Earth may be crashing through dark matter walls



































Earth is constantly crashing through huge walls of dark matter, and we already have the tools to detect them. That's the conclusion of physicists who say the universe may be filled with a patchwork quilt of force fields created shortly after the big bang.












Observations of how mass clumps in space suggest that about 86 per cent of all matter is invisible dark matter, which interacts with ordinary matter mainly through gravity. The most popular theory is that dark matter is made of weakly interacting massive particles.











WIMPs should also interact with ordinary matter via the weak nuclear force, and their presence should have slight but measurable effects. However, years of searches for WIMPs have been coming up empty.













"So far nothing is found, and I feel like it's time to broaden the scope of our search," says Maxim Pospelov of the University of Victoria in Canada. "What we propose is to look for some other signatures."











Bubbly cosmos













Pospelov and colleagues have been examining a theory that at least some of the universe's dark matter is tied up in structures called domain walls, akin to the boundaries between tightly packed bubbles. The idea is that the hot early universe was full of an exotic force field that varied randomly. As the universe expanded and cooled, the field froze, leaving a patchwork of domains, each with its own distinct value for the field.












Having different fields sit next to each other requires energy to be stored within the domain walls. Mass and energy are interchangeable, so on a large scale a network of domain walls can look like concentrations of mass – that is, like dark matter, says Pospelov.












If the grid of domain walls is packed tightly enough – say, if the width of the domains is several hundred times the distance between Earth and the sun – Earth should pass through a domain wall once every few years. "As a human, you wouldn't feel a thing," says Pospelov. "You will go through the wall without noticing." But magnetometers – devices that, as the name suggests, measure magnetic fields – could detect the walls, say Pospelov and colleagues in a new study. Although the field inside a domain would not affect a magnetometer, the device would sense the change when Earth passes through a domain wall.












Dark matter walls have not been detected yet because anyone using a single magnetometer would find the readings swamped by noise, Pospelov says. "You'd never be able to say if it's because the Earth went through a bizarre magnetic field or if a grad student dropped their iPhone or something," he says.











Network needed













Finding the walls will require a network of at least five detectors spread around the world, Pospelov suggests. Colleagues in Poland and California have already built one magnetometer each and have shown that they are sensitive enough for the scheme to work.












Domain walls wouldn't account for all the dark matter in the universe, but they could explain why finding particles of the stuff has been such a challenge, says Pospelov.












If domain walls are found, the news might come as a relief to physicists still waiting for WIMPs to show up. Earlier this month, for instance, a team working with a detector in Russia that has been running for more than 24 years announced that they have yet to see any sign of these dark matter candidates.












Douglas Finkbeiner of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, who was not involved in Pospelov's study, isn't yet convinced that dark matter walls exist. But he is glad that physicists are keeping an open mind about alternatives to WIMPs.












"We've looked for WIMP dark matter in so many ways," he says. "At some point you have to ask, are we totally on the wrong track?"












Journal reference: Physical Review Letters, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.021803


















































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Bowling: Shayna Ng wins International Bowling Championship in Japan






NAGOYA, Japan: Singapore bowler Shayna Ng has added another title to her belt after winning the DHC International Bowling Championship in Nagoya, Japan.

The 23-year-old claimed the women's crown after a title match showdown with American pro bowler Kelly Kulick.

With the victory, Ng takes home close to S$82,000 in prize money.

This is the second year that a Singaporean has won the title at the International Bowling Championship, following Cherie Tan's victory last year.

- CNA/fa



Read More..

Go ahead and spill on this nanotech menswear



This inside compartment lets you use your smartphone without removing it from the waterproof pocket.



(Credit:
Indochino)


A new line of men's suits from custom online menswear brand Indochino might not contain aloe vera and algae extracts like these new skin-pampering blue jeans, but they still join the denims in the fancy-futuristic-fabric category.

The Ultimate Tech Collection boasts nanotech suits that supposedly repel liquid and stains and resist odors and wrinkles, all while staying breathable and comfortable. If the suits live up to their promise, you should be able to run through a rainstorm while sweating profusely, then break a ballpoint pen over your leg -- and still show up at the board meeting looking no worse for the wear.




The wool suits not only sport a protective nanotech coating that ought to keep you relatively unscathed by the elements, they also include a detachable down "storm flap" that's designed to protect your neck and chest from the cold.

Available in navy, light blue, and look-over-here orange, the flap buttons into the inside of the jacket as a kind of scarf stand-in.

The jacket joins the growing list of gadget-compatible garments with a touch-responsive Smart Pocket that lets you operate your smartphone straight from the suit (from the look of the pocket's location, that could require some maneuvering). The jacket also comes with a metal earphone cable clip and rubber earphone hole under the lapel.

So how much will one of these weather-resistant, smartphone-loving getups run you? They fall in the mid to high range, at approximately $630. Again, that includes a storm flap but not aloe vera sleeves.


A rubber earphone hole under the suit's lapel helps the wearer stay untangled and hands-free.



(Credit:
Indochino)


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Attack at Algeria Gas Plant Heralds New Risks for Energy Development



The siege by Islamic militants at a remote Sahara desert natural gas plant in Algeria this week signaled heightened dangers in the region for international oil companies, at a time when they have been expanding operations in Africa as one of the world's last energy frontiers. (See related story: "Pictures: Four New Offshore Drilling Frontiers.")


As BP, Norway's Statoil, Italy's Eni, and other companies evacuated personnel from Algeria, it was not immediately clear how widely the peril would spread in the wake of the hostage-taking at the sprawling In Amenas gas complex near the Libyan border.



A map of disputed islands in the East and South China Seas.

Map by National Geographic



Algeria, the fourth-largest crude oil producer on the continent and a major exporter of natural gas and refined fuels, may not have been viewed as the most hospitable climate for foreign energy companies, but that was due to unfavorable financial terms, bureaucracy, and corruption. The energy facilities themselves appeared to be safe, with multiple layers of security provided both by the companies and by government forces, several experts said. (See related photos: "Oil States: Are They Stable? Why It Matters.")


"It is particularly striking not only because it hasn't happened before, but because it happened in Algeria, one of the stronger states in the region," says Hanan Amin-Salem, a senior manager at the industry consulting firm PFC Energy, who specializes in country risk. She noted that in the long civil war that gripped the country throughout the 1990s, there had never been an attack on Algeria's energy complex. But now, hazard has spread from weak surrounding states, as the assault on In Amenas was carried out in an apparent retaliation for a move by French forces against the Islamists who had taken over Timbuktu and other towns in neighboring Mali. (See related story: "Timbuktu Falls.")


"What you're really seeing is an intensification of the fundamental problem of weak states, and empowerment of heavily armed groups that are really well motivated and want to pursue a set of aims," said Amin-Salem. In PFC Energy's view, she says, risk has increased in Mauritania, Chad, and Niger—indeed, throughout Sahel, the belt that bisects North Africa, separating the Sahara in the north from the tropical forests further south.


On Thursday, the London-based corporate consulting firm Exclusive Analysis, which was recently acquired by the global consultancy IHS, sent an alert to clients warning that oil and gas facilities near the Libyan and Mauritanian borders and in Mauritania's Hodh Ech Chargui province were at "high risk" of attack by jihadis.


"A Hot Place to Drill"


The attack at In Amenas comes at a time of unprecedented growth for the oil industry in Africa. (See related gallery: "Pictures: The Year's Most Overlooked Energy Stories.") Forecasters expect that oil output throughout Africa will double by 2025, says Amy Myers Jaffe, executive director of the energy and sustainability program at the University of California, Davis, who has counted 20 rounds of bidding for new exploration at sites in Africa's six largest oil-producing states.


