Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/04/ellen-degeneres-applauds-jason-collins-video/
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Tuesday, April 30, 2013
How Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion Map Tessellated The World
Buckminster Fuller applied his patented Dymaxion brand to all sorts of objects over the course of his career, from cars to buildings to entire cities. But one of the most useful and enduring applications? The Dymaxion World map, which unfolds the earth into a long string of shapes, like a carefully peeled orange.
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'Dancing' judges take the ballroom to bathroom
TV 
18 hours ago
ABC
Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli.
Ah, "Dancing With the Stars": Television's elegant respite from the more puerile reality TV options. It's the prime-time place for sweeping dances, sequined gowns, seasoned pros and ... potty talk?
That's right! On Monday night's episode of the ballroom bash, the judges swapped their usual classy comments (well, at least not-so-crass comments) for some really uncultured criticism.
The restroom-worthy remarks kicked off right after Jacoby Jones delivered the very first Latin Night dance -- a sensible salsa.
The Ravens wide receiver hit the floor with slightly poor posture thanks to his towering height, but had great hip motion and smooth turns.
The judges loved the dance, giving it a total of 27 points. But one of them had an unfortunate way with words.
"It's like you can fart the salsa!" Carrie Ann Inaba raved. "I mean, it's so in your body. That's all I can think of: 'Man, that guy's farting salsa.' ... The salsa doesn't need that much technique; it needs flava. So you had the right flavor fart."
Carrie Ann actually managed to leave always-on host Tom Bergeron speechless with that critique.
But she wasn't the only judge to go lavatory-low when looking for a way to sum up the dance-floor action.
After "Bachelor" Sean Lowe took the stage for a rumba that packed more rear action than romance, Bruno Tonioli could think of only one thing.
"Sometimes your bum stuck out," Bruno remarked. "It looked like you were going to the toilet."
Ouch! And ick!
Despite that review, Bruno enjoyed the dance he dubbed "50 Shades of Sean," and like his fellow panelists, gave it an 8.
From there on, the judges seemed to find more helpful -- or maybe just less graphic -- ways to describe the routines.
Related: 'Dancing With Stars' destiny: Victor Ortiz knew he would be eliminated
For instance, Len said Kellie Pickler's 29-point samba had "the how of the technique and the wow of performance."
And Aly Raisman's 29-point dance? Why, her hip-shaking salsa was an "uplifting tutti-frutti cocktail of delicious flavors," according to Bruno -- far better than the flavor Carrie Ann went on about earlier.
Zendaya impressed the panel, as she usually does, with a 27-point flamenco-infused paso doble that had Bruno comparing her looks to an angel and her steps to a fury.
Len even sort of liked Ingo Rademacher's rumba, despite the soap star's stuttered steps.
"This is a really difficult dance," he said. "Overall, I thought it was good, not great."
Andy Dick's rumba earned a round of constructive criticism too -- though none of it was particularly kind.
Len thought it was "more erratic than erotic," and Carrie Ann urged the struggling fan favorite to show some consistency. As for Bruno, he didn't resort to the toilet talk again, but he still flushed the comedian's good mood right down the drain.
"You've taken an unforgettable, classic dance," Bruno began, referring to the Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse number from "Singing in the Rain" that inspired Andy's effort. "Now I wish I could forget it."
The dance earned Andy only 17 points -- a score he failed to improve in the dance-off rounds that closed the show.
Related: 'Dancing With the Stars' to feature dancer injured in Boston bombings
In a cha-cha battle, Aly earned three extra points by beating Andy. The rumba round saw Ingo best Sean for three more points of his own. And when Zendaya and Jacoby faced off for the jive, the Disney star took the bonus.
Kellie didn't even have to participate in the dance-offs. With the highest accumulated score in the competition so far, she won a rare treat -- immunity.
See how the others fare when viewer votes are added to the mix on Tuesday night's results show.
What did you think of the judges' comments on Monday night? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.
Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/dancing-stars-judges-take-ballroom-bathroom-6C9674691
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Monday, April 29, 2013
Cyberattack suspect to be sent home to Netherlands
MADRID (AP) ? A Dutch citizen arrested in Spain on suspicion of launching what authorities have called the biggest cyberattack in Internet history is expected to be handed over to the Netherlands within 10 days, a Spanish court official said Monday.
The suspect ? identified only by his initials S.K. ? was questioned Saturday in the National Court in Madrid after his arrest last week and agreed to the deal, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because court rules prevent him from giving his name.
Police say the 35-year-old suspect operated from a bunker in northeast Spain and also had a van capable of hacking into networks anywhere in the country. He was arrested Thursday in Granollers, 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of Barcelona.
He is accused of attacking the anti-spam watchdog group Spamhaus, whose main task is to halt ads for counterfeit Viagra and bogus weight-loss pills reaching the world's inboxes.
Dutch authorities alerted Spanish police in March of large denial-of-service attacks being launched from Spain that were affecting Internet servers in the Netherlands, United Kingdom and the U.S. These attacks culminated with a major onslaught on Spamhaus.
Denial-of-service attacks overwhelm a server with traffic, jamming it with incoming messages. Recent cyberattacks ? such as the ones that caused outages at U.S. banking sites last year ? have tended to peak at 100 billion bits per second. The attack on Spamhaus was three times that size.
Police from the Netherlands, Germany, Britain, Spain and the U.S. took part in the investigation.
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Country star Jason Aldean files for divorce
FILE - This Jan. 9, 2013 file photo shows Jason Aldean, left, and his wife Jessica at the People?s Choice Awards at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. Court papers filed April 26, show Aldean has filed for divorce from his wife Jessica Ussery. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, file)
FILE - This Jan. 9, 2013 file photo shows Jason Aldean, left, and his wife Jessica at the People?s Choice Awards at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. Court papers filed April 26, show Aldean has filed for divorce from his wife Jessica Ussery. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, file)
FILE - This Jan. 9, 2013 file photo shows Jason Aldean, left, and his wife Jessica at the People?s Choice Awards at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. Court papers filed April 26, show Aldean has filed for divorce from his wife Jessica Ussery. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, file)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) ? Jason Aldean has filed for divorce.
The country music star filed the complaint for divorce against his wife Jessica on Friday afternoon in Williamson County, Tenn., citing irreconcilable differences. The two met in high school and have been married since August 2001.
