Tuesday, May 21, 2013

GM giving paid internships to 110 HS students

DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors is kicking the tires on a unique new internship program for Detroit-area high school students.

GM has hired 110 students for paid summer internships, the automaker said Monday in announcing the formation of the GM Student Corps, a program that combines service, education and mentoring.

The students will work in teams of 10 to develop and implement service projects in Detroit-area neighborhoods. They'll be trained and mentored by 60 GM retirees and a dozen GM student interns from the University of Detroit Mercy. GM will pay for the student projects and provide Chevrolet Express vans and Chevrolet Silverado full-size pickups so adult mentors can transport materials and students to project sites and life-skills classes.

GM North America President Mark Reuss said the company wants to help rebuild Detroit because it'll need a highly skilled workforce that wants to live in the area, Reuss said. The program, he said, is designed to break "a bad sort of swirling idea of despair," in the city and nearby communities.

GM said it selected the Student Corps members based on leadership potential, enthusiasm, school activities, citizenship and academic performance. The teams are currently planning their projects; work is scheduled to begin in mid-June and finish up in August.

At the end of the summer, leaders from each student team will present their programs and results to Reuss and his staff.

The GM Summer Corps experience also will be chronicled in a documentary filmed by Detroit Mercy professor Jason Roche, and interns are being encouraged to document their projects on social media.

The company wouldn't say how much it's spending on the program. But Reuss, who came up with the idea, said the company wanted to give promising students a chance to find summer jobs because there are few in the city. He hopes that other businesses will join with GM to expand the test program.

"Imagine if we had five companies full-force," he said. "That's what happens with some of the seed ideas when you plant them."

All the students will be paid and will get to put General Motors on their resumes, Reuss said. Those in the program would be good candidates for GM jobs in the future, he added. For many, this will be the first job they've ever had, he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gm-giving-paid-internships-110-184637228.html

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MavenSay Enjoying Sudden Popularity In Social Media-Hungry Indonesia

MavenSayMavenSay, a social recommendation app, just got a surge of unplanned downloads coming from Indonesia, and its founders are moving quickly to include Southeast Asia in its expansion plans as a result. The company’s Toronto-based co-founder, Jesse Dallal, said the two-month old app got 100,000 downloads over the past fortnight. It has a total of 130,000 downloads so far, and the sudden surge was tracked back to a power user based in Indonesia. They’re not sure which one it is, but the source of traffic points to the country, he said. The way the app works is similar to Pinterest, in that users follow other users’ recommendations. These could cover places they’ve eaten or music they’re listening to, for example. For its launch, MavenSay roped in what it called “influencers”?featured brands to follow such as Momofuku and Refinery29. The Indonesian user that triggered the downloads isn’t a celebrity that MavenSay had canvassed, but was clearly influential enough over his or her social network to move the downloads, said Dallal. “It’s been an unanticipated consequence of our [social] strategy,” he said, referring to the way things get viral on these recommendation platforms where people reblog items from influencers. “We’ve reached out to influencers in North America, but we’re also going to reach out to influencers in Asia now. We’re thinking of coming out there and talking to users to understand what the differences in culture and usage might be,” he said. MavenSay has seven people, including its three co-founders Dallal, Mike Wagman and Bryan Friedman. The small company can’t be expected to have concrete plans for Asia yet, but seeding interest in one of the world’s fastest-growing, mobile-hungry countries may pay off eventually. According to mobiThinking, Indonesia has 260 million mobile subscribers, although those with data connections make up just 47.6 million, or 18 percent of that. And Indonesians have been quick to embrace social networking sites, with fierce loyalties once something sticks. Aged social network Friendster started to pivot towards Asia around 2008, when it realised that 90 percent of its user base was coming from the region. While it was, by that time, lagging behind Facebook globally, some markets like Indonesia stayed loyal to Friendster. MavenSay has raised funding of $890,000 so far.

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

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World stocks mixed ahead of Fed statements

A man under an umbrella walks past an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo Monday, May 20, 2013. Japan's Nikkei 225 index jumped 1.4 percent to 15,352.84 as evidence of a steady economic recovery in the U.S. helped push Asian stock markets higher Monday. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

A man under an umbrella walks past an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo Monday, May 20, 2013. Japan's Nikkei 225 index jumped 1.4 percent to 15,352.84 as evidence of a steady economic recovery in the U.S. helped push Asian stock markets higher Monday. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

People under umbrellas walk by an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo, Monday, May 20, 2013. Japan's Nikkei 225 index jumped 1.4 percent to 15,352.84 as evidence of a steady economic recovery in the U.S. helped push Asian stock markets higher Monday. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

(AP) ? World stock markets were mixed Tuesday as investors waited for the U.S. Federal Reserve to telegraph what it plans to do next with its economic stimulus program.

