Apple’s new iPad isn’t always telling the truth when says it has 100% battery.
The gadget starts to say that it is “full” when it’s at 90% – a difference that can cost users 1.2 hours’ usage.
The reason, says ZDNet, is that the formula used to calculate when the device is “full” is slightly out – a safety mechanism used by Apple to prevent people overcharging their gadgets.
All iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches misreport whether they are full – albeit at a slightly higher level around 97%, ZDNet claims.
But with the new iPad’s enormous battery capacity – 1.7 times bigger than iPad 2 – the slight difference in the formula used to calculate when it is “full” makes a noticeable difference to the battery life.
Raymond Soneira of monitoring firm DisplayMate says that the difference is measurable on the new iPad.
The new iPad's enormous battery capacity, 1.7 times bigger than iPad 2, the slight difference in the formula used to calculate when it is “full” makes a noticeable difference to the battery life
The display gives a claimed battery life of 10.4 hours, whereas the real figure is 11.6 hours – and the difference can leave users thinking the device is fully charged when in fact it’s not.
Raymond Soneira also claims that users who attempt to charge new iPad while using it could be in for a surprise – it can take up to 20 hours.
The problem should be easily fixable via a software download – often used by Apple to fix battery glitches and other teething difficulties with gadgets.
His measurements lend weight to earlier complaints on Apple forums that the device has shorter battery life and painfully long charging times.
DisplayMate claims that the huge increase in power demands is due to the density of pixels on the new screen.
The LED backlight needs a huge amount of power just to shine through the high density of transistors in the panels.
“The power consumption of the LEDs is 2.5 times that of iPad 2, and the battery is 1.7 times larger – if you run your new iPad at full brightness, the battery run time is less because you only put in 70% more battery but you’re using 150% more power,” Raymond Soneira of Displaymate said in an interview with CNET.
Demi Moore’s friends have said the actress is “sick to her stomach” over claims Rihanna “hooked up” with her estranged husband Ashton Kutcher, after the singer was seen leaving the actor’s house at 4:00 a.m.
According to a source, the story of Rihanna and Ashton Kutcher’s romance has “sent Demi spiralling”, leaving her friends concerned for the wellbeing of the actress, who only left rehab last month.
The source told Grazia magazine: “Demi is constantly keeping tabs on Ashton so when these pictures came up she was understandably devastated. Demi’s convinced something happened between them and said she felt <<sick to her stomach>>.”
Although Ashton Kutcher has been seeing other girls, none of them have been high profile, so the thought of him hooking up with someone as famous as Rihanna left Demi Moore reeling.
“Demi’s been acting crazy ever since, trying to find out information about the pair,” said the source.
“Demi is in such a fragile state, even the idea of them together has affected her quite badly. She’s in a terrible way but, at the end of the day, Ashton is a single man and free to do whatever he likes.”
The story of Rihanna and Ashton Kutcher's romance has “sent Demi Moore spiralling”, leaving her friends concerned for the wellbeing of the actress
Another source said that Demi Moore has been left “humiliated” because Ashton Kutcher appears to have moved on so quickly after her time in rehab following their marriage split.
The source told Closer magazine: “Demi can’t believe Ashton would do this.
“She’s really hurt by the rumors and feels humiliated he’s being linked to other celebrities just a few weeks after she got out of rehab.
“She feels it cheapens their marriage even further.”
The claims surrounding Rihanna and Ashton Kutcher’s relationship come as the singer was seen keeping her head down while boarding a flight at LAX.
Rihanna, 24, wore an all-black ensemble, a leather jacket and a grey hooded jumper, teamed with a BOY London baseball cap and black Adidas trainers.
The pop star has so far remained tight-lipped on reports that she and Ashton Kutcher have in fact been seeing each other for eight weeks.
Rihanna has reportedly been enjoying late-night trysts with Ashton Kutcher after hitting it off with him at a friend’s party in December.
She is apparently so besotted with him, that she’s asked about joining his Kabbalah group.
Rihanna was spotted by a photographer as she drove up to Ashton Kutcher’s property with her security team around midnight on evening last week.
The snapper confirmed to TMZ that Rihanna arrived almost bang on midnight, and didn’t leave until roughly 4:00 a.m.
The pink color of Starbucks’ Strawberry Frappucino is thanks to crushed up insects, according to new information provided by the coffee chain giant.
In a statement released by Starbucks, the company has revealed that they use cochineal extract, which is the ground-up bodies of insects, as a dye for the popular rose-colored beverage.
Bugs from mainly Mexico and South America are dried out before they are ground and used in the milky-based Frappuccino drink.
As stomach-turning as it may sound, the ingredient is in fact harmless. Commonly used to help liven up the dull hues of jams, meats, cheese, baked goods, alcoholic drinks and more, cochineal extract has been used as a coloring agent in food and drinks for centuries.
It has been deemed safe by the US Food and Drug Administration.
The pink color of Starbucks’ Strawberry Frappucino is thanks to crushed up insects
Starbucks said it had decided to use cochineal extract to help limit the use of artificial ingredients in its products.
“At Starbucks, we strive to carry products that meet a variety of dietary lifestyles and needs,” the statement read.
“While the strawberry base isn’t a vegan product, it helps us move away from artificial dyes.”
But the all-natural matter is not entirely free of health risks.
The World Health Organization has found that cochineal extract may cause asthma in some people. Others may see an allergic reaction.
Vegan fans may not be happy with its inclusion either. ThisDishIsVegetarian.com, an animal rights and eco-friendly news site, labels the extract non-vegan.
Pope Benedict XVI has arrived in Cuba for a three-day visit – the first papal visit to the communist-run island in 14 years.
The Pontiff, who flew in from Mexico, was welcomed to the eastern city of Santiago by President Raul Castro.
Pope Benedict XVI said he had come as a pilgrim of charity, and would pray for peace, liberty and reconciliation.
The Pope also expressed sympathy for the “just aspirations” of all Cuban people, wherever they were.
Pope Benedict then celebrated Mass before an estimated crowd of some 200,000 in Santiago’s Revolution Square.
He appealed to the audience to reinvigorate their faith “that you may strive to build a renewed and open society, a better society, one more worthy of humanity”.
Before the mass, one man was arrested after shouting: “Down with communism”. Others in the audience booed him for spoiling the atmosphere and shouted “Cuba, Cuba, Cuba”.
President Raul Castro was among those attending the service.
In his speech at the airport, President Raul Castro said socialist Cuba allowed full freedom of religion and enjoyed good relations with the Catholic Church.
President Raul Castro said Cuba shared the Pope Benedict's concerns over global poverty, inequality and environmental destruction
Raul Castro said Cuba shared the Pope’s concerns over global poverty, inequality and environmental destruction.
And he stressed that Cuba was determined to defend its independence in the face of the US embargo.
