Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/287953375?client_source=feed&format=rss
obama state of the union 2012 2012 state of the union address jorge posada maurice sendak sotu boehner demi moore hospitalized
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Hollande to talk Syria settlement with Putin
MOSCOW (AP) ? French President Francois Hollande says he hopes to discuss political transition in war-torn Syria with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, whose stance on Syria is crucial to peace settlement.
Speaking ahead of this meeting with Putin at the Kremlin on Thursday afternoon, Hollande told the Ekho Moskvy radio station that Putin's position on Syria can determine how soon peace will come to Syria.
Russia, the most influential backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad, has dismissed all settlement plans involving Assad's departure as the conflict in Syria has claimed more than 70,000 lives, according to the U.N.
Hollande said on Thursday that he is encouraged by the fact that Russia has acknowledged the influence of the Syrian opposition but would like to see Russia supporting talks on political transition in Syria.
Associated Pressx factor x factor john kerry eastbay Samantha Steele Dec 21 2012 doomsday
Sofia Coppola's "The Bling Ring" arrives in June; Sundance darling "The Spectacular Now" set for August
NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - A24 will release Sofia Coppola's "The Bling Ring" June 14 and James Ponsoldt's Sundance hit is set for "The Spectacular Now" August 2, the independent distributor announced on Thursday.
A24 acquired both projects in January - "The Bling Ring" on the eve of Sundance and "Spectacular" after it screened well at the Utah-based festival.
Coppola's film stars Emma Watson as one member of a group of real-life kids who tracked celebrities' whereabouts in order to rob their homes. They stole more than $3 million of goods from the likes of Paris Hilton.
Coppola wrote and directed the film based on Nancy Jo Sales' Vanity Fair article, "The Suspects Wore Louboutins."
Ponsoldt's film stars Miles Teller as Sutter, a high-school senior who refuses to think about his future as those around him begin to plan for college and the next phase of their lives. After breaking up with his girlfriend, he meets Aimee (Shailene Woodley), a sweet, hard-working girl whose life contrasts with his own more hedonistic approach.
"(500) Days of Summer's" Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber wrote the script.
A24 launched publicly last August and just released its first movie, Roman Coppola's "A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III." It will open two more in March, "Ginger & Rosa" and "Spring Breakers," before turning to these two summer titles.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sofia-coppolas-bling-ring-arrives-june-sundance-darling-203427387.html
marilyn monroe Nathan Adrian London 2012 Synchronized Swimming London 2012 hurdles Taylor Kinney Beach Volleyball Olympics 2012 Jessica Ennis
Arkansas lawmakers override governor's abortion bill veto
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) ? The Arkansas House voted 53-28 Tuesday to override Gov. Mike Beebe's veto of a bill that would outlaw most abortions starting in the 20th week of pregnancy, hours after a state Senate committee approved a package of even tighter abortion restrictions.
The Republican-controlled state Senate, which overwhelmingly backed the 20-week near-ban on abortions before Beebe, a Democrat, vetoed it, was expected to discuss whether to vote to override the veto Thursday. Like the GOP-led House, only a simple majority in the Senate is needed to override a veto.
The House-sponsored measure is based on the disputed argument that a fetus can feel pain by the 20th week of pregnancy, and thus deserves protection from abortion. Beebe vetoed the bill Tuesday, saying it contradicts the U.S. Supreme Court's 1976 Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion until a fetus can viably survive outside of the womb, which is typically at 22 to 24 weeks.
"This is not just any regular bill. It's one that has an eternal impact on each of us and to those children," Republican Rep. Andy Mayberry told House members as he urged them to override.
Two of the House's 48 Democrats joined with all 51 GOP members to support overriding Beebe's veto. Eighteen Democrats and the chamber's only Green Party member did not vote on the override, which has the same effect as voting against it. Republicans hold 21 of the 35 seats in the Senate, which approved Mayberry's bill on a 25-7 vote last week.
Prior to the House vote, the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee voted 5-2 to advance a bill that would ban most abortions starting in the 12th week of pregnancy, sending it to the full Senate. The Senate passed an earlier version of the bill that would have outlawed abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, but amended it to push back the restriction and to add more exemptions.
Beebe declined to say Wednesday whether he would also veto the Senate's proposed 12-week ban, but he said he thinks it's on even shakier legal ground than the House's 20-week version.
"I'm pretty sure I know what I'm going to do on a bill that's even more problematic than the one I already vetoed, but I won't tell you officially until that time," Beebe said Tuesday.
Seven states have enacted similar 20-week restrictions based on the fetal pain argument, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which tracks laws affecting women's health. A similar law in Arizona has been blocked while a federal appeals court reviews a lawsuit challenging it.
John DiPippa, dean emeritus of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's law school, said he agrees with Beebe that the ban is unconstitutional and will likely be decided by the courts. He said he thinks the fetal pain argument will lose in the lower courts but that it's unclear how it might fare if it were to reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
"The core holding of Roe is that a state cannot place an obstacle in the way of a woman who wants to abort before viability," DiPippa said. "If you apply that standard, then these bills that draw the line at 20 weeks ? which by all medical estimates is prior to viability ? would clearly set up a substantial obstacle to a woman's ability to before that age."
GOP Sen. Jason Rapert said he hopes Beebe lets it stand but said he was confident the 12-week ban would have enough support to override a veto.
"The governor has his own conscience," Rapert, R-Conway, told reporters. "I think probably the best route would be that he just simply not sign the bill and let it become law, if that's what he decides to do. If he doesn't, then we'll override the veto and it'll become law in the state of Arkansas."
___
Associated Press writer Michael Stratford contributed to this report.
___
Andrew DeMillo can be reached at www.twitter.com/ademillo
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ark-house-overrides-veto-abortion-restrictions-214013377--politics.html
jerry brown michael buble michael buble Jenni Rivera Alive Facebook Down bo jackson bo jackson
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Vince Sicari, 'Joking Judge,' Takes Appeal To New Jersey Supreme Court
-- A judge in New Jersey is asking the state's highest court to have a sense of humor.
Attorneys for Vince A. Sicari plan to argue in front of the New Jersey Supreme Court on Tuesday that the part-time municipal court judge should be allowed to keep his other paying gig as a comedian.
Sicari is appealing a 2008 state ethics committee ruling that he can't continue working as a paid entertainer while on the bench.
Sicari, who performs under the name Vince August, said in court filings he has always kept his identity as a South Hackensack municipal court judge separate, and "there is never mention in either profession of the other."
He insists in court papers that he never even makes lawyer jokes or anything that could tarnish the profession. He claims much of his comedy is derived from non-work related personal observations, such as his upbringing as an Italian Catholic.
The Committee on Extra-Judicial Activities in 2010 reaffirmed its decision that he could not continue as a paid performer/entertainer.
Committee members said they were concerned that the "content of his comedy routine could give rise to an appearance of bias, partiality or impropriety or otherwise negatively affect the dignity of the judiciary," according to court papers.
Sicari countered that he should be able to supplement his $13,000 a year income as a part-time judge "while actively engaged in an entertainment career which provides me a substantial portion of my income."
He says he's made hundreds of stand-up comedy appearances a year, including at a New York City comedy club where he has performed since 1997, on network television, as a warm-up for Comedy Central audiences and in film. He's a member of the Screen Actors Guild and other professional performers unions.
The committee cites rules that judges may hold outside positions including gigs as musicians, as long as they don't get paid, or play at casinos, political events or in scenarios that could present a conflict of interest. They also cite a prior ruling that determined "a municipal court judge may not appear in a TV commercial for Shredded Wheat."
Sicari argues in his appeal that he takes both his entertainment and his legal job seriously.
"This issue is about a person who affects lives in many ways in two distinct identities," he said in a court filing.
___
Henry reported from Newark, N.J.
Also on HuffPost:
"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/26/vince-sicari-joking-judge_n_2764815.html
bridesmaids winning lottery numbers megamillions winner kansas jayhawks mega millions results louisville lotto numbers
HP announces the Slate 7, their new 7? Android tablet
The Slate 7 is the newest Android tablet from HP. ?The Slate 7 has a “fully-featuered”?7″ screen and front and rear cameras. ?The back is made of painted stainless steel, which probably explains why this small tablet weighs 13 ounces. ?This tablet runs Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), and as HP says, it’s capable of running [...]
Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/02/26/hp-announces-the-slate-7-their-new-7-android-tablet/
HGTV Dream Home 2013 eric cantor eric cantor HGTV Sugar Bowl 2013 chick fil a chick fil a
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Exurban residences impact bird communities up to 200 m away
Feb. 25, 2013 ? According to a study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), impacts to bird communities from a single rural, "exurban" residence can extend up to 200 meters into the surrounding forest. The study also determined that sensitive bird species such as the hermit thrush and scarlet tanager prefer unbroken forests with no houses. Others, like the blue jay and black-capped chickadee, seem to like having, and often thrive with, human neighbors.
As part of the study, scientists sampled the presence of 20 species of birds both near and far from 30 rural residences in the Adirondack Park. Calculating their occurrence at increasing distances from the residences, they determined that "human-adapted" species are 36 percent more likely to occur near the homes than in the surrounding mixed hardwood-conifer forests, and that "human-sensitive" species were 26 percent less likely. Beyond 200 meters, occupancy rates were similar to the surrounding forest.
The report appears in the current online edition of the Journal of Landscape and Urban Planning. Authors of the study are Drs. Michale Glennon and Heidi Kretser of the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Rural exurban development is residential development existing outside of cities and towns, and is generally characterized by larger lot sizes (5-40 acres or more) and lower density than suburban development. Exurban residences exist within an otherwise unaltered ecosystem.
Exurban homes change the environment by bringing vehicles, noise, lights, pets, people, and food sources into the forest, as well as by physically altering and fragmenting habitat. These changes can have myriad impacts, including altered species behavior and composition, increased human wildlife conflicts, new predator-prey dynamics, and decreased biotic integrity (a measure of how pristine a wildlife community is).
"Adirondackers take great pride in their surroundings and try not to unduly disturb the natural setting in which they live," said WCS Adirondack Program Science Director Michale Glennon. "A key finding of the study is that the ecological footprint of development can be much larger than its physical footprint. We found that even a small home and lawn can change bird communities some 200 meters away, which means more than 30 acres of the surrounding landscape, depending on what types of activities are occurring on the residential property. It is important that we learn how birds and other wildlife react to particular kinds of human activities, and find ways to minimize the negative impacts for wildlife in exurban areas."
The study found that species sensitive to human impacts include the black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, hairy woodpecker, hermit thrush, ovenbird, scarlet tanager and the winter wren. The presence of some species, like the scarlet tanager, are a good indicator of undisturbed forest health.
WCS Livelihoods and Conservation Coordinator Heidi Kretser said, "Some wildlife species are sensitive to exurban development and are less likely to be found near those residences than adapted species. More sensitive and less common species could ultimately be displaced from the area as a result of this kind of development."
The study was modeled after one conducted in a shrub-oak ecosystem in Colorado where scientists calculated a 180-meter ecological effect zone based on their results. Glennon and Kretser believe that the similar results in two different ecosystem types may indicate that human behaviors associated with exurban homes play a larger role in shaping avian community characteristics nearby than do habitat alterations created by construction and clearing.
While breeding bird communities were used to measure the impacts of exurban development in the study, the authors note that birds can serve as valuable indicators of overall biodiversity.
WCS Adirondack Program Director Zoe Smith said, "The Adirondack Park is one of the last large, intact, wild ecosystems in the northeastern United States, and it is becoming increasingly important as we face global threats like climate change. As we strive to find a healthy balance between conservation and the needs of humans within the park, we need to fully understand the impacts of different development patterns. This research is another step toward that understanding and can help inform decisions on development and land-use in this rural landscape."
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Wildlife Conservation Society, via Newswise.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Michale J. Glennon, Heidi E. Kretser. Size of the ecological effect zone associated with exurban development in the Adirondack Park, NY. Landscape and Urban Planning, 2013; 112: 10 DOI: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2012.12.008
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/top_news/~3/Li8Wee4mNTQ/130225131535.htm
bcs rankings When Is Veterans Day 2012 brooke burke Alexa Vega Bram Stoker books Paula Broadwell Photos Veterans Day 2012
Sony Mobile has 'an ambition' to launch Firefox OS device in 2014
Despite what your feelings may be about Firefox OS, various OEMs and carriers are clearly content with having more options to explore. The latest outfit appears to be Sony's Mobile entity, which, earlier today, announced it had reached a multi-year deal with Telefónica that will "explore the development" of a device running Mozilla's novel operating system. What's more, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Head of Products Business Group, Bob Ishida, says Sony Mobile engineers are already working on a project with the new mobile OS on the block, adding that the eventual goal is to "bring a product to market in 2014." Now, whether we'll see higher-end slabs than some of the ones we've experienced thus far, well, dear readers, that remains to be seen.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile
Via: The Next Web
Source: Telef?nica
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/25/sony-telefonica-firefox-os-2014/
bruce arians the misfits hook troy miracle andy whitfield kennedy
Monday, February 25, 2013
Observatory: Breast Milk Promotes Healthy Gut Bacteria in Babies, Study Says
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Infants may fail to develop a healthy mixture of intestinal bacteria if they are delivered by Caesarean section or do not drink breast milk, researchers report.
Robert Blake BLK Water ESPYs daniel tosh Jason Kidd All Star Game 2012 directv
Laser mastery narrows down sources of superconductivity
Feb. 24, 2013 ? Identifying the mysterious mechanism underlying high-temperature superconductivity (HTS) remains one of the most important and tantalizing puzzles in physics. This remarkable phenomenon allows electric current to pass with perfect efficiency through materials chilled to subzero temperatures, and it may play an essential role in revolutionizing the entire electricity chain, from generation to transmission and grid-scale storage. Pinning down one of the possible explanations for HTS -- fleeting fluctuations called charge-density waves (CDWs) -- could help solve the mystery and pave the way for rapid technological advances.
Now, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have combined two state-of-the-art experimental techniques to study those electron waves with unprecedented precision in two-dimensional, custom-grown materials. The surprising results, published online February 24, 2013, in the journal Nature Materials, reveal that CDWs cannot be the root cause of the unparalleled power conveyance in HTS materials. In fact, CDW formation is an independent and likely competing instability.
"It has been difficult to determine whether or not dynamic or fluctuating CDWs even exist in HTS materials, much less identify their role," said Brookhaven Lab physicist and study coauthor Ivan Bozovic. "Do they compete with the HTS state, or are they perhaps the very essence of the phenomenon? That question has now been answered by targeted experimentation."
Custom-grown Superconductors
Electricity travels imperfectly through traditional metallic conductors, losing energy as heat due to a kind of atomic-scale friction. Impurities in these materials also cause electrons to scatter and stumble, but superconductors can overcome this hurdle -- assuming the synthesis process is precise.
For this experiment, Bozovic used a custom-built molecular beam epitaxy system at Brookhaven Lab to grow thin films of LaSrCuO, an HTS cuprate (copper-oxide) compound. The metallic cuprates, assembled one atomic layer at a time, are separated by insulating planes of lanthanum and strontium oxides, resulting in what's called a quasi-two-dimensional conductor. When cooled down to a low enough temperature -- less than 100 degrees Kelvin -- strange electron waves began to ripple through that 2D matrix. At even lower temperatures, these films became superconducting.
Electron Sea
"In quasi-two-dimensional metals, low temperatures frequently bring about interesting collective states called charge-density waves," Bozovic said. "They resemble waves rolling across the surface of a lake under a breeze, except that instead of water, here we actually have a sea of mobile electrons."
Once a CDW forms, the electron density loses uniformity as the ripples rise and fall. These waves can be described by familiar parameters: amplitude (height of the waves), wavelength (distance between waves), and phase (the wave's position on the material). Detecting CDWs typically requires high-intensity x-rays, such as those provided by synchrotron light sources like Brookhaven's NSLS and, soon, NSLS-II. And even then, the technique only works if the waves are essentially frozen upon formation. However, if CDWs actually fluctuate rapidly, they may escape detection by x-ray diffraction, which typically requires a long exposure time that blurs fast motion.
Measuring Rolling Waves
To catch CDWs in action, a research group at MIT led by physicist Nuh Gedik used an advanced ultrafast spectroscopy technique. Intense laser pulses called "pumps" cause excitations in the superconducting films, which are then probed by measuring the film reflectance with a second light pulse -- this is called a pump-probe process. The second pulse is delayed by precise time intervals, and the series of measurements allow the lifetime of the excitation to be determined.
