Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/6kgs8b0s5sA/what-a-sci+fi-porno-set-looks-like
Romnesia eminem eminem yankees Tagg Romney Bosses Day Cabin Fever 2
Sunday, March 31, 2013
What a Sci-Fi Porno Set Looks Like
Personal Computer Just Got Way More Literal With - Geekosystem
Do you know what the Singularity is? It?s that apocryphal-unless-it-happens sci-fi-like event, championed by Ray Kurzweil, in which humans and machines merge and we as a species are forever transformed. None can say whether the the artificial mind and the real mind will become as one, but we?re making advances in that direction every day. Now bioengineers at Stanford University have made transistors from genetic materials in lieu of the semiconducting materials normally used. A nice big step toward Singularity.?Biological computers!
It starts with the transistor, the primary building block of the digital world and the reason we have cars, phones, and video games.
Published in Science, this new development?is the work of postdoctoral scholar of bioengineering?Jerome Bonnet and his team. They?re calling their bio-transistors ?transcriptors,? and they?re made from DNA and RNA. ?Transcriptors are the key component behind amplifying genetic logic,? says Bonnet.
This means engineers can compute inside living cells, giving them the ability to monitor what goes on around them or even toggle on and off cell reproduction. Transcriptors determine the flow of a specific protein or RNA polymerase (RNA-producing enzymes) in a strand of DNA, like electrons through a wire.
In electrical engineering, there is something called a logic-gate, another of the building blocks of a computer, which uses Boolean logic ? a system of 1s and 0s which represent on or off, open, or closed. Bonnet?s paper says their transcriptors have their own biological version, which they?re calling ?Boolean Integrase Logic? (?BIL gates? for short), and these are the third and final component of a complete biological computer.
So what?s the use of logic? Bonnet said the possibilities for logic are as endless in a biological setting as in electronics:
?You could test whether a given cell had been exposed to any number of external stimuli ? the presence of glucose and caffeine, for instance. BIL gates would allow you to make that determination and to store that information so you could easily identify those which had been exposed and which had not.?
The team used very specific enzyme combinations to control the flow of enzymes through DNA. ?The choice of enzymes is important,? he went on to say. ?We have been careful to select enzymes that function in bacteria, fungi, plants and animals, so that bio-computers can be engineered within a variety of organisms.?
As a fan of fungi, that?s intriguing to me! Computer toadstools are hopefully the future. Maybe.
But seriously, the application of this technology is wide open and Bonnet is happy to share his team?s work with the public:
?Most biotechnology has not yet been imagined. Let alone made true. By freely sharing important basic tools everyone can work better together.?
All right, so there won?t be any synthetic people walking around anytime soon, but it may not be too long before bio-computers can keep an eye on our insides and make sure we?re doing all right. How thoughtful!
(Stanford University via?Science Daily, images courtesy of imgfave.com, and ?DS on Flickr)
Source: http://www.geekosystem.com/bio-computers-transcriptors/
UFC 156 my bloody valentine Super Bowl Winners what time does the superbowl start Kaepernick Tattoos superbowl time what time is the super bowl
Doug Fister, Detroit Tigers Pitcher, Sharp In 3-3 Tie With Tampa Bay Rays
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Doug Fister had a positive exhibition finish in preparation for his first regular-season start, against the New York Yankees.
Fister gave up two runs and seven hits over six innings for the Detroit Tigers in a 3-3 tie with the Tampa Bay Rays in the exhibition finale for both teams on Saturday.
"I thought he pitched really well," Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. "He commanded much better. Used his pitches, changed speeds."
Fister, scheduled to pitch the Tigers' home opener Friday, had four strikeouts. Brayan Pena hit a two-run homer in the fifth off reliever Jamey Wright.
"It's another step in the right direction for me," Fister said. "I felt like today was much better timing wise and just that feel, working on a few pitches here and there. Just trying to get fine-tuned ready for six days from now."
The right-hander entered with 6.52 ERA over his previous six spring training games.
Matt Moore allowed one hit, one walk and struck out five in four scoreless innings for the Rays.
"That's what he's supposed to look like, that's what he can look like," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "As he regains his confidence, you'll see that on a more consistent basis."
James Loney connected in the fifth inning and Ryan Roberts in the sixth against Fister.
Tampa Bay hosts Baltimore in its regular-season opener Tuesday. The Tigers start the new season Monday at Minnesota, where temperatures are expected to be in the 30's.
"We're going to get a little shock when we get off the plane in Minnesota," Leyland said about the cold weather. "You don't think it is, you're crazy. So, makes no sense to make a big deal about it. I'm just happy today, we got through this game, knock on wood, injury free. A good, quick game, really. Nice crowd. It worked out good. The guys are all ready to go."
Rays designated hitter Luke Scott will start the season on the disabled list due a strained right calf. He could return in two to three weeks.
"I'm making progress every day," Scott said. "It's very disappointing, but I've been down this road before. From what I hear and what I see, it's not serious."
Maddon said he enjoyed the just completed spring training, but won't miss his alarm clock going off at 6 a.m.
"I'm looking forward to just moving it back a bit," Maddon said.
Maddon is in favor of teams playing night games during the final week of the exhibition season.
"If somehow we could come together as a group and just maybe play all night games ... if you're into night games, play them at the end," Maddon said. "Start flipping the internal clock a little bit as a group towards the end as opposed to going back and forth."
Before the game, Leyland addressed Friday's announcement that the Tigers and ace Justin Verlander had agreed to an $180 million, seven-year contract, calling it a great situation for the right-hander, the team and the fans.
"He's been with the Tigers for going on his eighth year," Leyland said. "Conceivably (be here) 15 years, or maybe 16. That's pretty much a whole career. That's got a nice ring to it. We're very fortunate to have an owner that steps up to the plate, and very fortunate to have players that want to play here."
NOTES: Rays 3B Evan Longoria was among the regulars not in Tampa Bay's lineup. "He feels like he's ready to go," Maddon said. ... Tigers RHP Rick Porcello pitched three innings in a minor league game. ... Maddon used 151 different lineups last season, the most for an AL team with a winning record since Gene Mauch's 1985 California Angels, who had 155. ... Tampa Bay OF Sam Fuld was scratched from the lineup due to an upset stomach.
Also on HuffPost:
"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/30/doug-fister-detroit-tiger_n_2985803.html
machine gun kelly saul alinsky annapolis wwe royal rumble trisomy leon panetta luck
WSJ: Facebook plans to clog up Android home screens with status updates
By Jason Szep SIT KWIN, Myanmar (Reuters) - The Muslims of Sit Kwin were always a small group who numbered no more than 100 of the village's 2,000 people. But as sectarian violence led by Buddhist mobs spreads across central Myanmar, they and many other Muslims are disappearing. Their homes, shops and mosques destroyed, some end up in refugee camps or hide in the homes of friends or relatives. Dozens have been killed. ...
