Cheat away on taxes, more Americans say

IRS Oversight Board

By Allison Linn

Here?s the good news for Uncle Sam: The vast majority of Americans still believe that you should never cheat on your taxes?? or,?at? least, that's what?they tell the pollsters representing the?Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board.

The bad news: The percentage of people who say you should cheat on your income taxes ?as much as possible? hit 8 percent in 2011, double what it was in 2010. That?s also higher than any other recent year in which the question was asked.

Another 6 percent of those surveyed said a little cheating here and there is OK.

The oversight board this week released its annual survey of taxpayer?s attitudes about the IRS. The survey was conducted by an outside research firm in August.

?

For the most part, despite our grumbling, Americans seem to at least accept that taxes are a necessary part of life. Almost everyone surveyed agreed that it is every American's civic duty to pay taxes, and most people said they thought tax cheats should be held accountable.

Still, that doesn?t mean we all feel the need to be the tax police. About six in 10 people said people have a personal responsibility to report tax cheats.

Americans also seem to think we should pay our fair share of taxes because it?s the right thing to do. Most people said their ?personal integrity? had a great deal of influence on whether they report their income honestly.

Other factors, such as a fear of an audit, seemed to have less influence.

Related:

Tax time is coming, turn on the computer

Procrastinators rejoice: Tax deadline extended

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Do you think it's OK to cheat on your taxes?

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Source: http://lifeinc.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/31/10272695-cheat-on-taxes-never-or-as-much-as-possible

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Global Warmists Seek to Flush Out ?Denier? Meteorologists (Michellemalkin)

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UK police map to zero in on crime in public places (AP)

LONDON ? Home Secretary Theresa May says people will be able to track what crimes have been committed near public spaces like nightclubs, parks and shopping malls.

May said Monday that a crime-mapping website for England and Wales that lets users track what crimes have been committed on a street-by-street basis will now cover places like clubs and rail stations where large groups of people gather.

She said that by May the public will be able to see what happened after a crime took place ? what action police took and whether anyone was convicted.

The website maps crime in Britain according to neighborhood. It launched last year and authorities say it has received more hits than any other UK government website.

__

Online:

http://www.police.uk

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/britain/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_crime_maps

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The Cain-Gingrich Endorsement (Little green footballs)

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Botched Drug Raid or Botched Drug Robbery? (Theagitator)

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SAG statuette has an interesting backstory (AP)

BURBANK, Calif. ? The television academy's Emmy has her wings. The motion picture academy's Oscar has his sword. But the Screen Actors Guild's statuette, known as "The Actor," may have the hottest bod of the Hollywood award season.

"The Office" actor and SAG award-winner Creed Bratton said the statuette's physique is nothing short of inspiring, especially what he calls its "buns of bronze."

"If you know this god-given tush," the 68-year-old Bratton joked, holding a statuette in one hand, and moving his other hand to his own behind. "That's very, very similar to this."

Bratton, who is nominated again this year at Sunday's SAG Awards, joined first-time nominee Betsy Brandt ("Breaking Bad") and SAG Awards committee member Daryl Anderson at a recent press event held at the Burbank, Calif., foundry where the statuettes are produced.

The Actor's posterior took the spotlight the night of the 2002 telecast, when actress Helen Mirren famously gave it a kiss after winning two awards for her work in "Gosford Park."

Anderson said there was no model for The Actor when it was designed 18 years ago ? just artists' sketches.

"Everybody who was there remembers themselves being the one who went, `Look at that!'" he recalled.

The design of The Actor prompted discussion of its other attributes, as well, among those who made the selection, Anderson said.

"Well, there was a man on the (SAG) board who said, `They say size doesn't matter,' Anderson recalled. "And there was a woman from another (SAG) branch who interrupted to say, `They lie!'"

So, why no "The Actress" statuette?

Anderson stumbled for a bit, as he grasped for a solid reply, revealing that female versions of the statuette were considered. Then he confessed, "Finally, just ... we ran out of time."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_en_tv/us_sag_awards_the_actor_s_anatomy

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Scientists create star matter in a lab: what could possibly go wrong?! (Yahoo! News)

Experiments bring us closer to understanding our own sun

As scientists work to discover more and more about the?galaxy and our own?solar system, they're doing some pretty amazing things. But U.S. Department of Energy scientists working at the?SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University have accomplished something that really boggles the mind: they have created superhot solid plasma?? the kind of material you would find at the center of a star or a giant planet.

The scientists used a machine called the Linac Coherent Light Source, the most powerful X-ray laser machine ever created, to accomplish this feat. They fired the laser at a tiny cube of aluminum only one-thousandth of a centimeter wide, and as the laser pulses converged on the aluminum, it created a superhot solid plasma burning at a temperature of 3.6 million degrees Fahrenheit (2 million degrees Celsius).

While that might sound pretty darn hot (and it is about the temperature of our sun's corona or outer atmosphere), it's still much cooler than the 14 million Kelvin (13.9 million Celsius) of the matter at the center of our star. But the research goes a long way toward understanding the nuclear fusion process that powers our sun and makes stars work.

[Image credit:?University of Oxford/Sam Vinko]

This article was written by Katherine Gray and originally appeared on Tecca

More from Tecca:

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/techblog/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_technews/20120126/tc_yblog_technews/scientists-create-star-matter-in-a-lab-what-could-possibly-go-wrong

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Obama administration bolsters homeowner lifeline (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? The Obama administration on Friday expanded its main foreclosure prevention program and pushed to open it up to loans backed by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a move that could meet resistance from their regulator.

In a joint announcement, the Treasury and Housing and Urban Development departments proposed using money from the Home Affordable Modification Program to provide incentives for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to reduce loan principal.

Government-controlled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac own or guarantee about half of all U.S. home loans, and their participation in principal reduction could greatly expand the reach of the $29.9 billion HAMP program.

The proposal piles pressure on their regulator to allow the two government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs, to do more for borrowers who have been hurt by declining home value.

The regulator has barred them from reducing principal out of concern it would raise costs to taxpayers, who have already dished out $169 billion to prop the firms up.

The depressed housing market is a concern for President Barack Obama, who faces re-election in November.

Obama made clear in his State of the Union address on Tuesday he would continue to press for more aggressive action to help homeowners. His position was in contrast to Republicans who are opposed to government intervention in the market.

As part of its announcement on Friday, the administration also said it was extending the life of the HAMP program for one additional year through 2013, and that it would open up the program to borrowers with higher debt-to-income levels.

Only about $3 billion has been spent of the $29 set aside for HAMP.

In addition, the administration said it was tripling the incentives paid to lenders who reduce mortgage principal.

Investors who rent out properties would also be able to access mortgage aid under the revamped program.

REGULATOR NEEDS TO SIGN OFF

For the proposal on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac principal writedowns to work, their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, would need to first sign off.

However, FHFA Acting Director Edward DeMarco has said allowing for principal reduction on GSE loans would undercut his mandate to protect taxpayers.

"To encourage the GSEs to offer this assistance to its underwater borrowers, Treasury has notified the GSE's regulator, FHFA, that it will pay principal reduction incentives to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac if they allow servicers to forgive principal in conjunction with a HAMP modification," Treasury Assistant Secretary Timothy Massad said in a statement.

Obama said on Tuesday he planned to send legislation to Congress as soon as next week aimed at helping all homeowners take advantage of record-low borrowing costs through refinancing.

