Mandela: A hard act to follow for South Africans

A souvenir vendor set up his street shop with scarves showing portraits of former South African President Nelson Mandela near the Hector Peterson Museum in Soweto, Saturday June 29, 2013. The White House issued a statement Saturday that President Barack Obama plans to visit privately with relatives of former South African President Nelson Mandela, but doesn't intend to see the critically ill anti-apartheid activist he has called a "personal hero." (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A souvenir vendor set up his street shop with scarves showing portraits of former South African President Nelson Mandela near the Hector Peterson Museum in Soweto, Saturday June 29, 2013. The White House issued a statement Saturday that President Barack Obama plans to visit privately with relatives of former South African President Nelson Mandela, but doesn't intend to see the critically ill anti-apartheid activist he has called a "personal hero." (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A South African girl holds a poster showing former South African President Nelson Mandela, while her family and other well wishers gather at the entrance to the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where former South African President Nelson Mandela is being treated in Pretoria, South Africa Friday, June 28, 2013. Members of Nelson Mandela's family as well as South African Cabinet ministers have visited the hospital on Friday where the 94-year-old former president is critically ill. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

Vendors selling shawls bearing the image of former South African President Nelson Mandela, stands at the entrance to the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where former South African President Nelson Mandela is being treated in Pretoria, South Africa Friday, June 28, 2013. Members of Nelson Mandela's family as well as South African Cabinet ministers have visited the hospital on Friday where the 94-year-old former president is critically ill. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

A man looks back as he walk past a mural of former South African president Nelson Mandela in the town of Umtata, South Africa, Friday, June 28, 2013. Members of Nelson Mandela's family as well as South African Cabinet ministers have visited the hospital where the 94-year-old former president is critically ill. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)

A man passes a advertising board for the Nelson Mandela museum, showing the face of former South African president Nelson Mandela, right rear, in the town of Umtata, South Africa, Friday, June 28, 2013. Members of Nelson Mandela's family as well as South African Cabinet ministers have visited the hospital where the 94-year-old former president is critically ill. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)

JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? In November, just before Nelson Mandela's health began a long downward spiral, the leader of a project to build a children's hospital named after the former president briefed him on efforts to raise construction funds. Mandela, 94 years old and infirm, was exasperated by the delays. Then the reflexes of the world statesman took over.

"Well, get me a few business people. Sit them around my table here and I'll tell them why this is important," Mandela said, according to Sibongile Mkhabela, CEO of the Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital Trust. The fundraiser didn't happen, but the remark was a poignant hint of the Mandela of old, the charismatic leader who, as Mkhabela put it, "knew how to make people believe in things that were not there yet."

Today Mandela is critically ill in a Pretoria hospital, seemingly close to the end of his life. As the day approaches, whenever it comes, many South Africans are caught in an emotional reckoning. They celebrate this father figure, whose jail-time sacrifice and peacemaking role in the transition from apartheid to democracy resonated worldwide, but they face the hard road of trying to emulate his example and implement his legacy after he is gone.

"There's a part of Mandela in each of us," said Anthony Prangley, a lecturer at the Gordon Institute of Business Science, a University of Pretoria business school whose campus is in Johannesburg.

"It's important to keep that in mind because we can start to see him as someone who is not accessible, or infallible," Prangley said. "In doing so, we miss the potential to learn from his leadership."

Mandela's achievements were historic even though he admitted imperfection and sought to share credit with others. That humility left a deep impression on many who met him.

The anti-apartheid leader spent 27 years in jail, but was seemingly free of rancor on his release in 1990, steering South Africa through a delicate transition to all-race elections that propelled him to the presidency four years later. The outpouring of support for the ailing Mandela, who was taken to the hospital on June 8 for what the government said was a lung infection, attests to his ability to connect and inspire in his country, even if it is struggling to live up to his soaring vision, and around the world.

"If and when he passes from this place, one thing I think we'll all know is that his legacy is one that will linger on throughout the ages," President Obama said in Senegal before arriving in South Africa on Friday as part of an Africa tour. Obama is to meet with Mandela's relatives Saturday, though he has said he will not visit the hospital where Mandela is receiving treatment.

The United Nations has recognized July 18, Mandela's birthday, as an international day to honor themes of activism, democracy and responsibility embodied by the former leader. Organizers of events in his honor suggest participants spend 67 minutes engaged in acts of goodness on that day ? 67 corresponds to the number of years Mandela is said to have spent in public service.

"It's possible for our societies to have 'Mandelas' so long as we don't take away from ourselves the responsibilities to learn, to be better, to aspire to something bigger," said Mkhabela, the CEO. She said she worried when people put Mandela on "such a high pedestal," setting aside the need to follow his humanitarian values.

"This just sounds like another way of saying: 'We don't want to be responsible, we feel and fear in us there is a 'Mandela' that could be unleashed. It's too big a responsibility, too big a challenge,'" she said.

The business world has taken note of Mandela as a role model. He ranked fourth on a list of admired leaders, according to a global survey late last year of 1,330 chief executive officers in 68 countries. Winston Churchill, Steve Jobs and Mahatma Gandhi led the field in the survey, conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The survey said many CEOs "chose leaders who were persistent in the face of adversity ? as well as transformational leaders and leaders who did the 'right thing.'"

Prangley, the business school lecturer, said a great leader doesn't just inspire and have many followers, but also reaches out to other constituencies. Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., he said, became more effective by winning over white Americans, and Mahatma Gandhi sought to unite Muslims and Hindus, even though India was partitioned. President Obama energized crowds early on but now struggles to rally people when things sour, according to Prangley, who praised Mandela's political skill.

"He understands when to push and when to bring other people to the table," he said of Mandela's skill in balancing firmness and compromise.

Prangley said he met Mandela as a student volunteer in Mozambique in the late 1990s, recalling how the former president told him and his young colleagues that it was a "wizened" group of older leaders who had led the negotiations that ended apartheid.

"In South African society, it was the older generation who began to compromise and brought change," Prangley said. "It was a message to us, as young people at that time, to kind of learn from that experience."

Mandela, though, was hardly a stuffy patriarch. He had cross-generational appeal. He wore colorful, patterned shirts when president and was known for warmth and attention to personal detail despite a somewhat regal, even stiff bearing.

Those who have worked with Mandela, a philanthropist who joined the fight against the AIDS epidemic in South Africa and other humanitarian causes, often share what they learned with colorful anecdotes about the former president, also known by his clan name, Madiba. Achmat Dangor, the former head of the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory, a Johannesburg-based foundation, picked up tips about the stubborn art of fundraising.