Both leaders looked back to the visit by the late Pope John Paul II 14 years ago, which Pope Benedict said “was like a gentle breeze that gave new strength to the Church in Cuba”.
Ahead of his visit, Pope Benedict had suggested Cuba’s Marxist structure “no longer corresponds to reality” and called for the adoption of a “new model”.
But on his arrival, he recognized Cuba’s efforts to “renew and broaden its horizons”.
Observers say relations between Church and state have warmed in Cuba in recent years.
Raul Castro has accepted the Church’s mediation on issues such as political prisoners, recognizing its position as the most influential organization outside the communist government.
The Pope’s visit is seen as an effort to further improve relations and increase the role of the Church in Cuban society at a time of rapid change.
Pope Benedict’s visit to Santiago coincides with the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the icon that is Cuba’s patron saint, the Virgin of Charity of El Cobre, which he cited as the main reason for his trip to the island.
Found floating in a bay in 1612 by fishermen, the icon was revered by Cuba’s independence heroes and sits in the foothills of the Sierra Maestra mountains from which Fidel Castro and Ernesto “Che” Guevara staged the 1959 Cuban revolution.
The Pope is expected to make a private visit to the sanctuary where the icon is housed before travelling to Havana later this week for private talks with President Castro.
Church officials have said there is no time in his schedule to meet dissidents.
Opposition groups say dozens of dissidents were detained ahead of the visit, and others were prevented from attending the service in Santiago.
Pope Benedict’s trip to Cuba follows a visit to Mexico, where he celebrated a huge open-air Mass at the Christ the King monument in the central city of Silao.
He urged the 500,000 Catholics gathered for the sermon to look to their faith in response to poverty and crime and to reject violence and revenge.
Raffles van Exel is the person who leaked the casket photo of Whitney Houston, personnel at Whigham Funeral Home claimed.
Raffles van Exel isn’t anyone famous or important in the industry, he was just part of various celebrities entourages the UrbanDaily reports.
According to reports on Forbes.com, Riffles van Exel was at two private casket viewings at the funeral home. Employees of Whigham Funeral Home noticed Raffles van Exel as soon as he walked in because he was the only non-family member allowed in the private viewing. It is said he also traveled with the family from Los Angeles to New Jersey on a private jet. He was even provided with his own bodyguard.
Whigham Funeral Home personnel alerted Whitney Houston’s family of Raffles van Exel when the National Enquirer ran the leaked photo on their cover. A source said the Houstons didn’t do anything about Raffles van Exel once they learned of the funeral home’s suspicions. Some of the Whigham employees believe the family is protecting him.
Raffles van Exel is the person who leaked the casket photo of Whitney Houston, personnel at Whigham Funeral Home claimed
Despite the shock of Whitney Houston’s death, Raffles van Exel still made it downstairs to Clive Davis’s party. He was dressed in formal wear, had Whitney Houston’s tickets in his hand, and intended to sit at her table. Just inside the ballroom he was comforted by celebrities to whom he related his story: “I found Whitney.”
Gayle King hugged him. Quincy Jones listened patiently to his story. A security guard said later: “Well, he was up there.” He was also hanging around with Whitney Houston all week prior to her death. On Tuesday when she emerged from a nightclub, looking disheveled, Raffles van Exel appears in a photograph on TMZ like a deer in headlights. He is standing right behind Whitney Houston in a powder blue suit.
Raffles van Exel took Twitter and wrote: “STOP reading the stupid blogs.. Whitney had a great time, she looked amazing. Nothing was wrong, it was just DAMN hot in that club.”
But who is Raffles van Exel?
Raffles van Exel is one of Hollywood’s mysteries. He was first seen in 2005 hanging around the Jackson family during Michael Jackson’s child molestation trial.
After Michael Jackson went abroad, Raffles van Exel was often seen with Michael’s father, Joseph Jackson. He trades on being an “insider” when there’s a scandal. No one really knows him, but he’s always where there’s action and celebrities.
On the internet, Raffles van Exel claims to own a number of companies including Raffles Entertainment.
He was also been sued a couple of times, once by a partner in something called Max Records, Inc., and once by a private aviation company in Los Angeles.
On Twitter Raffles van Exel claims to be managing Chaka Khan. There are plenty of pictures of him on the internet with celebrities.
Raffles van Exel can be seen with everyone from Magic Johnson to Sandra Bullock.
Raffles van Exel came forward, claiming that he wiped Whitney Houston’s hotel room clean of any evidence that would lead to suspicion of illegal activity, Celebuzz reported.
According to a translation of Dutch newspaper The Telegraph, Raffles van Exel came forward four days after Whitney Houston’s death, admitting that he cleaned her hotel room, although he has not revealed what exactly he removed from the scene.
“The room had to be emptied,” Raffles Van Exel, who calls himself a “highly respected entertainment consultant,” told The Telegraph.
“Someone had to do it,” Raffles van Exel told the newspaper.
Raffles Van Exel stopped short of telling The Telegraph what exactly he removed from the suite.
Last week, the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office declared whitney Houston, 48, died from an accidental drowning in a hotel bathtub with the “effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use.”
Sources tell Celebuzz that Beverly Hills police are still investigating how Whitney Houston acquired the drugs that contributed to her death and whether they were hidden from police and first responders.
Raffles van Exel came forward four days after Whitney Houston's death, admitting that he cleaned her hotel room, although he has not revealed what exactly he removed from the scene
No cocaine or drug paraphernalia were found in the suite at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.
However, Whitney Houston’s cocaine use appeared to have occurred “in the time period just immediately prior to her collapse in the bathtub at the hotel,” Chief Coroner Craig Harvey said when he announced the findings of his report, last week.
“[Houston’s case] is still an open investigation for us… I can’t disclose any details about the investigation,” BHPD Lt. Mark Rosen told People on March 23.
In various media released, Raffles Van Exel, a Dutch national, touts himself as a “highly respected entertainment consultant” who has “guided some of the world’s most acclaimed executives and celebrities.”
Whitney Houston’s bodyguard found the singer unresponsive in her hotel bathtub on Feb. 11. Since her passing, the headlines have focused on Whitney Houston’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, who is rumored to be carrying on a romantic relationship with unofficially adopted brother, Nick Gordon.
Whitney Houston’s ex-husband Bobby Brown has also been at the center of much media scrutiny, most recently he was arrested and released later for an alleged DUI in Los Angeles on Monday.
Bobby Brown has been released from jail on $5,000 bail after being arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in Los Angeles.
According to the booking sheet, Bobby Brown, 43, was pulled over Reseda, California at 12:20 PM PST.
While the police documents simply list the crime as a misdemeanor, TMZ reports that Bobby Brown’s blood alcohol level was over 0.08 and he was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol.