So far, the administration's series of mortgage relief programs that were introduced in 2009 have fallen far short of expectations.

When the administration launched HAMP in 2009, it expected as many as 4 million loans would be modified. So far, only about 900,000 households have won permanent mortgage modifications. The administration says those modifications have provided savings of about $500 every month for those borrowers.

The HAMP program, which draws from the Treasury Department's financial bailout fund, pays mortgage servicers to rewrite loan terms to reduce monthly payments.

The administration did not specify how much it would pay Fannie and Freddie to participate in HAMP.

(Reporting By Margaret Chadbourn, Editing by Andrea Ricci, Tim Ahmann and Andrew Hay)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120127/us_nm/us_usa_housing

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Memorial service to cap 3-day mourning for Paterno (AP)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. ? A capacity crowd of 12,000 filed into Penn State's basketball arena Thursday for the school's final tribute to Joe Paterno.

Among those finding their seats as video boards flashed a smiling image of the coach ? Paterno's last team and new Ohio State coach Urban Meyer.

Paterno's death on Sunday from lung cancer at age 85 came less than three months after his stunning ouster as head coach in the wake of child sex-abuse charges against a retired assistant. But this week, thousands of alumni, fans, students and former players in Happy Valley are remembering Paterno for his record-setting career, his love for the school and his generosity.

Small clusters of mourners continued to visit Paterno's statue outside the school's football stadium hours before the memorial.

Sharon Winter, a 1963 graduate and long-time season ticket holder from Wernersville, dabbed tears from her eyes as she looked at the hundreds of items that well-wishers since Paterno's death.

"If you haven't lived it, you can't explain it," said Winter, who, with her husband Carl, keeps an apartment in State College. "We never knew the place without Joe. He's always been a part of our lives and who we are."

Many Penn Staters found themselves reflecting on Paterno's impact and the road ahead.

"What's Joe's legacy? The answer, is his legacy is us," former NFL and Nittany Lions receiver Jimmy Cefalo said Wednesday before Paterno's funeral. Cefalo is scheduled to be one of the speakers at the tribute called "A Memorial for Joe" at the arena across the street from Beaver Stadium ? the place Paterno helped turned into a college football landmark.

Paterno's son, former Nittany Lions quarterback coach Jay Paterno, also is expected to speak at the memorial, which will cap three days of public mourning for Paterno. Viewings were held Tuesday and Wednesday morning, before the funeral and burial service for Paterno on Wednesday afternoon at the campus interfaith center where family members attended church services.

Cefalo, who played for Penn State in the `70s, said it will be the most difficult speech of his life. But he offered a hint of what he might say.

"Generations of these young people from coal mines and steel towns who he gave a foundation to," Cefalo said. "It's not (the Division I record) 409 wins, it's not two national championships, and it's not five-time coach of the year (awards). It's us."

The memorial Thursday is expected to feature a speaker for each decade of Paterno's coaching career, according to Charles V. Pittman, a former player who said he will represent the 1960s.

Pittman said he was in Paterno's first class and was the coach's first All-America running back. Pittman's son later played for the Nittany Lions as well, making them the first father-son pair to play for Paterno, Pittman said. They wrote a book about their experiences called "Playing for Paterno."

Pittman said he spoke with Paterno two or three times a year. In 2002, the coach chided Pittman for moving to South Bend, Ind. ? home of rival Notre Dame ? to take a job as a newspaper executive.

"He called me a traitor," said Pittman, senior vice president for publishing at Schurz Communications Inc., an Indiana-based company that owns television and radio stations and newspapers, and a member of the Board of Directors of The Associated Press.

Pittman attended Wednesday's funeral, which also drew other notable guests including former NFL players Franco Harris and Matt Millen; and former defensive coordinator Tom Bradley. All were at Thursday's event, too.

___

Associated Press writer Kathy Matheson in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_sp_co_ne/fbc_penn_state_paterno

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Android app developer is looking for answers, take a minute and help

Android application developers work hard and don't get nearly enough appreciation.  As you see mentioned just about everywhere, it's the application support that makes or breaks a mobile platform, so their job is pretty important.  Luckily, we're in good shape with Android, a look at the huge number of apps in just the official Android Market will confirm.  But there's more than sheer numbers.  We all want applications and games that offer just the right features, at the right level of performance, and at the right price.  Here's a chance for you to help.

Android application developer go6game has a short survey in the Android Central forums, and he'd like a little feedback.  The questions are simple enough to answer, but I can see how the data he collects from this would help create games and apps that are not only more popular (Android app developers deserve to make a good living people), but work better and offer the features we want.  The questions he's asking are easy enough, consisting of things like how you discover and recommend apps to others.  Downloading apps from the Market is something every one of us does daily.  I think it's a great idea, and I know plenty of us will take the time to help out.

Apps don't write themselves, and quality apps certainly take a lot of thought and hard work to bring to market.  When an application developer takes the time to ask us just what we're looking for, the least we can do is tell him.  Hit the link below and do your part -- better apps and games will be the result, and who doesn't want that?

A bit of market research; Android Central forums

 

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/Qhl5benT98Q/story01.htm

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Dropped heart successfully transplanted in Mexico (AP)

MEXICO CITY ? A heart that was dropped on the ground while being transported to a hospital has been successfully transplanted into a 28-year-old hair stylist.

Dr. Jaime Saldivar says Erika Hernandez doesn't yet know that her new heart made national news when a medic stumbled and the plastic-wrapped heart tumbled out of a cooler onto the street two weeks ago.

Saldivar says it will be up to the family to tell her.

A rosy-cheeked Hernandez spoke briefly with reporters on Tuesday and thanked the donor's family, saying "I have no words to express how happy I am."

Hernandez was born with a congenital heart defect. She received the heart of a man who died in a car accident.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_mexico_heart_dropped

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The American Dream as Described by Presidents (ContributorNetwork)

Though calling it the American promise, President Barack Obama followed the steps of leaders before him in Tuesday's State of the Union, invoking the American Dream. Keeping it alive, he said, is the defining issue of our time, with no challenge more urgent.

"?an economy built to last is one where we encourage the talent and ingenuity of every person in this country," Obama said. "?we should support everyone who's willing to work, and every risk-taker and entrepreneur who aspires to become the next Steve Jobs."

