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Saturday, 5 January 2013

Odd meteorite could be time capsule of a wetter Mars

Scientists have analyzed a meteorite found on Earth and suggest that it could come from Mars's crust at a time when the planet was still wet and volcanically active.

By Pete Spotts,?Staff writer / January 3, 2013

This image shows a rock from Mars that landed in the Sahara. An examination of the Martian meteorite known as NWA 7034 determined it is 2.1 billion years old and is water-rich.

Carl Agee/University of New Mexico/AP

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An unusual meteorite plucked from the Moroccan desert holds the potential to open a window on a critical period in the history of Mars, when the planet was undergoing a dramatic change from warm and wet ? conditions potentially hospitable to life ? to cold, dry, and desolate.

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Unlike any Martian meteorite scientists have studied so far, the new object, tagged as NWA 7034, has a composition similar to the planet's crust. Indeed, the sample is similar to rock and soil samples seen by rovers Spirit and Curiosity ? the first time scientists have been able to link a meteorite to rocks analyzed on the surface of the red planet, according to a team from the US and China formally reporting its results in Friday's issue of the journal Science.

It is the 2 billion-year-old meteorite's volcanic origin and its apparent interactions with water and the atmosphere at or near the Martian surface that may have turned it into such an intriguing a time capsule.

"Having this sample from 2 billion years ago may give us a little bit of a glimpse of what the surface conditions were like" during a poorly understood period in Mars's history, says Carl Agee, the team's leader and director of the Institute for Meteoritics at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

The rock was formed during the early years of Mars's Amazonian epoch. The epoch is thought to have started between 3.5 and 1.8 billion years ago and was marked, among other things, by the formation of the solar system's largest volcano, Olympus Mons, as well as by volcanic activity elsewhere on the planet.

The 11-ounce meteorite's mix of minerals and its rubble-like composition speak to a violent beginning ? rising toward the surface in an explosive, Mt. St. Helens-style volcanic eruption, Dr. Agee says.

Surprisingly, the meteorite boasts some 10 times the water of other, younger Martian meteorites, although the amount is still tiny. The team initially estimated that the meteorite held up to 3,000 parts per million in water, half of which the rock accumulated after landing on Earth. Further measurements, however, showed that the rock held up to twice the water the team initially calculated. And virtually all of it was of extraterrestrial origin, Agee says.

Moreover, the measurements suggested that the meteorite's water came from at least two sources ? magma and water at or near the planet's surface. This water, perhaps melted permafrost or a surface pool, reacted with the rock while it was still too hot to handle.

NWA 7034 also hosts organic compounds known as polyciclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which can have biological as well as non-biological sources.

PAHs found in other Martian meteorites had non-biological origins. The team is now examining NWA 7034's PAHs ? also non-biological ? to see if they are similar to those found in earlier Martian meteorite samples, writes Andrew Steele, an astrobiologist at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, in an e-mail exchange.

Ongoing research aims to use the rock's interaction with cosmic rays to determine how long it took to reach Earth from Mars. Nor have they yet pinned down the length of time it sat in the desert before a meteorite hunter picked it up in 2011. Based on the amount of weathering the specimen displayed, Agee estimates that NWA 7034 might have landed several hundred years ago.

Colleagues are also cataloging the relative abundance of gases trapped in tiny pockets to tease out clues as to the makeup of the planet's atmosphere at the time the rock reached the surface.

?The contents of this meteorite may challenge many long held notions about Martian geology,? said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA?s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, in a statement. ?These findings also present an important reference frame for the Curiosity rover as it searches for reduced organics in the minerals exposed in the bedrock of Gale Crater.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/UrIKOW5oQnI/Odd-meteorite-could-be-time-capsule-of-a-wetter-Mars

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Top four reasons why diets fail

Jan. 3, 2013 ? The battle of the bulge is on -- any movement on the scale yet? "Losing weight is one of the top resolutions made every year, yet only 20 percent of people achieve successful weight-loss and maintenance," says Jessica Bartfield,MD, internal medicine who specializes in nutrition and weight management at the Loyola Center for Metabolic Surgery & Bariatric Care.

Despite that fact that two-thirds of Americans say they are on a diet to improve their health, very few are actually decreasing in size. "Dieting is a skill, much like riding a bicycle, and requires practice and good instruction, " says Dr. Bartfield. "You're going to fall over and feel frustrated, but eventually you will succeed and it will get easier."