After being arrested Bobby Brown was taken to Van Nuys jail when he was booked in at 1:22 PM PST.
The singer was later released on bail after the $5,000 was paid.
Bobby Brown is said to have been drunk at the time of his arrest, with a blood alcohol level of .08 or higher.
“We observed intoxication once Mr. Brown was pulled over,” Officer Tiana Reed told RadarOnline.com.
“We put him through four sobriety tests, none of which he passed. He was arrested at 12:20 p.m. and booked into the Van Nuys jail.”
Bobby Brown already has a DUI conviction, being arrested in Georgia back in 1996
The late Whitney Houston’s ex-husband already has a DUI conviction.
Bobby Brown was arrested in Georgia back in 1996.
He eventually pleaded guilty to DUI and served eight days in jail.
This new incident comes amidst reports that Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston were planning to remarry.
A source close to the couple, Derrick Handspike told the National Enquirer: “Bobby told me, <<The world may have thought we were history, but the reality is we were never really apart. We’ve never stopped loving each other.>>”
Derrick Handspike also said that Bobby Brown, who is engaged to Alicia Etheridge, told him: “I could have saved her! If I had been with Whitney, she never would have died in that hotel bathtub. I would have never left her alone!”
It’s claimed that Bobby Brown father’s death drew the estranged couple back together, and they were pictured enjoying dinner together in LA with their 18-year-old daughter Bobbi Kristina with daughter just a couple of nights before Whitney Houston’s death.
Almost 60 leaders from around the world attending 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit have called for closer co-operation to tackle the threat of nuclear terrorism.
South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak said nuclear terrorism remained a “grave threat”, while US President Barack Obama said action was key.
Chinese President Hu Jintao urged the group to work together on the issue.
The meeting has so far been dominated by North Korea’s plan to launch a rocket next month.
North Korea says the long-range rocket will carry a satellite. The US says any launch would violate UN resolutions and constitute a missile test.
Iran’s nuclear programme was also on the minds of the summit participants, with Barack Obama pledging to meet the leaders of Russia and China on the sidelines to work towards a resolution.
Almost 60 leaders from around the world attending 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit have called for closer co-operation to tackle the threat of nuclear terrorism
At the summit, world leaders are discussing measures to fight the threat of nuclear terrorism, including the protection of nuclear materials and facilities, as well as the prevention of trafficking of nuclear materials.
There are currently no binding international agreements on how to protect nuclear material stored peacefully inside its home country. An amendment seeking to do that is still unratified after seven years.
Addressing the summit, Barack Obama warned there were still “too many bad actors” who were threatening to stockpile and use ”dangerous” nuclear material.
“It would not take much, just a handful or so of these materials, to kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people and that’s not an exaggeration, that’s the reality that we face,” Barack Obama said.
“The security of the world depends on the actions that we take.”
Hu Jintao called for “an international environment conducive to boosting nuclear security” to be created and Lee Myung-Bak called for concrete action to tackle a threat that posed “a grave challenge” to peace.
The summit, attending by almost 60 leaders from around the world, is due to issue a communiqué later in the day.
Meetings on Monday were overshadowed by North Korea’s planned launch, scheduled to take place between 12 and 16 April.
Pyongyang says it is intended to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of North Korea’s founding leader Kim Il-Sung.
On Tuesday, a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said that the launch will go ahead as planned and criticized Barack Obama’s stance as ”confrontational”.
North Korea ”will never give up the launch of a satellite for peaceful purposes”’, the spokesman said in a statement in the official KCNA news agency.
A report by the KCNA also described the ”weather satellite” Pyongyang planned to launch as useful for ”the study of weather forecast needed for agriculture and other economic fields”.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, speaking at the summit, called on Pyongyang to cancel the rocket launch, saying that it would violate UN Security Council resolutions.
“As such, the international community strongly urges North Korea to exercise restraint and cancel the launch,” Yoshihiko Noda said.
The resolutions were passed after a similar launch in April 2009. Japan is particularly concerned as that rocket was launched over the country three years ago.
The US and Chinese presidents met on Monday on the sidelines of the summit and agreed to co-ordinate their response to any “potential provocation” if Pyongyang went ahead with the launch.
South Korea and the US say North Korea risks further sanctions and isolation if it does not cancel its plans. Seoul has also warned it will shoot down the rocket if it strays over South Korean territory.
Addressing Iran, Barack Obama said on Monday that there was still time to resolve the impasse over its nuclear programme through diplomacy.
“But time is short,” Barack Obama warned.
”Iran must act with the seriousness and sense of urgency that this moment demands.”
Iran insists there is no military element to its programme but Western powers fear it is constructing nuclear weapons.
A new US research found that people who eat chocolate regularly tend to be thinner.
The findings come from a study of nearly 1,000 US people that looked at diet, calorie intake and body mass index (BMI) – a measure of obesity.
The study found those who ate chocolate a few times a week were, on average, slimmer than those who ate it occasionally.
Even though chocolate is loaded with calories, it contains ingredients that may favor weight loss rather than fat synthesis, scientists believe.
Despite boosting calorie intake, regular chocolate consumption was related to lower BMI in the study, which is published in Archives of Internal Medicine.
The link remained even when other factors, like how much exercise individuals did, were taken into account.
And it appears it is how often you eat chocolate that is important, rather than how much of it you eat. The study found no link with quantity consumed.
According to the researchers, there is only one chance in a hundred that their findings could be explained by chance alone.
Lead author Dr. Beatrice Golomb, from the University of California at San Diego, said: “Our findings appear to add to a body of information suggesting that the composition of calories, not just the number of them, matters for determining their ultimate impact on weight.”
This is not the first time scientists have suggested that chocolate may be healthy for us.
Other studies have claimed chocolate may be good for the heart.
A new US research found that people who eat chocolate regularly tend to be thinner
Consumption of certain types of chocolate has been linked to some favorable changes in blood pressure, insulin sensitivity and cholesterol level.
And chocolate, particularly dark chocolate, does contain antioxidants which can help to mop up harmful free radicals – unstable chemicals that can damage our cells.
Dr. Beatrice Golomb and her team believe that antioxidant compounds, called catechins, can improve lean muscle mass and reduce weight – at least studies in rodents would suggest this might be so.
Mice fed for 15 days with epicatechin (present in dark chocolate) had improved exercise performance and observable changes to their muscle composition.
They say clinical trials are now needed in humans to see if this is the case.
But before you reach for a chocolate bar, there are still lots of unanswered questions. And in the absence of conclusive evidence, experts advise caution.
While there’s no harm in allowing yourself a treat like chocolate now and again, eating too much might be harmful because it often contains a lot of sugar and fat too.
And if you are looking to change your diet, you are likely to benefit most from eating more fresh fruits and vegetables.