"I've been on occasions with heads of state and certain great persons somewhere who made a pledge, and Madiba called me and said, 'You sit here until they give you something in writing, you don't leave,'" Dangor told a foundation audience in May. "'Thank you, Prime Minister. Your Excellency, thank you.' And yes, I didn't leave without a note. A million pounds came a couple of years later, but it came."

Mandela also stressed the importance of getting opposing sides to speak to each other, said Dangor, who described how he and a colleague once approached Mandela to discuss dialogue initiatives.

Dangor recalled: "He listened very carefully and then he said, 'Listen I want to tell you something. You know, when you get people together who agree with each other, and they're friends, that's not dialogue. That's a chat. Bring together those who disagree with each other.'"

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-06-29-AF-South-Africa-Mandela-Leadership/id-45af8482dd3148298932c274f9814ec6

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The Cabin In The Woods Cabin Is Gonna Exist And It Sounds Terrifying

If you didn't see Cabin In The Woods that was stupid of you. It's really great. Scary, meta and pretty gutsy. And like all good things, well okay like all things, its brilliance is being exploited for a theme park attraction. But it sounds awesome. Some sort-of-not-really spoilers ahead.

Universal Orlando is adding the cabin as part of its 23rd annual Halloween Horror Nights event, which runs on and off from the end of September until November 2. Visitors do a walk through of the cabin, the Facility, and the cube cells and there's more background on the mythology surrounding the movie. Michael Aiello from Universal says:

We are building the cabin completely. You?re going to walk through a forest to get there. You?re going into the cabin. You?re going to go into the cube cells. We?re literally taking everything we can in the film and giving you a kind of best-of montage of the film with this kind of linking story. You?re going to be in the control room when merman attacks.

Creepy, fascinating and terrifying. Sounds pretty much perfect. [The Mary Sue, Zap2It]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/the-cabin-in-the-woods-cabin-is-gonna-exist-and-it-soun-628730058

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Plaintiffs in Calif. gay marriage case wed in SF

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? The lead plaintiffs in the U.S. Supreme Court case that overturned California's same-sex marriage ban tied the knot at San Francisco City Hall on Friday, about an hour after a federal appeals court freed gay couples to obtain marriage licenses for the first time in 4 1/2 years.

State Attorney General Kamala Harris presided at the wedding of Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, of Berkeley, as hundreds of supporters looked on and cheered. The couple sued to overturn the state's voter-approved gay marriage ban along with Jeff Katami and Paul Zarrillo, of Burbank, who planned to marry Friday evening at Los Angeles City Hall.

"By joining the case against Proposition 8, they represented thousands of couples like themselves in their fight for marriage equality," Harris, who had asked the appeals court to act swiftly, said during Stier and Perry's brief ceremony. "Through the ups and downs, the struggles and the triumphs, they came out victorious."

Harris declared Perry, 48, and Stier, 50, "spouses for life," but during their vows, they took each other as "lawfully wedded wife." One of their twin sons served as ring-bearer.

Although the couple fought for the right to wed for years, their wedding came together in a flurry when a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a brief order Friday afternoon dissolving, "effective immediately," a stay it imposed on gay marriages while the lawsuit challenging the ban advanced through the courts.

Sponsors of California's same-sex marriage ban called the appeals court's swift action "outrageous."

"The resumption of same-sex marriage this day has been obtained by illegitimate means. If our opponents rejoice in achieving their goal in a dishonorable fashion, they should be ashamed," said Andy Pugno, general counsel for a coalition of religious conservative groups that sponsored Proposition 8.

"It remains to be seen whether the fight can go on, but either way, it is a disgraceful day for California," Pugno said.

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Wednesday that Proposition 8's sponsors lacked authority to defend the measure in court once Harris and Gov. Jerry Brown, both Democrats, refused to do so.

The decision lets stand a trial judge's declaration that the ban, approved by voters in November 2008, violates the civil rights of gay Californians and cannot be enforced.

Under Supreme Court rules, the losing side in a legal dispute has 25 days to ask the high court to rehear the case. The court said earlier this week that it would not finalize its ruling in the Proposition 8 case until after that time had elapsed.

It was not immediately clear whether the appeals court's action would be halted by the high court, but Gov. Jerry Brown directed California counties to start performing same-sex marriages immediately in the wake of it.

A memo from Brown's Department of Public Health said "same-sex marriage is again legal in California" and ordered county clerks to resume issuing marriage licenses to gay couples.

Given that word did not come down from the appeals court until mid-afternoon, most counties were not prepared to stay open late to accommodate potential crowds. The clerks in a few counties announced that they would stay open a few hours later Friday.

A jubilant San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee announced that same-sex couples would be able to marry all weekend in his city, which is hosting its annual gay pride celebration this weekend.

___

Associated Press writers Jason Dearen, Paul Elias and Mihir Zaveri contributed to this story.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/plaintiffs-calif-gay-marriage-case-wed-sf-235831059.html

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NYC Fourth of July: 'It Begins with a Spark'

Mortars placed on a barge docked in the Staten Island borough of New York are in front of the hazy lower Manhattan skyline, Saturday, June 29, 2013. Forty thousand shells are being loaded onto four barges in preparation for the Macy's Fourth of July fireworks display. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Mortars placed on a barge docked in the Staten Island borough of New York are in front of the hazy lower Manhattan skyline, Saturday, June 29, 2013. Forty thousand shells are being loaded onto four barges in preparation for the Macy's Fourth of July fireworks display. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

A Pyro Spectaculars by Souza workers loads materials onto a barge docked in the Staten Island borough of New York, Saturday, June 29, 2013. Forty thousand shells are being loaded onto four barges in preparation for the Macy's Fourth of July fireworks display. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Pyro Spectaculars by Souza workers have a backdrop of a hazy lower Manhattan skyline as they load shells into mortars on a barge docked in the Staten Island borough of New York, Saturday, June 29, 2013. Forty thousand shells are being loaded onto four barges in preparation for the Macy's Fourth of July fireworks display. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Pyro Spectaculars by Souza workers load shells into mortars on a barge docked in the Staten Island borough of New York, Saturday, June 29, 2013. Forty thousand shells are being loaded onto four barges in preparation for the Macy's Fourth of July fireworks display. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

A Pyro Spectaculars by Souza worker loads shells into mortars on a barge docked in the Staten Island borough of New York, Saturday, June 29, 2013. Forty thousand shells are being loaded onto four barges in preparation for the Macy's Fourth of July fireworks display. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

NEW YORK (AP) ? What's new this Fourth of July?

A happy face with a wink, exploding over New York City as part of Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks 2013 ? the nation's biggest display.

That's one of the spectacles being prepared to light up the sky on Thursday. Forty thousand shells were being loaded onto four barges in the city's Staten Island borough on Saturday in preparation for the massive display.

