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Last week, Samsung released its list of devices that would be getting Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). Curiously, the Galaxy S and 7-inch Galaxy Tab were missing from the roster, to which Samsung made a separate statement that the two devices did not have enough memory to run the new OS and Samsung?s custom TouchWiz UI.
Now it seems Samsung is backpedaling on their earlier decision, if reports that the company is reconsidering the possibility of an upgrade in internal discussions are to be believed. There is no official confirmation other than hearsay, but the running theory is it might have to do with some 10 million disappointed Galaxy S users.
Samsung originally said that the Galaxy S and 7-inch Galaxy Tab would not be able to run ICS, TouchWiz, and other "experience-enhancing" software concurrently due to a lack of RAM and ROM. While the Galaxy S and ICS-toting Galaxy Nexus have the same 1GHz Hummingbird processor, Samsung argued that the Galaxy Nexus only needs to run a vanilla Ice Cream Sandwich.
Now it seems like Samsung?s engineers only have to adjust some numbers and priorities for memory usage, and we?ll have some official ICS for the Galaxy S and 7-inch Galaxy Tab--and if not, there?s probably some rooted build that developers are cooking up.
[AJ News via MSN Korea and Android Central]
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Facebook has helped people do a lot this year, from providing a vent to those frustrated with finals to providing a means to overthrow dictators to those frustrated with their governments. If all goes well, we might be able to add another crime solved to that growing list, too.
In Chicago last week, Theresa Unkrur?s house was burglarized. A thief or thieves made off with computers, an iPhone, and a PlayStation 3. One of those computers was a MacBook that belonged to Unkrur?s daughter, who was a little surprised to see a new photo uploaded onto her Facebook straight from her stolen laptop a few days later.
Unkrur?s daughter had an app similar to this one,?which uploads pictures taken with a MacBook directly to the user?s Facebook account. The picture is a clear shot of two men, potentially the thieves, sitting on a couch. If a positive identification can be made, the two men in the picture at the very least can point the way to the thieves, if they aren?t the perpetrators in the first place. And, thanks to a fingerprint left behind because of a botched attempt at stealing the family?s television, the Unkrurs should know for certain either way when that time comes.
This story seems like a case of unintended consequences, with the Facebook app in question serving an unexpectedly fortunate purpose. But, there is no shortage of apps coming out now that do serve this kind of security function, like this one, which uses the MacBook?s accelerometer to detect sudden motion, triggering the computer to snap a photo that will be sent to a designated email address, along with optional SMS alerts.
Here?s hoping the Unkrurs get their gear back, and that the same thing never happens to you.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) ? For the second time in less than two weeks, schools are objecting to a reform measure sought by university presidents and endorsed by NCAA president Mark Emmert.
More than 75 schools are asking to override a plan approved in October to allow multi-year athletic scholarships rather than the one-year renewable awards schools currently provide. That's the minimum number of dissenters needed for reconsideration by the Division I Board of Directors when it meets next month in Indianapolis at the annual NCAA convention. The NCAA announced the change the Friday before Christmas.
On Dec. 15, the NCAA suspended plans to give athletes a $2,000 stipend for living costs not covered by scholarships after at least 125 schools objected. The higher number of protests allows the organization to immediately put the change on hold.
Both measures were pushed by Emmert and adopted as emergency legislation after a presidential summit in August.
"The NCAA and presidents step up with this legislation and then the universities want to vote it down," said Christian Dennie, a former compliance officer at Missouri and Oklahoma who now practices sports law in Fort Worth, Texas, and writes an NCAA oversight blog.
"They say, 'We don't have enough money,' and then the coach gets a $2 million raise," Dennie added, speaking in general terms rather than about a specific school. "It's really a resource allocation issue."
The Division I Board of Directors now faces three options: scrap the two reform measures and operate under previous NCAA rules; modify the rule or create a new proposal that would go back to the schools for another 60-day comment period; or allow members to vote on the override, which needs a 5/8ths majority of the roughly 350 Division I members to pass.
A permanent reversal could force the NCAA and its schools to have two sets of standards, with an obligation to honor multi-year scholarship offers and stipend payments for some students but not others.
David Berst, the NCAA's vice president of governance for Division I, said that most schools support the concept of multi-year scholarships but have concerns about how to enact such a change.
"The overriding concern had to do with the time to prepare and plan (for a change) rather than objecting to the concept," he said. "I'm anticipating the rule will still be in effect (after the next board meeting)."
The list of schools objecting to the multi-year scholarship plan, obtained by Dennie and provided to The Associated Press, includes Boise State, Boston University, Indiana State, Marquette, Marshall, Rutgers, Utah, Vermont and Wyoming.
Boise State called the move a "recruiting disaster" that would encourage a "culture of brokering" and pit wealthy schools with larger recruiting budgets against their less well-heeled brethren, while also obligating schools to long-term commitments that may not make competitive sense.
"There is never a guarantee that the incoming student-athlete will be a good fit for the program and the institution," the school wrote in its override request. "If it is a poor fit, the program is put in a difficult situation to continue to keep a student-athlete on scholarship."
Indiana State offered a more blunt assessment, suggesting the change could "create some real nightmares."
The "problem is, many coaches, especially at the (Football Championship Subdivision) level, in all sports, are usually not around for five years and when the coach leaves, the new coach and institution may be 'stuck' with a student-athlete they no longer want (conduct issues, grades, etc.) or the new coach may have a completely different style of offense/defense that the student-athlete no longer fits into," the school wrote. "Yet, the institution is 'locked in' to a five-year contract potentially with someone that is of no athletic usefulness to the program."
