Apr. 28, 2013 ? As temperatures warm, plants release gases that help form clouds and cool the atmosphere, according to research from IIASA and the University of Helsinki.
The new study, published in Nature Geoscience, identified a negative feedback loop in which higher temperatures lead to an increase in concentrations of natural aerosols that have a cooling effect on the atmosphere.
"Plants, by reacting to changes in temperature, also moderate these changes," says IIASA and University of Helsinki researcher Pauli Paasonen, who led the study.
Scientists had known that some aerosols -- particles that float in the atmosphere -- cool the climate as they reflect sunlight and form cloud droplets, which reflect sunlight efficiently. Aerosol particles come from many sources, including human emissions. But the effect of so-called biogenic aerosol -- particulate matter that originates from plants -- had been less well understood. Plants release gases that, after atmospheric oxidation, tend to stick to aerosol particles, growing them into the larger-sized particles that reflect sunlight and also serve as the basis for cloud droplets. The new study showed that as temperatures warm and plants consequently release more of these gases, the concentrations of particles active in cloud formation increase.
"Everyone knows the scent of the forest," says Ari Asmi, University of Helsinki researcher who also worked on the study. "That scent is made up of these gases." While previous research had predicted the feedback effect, until now nobody had been able to prove its existence except for case studies limited to single sites and short time periods. The new study showed that the effect occurs over the long-term in continental size scales.
The effect of enhanced plant gas emissions on climate is small on a global scale -- only countering approximately 1 percent of climate warming, the study suggested. "This does not save us from climate warming," says Paasonen. However, he says, "Aerosol effects on climate are one of the main uncertainties in climate models. Understanding this mechanism could help us reduce those uncertainties and make the models better."
The study also showed that the effect was much larger on a regional scale, counteracting possibly up to 30% of warming in more rural, forested areas where anthropogenic emissions of aerosols were much lower in comparison to the natural aerosols. That means that especially in places like Finland, Siberia, and Canada this feedback loop may reduce warming substantially.
The researchers collected data at 11 different sites around the world, measuring the concentrations of aerosol particles in the atmosphere, along with the concentrations of plant gases, the temperature, and reanalysis estimates for the height of the boundary layer, which turned out to be a key variable. The boundary layer refers to the layer of air closest to the Earth, in which gases and particles mix effectively. The height of that layer changes with weather. Paasonen says, "One of the reasons that this phenomenon was not discovered earlier was because these estimates for boundary layer height are very difficult to do. Only recently have the reanalysis estimates been improved to where they can be taken as representative of reality."
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Journal Reference:
Pauli Paasonen, Ari Asmi, Tuukka Pet?j?, Maija K. Kajos, Mikko ?ij?l?, Heikki Junninen, Thomas Holst, Jonathan P. D. Abbatt, Almut Arneth, Wolfram Birmili, Hugo Denier van der Gon, Amar Hamed, Andr?s Hoffer, Lauri Laakso, Ari Laaksonen, W. Richard Leaitch, Christian Plass-D?lmer, Sara C. Pryor, Petri R?is?nen, Erik Swietlicki, Alfred Wiedensohler, Douglas R. Worsnop, Veli-Matti Kerminen, Markku Kulmala. Warming-induced increase in aerosol number concentration likely to moderate climate change. Nature Geoscience, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/NGEO1800
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Here are the terms of trades completed on Saturday, April 27, the third and final day of the 2013 NFL Draft. All draft choices are 2013 selections unless otherwise noted:
The Jaguars traded a fourth-round pick (No. 98) to the Eagles. In exchange, the Eagles sent fourth- and seventh-round picks (Nos. 101, 210) to Jacksonville. With pick No. 98, the Eagles selected Southern California quarterback Matt Barkley. Three picks later, the Jaguars selected South Carolina wide receiver Ace Sanders at No. 101. With pick No. 210, the Jaguars took Appalachian State cornerback Demetrius McCray.
The Buccaneers acquired a fourth-round pick (No. 100) from Oakland. The Raiders, in turn, received fourth- and sixth-round selections (Nos. 112, 181) from Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers took Illinois defensive tackle Akeem Spence at No. 100. The Raiders selected Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson at No. 112 and UCF running back Latavius Murray at No. 181.
The Giants traded for a fourth-round pick (No. 110) belonging to Arizona. In exchange, New York sent fourth- and sixth-round selections (Nos. 116, 187) to the Cardinals. The Giants took Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib at No. 110. With No. 116, the Cardinals took James Madison offensive guard Earl Watford, and with No. 187, they selected Clemson running back Andre Ellington.
The Steelers acquired a fourth-round pick from Cleveland (No. 111). In return, the Browns will get the Steelers? third-round pick in 2014. The Steelers selected Syracuse safety Shamarko Thomas at No. 111.
The Packers traded for Denver?s fourth-round pick (No. 125), giving the Broncos fifth- and sixth-round picks (Nos. 146, 173) in return. The Packers selected UCLA running back Jonathan Franklin at No. 125. At No. 146, the Broncos selected Western Kentucky defensive end Quanterus Smith. At No. 173, the Broncos took Virginia Tech offensive tackle Vinston Painter.
The Seahawks acquired the Lions? fifth-round selection (No. 137). In return, the Lions received fifth- and sixth-round choices (Nos. 165, 199) from Seattle. At No. 137, the Seahawks took Alabama defensive tackle Jesse Williams. The Lions took Appalachian State punter Sam Martin at No. 165 and Notre Dame running back Theo Riddick at No. 199.
The Colts acquired the Browns? fifth-round pick (No. 139) in exchange for Indianapolis? 2014 fourth-round pick. At No. 139, the Colts selected Tennessee-Martin defensive tackle Montori Hughes.
The Falcons acquired the Bears? fifth-round selection (No. 153), sending fifth- and seventh-round picks (Nos. 163, 236) to Chicago. The Falcons selected Texas Christian defensive end / outside linebacker Stansly Maponga. The Bears took Louisiana Tech tackle Jordan Mills at No. 163 and Washington State wide receiver Marquess Wilson at No. 236.
