'Nobody's going to Geneva,' White Rock mayor touts lower expenses

In his first full year leading the city, White Rock Mayor Wayne Baldwin claimed a third more in expenses than that claimed by his predecessor, Catherine Ferguson, in her last year at the helm.

According to a June 24 report from the city?s financial services director, Baldwin ? who was elected mayor in November 2011 ? claimed $9,831 in expenses last year. Ferguson claimed $6,960 in 2011, prior to Baldwin?s election in November, and just $3,248 in 2010, her last full year.

Baldwin told Peace Arch News the difference was likely due to Ferguson not being able to attend as many conferences.

Last year, those included the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in Saskatoon and the Union of BC Municipalities in Victoria, along with events ?that I get invited to all the time, but cost a lot of money.?

?I don?t think it?s too high,? he said of the total charged to taxpayers. ?If you compare it to, say, Dianne (Watts?) in Surrey, mine is not very high. We go to the same stuff pretty much, except she goes to China and whatnot.?

At the council meeting, Baldwin noted the combined expenses of all seven of the city?s politicians ($26,054) was less than that reported by some individual Surrey council members. Watts alone charged $28,724.

?Nobody?s going to Geneva,? Baldwin quipped, an apparent reference to Watts? $2,807 trip to attend a mayors? conference in Switzerland.

Baldwin?s remuneration for 2012 was $59,023. Couns. Al Campbell, Helen Fathers, Louise Hutchinson and Larry Robinson were each paid $28,689 (up from $27,568 in 2011); Coun. Grant Meyer was paid $28,200. Meyer attributed his lesser pay to changes in the deputy-mayor schedule.

Coun. Bill Lawrence ??who won his seat in November?s byelection to replace the late Mary-Wade Anderson ? earned $2,775; Anderson, who died in June 2012, earned $12,440.

Following Baldwin, Hutchinson claimed the next highest in expenses ($4,030). Fathers was next ($3,876); then Robinson ($3,424), Meyer ($2,327), Campbell ($1,821), Anderson ($720) and Lawrence ($25).

Remuneration to city staff last year totalled $9,065,491.

Highest-paid was the city?s director of financial services, Sandra Kurylo, who received $144,341, followed by fire Chief Phil Lemire ($134,226), city manager Dan Bottrill ($133,105) and director of development services Paul Stanton ($128,544).

(Totals for Kurylo, Lemire and Stanton include pay for unused vacation and banked time.)

Bottrill?s pay represents his first 9? months with the city. He took over as city manager in mid-March of last year, following the sudden retirement of Peggy Clark, whose compensation had been a campaign issue for Baldwin. According to city documents, Clark received $185,760 in her last year as city manager.

Director of municipal operations Greg St. Louis ? whose predecessor?s wages were also criticized by Baldwin ? was not listed in the report, which included only remuneration greater than $75,000. St. Louis began working for the city July 30.

The staffer claiming the most in expenses for 2012 was Lemire, at $5,756, followed by web technician Ying Lin ($4,763); deputy fire Chief Bob Schlase ($3,909); and Kurylo ($3,710).

Figures were released as part of the city?s financial statement for the year ending Dec. 31, 2012.

?

Source: http://www.peacearchnews.com/news/213589051.html

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'Enter the Dragon' actor Jim Kelly dies

SAN DIEGO (AP) ? Actor Jim Kelly, who played a glib American martial artist in "Enter the Dragon" with Bruce Lee, has died. He was 67.

Marilyn Dishman, Kelly's ex-wife, said he died Saturday of cancer at his home in San Diego.

Sporting an Afro hairstyle and sideburns, Kelly made a splash with his one-liners and fight scenes in the 1973 martial arts classic. His later films included "Three the Hard Way," ''Black Belt Jones" and "Black Samurai."

During a 2010 interview with salon.com, Kelly said he started studying martial arts in 1964 in Kentucky and later moved to California where he earned a black belt in karate. He said he set his sights on becoming an actor after winning karate tournaments. He also played college football.

The role in the Bruce Lee film was his second. He had about a dozen film roles in the 1970s before his acting work tapered off. In recent years, he drew lines of autograph seekers at comic book conventions.

"It was one of the best experiences in my life," he told salon.com of working on "Enter the Dragon." ''Bruce was just incredible, absolutely fantastic. I learned so much from working with him. I probably enjoyed working with Bruce more than anyone else I'd ever worked with in movies because we were both martial artists. And he was a great, great martial artist. It was very good."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-06-30-US-Obit-Kelly/id-5a75c8174a814c47b69de239ea8cf434

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'The Heat': Melissa McCarthy Was 'Horrified' Picking Sandra Bullock's Nose

The duo talks to MTV News about the scene that made McCarthy 'so damn nervous.'
By Todd Gilchrist, with reporting by Tami Katzoff

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1709743/the-heat-sandra-bullock-melissa-mccarthy-nose-picking.jhtml

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California tops auto theft list ? Bankrate, Inc.

California's car culture, long celebrated in such Beach Boys classics as "Little Deuce Coupe," "409" and "I Get Around," has also spawned an equally robust car theft industry, judging by the latest "Hot Spots" vehicle theft report from the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

California once again dominates the list of metropolitan statistical areas, or MSAs, where car owners and auto insurance companies were most vulnerable to theft in 2012. Communities in the Golden State claim eight of the top 10 slots:

1. Modesto, Calif.
2. Fresno, Calif.
3. Bakersfield-Delano, Calif.
4. Stockton, Calif.
5. Yakima, Wash.
6. San Francisco/Oakland/Hayward, Calif.
7. San Jose/Sunnyvale/Santa Clara, Calif.
8. Vallejo/Fairfield, Calif.
9. Spokane/Spokane Valley, Wash.
10. Redding, Calif.

Six of the California hot spots also placed in last year's top 10. Expand the list, and the state claims 14 of the top 20 best places not to park your car.

Theft goes west

In fact, the western states -- Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming -- saw a 10.6 percent increase in vehicle theft last year. By contrast, the South was down 2.9 percent, the Midwest saw a 3.1 percent decline, and thefts in the Northeast were down 7.9 percent from the previous year.

The NICB ratings are consistent with preliminary FBI statistics for 2012 that point to a 1.3 percent national increase in vehicle thefts, following eight years of declines. The final numbers are due this fall.