Oil and natural gas are a large part of the Algerian economy, accounting for 60 percent of government budget revenues, more than a third of GDP and more than 97 percent of its export earnings. But the nation's resources are seen as largely undeveloped, and Algeria has tried to attract new investment. Over the past year, the government has sought to reform the law to boost foreign companies' interests in their investments, although those efforts have foundered.


Technology has been one of the factors driving the opening up of Africa to deeper energy exploration. Offshore and deepwater drilling success in the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil led to prospecting now under way offshore in Ghana, Mozambique, and elsewhere. (See related story: "New Oil—And a Huge Challenge—for Ghana.") Jaffe says the Houston-based company Anadarko Petroleum has sought to transfer its success in "subsalt seismic" exploration technology, surveying reserves hidden beneath the hard salt layer at the bottom of the sea, to the equally challenging seismic exploration beneath the sands of the Sahara in Algeria, where it now has three oil and gas operations.


Africa also is seen as one of the few remaining oil-rich regions of the world where foreign oil companies can obtain production-sharing agreements with governments, contracts that allow them a share of the revenue from the barrels they produce, instead of more limited service contracts for work performed.


"You now have the technology to tap the resources more effectively, and the fiscal terms are going to be more attractive than elsewhere—you put these things together and it's been a hot place to drill," says Jaffe, who doesn't see the energy industry's interest in Africa waning, despite the increased terrorism risk. "What I think will happen in some of these countries is that the companies are going to reveal new securities systems and procedures they have to keep workers safe," she says. "I don't think they will abandon these countries."


This story is part of a special series that explores energy issues. For more, visit The Great Energy Challenge.


Read More..

Te'o Denies Involvement in Girlfriend Hoax













Notre Dame star linebacker Manti Te'o told ESPN that he "never, not ever" was involved in creating the hoax that had him touting what turned out to be a fictional girlfriend, "Lennay Kekua."


"When they hear the facts, they'll know," Te'o told ESPN's Jeremy Schaap in his first interview since the story broke. "They'll know that there is no way that I could be a part of this."


"I wasn't faking it," he said during a 2 1/2-hour interview, according to ESPN.com.


Te'o said he only learned for sure this week that he had been duped. On Wednesday, he received a Twitter message, allegedly from a man named Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, apologizing for the hoax, Te'o told Schaap.


The sports website Deadspin, which first revealed the hoax this week, has reported that Tuiasosopo, a 22-year-old of Samoan descent who lives in Antelope Valley, Calif., asked a woman he knew for her photo and that photo became the face of Kekua's Twitter account.


Te'o told Schaap that Tuiasosopo was represented to him as Kekua's cousin.


"I hope he learns," Te'o said of Tuiasosopo, according to coverage of the interview on ESPN.com. "I hope he understands what he's done. I don't wish an ill thing to somebody. I just hope he learns. I think embarrassment is big enough."


Click Here for a Who's Who in the Manti Te'o Case






AP Photo/ESPN Images, Ryan Jones











Manti Te'o Hoax: Was He Duped or Did He Know? Watch Video









Manti Te'o Hoax: Notre Dame Star Allegedly Scammed Watch Video









Tale of Notre Dame Football Star's Girlfriend and Her Death an Alleged Hoax Watch Video





Te'o admitted to a few mistakes in his own conduct, including telling his father he met Kekua in Hawaii even though his attempt to meet her actually failed. Later retellings of that tale led to inconsistencies in media reports, Te'o said, adding that he never actually met Kekua in person.


Te'o added that he feared people would think it was crazy for him to be involved with someone that he never met, so, "I kind of tailored my stories to have people think that, yeah, he met her before she passed away."


The relationship got started on Facebook during his freshman year, Te'o said.


"My relationship with Lennay wasn't a four-year relationship," Te'o said, according to ESPN.com. "There were blocks and times and periods in which we would talk and then it would end."


He showed Schaap Facebook correspondence indicating that other people knew of Kekua -- though Te'o now believes they, too, were tricked.


The relationship became more intense, Te'o said, after he received a call that Kekua was in a coma following a car accident involving a drunk driver on April 28.


Soon, Te'o and Kekua became inseparable over the phone, he said, continuing their phone conversations through her recovery from the accident, and then during her alleged battle against leukemia.


Even so, Te'o never tried to visit Kekua at her hospital in California.


"It never really crossed my mind," he said, according to ESPN.com. "I don't know. I was in school."


But the communication between the two was intense. They even had ritual where they discussed scripture every day, Te'o said. His parents also participated via text message, and Te'o showed Schaap some of the texts.


On Sept. 12, a phone caller claiming to be Kekua's relative told Te'o that Kekua had died of leukemia, Te'o said. However, on Dec. 6, Te'o said he got a call allegedly from Kekua saying she was alive. He said he was utterly confused and did not know what to believe.


ESPN's 2 1/2-hour interview was conducted in Bradenton, Fla., with Te'o's lawyer present but without video cameras. Schaap said Te'o was composed, comfortable and in command, and that he said he didn't want to go on camera to keep the setting intimate and avoid a big production.


According to ABC News interviews and published reports, Te'o received phone calls, text messages and letters before every football game from his "girlfriend." He was in contact with her family, including a twin brother, a second brother, sister and parents. He called often to check in with them, just as he did with his own family. And "Kekua" kept in contact with Te'o's friends and family, and teammates spoke to her on the phone.






Read More..

Mussels with backpacks monitor Mississippi's health








































RIVER mussels wearing tiny sensor backpacks could help monitor the Mississippi for dangerous pollutants. The plan is for the mussels to measure the flow of nitrogen-rich fertiliser that courses down the river and empties into the Gulf of Mexico. An excess of the nutrient there can cause dead zones that suffocate marine life.



















Researchers at the University of Iowa in Iowa City have attached wireless sensor packages to mussels for measuring their "gape" - how much their shells are open. They are also working on monitoring the animals' heart rate, how much water they filter and when they burrow. Each behaviour changes according to the water conditions.












In a previous experiment the mussels' backpacks successfully transmitted signals to a receiver on the riverbed that relayed the signals to a lab on shore via a wired connection. The researchers are now testing their system on a group of mussels living in a tank, so that they can measure how the mussel shells gape in response to varying nitrogen levels.












The advantage of using mussels as a sensing mechanism is that they stay clean, unlike the electronic sensors that are normally used to monitor nitrogen content, says team member Anton Kruger.












"Everything flocks to it and all kinds of muck starts to grow on the device," he says. "But if you put a mussel out, they clean themselves and live for years and years." Kruger will present the design for the mussel backpacks next month at the Sensor Applications Symposium in Galveston, Texas.












Team member Craig Just says the creatures could also be useful as hazardous waste or spill indicators. "They'd be the canary in the coal mine," he says. They could also help researchers understand how mussels feed on nitrogen from rivers.












Donna Myers of the US Geological Survey in Reston, Virginia, praised the idea's creativity, adding that you still need conventional sensors for precise readings of nitrogen concentrations in the river. At the moment the USGS has about two dozen in operation. "But you can't afford to put sensors everywhere," Myers says. "It would be wonderful if they came up with something that could be used as an alternative."




















































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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Japan's Abe condemns civilians' deaths in Algerian crisis






JAKARTA: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has condemned the deaths of civilians in the Algerian hostage crisis.

He has also called on the Algerian government to prioritize the safety of hostages.

