Two of the biggest ever wildfires in the US have hit states of Colorado and New Mexico and hundreds of firefighters have joined efforts to tackle them.
The Colorado blaze shrouded the state capital, Denver, some 60 miles (100 km) away in smoke on Tuesday.
A woman has died in the blaze, which has burned about 43,000 acres (68 sq miles) and is still growing.
A huge fire is also burning in New Mexico – one of a total of 19 fires in nine drought-stricken western states.
The Larimer County Sheriff’s Office said on Monday that one person had died in Colorado, after investigators found remains in a home that had been burned in the fire.
Two of the biggest ever wildfires in the US have hit states of Colorado and New Mexico and hundreds of firefighters have joined efforts to tackle them
Although the remains have not been conclusively identified, the family of Linda Steadman, 62, has issued a statement saying she died in a cabin that she loved.
They reported her missing after the fire started on Saturday, sheriff’s officials said.
President Barack Obama called the Colorado governor to offer federal personnel, equipment and emergency grants – but was unable to reach his New Mexico counterpart due to poor reception in the fire zone, the Associated Press reported.
The High Park Fire – as it has been dubbed – is still growing, with only 5% contained, reported a national incident information website.
The same website says 30% of the 36,000-acre (56-sq-mile) Little Bear Fire in New Mexico has been contained.
About 118 structures have been damaged or destroyed by the blaze in Colorado – believed to have been started by lightning – and hundreds of people were forced to evacuate, officials say.
Some 600 firefighters are on the scene and up to 200 more are expected.
Additional resources have had to be called in as state and federal authorities rushed to tackle the blaze.
The US Forest Service said on Monday it would contract one air tanker from Alaska and four from Canada to add to the aircraft already combating the fire. Two more air tankers were also being mobilized in California.
Five of the forest service’s 13 tankers have already been deployed to the scene, a spokesman said.
Congressmen from Colorado said in a letter to the forest service that the need for more aircraft was “dire”.
But incident commander Bill Hahnenberg told the Associated Press: “We are a very high priority nationally. We can get all the resources we want and need.”
Serial bomb attacks in six Iraqi provinces, including 10 locations in Baghdad, has killed 62 people and wounded dozens more, Iraqi police say.
Many of the dead in the Iraqi capital were Shia pilgrims gathering for a religious festival.
In Hilla, two car bombs exploded near a restaurant, killing at least 15 people.
There has been a wave of attacks on the Shia community in recent days, as it marks the anniversary of the death of Shia imam Moussa al-Kadhim.
Four people were killed in a mortar attack near a religious shrine in Baghdad on Sunday.
Serial bomb attacks in six Iraqi provinces, including 10 locations in Baghdad, has killed 62 people and wounded dozens more
Iraq’s interior ministry said following that attack that there would be heightened security across the city as they anticipated further violence.
Pictures from Hilla on Wednesday showed the mangled remains of a restaurant, damaged cars and roads strewn with debris.
Police and fire crews were clearing the scene.
Violence in Iraq has fallen since the sectarian killings of a few years ago, but militants still frequently attack security forces and civilians.
Shia targets have come under renewed attack since the government of Shia Prime Minister Nouri Maliki moved against senior members of the predominantly Sunni Iraqiya political bloc.
Tonight will see the debut of the hotly anticipated Dallas reboot, 21 years after the original show ended.
So the cast of the new version yesterday got the opportunity to quite literally ring in their show at the New York Stock Exchange.
Josh Henderson, Jordana Brewster, Julie Gonzalo and Jesse Metcalfe were given the prestigious honor of ringing the bell to open up trading on Wall Street.
Jordana Brewster and Julie Gonzalo looked glamorous as they posed up together before heading to the podium where they joined their male co-stars Josh Henderson, 30, and Jesse Metcalfe, 33, to ring the opening bell.
Jordana Brewster, 32, opted for a color block outfit, tucking a red blouse into coral shorts and topping off her look with a white blazer and tan wedges.
The cast of the new version of Dallas yesterday got the opportunity to quite literally ring in their show at the New York Stock Exchange
Meanwhile, Julie Gonzalo, 30, chose a monochrome ensemble and sported a white shirt dress which boasted a black belt and collar with a pair of black peep toe shoe boots.
As the younger generation drummed up excitement for their new series, the original cast-members of the hit show were appearing on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray, who also star in the new series, all took to Jay Leno’s sofa to promote the return of the Texan-set TV drama.
It seems that the surviving original cast are just as excited about the return of the show as the younger set are to join the ranks.
Although the new edition is regularly described as a reboot, Patrick Duffy, 63, has said that the correct term for the new series should be a “continuation”.
The plot will still centre on the Ewing family, in particular John Ross Ewing III who is the son of JR and Sue Ellen, and Christopher Ewing, the adopted son of Bobby and Pam.
Peaches Geldof tweeted on Sunday a picture of her one-month-old son Astala wearing a beige knitted hat and a taupe jumper and testing out more looks on her baby today the socialite tried out some wigs on the baby.
Luckily for Astala none of the wigs were actually real, instead Peaches Geldof, 23, edited his pictures using a clip art application to perhaps take a trip into the future and get a glimpse at what her son might look once his locks grow in.
In the first of the cute uploads Peaches Geldof decorated the picture of Astala as she gazed up at the camera with a short grey wig.
She quickly followed that picture with another image but this time the wig was blonde.
Having a blast she then went onto to post a few more images via her Instagram account of the tot baby with an Afro wig and a short blonde bob similar to the hairstyle Victoria Beckham made famous in 2007.
Peaches Geldof edited Astala pictures using a clip art application to perhaps take a trip into the future and get a glimpse at what her son might look once his locks grow in
But it was a picture of the child with a long curly brunette wig that was possibly the closest thing to what he might look like later in life as the hairstyle was similar to that of his father Tom Cohen.
Obviously in awe of the little boy, Peaches Geldof also posted a more sentimental edited picture which was decorated with pink hearts.
Peaches Geldof later shared a close-up shot of her little boy, showing the baby’s adorable face.
Yesterday she posted a series of shots of her little boy on Twitter, showing the tot in various super-cute poses.
Astala is the first child for Peaches Geldof and her fiancé Tom, and she recently spoke about her love for her newborn son.
Speaking about breastfeeding Astala, Peaches Geldof said: “I feed him myself on demand, like mum did with us. The bond I have with Astala when I’m breastfeeding is something which is so incredibly special.
“The realization that I am his source of life, that my body is producing what is keeping him alive is amazing.”
Astala was due on April 24 – the same day as her late mother Paula Yates’s birthday but he arrived six days early by emergency Caesarian section.
But Peaches Geldof said previously that she feels like her mother is watching over her, although she admitted she wished she was here to help her with the baby.
She said: “I’ve felt mum’s presence all the way through my pregnancy and that has been really comforting.
“Becoming a mum has made me feel closer to her than I have ever felt, but it’s also made me miss her more than ever.
“It has been upsetting for me that she hasn’t been around to guide me and advise me and share in it all. She would have been such a cool grandma.”
Actress Ann Rutherford, best known for playing Scarlett O’Hara’s youngest sister Careen in Gone With the Wind, has died aged 94.
Ann Rutherford also starred as Mickey Rooney’s girlfriend, Polly Benedict, in MGM’s long-running Andy Hardy series.
Her close friend, actress Anne Jeffreys, confirmed she died at her Beverly Hills home on Monday night.