So how many car thefts are we talking here? In Modesto, there were 4,260 reported thefts. But drive west to the more densely populated San Francisco Bay area, and you're looking at 28,220 thefts last year. Because the Hot Spots report is based on population, areas like Modesto with fewer total thefts but smaller populations often rank higher than areas with more stolen cars overall but a smaller incidence per capita.

Safety in Hawaii -- or at home

Where's Waldo to park without risking his ride? He'll find an absolutely safe space on the lovely isle of Maui, Hawaii, where nary a single vehicle was reported missing last year in the Kahului/Wailuku/Lahaina MSA.

The NICB recommends this "four layers of protection" approach to avoid vehicle theft and its potentially negative impact on your auto insurance rates:

? Common sense: Remember to take your keys with you, close your windows, lock your doors and park in a safe, well-lit area.
? Anti-theft devices: Invest in visible and audible alarms, brake and wheel locks and other theft-deterrent devices.
? Ride immobilizers: Prevent "hot-wiring" with smart keys, fuse cut-offs and other onboard technology that prevents thieves from starting your vehicle's engine.
? Tracking devices: Install a GPS or other tracking device that alerts you if your vehicle has been moved, and helps police locate it if it's stolen.

Follow me on Twitter: @omnisaurus

Subscribe to Bankrate newsletters today!

Jay MacDonald is a Bankrate contributing editor and co-author of "Future Millionaires' Guidebook," an e-book by Bankrate editors and reporters.

Source: http://www.bankrate.com/financing/insurance/california-tops-auto-theft-list/

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GameStop Expo puts the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in your hands this August

Whether or not you pay for GameStop's annual membership plan, the planet's largest video game retailer is opening the doors of the Las Vegas Sands Expo and Convention Center to the public for its annual GameStop Expo come this August, which this year features hands-on with both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. For a $35 general admission ticket, you'll get access to both consoles on August 28th -- long before their respective holiday launches -- as well as a chance to play a variety of upcoming games. Should you shell out a stone cold $90, you'll snag a copy of Madden NFL 25 for Xbox 360, gain (one hour) early entry to the show and "access to panel discussions with some of the biggest names in the industry."

Per usual, attendees must be older than 17, and the event's a one day affair. But then you'll be in Vegas, so... maybe stay for a few days.

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds, Software, HD, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo

Comments

Via: Joystiq

Source: GameStop

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/KjZ9ChwSrRU/

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When will your company begin accounting for nature? | GreenBiz.com

Corporate accounting may not sound like a domain that intersects neatly with environmental metrics. While this disjuncture has been historically true, it may be undergoing a 180-degree change.

The Dow Chemical Co. and other corporate decision-makers are looking at environmental metrics as important for incorporating into corporate accounting and spreadsheets. Advocates argue that this work would provide a more complete and accurate picture of the investments and flows of natural resource inputs, as well as goods and revenues from a company over time.

This more comprehensive picture of the business realities is contingent upon introduction of new metrics of how mutually dependent business, built infrastructure and natural systems are functioning today and in the future. Once the analytical approaches are developed in the coming years, this work may well become the norm for business.

In many ways, this shift is what futurist Peter Schwartz would dub an "inevitable surprise." Dave Batker of Earth Economics asserts that we are at a fundamental inflection point in how we track and measure economic and financial "well-being" and flows. In their book "What's the Economy for Anyway?" he and co-author John de Graaf assert:

"We're not in the 20th century anymore. ... The climate is changing, with potentially disastrous consequences. Useful water is less available, while floods are increasingly prolific. Unlike in the 1930s, when roads and indoor plumbing were scarce [in the U.S. and Europe] and forests, water and wetlands were abundant, now roads [in many parts of the world] are abundant and natural systems and their services, such as flood protection, are increasingly scarce and more valuable. Yet neither our economy nor our measures of economic progress reflect these realities."

We need significant changes in what is measured and managed by both the private and public sector alike.

Dow now is trying to identify a pathway forward that can be operationalized in corporate accounting. The company and The Nature Conservancy announced a collaboration in January 2011 to help Dow and other companies recognize, value and incorporate nature into global business goals, decisions and strategies.

Forest image by Stephane Bidouze via Shutterstock.

Next page: Interdependence and profitability

Source: http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2013/06/28/when-will-your-company-begin-accounting-nature

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'The Heat': A little of stars Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock goes a long way

'The Heat' milks the odd-couple film premise for all it's worth.

By Peter Rainer,?Film critic / June 28, 2013

Melissa McCarthy (r.) and Sandra Bullock (l.) star in 'The Heat.'

Gemma La Mana/20th Century Fox/AP

Enlarge

Sandra Bullock plays a very straitlaced FBI special agent and Melissa McCarthy is the slobbo Boston cop she reluctantly teams up with to bring down a drug lord in ?The Heat,? a buddy-buddy action comedy that milks the odd-couple pairing until the cow runs dry. A little of McCarthy?s bullishness goes a long way ? ditto Bullock?s pinched uncomfortability.

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It?s not really such a great achievement to have women cops in the movies acting as boorish and rowdy as their male counterparts, especially since the movie seems designed for a sequel. But then again, what movie these days ? or at least this summer ? isn?t? Grade: C+ (Rated R for pervasive language, strong crude content and some violence.)

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/ht6HI93cDO8/The-Heat-A-little-of-stars-Melissa-McCarthy-and-Sandra-Bullock-goes-a-long-way

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US Senate passes immigration reform bill ? RT USA - RT asks

Published time: June 27, 2013 20:22
Edited time: June 28, 2013 03:29

The United States Senate approved a landmark immigration bill Thursday afternoon after lawmakers in Washington voted 68-to-32 in favor of the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013.

The Senate put its collective support behind the bill, a bipartisan effort that has been at the center of discussion on both sides of the aisle since it was introduced in Washington in April of this year.

Should the bill clear both chambers of Congress, President Barack Obama will be asked to ink his name to a comprehensive immigration reform bill that will provide new opportunities for unlawful residents to stay in America legally, while at the same time pumping millions of dollars into the United States? border with Mexico in an attempt to limit the influx of illegal aliens.

"We're on the edge of passing one of the most significant pieces of legislation that this body has passed in a very long time," Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) told Senate colleagues on Capitol Hill Wednesday. "The vast majority of members in this body realize that the immigration system is broken and needs fixing."