Mr Abe was speaking at a joint news conference in Jakarta after his meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

During their talks, both leaders agreed to strengthen their strategic partnership in political, security and economic relations.

Japan is involved in a maritime dispute with China over a group of islands in the East China Sea - a dispute that Mr Abe said should be resolved legally.

Mr Yudhoyono added that an open-sea policy should be enforced by law, and not by might.

He said: "All of us in Asia want to see a region that is stable, safe and peaceful. Therefore if there is a problem in the South China Sea or East Asia or anywhere in Asia, the solution should be peaceful, refrain from applying immediate military force and it must refer to international law. That is Indonesia's stance."

Prime Minister Abe's visit to Jakarta comes a day after the city was inundated with floodwaters. He expressed his sympathy towards the suffering of the flood victims in Greater Jakarta and vowed to help to restore and reconstruct damaged infrastructure.

Mr Abe also reaffirmed Japan's support for the development of Indonesia's railways, ports and sewage system, including the construction of the Cilamaya seaport and Jakarta's MRT.

- CNA/xq



Read More..

LG Optimus G Pro details leak online



Is a pro version of the Optimus G2 on tap?

Is a pro version of the Optimus G2 on tap?



(Credit:
Josh Miller/CNET)


A newer and beefier version of LG's Optimus G could be coming to town, at least to someone's town.


A leaked slide sent to blog site Engadget teased a host of details about the Optimus G Pro. If the slide is on the money, the new smartphone would sport a 5-inch 1,920 x 1,080 pixel display and tap into a 1.7Ghz Qualcomm quad-core Snapdragon processor for its power.


Running
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the Pro model would include 2GB of memory, 32GB of storage, and support for LTE. Also along for the ride will be a 2.4-megapixel camera in front and a 13-MP camera on the rear.


Many of those specs would be improvements over those found in the Optimus G, though certain variants of the current model already include some of those features.


Details revealed by Web site Blog of Mobile match up with virtually all of those revealed by Engadget.


The information doesn't indicate when or where the new phone will debut. But certain built-in features signal that it'll be offered by Japanese carrier NTTDoCoMo, according to Engadget. The current Optimus G is sold in Japan, South Korea, Canada, and the United States.



A recent batch of rumors also suggests that LG will release an Optimus G2 phone later this year.

CNET contacted LG for comment and will update the story if the company responds.


Meanwhile, the current Optimus G is doing quite well all by itself. LG revealed today that it has sold more than 1 million units since the phone debuted four months ago, reports the Yonhap News Agency.


LG also plans to launch the Optimus G in China and several European countries this quarter, a company spokesman told Yonhap.


Read More..

Opinion: Lance One of Many Tour de France Cheaters


Editor's note: England-based writer and photographer Roff Smith rides around 10,000 miles a year through the lanes of Sussex and Kent and writes a cycling blog at: www.my-bicycle-and-I.co.uk

And so, the television correspondent said to the former Tour de France champion, a man who had been lionised for years, feted as the greatest cyclist of his day, did you ever use drugs in the course of your career?

"Yes," came the reply. "Whenever it was necessary."

"And how often was that?" came the follow-up question.

"Almost all the time!"

This is not a leak of a transcript from Oprah Winfrey's much anticipated tell-all with disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong, but instead was lifted from a decades-old interview with Fausto Coppi, the great Italian road cycling champion of the 1940s and 1950s.

To this day, though, Coppi is lauded as one of the gods of cycling, an icon of a distant and mythical golden age in the sport.

So is five-time Tour winner Jacques Anquetil (1957, 1961-64) who famously remarked that it was impossible "to ride the Tour on mineral water."

"You would have to be an imbecile or a crook to imagine that a professional cyclist who races for 235 days a year can hold the pace without stimulants," Anquetil said.

And then there's British cycling champion Tommy Simpson, who died of heart failure while trying to race up Mont Ventoux during the 1967 Tour de France, a victim of heat, stress, and a heady cocktail of amphetamines.

All are heroes today. If their performance-enhancing peccadillos are not forgotten, they have at least been glossed over in the popular imagination.

As the latest chapter of the sorry Lance Armstrong saga unfolds, it is worth looking at the history of cheating in the Tour de France to get a sense of perspective. This is not an attempt at rationalisation or justification for what Lance did. Far from it.

But the simple, unpalatable fact is that cheating, drugs, and dirty tricks have been part and parcel of the Tour de France nearly from its inception in 1903.

Cheating was so rife in the 1904 event that Henri Desgrange, the founder and organiser of the Tour, declared he would never run the race again. Not only was the overall winner, Maurice Garin, disqualified for taking the train over significant stretches of the course, but so were next three cyclists who placed, along with the winner of every single stage of the course.

Of the 27 cyclists who actually finished the 1904 race, 12 were disqualified and given bans ranging from one year to life. The race's eventual official winner, 19-year-old Henri Cornet, was not determined until four months after the event.

And so it went. Desgrange relented on his threat to scrub the Tour de France and the great race survived and prospered-as did the antics. Trains were hopped, taxis taken, nails scattered along the roads, partisan supporters enlisted to beat up rivals on late-night lonely stretches of the course, signposts tampered with, bicycles sabotaged, itching powder sprinkled in competitors' jerseys and shorts, food doctored, and inkwells smashed so riders yet to arrive couldn't sign the control documents to prove they'd taken the correct route.

And then of course there were the stimulants-brandy, strychnine, ether, whatever-anything to get a rider through the nightmarishly tough days and nights of racing along stages that were often over 200 miles long. In a way the race was tailor-made to encourage this sort of thing. Desgrange once famously said that his idea of a perfect Tour de France would be one that was so tough that only one rider finished.

Add to this the big prizes at a time when money was hard to come by, a Tour largely comprising young riders from impoverished backgrounds for whom bicycle racing was their one big chance to get ahead, and the passionate following cycling enjoyed, and you had the perfect recipe for a desperate, high stakes, win-at-all-costs mentality, especially given the generally tolerant views on alcohol and drugs in those days.

After World War II came the amphetamines. Devised to keep soldiers awake and aggressive through long hours of battle they were equally handy for bicycle racers competing in the world's longest and toughest race.

So what makes the Lance Armstrong story any different, his road to redemption any rougher? For one thing, none of the aforementioned riders were ever the point man for what the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has described in a thousand-page report as the most sophisticated, cynical, and far-reaching doping program the world of sport has ever seen-one whose secrecy and efficiency was maintained by ruthlessness, bullying, fear, and intimidation.

Somewhere along the line, the casualness of cheating in the past evolved into an almost Frankenstein sort of science in which cyclists, aided by creepy doctors and trainers, were receiving blood transfusions in hotel rooms and tinkering around with their bodies at the molecular level many months before they ever lined up for a race.

To be sure, Armstrong didn't invent all of this, any more than he invented original sin-nor was he acting alone. But with his success, money, intelligence, influence, and cohort of thousand-dollar-an-hour lawyers-and the way he used all this to prop up the Lance brand and the Lance machine at any cost-he became the poster boy and lightning rod for all that went wrong with cycling, his high profile eclipsing even the heads of the Union Cycliste Internationale, the global cycling union, who richly deserve their share of the blame.

It is not his PED popping that is the hard-to-forgive part of the Lance story. Armstrong cheated better than his peers, that's all.

What I find troubling is the bullying and calculated destruction of anyone who got in his way, raised a question, or cast a doubt. By all accounts Armstrong was absolutely vicious, vindictive as hell. Former U.S. Postal team masseuse Emma O'Reilly found herself being described publicly as a "prostitute" and an "alcoholic," and had her life put through a legal grinder when she spoke out about Armstrong's use of PEDs.

