alvimorkel: June 2013

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Summer Baseball: Ashland Legion rolls past Weston

Evan Park threw a two-hit shutout, retiring 12 straight batters during one stretch, as Ashland blanked visiting Weston 9-0 in a Zone 5A Legion game on Friday night.

Ben Smith and Tim Moberg both went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, Steve Mahoney went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs, and Reed Pike went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI for Ashland (5-4).

Leading 3-0, Post 77 broke it open with four runs in the fifth inning started by Smith?s leadoff homer.

HUDSON 6, WATERTOWN 1: Austin Bruneau pitched a complete game, striking out five and allowing just three hits and two walks and Kyle Sullivan drove in four runs as Hudson (9-0) beat visiting Watertown in a Zone 5 game.

Sullivan had a two-run triple in the first inning and a two-run double in the third inning for Hudson, which led 4-0 after one inning and 6-0 after three. Ryan Wardwell had a two-run single in the first inning, going 2-for-3 with two runs for Post 100.

Senior Babe Ruth

BELLINGHAM 8, MARLBOROUGH 4: Taylor Sutherland allowed just one hit and four walks in six innings for Bellingham (6-1-1) for Central Mass. Senior Babe Ruth non-division win at Marlborough (5-3).

Michael Ryan went 1-for-2 with three runs scored and a home run for Bellingham, Joe Mangine went 1-for-3 with two RBIs and Kevin Valentine went 2-for-3 with a double for Bellingham.

Marlborough was led by Mike Yates, who went 2-for-2.

NATICK 10, MILFORD 4: Tommy Ranucci pitched five strong innings, allowing one earned run on the mound, and also scored two runs as Natick (3-5) rallied to beat visiting Milford (2-6-1) in a CMSBR non-division game.

Milford led 4-0 before Natick pushed across nine runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, led by a David Reynolds two-run single. Kyle Dembrowski added an RBI double in the fifth for the final margin.

Milford got a single and a run scored apiece from Cole McNanna and Alex Croteau, while Mike Branch tripled.

FRANKLIN 5, HOLLISTON 3: Pat O?Reilly scattered eight hits with six strikeouts for the complete-game win as Franklin (1-5) defeated Holliston (3-4) in a CMSBR South matchup.

Kyle Wardrop went 2-for-3 with two doubles and two runs scored, and Cam Bean and Anthony Saster had two hits each for Franklin.

Mike Sancomb and Tyler Perry both had two hits for Holliston (3-4) with Perry collecting an RBI single.

MEDFIELD 12, HOPKINTON 0 (5 INN.): John McMahon tossed a two-hit shutout and catcher Sean Harrington went 3-4 with two doubles, three runs scored and three RBIs as Medfield (7-1) routed host Hopkinton in a CMSBR game mercy ruled after five innings.

Paul Hardiman had two hits, two stolen bases, three runs scored and two RBIs for Medfield, which scored five runs in the second to build a 7-0 lead.
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Source: http://www.wickedlocal.com/framingham/sports/x853679331/Summer-Baseball-Ashland-Legion-rolls-past-Weston?rssfeed=true

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Saturday, June 29, 2013

Justin Bieber in Us Weekly: Shirtless, Striving To Be Better

Source:

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Large-scale quantum chip validated: Prototype quantum optimization chip operates as hoped

June 28, 2013 ? A team of scientists at USC has verified that quantum effects are indeed at play in the first commercial quantum optimization processor.

The team demonstrated that the D-Wave processor housed at the USC-Lockheed Martin Quantum Computing Center behaves in a manner that indicates that quantum mechanics plays a functional role in the way it works. The demonstration involved a small subset of the chip's 128 qubits.

This means that the device appears to be operating as a quantum processor -- something that scientists had hoped for but have needed extensive testing to verify.

The quantum processor was purchased from Canadian manufacturer D-Wave nearly two years ago by Lockheed Martin and housed at the USC Viterbi Information Sciences Institute (ISI). As the first of its kind, the task for scientists putting it through its paces was to determine whether the quantum computer was operating as hoped.

"Using a specific test problem involving eight qubits we have verified that the D-Wave processor performs optimization calculations (that is, finds lowest energy solutions) using a procedure that is consistent with quantum annealing and is inconsistent with the predictions of classical annealing," said Daniel Lidar, scientific director of the Quantum Computing Center and one of the researchers on the team, who holds joint appointments with the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.

Quantum annealing is a method of solving optimization problems using quantum mechanics -- at a large enough scale, potentially much faster than a traditional processor can.

Research institutions throughout the world build and use quantum processors, but most only have a few quantum bits, or "qubits."

Qubits have the capability of encoding the two digits of one and zero at the same time -- as opposed to traditional bits, which can encode distinctly either a one or a zero. This property, called "superposition," along with the ability of quantum states to "tunnel" through energy barriers, are hoped to play a role in helping future generations of the D-Wave processor to ultimately perform optimization calculations much faster than traditional processors.

With 108 functional qubits, the D-Wave processor at USC inspired hopes for a significant advance in the field of quantum computing when it was installed in October 2011 -- provided it worked as a quantum information processor. Quantum processors can fall victim to a phenomenon called "decoherence," which stifles their ability to behave in a quantum fashion.

The USC team's research shows that the chip, in fact, performed largely as hoped, demonstrating the potential for quantum optimization on a larger-than-ever scale.

"Our work seems to show that, from a purely physical point of view, quantum effects play a functional role in information processing in the D-Wave processor," said Sergio Boixo, first author of the research paper, who conducted the research while he was a computer scientist at ISI and research assistant professor at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.

Boixo and Lidar collaborated with Tameem Albash, postdoctoral research associate in physics at USC Dornsife; Federico M. Spedalieri, computer scientist at ISI; and Nicholas Chancellor, a recent physics graduate at USC Dornsife. Their findings will be published in Nature Communications on June 28.

The news comes just two months after the Quantum Computing Center's original D-Wave processor -- known commercially as the "Rainier" chip -- was upgraded to a new 512-qubit "Vesuvius" chip. The Quantum Computing Center, which includes a magnetically shielded box that is kept frigid (near absolute zero) to protect the computer against decoherence, was designed to be upgradable to keep up with the latest developments in the field.

The new Vesuvius chip at USC is currently the only one in operation outside of D-Wave. A second such chip, owned by Google and housed at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, is expected to become operational later this year.

Next, the USC team will take the Vesuvius chip for a test drive, putting it through the same paces as the Rainier chip.

