Results from laboratory studies are difficult to extrapolate to ecosystems, where exposures likely will be at low concentrations and there is a diversity of organisms," Colman said.
Silver nanoparticles are used in consumer products because they can kill bacteria, inhibiting unwanted odors. They work through a variety of mechanisms, including generating free radicals of oxygen which can cause DNA damage to microbial membranes without harming human cells.
The main route by which these particles enter the environment is as a by-product of sewage treatment plants. The nanoparticles are too small to be filtered out, so they and other materials end up in the resulting wastewater treatment "sludge," which is then spread on the land surface as a fertilizer.
For their studies, the researchers created mesocosms, which are small, human-made structures containing different plants and microorganisms meant to represent the environment. They applied sludge with low doses of silver nanoparticles in some of the mesocosms, then compared plants and microorganisms from treated and untreated mesocosms after 50 days.
The study appeared online Feb. 27 in the journal PLOS One.
The researchers found that one of the plants studied, a common annual grass known as Microstegium vimeneum, had 32 percent less biomass in the mesocosms treated with the nanoparticles. Microbes were also affected by the nanoparticles, Colman said. One enzyme associated with helping microbes deal with external stresses was 52 percent less active, while another enzyme that helps regulate processes within the cell was 27 percent less active. The overall biomass of the microbes was also 35 percent lower, he said.
"Our field studies show adverse responses of plants and microorganisms following a single low dose of silver nanoparticles applied by a sewage biosolid," Colman said. "An estimated 60 percent of the average 5.6 million tons of biosolids produced each year is applied to the land for various reasons, and this practice represents an important and understudied route of exposure of natural ecosystems to engineered nanoparticles."
"Our results show that silver nanoparticles in the biosolids, added at concentrations that would be expected, caused ecosystem-level impacts," Colman said. "Specifically, the nanoparticles led to an increase in nitrous oxide fluxes, changes in microbial community composition, biomass, and extracellular enzyme activity, as well as species-specific effects on the above-ground vegetation."
The researchers plan to continue to study longer-term effects of silver nanoparticles and to examine another ubiquitous nanoparticle -- titanium dioxide.
CEINT's research is funded by the National Science Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Duke University. The original article was written by Richard Merritt.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Benjamin P. Colman, Christina L. Arnaout, Sarah Anciaux, Claudia K. Gunsch, Michael F. Hochella, Bojeong Kim, Gregory V. Lowry, Bonnie M. McGill, Brian C. Reinsch, Curtis J. Richardson, Jason M. Unrine, Justin P. Wright, Liyan Yin, Emily S. Bernhardt. Low Concentrations of Silver Nanoparticles in Biosolids Cause Adverse Ecosystem Responses under Realistic Field Scenario. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (2): e57189 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0057189
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.
JERUSALEM (AP) ? European Union officials say diplomats are urging their governments to discourage investments in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem ? territories Palestinians claim for their future state.
The officials said Wednesday the recommendations are part of a non-binding internal report for European governments in their briefings on the Mideast peace process. The diplomats represent 22 countries, including Germany, France and the U.K.
Parts of the report were published in the Israeli daily Haaretz. EU officials confirmed the report. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing a confidential internal document.
The diplomats recommend discouraging direct investments that support settlement construction, infrastructure and services. They also recommend European countries step up efforts to label settlement-made products sold in Europe.
Samsung's 'Godiva' may be one of Verizon's worst-kept secrets of the past several weeks, with leaks involving both benchmarks and photos. There's even less of mystery involved now that the device has passed through the FCC's testing. Showing under its SCH-i425 name, the smartphone carries the requisite CDMA and LTE bands, including support for future AWS networks. GSM roaming and NFC are also lurking below the phone's surface. The approval is good news for Verizon, whose mid-range device is closer to reaching stores, although it might come too late to draw many customers' eyes -- when the Galaxy S IV is right around the corner, we have a hunch that most attention will be focused squarely on Samsung's high end.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Federal employee labor unions are trying to soften the blow for more than 1 million government workers who may be forced to take unpaid time off if mandatory budget cuts kick in this week.
Union leaders have been working furiously to persuade agency managers to make other cuts that won't affect employee paychecks. But if agencies do insist on furloughs, unions say they can bargain over when they take place and other terms that could help workers in financial trouble.
"We plan to exercise those rights," said Jacqueline Simon, public policy director at the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents over 650,000 workers.
More than half of the nation's 2.1 million government workers may be required to take furloughs if automatic budget cuts, known as the sequester, take effect and agencies are forced to trim budgets. Agencies also may impose hiring freezes, release temporary employees or decline to renew contract workers.
The Defense Department has said it expects to furlough 800,000 civilian workers for 22 days each, spread across more than five months, which would mean a 20 percent pay cut over that period. The Pentagon also plans to lay off as many as 46,000 temporary and contract employees.
Other federal agencies are likely to furlough several hundred thousand more workers, according to a memo last month from the Office of Management and Budget.
Unions can't stop furloughs, but they can ask to examine the agency's budget documents and make managers show there is no other way to make the cuts without furloughs.
"Our position is that the Department of Defense and every other agency actually has a lot more discretion than they're letting on and that furloughs are entirely unnecessary," Simon said. "There's certainly plenty of low-paid federal employees for whom a 20 percent pay cut means they will not be able to pay their bills."
Besides receiving no pay, a worker on furlough would not accumulate vacation time and would receive a smaller match for their government retirement account. The worker's annual salary also would be lower when calculating pension benefits.
"The impact is going to be devastating, not just on the employees who are serving unpaid furlough days, but on the American public, who depend on the services these employees provide," said Colleen Kelly, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents about 150,000 workers at 31 federal agencies.
So far, Kelly's union has received only one official notice of intent to furlough workers. That came from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which plans to furlough all 60,000 employees for up to 14 days if the sequestration goes into effect. Kelly said other agencies are looking at furloughs but have not yet specified the cuts.
"We've reached out to agencies in an effort to work with them to find ways to cut spending so that the cuts don't come on the backs of employees on furlough days," she said.
The general expectation is that employees would serve one furlough day per two-week pay period. But the union can bargain on behalf of employees who may want to serve all the days together or delay them until later in the year for personal or financial reasons.
Negotiations can also resolve whether workers can swap furlough days with other employees, or whether some workers can volunteer to serve more furlough days so others don't have to. There also may be work deadlines to consider, since some workers remain accountable to complete projects even if they cannot be at work.