"The current system works. We don't need to get into bidding wars where one school offers a 75 percent (scholarship) for two years and the other school then offers 85 percent for three years, etc., etc. This puts the kid into a situation where they almost need an agent/advisor just to determine the best "deal." Again, if it isn't broke, don't fix it."
Berst, who collects the complaints, has previously said the opposition to the stipend is coming primarily from FCS schools and those that do not play football. Most of the Football Bowl Subdivision conferences, he said, have informed the NCAA they plan to expand their scholarship limits.
The one-year renewable scholarship, with a limit of five years of athletic aid, has been in place since 1973. And while the National Letter of Intent signed by most top recruits includes that caveat, some athletes say coaches on the recruiting trail routinely make more grandiose promises they know they can't fulfill.
In October 2010, former Rice University football player Joseph Agnew sued the NCAA over its one-year athletic scholarship policy. Agnew played two seasons for the private Houston school before coaches told him in 2007 his scholarship would not be renewed. He appealed the university's decision and received a scholarship his junior year but did not receive any tuition money as a senior.
A federal judge in Indiana dismissed that complaint in September.
Earlier this month, former Missouri women's soccer player Ann Alexandra Charlebois sued coach Brian Blitz and the university's governing board, claiming that she agreed to attend Missouri only after Blitz vowed in writing to provide more than $106,000 in support through 2015, with the player and her family needing to contribute only half of her college costs in her first year.
Charlebois received a 50 percent partial scholarship in 2010 as a freshman. After complaining about receiving a similar amount of financial aid this year, she was kicked off the team in September, her attorney said.
___
Follow Alan Scher Zagier on Twitter at http://twitter.com/azagier
The global launch of Sony's PlayStation Vita kicked off in Tokyo on Saturday morning. Several dozen customers braved the early morning cold to get their hands on the device at the official launch in downtown Shibuya, at 7am.
Occupy Wall Street protestors lift the fences surrounding a park near Duarte Square in an effort to occupy the space they were previously removed from weeks prior, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011, in New York. While officers made arrests, protesters chanted obscenities and screamed: "Make them catch you!" About a thousand people gathered across the street at a city-owned park. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Occupy Wall Street protestors lift the fences surrounding a park near Duarte Square in an effort to occupy the space they were previously removed from weeks prior, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011, in New York. While officers made arrests, protesters chanted obscenities and screamed: "Make them catch you!" About a thousand people gathered across the street at a city-owned park. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Occupy Wall Street protestors lift the fences surrounding a park near Duarte Square in an effort to occupy the space they were previously removed from weeks prior, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011, in New York. While officers made arrests, protesters chanted obscenities and screamed: "Make them catch you!" About a thousand people gathered across the street at a city-owned park. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
An Occupy Wall Street protestor heads up a ladder to scale the fences surrounding a park near Duarte Square in an effort to occupy the space they were previously removed from weeks prior, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011, in New York. While officers made arrests, protesters chanted obscenities and screamed: "Make them catch you!" About a thousand people gathered across the street at a city-owned park. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Occupy Wall Street protestors are shoved onto the street by police near Duarte Square after an effort to occupy the space they were previously removed from weeks prior, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011, in New York. While officers made arrests, protesters chanted obscenities and screamed: "Make them catch you!" About a thousand people gathered across the street at a city-owned park. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Dozens of Occupy Wall Street protesters were arrested Saturday after they scaled a chain-link fence or crawled under it to get to an Episcopal church-owned lot they want to use for a new camp site.
Protesters used a wooden ladder to scale the fence or lifted it from below while others cheered them on. A man wearing a Santa suit stood on the ladder among others, as they ignored red "Private Property" signs.
As officers made arrests, protesters shouted obscenities and hollered: "Make them catch you!" The group was inside the lot for a short time before being led out by police in single file through a space in the fence. About 50 people were arrested, police said.
"We're just trying to say that this country has gone in the wrong direction, and we need spaces that we can control and we can decide our future in, and that's what this is about," said David Suker, who was among those who scaled the fence.
Before the arrests, several hundred gathered in Duarte Square, a half-acre (0.2 hectare) wedge of a park at the edge of Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood and across the street from the vacant lot.
They gathered partly to mark the three-month anniversary of the Occupy movement and partly to demand use of the lot, owned by Trinity Church.
The original Occupy Wall Street camp in Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan was shut down last month.
Trinity is a Zuccotti Park neighbor that helped demonstrators assemble, and provided them shelter in the three months since the movement began. The day after authorities moved in and cleaned out Zuccotti Park, about a dozen protesters went to the vacant lot, clipped the fence at the church-owned property and were arrested, along with some journalists.
Since then, some Occupy protesters have launched a bid to gain the church's consent for them to use the space. Trinity's Rev. James H. Cooper said giving the protesters access to the lot would not be a safe or smart move.
"There are no facilities at the Canal Street lot. Demanding access and vandalizing the property by a determined few OWS protesters won't alter the fact that there are no basic elements to sustain an encampment," he wrote in a statement. "The health, safety and security problems posed by an encampment here, compounded by winter weather, would dwarf those experienced at Zuccotti Park."
On Friday, the top bishop of the Episcopal Church asked protesters not to trespass on the property. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori warned it could result in "legal and police action."
Trinity Church dates back to the colonial era and was a refuge for relief workers after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack. A sculpture out front was made out of a giant sycamore tree destroyed on 9/11.
"I feel it is very much in keeping with the tradition over the years of Trinity to work with poor people, to help poor people," said Stephen Chinlund, 77, a retired Episcopalian priest and one of several at the square Saturday.