This research was supported by the Lockheed Martin Corporation; U.S. Army Research Office grant number W911NF-12-1-0523; National Science Foundation grant number CHM-1037992, ARO Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative grant W911NF-11-1-026.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/4cI-LVzkB_4/130628131027.htm

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Puma Ends Aaron Hernandez Contract After Murder Charge In Odin Lloyd Shooting

Aaron Hernandez

Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, left, stands with his attorney Michael Fee, right, during arraignment in Attleboro District Court Wednesday, June 26, in Attleboro, Mass. Hernandez was charged with murdering Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old semi-pro football player for the Boston Bandits, whose body was found June 17 in an industrial park in North Attleborough, Mass. (AP Photo/The Sun Chronicle, Mike George, Pool)

Aaron Hernandez

Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, left, is led into Attleboro District Court for arraignment Wednesday, June 26, in Attleboro, Mass. Hernandez was charged with murdering Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old semi-pro football player for the Boston Bandits, whose body was found June 17 in an industrial park in North Attleborough, Mass. (AP Photo/The Sun Chronicle, Keith Nordstrom) MANDATORY CREDIT. MAGS OUT. PROVIDENCE JOURNAL OUT.

Aaron Hernandez

Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, center, is led away, as his attorney Michael Fee speaks to him, right, after arraignment in Attleboro District Court Wednesday, June 26, in Attleboro, Mass. Hernandez was charged with murdering Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old semi-pro football player for the Boston Bandits, whose body was found June 17 in an industrial park in North Attleborough, Mass. (AP Photo/The Sun Chronicle, Mike George, Pool)

Aaron Hernandez

Michael Fee, defense attorney for former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, speaks to the media outside Attleboro District Court after Hernandez was arraigned Wednesday, June 26, 2013, in Attleboro, Mass. Hernandez was charged with murdering Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old semi-pro football player for the Boston Bandits, whose body was found June 17 in an industrial park in North Attleborough, Mass. (AP Photo/The Sun Chronicle, Mark Stockwell) MANDATORY CREDIT MAGS OUT PROVIDENCE JOURNAL OUT

In this image taken from video, police escort Aaron Hernandez from his home in handcuffs in Attleboro, Mass., Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Hernandez was taken from his home more than a week after a Boston semi-pro football player was found dead in an industrial park a mile from Hernandez's house. (AP Photo/ESPN) MANDATORY CREDIT

Aaron Hernandez

Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez arrives for arraignment at Attleboro District Court Wednesday, June 26, in Attleboro, Mass. It wasn't clear what charges were being filed against him. Less than two hours after his arrest, the Patriots announced they had cut him from the team. Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old semi-pro football player for the Boston Bandits, was found slain June 17 near Hernandez's home in North Attleborough. (AP Photo/The Sun Chronicle, Mark Stockwell) MANDATORY CREDIT

State police continue their search for evidence Monday, June 24, 2013, along Homeward Lane the access road into Westwood Estates where New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez resides In North Attleboro, Mass. Hernandez is being questioned about the murder of Odin Lloyd, 27, of Boston whose body was found about a mile from the athlete's house last week. (AP Photo/The Attleboro Sun Chronicle,Mark Stockwell ) PROVIDENCE JOURNAL OUT

Law enforcement officers wearing wetsuits emerge from bushes during a search for evidence along a road near the home of New England Patriot's NFL football player Aaron Hernandez Monday, June 24, 2013, in North Attleborough, Mass. The body of Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old semi-pro football player for the Boston Bandits, was found in a nearby industrial park on June 17. (AP Photo/The Sun Chronicle, Mark Stockwell) MANDATORY CREDIT

In this image taken from video, a police officer photographs a car outside the home of New England Patriots football player Aaron Hernandez, Saturday, June 22, 2013, in North Attleboro, Mass. State police officers and dogs searched Hernandez's home as they investigate the killing of Odin Lloyd, a semi-pro football player whose body was found nearby. (AP Photo/ESPN)

In this image taken from video, police officers talk outside of the home of New England Patriots football player Aaron Hernandez, Saturday, June 22, 2013, in North Attleboro, Mass. State police officers and dogs searched Hernandez's home as they investigate the killing of Odin Lloyd, a semi-pro football player whose body was found nearby. (AP Photo/ESPN)

In this image taken from video, police search a car outside the home of New England Patriots football player Aaron Hernandez, Saturday, June 22, 2013, in North Attleboro, Mass. State police officers and dogs searched Hernandez's home as they investigate the killing of Odin Lloyd, a semi-pro football player whose body was found nearby. (AP Photo/ESPN)

In this image taken from video, a state police officer and dog arrive outside the home of New England Patriots football player Aaron Hernandez, Saturday, June 22, 2013, in North Attleboro, Mass. State police searched Hernandez's home as they investigate the killing of Odin Lloyd, a semi-pro football player whose body was found nearby. (AP Photo/ESPN)

In this image taken from video, police officers talk outside the home of New England Patriots football player Aaron Hernandez, Saturday, June 22, 2013, in North Attleboro, Mass. State police officers and dogs searched Hernandez's home as they investigate the killing of Odin Lloyd, a semi-pro football player whose body was found nearby. (AP Photo/ESPN)

Odin Lloyd

This Dec. 25, 2012 photo taken by a sister and provided by the Boston Bandits football team shows Odin Lloyd, 27, whose body was found Monday, June 17, 2013 in an industrial park in North Attleborough, Mass., about a mile from the house of New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez. (AP Photo/Lloyd family via the Boston Bandits )

New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez drives from his home late Thursday morning, June 20, 2013, in North Attleborough, Mass. Hernandez had a connection to homicide victim Odin Lloyd, of Boston, whose body was found in an industrial park near the athlete's home. Family and officials were mum on the nature of their relationship Thursday, two days after police visited Hernandez' home. (AP Photo/The Sun Chronicle, Mark Stockwell) MANDATORY CREDIT. MAGAZINES OUT.

Massachusetts State Police dig for evidence Thursday, June 20, 2013, at the sight in an industrial park in North Attleborough, Mass., where the body of Odin Lloyd, of Boston, was found earlier this week. New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez had a connection Lloyd, but family and officials were mum on the nature of their relationship Thursday, two days after police visited Hernandez' home. (AP Photo/The Sun Chronicle, Mark Stockwell) MANDATORY CREDIT. MAGAZINES OUT.