Top Four Reasons Why Dieters Don't Lose Weight

According to Dr. Bartfield, here are the top four reasons why many dieters fail to lose weight.

1. Underestimating Calories Consumed

"Most people (even experts!) underestimate the number of calories they eat per day. Writing down everything that you eat- including drinks and "bites" or "tastes" of food -- can help increase self-awareness. Pay attention to serving sizes and use measuring cups and spoons as serving utensils to keep portions reasonable. Food eaten outside of the home tends to be much larger portion sizes and much higher in calories. Try to look up nutrition information of your favorite take-out meal or restaurant and select a healthy meal before picking up the phone or going out to eat.

2. Overestimating Activity and Calories Burned

"Typically you need to cut 500 calories per day to lose 1 lb per week. This is very difficult to achieve through exercise alone, and would require 60 minutes or more of vigorous activity every day. A more attainable goal would be to try to increase activity throughout the day and get a total of 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise most days of the week. Buy a pedometer and track your steps; try to increase to a goal of 10,000 steps per day. But be careful -- exercise is not an excuse to eat more!"

3. Poor Timing of Meals

"You need a steady stream of glucose throughout the day to maintain optimal energy and to prevent metabolism from slowing down. Eat breakfast every day within one hour of waking up, then eat a healthy snack or meal every three to four hours. Try not to go longer than 5 hours without eating a healthy snack or meal to keep your metabolism steady."

4. Inadequate Sleep

"Studies have shown that people who get fewer than six hours of sleep have higher levels of ghrelin, which is a hormone that stimulates appetite, particularly for high- carbohydrate/high- calorie foods. In addition, less sleep raises levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, which can lead to weight gain."

Dr. Bartfield regularly counsels patients through the Loyola Center for Metabolic Surgery & Bariatric Care, which offers surgical as well as non-surgical weight loss programs. "A registered dietitian, behavioral psychologist, exercise physiologist and a physician plus a surgeon if appropriate, all partner one-on-one with patients," said Bartfield. "Good health practices are more than just learned, they become a regular habit and a way of life."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Loyola University Health System, via Newswise.

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/XFsdkj2EMkA/130103192352.htm

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Friday, 4 January 2013

Samsung confirms multiple Tizen phone launches in 2013

Talk of Samsung building a Tizen phone for non-developers has existed almost since the platform got started, but the company was silent on any definitive plans throughout 2012. It's speaking up this year: Samsung has confirmed to Bloomberg BusinessWeek that there's multiple "competitive" Tizen devices in the pipeline for 2013. While the firm unsurprisingly won't say what's involved, it's willing to say that the lineup will grow "depending on market conditions" -- in other words, it's watching early sales like a hawk. Does this mean a Galaxy S III with Tizen? A refined version of the developer device we saw last spring? At this stage, it might not matter when just having a major smartphone maker onboard is big news for a fledgling platform.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung, Intel

Comments

Source: Bloomberg BusinessWeek

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/03/samsung-confirms-multiple-tizen-phone-launches-in-2013/

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ADK= Membership Application for Warlocc - ADK= Gaming ...

New Member Recruitment Application

Name: Warlocc
Form: =ADK= Membership Recruitment

In-Game Name: Warlocc
Real Name: Paul T
Age: 30
Gender: Male
How did you find us?: Battlefield 3
Referrer: --
Team Speak 3: Yes
Gaming Time: Varies, usually after 9 PM EST until super early, like 4 or 5 AM. Almost every day lately.
Competitive Gaming?: Yes
Introduction Thread: Yes
What can you bring to =ADK=: Computer hardware guru, long time gamer on multiple platforms and game types, and extremely team-game friendly!
What does =ADK= Mean To You?: ADK seems to have many of the same gaming values that I do, at least from what I've seen in the Battlefield 3 servers. The rules are the sort I would have come up with if I had a server of my own!
Why do you want to be a part of =ADK=: First thing that comes to mind- I'm tired of solo gaming, particularly in Battlefield. I excel at support roles, and being able to offer it to a community that can make use of it would be great.
Wearing the =ADK= Tag: Yes
Willing to help populate servers: Yes
Ranks and Roles: Yes
Do you agree to the membership terms?: Yes

Source: http://www.adkgamers.com/topic/22250-adk-membership-application-for-warlocc/

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Jared Diamond: Learning From Traditional Societies | KUOW News ...

