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Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
'Iron Man 3' rules world, 'Pain & Gain' takes US
This film image released by Paramount Pictures shows, from left, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie and Mark Wahlberg in a scene from "Pain and Gain." (AP Photo/Paramount Pictures, Jaime Trueblood)
This film image released by Paramount Pictures shows, from left, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie and Mark Wahlberg in a scene from "Pain and Gain." (AP Photo/Paramount Pictures, Jaime Trueblood)
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? "Iron Man 3" is the heavy-lifter at theaters with a colossal overseas debut that overshadows a sleepy pre-summer weekend at the domestic box office.
The superhero sequel starring Robert Downey Jr. got a head-start on its domestic launch next Friday with a $195.3 million opening in 42 overseas markets.
Sunday studio estimates show director Michael Bay's true-crime tale "Pain & Gain" muscled into first-place domestically with a $20 million debut.
The movie starring Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson and Anthony Mackie knocked off Tom Cruise's sci-fi adventure "Oblivion" after a week in the No. 1 spot. "Oblivion" slipped to second-place with $17.4 million, raising its domestic total to $64.7 million.
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NBA vet Jason Collins is first openly gay player in U.S. sports
(Adds quotes from President Clinton)
April 29 (Reuters) - Jason Collins, a veteran center in the National Basketball Association (NBA), announced on Monday that he was gay, becoming the first active player from any of the U.S. professional sports leagues to publicly reveal his homosexuality.
Collins, who played with the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards this season and is now a free agent, made the announcement in an interview with Sports Illustrated, published on Monday,
"I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation," he said.
"I wish I wasn't the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, "I'm different." If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand," he added.
The 34-year-old has played for six teams in the NBA and reached the NBA finals twice and says he intends to continue in the sport.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton , whose daughter Chelsea was a classmate of Collins at Stanford university, issued a statement applauding Collins for coming out.
"Jason's announcement today is an important moment for professional sports and in the history of the LGBT community," Clinton said.
"It is also the straightforward statement of a good man who wants no more than what so many of us seek: to be able to be who we are; to do our work; to build families and to contribute to our communities. For so many members of the LGBT community, these simple goals remain elusive.
"I hope that everyone, particularly Jason's colleagues in the NBA, the media and his many fans extend to him their support and the respect he has earned."
(Reporting by Simon Evans; editing by Julian Linden)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nba-collins-comes-first-openly-gay-player-u-154748772.html
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Bunker Hill
Nathaniel Philbrick retells the story of the bloodiest battle of the American Revolution, after which there was no turning back.
Bunker Hill By Nathaniel Philbrick Viking Adult 416 pp.
EnlargeNantucket-based historian and skilled helmsman Nathaniel Philbrick has sailed yet again into the headwinds of an oft-told tale with Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, A Revolution. Earlier, Philbrick had set his compass for "Custer?s Last Stand" and the "Mayflower."
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It was not always thus. A dozen years ago, Philbrick's breakout book, ?In the Heart of the Sea,? resurrected the long-forgotten tragedy of the Essex, whose demise at the hands of a leviathan served as the inspiration for Melville?s ?Moby Dick.? The doomed Nantucket whaler was as renowned in its century as the Titanic would be in the one to follow.
But absent such obscure yet compelling historical breezes, the more reliable trade winds of the past must suffice.? Besides, a good yarn is worth retelling. How many of us, after all, truly appreciate what happened at Bunker Hill? It was the bloodiest of all the battles of the Revolutionary War, which like so many American conflicts had yet to be declared when the colonists and the British clashed on June 17 of 1775. The Red Coats captured Bunker Hill from the Patriot militias on their third assault, but at a terrible cost and to no long-term advantage. They would abandon Boston and the hornets? nest that was Massachusetts in March of the following year.
After the skirmishes at Lexington and Concord in April of 1775, there were still Patriots who believed that reconciliation with Great Britain was possible. But after Bunker Hill, the Americans had crossed the Rubicon. British casualties exceeded 1,000. There was no more middle road. It was liberty or death time.
In retelling the incendiary tale of a city and a battle that sparked our revolution, the author introduces the reader to some famous, infamous, and not-so-famous characters. Future President John Quincy Adams was just seven when he and his mother Abigail watched and listened to the battle some miles distant. The moment would have a profound impact on Adams for the rest of his life. His father John was away in Philadelphia at the Continental Congress, while others, such as Dr. Joseph Warren, manned the front lines. George Washington would not appear to lead the New England fighters for more than two weeks after Bunker Hill.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/ARnHNnif_WQ/Bunker-Hill
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Dickey: No terror tips should go unchecked
new today, they're focusing on the role their mother played. michael mccall today gave the strongest warn about her yet.
>> i think she played a very strong role in the radicalization process. i believe she is a person of interest, if not a subject. i do believe she comes into the united states that she will be detained for questioning. so i think there is a connection there.
>> joining mess is christopher dickey , the paris bureau chief and editor for theo -- i love this argue in which you describe the three key factors that lead to the development of -- the t.n.t. explain testosterone.
>> you know, most of the people who carry out terrorist acts are young men, who have lot a juice, a lot of testosterone, they are ambitious, anxious, they are full of all those characteristics that we associate maybe with a cliched sort of way, not necessarily biologically, but with the presence of a lot of tess toes torino. so we're usually talking about young men. it is second factor, you nay narrative.
>> i think narrative is the most important, rather than ideology or religion, because that demystifies it. what happens is they young men see themselves identifying with some greater cause, usually the cause of some oppressed people . it could be the catholics in northern ireland , it could be the tamals in sri lanka . in this case, they probably saw themselves identifying with the oppressed chechen people , the opressed iraqi people , the oppressed afghan people , even though they -- they see themselves almost like in knights in white armor . the key work of the ideology of al qaeda is a book called" knights under the prophet's banner" which is the whole idea of terrorism as chivalry. i think that's what you'll see almost universally with these guys.
>> what about the third factor? theater.
