Weaver ants help flowers get the best pollinator









































MOST flowers don't want pesky ants hanging around scaring away would-be pollinators. Not so the Singapore rhododendron - the first flower found to recruit ants to chase poor pollinators away.












Francisco Gonzálvez at EEZA, the arid zone experimental station in Almeria, Spain, and colleagues studied flowers frequented by large carpenter bees (Xylocopa) and a much smaller solitary bee, Nomia. The larger bees seemed to be better pollinators - setting far more fruit than the smaller bees.












The team found that Nomia avoided plants with weaver ant patrols, and when they did dare to land, were chased away or ambushed by the ants. Being so much bigger, carpenter bees weren't troubled by the ants (Journal of Ecology, DOI:10.1111/1365-2745.12006).












Plants usually produce chemical repellents to scare off insects that prey on their pollinators. But lab tests suggested Gonzálvez's flowers were actively attracting weaver ants, although how remains a mystery. The team thinks carpenter bees choose flowers with ants so they don't have to compete with Nomia.












Michael Kaspari of the University of Oklahoma in Norman says this is a new kind of plant-ant interaction, and that the team makes a "strong case" for the rhododendron manipulating the behaviour of weaver ants to ward off inefficient pollinators.


















































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29 bus drivers who will be repatriated will be paid: SMRT






SINGAPORE: Public transport operator SMRT said the 29 drivers who will be repatriated will be paid, before they leave the country. They will be given all salaries, all claims if any, and ex gratia bonuses on a pro-rated basis.

In its statement on Saturday evening, SMRT said there are valuable lessons learnt from this incident which are being addressed by the management.

SMRT said it needs to improve its management, communication and engagement efforts to be more proactive, responsible and sensitive to the needs of its drivers.

SMRT said: "We are determined to come out stronger from this episode. We want to thank all our drivers for continuing to work hard on the roads to serve our passengers, and we value their service to the company. We will continue to actively engage all drivers at all levels to address their concerns holistically, and work together to make the workplace a more conducive one for everybody."

- CNA/ck



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Watch the X-47B make its first catapult take-off



X-47B in catapult test

The X-47B gets ready for take-off in its first-ever catapult launch.



(Credit:
U.S. Navy photo)


OK, so it was on dry land, not on an aircraft carrier. But first steps are first steps.


On Thursday, the U.S. Navy carried out its first-ever steam catapult launch of the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System -- see the video embedded below -- and was apparently quite happy with the way things turned out. Before the UCAS demonstrator can make an actual take-off from a carrier, it needs to show that it can handle the unique rigors of being flung slingshot-style into the air instead of making a more leisurely jaunt down a runway.


"This test, in addition to the extensive modeling and simulation done prior to today, gives us great confidence in the X-47B's ability to operate on the flight deck," said Capt. Jaime Engdahl, the Navy UCAS program manager.


The Navy, you see, is used to having test pilots make these sorts of sorties, to help figure out the quirks of new aircraft and avoid potentially nasty showstoppers. The X-47B will largely fly itself, drawing on a number of preprogrammed operations, and the after-action reports on test flights depend on data points, not debriefings.


Drones have become commonplace in military operations over the last half-decade or so, but to this point their use with aircraft carriers has been, well, uncharted waters. Space is tight, the flight deck moves, and operations are highly choreographed, and that'll be a new experience for pilotless planes and their handlers.



The catapult test took place at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland, where the Navy and X-47B builder Northrop Grumman also have been trying out the handheld controller that the flight deck operator will use aboard the carrier.


In the test flight after the launch, the experimental aircraft carried out maneuvers over Chesapeake Bay as it might when operating off a carrier, including flying in a typical ship holding pattern and executing a carrier approach flight profile, according to Northrop Grumman.


The jet-powered X-47B has a wingspan of 62 feet -- about 17 feet wider than that of the Navy's F/A-18 Super Hornet -- and a top speed in the "high subsonic" range. The aircraft made its maiden flight in February 2011 at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The Navy has two of the prototypes at the Pax River base.


Sea trials for the X-47B will begin soon aboard the USS Harry S. Truman, following additional ground-based catapult tests and final flight software validation. The real test -- carrier-based launches and recoveries -- will take place in 2013.



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Photos: Kilauea Lava Reaches the Sea









































































































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Obama: Don't Hold Middle-Class Tax Cuts Hostage


Dec 1, 2012 6:00am







ap obama fiscal cliff lt 121130 wblog Obama Accuses House GOP of Holding Middle Class Tax Cuts Hostage

AP Photo/Charles Dharapak


President Obama is urging Congress to extend tax breaks for the middle class, saying it’s “unacceptable for some Republicans in Congress to hold middle class tax cuts hostage simply because they refuse to let tax rates go up on the wealthiest Americans.”


With the clock ticking toward the so-called “fiscal cliff,” Obama asked lawmakers in his weekly address to “begin by doing what we all agree on” and extend the middle class tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year.


Read: Cliff Dive: A Stalemate and a Scrooge Christmas


“With the issue behind us, we’ll have more time to work out a plan to bring down our deficits in a balanced way, including by asking the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more, so we can still invest in the things that make our nation strong,” he said from a toy manufacturing facility in Hatfield, Pa., where he delivered a similar message to workers Friday.


The president has launched a public campaign to try and force Republicans to sign on to his position on the expiring Bush tax cuts, asking them to pass a Senate bill that would maintain low middle class tax rates while allowing them to go up on the top income earners.


“If we can just get a few House Republicans on board, I’ll sign this bill as soon as Congress sends it my way,” he said.


Read: Could Outgoing Republicans Hold Keys to ‘Fiscal Cliff’?


Earlier this week, the White House put forth a deficit reduction proposal to avert the looming tax increases and spending cuts set to kick in on Jan. 1, which included $1.6 trillion in tax increases over the next 10 years, $50 billion in new stimulus spending, $400 billion in unspecified Medicare cuts, and a measure to effectively end Congress’s ability to vote on the debt limit.  The offer, which closely mirrors the president’s previous deficit-reduction plans, lacked concessions to Republicans, including detailed spending cuts, and was strongly rejected.


Since then, as House Speaker John Boehner put it, negotiations between the White House and House Republicans have come to a “stalemate.”



SHOWS: World News







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Friday Illusion: Mystery mirror reveals missing banana



Joanna Carver, reporter






There are no editing tricks involved and it's not CGI. In this video, filmed in one continuous shot, a banana vanishes before your eyes. Of course, the disappearance could be explained by some sleight of hand, but what's even more mysterious is the reflection that seems to linger behind.



