Stanford Grad Files Lawsuit Claiming He Came Up With Snapchat, Snapchat Calls Lawsuit ?Devoid Of Merit?

In what appears to be a cyclical recurrence of post-success litigation, Snapchat is being sued by a man from South Carolina named Frank Reginald Brown IV, who claims that he originally came up with the idea for the ephemeral picture messaging app. The idea for Snapchat is simple, yet has been widely misunderstood by older generations: you take a picture or video of yourself (or something else if you choose), set a time limit, and send the picture off to a friend. The app will only let the user view the picture for the pre-set period of time, no more than ten seconds.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/WYE4no96rTE/

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US, Europe move to expand role in Syrian conflict

This photo taken Feb. 27, 2013 shows Secretary of State John Kerry arriving at the Foreign Ministry in Paris. The U.S. is moving closer to direct involvement in Syria?s civil war with the delivery of non-lethal assistance directly to the rebels fighting President Bashar Assad?s regime. Officials say the decision to offer ready-made meals and medical supplies to the rebels may be a step toward eventual U.S. military aid, which the administration has so far resisted. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

This photo taken Feb. 27, 2013 shows Secretary of State John Kerry arriving at the Foreign Ministry in Paris. The U.S. is moving closer to direct involvement in Syria?s civil war with the delivery of non-lethal assistance directly to the rebels fighting President Bashar Assad?s regime. Officials say the decision to offer ready-made meals and medical supplies to the rebels may be a step toward eventual U.S. military aid, which the administration has so far resisted. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet, left, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius, pose for a photograph before their meeting at the Hotel Excelsior in Rome on Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Rome, where talks will Syria be held, is the fourth leg of Kerry's first official overseas trip, a hectic nine-day dash through Europe and the Middle East. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry embraces his long time friend, U.S. Ambassador to Italy David Thorne, left, as Kerry arrives at Ciampino Airport, in Rome on Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. where talks on Syria will be held. Rome is the fourth leg of Kerry's first official overseas trip, a hectic nine-day dash through Europe and the Middle East. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry disembarks at Ciampino military airport, in the outskirts of Rome, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Kerry will attend an international conference on Syria in Rome Thursday. The United States is looking for more tangible ways to support Syria's rebels and bolster a fledgling political movement that is struggling to deliver basic services after nearly two years of civil war, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry shakes hands with Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi, right, as he arrives at Villa Madama in Rome, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Kerry will attend an international conference on Syria in Rome Thursday. The United States is looking for more tangible ways to support Syria's rebels and bolster a fledgling political movement that is struggling to deliver basic services after nearly two years of civil war, Kerry said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)

ROME (AP) ? The United States and some European allies are edging closer to direct involvement in Syria's civil war with plans to deliver meals, medical kits and other forms of nonlethal assistance to the rebels battling President Bashar Assad.

The U.S., Britain, France and Italy aren't planning to supply the Free Syrian Army with weapons or ammunition. But moves are afoot to significantly boost the size and scope of their aid to the political and military opposition. Such decisions could be announced as early as Thursday at an international conference on Syria in Rome.

Britain and France are keen to give the rebels the means to protect themselves from attacks by Assad's forces, including Scud missiles fired in recent days against the city of Aleppo, U.S. and European officials say.

Assistance could mean combat armor, vehicles and other equipment not deemed to be offensive, the officials said. It could include training in battlefield medical care and the protection of human rights, they said.

For now, the Obama administration is advancing more modestly. It is nearing a decision whether to give ready-made meals and medical supplies to the opposition fighters, who have not received direct U.S. assistance.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was expected to announce the new contributions at the Rome conference, in addition to tens of millions of dollars intended for rule of law and governance programs.

The shifts in strategy are part of a step-by-step process that could lead to direct military aid to carefully screened members of the Free Syrian Army if the nearly 2-year conflict continues. Some 70,000 people have died in the fighting.

The European Union last week renewed an arms embargo against Syria for three months. But foreign ministers made clear that the decision could be reviewed while they look at ways to increase pressure on Assad to leave.

Washington has provided $385 million in humanitarian aid to Syria's war-weary population and $54 million in communications equipment, medical supplies and other nonlethal assistance to Syria's political opposition. The U.S. also has screen rebel groups for Turkey and American allies in the Arab world that have armed rebel fighters.