>> this is something that's always been a characteristic of terrorists, whether anarchists or islamists. it's become a huge problem in the last 30 years, when terrorists have seen they can carry out actions that will literally resonate around the world. they can do something obviously like 9/11, but even something like the boston marathon bombings, where three people are killed and scores injured, but it's not a huge disaster, yet it has resonance in every corner of the globe. that's the kind of theater they want. in fact, if you look at the history of al qaeda , you'll see that the leaders used to watch disaster movies all the time, because they loved that spectacle. in some ways 9/11 was an effort to replicate the hollywood's spectacle of destruction that they had seen in hollywood movies.
>>> there's a lot of talk, christopher, about boston being an intelligence failure . law enforcement was tipped off. but can anything really be stopped to stop all terrorist attacks , or is it just a matter of reduction?
>> well, it is a matter of reduction. i mean, you can keep pushing and keep pushing, you can use intelligence, which really is the most important thing and you have to be careful how to use it. you don't want to be too invasive, but you can't let a tip just sort of drift by the wayside and say these guys are not a priority. but the most important thing is resilience, is building up the nation's ability to weather the kind of storm we saw in boston . i think boston itself is a great example, the way people have come back quickly from that tragedy, and i think the way the american people have come back from the boston tragedy. that's where i defeat the terrorists. if you look at britain during the height of the i.r.a. bombing campaign, horrible things would happen in the center of london, and the british would just carry on. i think ultimately that's the way you defeat the terrorists, because they don't get the resonance that they want from the actions that they carry out.
>> christopher dickey , thank you
Thunder Edge Rockets 104-101 In Game 3: Kevin Durant, OKC Take 3-0 Series Lead (VIDEO)
HOUSTON ? Kevin Durant was in uncharted territory on Saturday night, playing in his first game without friend and teammate Russell Westbrook.
Durant knew it would be different, but vowed to do whatever he could to carry his team through this difficult period.
He delivered on that promise by scoring 41 points and helping Oklahoma City fight off Houston's late rally to beat the Rockets 104-101 for a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven playoff series.
"I didn't feel the same," Durant said. "And I knew I just had to give my all from here on out ... every game is for him."
Durant checked his phone moments after leaving the court and smiled recalling the text messages he received from Westbrook.
"He texted me at halftime and right after the game," Durant said. "Just said congrats and that he loved me."
Durant scored 27 points in the first half, and the Thunder led by 26 points before a big third-quarter rally by the Rockets put them within striking distance.
Houston regained the lead with about 4 minutes left, and was up with less than a minute remaining. But Durant hit a 3-pointer, which bounced off the rim before falling in, to put Oklahoma City on top 100-99.
"We didn't want to give up any 3s," Houston's James Harden said. "He just made a lucky shot. It was good defense. It just went in and took some of the energy out of us."
A turnover by Harden gave the Thunder the ball back and Derek Fisher made two free throws to push the lead to three. Harden made a layup, but Reggie Jackson hit two more free throws after that.
Houston had a last chance, but Carlos Delfino's 3-pointer fell short.
Thunder coach Scott Brooks was impressed that his team was able to win despite losing its All-Star point guard.
"It's been an emotional time the last 48 hours," Brooks said. "We all love what Russell (Westbrook) is about. He's got probably the biggest heart I've ever been around."
Fisher said it was difficult getting through these last couple of days, but the 16-year veteran said he was there to help the younger guys deal with the loss of Westbrook.
"We're still grieving, so to speak, as a team," Fisher said. "But that's why I'm here, and that's why this is a team. Injuries and bad things happen in sports, but we still have to figure out a way to get things done."
Harden scored 30 points for the Rockets in the first playoff game in Houston since 2009. The Rockets will be at home again for Game 4 on Monday night.
Westbrook was injured in Game 2 and had season-ending right knee surgery Saturday. It was the first time Durant had played a pro game without Westbrook, who hadn't missed a game in his career before Saturday.
Durant's 41 points equaled a playoff career high, and he also had 14 rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block. He sat down for just 44 seconds on Saturday.
"Kevin has done a great job of being a playmaker all season long," Brooks said. "He's an amazing scorer, and he sets up a lot of guys to get easy buckets."
Jackson made his first career start in place of Westbrook and had 14 points, and Serge Ibaka added 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Chandler Parsons had a tying 3-pointer for Houston with 5:46 left, and Delfino put the Rockets in front for the first time since early in the first quarter when he connected from long range to make it 94-93 about 2 minutes later.
Ibaka made four straight points after that, ending with a reverse layup, to make it 97-94 with about a minute and a half left.
Harden hit a pair of free throws. Then Francisco Garcia's 3-pointer put them up 99-97 with 45 seconds left, before the clutch shot by Durant.
The Rockets rallied from a 15-point deficit to take a lead in the fourth quarter in Game 2. But they weren't able to hold on and Oklahoma City got the 105-102 win.
It was much the same this time, as Houston went up late only to fall again.
"We've got to find a way to win those games," Houston coach Kevin McHale said.
Harden complained that he and his teammates were sluggish and lacked energy early. He knows that won't cut it if they expect to win on Monday.
"We have to have that energy from the beginning of the game to the end of the game," he said. "We can't have droughts. You have to play a solid game for 48 minutes."
Westbrook's absence didn't seem to bother Oklahoma City early, as Durant had the big first half and the Thunder looked to be in complete control.
Things changed in the third quarter when Durant was limited offensively and Houston outscored the Thunder 27-14 in the period.
Houston point guard Jeremy Lin, who bruised a chest muscle in Game 2, started but scored only two points in about 18 minutes.
Parsons scored 21 points, and Garcia had 18.
After a big run got Houston within eight in the third quarter, Garcia and Harden made 3-pointers around a dunk by Durant to whittle the lead to 80-76 entering the last quarter.
Durant was scoreless in the third until his dunk with 27 seconds remaining in the quarter.
The Thunder led by 19 points when the Rockets used a 16-5 surge to get to 78-70 with 2 1/2 minutes left in the third. The Rockets harassed Oklahoma City into three turnovers in that stretch, and Durant went cold as he missed four shots.
NOTES: Garcia and McHale received technical fouls in the first quarter. ... Pitching great Roger Clemens and Houston Texans star receiver Andre Johnson attended the game.