She told the Los Angeles Times that Ann Rutherford had been suffering from heart problems.
In an interview with the LA Times in 2010, Ann Rutherford said that MGM boss Louis B. Mayer was initially going to refuse her the part in Gone With the Wind.
Actress Ann Rutherford, best known for playing Scarlett O'Hara's youngest sister Careen in Gone With the Wind, has died aged 94
However, she revealed he relented after she burst into tears, saying she was a huge fan of the novel and “just wanted to watch the book come to life”.
Afterwards, Ann Rutherford continued to make Andy Hardy movies and later appeared in other films, including 1947’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
She had launched her movie career in Westerns while she was still a teenager, appearing with both singing cowboy hero Gene Autry and John Wayne.
Ann Rutherford retired in 1976 but in 1989 was one of 10 surviving Gone With the Wind cast members who gathered in Atlanta to celebrate the film’s 50th anniversary.
At the event she spoke about the story’s appeal, saying: “Anyone who had read the book sensed they were into something that would belong to the ages, and everyone was in a frenzy to read the book.”
Ann Rutherford agreed with other cast members that regardless of what other things they achieved in their lives: “Our obituary will say we were in Gone With the Wind and we’ll be proud of it.”
New clashes have broken out in Polish capital Warsaw between rival Russian and Polish football fans ahead of a Euro 2012 tie between the two teams.
A march by thousands of Russian fans to mark their national day had to be halted and some missiles were thrown.
Police say 56 arrests were made and that seven people were injured in the violence.
Tensions are running high, given the centuries of rivalry between the two countries.
About 6,000 police were on duty to keep the rival fans apart.
The match began at 20:45 local time.
Beforehand, some Polish fans on a bridge on the march route had tried to attack the Russian fans and had been involved in scuffles.
New clashes have broken out in Polish capital Warsaw between rival Russian and Polish football fans ahead of a Euro 2012 tie between the two teams
It was relatively easy for police to contain clashes while the Russians fans were heading down a planned route, but it may more difficult when they spread across town later.
Tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon were used to disperse fans at the end of the march, according to Poland’s state news agency.
In a separate incident, 50 Polish fans in masks attacked Russian fans in a Warsaw cafe, the Russian news agency Interfax reported.
Russia occupied Poland for more than a century and dominated it during the Cold War, after World War II.
The conservative Polish opposition condemned the march as a provocation, but it was approved by the authorities.
The Russian national holiday marks Russia’s declaration of sovereignty in 1990 – a key episode in the demise of the Soviet Union.
Polish media highlighted fears that some Russian fans may sport Soviet flags and symbols – a highly sensitive issue for the many Poles who deplored communist rule.
“March or street war?” said a headline in the conservative Polish daily Rzeczpospolita. It quoted Wojciech Wisniewski, a member of the Polish Union of Football Fans, as saying “somebody really wants to make Polish football fans attack the Russians”.
European football’s governing body UEFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against Russia after a series of incidents involving the country’s fans at Euro 2012.
Russian fans were caught on camera kicking and punching stewards inside the stadium at Wroclaw, in western Poland, after their team beat the Czech Republic 4-1 on Friday. Four stewards needed hospital treatment.
Anti-racist monitors at the match said a section of the crowd racially abused the Czech Republic’s only black player, Theodor Gebre Selassie.
In a statement on Monday, Russian football association said: “We urge all football fans now in Poland to remember that they represent Russia. Please respect yourselves, your country and your team.”
Linda Gray outshone her younger new female co-stars during an appearance on The Today Show yesterday to promote the new Dallas reboot.
Linda Gray, 71, who will reprise her iconic Sue Ellen role in the forthcoming U.S. TNT series of the show, looked stunning in a floaty cream dress which showed off her toned legs.
Her skin looked flawless, with smoky eye make-up accentuating her bone structure.
Linda Gray joined fellow Dallas old-timers Patrick Duffy (Bobby Ewing) and Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing) on the morning TV show to promote the series, which debuts this Wednesday in the U.S.
They were joined by five new cast members including Jesse Metcalfe who plays Bobby Ewing’s son Christopher and Josh Henderson who stars as J.R.’s offspring John Ross Ewing III.
According to Linda Gray, her character has “changed a lot” in the reboot, not least her fashion sense, since the original Dallas ended back in 1991.
“I love her right now,” she said of her character.
“I loved her then and I love her now. No shoulder pads for one, and her hair’s not looking as wild and crazy.”
Linda Gray outshone her younger new female co-stars during an appearance on The Today Show yesterday to promote the new Dallas reboot
Linda Gray revealed that the trio of old timers had all consulted each other before deciding to reprise their characters for the new show, which will focus on the younger members of the family.
“We all called each other,” said Linda Gray, after being asked if it was a group decision to make the comeback.
“People don’t remember that we’ve been friends for 35 years and we see each other all the time.
“So it wasn’t like we hadn’t seen each other for 20 years. This was friendships reigniting and we could work together again. That was the great part.”
Larry Hagman admitted Linda Gray had to persuade him to take part in the show, but “money” certainly played its part in his decision.
“It doesn’t last long, I’ll tell you that,” he laughed.
“It was strange getting back into the swing of things, but we all fitted into our characters in the end so it was nothing to worry about.”
Although the new series has largely been described as a “reboot”, Patrick Duffy, 63, said that the correct term for the new series should be a “continuation”.
Patrick Duffy said: “It’s like you didn’t tune in for 20 years and you were on the wrong channel. And if you turned to the right channel here we are. And everything is as it would be 20 years later. It’s a perfect continuation. We consider this year 14 of the show.”
The actor revealed that his first scene with Larry Hagman, whose character J.R starts out in a nursing home, was particularly meaningful for him.
“It was the first scene I did after not worked with him for 20 years – to go back into that room and to have that scene with Larry – It was a little poignant for me.
“Plus we had to do it about 20 times. We’ve got a little old. It really was the beginning of the new Dallas for me – to do that scene with him.”
And as for TV’s most famous oil magnate – apparently he’s even nastier than viewers remember him.
“He’s gotten meaner and he teaches his son to be mean too,” said Larry Hagman when asked by Today host Ann Curry if his character had “evolved”.
Josh Henderson, who plays J.R’s son John Ross Jr., said he had been so intimidated at filming his first scene with Larry Hagman, that he forgot his lines.
“They are big shoes to fill,” he said.
“I was a little nervous and intimidated to come into this show as it was a big deal around the world.
“The first scene was electrifying. His energy – when he steps on set – he literally consumes the room.”
Meanwhile, Jesse Metcalf admitted that he had initially been “skeptical” at the idea of bringing back “such an iconic” show.
“But once Larry and Linda and Patrick gave it their stamp of approval, I knew the script was probably on par,” he added.
“And after reading it, I thought, <<Wow this is such good storytelling>>.”
The actors were also joined today by Jordanna Brewster whose character Elena Ramos finds herself in the middle of a “love triangle” in the show, while Julie Gonzalo plays Rebecca Sutter who is engaged to Christopher.
Vanessa Bryant, wife of superstar basketball player Kobe Bryant, appears to be having second thoughts on going ahead with their divorce.
Vanessa Bryant, 29, has until Sunday to sign the documents to make her divorce from the philandering LA Lakers star final.
But according to reports, Vanessa Bryant just can’t bring herself to leave the father of her two children.