"This is a really tough time for my entire family," Aldean said in a statement Monday afternoon. "Jessica and I have been together since we were teenagers. We've been through a lot of ups and downs over the years as we grew up together as a couple. She will always be important to me because she is the mother of my children, and I know that we will both always make our daughters our (hash)1 priority."
Aldean's publicist confirmed last week the couple had separated after media reports surfaced. The filing comes six months after Aldean was photographed while appearing to kiss former "American Idol" contestant Brittany Kerr in a Los Angeles bar. Aldean later apologized to fans on Twitter for acting inappropriately.
Aldean and his wife met while in school in Macon, Ga., and were married long before Aldean found fame. He is country's top-selling male act, one of its top touring draws and recently won the Academy of Country Music's male vocalist of the year award. Aldean and his wife have two young daughters together, Keeley and Kendyl.
"I've learned that everyone always rushes to judgment when they hear news like this," Aldean said. "That's really hard because no one knows anything about our relationship but us. I understand that because of my job, I have to go through a lot of this in the public eye, but for my girls' sake I really wish people would give us some level of privacy and at the very least be respectful of them."
___
Online:
http://jasonaldean.com
___
Follow AP Music Writer Chris Talbott: http://twitter.com/Chris_Talbott.
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Stock futures supported by Italy, economic data hopes
By Angela Moon
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock futures rose on Monday, buoyed by the formation of a broad coalition government in Italy which ended two months of political uncertainty and boosted an appetite for risky assets, as investors braced for major economic news this week.
Wall Street was boosted by European shares, which edged up on Monday after Italy finally formed a government, although analysts saw the gains petering out in the near term. <.eu/>
Feeding risk into markets, the U.S. dollar fell against a major basket of currencies, while commodities like spot gold <.xau> rose.
"The market is moving up as the Italian political situation is finally unlocked and that's offering some hope. You can see that boosting risk trade here," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York.
In macroeconomic news, personal income and outlays, due at 8:30 a.m. EDT will be in focus after last week's disappointing first quarter gross domestic product numbers. Economists polled by Reuters forecast personal spending growth was flat last month, after rising 0.7 percent in February.
Pending home sales data is due at 10:00 a.m. EDT and Dallas Federal Manufacturing Survey index is scheduled at 10:30 a.m. EDT.
The all-important nonfarm payrolls report is due on Friday.
"We have key economic data, especially the employment report later in the week, and we are also going to hear from the ECB and the Fed later, so earnings takes a back seat this week," Cardillo said.
S&P 500 futures rose 5.4 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration of the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 50 points and Nasdaq 100 futures added 11.5 points.
Wall Street was poised to start the last week of April higher. So far, the S&P 500 is up 0.8 percent this month.
Weak U.S. growth data has raised expectations the Federal Reserve will keep its pace of bond buying at $85 billion a month during the FOMC meeting announcement on Wednesday, while the European Central Bank (ECB) is widely expected to announce an interest rate cut when it meets on Thursday.
On Monday, hotel, energy and financial services conglomerate Loews Corp
Shares of online retailer Amazon.com Inc posted the largest daily drop in 15 months after the company reported results Thursday and was Friday's biggest drag on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes. The stock was off 0.2 percent in premarket trading Monday.
U.S. stocks dipped in thin volume on Friday, though the market had a strong week overall.
(Reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stock-futures-higher-ahead-data-corporate-results-115148731.html
'Iron Man 3' rules world, 'Pain & Gain' takes US
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.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iron-man-3-rules-world-pain-gain-takes-155428061.html
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Sunday, April 28, 2013
Fire breaks out in Bangladesh building where 377 die
By Ruma Paul and Serajul Quadir
DHAKA (Reuters) - Fire broke out on Sunday in a garment factory that collapsed in the Bangladeshi capital, complicating attempts to find any survivors of a disaster that has killed 377 people.
Fire service officials said the blaze had been started by sparks from cutting equipment used by rescuers.
Police said the owner of the factory, Mohammed Sohel Rana,
was arrested on Sunday trying to flee to India, as hopes of finding more survivors from the country's worst industrial accident began to fade.
Rana was arrested by the elite Rapid Action Battalion in the border town of Benapole, Dhaka District Police Chief Habibur Rahman told Reuters, ending a four-day manhunt that began after Rana Plaza, which housed factories making low-cost garments for Western retailers, caved in on Wednesday.
Bangladesh television showed Rana, a local leader of the ruling Awami League's youth front, being flown by helicopter to the capital Dhaka, where he will face charges of faulty construction and causing unlawful death.
Authorities put the latest death toll at 377 and expect it to climb higher with hundreds more still unaccounted for.
Four people were pulled out alive on Sunday after almost 100 hours beneath the mound of broken concrete and metal, and rescuers were working frantically to try to save several others still trapped, fire services deputy director Mizanur Rahman said. One woman was pulled out of debris by rescuers but died, fire service officials said.
"The chances of finding people alive are dimming, so we have to step up our rescue operation to save any valuable life we can," said Major General Chowdhury Hassan Sohrawardi, coordinator of the operation at the site.
About 2,500 people have been rescued from the wrecked building in the commercial suburb of Savar, about 30 km (20 miles) from the capital, Dhaka.
Officials said the eight-storey complex had been built on spongy ground without the correct permits, and more than 3,000 workers - mainly young women - entered the building on Wednesday morning despite warnings that it was structurally unsafe.
A bank and shops in the same building closed after a jolt was felt and cracks were noticed on some pillars on Tuesday.
Police said one factory owner gave himself up on Sunday following the detention of two plant bosses and two engineers the day before.
Anger over the disaster has sparked days of protests and clashes, with police using tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets to quell demonstrators who set cars ablaze.
Garment workers blockaded a highway in a nearby industrial zone of Gazipur on Sunday demanding capital punishment for the owners.
The main opposition, joining forces with an alliance of leftist parties which is part of the ruling coalition, called for a national strike on May 2 in protest over the incident.
BUILT ON A FILLED-IN POND
Wednesday's collapse was the third major industrial incident in five months in Bangladesh, the second-largest exporter of garments in the world behind China. In November, a fire at the Tazreen Fashion factory in a suburb of Dhaka killed 112 people.
Such incidents have raised serious questions about worker safety and low wages, and could taint the reputation of the poor South Asian country, which relies on garments for 80 percent of its exports. The industry employs about 3.6 million people, most of them women, some of whom earn as little as $38 a month.
Emdadul Islam, chief engineer of the state-run Capital Development Authority (CDA), said on Friday that the owner of the building had not received the proper construction consent, obtaining a permit for a five-storey building from the local municipality, which did not have the authority to grant it.
