Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/06/27/just-washing-your-hands-is-no-longer-enough/
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Thursday, June 27, 2013
Just washing your hands is no longer enough
According to?WHOOSH! President Jason Greenspan, ?Maintaining personal cleanliness doesn?t end with washing our hands anymore. It should also extend to our phones and tablets, as we touch them all day long. We call it Tech Hygiene.? ?WHOOSH! is introducing a cleaning product that promises to be safe for your skin and for every touch screen. [...]
Rover roams Chile desert to prepare for life hunt on Mars
By Katia Moskvitch
Space.com
A solar-powered rover is searching for microbes beneath the parched surface of Chile's Atacama Desert on a mission that could aid the Mars life hunt down the road.
The four-wheeled rover, named Zoe, began a two-week field campaign in the Atacama on June 17. Its work could help NASA decide how best to equip its next Mars rover, which is set to launch toward the Red Planet in 2020, scientists say.
"Scientifically, the study helps us understand how life survives in extreme environments with implications to both Earth and Mars," said David Wettergreen, research professor in Carnegie Mellon?s Robotics Institute and principal investigator for the Life in the Atacama project. "Technologically, we are learning about the mechanisms and the algorithms that will enable us to explore the subsurface of other planets." [The Search for Life on Mars (A Photo Timeline)]
Drilling deep
Two NASA rovers ? Opportunity and its bigger, younger cousin Curiosity ? are currently active on the surface of Mars. While both are investigating the Red Planet's past and present ability to host life, neither robot was designed to hunt for evidence of microbes.
But future rovers may well do so, and Zoe ? which measures 9 feet long by 6 feet wide (2.7 by 1.8 meters) ? could help scientists and engineers map out an action plan.
Zoe is part of a NASA astrobiology mission that's led by Carnegie Mellon University and the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute and supported by a $3 million grant from the space agency.
NASA often tests its rovers in the bone-dry Atacama, which is perhaps the best Mars analog here on Earth. Zoe has been there before, back in 2005. This time around, though, it has an extra tool ? a 3.3-foot (1 m) drill made by Honeybee Robotics to hunt for subsurface life.
Zoe is also outfitted with a soil-analyzing instrument called the Mars Microbeam Raman Spectrometer, which could be part of a future Red Planet rover.
Understanding whether or not there could be life underneath the Martian surface depends on a variety of factors, and the Atacama offers "one of the Earth?s harshest climates" for such a study, said planetary geologist Nathalie Cabrol, senior research scientist at the SETI Institute's Carl Sagan Center and the science lead for the Life in the Atacama project.
Zoe is expected to cover 19 to 31 miles (30 to 50 kilometers) during its two-week field campaign and perform one or two drilling operations every day, researchers said.
Independent robot
The current mission started in 2012, when the team went to the Atacama without the robot. Researchers drilled numerous holes and took various measurements, such as hydrogen abundance to quantify moisture and soil composition.
The scientists detected microorganisms in the Atacama ? and now those findings will be compared with what Zoe can do on its own.
"Zoe is more autonomous that previous rovers and able to operate for days, finding its way from one goal to the next and automatically detecting features of interest that it should examine along the way," said Wettergreen, adding that the robot will work completely independently for several days at a time.
Zoe will have to follow a set of pre-determined instructions about the area to cover and the data to collect each day, taking a break at night and automatically resuming work at dawn. This will allow the researchers to verify whether Zoe is indeed ready to be left all alone, Wettergreen said.
"The greatest challenge is in the integration of robot, mechanisms, instrument and software," he said. "Each piece may individually work, but to have everything cooperating and functioning unaided in the field requires significant effort and continuous refinement and improvement."
Follow Katia Moskvitch on Twitter. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
Copyright 2013 Space.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Ex-CIA Chief Robert Gates on Snowden, Syria, and the Biggest Threat to America
On Edward Snowden:
"First of all I would call him a felon. Let's be honest here, I'm the former director of Central Intelligence, the former secretary of defense, I'm not exactly an unbiased or completely independent person when it comes to these issues. But I will tell you this. As a result of the scandals that affected the CIA in the early to mid 1970s, the United States government?all three branches, both political parties?has spent 35 years erecting institutions of oversight on intelligence operations. They have continued, they've grown, but they have continued on the same oversight basis, the same principle and law, under presidents as different as Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, George Bush and Barack Obama. Under Congresses led by Republicans and led by Democrats.
"We've spent three and a half decades building institutions to provide for oversight. And those who have participated in those oversight institutions are among those who are defending what's going on now.
"The debate over freedom and security is as old as the republic, and it's a debate that should always continue, but it's a debate that needs to take place within the rules, because if a single individual within the system can decide for himself or herself that [his or her] judgment overrides all of that of all the institutions I've described, then that's a formula for chaos and anarchy. And there are multiple avenues that have been established over that 35 years for people that have grievances.
"So my view is Snowden is not a whistleblower, he is a felon. And I think in a way his motives say a lot about him?the travel itinerary that he apparently has planned. The truth is, a person of conscience would make the revelations and stay here and face the music, and not flee to the protection of the most authoritarian governments of the world. Which is one of the supreme ironies of all of this."
On President Bush and President Obama:
"On issue after issue, including even more aggressively going after Bin Laden and al-Qaida, I found that there was going to be tremendous continuity between the presidents. Including I would say for the first year and a half on the defense budget itself. In fact, when I asked [Obama] about going after Bin Laden and al-Qaida, he looked at me and kind of smiled and said 'I'm no peacenik.' So I found after that meeting, first of all, that I welcomed his candor and his honesty with me, his openness with me, but it seemed to me there would be a lot of continuity, and frankly I think he saw me as the bridge of continuity, in terms of providing assurance to people."
On Syria:
"First of all, I would say I was very much opposed to going into Libya . . . I did not believe our vital interests were at stake. I believe that once you get drawn in, it's like pretending you can stick your hand into the vortex of a tornado and pull it out whole, or not get the rest of yourself sucked into it. And we saw that happen . . . in Libya, where what began as a humanitarian mission to protect the people of Benghazi was broadened steadily day by day with broader and broader target lists.