According to TMZ, Kobe Bryant, 33, and his ex-wife have been spending a lot of time together in mediation, working out the problems that caused Vanessa to file for divorce in the first place back on December 16.
“We’ve learned Kobe and Vanessa are trying to work out the issues that caused her to file for divorce back in December.
“They spend a lot of time together but he has not officially moved back in with her,” a source told TMZ.
Vanessa and Kobe Bryant at a hockey game in Los Angeles on April 16
California law gives couples a six-month “waiting period” after divorce proceedings are initiated before it can be finalized.
That means the waiting period expires Sunday and Vanessa Bryant would officially be free to divorce the NBA star Monday.
However, that is unlikely, the report said. There would be nothing to stop her from doing so at a later date, though.
Kobe Bryant married Vanessa in April 2001 in Dana Point, California, when he was 21 and she was 18. They have two daughters, Natalia and Gianna. The marriage became rocky soon after when Kobe was arrested for a sexual assault on a 19-year-old employee of an Eagle, Colorado hotel. The case was eventually dropped, but Kobe Bryant admitted he did have an adulterous sexual encounter with his accuser.
Rihanna was pictured out drinking and partying on most nights, regardless of where in the world she is.
But now new claims have emerged that Rihanna’s friends are so concerned about her welfare due to her “excessive partying” that they are urging her to check into a rehab centre.
According to reports, Rihanna’s manager and close friend Jay-Z has ordered the 24-year-old singer to seek help before it’s too late.
The claims about Rihanna’s wellbeing came as the singer was pictured stepping out in New York looking tired and disheveled in possibly her most revealing outfit yet.
Rihanna was pictured wearing a tiny pink lace bandeau bra with a pleated skirt as she headed out and about in Manhattan, covering up with a white cardigan over the top at points during the outing.
She teamed the outfits with a pair of high-top trainers and sunglasses.
Rihanna has sparked concern among friends and family with her love of drinking and partying, with Jay-Z apparently even threatening to drop her from his label if she doesn’t get her life in order.
Rihanna was pictured wearing a tiny pink lace bandeau bra with a pleated skirt as she headed out and about in Manhattan
Things went from bad to worse when Rihanna was forced to cancel a scheduled work trip to the UK last week, after allegedly missing her flight.
A source told Closer magazine: “Rihanna has been out of control for months.
“She was supposed to catch a flight back to the UK last week, but she ended up missing it, which was the final straw for management.
“Jay-Z hit the roof when he found out, and told Rihanna, <<Go to rehab now or I’ll drop you from the label>>. She’s not happy, but she now feels she has no choice.”
However, Rihanna denied claims that she had cancelled the UK trip due to illness, insisting she just needed to spend more time with her family, particularly her grandmother Dolly who is suffering from cancer.
Meanwhile, other reports have suggested that Rihanna is suffering from a personality disorder.
A friend told Look magazine: “She’s reached breaking point. Ri says she’s physically and mentally exhausted and feeling lost.
“I think she desperately needs help and some time off – not just from work but from all the other stresses in her life too.”
The magazine claim that Rihanna’s symptoms, which include her regular updating of fans by sharing pictures and news on Twitter, are indicative that the singer is suffering from Narcisstic Personality Disorder – “a constant need for attention and admiration”.
Rihanna first sparked concerns about her health last month when she was hospitalized for exhaustion and dehydration.
The singer tweeted a picture from inside the hospital, showing her hooked up to an intravenous drip, yet weeks later she was seen out partying again.
British researchers have developed a porous material that can preferentially soak up CO2 from the atmosphere.
NOTT-202 is a “metal-organic framework” that works like a sponge, absorbing a number of gases at high pressures.
But as the pressure is reduced, CO2 is retained as other gases are released.
The development, reported in Nature Materials, holds promise for carbon capture and storage, or even for removing CO2 from the exhaust gases of power plants and factories.
Metal-organic frameworks have been considered promising structures to trap gases for a number of years. They are so named because they comprise atoms of a metallic element at their core, surrounded by scaffolds of longer, carbon-containing chains.
These complex molecules can be made to join together in frameworks that leave gaps suitable for capturing gases.
NOTT-202 is a "metal-organic framework" that works like a sponge, absorbing a number of gases at high pressures
However, until now, such frameworks have been good primarily at gathering any gas passing through them; those that were selective for CO2 have proven to have a low capacity for storing the gas.
“Increasing the selectivity for CO2 in the presence of gaseous mixtures represents a major challenge if these systems are to find practical applications under dynamic conditions,” the authors wrote.
The research started at the universities of Nottingham and Newcastle, where scientists discovered a chemical system that seemed to solve this problem of selectively storing a significant amount of CO2.
But to be sure of just what they had, they collaborated with a team at the Diamond Light Source in Oxfordshire and the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s Daresbury Laboratory to get a microscopic look at what they had created.
Using X-ray diffraction and detailed computer models, the researchers found that NOTT-202 is made up of two different frameworks that slot together incompletely, leaving “nanopore” gaps particularly suited to gathering up CO2.
This two-part structure, the researchers claim, is an entirely new class of porous material.
As such, research into just how similarly paired frameworks can be created may help researchers find a range of materials suited to soaking up specific gases.
Snooki and her fiancé Jionni LaValle are expecting a baby boy in September this year and she has revealed in an interview with Good Morning America today what they are going to name their pride and joy.
Snooki, 24, told JuJu Chang that they will be calling their little guido, Lorenzo.
“I think we’re going to do Lorenzo,” she revealed.
“Because then you can call him Enzo.”
She added that if the couple were going to have a girl, they would have called her Giada.
In her hit reality series Jersey Shore, Snooki has long been known as a hard-partying guidette, fond of drinking, “smushing” and tanning.
But now that she is expecting her first child, Snooki has only motherhood on the brain and that includes making big decisions such as whether to breastfeed her firstborn or not.
In the interview Snooki also revealed that she will not be breastfeeding her son when he arrives later this year.
Snooki said that she will be reaching for the breast pump instead.
“It just looks so painful,” she told JuJuChang.
“…But I definitely want to pump, because it has the best nutrients for your baby.”
Snooki, 24, told JuJu Chang that they will be calling their little guido, Lorenzo
Snooki, who did the interview alongside her fiancé Jionni LaValle, also discussed the recent controversial Time cover, which featured the headline Are You Mom Enough?, showing Jamie Lynne Grumet, a 26-year-old mother from Los Angeles, breastfeeding her almost four-year-old son.
“That freaks me out. I mean just drink regular milk,” she said.
When JuJu Chang showed the reality star a breast pump in a New York children’s store, Snooki likened the process to milking a cow.
“It is kind like your cow, you just milk it,” she said.
Meanwhile, Jionni LaValle admitted that a lot had changed since the couple found out that they were expecting.
“Last year it was <<Let’s go to Vegas for New Years>>… Now were going to Disney with the family,” he said.
Snooki, who admittedly loves to have a drink, insisted that not a drop of alcohol has passed her lips since finding out that she was pregnant.
“Obviously no drinking. None whatsoever. Like I am scared to even have caffeine,” she explained.
“All my friends are like <<You can have a glass of wine>>. I’m like <<No I refuse>> because I am going to be that person who has a glass of wine and it will come out with three legs.”
She said that she prefers to stay away from people who drink because it is tempting. This perhaps the reason why she recently moved out of the Jersey Shore house whilst filming the sixth season of the series.