Furthermore, three other storeys had been added illegally, he said. "Savar is not an industrial zone, and for that reason no factory can be housed in Rana Plaza," Islam told Reuters.
Islam said the building had been erected on the site of a pond filled in with sand and earth, weakening the foundations.
North American and European chains, including British retailer Primark and Canada's Loblaw, a unit of George Weston Ltd, said they were supplied by factories in the Rana Plaza building.
Since the disaster, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has asked factory owners to produce building designs by July in a bid to improve safety. (Writing by John Chalmers and Alex Richardson; Editing by Jeremy Laurence and Stephen Powell)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hope-survivors-fades-bangladesh-building-toll-reaches-363-082504472.html
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Focusrite Forte
The Focusrite Forte ($749.99 list) is one of a host of portable, higher-end audio interfaces that have appeared in the wake of Apogee's now-iconic original Duet. It one-ups the Apogee lineup in that it works with PCs as well as Macs?helping not just PC users, but also musicians and engineers, like myself, who use both Macs and PCs on a regular basis, and don't want to be restricted to a specific platform for a particular piece of gear. That said, there are a few limitations with the Forte you should be aware of before purchase, such as its AC power requirement when using phantom power, and sound quality that, while very good, doesn't quite catch Apogee. But overall, it's a top-quality piece of audio gear that's easily worth its high entry price.
Design, Display, and Connectivity
The Forte gets its name from the company's original recording console, which was based on famed engineer Rupert Neve's designs for George Martin's AIR studios. At least physically, if an audio interface can be beautiful, the Forte certainly is, with its solid aluminum enclosure, colorful OLED display, and oversized volume and control knob. The small display shows individual track levels with fat meters that turn green, yellow, and red depending on signal level.
Below the display are four touch-sensitive mode buttons for selecting input level (which alternates between input 1 and input 2 when you press it again), speaker volume, headphone volume, and DAW mode for controlling a software transport. The multi-function encoder knob spins around smoothly, but with a lightweight feeling to it, unlike the Apogee Duet for iPad & Mac's knob, which clicks ever so slightly as you turn it. As with the Duet, to make selections, you push the Forte's knob down.
A ?-inch headphone socket sits on the front edge; two would have been better at this price, as many engineers and musicians tend to work with another person simultaneously. (The MOTU Track16, which we haven't tested yet, is the only similar unit on the market with two headphone outputs, although one is 1/4-inch sized and the other is a consumer-level 3.5mm jack.)
Around back, you get a power input, a USB 2.0 port, an input socket for the breakout cable, and a pair of TRS line outputs?meaning that if you're not recording, you don't need to attach the breakout cable even when listening over speakers, unlike the Duet. The "loom connector," as Focusrite calls the breakout cable, contains a pair of XLR microphone inputs and a pair of TRS line/instrument-level inputs, so you can connect two mics and two instruments at the same time and leave them all hooked up; the Duet, by comparison, combines the inputs together, which is fine in most cases but could become inconvenient if you do a lot of stereo miking.
However, chances are that if you're attaching the Forte's breakout cable to record, you'll also need to plug in the AC adapter, as it's required whenever you record microphones that require phantom power. For most people recording at home or on the go, that's pretty much all of the time, since both small- and large-diaphragm condenser mics need phantom power. In addition, when running without the AC adapter, the speaker and headphone outputs are limited to -18dB?not as big a deal, but something to note if you're monitoring over headphones with a high impedance and you're recording at a noisy venue; I certainly noticed it with several different pairs of closed-back headphones, all of which could have gone a little louder than the -18dB point without discomfort.
Setup, Performance, and Conclusions
Setting up the Forte is a snap; you register on the company site, download the drivers and bundled Midnight Plug-in Suite software, install everything, and then connect the Forte via USB. A reboot is required after installing the software, even on a Mac, which isn't true of the Apogee Duet. The bundled Forte Control software (pictured above) offers low-latency monitoring and level control.
I?tested the Focusrite Forte with an Apple MacBook Pro running OS X 10.8.3 (Mountain Lion), a quad-core Xeon-based Mac Pro running OS X 10.7.5 (Lion), and a Lenovo ThinkPad L420 running Windows 7 Professional 64-bit. In all three cases, I tested recording and playback using
As I expected from a higher-end Focusrite interface, sound quality was sublime for both recording and playback. I didn't hear quite as much detail in the upper midrange to high-end as I did on the Duet; recordings made through a Rode NT-1A mic sounded a little more present, with less of a thin veil over the result, with the Duet, although the Forte sounded just as warm and full otherwise. ?The Forte's preamp also sounded a bit cleaner than the Avid Mbox Mini's, although I'd argue you could make excellent recordings with any of these interfaces. Still, the differences are there.
The same goes for playback; listening to Dave Matthews Band's "Funny the Way It Is," I heard a clean, smooth, and well-separated presentation through the Forte, although the Duet lent a little more presence and clarity to specific details in the recording that didn't jump out at me quite as much with the Forte.?Both exhibited exceptionally tight and extended bass response.
All told, the Focusrite Forte sets out what it's designed to do, and unlike some of the competition, it works on both PCs and Macs. You can also leave the cable loom detached except when you're recording. That said, it's not exactly equivalent to the Apogee Duet, as it sounds a bit different, and requires the AC adapter to be attached most of the time. The Apogee Duet is probably a better choice if you're exclusively on the Mac platform, as it integrates a bit better, and its iPad connectivity is second to none in its simplicity.
Other options: Propellerhead Reason fans can save a bit of cash by looking at the clean-sounding Propellerhead Balance interface, which integrates better with that company' software, while the Editors' Choice Focusrite iTrack Solo brings clear recording to PCs, Macs, and iPads at a budget price.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/-fqBYLe5JMY/0,2817,2417991,00.asp
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Saturday, April 27, 2013
Android developers now banned from bypassing Google?s Play Store app updates
By Terry Daley ROME, April 27 (Reuters) - Udinese beat Cagliari 1-0 on Saturday thanks to a goal from Roberto Pereyra to move above Inter Milan into fifth place in Serie A, which brings a Europa League spot for next season. Pereyra's curling strike after 56 minutes saw Francesco Guidolin's side move up to 54 points, one ahead of Inter who visit relegation-threatened Palermo on Sunday (1300 GMT). Cagliari, who had striker Mauricio Pinilla sent off in added time, remain 10th on 42 points, two points and one place above Bologna, who drew 1-1 at Atalanta in the other early kickoff. ...
