Fed: US banks tighten lending to Europe banks (AP)

WASHINGTON ? A Federal Reserve survey has found that more than half of U.S. banks that lend to European banks have tightened their standards, a reflection of the persistent European debt crisis.

Of the 26 U.S. banks surveyed that make loans to European banks, five said they had tightened their standards considerably in the October-December quarter. Another 10 said that they had tightened them somewhat in the same period, according to the survey released Monday.

Many economists predict that Europe's debt crisis will push the region into a recession this year. Many European banks are heavily exposed to government debt, making the banks more of a risk.

In the U.S., banks are seeing more small businesses apply for loans, according to the Fed's quarterly survey of loan officers for large banks.

The percentage of banks reporting increased loan demand from companies with annual sales of less than $50 million rose to the highest level since 2005, the survey found.

Economists saw the increase in demand for loans as a good sign for future economic growth because it indicates that more companies are confident and may be looking to hire more and expand.

"Businesses are starting to look to grow and they need loans to do it," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics.

Zandi said while loan standards are still tight compared to the period before the financial crisis hit, they have been eased in recent quarters and that is a good sign for future growth as well.

"The credit spigot is slowly opening after having been closed tight during the credit crunch," Zandi said. "That is good because we need credit to flow for this recovery to gain traction."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_bi_ge/us_fed_loan_survey

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Christina Aguilera Spray Tan Disaster At Etta James? Funeral

Oh, honey. I love the girl but DAMN! This is just a hot mess! Christina Aguilera’s spray tan disaster at Etta James’ funeral is just bad in so many ways… This could have very well been my fashion fail, but Shy?m out did this hot mess. Xtina, girl, see a stylist, lay off the make-up, and check your spray tan! Yeeeah has these lovely pics… 7 Alternatives to Chemical-Based Shampoo? All Women Stalk. Machine Gun Kelly Arrested for disorderly conduct – Diva Artist. Demi Moore?s Pal, Patty Jenkins Says She?s Doing Fine – Earsucker. Kim Kardashian May Start A Bible Study Group – Amy Grindhouse. Wow, she is gorgeous! Amanda Seyfried is the new feature face for W Korea February 2012. Gossip And Soaps. David Beckham Strips Down For H&M Super Bowl Ad – Have U Heard. I can’t wait to see this film! Three New Looks at Snow White and the Huntsman! – I Need My Fix. Sylvester Stallone?s Wife Jennifer Flavin May Join Real Housewives of Beverly Hills – Celeb Dirty Laundry. Box Office Report: ?The Grey? Dominated The Weekend – VIP Movie Snob. Check out Bitten & Bound‘s Money for your Honey contest! And don’t forget to [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RightCelebrity/~3/uV_DaKABR20/

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By The Numbers: Autism Is Not a Math Problem

News | Mind & Brain

There are 2027 ways to be diagnosed with autism in DSM-IV and only 11 ways in DSM-5, but the numbers alone are misleading

By Ferris Jabr ?| January 30, 2012

SOMETHING DOES NOT ADD UP: There are many more ways to be diagnosed with autism in DSM-IV than in DSM-5, but looking at the numbers alone doesn't tell you much. Image: Acdx, Wikimedia Commons

At a meeting of the Icelandic Medical Association last week, Yale University child psychologist Fred Volkmar gave a presentation on how the American Psychiatric Association (APA) is changing the definition of autism. In his talk, Volkmar came to a startling conclusion: more than half of the people who meet the existing criteria for autism would not meet the APA?s new definition of autism and, therefore, may not receive state educational and medical services.

The APA defines autism in a reference guide for clinicians called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM). The newest version of the manual, the DSM-5, is slated for publication in May 2013.

In Iceland, Volkmar presented data from an unpublished preliminary analysis of 372 high-functioning autistic children and adults with IQs above 70. He plans to publish a broader analysis later this year. On a key PowerPoint slide that Volkmar shared with Scientific American, he notes that there are 2688 ways to get a diagnosis of autistic disorder in DSM-IV, but only six ways to get a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder in DSM-5. Although intriguing at first glance, it turns out that both these numbers are slightly wrong?and that they are pretty much useless when comparing the DSM-IV and DSM-5. You cannot reduce autism to a math problem.

Scientific American wanted to explore this gaping discrepancy further, so we asked astronomer and Hubble Fellow Joshua Peek of Columbia University to code a computer program that would calculate the total possible ways to get a diagnosis of autistic disorder in DSM-IV and the total possible ways to get a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder in DSM-5. You can do the math by hand too, if you like: It all comes down to factorials. The DSM-IV criteria are a set of 12 items in three groups from which you must choose 6, with at least two items from group one and at least one item each from groups two and three. The DSM-5 criteria are a set of 7 items in two groups from which you must choose 5, including all three items in group one and at least two of the four items in group two. Peek's program crunched the numbers: there are 2027 different ways to be diagnosed with autism in DSM-IV and 11 ways to be diagnosed with autism in DSM-5.

One might think that those statistics make it absurdly easy to qualify for a diagnosis of autism in DSM-IV and incredibly difficult to meet the criteria for autism in DSM-5, but those numbers alone don't tell you anything unless you understand how common each symptom of autism is in the general population. Symptoms of autism are not randomly distributed throughout the population and the symptoms do not cluster together in random combinations. Research in the past decade has shown that some symptoms appear together much more often than others. In fact, that is one of the main reasons that the APA has consolidated the DSM-IV criteria for autism into fewer, denser and more accurate criteria in the DSM-5. The idea is that the DSM-IV criteria allowed for too many possible combinations, many of which rarely occur; the DSM-5 criteria, in contrast, better reflect the most common combinations of symptoms.

Specifically, the APA has merged two distinct groups of symptoms from the DSM-IV - deficits in communication and deficits in social interaction - into one group in the DSM-5 because someone with autism almost always has both kinds of symptoms.

Most psychiatrists applaud this consolidation because, as several recently published studies have shown, the new criteria are more precise: they rarely assign autism to people who do not have it. However, the DSM-5 criteria may be a little too strict, ignoring some autistic people with milder symptoms. Two recently published studies suggest an easy fix: if the new criteria require that patients meet one fewer symptom?4 out of 7 instead of 5 out of 7?high-functioning autistic people will not be excluded. (To learn more about the strengths and weaknesses of the APA's changes to the definition of autism, read the companion piece: Redefining Autism.)

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=e2c249825c7824b44e17b217da29cfe9

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Save Money on Car Insurance with a Lump Sum Payment | Cheap ...

When you purchase a car insurance policy, you are given the option of paying one lump sum payment for your insurance coverage or paying monthly payments. Many people decide that they will pay their auto insurance premiums in monthly installments. However, this can be a costly mistake to make each month.

