RHA MA150

It's pretty tough to find decent-sounding earphones under $30; despite plenty of advances in audio technology, cheap drivers tend to sound, well, cheap. That said, Apple recently set a bar with its EarPods, which now come bundled with iPhones and higher-end iPods, and sound surprisingly punchy for a design that sits just outside the ear canal. But RHA seems to have the formula down pat. Its latest model, the MA150, packs some serious audio power for just $19.95 (list), so it's our Editors' Choice for low-cost earphones.

Design
The MA150 looks like any other inexpensive pair of earphones; each plastic enclosure is all black, with rounded, rubber eartips. RHA packs two additional eartip pairs in the box in different sizes, but I had no trouble with the default ones. The soft rubber eartips are very comfortable and create a nice seal that blocks a considerable amount of external noise.

The black cable is thin and a little prone to tangling, but it's no worse than any other inexpensive earphone pair. That said,?I heard some cable thump through the earpieces while walking; it wasn't terrible, but if you're sensitive to that effect and plan on running with the MA150, you may want to try a different pair.

Note that the MA150 lacks an inline mic and phone controls. If you need something that lets you make and receive calls, have a look at the $50 RHA MA450i. The MA150 also doesn't come with a carrying case, although the recycled paper packaging is a nice touch.

Performance
For this review, I tested the MA150 with an iPhone 5 and a series of tracks in a variety of formats and bit rates.?More often than not, I liked what I heard. Rage Against the Machine's "Fistful of Steel" sounded positively huge, with a massive kick drum, and clear if slightly muted vocals and hi-hat cymbals. The Apple EarPods delivered a more open sound in a back-to-back comparison, but with considerably less bass and overall excitement in the high range.

"No Lie (Feat. Drake)," by 2 Chainz, rumbled and boomed just the way it should; the MA150 doesn't deliver the same level of bass as, say, a Beats by Dr. Dre pair, but you do get the same voluminous low-end extension and real, if a little soft, electronic kick punch. Flunk's trip-hop track, "Indian Rope Trick," sounded clear and reasonably spacey, thanks to the heavily effected and delayed vocal, but it wasn't the most open sound I've heard. Nonetheless, the tight bass and sufficient weight from the 10mm drivers was enough.

The taiko drums at the start of "Vespertillo," from the Batman Begins soundtrack, sounded ominous and rumbled beautifully, while tortured airy synthesizers loomed in the background. On the other hand, Depeche Mode's "Precious" sounded a little too closed in and flat; this is a tough track that becomes murky with the wrong headphones, and it's clear it was too much for the MA150.

Conclusions
Make no mistake: The MA150 is not a high-end earphone pair. But for just 20 bucks, it gives you a taste of what's possible with good audio, and shows you just how bad pack-in earbuds sound, assuming your phone or MP3 player even came with any. If you prefer a more open design that doesn't mask environmental sounds?say, for running outdoors?and that has no audible cable thump, the Apple EarPods will serve you well, and they also include an in-line remote and mic, although they cost $10 more.

The aforementioned RHA MA450i, in addition to also including a remote and mic, deliver?slightly more transparent and detailed sound, although the sonic signature is also considerably brighter, with less bass punch. Finally, if you have a bit more money to spend, we're fans of the AKG K 350, which when compared back to back with the MA150, deliver more detail, more air, and more space around the instruments, as well as a tighter (if less bombastic) low-end.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/2e6gWsM4lhQ/0,2817,2415324,00.asp

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Mali rebels fighting in Gao; car explodes in Kidal

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) ? Islamic extremists clashed with military in Mali's northern city of Gao, a military official said Thursday, as French forces continued their push to eliminate remnants of al-Qaida-linked fighters who had controlled northern Mali.

Malian military spokesman Capt. Daouda Diarra said that fighters with the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, or MUJAO, attacked a Gao checkpoint late Wednesday and made their way into the city. The fighters are trying to gain control of the mayor's office, but the army has tried to repel the attacks, he said.

In Kidal, a town further north where control by French and Chad forces has been tentative, a car explosion in a mechanics garage killed two, including the driver and a security guard, a resident said.

Mossa Ansary said Thursday's explosion took place about 800 meters (875 yards) from a French military base. It was unclear if it was a suicide car bombing. French and Chadian forces are patrolling the city of Kidal, though it remains unclear if the northern administrative capital is secure.

Radical Islamic fighters spent weeks on the run from Malian cities under a French ground and air assault that began Jan. 11 after the rebels had pushed to southern territories. The French, meanwhile, are tightening a dragnet against the al-Qaida-linked militants in one of their last remaining redoubts, mountain sanctuaries near Algeria's border.

France's main military spokesman on Thursday said that a French Tigre attack helicopter fired on a pickup truck containing jihadist fighters during clashes in rugged northern Mali, killing about 10 insurgents.

