How Have Your Pets Changed Your Life? | Care2 Healthy Living

• Katie Waldeck
• March 29, 2013
• 2:45 pm
• 10 comments

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Study after study has shown all of the positive impacts of having an animal companion ? less stress, better health, more exercise etcetera. But for many of us, the benefits of having our beloved pet are more intangible than that. Unconditional love? Happiness? Something that cares that you?re feeling down? Indeed, it?s no wonder people have kept pets in their lives for thousands of years.

So what?s your story? How have your pets changed your life? Tell us about it in the comments!

Earlier:
What Should You Do if You Find a Baby Bird?
5 Incredible Things Dogs Sense About You

Read more: Animal Rights, Behavior & Communication, Cats, Dogs, Everyday Pet Care, Humor & Inspiration, Inspiration, Less Common Pets, Pets, Spirit, ask the readers

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Katie Waldeck

Katie is a freelance writer focused on pets, food and women?s issues. A Chicago native and longtime resident of the Pacific Northwest, Katie now lives in Oakland, California.

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Bank of Cyprus big savers to lose up to 60 percent

A hat with money belonging to a musician, is seen on the ground as he plays music at the main shopping street in central capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Saturday, March 30, 2013. Big depositors at Cyprus' largest bank may be forced to accept losses of up to 60 percent, far more than initially estimated under the European rescue package to save the country from bankruptcy, officials said Saturday. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

A hat with money belonging to a musician, is seen on the ground as he plays music at the main shopping street in central capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Saturday, March 30, 2013. Big depositors at Cyprus' largest bank may be forced to accept losses of up to 60 percent, far more than initially estimated under the European rescue package to save the country from bankruptcy, officials said Saturday. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

A sign at a branch of bank of Cyprus reading in Greek, "In light of the emergency restrictive measures, you can withdraw up to 300 euro either from the tellers or the ATM", as people are reflected on the glass in central capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Surtaday, March 30, 2013. Big depositors at Cyprus' largest bank may be forced to accept losses of up to 60 percent, far more than initially estimated under the European rescue package to save the country from bankruptcy, officials said Saturday. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Seen through a bus stop bench, a woman passes an empty shop with a sign reading in Greek 'for rent' in central capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Saturday, March 30, 2013. Big depositors at Cyprus' largest bank may be forced to accept losses of up to 60 percent, far more than initially estimated under the European rescue package to save the country from bankruptcy, officials said Saturday. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) ? Big depositors at Cyprus' largest bank may be forced to accept losses of up to 60 percent, far more than initially estimated under the European rescue package to save the country from bankruptcy, officials said Saturday.

Deposits of more than 100,000 euros ($128,000) at the Bank of Cyprus will lose 37.5 percent in money that will be converted into bank shares, according to a central bank statement. In a second raid on these accounts, depositors also could lose up to 22.5 percent more, depending on what experts determine is needed to prop up the bank's reserves. The experts will have 90 days to figure that out.

The remaining 40 percent of big deposits at the Bank of Cyprus will be "temporarily frozen for liquidity reasons," but continue to accrue existing levels of interest plus another 10 percent, the central bank said.

The savings converted to bank shares would theoretically allow depositors to eventually recover their losses. But the shares now hold little value and it's uncertain when ? if ever ? the shares will regain a value equal to the depositors' losses.

Emergency laws passed last week empower Cypriot authorities to take these actions.

Cyprus' Finance Minister Michalis Sarris said the measures were taken to put the Bank of Cyprus on a solid footing.

"We suffered a serious blow without doubt ... but we now have a bank which is reformed and ready to assume its role in the Cypriot economy," the state-run Cyprus News Agency quoting him as saying.

Analysts said Saturday that imposing bigger losses on Bank of Cyprus customers could further squeeze already crippled businesses as Cyprus tries to rebuild its banking sector in exchange for the international rescue package.

Sofronis Clerides, an economics professor at the University of Cyprus, said: "Most of the damage will be done to businesses which had their money in the bank" to pay suppliers and employees. "There's quite a difference between a 30 percent loss and a 60 percent loss." With businesses shrinking, Cyprus could be dragged down into an even deeper recession, he said.

Clerides accused some of the 17 European countries that use the euro of wanting to see the end of Cyprus as an international financial services center and to send the message that European taxpayers will no longer shoulder the burden of bailing out problem banks.

But German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble challenged that notion, insisting in an interview with the Bild daily published Saturday that "Cyprus is and remains a special, isolated case" and doesn't point the way for future European rescue programs.

