Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/193545104?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
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Arrests in Oakland protests rise to more than 400 (Reuters)
OAKLAND, Calif (Reuters) ? More than 400 anti-Wall Street protesters were arrested in Oakland during a night of skirmishes in which police fired tear gas and bean bag projectiles, the city said on Sunday, marking one of the biggest mass arrests since nationwide economic protests began last year.
Earlier on Sunday, authorities had said that the arrest figure was between 200 and 300. But the Oakland emergency operations center said in a statement that revised that up to more than 400, and said that Oakland Police were expected to announce a more precise number later on Sunday.
Riot police on Saturday night fought running skirmishes with protesters, injuring three officers and at least one demonstrator.
The scuffles erupted in the afternoon as activists sought to take over a shuttered downtown convention center, sparking cat-and-mouse battles that lasted well into the night in a city that has seen tensions between police and protesters boil over repeatedly.
Oakland has become an unlikely flashpoint of the national "Occupy" protests against economic inequality that began last year in New York's financial district and have spread to dozens of cities across the country.
The protests in most cities have been peaceful and sparked a national debate over how much of the country's wealth is held by the richest 1 percent of the population. President Barack Obama has sought to capitalize on the attention by calling for higher taxes on the richest Americans.
Protests focused on Oakland after a former Marine, Scott Olsen, was critically injured during a demonstration in October. Protesters said he was hit in the head by a tear gas canister but authorities have never said exactly how he was hurt.
The Occupy movement appeared to lose momentum late last year as police cleared protest camps in cities across the country.
Violence erupted again in Oakland on Saturday when protesters attempted to take over the apparently empty downtown convention center to establish a new headquarters and draw attention to the problem of homelessness.
Police in riot gear moved in, firing smoke grenades, tear gas and bean-bag projectiles to drive the crowd back.
"Officers were pelted with bottles, metal pipe, rocks, spray cans, improvised explosive devices and burning flares," the Oakland Police Department said in a statement. "Oakland Police Department deployed smoke and tear gas."
Some activists, carrying shields made of plastic garbage cans and corrugated metal, tried to circumvent the police line, and surged toward police on another side of the building as more smoke canisters were fired.
Oakland city officials said "extremists" were fomenting the demonstrations and using the city as a playground for the movement. Protesters have accused the city of overreacting and using heavy-handed tactics.
Across the country in New York, police said four people were arrested on Saturday night after protesters clashed with police at what demonstrators had called an "OccuParty" inside an abandoned building in the borough of Brooklyn. Protesters knocked over garbage pails and hurled objects at police, slightly injuring six officers, a police spokesman said. The four people were charged with a variety of crimes including inciting a riot.
Tension was rising in Washington as well, where the National Park Service has said it will bar Occupy protesters in the nation's capital from camping in two parks near the White House where they have been living since October.
That order, if carried out as promised on Monday, could be a blow to one of the highest-profile chapters of the movement.
(Additional reporting by Barbara Goldberg in New York and Kim Dixon and Rachelle Younglai in Washington; Editing by Greg McCune and Corrie MacLaggan)
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Sunday, January 29, 2012
Farmers Insurance Open 2012, Leaderboard Update: Kyle Stanley ...
The 2012 Farmers Insurance Open is about halfway through its final day and, barring a monumental collapse, it looks as though Kyle Stanley is going to end up atop the leaderboard when all is said and done. The third-year pro is six strokes ahead of his closest competition through eight holes on Day 4 of the tournament.
Stanley birdied three of the holes on the front-nine of the Torrey Pines course in La Jolla, Calif., with his lone misstep being a bogey on the eighth hole. It shouldn't be a problem, however, as the former Clemson Tigers golfer built up an impressive lead earlier in the tournament.
Brandt Snedeker is second in the tournament, but his 14-under is six strokes worse than Stanley. John Rollins, Justin Leonard and Cameron Tringale round out the Top 5 hoping to catch up to Stanley as the tournament comes to an end.
For more golf news, check out Waggle Room. For updates on this tournament, check out our Farmers Insurance Open 2012 StoryStream. The full leaderboard can be found here.
Source: http://www.sbnation.com/golf/2012/1/29/2756707/2012-farmers-insurance-open-leaderboard
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911 call reveals frantic efforts to help Moore (AP)
LOS ANGELES ? A 911 recording revealed frantic efforts by friends of Demi Moore to get help for the actress who was convulsing as they gathered around her and tried to comfort her.
Moore was "semi-conscious, barely," according to a female caller on the recording released Friday by Los Angeles fire officials.
The woman tells emergency operators that Moore, 49, had smoked something before she was rushed to the hospital on Monday night and that she had been "having issues lately."
"Is she breathing normal?" the operator asks.
"No, not so normal. More kind of shaking, convulsing, burning up," the friend says as she hurries to Moore's side, on the edge of panic.
Another woman is next to Moore as the dispatcher asks if she's responsive.
"Demi, can you hear me?" she asks. "Yes, she's squeezing hands. ... She can't speak."
When the operator asks what Moore ingested or smoked, the friend replies, but the answer was redacted.
Asked if Moore took the substance intentionally or not, the woman says Moore ingested it on purpose but the reaction was accidental.
"Whatever she took, make sure you have it out for the paramedics," the operator says.
The operator asks the friend if this has happened before.
"I don't know," she says. "There's been some stuff recently that we're all just finding out."
Moore's publicist, Carrie Gordon, said previously that the actress sought professional help to treat her exhaustion and improve her health. She would not comment further on the emergency call or provide details about the nature or location of Moore's treatment.
The past few months have been rocky for Moore.
She released a statement in November announcing she had decided to end her marriage to fellow actor Ashton Kutcher, 33, following news of alleged infidelity. The two were known to publicly share their affection for one another via Twitter.