The illusion was produced by psychologist Richard Wiseman, well-known for tricks that demonstrate the quirks of human perception. Magic can trick our brain into believing the impossible, even when it violates rules of the physical world. Previously, we showed you Wiseman's ball-in-glass trick, where he appears to reach through a glass to snatch a ball, and an illusion where his head seems to vanish.



So can you solve the mirror trick? Let us know in the Comments section below and the first person to post the correct answer will win a New Scientist goodie bag.






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WP says SMRT must address workers' grievances better






SINGAPORE: The Workers' Party said it is disappointed that it has taken a strike to bring to the forefront the bus drivers' grievances about their pay and living conditions.

In a statement issued on Friday evening, the party said the strike signals a failure in the labour dispute settlement process within SMRT.

It said while much attention this week has focused on the grievances of the bus drivers from China, SMRT must also address legitimate concerns that have been raised by all its bus drivers since the recent revision of salaries and work hours.

WP said its MPs will be asking questions about the four cases of drivers charged with instigating the illegal strike during the next sitting of Parliament.

- CNA/fa



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Name your own price for a THQ game bundle (PC)




Forget no-name indie games; the Humble THQ Bundle includes some top-rated mainstream titles.

Forget no-name indie games; the Humble THQ Bundle includes some top-rated mainstream titles.



(Credit:
Humble Bundle)


Got plans this weekend? Cancel 'em.


The Humble Bundle folks have put together what is arguably the best game bundle ever. It's called the Humble THQ Bundle, and it comes with six top-rated action/strategy games -- plus a seventh if you beat the average purchase price.


I'm going to start with that bonus game first, because it really kind of defines the whole bundle. It's Saints Row: The Third, which scored an 8.5 on GameSpot when it debuted just one year ago. Price if purchased from Steam: $39.99. Average bundle price (at this writing) you need to beat to get the game: $5.70.


So, yeah, if you pay at least $5.71, you'll get Saints Row: The Third, plus a seriously impressive roster of other titles:


As you can see from clicking through to their reviews, every single one of these games scored at least an 8.0, the exception being the 6.0-rated Tales of Valor expansion for Company of Heroes.


Even so, there's an embarrassment of gaming riches to be had in this bundle, and the Humble bundlers continue to do good works by letting you divvy up your payment among charities, the game developers, and themselves -- however you want to mix it up.


Most game bundles include indie titles that most folks have never heard of. There's nothing wrong with that -- lots of this indie games are gems -- but it's nice to see a bundle with some big names. If you're a gamer, this is too good to pass up. Check out the overview video below.


Bonus deal: Finally, USB 3.0 hard drives are getting cheap! For a limited time, and while supplies last, TigerDirect has the Western Digital Elements 1TB USB 3.0 hard drive for $49.99 shipped. That's after claiming a $30 mail-in rebate (PDF), which is available today only.



Deals found on The Cheapskate are subject to availability, expiration, and other terms determined by sellers.


Curious about what exactly The Cheapskate does and how it works? Read our FAQ.


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Pictures: Inside the World's Most Powerful Laser

Photograph courtesy Damien Jemison, LLNL

Looking like a portal to a science fiction movie, preamplifiers line a corridor at the U.S. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility (NIF).

Preamplifiers work by increasing the energy of laser beams—up to ten billion times—before these beams reach the facility's target chamber.

The project's lasers are tackling "one of physics' grand challenges"—igniting hydrogen fusion fuel in the laboratory, according to the NIF website. Nuclear fusion—the merging of the nuclei of two atoms of, say, hydrogen—can result in a tremendous amount of excess energy. Nuclear fission, by contrast, involves the splitting of atoms.

This July, California-based NIF made history by combining 192 laser beams into a record-breaking laser shot that packed over 500 trillion watts of peak power-a thousand times more power than the entire United States uses at any given instant.

"This was a quantum leap for laser technology around the world," NIF director Ed Moses said in September. But some critics of the $5 billion project wonder why the laser has yet to ignite a fusion chain reaction after three-and-a-half years in operation. Supporters counter that such groundbreaking science simply can't be rushed.

(Related: "Fusion Power a Step Closer After Giant Laser Blast.")

—Brian Handwerk

Published November 29, 2012

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2 Towns Hint at Powerball Winners













The $587 million question on the identity of the winners in the historic Powerball jackpot is still a mystery, but residents in Missouri and Maryland say they already know who the two lucky winners are.


Employees and customers at Marlboro Village Exxon in Upper Marlboro, Md., said a tall, black, bald man held the winning ticket purchased in Arizona, according to ABC News affiliate WJLA-TV.


Meanwhile, speculation began running wild in the small town of Dearborn, Mo., when a factory worker named Mark Hill updated his Facebook account late Thursday, writing, "We are truly blessed, we are lucky winners of the Powerball."


Within hours, his family began celebrating, telling ABC News Hill is one of the two big winners.


"Just shocked. I mean, I thought we were all going to have heart attacks," Hill's mother, Shirley, said Thursday.


Hill's mother says her son and his wife, Cindy, have three grown sons and an adopted daughter from China, but the family has been struggling financially.


Hill works in a hot dog and deli packaging factory, but it was unclear whether he showed up for work Thursday night.


"I'm very happy for him. He's worked hard in his life; well, not anymore," Hill's son Jason said. "Well, I hope we all stay very grounded, stay humble and don't forget who we are."








Powerball Winners: Was Arizona Winner Caught on Surveillance? Watch Video









Powerball Winners: Video Out of Possible Winners Watch Video







Missouri Lottery official Susan Goedde confirmed to ABC News Thursday that one of the winning tickets was purchased at a Trex Mart in Dearborn, about 30 miles north of Kansas City.


Lottery officials won't confirm whether Hill is the winner but family members offered another clue: Some of the winning numbers turned out to be the jersey numbers of some all-star Kansas City Royals baseball players, Hill's favorite team.


Hall of Fame third basemen George Brett wore 5; Willie Wilson 6; Bo Jackson 16.


The winning numbers were 5, 23, 16, 22 and 29; Powerball was 6.


Hill did not respond to ABC News' requests for comment.


In Maryland, surveillance cameras at the Upper Marlboro gas station captured the apparent winner walking into the store Thursday afternoon, digging into his chest pocket for his lottery tickets. After a few seconds of scanning the wad of tickets, the man began jumping up and down, pumping his arms.