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/android-developers-now-banned-bypassing-google-play-store-231537898.html
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Death toll in Bangladesh collapse passes 300
A Bangladeshi rescuer works to break through metal and concrete with a drill at the site of a building that collapsed Wednesday in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, April 26, 2013. More than two days after their factory collapsed on them, at least some garment workers were still alive in the corpse-littered debris Friday, pinned beneath tons of mangled metal and concrete. The death toll topped 300 on Friday and it remained unclear what the final grim number would be, as some victims are being pulled from the rubble alive. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad)
A Bangladeshi rescuer works to break through metal and concrete with a drill at the site of a building that collapsed Wednesday in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, April 26, 2013. More than two days after their factory collapsed on them, at least some garment workers were still alive in the corpse-littered debris Friday, pinned beneath tons of mangled metal and concrete. The death toll topped 300 on Friday and it remained unclear what the final grim number would be, as some victims are being pulled from the rubble alive. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad)
Bangladeshi rescue workers search the rubble at the site of a building that collapsed Wednesday in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, April 26, 2013. The death toll reached hundreds of people as rescuers continued to search for injured and missing, after a huge section of an eight-story building that housed several garment factories splintered into a pile of concrete.(AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)
A Bangladeshi soldier gestures as a rescue worker uses a flashlight to walk across the rubble at the site of a building that collapsed Wednesday in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, April 26, 2013. By Friday, the death toll reached at least 270 people as rescuers continued to search for injured and missing, after a huge section of an eight-story building that housed several garment factories splintered into a pile of concrete.(AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)
A Bangladeshi rescue worker, who was injured during a stampede caused by crowd panic over the rumor a section of the building might collapse, is carried at the site of a building that collapsed Wednesday in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, April 26, 2013. The death toll reached hundreds of people as rescuers continued to search for injured and missing, after a huge section of an eight-story building that housed several garment factories splintered into a pile of concrete. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)
Bangladeshi relatives of missing workers react as they wait at the site of a building that collapsed Wednesday in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, April 26, 2013. By Friday, the death toll reached at least 270 people as rescuers continued to search for injured and missing, after a huge section of an eight-story building that housed several garment factories splintered into a pile of concrete.(AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)
SAVAR, Bangladesh (AP) ? With time running out to save workers still trapped in a collapsed garment factory building, rescuers dug through mangled metal and concrete Friday and found more survivors ? but also more corpses that pushed the death toll past 300.
Wailing, angry relatives fought with police who held them back from the wrecked, eight-story Rana Plaza building, as search-and-rescue operations went on more than two days after the structure crumbled.
Amid the cries for help and the smell of decaying bodies, the rescue of 18-year-old Mussamat Anna came at a high cost: Emergency crews cut off the garment worker's mangled right hand to pull her free from the debris Thursday night.
"First a machine fell over my hand, and I was crushed under the debris. ... Then the roof collapsed over me," she told an Associated Press cameraman from a hospital bed Friday.
More than 40 survivors were found late Friday evening on some floors of the Rana Plaza, said fire service inspector Shafiqul Islam, who searched the building. Through holes in the structure, he gave them water and juice packs to combat dehydration in the stifling heat and humidity.
"They are alive, they are trapped, but most of them are safe. We need to cut through debris and walls to bring them out," Islam said.
By Friday night, more than 80 survivors had been rescued, according to officials at a command center.
But more dead were also discovered. Shamim Islam, a volunteer who entered the collapsed building along with rescue workers, said he saw "many bodies inside."
"I threw some water bottles through a hole, as there were some survivors, too," he said.
The search will continue into Saturday, officials said, with crews cautiously using hammers, shovels and their bare hands. Many of the trapped workers were so badly hurt and weakened that they needed to be removed within a few hours, the rescuers said.
There were fears that even if unhurt, the survivors could be dehydrated, with daytime temperatures soaring to 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) and about 24 degrees Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit) overnight.
Hundreds of rescuers crawled through the rubble amid the cries of the trapped and the wails of workers' relatives gathered outside the building, which housed numerous garment factories and a handful of other companies.
Brig. Gen. Mohammed Siddiqul Alam Shikder, who is overseeing rescue operations, said before the evening rescues that 2,200 people have been pulled out alive. A garment manufacturers' group said the factories in the building employed 3,122 workers, but it was not clear how many were inside it when it collapsed Wednesday in Savar, a suburb of Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka.
Military spokesman Shahin Islam told reporters that 304 bodies had been recovered so far.
An AP cameraman who accompanied a rescue crew Thursday heard the anguished cries for help from two men ? one half-buried under a slab beside two corpses, the other entombed deep in the rubble. The first man later died and the second had not been heard from for hours and is presumed dead, rescuers said.
Maj. Gen. Chowdhury Hasan Suhrawardy told reporters that search-and-rescue operations would continue until at least Saturday, because "we know a human being can survive for up to 72 hours in this situation."
Forty people had been trapped on the fourth floor of the building until rescuers reached them Thursday evening. Twelve were soon freed, and crews worked to get the rest out safely, Shikder said. Crowds burst into applause as survivors were brought out.
Police cordoned off the site, pushing back thousands of bystanders and relatives after rescue workers complained the crowds were hampering their work.
Clashes broke out between the relatives and police, who used batons to disperse them. Police said 50 people were injured in the skirmishes.
"We want to go inside the building and find our people now. They will die if we don't find them soon," said Shahinur Rahman, whose mother was missing.
Thousands of workers from the hundreds of garment factories across the Savar industrial zone and other nearby areas marched elsewhere to protest the poor safety standards in Bangladesh. Local news reports said demonstrators smashed dozens of cars Friday, although most of the protests were largely peaceful.
Police say cracks in the Rana Plaza had led them to order an evacuation Tuesday, but the factories ignored the order and were operating when the building collapsed the next day. Video before the collapse shows cracks in walls, with apparent attempts at repair. It also shows columns missing chunks of concrete and police talking to building operators.
Officials said soon after the collapse that numerous construction regulations had been violated.
Abdul Halim, an official with Savar's engineering department, said the owner of Rana Plaza was allowed to erect a five-story building but had added another three stories illegally.
Mahbubul Haque Shakil, a spokesman for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, said she had ordered police to arrest the building's owner as well as the owners of the garment factories in "the shortest possible time."