The exact location is kept secret for security reasons.

The barges will sit on the Hudson River for the show to be seen by an estimated 3 million people watching live in New York and New Jersey, plus millions more on television. Grammy-award winning musician Usher has created the soundtrack.

Show co-designer Gary Souza said organizers have scoured the world to find and purchase the most original new fireworks ? from China and Portugal to Spain, Malta and Brazil.

The theme for this year's 25-minute show is "It Begins With A Spark."

The barges are to be set up on the river between Manhattan's West 24th and 42nd streets, with fireworks shooting about 1,000 feet into the air.

The plans began a year ago in Rialto, Calif., where Souza is part of the current generation of a family that runs Pyro Spectaculars by Souza.

Sixty pyrotechnicians worked on Staten Island all weekend before the holiday to prepare the high-tech digital animation.

This year, two other novelties will be a jellyfish discovered in China that explodes with a whistling sound, and bursting butterflies.

From midtown Manhattan, the Empire State Building will play along, showing off its recently upgraded LED lighting along with the fireworks.

Andy Lewis has been volunteering for the fireworks for the past 26 years.

"It's the best show in the world," said the firefighter from Las Vegas as he and the rest of the crew sat in Staten Island under a tent for lunch, enjoying the view of the New York City skyline across New York Harbor.

The first explosions are scheduled to go off at 9:25 p.m. on Thursday.

And despite every possible precaution taken to ensure safety, "anything can happen," said Souza. "It's a dangerous business." Each year, he added, his mother has white-knuckled her way through the spectacle.

Safety is paramount, said executive producer Amy Kule.

After that, she said, "it's about how to make it as entertaining as possible, how to make it bigger and better ? playing with science and technology."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-06-29-Macy's%20Fourth%20of%20July/id-49324bbc4acd4578a6193fc272df35df

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Christie: I didn't vote for Obama, he doesn't lead

VERNON, N.J. (AP) ? Republicans accused New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie of getting too cozy with President Barack Obama after Superstorm Sandy.

But during a visit Friday to a Republican stronghold for one of his regular town hall meetings, the governor went out of his way to put some distance between himself and the Democratic president.

Before taking questions from the public, Christie spoke about the problems in Washington, appearing to place most of the blame on Obama.

"We look at Washington, D.C., and we shake our heads in wonder at a president who can't figure out how to lead, at a Congress that only 11 percent of the people in the last poll I saw approve of the job they're doing," he said.

Referring further to those low approval ratings, Christie said "that's what happens when you don't have a leader at the top."

"That's what happens when you have someone in the executive office who is more concerned about being right than he's concerned about getting things done, and I'm not going to be that kind of leader of New Jersey."

When former Vernon Mayor Sally Rinker thanked Christie for the way he worked with Obama after Sandy and referred to the criticism he took for it, the governor cut her off.

He said he disagreed with Obama "probably 95 percent of the time" and hadn't voted for him either time.

"I don't want him to be president but it wasn't my choice," said Christie, a potential candidate for the presidency in 2016 who had criticized Obama's leadership on previous occasions.

At the same time, he said there's only one president at a time, and he dismissed criticism he received for the praise he gave Obama for the government's response to Sandy.

"And when the storm hits the state and the president of the United States calls you and says, 'I want to come and see it and I want to help,' and he actually follows through on the promises that he made, then you have to say that on that part of it he did a good job," Christie said. "That doesn't mean I like Obamacare, that doesn't mean I like what he's doing on taxes or spending or anything else."

"For the folks who are critical of that, let me just ask them, 'What would you have me do, exactly?' ... The president calls and says I want to come and visit and see it for myself so I can help you and I say, 'Yeah, no. I'm for Mitt Romney, I don't want you to come.' Or would you have me wear my Romney sweatshirt while I was walking around with him? You know, I mean, this is ridiculous stuff."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/christie-didnt-vote-obama-doesnt-lead-202225705.html

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Global Warming Worsened Australia's Record Hot Summer

Human-caused global warming played a role in making this past summer Australia's hottest on record, a new study suggests.

The summer of 2012-2013 probably won't retain its title for long; researchers say record-breaking scorching summers are five times more likely to occur now in Australia due to climate change.

"Our research has shown that, due to greenhouse gas emissions, these types of extreme summers will become even more frequent and more severe in the future," study author Sophie Lewis of the University of Melbourne said in a statement.

Australia's summer occurs from December to February, during the Northern Hemisphere's winter. In those three months between 2012 and 2013, the country's average temperature was 83.5 degrees Fahrenheit (28.6 degrees Celsius), 2 degrees F (1 degree C) above normal, according to Australia's Bureau of Meteorology. It broke the previous summer temperature record, set in the 1997-1998 season, by 0.18 degree F (0.1 degree C).

Unusually high temperatures gripped nearly the entire country, with just three percent of Australia experiencing below-normal temperatures. Bush fires and flooding, combined with the extreme heat, prompted Australians to call it the "angry summer."

Lewis and colleagues looked at climate observations and more than 90 climate model simulations of summer temperatures in Australia over the past 100 years. They found that human influences likely stoked the record heat during a summer when Australians may have otherwise expected cooler temperatures.

"This extreme summer is not only remarkable for its record-breaking nature but also because it occurred at a time of weak La Ni?a to neutral conditions, which generally produce cooler summers," Karoly said. "Importantly, our research shows the natural variability of El Ni?o Southern Oscillation is unlikely to explain the recent record temperatures." The El Ni?o Southern Oscillation is a climate cycle that can impact weather and cliamte systems around the globe; it's El Ni?o phases features warmer-than-normal sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean, while the La Ni?a phase features cooler-than-normal temperatures.

Climate describes weather that occurs over long periods, such as decades, centuries or millennia, and scientists are typically quick to point out that no individual storm, heat wave or unusual season can be directly blamed on climate change. But researchers have said that global warming can make some events, on average, more severe and more frequent than they would have been in the past.

The research has been accepted for publication in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Follow Megan Gannon on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/global-warming-worsened-australias-record-hot-summer-164112332.html

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NASA telescope to probe long-standing solar mystery

By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - A small NASA telescope was launched into orbit on Thursday on a mission to determine how the sun heats its atmosphere to millions of degrees, sending off rivers of particles that define the boundaries of the solar system.

The study is far from academic. Solar activity directly impacts Earth's climate and the space environment beyond the planet's atmosphere. Solar storms can knock out power grids, disrupt radio signals and interfere with communications, navigation and other satellites in orbit.

"We live in a very complex society and the sun has a role to play in it," said physicist Alan Title, with Lockheed Martin Space Systems Advanced Technology Center in Palo Alto, California, which designed and built the telescope.