Moore still has a Twitter account under the name mrskutcher but has not posted any messages since Jan. 7.
Meanwhile, Millennium Films announced Friday that Sarah Jessica Parker will replace Moore in the role of feminist Gloria Steinem in its production of "Lovelace," a biopic about the late porn star Linda Lovelace. A statement gave no reason for the change. The production, starring Amanda Seyfried, has been shooting in Los Angeles since Dec. 20.
During the call, the woman caller says the group of friends had turned Moore's head to the side and was holding her down. The dispatcher tells her not to hold her down but to wipe her mouth and nose and watch her closely until paramedics arrive.
"Make sure that we keep an airway open," the dispatcher says. "Even if she passes out completely, that's OK. Stay right with her."
The phone is passed around by four people, including a woman who gives directions to the gate and another who recounts details about what Moore smoked or ingested. Finally, the phone is given to a man named James, so one of the women can hold Moore's head.
There was some confusion at the beginning of the call. The emergency response was delayed by nearly two minutes as Los Angeles and Beverly Hills dispatchers sorted out which city had jurisdiction over the street where Moore lives.
As the call is transferred to Beverly Hills, the frantic woman at Moore's house raises her voice and said, "Why is an ambulance not on its way right now?"
"Ma'am, instead of arguing with me why an ambulance is not on the way, can you spell (the street name) for me?" the Beverly Hills dispatcher says.
Although the estate is located in the 90210 ZIP code above Benedict Canyon, the response was eventually handled by the Los Angeles Fire Department.
By the end of the call, Moore has improved.
"She seems to have calmed down now. She's speaking," the male caller told the operator.
Moore and Kutcher were wed in September 2005.
Kutcher became a stepfather to Moore's three daughters ? Rumer, Scout and Tallulah Belle ? from her 13-year marriage to actor Bruce Willis. Moore and Willis divorced in 2000 but remained friendly.
Moore can be seen on screen in the recent films "Margin Call" and "Another Happy Day." Kutcher replaced Charlie Sheen on TV's "Two and a Half Men" and is part of the ensemble film "New Year's Eve."
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Saturday, January 28, 2012
Israel proposes West Bank barrier as border (AP)
RAMALLAH, West Bank ? Israel is proposing to essentially turn its West Bank separation barrier into the border with a future state of Palestine, two Palestinian officials said Friday, based on their interpretation of principles Israel presented in talks this week.
The officials said Israeli envoy Yitzak Molcho told his Palestinian counterpart that Israel wants to keep east Jerusalem and consolidate Jewish settlements behind the separation barrier, which slices close to 10 percent off the West Bank. They spoke on condition of anonymity, citing strict no-leaks rules by Jordanian mediators.
The proposal would fall short of what the Palestinians seem likely to accept, especially because it would leave Jerusalem on the "Israeli" side of the border.
But it would also mark a significant step for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has spent most of his career as a staunch opponent of Palestinian independence.
And if talks advance in such a direction, it could also spell the end for his nationalist coalition, where key members would consider the abandonment of most of the West Bank ? a strategic highland and biblical heartland ? an unforgivable betrayal.
Israel has confirmed that it presented principles this week for drawing a border with a Palestinian state. But the politically charged nature of the talks ? even though they were held at a relatively low level, below that of Cabinet ministers ? was reflected in the guarded refusal by any top official to discuss details.
An Israeli government official said that as far as he knew, the information was incorrect, but declined to elaborate or go on the record, citing Jordan's demand for discretion.
Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor, one of the closest Cabinet ministers to Netanyahu, said he has been supporting such an offer for months, and that Israel should concentrate on preserving the large West Bank settlement blocs, close to the pre-1967 border. But he could not confirm whether the offer was in fact made.
"I do not know if (Molcho) said these words exactly, but it would be great," Meridor told The Associated Press.
The Palestinian officials ? one a senior member of the leadership ? said Molcho told the Palestinians that Israel wants to live peacefully beside a Palestinian state.
It would be the most detailed offer yet from Netanyahu on how much he wants to keep of the lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War ? the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem.
The Palestinians want to establish their state in virtually all of these lands ? although they do seem ready to accept minor adjustments, through land swaps in which Israel keeps some of the largest settlements.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is certainly unlikely to consider a proposal that keeps east Jerusalem under Israeli control. The eastern sector of the city is home to key Jewish, Muslim and Christian sites.
And Israel's position, as described by the Palestinians, is less than what was offered by Netanyahu's predecessors, Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert, who were willing to discuss a partition of Jerusalem as well.
About half a million Israelis settled in east Jerusalem and the West Bank after 1967, including tens of thousands east of the barrier.
Israel started building the barrier in 2002, in the midst of a Palestinian uprising that included scores of deadly attacks by Palestinian militants who crossed from the West Bank into Israel and blew themselves up among civilians.
Israelis have generally credited the barrier ? along with other punitive measures ? with stopping the spate of incursions several years ago.
However, it was routed in a way that raised questions about Israel's claim that it was a temporary security measure ? weaving through the West Bank, looping wide around some settlements to leave room for expansion, and looking very much like a border a future Israeli government might argue for. The Palestinians condemned it from the start as a land grab.
The Palestinian officials also said that Molcho portrayed the Jordan Valley, which makes up about one-fourth of the West Bank and borders Jordan, as a strategic Israeli security asset. However, that wording suggests less than a demand for firm territorial control.
Netanyahu has said he wants a continued Israeli presence on the eastern border of a future Palestinian state as part of any peace deal.
Netanyahu has long argued Israel needs the area as a security buffer ? protection against possible attack from the east.
The 1994 peace treaty with Jordan eased this concern ? but the Arab Spring has given it new life: although it is almost never discussed by officials, mindful of riling Jordan, many in Israel ponder a nightmare scenario in which the Jordanian monarchy falls to Israel's enemies, who then pour weapons and militants into the West Bank, reaching within miles (kilometers) from its major cities.