The federal Office of Personnel Management, which issues guidance on how agencies carry out furloughs, declined a request for comment. But in a memo to agencies, OPM states that government officials have duty to bargain "over any negotiable impact and implementation proposals" the union may submit regarding furloughs.
In a memo to Environmental Protection Agency employees on Tuesday, acting administrator Bob Perciasepe said the agency has been taking "aggressive action" to control costs over the past few months, such as reducing contract, grant and administrative spending. But even with those savings, he said, the EPA would still have to furlough workers.
"We are working to minimize the burden on employees and their families while still enabling the agency to meet its obligations and fulfill its mission," Perciasepe said. "We are also meeting with EPA's national unions to prepare a plan for implementation."
Every agency must provide notice at least 30 days before any furlough process begins. The earliest furloughs could begin is April 1.
A few agencies have said they expect to avoid furloughs, including the Social Security Administration, Small Business Administration and Smithsonian Institution. The Veterans Affairs Department has been excluded from sequestration cuts.
"Agencies can be creative and agencies can be uncreative," Simon said. "Our position is, don't come to us because we're the easy target."
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Follow Sam Hananel on Twitter: http://twitter.com/SamHananelAP
It looks like a Stormtrooper's snapshot of the Death Star's superlaser in action, but this is actually a photo of a new laser that's just completed testing at the Very Large Telescope in Chile.
The laser shoots 90 kilometres into the atmosphere, where it interacts with the 10-kilometre-thick layer of sodium atoms left around our planet by meteoroid impacts. The laser makes the sodium fluoresce, producing a bright point of light that acts as an artificial star.
Astronomers use this pinpoint as a reference to monitor atmospheric turbulence in the telescope's line of sight. Deformable mirrors in the telescope shift in response to these measurements, compensating for the atmosphere's distortions and creating much sharper images of the heavenly bodies beyond.
Researchers say that the new laser is more flexible and reliable than the previous one, which is being retired after six years of service.
"When we started developing these lasers, everyone said our goal was nearly impossible - even many of the other experts," says Domenico Bonaccini Calia of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), which runs the telescope.
Calia calls the new laser a "breakthrough" and hopes to share the technology "with the wider community". We hope that doesn't include moon-sized battle stations.
(Reuters) - Barnes & Noble Inc Chairman Leonard Riggio has told the board he plans to buy the retail assets of the company including Barnes & Noble Booksellers Inc and barnesandnoble.com, but excluding the Nook Media business, sending the company's shares up as much as 26 percent before the bell on Monday.
Barnes & Noble shares closed at $13.51 on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, valuing the company at about $809 million.
Barnes & Noble's retail business has struggled in recent years as book buyers switched to digital formats, underscored by a 10.9 percent fall in sales at its bookstores and websites in the critical year-end holiday period.
"Riggio loves the (retail) business too much to let it go," Morningstar analyst Peter Wahlstrom said, adding that the business was attractive because it was slow-growing and did not need capital to keep going.
The company said in January last year that it might spin off its digital and e-reader business and in October it created a separate unit for its Nook and college bookstore chains called Nook Media, which Riggio said he would not buy.
The combined college book and Nook business, which includes the e-reader, digital content and accessories, contributed about 50 percent of total sales of $1.88 billion in the second quarter ended October 27.
Barnes & Noble launched the Nook in 2009 to compete with Amazon.com Inc's market-leading Kindle, and early growth attracted a big investment from Microsoft Corp last year.
The company has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the unit, but a disappointing holiday season has raised questions about its value.
The purchase price for the retail assets is expected to comprise mainly cash and include the assumption of certain debt, Riggio, who owns nearly 30 percent of Barnes & Noble, said in a regulatory filing on Monday. (http://link.reuters.com/byc36t))
Riggio, who pioneered the book superstore format in the 1980s and 1990s, said he would provide the equity financing and arrange any debt financing for the deal.
Barnes & Noble said it has set up a committee of three independent directors to evaluate Reggio's proposal.
Evercore Partners will serve as financial adviser to the company and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP will be legal advisers, the company said.
The Wall Street Journal reported the proposed deal on Sunday.
Barnes & Noble is scheduled to report third-quarter results on Thursday.
(Reporting by Siddharth Cavale in Bangalore and Phil Wahba in New York; Editing by Ted Kerr)
Online behemoth Google is preparing to try to "steal online retail from Amazon," according to?Marcus Wohlson at Wired.?
Google's position is a "pretty high perch from which to take aim," Wohlson wrote.?
Big retailers don't have an incentive to work with Amazon, as evidenced by the struggles it has?had breaking into fashion. The big brands already have stores of their own and fear losing their identities to Amazon.?
But what they do want is more play on search, which gives Google leverage over Amazon.?
The San Francisco business Inkling is working with Google to overtake Amazon's Kindle business, according to Wired.?Meanwhile, another startup called Bloomreach helps companies optimize their search results so they'll show up on Google before Amazon does.?
An e-commerce company called Shoprunner doubled sales in one year by improving Google search results, but company executive Fiona Dias told Wired she's wary of the search engine.
?Google will likely evolve from a friend of retailers to a foe,? she said. ?Google Shopping just needs a ?buy now? button to become a retailer rival.?
Google's aggressive e-commerce bid could put Amazon in big trouble, wrote?Kerry Folan at Racked.?
"Google?wants to get in on?Amazon's?online retail domination, and that they're in a unique position to do just that, seeing as Google essentially still runs the internet," Folan wrote. "At the end of the day, customers just want their stuff."?
If Google could get people products as cheaply as Amazon, it could present a real threat.?
The HP Slate 7 is beyond fashionably late to the Android tablet party, but it tries to make up for its tardiness with a very low price. When the device arrives in April, HP's first Google-powered tablet just announced at this year's Mobile World Congress will cost just $169. That's $30 less than the the Nexus 7 and Amazon Kindle Fire HD. So how does this value-priced device stand out? HP is playing up the Slate 7?s Beats Audio sound and wireless printing capabilities. More »
"I'll never go back." It's a phrase that pops up again and again in comments and customer reviews for the Razer Orbweaver, the follow up to the Razer Nostromo. Gaming keypads?specialized half-keyboards used by gamers?offer a level of comfort and control that even the best gaming keyboards fail to match. The Orbweaver takes everything good about the Nostromo and adds design elements that adjust to your unique hand shape and programmable controls that can be tailored to your games and style of play. With so much going for it, it's easy to see why the Orbweaver is or Editors' Choice for gaming keypads.