Chinlund held a sign that read: Trinity, hero of 9/11, be a hero again!"
___
Associated Press broadcast newsperson Julie Walker contributed to this report.
Imitating human diseases using an animal model is a difficult task, but Thomas Jefferson University researchers have managed to come very close.
Reporting in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of Jefferson immunologists found that a specialized "human immune system" mouse model closely mimics a person's specific response and resolution of a tick-borne infection known as relapsing fever, caused by the bacteria Borrelia hermsii.
The response is so strikingly similar that it gives good reason for researchers to apply the strategy to a host of other infections to better understand how the immune system attempts to fights them? which could ultimately lead to precise treatment and prevention strategies.
"This is first time an interaction of an infectious agent with a host, the progression of the disease and its eventual resolution recapitulates what you would see in a human being," said Kishore R. Alugupalli, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Thomas Jefferson University and the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson. "Our model is not only a susceptible model, but it actually tells us how the human immune system is functionally working. That is the big difference from the previous studies."
What really surprised the team is that the mouse physiological environment was able to facilitate the development of human B1-like cells, which is specialized type of antibody producing systems used to fight infection due to a variety of bacterial pathogens, including Pneumococcus and Salmonella.
In the study, researchers transferred hematopoietic stem cells from human umbilical cord blood into mice lacking their own immune system. This resulted in development of a human immune system in these mice. These "human immune system" (HIS) mice were then infected to gauge response.
According to the authors, an analysis of spleens and lymph nodes revealed that the mice developed a population of B1b-like cells that may have fought off the infection. Researchers also observed that reduction of those B cells resulted in recurrent episodes of bacteremia, the hallmark of relapsing fever.
"The B1b cells in humans had been speculated, but never confirmed," said co-author Timothy L. Manser, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Jefferson. "We found that in mice, the B1b cell subset is critically important for resolution of this type of bacterial infection."
"This would indicate that there is a functional equivalent of the subset in humans that has not been previously recognized," he added.
The mouse model with relapsing fever recapitulates many of the clinical manifestations of the disease and has previously revealed that T cell-independent antibody responses are required to resolve the bacteria episodes. However, it was not clear whether such protective humoral responses are mounted in humans.
"It's an amazing platform that could be used to really study how the human B1 cells could work against a variety of bacterial and viral infections," said Dr. Alugupalli.
###
Thomas Jefferson University: http://www.jeffersonhospital.org
Thanks to Thomas Jefferson University for this article.
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CNBC's Eamon Javers reports on the SEC lawsuit against six former top executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for securities fraud. Also, Andrew Stoltmann, Stoltmann Law Offices and David Bissinger, Siegmyer Oshman and Bissinger weigh in on details of...
Scientists publish new findings about the 'supernova of a generation'Public release date: 14-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Gail Gallessich gail.g@ia.ucsb.edu 805-893-7220 University of California - Santa Barbara
(Santa Barbara, Calif.) An international team of scientists, including astrophysicists from UC Santa Barbara, has discovered that a supernova that exploded in August dubbed the supernova of a generation was a "white dwarf" star, and that its companion star could not have been a "red giant," as previously suspected. The findings are published in two papers in the journal Nature this week.
White dwarf stars are small but very dense stars, and red giants are stars that swell to massive proportions when they approach middle age.
The new "type Ia" thermonuclear supernova, known as PTF 11kly, exploded on August 24th in the Pinwheel galaxy, located in the "Big Dipper," also known as Ursa Major. These supernovae are used to measure dark energy, which scientists believe is related to the expansion of the universe. The discovery of the supernova was made by an international team of astronomers known as the Palomar Transient Factory.
Located 21 million light-years away, this supernova was practically next door, in cosmic terms, and could be seen in early September with binoculars. The explosion gave scientists their best chance yet to study a thermonuclear supernova up close, with modern instruments.
Over the past 50 years, astrophysicists have discovered that type Ia supernovae are part of binary systems two stars orbiting each other. The one that exploded was theorized to be a white dwarf star. "That's what our sun will be at the end of its life," said Andy Howell, a member of the UCSB team. "It will have the mass of the sun crammed into the size of the Earth." Howell is a staff scientist at the UCSB-affiliated Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network LCOGT, an assistant adjunct professor of physics at UCSB, and co-author of both papers.
Scientists are upbeat about the finding that the supernova is a white dwarf. "It's been nearly 50 years since the original theoretical suggestions were made that these supernovae were caused by white dwarfs," said co-author Lars Bildsten. "The observational proof is very satisfying to see!" Bildsten is a permanent member of UCSB's Kavli Institute of Theoretical Physics (KITP) and is UCSB's Wayne Rosing, Simon and Diana Raab Chair in Theoretical Astrophysics.
Such white dwarf stars would normally be dead forever, slowly cooling and freezing solid over cosmic time. However, if it has a companion star, then the white dwarf can steal its matter, and return to life. If they steal too much matter, the carbon atoms will fuse so rapidly that the burning cannot be stopped, leading to an explosion as a Type Ia supernova.
That has long been the leading theory, although proof has remained elusive for decades. One of the papers shows that the exploding star had to be smaller than a tenth of the radius of the sun. That rules out normal stars, and for the first time provides direct evidence that white dwarfs are responsible for Type Ia supernovae. The lead author is Peter Nugent, who discovered the supernova, and is a senior staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and an adjunct professor at UC Berkeley.
Scientists have not yet ascertained the type of the companion star to the white-dwarf-turned supernova. However, they have ruled out the type of star they expected a red giant. Previous studies of RS Ophiuci, a binary star system in our own Milky Way galaxy that is similar to the one being studied, has a white dwarf near the limit that will cause it to explode. And, it is being fed by a companion red giant star. So scientists were somewhat surprised that they did not find a red giant next to the supernova that exploded in August.