A senior Israeli military official said last week the Israeli army had to consider in its planning the possibility of heightened threats from east of the West Bank.
Israeli officials have said any presence in the Jordan Valley could be reviewed over time.
Abbas, meanwhile, is under growing pressure from the Quartet of Mideast mediators ? the U.S., the U.N., the EU and Russia ? to continue the talks with Israel, which began earlier this month. The Quartet had asked the sides to present detailed proposals on borders and security arrangements.
The Palestinians argue that the period set aside for the contacts ended Thursday, or three months after the Quartet issued its marching orders. Israel says the intention was to have three months of talks, and so wants meetings to continue.
Abbas will consult Monday with senior officials from the Palestine Liberation Organization and his Fatah movement. Later next week, he will also seek advice from the Arab League.
___
Perry reported from Tel Aviv, Israel.
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NBC Considering an 'Office' Spin-Off for Rainn Wilson
The Office (Thursdays, at 9 p.m. ET on NBC) may be losing another employee. First Michael (Steve Carell) hopped a plane for Colorado, and today comes news that Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) might be the next to leave the building. According to Deadline.com, producers are developing a spin-off for Dunder Mifflin's most successful paper salesman. It focuses on his family life on the beet farm-cum-bed-and-breakfast that's been in his family for generations. Remember Schrute Farms? Click here for a clip of Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) visiting the B&B a few years back.
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Friday, January 27, 2012
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The custom-built "roleplay" system was designed and implemented by Eric Martindale as of July 2009. All attempts to replicate or otherwise emulate this system and its method of organizing roleplay are strictly prohibited without his express written and contractual permission; violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
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Islamists, liberals square off in Egypt's Tahrir (AP)
CAIRO ? Hundreds of thousands thronged major squares across Egypt on Wednesday, marking the first anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak with rallies that laid bare the divisions that have replaced the unity of last year's revolt.
Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the 18 days of protests against Mubarak, was transformed into the focal point of the rivalry between revolutionary activists intent on showing they can still mobilize the street, and the Muslim Brotherhood, who emerged as Egypt's dominant political force after a landslide victory in parliamentary elections.
The secular activists want continued protests to force the immediate ouster of the generals who took power after Mubarak's fall, saying they are just as dictatorial as the former president. The activists touted their powerful turnout as a sign they can pressure the Brotherhood, who they fear will accommodate the military in order to ensure their own political dominance.
"I have hope that these marches will be a message to the Brotherhood as much as the military council," said Sahar Abdel-Mohsen, who walked 3 1/2 miles (5 kilometers) in a giant march across Cairo to Tahrir.
"We all know even if the Brotherhood are strong, the military council is still stronger. ... What we all want is an end to military rule," she said.
Both sides were intent on bringing out as many supporters as possible to show their weight in a nation still reeling from the aftershocks of Mubarak's ouster.
The Islamists got off to a strong start, taking up positions in the morning and claiming the right to police the square, with Brotherhood volunteers checking the bags of those entering.
From a large stage with 10 loudspeakers, they blared religious songs and chants of "Allahu akbar," setting a tone of celebration for what they called the successes of the revolution, particularly the newly elected parliament.
But a dozen large marches organized by secular groups converged on Tahrir from various parts of the city, chanting "Down, down with military rule!" and filling boulevards as passers-by joined in along the way. The "non-Islamists" swarmed into the downtown plaza before sunset, jam-packing it to outnumber the Islamists.
Some marched to the sober beat of drums to pay tribute to the hundreds of protesters killed over the past year ? by Mubarak's regime and the military ? and to emphasize that this was not a joyous anniversary, with so many demands for democratic reform left unachieved.
Many wore masks with pictures of the faces of slain protesters. Once in the square they erected a pharaonic-style wooden obelisk with the names of the "martyrs."
"I am not here to celebrate. I am here for a second revolution," said Attiya Mohammed Attiya, an unemployed father of four. "The military council is made of remnants of the Mubarak regime. We will only succeed when we remove them from power."
Together the two sides packed Tahrir in one of the biggest gatherings since the height of the protests against Mubarak and the frenzied celebrations on the night he fell on Feb. 11. There were no army troops or police present, a sign the military was looking to avoid an eruption of new clashes after deadly violence in October, November and December.
The competition for influence between the secular forces and the Brotherhood centers on the ruling military, led by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Mubarak's defense minister for 20 years.
The revolutionaries say the generals must surrender power to civilians immediately, accusing them of perpetuating their former mentor's authoritarian system, bungling the transition and committing large-scale human rights violations. The Brotherhood are willing to accept the generals' promise to step down by the end of June.
The revolutionaries, however, have been unable to agree on an alternative plan for the handover.
The Brotherhood and other Islamists have been the biggest beneficiaries of the military's handling of the transition. Elections held over the past two months gave the Brotherhood just under half the seats in the new parliament that convened Monday, and the ultraconservative Salafis snapped up another quarter. Liberals and left-leaning groups credited with leading the protests that ousted Mubarak garnered less than 10 percent.
In the eyes of the secularists, the Islamists' triumph underlined their obsession with power after decades of persecution by successive governments, as well as their waning interest in pressing the demands of the "revolution" for real change to dismantle the legacy of 60 years of autocratic rule. Many fear the Brotherhood will compromise with the military, ceding it future political power in order to seal their own dominant status.
"A message to the Brotherhood: The revolutionaries love the square more than they love parliament," read one poster.
"For those who won in the elections, now is time to mete out justice for those killed," a protester shouted.
After the arrival of the secular-led marches, the tone of the Brotherhood speakers changed slightly. Earlier Brotherhood speeches were strongly religious ? one speaker proclaimed the need to face Egypt's "enemies" who aim to strike against Islam. Later in the day, speakers underlined the need for justice for slain protesters and for the military to hand over power to civilians ? issues closer to those of the secular activists.