The Rams traded back into Round Five, sending sixth- and seventh-round picks (Nos. 184, 198) to the Texans for Houston?s fifth-round pick (No. 160). The Rams took Vanderbilt running back Zac Stacy at No. 160. The Texans exercised pick No. 198 on Bowling Green defensive tackle Chris Jones. The Texans dealt selection No. 184 to Oakland (see next entry).
The Texans acquired a sixth-round pick from Oakland (No. 176). In return, Houston sent sixth- and seventh-round selections to Oakland (Nos. 184, 233). The Texans selected San Jose State offensive tackle David Quessenberry at No. 176. The Raiders used selection No. 184 on Tennessee tight end Mychal Rivera and selection No. 233 on Missouri Western State defensive end David Bass.
The Buccaneers traded running back LeGarrette Blount to the Patriots for running back / kick returner Jeff Demps and a seventh-round pick (No. 229). The Buccaneers traded the No. 229 pick to Minnesota (see next entry).
The Buccaneers acquired a sixth-round pick from Minnesota (No. 189). In return, the Vikings received sixth- and seventh-round picks (Nos. 196, 229). The Buccaneers took Miami (Fla.) running back Mike James at No. 189. The Vikings selected UCLA offensive guard Jeff Baca at No. 196 and Florida State defensive tackle Everett Dawkins with pick No. 229.
MUNICH, April 23 (Reuters) - Barcelona centre half Gerard Pique acknowledged his team were thoroughly second best as Bayern Munich romped to a 4-0 win in their Champions League semi-final first leg at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday. "They gave us a thrashing," he said. "We will try to turn it around in the return leg (on May 1) and put in a good performance for the fans. "They were better and faster than us. There is no point talking about the referee, there is no excuse." Arjen Robben, who sparkled on the wing for Bayern and scored one of the goals, hailed his team's spectacular performance. ...
Don't lie: Your heart sank when Malcolm Freberg was voted out Wednesday night on "Survivor: Caramoan -- Fans vs. Favorites."
Athletic, easygoing (and easy on the eyes), friendly but fiercely intelligent, it's no wonder Malcolm was invited back as a Favorite before viewers and his fellow competitors had even seen him dominate "Survivor: Philippines."
After repeatedly using immunity idols to wreak havoc at tribal council, his inability to locate the last one sent him packing. Still, on his way out, he said he was so sure of his alliance that he wouldn't have played the idol anyway.
"I don't know what the hell I was talking about," he clarified to TODAY.com. "I want to completely distance myself from that comment. I saw that (on the broadcast) and I was in shock. If I had had it, it would've been a very different situation. That (idol) was getting played."
Malcolm didn't just give up on his search just because Andrea discovered him, either. "I dug under all these trees for hours and hours, and when Andrea came down I was already about to give up," he admitted. "My hands were bloody and blistered, so I was like, that's it. I'm over it. I'll just fake like I have it."
When asked which was worse -- being voted out or reuniting with Phillip Sheppard in the post-elimination Ponderosa camp -- Malcolm didn't miss a beat.
"Reuniting with Phillip. Hands down. No hesitation. I didn't realize it at first. It took me a second, to piece it together: 'So I just used all my immunity idols to get rid of a guy because I couldn't stand him, and then I have to go see him three days later, and spend the rest of the time with him?' ('Survivor') is a cruel, cruel mistress."
Phillip wasn't the only one who marred what was mostly "a very young, fun vibe." Malcolm noted that Brandon Hantz was "very unstable" long before his ignominious exit.
"He'd have mood swings and his lows were so low? At the end he was ready to go home and it felt like a quit to me, a trashy reality TV throwaway."
He also had to endure another tribemate's emotional roller-coaster. "Dawn cried so, so much, like manic highs and lows," he said, adding that even her "dead whale scream" when she lost her dental prosthesis didn't elicit a reaction. Erik goes, 'Oh, that's just Dawn crying,' (and we said), 'Oh. You stir the rice recently?' We didn't even react to it anymore."
Monty Brinton/CBS
Another woman's tears touched his heart, though: His mom, when she found out his merged tribe, Enil Edam, was named after her. ("Madeline" spelled backwards.)
"She lives in Dallas, so I went out there for that episode. She threw a big party, (and) when it happened the entire room goes, 'Oooooh,' and she started crying. It was sweet. She was touched. I hadn't told anybody else. Nobody on the show even knew."
Speaking of "new beginnings" (Malcolm's hilariously convincing translation of "enil edam"), how many times would the 25-year-old be willing to play "Survivor" before winning a million? (Hey, it took even Boston Rob four tries.)
He rephrased the question, laughing: "How many times would I have to lose to finally just call it a lost cause? It would take a lot -- a lot of trying. (Both times) I was out there to win that stinking game. If they ever ask it's really going to be hard to say no."
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There’s interesting new market research that reveals that the type of shows you tune in to watch on television and DVR tell quite a bit about you. What are your favorite shows on TV and what does that mean? Check it out. Very informative! Mad Men If you love the show “Mad Men”, you are ...
Sunshine hormone, vitamin D, may offer hope for treating liver fibrosisPublic release date: 25-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Andy Hoang AHoang@salk.edu 619-861-5811 Salk Institute
Salk findings suggest vitamin D therapy could be a powerful weapon in the fight against liver fibrosis
LA JOLLA, CA----Liver fibrosis results from an excessive accumulation of tough, fibrous scar tissue and occurs in most types of chronic liver diseases. In industrialized countries, the main causes of liver injury leading to fibrosis include chronic hepatitis virus infection, excess alcohol consumption and, increasingly, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).
Now, in a new study published in the journal Cell, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have discovered that a synthetic form of vitamin D, calcipotriol (a drug already approved by the FDA for the treatment of psoriasis), deactivates the switch governing the fibrotic response in mouse liver cells, suggesting a potential new therapy for fibrotic diseases in humans.
"Because there are currently no effective drugs for liver fibrosis, we believe our findings would open a new door for treatment," says senior author Ronald M. Evans, a professor in Salk's Gene Expression Laboratory and lead researcher in the Institute's new Helmsley Center for Genomic Medicine.
The Salk study focused on a star-shaped "stellate" cell in the liver that serves as a beacon for damage. When called into action, stellate cells produce fibrotic proteins in an attempt to heal an injury. Under chronic stress, however, localized fibrosis expands, eventually leading to cirrhosis, increased risk of liver cancer, and the need for a liver transplant in advanced cases.