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wsj-facebook-plans-clog-android-home-screens-status-154442481.html
weather new orleans orcl the hartford illinois primary 2012 michael bay zsa zsa gabor illinois primary
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Lion kills heron: A stork reminder of big cats' wild nature
Lion kills heron: A video of four lions setting upon a blue heron at a Dutch zoo serves as a reminder of the King of the Jungle's wild instincts.
A group of four lions, like the one pictured at left, and a heron, like the one at right, had an encounter at an Amsterdam zoo that did not turn out well for the heron.
Lion: Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP/File; Heron: Robert Harbison / The Christian Science Monitor
EnlargeA video of four lions preying upon a heron at a Dutch zoo, shot last year and reposted on YouTube Wednesday, reminds us that you can take the lion out of the wild, but you can't take the wild out of the lion.?
Skip to next paragraph' +
google_ads[0].line2 + '
' +
google_ads[0].line3 + '
Subscribe Today to the Monitor
This Dutch family was visiting the zoo on a quiet Sunday afternoon when things got a bit more exciting than seeing bored animals lying around their enclosures. A lion spots a heron near the water. Following her instincts she sneaks up on it and manages to grab it. The whole family wants in on the prize, but a sneaky cub gets away with it.In the video, a blue heron?at the Artis Royal Zoo wandered into a small pool while a group of four lions were basking in the sun, about 25 yards away. ?
As the the bird came into view of a lioness, instinct kicked in.?The lioness darted toward the bird, which desperately attempted to take flight but was pulled from the air with a leaping snatch.?The rest of her pride joined in to finish off the heron. ?
The footage of the killing has drawn thousands of views, because it's not often to see animals prey on one another at zoos. Experts said that, though the kings of the jungle are kept in captivity, cared and fed by humans, their original wildness remains untamed.?
Earlier this month, an African lion broke out of its pen and killed a 24-year-old intern at the Cat Haven sanctuary in California who was cleaning the main enclosure. According to CNN, the?5-year-old, 350-pound?killer was one of the victim's favorites.
Captive lions tend to act on their wild instincts whenever potential prey catches their eyes. A pair of videos titled "lion tries to eat baby" have attracted in total more than 7.6 millions views on YouTube since they were uploaded last April. The clips show an Oregon Zoo lioness snarling and baring her fangs in vain at a happily oblivious toddler protected by reinforced glass.
"Most of the time they seem relaxed and cuddly?so it's easy to forget that they react to meat with the reflexive instincts of a shark." Professor Craig Packer, a leading big cat expert at the University of Minnesota, noted in a recent interview with National Geographic News.?"Ten years ago Roy Horne (of Siegfried ?and Roy) was attacked by a tiger that they had handled for years?these attacks happen when people forget about the shark inside."
Early this month, The Monitor's Gloria Goodale interviewed Zara McDonald, executive director of the Bay Area Felidae?Conservation Fund?regarding the death of the Seattle woman.?
?Cats are predators,? said McDonald.?"I don?t care how tame anyone thinks one might be, they are always a wild animal with the ability to hurt humans.?
scarlett o hara pat sajak vanna white michael robinson joe paterno memorial service taco bell breakfast menu ener1
Pirate perch probably use chemical camouflage to fool prey
Mar. 28, 2013 ? It?s a nocturnal aquatic predator that will eat anything that fits in its large mouth.
Dark and sleek, it hides beneath the water waiting for prey. A Texas Tech University researcher says the target will never know what hit them because they probably can?t smell the voracious pirate perch.
After careful investigations, William Resetarits Jr., a professor of biology at Texas Tech, and Christopher A. Binckley, an assistant professor in the Department of Biology at Arcadia University, found that animals normally attuned to predators from their smell didn?t seem to detect the pirate perch. It could be the first animal discovered that is capable of generalized chemical camouflage that works against a wide variety of prey.
The team published their findings in the peer-reviewed journal The American Naturalist.
Thankfully, at five-and-a-half inches long, only insects, invertebrates, amphibians and other small fish need worry about the danger hiding near the bottom among the roots and plantlife, Resetarits said.
?We use the term ?camouflage,? because it is readily understandable,? he said. ?What we really are dealing with is some form of ?chemical deception.? The actual mechanism may be camouflage that makes an organism difficult to detect, mimicry that makes an organism difficult to correctly identify, or cloaking where the organism simply does not produce a signal detectable to the receiver.?
Resetarits said pirate perch aren?t really perch at all, but related to the Amblyopsid cave fish family. Fossils from this fish date back about 24 million years ago.
They make their homes in freshwater ponds and streams in the Eastern United States. Once considered for the aquarium market, the fish got its name because of its penchant for eating all tank mates.
?Pirate perch have some unique aspects to their morphology and life history, but they are generalist predators, and so should have been avoided by prey animals like all the other fish tested,? he said. ?For some reason, they weren?t avoided at all.?
To test their theory, Resetarits and Binckley ran a series of experiments in artificial pools housing 11 different species of fish, including pirate perch.
The fish were kept at bay at the bottom of the pools with screens so that they could not prey on the beetles and tree frogs that colonized the water.
When it came to choosing a pool, the beetles and frogs consistently steered clear of the water with other fish species in them, most likely because they could smell the presence of fish in the water. However, they had no qualms about moving into pools containing the pirate perch.
?We were incredibly surprised,? Resetarits said. ?It took a while for us to pull this all together. When we first observed it with tree frogs, we were very surprised and puzzled. But when the same lack of response was shown by aquatic beetles, we were quite literally flabbergasted. We continued to do experiments with other fish and always got the same results. All fish except pirate perch were avoided.?
Exactly what the pirate perch is doing to hide isn?t yet known, he said. Researchers want to determine how the pirate perch are either scrambling chemical signals or masking their odor. Once they have identified chemical compounds that might explain the behavior, they will return to the field to test with the same tree frogs and beetles as well as other organisms known to respond to fish chemical cues, such as mosquitoes and water fleas.
?We will also test whether this chemical deception works against the pirate perch?s own predators,? Resetarits said. ?Of course, other critical questions that we are working on include just how much advantage in terms of prey acquisition do pirate perch gain as a result of chemical deception. Does this phenomenon occur in closely related species, such as cavefish? Are there prey species that have found a way around the chemical deception? There are many questions now, and I think we have just scratched the surface.
