Justin Bieber, Jonah Hill hosting "SNL?" (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES, Jan 31 (TheWrap.com) ? Justin Bieber is confirmed as a first-time host and return musical guest on "Saturday Night Live" -- at least that's what Alec Baldwin revealed during his "Here's the Thing" podcast on WNYC.

Baldwin traveled to 30 Rock -- specifically, the office of "SNL" creator Lorne Michaels -- to chat with Michaels about his career and the late-night series. While describing Michaels' office, Baldwin focused in on a bulletin board that holds the names of "SNL" hosts for the whole season.

"The biggest names in the business are coming here thirty-something years (after the show's 1975 debut) to host the show," Baldwin says. "You have Ben Stiller, Melissa McCarthy, (who) won the Emmy award, and Katy Perry's coming and Jimmy Fallon, who's obviously double-dipping on your payroll, Jonah Hill, and I don't want to ruin any other names . Bieber's confirmed, he's the music and the (host)" .

"Yeah," Michaels replies.

Baldwin himself is the record holder for most times hosting "SNL," marking his 16th time as host with his stint as the season 37 premiere host in September.

Meanwhile, Oscar nominee Jonah Hill will make his second appearance as "SNL" host -- for the March 10 episode -- EW.com reports.

NBC did not immediately respond to TheWrap's request for comment on upcoming "SNL" hosts.

(Editing By Zorianna Kit)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120131/music_nm/us_justinbieber_snl

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LG Optimus L3 emerges in Sweden, appears to be new entry-level offering

LG has been busy selling various flavors of its high-end Optimus LTE over the past few months, but that doesn't mean it's forgotten about its entry-level line-up. A new budget device, dubbed the LG E400 Optimus L3, has appeared over on Swedish retailer CDON, running Android 2.3 (and LG's Optimus UI) on a 3.2-inch screen. Other specs include a 3 megapixel camera, HSDPA and Wifi connectivity and a microSD card slot. There's no information on what CPU you'll find powering this thing, but we wouldn't expect anything beathtakingly fast -- maybe a 1GHz single-core chip, if that. Nevertheless, from the outside the Optimus L3 looks like a stylish little device for anyone on a budget.

But there's some cause for concern regarding that 3.2-inch screen, as according to CDON's spec list, it's a QVGA (320x240) panel. In 2012, that kind of resolution borders on unacceptable, even on a budget device. Last year's Optimus One was fitted with a HVGA (480x320) screen, so we're hoping this is just an error on the part of the retailer.

The Optimus L3 is shown with a pre-order price of 1290 SEK (~£120, $190) off-contract, with stock apparently due to arrive on Feb. 27.

Source: CDON; via: GSMArena

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/7zCKSO74WrE/story01.htm

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Canalys: Apple leading PC maker in Q4 2011, if you count iPads

Best quarter in Apple's history? Check. Retaking the smartphone crown from Samsung? Check. How about becoming the world's largest PC manufacturer? If you're Canalys and you factor iPads into the equation, then yes, another check. Per the research firm, "client PCs" (which include "desktops, netbooks, notebooks and tabs") grew by 16 percent to hit 120 million in Q4, from which Apple's 20 million units (15 million iPads + 5 million Macs) grabbed the leading 17 percent share. Cupertino's followed by HP, Lenovo, Dell and Acer in that order -- all of whom, save for Lenovo, saw their piece of the PC pie shrink. Not only did their slices shrink, but without slates the entire tart was .4 percent smaller than last year -- meaning that all of the growth in "client PC" segment was due to tablets. With that kind of statistical precedence Windows 8 can't come soon enough, right Stevie B?

Continue reading Canalys: Apple leading PC maker in Q4 2011, if you count iPads

Canalys: Apple leading PC maker in Q4 2011, if you count iPads originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/30/canalys-apple-leading-pc-manufacturer-if-you-count-ipads/

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Body clock receptor linked to diabetes in new genetic study

ScienceDaily (Jan. 29, 2012) ? A study recently published in Nature Genetics has found new evidence for a link between the body clock hormone melatonin and type 2 diabetes. The study found that people who carry rare genetic mutations in the receptor for melatonin have a much higher risk of type 2 diabetes.

The findings should help scientists to more accurately assess personal diabetes risk and could lead to the development of personalised treatments.

Previous research has found that people who work night shifts have a higher risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Studies have also found that if volunteers have their sleep disrupted repeatedly for three days, they temporarily develop symptoms of diabetes.

The body's sleep-wake cycle is controlled by the hormone melatonin, which has effects including drowsiness and lowering body temperature. In 2008, a genetic study led by Imperial College London discovered that people with common variations in the gene for MT2, a receptor for melatonin, have a slightly higher risk of type 2 diabetes.

The new study reveals that carrying any of four rare mutations in the MT2 gene increases a person's risk of developing type 2 diabetes six times. The release of insulin, which regulates blood sugar levels, is known to be regulated by melatonin. The researchers suggest that mutations in the MT2 gene may disrupt the link between the body clock and insulin release, leading to abnormal control of blood sugar.

Professor Philippe Froguel, from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, who led the study, said: "Blood sugar control is one of the many processes regulated by the body's biological clock. This study adds to our understanding of how the gene that carries the blueprint for a key component in the clock can influence people's risk of diabetes.

"We found very rare variants of the MT2 gene that have a much larger effect than more common variants discovered before. Although each mutation is rare, they are common in the sense that everyone has a lot of very rare mutations in their DNA. Cataloguing these mutations will enable us to much more accurately assess a person's risk of disease based on their genetics."

In the study, the Imperial team and their collaborators at several institutions in the UK and France examined the MT2 gene in 7,632 people to look for more unusual variants that have a bigger effect on disease risk. They found 40 variants associated with type 2 diabetes, four of which were very rare and rendered the receptor completely incapable of responding to melatonin. The scientists then confirmed the link with these four variants in an additional sample of 11,854 people.

Professor Froguel and his team analysed each mutation by testing what effect they have on the MT2 receptor in human cells in the lab. The mutations that completely prevented the receptor from working proved to have a very big effect on diabetes risk, suggesting that there is a direct link between MT2 and the disease.