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jared Diamond joins us in front of a live studio audience. For decades he has studied Papua New Guinea cultures. He writes about what we can learn from traditional social organizations in his new book "The World Until Yesterday." Below are highlights from the interview.

Yesterday?s Societies

When Jared Diamond writes ?yesterday,? he means it by a standard of 6 million years ? how long humans have been around. State government, on this time scale, really did only arise yesterday. Before state government and modern technology, we lived in traditional societies, which range in populations from a few dozen to a few hundred, but have no centralized government or king. Within traditional societies, there are no strangers, but tribes are constantly in warfare with their enemies.

Once a traditional society encounters the outside world, as what happened in New Guinea when Europeans arrived, society immediately starts to change. They acquire steel, matches and a colonial government???one that tells them to stop fighting.

?Every state government wants some of the same things,? says Diamond. ?Every state government wants its citizens to be peaceful and not kill each other. Every state government wants its children to be raised to be loyal citizens and soldiers. Every state government wants its citizens not to get into fights. For example, [Ross] you and I had never seen each other until half an hour ago, and in this half hour, I?ve not made a move to kill you and you?ve not made a move to kill me. In New Guinea, this would be unthinkable.?

Diamond recalls his friend?s experience, a missionary pilot in a remote tribe in New Guinea, who attended a gathering of clans that happens once a year: ?He said this occasion was absolutely terrifying. Here would come this strange person who you heard of, or that you saw once a year, and there was the person who killed your uncle, or there was the person who had abducted your sister?s cross-cousin. Every now and then someone would grab an axe and rush at someone else to kill them and had to be restrained by other people.?

Diamond says when learning about traditional societies, we shouldn?t romanticize or despise them. ?There are things they do to which we say, Thank God [we left that behind.]? But modern societies have adopted some traditional culture. We talk to each other about our backgrounds and try to make connections in our pasts. However, in New Guinea, after spending a couple hours running through names of relatives with a stranger, if no connection arises, Diamond advises, ?One of you better run away.?

The Good: What We Can Learn

Traditional societies tend to be less lonely ? people are surrounded by friends and relatives who aren?t plugged into a screen seven hours a day. People are constantly talking to each other about anything, offering a running commentary about what they did that day, even down to the smallest detail such as the amount of potatoes one man ate.

Traditional, sedentary societies also take better care of their elders. Diamond knows this subject intimately. ?My 75th birthday was some months ago ... I?m at the peak of my life! The reality is anyone with older parents or grandparents knows that old age is a disaster area of American life.? Older Americans tend to be lonely, they are undervalued and have difficulty getting jobs. Medical care is also prioritized for younger patients.

It's difficult to do some things that run counter to trends of society.

Traditional societies generally offer a better life for the elderly; they are more valued for being repositories of information and they are the best at making tools. In modern societies, older people may lack the skills younger people have acquired. ?I grew up in 1948 with the first television set. There were three dials, I could manage those three knobs,? Diamond says. ?Now to turn on the TV set in my house, there?s this wretched 41-button remote. I have to call my sons and have them talk me through it every time. That?s an example of my knowledge being out of date.?

On the other hand, older people have gone through experiences younger people have not: world wars, financial crises of the 70s and 80s and the Great Depression. ?Because we?ve got experience of that, we have perspective that whiz kids don?t.?

To Adopt Or Not Adopt

Sometimes we don?t have a choice; there are some values we can?t adopt in modern society. ?For example, if all houses on the block have TV and if you believe children should not have passive entertainment, and you don?t have TV for your kids, your kids are going to spend the time in houses with TV," Diamond says. "It?s difficult to do some things that run counter to trends of society.?

Diamond says, regardless of what our neighbors do, we can pay attention to the observed advantages of traditional cultures, such as not spanking kids or carrying infants upright and facing out. Then there are some things only the central government can do, such as settle more disputes outside of the court.

Read more about dispute resolution in NPR?s interview with Diamond.