“I don’t like to be around people that drink because then I will miss it,” she admitted to JuJu Chang.
As well as the booze, Snooki has also given up on her beloved tanning regime, but said she is embracing the new paler version of herself.
“I use bronzer on my legs but I didn’t today and look really pale,” she explained.
“I am actually embracing the paleness that comes along with it. It’s a new look.”
One thing that she will not be giving up anytime soon though is the sky-high heels that she has regularly been stepping out in throughout her pregnancy.
“I feel confident in them and I know I am not going to fall,” she said.
“So until it feels really uncomfortable, I am still going to rock them because I am only 24 and I am pregnant, but that doesn’t mean I have to wear flat and ugly shoes.”
Snooki also revealed that she will be upfront with her children when it comes to her controversial past.
“They’re going to Google it no matter what I say,” she said.
“So I’m just going to show them myself and say, <<This is what mommy did. Learn from her mistakes>>.”
Meanwhile Snooki’s ex-boyfriend Emilio Masella has denied that he leaked recent nude pictures that are allegedly of the reality star.
Last week photos which appear to be of the Jersey Shore star disrobing were circulating online.
Emilio Masella, who dated Snooki briefly at the start of 2010, told TMZ that he hadn’t even viewed the pictures until they emerged on the web.
He also insisted that he could not have had access to them in the first place because he believes the snaps were taken more recently, before the reality star got pregnant, judging by her slimmer figure.
Regardless, he said he simply does not care.
“I honestly don’t care. I’m trying to get rid of trash in my life … I’m done with her and moving on with my own career,” he said.
While the alleged pictures certainly looked like the brunette at first glance, it’s still unconfirmed if they’re legitimate or not.
In one photo a woman, who appears to be Snooki, is wearing a white robe.
The grainy photo is of the girl, wearing bright green nail polish, looking seductively into her own mobile device, as if she’s taking a self-portrait.
The next shot shows the robe being opened to reveal private parts, which have been crossed out by black bars.
The photos appear to have been taken in a hotel room as the sheets look like hotel-issued linens and there is a room service tray on the bed.
The third picture in the series is a close up of a girl’s full nude body. Again, the private parts have been black-boxed out.
According to scientists, mother gorillas use a type of “baby talk” when communicating with infants.
The team studied captive western lowland gorillas, watching and filming the animals as they interacted.
These animals have a wide repertoire of communication gestures, so the team focused on facial expressions and hand signals used in play.
They published their findings in the American Journal of Primatology.
Eva Maria Luef from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, led the research.
She and her colleague Katja Liebal filmed 120 hours of footage of the gorillas at Leipzig Zoo and Howletts and Port Lympne Wild Animal Parks in the UK.
Gorillas have a wide repertoire of communication gestures, so the team focused on facial expressions and hand signals used in play
Analyzing this footage revealed that, when they played with infants, adult females used more tactile gestures than they used with other adults; they would “touch, stroke and lightly slap” the youngsters.
“The infants also received more repetition,” explained Dr. Eva Maria Luef.
She described one particularly motherly gesture which the researchers call “hand-on”.
“This is where mothers put the flat hand of their hand on top of the [infant’s] head,” she said.
“It means ‘stop it.”
Gorillas often use this gesture with one another; it is a signal that appears to mean that an animal has “had enough”. But with an infant, the female would repeat the action several times.
The researchers describe this motherly communication as “non-vocal motherese”.
They say that it helps infants to build the repertoire of signals they will use as adults, in order to communicate with the rest of the gorilla group.
“It also shows that older animals possess a certain awareness of the infants’ immature communication skills,” said Dr. Eva Maria Luef.
Prof. Richard Byrne from the University of St Andrews said that he doubted the research shed any light on the evolution of human “babytalk”.
The researcher explained the importance of the way in which adults talk to babies, describing it as a “natural but very smart way of conveying the details of how we construct complex grammar”.
But he added that, since gorillas do not acquire language, they have “no need of such an adaptation”.
“So I suspect this is not the same at all,” he said.
“[But] it is interesting that the adults gesture in a different way to babies than among each other.
“This suggest that adults understand that communicating to infants is going to be tricky, and plan their gesturing accordingly.”
Anti-Putin protesters have begun marching in Russia’s capital Moscow, ahead of a major rally to demand fresh elections and a new president.
The protest, on a national holiday, comes a day after police raided the homes of several prominent activists.
They were all ordered to report for questioning on Tuesday, and so were likely to miss the march.
Last week, President Vladimir Putin signed a new law increasing fines for those who violate protest laws.
Vladimir Putin won a third presidential term in March amid protests over alleged fraud in December’s parliamentary vote.
This is the first big anti-government rally in Russia since Vladimir Putin returned to the Kremlin.
There are tens of thousands of protesters, a sea of flags, banners and placards flowing through the centre of Moscow.
Anti-Putin protesters have begun marching in Russia's capital Moscow, ahead of a major rally to demand fresh elections and a new president
The demonstrators have been chanting “Putin is a thief” and “Russia without Putin”.
Vladimir Putin appears to be taking a harder line against the opposition.
Shortly before the rally, independent media websites went down with news agencies reported difficulty reaching that of the Novaya Gazeta newspaper.
Mikhail Zygar, editor-in-chief of the Dozhd (Rain) TV channel, said its website had come under attack by hackers.
“We’re trying to get back on track. The attack started at 11:00,” he told the Interfax news agency.
Those targeted by police on Monday included leading opposition activists Alexei Navalny, Sergei Udaltsov and his wife Anastasia.
They all arrived for questioning at the headquarters of the Russian investigative committee on Tuesday morning.
It is a rather unsubtle attempt by the authorities to stop them from participating in the protest, our correspondent says.
Police also searched the home of Ksenia Sobchak – a well-known TV presenter and daughter of Vladimir Putin’s late mentor and St Petersburg mayor Anatoly Sobchak – who has joined the protest movement.
“People barged in at 8:00 a.m., gave me no chance to get dressed, robbed the apartment, humiliated me,” Anatoly Sobchak said in a Twitter post.
“I never thought we would return to such repression in this country.”
Sergei Udaltsov told reporters that police had “rifled through everything, every wardrobe, in the toilet, in the refrigerator. They searched under the beds”.
Alexei Navalny said police seized computer disks containing photos of his children, along with clothes including a sweatshirt bearing an opposition slogan.
Federal investigators have summoned the opposition leaders to appear for questioning just one hour before the scheduled start of the rally.
Following the raids, US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Washington was “deeply concerned by the apparent harassment of Russian political opposition figures on the eve of the planned demonstrations on June 12”.
“Taken together, these measures raise serious questions about the arbitrary use of law enforcement to stifle free speech and free assembly,” she said.
The searches also triggered a wave of protest from Russian bloggers, who compared the actions to those of Stalin’s secret police in the 1930s.
The raids may draw new supporters to the anti-Putin cause.
In a separate development in Warsaw, thousands of Russian fans are due to mark their national holiday with a march through the city ahead of their Euro 2012 match against co-host Poland.
It will be heavily policed in what the authorities say is the “greatest ever” security challenge.
When many people hear the word creatine, they may think of a supplement used to improve various functions of the body. However, many do not realize that it is actually already found in the body. In fact about 95% of all creatine in the human body is stored in the muscle tissue. As a supplement, creatine can be taken to increase the levels of creatine found in the muscle tissue. As a result you will gain muscle lose fat.