The Fed is conducting its third round of massive bond purchases known as quantitative easing to help drive down interest rates and spur lending. But recently improving data on the U.S. economy has led to speculation that it might consider scaling back the program or winding it down earlier than expected.

On Wednesday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will appear before Congress and the central bank will release minutes of its most recent policy meeting.

"When markets are this elevated, with US markets at record levels, investors generally look for any excuse to exercise caution," said Stan Shamu, market strategist at IG in Melbourne.

European shares were mixed in early trading. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.1 percent to 6,761.79. Germany's DAX lost 0.4 percent to 8,422.06. France's CAC-40 shed 0.5 percent to 4,004.48. Wall Street also appeared set for losses, with Dow Jones industrial futures down marginally to 15,309 while S&P 500 futures fell 0.1 percent to 1,662.60.

Asian stocks posted uneven results. Japan's Nikkei 225 index eked out a small gain of 0.1 percent to close at 15,381.02, its highest finish in more than five years, as the dollar rebounded against the yen. The Nikkei is up 48 percent for the year.

But Asian stocks elsewhere fell. Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.5 percent to 23,366.37. South Korea's Kospi fell less than 0.1 percent to 1,981.09. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 sank 0.6 percent to 5,180.10. Benchmarks in mainland China and the Philippines rose while those in India and Singapore fell.

A key piece of data comes out of China later in the week when HSBC releases its monthly manufacturing survey Thursday. After some recent ups and downs, analysts said they expected to see a stabilization of growth in factory output.

"I think the market has already turned more cautious," said Linus Yip, strategist at First Shanghai Securities in Hong Kong. "I don't think it will add much more impact to the market overall."

Among individual stocks, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. soared 34.3 percent after the company launched the manufacture of a mini-vehicle jointly developed with Nissan Motor Co., Kyodo News said.

Speculation that Japan may restart nuclear reactors shut down following the March 2011 tsunami disaster helped push shares in Tokyo Electric Power Co. up 12.3 percent. The ruling Liberal Democrats are keen to resume operations at many reactors, though such decisions are months away since the government is due to introduce revised nuclear safety regulations in July.

Benchmark oil for June delivery was down 21 cents to $96.50 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 69 cents to close at $96.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.2884 from $1.2897 late Monday in New York. The dollar rose to 102.65 yen from 102.29 yen.

___

Follow Pamela Sampson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pamelasampson

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-05-21-World%20Markets/id-90fa7efc5dc04a838dbe3a062b86a798

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Hacked Brainwave Headset Lets You Control Architecture by Thinking

In the age of ubiquitous computing, we've grown fairly used to infrastructure, objects, and even furniture that adapt to the presence of humans. But what if you could control the behavior of a wall or room simply by thinking harder?

Read more...

    


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/I7uA8AYPWck/hacked-brainwave-headset-lets-you-control-architecture-508883130

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Monday, May 20, 2013

UN Calls On North Korea to Stop Missile Launches (Voice Of America)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/306804717?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Earth's iron core is surprisingly weak

May 20, 2013 ? Researchers have used a diamond anvil cell to squeeze iron at pressures as high as 3 million times that felt at sea level to recreate conditions at the center of Earth. The findings could refine theories of how the planet and its core evolved.

Through laboratory experiments, postdoctoral researcher Arianna Gleason, left, and Wendy Mao, an assistant professor of geological and environmental sciences and of photon science, determined that the iron in Earth's inner core is about 40 percent as strong as previously believed.

The massive ball of iron sitting at the center of Earth is not quite as "rock-solid" as has been thought, say two Stanford mineral physicists. By conducting experiments that simulate the immense pressures deep in the planet's interior, the researchers determined that iron in Earth's inner core is only about 40 percent as strong as previous studies estimated.

This is the first time scientists have been able to experimentally measure the effect of such intense pressure -- as high as 3 million times the pressure Earth's atmosphere exerts at sea level -- in a laboratory. A paper presenting the results of their study is available online in Nature Geoscience.