Europe has demanded that big depositors in Cyprus' two largest banks ? Bank of Cyprus and Laiki Bank ? accept across-the-board losses in order to pay for the nation's 16 billion euro ($20.5 billion) bailout. All deposits of up to 100,000 are safe, meaning that a saver with 500,000 euros in the bank will only suffer losses on the remaining 400,000 euros.

Cypriot officials had previously said that large savers at Laiki ? which will be absorbed in to the Bank of Cyprus ? could lose as much as 80 percent. But they had said large accounts at the Bank of Cyprus would lose only 30 to 40 percent.

Asked about Saturday's announcement, University of Cyprus political scientist Antonis Ellinas predicted that unemployment, currently at 15 percent, will "probably go through the roof" over the next few years.

"It means that (people) ... have to accept a major haircut to their way of life and their standard of living. The social impact is yet to be realized, but they will be enormous in terms of social unrest and radical social phenomenon," Ellinas said.

There's also concern that large depositors ? including many wealthy Russians ? will take their money and run once capital restrictions that Cypriot authorities have imposed on bank transactions to prevent such a possibility are lifted in about a month.

Sarris, the finance minister, said that foreign branches of the Bank of Cyprus and Laiki Bank in countries such as Britain, Russia, Ukraine and Romania will eventually be sold. He also said that Cypriots would seek out new markets like China and the Arab countries while maintaining good business relations with Russians, "despite their bitterness."

Cyprus agreed on Monday to make bank depositors with accounts over 100,000 euros contribute to the financial rescue in order to secure 10 billion euros ($12.9 billion) in loans from the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund. Cyprus needed to scrounge up 5.8 billion euros ($7.4 billion) on its own in order to clinch the larger package, and banks had remained shut for nearly two weeks until politicians hammered out a deal, opening again on Thursday.

But fearing that savers would rush to pull their money out in mass once banks reopened, Cypriot authorities imposed a raft of restrictions, including daily withdrawal limits of 300 euros ($384) for individuals and 5,000 euros for businesses ? the first so-called capital controls that any country has applied in the eurozone's 14-year history.

The rush didn't materialize as Cypriots appeared to take the measures in stride, lining up patiently to do their business and defying dire predictions of scenes of pandemonium.

Under the terms of the bailout deal, the country' second largest bank, Laiki ? which sustained the most damaged from bad Greek debt and loans ? is to be split up, with its nonperforming loans and toxic assets going into a "bad bank." The healthy side will be absorbed into the Bank of Cyprus.

On Saturday, economist Stelios Platis called the rescue plan "completely mistaken" and criticized Cyprus' euro partners for insisting on foisting Laiki's troubles on the Bank of Cyprus.

____

AP business correspondent Geir Moulson in Berlin and APTN reporter Adam Pemble in Nicosia contributed.

Associated Press

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While the fact Rebel Wilson is hosting the 2013 MTV Movie Awards this year is enough to get us tuning in, the list of presenters that was announced today is a wonderful added bonus. Everyone from Zach Efron to the cast of "Star Trek Into Darkness" will be handing out Golden Popcorns, so it's time [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2013/03/29/movie-awards-presenters/

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Apple's 'Maps Ground Truth Specialists' fix Map app flubs

Suzanne Choney , NBC News ? ? ? 3 hrs.

Apple's Maps mess of six months ago is a distant memory for some, but not for the Cupertino company, which has worked quickly to rectify matters and improve its map app, introduced as part of its iOS 6 mobile operating system. That damage control includes hiring employees with the title of "Maps Ground Truth Specialists" around the globe to make sure Apple's maps are up to snuff.

While Apple isn't the first company to have the Orwellian-sounding position of "Maps Ground Truth Specialists" ? Google has them, too ? it's noteworthy because of Apple's map flubs, something that caused CEO Tim Cook to make a public apology.

In the United States, those flubs included initially showing the Brooklyn Bridge as almost plunging into the water and marking a Florida supermarket site as one for a hospital.

Right now, there are seven openings for "Maps Ground Truth Specialists" around the world, including one in the United States. That role, Apple says in the job description, will include:

• Testing new releases of map code and data around the U.S.
• Collecting ground truth data to allow for analysis of the impact of potential map code or data changes relative to known truth.
• Utilizing local expertise to provide feedback about U.S.-specific mapping details.
• Evaluating competing products in-region relative to our maps.

As you can see, there are jobs all over the globe, including Australia. There last fall, police were warning drivers not to use Apple Maps because it wrongly placed the city of Midura in a national park, leaving some motorists stranded and in a snake-infested area.

