Perceived stress may predict future coronary heart disease risk

Dec. 17, 2012 ? Are you stressed? Results of a new meta-analysis of six studies involving nearly 120,000 people indicate that the answer to that question may help predict one's risk of incident coronary heart disease (CHD) or death from CHD. The study, led by Columbia University Medical Center researchers, was published in a recent issue of the American Journal of Cardiology.

The six studies included in the analysis were large prospective observational cohort studies in which participants were asked about their perceived stress (e.g., "How stressed do you feel?" or "How often are you stressed?"). Respondents scored either high or low; researchers then followed them for an average of 14 years to compare the number of heart attacks and CHD deaths between the two groups. Results demonstrate that high perceived stress is associated with a 27% increased risk for incident CHD (defined as a new diagnosis or hospitalization) or CHD mortality.

"While it is generally accepted that stress is related to heart disease, this is the first meta-analytic review of the association of perceived stress and incident CHD," said senior author Donald Edmondson, PhD, assistant professor of behavioral medicine at CUMC. "This is the most precise estimate of that relationship, and it gives credence to the widely held belief that general stress is related to heart health. In comparison with traditional cardiovascular risk factors, high stress provides a moderate increase in the risk of CHD -- e.g., the equivalent of a 50 mg/dL increase in LDL cholesterol, a 2.7/1.4 mmHg increase in blood pressure or smoking five more cigarettes per day."

"These findings are significant because they are applicable to nearly everyone," said first author Safiya Richardson, MD, who collaborated with Dr. Edmondson on the paper while attending the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (she graduated in 2012 and is currently a resident at North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System in Manhasset, New York). "The key takeaway is that how people feel is important for their heart health, so anything they can do to reduce stress may improve their heart health in the future."

Coronary heart disease (CHD), also called coronary artery disease, is a narrowing of the small blood vessels that supply blood and oxygen to the heart. It is caused by a buildup of plaque in the arteries, which can lead to hardening of the arteries, or atherosclerosis. CHD is the leading cause of death in the United States for men and women; more than 385,000 people die each year from CHD.

The researchers did further analysis to try to learn what might underlie the association between stress and CHD. They found that while gender was not a significant factor, age was. The people in the studies were between the ages of 43-74; among older people, the relationship between stress and CHD was stronger.

"While we do not know for certain why there appears to be an association between age and the effect of perceived stress on CHD, we think that stress may be compounding over time. For example, someone who reports high perceived stress at age 60 may also have felt high stress at ages 40 and 50, as well." Dr. Edmondson also noted that older individuals tend to have worse CHD risk factors such as hypertension to begin with, and that stress may interact with those risk factors to produce CHD events.

"The next step is to conduct randomized trials to assess whether broad population-based measures to decrease stress are cost-effective. Further research should look at whether the stress that people report is about actual life circumstances (e.g., moving or caregiving), or about stable personality characteristics (e.g., type A vs. B), said Dr. Edmondson.

"We also need to ask why we found this association between stress and CHD, e.g., what biological components or mechanisms are involved, and what is the role of environment or lifestyle (e.g., diet, alcohol and drug use, exercise), and how best to moderate these factors to lower the risk of CHD," said Dr. Richardson.

The paper is titled, "Meta-Analysis of Perceived Stress and Its Association With Incident Coronary Heart Disease." The other contributors are Jonathan A. Shaffer, Louise Falzon, David Krupka and Karina W. Davidson, all from CUMC's Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health.

This research was supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants HL-088117 and CA-156709. It was supported in part by Columbia University's Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) grant No. UL1RR024156 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences -- National Center for Research Resources/NIH. Dr. Edmondson is supported by NIH grant KM1CA156709.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Columbia University Medical Center.

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Journal Reference:

1. Safiya Richardson, Jonathan A. Shaffer, Louise Falzon, David Krupka, Karina W. Davidson, Donald Edmondson. Meta-Analysis of Perceived Stress and Its Association With Incident Coronary Heart Disease. The American Journal of Cardiology, 2012; 110 (12): 1711 DOI: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2012.08.004

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/living_well/~3/OepbNqUntp4/121217121413.htm

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The Music Club, 2012

Carly Rae Jepsen at the 86th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City

Photo by Laura Cavanaugh/Getty Images.

Dear Will, Jason, Lindsay, and Ann,

I?m tempted to suggest, instead of the traditional Music Club back and forth, that we fire up a webcam, record a group rendition of ?Call Me Maybe,? and call it a day. You know: 10 hands, one guitar. Wailing sax solo. Copious horse-dancing. Kazoo.

I?m almost serious. In 2012, more than ever, music seemed inseparable from moving pictures, from the strobe-lit flow of images that pour through our computers and smartphones. I?m struck by how many of the big musical moments of ?12 were televisual, from Frank Ocean?s stirring debut on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon to M.I.A.?s jaw-dropping ?Bad Girls? video to the year?s most important performance, Pussy Riot?s ?punk prayer? protest at Moscow?s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour?a Situationist d?tournement staged for streaming video.

It wasn?t just the music itself. Increasingly, our pop music (pardon the expression) discourse is conducted on YouTube: a conversation between artists and audiences, unfolding in binary code. The chief example from 2012 is Carly Rae Jepsen?s hit, an adorable little pop song that turned out to be awfully big?sturdy enough to stand up to countless tributes and cover versions, capacious enough to hold a wide world?s worth of meanings, including the homoerotic ones that Ann zeroed-in on in a great piece. And, of course, there was ?Gangnam Style??the freakiest freak hit in history; a novelty song send-up of South Korean yuppies that seduced everyone: Indonesian flash mobbers, Naval Academy midshipmen, Hasidic wedding revelers, MC Hammer; a testament to pop?s dissolving borders and crumbling fourth walls.

Speaking of the fourth wall: The savviest music essay that I encountered in 2012 wasn?t written by one of our critic colleagues. It came from everybody?s favorite Australo-Belgain pop star, Gotye. I?m talking about ?Somebodies: A YouTube Orchestra,? Gotye?s video remix of his breakthrough hit, collaged together from the unnumbered bedroom covers that made the song a sensation in the first place. Gotye?s stunt reminded me of an argument I first heard from the academic Karl Hagstrom Miller: In the 21^st century, we have circumnavigated back to the late 19^th, when pop was a participatory sport, and the amateur was the star. As in 1890, the real musical action these days is taking place at home. And the laptop camera is the new parlor room piano.