Scientists have been trying to unravel the mechanisms that drive the sun for decades but one fundamental mystery endures: How it manages to release energy from its relatively cool, 10,000 degree Fahrenheit (5,500 degree Celsius) surface into an atmosphere that can reach up to 5 million degrees Fahrenheit (2.8 million Celsius).

At its core, the sun is essentially a giant fusion engine that melds hydrogen atoms into helium. As expected, temperatures cool as energy travels outward through the layers. But then in the lower atmosphere, known as the chromosphere, temperatures heat up again.

Pictures and data relayed by the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, telescope may finally provide some answers about how that happens.

The 4-foot (1.2-meter) long, 450-pound (204-kg) observatory will be watching the sun from a vantage point about 400 miles above Earth. It is designed to capture detailed images of light moving from the sun's surface, known as the photosphere, into the chromosphere. Temperatures peak in the sun's outer atmosphere, the corona.

All that energy fuels a continuous release of charged particles from the sun into what is known as the solar wind, a pressure bubble that fills and defines the boundaries of the solar system.

"Every time we look at the sun in more detail, it opens up a new window for us," said Jeffrey Newmark, IRIS program scientist at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The telescope was launched aboard an Orbital Sciences Corp Pegasus rocket at 10:27 p.m. EDT Thursday (0227 GMT Friday). Pegasus is an air-launched system that is carried aloft by a modified L-1011 aircraft that took off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California about 57 minutes before launch.

The rocket was released from beneath the belly of the plane at an altitude of about 39,000 feet before it ignited to carry the telescope into orbit.

IRIS, which cost about $145 million including the launch service, is designed to last for two years.

(Editing by Kevin Gray and Eric Walsh)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-telescope-probe-long-standing-solar-mystery-030014645.html

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Kat Von D and Deadmau5 reveal split over Twitter

Celebs

Ashley Majeski TODAY contributor

11 hours ago

Albert L. Ortega / Getty Images file

After their split, Kat Von D and Deadmau5 both took to their social media accounts to tell their sides of the story.

Kat Von D and Deadmau5's engagement started over Twitter, so it's only appropriate that they would discuss their break up on the social network site.

The couple, who have been engaged since December when the DJ sent a proposal to Von D via Twitter, have called it quits over allegations that he cheated.

Von D posted a cryptic tweet on Wednesday, and later followed it up with a second tweet that gave her more than 1 million Twitter followers a bit more detail on her current situation.

For his part, Deadmau5 (real name Joel Zimmerman) is denying he ever cheated, offering his Facebook fans and Twitter followers his own version of what went down:

At the end of June, it was clear that the relationship was not working and we mutually ended the engagement. I was not, at any point, unfaithful to Kat during our time together.

In the Facebook post, Deadmau5 admits that he did have "relations" with another woman before he proposed to Von D, but claims that it happened while he and the former reality personality were broken up.

Von D certainly hasn't been lucky in love. This is the third failed engagement for the tattoo artist in two years. She was previously engaged -- twice! -- to motorcycle builder and reality star Jesse James. Before that, she was married to fellow tattoo artist Oliver Peck from 2004 to 2007.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/kat-von-d-deadmau5-reveal-split-over-twitter-6C10472870

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Sea lampreys turning up the heat

June 27, 2013 ? Male sea lampreys may not be the best-looking creatures swimming in our lakes and streams, but they apparently have something going for them that the ladies may find irresistible.

Research by a team of Michigan State University scientists found that the males have a secondary sex characteristic that creates heat when they get near a female lamprey, something the females find hard to say no to.

The work of the team focused on a small bump located near the male's anterior dorsal fin. Close examination of this bump determined that it was full of fat cells, cells that are similar to ones found in mammals, animals that need to maintain their own body temperature.

By putting a probe into the bump, the researchers found that the temperature of the bump, also known as rope tissue, increased by 0.3 degrees Celsius when the male approached a female, sometimes even more, depending upon the female.

The role this "bump" played in spawning was not known until now. Scientists had thought it merely as ornamental or playing some other minor role.

"We thought it was just a structure that was used for some kind of mechanical stimulation that they needed to trigger the female to lay eggs," said Weiming Li, a professor of fisheries and wildlife and a team member.

Until now it was believed that males attracted females by releasing pheromones.

By attempting to better understand the reproductive biology of the sea lamprey, the researchers hope to find ways to reduce its numbers or eliminate it from the Great Lakes.

Sea lampreys are a very destructive invasive species. Resembling 18-inch eels, they can live in both salt and fresh water and likely found their way into the Great Lakes via shipping channels. They have no natural predators in the Great Lakes.

Parasitic lampreys attach themselves to other fish, such as salmon, trout and whitefish, and suck out the fish's body fluids. The lamprey's sucking disk and sharp teeth scar the host fish, killing many of them. Under some conditions, only one of seven fish attacked by a sea lamprey will survive.

A sea lamprey can kill 40 or more pounds of fish, and they've caused the extinction of three species of whitefish in the Great Lakes. The U.S. and Canadian governments together spend about $10 million to $15 million per year on lamprey control.

Also contributing to the work were the laboratories of Jongeun Choi, associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Titus Brown, assistant professor in the Departments of Computer Science and Engineering and Microbiology and Molecular Genetics.

This latest research is published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/bMnpF5onc8c/130627125325.htm

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4 Behaviors That Result In Divorce (90 Percent Of The Time)

psychcentral.com:

In any?marriage or long-term, romantic relationship, there are a number of challenges that have the potential to completely wreck your relationship. However, if it?s any consolation at all,?researchers have observed that there are just four behaviors?that, when avoided, greatly improve your chances for the long-term health and happiness of your relationship.

Read the whole story at psychcentral.com

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/26/4-behaviors-that-result-i_n_3506105.html

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4 Behaviors That Result In Divorce (90 Percent Of The Time)

psychcentral.com:

In any?marriage or long-term, romantic relationship, there are a number of challenges that have the potential to completely wreck your relationship. However, if it?s any consolation at all,?researchers have observed that there are just four behaviors?that, when avoided, greatly improve your chances for the long-term health and happiness of your relationship.

Read the whole story at psychcentral.com

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/26/4-behaviors-that-result-i_n_3506105.html

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Gas prices down 4 cents in West Virginia

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Gasoline prices have dropped 4 cents over the past week in West Virginia.

AAA East Central says the average price for a gallon of regular gas is $3.55. That's the same as the national average and 9 cents higher than the same week last year in the state.

Current prices range from $3.43 in Clarksburg to $3.64 in Charleston and Huntington.