The research was funded by the Wellcome Trust, the National Institute for Health Research and the Medical Research Council in the UK and the Agence National de la Recherche, the Contrat de Projets Etat-R?gion Nord-Pas-De-Calais, the Soci?t? Francophone du Diab?te, the Fondation Recherche M?dicale and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Imperial College London, via AlphaGalileo.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Am?lie Bonnefond, Nathalie Cl?ment, Katherine Fawcett, Lo?c Yengo, Emmanuel Vaillant, Jean-Luc Guillaume, Aur?lie Dechaume, Felicity Payne, Ronan Roussel, S?bastien Czernichow, Serge Hercberg, Samy Hadjadj, Beverley Balkau, Michel Marre, Olivier Lantieri, Claudia Langenberg, Nabila Bouatia-Naji, Guillaume Charpentier, Martine Vaxillaire, Ghislain Rocheleau, Nicholas J Wareham, Robert Sladek, Mark I McCarthy, Christian Dina, In?s Barroso, Ralf Jockers, Philippe Froguel. Rare MTNR1B variants impairing melatonin receptor 1B function contribute to type 2 diabetes. Nature Genetics, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/ng.1053

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://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120129151052.htm

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Pakistan's PM reassures political crisis has eased (Reuters)

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) ? A political crisis in the past three months that has seen the worst tension between Pakistan's government and military since a coup in 1999 appears to have eased -- for now -- with a delicate balance of power re-established, observers said.

The latest sign of a thaw was in snowy Davos, Switzerland, where Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani again backed away from critical remarks earlier this month that the military had acted "unconstitutionally" by supporting a top court-led investigation into a mysterious memo.

"There is no intention of the military to have a coup in the country because they also want stability in the country," Gilani told reporters in Davos on Saturday.

"They want democracy in the country and they want to strengthen the country."

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See: http://link.reuters.com/kac58m

Pakistan blog: http://blogs.reuters.com/pakistan/

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Since October, Pakistan has been roiled by a scandal that has, at times, taken bizarre turns. It involves an American businessman of Pakistani descent delivering an unsigned memo to the Pentagon asking for U.S. help in reining in a military humiliated and angry over the May 2, 2011 commando raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Gilani had criticized the army chief General Ashfaq Kayani and director-general of the military's Inter-Services Intelligence agency Lieutenant-General Ahmed Shuja Pasha in January for filing responses in a Supreme Court investigation into the origins of the memo.

In an interview with Chinese media, Gilani had said the filings were "unconstitutional," infuriating the military's high command which responded with a stern press release, warning of "very serious ramifications with potentially grievous consequences for the country."

But the standoff that had sparked talk of a coup in the nuclear-armed nation grappling with the fallout from the U.S.-led war in neighboring Afghanistan and a weak economy appears to have ended, for now, a senior U.S. official said.

"Things have calmed down in the last week or so," the official said. "But this is Pakistan. Any of the players could do something unexpected."

SMOOTH TIES

The United States wants smooth ties between civilian and military leaders so that nuclear-armed Pakistan can help efforts to stabilize neighboring Afghanistan, a top priority for President Barack Obama.

In the middle of all this, the Supreme Court is pushing for old corruption cases to be re-opened against President Asif Ali Zardari, and has threatened Gilani with contempt of court if he doesn't do so. The government and Gilani maintain that Zardari has immunity as head of state.

Zadari is the husband of slain former premier and leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Benazir Bhutto and remains chairman of the party along with his son Bilal, who is currently studying in Britain.

Gilani, who leads the PPP coalition government, has already appeared before the Supreme Court once, taking a respectful tone, and subsequently met with the top military leaders to discuss broad plans for possible peace talks over Afghanistan.

Still, despite the seeming lull, no one thinks the central debate of Pakistan -- who has the power? -- has been settled.

"The underlying problem is still the question of the relationship between the executive and the judiciary and second, between the executive and the military," said political analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi.

Despite being officially under civilian control, the military sets foreign and security policies and has staged three coups in Pakistan and ruled the country for more than half of its history.

A senior PPP member, who requested anonymity in order to speak to the media, said "fear of each other" is at the heart of the conflict. The civilians are wary that the military will interfere again in politics, he said.

"And the military remains wary that the civilians are constantly looking for international leverage to cut them down to size."

(Additional reporting by Axel Threlfall in SWITZERLAND, and Michael Georgy and Serena Chaudhry in ISLAMABAD)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120129/wl_nm/us_pakistan

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Sen. Sessions on Obama, Reid: ???We have no leadership??? (Daily Caller)

Top Democrats have abdicated their leadership role and are ignoring the nation?s budget problems because they?re focused on their 2012 election campaigns, Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions told The Daily Caller.

?We?re heading towards the most predictable crisis in our history,? said Sessions, the top Republican on the Senate?s budget committee,??and we have no leadership.?

The Democrats will instead use their control of the Senate to make the GOP look bad, Sessions predicted.

?I doubt they?ll propose to raise the capital gains [rate] ? but they?ll talk about it and complain about it, and try to make it look like Gov. [Mitt] Romney did something wrong? by paying his capital-gains taxes properly, he told TheDC.

?They?ve made a calculation that they?ll lay the responsibilities on us to be the [budget] naysayers, the worriers and hand-wringers, and they?ll put on the bright robes of hope and progress,? Sessions warned.

President Barack Obama didn?t address the impending budget disaster in his State of the Union speech, and he?s ignoring it in his re-election campaign, observed Sessions, whose status as part of the GOP minority?prevents him from calling hearings or forcing votes.

Since Obama was inaugurated, Congress has approved $4 trillion worth of economic stimulus via deficit spending. In those three years the accumulated deficit has exceeded $15 trillion, equal to the entire annual value of the U.S. economy.

Economic growth has stalled, the nation?s credit rating has been downgraded, and millions of Baby Boomers have signed up for Social Security and Medicare.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is also refusing to pass a budget, Sessions said, because that would force his members to vote on GOP proposals.

The Democratic Senate hasn?t produced a budget bill for the last three years, ensuring the budgets are assembled without the senators having to vote on amendments.

The leading Democrat on the budget committee, North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad, has promised that the committee will, in fact, produce a budget for 2012.

But there?s no guarantee that any budget will be debated on the Senate floor, even though some Democratic senators are worried enough about the nation?s finances to push for a budget debate, Sessions explained.

?If Harry Reid really works it hard, he?s proven he can hold his members [in check], and he does not want to have a vote on this,? he said.

The budget-writing process is important, he insisted, because it would ?commit them to a plan for the future for America, and it shows just how much they want to raise taxes [and] increase spending, and how much the debt is going to increase.?

For example, in a Senate floor debate, ?you have 50 hours of full debate, and you can have an unlimited number of amendments, and it allows the minority party to bring forth their ideas [about] how to fix the nation,? he said.

The Democrats are avoiding budgetary issues because their political priorities are too unpopular to pass, he added. ?I think they know their [Senate] majority is endangered if they advocate openly and publicly and on the record, for items [they favor] that raise the debt and raise spending.?