"The strength of iron under these extreme pressures is startlingly weak," said Arianna Gleason, a postdoctoral researcher in the department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, and lead author of the paper. Wendy Mao, an assistant professor in the department, is the co-author.

"This strength measurement can help us understand how the core deforms over long time scales, which influences how we think about Earth's evolution and planetary evolution in general," Gleason said.

Until now, almost all of what is known about Earth's inner core came from studies tracking seismic waves as they travel from the surface of the planet through the interior. Those studies have shown that the travel time through the inner core isn't the same in every direction, indicating that the inner core itself is not uniform. Over time and subjected to great pressure, the core has developed a sort of fabric as grains of iron elongate and align lengthwise in parallel formations.

The ease and speed with which iron grains in the inner core can deform and align would have influenced the evolution of the early Earth and development of the geomagnetic field. The field is generated by the circulation of liquid iron in the outer core around the solid inner core and shields Earth from the full intensity of solar radiation. Without the geomagnetic field, life -- at least as we know it -- would not be possible on Earth.

"The development of the inner core would certainly have some effect on the geomagnetic field, but just what effect and the magnitude of the effect, we can't say," said Mao. "That is very speculative."

Gleason and Mao conducted their experiments using a diamond anvil cell -- a device that can exert immense pressure on tiny samples clenched between two diamonds. They subjected minute amounts of pure iron to pressures between 200 and 300 gigapascals (equivalent to the pressure of 2 million to 3 million Earth atmospheres). Previous experimental studies were conducted in the range of only 10 gigapascals.

"We really pushed the limit here in terms of experimental conditions," Gleason said. "Pioneering advancements in pressure-generation techniques and improvements in detector sensitivity, for example, used at large X-ray synchrotron facilities, such as Argonne National Lab, have allowed us to make these new measurements."

In addition to intense pressures, the inner core also has extreme temperatures. The boundary between the inner and outer core has temperatures comparable to the surface of the sun. Simultaneously simulating both the pressure and temperature at the inner core isn't yet possible in the laboratory, though Gleason and Mao are working on that for future studies. (For this study, Gleason mathematically extrapolated from their pressure data to factor in the effect of temperature.)

Gleason and Mao expect their findings will help other researchers set more realistic variables for conducting their own experiments.

"People modeling the inner core haven't had many experimental constraints, because it's so difficult to make measurements under those conditions," Mao said. "There really weren't constraints on how strong the core was, so this is really a fundamental new constraint."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/uYHvEXbKtnY/130520095404.htm

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Obama Pivots to Jobs Tour at End of Scandal Filled Week

After a week filled with political scandals, President Obama turned to promoting his jobs tour in his weekly address Saturday.

"That's why I like getting out of the Washington echo chamber whenever I can - because too often, our politics aren't focused on the same things you are. Working hard. Supporting your family and your community. Making sure your kids have every chance in life," Obama said in his weekly address Saturday.

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"I'm going to keep trying to work with both parties in Washington to make progress on your priorities. Because I know that if we come together around creating more jobs, educating more of our kids, and building new ladders of opportunity for everyone who's willing to climb them - we'll all prosper, together," he said.

The president traveled to Baltimore, Md. Friday on his second stop for the "Middle Class Jobs and Opportunity Tour." He spoke at a dredging company, visited with children at an elementary school, and stopped at a community center focused on helping fathers and families.

Obama's trip came as he tried to pivot attention back to his second term agenda as a series of political scandals involving the IRS, Benghazi, and the Department of Justice dominated much of the week.

But while the president attempted to divert attention from the political scandals of the week, Republicans used the incidents as a rallying call to repeal the healthcare law.

RELATED: IRS Planted Question About Tax Exempt Groups

"Now: just think about the fact that it's the IRS that will be responsible for enforcing many of these regulations. If we've learned anything this week, it's that the IRS needs less power, not more'" Rep. Andy Harris, R-MD, said in the GOP weekly address, "As a matter of fact, it turns out that the IRS official who oversaw the operation that's under scrutiny for targeting conservatives is now in charge of the IRS's ObamaCare office. You can't make this stuff up."

"Well here's the problem: the train wreck is already here. ObamaCare is knocking Americans off the ladder of opportunity, and the sooner we repeal it, the sooner we can start fixing health care for working families," he said.