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/28/thunder-rockets-game-3-playoffs_n_3172264.html
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Saturday, April 27, 2013
Few senators block vote on Internet sales tax bill
WASHINGTON (AP) ? A handful of senators from states without sales taxes are blocking a bill that would tax Internet purchases.
They don't have enough support to kill the bill, but they can delay a final vote until Friday ? or even this weekend ? if senators don't reach an agreement to vote earlier.
The bill would empower states to require online retailers to collect state and local sales taxes for purchases made over the Internet. Under the bill, the sales taxes would be sent to the states where a shopper lives.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is leading the fight against the bill. Oregon, Montana, New Hampshire and Delaware have no sales taxes, though the two senators from Delaware support the bill.
"It's coercive. It requires a number of states to collect the taxes of other states thousands of miles away against their will," Wyden said in an interview. "It's discrimination because this forces some people online to carry out responsibilities that brick and mortar retailers do not have to do."
Wyden said the bill also gives an advantage to foreign retailers, which would not be covered.
The bill has already survived two procedural votes this week, getting 74 votes in favor each time. If senators can't reach an agreement to vote earlier, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the Senate will vote Friday morning to end the debate.
The Senate is scheduled to go on vacation next week, and Reid vowed Thursday to pass the bill before senators leave town.
"One way or another, we will finish work on this measure before we leave," Reid said.
Wyden said he doesn't want to inconvenience senators eager to go home. But, he added, "I don't want to have our constituents rolled over in the process."
Under current law, states can only require stores to collect sales taxes if the store has a physical presence in the state. As a result, many online sales are essentially tax-free, giving Internet retailers an advantage over brick-and-mortar stores.
Supporters say the bill is about fairness for local businesses that already collect sales taxes, and lost revenue for states. Opponents say the bill would impose complicated regulations on retailers and doesn't have enough protections for small businesses. Businesses with less than $1 million a year in online sales would be exempt.
Many of the nation's governors ? Republicans and Democrats ? have been lobbying the federal government for years for the authority to collect sales taxes from online sales.
The issue is getting bigger for states as more people make purchases online. Last year, Internet sales in the U.S. totaled $226 billion, up nearly 16 percent from the previous year, according to Commerce Department estimates.
The National Conference of State Legislatures estimates that states lost $23 billion last year because they couldn't collect taxes on out-of-state sales.
The bill pits brick-and-mortar stores like Wal-Mart against online services such as eBay. The National Retail federation supports it. And Amazon.com, which initially fought efforts in some states to make it collect sales taxes, supports it, too.
The bill also gets support from many Republicans who have pledged not to increase taxes. The bill's main sponsor is Sen. Mike Enzi, a conservative Republican from Wyoming. He is working closely with Sen. Dick Durbin, a liberal Democrat from Illinois.
Enzi and Durbin say the bill doesn't raise taxes. Instead, they say, it gives states a mechanism to enforce current taxes.
In many states, shoppers are required to pay unpaid sales taxes when they file state tax returns. But governors complain that few people comply.
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said he supports the bill in part because tax-free Internet sales are eating into sales by Delaware retailers.
"In our region, we've long benefited from significant commercial sales from residents of Maryland, of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and elsewhere, who come to Delaware to shop because we're a tax-free state," Coons said. "Over time, the benefit of that has eroded as folks discovered that they could buy the same things online without paying sales tax from home."
He noted that the bill would not require anyone from Delaware to pay sales taxes.
___
Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stephenatap
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/few-senators-block-vote-internet-sales-tax-bill-195924551--finance.html
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Watch Live: Obama addresses Planned Parenthood
President Barack Obama is delivering remarks Friday at Planned Parenthood's annual national conference in Washington, D.C. The organization is a target of the chairman of the Republican Party, anti-abortion supporters and other pro-lifers.
Obama originally had planned to give the keynote speech at the organization's "Time for Care" gala Thursday night, an appearance he canceled to spend more time meeting those affected in West, Texas by last week's deadly explosion at a fertilizer plant.
The group, which is the largest source of reproductive health care in the nation, was recently targeted by Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, who wrote a scathing op-ed for conservative news site Red State accusing Planned Parenthood and Democrats of supporting infanticide. Priebus wrote that testimony from a Planned Parenthood lobbyist in Florida indicated the organization supports the killing of infants.
Planned Parenthood later released a statement on the lobbyist's testimony, saying, "As a trusted health care provider, Planned Parenthood strongly condemns any physician who does not follow the law or endangers a woman's or child's health. And while HB 1129 addresses a situation that is extremely unlikely and highly unusual, if the scenario presented by the legislation should happen, of course a Planned Parenthood doctor would provide appropriate care to both the woman and the infant."
The president's appearance at the gala comes at a time when infanticide has been in the national news due to the murder trial of former abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell. Gosnell, of Philadelphia, is charged with murdering one woman in 2009 during an abortion procedure and killing four babies. He and his clinic officials allegedly performed countless illegal late-term abortions.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-address-planned-parenthood-145150867.html
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Friday, April 26, 2013
U.S. launch of GM's redesigned full-size pickups on track: executive
DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co's
"We're getting close and we're reviewing it on a frequent basis," GM global product development chief Mary Barra said of the launch, which company officials said earlier this month was about a month away. "It's going to be shortly."
The 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra trucks are the most important launch for the Detroit automaker since its bankruptcy and $50 billion U.S. taxpayer-funded bailout in 2009. The trucks are also a linchpin in GM's ongoing battle with No. 2 U.S. carmaker Ford Motor Co
Analysts estimate GM has invested $3 billion to $4 billion to develop the new trucks and related engines, and to revamp the plants where they are built.
The current versions of the big trucks and related SUVs generate profit of $12,000 or more per vehicle and account for about 60 percent of GM's global profit, according to analysts. Citi has estimated the new models could bring the automaker more than $1 billion in additional operating earnings in 2013 and 2014.
The last major redesign of the trucks was in 2006. Delays in redesign, caused by GM's bankruptcy, have put the company at a competitive disadvantage in a segment that accounts for about 11 percent of the market, analysts have said.?