No U.S. dollars or provisions have gone directly to rebels. That decision reflects concerns about forces that have allied themselves with more radical Islamic elements since Assad's initial crackdown on peaceful protesters in March 2011.

Kerry said Wednesday in Paris that both the U.S. and Europe want a negotiated solution to the crisis and would speak to the leaders of the Syrian National Coalition about that. He also said the world must be prepared to do more to support the rebels and he accused Assad's government of engaging in "criminal behavior."

"We want their advice on how we can accelerate the prospects of a political solution because that is what we believe is the best path to peace, the best way to protect the interests of the Syrian people, the best way to end the killing and the violence," he said at a news conference with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.

"That may require us to change President Assad's current calculation," Kerry said. "He needs to know that he can't shoot his way out of this. And so we need to convince him of that, and I think the opposition needs more help in order to be able to do that."

Fabius offered a similar assessment.

"The situation is unbearable and we need to find the means to a transition and for Assad's departure," he said. "We agree all of us on the fact that Mr. Bashar Assad has to quit."

Britain's Foreign Office also said it would increase its support for Syria's opposition.

The possibility of a sudden change in U.S. strategy comes as President Barack Obama begins a second term and Kerry succeeds Hillary Rodham Clinton as the top U.S. diplomat.

Freed from the constraints of a re-election campaign, administration officials say there is greater leeway now for new approaches than last year, when Obama rebuffed a plan by Clinton, then-CIA Director David Petraeus and then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to arm the Syrian rebels.

The administration remains cautious, officials say, and is resisting European pressure to expand military aid to include the kind of items that Britain and France are considering.

Few Americans want to see their country dragged into another war of complicated loyalties and sectarian rivalries in the Muslim world, a little more than a year after leaving Iraq and with 66,000 U.S. combat troops still in Afghanistan.

Administration officials say they don't have enough assurances that rebel units under the sway of Islamic fundamentalists won't turn their weapons on Israel or other U.S. allies and fragile states in the region.

Lebanon is torn by some of the same internal sectarian divisions as Syria and Jordan is struggling with its political reform path.

Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, warned on Wednesday that a victory by Syrian rebels would lead to more fighting in Iraq and a new haven for al-Qaida.

Greater instability in any of Syria's neighbors would pose a whole new set of problems.

Still, officials said the U.S. was considering a gradually upgraded involvement in Syria to bolster moderate forces within the rebel ranks and help the fledgling political opposition win greater backing among Syrians, especially minority groups that have remained largely loyal to Assad and his government.

Debate within the administration on how best to accomplish these goals has increased in recent months as diplomatic efforts have failed to end the war. The Syrian opposition insists that only weapons, intelligence support and other forms of military aid truly can tip the balance.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, urged the administration to consider lethal aid.

"We should want the best organized, the best equipped and most dominant groups in the opposition to be groups that are friendlier to our national interests," Rubio, a Florida Republican, said Wednesday at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

The position is similar to one Kerry held as a senator, and one he reminded reporters of this week when he proposed the creation of opposition safe zones and suggested providing rebels with U.S. weaponry.

But in his first month as secretary of state and on his first official trip overseas, the 2004 presidential candidate has been vaguer.

"We have a lot of ideas on the table, and some of them, I am confident, will come to maturity by time we meet in Rome," Kerry said this week. "Others may take a little more of a gestation period, but they're no less part of the mix and part of the discussion.

"What I can tell you is we are determined that the Syrian opposition is not going to be dangling in the wind wondering where the support is or if it's coming, and we are determined to change the calculation on the ground for President Assad."

__

Klapper reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Kenneth Thomas in Washington, Sylvia Hui in London, and Silvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-02-27-EU-US-Syria/id-04ef2f4e811a4bf7a1c4367e0938c48b

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Breast cancer among young women increasing

A new study appears to show advanced breast cancer is increasing among young women between ages 25 and 39.

Rebecca Johnson was 27 years old and had just graduated from medical school when she got the diagnosis: breast cancer. She thought she was a rare case, but then a few of her friends got it too. So did some friends of friends.

Was it all just a coincidence, or was breast cancer becoming more common in younger women?

"I really wondered," said Johnson, now 44 and the director of the Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology program at Seattle Children's Hospital. So she examined decades' worth of data from the National Cancer Institute and made a disturbing find: Cases of younger women with advanced breast cancer have increased about 2% each year since the mid-1970s and show no signs of abating.