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On average, people could save around $23.50 per month or $141 for a six month policy. If you add it up then you would save more than $280 a year just by paying for your auto insurance up front. Many people have coverage for 50 years so that could save thousands of dollars.

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Many people will say that they cannot afford to pay their insurance premiums up front. Times are tough and many families are struggling. They do not see the added benefit to not paying in monthly installments. One great advantage is that you never have to worry about your auto insurance coverage lapsing or being canceled. If you pay up front then you can make sure that your premiums are never late. This is a great safety net for families. If you suddenly become unemployed, at least you know your auto insurance premiums are paid up to date.

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Many auto insurance companies also charge convenience fees. For example, if you make your premium payments online or by phone, you will typically be charged several dollars. If you use these services every month then the charges really do add up.

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It is a good idea for people to consider budgeting ahead for their insurance premiums. Every six months, a driver will have to have their auto insurance policy renewed. You can set aside money each month in a savings account so that once your policy comes up for renewal, you can pay for it in one payment.

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It is important to remember that saving money needs to be a priority. Always shop around for your car insurance coverage. You do not want to have any regrets if you find an insurance policy with lower insurance premiums somewhere else.

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If people can search hard for low car insurance rates then they will be more likely to be able to make a lump sum payment. People who are in financial dire straits should not have to pay more because they have limited financial means. Everyone should be able to save as much money as possible and make sure that they can pay their insurance premiums on time.

Source: http://www.cheapcarinsurance.net/save-money-on-car-insurance-with-a-lump-sum-payment/

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Jon Gosselin and Ellen Ross: It's Over!

Jon Gosselin and Ellen Ross have split up after nearly two years together.

It's unclear exactly why the ex-husband of Kate Gosselin split with his lady friend, but reports say Ellen's distaste for the media was the final straw.

"Ellen didn't like the media attention and other things that came with the relationship," a source said. "That's one of the main reasons they broke up."

Wait ... we still pay attention to Jon Gosselin? Besides right now? Who knew!

According to an insider, the twosome broke up more than a week ago, but it wasn't until Friday that Jon Gosselin confirmed the breakup on Twitter:

"Recently, after much thought and discussion, Ellen and I have decided to end our relationship. It was a mutual decision and we are both happy."

"We will remain best friends. We both plan to move forward and focus on our separate lives. We ask that you please respect our privacy at this time."

So far, no word from Ellen Ross personally, except a denial earlier this week that was debunked when Jon spilled the beans on Twitter. Whoops.

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/jon-gosselin-and-ellen-ross-its-over/

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The 'wind rush': Green energy blows trouble into Mexico

Green energy's big success is a rude awakening in the isthmus of Mexico.

San Mateo del Mar, Mexico

The Isthmus of Tehuantapec, Mexico's narrowest point, is a powerful wind tunnel of air currents whipping through the mountains that separate the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

Skip to next paragraph

Here, on the Pacific side, the wind shapes everything from the miles-long sandspits of Laguna Superior to the landscapes of the indigenous people's hearts.

Howling constantly through thatched roofs, the wind is powerful enough at times to support a grown man leaning back as if in a chair. Gales average 19 miles per hour, slapping waves over the bows of fishing skiffs and sandblasting anyone standing on the beach.

The wind is "sacred" in this village, says indigenous Huave fisherman Donaciano Victoria. "We believe that the wind from the north is like a man and the wind from the south is like a woman. And so you must not disrespect the wind."

North, in the town of La Venta, one woman says that when she leaves the isthmus, she's struck by how still the rest of the world is.

Others have noticed, too: There are few places like this on earth.

This isolated region of the state of Oaxaca is one of the world's most continuously windy spots. And because wind is a valuable commodity in a world seeking alternative energy, a "wind rush" ? reminiscent of the gold and oil rushes of other eras ? has swept into the isthmus.

Wind energy companies have swarmed to the area with big plans for wind farms to power the likes of Coca-Cola plants and Wal-Marts and a push to acquire huge tracts of land to do so. The "rush" for land farmed by locals since ancient times has divided the impoverished indigenous population over money, land rights, and changing values. Villagers' distrust of outsiders has led to increasing unrest throughout the Pacific edge of the isthmus for several years. Most recently, around the Laguna Superior, it has included a paralyzing blockade of one village by another and, in October, a deadly shooting at a demonstration.

"Oaxaca is the center of communal landownership. There is probably no worse place to make a land deal in Mexico," says Ben Cokelet, founder of the Project on Organizing, Devel?op?ment, Education, and Research.

And yet, with such an overwhelming wind resource, it was bound to attract development. The rush for Tehuantapec's wind energy is a green-tinged twist in the age-old story of resource extraction: The quest for "clean" energy isn't always so clean.

Mexico's potential wind energy capacity is enormous: 71 gigawatts, which is 40 percent more than the nation's entire installed electricity-generating capacity, including coal, gas, and hydropower. That potential was behind Mexican President Felipe Calder?n's promise at the 2010 United Nations Climate Change Convention in Canc?n to double solar and wind energy production from 3.3 percent of the nation's energy production to 7.6 percent in just two years (a goal Mex?ico is on track to hit later this year).

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Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/zNB31AyC2hs/The-wind-rush-Green-energy-blows-trouble-into-Mexico

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Blood found in home where toddler vanished

AP file

Police in Maine are appealing to the public for help in locating Ayla Reynolds.

By msnbc.com staff and news services

WATERVILLE, Maine -- Investigators say they've found blood inside the Maine home where a toddler was reported missing six? weeks ago.

State police spokesman Steve McCausland?confirmed Saturday that?blood was found in the basement early in the investigation into Ayla Reynolds' disappearance from her father's home in Waterville.

Her father, Justin DiPietro, says Ayla was not in her bed when he checked on her the morning of Dec. 17.

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McCausland called the discovery of the blood "troubling."

"We have questioned the three adults that were there in the home that night," McCausland told The Associated Press. "We believe they have not given us the full story."

The blood is being analyzed to determine whose it is. McCausland said he didn't know when the results would be available.

Ayla was 20 months old when she disappeared. A vigil for her was being held Saturday in downtown Waterville.

WCVB-TV in Boston first reported the discovery of the blood.

Ayla was staying with her father at the time she was reported missing. Her mother, Trista Reynolds, lives in Portland.

McCausland declined to discuss how much blood was found in the basement or how old it might have been.

WCVB?said DiPietro did not return several phone calls for comment.

DePietro has previously said publicly that he would never do anything to hurt his child. He has also said he took and passed a lie detector test -- an assertion Maine State Police would not confirm nor deny.

When asked Saturday if the family members were suspects in Ayla's disappearance, McCausland said, "No one has been ruled in, and no one has been ruled out," according to WCSH-TV.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/28/10259428-blood-found-in-home-where-toddler-disappeared

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Notion in Motion: Wireless Sensors Monitor Brain Waves on the Fly

"TIP OF THE ICEBERG": NeuroSky, Inc.'s brain-computer interface shown here just scratches the surface of what is possible thanks to advances in mobile electroencephalographic brain-wave detection technology, says University of California, San Diego's Scott Makeig. Image: Courtesy of Neurosky, Inc.