The Evans lab discovered a genetic switch through which vitamin D-related ligands such as calcitriol, a hormonally active form of the vitamin, can put the brakes on fibrosis. "Preclinical results suggest the 'vitamin D brake' is highly efficacious and led us to believe that the time is right to consider a trial in the context of chronic liver disease," says Evans, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and holder of the March of Dimes Chair in Molecular and Developmental Biology.
Previous studies have shown a physiologic role for vitamin D in liver function, but "it was our discovery of high levels of vitamin D receptor (VDR) in the stellate cell that led us to consider it as a possible off switch for liver fibrosis," says lead author Ning Ding, a research associate in the Gene Expression Laboratory.
"Current therapeutic approaches, which treat the symptoms of liver disease, don't stop liver fibrosis from progressing," says Michael Downes, a senior staff scientist in the Gene Expression Laboratory and co-corresponding author on the paper. "In liver diseases where the underlying cause cannot be cured, progression to cirrhosis is currently inevitable in some people. What we have discovered is that by acting on the genome, VDR can simultaneously defend against multiple fibrotic activators. This is important because many different pro-fibrotic signaling pathways converge on the genome to affect their fibrotic response."
The Salk discovery that calcipotriol counters the fibrotic response in stellate cells illuminates a potentially safer, more effective strategy capable of neutralizing multiple convergent fibrotic triggers.
The Salk scientists say that clinical trials of the vitamin D analog for the treatment of liver fibrosis are being planned. The synthetic vitamin D analog is better than natural vitamin D, they say, for a couple of reasons. First, natural vitamin D, which is found in small amounts in a few foods and produced in the body by exposure to sunlight, degrades quickly, while synthetic versions of vitamin D are less susceptible to breakdown. Second, too much natural vitamin D can cause hypercalcemia, or elevated calcium in the blood, which can lead to nausea and vomiting, frequent urination, muscle weakness and joint aches and pain. The synthetic vitamin D analog, on the other hand, produces a strong response without adding calcium to the blood.
In addition, the researchers say this new model for treating liver fibrosis may also be helpful in treating other diseases with a fibrotic component, including those of the lung, kidney and pancreas.
###
Other researchers on the study were Ruth T. Yu, Mara H. Sherman, Mathias Leblanc, Mingxiao He, Annette R. Atkins and Grant D. Barish, from the Salk Institute; Nanthakumar Subramaniam, Caroline Wilson, Renuka Rao, Sally Coulter and Christopher Liddle, of the University of Sydney (Australia); and Sue L. Lau , Christopher Scott and Jenny E. Gunton, of the Garvan Insitute for Medical Research (Australia).
The work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, the Genentech Foundation,the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation, Stand Up to Cancer and Ipsen/Biomeasure.
About the Salk Institute for Biological Studies:
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is one of the world's preeminent basic research institutions, where internationally renowned faculty probe fundamental life science questions in a unique, collaborative, and creative environment. Focused both on discovery and on mentoring future generations of researchers, Salk scientists make groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of cancer, aging, Alzheimer's, diabetes and infectious diseases by studying neuroscience, genetics, cell and plant biology, and related disciplines.
Faculty achievements have been recognized with numerous honors, including Nobel Prizes and memberships in the National Academy of Sciences. Founded in 1960 by polio vaccine pioneer Jonas Salk, M.D., the Institute is an independent nonprofit organization and architectural landmark.
[ | 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.
Sunshine hormone, vitamin D, may offer hope for treating liver fibrosisPublic release date: 25-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Andy Hoang AHoang@salk.edu 619-861-5811 Salk Institute
Salk findings suggest vitamin D therapy could be a powerful weapon in the fight against liver fibrosis
LA JOLLA, CA----Liver fibrosis results from an excessive accumulation of tough, fibrous scar tissue and occurs in most types of chronic liver diseases. In industrialized countries, the main causes of liver injury leading to fibrosis include chronic hepatitis virus infection, excess alcohol consumption and, increasingly, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).
Now, in a new study published in the journal Cell, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have discovered that a synthetic form of vitamin D, calcipotriol (a drug already approved by the FDA for the treatment of psoriasis), deactivates the switch governing the fibrotic response in mouse liver cells, suggesting a potential new therapy for fibrotic diseases in humans.
"Because there are currently no effective drugs for liver fibrosis, we believe our findings would open a new door for treatment," says senior author Ronald M. Evans, a professor in Salk's Gene Expression Laboratory and lead researcher in the Institute's new Helmsley Center for Genomic Medicine.
The Salk study focused on a star-shaped "stellate" cell in the liver that serves as a beacon for damage. When called into action, stellate cells produce fibrotic proteins in an attempt to heal an injury. Under chronic stress, however, localized fibrosis expands, eventually leading to cirrhosis, increased risk of liver cancer, and the need for a liver transplant in advanced cases.
The Evans lab discovered a genetic switch through which vitamin D-related ligands such as calcitriol, a hormonally active form of the vitamin, can put the brakes on fibrosis. "Preclinical results suggest the 'vitamin D brake' is highly efficacious and led us to believe that the time is right to consider a trial in the context of chronic liver disease," says Evans, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and holder of the March of Dimes Chair in Molecular and Developmental Biology.
Previous studies have shown a physiologic role for vitamin D in liver function, but "it was our discovery of high levels of vitamin D receptor (VDR) in the stellate cell that led us to consider it as a possible off switch for liver fibrosis," says lead author Ning Ding, a research associate in the Gene Expression Laboratory.
"Current therapeutic approaches, which treat the symptoms of liver disease, don't stop liver fibrosis from progressing," says Michael Downes, a senior staff scientist in the Gene Expression Laboratory and co-corresponding author on the paper. "In liver diseases where the underlying cause cannot be cured, progression to cirrhosis is currently inevitable in some people. What we have discovered is that by acting on the genome, VDR can simultaneously defend against multiple fibrotic activators. This is important because many different pro-fibrotic signaling pathways converge on the genome to affect their fibrotic response."
The Salk discovery that calcipotriol counters the fibrotic response in stellate cells illuminates a potentially safer, more effective strategy capable of neutralizing multiple convergent fibrotic triggers.