Journalists were sued, intimidated, and blacklisted from events, press conferences, and interviews if they so much as questioned the Lance miracle or well-greased machine that kept winning Le Tour.

Armstrong left a lot of wreckage behind him.

If he is genuinely sorry, if he truly repents for his past "indiscretions," one would think his first act would be to try to find some way of not only seeking forgiveness from those whom he brutally put down, but to do something meaningful to repair the damage he did to their lives and livelihoods.


Read More..

Manti Te'o's Fake Girlfriend May Have Duped Others













Notre Dame star linebacker Manti Te'o's fake girlfriend "Lennay Kekua" may have hoaxed other unsuspecting suitors.


"Catfish" movie director and actor Ariel Schulman told "Good Morning America" today that he believes there may have been "a few other people duped by the fake Lennay character."


Schulman and his brother Nev Schulman have been looking into the elaborate scam and claim to be corresponding with various players involved. They have come to believe that there were "a lot of other people that she was corresponding with before and maybe even during her relationship [with Te'o]."


Nev Schulman was the subject of the 2010 movie "Catfish," which spawned the TV series, because he himself was sucked in by an Internet pretender -- or a "catfish" -- who built an elaborate fake life.


As questions mount about Te'o's possible role in the complex scam, the number one question is whether Te'o was unknowingly ensnared, as he says, or whether he was complicit in the scam.


"I stand by the guy. My heart goes out to him," Ariel Schulman said. His brother has reached out to Te'o, but has not heard back.


"He had his heart broken," Schulman said. "He was grieving for someone, whether she existed or not. Those were real feelings."






Streeter Lecka/Getty Images











Manti Te'o Hoax: Was He Duped or Did He Know? Watch Video









Manti Te'o Hoax: Notre Dame Star Allegedly Scammed Watch Video









Tale of Notre Dame Football Star's Girlfriend and Her Death an Alleged Hoax Watch Video





Click here for a who's who in the Manti Te'o case


Te'o has kept a low-profile since the news of the scandal broke. He released a statement calling the situation "incredibly embarrassing" and maintaining that he was a victim of the hoax.


He was captured briefly by news cameras on Thursday at a Florida training facility, but has not spoken publicly.


As for the woman whose photo was used as the face of Lennay Kekua, "Inside Edition" has identified her as Diane O'Meara who is very much alive. The show caught up with her on Thursday, but she declined to comment.


ABC News' legal analyst Dan Abrams said that O'Meara may be the one person in the scandal with the power to sue since her likeness was taken and used without her permission.


As for Te'o, even if he knew about the deception, it appears that he did not do anything illegal.


"He's allowed to lie to the public. He's allowed to lie to the media. He's not allowed to lie to the authorities," Abrams said on "Good Morning America."


Questions also remain about the timeline of events and when Te'o discovered that the "love of his life," as he called her, was nothing more than a fake Internet persona.


According to Notre Dame's timeline of events, Te'o learned his girlfriend didn't exist on Dec. 6.


But in a Dec. 8 interview with South Bend, Ind., TV station WSBT, Te'o said, "I really got hit with cancer. I lost both my grandparents an my girlfriend to cancer." And on Dec. 11, he talked about his girlfriend in a newspaper interview.


Te'o alerted Notre Dame on Dec. 26 about the scam, the university said.


Click here for more scandalous public confessions.


Skeptics have also cited comments by Te'o's father Brian Te'o who told a newspaper how Kekua used to visit his son in Hawaii.


Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said the university launched their own investigation.


"Our investigators, through their work, were able to discover online chatter between the perpetrators," Swarbrick said at a Wednesday news conference. "That was sort of the ultimate proof."






Read More..

Battle of the bottle: How to curb overindulgers


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Airbus lost top spot to Boeing in 2012






TOULOUSE, France - European group Airbus lost its top spot as the world's biggest maker of airliners to the US giant Boeing last year, but did better than expected and sees big sales this year, it said on Thursday.

Publishing results just as Boeing is hit by a crisis of confidence in its Dreamliner plane after a series of incidents, Airbus said that last year it delivered 588 aircraft to 89 customers, a record after 534 deliveries in 2011.

But sales of the flagship superjumbo A380, the biggest airliner in the world, disappointed, coming in at about one third of the target figure after a problem was discovered with the wings which the company says is now behind it.

Airbus sold a total of 833 aircraft last year, far more than the initial target figure of 650, chief executive Fabrice Bregier told a press conference near where Airbus is based at Toulouse, southern France.

However, the sales figure was far lower than the record of 1,419 sales in 2011.

Boeing delivered 601 airliners last year and took 1,203 orders.

For this year, Airbus expects to take 700 orders, excluding any cancellations, and to deliver more than 600 planes.

The order book now total 4,682 planes representing about eight years of production work.

Airbus said that it hoped that its new long-range A350 aircraft would make its maiden flight at the end of June or beginning of July.

Referring to the A350, Bregier said: "We have made reasonable good progress but I will keep cautious until the end.

"For the first flight, we expect it by mid of this year which is a big milestone, mid means end of June or early July...We are not optimistic nor pessimistic but realistic."

He added: "I'm very humble. Lots of risks are behind us but I'm interested in what is in front (of us)."

Of the 833 net orders last year, allowing for 81 cancellations, 739 were for medium-range A320-type airliners, popular with low-cost airlines, and of those 478 were for the "neo" version with new more fuel-efficient engines. The orders also comprised 58 long-haul A330 aircraft and 27 of the future A350.

Airbus booked orders for nine of its A380 superjumbo jetliners.

Bregier said that Airbus, the main part of the giant European EADS aerospace group, had exceeded its targets in terms of new orders booked and of completed aircraft delivered, even though sales of the superjumbo had underperformed.

Airbus had counted on selling 30 of the superjumbos but this target was knocked off course by the discovery of micro-cracks in the wings which cooled some customer interest.

Bregier said that this problem had been "resolved" and said he expected that this year the company would take 25 orders and would also deliver 25 of the enormous aircraft.

Referring to the position of Airbus in the global market and to the "neo" version, Bregier observed: "When we do better than expected we can be satisfied. When we see we are still in the leading position on neo market, we can be satisfied."

He said: "We started earlier with a good product. If we do the right job and I plan to do the right job, it's a huge advantage."

In view of the rapid growth, the airline has recruited a net number of 7,000 people in the last two years, hiring 10,000 while 3,000 have left for normal reasons.

The company cut 10,000 jobs between 2007 and 2009 as it restructured after a severe crisis over delays to the superjumbo programme which revealed weaknesses in the industrial workflow system.

The company now employs 59,000 people and expects to recruit 3,000 this year.

This is in contrast to many substantial employers in France which are restructuring with big job cuts, and the economy as a whole is struggling to boost its export performance and raise the niche speciality of its industrial products.

The Airbus aircraft are built mainly in Germany, Britain and Spain, and in France where they are assembled in Toulouse.

- AFP/ir



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Playboy hit with $160,000 fine over child restrictions



Playboy has been hit with a hefty fine for allegedly making it too easy for children to access pornographic material on its Web sites.


Ofcom, the U.K.'s communications regulator and competition authority, announced yesterday that it has fined Playboy 100,000 British pounds ($160,200) for failing to include "acceptable controls" ensuring a person viewing pornographic material on Playboy TV and Demand Adult was aged 18 and over.