A fighter pilot heads back to base after a long mission, feeling spent. A warning light flashes on the control panel. Has she noticed? If so, is she focused enough to fix the problem?

Thanks to current advances in electroencephalographic (EEG) brain-wave detection technology, military commanders may not have to guess the answers to these questions much longer. They could soon be monitoring her mental state via helmet sensors, looking for signs she is concentrating on her flying and reacting to the warning light.

This is possible because of two key advances made EEG technology wireless and mobile, says Scott Makeig, director of the University of California, San Diego's Swartz Center for Computational Neuroscience (SCCN) in La Jolla, Calif. EEG used to require users to sit motionless, weighted down by heavy wires. Movement interfered with the signals, so that even an eyebrow twitch could garble the brain impulses.

Modern technology lightened the load and wirelessly linked the sensors and the computers that collect the data. In addition, Makeig and others developed better algorithms?in particular, independent component analysis. By reading signals from several electrodes, they can infer where, within the skull, a particular impulse originated. This is akin to listening to a single speaker's voice in a crowded room. In so doing, they are also able to filter out movements?not just eyebrow twitches, but also the muscle flexing needed to walk, talk or fly a plane.

EEG's most public face may be two Star Wars?inspired toys, Mattel's Mindflex and Uncle Milton's Force Trainer. Introduced in 2009, they let wannabe Jedi knights practice telekinesis while wearing an EEG headset. But these toys are just the "tip of the iceberg," says Makeig, whose work includes mental concentration monitoring. "Did you push the red button and then say, 'Oops!' to yourself? It would be useful in many situations?including military?for the system to be aware of that."

That kind of "mental gas gauge" is just one of many projects Makeig is running at the SCCN, which is part of U.C. San Diego's Institute for Neural Computation (INC). He also combines mobile EEG with motion-capture technology, suiting volunteers in EEG caps and LED-speckled spandex suits so he can follow their movements with cameras in a converted basement classroom. For the first time, researchers like Makeig can examine the thoughts that lead to movement, in both healthy people and participants with conditions such as autism. Makeig calls the system Mobile Brain/Body Imaging, or MoBI. It allows him to study actions "at the speed of thought itself," he says.

EEG does not directly read thoughts. Instead, it picks up on the electrical fields generated by nerves, which communicate via electricity. The EEG sensors?from the one on the Star Wars games to the 256 in Makeig's MoBI?are like microphones listening to those microvolt-strength neural signals, says Tansy Brook, head of communications for NeuroSky Brain?Computer Interface Technology in San Jose, Calif., makers of the chip in the Star Wars toys and many other research, educational and entertainment products.

For one project, Makeig is collaborating with neuroscientists Marissa Westerfield and Jean Thompson, U.C. San Diego researchers studying movement behavior in teenagers with autism. They put the teens, wearing the EEG sensors and LEDs, in Makeig's special classroom. Then, they project a spaceship on the walls. The kids have to chase the spaceship as it darts from one point to another. Although the results are not yet in, Westerfield suspects that people with autism, compared with those who are non-autistic, will take longer to process where the spaceship has gone and readjust their movements toward it. "If we had a better idea of the underlying deficits?then we could possibly design better interventions," such as targeted physical therapy for the movement problems autistic people have, Westerfield says.

Neuroscientists and psychologists have been using EEG to eavesdrop on brain waves since 1926, and doctors employ it to study sleep patterns and observe epileptic seizures. During most of that time, subjects had to sit in an electrically shielded booth, "like a big refrigerator," says John Foxe, a neuroscientist at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. He calls Makeig's MoBI "technical wizardry" that will enable scientists "to watch the brain and how it works in much more realistic settings."

Wireless EEG has already had an impact on gaming. San Francisco?based Emotiv has since 2009 sold its EPOC EEG headset, which uses electrical signals to determine a player's emotional state?excitement, frustration and boredom each create a different pattern. Gamers using Emotiv's technology can also create mental "spells" to lift or push virtual objects, says Geoff Mackellar, CEO of Emotiv?s research unit based in Sydney, Australia. The EPOC is also regularly used in research labs and may have medical applications in the future, Mackellar adds.

Wireless EEG technology provides signals as clear as the wired version, Makeig says, and at about 3.5 kilograms his machinery is "luggable." (Emotiv's and NeuroSky's headsets, which use fewer electrodes, are lighter.) "Of course, we're not starting with ballet dancers doing The Rite of Spring," he admits, but the team has succeeded with joggers on a treadmill. One challenge they would still like to overcome is to remove the sticky, conductive gel that goes under each electrode. It can certainly be done?Emotiv's electrodes use only saltwater and NeuroSky's are dry.

Tzyy-Ping Jung, associate director of the SCCN, predicts the group will make a dry, 64-electrode system within a couple of years. He and Makeig envision the headset will help paralyzed people interact with the world, warn migraine sufferers of an impending headache, and adjust computerized learning to match a student's personal pace, among other potential applications.

"It's certainly something that everyone can have at home," Emotiv's Mackellar says.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=46b980cacd41ebbe500b0e14d33faa59

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Bernanke to deliver 4 college lectures on Fed (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will take a brief step back into his former life as a college professor.

The Fed says Bernanke will deliver four lectures on the Federal Reserve and its role in the economy for an undergraduate course at the George Washington University School of Business in March.

Bernanke, who was a Princeton University economics professor before coming to Washington, will deliver the lectures on March 20, 22, 27 and 29.

Financial investors who hang on Bernanke's every word will be able to view the lectures online (at www.ustream.tv/channel/federalreserve). However, Bernanke is expected to dwell heavily on the history of the Fed and not provide insights into the central bank's next move on interest rates.

Transcripts will be posted later on the Fed's website as well as video recordings of the lectures.

In recent years, Bernanke has held town-hall-style meetings with many groups, from business executives to soldiers to ordinary Americans, as part of a campaign to bring more openness to the Fed.

The Fed's latest moves to boost transparency came on Wednesday. The Fed pushed back the date for any likely increase in its benchmark interest rate by at least a year and a half, until late 2014 at the earliest.

The Fed also released for the first time interest-rate forecasts from its committee members. It will now do so four times a year, when it also updates its economic outlook.

The federal funds rate has been at a record low near zero for three years.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_bi_ge/us_bernanke_college

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Transcripts show Italy captain says was told to approach shore (Reuters)

GIGLIO, Italy (Reuters) ? The captain of the doomed Italian liner Costa Concordia said he was told by managers to take his ship close in to shore on the night it ran aground and capsized, according to bugged conversations leaked in Italian newspapers.