Source: http://www.kuow.org/post/jared-diamond-learning-traditional-societies

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Coming Soon: Console Games to Expect in January

Like most other January?s, this upcoming month is going to be quite the bore in the video game department. We luckily have Devil May Cry but no one is really sure on how that will turn out but at least that?s one game to be excited about. Also possibly coming at the end of the month is The Cave which could easily be the best game to release this January if it does appear on our virtual markets. But don?t forget, Sniper: Ghost Warrior? Could be a sleeper hit, folks. Right?

Anarchy Reigns
Release Date: January 8^th
Developer: Platinum Games

If you?re like me, you?ve heard the name Anarchy Reigns but never really dug deep enough to figure exactly what the game is about. After some digging, I have discovered that Anarchy Reigns is in fact a third person action beat ?em up that features a vast multiplayer mode. The game is developed by the chaotic geniuses known as Platinum Games. You know, the mad men behind games such as Bayonetta and Vanquish? Another game they had a hand in creating was the Wii exclusive Mad World, released a few years back, and Anarchy Reigns is supposed to be a spiritual successor to that as characters such as Jack, Blacker Baron, and Mathlida return.

I?ve never been a beat ?em up kind of guy but once you attach the Platinum tag to a title, you at least have my attention. But what gets more than my attention is the aforementioned multiplayer the game is heralding so high. Throughout a match, random events such as a black hole appearing and a tsunami rolling in will happen regularly. Most impressively, the game will feature six modes, ranging from a free for all fight to a simple one on one cage match. Sounds like the sort of insanity that Platinum Games is so well known for.

Devil May Cry
Release Date: January 15^th
Developer: Ninja Theory

Since the original announcement of the new, revamped Devil May Cry, people have been up in arms about many things, specifically the new design for the beloved main character, Dante. On the more technical side, the new Devil May Cry was revealed to be running on the Unreal Engine, an engine that restricts games to a 30 FPS limit. This was obviously a huge worry as the gameplay in previous Devil May Cry?s has been heavily reliant on a smooth, quick combat system. Thankfully, Capcom has stated that they chipped in during the development to ensure the fluidity within the combat.

But once that early chatter died down, it became rather clear that the new Devil May Cry was going to be, unsurprisingly, very similar to the previous game in the series. The game will focus on the combo heavy combat and will encourage varying up your fighting styles by giving you higher style ranks based on your effectiveness and unpredictability. I?ve never been a huge Devil May Cry fan but I did play through the third one and rather enjoyed it. Because of that I?ll definitely be checking out Ninja Theory?s reimagining of the franchise.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2
Release Date: January 15^th
Developer: CITY Interactive

I don?t know, man. There isn?t anything coming out so why not talk about Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 for a second. Similar to Anarchy Reigns, I knew nothing of this game, so I went to work. I scoured the web and went in every crevice and corner to try my best to bring you the hard hitting Sniper information you all desire. I ultimately fell to the GiantBomb page for Sniper, where I found near all I needed to know: ?Other than it will run on CryEngine 3, nothing else is known about the game.?

But ultimately, I was not satisfied. So I then headed to the last place any one would look, some website entitled ?Wikipedia.? (Going to be a PR nightmare for people who want to market that website) There I found out that Sniper was indeed about being an elite sniper and would feature realistic bullet physics, something we?ve all craved. Multiplayer will feature hotly contested sniper duels as well. Hell, I don?t know, it could be alright.

The Cave
Release Date: January
Developer: Double Fine Productions

I shall preface this by saying January is not a confirmed release date but from what I?ve read, it seems likely that The Cave will release either late January or early February. We shall see but either way, I think I speak for many in saying I hope The Cave comes out this month. Not only because this month is incredibly dry in terms of video games but also because The Cave just seems like damn good fun.

If you?re unaware, in the Cave you choose between three of seven very varied characters and then head into a 2D based cave. The cave itself then serves as a narrator providing consistent dialogue throughout your journey. The journey consists of solving puzzles that are somehow directly related to the characters own personal issues. The Cave will fit the Metroidvania style as some areas will not be accessible without certain items that you can find within the environment. Also, it?s being developed by the geniuses over at Double Fine, so high quality is to be expected.