The Salk scientists say that clinical trials of the vitamin D analog for the treatment of liver fibrosis are being planned. The synthetic vitamin D analog is better than natural vitamin D, they say, for a couple of reasons. First, natural vitamin D, which is found in small amounts in a few foods and produced in the body by exposure to sunlight, degrades quickly, while synthetic versions of vitamin D are less susceptible to breakdown. Second, too much natural vitamin D can cause hypercalcemia, or elevated calcium in the blood, which can lead to nausea and vomiting, frequent urination, muscle weakness and joint aches and pain. The synthetic vitamin D analog, on the other hand, produces a strong response without adding calcium to the blood.
In addition, the researchers say this new model for treating liver fibrosis may also be helpful in treating other diseases with a fibrotic component, including those of the lung, kidney and pancreas.
###
Other researchers on the study were Ruth T. Yu, Mara H. Sherman, Mathias Leblanc, Mingxiao He, Annette R. Atkins and Grant D. Barish, from the Salk Institute; Nanthakumar Subramaniam, Caroline Wilson, Renuka Rao, Sally Coulter and Christopher Liddle, of the University of Sydney (Australia); and Sue L. Lau , Christopher Scott and Jenny E. Gunton, of the Garvan Insitute for Medical Research (Australia).
The work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, the Genentech Foundation,the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation, Stand Up to Cancer and Ipsen/Biomeasure.
About the Salk Institute for Biological Studies:
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is one of the world's preeminent basic research institutions, where internationally renowned faculty probe fundamental life science questions in a unique, collaborative, and creative environment. Focused both on discovery and on mentoring future generations of researchers, Salk scientists make groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of cancer, aging, Alzheimer's, diabetes and infectious diseases by studying neuroscience, genetics, cell and plant biology, and related disciplines.
Faculty achievements have been recognized with numerous honors, including Nobel Prizes and memberships in the National Academy of Sciences. Founded in 1960 by polio vaccine pioneer Jonas Salk, M.D., the Institute is an independent nonprofit organization and architectural landmark.
[ | 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.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Confidence in the U.S. job market has rebounded to roughly a normal level from its record low after the Great Recession, a trend that could help boost the economy.
Americans increasingly feel they could find a new job if necessary, according to the results of the 2012 General Social Survey, a long-standing poll of public opinion. And fear of being laid off dropped last year from its 2010 peak to roughly its average for the 35 years the question has been asked.
The percentage of Americans who said it would be somewhat or very easy to find a job if they lost theirs rose to 54 percent last year from 46 percent in 2010. The 2010 figure was the lowest since 1983, when the United States was also emerging from a deep recession. On average in the survey's history, about 58 percent of respondents have said it would be very or somewhat easy to find a job.
As layoffs have declined, fewer Americans fear losing their job. Last year, 11 percent of adults thought it was somewhat or very likely that they'd lose theirs. That was down from a record-high 16 percent in 2010. And it matches the 11 percent average the survey has found since it began asking the question.
Americans may be feeling even more secure now than when the survey was taken last year. The number of layoffs fell in January to the lowest level in the 12 years the government has tracked the data. Fewer people are seeking unemployment benefits.
And employers have stepped up hiring, though the job gains slowed in March. Employers added nearly 2.2 million jobs in 2012, an average of about 180,000 a month. That's enough to slowly lower the unemployment rate.
Even though the rate remains high at 7.6 percent, greater confidence among those who have a job could encourage more consumer spending and boost economic growth.
"If you're not afraid of being laid off, you're going to spend more of your money," said Drew Matus, an economist at UBS.
The General Social Survey has been conducted roughly every two years since 1972. The survey is a project of the independent research organization NORC at the University of Chicago, with primary funding from the National Science Foundation.
From mid-March through September last year, 1,975 adults were asked about their financial situation and their feelings about the job market. The survey's margin of error was plus or minus 2.2 percentage points. The results were only recently made available.
The survey found that confidence in the economy varied by education. Those with college degrees felt more job security than those with less education. And since the recession ended in June 2009, Americans with a college education have reported greater improvement in confidence than have those with high school degrees or less.
Only 6 percent of college-educated Americans said in 2012 that it was somewhat or very likely that they'd lose their job. That was down from 10 percent in 2010.
Those with high school degrees were also more confident in 2012: Twelve percent of this group feared losing their job, down from 19 percent two years earlier.
But Americans with less than a high school degree reported little change: 26 percent felt it was somewhat or very likely they would be laid off in 2012, about on par with the 29 percent who felt so in 2010.
On whether it would be somewhat or very easy to find another job, 59 percent of those with college degrees said so, up from 52 percent in 2010. Among high school graduates, that figure rose to 53 percent last year from 43 percent in 2010.
Those without a high school degree still lack confidence: Only 40 percent said it would be somewhat or very easy to find new work, essentially unchanged from the 41 percent who said so in 2010.
Among the survey's other findings:
? Fewer Americans say their financial situation has worsened in the past few years, though the proportion remains high. A record 37 percent of Americans in 2010 said their finances had deteriorated. In 2012, that figure fell to 30 percent, still the second-highest on record.
? More Americans define themselves as in the "lower class" than at any time since 1972. A record 8 percent classified themselves as lower class in 2012, the same as in 2010. That compares with the record low of 4 percent in 1985.
? The proportion of Americans who expect their children to be somewhat or much worse off financially than they are was 20 percent in 2012, compared with 18 percent in 2010. The figure is slightly below the record level of 22 percent in 1996.
___
Follow Chris Rugaber on Twitter at https://Twitter.com/ChrisRugaber
Apr. 23, 2013 ? Researchers at University of California, Santa Barbara, in collaboration with colleagues at the ?cole Polytechnique in France, have conclusively identified Auger recombination as the mechanism that causes light emitting diodes (LEDs) to be less efficient at high drive currents.
Until now, scientists had only theorized the cause behind the phenomenon known as LED "droop" -- a mysterious drop in the light produced when a higher current is applied. The cost per lumen of LEDs has held the technology back as a viable replacement for incandescent bulbs for all-purpose commercial and residential lighting.