Early Thursday morning, every voting member of Schumer?s Democratic Party and 14 Republican senators gave the bill a final go-ahead after deciding to end debate on the act?s amendments.

"There is no reason after these votes today to delay this,? added Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada). "We're poised to pass a historic immigration bill. It's landmark legislation that will secure our borders and help 11 million people get right with the law,? he said

If the bill passed today by the Senate is signed into law by Pres. Obama, millions of presently illegal immigrants would be granted lawful status to stay in the United States. Currently around 11 million residents of the US reside there illegally, and new mechanisms would provide a pathway for citizenship in many cases, albeit not without hurdles. Illegal immigrants would be required to pay Uncle Sam back taxes before being presented with permanent legal status, a measure which is expected to bring in nearly one trillion dollars during the next 20 years. Additionally under the bill, 20,000 new Border Patrol jobs would be created and a 700 mile fence would be erected on the US/Mexico border. Businesses would also have to check on the legal statuses of prospective employees, and lower-skilled and farm workers would be admitted legally into the US under only a temporary program.

That morning decision set the stage for a 4 p.m. vote, which ended as predicted with the Democrat-controlled Senate signing off on the bill which will next be sent to the House of Representatives. Once that chamber and its Republican majority have its hands on the act, however, the bill is expected to stall and come short of ever being sent to the White House.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), an outspoken opponent of the act, said Thursday that ?Today?s vote is largely symbolic.?

Other Republicans who spoke up early Thursday include Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), who said he?d be casting a ballot against the bill ?with a great deal of regret.? Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia) was not able to have his amendments involving agricultural workers tacked onto the bill and said Thursday he was left feeling ?terribly disappointed and frustrated.?

At the same time, however, GOP support on the act has so far surpassed what pundits had predicted. Both votes in the Senate on Thursday suggest that the Republican Party is willing with some degree to work towards immigration law reform, and the securing of more than a dozen GOP lawmakers could put the pressure on the rest of the party to act swiftly in adopting a bill that?ll suite the Senate version.

Of particular contention among GOP lawmakers is the balance between amnesty for currently illegal immigrants and what some have called the militarization of the US/Mexico border. More hawkish conservatives are calling for a bill that will focus more heavily on securing the Mexican border, whereas Democrats seem content with their current plan, which will indeed bring added fortification while also emphasizing a program that will allow illegal aliens to stay in the US.

On Thursday, House Chief Deputy Whip Peter Roskam (R-Illinois) told reporters that the current bill is a ?pipe dream? and said, ?Our conference is all about trying to get a deal with a secure border.?

?Once there is a level of confidence on a secure border then you can deal with moving forward on these other elements,? Roskam said.

The last time Congress was asked to rewrite federal immigration laws came in 2006, but that attempt died in the Senate before ever being sent to the House. Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), the speaker of the House, said his chamber will ignore the Senate approved-bill and will draft its own version that will more heavily emphasize border security.

"Apparently some haven't gotten the message: The House is not going to take up and vote on whatever the Senate passes. We're going to do our own bill -- through regular order -- and move the legislation that reflects the will of our majority and the will of the American people," Speaker Boehner said during a Thursday press briefing.

Source: http://rt.com/usa/border-immigration-senate-bill-350/

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Texts, video cited in charges against 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)

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)

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)

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)

FILE - This Dec. 25, 2012 file 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. Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was arraigned Wednesday, June 26, 2013, on a charge of murdering Lloyd. (AP Photo/Lloyd family via the Boston Bandits, File)

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)

ATTLEBORO, Mass. (AP) ? In the final minutes of his life, Odin Lloyd sent a series of texts to his sister.

"Did you see who I was with?" said the first, at 3:07 a.m. June 17. "Who?" she finally replied.

"NFL," he texted back, then added: "Just so you know."

It was 3:23 a.m. Moments later, Lloyd would be dead in what a prosecutor called an execution-style shooting orchestrated by New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez because his friend talked to the wrong people at a nightclub. Hernandez was charged Wednesday with murder and could face life in prison, if convicted.

Hernandez was cut from the NFL team less than two hours after he was arrested and led from his North Attleborough home in handcuffs, and nine days after Lloyd's body was discovered by a jogger in a remote area of an industrial park not far from Hernandez's home. The 2011 Pro Bowl selection had signed a five-year contract last summer with the Patriots worth $40 million.

His attorney, Michael Fee, called the case circumstantial during a Wednesday court hearing packed with reporters, curiosity seekers and police officers. Fee said there was a "rather hysterical atmosphere" surrounding the case and urged the judge to disregard his client's celebrity status as he asked for Hernandez, 23, to be released on bail.

The judge, though, ordered Hernandez held without bail on the murder charge and five weapons counts.

Another man, Carlos Ortiz, 27, was arrested Wednesday in Hernandez's hometown of Bristol, Conn., as part of the murder investigation, New Britain State's Attorney Brian Preleski said Thursday. Ortiz was charged as a fugitive from justice and waived extradition to Massachusetts. Prison records show he is being held on $1.5 million bail at a Hartford jail.

Ortiz's public defender, Alfonzo Sirica, declined to comment about the case.

Hernandez was scheduled to appear at a bail review hearing Thursday afternoon in Fall River, according to Bernie Sullivan, spokesman for the Bristol County sheriff.

On Wednesday, Hernandez stood impassively with his hands cuffed in front of him as Bristol County Assistant District Attorney Bill McCauley laid out a detailed timeline of the events, cobbled together from sources including witnesses, surveillance video, text messages and data from cellphone towers.

Lloyd, 27, a semi-pro football player with the Boston Bandits, had known Hernandez for about a year and was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancee, the mother of Hernandez's 8-month-old baby, McCauley said.

On June 14, Lloyd went with Hernandez to the Boston nightclub Rumor. McCauley said Hernandez was upset Lloyd had talked to people there with whom Hernandez had trouble. He did not elaborate.

Two days later, McCauley said, Hernandez texted two unidentified friends and asked them to hurry to Massachusetts from Connecticut. At 9:05 p.m., a few minutes after the first message to his friends, Hernandez texted Lloyd to tell him he wanted to get together, McCauley said.

Later, surveillance footage from Hernandez's home showed his friends arrive and go inside. Hernandez, holding a gun, then told someone in the house he was upset and couldn't trust anyone anymore, the prosecutor said.

