Calif. storm brings intense rain, flood warnings

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? The second in a series of storms slammed Northern California on Friday as heavy rain and strong winds knocked out power, tied up traffic and caused flooding along some stretches.

The weather also may be behind the death of a Pacific Gas & Electric worker in West Sacramento who was killed after his truck crashed into a traffic signal pole during the stormy weather.

Flights were delayed at San Francisco's airport, and in the city's affluent Pacific Heights neighborhood, traffic was blocked for hours after a large tree crashed down, smashing a car and obstructing a busy street.

A flash flood watch will remain in effect for most of the San Francisco Bay Area extending to the Santa Cruz Mountains throughout the weekend. A constant barrage of downpours could lead to standing water and overflowing drains, said Diana Henderson, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Monterey.

The North Bay was seemingly hit the hardest, as parts of Sonoma County received more than 7 inches of rain and areas in Napa County received nearly 6 inches, Henderson said.

"It's not a super storm by any measure, but this is pretty significant," Henderson said. "We should see periods of moderate to heavy rains."

With rain expected all weekend long, Tony Negro, a contractor from Penngrove, Calif., in Sonoma County, said he is worried about water flooding his workshop.

"I'm on my way to get some sand bags," he said.

Thousands of people were without power in that area after an outage that also affected the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The suspension span of the bridge was briefly in the dark as traffic was backed up longer than usual because of rain and strong wind gusts.

Also, a mudslide shut down a stretch of Highway 84 east of Fremont, the California Highway Patrol reported. There was no estimate on when it would reopen.

In Sacramento, an empty big-rig jackknifed in the southbound lanes and struck the median divider on Interstate 5 south of downtown Friday morning, the CHP said.

"I would definitely say it's weather-related. The reports came in that he hit a water puddle and hydroplaned and couldn't correct," CHP Officer Mike Bradley said. "A lot of high-profile vehicles, especially the lighter ones, are getting windblown and having some problems maintaining their lane."

No one was injured in the crash on I-5, California's main north-south highway. But a second vehicle also was damaged and had to be towed, while workers cleaned up diesel fuel spilled from the tractor-trailer.

In West Sacramento, police say wet conditions may have been a factor when a PG&E worker died after he lost control of his vehicle and slammed into a traffic pole. PG&E workers at the scene told KCRA-TV that the driver had been working overtime and was returning from Clarksburg in Yolo County.

Henderson said rain in the region is expected to taper Saturday, but return later that night into Sunday. The storms could create the possibility of rock and mud slides in areas already saturated and affected by wildfires this summer.

In Los Angeles, conditions were wet and gloomy as downtown skyscrapers disappeared in low-hanging clouds.

Elsewhere in the West, a state of emergency was declared in Reno, Sparks and Washoe County in Nevada due to expected flooding as a storm packing heavy rain and strong winds swept through the area. Reno city spokeswoman Michele Anderson said public servants would be working overtime through the weekend to control what's expected to be the worst flooding there since 2005. The National Weather Service issued a flood warning along the Truckee River.

The weather also prompted cancellations of Christmas parades and tree lightings in Sparks and Truckee, just across the border from California.

Also, a storm rushed through southern Oregon this week, lingering inland over the Rogue Valley and dropping record rainfall. It largely spared coastal Curry County and its southernmost city, Brookings, which were still recovering from a storm this month.

"We are still vigilant for landslides and road closures and trees down, but so far ? knock on wood ? we are still good to go," Curry County Sheriff John Bishop said.

Forecasters said the region should expect more storms over the next few days.

___

Associated Press writers Haven Daley in San Francisco, Don Thompson in Sacramento, Calif., John Antczak in Los Angeles, Hannah Dreier in Las Vegas, Jeff Barnard in Grants Pass, Ore., and Tim Fought in Medford, Ore., also contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/calif-storm-brings-intense-rain-flood-warnings-193046506.html

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Two winners in record Powerball jackpot

Winning tickets for the record Powerball jackpot worth more than $587 million were purchased in Arizona and Missouri.

Missouri Lottery official Susan Goedde confirmed to ABC News this morning that one of the winning tickets was purchased in the state, but they would not announce which town until later this morning.

Arizona lottery officials said they had no information on that state's winner or winners but would announce where it was sold during a news conference later in the day.

The winning numbers for the jackpot were 5, 23, 16, 22 and 29. The Powerball was 6.

The jackpot swelled to $587.5 million, according to Lottery official Sue Dooley. The two winners will split the jackpot each getting $293.75 million. The cash payout is $192.5 million each.

An additional 8,924,123 players won smaller prizes, according to Powerball's website.

"There were 58 winners of $1 million and there were eight winners of $2 million. So a total of $74 million," said Chuck Strutt, Director of the Multi-State Lottery Association.

In Photos: Biggest Lotto Jackpot Winners

This is the 27th win for Missouri, ranking it second in the nation for lottery winners after Indiana, which has 38 wins. Arizona has had 10 Powerball jackpot wins in its history.

Players bought tickets at the rate of 131,000 every minute up until an hour before the deadline of 11 p.m. ET, according to lottery officials.

The jackpot had already rolled over 16 consecutive times without a winner. That fact, plus the doubling in price of a Powerball ticket, accounted for the unprecedented richness of the pot.

"Back in January, we moved Powerball from being a $1 game to $2," said Mary Neubauer, a spokeswoman at the game's headquarters in Iowa. "We thought at the time that this would mean bigger and faster-growing jackpots."

That proved true. The total, she said, began taking "huge jumps -- another $100 million since Saturday." It then jumped another $50 million.

The biggest Powerball pot on record until now -- $365 million -- was won in 2006 by eight Lincoln, Neb., co-workers. As the latest pot swelled, lottery officials said they began getting phone calls from all around the world.

"When it gets this big," said Neubauer, "we get inquiries from Canada and Europe from people wanting to know if they can buy a ticket. They ask if they can FedEx us the money."

The answer she has to give them, she said, is: "Sorry, no. You have to buy a ticket in a member state from a licensed retail location."

About 80 percent of players don't choose their own Powerball number, opting instead for a computer-generated one. Asked if there's anything a player can do to improve his or her odds of winning, Neubauer said there isn't -- apart from buying a ticket, of course.

Lottery officials put the odds of winning this Powerball pot at one in 175 million, meaning you'd have been 25 times more likely to win an Academy Award.

Skip Garibaldi, a professor of mathematics at Emory University in Atlanta, provided additional perspective: You are three times more likely to die from a falling coconut, he said; seven times more likely to die from fireworks, "and way more likely to die from flesh-eating bacteria" (115 fatalities a year) than you are to win the Powerball lottery.

Segueing, then, from death to life, Garibaldi noted that even the best physicians, equipped with the most up-to-date equipment, can't predict the timing of a child's birth with much accuracy.