Barra told reporters at a Detroit elementary school, where she was touting the benefits of math and science to a class of third graders, that GM has had no problems as it moves toward introducing the new trucks.
"I'm very confident that everything's on track and moving forward," she said. "It's been the most rigorous process we've gone through to make sure we put a high-quality truck into the marketplace, day one."
(Reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit; editing by John Wallace)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-launch-gms-redesigned-full-size-pickups-track-151851588.html
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Zuckerberg Unbound: The Stone Philosophy Briefs - NYTimes.com
The Stone is a forum for contemporary philosophers on issues both timely and timeless.
The Stone?s weekly briefing of notable philosophy-related issues and ideas from around the Web.
While some may view the ad campaign for Facebook?s new ?Home? application with sympathy, or even nostalgia, Evan Selinger sees it as something altogether more insidious: ?propaganda.? In a post at Wired, Selinger argues that the new ads expose the ?hypocrisy? of a service which sells itself as a way of connecting to others while simultaneously celebrating self-absorption. The ads involve familiar depictions of young people opting out of more prosaic day-to-day interactions ? a long-winded family member, an officious flight attendant, a droning boss ? in favor of their smart phones.
This kind of ?exceptionalism? may appear ?harmless,? but Selinger worries what would happen if everyone adopted the kind of behavior Facebook Home promotes, to the extent that it came to be viewed as ?an appropriate social ethic.? Invoking some ?old-fashioned? ideas of Kant, Selinger thinks we can still use social media to our benefit as long as the Facebook Home ethic doesn?t reduce our interactions to toggling between ?fleeting entertainment buddies? at the expense of our more authentic connections.
Performing Philosophy: Is it an accident that drama and philosophy flourished side by side in classical Athens? To what extent is philosophical writing and reflection a kind of ?performance,? and can the performing arts be seen as a way of doing philosophy? These are questions Miranda Nell asks in a short post at Talking Philosophy, which reports on a recent conference exploring the connections between performance and philosophy. Nell thinks that the two forms may very well be ?two sides of the same coin,? both of which are ?concerned with the duplicitous nature of the human experience.? That common ground, she thinks, is only increased by technological advances, and is prompting philosophers to ask sharp questions about whether the two fields are ultimately distinct, or deeply compatible and therefore good evidence for the ?multiplicity of knowledge.?
Philosophical Writing: At The Poetry Foundation, Laura Sims introduces a forthcoming series of posts which will feature her correspondence with David Markson, the author of ?Wittgenstein?s Mistress.?
At the Paris Review, Matthew Erikson sorts through the ?three-dimensional realia? of one of Markson?s biggest influences, William Gaddis.
At HTMLGiant, a review of ?Anathemas and Admirations? by the Romanian philosopher E.M Cioran focuses on his essay on ?The Great Gatsby.?
And at 3AM, Richard Marshall assesses the influence of German philosophy, and especially Nietzsche, on the work of Samuel Beckett.
Also:
At The New York Review of Books, John Gray considers ?The Real Karl Marx.?
At The Financial Times, Antonia Macaro and Julian Baggini on the importance of friendship.
At Open Culture, video of Martin Heidegger, and at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, a new entry on Edmund Husserl.
Finally, never underestimate the consolations of phiLOLZophy.
Source: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/24/zuckerberg-unbound/
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Siva Cycle Atom charges USB devices with a pedal-powered battery pack (video)
Bicycle-powered generators aren't new concepts by any stretch, but they frequently generate AC power and sometimes can't charge at all when the pedaling stops. Siva Cycle doesn't think either limitation is very helpful for powering a smartphone during the daily commute, so it's launching the Atom generator to keep the energy flowing smoothly. The rear-wheel unit puts out power regulated to match its USB port, and it includes a detachable 1,300mAh lithium polymer battery that can follow riders long after they've parked. Moreover, the Atom is unintrusive -- it slips on after releasing the rear wheel, and it's diminutive enough to minimize drag.
As is often the case these days, the catch is getting the product to market. Siva Cycle wants to crowdfund $85,000 to make the Atom's November release target, and supporters will need to plunk down at least $85 to receive a generator, if its fundraising goes smoothly. When the company plans to donate one Atom to the needy for every ten it sells, however, the pledge is for a good cause -- and it might be the key to having a usable device charge after a bike ride home.
Filed under: Peripherals, Transportation
Source: Kickstarter, Siva Cycle
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/n5FRgEeM7dU/
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Putin says no Stalinist tendencies in society, confirms ... - RT News
The Russian president has answered the most important of millions of questions submitted by citizens during his annual live Q&A call-in.
No Stalinism in society, but order, discipline and equality
Well-known liberal journalist Aleksey Vededictov of talk radio station Ekho Moskvy told the president that his third term was marked by worrying tendencies, such as the prosecutions of Pussy Riot, the rioters in Bolotnaya Square and Aleksey Navalny, as well as pressure placed on NGOs and the passage of laws that sparked widespread outrage.
?Answer please, do you really think that Russia can be a progressive world power in the 21st century by using methods of the ?effective manager? Stalin,? Venediktov asked.
- Everyone should obey the law
Putin replied that he saw no elements of Stalinism in present-day Russia: ?Stalinism is connected with a personality cult, with mass violations of the law, with repressions and prison camps,? he said. ?There is nothing of such kind in Russia and I hope there will never be. Our society is different now and it will never let this happen again.?
Putin went on to say that Russia still needed order and discipline, as well as the equality of all citizens before the law. ?The Pussy Riot girls and the guys who desecrate soldiers? graves must all answer before the law,? he said. ?People are not being convicted for their political views but for violating the law.?
?The same applies to street rallies ? I think that they might and must be organized, but this should be done in line with the law. Modern mass media can cover any event, why should one tear shoulder patches off the police uniforms and cause unrest?? he continued.
- Transparency does not mean political pressure
The same applies to NGOs, Putin explained, saying ?we welcome their work as it is very important to get feedback from the common people from all regions. But if such activities see their only objective as self-promotion, this is bad.?