In a more sophisticated variant of the technique, largely pioneered by Gedik, the standard single pump beam is replaced by two beams hitting the surface from different sides simultaneously. This generates a standing wave of controlled wavelength in the film, but it disappears rapidly as the electrons relax back into their original state.
This technique was applied to the atomically perfect LaSrCuO films synthesized at Brookhaven Lab. In films with a critical temperature of 26 degrees Kelvin (the threshold beyond which the superconductivity breaks down), the researchers discovered two new short-lived excitations -- both caused by fluctuating CDWs.
Gedik's technique even allowed the researchers to record the lifetime of CDW fluctuations -- just 2 picoseconds (a millionth of a millionth of a second) under the coldest conditions and becoming briefer as the temperatures rose. These waves then vanished entirely at about 100 Kelvin, actually surviving at much higher temperatures than superconductivity.
Ruling out a Suspect
The researchers then hunted for those same signatures in cuprate films with slightly different chemical compositions and a greater density of mobile electrons. The results were both unexpected and significant for the future of HTS research.
"Interestingly, the superconducting sample with the highest critical temperature, about 39 Kelvin, showed no CDW signatures at all," Gedik said.
The consistent emergence of CDWs would have bolstered the conjecture that they play an essential role in high-temperature superconductivity. Instead, the new technique's successful detection of such electron waves in one sample but not in another (with even higher critical temperature) indicates that another mechanism must be driving the emergence of HTS.
"Results like this bring us closer to understanding the mystery of HTS, considered by many to be one of the greatest problems in physics today," Bozovic said. "The source of this extraordinary phenomenon is slowly but surely running out of places to hide."
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
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/most_popular/~3/R3e5kmat5ag/130224142911.htm
time change rpi dst friends with kids pacific standard time northern mariana islands summer time
Pistorius' brother facing charge in traffic death
Carl Pistorius, brother of Olympian athlete, Oscar Pistorius, arrives at home, Sunday Feb. 24, 2013, where his brother has been staying in Pretoria, South Africa, since being granted bail Friday for the Valentine's Day shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Reports emerged Sunday that Carl Pistorius is facing charges of culpable homicide for the death of a woman biker who was knocked down in 2010. (AP Photo)
Carl Pistorius, brother of Olympian athlete, Oscar Pistorius, arrives at home, Sunday Feb. 24, 2013, where his brother has been staying in Pretoria, South Africa, since being granted bail Friday for the Valentine's Day shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Reports emerged Sunday that Carl Pistorius is facing charges of culpable homicide for the death of a woman biker who was knocked down in 2010. (AP Photo)
FILE - In this Feb. 19, 2013 file photo, Carl Pistorius, right, and Henke Pistorius, the brother and father of Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, charged with the shooting death of his girlfriend attend Oscar's bail hearing at the magistrate court in Pretoria, South Africa. A report by a local television station on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013, revealed that Carl Pistorius is facing a charge of culpable homicide for the death of a woman knocked down on her motorbike in 2010. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)
Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius' father Henke Pistorius, right, with his son Carl watch as Oscar Pistorius walks in during his bail hearing at the magistrate court in Pretoria, South Africa, Friday, Feb. 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Olympian Oscar Pistorius, foreground, stands following his bail hearing, as his brother Carl, left, and father Henke, second from left, look on in Pretoria, South Africa, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013. Pistorius fired into the door of a small bathroom where his girlfriend was cowering after a shouting match on Valentine's Day, hitting her three times, a South African prosecutor said Tuesday as he charged the sports icon with premeditated murder. The magistrate ruled that Pistorius faces the harshest bail requirements available in South African law. (AP Photo)
Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius's brother Carl Pistorius looks on after his bail application appearance at the magistrate court in Pretoria, South Africa, Friday, Feb. 15, 2013. Pistorius was formally charged at Pretoria Magistrate?s Court with one count of murder after his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, a model and budding reality TV show participant, was shot multiple times and killed at Pistorius' upmarket home in the predawn hours of Thursday. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? The murder case involving Olympic star Oscar Pistorius took another unexpected turn Sunday with the news that his older brother, Carl, is himself facing charges for the death of a woman in a traffic accident.
Carl Pistorius faces a charge of unlawful, negligent killing for a 2008 road death, "in which a woman motorcyclist sadly lost her life," Kenneth Oldwage, the Pistorius family lawyer said on Sunday. The accident happened in Vanderbijlpark, south of Johannesburg. The charge of "culpable homicide" was dropped and then reinstated and will be challenged in court, the lawyer told The Associated Press.
It is the second time someone associated with the Pistorius case has been found to face a serious charge that has been dropped and then reinstated. It was revealed that the chief police investigator in the case is facing charges of seven counts of attempted murder for shooting at a vehicle with seven passengers. Following the revelations, Hilton Botha was removed from the Pistorius investigation and a new chief detective was appointed on Thursday.
To drop and then reinstate charges is "not uncommon in South African criminal law. The law specifically makes provision to allow charges to be dropped and then to be reinstated as a result of further investigations," said Jacob van Garderen, director of Lawyers for Human Rights. "It is a practical procedure, a process that is there to assist both sides."
In another twist this weekend, model Reeva Steenkamp, who was shot to death by Oscar Pistorius on Valentine's Day was on television again in a new episode of the reality show "Tropika Island of Treasure 5" even though she was buried last Tuesday.
On Monday, Oscar Pistorius must report to the police station in Brooklyn, a suburb of the nation's capital Pretoria, and sign in, a twice-weekly procedure which is part of his bail conditions.
Pistorius was released on bail Friday and stayed at the home of his uncle Arnold in Waterkloof, an affluent suburb of Pretoria, where Oscar is now staying. His brother, Carl, came to visit the house Sunday.
The problem confronting his older brother Carl is the latest complication in a case that has transfixed South Africa and much of the world.
"It's also doubly sad because it's involved with Oscar and his brother and all the family ? so they have double sort of trouble," said Johannesburg resident Jim Plester.
Lawyer Oldwage said that "Carl deeply regrets the accident" and that a blood test showed he was not drunk at the time. He said the charges had initially been dropped, only to be reinstated later.
Oscar Pistorius was charged with premeditated murder, but the athlete says he killed his girlfriend accidentally, opening fire after mistaking her for an intruder in his home.
The character of Pistorius also continued to take center stage. For many, it mirrors his public appearances as an articulate, well-spoken advocate for Paralympic athletes facing hardship. Witness statements describing Pistorius as a down-to-earth guy were presented at the hearing.
Others have described him as a reckless risk taker who has been in trouble before, such as a boating accident in 2009 which put him into a hospital intensive care unit.
But in a report on Sunday, a South African man who said Steenkamp had stayed at his home since September, described Pistorius as moody and impatient. Cecil Myers, whose daughter was close friends with Steenkamp, said in an interview in the City Press newspaper, that Pistorius will have the killing of Steenkamp on his conscience. "I hope he gets a long sentence. Gets what he deserves," said Myers.
Pistorius appeared "very nice and charming to us when they started dating," said Myers. Myers said Pistorius initially used to come into the house but later just dropped Steenkamp off and picked her up when they began to date steadily, and he described the change as a lack of respect.
Myers recalled their first date and told the newspaper: "After that he wouldn't leave her alone. He kept pestering her, phoning and phoning and phoning her."
According to Myers, Steenkamp "told me he pushed her a bit into a corner. She felt caged in."
Myers said he told Pistorius "not to force himself on her. Back off." He said that after initially agreeing with him, it appeared that Pistorius soon took no heed.
Myers declined to respond to a request for more information from Associated Press.
In the bail hearing, a character reference for Pistorius, acknowledged that "the only issue in the relationship that I was made aware of was that Reeva sometimes thought Oscar was moving a little fast."
Pistorius was born without fibula bones due to a congenital defect and his legs were amputated when he was 11 months old. He has run on carbon-fiber blades and was originally banned from competing against able-bodied peers because many argued that his blades gave him an unfair advantage. He was later cleared to compete. He is a multiple Paralympic medalist, and won a silver medal at the 2011 Daegu world championships with South Africa's 4x400 relay team. But he failed to win a medal at the London Olympics, where he ran in the 400 meter race and the 4x400 relay race.
___
AP Sports Writers Gerald Imray contributed from Centurion and John Leicester from Johannesburg. AP Writers Christopher Torchia and Andrew Meldrum contributed from Johannesburg.