The results, published in Wednesday's edition of the Journal of the American Medical Assn., confirmed the suspicions of many oncologists who had noticed an uptick in patients younger than 40 with cancer that had spread to the bones, brain or lungs.

In 1976, 1.53 out of every 100,000 American women 25 to 39 years old was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer, the study found. By 2009, the rate had almost doubled to 2.9 per 100,000 women in that age group ? a difference too large to be a chance result.

"Most studies have failed to show an absolute increase," said Dr. Benjamin Paz, a City of Hope Cancer Center surgeon who was not involved in the study. "Now, looking at a longer period of time, this study shows there's clearly been an increase. It's the first to do so."

The trend, which has yet to be explained, has raised real concerns about future efforts to treat the disease. Survival rates for young women with metastatic breast cancer are much lower than they are for older women, because the cancer tends to behave more aggressively in the young.

The data from the U.S. Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results, or SEER, database detected a significant increase among black and white women in both urban and non-urban areas, suggesting that the root cause or causes were widespread.

"An increasing number of young women in the United States will present with metastatic breast cancer in an age group that already has the worst prognosis, no recommended routine screening practice, the least health insurance, and the most potential years of life," Johnson and her coauthors wrote.

To be sure, it remains uncommon for a young woman to be diagnosed with breast cancer. About 7% of all breast cancers diagnosed in the United States involve women younger than 40, and on average, 1 in 173 women in this age group risks developing some type of breast cancer.

Johnson and her coauthors said they hoped that other Western nations would corroborate their findings using their own data. If a trend is established, research should investigate the reason for the increase, they added.

They hypothesized that the trend was due to a variety of lifestyle changes that have occurred during the study period. Diet, exercise, obesity, earlier onset of menstruation, use of birth control, delayed pregnancy and other factors all might play a role.

A few smaller studies have examined risk factors such as obesity, sedentary lifestyle and high caloric intake and concluded that when combined, they do predispose to young adult breast cancer.

However, it is still unknown exactly why cancers can behave so much more aggressively in younger patients, and why estrogen ? or the blocking of it ? has a very different effect on cancer cells in younger and older women.

"There's something different about breast cancers in young adults than in older people," Johnson said. "Researchers that are focusing on cancer in young adults are trying to tease out what those biological differences are."

In the meantime, she said she hoped the study would alert young women to the risks of breast cancer.

"There's no evidence that 29-year-olds should go out and get mammograms or anything like that," Johnson said. "But if there's a take-home message, I would say that it would be awareness of the fact that breast cancer can happen even in young women and that it's important for both young women and their doctors to be aware of this."

monte.morin@latimes.com

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/P8dJhwBtdTg/la-sci-breast-cancer-younger-women-20130227,0,2729640.story

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Analysis: Cuts unlikely to deliver promised U.S. budget savings (reuters)

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

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Executing Your North Sydney Functions In Style

Organizing a function can be a very stressful experience. If you are planning a function in your own house or office, there is so much that you have to keep in mind. You will be responsible for everything from organizing parking, making sure that the bathrooms stay clean and making sure that there is enough food for everyone. If you are organizing a function like a seminar or a workshop for corporate clients, you will need to ensure that all the technological equipment is in place and working and that there is always a fresh pot of coffee brewing to keep your clients focused and happy. With so many small details to manage on top of executing the function on the day of, it makes much more sense to approach a company that rents out function rooms and let the staff there take care of the details while you focus on the people who will be going to the function.

When choosing one of the Function Rooms North Sydney, there are many things to keep into consideration. First and foremost, the type of function room that you require will depend on the type of function that you will be having. If it is a corporate event, you will need to make sure that your staff or clients can access the venue easily, as they will most likely be coming from other part of the city or from other cities. If guests are travelling far, you could hire a function room that is attached to a hotel so that attendees have a place to stay over, and that they do not need to rush to the venue early in the morning form the airport. For any type of function, business or family, easy access and ample parking is a necessity. For a more celebratory event like a wedding or a Christmas party, it might be nice to have function room that has an inside as well as outside area so that guests can move freely and mingle, and that it also provides an area for smokers as almost all function rooms are non-smoking venues.

