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In order to better serve the current housing market, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is easing some of its condo requirements until August 2014. Here?s a rundown on how the new requirements will affect Chicago real estate:
Requirement #1
No more than 15 percent of a condo?s units can be delinquent for 60 or more days on their association fees. The previous requirements only allowed condo owners to be delinquent for 30
days.
The FHA will restrict financing to condominiums that have at least 50 percent of their units occupied, and will offer no financing for condo developments with more than 15 percent of their units in serious delinquency.
Requirement #2
For units completed more than a year ago, half of the units in a condo development must be owner-occupied.
Requirement #3
Previously, one investor was not permitted to own more than 10 percent of a condo?s units. Now investors can own up to 30 percent of units.
While the passing of these guidelines has caused some opposition and controversy, the FHA has stood by its decision and hopes that the new requirements will enable more Americans to purchase a condos. More Americans purchasing condos means home sales will increase as well, which will only boost the overall economy.
Source: http://www.chicagolandrealestateforum.com/2012/09/29/fha-will-ease-condo-requirements-until-2014/
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(Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved a new drug for advanced colon cancer developed by Bayer AG, a month ahead of the agency's expected action date for a decision. The drug, to be sold under the brand name Stivarga, was approved to treat colon cancer that has progressed after prior treatment or that has spread to other parts of the body, the agency said. "Someone has clearly lit a fire under the FDA," Sanford Bernstein analyst Geoffrey Porges said of the speedy approval. ...
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Everyone makes mistakes.
It's how you handle making mistakes that matters.
Apple, a company that prides itself on not making the mistakes that so many other companies make, just made a mistake.
It removed a feature of its mobile software that most people loved--Google Maps--and replaced it with Apple Maps, which, for now, is a flawed and inferior app.
That was a mistake.
But now Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, has personally apologized, without qualification.
And Apple is now highlighting competitive map apps in its App Store.
That's the way to handle a mistake.
And it's a tribute to Apple that it's handling it this way.
SEE ALSO: Looks Like Apple's Biggest Risk Is Starting To Hit Home
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/apples-apology-2012-9
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The star of the recent IFA 2012 show in Berlin, the Samsung Galaxy Camera, has just been outed for release in India. At a recent press event -- where the Galaxy Note 2 was also confirmed for release in the country -- Samsung promised to deliver the Galaxy Camera for release prior to Diwali. While sounding pretty vague, Diwali is to take place this year on November 13, so eager Indian early adopters shouldn't be waiting too long to get their hands on the device. No pricing has been confirmed at this time.
The Galaxy Note 2 however, is set for release next week at a price of INR 39,990 (£468, $756) which puts it in the realms of pricing for the European market, perhaps slightly cheaper. Initially the Note 2 will be available from Samsung Smartphone Cafes and Samsung Plazas, with other retailers and carriers offering it at a later date.
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/cDwHWCyrcYI/story01.htm
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One of the hallmarks of the US judicial system is its seemingly inexhaustible system of appeals -- a system for which Samsung is likely most grateful at the moment. Its earlier entreaty to Judge Lucy Koh to have the Galaxy Tab 10.1 preliminary injunction lifted may have been denied, but the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is giving the Korean company another bite at the Apple. That court has granted Samsung's request to have the injunction issue remanded so that the trial court can re-consider Samsung's motion to dissolve it. The ruling enables Samsung to argue that the injunction should be lifted because the jury failed to find infringement of the tablet design patent upon which the injunction is based. Will Judge Koh lift the ban? Perhaps, but we're pretty sure that the crowd from Cupertino will be doing plenty to prevent that from happening. Stay tuned.
Filed under: Tablets, Apple, Samsung
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit tells Judge Koh to revisit Galaxy Tab 10.1 injunction originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Sep 2012 15:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/qvrnVB7uC_s/
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Ralph Oman, the former bureaucrat who served as Register of Copyrights to the US Copyright Office, has filed an amicus brief in the lawsuit against Aereo, a company that makes server racks with thousands of tiny aerials that are used to capture over-the-air broadcast TV and transmit it to viewers using the Internet, with each viewer getting her own antenna.
Oman's brief argues that the intention of the US Congress in passing the 1976 Copyright Act was to establish a regime where anyone who's got an idea for using technology to change the way we interact with copyrighted works was to force that person to get permission from Congress before they made it into a product.
In other words, Oman believes that in America, the law says that all innovation that touches on copyright is presumptively illegal, and each idea must be individually vetted by Congress before being brought to market: "Commercial exploiters of new technologies should be required to convince Congress to sanction a new delivery system and/or exempt it from copyright liability. That is what Congress intended."
Ars Technica's Techdirt's Mike Masnick is his usual incandescent self on the subject:
This is, to put it mildly, crazy talk. He is arguing that anything even remotely disruptive and innovative, must first go through the ridiculous process of convincing Congress that it should be allowed, rather than relying on what the law says and letting the courts sort out any issues. In other words, in cases of disruptive innovation, assume that new technologies are illegal until proven otherwise. That's a recipe for killing innovation.