Design and Features
The Orbweaver measures 2.2 by 6.1 by 8.0 inches (HWD), and comes with a six-foot-long USB cable. It's considerably narrower than the Logitech G13 Advanced Gameboard, so it won't take up quite so much space on your desk. The Orbweaver's design has a higher palmrest, which actually provides better support than the low-rise G13. What the Orbweaver does not offer, however, is a digital display like that on the Logitech.
The base of the device has large rubber feet, so once you've got it in a comfortable position, it will stay put. The Orbweaver is made up of three adjustable parts: the two-piece wrist rest, a keypad with 20 programmable buttons, and a thumb module with a thumb-friendly joystick and two thumb buttons. The entire device is shaped and molded to provide easy access to all of your control keys while also cradling the wrist and palm in a comfortable position, letting you play for hours without experiencing wrist strain.
The keypad has 20 programmable buttons, with the center buttons?conveniently placed just where the fingertips fall?set by default to the commonly used WASD keys. The keys feature mechanical key switches with a short throw and light actuating force, making it a breeze to use. The keys are also backlit, with bright green backlight which can be adjusted through several levels of brightness.
Given that the Logitech G13 similarly offers 22 buttons, it makes sense that Razer would try to step up its game with an equally impressive array, but I think it's trying a bit too hard. The Nostromo's best feature was that it didn't over-complicate an already intimidating device. The addition of adjustable modules and more sensitive buttons is a huge plus, but the sheer number of buttons, and the resulting need to differentiate them on the fly, could have been thought out a little more.
What's missing from the new Orbweaver?along with Razer's previous gamepad, the Nostromo?is tactile distinctions between the regular WASD keys and the surrounding buttons. There is a small nub at the bottom edge of one key, similar to the type used to differentiate the home keys on a keyboard, but it's too subtle. The Logitech G13, on the other hand, puts unmistakable (and comfortable) indentations on each of the WASD keys.
The thumb controls have been improved over the previous Razer Nostromo, with a smaller, more sensitive thumb-friendly joystick, and two thumb buttons. The joystick, which replaced the thumbpad found on the Nostromo, is positioned perfectly, with just enough shape to the head to be used comfortably. The bottom button, mapped to the spacebar for jump commands, features a lever design and mechanical switch that offers just the right amount of force?letting you click it with very little force, but with just enough firmness to prevent accidental clicking. Taken together, the Orbweaver has the best thumb controls found on any of the gaming keypads we've reviewed.
The Orbweaver adds several features over the previous Nostromo. The Nostromo offered some rudimentary customization with a two-position palmrest, while the Orbweaver offers several more adjustable parts. The two-piece palmrest lets you adjust both the horizontal position (letting you slide it further back from the keys) and the angle of the textured soft touch palmrest. The thumb module?which has the thumb-friendly joystick and two thumb buttons?can also be independently positioned. The result of all these moving parts is that the Orbweaver can be tweaked to be comfortable for almost any size hands.
In addition to all of the adjustable modules on the device, the buttons are all programmable with Razer's Synapse 2.0 dashboard. You can remap keys, save multiple profiles, and cycle through eight different customizable keymaps, letting you configure every detail of the Orbweaver to match not only your hand, but you gaming library as well. Plus, Razer Synapse lets you customize all of your current Razer products in the same dashboard, without the need for multiple management programs and driver installations.
Performance
I test gaming keypads using Mirror's Edge, a game absolutely dependent upon keyboard control. Controls were intuitive and smooth during gameplay, and the keypad proved very usable whether in the middle of a frantic race across rooftops or while executing a complicated wall run cross jump. The only issues I had have already been mentioned? the lack of tactile differentiation for the WASD keys makes it easy to get your keys mixed up after you use another command.
On the other hand, the thumb buttons have a light actuation force, and are positioned to prevent accidental clicking. The thumb buttons and joystick are also better positioned, in part because the entire thumb module of the device can be repositioned.
Using a dedicated gaming keypad like the Razer Orbweaver is the sort of change that makes it difficult to switch back; the comfort and support are significantly better than a regular keyboard?even a top keyboard like the Corsair Vengeance K90?while the perfectly positioned, customizable controls top even the best programmable keyboards. Compared with the Logitech G13, the Orbweaver is more comfortable, more adjustable, and offers better control while gaming. All this makes it our Editors' Choice for gaming keypads.
COMPARISON TABLE Compare the Razer Orbweaver with several other keyboards side by side.
More keyboard reviews: ??? Razer Orbweaver ??? Razer Nostromo ??? Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard mini ??? Logitech G13 Advanced Gameboard ??? Favi Entertainment SmartStick FE02RF-BL ?? more
BEIRUT (AP) ? The battle for Syria's second-largest airport intensified on Saturday as government troops tried to reverse recent strategic gains the rebels have made in the northeast in their quest to topple President Bashar Assad.
Assad's forces have been locked in a stalemate with rebels in Aleppo since July when the city, the largest in Syria, became a major battlefield in the 2-year-old conflict the United Nations says has killed at least 70,000 people. Rebels have been trying to capture the international airport for months.
Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the Britain-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the current fighting was focused on a section of a highway linking the airport with Aleppo, the commercial hub of the nation.
The rebels have cut off the highway, which the army has been using to transport troops and supplies to a military base within the airport complex. Rebels have made other advances in the battle for the complex in recent weeks, including capturing two army bases along the road to the airport.
The rebels also control large swaths of land outside Aleppo and whole neighborhoods inside the city, which is divided between areas controlled by the regime and others held by rebels. On Saturday, the army launched an offensive on opposition strongholds outside Damascus in an effort to dislodge rebels from areas around the capital that they have been trying to storm for weeks.
On Friday, regime forces fired three missiles into a rebel-held area in eastern Aleppo, hitting several buildings and killing 29 people, according to the Observatory. The group initially reported 14 casualties in the strike that apparently involved ground-to-ground missiles. Some bodies were recovered from the rubble of damaged buildings.
Recent rebel advances in the Damascus suburbs, combined with the bombings and three straight days of mortar attacks earlier this week marked the most sustained challenge to the heart of the capital, the seat of Assad's power.
A suicide car bombing on Thursday near the ruling Baath Party headquarters in the heart of Damascus killed 53 civilians and wounded more than 200, according to state media. Anti-regime activists put the death toll at 61, which would make it the deadliest bombing of the revolt in the capital.
The different tolls could not be reconciled.
Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack. Car bombs and suicide attacks have been a hallmark of Jabhat al-Nusra, an Islamic militant group fighting among the rebels. Nusra fighters, the most effective group on the battlefield, have led assaults on military installations and control swaths of territory in the north, including parts of Aleppo neighborhoods.