"But let's suppose," he said, "that your doctor managed to predict the day, the hour, the minute and the second your baby would be born."

The doctor's uncanny prediction would be "at least 100 times" more likely than your winning.

Even though he knows the odds all too well, Garibaldi said he usually plays the lottery.

When it gets this big, I'll buy a couple of tickets," he said. "It's kind of exciting. You get this feeling of anticipation. You get to think about the fantasy."

So, did he buy two tickets this time?

"I couldn't," he told ABC News. "I'm in California" -- one of eight states that doesn't offer Powerball.

In case you were wondering, this Saturday's Powerball jackpot is starting at $40 million.

ABC News Radio contributed to this report.

Also Read

Source: http://gma.yahoo.com/winning-powerball-tickets-jackpot-sold-ariz-mo-065718021--abc-news-topstories.html

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Scientists identify depression and anxiety biomarker in youths

ScienceDaily (Nov. 28, 2012) ? Scientists have discovered a cognitive biomarker -- a biological indicator of a disease -- for young adolescents who are at high risk of developing depression and anxiety. Their findings were published today, 28 November, in the journal PLOS ONE.

The test for the unique cognitive biomarker, which can be done on a computer, could be used as an inexpensive tool to screen adolescents for common emotional mental illnesses. As the cognitive biomarker may appear prior to the symptoms of depression and anxiety, early intervention (which has proven to be one of the most effective ways of combatting mental illness) could then be initiated.

For the study, 15-18 year old participants underwent genetic testing and environmental assessment, an exercise which would currently be too expensive and take too long to use as a widespread method of screening. The adolescents were then given a computer test to gauge how they process emotional information. The test had the participants evaluate whether words were positive, negative or neutral (examples included 'joyful' for positive, 'failure' for negative, and 'range' for neutral).

Those adolescents with a variation of one gene (the short form of the serotonin transporter) as well as exposure to intermittent family arguments for longer than six months and violence between parents before the age of six were shown to have marked difficulty in evaluating the emotion within the words, indicating an inability to process emotional information. Previous research associated a maladjusted perception and response to emotions, as seen here, with a significantly increased risk of depression and anxiety.

Professor Ian Goodyer, Principal Investigator on the study from the University of Cambridge, said: "Whether we succumb to anxiety and depression depends in part on our tendencies to think well or poorly of ourselves at troubled times. How it comes about that some people see the 'glass half full' and think positively whereas other see the 'glass half empty' and think negatively about themselves at times of stress is not known.

"The evidence is that both our genes and our early childhood experiences contribute to such personal thinking styles. Before there are any clinical symptoms of depression or anxiety, this test reveals a deficient ability to efficiently and effectively perceive emotion processes in some teenagers -- a biomarker for low resilience which may lead to mental illnesses."

The scientists hope that their research could lead to developing inexpensive cognitive tests to screen for these illnesses, particularly in people identified as being at high social and genetic risk.

Dr Matthew Owens from the University of Cambridge added: "Having difficulty in processing emotions is likely to contribute to misunderstanding other people's intentions and can make individuals emotionally vulnerable. This research opens up the possibility of identifying individuals at greatest risk and helping them with techniques to process emotions more easily or training them to respond more adaptively to negative feedback."

Professor Goodyer further stated: "These types of cognitive biomarker can also be used to aid therapeutics by helping to determine which treatments are likely to work best for types of depressions and anxiety disorders. This is important, as although we have good treatments we do not yet know what works best for whom."

Professor Barbara Sahakian, a co-author on the paper from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge said: "The way we perceive and respond to emotions affects our resilience and whether we succumb to depression and other maladaptive ways of thinking. Using the biomarker identified in this study, it is possible to develop a screening programme to identify those at greatest risk."

Mental health problems are common in young people with approximately 10% of children (aged 5-16 years old) in Great Britain being assessed as having a mental disorder of some kind including conduct disorder, emotional disorder or hyperactivity. In addition, adolescence is a critical period for the development of depressions.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Cambridge. The original article is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Matthew Owens, Ian M. Goodyer, Paul Wilkinson, Anupam Bhardwaj, Rosemary Abbott, Tim Croudace, Valerie Dunn, Peter B. Jones, Nicholas D. Walsh, Maria Ban, Barbara J. Sahakian. 5-HTTLPR and Early Childhood Adversities Moderate Cognitive and Emotional Processing in Adolescence. PLoS ONE, 2012; 7 (11): e48482 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0048482

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/XxfsDCw3PXM/121128182949.htm

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Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos Talks AWS, Innovation, Customer Service & Space Travel At Re: Invent

Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder and CEO, took the stage at the company's re: Invent developer conference for a wide-ranging discussion with the company's CTO Werner Vogels about?Amazon's web service and retail business, as well as his view about entrepreneurship and his personal projects, such as the 10,000 year clock and the Blue Origin space program.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/TkY81eEzQew/

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Court postpones ruling on Strauss-Kahn sex inquiry

DOUAI, France (Reuters) - A French court postponed a decision on Wednesday on requests that it call off a sex offence inquiry where former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn risks trial on a charge of "aggravated pimping".

The court in Douai, a town north of Paris, had been scheduled to rule on Wednesday on the last major inquiry the 63-year-old is fighting in France but announced instead that it would deliver a verdict on December 19.

"All we can do is wait patiently," Richard Malka, a defense lawyer for Strauss-Kahn, told Reuters. "All we can say is this shows that the arguments are sufficiently serious to justify taking time to examine them."

Strauss-Kahn was on the brink of entering the race for the 2012 French presidency when police in New York boarded his plane minutes before take-off in May last year and took him off to face allegations that he sexually assaulted hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo.

U.S. prosecutors dropped criminal charges weeks later, prompting Diallo to start civil proceedings, but his judicial woes multiplied on his return to his native France.

His name cropped up in relation to the so-called Carlton Affair, named after a Lille hotel at the center of police inquiries into sex parties attended by prostitutes and the then International Monetary Fund chief, on occasion in Washington.

A group rape charge was dropped in the Carlton inquiry after a prostitute withdrew her allegation but investigators are still pursuing Strauss-Kahn on the grounds that his involvement in sex parties attended by prostitutes may be construed as pimping - a point his legal defense team says does not stand up.

Strauss-Kahn's lawyers have repeatedly argued that he did not know that women present at sex parties he attended were paid prostitutes.

Public prosecutor Guillaume Maigret said nothing could be inferred from the court postponement, but it drew criticism from the lawyer of another man being investigated on the same count as Strauss-Kahn -- police commissioner Jean-Christophe Lagarde.

Lagarde's lawyer Olivier Bluche said the request to halt the inquiry had been lodged on April 19, meaning that by the new court date the affair will have been weighing over his client for eight months.