Col. Thierry Burkhard said the firefight on Wednesday in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountain range, near the Algeria border, came in the third day of an operation code-named "Panther," as French forces track and try to eliminate the Islamic extremists.

Burkhard said the operation is ongoing in the area. More than 20 insurgents and one French legionnaire died in similar clashes on Tuesday.

France's government has said it still hopes to pull out of its Mali operation in the coming weeks ? eager for African forces to help stabilize the impoverished West African country. But the French President said that France will "go all the way ? that's to say, arresting the last terrorist chiefs in northern Mali."

Gao Mayor Sadou Diallo said about 1,000 French troops are in the Gao region, along with about 3,000 Malian and African soldiers.

U.N. discussions about an African force for Mali have been under way for months, alongside efforts for a European Union training mission to help the Malian military.

___

Associated Press reporter Jamey Keaten in Paris contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mali-rebels-fighting-gao-car-explodes-kidal-143856635.html

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Costume designers say best-dressed movies are "Anna Karenina," "Mirror Mirror," "Skyfall"

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - The best-looking movies of 2012 are "Anna Karenina," "Skyfall" and "Mirror Mirror," said the Costume Designers Guild on Tuesday night.

In the final guild ceremony of awards season, "Anna Karenina" won in the Excellence in Period Film category, while "Skyfall" was honored for Excellence in Contemporary Film and "Mirror Mirror" for Excellence in Fantasy Film.

Of the three winners, two - "Anna Karenina" and "Mirror Mirror" - are also nominated for the costume-design Oscar. Over the past eight years, the Oscar winner has coincided with the CDG's period-film winner three times and its fantasy-film winner once.

The "Mirror Mirror" costume designer, Eiko Ishioka, passed away last January and won her award posthumously.

On the television side, awards went to "Smash," "Downton Abbey" and "American Horror Story: Asylum."

Judianna Makovsky, who won an award for her work on the "Captain Morgan Black" television commercial, also received the guild's Career Achievement Award, as did Eduardo Castro.

Anne Hathaway was given the LACOSTE Spotlight Award, while "Saturday Night Live" producer Lorne Michaels received the Distinguished Collaborator Award.

The show took place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and was hosted by Joel McHale. Presenters included Steve Martin, Russell Crowe, Shirley MacLaine and Amy Poehler.

Excellence in Contemporary Film: "Skyfall," Jany Temime

Excellence in Period Film: "Anna Karenina," Jacqueline Durran

Excellence in Fantasy Film: "Mirror Mirror," Eiko Ishioka

Outstanding Contemporary Television Series: "Smash," Molly Maginnis

Outstanding Period/Fantasy Television Series: "Downton Abbey," Carolina McCall

Outstanding Made for Television Movie/Mini-Series: "American Horror Story: Asylum," Lou Eyrich

Excellence in Commercial Costume Design: "Captain Morgan Black," Judianna Makovsky

Career Achievement Award: Eduardo Castro, Judianna Makovsky

Distinguished Collaborator Award: Lorne Michaels

LACOSTE Spotlight Award: Anne Hathaway

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/costume-designers-best-dressed-movies-anna-karenina-mirror-225916769.html

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Beyonce, Jay-Z Looking to Buy Neverland Ranch ... - AOL Real Estate

Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch has been abandoned since 2005, but it appears that it might become a home again -- for other members of pop music royalty. The majestic 3,000-acre property in Los Olivos, Calif., where the late King of Pop built a private amusement park and a petting zoo, is reportedly being eyed by none other than Beyonce and Jay-Z. A number of news outlets were pointing to British tabloid The Sun as the original source. We do, however, cast a skeptical eye: In January The Sun reported that Lady Gaga was planning a bid on Jackson's famous former home.

The New York Post also reported the latest rumor, with the newspaper saying that it had spoken to "Jackson family sources" who were optimistic that the power couple would buy Neverland Ranch. Bey-Z reportedly toured the once-opulent property recently, but Jay-Z was quoted by the Post as saying: "I've got no interest in Neverland." Still, the Jackson family seems to be holding out hope. A Jackson family member told the Post: "If [the current owners] took them to the ranch ... there must be something to it."

Jackson officially lost the home in 2008, when a private equity firm bought a $23.5 million loan that the singer had defaulted on. Since then, the company has controlled the property. Thomas Barrack Jr., owner of the firm that manages Neverland Ranch, declined to comment to the Post about a potential sale. Neverland Ranch had fallen to ruin by the time Jackson lost it, becoming a host to weeds, stagnant water and rust.

