Though it may look like it, this is not a still frame from a torture porn movie directed by the sadist Eli Roth. Instead, it's the new synthetic cadaver that medical students are now using to get their learn on. Instead of poking humans or operating on animals, medical students can play doctor with these frighteningly freakish zombie beasts.
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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 31-Oct-2013
ShareContact: Ken Branson
kbranson@ucm.rutgers.edu
732-932-7084 x633
Rutgers University
Some climate change skeptics have pointed out that global atmospheric temperatures have been stable, or even declined slightly, over the past decade. They claim it's a sign that global warming has either ceased, slowed down or is not caused by human activity.
So, where did all that heat that we're supposedly producing go?
Climate scientists say it went into the ocean, which over the past 60 years has acted as a buffer against global warming. However, a new study led by Rutgers' Yair Rosenthal shows that the ocean is now absorbing heat 15 times faster than it has over the previous 10,000 years. Although the increased heat absorption by the ocean may give scientists and policymakers more time to deal with the issue of climate change, Rosenthal says the problem is real and must be addressed.
"We may have underestimated the efficiency of the oceans as a storehouse for heat and energy," Rosenthal said. "It may buy us some time how much time, I don't really know to come to terms with climate change. But it's not going to stop climate change."
Rosenthal, a professor of marine and coastal sciences in Rutgers' School of Environmental and Biological Sciences; Braddock Linsley of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory; and Delia W. Oppo of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, used the shells of tiny single-celled, bottom-dwelling foraminifera found in sediment cores to reconstruct the Pacific Ocean's heat content over the last 10,000 years. Their paper has been published in Science.
The heat content of the ocean had been measured before, but only instrumentally, and only back to the mid-20th century.
Their research was undertaken on marine sediment collected from the seas surrounding Indonesia, where the waters of the Pacific and Indian oceans overlap. The researchers measured the ratio of magnesium to calcium in the shells of a particular species of foraminifera, Hyalinea balthica. The warmer the waters when the organism calcified, the greater the magnesium to calcium ratio.
Yair Rosenthal
The shell chemistry of these tiny creatures provides a record of intermediate water temperatures going back 10,000 years, not only in the part of the Pacific where they were collected but from the higher latitudes in the Pacific as well. That's because the intermediate water in the western Pacific depths between 450 and 1,000 meters consists of water that once was near the surface in the northern and southern Pacific. The waters became saltier and colder over time and sank, then flowed very slowly toward the equator and through the passages between islands in Indonesia.
"Our work showed that intermediate waters in the Pacific had been cooling steadily from about 10,000 years ago" said Linsley. This places the recent warming of Pacific intermediate waters in temporal context. The trend has now reversed in a big way and the deep ocean is warming."
###
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 31-Oct-2013
ShareContact: Ken Branson
kbranson@ucm.rutgers.edu
732-932-7084 x633
Rutgers University
Some climate change skeptics have pointed out that global atmospheric temperatures have been stable, or even declined slightly, over the past decade. They claim it's a sign that global warming has either ceased, slowed down or is not caused by human activity.
So, where did all that heat that we're supposedly producing go?
Climate scientists say it went into the ocean, which over the past 60 years has acted as a buffer against global warming. However, a new study led by Rutgers' Yair Rosenthal shows that the ocean is now absorbing heat 15 times faster than it has over the previous 10,000 years. Although the increased heat absorption by the ocean may give scientists and policymakers more time to deal with the issue of climate change, Rosenthal says the problem is real and must be addressed.
"We may have underestimated the efficiency of the oceans as a storehouse for heat and energy," Rosenthal said. "It may buy us some time how much time, I don't really know to come to terms with climate change. But it's not going to stop climate change."
Rosenthal, a professor of marine and coastal sciences in Rutgers' School of Environmental and Biological Sciences; Braddock Linsley of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory; and Delia W. Oppo of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, used the shells of tiny single-celled, bottom-dwelling foraminifera found in sediment cores to reconstruct the Pacific Ocean's heat content over the last 10,000 years. Their paper has been published in Science.
The heat content of the ocean had been measured before, but only instrumentally, and only back to the mid-20th century.
