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Saturday, 5 November 2011
Don't Cry for the Naked Mole Rat It Lives Forever and Doesn't Get Cancer [Animals]
Friday, 4 November 2011
3D-printed spiderbot jumps and scuttles to help save people?s lives (Yahoo! News)
The Fraunhofer Institute introduces a spider robot for search and rescue operations
The numerous search and rescue robots designed by researchers as of late come in a variety of interesting forms ? from dogs, to helicopter drones, to shapeshifters that build their own bodies with spray foam. This time, scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany have announced a prototype robot fashioned after a spider, and built using a 3D printing process called selective laser sintering.
Enormous in size compared to real arachnids, this eight-legged bot can scuttle and even jump by pumping fluids into its limbs. It's very light, allowing it to reach places humans can't during rescue operations, and Fraunhofer scientists also envision its use in places hazardous to human health. ?Unlike many of its robotic brethren, the spiderbot is quick and easy to manufacture. Fraunhofer's process apparently lets the scientists produce several of the robot's spindly legs at once, minimizing efforts and costs.
Ralf Becker, one of the scientists involved in the project, says the robot is so cheap to produce, "it can be discarded after being used just once ? like a disposable rubber glove," proving the cost factor really is its killer feature.?While it doesn't seem as if mass production is imminent, the spiderbot prototype will be showcased during the EuroMold 2011 trade fair in Frankfurt from November 29 to December 2.
Fraunhofer via technabob
This article was written by Mariella Moon and originally appeared on Tecca
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US seeks information on all Alabama students
MONTGOMERY, Alabama (AP) ? The U.S. Justice Department is asking every school district in Alabama to hand over enrollment information about all their students as part of its lawsuit against Alabama's immigration law.
The department sent letters to all school systems Monday telling them to provide the lists, including the names of students who have withdrawn from school and the date they withdrew.
The Obama administration says it's concerned that Alabama's recently enacted immigration law may chill student participation, and it wants the information to determine if further action is warranted.
Federal courts have put on hold a portion of Alabama's law that requires schools to report the number, but not the names, of students whose immigration status is in question.
State Sen. Scott Beason, a Gardendale Republican who sponsored the law, said the Justice Department's letter shows the importance of compiling information.
"They are asking for the same student information we tried to get. They are proving our point," he said.
The Justice Department's letter reminded school superintendents that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1982 that schools may not deny a student access based on immigration status and that the Justice Department enforces civil rights laws.
Beason said the Alabama law only sought statistics and did not deny enrollment to any illegal immigrant.
Michael Sibley, spokesman for the state Department of Education, said the Justice Department went directly to city and county superintendents rather than going through the department. He said he's not aware of the Justice Department ever seeking all students' names before in Alabama.
He said schools will need to devote significant resources and staff time to meet the Justice Department's deadline of Nov. 14.
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Thursday, 3 November 2011
ING Q3 profits rise, bank to cut 2,000 jobs (AP)
AMSTERDAM ? ING Groep NV, one of Europe's largest bank and insurance companies, said Thursday it will cut 2,000 jobs in response to the euro-zone's deepening financial crisis, despite remaining profitable in the third quarter.
Chief executive Jan Hommen said its banking profits declined as interest margins narrowed, and the company ? which received several state bailout packages in 2008 ? is trying to remain ahead of developments by reducing costs.
"The third quarter saw a marked deterioration on debt and equity markets amid a slowdown in the macro-economic environment and a deepening of the sovereign debt crisis in Europe," Hommen said in a statement.
ING said it was trying to compensate for rising risk by "increasing hedging to preserve capital and selectively reducing exposures to southern Europe."
Net profit was euro1.69 billion ($2.32 billion), from euro239 million in the same period a year ago: last year the company wrote down the value of its U.S. operations by euro513 million and this year it booked euro516 million in gains by selling real estate and its car leasing business. However, it also wrote down the value of its Greek state bonds by euro467 million, and they are now held at 60 percent of face value.
"Underlying" bank profits ? a nonstandard measure the company uses to strip out one-time effects ? were down 29 percent to euro1.06 billion as a result of lower interest margins, falling trading profits and higher costs of hedging risks.
The company increased provisions for bad loans by 17 percent to euro438 million.
Insurance operating profits rose 27 percent to euro527 million on higher fees and premiums and a better investment result.