"That's an extraordinarily long time for someone unjustifiably branded a suspect," he said.

(Reporting by Pierre Savary in Douai and Brian Love in Paris; Editing by Greg Mahlich)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/court-postpones-ruling-strauss-kahn-sex-inquiry-122846592.html

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Mediation combined with art therapy can change your brain and lower anxiety

ScienceDaily (Nov. 28, 2012) ? Cancer and stress go hand-in-hand, and high stress levels can lead to poorer health outcomes in cancer patients. The Jefferson-Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine combined creative art therapy with a Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program for women with breast cancer and showed changes in brain activity associated with lower stress and anxiety after the eight-week program. Their new study appears in the December issue of the journal Stress and Health.

Daniel Monti, MD, director of the Jefferson-Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine and lead author on the study, and colleagues have previously published on the success of Mindfulness-based Art Therapy (MBAT) at helping cancer patients lower stress levels and improve quality of life.

"Our goal was to observe possible mechanisms for the observed psychosocial effects of MBAT by evaluating the cerebral blood flow (CBF) changes associated with an MBAT intervention in comparison with a control of equal time and attention," says Monti. "This type of expressive art and meditation program has never before been studied for physiological impact and the correlation of that impact to improvements in stress and anxiety."

Eighteen patients were randomly assigned to the MBAT program or an education program control group. All had received the diagnosis of breast cancer between six months and three years prior to enrollment and were not in active treatment. The MBAT group consisted of the MBSR curriculum (awareness of breathing, awareness of emotion, mindful yoga, walking, eating and listening), paired with expressive art tasks to provide opportunities for self-expression, facilitate coping strategies, improve self-regulation, and provide a way for participants to express emotional information in a personally meaningful manner.

Patient response to the MBAT program was measured using a 90-item symptom checklist, completed by each patient before and after the eight-week program. In addition, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used pre and post-program to evaluate cerebral blood flow, corresponding to changes in the brain's activity. Scans were performed at rest, during a "neutral task" (control), meditation task, stressor task and at rest again -- designed to evaluate the general as well as specific effects and provide a thorough analysis of the CBF changes between the pre and post-program scans.

Participants in the MBAT group demonstrated significant effects on cerebral blood flow compared with the control group. The MBAT group showed increases in the emotional centers of the brain including the left insula which helps us to perceive our emotions, the amygdala which helps us experience stress, the hippocampus that regulates stress responses, and the caudate nucleus that is part of our brain's reward system. These increases correlated significantly with a lowering of stress and anxiety, as also reflected in the results of the pre and post-program anxiety scores among the MBAT intervention group.

The observed psychological and neuropsychological changes are consistent with current literature that states that MBSR interventions have shown to reduce anxiety, depression and psychological distress in a variety of populations. These have been associated with improved immune function, quality of life and coping effectiveness in women with breast cancer.

Given the improvements in anxiety levels and observed changes in CBF in the MBAT participants, these findings suggest that the MBAT program helps mediate emotional responses in women with breast cancer. "With the sample size enlarged, perhaps we can extrapolate these results to other disease populations and gain a fuller understanding of the physiological mechanisms by which mindfulness practices confer psychological benefits," says Monti.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Thomas Jefferson University, via Newswise.

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Journal Reference:

1. Daniel A. Monti, Kathryn M. Kash, Elisabeth J. S. Kunkel, George Brainard, Nancy Wintering, Aleez? S. Moss, Hengyi Rao, Senhua Zhu, Andrew B. Newberg. Changes in Cerebral Blood Flow and Anxiety Associated with an 8-week Mindfulness Programme in Women with Breast Cancer. Stress and Health, 2012; 28 (5): 397 DOI: 10.1002/smi.2470

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/za0u9SshEYI/121128182721.htm

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Clashes resume in Cairo ahead of opposition rally

CAIRO (AP) ? Egyptian protesters and police clashed in Cairo on Tuesday just hours ahead of a planned massive rally by opponents of the country's Islamist president demanding he rescind decrees that granted him near-absolute powers.

Police fired tear gas and hundreds of protesters pelted them with rocks at a street between the U.S. Embassy and Tahrir Square, birthplace of the uprising that toppled president Hosni Mubarak's authoritarian regime nearly two years ago.

The protesters have been staging a sit-in at the square since Friday night to demand President Mohammed Morsi revoke his decrees.

By mid-day, hundreds were starting to gather in Tahrir, chanting against Morsi's decrees and the Brotherhood. A new banner in the square proclaimed, "The Brotherhood stole the country."

"We are here to bring down the constitutional declaration issued by Morsi," said one protester at Tahrir, Mahmoud Youssef.

Hundreds of lawyers meanwhile gathered outside their union building in downtown Cairo ahead of their march to Tahrir. "Leave, leave," they chanted, addressing Morsi.

The rally planned for later Tuesday, with marches from various parts of Cairo to converge on Tahrir, is to be a significant test of the opposition's ability to bring out supporters and the public against Morsi's edicts issued last week.

The opposition says the decrees give Morsi near dictatorial powers by neutralizing the judiciary at a time when he already holds executive and legislative powers. Key parts of the judicial system have denounced the measures.

Morsi, in office since June, says the decrees are necessary to protect the "revolution" and the nation's transition to democratic rule. His declaration made all his decisions immune to judicial review and banned the courts from dissolving the upper house of parliament and an assembly writing the new constitution, both of which are dominated by Islamists. The decree also gave Morsi sweeping authority to stop any "threats" to the revolution.

Morsi's supporters canceled a massive rally they had planned for Tuesday, citing the need to "defuse tension" after a series of clashes between the two camps since the decrees were issued Thursday.

But a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, the fundamentalist group from which Morsi hails, said demonstrations supporting the president could go ahead outside the capital and that supporters would form human chains in some provinces to protect Brotherhood offices. Morsi's supporters say more than a dozen of their offices have been ransacked or set ablaze since Friday.

On Monday, Morsi met with the nation's top judges and tried to win their acceptance of his decrees. But the move was dismissed by many in the opposition and the judiciary as providing no real concessions.

Presidential spokeman Yasser Ali, said Morsi told the judges that he acted within his rights as the nation's sole source of legislation, assuring them that the decrees were temporary and did not in any way infringe on the judiciary. He underlined repeatedly that the president had no plans to change or amend his decrees.

According to a presidential statement late Monday, Morsi told the judges that his decree meant that any decisions he makes on "issues of sovereignty" are immune from judicial review.

The vaguely worded statement did not define those issues, but they were widely interpreted to cover declaration of war, imposition of martial law, breaking diplomatic relations with a foreign nation or dismissing a Cabinet. Morsi's original edict, however, explicitly gives immunity to all his decisions and there was no sign it had been changed.