Many of the secular youth groups called for overnight sit-ins in Tahrir to press their demands. Such gatherings have been hit by violent security crackdowns in the past. Islamists said they would hold "celebrations" in the square until Friday, though not a sit-in.
Khaled Abol-Naga, a movie actor and protester, said that despite the differences, the square was united Wednesday in the desire for an end to military rule. Even the Islamists want this because they don't want to lose their credibility, he said.
"The pact between the Islamists and the military won't survive this pressure," he added.
Ismail Badawi, a Brotherhood backer, said he was determined to see the military leave power, but that must be achieved through parliament, not the street.
"Parliament is the voice of the nation," he said. "We are here to support parliament."
The secular-led marches attracted a broad cross-section of society, similar to the largest anti-Mubarak protests. Young people, university students, middle-class men and women joined the processions.
"Tantawi, come and kill more revolutionaries. We want your execution," they chanted, alluding to the more than 80 protesters killed by army troops since October. Thousands of civilians have been hauled before military tribunals since Mubarak's ouster.
"Don't mess with the people," others chanted. "Go, field marshal."
Pro-reform leader Mohammed ElBaradei participated in prayers at a mosque with one group of marchers before the procession set off toward Tahrir.
Unlike many of the demonstrators, ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, said the immediate return of the military to the barracks was not the main issue.
Instead, he told The Associated Press the focus should be on "the revolution's goals" ? drafting "a proper constitution," fixing the economy, establishing independent media and courts, and prosecuting those who killed protesters.
Emad el-Hadidi, a pharmacist, watched from the sidewalk as the marchers went by. The activists were too hurried and should give the military time to hand over power, he said.
But he also admired the protesters, his eyes tearing up because he felt he was too old at 66 to join them. "We are a generation brought up with fear," he said.
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Thursday, January 26, 2012
Cops: Man hacked victim with ax, ate his brain
By msnbc.com staff and news services
A Florida man has been arrested on charges that he hacked to death a Connecticut man and ate the victim's eye and part of his brain.
Police in Lynn Haven, Fla., said Wednesday that 35-year-old Tyree Lincoln Smith was arrested Tuesday night on a Connecticut warrant for murder.
According to police in Bridgeport, Conn., Smith was covered in blood when he told a relative on Dec. 16 that he had killed a man with a hatchet and eaten pieces of his brain and his eye.
The relative contacted authorities after the?body of Angel "Tun Tun" Gonzalez, 43, was discovered Jan. 20 at his Bridgeport, Conn., apartment. Police say Smith left Connecticut that day on a Florida-bound bus.
Lynn Haven police say federal, state and local law enforcement officers took Smith into custody at?a residence?without incident.
According to ctpost.com, an affidavit in the case says Gonzales had seen?Smith sleeping outside on a porch and invited him?to come in from the cold and share the apartment he was living in.
Once in the apartment, the affidavit states, Smith began beating Gonzalez about the head and face with the ax, ctpost.com reported.
He later told his relative the blows to Gonzalez's head were so severe he was able to remove an eye from the victim's head along with a piece of the victim's brain, which he then carried in a plastic bag to a nearby cemetery where he ate the parts at his brother's grave site, ctpost.com reported..
Odalys Vaszuez told ctpost.com that she wants justice for her stepfather's slaying.
"Here it is that my dad was trying to help this guy, telling him to come inside from the cold," she told the website. "If my father was helping him stay warm, what kind of person is it who does this, who repays him by swinging an axe at him and hitting him so hard it blows his brains out?"
Police said the woman Smith was staying with in Florida was unaware of the allegations and is cooperating with investigators, according to NBCConnecticut.com.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/25/10235705-cops-man-hacked-victim-with-ax-ate-brain
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Oil near $100 as Middle East tension simmers (AP)
BANGKOK ? Oil inched toward $100 a barrel after Iran threatened to block shipments of crude from the Persian Gulf in the wake of the European Union's widely expected decision to embargo imports of Iranian oil.
Benchmark oil for March delivery was up 39 cents at $99.98 a barrel at late afternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.25 to settle at $99.58 a barrel in New York on Monday.
Brent crude was down 13 cents at $110.45 on the ICE futures exchange in London.
Tanker traffic out of the Persian Gulf has concerned oil traders for weeks, with Iran saying it could close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's crude is transported, in response to sanctions by the West.
On Monday, the EU said its refineries will stop buying Iranian crude after July. It also froze assets of Iran's central bank. The sanctions are meant to force Iran to talk with the West about its nuclear program. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful, but Western nations suspect it is trying to build nuclear weapons.
The embargo itself isn't expected to affect world supplies, although markets would get reshuffled. Analysts say China, which is one of the biggest buyers of Iranian crude, probably will buy more Iranian oil at below-market prices when the embargo begins. China would reduce imports from other oil-producing countries, which would then sell more to Europe.
"Iran needs to sell its oil to someone," independent analyst and trader Stephen Schork said. "Outside the West, Iran really has only one buyer: China. That means China's probably going to get some sweetheart deals."
Experts say Iran doesn't have the firepower to close off the strait, which is the only way to get from the Persian Gulf to the open sea. But a conflict there could clog the waterway with military vessels and force the world's refineries to wait for crucial oil shipments.
In other energy trading, heating oil rose 1.4 cents to $3.02 a gallon and gasoline futures added 0.7 cent to $2.79 a gallon. Natural gas futures were up 5.7 cents at $2.58 per 1,000 cubic feet.
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012
'Speed gene' in modern racehorses originated from British mare 300 years ago, scientists say
'Speed gene' in modern racehorses originated from British mare 300 years ago, scientists say
Tuesday, January 24, 2012Scientists have traced the origin of the 'speed gene' in Thoroughbred racehorses back to a single British mare that lived in the United Kingdom around 300 years ago, according to findings published in the scientific journal Nature Communications.