Police chief Mohammed Asaduzzaman said police and the government's Capital Development Authority have filed negligence cases against the building owner, identified as Mohammed Sohel Rana.
Habibur Rahman, police superintendent of Dhaka district, said Rana was a local leader of ruling Awami League's youth front. Rahman said police were also looking for the owners of the garment factories.
Two of Rana's relatives were detained for questioning, police officer Mohammad Kawser said.
The disaster is the worst ever for the country's booming and powerful garment industry, surpassing a fire five months ago that killed 112 people and brought widespread pledges to improve worker-safety standards. Since then, very little has changed in Bangladesh, where low wages have made it a magnet for numerous global brands.
Bangladesh's garment industry was the third-largest in the world in 2011, after China and Italy, having grown rapidly in the past decade. The country's minimum wage is now the equivalent of about $38 a month.
Among the garment makers in the building were Phantom Apparels, Phantom Tac, Ether Tex, New Wave Style and New Wave Bottoms. Altogether, they produced several million shirts, pants and other garments a year.
The New Wave companies, according to their website, make clothing for several major North American and European retailers.
Britain's Primark acknowledged it was using a factory in Rana Plaza, but many other retailers distanced themselves from the disaster, saying they were not involved with the factories at the time of the collapse or had not recently ordered garments from them.
Wal-Mart said none of its clothing had been authorized to be made in the facility, but it is investigating whether there was any unauthorized production.
U.S. State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said the collapse underscored the urgency for Bangladesh's government, as well as the factory owners, buyers and labor groups, to improve working conditions in the country.
Human Rights Watch says Bangladesh's Ministry of Labor has only 18 inspectors to monitor thousands of garment factories in the Dhaka district, where much of the nation's garment industry is located.
John Sifton, the group's Asia advocacy director, also noted that none of the factories in the Rana Plaza were unionized, and that had they been, workers would have been in a better position to refuse to enter the building Wednesday.
___
AP writers Muneeza Naqvi and Tim Sullivan in New Delhi, Stephen Wright in Bangkok, Kay Johnson in Mumbai, Matthew Pennington in Washington and AP Retail Writer Anne D'Innocenzio in New York contributed to this report.
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Exclusive: Government doc shows how closely Boston Marathon bombers followed al Qaeda plans
REUTERS
Boston Marathon bomb scene pictures taken by investigators show the remains of an explosive device. The photos were produced by the Joint Terrorism Task Force of Boston.
By Richard Esposito, NBC News Senior Executive Producer for Investigations
A detailed analysis of the bombs used at the Boston Marathon and during a firefight between the suspects and law enforcement shows how closely the bombmakers followed instructions from the digital al Qaeda magazine ?Inspire,? according to a government document obtained by NBC News.
The unclassified report from the Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center found that the pipe bombs allegedly thrown from a car by Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev during last Friday?s chase through Watertown, Mass., resembled the design described in ?How to Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom,? an article in the first issue of the English-language magazine. At least one of the Watertown bombs used an elbow pipe wrapped in black tape, as discussed in ?Inspire.?
?The use of elbow pipes specifically is unique,? states the report, ?and rare in other extremist and anarchist literature.?
?How to Build a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom? also provided instructions on how to build bombs with kitchen pressure cookers. The bombs detonated at the marathon on April 15 were constructed from pressure cookers, as was a bomb authorities say the suspects threw at police during the Watertown shootout. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, a 26-year-old immigrant of Chechen origin, was killed during the confrontation.
According to the TEDAC analysis, the pressure-cooker bombs also match the ?Inspire? designs in their use of spherical shrapnel and gunpowder from fireworks, as well as the possible use of Christmas tree lights as an initiator.
The pipe bombs also used fireworks and spherical shrapnel. Both types of devices apparently used glue to secure the shrapnel, as described in ?Inspire.? NBC is not disclosing details that could aid in the construction of a bomb.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who survived the Watertown shootout and was captured last Friday night, has told investigators that he and his brother Tamerlan got bombmaking instructions from ?Inspire,? according to law enforcement officials. The TEDAC document, however, notes while the elements of the Boston bombs ?use similar components to those described in several issues of ?Inspire,?? they also diverge from the ?Inspire? designs, with different triggers and power sources. A fusing system that used parts from a toy car, say the investigators, does not seem traceable to the magazine.
?Inspire? magazine was launched by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, al Qaeda?s Yemeni affiliate, in July 2010, and aimed at fomenting jihad among U.S. and other Western Muslims. The publication included messages from radical U.S.?born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and Osama bin Laden, and was edited by U.S.-raised jihadi Samir Khan, a one-time basement blogger in North Carolina who relocated to Yemen. It contained articles on ?open source? jihad, urging Westerners to mount ?lone wolf? attacks using methods ranging from home-made bombs and forest fires to vehicular homicide.
Khan was killed in the same U.S. strike that killed Awlaki on Sept. 30, 2011.
The Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center is an interagency organization located at the FBI laboratory in Quantico, Va., with a director from the FBI and other officials from the ATF, the Pentagon and the intelligence community.
Related:
Anatomy of a bombing: photos show battery wires used in device
?
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Exploring art at a stroke
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 26-Apr-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Dr Jonathan Hook
jonathan.hook@ncl.ac.uk
44-077-481-62600
Newcastle University
A unique app which allows you to peel back the layers of a masterpiece and uncover a previously hidden world has been developed by experts from Newcastle and Northumbria universities.
The 'Repentir' smart phone and iPad app has been designed to enhance the gallery experience, allowing visitors the opportunity to not just view the painting but also interact with it and explore the artist's creative process.
Featuring the latest work by internationally-acclaimed artist Nathan Walsh 'Transamerica' the app allows the user to rub away the layers of the painting to reveal the multiple hidden stages right back to the first pencil lines.
Developed by Dr Jonathan Hook of Newcastle University's Culture Lab and Dr Jo Briggs of Northumbria University, Repentir along with the finished painting Transamerica - is being unveiled today at the 2013 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing in Paris. After this the painting and app will be exhibited at the Bernarducci Meisel Gallery in New York.
Newcastle University lead Dr Hook, a researcher in human-computer interaction, explains: "The app means that you're not limited to just looking at the art - you can interact with it and feel your way through it.
"Repentir works by picking out prominent features in the original painting, such as corners of buildings, and then looking for the same features in the image captured on the gallery visitor's iPhone. This is known as 'scale invariant feature matching'.