Massachusetts State Police search along a road near the home of New England Patriot's NFL football player Aaron Hernandez in North Attleborough, Mass., Wednesday, June 19, 2013. Police spent a second day at Hernandez' home on Wednesday, two days after a body was found about a mile away. (AP Photo/Erika Niedowski)

Two members of the Massachusetts State Police walk toward the front door of the home of New England Patriot's NFL football player Aaron Hernandez in North Attleborough, Mass., Wednesday, June 19, 2013. Their knock on the door went unanswered. State and local police spent hours at the home Tuesday as another group of officers searched an industrial park about a mile away where a body was discovered the day before. (AP Photo/Erika Niedowski)

Aaron Hernandez

Family of Odin Lloyd react during the arraignment of former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez in Attleboro District Court Wednesday, June 26, in Attleboro, Mass. Hernandez was charged with murdering Lloyd, a 27-year-old semi-pro football player for the Boston Bandits, whose body was found June 17 in an industrial park in North Attleborough, Mass. (AP Photo/The Sun Chronicle, Mike George, Pool)

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/27/puma-aaron-hernandez-contract_n_3512926.html

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Microsoft: We?re not afraid of BlackBerry, proud to be No. 3 in mobile

Impertinent. Mumbling. Offended. Teary-eyed. Rachel Jeantel, star witness for the prosecution in George Zimmerman's murder trial, was all of those, and more, as her testimony Wednesday provided new details into Trayvon Martin?s last moments and infused racially loaded commentary into an already-sensitive trial.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/microsoft-not-afraid-blackberry-proud-no-3-mobile-205537962.html

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Chicago prepares for concealed weapons

CHICAGO (AP) ? This city, where violent street gangs shoot it out dozens of times a week despite some of the nation's toughest restrictions on guns, now faces a new challenge: Well-meaning citizens with the legal right to hit the streets with loaded firearms, whenever they want.

As Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn mulls whether to sign off on eliminating the country's last concealed carry ban, the question in Chicago is whether it will matter in the crime-weary city. Will a place that long had some of the nation's tightest restrictions on handguns be more at risk? Or will it be safer with a law that can only add to the number of guns already on the street?

Neighborhood leaders, anti-crime activists and police officials worry about additional mayhem in Chicago. But other residents, including some who live in Chicago's more violent areas, believe more guns will allow them to defend themselves better.

"We just had a weekend where something like 48 people were shot, seven died," said Otis McDonald, 79, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit that ended with the U.S. Supreme Court tossing out Chicago's strict gun ban three years ago. "Now law abiding citizens like myself ... can carry them when they want to and not carry them when they don't want to, and the people out there who will do us harm won't know when we got them and when we don't."

At City Hall, where Chicago's anti-gun campaign has centered for years, the reaction to concealed carry legislation has been relatively quiet. The reasons seem to boil down to this: The city can do little about stopping the law because a federal appeals court ordered Illinois to end its public possession ban by this summer.

"We would prefer to have the (gun) bans we've always enacted... (but) it's the best we could do based upon the mandate we have," said Alderman Patrick O'Connor.

The bill sitting on Quinn's desk is a hard-fought compromise between conservative downstate lawmakers who opposed most gun restrictions and anti-gun lawmakers from Chicago and other urban areas. The legislation requires state police to issue a concealed-carry permit to any gun owner with a state-issued Firearm Owners Identification card, and who passes a background check, pays a $150 fee and undergoes 16 hours of training.

It's not as stringent as concealed carry laws in California, New York and a handful of others states, which give law enforcement authorities more power to deny permits. But it's more restrictive than earlier proposals by gun rights advocates, including one that would have superseded all local gun restrictions. For example, it won't wipe out Chicago and Cook County's ban on assault weapons.

Most significantly for gun control advocates, the legislation does prohibit guns in places like schools, buses, trains, bars and government buildings.

"If you think about all the prohibited places there are ... I don't think you will see an overwhelming number of people actually (carrying weapons) because it becomes such a headache," said state Sen. Kwame Raoul, a Chicago lawmaker and lead negotiator on the bill who represents President Barack Obama's former state senate district.

But other city officials aren't so assured. Superintendent Garry McCarthy calls a requirement that people go through only 16 hours of training before they are issued a concealed carry permit "woefully inadequate" because about the only thing people can learn in that time is how to "point and fire a weapon" and not when they can legally do so.

"Our officers receive six months of training in the police academy and then three months on the streets and at the end of the day we make mistakes frequently," he said.

Another concern by Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart is the provision in the bill that calls for law enforcement and prosecutors to object to a governor-appointed panel if they suspect applicants are dangerous. In Cook County, where there are 358,000 registered gun owners, Dart said he's worried gang members and others who shouldn't have guns will slip through the cracks and be granted permits.

Quinn, a Chicago Democrat, has been quiet on his intentions with the legislation, his office saying he's "reviewing the bill carefully." But what he decides may be moot, given that the Legislature passed it by wide enough margins to override any veto.

Once the law is in place, Dart said he expects a flood of applications for permits, something that happened in November 2011 in Wisconsin, where within hours of becoming the 49th state to have a concealed carry law, tens of thousands of people downloaded applications. By the end of 2012, the state had issued nearly 110,000 permits.

During 2012, the first full year the law was in effect, Milwaukee's total for homicides and rapes remained virtually the same as the year before. As for robbery, the kind of crime that concealed carry supporters say would be reduced if more regular citizens had weapons, Milwaukee saw a 17.2 percent drop between 2011 and 2012. But police say so far this year the number of robberies has climbed by 19 percent.

Whether the law will have similar effects in Chicago is a matter of contention. Rev. Michael Pfleger, a Catholic priest and activist on the city's South Side, doesn't believe criminals will hesitate out of some concern their victims might be armed.

"You are going to see a lot more gun fights and you are going to see people using guns as their first line of defense when they are confronted. To think guns are suddenly going to be the answer to violence in the city or the state, it's absurd," Pfleger said.

But Richard Pearson, Illinois State Rifle Association executive director, predicts Chicago's crime rate will fall. He argues that both sides in the gun debate will be watching closely what transpires.

"What goes on in Chicago is a very big deal because of their history of resisting firearm use," Pearson said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chicago-prepares-concealed-carry-gun-law-193704212.html

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Friday, June 28, 2013

Ex-Duane Reade execs lose bid to reverse fraud convictions

By Nate Raymond

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two former executives at Duane Reade Inc on Wednesday lost a bid to have a U.S. appeals court reverse their 2010 securities fraud convictions for inflating earnings at the New York drugstore chain.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York affirmed the convictions and the sentences of Anthony Cuti, Duane Reade's former chief executive, and William Tennant, former chief financial officer.

In June, 2010, a federal jury in Manhattan found Cuti and Tennant guilty of engaging in a scheme to inflate Duane Reade's earnings from 2000 to 2004.

Prosecutors said the scheme resulted in misleading information being provided to shareholders and private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners, which bought Duane Reade in 2004.

Oak Hill sold Duane Reade in 2010 to Walgreen Co for $614 million.

Cuti was found guilty of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud and making false statements to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, among other things. He was sentenced in August 2011 to three years in prison and fined $5 million.