A disturbing video of the Toulouse shootings was sent to Al-Jazeera office in Paris, but the Arabic TV network has said it will not air the footage.
The video appeared to have been recorded during Mohamed Merah’s deadly attacks on soldiers and a Jewish school earlier this month.
The station’s decision not to broadcast the video, which was sent on a USB memory stick along with a letter, came after French president Nicolas Sarkozy and family of the victims had asked for it not to be shown.
The video has been edited into a “montage” accompanied by an Islamic war songs, and was sent in a package post-dated March 21 – the day before 23-year-old Mohamed Merah was killed by French special forces in his home city.
Investigators have already confirmed that Mohamed Merah had a small video camera strapped to his chest when he murdered a Rabbi and his two children, as well as a teenage pupil, at a Jewish school in Toulouse a week ago.
The week before, the self-confessed “Jihad warrior” also filmed his murders of three French soldiers who had fought in Afghanistan.
A video recorded during Mohamed Merah's deadly attacks on soldiers and a Jewish school earlier this month was sent to Al-Jazeera in Paris
Both Al-Jazeera and Le Parisien newspaper confirmed that the video footage had been seen in Paris.
An unnamed source in Le Parisien, Paris’s daily newspaper, said: “Investigators are trying to find out whether the letter was posted Tuesday night by Mohamed Merah himself or by an accomplice on Wednesday morning.”
The existence of an accomplice would end theories that Mohamed Merah was a “lone wolf” assassin who acted out of his hatred for the “enemies” of Islam, and especially Jews.
On Sunday his brother, Abdelkader Merah, 29, appeared before an anti-terrorist judge in Paris and was formally charged with “complicity in murder”.
Abdelkader Merah was remanded in custody, and taken to a high-security prison in Paris, where he is likely to remain until his trial.
He has already told police interrogators that he was “very proud” of what Mohamed Merah did, and admitted to dinning with him just before the attack on the Ozar Hatorah school in Toulouse.
“Signals from Abdelkader’s mobile phone were emitted close to the school at the time of the murders,” said an investigating source.
Among numerous questions Abedelkader Merah is facing is why traces of explosive were found in his car, and how much he knew about the arsenal of weapons his brother was storing.
It is also believed that Abdekkader Merah also helped his brother buy the Yamaha T-Max motorbike used in all the attacks, and to respray the vehicle and to try and remove its tracking device.
Paris security sources believe that both Merah brothers were involved in two local Islamist organizations, Forsane Alizza (The Knights of Pride) and a more militant jihadist network known as the Toulouse group, or Jund al-Khalifah.
Jund al-Khalifah, an Al-Qaeda splinter group, has already admitted to working with a “Youssef the Frenchman”- who is believed to be Mohamed Merah.
The French authorities are facing growing criticism that Mohamed Merah, a known fundamentalist who was on the U.S. no-fly list and had attended an al-Qaeda training camp, was left alone to carry out his crimes.
Jessica Simpson has revealed to Hello! magazine that she has put on a bountiful 40 pounds during her pregnancy.
Jessica Simpson, 31, told Hello! magazine in their latest issue that she has been pleased to take time off dieting.
“I had a great pregnancy. Eating and not having to worry too much about it has been fun,” Jessica Simpson said.
“Taking a break from working out has definitely been fun. But I’m ready for it to be over. I’m ready to have my body back!”
Jessica Simpson, who appears to have been pregnant for much longer than her three trimesters, told the magazine that she can’t wait to deliver her unborn son or daughter.
“I feel like I could pop at any second,” Jessica Simpson said.
Jessica Simpson has revealed to Hello! magazine that she has put on a bountiful 40 pounds during her pregnancy
Jessica Simpson recently celebrated her impending motherhood with a baby shower at her Los Angeles home.
She told Hello! magazine that the bash, which was attended by the likes of Jessica Alba and her sister Ashlee Simpson, had a Charlotte’s Web theme.
The E.B. White book was Jessica Simpson’s favorite fictional story growing up.
During the celebrations, the woman played games and enjoyed several activities including guessing the size of Jessica Simpson’s bump and knitting lessons.
The get together wasn’t just for adults only: the guest list also had the who’s who of celebrity offsprings.
Jessica Alba brought her daughter, Haven, seven months, and Ashlee Simpson brought her son Bronx, three.
Following the party, Jessica Simpson opened her lavish gifts with fiancé Eric Johnson.
“Eric is going to be an unbelievable dad,” Jessica Simpson told Hello!.
“I can’t wait to see if he can master ponytails and braids!”
Bobby Brown has been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in Los Angeles a couple of hours ago.
Law enforcement sources told TMZ that Bobby Brown was pulled over in Reseda, CA, at 12:20 p.m. PST for allegedly driving while talking on a cell phone.
Bobby Brown, 43, is currently in custody in Van Nuys jail. It’s unclear what substance cops believe Bobby Brown had been using before he got behind the wheel.
Bobby Brown has been arrested on suspicion of DUI in Los Angeles
Whitney Houston’s ex-husband already has a DUI conviction on his record stemming from an arrest in Georgia in 1996. Bobby Brown eventually pled guilty to DUI and served 8 days in jail.
Bobby Brown has been back in the news ever since Whitney Houston died in a Beverly Hills hotel room on February 11. Bobby Brown was turned away from the death scene and left the funeral service early after a disagreement with Whitney Houston’s family.
Few hours after his arrest, sources close to Bobby Brown told TMZ that his “people” are en route to the jail to bail him out.
BMW has decided to recall about 1.3 million of its cars worldwide because of potential battery problems that could, in extreme cases, result in a fire.
The cars involved are 5 and 6 Series models built between 2003 and 2010.
BMW said it had received nine reports of the defect, but was not aware of any injuries resulting from the fault.
Owners should take the vehicles to authorized dealers for repair.
The company said the battery cable cover may be incorrectly mounted.
BMW has decided to recall about 1.3 million of its cars worldwide because of potential battery problems
A company statement said: “In order to carry out a quality measure, BMW is recalling all BMW 5 and 6 Series models of the previous generation, built between 2003 and 2010 and still on the market, for repair at authorized dealers.
“This can result in the electrical system malfunctioning, the vehicle failing to start and, in some cases, to charring or fire.”
The statement said the company would write to all owners and that checks would take about 30 minutes and be free of charge.
Earlier this month, BMW reported record profit margins in its core car business for 2011.
BMW profits jumped by 51% last year to 4.9 billion Euros ($6.43 billion) compared with 3.24 billion Euros from 2010. Sales rose 14% to 68.82 billion Euros.
Dr. Pierre Dukan, the founder of the controversial Dukan Diet, faces an ethics hearing after suggesting children could pass a new exam by staying thin.
The French College of Physicians says Dr. Pierre Dukan breached medical guidelines that say doctors must consider the impact of their comments on the public.