The statement Monday did not touch the immunity that Morsi gave the constitutional assembly or the upper chamber of parliament, known as the Shura Council. It also did not affect the edict that the president can take any measures he sees as necessary to stop threats to the revolution, stability or public institutions. Many see that edict as granting Morsi unlimited emergency powers.

The Shura Council does not have lawmaking authorities but, in the absence of the more powerful lower chamber, the People's Assembly, it is the only popularly elected, national body where the Brotherhood and other Islamists have a majority. The People's Assembly was dissolved by a court ruling in June.

Rights lawyers and activists, however, dismissed Morsi's assurances as an attempt to defuse the crisis without offering concrete concessions.

One of the lawyers, Ahmed Ragheb, described the presidential statement and Ali's comments as "playing with words."

"This is not what Egyptians are objecting to and protesting about," he said. "If the president wanted to resolve the crisis, there should be an amendment to his constitutional declaration."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/clashes-resume-cairo-ahead-opposition-rally-105449431.html

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Fed's Fisher says unemployment in U.S. is main worry, not inflation

With a $425 million Powerball jackpot now up for grabs, people are lining up across the country with dreams of money, money, money. ?[I] really want that Powerball,? Tony Hanson of Georgia said. In 2006, eight meatpacking workers ? called the ?Nebraska 8? ? struck...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/feds-fisher-says-unemployment-u-main-worry-not-091445529--business.html

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Scientists make wheat genetic code breakthrough

LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists from Britain, Germany and the United States have unlocked key components of the genetic code for wheat, helping to create varieties that are more productive and better able to cope with disease, drought and other crop stresses.

The identification of around 96,000 wheat genes, and insights into the links between them, comes just two years after UK researchers published the raw data of the wheat genome.

"Since 1980, the rate of increase in wheat yields has declined," said one of the project leaders, Keith Edwards of the University of Bristol.

"Analysis of the wheat genome sequence data provides a new and very powerful foundation for breeding future generations of wheat more quickly and more precisely, to help address this problem," he added.

The research was published in the journal Nature on Wednesday.

"Bread wheat is a complex hybrid, composed of the complete genomes of three closely related grasses. This makes it very complex and large; in total it is almost five times bigger than the human genome," said another of the project's leaders, Klaus Mayer of Helmholtz-Zentrum Munchen.

"Because of this, we took a novel approach to analyzing the data and we have been successful in turning it into an accessible and useful resource that will accelerate breeding and the discovery of varieties with improved performance - for example better disease resistance and stress tolerance."

Jan Dvorak of the University of California, Davis led the U.S. contribution to the project.

The study was welcomed by other scientists.

"As we struggle to confront the increasing challenges of population increase, land degradation and climate change that are contributing to food insecurity, it will be vital to understand the underlying genetics of staple crops like wheat," said Denis Murphy of the University of Glamorgan.

"The newly published wheat genome will be a vital resource for researchers and crop breeders across the world in their efforts to maintain global food supplies."

(Reporting by Nigel Hunt; Editing by Alison Birrane)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/scientists-wheat-genetic-code-breakthrough-180127840.html

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STEM Ed: CodeHS Wants To Teach Every American High Schooler How To Code

In the Silicon Valley Distortion Field, it can seem like everyone is learning to code -- that coding has become cool. Either way you slice it, talented programmers are in demand, and, as a result, there is now a litany of platforms and tutorials?that propose to help anyone and everyone become a code-slinger, often from the comfort of their favorite sofa (and browser).

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/uXY2-tAzAyo/

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Republicans oppose Senate vote on UN disability treaty during lame-duck session (Star Tribune)

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Israel's Defense Minister Barak quits politics

Nir Elias / Reuters

Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak announced his resignation from politics at a news conference in Tel Aviv on Monday. A former prime minister, he has served as defense minister since 2007.

By NBC News staff and wire reports

JERUSALEM - Defense Minister Ehud Barak, a main architect of Israel's policy toward Iran's nuclear program, said in a surprise announcement on Monday that he was quitting politics and would not run in the Jan. 22 national election.

"I have decided to retire from political life and not to run for the next Knesset ... I will end my term as defense minister once the next government is established, in about three months," he told a news conference.

"I want to dedicate more time to my family. I feel I have exhausted dealing with political life, which has never been a passion of mine, and I feel there is room to allow other people to serve in senior roles in Israel," he said.

What Gaza fighting taught Israel about possible war with Iran

Opinion polls had predicted a poor showing for the small centrist Independence party that Barak currently leads, but recently indicated that voter support had strengthened as a result of Israel's eight-day offensive in the Gaza Strip that ended in a cease-fire on Wednesday.

Barak, 70, has been a key player in Israel's tough policy toward curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions and has been Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's unofficial envoy to Washington in order to smooth over differences with the Obama White House. However, the two, who enjoyed a close working relationship for most of the past four years, have reportedly?fallen out over whether to defer to the U.S. on any attack against Iranian nuclear facilities.

Americans tied to Israel caught in the chaos of Gaza conflict

He has been defense minister since 2007 and served as prime minister from the Labor party from 1999 to 2001.

Before getting involved in politics, Barak was an army commando who rose to the highest ranks of the military, becoming Israel's most decorated soldier. As prime minister, he initiated Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000. Then, two years after becoming prime minister, he lost an election to Ariel Sharon.

After his resignation, Barak says he plans to "study, to write, to live and have a good time."

Bernat Armangue / AP

Israel's military said it had accomplished its objectives while Hamas claimed victory after the two sides exchanged deadly airstrikes and rocket attacks for over a week.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/26/15448513-israels-defense-minister-barak-resigns-from-politics?lite

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In Praise of Thailand's Insane Motorcycle Taxis

In the ongoing tug-of-war between motorcycle safety and the wind in your hair, Michigan repealed its helmet law in April. I'm not taking sides there, but this kind of battle has always led me to wonder how people would ride if there were no rules. As it turns out, the answer can be found on the streets of Bangkok.

In the Thai capital, as little as 10 baht ($0.32) will allow you to experience one of the great sensations in motorcycling: being whisked through car gridlock by a rule-flouting madman astride a 125, in the middle of a sea of other madmen taking slightly different routes through the sea of cars. I visited Thailand recently, and my best experience on a motorcycle taxi was a ride from downtown Bangkok to the station to catch a train to the airport. It feels for all the world like an underground urban hare scramble, though it happens 24 hours a day and has been going on for decades, since people needed a cheap way to get from their houses to the main street.