At 1:12 a.m. June 17, the three left in Hernandez's rented silver Nissan Altima, McCauley said. Cell towers tracked their movements to a gas station off the highway. There, he said, Hernandez bought blue Bubblicious gum.

At 2:32 a.m., they arrived outside Lloyd's home in Boston and texted him that they were there. McCauley said Lloyd's sister saw him get into Hernandez's car.

From there, surveillance cameras captured images of what the prosecutor said was Hernandez driving the silver Altima through Boston. As they drove back toward North Attleborough, Hernandez told Lloyd he was upset about what happened at the club and didn't trust him, McCauley said. That was when Lloyd began sending texts to his sister.

Surveillance video showed the car entering the industrial park and at 3:23 a.m. driving down a gravel road near where Lloyd's body was found. Four minutes later, McCauley said, the car emerged. During that period, employees working an overnight shift nearby heard several gunshots, McCauley said.

McCauley said Lloyd was shot multiple times, including twice from above as he was lying on the ground. He said five .45-caliber casings were found at the scene.

Authorities did not say who fired the shots or identify the two others with Hernandez.

At 3:29 a.m., surveillance at Hernandez's house showed him arriving, McCauley said.

"The defendant was walking through the house with a gun in his hand. That's captured on video," he said.

His friend is also seen holding a gun, and neither weapon has been found, McCauley said.

Then, the surveillance system stopped recording, and footage was missing from the six to eight hours after the slaying, he said.

The afternoon of June 17, the prosecutor said, Hernandez returned the rental car, offering the attendant a piece of blue Bubblicious gum when he dropped it off. While cleaning the car, the attendant found a piece of blue Bubblicious gum and a shell casing, which he threw away. Police later searched the trash bin and found the gum and the casing. The prosecutor said it was tested and matched the casings found where Lloyd was killed.

As McCauley outlined the killing, Lloyd's family members cried and held each other. Two were so overcome that they had to leave the courtroom.

The Patriots said in a statement after Hernandez's arrest but before the murder charge was announced that cutting Hernandez was "the right thing to do."

"Words cannot express the disappointment we feel knowing that one of our players was arrested as a result of this investigation," it said.

Hernandez was drafted by the Patriots in 2010 out of the University of Florida, where he was an All-American.

During the draft, one team said it wouldn't take him under any circumstances, and he was passed over by one club after another before New England picked him in the fourth round. Afterward, Hernandez said he had failed a drug test in college ? reportedly for marijuana ? and was up front with teams about it.

A Florida man filed a lawsuit last week claiming Hernandez shot him in the face after they argued at a strip club in February.

Hernandez became a father on Nov. 6 and said he intended to change his ways: "Now, another one is looking up to me. I can't just be young and reckless Aaron no more. I'm going to try to do the right things."

___

Associated Press writers Bridget Murphy in Boston and Howard Ulman in North Attleborough contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-06-27-US-Hernandez-Police/id-a18a26f3b7dc47ab8c30efd17abe0307

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News Summary: Pope names Vatican bank commission

TAKING ACTION: Pope Francis took a key step Wednesday toward reforming the troubled Vatican bank, naming a five-person commission of inquiry to look into its activities amid a new money-laundering probe and continued questions about the very nature of the secretive financial institution.

WHAT ELSE: Last year there were revelations in leaked documents that told of dysfunction, petty turf wars and allegations of corruption in the Holy See's governance.

CHANGE AT THE TOP: Francis, who has made clear he has no patience for corruption and wants a "poor" church, has already named a separate commission of cardinals to advise him on the broader question of reforming the Vatican bureaucracy.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/news-summary-pope-names-vatican-180120267.html

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Whole genome or exome sequencing: An individual insight

June 26, 2013 ? Focusing on parts rather than the whole, when it comes to genome sequencing, might be extremely useful, finds research in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Medicine. The research compares several sequencing technologies in the same individual with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT), and shows that sequencing the coding regions alone at high depth of coverage can identify the genetic variation behind this disease, and was also able to resolve previous ambiguities.

Next generation sequencing for understanding human DNA variation and genetic disorders is advancing in leaps and bounds. Whole genome sequencing reads all of an individual's DNA, whereas exome sequencing captures only the parts of the DNA which code for proteins. Exome sequencing is faster and cheaper, but concerns have previously been raised that it misses important information.

A team from Baylor College of Medicine led by Prof. James Lupski and Prof. Richard Gibbs compared several different exome and whole genome sequencing technologies on DNA from the same person with CMT. Prof. Jim Lupski explained, "Both methods were able to find the same 12 variants which affect cellular response to specific drugs such as betablockers, warfarin and the anti-cancer drug paclitaxel, and identify novel CMT-associated mutations in SH3TC2 that encodes for a protein with a role in peripheral nerve myelination."

Exome sequencing had fewer false positives, and a greater sensitivity due to the higher coverage achieved when focusing only in a small fraction of the genome. Consequently it was able to correctly identify nucleotides which were ambiguous when using whole genome sequencing at lower coverage, and so clarify whether they were associated with CMT or not.

Prof. Richard Gibbs commented, "The higher coverage afforded by focusing on the exome at approximately 120x for clinical exomes allows greater precision of exome sequencing making this a superior approach, rather than a shortcut, to find which people might respond to a particular therapy or to define who has a specific disease."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by BioMed Central Limited.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. James R Lupski, Claudia Gonzaga-Jauregui, Yaping Yang, Matthew N Bainbridge, Shalini Jhangiani, Christian J Buhay, Christie L Kovar, Min Wang, Alicia C Hawes, Jeffrey G Reid, Christine Eng, Donna M Muzny and Richard A Gibbs. Exome sequencing resolves apparent incidental findings and reveals further complexity of SH3TC2 variant alleles causing CMT neuropathy. Genome Medicine, (in press)

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/UpbhlS4DXWg/130626211922.htm

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High above the Hudson, a battle over development

In this photograph taken Friday, June 21, 2013, in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., a pedestrian walks by an empty parking lot near a building on Sylvan Avenue. The electronics giant LG is planning to build a gleaming new headquarters here. One of the biggest opponents is New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contends the building will ruin the view of the Palisades, a line of steep cliffs along the Hudson River, that is visible from the Cloisters. The museum is joined by numerous environmental groups and local citizens who say the building will be an eyesore on one of the country's most beautiful spaces. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