"The question about the involvement in Syria is, can you put just a few fingers into the tornado? And at what point, when that fails, do the pressures to do more gradually draw you in further and further? My own view is that if you had to do something, that the way the president's doing it is probably?well, it's the way that I would have suggested. To do so indirectly, by working through others in the region: Turkey, Jordan, some of the other states. Providing training. Providing basic military equipment. I would be willing to provide more antiarmor. But I'm not prepared to offer them antiaircraft. The danger of those surface-to-air missiles mainly from Qaddafi's arsenals falling into the hands of the wrong rebel I think is too great."
On the biggest threat to the nation:
"I think the biggest threat to our future sits in Washington, D.C., and not someplace else. The rest of the problems of the world wouldn't worry me if we had a functional government. And if we had a Congress that could begin to address some of the long-term problems that the country has. I mean, the reality is our problems are deep enough in every category that none of them can be resolved during the course of one presidency or one Congress. So you need bipartisan solutions that can be sustained through more than one presidency and more than one Congress. And we don't see any evidence of that in Washington."
On budgeting by sequestration:
"There may be a stupider way to do things, but I can't figure out what it is. The result is a hollow military, and we will pay for it in the same way we've paid for it every time we've done this in the past, and this is, in the next conflict?and there will be a next conflict?with the blood of our soldiers."
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Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Asian stocks mostly lower on China worries
A stock investor reacts near a board displaying stock prices at a brokerage house in Huaibei in central China's Anhui province Monday June 24, 2013. Global stock markets reeled Monday, with Shanghai's index enduring its biggest loss in four years, after China allowed commercial lending rates to soar in a move analysts said was aimed at curbing a booming underground lending industry. (AP Photo) CHINA OUT
A stock investor reacts near a board displaying stock prices at a brokerage house in Huaibei in central China's Anhui province Monday June 24, 2013. Global stock markets reeled Monday, with Shanghai's index enduring its biggest loss in four years, after China allowed commercial lending rates to soar in a move analysts said was aimed at curbing a booming underground lending industry. (AP Photo) CHINA OUT
A stock investor watches a board displaying stock prices at a brokerage house in Huaibei in central China's Anhui province Monday June 24, 2013. Global stock markets reeled Monday, with Shanghai's index enduring its biggest loss in four years, after China allowed commercial lending rates to soar in a move analysts said was aimed at curbing a booming underground lending industry. (AP Photo) CHINA OUT
Trader David O''Day, left, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, June 21, 2013. Global stock markets reeled Monday, June 24, 2013 with Shanghai's index enduring its biggest loss in four years, after China allowed commercial lending rates to soar in a move analysts said was aimed at curbing a booming underground lending industry. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? Asian stock markets were mostly lower Tuesday as investors continued their flight from risky assets on the prospect of slower Chinese growth and the winding down of the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary stimulus.
Markets in China extended declines from the previous day as investors worried that measures to curb underground lending would hurt growth in the world's second-largest economy.
The Shanghai Composite Index plunged 3.8 percent to 1,888.69 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 1.4 percent to 19,533.05.
Japan's Nikkei 225 shed 1.6 percent to 12,848.96. South Korea's Kospi fell 1 percent to 1,780.81 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.5 percent to 4,645. Stocks in Taiwan and the Philippines also declined.
Shanghai's stock index endured its biggest loss in four years Monday after the country's central bank allowed commercial lending rates to spike higher. Analysts say the move was part of an effort to curb off-balance-sheet lending in China that could threaten the country's financial stability.
But the higher lending rates could also hurt economic growth. The impact for stock markets would be all the greater if the U.S. Federal Reserve tightens its own ultra-loose monetary policy over the coming months, as it has signaled it would do so long as the U.S. economy improves according to its forecasts.
On Monday, Wall Street closed lower. The Dow Jones industrial finished down 139.84 points, or 0.9 percent, at 14,659.56. The S&P 500 index fell 19.34 points, or 1.2 percent, to 1,573.09.
Analysts at Moody's Investors Service said they saw the Chinese central bank's action to allow lending rates to rise as "a conscious decision" to curb credit growth.
Moody's said a prolonged credit crunch could threaten Chinese companies, "especially those in the private sector with weak credit quality, because it heightens the risk that banks will scale back lending to those companies." The credit ratings agency said that China's central government finances remain strong, but that rapid credit growth and liabilities at the local level pose a threat to growth.
The concerns over China's credit market were magnified by existing worries that access to money will tighten in the world's largest economy, the U.S.
Investors are concerned what will happen as the U.S. Federal Reserve slows down its monetary stimulus program, which has been pumping $85 billion into the financial system every month and helped many stock indexes reach multiyear or record highs. Markets tumbled last week when Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the program would likely slow down this year and end in 2014.
Benchmark oil for August delivery was down 53 cents to $94.65 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.49 to close at $95.18 in New York on Monday.
In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3113 from $1.3125 late Monday. The dollar fell to 97.49 yen from 97.55 yen.
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Monday, June 24, 2013
Vertu's Perry Oosting steps down as CEO, replaced by CMO Max Pogliani
According to a statement we received earlier, Vertu's Perry Oosting (pictured left) has stepped down after his successful four year stint as President and CEO, though he'll continue to invest in the company. Despite the relatively short run, the Dutch exec oversaw Vertu's departure from Nokia and subsequently launched the company's first-ever Android device, the Ti. Little is known about the reasons behind this change, but judging by Oosting's considerable knowledge of the luxury goods market, he'll have plenty of options for his next move.
The luxury phone maker will now be led by CMO Massimiliano "Max" Pogliani (pictured right), who's probably best known for building up Nespresso, Nestlé's premium coffee brand, prior to joining Vertu last November. Pogliani will be assisted by ex-Jimmy Choo COO Jonathan Sinclair, who joined Vertu this month under the same title. Press release after the break.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
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Apple OS X Mavericks 10.9 preview
There was no OS XI at WWDC. There was no plan to reinvent the wheel. The takeaway message at the launch event was simple: Apple is committed to OS X. What that means, in the long run (naming scheme aside) is that changes to the desktop will probably continue to be gradual. New features will be added and things will evolve over time. Like other recent versions of OS X, version 10.9 Mavericks follows the lead of iOS, culling from its most successful features -- though there's nothing on the order of iOS 7's dramatic redesign in store. But while the iPhone operating system seems to have taken the lead in terms of innovation, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of feature crippling in Mavericks, which some feared would come with the mobilization of the OS.
