Wednesday, April 10, 2013

South Korea, U.S. remain on missile watch as North lauds Kims

By Christine Kim and Narae Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea and the United States remained on high alert for any North Korean missile launch on Thursday as the hermit kingdom turned its attention to celebrating its ruling Kim dynasty and appeared to dial down rhetoric of impending war.

Despite North Korea's threats it will attack U.S. bases and the South in response to any hostile acts against it, Pyongyang started to welcome a stream of visitors for Monday's birthday celebrations of its founding father Kim Il-sung.

North Korea has stationed as many as five medium-range missiles on its east coast, according to defense assessments made by Washington and Seoul, possibly in readiness for a test launch that would demonstrate its ability to hit U.S. bases on Guam.

Officials in Seoul said there were no signs that additional steps had been taken on Thursday that would indicate the North had moved closer to a launch.

Pyongyang issued a statement that appeared to be tinged with regret over the closure of the joint Kaesong industrial zone that was shuttered when it ordered its workers out this week, terming the North-South Korean venture "the pinnacle of General Kim Jong-il's limitless love for his people and brothers".

The statement on the country's KCNA news agency blamed South Korean President Park Geun-hye for bringing the money-spinning venture to "the brink of shutting down".

Kim Jong-il, Kim Il-sung's son, ruled North Korea until his death in December 2011. He was succeeded by Kim Jong-un, the third of his line to preside over one of the world's poorest and most heavily militarized countries.

Since taking office, the 30-year old has staged two long- range rocket launches and a nuclear weapons test. The nuclear test in February triggered United Nations sanctions that Pyongyang has termed a hostile act and a precursor to invasion.

For over a month, Pyongyang has issued an almost daily series of threats to the United States and South Korea, most recently warning foreigners to leave the South due to an impending "thermonuclear" war.

Apart from the swipe at South Korea's new president, verbal threats appeared to fall off as KCNA listed arrivals for the upcoming birthday celebrations, naming an eclectic mix ranging from Chinese businessmen to Cold War-era enthusiasts of its socialist monarchy and official ideology of "Juche", or self-reliance.

Ramon Jimenez Lopez, listed as the chairman of the Latin American Institute of the Juche Idea, and Jie Wenjiang, who it said was in charge of Hantong International freight company in Dandong, China, were among the arrivals, KCNA said.

KEY TENET

Reinforcing the rule of the Kim dynasty and the legitimacy of the latest Kim to hold power in Pyongyang is a key tenet of North Korea's ideology.

Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun said Kim Jong-un had "lifted the North Korean people out of the sea of bloody tears that has been their world in the past year" after the death of his father.

It was the first anniversary on Thursday of Kim's official ascent to power, although he became de-facto leader immediately after his father's death.

Despite the heady rhetoric from North Korea and its closure of the Kaesong economic zone that generated $2 billion a year in trade, Pyongyang does not appear to have placed its 1.2 million strong armed forces on high alert.

Most observers say Pyongyang has no intention of igniting a conflict that could bring its own destruction but warn of the risks of miscalculation on the highly-militarized Korean peninsula.

The North's rhetoric has pushed the United States, the guarantor of South Korea's security, to move more military assets into the region in response to the rising threat levels.

In Washington, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned on Wednesday that the North was "skating very close to a dangerous line" with its threats and provocations, and warned the United States was prepared to respond to any moves by Pyongyang.

"We have every capacity to deal with any action that North Korea would take, to protect this country and the interests of this country and our allies," Hagel told reporters at the Pentagon.

China, the North's only major diplomatic ally, has watched the situation evolving on its doorstep with concern.

"China respects North Korea, but it also holds the responsibility of preserving peace in Northeast Asia," the Global Times, a tabloid published by the ruling Communist Party's People's Daily, said in an editorial.

"Pyongyang should drop its illusions that it can make the world stay silent over its desire for nuclear arms through its hard-line stance and deceptions. We believe the North still has a chance and we regret that it has become mired in this crisis. We hope the crisis is only temporary."

Financial markets which have fluctuated with the rise in tensions appeared to have stabilized and the head of South Korea's central bank on Thursday announced that there was no imminent threat to Asia's fourth-largest economy.

"We will take appropriate action if the economy is affected by North Korea risks," Bank of Korea Governor Kim Choong-soo said after it left interest rates unchanged on Thursday.