A second paper regarding the companion star to the white dwarf was led by Weidong Li, a research scientist at the University of California, Berkeley. He explained: "This is the first time through direct imaging of the explosion site, we were able to rule out certain types of stars as the companion to a Type Ia supernova. The second star couldn't have been a massive red giant."
After decades of hunting the origins of Type Ia supernovae, scientists were finally able to make progress in this case for two reasons. In the case of the Li paper, it is because this was the closest thermonuclear supernova since sensitive modern instruments, like those on the Hubble Space Telescope, have been available.
In the Nugent paper, while closeness was necessary, another factor was even more important the speed of the discovery. The team discovered the supernova only 11 hours after it exploded, allowing for the first estimate of the size of the star when it blew up. "Not only is this the closest Type Ia supernova in the last 25 years, it is the youngest and brightest ever discovered in the digital age," said Nugent. "Observations with ground- and space-based telescopes from the radio through X-ray wavelengths have provided unprecedented constraints on how the supernova exploded."
The scientists noted that these rapid observations were not due to luck; they were possible because the Palomar 48-inch telescope, which was used to discover the supernova, is effectively a robot. Given regions of the sky to scan, Palomar 48 observes all night long without a human driving it. The data are then automatically processed by computers, and new potential supernovae are presented to the discovery team when they wake up.
In fact, LCOGT is building a global network of telescopes to take this idea to the next level. "If you have telescopes spread out in longitude, it is always dark somewhere, so you can observe targets around the clock," said Howell. "We like to say that the sun will never rise on the LCOGT empire."
LCOGT already has telescopes in Haleakala, Hawaii, and Siding Spring, Australia, as well as at the Sedgwick reserve near Santa Ynez, Calif. In 2012 it will expand to Texas, Chile, and South Africa. Last August, astronomers at LCOGT were able to use the fledgling network to monitor the brightness of the supernova as it rose in the weeks after explosion.
To add to the robotic data, B.J. Fulton, a recent UCSB graduate and astronomer at LCOGT, remotely controlled the 0.8-meter Byrne Observatory Telescope at the Sedgwick Reserve from his home in Santa Barbara 35 miles away. "As soon as I got word of the young supernova from the PTF collaboration I knew that this was a rare opportunity," said Fulton. "I immediately slewed the telescope to M101 and monitored the supernova nearly every night for the next two months. We're still in the process of automating the Sedgwick telescope, so I operated it remotely, but in the future observations like this will happen automatically, as they did at our telescope in Hawaii."
When the supernova reached its peak brightness, Fulton used the Byrne Observatory to take a series of shots, which he composed to make an image that is as aesthetically pleasing as it is scientifically useful. "This is the supermodel of supernovae," said Howell. "The image B.J. created of SN 2011fe is the most beautiful image ever of a thermonuclear supernova and its host galaxy. And the fact that he did it with a modest 0.8-meter telescope is incredible. The previous poster child for type Ia supernovae, SN 1994D, was obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. This image will be in all the textbooks."
Aside from Bildsten, Fulton, and Howell, other Santa Barbara contributors to the findings include Federica Bianco, Benjamin Dilday, Melissa Graham, and David Sand with UCSB and LCOGT; and Jerod Parrent with LCOGT.
The Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) is based on the 48-inch Oschin Schmidt telescope and the 60-inch telescope of the Palomar Observatory of the California Institute of Technology, and is a collaboration among California Institute of Technology; Columbia University; LCOGT; Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory; Oxford University; University of California, Berkeley; and the Weizmann Institute for Science.
The Nature articles follow on the heels of the December 10 presentation of the Nobel Prize in physics to three astrophysicists. This Nobel Prize recognized the scientists for the discovery that the universe is accelerating its expansion, a finding that they made using type Ia supernovae as a measuring tool, as "standard candles."
###
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Scientists publish new findings about the 'supernova of a generation'Public release date: 14-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Gail Gallessich gail.g@ia.ucsb.edu 805-893-7220 University of California - Santa Barbara
(Santa Barbara, Calif.) An international team of scientists, including astrophysicists from UC Santa Barbara, has discovered that a supernova that exploded in August dubbed the supernova of a generation was a "white dwarf" star, and that its companion star could not have been a "red giant," as previously suspected. The findings are published in two papers in the journal Nature this week.
White dwarf stars are small but very dense stars, and red giants are stars that swell to massive proportions when they approach middle age.
The new "type Ia" thermonuclear supernova, known as PTF 11kly, exploded on August 24th in the Pinwheel galaxy, located in the "Big Dipper," also known as Ursa Major. These supernovae are used to measure dark energy, which scientists believe is related to the expansion of the universe. The discovery of the supernova was made by an international team of astronomers known as the Palomar Transient Factory.
Located 21 million light-years away, this supernova was practically next door, in cosmic terms, and could be seen in early September with binoculars. The explosion gave scientists their best chance yet to study a thermonuclear supernova up close, with modern instruments.
Over the past 50 years, astrophysicists have discovered that type Ia supernovae are part of binary systems two stars orbiting each other. The one that exploded was theorized to be a white dwarf star. "That's what our sun will be at the end of its life," said Andy Howell, a member of the UCSB team. "It will have the mass of the sun crammed into the size of the Earth." Howell is a staff scientist at the UCSB-affiliated Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network LCOGT, an assistant adjunct professor of physics at UCSB, and co-author of both papers.