Under those rules, it's unlikely that we would have radio, cable TV, VCRs, DVRs, mp3 players, YouTube and much, much more. That's not how innovation or the law works. You don't assume everything innovative is illegal just because it upsets some obsolete business models. But that appears to be how Oman thinks the world should act. Stunningly, he even seems to admit that he'd be fine with none of the above being able to come to market without Congressional approval, because he approvingly cites the dissent in the Betamax case (which made clear that the VCR was legal), which argues that the VCR should only be deemed legal with an act of Congress to modify the Copyright Act. You would think that the success of the VCR in revitalizing the movie industry would show just how ridiculous that is... but in Oman's copyright-centric world, the rules are "first, do not allow any innovation that upsets my friends."
Former Copyright Boss: New Technology Should Be Presumed Illegal Until Congress Says Otherwise
TAGS:? christ what an asshole???Copyfight???no seriously christ what an asshole???schumpeter
Source: http://boingboing.net/2012/09/27/former-top-us-copyright-bureau.html
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ScienceDaily (Sep. 27, 2012) ? Using a continent-spanning telescope, an international team of astronomers has peered to the edge of a black hole at the center of a distant galaxy. For the first time, they have measured the black hole's "point of no return" -- the closest distance that matter can approach before being irretrievably pulled into the black hole.
A black hole is a region in space where the pull of gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape. Its boundary is known as the event horizon.
"Once objects fall through the event horizon, they're lost forever," says lead author Shep Doeleman, assistant director at the MIT Haystack Observatory and research associate at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). "It's an exit door from our universe. You walk through that door, you're not coming back."
The team examined the black hole at the center of a giant elliptical galaxy called Messier 87 (M87), which is located about 50 million light-years from Earth. That black hole is 6 billion times more massive than the Sun. It's surrounded by an accretion disk of gas swirling toward the black hole's maw. Although the black hole is invisible, the accretion disk is hot enough to glow.
"Even though this black hole is far away, it's so big that its apparent size on the sky is about the same as the black hole at the center of the Milky Way," says co-author Jonathan Weintroub of the CfA. "That makes it an ideal target for study."
According to Einstein's theory of general relativity, a black hole's mass and spin determine how close material can orbit before becoming unstable and falling in toward the event horizon. The team was able to measure this innermost stable orbit and found that it's only 5.5 times the size of the black hole's event horizon. This size suggests that the accretion disk is spinning in the same direction as the black hole.
The observations were made by linking together radio telescopes in Hawaii, Arizona and California to create a virtual telescope called the Event Horizon Telescope, or EHT. The EHT is capable of seeing details 2,000 times finer than the Hubble Space Telescope.
The team plans to expand its telescope array, adding radio dishes in Chile, Europe, Mexico, Greenland, and the South Pole, in order to obtain even more detailed pictures of black holes in the future.
The work is being published in Science Express.
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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/nasa/~3/IkCWTMnRPf0/120927144236.htm
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It's the darling of "sharing economy" startups, Y Combinator and a good portion of Silicon Valley's top investors, and a symbol of consumer web startups moving beyond entertainment to solve real life problems. Now we're hearing short-term room-renting site Airbnb is also something else -- one of the very few name-brand startups raising a massive new round of funding these days.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/P_pDHYeEpDw/
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John Unger with Schoep in Lake Superior (Hannah Stonehouse Hudson/StonehousePhoto.com/Facebook)
A photograph of a man wading in Lake Superior with his 19-year-old arthritic dog captured the hearts of millions when it was posted online last month--an outpouring that inspired the dog's owner to launch a foundation to help low-income families care for their aging canines.
John Unger says Schoep's Legacy Foundation has raised more than $25,000 since Unger and his dog, Schoep, were photographed by a friend, who posted the image to Facebook.
Before the photo was taken, Unger and his veterinarian had been considering putting Schoep down.
"Without treatment, John and I were talking about euthanasia at the end of July," Erik Haukass, the vet, told the Daily Mail. But through the unsolicited donations from people who saw the photo, Unger was able to treat Schoep and extend his life.
"Schoep is doing incredible right now," Unger said. 'The therapies that the people have donated--it's like turning back the clock a year and a half."
The foundation was created, Haukass added, when the pair "realized we had received more money than we would reasonably spend on Schoep's care."
"It could help another 30 or 40 Schoeps," Haukass said.
The "Official Fan Page of Schoep and John" has more than 20,000 "likes," and Hudson has been selling prints of the photo to benefit the cause.
"This 19-year-old [Schoep is] being cradled in his father's arms last night in Lake Superior," Hannah Stonehouse Hudson, the photographer, wrote in the Facebook post that sparked the outpouring. "Schoep falls asleep every night when he is carried into the lake. The buoyancy of the water soothes his arthritic bones. Lake Superior is very warm right now, so the temperature of the water is perfect. I was so happy I got to capture this moment for John. By the way, John rescued Schoep as an 8-month-old puppy, and he's been by his side through many adventures."