There are three amino acids that make up creatine. These include arginine, glycine and methionine. When these amino acids are joined in the liver, creatine is produced. Creatine can be found natural in sources of meat. However to get large amounts of creatine, large amounts of meat will need to be eaten. Creatine supplements sold in stores are not from meat. They are actually made in laboratories today. The three amino acids are joined to make creatine in a powder.
Creatine supplements are especially useful for vegetarians who get no creatine from their diet. Their creatine is produced only in their liver by using amino acids. By taking creatine supplements, people are able to get a large dose of creatine without needing to eat meat. Creatine supplements also work as a weight gainer for those people who need to gain some pounds.
When purchasing creatine, it can come in some different forms. One of these is known as creatine monohydrate. This is the most common form. Typically it is purchased as a white powder than can be mixed into protein powder shakes or other beverages. Not only is creatine monohydrate the most commonly used version of creatine, it is also the most economical. Another form is creatine-ethyl-ester. This form of creatine allows more creatine to actually go into the muscle tissue without any being wasted.
Creatine may protect liver from high-fat diets
A collaborative study involving researchers at the University of Alberta, the University of São Paulo in Brazil, and the Memorial University of Newfoundland has shown that creatine, a naturally occurring amino acid in the human body, may contain properties that help fight the onset of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease caused by a high fats diet.
René Jacobs, assistant professor with the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, was co-author of a research paper recently published in The Journal of Nutrition. The research indicates that taking creatine as a supplement can help prevent non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, as well as numerous other negative health effects associated with high fat intake, such as inflammation and oxidative stress.
“Creatine occurs naturally in the human body,” said Jacobs, “and can also be obtained through dietary means from things like meat, fish and dairy products. However, it’s also available as a supplement in any health-food store, and it’s reasonably inexpensive.[…] This is, by no means, some kind of silver bullet that allows people to eat excessive amounts of saturated fat without any health risks,” he said. “High-fat diets lead to issues like heart disease and stroke. This does suggest, however, that supplemental creatine, combined with a healthy lifestyle, could lead to some significant improvements in people’s overall liver health.”
The Olympic Stadium will be transformed “into the British countryside” for the opening ceremony of the Games on 27 July, which has a £27 million ($43.2 million) budget.
A cast of 10,000 volunteers will help recreate country scenes, against a backdrop featuring farmyard animals and landmarks like Glastonbury Tor.
The opening scene will be called Green and Pleasant, artistic director Danny Boyle revealed.
He added the ceremony would create “a picture of ourselves as a nation.”
The Olympic Stadium will be transformed "into the British countryside" for the opening ceremony of the Games on 27 July
“The best way to tell that story is through working with real people,” said Danny Boyle, who has reserved a role for NHS nurses in proceedings.
There have already been 157 cast rehearsals and Danny Boyle added: “I’ve been astounded by the selfless dedication of the volunteers, they are the pure embodiment of the Olympic spirit and represent the best of who we are as a nation.”
Europe’s largest bell will ring inside the stadium to start the Shakespeare-inspired spectacle, featuring 900 children.
One billion people are expected to watch the opening ceremony.
Danny Boyle, best known for directing Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire and Trainspotting, said the show was inspired by The Tempest and would be about a land recovering from its industrial legacy.
The Stadium’s 27-ton bell was cast at London’s Whitechapel Foundry, where 13.5-ton Big Ben was cast in 1856, and is inscribed with a quote from The Tempest’s Caliban: “Be not afeard, the isle is full of noises.”
It will hang at one end of the stadium, and Danny Boyle said he wanted people to hear it “for hundreds of years”.
A full dress rehearsal will be held for a capacity crowd of 80,000 in the Olympic Stadium, which will be fitted with a million-watt sound system.
Young Iranians must adopt complicated and creative behavior to navigate around restrictions on their private lives, says journalist Kamin Mohammadi, writer, journalist and broadcaster specializing in Iran.
Iran, in her long history, has been no stranger to repression and dictatorship, mostly from invaders. Iranians quickly developed the habit of thriving when times are tough, of somehow finding a way around the obstacles.
“We are long used to not being direct, to never approaching things straight. We have learnt to shimmy our ways around obstacles, and to approach fulfilling the simplest desires of life with creativity and imagination,” Kamin Mohammadi says.
Nowhere is this creativity and imagination more obvious that in the relations governing men and women.
“Before I returned to Iran after nearly 20 years away, a very well-informed and well-travelled friend said to me: <<But they don’t drink or have sex before marriage in Iran>>.
“When I arrived in Iran, and especially after I had travelled back there often enough to be absorbed into the fabric of Iranian life like a local, I realised that statement could not be further from the truth.
“Everywhere I went I was offered <<a real drink>> by Iranians who had become specialist home brewers, so good at turning hops into beer or grapes into wine in their basements that some still carry on these home-brewing concerns now that branded alcohol is easily available on the black market,” Kamin Mohammadi says.
Young Iranians must adopt complicated and creative behavior to navigate around restrictions on their private lives, says journalist Kamin Mohammadi
As for dating and sex – well, what would you expect of a population that is overwhelmingly young? Some 70% of Iranians are under the age of 35 and this army of young people has grown up under the restrictions – and its curious contradictions – and they are used to bending the rules. The state runs to keep up.
“When I first visited Iran in 1996, and I wanted to walk down the street with a male family friend my mother considered it judicious to come with us, in case we were stopped and asked to prove our relationship to each other. But as the years passed, my expeditions with this male family friend became a telling marker of how the regime was changing.
“Just a couple of years after that first trip, my friend and I would walk around Tehran together and soon we were roaming the streets endlessly – in order to have some privacy.
“Our first visits were to newly-opened internet cafes – where I saw booths crammed with youngsters poring over the screen together. Most popular were – and remain – chat rooms where people can meet and chat – and even set up secret dates,” the journalist says.
For the first time in Iranian history, the people have a private space – a room of their own albeit in cyberspace – in which they can interact with others, usually of the opposite sex, without being watched, restricted or punished.
“When my friend and I were able to stray further from home, we had to take taxis home. In Iran, as well as private taxis, there are shared taxis called savaris which you can share with as many other people as are going your way. The driver squeezes in as many people as he can and here the normal rules of the Islamic Republic – so keen on gender segregation – seem to go out of the window.
“Although people try to arrange themselves so that strange men and women are not sitting on top of each other, my friend and I found ourselves sitting so close that I could feel his heart beating, the closest we had ever come physically.
“One friend, Iranian-born and brought up in the West like myself, told me of a romance she had had with a young man from Tehran which consisted purely of them riding around in savaris. They would ride from one end of town to another, asking the driver to take no other fares when they wanted to talk, and asking him to take other fares when they wanted an excuse to get physically close to each other,” she says.
The creative possibilities of the car have probably not been thus explored since America invented The Teenager in the 1950s. In Iran now, the car has become a neutral space, a place that the people – not just the young – can escape from the ever-present eyes of the family, society and the regime.
The mobile phone is another space in which young Iranians have found their creativity. During evening strolls with my friend, his phone would start to ping insistently. He explained to me they were Bluetooth requests to link phones with his. Those within Bluetooth reach would try to connect, to exchange numbers. This marks definitively the first time that Iranians – indeed many in the Middle East – have been able to go outside the control of the family to choose their own romantic interest.