The fighting has increasingly taken on sectarian overtones with members of Syria's Sunni Muslim majority dominating the rebel ranks, who are fighting Assad's regime that is mostly made up of Alawites, an offshoot Shiite group.
Efforts to stop the bloodshed in Syria so far have failed, leaving the international community at a loss of how to end the civil war.
Russia and the Arab League proposed on Wednesday to broker talks between the Syrian opposition and Assad's regime in Moscow, one of Damascus' closest allies. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem will lead a delegation to Moscow on Monday, and Russia had been expecting a visit in March from opposition leader Mouaz al-Khatib.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Kremlin and the Arab League were trying to establish direct contact between the Syrian regime and the opposition. The Western-backed opposition umbrella group, the Syrian National Coalition, has rejected any talks as long as Assad remains in power.
In a sharp turnaround, al-Khatib said earlier this month he'd meet with members of the regime if that would help end the bloodshed. His comments, however, drew sharp criticism from several opposition figures who said al-Khatib spoke for himself, not the group.
The Coalition said in a statement posted on its Facebook page late Friday that its leaders would not travel to Washington or Moscow for any talks. The coalition said the decision was taken to protest the international community's "silence over crimes committed by the regime" against Syrian people in Aleppo and other cities across the country.
The statement also said that the opposition leaders would boycott a meeting next month in Rome of the Friends of Syria, which includes the United States and its European allies.
FILE - In this Feb. 14, 2013 file photo, Secretary of State John Kerry speaks at the State Department in Washington. Kerry will make his first overseas trip next week to Europe and the Middle East, but is skipping Israel because that country's government isn't fully formed after recent elections. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
FILE - In this Feb. 14, 2013 file photo, Secretary of State John Kerry speaks at the State Department in Washington. Kerry will make his first overseas trip next week to Europe and the Middle East, but is skipping Israel because that country's government isn't fully formed after recent elections. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Secretary of State John Kerry is embarking on his first official overseas voyage, bringing new ideas to capitals in Europe and the Middle East on how to end nearly two years of brutal violence in Syria.
Kerry leaves Washington on Sunday on a grueling nine-nation, 10-day trip that will bring him to America's traditional western European allies of Britain, Germany, France and Italy along with Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. In addition to Syria, he will focus on conflicts in Mali and Afghanistan and Iran's nuclear program.
Kerry has said he is eager to discuss new ways of convincing Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down and usher in a democratic transition in the country that has been wracked by increasing violence that has killed at least 70,000 people. He has not offered details of his ideas but officials say they revolve around increasing pressure on Assad and his inner circle.
Kerry begins his trip in London where he will see senior British officials on a range of issues, from Afghanistan to the status of the Falkland Islands, over which Britain is in a major dispute with Argentina.
He then travels to Germany to discuss trans-Atlantic issues with German youth in Berlin, where he spent time as a child as the son of an American diplomat posted to the divided Cold War city. He will also meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the German capital.
In Paris, Kerry will discuss France's ongoing intervention in Mali. And in Rome, he'll attend a meeting with Syrian opposition leaders.
U.S. officials have said the trip will be primarily a "listening tour" when it comes to Syria and won't result in immediate shifts in U.S. policy that has until now stayed clear of military support for the rebels fighting Assad.
Despite the numerous Middle East stops. Kerry will not travel to Israel or the Palestinian territories. He will wait to visit them when he accompanies President Barack Obama there in March.
(Reuters) - Police have identified a suspect in the fatal shooting of an aspiring rapper as he drove on the Las Vegas Strip in a Maserati before dawn on Thursday, sparking a fiery crash that also killed a cab driver and his passenger.
Ammar Asim Faruq Harris, described as armed and dangerous, was still at large on Saturday, but the black Range Rover from which he is suspected of opening fire had been impounded, Las Vegas police said.
Authorities said a gunman in a Range Rover opened fire early on Thursday on the silver Maserati being driven by 27-year-old Kenneth Wayne Cherry Jr., who performed under the name "Kenny Clutch."
Cherry was slain and his car veered out of control and smashed into a taxi, which exploded into flames in an intersection on the Las Vegas Strip in front of several casino resorts, killing the driver and a passenger and triggering another multi-car crash.
Authorities believe the confrontation started in the valet parking lot of a nearby hotel, the Aria Resort and Casino. But police did not identify a motive for the shooting or the altercation.
Police identified Harris, 26, as the driver of the apparently brand-new luxury sport utility vehicle, and said he had also opened fire. Police said in a statement that he had an "extensive and violent criminal history."
Killed in the cab were driver Michael Bolden, 62, and a passenger who has not been identified by authorities. Las Vegas television station KTNV identified the passenger killed as Sandi Sutton, a Washington state woman who worked for a Seattle-area chamber of commerce.
A passenger in Cherry's vehicle suffered a minor injury and cooperated with police, authorities said. Three other people were also injured in the melee, which took place near the Bellagio and Caesars Palace hotels.
The incident occurred less than a mile from where rapper Tupac Shakur was shot in September 1996 while riding in a BMW with Death Row Records co-founder Marion "Suge" Knight after the two men had attended a Mike Tyson boxing match.
Shakur, 25, was hit by gunfire from at least one assailant in a Cadillac while sitting in Knight's car at the intersection of Flamingo Road and Koval Lane and died six days later at a hospital. His murder remains unsolved.
(Reporting by Karen Brooks in Austin, Texas; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Peter Cooney)
DUmmie FUnnies 02-22-13 (DUmmies Divided on Obama's Golf-Oil Links)
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DUmmie FUnnies 02-22-13 (DUmmies Divided on Obama's Golf-Oil Links) DUmmie FUnnies ^ | February 22, 2013 | DUmmies and Charles Henrickson
Posted on 02/22/2013 12:06:34 PM PST by Charles Henrickson
The bloom is off Obamassiah's rose, I think. Some of the DUmmies are starting to see the Vacationer-in-Chief for what he is: a craven politician, beholden to Big Money, who talks a good game, rousing discontent against "the wealthiest among us," all the while stashing their cash in his back pocket. Witness this THREAD, "Obama played golf with oil giants during climate rally."
Some of the DUmmies are bummed out. But many of them continue to back Our President, no matter what. I think the Obama worshipers still outnumber the hyper-progs who don't think he's leftist enough. But the climate could be changing.