Still, if it's true that Beyonce and Jay-Z are about to bid on the property, they likely have the resources to return it to its former glory. The home used to house a state-of-the-art theater, two-story game room, restaurant, swimming pools -- and even its own fire department. You thought Beyonce spoiled her mom with the Houston home that she bought her? Bey may be saving the best for herself.

Find homes for sale in California, or search listings in your area.

More on AOL Real Estate:
Find out how to calculate mortgage payments.
Find foreclosures in your area.
Find homes for rent in your area.

Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/02/20/beyonce-jay-z-neverland-ranch/

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My Oh My: Movie Reviews!

Hooray for a 3 day weekend! I was actually able to see a few movies!?

First up, the husband and I saw the new Die Hard movie. I have to be honest, I have LOVED all of the Die Hards, except for this one! This one had no plot, and some of the action scenes just weren't believable. Case in point, a main character gets shot early on in the film and would of died from the gun shot wound yet he stayed in the film like it never happened. COME ON. SO not believable!

I have all the Die Hards on DVD and won't be adding this one to the list that's how much I didn't like it!?

Next up, I went with a girl friend to see "Safe Haven".?

I will say straight up that I really disliked the last 2 nicholas sparks movies they haven't had the "IT" factor (personally anyone that thought casting Miley Cirus as the lead is clearly off their rocker) haha and I love Zach Efron, but that movie just didn't have that spark either. Ironic, right Mr. Sparks? Hmmm...

How cute was the little girl in the film who played Lexie!?! Her name is Mimi Kirkland and I had to google her to read about her! Seriously this girl stole the show in the film! :)?

Source: http://cmae-adayinthelife.blogspot.com/2013/02/movie-reviews.html

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The End of Cheap Airfare

The merger between US Airways and American Airlines marks the end of the era of cheap domestic airfares

Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Time to shed a tear into your tiny plastic cups of tomato juice, because the merger between US Airways and American Airlines announced last week marks the end of the era of cheap domestic airfares. Thanks to Northwest?s takeover by Delta, Continental?s takeover by United, and AirTran?s takeover by Southwest, and now this, four giant airlines will soon control about 70 percent of the American market.* That?s not exact a monopoly situation, but it does mean that the 30-plus year run of robust competition and ever-falling airfares is almost certainly over.

American Airlines is a much larger company than US Airways, yet it?s in effect being acquired by the smaller company. That?s because the larger company was bankrupt. The new firm will be owned by a blend of US Airways shareholders and American Airlines creditors, and run primarily by US Airways? top management. US Airways itself was the product of a similar merger back in 2005. It had filed for bankruptcy in 2002 and then again in 2004, and found itself de facto taken over by the smaller America West Airlines. That merger saw America West?s brand subsumed under the better-known US Airways, but it was America West?s CEO Doug Parker who ran the merged entity and who now, with the American merger, will be CEO of the country?s largest airline.

Parker has moved up in the world because America?s traditional airlines keep collapsing. That, in turn, is the legacy of Jimmy Carter and the airline deregulation of the late-?70s and early-?80s. Fares on interstate routes used to be set by a Civil Aeronautics Board that was thoroughly captured by the entrenched interests of incumbent airlines. The CAB limited competition, and ensured that prices stayed high enough for airlines to be profitable. With profits essentially guaranteed, unions representing airline workers were in a position to bargain for generous compensation and management was able to use the CAB process to pass the costs on to consumers. Meanwhile, in the few instances where a single state was large enough to contain multiple large cities?and thus airlines were intrastate, and not subject to the CAB?fares were quite a bit cheaper. Los Angeles to San Francisco airfares were strikingly lower than fares in the northeast corridor, and Southwest Airlines was pioneering a low-cost model in Texas.

Carter, followed by Ronald Reagan, changed all this and phased out the CAB. Many new airlines launched, incumbents reached out into new markets, Southwest grew into a national carrier, fares fell, total flights taken rose, and everyone started losing money. The once reliably profitable industry has lost somewhere in the neighborhood of $30 billion, with basically all the red ink coming in the past 30 years.

Now most of the startups from the ?80s are out of business. And most of the legacy carriers from the ?70s are also out of business. Shareholders in essentially any airline other than America West or Southwest have likely lost their shirts, and virtually every union has taken it on the chin at least once. A total disaster, in other words, for everyone except customers, who have flown more places, more often, for less money, than they could have imagined in 1976.

But now the party?s over. A key stated goal of this merger?as in the Delta/Northwest and United/Continental deals?is to reduce ?excess capacity? in domestic passenger aviation. That?s a polite way of saying less competition and less service. This will take a few forms. There are currently a half dozen US Airways flights from its hub in Philadelphia to Dallas. Dallas is a key American hub, so American also flies six times a day from Philadelphia to Dallas. The combined entity probably won?t need 12 flights a day to serve the route and definitely will have more power to raise prices than either airline would separately. Smaller cities will also see the pinch. Right now, US Airways and American both serve Tallahassee, the former seeking to route passengers through its Charlotte hubs and the latter through its Dallas and Miami hubs. A merged airline might cut that Charlotte service, figuring that network access through Dallas and Miami is ample to compete with Delta?s service through Atlanta. By the same token, when airlines merge the smallest hubs in the new larger airline tend to lose out and shrink.