?I think the most important aspect is not the bizarre, just-so story, but the fact that there is no reason to believe that chemical camouflage is less common than visual camouflage. Humans? sense of smell is just not very sophisticated, so we can?t simply ?notice? examples of chemical camouflage the way we do visual camouflage. I think chemical camouflage is likely quite common. We are starting pursuit of the larger question, starting with close relatives of pirate perch.?
Find Texas Tech news, experts and story ideas at www.media.ttu.edu and on Twitter @TexasTechMedia.
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Texas Tech University.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- William J. Resetarits, Christopher A. Binckley. Is the Pirate Really a Ghost? Evidence for Generalized Chemical Camouflage in an Aquatic Predator, Pirate PerchAphredoderus sayanus. The American Naturalist, 2013; : 000 DOI: 10.1086/670016
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/c5NbMbTJghI/130329085941.htm
cough matt groening brandon phillips summerfest summerfest fidel castro rick santorum
Young baseball pitchers shouldn't overdo it
Mar. 29, 2013 ? Baseball season has arrived, but no matter how eager young players are to get on the diamond they have to keep from overdoing it -- especially if they're pitchers.
Overhand pitching creates great forces, stresses and strains at both the elbow and shoulder. In most children up to age 16, bones, muscles and connective tissues are not fully developed, so it should come as no surprise that the pitching motion can lead to injury if it is performed too frequently.
"Parents may find it difficult to put limits on any activity that a child is good at and enjoys performing," said Michael T. Freehill, M.D., assistant professor of orthopedics at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. "But when it comes to pitching, the surest way to ruin a young athlete's chances of success is to allow him or her to overdo it."
Fortunately, overuse injuries are preventable. Following some basic guidelines can help young baseball pitchers stay healthy.
? Young pitchers should always warm up properly by stretching and running before throwing. Throwing should begin with easy tosses, with gradual increases in distance, then intensity.
? Youngsters should concentrate on age-appropriate pitching skills. The emphasis should be on control, accuracy and good mechanics, not curveballs and velocity.
? Tracking the number of pitches thrown is important. Staying within age-specific pitch-count limits, such as those established by Little League Baseball, is recommended.
? Proper rest periods between pitching sessions should be observed. Youngsters can still play during these rest periods, but only at positions other than pitcher and catcher.
? Children should not pitch for multiple teams with overlapping schedules or play baseball year-round.
? Children should never pitch when it hurts. They must understand that telling a parent or coach is the right thing to do if they experience discomfort while throwing.
"Following these guidelines may force a young pitcher to sit out a few innings or miss a few pitching opportunities during the season," said Freehill, who pitched in the minor leagues before attending medical school, reaching the AAA level with two different organizations and making it onto the 40-man roster of the Anaheim (now Los Angeles) Angels. "However, that's a small price to pay for keeping our kids healthy and giving them their best shot at success over the long run."
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, via Newswise.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/3ytTP7OKhU4/130329161137.htm
joel ward mock draft north country brian mcknight sbux nfldraft asante samuel
Friday, March 29, 2013
Boxee TV Update Adds Vudu 3D Content And DLNA Streaming ...
Boxee TV has a new firmware update making its way out to its connected set-top boxes this week, which includes a number of big improvements including the addition of DLNA streaming. Spotted by GigaOM, the update also adds 3D streaming of content from Vudu, the video streaming service from Walmart, and changes to its TV guide and notification settings.
Boxee TV is the follow-up to Boxee?s original hardware, the Boxee Box. That first-gen device actually had DLNA streaming while the Boxee TV shipped without it. The addition of DLNA means that the Boxee TV can now play back media over a local network from a computer or drive running DLNA?server?software, and can also play content from select Android devices and from a number of iOS apps. Photos, video and music can all be shared via the DLNA streaming protocol. It?s like a non-Apple-specific version of AirPlay, and it?s a very handy addition to Boxee TV that considerably increases its general usefulness.
The Boxee TV also now gets on-device DVR management, which is a big improvement over the old system where you can to schedule recordings via a website on a separate computer. In other words, this whole update seems to have been about ironing out the kinks and making sure the Boxee TV fully delivered on the generally good impressions it received when it launched late last year.
If you?re in the market for a set-top streaming device, the update makes Boxee TV a good option for consumers who might be looking at either an Apple TV or the new Roku 3, but who want a DLNA-capable device to handle streaming of their own media collection. Like both of those devices, the Boxee TV retails for $99.
Boxee is a partially open-source freeware media player software platform that integrates personal locally stored media with Internet streaming media along with social networking features. Boxee?s social networking component allows users to share information about what they are watching or listening to with other boxee users or friends on social networks like Twitter, Facebook, etc. Since it is partially open source, users can create their own apps, plug-ins, and skins for it. The framework for Boxee is based on source...
? Learn morebrian dunn vin scully petrino fired george zimmerman charged big sean sherri shepherd sherri shepherd
Berlin Wall falls for condos in pre-dawn operation
BERLIN (AP) ? Work crews backed by about 250 police removed parts of the Berlin Wall known as the East Side Gallery before dawn Wednesday to make way for an upscale building project, despite demands by protesters that the site be preserved.
Residents of the area expressed shock at the move, which followed several protests including one attended by American celebrity David Hasselhoff.
Police spokesman Alexander Toennies said there were no incidents as work began about 5 a.m. to remove four sections of the wall, each about 1.5 yards (1.2 meters) wide. That will make way for an access route to the planned high-rise luxury apartments along the nearby Spree River.
The East Side Gallery is the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall. Construction workers removed a first piece earlier this month as part of a plan to make a road to a new luxury apartment complex . The public outcry brought a halt while local politicians and the investor said they were looking for a solution to keep the rest of the wall untouched.
The investor, Maik Uwe Hinkel, decided to remove four more 1.5-yard (1.2-meter) wide parts of the wall, according to Toennies.
"The constructor had the right to do this and he informed us a few days ago about his plans. Last night we were told that he wanted to remove the wall pieces early this morning," Toennies said.
Plans to remove part of the 1.3-kilometer (3/4-mile) stretch of wall sparked protests whose main message was that developers were sacrificing history for profit.
At least 136 people died trying to scale the wall that divided communist-run East Berlin from West Berlin. Over the years, the stretch has become a tourist attraction with colorful paintings decorating the old concrete tiles.
"I can't believe they came here in the dark in such a sneaky manner," said Kani Alavi, the head of the East Side Gallery's artists' group. "All they see is their money, they have no understanding for the historic relevance and art of this place."
By mid-morning the six-yard (meter) gap was covered by a wooden fence and protected by scores of police. Passers-by and a handful of protesters stared in disbelief.
"If you take these parts of the Wall away, you take away the soul of the city," said Ivan McClostney, 32, who moved here a year ago from Ireland. "This way, you make it like every other city. It's so sad."