My hosts gave instructions to the taxi rider. Stepping off the sidewalk and onto that taxi was a seismic shift in reality. Helmetless (riders are supposed to be offered a helmet, but I wasn't), you feel the hot, humid air in your eyes as you take in the sights and smells of Bangkok, perhaps sipping a lemonade as you look over your shoulder to see a movie-quality angle of a Thai woman sitting sidesaddle, blazing the wrong way down a one-way street behind another mental taxi driver. Forget superbike school or enduro racing?this might be the best sensation to be had on a motorcycle.

It got hectic at the very first intersection. Rather than follow signs to get to the other side of the divided, six-lane artery, my driver went against traffic while five or six other motorcycle taxis followed suit. We hugged the curb, whizzed past a dozen carts selling curry, and cut in front of a colossal truck. Then we hopped up on the sidewalk and headed across a crosswalk at a red light.

Thick traffic clogged our side of the road, so we crossed the painted centerline and headed against the oncoming traffic, where cars dutifully made way for us and about a dozen other motorcycles. It should have felt like a police chase, except everyone was so calm. Other passengers were texting on their phones or were sitting three-high on the back of the Yamahas.

It was a heroic effort to get me to the train station. After all, time was of the essence?my Thai hosts had told him I was taking the express train. The ride took a quarter of an hour and was more thrilling than any street ride I'd ever been on. I gave the taxi rider 100 baht and strolled into the air-conditioned calm of the station.

In the U.S., the thought, effort, and planning it takes to organize a proper motorcycle adventure can sap some of the joy out of riding. Grinding your way out of New York to find some truly great roads has a tendency to diminish that freedom-of-the-road feeling, while loading up dirt bikes in a van to drive someplace to go riding can make you feel almost uncomfortably bike crazy. Every bike fanatic needs a little Bangkok-style insanity in their lives once in a while.

A Thai motorcycle taxi ride is export-strength lunacy packaged into cheap, time-saving chunks that any visitor would be crazy not to try. Each ride is a shot of adrenaline during an otherwise pedestrian day. Some normal cops?very rarely?set up checkpoints to check for registration documents. But traffic cops don't really exist.

It's thrilling, and a jaunt on the back of a motorcycle taxi is much easier than scheduling time with friends for a weekend ride. Just make sure to grab coconut water before you go so you can cool your nerves while drinking in the cityscape from the best seat in the house.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/motorcycles/news/in-praise-of-thailands-insane-motorcycle-taxis-14784902?src=rss

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Video: Community rallies around teacher devastated by Sandy

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doglegged gathering: Jason Fladlien - Product Creation Eclass 2.0 ...

Jason Fladlien ? Product Creation Eclass 2.0
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This is a 6-week live interactive group training that has produced more 6 figure earners than any other training Jason Fladlien has done. That doesn?t guarantee you?ll make 6 figures, of course, but I promise you will learn a lot?and if you follow what you learn, you will be well on your way!

What Will I Learn In Product eClass 2.0?

For an internet marketer, six weeks can be a long time- especially if you have tons of websites to handle of lots of campaigns to monitor. So will Product eClass 2.0 be well worth your time? Well, here?s a preview of what you will do for six weeks with Jason Fladlien:

Week 1: 2 Hour Product Creation
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Discover what ?Made In China? means for Jason Fladlien
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Learn how to make more passive income from your online products
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Learn the different ways to get more money from your products (or somebody else?s products)
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Learn how to make money as an affiliate
Discover the best type of information product that will generate thousands of dollars

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Source: http://www.joinebook.com/2012/11/download-jason-fladlien-product-creation-eclass-2-0/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=jason-fladlien-product-creation-eclass-2-0

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Source: http://doglegged-gathering.blogspot.com/2012/11/jason-fladlien-product-creation-eclass.html

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Reserving

Yep, what (Han) Solo said. It's like reserving a room in a hotel, if you've ever done such a thing. Usually though, the creator of the roleplay gives you a limited amount of time during which you can work on your character to submit. Once that time period passes, the spot that you wanted like the Paladin will be fair game for anyone who claims it and can send in their sheet the fastest, granted that its up to the GM's standards.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/-gdhluiMwkQ/viewtopic.php

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Web Hosting Business for Sale - samuelfolkes.com

Have a purpose, a reason to exist is important and this is something that your customers want to know. I also spoke with the representative of customer service, CCM, to get answers to my questions: "Do I need to register as a business entity to do business online? Affiliate marketing is one such system that rewards businesses for customers to the site through the marketing efforts of one or more subsidiaries. In addition to this, the host must provide a lot of support options such as phone, email, fax, chat forums and clients, even where the reception staff provides valuable advice. Before finalizing a hosting package and provider, it is always advisable that you should compare the actual costs of options available in terms of disk space, reliability, bandwidth, type of customer support, availability useful software and features, and the right help and management. This gate is known as a web hosting company, without which it would be very difficult to make your website accessible to clients.
If you encounter a problem or need professional help, it is best to contact an expert from industry as a successful and reputed website hosting company based in Australia that help you identify your real needs and expectations and to customize products and services to provide the best web hosting package for your specific needs. This has made web hosting market is very competitive with lower margins year after year. In the future, she would like to sell online art but it is not sure if she wants to maintain such a presence on the web developed. Experienced web hosting companies also give you the ability to customize your site and choose a better design and layout. It is always better for every buyer web hosting to focus on the reliability of hosting solutions available. A web hosting provider also gives you a domain address through which users can visit your website.
In addition, the company must have a long list of happy and satisfied customers who received timely pre sales and after-sales services and you can find about it from stories, commentaries, reviews and online forums. You can also promote your online business on social media platforms. Internet and Businesses Online: Web-Hosting Internet and Businesses Online: Web-Hosting Some prominent vendors offer as much as 99.9 percent (excluding scheduled maintenance) guarantee availability and even their claims and products with money back guarantee of 30 days and 24/7/365 technical support line. As a reminder, to start an online business in Malaysia, you must: The following are detailed steps for each write above: Simply register with MMC, if your business is related to the industry telecommunications.
Are they likely to have people who will do research on your industry at a high level, or looking specifically for the products and services you have to offer? This is not the problem and if managed correctly these hosts generally offer quite acceptable. Example of a company that is related to the industry, selling SMS services or networking services. It is also suggested that you compare different packages offered by different companies so that the best choice is an easy thing for you and you can get the right products and services to the specific needs of your business. Other websites that offer similar services are available on Internet and can be used to engage in the sale of energy. All companies differ in the services and fees.
It is always recommended that you should choose a hosting package that offers a space of at least 20 percent more than what you intend to use or currently using as it gives some room for growth plans and expansion. This list in no way endorses cases a creation tool or web hosting service. This has made web hosting market is very competitive with lower margins year after year. Same point electronic funds transfer point of sale services are provided by companies hosting websites through which customers can place orders instantly from your websites. So it is always better to go with a web service provider paid hosting. This is because these centers play an important role in the continued performance of site plans and accommodation are characterized by high safety standards.
Once the shop has been chosen, you have to sign a agreement taking into account the terms and conditions of the lease and the store will be given to you so that you can start your business. Read on to learn more about how you can learn more about the effective promotion of your online business and generate more sales and leads. It has space for displaying a distinctive building which houses his company, an image of itself as a business owner, or an image or a description of the current exhibition gallery. It is strongly recommended that you should be realistic about the requirements and the scale of your business and what are your predictions for growth and expansion in the short and the long term. Although the price is indeed an important factor in deciding a hosting package, too much emphasis on it can hurt your business needs and reputation more than just a way. So if you do these types of businesses, then you need to register.