Now, this video-centric view may well be a warped one. I?m 43-year-old guy with an 8-year-old kid; I don?t get out much anymore, and when I do, it?s usually to eat something locally sourced and pan-seared. Today, more than any time in the rock era, musicians are making their living by playing music live; if you went to a Springsteen concert this year, or experienced the sweaty communal bliss of a dance club, you might have a different perspective on things than I do. And yet: While I didn?t make it to Jay-Z?s Barclays Center concerts this fall, I sat in my living room a couple of miles away and watched a livestream on Jay?s Life+Times website. Do you know what I saw? I squinted at my laptop and watched thousands of people holding their cellphones aloft to film Jay-Z. They weren?t filming the rapper himself, mind you?they were filming his gigantic video doppelganger, flickering on the Jumbotron above the Barclays Center stage. Screens facing screens facing screens: a clusterfuck of opposing mirrors that would baffle the imagination of Borges.

All of which adds to the unsettling feeling that records, while not quite beside the point, are definitely not the point?and may not even be a good starting point for a state-of-the-music discussion in 2012. Which in turn makes the annual agony of compiling best-of lists more agonizing, more absurd. Nevertheless, here are my top albums and songs:

1. Future, Pluto
2. Kellie Pickler,?100 Proof?
3. Bruno Mars, Unorthodox Jukebox
4. Bob Dylan, Tempest
5. Micachu and the Shapes, Never
6. Melanie Fiona, The MF Life
7. Ka,?Grief Pedigree?
8. Miguel, Kaleidoscope Dream
9. JB and the Moonshine Band, Beer for Breakfast
10. Usher,?Looking 4 Myself
11. Lionel Richie, Tuskegee
12. Jeremih, Late Nights with Jeremih?
13. fun., Some Nights
14. R. Kelly, Write Me Back
15. Jens Lekman,?I Know What Love Isn't
16. Frank Ocean, Channel Orange
17. Prinzhorn Dance School,?Clay Class
18. 2 Chainz, Based on a T.R.U. Story
19. Keyshia Cole, Woman to Woman
20. Action Bronson,?Blue Chips

1. Frank Ocean, ?Thinkin Bout You?
2. Kacey Musgraves, ?Merry Go ?Round?
3. Justin Bieber, ?Die in Your Arms?
4. fun. ft. Janelle Mon?e, ?We Are Young?
5. Alan Jackson, ?So You Don?t Have To Love Me Anymore?
6. Carly Rae Jepsen, ?Call Me Maybe?
7. Santigold, ?Big Mouth?
8. Ca$h Out, ?Cashin' Out?
9. Miguel, ?Adorn?
10. Rhye, ?The Fall?
11. Tim McGraw, ?Better Than I Used To Be?
12. Usher, ?Climax?
13. Ka, ?No Downtime?
14. Kendrick Lamar, ?Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe?
15. Amanda Palmer and The Grand Theft Orchestra, ?Lost?
16. Danny Brown, ?Grown Up?
17. Luke James, ?I Want You?
18. Gerardo Ortiz, ?Amor Confuso?
19. Kitty Pryde, ?Okay Cupid?
20. RDX, ?Jump?
21. Anthony Hamilton, ?Pray for Me?
22. Taylor Swift, ?22?
23. Solange, ?Losing You?
24. Blonds, ?Run?
25. Gotye, ?Somebodies: A YouTube Orchestra?

Click here for a Spotify playlist of these songs.

Roughly speaking, my favorites fell into two categories: 1.) straight-up genre records and 2.) genre-of-one records, in which musicians accentuated their eccentricities and pursued obsessions past the bounds of good sense and, sometimes, good taste. In the former category are things like JB and the Moonshine Band?s Beer for Breakfast, a great country-rock album, with songs as witty and catchy as they are rollicking; 2 Chainz?s delectable punchline rap; and R. Kelly?s Write Me Back, a suave ?70s soul throwback that finds Kells doing slightly bonkers impersonations of Barry White and Marvin Gaye. The purest genre music of the year was Kellie Pickler?s 100 Proof, a beautiful country record that struck the sweet spot between trad and contemporary. I?m still not quite sure how the American Idol also-ran turned into such a fine singer, with the gravitas to handle old-fashioned honky-tonk and acoustic weepers and the brass to pull off Nashville pop. In any case, country is the genre I turn to for comfort food, and Pickler, of all people, served the tastiest, most nourishing dish.

As for the weirdos: Two in particular stood out. One is Mica Levy, the London art-pop ragamuffin behind Micachu and the Shapes, whose clangorous Never was the rare ?difficult? album that I loved without having to try hard. I hope to make a case for this odd, noisy music in a future post. But first let me talk about Future?s Pluto.

Future, from Atlanta, is nominally a rapper; denominationally, spiritually, he?s a kind of bluesman. To be precise: He?s a heartsick, sex-crazed, sci-fi bluesman, strapped to the chassis of the Mars Rover, bellowing out his pain and perversions, lit by ghostly glow of Phobos. Over the previous couple of years, Future released a string of mixtapes, establishing himself as a spirited but unremarkable rapper. But for his first official album, he had a great, gauche idea: He slathered on the auto-tune, wrote a bunch of songs about sex and loneliness, and let rip, rap-singing in a demented sob.

A few years back, auto-tune was everywhere; today, it?s d?class?. But Pluto is great: It?s the album that everyone was trying to make circa 2008, when T-Pain ruled radio and Kanye released 808s and Heartbreak. I love the sound: Listen to ?Astronaut Chick,? with Future?s effects-strafed croon gusting over plaintively tinkling synth chords and a windswept whirl of percussion. It?s a song as tuneful, as shamelessly maudlin, as ?Hard To Say I?m Sorry,? and I don?t think I need to tell you guys that I mean that as a compliment. The real surprise of Pluto is the pathos?the way Future twists gangsta clich?s, including some nasty misogynist ones, into touching puppy-love plaints. When?s the last time you heard rap singles as earnestly lovelorn as ?Neva End? and the startling ?Turn on the Lights??

Turn on the lights
I'm looking for her, too
I heard she keep her promises and never turn on you
I heard she ain't gon? cheat and she gon? never make no move
I heard she be there anytime you need her
She come through

In short, Future has pioneered a new style: Afrofuturist schmaltz. Of course, you could also call Pluto R&B, a category whose boundaries continued to expand in 2012. In last year?s Music Club, I bellyached about the joyless sex of the Weeknd/Drake school of nu-R&B. Miguel remedied that problem in 2012, with an album that embraced the new production palate and old-school sensuality. But I remain suspicious of the late-breaking blog-love for R&B, especially for Miguel and Frank Ocean. Don?t get me wrong: I love those guys and hope to write about them in depth before we?re through. But am I wrong to think that Miguel and Ocean?s music?which flaunts its arty ambitions and steers away from R&B?s traditional deep groove?is R&B for people who don?t really like R&B, R&B for self-styled aesthetes, whose ears are clapped closed to more commercial/traditional R&B: to Jeremih and Usher and the redoubtable Kelly, not to mention women like Keyshia Cole and Melanie Fiona? Anyway ? let?s discuss.