?If they seek to make their activities a part of internal political procedure and yet they get their funding from abroad ? I say, they must speak openly about it? he said. ?No one is banning their work. The law is not banning this. But they must tell where their money comes from, in what amount and how it was spent.?
- Corruption fighters must be clear as crystal
One of the hosts pressed the issue by asking the president if the authorities were afraid of popular anti-corruption blogger Aleksey Navalny, who now faces several criminal cases and is awaiting trial for fraud.
Putin said that in his opinion, those who fight corruption must themselves be ?clear as crystal,? or such activities would become self-advertising and PR, while the law must treat everyone equally.
?There should be no illusions like when someone is calling for everyone to catch a thief this gives this person a license to steal. But this also does not mean that someone whose views differ from those of the authorities must be put on trial and dragged to prison,? Putin said, adding that he? told prosecutors and other law enforcers to ensure the trial is objective.
?Satisfied? with current government?s performance
The first question dealt with several decrees on economic and social development Putin signed after last year?s Russian presidential elections. When a reporter asked if the president was content with how his orders had been carried out, Putin said that he had deliberately set extremely difficult objectives, which should be taken into consideration when judging the government?s performance.
Such measures were ambitious goals to motivate Russians, Putin said, adding that he has been generally happy with the government?s performance.
Later, a viewer asked the president if he planned to dismiss any governmental ministers, and Putin answered that the current government has been in office for less than a year (the Cabinet was formed after the inauguration in early May 2012), and that any reshuffle would cause more harm than good. Putin praised the question, saying that officials at every level should be constantly reminded they are public servants.
Foreign operatives may have had a role in Berezovsky?s death
When the hosts asked the president about late oligarch Boris Berezovsky, Putin answered that he could not discount the possibility that foreign special services were involved in the businessman?s death. ?They are capable of that. Everything is possible,? he said.
Berezovsky died in London in late March by suspected suicide; a criminal probe into his death is ongoing.
Putin confirmed that he had received two identical letters from Berezovsky, though he admitted that he was not comfortable speaking on the issue: ?I received the first letter from him in the beginning of this year and the second arrived already after his death. The text was the same, so yes, there were letters.?
The president elaborated that the first letter was completely written by hand, while the second was partially typed and partially written. The first message was passed by one of Berezovsky?s former business partners, and the second through another partner who is a foreign citizen, Putin said.
Berezovsky wrote that he was admitting his mistakes, apologized, and asked for permission to return to Russia. Putin said that he had not answered any of the letters.
The president also said he would not object to fulfilling Berezovsky?s will to be buried in Russia, saying that the final decision should be made by the businessman?s family.
Putin also noted that he decided not to make public the content of Berezovsky?s messages, even though some of his close associates ?literally demanded? he do so. ?I thank God for preventing me from doing so,? Putin concluded.
Return of death penalty will not eliminate crime
When asked if it was possible to bring back the death penalty for those convicted of grave crimes, such as the recent shooting in Belgorod that claimed 6 lives, Putin said he fully understood the questioner?s emotions, but experts have suggested that such a measure would not actually reduce crime.
?When I encounter such events, my hand reaches for a pen to sign some documents connected with the death penalty. But first, I have to consult specialists,? Putin said.
The Russian president recalled how in the Roman Empire, pickpockets were usually sentenced to death, yet most pickpocketing was committed during the public executions. He also reiterated that Russia has replaced the death penalty with life imprisonment, and suggested that the law be amended to ban pardons for criminals sentenced to life in prison.
?I understand both the citizens? indignation and their desire to punish the criminals. The question is in the effectiveness of certain moves,? Putin said.
Russia has placed a moratorium on death penalty, in line with the demands of the Council of Europe. The current criminal code still allows for convicts to be sentenced to death, meaning life in prison.
Details of the current session
The questions were submitted through the Internet and at specially organized stations. The queries will be asked live at six studios in different locations throughout Russia, which are not disclosed until the call-in show starts. At the beginning of the show the number of questions was 2,3 million and they kept coming.
Putin?s 11th Q&A session will be different from previous ones as the questions will be arranged by type, not by where the questioner is from, presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the press shortly ahead of the session.
Source: http://rt.com/politics/questions-annual-call-in-putins-376/
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Entire galaxies feel the heat from newborn stars: Bursts of star birth can curtail future galaxy growth
Apr. 25, 2013 ? When galaxies form new stars, they sometimes do so in frantic episodes of activity known as starbursts. These events were commonplace in the early Universe, but are rarer in nearby galaxies.
During these bursts, hundreds of millions of stars are born, and their combined effect can drive a powerful wind that travels out of the galaxy. These winds were known to affect their host galaxy -- but this new research now shows that they have a significantly greater effect than previously thought.
An international team of astronomers observed 20 nearby galaxies, some of which were known to be undergoing a starburst. They found that the winds accompanying these star formation processes were capable of ionising [1] gas up to 650 000 light-years from the galactic centre -- around twenty times further out than the visible size of the galaxy. This is the first direct observational evidence of local starbursts impacting the bulk of the gas around their host galaxy, and has important consequences for how that galaxy continues to evolve and form stars.
"The extended material around galaxies is hard to study, as it's so faint," says team member Vivienne Wild of the University of St. Andrews. "But it's important -- these envelopes of cool gas hold vital clues about how galaxies grow, process mass and energy, and finally die. We're exploring a new frontier in galaxy evolution!"
The team used the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) instrument [2] on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to analyse light from a mixed sample of starburst and control galaxies. They were able to probe these faint envelopes by exploiting even more distant objects -- quasars, the intensely luminous centres of distant galaxies powered by huge black holes. By analysing the light from these quasars after it passed through the foreground galaxies, the team could probe the galaxies themselves.
"Hubble is the only observatory that can carry out the observations necessary for a study like this," says lead author Sanchayeeta Borthakur, of Johns Hopkins University. "We needed a space-based telescope to probe the hot gas, and the only instrument capable of measuring the extended envelopes of galaxies is COS."
The starburst galaxies within the sample were seen to have large amounts of highly ionised gas in their halos -- but the galaxies that were not undergoing a starburst did not. The team found that this ionisation was caused by the energetic winds created alongside newly forming stars.