These presidents also spoke of the American Dream:

* "As we look at America, we see cities enveloped in smoke and flame. We hear sirens in the night? millions of Americans cry out in anguish: Did we come all this way for this? ...the voice of the great majority of Americans, the forgotten Americans? they are black, they are white; they're native born and foreign born; they're young and they're old. They work in American factories, they run American businesses. They serve in government; they provide most of the soldiers who die to keep it free. They give drive to the spirit of America. They give lift to the American dream? they know that this country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless it's a good place for all of us to live in." -- Richard M. Nixon, GOP nomination acceptance speech, Aug. 8, 1968

* "?we need more than new laws, new promises, or new program. We need a new spirit of community, a sense that we are all in this together. If we have no sense of community the American dream will continue to wither." -- William J. Clinton, announcement speech, Oct. 3, 1991

* "Owning a home lies at the heart of the American dream. A home is a foundation for families and a source of stability for communities. ? Yet today, while nearly three-quarters of all white Americans own their homes, less than half of all African Americans and Hispanic Americans are homeowners. We must begin to close this homeownership gap by dismantling the barriers that prevent minorities from owning a piece of the American dream." -- George W. Bush, radio address, June 15, 2002

* "For a time we forgot the American dream isn't one of making government bigger.. There was a feeling government had grown beyond the consent of the governed? Families felt helpless in the face of mounting inflation and the indignity of taxes? On the international scene, we had an uncomfortable feeling that we'd lost the respect of friend and foe? But America is too great for small dreams. .. The tide of the future is a freedom tide? This nation champions peace that enshrines liberty, democratic rights, and dignity for every individual. America's new strength, confidence, and purpose are carrying hope and opportunity far from our shores. A world economic recovery is underway. It began here. " -- Ronald Reagan, State of the Union, Jan. 25, 1984

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120125/pl_ac/10883451_the_american_dream_as_described_by_presidents

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Giffords says farewell to Tucson constituents

U.S. Rep Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., tours the Gabrielle Giffords Family Assistance Center, one of her favorite charities, with her staffer Ron Barber, Monday, Jan. 23, 2012, in Tucson, Ariz. The tour is her last act as a congresswoman in Tucson before her resignation this week. (AP Photo/Matt York, Pool)

U.S. Rep Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., tours the Gabrielle Giffords Family Assistance Center, one of her favorite charities, with her staffer Ron Barber, Monday, Jan. 23, 2012, in Tucson, Ariz. The tour is her last act as a congresswoman in Tucson before her resignation this week. (AP Photo/Matt York, Pool)

U.S. Rep Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., tours the Gabrielle Giffords Family Assistance Center, one of her favorite charities, with her staffer Ron Barber, Monday, Jan. 23, 2012, in Tucson, Ariz. The tour is her last act as a congresswoman in Tucson before her resignation this week. (AP Photo/Matt York, Pool)

U.S. Rep Gabrielle Giffords tours the Gabrielle Giffords Family Assistance Center, one of her favorite charities, with Community Food Bank CEO Bill Carnegie Monday, Jan. 23, 2012, in Tucson, Ariz. The tour is her last act as a congresswoman in Tucson before her resignation this week. (AP Photo/Matt York, Pool)

U.S. Rep Gabrielle Giffords, left, tours the Gabrielle Giffords Family Assistance Center, one of her favorite charities, with Community Food Bank CEO Bill Carnegie Monday, Jan. 23, 2012, in Tucson, Ariz. The tour is her last act as a congresswoman in Tucson before her resignation this week. (AP Photo/Matt York, Pool)

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) ? On a bittersweet day for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the outgoing congresswoman spent her final hours in Tucson as the city's U.S. representative, finishing the meeting she started on the morning she was shot and bidding farewell to constituents who supported her through a long recovery.

It may not be the end, though. The woman whose improbable recovery captivated the nation promised, "I will return."

Giffords spent time Monday at her office with other survivors of the shooting rampage that killed six people and injured 13. She hugged and talked with survivors, including Suzi Hileman, who was shot three times while trying to save her young friend and neighbor, 9-year-old Christina-Taylor Green. The little girl died from a gunshot wound to the chest.

"The last time I did this I had Christina's hand," Hileman said. "It was something that was hanging out there, and now it's not."

Others who met with Giffords included Pat Maisch, who was hailed as a hero for wrestling a gun magazine from the shooter that day, and Daniel Hernandez, Giffords' intern at the time who helped save her life by trying to stop her bleeding until an ambulance arrived.

"It was very touching," said Maisch, who was not hurt in the attack. "I thanked her for her service, wished her well, and she just looked beautiful."

Giffords announced Sunday that she would resign from Congress this week to focus on her recovery. Maisch was sad to think that Giffords would no longer be her congresswoman.

"But I want her to do what's best for her," she said. "She's got to take care of herself."

However, an upbeat Giffords hinted that her departure from public life might be temporary. In a message sent on Twitter, she said: "I will return & we will work together for Arizona & this great country."

In her last act in Tucson as a congresswoman, the Democrat visited one of her favorite charities, the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona.

The food bank established the Gabrielle Giffords Family Assistance Center with $215,000 it received in the wake of the shooting. Giffords' husband and former astronaut Mark Kelly told people who wanted to help Giffords after the shooting that the best way to do so was to donate to one of her favorite charities.

The center has helped 900 families get on food stamps in the last year and offered guidance to needy families seeking assistance with housing, insurance, clothing and other basic needs.

"It's a wonderful thing that she gets to come here and see the center we built," said Bill Carnegie, the food bank's CEO. "But it's also her exit from Congress. I'm concerned about the future."

Giffords' aides had to yell at TV cameramen and reporters who surrounded the congresswoman as she arrived, telling them to back up. Giffords didn't bat an eye and walked with confidence through the crowd and into the building, where she promptly hugged Carnegie and others.

When she saw the center that is named in her honor, she said "Wow" and "Awesome."

When one woman told Giffords, "I love your new hairstyle," she beamed and responded with "Thank you."

Giffords did not address reporters at the center and planned to head to the airport right after her visit. She was expected in Washington on Tuesday for President Barack Obama's State of the Union address.

In her announcement Sunday, Giffords said that by stepping down, she was doing what is best for Arizona.

"I don't remember much from that horrible day, but I will never forget the trust you placed in me to be your voice," she said in a video posted online.

The video showed a close-up of Giffords gazing directly at the camera and speaking in a voice that was both firm and halting.

"I have more work to do on my recovery," the congresswoman said at the end of the two-minute message, appearing to strain to communicate.

C.J. Karamargin, who was Giffords' spokesman until recently, said he can only imagine what she is feeling as she steps down.

"But Gabby would never want to do a job unless she could give everything to it," he said.

"The news of her stepping down was almost more emotional than this time last year because then, she had survived and had a positive prognosis. Now we've got this pause, this comma, in her career ... and she won't be back anytime soon."

Giffords was shot in the head at point-blank range as she was meeting with constituents outside a grocery store. Her recovery progressed to the point that she was able to walk into the House chamber last August to cast a vote.

Giffords' resignation set up a free-for-all in a competitive district.

She could have stayed in office for another year even without seeking re-election, but her decision to resign scrambles the political landscape.

Arizona must hold a special primary and general election to find someone to finish out her remaining months in office. That will probably happen in the spring or early summer. Then voters will elect someone in November for a full two-year term.

Giffords would have been heavily favored to win again.

She was elected to her third term just two months before she was shot, winning by only about 1 percent over a tea party Republican. But she gained immense public support during her recovery.

Among those mentioned as potential candidates were several Republican and Democratic state lawmakers and the name of Giffords' husband, Mark Kelly, although he has publicly quashed such speculation.

A state Democratic party official who met with Giffords on Sunday also suggested that she could return to politics.

Jim Woodbrey, a senior vice chairman of the state party, said Giffords strongly implied at a meeting that she would seek office again someday. He said the decision to resign came after much thought.

"It was Gabby's individual decision, and she was not in any condition to make that decision five months ago," he said. "So I think waiting so that she could make an informed decision on her own was the right thing to do."

___

Associated Press writers Bob Christie and Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix and David Espo in Washington contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-23-US-Giffords/id-be6c5f0e8b124b2fa1d34b77213efc12

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Video: Metadynamics technique offers insight into mineral growth and dissolution

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

By using a novel technique to better understand mineral growth and dissolution, researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are improving predictions of mineral reactions and laying the groundwork for applications ranging from keeping oil pipes clear to sequestering radium.