Hudson, a professional photographer, told the Pioneer Press that business is booming since the photo of Unger and Schoep was published--so much so that she recently hired her first employee plus an intern.
"I would say a 30 percent increase in shoots," Hudson said. "Who knew a favor to a friend would turn into this? It's completely surreal."
Because of the public's generosity, Schoep has been getting expensive joint laser treatments to reduce pain and swelling related to arthritis.
"He's walking so much faster," the 49-year-old Unger said. "It's unbelievable."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/dog-photo-schoep-arthritic-lake-180953849.html
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WASHINGTON (AP) ? The U.S. economy grew at a sluggish 1.3 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter, held back by the severe drought that reduced farm production in the Midwest.
The growth rate was lowered from a previous estimate of 1.7 percent, the Commerce Department said Thursday.
About half of the downward revision to growth came from a decline in farm production. The estimate for crop production was slashed by $12 billion. But economic growth was also weaker because of slower growth in consumer spending and exports.
Economists said that Midwest drought would likely be a drag on growth in the July-September quarter.
But Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said once the drought eases and crop yields rebound to normal levels, the farm sector will provide a boost to economic growth.
Growth slowed from the 2 percent rate in the January-March and isn't expected to exceed that level for the rest of the year. Growth at or below 2 percent is typically too slow to lower unemployment, which was 8.1 percent in August.
Most economists expect unemployment will stay around 8 percent for the rest of this year.
A weak economy and high unemployment could hurt President Barack Obama's re-election chances and bolster Republican nominee Mitt Romney's campaign.
The slow growth and anemic job creation prompted the Federal Reserve earlier this month to take some dramatic steps in an effort to jump-start activity.
High unemployment and sluggish growth prompted the Federal Reserve last week to announce several major steps to boost the economy. Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed will buy $40 billion of mortgage-backed securities a month until there is "substantial" improvement in the job market.
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It can seem counter-intuitive, but passage and enactment of a carbon tax would have far-reaching positive effects on the US economy and society, stimulating investment, innovation and economic growth, and making US business and industry more competitive. So asserts 35-year energy and aerospace industry veteran Jim Hartung, now the president of energy information services provider GlobalEnergySolutions.org.
Several organizations have proposed variants of a US carbon tax, all of which incorporate mechanisms that both shield lower income individuals from its regressive nature while also building in incentives to reward those who lower their fossil fuel consumption and hence emissions while penalizing those who increase theirs.
Opponents have pounced on the counter-intuitiveness of carbon tax proposals, asserting they would further stifle economic recovery and growth by raising energy costs, disproportionately affecting lower income Americans. Exactly the opposite would be true, Hartung argues in his Sept. 13 op-ed on Energy Pulse.
Hartung explains the three principles upon which his carbon tax proposal is based:
To illustrate how the carbon tax would work and the benefits it would yield, Hartung puts forward the example of a carbon tax and tax credits of $20 per ton of carbon dioxide (CO2) and equivalent greenhouse gases, increasing to $100 per ton in 2025 and thereafter, with annual adjustments for inflation that if enacted in fiscal 2013 would come into effect in 2015.
An initial carbon tax of $20 per ton would add 20 cents to the cost of a gallon in 2015, which is actually much less than the volatility in prices at the pumps Americans have been experiencing, he notes. Amounting to an additional $1 per gallon of gasoline, the $100 per ton in 2025 carbon tax would incorporate the true external costs of fossil fuel production and consumption into carbon fuel prices, costs that have never been incorporated in energy prices before, he explains.
Analyzing the benefits his proposed carbon tax would produce, Hartung writes, ?There are many obvious and a few not-so-obvious benefits of this carbon tax. Because it localizes responsibility to those entities that produce and use fossil fuels, it elicits more responsible actions from both energy producers and energy consumers.?
Each substantial in their own right, the benefits of such a carbon tax encompass:
Concluding his advocacy, Hartung writes:
?The U.S. is in a unique position to benefit from a carbon tax because of the size and competitiveness of its energy markets, the quantity and diversity of its domestic energy resources, and the breath and depth of its technological, business, and entrepreneurial capabilities.
?Most other countries will also benefit from implementing their own carbon tax. The U.S. can encourage them by bilaterally eliminating carbon import taxes from countries that have a similar carbon tax in place. Enlightened self-interest will trigger a domino effect, as most countries will want to secure the advantages of a carbon tax and avoid carbon import taxes on their exports to the U.S. market.?
* Graphic image credit: FossilTrax
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By Nick Dimakos
Most of the time there is nothing to worry about when it comes to hair loss, but it can still be very upsetting. Should you begin to lose quite a lot of hair quickly then a doctor should be told, however it?s fairly normal to get gradually thinning hair. If there?s pattern baldness in your genes, you may start losing hair at almost any age. But, there are numerous causes for losing your hair, and we shall look over some of them in the following article.