(Additional reporting by Jack Kim and Daum Kim in SEOUL; and John Ruwitch in SHANGHAI; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/south-korea-u-remain-missile-watch-north-lauds-033019709.html

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Moa's ark

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Some of the largest female birds in the world were almost twice as big as their male mates. Research carried out by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) shows that this amazing size difference in giant moa was not due to any specific environmental factors, but evolved simply as a result of scaling-up of smaller differences in male and female body size shown by their smaller-bodied ancestors.

The paper is published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

In an environment lacking large mammals, New Zealand's giant moa (Dinornis) evolved to be one of the biggest species of bird ever, with females weighing more than two hundred kilograms ? the same as about 3 average sized men.

Male and female birds often show differences in body size, with males typically being larger. However some birds, like many ratites ? large, flightless species such as emus and cassowaries ? are the opposite, with the females towering over the males.

Moa were huge flightless ratites. Several different species inhabited New Zealand's forests, grasslands and mountains until about 700 years ago. However, the first Polynesian settlers became a moa-hunting culture, and rapidly drove all of these species to extinction.

Dr Samuel Turvey, ZSL Senior Research Fellow and lead author on the paper, says: "We compared patterns of body mass within an evolutionary framework for both extinct and living ratites. Females becoming much larger was an odd side-effect of the scaling up of overall body size in moa.

"A lack of large land mammals ? such as elephants, bison and antelope ? allowed New Zealand's birds to grow in size and fill these empty large herbivore niches. Moa evolved to become truly huge, and this accentuated the existing size differences between males and females as the whole animal scaled up in size over time," Dr Turvey added.

Future research should investigate whether similar scaling relationships can also help to explain the evolution of bizarre structures shown by other now-extinct species, such as the elongated canines of sabretoothed cats.

###

Zoological Society of London: http://www.zsl.org

Thanks to Zoological Society of London for this article.

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

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127663/Moa_s_ark

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Video: It isn't Tebow Time in St. Louis

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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/21134540/vp/51485339#51485339

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Hammad Memon attorneys seek second extension for mental health ...

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Hammad Memon's attorneys have asked for a second extension in filing the defense's mental health evaluation of the teen whose murder trial is set for June.
The mental state of Memon is expected to be a key piece of the defense's case as Memon, 17, faces a murder charge in the killing of his Discovery Middle School classmate Todd Brown on Feb. 5, 2010. Both Memon and Brown were 14 at the time of the shooting.
The mental health evaluation was due last week but Madison County Circuit Judge Karen Hall granted an extension until Monday following a defense request.
Memon's Birmingham-based attorney James Parkman filed a second extension request today. asking that the court allow the report to be submitted Wednesday.
In making today's request Parkman said Dr. Paul O'Leary was in a car accident Sunday. There was no mention in the court filing if O'Leary,? a Birmingham-based psychiatrist, was injured.
Court records did not indicate if Hall had granted the motion.
Memon's trial is set for June 17.
His attorneys have indicated he will be pursuing an insanity defense, that at the time of the shooting his mental condition did not allow him to appreciate the nature and wrongfulness of his actions.

Source: http://blog.al.com/breaking/2013/04/hammad_memon_attorneys_ask_for.html

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Tin nanocrystals for the battery of the future

Apr. 8, 2013 ? More powerful batteries could help electric cars achieve a considerably larger range and thus a breakthrough on the market. A new nanomaterial for lithium ion batteries developed in the labs of chemists at ETH Zurich and Empa could come into play here.

They provide power for electric cars, electric bicycles, smartphones and laptops; nowadays, rechargeable lithium ion batteries are the storage media of choice when it comes to supplying a large amount of energy in a small space and light weight. All over the world, scientists are currently researching a new generation of such batteries with an improved performance. Scientists headed by Maksym Kovalenko from the Laboratory of Inorganic Chemistry at ETH Zurich and Empa have now developed a nanomaterial which enables considerably more power to be stored in lithium ion batteries.

The nanomaterial is composed of tiny tin crystals, which are to be deployed at the minus pole of the batteries (anode). When charging the batteries, lithium ions are absorbed at this electrode; while discharging, they are released again (see box). "The more lithium ions the electrodes can absorb and release -- the better they can breathe, as it were -- the more energy can be stored in a battery," explains Kovalenko.