SNS Securities analyst Lemer Salah said the results "were better than market expectations but lagged our estimates" in a note on the earnings.
Shares fell 4.2 percent to euro5.42 in early trading.
ING employs around 100,000.
ING is in the process of splitting its banking and insurance operations by 2013 as part of a deal with the European Union regulators to compensate for the state aid it has received.
The company said its key measures of financial health remained solid in the quarter, with core Tier 1 capital ratio at 9.6 percent and its insurance IGD solvency ratio at 242 percent as of Sept. 30.
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Wednesday, 2 November 2011
Jury in NYC convicts Russian arms dealer
NEW YORK?? A shadowy Russian arms dealer was convicted Wednesday of seeking to make millions of dollars by selling heavy weaponry to a terror group so it could attack what prosecutors said he told his customers was a common enemy ? U.S. forces helping the Colombian government.
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A jury in federal court in Manhattan reached the verdict in the case against Viktor Bout after deliberating for about six hours over two days. He was convicted of conspiracy to kill Americans and U.S. officials, deliver anti-aircraft missiles and aid a terrorist organization.
Bout could face life in prison at his sentencing, which was scheduled for Feb. 8. He hugged one of his lawyers as he left court.
"We're disappointed, obviously," defense attorney Kenneth Kaplan said. "It was a tough case."
Outside of court, Kaplan said of Bout: "He's resolute. He's a strong man. He accepts the verdict and is hopeful."
Bout, a former Soviet military officer once known in the international arms market as the Merchant of Death, was arrested overseas in an elaborate sting in 2008. He had been transferred to the United States to face the allegations he sought to supply weapons on the black market to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
Read the original indictment against Bout (.PDF)
In secret negotiations with Drug Enforcement Administration informants posing as Colombian operatives, Bout "did everything he could to show he could be the one-stop shop for FARC," Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan McGuire said in closing arguments.
Lawyers for Bout, 44, had offered what McGuire dismissively referred to as the "planes defense," claiming their client had no intention of selling any weapons but acted like he would so he could unload two old cargo planes for $5 million.
His attorney, Albert Dayan, argued that U.S. authorities framed a legitimate businessman by building their case on recorded conversations that were open to interpretation and never resulted in the exchange of any arms or money.
U.S. authorities "don't have anything," he said. "All they have is speculation, innuendo and conjecture."
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said with the "swift verdict, justice has been done and a very dangerous man will be behind bars."
Read U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara's full statement on verdict (.PDF)
The case began when Bout, while under United Nations travel restrictions, was approached in Moscow by a close associate about supplying weapons to FARC. Bout was told that the group wanted to use drug-trafficking proceeds to pay for surface-to-air missiles and other weapons, making it clear it wanted to attack helicopter pilots and other Americans in Colombia, prosecutors said.
The associate, South African businessman Andrew Smulian, took the witness stand for the government as part of a plea deal and testified that Bout agreed that for a down payment of $20 million he would arrange for cargo planes to air-drop 100 tons of weapons into Colombia. Bout traveled to Thailand in March 2008 to finalize the phony deal with the two DEA informants.
One of the informants, Guatemala-born Carlos Sagastume, testified at trial about the secretly recorded exchanges with Bout in a Bangkok hotel room.
On one tape, an informant could be heard saying: "We want to knock down those American sons of bitches."
"Kill them, and kick them out of my country," the informant says. "They don't care where they go anymore. They go here, they go there. They go wherever they want. Why?"
Bout is quoted as saying on the tapes: "Yes, yes, yes. They act as if ... as if it was their home."
The witness said that during the same conversation, Bout was writing a list of weapons he could provide on a sheet of paper and at one pointed remarked, "And we have the same enemy."
Asked on the witness stand what that meant, the informant responded, "He was referring to the Americans."
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45136555/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/
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Assad says willing to cooperate with Syria opposition
AMMAN?? Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, facing a seven-month uprising against his rule, said on Sunday that he was willing to talk to the opposition.
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"We will cooperate with all political powers, both those who had existed before the crisis, and those who arose during it. We believe interacting with these powers is extremely important," Assad said in an interview with Russian television.
His remarks came as Syrian officials were due to hold more talks in Qatar with delegates of the Arab League, which wants to convene a dialogue in Cairo between the Syrian authorities and their opponents.