Nationally, gas prices dropped 6 cents in the past week.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gas-prices-down-4-cents-150555778.html

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How To Set Up A Sex Abuse / Molestation ... - Sports Insurance

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Sex abuse / molestation (SAM) is an even bigger issue in youth sports and recreation as a result of the Sandusky incidents and Penn State?s failure to properly deal with the situation. Insurance carriers that write General Liability policies that include coverage for sex abuse / molestation are concerned that publicity from Sandusky may open the floodgates for more victims to come forward and more litigation.

Whenever a SAM incident occurs, a civil lawsuit will likely be filed against not only the alleged perpetrator, but also the organization, officers, board, and others for failure to adequately screen staff, failure to implement policies and procedures to prevent an incident, and failure to appropriately respond to an allegation. Most insurance carriers that write SAM coverage on sports organizations won?t offer the coverage unless the organization has implemented certain controls that impact these areas.

Most sports and recreation organizations rely exclusively on running criminal background checks on all staff with access to youth. While this is required by case law and is a minimum level of due diligence, the effectiveness of solely relying on criminal background checks is questionable. The reason is because studies indicate that only about 5% of all predators have a criminal background that could even be discoverable upon running a background check. Therefore, the question becomes what is your sports organization doing to protect against the other 95%? What it should be doing is educating administrators and staff to create a hostile environment for predators, implementing simple policies and procedures, and implementing an allegation response plan that requires notification of law enforcement.

Many sports organizations get into SAM risk management by just shooting from the hip and running background checks without putting much thought into the entire process and what can go wrong along the way such as:

• slander, libel, and invasion of privacy lawsuits against the organization if background check results are not kept confidential
• illegal questions on staff application form and consent to run background check form
• unequal treatment of different candidates and resulting litigation due to lack of pre determined, written disqualification criteria
• failure to properly understand the nature of a conviction on a criminal background check and misclassification of the offense
• failure to comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act and other similar laws
• failure to have written policies and procedures in place to make an incident less likely to occur
• failure to have allegation response procedures in place including a requirement to notify law enforcement

Long Form Sex Abuse / Molestation Risk Management Program (7 pages):
RECOMMENDED

Due to the problems outlined above, before running the first criminal background check, we recommend that a sports organization implement our written Sex Abuse / Molestation Risk Management Program which provides important administrator and staff education on the topic and protects against the above mentioned pitfalls. This program can be found at?Sadlersports.com/riskmanagement??in a word doc format (7 pages) entitled Sample Abuse / Molestation Plan that can be easily customized for a specific sports organization. Just make a few decisions about what policies and procedures you want to activate and fill in a few blanks and your custom program is available for adoption by board action, implementation, and distribution to all administrators and staff. Current clients of Sadler should access the latest and most up to date version of this document under the password protected section (right hand side of page) after entering the password that they are provided with their proof of coverage email upon binding of coverage. On the other hand, sports organizations that are not current Sadler clients should access this document under the unrestricted access section of the webpage available to general public (left hand side).

Short Form Sex Abuse / Molestation Risk Management Program (1 page)

However, we realize that some sports organizations may not want to adopt and implement our recommended 7 page SAM risk management program even though it is incredibly simple and we have already done just about all the work on their behalf. For these organizations, we offer a 1 page SAM risk management program that provides a basic educational program for administrators and staff; includes written policies and procedures to make an incident less likely to occur; and provides instructions on how to appropriately respond to an allegation. This 1 page SAM program can be found under the unrestricted access section (left hand side of webpage) at?Sadlersports.com/riskmanagement under the document entitled Child Abuse / Molestation Protection Program ? Administrators (short form).

Educational Videos

In addition, we offer the following free educational training videos to our clients that can be found under the password protected section of our risk management page:

• How To Implement An Abuse / Molestation Risk Management Program ? Administrators 14 minutes
• Abuse / Molestation Awareness Training ? Administrators And Staff (28 minutes)

John Sadler

Filed under: Abuse/Molestation
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Source: http://www.sadlersports.com/blog/set-sex-abuse-molestation-protection-program/

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 series to hit US on July 7th, prices start at $199

Not to be forgotten amid other new Samsung products, the company has announced that its complete Galaxy Tab 3 lineup will arrive in the US next month. The tablet family launches in the states on July 7th, with all three screen sizes (7, 8 and 10.1 inches) going on sale at Samsung.com, Amazon, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Office Depot and other brick-and-mortar retailers. As a refresher, the entry-level Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 is priced at $199 and sports a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, 8GB of storage (plus microSD expansion), and a 7-inch 1,024 x 600 TFT display. There's Android Jelly Bean (4.1) from the outset, as well as Samsung's various apps and built-in hubs.

In addition to having a larger screen, the Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 ($299) bumps up other specifications, with a more potent Exynos 1.5GHz dual-core processor and higher-resolution (1,280 x 800) TFT display. It's got the very latest Android build (4.2), as well as a rear-facing 5-megapixel camera capable of 720p video capture. Storage is also doubled to 16GB, with extra space available through microSD, and 1.5GB of RAM to keep apps running smoothly.

Finally, there's the Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 ($399), which packs an Intel Z2560 processor (1.6GHz dual-core) and the same resolution as the Tab 3 8.0, albeit stretched a little further. It also matches the smaller model on storage and camera specs, although RAM has inexplicably dropped to just a single gig. The larger model does include a built-in IR blaster, however, as well as Samsung's WatchON TV recommendation service. All three WiFi-only models will arrive in white and a previously leaked gold brown hue. Pre-orders start tomorrow.

Gallery: Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 family

Filed under: Tablets, Samsung

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/24/samsung-galaxy-tab-3-7-0-8-0-and-10-1-release-date-pricing/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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High court sends back Texas race-based plan

FILE - In this Oct. 10, 2012 file photo, Abigail Fisher, right, who sued the University of Texas, walks outside the Supreme Court in Washington. The Supreme Court has sent a Texas case on race-based college admissions back to a lower court for another look. The court's 7-1 decision Monday leaves unsettled many of the basic questions about the continued use of race as a factor in college admissions. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 10, 2012 file photo, Abigail Fisher, right, who sued the University of Texas, walks outside the Supreme Court in Washington. The Supreme Court has sent a Texas case on race-based college admissions back to a lower court for another look. The court's 7-1 decision Monday leaves unsettled many of the basic questions about the continued use of race as a factor in college admissions. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

People wait outside the Supreme Court in Washington as key decisions are expected to be announced Monday, June 24, 2013. At the end of the court's term, several major cases are still outstanding that could have widespread political impact on same-sex marriage, voting rights, and affirmative action. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

People wait outside the Supreme Court in Washington as key decisions are expected to be announced Monday, June 24, 2013. At the end of the court's term, several major cases are still outstanding that could have widespread political impact on same-sex marriage, voting rights, and affirmative action. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

People line up in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, Monday, June 24, 2013, before it opened for its last scheduled session. The Supreme Court has 11 cases, including the term's highest profile matters, to resolve before the justices take off for summer vacations, teaching assignments and international travel. The court is meeting Monday for its last scheduled session, but will add days until all the cases are disposed of. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Affirmative action in college admissions survived Supreme Court review Monday in a consensus decision that avoided the difficult constitutional issues surrounding a challenge to the University of Texas admission plan.

Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the court's 7-1 ruling that said a court should approve the use of race as a factor in admissions only after it concludes "that no workable race-neutral alternatives would produce the educational benefits of diversity."

But the decision did not question the underpinnings of affirmative action, which the high court last reaffirmed in 2003.

The justices said the federal appeals court in New Orleans did not apply the highest level of judicial scrutiny when it upheld the Texas plan, which uses race as one among many factors in admitting about a quarter of the university's incoming freshmen. The school gives the bulk of the slots to Texans who are admitted based on their high school class rank, without regard to race.

The high court ordered the appeals court to take another look at the case of Abigail Fisher, a white Texan who was not offered a spot at the university's flagship Austin campus in 2008. Fisher has since received her undergraduate degree from Louisiana State University.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the lone dissenter. "In my view, the courts below adhered to this court's pathmarking decisions and there is no need for a second look," Ginsburg said in a dissent she read aloud.

Justice Clarence Thomas, alone on the court, said he would have overturned the high court's 2003 ruling, though he went along with Monday's outcome.

Justice Elena Kagan stayed out of the case, presumably because she had some contact with it at an earlier stage when she worked in the Justice Department.

Kennedy said that courts must determine that the use of race is necessary to achieve the educational benefits of diversity, the Supreme Court's standard for affirmative action in education since 1978. The high court most recently reaffirmed the constitutionality of affirmative action in Grutter v. Bollinger in 2003, a case involving the University of Michigan.

"As the Court said in Grutter, it remains at all times the university's obligation to demonstrate, and the judiciary's obligation to determine, that admissions processes 'ensure that each applicant is evaluated as an individual and not in a way that makes an applicant's race or ethnicity the defining feature of his or her application,'" Kennedy said.

University of Texas president Bill Powers said the university plans no immediate changes in its admissions policies as a result of Monday's ruling and will continue to defend them in the courts.

"We remain committed to assembling a student body at the University of Texas at Austin that provides the educational benefits of diversity on campus while respecting the rights of all students and acting within the constitutional framework established by the court," Powers said.

But Edward Blum, who helped engineer Fisher's challenge, said it is unlikely that the Texas plan and many other college plans can long survive. "The Supreme Court has established exceptionally high hurdles for the University of Texas and other universities and colleges to overcome if they intend to continue using race preferences in their admissions policies, said Blum, director of The Project on Fair Representation in Alexandria, Va.

Civil rights activist Al Sharpton said the court "ducked" the big issues in the case. While he would have preferred that the justices affirm the use of race in college admissions, "a duck is better than a no, but not as good as a yes," Sharpton said. Sharpton, along with Martin Luther King III, was leading a National Press Club news conference announcing initial plans to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the march on Washington.

Retired Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and John Paul Stevens, both members of the majority in the Grutter case, were in the courtroom Monday for the Texas decision.

The challenge to the Texas plan gained traction in part because the makeup of the court has changed since the last time the justices ruled on affirmative action in higher education in 2003. Then, O'Connor wrote the majority opinion that held that colleges and universities can use race in their quest for diverse student bodies.

O'Connor retired in 2006, and her replacement, Justice Samuel Alito, has shown himself to be more skeptical of considerations of race in education.

Texas automatically offers about three-quarters of its spots to high school graduates based on their class rank as part of what was called the "top 10 percent" plan under a 1990s state law signed by then-Gov. George W. Bush. Since then the admissions program has been changed so that now only the top 8 percent gain automatic admission.

Race is a factor in filling out the rest of the incoming class. More than 8 in 10 African-American and Latino students who enrolled at the flagship campus in Austin in 2011 were automatically admitted, according to university statistics.

In all, black and Hispanic students made up more than a quarter of the incoming freshmen class. White students constituted less than half the entering class when students with Asian backgrounds and other minorities were added in.

The university said the extra measure of diversity it gets from the slots outside automatic admission is crucial because too many of its classrooms have only token minority representation, at best. At the same time, Texas argued that race is one of many factors considered and that whether race played the key role in any applicant's case was impossible to tell.

The Obama administration, roughly half of the Fortune 100 companies and large numbers of public and private colleges that feared a broad ruling against affirmative action backed the Texas program. Among the benefits of affirmative action, the administration said, is that it creates a pipeline for a diverse officer corps that it called "essential to the military's operational readiness." In 2003, the court cited the importance of a similar message from military leaders.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-06-24-Supreme%20Court-Affirmative%20Action/id-7d3818e843964ee0888ff6afa512ffda

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Abu Dhabi: Rising star of the Middle East - Breaking Travel News

Abu Dhabi?s 142 hotels and hotel apartments had their best April on record earlier this year, with increases in most key performance indicators, according to figures just released by Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority.

The UK remains the emirate?s largest overseas source market for hotel guests, with 54,050 Britons staying in Abu Dhabi?s hotels in the first four months of 2013, a ten per cent rise on the same period in 2012.

They stayed on average, 4.71 nights, up 11 per cent on the corresponding period last year ? and accounted for 254,768 guest nights, up 22 per cent.

During April 2013 some 236,704 guests checked into Abu Dhabi accommodation - a 20 per cent rise against the same period in 2012 ? with guest nights jumping by almost a third to 738,797.

The average-length-of-stay of hotel guests during April 2013 was 3.12 nights, a growth of eight per cent on the same month last year.

Abu Dhabi has emerged as a powerhouse of Middle East tourism

TCA Abu Dhabi, which was named Middle East?s Leading Meetings & Conference Destination and Middle East?s Leading Tourist Board by the World Travel Awards in 2013, and World?s Leading Tourist Board in 2012, also reported a growth in guest numbers, guest nights, average length of stay and revenues for the first quarter of 2013.

Some 631,417 guests checked into accommodation throughout the emirate during this period ? a six per cent rise on quarter one of 2012.

Guest nights rose 23 per cent to 2,119,016, the average length of stay was up 16 per cent to 3.36 nights and total revenues climbed 15 per cent on 2012.

The UK maintained its position as the emirate?s leading overseas guest source market delivering in quarter one, some 39,841 arrivals, up seven per cent on quarter one of 2012, a total of 186,882 guest nights, an increase of 17 per cent and an average length of stay of 4.69 nights, up nine per cent on the comparative period.