The daily La Repubblica published transcripts of a conversation Captain Francesco Schettino had with an unknown person identified only as Fabrizio in which he implicates an unnamed manager of the vessel's owners Costa Cruises.

"Fabri ... anyone else in my place wouldn't have been so nice as to go there because they were breaking my balls, saying go there, go there," Schettino says in the conversation, taped while he was being held following his arrest over the incident.

"...the rock was there but it didn't show up in the instruments I had and I went there ... to satisfy the manager, go there, go there," he says.

The conversation, in a thick Neapolitan dialect which the transcription translates into standard Italian, was apparently taped without the knowledge of Schettino, while he was being held in custody after the accident. It was posted on the website of the daily La Repubblica.

A source in the prosecutor's office said that the transcript was genuine. Schettino's lawyer Bruno Leporatti did not dispute it but said his client should not be treated as a "scapegoat."

Schettino is currently under house arrest, blamed for causing the accident by steering too close to shore and accused of multiple manslaughter and abandoning ship before the evacuation of more than 4,200 passengers and crew was complete.

At least sixteen people died when the cruise ship struck a rock which tore a hole in its side and caused it to capsize off the Tuscan island of Giglio on January 13. Another sixteen people are still unaccounted for. Six bodies are as yet unidentified.

Divers resumed their search for bodies on Wednesday and will blast new holes into the ship to open up submerged interior spaces. Salvage teams are also continuing preparations to pump more than 2,300 tonnes of diesel fuel from the hulk, an operation expected to start by Saturday and last about a month.

"I GOT OFF"

Investigators say Schettino steered the 114,500 tonne vessel to within 150 meters of the shore to perform a maneuver known as a "salute" in which a ship makes a special display by coming in very close to land.

Whether or not such maneuvers were tolerated or even encouraged by the ship's operators is one of the key questions at issue in the investigation.

In an interview last week, the company's chief executive said ships sometimes came close to shore but only under safe conditions. According to reports in the Italian media, the practice is widespread in the cruise industry.

The transcript published by La Repubblica also suggests that Schettino abandoned ship soon after realizing that the vessel was listing dangerously, in remarks which appear to contrast with other versions of how he came to leave the ship.

During his questioning by magistrates, Schettino said he had fallen into a lifeboat while investigating the state of the ship, which suffered an electrical blackout after it struck the rock. In the confusion, he had been unable to return to the ship.

During the conversation with Fabrizio, he appears to suggest that he took a conscious decision to abandon the ship.

"When I understood that the ship was listing I got on with it and got off," he is quoted as saying.

Costa Cruises, a unit of Carnival Corp, the world's largest cruise ship operator, has blamed the captain and suspended him.

Neither the company itself or individual executives, apart from Schettino and the ship's first officer, have been placed under investigation but Schettino's lawyer has said that the probe will be extended to other parties.

He has said Schettino is ready to accept his share of responsibility for the accident but he has says that he kept the company fully informed of events, including evacuation procedures, as they unfolded after the initial impact.

(Additional reporting by Ilaria Polleschi in Grosseto; Writing By James Mackenzie; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120125/wl_nm/us_italy_ship

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Apple doubles iPhone sales in 1Q (AP)

NEW YORK ? After uncharacteristically tepid sales in the July-to-September quarter, Apple came back with a vengeance in the last three months of 2011, vastly exceeding analyst estimates and setting new records.

Apple Inc. on Tuesday said it sold 37 million iPhones in the quarter, double the figure of the previous quarter and more than twice as many as it sold in the holiday quarter of 2010.

The result may make Apple the world's largest maker of smartphones. Samsung Electronics, which held that position last summer, has said it expects to report shipping about 35 million smartphones in the October to December quarter.

October saw the launch of the iPhone 4S, and the addition of Sprint Nextel Corp. as an iPhone carrier in the U.S.

Apple said net income in the fiscal first quarter was $13.06 billion, or $13.87 per share. That was up 118 percent from $6 billion, or $6.43 per share, a year ago.

Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting earnings of $10.04 per share for the latest quarter, Apple's fiscal first.

Revenue was $46.33 billion, up 73 percent from a year ago. Analysts were expecting $38.9 billion.

The Cupertino, Calif., company shipped 15.4 million iPads in the quarter, again more than doubling sales over the same quarter last year. The November launch of Amazon.com Inc.'s $199 Kindle Fire tablet didn't appear to put a dent in the iPad's sales, as some analysts predicted it would.

Apple shares rose $33.03, or 7.9 percent, to $453.53 in extended trading, after the release of the results.

Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer said the company expects earnings of $8.50 per share in the current quarter, and sales of $32.5 billion. Both figures are above the average estimate of analysts polled by FactSet, even though Apple usually low-balls its estimates.

Apple ended the quarter with a cash balance of a staggering $97.6 billion. That's more than enough to buy Citigroup Inc. outright, or issue a special dividend of $100 per Apple share.

For years, investors have been frustrated with Apple's unwillingness to put the cash to use, but complaints have been muted as Apple continues to generate record-breaking results and as the stock price keeps rising. Apple executives have said the cash hoard gives the company flexibility to make acquisitions and long-term supply deals.

If the stock rally in extended trading survives into regular trading Wednesday, Apple will retake the position of most valuable company in the world from Exxon Mobil Corp. Apple first unseated Exxon last summer, and the two have been trading places since then.

Apple's results lifted shares of smaller companies that supply chips for the iPhone, like TriQuint Semiconductor, up 7.7 percent, Cirrus Logic Inc., up 6.8 percent, Broadcom Corp., up 4.2 percent, and Skyworks Solutions Inc., up 3.7 percent.

Apple co-founder and longtime CEO Steve Jobs died Oct. 5, just as the record-breaking quarter started.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_hi_te/us_earns_apple

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Newt, We Knew Ye Too Damn Well! (Powerlineblog)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/191598481?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Oil near $100 as Middle East tension simmers (AP)

BANGKOK ? Oil inched toward $100 a barrel after Iran threatened to block shipments of crude from the Persian Gulf in the wake of the European Union's widely expected decision to embargo imports of Iranian oil.

Benchmark oil for March delivery was up 39 cents at $99.98 a barrel at late afternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.25 to settle at $99.58 a barrel in New York on Monday.

Brent crude was down 13 cents at $110.45 on the ICE futures exchange in London.

Tanker traffic out of the Persian Gulf has concerned oil traders for weeks, with Iran saying it could close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's crude is transported, in response to sanctions by the West.

On Monday, the EU said its refineries will stop buying Iranian crude after July. It also froze assets of Iran's central bank. The sanctions are meant to force Iran to talk with the West about its nuclear program. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful, but Western nations suspect it is trying to build nuclear weapons.