So let us now hit the links between BO and Big Oil, as the disillusioned DUmmies debate the die-hard defenders, in Bigoilshevik Red, while the commentary of your humble guest correspondent, Charles Henrickson--back for his first DUFU in almost a month, due to a busy schedule in the real world--is in the [Barackets]:
Obama played golf with oil giants during climate rally
[Golf-Oil links? Say it ain't so, BO!]
The optics were already pretty bad: As an estimated 40,000 plus climate activists descended on D.C. last Sunday to pressure the president to make good on his promise to address climate change, Obama was in Florida golfing . . .
[He was just addressing climate change in his own way, going from Washington to Florida in February.]
. . . in Florida golfing privately with Tiger Woods. It appears that it gets worse: The president was not only teeing off with the famed golfer and philanderer. . . .
[Bill Clinton was there too?]
. . . he was also, according to HuffPo, joined by a ?pair of Texans who are key oil, gas and pipeline players.?
[You left out "and key Obama/Democrat donors."]
The ?Climate Forward? rally, bottom-lined by environmental group 350.org, focused on protesting the Keystone XL pipeline extension, which would carry crude oil from Alberta?s tar sands to the Gulf Coast, while ? according to opponents ? producing lethal levels of carbon emissions, uprooting communities and lining the pockets of oil magnates the Koch brothers.
[THE KOCH BROTHERS?? HISS!! BOO!!]
Meanwhile, the president, who will decide on whether to permit the controversial pipeline in the coming months, spent his President?s Day weekend with men set to richly benefit from the pipeline.
[You left out "and who gave him lots of money."]
On his first ?guys weekend? away since he was reelected, the president chose to spend his free time with Jim Crane and Milton Carroll, leading figures in the Texas oil and gas industry, along with other men who run companies that deal in the same kinds of carbon-based services that Keystone would enlarge.
[Jim Crane, owner of the Houston Astros and big Obama donor. Could there be a worse combination than that?]
They hit the links at the Floridian Yacht and Golf Club, which is owned by Crane and located on the Treasure Coast in Palm City, Fla.
[Well, see, it was President's Day weekend, so Obama decided to celebrate Links-on Birdie Day.]
[DUmmie lunatica responds . . .]
I don't see anything wrong with doing business while golfing. It was closed to the press so I imagine there was some candid conversations going on and as far as anyone knows it may have been all about Climate change.
[Here was the candid conversation about climate change: "So, Barack, after this game, what say we get out of the heat and hit the ocean breezes on my luxurious yacht and drink $500-a-bottle wine and talk about cutting me a deal on this pipeline thing?"]
Ha-ha-ha! That's very funny...you're a card!
[Yes, DUmmie lunatica, you're a card-carrying Obamabot!]
I know you're trying to insult me, but you missed your mark. . . .
[OK, DUmmie lunatica, we'll try again . . .]
Sweetie, you keep digging your hole deeper . . . much business is done over golf. . . .
[DUmmie lunatica scored a hole-in-DUmb.]
Obama has to talk to them. . . . Don't automatically think he's their buddy.
[Yeah, he could be their caddy!]
What's an example of something you think he might have said to them during the golf?
["Carry your bag? Yessuh, Mr. Crane!"]
I can't think of anything that makes him look good.
[That's what I've been saying for five years now.]
The guy was on a short, well earned vacation.
[The guy's been on one continuous vacation ever since he got in office, interrupted only by occasional campaign stops and photo ops.]
I don't care if he was having a conversation with vampires. . . .
[You mean he wasn't??]
Look. If you want to f*** somebody up, you have to actually meet them. The golf date was with Tiger. Go ahead and let the assholes in.
[I didn't know Tiger swung that way, benburch.]
You can't kick an ass unless you get close to it.
You can't kiss an ass unless you get close to it. (There I fixed it.)
[Hee! Hee! Touch? on the tushy!]
It's offensive. Dance with who brung ya. Most of those people at the rally voted for Obama. Some of them traveled all night on buses. And then all day in the cold. Some older people may have been risking their lives to make the trip. People who voted for the President. But I guess he likes hanging around with oil execs instead for some reason.
["Some reason" = $$$.]
So Michelle and the Girls go off to Ski and he get's his DREAM of playing Golf with Tiger. . . .
[Vacations are their vocation.]
The responses here would be MUCH different if a Repub Prez had done this.
[Kewpie Doll time. Have one, DUmmie magellan.]
Ya think? This thread would be ripping him a new one instead of posting ridiculous apologist propaganda.
{Or what about all the drone attacks Obomber has been sending out? If this were Chimpy McBushitler, you guys would be frog-marching him to The Hague!]
I wonder do/does the one-percent (Obama and family included) think they are immune to climate change?
[The climate in Hawaii never changes, so they've got nothing to worry about. . . . BTW, notice: Obama is now a ONE-PERCENTER! And this, from a DUmmie!]
My favorite is that he invited them so he could discuss climate change with them.
[Yeah, that's rich! A real knee-slapper!]
The other side already attacks the President for golfing. People on the left sure as hell don't need to.
[Obama is bringing us together. He said he would.]
The President was also playing golf the last time there was a huge XL Pipeline protest in DC. . . . I suppose a movement might start to feel a bit snubbed, but it's all just a coincidence, I'm sure.
["Whoa-oh, they're herding for the pipeline, Now I'm longing for the front nine; They're herding for the pipeline, And I'm just about to lose my spine. Money, money, yeah . . ."]
the golf trip was planned around Presidents' Day/weekend.
[And so Obama's golfing partners were showing him lots of pictures of Washington, Lincoln, Jackson, Grant. . . .]
You're known by the company you keep...a serial adulterer and dirty oil men...not a good foursome.
[The Foulsome Foursome.]
I was pissed when Cheney met in private with the oil sector and I am not fond of this either.
[It's a Cheney-link offense.]
instead of protesting, the environmentalists should be working on their golf game. . . .
[If the environmental wackos sliced one off into the rough, they'd be worried about the ball hitting a tree.]
Putt putt? If so, I'm in.
[DUmmie limpyhobbler wants a Mini-golf Summit.]
President Obama is a politician first and foremost. Funny when people realize he's not really "one of us".
[A half-white guy of mysterious birth, sired (possibly) by a Muslim bigamist from Kenya, raised by his atheist mother Stanley Ann and weird grandparents in Indonesia and Hawaii, whose college records are sealed, a prot?g? of Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright, who now is ultra-rich and ultra-powerful--and you're finally realizing he's not "one of us"??]
I'm sick of the non-stop people defending Obama no matter what he does.
Back with a DUFU, finally. May try to get another one in on this sequester thing sometime soon.