In an emailed statement, Hinkel said the removal of parts of the wall was a temporary move to enable trucks to access the building site. He said after four weeks of fruitless negotiations with city officials and owners of adjacent property he was no longer willing to wait.
The East Side Gallery was recently restored at a cost of more than 2 million euros ($3 million) to the city. The wall section stood on the eastern side of the elaborate border strip built by communist East Germany after it sealed off West Berlin in 1961. At least 136 people died trying to scale the wall until it was opened on Nov. 9, 1989.
The stretch of wall was transformed into an open-air gallery months after the opening and is now covered in colorful murals painted by about 120 artists. They include the famous image of boxy East German Trabant car that appears to burst through the wall; and a fraternal communist kiss between Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and East German boss Erich Honecker.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pre-dawn-operation-removes-part-berlin-wall-120324155.html
peter frampton Sandy Hook Elementary School Colors Cassadee Pope Victoria Soto nbc sports morgan freeman westboro baptist church
'Freakshow' man shaves and sews with toes
By Drusilla Moorhouse, TODAY contributor
Jim, otherwise known as The Armless Wonder, was born without arms or hands, but there's nothing he can't do. Don't believe it? You'll change your mind after watching this exclusive "Freakshow" clip AMC shared with The Clicker.
The cameras follow Jim performing his morning routine -- shaving, brushing his teeth, sipping coffee while reading the newspaper, sewing?
Hold up!
Yes, while, most of us can barely thread a needle with 10 fingers, Jim does it effortlessly with his toes.
"I don't consider myself disabled," Jim said. And why should he? He also writes, drives, plays sports and goes fishing.
"If you find something I can't do," he added, "then we'll talk."
We don't expect to be having that conversation anytime soon.
"Freakshow" airs Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. on AMC.
Related content:
More in The Clicker:
unemployment 2012 nfl draft grades young justice nfl draft d rose iman shumpert mayweather vs cotto
Zinio magazine app heads to Windows Phone 8 as a Lumia exclusive
Zinio's magazine app for tablets and smartphones has already found its way onto quite a few platforms (even some now-defunct ones), and it looks like it'll soon be heading to yet another -- at least partially. The company announced today that its Windows Phone 8 app will be available in the coming weeks, although you'll need a Nokia Lumia phone to use it. Yes, this is yet another exclusive deal for a popular app, but if past history is any indication you can likely expect it to hit other devices sometime after the initial rollout. As TechCrunch notes, Zinio is also using its venture onto Windows Phone to branch out a bit from its traditional focus, with the the new app able to pull content from multiple sources into a reading list -- as opposed to simply letting you jump from one magazine to the next. You'll also expectedly get WP8 live tile support, as well as what Zinio describes as "improved text mode support" to make reading on a smartphone-sized screen a bit easier.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Nokia
Via: TechCrunch
Source: Zinio
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/mrUWPfoIi5Y/
aubrey huff the killers julianne hough brandy michael pineda charles taylor bruins
Thursday, March 28, 2013
From 'Star Wars' To 'Indiana Jones': Harrison Ford Weighs 'Ambitious' Sequels
Han Solo actor tells MTV News he's considering returning for sequels like 'Blade Runner.'
By Kevin P. Sullivan, with reporting by Todd Gilchrist
Harrison Ford
Photo: MTV News
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1704441/harrison-ford-star-wars-indiana-jones.jhtml
carnie wilson missing reese witherspoon pregnant billy joel bent new york jets etch a sketch romney
Afghan villagers flee their homes, blame US drones
KHALIS FAMILY VILLAGE, Afghanistan (AP) ? Barely able to walk even with a cane, Ghulam Rasool says he padlocked his front door, handed over the keys and his three cows to a neighbor and fled his mountain home in the middle of the night to escape relentless airstrikes from U.S. drones targeting militants in this remote corner of Afghanistan.
Rasool and other Afghan villagers have their own name for Predator drones. They call them benghai, which in the Pashto language means the "buzzing of flies." When they explain the noise, they scrunch their faces and try to make a sound that resembles an army of flies.
"They are evil things that fly so high you don't see them but all the time you hear them," said Rasool, whose body is stooped and shrunken with age and his voice barely louder than a whisper. "Night and day we hear this sound and then the bombardment starts."
The U.S. military is increasingly relying on drone strikes inside Afghanistan, where the number of weapons fired from unmanned aerial aircraft soared from 294 in 2011 to 506 last year. With international combat forces set to withdraw by the end of next year, such attacks are now used more for targeted killings and less for supporting ground troops.
It's unclear whether Predator drone strikes will continue after 2014 in Afghanistan, where the government has complained bitterly about civilian casualties. The strikes sometimes accidentally kill civilians while forcing others to abandon their hometowns in fear, feeding widespread anti-American sentiment.
The Associated Press ? in a rare on-the-ground look unaccompanied by military or security ? visited two Afghan villages in Nangarhar province near the border with Pakistan to talk to residents who reported that they had been affected by drone strikes.
In one village, Afghans disputed NATO's contention that five men killed in a particular drone strike were militants. In the other, a school that was leveled in a nighttime airstrike targeting Taliban fighters hiding inside has yet to be rebuilt.
"These foreigners started the problem," Rasool said of international troops. "They have their own country. They should leave."
From the U.S. perspective, the overall drone program has been a success.
While the Pentagon operates the drones in Afghanistan, the CIA for nearly a decade has used drones to target militants, including Afghans, in Pakistan's border regions. CIA drones have killed al-Qaida No. 2 Abu Yahya al-Libi and other leading extremists.
Still, criticism of the use of drones for targeted killings around the world has been mounting in recent months. The U.N. Special Rapporteur on Counter Terrorism and Human Rights has launched an investigation into their effect on civilians.
Rasool said his decision to leave his home in Hisarak district came nearly a month ago after a particularly blistering air assault killed five people in the neighboring village of Meya Saheeb.
The U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, confirmed an airstrike on Feb. 24 at Meya Saheeb, but as a matter of policy would neither confirm nor deny that drones were used.
Rasool said that he, his son, half a dozen grandchildren, and two other families crammed into the back of a cart pulled by a tractor. They drove throughout the day until they found a house in Khalis Family Village, named after anti-communist rebel leader Maulvi Yunus Khalis, who had close ties to al-Qaida.
The village is not far from the Tora Bora mountain range where in 2001 the U.S.-led coalition mounted its largest operation of the war to flush out al-Qaida and Taliban warriors.
"Nobody ever comes here. It's a little dangerous sometimes because of the Taliban," said Zarullah Khan, a neighbor of Rasool's.
But the historic significance of his newfound refuge was lost on Rasool.