Uniform crystals

The element tin is ideal for this: every tin atom can absorb at least four lithium ions. However, the challenge is to deal with the volume change of tin electrodes: tin crystal becomes up to three times bigger if it absorbs a lot of lithium ions and shrinks again when it releases them back. The scientists thus resorted to nanotechnology: they produced the tiniest tin nanocrystals and embedded a large number of them in a porous, conductive permeable carbon matrix. Much like how a sponge can suck up water and release it again, an electrode constructed in this way can absorb lithium ions while charging and release them when discharging. If the electrode were made of a compact tin block, this would practically be impossible.

During the development of the nanomaterial, the issue of the ideal size for the nanocrystals arose, which also carries the challenge of producing uniform crystals. "The trick here was to separate the two basic steps in the formation of the crystals -- the formation of as small as a crystal nucleus as possible on the one hand and its subsequent growth on the other," explains Kovalenko. By influencing the time and temperature of the growth phase, the scientists were able to control the size of the crystals. "We are the first to produce such small tin crystals with such precision," says the scientist.

Larger cycle stability

Using uniform tin nanocrystals, carbon, and binding agents, the scientists produced different test electrodes for batteries. "This enables twice as much power to be stored compared to conventional electrodes," says Kovalenko. The size of the nanocrystals did not affect the storage capacity during the initial charging and discharging cycle. After a few charging and discharging cycles, however, differences caused by the crystal size became apparent: batteries with ten-nanometre crystals in the electrodes were able to store considerably more energy than ones with twice the diameter. The scientists assume that the smaller crystals perform better because they can absorb and release lithium ions more effectively. "Ten-nanometre tin crystals thus seem to be just the ticket for lithium ion batteries," says Kovalenko.

As the scientists now know the ideal size for the tin nanocrystals, they would like to turn their attention to the remaining challenges of producing optimum tin electrodes in further research projects. These include the choice of the best possible carbon matrix and binding agent for the electrodes, and the electrodes' ideal microscopic structure. Moreover, an optimal and stable electrolyte liquid in which the lithium ions can travel back and forth between the two poles in the battery also needs to be selected. Ultimately, the production costs are also an issue, which the researchers are looking to reduce by testing which cost-effective base materials are suitable for electrode production. The aim is to prepare batteries with an increased energy storage capacity and lifespan for the market, in collaboration with a Swiss industrial partner.

How lithium ion batteries work

In lithium ion batteries, the energy is stored in the form of positively charged lithium atoms (ions) that are found at the minus pole in a charged battery. If energy is taken from the battery, negatively charged electrons flow from the minus pole to the plus pole via the external circuit. To balance the charge, positively charged lithium ions also flow from the minus pole to the plus pole. However, these travel in the electrolyte fluid inside the battery. The process is reversible: lithium ion batteries can be recharged with electricity. In most lithium ion batteries these days, the plus pole is composed of the transition metal oxides cobalt, nickel, and manganese, the minus pole of graphite. In more powerful lithium ion batteries of the next generation, however, elements such as tin or silicon may well be used at the minus pole.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by ETH Zurich. The original article was written by Fabio Bergamin.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Kostiantyn Kravchyk, Loredana Protesescu, Maryna I. Bodnarchuk, Frank Krumeich, Maksym Yarema, Marc Walter, Christoph Guntlin, Maksym V. Kovalenko. Monodisperse and Inorganically Capped Sn and Sn/SnO2Nanocrystals for High-Performance Li-Ion Battery Anodes. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2013; 135 (11): 4199 DOI: 10.1021/ja312604r

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/electricity/~3/EVV_Zc2w5Aw/130408123254.htm

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Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Wall Street edges higher as investors await earnings

By Ryan Vlastelica

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose slightly in a volatile session on Monday as investors were reluctant to make large bets going into an earnings season that is expected to be lackluster.

Forecasts for first-quarter earnings have been scaled back dramatically, with profits seen rising just 1.6 percent from the year-ago quarter, according to Thomson Reuters data. In January, earnings were seen rising 4.3 percent.

The drop in profit expectations has come amid an economy that could be hitting a slow patch, with last week's March payroll report severely below expectations. Weak corporate results could give investors further reasons to sell, pushing both the Dow and S&P 500 back from recent all-time closing highs.

The season unofficially starts after the market closes with results from Alcoa Inc , the first Dow component to report, though many more bellwether companies won't come out until next week. Alcoa is seen posting a profit of 8 cents a share, down from 10 cents last year.

"We're waiting for earnings for evidence that the market can be supported at these levels," said Jim Dunigan, chief investment officer at PNC Wealth Management in Philadelphia. "We will see growth in earnings, but clearing the expectations bar could be difficult, which could give us reason to pause."