One thing you should realize about hair loss is that it?s normal, at least to some extent. Every day people lose a bit of their hair; you?d need to visit the hairdressers more often if you didn?t! The specific amount can differ, however losing 100 hairs per day isn?t unusual. Although it sounds like lots it?ll grow back most of the time, but when it decides to not grow back it becomes a big concern. You will lose a bit of hair when washing or brushing it, which is normal. Scalp infections are one possible cause of hair loss that you should be aware of. For example, ringworm is a fungus and not a worm that is able to invade your scalp and cause the loss of hair. Although it?s more common in children, it can occur at any age. The scalp can also be attacked by tinea capitis, which is another kind of fungal infection which causes hair loss. It?s very important to treat these infections as quickly as possible with anti-fungal medications. You can avoid these infections, as they?re contagious, by just being hygienic and not sharing things such as towels with other people. If you?re a member of a gym, instead of walking around the locker room barefoot you should put on some sandals.
Losing weight too fast can cause your hair to thin and fall out. So, do not go on faddish diets or consume low amounts of calories. Those who experience quick weight loss usually suffer hair loss that is call Telogen Effluvium. Aside from the unwanted side effect of hair loss, these type of diets are not usually healthy. In this case, losing your hair is a way of your body saying that you are not healthy. If you really want to lose weight, talk to your doctor first. Try doing this as opposed to putting money into the next best diet frenzy. Basically, there are many possible reasons that you are experiencing hair loss. So, make sure that you speak with your doctor if you notice that you are seeing a lot of hair on your bathroom floor for no apparent reason. Many times, you will find that your parents experienced the same thing. There may not be much you can do short of a hair transplant. However, do not overlook this, but determine why you are experiencing hair loss.
Nick Dimakos is the owner of Surethik, a company dedicated to providing the very best of hair loss treatment options, natural cosmetic options and the latest hair regrowth technology. Their most well-known product, Surethik Hair Fibers offers an all natural organic answer for thinning hair cover up.
Source: http://globalgoodgroup.com/blog/2012/09/25/simple-ways-to-prevent-hair-loss/
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Microorganisms that crashed to Earth embedded in the fragments of distant planets might have been the sprouts of life on this one, according to new research from Princeton University, the University of Arizona and the Centro de Astrobiolog?a (CAB) in Spain.
The researchers report in the journal Astrobiology that under certain conditions there is a high probability that life came to Earth ? or spread from Earth to other planets ? during the solar system's infancy when Earth and its planetary neighbors orbiting other stars would have been close enough to each other to exchange lots of solid material. The work will be presented at the 2012 European Planetary Science Congress on Sept. 25.
The findings provide the strongest support yet for "lithopanspermia," the idea that basic life forms are distributed throughout the universe via meteorite-like planetary fragments cast forth by disruptions such as volcanic eruptions and collisions with other matter. Eventually, another planetary system's gravity traps these roaming rocks, which can result in a mingling that transfers any living cargo.
[Images and video can be seen at http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S34/82/42M30. To obtain high-res images, contact Princeton science writer Morgan Kelly, (609) 258-5729, mgnkelly@princeton.edu]
Previous research on this possible phenomenon suggests that the speed with which solid matter hurtles through the cosmos makes the chances of being snagged by another object highly unlikely. But the Princeton, Arizona and CAB researchers reconsidered lithopanspermia under a low-velocity process called weak transfer wherein solid materials meander out of the orbit of one large object and happen into the orbit of another. In this case, the researchers factored in velocities 50 times slower than previous estimates, or about 100 meters per second.
Using the star cluster in which our sun was born as a model, the team conducted simulations showing that at these lower speeds the transfer of solid material from one star's planetary system to another could have been far more likely than previously thought, explained first author Edward Belbruno, a mathematician and visiting research collaborator in Princeton's Department of Astrophysical Sciences who developed the principles of weak transfer.
The researchers suggest that of all the boulders cast off from our solar system and its closest neighbor, five to 12 out of 10,000 could have been captured by the other. Earlier simulations had suggested chances as slim as one in a million.
"Our work says the opposite of most previous work," Belbruno said. "It says that lithopanspermia might have been very likely, and it may be the first paper to demonstrate that. If this mechanism is true, it has implications for life in the universe as a whole. This could have happened anywhere."
Co-authors Amaya Moro-Mart?n, an astronomer at CAB and a Princeton visiting research collaborator in astrophysical sciences, and Renu Malhotra, a professor of planetary sciences at Arizona, noted that low velocities offer very high probabilities for the exchange of solid material via weak transfer, and also found that the timing of such an exchange could be compatible with the actual development of the solar system, as well as with the earliest known emergence of life on Earth. Dmitry Savransky, a Princeton mechanical and aerospace engineering doctoral student, conducted the simulations.