Their research was undertaken on marine sediment collected from the seas surrounding Indonesia, where the waters of the Pacific and Indian oceans overlap. The researchers measured the ratio of magnesium to calcium in the shells of a particular species of foraminifera, Hyalinea balthica. The warmer the waters when the organism calcified, the greater the magnesium to calcium ratio.
Yair Rosenthal
The shell chemistry of these tiny creatures provides a record of intermediate water temperatures going back 10,000 years, not only in the part of the Pacific where they were collected but from the higher latitudes in the Pacific as well. That's because the intermediate water in the western Pacific depths between 450 and 1,000 meters consists of water that once was near the surface in the northern and southern Pacific. The waters became saltier and colder over time and sank, then flowed very slowly toward the equator and through the passages between islands in Indonesia.
"Our work showed that intermediate waters in the Pacific had been cooling steadily from about 10,000 years ago" said Linsley. This places the recent warming of Pacific intermediate waters in temporal context. The trend has now reversed in a big way and the deep ocean is warming."
###
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Sci-fi epic Ender's Game is poised to win the North American box-office race this weekend with a solid $25 million or more opening, hoping to reverse a disturbing downturn in movie adaptations of young-adult books. Overseas, the film has already opened in the U.K., where it is doing softer-than-expected business.
The big headline internationally this weekend will be Disney and Marvel Studios' sequel Thor: The Dark World, which began rolling out Wednesday in the U.K., France and a handful of other markets, grossing north of $8 million and pacing ahead of the first Thor. On Thursday and Friday, Thor 2, with Chris Hemsworth returning in the title role, opens in a number of other major markets before hitting theaters in North America on Nov. 8.
PHOTOS: 'Ender's Game' Premiere Invades Hollywood With Harrison Ford, Asa Butterfield
Ender's Game, a co-production between Summit Entertainment, OddLot Entertainment and Digital Domain, will need to do substantial business worldwide in order to make up its $110-million budget. The action-adventure is based on the bestselling YA novel of the same name by Orson Scott Card, whose anti-gay comments have riled many.
Directed by Gavin Hood, Ender's Game stars Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis, Hailee Steinfeld and Abigail Breslin.
Outside of the Hunger Games and Twilight film franchises, YA properties have struggled at the box office. This year, The Host, Beautiful Creatures and Mortal Instruments: City of Bones all flopped.
Set in the near future, Ender's Game revolves around a young boy (Butterfield) who is recruited by the military to stop an alien race from destroying the world.
PHOTOS: 25 of Fall's Most Anticipated Movies
Ender's Game is a sizeable gamble for Gigi Pritzker's OddLot, which financed much of the movie and dispatched sister company Sierra/Affinity to sell the movie internationally. Last weekend, Ender's Game debuted at No. 5 in the U.K. with just under $2 million, but the film could make up ground as it continues to roll out in additional foreign markets.
Relativity Media and Reel FX's animated 3D pic Free Birds is getting an early jump on Thanksgiving by rolling out now. The movie -- about a pair of turkeys who travel back in time to prevent their kind from becoming the traditional holiday meal -- should benefit from being the only new family entry in the market and hit $20 million in its debut (Entertainment One is distributing in Canada), athough Relativity insiders are expecting a figure more in the $16 million to $19 million range. The voice cast is led by Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson and Amy Poehler.
Free Birds, costing $55 million to make, marks Relativity's first foray into the animated business. The company could use a box office win after suffering a string of disappointments.
CBS Films' sexagenarian comedy Last Vegas, the weekend's third new nationwide entry, is looking at a more modest opening in the $14 million range. Directed by Jon Turteltaub, the film's high-profile cast -- Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline -- should result in strong legs, however. A geezer version of The Hangover, Last Vegas stars four friends in their 60s who travel to Las Vegas for a bachelor party. Mary Steenburgen also stars.
Older moviegoers rarely rush to see a film on its opening weekend. CBS Films believes Last Vegas will serve as strong counterprogramming throughout the month. In August 2012, Hope Springs, starring Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones, opened to a modest $14.7 million on its way to earning $63.5 million domestically and a hearty $114.3 million globally.