To: PJ-Comix; Xenalyte; RMDupree; AlexW; CzarNicky; Mike Fieschko; motzman; codercpc; thingumbob; ...
2 posted on 02/22/2013 12:11:31 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Barack Obama and Big Oil: B.O. Plenty.)
To: PJ-Comix; Xenalyte; RMDupree; AlexW; CzarNicky; Mike Fieschko; motzman; codercpc; thingumbob; ...
3 posted on 02/22/2013 12:12:31 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Barack Obama and Big Oil: B.O. Plenty.)
To: PJ-Comix; Xenalyte; RMDupree; AlexW; CzarNicky; Mike Fieschko; motzman; codercpc; thingumbob; ...
4 posted on 02/22/2013 12:13:32 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Barack Obama and Big Oil: B.O. Plenty.)
To: Charles Henrickson
Obama to his constituents: "You're 'the mark' of compassion."
5 posted on 02/22/2013 12:15:58 PM PST by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
To: Charles Henrickson
Most of those people at the rally voted for Obama. Some of them traveled all night on buses
Some travelled all night on buses to vote for Obama......
6 posted on 02/22/2013 12:21:21 PM PST by wbill
To: PJ-Comix; All
That was a double-bogey ping, two over par. Happens sometimes when FR is slow to post.
7 posted on 02/22/2013 12:27:45 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Barack Obama and Big Oil: B.O. Plenty.)
To: PJ-Comix; All
8 posted on 02/22/2013 12:29:11 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Barack Obama and Big Oil: B.O. Plenty.)
To: Charles Henrickson
9 posted on 02/22/2013 12:37:45 PM PST by GeronL (http://asspos.blogspot.com)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson
DUmmie FUnnies 02-22-13 (DUmmies Divided on Obama's Golf-Oil Links)
Skip to comments.
DUmmie FUnnies 02-22-13 (DUmmies Divided on Obama's Golf-Oil Links) DUmmie FUnnies ^ | February 22, 2013 | DUmmies and Charles Henrickson
Posted on 02/22/2013 12:06:34 PM PST by Charles Henrickson
The bloom is off Obamassiah's rose, I think. Some of the DUmmies are starting to see the Vacationer-in-Chief for what he is: a craven politician, beholden to Big Money, who talks a good game, rousing discontent against "the wealthiest among us," all the while stashing their cash in his back pocket. Witness this THREAD, "Obama played golf with oil giants during climate rally."
Some of the DUmmies are bummed out. But many of them continue to back Our President, no matter what. I think the Obama worshipers still outnumber the hyper-progs who don't think he's leftist enough. But the climate could be changing.
So let us now hit the links between BO and Big Oil, as the disillusioned DUmmies debate the die-hard defenders, in Bigoilshevik Red, while the commentary of your humble guest correspondent, Charles Henrickson--back for his first DUFU in almost a month, due to a busy schedule in the real world--is in the [Barackets]:
Obama played golf with oil giants during climate rally
[Golf-Oil links? Say it ain't so, BO!]
The optics were already pretty bad: As an estimated 40,000 plus climate activists descended on D.C. last Sunday to pressure the president to make good on his promise to address climate change, Obama was in Florida golfing . . .
[He was just addressing climate change in his own way, going from Washington to Florida in February.]
. . . in Florida golfing privately with Tiger Woods. It appears that it gets worse: The president was not only teeing off with the famed golfer and philanderer. . . .
[Bill Clinton was there too?]
. . . he was also, according to HuffPo, joined by a ?pair of Texans who are key oil, gas and pipeline players.?
[You left out "and key Obama/Democrat donors."]
The ?Climate Forward? rally, bottom-lined by environmental group 350.org, focused on protesting the Keystone XL pipeline extension, which would carry crude oil from Alberta?s tar sands to the Gulf Coast, while ? according to opponents ? producing lethal levels of carbon emissions, uprooting communities and lining the pockets of oil magnates the Koch brothers.
[THE KOCH BROTHERS?? HISS!! BOO!!]
Meanwhile, the president, who will decide on whether to permit the controversial pipeline in the coming months, spent his President?s Day weekend with men set to richly benefit from the pipeline.
[You left out "and who gave him lots of money."]
On his first ?guys weekend? away since he was reelected, the president chose to spend his free time with Jim Crane and Milton Carroll, leading figures in the Texas oil and gas industry, along with other men who run companies that deal in the same kinds of carbon-based services that Keystone would enlarge.
[Jim Crane, owner of the Houston Astros and big Obama donor. Could there be a worse combination than that?]
They hit the links at the Floridian Yacht and Golf Club, which is owned by Crane and located on the Treasure Coast in Palm City, Fla.
[Well, see, it was President's Day weekend, so Obama decided to celebrate Links-on Birdie Day.]
[DUmmie lunatica responds . . .]
I don't see anything wrong with doing business while golfing. It was closed to the press so I imagine there was some candid conversations going on and as far as anyone knows it may have been all about Climate change.
[Here was the candid conversation about climate change: "So, Barack, after this game, what say we get out of the heat and hit the ocean breezes on my luxurious yacht and drink $500-a-bottle wine and talk about cutting me a deal on this pipeline thing?"]
Ha-ha-ha! That's very funny...you're a card!
[Yes, DUmmie lunatica, you're a card-carrying Obamabot!]
I know you're trying to insult me, but you missed your mark. . . .
[OK, DUmmie lunatica, we'll try again . . .]
Sweetie, you keep digging your hole deeper . . . much business is done over golf. . . .
[DUmmie lunatica scored a hole-in-DUmb.]
Obama has to talk to them. . . . Don't automatically think he's their buddy.
[Yeah, he could be their caddy!]
What's an example of something you think he might have said to them during the golf?
["Carry your bag? Yessuh, Mr. Crane!"]
I can't think of anything that makes him look good.
[That's what I've been saying for five years now.]
The guy was on a short, well earned vacation.
[The guy's been on one continuous vacation ever since he got in office, interrupted only by occasional campaign stops and photo ops.]
I don't care if he was having a conversation with vampires. . . .
[You mean he wasn't??]
Look. If you want to f*** somebody up, you have to actually meet them. The golf date was with Tiger. Go ahead and let the assholes in.
[I didn't know Tiger swung that way, benburch.]
You can't kick an ass unless you get close to it.
You can't kiss an ass unless you get close to it. (There I fixed it.)
[Hee! Hee! Touch? on the tushy!]