The size of your group will be the next important thing to look at. Function rooms North Sydney varies from small, intimate venues to large halls. If you will be having a function that has different parts to it, for example a wedding where you will have drinks and a dinner with dancing later, you will need a completely different function room than one for a corporate workshop. Consult the Internet, shop around and ask the function room staff to assist you in choosing the perfect venue so that your function can be a success.

About the Author:
Jasper Mason is a travel author. He pen articles related to party and conference venues and share his experience about function rooms North Sydney. He appreciate hotels in Sydney for stay when you visit Australia.

Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Executing-Your-North-Sydney-Functions-In-Style/4459325

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Effective Air Conditioning & Heating Tricks For Everyone | The Le ...

If you have ever heard the existing adage ?measure twice and cut once,? then you are on the right track to learning the correct way of developing renovations. That isn?t all there is to know, however. So find out what you do not know within the article below.

In order to save funds on air conditioning costs through the summer, try installing ceiling fans. Ceiling fans recirculate air within a room, cooling it down without resorting to flipping on a central air system. These are relatively simple to setup and is installed rather than your lighting fixture.

Ceiling fan installation is an excellent and expense effective diy project that you can consider. Ceiling fans are good for circulating air in the house, and keeping the house cool. They will also help reduce the cost of your utility bills through the elimination of the need for air conditioning through the cooler era of summer time. Read More

Keep the fans circulating, or spend money on some if you don?t currently use them. Rooms are kept more cool using the circulating air produced by fans. Furthermore, if you utilize them instead of air conditioning on those days which are not scorching, the quantity of energy you consume is reduced, enabling you to enjoy lower utility bills.

Consider your quality of life before visual aesthetics when starting renovations. A pond inside your yard might be nice, but having your child fall in and drown would be horrifying. You should put in a desk, nevertheless the money could be much better spent on installing air conditioning inside a Florida home.

If the intention of your own home improvement project is always to help sell the house, you need to remember that simple cosmetic changes in many cases are far better than installing new complex systems. By way of example, while the bottom heating system might be a cool feature, a simple splash of paint is more effective. A splash of paint helps make the house look fresh and attractive to all or any audience, whereas the bottom heating system is only a neat add-on instead of a characteristic.

With any brand new home improvement project you?ll want to consider what the savings will probably be from doing the renovation. Sometimes you need to spend money to economize. The newest appliances are highly power efficient, so choose the best ones that can save you over time. Consider putting extra insulation within the attic to lower your heating and cooling.

One of several most effective ways to enhance your heating and air condition strategy is to completely clean air vents. You understand air vents are dirty once they look black. Dust the vents thoroughly. Look at the vents occasionally just like they turn black quickly, there might be a bigger problem. Related Site

While it is always nice to get a larger home with over enough room, it can be not recommended to acquire a property which includes far more space than you really need. You?ll end up paying big money on heating costs for space you may not make use of.

Countless homeowners decide daily to generate some form of improvement on their homes, and many end up having poor results. Observe the tips provided to you in the following paragraphs to ensure you?re always making the absolute best diy decisions when it?s time to beautify the house.

Source: http://www.theledomevilla.com/456-effective-air-conditioning-heating-tricks-for-everyone

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Hazara Killings In Pakistan Call For International Action - OpEd ...

Quetta, Pakistan

By Arab News -- (February 25, 2013)

By Muhammad Waqas

THE very existence of Hazara minority in Pakistan?s insurgency-hit province of Balochistan is under threat. Over the last five years, a militant organization, named Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, has claimed responsibility for killing over 1,000 Hazaras in the country. The militant group has repeatedly challenged the writ of the state by carrying out ?ethnic cleansing? of the Shiite minority, who it claims are not true Muslims.

Lashkar-e Jhangvi is believed to have been established in the eastern Punjab province during the 1990s.

It is an armed wing of the Sunni group Anjuman-e-Sipahe Shaba Pakistan, a violent and fiercely anti-Shiite organization. Formed by radical elements who received education at hard-line religious schools, the group has only recently eyed the Balochistan province. For years, the massacre of this community remained a non-issue for the country?s political elite and security establishment. During this time, the government failed to arrest or prosecute any prominent member of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which caused great anger and frustration in the Hazara community. The massacre of Hazaras recently led to the imposition of federal rule in the province, but there has been no respite in attacks. When a deadly bomb attack killed around 100 members of the Shiite Hazara minority last week, protests erupted all across the country. The protesters demanded that army be given powers to control security situation in the province, while the government should also take immediate measures to curb Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. The mourning Hazaras refused to bury the dead till they were provided justice and government took a decisive action against the perpetrators of this heinous crime.