It is not clear what regulators can or should do about this. A merger that increases industry profits largely by hurting consumers sounds bad. But not only is American Airlines bankrupt, the industry as a whole has been losing money hand over fist. Raising profits from below zero to above it is less insidious than consolidation aimed at increasing the profitability of an already profitable line of business. Travelers have been essentially reaping the benefits of corporate charity and union givebacks as investors poured money into airline startups that ultimately failed. The gravy train couldn?t possibly last forever, and regulators can?t force investors to back doomed aviation startups. This deal is probably bad news for you, and the even worse news is there?s probably no better alternative. Get ready for higher prices and less service.

Correction, Feb. 19, 2013: This article originally misspelled the name of AirTran. (Return to the corrected sentence.)

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=46831c89b987f0a90743e6eb041d300b

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Fresh Stats On Social Networks: Pinterest Catches Up With Twitter ...

I find statistics absolutely delicious. Pew research released fresh stats on what slice of Americans are addicted to all of the various social networks as of December 2012. There are a few big business and cultural implications.

Pinterest has practically caught up with Twitter, with 15 percent and 16 percent of adult U.S. Internet users on each network, respectively. Pinterest, which launched in 2009, has experienced explosive growth, especially with a white, female and affluent user base. Women are five times more likely to use Pinterest (5 percent?vs. 25 percent) and almost twice as likely to be white and college-educated.?It?s become a magnet for hip urbanites searching for the hottest wedding gowns and apartment decor. Twitter, however, gets a lot more attention, since neither presidential campaigns nor Middle Eastern activists are?leveraging?style catalogs to rearrange their countries? political leadership.

There is no longer a minority gap in social media use. The surveyed groups (whites, Hispanics, and African-Americans) hover around 68 percent?of total adults. Almost twice as many African-Americans (26 percent) use Twitter as whites (14 percent). The disproportionate African-American use of Twitter has fascinated?culture commentators and scholars. One study found that African-Americans in celebrity news strongly predicted their Twitter use. Former web editor of the The Onion, Baratunde Thurston, hypothesized that ?there?s a long oral dissing tradition in black communities,? explaining, ?Twitter works very naturally with that call-and-response tradition ? it?s so short, so economical, and you get an instant signal validating the quality of your contribution.?

Ironically, not using social media may be an elite thing. Those with a college degree are slightly less likely than those with some college to use social networks (69 percent?vs. 65 percent). While the difference isn?t statistically significant, at least one study verified the trend among educated users to ditch Facebook for moral, political or cultural reasons. ?Many Facebook refusers actually revel in their difference from the mainstream, seeing it as a mark of distinction, superior taste, and identification with an elite social stratum,? said New York University Professor Laura Portwood-Stacer.

Hipsters find it too mainstream and others find their privacy policies?troublesome. In other words, not using social media is likely a product of more education, not a lack of access.

The full totals for each social network.?Sixty-seven?percent of online adults say they use Facebook, 15 percent?of online adults say they use Pinterest, 13 percent?of online adults say they use Instagram, 6 percent?of online adults say they use Tumblr, 16 percent?of online adults say they use Twitter (and 20 percent?of online adults say they use LinkedIn as of August 2012). Below is a full table?summarizing?the results of the survey:

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/17/social-media-statistics-2012/

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Former WSU coach Raveling to receive HOF lifetime achievement award

by TRAVIS PITTMAN / KING 5 News

KING5.com

Posted on February 15, 2013 at 12:23 PM

Updated Friday, Feb 15 at 5:32 PM

Former Washington State University men?s basketball coach George Raveling was named the recipient of the 2013 John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday.

The award is considered the most prestigious honor the Hall can bestow, outside of enshrinement. The award honors those who have made outstanding accomplishments to impact the game of basketball.

?George was a trailblazer in the college coaching profession, he took so much pride in educating his players not only about basketball, but also about life,? said Jerry Colangelo, Chairman of the Hall of Fame board.

Raveling was an assistant for the Maryland Terrapins when they posted an undefeated season and a No. 1 national ranking in 1971.

In 1972, he moved to Pullman to coach the Cougars, back when the Pac-12 was still the Pac-8. In 11 seasons, he led the Cougs to a 167-136 record and two NCAA Tournament appearances. He also was the conference?s first African-American basketball coach.