Source: http://www.samuelfolkes.com/web-hosting-business-for-sale/

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Preparation for the Great Critical Incident: First Aid Emergency ...

By J.W. Caesar

Hosea 4: 6 (KJV) My people perish from a lack of knowledge.

Knowledge is power for survival when it comes to overcoming disasters. It is vital to get educated on how to survive in the event of a myriad disaster scenerios. Many people die or get injured because they did not adequately plan, prepare or mitigate for unseen emergencies. In order to win the war on disasters; American citizens must take disaster preparation seriously and strengthen themselves mentally, spiritually, and physically to overcome the challenges in the future.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency states on their website that there are actions that should be taken before, during, and after an event that are unique to each hazard. Each person or group should identify the hazards that have happened or could happen in their area and plan for the unique actions for each hazard. They further note that mitigation can be defined as actions to reduce loss of life and property by decreasing the impact of disasters.? What this means is??taking action now??before the next disaster?to reduce human and financial consequences later (analyzing risk, reducing risk, insuring against risk).? Effective mitigation requires that we all understand local risks, address the hard choices, and invest in long-term community well-being. Without these actions, people jeopardize their safety, financial security, and self-reliance and quality of life.

Building an emergency kit with first aid equipment and taking medical classes are best practices in mitigation that can assist in reducing risk and loss to families and the community.? It is important to analyze what type of hazards would affect the community during a disaster, as well the decision to shelter in place or evacuate to a safe location.? By following this risk analysis process, it would help clarify what type and size of container or bag to place first aid items inside, the quantity, what too and what not to pack, where to pack it, the environment, hazard scenario and number of people it can provide care too. Your first aid kit or emergency supplies should be designed around an all hazards approach that insures against the risk of not being able to treat or prevent hazards from overtaking you and your group. These hazards can cause temporary or permanent damage to the critical infrastructure of this nation. Therefore everyone should be a stakeholder in public safety and security of this nation. As a result, many are designing their first aid kits around temporary disaster events where there is a short recovery period, while others are preparing their kits for a total collapse of the system where medical resources will be hard to find.

Caution: for medical legal and health safety reasons-Disaster Preparers should think about:

1. Preparing physically, mentally, and spiritually now to adapt to changes caused by impact of disasters and?continuity of civil and infastructure recovery.
2. Familiarizing with their local, state and federal laws on the boundaries of giving care to humans, pets and livestock.
3. Getting prior training on how to use the items in the first aid kit.
4. Working as a trained and covenant group, not loner.
5. Trying to get written certification or medical authority to perform certain procedures.
6. Not going beyond their scope of practice or their medical certifications.
7. Abiding by the local laws of what is allowed in your first aid or medical kit.
8. (Personal, Force, Asset?Protection)Avoiding making themselves a target for thieves, murderers, drug addicts that use false emergency scenes or requests for help.

A first aid kit can be purchased at many stores, disaster preparedness organizations and online merchants. Medical supplies can also be purchased individually to build your own kit.? Some have also combined the two as one mitigation measure. Others have crafted their own replacement first aid products by improvising. They use tampons for bleeding, card board for splints, and other homemade items, or pet supplies for their kit?s inventory. The real issue is finding the right items and kit skin for your needs. There are many questionable claims to first kits such as the number of people that it can actually treat in an emergency, the quality, sterility and durability of items, the protective covering of the container or bag and excessive prices for minimal supplies. This is why it is vital to do a risk analysis and make appropriate mitigation decisions for your own needs from an all hazards approach.

?Non exhaustive Example of items for Emergency First aid Survival Kit:

Airway Control Kit

_____ Pocket Mask kit

_____ Breathing Barrier with gloves kit

Diagnostic Instruments/Tools

_____ First aid booklet _____Trauma/Bandage scissors _____Protective Face masks

_____12 hour Cyalume Lightsticks _____Candles_____Straws

_____ Scissors, fine point_____ Splinter Forceps _____Nail clippers ____Tweezers

_____ Disposable Penlight or flashlight _____Head Lamp _____ Flashlight

_____Permanent Markers_____Pen _____Pencil_____Writing Paper Tablet _____

_____ Disposable Gloves_____ Splints_____Trash bags ______Ziploc bags

_____Duct Tape_____Clear tape____Painter?s tape____Scotch tape

_____Lockman tool_____Knife_____Razor_____ Box Cutter

_____Cable ties______Rope______String_____Plastic Wrap______Foil

______Belts______Straps____Batteries____Heavy protective gloves

Circulation/Bleeding Control Shock Kit

_____ Triangular Bandages(Cravats)______Rubber Latex gloves_______ Eye protection

______Military Field Dressing bandages______Abdominal bandages___Burn Kit

______ Large Absorbent pad dressings _____ Elastic Bandages

______Gauze Roll Bandages______ Adhesive Bandages

______ Tourniquets______ Gauze Pads, 4?x4?______ Gauze Pads, 2?x2?

______ Bandage tape_____ Disposable Rescue Blanket for shock

Sickcall /First Aid items

____Band Aids____Salt____Pepper____Sugar____Ammonia Inhalents

____Tongue depressors____Tempa-dots Thermometers____Eyewash kit____Eye drops

_____Eye pads_____KY-Jelly ____ Aspirin____Tylenol____Cough drops

_____Cold Med.Tablets_____Nasal spray_____Immodium Tablets ____Anaphalaxis kit

____Anti-biotic Ointment______Antifungal cream______Iodine wipes._____Betadine wipes.

_____Alcohol wipes._____Cleaning wipes. ______Anti-bacterial Soap solution

Alcohol Bottle. ____Hydrogen Peroxide Bottle. _____Hand cleaning solution Bottle.

_____Ice Pack______Heat Packs____Moleskin cover bandage

Medical Supplies and their Skins

Medical supplies for a first aid kit can be put inside of a various items that are all weather resistant, waterproof, durable, floatable, not previously had any toxic or corrosive materials stored inside of it, and clearly marked as a first aid or medical kit. Ziploc bags and plastic trash bags can give extra all weather protection and longetivity of items. The kit should also be easy to carry with straps or handles, have reasonable space or compartments for medical items, and easy to open or secure during an emergency. The size and type of first aid emergency kit may be based on varied factors such as the personal needs of the individual, group, or community, different hazards, ?medical training, number of sick and injured, terrain, response time, life cycle of disaster, use with vehicles, walking distance, evacuation, and weather.