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-pivots-jobs-tour-end-scandal-filled-week-122158573--abc-news-politics.html

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How to view content from your Mac on your Apple TV with AirPlay Mirroring

How to view content from your Mac on your Apple TV with AirPlay Mirroring

If you own a Mac running OS X Mountain Lion and either a second or third generation Apple TV, you have the ability to display content from your Mac on your TV wirelessly with AirPlay Mirroring. If you are familiar with how AirPlay works for iOS with display mirroring, it's very similar.

If you've never used AirPlay on your Mac before, follow along and we'll show you how.

  1. Turn on your TV and your Apple TV.
  2. Make sure your Apple TV and your Mac are both connected to the same wifi network.
  3. In the task tray in the upper right corner of your Mac, look for the AirPlay icon.
  4. Click on the AirPlay icon and you should see your Apple TV available for mirroring. Simply click on it.

The content on your Mac screen will now automatically be shown on your TV screen.

    


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/ZmHkbeTV3IQ/story01.htm

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I need a american payroll dispatcher - Must Live In America :D ...

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Source: http://www.freelancer.com/projects/Data-Entry-Accounting/need-american-payroll-dispatcher-Must.4533247.html

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Derby winner Orb disappoints in the Preakness

Jockey Joel Rosario gallops orb back to the paddock after the 138th Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2013, in Baltimore. Oxbow won the race. Orb, the Kentucky Derby winner, finished fourth. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Jockey Joel Rosario gallops orb back to the paddock after the 138th Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2013, in Baltimore. Oxbow won the race. Orb, the Kentucky Derby winner, finished fourth. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Orb, with jockey Joel Rosario aboard, gallops back to the paddock after the 138th Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2013, in Baltimore. Oxbow won the race, Orb, the Kentucky Derby winner, finished fourth. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

(AP) ? Orb came up short in the Preakness, frustrating everyone who made the Kentucky Derby winner a 3-5 favorite ? no one more than trainer Shug McGaughey.

"I'm disappointed," McGaughey said after Orb finished fourth and Oxbow pulled off the upset Saturday.

"I'll be more disappointed tomorrow than I am right now. I know the game. It is highs and lows. Probably more lows than highs."

McGaughey and Orb were certainly on a high in the two weeks since the Derby. The colt had trained sensationally ahead of the Preakness, fanning hopes that a horse was finally going to end the Triple Crown drought that dates back to Affirmed in 1978.

Orb needed a Preakness win to set the stage for a Triple try three weeks later in the Belmont Stakes. He couldn't deliver, despite the outpouring of support at Pimlico as fans cheered loudly when he led the post parade.

He never settled into a groove. Orb broke from the rail and didn't seem comfortable being surrounded by horses.

In the Derby, Orb unleashed a breathtaking rally around the final turn, circling the field on a sloppy track to win by 2? lengths.

But there was no explosive move in the Preakness, only a mild kick in the late stages to make a dull effort appear a little better than it was.

McGaughey, as gracious as he's been throughout the Orb run, saluted fellow Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas on the victory.

"We had a great run two weeks ago," McGaughey said. "My hats off to Wayne, winning his sixth Preakness. That's a pretty remarkable record."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-05-18-RAC-Preakness-Orb/id-da11391137e04bc2a79d731334bb11c3

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Sunday, May 19, 2013

Watch Ridley Scott's Aliens Animated in Just 60 Seconds

Who has time to watch a whole movie anymore? It's summer! So in the spirit of phoning in everything once the temperature rises above 70-ish, here's Ridley Scott's Aliens in 60 seconds of adorable animation. Brought to you, of course, by the fine folks who did Star Wars Episode IV, Back to the Future, and The Matrix. Not bad for a human. [YouTube]

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Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/8yLoNL4HC6Y/watch-ridley-scotts-aliens-animated-in-just-60-seconds-508528275

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Hangouts Easter Eggs put dinos and ponies in your chat

Hangouts Easter Eggs put dinos and ponies in your chat

If the 850 hand-drawn emoji included in Hangouts aren't enough for you, we've got some good news -- there's a small collection of Easter Eggs that add even more whimsy to your discussions. The commands are mostly initiated with an IRC-like "/" followed by certain words. For example "/ponies" sends a colorful little filly prancing across your window. There's also "/ponystream" which overruns your chat with young horses. Of course, you can also punch in the Konami code (if you don't know what that is by now, there's no hope for you) which will change your background to pleasant drawing of a mountain and a tree. Sadly, that one is only visible to the person doing the typing. So far we're having mixed results with the web interface for Hangouts and the commands don't work on the mobile version. But in the Chrome app, everything is golden.