Pierre Dukan faces a disciplinary hearing within six months, and could be struck off.
His diet, said to be followed by some celebrities, recommends avoiding starch and carbohydrates.
Some nutritionists say it can be dangerous.
In January, Dr. Pierre Dukan sparked controversy in France when he said the Baccalaureate exam should include a new anti-obesity option, which 17-year-old children would pass just by staying within recommended weight guidelines.
Dr. Pierre Dukan, the founder of the controversial Dukan Diet, faces an ethics hearing after suggesting children could pass a new exam by staying thin
The College of Physicians said this could have a negative impact on young girls who are already overweight or anorexic.
The College said in a second complaint that Dr. Pierre Dukan was focused more on commerce than medicine, in breach of a part of its code that says medicine must not be practiced like a business.
And the body also said his best-selling diet books meant he was neglecting medicine.
If he is found guilty at his ethics hearing, the punishments he could face range from a reprimand to being struck off the medical register.
Dieting is a major issue in France which like many European countries has seen an increase in obesity. In 2009 the ministry of health said one in six people was obese.
Dr. Pierre Dukan has sold more than seven million copies of his dieting books.
In July last year, Dr. Pierre Dukan lost a libel case against a fellow nutritionist who described the Dukan diet as dangerous.
Dr. Jean-Michel Cohen said the protein-rich diet could cause heart disease and breast cancer.
A new study shows that during medieval times the whole of our planet heated up without the aid of human CO2 emissions.
Earth then cooled down naturally and there was even a “mini ice age”.
A team of scientists led by geochemist Zunli Lu from Syracuse University in New York state, has found that contrary to the “consensus”, the “Medieval Warm Period” approximately 500 to 1,000 years ago wasn’t just confined to Europe.
In fact, it extended all the way down to Antarctica – which means that the Earth has already experience global warming without the aid of human CO2 emissions.
At present the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) argues that the Medieval Warm Period was confined to Europe – therefore that the warming we’re experiencing now is a man-made phenomenon.
However, Prof. Zunli Lu has shown that this isn’t true – and the evidence lies with a rare mineral called ikaite, which forms in cold waters.
“Ikaite is an icy version of limestone,” said Prof. Zunli Lu.
“The crystals are only stable under cold conditions and actually melt at room temperature.”
It turns out the water that holds the crystal structure together – called the hydration water – traps information about temperatures present when the crystals formed.
This finding by Prof. Zunli Lu’s research team establishes, for the first time, ikaite as a reliable way to study past climate conditions.
The scientists studied ikaite crystals from sediment cores drilled off the coast of Antarctica. The sediment layers were deposited over 2,000 years.
The Medieval Warm Period extended all the way down to Antarctica, which means that the Earth has already experience global warming without the aid of human CO2 emissions
The scientists were particularly interested in crystals found in layers deposited during the “Little Ice Age”, approximately 300 to 500 years ago, and during the Medieval Warm Period before it.
Both climate events have been documented in Northern Europe, but studies have been inconclusive as to whether the conditions in Northern Europe extended to Antarctica.
Prof. Zunli Lu’s team found that in fact, they did.
They were able to deduce this by studying the amount of heavy oxygen isotopes found in the crystals.
During cool periods there are lots, during warm periods there aren’t.
“We showed that the Northern European climate events influenced climate conditions in Antarctica,” Prof. Zunli Lu says.
“More importantly, we are extremely happy to figure out how to get a climate signal out of this peculiar mineral. A new proxy is always welcome when studying past climate changes.”
The research was recently published online in the journal Earth And Planetary Science Letters and will appear in print on April 1.
A genetic flaw may explain why some people get more ill with flu than others, say scientists.
Published in Nature, the research found that a variant of the IFITM3 gene was much more common in people hospitalized for flu than in the general population.
It controls a malformed protein, which makes cells more susceptible to viral infection.
Experts said those with the flaw could be given the flu jab, like other at-risk groups.
Researchers removed the gene from mice. They found that when they developed flu, their symptoms were much worse than those seen in mice with the gene.
Evidence from genetic databases covering thousands of people showed the flawed version of the gene is present in around one in 400 people.
The scientists, who came from the UK and US, then sequenced the IFITM3 genes of 53 patients who were in hospital with flu.
Three were found to have the variant – a rate of one in 20.
The researchers say these findings now need to be replicated in bigger studies. And they add it is probably only part of the genetic jigsaw that determines a person’s response to flu.
A genetic flaw may explain why some people get more ill with flu than others, say scientists
Professor Paul Kellam of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, who co-led the research, said: “At the moment, if someone is in a more vulnerable group because of co-morbidity [another health problem], they would be offered the flu vaccine.
“This is the idea here.”
But he said having this variant would not make any difference to how people were treated.
Prof. Paul Kellam added: “Our research is important for people who have this variant as we predict their immune defences could be weakened to some virus infections.
“Ultimately as we learn more about the genetics of susceptibility to viruses, then people can take informed precautions, such as vaccination to prevent infection.”
Professor Peter Openshaw, director of the Centre for Respiratory Infection at Imperial College London, said: “This new discovery is the first clue from our detailed study of the devastating effects of flu in hospitalized patients.
“It vindicates our conviction that there is something unusual about these patients.”
Sir Mark Walport, director of the Wellcome Trust, said: “During the recent swine flu pandemic, many people found it remarkable that the same virus could provoke only mild symptoms in most people, while, more rarely, threatening the lives of others.
“This discovery points to a piece of the explanation: genetic variations affect the way in which different people respond to infection.
“This important research adds to a growing scientific understanding that genetic factors affect the course of disease in more than one way. Genetic variations in a virus can increase its virulence, but genetic variations in that virus’s host – us – matter greatly as well.”
Bobbi Kristina Brown was spotted looking understandably forlorn after Whitney Houston’s cause of death was revealed last week.
Bobbi Kristina Brown, 19, stepped out in Atlanta with her boyfriend Nick Gordon, who appeared to comfort her.
The teenager appeared subdued as she visited a supermarket and kept close to Nick Gordon.
The couple held hands and Nick Gordon, who moved in to Whitney Houston’s home ten years ago, was also seen putting his arm around Bobbi Kristina’s shoulder comforting her.
Bobbi Kristina Brown and Nick Gordon held hands as they stepped out to visit a supermarket in Atlanta
Last week, the LA County Coroner released details on the cause of Whitney Houston’s death.
The pop icon had cocaine in her system when she drowned in a hotel bathtub on February 11, according to the official report.
Whitney Houston sunk into the bathwater after suffering a massive heart attack caused in part by her prolonged drug abuse.
Following the news, Whitney Houston’s family released a statement that says: “We are saddened to learn of the toxicology results, although we are glad to now have closure.”