Examples:

• Military Unfolding zippered Aid Bag M-3 & M-17
• Military Chest with handles
• Military Aid Station chest containers
• Military hard plastic or metal containers
• Nylon, Leather or Canvas Back Packs
• Luggage with wheels and handle
• Purse or designer bag
• Lunch box
• Square or rectangle storage containers
• Tupperware containers
• Plastic Ice Cream or used Food Containers
• Hunting vests
• Belt Pouches

A well-stocked and well maintained list of items in the first aid kit should be kept up to date at all times by rotating and replacing items.? A best practice for maintaining the mitigation investment of life saving equipment is doing inventory and preventative maintenance checks before and after using the kit. It can take place on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly cycle. ?The outside and inside of the emergency kit should be inspected for damage such as cracks, tears or holes. Mitigations measures such as health safety inspections for spoilage and expiration dates of items are important also.? However, some questions have been raised about keeping items regardless of expiration dates because of future scarcity of items during extreme disaster periods. These questions should be addressed by medical authorities who are expert in disasters and laws of the land. ?In any case, some items can lose their shelf life, sterility, durability, and may become toxic because of the hot storage temperatures. Another temperature issue is freezing. ?Solutions can freeze causing the containers to crack and break causing contamination of other items or damaging the first aid container.

The kit should work as expected: treat injuries and save life when you need it and cause no harm when it is not needed. It is vital to verify that the items consisting within the kit still function as expected, including the batteries in the medical equipment. The first aid kit should be stored in a place that is of the right temperature for medical supplies, in a safe location, away from pests, where no damage can occur, can be accessible to adults, but not to children or pets that can be poisoned and injured.

In summary, disasters can happen at anytime and anyplace. The consequences of not preparing for them may be immeasurable. To minimize this risk, it is vital to mitigate these impacts by building an emergency first aid kit based on analyzing, reducing, and insuring against future risks. It would be wise to assemble an emergency first aid kit that is adaptable and maintainable for your needs, take first aid classes, get familiarized with medical ? legal laws, learn how to take protective measures in emergency situations, and establish mutual-aid and covenant partnerships well in advance of an emergency situation. All of these steps help reduce the impact of hazards associated with future events and improve the chances of winning the war over disasters.? Americans, must remember that everyone is a stakeholder in public safety, God given freedoms, continuity of civil government,?and protecting the critical infastructure and key resources of this nation.

References:

1. KJV
2. ?http://www.fema.gov/what-mitigation

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Will US role at climate talks change after storm?

DOHA, Qatar (AP) ? During a year with a monster storm and scorching heat waves, Americans have experienced the kind of freakish weather that many scientists say will occur more often on a warming planet.

And as a re-elected president talks about global warming again, climate activists are cautiously optimistic that the U.S. will be more than a disinterested bystander when the U.N. climate talks resume Monday with a two-week conference in Qatar.

"I think there will be expectations from countries to hear a new voice from the United States," said Jennifer Morgan, director of the climate and energy program at the World Resources Institute in Washington.

The climate officials and environment ministers meeting in the Qatari capital of Doha will not come up with an answer to the global temperature rise that is already melting Arctic sea ice and permafrost, raising and acidifying the seas, and shifting rainfall patterns, which has an impact on floods and droughts.

They will focus on side issues, like extending the Kyoto protocol ? an expiring emissions pact with a dwindling number of members ? and ramping up climate financing for poor nations.

They will also try to structure the talks for a new global climate deal that is supposed to be adopted in 2015, a process in which American leadership is considered crucial.

Many were disappointed that Obama didn't put more emphasis on climate change during his first term. He took some steps to rein in emissions of heat-trapping gases, such as sharply increasing fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks. But a climate bill that would have capped U.S. emissions stalled in the Senate.

"We need the U.S. to engage even more," European Union Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard told The Associated Press. "Because that can change the dynamic of the talks."

The world tried to move forward without the U.S. after the Bush Administration abandoned the Kyoto Protocol, a 1997 pact limiting greenhouse emissions from industrialized nations. As that agreement expires this year, the climate curves are still pointing in the wrong direction.

The concentration of heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide has jumped 20 percent since 2000, primarily from the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil, according to a U.N. report released this week. And each year, the gap between what researchers say must be done to reverse this trend, and what's actually being done, gets wider.

Bridging that gap, through clean technology and renewable energy, is not just up to the U.S., but to countries like India and China, whose carbon emissions are growing the fastest as their economies expand.

But Obama raised hopes of a more robust U.S. role in the talks when he called for a national "conversation" on climate change after winning re-election. The issue had been virtually absent in the presidential campaigning until Hurricane Sandy slammed into the East Coast.

The president still faces domestic political constraints, and there's little hope of the U.S. increasing its voluntary pledge in the U.N. talks of cutting emissions by 17 percent by 2020, compared to 2005 levels.

Still, just a signal that Washington has faith in the international process would go a long way, analysts said.

"The perception of many negotiators and countries is that the U.S. is not really interested in increasing action on climate change in general," said Bill Hare, senior scientist at Climate Analytics, a non-profit organization based in Berlin.

For example, Hare said, the U.S. could stop "talking down" the stated goal of the U.N. talks to keep the temperature rise below 2 degrees C (3.6 F) compared to pre-industrial levels.

Todd Stern, the U.S. special envoy on climate change, caused alarm among climate activists in August when he said that "insisting on a structure that would guarantee such a goal will only lead to deadlock." He later clarified that the U.S. still supports the 2-degree target, but favors a more flexible way to reach it than dividing up carbon rights to the atmosphere.

Countries adopted the 2-degree target in 2009, reasoning that a warming world is a dangerous world, with flooding of coastal cities and island nations, disruptions to agriculture and drinking water, and the spread of diseases and the extinction of species.

A recent World Bank report found the world is on track toward 4 degrees C (6.2 F) of warming, which would entail "extreme heat-waves, declining global food stocks, loss of ecosystems and biodiversity, and life-threatening sea level rise."

The U.S., alone among industrialized countries, didn't ratify the Kyoto Protocol because it found it unfair that China and other emerging economies, as developing countries, were not covered by any binding emissions targets. The U.S. and other rich countries say that firewall must be removed as the talks enter a new phase aimed at adopting a new climate treaty by 2015 that applies to all countries.

China ? now the world's top carbon emitter ? wants to keep a clear dividing line between developed and developing countries, noting that historically, the former bear the brunt of the responsibility for man-made climate change.