Tennant, who was convicted of securities fraud, was sentenced to time served and fined $10,000.

On appeal, Cuti argued that U.S. District Judge Deborah Batts should not have allowed two witnesses he claimed were not experts to offer expert testimony.

The lead partner from auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers and John Henry, Tennant's successor as Duane Reade CFO, answered hypothetical questions about how they would have accounted for various fraudulent real estate sales.

U.S. Circuit Judge John Walker, writing for a three-judge panel, said the questions were permissible because they were limited to established facts.

"These limitations left little room for the witnesses to engage in speculation," Walker wrote.

The appeals court also rejected Tennant's contention that prosecutors did not present enough evidence to show he knew a fraud was taking place. It issued a separate order dispensing with other arguments by the defendants.

Brian Brook, a lawyer for Cuti, said he was "surprised and disappointed" by the decision, he still believes Cuti "was denied a fair trial" and will be considering options.

John Kenney, a lawyer for Tennant, said he was disappointed in the ruling and would consider a further appeal.

Cuti, who is currently in a half-way house, is separately appealing an order by Batts in May requiring him to pay $7.62 million in restitution to Duane Reade and Oak Hill.

The case is U.S. v. Cuti, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 11-3756.

(In 13th paragraph, corrects spelling of last name for lawyer to Brian Brook)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ex-duane-reade-execs-lose-bid-reverse-fraud-214749867.html

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Unity game engine to support Xbox One, gets a boost on Windows 8 and Windows Phone

When the Unity game engine runs virtually everywhere -- well, almost -- it's no surprise that Unity Technologies has just announced that the engine will support the Xbox One. However, the firm is also revealing a partnership with Microsoft that promises a deeper level of integration on the One than we've seen on some other systems. Microsoft Studios partners will get to build Unity-based Xbox 360 and Xbox One games for free. They'll also receive tools that take full advantage of the One's tricks, including cloud computing, matchmaking, improved Kinect gestures and SmartGlass.

Developers who aren't console-inclined are covered as well: the partnership will give all Unity Pro 4 customers free access to Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 development add-ons once they're available this summer. While there's no guarantee that game producers are more likely to target Microsoft's ecosystem than they have in the past, the Unity deal could lower some of the costs and technology barriers. And there may be more: Microsoft has dropped hints that it will provide further details on its support of indie console app development sometime in the near future.

Filed under: Gaming, Software, Microsoft

Comments

Source: Xbox.com

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/38fpXd6rHjw/

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Paramount announces plans for 'Terminator' trilogy

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? The "Terminator" is coming back.

Paramount announced Thursday that it is rebooting the "Terminator" franchise and planning for a new trilogy of films, but it's keeping mum on whether Arnold Schwarzenegger would play a role.

Schwarzenegger starred as the title character in the original 1984 movie. It spawned a trilogy that earned more than $1 billion at the box office worldwide.

Paramount says it will release the new "Terminator" in July 2015.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/paramount-announces-plans-terminator-trilogy-000841755.html

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Thursday, June 27, 2013

New Melanoma Test Sniffs Out Skin Cancer Based on Odor Alone

We've known for awhile that certain illnesses can have a very, er, special smell for the olfactory-inclined, but even us humans (with the help of smell-sensitive technology) could soon be diagnosing diseases with nothing but our nose. Thanks to a nanotechnology-based sensor, we're now able to differentiate between normal skin cells and melanoma cells based entirely on scent.

Developed by scientists in Philadelphia at the Monell Chemical Sense Center, the non-invasive procedure takes the airborne molecules found in human skin's odor and analyzes them for any traces of melanoma's specific chemical signature. All a doctor needs is a small, portable testing device, and they'd be able to quickly and painlessly measure a cell's organic compounds, determining whether or not it might be malignant.

The real benefit of this kind of test, though, comes in the fact that it could detect traces of melanoma far earlier than current methods, which mainly rely on visual exams and biopsies. And with melanoma being notoriously difficult to catch early?not to mention that it's the cause of three-fourths of all deaths related to skin cancer?this could be a phenomenal advancement as far as improving a patient's odds of survival.

It's also just one of many new alternative diagnostic methods that have been coming to light. For instance, a recent study out of the University of Pittsburgh revealed that a type of breathalyzer might soon be able to diagnose diabetes in patients. Using carbon nanotubes and a chemical compound, researchers were able to detect the increased levels of acetone on their breath by measuring the vapors under ultraviolet light. Even H1N1 has recently received the breath-test treatment, this one measuring levels of nitric oxide, which is closely linked to viral infections.

Basically, all these new odorous tests mean that we are well on our way to a world where not only will we be able to catch melanoma?along with a whole host of other diseases and festering contagions?sooner and thus treat it more effectively, but we'll be able to do so in a non-invasive manner. And knowing that their diagnosis will come painlessly and, even more importantly, cheaply will be a huge step in getting people into doctors' offices earlier and, consequently, saving lives. [Quad-City Times]

Image: Shutterstock/Robert Kneschke

Source: http://gizmodo.com/new-melanoma-test-sniffs-out-skin-cancer-based-on-odor-572950385

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A Netflix for the NSA's Private Info Would Make the Spying Worth It

Do you ever get the feeling that there just isn't enough stuff to watch on Netflix? You're going through the catalog every night and the same movies keep popping up. That's why we should all sign up for the fake NSA Flix. Official Comedy imagined a streaming service that holds all the information the NSA digs up on us.

Think unedited phone conversations, Skype videos, e-mails and so forth. Totally creepy? Totally invasive? Totally not... from the NSA's perspective. I'm imagining the NSA has this kind of service running internally already anyway. We the public might as well get in on the invading privacy action too. [Official Comedy via Geekosystem]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/a-netflix-for-the-nsas-private-info-would-make-the-spy-579544594

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Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Dem Rep. Markey wins US Senate election in Mass.

BOSTON (AP) ? Longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. Edward Markey defeated Republican political newcomer Gabriel Gomez in a special election on Tuesday for the state's U.S. Senate seat long held by John Kerry, a race that failed to draw the attention that the state's 2010 special Senate election did.

Markey, 66, won the early backing of Kerry and much of the state's Democratic political establishment, which was set on avoiding a repeat of the stunning loss it suffered three years ago, when Republican state Sen. Scott Brown upset Democratic state Attorney General Martha Coakley in the election to replace the late Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy.

Gomez, a 47-year-old businessman and former Navy SEAL, positioned himself as a moderate and Washington outsider who would challenge partisan gridlock, contrasting himself with Markey, who was first elected to the U.S. House in 1976.