The embargo itself isn't expected to affect world supplies, although markets would get reshuffled. Analysts say China, which is one of the biggest buyers of Iranian crude, probably will buy more Iranian oil at below-market prices when the embargo begins. China would reduce imports from other oil-producing countries, which would then sell more to Europe.

"Iran needs to sell its oil to someone," independent analyst and trader Stephen Schork said. "Outside the West, Iran really has only one buyer: China. That means China's probably going to get some sweetheart deals."

Experts say Iran doesn't have the firepower to close off the strait, which is the only way to get from the Persian Gulf to the open sea. But a conflict there could clog the waterway with military vessels and force the world's refineries to wait for crucial oil shipments.

In other energy trading, heating oil rose 1.4 cents to $3.02 a gallon and gasoline futures added 0.7 cent to $2.79 a gallon. Natural gas futures were up 5.7 cents at $2.58 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_prices

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Tears, joy as woman sets Antarctic crossing record

FILE - In this Nov. 19, 2011 file photo provided by the Kaspersky ONE Trans-antarctic Expedition, Felicity Aston takes a picture of herself at Union Glacier days before she traveled to her starting point on the Ross Ice Shelf for a solo trek across Antarctica. Aston, 34, crossed Antarctica in 59 days, pulling two sledges for more than 1,084 miles (1,744 kilometers) from the Leverett Glacier to the Hercules Inlet on the Ronne Ice Shelf. On Monday morning, Jan. 23, 2012, she tweeted that she has completed her journey. (AP Photo/Kaspersky ONE Trans-antarctic Expedition/Kaspersky Lab, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 19, 2011 file photo provided by the Kaspersky ONE Trans-antarctic Expedition, Felicity Aston takes a picture of herself at Union Glacier days before she traveled to her starting point on the Ross Ice Shelf for a solo trek across Antarctica. Aston, 34, crossed Antarctica in 59 days, pulling two sledges for more than 1,084 miles (1,744 kilometers) from the Leverett Glacier to the Hercules Inlet on the Ronne Ice Shelf. On Monday morning, Jan. 23, 2012, she tweeted that she has completed her journey. (AP Photo/Kaspersky ONE Trans-antarctic Expedition/Kaspersky Lab, File)

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) ? British adventurer Felicity Aston became the first woman to ski alone across Antarctica on Monday, hauling two sledges around crevasses and over mountains into endless headwinds, pushing onward and onward for 59 days in near-total solitude.

She made it to her destination ahead of schedule, using nothing but her own strength to cover 1,084 miles (1,744 kilometers) from her starting point on the Leverett Glacier on Nov. 25 to Hercules Inlet on the Ronne Ice Shelf.

The most surprising thing about her journey, she said, was how emotional it proved to be, from the moment she was dropped off alone, through every victory and defeat along the way.

"I'm not a particularly weepy person, and yet anyone who has been following my tweets can see me bursting into tears," she said in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday while waiting for a plane to pick her up.

"When I saw the coastal mountains that marked my end point for the first time, I literally just stopped in my tracks and bawled my eyes out," she added. "All these days I thought there was no chance I was going to make it in time to make that last flight off Antarctica, and yet here I am with three days to spare."

Aston also set another record: the first human to ski solo, across Antarctica, using only her own muscles. A male-female team earlier skied across Antarctica without kites or machines, but Aston is the first to do this alone.

Aston, 34, grew up in Kent, England, and studied physics and meteorology. A veteran of expeditions in subzero environments, she worked for the British weather service at a base in Antarctica and has led teams on ski trips in the Antarctic, the Arctic and Greenland.

But this was the first time she traveled so far, so alone, and she said the solitude posed her biggest challenge. In such an extreme environment, the smallest mistakes can prove treacherous. Alone with one's thoughts, the mind can play tricks. Polar adventurers usually take care to watch their teammates for signs of hypothermia, which is easier to diagnose in others than yourself, she said.

She thought she was done for when her two butane lighters failed high in the Transantarctic Mountains, where it got "really very cold."

"Suddenly I realized that without a lighter working, I can't light my stove, I can't melt snow to make water, and I won't have any water to drink, and that becomes a very serious problem," she said. "It's quite stressful. It was just a matter of every single day, looking at my kit, and thinking what could go wrong here and what can I do to prevent it?"

She did have a small box of safety matches, and counted and re-counted every one until the lighters started working again at lower altitude, she said.

This Antarctic summer has seen the centennial of Roald Amundsen's conquest of the South Pole, where Britons still lament that R.F. Scott's team arrived for England days later, demoralized to see Norway's flag. Scott and his entire team then died on their way out, and some of their bodies weren't found for eight months.

Aston had modern technology in her favor: She kept family and supporters updated and received their responses via Twitter and Facebook, and broadcast daily phone reports online. She carried two satellite phones to communicate with a support team, and a GPS device that reported her location throughout. She also had two supply drops ? one at the pole and one partway to her finish line ? so that she could travel with a lighter load. Otherwise, her feat was unassisted.

While others have traveled farther using kites, sails, machinery or dogs (now banned for fear of infecting wildlife with canine diseases), she did it on her own strength.

She had to fight near-constant headwinds across the vast central plateau to the South Pole. Then she turned toward Hercules Inlet, pushing through thick, fresh snow, until she reached her goal, a spot within a small plane's reach of a base camp on Union Glacier where the Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions company provides logistical support to each summer's expeditions.

With skies clearing Monday, Aston tweeted that she's been promised red wine and a hot shower after she gets picked up. "A very long, very hot shower," she emphasized. "It's something I haven't had in quite a long time now!"

From there, she'll join dozens of other Antarctic adventurers on the last flight out, a huge Russian cargo plane that will take her to Chile. Then she will fly home next week to Kent, in southeast England.

There, after two months of little but freeze-dried food, she can look forward to chicken pie, her mother said.

"I think there will be lots of cuddles, lots of hugs, it will be quite emotional," said Jackie Aston, 61.

Felicity Aston, pondering her last hours of solitude Monday, told the AP she felt both joy and overwhelming sadness at finishing.

"I'm still reeling from the shock of it that I've made it this far. I honestly didn't think I'd be getting here," she said.

What remains, she hopes, will be a message about perseverance.

"If you can just find a way to keep going, either metaphorically or literally, whether you're running a marathon or facing financial problems or have bad news to deliver or it's tough at work or whatever, if you can just find a way to keep going, then you will discover that you have potential within yourself that you never never realized," she said.

"Keeping going is the important thing, persevering, no matter how messy that gets. I mean, for me, sometimes I'll be sitting in my tent in the morning bawling my eyes out, having tantrums. It's not been pretty. But I've kept going, and that is the important thing because at some point in the future you'll look back and just be amazed at how far you've come."

___

Associated Press writers Ed Donahue in Washington, D.C., and Meera Selva in London contributed to this report.