The specialty box office sees a number of high-profile debuts, including awards contender Dallas Buyers Club, which Focus Features opens in six theaters in New York and Los Angeles, and Diana, the biopic of Princess Diana starring Naomi Watts. Entertainment One is opening Diana in 38 markets.
Dallas Buyers Club has drawn raves for performances by Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto.
Universal also releases Richard Curtis' romantic fantasy-comedy About Time, starring Rachel McAdams opposite Tom Hollander, in the U.S. From Working Title Films, About Time is only opening in 175 theaters domestically. Overseas, the film has grossed $32 million from 40 markets, with 17 countries still left to go.
Millions of adults who grew up speaking a language other than English are still held back by their language skills.
Millions of adults who grew up speaking a language other than English are still held back by their language skills.
This is the second report in a four-part series on adult education.
Ana Perez never made it to high school. Her education ended after the sixth grade, when war broke out in her native El Salvador. She says she's "desperate" to learn English, but she gets nervous trying to speak it.
Immigrants like Perez see English as the key to a better life. Many hope learning the language will help lift them out of poverty and integrate them into American society. But gaining English proficiency is a difficult task amid everyday obligations.
'Studying Is Sacred'
Perez has taken English classes off and on for almost 20 years. Now she's trying to fill in the gaps in her education, even though she says it's challenging to juggle everything.
"I have to study, I have a grandchild, I have a daughter, a husband. Everything adds up," she says in Spanish.
But Perez takes two buses and comes to class every day at the Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School in Washington, D.C.
"I try to never miss a day. A day of studying is sacred for me. I swear," she says.
Perez, like many of her classmates, struggles to balance learning English with jobs, child care and household responsibilities. Jorge Delgado, the assistant principal at Carlos Rosario, says many of his adult students make "incredible sacrifices" to come to class.
"Lots of cleaning until 7 o'clock in the morning. Many of them are bartenders, parking attendants," he says. "The other day I was leaving an activity, and it was like 3 o' clock in the morning. And when I went to pay, it was one of my students. And I'm like, 'Don't you have class at 8:30?' And he's says, "Yep.' "
The student would get off work at 5.
'Stepchild Of The Stepchild'
There are millions of adults — mostly immigrants — who grew up in the United States speaking a language other than English at home. Many of whom are still held back by their limited language skills. Of those, only 3 to 5 percent are being served in English classes, says Heide Wrigley, a senior researcher at Literacywork International.
"Adult education is a bit of a stepchild in terms of research and the resources available," she says. "And within that, the stepchild of the stepchild is really adult second-language acquisition."
There are long waiting lines for English classes in almost every state. Perez was lucky to get into Carlos Rosario, which has a waitlist of 1,000 prospective students.
At The Literacy Council of Montgomery County in Maryland, Carol Dymond teaches an English conversation class. She has students from dozens of countries.
One of the students, Hyunok Hong, is struggling with the sound of the letter "z" because there isn't an equivalent sound in her native Korean.
Researcher Wrigley says she's often asked, "Why can't immigrants just learn English?" She says she has to remind people how difficult it is to learn another language and how long it takes.
"It doesn't just require that you learn the grammar and the pronunciation. You need thousands of words," she says. "And you have to build what we call 'communicative competence' that allows you to know not just what to say, but what to say to whom and when. And what not to say."
The Motivation
Despite how difficult it is, many immigrants keep at it.
When asked why she wants to learn English, Hong looks confused. The answer seems so obvious: "I live in America; I am American."
Hong's dream is to learn enough English so she can go on a road trip by herself. One of her classmates says longingly she'd love to make American friends; another wants to help her child with homework.
Wrigley says immigrants' ability to speak English is about more than just the language — it makes for a stronger, more integrated country.
"It's really a way to support social cohesion and to feel like you're part of that fabric of the wider U.S. community," she says.
For Hong and Perez, learning English gives them a chance at a better job and a better future for their families. But there are thousands more who are waiting and hoping for their own shot at the American dream.