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Via: Droid Life

Source: Moritz Tolxdorff (Google+)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/17/hangouts-easter-eggs/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Samsung releases TecTiles 2 NFC tags for Galaxy S 4, available for $15 today

Remember Samsung's TecTiles NFC-enabled stickers? Well, much to our dismay, they don't work with the company's flashy new handset, and Galaxy S 4 owners haven't had an alternative to stock up on until today. Samsung's new TecTiles 2, which can perform tasks similar to the smartphone maker's previous-generation product, are now available, priced at $15 for a pack of five. They're compatible with all Samsung NFC-enabled Android smartphones, and offer up a variety of functions, such as muting your device when you tap a tag in the boardroom, or checking you in on Foursquare by touching a TecTile in a restaurant, for example. The small square stickers can now be ordered on Samsung's website -- if you'd prefer to pick them up in store, you'll need to hang tight until June.

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Source: Samsung

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

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Jets' Goodson facing drug, weapons charges

(AP) ? New York Jets running back Mike Goodson is facing drug and weapons charges after he was found in a car with an acquaintance early Friday morning on Interstate 80 in New Jersey.

According to state police, Goodson was a passenger in a vehicle driven by 31-year-old Garant Evans of Roselle. After receiving a 911 call from a tow-truck driver at about 3:15 a.m., police found them stopped in the left lane of Interstate 80 west in Denville, about 25 miles west of New York City.

State Police Sgt. Adam Grossman said both men were charged with marijuana possession, possession of drug paraphernalia and weapons offenses stemming from a 45-caliber semi-automatic handgun found in the vehicle. Grossman wouldn't say whether either man was the registered owner of the gun.

Evans also was charged with DWI, several traffic violations and possession of a weapon with a prior felony.

Goodson was evaluated at a hospital in Denville and released into police custody, Grossman said.

Both men were being held Friday pending transfer to the Morris County jail, Evans on $150,000 bail and Goodson on $50,000 bail. It wasn't immediately known when they were scheduled to appear in court.

"This is a pending legal matter," a Jets spokesman said. "There will be no further comment until the legal process has run its course."

The 25-year-old Goodson, from Spring, Texas, played three seasons for Carolina and one for Oakland before the Jets signed him to a three-year, $6.9 million deal, which includes a $1 million signing bonus, in March.

The Panthers drafted him in 2009 out of Texas A&M. He ran for 221 yards and caught 16 passes for 195 yards last season for the Raiders.

Two weeks ago, the Jets cut defensive end Claude Davis and cornerback Cliff Harris after they were arrested and charged with marijuana possession in Morristown, several miles from where Goodson was arrested.

The Jets train in nearby Florham Park.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-05-17-Jets-Goodson%20Arrested/id-a032ea869f5d481abc177060ad55ae1d

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HTC says One production will double to meet ?strong demand?

(updates with quotes, details, adds byline) * Chest infection worsens, forcing Wiggins to withdraw * Defending champion Hesjedal also out * Italy's Nibali leads as Uran takes over as Team Sky leader By Alasdair Fotheringham BUSSETO, Italy, May 17 (Reuters) - This year's Giro d'Italia claimed two major victims when pre-race favourite Bradley Wiggins and defending champion Ryder Hesjedal withdrew prior to Friday's 13th stage, the pair citing illness as the reason for abandoning the tour. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/htc-says-one-production-double-meet-strong-demand-230024068.html

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Saturday, May 18, 2013

70's-era physics prediction finally confirmed

Friday, May 17, 2013

City College of New York Assistant Professor of Physics Cory Dean, who recently arrived from Columbia University where he was a post-doctoral researcher, and research teams from Columbia and three other institutions have definitively proven the existence of an effect known as Hofstadter's Butterfly.

The phenomenon, a complex pattern of the energy states of electrons that resembles a butterfly, has appeared in physics textbooks as a theoretical concept of quantum mechanics for nearly 40 years. However, it had never been directly observed until now. Confirming its existence may open the door for researchers to uncover completely unknown electrical properties of materials.