___

Online:

Aston's expedition site: www.kasperskyonetransantarcticexpedition.com

Aston on Twitter: www.twitter.com/felicity(underscore)aston

Aston on ipadio: http://www.ipadio.com/broadcasts/TransantarcticExpedition/2012/1/22/Transantarctic-Expedition--63rd-phonecast

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-23-AA-Antarctica-Solo-Crossing/id-48a42c246fed4ff2a3d28f9ebb3d4103

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Survey: 81 percent of teachers think tablets help students

PBS LearningMedia

Since Apple announced that it's getting into the digital textbook business, there's been a lot of talk about tablets in the classroom. Do they belong there?? and can they help students?

According to one survey, the answer might just be a loud "yes."

PBS LearningMedia, an?media-on-demand service for educators, recently surveyed teachers across the United States about the use of technology in classrooms. The results of that survey were revealed on Monday.

It seems that 81 percent of teachers surveyed believe that tablets can enrich classroom experiences (while 93 percent believe the same about interactive whiteboards). Additionally,?91 percent of teachers surveyed reported that they had access to computers in their classrooms.

That's great news, right? Most of the teachers surveyed are very much interested in bringing technology into their classrooms and incorporating it in their lesson plans.

Unfortunately there is some bad news as well:?Only about 22 percent of the teachers said that they have access to the right level of technology. Nearly two-thirds ??about 63 percent ??explained that budget issues are the "biggest barrier to accessing tech in the classroom."?(In low-income communities, that statistic jumped to 70 percent.)

Related stories:

Want more tech news, silly puns or amusing links? You'll get plenty of all three if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts, or circling her?on?Google+.

Source: http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/23/10216928-survey-81-percent-of-teachers-think-tablets-help-students

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Romney slams Gingrich on slew of issues

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) ? Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is slamming Newt Gingrich on a slew of issues, labeling him a failed leader.

The two rivals are part of Monday night's presidential debate in Tampa, Fla.

Asked about the former House speaker's electability, Romney says Gingrich led Republicans to historic losses and that Gingrich resigned in disgrace. Romney says members of Gingrich's own team voted to reprimand him.

Romney is also highlighting Gingrich's ties to mortgage lender Freddie Mac. He says Gingrich was hired directly by a lobbyist for Freddie Mac and says it's a liability that would cost Republicans the general election.

In response, Gingrich says Romney is engaging in "disinformation" and he promises to dispute charges on his website. He says Romney is engaging in trivial politics.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-01-23-GOP-Debate-Romney%20Attack/id-969272a6ce864a719f26f423fc9b9ce5

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"The Artist" wins over producers at Guild Awards (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? "The Artist" continued its love affair with American cinema after winning best-produced film on Saturday at the Producers Guild Awards (PGA), boosting its chances for an Oscar nod ahead of the Academy Award nominations next week.

The silent black-and-white French comedy, starring Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo, is a homage to the pre-talkie era of Hollywood in the 1920s and 1930s and tells the story of a fading silent movie star as sound began entering the world of cinema.

"When Michel Hazanavicius and I dreamed of making "The Artist," we knew we were dreaming of writing a love letter to American cinema. We never knew in return we would get a taste of the American dream," Thomas Langmann, the film's producer, said in his acceptance speech in Beverly Hills.

The film has been sweeping awards ceremonies in the run up to the Oscars, winning best picture at the Critics Choice and Golden Globes earlier this month.

It was up against nine other films in contention for best-produced film on Saturday, including female-led comedy "Bridesmaids," civil rights drama "The Help," and Steven Spielberg's epic tale "War Horse."

"The Adventures of Tintin," produced by Spielberg, picked up best-produced animated film.

The Producers Guild awards are significant in the race to the Academy Awards on February 26, as many of the 5,000-plus members of the PGA, are members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, who vote for the Oscars.

For the last four years, the producers' best-produced film picks have gone on to win the best picture Oscar, with "No Country For Old Men" in 2008, "Slumdog Millionaire" in 2009, "The Hurt Locker" in 2010 and "The King's Speech" in 2011.

Other PGA award winners on Saturday included "Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest" for best-produced documentary, which explores the journey of influential hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest.

Angelina Jolie received the Stanley Kramer award for "In the Land of Blood and Honey," which she wrote, directed and produced, an accolade reserved for contributions that highlight provocative social issues.

The Oscar-winning actress delivered a sober acceptance speech, noting that when war-film "Schindler's List" won a PGA in 1994 during the Bosnian war, "the world turned a blind eye" to the atrocities happening in Eastern Europe at the time.

Spielberg was awarded the coveted David O'Selznick achievement award and comic-book legend Stan Lee received the Vanguard award, presented by "Spiderman" actor Tobey Maguire. Both received standing ovations as they took the stage.

ABC's "Modern Family" was named best-produced television comedy for the second year running, while HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" was named best-produced TV drama. PBS' British period drama "Downtown Abbey" was named best-produced long-form television series.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Paul Simao)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/enindustry/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120122/media_nm/us_producersguild

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Coordinated sect attack kills 143 in north Nigeria

A victim of Friday's bomb blast and gun attacks lies in Murtala Muhammad specialist hospital in Kano, Nigeria Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. Coordinated attacks claimed by a radical Islamist sect killed at least 120 people in north Nigeria's largest city, hospital records seen Saturday show, as gunfire still echoed around some areas of the sprawling city. (AP Photo/Salisu Rabiu)

A victim of Friday's bomb blast and gun attacks lies in Murtala Muhammad specialist hospital in Kano, Nigeria Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. Coordinated attacks claimed by a radical Islamist sect killed at least 120 people in north Nigeria's largest city, hospital records seen Saturday show, as gunfire still echoed around some areas of the sprawling city. (AP Photo/Salisu Rabiu)

A victim of Friday's bomb blast and gun attacks is transported in Murtala Muhammad specialist hospital in Kano, Nigeria Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. Coordinated attacks claimed by a radical Islamist sect killed at least 120 people in north Nigeria's largest city, hospital records seen Saturday show, as gunfire still echoed around some areas of the sprawling city. (AP Photo/Salisu Rabiu)

A victim of Friday's bomb blast and gun attacks lies in Murtala Muhammad specialist hospital in Kano, Nigeria Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. Coordinated attacks claimed by a radical Islamist sect killed at least 120 people in north Nigeria's largest city, hospital records seen Saturday show, as gunfire still echoed around some areas of the sprawling city. (AP Photo/Salisu Rabiu)

A victim of Friday's bomb blast and gun attacks lies in Murtala Muhammad specialist hospital in Kano, Nigeria Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. Coordinated attacks claimed by a radical Islamist sect killed at least 120 people in north Nigeria's largest city, hospital records seen Saturday show, as gunfire still echoed around some areas of the sprawling city. (AP Photo/Salisu Rabiu)

A victim of Friday's bomb blast and gun attacks lies in Murtala Muhammad specialist hospital in Kano, Nigeria Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. Coordinated attacks claimed by a radical Islamist sect killed at least 120 people in north Nigeria's largest city, hospital records seen Saturday show, as gunfire still echoed around some areas of the sprawling city. (AP Photo/Salisu Rabiu)

KANO, Nigeria (AP) ? A coordinated attack by a radical Islamist sect in north Nigeria's largest city killed at least 143 people, a hospital official said Saturday, representing the extremist group's deadliest assault since beginning its campaign of terror in Africa's most populous nation.