In fact, there are a number of welcome upgrades here -- things like folder tabs, tags and a more interactive Notification Center will likely improve the workflow of many Mac users. Built-in apps like Safari and Calendar have gotten nice facelifts, as well. We've spent a few days with the most recent build of OS X and are ready to give you a peek at what you're in store for, come fall. Still, knowing Apple, the company's likely still got a couple of tricks up its sleeve.
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WikiLeaks: Snowden going to Ecuador to seek asylum
A TV screen shows a news report of Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee who leaked top-secret documents about sweeping U.S. surveillance programs, at a shopping mall in Hong Kong Sunday, June 23, 2013. The former National Security Agency contractor wanted by the United States for revealing two highly classified surveillance programs has been allowed to leave for a "third country" because a U.S. extradition request did not fully comply with Hong Kong law, the territory's government said Sunday. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
A TV screen shows a news report of Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee who leaked top-secret documents about sweeping U.S. surveillance programs, at a shopping mall in Hong Kong Sunday, June 23, 2013. The former National Security Agency contractor wanted by the United States for revealing two highly classified surveillance programs has been allowed to leave for a "third country" because a U.S. extradition request did not fully comply with Hong Kong law, the territory's government said Sunday. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
Graphic shows key locations in the life and career of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden; 3c x 5 inches; 146 mm x 127 mm;
Journalists show passengers arriving from Hong Kong a tablet with a photo of Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee who leaked top-secret documents about sweeping U.S. surveillance programs, at Sheremetyevo airport, just outside Moscow, Russia, Sunday, June 23, 2013. The former National Security Agency contractor wanted by the United States for revealing two highly classified surveillance programs has been allowed to leave for a "third country" because a U.S. extradition request did not fully comply with Hong Kong law, the territory's government said Sunday. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
FILE - In this ?ug. 1, 2012 file photo, Ecuador's President Rafael Correa, right, holds the hands of Christine Assange, the mother of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, during their meeting in Quito, Ecuador. Correa has embraced his role as a thorn in the side of Washington before, railing against imperialism in speeches and giving Julian Assange refuge in his embassy in London. But nothing he has done to infuriate the United States likely would rankle as much as granting the asylum being sought by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. WikiLeaks said Sunday, June 23, 2013 that Snowden formally requested asylum from Ecuador and the South American country's foreign minister confirmed receiving the request. The woman at center is a translator. (AP Photo/Martin Jaramillo, File)
FILE - In this June 21, 2013 file photo, a banner supporting Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee who leaked top-secret documents about sweeping U.S. surveillance programs, is displayed at Central, Hong Kong's business district. The Hong Kong government says Snowden wanted by the U.S. for revealing two highly classified surveillance programs has left for a "third country." The South China Morning Post reported Sunday, June 23, 2013 that Snowden was on a plane for Moscow, but that Russia was not his final destination. Snowden has talked of seeking asylum in Iceland. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Admitted leaker Edward Snowden took flight Sunday in evasion of U.S. authorities, seeking asylum in Ecuador and leaving the Obama administration scrambling to determine its next step in what became a game of diplomatic cat-and-mouse.
The former National Security Agency contractor and CIA technician fled Hong Kong and arrived at the Moscow airport, where he planned to spend the night before boarding an Aeroflot flight to Cuba. Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said his government received an asylum request from Snowden, and the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks said it would help him.
"He goes to the very countries that have, at best, very tense relationships with the United States," said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., adding that she feared Snowden would trade more U.S. secrets for asylum. "This is not going to play out well for the national security interests of the United States."
The move left the U.S. with limited options as Snowden's itinerary took him on a tour of what many see as anti-American capitals. Ecuador in particular has rejected the United States' previous efforts at cooperation, and has been helping WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, avoid prosecution by allowing him to stay at its embassy in London.
Snowden gave The Guardian and The Washington Post documents disclosing U.S. surveillance programs that collect vast amounts of phone records and online data in the name of foreign intelligence, but often sweep up information on American citizens. Officials have the ability to collect phone and Internet information broadly but need a warrant to examine specific cases where they believe terrorism is involved.
Snowden had been in hiding for several weeks in Hong Kong, a former British colony with a high degree of autonomy from mainland China. The United States formally sought Snowden's extradition from Hong Kong but was rebuffed; Hong Kong officials said the U.S. request did not fully comply with their laws.
The Justice Department rejected that claim, saying its request met all of the requirements of the extradition treaty between the U.S. and Hong Kong.
During conversations last week, including a phone call Wednesday between Attorney General Eric Holder and Hong Kong Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen, Hong Kong officials never raised any issues regarding sufficiency of the U.S. request, a Justice spokesperson said.
A State Department official said the United States was in touch through diplomatic and law enforcement channels with countries that Snowden could travel through or to, reminding them that Snowden is wanted on criminal charges and reiterating Washington's position that Snowden should only be permitted to travel back to the U.S.
Those officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the case.
The Justice Department said it would "pursue relevant law enforcement cooperation with other countries where Mr. Snowden may be attempting to travel."
The White House would only say that President Barack Obama had been briefed on the developments by his national security advisers.
Russia's state ITAR-Tass news agency and Interfax cited an unnamed Aeroflot airline official as saying Snowden was on the plane that landed Sunday afternoon in Moscow.
Upon his arrival, Snowden did not leave Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport. One explanation could be that he wasn't allowed; a U.S. official said Snowden's passport had been revoked, and special permission from Russian authorities would have been needed.
"It's almost hopeless unless we find some ways to lean on them," said Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y.
The Russian media report said Snowden intended to fly to Cuba on Monday and then on to Caracas, Venezuela.
U.S. lawmakers scoffed. "The freedom trail is not exactly China-Russia-Cuba-Venezuela, so I hope we'll chase him to the ends of the earth, bring him to justice and let the Russians know there'll be consequences if they harbor this guy," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
With each suspected flight, efforts to secure Snowden's return to the United States appeared more complicated if not impossible. The United States does not have an extradition treaty with Russia, but does with Cuba, Venezuela and Ecuador. Even with an extradition agreement though, any country could give Snowden a political exemption.
The likelihood that any of these countries would stop Snowden from traveling on to Ecuador seemed remote. While diplomatic tensions have thawed in recent years, Cuba and the United States are hardly allies after a half century of distrust.
