The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.Name: Hyperink
[More from Mashable: Amazon Embraces HTML5 for New Ebooks]
Quick Pitch: An ebook publisher that develops titles based on existing demand.
Genius Idea: Bloggers, content farms and news publishers alike have long leveraged search trends to uncover the information people are looking for and profited accordingly. But can the same model be applied to book publishing?
[More from Mashable: Libraries Fight Back: Ebook Checkouts Up 200%]
McKinsey alum Kevin Gao, whose startup Hyperink announced its first significant ($1.2 million) round of funding this week, believes so. (And so do his investors, apparently.)
Book publishers, he says, too often choose what to publish based on what they like rather than what they know will sell. Hyperink will instead find out what people want to read, largely by sifting through short and long-range search data. The company will then find authors to write short, highly targeted books on the topics people are searching for information about.
Think How to Get Into Yale rather than How to Get Into College, or a short history on Apple founder and former CEO Steve Jobs around the time of his death.
Hyperink is also welcoming pitches from aspiring authors, promising design, editing and marketing services in exchange for 50% of the royalties. Gao says the company is also interested in partnering experts who are less inclined to write their own books with journalists to co-author books.
Books are generally priced in the $15 to $25 range -- a bit on expensive side for ebooks, but on the low end for business books.
Gao added that all of Hyperink's books to date have been profitable within the first year of publication.
Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark
The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.
Deciding for the best automotive battery is one of the very crucial design. Before buying your battery you must be very clear about your vehicle and what kind of battery will be best suited for it. Your task does not end in just buying the battery. It is essential that you take good care of it and be check it at regular intervals. If you don?t check your battery for a longer period of time it can damage your automobile to a great extent. In this article I will suggest you some of the very important tips that you must consider while buying your automobile battery.
Size: Whenever you decide to purchase a battery for your automobile one of the most important thing that you must look for is its size. The size of your battery should be such that it fits the tray of your automobile. If the size of your battery is larger then the tray then it there is no use of buying it as it will not fit into the battery tray. A small battery also will not work properly in your automobile and can sometimes also damage your vehicle. If you are in a dilemma that how will you judge the size of your battery, I can give you one suggestion. Always read your automobile manual book which will guide you with all the important details of your vehicle. It will also tell you as to what size you should consider for your automobile battery.
Duration: Another thing that you must consider while buying your battery is its duration. As to how long will it run. The longer the duration of the battery the better it will be for you. If you buy a longer running battery you can rely on it for a much lengthy period of time and also you are not required to check for it time and again.
Quality: Quality is the main thing that you are required to judge for while buying your automobile battery. Good quality batteries give you a better trust factor and your automobile is also protected from any kind of damage or failure. There is no use of buying a battery of low quality just to save your money. Don?t even think of doing that it can prove to be more expensive or costly for you when it will damage your automobile badly. It is always suggested that you go for good brands of batteries they will assure you good quality as well as provide you with proper guarantee.
Reserve Capacity: Reserve capacity or standing power is referred as number of minutes the battery is able to supply minimum voltage or electricity to your automobile. The more will be the reserve capacity the better will be for your automotive. Reserve Capacity or standing power is the best tool to judge the quality of your battery.
Apart from all these points you must also remember that maintenance of your battery is also very important thing that you must not forget. Always keep a regular check on your batteries. If there is less water in it, you can apply distilled water for its longer running. Less water can stop the working of you vehicles. See to it that its cables cabinets and wires are well connected are in proper place. Read the manual carefully and understand what you need to do to keep your battery working well.
About the Author
Eastman ? Leading Automotive battery manufacturers and Truck battery also offer inverter and vrla battery.
BANGKOK ? World stock markets climbed again Friday, continuing to be buoyed by a European deal aimed at slashing Greece's massive debt and preventing the crisis from engulfing "too big to bailout" countries such as Italy.
Oil prices lingered above $93 per barrel and the dollar gained against the euro but slipped against the yen.
European shares were higher in early trading. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.1 percent to 5,720.79. Germany's DAX gained 0.9 percent to 6,394.05 and France's CAC-40 added 0.6 percent at 3,390.09.
But the euphoria began to wear off on Wall Street, which appeared headed for a lower opening. Dow Jones industrial futures fell 0.4 percent to 12,123 and S&P 500 futures were 0.4 percent lower at 1,278.10.
Asian stocks posted a second day of gains on the European news.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index jumped 1.4 percent to close at 9,050.47, its highest close since Sept. 1. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.7 percent to 20,01924 and South Korea's Kospi rose 0.4 percent to 1,929.48.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.1 percent to 4,353.30 and the Shanghai Composite Index added 1.6 percent to 2,473.41. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia and Thailand were also higher.
After two years of unsuccessful attempts to address the continent's debt problems, European leaders unveiled a deal Thursday aimed at preventing the Greek government's inability to pay its debt from escalating into another financial crisis like the one that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.
Banks are being asked to take 50 percent losses on the Greek bonds they hold. Europe will also strengthen a financial rescue fund to protect the region's banks that will also be used to insure some potential losses on the debt of weak eurozone economies like Italy, which is considered too big to bail out.
But some analysts cautioned that Europe was still at risk, since mapping out the rescue plan was simple, compared to the complex and costly task of implementing it.
"I think there is euphoria of Europe finally solving its problems. But the question is, how do you finance the financial stability fund? Who is supposed to pay for it? That is left blank," said Francis Lun, a Hong Kong-based analyst.
"For the moment, Greece will not go under. That is all we know. But the commercial banks will take a big hit," Lun said. "That will really kill them."
But renewed confidence in Europe helped fuel a surge on Wall Street that also boosted stocks in Asia, as did signs of stronger U.S. economic growth and corporate earnings.