The man gave the tickets to store manager Nagassi Ghebre, who says the six Powerball numbers was on the ticket, which the apparent winner said he bought in Arizona.


"And then he said, 'I got to get out of here,'" employee Freddie Lopez told WJLA.


But before leaving, the possible winner felt the need to check again to see whether he really had the ticket that millions of Americans dreamed of having.


"He says, 'Is this the right number? I don't know.' And I said, 'Yeah that's the numbers. You got them all,'" customer Paul Gaug told WJLA.


Employees and customers said the main stuck around for a few more seconds shouting, "I won," before leaving.


"He came back a minute later and said, 'I forgot to get my gas. What am I thinking?'" Lopez said.


The man drove out of the gas station in a black car and on a full tank of gas with a cash payout of $192.5 million coming his way.


"He said he lives in Maryland. I'm pretty sure," Gaug said.


The possible jackpot winner was wearing bright neon clothing and store employees told WJLA that he appeared to be a highway or construction worker.


Arizona lottery officials told WJLA that if the man does have the winning ticket, it needs to be redeemed within 180 days of the drawing in Arizona.






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Junk radio signals track all space debris in one go



































Call it Junk FM. Rogue signals from your radio may help warn about space debris on a dangerous collision course with Earth.











Stray FM signals from radios, bouncing back off space junk, could allow astronomers to track the whole population of space debris, suggest preliminary tests conducted this week at the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) radio telescope in Western Australia.












More than 21,000 pieces of debris larger than 10 centimetres are currently zipping around Earth at speeds of around 7 kilometres per second, according to NASA. Friction created by brushes with Earth's upper atmosphere can sometimes cause pieces of space junk to drop from orbit, creating a small but real risk for humans.













Meanwhile, millions of smaller pieces in orbit present a serious risk to satellites. This space junk is spotted and tracked using traditional radar or lasers, but the system has its limits.












"The best techniques at the moment can track a max of about 200 bits of debris a day," says Steven Tingay, director of the MWA from Curtin University in Western Australia. "If we can get thousands simultaneously, we could almost get the whole population of space debris in a night."











ISS test













The MWA is a set of some 2000 radio antennas spread out over 3 kilometres. Because of its extraordinarily wide field of view, the MWA can continuously track objects rather than just calculate their orbits from snapshots, Tingay says. That will improve our understanding of how much space junk exists and how much more is being created. "We can quickly characterise it after a launch or a collision," he says.












Continuous tracking would also improve orbital modelling in general and allow better protection of space assets, Tingay says.












To test the radio-tracking concept, the team used the MWA to pick up FM signals rebounding off the International Space Station, which is more than 100 metres wide. The team could clearly track the orbiting lab as it moved about 8 kilometres.












"This first observation gives us some great data to work on," says Tingay. Now that they know it works, the technique should be easy to scale down to objects as small as 10 centimetres, he says.












So far, the telescope has been using only a quarter of its antennas at a time, Tingay adds. Next year it will begin operating at full capacity. "The main thing the final instrument will give is four times more sensitivity, which broadly translates to four times smaller space debris," he says.












"It's a great idea," says Fred Watson, head of the Anglo-Australian Observatory at Coonabarabran. "If you're looking at the whole sky you really have the potential to map the space debris. But it's not the total panacea." There would be some lower limit to the size of debris FM signals could track, he says, and bits only a few millimetres wide can still do damage.


















































If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.




































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If you are having a technical problem posting a comment, please contact technical support.








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S R Nathan Fellowship set up for foreign dignitaries' training






SINGAPORE: Starting next year, a new high-level fellowship honouring former Singapore President S R Nathan will see foreign officials, such as cabinet ministers, parliamentarians and mayors, coming to Singapore on customised training visits that meet their interests and needs.

The S R Nathan Fellowship will be part of the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP), which provides technical assistance to other countries.

Primarily focused on ASEAN, the programme provides training and experience in areas such as public administration, port management, economic development and civil aviation.

Over the past two decades, SCP has trained over 80,000 officials from 170 countries.

Speaking at SCP's 20th anniversary on Thursday evening, Foreign Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam, said going forward, SCP will improve and customise its existing programmes.

He added that Singapore is partnering international organisations and countries such as the US in the effort.

"We have already started on all of this. In January this year, to support Myanmar's efforts in reform, we put together an enhanced technical assistance package tailored to Myanmar's present needs.

"In February we signed an MOU with Hillary Clinton to establish the Singapore-US Third Country Training Programme, primarily in support of ASEAN's community building efforts.

"We have also developed a new programme on sustainable development and climate change focused on small island states and the least developed countries."

Also speaking at the event, former Singapore President S R Nathan said he hopes the participants of the Fellowship will not regard their visit to Singapore as a one-off contact, but the start of a long and meaningful journey filled with conversations with their Singaporean counterparts.

- CNA/lp



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AT&T yet again the worst-rated carrier in U.S.



More bad news for AT&T.


Consumer Reports has released its annual carrier ratings. And just as it had in the last two years, AT&T landed in last place, far behind the top major carrier in the company's roundup, Verizon Wireless.


Verizon Wireless fared somewhat well in the study, earning relatively strong marks on voice and data. The only bright spot in AT&T's review was its 4G LTE network, which actually beat out its chief competitor in this year's study.



Spring and T-Mobile landed between Verizon and AT&T.


For its part, AT&T isn't ready to back down. In a statement to CNET, an AT&T spokesperson made clear that the company is always working on delivering a better customer experience.


"While delivering an even better customer experience is a never-ending job, we're pleased that our customers rate their 4G experience as best of any carrier," the spokesperson told CNET. "We've invested significantly to deliver unique advantages, including offering the nation's largest 4G network, which enables the fastest
iPhone 5 downloads and simultaneous talk and surf."


Consumer Reports' survey examines voice, data, and customer service across the wireless space. Although Verizon was tops among major carriers, across the industry, it landed in the middle of the pack. Smaller carriers, including Consumer Cellular, U.S. Cellular, and Credo Mobile, landed above the major carriers in the Consumer Reports study.


Consumer Cellular, along with Credo, are actually mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) that rely on other carriers' networks to deliver their service. Interestingly, Consumer Cellular relies on AT&T's network. Credo uses Sprint's network.