And her mother Cissy Houston is reported to be “shocked” to learn that her daughter was still using drugs at the time of her death.
According to TMZ, Cissy Houston believes her daughter began taking drugs again due to stress over her comeback, but thought Whitney to be sober as she filmed the movie Sparkle.
Kenya has announced discovery of oil for the first time in the country after exploratory drilling by Anglo-Irish firm Tullow Oil.
President Mwai Kibaki said the discovery was made in the country’s north-western Turkana region.
Mwai Kibaki said it was “the first time Kenya has made such a discovery” and called it a “major breakthrough”.
Kenya is a regional business and tourist hub with the largest economy in East Africa, although its relative wealth is not based on mineral riches.
The Kenyan president said Tullow would drill more wells to establish the commercial viability of the oil.
“It is… the beginning of a long journey to make our country an oil producer, which typically takes in excess of three years. We shall be giving the nation more information as the oil exploration process continues,” Mwai Kibaki said.
Kenya has announced discovery of oil for the first time in the country after exploratory drilling by Anglo-Irish firm Tullow Oil
Tullow Oil, which also struck oil in neighboring Uganda, said the Kenyan find had exceeded their expectations.
“This is an excellent start to our major exploration campaign in the East African rift basins of Kenya and Ethiopia,” said Angus McCoss, the company’s exploration director.
“To make a good oil discovery in our first well is beyond our expectations and bodes well for the material programme ahead of us.”
Tullow has found oil in, or off the coast of, a number of African countries, including Ghana and Sierra Leone.
Veterinarians and biologists say that cats’ remarkable ability to survive falls from great heights is a simple and predictable matter of physics, evolutionary biology, and physiology.
“This recent story isn’t much of a surprise,” says Jake Socha, a biomechanist at Virginia Tech University.
“We do know that animals exhibit this behavior, and there have been lots of records of these cats surviving.”
With scientists unwilling to toss cats off buildings for experimental observation, science has been unable systematically to study the rate at which they live after crashing to the ground.
In a 1987 study of 132 cats brought to a New York City emergency veterinary clinic after falls from high-rise buildings, 90% of treated cats survived and only 37% needed emergency treatment to keep them alive. One that fell 32 stories onto concrete suffered only a chipped tooth and a collapsed lung and was released after 48 hours.
From the moment they’re in the air to the instant after they hit the ground, cats’ bodies are built to survive high falls, scientists say.
They have a relatively large surface area in proportion to their weight, thus reducing the force at which they hit the pavement.
Cats reach terminal velocity, the speed at which the downward tug of gravity is matched by the upward push of wind resistance, at a slow speed compared to large animals like humans and horses.
For instance, an average-sized cat with its limbs extended achieves a terminal velocity of about 60 mph (97 km/h), while an average-sized man reaches a terminal velocity of about 120 mph (193 km/h), according to the 1987 study by veterinarians Wayne Whitney and Cheryl Mehlhaff.
Veterinarians and biologists say that cats' remarkable ability to survive falls from great heights is a simple and predictable matter of physics, evolutionary biology, and physiology
Cats are essentially arboreal animals: when they’re not living in homes or in urban alleys, they tend to live in trees.
Sooner or later, they’re going to fall, biologists say. Cats, monkeys, reptiles and other creatures will jump for prey and miss, a tree limb will break, or the wind will knock them over, so evolution has rendered them supremely capable of surviving falls.
“Being able to survive falls is a critical thing for animals that live in trees, and cats are one of them,” says Dr. Jake Socha.
“The domestic cat still contains whatever suite of adaptations they have that have enable cats to be good up in trees.”
Through natural selection, cats have developed a keen instinct for sensing which way is down, analogous to the mechanism humans use for balance, biologists say.
Then – if given enough time – they are able to twist their bodies like a gymnast, astronaut or skydiver and spin their tails in order to position their feet under their bodies and land on them.
“Everything that lives in trees has what we call an aerial righting reflex,” says Robert Dudley, a biologist at the animal flight laboratory at the University of California – Berkeley.
Cats can also spread their legs out to create a sort of parachute effect, says Andrew Biewener, a professor of organismal and evolutionary biology at Harvard University, although it is unclear how much this slows the rate of descent.
“They splay out their legs, which is going to expand their surface area of the body, and that increases the drag resistance,” Prof. Andrew Biewener says.
When they do land, cats’ muscular legs – made for climbing trees – act as shock absorbers.
“Cats have long, compliant legs,” says Jim Usherwood of the structure and motion lab at the Royal Veterinary College.
“They’ve got decent muscles. In that they’re able to jump quite well, the same muscles divert energy into decelerating rather than breaking bones.”
The springy legs increase the distance over which the force of the collision with the ground dissipates, says Prof. Andrew Biewener.
“The impact forces are much higher in stiff collisions,” he says.
“If they can increase the collision time over a longer period that reduces the impact force.
“And a cat’s legs are angled under the body rather than extended downward, like human or horse legs.”
“You’re not transmitting the forces really directly,” says Dr Socha.
“If a cat was to land with its legs directly under him in a column and hold him stiff, those bones would all break. But they go off to the side and the joints then bend, and you’re now taking that energy and putting it into the joints and you’re getting less of a force at the bone itself.”
However, house cats in urban or suburban areas tend to be overweight and in less than peak physical condition, warns Steve Dale, a cat behavior consultant who is on the board of the Winn Feline Foundation, which supports cat health research.
“That detracts from their ability to right themselves in midair,” Steve Dale says.
Jessica Simpson, whose first child is due on April 20, was caught in a downpour with fiancé Eric Johnson yesterday while leaving the Boneyard Bistro in Los Angeles.
Jessica Simpson, 31, who was obviously expecting better weather, was soaked through in a brightly covered maxi dress that clung to her large bump and was wearing flip-flops and sunglasses.
She has not been shy when it has come to discussing her pregnancy or showing off her burgeoning belly.
Recently, Jessica Simpson refuted claims that she was carrying twins and explained the cause of her huge belly on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show.
Jessica Simpson told Jimmy Kimmel: “Apparently I have a lot of amniotic fluid, so whenever my water breaks it will be like a fire hydrant!”
Heavily pregnant Jessica Simpson was caught in a downpour with fiancé Eric Johnson while leaving the Boneyard Bistro in LA
She also appeared naked on the cover of April’s Elle magazine and said that the Demi Moore inspired photo was all her idea.
“They didn’t even ask me to do that,” Jessica Simpson said on Ryan Seacrest’s KIIS-FM radio show.
“It was my idea. It kind of just seemed a natural thing for me to do.
“I’m like 170 pounds and I wanted to pose nude.”
“I try to be like 110 pounds. It’s funny to be at your heaviest and feel the most confident. I just take such pride in being a mom! I just love my body more than ever now.”