Scientists are upbeat about the finding that the supernova is a white dwarf. "It's been nearly 50 years since the original theoretical suggestions were made that these supernovae were caused by white dwarfs," said co-author Lars Bildsten. "The observational proof is very satisfying to see!" Bildsten is a permanent member of UCSB's Kavli Institute of Theoretical Physics (KITP) and is UCSB's Wayne Rosing, Simon and Diana Raab Chair in Theoretical Astrophysics.
Such white dwarf stars would normally be dead forever, slowly cooling and freezing solid over cosmic time. However, if it has a companion star, then the white dwarf can steal its matter, and return to life. If they steal too much matter, the carbon atoms will fuse so rapidly that the burning cannot be stopped, leading to an explosion as a Type Ia supernova.
That has long been the leading theory, although proof has remained elusive for decades. One of the papers shows that the exploding star had to be smaller than a tenth of the radius of the sun. That rules out normal stars, and for the first time provides direct evidence that white dwarfs are responsible for Type Ia supernovae. The lead author is Peter Nugent, who discovered the supernova, and is a senior staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and an adjunct professor at UC Berkeley.
Scientists have not yet ascertained the type of the companion star to the white-dwarf-turned supernova. However, they have ruled out the type of star they expected a red giant. Previous studies of RS Ophiuci, a binary star system in our own Milky Way galaxy that is similar to the one being studied, has a white dwarf near the limit that will cause it to explode. And, it is being fed by a companion red giant star. So scientists were somewhat surprised that they did not find a red giant next to the supernova that exploded in August.
A second paper regarding the companion star to the white dwarf was led by Weidong Li, a research scientist at the University of California, Berkeley. He explained: "This is the first time through direct imaging of the explosion site, we were able to rule out certain types of stars as the companion to a Type Ia supernova. The second star couldn't have been a massive red giant."
After decades of hunting the origins of Type Ia supernovae, scientists were finally able to make progress in this case for two reasons. In the case of the Li paper, it is because this was the closest thermonuclear supernova since sensitive modern instruments, like those on the Hubble Space Telescope, have been available.
In the Nugent paper, while closeness was necessary, another factor was even more important the speed of the discovery. The team discovered the supernova only 11 hours after it exploded, allowing for the first estimate of the size of the star when it blew up. "Not only is this the closest Type Ia supernova in the last 25 years, it is the youngest and brightest ever discovered in the digital age," said Nugent. "Observations with ground- and space-based telescopes from the radio through X-ray wavelengths have provided unprecedented constraints on how the supernova exploded."
The scientists noted that these rapid observations were not due to luck; they were possible because the Palomar 48-inch telescope, which was used to discover the supernova, is effectively a robot. Given regions of the sky to scan, Palomar 48 observes all night long without a human driving it. The data are then automatically processed by computers, and new potential supernovae are presented to the discovery team when they wake up.
In fact, LCOGT is building a global network of telescopes to take this idea to the next level. "If you have telescopes spread out in longitude, it is always dark somewhere, so you can observe targets around the clock," said Howell. "We like to say that the sun will never rise on the LCOGT empire."
LCOGT already has telescopes in Haleakala, Hawaii, and Siding Spring, Australia, as well as at the Sedgwick reserve near Santa Ynez, Calif. In 2012 it will expand to Texas, Chile, and South Africa. Last August, astronomers at LCOGT were able to use the fledgling network to monitor the brightness of the supernova as it rose in the weeks after explosion.
To add to the robotic data, B.J. Fulton, a recent UCSB graduate and astronomer at LCOGT, remotely controlled the 0.8-meter Byrne Observatory Telescope at the Sedgwick Reserve from his home in Santa Barbara 35 miles away. "As soon as I got word of the young supernova from the PTF collaboration I knew that this was a rare opportunity," said Fulton. "I immediately slewed the telescope to M101 and monitored the supernova nearly every night for the next two months. We're still in the process of automating the Sedgwick telescope, so I operated it remotely, but in the future observations like this will happen automatically, as they did at our telescope in Hawaii."
When the supernova reached its peak brightness, Fulton used the Byrne Observatory to take a series of shots, which he composed to make an image that is as aesthetically pleasing as it is scientifically useful. "This is the supermodel of supernovae," said Howell. "The image B.J. created of SN 2011fe is the most beautiful image ever of a thermonuclear supernova and its host galaxy. And the fact that he did it with a modest 0.8-meter telescope is incredible. The previous poster child for type Ia supernovae, SN 1994D, was obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. This image will be in all the textbooks."
Aside from Bildsten, Fulton, and Howell, other Santa Barbara contributors to the findings include Federica Bianco, Benjamin Dilday, Melissa Graham, and David Sand with UCSB and LCOGT; and Jerod Parrent with LCOGT.
The Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) is based on the 48-inch Oschin Schmidt telescope and the 60-inch telescope of the Palomar Observatory of the California Institute of Technology, and is a collaboration among California Institute of Technology; Columbia University; LCOGT; Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory; Oxford University; University of California, Berkeley; and the Weizmann Institute for Science.
The Nature articles follow on the heels of the December 10 presentation of the Nobel Prize in physics to three astrophysicists. This Nobel Prize recognized the scientists for the discovery that the universe is accelerating its expansion, a finding that they made using type Ia supernovae as a measuring tool, as "standard candles."
###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
A new jailbreak mod by the name of H1Siri claims to allow a fully working port of Siri on the iPhone 4, but this one comes with a number of questionable aspects. First of all, the package is available via a custom Cydia repo from a relatively...