The origin of the 'speed gene' (C type myostatin gene variant) was revealed by analysing DNA from hundreds of horses, including DNA extracted from the skeletal remains of 12 celebrated Thoroughbred stallions born between 1764 and 1930.
"Changes in racing since the foundation of the Thoroughbred have shaped the distribution of 'speed gene' types over time and in different racing regions," explained Dr Emmeline Hill, the senior author of the study, and a genomics scientist at the School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin.
"But we have been able to identify that the original 'speed gene' variant entered the Thoroughbred from a single founder, which was most likely a British mare about 300 years ago, when local British horse types were the preeminent racing horses, prior to the formal foundation of the Thoroughbred racehorse."
The international scientific team led by scientists from University College Dublin (UCD), Equinome Ltd., and the University of Cambridge, have traced all modern variants of the original 'speed gene' to the legendary Nearctic (1954-1973), and attribute the wider expansion of these variants to Northern Dancer (1961-1990), the son of Nearctic, and one of the most influential stallions of modern times.
"Having first identified the 'speed gene' in 2010, we decided to see if we could trace the origin of the gene variant using population genetics coupled with pedigree analysis. We wanted to understand where speed in the Thoroughbred came from."
Dr Hill is also a co-founder of Equinome, a UCD spin-out company headquartered at NovaUCD, which has developed The Equinome Speed Gene Test. This test is currently being used by the global bloodstock and racing industry to identify the optimum racing distance for individual Thoroughbred horses.
"We traced the economically valuable gene variant by determining 'speed gene' type in almost 600 horses from 22 Eurasian and North American horse breeds, museum bone and tooth specimens from 12 legendary Thoroughbred stallions, 330 elite performing modern Thoroughbreds from 3 continents, 40 donkeys and two zebras" added Dr Hill.
According to co-author Dr Mim Bower from the University of Cambridge, UK, "The findings point to a British mare as the most likely single founder of the original 'speed gene' because one of the lines of evidence from the research demonstrated that the prize stallions of the 17th and 18th centuries had two copies of the T type speed gene variant (T:T) which is linked to greater stamina."
"At this time in the history of horse racing, races were between two horses competed over multiple heats, at distances of between two to four miles, and repeated until a horse had won the event twice or 'distanced' the opponent. Horses did not race until they were five or six years old, and then only two or three times in their lives. This is consistent with these horses being T:T types.", said Dr Bower
An increased premium on speed and precocity developed as two-year-old races became popular during the last century, and in many regions of the world, these preferences remain to this day.
Dr Hill explained, "For example, in Australia, the myostatin 'speed gene' type (C:C), which is best suited to fast, short-distance, sprint races, is more common and there is a market driven demand for horses with at least one copy of the C type gene variant."
"This just goes to show the power breeders have to shape the genetic make-up of their horses. Decisions regarding the race pattern in each racing jurisdiction and the commercial demand for certain types will also rapidly influence the genetic make-up of the population."
To identify where the C type gene variant originated, the researchers analysed DNA samples from more than 20 horse breeds that included representatives of local British and Irish horses, from where female Thoroughbred lineages derive, and exotic eastern populations from where male Thoroughbred lineages derive.
The study identified the Shetland breed as having the highest frequency of the C type gene variant. The Shetland represents local British horse types, which were the preeminent racing horses prior to the formal foundation of the Thoroughbred.
By comparing the diversity of the chromosomes around the C and T type gene variants researchers found only a single C type compared to 11 different T type gene variants, meaning that the 'speed gene' entered the Thoroughbred just once.
"The results show that the 'speed gene' entered the Thoroughbred from a single founder, which was most likely a British mare about 300 years ago when local British horse types were the preeminent racing horses, prior to the formal foundation of the Thoroughbred racehorse." said Dr Hill.
Collaborators in the study were scientists from Trinity College Dublin, the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. The research was supported by grants from The Horserace Betting Levy Board, Leverhulme Trust, Cambridge Overseas Trust and Science Foundation Ireland.
"I am very grateful for the support of our research. Ireland has been renowned as a leader in the production of world class racehorses for generations, and continues to lead now in the application of new scientific technologies in breeding and racing. We are seeing a shift globally to scientifically informed decision-making." said Dr Hill.
###
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Thanks to University College Dublin for this article.
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Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Dominant Serena into 4th round at Australian Open (AP)
MELBOURNE, Australia ? Just before she walked on court, Greta Arn said she was looking forward to the "privilege" of playing her first match against Serena Williams. Some privilege.
The 13-time Grand Slam champion overpowered Arn 6-1, 6-1 in 59 minutes on Saturday for her 17th straight win at the Australian Open.
The mismatch was so great that the crowd was muted, rousing themselves only when Arn won her two games and when Williams completed her third-round victory.
Arn double-faulted twice to end the match. As the players shook hands at the net, Williams looked briefly taken aback and smiled.
"I told her it was an honor to play against you," the 32-year-old Arn said. "And she told me, 'Oh, you are so sweet.' I'm a big fan of hers. She's the real No. 1."
Williams, who racked up her 501st career match win, is hoping to become the second woman over age 30 to win the Australian title in the Open era.
"It makes me feel really good," she said of her Hungarian opponent's remarks. "I'm really proud of the work that I've been doing for so many years, all the hard work."
Vania King's loss to Ana Ivanovic left Williams as the only American player left in either singles draw. John Isner lost Friday, the last American man to exit.
Coming off an injury-ravaged 18 months, Williams is seeded 12th in Melbourne. She hasn't held the top ranking since 2010, the year she won the last of her Grand Slam titles.
On Saturday, she spoke expansively about her off-court activities: She's taking courses in kinesiology and management and preparing for an appearance in a "pretty big" TV show.