? Via The Verge

Check out Technology, GadgetBox, DigitalLife and InGame on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.

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Foursquare's API Is A Pillar Of The Mobile App Ecosystem

Editor's note:?Jonathan Barouch?is the founder and CEO of location-based startup?Roamz, developer of?social media business product Local Measure. Foursquare has become entrenched in the fabric of the local web, providing an API that delivers common good for developers. Any destabilization in Foursquare or its developer tools would fundamentally affect the stability of the mobile web.

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Which of These Apple Patents Will Ever See the Light of Day?

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New technologies combat invasive species

Mar. 28, 2013 ? A new research paper by a team of researchers from the University of Notre Dame's Environmental Change Initiative (ECI) demonstrates how two cutting-edge technologies can provide a sensitive and real-time solution to screening real-world water samples for invasive species before they get into our country or before they cause significant damage.

"Aquatic invasive species cause ecological and economic damage worldwide, including the loss of native biodiversity and damage to the world's great fisheries," Scott Egan, a research assistant professor with Notre Dame's Advanced Diagnostics and Therapeutics Initiative and a member of the research team, said. "This research combines two new, but proven technologies, environmental DNA (eDNA) and Light Transmission Spectroscopy (LTS), to address the growing problem of aquatic invasive species by increasing our ability to detect dangerous species in samples before they arrive or when they are still rare in their environment and have not yet caused significant damage."

Egan points out that eDNA is a species surveillance tool that recognizes a unique advantage of aquatic sampling: water often contains microscopic bits of tissue in suspension, including the scales of fish, the exoskeletons of insects, and the sloughed cells of and tissues of aquatic species. These tissue fragments can be filtered from water samples and then a standard DNA extraction is performed on the filtered matter. The new sampling method for invasive species was pioneered by members of the ND Environmental Change Initiative, including David Lodge and Chris Jerde, Central Michigan University's Andrew Mahon, and The Nature Conservancy's Lindsay Chadderton.

Egan explains that LTS, which was developed by Notre Dame physicists Steven Ruggiero and Carol Tanner, can measure the size of small particles on a nanometer scale (1 nanometer equals 1 billionth of a meter). LTS was used in the research for DNA-based species detection where the LTS device detects small shifts in the size of nanoparticles with short single-stranded DNA fragments on their surface that will only bind to the DNA of a specific species.

"Thus, these nanoparticles grow in size in the presence of a target species, such as a dangerous invasive species, but don't in the presence of other species" Egan said. "In addition to the sensitivity of LTS, it is also advantageous because the device fits in a small suitcase and can operate off a car battery in the field, such as a point of entry at the border of the U.S."

The Notre Dame researchers demonstrated the work with manipulative experiments in the lab for five high-risk invasive species and also in the field, using lakes already infested with an invasive mussel, Dreissena polymorpha or the zebra mussel.

"Our work implies that eDNA sampling and LTS could enable rapid species detection in the field in the context of research, voluntary or regulatory surveillance and management actions to lower the risk of the introduction or spread of harmful species," Egan said. "In the Great Lakes alone, 180 nonindigenous species have been established since European settlement, with about 70 percent arriving through the ballast tanks of transoceanic ships. Ballast water monitoring is one of many potential applications for LTS with ramifications for environmental protection, public health and economic health."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Notre Dame. The original article was written by William G. Gilroy.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Scott P. Egan, Matthew A. Barnes, Ching-Ting Hwang, Andrew R. Mahon, Jeffery L. Feder, Steven T. Ruggiero, Carol E. Tanner, David M. Lodge. Rapid invasive species detection by combining environmental DNA with Light Transmission Spectroscopy. Conservation Letters, 2013; DOI: 10.1111/conl.12017

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

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Do millennials stand a chance in the real world?

Annie Lowrey , The New York Times ? ? ? 3 hrs.

When I was a kid, my grandmother used to spirit packets of oyster crackers from restaurants. She unwrapped gifts meticulously, peeling back the tape with her nails so that she could reuse the paper. She also stockpiled so many coupon-bought cans that she probably could have had her own show on TLC.

These habits, judging by both anecdote and literature, were generational. My grandmother was born in 1917 and entered the work force during the Great Depression. I?ve been thinking of her generation ? the one that saved rather than spent, preserved rather than squandered ? a lot lately. In the past year or so, data have come in regarding how my own generation, often called Generation Y, or the millennials, has adapted to our once-in-a-lifetime financial crisis ? the one that battered career prospects, drove hundreds of thousands into the shelter of schools or parents? basements and left hundreds of thousands of others in continual underemployment. And some of that early research suggests that we, too, have developed our own Depression-era fixation with money.