EPSRC and ESRC to fund new thinking on infrastructurePublic release date: 6-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Richard Tibenham richard.tibenham@epsrc.ac.uk Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
New ideas and business models that may change the way the UK's infrastructure is both developed and managed are to be explored via research funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
Seven million pounds will be dedicated to the research in response to Infrastructure UK's National Infrastructure plan 2011, launched in conjunction with the Autumn Statement on November 29, 2011. National infrastructures include facilities which support the delivery of energy, water, transport, digital communications and waste disposal networks. EPSRC and ESRC will jointly support two interdisciplinary centres that explore innovative business models around infrastructure interdependencies by December 2012.
Professor David Delpy, EPSRC's CEO said: "How our national infrastructure works has never remained static and now the UK faces new challenges that demand new thinking. Ideas on how we invest in, or interact with, our infrastructure will need to take account of engineering and economic practicalities of their potential adoption and implementation. That is why today we are flagging up that this call will be coming out next year."
Professor Paul Boyle, ESRC's CEO commented: "National infrastructure services are essential for supporting innovation and providing sustainable growth in our economy. Social Science research elements are key to identify how consumers, investors and operators of infrastructure will perceive the risks and opportunities associated with the development of new national structures. High quality research collaborations in engineering and the social sciences, can develop the tools and techniques to understand the interdependencies of Britain's infrastructure and support the implementation of new structures."
It is intended that the centres will be based on consortia of excellence, build on existing investments and contribute towards building critical mass as well as providing overt leadership within the community. The research focus will be on mid-long term interdependencies that lead to novel business models and feed in to sustainable regulation.
The call will be developed in discussion with business and academic communities and is expected to be announced in March 2012 with a closing date in June 2012.
###
Contacts:
Richard Tibenham
Email: richard.tibenham@epsrc.ac.uk
Telephone: 01793-444-502
Danielle Moore
Email:danielle.moore@esrc.ac.uk
Telephone: 01793-413-122
NOTES TO EDITORS:
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is the main UK government agency for funding research and training in engineering and the physical sciences, investing more than 850 million a year in a broad range of subjects - from mathematics to materials science, and from information technology to structural engineering. http://www.epsrc.ac.uk
The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is the UK's largest organisation for funding research on economic and social issues. It supports independent, high quality research which has an impact on business, the public sector and the third sector. The ESRC's total budget for 2011/12 is 203 million. At any one time the ESRC supports over 4,000 researchers and postgraduate students in academic institutions and independent research institutes. More at http://www.esrc.ac.uk
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
EPSRC and ESRC to fund new thinking on infrastructurePublic release date: 6-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Richard Tibenham richard.tibenham@epsrc.ac.uk Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
New ideas and business models that may change the way the UK's infrastructure is both developed and managed are to be explored via research funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
Seven million pounds will be dedicated to the research in response to Infrastructure UK's National Infrastructure plan 2011, launched in conjunction with the Autumn Statement on November 29, 2011. National infrastructures include facilities which support the delivery of energy, water, transport, digital communications and waste disposal networks. EPSRC and ESRC will jointly support two interdisciplinary centres that explore innovative business models around infrastructure interdependencies by December 2012.
Professor David Delpy, EPSRC's CEO said: "How our national infrastructure works has never remained static and now the UK faces new challenges that demand new thinking. Ideas on how we invest in, or interact with, our infrastructure will need to take account of engineering and economic practicalities of their potential adoption and implementation. That is why today we are flagging up that this call will be coming out next year."
Professor Paul Boyle, ESRC's CEO commented: "National infrastructure services are essential for supporting innovation and providing sustainable growth in our economy. Social Science research elements are key to identify how consumers, investors and operators of infrastructure will perceive the risks and opportunities associated with the development of new national structures. High quality research collaborations in engineering and the social sciences, can develop the tools and techniques to understand the interdependencies of Britain's infrastructure and support the implementation of new structures."
It is intended that the centres will be based on consortia of excellence, build on existing investments and contribute towards building critical mass as well as providing overt leadership within the community. The research focus will be on mid-long term interdependencies that lead to novel business models and feed in to sustainable regulation.
The call will be developed in discussion with business and academic communities and is expected to be announced in March 2012 with a closing date in June 2012.
###
Contacts:
Richard Tibenham
Email: richard.tibenham@epsrc.ac.uk
Telephone: 01793-444-502
Danielle Moore
Email:danielle.moore@esrc.ac.uk
Telephone: 01793-413-122
NOTES TO EDITORS:
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is the main UK government agency for funding research and training in engineering and the physical sciences, investing more than 850 million a year in a broad range of subjects - from mathematics to materials science, and from information technology to structural engineering. http://www.epsrc.ac.uk
The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is the UK's largest organisation for funding research on economic and social issues. It supports independent, high quality research which has an impact on business, the public sector and the third sector. The ESRC's total budget for 2011/12 is 203 million. At any one time the ESRC supports over 4,000 researchers and postgraduate students in academic institutions and independent research institutes. More at http://www.esrc.ac.uk
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
MANCHESTER, N.H. ? The once-bursting 2012 Republican presidential field is narrowing to a choice between former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Republican voters have one month before casting the first votes to winnow it to one.
Romney and Gingrich offer striking contrasts in personality, government experience and campaign organization. Gingrich has scant infrastructure in the early voting states. Romney has maintained an organization since his 2008 campaign, especially in New Hampshire.
Both candidates were campaigning on Saturday, Romney in New Hampshire and Gingrich in New York. Neither offered few criticisms of each other. Romney seems content for now to let other rivals such as Ron Paul aim the sharpest barbs at Gingrich, while Gingrich focused more on his vision to bring the U.S. in line with his vision.