Former US Vice-President Dick Cheney is accused of favoritism over his heart surgery, as he was too old to receive a heart transplant on Friday.
Critics are complaining that 71-year-old Dick Cheney was given special consideration because of his position.
Though they do not think that Dick Cheney was moved up the transplant list, he was given the organ that could have gone to thousands of younger recipients who would have more years to live with it.
“Most centers wouldn’t put somebody on at Cheney’s age,” said University of Pennsylvania bioethicist Art Caplan, who has testified before many panels on organ sharing issues.
“I’ve been arguing for a long time that the system should pay more attention to age because you’ll get a better return on the gift because younger people are more likely to live longer with a donor organ,” Art Caplan said.
Dick Cheney’s case reopens debate about whether rules should be changed to favor youth over age in giving out scarce organs.
As it stands now, time on the waiting list, medical need and where you live determine the odds of scoring a new heart – not how many years you’ll live to make use of it.
Former US Vice-President Dick Cheney is accused of favoritism over his heart surgery, as he was too old to receive a heart transplant
Dick Cheney, who served as President George W. Bush’s vice president for both terms, from 2001 to 2009, received the transplant Saturday at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Virginia, the same place where he received an implanted heart pump that has kept him alive since July 2010.
It appears the former vice president went on the transplant wait list around that time, 20 months ago.
Dick Cheney had severe congestive heart failure and had suffered five heart attacks over the past 25 years.
He has had countless procedures to keep him going – bypasses, artery-opening angioplasty, pacemakers and surgery on his legs. Yet Dick Cheney must have had a healthy liver and kidneys to qualify for a new heart, doctors said.
“We have done several patients hovering around age 70 although that’s about the upper limit for a transplant,” said Dr. Mariell Jessup, a University of Pennsylvania heart failure specialist and American Heart Association spokeswoman.
“The fact he waited such a long time shows he didn’t get any favors.”
More than 3,100 Americans are waiting now for a new heart, and about 330 die each year before one becomes available.
When one does, doctors check to see who is a good match and in highest medical need. The heart is offered locally, then regionally and finally nationally until a match is made.
“You can’t leapfrog the system,” said Dr. Allen Taylor, cardiology chief at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.
“It’s a very regimented and fair process and heavily policed.”
That said, there is no formal rule disqualifying anyone above the age of 70 from receiving a new heart, though many hospitals enforce an unstated version of the rule in an effort to allow younger patients access to the lifesaving procedure.
“The ethical issues are not that he had a transplant, but who didn’t?” tweeted Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist at Scripps Health in La Jolla, California.
Preferential treatment to wealthy patients is also a hot topic when it comes to transplants because they often are able to sign up to more than one transplant list in an effort to be considered ‘local’ in more places.
In order for that to work, the patient has to have the ability to fly to the hospital in question on very short notice.
Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs was one example of that, as he was on a transplant list in Tennessee and received a new liver at a hospital there in 2009 even though he lived in California.
A group of US scientists hail plain popcorn as a great diet food for its low calorie content and claim it may even top fruits and vegetables in antioxidant levels.
Antioxidants – known as polyphenols – have huge health benefits as they help fight harmful molecules that damage cells.
Popcorn was found to have a high level of concentrated antioxidants because it is made up of just 4% water while they are more diluted in fruits and vegetables because they are made up of up to 90% water.
Researchers discovered one serving of popcorn has up to 300 mg of antioxidants – nearly double the 160 mg for all fruits per serving.
They also found that the crunchy hulls of the popcorn have the highest concentration of antioxidants and fiber.
The scientists from the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania unveiled their discovery at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Diego.
Popcorn was found to have a high level of concentrated antioxidants because it is made up of just 4 per cent water while they are more diluted in fruits and vegetables which are made up of up to 90 per cent water
Researcher Joe Vinson said: “Those hulls deserve more respect. They are nutritional gold nuggets.”
But Joe Vinson warned that people can’t forgo their five-a-day in favor of popcorn – as it doesn’t contain vital vitamins and nutrients found in fruit and vegetables.
Although he added that popcorn has many other health benefits, stating: “Popcorn may be the perfect snack food.
“It’s the only snack that is 100% unprocessed whole grain.
“All other grains are processed and diluted with other ingredients, and although cereals are called <<whole grain>>, this simply means that over 51% of the weight of the product is whole grain.
“One serving of popcorn will provide more than 70% of the daily intake of whole grain.
“The average person only gets about half a serving of whole grains a day, and popcorn could fill that gap in a very pleasant way.”
The scientists warned that preparation is key to culling popcorn’s health benefits.
Joe Vinson added: “Air-popped popcorn has the lowest number of calories while microwave popcorn has twice as many calories as air-popped.”
Speaking ahead of Seoul Nuclear Security Summit, which aimed at reducing the risk of nuclear terrorism, US President Barack Obama says he is pushing for “a world without nuclear weapons”, making direct appeals to North Korea and Iran.
Barack Obama also pledged to work with Russia and China.
He emphasized the US’s unique position to seek change but said “serious sustained global effort” was needed.
The meeting is being attended by representatives from some 50 countries.
Speaking to students at Hankuk University, Barack Obama reiterated the commitment of the US as ”the only nation to have ever used nuclear weapons” to reducing its nuclear arms stockpile.
The US president also spoke, he said, as a father who did not want to see his daughters growing up in a world with nuclear threats, a comment which drew applause from his student audience.
Barack Obama said he was looking forward to meeting newly-elected Russian President Vladimir Putin in May to discuss further nuclear arms cuts.
He would seek to follow on from the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) pact he struck in 2010 with outgoing Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev in 2010, he said.
The New START deal agreed between Washington and Moscow was intended to replace its lapsed predecessor, START.
It trims US and Russian nuclear arsenals to 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads – a cut of about 30% from a limit set previously.
The treaty would also allow each side visually to inspect the other’s nuclear capability, with the aim of verifying how many warheads each missile carries.
In addition, there will be legally binding limits on the number of warheads and missiles that can be deployed on land, on submarines, and on bombers, at any one time.
President Barack Obama said he is pushing for "a world without nuclear weapons" ahead of Seoul Nuclear Security Summit
In Asia, Barack Obama said, the US has invited China to work with Washington and ”that offer remains open”.
The US president also addressed North Korea’s nuclear ambitions directly in his speech, saying that the US has ”no hostile intent” towards the country, but ”there will be no rewards for provocation”.
Barack Obama warned Pyongyang that its planned long-range missile launch would only increase its isolation.
Pyongyang says it is preparing to launch a long-range missile which it says will put a satellite in orbit.
”You can continue with the road you are on but we know where that leads,” Barack Obama said, addressing the North Korean leaders directly.
”Today, we say: Pyongyang, have the courage to pursue peace.”