"Who's Khalis? We stopped when we found a house for rent," he said, grumbling at the monthly $200 bill shared among the three families packed into the high-walled compound where he spoke with the AP.
Standing nearby, Rasool's 12-year-old grandson, Ahmed Shah, recalled the attack in Meya Saheeb. The earth shook for what seemed like hours and the next morning his friends told him there were bodies in the nearby village. A little afraid, but more curious, he walked the short distance to Meya Saheed.
"I wanted to see the dead bodies," he said. And he did ? three bodies, all middle-aged men.
ISAF reported five militants were killed, but Rasool claimed they were businessmen. One of the dead had a carpet shop in the village, he said.
Disputes over the identities of those killed have been a hallmark of the 12-year war.
In Pakistan, an AP investigation last year found that drone strikes were killing fewer civilians than many in that country were led to believe, and that many of the dead were combatants.
In Afghanistan, the U.N. has reported that five drone strikes in 2012 resulted in civilian casualties, with 16 civilians killed and three wounded. It reported just one incident in which civilians were killed the previous year.
At the other end of the province from Meya Saheeb and Khalis Family Village lies the village of Budyali. To get there, one must drive along a long, two-lane highway often booby-trapped by militants, before turning turning off onto a narrow, dusty track and finally cross a rock-strewn riverbed.
A Budyali resident, Hayat Gul, says the sound of "benghai" is commonplace in the village. He says he was wounded nearly two years ago in a Taliban firefight with Afghan security forces at a nearby school that led to an airstrike.
Tucked in the shadow of a hulking mountain crisscrossed with dozens of footpaths, the school now is in ruins.
The early morning strike on the school took place on July 17, 2011, hours after the Taliban attacked the district headquarters and the Afghan National Army appealed to their coalition partners for help.
Gul said he and a second guard, 63-year-old Ghulam Ahad, were asleep in the small cement guard house at one end of the school. They awoke to the sound of gunfire as more than a dozen Taliban militants scaled the school walls around midnight, chased by Afghan soldiers.
A bullet struck Gul in the shoulder. Frightened and unsure of what to do, Ahad stepped outside the guard house and was killed. Bullet holes still riddle the badly damaged building.
Village elders and the school's principal, Sayed Habib, said coalition forces responded to the army's request for help with drones, fighter jets and rockets.
The air assault, which residents say began about 3 a.m. and likely included drone strikes, flattened everything across a vast compound that includes the school. Habib said 13 insurgents were killed.
ISAF confirmed that airstrikes killed insurgents in the Budyali area on that day but would not say what type of airstrikes or provide any other details.
Habib and a local malik or elder, Shah Mohammed Khan, said that in the days leading up to the airstrikes the sound of drones could be heard overhead.
"Everyone knows the sound of the unpiloted planes. Even our children know," Habib said.
The elders were critical of the U.S. attack. They said they would have preferred that the Afghan soldiers try to negotiate with the Taliban to leave the school and surrender.
Habib and the village elders recalled the attack while sitting in the middle of the devastated school, where debris was still scattered across a vast yard. They pointed toward a blackboard, pockmarked with gaping holes.
"Shamefully they destroyed our school, our books, our library," said Malik Gul Nawaz, an elder with a gray beard and a pot belly.
Habib said that in an attempt to rebuild the school, a contractor constructed a boundary wall before another Taliban attack. He fled with nearly $400,000 in foreign funds.
The roughly 1,300 students now take classes at a makeshift school made up of tents provided by UNICEF. Gul, who was taken to a U.S. military hospital at Bagram Air Base after the attack and treated for the bullet wound to his left shoulder, is now a watchman at the new school.
He held a small photograph of his dead colleague, Ahad, in his trembling left hand.
"We want to end this war," Gul said. "Enough people have been killed now. We have to find unity."
___
Kathy Gannon is the AP special regional correspondent for Afghanistan and Pakistan and can be followed on www.twitter.com/kathygannon
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/afghan-villagers-flee-homes-blame-us-drones-061922800.html
shawn johnson Tony Sly Lauren Perdue tagged Heptathlon London 2012 shot put London 2012 Track And Field
Range Rover Sport: quicker, agile, and 800 pounds lighter
2014 Range Rover Sport comes with two options for supercharged engines, which give the much lighter Range Rover Sport good-to-great acceleration.
Actor Daniel Craig unveils the All-New Range Rover Sport with a live drive through the streets of New York. The luxury vehicle uses recycled or renewable materials throughout, including plastics, leathers, and wood veneers.
Land Rover/PRNewsFoto
EnlargeEdgier, sleeker, and faster, the 2014 Land Rover Range Rover Sport is the sporting complement to the off-road specialist (with on-road credentials) found in the new Range Rover.
Skip to next paragraphRecent posts
' +
google_ads[0].line2 + '
' +
google_ads[0].line3 + '
Subscribe Today to the Monitor
Unveiled this evening just before the 2013 New York?Auto?Show, the 2014 Range Rover Sport improves upon the previous model's formula with quicker acceleration, lighter weight, and greater agility.
How much lighter is the new Range Rover Sport? Try 800 pounds lighter. That's like kicking four 200-pound six-footers out of the super-SUV--without having to leave your friends on the roadside.
Four variations of the 2014 Range Rover Sport will be offered in the U.S.: the base SE, with a 3.0-liter supercharged 340-horsepower V-6; the HSE with the same engine but upgraded features; the Range Rover Sport Supercharged, with a 510-horsepower 5.0-liter supercharged V-8 (naturally); and the Range Rover Sport Autobiography, with the same engine as the Supercharged model, but again, a better set of equipment.
Amazon reportedly increasing Kindle phone screen size in response to ?phablet? fever
By Brian Homewood March 28 (Reuters) - Swiss champions FC Basel, renowned for their youth development programme, face a constant battle to stop teenage players moving to English, Spanish and Italian clubs. President Bernhard Heusler told Reuters in an interview that parents often do not listen to the club when warned against taking their sons elsewhere. "We get enormous pressure from outside, including English clubs," said Heusler before adding Basel were powerless to stop their youngsters leaving before the age of 16. ...
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/amazon-reportedly-increasing-kindle-phone-screen-size-response-204859764.html
Taylor Swift Red Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 2 celiac disease san francisco giants Medal of Honor Warfighter Richard Mourdock d
HPV improves survival for African-Americans with throat cancer
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 28-Mar-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Krista Hopson
khopson1@hfhs.org
313-874-7207
Henry Ford Health System
DETROIT Even though the human papillomavirus (HPV) is a risk factor for certain head and neck cancers, its presence could make all the difference in terms of survival, especially for African Americans with throat cancer, according to a newly published study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
The study shows that African Americans who are HPV-positive have better outcomes than African Americans without HPV.