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Caterpillar Fungus Has Anti-Inflammatory Properties


In the Tibetan mountains, a fungus attaches itself to a moth larva burrowed in the soil. It infects and slowly consumes its host from within, taking over its brain and making the young caterpillar move to a position from which the fungus can grow and spore again.

Sounds like something out of science fiction, right? But for ailing Chinese consumers and nomadic Tibetan harvesters, the parasite called cordyceps means hope—and big money. Chinese markets sell the "golden worm," or "Tibetan mushroom"—thought to cure ailments from cancer to asthma to erectile dysfunction—for up to $50,000 (U.S.) per pound. Patients, following traditional medicinal practices, brew the fungal-infected caterpillar in tea or chew it raw.

Now the folk medicine is getting scientific backing. A new study published in the journal RNA finds that cordycepin, a chemical derived from the caterpillar fungus, has anti-inflammatory properties.

"Inflammation is normally a beneficial response to a wound or infection, but in diseases like asthma it happens too fast and to too high of an extent," said study co-author Cornelia H. de Moor of the University of Nottingham. "When cordycepin is present, it inhibits that response strongly."

And it does so in a way not previously seen: at the mRNA stage, where it inhibits polyadenylation. That means it stops swelling at the genetic cellular level—a novel anti-inflammatory approach that could lead to new drugs for cancer, asthma, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and cardiovascular-disease patients who don't respond well to current medications.

From Worm to Pill

But such new drugs may be a long way off. The science of parasitic fungi is still in its early stages, and no medicine currently available utilizes cordycepin as an anti-inflammatory. The only way a patient could gain its benefits would by consuming wild-harvested mushrooms.

De Moor cautions against this practice. "I can't recommend taking wild-harvested medications," she says. "Each sample could have a completely different dose, and there are mushrooms where [taking] a single bite will kill you."

Today 96 percent of the world's caterpillar-fungus harvest comes from the high Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayan range. Fungi from this region are of the subspecies Ophiocordyceps sinensis, locally known as yartsa gunbu ("summer grass, winter worm"). While highly valued in Chinese traditional medicine, these fungi have relatively low levels of cordycepin. What's more, they grow only at elevations of 10,000 to 16,500 feet and cannot be farmed. All of which makes yartsa gunbu costly for Chinese consumers: A single fungal-infected caterpillar can fetch $30.

Brave New Worm

Luckily for researchers, and for potential consumers, another rare species of caterpillar fungus, Cordyceps militaris, is capable of being farmed—and even cultivated to yield much higher levels of cordycepin.

De Moor says that's not likely to discourage Tibetan harvesters, many of whom make a year's salary in just weeks by finding and selling yartsa gunbu. Scientific proof of cordycepin's efficacy will only increase demand for the fungus, which could prove dangerous. "With cultivation we have a level of quality control that's missing in the wild," says de Moor.

"There is definitely some truth somewhere in certain herbal medicinal traditions, if you look hard enough," says de Moor. "But ancient healers probably wouldn't notice a 10 percent mortality rate resulting from herbal remedies. In the scientific world, that's completely unacceptable." If you want to be safe, she adds, "wait for the medicine."

Ancient Chinese medical traditions—which also use ground tiger bones as a cure for insomnia, elephant ivory for religious icons, and rhinoceros horns to dispel fevers—are controversial but popular. Such remedies remain in demand regardless of scientific advancement—and endangered animals continue to be killed in order to meet that demand. While pills using cordycepin from farmed fungus might someday replace yartsa gunbu harvesting, tigers, elephants, and rhinos are disappearing much quicker than worms.


Read More..

Two Winners in Record Powerball Jackpot













Winning tickets for the record Powerball jackpot worth more than $587 million were purchased in Arizona and Missouri.


Missouri Lottery official Susan Goedde confirmed to ABC News this morning that one of the winning tickets was purchased in the state, but they would not announce which town until later this morning.


Arizona lottery officials said they had no information on that state's winner or winners but would announce where it was sold during a news conference later in the day.


The winning numbers for the jackpot were 5, 23, 16, 22 and 29. The Powerball was 6.


The jackpot swelled to $587.5 million, according to Lottery official Sue Dooley. The two winners will split the jackpot each getting $293.75 million. The cash payout is $192.5 million each.


An additional 8,924,123 players won smaller prizes, according to Powerball's website.


"There were 58 winners of $1 million and there were eight winners of $2 million. So a total of $74 million," said Chuck Strutt, Director of the Multi-State Lottery Association.


In Photos: Biggest Lotto Jackpot Winners


This is the 27th win for Missouri, ranking it second in the nation for lottery winners after Indiana, which has 38 wins. Arizona has had 10 Powerball jackpot wins in its history.


Players bought tickets at the rate of 131,000 every minute up until an hour before the deadline of 11 p.m. ET, according to lottery officials.


The jackpot had already rolled over 16 consecutive times without a winner. That fact, plus the doubling in price of a Powerball ticket, accounted for the unprecedented richness of the pot.








Powerball Numbers: Two Winners Take Record Jackpot Watch Video









Powerball's Half-Billion Dollar Prize: Lotto Success Stories Watch Video







"Back in January, we moved Powerball from being a $1 game to $2," said Mary Neubauer, a spokeswoman at the game's headquarters in Iowa. "We thought at the time that this would mean bigger and faster-growing jackpots."


That proved true. The total, she said, began taking "huge jumps -- another $100 million since Saturday." It then jumped another $50 million.


The biggest Powerball pot on record until now -- $365 million -- was won in 2006 by eight Lincoln, Neb., co-workers.
As the latest pot swelled, lottery officials said they began getting phone calls from all around the world.


"When it gets this big," said Neubauer, "we get inquiries from Canada and Europe from people wanting to know if they can buy a ticket. They ask if they can FedEx us the money."


The answer she has to give them, she said, is: "Sorry, no. You have to buy a ticket in a member state from a licensed retail location."


About 80 percent of players don't choose their own Powerball number, opting instead for a computer-generated one.
Asked if there's anything a player can do to improve his or her odds of winning, Neubauer said there isn't -- apart from buying a ticket, of course.


Lottery officials put the odds of winning this Powerball pot at one in 175 million, meaning you'd have been 25 times more likely to win an Academy Award.


Skip Garibaldi, a professor of mathematics at Emory University in Atlanta, provided additional perspective: You are three times more likely to die from a falling coconut, he said; seven times more likely to die from fireworks, "and way more likely to die from flesh-eating bacteria" (115 fatalities a year) than you are to win the Powerball lottery.