The millennials have developed a reputation for a certain materialism. In a Pew Research Center survey in which different generations were asked what made them unique, baby boomers responded with qualities like ?work ethic?; millennials offered ?clothes.? But, according to new data, even though the recession is over, this generation is not looking to gorge; instead, they are the kind of hungry that cannot stop thinking about food. ?Call it materialism if you want,? said Neil Howe, an author of the 1991 book ?Generations.? It seems more like financial melancholy. ?They look at the house their parents live in and say, ?I could work for 100 years and I couldn?t afford this place,? ? Howe said. ?If that doesn?t make you focus on money, what would? Millennials have a very conventional notion of the American dream ? a spouse, a house, a kid ? but it is not going to be easy for them to get those things.?

This condition is becoming particularly severe for the group that economists call younger millennials: the young adults who entered the job market in the wake of the recession, a period in which the unemployment rate among 20- to 24-year-olds reached 17 percent, when graduate school competition grew more fierce and credit standards tightened. Many also saw their parents struggle through a pay cut, a job loss or another economic disruption during the recession.

These troubles, many economists fear, left serious scars, and not just psychic ones. Now that the economy has entered a steady but slow recovery, younger millennials wonder if they can make up that gap. Lisa Kahn, a labor economist at the Yale School of Management, studied the earnings of men who left college and joined the work force during the deep recession of the early 1980s. Unsurprisingly, she found that the higher the unemployment rate upon graduation, the less graduates earned right out of school. But those workers never really caught up. ?The effects were still present 15 or 20 years later,? she said. ?They never made that money back.?

Kahn worries that the same pattern is repeating itself. And new research from the Urban Institute augurs that this emerging income gap is compounding into a wealth gap. The institute?s research shows that even as the country has grown richer, Generations X and Y, meaning people up to about age 40, have amassed less wealth than their parents had when they were young. The average net worth of someone 29 to 37 has fallen 21 percent since 1983; the average net worth of someone 56 to 64 has more than doubled. Thirty or 40 years from now, young millennials might face shakier retirements than their parents. For the first time in modern memory, a whole generation might not prove wealthier than the one that preceded it.

The millennials? relationship with money seems quite simple. They do not have a lot of it, and what they do have, they seem reluctant to spend. Millennials are buying fewer cars and houses, and despite their immersion in consumer culture, particularly electronics, they are not really spending beyond their limited means. Their credit-card debt has declined, most likely because many millennials cannot get a credit card, and in part because they know they cannot afford to spend now and pay back later. ?They have this risk aversion that we?ve seen with millennials since they were teenagers,? Howe said. ?It?s declining alcohol use, declining drug use. I mean, declining sex.?

There might be one more factor at play in the millennials? economic anxiety. For my grandmother?s generation, the economic boom that followed World War II expanded the middle class and its share of the nation?s wealth. Our great recession, however, came after three decades of wage stagnation for a huge swath of middle-class American workers, which is one reason income inequality has yawned to levels not seen since the late 1920s. And since the worst days of the recession ended, inequality has continued to grow. Corporations that shed workers became leaner and more profitable. Members of the 1 percent have taken nearly all the wage gains made in the recovery. Their incomes bounced back. Nearly everyone else?s fell. Worse, our savings rate before the recent crisis was near a record low.

During World War II, the ethos was ?use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.? But the 21st-century rallying cry among the young is ?We are the 99 percent.? This recession?s emphasis was never on making do with little; for many millennials, it has seemed more about wondering why they had to make do with so little when so few had so much. This sentiment was captured in recent exit polls that found that nearly two-thirds of presidential voters 29 and younger thought the American economic system favored the wealthy.

The millennials, in other polls, remain optimistic about their futures. Economists are less so. There is a persistent fear that they have entered a permanently lower earnings and savings trajectory. Even if the generation recovers, even if it ends up wealthier than the one before it, the scars will be deep and long-lasting. Kahn has started comparing recent graduates during the recent recession with recent graduates in the 1981-82 recession. She said the initial wage losses were comparable, and the trend looks set to repeat. ?My inclination is pessimism,? Kahn said. ?If anything, these guys might experience something worse.?