Arn says "everybody knows" if Williams hits top form she will win the Australian Open, where she hasn't lost since 2008. She won back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010 and was unable to defend her title last year while she recovered from two foot surgeries.
Because of her ranking, Williams can't take the No. 1 spot with a win at Melbourne. However, No. 2 Petra Kvitova, No. 3 Victoria Azarenka and No. 4 Maria Sharapova could walk away with the top ranking if they win the tournament.
Next up for Williams is unseeded Russian Ekaterina Makarova. After that, things are likely to get a lot tougher. Sharapova is a potential quarterfinal opponent, and Wimbledon champion Kvitova may await in the semifinals.
"I'm nowhere near where I want to be," said Williams, who came into the tournament nursing a sprained left ankle. "I'm just trying to play through it. A little rusty, just trying to play through my rust."
Sharapova and Kvitova joined Williams in advancing to the fourth round on Saturday. Between the three of them, they lost six games.
Kvitova was leading 6-0, 1-0 when Russian opponent Maria Kirilenko retired. Sharapova, who won her first two matches 6-0, 6-1, was tested for the first time and still came out with a 6-1, 6-2 win over U.S. Open semifinalist Angelique Kerber.
Like Williams, Sharapova came into the tournament short of matches. The three-time Grand Slam champion hurt her left ankle late last season and didn't play a tuneup event before the Australian Open.
"Whether it's a Grand Slam or anywhere else in the world, if you're committed to playing that tournament you have to be ready from the first match," Sharapova said.
It was a day of lopsided scorelines on Rod Laver Arena.
No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic routed Nicolas Mahut 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 in 1 hour, 14 minutes to give the Frenchman a miserable 30th birthday present.
Mahut, who lost the longest Grand Slam match in history over 11 hours, 5 minutes at Wimbledon in 2010, was hampered by a left leg injury, but said he played because the previous matches on Rod Laver Arena were over so quickly.
"I wish him happy birthday and hopefully tonight he can enjoy it," Djokovic said.
The defending champion has won 24 straight sets at the Australian Open, and has lost 10 games in his first three matches this time.
"I always played well in Australia. This is the only Grand Slam I won twice," he said. "The conditions are great. They're very suitable to my style of the game, day and night. I'm really looking forward to next week."
Djokovic likely gets an evening slot for his fourth-round match against Lleyton Hewitt. The 30-year-old Australian downed promising Canadian Milos Raonic 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in Saturday's final match of the day before a raucous home crowd.
Playing in his 16th straight Australian Open, Hewitt needed three match points in the final game to close out the win and become the first wild card entry to reach the fourth round in Melbourne since Mats Wilander in 1994.
"It's just a game," Hewitt said. "But it's a bloody big game."
No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal and No. 3 Roger Federer are back on court in a Sunday schedule that features a repeat of the 2011 women's final between Kim Clijsters and Li Na. Federer is up against Australian teenager Bernard Tomic. Nadal faces fellow Spaniard Felicano Lopez.
No. 4-ranked Andy Murray, beaten in the last two Australian finals, brushed aside Michael Llodra 6-4, 6-2, 6-0 Saturday to leave France with two players in the draw, having started the day with six.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was the other Frenchman to advance, the 2008 finalist beating Frederico Gil of Portugal 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.
He will play Kei Nishikori, the first Japanese man to reach the fourth round in Melbourne in the Open era. Mikhail Kukushkin, who beat an ailing Gael Monfils in five sets, will be the first man from Kazakhstan to play a Round of 16 match at a Grand Slam when he faces Murray.
Williams is frequently the only American left in a tournament, and it doesn't bother her.
"I really don't think when I go out there that I'm the last American," she said. "I just think I'm trying to come in here and win this match, play this girl. That's all I really think about."
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Monday, January 23, 2012
HDNet joins up with AEG, CAA and Ryan Seacrest to become AXS TV this summer
It held on as long as it could, but HDNet is following the path of INHD (which became Mojo before disappearing entirely) and Discovery HD Theater (now Velocity) by rebranding itself, and will see morph into AXS TV this summer. Of course, HDNet has always focused on "lifestyle programming" and from the looks of it the new channel (pronounced: access) will be very similar, at least for now. HDNet is bringing programming like HDNet Fights, Dan Rather Reports, its concerts and more to the joint venture, which will be combined with its partners AEG, CAA and Ryan Seacrest Media. If HDNet is currently on your programming lineup AXS TV will simply take its place when it launches, and Dish Network actually plans to increase the channel's distribution by adding it to the America's Top 120 package. If you're distressed over the future of Art Mann Presents, check out the press release after the break or a Q&A on the site for more information about what's happening to Mark Cuban's baby.Continue reading HDNet joins up with AEG, CAA and Ryan Seacrest to become AXS TV this summer
HDNet joins up with AEG, CAA and Ryan Seacrest to become AXS TV this summer originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 Jan 2012 11:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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[OOC] A Forbidden Love
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uhm...May I reserve a male demon? This is the scenario I image:
I want to reserve a role of a Male Angel...this is the scenerio I think of:
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Pretty - Member for 0 years
uhm...May I reserve a male demon? This is the scenario I image:
A demon is sent into the Between Realm to find the Demon Prince a new slave. As he found a girl/boy and thought that he/she is suitable for the position he reported back to the prince and was told to collect that girl/boy in 4 days. When he comes back to the Between Real to collect he/she, he begins to fall for her/him? Will he disobey the Demon Prince or will he take the girl/boy he loves back to the Demon Realm to become a slave?
What do you think?
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blackwolf - Member for 1 years
Oh...I forget...Do you have a char sheet or we can do whatever we want?