"The app then replaces the iPhone photograph with the multi-layered images taken during the different stages of the artist's creative process.
"This means the process works even if only a small area of the painting is photographed or if it is taken at an angle, allowing visitors to get up close to the painting and explore particular regions.
"And because every visitor will capture the image from a slightly different angle, rub away the layers in a different way and focus in on different points, it means everyone's appreciation of the piece will be totally unique."
Repentir which is an artistic reference to the changes or corrections an artist makes to their work was developed using a digital camera which was installed in the York-based studio of the contemporary British realist painter Nathan Walsh.
The camera captured a daily image of the canvas as his most recent work 'Transamerica' developed over a four-month period. The team then created an app that uses computer vision algorithms to recognise the painting in photographs taken from various perspectives.
People viewing the painting simply need to download the free app onto their smart phones or tablet then take a photograph of the original artwork or a print of it. Repentir is then able to precisely overlay the sequence of images captured by the artist.
Each step of the drawing and painting process can then be explored layer by layer by scrolling through the full sequence of images captured, or alternatively 'rubbing out' areas of each successive layer of the painting using a finger against the mobile screen to reveal the under-layers right back to the original pencil drawing and blank canvas.
The new app has been created in response to the profound challenges that the easy copying and sharing of digital files pose to the creative industries. The researchers sought to explore alternative models for the dissemination of digital content to add value to art.
Dr Jo Briggs, lead researcher at Northumbria University, explains: "We've been working with painter Nathan for over a year and in that time were struck by the sheer effort and time he invests in each painting. We wanted to expose and celebrate this in a new digital artefact."
Project lead Professor Mark Blythe, a designer working in the field of human-computer interaction at Northumbria University, adds: "In the digital age there is no 'original' or 'limited edition' anymore. The changes in the music industry have shown that you can't limit digital files. Therefore we need new approaches to making digital originals.
"Nathan's art is in a hyper-real style and many people find it hard to believe that he starts each work from a free-hand drawing. The idea is this technology enhances the artwork as it allows gallery visitors to explore the skilful and complex creative processes that went into creating it.
"Picasso once remarked that the problem with any painting is that eventually it is hung on a wall and nobody ever looks at it again. It may be that new forms of reproduction such as Repentir will open up new ways of looking."
Nathan Walsh, who is famed for his photorealistic cityscapes, said he does not feel exposed by revealing his drawing process to the viewing public.
On the contrary, he says, "Repentir shows how I construct every element of my paintings from scratch," he said. "I'm quite happy to promote my original drawings as it demonstrates the fact that drawing is at the heart of what I do.
"The app allows people to get a feel for my journey through making this work. It gives an indication of my methodology and the honesty of my creative process."
The research team hopes to incorporate more of Nathan's current and future artwork in Repentir and also plans to develop apps with other painters to expand the range of paintings that the app is able to deconstruct.
Transamerica will be on display in Paris until May 2 before it will be exhibited in New York at the Bernarducci Meisel Gallery.
###
For more details on the Repentir app, visit http://www.digital-originals.com.
For information on Nathan Walsh's work, see http://www.nathanwalsh.net.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 26-Apr-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Dr Jonathan Hook
jonathan.hook@ncl.ac.uk
44-077-481-62600
Newcastle University
A unique app which allows you to peel back the layers of a masterpiece and uncover a previously hidden world has been developed by experts from Newcastle and Northumbria universities.
The 'Repentir' smart phone and iPad app has been designed to enhance the gallery experience, allowing visitors the opportunity to not just view the painting but also interact with it and explore the artist's creative process.
Featuring the latest work by internationally-acclaimed artist Nathan Walsh 'Transamerica' the app allows the user to rub away the layers of the painting to reveal the multiple hidden stages right back to the first pencil lines.
Developed by Dr Jonathan Hook of Newcastle University's Culture Lab and Dr Jo Briggs of Northumbria University, Repentir along with the finished painting Transamerica - is being unveiled today at the 2013 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing in Paris. After this the painting and app will be exhibited at the Bernarducci Meisel Gallery in New York.
Newcastle University lead Dr Hook, a researcher in human-computer interaction, explains: "The app means that you're not limited to just looking at the art - you can interact with it and feel your way through it.
"Repentir works by picking out prominent features in the original painting, such as corners of buildings, and then looking for the same features in the image captured on the gallery visitor's iPhone. This is known as 'scale invariant feature matching'.
"The app then replaces the iPhone photograph with the multi-layered images taken during the different stages of the artist's creative process.
"This means the process works even if only a small area of the painting is photographed or if it is taken at an angle, allowing visitors to get up close to the painting and explore particular regions.
"And because every visitor will capture the image from a slightly different angle, rub away the layers in a different way and focus in on different points, it means everyone's appreciation of the piece will be totally unique."
Repentir which is an artistic reference to the changes or corrections an artist makes to their work was developed using a digital camera which was installed in the York-based studio of the contemporary British realist painter Nathan Walsh.
The camera captured a daily image of the canvas as his most recent work 'Transamerica' developed over a four-month period. The team then created an app that uses computer vision algorithms to recognise the painting in photographs taken from various perspectives.
People viewing the painting simply need to download the free app onto their smart phones or tablet then take a photograph of the original artwork or a print of it. Repentir is then able to precisely overlay the sequence of images captured by the artist.
Each step of the drawing and painting process can then be explored layer by layer by scrolling through the full sequence of images captured, or alternatively 'rubbing out' areas of each successive layer of the painting using a finger against the mobile screen to reveal the under-layers right back to the original pencil drawing and blank canvas.
The new app has been created in response to the profound challenges that the easy copying and sharing of digital files pose to the creative industries. The researchers sought to explore alternative models for the dissemination of digital content to add value to art.
Dr Jo Briggs, lead researcher at Northumbria University, explains: "We've been working with painter Nathan for over a year and in that time were struck by the sheer effort and time he invests in each painting. We wanted to expose and celebrate this in a new digital artefact."
Project lead Professor Mark Blythe, a designer working in the field of human-computer interaction at Northumbria University, adds: "In the digital age there is no 'original' or 'limited edition' anymore. The changes in the music industry have shown that you can't limit digital files. Therefore we need new approaches to making digital originals.
"Nathan's art is in a hyper-real style and many people find it hard to believe that he starts each work from a free-hand drawing. The idea is this technology enhances the artwork as it allows gallery visitors to explore the skilful and complex creative processes that went into creating it.