Wall Street opened flat and dipped early in the session on concerns about the earnings season, though stocks rebounded in afternoon trading.

Consumer staples <.splrcs> were the stronger performers of the day, rising 0.8 percent, led by a 4.8 percent jump in Monster Beverage shares to $52.06.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was up 0.58 points, or 0.00 percent, at 14,565.83. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was up 4.21 points, or 0.27 percent, at 1,557.49. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was up 7.35 points, or 0.23 percent, at 3,211.20.

Stocks have rallied strongly this year with major indexes hitting record highs, helped in part by the Federal Reserve's stimulus program. The S&P 500 is up nearly 9 percent for the year so far, while the Dow has gained just under 11 percent.

Despite that, major indexes posted their worst weekly loss for 2013 last week, with the payroll report fueling concerns about economic growth.

"A lot of the momentum we had in the first quarter was based on improving economic news, and the jobs report really took the wind out of our sails," said Dunigan, who helps oversee $116 billion in assets. "We're still trying to sift through what that means for our prospects going forward."

Loose monetary policy from central banks around the world is expected to keep equities attractive, and recently investors have been using market declines as buying opportunities.

The Bank of Japan started its bond purchases on Monday after it announced last week it will inject about $1.4 trillion into the economy in less than two years.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will give a speech later on Monday after markets are closed. Investors have been watching for any insight into the Fed's thinking on how long the central bank will keep its asset purchase program in place as it tries to boost the economic recovery.

General Electric Co said it will buy oilfield pump maker Lufkin Industries Inc for about $2.98 billion, driving Lufkin shares up nearly 38 percent to $87.97. GE, a Dow component, declined 0.2 percent to $22.88.

Among blue-chip stocks, Johnson & Johnson Inc was the Dow's biggest percentage decliner after JPMorgan downgraded the healthcare company's stock to "neutral" from "overweight," saying it faced "a messy first quarter and a likely downward revision to 2013 guidance." The stock fell 1.7 percent to $80.68.

Among technology stocks, HP shares shed 1 percent to $21.74. Google Inc slid 1.7 percent to $769.99.

(Editing by Nick Zieminski)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/futures-last-weeks-sell-off-113132002--sector.html

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Economist&#39;s View: Paul Krugman: Insurance and Freedom

Social insurance does not undermine free societies:

Insurance and Freedom, by Paul Krugman, Commentary, NY Times: ...How many Americans will be denied essential health care in the name of freedom?
I?m referring, of course, to the question of how many Republican governors will reject the Medicaid expansion that is a key part of Obamacare. What does that have to do with freedom? In reality, nothing. But when it comes to politics, it?s a different story. ... From the enthusiastic reception American conservatives gave Friedrich Hayek?s ?Road to Serfdom,? to Reagan, to the governors now standing in the way of Medicaid expansion, the U.S. right has sought to portray its position not as a matter of comforting the comfortable while afflicting the afflicted, but as a courageous defense of freedom. ...
These days, conservatives make very similar arguments against Obamacare. For example,?Senator Ron Johnson?of Wisconsin has called it the ?greatest assault on freedom in our lifetime.? And this kind of rhetoric matters, because when it comes to the main obstacle now remaining to more or less universal health coverage ? the reluctance of Republican governors to allow the Medicaid expansion that is a key part of reform ? it?s pretty much all the right has. ...
[However], Medicaid enjoys?remarkably strong public support. And now that health reform is the law of the land, the economic and fiscal case for individual states to accept Medicaid expansion is overwhelming. ... But such practical concerns can be set aside if you can successfully argue that insurance is slavery.
Of course, it isn?t. In fact, it?s hard to think of a proposition that has been more thoroughly refuted by history than the notion that social insurance undermines a free society. ...
In fact, the real, lived experience of Obamacare is likely to be one of significantly increased individual freedom. For all our talk of being the land of liberty, those holding one of the dwindling number of jobs that carry decent health benefits often feel anything but free, knowing that if they leave or lose their job, for whatever reason, they may not be able to regain the coverage they need. Over time, as people come to realize that affordable coverage is now guaranteed, it will have a powerful liberating effect.
But what we still don?t know is how many Americans will be denied that kind of liberation ? a denial all the crueler because it will be imposed in the name of freedom.

Posted by Mark Thoma on Monday, April 8, 2013 at 12:33 AM in Economics, Politics, Social Insurance?| Permalink? Comments?(36)

Source: http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2013/04/paul-krugman-insurance-and-freedom.html

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