Raveling would also coach at Iowa and USC, and he served as an assistant on the 1984 and 1988 U.S. Olympic teams.

Raveling retired in 1994 following a car crash that hospitalized him for several weeks with severe injuries. He became a color commentator for Fox Sports and CBS. He?s currently the Director of International Basketball for Nike.

Information compiled from the Naismith Memorial Basketball?Hall of Fame website.

?

Source: http://www.king5.com/sports/college/cougars/Former-WSU-coach-Raveling-to-receive-HOF-lifetime-achievement-award-191444461.html

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No easy funding fix for transportation woes: lawmaker

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. transportation system is in danger of falling apart, dragging down the economy with it, unless Congress can agree on a plan to pay for badly needed new projects, a senior Republican lawmaker said on Wednesday.

"If we don't deal with this issue at some point, as I said, we will reach a tipping point and the transportation system may not recover and we will fall behind the rest of the world," Bill Shuster, chairman of the House of Representatives Transportation Committee, said in a speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The United States has already "gone from being one of the top three, four (or) five systems in the world to now we're 23 or 24, so we need to act," Shuster said.

In terms of future funding sources, "I don't rule anything out. Everything has to be on the table," he said.

A recent study from the American Society of Civil Engineers estimated the United States needs to spend $2.75 trillion to maintain and improve its infrastructure by 2020, or roughly two-thirds more than the $1.66 trillion in expected funding over that period.

A big chunk of those needs are for highway projects. Those traditionally been have been funded by the federal gasoline tax, which has been about 18.4 cents per gallon since 1993 and is now seen as an increasingly ineffective way of raising revenue because of rising auto fuel efficiency.

Shuster said he agreed that relying on the gasoline tax probably was not sustainable over the long-term, but it would be hard to shift in the short-term to other options.

Payment systems based on "vehicle miles traveled" are unpopular, particularly proposals to put transponders in cars to record and transmit the mileage data, he said.

Some state governors favor collecting more tolls on the interstate highway system, but that is hard to do when many people are used to driving on the "freeway," he said.

(Reporting by Doug Palmer; Editing by Vicki Allen)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/no-easy-funding-fix-transportation-woes-lawmaker-164024622--sector.html

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New details on the molecular machinery of cancer

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Researchers with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley have provided important new details into the activation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), a cell surface protein that has been strongly linked to a large number of cancers and is a major target of cancer therapies.

"The more we understand about EGFR and the complex molecular machinery involved in the growth and proliferation of cells, the closer we will be to developing new and more effective ways to cure and treat the many different forms of cancer," says chemist Jay Groves, one of the leaders of this research. "Through a tour-de-force of quantitative biology techniques that included cutting edge time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy in living cells, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, and computational modeling, we've determined definitively how EGFR becomes activated through to its epidermal growth factor (EGF) ligand."

Groves, who holds joint appointments with Berkeley Lab's Physical Biosciences Division and UC Berkeley's Chemistry Department, and is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator is one of two corresponding authors of a paper in the journal Cell that describes this research. The paper is titled "Conformational Coupling across the Plasma Membrane in Activation of the EGF Receptor." The other corresponding author is John Kuriyan, who also holds joint appointments with Berkeley Lab, UC Berkeley and HHMI.

In high school biology classes we learn that genes contain coded instructions that are translated into the assembly of specific proteins. Many proteins, however, must be activated by post-translational processes such as autophosphorylation, the addition of phosphate. Protein activation can impact many important cellular processes including proliferation, differentiation and migration. Cancer is essentially a case of these cellular functions gone wild, often the result of problems with the EGFR. However, despite its well-established links to cancer, EGFR activation has only been partially understood.

"As a member of the large class of cell surface receptors known as receptor tyrosine kinases, EGFR features a ligand-binding domain on its extracellular side and a kinase domain on its intracellular side," Groves says. "The text-book explanation for EGFR activation is that the binding of EGFR's ligand, EGF, to its extracellular side induces dimerization of the receptor, which in turn brings together the kinase domains on the intracellular sides of the dimer, allowing them to phosphorylate one another."

Groves says while the picture is accurate, it is an oversimplification of the mechanics behind the process because isolated intracellular kinase domains in solution can be active on their own at relatively low concentration without EGF ligand-induced dimerization. Dimerization is the combining of two identical molecules into a single compound molecule.

Measuring autophosphorylation as a function of EGFR surface density in cells, Groves, Kuriyan and their colleagues found that structural coupling between the EGFR transmembrane helix and extracellular juxtamembrane modules in addition to EGF ligand-engagement is required for EGFR activation. This structural coupling permits dimerization to take place in the presence of the EGF ligand.

"The un-ligated EGFR sits in a structural configuration that prevents the intracellular kinase domains from being able to reach each other," Groves says. "When the EGF ligand binds, this restraint is removed, dimerization occurs, and one kinase phosphorylates the other."