Japanese steel makers Nippon Steel Corp. rose 3.4 percent and Kobe Steel Ltd. gained 4.7 percent. Heavy equipment maker Komatsu Ltd. jumped 5.6 percent.
South Korean industrial shares also rose. Steel giant POSCO gained 1.6 percent while Hyundai Heavy Industries, the country's leading shipbuilder, gained 0.7 percent.
Chinese property shares continued to climb on speculation that China might relax its inflation-fighting measures that have drained liquidity out of the financial markets. Hong Kong-listed Poly Real Estate Group added 4.4 percent and China Vanke Co. Ltd. jumped 7.3 percent.
The U.S. government reported that the American economy grew at a 2.5 percent annual rate from July through September on stronger consumer spending and business investment. That was nearly double the 1.3 percent growth in the previous quarter.
The Dow Jones industrial average soared 2.9 percent to 12,208.55 ? its largest jump since Aug. 11. The S&P 500 rose 3.7 percent to 1,284.59. The Nasdaq composite leaped up 3.3 percent to 2,738.63.
Benchmark crude for December delivery was down 79 cents at $93.20 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $3.76, or 4.2 percent, to settle at $93.96 in New York on Thursday.
Brent crude was down 33 cents at $111.75 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange in London.
In currencies, the euro softened to $1.4178 from $1.4216 late Thursday in New York. The dollar slipped to 75.82 yen from 75.94 yen. The greenback hit a new record low against the yen the previous day, sinking to 75.63 yen at one point.
JERUSALEM?? Twenty-five Egyptians left a jail in southern Israel on Thursday and were being bused to the border with Egypt ahead of a swap for a U.S.-Israeli citizen jailed in Cairo on suspicion of espionage.
The arrest of 27-year-old Ilan Grapel in Egypt in June set off new concerns in Israel that relations with the Egyptians would sour after the ouster of their longtime president, Hosni Mubarak.
The swap deal was expected to help ease the strains that have developed between the two countries since Mubarak was toppled in February.
Grapel's father, Daniel Grapel, told The Associated Press that his son had been held in isolation in an unknown location and that when they last spoke two weeks ago, he seemed to be in "OK" condition and "getting fed."
"I am happy that this thing will be done and over with and that he will be able to resume his normal life away from Egypt," he said in a telephone interview from his home in Queens, N.Y.
Under a swap deal reached earlier this week, his U.S.-born son was to board a plane in Cairo later Thursday and fly to Israel.
Daniel Grapel said his wife, Irene, flew to Tel Aviv to meet their son. They will remain in Israel for at least two days to meet with Israeli and American officials before returning to the U.S., he said.
The United States, which provides the army that now runs Egypt with billions of dollars in military aid, had called for Grapel's release.
Analysts said the exchange provided a cover for Egypt to resolve the diplomatic headache.
"I consider it a cover for returning this spy with pressure from the United States," said Egyptian analyst Hassan Nafaa.
"The release of those 25 represents a cover that has no meaning in fact. It does not harm Israel and it does not significantly benefit Egyptians," he added.
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Legal aid volunteer
Grapel was volunteering at a legal aid group in Cairo when he was arrested June 12 and accused of spying for Israel during the grass roots revolt that overthrew Mubarak. Israel denied the espionage allegations, as did Grapel's family and friends.
Grapel made no secret of his Israeli background and entered Egypt under his real name.
His Facebook page had photos of him in an Israeli military uniform. Such openness about his identity suggested he was not a spy. The arrest was ridiculed even in Egypt, where hostility toward Israel runs high.
Grapel moved to Israel, where his grandparents live, as a young man. He did his compulsory military service in Israel during its 2006 war in Lebanon and was wounded in the fighting. He later returned to the U.S. to study.
At the time of his arrest he was doing a legal internship with a local nonprofit organization in Cairo and planned afterward to return to the U.S. for his final year of law school.
Some Israelis have criticized their government for making a deal to free a citizen arrested in a friendly nation on what they think were trumped-up allegations.
"It is ... hard for me to accept the fact that an innocent and perhaps naive citizen travels (to Egypt) to identify with the Arab Spring ? and it's clear this is not a spy, nor an agent, nor a drug trafficker ? and he is arrested under all kinds of false allegations, and we are then forced to pay a price in order to free him," Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Israel's Army Radio.
'A good thing'
The family of Ashraf Abdallah, 18, one of the Egyptians to be released, said he had been sentenced to three years in prison by Israel on charges of illegally crossing the border. They say he had lost his way. He has spent one year in jail.
"We just want to see our brother. It is a good thing from Egypt to work on freeing them," his brother Mohamed el-Swarky said.
Others in the area said many of the Egyptian prisoners to be released had been involved in smuggling, which is rife along Egypt's border with Israel and the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.
Israel's Prisons Service said Abdallah had been jailed for drugs trafficking as well as "infiltration." The others on the release roster were held for similar offences, including gun-running, but not for espionage or attacks on Israelis.
"Our happiness isn't complete. We want our third brother. They went (across) because of the hard conditions," said Youssef al-Atrash, who said two of his brothers were among those to be freed, while a third would stay behind bars.
Many Bedouin in Sinai complain of neglect by the state. Sinai resorts such as Taba and Sharm el-Sheikh, with their five-star hotels, are popular with tourists. But Bedouin say they are excluded from jobs there and have to scratch a frugal living, or turn to smuggling.
Since Mubarak was toppled, Egypt's military rulers have often warned against what they call "foreign" attempts to destabilize the country. And like other Arab states, Egypt has a long history of blaming internal problems on Israel.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Birth control pills with newer types of progestogen hormones (drospirenone, desogestrel or gestodene) are more likely than others to cause serious blood clots, a new study confirms.