Ofcom charged Playboy with "failing to protect children from potentially harmful pornographic material," adding that the failure was "serious, repeated, and reckless."



Playboy did have age restrictions in place on Demand Adult and Playboy TV. In the first case, Demand Adult asked that users click a button labeled "Enter I am over 18" before being able to view hardcore material. Upon paying with a debit card, they could access more material. With Playboy TV, users were asked to "self-certify their age," according to Ofcom.


Despite those measures, Ofcom argues that the controls are not "effective age verification systems."


Ofcom didn't say what would constitute an "effective" verification system. However, the organization pointed to Rule 11 of the Authority for Television On Demand rules:


If an on-demand programme service contains material which might seriously impair the physical, mental or moral development of persons under the age of eighteen, the material must be made available in a manner which secures that such persons will not normally see or hear it.

CNET has contacted Playboy for comment on the Ofcom fine. We will update this story when we have more information.


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6 Ways Climate Change Will Affect You

Photograph by AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

The planet keeps getting hotter, new data showed this week. Especially in America, where 2012 was the warmest year ever recorded, by far. Every few years, the U.S. federal government engages hundreds of experts to assess the impacts of climate change, now and in the future.

From agriculture (pictured) to infrastructure to how humans consume energy, the National Climate Assessment Development Advisory Committee spotlights how a warming world may bring widespread disruption.

Farmers will see declines in some crops, while others will reap increased yields.

Won't more atmospheric carbon mean longer growing seasons? Not quite. Over the next several decades, the yield of virtually every crop in California's fertile Central Valley, from corn to wheat to rice and cotton, will drop by up to 30 percent, researchers expect. (Read about "The Carbon Bathtub" in National Geographic magazine.)

Lackluster pollination, driven by declines in bees due partly to the changing climate, is one reason. Government scientists also expect the warmer climate to shorten the length of the frosting season necessary for many crops to grow in the spring.

Aside from yields, climate change will also affect food processing, storage, and transportation—industries that require an increasing amount of expensive water and energy as global demand rises—leading to higher food prices.

Daniel Stone

Published January 16, 2013

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Notre Dame: Football Star Was 'Catfished' in Hoax













Notre Dame's athletic director and the star of its near-championship football team said the widely-reported death of the star's girlfriend from leukemia during the 2012 football season was apparently a hoax, and the player said he was duped by it as well.


Manti Te'o, who led the Fighting Irish to the BCS championship game this year and finished second for the Heisman Trophy, said in a statement today that he fell in love with a girl online last year who turned out not to be real.


The university's athletic director, Jack Swarbrick, said it has been investigating the "cruel hoax" since Te'o approached officials in late December to say he believed he had been tricked.


Private investigators hired by the university subsequently monitored online chatter by the alleged perpetrators, Swarbrick said, adding that he was shocked by the "casual cruelty" it revealed.


"They enjoyed the joke," Swarbrick said, comparing the ruse to the popular film "Catfish," in which filmmakers revealed a person at the other end of an online relationship was not who they said they were.


"While we still don't know all of the dimensions of this ... there are certain things that I feel confident we do know," Swarbrick said. "The first is that this was a very elaborate, very sophisticated hoax, perpetrated for reasons we don't understand."






Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images











Tale of Notre Dame Football Star's Girlfriend and Her Death an Alleged Hoax Watch Video









Notre Dame's Athletic Director Discusses Manti Te'o Girlfriend Hoax Watch Video









MTV's 'Catfish' Series Pulls Back Curtain on Online Profiles Watch Video





Te'o said during the season that his girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, died of leukemia in September on the same day Te'o's grandmother died, triggering an outpouring of support for Te'o at Notre Dame and in the media.


"While my grandma passed away and you take, you know, the love of my life [Kekua]. The last thing she said to me was, 'I love you,'" Te'o said at the time, noting that he had talked to Kekua on the phone and by text message until her death.


Now, responding to a story first reported by the sports website Deadspin, Te'o has acknowledged that Kekua never existed. The website reported today that there were no records of a woman named Lennay Kekua anywhere.


Te'o denied that he was in on the hoax.


"This is incredibly embarrassing to talk about, but over an extended period of time, I developed an emotional relationship with a woman I met online," Te'o said in a statement released this afternoon. "We maintained what I thought to be an authentic relationship by communicating frequently online and on the phone, and I grew to care deeply about her."


Swarbrick said he expected Te'o to give his version of events at a public event soon, perhaps Thursday, and that he believed Te'o's representatives were planning to disclose the truth next week until today's story broke.


Deadspin reported that the image attached to Kekua's social media profiles, through which the pair interacted, was of another woman who has said she did not even know Te'o or know that her picture was being used. The website reported that it traced the profiles to a California man who is an acquaintance of Te'o and of the woman whose photo was stolen.


"To realize that I was the victim of what was apparently someone's sick joke and constant lies was, and is, painful and humiliating," Te'o said.






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Why trees can't grow taller than 100 metres









































TYPICALLY, the taller the tree, the smaller its leaves. The mathematical explanation for this phenomenon, it turns out, also sets a limit on how tall trees can grow.












Kaare Jensen of Harvard University and Maciej Zwieniecki of the University of California, Davis, compared 1925 tree species, with leaves ranging from a few millimetres to over 1 metre long, and found that leaf size varied most in relatively short trees.












Jensen thinks the explanation lies in the plant's circulatory system. Sugars produced in leaves diffuse through a network of tube-shaped cells called the phloem. Sugars accelerate as they move, so the bigger the leaves the faster they reach the rest of the plant. But the phloem in stems, branches and the trunk acts as a bottleneck. There comes a point when it becomes a waste of energy for leaves to grow any bigger. Tall trees hit this limit when their leaves are still small, because sugars have to move through so much trunk to get to the roots, creating a bigger bottleneck.












Jensen's equations describing the relationship show that as trees get taller, unusually large or small leaves both cease to be viable (Physical Review Letters, doi.org/j6n). The range of leaf sizes narrows and at around 100 m tall, the upper limit matches the lower limit. Above that, it seems, trees can't build a viable leaf. Which could explain why California's tallest redwoods max out at 115.6 m.


















































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Panel makes recommendations to raise quality of financial advisory industry






SINGAPORE : Singaporeans planning to buy insurance products can look forward to paying lower costs.

This comes after the Financial Advisory Industry Review Panel made a slew of recommendations to raise the quality and efficiency of the financial advisory industry.

They include proposals aimed at lowering the distribution costs of insurance products.

The panel reviewing the financial advisory industry has recommended measures that include raising the minimum education qualification of new financial advisers.

They also propose that a website be set up to make it easier for consumers to shop for financial products.

Lee Chuan Teck, assistant managing director for Capital Markets at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), said: "The panel recommends that MAS work with the industry to develop a web aggregator that allows consumers to easily compare pricing, benefits and other features of similar products offered by different insurers."

A survey by MAS found that 80 per cent of Singaporeans are not prepared to pay an upfront fee for financial advice.

This led the panel to focus on how to lower distribution costs for insurance-based products.

It has proposed the introduction of a direct channel for consumers to buy basic insurance products directly from the insurers.

Tan Hak Leh, president of the Life Insurance Association, Singapore, said: "Any measures that lead to greater transparency would increase competitiveness and each player would then need to find ways to stay competitive in the market."

However, the financial adviser's role will not be displaced.

A financial adviser's services would still be required to sell some products.

Augustine Lee, president of the Association of Financial Advisers (Singapore), said: "Insurance (products) normally are sold and not bought, so you still need to have independent financial advisers to help you in terms of decision making and choosing the right product."