Recent hotel openings in Abu Dhabi

As hotel occupancy climbs, Abu Dhabi has been booming with new developments to cater to these guests.

Hotel openings in 2012 included Eastern Mangroves Hotel & Spa by Anantara, while this year saw the opening of the Ritz Carlton Abu Dhabi Grand Canal and the Rosewood Abu Dhabi.

Rosewood Abu Dhabi, the ultra-luxury five-star hotel ideally located on the waterfront of Sowwah Square in the heart of Abu Dhabi on Al Maryah Island opened its doors on May 1st 2013, marking the first presence of the Rosewood Hotels & Resorts brand in the UAE.

The hotel offers a comforting retreat from the day, but also a vibrant energy and variety of amenities.?

Rosewood Abu Dhabi provides a luxury lifestyle experience currently unmatched in the capital.

The 189-room hotel is located at the core of the new Central Business District between the prestigious Sowwah Square development and Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.?

The Galleria, a new retail and dining destination with direct access to the hotel is set to open on the Island in August.

Downtown Abu Dhabi, leisure facilities and the airport are also easily accessible from Al Maryah Island.

Rosewood Abu Dhabi features nine signature restaurants and lounges; eight fully equipped conference and event spaces including a ballroom which will accommodate up to 1,000 guests; pool and gym facilities and Sense, A Rosewood Spa.

Rosewood Abu Dhabi

The interiors have an air of understated elegance, with exquisite materials such as Italian marble, a bespoke four-meter American walnut table and custom and hand-blown chandeliers from the Czech Republic featured throughout the hotel.

Under the helm of executive chef Wolfgang Eberle, Rosewood Abu Dhabi caters to every palate in the hotel?s nine restaurants and lounges, including Catalan, a sophisticated restaurant offering cuisine from the authentic Barcelona and north-eastern region of Spain; Sambusek, a delightfully modern Lebanese restaurant; Smoke, a vibrant shisha terrace, Aqua, which will offer Italian and Mediterranean delicious dishes in a refined yet informal setting; Spice Mela, a contemporary restaurant serving Pan-Indian cuisine; La Cava, a grape cellar with a walk-in cigar room; Glo, the glamorous bar lounge, the intimate Hidden Bar; and the Majlis lobby lounge.

Other stunning hotels in Abu Dhabi that have been recognised by the World Travel Awards include: Emirates Palace, Sofitel Abu Dhabi Corniche, St Regis Saadiyat Island, Park Rotana, Beach Rotana and Grand Millenium Al Wahda.

The Fairmont Bab Al Bahr has been nominated in several categories of this coveted award scheme.

One of the most spectacular hotels is the Jumeirah at Etihad Towers which was named Middle East?s Leading Hotel, Abu Dhabi?s Leading Conference Hotel and Abu Dhabi?s Leading Hotel by the World Travel Awards this year.

Consisting of 382 guestrooms and suites, 199 fully-serviced residences, 12 restaurants, bars and lounges, Talise Spa and one of the largest conference centres in Abu Dhabi, Jumeirah at Etihad Towers stands 280 metres tall and is furnished throughout in a modern contemporary design using rich materials including highly prized Italian marble, custom-designed hand-tufted carpets and photographic art works.

Jumeirah at Etihad Towers stands 280 metres tall

Hotels coming online in 2014

As visitors continue to flock to Abu Dhabi, looking to experience its luxurious hospitality, unique attractions, world class events and sunny climate, international hotel operators continue to announce plans to tap into the destination?s potential.

Marriott has revealed plans to open two properties in Abu Dhabi which will be operated by Real Estate Group ? a subsidiary of Bloom Properties.

This involves a 315-room Marriott hotel and a 64-unit Marriott executive apartment property which are both to open in the mixed-use Bloom Central development

Marina Mall Arjaan by Rotana has also been confirmed for the destination, meanwhile the Grand Ayla, is expected to open in the third quarter, opposite Al Ain Mall with 222 rooms.

New developments for 2013

Yas Waterworld Abu Dhabi - the largest waterpark in the UAE opened recently on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.

This futuristic waterpark spans an area of around 15 football pitches, with 43 rides, slides and attractions ? five of which are one-of-a-kind.

Yas Waterworld is the UAE?s largest waterpark

Yas Waterworld visitors can try the 238-metre long, world?s first and largest hydromagnetic-powered, six-person tornado waterslide.

For adrenaline seekers there are three-metre high waves on Bubble?s Barrel, which has the world?s largest surfable sheet wave for flowboards and bodyboards.

The Bandit Bomber, a 550?metre coaster, is the first with onboard water and laser effects. Riders can shoot jets of water at targets, drop water bombs and trigger special effects, while people below can spray them with water as they pass.

Sitting atop Jebel Dana, the towering core of the park?s altitude-defying summit and measuring eight metres in diameter, the park?s gigantic pearl is Yas Island?s newest landmark.

The park draws on Abu Dhabi?s heritage and has ?The Lost Pearl? as its theme.

Visitors follow the story of a young Emirati girl on a quest to find a legendary pearl as they make their way around the attractions, which include a souk and pearl-diving exhibits.

Yas Island

Yas Island is home to some of the UAE?s most exciting attractions, including Ferrari World ? home of the world?s largest roller coast ? events, as well as concerts and much much more.

A style icon - Yas Viceroy Hotel

The flagship project of the $36 billion Yas Island development, the Yas Viceroy Hotel is a breath-taking fusion of architecture, design and technology, set half on land and half on water.

It is also the first hotel in the world built directly over a Formula One race track and in 2010 was voted ?World?s Leading New Hotel? by World Travel Awards.

Home of the world?s leading airline

The UAE flag carrier Etihad Airways also continues to blaze a trail in aviation. Established just eight years old, the Abu Dhabi based airline has grown into a global superbrand.

Its growth has never fallen below 40 per cent a year in that time. Last year it reached the milestone stage of moving into profit.

This year it was voted Middle East?s Leading Airline, Middle East?s Leading Airline First Class and Middle East?s Leading Cabin Crew by the World Travel Awards.

A total of 8.3 million passengers flew with the flag carrier in 2011, up 17 per cent on 2010.

James Hogan, chief executive of Etihad Airways, said: ?Despite the global financial crisis, continued high oil prices, regional instability and natural disasters, we have delivered.?

Meanwhile, attracting the luxury traveller forms an integral part of Abu Dhabi?s growth strategy.

Royal Jet, the private jet charter company, has just come off its most success year yet in its eight-year history.