Other economists also envisioned a future in which millennials would spend less and save less. ?I was talking with a mom who has a son in his mid-20s and told her the generation is not on the same wealth-building path,? said Signe-Mary McKernan, one of the authors of the Urban Institute study. ?She had this look of terror on her face; our children are in trouble, and that?s such a worry for a parent. I told her, ?Maybe this generation won?t have a worse life, but just a different life.? ? And that may be true. Millennials are the best-educated generation ever. Their challenge may just be to preserve that advantage for their own children.

This article, "Do Millennials Stand a Chance in the Real World?," first appeared in The New York Times.

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Deadly 6.1 magnitude earthquake strikes Taiwan

One person was killed and 19 others were injured as a result of the temblor. Buildings were swaying on the island nation off China's coast.

By Associated Press / March 27, 2013

Taiwanese school children and residents try to hold on during and after the earthquake.

A strong earthquake struck central Taiwan on Wednesday, killing at one person and injuring 19 as it damaged buildings on the quake-prone island.

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The Central Weather Bureau said the magnitude-6.1 earthquake was felt throughout the island. Buildings swayed in the capital, Taipei, and sections of the high-speed rail line were suspended from service to be inspected for damage.

The U.S. Geological Survey placed the magnitude at 6.0. The quake's depth was a relatively shallow 15 kilometers (9 miles).

Emergency officials said a 72-year-old woman died when a temple wall she was standing next to collapsed and crushed her in the mostly rural county of Nantou.

Near the Nantou epicenter, a section of a ceiling fell from a government office and injured one worker, officials said. In all, at least 19 people were injured, mostly by falling objects, the Fire Department said. A house fire caused by leaking gas was quickly put out, it added.

Nantou government official Chen Min-hui said tiles fell from a few school buildings and minor cracks appeared on walls, but all structures remained intact.

Nantou is a rural county about 250 kilometers (about 155 miles) south of Taipei. It is near the epicenter of a magnitude-7.6 earthquake that killed more than 2,300 people in 1999.

Earthquakes frequently rattle Taiwan, but most are minor and cause little or no damage.

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Amazon Expands X-Ray Feature To TV Shows On Kindle Fire And Wii U With Data From IMDb

Amazon just announced that it is adding its X-Ray feature to TV shows. The feature already worked with movies thanks to data from IMDb, but the company will now use this very same data for other video content. The entire Kindle Fire family will receive the feature and the Amazon Instant Video app on Wii U will get is as well. As a reminder, X-Ray allows you to discover more about the content you are reading or watching. It first appeared with books — it shows you the different characters, where they appear in the book and how they are related to the story. Then Amazon added X-Ray to movies back in September 2012. In that case, watchers can instantly know the name of an actor in a scene. IMDb is owned by Amazon, allowing the Kindle team to tap into a very comprehensive movie database. As IMDb provides data for TV shows as well, adding TV shows to X-Ray was just a matter of time. The idea is to make the video experience unique on Amazon’s devices, making people want to buy those tablets or download those Amazon apps and stay in the Amazon ecosystem. It’s been known that Amazon doesn’t make much profit from selling hardware. Instead, it wants people to use the Kindle Fire tablets to buy content. Of course, the X-Ray feature only works with videos you buy or rent from Amazon Instant Video or videos from the Amazon Prime collection. X-Ray could be one of those little features that make you choose to watch a movie or TV show on Amazon over Netflix or iTunes. In addition to providing the X-Ray feature to Kindle Fire users, the feature will make its way to Amazon Instant Video’s Wii U app. This fact shows that what matters for Amazon is that people consume content from Amazon, even if it’s not on an Amazon-branded device. X-Ray for movies and TV shows may eventually come to Android and iOS as X-Ray for books is already available in many Kindle apps. X-Ray is more important than you may think at first. If the experience is not compelling enough, customers will neglect their tablets and Amazon won’t make any money from those users. That’s why Amazon cut the price of the Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ as well from $299 to $269 for the base model. It’s still the best way to

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/1IBx5ZbqDWo/

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Cyprus is very special case, found right solution: German finance minister

By Brian Homewood March 28 (Reuters) - Swiss champions FC Basel, renowned for their youth development programme, face a constant battle to stop teenage players moving to English, Spanish and Italian clubs. President Bernhard Heusler told Reuters in an interview that parents often do not listen to the club when warned against taking their sons elsewhere. "We get enormous pressure from outside, including English clubs," said Heusler before adding Basel were powerless to stop their youngsters leaving before the age of 16. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cyprus-very-special-case-found-solution-german-finance-070837317--business.html

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Child development: Early walker or late walker of little consequence

Mar. 28, 2013 ? On average, children take the first steps on their own at the age of 12 months. Many parents perceive this event as a decisive turning point. However, the timing is really of no consequence. Children who start walking early turn out later to be neither more intelligent nor more well-coordinated. This is the conclusion reached by a study supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).