The authorities buckled under pressure from this unique form of protest. The government soon sprung into action and claimed to have arrested over 170 people suspected of being linked to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. They also revealed the arrest of a founding member of the banned terror group. However, many remain unconvinced of the government?s actions and call them inadequate in stemming the roots of violence.

Shams Mandokhel, a human rights campaigner in Balochistan, also questions the government?s inaction against the militant group. He believes that the group has ?a very dangerous mindset. This mindset believes in sectarian violence, which is catastrophic. Now, who is promoting this mindset? Why is it not being stopped?? Some analysts even accuse the government of secretly aiding Lashkar-e-Jhangvi to overcome the separatist insurgency that is raging across the Balochistan province.

Pakistan?s security establishment is also known to have used the parent organization of this group in fighting the Soviets during the 1980s. Therefore, any action by the civil government against this militant group could result in a backlash from the country?s powerful military.

A failure to reign in on this new wave of terror against the Hazaras will have catastrophic results for Pakistan. Such violent extremism risks national unity and could potentially cause a delay in holding the upcoming national elections. Lamenting the situation, Balochistan-based analyst Zahoor Shahwani states that ?It?s quite obvious that if these kinds of attacks continue it will be difficult to attract people?s attention to the elections. If their lives and properties are not safe, how can the politicians hold public events and local meetings? How are elections possible in an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty??

The Hazaras have also questioned the competence of security and intelligence bodies, who have seriously failed in preventing sectarian strife. The latest protests by Hazaras to highlight their grievances have been successful in influencing public opinion and forcing the country?s security establishment to wake up from its deep slumber.

With media allotting prime space to the plight of Hazaras, Pakistan?s political and military elite has agreed to conduct a targeted operation against the terrorists, who are determined to eradicate the sect. The local media has also highlighted how the violence is disrupting lives of Hazaras. They are facing difficulty in continuing education, running businesses, accessing civil service jobs and, in essence, leading a normal life.

However, the Hazaras fear that the story of their plight may lose momentum as it has not received adequate international coverage. Condemnation of violence against them has been limited to clich?d statements by international leaders. About 271 renowned poets from 89 countries have recently written an open letter to world leaders to ensure the security of Hazaras and exert diplomatic pressure on Pakistan and Afghanistan to end violence against the community. The international community needs to pay immediate attention to acts of violence and discrimination against the Hazaras. The persecution of Hazaras on ethnic and religious grounds defies all international standards of civility and denies them rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Pakistan.

Source: http://www.albanytribune.com/25022013-hazara-killings-in-pakistan-call-for-international-action-oped/

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Nuclear talks "useful", Western official says

ALMATY (Reuters) - World powers held a "useful" meeting with Iran over its nuclear program in the Kazakh city of Almaty on Tuesday and will continue negotiations on Wednesday, a Western official said.

"We had a useful meeting today, discussions took place this evening, we are meeting again tomorrow," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The six countries - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - are hoping to use a combination of diplomacy and sanctions to persuade Iran to scale back nuclear work that they suspect has a military dimension. Iran says the program is purely peaceful.

(Reporting by Justyna Pawlak, Fredrik Dahl and Yeganeh Torbati; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nuclear-talks-useful-western-official-says-160754143.html

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The Fastest Spacecraft Ever?

Who's the fastest of them all? (Credit: NASA)

Of all the spacecraft humans have launched, there have been some impressively fast movers. But which holds the record?

It?s not an entirely idle question. Apart from the wow factor, it?s an interesting yardstick for gauging our capacity to explore the cosmos, from familiar planets to the icy depths of space.

However, as I quickly discovered in writing this post, it?s not always an easy quantity to evaluate. For one thing, launch velocities differ from eventual cruise velocities. And fancy interplanetary maneuvers like the ?gravity assist? can provide temporary speed boosts that have to be taken into account.

It also depends on what you measure velocity relative to. Far away from the Earth it makes more sense to work with heliocentric (sun-relative) measurements. And (as you?ll see) you need not be zooming away into the void at all to reach the highest sustained speeds.

We can start off easy though. Launch velocity is something very definite, tuned to the finest level possible in order to insert a mission into its optimal trajectory. The record holder is also easy to find, it?s the New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper belt.