In the meantime, a quick note about a sonic trend. Did you guys notice things quieting down in 2012? Wherever I turned this year, I heard musicians playing with dulcet sounds, and silences?lowering their volume, and letting stillness and space creep into their songs. Consider some examples. Ocean and Miguel, of course. And ?Climax.? And Jeremih?s awesome ?Fuck U All the Time,? with its slow, leaky-faucet tempo and eerie emptiness. I heard the new sound in the music of young chanteuses: Jessie Ware, Cooly G, Lianne La Havas, Jhen? Aiko, Nite Jewel, and the sublime (and mysterious) Rhye. I heard it in dancehall and hip-hop; in ?Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe? and on my favorite New York rap album of the year, Ka?s noirish Grief Pedigree. Of course, I heard it in The xx?the masters of menacing quietude?and in the spiky miniatures of Prinzhorn Dance School. Even Nicki Minaj hushed up a bit, for one song at least.

What?s happening, here? Is this a predictable pendulum swing, a reaction to the bludgeoning roar of four-on-the-floor club music, which has dominated pop in since the rise of Gaga? Is it a response to technology: Are the ubiquitous Beats by Dre headphones transforming our tastes, fostering demand for softer music, with more sharply etched details, and some room for our ears to breathe? Are we seeing a stealth British invasion? Notice how many of the artists in the above paragraph are Brits, and the music?s genetic links to British styles like trip-hop and Sade?s jazz-soul. Or is this ?trend? merely wishful thinking on my part, another sign of incipient fuddy-duddyness? Am I slouching into middle age, like millions before me, by reaching for the easy listening?

Let me know what you think?but keep your voices down.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=ba5d14ae8a9f5261543baa5a72d3c3ca

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Researchers discover fastest light-driven process

Thursday, December 6, 2012

A discovery that promises transistors ? the fundamental part of all modern electronics ? controlled by laser pulses that will be 10,000 faster than today's fastest transistors has been made by a Georgia State University professor and international researchers.

Professor of Physics Mark Stockman worked with Professor Vadym Apalkov of Georgia State and a group led by Ferenc Krausz at the prestigious Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics and other well-known German institutions.

There are three basic types of solids: metals, semiconductors, used in today's transistors, and insulators ? also called dielectrics.

Dielectrics do not conduct electricity and get damaged or break down if too high of fields of energy are applied to them. The scientists discovered that when dielectrics were given very short and intense laser pulses, they start conducting electricity while remaining undamaged.

The fastest time a dielectric can process signals is on the order of 1 femtosecond ? the same time as the light wave oscillates and millions of times faster than the second handle of a watch jumps.

Dielectric devices hold promise to allow for much faster computing than possible today with semiconductors. Such a device can work at 1 petahertz, while the processor of today's computer runs slightly faster than at 3 gigahertz.

"Now we can fundamentally have a device that works 10 thousand times faster than a transistor that can run at 100 gigahertz," Stockman said. "This is a field effect, the same type that controls a transistor. The material becomes conductive as a very high electrical field of light is applied to it, but dielectrics are 10,000 times faster than semiconductors."

The results were published online Dec. 5 in Nature. The research institutions include the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, the Department of Physics at the Munich Technical University, the Physics Department at Ludwig Maximilian University at Munich and the Fritz Haber Institute at Berlin, Germany.

At one time, scientists thought dielectrics could not be used in signal processing ? breaking down when required high electric fields were applied. Instead, Stockman said, it is possible for them to work if such extreme fields are applied at a very short time.

In a second paper also published online Dec. 5 in Nature, Stockman and his fellow researchers experimented with probing optical processes in a dielectric ? silica ? with very short extreme ultraviolet pulses. They discovered the fastest process that can fundamentally exist in condensed matter physics, unfolding at about at 100 attoseconds ? millions of times faster than the blink of an eye.

The scientists were able to show that very short, highly intense light pulses can cause on-off electric currents ? necessary in computing to make the 1s and 0s needed in the binary language of computers -- in dielectrics, making extremely swift processing possible.

###

Georgia State University: http://www.gsu.edu

Thanks to Georgia State University for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/125775/Researchers_discover_fastest_light_driven_process

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Rebuilding family's ruined home after fire | KFOR.com ? Oklahoma ...

Posted on: 4:50 pm, December 6, 2012, by Courtney Francisco, updated on: 10:55am, December 7, 2012

OKLAHOMA CITY ? An Oklahoma City woman is pulling the community together to help a neighbor get back into their home by Christmas

It was destroyed by a fire last Tuesday on the 4500 block of S.W. 24th St.

Walking through debris, Joenita Rhodes and her 3-year-old adopted son, Kiev, see scorched pictures, baby blankets.

It?s all that?s left of their home after it was destroyed by the fire.

?It?s really hard to see it now because I got married in this back yard; I started my family here,? Rhodes said.

The fire started in the laundry room when the dryer exploded.

The flames destroyed at least half of the home.

All Rhodes, her husband and son could do was watch fire fighters tried to save the home.

It was a sad sight for neighbor, Amy Mayen, who said the family is always helping others.

They helped her fix up her home when she moved next door eight years ago and they were always willing to help friends and family in need of a place to stay.

With Rhodes? home destroyed, those people also face homelessness again.

So Mayen?s mission is to get the Rhodes back into their home with the help of the community.

Posters hang on the burnt out home asking for lumber to rebuild.

?Love thy neighbor, I really didn?t know what that meant until I moved here,? Mayen said. ?I?know we can get this house rebuilt and get Kiev back home for Christmas.?

Mayen said a roofer has already come forward to help patch the holes, and Rhodes? husband?s boss is lending them a trailer to live in until their home is ready.

?That makes my heart just, it melts because I mean I love these people,? Rhodes said. ?I want to come home.?

?Now when she looks at her charred home, she has a hopeful heart.

The Rhodes did have insurance, although the family said it looks like they are only going to pay for some of the damage.

For now, Mayen said she needs the help of construction companies or anyone with spare lumber.?

To learn more about the Rhodes?s story or to see how you can help, click here.?

Source: http://kfor.com/2012/12/06/rebuilding-familys-ruined-home-after-fire/

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Video: Is there a fiscal cliff deal in sight?

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/newsnation/50121116/

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Democrats maintain control of Senate

By M. Alex Johnson, NBC News

New in this version: Adds comments ?from Reid, McConnell

Updated at 2:38 a.m. ET Nov. 7: Democrats kept the Senate on Tuesday, winning a series of razor-close races that Republicans had targeted in the hope of taking full control of Congress.

Democratic Sen.-elect Elizabeth Warren promises supporters in Boston that she will be "out there fighting for the middle class all of the time."