These new pills -- marketed as Yaz or Yasmin, among other brand names, in North America -- are popular, although the risk of serious blood clots, also known as venous thromboembolism (VTE), has been noted before. Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a cautionary note warning of raised odds for blood clots in women taking the newer form of oral contraceptives.
In the new study, researchers reviewed data on all Danish women, ages 15 to 49, not pregnant between January 2001 and December 2009. During that time, over 4,200 first episodes of VTEs occurred.
Women taking birth control pills with a newer progestogen hormone had twice the risk of VTE compared to those who took pills with an older progestogen called levonorgestrel.
Compared to women who did not use birth control pills, the risk of VTE was three times higher among those who used pills with levonorgestrel and six times higher among those who took pills with drospirenone, desogestrel or gestodene.
But the absolute risk of VTE associated with taking the newer pills is relatively low, about 10 per 10,000 women, according to the University of Copenhagen researchers.
For every 2,000 women who switched from using newer pills to pills with levonorgestrel, there would be one less case of VTE a year.
The study was published online Oct. 26 in the BMJ.
While some doctors may choose to prescribe birth control pills with a lower risk whenever possible, it is crucial not to exaggerate the risk of VTE, Dr. Philip Hannaford of the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, wrote in an accompanying editorial.
"Oral contraceptives are remarkably safe and may confer important long-term benefits in relation to cancer and mortality," he said in a journal news release.
More information
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has more about birth control pills.
What to do when you don't want to leave a wake when you surf
We're all?familiar with the sinking feeling you get when the power goes out and the computer fails to save?something you've been working on. What we don't often consider is that there's a lot of stuff computers hang onto that we probably would be happier to see deleted as soon as possible ? especially when it comes to sharing a computer. Not everyone has the luxury of having a system of their own. If you haven't set up individual user accounts for everyone who shares your computer, someone inquisitive might get curious about where you've been surfing.
Give your internet browser instant amnesia with these quick tricks. A lot of these tactics make surfing faster and safer, too.
Cache out Back in the bad old days of dial-up internet, web browsers tried to be helpful and speed up browsing by downloading and storing a cached copy of the web pages we visited, since calling up that information from our hard drives was a lot faster than downloading it every time we went to one of our favorite sites. Now, with the widespread availability of fast internet connections, this cache of temporary internet files is more like our browsing software's appendix than a must-have feature.
Be sure to delete your digital trail
Deleting these files when your browser closes, rather than letting them hang around, is definitely a good idea if you don't want your computer ? and anyone who happens to sit down at it ? to know where you've been. Internet Explorer lets you do this automatically when the browser exits; Firefox, Safari, and Chrome all require you to delete these files by hand (though there are extensions for both Chrome and Firefox that let you automate the process).
Don't know much about history So, we've dumped out the temporary files that your computer has downloaded ? but that's only part of the solution. Your browser still remembers what pages you've been to (called the browsing history), a convenience that allows your browser to populate the address bar after you've only typed a few letters of the web address. However, by clicking the down arrow at the edge of the address bar, anyone can see at a glance a whole bunch of recent web destinations that browser has been to. Not exactly the way to keep a low profile if you're doing some holiday shopping or job hunting on company time, to say the least.
Deleting your history purges this information from your browser's memory (since it persists from one browsing session to the next, even if you purge your temp files).
Clearing your history is easy
Cookie monsters Cookies, those tiny text files that let web pages know you've visited them before, are the third part of the equation. Their entire reason for being is to identify you and track your web habits when it comes to being a regular at a website, whether it's Amazon or Facebook or Gmail. Tossing your cookies will allow you to visit websites as if you'd never been there before. Anyone snooping on your computer after you've cleared the cookies away won't see their telltale leavings, even if the cookies themselves don't contain anything but site addresses and the dates and times of your last visit.
When convenience gets inconvenient Finally, there's the matter of web browsers storing usernames, passwords, and other form data for sites you visit that require a username to log in. This information is a time-saver when you've got a?million passwords to remember, but it can also be an Achilles' heel if you're trying to be stealthy about your web travels.
If someone else sits down at your computer to check email on the same webmail service you use, it's far too easy for browsers to auto-fill the login fields with your username (and maybe even a password), so this is something you may want to scrub from time to time, too. After all, it's one thing for somebody to glance at your web history and something else altogether if up comes your email inbox!
Go incognito for ultimate privacy
Private eyes All of the current crop of internet browsers include a feature that lets you in effect surf off the record. The programs themselves will empty the cache and delete the browsing history when you finish; they won't load any add-ons, and they'll ignore website requests to store cookies.
No matter which of the major browsers you use, visit the Tools menu (or select the gear- or wrench-shaped icon that serves the same purpose) to choose to start a Teflon-coated browsing session, usually in a new window. The upside of explicitly opening a private browsing window is that it doesn't inconvenience you by deleting your history, cookies, and any stored logins you normally use, while still cloaking what you do in that window from prying eyes.
There are plenty of reasons why you might want to use private, no-traces-left-behind surfing sessions, like planning a surprise getaway for you and your partner or keeping tech-savvy youngsters from knowing where you've been shopping for their birthday present.
This article was written by Rafe Brox and originally appeared on Tecca
Michael Lohan was released from jail on $5,000 bond yesterday following his Tuesday a.m. arrest for domestic violence against on/off girlfriend Kate Major.
Lindsay's father was then arrested AGAIN for allegedly contacting Major in violation of a restraining order, then got stuck in a tree trying to evade police.
Tampa police responded to a call early this morning from Kate, who claimed MiLo had been trying to contact her by phone and wouldn't leave her alone.
This after he was torn a new one by a judge for violating the restraining order the same day, and told if he even dreamed about Major, he'd go to jail.
Officers interviewed Kate, who called 911 on him earlier this week, at her apartment after she made the call. While police were there, he called. Again.
Officers believed that given Michael's repeated disregard for the no contact order, he was considered a "threat," so they went to his hotel to arrest him.