The mineral barite was examined to understand mineral growth and dissolution generally, but also because it is the dominant scale-forming mineral that precipitates in oil pipelines and reservoirs in the North Sea. Oil companies use a variety of compounds to inhibit scale formation, but a better understanding of how barite grows could enable them to be designed more efficiently.

Additionally, barium can trap radium in its crystal structure, so it has the potential to contain the radioactive material.

In a paper featured on this month's cover of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, the ORNL-led team studied barite growth and dissolution using metadynamics, a critical technique that allows researchers to study much slower reactions than what is normally possible.

"When a mineral is growing or dissolving, you have a hard time sorting out which are the important reactions and how they occur because there are many things that could be happening on the surface," said Andrew Stack, ORNL geochemist and lead author on the paper. "We can't determine which of many possible reactions are controlling the rate of growth."

To overcome this hurdle, ORNL Chemical Sciences Division's Stack started with molecular dynamics, which can simulate energies and structures at the atomic level. To model a mineral surface accurately, the researchers need to simulate thousands of atoms. To directly measure a slow reaction with this many atoms during mineral growth or dissolution might take years of supercomputer time. Metadynamics, which builds on molecular dynamics, is a technique to "push" reactions forward so researchers can observe them and measure how fast they are proceeding in a relatively short amount of computer time.

With the help of metadynamics, the team determined that there are multiple intermediate reactions that take place when a barium ion attaches or detaches at the mineral surface, which contradicts the previous assumption that attachment and detachment occurred all in a single reaction.

"Without metadynamics, we would never have been able to see these intermediates nor determine which ones are limiting the overall reaction rate," Stack said.

To run computer simulations of mineral growth, researchers used the Large-scale Atomic/Molecular Massively Parallel Simulator, a molecular dynamics code developed by Sandia National Laboratories. Co-authors on the paper are the Curtin University (Australia) Nanochemistry Research Institute's Paolo Raiteri and Julian Gale.

###

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory: http://www.ornl.gov

Thanks to DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory 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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97% The Artist

The Artist I don't know how to say it, pun intended, but The Artist is by far one of the best movies ever. With no words to describe how amazing this movie is, I will try my best to scribble all the great things that make this, one of the best movies out there. George Valentin (Dujardin) is a silent movie star. However, with the arrival of talking pictures, this famous movie star's life is bound to be changed. The movie essentially touches upon the dichotomy of the old and the new, the clash between traditional vs. advanced, and on top of that a beautiful romance. Honestly, it is merely impossible to describe how good this movie is. It's uniqueness and experimental ideas are breathtaking. Michel Hazanavicius is Godly in this film. He treats every scene with so much care, and every shot in his film is perfect and cannot be changed. Not only due to his originality, but also to his artistic sense, Hazanavicius is able to magically create a movie, that unlike a 3D film, has all dimensions. In his simple, yet complex film, he is able to take a plain and easy story, and turn it into a vivid and intricate movie. He is able to touch upon many themes but in his subtle way. However, what is best about him is that he takes risk; he uses techniques no other director has used before and I very much appreciate that. The story of the film is somehow simple, however it is like a roller coaster with ups and downs that will make you laugh and frown. The movie is able to touch the audience in every way, and with its simplistic lack of words we are able to enjoy the movie in a way we haven't enjoyed movies in a long time. Jean Dujardin, is brilliant; I have never seen him act before, but just from this movie I can honestly say that he deserves every award out there. The role he takes is by far one of the hardest role to take nowadays, and he does it wonderfully. As for the other actors in this movie like Bejo and Goodman they also have their moments.The sound of this movie is fundamental, hence the score has to be perfect, and it is. Every scene has a song that is able to run down your skin and your bones, and touch your heart. The music controls your heart, it can make it go faster and it can make it go slower. The photography of this movie is also mind blowing. In only black and white, this movie develops some of the most beautiful photography ever developed in movie history. The cameras are playful and every image projected gave me goosebumps. Therefore ladies and gentelmen, don't miss out on this movie. This is by far the best film of 2011, with some exceptions, and one of my favorite films of all time. It's uniqueness, simplicity, and beauty makes this movie unforgetable. George Valentin : "With pleasure"

November 1, 2011

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_artist/

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NASA's twin moon probes renamed by children: 'Ebb'

The probes'?new names were offered by fourth grade students in Bozeman, Mont., who were chosen as the winners of NASA's naming contest.

NASA's twin gravity-mapping moon probes received new names Tuesday (Jan. 17), reflecting their mission to study the changing pull of Earth's natural satellite.

Skip to next paragraph

Now to be?called "Ebb" and "Flow,"the tandem Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (or Grail) spacecraft arrived in lunar orbit over the New Year weekend and were previously referred to simply as?"A"?and?"B". Their new names were offered by fourth grade students in Bozeman, Mont., who were chosen as the winners of NASA's naming contest.

"The 28 students of Ms. Nina DiMauro's class at Emily Dickinson Elementary School have really hit the nail on the head," said Maria Zuber, who as principal investigator leads the Grail probes' mission from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "We were really impressed that the students drew their inspiration by researching Grail and its goal of measuring gravity."

"Ebb and Flow truly capture the spirit and excitement of our mission," Zuber said. NASA announced the new names in a press conference Tuesday.

The terms ebb and flow generally refer to the movement of water, especially in relation to Earth's natural tides that are influenced by the?pull of the moon. The two words also describe the relative motion of the GRAIL probes, which will vary in distance with the moon's gravitational pull.

"While we feel the ebb and flow of our tides, our twins will undergo nearly the same motion as they study our lunar neighbor," said Jim Green, who leads NASA's planetary science division in Washington, DC.

First prize

According to NASA, about 900 classrooms with more than 11,000 students from 45 states ? as well as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia ? suggested names. The contest was open to U.S. students in kindergarten through 12th grade and began about a month after the probes were launched last September and ran through Nov. 11.

Zuber and former astronaut Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, selected served as the contest's judges.

"With submissions from all over the United States and even some from abroad, there were a lot of great entries to look over," said Ride, who is now president and CEO of Sally Ride Science in San Diego. "This contest generated a great deal of excitement in classrooms across America, and along with it an opportunity to use that excitement to teach science."

As their first prize for naming Ebb and Flow, the Dickinson students won the first pick of where to point MoonKam, a small camera on board each of the Grail probes. [Photos From NASA's Moon Gravity Mission]

MoonKam, or Moon Knowledge Acquired by Middle school students, is NASA's first instrument to fly on a planetary mission fully-dedicated to education and public outreach. Managed by Sally Ride Science, MoonKam will provide thousands of fifth- to eighth-grade students the chance to select areas on the lunar surface to be photographed.

Ebbing and flowing

MoonKam will start sending back images once Ebb and Flow begin science operations in March.

Since the?two probes entered lunar orbit?two weeks ago, flight controllers have been refining each spacecraft's orbit to reduce the time they take to circle the moon to just under two hours. At the start of the science phase in two months, Ebb and Flow will be in a near-polar, near-circular orbit with an altitude of about 34 miles (55 kilometers).

During their science mission, the washer-machine size spacecraft will transmit radio signals precisely defining the distance between them. As they fly over areas of greater and lesser gravity caused by visible features such as mountains and craters, as well as masses hidden beneath the lunar surface, the distance between Ebb and Flow will change slightly.