Launched by NASA in 2006, it shot directly to a solar system escape velocity. This consisted of an Earth-relative launch of 16.26 kilometers a second (that?s about 36,000 miles per hour), plus a velocity component from Earth?s orbital motion (which is 30 km/s tangential to the orbital path). Altogether this set New Horizons barreling off into the solar system with an impressive heliocentric speed of almost 45 km/s or 100,000 miles per hour.

The Sun?s pull is relentless though, so sometimes you need a helping hand. In 2007 New Horizons had slowed to about 19 km/s and made a flyby of Jupiter to snag a gravity assist (where the spacecraft ?stole? a tiny bit of Jupiter?s momentum) in order to regain about 4 km/s ? before settling in for the long coast outwards. In the first figure shown here you can see how this is going to play out ? heliocentric velocity is going to slowly drop during the journey through the Sun?s ever weakening gravity field. However, when it encounters Pluto, the spacecraft will still whizz by at about 14 km/s relative velocity.

New Horizons' heliocentric velocity during its mission (taken from the JHU mission design document by Guo & Farquhar)

This velocity profile is pretty typical, although quite simple. For comparison I?ve included a similar plot for Voyager 2?s trajectory (and it?s worth noting that Voyager 1 presently holds the record for highest velocity the furthest from the Sun, currently clocking a healthy 17 km/s or 38,000 mph).

Voyager 2's heliocentric velocity versus distance from the Sun - plus (in blue) the solar system escape velocity at each location. (Credit: Cmglee, Wikipedia)

The numerous gravity assists and course alterations in Voyager 2?s ?Grand Tour? of the solar system are writ large in its velocity history. Both Voyagers were able to build their escape route from the solar system while also taking in the sights ? an incredible accomplishment.

But what about the other record holders? In terms of pure heliocentric velocity, the current champions are two probes called Helios I and II that were launched in 1974 and 1976. They entered orbits that took them closer to the Sun than the planet Mercury.

The nearer you orbit to a huge mass like the Sun the faster you have to move, and the Helios sisters moved very fast indeed. Both hit orbital velocities in excess of 70 km/s ? or about 150,000 miles per hour.

But they?re not going to hold onto pole position for much longer.

Juno - solar panels extended (NASA/JHU)

First, NASA?s Juno mission to Jupiter will be arriving in the Jovian system in 2016 and will enter a polar orbit around the gas giant. But Jupiter weighs in at 317 times the mass of the Earth. Falling deep into its gravity well will accelerate Juno to a velocity of about 160,000 miles per hour relative to the planet, before it can swing by, drop speed, and get into its mission orbit.

In 2018 though, a new NASA mission ? Solar Probe Plus ? will be launched. Designed to come as close as 8.5 solar radii to the Sun (that?s about about 5.9 million kilometers or 3.7 million miles), it will hit orbital velocities as high as 200 kilometers a second (450,000 miles an hour).

To just put that incredible figure into perspective ? going this fast would get you from the Earth to the Moon in about 1/2 an hour. It is also about 0.067% the speed of light.

It turns out that the fastest spacecraft do indeed go to the stars, in this case our nearest one.

[Movie from JHU's Applied Physics Laboratory]

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=199ee27191ce24aa2db772989ebb53ac

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Divas fight malaria in Rwanda with Nothing But Nets

WWE Divas Alicia Fox and Natalya will visit refugee camps in Rwanda this week as part of their alliance with the United Nations Foundation?s Nothing But Nets campaign to help raise awareness and funds to fight malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. WWE?s Divas will help distribute life-saving bed nets to help protect refugee families, who are fleeing conflict in neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo, from malaria. They will also meet with officials from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNCHR) to learn about the humanitarian situation there.

?Refugees already face unimaginable hardships,? said Chris Helfrich, Director of Nothing But Nets. ?A simple bed net can stop mothers and children from worrying about a deadly mosquito bite. We?re proud to show the WWE Divas?and WWE fans everywhere?how malaria prevention tools like bed nets keep families safe. With more than 140 million social media fans, WWE and its Divas have an incredible opportunity to spread the buzz about stopping malaria.?

Nothing But Nets has partnered with UNHCR since 2008, working together to provide vulnerable refugee families fleeing conflict or natural disasters with insecticide-treated mosquito nets that can keep them safe from malaria. The partners have provided more than 1 million bed nets to refugees living in camps across Africa; as a result, malaria dropped from the leading killer of refugees to the number five cause of death.