That's when he tried to escape by hopping a third story balcony ... and landed in a tree. Officers then helped him down and hauled him back to jail.
Michael Lohan was charged with violating a condition of his pretrial release (contacting Kate) and resisting arrest without violence. He is in custody.
27 October 2011Last updated at 12:08 ETBy Pallab GhoshScience correspondent, BBC News
Researchers in Oxford have treated a man with an advanced gene therapy technique to prevent him from losing his sight.
It is the first time that anyone has tried to correct a genetic defect in the light-sensing cells that line the back of the eye.
The president of the Academy of Medical Sciences said the widespread use of gene therapy of this treatment will be soon be possible.
The operation was carried out on 63-year-old Jonathan Wyatt, an arbitration lawyer based in Bristol.
Mr Wyatt was able to see normally until about the age of 19 when he began having problems seeing in the dark.
He was told by doctors that his vision would get progressively worse and he would eventually go blind.
Continue reading the main story
?Start Quote
I'd like things to get a little better?
End QuoteJonathan Wyatt
The gradual deterioration in his vision didn't stop Mr Wyatt from qualifying as a barrister. But 10 years ago he found he was having difficulty reading statements in dimly-lit courts.
"The worst occasion was when I was reading out a statement to the court and I made a mistake. The judge turned to me and snapped 'Can't you read Mr Wyatt?!' I then decided it was time to put my wig down and leave advocacy."
Geneticist Dan Lipinski, from the University of Oxford, explains the gene therapy process
Mr Wyatt is able to see well enough to work from home and hopes that the operation will enable him to continue his profession.
Without treatment he would be blind within a few years and would be unable to work in the way that he is doing so now.
"I'd like things to get a little better," he says.
Devastating diagnosis
Mr Wyatt suffers from a rare genetic disorder known as Choroideraemia.
These patients start off life with normal vision and its not until their late childhood that they notice that they cannot see anything at night and usually the diagnosis is made during middle to late childhood.
From then it is a devastating diagnosis because these young people are told that they are gradually going to lose their sight completely, usually by the time they are in their 40s. There is no treatment for this condition.
The disease is caused by an inherited faulty gene, called REP1. Without a functioning copy of the gene, the light detecting cells in the eye die.
The idea behind the gene therapy is simple: stop the cells from dying by injecting working copies of the gene into them.
It is the first time that anyone has attempted to correct a gene defect in the light-sensing cells that line the back of the eye.
Mr Wyatt is the first of 12 patients undergoing this experimental technique over the next two years at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
His doctor, Prof Robert MacLaren, believes that he'll know for sure whether the degeneration in Mr Wyatt's eye has stopped within two years. If that's the case his vision will be saved indefinitely.
"If this works with then we would want to go in and treat patients at a much earlier stage in childhood, effectively where they still have normal vision and can do normal things to prevent them from losing sight.
Prof MacLaren believes that if this gene therapy works it could be used to treat a wide variety of eye disorders, including the most common form of blindness in the elderly, macular degeneration.
Continue reading the main story
?Start Quote
I have no personal doubt in future that there will be a genetic treatment for macular degeneration?
End QuoteProf Robert MaclarenJohn Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford
"That is a genetic disease and I have no personal doubt in future that there will be a genetic treatment for it," he says.
The Oxford research follows on from a gene therapy trial which began four years ago at Moorfields Hospital in London. The principle aim of these trials was to demonstrate that the technique was safe.
The treatment, which adopted a slightly different approach, was tested first in adult patients whose sight was almost gone, and then in children.
According to Prof Robin Ali, who led that research, the trials have shown not only that gene therapy is safe - but that there has been significant improvement in some patients.
"It is very exciting to see the start of another ocular gene therapy trial and the field moving so rapidly in recent years," he said.
"In the last 12 months, several new gene therapy trials for the treatment of various retinal disorders have been initiated and further trials are likely to start very soon. We are all looking forward to seeing the results."
Hype
The concept of using gene therapy for treating a whole host of conditions has been around for more than 20 years. But with, some notable exceptions, it's an idea that's failed to live up to its hype.
Now, however, it seems that the technique is beginning to deliver, at least in treating sight disorders.
According to Prof Sir John Bell, president of the Academy of Medical Sciences, these very early trails in Oxford, London and in the US suggest that a whole host of sight disorders could, be treatable "within the next 10 years".
"Of all the things that are available for this particular set of diseases this is by far the most exciting," he said.
"This is a set of diseases where molecular medicine has reached a point where we can now intervene in a very precise way to correct the defect that caused the blindness in the first place. There is the possibility that you could actually correct the gene defect."
The trial, led by Oxford University, has been jointly funded by the Wellcome Trust and Department of Health. It is an example of a new approach to medical research which brings together scientists and clinicians to translate basic science into effective treatments more quickly
"This is exactly where the NHS ought to be putting its effort and it's a perfect example of the benefits that might from using the NHS for this kind of research activity," said Prof Bell.
ISTANBUL (Reuters) ? Turkish warplanes struck Kurdish militant targets in northern Iraq overnight and some 500 soldiers have crossed the border with armored vehicles, military and security sources told Reuters on Tuesday as hostilities between Turkey and Kurdish militants escalated.
The Turkish forces were advancing toward a Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) camp at Haftanin, around 20 km (12 miles) from the Habur border post and near the Iraqi city of Zakho.
The sources described it as the busiest military activity along the border since the Turkish army launched cross-border activities last week in response to a PKK attack on Turkish forces which killed 24 soldiers in Hakkari, bordering Iraq.
Warplanes bombed PKK targets at Haftanin and Hakurke, the sources said, who said on Monday tanks and armored vehicles had crossed into northern Iraq. Several hundred PKK fighters were believed to be based at Haftanin.