Venezuela, too, could prove difficult. Former President Hugo Chavez was a sworn enemy of the United States and his successor, Nicolas Maduro, earlier this year called Obama "grand chief of devils." The two countries do not exchange ambassadors.
U.S. pressure on Caracas also might be problematic given its energy exports. The U.S. Energy Information Agency reports Venezuela sent the United States 900,000 barrels of crude oil each day in 2012, making it the fourth-largest foreign source of U.S. oil.
"I think 10 percent of Snowden's issues are now legal, and 90 percent political," said Douglas McNabb, an expert in international extradition and a senior principal at international criminal defense firm McNabb Associates.
Assange's lawyer, Michael Ratner, said Snowden's options aren't numerous.
"You have to have a country that's going to stand up to the United States," Ratner said. "You're not talking about a huge range of countries here."
That is perhaps why Snowden first stopped in Russia, a nation with complicated relations with Washington.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is "aiding and abetting Snowden's escape," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
"Allies are supposed to treat each other in decent ways, and Putin always seems almost eager to put a finger in the eye of the United States," Schumer said. "That's not how allies should treat one another, and I think it will have serious consequences for the United States-Russia relationship."
It also wasn't clear Snowden was finished with disclosing highly classified information.
"I am very worried about what else he has," said Rep. Loretta Sanchez, a California Democrat who sits on the House Homeland Security Committee.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said she had been told Snowden had perhaps more than 200 sensitive documents.
Ros-Lehtinen and King spoke with CNN. Graham spoke to "Fox News Sunday." Schumer was on CNN's "State of the Union." Sanchez appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press." Feinstein was on CBS' "Face the Nation."
___
Associated Press White House Correspondent Julie Pace and Associated Press writers Matthew V. Lee and Frederic J. Frommer in Washington, Lynn Berry in Moscow, Kevin Chan in Hong Kong and Sylvia Hui in London contributed to this report.
___
Follow Philip Elliott on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/philip_elliott
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Gunmen kill police officer, driver in Pakistan
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) ? Police say gunmen on motorcycles have killed a mid-ranking police officer and his driver in northwest Pakistan.
Police officer Mohammed Ibrahim Khan says Amanullah Khan, a deputy superintendent, and his driver were killed Monday in the main northwest city of Peshawar. Khan was in charge of the traffic police in Peshawar.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion will likely fall on the Pakistani Taliban.
The group is based in Pakistan's semiautonomous tribal region along the border with Afghanistan and has been waging a bloody insurgency against the government for years.
Peshawar is located on the edge of the tribal region and has been hit by hundreds of attacks over the years.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gunmen-kill-police-officer-driver-pakistan-055507452.html
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Obama to lay out climate change plan in speech on Tuesday
By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Saturday that he will outline a climate change plan on Tuesday centered around reducing pollution from carbon emissions as he attempts to make good on a pledge for his second term.
"This Tuesday, I'll lay out my vision for where I believe we need to go - a national plan to reduce carbon pollution, prepare our country for the impacts of climate change and lead global efforts to fight it," he said in a White House video.
Obama made tackling climate change a top priority in his inaugural address in January when he began his second term. His speech will be at Georgetown University, the day before he goes on a three-nation tour of Africa.
In his video message, Obama outlined what would be a major national effort to address climate change. He said scientists will be needed to design new fuels, farmers to grow them, engineers to devise new sources of energy and workers to build the foundation for a clean energy economy.
"There's no single step that can reverse the effects of climate change. But when it comes to the world we leave our children, we owe it to them to do what we can," he said.
Sources familiar with his plans have said Obama is likely to roll out a number of measures on climate policy. They may include a strategy to limit greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants, which account for roughly 40 percent of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions.
Controlling carbon dioxide, a byproduct of burning coal and other fossil fuels, is seen as a vital step in confronting climate change.
Federal regulations are still pending on power plants that have yet to be built, after the Environmental Protection Agency missed an April deadline to roll out emissions rules.
However, environmentalists have been pushing Obama's administration to go after a bigger target and set tighter standards for the roughly 1,400 coal-fired burners that already feed the nation's electric grid.
It is unclear if Obama's speech on Tuesday will make any reference to TransCanada Corp's proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would transport heavy crude oil from Canada's oil sands region to the refineries on the Gulf Coast.
Opponents say the 830,000-barrel-per-day pipeline, which awaits U.S. approval, would raise greenhouse gas emissions and lock the United States into oil dependency for decades into the future.
The White House's top energy and climate adviser, Heather Zichal, said recently that Obama will take several steps to make tackling climate change a second-term priority.
"In the near term, we are very much focused on the power plant piece of the equation," she said at an energy and environment forum.
Besides framing power plant emissions in the context of climate change, many of the steps outlined by Obama to curb demand for carbon-based fuels are likely to be modest.
He is likely to talk about the importance of conserving energy, for example.
Other steps he could announce include an expansion of energy efficiency standards for appliances and accelerate clean energy development on public lands. Another move could be to raise onshore oil and gas royalties, which was suggested by the administration earlier this year.
(Additional reporting by Patrick Rucker, Valerie Volcovici and Jeff Mason.; Editing by Eric Beech and Christopher Wilson)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-lay-climate-change-plan-speech-tuesday-044954622.html
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Is a two-track Europe already here?
European leaders have long rejected the idea that the EU is developing into a region of haves and have-nots. But a look at the news today suggests it's happening just the same.
Protesters shout slogans during a rally outside the Greek state television ERT headquarters during a 24-hour general strike in Athens, on Thursday, June 13, 2013. Greece's fragile governing coalition failed to reach a compromise Wednesday about the closure of the state-run ERT broadcaster.
Kostas Tsironis/AP
EnlargeThe question of a two-track Europe, or one that becomes a union of insiders and outsiders, of winners and losers, has loomed as the continent struggles out of its debt crisis.
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Sara Miller Llana?moved to Paris in April 2013 to become the Monitor's Europe Bureau?Chief. Previously she was the?paper's?Latin America Bureau Chief, based in Mexico City, from 2006 to 2013.
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The notion has been rejected by a host of European leaders and thinkers. But this week?s news in Europe already shows how well underway it already is.