Scientists will use this data to form a high-resolution map of the moon's gravitational field, providing them a better understanding of what is going on below the lunar surface. This information will increase knowledge of how Earth and its rocky neighbors in the inner solar system developed into the diverse worlds they are today.

Continue reading at collectSPACE.com?for the history behind students naming NASA spacecraft.

Follow collectSPACE on?Facebook?and Twitter @collectSPACE?and editor Robert Pearlman @robertpearlman. Copyright 2011?collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/1lp_YFHmwkY/NASA-s-twin-moon-probes-renamed-by-children-Ebb-Flow

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Gay "honor killing" movie shakes Turkey up (Reuters)

ISTANBUL (Reuters) ? On a hot summer's day in 2008, 26-year-old physics student Ahmet Yildiz was shot dead when he popped out from his Istanbul apartment to buy ice cream.

The main suspect in the killing, a fugitive still wanted by Turkish police, is Yildiz's father, who could not accept that his only son was in a homosexual relationship.

The case, widely believed to be Turkey's first gay "honor killing", has inspired a movie "Zenne", which opened on January 13 and explores gay sexual identity and prejudice in overwhelmingly Muslim Turkey.

"We had the movie idea in mind right after our dear friend Ahmet was killed," said Caner Alper, writer and co-director of the movie. "His story needed to be told."

Yildiz was born into a wealthy religious family in the ancient city of Sanliurfa, in Turkey's impoverished and conservative southeast, but moved to cosmopolitan Istanbul during his university years, seeking more freedom as a gay man.

In Istanbul, Yildiz started a new life and made new friends; he also began a gay relationship and eventually moved in with his boyfriend, who witnessed Yildiz's murder from the window of their apartment on the Asian side of the city divided by the Bosphorus Strait.

In the movie, Yildiz's character is encouraged to come out of the closet by a male belly dancer, or zenne, and a German photographer who has moved to Istanbul after a personal crisis in Afghanistan, where he accidentally caused the death of several children during a photo shoot. Both are fictional characters.

In real life, Yildiz's coming out as a gay man was seen as an affront in his deeply patriarchal and tribal family, even though his parents adored him, a cousin, Ahmet Kaya, told the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey.

LOOKING FOR A "CURE"

Yildiz's father had urged him to return to their village and to see a doctor and an imam to "cure" him of his homosexuality and get married, but Yildiz refused.

"Ahmet loved his family more than anything else and he was tortured about disappointing them," Kaya was quoted as saying in the foundation's report.

After he was killed, the family did not claim Yildiz's body for a proper Islamic burial -- an indication of the deep shame the family felt and that they had ceased to consider him one of their own. He was buried instead in a "cemetery for the nameless."

"The one scene I wasn't able to distance myself from the character I played as an actor was when Ahmet apologized to his father for being gay on the phone after coming out," Erkan Avci, a young actor who played Yildiz, told Reuters.

"It's such a great tragedy, so cruel and inhumane that anybody has to apologize for who he is."

Avci drew parallels between Ahmet's situation and his own as a Kurd from Diyarbakir province in a country whose Kurdish minority has long complained of discrimination and inequality.

"It would have been immoral for me to turn down this role, as a man who had to apologize for years for being Kurdish," he said.

"Zenne", which won five awards at Turkey's most prestigious film festival, the Antalya Golden Orange, has received a huge amount of attention in mainstream media and is reported to be having reasonable success at the box office.

With a $1 million budget, including financial support from the Dutch embassy, it opened in a luxury movie theatre in one of Istanbul's most fashionable neighborhoods.

Gays are normally depicted in Turkish movies as colorful and exaggerated secondary characters who add a comic element - hardly the main character of a story.

"Zenne" tackles head-on such sensitive issues as gay society, prejudice and equal rights for Turkey's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

"'Zenne' is a very special film for us. It brings to the screen some of the important issues for the LGBT cause such as hate crimes, the complications for gay men to forego the mandatory military service and coming out," said Umut Guner, spokesman for the Ankara-based Kaos GL, a LGBT group.

PREJUDICE

The film has not been welcomed in conservative circles.

Islamist daily Vakit called it "homosexual propaganda" by a gay lobby bent on "legitimizing perversion through their so-called art."

Despite being the only suspect, Yildiz's father is still at large and is being tried in absentia.

Friends and activists, who have attended some of the hearings wearing masks bearing Yildiz's portrait, say the authorities lack the will to find the perpetrator.

Alper and Mehmet Binay, co-directors of the movie and together as a gay couple for 14 years, said they heard their friend Yildiz receive death threats from his family over the phone.

Yildiz filed an official complaint but failed to receive any protection, they said.

"Honor killings," or crimes carried out against mostly women and young girls seen to have tainted the family's name, are not uncommon in Turkey, particularly in poor and rural areas.

The European Union, which Turkey wants to join, has repeatedly urged Ankara to take a tougher stance against such crimes.

MILITARY PRACTICES

Turkey is often held as an example in the Middle East for marrying Islam and democracy, but Turkish gay activists say Ankara's human rights record is far from perfect.

One practice particularly abhorred by rights groups is the method by which gay men can be exempted from the required 16-month military service: they have to prove their homosexuality in medical tests and are compelled to provide photos of them having sex with other men.

In the movie, two characters undergoing one such examination are forced to wear make-up and dress in women's clothes, while doctors perform anal examinations.

According to Article 17 of the health regulations of the Turkish Armed Forces, homosexuality is considered a "psychosexual deviance."

"Turkey is going through a democratization process, and the army needs to enter this phase, too," said Binay.

"We don't live in a dream world and we don't expect it to happen all of a sudden in such a deep-seated institution, but at least they could stop the humiliating practices against gay men."

Turkish rights groups reported 24 killings of gay and transsexual individuals in the last two years. In most cases, courts reduced the sentences or the perpetrators were not found.

In a report last year, Amnesty International urged Ankara to draw up laws preventing discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and to punish perpetrators of homophobic attacks.

The EU in a separate report also last year said lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons in Turkey "continued to suffer discrimination, intimidation and violent crimes".

LGBT activists say they get little sympathy from the AK Party, in power for a decade, which has its roots in political Islam and is known for its socially conservative stance.

Selma Aliye Kavaf, Turkey's former Women and Family Affairs Minister, made waves in 2010 when she said homosexuality was "a biological disorder, a disease that needs to be treated".

The current interior minister accused an outlawed armed organization with "engaging in every kind of immorality, including homosexuality".

Director Binay said he hoped the movie would help to change views both among government officials and the wider society, but believed that would not happen overnight.

"These movies will be made in Turkey as long as those from different identities refuse to learn to live together."

(Editing by Ibon Villelabeitia and Sonya Hepinstall)

(The following story corrects name of newspaper in paragraph 22)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120120/en_nm/us_turkey_movie_gays

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Obama hosts ambassadors and mayors; meets with Geithner (Star Tribune)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/188111331?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Johnny Depp, Vanessa Paradis near split: report (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? Johnny Depp's 14-year romance with French actress and singer Vanessa Paradis has hit the rocks, People magazine claimed on Wednesday, and the couple are living largely separate lives.

In a cover story for this week's issue of People called "Love Gone Wrong", the celebrity magazine quoted several unnamed sources as saying the pair's relationship is nearing an end.