Because parents pay great attention to their offspring, they often compare them with the other children in the sandpit or playground. Many of them worry that their child is lagging behind in terms of mental development if it sits up or starts to walk a bit later than other children. Now, however, in a statistical analysis of the developmental data of 222 children born healthy, researchers headed by Oskar Jenni of the Zurich Children's Hospital and Valentin Rousson of Lausanne University have come to the conclusion that most of these fears are groundless.

Considerable variance

Within the framework of the Zurich longitudinal study, the paediatricians conducted a detailed study of the development of 119 boys and 103 girls. The researchers examined the children seven times during the first two years of their life and subsequently carried out motor and intelligence tests with them every two to three years after they reached school age. The results show that children sit up for the first time at an age of between slightly less than four months and thirteen months (average 6.5 months). They begin to walk at an age of between 8.5 months and 20 months (average 12 months). In other words, there is considerable variance.

The researchers found no correlation between the age at which the children reached these motor milestones and their performance in the intelligence and motor tests between the age of seven and eighteen. In short, by the time they reach school age, children who start walking later than others are just as well-coordinated and intelligent as those who were up on their feet early.

More relaxed

Although the first steps that a child takes on its own represent a decisive turning point for most parents, the precise timing of this event is manifestly of no consequence. "That's why I advise parents to be more relaxed if their child only starts walking at 16 or 18 months," says Jenni. If a child still can't walk unaided after 20 months, then further medical investigations are indicated.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Foerderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung, via AlphaGalileo.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Oskar G Jenni, Aziz Chaouch, Jon Caflisch, Valentin Rousson. Infant motor milestones: poor predictive value for outcome of healthy children. Acta Paediatrica, 2013; 102 (4): e181 DOI: 10.1111/apa.12129

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/child_development/~3/ZKoHsM8rMCQ/130328075702.htm

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Discovery may allow scientists to make fuel from CO2 in the atmosphere

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Excess carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere created by the widespread burning of fossil fuels is the major driving force of global climate change, and researchers the world over are looking for new ways to generate power that leaves a smaller carbon footprint.

Now, researchers at the University of Georgia have found a way to transform the carbon dioxide trapped in the atmosphere into useful industrial products. Their discovery may soon lead to the creation of biofuels made directly from the carbon dioxide in the air that is responsible for trapping the sun's rays and raising global temperatures.

"Basically, what we have done is create a microorganism that does with carbon dioxide exactly what plants do?absorb it and generate something useful," said Michael Adams, member of UGA's Bioenergy Systems Research Institute, Georgia Power professor of biotechnology and Distinguished Research Professor of biochemistry and molecular biology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

During the process of photosynthesis, plants use sunlight to transform water and carbon dioxide into sugars that the plants use for energy, much like humans burn calories from food.

These sugars can be fermented into fuels like ethanol, but it has proven extraordinarily difficult to efficiently extract the sugars, which are locked away inside the plant's complex cell walls.

"What this discovery means is that we can remove plants as the middleman," said Adams, who is co-author of the study detailing their results published March 25 in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences. "We can take carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere and turn it into useful products like fuels and chemicals without having to go through the inefficient process of growing plants and extracting sugars from biomass."

The process is made possible by a unique microorganism called Pyrococcus furiosus, or "rushing fireball," which thrives by feeding on carbohydrates in the super-heated ocean waters near geothermal vents. By manipulating the organism's genetic material, Adams and his colleagues created a kind of P. furiosus that is capable of feeding at much lower temperatures on carbon dioxide.

The research team then used hydrogen gas to create a chemical reaction in the microorganism that incorporates carbon dioxide into 3-hydroxypropionic acid, a common industrial chemical used to make acrylics and many other products.

With other genetic manipulations of this new strain of P. furiosus, Adams and his colleagues could create a version that generates a host of other useful industrial products, including fuel, from carbon dioxide.

When the fuel created through the P. furiosus process is burned, it releases the same amount of carbon dioxide used to create it, effectively making it carbon neutral, and a much cleaner alternative to gasoline, coal and oil.

"This is an important first step that has great promise as an efficient and cost-effective method of producing fuels," Adams said. "In the future we will refine the process and begin testing it on larger scales."