“Another friend, a veteran of Silicon Valley who runs an internet company in Iran, once told me that we have the most creative computer minds because, from a young age, they start to crack the censorship codes that ban certain websites.
“I am no prophet, but I would guess that where a sexual revolution takes place, a social revolution can follow. The people of Iran, their creativity honed from thousands of years of repression, are adept at doing what they want while appearing to follow the rules.
“Their inventiveness and creative solutions to restrictive life have sharpened and honed their brains, and, I believe, will eventually also chip away at the restrictions of the regime until they become meaningless.
“When the day comes that Iran enjoys its own brand of democracy, the extra dimensions this constant weaving around the rules has given the Iranian character will help it to achieve truly great things in the world,” said Kamin Mohammadi.
Those who ran Alcatraz liked to say nobody ever escaped alive, but that hasn’t stopped US marshals from continuing the search for three men who made it off the island 50 years ago.
According to the official version, Frank Morris, and the brothers John and Clarence Anglin were presumed drowned in the cold and choppy waters of San Francisco Bay.
There are plenty of people who think they did make it ashore and have been in hiding ever since.
Rumor had it they would return to the prison turned tourist spot on the 50th anniversary of their escape. Although it’s not certain where the urban myth began, US Marshal Michael Dyke spent the day on the island anyway, just in case.
Most prisoners who tried to flee “The Rock”, as it became known, were captured or killed or drowned.
But this was one of the most daring and intricate escapes in the notorious prison’s history – involving spoons, papier-mache heads and rubber raincoats.
According to the official version, Frank Morris, and the brothers John and Clarence Anglin were presumed drowned in the cold and choppy waters of San Francisco Bay
It began by digging away at the concrete around the air vents in their cells with spoons and a drill-like device fashioned from a vacuum cleaner.
Accordion practice muffled the sound of the drilling, and cardboard was carefully used to cover each hole as it grew. Soap became a substitute for removed rivets.
When the time came, they squeezed through into a utility corridor and headed for the roof.
Guards doing their rounds periodically checked on the faces of their prisoners. The three escapees appeared to be sleeping soundly, the guards were unaware they were papier-mache heads with real hair, harvested from the prison barber shop.
The three made it up to the roof, and despite the searchlights, headed over high barbed-wire fences.
At a watchtower blind spot they used improvised bellows to inflate a raft fashioned from rubber raincoats.
A fourth member of the gang had been unable to remove his air vent quickly enough, and by the time he broke through, the others had already cast off into San Francisco Bay – to their deaths or to freedom – depending on what you believe.
Remnants of the raft were found washed up on a nearby island, but the men were never seen again.
“I think there’s a good possibility that they survived,” US Marshal Michael Dyke says.
“It’s hard to say. We have to keep the case open since no bodies have been found, but about a month after they escaped in July 1962 a Norwegian freighter saw a body floating in the ocean 15 miles from the Golden Gate Bridge.
“He had on prison clothes – a navy pea coat and a light pair of trousers – similar to what prisoners wore. There were no other missing people during that time period.”
He thinks that may have been the body of Frank Morris, believing the Anglin brothers would have looked after each other.
But the uncertainty over their fate created a legend. Books and documentaries continued to question whether they drowned, or in fact made it to shore. Clint Eastwood played Frank Morris in the 1979 film Escape from Alcatraz.
One TV show re-enacted the escape in similar conditions and concluded they could have survived.
“I still receive leads once in a while regarding the case and there are still active warrants,” said Michael Dyke says. He has personally been investigating for almost 10 years.
“Because it’s an open case we have to go looking for them. Most leads aren’t really that good or credible. Generally 99 percent aren’t true.”
But along with a few relatives of the missing men, he went to the island for the day prepared to make an arrest if necessary on the 50th anniversary.
“Rumors start somewhere and nobody knows where they come from. There’s always a legend, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.”
US scientists have found that children with older fathers and grandfathers appear to be “genetically programmed” to live longer.
The genetic make-up of sperm changes as a man ages and develops DNA code that favors a longer life – a trait he then passes to his children.
The team found the link after analyzing the DNA of 1,779 young adults.
Their work appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Experts have known for some time that lifespan is linked to the length of structures known as telomeres that sit at the end of the chromosomes that house our genetic code, DNA. Generally, a shorter telomere length means a shorter life expectancy.
Like the plastic tips on shoelaces, telomeres protect chromosomal ends from damage. But in most cells, they shorten with age until the cells are no longer able to replicate.
US scientists have found that children with older fathers and grandfathers appear to be "genetically programmed" to live longer
However, scientists have discovered that in sperm, telomeres lengthen with age.
And since men pass on their DNA to their children via sperm, these long telomeres can be inherited by the next generation.
Dr. Dan Eisenberg and colleagues from the Department of Anthropology at Northwestern University studied telomere inheritance in a group of young people living in the Philippines.
Telomeres, measured in blood samples, were longer in individuals whose father’s were older when they were born.
The telomere lengthening seen with each year that the men delayed fatherhood was equal to the yearly shortening of telomere length that occurs in middle-aged adults.
Telomere lengthening was even greater if the child’s paternal grandfather had also been older when he became a father.
Although delaying fatherhood increases the risk of miscarriage, the researchers believe there may be long-term health benefits.
Inheriting longer telomeres will be particularly beneficial for tissues and biological functions that involve rapid cell growth and turnover – such as the immune system, gut and skin – the scientists believe.
And it could have significant implications for general population health.
“As paternal ancestors delay reproduction, longer telomere length will be passed to offspring, which could allow life span to be extended as populations survive to reproduce at older ages.”
It might be possible that the advantage of receiving long telomeres from an old father is more then set off by the disadvantage of higher levels of general DNA damage and mutations in sperm, he said.
Charlize Theron has shaved off her pretty blonde locks.
Charlize Theron, 36, was spotted out in Beverly Hills yesterday with son Jackson.
And while the South African actress tried to hide her new look under a pork pie hat, the scale of the work done by her hairdresser was obvious to see around the back and sides.
It is believed she has had the dramatic cut for a new film role.
It was certainly a far cry from the luxurious golden locks she proudly showed off at the Alien prequel’s premiere just eleven days ago in sun kissed London.
Charlize Theron has shaved off her pretty blonde locks
Some will question whether she had decided to follow in the footsteps of stars such as Sinead O’Conner and Natalie Portman.
Indeed, it could also be surmised that she had decided to pay a subtle tribute to fellow series star Sigourney Weaver, who shaved off her own locks when she reprised the role of Ripley in Alien 3.
However, her rep has confirmed the real reason for her transformation is for her role as Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road, the fourth film in the post apocalyptic series.
She will feature opposite Tom Hardy, who fills the role made famous by Mel Gibson, and she said she cannot wait for the cameras to roll.
Charlize Theron said: “I feel like the original <<Mad Max>> created such a vivid world, that to go back and re-imagine it and kind of replay in that sandbox sounds like fun to me.
“George really created a female character that I’ve never read anything like this. I mean, I’m scared!
“I’m very excited about it; I’m dying! It’s been three years; it’s time to skin this cat already!”
A dingo dog took baby Azaria Chamberlain from a campsite in 1980 and caused her death, an Australian coroner finally rules after 32 years.
The decision was made after Azaria Chamberlain’s parents presented new evidence to try to clear their names.
After the eight week-old baby went missing, they were charged with her disappearance. Her mother was convicted of her murder.
She was released when evidence matched the dingo story but doubts lingered.