African Americans who are HPV-negative also fared worse than Caucasians both with and without HPV present in oropharyngeal cancer, a cancer that affects part of the throat, the base of the tongue, the tonsils, the soft palate (back of the mouth), and the walls of the pharynx (throat).
The study is published online in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.
"This study adds to the mounting evidence of HPV as a racially-linked sexual behavior lifestyle risk factor impacting survival outcomes for both African American and Caucasian patients with oropharyngeal cancer," says lead author Maria J. Worsham, Ph.D., director of research in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery at Henry Ford.
The American Cancer Society estimates about 36,000 people in the U.S. will get oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancers in 2013; an estimated 6,850 people will die of these cancers. These cancers are more than twice as common in men as in women. They are about equally common in blacks and in whites.
To compare survival outcomes in HPV-positive and HPV-negative African Americans with oropharyngeal cancer, Dr. Worsham and her team conducted a retrospective study of 118 patients.
Among the study group, 67 are HPV-negative and 51 are HPV-positive. Forty-two percent of those in the study are African American.
The study found that:
- African Americans are less likely to be HPV positive
- Those older than 50 are less likely to be HPV positive
- Those with late-stage oropharyngeal cancer are more likely to be unmarried and more likely to be HPV positive
- HPV negative patients had 2.7 times the risk of death as HPV positive patients
- The HPV race groups differed with significantly poorer survival for HPV negative African Americans versus HPV positive African Americans, HPV positive Caucasians and HPV negative Caucasians
Overall, the study finds HPV has a substantial impact on overall survival in African Americans with oropharyngeal cancer
###
Along with Dr. Worsham, study co-authors from Henry Ford are Josena K. Stephen, M.D.; Meredith Mahan; Kang Mei Chen, M.D.; Vanessa Schweitzer M.D.; Shaleta Havard, AuD; and George Divine, Ph.D.
Study funding: NIH grant R01 DE 15990
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 28-Mar-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Krista Hopson
khopson1@hfhs.org
313-874-7207
Henry Ford Health System
DETROIT Even though the human papillomavirus (HPV) is a risk factor for certain head and neck cancers, its presence could make all the difference in terms of survival, especially for African Americans with throat cancer, according to a newly published study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
The study shows that African Americans who are HPV-positive have better outcomes than African Americans without HPV.
African Americans who are HPV-negative also fared worse than Caucasians both with and without HPV present in oropharyngeal cancer, a cancer that affects part of the throat, the base of the tongue, the tonsils, the soft palate (back of the mouth), and the walls of the pharynx (throat).
The study is published online in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.
"This study adds to the mounting evidence of HPV as a racially-linked sexual behavior lifestyle risk factor impacting survival outcomes for both African American and Caucasian patients with oropharyngeal cancer," says lead author Maria J. Worsham, Ph.D., director of research in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery at Henry Ford.
The American Cancer Society estimates about 36,000 people in the U.S. will get oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancers in 2013; an estimated 6,850 people will die of these cancers. These cancers are more than twice as common in men as in women. They are about equally common in blacks and in whites.
To compare survival outcomes in HPV-positive and HPV-negative African Americans with oropharyngeal cancer, Dr. Worsham and her team conducted a retrospective study of 118 patients.
Among the study group, 67 are HPV-negative and 51 are HPV-positive. Forty-two percent of those in the study are African American.
The study found that:
- African Americans are less likely to be HPV positive
- Those older than 50 are less likely to be HPV positive
- Those with late-stage oropharyngeal cancer are more likely to be unmarried and more likely to be HPV positive
- HPV negative patients had 2.7 times the risk of death as HPV positive patients
- The HPV race groups differed with significantly poorer survival for HPV negative African Americans versus HPV positive African Americans, HPV positive Caucasians and HPV negative Caucasians
Overall, the study finds HPV has a substantial impact on overall survival in African Americans with oropharyngeal cancer
###
Along with Dr. Worsham, study co-authors from Henry Ford are Josena K. Stephen, M.D.; Meredith Mahan; Kang Mei Chen, M.D.; Vanessa Schweitzer M.D.; Shaleta Havard, AuD; and George Divine, Ph.D.
Study funding: NIH grant R01 DE 15990
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/hfhs-his032813.php
sam young ramon sessions portland trail blazers blagojevich new mexico state kevin rose sessions
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
T-Mobile?s ?UNcarrier? initiative is gimmicky but still an improvement from the status quo
Mar 26 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $3,787,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,154,500 4. Steve Stricker $1,820,000 5. Phil Mickelson $1,650,260 6. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 7. John Merrick $1,343,514 8. Dustin Johnson $1,330,507 9. Russell Henley $1,313,280 10. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 11. Keegan Bradley $1,274,593 12. Charles Howell III $1,256,373 13. Michael Thompson $1,254,669 14. Brian Gay $1,171,721 15. Justin Rose $1,155,550 16. Jason Day $1,115,565 17. Chris Kirk $1,097,053 18. ...
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/t-mobile-uncarrier-initiative-gimmicky-still-improvement-status-203239054.html
april 30 wwe extreme rules 2012 vontaze burfict jimmy kimmel amzn white house correspondents dinner phoenix coyotes
Scientists form new nerve cells -- directly in the brain
Mar. 26, 2013 ? The field of cell therapy, which aims to form new cells in the body in order to cure disease, has taken another important step in the development towards new treatments. A new report from researchers at Lund University in Sweden shows that it is possible to re-programme other cells to become nerve cells, directly in the brain.
Two years ago, researchers in Lund were the first in the world to re-programme human skin cells, known as fibroblasts, to dopamine-producing nerve cells ? without taking a detour via the stem cell stage. The research group has now gone a step further and shown that it is possible to re-programme both skin cells and support cells directly to nerve cells, in place in the brain.
?The findings are the first important evidence that it is possible to re-programme other cells to become nerve cells inside the brain?, said Malin Parmar, research group leader and Reader in Neurobiology.
The researchers used genes designed to be activated or de-activated using a drug. The genes were inserted into two types of human cells: fibroblasts and glia cells ? support cells that are naturally present in the brain. Once the researchers had transplanted the cells into the brains of rats, the genes were activated using a drug in the animals? drinking water. The cells then began their transformation into nerve cells.
In a separate experiment on mice, where similar genes were injected into the mice?s brains, the research group also succeeded in re-programming the mice?s own glia cells to become nerve cells.
?The research findings have the potential to open the way for alternatives to cell transplants in the future, which would remove previous obstacles to research, such as the difficulty of getting the brain to accept foreign cells, and the risk of tumour development?, said Malin Parmar.
All in all, the new technique of direct re-programming in the brain could open up new possibilities to more effectively replace dying brain cells in conditions such as Parkinson?s disease.