"Picasso once remarked that the problem with any painting is that eventually it is hung on a wall and nobody ever looks at it again. It may be that new forms of reproduction such as Repentir will open up new ways of looking."
Nathan Walsh, who is famed for his photorealistic cityscapes, said he does not feel exposed by revealing his drawing process to the viewing public.
On the contrary, he says, "Repentir shows how I construct every element of my paintings from scratch," he said. "I'm quite happy to promote my original drawings as it demonstrates the fact that drawing is at the heart of what I do.
"The app allows people to get a feel for my journey through making this work. It gives an indication of my methodology and the honesty of my creative process."
The research team hopes to incorporate more of Nathan's current and future artwork in Repentir and also plans to develop apps with other painters to expand the range of paintings that the app is able to deconstruct.
Transamerica will be on display in Paris until May 2 before it will be exhibited in New York at the Bernarducci Meisel Gallery.
###
For more details on the Repentir app, visit http://www.digital-originals.com.
For information on Nathan Walsh's work, see http://www.nathanwalsh.net.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-04/nu-eaa042213.php
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Friday, April 26, 2013
Who says Algerian civil society does not support the Polisario ...
By Nouh Anajjar
Morocco World News
Nador, Morocco, April 26, 2013
As I was listening to the radio this morning, shifting from one radio station to another searching for a worth-hearing piece of music or broadcasting program, I came across an Algerian Radio station that was covering the issue of the Moroccan Sahara from the perspective of Algerian political leaders and civil society. Without a doubt, it was a first-rate opportunity to listen to the arguments and attitudes of the other side vis-?-vis this thorny matter which has lately witnessed a surprising twist specifically due to the United States? most recent announcement concerning elaborating the missions of MINURSO in the Moroccan Sahara.
As a Moroccan, I?ve always been well aware of the Algerian stance toward the Moroccan Sahara. Algeria blindly supports the Polisario and it everlastingly advocates?for the right of the Saharan?population to obtain full independence from Moroccan sovereignty. I also mistakenly thought that only the Algerian government supports the Polisario, while civil society gives no importance to this issue.
To my amazement, I was traumatized when listening to the individuals in that broadcasting program accuse Morocco of being a colonizing nation and the Moroccan Sahara a colonized territory. They also untruthfully justified and rationalized?Algeria?s staunch-defending?stand towards supporting the Saharan people?s pursuit for autonomy Morocco and rationalized Algeria?s blind support for?Polisario as a matter of human rights. They alleged that Algeria is simply defending the rights of people to decide their own destiny, the same way it did with West Timor issue. According to these people, whom Morocco once helped defeat the French, Algeria is merely following the declaration of human rights, and if Algeria were to side with Morocco, it would imply a clear violation of this declaration.
An?outsider listening to their claims might even think that Algeria is the most politically stable and democratic nation? in the world. Needless to say, Algeria has ulterior purposes behind its support for the fabricated republic of Polisario, and this??is clear from its over- concern towards this issue. Apparently, Algeria supports?Polisario because it wants to have a getaway to the Atlantic ocean. By supporting the enemies of Moroccan?s territorial unity, Algeria aspires to get retaliation from Morocco over its disgraceful loss during the Sand war that took place in?1963 between the two countries over borders. Morocco won this war and it seems that Algerians still bitterly remember this incident and longs to find an occasion to take revenge from Morocco.
In addition, the guests of this?Algerian radio program wondered why Morocco is tenacious over the Western Sahara and why the Saharan citizens are not allowed to decide their own destiny whether to be Moroccan citizens under the Moroccan sovereignty or obtain their independence. They asserted that the Moroccan Sahara has been colonized since the 1884, and that the Spanish colonizers did not give it back to Morocco, and that Morocco imposed its hegemony over these territories by force after the Spanish withdrew from the region.
They also maintained that Morocco has had many failures, rioting, and socio-economic woes within the country. I detected an odor of joy and satisfaction from?these guests when they referred to the latest twist concerning the issue of Sahara. And how the United States, which is believed to be a strategic ally of Morocco and has always supported Morocco?s national cause and the proposal for self-government in the southern provinces, has turned its back on Morocco, and it is well in the way of supporting the right of Saharan people to decide on their destiny.
One of those guests?on this program suggested that France would do as United States has done and turn its back to Morocco as well. Upon hearing this, many queries began running through my mind as I tried to speculate and predict what would happen if Morocco were to be forced to surrender the Western Sahara to the Polisario.
Indeed it is a terrifying thought, yet such scenarios should be taken into account simply because in politics there is no eternal friends or perpetual foes?everything is interests-dependent. A country, which is an ally today can become an enemy tomorrow depending on its own interests.
? Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed
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38 die in psychiatric hospital fire near Moscow
MOSCOW (AP) ? A fire swept quickly through a psychiatric hospital outside Moscow early Friday, killing 38 people, most of them in their beds, officials said.
The one-story brick-and-wood hospital building housed patients with severe mental disorders, Health Ministry officials said. An emergency ministry official said the fire started in a wooden annex and then spread to the main brick building which had wooden beams.
The patients were under sedatives and most of them did not wake up, Yuri Deshevykh of the emergency situations ministry told RIA Novosti.
At least 29 people were burned alive, said Irina Gumennaya, a spokeswoman for the Russian Investigative Committee.
Investigators said 38 people, including 36 patients and two doctors, have died. They said a nurse managed to escape and save one patients, while another patient got out on his own. The emergency services also posted a list of the patients indicating they ranged in age from 20 to 76. Gumennaya told Russian news agencies that most of the people died in their beds.
Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyev said some of the hospital windows were barred. Gumennaya quoted testimony of the surviving nurse who said that doors inside the hospital were not locked.
Officials from the Russian Investigative Committee said they are looking at poor fire regulations and short circuit as possible causes for the blaze that engulfed the hospital in the Ramenskiy settlement, some 85 kilometers (53 miles) north of Moscow.
Vadim Belovoshin of the emergency ministry said that it took fire fighters an hour to get to the hospital following an emergency call because a ferry across the canal was closed and the fire fighters had to make a detour.
Vorobyev told Russian state-television that the fire alarm seems to have worked but the fire spread too quickly.
Russia has a poor fire safety record, with about 12,000 deaths reported in 2012. In January, a fire in an underground parking lot killed 10 migrant workers from Tajikistan who were working and living there. In a similar incident in September, 14 Vietnamese workers were killed by fire at a clothing factory near Moscow.