"We are now standing at the edge of an entirely new frontier in terms of exploring properties of a system that have never before been realized," said Professor Dean, who developed the material that allowed the observation. "The ability to generate this effect could possibly be exploited to design new electronic and optoelectronic devices."

The international group, which also included the University of Central Florida, the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, and Japan's Tohoku University and National Institute for Materials Science, published its findings in the journal Nature; they appeared in an advance online publication May 15. Separate groups at the University of Manchester (UK) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology simultaneously reported similar results.

Douglas Hofstadter, a physicist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, first predicted the existence of the butterfly in 1976, when he imagined what would happen to electrons subjected to two forces simultaneously: a magnetic field and the periodic electric field.

The energy spectrum, or pattern of energy levels, that these dueling forces create is said to be "fractal," that is, infinitely smaller versions of the pattern appear within the main one. This effect is common in classical physics, but rare in the quantum world.

"When you plot the spectrum, it takes on the form of a butterfly. Zoom in on the spectrum and you see the butterfly again, zoom in and see butterfly again," said Professor Dean. The light and dark sections of the pattern, respectively, correspond to light "gaps" in energy level that electrons cannot cross and dark areas where they can move freely.

"The existence of gaps changes the way electrons move through a material. Copper for example, has no gaps, whereas an insulator, like glass, has very large gaps," explained Professor Dean. "The relationship between energy and how dense the electrons are in a material ? energy density ? determines all electrical properties. That's why copper conducts, glass or ceramic doesn't, and other materials weakly conduct, like semiconductors."

"What you see in a Hofstadter spectrum is a very complicated structure of gaps arranged in a fractal pattern," he continued, which suggests as yet unknown electrical properties.

The team produced the effect by sandwiching together flat sheets of graphene ? a single-atom-thickness of carbon ? and another material, called boron nitride, and twisting them against each other to create what is called a superlattice. "Graphene has hexagonal chicken wire structure and boron nitride does too," he said. "It is as if you take screen door material and put one sheet on top of other. As you rotate it you see a periodic pattern appear. You get an interference effect ? a 'moir?' pattern." In the case of the chicken-wire structure of graphene and boron nitride, the pattern forms a fractal butterfly of energy states.

"This is a very good example of fundamental discovery that opens doors that we don't even know about yet. Why go to a distant planet?" Professor Dean wondered, about the implications of the work. "We go there to discover what's out there. We don't yet know what this new world will result in and what will emerge out of this."

###

City College of New York: http://www2.ccny.cuny.edu

Thanks to City College of New York for this article.

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

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/128291/___s_era_physics_prediction_finally_confirmed

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Why Your Brain Thinks These Dots Are a Dog

Look at the adorable GIF above. What you're seeing is nothing more than a blob of disconnected, alternating smaller blobs. So why do our brains tell us that we're looking at a trotting dalmation? It's all because of a little trick our brains are playing on us known as the Law of Closure.

Closure, a subcomponent of the overarching concept Gestalt psychology, tells us that when we see something, our immediate inclination is to take the information and turn it into something we're familiar and comfortable with. When we look at a cluster of lines, we're far more likely to remember them as one big line than as many individual lines. More specifically, the Law of Closure explains our tendency to form imagined connections between things that are, otherwise, entirely separate.

For example, in the above image, we'll see alternating columns of squares and circles far more easily than rows of single, alternating shapes. The stronger the connections we can make between items (circles with circles and squares with squares) the less chaotic it seems.

Chaos is, of course, highly discomforting, so to find any sort of relief, we'll deploy closure to fill in the blanks and bring order to our world?whether it be in design or even in more subjective parts of our lives.

Interestingly enough, we're usually totally unaware of our inclination to bridge these gaps, because all of this is taking place subconsciously as a remnant of a (once highly necessary) primal survival instinct. Prehistoric humans who could identify predatorial patterns more quickly and with fewer clues would have had a significant advantage as far as not becoming someone's next meal goes. It makes sense, then, why even the slightest lack of closure can make us so uncomfortable.

Plus, the idea of closure-for-the-sake-of-survival illuminates the cause behind another key aspect of the process: The fact that, when we do make these connections, our brain's reward system is triggered, releasing endorphins. And this happens every single time you complete the process; fill in a missing space in a stamp collection, finish a book, identify the peacock in NBC's logo, and your body will actually give you a pleasant little boost for doing something it thinks is keeping you alive. And it's these endorphins that make us crave a sense of closure as often as we can and in nearly every aspect of our lives.