Remember Samsung?s second-gen dual-screen Android clamshell we spotted about a month ago? Well, here it is at last: announced in partnership with China Telecom, this SCH-W999 flip phone packs two 3.5-inch 480 x 800 Super AMOLED panels back to back, along with a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8660, Android 2.3 with TouchWiz, HyperSkin back cover (as featured on the Galaxy Nexus for grip plus anti-smear), five megapixel camera, Bluetooth 3.0, WiFi and WAPI (China?s not-so-successful take on WiFi, basically).
Like many phones on China Telecom, the W999 comes with dual SIM slots and dual-mode connectivity (GSM and CDMA2000, with the latter offering EV-DO 3G), but with the additional support for penta-band radio for globetrotters. Want to nab one? We?re looking at a 2012 launch, though there?s no word on prices just yet ? well, just so you know, the predecessor W899 starts from ?8990 ($1,410), so good luck with your garage sale. We got you some pictures from the China launch event after the break, courtesy of Samsung Mobile.
WASHINGTON ? Republican congressional leaders stressed a willingness Wednesday to extend a Social Security payroll tax cut due to expire Dec. 31, setting up a year-end clash with Democrats over how to pay for a provision at the heart of President Barack Obama's jobs program.
"We just think we shouldn't be punishing job creators to pay for it," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, scorning a Democratic proposal to raise taxes on million-dollar income earners.
Instead, Senate Republicans called for a gradual reduction in the size of the federal bureaucracy, as well as steps to make sure that million-dollar earners don't benefit from unemployment benefits or food stamps. They also recommended raising Medicare premiums for individuals with incomes over $750,000 a year.
House Speaker John Boehner said flatly that any tax cut extension will be offset by cuts elsewhere in the budget to avoid raising federal deficits. Numerous Republican officials noted that Obama had said the same thing was true of the plan he unveiled in a nationally televised speech to Congress in September.
The events in Congress, coupled with Obama's fresh appeal for renewal of the payroll tax cut while speaking Wednesday in Scranton, Pa., indicated that leaders in both parties want to seek a compromise less than a week after Congress' high-profile supercommittee failed to find common ground on a related economic issue, a plan to reduce deficits.
Yet nearly a full year before the 2012 elections, it also appeared that lawmakers in both parties are eager to compete for the political high ground before any compromise can be struck on the payroll tax or an extension of unemployment benefits that Republicans also said they might approve.
In a visit to blue-collar northeastern Pennsylvania, Obama warned of a "massive blow to the economy" if Republicans oppose his call for a renewal of the payroll tax cut approved a year ago as a way to stimulate economic growth.
"Are you going to cut taxes for the middle class and those who are trying to get into the middle class, or are you going to protect massive tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires?" he said, referring to Republicans.
"Are you going to ask a few hundred thousand people who have done very, very well to do their fair share or are you going to raise taxes for hundreds of millions of people across the country?"
Speaking later in New York City, Obama took a more conciliatory tone toward Republicans.
"For the last couple of days Mr. Boehner and Mr. McConnell have both indicated that it probably does make sense not to have taxes go up for middle class families, particularly since they've all taken an oath not to raise taxes," Obama said. "And so it's possible we'll see some additional progress in the next couple of weeks that can continue to help strengthen the economy."
Senate Democrats have set a vote for later in the week to pay for the tax cut renewal by imposing a permanent 3.25 percent surtax on individuals or couples earning more than $1 million a year, a political maneuver designed to cast Republicans as the protectors of the wealthy at a time when unemployment is at 9 percent nationally.
The proposal has no chance of gaining the 60-vote Senate majority needed for approval.
The Senate Republican alternative, unveiled in late afternoon, envisions extending an existing pay freeze for government workers through 2015 ? a provision that would apply to lawmakers. It also proposed gradually cutting the government workforce by 10 percent, or 200,000 positions.
Additionally, Republicans recommended taxing away the value of unemployment benefits and denying food stamps to any household with an income of $1 million or more, as well as raising the Medicare premium paid by individuals who earn more than $750,000 a year.
Republicans said their proposal would raise about $221 billion over a decade, covering the cost of a one-year extension of the existing payroll tax cut and leaving $111.5 billion left over for deficit reduction.
"The Democrats can say they just want some people to pay a little bit more to cover this or that dubious proposal," said McConnell, who also noted that there were misgivings inside his party over Obama's proposed tax cut extension.
"Think about that. The Democrats' response to the jobs crisis we're in right now is to raise taxes on those who create jobs. This isn't just counterproductive. It's absurd."
Adam Jentleson, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, said the GOP plan as written won't pass. "Now that Republicans have reversed their position on this middle-class tax cut, we look forward to working with them to negotiate a consensus solution," he added.
The extension of unemployment benefits is also included in the jobs program Obama announced in the fall, at a cost of $48.5 billion over a decade.
The overall cost of Obama's plan was $447 billion over 10 years, and his recommendations concerning the payroll tax account for well half the amount.
Under bipartisan legislation Obama signed late last year, the 6.2 percent payroll tax paid by workers on incomes up to $106,800 was cut to 4.2 percent through the end of 2011. The president has proposed reducing that further, to 3.1 percent, for 2012.
In addition, he is asking lawmakers to grant a similar tax break to businesses by halving the 6.2 percent they pay on workers' wages, up to $5 million in payroll.
Those two changes carry a cost of $247.5 billion, according to the White House.
The millionaires' surtax was a late change in the president's proposal, insisted upon by Senate Democrats who balked at some of Obama's initial proposals.
Initially, Obama proposed higher taxes on family incomes over $250,000 and on the oil and gas industry.