The inclusion by Groves and his colleagues of time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy on living cells is another new advance in bringing a quantitative approach to the biological sciences. By combining picosecond light pulses from two different colors of lasers into a single beam, then genetically modifying EGFRs to carry either a red or green fluorescent protein, the researchers were able to monitor in real time how EGFRs move and assemble into dimers during activation by the EGF ligands.

"Focusing on the cell membrane and monitoring each fluorescent photon emitted, then determining both its color and precise time of arrival at the detector, allows unambiguous assignment of which photon was triggered by which color light pulse," Groves says. "All of this can be done in real time and in living cells."

With the mechanics behind the activation of EGFR now fully explained, Groves and his colleagues are now applying their quantitative biology techniques to another group of receptor tyrosine kinases, the Eph receptors, as well as T cell receptors that are so important to the immune system.

"Our broader goal with these quantitative biology techniques is to transform biology into a hard physical science," Groves says. "The idea is to move from simply describing a collage of observations to being able to understand how biological systems work based on fundamental physics."

###

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: http://www.lbl.gov

Thanks to DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 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/126743/New_details_on_the_molecular_machinery_of_cancer

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Russia condemns North Korean nuclear test

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Jennifer Aniston is joining Owen Wilson in Peter Bogdanovich's comedy "She's Funny That Way," Red Granite Pictures announced in Berlin. She will play a therapist with a mother in rehab for alcoholism in the Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach-produced the film following a married Broadway director (Wilson) who falls for a prostitute-turned-actress, then helps advance her career. Jason Schwartzman, Cybil Shepherd, Eugene Levy, Kathryn Hahn and Brie Larson co-star in the comedy (also known as "Squirrels to Nuts") written by Bogdanovich and Louise Stratten. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russia-condemns-north-korean-nuclear-test-061203024.html

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Marco Rubio's State of the Union Rebuttal May Be a Tall Order

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida declared himself ?honored? to be asked to give the Republican response to President Obama?s State of the Union address on Tuesday night. Given the sorry history of partisan rebuttals of presidential remarks, though, he just might want to reconsider.

In the 47 years since Republicans hatched the idea, Rubio is the 120th?officeholder to tackle what most politicians consider an impossible task: to try to top a president of the United States on a night when the perks of the office are very much on display.

?It is actually an awful job to have,? said Norman Ornstein, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute who is an expert on Congress. ?You are either speaking to the camera with no audience, or with an audience a media person conjured up. Either way, you look so much smaller than the president standing in the House chamber behind the presidential seal.?

Like Rubio, all his predecessors in the response business thought they had a chance to break through. None succeeded. Most stood alone, stiffly, in front of a flag. Some were in committee rooms. Some stayed in their home state. Others were part of an ensemble cast?16 Republican members of Congress in 1968; 12 Democratic members in both 1983 and 1984; 11 Democrats in 1972; 10 Democrats in 1982.

The crowded Democratic rebuttals were not enough to crack President Reagan?s hold on the public, though. So the party tried something radical in 1985. For the first time, someone not in Congress was part of the response: Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton. But Clinton was barely seen on camera. Instead, it was his job in a slick production to talk about a Democratic focus group and to introduce the Democratic leaders of Congress.

Since then, the rebuttals have featured a lieutenant governor and seven governors. They have originated in Topeka and Baton Rouge and Richmond. But the results have been the same: almost unanimous criticism. In the decades since the first response in 1966, only three stand out for avoiding the tough reviews?Sen. Edmund Muskie, D-Maine, in 1976; Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., in 2007; and Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virgnia, in 2010.

Rubio might feel less honored if he were to read what was said about most of the other 116 speakers. Most recent is the scathing reviews after Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal spoke in 2009. Jindal does not really belong on this list, because the Obama speech he was rebutting was not an official State of the Union address. But that Jan. 24, 2009, speech, though billed as an economic address, had the feel of a State of the Union for the new president. And Jindal?s performance was so universally panned that it is held up as an example of what not to do when responding to the president.

It was described as ?hapless? by TheDaily Beast?and as ?amateurish,? ?sing-songy,? and ?simplistic and almost childish? by Fox News. Several critics likened Jindal to Kenneth Parcell, the page in the NBC sitcom 30 Rock.

Critics were equally tough on other responders. The Weekly Standard blasted Sen. Bob Dole in 1996, saying he ?looked by turns nervous, old, halting, and confused.? Comedian Jon Stewart skewered Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels last year for his pessimistic tone, calling him ?Se?or Crankypants? and adding, ?Either that dude is living in some psychotically imagined hellscape devoid of all hope or beauty, or he is from Indiana.?