Segueing, then, from death to life, Garibaldi noted that even the best physicians, equipped with the most up-to-date equipment, can't predict the timing of a child's birth with much accuracy.


"But let's suppose," he said, "that your doctor managed to predict the day, the hour, the minute and the second your baby would be born."


The doctor's uncanny prediction would be "at least 100 times" more likely than your winning.


Even though he knows the odds all too well, Garibaldi said he usually plays the lottery.


When it gets this big, I'll buy a couple of tickets," he said. "It's kind of exciting. You get this feeling of anticipation. You get to think about the fantasy."


So, did he buy two tickets this time?


"I couldn't," he told ABC News. "I'm in California" -- one of eight states that doesn't offer Powerball.


In case you were wondering, this Saturday's Powerball jackpot is starting at $40 million.


ABC News Radio contributed to this report.



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Infinity in the real world: Does space go on forever?



MacGregor Campbell, consultant






It's an existential question most of us have probably pondered at some point: is space infinite? It's tricky to answer because there's not just one kind of infinity to consider. Even if the universe goes on forever, it may not be infinitely large. It could be bounded like the surface of the Earth, allowing you to travel indefinitely without ever finding an edge.








In this animation, we try to determine the size of space, and whether it could be never-ending.
Although infinity is easy to imagine mathematically, in the real world it's harder to pin down. Perhaps the universe is just really big but has a finite size. And if it has an upwards limit, what about the opposite: can it contain things that are infinitely small? Is there a smallest possible length?



If you enjoyed this video, check out our previous animations that tackle, for example, the true nature of reality, or why there's no such thing as nothing.




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Football: Scolari set to return as Brazil coach: reports






RIO DE JANEIRO: Felipe Scolari will be named for a second spell as coach of the Brazilian national side on Thursday, press reports said on Wednesday.

"The Brazil Football Federation has already chosen its new coach: Luiz Felipe Scolari will replace Mano Menezes," the GloboEsporte website said.

An official announcement is expected on Thursday.

Scolari, who previously coached Brazil to World Cup glory in Japan in 2002, will be charged with bringing further success on home soil in 2014.

- AFP/fa



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Yahoo's Marissa Mayer continues to keep plans close to the vest



Yahoo's Marissa Mayer.

Yahoo's Marissa Mayer.



(Credit:
James Martin/CNET)


Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer last night spoke before an invite-only crowd at Fortune's Most Powerful Women event. And although she offered up some details during her interview, she sidestepped any opportunity to fully outline her company's plans.


Not surprisingly, Mayer focused much of her discussion on mobile. The mobile market is growing rapidly, and shareholders are responding favorably to Mayer's claims that the space is integral to Yahoo's future growth. At a recent earnings call, Mayer spent an inordinate amount of time discussing mobile and why she believes Yahoo is well-positioned to capitalize. She did it again last night.


"We have a terrific set of assets on the web--all the things people want to do on their mobile phone," Mayer said, according to Fortune. "The interesting thing is when you look at what people want to do on their phone, it's mail, weather, check stock quotes and news. That's Yahoo's business. This is a huge opportunity for us because we have the content and all the information people want on their phones."



Mayer also acknowledged that there are some things that Yahoo doesn't have in the mobile space. And to address that, she plans to continue to make "acqui-hires," allowing her firm to get a mobile company's top employees, but not necessarily its technology. Late last month, Mayer acquired Stamped, a mobile app that lets users recommend everything from books to restaurants.


But don't expect Mayer to run too far from Yahoo's roots. She said that she wants to bring Yahoo back to its roots and focus its business. The result, she said, should be "a global suite of products that are truly excellent."


Still, Mayer, who gave birth to her first son on September 30, made it clear that Yahoo is not necessarily her first priority: "for me, it's God, family, and Yahoo -- in that order."


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Pictures: Falcon Massacre Uncovered in India

Photograph courtesy Conservation India

A young boy can sell bundles of fresh Amur falcons (pictured) for less than five dollars. Still, when multiplied by the thousands of falcons hunters can catch in a day, the practice can be a considerable financial boon to these groups.

Since discovering the extent of Amur hunting in Nagaland this fall, Conservation India has taken the issue to the local Indian authorities.

"They have taken it very well. They've not been defensive," Sreenivasan said.

"You're not dealing with national property, you're dealing with international property, which helped us put pressure on [them]." (Related: "Asia's Wildlife Trade.")

According to Conservation India, the same day the group filed their report with the government, a fresh order banning Amur hunting was issued. Local officials also began meeting with village leaders, seizing traps and confiscating birds. The national government has also requested an end to the hunting.

Much remains to be done, but because the hunt is so regional, Sreenivasan hopes it can eventually be contained and stamped out. Authorities there, he said, are planning a more thorough investigation next year, with officials observing, patrolling, and enforcing the law.

"This is part of India where there is some amount of acceptance on traditional bush hunting," he added. "But at some point, you draw the line."

(Related: "Bush-Meat Ban Would Devastate Africa's Animals, Poor?")

Published November 27, 2012

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Susan Rice Made Allies, Enemies Before Benghazi













United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice, on Capitol Hill this week answering questions about her role after the U.S. consulate attack in Benghazi, has become yet another player in the divide between the left and right, with her possible nomination as the next Secretary of State hanging in the balance.


But who was Susan Rice before she told ABC's "This Week" and other Sunday morning shows the attack was a spontaneous response to an anti-Islam film and not a premeditated act of terror? Four Americans died in the September attack.


Unlike many in government, Rice holds a rare claim to Washington, D.C.: she's a local. She hails from a prominent family with deep ties to the Democratic Party. She was born Nov. 17, 1964 to Emmett Rice, a deputy director at the Treasury Department who served as a member of Jimmy Carter's Federal Reserve board, and Lois Dickson Rice, a former program officer at the Ford Foundation who is now a higher education expert at the Brookings Institution.








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President Obama to Senator McCain: 'Go After Me' Watch Video







As a high school student at the all-girl National Cathedral School in Washington, Rice was known as an overachiever; valedictorian, star athlete and class president. After graduating high school in 1982, she went on to study history at Stanford, where she graduated as a Truman scholar and junior Phi Beta Kappa. Rice also attended Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.


The family has roots in Maine. In an interview with the Portland Press Herald in 2008, Lois Dickson Rice said that she held the same high expectations for her children as her mother had held for her. According to the paper, Ambassador Rice's drive to achieve spanned generations. Her maternal grandmother, an immigrant from Jamaica, was named Maine State Mother of the Year in 1950. Rice's father was only the second African-American man to be chosen for the Federal Reserve board.