Take the Europe page of the BBC?s website this morning.
One photo featured Greeks congregating for a strike, after their state broadcaster was unexpectedly shut down in a cost-savings measure. Another captured Germans congregating, but this time it is dignitaries in Berlin inaugurating the reconstruction of King Frederick the Great?s palace.
Greeks were caught off-guard after their public broadcaster ERT went black around midnight on Tuesday. The new anchor?s last words: ?The riot police are moving toward the transmitters to switch them off.... This is official information we have.?
The move is the first of a series of planned closures this year in Greek institutions to reduce national debt and secure bailout funds from the EU.
ERT was founded in 1938 with an educational, non-commercial mission, writes our correspondent in Athens. For many rural Greeks, it?s the only channel they can access.? But Prime Minister Antonis Samaras called ERT "the symbol of waste and lack of transparency.?
On the same day that Greeks woke up to find their state channel black, Germany?s President Joachim Gauck laid the first stone for the reconstruction project of what was once, as the BBC puts it, one of the world?s grandest buildings.
The rebuilding of King Frederick the Great's palace, which housed the kings of Prussia from 1701, will cost about 600 million euros funded largely by taxpayer money.
The fa?ade of the opulent building, some of which dated to the 15th century, will be recreated, while inside the modern remake will preserve Germany?s cultural identity with pieces of art and other historic gems.
The building was damaged in World War II and then completely dynamited in 1950 by communists, who then rebuilt the Palace of the Republic.
The diverging fates of the continent have dismayed some. Greeks have angrily compared the rise of Germany today to the imbalances that grew in the 1930s. Many consider that unfair and historically wrong.
But as Germany is able in a positive way to recapture lost history from the 20th century, what Greeks are experiencing now is a more unfortunate echo of that era, at least in one way: It's the first time ERT has been off the air since World War II, points out the AP.
When Nazi troops marched into Greece's nearly deserted capital on April 27, 1941, radio announcer Costas Stavropoulos of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corp. announced the grim news. He urged his countrymen and women not to listen to future Nazi radio transmissions and signed off with the Greek national anthem. It was the only time the state broadcaster ? also known as ERT ? had ceased to operate from its birth three years earlier. That is, until Tuesday, when Prime Minister Antonis Samaras' government shut ERT down and fired its 2,500 employees to prove to Greece's international lenders that he was serious about cutting the country's bloated public sector. Its TV and radio signals went dead early Wednesday.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/YxuIQjrveZU/Is-a-two-track-Europe-already-here
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Sunday, June 23, 2013
Vatican paper contests study on alleged Nazi collaborator
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican newspaper said on Saturday a decision by scholars to brand a wartime Italian previously praised for saving Jews as a Nazi collaborator was part of an attempt to smear the Catholic Church during the papacy of Pope Pius XII.
An article, titled "To Strike at the Church of Pius XII" and written by historian Anna Foa, said the decision to re-classify Giovanni Palatucci, a Catholic, as a collaborator was at best hasty and more study was needed.
Palatucci had been previously credited with saving around 5,000 Jews while he was police official in the city of Fiume, now part of Croatia. He died in the Dachau concentration camp in Germany in 1945 at the age of 35.
In 1990, Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial honored Palatucci as a Righteous Among the Nations, the highest recognition for those who helped Jews during World War Two.
But earlier this week The New York Times reported that the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington was removing mention of his exploits from an exhibition after officials learned of new evidence that purports to show he was a Nazi collaborator.
In her article in the Vatican newspaper, Foa, a Jewish-Italian author and historian at Rome's La Sapienza University, said the target of the move against Palatucci was "the Church of Pius XII".
"The impression is that ... in targeting Palatucci the desire was essentially to hit a Catholic involved in rescuing Jews ..., " she wrote.
"But this is ideology and not history," she wrote.
The issue of whether the Vatican and the Church under Pius XII did all it could to help Jews had dogged Catholic-Jewish relations for decades. Pius reigned from 1939 to 1958.
Critics of Pius say he turned a blind eye to the Holocaust but his supporters say he worked behind the scenes to encourage the Church to save Jews because speaking out more forcefully would have worsened the situation for all.
Foa wrote that more documentation and study was necessary about Palatucci "from comparisons with other situations and not from interpretation".
The New York Times article said more than a dozen scholars from the Centro Primo Levi at the Center for Jewish History in New York reviewed nearly 700 documents before concluding that Palatucci was a Nazi collaborator and not a savior of Jews.
Among other things, the scholars concluded that Palatucci was sent to Dachau not because he helped Jews but because German occupiers accused him of embezzlement and treason.
(Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/vatican-paper-contests-study-alleged-nazi-collaborator-203325686.html
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Saturday, June 22, 2013
Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine: Stanford's Research Provides Hope for Patients With Narcolepsy
Julie Flygare and Dr. Emmanuel Mignot at the SLEEP 2013 meeting in Baltimore.
On a recent trip to San Francisco, I boarded a train headed south to Palo Alto to visit the Stanford Center for Narcolepsy. As the train whizzed through the Bay Area, I reflected on my long and unexpected journey to arrive at this point.
In 2005, I awoke one night to a burglar breaking into my apartment. I'd recently graduated from Brown University and moved into my first "grown up" apartment with a friend in Boston. On this evening, a man in a dark brown hoodie approached me with his arms stretched out toward my neck. I squirmed to get away, but couldn't move. My body was unresponsive, as if wearing a straitjacket.
A few minutes later, I could move again and sat up abruptly, my heart racing with adrenaline pumping. Where was the intruder now? The apartment was silent and all the windows and doors were securely locked. I went back to sleep, confused.
Later that year, I was laughing with a friend about a joke when my knees buckled slightly, as if someone had poked behind my knees. The weakness felt dramatic inside but passed quickly before I was sure what had happened.
This strange momentary weakness began happening every few weeks and started affecting my arms and neck as well. More emotions brought it on -- like annoyance, sexual pleasure, and surprise.
In the fall of 2006, I entered law school, excited for the academic challenges ahead. Before long, I was struggling more than I'd imagined, unable to stay awake in class and while studying at night. Where was my strong willpower?
One morning toward the end of my first year of law school, I awoke in my school's parking lot, unable to recall arriving there. I'd driven just 15 minutes in the morning after getting nine hours to sleep.