The first request troubled Democratic senators from states like New York, New Jersey and California, where large numbers of families would be hit by the increase. The second drew opposition most prominently from Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, whose state is home to numerous oil and gas operations.
The president also proposed higher taxes on hedge fund managers and corporate jet owners.
Those increases also disappeared, although supercommittee Republicans said they would be willing to accept the corporate jet increase as part of a deal that made big cuts in federal spending.
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Associated Press writers Alan Fram and Andrew Taylor contributed to this report.
SYDNEY (Reuters) ? Samsung Electronics Co is set to resume selling its Galaxy tablet computer in Australia as early as Friday, after the South Korean technology firm won a rare legal victory in a long-running global patent war with Apple Inc.
An Australian federal court unanimously decided to lift a preliminary injunction, imposed by a lower court, on sales of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 -- but granted Apple a stay on lifting the sales ban until Friday afternoon.
However, both companies are still waiting for a decision on a similar request by Apple to block Galaxy sales in the crucial U.S. market. That ruling from a federal judge in California could come at any time, though it is unlikely the Australian decision will factor into it.
"It's hard to expect the ruling to have a major positive impact on Samsung's tablet business or legal cases in other countries as Apple could appeal ... and sales won't be restored anytime soon," said Song Myung-sub, an analyst at HI Investment & Securities in Seoul.
"Apple will continue to dominate the tablet market as Amazon.comappears to be the only viable threat at the moment and other vendors, including Samsung, continue to struggle."
Lawyers for Apple declined to comment after the ruling. However, the delay in lifting the temporary sales ban gives Apple time to appeal.
Apple lawyers said in court that they plan to appeal the ruling.
The ruling is, however, a timely boost for Samsung ahead of the busy pre-Christmas shopping season. While the Australian market is not large, it is a key launch market for Apple products outside the United States.
"Samsung's Christmas elves will be rushing to prepare Galaxy Tab orders," said Tim Renowden, analyst at research firm Ovum. "The well-regarded Galaxy Tab series provides some of the leading alternatives to Apple's iPad."
Apple was granted an injunction against Samsung in October, temporarily barring Australian sales of the Galaxy 10.1 tab, which had been seen as the hottest competitor to Apple's iPad until Amazon.com Inc launched its Kindle Fire.
Amazon said this week it saw a surge in sales of its tablet devices on the crucial "Black Friday" shopping day after Thanksgiving.
Samsung is the world's top smartphone maker, but a distant second to Apple in tablets. The intensifying legal battle has undermined its efforts to close the gap.
Apple also filed a preliminary injunction request in Germany on Monday to ban sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1N, a re-designed version of 10.1-inch Galaxy model, whose sales are already banned in that market.
"We believe the (Australian) ruling clearly affirms that Apple's legal claims lack merit," Samsung said in a statement, adding it would soon make an announcement on the market availability of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia.
Justice Lindsay Foster told the court he would grant a stay on orders until Friday 4 p.m. (12 a.m. EST), noting Apple would have to go to the High Court if it wanted this extended.
BATTLE IN 10 COUNTRIES
Apple and Samsung have been locked in an acrimonious battle in 10 countries involving smartphones and tablets since April, with the Australian dispute centering on touch-screen technology used in Samsung's new tablet.
U.S. judges are usually hostile to considering precedents from other countries in their decisions, said Timothy Holbrook, an intellectual property professor at Emory Law.
"What happens in Australia will have no impact on what happens in the U.S.," Holbrook said.
Apple successfully moved to block Samsung from selling its tablets in Germany and a case in the Netherlands has forced Samsung to modify some smartphone models.
The quarrel had triggered expectations that some of the pair's $5 billion-plus relationship may be up for grabs. Samsung counts Apple as its biggest customer and makes parts central to Apple's mobile devices.
The legal battle in Australia doesn't stop at tablet computers. Samsung has sought to block sales of Apple's latest iPhone 4S, which went on sale early last month, by filing preliminary sales injunction requests in four countries, including Australia.
An Australian court has agreed to hear that case in March and April, with sales allowed to continue as normal ahead of the hearing on alleged patent infringements.
Shares in Samsung, valued at around $140 billion, were flat in a Seoul market down 0.5 percent.
(Additional reporting by Miyoung Kim in Seoul, and Dan Levine and Poornima Gupta in San Francisco; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Ed Davies and Ian Geoghegan)
There's a lot of skepticism about the the success potential of UltraViolet, a new cloud based digital distribution format designed to make digital rights management work across devices. That's because people hate DRM, but also because the standard currently lacks support Amazon and iTunes, the two biggest digital video sellers and renters. I wanted the real story on where UltraViolet is going, so I sat down with the Tim Dodd, VP and GM or Neustar Media, developers of the technology that powers UltraViolet. Watch here on TCTV as he defends UltraViolet, explains how it works on iOS devices without support from iTunes, and claims that there's still a future in physical media.
Facebook has helped people do a lot this year, from providing a vent to those frustrated with finals to providing a means to overthrow dictators to those frustrated with their governments. If all goes well, we might be able to add another crime solved to that growing list, too.
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Public release date: 14-Dec-2011
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There's a lot of skepticism about the the success potential of UltraViolet, a new cloud based digital distribution format designed to make digital rights management work across devices. That's because people hate DRM, but also because the standard currently lacks support Amazon and iTunes, the two biggest digital video sellers and renters. I wanted the real story on where UltraViolet is going, so I sat down with the Tim Dodd, VP and GM or Neustar Media, developers of the technology that powers UltraViolet. Watch here on TCTV as he defends UltraViolet, explains how it works on iOS devices without support from iTunes, and claims that there's still a future in physical media.