The Consumers Association of Singapore has welcomed the latest recommendations.

It said the main beneficiaries would ultimately be the consumers.

Seah Seng Choon, executive director of the Consumers Association of Singapore, said: "The issue about under insurance for Singaporeans may be addressed, now that the distribution costs can be lowered through competition."

MAS said it will consult the public on these recommendations and then decide on their implementation.

- CNA/ms



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Nintendo to combine handheld, console gaming divisions -- report



Nintendo's current corporate structure separating consoles and handhelds will be replaced, according to a new report.


Japan-based news outlet Nikkei is reporting today that Japan plans to combine its handheld and console divisions by February 16. The combined team will have 280 employees, made up of 130 employees from the console side and 150 from handhelds.


According to IGN, which was able to access the entire story behind a paywall, the team members will be organized by their specialties, including circuits, design, and others. Engadget claims to have spoken to a Nintendo spokesperson, which confirmed the news.



Nintendo has faced some trouble over the last few years as its latest hardware launches -- the 3DS and the
Wii U -- have failed to generate the kind of interest and sales of its previous releases. During December, for example, Nintendo could only muster 460,000 Wii U unit sales in the U.S., according to the company. NPD DisplaySearch, which releases game sales data for the U.S., said "sales of the
Wii U were lower on a unit basis when compared to the original Wii in December 2006."


It was a similarly troubling launch for the 3DS in 2011, when that device proved too expensive for consumers. After slashing the handheld's price, sales started to creep up.


By combining its handheld and console divisions, Nintendo believes that it will be able to deliver better products, according to Nikkei. The news outlet said that the combined effort will help Nintendo build next-generation hardware "that will turn heads." It's not clear what that means for the Wii U, which only launched a couple of months ago.


CNET has contacted Nintendo for comment on the Nikkei report. We will update this story when we have more information.


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NRA Ad Calls Obama 'Elitist Hypocrite'


ap barack obama mi 130115 wblog NRA Ad Calls Obama Elitist Hypocrite Ahead of Gun Violence Plan

Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo


As the White House prepares to unveil a sweeping plan aimed at curbing gun violence, the National Rifle Association has launched a preemptive, personal attack on President Obama, calling him an “elitist hypocrite” who, the group claims, is putting American children at risk.


In 35-second video posted online Tuesday night, the NRA criticizes Obama for accepting armed Secret Service protection for his daughters, Sasha and Malia, at their private Washington, D.C., school while questioning the placement of similar security at other schools.


“Are the president’s kids more important than yours? Then why is he skeptical about putting armed security in our schools, when his kids are protected by armed guards at their school?” the narrator says.


“Mr. Obama demands the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, but he’s just another elitist hypocrite when it comes to a fair share of security,” it continues. “Protection for their kids and gun-free zones for ours.”


The immediate family members of U.S. presidents – generally considered potential targets – have long received Secret Service protection.


The ad appeared on a new website for a NRA advocacy campaign – “NRA Stand and Fight” — that the gun-rights group appears poised to launch in response to Obama’s package of gun control proposals that will be announced today.


An NRA spokesman said the video is airing on the Sportsman Channel and on the web for now but may appear in other broadcast markets at a later date.


The White House had no comment on the NRA ad.


In the wake of last month’s mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the Obama administration has met with a cross-section of advocacy groups on all sides of the gun debate to formulate new policy proposals.


The NRA, which met with Vice President Joe Biden last week, has opposed any new legislative gun restrictions, including expanded background checks and limits on the sale of assault-style weapons, instead calling for armed guards at all American schools.


Obama publicly questioned that approach in an interview with “Meet the Press” earlier this month, saying, “I am skeptical that the only answer is putting more guns in schools. And I think the vast majority of the American people are skeptical that that somehow is going to solve our problem.”


Still, the White House has been considering a call for increased funding for police officers at public schools and the proposal could be part of a broader Obama gun policy package.


Fifty-five percent of Americans in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll say they support adding armed guards at schools across the country.


“The issue is, are there some sensible steps that we can take to make sure that somebody like the individual in Newtown can’t walk into a school and gun down a bunch of children in a shockingly rapid fashion.  And surely, we can do something about that,” Obama said at a news conference on Monday.


“Responsible gun owners, people who have a gun for protection, for hunting, for sportsmanship, they don’t have anything to worry about,” he said.


ABC News’ Arlette Saenz, Mary Bruce and Jay Shaylor contributed reporting. 


This post was updated at 9:32 am on Jan. 16 to reflect include comment from an NRA spokesman.

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Freaky feeling: Why androids make us uneasy


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Bidding showdown over F&N expected on Jan 21






SINGAPORE: A corporate shoot out over Fraser & Neave is expected on January 21.

The Securities Industry Council (SIC) has said the final time by which TCC Assets or OUE Baytown can revise its offer is 5.30pm on January 21. Each party will either announce any revision to their current takeover bids or walkaway from the deal.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, SIC said that "given that neither TCC nor OUE Baytown has declared its offer final, the council considers that the company's shareholders should be provided with certainty to make their investment decisions in respect of the competing offers."

If either TCC or OUE makes a revised offer on January 21, then an "auction procedure" will kick-in.

TCC Assets on Tuesday extended its S$8.88 per share offer for F&N for the seventh time to January 21, the very same day that rival bidder OUE's offer expires. A consortium led by OUE made a S$9.08 per share bid for F&N in November 2012.

This, after a first bid by Thai tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi through his investment assets, TCC and Thai Beverage, in September.

But given that the tug-of-war has been ongoing for several months, some experts said that the Securities Industry Council will not allow for an indefinite period of market uncertainty.

Shares of F&N have been trading above the offers made by TCC Assets and OUE, indicating that shareholders are expecting higher bids.

Fraser & Neave shares ended Tuesday up 0.1 per cent at S$9.70.

-CNA/ac



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The biggest thing in the universe is really, really big



The Milky Way galaxy barely takes up a single pixel in this representation of Huge-LQG.



(Credit:
Roger G. Clowes)


You and I are really, really small. And we're even smaller than we thought we were last month, at least when compared with the size of the largest known item in the universe.


Last week, a team of astronomers based in the U.K. discovered the largest object in all of our observable existence: a celestial structure made up of 73 quasars that is up to 4 billion light years long.

How big is that exactly? Well, it would take tens of thousands of our own Milky Ways -- the big, galactic one, not the one that comes in a wrapper -- to equal the size of Huge-LQG (for Large Quasar Group), as it's become affectionately known.

Feel insignificant yet?

Yes, it does seem like something so inconceivably massive should have been noticed by now, and that's actually the most interesting part of the discovery.



The discovery of an astronomical body so large throws doubt upon one of the basic assumptions of the nature of the universe. That notion, known as the cosmological principle, assumes that the little corner of the universe we're able to observe from this particular rock is a reasonable sample of what the rest of the universe must also be like.


But Huge-LQG turns out to be so huge that it makes up a few percentage points of the observable universe on its own. It's a little bit like if we suddenly discovered a 51st state that consists entirely of a single building the size of Iowa.

So not only are we less than the most insignificant of specks in our universe, we apparently don't know nearly as much about that universe as we thought.

(Via The Atlantic.)


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"Fantastic" New Flying Frog Found—Has Flappy Forearms


Scientists have stumbled across a new species of flying frog—on the ground.