NBC News projected that Democrats held 51 seats in the next Senate, plus the consistent support of Independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who won re-election. See results

Three races were still too close to call, meaning the Democrats could strengthen their grip on the upper chamber.

With the House remaining in Republican hands, the makeup of the government will remain static: President Barack Obama was re-elected, but he will have to contend with a divided Congress for four more years.

---

"Things like this are what happens when your No. 1 goal is to defeat the president and not work to get legislation passed," Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said in a statement.?

In a statement of his own, Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky challenged Obama to "propose solutions that actually have a chance of passing the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and a closely divided Senate."

"To the extent he wants to move to the political center, which is where the work gets done in a divided government, we'll be there to meet him halfway," McConnell said.

View complete Senate election results

The Democrats clung to control on the back of four victories in states that had been statistical ties in pre-election polls:

• Harvard University law professor Elizabeth Warren ousted Republican Sen. Scott Brown in Massachusetts, NBC News projected, negating Republican state legislator Deb Fischer's victory over former Sen. Bob Kerrey for the open seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson. Massachusetts results | Nebraska results
• Democratic former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine beat former Republican Gov. George Allen, NBC News projected, keeping the seat held by the retiring Sen. Jim Webb in Democratic hands. See results
• Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly of Indiana defeated Republican state Treasurer Richard Mourdock to claim the open seat held by Republican Dick Lugar, NBC News projected. Mourdock had been favored until he drew national opposition for having said in a debate last month that he believed that pregnancies resulting from rape were a "gift from God" and shouldn't be terminated. See results
• Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill held on to her seat in Missouri after Republican Rep. Todd Akin made similar comments in a TV interview in August, suggesting that women's bodies could "shut down" a pregnancy that was the result of a "legitimate rape." See results

As expected, Rep. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., defeated Republican former Rep. Heather Wilson to win the open seat of retiring Republican Jeff Bingaman, and Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., beat Republican former Gov. Tommy Thompson to become the nation's first openly gay senator, NBC News projected. Thompson, who served as secretary of Health and Human Services in the administration of former President Geoorge W. Bush, announced his retirement from politics in his concession speech.?New Mexico results | Wisconsin results

Wisconsin's Baldwin becomes first openly gay senator

And Democrats could claim a bigger majority.

Former Maine Gov. Angus King, running as an independent, won an open Senate seat that had been held by Republican Olympia Snowe, NBC News projected. King could vote with the Democrats; he hasn't said which party, if any, he will side with. See results

Maine independent promised to shake up Washington

Senators winning re-election

NBC News projected that the following senators would win re-election:
John Barrasso, R-Wyo.
Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio
Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.
Ben Cardin, D-Md.
Bob Casey, D-Pa.
Tom Carper, D-Del.
Bob Corker, R-Tenn.
Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.
Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.
Tom Manchin, D-W.Va.
Robert Menendez, D-N.J.
Bill Nelson, D-Fla.
Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.
Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.
Roger Wicker, R-Miss.

The three still-undecided races, meanwhile, also could go either way:

• Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., held a 14-point lead over Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg in a race that NBC News said was also too early to call. See results
• Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., who was appointed to the seat when former Republican Sen. John Ensign resigned, held a slim lead in pre-election polls to keep his seat over Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley. NBC News said that race was too early to call. See results
• And Rep. Rick Berg, R-N.D., was closely trailing Democratic former Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp in a race NBC News was describing as too close to call.

Democrats control 53 seats in the current Senate (that number includes Sanders and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who also generally votes with them); Republicans hold 47. Ten senators weren't seeking re-election this cycle ? the most since 1996. In addition, Lugar lost to Mourdock in the Indiana Republican primary, meaning at least 11 new faces will join the Senate on Jan. 2.

Exit polls: Majority of voters see America on wrong track

Warren's victory was particularly sweet for Democrats, for whom she was a hero as the architect of Obama's U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Warren beats Brown in costliest-ever Senate race

"You took on the powerful Wall Street banks and special interests, and you let them know you want a senator who will be out there fighting for the middle class all of the time," she told cheering supporters in Boston.

The races in Missouri and Indiana were also closely watched because of the controversies generated by Akin's and Mourdock's comments on abortion.

McCaskill reveled in her victory, giving supporters a beaming I-told-you-so speech in St. Louis.

"They all said it's over ? it's done, it's too red, it's just too red," she said. "There is no way that Claire McCaskill can survive. Well, you know what happened? You proved them wrong."

Akin told supporters in Missouri that he had called to congratulate McCaskill, but he sounded a defiant note:

Todd Akin says that called Claire McCaskill to concede after being defeated in the Missouri Senate race.

"I also think, in the circumstances that we've all been through, that it is particularly appropriate to thank God, who makes no mistakes and is wiser than we are," Akin said.

"... Washington, D.C.'s first questions shouldn't be what's politically expedient, but what's right," he said. "Washington doesn't need more money. It needs more courage."

Donnelly, meanwhile, stressed bipartisanship, telling supporters in Indianapolis that he hoped to follow in the moderate shoes of two predecessors, Lugar and Democrat Evan Bayh.

"I say to all of my fellow Hoosiers out there: This isn't about politics. This isn't about one party or the other," Donnelly said.

More election coverage from NBCNews.com:

Follow NBC Politics on Twitter and Facebook

Source: http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/06/14973899-gop-faces-difficult-climb-to-senate-control?lite

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The meaning of yesterday?s defeat ? a follow-up to John?s post (Powerlineblog)

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DC Comics Announces Deals To Sell Digital Comics In Big Three E-Bookstores, Says Digital Sales Have Grown 197%

DC Comics is announcing the next big step in its digital plans today, saying it will sell monthly comics in the Kindle Store, iBookstore, and Nook Book Store. The company wasn't exactly missing from those stores before, because it was already selling graphic novels. However, if you wanted the newest content, delivered on a monthly basis, just as you would find in a comic book store, you had to turn to ComiXology ? either the ComiXology app or the official DC app, which the Time Warner-owned publisher created in partnership with ComiXology.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/6U2MoZjyC8M/

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Top medical innovations address headache, diabetes, cancer

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The clinic\\'s annual list of the best medical innovations for 2013 also includes new drugs to treat advanced prostate cancer and better mammography technology. 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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/top-medical-innovations-address-headache-diabetes-cancer-040440016--finance.html

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Northeast back to business after Sandy's hard hit

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The northeastern United States battled epic flood waters and lengthy power outages on Tuesday after the massive storm Sandy pummeled the coast with a record storm surge, high winds and heavy rains that killed at least 45 people and caused billions of dollars in losses.

Millions of people in New York City and other hard-hit areas will spend days or weeks recovering from a storm already seen as far more destructive that Hurricane Irene, which slammed into the same region a year ago. One disaster modeling company said Sandy may have caused up to $15 billion in insured losses.