They have long argued that the open verdict recorded after an earlier review of the case left room for doubt about Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton’s innocence.
”Obviously we are relieved and delighted to come to the end of this saga,” Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton told reporters outside the courthouse.
”No longer will Australia be able to say that dingoes are not dangerous,” she added.
“We live in a beautiful country but it is dangerous.”
A dingo dog took baby Azaria Chamberlain from a campsite in 1980 and caused her death, an Australian coroner finally rules after 32 years
Speaking after her, Michael Chamberlain, the baby’s father, said ”the truth is out”.
He was with his ex-wife at the Darwin courthouse for the verdict.
”Now, some healing and a chance to put our daughter’s spirit to rest.”
The Northern Territory coroner Elizabeth Morris delivered an emotional verdict, asking baby Azaria Chamberlain’s parents to accept her ”sincere sympathy” for the loss.
”Time does not remove the pain and sadness of the death of a child,” Elizabeth Morris said.
She added that a death certificate was now available for the parents and the final findings could be found on the coroners office website.
Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton has campaigned tirelessly to have dingoes officially blamed for the death of her child.
Earlier this year, the Chamberlains gave evidence to a coroner in Darwin recording a series of other attacks by dingoes on humans.
Virtually ever since Azaria Chamberlain vanished from her tent near Uluru (Ayers Rock) in 1980, Australia has been engrossed by the question of whether she was taken by a dingo.
In 1982, Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton was found guilty of her baby’s murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, while Michael Chamberlain was found guilty of being an accessory.
Both were later exonerated on all charges, after the chance discovery of a fragment of Azaria Chamberlain’s clothing in an area dotted with dingo lairs.
It was a case that divided Australians and was even turned into the film A Cry In The Dark, starring Meryl Streep.
Three previous coroner’s inquests proved inconclusive.
Azaria Chamberlain case
• August 17, 1980: Baby Azaria Chamberlain disappears from a campsite near Uluru (Ayers Rock) – her parents say she was taken by a dingo
• 1982: Mother Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton convicted of murder; father Michael Chamberlain found guilty of being an accessory
• 1986: Police find a piece of the baby’s clothing in area of dingo lairs – case reopened
• September 15, 1988: Both Lindy and Michael Chamberlain cleared of charges
• 1995: Open verdict recorded following another inquest
Political change within days in Greece may mean the country has to ultimately leave the euro.
If that was to happen, how would they go about introducing a new currency?
Greek voters could this week hand power to anti-austerity parties who want to scrap the bailout, the deal that qualifies Greece for vital eurozone funds.
This would bring the country a step closer to a possible exit from the euro. So how could a new currency like the drachma be (re)introduced?
A new government would have to produce enough new notes to replace those currently in use in Greece while also doing their best to prevent a run on the banks.
It would have to be introduced over a public holiday and there would be an interim phase between currencies.
The preparations would ideally occur in secret, says Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist of Capital Economics.
“If Greece were to introduce a new currency, they would have to impose some capital controls once the change had been announced. This would mean that people would only be able to withdraw a certain amount of money from their accounts, which would be necessary to keep things orderly and avoid a run on the banks.
“Then there would be some sort of public holiday during which banks and financial markets would be closed. In an interim period before the new currency is introduced, people could pay for things electronically or with small denominations of euros until the new currency became available.”
Political change within days in Greece may mean the country has to ultimately leave the euro
The new currency would then be introduced on a one-to-one exchange with the old, he says, but at some point the capital controls would be lifted and the new currency would sharply devalue.
This is what happened during Argentina’s economic crisis at the turn of the century. When the banking system came close to collapse, withdrawals were banned. The peso dropped in value, leading to high inflation, after Argentina defaulted on its public debt in 2002.
Recent reports have pointed towards English currency printer De La Rue as a possible source of new drachma banknotes.
Director of marketing for De La Rue, Rob Hutchison, will not comment on speculation that the company has drawn up a contingency plan for the production of new drachma, but he explains that the money-printing process itself can take several months.
“You have to consider the preparation of special banknote paper incorporating security features; the design of the notes; the process of bringing these elements together and then printing. It simply couldn’t be done overnight,” explains Rob Hutchison.
Economist and author of Greece’s Odious Debt, Jason Manoloupoulos, agrees: “I have heard that that the process could take anywhere between three to six months.”
So what is involved in the actual process of changing banknotes?
There is a lot to do, says Julie Girard, currency spokesperson for the Bank of Canada, which has been involved in that country’s recent transition from paper to polymer notes.
The many considerations in currency production range from the selection of the best base material and security features to the design on the notes.
“We have a team of chemists, physicists and engineers whose job it is to go out into the marketplace and see what types of security features are available, both in other currencies and through companies that produce security technology.”
These are assessed, as are different base materials to produce a cost-effective but secure note. Focus groups decide on designs and then notes are produced and distributed, says Julie Girard.
With so many cash transactions and withdrawals now taking place at ATMs and vending machines, these must be adapted to fit a new type of note.
“We spent about two years working with companies that produce machines which dispense, accept and sort paper currency, providing test notes and staff from the bank to help them. Some machines may have needed to be replaced, adapted or upgraded,” says Julie Girard.
Greece wouldn’t have the time that Canada did, but preparations may have been secretly going on for months.
Greeks have already reportedly begun to stash euros in safety deposit boxes and under mattresses.
These notes could be used to finance transactions even if another currency became the local tender, says Michael Massourakis, director of economic research for Alpha Bank, Greece.
“You can’t stop people using that money to buy things, even if you make it illegal to use foreign exchange in transactions. The euro could still be used afterwards on the black market, for example.”
But just how “new” would a new Greek currency be? Reports on Greece’s financial future concentrate on the idea of the drachma – the currency which was replaced by the euro in 2001. Could these old notes be re-used?
Although old drachma were still accepted in exchange for the euro by the Bank of Greece as recently as February 2012, most will have been shredded and burned, says the British Museum’s Thomas Hockenhull.
“If the original drachma printing plates still existed, it could be a fairly straightforward process to change the dates and use the existing machinery,” he says.
And coins may be ditched entirely. “They may just do away with coins and have only paper currency,” says Thomas Hockenhull.
“The cost of producing a coin can be more than that of making a paper note, because of the metal content.”
Apple has unveiled its latest mobile operating system, iOS 6, at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco.
The operating system, which runs on its iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices, will no longer include Google Maps software.
Apple will instead run its own mapping app, which has a high-quality 3D mode, on the platform.
Google announced its own 3D mapping software last week on its competing mobile platform, Android.
Both companies have used fleets of planes to capture the imagery, drawing concerns from some privacy campaigners.
Apple’s updated iOS software is being released in beta on Tuesday, and will be available for general consumers by the autumn, chief executive Tim Cook said.
It will be a free update for owners of either an iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 or iPhone 3GS – as well as users of the latest iPad, the iPad 2 and fourth generation iPod touch.
Apple has unveiled its latest mobile operating system, iOS 6, at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco
Additional features include “eyes free”, a feature on which Apple said it had worked with car manufacturers to integrate a “Siri button” to activate the iPhone’s voice-operated assistant.
For the first time on Apple’s devices, video calls will be able to be made over a cellular connection, rather than relying on wi-fi or another mobile internet source.
The switch to its own mapping platform will provide Apple with even more opportunities to monetize its users, said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst for Gartner, who attended the event in San Francisco.