Markey had an advantage of about 8 percentage points over Gomez with most precincts reporting late Tuesday, according to unofficial returns. He took to Twitter to thank voters after his victory.

"Thank you Massachusetts!" he tweeted. "I am deeply honored for the opportunity to serve you in the United States Senate."

Markey outspent Gomez throughout the race, and Republicans were unable to match a well-oiled Democratic field organization in an election that saw relatively light turnout in much of the heavily Democratic state.

Kerry left the Senate this year after being confirmed as U.S. secretary of state. Markey will fill out the remainder of Kerry's term, which expires in January 2015, meaning that another Senate election will be held a year from November.

Though Markey has a lengthy career in Congress, he will become the state's junior senator to Elizabeth Warren, who has been in office less than six months after defeating Brown in November.

Markey led in pre-election polls but said Tuesday when he voted with his wife in his hometown, Malden, that there was no overconfidence in his organization. He had said the campaign called or rang the doorbells of 3 million prospective voters in the past several days.

"I have delivered a message on gun safety, on a woman's right to choose, on creating more jobs, and I think that message has been delivered," Markey said.

President Barack Obama, former President Bill Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden made visits to Massachusetts over the final two weeks of the campaign to shore up support for Markey.

Gomez said while voting Tuesday in Cohasset, where he lives, that the election was about choosing the future over the past and what he called Markey's failure to take on the important issues despite 37 years in office.

"Where I come from, that is mission incomplete," he said.

In Cambridge, Lori Berenson, 51, said she voted for Markey mainly because she was skeptical of one of Gomez's main campaign pitches: his request for just 17 months in office.

"He thinks in 17 months he's going to accomplish what Markey hasn't done in 37 years?" she said.

But David Wanders, 43, of Stoughton, said he voted for Gomez because he felt Markey had been in Washington too long.

"He's a lifer," said Wanders, an independent who voted for Obama in the last election. "I don't think he lives here. He lives in Washington."

Markey spent more than $8.6 million on the race through the end of the last reporting period June 5, compared with $2.3 million by Gomez, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Outside groups also poured about $6 million into the Markey-Gomez contest, in the absence of an agreement between the candidates akin to one that had kept most outside money out of last year's Warren-Brown race.

Among the big independent spenders were a Republican-backed super political action committee funded by John Jordan, a California-based donor, and NextGen, a super PAC financed by another wealthy Californian, Thomas Steyer, who supported Markey largely because of his opposition to the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline, which would carry oil from western Canada to Texas.

Also on the ballot was Richard Heos, affiliated with the Twelve Visions Party.

___

Associated Press writer Steve Peoples contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dem-rep-markey-wins-us-senate-election-mass-011355003.html

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Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Senate passage of immigration bill on track

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Senate passage of historic immigration legislation offering citizenship to millions looks near-certain after the bill cleared a key hurdle with votes to spare.

A final vote in the Senate on Thursday or Friday would send the issue to the House, where conservative Republicans in the majority oppose citizenship for anyone living in the country illegally.

Some GOP lawmakers have appealed to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, not to permit any immigration legislation to come to a vote for fear that whatever its contents, it would open the door to an unpalatable compromise with the Senate. At the same time, the House Judiciary Committee is in the midst of approving a handful of measures related to immigration, action that ordinarily is a prelude to votes in the full House.

Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Tuesday that the Senate's advancement of stronger border security measures makes it "even more likely" that immigration reform will pass the House and become law. He said that the House won't take up the Senate bill but will do its own legislation, and added, "the majority of Republicans support the border security" as the keystone of immigration reform. He spoke on CBS' "This Morning."

"Now is the time to do it," President Barack Obama said Monday at the White House before meeting with nine business executives who support a change in immigration laws. "I hope that we can get the strongest possible vote out of the Senate so that we can then move to the House and get this done before the summer break" beginning in early August.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Tuesday she thinks it's important for the House to have its own bill and said, "Let's be optimistic about it."

Pelosi told CNN she thinks it has an excellent chance of passing there because GOP lawmakers are the party's poor showing with Hispanic voters in last year's presidential election "sends an eloquent message" to them.

Obama's prodding came several hours before the Senate voted 67-27 to advance the measure over a procedural hurdle. The tally was seven more than the 60 needed, with 15 Republicans joining Democrats in voting yes.

"I think we're building momentum," said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who worked with Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., on a $38 billion package of security improvements that helped bring Republicans on board by doubling the number of border patrol agents and calling for hundreds of miles of new fencing along the border with Mexico. Those changes brought border security spending in the bill to $46 billion.

"The bill has been improved dramatically tonight by this vote, there's no question," Corker said. "My sense is we're going to pass an immigration bill out of the United States Senate which will be no doubt historic and I think something that's very, very important to this nation."

Last-minute frustration was evident among opponents. In an unusual slap at members of his own party as well as Democrats, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said it appeared that lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle "very much want a fig leaf" on border security to justify a vote for immigration.

Senate officials said some changes were still possible to the bill before it leaves the Senate ? alterations that would swell the number of votes in favor.

At the same time, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who voted to advance the measure during the day, said he may yet end up opposing it unless he wins changes he is seeking.

Senate Democrats were unified on the vote.

Republicans were anything but on a bill that some party leaders say offers the GOP a chance to show a more welcoming face to Hispanic voters, but which tea party-aligned lawmakers assail as amnesty for those who have violated the law.

At its core, the Senate bill would create a 13-year pathway to citizenship for an estimated 11 million immigrants living illegally in the United States.

The measure also would create a new program for temporary farm laborers to come into the country, and another for lower-skilled workers to emigrate permanently. At the same time, it calls for an expansion of an existing visa program for highly-skilled workers, a gesture to high-tech companies that rely heavily on foreigners.

In addition to border security, the measure phases in a mandatory program for employers to verify the legal status of potential workers, and calls for a separate program to track the comings and goings of foreigners at the nation's seaports and airports.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senate-passage-immigration-bill-track-072445504.html

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U.S. angry about Snowden's protectors, but will it get even?

By Paul Eckert and Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials and lawmakers have made it clear they're furious at the governments that have played a role in enabling fugitive security contractor Edward Snowden's globe-trotting, but the United States is expected to take a restrained approach to any retribution.

President Barack Obama's administration has been trying to track Snowden since he slipped out of Hong Kong and flew to Moscow on Sunday, but his whereabouts remained a mystery amid a blizzard of speculative reports that he could be headed to Cuba, Ecuador, or Iceland.

American officials and legislators angered and dismayed by the cat-and-mouse game have directed unspecified threats at Hong Kong, China and Russia, as well as Ecuador, where Snowden has requested asylum.

Washington has a range of options, which include making it difficult for citizens of these countries to get U.S. visas. Or it could impose sanctions on some imports, delay foreign investment deals and curtail cooperation on extradition requests from the other capitals.