The storm killed 18 people in New York City, among 23 total in New York state, while six died in New Jersey. Seven other states reported fatalities.

Some 8.2 million homes and businesses in several states were without electricity as trees toppled by Sandy's fierce winds took down power lines.

Sandy hit the coast with a week to go to the November 6 presidential election and turned its fury inland with heavy snowfall, dampening an unprecedented drive to encourage early voting and raising questions whether some polling stations will be ready to open on Election Day.

New York City will struggle without its subway system, which was inundated and will remain shut for days. Much of the Wall Street district was left underwater but officials hoped to have financial markets reopen on Wednesday.

Sandy was the biggest storm to hit the country in generations when it crashed ashore with hurricane-force winds on Monday near the New Jersey gambling resort of Atlantic City, devastating the Jersey Shore tourist haven. Flood waters lifted parked cars and deposited them on an otherwise deserted highway.

With the political campaign and partisanship on hold, Democratic President Barack Obama and Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie planned to tour New Jersey disaster areas on Wednesday.

"It's total devastation down there. There are boats in the street five blocks from the ocean," said Peter Sandomeno, an owner of the Broadway Court Motel in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey.

Christie, who has been a strong supporter of Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney, praised Obama and the federal response to the storm.

Obama and Romney put campaigning on hold for a second day but Romney planned to hit the trail again in Florida on Wednesday and Obama seemed likely to resume campaigning on Thursday for a final five-day sprint to Election Day.

Obama faces political danger if the government fails to respond well, as was the case with predecessor George W. Bush's botched handling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Obama has a chance to show that his administration has learned the lessons of Katrina and that he can lead during a crisis.

NEW YORK UNDER WATER

Sandy brought a record storm surge of almost 14 feet to downtown Manhattan, well above the previous record of 10 feet during Hurricane Donna in 1960, the National Weather Service said.

The storm forced New York City to postpone its traditional Halloween parade, which had been set for Wednesday night in Greenwich Village and threatened to disrupt Sunday's New York City marathon.

The lower half of Manhattan went dark when surging seawater flooded a substation and as power utility Consolidated Edison shut down others pre-emptively. Some 250,000 customers lost power.

Fire ravaged the Breezy Point neighborhood in the borough of Queens, destroying 110 homes and damaging 20 while destroying still more in the nearby neighborhood of Belle Harbor. Remarkably, no fatalities were reported.

"To describe it as looking like pictures we've seen of the end of World War Two is not overstating it," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said after touring the area. "The area was completely leveled. Chimneys and foundations were all that was left of many of these homes."

Hospitals closed throughout the region, forcing patients to relocate and doctors to carry premature babies down more than a dozen flights of stairs at one New York City facility.

While some parts of the city went unscathed, neighborhoods along the East and Hudson rivers bordering Manhattan were underwater and expected to be without power for days, as were low-lying streets in Battery Park near Ground Zero, where the World Trade Center stood before the September 11, 2001, attacks.

"I'm lucky to have gas; I can make hot water. But there is no heating and I'm all cold inside," said Thea Lucas, 87, who lives alone in Manhattan's Lower East Side.

DESTRUCTION THROUGHOUT REGION

Airlines canceled more than 18,000 flights, though two of the New York City area's three major airports planned to reopen with limited service on Wednesday.

Cellphone service went silent in many states and some emergency call centers were affected.

Some cities like Washington, Philadelphia and Boston were mostly spared but he storm reached as far inland as Ohio and parts of West Virginia were buried under 3 feet (1 meter) of snow, a boon for ski resorts that was one of the storm's few bright spots.

The western extreme of Sandy's wind field buffeted the Great Lakes region, according to Andrew Krein of the National Weather Service, generating wind gusts of up to 60 mph on the southern end of Lake Michigan and up to 35 mph Chicago.

In Cleveland, buildings in the city's downtown area were evacuated due to flooding, police said. Winds gusting to 50 mph brought down wires and knocked out power to homes and business. City officials asked residents to stay inside and for downtown businesses to remained closed for the day.

Amid the devastation there was opportunity. Snowmakers at Snowshoe Mountain in the mountains of West Virginia had their equipment running at full speed on Tuesday, taking advantage of the cold temperatures to build the 24-30 inch base they need to open for skiing by Thanksgiving.

"There are snowmakers out there making snow in what was a hurricane and blizzard," said Dave Dekema, marketing director for the resort, which received a foot-and-a-half of snow, with another foot or two expected.

The resort's phones, email account and Facebook pages were "going crazy," Dekema said, with avid skiers and snowboarders wondering if there was any chance of getting out on the mountain this weekend. He said that was unlikely.

(Additional reporting by Scott Malone in Boston; Ilaina Jonas, Daniel Bases, Lucas Jackson, Edward Krudy and Scott DiSavino in New York; Ian Simpson in West Virginia; Diane Bartz and Andrea Shalal-Esa in Washington; Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Susan Guyett in Indianapolis; Kim Palmer in Cleveland and James B. Kelleher in Chicago. Writing by Daniel Trotta and Ros Krasny; Editing by Bill Trott)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/east-coast-reels-massive-deadly-storm-020602474.html

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By Jes?s D?az Sandy?s attack and disintegration.?The...

By Jes?s D?az

Sandy?s attack and disintegration.?The latest video from NASA/NOAA GOES-13 satellite shows Sandy from Monday, October 29 at 9:55am EDT?as it was ramping up to attack New Jersey and New York?to October 31, 10:02am EDT, just a few minutes ago. You can clearly see all its fury and how it?s been disintegrating during the past hours. Check out the full video here.?

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/kx3Qt5yXWfA/34702178457

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Chile's ALMA probes for origins of universe

In this Sept. 27, 2012 photo, radio antennas face the sky as part of one of the worlds largest astronomy projects, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chajnator in the Atacama desert in northern Chile. Linked as a single giant telescope, the radio antennas pick up wavelengths of light longer than anything visible to the human eye and colder than infrared telescopes, which are good at capturing images of distant suns but miss planets and clouds of gases from which stars are formed. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

In this Sept. 27, 2012 photo, radio antennas face the sky as part of one of the worlds largest astronomy projects, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chajnator in the Atacama desert in northern Chile. Linked as a single giant telescope, the radio antennas pick up wavelengths of light longer than anything visible to the human eye and colder than infrared telescopes, which are good at capturing images of distant suns but miss planets and clouds of gases from which stars are formed. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

In this Sept. 26, 2012 photo, a board covered by notes by scientists hangs in the Operations Support Facility of one of the worlds largest astronomy projects, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in the Atacama desert in northern Chile. The lack of humidity, low interference from other radio signals and closeness to the upper atmosphere in this remote plateau high above Chile's Atacama desert, is the perfect spot for the ALMA, the earth's largest radio telescope, which is on track to be completed in March. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