"Maybe I have a sleep problem," I said to myself for the first time.
By this time, burglars and other realistic night visitors invaded my sleep regularly. My body continued collapsing with emotions and had gotten worse. Now, I was falling to the ground for a minute or two, paralyzed and unable to speak or move, but remaining conscious and aware of my surroundings.
After multiple primary care doctors missed my diagnosis, I randomly mentioned my knee-buckling laughter to a sports medicine therapist who thought she'd heard of something like that called "cataplexy." At home, I Googled "cataplexy" and discovered it was defined as sudden muscle weakness often triggered by emotion. This described my knee-buckling laughter precisely.
I learned that cataplexy was a symptom of narcolepsy. Other symptoms included excessive daytime sleepiness, hypnagogic hallucinations, and sleep paralysis. Excessive daytime sleepiness offered a possible explanation for my difficulties staying awake. My realistic nighttime burglar experiences sounded a lot like hypnagogic hallucinations and sleep paralysis.
Soon thereafter, I visited a narcolepsy specialist and in September of 2007, at the age of 24, I was officially diagnosed with "narcolepsy with cataplexy," a neurological sleep disorder affecting one in 2,000 Americans and 3 million people worldwide, according to the Narcolepsy Network.
Adjusting to narcolepsy in law school wasn't easy. The treatments improved my symptoms but did not erase them. The medications' side effects left me nauseated and sick in other ways. A few months after the diagnosis, I reached an all-time low, realizing narcolepsy was a serious illness I would face every day of my life. There was no cure.
A half year later, I sat in the silent law school library reading a New York Times article about a researcher named Dr. Emmanuel Mignot, Director of Stanford University's Center for Narcolepsy. Dr. Mignot was unraveling the mysteries of narcolepsy and the possible autoimmune pathology.
The article described: "Dr. Mignot is optimistic about cracking the immune-system connection in narcolepsy soon. 'I don't care actually even if it's going to take a long time,' he said. 'I'm ready to cross deserts.'"
In the article, another doctor states that Dr. Mignot was ideally suited for this work, describing, "This is what is good about Mignot. He is relentless."
Goosebumps raised on my arms as I read this description of Dr. Mignot, a relentless researcher crossing deserts for narcolepsy. That day in the library, I vowed to do my part to help Dr. Mignot build a brighter future for narcolepsy. Although not a scientist, I was determined to make a contribution.
After graduating from law school, I moved to Washington, D.C. to write a memoir and advocate for narcolepsy research on Capitol Hill. I also ran the Boston Marathon in 2010 to raise funds for Dr. Mignot's research.
A few years later, while visiting San Francisco, I made the journey to Palo Alto to finally meet the man behind the magic, the Wizard of Narcolepsy.
Arriving at the Center for Narcolepsy's lab, I gave blood for research purposes and met various researchers exploring the mysteries of sleep and narcolepsy. The scientists patiently translated their work to me. Although some terms went over my head, coming together was joyful, a celebration of our mutual passion for the future of sleep and narcolepsy research.
Last but not least, I had the honor of meeting Dr. Mignot in person. He enthusiastically described his research priorities for the coming years.
"I have some crazy ideas too," he said with a smile and sparkle in his eye.
I couldn't help but chuckle. Dr. Mignot having "some crazy ideas" was great news.
As a person with narcolepsy, I face adversity daily. On hard days, I take solace in knowing that the Wizard of Narcolepsy and his fellow researchers at Stanford are working tirelessly and making progress. Their science is our hope.
Julie Flygare, JD is a leading narcolepsy spokesperson and author of Wide Awake and Dreaming: A Memoir of Narcolepsy. She writes the popular REM Runner blog, organizes the National Sleep Walk, and serves on NIH's Sleep Disorder Research Advisory Board. She is also a patient of the Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine. This Center is the birthplace of sleep medicine and includes research, clinical, and educational programs that have advanced the field and improved patient care for decades. To learn more, visit us at: http://sleep.stanford.edu/.
Sources:
Narcolepsy Network. Accessed: June 17, 2013.
Narcolepsy Fact Sheet. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Accessed: June 17, 2013.
For more from the Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine, click here.
For more on sleep, click here.
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FAA moving toward easing electronic device use
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Relief may be on the way for airline passengers who can't bear to be separated even briefly from their personal electronic devices. The government is moving toward allowing gate-to-gate use of music players, tablets, laptops, smartphones and other gadgets, although it may take a few months.
Restrictions on cellphone calls and Internet use and transmission are not expected to be changed.
An industry-labor advisory committee was supposed to make recommendations next month to the Federal Aviation Administration on easing restrictions on using electronic devices during takeoffs and landings. But the agency said in a statement Friday the deadline has been extended to September because committee members asked for extra time to finish assessing whether it's safe to lift restrictions.
"The FAA recognizes consumers are intensely interested in the use of personal electronics aboard aircraft; that is why we tasked a government-industry group to examine the safety issues and the feasibility of changing the current restrictions," the statement said.
The agency is under public and political pressure to ease the restrictions as more people bring their devices with them when they fly in order to read e-books, listen to music, watch videos, and get work done.
Technically, the FAA doesn't bar use of electronic devices when aircraft are below 10,000 feet. But under FAA rules, airlines that want to let passengers use the devices are faced with a practical impossibility ? they would have to show that they've tested every type and make of device passengers would use to ensure there is no electromagnetic interference with aircraft radios and electrical and electronic systems.
As a result, U.S. airlines simply bar all electric device use below 10,000 feet. Airline accidents are most likely to occur during takeoffs, landings and taxiing.
Using cellphones to make calls on planes is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. There is concern that making calls from fast-flying planes might strain cellular systems, interfering with service on the ground. There is also the potential annoyance factor ? whether passengers will be unhappy if they have to listen to other passengers yakking on the phone.
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that a draft report by the advisory committee indicates its 28 members have reached a consensus that at least some of the current restrictions should be eased.
A member of the committee told The Associated Press that while the draft report is an attempt to reach consensus, no formal agreement has yet been reached. The member was not authorized to discuss the committee's private deliberations and requested anonymity.
There are also still safety concerns, the member said. The electrical interference generated by today's devices is much lower than those of a decade ago, but many more passengers today are carrying electronics.