While hiking a lowland forest in 2009, not far from Ho Chi Minh City (map), Vietnam, "we came across a huge green frog, sitting on a log," said Jodi Rowley, an amphibian biologist at the Australian Museum in Sydney and lead author of a new study on the frog.

Rowley later discovered that the 3.5-inch-long (9-centimeter-long) creature is a relatively large new type of flying frog, a group known for its ability to "parachute" from tree to tree thanks to special aerodynamic adaptations, such as webbed feet, Rowley said. (Also see "'Vampire Flying Frog' Found; Tadpoles Have Black Fangs.")

Rowley dubbed the new species Helen's flying frog, in honor of her mother, Helen Rowley, "who has steadfastly supported her only child trekking through the forests of Southeast Asia in search of frogs," according to a statement.

The newfound species—there are 80 types of flying frogs—is also "one of the most flying frogs of the flying frogs," Rowley said, "in that it's got huge hands and feet that are webbed all the way to the toepad."

"Females even have flappy skin on their forearms to glide," added Rowley, who has received funding from the National Geographic Committee on Research and Exploration. (National Geographic News is part of the National Geographic Society.) "The females are larger and heavier than males, so the little extra flaps probably don't make much of a difference," she said.

As Rowley wrote on her blog, "At first it may seem strange that such a fantastic and obvious frog could escape discovery until now—less than 100 kilometers [60 miles] from an urban centre with over nine million people."

Yet these tree dwellers can easily escape notice—they spend most of their time in the canopy, she said.

Flying Frog On the Edge

Even so, Helen's flying frog won't be able to hide from development near Ho Chi Minh City, which may encroach on its existing habitats.

So far, only five individuals have been found in two patches of lowland forest hemmed in by rice paddies in southern Vietnam, Rowley said. The animals can probably tolerate a little bit of disturbance as long as they have large trees and temporary pools, she added.

But lowland forests are among the most threatened habitats in the world, mostly because they're so accessible to people, and thus chosen for logging and development. (Get the facts on deforestation.)

"While Helen's flying frog has only just been discovered by biologists," Rowley wrote, "unfortunately this species, like many others, is under great threat from ongoing habitat loss and degradation."

The new flying frog study was published in December 2012 in the Journal of Herpetology.


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Oprah Describes Intense Armstrong Interview













Oprah Winfrey said today that disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong came well prepared for their highly anticipated interview, although he "did not come clean in the manner [she] expected."


Winfrey, who discussed the interview on "CBS This Morning" today, said, "We were mesmerized and riveted by some of his answers. I feel that he answered the questions in a way that he was ready. … He certainly had prepared himself for this moment. … He brought it. He really did."


Armstrong had apologized to staffers at the Livestrong Foundation before the Monday interview with Winfrey at a hotel in Austin, Texas, and reportedly admitted to them that he used performance-enhancing drugs throughout his storied career.


Armstrong also confessed to Winfrey to using the drugs, sources have told ABC News. Winfrey said this morning that the entire interview, for which she had prepared 112 questions, was difficult.


"I would say there were a couple of times where he was emotional," she said. "But that doesn't describe the intensity at times."


As for the cyclist's sense of remorse, Winfrey said that will be for viewers to decide.
"I would rather people make their own decisions about whether he was contrite or not," she said.


The interview will air on the OWN network for two nights, starting at 9 p.m. ET Thursday and continuing Friday.


Meanwhile, the federal government is likely to join a whistle-blower lawsuit against Armstrong, originally filed by his former cycling teammate Floyd Landis, sources told ABC News.


The government is seeking to recoup millions of dollars from Armstrong after years of his denying that he used performance-enhancing drugs, the sources said. The U.S. Postal Service, which is an independent agency of the federal government, was a longtime sponsor of Armstrong's racing career.






Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images











Lance Armstrong Doping Confession: Why Now? Watch Video









Cyclist Lance Armstrong Apologizes to Livestrong Staff for Doping Scandal Watch Video









Lance Armstrong Stripped of Tour de France Titles Watch Video





The deadline for the government's potentially joining in the matter was a likely motivation for Armstrong's interview with Winfrey, sources told ABC News.


The lawsuit remains sealed in federal court.


Armstrong is now talking with authorities about possibly paying back some of the Postal Service sponsorship money, a government source told ABC News Monday.


The deadline for the department to join the case is Thursday, the same day Armstrong's much-anticipated interview with Winfrey is set to air.


Armstrong is also talking to authorities about confessing and naming names, giving up others involved in illegal doping. This could result in a reduction of his lifetime ban, according to a source, if Armstrong provides substantial and meaningful information.


As for the Winfrey interview, it was Armstrong's first since officials stripped him of his world cycling titles in response to doping allegations.


Word of Armstrong's admission comes after a Livestrong official said that Armstrong apologized Monday to the foundation's staff ahead of his interview.


The disgraced cyclist gathered with about 100 Livestrong Foundation staffers at their Austin headquarters for a meeting that included social workers who deal directly with patients as part of the group's mission to support cancer victims.


Armstrong's "sincere and heartfelt apology" generated lots of tears, spokeswoman Katherine McLane said, adding that he "took responsibility" for the trouble he has caused the foundation.


McLane declined to say whether Armstrong's comments included an admission of doping, just that the cyclist wanted the staff to hear from him in person rather than rely on second-hand accounts.


Armstrong then took questions from the staff.


Armstrong's story has never changed. In front of cameras, microphones, fans, sponsors, cancer survivors -- even under oath -- Lance Armstrong hasn't just denied ever using performance enhancing drugs, he has done so in an indignant, even threatening way.


Armstrong, 41, was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from the sport for life by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency in October 2012, after allegations that he benefited from years of systematic doping, using banned substances and receiving illicit blood transfusions.


"Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling and he deserves to be forgotten in cycling," Pat McQuaid, the president of the International Cycling Union, said at a news conference in Switzerland announcing the decision. "This is a landmark day for cycling."






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The hologenome: A new view of evolution


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Fast food linked to child asthma: study






PARIS: Children who frequently eat fast food are far more likely to have severe asthma compared to counterparts who tuck into fruit, a large international study published on Monday said.

Researchers asked nearly half a million teenagers aged 13-14 and children aged six and seven about their eating habits and whether in the previous year they had experienced wheezing, eczema or an itchy, blocked nose when they did not have cold or flu.

The questionnaires -- completed by a parent or guardian for the younger children -- were distributed in scores of countries.

It marks the latest phase in a long-running collaborative programme, the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC), which was launched in 1991.

The investigators filtered out factors that could skew results, such as maternal smoking during pregnancy, sedentary lifestyle and body-mass index, in order to focus purely on diet.

They found that fast food was the only food type that could be clearly linked to asthma severity.

Three or more weekly servings of fast food were associated with a 39-per cent increase in the risk of severe asthma among teens and a 27-per cent increase among younger children.

It also added to the risk of eczema and severe rhinitis.

In contrast, eating three or more weekly portions of fruit led to a reduction in symptom severity of between 11 and 14 per cent, respectively.

The study, which appears in the British Medical Association journal Thorax, noted that to prove an association is not to prove a cause -- but argued that a further inquiry was clearly needed.

"If the associations (are) causal, then the findings have major public health significance, owing to the rising consumption of fast foods globally," the authors said.

Previous research has found that the saturated and "trans" fatty acids trigger an inflammatory response from the immune system, the paper noted.

- AFP/xq



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Samsung: We've sold 100 million Galaxy S smartphones




Samsung's Galaxy S series smartphones have crossed the threshold of 100 million sales.