The researchers report that the solar system and its nearest planetary-system neighbor could have swapped rocks at least 100 trillion times well before the sun struck out from its native star cluster. Furthermore, existing rock evidence shows that basic life forms could indeed date from the sun's birth cluster days ? and have been hardy enough to survive an interstellar journey and eventual impact.
"The conclusion from our work," Moro-Mart?n said, "is that the weak transfer mechanism makes lithopanspermia a viable hypothesis because it would have allowed large quantities of solid material to be exchanged between planetary systems, and involves timescales that could potentially allow the survival of microorganisms embedded in large boulders."
All about velocities
The Princeton-Arizona-CAB paper cites two previous studies that present the odds of solid matter from one planetary system being captured by another as being more or less dismal.
The first, a 2003 paper published in Astrobiology by Jay Melosh, a Purdue University earth and atmospheric sciences professor, questioned the probability that meteorites have ever escaped a terrestrial planet in Earth's solar system and wound up on a terrestrial planet in another system. The report concluded that the chances ? about one in 10,000, or 0.01 percent ? are "overwhelmingly unlikely" considering the speed a meteorite would need to travel (about six kilometers per second) and the roominess of space.
Belbruno and his co-authors calculated that under this scenario of high velocities and dispersed planetary systems, the probability of solid material from any planetary system striking another falls to as little as five in 100,000, or 0.005 percent.
Star birth clusters, which are tightly confined groups of stars and planetary systems, were introduced as a possible setting for lithopanspermia in a 2005 Astrobiology paper by David Spergel, Princeton's Charles A. Young Professor of Astronomy on the Class of 1897 Foundation and chair of astrophysical sciences, and University of Michigan physics professor Fred Adams.
Factoring in velocities of two to five kilometers per second, Spergel and Adams found that the chances of an exchange of life-bearing rocks between star systems clustered in groups of 30 to 1,000 could be as unlikely as one in a million to as good as one in 1,000, or 0.0001 to 0.1 percent, respectively. Spergel and Adams, however, limited their study to binary stars ? or planetary systems with two stars ? which might elevate star-to-star solid matter exchanges, Moro-Mart?n said.
Nonetheless, in clusters similar to those considered by Spergel and Adams, weak transfer involves relative velocities of no more than one kilometer per second, which substantially increases the probability of capture by other stars in the cluster. In other words, star clusters provide an ideal setting for weak transfer, Belbruno said.
Chaotic in nature, weak transfer happens when a slow moving object such as a meteorite wanders into the outer edge of the gravitational pull of a larger object with a low relative velocity, such as a star or massive Jupiter-like planet. The smaller object partially orbits the large object, but the larger object has only a loose grip on it. This means the smaller object can escape and be propelled into space, drifting until it is pulled in by another large object.
Belbruno first demonstrated weak transfer with the Japanese lunar probe Hiten in 1991. A mechanical malfunction left the probe with insufficient fuel to enter the moon's orbit the traditional way, which is to approach at a high speed then fire retrorockets to slow down. Instead, Belbruno designed a weak-transfer trajectory that got the probe into orbit around the moon using a minimal amount of fuel.
Adams, co-author of the 2005 paper with Spergel, said that the work by Belbruno and his co-authors succeeds at pulling together the various factors of earlier lithopanspermia models and adding a substantial new element ? chaos. Adams is familiar with the study but had no role in it.
"This paper takes the type of calculations that have been done before and makes an important generalization of previous work," Adams said. "Their work on chaos in this context also carries the subject forward. They make a careful assessment of a process that is dynamically quite complicated and chaotic in nature.
"They are breaking new ground from the viewpoint of dynamical astrophysics," Adams said. "Regarding the problem of lithopanspermia, this type of weak capture and weak escape is interesting because it allows for the ejection speeds to be small, and these slow speeds allow for higher probabilities of rock capture. To say it another way, chaos, in part, enhances the prospects for lithopanspermia."
To the simulator!
Star birth clusters satisfy two requirements for weak transfer, Moro-Mart?n said. First, the sending and receiving planetary systems must contain a massive planet that captures the passing solid matter in the weak-gravity boundary between itself and its parent star. Earth's solar system qualifies, and several other stars in the sun's birth cluster would too.
Second, both planetary systems must have low relative velocities. In the sun's stellar cluster, between 1,000 and 10,000 stars were gravitationally bound to one another for hundreds of millions of years, each with a velocity of no more than a sluggish one kilometer per second, Moro-Mart?n said.
The team simulated 5 million trajectories between single-star planetary systems ? in a cluster with 4,300 stars ? under three conditions: the solid matter's "source" and "target" stars were both the same mass as the sun; the target star was only half the sun's mass; or the source star was half the sun's mass.