Also releasing:

Painkiller: Hell and Danmation (January 22^nd)
Hitman: HD Trilogy (January 29^th)

Source: http://gamingirresponsibly.com/coming-soon-console-games-to-expect-in-january

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It's 'cash only' now for tourists at the Vatican

People queue to enter the Vatican Museums, at the Vatican Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. It's "cash only" now for tourists at the Vatican wanting to pay for museum tickets, souvenirs and other services after Italy's central bank decided to block electronic payments, including credit cards, at the tiny city state. The Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported Thursday that Bank of Italy took the action because the Holy See has not yet fully complied with European Union safeguards against money laundering. That means Italian banks are not authorized to operate within the Vatican, which is in the process of improving its mechanisms to combat laundering. The Vatican says it's scrambling to find a non-Italian bank to provide the electronic payment services "quite soon" but declined to discuss Bank of Italy's concerns. The central bank had no immediate comment on the situation. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Ben Kiniry, of Texas, gets cash from an ATM machine along Rome's Via della Conciliazione, the main road leading to the Vatican St. Peter's Basilica, whose dome is visible in background, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. It's "cash only" now for tourists at the Vatican wanting to pay for museum tickets, souvenirs and other services after Italy's central bank decided to block electronic payments, including credit cards, at the tiny city state. The Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported Thursday that Bank of Italy took the action because the Holy See has not yet fully complied with European Union safeguards against money laundering. That means Italian banks are not authorized to operate within the Vatican, which is in the process of improving its mechanisms to combat laundering. The Vatican says it's scrambling to find a non-Italian bank to provide the electronic payment services "quite soon" but declined to discuss Bank of Italy's concerns. The central bank had no immediate comment on the situation. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Ben Kiniry, of Texas, gets cash from an ATM machine along Via della Conciliazione, the main road leading to St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. It's "cash only" now for tourists at the Vatican wanting to pay for museum tickets, souvenirs and other services after Italy's central bank decided to block electronic payments, including credit cards, at the tiny city state. The Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported Thursday that Bank of Italy took the action because the Holy See has not yet fully complied with European Union safeguards against money laundering. That means Italian banks are not authorized to operate within the Vatican, which is in the process of improving its mechanisms to combat laundering. The Vatican says it's scrambling to find a non-Italian bank to provide the electronic payment services "quite soon" but declined to discuss Bank of Italy's concerns. The central bank had no immediate comment on the situation. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

A Swiss Guard salutes as Pope Benedict XVI leaves at the end of his weekly general audience in the Paul IV hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

VATICAN CITY (AP) ? It's "cash only" now for tourists at the Vatican wanting to pay for museum tickets, souvenirs and other services after Italy's central bank decided to block electronic payments, including credit cards, at the tiny city-state.

Deutsche Bank Italia, which for some 15 years had provided the Vatican with electronic payment services, said Thursday that the Bank of Italy had pulled its authorization after Dec. 31.

The Corriere della Sera newspaper reported that the Italian central bank took the action because the Holy See has not yet fully complied with European Union safeguards against money laundering. That means Italian banks are not authorized to operate within the Vatican, which is in the process of improving its mechanisms to combat laundering.

The Vatican says it is scrambling to solve the problem for thousands of visitors who flock to its very popular Vatican Museums, which include highlights like the Sistine Chapel. The Holy See had no immediate comment on the Bank of Italy's reported reasons.

Tourists in the long lines Thursday that snaked around Vatican City walls were not happy about the inconvenience.

"It's certainly a disadvantage," said Giuseppe Amoruso, an Italian. "Credit cards provide a useful service, which needs to be accessible to everybody, everywhere."

"A lot of tourists don't have cash on them, so they have to get euros and don't know where to get them," said Fluger William Hunter, an American tourist.

The central bank said a routine inspection found that Deutsche Bank Italia hadn't sought authorization when it first started providing services at the Vatican. When it finally did, the Bank of Italy turned it down because the Vatican's banking norms, including measures to combat money laundering, didn't meet Italy's more stringent criteria of recent years, a central bank official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because there was no official statement on the case.

The Vatican has been striving to upgrade its measures to detect and discourage money laundering, hiring a Swiss expert just a few months ago. Last summer, the Holy See passed a key European financial transparency test but received failing grades for its financial watchdog agency and its bank, formally called the Institute for Religious Works.

The museums, with their entrance fees and popular souvenir shops, are a big money-maker for the Vatican. Other Vatican attractions, such as tours of the Vatican's ancient underground spaces, also charge admission.

___

Giulia Saudelli from Rome contributed.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-03-Vatican-Electronic%20Payments/id-48a854b2822a433995192b9adff66c7e

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