?We are now developing the technique so that it can be used to create new nerve cells that replace the function of damaged cells. Being able to carry out the re-programming in vivo makes it possible to imagine a future in which we form new cells directly in the human brain, without taking a detour via cell cultures and transplants?, concluded Malin Parmar.
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Lund University.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Olof Torper, Ulrich Pfisterer, Daniel A. Wolf, Maria Pereira, Shong Lau, Johan Jakobsson, Anders Bj?rklund, Shane Grealish, and Malin Parmar. Generation of induced neurons via direct conversion in vivo. PNAS, 2013 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1303829110
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/VbopJ4I_yc4/130326100839.htm
ron paul nevada buffalo chicken dip super bowl 2012 soul train nevada caucus ufc 143 what time does the super bowl start
Aye-ayes: Endangered lemurs' complete genomes are sequenced and analyzed for conservation efforts
Mar. 25, 2013 ? For the first time, the complete genomes of three separate populations of aye-ayes -- a type of lemur -- have been sequenced and analyzed in an effort to help guide conservation efforts. The results of the genome-sequence analyses will be published in an early edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences online during the week of March 25.
The team of scientists is led by George H. Perry, assistant professor of anthropology and biology at Penn State University; Webb Miller, professor of biology and of computer science and engineering at Penn State; and Edward Louis, director of conservation genetics at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium and director of the Madagascar Biodiversity Partnership, NGO.
The aye-aye -- a lemur that is found only on the island of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean -- recently was re-classified as "endangered" by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. "The aye-aye is one of the world's most unusual and fascinating animals," said Perry. "Aye-ayes use continuously growing incisors to gnaw through the bark of dead trees and then a long, thin, and flexible middle finger to extract insect larvae, filling the ecological niche of a woodpecker. Aye-ayes are nocturnal, solitary and have very low population densities, making them difficult to study and sample in the wild."
Perry added that he and other scientists are concerned about the long-term viability of aye-ayes as a species, given the loss and fragmentation of natural forest habitats in Madagascar. "Aye-aye population densities are very low, and individual aye-ayes have huge home-range requirements," said Perry. "As forest patches become smaller, there is a particular risk that there won't be sufficient numbers of individual aye-ayes in a given area to maintain a population over multiple generations. We were looking to make use of new genomic-sequencing technologies to characterize patterns of genetic diversity among some of the surviving aye-aye populations, with an eye towards the prioritization of conservation efforts."
Louis, with his team at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium and the Madagascar Biodiversity Partnership, worked to locate aye-ayes and collect DNA samples from three separate regions of Madagascar: the northern, eastern, and western regions. To discover the extent of the genetic diversity in present-day aye-ayes, the researchers generated the complete genome sequences of 12 individual aye-ayes. They then analyzed and compared the genomes of the three populations. They found that, while eastern and western aye-ayes are somewhat genetically distinct, aye-ayes in the northern part of the island and those in the east show a much more significant amount of genetic distance, suggesting an extensive period of time during which interbreeding has not occurred between the populations in these regions.
"Our next step was to compare aye-aye genetic diversity to present-day human genetic diversity," explained Miller. "This analysis can help us to gauge how long the aye-aye populations have been geographically separated and unable to interbreed." To make the comparison, the team gathered 12 complete human DNA sequences -- the same number as the individual aye-aye sequences generated -- from publicly available databases for three distinct human populations: African agriculturalists, individuals of European descent, and Southeast Asian individuals. Using Galaxy -- an open-source, web-based computer platform designed at Penn State for data-intensive biomedical and genetic research -- the team developed software to compare the two species' genetic distances. They found that present-day African and European human populations have a smaller amount of genetic distance than that found to exist between northern and eastern aye-aye populations, suggesting that the aye-aye populations were separated for an especially lengthy period of time by geographic barriers.
"We believe that northern aye-ayes have not been able to interbreed with other populations for some time. Although they are separated by a distance of only about 160 miles, high and extensive plateaus and major rivers may have made intermingling relatively infrequent," explained Miller. He added that the results of the team's data further suggest that the separation of the two aye-aye populations stretches back much longer than 2,300 years, which is when human settlers first arrived on the island and started burning the aye-ayes' forest habitat and hunting lemurs.
The team members hope that their findings will help to guide future conservation efforts for the species. "This work highlights an important region of aye-aye biodiversity in northern Madagascar, and this unique biodiversity is not preserved anywhere except in the wild," said Louis. "There is tremendous historical loss of habitat in northern Madagascar that is continuing at an unsustainable rate today. This study is an excellent example of how a comprehensive and coordinated effort in the field and laboratory can identify previously unknown patterns of biodiversity for an endangered species, which then can be used by conservation organizations to base their management strategies."
The authors added that, in future research, they would like to sequence the genomes of other lemur species -- more than 70 percent of which are considered endangered or critically endangered -- as well as aye-ayes from the southern reaches of the island of Madagascar.
In addition to Perry, Miller, and Louis, other scientists who contributed to this research include Stephan C. Schuster, Aakrosh Ratan, Oscar C. Bedoya-Reina, and Richard Burhans from Penn State; Runhua Lei from the Center for Conservation and Research at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium; and Steig E. Johnson from the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada.
Funding for aye-aye sample collection was provided by Conservation International, the Primate Action Fund, and the Margot Marsh Biodiversity Foundation, along with logistical support from the Ahmanson Foundation and the Theodore F. and Claire M. Hubbard Family Foundation. Additional support comes from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Pennsylvania Department of Health, and the College of the Liberal Arts at Penn State University.
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Penn State. The original article was written by Katrina Voss.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- George H. Perry, Edward E. Louis, Jr., Aakrosh Ratan, Oscar C. Bedoya-Reina, Richard C. Burhans, Runhua Lei, Steig E. Johnson, Stephan C. Schuster, and Webb Miller. Aye-aye population genomic analyses highlight an important center of endemism in northern Madagascar. PNAS, March 25, 2013 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1211990110
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/th-V7_WkuQM/130325160507.htm
Colorado shootings dark knight rises Aurora shooting James Eagan Holmes jeremy lin Sage Stallone Mermaid Body Found
Canon Mount Adapter EF-EOS M
The Canon Mount Adapter EF-EOS M ($199.99 direct) is simple in concept: It makes it possible to use EF-S and EF Canon SLRs lenses on the company's freshman entry into the compact interchangeable lens camera market, the EOS M. It has electronic contacts, so you can control lens aperture just as you would with a native lens, and supports autofocus.