In this photograph taken Friday, June 21, 2013, in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., a pedestrian walks by an empty parking lot near a building on Sylvan Avenue. The electronics giant LG is planning to build a gleaming new headquarters here. One of the biggest opponents is New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contends the building will ruin the view of the Palisades, a line of steep cliffs along the Hudson River, that is visible from the Cloisters. The museum is joined by numerous environmental groups and local citizens who say the building will be an eyesore on one of the country's most beautiful spaces. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

In this photograph taken Friday, June 21, 2013, in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., an empty parking lot is seen near a building on Sylvan Avenue. The electronics giant LG is planning to build a gleaming new headquarters here. One of the biggest opponents is New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contends the building will ruin the view of the Palisades, a line of steep cliffs along the Hudson River, that is visible from the Cloisters. The museum is joined by numerous environmental groups and local citizens who say the building will be an eyesore on one of the country's most beautiful spaces. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. (AP) ? It's one of the most beautiful, and surprising, views from New York City ? sheer cliffs rising about 330 feet from the western banks of the broad Hudson River and lushly blanketed by emerald foliage, nature's unexpected counterpoint to the steel skyscrapers and glass towers that crowd the shores of Manhattan and northern New Jersey.

Now, in an area preoccupied by real estate, development and views, this vista has sparked the latest skirmish over construction, conservation and job creation.

A collection of stakeholders including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, conservation groups, the Manhattan and Bronx borough presidents and former New Jersey governors object to the design of a new headquarters for LG Electronics USA above the cliffs, called the Palisades.

One part of the proposed building would pierce the tree line of the Palisades Interstate Park, a 12-mile-long National Historic Landmark along the shores of the Hudson. The company received a height variance from the town to build the 143-foot building. Development along the Palisades is normally limited to 35 feet.

LG's headquarters will stand across from the Cloisters museum and garden, which is nestled into a hilltop high above the eastern side of the river and is owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Fort Tryon Park in upper Manhattan. Industrialist John D. Rockefeller Jr. donated land for the Cloisters and purchased 700 acres of cliffs on the other side of the Hudson in the 1930s to keep the view pristine.

Looking west from the Cloisters on a sparkling summer day, one feels transported far from Manhattan. But while breathtaking, the view is not entirely pristine. Apartment towers and a crane rise about a mile south near the New Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, and closer to Englewood Cliffs, a stone apartment building rises out of the trees along with another, smaller building.

Opponents say they're not opposed to LG building a new headquarters on a 37-acre parcel that sits about a quarter-mile behind the Palisades in Englewood Cliffs. They just want it to be squat and below the tree line.

"It's rare in such a densely populated area to have protected for more than 100 years such an unspoiled viewscape and natural resource," said Mark Izeman, of the Natural Resources Defense Council, which opposes the development.

In a rare reversal, the Environmental Protection Agency withdrew from an agreement it entered into with LG regarding the Englewood Cliffs development. In a letter, EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck said the impact of the building on the beauty of the Palisades and the height variance was not made clear. She requested the building's height be lowered.

"This is not a step I take lightly," Enck wrote this month. "However, this viewshed is so important that the adverse impacts of construction of high-rise building cannot be condoned."

In a response, Wayne Park, president and CEO of South Korea-based LG, said the company is exploring design alternatives.

It's one of many salvos in a back-and-forth between the two sides that has lasted for months.

In 2012, conservation groups and residents filed two lawsuits over the project. One claimed the company was given an improper variance and accused the town of spot zoning. The other asserted the project would ruin the preservation efforts. The cases were consolidated and are before a judge.

Court-supervised mediation between the groups aimed at finding a compromise broke down two weeks ago.

LG ran a full-page ad in New Jersey newspapers June 23, proclaiming the "truth about LG's new HQ project," opposition to which has been "orchestrated by New York-based groups with no interest in the wider economic well-being of New Jersey."

The building will be a huge source of tax revenue to Englewood Cliffs, said Joseph Parisi Jr., mayor of the town about 12 miles northwest of midtown Manhattan that is also home to CNBC and Unilever USA. Nearly 94 percent of residents own homes, and the average income is $116,000. LG did not receive a tax incentive to build here, Parisi said.

The LG building is expected to create about 1,000 construction jobs, and 1,000 to 1,200 employees are expected to work at the new headquarters; about 500 people work at the current headquarters complex in Englewood Cliffs.

Hayley Carlock, an attorney at Scenic Hudson, said the conservation group believes that New Jersey and LG should build the headquarters, just lower than planned.

"We're concerned the LG building will stick out like a sore thumb and set a precedent," she said. "LG did it, so why can't we do it?"

Larry Rockefeller, the grandson of John D. Rockefeller, spoke with LG last year, urging them to lower the building.

LG spokesman John Taylor said the building will be a glass, environmentally friendly one that is wider than it is tall. One wing will be eight stories tall; the other three. Taylor said a total redesign would set the project back years because it would require another round of public hearings and approvals. He said the company is committed to going forward.

"To hear the other side they would say just make the building shorter and fatter," he said. It sounds good, but it's oversimplifying."

Four former New Jersey governors wrote to the company this month, saying the cliffs have inspired artists and been protected for more than 100 years. The governors asked for a resolution that would preserve the headquarters and the jobs its construction and completion will bring while protecting "one of the great landscapes of New Jersey."

Parisi said he just wants a building, regardless of height.

"I just hope all parties for or against come to some reasonable conclusion and come to a compromise," Parisi said. "I know the residents of Englewood Cliffs will be happy whatever that conclusion is."

___

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Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-06-27-Hudson%20River%20Cliff%20Battle/id-9c58b092495e44189ce7b394e1b7d3ba

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'World's most mysterious manuscript' has genuine message

Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University

Radio carbon dating has established that the Voynich Manuscript was penned on 15th-century parchment pages.

By Rossella Lorenzi
Discovery News

The Voynich Manuscript, an enigmatic book that has frustrated codebreakers and linguists for a century, contains a genuine message, according to a new computer analysis.

The study analyzed the unintelligible scripts that fill the about 250-page-long manuscript and extracted clusters of ?keywords? which could serve as a good starting point in cryptographic attempts.