Royal Jet offers unrivalled luxury service

The company, voted World?s Leading Private Jet Charter by the World Travel Awards, reported a 226 per cent increase in net profits year-on-year in 2012.

Cruise facilities

A new terminal, designed to accommodate 1,300 passengers has been built at Mina Zayed as Abu Dhabi continues to develop as a cruise destination.

A joint project from Abu Dhabi Ports Company and Abu Dhabi Terminals, the facility has been designed to cater for the 2012/2013 cruise seasons.

MSC Lirica became the first vessel to homeport in the emirate following the opening of the terminal in late 2011.

Abu Dhabi International Airport has ambitious plans for the future.

In the coming five years, the airport will be focusing on achieving new competitive milestones with the completion of the new Midfield Terminal Building, scheduled to open in 2017.

Abu Dhabi International Airport

The 700,000 square meter building is a landmark project being undertaken in Abu Dhabi and the UAE, and will be able to handle 27-30 million passengers per year when it opens.

Reasons to Celebrate

One of the highlights of the coming year is sure to be the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, scheduled to take place at the spectacular Yas Marina circuit on November 1st-3rd 2013.

Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is now an integral part of the F1 calendar

With United Arab Emirates flag-carrier Etihad Airways recently signing a deal with the Formula 1 group to extend its title sponsorship of the Grand Prix for a further four years, the event look sets to grow yet further.

The deal will see the airline sponsor the event through to the 2015 with two F1-liveried aircraft flying to destinations across its network.

Saadiyat Island?s cultural district is where the Louvre Abu Dhabi will open in 2015, followed by the Zayed National Museum a year later and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi in 2017.

Recommended

Source: http://www.breakingtravelnews.com/focus/article/abu-dhabi-rising-star-of-the-middle-east/

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$84-million removal of a dam on Carmel River set to begin

More than 90 years ago the San Clemente Dam rose on what John Steinbeck called in a novel "a lovely little river" that "has everything a river should have."

These days, that's not so true of the Carmel River, which empties into the Pacific Ocean just south of Carmel. The river is overpumped. Flood plain has been lost to development, and the silted-up San Clemente is vulnerable to collapse in an earthquake, threatening 1,500 downstream structures.

But next month, in what officials say is the state's largest-ever dam removal, work will begin on a three-year project to dismantle the 106-foot-tall concrete dam and reroute half a mile of the river.

The demolition will open up 25 miles of spawning and rearing habitat for a threatened population of steelhead trout, help replenish sand on Carmel Beach and eliminate a huge headache for the utility that owns the dam.

"I can't tell you I know anyone who wants San Clemente to stay," said Robert MacLean, president of California American Water, an investor-owned utility that provides water to about 100,000 people on the Monterey Peninsula.

Built in 1921 about 18 miles from the river's mouth, the dam hasn't been used as a water source for years. Deemed seismically unfit by the state in the early 1990s, it also has suffered the ultimate fate of dams.

It filled up with sediment. Most of what San Clemente now holds back is dirt and gravel, not water.

There is enough sediment piled behind the dam's arch to fill 250,000 dump trucks. Figuring out what to do with it was a major challenge. Letting the dirt wash downstream would increase the flood risk. Trucking it out would be expensive and disruptive. Filling up a canyon was an environmental no-no.

So project managers decided to leave it where it is. Instead of moving the dirt, they are going to move the river channel, diverting half a mile of the Carmel into the bed of a nearby creek that flows into the river just above the dam.

"It really is innovative," said Joyce Ambrosius, Central Coast supervisor of the federal National Marine Fisheries Service, which has worked with the utility and the California State Coastal Conservancy on the dam removal.

An official groundbreaking ceremony was held Friday for the project, which will cost about $84 million. American Water is putting up $49 million. The state is contributing $25 million from previously authorized bonds, and the federal government is providing $2.4 million.

The rest will have to be raised from foundations and private sources, including the Nature Conservancy, which has committed $1 million to the effort.

"We saw this as part of a bigger-picture effort to restore the Carmel River and bring it back to life," said Trish Chapman of the coastal conservancy.

American Water is also under state order to stop pumping from downstream wells that are drawing from the lower reaches of the 36-mile river. That is forcing the utility to develop new supplies, which, along with the dam removal, will add about $30 to the average monthly residential water bill.

Although the dam has a fish ladder for migrating steelhead, it's not a very good one. Fishery managers hope that free passage will increase spawning and boost the dwindling number of south Central Coast steelhead.

Biologists estimate that there are only about 500 steelhead on the river, which provides some of the region's best habitat for the fish. Like salmon, steelhead are born in fresh water, spend several years in the ocean and then return to their native rivers and streams to spawn.

Getting rid of the dam will also help another threatened species, the California red-legged frog, by eliminating the reservoir ? a breeding ground for bullfrogs that eat the red-leggeds.

The dam property includes 928 acres of chaparral and oak woodlands that American Water will donate to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management ? the federal government's largest landowner ? when the demolition is complete. Neither the state nor the U.S. Forest Service, which manages the nearby Los Padres National Forest, wanted the land.

The river will not be dam free when the San Clemente structure is gone. The Los Padres Dam lies about five miles upstream. It too is filling up with sediment. But it is still used for water supply, and MacLean said his company is just beginning to evaluate its options for the Carmel's last dam.

bettina.boxall@latimes.com

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/7Q7p6id9JGk/la-me-dam-removal-20130624,0,1760255.story

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Leap Motion starts expanded beta, opens dev portal to the public, shows off Airspace app store (hands-on)

Slowly but surely Leap Motion is making its way toward a commercial release. Today, the company has announced it's moving into the next phase of beta testing and that it will be opening up its developer portal to the public later in the week. While this still won't get folks a Leap device any faster, it will let them dig into Leap's tools and code base in preparation for when they finally get one. The move marks a shift from the company's previous SDK-focused beta to a consumer-focused one that'll serve to refine the UX in Windows and OSX. Within each operating system, there will be two levels of Leap control: basic, which essentially allows you to use Leap in place of a touchscreen, and advanced to allow for more 3D controls enabled by Leap's ability to detect the pitch and yaw of hands in space.

CEO Michael Buckwald gave us this good news himself, and also gave us a preview of Airspace, Leap's app store, and a few app demos for good measure. As it turns out, Airspace is a two-pronged affair -- Airspace Store is showcase for all software utilizing the Leap API and Airspace Home is a launcher that keeps all the Leap apps that you own in one convenient place. There will be 50 apps in Airspace at the start of the beta, with offerings from pro tools and utility apps to casual games, and we got to see a few examples.

Gallery: Leap Motion Airspace store and apps preview

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/24/leap-motion-expanded-beta-dev-portal-airspace-apps-hands-on/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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