The remoteness of the camps' locations and the difficult terrain made it difficult to assess how close the Turkish force had moved toward the camps.
On Monday, residents of the village of Dashtatakh in Dahuk province, about 10 km east of Haftanin, reported 200 Turkish soldiers had entered Iraqi territory but left about an hour later.
Turkish air strikes have killed 250 to 270 Kurdish militants, wounded 210 and destroyed many arms stores in northern Iraq since August 17, news broadcaster NTV on Monday quoted armed forces head General Necdet Ozel as saying.
Ankara's reaction to one of the deadliest attacks on its security forces in a conflict that began three decades ago had fueled speculation that Turkey could move to a full-blown incursion to clear out PKK camps deeper inside northern Iraq.
More than 40,000 people have been killed since the conflict began in 1984. The United States, the European Union and Turkey designate the PKK as a terrorist organization.
(Writing by Daren Butler, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)
A kerfuffle has arisen over the revelation of a study NASA conducted of the use of space based fuel depots in conjunction with existing launchers in lieu of building the heavy lift Space Launch System.
Some space advocates are demanding that the SLS project be scrapped and yet another space exploration plan using fuel depots be implemented. Others respond that fuel depots are too risky and too complicated. NASA found the study unconvincing and too singularly focused.
What Does the NASA Study Say?
The NASA study looks at several scenarios involving missions to Near Earth Asteroids or the moon using existing or soon to be built launch vehicles such as the Delta IV and the Falcon Heavy and fuel depots. The idea is to launch a fuel depot that would contain cryogenically stored rocket fuel into low Earth orbit. Several other launches of space craft would be required to fill the depot. Then more launchers to deliver the Multi Purpose Crew Vehicle and either a lander, for lunar missions, or a habitation module, for asteroid missions, would be required. The spacecraft would dock at the fuel depot, top off, and then proceed on their mission.
What are the advantages of fuel depots?
The NASA study claims "tens of billions of dollars" cost savings and an advance to the left of the schedule, allowing missions to the moon or asteroids sooner than those using a heavy lift SLS. Other advantages claimed include multiple launches over several months, which increases workforce experience which in turn enhances reliability and reduces costs. A group calling itself Tea Party in Space is championing the use of fuel depots,
What are the disadvantages?
Because of the many launches required using the fuel depot architecture, no more than one mission to either the moon or an asteroid can be launched every two years. Multiple launches create more opportunities for mission delay or even failure due to a launch failure. This can prove problematic for asteroid missions, the windows of which are few and far between. While the cost of developing an SLS heavy lifter is avoided, there is likely no savings in operational costs if one adds up the published costs of launching several Delta IVs or Falcon Heavies vs. a few SLSs. The storing of cryogenic fuels in space and its transfer to spacecraft are unproven technologies. Former NASA administrator Mike Griffin pointed out these drawbacks in recent congressional testimony,
What is NASA's Response?
NASA is suggesting that it eventually intends to combine the use of the SLS heavy lifter with fuel depots. The idea is that fuel depots would not be in the "critical path" of developing the capability to go back to the moon or to an asteroid. Instead, space based fuel depots would be enhancement, allowing heavier payloads to be sent to various destinations in the solar system. This is in keeping with recommendations of the Augustine Committee, which advised the building of a heavy lifter and further study of fuel depots.
Mark R. Whittington is the author of Children of Apolloand The Last Moonwalker.He has written on space subjects for a variety of periodicals, including The Houston Chronicle, The Washington Post, USA Today, the L.A. Times and The Weekly Standard.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? Prosecutors rested their case against Michael Jackson's doctor on Monday after nearly four weeks of testimony intended to prove he was responsible for the pop star's death.
The last of 33 prosecution witnesses in the involuntary manslaughter trial of Dr. Conrad Murray was anesthesiology expert Dr. Steven Shafer, who wrapped five days on the witness stand by telling jurors Murray should not have given Jackson the anesthetic propofol as a sleep aid.
"There's very little, almost no precedent for this level of propofol exposure," Shafer said. Medical examiners found that Jackson died from an overdose of propofol combined with sedatives.
Shafer said it was in some ways difficult to analyze the singer's death because it was so unusual.
After prosecutors rested, Murray's attorneys called their first witnesses in the trial.
Among the first defense witnesses was Jackson's longtime physician, Dr. Allen Metzger, who told the court he visited the singer on April 18, 2009, and that Jackson asked him about an "intravenous sleep medicine" -- a possible reference to propofol, which is given intravenously.
Metzger said he was unsure what type of medication Jackson was seeking, but he did not give it to him.
Also on Monday, Metzger and nutritionist Cherilyn Lee, a nurse who treated Jackson in 2009, testified the singer had complained to them of his severe insomnia.
DEFENSE STRATEGY
Defense attorneys have sought to portray Jackson as highly familiar with the powerful propofol, motivated to obtain it and able to use it on himself.
Murray told police he had struggled to control Jackson's insomnia and tried to ween him off propofol in his final days.
Murray has admitted giving Jackson propofol, the key drug that caused the "Thriller" singer's overdose, but defense attorneys have argued that Jackson gave himself an extra, fatal dose of the drug when Murray was absent.
Since the trial began roughly four weeks ago, jurors have heard from several doctors who slammed Murray's treatment of Jackson on June 25, 2009 -- the day the singer died -- and for not keeping records in the weeks he cared for the singer.
Prosecutors have put Murray's defense attorneys in a quandary by presenting the doctor's account to police of what happened in Jackson's final hours, then pointing out glaring inconsistencies between his statements and the evidence.
For instance, Murray never mentioned to police that he was on his phone after giving Jackson a cocktail of propofol and sedatives. But prosecutors have presented records showing Murray using his cell phone for more than 45 minutes before discovering that Jackson had stopped breathing.