In one of the most high-profile case of negligence, more than 150 people died in a night club in the city of Perm after a pyrotechnic show ignited a wooden ceiling.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/38-die-mental-hospital-fire-outside-moscow-051615611.html
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White House backs Reid?s sequester plan
With deep federal spending cuts known as the sequester beginning to affect air travel and forcing some public-sector layoffs, the White House on Wednesday seemed to offer public support for Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's proposal to temporarily pay down the sequester without generating new tax revenue.
White House officials previously stated the president would not support any measure to replace the sequester that did not include some new tax revenue?what they called a "balanced" approach to deficit reduction.
Reid's plan suggests using some of the $650 billion in the Overseas Contingency Operation fund for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to pay down the sequester for about five months on the presumption the U.S. will not spend all the funds allocated given that the Iraq War has ended and U.S. combat troops are on track to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
"We believe that Sen. Reid's proposal is a good one," White House press secretary Jay Carney said at Wednesday's press briefing. It would "temporarily delay the sequester and all the negative effects that we're talking about down to air travelers, families, seniors, as well as the job loss and the drag on our economy in order to allow for the discussions that the president has made in trying to find common ground with Republicans to bear fruit."
When asked to explain the White House's seeming about-turn on tax revenue, Carney repeated that the White House is supportive of Reid's plan in order to "allow time" for congressional leaders and the White House to find "common ground."
Republicans dismissed Reid's plan as?at best?a budget gimmick.
"So, whether OCO is the mother of all gimmicks, or just a glaring one?everybody other than the majority leader evidently agrees on one thing: It?s the height of fiscal irresponsibility," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor on Wednesday.
McConnell later cast Reid's plan as a significant and potentially positive development: "There?s now bipartisan agreement that tax hikes won?t be a replacement to the sequester," he said.
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Nothing bugs these NASA aeronautical researchers
Apr. 24, 2013 ? NASA's gutsiest scientists say they don't get bugged no matter what kind of sticky situation they find themselves smashed into.
The preceding dose of hyperbole is brought to you by a team of folks at NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia who are studying ways to prevent the remains of insect impacts from adhering to the wing of an aircraft in flight.
While the effort is undeniably a goldmine for puns, the research is serious and positive results could help NASA's aeronautical innovators achieve their goals for improving the fuel efficiency of aircraft cruising across the country.
"We are the bug team," said Mia Siochi, of the Advanced Materials and Processing Branch at Langley. "It's important work, but we also have a lot of fun with it."
Anyone who has driven through a cloud of insects knows how quickly the bug guts build up on the vehicle, causing problems with visibility, clogging the air intake and radiator, and ruining the car's exterior finish.
The problem for an airplane is that its aerodynamic design is meant to have air move very smoothly across the body and wing surfaces, which is called laminar flow. When there is a disruption in that laminar flow, such as from the accumulation of dead bug parts, you induce the opposite of laminar flow, which is turbulence.
Finding ways to maintain laminar flow through all phases of flight is a big deal for the aviation community because it could save millions in fuel cost, while also reducing the amount of noxious emissions released into the atmosphere.
"It's major enough that people have been trying to solve this as far back as the 1960s," Siochi said.
The key to the solution of preventing insect residue build-up in flight is to find a non-stick coating or material of some kind that can be applied to an airplane's body and wings, and that will work with the unique chemistry present in a typical bug splat.
Not only is the intent to limit or prevent the initial adherence to the wing, but to increase the chances the bug residue will more easily erode or sheer off during the flight and leave the wing smooth again.
Understanding that insect biology and its interaction with airplane parts, and then coming up with a decent anti-stick coating is not as easy as you might think. For example, you can't use the same spray you might apply to your car's windshield to make rainwater bead up and roll off.
It's not just water you have to deal with.
"Yes, there's a lot of water in a bug, but there's also some biological components that actually impart the stickiness, and we have to deal with preventing those from sticking even though we know how to prevent water from sticking," Siochi said.
To help them learn more about insect adhesion to materials treated with various coatings, the bug team relies on a unique desk-sized wind tunnel -- the Basic Aerodynamic Research Tunnel, or BART -- equipped with tubing that connects from what they affectionately call "the bug gun."
It has proved to be a very effective tool for examining materials, coatings and insect splats, but the small wind tunnel doesn't exactly copy what's happening in real life.
"We're shooting bugs at about 150 mph as we try to mimic takeoff and landing speed, but the bug is moving and the target is stationary. In reality it should be the other way around," Siochi said.
Either way, the result is the same: sticky bug guts coat small wing surfaces.
Early tests show certain coatings can shrink the area that insect remains adhere to by 90 percent, and reduce the build-up, or height of the sticky bug guts, by 40 percent. But tests continue as there has been no "Eureka!" moment -- yet.
"We don't have the answer yet. We have some potential candidates, but we still have more work to do," Siochi said.
Part of the challenge, Siochi explained, is to make sure that the solution not only works, but that it is also practical.
For example, the coating should not have to be applied before every flight as that would be too time-consuming. Long term exposure of the coating on the wing or aircraft surface should not do any damage. The coating must not add so much weight that it costs more in fuel than it saves.
At least on that last point, Siochi doesn't see a problem.
"These are very, very thin coatings that we spray on, so the weight penalty is probably not there," she said.
The bug team is working toward conducting flight tests within the next two years.
All of this research by NASA does beg the question, how does a material scientist procure the insects she needs?
"By the thousands. In a tackle shop. With a credit card," Siochi explained with a smile. "After checking with our procurement officials and the legal office to make sure there were no regulations against using insects like this."
Initially, the bug team used crickets -- procured from a local tackle shop -- which were convenient to shoot uniformly in the bug gun, but also turned out to be too big for their small wind tunnel apparatus. So they switched to fruit flies.
"We get fruit flies from a fruit fly shop and we propagate them, so we have a supply of bugs that we've kept going for a couple of years now," Siochi said.
Siochi remembers one occasion when a shipment of fruit flies was delivered from California in the overnight mail, and she wasn't in the office to receive them, so they were delivered somewhere else instead.
So one of her colleagues was dispatched to hunt down this container of several hundred fruit flies and wound up searching all over Langley before finding them.
"Just another day of work for the bug team," Siochi said. "There's no doubt it's a real different kind of lab experience."
The effort is part of NASA's Environmentally Responsible Aviation project, which is managed by the agency's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.
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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/njQJJ78wipo/130424170125.htm
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