This has consequences for the future of the galaxies hosting the starbursts. Galaxies grow by accreting gas from the space surrounding them, and converting this gas into stars. As these winds ionise the future fuel reservoir of gas in the galaxy's envelope, the availability of cool gas falls -- regulating any future star formation.
"Starbursts are important phenomena -- they not only dictate the future evolution of a single galaxy, but also influence the cycle of matter and energy in the Universe as a whole," says team member Timothy Heckman, of Johns Hopkins University. "The envelopes of galaxies are the interface between galaxies and the rest of the Universe -- and we're just beginning to fully explore the processes at work within them."
The team's results will appear in the 1 May 2013 issue of The Astrophysical Journal.
Notes
[1] A gas is said to be ionised when its atoms have lost one or more electrons -- in this case by energetic winds exciting galactic gas and knocking electrons out of the atoms within.
[2] Spectrographs are instruments that break light into its constituent colours and measure the intensity of each colour, revealing information about the object emitting the light -- such as its chemical composition, temperature, density, or velocity.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by ESA/Hubble Information Centre.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Sanchayeeta Borthakur, Timothy Heckman, David Strickland, Vivienne Wild, David Schiminovich. THE IMPACT OF STARBURSTS ON THE CIRCUMGALACTIC MEDIUM. The Astrophysical Journal, 2013; 768 (1): 18 DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/768/1/18
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/3ypRbNu_Qzk/130425103312.htm
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Amazon reportedly introducing set-top box this fall
Will Amazon release a set-top box this year? All the pieces seem to in place certainly, between the retailer's robust online video offerings both premium and Prime (not to mention a slew of original material), as well as some experience in the hardware department through various Kindle devices. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, the company will be doing just that this fall -- that information, incidentally, comes from three anonymous sources. The device is said to let users stream web content to a set, not unlike Apple's own offering in the space. The site even went so far as suggesting "Kindle TV" as a name, though that seems to be Businessweek's own wishful thinking.
Update: We reached out to Amazon and received, not surprisingly, the customary no comment.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Amazon
Source: Businessweek
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/8y8Bh2yILwY/
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Thursday, April 25, 2013
Amazon.com's most well-read city: Alexandria, Va.
NEW YORK (AP) ? Alexandria, Va., and Knoxville, Tenn., are cities for readers, if not always the kinds of books your parents wanted you to read.
Alexandria and Knoxville ranked No. 1 and No. 2 on Amazon.com's annual list of U.S. cities buying the most books, newspapers and magazines per capita from the online retailer.
E L James' erotic "Fifty Shades of Grey" trilogy was a big hit in both places, especially in Knoxville, which advanced from No. 12 last year.
The list released Wednesday includes cities with populations of 100,000 or more. Alexandria, located just outside Washington, D.C., also topped the list last year.
Miami was No. 3. Next were Cambridge, Mass.; Orlando, Fla.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Berkeley, Calif.; Cincinnati; Columbia, S.C.; and Pittsburgh.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/amazon-coms-most-well-read-city-alexandria-va-152425925.html
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PFT: Moon still sees bias against black QBs
Getty ImagesThe Rams currently hold the Redskins? first-round pick in the 2013 draft, thanks to the RGIII trade.? The Rams may not actually be using that pick.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the selection ?clearly is for sale.?
That Rams, who also have the 16th overall pick, would surely like to trade down and get more picks.? Last year, the combination of coach Jeff Fisher and G.M. Les Snead put together a great draft, thanks to having extra picks.? The more picks, the better the chances of emerging with good players.
Pick No. 22 comes one spot before the Vikings? first of two first-round selections.?? A team that wants a cornerback, receiver, or inside linebacker the Vikings may be targeting could be tempted to jump the line.? Which is precisely why every team creates smokescreens about who they do and don?t want.
Like most round-one trades, don?t expect anything to happen before the Rams are on the clock.? Teams that trade up want a specific player; trading up too early creates the risk that the player won?t be there.
Of course, doing the trade when the team is on the clock entails risk, since there?s a chance one of the two teams won?t be able to call the trade in to the league office.? Unless each team calls the trade in separately, the trade doesn?t happen.? And with only 10 total minutes to get it all done, there?s a chance that cutting it too close could keep the trade from happening at all.
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Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Galaxy goes green in burning stellar fuel
Apr. 23, 2013 ? Astronomers have spotted the "greenest" of galaxies, one that converts fuel into stars with almost 100-percent efficiency.
The findings come from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the IRAM Plateau de Bure interferometer in the French Alps.
"This galaxy is remarkably efficient," said Jim Geach of McGill University in Canada, lead author of a new study appearing in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. "It's converting its gas supply into new stars at the maximum rate thought possible."
Stars are formed out of collapsing clouds of gas in galaxies. In a typical galaxy, like the Milky Way, only a fraction of the total gas supply is actively forming stars, with the bulk of the fuel lying dormant. The gas is distributed widely throughout the galaxy, with most of the new stars being formed within discrete, dense 'knots' in the spiral arms.
In the galaxy, called SDSSJ1506+54, nearly all of the gas has been driven to the central core of the galaxy, where it has ignited in a powerful burst of star formation.
"We are seeing a rare phase of evolution that is the most extreme -- and most efficient -- yet observed," said Geach.
The results will provide a better understanding of how the central star-forming regions of galaxies take shape.
SDSSJ1506+54 jumped out at the researchers when they looked at it using data from WISE's all-sky infrared survey. Infrared light is pouring out of the galaxy, equivalent to more than a thousand billion times the energy of our sun. The galaxy is so distant it has taken the light nearly six billion years to reach us.
"Because WISE scanned the entire sky, it detected rare galaxies like this one that stand out from the rest," said Ned Wright of UCLA, the WISE principal investigator.
Hubble's visible-light observations revealed that the galaxy is extremely compact, with most of its light emanating from a region just a few hundred light-years across. That's a big star-making punch for such a little size.