Associated PressDeval Patrick Dedication 4 labor day college football scores khan academy Espn College Football Eddie Murphy died
Fidel Castro makes rare appearance in parliament
HAVANA (Reuters) - Retired Cuban leader Fidel Castro made a rare public appearance Sunday by joining the opening session of the National Assembly, state media reported amid speculation the gathering could give clues on planning for a future leadership succession.
Since falling ill in 2006 and ceding the presidency to his brother, Fidel Castro has given up all official positions except as a deputy in the National Assembly. At Sunday's session, he took his seat beside brother President Raul Castro, only the second time he has graced the assembly chambers since his illness and the first since 2010.
Fidel Castro's surprise appearance added to expectations, fueled by his brother, that the usually routine session might shed light on future leadership of the communist-run nation.
In a back and forth with reporters on Friday, Raul Castro joked about his eventual retirement and urged them to pay attention to Sunday's conclave, which is closed to foreign journalists.
"I'm going to turn 82; I have a right to retire already," he said. "You don't believe me? Why are you so incredulous?" he said.
The 612 deputies, who were elected in an uncontested vote February 3, are expected to name a new 31-member Council of State with Raul Castro as president, despite his quip.
The National Assembly meets for just a few weeks each year and delegates its legislative powers between sessions to the Council of State, which also functions as the nation's executive through the Council of Ministers it appoints.
Governments, Cuba watchers and Cubans will be watching to see if there are any new, and younger, faces among the Council of State members, in particular its first vice president and five vice presidents, with an average age over 70.
The new government is almost certain to be the last headed up by the Castro brothers and the generation that has ruled Cuba since they swept down from the mountains in the 1959 revolution that led to a long-running feud with Washington.
Raul Castro, 81, would begin his second term on Sunday, theoretically leaving him free to retire in 2018, aged 86.
Eighty percent of the parliament's 612 members, with an average age under 50, were born after the Revolution.
EFFORT TO PROMOTE YOUNGER GENERATION
Raul Castro, who officially replaced his ailing brother as president in 2008, has repeatedly called for senior leaders to hold office for no more than two, five-year terms.
"Although we kept on trying to promote young people to senior positions, life proved that we did not always make the best choice," Castro said at a Party Congress in 2011.
"Today, we are faced with the consequences of not having a reserve of well-trained replacements....It's really embarrassing that we have not solved this problem in more than half a century," he said.
The 2011 party summit adopted a more than 300-point plan to "update" Cuba's Soviet-style economic system, designed to transform it from one based on collective production and consumption to one where individual effort and reward play a far more important role.
Across-the-board subsidies are being replaced by the country's first comprehensive tax code and targeted welfare.
Fidel Castro, these days referred to as the "historic leader of the revolution," is no longer seen as wielding real power, but he has maintained a public presence through his writings, meetings with important visitors and rare appearances.
Esteban Lazo, member of the political bureau of the Community Party and vice president of the Council of State, 68, was named parliament president Sunday to replace a retiring Ricardo Alarcon, who served for 20 years.
(Reporting By Marc Frank; Editing by David Adams and Cynthia Osterman)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fidel-castro-makes-rare-appearance-parliament-161318515.html
deadliest catch dwts sean hannity bobby petrino fired buffett rule lollapalooza lineup joss whedon
Sunday, February 24, 2013
13.02.24 08:00 Spaghetti Dinner Boy Scount Troop 151 - Sunday February 24, 2013 from 8:00 am to 9:00 am @ Asbury Church
Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
Source: http://www.calendarwiz.com/calendars/popup.php?op=view&id=57521374&crd=wmdt
game of thrones season 2 dierks bentley kenny chesney academy of country music awards brad paisley zac brown band aubrey
WhaleWatch: New Program Could Help Protect Whales
Throughout the year, the waters off the U.S. West Coast host a diverse group of whales. But the area is also home to busy shipping lanes and fishing activity, putting whales at risk for ship strikes and entanglement in fishing nets.
A new program is being developed by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Oregon State University and the University of Maryland to help prevent these accidents. Called WhaleWatch, it's being designed to give ship captains a better idea of where whales are most likely to congregate. It could also help NOAA adjust shipping lanes if necessary, and take other measures needed to prevent unnecessary whale deaths, said Daniel Palacios, a researcher with NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center.
WhaleWatch, which is due to be finished in about 1.5 years, is being developed using data from tags placed on as many as 150 whales over the last 20 years, Palacios told OurAmazingPlanet. This information has allowed researchers to determine a set of physical measurements ? such as water depth, temperature and plankton productivity ? where whales are usually found. Much of it depends on how these conditions affect the location and abundance of krill, a small shrimp-like animal that is a favorite food of these great whales, he said.
The program will take these variables, which can be measured by satellites, and issue a periodic online map showing where certain whales are most likely to be found, Palacios said.
The program is based upon TurtleWatch, a product developed by NOAA researchers that's used by longline fishermen in Hawaii, and which has helped reduce the number of entanglements of loggerhead sea turtles there, Palacios said. TurtleWatch similarly produces maps of where the endangered turtles are most likely to be found, namely in warm waters where wind currents converge, said Evan Howell, TurtleWatch developer and a researcher at NOAA's Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center in Honolulu.
The data for WhaleWatch comes from tags placed on blue, fin, gray and humpback whales from off the U.S. West Coast, Palacios said. This tagging work was led by Bruce Mate, a researcher at Oregon State University and Palacios' collaborator, Palacios said.
Reach Douglas Main at dmain@techmedianetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter @Douglas_Main. Follow OurAmazingPlanet on Twitter?@OAPlanet. We're also on?Facebook?and Google+.
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Source: http://news.yahoo.com/whalewatch-program-could-help-protect-whales-153335165.html
pope Justin Timberlake Grammys frank ocean adam levine mumford and sons miranda lambert prince
Forecast is for more snow in polar regions, less for the rest of us
Feb. 22, 2013 ? A new cli?mate model pre?dicts an increase in snow?fall for Earth's polar regions and high?est alti?tudes, but an over?all drop in snow?fall for the globe, as car?bon diox?ide lev?els rise over the next century.
The decline in snow?fall could spell trou?ble for regions such as the west?ern United States that rely on snowmelt as a source of fresh water.
The pro?jec?tions are the result of a new cli?mate model devel?oped at the National Oceanic and Atmos?pheric Admin?is?tra?tion (NOAA) Geo?phys?i?cal Fluid Dynam?ics Lab?o?ra?tory (GFDL) and ana?lyzed by sci?en?tists at GFDL and Prince?ton Uni?ver?sity. The study was pub?lished in the Jour?nal of Climate.
The model indi?cates that the major?ity of the planet would expe?ri?ence less snow?fall as a result of warm?ing due to a dou?bling of atmos?pheric car?bon diox?ide. Obser?va?tions show that atmos?pheric car?bon diox?ide has already increased by 40 per?cent from val?ues in the mid-19th cen?tury, and, given pro?jected trends, could exceed twice those val?ues later this cen?tury. In North Amer?ica, the great?est reduc?tions in snow?fall will occur along the north?east coast, in the moun?tain?ous west, and in the Pacific North?west. Coastal regions from Vir?ginia to Maine, as well as coastal Ore?gon and Wash?ing?ton, will get less than half the amount of snow cur?rently received.
In very cold regions of the globe, how?ever, snow?fall will rise because as air warms it can hold more mois?ture, lead?ing to increased pre?cip?i?ta?tion in the form of snow. The researchers found that regions in and around the Arc?tic and Antarc?tica will get more snow than they now receive.
The high?est moun?tain peaks in the north?west?ern Himalayas, the Andes and the Yukon region will also receive greater amounts of snow?fall after car?bon diox?ide dou?bles. This find?ing clashes with other mod?els which pre?dicted declines in snow?fall for these high-altitude regions. How?ever, the new model's pre?dic?tion is con?sis?tent with cur?rent snow?fall obser?va?tions in these regions.
The model is an improve?ment over pre?vi?ous mod?els in that it uti?lizes greater detail about the world's topog?ra?phy -- the moun?tains, val?leys and other fea?tures. This new "high-resolution" model is anal?o?gous to hav?ing a high-definition model of the planet's cli?mate instead of a blurred picture.