Two years out of Stanford, Rice joined Massachusetts Democrat Michael Dukakis as a foreign policy aide during his 1988 run for president. After his defeat, Rice tried her hand in the private sector, where she went on to work as a management consultant with McKinsey and Company. After President Clinton's election in 1992, she joined Clinton's National Security Council, eventually joining her mentor, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. She served as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs.


A profile of the diplomat from Stanford paints the Rices and Albrights as old family friends.


"The Rice and Albright kids went to school together and shared meals at Hamburger Hamlet," Stanford Magazine reported in 2000.




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James Gleick's The Information wins top book prize



The-Information.jpg

Tiffany O’Callaghan, CultureLab editor


Some of the world’s most influential scientists shared a stage at the Royal Society in London last night, reading excerpts from their recent popular science books and debating whether the public understanding of science is waxing or waning.



The occasion was the 2012 Royal Society Winton book prize, created 24 years ago to recognise works written for a non-specialist audience.



Yet despite the mighty assembly of shortlisted scientist-authors, it was a self-described outsider who ran away with the honours. “I am in the category of people on the outside, with their faces pressed up against the glass,” said veteran science writer James Gleick as he accepted the award for The Information - as well as a cheque for £10,000.



The Information is a clever exploration of information theory and how the message was disentangled from the medium, starting with the long-distance drumming that Africans have used for millennia to convey vital messages, and coming up to date with our reliance on Wikipedia. What’s more, as prize judge Sam Kean put it, the book examines the notion held by some physicists that “information is more fundamental than both mass and energy - that it may be the very bedrock of reality”.







A former writer and editor for The New York Times, Gleick is the author of six books - including the 1987 work Chaos, which New Scientist readers voted one of the 10 most influential popular science books earlier this year.



Announcing the winner, society president Paul Nurse welcomed a “renaissance of science writing in the last decade”. The panel of judges had certainly been spoiled for choice: as well as Gleick’s winning work, the shortlisted titles included The Better Angels of our Nature by Steven Pinker, The Hidden Reality by Brian Greene, A Viral Storm by Nathan Wolfe, My Beautiful Genome by Lone Frank and Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer.



During the ceremony, hosted by comedian Ben Miller, each shortlisted author read a selection from their nominated works - including Nathan Wolfe, who was unable to attend the event but sent a video-recorded reading.



Before the winner was announced, the audience quizzed the authors and even managed to prompt some disagreement with the persistent question of whether public understanding of science was improving or getting worse.



When they were asked if the gap between what scientists and the general public know is widening, Lone Frank simply replied, “Yes.” Joshua Foer took a different tack, arguing that increasing specialisations within science meant that the gap between scientists themselves is getting broader.



Yet some rapid wordplay made for the most notable exchange. Earlier in the evening, Gleick had commented that “information is not knowledge, let along understanding”. So when he argued that public understanding of science had improved in recent years, saying that the spread of “scientific knowledge has never been greater than it is now”, Frank tartly reminded him of his earlier words.



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Global private equity firms eyeing Southeast Asia






SINGAPORE : More global private equity firms have been setting up offices in Southeast Asia, and the funds raised in the region are expected to grow at an annual rate of 30 per cent over the next three years.

Private equity investors are also likely to cast the spotlight on Singapore, Indonesia and China.

Things are heating up in Singapore's private equity space.

Singapore-based venture capital and private equity firms managed a total of S$26.5 billion last year, according to a survey by the Singapore Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (SVCA) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Out of this, S$2.3 billion was invested in Singapore.

US private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) opened its Singapore office in October, with plans to inject more than US$1 billion in Southeast Asia over the next five years.

Indonesian private equity firm Northstar Group has also made its first foray into the Singapore market.

It recently acquired a 50 per cent stake in Nera Telecommunications, through its newly-incorporated unitE, Asia Systems.

Northstar has invested close to US$2 billion with co-investors in the Southeast Asian region.

Experts have said Singapore's location makes it a natural platform for global investors to set up base.

Eugene Wong, chairman of the Singapore Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, said: "Singapore is becoming like the Asia equivalent of NYC and Silicon Valley, so we can play the role of a New York for private equity, the big M&A private equity players, and the Silicon Valley tech region for high-tech high-growth companies. So for players in Singapore, one advantage is that we can also invest in China, Korea, and New Zealand. "

While private equity transactions in Southeast Asia have totalled US$3.6 billion so far this year, investing in this region is not without its challenges.

Jack Wang, a partner at Lexico, said: "US private equity firms are familiar with corporate governance. And in Asia, personal relationships are the predominant factors when it comes to deal sourcing and deal execution, so a change in mindset, lots of focus on the personal element...this is particularly true in Indonesia, most of the existing companies are owned by family business, and in China as well, politics is a big factor. "

According to research by the Singapore Venture Capitalist Association, approximately US$6.4 billion worth of funds will be raised in Southeast Asia by the end of 2012. And with the rising affluence in this region, market watchers have said they expect more private equity firms from the US to invest in the telecoms, commodities and consumer sectors in Southeast Asia.

- CNA/ms



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With Wii U on store shelves, Nintendo preps Wii Mini for Dec. 7?



Nintendo might have another new console to offer up in the coming weeks.


Best Buy Canada today is promoting on its homepage a new
Wii Mini. The company's homepage displays an image of a redesigned Wii, showing a matte black finish and red outline. A red Wii Remote sits alongside the console. Best Buy claims the console will launch on December 7.


It appears that the ad was mistakenly placed on the Best Buy site. Nintendo has not yet announced a new Wii and the "Pre-Order Now" link in the ad doesn't work. When searching the Best Buy Canada site, CNET was unable to find any Wii Mini listing. Similar searches on other retail sites, including the U.S. version of Best Buy's homepage, proved similarly fruitless.



Nintendo launched its new console, the
Wii U, earlier this month. In an interview with CNET yesterday, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said that his company sold 400,000 Wii U units during its first week on store shelves. However, during that same week, the Wii was able to muster 300,000 unit sales, indicating that it might still have some gas left in the tank.


Nintendo has in the past offered up new versions of older hardware to keep customers buying. That the company is apparently considering launching a new Wii is not necessarily out of character.


CNET has contacted Nintendo for comment on the Best Buy leak. We will update this story when we have more information.