Tit-for-tat expulsions of accused spies were a staple of U.S.-Soviet relations during the Cold War. More recently, both the United States and Venezuela have sent diplomats packing. The latest example was March when the Washington and Caracas each expelled envoys around the time of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez's death.

Still, Washington must be careful not to damage international relationships that are critical to other percolating issues, despite its frustration over Snowden.

The decision by Hong Kong, a region of China, to let Snowden leave amid discussions with Washington over a U.S. extradition request was "a deliberate choice by the government to release a fugitive" said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

"And that decision unquestionably has a negative impact on the U.S.-China relationship," he said. He later declined to discuss possible repercussions for China or for Hong Kong.

Snowden, a former contractor at a National Security Agency facility in Hawaii, has been charged by the U.S. government with disclosing secret surveillance programs that the Obama administration considers vital for national security.

A handful of U.S. lawmakers lashed out at China and Russia and demanded action.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham wrote to the Russian embassy demanding that Snowden be sent back to the United States, calling the case a test of the "reset" in relations between the two countries.

Republican Representative Peter King, a senior member of the House Intelligence and Homeland Security Committees, called for "diplomatic consequences, trade consequences, economic consequences" for Russia on CNN on Sunday.

Some analysts said that despite the heated rhetoric, the United States might be better served by providing incentives for cooperation in apprehending Snowden. That could include approving more visas, providing special treatment during a U.S. visit by a president or foreign secretary, or providing additional support on trade agreements.

Ecuador, for example, is facing the expiration on July 31 of a program that provides it with duty-free access to the U.S. market for many of its goods.

Anthony Cordesman, a national security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Washington should avoid punitive measures that could threaten important alliances.

"Compared to all of the key issues between the United States, Russia and China, Snowden doesn't matter," he said.

DIPLOMATIC APPROACH

Democratic Representative Rick Larsen does not favor dramatic steps such as sanctions but said Hong Kong and China needed to be told "clearly and in their face" how their handling of Snowden could hurt cooperation on law enforcement, security issues and a cybersecurity panel to be launched in two weeks.

Diplomacy should be high level and involve "pretty serious hard-core conversations that take place privately until our point gets across," Larsen said in an interview.

Larsen is a co-founder of the U.S.-China Working Group of lawmakers who follow Chinese affairs closely.

Some lawmakers also expressed caution against allowing the Snowden saga to impact on other negotiations, such as the U.S. review of the acquisition of Smithfield Foods Inc by Chinese meat company Shuanghai International.

Republican Representative Randy Forbes, whose Virginia district includes Smithfield's headquarters, has argued against "rubber stamping" the $4.7 billion deal before questions are asked about the impact on food safety, employment and antitrust issues.

However, asked in an interview if he favored holding up the deal over Snowden, Forbes said: "Absolutely not. It would be bad policy for us to get into retaliation and blending apples and oranges in these situations."

The United States also have to be careful to not inflame other countries as it seeks more cooperation on pressing international issues, from Syria's civil war to the nuclear ambitions of North Korea and Iran.

Kenneth Lieberthal, a China expert at the Brookings Institution who was an Asia adviser in Bill Clinton's White House, said sanctioning Beijing was "inconceivable" and linking Snowden to other issues would undo careful policy aimed at handling issues in separate lanes to avoid big ruptures in ties.

"Over the years, we've sought to prevent any serious disagreement in one issue area from spilling over and degrading the entire relationship," he said.

Other lawmakers said it was too early to leap into any high-profile international action.

"It's likely that this is going to be pretty long and drawn out, just because of the way these kinds of issues are handled by other countries," Senator Bob Corker, the senior Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations committee, told reporters on Monday. "And I think we all need to be patient."

(Additional reporting by Doug Palmer.; Editing by Karey Van Hall and Christopher Wilson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-angry-snowdens-protectors-even-001054612.html

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Monday, June 24, 2013

Getting to grips with migraine: Researchers identify some of the biological roots of migraine from large-scale genome study

June 23, 2013 ? Migraine is an extremely difficult disorder to study. Between episodes, the patient is basically healthy, making the underlying pathology very difficult to uncover. In the largest migraine study, an international team of researchers have identified genetic regions linked to the onset and susceptibility of migraine.

In the largest study of migraines, researchers have found 5 genetic regions that for the first time have been linked to the onset of migraine. This study opens new doors to understanding the cause and biological triggers that underlie migraine attacks.

The team identified 12 genetic regions associated with migraine susceptibility. Eight of these regions were found in or near genes known to play a role in controlling brain circuitries and two of the regions were associated with genes that are responsible for maintaining healthy brain tissue. The regulation of these pathways may be important to the genetic susceptibility of migraines.

Migraine is a debilitating disorder that affects approximately 14% of adults. Migraine has recently been recognized as the seventh disabler in the Global Burden of Disease Survey 2010 and has been estimated to be the most costly neurological disorder. It is an extremely difficult disorder to study because no biomarkers between or during attacks have been identified so far.

"This study has greatly advanced our biological insight about the cause of migraine," says Dr Aarno Palotie, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. "Migraine and epilepsy are particularly difficult neural conditions to study; between episodes the patient is basically healthy so it's extremely difficult to uncover biochemical clues.

"We have proven that this is the most effective approach to study this type of neurological disorder and understand the biology that lies at the heart of it."

The team uncovered the underlying susceptibilities by comparing the results from 29 different genomic studies, including over 100,000 samples from both migraine patients and control samples.

They found that some of the regions of susceptibility lay close to a network of genes that are sensitive to oxidative stress, a biochemical process that results in the dysfunction of cells.

The team expects many of the genes at genetic regions associated with migraine are interconnected and could potentially be disrupting the internal regulation of tissue and cells in the brain, resulting in some of the symptoms of migraine.

"We would not have made discoveries by studying smaller groups of individuals," says Dr Gisela Terwindt, co-author from Leiden University Medical Centre. "This large scale method of studying over 100,000 samples of healthy and affected people means we can tease out the genes that are important suspects and follow them up in the lab."

The team identified an additional 134 genetic regions that are possibly associated to migraine susceptibility with weaker statistical evidence. Whether these regions underlie migraine susceptibility or not still needs to be elucidated. Other similar studies show that these statistically weaker culprits can play an equal part in the underlying biology of a disease or disorder.

"The molecular mechanisms of migraine are poorly understood. The sequence variants uncovered through this meta-analysis could become a foothold for further studies to better understanding the pathophysiology of migraine" says Dr K?ri Stef?nsson, President of deCODE genetics.