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blackwolf - Member for 1 years
I want to reserve a role of a Male Angel...this is the scenerio I think of:
He is sent to do the impossible - to redeem a demon. He has 4 days to do it. Unfortunately or fortunately, in those 4 days, he helplessly falls in love with the demon he is supposed to redeem... Will he, an angel, turn his back to his kind and go with his mate or will she/he, a demon, be successfully redeemed by an Angel's love?
Please give me your idea...
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feral gale - Member for 0 years
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Sunday, January 22, 2012
Romney to release his tax returns on Tuesday
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, speaks at his South Carolina primary election night reception at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds in Columbia, S.C., Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich won the Republican primary Saturday night. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, speaks at his South Carolina primary election night reception at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds in Columbia, S.C., Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich won the Republican primary Saturday night. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, gives a thumbs up at his South Carolina primary election night reception at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds in Columbia, S.C., Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich won the Republican primary Saturday night. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Sunday that he will release his 2010 tax returns and 2011 estimates on Tuesday, acknowledging it was a mistake for his campaign not to have done so earlier.
Stung by a loss to Newt Gingrich in Saturday's South Carolina primary, the former Massachusetts governor and venture capitalist said it was "not a good week for me" and he cited all the time he had spent talking about his tax returns as his rivals pressed him to make them public.
After months of resistance, Romney had said last week that he would release tax information for 2011, but not until April, close to the tax filing deadline. That also was seen as a time, before the South Carolina race rattled his front-runner status, when the GOP nomination might have been decided.
"I think we just made a mistake in holding off as long as we did. It just was a distraction. We want to get back to the real issues of the campaign: leadership, character, a vision for America, how to get jobs again in America and how to rein in the excessive scale of the federal government," Romney told "Fox News Sunday."
Romney disclosed on Tuesday that, despite his wealth of hundreds of millions of dollars, he has been paying in the neighborhood of 15 percent, far below the top maximum income tax rate of 35 percent, because his income "comes overwhelmingly from investments made in the past."
"Given all the attention that's been focused on tax returns, given the distraction that I think they became in these last couple of weeks," Romney said in the broadcast interview that he would release his 2010 returns and estimates for his 2011 returns at the same time "so there's not a second release down the road."
"We'll be putting our returns on the Internet, people can look through them," Romney said. "It will provide, I think, plenty of information for people to understand that the sources of my income are exactly as described in the financial disclosure statements we put out a couple of months ago.
During 2010 and the first nine months of 2011, the Romney family had at least $9.6 million in income, according to a financial disclosure form submitted in August.
Further focusing attention on his wealth was Romney's offhand remark to reporters that his income from paid speeches amounted to "not very much" money. In the August disclosure statement, he reported being paid $373,327.62 for such appearances for the 12 months ending last February. That sum alone would him in the top 1 percent of U.S. taxpayers.
In addition, Romney owns investments worth between $7 million and $32 million in offshore-based holdings, which are often used legitimately by private equity firms to attract foreign investors. Such offshore accounts also can enable wealthy investors to defer paying U.S. taxes on some assets, according to tax experts.
An Associated Press examination of Romney's financial records identified at least six funds set up in the Cayman Islands, a small Caribbean island chain that has long been used as a base for international investments because of low tax rates and financial secrecy. Romney has acknowledged that some of his investments are based in the Caymans, but he has not identified all of the specific accounts and the amounts based there. There is no indication Romney uses the accounts to dodge any U.S. tax obligations.
"Cayman Islands account so-to-speak is apparently an investment that was made in an entity that invests in the United States, the taxes paid on that are full U.S. taxes," Romney said.
The Caymans have often been associated with individuals and corporations seeking to avoid paying U.S. taxes. It is legal for U.S. residents to own investment accounts that are set up there, if they file the proper forms with the Internal Revenue Service and pay the appropriate taxes.
"I know people will try and find something," Romney said, adding, "We pay full, fair taxes, and you'll see it's a pretty substantial amount."
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[OOC] Her Saving Grace
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Delirium - Member for 0 years
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Saturday, January 21, 2012
Austrian panel strikes ball from culture list
[unable to retrieve full-text content]VIENNA (AP) ? A committee reporting to the U.N.'s culture organization has struck the Viennese Ball from its list of Austrian cultural traditions.
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2011 Was the 9th Hottest Year On Record
All this talk about whether global warming is natural or is caused by burning things doesn't really matter. Why are we looking for a scapegoat? All that matters is whether or not the earth is getting warmer. If it is, whether it's natural or not, we had better start preparing. I have yet to hear a single credible plan about how anyone is going to stop the billions of humans on the planet from burning stuff to survive. Let's face it. It's just not going to happen.
Maybe SUVs will get outlawed in the US. Hooray! I hate the things. Maybe a 70 mpg minimum will be required for any non-commerical vehicle sold in the US (if you tried that for commercial vehicles you'd have mass starvation which could be another 'solution' I suppose). Maybe we'll build a few more nuclear power plants although I think NIMBY will prevent most of that.
Maybe England and Canada and Australia will follow along as they so often seem to do with whatever silly idea the US comes up with. Or maybe not. In any case the rest of the planet representing the majority of land area and population will just laugh and continue to burn things until they run out of things to burn. And yes this includes trees and coal. And those laughable drop-in-the-bucket schemes that the US will come up with wouldn't have delayed the end by much anyway. People are going to do what they must to survive and that usually involves burning things.
So if AGW is true then our species is doomed and there is no way around it. I propose a possible solution. The end will take at least a millenium. That gives us (especially the US) the chance to start putting all the money that would have been spent catching, imprisoning, and executing millions of climate criminals and building hundreds of thousands of nuclear power plants everywhere and cleaning up the inevitable accidents into a new era for the space program.