The researchers explored the likelihood that our solar system exchanged solid matter with its closest planetary-system neighbor during the first hundreds of millions of years it existed. At that time, our sun belonged to a tight-knit star cluster filled with other planetary systems. The above simulation shows that two planetary systems (green and blue dots) -- about 3.26 light years apart -- orbit a common center of mass. Over a period of roughly 8.7 million years, various objects (black dots) are pulled in and repelled by the systems' gravity. Displaying weak transfer, one object (red dot) first wanders into the green system's gravity boundary and partially orbits it before being cast off. The red object then drifts before being pulled in by the blue planetary system. Credit: Video by Dmitry Savransky
To estimate the actual amount of solid matter that could have been exchanged between the sun and its nearest star neighbor, the researchers used data and models pertaining to the movement and formation of asteroids, the Kuiper Belt ? the solar system's massive outer ring of asteroids ? and the Oort Cloud, a hypothesized collection of comets, ice and other matter about one light year from Earth's sun widely believed to be a primary source of comets and meteorites.
The researchers used this data to conclude that during a period of 10 million to 90 million years, anywhere between 100 trillion to 30 quadrillion solid matter objects weighing more than 10 kilograms transferred between the sun and its nearest cluster neighbor. Of these, some 200 billion rocks from early Earth could have been whisked away via weak transfer.
For lithopanspermia to happen, however, microorganisms first have to survive the long, radiation-soaked journey through space.
Moro-Mart?n and Malhotra consulted a 2009 paper an international team published in the Astrophysical Journal that determined how long microorganisms could survive in space based on the size of the solid matter hosting them. That group's computer simulations showed that survival times ranged from 12 million years for a boulder up to 3 centimeters (roughly one inch) in diameter, to 500 million years for a solid objects 2.67 meters (nearly nine feet) across.
The researchers estimated that under weak transfer, solid matter that had escaped one planet would need tens of millions of years to finally collide with another one. This falls within the lifespan of the sun's birth cluster, but means that lithopanspermia by weak transfer would have been limited to planetary fragments at least one meter, or about three feet, in size.
Matching the theory with life
As for the actual transfer of life, the researchers suggest that roughly 300 million lithopanspermia events could have occurred between our solar system and the closest planetary system.
But even if microorganisms survived the trip to Earth, the planet had to be ready to receive them. The researchers reference rock-dating evidence suggesting that the Earth contained water when the solar system was only 288 million years old and that very early life might have emerged before the solar system was 718 million years old.
The sun's birth cluster ? assumed to be roughly the same age as the Earth's solar system ? slowly broke apart when the solar system was approximately 135 million to 535 million years old, Moro-Mart?n said. In addition, the sun could have been ripe for weak transfer up to 700 million years after the solar system formed.
So, if life arose on Earth shortly after surface water was available, there were possibly about 400 million years when life could have journeyed from the Earth to another habitable world, and vice versa, the researchers report. If life had an early start in other planetary systems and developed before the sun's birth cluster dispersed, life on Earth may have originated beyond our solar system.
The paper stops short of calculating the likelihood of extrasolar life taking root on a terrestrial planet such as Earth, but the higher probability the researchers determined for solid-matter transfer makes that a more worthwhile pursuit, Moro-Mart?n said.
"Our study stops when the solid matter is trapped by the second planetary system, but for lithopanspermia to be completed it actually needs to land on a terrestrial planet where life could flourish," Moro-Mart?n said. "The study of the probability of landing on a terrestrial planet is work that we now know is worth doing because large quantities of solid material originating from the first planetary system may be trapped by the second planetary system, waiting to land on a terrestrial planet.
"Our study does not prove lithopanspermia actually took place," Moro-Mart?n said, "but it indicates that it is an open possibility."
###
The paper, "Chaotic Exchange of Solid Material between Planetary Systems: Implications for Lithopanspermia," was published Sept. 12 by Astrobiology
Princeton University: http://www.princeton.edu
Thanks to Princeton University for this article.
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Models wear a creation as part of fashion designer Anthony Vaccarello's spring-summer 2013 ready to wear collection in Paris, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
Models wear a creation as part of fashion designer Anthony Vaccarello's spring-summer 2013 ready to wear collection in Paris, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
A model wears a creation as part of fashion designer Anthony Vaccarello's spring-summer 2013 ready to wear collection in Paris, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
A model wears a creation as part of fashion designer Anthony Vaccarello's spring-summer 2013 ready to wear collection in Paris, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
A model shows a creation by Serbian-born fashion designer Nana Aganovich as part of the spring-summer 2013 ready to wear collection, during Paris Fashion week, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon)
Models walk at the end of Veronique Branquinho's Spring Summer 2013 ready to wear collection, presented in Paris, Tuesday, Sept.25, 2012. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon)
PARIS (AP) ? Fashion week in Paris is always a race against time.
Paris ? the last city after New York, London and Milan to host shows ? is offering up 95 frenetic catwalk spectacles back-to-back over eight days at opposite ends of the French capital.
So it's perhaps fitting that the spring-summer 2013 season got going behind a giant clock: The iconic timekeeper of Paris' grand Gare de l'Est train station. The setting may have been grand but the shows on the first day in Paris are often low-key, a showcase for emerging talent.