Soldiers and police officers swarmed Kano's streets as Nigeria's president again promised the sect known as Boko Haram would "face the full wrath of the law." But the uniformed bodies of security agents that filled a Kano hospital mortuary again showed the sect can strike at will against the country's weak central government.

Friday's attacks hit police stations, immigration offices and the local headquarters of Nigeria's secret police in Kano, a city of more than 9 million people that remains an important political and religious center in the country's Muslim north. A suicide bomber detonated a car loaded with powerful explosives outside a regional police headquarters, tearing its roof away and blowing out windows in a blast felt miles away as its members escaped jail cells there.

Authorities largely refused to offer casualty statistics as mourners began claiming the bodies of their loved ones to bury before sundown, following Islamic tradition. However, a hospital official told The Associated Press at least 143 people were killed in the attack.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the death toll to journalists. The toll could still rise, since other bodies could be held at other clinics and hospitals in the sprawling city.

State authorities enforced a 24-hour curfew in the city, with many remaining home as soldiers and police patrolled the streets and setup roadblocks. Gunshots echoed through some areas of the city into Saturday morning.

Nwakpa O. Nwakpa, a spokesman for the Nigerian Red Cross, said volunteers offered first aid to the wounded, and evacuated those seriously injured to local hospitals. A survey of two hospitals by the Red Cross showed at least 50 people were injured in Friday's attack, he said.

A Boko Haram spokesman using the nom de guerre Abul-Qaqa claimed responsibility for the attacks in a message to journalists Friday. He said the attack came because the state government refused to release Boko Haram members held by the police.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Saturday that he was "shocked and appalled" by the attacks in the former colony.

"The full horror of last night's events is still unfolding, but we know that a great many people have died and many more have been injured," Hague said in a statement. "The nature of these attacks has sickened people around the world and I send my deepest condolences and sympathies to the families of those killed and to those injured."

The U.S. Embassy said it had canceled all staff travel to northern Nigeria after Friday's attacks.

President Goodluck Jonathan also condemned an attack he said saw innocent people "brutally and recklessly cut down by agents of terror."

"As a responsible government, we will not fold our hands and watch enemies of democracy, for that is what these mindless killers are, perpetrate unprecedented evil in our land," Jonathan said in a statement. "I want to reassure Nigerians ... that all those involved in that dastardly act would be made to face the full wrath of the law."

But Jonathan's government has repeatedly been unable to stop attacks by Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the Hausa language of Nigeria's north. The group has carried out increasingly sophisticated and bloody attacks in its campaign to implement strict Shariah law and avenge the deaths of Muslims in communal violence across Nigeria, a multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people.

Authorities blamed Boko Haram for at least 510 killings last year alone, according to an AP count, including an August suicide bombing on the U.N. headquarters in the country's capital Abuja. So far this year, the group has been blamed for at least 219 killings, according to an AP count.

Boko Haram recently said it specifically would target Christians living in Nigeria's north, but Friday's attack saw its gunmen kill many Muslims. In a recent video posted to the Internet, Imam Abubakar Shekau, a Boko Harm leader, warned it would kill anyone who "betrays the religion" by being part of or sympathizing with Nigeria's government.

"I swear by Allah we will kill them and their killing will be nothing to us," Shekau said. "It will be like going to prayers at 5 a.m."

Friday's attacks also could cause more unrest, as violence in Kano has set off attacks throughout the north in the past, including postelection violence in April that saw 800 people killed. Kano, an ancient city, remains important in the history of Islam in Nigeria and has important religious figures there today.

Amid the recent unrest and attacks, at least two journalists have been killed in Nigeria. Journalist Enenche Akogwu, who worked as a correspondent in Kano for private news station Channels Television, was shot Friday while reporting on the attacks, colleagues said. In central Nigeria's city of Jos, Nansok Sallah, a news editor for a government-owned radio station called Highland FM, was found dead in a shallow stream Thursday, the victim of an apparent murder, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.

___

Salisu Rabiu in Kano, Nigeria, and Raphael Satter in London contributed to this report.

___

Jon Gambrell reported from Lagos, Nigeria and can be reached at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-21-AF-Nigeria-Violence/id-0892dda1a87142b086049ca3d579798e

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David Furnish Apologizes for Trashing Madonna's Speech

Elton John's partner David Furnish has more to say to Madonna: I'm sorry. Four days after slamming the Material Girl for her Golden Globes win (which shut out Sir Elton) and then criticizing her acceptance speech as "embarrassing in its narcissism," Furnish, 49, would like to make amends.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/david-furnish-apologizes-trashing-madonnas-globes-speech/1-a-420702?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Adavid-furnish-apologizes-trashing-madonnas-globes-speech-420702

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Has Bruce Springsteen delivered another 'rousing political anthem'? (The Week)

New York ? The Boss captured the national zeitgeist with "Born in the USA" in the '80s and "The Rising" after 9/11. Now, he's trying again with "We Take Care of Our Own"

The audio: Bruce Springsteen has a history of giving musical voice to the anxieties of the 99 percent. "Born in the USA" tackled the struggle to achieve the American dream, while 2001's "The Rising" captured the need to build a country worth protecting in a post-9/11 world. Now, as the U.S. endures a feeble economy and a contentious election, The Boss releases another politically-themed song "We Take Care of Our Own." (Listen to it below.) With lyrics like, "Wherever this flag's flown/we take care of our own," this quintessential Springsteen track doubles as "a protest song [and]... a rousing patriotic anthem." Though typically pro-American, it's also a scathing reminder of what those in power owe the American people. "We Take Care of Our Own" is off of Springsteen's 25th studio album Wrecking Ball, which he claims is "angriest yet," and will be released March 6.

The reaction: "Could there be a more Springsteen-esque subject than" hard times in America, says Jim Farber at The Daily News. The song is so predictable that "Springsteen-phobes" will surely roll their eyes, and even fans might agree that it "comes all too close to self-satire." That said, counters Scott Mervus at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the lyrics are "passionate and powerful." Unfortunately, this may be "Born in the USA" all over again, says Chris Willman at The Wrap. The '80s hit, perhaps "the most misunderstood song of all time," was misappropriated by politicians like Ronald Reagan who seemed deaf to lyrics about "American promises unfulfilled." Expect "We Take Care of Our Own" to be misguidedly embraced "as a conservative anthem," too. Listen for yourself:

?