The "Pirates of the Caribbean" star, 48, and Paradis, 39, never married but have been together since 1998 and have two children. They divide their time between France and the United States.

People magazine noted that the pair have not appeared on the red carpet together for more than a year, missing both the Cannes film festival in May 2011 and the Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills on Sunday, where Depp was a presenter.

"According to multiple sources....(they) are all but officially finished," People said.

Depp's representatives did not return calls for comment on the People story, which hits newsstands on Friday.

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120118/film_nm/us_johnnydepp

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Austrian panel removes balls from culture list (AP)

VIENNA ? A committee reporting to the U.N.'s culture organization struck Vienna's many balls from its list of Austria's noteworthy traditions on Thursday amid an uproar over one of the annual champagne-laced galas that critics say attracts neo-Nazis from across Europe.

The decision by the Austrian UNESCO Commission was welcomed by those who oppose the one often-criticized ball, staged in part by dueling fraternities including far-right alumni who display saber scars on their cheeks as badges of honor. But the committee also outraged supporters who reject labeling that event as a magnet for backers of Nazi ideology.

Martin Graf, a leading member of the rightist Freedom Party, said critics of the WKR-Ball are trying to "publicly pillory and vilify ... all those who do not share their ideologically distorted opinion." Party chief Heinz-Christian Strache called the committee's decision a result of "mobbing from the extreme-left."

Like others worldwide, The Austrian committee is a bridge between the government and the Paris-based U.N. Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization but is not part of it.

The decision is symbolic and has no bearing on whether future balls can be held. But the fact that the committee's decision was due in part to public pressure reflected a path being traveled by Austria, which has moved from a postwar portrayal of being Nazi Germany's first victim to acknowledging that it was Hitler's willing partner. Anti-Semitism remains among some members of the older generation today, but most young Austrians reject Nazi ideology and condemn the part their parents might have played in the Holocaust.

The committee spoke of a "serious mistake" in listing the fraternity WKR-Ball as one of the nearly two dozen balls comprising an aspect of "Intangible Cultural Heritage in Austria." Noting that the inclusion of the many balls was approved by a panel including representatives of five government ministries, the committee said it decided to strike the whole category of Vienna Ball from its register.

"In connection with the WKR-Ball, we can tell you that we have removed the tradition 'Vienna Ball' from our list," said an email to The Associated Press, using the event's German acronym.

While some of the more opulent Vienna balls are criticized as a showcase of the rich, most are devoid of direct political controversy. For centuries, the city's high society has waltzed blissfully through wars, recessions and occasional firebomb-throwing anarchists opposed to the moneyed decadence they think such events represent.

But the fraternity ball started drawing flack as Austrians began to come to grips decades ago with the fact that their country was one of Nazi Germany's most willing allies instead of its first victim through its 1938 annexation by Hitler. Over recent years criticism of the WKR-Ball's staging has grown ? and protests outside its venue, the ornate Hofburg palace, have occasionally turned violent.

Bowing to the pressure, the Hofburg announced late last year that the ball will have to move elsewhere as of 2013. Tensions this year were exacerbated by its date ? Friday, Jan. 27, will be the 67th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the most notorious of the Nazi death camps.

Organizers said that was coincidence, with the event always held on the last Friday of January. But opponents were incensed.

Ariel Muzicant, head of Vienna's Jewish community, spoke of "a mockery" of the Holocaust, asking sarcastically: "Are they kind of celebrating the 2 million dead in Auschwitz, or what? Are they dancing, kind of, on 6 million Jews, or what are they thinking of?"

The issue made it to the floor of parliament Thursday, with members of the opposition Green party demanding that the ball be observed by government intelligence agencies and saying past attendees included prominent members of the extreme right and neo-Nazis.

Defense Minister Norbert Darabos described the WKR-Ball as an event "where year after year, internationally known right extremists pass the door handle to each other" ? and forbade members of the military to wear their uniforms if attending.

Defending the ball ? and its place among others on the UNESCO Committee list ? is the Freedom Party, which has coupled populism to lurking Islamophobia and latent anti-Semitism to become Austria's second strongest political force.

Party official Heidemarie Unterreiner urged the committee "not to be impressed by the excited politically motivated babble of some groups which use the media megaphone to create a completely false impression of one of the most significant society events of Austria."

___

George Jahn can be reached at http://twitter.com/georgejahn

__

AP video reporter Philipp Jenne contributed.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_re_eu/eu_austria_rightist_ball

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Sheboygan mayor advances to runoff in recall

Jan. 17, 2012 |

Embattled Sheboygan Mayor Bob Ryan survived his first test in an unprecedented local recall election Tuesday, taking nearly 33% of the vote to lead a crowded eight-person field.

The second-place finisher was Terry Van Akkeren, with 26.2% of the vote.

Van Akkeren is a former state representative and mayor whom Ryan defeated in 2009. Ryan, 48, and Van Akkeren, 52, now advance to a recall runoff Feb. 21.

The winner of that round gets the final year of Ryan's four-year term.

Van Akkeren has touted his elective office experience in the race, including three terms as a Democratic Assembly member, 17 years as an alderman and two as a county supervisor.

The seeds of the recall effort against Ryan trace to a weekend of heavy drinking last summer in Elkhart Lake that reportedly included a physical altercation and vulgar comments by Ryan toward women in several bars.

He publicly apologized, admitted he was an alcoholic who had a relapse and sought treatment.

But the incident recalled earlier embarrassments, including a 2009 video on YouTube showing an intoxicated Ryan making sexually explicit comments about his sister-in-law and an accusation by the city's personnel director that Ryan fired her after she accused him of unwanted advances in a Sheboygan tavern.

The recall drive was launched after an effort by some aldermen to force Ryan from office was resisted by Ryan's attorney as a violation of federal law banning job discrimination based on disability.

Reached Tuesday, Ryan said he was moving forward and about to celebrate six months of sobriety.

He said he felt good about drivers who passed by during his seven hours of street side campaigning on election day.

"I got more thumbs up as opposed to any other appendage," Ryan joked.

He's campaigning on a theme of bringing more jobs to Sheboygan, including his support for a tribal casino at Blue Harbor Resort on the city's lakefront.

Ryan, a former Sheboygan alderman and onetime gas station owner, said he was glad to have a recall as a means to get beyond his controversial past.

"It was embarrassing when that happened," he said. "Truthfully, I would like to get this behind me."

Other candidates in the recall were: retired executive Roberta Filicky-Peneski, with 16.3%; local businessman Randy Schwoerer, with 15.4% of the vote; Ald. Jean Kittelson, with 4.9%; musician Erik Neave, with 2.9%; and high school senior Asher Heimermann and restaurant worker Mark Hermann, each with less than 1%.

Kittelson said she's no fan of recalls, but jumped in the race when the Ryan recall was set. She campaigned on other things, such as a neighborhood cleanup program, she said.

"Everything that happened with Bob Ryan was real unfortunate," Kittelson said. "It is what it is."

Source: http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/sheboygan-mayor-survives-first-test-in-recall-move-t43rg52-137543563.html

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Steve Jobs action figure is no more

Pressure from Jobs' family and Apple lawyers halts production of the unlicensed product.

Chinese toy firm In Icons has stopped the production and sale of its infamous Steve Jobs action figure.

In a remorseful statement, In Icons boss Tandy Cheung maintained that his company had not "overstepped any legal boundries" and cited compassionate reasons for the decision.