See how I did that? The greens have their agenda (although they are pretty vague about what exactly that is), and I have mine. Let's start devoting every dollar we now spend on the defense budget into building an interstellar generation ship big enough for a few thousand people to live on. That will be a start. Maybe by the time the end comes in 1000 - 100,000 years we will be fully prepared to live off world and will have colonized other star systems. It is funny that the very thing that allowed us to flourish as a technological species, heat engines which create electricity and do the work that we used to require things like horses or rivers to do, will have become our doom.
While the US and maybe a few close allies could Francify their electricity production by going nearly 100% nuclear and introduce bumper car like transportation systems with electric cars that are powered by nuclear powered overhead wires once they reach the major highways, is the rest of the world going to be able to do that? Maybe eventually but not right now. I think much of AGW is based on the idea that we will essentially never run out of fossil fuels, but nuclear fuel will eventually run out. There is only a finite supply of uranium etc on this planet. So then it's either burn or face massive die offs of just leave the planet. So we should start preparing for that. We have no idea whether intelligent life in the galaxy is rare, but it may be. We should do everything we can to preserve our species regardless of what may happen to this particular planet.
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Friday, January 20, 2012
Live from Apple's education event!
Ready to get smart in the Big Apple? We are, and so is Apple. Since announcing today's event we've heard talk of a focus on digital books and personal publishing tools. Basically, Apple's looking to do to the textbook publishing market what it did to the music industry with iTunes. Is today a day that will change history for trees worldwide? Join us as we find out. We'll be starting at the time below.
January 19, 2012 10:00 AM EST
Live from Apple's education event! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jan 2012 09:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Thursday, January 19, 2012
New app lets you track great white sharks
Want to travel the oceans alongside great white sharks, but your busy schedule and fear of death always seem to get in the way? There's an app for that.
Now anyone with an iPhone or an iPad (and $3.99 to spare) can follow along in near-real time with a dozen of the world's most iconic predators with the app Expedition White Shark.
"We're hoping it raises public awareness about white sharks, which helps our conservation efforts," said marine biologist Michael Domeier, the man behind the app and president of the Marine Conservation Science Institute, a small, California-based nonprofit research organization.
Domeier has studied great white sharks for many years, and was one of the first people to ever outfit adult great white sharks with satellite tracking tags ? the key to the new app. His adventures were chronicled on the National Geographic Channel program "Shark Men."
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The tags are affixed to the sharks' dorsal fins. When the fins break the surface of the water, the tags send a signal to a satellite. If the satellite is overhead at the time, it picks up the shark's location and plots the location on a map.
A few of the tracked sharks are already somewhat famous. There's Bruce, who's often seen by cage divers. "For whatever reason he is not shy of cameras," Domeier said. "He's a bit of showoff." And last year an injured great white shark named Junior got a lot of attention, thanks to some gruesome images sent around the blogosphere.
"He is doing well," Domeier told OurAmazingPlanet. Junior last checked in around Point Arena, Calif., fairly close to shore. "If anybody was thinking of surfing at Point Arena that day, that was maybe a little bit of a warning," he said.
Shark, where art thou?
"There are definitely different personality traits with respect to surface behavior," Domeier said. "Some sharks spend more time at the surface than others." Some sharks check in just 10 times a year, others ping the satellite on a weekly basis.?
Gender also appears to play a role in where sharks like to hang out. Although he acknowledged that the sample size is small, and the project has tagged three times as many males as females, Domeier said a pattern has begun to emerge.
"Males are pretty simple," he said. They travel between coastal waters off California and Mexico and an area near Hawaii in a predictable pattern each year. "They go out and come back like clockwork," Domeier said.
"The females have disappeared for two years, and we've finally figured out where they are," he added.
Satellite tags revealed the female sharks, the larger of the two sexes, spend up to 18 months in the deep, open waters in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and swim as deep as 3,300 feet (1,000 meters), a finding that Domeier called exciting.
"The theory we're working on now is they basically come to the coastal areas to mate and to give birth," he said.
Fish funding
Although the Expedition White Shark app is designed to raise awareness, Domeier said it is also designed to raise money. Domeier said he hopes to expand his research to include newer, more advanced satellite tags, and younger sharks.
"The adults are huge, so oftentimes they can break fishermen's lines and crash right through nets, but juveniles are not, and they are undoubtedly the most vulnerable," he said.
Much about great white sharks remains mysterious, including just how many there are. A recent University of California, Davis and Stanford shark study estimated that only about 220 adult great white sharks are living off the North American Pacific coast.
Domeier said he thinks there are more, but that data are sorely needed, as are newer, more accurate models for estimating population numbers.
The species as a whole, which can be found in oceans from 60 degrees north to 60 degrees south, is listed as "vulnerable" by the IUCN, an international body that assesses the state of species around the globe.
Worldwide, shark populations have declined steeply in recent years, many falling victim to overfishing for their valuable fins. Shark fins fetch high prices as a prized ingredient in shark fin soup. The soup was banned in California last year.
Domeier said he hopes the app raises enough money to allow him to move the tagging into the next phase ? using tags with cameras.
"Now we know where (great white sharks) go, but we don't really know what they're doing when they're there," he said. If the giant fish could bring back photographs of their travels, it would push the science further, he said.
Tags can be designed to pop off an animal at an appointed time, and float on the surface of the sea until researchers can come by and retrieve them, allowing scientists to sort through a virtual travelogue, complete with pictures, of the shark's activity.
Domeier said that such work might be possible within two years with the proper funding.
"This may sound like science fiction, but a lot of the things we're doing now would have sounded like science fiction 30 years ago," he said.
Reach Andrea Mustain at amustain@techmedianetwork.com. Follow her on Twitter @AndreaMustain. Follow OurAmazingPlanet for the latest in Earth science and exploration news on Twitter @OAPlanet and on Facebook.
? 2012 OurAmazingPlanet. All rights reserved. More from OurAmazingPlanet.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46046234/ns/technology_and_science-science/
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