FILE - In this Oct. 22, 2012 file photo, singer Kanye West, left, and girlfriend Kim Kardashian attend Gabrielle's Angel Foundation 2012 Angel Ball cancer research benefit at Cipriani Wall Street in New York. West and Kardashian sued YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley in Los Angeles on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013, claiming he violated a confidentiality agreement by posting footage of West's elaborate marriage proposal on a new video-sharing site. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kim Kardashian and Kanye West sued a co-founder of YouTube on Thursday claiming he violated a confidentiality agreement by posting a video of the couple's marriage proposal to his new video-sharing website.
The couple's lawsuit states Chad Hurley wasn't invited to the elaborate Oct. 21 proposal at San Francisco's AT&T Park, but was allowed to stay because he signed an agreement not to post any video or images from the event. West allowed other cameras to film the event for possible broadcast on E! Entertainment Television, home to his fiancee's show "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," according to the suit.
Hurley posted a fuzzy 2 ½ minute long video on his new website MixBit, that showed West proposing to Kardashian while an orchestra played. The video also showed the ensuing celebration with Kardashian's family and invited guests toasting the newly-engaged couple.
Kardashian and West are seeking unspecified damages from Hurley and his company, Avos Systems Inc.
"Exclusive rights, such as those sold by plaintiffs to publication of video of the event, are particularly valuable," the lawsuit states. "If people violate these rights ... they are of substantially diminished value."
A message sent through MixBit seeking comment from Hurley was not immediately returned.
West proposed to Kardashian on her 33rd birthday; the couple's first child North West was born in June.
The lawsuit was first reported by celebrity website TMZ.
___
Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP
Like most other device builders, Samsung relies on Google's Android OS to power its smartphones and tablets. But not content to simply ride the Android wave, Samsung is trying to set itself apart with vendor-specific capabilities ranging from pen functionality to enterprise security, prompting the company to release its own software development kits over the last couple years.
At its first ever Samsung Developer Conference in San Francisco this week, the company unveiled several SDK updates for those proprietary capabilities currently offered on top of Android on Samsung devices and, in some cases, available for iOS applications such as its ChatOn instant messaging service or Smart TV remote-control app.
Samsung's SDKs include the updated Samsung Mobile SDK for using the S Pen input device standard on several Samsung devices, the new Knox SDK for mobile security and management, the updated ChatOn SDK for its instant messaging service, and the updated Chord SDK for one-touch discovery and pairing of devices.
Banking on the company's strength in home entertainment gear, Samsung also updated its Smart TV SDK for build applications for its Smart TV line of Internet-connected TVs and its Multiscreen gaming SDK for building games to be played on a big-screen TV via a Samsung tablet or smartphone. All but the Smart TV SDK use Android; the Smart TV SDK relies on Linux.
"They want to capture the developer, so if you use those APIs, you're on Samsung, you're not on other things," said Keithen Hayenga, a developer relations engineer at Marmalade, which enables cross-platform game development.
If successful, Samsung's efforts would yield a set of committed developers for its devices. Samsung is the largest Android smartphone manufacturer and the top smartphone maker overall. "By introducing their own SDKs and APIs, they're trying to [provide] the whole experience much like Apple tries to do with its ecosystem," said Andrew Cook, a senior software engineer for Vision Service Plan, which provides vision care benefits.
Samsung is "flexing its developer muscles," while working on both consumer and enterprise systems, said IDC analyst Al Hilwa. "On the enterprise side, the Knox platform caught my attention because it involves Samsung integrating security deeply in the OS. This is definitely evidence of the depth of R&D that they now have on Android," Hilwa said. "The other impressive set of functionality that caught my attention in the consumer world is the Smart TV SDK and the multiscreen capabilities added such as overlay of mobile device screen objects on the TV."
While emphasizing Android at the moment, Samsung also used its conference to air the latest developments for its open source Tizen OS, which Samsung is working on with Intel. Tizen features an Internet interface and supports HTML5. But the company has yet to announce a roadmap for Tizen rollouts.
This story, "Samsung updates mobile, TV, and gaming SDKs to attract more developers," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Get the first word on what the important tech news really means with the InfoWorld Tech Watch blog. For the latest developments in business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.