(Via Engadget)


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Space Pictures This Week: Space "Horse," Mars Rover, More





































































































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Record Powerball Jackpot to Grow Even Bigger













The jackpot for Wednesday's Powerball drawing now stands at $425 million -- the richest Powerball pot ever -- and it's likely to get even sweeter.


"Back in January, we moved Powerball from being a $1 game to $2," says Mary Neubauer, a spokeswoman for the Iowa lottery. "We thought at the time that this would mean bigger and faster-growing jackpots."


It's proved true. The total, she says, "has been taking huge jumps -- another $100 million since Saturday." (The most recent drawing, on Saturday night, produced no winning numbers.)


Until now, the biggest Powerball pot on record -- $365 million -- was won in 2006 by eight Lincoln, Neb., co-workers.


In Photos: Biggest Lotto Jackpot Winners


Lottery officials in Iowa, where Powerball is headquartered, have started getting phone calls from all around the world. "When it gets this big," says Neubauer, "we start getting inquiries from Canada and Europe from people wanting to know if they can buy a ticket. They ask if they can FedEx us the money."






Don Smith/The Record (Bergen County)/AP Photo











Powerball Drawing No Winner; Jackpot Grows to $425 Million Watch Video









Powerball Fever: Millions Chase the Chance to Hit Jackpot Watch Video







The answer she has to give them, she says, is: "Sorry, no. You have to buy a ticket in a member state from a licensed retail location."


About 80 percent of players don't choose their own Powerball number, opting instead for a computer-generated one.


Asked if there's anything players can do to improve their odds of winning, Neubauer says no -- apart from buying a ticket, of course.


Lottery officials put the odds of winning Wednesday's Powerball pot at one in 175 million, meaning you are 25 times more likely to win an Academy Award.


Skip Garibaldi, a professor of mathematics at Emory University in Atlanta, provides additional perspective: You are three times more likely to die from a falling coconut, he says; seven times more likely to die from fireworks, "and way more likely to die from flesh-eating bacteria" (115 fatalities a year) than you are to win the Powerball lottery.


Segueing, then, from death to life, Garibaldi notes that even the best physicians, equipped with the most up-to-date equipment, can't predict the timing of a child's birth with much accuracy.


"But let's suppose, however, that your doctor managed to predict the day, the hour, the minute and the second your baby would be born," Garibaldi says. The doctor's uncanny prediction would be "at least 100 times" more likely than your winning Wednesday.


Even though he knows the odds all too well, Garibaldi says he'll usually play the lottery. "When it gets this big, I'll buy a couple of tickets. It's kind of exciting. You get this feeling of anticipation. You get to think about the fantasy."


So will he be purchasing two tickets for Wednesday's Powerball? "I can't," he tells ABC News. "I'm in California" -- one of eight states that doesn't offer Powerball.



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Water-hating shoes repel (almost) any liquid



Joanna Carver, reporter






If you wear white sneakers outside, chances are they won't stay clean for long. But thanks to a new superhydrophobic coating that is claimed to completely repel water and heavy oils, your shoes should look like new for longer - and keep your feet dry at the same time.







Developed by Ross Nanotechnology of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the spray, called NeverWet, allows liquids to roll off without touching the underlying surface. Company president Andy Jones declined to reveal any trade secrets but he does say that the silicon-based aerosol is made of nanoparticles that self-assemble when sprayed. 



The company sent us a pair of trainers with one shoe treated with the spray, so we decided to test them out on the streets of London. In this video, you can see red wine skip off the surface while viscous sauces like ketchup and caramel roll off without leaving a trace. But NeverWet can't resist everything: it's vulnerable to most solvents, for example acetone or ethanol. By subjecting the shoe to a dose of spray paint, we manage to ruin its nearly pristine exterior.



The aerosol can also be applied to electronics: a dramatic video reveals how an iPhone coated with the substance remains fully functional when submerged in a bowl of water for 30 minutes.
NeverWet is set to go on sale in the US before the end of the year, and internationally soon after.



For more on ultra-repellant materials, check out our full-length feature "Omniphobia: the stuffs that stick at nothing"
or watch a super-slippery material, inspired by a carnivorous plant, in action.





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Thailand lifts Internal Security Act in Bangkok






BANGKOK: The Thai government has lifted the Internal Security Act (ISA) invoked in some parts of the capital as the security situation returned to normalcy following an anti-government rally.

Government spokesman Tosaporn Sereerak said Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra signed the order on Monday.

Initially, the ISA was invoked for nine days starting last Thursday in the Pranakorn, Dusit and Pomprabsattrupai districts, close to the Royal Plaza, following anticipation that violence may occur during the anti-government rally there last Saturday.

The rally, organised by the Pitak Siam group, however, attracted some 20,000 protesters, far short of the target of one million people.

Eighty-two people, consisting of protesters, policemen and a soldier, sustained minor injuries during the rally.

The invocation of the ISA, among others, allows the mobilisation of soldiers to help the police to control the security situation and imposition of curfew.

Police have already stopped blocking roads around Government House and Parliament.

But anti-riot police are still protecting Parliament, where a no-confidence debate against the government of Yingluck Shinawatra is into its second day.

The debates will run till Tuesday, to be followed by a no-confidence vote on Wednesday.

The opposition Democrat Party has accused Prime Minister Yingluck of allowing corruption, and of being a puppet for her fugitive brother, ousted premier Thaksin.

But the motions, which also target three other ministers, are not likely to pass, as the legislature is dominated by the ruling Puea Thai party and its coalition partners.

- BERNAMA/CNA/de



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Intel uses Facebook to out ultrabook Cyber Monday deals



Intel is showcasing "ultradeals on ultrabooks."

Intel is showcasing "ultradeals on ultrabooks."



(Credit:
Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)


Intel's ultrabook spec is getting some promotion on the company's Facebook page today.


Intel has taken it upon itself to promote what it believes are the top Cyber Monday deals for ultrabooks. The company's listing includes a host of products from major vendors, including HP, Lenovo, and Dell.


The chip maker offered up "top picks" for its followers to check out. The first option comes from HP, which is offering a $50 discount on its Envy TouchSmart Ultrabook and a free Barnes & Noble Nook with the purchase of the computer, which starts at $749.99. Intel also thinks Lenovo's $100 discount on the IdeaPad Yoga 13, bringing that ultrabook's price down to $1,299, is worth checking out.