PHOTOS: Cryptic Codes Yet to Be Cracked

Described as ?the world?s most mysterious manuscript,? the book takes its name from the rare-book dealer Wilfrid Voynich, who discovered it in 1912 in the Villa Mondragone near Rome. He claimed the book had belonged to the 16th-century Habsburg emperor Rudolf II.

Radio carbon dating established the manuscript was penned on 15th-century parchment pages.

The book?s estimated 250,000 characters are totally alien and make ?The Da Vinci Code? pale by comparison: arranged in groups like words and sentences, some resemble Latin letters and Roman numerals; others are unlike any known language.

Moreover, the puzzling handwriting is surrounded by intricately drawn illustrations: plants that can?t be identified, astrological symbols, elaborate networks of pipework and naked ladies dancing or bathing in a strange green liquid.

Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University

A portion of the mysterious Voynich Manuscript, which, according to a new computer analysis, carries a real message.

Modern scholars have thematically divided the manuscript into five sections: Herbal, Astrological, Biological, Pharmacological and Recipes.

?In spite of its unmistakable medieval-codex look, the origin, purpose and contents of the Voynich manuscript remain a deep mystery,? Marcelo Montemurro, a theoretical physicist from the University of Manchester, UK, and Damian Zanette, of the Statistical Physics Group at Centro At?mico Bariloche, R?o Negro, Argentina, wrote in the journal Plos One.

NEWS: Mysterious Manuscript?s Age Determined

?Since the seventeenth century, numerous attempts at deciphering the script have led to a few claims of success, but none of them has been convincing,? he added.

Speculations ranged from the manuscript being the secret work of a religious sect, the only remaining document from a forgotten language, an unbreakable secret code, and the recipe for the ?elixir of life.?

Montemurro used a computerized statistical method to analyze the text at a large scale. Focusing on patterns of how the words were arranged, the study extracted ?clusters? of cryptic words such as shedy, cthy, chor, qotedy and qokeey.

?The identification of these words is crucial for our analysis,? Montemurro told Discovery News.

PHOTOS: Can You Crack The Pigeon?s Code?

The key idea behind the extraction of the keywords relies on the non-homogeneous use of content-bearing words in any text, with certain words being used with a higher-than-average frequency when a specific topic is discussed.

?At the statistical level this means that these words that define the topics in the text end up being used in a sort of clustered pattern. On the contrary, words that are not related to any specific topic, like for instance function words like ?or?, ?and?, ?an?, have a much more uniform rate of use,? Montemurro said.

According to the researcher, if the words in the Voynich text are real encoded words, then this method could provide clues on which are the keywords that are more related to the book?s topics.

He noted that the manuscript presents a complex organization in the distribution of words that is compatible with those found in real language sequences.

ANALYSIS: Cat Paw Prints Found on 15th-Century Manuscript

The analysis also unveiled a relationship between the sections of the text that is consistent with similarities between the images.

?For instance, at the level of language, the Herbal and Pharmaceutical sections of the text are the most closely linked. Interestingly, these two sections are the ones sharing the lavish plant illustrations of the book,? Montemurro said.

Several experts dismissed the manuscript as a deliberate hoax, possibly forged by John Dee, an English mathematician and astrologer at Rudolph?s court.

In 2003 computer scientist Gordon Rugg demonstrated that text resembling that in the book could be generated with a Cardan grille, an encryption device invented around 1550.

ANALYSIS: Oldest European Medieval Cookbook Found

But according to Montemurro none of the proposed hoaxing methods has so far reproduced all the level of statistical structure of the Voynich text.

?The grille and table method proposed by Gordon Rugg as the one used to produce the hoax was introduced around 1550. However, carbon dating of the Voynich manuscript?s vellum indicates a date between 1404 and 1438,? said Montemurro.

?This fact seriously weakens even further the hoax hypothesis since it would imply that the expensive complete vellum was kept unused for more than a century, until the grille and table hoaxing method became available,? he concluded.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2dc78cc5/l/0Lscience0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A60C250C191345610Eworlds0Emost0Emysterious0Emanuscript0Ehas0Egenuine0Emessage0Dlite/story01.htm

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Suzuki lifts Yankees over Texas 4-3 with HR in 9th

New York Yankees Ichiro Suzuki watches his walk-off solo home run against the Texas Rangers in the ninth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in New York. The Yankees won 4-3. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

New York Yankees Ichiro Suzuki watches his walk-off solo home run against the Texas Rangers in the ninth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in New York. The Yankees won 4-3. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

New York Yankees Ichiro Suzuki greets his teammates at the plate after hitting a walk-off solo home against the Texas Rangers in the ninth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in New York. The Yankees won 4-3. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

New York Yankees' Ichiro Suzuki acknowledges the crowd after hitting a walk-off home run against the Texas Rangers in the ninth inning ofa baseball game Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in New York. The Yankees won 4-3. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

New York Yankees' Ichiro Suzuki, center, celebrates his walk-off home run with team members including Robinson Cano, far left, manager Joe Girardi and relief pitcher Mariano Rivera, far right, in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers on Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in New York. The Yankees won 4-3. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington, left, takes the ball from Texas Rangers starting pitcher Yu Darvish after Darvish allowed a sixth-inning solo home run to New York Yankees shortstop Jayson Nix in a baseball game Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

NEW YORK (AP) ? A few innings after a matchup between Japanese aces Yu Darvish and Hiroki Kuroda was spoiled by five home runs, Ichiro Suzuki finished off the Texas Rangers with a long ball of his own.

Suzuki homered off Tanner Scheppers with two outs in the ninth inning, lifting the New York Yankees to a 4-3 victory over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night.

"Love it," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "Sometimes it's tough to score runs when you're not hitting home runs. We got enough tonight."

Suzuki's drive to right-center was the Yankees' fourth home run of the game, three coming off Darvish, and it helped New York improve to 4-3 on a homestand that ends after two more games against the Rangers.

"I think it was just the wrong pitch at the wrong time," Scheppers said. "I probably showed him too many fastballs in that at-bat. Probably should have went with something different."

The Bronx Bombers were coming off a stretch in which they hit just four homers in 15 games, going 6-9. Other than Travis Hafner on Tuesday, the contributions came from some unlikely sources.

Brett Gardner and Jayson Nix also homered off Darvish, who hasn't won in seven starts. Suzuki's drive was his fourth of the year.