According to Samsung's Tomorrow Flickr page, its flagship Galaxy S series has managed to surpass that mark in 2 years and 7 months since the launch of the first Galaxy smartphone in May 2010.


In addition, the firm says that the Galaxy S3 is selling "at [a] much faster rate," smashing through the 1 million barrier in 50 days. Sales of the flagship Galaxy S3 reached 30 million units in 5 months, and 40 million in 7 months, with average daily sales of about 190,000 units. The Galaxy S2 is described as a steady bet after recording sales of over 40 million in 20 months.


Samsung calls the Galaxy series "the driving force" behind the electronics maker's "rise to the top" in the global smartphone market. The firm has estimated that overall sales will reach 56 trillion won ($52.6 billion) in its fourth-quarter results, to be announced on January 25.

It is undeniable that the Galaxy series is popular. According to new research, a number of the younger generation -- Generation Y, if you will -- are branding Samsung phones "cool" in comparison to Apple's offerings. If Samsung products are the ones to own these days, then the recently announced Galaxy S2 Plus, complete with
Android's Jelly Bean operating system, might be the next model in line to surpass the company's sales records.

This news follows a number of announcements made by the South Korean company at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week, including Youm flexible displays and a new eight-core processor for mobile devices.


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Pictures: Civil War Shipwreck Revealed by Sonar

Photograph by Jesse Cancelmo

A fishing net, likely only decades old, drapes over machinery that once connected the Hatteras' pistons to its paddle wheels, said Delgado.

From archived documents, the NOAA archaeologist learned that Blake, the ship's commander, surrendered as his ship was sinking. "It was listing to port, [or the left]," Delgado said. The Alabama took the wounded and the rest of the crew and put them in irons.

The officers were allowed to keep their swords and wander the deck as long as they promised not to lead an uprising against the Alabama's crew, he added.

From there, the Alabama dropped off their captives in Jamaica, leaving them to make their own way back to the U.S.

Delgado wants to dig even further into the crew of the Hatteras. He'd like see if members of the public recognize any of the names on his list of crew members and can give him background on the men.

"That's why I do archaeology," he said.

(Read about other Civil War battlefields in National Geographic magazine.)

Published January 11, 2013

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Golden Globe Moments: A Night of Laughs, Surprises






Let's finally bury this idea that women can't be funny once and for all. Fey and Poehler were undeniably hilarious throughout the Globes, so much so that many fans on Twitter demanded more of them during the ceremony. From their opening bit -- Poehler: "Meryl Streep is not here tonight, she has the flu. And I hear she's amazing in it." -- to their pseudo drunk heckling of best TV comedy actress winner Lena Dunham, they were radiant, energetic, and above all, funny. More please.



Foster made her acceptance of the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award a coming out, of sorts. She first shocked the audience by leading them to think that she was about to make a huge public statement about her sexuality. Instead, she said she was single, adding "I already did my coming out in the stone age."


"Now, apparently, I'm told that every celebrity is expected to honor the details of their private life with a press conference ... You guys might be surprised, but I'm not Honey Boo Boo child," she said, to a flurry of laughter and applause.


"If you had been a public figure from the time that you were a toddler ... then maybe you too might value privacy above all else," she said. "Privacy."


But Foster did specifically thank her ex-partner Cydney Bernard, with whom she has two kids. Both boys gestured to her from the audience.


She also implied that she was retiring from acting when she said she would not be returning to the Globes stage or any stage. "It's just that from now on, I may be holding a different talking stick," Foster said, bringing many in the audience to tears.


But backstage, Foster clarified to reporters that she was not retiring from acting. "Oh that's so funny," she responded to reporters. "You couldn't drag me away. And I'd like to be directing tomorrow."



It takes a lot to make Hollywood star struck. Bill Clinton did it when he strutted on stage to introduce a clip of "Lincoln," which was up for best drama. He brought the crowd of A-listers to its feet and commended the 16th president. "We're all here tonight because he did it," he said of Lincoln's battle to end slavery.



If there was any doubt that Lena Dunham wasn't Hollywood's next big thing, it was obliterated Sunday night. The star and creator of HBO's "Girls" went home with two awards, best actress in a TV comedy and best TV comedy. Her heartfelt acceptance speech for best actress struck a chord: "This award is for everyone who feels like there wasn't a place for her," she said. "This show made a space for me."



Jessica Chastain won the Globe for best actress in a drama for "Zero Dark Thirty." She offered a moving tribute to director Kathryn Bigelow, the first woman to win a best director Oscar who failed to get a nomination for that award this year, though "ZDT" was up for a slew of other awards, including best picture. "I can't help but compare my character of Maya to you," Chastain said to Bigelow. "When you make a film that allows your character to disobey the conventions of Hollywood, you've done more for women in cinema than you take credit for."



Blame it on nerves, the spirit of spontaneity, or the a-a-a-a-alcohol (apologies to Jamie Foxx), but Jennifer Lawrence's acceptance speech was a tad insulting to a Hollywood icon, if totally hilarious. "Oh what does it say?" she asked, looking at her trophy. "I beat Meryl." She meant Meryl Streep, who was also up for the award.


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Video games take off as a spectator sport








































Editorial: "Give video games a sporting chance"













EVERY sport has its idols and superstars. Now video gaming is getting them too. Professional gaming, or e-sports, exploded in popularity in the US and Europe last year.












The scene has been big in Asia - particularly South Korea - for about a decade, with top players such as Lim Yo-Hwan earning six-figure salaries and competing for rock-star glory in Starcraft tournaments that attract audiences in the hundreds of thousands.












The phenomenon is taking off in the West partly because of improved video-streaming technology and large financial rewards. Video games are becoming a spectator sport, with certain players and commentators drawing massive online audiences.












And where people go, money follows. The second world championship of League of Legends - a team-based game in which players defend respective corners of a fantasy-themed battle arena - was held in Los Angeles in October. The tournament had a prize pool of $5 million for the season, with $1 million going to winning team Taipei Assassins, the largest cash prize in the history of e-sports.












League of Legends has also set records for spectator numbers. More than 8 million people watched the championship finals either online or on TV - a figure that dwarfs audience numbers for broadcasts of many traditional sports fixtures.


















But gamers don't need to compete at the international level to earn money. Video-streaming software like Twitch makes it easy for players to send live footage to a website, where the more popular ones can attract upwards of 10,000 viewers - enough for some to make a living by having adverts in their video streams. Gamers can go pro without leaving their homes.












Currently, e-sports productions are handled by gaming leagues - but that could soon change. Last November saw two moves that will make it even easier to reach a global online audience. First, Twitch announced it would be integrating with Electronic Arts's Origin service, a widely used gaming platform. This would let gamers stream their play at the click of a button, making it easy for people around the world to watch.












Also in November came the latest release from one of gaming's biggest franchises, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, which has the ability to live-stream via YouTube built into the game itself. Another feature allows the broadcast of in-game commentary for multiplayer matches.












"I think we will reach a point, maybe within five years, where spectator features are a necessity for all big game releases," says Corin Cole of e-sports publishing company Heaven Media in Huntingdon, UK.












David Ting founded the California-based IGN Pro League (IPL), which hosts professional tournaments. He puts the popularity of e-sports down to the demand for new forms of online entertainment. "After 18 months, IPL's viewer numbers are already comparable to college sports in the US when there's a live event," he says. "The traffic is doubling every six months."












Ting sees motion detection, virtual reality and mobile gaming coming together to make physical exertion a more common aspect of video games, blurring the line between traditional sport and e-sports. "Angry Birds could be this century's bowling," says Ting.




















































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