"This approach is the most efficient way of revealing the underlying biology of these neural disorders," says Dr Mark Daly, from the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. "Effective studies that give us biological or biochemical results and insights are essential if we are to fully get to grips with this debilitating condition.

"Pursuing these studies in even larger samples and with denser maps of biological markers will increase our power to determine the roots and triggers of this disabling disorder."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/O-mykvzCfIg/130623144952.htm

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The CW Schedules Premiere Dates for The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and More!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/06/the-cw-schedules-premiere-dates-for-the-vampire-diaries-supernat/

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The Best Sopranos Episodes Ever, At The Book Club | Londonist

The Book Club in Shoreditch is playing tribute to the late, great James Gandolfini with a Sopranos-themed evening on 2 July. The venue will be decked out New Jersey style, with ?food from The Soprano?s Family Cookbook, candy cigars and a few card games?. Leave your piece at home, though. The best three episodes from the series will be screened, and you can vote for them right now?on the venue?s Facebook page or tweet ?em.

The event runs on 2 July, 6.30-11.30pm, 100-106 Leonard Street, and entrance is free?just turn up. Those who crave the seediness of Bada Bing!?well, The Horns is just round the corner.

Source: http://londonist.com/2013/06/the-best-sopranos-episodes-ever-at-the-book-club.php

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Sunday, June 23, 2013

Snowden in a 'safe place' as U.S. prepares to seek extradition

By Tabassum Zakaria and Mark Hosenball

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has filed espionage charges against Edward Snowden, a former U.S. National Security Agency contractor who admitted revealing secret surveillance programs to media outlets, according to a court document made public on Friday.

The charges are the government's first step in what could be a long legal battle to return Snowden from Hong Kong, where he is believed to be in hiding, and try him in a U.S. court. A Hong Kong newspaper said he was under police protection, but the territory's authorities declined to comment.

Snowden was charged with theft of government property, unauthorized communication of national defense information and willful communication of classified communications intelligence to an unauthorized person, said the criminal complaint, which was dated June 14.

The latter two offenses fall under the U.S. Espionage Act and carry penalties of fines and up to 10 years in prison.

A single page of the complaint was unsealed on Friday. An accompanying affidavit remained under seal.

Two U.S. sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States was preparing to seek Snowden's extradition from Hong Kong, which is part of China but has wide-ranging autonomy, including an independent judiciary.

The Washington Post, which first reported the criminal complaint earlier on Friday, said the United States had asked Hong Kong to detain Snowden on a provisional arrest warrant.

Hong Kong's Chinese-language Apple Daily quoted police sources as saying that anti-terrorism officers had contacted Snowden, arranged a safe house for him and provided protection. However, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) said Snowden was not in police protection but was in a "safe place" in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Police Commissioner Andy Tsang declined to comment other than to say Hong Kong would deal with the case in accordance with the law.

Snowden earlier this month admitted leaking secrets about classified U.S. surveillance programs, creating a public uproar. Supporters say he is a whistleblower, while critics call him a criminal and perhaps even a traitor.

He disclosed documents detailing U.S. telephone and Internet surveillance efforts to the Washington Post and Britain's Guardian newspaper.

On Saturday, Hong Kong's SCMP said Snowden had divulged information to the newspaper showing how computers in Hong Kong and China had been targeted.

The SCMP said documents and statements by Snowden show the NSA program had hacked major Chinese telecoms companies to access text messages, attacked China's top Tsinghua University, and hacked the Hong Kong headquarters of Pacnet, which has an extensive fiber optic submarine network.

The criminal complaint was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, where Snowden's former employer, Booz Allen Hamilton, is located.

That judicial district has seen a number of high-profile prosecutions, including the spy case against former FBI agent Robert Hanssen and the case of al Qaeda operative Zacarias Moussaoui. Both were convicted.

'ACTIVE EXTRADITION RELATIONSHIP'

Documents leaked by Snowden revealed that the NSA has access to vast amounts of Internet data such as emails, chat rooms and video from large companies such as Facebook and Google, under a government program known as Prism.

They also showed that the government had worked through the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to gather so-called metadata - such as the time, duration and telephone numbers called - on all calls carried by service providers such as Verizon.

President Barack Obama and his intelligence chiefs have vigorously defended the programs, saying they are regulated by law and that Congress was notified. They say the programs have been used to thwart militant plots and do not target Americans' personal lives.

U.S. federal prosecutors, by filing a criminal complaint, lay claim to a legal basis to make an extradition request of the authorities in Hong Kong, the Post reported. The prosecutors now have 60 days to file an indictment and can then take steps to secure Snowden's extradition from Hong Kong for a criminal trial in the United States, the newspaper reported.

The United States and Hong Kong have "excellent cooperation" and as a result of agreements, "there is an active extradition relationship between Hong Kong and the United States," a U.S. law enforcement official told Reuters.

Since the United States and Hong Kong signed an extradition treaty in 1998, scores of Americans have been sent back home to face trial. However, the process can take years, lawyers say.

Under Hong Kong's extradition process, a request would first go to Hong Kong's chief executive. A magistrate would issue a formal warrant for Snowden's arrest if the chief executive agrees the case should proceed.

Simon Young, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong, said the first charge of theft against Snowden might find an equivalent charge in Hong Kong, needed to allow extradition proceedings to move forward, but the unauthorized communication and willful communication charges may be sticking points that lead to litigation and dispute in the courts.

What ever the Hong Kong courts decide could be vetoed by the territory's leader or Beijing on foreign affairs or defense grounds.

An Icelandic businessman linked to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks said on Thursday he had readied a private plane in China to fly Snowden to Iceland if Iceland's government would grant asylum.

Iceland refused on Friday to say whether it would grant asylum to Snowden.

(Additional reporting by James Pomfret, Venus Wu and Grace Li in HONG KONG; Editing by Warren Strobel, Peter Cooney and Neil Fullick)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-files-espionage-charges-against-snowden-over-leaks-015108216.html

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NASA moon probe celebrates 4th birthday on Supermoon Sunday

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Artist's rendering of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft.

By Mike Wall, Space.com

A sharp-eyed NASA spacecraft celebrates four years of circling the moon this Sunday (June 23), just in time for the "supermoon."

Since arriving in orbit on June 23, 2009, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has given scientists a much deeper understanding of Earth's nearest neighbor, mission team members said.

"Not only has LRO delivered all the information that is needed for future human and robotic explorers, but it has also revealed that the moon is a more complex and dynamic world than we had ever expected," Rich Vondrak, LRO deputy project scientist at NASA?s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., said in a statement. [ Celebrating LRO's Fourth Anniversary (Video) ]

Appropriately enough, LRO marks its fourth anniversary on the same day that the biggest and brightest full moon of 2013 ? the so-called " supermoon " ? lights up Earth's night sky.?