It's offensive. Dance with who brung ya. Most of those people at the rally voted for Obama. Some of them traveled all night on buses. And then all day in the cold. Some older people may have been risking their lives to make the trip. People who voted for the President. But I guess he likes hanging around with oil execs instead for some reason.
["Some reason" = $$$.]
So Michelle and the Girls go off to Ski and he get's his DREAM of playing Golf with Tiger. . . .
[Vacations are their vocation.]
The responses here would be MUCH different if a Repub Prez had done this.
[Kewpie Doll time. Have one, DUmmie magellan.]
Ya think? This thread would be ripping him a new one instead of posting ridiculous apologist propaganda.
{Or what about all the drone attacks Obomber has been sending out? If this were Chimpy McBushitler, you guys would be frog-marching him to The Hague!]
I wonder do/does the one-percent (Obama and family included) think they are immune to climate change?
[The climate in Hawaii never changes, so they've got nothing to worry about. . . . BTW, notice: Obama is now a ONE-PERCENTER! And this, from a DUmmie!]
My favorite is that he invited them so he could discuss climate change with them.
[Yeah, that's rich! A real knee-slapper!]
The other side already attacks the President for golfing. People on the left sure as hell don't need to.
[Obama is bringing us together. He said he would.]
The President was also playing golf the last time there was a huge XL Pipeline protest in DC. . . . I suppose a movement might start to feel a bit snubbed, but it's all just a coincidence, I'm sure.
["Whoa-oh, they're herding for the pipeline, Now I'm longing for the front nine; They're herding for the pipeline, And I'm just about to lose my spine. Money, money, yeah . . ."]
the golf trip was planned around Presidents' Day/weekend.
[And so Obama's golfing partners were showing him lots of pictures of Washington, Lincoln, Jackson, Grant. . . .]
You're known by the company you keep...a serial adulterer and dirty oil men...not a good foursome.
[The Foulsome Foursome.]
I was pissed when Cheney met in private with the oil sector and I am not fond of this either.
[It's a Cheney-link offense.]
instead of protesting, the environmentalists should be working on their golf game. . . .
[If the environmental wackos sliced one off into the rough, they'd be worried about the ball hitting a tree.]
Putt putt? If so, I'm in.
[DUmmie limpyhobbler wants a Mini-golf Summit.]
President Obama is a politician first and foremost. Funny when people realize he's not really "one of us".
[A half-white guy of mysterious birth, sired (possibly) by a Muslim bigamist from Kenya, raised by his atheist mother Stanley Ann and weird grandparents in Indonesia and Hawaii, whose college records are sealed, a prot?g? of Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright, who now is ultra-rich and ultra-powerful--and you're finally realizing he's not "one of us"??]
I'm sick of the non-stop people defending Obama no matter what he does.
Back with a DUFU, finally. May try to get another one in on this sequester thing sometime soon.
To: PJ-Comix; Xenalyte; RMDupree; AlexW; CzarNicky; Mike Fieschko; motzman; codercpc; thingumbob; ...
2 posted on 02/22/2013 12:11:31 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Barack Obama and Big Oil: B.O. Plenty.)
To: PJ-Comix; Xenalyte; RMDupree; AlexW; CzarNicky; Mike Fieschko; motzman; codercpc; thingumbob; ...
3 posted on 02/22/2013 12:12:31 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Barack Obama and Big Oil: B.O. Plenty.)
To: PJ-Comix; Xenalyte; RMDupree; AlexW; CzarNicky; Mike Fieschko; motzman; codercpc; thingumbob; ...
4 posted on 02/22/2013 12:13:32 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Barack Obama and Big Oil: B.O. Plenty.)
To: Charles Henrickson
Obama to his constituents: "You're 'the mark' of compassion."
5 posted on 02/22/2013 12:15:58 PM PST by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
To: Charles Henrickson
Most of those people at the rally voted for Obama. Some of them traveled all night on buses
Some travelled all night on buses to vote for Obama......
6 posted on 02/22/2013 12:21:21 PM PST by wbill
To: PJ-Comix; All
That was a double-bogey ping, two over par. Happens sometimes when FR is slow to post.
7 posted on 02/22/2013 12:27:45 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Barack Obama and Big Oil: B.O. Plenty.)
To: PJ-Comix; All
8 posted on 02/22/2013 12:29:11 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Barack Obama and Big Oil: B.O. Plenty.)
To: Charles Henrickson
9 posted on 02/22/2013 12:37:45 PM PST by GeronL (http://asspos.blogspot.com)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson
SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria's president will appoint a caretaker government ahead of a parliamentary election by mid-May after protests toppled austerity-minded Prime Minister Boiko Borisov, the president said on Friday.
Wednesday's resignation by Borisov's rightist government has failed to quell anger in the European Union's poorest country over high utility bills and protesters gathered on Friday evening in the capital Sofia and other cities.
President Rosen Plevneliev said major political parties - including Borisov's GERB and their rivals the Socialists - declined the chance to form a new government and polls will be brought forward from the previously planned date in July.
"We are heading towards an interim government. We have agreed that the possible timeline for next elections will be the end of April until the middle of May," Plevneliev told reporters after consultation with political parties.
Frustration at low living standards led to bloody protests this month. Many in the Black Sea state of 7.3 million are angry Borisov failed to honor 2009 election pledges to cut corruption and reform inefficient healthcare and education systems.
The prime minister, a former bodyguard of late Soviet-era dictator Todor Zhivkov, ceded to pressure and his administration became the latest to fall in Europe's four-year-old debt crisis.
The president said he will appoint a technocratic caretaker government to focus on financial stability and free elections.
The outgoing parliament should work to change the energy law to cut electricity prices and defuse public anger, he said.
"This is the only possible and reasonable move," said Kantcho Stoychev, from pollster Gallup International. "If the president appoints a politically-linked cabinet, the people's anger will fall on him and may endanger the civil peace."
GERB is running neck-and-neck with the Socialists in opinion polls. With both at around 22 to 23 percent support, neither is expected to win a majority in the upcoming vote.
A hung parliament could lead to the type of policy stalemate that has stalled reforms in neighboring Romania and Greece.
Since a sharp contraction in 2009, Bulgaria has failed to resume the rapid growth needed to catch up with EU partners. Living standards are about 45 percent of the bloc average.
On Friday, dozens of people protested against Czech power distributor CEZ in the northeastern city of Vratsa. Borisov promised an 8 percent electricity bill cut from March and said the regulator would begin to revoke CEZ's license.
The energy regulator said a price cut is possible from April at the earliest and indicated room for compromise with CEZ.