Now, consider how frustrating it can feel when a pattern has one element skewed and out of place, when a song on a beloved CD skips ahead, or when an otherwise familiar storyline ends in a cliffhanger. In the latter particularly, it's our anticipation of completion that drives our anxiety and urges us to tune in next time. Ultimately, we know the resolution will relieve tension, close the circle, and allow us to enjoy the pleasurable reward that comes when that unknown gap is finally filled.

So given our ability for closure's likely more far-reaching origins, it only makes sense that this handy little trick would manifest itself in areas other than simply visual design. For instance, in the video below, Bobby McFerrin offers a perfect example of how humans can?even en masse?bridge the gaps of information by relying on familiar patterns:

But there is a more troubling side to the process: rarely do we ever actually have total knowledge of a situation before making any sort of decision. Because we're almost always lacking information, the closure principal becomes the basis for nearly every decision, action, and conclusion we will ever make. But when we inevitably try to close the gap using insufficient information, the closure principle can end up working against us.

As designer Andy Rutledge puts it:

Closure is dangerous, volatile, seductive, hypnotic, and even playful. It works to show us an image that does not actually exist before our eyes; it reaches into our experience and into our psyche to create a fiction and compels us to believe it. From these results we construct our opinions, assumption, understanding ?our reality.

Still, as long as there is enough information to allow for the "efficient function of closure," or the ability to draw conclusions using minimal effort (such as with the easily identifiable panda above), we will more often than not come to the right conclusions?and be able to enjoy our just reward. [Andy Rutledge, Changing Minds, Wikispaces, Jeremy Bolton]

Arrows image: Shutterstock/Anson0618

Source: http://gizmodo.com/why-your-brain-thinks-these-dots-are-a-dog-506703504

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Light cast on lifestyle and diet of first New Zealanders

May 16, 2013 ? A University of Otago-led multidisciplinary team of scientists have shed new light on the diet, lifestyles and movements of the first New Zealanders by analysing isotopes from their bones and teeth.

In research published today in the international journal PLOS ONE, the team are able to identify what is likely to be the first group of people to colonise Marlborough's Wairau Bar possibly from Polynesia around 700 years ago. They also present evidence suggesting that individuals from two other groups buried at the site had likely lived in different regions of New Zealand before being buried at Wairau Bar.

The researchers, co-ordinated by the Department of Anatomy's Associate Professor Hallie Buckley, undertook isotopic analyses of samples recovered from the koiwi tangata (human remains) of the Rangitane iwi tupuna prior to their reburial at Wairau Bar in 2009.

The Wairau Bar Koiwi Project is part of a larger archaeological project being conducted in collaboration with the Rangitane iwi, the Canterbury Museum and the University of Otago. The interpretation of these new data was strengthened by collaboration with colleagues from SPAR, the University of Otago archaeologists who undertook the more recent archaeological excavations at the site.

"By examining ratios of carbon and nitrogen isotopes present in bone collagen we were able to estimate individuals' broad dietary makeup over a 10-20 year period prior to death. Our analysis of strontium isotopes in teeth allowed us to distinguish between people growing up in geologically different landscapes," says Dr Rebecca Kinaston, who conducted the isotope analyses on the bones and teeth.

The tupuna were originally buried in three separate groups in a large village at the Wairau site. First excavated over 70 years ago, this ancient settlement is one of the most important archaeological sites in New Zealand because of its age and the range of east Polynesian type artefacts found there.

Previous research found that one of the burial groups displayed distinct cultural differences to the two other burial groups at the site. These included the positions in which they were interred and the presence of more numerous and rich grave offerings, including whale bone ornaments and moa eggs generally not found with the other two groups.

The new isotopic analysis of bone collagen and teeth suggests that members of this first group shared similar diets and childhood origins, while individuals in Groups 2 and 3 displayed highly variable diets and spent their childhood in geologically different areas to Group 1.

"Interestingly, Group 1 individuals showed a dietary trend similar to that identified in prehistoric individuals from a site in the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia, with both sets of people sharing a low diversity in protein sources," Dr Kinaston says.