This could all change now that the cause of LED efficiency droop has been explained, according to researchers James Speck and Claude Weisbuch of the Center for Energy Efficient Materials at UCSB, an Energy Frontier Research Center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Knowledge gained from this study is expected to result in new ways to design LEDs that will have significantly higher light emission efficiencies. LEDs have enormous potential for providing long-lived high quality efficient sources of lighting for residential and commercial applications. The U.S. Department of Energy recently estimated that the widespread replacement of incandescent and fluorescent lights by LEDs in the U.S. could save electricity equal to the total output of fifty 1GW power plants.
"Rising to this potential has been contingent upon solving the puzzle of LED efficiency droop," commented Speck, professor of Materials and the Seoul Optodevice Chair in Solid State Lighting at UCSB. "These findings will enable us to design LEDs that minimize the non-radiative recombination and produce higher light output."
"This was a very complex experiment -- one that illustrates the benefits of teamwork through both an international collaboration and a DOE Energy Frontier Research Center," commented Weisbuch, distinguished professor of Materials at UCSB. Weisbuch, who is also a faculty member at the ?cole Polytechnique in Paris, enlisted the support of his colleagues Lucio Martinelli and Jacques Peretti. UCSB graduate student Justin Iveland was a key member of the team working both at UCSB and ?cole Polytechnique.
In 2011, UCSB professor Chris van de Walle and colleagues theorized that a complex non-radiative process known as Auger recombination was behind nitride semiconductor LED droop, whereby injected electrons lose energy to heat by collisions with other electrons rather than emitting light.
A definitive measurement of Auger recombination in LEDs has now been accomplished by Speck, Weisbuch, and their research team.
The experiment used an LED with a specially prepared surface that permitted the researchers to directly measure the energy spectrum of electrons emitted from the LED. The results unambiguously showed a signature of energetic electrons produced by the Auger process.
The results of their work are to be published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
This work was funded by the UCSB Center for Energy Efficient Materials, an Energy Frontier Research Center of the US Department of Energy, Office of Science. Additional support for the work at ?cole Polytechnique was provided by the French government.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - Santa Barbara.
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Journal Reference:
Justin Iveland, Lucio Martinelli, Jacques Peretti, James S. Speck, Claude Weisbuch. Direct Measurement of Auger Electrons Emitted from a Semiconductor Light-Emitting Diode under Electrical Injection: Identification of the Dominant Mechanism for Efficiency Droop. Physical Review Letters, 2013 [link]
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Snap a photo of the item you want to sell, write a short description, and set a price. Sounds familiar, right? After soft-launching in Italy where it was incubated, Depop gets its official launch today with an iOS app that, at first glance, is the spitting image of other "flea market" mobile apps. However, the company says that its ultimate competitor is probably Ebay, while it also has vintage design and craft-oriented marketplace Etsy firmly in its sights.
Hundreds of scientists, engineers and space-law experts are gathering this week to discuss the growing problem of space debris, and will propose ways to curb the accumulation of new junk in orbit.
The 6th European Conference on Space Debris is being held April 22-25 at the European Space Operations Center in Darmstadt, Germany. More than 300 representatives, ranging from researchers to policymakers, are expected to attend the four-day event, according to officials at the European Space Agency (ESA).
Conference attendees will discuss the buildup of potentially harmful debris in orbit, and address possible ways to remove defunct satellites and other pieces of errant space hardware.
More than 170 million pieces of space junk are currently orbiting Earth, including 29,000 objects that are larger than 4 inches (10 centimeters), according to ESA estimates. As they speed through space at 17,000 mph (27,000 km/h), these objects pose collision risks to both other satellites in orbit and the International Space Station.
"Any of these objects can harm an operational spacecraft," Heiner Klinkrad, head of ESA's Space Debris Office, said in a statement.
Roughly two-thirds of the known pieces of debris were created by explosions in orbit or collisions, ESA officials said.
In 2009, a U.S. Iridium communications satellite was struck by a defunct Russian Cosmos military satellite in what became a wake-up call for the industry. The crash destroyed the two spacecraft and left a huge cloud of debris.
Then, in 2007, China intentionally destroyed one of its aging weather satellites in a controversial anti-satellite test that littered Earth?s orbit with more than 2,500 scraps of space junk.
Since then, researchers and satellite operators have tried to tackle the issue of sustainability in space.
"Space-debris mitigation measures, if properly implemented by satellite designers and mission operators, can curtail the growth rate of the debris population," Klinkrad said. "Active debris removal, however, has been shown to be necessary to reverse the debris increase."
But finding any solution to the space-debris problem will require a collaborative approach.
"As this is a global task, active removal is a challenge that should be undertaken by joint efforts in cooperation with the world's space agencies and industry," Thomas Reiter, ESA's director of human spaceflight and operations, said in a statement.
Follow Denise Chow on Twitter @denisechow. Follow us?@Spacedotcom,?Facebook?or?Google+. Originally published on?SPACE.com.
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The Z2 wireless Airplay speaker from Bowers & Wilkins is a perfectly suitable option for those of us looking for a sightly, powerful, and compact speaker system. Anyone who's already invested in Bowers & Wilkins systems before, like the Zeppelin Air or the A line should be especially considerate of the sexy little Z2, as it will fit in seamlessly with your current set-up in a relatively quieter room or space like a bedroom or bathroom.
CINCINNATI (AP) - Among the few people not concerned with Joey Votto's home-run drought were the first baseman his Cincinnati Reds teammates.
Votto seems to be getting hot and shaking off his power outage. He homered and got three hits for the second straight day, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Miami Marlins 10-6 Sunday for their sixth win in seven games.
Votto missed 48 games last season with a knee injury, and his April 14 homer against Pittsburgh was his first since June 24. He's homered in back-to-back games for the first time since Sept. 10-11, 2011, at Colorado.
"Before I got hurt, I had 14 home runs," Votto said. "If I'm not hitting home runs, I can help win games in other ways. I don't feel obligated to hit home runs to quell people's concerns. Is quell the right word?"
Votto is 7 for 11 in his last two games, raising his batting average to .328 and his NL-leading on-base percentage to .522, just teammate Shin-Soo Choo's .523. The 2010 NL MVP, Votto reached 24 homers in four of his previous five full seasons. "
Manager Dusty Baker said he had faith Votto's power would return.