"While this galaxy is forming stars at a rate hundreds of times faster than our Milky Way galaxy, the sharp vision of Hubble revealed that the majority of the galaxy's starlight is being emitted by a region with a diameter just a few percent that of the Milky Way," said Geach.
The team then used the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer to measure the amount of gas in the galaxy. The ground-based telescope detected millimeter-wave light coming from carbon monoxide, an indicator of the presence of hydrogen gas, which is fuel for stars. Combining the rate of star formation derived with WISE, and the gas mass measured by IRAM, the scientists get a measure of the star-formation efficiency.
In regions of galaxies where new stars are forming, parts of gas clouds are collapsing due to gravity. When the gas is dense enough to squeeze atoms together and ignite nuclear fusion, a star is born. But this process can be halted by other newborn stars, as their winds and radiation blow the gas outward. The point at which this occurs sets the theoretical maximum for star formation. The galaxy SDSSJ1506+54 was found to be making stars right at this point, just before the gas clouds would otherwise be blown apart.
"We see some gas outflowing from this galaxy at millions of miles per hour, and this gas may have been blown away by the powerful radiation from the newly formed stars," said Ryan Hickox, an astrophysicist at Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H., and a co-author on the study.
Why is SDSSJ1506+54 so unusual? Astronomers say they're catching the galaxy in a short-lived phase of evolution, possibly triggered by the merging of two galaxies into one. The star formation is so prolific that in a few tens of millions of years, the blink of an eye in a galaxy's life, the gas will be used up, and SDSSJ1506+54 will mature into a massive elliptical galaxy.
The scientists also used data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the W.M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, and the MMT Observatory on Mount Hopkins, Arizona.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- J. E. Geach, R. C. Hickox, A. M. Diamond-Stanic, M. Krips, J. Moustakas, C. A. Tremonti, A. L. Coil, P. H. Sell, G. H. Rudnick. A REDLINE STARBURST: CO(2-1) OBSERVATIONS OF AN EDDINGTON-LIMITED GALAXY REVEAL STAR FORMATION AT ITS MOST EXTREME. The Astrophysical Journal, 2013; 767 (1): L17 DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/767/1/L17
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/rDyS8XB5HOM/130423153744.htm
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One of the World?s Greenest Commercial Buildings Opens Today
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Cause of LED efficiency droop finally revealed
Apr. 23, 2013 ? Researchers at University of California, Santa Barbara, in collaboration with colleagues at the ?cole Polytechnique in France, have conclusively identified Auger recombination as the mechanism that causes light emitting diodes (LEDs) to be less efficient at high drive currents.
Until now, scientists had only theorized the cause behind the phenomenon known as LED "droop" -- a mysterious drop in the light produced when a higher current is applied. The cost per lumen of LEDs has held the technology back as a viable replacement for incandescent bulbs for all-purpose commercial and residential lighting.
This could all change now that the cause of LED efficiency droop has been explained, according to researchers James Speck and Claude Weisbuch of the Center for Energy Efficient Materials at UCSB, an Energy Frontier Research Center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Knowledge gained from this study is expected to result in new ways to design LEDs that will have significantly higher light emission efficiencies. LEDs have enormous potential for providing long-lived high quality efficient sources of lighting for residential and commercial applications. The U.S. Department of Energy recently estimated that the widespread replacement of incandescent and fluorescent lights by LEDs in the U.S. could save electricity equal to the total output of fifty 1GW power plants.
"Rising to this potential has been contingent upon solving the puzzle of LED efficiency droop," commented Speck, professor of Materials and the Seoul Optodevice Chair in Solid State Lighting at UCSB. "These findings will enable us to design LEDs that minimize the non-radiative recombination and produce higher light output."
"This was a very complex experiment -- one that illustrates the benefits of teamwork through both an international collaboration and a DOE Energy Frontier Research Center," commented Weisbuch, distinguished professor of Materials at UCSB. Weisbuch, who is also a faculty member at the ?cole Polytechnique in Paris, enlisted the support of his colleagues Lucio Martinelli and Jacques Peretti. UCSB graduate student Justin Iveland was a key member of the team working both at UCSB and ?cole Polytechnique.
In 2011, UCSB professor Chris van de Walle and colleagues theorized that a complex non-radiative process known as Auger recombination was behind nitride semiconductor LED droop, whereby injected electrons lose energy to heat by collisions with other electrons rather than emitting light.
A definitive measurement of Auger recombination in LEDs has now been accomplished by Speck, Weisbuch, and their research team.
The experiment used an LED with a specially prepared surface that permitted the researchers to directly measure the energy spectrum of electrons emitted from the LED. The results unambiguously showed a signature of energetic electrons produced by the Auger process.
The results of their work are to be published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
This work was funded by the UCSB Center for Energy Efficient Materials, an Energy Frontier Research Center of the US Department of Energy, Office of Science. Additional support for the work at ?cole Polytechnique was provided by the French government.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - Santa Barbara.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Justin Iveland, Lucio Martinelli, Jacques Peretti, James S. Speck, Claude Weisbuch. Direct Measurement of Auger Electrons Emitted from a Semiconductor Light-Emitting Diode under Electrical Injection: Identification of the Dominant Mechanism for Efficiency Droop. Physical Review Letters, 2013 [link]
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
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David Allen Explains Why Method Matters More than a Productivity Tool
A lot of the focus on productivity comes from the tools we use to be productive?which to-do app is the best, which has the most features, and so on. David Allen explains in this video that even if you find a great tool, none of it matters if you're not being consistent and clear about what you put into it.
Ultimately, if you get so seduced by the bells and whistles of the tools you use that you stop being clear and consistent about organizing your to-dos, your next actions, and the things you want to accomplish in the long run, you'll get tired of whatever tool it is and give up quickly. He explains?as we've noted before?that the tool or app is less important than the way you use it.
Don't be afraid to switch tools and compare technologies: just make sure you have your methodology down pat first. Most apps are loaded with options and features designed to cater to lots of different types of people, not the other way around. Find the features that work for you and stick with them, instead of trying to shoehorn your needs into all the features available.