Murray, who has pleaded not guilty to the charge of involuntary manslaughter, faces a maximum of four years in prison if convicted.
Murray' attorneys say they expect to finish presenting their case as early as Thursday.
SANAA (Reuters) ? Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, facing an increasingly entrenched uprising against his rule, on Monday welcomed a U.N. Security Council resolution urging him to adopt a Gulf-mediated plan for him to transfer power, the state news agency reported.
It was Saleh's first response to the United Nations Security Council measure last week calling on him to adopt the blueprint drafted by neighboring Gulf states for a transition to early parliamentary and presidential elections after a new opposition-led cabinet is formed and Saleh relinquishes the presidency.
Saleh has already rejected the plan three times despite escalating protests against his 33-year-long autocratic rule, saying he would only transfer power into "safe hands."
"The Yemeni president... expressed his readiness to sit down immediately at the dialogue table with the Joint Meeting Parties (opposition parties) and its partners to complete the dialogue over the operational mechanism for the (Gulf) initiative as quickly as possible and to reach the final signing of the initiative and its immediate implementation, leading to early presidential elections on a date agreed upon by all," said a statement carried by the Yemeni news agency SABA.
Ruling Yemen since 1978 through a civil war and rebel movements, Saleh has clung to power despite an assassination attempt that send him abroad for three months for medical care, defecting generals and nine months of street protests.
More than a dozen people have died in the past week, the latest wave of violence in Yemen as forces loyal to Saleh clash with soldiers siding with protesters.
Inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, Yemen's loose coalition of student protesters, tribal leaders and dissident army factions has been pressing him to leave since January.
In Yemen's turbulent south, two Yemeni soldiers were shot dead on Monday and three suspected Islamist militants were killed the night before in two sets of clashes in Aden, security and tribal sources said.
"Armed groups driving a car opened fire with machine guns on a group of government troops charged with guarding commercial warehouses," a security source told Reuters.
"Security forces exchanged fire for a short period of time with the armed groups leading to the death of two and the injury of two... The armed groups fled to an unknown place," the source added. Eyewitnesses said the fighting had also involved hand grenades and that a government car had been burned.
In recent weeks armed groups linked to al Qaeda have targeted the port city of Aden, with suicide attacks on high-level officials in the army and government.
The neighboring province of Abyan has been in a state of virtual anarchy since militants suspected of ties to al Qaeda began seizing cities in the coastal region several months ago.
(Additional reporting By Mohamed Mukhashaf; Writing by Reed Stevenson; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
SATNAVS are something that most of us use without a second thought. But what happens at sea?
Like drivers, maritime navigators can choose from a range of options, including GPS, paper maps, radar and ordinary radio communications. They can also use the Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) - a kind of Google Maps for ships. It integrates GPS, radar and the Automatic Identification System (AIS) - which broadcasts to ships via radio signals - and displays a vessel's position on an electronic map in real time, along with precise readings of the local water depth.
Next year a mandate from the UN International Maritime Organization will go into effect, requiring many international commercial ships to use ECDIS. So why has it not been made compulsory sooner?
The consequences of shipping disasters can be far-reaching. As New Scientist went to press, the 236-metre container ship Rena had already leaked some 350 tonnes of oil, having crashed into the Astrolabe reef off New Zealand on 5 October. And the effects of the Exxon Valdez accident in 1989 are still being felt along the coast of Alaska.
These are not isolated incidents. Last year 211 large ships suffered "serious casualties" when they ran aground or became stranded, according to the London-based shipping news service Lloyd's List.
ECDIS will reduce the number of ships that run aground by 38 per cent, according to a 2007 study by Rolf Skjong at risk management firm Det Norske Veritas in H?vik, Norway. "It is the best navigation aid that has come out since radar," says Ian Rodrigues at the Australian Maritime College (AMC) in Tasmania.
The IMO evidently agrees - it wants all ships built after mid-2012 to be fitted with ECDIS. Existing ships have different compliance dates depending on whether they carry passengers or cargo, but all commercial vessels must be upgraded by mid-2018.
One reason for ECDIS's slow adoption is that navigators are simply used to old-fashioned paper. "Maritime organisations were already busy making paper charts," says Nick Lemon of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. What's more, in May 2008 detailed electronic charts were available for only 60 per cent of the world's water. Now, around 90 per cent is digitally charted.
Autopilot technology, too, could improve safety. It hooks into the boat's rudder and is already widely used, though not mandatory under the new rules, says Jeff Watts at the AMC. When combined with ECDIS, it can sound alarms and provide visual information to alert crew when ships enter dangerously shallow waters. But whether this could have prevented the Rena running aground is unclear - it is not known what navigation devices were in use on the ship.
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KABUL (Reuters) ? At least two Afghan cabinet ministers have embezzled millions of dollars of public money, the country's anti-graft chief said at the weekend, adding to Western pressure on President Hamid Karzai to clean up his government.
Donor countries say corruption in Karzai's administration is endemic, and a fundamental threat to their efforts to stabilize the country ahead of the end-2014 deadline for foreign combat troops to quit the country, having handed security responsibilities to Afghan institutions.
Billions of dollars in foreign aid have flowed into the country since a U.S.-led military operation threw the Taliban out of government 10 years ago, but the cash has paid for only limited infrastructure and development work, while violence is at its worst since 2001.
"There are former ministers too, but two or three current cabinet ministers have embezzled millions of dollars," said Azizullah Ludin, a Karzai appointee who heads the High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption, speaking in his Kabul home.
Ludin said he had sent the cases to the Attorney General's office which will decide whether or not to prosecute, but he did not name the ministers involved or give details.
"Corruption in Afghanistan has damaged our reputation, withheld foreign aid and created distance between people and the government," Ludin said. "This must be stopped."