In this Sept. 26, 2012 photo, the moon shines over radio antennas at the operations support facility of one of the worlds largest astronomy projects, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in the Atacama desert in northern Chile. Linked as a single giant telescope, the radio antennas pick up wavelengths of light longer than anything visible to the human eye and colder than infrared telescopes, which are good at capturing images of distant suns but miss planets and clouds of gases from which stars are formed. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

In this Sept. 26, 2012 photo, astronomer Bill Dent, left, engineer Rodrigo Amestica, center, and array operator Patricio Alvarez work at the Operations Support Facility of one of the worlds largest astronomy projects, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in the Atacama desert in northern Chile. The lack of humidity, low interference from other radio signals and closeness to the upper atmosphere in this remote plateau high above Chile's Atacama desert, is the perfect spot for the ALMA, the earth's largest radio telescope, which is on track to be completed in March. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

In this Sept. 27, 2012 photo, radio antennas face the sky as part of one of the worlds largest astronomy projects, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chajnator in the Atacama desert in northern Chile. Linked as a single giant telescope, the radio antennas pick up wavelengths of light longer than anything visible to the human eye and colder than infrared telescopes, which are good at capturing images of distant suns but miss planets and clouds of gases from which stars are formed. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

LLANO DE CHAJNANTOR, Chile (AP) ? Earth's largest radio telescope is growing more powerful by the day on this remote plateau high above Chile's Atacama desert, where visitors often feel like they're planting the first human footprints on the red crust of Mars.

The 16,400-foot (5,000-meter) altitude, thin air and mercurial climate here can be unbearable. Visitors must breathe oxygen from a tank just to keep from fainting. Winds reach 62 mph (100 km) and temperatures drop to 10 below zero (minus 25 Celsius).

But for astronomers, it's paradise.

The lack of humidity, low interference from other radio signals and closeness to the upper atmosphere make this the perfect spot for the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, or ALMA, which is on track to be completed in March.

So far, 43 of the 66 radio antennas have been set up and point skyward like 100-ton white mushrooms. Linked as a single giant telescope, they pick up wavelengths of light longer than anything visible to the human eye, and combine the signals in a process called interferometry, which gives ALMA a diameter of 9.9 miles (16 kilometers). The result is unprecedented resolution and sensitivity ? fully assembled, its vision will be up to ten times sharper than NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

"What surprises me is what is being observed. Until now, we haven't had such a capable observatory. We've never been able to observe with such resolution, such accuracy," says David Rabanus, ALMA's instrument group manager.

More than 900 teams of astronomers competed last year to be among the first to use the array, and scientists from around the world are already taking turns at the joysticks.

They're looking for clues about the dawn of the cosmos ? from the coldest gases and dust where galaxies are formed and stars are born, to the energy produced by the Big Bang. So-called birthing clouds of cold gases and debris can look like ink stains with other telescopes, but ALMA can show their detailed structures.

ALMA also reaches farther beyond Earth's nitrogen-blue skies than any other radio telescope and has already captured images different from anything seen before by visible-light and infrared telescopes. After a 2003 groundbreaking, scientific operations began last year with a quarter of ALMA's final capacity.

Seeing in three dimensions made possible the recent discovery of a spiral structure surrounding R Sculptoris, providing new insights about how dying red giant stars implode and send off raw material that will later form into other stars. Those results were published in the scientific journal Nature. ALMA has even been able to detect sugar molecules in the gas surrounding a star about 400 light years away, proving the existence of life's building blocks there.

Jointly funded and managed by the United States, Canada, the European Union, Japan and Taiwan, the $1.5 billion project is an engineering triumph that launches Chile, already home to some of the world's largest optical telescopes, to the forefront of ground-based space exploration.

"We're talking about the United Nations of astronomy joined for a billion dollar adventure. Scientists are like kids playing with very expensive toys and these ones are technological developments that could change the world," said Jose Maza, a University of Chile astronomy professor.

But this space race isn't over: Australia and South Africa are competing to build The Square Kilometer Array, combining thousands of small dishes to create a radio telescope 50 times more sensitive than ALMA once completed in 2024.

ALMA's parts are shipped from all over the world and assembled at a warehouse 9,514 feet (2,900 meters) above sea level. The precision is micrometric. The telescope employs reflecting panels that must be aligned and glued so accurately to withstand each winter's subzero temperatures and bounce radio waves within a hundredth of a millimeter's precision.

The dishes are hauled up to their final destination by two custom-made 28-wheel transporters that roar along snaky roads, lined with oversized cactuses and grazing vicunas below the snow-peaked Licancabur volcano. The trip is only 22 miles (35 kilometers), but it takes five hours for the huge platforms to reach the plateau.

Each antenna is perched on a rotating steel pedestal with precisely installed copper lining to protect from lightning. Each dish has a sensitive receiver made of carbon fiber to avoid thermal expansion. The structures, 40 feet (12-meter) tall, lean closer together or farther apart as astronomers zoom in or get wider views. The ALMA correlator, which calculates more than 20 quadrillion operations per second, is the fastest computer ever used at an astronomical site. It compiles the data into a single large view.

"We came from the caves and we're here now just because of curiosity," said Rieks Jager, system integration manager at ALMA, as he stepped out of the control room near the "silent area" military-style barracks where astronomers sleep during the day. "It's not always clear what we study, or whether it's useful for society, but overall it's absolutely essential for humankind."

It's a quantum leap forward since Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei invented one of the first telescopes in the 17th century, discovering sunspots and valleys on the surface of the moon.

"Astronomy has been with us forever and we still have so much more to go," said Maza, the astronomy professor. "If we hadn't asked ourselves so many questions by looking at the stars we would still be ... hunting buffalos. At the end, all of man's development comes from the act of leaving the stones aside and looking upward at the twinkling stars and asking, 'Why?' "

ALMA reminds Juan Rodrigo Cortes, one of the observatory's astronomers, of a phrase from Antoine De Saint Exupery's book "The Little Prince" ? "What is essential is invisible to the eyes."

"What's essential here is the material that creates stars, galaxies, clouds, that doesn't emit light visible to our eyes, but goes way beyond the infrared at much longer wavelengths, and that's why our eyes can't see it," Cortes said. "ALMA gives us eyes."

Scientists and researchers are willing to go to extremes to catch a glimpse of the universe through those eyes.

As many as 500 people at a time live at 9,500 feet above sea level in shipping containers modified as trailers. Alcohol is banned due to the sensitivity of the equipment, and those caught drinking after trips to the nearby city of San Pedro de Atacama must sleep at the security checkpoint while they dry out. Their shifts can last 12 hours daily for eight straight days.