The study was con?ducted by Sarah Kap?nick, a post?doc?toral research sci?en?tist in the Pro?gram in Atmos?pheric and Oceanic Sci?ences at Prince?ton Uni?ver?sity and jointly affil?i?ated with NOAA's Geo?phys?i?cal Fluid Dynam?ics Lab?o?ra?tory in Prince?ton, and Thomas Del?worth, senior phys?i?cal sci?en?tist at GFDL.
This work was sup?ported by the Coop?er?a?tive Insti?tute for Cli?mate Sci?ence, a col?lab?o?ra?tive insti?tute between Prince?ton Uni?ver?sity and GFDL.
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Princeton University. The original article was written by Cather?ine Zan?donella.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Sarah B. Kapnick, Thomas L. Delworth. Controls of Global Snow Under a Changed Climate. Journal of Climate, 2013; 130206114111004 DOI: 10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00528.1
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.
new orleans weather sparkle sacagawea new hope baptist church associated press foster friess new orleans hornets
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Branden R. Williams, Business Security Specialist ? RSA ...
February 22nd, 2013 by Branden Williams 
RSA Conference 2013
Seems like just yesterday I was gearing up for RSAC 2012 being all ninja like with my security persona. It?s a new year, and a new RSAC, and it promises to be one of the most exciting ones yet. I?m extremely excited to be a part of it. So, where can you find me at RSA Conference?
- Monday: Expo Pub Crawl!
- Tuesday: Available during the day to meet, will be attending Bob Griffin?s RSA session in the afternoon.
- Wednesday: BIG DAY!
- Thursday: Available during the day to meet. Will be at the Securosis Recovery Breakfast and the RSA Codebreakers Bash.
- Friday:
I?m VERY excited for this year?s conference and seeing all of you out there.
Possibly Related Posts:
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. For information on my book and other publications, click here.
Source: https://www.brandenwilliams.com/blog/2013/02/22/rsa-conference-2013-you-ready/
2012 pro bowl postsecret ufc on fox 2 supercross christina aguilera etta james funeral sundance film festival the flintstones
Color in fossil insects, diamonds from the ancient ocean floor and modeling the world's largest rivers
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 22-Feb-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Kea Giles
kgiles@geosociety.org
Geological Society of America
Boulder, Colo., USA Geology articles posted online ahead of print on 20 Feb. 2013 include several modeling and simulation studies as well as studies on the Exmouth Sub-basin, Australia; the West Kunlun Range, northern Tibetan Plateau; Krakenes Lake, Norway; the Azores islands; and the hot springs of Colorado. The 12 new papers cover a variety of topics:
- Taking the easiest pathway to Earth's surface
- A challenge to climate change and biotic factors to explain post-glacial lake acidification
- Upper-crustal shortening in the Tibetan Plateau
- Analysis of diamonds with tiny garnet and silica inclusions -- a gift from ancient ocean floor
- Reexamining the Oman ophiolite
- Carbon capture and storage problems: CO2 leakage: Natural versus man-made
- Modeling the world's largest rivers to understand their diversity
- The evolution of colorful insects
- Oxygen isotope variability recorded in olivine may be due to recent contamination processes
- Hot springs in the Colorado Rockies carry helium and carbon dioxide gases from Earth's mantle, more than 40 km (ten miles) below the surface
- Which type of bacteria is responsible for the precipitation of the limestone, the building material of the stromatolites?
- Magma ascent, degassing, and active lava domes.
Detailed highlights are provided below. Geology articles published ahead of print can be accessed online at http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/early/recent. All abstracts are open-access at http://geology.gsapubs.org/; representatives of the media may obtain complimentary Geology articles by contacting Kea Giles at the address above.
Please discuss articles of interest with the authors before publishing stories on their work, and please make reference to Geology in articles published. Contact Kea Giles for additional information or assistance.
Non-media requests for articles may be directed to GSA Sales and Service, gsaservice@geosociety.org.
The influence of normal fault geometry on igneous sill emplacement and morphology
Craig Magee et al., Dept. of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College, London SW7 2BP, UK. Posted online 20 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G33824.1.
On its route to the surface, magma will often try to take the easiest pathway. This pathway may be pre-existing cracks or faults in the Earth's crust that do not necessarily allow magma to be transported directly upwards. However, our understanding of how magma exploits these fractures is limited. This paper by Craig Magee and colleagues uses 3D seismic reflection data, similar to sonar image through the Earth's crust, to study the shape and distribution of areas where ancient magma (intruded approximately 140 million years ago) has flowed along preexisting faults. They focus on an area offshore the NW coast of Australia called the Exmouth Sub-basin. Their results show that the shape of the faults and the relative magma flow direction control which fractures are exploited. This is important because it means that ascending magma will be localized, potentially controlling the location of volcanic eruptions.
Soil mineral depletion drives early Holocene lake acidification
John Boyle et al., School of Environmental Science, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZT, UK. Posted online 20 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G33907.1.
In recent decades, explanations for post-glacial lake acidification have focused on changing climate and biotic factors. John Boyle and colleagues challenge this view by presenting a unique lake sediment data set combining diatom-inferred acidity reconstruction with detailed quantitative assessment of soil base dynamics. They show, at Krakenes Lake in Norway, that historical development of soil mineral depletion inferred from the lake sediment record is consistent with the extent and timing of early Holocene acidification. The lake-water acidification can be fully accounted for by abiotic soil mineral depletion, suggesting a lesser role for alternative acidifying mechanisms like direct climate impacts and successional changes in organic acid production. There are at present few comparable data sets, but those that exist suggest similar rates of soil base depletion. This acidification is not confined to water; abiotic mineral depletion is likely also to impact terrestrial ecosystems, and dynamic vegetation models that exclude irreversible mineral depletion will fail to capture an important element of global ecology.
Uplift of the West Kunlun Range, northern Tibetan Plateau, dominated by brittle thickening of the upper crust
Xiaodian Jiang et al., Dept. of Marine Geology, Ocean University of China, 238 Songling Road, Qingdao, China. Posted online 20 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G33890.1.
The collision between Indian and Eurasia led to the formation of the Tibetan Plateau that has an average elevation of 5 km and a much thickened crust. However, the mechanisms responsible for both the topographic uplift and the crustal thickening remain controversial. Xiaodian Jiang and colleagues report high-resolution seismic reflection data from the West Kunlun Range Front at the northwestern margin of the Tibetan Plateau that show that crustal structures there are dominated by nappes of upper crustal rocks. Horizontal shortening in the upper crust by brittle folding and faulting correlates positively with crustal thickening, an increase in Moho depth, and the topography. This work thus suggests that upper crustal shortening is a chief factor for topographic uplift and crustal thickening at the northwestern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. This mechanism could have played a major role in crustal thickening and proto-plateau uplift during the early stage of continental and terrane collisions in Tibet, which laid the condition for other mechanisms, such as crustal flow, to kick in during late Cenozoic plateau propagation.
Anticorrelation between low ?13C of eclogitic diamonds and high ?18O of their coesite and garnet inclusions requires a subduction origin
Daniel J. Schulze et al., Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto, Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1C6, Canada. Posted online 20 Feb. 203; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G33839.1.
Daniel J. Schulze and colleagues analyze the isotopic composition of diamonds with tiny garnet and silica inclusions from three diamond mines (in Venezuela, Australia, and Botswana) and find that their compositions are unlike material typical of the upper mantle, but identical to material that would be predicted to occur on the ancient ocean floor. Although many other workers have explained similar values in diamonds as due to crystallization of the diamonds from mantle fluids, the carbon in the diamonds is also equivalent to carbon of biologic origin. The oxygen isotope composition of the tiny minerals in the diamonds is also unlike that from typical mantle material and has only been observed elsewhere in rocks that have been altered on the ocean floor. This pairing, which Schulze and colleagues have documented for the first time, is a fundamental observation that can only be explained by the formation of these diamonds through subduction of rocks altered on the sea floor, mixed with biologic carbon, beneath the continents into the field of diamond stability.
"Moist MORB" axial magmatism in the Oman ophiolite: The evidence against a mid-ocean ridge origin
Christopher J. MacLeod et al., School of Earth & Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AT, Wales, UK. Posted online 20 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G33904.1.