He said: "We have decided to completely stop the offer, production and sale of the Steve Jobs figurine out of our heartfelt sensitivity to the feelings of the Jobs family." ??

The lifelike action figure was to come with Jobs' trademark black turtleneck, blue jeans and New Balance trainers, as well as a stool and a stage backdrop for recreating those famous keynote speeches.

Describing the creation of the toy, Cheung said: "The figurine, especially his facial features, were adjusted countless times to achieve his likeness in my memory. I strove to perfect the figurine with the spirit of Steve Jobs because only this will properly reflect my respect and admiration of him."

Prior to the legal action the toy-maker had said: "Apple can do anything they like. I will not stop ? we already started production."

The toy-maker, who has confessed to being a "big fan" of Jobs, had proposed that the late Apple founder was fair game because his celebrity provided a licensing loophole.

In an interview with ABC Cheung said: "Steve Jobs is not an actor, he's just a celebrity... There is no copyright protection for a normal person.

"Steve Jobs is not a product so I don't think Apple has the copyright of him."

The 30cm figure had a price tag of $99 (around ?65). In Icons as declined to comment on whether outstanding orders will be shipped or if orders will be refunded.

Source: http://www.toynews-online.biz/news/35263/Steve-Jobs-action-figure-is-no-more

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The Uses of the Past: Why Science Writers Should Care About the History of Science And Why Scientists Should Too

"The Anatomy Lesson of Homo sylvestris" by Nathaniel Gold

Whether we are exploring our family genealogy or the genetic tree of our primate ancestors, all of us have a common yearning to know from whence we came. Origin stories captivate our imagination and offer a narrative structure for better understanding where we are today. The reality is that a knowledge of the history of science can both challenge our present and inspire the future.

Last year Tom Levenson, professor of science writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, put together a panel on the Uses of the Past that was held at the World Conference of Science Journalists in Doha, Qatar. The panelists included Deborah Blum, Jo Marchant, Reto Schneider, and Holly Tucker who led an inspiring discussion about how the history of science has been useful to science writers and journalists, as well as being an important discipline unto itself.

However, the conversation was far from complete and I?ve been fortunate enough to join Tom this year to discuss the topic at Science Online 2012 (follow the discussion on Jan. 19 from 1:30 ? 2:15 pm EST at the #scio12 hashtag on Twitter). In preparing for this discussion Tom and I have emailed back and forth our hopes for this session. One thing that has stood out is that where Tom thought of the term ?uses of the past? as a challenge to writers about science for the public, an opening into approaches that will make their work better, I?ve been thinking about the importance of historical thinking to the practice of science itself ? what working scientists could gain from deeper engagement not just with the anecdotes of history, but with a historian?s habits of mind. So just to get everyone?s juices flowing, Tom and I thought we?d try to exchange some views. Think of this as a bloggy approach to that old form, the epistolary novel ? in which we try to hone in on the ways in which engagement with the past may matter across fields right on the leading edge of the here and now.

Dear Eric,

I have to confess; I?ve never needed convincing about history; I?m a historian?s son, and all my writing, just about, has had a grounding in where ideas and events come from.

But all the same, it?s simply a fact that the professional scientific literature from which so many stories for the public derive seems, on first glance, to be as present-tense as it is possible to be. As I write this, I?m looking at the table of contents of my latest (January 6) digital issue of Science. In the ?Reports? section ? where current findings are deployed ? there is nothing but the now and the near future under discussion. Just to pull up a few of pieces at whim: we can learn of the fabrication of wires on the nano-scale that obey Ohm?s law (an accomplishment its makers claim will support advances in both classical and quantum computing to come). We can read of a new measurement of the ratio of isotopes of tungsten (performed by some of my MIT colleagues in concert with researchers at the University of Colorado) that suggests (at least as a preliminary conclusion) that the terranes that make up the earth?s continents have remained resistant to destruction over most of the earth?s history. And then there is a report from researchers into that living genetics/evolution textbook, C. elegans, that adds yet one more telling detail within a broader understanding of the intertwined behavior of genetic and environmental processes.

All of these ? and all the rest of what you can find in this issue of that journal, and so many others ? tell you today?s news. Each of these could form the subject of a perfectly fine popular story. Yet none of these do or necessarily would as popular stories engage the history that lies behind the results.

That is: you could tell a story of a small step taken towards the goal of building a useful quantum computer without diving into either the nineteenth century?s investigation into the properties of electrical phenomena or the twentieth century?s discovery of the critical role of scale on the nature of physical law. You can talk about the stability of continents without recognizing the significance of that research in the context of the discovery of the intensely dynamic behavior of the earth?s surface. You certainly may write about mutation rates and stress without diving into that old fracas, the nature-nurture argument that goes back to Darwin?s day and before. This is just as true for the researcher as the writer, of course. Either may choose to ignore the past without impairing their ability to perform the immediate task at hand: the next measurement, the next story. All fine, and all legitimate

You could, that is, but, at least In My Humble Opinion, you shouldn?t. From the point of view of this science writer, history of science isn?t a luxury or an easy source of ledes; rather, it is essential for both the making of a better (competent) science writer, and in the production of science writing that communicates the fullest, most useful, and most persuasive account of our subject to the broad audiences we seek to engage.

In briefest form, I argue (and teach my students) that diving into the history of the science one cover trains the writer?s nose, her or his ability to discern when a result actually implies a story (two quite different things). It refines a crucial writer?s tool, the reporter?s bullshit detector. At the same time, explicitly embedding historical understanding in the finished text of even the most present-and-future focused story is, I think, more or less invaluable if one?s goal is not simply to inform, but to enlist one?s readers in gerunds of science: doing it, thinking in the forms of scientific inquiry, gaining a sense of the emotional pleasures of the trade. I?ll talk more about both of these claims when my turn comes around?but at this point, I think I should stop and let you get a word in edgewise. Here?s a question for you: while I can see the uses of the past for writers seeking to extract from science stories that compel a public audience ? do working scientists need to care that much about their own archives. What does someone pounding on C. elegans stress responses, say really need to know about the antecedents of that work?

Best,

Tom

Dear Tom,

The British novelist, and friend of Aldous Huxley, L.P. Hartley began his 1953 novel The Go-Between with a line that, I suspect, many working scientists can relate to, ?The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.? The process of science, much like the process of art, is to dredge through what has been achieved in the past in order to generate something altogether new. That is perhaps the only thing that the two fields of creative endeavor have in common; the past must be understood only so that you can be released from it. However, much like you, I?ve never needed convincing about history either. While I agree that the past can be a foreign country at times, I?ve always enjoyed traveling.

I came to history through my work in science, but I found that understanding the historical context for why scientists in the past came to the conclusions they did helped inform the questions I was asking. I?ve always believed that the scientific method was the best way of eliminating our own personal biases when seeking answers about the natural world, but that unexamined assumptions can still slip through the scientific filter. By examining how these flawed assumptions made it through I hoped it would help me in my own work. Perhaps the best way to explain what I mean by this is to briefly discuss how an early brush with history encouraged me into the research direction I ultimately pursued in graduate school. The book was Nature?s Body by the Stanford historian of science Londa Schiebinger that I found in a used bookstore during my senior year as an undergraduate in anthropology and biology. In one chapter of her book she discussed the early history of primate research and how the prevailing assumptions about gender influenced the hypotheses and, as a result, the conclusions about those species most similar to ourselves. One of the earliest descriptions of great apes in the West, after Andrew Battell?s exaggerated stories about ?ape monsters,? was by the Dutch physician Nicolaes Tulp, probably the most widely recognized figure in the history of science that almost no one has ever heard of.