Young knitwear designer and Rick Owens alumnus Alice Lemoine emerged from the shadows of her former mentor to produce an unassuming but highly accomplished show in rich spring colors.
Belgian-born designer Anthony Vaccarello ? whose star has been on a rise since Gwyneth Paltrow graced the cover of Harper's Bazaar in one of his dresses ? delivered a slick and revealing show Tuesday, channeling black and white in an unusual summer collection.
South Korean designer Moon Young Hee also threw away the color wheel to produce a sophisticated, demure show, while Impasse de la Defense mixed bold colors with retro and street styles.
Wednesday's shows will include London's enfant terrible Gareth Pugh, Guy Laroche and Dries Van Noten.
IMPASSE DE LA DEFENSE
Post-punk design house Impasse de la Defense, tucked away behind the clock of the Gare de l'Est, got extra street cred as loud train announcements punctuated their colorful show.
Their eclectic and contemporary mix included vibrant patchwork dresses, outre tulle bridal skirts and large shawls printed with images of clock architecture. Their soundtrack ? a single harmonica played by a man who looked like a busker ? added a dash of boho insouciance to the many the casual, loose-fitting, splash-dyed dresses.
Designer Karim Bonnet said he was channeling German street style after a holiday there last summer ? but at times, the clock seemed to turn to '70s flower power. The imaginative prints of cameras and the spines of novels on large shawls were a notable success.
At times, though, the sheer size of the shawls ? which models had wrapped around them ? made them look clumsy.
LE MOINE TRICOTE
No longer just for grannies, knitwear has finally been made cool ? a youthful facelift courtesy of Le Moine Tricote.
Armed with two 12mm (half-inch) needles, a ball of wool and no rules, designer Alice Lemoine set about this collection with no idea what clothes she would make.
"I just let the needles lead and I make all sorts of different shapes and panels," Lemoine said backstage, wearing a wooly cardigan. "I then just fuse it together; not exactly patchwork, but the same process."
The result? An architectural ? and highly huggable ? display of some 14 soft, open knit looks ? set off with creative spirals, polygons and geometric shapes.
Lemoine gives freedom to the natural weight of wool ? producing some sumptuous effects, like one plunging gray and camel column dress. Lest we forget it's summer, it's all served up with a refreshing palette of sky blue, navy, pearl beige purple and white.
Splashes of delicate, tightly knitted silk alongside breezy organza undergarments and the occasional peplum was a new addition this season.
ANTHONY VACCARELLO
Sticking to black and white is one sure way to stand out in spring collections, which are famed for their use of color. But at the moment, it's not as if Anthony Vaccarello needs the attention. His recent fashion headlines include a design stint at Collette as part of Vogue's Fashion Night Out.
In this uber-sexy, color-free summer offering, the models' legs did the talking: Micro skirts with a tight, sweeped draping.
There was a distinct feeling of previous seasons' Milan shows ? plunging necklines, draped tops with eyelets and loose shoulder-strong jackets. At times, the draping invoked a Grecian toga look.
___
Thomas Adamson can be followed at http:/ /Twitter.com/ThomasAdamsonAP
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Coffee is a popular source of caffeine. However, it also contains many other components that are believed to have health benefits, such as lowering blood sugar levels. These components include chlorogenic acid, quinides, lignans and trigonelline.
Studies suggest that caffeinated coffee consumption may increase blood pressure and potentially increase the risk of heart disease. However, these results were not found to be true of decaffeinated coffee, and some trials found that chlorogenic acid may actually lower blood pressure.
In a new study, researchers analyzed data on 489,706 individuals from the NIH AARP Diet and Health Study to assess the potential relationship between coffee and tea consumption and colon and rectal cancer. Data on diet and lifestyle were collected through questionnaires. Over an average of 10.5 years, 1,993 distal colon cancers, 2,863 proximal colon cancers and 1,874 rectal cancers were identified.
The researchers found that when compared to individuals who drank no coffee at all, those who consumed four to five cups daily and those who consumed over six cups daily had a 15 and 26 percent reduced risk of colon cancer, respectively. A significant association with tea consumption was lacking.
The authors concluded that drinking coffee may reduce the risk for colon cancer. Additional research is warranted.
For more information about coffee, please visit Natural Standard's Foods, Herbs & Supplements Database.
September 20th at 2:57pm by Tom Lydon
Sector exchange traded funds give a portfolio exposure to specific industries with one investment.
The most popular ETFs that focus in on sectors are the Sector SPDRs from State Street Global Advisors.
?Initially, many of the first ETFs available to investors tracked extremely broad segments of the market, such as the S&P 500. That was great for those who subscribed fully to the passive investing philosophy, which recommends simply trying to match the market?s performance, rather than beating it,? Dan Caplinger of The Motley Fool wrote. [Energy ETFs: Attractive Valuations and Dividends]
For those investors who wanted to try and outperform the broad market with industries and areas of the market they thought were going to outpace others, sector ETFs became a quick and easy way to gain targeted exposure. This way investors did not have to guess which company would outperform, taking out the guesswork and mitigating the risk factor.