The Oman ophiolite has axial volcanics and sheeted dikes similar in composition to modern mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB). It formed at a fast spreading rate and is regarded by many as being directly comparable to ocean lithosphere from the East Pacific Rise. Oman has accordingly assumed great significance in guiding conceptual models for fast-spreading ridge processes. However, there has long been controversy over the geodynamic setting in which the ophiolite formed and the extent to which the analogy can be drawn, because later volcanics in Oman are similar to those found at convergent margins. To some this implies that the entire ophiolite formed above a subduction zone; others, however, maintain that it formed at a true open-ocean mid-ocean ridge, and that the later magmatism documents the initiation of the thrusting that led to ophiolite emplacement. In this paper, Christopher MacLeod and colleagues reexamine the MORB-like affinity of the axial volcanics in Oman and show that they fractionated in the presence of water at concentrations significantly higher than any open-ocean MORB. Instead, trends are identical to those of arc volcanics. Open-ocean models for the Oman ophiolite are therefore ruled out; rather, it may have formed by seafloor spreading above a newly-initiated subduction zone.
Man-made versus natural CO2 leakage: A 400 k.y. history of an analogue for engineered geological storage of CO2
Neil M. Burnside et al., School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JW, UK. Posted online 20 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G33738.1.
Major obstacles to deploying carbon capture and storage (CCS) are demonstration of safe geological CO2 storage and determining the risk of leakage. Neil M. Burnside and colleagues present a unique field site where three types of leakage, diffuse and fault focused natural flow and abandoned wells, can be compared in a single geological setting. Coupling U-Th dating and volume measurement of travertine we have determined a 400,000 year CO2 leakage history for the site. The two faults that penetrate the natural CO2 accumulation produce two different types of natural leakage. Where low permeability layers are present, leakage is focused along faults; where these layers are absent a diffuse pattern dominates and leakage extends 500 m from the fault. Comparison of total CO2 emission shows that fault focused leakage is twice as severe as diffuse leakage. An actively leaking abandoned exploration well allows for comparison of man-made and natural leakage. Calculating total CO2 emissions from this well shows that, in this instance, man-made leakage is 13 times greater than natural fault focused leakage. This study demonstrates that style and volume of leakage is dependent on the underlying geology and that man-made leakage poses a far greater risk than natural leakage to the success of safe geological storage of CO2.
Morphodynamic diversity of the world's largest rivers
Andrew Nicholas, Geography, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4RJ, UK. Posted online 20 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G34016.1.
Large alluvial rivers transport globally significant quantities of water, sediment and nutrients to the oceans, temporarily storing and cycling this material within the bars, islands and floodplains that define their morphology. The world's largest rivers are characterized by remarkable variety in form and behavior (e.g., width, depth, number of channels, bar and island stability), which remain poorly understood. This study by Andrew Nicholas applies a new numerical model of water flow and sediment transport to show how the morphology of large sand-bed rivers is influenced by bed sediment mobility, bank erodibility, and rate of floodplain development. Simulations demonstrate that a wide range of river styles, including meandering, anabranching, and braiding, can occur over a relatively narrow range of environmental conditions. Results highlight the suspension of bed material as a key control on river morphology, which promotes an inverse relationship between bed sediment mobility and the degree of channel branching. Moreover, high mobility of bed and bank sediments is hypothesized to favor contrasting river styles, although both may be promoted by increasing river gradient. These results explain the inability of existing theory to predict the morphology of the world's largest rivers, and highlight the potential for investigating river-floodplain co-evolution using physics-based simulation models.
The fossil record of insect color illuminated by maturation experiments
Maria E. McNamara et al., School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK. Posted online 20 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G33836.1.
Structural coloration underpins communication strategies in many insects alive today, but its evolution is poorly understood. This stems, in part, from limited data on how color alters during fossilization. Maria E. McNamara and colleagues resolve this by using elevated pressures and temperatures to simulate the effects of burial on structurally colored cuticles of modern beetles. These experiments show that the color generated by multilayer reflectors changes due to alteration of the refractive index and periodicity of the cuticle layers. Three-dimensional photonic crystals are equally resistant to degradation and thus their absence in fossil insects is not a function of limited preservation potential but implies that these color-producing nanostructures evolved recently. Structural colors alter directly to black above a threshold temperature in experiments, identifying burial temperature as the primary control on their preservation in fossils. Color-producing nanostructures can, however, survive in experimentally treated and fossil cuticles that now are black. An extensive cryptic record is thus available in fossil insects to illuminate the evolution of structural color.
Oxygen isotopes in the Azores islands: Crustal assimilation recorded in olivine
Felix S. Genske et al., GeoZentrum Nordbayern, Friedrich-Alexander-Universitt Erlangen-Nrnberg, Schlossgarten 5, 91054 Erlangen, Germany; and Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Core to Crust Fluid Systems/GEMOC, Macquarie University, Sydney NSW 2109, Australia. Posted online 20 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G33911.1.
The variability of the oxygen isotopic composition in magmatic systems is useful for the interpretation of the nature of ocean island basalts (OIB), especially since these volcanic rocks provide a clear view into the upper and possibly even lower mantle. The role of recycled material in Earth's mantle may therefore be constrained by geochemical studies of OIB. In detail, the source-sensitive isotope tracers have great potential to decipher individual contributions from subducted, recycled oceanic lithosphere and its components to the heterogeneous mantle. However, Felix S. Genske and colleagues show that recent assimilation of hydrothermally altered material during magma ascent through the overlying crust can strongly imprint on the chemical signature of OIB. In particular, the isotopic composition of the major element oxygen, which is commonly measured on olivine minerals, records such processes. Genske and colleagues demonstrate that the variability observed in the oxygen isotope data is strongly correlated with the chemical evolution of the minerals, hence excluding lower ratios to be representative of their mantle source. Instead, they suggest that most of the oxygen isotope variability recorded in olivine from the Azores is due to recent contamination processes, and this may be true for OIB in general.
Mantle 3He and CO2 degassing in carbonic and geothermal springs of Colorado and implications for neotectonics of the Rocky Mountains
Karl E. Karlstrom et al., Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, USA. Posted online 20 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G34007.1.
Geochemical analyses of many of the famous hot springs of Colorado show that these waters carry helium and carbon dioxide gases that originated in Earth's mantle more than 40 km (ten miles) below the surface. Mantle degassing is unexpectedly widespread across much of the Colorado Rockies but is highest in regions underlain by warm, buoyant mantle. This paper by Karl E. Karlstrom and colleagues shows that hot springs, carbonic springs, and CO2-rich regional gas fields are surface vent regions for neotectonic degassing of mantle volatiles through continental regions that are undergoing active tectonism and epeirogenic uplift. The total CO2 flux through these springs constitutes a small but persistent contribution to the CO2 budget and is important to understand for studies of carbon sequestration and natural leakage.
Two opposing effects of sulfate reduction on carbonate precipitation in normal marine, hypersaline, and alkaline environments
Patrick Meister, Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Celsiusstrasse 1, 28205 Bremen, Germany. Posted online 20 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G34185.1.
Bacteria living at the bottom of shallow lagoons or lakes are thought to be responsible for the formation of hard, layered limestone structures, so-called stromatolites. Stromatolites occur in some of the oldest rocks on Earth and may thus represent the earliest signature of life. A longstanding controversy is which type of bacteria is responsible for the precipitation of the limestone, the building material of the stromatolites. Some scientists suggest cyanobacteria, which are living at the very surface of the stromatolites and produce oxygen like plants. Others suggest that bacteria below the millimeter thick cyanobacterial layer capable of breathing sulfate in absence of oxygen are responsible for the precipitation of limestone. Patrick Meister of the Max Planck Institute, Bremen, demonstrates by a model calculation that if small amounts of sulfate are consumed, sulfate metabolism promotes limestone dissolution. Only if the available sulfate is almost completely consumed, which is not commonly the case in stromatolites, sulfate metabolism promotes precipitation. If we assume that the ocean was more oversaturated with limestone than the modern ocean during several times in Earth history, he writes, then sulfate metabolism would not have contributed to limestone precipitation at all. Thus, stromatolites may either have formed by other groups than sulfate reducing bacteria, or the bacteria were just passively encrusted by limestone.
Reconstructing magma failure and the degassing network of dome-building eruptions
Yan Lavalle et al., Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3GP, UK. Posted online 20 Feb. 2013, http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G33948.1.