"I told you he was going to hit," Baker said. "Everybody was more worried than we were. Water seeks its own level. If you can hit, you'll hit. You don't just stop hitting."
Brandon Phillips drove in the go-ahead run for the second straight day and Todd Frazier hit a three-run double in an eight-run seventh inning for the Reds, who won three of four from the Marlins and improved to a major league-best 10-3 at home.
After trading most of their best players in an offseason payroll purge, the Marlins have the worst record in the big leagues at 4-15 - the poorest 19-game start in team history.
With the score 2-2, Choo drew Cincinnati's fifth walk off Alex Sanabia (2-2), who also hit Choo with a pair of pitches. Singles by Xavier Paul and Votto loaded the bases, and Phillips had an RBI single against Jon Rauch. Paul scored when right fielder Giancarlo Stanton bobbled the ball for an error.
Phillips had a game-ending sacrifice fly in the 13th inning of Saturday's 3-2 win.
Devin Mesoraco added an RBI single, Frazier hit a bases-loaded double off the right-field wall for an 8-2 lead, Choo followed with an RBI double and Paul greeted Tom Koehler with a run-scoring, ground-rule double that bounced into the right field stands and back onto the field.
Logan Ondrusek (1-0) struck out the side in the seventh to win in relief of Homer Bailey, who allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings with eight strikeouts and three walks.
Sanabia (2-2) gave up five runs and five hits in six innings. Marlins manager Mike Redmond's bullpen options were limited after using six relievers Saturday.
"Sanabia knew the situation," Redmond said. "Yesterday's game took a lot out of our pitching staff. I thought he pitched a great game. If we had the lead, we would have probably pitched it differently. Rauch was our only fresh arm. We had to bring him into a tough situation."
Miguel Olivo, who spent most of spring training as a non-roster player with the Reds before signing with Miami, hit a pinch three-run homer off Manny Parra in a four-run ninth.
Votto didn't need to wait long to flash his rediscovered power, homering in the first inning on the first pitch he saw in the game.
"He's such a good hitter," Frazier said. "That's the kind of stuff we talk about - trying to get your energy back and your swing going."
Chris Valaika's had a tying single in the second. The Reds went back ahead in the fifth when Bailey beat out an infield hit on a dribbler up the third-base line and scored from second when Votto singled and center fielder
Justin Ruggiano overran the ball for an error. Valaika had another tying single in the sixth.
NOTES: The Marlins started 5-14 in 1995, 1998 and 1999, according to STATS. ... The Reds placed C Ryan Hanigan on the 15-day DL with a strained left side. Hanigan, also dealing with a bruised left thumb, injured his oblique reaching for a high fastball thrown by Aroldis Chapman on Friday night. The contract of C Corky Miller was selected from Triple-A Louisville, and RHP Nick Masset was moved to 60-day disabled list to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. ... Choo has been hit nine times, tying the Reds record for a month set by Mike Donlin in May 1903, according to Elias Sports Bureau and reported by the Reds. Shoo has reached base 11 times in 12 plate appearances over the last two games. ... Stanton finished the series 4 for 18 with eight strikeouts and is hitting .188.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Buck's seventh blast powers Mets past Nationals
NEW YORK (AP) - John Buck hit his seventh home run of the season, Dillon Gee earned his first win and the New York Mets beat the Washington Nationals 2-0 on Sunday to take two of three games from the NL East champions.
TorrentFreak is reporting that links to Cory Doctorow's book, Homeland, are being shut down after a DMCA request by Fox. Why is Cory's Creative Commons licensed book that is available for free being attacked? It kind of sounds like it could be a copy of Homeland, the TV series, so they shut it down.
Batman, the Dark Knight, The Caped Crusader, Bruce Wayne. Whatever you call him, you always think he's operating with stronger principles and on a higher moral ground than most people. He doesn't like to kill. Or so he says. In this video by CollegeHumor, The Penguin, played by Patton Oswalt, exposes Batman's lie and pays for it. More »
Updated, Friday 6:24 p.m. The family of Katherine Russell, wife of one of the suspected Boston Marathon bombers, issued a statement Friday evening outside their North Kingstown home.
The statement was printed on a piece of paper and handed to a reporter outside the home on Coriander Lane.?
The note reads:
Our daughter has lost her husband today, the father of her child.
We cannot begin to comprehend how this horrible tragedy occurred. In the aftermath of the Patriot's Day horror, we know that we never really knew Tamerlane Tsarnaev.
Our hearts are sickened by the knowledge of the horror he has inflicted.
Please respect our family's privacy in this difficult time.
Earlier, the North Kingstown Police Department confirmed that the Rhode Island State Police visited a home in North Kingstown in connection with the Boston Marathon bombing investigation, according to the NorthEast Independent.
Voting records indicate that Katherine Russell, of North Kingstown, is a relative of bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed in a standoff with police on Friday, April 19.
It has been reported that Russell, 24, is married to Tsarnaev and the two have a three-year-old daughter together.?
Check back with North Kingstown Patch for more information as this story develops.
Doug Renert told me yesterday that his firm Tandem, which backs early-stage mobile startups, is about to expand in a big way. The first step is bringing in more people, starting with two new partners that Tandem is announcing today ? Rohit Bhagat, formerly chairman of Asia Pacific for investment firm BlackRock, and John Ellis, co-founder and executive vice president of product and technology at ad tech company Turn.
Tandem is currently investing in three startups a quarter, but Renert said he?s hoping to do much more. At the same time, he doesn?t want to change the firm?s hands-on approach. He describes it as an accelerator with ?muscle capital.? Like other startup incubators, it mentors batches of startups and offers them office space. However, it makes a bigger investment than most ? $200,000 to start, and follow-on investments if the company is successful.
Bhagat has experience scaling companies globally, Renert said, so he not only helps Tandem?s startups grow, but also does the same for the accelerator itself. Meanwhile, Ellis? technical background means that he can help companies with product and infrastructure. Together, they effectively double the Tandem team, which until now consisted of Renert and Sunil Bhargava.