“Maps got the biggest cheer [from the audience],” she said.
“The opportunity that controlling maps gives to Apple for learning more about what their users are doing, keeping that information, and then being able to leverage that for advertising purposes is huge.”
Carolina Milanesi said the announcements appeared to be warmly received by the developers in attendance.
“iOS6 is a continued evolution,” she said.
“I think the whole operating system is getting more clever. It’s learning from what consumers are doing and improving the experience.”
Apple also announced revamped models in its Macbook Pro and Macbook Air ranges.
Its new Macbook Pro is 0.71 inches thick, with a high-resolution Retina display. It utilizes Intel’s Ivy Bridge processor.
Its slimline Macbook Air range has also been upgraded with enhanced graphics and processing capabilities.
Both will offer a free upgrade to OS X Mountain Lion, the latest version of the Mac operating system which is set for release in July.
Among its features is enhanced synchronization between desktop, laptop and mobile, thanks to iCloud, the company’s cloud-based storage service.
Once again, predictions that Apple was set to announce a long-rumored television failed to materialize.
A new mobile phone app made by a team from the University of Portsmouth’s School of Computing, UK, will prepare users for receiving good or bad news on their phones, say researchers.
The app distinguishes good messages from bad and neutral ones, and color codes them accordingly.
Users may choose not to open negative messages if they are already having a stressful day.
But some experts think that ignoring such messages may also be stressful.
For now, the app has been tested on phones running Android OS, and the results of the study will be presented at the 16th International Conference on Knowledge-Based and Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems in Spain in September.
The app automatically color codes incoming messages, making them green for positive, red for negative and blue for neutral.
This way, a user can see before opening a message whether it is likely to be worrying or not.
The app automatically color codes incoming messages, making them green for positive, red for negative and blue for neutral
“The application works by learning from past messages how the user perceives the content as being positive, negative or objective,” said lead researcher Dr. Mohamed Gaber.
“The ultimate objective… is to make the user aware of the negative contents they receive so they are able to manage their stress in the best possible way.
“For example, if most of what is received from social media websites by a user on a particular day was negative, it is important that the user attempts to take an action in order to not get stressed, especially if this may affect the individual’s performance at work and/or their behavior at home.”
The scientist added that the app comes “pre-trained”, but users are able to self-label any incoming text message to personalize it – as some messages may be perceived in a different way by different users.
But Pamela Briggs, a psychologist from the British Psychological Society, thinks the main question is whether or not a user can trust that the app will indeed interpret the information correctly.
“Researchers are increasingly able to use various kinds of linguistic analysis to determine message content, and so it is reasonable to assume that some kind of color coding is viable in this context,” said Dr. Pamela Briggs.
“But the bigger question is whether or not such an app will genuinely let us manage stress more effectively.
“Imagine that you get a ‘bad’ message from a boss, husband or friend – the researchers suggest that you might want to put this to one side, to open at a more appropriate moment, but stress is often made worse by the anticipation of an unpleasant event and actually dissipated once you tackle the problem directly.
“The app seems to do the job of a traditional mail envelope – this message is a tax bill, that message is a card from a friend – but taken to an electronic extreme.
“What if we decide to delete the ‘bad’ message, rather than to read it – and then spend several days worrying about it. I’d like to see some behavioral research on the stress claims made by the authors, before we can assume that it might make our lives easier.”
The scientists say they were inspired by previous research in the area, in particular by a system called SentiCorr, developed by a team from the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands.
This is a system “for automated sentiment analysis on multilingual user generated content from various social media and e-mails”, as described in the research paper.
It also uses color coding for positive, negative or neutral content.
“Our system is aimed at helping individual users become more aware of the sentiment in their correspondence,” states the paper.
A woman from New Zealand who had part of her jaw removed after she was wrongly diagnosed with mouth cancer is now struggling to walk.
The 63-year-old, who has not been identified, is seeking compensation from the University of Otago Dental Hospital in Dunedin, after the unnecessary operation left her with a series of health problems.
The misdiagnosis reportedly occurred when a laboratory worker confused two tissue samples that were dropped on the floor, according to the Otago Daily Times.
The misdiagnosis reportedly occurred when a laboratory worker confused two tissue samples that were dropped on the floor
The woman, who was suffering from sinus infections and facial swelling from a tooth implant, was told that she had mouth cancer and that she would need to have the right side of her upper jaw removed.
Bone and blood vessels were taken from her lower leg and used to reconstruct her jaw, which led to complications, according to the newspaper.
“Her donor wound site got infected and she had difficulty walking,” Dr. Iain Wilson, the surgeon who conducted the operation, said.
It later transpired that the patient’s tissue sample had no signs of cancer and that the test results were mixed up.
“I am being asked to believe two samples were being processed simultaneously and the pots were simultaneously dropped,” Dr. Iain Wilson said.
“I can’t for the life of me understand how you can get tissue samples mixed up. I am astonished and horrified by these lab mix-ups.”
The hospital has since apologized to the woman and the case is being investigated by New Zealand’s Health and Disability Commission.
“We have taken this incident very seriously, and have already taken all appropriate measures to minimize the likelihood of any such incidents occurring again,” university faculty of medicine dean Prof. Peter Crampton said.
“The patient was contacted very soon after the incident was discovered, and we offered a full apology at that time.”
Syrian government forces have renewed their attack on the city of Homs, one of the focal points of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
Video published on the internet purportedly from Homs showed intermittent shelling and black smoke.
UN mediator Kofi Annan is concerned civilians have been trapped in Homs and al-Haffa, a town in Latakia province also said to be under attack.
The US says it fears the government may be planning “another massacre”.
Kofi Annan’s spokesman, Ahmad Fawzi, said civilians had been trapped in both Homs and al-Haffa.
Kofi Annan was demanding immediate entry to al-Haffa for UN military observers be allowed, he added.
Syrian government forces have renewed their attack on the city of Homs, one of the focal points of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad
As joint envoy for the UN and the Arab League, Kofi Annan brokered a six-point peace plan, including a ceasefire which came into nominal effect two months ago but has now been virtually abandoned.
Syrian army appeared to be using an unmanned surveillance drone to select buildings as targets for shelling.
A steady stream of mortar rounds landing in the old city of Homs at a rate of about one a minute.
The UN team – which has been trying for two days to gain access to the old city – has still not succeeded.
All the UN can do is stand by and watch.
US state department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said it was “deeply alarmed” at “reports from inside Syria that the regime may be organizing another massacre”.
Such an attack could happen, it suggested, in al-Haffa or the towns of Deir el-Zour, Homs or Hama, or in the suburbs of the capital, Damascus.
According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 74 people were killed across Syria on Monday.
An activist website, the Violations Documenting Centre, said there had been 29 deaths in the past week from bombardment in al-Haffa. All but three of the dead were civilians, it added.
These reports cannot be confirmed independently because Syria heavily restricts journalists’ freedom of movement.
The Syrian government blames the violence on foreign-backed armed terrorist gangs.
Separately, UN monitors and human rights activists said Syrian government forces had used helicopters to bombard the town of Rastan, in Homs province.
The town has been under intermittent army shelling “for months”, the Observatory said.
UN spokeswoman Sausan Ghosheh said monitors had seen Syrian helicopters firing on Rastan and another rebel stronghold, Talbisa.
In Talbisa, rebels from the Free Syrian Army captured soldiers from government forces, she added.