The president also ignored the impending disaster in his Jan. 24 State of the Union speech, Sessions said.

?Every issue where he had a serious disagreement [with the public], he had some language saying he agreed with the American people, but then he would go on to stick by his regulatory and other [spending] plans? It was a craftily crafted speech,? Sessions quipped.

The Democrats? strategy of obfuscation is hard to understand, Sessions told TheDC. ?I can?t imagine it would be successful, because there was great momentum in the last election for a confrontation with our surging debt.?

In the October election, he added, ?the big spenders took a shellacking, I thought the administration and the Democratic Senate would respond to that.?

But the Democrats, he claimed, haven?t risen to the occasion.

This year, ?it appears their political strategy is that they?re going to talk about hope and not talk about realities. ? That is a deep failure of leadership.?

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/dailycaller/20120127/pl_dailycaller/sensessionsonobamareidwehavenoleadership

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Oil industry sees China winning, West losing from Iran sanctions (Reuters)

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) ? As the European Union prepares to ban Iranian oil and the United States turns the screw on payments, oil executives and policymakers say China and Russia stand to gain the most and Western oil firms and consumers may emerge the biggest losers.

Iran will continue to sell much the same volume of oil - 2.6 million barrels per day or around 3 percent of world supply - but almost all of it will flow to China, they reason. And being pretty much Iran's only remaining customer, Beijing will be able to negotiate a much reduced price.

The EU will ban Iranian oil from July. The United States plans sanctions on Iran's central bank and possibly its shipping firm. European headquartered oil firms such as France's Total and Royal Dutch Shell have already abandoned Iranian oil purchases or are in the process of doing so.

Japan and South Korea have signaled they may reduce purchases of Iranian oil to comply with U.S. sanctions designed to put pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program.

That leaves a growing number of buyers competing for alternative supplies. Inevitably attention has turned to Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest exporter and the only country that can quickly increase oil output and help the West avoid a price spike that would deal a severe economic blow.

The IMF said this week that crude oil prices could rise 20 to 30 percent if Iran were to retaliate by halting its oil exports altogether. Oil industry executives meeting in Davos said energy markets can afford to lose half of Iran's 2.6 million barrels per day. That would be roughly equivalent to supplies lost during Libya's civil war in 2011. They are confident Saudi Arabia will fill the gap.

"What we say is that oil is fungible. Iranian oil will still find its way into the market, to Asian markets, China and possibly at a lower price," a top Saudi source told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

"But if let's say 50 percent of Iranian oil is lost, we have spare capacity, we have the capacity to replace it as Libya has shown," he added.

The chief of Saudi state oil monopoly Saudi Aramco, Khalid al-Falih, moved from one bilateral meeting to the next during the World Economic Forum this week. Over the past month or so the kingdom has received requests for additional oil from the European Union, Japan and South Korea. The European Union and Turkey buy almost a third of Iranian oil exports with the rest going to China, Japan, South Korea, India and South Africa.

"As a regular conversation we talked about increased supplies. Saudi Aramco is always positive," Jun Arai, the head of Japan's Showa Shell, told Reuters.

Russia too stands to gain from Western sanctions on Iran. The world's biggest oil producer is well positioned to raise its market share in Europe, despite misgivings among some Europeans about relying too heavily on Russia for oil and gas. Payment disputes between Russia and neighboring Ukraine have in the past threatened transit gas supplies to Europe.

"I'm sure Moscow is watching the situation with big interest," said Jos? Sergio Gabrielli, chief executive of Brazil's Petrobras. Arkady Dvorkovich, the Kremlin's top economic aide, concurred that Russia stood to benefit from sanctions that were guaranteed to keep oil prices at least at current levels around $100 a barrel by his reckoning.

Showa Shell buys 100,000 barrels per day from Iran under a deal that expires in March and like other firms would be exposed to U.S. sanctions if not given a waiver under the latest ban on dealing with Iran's central bank. "We are waiting for guidance from the government," said Arai.

For Total the guidance has been clearer. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been one of the main advocates of tough sanctions. "We have already stopped (buying from Iran)," said Total's chief Christopher de Margerie. The firm was previously lifting 80,000-100,000 barrels per day (bpd) from Iran.

Peter Voser, chief executive at Royal Dutch Shell, said his company might take some time before suspending purchases, which market sources estimate at 100,000 barrels per day.

"We are a European company and therefore we are affected by the sanctions and we will obviously oblige and implement the sanctions. I need to study all the details in order to see how it goes forward," he said.

Apart from Total and Shell, Europe's biggest buyers of Iranian oil are Italian, Spanish and Greek companies.

CHEAP OIL

China has so far refrained from buying more Iranian crude but the perception in the industry and among diplomats is that the world's No.2 oil consumer will find it hard to resist buying unsold Iranian oil at a knockdown price.

"I think (the Iranian) oil will go somewhere else ... Iran may give a discount to make it easier and quicker but nothing will change," said De Margerie.

Robert Hormats, U.S. under secretary for economy, energy and agriculture, could not say with certainty that sanctions would reduce Iran's oil exports but he predicted more pain for the Iranian economy.

"You cannot predict what they (Iran) will do and how much they will discount their oil. But it will certainly cause more and more discomfort to the Iranian economy," he said, adding that China too had an interest in a 'constructive outcome'.

"No one has an interest in Iran continuing its non-peaceful nuclear program," he said. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes - electricity generation and medical equipment.

To maximize the impact of the sanctions, the U.S. will apply waivers very "selectively" and "responsibly," Hormats said. In addition, the U.S. administration is talking to Congress about extending sanctions to Iran's shipping fleet although the discussion is at an early stage, he added.

(Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov; editing by Janet McBride)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120127/wl_nm/us_davos_iran_oil

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Kim Kardashian To Guest Star On Lifetime's 'Drop Dead Diva'

If there's one Kardashian that can hold her own with the wine-loving ladies of "Cougar Town," it's the matriarch of the first family of reality TV, Kris Jenner. On "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," you can usually find Kris behind the bar of her Calabasas mansion, so we think that she would have no problem keeping up with Jules and the Cul de Sac crew. Hold your "Big Joe" with pride, Kris!

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/26/kim-kardashian-drop-dead-diva_n_1235329.html

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Israeli film industry is a surprising powerhouse

JERUSALEM (AP) ? The budgets are bare-bones and the talent pool is limited, but Israel has emerged as a surprising powerhouse in the foreign film industry.

The Israeli film "Footnote," up for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film this year, is Israel's fourth such nomination in the past five years, giving Israel more nominations during that period than any other country.