Your GTD tools: David Allen on how important they are | GTD Times
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Israel says Syria used chemical arms, probably nerve gas
By Maayan Lubell
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Syrian government forces have used chemical weapons - probably nerve gas - in their fight against rebels trying to force out President Bashar al-Assad, the Israeli military's top intelligence analyst said on Tuesday.
Brigadier-General Itai Brun made the comments at a Tel Aviv security conference a day after U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on a visit to Israel that U.S. intelligence agencies were still assessing whether such weapons had been employed.
U.S. President Barack Obama has called the use of chemical weapons a "red line" for the United States that would trigger unspecified U.S. action.
"To the best of our understanding, there was use of lethal chemical weapons. Which chemical weapons? Probably sarin," Brun said in the most definitive Israeli statement on the issue to date.
Photos of victims showing foam coming out of their mouths and contracted pupils were signs deadly gas had been used, he said.
Forces loyal to Assad were behind the attacks on "armed (rebels) on a number of occasions in the past few months, including the most reported incident on March 19", Brun said.
The Syrian government and rebels last month accused each other of launching a chemical attack near the northern city of Aleppo.
On Monday, Hagel said the use of chemical weapons by Assad's forces would be a "game changer" and the United States and Israel "have options for all contingencies".
Hagel met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Tuesday, a day after flying in an Israeli military helicopter over the occupied Golan Heights on the edge of the fighting in Syria that has entered its third year.
"This is a difficult and dangerous time, this is a time when friends and allies must remain close, closer than ever," Hagel, in remarks to reporters before his talks with Netanyahu, said about the United States and Israel.
IMPASSE
Discussions between Syria and the United Nations on a U.N. investigation of possible use of chemical weapons have been at an impasse due to the Syrian government's refusal to let the inspectors visit anywhere but Aleppo, diplomats and U.N. officials said last week.
U.N. diplomats said Britain and France had provided Ban's office with what they believed to be strong evidence that chemical weapons also had been used in the city of Homs.
Israel, which has advanced intelligence capabilities that it shares with its Western allies, has voiced concerned that parts of Syria's chemical arsenal would end up in the hands of jihadi fighters or the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah, with which it waged a 2006 war.
Israel leaders have cautioned they will not allow that to happen. In an attack it has not formally confirmed, Israeli planes bombed an arms convoy in Syria in February, destroying anti-aircraft weapons destined for Hezbollah.
Brun, who was speaking at the annual security conference of The Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, said Israel's military was studying a number of future scenarios facing Syria.
"More likely, as time goes by, are the scenarios of chaos and anarchy, or that of (Syria) breaking up into cantons. These pose major challenges for Israel. The chance of a different central government still exists, but it is growing less likely with time," Brun said.
(Additional reporting by Jeffrey Heller and David Alexander; Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Alison Williams)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-general-says-syria-government-forces-used-chemical-074330220.html
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An Introduction To Complications: The Chronograph
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Physicists find right (and left) solution for on-chip optics: Nanoscale router converts and directs optical signals efficiently
Apr. 22, 2013 ? A Harvard-led team of researchers has created a new type of nanoscale device that converts an optical signal into waves that travel along a metal surface. Significantly, the device can recognize specific kinds of polarized light and accordingly send the signal in one direction or another.
The findings, published in the April 19 issue of Science, offer a new way to precisely manipulate light at the subwavelength scale without damaging a signal that could carry data. This opens the door to a new generation of on-chip optical interconnects that can efficiently funnel information from optical to electronic devices.
"If you want to send a data signal around on a tiny chip with lots of components, then you need to be able to precisely control where it's going," says co-lead author Balthasar M?ller, a graduate student at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). "If you don't control it well, information will be lost. Directivity is such an important factor."
The coupler transforms incoming light into a wave called a surface plasmon polariton, a surface ripple in the sea of electrons that exists inside metals.
In the past, it has been possible to control the direction of these waves by changing the angle at which light strikes the surface of the coupler, but, as M?ller puts it, "This was a major pain. Optical circuits are very difficult to align, so readjusting the angles for the sake of routing the signal was impractical."
With the new coupler, the light simply needs to come in perpendicularly, and the device does the rest. Acting like a traffic controller, it reads the polarization of the incoming light wave -- which might be linear, left-hand circular, or right-hand circular -- and routes it accordingly. The device can even split apart a light beam and send parts of it in different directions, allowing for information transmission on multiple channels.
The coupler consists of a thin sheet of gold, peppered with tiny perforations. But the precise pattern of these slits, arranged rather like herringbones, is where the genius lies.
"The go-to solution until now has been a series of parallel grooves known as a grating, which does the trick but loses a large portion of the signal in the process," says principal investigator Federico Capasso, Robert L. Wallace Professor of Applied Physics and Vinton Hayes Senior Research Fellow in Electrical Engineering at Harvard SEAS. "Now perhaps the go-to solution will be our structure. It makes it possible to control the direction of signals in a very simple and elegant way."
Because the new structure is so small -- each repeating unit of the pattern is smaller than the wavelength of visible light -- the researchers believe it should be easy to incorporate the design into novel technologies, such as flat optics.
Yet Capasso speaks most animatedly about the possibilities for incorporating the new coupler into future high-speed information networks that may combine nanoscale electronics (which currently exist) with optical and plasmonic elements on a single microchip.
"This has generated great excitement in the field," Capasso says.
M?ller and Capasso were joined on this work by co-lead author Jiao Lin, a former SEAS postdoctoral fellow who is now at the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology; and coauthors Qian Wang and Guanghui Yuan, of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; Nicholas Antoniou, Principal FIB Engineer at the Harvard Center for Nanoscale Systems; and Xiao-Cong Yuan, a professor at the Institute of Modern Optics at Nankai University in China.
The research was supported by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, and the National Research Foundation of Singapore. Part of the work was performed at the Harvard Center for Nanoscale Systems, which is a member of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network, supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- J. Lin, J. P. B. Mueller, Q. Wang, G. Yuan, N. Antoniou, X.-C. Yuan, F. Capasso. Polarization-Controlled Tunable Directional Coupling of Surface Plasmon Polaritons. Science, 2013; 340 (6130): 331 DOI: 10.1126/science.1233746
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
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