Any plan to allow gate-to-gate electronic use would also come with certification processes for new and existing aircraft to ensure that they are built or modified to mitigate those risks. Steps to be taken could include ensuring that all navigational antennas are angled away from the plane's doors and windows. Planes that are already certified for Wi-Fi would probably be more easily certified.
Although the restrictions have been broadly criticized as unnecessary, committee members saw value in them.
One of the considerations being weighed is whether some heavier devices like laptops should continue to be restricted because they might become dangerous projectiles, hurting other passengers during a crash, the committee member said. There is less concern about tablets and other lighter devices.
FAA officials would still have the final say. An official familiar with FAA's efforts on the issue said agency officials would like to find a way to allow passengers to use electronic devices during takeoffs and landings the same way they're already allowed to use them when planes are cruising above 10,000 feet. The official requested anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak by name.
FAA Administrator Michael Huerta told a Senate panel in April that he convened the advisory committee in the hope of working out changes to the restrictions.
"It's good to see the FAA may be on the verge of acknowledging what the traveling public has suspected for years ? that current rules are arbitrary and lack real justification," Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., one of Congress' more outspoken critics of the restrictions, said in a statement. She contends that unless scientific evidence can be presented to justify the restrictions, they should be lifted.
Edward Pizzarello, the co-founder of frequent flier discussion site MilePoint, says lifting the restriction is "long overdue."
"I actually feel like this regulation has been toughest on flight attendants. Nobody wants to shut off their phone, and the flight attendants are always left to be the bad guys and gals," said Pizzarello, 38, of Leesburg, Va.
Actor Alec Baldwin became the face of passenger frustration with the restrictions in 2011 when he was kicked off a New York-bound flight in Los Angeles for refusing to turn off his cellphone. Baldwin later issued an apology to fellow American Airlines passengers who were delayed, but mocked the flight attendant on Twitter.
"I just hope they do the sensible thing and don't allow people to talk on their cellphones during flight," said Pizzarello, who flies 150,000 to 200,000 miles a year. "There are plenty of people that don't have the social skills necessary to make a phone call on a plane without annoying the people around them. Some things are better left alone."
___
Mayerowitz reported from New York.
___
Follow Joan Lowy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/AP_Joan_Lowy
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/faa-moving-toward-easing-electronic-device-183139775.html
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Friday, June 21, 2013
Federal nullification efforts mounting in states
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Imagine the scenario: A federal agent attempts to arrest someone for illegally selling a machine gun. Instead, the federal agent is arrested ? charged in a state court with the crime of enforcing federal gun laws.
Farfetched? Not as much as you might think.
The scenario would become conceivable if legislation passed by Missouri's Republican-led Legislature is signed into law by Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon.
The Missouri legislation is perhaps the most extreme example of a states' rights movement that has been spreading across the nation. States are increasingly adopting laws that purport to nullify federal laws ? setting up intentional legal conflicts, directing local police not to enforce federal laws and, in rare cases, even threatening criminal charges for federal agents who dare to do their jobs.
An Associated Press analysis found that about four-fifths of the states now have enacted local laws that directly reject or ignore federal laws on marijuana use, gun control, health insurance requirements and identification standards for driver's licenses. The recent trend began in Democratic leaning California with a 1996 medical marijuana law and has proliferated lately in Republican strongholds like Kansas, where Gov. Sam Brownback this spring became the first to sign a measure threatening felony charges against federal agents who enforce certain firearms laws in his state.
Some states, such as Montana and Arizona, have said "no" to the feds again and again ? passing states' rights measures on all four subjects examined by the AP ? despite questions about whether their "no" carries any legal significance.
"It seems that there has been an uptick in nullification efforts from both the left and the right," said Adam Winkler, a professor at the University of California at Los Angeles who specializes in constitutional law.
Yet "the law is clear ? the supremacy clause (of the U.S. Constitution) says specifically that the federal laws are supreme over contrary state laws, even if the state doesn't like those laws," Winkler added.
The fact that U.S. courts have repeatedly upheld federal laws over conflicting state ones hasn't stopped some states from flouting those federal laws ? sometimes successfully.
About 20 states now have medical marijuana laws allowing people to use pot to treat chronic pain and other ailments ? despite a federal law that still criminalizes marijuana distribution and possession. Ceding ground to the states, President Barack Obama's administration has made it known to federal prosecutors that it wasn't worth their time to target those people.
Federal authorities have repeatedly delayed implementation of the 2005 Real ID Act, an anti-terrorism law that set stringent requirements for photo identification cards to be used to board commercial flights or enter federal buildings. The law has been stymied, in part, because about half the state legislatures have opposed its implementation, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
About 20 states have enacted measures challenging Obama's 2010 health care laws, many of which specifically reject the provision mandating that most people have health insurance or face tax penalties beginning in 2014.
After Montana passed a 2009 law declaring that federal firearms regulations don't apply to guns made and kept in that state, eight other states have enacted similar laws. Gun activist Gary Marbut said he crafted the Montana measure as a foundation for a legal challenge to the federal power to regulate interstate commerce under the U.S. Constitution. His lawsuit was dismissed by a trial judge but is now pending before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
"The states created this federal monster, and so it's time for the states to get their monster on a leash," said Marbut, president of the Montana Shooting Sports Association.
The Supreme Court ruled in 1997 that local police could not be compelled to carry out provisions of a federal gun control law. But some states are now attempting to take that a step further by asserting that certain federal laws can't even be enforced by federal authorities.
A new Kansas law makes it a felony for a federal agent to attempt to enforce laws on guns made and owned in Kansas. A similar Wyoming law, passed in 2010, made it a misdemeanor. The Missouri bill also would declare it a misdemeanor crime but would apply more broadly to all federal gun laws and regulations ? past, present, or future ? that "infringe on the people's right to keep and bear arms."
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder sent a letter in late April to the Kansas governor warning that the federal government is willing to go to court over the new law.
"Kansas may not prevent federal employees and officials from carrying out their official responsibilities," Holder wrote.
Federal authorities in the western district of Missouri led the nation in prosecutions for federal weapons offenses through the first seven months of the 2013 fiscal year, with Kansas close behind, according to a data clearinghouse at Syracuse University.