"Anyone can contribute, that's the great thing about this game," Girardi said. "When you have a bat in your hand, you can be part of the story."

Texas also had an unlikely power source: No. 9 hitter Leonys Martin connected twice off Kuroda.

Mariano Rivera (1-1) worked a scoreless ninth for New York, which ended the Rangers' five-game winning streak.

Scheppers (5-1) pitched a perfect eighth before being touched up by Suzuki in New York's first walk-off win this year.

The anticipated matchup between Darvish and Kuroda, Japanese aces with ERAs under 3.00, fizzled on a hot and sticky night when a four-inning stretch produced five home runs.

The 11th major league matchup between starters from Japan got off to a sharp start. Even when the Yankees loaded the bases in the first on three straight singles that just cleared the gloves of leaping infielders, Darvish easily got out of the jam with a strikeout and an easy grounder.

But Martin started the home run barrage with a shot that landed a couple of rows back in the short right field porch.

"The home runs I gave up, that was bad, but otherwise I think I pitched well," Kuroda said through a translator.

After the Rangers went up 2-0 on an unearned run in the fourth aided by rookie third baseman David Adams' throwing error, Hafner led off the bottom half with a long ball into the New York bullpen. Martin then started the fifth with a shot that landed several sections to the left of his first homer for his fifth of the year.

Not to be outdone, Gardner led off the Yankees' half with a line drive deep into the seats in right field to pull New York to 3-2.

Kuroda had his first perfect inning since the second in the sixth. And Nix promptly tied it with a soaring fly to left field that cleared the wall by several rows, snapping his homerless string at 202 at-bats. Nix last homered on April 7.

Darvish was done two batters later, having allowed the most homers of his big league career in 45 starts. He hasn't won since beating Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers on May 16.

Pitching on extra rest because Texas chose to bring up top pitching prospect Martin Perez to start against St. Louis on Saturday and push everyone back a day, Darvish struck out six. He yielded seven hits and three runs.

"He wasn't at his best. I think we had him twice with two-run leads," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "He tried to get a cutter in on Gardner and didn't get it there and then he hung two breaking balls. They worked him and made him throw some pitches."

Kuroda lasted into the seventh, lifted before facing Martin again. Boone Logan came in and struck out the No. 9 hitter.

Kuroda matched his line from the last time he faced Darvish on April 24, 2012 ? two earned runs and five hits in 6 2-3 innings. He also struck out six.

Texas took advantage of Adams' throwing error on Adrian Beltre's grounder to go up 2-0 in the fourth. Beltre reached when Adams' long throw skidded past first baseman Lyle Overbay with one out. A.J. Pierzynski and Lance Berkman each singled to load the bases before Mitch Moreland's grounder to second base was too slow for Robinson Cano to start a double play, allowing a run to score.

With runners on first and third, David Murphy then hit a grounder that shortstop Nix fielded deep behind second base. He made a strong throw for the third out.

NOTES: Chris Stewart threw two runners out trying to steal and Pierzynski one. ... Beltre made two errors. ... Girardi said 1B Mark Teixeira (right wrist inflammation) was going to see a doctor Tuesday but had no update after the game. Teixeira hasn't played since pulling himself from a game June 15 and Girardi said he is concerned about Teixeira because he is showing no improvement. ... Washington said he will find playing time for INF Jurickson Profar in this series. Profar's playing time has been curtailed since Ian Kinsler returned from the disabled list on June 15.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-06-26-Rangers-Yankees/id-f9e0fb43086a4c96ab62853f5df1603f

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Siri Actually Cares How Names Are Pronounced in iOS 7

In iOS 7, Siri's voice is becoming less robotic and more human (we'll have to wait and see if she's more useful). One of those improvements will be how she pronounces names. Instead of butchering your name or choppily spelling out letters of your friends' names, she'll be able to be 'taught' what the correct pronunciation is.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/LvBpJ9M8pRw/siri-actually-cares-how-names-are-pronounced-in-ios-7-567282774

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Army to cut brigades at 10 US bases

FILE - In this April 23, 2013 file photo, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. The U.S. Army is slashing the number of combat brigades from 45 to 33, and shifting thousands of soldiers out of bases around the county as it moves forward with the long-planned move to cut the size of the service by 80,000. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - In this April 23, 2013 file photo, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. The U.S. Army is slashing the number of combat brigades from 45 to 33, and shifting thousands of soldiers out of bases around the county as it moves forward with the long-planned move to cut the size of the service by 80,000. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? In a massive restructuring, the U.S. Army is slashing the number of active duty combat brigades from 45 to 33, and shifting thousands of soldiers out of bases around the country as it moves forward with a longtime plan to cut the size of the service by 80,000.

Officials say the sweeping changes would eliminate brigades at 10 Army bases in the U.S. by 2017, including in Texas, Kentucky, Georgia, Colorado, North Carolina, New York, Kansas and Washington. The Army will also cut thousands of other jobs across the service, including soldiers in units that support the brigades, and two brigades in Germany have already been scheduled for elimination.

Officials provided details on the plans on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publically. An announcement is expected Tuesday afternoon. The Army is being reduced in size from a high of about 570,000 during the peak of the Iraq war to 490,000 as part of efforts to cut the budget and reflect the country's military needs as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan end. Additional reductions could be required if Congress allows automatic budget cuts to continue into next year.

While the cuts may have less impact at some of the Army's larger bases such as Fort Hood in Texas and Fort Bragg in North Carolina, they could be more painful for communities around some of the smaller installations such as Fort Knox, where currently only one brigade is based.

The other seven U.S. bases that will lose a brigade are: Fort Bliss in Texas, Fort Campbell in Kentucky, Fort Carson in Colorado, Fort Drum in New York, Fort Riley in Kansas, Fort Stewart in Georgia, and Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington. Soldiers in the deactivated brigades would be transferred to other units.

The overall cut in size has been known for more than a year, and Army leaders have been working on how to manage the reduction, conducting local community meetings across the country and releasing an extensive study on the issue earlier this year.

Under the plan set to be announced Tuesday, the Army will increase the size of its infantry and armor brigades by adding another battalion, which is between 600-800 soldiers. Adding the battalion was a recommendation from commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan who said it would beef up the fighting capabilities of the brigades when they go to war.

A brigade is usually about 3,500 soldiers, but can be as large as 5,000 for the heavily armored units.

Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff, has said he hopes to be able to cut the 80,000 soldiers through voluntary departures, without forcing troops to leave the service. But Army leaders have not ruled out forced reductions.

The cuts do not affect National Guard or Reserve brigades and units.

Officials said the decisions on the cuts were based on a variety of factors including required training resources, ranges, air space and infrastructure, as well as the need to put units near leadership and headquarters units.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-06-25-Army%20Cuts/id-8bc693ff096d4ede93d31d3173f478e2

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Five years of stereo imaging for NASA's TWINS

June 24, 2013 ? Surrounding Earth is a dynamic region called the magnetosphere. The region is governed by magnetic and electric forces, incoming energy and material from the sun, and a vast zoo of waves and processes unlike what is normally experienced in Earth-bound physics. Nestled inside this constantly changing magnetic bubble lies a donut of charged particles generally aligned with Earth's equator. Known as the ring current, its waxing and waning is a crucial part of the space weather surrounding our planet, able to induce magnetic fluctuations on the ground as well as to transmit disruptive surface charges onto spacecraft.

On June 15, 2008, a new set of instruments began stereoscopic imaging of this mysterious region. Called Two Wide-angle Imaging Neutral-atom Spectrometers or TWINS, these satellites orbit in widely separated planes to provide the first and only stereo view of the ring current. TWINS maps the energetic neutral atoms that shoot away from the ring current when created by ion collisions.

In five years of operation, the TWINS maps have provided three-dimensional images and global characterization of this region. The observatories track how the magnetosphere responds to space weather storms, characterize global information such as temperature and shape of various structures within the magnetosphere, and improve models of the magnetosphere that can be used to simulate a vast array of events.

"With two satellites, with two sets of simultaneous images we can see things that are entirely new," said Mei-Ching Fok, the project scientist for TWINS at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "This is the first ever stereoscopic energetic neutral atom mission, and it's changed the way we understand the ring current."

Each spacecraft is in a highly elliptical orbit called a Molniya orbit, during which the spacecraft spend most of their time around 20,000 miles above Earth, where they get a great view of the magnetosphere. Initially launched for a two-year mission, TWINS was formally extended in 2010 for three more years, with another multi-year extension pending. Over that time, TWINS has worked hand in hand with other NASA missions that provide information about Earth's magnetosphere.

"We've done some fantastic new research in the last five years," said David McComas, the principal investigator for TWINS at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. "As a mission of opportunity, it is a very inexpensive mission and it continues to return incredible science."

TWINS science is based on two instruments that can track neutral atoms. The first is a neutral atom imager that records the atoms that naturally stream away when a neutral atom collides with an ion. This allows the instrument to map the original ions from far away -- as if it could see atoms the way we see light -- instead of only collecting data from the areas of space it passes through.

"Over the course of the last 20 years a completely new technique evolved so we can observe charged particles, such as those in the ring current, remotely," said McComas. "The charged particles sometimes collide with a slow-moving neutral particle, in this case from a population of neutrals from Earth's highly extended atmosphere, the geocorona."

When this happens, an electron hops from the slow neutral atom to the fast ion, so now the former becomes charged, and the latter neutral. That new neutral speeds off in a straight direction, unfazed by the magnetic field lines around Earth that guide and control the motion of charged particles. TWINS collects such fast neutral particles and from that data scientists can work backward to map out the location and movement of the original ions.

The other instrument on TWINS is a Lyman alpha detector, which can measure the density of hydrogen from afar, and in this case observes the hydrogen cloud around Earth, the geocorona.

Most importantly, these instruments exist on both of the TWINS spacecraft. Much of the successful research in the last five years relies on the ability to watch these neutrals from two viewpoints, allowing scientists to analyze not only speed and number of particles, but also to determine the angles at which the particles left their original collisions. The stereo vision contributed to the detailed perspectives on how the magnetosphere reacts to space weather storms: both those due to the impact of a coronal mass ejection that traveled from the sun toward Earth and due to an incoming twist in the solar wind known as a co-rotating interaction region. TWINS has also revealed that the pitch angle at which the ions travel around Earth is different on each side of the planet. Such information helps scientists determine whether the ions are more likely to escape from the ring current out into space or to ultimately funnel down toward Earth.

"TWINS is a stereo mission, providing the first observations of the neutral atoms from two vantage points, but two spacecraft give us another advantage," said Natalia Buzulukova, a magnetospheric scientist at Goddard who works with TWINS data. "Two spacecraft provide continuous coverage of the ring current, as one set of instruments always has a view."

Because the spacecraft orbits are not in sync they provide stereoscopic imaging for a few hours each day, but there is always at least one spacecraft keeping tabs on how events are unfolding. Prior to TWINS, a spacecraft might see a tantalizing process taking place in the ring current for only a short while before its orbit took it out of view. The event might well have finished before the spacecraft came back around for its second look.

Such continuity has proved useful to determine what governs whether particles in the ring current will precipitate downward toward Earth as well as to provide a global temperature map of the magnetic tail trailing behind Earth, the magnetotail. Such a map had only ever previously been inferred from models and statistical analysis, never from a comprehensive data set of what was actually observed.

The Lyman-alpha instrument has been used in two ways. For one thing, it quantifies the geocorona in order to better understand how it affects the collisions in the ring current. It also has taught us more about the geocorona itself. Previously, researchers believed it to be a fairly simple sphere around Earth. The two TWINS instruments have shown how asymmetric it is, changing with the solar cycle, seasons, and even the hours of the day.

A final important feature of this fire hose of TWINS data is how much it helps improve computer simulations of the ring current and the rest of the magnetosphere. With accurate computer models, scientists can better predict how the magnetosphere will react to any given space weather event.

"We get two really unique things with two spacecraft: stereo imaging and continuous coverage. Together the observations we get are fantastic," said McComas. "It's an incredibly powerful combination of tools."

TWINS is an Explorer Mission of Opportunity. Southwest Research Institute leads TWINS with teams of national and international partners. Goddard manages the Explorers Program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C.

For more information about TWINS science and mission, visit: http://science.nasa.gov/missions/twins/

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/astronomy/~3/Xky6buFd45M/130624141606.htm

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Marco Rubio: President's Inaction Has Led to 'Worst Possible Scenario' in Syria (ABC News)

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