Volcanic eruptions are regulated by the rheology of magmas and their ability to degas. Both detail the evolution of stresses within ascending subvolcanic magma. But as magma is forced through the ductile-brittle transition, new pathways emerge as cracks nucleate, propagate, and coalesce, constructing a permeable network. Current analyses of magma dynamics center on models of the glass transition, neglecting important aspects such as incremental strain accommodation and (the key monitoring tool of) seismicity. Here, in a combined-methods study, Yan Lavalle and colleagues report the first high-resolution neutron-computed tomography and microseismic monitoring of magma failure under controlled experimental conditions. The data reconstruction reveals that a competition between extensional and shear fracturing modes controls the total magnitude of strain-to-failure and importantly, the geometry and efficiency of the permeable fracture network that regulates degassing events. Extrapolation of their findings yields magma ascent via strain localization along conduit margins, thereby providing an explanation for gas-and-ash explosions along arcuate fractures at active lava domes. They conclude that a coupled deformation-seismicity analysis holds a derivation of fracture mechanisms and network, and thus holds potential application in forecasting technologies.
###
www.geosociety.org
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 22-Feb-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Kea Giles
kgiles@geosociety.org
Geological Society of America
Boulder, Colo., USA Geology articles posted online ahead of print on 20 Feb. 2013 include several modeling and simulation studies as well as studies on the Exmouth Sub-basin, Australia; the West Kunlun Range, northern Tibetan Plateau; Krakenes Lake, Norway; the Azores islands; and the hot springs of Colorado. The 12 new papers cover a variety of topics:
- Taking the easiest pathway to Earth's surface
- A challenge to climate change and biotic factors to explain post-glacial lake acidification
- Upper-crustal shortening in the Tibetan Plateau
- Analysis of diamonds with tiny garnet and silica inclusions -- a gift from ancient ocean floor
- Reexamining the Oman ophiolite
- Carbon capture and storage problems: CO2 leakage: Natural versus man-made
- Modeling the world's largest rivers to understand their diversity
- The evolution of colorful insects
- Oxygen isotope variability recorded in olivine may be due to recent contamination processes
- Hot springs in the Colorado Rockies carry helium and carbon dioxide gases from Earth's mantle, more than 40 km (ten miles) below the surface
- Which type of bacteria is responsible for the precipitation of the limestone, the building material of the stromatolites?
- Magma ascent, degassing, and active lava domes.
Detailed highlights are provided below. Geology articles published ahead of print can be accessed online at http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/early/recent. All abstracts are open-access at http://geology.gsapubs.org/; representatives of the media may obtain complimentary Geology articles by contacting Kea Giles at the address above.
Please discuss articles of interest with the authors before publishing stories on their work, and please make reference to Geology in articles published. Contact Kea Giles for additional information or assistance.
Non-media requests for articles may be directed to GSA Sales and Service, gsaservice@geosociety.org.
The influence of normal fault geometry on igneous sill emplacement and morphology
Craig Magee et al., Dept. of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College, London SW7 2BP, UK. Posted online 20 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G33824.1.
On its route to the surface, magma will often try to take the easiest pathway. This pathway may be pre-existing cracks or faults in the Earth's crust that do not necessarily allow magma to be transported directly upwards. However, our understanding of how magma exploits these fractures is limited. This paper by Craig Magee and colleagues uses 3D seismic reflection data, similar to sonar image through the Earth's crust, to study the shape and distribution of areas where ancient magma (intruded approximately 140 million years ago) has flowed along preexisting faults. They focus on an area offshore the NW coast of Australia called the Exmouth Sub-basin. Their results show that the shape of the faults and the relative magma flow direction control which fractures are exploited. This is important because it means that ascending magma will be localized, potentially controlling the location of volcanic eruptions.
Soil mineral depletion drives early Holocene lake acidification
John Boyle et al., School of Environmental Science, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZT, UK. Posted online 20 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G33907.1.
In recent decades, explanations for post-glacial lake acidification have focused on changing climate and biotic factors. John Boyle and colleagues challenge this view by presenting a unique lake sediment data set combining diatom-inferred acidity reconstruction with detailed quantitative assessment of soil base dynamics. They show, at Krakenes Lake in Norway, that historical development of soil mineral depletion inferred from the lake sediment record is consistent with the extent and timing of early Holocene acidification. The lake-water acidification can be fully accounted for by abiotic soil mineral depletion, suggesting a lesser role for alternative acidifying mechanisms like direct climate impacts and successional changes in organic acid production. There are at present few comparable data sets, but those that exist suggest similar rates of soil base depletion. This acidification is not confined to water; abiotic mineral depletion is likely also to impact terrestrial ecosystems, and dynamic vegetation models that exclude irreversible mineral depletion will fail to capture an important element of global ecology.
Uplift of the West Kunlun Range, northern Tibetan Plateau, dominated by brittle thickening of the upper crust
Xiaodian Jiang et al., Dept. of Marine Geology, Ocean University of China, 238 Songling Road, Qingdao, China. Posted online 20 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G33890.1.
The collision between Indian and Eurasia led to the formation of the Tibetan Plateau that has an average elevation of 5 km and a much thickened crust. However, the mechanisms responsible for both the topographic uplift and the crustal thickening remain controversial. Xiaodian Jiang and colleagues report high-resolution seismic reflection data from the West Kunlun Range Front at the northwestern margin of the Tibetan Plateau that show that crustal structures there are dominated by nappes of upper crustal rocks. Horizontal shortening in the upper crust by brittle folding and faulting correlates positively with crustal thickening, an increase in Moho depth, and the topography. This work thus suggests that upper crustal shortening is a chief factor for topographic uplift and crustal thickening at the northwestern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. This mechanism could have played a major role in crustal thickening and proto-plateau uplift during the early stage of continental and terrane collisions in Tibet, which laid the condition for other mechanisms, such as crustal flow, to kick in during late Cenozoic plateau propagation.
Anticorrelation between low ?13C of eclogitic diamonds and high ?18O of their coesite and garnet inclusions requires a subduction origin
Daniel J. Schulze et al., Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto, Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1C6, Canada. Posted online 20 Feb. 203; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G33839.1.
Daniel J. Schulze and colleagues analyze the isotopic composition of diamonds with tiny garnet and silica inclusions from three diamond mines (in Venezuela, Australia, and Botswana) and find that their compositions are unlike material typical of the upper mantle, but identical to material that would be predicted to occur on the ancient ocean floor. Although many other workers have explained similar values in diamonds as due to crystallization of the diamonds from mantle fluids, the carbon in the diamonds is also equivalent to carbon of biologic origin. The oxygen isotope composition of the tiny minerals in the diamonds is also unlike that from typical mantle material and has only been observed elsewhere in rocks that have been altered on the ocean floor. This pairing, which Schulze and colleagues have documented for the first time, is a fundamental observation that can only be explained by the formation of these diamonds through subduction of rocks altered on the sea floor, mixed with biologic carbon, beneath the continents into the field of diamond stability.
"Moist MORB" axial magmatism in the Oman ophiolite: The evidence against a mid-ocean ridge origin
Christopher J. MacLeod et al., School of Earth & Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AT, Wales, UK. Posted online 20 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G33904.1.
The Oman ophiolite has axial volcanics and sheeted dikes similar in composition to modern mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB). It formed at a fast spreading rate and is regarded by many as being directly comparable to ocean lithosphere from the East Pacific Rise. Oman has accordingly assumed great significance in guiding conceptual models for fast-spreading ridge processes. However, there has long been controversy over the geodynamic setting in which the ophiolite formed and the extent to which the analogy can be drawn, because later volcanics in Oman are similar to those found at convergent margins. To some this implies that the entire ophiolite formed above a subduction zone; others, however, maintain that it formed at a true open-ocean mid-ocean ridge, and that the later magmatism documents the initiation of the thrusting that led to ophiolite emplacement. In this paper, Christopher MacLeod and colleagues reexamine the MORB-like affinity of the axial volcanics in Oman and show that they fractionated in the presence of water at concentrations significantly higher than any open-ocean MORB. Instead, trends are identical to those of arc volcanics. Open-ocean models for the Oman ophiolite are therefore ruled out; rather, it may have formed by seafloor spreading above a newly-initiated subduction zone.
Man-made versus natural CO2 leakage: A 400 k.y. history of an analogue for engineered geological storage of CO2
Neil M. Burnside et al., School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JW, UK. Posted online 20 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G33738.1.