(Reporting by Mohammad Ibrahim; Writing by Hamid Shalizi; Editing by Daniel Magnowski and Sugita Katyal)
ScienceDaily (Oct. 20, 2011) ? New York University and University of Iowa biologists have identified a key mechanism controlling early embryonic development that is critical in determining how structures such as appendages -- arms and legs in humans -- grow in the right place and at the right time.
In a paper published in the journal PLoS Genetics, John Manak, an assistant professor of biology in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Chris Rushlow, a professor in NYU's Department of Biology, write that much research has focused on the spatial regulatory networks that control early developmental processes. However, they note, less attention has been paid to how such networks can be precisely coordinated over time.
Rushlow and Manak find that a protein called Zelda is responsible for turning on groups of genes essential to development in an exquisitely coordinated fashion.
"Zelda does more than initiate gene networks -- it orchestrates their activities so that the embryo undergoes developmental processes in a robust manner at the proper time and in the correct order," says Rushlow, part of NYU's Center for Developmental Genetics.
"Our results demonstrate the significance of a timing mechanism in coordinating regulatory gene networks during early development, and bring a new perspective to classical concepts of how spatial regulation can be achieved," says Manak, who is also assistant professor of pediatrics in the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and researcher in the UI Roy J. Carver Center for Genomics.
The researchers note that their findings break new ground.
"We discovered a key transcriptional regulator, Zelda, which is the long-sought-after factor that activates the early zygotic genome," says Rushlow.
"Initially, the embryo relies on maternally deposited gene products to begin developing, and the transition to dependence on its own zygotic genome is called the maternal-to-zygotic transition," she adds. "Two hallmark events that occur during this transition are zygotic gene transcription and maternal RNA degradation, and interestingly, Zelda appears to be involved in both processes."
The research showed that when Zelda was absent, activation of genes was delayed, thus interfering with the proper order of gene interactions and ultimately disrupting gene expression patterns, the researchers noted, adding that the consequence to the embryo of altered expression patterns is a drastic change in the body plan such that many tissues and organs are not formed properly, if at all.
The researchers used Drosophila, or fruit flies, to investigate these regulatory networks. The fruit fly has the advantage of being a tractable genetic model system with a rapid developmental time, and many of the genetic processes identified in flies are conserved in humans. Additionally, pioneering fly research has led to many of the key discoveries of the molecular mechanisms underlying developmental processes in complex animals.
The study brought together Rushlow, who discovered Zelda and is an expert in genetic regulatory networks in development, and Manak, a genomics expert whose laboratory focuses on how a genome is constructed and coordinately functions.
"I had always wanted to work with Chris, and this was a wonderful opportunity for us to combine our complementary areas of expertise in a truly synergistic fashion," says Manak.
"Our collaboration is a marvelous example of how a problem can be viewed from two different perspectives, a systems view of early gene networks and an individualistic view of single genes and single embryos, and result in novel and significant discoveries," says Rushlow.
The project's other researchers were: Stephen Butcher of the UI Departments of Pediatrics and Biology; and Chung-yi Nien, Hsiao-lan Liang, Yujia Sun, Shengbo Fu, Tenzin Gocha, and Nikolai Kirov, all of the Center for Developmental Genetics, part of NYU's Department of Biology.
The research was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health.
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Chung-Yi Nien, Hsiao-Lan Liang, Stephen Butcher, Yujia Sun, Shengbo Fu, Tenzin Gocha, Nikolai Kirov, J. Robert Manak, Christine Rushlow. Temporal Coordination of Gene Networks by Zelda in the Early Drosophila Embryo. PLoS Genetics, 2011; 7 (10): e1002339 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1002339
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Learning from one's mistakes may be better than practicing to perfection, according to a study in the Oct. 19 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. The study found that forcing people to switch from a normal walking pattern to an unusual one -- and back again -- made them better able to adjust to the unusual pattern the following day. The findings may help improve therapy for people relearning how to walk following stroke or other injury.
Previous studies in the lab of Amy Bastian, PhD, of the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, found that walking on a split-belt treadmill -- which forces one leg to move at a faster speed -- can help correct walking deficits in children and adults with weakness on one side of the body caused by stroke, head trauma, or other conditions. In the new study, Bastian and her colleagues found healthy adults forced to alternate between learning and unlearning an unusual walking pattern on a split-belt treadmill relearned the pattern faster the next day.
"The standard approach to helping stroke patients relearn walking and other motor skills is to tell them how to move better, and then practice it over and over again," Bastian said. "The results of our study suggest that the most effective approach might be to repeatedly challenge patients with new training situations."
In the current study, the researchers trained 52 healthy adults to walk on a split-belt treadmill. One group received 15 minutes of constant exposure to belts moving at different speeds, while another -- the switch group -- walked on belts that alternated between different speeds and identical speeds. Twenty-four hours later, both groups returned to the treadmill to walk on the belts moving at different speeds. The adults in the switch group relearned how to resume the unusual walking pattern faster than those who had constant exposure to different speeds.
"The people in the switch group 'learned to learn' by experiencing more of the awkward, limping leg pattern that occurs right after a switch in speeds," Bastian said.
Contrary to the researchers' predictions, they also found practicing a completely different walking pattern did not interfere with the ability to relearn the first one. A third group practiced walking on a split-belt treadmill that forced the right leg to move faster for 15 minutes, followed by 15 minutes in which the left leg moved faster. When they returned the next day, they too relearned the initial walking pattern slightly faster than those who trained only on a single pattern.
"This 'learning to learn' effect has exciting potential for the design of therapeutic interventions for patients whose motor skills have been compromised by stroke or injury," said Rachael Seidler, PhD, a motor learning expert at the University of Michigan, who was unaffiliated with the study. "It is particularly intriguing that these effects are specific to the early, more cognitively demanding stages of learning," Seidler added.