Even the weather is unpredictable. Although the clearest of skies are the norm, this year, scientists have had to deal with mudslides, floods and thunderstorms. But most of the time, they seem to be far removed from the rest of the world.

Inside ALMA's control room, German astronomer Rainer Mauersberger had no idea he had put his orange sweater on backward. He was thinking about the formation of galaxies, hoping perhaps to spot a black hole.

"This project has to do with the origin of our life and our future," Mauersberger explained as he sat near a long table full of Halloween masks, used by the scientists to share a light moment or a laugh to break up the long days and nights of stargazing.

"It's about how can we predict our future climates, the evolution of the earth, the sun, our species," he said. "We know more about our universe, our culture, than we ever dreamt of 100 years ago. Our prediction is that the real surprises here will come with things that we can't even begin to imagine."

___

Follow AP's Luis Andres Henao on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LuisAndresHenao

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2012-10-26-LT-Chile-ALMA-Observatory/id-50dee3ff0568426bb5ab21587acc22de

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So Tasty, So Yummy: Crockpot Coq au Vin

Crockpot Coq Au Vin

3 slices of bacon, chopped
4 bone-in chicken thighs
2 tablespoons flour
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup quartered mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, minced
? cup red wine
? cup chicken broth
? teaspoon dried thyme
? teaspoon dried parsley
1 bay leaf
? teaspoon salt
? teaspoon pepper

In a saut? pan, cook the bacon over medium heat. Remove the bacon to a dish with a slotted spoon when crisp. Coat each chicken thigh in flour, salt and pepper. Saute the chicken thighs in the bacon grease for three minutes per side. Remove to a plate and set aside. Saute the carrots, onions and mushrooms for 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saut? 30 seconds more. Transfer the vegetables to the crockpot and top with the chicken thighs. In a two cup measure, mix together the wine, broth, thyme, parsley, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Pour over the chicken thighs. Sprinkle the bacon over top of the chicken. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Serve.

Source: http://sotastysoyummy.blogspot.com/2012/10/crockpot-coq-au-vin.html

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Make The Most up-to-date Home Improvement The Jeal | Home Town

Doing redecorating assignments can be accomplished without having to pay the additional price of hiring a expert. Take advantage of the details offered previously mentioned, and get yourself started on making http://www.doubleglazingquoteuk.com individuals alterations. Keep the assistance here in mind to take care of redesigning easily.

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Put in a bath in the event you don?t already have a single about the properties. A shower is effective in reducing the level of normal water applied and is more readily available than the usual bathtub. A bath which will take a few minutes will make use of just one-4th the water of your whole tub.

Granite tiles may be the best way to inexpensively get rock into your home. A simple granite slab could cost you lots of money and be very difficult to transfer and set up appropriately. Do the identical space in tile and also the cost falls to about $300. Granite ceramic tiles get the appearance you would like to look at, at a simple fraction of expense.

A great idea to use if you?re improving your home is to read through the contract you?re signing as carefully as you possibly can. It may look like a great deal to study, even though you ought to be sure that you approve everything that is incorporated in the contract. Unless you make time to verify it extensively, you can be taken benefit of. Irregardless of methods significantly religious beliefs you possess in him, look at that contract with a great-teeth hair comb!

Apply certain varnish and wallpapers to produce a again splash in the kitchen. Select the wallpapers inside a design which you adore. Calculate out of the total place of your walls, and purchase a bit more than you really need. Use the wall surface papers mixture and give it time to established for a couple minutes till it believes tacky. Then, hang up the wallpaper within the region you applied the paste, employing a squeegee about the papers to remove bubbles and sleek things out. Cut the edges for just the right fit. Apply a level of varnish by using a clean. You can now appreciate your back-splash.

Almost never you may find water leaky underneath the basin or possibly through the faucet, but tend not to attempt to fix the problem on your own. Be sure to provide a catch for the dripping h2o, and after that get in touch with an expert plumbing service.

People often feel that setting up underfloor, radiant warming or possibly a cleaning system that is certainly key boosts their home?s worth. Unfortunately, many forget to target the exterior appearance such as the painting or the uneven shutters. In the event the shopper recognizes several things that should be fixed, they won?t pay out the maximum amount of. Do not forget that the very first effect that others have of your home does subject.

A great hint when it comes to home improvement is usually to consider classes at diy stores. The stores provide courses mainly because they would love you to accomplish all of your current organization with them. Prior to starting a residence development undertaking, require a course to become knowledgeable about the basic principles.

Constantly offer transaction to some contractor with a verify or maybe your visa or mastercard, to be capable of placed an end to the financial transaction if you have to. It will help make certain you won?t get cheated out of any cash. Charge cards perform best when disputing a deal even though it is going through.

If you have owned and operated your house for a while, or freshly obtained it, you might truly feel that it must be time for some modernizing and work. The information from this article will allow you to in your home remodeling journey.

Source: http://theperpetualbeta.com/accounting/make-the-most-up-to-date-home-improvement-the-jeal/

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New English FA centre benefits from business VoIP | Packnet

25/10/12 10:02 AM | |

It has been revealed that business VoIP (voice over internet protocol) is one of several state of the art facilities included in the newly-opened ?105 million St George?s Park National Football Centre, built by the Football Association (FA) in Burton upon Trent.

The customised business VoIP network covers business phone systems at both the site itself and at Wembley Stadium.

The 330-acre site is also said to benefit from a host of other internet protocol (IP) telephony features ? including video and data communications facilities ? which are expected to not only serve the site?s educational and administrative offices, but to also service two hotels built within the site.

Commenting on the new centre, England under-17 team coach John Peacock said:

?From a development point of view it?s fantastic and the facilities are second to none.?

That a new, advanced facility such as St George?s Park would choose to incorporate IP telephony and business VoIP facilities, rather than traditional landline-based communications and business phone systems, has come as no surprise to many industry observers.

As well as providing a much more simplified, less technically complex route for managing the allocation and overall volume of phone connections, IP telephony systems also offer the end user simplified access to important value-added services, like video conferencing and data transfer.

In addition, whilst investment in in-house IP telephony and business VoIP facilities can cost more, this can often be at least partly compensated for by the cheaper cost of phone calls facilitated through IP telephony.

Even for smaller enterprises with far less money than the FA to invest in premises-based IP telephony facilities, more accessible IP telephony options have become popular in recent years, including the use of session initiation protocol (SIP) trunking and cloud-based hosted IP telephony provided by a business VoIP provider or VoIP reseller.

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Commenting is closed for this article.