It's an indication to the renaissance of Israeli cinema, which has grown from a fledgling industry with poor cinematography and low box office sales to a darling of world film festivals. That's in spite ? or perhaps because ? of the country's troubled international reputation, due to its lengthy conflict with the Arab world.

The last three Israeli films that made it to the Oscar shortlist all mine the country's troubles with its Arab neighbors. "Beaufort," nominated in 2008, and "Waltz with Bashir," nominated a year after, both explored Israeli soldiers' experiences in Lebanon. "Ajami," the 2010 nominee, centers on Arab-Jewish tensions in a violence-ridden neighborhood near Tel Aviv.

This year's nomination went to an Israeli film featuring a more internal conflict ? two professors of Talmud, a father and son, dueling for academic prestige and a coveted national prize.

"It's a badge of honor for Israel," said Moshe Edery, producer of "Footnote," at a news conference after the Oscar nomination. "It's Israel's best business card around the world, especially these days."

Israeli cinema was long an embarrassment. Cheap comic melodramas were the norm in the 1960s and 1970s. Called "bourekas films" ? the Israeli equivalent of spaghetti Westerns ? they dealt with ethnic stereotypes of European and Middle Eastern Jews.

Sick of those tired tropes, a group of Israeli moviemakers created an Israeli national movie fund in 1979, hopefully named the "Israeli Fund to Encourage Quality Films."

With meager funding from studios and other private entities, filmmakers rely on public funds. But even with help from the new fund, the industry still floundered for two decades.

In 1995, the government cut public funding for cinema in half, leaving enough money to produce only five films a year. Three years later the industry hit an all-time low: Only 0.3 percent of Israeli moviegoers bought tickets to Hebrew-language cinema.

The national film body took on a new name, the Israel Film Fund, and in 2000 it begged Israel's parliament to save Israeli cinema. It did, boosting the budget to $10 million a year for investment in feature films, mandating that young filmmakers get a chance to make themselves known.

It's what gave Joseph Cedar, the Israeli director of the Oscar-nominated films "Footnote" and "Beaufort," his first big break fresh out of film school: The Israel Film Fund supported his first feature, "Time of Favor," which debuted in 2000.

"We didn't know him, but he had enthusiasm. There was something about his passion," said Katriel Schory, executive director of the national fund. "We took a chance."

In the past, "cinema funds would not support a filmmaker's first feature," said Renen Schorr, founder and director of the Sam Spiegel Film & Television School in Jerusalem. "Today, Israel wants young people to make their first films."

The boost in public funding has dovetailed with investments in Israeli cinema by European and Canadian producers, totaling about $15 million and increasing the number of films Israel puts out annually to nearly 20, according to the Film Fund.

Israel's television industry has also blossomed in recent years. After cable channels and a commercial TV station broke the monopoly and monotony of a lone state-run channel in the early 90s, there was a sudden need for new TV content, spurring competition and creativity among local screenwriters.

Now Hollywood TV executives are taking notice, adapting Israeli shows for American audiences. Showtime's hit thriller "Homeland" is adapted from the Israeli drama "Prisoners of War," the NBC game show "Who's Still Standing" originated in Israel, and other Israeli adaptations are currently in development for American TV.

Despite the surge in budgets, funding is a fraction of public money available for filmmakers in European countries.

While Israel has scored some Academy Award nominations in recent years, it hasn't won. None of the 10 Israeli films that made the best foreign language film shortlist over the years has won the big prize.

Now the focus is on Cedar, director of "Footnote," but he told reporters that the coveted Oscar isn't the only measure of success for a filmmaker.

That is exactly the lesson that his Oscar-nominated film imparts, he said.

"'Footnote' deals with the question of what happens when, while you're living your daily life, a prize is offered, which really takes over your moral reasoning and changes your perspective and sometimes completely destroys your perspective," Cedar said, summarizing the main plot line of his movie.

___

Follow Daniel Estrin: www.twitter.com/danielestrin

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-27-ML-Israel-Film-Frenzy/id-1fd8ad65cc254d9ab6a7a322cfd3e83d

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New-home purchases fall, 2011 worst ever for sales

This Jan. 18, 2012 photo shows a new home in a development in Pleasant Hills, Pa. Fewer people bought new homes in December, making 2011 the worst sales year on record. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

This Jan. 18, 2012 photo shows a new home in a development in Pleasant Hills, Pa. Fewer people bought new homes in December, making 2011 the worst sales year on record. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Fewer Americans bought new homes in December. The decline made 2011 the worst year for new-home sales on records dating back nearly half a century.

The Commerce Department said Thursday new-home sales fell 2.2 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 307,000. The pace is less than half the 700,000 that economists say must be sold in a healthy economy.

About 302,000 new homes were sold last year. That's less than the 323,000 sold in 2010, making last year's sales the worst on records dating back to 1963. And it coincides with a report last week that said 2011 was the weakest year for single-family home construction on record.

The median sales prices for new homes dropped in December to $210,300. Builders continued to slash price to stay competitive in the depressed market.

Still, sales of new homes rose in the final quarter of 2011, supporting other signs of a slow turnaround that began at the end of the year.

Sales of previously occupied homes rose in December for a third straight month. Mortgage rates have never been lower. Homebuilders are slightly more hopeful because more people are saying they might consider buying this year. And home construction picked up in the final quarter of last year.

"Although this decline was unexpected, it does not change the story that housing has likely bottomed," said Jennifer H. Lee, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.

Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, said easier lending requirements, historically low mortgage rates and improved hiring all point to consistent, albeit slow, rises in sales in the coming months.

"A sustained rise in new home sales is imminent," he said. "Homebuilders say so too, and they should know."

Hiring is critical to a housing rebound. The unemployment rate fell in December to its lowest level in nearly three years after the sixth straight month of solid job growth.

Economists caution that housing is a long way from fully recovering. Builders have stopped working on many projects because it's been hard for them to get financing or to compete with cheaper resale homes. For many Americans, buying a home remains too big a risk more than four years after the housing bubble burst.

Though new-home sales represent less than 10 percent of the housing market, they have an outsize impact on the economy. Each home built creates an average of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in tax revenue, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

A key reason for the dismal 2011 sales is that builders must compete with foreclosures and short sales ? when lenders accept less for a house than what is owed on the mortgage

Builders ended 2011 with a third straight year of dismal home construction and the worst on record for single-family home building. But in a hopeful sign, single-family home construction, which makes up 70 percent of the market, increased in each of the last three months.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-26-New%20Home%20Sales/id-0c50f0e4a23f4d828f4786fe6656fb83

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Gingrich: Romney self-deportation plan a fantasy (AP)

DORAL, Fla. ? Republican Newt Gingrich says Mitt Romney's call for self-deportation of illegal immigrants is an "Obama-level" fantasy that is inhumane to long-established families living in America.