Homo sylvestris from Tulp's Observationes Medicae

In 1632 Tulp commissioned the artist Rembrandt to paint his anatomy lesson, which ended up being one of the Dutch master?s most famous works (if anyone today recognizes Tulp?s name, it?s most likely from the title of this painting). Nearly a decade after he posed for this portrait Tulp published his Observationes Medicae (Medical Observations) in which he described the anatomy of a female ape he?d received on a ship bound from Angola. He was immediately struck by the similarities with humans and the drawing he published, identified as Homo sylvestris, demonstrated a striking example of cultural bias. Made to look the way he assumed this female would appear while alive, Tulp emphasized his own culture?s gender stereotypes. The female sat with her hands in her lap, framing what appeared to be a pregnant belly, and her head was glancing downwards in a distinctly demure pose.

By itself this depiction wouldn?t have been particularly revealing; it was just one individual allowing their own social biases to influence his science. What was remarkable, however, is the way Schiebinger showed how Tulp?s depiction would appear time and time again in the subsequent centuries when describing female primates, not just in appearance but also in behavior. More than two hundred years later, when Darwin described the differences between males and females in his theory of sexual selection, he had the same unmistakable gender bias that influenced his thinking. I had never taken a women?s studies course in my life, but this insight was an enormous wake up call for me. I realized there had been a common set of assumptions that endured for centuries, what the historian Arthur Lovejoy called ?the spirit of the age,? and had gone unexamined until relatively recently when a new generation of primatologists?such as Jane Goodall, Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, and Frans de Waal?began studying the female half of the equation that had been largely ignored as an important area of study. Knowing this history pushed me to ask different questions and focus on a topic that I discovered hadn?t been addressed before: why female bonobos had such high levels of cooperation despite the fact that they had a low coefficient of genetic relatedness (violating the central premise of Hamilton?s theory of kin selection). Different scientific topics have their own entrenched assumptions that otherwise critical researchers may not have considered; that is, until they see the broad patterns that a historical analysis can reveal.

Cheers,

Eric

Dear Eric,

I love your story, partly because the original painting is so extraordinary and it?s good to have any excuse to revisit it. But I value it more for your argument that engaging with the thought and thinking (not quite the same thing) of scientists past fosters insight into present problems. That goes just as much for science writers ? that is to say, those seeking to communicate to a broad public both knowledge derived from science and the approaches, the habits of thought that generate those results.

Rembrandt?s painting itself gives some hints along this line. There?s a marvelous and strange discussion of the work in another novel written in English, W. G. Sebald?s The Rings of Saturn. There, Sebald points to the fact that none of the anatomists are actually looking at the corpse under the knife. Tulp himself stares out into the middle distance, whilst other members of his guild peer instead at an anatomical atlas open at the foot of the table. As Sebald studies the one of the often-discussed details of the painting, he argues that what appears to be simply an error in the depiction of the dissection of the left hand reveals an artist seeking to see past the formal abstraction of the lesson, drawing attention instead to the actual body on the table, the physical reality of a single dead man.

Not wishing to push too hard on that (unproven, unprovable) interpretation, Sebald still points out something that rewards the attention of science writers. Rembrandt depicts both facts ? the body, the tendons of the exposed hand ? and ideas, at a crucial moment of change in the way natural philosophers sought verifiable knowledge.

We see, amidst the reverence for the book, the authority of prior learning, an event actually occurring on the canvas: the effort to extract understanding from the direct testimony of nature. Amidst all else that can be read there, Rembrandt?s painting reminds the viewer of the time ? not really all that long ago ? when a fundamental idea was being framed with its first answer: yes, it is possible to understand biological forms as machines, and to investigate their workings directly.

So, to take the long road home to the question of why bother with history when covering the news of today and tomorrow, here are two thoughts (of the three with which I will hope to provoke our fellow unconferees on Thursday). First: as you argue for scientists, understanding of the past can lead writers to stories they may not have known were there.

To give an example, I?ll have to leave anatomy behind (about whose history I sadly know very little). I recently had an occasionto look back at A. A. Michelson?s infamous remark from 1894 when he asserted that physics was done except for that which could be discovered in the sixth decimal places of measurements.

There is a lot wrong in that claim, but if you look more closely at what he said, you can find something less obvious in Michelson?s claim ? and that can lead to insight into what goes into the making of all kinds of very modern physics, from (possibly true) observations of faster than light neutrinos to the ways in which cosmologists are extracting knowledge from high-precision measurements of the cosmic microwave background (and much else besides, of course).

So there?s a story-engine chugging away inside history, which is there to be harnessed by any writer ? facts, material, from which to craft story. There?s also a story-telling tool, a method that derives directly from historical understanding. A core task for science writing is the transformation of technically complicated material into a narrative available to broad audiences ? which must be done without doing violence to the underlying ideas. If the writer remembers that every modern problem has a long past, then she or he can prospect through that history when the problems and results in that sequence are intelligible to any audience. For just one last, very quick example: general relativity is a hard concept to explain, but framing the issue that it helped to resolve in the context of what Newton?s (seemingly) simpler account of gravity couldn?t handle ? that spooky action at a distance that permits the gravitational attraction of the sun to shape the earth?s orbit ? and you?re in with a chance.

Best,

Tom

Dear Tom,

I think you touched on something very important with regard to the idea that science writing is a transformation that takes the technical language of science (primarily mathematics and statistics?that is, if it?s done correctly) and interprets it into the communication of everyday experience. Science writing is a process of translation. The history of science as a discipline is precisely the same thing, though historians typically engage in a different level of linguistic analysis by looking at language meaning and the way that science provides insight into the process of historical change. But it seems that there is no better way to think about how the history of science can be useful to science journalists than to consider what we do as essentially a process of translation. Art is involved in any translation work and there is never a one-to-one correspondence between the original and what it eventually becomes. We must be true to our source material but also evoke the same overall meaning. To put this more simply: why are the findings being reported important to scientists in a given field and how can that same importance be conveyed to a readership with a very different set of experiences? It seems to me that there are two primary ways of doing this: engaging with the history of why this question matters or tapping into contemporary attitudes that evoke connections with the findings reported (where the latter approach goes wrong happens to be one of my favorite topics of critique, one that is unfortunately an extremely rich resource to draw from).

However, there is one other reason why the history of science is important for science journalists that we haven?t quite touched on yet. A journalist who knows their history is better protected from false claims and the distraction of denialism. The scientific press release is a unique cultural invention and all too often seeks to manipulate journalists into framing a given story so as to exaggerate that study?s actual impact. The historically minded journalist is less likely to get bamboozled. In a similar way, the he said-she said model of reporting is a persistent and irritating rash for almost every professional journalist I?ve interacted with. But the temptation to scratch is always present, even though the false equivalency reported is rarely satisfying over the long term. The history of science can be the journalistic topical ointment. Those who know the background of anti-vaccine paranoia, or who recognize the wedge strategy of creationist rhetoric, can satisfy their need to report on a story that captures the public?s attention while also providing useful information to place that issue within it?s proper context. History matters.

Your friend,

Eric

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