I asked Bhagat over email why he?s jumping from a giant firm to a (relatively) tiny one, and he responded:
I moved to Tandem because it is ideally positioned at the confluence of the rising tides of mobile, social media and cloud computing. Relative to large firms, I felt confident that Tandem?s model of ?hands on? seed stage investing would spur more disruptive innovation, create stronger investment returns, and allow me to work more directly with smart people working on truly ground-breaking ideas.
There will be more expansion news in the near future, Renert said. And yes, that will probably include more funding (Tandem announced a $32 million fund last year), although he said it?s too early to talk about specifics.
As for the companies that he wants to invest in, Renert said Tandem?s strategy is to target startups before they would normally raise money ? when they?ve built a product but don?t yet have traction. He said many of the current opportunities lie in emerging markets ? not just copying successful American products, but figuring out what makes them work and how to transfer that to other geographies.
Renert actually wrote a guest post for us in February outlining the areas in mobile that he thinks have become too crowded (location-based social networking, photosharing, workplace collaboration), are still too nascent for successful companies (in-car apps and services, mobile wallets, integrated TV apps), and are just right for launching now (everyday apps, mobile developer platforms, rich messaging/SMS marketing).
?At the same time, we want to make sure that we?re not just trying to build companies around our ideas,? Renert said. ?We?re very open to entrepreneurs? ideas. We want to back their ideas.?
Tandem is also announcing the three latest startups that it?s backing:
Tile?? Tandem?s first hardware company, which helps users find and track lost items
Swoopt?? mobile fantasy sports tournaments
HomeTapper?? real estate browsing for tablets
The deadline to apply for Tandem?s next class is May 1.
Tandem is made up of a few entrepreneurs who have founded companies and taken them to liquidity. They now invest their time and money in others??? early stage software and Internet startups through Tandem. The Tandem team does not consider itself a VC firm. They refer to three primary types of capital that are required to make a startup successful ??? Financial Capital (money), Human Capital (sweat) and Social Capital (friends). Tandem explains that VCs bring mainly financial capital, some...
NAKIVALE, Uganda (AP) ? Leodegard Kagaba lifted his shirt to reveal an ugly scar on his belly left by a bullet that nearly killed him. Tutsi neighbors in Rwanda, he said, attacked him after accusing him of participating in the 1994 genocide.
"I have many scars, even in my heart," he said. "The people who put those scars on me still live freely in Rwanda."
Now nearly two decades later, Kagaba and many of the other 9,000 Rwandans in this camp of 68,000 African refugees say they are troubled by the looming prospect of forced repatriation back to Rwanda. Hutu refugees say they fear reprisal attacks by Tutsis inside Rwanda. During the 1994 genocide, at least 500,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in a campaign of mass murder orchestrated by Hutu extremists.
After the genocide, hundreds of thousands of Hutus ? some charged with participating in the genocide, others simply afraid of reprisal killings ? fled Rwanda and sought refuge across East and Central Africa.
Many ended up in a sprawling settlement in western Uganda that some now regard as their home for life. Here, in a place called Nakivale, amid green hills reminiscent of their ancestral land, the Rwandans have access to pasture for their cattle and many have set up successful businesses selling groceries or farm animals.
Rwandans who spoke to The Associated Press said the political climate in Rwanda discourages them from leaving Nakivale. At least 92 percent of all Rwandan refugees in Uganda are Hutus, according to U.N. refugee agency.
Kagaba, an ethnic Hutu whose father and siblings were killed in 1994, said he would be harassed or worse in Rwanda because he witnessed atrocities committed by the Tutsi soldiers who came to his village looking for genocide suspects.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame ? an ethnic Tutsi ? dismisses allegations that his country unfairly targets Hutus, saying those who played a role in the genocide should face the law. Kagame encourages a gospel of unity that disregards ethnicity.
But groups such as Human Rights Watch ? which the government openly spars with ? have long accused Rwanda's government of using a genocide ideology law to target the regime's critics. Independent journalists who have written critically about the history of the genocide have been threatened with jail terms. Many have fled.
Rwanda's government said in a statement Friday that "Rwandan refugees who hesitate to return home either lack enough information on the current situation in Rwanda or have developed significant ties with host countries."
The 8,000 Rwandans who arrived in Uganda before 1998 have until the end of June to return home voluntarily. Uganda, which hosts the highest number of officially recognized Rwandan refugees, has published lists of those who are expected to return home soon.
In Nakivale, the Hutus who fled Rwanda at the end of the genocide spoke of a persistent witch-hunt, saying sons can be harassed for their father's crimes. Their grim opinion of life in Rwanda is reinforced by the accounts of refugees who returned to Rwanda and fled back to Uganda, saying they had been jailed on trumped-up charges and even tortured.
Some of the refugees freshly arriving from Rwanda claim persecution and want political asylum, said Lucy Beck, a spokeswoman for UNHCR in Uganda.
"It's still a country producing refugees," Beck said of Rwanda. "There is a large amount of fear (in Nakivale), and it's not helped that refugees have gone and come back again."
Belonging to a family seen in the community as having participated in the genocide carries a lifetime stigma, some refugees said, equating a Hutu's return to Rwanda to committing suicide. Some Tutsi families are still eager to exact revenge on neighbors they believe killed their relatives, said Rajab Simpamanuka, a Hutu refugee who has lived in Nakivale since 2001.
In January, after his mother died, he briefly considered sneaking into Rwanda for the funeral but was advised against it. Instead he gathered some relatives and friends and performed a parallel ceremony in Nakivale.
"The family you come from is still a problem to this day," he said. "If you return home, they will say the son of so-and-so is back. And the police will come for you. You can pay for your father's sins. I still like my country, but I will go back only if there's a change of government."
Hamida Kabagwira, a Hutu refugee, said she won't be forced to return to Rwanda.
"If they want it, they will have to come here and kill us. I will never find peace in Rwanda," said Kabagwira, who was recently reunited with her husband, Shaban Mutabazi.
Mutabazi, who said he spent 16 years in a Rwandan jail for alleged genocide, fled to Uganda in January after serving his sentence because "after that everyone in my village saw me like an animal."
UNHCR opposes forcible repatriations but is powerless to stop them. The agency favors solutions such as integration and naturalization for those who have lived in Uganda long enough, said Beck. A decision to forcibly evict refugees would be the responsibility of Ugandan officials, she said. About 90 percent of refugees don't want to return, she said.