The former House speaker ridiculed that part of Romney's immigration policy during a forum Wednesday with the Spanish-language network Univision. Gingrich laughed at the idea and said it wouldn't work.

Romney said during a recent debate that he favors what he calls "self-deportation" over policies that require the federal government to round up illegal immigrants and send them back to their home countries.

Gingrich says Romney's proposal reflects a candidate who lives, in his words, "in a world of Swiss bank accounts and Cayman Island accounts." That was a jab at Romney's wealth.

Romney was taping his own segment with Univision later Wednesday.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_el_pr/us_campaign_hispanics

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Firm stops file sharing after Megaupload case (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? FileSonic, a website providing online data storage, has disabled its file sharing services following a U.S.-led crackdown on a rival website and amid heated debate over Washington's attempts to clamp down on online piracy.

Police in New Zealand and Europe have made a number of arrests in recent days related to an investigation led by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation of the Megaupload.com website.

The group have been accused of engaging in a scheme that took more than $500 million away from copyright holders and generated over $175 million in proceeds from subscriptions and advertising. Megaupload's lawyers have said the company simply offered online storage.

FileSonic, which describes itself as the "Unlimited Storage Company," said in a statement on its website that it would only allow users to access their own files.

"All sharing functionality of FileSonic is now disabled. Our service can only be used to upload and retrieve files that you have uploaded personally."

The firm, which lists addresses in Britain and Hong Kong, did not immediately respond to an email sent requesting further comment on the move.

The Megaupload case is being heard as the debate over online piracy reaches fever pitch in Washington where Congress is trying to craft tougher legislation.

(Reporting by Ed Davies in Sydney; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/internet/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120123/media_nm/us_internet_piracy_filesonic

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WWE responds to Conn. Senate candidate's criticism (AP)

STAMFORD, Conn. ? WWE professional wrestling is accusing Connecticut Senate candidate Chris Shays of making untrue accusations about the company once run by Linda McMahon, a fellow Republican vying for the party's nomination.

Shays told The Associated Press recently that McMahon was "basically in the soft-core porn business."

WWE spokesman Robert Zimmerman released a letter to Shays on Monday, saying the former congressman visited the company's headquarters and supported its SmackDown Your Vote campaign, which encouraged young people to register.

Zimmerman also cited WWE's efforts to combat bullying, contrary to Shays' claims WWE promotes bullying.

Shays spokeswoman Amanda Bergen says books and articles have been written about WWE and "the facts are the facts." Bergen says McMahon can't talk about her business experience without talking about her business.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_el_se/us_connecticut_senate

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Auroras spark awe across the north

AuroraMAX / Canadian Space Agency

The northern lights take on a weird, rippling shape in a super-wide-angle view captured Sunday night by the Canadian Space Agency's AuroraMAX webcam in Yellowknife, capital of the Northwest Territories. There's more from AuroraMAX at the project's website and on Twitpic.

By Alan Boyle

Is it "auroras" or "aurorae"? The dictionary?prefers the former, but either way, there was a multiplicity of auroral awesomeness this weekend ? thanks to a solar storm that swept past Earth's magnetic field over the weekend. During the past few days, we've shown off a few stunning images from Norway and Canada, and there's a new crop to share today.

First, a little explanation for what you're looking at:

---

Auroral lights arise when electrically charged particles from the sun interact with atoms and ions high up in Earth's atmosphere, 60 to 200 miles up. The interaction sets off?emissions in wavelengths ranging from blue, to green (the most common color), to red. The?colors depend on the energy of the?particles in question. To get the full story on that, check out the explanations from the "Causes of Color" website and the?University of Alaska at Fairbanks.

This weekend's auroras were particularly bright because of a strong solar outburst that occurred on Thursday. There's an interval between the outburst and the displays because the particles that are ejected from the sun travel at far less than the speed of light. But they're still pretty speedy ? the velocity?is on the order of a million miles an hour.

Solar outbursts, known more formally as coronal mass ejections or CMEs, have the potential to disrupt electrical grids or satellite communications. There could be radiation effects on astronauts in orbit or passengers on high-altitude, pole-traversing airplane flights. Thursday's outburst dealt Earth's magnetic field a glancing blow, and no significant negative impact has been reported. However, an even stronger CME is currently on its way toward Earth and may force the?rerouting of polar flights.?Once again, electric-grid managers and satellite operators will be on alert, as will aurora-watchers.

Observers in northern latitudes can look forward to enhanced auroras over the next couple of nights ? and the rest of us can look forward to more images like these:

Bjorn Jorgensen

Bjorn Jorgensen's view of the aurora was captured on Sunday at Grotfjord, close to Tromso in north Norway. "This was amazing," he told SpaceWeather.com. "It was a wonderful experience to see these stunning auroras." The bird-of-prey picture was taken with a Nikon D3S camera equipped with a Nikkor 14-24mm lens. Exposure for the pictures in Jorgenson's set was ISO 2200 at five and six seconds. Check out SpaceWeather.com and ArcticPhoto.no for more views.

Chad Blakley / Lights Over Lapland

Chad Blakley said on Sunday that he had "an unbelievable night" at Sweden's Abisko National Park. "As soon as the sun went down I realized that we were about to experience something special," he told SpaceWeather.com. "The auroras have been dancing all night long and show no sign of stopping! I only came in because 32 gigabytes of memory cards were full and all three batteries were dead!" Click on over to Blakley's Vimeo page for a time-lapse video version of this imagery, and check out SpaceWeather.com for more from Abisko.

Chad Blakley / Lights Over Lapland

The auroral lights in Sweden were so bright that Chad Blakley could capture this view from the street. Blakley says his pictures were shot with a Nikon D7000 and a Tokina 11/16 lens at 2.8 with a 1600 ISO six-second exposure. For more of Blakley's images, check out the Lights Over Lapland website.

Adrian Jannetta and Emma Maddison

Adrian Jannetta took this picture of the auroral arc on Sunday night, about 2 miles west of Morpeth in the Northumberland region of England. "This is the first time I've photographed the aurora and the first time I've seen it since about 2004," he wrote on Flickr. The picture was taken using a Nikon D80 with 18mm lens, set for ISO 1250, f/3.5, 2x30sec exposures. For more auroral views from Jannetta, check his Flickr photostream.