Lens design dictates that, in order for a lens to properly focus to infinity, it must be a fixed distance from a camera's image sensor. Because Canon SLRs are so much thicker than the EOS M, this means that the adapter essentially doubles the depth of the compact mirrorless camera. The adapter includes a removable tripod mount, which is helpful when using it in conjunction with heavier zoom or telephoto lenses and a monopod or tripod.
The EOS M isn't quick to focus with native lenses, and it's even slower to focus with adapted ones. I tested the adapter with the EF 28mm f/1.8 USM and the EOS M required about 1.9 seconds to focus and fire a shot with that lens in good light. The same lens focuses in about 0.25-second on the EOS 6D. Because the lens doesn't have an STM focus motor, it stutters back and forth in short bursts as it attempts to lock focus for stills and video alike. You may be better off using adapted lenses in manual focus mode, especially for video. Thankfully the EOS M has a sharp rear LCD and you can easily magnify a portion of the Live View feed for more precise manual focus.
Sony offers a pair of similar adapters for its NEX camera system. The LA-EA1 is also priced at $200, and like the Canon adapter it relies on the NEX camera body's focus system to work. There's also a $400 LA-EA2, which features an integrated phase detect focus system. This delivers SLR-style focusing with adapted lenses. It's a feature that would go a long way to improve SLR lens performance with the EOS M.
If you've already bought into the EOS M system, you're used to its slow autofocus performance. This adapter works as advertised, but understand that performance with adapted SLR lenses will be slower. Considering that it doubles the depth of the EOS M, and that SLR lenses are bulky compared to a mirrorless camera to begin with, you may be better off simply skipping the adapter and simply carrying a D-SLR when you need a lens that isn't available for the EOS M. But if you have a library of Canon SLR glass and are set on using it along with the EOS M, this accessory is a necessary one.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/_HUzUIUtyJ0/0,2817,2416812,00.asp
dionne warwick patricia heaton arsenic and old lace leslie varez ward solar storms uganda
Amanda Knox Murder Acquittal Ruling Overturned (VIDEOS)
Amanda Knox Murder Acquittal Ruling Overturned (VIDEOS)
Amanda Knox has been ordered to stand a re-trial over the 2007 killing of her British roommate Meredith Kercher in Perugia. Knox said the news that the Italian court had overturned the acquittals of her and ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito for the murder was “unfair” and “painful”. The family of the victim, Meredith Kercher, has admitted ...
Amanda Knox Murder Acquittal Ruling Overturned (VIDEOS) Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News
Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/03/amanda-knox-murder-acquittal-ruling-overturned-videos/
andy kaufman tom watson kawasaki disease resurrection masters tickets one direction tulsa news
Minnesota fires coach Tubby Smith
Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith reacts to a call during the first half of a third-round game of the NCAA college basketball tournament against Florida, Sunday, March 24, 2013, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith reacts to a call during the first half of a third-round game of the NCAA college basketball tournament against Florida, Sunday, March 24, 2013, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Minnesota coach Tubby Smith reacts to a foul call during the second half of a third-round game against Florida in the NCAA college basketball tournament Sunday, March 24, 2013, in Austin, Texas. Florida defeated Minnesota 78-64. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ? Minnesota fired Tubby Smith on Monday, cutting ties with the veteran coach one day after the Golden Gophers lost to Florida in the NCAA tournament.
Athletics director Norwood Teague announced the decision Monday and said it was time for a "fresh set of eyes" on the program.
Smith was 124-81 (.610) in six seasons at Minnesota, helping to bring the program back to respectability and ramping up expectations for a team hit hard by an academic cheating scandal.
Smith won 20 games five times. But he went just 46-62 in Big Ten play and never finished higher than sixth in the conference. The Gophers made three NCAA tournament appearances under Smith. They beat UCLA this year before losing on Sunday.
"Tubby has had a long and distinguished career and we feel it's time for a fresh set of eyes for our student-athletes and our program in general," Teague said. "We are grateful to Tubby and his entire staff for their hard work and dedication to this university, our students and the entire Minnesota community."
Smith was welcomed with wild enthusiasm when left powerhouse Kentucky in 2007, hailed as the savior to a program that Dan Monson was never able to raise back out of the abyss created from a the academic fraud that ended up wiping out the team's Final Four appearance in 1997.
Smith won 20 games his first season and took the team to the NCAA tournament the following year, restoring some sense of pride to a team that at one time was the most popular draw in the Twin Cities.
But the success seemed to level off after that. The Gophers made the tournament again in 2010, missed it in 2011 and settled for an NIT bid last year as fans started to grow impatient.
"I want to thank the University of Minnesota and the people of Minnesota for giving me the opportunity to lead the Golden Gopher basketball program for six years," Smith said in a statement provided by the school. "Our staff did things the right way and will leave knowing that the program is in far better shape than when we arrived."
This year's team started off 15-1 and rose as high as No. 8, with wins over Michigan State, Illinois and Memphis during that run. But they quickly came back down to earth, losing seven of 10 games in Big Ten play and squeaking into the tournament as a No. 11 seed thanks in large part to a late-season win over then-No. 1 Indiana at home.
The Gophers handled UCLA in the second round of the tournament only to be thumped by Florida in the next round. A common refrain from fans was that the players, and the team, never seemed to improve as the season went on, instead either stagnating or regressing. The Gophers never finished with a Big Ten record above .500 and finished in seventh place or worse four times in his six seasons.
Undaunted, Smith always pointed to his reputation for running a clean program and the empty cupboard he inherited when he arrived. He has long been lobbying for a practice facility and improvements to historic, but outdated, Williams Arena and has said the lack of investment in the facilities have led to some setbacks in recruiting.
"I don't apologize or I don't defend anything," Smith said last week. "We do the best we can. We do a good job. That's why we're NCAA bound."
The decision to part with a big-name coach after a rare tournament victory for the program is a bold one for Teague, who is in his second year on the job. It requires a cash-strapped athletic department to raise $2.5 million for Smith's buyout.
With a bevy of highly touted recruits in the state, Teague is acting quickly partially to give a replacement time to forge relationships with high school players including Apple Valley point guard Tyus Jones, one of the most sought-after juniors in the country.
Teague and his top assistant, Mike Ellis, are considered to be plugged in to the college basketball world and are believed to have a strong list of candidates to replace Smith at the ready.
Teague came to Minnesota from Virginia Commonwealth, and it has been speculated almost since his arrival that he would eventually bring Shaka Smart with him. But Smart may have higher profile suitors waiting for him as well with openings already at UCLA and USC.
Other names that could come up are former Timberwolves coach and Golden Gopher alumnus Flip Saunders, Villanova's Jay Wright and Marquette's Buzz Williams.
Associated Pressworld peace lakers colorectal cancer metta kashi neil diamond orange crush harden
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)