?WWE is proud to partner with Nothing But Nets to raise awareness and funds to protect families from deadly malaria,? said Stephanie McMahon, WWE Executive Vice President, Creative. ?Through our partnership, WWE will continue to reach out to our passionate fan base to spread the message about preventing this disease. It is our hope that when WWE fans learn that a child dies from malaria every 60 seconds, they will be inspired to send a net and save a life.? WWE aims to send 20,000 bed nets to refugees.

The trip is part of Nothing But Nets? alliance with WWE, announced at the 2012 Social Good Summit. There, UN Foundation Resident Entrepreneur Elizabeth Gore appeared with McMahon and WWE Divas Layla and Alicia Fox, who urged their fans to support Nothing But Nets online and offline.

Since 2006, Nothing But Nets has raised more than $45 million from hundreds of thousands of grassroots supporters, and sent more than 7 million bed nets to families across Africa. Anyone?from students to CEOs?can help protect families in Africa from malaria. To learn more and to donate, visit NothingButNets.net.

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Source: http://www.wwe.com/inside/overtheropes/nothing-but-nets-divas-announcement

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'Argo,' Lawrence win on slow Oscar night

By Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, TODAY

Ben Affleck's revenge? Maybe. Despite the "Argo" director's much-talked-about snub on the best director nomination list, his film took home the best picture Oscar Sunday night, the final award of an evening that seemed even more ploddingly paced than usual.

Affleck seemed genuinely thrilled and touched as he speed-shouted out his thanks, including expressing gratitude to Canada, a near-necessity after that country's ambassador said he felt his nation's contributions to the 1980 rescue depicted in the film were underplayed.

AP

The Ben Affleck-directed film "Argo," Jennifer Lawrence and Daniel Day-Lewis were major winners at Sunday night's Oscars.

"I was here 15 years ago and I had no idea what I was doing," Affleck said, referring to his 1997 original screenplay Oscar win for "Good Will Hunting." "I never thought I'd be back here."

In a surprise twist, the win for "Argo" was read not by presenter Jack Nicholson, but by first lady Michelle Obama, via a live satellite presentation from the White House.

Obama praised the importance of the arts in the lives of young people, saying "every day, through engagement in the arts, our children learn to open their imaginations, to dream just a little bigger and to strive every day to reach those dreams."

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"Argo" beat out eight other best-picture contenders, including Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln," which was expected by many to dominate the night. But helped in part by publicity from the Affleck snub, "Argo" came on strong and by Oscar night, was considered by many to be a best-picture favorite.

"Lincoln" didn't follow through on its early best picture hopes, but for months, star Daniel Day-Lewis had been the overwhelming favorite. He didn't disappoint -- he took home his third best actor Oscar, making him the first actor to claim three wins in that category. He was quick to joke with presenter Meryl Streep, saying, "before we agreed to a straight swap, I had been commissioned to play Margaret Thatcher." Streep won an Oscar for playing Thatcher in "The Iron Lady" in 2011.

Jennifer Lawrence surprised many by claiming the best actress honor for her role in "Silver Linings Playbook," then surprised them again by tripping as she walked up to accept the award. She put her hands down on the stairs leading to the stage, steadied herself, and continued on to the microphone.

Director Ben Affleck says he was confident that "Argo" would win the best picture Oscar, once he had the award in his hand. Clip Courtesy A.M.P.A.S.? 2013.

"You guys are just standing up because you feel bad that I fell," Lawrence said, looking out at the standing ovation that greeted her.

Christoph Waltz won the night's first statuette, for "Django Unchained," 15 minutes into the show, kicking off a long slog of musical numbers and minor awards until Anne Hathaway's ?best supporting actress award an hour and a half later.

In his speech, Waltz gave special thanks to Quentin Tarantino, the film's director, saying "you climbed the mountain ... because you were not afraid."

Hathaway won as expected for her role as the desperate prostitute Fantine in the big-screen version of "Les Miserables," a part her own mother once played on a national tour.

"It came true," Hathaway said while holding her trophy. She closed her speech with the hope that in the future, "the misfortunes of Fantine will be found only in stories and never again in real life."

Mario Anzuoni / Reuters

Anne Hathaway accepts the award for best supporting actress for her role in "Les Miserables.