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Society for Neuroscience: http://www.sfn.org
Thanks to Society for Neuroscience for this article.
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The $49.99 Plantronics M50 Bluetooth headset looks good, feels comfortable, delivers solid voice performance, and boasts incredible battery life. If you're looking for a long-lasting Bluetooth headset to use indoors for hours at a time, look no further. But if you need great music playback or serious noise cancellation, you may want to look elsewhere.
Design, Fit, and Pairing Call Quality, and Noise Suppression The M50 looks stylish. It's made of matte black plastic, with a shiny blue accent ring that runs along the perimeter. The clear, plastic ear hook is the same shade of blue. There's a power switch on one side, a volume control button on the other, and the headset's body works as the Call button.
The headset is an on-ear design, which means the rubber ear tip rests on your ear rather than in your ear canal. There are no alternative ear tips or hooks in different sizes in the package. The plastic ear hook isn't detachable, but it's rounded and flexible, making the headset comfortable to wear for long periods at a time. The hook can be adjusted to wear the M50 on your left or right ear. The fit isn't tight, but it feels secure. I wore the headset for nearly five hours straight and forgot it was even there for most of the time.
For this review, I paired the M50 with an Apple iPhone 4?for Verizon ($99.99-$199.99, 4 stars) and a Samsung Galaxy S II?for T-Mobile ($229.99, 4.5 stars). The pairing process went smoothly for both phones. The first time you turn it on, the headset is already set to pairing mode. For subsequent pairings, just hold down the Call button for a few seconds, until the light on the outside of the M50 begins to flash red and blue, which indicates that you're in pairing mode. From there, simply enter the Bluetooth menu on your phone, locate the headset, and tap to pair.?
Call Quality, Noise Suppression, A2DP, and Conclusions Once connected, you have limited volume control using the button on top of the headset. I found it easiest to leave the volume turned up on the M50, and to control it on whatever device I was connected to. In the earpiece, sound quality was very good. Voice calls sounded rich, clear, and natural, though maximum volume is just a touch low.
On the other end, calls made from indoors were solid. Voices were clear and easy to understand. But noise cancellation isn't this headset's strong suit. From a call placed outside, I was able to hear passing cars, and even the sound of light rain came through at the same volume as my voice. The call was still audible, but I wouldn't recommend this headset if you plan to use it outdoors or in an especially noisy environment.
The M50 streams A2DP content, which means you can use it to listen to audiobooks, GPS directions, music, podcasts, or other audio on your cell phone. Unfortunately, while everything sounded nice and clear, there was very little bass. It didn't sound tinny, but even voices on podcasts sounded thin, which is odd, since call quality is so rich.
If you have an iPhone, the M50 features a battery life indicator next to the iPhone's battery icon. The device will also announce a number of status alerts, including when your battery is high, medium, low, or needs to be recharged. Battery life was excellent, at a stunning 10 hours and 47 minutes of talk time.
The M50 has some other nice features as well. It pairs with two phones at a time, which is good for users looking to pair with both personal and work devices. If you're already on a call, you'll hear a ringtone notification of the incoming call from your second phone. To disconnect from the first call and answer it, tap the headset's Call button.
The M50 also works with Plantronics' Vocalyst service, which is an automated assistant that works by dialing a special phone number. Basic service, which costs $2.49 per month or $24.99 per year, offers voice email, news, reminders, and weather. It also allows you to record audio clips that can be automatically uploaded to your Facebook account. Vocalyst Pro adds message-to-text transcription along with a handful of other features, and costs $5.99 per month or $59.99 per year.
The Plantronics M50 is inexpensive and comfortable, with good call quality and great battery life. With better noise cancellation and A2DP streaming quality, this would be a must-buy for many Bluetooth users. But as it stands, the Samsung Modus HM6450?($99, 4 stars) is a better buy, thanks to improved music quality and a longer list of features; while it lists for $99, you can pick one up for close to $50. If you're looking for a Bluetooth headset with excellent noise suppression and A2DP streaming, the Jawbone Era?($129.99, 4.5 stars) is our top pick. And for $30 less than the Era, the Jawbone Icon ($99.99, 4 stars) is a close second.
More Bluetooth Headset Reviews: ??? Jawbone Icon HD + the Nerd ??? Uniden DECT 6.0 Cordless Phone with Digital Answerer CellLink Bluetooth Connection D3280 ??? Plantronics Savi 440 ??? VTech Connect-to-Cell Cordless Phone System ??? Cobra PhoneLynx ?? more
IRVINE, Calif. (AP) ? Computer hard drive maker Western Digital Corp. said Monday that flooding damage to its Thailand locations will have a significant impact on its operations and its ability to meet customer demand in the December quarter.
The company said it has extended its suspension of operations in Thailand, as rising water flooded its manufacturing site in the Bang Pa-in Industrial Park and submerged some equipment. It also said flooding is threatening operations in the Navanakorn Industrial Park. Both facilities are about 27 miles north of Bangkok.
Western Digital, which is based in Irvine, Calif., makes hard drives, network drives and other storage products. It said company locations in Malaysia, Singapore and the United States are fully operational.
Thai officials have said hundreds of people have died and more than 260,000 have lost jobs as 6,533 businesses nationwide had to close due flooding last week. Several major industrial parks have been inundated, which has disrupted supply chains, especially in the automotive and electronic industries.
Last week, Seagate Technology PLC, which also makes hard drives, said its factories in Thailand were operational, but it may have difficulty making hard drives because of constraints in getting parts. It didn't know yet what the magnitude of the disruption will be. It expects to provide an update when it issues financial results for the quarter on Thursday.
Western Digital's stock fell $1.96, or 6.9 percent, to $26.39 in afternoon trading Monday. Seagate's stock fell 34 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $11.46.