Moses Watasa, a spokesman for the Ugandan department that manages refugees, said his office can't be expected to rely on the refugees' opinion of safety in Rwanda and that input from Rwanda's government and the international community would be crucial. "They would go back if their home areas are deemed safe," he said.
Some refugees are taking precautionary measures such as avoiding their beds at night.
"I don't really go to sleep these days," said Ephraim Rutabingwa, a Hutu refugee who bears a deep scar on his forehead, the mark of a machete that he says was wielded by a Tutsi neighbor in 1996. He wants the U.N. to help refugees find safe haven in another country.
This undated handout artist concept provided by Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics shows the newly discovered planets named Kepler-62e and -f. Scientists using NASA's Kepler telescope have found two distant planets that are in the right place and are the right size for potential life. This handout image from Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics shows an artist concept of what these two planets, called Kepler-62-e and Kepler-62-f look like. The larger planet in the left corner is somewhat covered by ice and is f, which is farther from the star. The planet below it is e, which is slightly warmer and has clouds and may be a water world. (AP Photo/Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
This undated handout artist concept provided by Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics shows the newly discovered planets named Kepler-62e and -f. Scientists using NASA's Kepler telescope have found two distant planets that are in the right place and are the right size for potential life. This handout image from Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics shows an artist concept of what these two planets, called Kepler-62-e and Kepler-62-f look like. The larger planet in the left corner is somewhat covered by ice and is f, which is farther from the star. The planet below it is e, which is slightly warmer and has clouds and may be a water world. (AP Photo/Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? NASA's planet-hunting telescope has discovered two planets that seem like ideal places for some sort of life to flourish. And they are just the right size and in just the right place.
One is toasty, the other nippy.
The distant duo are the best candidates for habitable planets that astronomers have found so far, said William Borucki, the chief scientist for NASA's Kepler telescope. And it's got astronomers thinking that similar planets that are just about right for life ? "Goldilocks planets" ? might be common in the universe.
The discoveries, published online Thursday in the journal Science, mark a milestone in the search for planets where life could exist. In the four years that Kepler has been trailing Earth's orbit, the telescope has found 122 exoplanets ? planets outside our solar system.
In the past, those planets haven't fit all the criteria that would make them right for life of any kind from microbes to man.
Many planets aren't in the habitable zone ? where it's not too hot and not too cold for liquid water. And until now, the few found in that ideal zone, were just too big. Those are likely to be gas balls like Neptune and that's not suitable for life.
Similarly, any Earth-size planets weren't in the right place near their stars, Borucki said.
In the Goldilocks game of looking for other planets like ours, the new discoveries, called Kepler-62-e and Kepler-62-f are just right. And they are fraternal twins. They circle the same star, an orange dwarf, and are next to each other ? closer together than Earth and its neighbor Mars.
The planets are slightly wider than Earth, but not too big. Kepler-62-e is a bit balmy, like a Hawaiian world and Kepler-62-f is a bit frosty, more Alaskan, Borucki said.
The pair is 1,200 light-years away; a light-year is almost 6 trillion miles.
"This is the first one where I'm thinking 'Huh, Kepler-62-f really might have life on it'," said study co-author David Charbonneau of Harvard. "This is a very important barrier that's been crossed. Why wouldn't it have life?"
To make it warm enough for life the planet would need greenhouse gas trapping its star's heat because the star only gives off one-fifth the energy of our sun, but that's something that is likely to happen, Borucki said.
Both planets are tantalizing. The dozens of researchers who co-authored the study disagree on which one is better suited to life. Lisa Kaltenegger of the Max Planck Institute of Astronomy in Germany likes Kepler-62-e more because it's closer to the star and is warmer. She said it is probably "like Washington in May."
That planet is so close it may need clouds to cool off and it's more likely to be an all-water world, unlike any other in our solar system, Kaltenegger said. Astronomers cannot confirm that either planet has water, but based on other research, it's a good assumption, she said.
The planets circle a star that is 7 billion years old ? about 2.5 billion years older than our sun. Kepler spots the planets as they go between Earth and their star ever so slightly, reducing the light from the star.
"If there's life at all on those planets, it must be very advanced" evolutionarily because the planets are so old, said Borucki.
On a watery planet, oceans are prime spots for life, including flying fish that could evolve into birds, Borucki said. And on the rocky planet, with a heavier gravity than Earth, life might look a tad different, he said.
In another study also published by some of the same authors in Astrophysical Journal, the astronomers found a different set of planets that are slightly bigger, but probably not gas giants, and circle a star that more resembles our sun. One of those planets is on edge of the habitable zone ? maybe in, maybe out ? and could be considered a potential third good place for a habitable zone, said Thomas Barclay of NASA's Ames Research Center, which runs the Kepler telescope.
All told, researchers announced seven new exoplanets on Thursday, upping the grand total found so far by Kepler and Earth-bound telescopes to about 850, according to NASA.
Pennsylvania State University professor James Kasting called the findings "a big discovery." Kasting and Sara Seager of MIT, who weren't part of the research, pointed out that Kepler's job is to look at one distant corner of the sky and to find what fraction of stars seemed to have the right sized planets in the habitable zone.
"This is HUGE," Seager wrote in an email. "Do you realize that as soon as Kepler could find close-to-Earth-size planets in the habitable zone of sun-like stars, Kepler found it. Goldilocks planets must be everywhere."
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Online:
Science: http://www.sciencemag.org
NASA: www.nasa.gov/kepler
___
Seth Borenstein can be followed at http://twitter.com/borenbears
There’s interesting new market research that reveals that the type of shows you tune in to watch on television and DVR tell quite a bit about you. What are your favorite shows on TV and what does that mean? Check it out. Very informative! Mad Men If you love the show “Mad Men”, you are ...![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vMJFh7R5spvSp36JWKww7sTP8fGmusYh6hTcED3GaUIZ8cAeIamJ20VmhHMRmI3SQEdFBiEVgU0gIXvX4e_RCoatmt-9_fuSYc7lUdYUI=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 25-Apr-2013
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Snap a photo of the item you want to sell, write a short description, and set a price. Sounds familiar, right? After soft-launching in Italy where it was incubated, 
The 