The most important aspect of sector investing is making sure the fund does not overweight to one company or another. Unexpected concentration in one stock or another can cause a portfolio to tank or miss out on possible upticks from other companies not adequately represented.
For example, the Energy Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLE) weights heavily in two stocks ? Exxon Mobile (NYSE: XOM) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX). These oil mega caps have a heavy influence on the sector as a whole, and have pull over the smaller oil companies. [ETF Chart of the Day: Energy Sector]
Energy Select Sector SPDR
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Tisha Guerrero contributed to this article.
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.
Source: http://www.etftrends.com/2012/09/sector-investing-with-etfs/
ScienceDaily (Sep. 20, 2012) ? Newly formed emotional memories can be erased from the human brain. This is shown by researchers from Uppsala University in a new study now being published by the academic journal Science. The findings may represent a breakthrough in research on memory and fear.
Thomas ?gren, a doctoral candidate at the Department of Psychology under the supervision of Professors Mats Fredrikson and Tomas Furmark, has shown, that it is possible to erase newly formed emotional memories from the human brain.
When a person learns something, a lasting long-term memory is created with the aid of a process of consolidation, which is based on the formation of proteins. When we remember something, the memory becomes unstable for a while and is then restabilized by another consolidation process. In other words, it can be said that we are not remembering what originally happened, but rather what we remembered the last time we thought about what happened. By disrupting the reconsolidation process that follows upon remembering, we can affect the content of memory.
In the study the researchers showed subjects a neutral picture and simultaneously administered an electric shock. In this way the picture came to elicit fear in the subjects which meant a fear memory had been formed. In order to activate this fear memory, the picture was then shown without any accompanying shock. For one experimental group the reconsolidation process was disrupted with the aid of repeated presentations of the picture. For a control group, the reconsolidation process was allowed to complete before the subjects were shown the same repeated presentations of the picture.
In that the experimental group was not allowed to reconsolidate the fear memory, the fear they previously associated with the picture dissipated. In other words, by disrupting the reconsolidation process, the memory was rendered neutral and no longer incited fear. At the same time, using a MR-scanner, the researchers were able to show that the traces of that memory also disappeared from the part of the brain that normally stores fearful memories, the nuclear group of amygdala in the temporal lobe.
'These findings may be a breakthrough in research on memory and fear. Ultimately the new findings may lead to improved treatment methods for the millions of people in the world who suffer from anxiety issues like phobias, post-traumatic stress, and panic attacks,' says Thomas ?gren.
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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/84p1EiKFFlo/120920141155.htm
Last updated 6 hours 9 minutes ago
Have you ever done a search on Google and something comes up that you are not expecting? Why did that show up? What made that link become relevant to your search query and how did it show up before other links? There are some mysteries involved with search engine marketing and some things that are easier to explain.
Search engine marketing, as you know, allows for three different options: SEO, PPC, or both. Having both SEO and PPC working in your brand's favor is a sure way to find yourself at the top of a search query.
In the case of Jimmy Hoffa,?it is no longer a mystery. Keywords, links, and relevant material are the items that made Jimmy Hoffa's burial found on page 2 of Google. While there may always be questions behind his death; there is no mystery to this search query. SEO was in control of this search engine marketing mission.
From this search query it is easy to see the importance that SEO and PPC brings to any search result. You want your business to show up first on Google, you can make it happen. Solving the murder of Jimmy Hoffa may have taken decades, but don't let it take you that long to get a grasp on search engine marketing. If you wait to solve the search engine mystery, by the time that you do, your brand may be buried below another corporation, just like Jimmy Hoffa.
While some mysteries seem nearly impossible to solve, search engine marketing doesn't have to.
About Nate Louis: Nate is an experienced Internet Marketing Consultant with ReachLocal in Cleveland Ohio. His mission is to help you increase your advertising return on investment and decrease unproductive advertising expenses through proven, online marketing strategies. He has managed hundreds of online marketing campaigns for local businesses, agencies, and Non-Profits. Give him a call at (216)253-5691 to schedule a Free Consultation.
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Let's face facts: there's either always something that needs to be fixed in your home, or there's something that looks hideous, that should be fixed.
Don't be ashamed ? you're among friends.
How do you fix that obvious water stain, that smell from your water-cooler closet, or begin to add a deck to your house? How much will all that even cost?
To address these questions and more, we've recruited some pros. In the comments, ask them your questions about home projects you'd like to start, or fixes you want to make.
Participating pros are:
Source: http://westdesmoines.patch.com/articles/ask-the-patch-pros-home-improvements-and-easy-fixes
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Source: http://homescontractors.com/Blog/2012/09/19/remodel-california-homes-beverly-hills-ca-90210-3/