The issue is unlikely to be resolved in Doha, where talks will focus on extending Kyoto as a stopgap measure while negotiators work on the wider deal, which would take effect in 2020.

The 27-nation EU, Switzerland, Norway and Australia are on board but New Zealand, Canada and Japan don't want to be part of a second commitment period of Kyoto. That means the extended treaty would cover only about 15 percent of global emissions.

Delegates in Doha will also try to finalize the rules of the Green Climate Fund, which is supposed to raise $100 billion a year by 2020. Financed by richer nations, the fund would support poorer nations in converting to cleaner energy sources and in adapting to a shifting climate that may damage people's health, agriculture and economies in general.

In addition, countries need to agree on a work plan to guide the negotiations on a new treaty. Without a timeframe with clear mileposts, there's a risk of a repeat in 2015 of the hyped-up but ultimately disappointing climate summit in Copenhagen in 2009.

Judging by previous conferences, the negotiations in Doha will ebb and flow, with progress one day being replaced by bitter discord the next. And in the end, after an all-night session, bleary-eyed delegates will emerge with some kind of face-saving "accord" or "action plan" that keeps the talks alive another year, but does little to address the core problem.

"It shows that leaders and also the public in these countries ? the U.S. certainly is one of them ? don't yet understand the full implications of the costs associated with the path that we're on," said Alden Meyer, of the U.S.-based Union of Concerned Scientists.

___

Follow Karl Ritter at www.twitter.com/karl(underscore)ritter

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-role-climate-talks-change-storm-122913916.html

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Great Seeking Casino Houses - Arts and Entertainment Blog

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Source: http://blog-arts-entertainment.mysurechoice.com/3863/great-seeking-casino-houses/

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Stratosphere-Dwelling Microbes Could Inform Mars Life Hunt

The parachuting thrill-seeker Felix Baumgartner is not the only living thing to plunge through the jet stream.

Recent studies have confirmed that microbes exist in the stratosphere,the atmospheric region between about 11 and 31 miles (18 and 50 kilometers) in altitude. (Baumgartner leaped into history from a balloon about 24 miles, or 39 km, above Earth's surface.)

Biologists had once thought this zone was uninhabitable due to its low pressure, high radiation and absence of water and nutrients.?

"Life surviving at high altitudes challenges our notion of the biosphere boundary," said David Smith of the University of Washington in Seattle. [Extremophiles: World's Weirdest Life]

Smith is trying to take a more complete census of life in the stratosphere using mountaintop observatories and high-altitude balloons (although he admits being jealous of the lift capacity of Baumgartner?s balloon). With funding from the NASA Astrobiology Institute, he and his colleagues hope to say where these high-flyers come from, where they are going and what their evolutionary trajectory has been.

The research should provide insights into a class of hardy microorganisms that can survive at the fringes of what we Earthlings consider habitable, both here and elsewhere.

"The stratosphere is very similar to the surface of Mars," Smith said. "There is no better place on our planet to match Martian conditions, except inside environmental chambers."

The life forms adapted to sailing the high winds of Earth may give scientists clues on what to look for in the soils of Mars.

A hint of life in the air

Reports of life in the upper atmosphere go back as far as the 1930s. Studies conducted on samples collected on high-altitude balloon and rocket flights claimed to find microbes as high as 48 miles (77 km), but it?s uncertain whether the bugs really came from high up, or were the result of surface contamination.

"I am skeptical of the pioneering flights," Smith said. "Almost no controls for sterilization are reported in the papers." [Infographic: Earth's Atmosphere Top to Bottom]

Getting reliable samples from the upper atmosphere is difficult and expensive. Researchers must process huge volumes of air to catch a single microbe, since the estimated concentrations are only a few microbes per cubic meter. Smith believes the first solid evidence of life in the stratosphere was a 2002 balloon study, which collected viable cells at altitudes between 12 and 25 miles (20 and 41 km) above tropical India.

How microbes reach high altitudes is not entirely clear. A small group of researchers contend that the microbes could be coming down from space. But the organisms are more plausibly swept up in dust storms, hurricanes or other weather patterns, Smith said. Some microbes may even make the trip aboard commercial airplanes flying in the lower stratosphere.

Born to spore

The observed microbes do not appear to be actively growing at high altitude.

"Our best picture is that microbes are simply enduring the upper atmosphere," Smith says. "They are hitching a ride on prevailing winds until landing in a distant environment, sometime later."

Many of these globetrotters are spore-forming bacteria. When placed under stress, these bacteria shut down their metabolism and shrink down in size. They form a hard shell-like shield around their exterior, while turning on internal defense mechanisms against UV damage to DNA.

"One could argue that the spore is an adaptation that evolved, in part, because of airborne transport," Smith said.?

If a spore can land in a hospitable environment (and if it hasn?t been damaged during its high-altitude voyage), it can reanimate itself. Researchers have typically relied on this reanimation to identify the organisms that use air travel. They place atmospheric samples in a nutrient-filled petri dish and then see what grows.

Smith thinks these "search and revive" missions have only scratched the surface of what is up there. "Only about 1 percent of microorganisms can actually be cultured in the laboratory," he said.

To see the beyond these one-percenters, Smith and his colleagues have begun using molecular-based techniques to identify biological material (both living and dead). Their atmospheric samples come from a "laboratory in the sky" at Mt. Bachelor Observatory in central Oregon, which rises 1.7 miles (2.7 km) above sea level. Smith says this altitude gives them reliable access to the upper troposphere, which is just below the stratosphere.

Instead of trying to grow organisms in a petri dish, Smith and his colleagues extract DNA that they can match to a genomic library containing 60,000 microbial taxa. Preliminary results have shown microbes from every major domain of life can be found in the upper troposphere.

Jet stream feeds gene pool?

The data from Mt. Bachelor will improve estimates of the concentration of microbes in the upper atmosphere. It should also give the first long-term observations on how microbial counts vary with season and other weather patterns.

In order to sample higher altitudes, Smith is also working with engineers from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on a balloon mission called MIST (Microorganisms in the Stratosphere).

"We still have no idea where to draw the altitude boundary of the biosphere," Smith said. Experiments like MIST will "address how long life can potentially remain in the stratosphere and what sorts of mutations it may inherit while aloft."

Those mutations could potentially act like tiny "seeds" that fall down randomly over the face of Earth and potentially take root in a favorable environment.

"It is conceivable ? though difficult to prove ? that the evolution of complex life on our planet is owed, in part, due to airborne transport," Smith said.?

This story was provided by?Astrobiology Magazine, a web-based publication sponsored by the NASA astrobiology program.

Copyright 2012 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stratosphere-dwelling-microbes-could-inform-mars-life-hunt-152514485.html

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