Gregory Clarke

The green glow of the aurora is reflected in a rock pool on the Emerald Isle, in Ireland's County Donegal. "The photo was taken at the end of my shoot as a last grab before heading home," photographer Gregory Clarke said in an email. "I climbed over some rocks to get to a rock pool, took a few test shots and then was treated to what I photographed. The photo was taken at Malin Head, County Donegal, using a Canon EOS Mk3. For that shot I bumped up the ISO to 1600 at f4, shot in RAW, and it seems to be the settings that worked for that shot." You'll find many more shots in Clarke's Flickr photostream.

Jason Ahrns

The red and green auroral lights look like glowing curtains in Jason Ahrns' photo, captured near Fairbanks, Alaska, using a Nikon D5000 camera and an all-sky lens. You can see a time-lapse video that includes this still at Ahrns' Flickr gallery.

Marketa Stanczykova

Marketa Stanczykova said she used a Canon 5D camera with a 17-40mm lens to take this picture of the northern lights dancing over Chatanika in Alaska. "I recently moved to Fairbanks," she said in an email. "My friends, photographers Ronn Murray and Casey Thompson (aurora chasers) took me close to Chatanika. It was an amazing night." For more of her pictures, check out this SpaceWeather.com page and this gallery from 500px.

More great auroral views:

---

Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or adding Cosmic Log's Google+ page to your circle. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for other worlds.

Source: http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/23/10217788-auroras-spark-awe-across-the-north

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'Voice' sneak peek: Tearjerker of an audition

By Jenna Mullins, E! Online

Art Streiber / NBC

If reality competitions know how to do one thing, it's tug on those heartstrings.

In this exclusive first look at a contestant's blind audition on "The Voice," a single father puts his future in one song, all in hope that one judge turns that giant chair around ...

More from E! Online: Lea Michele headed to 'Glee Project'

Jesse Campbell's story is one straight out of the movies: his wife left him, he ended up homeless and he had to sleep in his car with his little girl on his chest. He found a new life through singing, at weddings and churches, and now in his 40s, he's counting on his voice to bring him and his daughter the future they deserve.

But of course, it's up to judges Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton if he makes it to the next round. Do they press the button and swing around? Watch the video below to find out, and then tune in to E! News tonight at 7 for the whole story (TODAY.com, NBC and E! are part of the NBCUniversal family).

"The Voice" premieres Feb. 5, after the Super Bowl, on NBC.

Do you think Jesse can win "The Voice"? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page!

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Source: http://theclicker.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/23/10218343-voice-sneak-peek-tearjerker-of-an-audition

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UK high court clears way for Basque extradition (AP)

LONDON ? Britain's High Court has cleared the way for the extradition of a suspected Basque separatist wanted in connection with a plot to assassinate Spain's king.

The court ruled Monday that Eneko Gogeaskoetxea Arronategui, 44, can be sent to Spain. He has several days to appeal the decision.

Gogeaskoetxea Arronategui is suspected of being one of several ETA members allegedly behind a foiled bomb plot at the 1997 opening of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, in northern Spain. King Juan Carlos was believed to have been the target.

The suspect was arrested in July at his home in Cambridge.

ETA is a Basque separatist group that has killed 829 people since 1968 in a campaign of bombings, shootings, kidnappings and extortion.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_spain_extradition

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Compression garments reduce muscle fatigue

COMPRESSION garments worn by athletes to keep muscles warm may improve performance by reducing muscle fatigue.

Dale Lovell and colleagues at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, measured lactate levels in 25 rugby players after they'd exercised wearing either spandex-like compression garments or regular shorts.

Lactate levels were significantly lower in players kitted out in the compression garments, possibly because they stimulate blood flow that clears the substance. Lactate is associated with muscle fatigue, quick removal may improve performance (Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e31821764f8).

If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.

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Kazakhstan's PM vows political liberalization (AP)

ASTANA, Kazakhstan ? Kazakhstan's long-serving prime minister said Friday that his Central Asian country will move gradually toward greater political liberalization and downplayed international criticism of this week's parliamentary election.

Karim Masimov spoke shortly after newly elected deputies assembled for the first time since the election that saw the ruling Nur Otan party's control of the Majlis, or lower house, fall from 100 percent to 89 percent.

Deputies from three parties were sworn in at an official ceremony overseen by the oil-rich former Soviet nation's powerful veteran president, Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe expressed substantial misgivings over the conduct of Sunday's election, saying the vote count lacked transparency.

Masimov said in an interview with The Associated Press that he respected the views of the OSCE and that Kazakhstan would continue working to improve standards.

"For the next election we will make the necessary steps to be close to international standards, but at the same time I, as the prime minister, strongly believe that we did have free-and-fair elections," he said, speaking in English.

Nur Otan's commanding victory in the elections gave it control of 83 of the lower house's 107 seats. The pro-business Ak Zhol and the People's Communist Party have eight and seven deputies, respectively. Nine deputies were appointed by a presidential advisory body.

The more militant wings of the opposition insist they have been denied a fair attempt at gaining even a foothold in parliament.

In its first session, parliament reconfirmed Masimov as prime minister, putting an end to speculation that Nazarbayev might appoint a new head of government.

Masimov has held the country's No. 2 post since 2007, making him the longest-serving prime minister since Kazakhstan gained independence in 1991.

An urbane polyglot with a command of several languages ? including English, Chinese and Turkish ? Masimov is liked by international investors and widely credited with steering the country through a downturn caused by the global economic crisis.

Masimov said political reforms are necessary if Kazakhstan is to further grow its economy, which has expanded at a robust pace over the past decade, with a brief interlude during the height of the crisis.

The government's oft-stated aim is for the country to shed its reputation as a middling economy dependent on its low labor costs and oil, gas and mineral exports for growth.

Masimov said authorities will soon look to give more power to local authorities in Kazakhstan ? a sparsely populated nation of 17 million that spans an area almost four times the size of Texas and shares long borders with China and Russia.

"In a few months we will make a concrete proposal how to advance forward," he said.

Kazakhstan is still reeling from a rare outburst of discontent and violence in December in the western oil town of Zhanaozen. A protest by oil workers who had been fired after striking for better pay degenerated into clashes with police who opened fire. At least 16 people were killed, and the bloodshed set off a riot in another town where police killed one person.

The discontent underlying that violence highlighted the risk of economic stagnation in some regions stemming from excess dependence on the energy sector.

Masimov said Zhanaozen would serve as a lesson to avoid a similar outcomes in other one-industry towns.

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

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Video: Talking Numbers: How to Trade Tech

Charting the outlook for Texas Instruments and the tech sector, with Abigail Doolittle, Peak Theories, and Peter Boockvar, Miller Tabak.

Related Links:

Business & financial news headlines from msnbc.com

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/46075615/

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Antidepressants Might Raise Fall Risk in Nursing Homes (HealthDay)

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are associated with an increased risk of falls in nursing home residents with dementia, a new study finds.