Felons illegally possessing firearms is the most common charge nationally. But the Missouri measure sets it sights on nullifying federal firearms registrations and, among other things, a 1934 law that imposes a tax on transferring machine guns or silencers. Last year, the federal government prosecuted 83 people nationally for unlawful possession of machine guns.
So what would happen if a local prosecutor actually charges a federal agent for doing his or her job?
"They're going to have problems if they do it ? there's no doubt about it," said Michael Boldin, executive director of the Tenth Amendment Center, a Los Angeles-based entity that promotes states' rights. "There's no federal court in the country that's going to say that a state can pull this off."
Yet states may never need to prosecute federal agents in order to make their point.
If enough states resist, "it's going to be very difficult for the federal government to force their laws down our throats," Boldin said.
Missouri's governor has not said whether he will sign or veto the bill nullifying federal gun laws. Meanwhile, thousands of people have sent online messages to the governor's office about the legislation.
Signing the measure "will show other states how to resist the tyranny of federal bureaucrats who want to rob you of your right to self-defense," said one message, signed by Jim and Arlena Sowash, who own a gun shop in rural Stover, Mo.
Others urged a veto.
"Outlandish bills like this ? completely flouting our federal system ? make Missouri the laughingstock of the nation," said a message written by Ann Havelka, of the Kansas City suburb of Gladstone.
___
Follow David A. Lieb at: http://www.twitter.com/DavidALieb
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/federal-nullification-efforts-mounting-states-125044420.html
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This Tiny Wooden Speaker Turns Your Glasses Into Equalizers
Chances are you've used an equalizer before, and chances are there was a lot of blindly turning dials and hoping something good happened. The Timbre Speaker embraces exactly that kind of blind experimentation by using nothing but two glasses for its sound control.
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Research reveals low exposure of excellent work by female scientists
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Public release date: 21-Jun-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Amy Stone
a.f.stone@sheffield.ac.uk
01-142-221-046
University of Sheffield
Scientists at the University of Sheffield have found that high quality science by female academics is underrepresented in comparison to that of their male counterparts.
The researchers analysed the genders of invited speakers at the most prestigious gatherings of evolutionary biologists in Europe - six biannual congresses of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB) and found that male speakers outnumbered women.
Even in comparison to the numbers of women and men among world class scientists from the world top ranked institutions for life sciences, and authors in the top-tier journals Nature and Science - women were still underrepresented among invited speakers.
The researchers also found that women were underrepresented at the 2011 congress because men accepted invitations more often than women.
Dr Hannah Dugdale from the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, explained: "It's important that we understand why this is happening and what we can do to address it high quality science by women has low exposure at international level and this is constraining evolutionary biology from reaching its full potential. We're currently investigating the reasons behind this lower acceptance rate it could relate to childcare requirements, lower perception of scientific ability, being uncomfortable with self-promotion there are many potential contributing factors."
Dr Julia Schroeder, a scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Ornitholgoy in Germany said: "The most demanding phase of a career in Biology, when it is important to communicate one's findings, and to build networks with other scientists, coincides with the age at which women's fertility starts to decline, meaning it is their last chance to have a family - unlike men. Thus, women scientists of this career phase may be pregnant, or have children. Stay-at-home-dads are rare, therefore, these women are less flexible about travelling for work, and may be more likely to decline invitations to speak. We have yet to investigate whether this is indeed the cause, but it is a likely factor that starts the downward spiral: lower exposure and fewer networking opportunities are costly to the career. Fewer women in top positions mean fewer female role models for students who aspire to be scientists."
Kirsty Grainger, Head of Skills and Careers at the Natural Environment Research Council said: "Taking action to foster a culture that supports equality and diversity within research and that encourages better representation and support for women at all stages of their career is extremely important. We need to ensure that we attract and retain the brightest and best researchers, regardless of their background, into the UK research base. Understanding and addressing disincentives and indirect obstacles to recruitment, retention and progression in research careers is an essential part of this".
###
Additional information
The research has been published by the Journal of Evolutionary Biology and the full paper can be downloaded here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jeb.12198/abstract
[ | 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: 21-Jun-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Amy Stone
a.f.stone@sheffield.ac.uk
01-142-221-046
University of Sheffield
Scientists at the University of Sheffield have found that high quality science by female academics is underrepresented in comparison to that of their male counterparts.
The researchers analysed the genders of invited speakers at the most prestigious gatherings of evolutionary biologists in Europe - six biannual congresses of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB) and found that male speakers outnumbered women.
Even in comparison to the numbers of women and men among world class scientists from the world top ranked institutions for life sciences, and authors in the top-tier journals Nature and Science - women were still underrepresented among invited speakers.
The researchers also found that women were underrepresented at the 2011 congress because men accepted invitations more often than women.
Dr Hannah Dugdale from the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, explained: "It's important that we understand why this is happening and what we can do to address it high quality science by women has low exposure at international level and this is constraining evolutionary biology from reaching its full potential. We're currently investigating the reasons behind this lower acceptance rate it could relate to childcare requirements, lower perception of scientific ability, being uncomfortable with self-promotion there are many potential contributing factors."
Dr Julia Schroeder, a scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Ornitholgoy in Germany said: "The most demanding phase of a career in Biology, when it is important to communicate one's findings, and to build networks with other scientists, coincides with the age at which women's fertility starts to decline, meaning it is their last chance to have a family - unlike men. Thus, women scientists of this career phase may be pregnant, or have children. Stay-at-home-dads are rare, therefore, these women are less flexible about travelling for work, and may be more likely to decline invitations to speak. We have yet to investigate whether this is indeed the cause, but it is a likely factor that starts the downward spiral: lower exposure and fewer networking opportunities are costly to the career. Fewer women in top positions mean fewer female role models for students who aspire to be scientists."
Kirsty Grainger, Head of Skills and Careers at the Natural Environment Research Council said: "Taking action to foster a culture that supports equality and diversity within research and that encourages better representation and support for women at all stages of their career is extremely important. We need to ensure that we attract and retain the brightest and best researchers, regardless of their background, into the UK research base. Understanding and addressing disincentives and indirect obstacles to recruitment, retention and progression in research careers is an essential part of this".
###
Additional information
The research has been published by the Journal of Evolutionary Biology and the full paper can be downloaded here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jeb.12198/abstract
[ | 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/2013-06/uos-rrl062113.php
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