SEE ALSO: Did Adele save the music industry in 2011?

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Dark matter galaxy under the lens

18 January 2012 Last updated at 14:34 ET

Astronomers have spotted a "dwarf" galaxy some 10 billion light-years away which may be made mostly of the mysterious material called dark matter.

The dwarf was found using a technique called gravitational lensing. It is only the second dark dwarf ever seen, and it is by far the most distant.

The fact that so few dwarf galaxies are seen in our own cosmic neighbourhood has remained a conundrum in astronomy.

The study in Nature could explain it: they may be overwhelmingly dark matter.

Dwarf galaxies often occur in the periphery of larger galaxies, where they are known as satellites - the Milky Way may have many as well.

"According to the theory of galaxy formation, you'd expect thousands of these satellites," explained lead author of the study Simona Vegetti of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"But if you look at the Milky Way we only find 30, so it's important to understand how many satellites are really there, and important to look at other galaxies other than the Milky Way," she told BBC News.

That will help determine if our cosmic neighbourhood of galaxies - the Local Group - is unusual, or if the theory of galaxy formation is incomplete.

Massive question

Dark matter is so named because it does not interact with light - it cannot be seen directly, as the stars and dust of the cosmos can.

However, it does have mass - making up 85% of the mass in the Universe - and the effects of that mass can be spotted.

Gravitational lensing is a technique in which an object that lies between Earth and a distant light source can actually act as a "lens"; the object's mass bends the distant galaxy's light, magnifying and distorting it.

By using computer models of how that magnification and distortion should work, the mass of the lensing galaxy - and where that mass is distributed - can be determined.

Continue reading the main story

Dark energy and dark matter mysteries

• Gravity acting across vast distances does not seem to explain what astronomers see
• Galaxies, for example, should fly apart; some other mass must be there holding them together
• Astrophysicists have thus postulated "dark matter" - invisible to us but clearly acting on galactic scales
• At the greatest distances, the Universe's expansion is accelerating
• Thus we have also "dark energy" which acts to drive the expansion, in opposition to gravity
• The current theory holds that 73% of the Universe is dark energy, 23% is dark matter, and just 4% the kind of matter we know well

The technique was recently used to develop the widest view of dark matter distribution in the Universe ever produced.

Dr Vegetti and colleagues in the US and the Netherlands have now used the Keck telescope in Hawaii to study the lensing caused by a distant elliptical galaxy called JVAS B1938+666.

They found a discrepancy in comparing with the image that their detailed computer model suggested should come from the system.

Something with a mass about 200,000,000 times that of our Sun is in the periphery of the image they see.

Yet that source of mass is not visible in the image of the galaxy itself.

"It's very hard to tell at the moment because the telescopes are just not powerful enough to see such dim galaxies so far away," Dr Vegetti said.

"But [the dwarf galaxy] is most likely dominated by dark matter, or maybe there are a few stars hiding here and there."

The team must continue the hunt for such satellites to get to the bottom of the dark mystery.

"We were kind of lucky that the first one we looked at also had a satellite," Dr Vegetti said.

"If we find other galaxies or satellites, it will tell us whether we need to change the properties of dark matter; if we don't find enough, then dark matter must be different from what we think."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/science-environment-16610153

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Kingston launches new family of high performance SSDs, doesn't care if you're a business or a consumer

Kingston's turning its SSD solutions up to eleven on its new SSDNow family of products. The SSDNow V+200 is a solid state drive toting SATA 3.0 SandForce SF-2281, capable of up to 535 MB/s read speeds and 480 MB/s writing speeds. Regardless of whether it's for your office or home rig, Kingston reckons it's got your storage needs covered, offering up the V+200 in 60GB, 90GB, 120GB, 240GB and 480GB sizes. The 2.5-inch drives arrive with self-encryption as standard, alongside a three-year warranty with support -- something that's getting increasingly rare. The full press release is waiting below.

Update: Prices, alongside the upgrade kit, range from $156 to $985 -- depending on exactly how many photo albums you need on solid state storage.

Continue reading Kingston launches new family of high performance SSDs, doesn't care if you're a business or a consumer

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Monkey long believed extinct found in Indonesia (AP)

JAKARTA, Indonesia ? Scientists working in the dense jungles of Indonesia have "rediscovered" a large, gray monkey so rare it was believed by many to be extinct.

They were all the more baffled to find the Miller's Grizzled Langur ? its black face framed by a fluffy, Dracula-esque white collar ? in an area well outside its previously recorded home range.

The team set up camera traps in the Wehea Forest on the eastern tip of Borneo island in June, hoping to captures images of clouded leopards, orangutans and other wildlife known to congregate at several mineral salt licks.

The pictures that came back caught them all by surprise: groups of monkeys none had ever seen.

With virtually no photographs of the grizzled langurs in existence, it at first was a challenge to confirm their suspicions, said Brent Loken, a Ph.D. student at Simon Fraser University in Canada, and one of the lead researchers.

The only images out there were museum sketches.

"We were all pretty ecstatic, the fact that, wow, this monkey still lives, and also that it's in Wehea," said Loken.

The monkey, which has hooded eyes and a pinkish nose and lips, once roamed the northeastern part of Borneo, as well as the islands of Sumatra and Java and the Thai-Malay peninsula. But concerns were voiced several years ago that they may be extinct.

Forests where the monkeys once lived had been destroyed by fires, human encroachment and conversion of land for agriculture and mining and an extensive field survey in 2005 turned up empty.

"For me the discovery of this monkey is representative of so many species in Indonesia," Loken told The Associated Press by telephone.

"There are so many animals we know so little about and their home ranges are disappearing so quickly," he said. "It feels like a lot of these animals are going to quickly enter extinction."

The next step will be returning to the 90,000 acre (38,000 hectare) forest to try to find out how many grizzly langurs there are, according to the team of local and international scientists, who published their findings in the American Journal of Primatology on Friday.

They appear in more than 4,000 images captured over a two-month period, said Loken, but it's possible one or two families kept returning.

"We are trying to find out all we can," he said. "But it really feels like a race against time."

Experts not involved in the study were hugely encouraged.

"It's indeed a highly enigmatic species," said Erik Meijaard, a conservation scientist who spent more than eight years doing field research in the area.

In the past they were hunted to near extinction for their meat and bezoar "stones," he said, which can, on occasion, be found in their guts.

Bezoars, as Harry Potter fans know from lectures given by Prof. Snape to first year students, are believed by some to neutralize poison.

Meijaard said the animal has long been considered a subspecies of the Hose's Leaf Monkey, which also occurs on the Malaysian side of Borneo, but it now looks like that may not be the case.

"We think it might actually be a distinct species," he said, "which would make the Wehea discovery even more important."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_re_as/as_indonesia_extinct_monkey

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