The best director category became controversial back when the nominees were announced, with Affleck and "Zero Dark Thirty" director Kathryn Bigelow left off the list. Many awards-watchers felt Steven Spielberg would claim the honor for "Lincoln," but it was Taiwanese director Ang Lee who won the Oscar for his work on "Life of Pi."

"Family Guy" host Seth MacFarlane began the show with a lengthy song, dance and humor segment that included an appearance by William Shatner, appearing as "Star Trek's" Captain Kirk, and chastising MacFarlane for a supposed poor performance that Kirk came back from the future to correct.

MacFarlane's humor is often risque, and a few lines from his opening segment and throughout the show earned gasps from the audience. He joked that "Django Unchained's" near-constant use of the n-word was because the film was "loosely based on Mel Gibson's voicemails."

Later in the show, MacFarlane complimented Daniel Day-Lewis' performance in "Lincoln," and said that "the actor who really got inside Lincoln's head was John Wilkes Booth." The reference to Lincoln's assassin didn't go over well, leaving MacFarlane to crack, "Really? 150 years and it's still too soon?"

The show's theme was?music in film, which was spotlighted in numerous segments.

The always-popular "In Memoriam" montage showing photos of those in the industry who died in the past year ended with an image of Marvin Hamlisch. As his image scrolled away, Barbra Streisand strolled on stage to sing Hamlisch's "The Way We Were," which won the best original song Oscar in 1973.

A montage of dramatic scenes from James Bond films was shown to celebrate that film franchise's 50th anniversary, with Bond girl Halle Berry introducing the footage. Singer Shirley Bassey, who sang three of the Bond theme songs, sang "Goldfinger" as part of the tribute.

It was a timely nod, because later in the show, singer Adele and co-writer Paul Epworth won the Oscar for best original song for "Skyfall," the theme to the latest Bond film.

Kevin Winter / Getty Images

Adele accepts the Oscar for best original song for "Skyfall."

A tribute to movie musicals featured Catherine Zeta-Jones singing "All That Jazz" from "Chicago," and Jennifer Hudson bringing down the house with "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from "Dreamgirls." Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, Amanda Seyfried, Samantha Barks, Russell Crowe and other cast members from "Les Miserables" capped off the performances with a medley from their musical.

Both screenplay awards went to best picture nominees. Quentin Tarantino won the original screenplay award for "Django Unchained," the slavery drama that had already won Waltz his supporting-actor honor. Praising the strong work of current screenwriters, including his competition, Tarantino announced, "This will be the writer's year!"

"Argo," adapted from an article in Wired magazine,?won the award for best adapted screenplay, with writer Chris Terrio dedicating the honor to CIA employee Tony Mendez, who was instrumental in the 1980 rescue of American embassy employees from Iran that forms the center of the film.

"33 years ago, Tony, using nothing but his creativity and his intelligence ... got six people out of a bad situation," Terrio said.

ABC

The best sound editing award ended in an Oscar rarity ? a tie. Presenter Mark Wahlberg announced the Academy had come to a split decision, and gave the award to both "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Skyfall."

"Life of Pi" won the most Oscars of the night. In addition to Lee's best director honor, the film claimed awards for cinematography, original score and visual effects. The winners of the visual effects award were cut off by the ominous theme from "Jaws" as their speech ran over ? a musical choice that was revisited later when?"Searching for Sugar Man," a documentary about little-known American singer Rodriguez and his unexpected popularity in South Africa, won the Oscar for best documentary feature and the film's director began to ramble.

"Brave," the story of a Scottish princess who battled to establish an adult relationship with her mother the queen, won the Oscar for best animated feature. "Paperman" won the award for best animated short.

"Anna Karenina" won for best costume direction, and "Les Miserables" for makeup and hair.

"Curfew" won the award for live-action short film, and "Inocente" for documentary short subject.

"Les Miserables" won the Oscar for best sound mixing.

"Lincoln" won for production design.

Austria's "Amour," which was also nominated for best picture, won the award for best foreign-language film. The film, set in France, stars French actress Emmanuelle Riva, who turned 86 on Oscar night and was a best actress nominee.

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This story was originally published on Sun Feb 24, 2013 8:58 PM EST

Source: http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2013/02/24/17078280-day-lewis-lawrence-hathaway-adele-are-winners-on-sluggish-oscar-night?lite

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