A two-week deadline set by the Arab League for the planned dialogue to start expires on Sunday.
The United Nations says 3,000 people have been killed during the uprising.
Assad said there had been "hundreds of deaths amongst the military, police and security forces".
"How were they killed?" Assad said, "Were they killed during a peaceful demonstration? Were they killed by someone shouting? No they were killed by shooting. So we are dealing with armed men."
Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42360309/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/
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Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Property tax confusion pokes Facebook in Oregon
SALEM, Ore. (AP) ? The promise of lucrative tax breaks helped persuade Facebook to build a data center in one of Oregon's most economically depressed counties. Now, the state and the company are in a dispute over how much Facebook may owe in property taxes, and the social networking giant fears it could be taxed on intangible assets like the value of its powerful brand.
Facebook has said the state's action has the potential to rewrite an economic development deal it cut with Crook County, but not even state tax officials seem to know for sure whether the company is overreacting or it's truly facing a tax surprise.
Facebook chose Prineville in central Oregon as the site of its first company-owned data center, where a collection of servers stores and transmits photos, links and status updates for many of the social networking service's 800 million users. The facility employs 55 people and expansion plans are already in the works.
Such "server farms" are popping up around the world to facilitate a voracious appetite for high-bandwidth applications like streaming video and cloud-based computing.
Facebook chose Prineville based in part on the tax breaks, but also because of the cool and dry high-desert climate that helps reduce the amount of energy needed to cool rows of humming computers.
The company this week announced plans to build its first data center outside the U.S. in Sweden near the Arctic Circle. It's also expanding a facility in North Carolina. Google Inc. last month opened a data center in Oklahoma, and Microsoft Corp. recently announced it will expand a facility in Iowa.
Many of the projects have benefited from tax incentives offered by local governments eager to lure high-paying jobs.
Officials in Crook County, where unemployment reached a high of 18.7 percent in June 2009 and still sits above 15 percent, hoped Facebook's decision to build in Prineville would help incubate a new industry for a region decimated economically by the decline of Oregon's timber industry.
Under its agreement with local officials, Facebook built its data center in a rural enterprise zone, allowing the Palo Alto, Calif., company to pay property taxes only on its land, not on its buildings and other assets, for 15 years.
Confusion arose when the state Department of Revenue asserted that Facebook is a utility company because it's involved in the communications business, and its taxes should therefore be assessed by the state under a different section of the tax code.
Oregon lumps Facebook with 75 other corporations classified as cable and Internet companies. Many of them are television and Internet access providers, but the list includes technology companies including Google, Microsoft, Yahoo Inc. and AOL Inc.
State officials say their decision doesn't change Facebook's tax bill ? about $26,000 this year ? and the money still goes to local governments in Crook County. But Facebook is concerned that the state will someday try to tax the company based on the value of its intangible assets, perhaps including computer files, patents, its labor force and goodwill.
The company says state tax officials sent a letter in August saying, in part, that Oregon law requires the Department of Revenue "to assess any property, real and personal, tangible or intangible."
Investments this year have pegged Facebook's total value at as much as $50 billion. Tax officials say the company's Oregon property taxes are calculated based only on the share of its business that is tied to the state.
Last week, tax authorities told the Bend Bulletin newspaper that Facebook would be taxed on $25 million in assets, leading to an annual property tax bill of $390,000. The next day, authorities said they made a mistake and backtracked, pegging Facebook's taxes at $26,000 on $1 million in assets.
After a public kerfuffle last week, Facebook and state officials have tightened their lips. They say they're researching the complicated tax laws involved and won't have more to say until they wade through them.
"We are looking forward to receiving further clarification as to the Department of Revenue's policies, so that the data center industry in Central Oregon can move forward," Facebook said in a statement.
The dispute has concerned Roger Lee, director of Economic Development for Central Oregon, who said murkiness surrounding taxation makes companies nervous.
"Companies want some type of certainty to be able to proceed in whatever they're doing," Lee said. "This provides a great deal of uncertainty and ambiguity."
People involved say it's unclear what a final agreement might look like, but it could involve new legislation next year, a definitive legal opinion from the state Department of Justice, or litigation in tax court. The dispute has risen to the governor's office, where aides have tried to intervene.
"We are researching the issues to be able to provide clarity to all parties," said Tim Raphael, a spokesman for Gov. John Kitzhaber.
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