Stewart was also tough when then-Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine gave the Democratic response in 2006. Kaine was standing in front of a fireplace in the governor?s mansion, prompting Stewart on The Daily Show to contend he was doing the response in ?Liberace?s parlor room.? Like other critics that year, he mocked the governor?s arching eyebrows. And he said Kaine?s rebuttal ?lacked passion, insight, or any sign of carbon-based life.?

Rubio can take heart, though, from the fact that all the speakers survived the gig, with only Jindal suffering lasting damage. Indeed, 24 of the responders went on to run for president. Four?Gerald Ford, Hubert Humphrey, George H.W. Bush, and Al Gore?made it to the vice presidency. Three became president: Ford, Bush, and Clinton.

?The only one of these where I think it made a difference,? said Ornstein, ?was Bobby Jindal, whose balloon got severely deflated after a wooden performance. Otherwise, it is a nice recognition of your stature, but nothing more than that.?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/marco-rubios-state-union-rebuttal-may-tall-order-070557640--politics.html

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Official says Swiss won't try Pakistani President

ISLAMABAD (AP) ? The spokesman of Pakistan's president says Swiss authorities have decided not to open a graft case against Pakistan's president.

Farhatullah Babar says Sunday that Switzerland had informed the government that President Asif Ali Zardari has immunity from any prosecution.

Complying with a longstanding demand of Pakistan's Supreme Court, Zardari's government had in November asked Swiss authorities to reopen proceedings against him.

A yearslong confrontation between Zardari and his country's Supreme Court has played out in the Swiss case, which relates to millions of dollars in kickbacks that Zardari and his late wife, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, allegedly received from Swiss companies when she was in power in the 1990s.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/official-says-swiss-wont-try-pakistani-president-152858676.html

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Solomon Islands Earthquake: 8.0 Magnitude Tremor Generates Tsunami

A powerful earthquake off the Solomon Islands generated a small, but deadly tsunami on Wednesday, The Associated Press reported.

The 8.0 magnitude temblor, which struck near the town of Lata, on Santa Cruz in Temotu province, prompted watches and warnings for the Solomons and other South Pacific nations.

Solomons officials reported two 4-foot, 11-inch waves hitting the western coast of Santa Cruz Island. According to George Herming, a spokesman for the prime minister, 70 to 80 homes and properties were damaged.

A tsunami of 3 feet was measured in Lata wharf, The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center reported. Smaller waves hit Vanuatu and New Caledonia.

Tsunami warnings issued for the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, New Caledonia, Kosrae, Fiji, Kiribati, and Wallis and Futuna islands, were later cancelled.

Solomon Islands Police Commissioner John Lansley told AP that several people were presumed dead.

"Sadly, we believe some people have lost their lives," he said. "At the moment we potentially know of four, but there may of course be more."

At the time of this writing, disaster teams are working to reach the remote area and assist with search and rescue efforts. So far, their arrival has been hindered by the tsunami, which flooded the local airstrip and left it littered with debris.

More from The Associated Press:

More than 50 people were killed and thousands lost their homes in April 2007 when a magnitude 8.1 quake hit the western Solomon Islands, sending waves crashing into coastal villages.

The Solomons comprise more than 200 islands with a population of about 552,000 people. They lie on the "Ring of Fire" ? an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones that stretches around the Pacific Rim and where about 90 percent of the world's quakes occur.

The U.S. Geological Survey said Wednesday's quake struck 81 kilometers (50 miles) west of Lata, at a depth of 5.8 kilometers (3.6 miles).

Related on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/06/solomon-islands-earthquake_n_2626762.html

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Harder Workouts May Burn More Calories, But Slower Ones Burn More Fat

Exercise can be pretty complicated, especially with a lot of misleading information going around. Fitness tech company Digifit decided to dispel a handful of common cardio workout myths and found that while you might burn more calories with a harder workout, a slower one will burn more fat:

The best method for burning fat at a higher percentage is a steady, consistent workout in Zone 2 (60-69% max heart rate), the fat burning zone. This zone uniquely targets fat because fat is a slow burning fuel, so if you do a long and less-intense workout, your body will target a higher amount of fat cells then carbohydrates. While you may burn more net calories in higher heart rate zones, you will burn the highest percent of fat calories in Zone 2.

Pushing yourself too hard too often isn't good for you anyhow, so it's a good idea to make those intense workouts the exception rather than the rule. For more heart training myth busting, check out the full post over on Digifit.