Earlier, Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said North Korea risked further sanctions and isolation if it did not cancel its launch plans.
The launch will contravene an agreement Pyongyang reached last month which would have seen it receive food aid in exchange for a partial freeze on nuclear activities and an end to ballistics tests.
The North also agreed to allow UN inspectors in, the US said.
The invitation comes three months after Kim Jong-Un came to power following the death of his father, Kim Jong-Il.
The North said the launch – between 12 and 16 April – would mark the 100th birthday of former leader Kim Il-Sung.
South Korea has warned it will shoot down the rocket if it strays over its territory.
“We are preparing measures to track the missile’s trajectory and shoot it down if it, by any chance, deviates from the planned route and falls into our territory,” a defense ministry spokesman said.
The launch site is in north-western North Korea, not far from the Chinese border.
Addressing Iran, Barack Obama said there was still time to resolve the impasse over its nuclear programme through diplomacy.
“But time is short,” Barack Obama warned.
”Iran must act with the seriousness and sense of urgency that this moment demands.”
Iran insists there is no military element to its programme but Western powers fear it is constructing nuclear weapons.
“Today, I’ll meet with the leaders of Russia and China as we work to achieve a resolution in which Iran fulfils its obligations,” Barack Obama added.
Despite lofty announcements it may prove difficult to achieve significant progress at the summit.
The summit agenda is to be expanded to include a wide variety of radiological materials which terrorists could use to make a dirty bomb – one that spreads radiological contamination rather than initiating a nuclear explosion
But experts say there is unlikely to be agreement on converting all nuclear power stations to use low-enriched fuel.
Nor will there be agreement on common standards for nuclear security.
Some countries see this whole process as highly intrusive.
And there is still no common appreciation of the level of threat posed by nuclear terrorism.
James Cameron has triumphantly resurfaced from the Earth’s deepest point – Mariana Trench – where only two men have ever been before.
James Cameron, Avatar and Titanic film director, used a specially-designed submarine to descend nearly seven miles to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, an area 200 miles southwest of the Pacific island of Guam.
As James Cameron, 57, hit the bottom, he tweeted: “Just arrived at the ocean’s deepest pt. Hitting bottom never felt so good. Can’t wait to share what I’m seeing w/ you.”
James Cameron returned to the surface of the Pacific Ocean on Monday morning local time, according to Stephanie Montgomery of the National Geographic Society, where the director is an explorer-in-residence.
He spent a little more than three hours under water after reaching a depth of 35,756 feet before he began his return to the surface.
James Cameron had planned to spend up to six hours on the sea floor.
James Cameron’s return aboard his 12-ton, lime-green sub called Deepsea Challenger was a “faster-than-expected 70-minute ascent”, according to National Geographic.
He began the dive earlier Monday at approximately 5.15 a.m. local time.
“RELEASE, RELEASE, RELEASE!” were the last words James Cameron uttered before beginning the dive, according to a Twitter post from the expedition.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, who appeared in Cameron’s Terminator films, showed his support for the director via Twitter: “Congrats to my great friend on the deepest solo dive ever. Always a pioneer.”
Richard Branson and Jessica Alba were just a couple of the other celebrities who got behind James Cameron’s journey.
James Cameron has triumphantly resurfaced from the Earth's deepest point, Mariana Trench
The scale of the Mariana Trench is hard to grasp – it is 120 times larger than the Grand Canyon and more than a mile deeper than Mount Everest is tall.
It was expected to take James Cameron 90 minutes to reach the bottom aboard Deepsea Challenger.
Once there, James Cameron planned to spend six hours collecting samples for biologists and geologists to study.
While it didn’t need it, the submarine James Cameron helped design has the capability to support life for a 56-hour dive.
The first and only time anyone dove to these depths was in 1960.
Swiss engineer Jacques Piccard and U.S. Navy Capt. Don Walsh took nearly five hours to reach the bottom and stayed just 20 minutes.
They didn’t have much to report on what they saw there, however, because their submarine kicked up so much sand from the ocean floor they couldn’t see much.
One of the risks of a dive so deep is extreme water pressure. At 6.8 miles below the surface, the pressure is the equivalent of three SUVs sitting on your toe.
James Cameron said earlier this month that, after a 5.1 mile-deep practice run near Papua New Guinea, the pressure “is in the back of your mind”.
The submarine would implode in an instant if it leaked, James Cameron said.
But while he was a little apprehensive beforehand, James Cameron wasn’t scared or nervous while underwater.
“When you are actually on the dive you have to trust the engineering was done right,” James Cameron said.
The latest dive site, which is at the deepest point in the Mariana Trench, is named Challenger Deep after the British naval vessel HMS Challenger that used sound to first measure its depth.
James Cameron has been an oceanography enthusiast since childhood and has made 72 deep-sea submersible dives.
Thirty-three of those dives have been to the wreckage of the Titanic, the subject of his 1997 hit film.
Scientists at the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research in Davos, Switzerland, are helping specialists from Nestle to study how ice cream’s structure changes when it is stored in a household freezer.
Samples of ice cream have been scanned with an X-ray machine more typically used to study the ice crystals which are key to avalanche formation.
Nestle is hoping to reveal the exact conditions under which ice crystals merge and grow.
When the crystals get big enough they change the texture of ice cream and alter how it feels when it is eaten.
The X-ray tomography machine at the institute is one of the few that can take images of tiny structures at sub-zero temperatures.
“Previously, we could not look inside ice cream without destroying the sample in the process,” said Nestle food scientist Dr. Cedric Dubois.
Via the research, summarized in a paper published in the journal Soft Matter, Nestle hopes to find a way to combat the gradual degradation of taste ice cream often suffers. As with many foods, the structure of ice cream is the key to the way it tastes.
Nestle hopes to find a way to combat the gradual degradation of taste ice cream often suffers, as its structure is the key to the way it tastes
Dr. Cedric Dubois said the research had revealed that the white frost of ice crystals found on ice cream forms as a result of the temperature changes it undergoes as it is transported, sold and stored.
“Most home freezers are set at -18C, but the temperature doesn’t remain constant,” said Dr. Cedric Dubois.
“It fluctuates by a couple of degrees in either direction, which causes parts of the ice cream to melt and then freeze again.”
Time-lapse images of ice crystals only a few microns across were gathered during the study which cycled samples through a small range of temperature changes.
This showed that as water froze out it formed ice crystals that affected the structure of the ice cream and made it chewy. This could also make the dessert icier, hard to scoop, and less pleasurable to eat.
The study has started to reveal the “life cycle” of the crystals and the conditions which trigger some of them to merge, enlarge and significantly alter the texture of the ice cream.
“We already know the growth of ice crystals in ice cream is triggered by a number of different factors,” said Dr. Cedric Dubois.
“If we can identify the main mechanism, we can find better ways to slow it down.”