The moon's path around Earth is slightly elliptical; distances between the two bodies vary from 225,622 miles (363,104 kilometers) at the closest lunar approach, known as perigee, to 252,088 miles (405,696 km) at apogee. Supermoons result when the full moon and perigee coincide.?

The $504 million LRO spacecraft is about the size of a Mini Cooper car and sports seven different science instruments. It zips around the moon at an altitude of 31 miles (50 km).

LRO launched on June 18, 2009, along with a piggyback probe called the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite. In October 2009, LRO watched from orbit as LCROSS and the duo's Centaur booster rocket slammed deliberately into a shadowed crater at the moon's south pole, blasting out surprisingly large amounts of water ice.

LRO initally worked as a scout, studying the moon to help NASA plan for future lunar exploration missions. It wrapped up this work in September 2010, then switched over to more of a pure science mode.

The spacecraft has been incredibly prolific, beaming home about 434 terabytes of data thus far. That's more than all other NASA planetary missions combined, space agency officials have said.

LRO's accomplishments are many and varied, reflecting the diversity of its instruments and mission profiles.

At the lunar poles, for example, LRO's Diviner instrument measured the coldest temperatures ever recorded on a solar system body (minus 397 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 238 degrees Celsius). Other LRO gear has helped scientists realize that the polar regions likely harbor immense amounts of water ice.

Further, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera has mapped all of NASA's Apollo landing sites in high resolution and returned images that show the moon is still contracting, researchers said.

Data from the probe's laser altimeter helped mission scientists build the best map of lunar surface altitude variations ever constructed, and LRO's Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation instrument (CRaTER) measured the radiation environment around the moon.

"In its four years in orbit, LRO has revealed a new moon with discoveries that address the moon's history and by extension the Earth's history as well," John Keller, LRO project scientist at NASA Goddard, said in a statement.

"The innovative measurements by LRO have answered many questions asked by planetary scientists, but have also uncovered new questions as well," Keller added. "I'm looking forward to future work on these new questions as LRO continues to study the moon."

To date, LRO has completed nearly 18,000 orbits, traveling about 125 million miles (200 million km) around the moon in the process, researchers said. It's slated to continue operating until October 2014, though a two-year mission extension is a possibility.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter?@michaeldwall?and?Google+.?Follow us@Spacedotcom,Facebook?orGoogle+. Originally published on?SPACE.com.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2da7054b/l/0Lscience0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A60C220C190A920A130Enasa0Emoon0Eprobe0Ecelebrates0E4th0Ebirthday0Eon0Esupermoon0Esunday0Dlite/story01.htm

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Wildfire grows, but teams work to save Colo. town

DEL NORTE, Colo. (AP) ? A wildfire threatening a tourist region in southwestern Colorado mushroomed to about 100 square miles Saturday, but officials said that they remained optimistic they could protect the town of South Fork.

The rapid advance of the erratic blaze prompted the evacuation of hundreds of summer visitors and the town's 400 permanent residents Friday, and it could be days before people are allowed back into their homes, cabins and RV parks, fire crew spokeswoman Laura McConnell said. South Fork Mayor Kenneth Brooke estimated that 1,000 to 1,500 people were forced to flee.

Saturday night, officials provided an estimate of the size of the wildfire burning through a rugged and remote mountainous region, but said they wouldn't have a better idea of its size until infrared imaging is done overnight.

Some business owners were being allowed back into South Fork during the day Saturday to tie up issues left unattended in the rush to leave.

Officials, meanwhile, closely monitored an arm of the blaze moving toward the neighboring town of Creede.

"We were very, very lucky," said Rio Grande County Commissioner Carla Shriver. "We got a free pass yesterday."

McConnell said no structures had been lost and the fire was still about 5 miles from the town.

The blaze had been fueled by dry, hot, windy weather and a stand of dead trees, killed by a beetle infestation. The fire's spread had slowed for a while Saturday morning after the flames hit a healthy section of forest. Fire crews remained alert as more hot, dry and windy weather was forecast.

The wildfire, a complex of three blazes, remains a danger, officials said.

"The fire is very unpredictable," Shriver told evacuees at Del Norte High School, east of the fire. "They are saying they haven't quite seen one like this in years. There is so much fuel up there."

Winds picked up Saturday afternoon and a heavy black again permeated the air in Del Norte, where a Red Cross shelter was set up for evacuees. Anticipating the mandatory South Fork evacuation would last for days, the Red Cross promised more supplies and portable showers.

Ralph and Leilani Harden of Victoria, Texas, spend summers in South Fork.

"We jumped out of the South Texas hot box into the Colorado frying pan," Ralph Harden said.

Bob and Sherry Mason bought the Wolf Creek Ski Lodge on the Western Edge of South Fork about a year and a half ago.

"This (wildfire) was in our contingency plan being in Colorado, but we didn't expect it this soon," Bob Mason said.

New fire crews, meanwhile, descended from other areas to join more than 32 fire engines stationed around South Fork, with hoses and tankers at the ready. Firefighters also worked to move potential fuel, such as lawn furniture, propane tanks and wood piles, away from homes and buildings.

The town of Creede's 300 residents were under voluntary evacuation orders as officials feared the fire could reach the roads leading out of town.

The heavy black smoke, broken up only by an orange glow over the outlines of the San Juan mountains, was so thick Friday that the plume helped keep an 18-square-mile wildfire burning 100 miles to the east near Walsenburg from spreading as fast as it would have otherwise.

Susan Valente, an on-site spokeswoman for the fire near Walsenburg, said the shade helped keep the forest from drying out in the hot afternoon sun. Residents from 300 homes remain evacuated while in the city of Walsenburg and the town of Aguilar remain on pre-evacuation notice, meaning residents must be ready to flee at a moment's notice.

"Fire conditions are prime with the combination of fuels, heat, winds and low humidity," fire information officer Mike Stearly of the Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center, "It's expected to be like this through next Tuesday."

There are 12 wildfires burning in Colorado that have scorched 133 square miles, which includes the Black Forest fire that destroyed 511 homes north of Colorado Springs and is the most destructive in Colorado history.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wildfire-grows-teams-save-colo-town-041754819.html

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House passes redistricting and abortion bills (Offthekuff)

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This week on gdgt: MOGA Pro, Xbox One, Xperia Tablet Z

Each week, our friends at gdgt go through the latest gadgets and score them to help you decide which ones to buy. Here are some of their most recent picks. Want more? Visit gdgt anytime to catch up on the latest, and subscribe to gdgt's newsletter to get a weekly roundup in your inbox.