Researchers in the Netherlands analyzed data about daily prescription medicine use and falls among 248 nursing home residents with dementia. The dataset collected between Jan. 1, 2006 and Jan. 1, 2008 included 85,074 person-days.

Antidepressants were used on 13,729 days (16 percent), with SSRIs used on 11,105 of these days, the investigators found.

A total of 683 falls were experienced by 152 (61.5 percent) of the 248 nursing home residents, which works out to fall incidence of 2.9 falls per person-year. Thirty-eight residents had one fall but 114 had frequent falls.

Injury or death resulted from 220 of the falls: 10 were hip fractures, 11 were other types of fractures, and 198 were injuries such as sprains, bruises, swelling and open wounds. One person died after falling, according to the results.

The researchers found that the risk of having an injury-causing fall was three times higher for residents taking SSRIs than for those who didn't take the antidepressants. For example, the absolute daily risk of a fall was 0.28 percent for an 80-year-old woman taking a daily dose of an SSRI, compared with 0.09 percent for a woman the same age who didn't take an SSRI.

Similar increases in risk were found for both women and men of different ages, according to the study published Jan. 19 in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.

"Our study also discovered that the risk of an injurious fall increased even more if the residents were also given hypnotic or sedative drugs as sleeping pills," lead author Carolyn Shanty Sterke, who works in the section of geriatric medicine at Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, said in a journal news release.

Falls are a major issue for nursing home residents with dementia, and one-third of falls among nursing home residents result in an injury, the study authors noted.

"Staff in residential homes are always concerned about reducing the chance of people falling and I think we should consider developing new treatment protocols that take into account the increased risk of falling that occurs when you give people SSRIs," Sterke said in the news release.

While the study uncovered an association between injury-causing falls and SSRI use, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about falls in nursing homes.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/seniors/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120119/hl_hsn/antidepressantsmightraisefallriskinnursinghomes

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'Underworld Awakening' is sleep-inducing

Kate Beckinsale sat out the third "Underworld" film, but returned for the fourth.

By Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter

REVIEW

The fourth entry in this profitable B-movie series helpfully brings its viewers up to speed with a quick recap of the first two movies (conveniently skipping the third, which star Kate Beckinsale sat out). The comely British actress ? also currently being seen in theaters as the wife-in-peril in "Contraband" -- has returned to once again don the skintight black latex outfit that is these films? biggest draw to fanboys. More aggressively violent and thankfully less mythology driven than previous installments, "Underworld Awakening" is strictly for the converted.

PHOTOS: The Evolution of Film Vampires

This film begins with vampiress Selene waking up after being in a cryogenically frozen state for 12 years, a convincing plot element since the 38-year-old actress doesn?t seem to have aged a day. Apparently we humans have gotten hip to the preponderance of Lycans ? werewolves, to the uninitiated ? and bloodsuckers in their midst, and have made determined efforts to eradicate them.

Busting out of the lab, Selene takes no prisoners. Indeed, the character seems even more ruthlessly violent and murderous than in the previous films, perhaps the result of having been woken up from a nice long nap.

Accompanied by a hunky vampire (Theo James) and a young woman (India Eisley) awakened from a similarly frozen state, Selene finds herself in an endless series of violent battles with both humans and Lycans ? who are, in many cases, one and the same. Along the way, a sympathetic cop (Michael Ealy) tries to help out, with unfortunate results.

VIDEO: Kate Beckinsale's 'Underworld: Awakening': 5 New Clips Released

The actress goes through her energetic paces and an awful lot of wire work with the requisite athleticism and steely facial expressions. When she?s not actually fighting, her performance consists of little more than striding purposefully towards or away from the camera: ?I?m not good with feelings,? Selene accurately points out.

Swedish directors Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein ? they?re billed by just their last names in the credits, which admittedly looks cooler ? keep the pace frenetic enough that the film clocks in at just 89 minutes. This is the first of the series to be done in 3D but -- considering the monochromatic, blue-grey palette, the frenetic editing and the general darkness ? it only results in making the proceedings harder to see in an additional dimension.

As is customary for the series, there are veteran British actors on hand to pick up a quick paycheck. Here, replacing such predecessors as Bill Nighy and Derek Jacobi, are Stephen Rea as an evil scientist and Charles Dance as the head of a vampire coven. Both look despondent that they?ll no longer be any "Harry Potter" movies to provide an alternative form of financial security.

Will you see the movie? Tell us on Facebook.

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Source: http://entertainment.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/20/10200773-underworld-awakening-is-sleep-inducing

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Pakistan rejects U.S. envoy visit: official (Reuters)

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) ? Pakistan has rejected U.S. special envoy Marc Grossman's request to visit the country, a senior official said on Wednesday, highlighting the increased tensions between the uneasy allies.

He did not elaborate on the reasons.

"Ambassador Grossman asked to visit Pakistan but we conveyed to him that it was not possible at the moment," a senior government official, who declined to be named, told Reuters.

Relations between Islamabad and Washington are at the lowest point in years, dragged down by a NATO cross-border air attack which killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on November 26.

The growing tension threatens to set back peace efforts in neighboring Afghanistan, where the United States is gradually withdrawing troops after a decade of war.

Pakistan's cooperation is regarded as crucial, because of its long history of association with militant groups, to efforts to persuade the Taliban to join negotiations.

Grossman, U.S. Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, is due to visit Afghanistan and Qatar this week, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last Wednesday.

Pakistan said in early December it had decided to review cooperation with the United States and NATO. The review is currently before parliament with no firm timeline on when recommendations will be presented to the government.

U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said on Tuesday Pakistan had decided the review should be completed before Grossman's next visit.

Ties between Washington and Islamabad were severely hurt in January 2011 by the killing of two Pakistanis by a CIA contractor.

The United States further infuriated and embarrassed Pakistan's powerful military in May with a unilateral special forces raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Pakistan said the raid, of which it wasn't informed, was a violation of its sovereignty.

Relations between Pakistan's civilian leadership and military are also at their worst since a 1999 coup following reports of a disputed memo allegedly from President Asif Ali Zardari's government seeking U.S. help in reining in Pakistan's powerful generals.

(Additional reporting by Chris Allbritton; Writing by Serena Chaudhry; Editing by Chris Allbritton and Jonathan Thatcher)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120118/wl_nm/us_pakistan_usa

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Mysterious invisible galaxy may be composed of dark matter

Though telescopes can't spot the dwarf galaxy, scientists detected its presence through the tiny distortions its gravity causes to light that passes it by.