In contrast, dietary patterns in Groups 2 and 3 were found to be in line with individuals who spent most of their lives eating from a wide range of protein sources, such as would be available through New Zealand's then bountiful seal, moa and other bird populations.

The large range found in Group 2 and 3's strontium isotope ratios could reflect that they grew up in regions outside of Wairau Bar -- but not where Group 1 did -- and also that they were hunting and gathering across a wide geographical range, says Associate Professor Hallie Buckley.

"This is consistent with other archaeological evidence that the first settlers in New Zealand were highly mobile. That members of Groups 2 and 3 were still buried back at Wairau suggests that this village may have fulfilled both a ceremonial and home base function."

If this is the case, this may represent the roots of the tangihanga ritual, in which Maori are buried in their ancestral lands, developing among these first New Zealanders, Associate Professor Buckley says.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/O97JjrFUODA/130516105700.htm

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The winner of 'American Idol' is ...

TV

10 hours ago

Image: Candice Glover, Kree Harrison

FOX

Candice Glover and Kree Harrison battled it out for the title of "American Idol."

The third time proved to be the charm for Candice Glover, as she was crowned the ?American Idol? season 12 champion on Thursday over Kree Harrison.

For Candice, who auditioned in season nine and season 11 but failed to make the live shows both times, her face showed a mixture of redemption, joy and relief. She broke down closing the show with ?I Am Beautiful,? her debut single, but she can surely expect a lot of iTunes pre-orders anyway.

Before that, she got to display her vocal power one last time in her finale duet with Jennifer Hudson. That performance illustrated why Candice won. She made it very easy for everyone to see the type of singer she could become, and the pairing of the two was one of the most inspired in ?Idol? finale history, which, to be sure, is not lavish praise.

It?s also important to note that even Jennifer Hudson was not the vocal behemoth she is now back when she was an ?Idol? hopeful in season three. She grew tremendously after being voted off the show, and Candice?s task is to develop at a similar level now that she?s the champion.

Kree, meanwhile, performed her own celebrity duet with Keith Urban, and while it was enjoyable to watch, it illustrated her drawback. She has a very compelling story and is a talented singer. It would not have been an outrage had she won. But it was also less apparent what kind of singer she wanted to be. Is she country? Soul? Pop? Sometimes it seemed like she wasn?t sure herself, and the fact that Ryan Seacrest didn?t give his usual ?only a handful of votes separated the finalists? speech may have indicated that it wasn?t that close.

As usual, the final ?Idol? episode of the season was a night of random pairings and guest stars, the bells and whistles that remind the audience how dull all the other results shows were in comparison. Some of the matchups worked (Angie Miller and Adam Lambert singing ?Titanium?). Some of them didn?t (Angie and Jessie J). The boys got to sing live with Frankie Valli. The girls got Aretha Franklin as their singing partner, but only via satellite hookup from New York. Janelle Arthur got to sing with The Band Perry, and Amber Holcomb with Emeli Sande.

Original judge Randy Jackson received a send-off with a short video tribute that reminded everyone how much fresher the show was a decade ago when Simon Cowell looked a little scruffier and Randy hadn?t yet work his catchphrases into the ground. Another video short blamed sabotage from the girls and Jordin Sparks for the quick exit of the male finalists, and featured a random dig at ?The Voice? as well as acknowledgement that none of the male finalists played the guitar as the last five winners did might have been a factor in their defeat this season. Other clips allowed the contestants to made fun of the judges, and served as the usual highlights montage of ?oh, yeah, I remember THAT? moments.

Meanwhile, all the judges got to perform live onstage ? except Nicki Minaj. (Well, and perhaps Mariah Carey, given what looked like a miserable lip-synching effort on her part.) Even Jennifer Lopez got to strut her stuff, and she?s just an ex-judge. Viewerss also saw Randy play the bass, but not Nicki singing ?Super Bass.? (It doesn?t take a soothsayer to note that?s not a good sign for the chances of her returning.)

But give ?Idol? some credit: Unlike in past years, they did not bring back terrible auditions to serve as punch lines one more time. Although, Lazaro Arbos was chewing his gum with such fury on stage that maybe he was supposed to fill that role.

Now begins an uncertain offseason for ?Idol,? with major changes likely to come. But in the meantime, the show?s executives can rest easy knowing that it wound up with the right champion in season 12.

What did you think of the results? Will you be buying Candice's debut album? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/winner-american-idol-1C9965347

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