###

University of Georgia: http://www.uga.edu

Thanks to University of Georgia for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127479/Discovery_may_allow_scientists_to_make_fuel_from_CO__in_the_atmosphere

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Credit Suisse buys Morgan Stanley's European private bank

Mar 26 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $3,787,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,154,500 4. Steve Stricker $1,820,000 5. Phil Mickelson $1,650,260 6. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 7. John Merrick $1,343,514 8. Dustin Johnson $1,330,507 9. Russell Henley $1,313,280 10. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 11. Keegan Bradley $1,274,593 12. Charles Howell III $1,256,373 13. Michael Thompson $1,254,669 14. Brian Gay $1,171,721 15. Justin Rose $1,155,550 16. Jason Day $1,115,565 17. Chris Kirk $1,097,053 18. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/credit-suisse-buys-morgan-stanleys-private-bank-emea-065147247--sector.html

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Domino's Is Offering Slower Delivery Service ... - Business Insider

Good morning, AdLand. Here's what you need to know today:

Domino's?is touting an unexpected new service in its ads ? slower delivery service.?"Domino's used to be all about speed. Not anymore," the ad reads, countering previous promises of "30 minutes or less" delivery service. This is all a part of Domino's new campaign to focus on high quality taste rather than subpar pizza.?CP&B?made the commercial.

According to?Ad Age's?estimates, the Sandusky disaster ended up costing Penn State $46 million in damage control.

Gillette?is using QR codes to market its new shaving products.

People are drinking significantly less soda than usual. The consumption levels haven't been this low since 1996.

The insignia for Star Trek's Starfleet shone over London during Earth Hour, which asks cities to turn off lights in honor of environmental awareness.

According to an?FTC?survey, more retailers and movie theaters are enforcing age restrictions on violent and inappropriate content, which means more kids are getting turned away from "R-rated" movies.

Pingage is a new startup that just partnered with P&G to help the massive company integrate with Pinterest.

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Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/dominos-is-offering-slower-delivery-service-the-brief-2013-3

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Insert Coin: Duo kit lets you build your own 3D motion tracker

In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line.

Between the Kinect and Leap Motion, gesture control's on just about everyone's minds these days. There's still a ways to go, certainly, before such devices become a mainstream method for interfacing with our PCs, but they've already become a ripe source of inspiration for the DIY community. Duo's hoping to further bridge the gap between the two, with a "the world's first 3d motion sensor that anyone can build." The desktop sensor features two PS3 Eye cameras that can track hands and objects for a more natural interface with one's computer. Duo's unsurprisingly looking to crowdfund its efforts. A pledge of $10 or more will get you early access to the company's SDK. For $40 you'll get the case and instruction. Add $30 to that number, and you've got yourself the kit, which includes everything but the camera ($110 will get you all that). Check out the company's plea after the break, and if you're so inclined you can pledge at the source link below.

Filed under: Peripherals

Comments

Source: Kickstarter

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/26/insert-coin-duo-kit/

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The Komodo Dead: What Really Kills in The Walking Dead

You don?t need a gun. You don?t need a knife or a machete or an axe. If you find yourself in a post-apocalyptic world filled with shambling swallowers of human flesh, what you really need is good hygiene.

The resurgence of zombies into pop culture has tickled our morbid curiosity, but has also sparked many nerdy debates about viruses and disease. Arguably the most popular zombie narrative today, The Walking Dead takes place in the wake of an airborne virus or pathogen that has enabled the dead to walk among the living. The show doesn?t dabble in the supernatural, so many have taken the opportunity to explore zombies literally, that is to say, the science behind the gruesome pandemic.

[Note: Mild SPOILERS for the show are below.]

A fan of the show myself, I wanted to figure out how you exactly become a zombie. Is it the bite? Is it death? What I found suggests that most viewers are likely mistaken about how zombification in The Walking Dead works.

It turns out that becoming a zombie is fairly straightforward. According to a quote from the creator of the original comic series, Robert Kirkman:

The rule is: WHATEVER it is that causes the zombies, is something everyone already has. If you stub your toe, get an infection and die, you turn into a zombie, UNLESS your brain is damaged. If someone shoots you in the head and you die, you?re dead. A zombie bite kills you because of infection, or blood loss, not because of the zombie ?virus.?

The Walking Dead (TWD) then substitutes the conventional zombie trope of ?you get bit, you turn,? with, ?you die, you turn.? Unlike getting bitten by another fictional creature like a vampire or a werewolf, the gnawing teeth of the walkers in TWD don?t carry an infecting ?zombie virus.? If we go by the rules of the creator, true zombification follows another route.

This of course brings us to Komodo Dragons.

Do You Know Where That Mouth Has Been?!