Source: http://www.pack-net.co.uk/blog/new-english-fa-centre-benefits-from-business-voip

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Secret Tips For Buying HUD Homes

As medium home prices continually increase across the nation, the number of affordable homes is decreasing. Consequently, many first time home buyers and real estate investors must seek other alternatives for locating affordable housing. Unfortunately, if you are a new home buyer, the odds of buying a new construction home are slim. However, there are ways to buy a home that does not necessarily involve a high mortgage payment. This option entails buying foreclosed or HUD properties.

This entry was posted by admin on October 24, 2012 at 9:02pm. It is filed under Real Estate.

Also, if you're feeling social, you can Digg this, add it to del.icio.us, add it to Technorati, or add it to Newsvine!

Source: http://www.thehuntingclub.net/real-estate/secret-tips-for-buying-hud-homes/

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100-million-year-old coelacanth fish discovered in Texas is new species from Cretaceous

ScienceDaily (Oct. 24, 2012) ? A new species of coelacanth fish has been discovered in Texas. The species is now the youngest coelacanth from Texas; fish jaw and cranial material indicate a new family -- Dipluridae -- that was evolutionary transition between two previously known families.

Pieces of tiny fossil skull found in Fort Worth have been identified as 100 million-year-old coelacanth bones, according to paleontologist John F. Graf, Southern Methodist University, Dallas.

The coelacanth has one of the longest lineages -- 400 million years -- of any animal. It is the fish most closely related to vertebrates, including humans.

The SMU specimen is the first coelacanth in Texas from the Cretaceous, said Graf, who identified the fossil. The Cretaceous geologic period extended from 146 million years ago to 66 million years ago.

Graf named the new coelacanth species Reidus hilli.

Coelacanths have been found on nearly every continent

Reidus hilli is now the youngest coelacanth identified in the Lone Star State.

Previously the youngest was a 200 million-year-old coelacanth from the Triassic. Reidus hilli is the first coelacanth ever identified from the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Coelacanth fossils have been found on every continent except Antarctica. Few have been found in Texas, Graf said.

The coelacanth fish has eluded extinction for 400 million years. Scientists estimate the coelacanth reached its maximum diversity during the Triassic.

The coelacanth was thought to have gone extinct about 70 million years ago. That changed, however, when the fish rose to fame in 1938 after live specimens were caught off the coast of Africa. Today coelacanths can be found swimming in the depths of the Indian Ocean.

Chart courtesy of the British Geological Survey.

Closest living fish to all vertebrates alive on land "

These animals have one of the longest lineages of any vertebrates that we know," Graf said.

The SMU specimen demonstrates there was greater diversity among coelacanths during the Cretaceous than previously known.

"What makes the coelacanth interesting is that they are literally the closest living fish to all the vertebrates that are living on land," he said. "They share the most recent common ancestor with all of terrestrial vertebrates."

Coelacanths have boney support in their fins, which is the predecessor to true limbs.

"Boney support in the fins allows a marine vertebrate to lift itself upright off the sea floor," Graf said, "which would eventually lead to animals being able to come up on land."

Texas coelacanth, Reidus hilli, represents a new species and a new family

Graf identified Reidus hilli from a partial skull, including gular plates, which are bones that line the underside of the jaw.

"Coelacanths are not the only fish that have gular plates, but they are one of the few that do," Graf said. "In fact, the lenticular shape of these gular plates is unique to coelacanths. That was the first indicator that we had a fossil coelacanth."

Reidus hilli was an adult fish of average size for the time in which it lived, said Graf. While modern coelacanths can grow as large as 3 meters, Reidus hilli was probably no longer than 40 centimeters. Its tiny skull is 45 millimeters long by 26 millimeters wide, or about 1.75 inches long by 1 inch wide.

Reidus hilli's total body size is typical of the new family of coelacanths, Dipluridae, which Graf describes and names. He chose the name for the least primitive coelacanth in the family, Diplurus, which lived during the Triassic.

"Reidus hilli helped me tie a group of coelacanths together into what I identify as a new family of coelacanths," he said. "This family represents a transition between the two large groups of youngest living coelacanths from the fossil record, Mawsoniidae and Latimeriidae."

Diplurid coelacanths are typically smaller than the two families with which they are most closely associated, Mawsoniidae and Latimeriidae. Mawsoniidae and Latimeriidae both have late Cretaceous members reaching large body sizes, ranging from 1 meter to 3 meters in total body length, Graf said.

Reidus hilli provides clues to missing coelacanth history Reidus hilli is named, in part, for the amateur collector who discovered the fish, Robert R. Reid.

A Fort Worth resident, Reid has collected fossils for decades. He found the fossil specimen while walking some land that had been prepared for construction of new homes. Reid noticed the fossil lying loose on the ground in a washed out gully created by run-off.

Following Graf's analysis, Reid was surprised to learn he'd collected a coelacanth -- and a new species.

"When I found it, I could tell it was a bone but I didn't think it was anything special," said Reid, recalling the discovery. "I certainly didn't think it was a coelacanth."

At the time, SMU paleontologist Louis L. Jacobs recommended to Reid that he donate the fossil and have it scientifically identified. Reid gave the fossil to SMU's Shuler Museum of Paleontology in the Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences.

"It is astounding what can be learned from the discoveries that people like Rob Reid make in their own backyards," said Jacobs, an SMU professor of earth sciences and president of SMU's Institute for the Study of Earth and Man. "The discovery of living coelacanths in the Indian Ocean after being presumed extinct for 70 million years highlights one of the great mysteries of ocean life. Where were they all that time? The new fossil from Texas is a step toward understanding this fascinating history."

Reidus hilli is the latest of many fossils Reid has discovered. Others also have been named for him.

Reidus hilli discovered in Duck Creek Formation of North Texas

Reidus hilli came from the fossil-rich Duck Creek Formation, which is a layer-cake band of limestone and shale about 40 feet thick.

The fossil was found in marine sediments, Graf said. It is one of many marine fossils found in the North Texas area, which 100 million years ago was covered by the Western Interior Seaway that divided North America from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean.

"That is unique to younger coelacanths," Graf said. "The oldest coelacanths were usually found in freshwater deposits and it wasn't until the Cretaceous that we start seeing this transition into a more marine environment."

Fossil also named for Robert T. Hill, "Father of Texas Geology"

Graf also named the fossil for Robert T. Hill, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey who led surveys of Texas during the 1800s. Hill described much of the geology of Texas, including the Duck Creek Formation. Hill is acclaimed as the "Father of Texas Geology."

Identification of Reidus hilli brings the number of coelacanth species worldwide to 81, including two that are alive today. Sources report that 229 living coelacanths have been caught since 1938.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Southern Methodist University. The original article was written by Margaret Allen.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. John Graf. A new Early Cretaceous coelacanth from Texas. Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology, Volume 24, Issue 4, 2012 DOI: 10.1080/08912963.2012.696636

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/QJ74UkxAG4w/121024130929.htm

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