(Additional reporting by Angel Krasimirov; Editing by Jason Webb)
Via Licensing is amassing quite a deep well of patents from which its members able to pull. All in the name of keeping standards-essential LTE technology accessible to those willing to play ball. Now China Mobile and Deutsche Telekom are joining the ranks of industry giants like AT&T and NTT DoCoMo in an effort to guard themselves against litigation and ease the act of licensing each other's patents. Others have tried and failed where Via Licensing seems to be succeeding in building a coalition around sharing standard-essential patents. Though, while plenty of big names have signed on, there are still quite a few notable holdouts.
NASA's Mars Curiosity rover has sent home photos of samples that it gathered from deep inside a rock on Mars. It is the first time a robot has ever drilled into a rock on any planet other than Earth.?
By Mike Wall,?SPACE.com / February 21, 2013
This image from NASA's Curiosity rover shows the first sample of powdered rock extracted by the rover's drill. The image was obtained by Curiosity's Mast Camera on Wednesday, on Curiosity's 193rd Martian day of operations.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Enlarge
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has beamed home photos confirming that it recovered samples from deep within a Red Planet rock, cementing the robot's place in?exploration history.
Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition
The?Curiosity rover?drilled 2.5 inches (6.4 centimeters) into a Martian outcrop on Feb. 8, and today (Feb. 20) mission scientists first set eyes on images showing drill tailings sitting in Curiosity's scoop, waiting to be transferred to analytical instruments on the robot's body.
The photos confirm that Curiosity has pulled off an historic achievement, scientists said.
"This is the first time any robot, fixed or mobile, has drilled into a rock to collect a sample on?Mars," Louise Jandura, sample system chief engineer for Curiosity at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., told reporters today.
"In fact, this is the first time any rover has drilled into a rock to collect a sample anywhere but on Earth," Jandura added. "In the five-decade history of the space age, this is indeed a rare event." [Curiosity's First Drilling on Mars (Photos)]
Breaking open a time capsule
Curiosity landed inside Mars' huge?Gale Crater?on the night of Aug. 5, kicking off a two-year prime mission to determine if the area has ever been capable of supporting microbial life.
Along with its 10 science instruments and 17 cameras,?Curiosity's hammering drill?is considered key to this quest, for it allows scientists to peer deep into Martian rocks for evidence of past habitability ? something no other Red Planet robot has been able to do.
The arm-mounted drill "allows us to go beyond the surface layer of the rock, unlocking a kind of time capsule of evidence about the state of Mars going back three or four billion years," Jandura said.
The first drilling location is an intriguing time capsule indeed, scientists say. Curiosity bored into part of an outcrop called "John Klein," which is shot through with light-colored mineral veins and other evidence of long-ago?exposure to liquid water.
"All of these features tell us that the rocks in this area have a really rich geological history, and they have the potential to give us information about multiple interactions between water and rock at this location," said JPL's Joel Hurowitz, sampling system scientist for Curiosity.
Mission scientists will learn more about that history when the drilled sample is transferred to two of Curiosity's key instruments, CheMin (short for Chemistry and Mineralogy) and SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars).
"That'll play out over the next few days here," said JPL's Daniel Limonadi, lead systems engineer for Curiosity's surface sampling and science system.
A few glitches
The recovered powder has already been used to clean out Curiosity's sample-handling system, to help ensure that the system is scrubbed free of potential contaminants from Earth. A minor software glitch has delayed the delivery of the sample to CheMin and SAM, but the team found a workaround, researchers said.
The Curiosity team has also become aware of another potential issue with the the sample-handling hardware. Engineers built two models of this hardware to run tests here on Earth, and the sieve ? which screens out particles more than 0.006 inches (150 microns) wide ? has begun to detach on one of them.
But this only happened after extensive use, and the sieve remained functional, rover team members said. And they stressed that there is no sign of any problem with the sample-handling gear Curiosity toted to Mars, though they'll take some measures to lessen the sieve's workload on the Red Planet (such as sieving samples for 20 minutes rather than 60 minutes, which Curiosity had done previously with soil samples).
"Based on the test results to date, and based on how we expect to use the hardware on Mars, we really have pretty good confidence that we're going to be able to use this hardware through the prime mission and beyond," Limonadi said.
Follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter?@michaeldwall?or SPACE.com?@Spacedotcom. We're also onFacebook?and?Google+.?
Copyright 2013?SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Published: 11:00AM Friday February 22, 2013 Source: ONE News
Source: Photos.com
It is being hailed as a new breed of television - something that will stop your pet pooch from feeling lonely when you're not at home.
A new television channel, especially for dogs, has been launched in Israel.
DOG TV is designed to keep canines calm and free from anxiety while their owners are away.
Aimed specifically for its target audience the channel has changed the contrast and brightness levels because dogs are colour blind. The sound has also been adjusted.
And according to surveillance footage, the dogs really do watch.
Its website?claims DOGTV is "scientifically developed and pup approved".
"DOGTV is cable's first television network for dogs that is created exclusively for canines, and the humans who love them," the website says.
'Barking success'
American cable viewers have been able to watch DOGTV in some states for the past year.
The channel says it was because of the "barking success in the US" that it made the move to Israel.
In an interview with ISRAEL21c, DOGTV CEO Gilad Neumann said that when dogs are left alone, they can get depressed, lose their appetite or lose their desire to play.
The idea behind the canine channel is to leave the television on when no one is at home, so that the family dog can watch it and not feel lonely or suffer from abandonment anxiety.
The programmes on DOGTV run up to six minutes in length.
"This creates a companionship environment, a channel that is fully suitable for dogs," Neumann said.
"Owners can be sure it's all appropriate, and there is no content that scares or stresses the dog, like loud or sudden noises."
Concerned dog lovers in Israel can sign up to the service for around $2.50 ($3) a month.
'Improve lives'
DOGTV's website claims its 24/7 programming "helps improve the lives of dogs and their humans everywhere".
"Through years of research with some of the world's top pet experts, special content was created to meet specific attributes of a dog's sense of vision and hearing and supports their natural behaviour patterns," it continues.
"The result: a confident, happy dog, who's less likely to develop stress, separation anxiety or other related problems."
The channel says man's best friends "feel better" when the television is on when they are left alone, and the doggie targeted shows provide calming sounds and music to keep them peaceful.
It also claims the programmes "meet a dog's typical daily routine" and "help prevent mental fatigue, depression and boredom".
Copyright ? 2013, Television New Zealand Limited. Breaking and Daily News, Sport & Weather | TV ONE, TV2 | Ondemand