At the end of season one of TWD, protagonist Rick Grimes discovers that everyone carries a virus which ?reboots the brain? upon death, resulting in a ghastly transformation. But if it is merely death that turns you, why do all of the characters regard a zombie bite as a death sentence? Why is it one of the first questions they ask strangers, and why did Herschel need to lose a leg?

There is a way to square this with Kirkman?s quote, and more interestingly, with science. Dead bodies can be dangerous in and of themselves, so humans have always taken precaution with them. In fact, in a case where we have to handle corpses, such as after a natural disaster, there are a number of steps responders have to take to avoid infection and disease. For example, a rotting body can still transfer gastrointestinal pathogens, tuberculosis, and hepatitis [PDF] to the living. So, one can imagine that a biting mouth of a rotting corpse, continuously chomping down on humans, isn?t the most hygienic place.

A diseased body is bad enough, but it doesn?t fully explain the extreme aversion to being bit by a zombie. Beyond the disorders and detritus that come along with death, perhaps the walkers in TWD employ the same deadly cocktail of disease that Komodo Dragons do.

The largest lizards in the world, Komodo Dragons are fierce predators. They can weigh-in much heavier than the average human, and can eat 80% of their body weight in 20 minutes. Multiplying the danger, Komodo Dragon mouths are famously so filthy that their bites give additional killing power, as if the intensely powerful bodies and jaws weren?t enough. Their mouths are host to up to 80 different kinds of harmful bacteria that serve to infect unfortunate prey and speed along their demise. (Scientists have recently discovered that the dragons also have a venomous bite; a scary addition to an already formidable foe.)

The mouth of a flesh-hungry corpse, as dirty as a Komodo Dragon?s and harboring the diseases that can accompany death, is definitely something to avoid. A bite of this kind would be nearly impossible to treat the in the resource-strapped world of TWD. Not even Herschel?s handful of scavenged antibiotics and veterinary skill could save you from a serious blood infection.

A ?Komodo Dead? approach to explaining zombification not only has scientific support, it?s supported by the show. Whether TWD is written so that the characters know this information, they know enough to realize that they can?t treat a bite (or even a scratch) from a walker. Trying to mend a diseased bite is hopeless in a world without working hospitals. This explains why T-Dog or Rick can survive a stabbing but not a walker bite. Rudimentary first aid might be able to handle a gunshot wound, but not tuberculosis.

Though the show routinely portrays the aftermath of a zombie bite as a terrible, unknown kind of fever, this too is consistent with a Komodo-style bite. There is no reason to believe that anyone without medical training would recognize the symptoms of a serious systemic infection. The Walking Dead then cleverly plays with the audience?s conceptions of how zombification works: even the characters assume that there is something special to a zombie bite, when in reality they are simply misidentifying a blend of bacteria.

A scientific understanding of a zombie bite still makes it rational to fear (and possibly mercy-kill) a bitten survivor. An untreatable infection brings on the transformation quicker, and the only way to stop that is with a bludgeon to the brain. Without medical training and supplies, you should avoid the mouth of a walker like, well, grim death.

Who Would You Believe In An Apocalypse?

There are problems with this twist in zombie canon. Like most other zombie tales, nearly everything in TWD suggests that a zombie bite is what changes you, as though it carries a zombifiying virus itself. Everyone in the show treats a zombie bite as a special case of bodily harm. ?Have you been bit?!? is a conversation starter.

Furthermore, the ?Komodo Dead? is inconsistent with certain episodes. When the Center for Disease Control (CDC) enters the show, we see medical tests being performed on ?turning? subjects. You would think that the CDC could figure out that these poor souls were dying from dysentery or hepatitis or a gastrointestinal pathogen, and not some ?unknown? malady.

Lastly, if diseased bodies and mouths are really the problem here, Rick and the rest of the group don?t seem to be too concerned with getting entirely covered in human entrails and blood. There is an episode or two where we see an aversion to the guts of walkers, but it is generally inconsistent.

So we have a classic fanboy dilemma: do we trust what the audience sees and what is implied on the show, or do we re-interpret what the audience sees through the creator?s own words? Personally, I prefer the Komodo-style interpretation, as it has some basis in reality, agrees with the creator, and is a clever twist on the often-trite zombie narrative.

All that being said, I?d much rather take on a herd of walkers than a pack of Komodo Dragons.

Images: Screenshot from The Walking Dead (used for educational purposes); Komodo dragon, Varanus komodoensis, by Midori

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=d70d5cd1ff945dcefbd5654f4936bb94

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