Major obstacles to deploying carbon capture and storage (CCS) are demonstration of safe geological CO2 storage and determining the risk of leakage. Neil M. Burnside and colleagues present a unique field site where three types of leakage, diffuse and fault focused natural flow and abandoned wells, can be compared in a single geological setting. Coupling U-Th dating and volume measurement of travertine we have determined a 400,000 year CO2 leakage history for the site. The two faults that penetrate the natural CO2 accumulation produce two different types of natural leakage. Where low permeability layers are present, leakage is focused along faults; where these layers are absent a diffuse pattern dominates and leakage extends 500 m from the fault. Comparison of total CO2 emission shows that fault focused leakage is twice as severe as diffuse leakage. An actively leaking abandoned exploration well allows for comparison of man-made and natural leakage. Calculating total CO2 emissions from this well shows that, in this instance, man-made leakage is 13 times greater than natural fault focused leakage. This study demonstrates that style and volume of leakage is dependent on the underlying geology and that man-made leakage poses a far greater risk than natural leakage to the success of safe geological storage of CO2.
Morphodynamic diversity of the world's largest rivers
Andrew Nicholas, Geography, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4RJ, UK. Posted online 20 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G34016.1.
Large alluvial rivers transport globally significant quantities of water, sediment and nutrients to the oceans, temporarily storing and cycling this material within the bars, islands and floodplains that define their morphology. The world's largest rivers are characterized by remarkable variety in form and behavior (e.g., width, depth, number of channels, bar and island stability), which remain poorly understood. This study by Andrew Nicholas applies a new numerical model of water flow and sediment transport to show how the morphology of large sand-bed rivers is influenced by bed sediment mobility, bank erodibility, and rate of floodplain development. Simulations demonstrate that a wide range of river styles, including meandering, anabranching, and braiding, can occur over a relatively narrow range of environmental conditions. Results highlight the suspension of bed material as a key control on river morphology, which promotes an inverse relationship between bed sediment mobility and the degree of channel branching. Moreover, high mobility of bed and bank sediments is hypothesized to favor contrasting river styles, although both may be promoted by increasing river gradient. These results explain the inability of existing theory to predict the morphology of the world's largest rivers, and highlight the potential for investigating river-floodplain co-evolution using physics-based simulation models.
The fossil record of insect color illuminated by maturation experiments
Maria E. McNamara et al., School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK. Posted online 20 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G33836.1.
Structural coloration underpins communication strategies in many insects alive today, but its evolution is poorly understood. This stems, in part, from limited data on how color alters during fossilization. Maria E. McNamara and colleagues resolve this by using elevated pressures and temperatures to simulate the effects of burial on structurally colored cuticles of modern beetles. These experiments show that the color generated by multilayer reflectors changes due to alteration of the refractive index and periodicity of the cuticle layers. Three-dimensional photonic crystals are equally resistant to degradation and thus their absence in fossil insects is not a function of limited preservation potential but implies that these color-producing nanostructures evolved recently. Structural colors alter directly to black above a threshold temperature in experiments, identifying burial temperature as the primary control on their preservation in fossils. Color-producing nanostructures can, however, survive in experimentally treated and fossil cuticles that now are black. An extensive cryptic record is thus available in fossil insects to illuminate the evolution of structural color.
Oxygen isotopes in the Azores islands: Crustal assimilation recorded in olivine
Felix S. Genske et al., GeoZentrum Nordbayern, Friedrich-Alexander-Universitt Erlangen-Nrnberg, Schlossgarten 5, 91054 Erlangen, Germany; and Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Core to Crust Fluid Systems/GEMOC, Macquarie University, Sydney NSW 2109, Australia. Posted online 20 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G33911.1.
The variability of the oxygen isotopic composition in magmatic systems is useful for the interpretation of the nature of ocean island basalts (OIB), especially since these volcanic rocks provide a clear view into the upper and possibly even lower mantle. The role of recycled material in Earth's mantle may therefore be constrained by geochemical studies of OIB. In detail, the source-sensitive isotope tracers have great potential to decipher individual contributions from subducted, recycled oceanic lithosphere and its components to the heterogeneous mantle. However, Felix S. Genske and colleagues show that recent assimilation of hydrothermally altered material during magma ascent through the overlying crust can strongly imprint on the chemical signature of OIB. In particular, the isotopic composition of the major element oxygen, which is commonly measured on olivine minerals, records such processes. Genske and colleagues demonstrate that the variability observed in the oxygen isotope data is strongly correlated with the chemical evolution of the minerals, hence excluding lower ratios to be representative of their mantle source. Instead, they suggest that most of the oxygen isotope variability recorded in olivine from the Azores is due to recent contamination processes, and this may be true for OIB in general.
Mantle 3He and CO2 degassing in carbonic and geothermal springs of Colorado and implications for neotectonics of the Rocky Mountains
Karl E. Karlstrom et al., Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, USA. Posted online 20 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G34007.1.
Geochemical analyses of many of the famous hot springs of Colorado show that these waters carry helium and carbon dioxide gases that originated in Earth's mantle more than 40 km (ten miles) below the surface. Mantle degassing is unexpectedly widespread across much of the Colorado Rockies but is highest in regions underlain by warm, buoyant mantle. This paper by Karl E. Karlstrom and colleagues shows that hot springs, carbonic springs, and CO2-rich regional gas fields are surface vent regions for neotectonic degassing of mantle volatiles through continental regions that are undergoing active tectonism and epeirogenic uplift. The total CO2 flux through these springs constitutes a small but persistent contribution to the CO2 budget and is important to understand for studies of carbon sequestration and natural leakage.
Two opposing effects of sulfate reduction on carbonate precipitation in normal marine, hypersaline, and alkaline environments
Patrick Meister, Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Celsiusstrasse 1, 28205 Bremen, Germany. Posted online 20 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G34185.1.
Bacteria living at the bottom of shallow lagoons or lakes are thought to be responsible for the formation of hard, layered limestone structures, so-called stromatolites. Stromatolites occur in some of the oldest rocks on Earth and may thus represent the earliest signature of life. A longstanding controversy is which type of bacteria is responsible for the precipitation of the limestone, the building material of the stromatolites. Some scientists suggest cyanobacteria, which are living at the very surface of the stromatolites and produce oxygen like plants. Others suggest that bacteria below the millimeter thick cyanobacterial layer capable of breathing sulfate in absence of oxygen are responsible for the precipitation of limestone. Patrick Meister of the Max Planck Institute, Bremen, demonstrates by a model calculation that if small amounts of sulfate are consumed, sulfate metabolism promotes limestone dissolution. Only if the available sulfate is almost completely consumed, which is not commonly the case in stromatolites, sulfate metabolism promotes precipitation. If we assume that the ocean was more oversaturated with limestone than the modern ocean during several times in Earth history, he writes, then sulfate metabolism would not have contributed to limestone precipitation at all. Thus, stromatolites may either have formed by other groups than sulfate reducing bacteria, or the bacteria were just passively encrusted by limestone.
Reconstructing magma failure and the degassing network of dome-building eruptions
Yan Lavalle et al., Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3GP, UK. Posted online 20 Feb. 2013, http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G33948.1.
Volcanic eruptions are regulated by the rheology of magmas and their ability to degas. Both detail the evolution of stresses within ascending subvolcanic magma. But as magma is forced through the ductile-brittle transition, new pathways emerge as cracks nucleate, propagate, and coalesce, constructing a permeable network. Current analyses of magma dynamics center on models of the glass transition, neglecting important aspects such as incremental strain accommodation and (the key monitoring tool of) seismicity. Here, in a combined-methods study, Yan Lavalle and colleagues report the first high-resolution neutron-computed tomography and microseismic monitoring of magma failure under controlled experimental conditions. The data reconstruction reveals that a competition between extensional and shear fracturing modes controls the total magnitude of strain-to-failure and importantly, the geometry and efficiency of the permeable fracture network that regulates degassing events. Extrapolation of their findings yields magma ascent via strain localization along conduit margins, thereby providing an explanation for gas-and-ash explosions along arcuate fractures at active lava domes. They conclude that a coupled deformation-seismicity analysis holds a derivation of fracture mechanisms and network, and thus holds potential application in forecasting technologies.
###
www.geosociety.org
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-02/gsoa-cif022213.php
frank martin pink slime eagle cam trayvon martin case affordable care act the line us soccer
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)