Astronomers have discovered a small galaxy that is invisible to telescopes and may be completely composed of dark matter, which reflects no light.

Skip to next paragraph

The newfound galaxy is incredibly distant and extremely small. It orbits as a satellite of a larger galaxy. Though telescopes can't spot the dwarf galaxy, scientists detected its presence through the tiny distortions its gravity causes to light that passes it by.

Scientists think?dark matter, which may be made of some exotic particle that doesn't reflect light, makes up about?98 percent of all matter?in the universe. Yet it has never been detected directly. Discovering dark objects like this tiny, distant galaxy could help researchers understand better what dark matter is and how it affects regular matter around it.

Warped light

The new dwarf galaxy is about 7 billion light-years away, meaning its light has taken 7 billion years to reach us here on Earth. It weighs about 190 million times the mass of the sun ? a seemingly hefty sum, although typical galaxies pack in the mass of tens of billions of suns. [Images: Peering Back to the Big Bang & Early Universe]

"This is the lowest mass galaxy that we've seen at this distance by far," said study co-author Matthew Auger of the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Even farther away, at about 10 billion light-years, is another galaxy whose light passes by the dark dwarf and its host on its way to Earth. As this light travels through space, it is bent by the gravity of the intervening galaxy and its satellite, causing a distorted, curved picture called an "Einstein ring," after the famous scientist, who predicted such warping effects in his general theory of relativity. This process is called?gravitational lensing.

Though most of this warping is caused by the larger gravitational tug of the host galaxy, researchers used a?computer?model to detect a slight excess of warping caused by the tiny addition of the dwarf satellite's gravity.

"It's a subtle effect that by eye you would tend not to see except from subtracting a model from the?data," Auger told SPACE.com.

The astronomers were also helped by extremely high-resolution images taken by the Keck Observatory in Hawaii, using a system called adaptive optics to compensate for atmospheric blurring.

"The image quality in the data we used here is somewhat better than the quality you can get from the Hubble Space Telescope," Auger said.

Auger and his colleagues, led by Simona Vegetti of MIT, reported their finding in the Jan. 19 issue of the journal Nature.

Hidden stars?

Because it is so far and hard to see, astronomers can't be sure if the newly discovered galaxy really is made almost exclusively of?dark matter, or if it just contains stars that are too dim to be visible at this distance.

There is some reason to think that very low-mass dark matter galaxies might exist independent of any visible matter, researchers said. The small clump of dark matter may have originally contained gas that formed stars when it was newborn, but when these stars died and exploded in supernovas, they may have blasted all the remaining gas out into space, leaving the dark matter clump without any material to form new stars.

However, theoretical models aren't clear on this issue, and astronomers would like to know more about when light matter galaxies form, and when dark matter clumps remain starless.

Dwarf galaxies aren't a rarity in the cosmos; even our Milky Way has them. In fact, the newfound galaxy is about the same size as our own galaxy's?Sagittarius dwarf satellite.

"For the first time we're getting information about something with a mass that's comparable to some of the smaller Milky Way satellites (like the Fornax and Sagittarius dwarfs) but outside of the local universe," study co-author David Lagattuta of the University of California, Davis, told SPACE.com in an email. "Add in the fact that it's something like 6 or 7 billion light years away, it's really true that we've never been able to see something like this before!"

The Milky Way's satellites are also little understood ? they are hard to observe, and theory predicts many more of them than have been discovered. Scientists hope that finding more dwarf galaxies around distant hosts may help shed light on the problem.

"Vegetti and colleagues show convincingly that gravitational lenses allow low-mass satel?lite galaxies to be discovered regardless of how luminous the satellites are," astronomer Robert W. Schmidt of the Universit?t Heidelberg, in Germany ? who was not involved in the research ? wrote in an accompanying essay in the same issue of Nature. "As such, they offer the means to refine measurements of the mass function of faraway satellites."

You can follow SPACE.com assistant managing editor Clara Moskowitz on Twitter

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/yppKYtP6soQ/Mysterious-invisible-galaxy-may-be-composed-of-dark-matter

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Park official: Snowshoer rescued, in good shape

SEATTLE (AP) ? A 66-year-old snowshoer who had been missing on Mount Rainier since Saturday has been rescued after searchers traversed deep snow and snowshoed up a river valley to pull him from the icy remote backcountry, a national park spokeswoman said.

The team reached Yong Chun Kim on Monday afternoon but it took nine hours to bring him from the rugged terrain covered in deep snow to a road, spokeswoman Lee Taylor said late Monday.

She told the News Tribune newspaper of Tacoma, Wash., that he did not need to go to a hospital and instead was going home. Kim "seems to be in good shape and we're just thrilled to have been able to bring this search to such a successful conclusion," Taylor said.

Taylor said the experienced hiker from Tacoma, Wash., was alert, conscious and stable when he was found by a team of three searchers. He was reported missing on Saturday after he fell down a slope and became separated from a group he was leading in the Paradise area, a popular high-elevation destination on the mountain's southwest flank, about a 100-mile drive south from Seattle.

Snowshoers use specialized footgear that allows them to spread their weight over a larger area, which keeps them from sinking into deep snow and makes it possible to hike into snowy areas that would otherwise be inaccessible. Kim, who has been snowshoeing for a decade, was well equipped for a day trip but didn't have overnight gear.

Because Kim was the leader of his group, other snowshoers weren't able to accurately describe where he had slipped, Taylor said. Searchers had initially believed Kim fell in a different area, based on descriptions from the group, Taylor said.

Taylor said he was in a remote area with deep snow. Mount Rainier has seen temperatures in the teens, and eight inches of new snow fell in some places since Saturday. Wind-blown snow drifts were as high as 30 inches in some areas.

Bad weather prevented a helicopter rescue, so crews used a Sno-Cat snow vehicle to reach the area where Kim was. Then "searchers had to snowshoe up the river valley to reach him, load him into a kind of a litter that could be slid across the snow, sort of a sled, bring him back down and get him back into the Sno-Cat and bring the Sno-Cat back out to the road," Taylor said.

Kim's son, Malcom An, thanked authorities and the rescuers in a statement released through the National Park Service.

"A terrible situation that could have ended in tragedy, instead turned into another beautiful example of how Americans come together to help each other," he said.

Kim's sister-in-law, Sang Soon Tomyn, told The Associated Press that "as soon as we heard he was alive, my sister, his wife, praised God and said 'Hallelujah.' "We were so worried. We prayed every day."

She said her brother-in-law was a strong hiker, had food in his backpack and knew the area very well.

"He's a very strong person," she said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-17-Missing%20Snowshoer/id-eb616ebb4a074c0089a6eede6e41ce8d

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