5 Heart Rate Training Myths | Digifit

Photo by Steve Garner.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/FpnoLNV_AOw/harder-workouts-may-burn-more-calories-but-slower-ones-burn-more-fat

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Secret Service director to step down (Washington Bureau)

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Panasonic, Sharp expect red ink despite yen help

In this Jan. 31, 2013 photo, a shopper takes a look at Sharp's Aquos flat-panel TVs at an electronics store in Tokyo. Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp. has reduced its quarterly losses but its outlook remains challenging. The Osaka-based company left its forecast for the full year ending March unchanged Friday, Feb. 1, at a 450 billion yen loss ($5 billion) as its flat-panel business for TVs and mobile devices gets hammered by plunging prices and intense competition. Sharp reported a 36.7 billion yen ($399 million) net loss for the October-December period, a smaller flow of red ink than its 173.6 billion yen loss a year earlier. It posted an operating profit for period, the first time in five quarters. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

In this Jan. 31, 2013 photo, a shopper takes a look at Sharp's Aquos flat-panel TVs at an electronics store in Tokyo. Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp. has reduced its quarterly losses but its outlook remains challenging. The Osaka-based company left its forecast for the full year ending March unchanged Friday, Feb. 1, at a 450 billion yen loss ($5 billion) as its flat-panel business for TVs and mobile devices gets hammered by plunging prices and intense competition. Sharp reported a 36.7 billion yen ($399 million) net loss for the October-December period, a smaller flow of red ink than its 173.6 billion yen loss a year earlier. It posted an operating profit for period, the first time in five quarters. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

In this Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013 photo, a shopper speaks with a salesclerk in front of Panasonic flat-panel TVs at an electronics store in Tokyo. Japanese electronics maker Panasonic Corp. returned to the black last quarter as cost cuts and a weaker yen offset sliding sales. Panasonic is among the Japanese electronics makers battered by price plunges in gadgets and hot competition from more successful rivals such as U.S. manufacturer Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea. Osaka-based Panasonic reported a 61.4 billion yen ($667 million) profit for the October-December period Friday, Feb. 1. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

TOKYO (AP) ? Japanese electronics makers Panasonic Corp. and Sharp Corp. both stuck to full year forecasts for massive losses even as results for the latest quarter got a boost from the weaker yen.

The two Osaka-based companies are among the Japanese electronics makers battered by price plunges in gadgets and hot competition from more successful rivals such as Apple Inc. and South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co.

Panasonic reported a 61.4 billion yen ($667 million) profit for the October-December period Friday. It had a loss of 698 billion yen in the previous quarter and a loss of 197.6 billion yen a year earlier. Quarterly sales slipped 8 percent to 1.8 trillion yen ($19.6 billion).

The company, which makes Viera TVs and Lumix digital cameras, said global demand weakened for flat panel TVs and digital products and devices while sales grew in LED lighting and auto-related equipment.

Sharp, which makes Aquos TVs and solar panels, reported a smaller flow of red ink for October through December. Its quarterly net loss shrank to 36.7 billion yen ($399 million) from 173.6 billion yen a year earlier.

It posted an operating profit for the period, the first time in five quarters, thanks to a recovery in liquid-crystal panel TVs and devices for smartphones. The operating result excludes one-time gains and losses to provide a clearer picture of financial performance.

Key to its improving fortunes was a return to the black in flat-panel TV operations, which had lost money for a year until the latest quarter. Sharp is promising to return to profit for the fiscal year through March 2014.

Sharp's quarterly sales rose 15 percent to 678.2 billion yen ($7.4 billion).

But both companies left unchanged their dismal forecasts for massive losses for the fiscal year through March.

Panasonic is projecting a 765 billion yen ($9.6 billion) annual loss. Sharp expects a 450 billion yen ($5 billion) loss, record red ink for the manufacturer founded in 1912, making products such as the twist-type mechanical pencil.

Panasonic, a brand that was an archrival to Sony Corp. during the decades of Japan's post World War II economic modernization, has been shifting its business from consumer electronics to focus more on operations that cater to other businesses such as batteries and solar panels.

But it remains strong in appliances such as washing machines and refrigerators in some regions.

As exporters, Panasonic and Sharp got a boost from a favorable exchange rate. The dollar has strengthened about 14 percent against the yen in the past three months on expectations a new government would relax monetary policy to boost the nation's moribund economy.

Panasonic gained 3 billion yen ($33 million) in the latest quarter in operating profit from the weaker yen, according to the company. Sharp did not have a quarterly breakdown, but gained 700 million yen ($7.6 million) from the fall in the yen's exchange rate with the dollar and 500 million yen ($5.4 million) versus the euro over the first nine months of the fiscal year.

Panasonic reported a record loss of 772.2 billion yen ($8.4 billion) for the fiscal year through March 2012 ? among the biggest in Japan's manufacturing history.

Sony, which also sank into a record loss for that fiscal year, reports earnings next week.

___

Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at www.twitter.com/yurikageyama

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-02-01-AS-Japan-Earns-Electronics/id-c5d0730c85934fa79cf8c73b017846b4

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