Intel's ultrabook spec is designed to compete with the likes of Apple's
MacBook Air. In order to qualify as an ultrabook, the respective laptop must be running one of Intel's latest chips and fit within its constraints on thinness and size. So far, ultrabooks have faced some trouble attracting customers, due to their comparatively high prices.


Earlier this year, however, Intel touted the product category's price reductions, saying that average prices are now down below the $750 mark. However, those ultrabooks came with displays featuring lower resolutions, as well as Intel's prior-generation "Sandy Bridge" processors. Computers featuring the latest processors, solid-state drive support, and other newer components are still expensive compared to lightweight notebooks that don't make it into the ultrabook spec.


Of course, Intel's ultrabooks aren't the only deals offered across the Web today. CNET has a handy Cyber Monday guide giving you all the details you need to check out the best deals on this busy shopping day.


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Distant Dwarf Planet Secrets Revealed


Orbiting at the frozen edges of our solar system, the mysterious dwarf planet Makemake is finally coming out of the shadows as astronomers get their best view yet of Pluto's little sibling.

Discovered in 2005, Makemake—pronounced MAH-keh MAH-keh after a Polynesian creation god—is one of five Pluto-like objects that prompted a redefining of the term "planet" and the creation of a new group of dwarf planets in 2006. (Related: "Pluto Not a Planet, Astronomers Rule.")

Just like the slightly larger Pluto, this icy world circles our sun beyond Neptune. Researchers expected Makemake to also have a global atmosphere—but new evidence reveals that isn't the case.

Staring at a Star

An international team of astronomers was able for the first time to probe Makemake's physical characteristics using the European Southern Observatory's three most powerful telescopes in Chile. The researchers observed the change in light given off by a distant star as the dwarf planet passed in front of it. (Learn how scientists found Makemake.)

"These events are extremely difficult to predict and observe, but they are the only means of obtaining accurate knowledge of important properties of dwarf planets," said Jose Luis Ortiz, lead author of this new study and an astronomer at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, in Spain.

It's like trying to study a coin from a distance of 30 miles (48 kilometers) or more, Ortiz added.

Ortiz and his team knew Makemake didn't have an atmosphere when light from the background star abruptly dimmed and brightened as the chilly world drifted across its face.

"The light went off very abruptly from all the sites we observed the event so this means this world cannot have a substantial and global atmosphere like that of its sibling Pluto," Ortiz said.

If Makemake had an atmosphere, light from the star would gradually decrease and increase as the dwarf planet passed in front.

Coming Into Focus

The team's new observations add much more detail to our view of Makemake—not only limiting the possibility of an atmosphere but also determining the planet's size and surface more accurately.

"We think Makemake is a sphere flattened slightly at both poles and mostly covered with very white ices—mainly of methane," said Ortiz.

"But there are also indications for some organic material at least at some places; this material is usually very red and we think in a small percentage of the surface, the terrain is quite dark," he added.

Why Makemake lacks a global atmosphere remains a big mystery, but Ortiz does have a theory. Pluto is covered in nitrogen ice. When the sun heats this volatile material, it turns straight into a gas, creating Pluto's atmosphere.

Makemake lacks nitrogen ice on its surface, so there is nothing for the sun to heat into a gas to provide an atmosphere.

The dwarf planet has less mass, and a weaker gravitational field, than Pluto, said Ortiz. This means that over eons of time, Makemake may not have been able to hang on to its nitrogen.

Methane ice will also transform into a gas when heated. But since the dwarf planet is nearly at its furthest distance from the sun, Ortiz believes that Makemake's surface methane is still frozen. (Learn about orbital planes.)

And even if the methane were to transform into a gas, any resulting atmosphere would cover, at most, only ten percent of the planet, said Ortiz.

The new results are detailed today in the journal Nature.


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President Obama Prepares for Cabinet Shuffle


Nov 26, 2012 6:45am







ap barack obama hillary clinton ll 120514 wblog President Obama Prepares for Cabinet Shuffle

Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo


As President Obama prepares for his second term, preparations have begun for the traditional shuffling of the Cabinet.


Top priority for the president: filling slots for those top officials heading — if not running — for the door: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner.


To replace Clinton, Democratic insiders suggest that U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Dr. Susan Rice is the frontrunner, with Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., also a viable candidate.


Rice has been harshly criticized by Republicans for the erroneous comments she made on Sunday news talk shows after the attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, comments that were based on intelligence reports that falsely blamed the attack on a protest against an anti-Muslim video. When the president, during his recent press conference, offered a vociferous defense of Rice, many of those close to him began to suspect he was tipping his hand as to what he might decide.


To replace Geithner at Treasury, White House chief of staff Jack Lew is thought to have the inside track if he wants it, with other possibilities including Neal Wolin, the current deputy secretary of the Treasury and Lael Brainard, current under secretary of the Treasury for international affairs.


Other informed sources suggest that there is consideration being given to a business/CEO type such as investor Roger Altman, former Time/Warner chair Richard Parsons, and Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg.


Those are the two most pressing jobs to fill, with Clinton exhausted from a long stretch in government — eight years as first lady, eight as senator, and four as secretary of state — and the president having personally promised Geithner’s wife that he could leave as soon as possible after the election.


Any of the business/CEO types being discussed for treasury secretary could also serve as secretary of commerce, a position that for the Obama administration has proved as troublesome as the role of drummer in Spinal Tap. Jeff Zients, the acting director of the Office of Management & Budget, is said to be under consideration.


It’s too flip to refer to it as a consolation prize, but informed sources say that — with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta also planning on leaving — Kerry could be offered the position secretary of defense if he wants it, though the Massachusetts senator has suggested he only wants State. Another option, Michelle Flournoy, a former under secretary of defense for Policy, would be the first female to serve in that position. There was some discussion of National Security Adviser Tom Donilon moving across the river, but it seems clear, sources say, that he’s staying where he is.


If Lew leaves to take the position at Treasury, some possible replacements for him as chief of staff include deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough or Vice President Biden’s former chief of staff Ron Klain. Tom Nides, deputy secretary of state for management and resources, has also been discussed.


President Obama’s senior adviser David Plouffe has also long discussed leaving the White House. There are many options to fill his shoes, including the elevation of communications director Dan Pfeiffer. Also possible: bringing back former press secretary Robert Gibbs, or former deputy chief of staff/campaign manager Jim Messina. Another option might be to bring in some of the people who were part of the messaging shop in the campaign — David Simus, who served as director of opinion research for the campaign, or Larry Grisolano, who did ads for campaign.


– Jake Tapper



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