NATO: 4 coalition troops killed by Afghan soldier (AP)

KABUL, Afghanistan ? An Afghan soldier shot and killed four NATO troops in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, the U.S.-led coalition said. The shooting underscores the fragile relationship between Afghan and foreign troops who are partnered across the nation.

NATO said in a statement that the suspected shooter had been apprehended, but disclosed no details about the incident.

The nationalities of the troops killed were not released. Troops from several nations, including the U.S. and France, are deployed in eastern Afghanistan.

Similar attacks have raised fears of increased Taliban infiltration of the Afghan police and army as NATO speeds up the training of the security forces. In some cases the attackers were Afghan soldiers who turned on NATO troops. Others involved insurgents dressed in Afghan uniforms.

Earlier this month, a U.S. troop was killed when a man in an Afghan army uniform opened fire at a base in the south of the country.

In one of the worst incidents, a veteran Afghan military pilot opened fire at Kabul airport on April 27, 2011, killing eight U.S. troops and an American civilian contractor.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_re_as/as_afghanistan

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This Is the First Sci-Fi Movie Actually Filmed In Space—And NASA Censored It (Updated) [Video]

British game developer Richard Garriott went to space on October 2008. He took a camera with him and filmed a little short called Apogee of Fear starring him, two American astronauts, one cosmonaut and his mom. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/lyoNzIkGnzk/this-is-the-first-sci+fi-movie-actually-filmed-in-space++censored-by-nasa

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NFL conference championships coming up

A potential Superbowl rematch is in the cards

So, it'll be San Francisco versus the New York Giants and New England versus Baltimore. All for the right to go to the biggest game of the year. No more upstart Broncos, no more defending-champ Packers. No more surprise Texans, and no more record-breaking Saints.

Obviously, the majority of the public wants to see a rematch of Super Bowl XLII with the Patriots facing the Giants. It's not that simple, though.

In order to get past the 49ers, the Giants will have to overcome the underdog story of the year. With Alex Smith (he of the No. 1 pick who has disappointed in almost every one of his six previous seasons in the NFL) gunning, the 49ers have impressed upon nearly everyone by now the fact that they are a serious team. By beating the New Orleans Saints in dramatic?if not overwhelming?fashion, the 49ers have proved that its sometimes-anemic offense (especially in regards to the passing game) is not a problem and its defense is a facet upon which they may hang their collective hat.

The Giants, on the other hand, rolled over the Green Bay Packers in such demonstrative fashion that their offense, which was well-heralded previously, may become secondary to a defensive unit that sacked opposing quarterback Aaron Rodgers four times. The Giants also had their way on offense, with Eli Manning picking apart the Packers' defense in way that was rather embarrassing.

In the AFC, the New England Patriots put an end to the miracle story of Tim Tebow's Broncos. The team-that-could just ran into a buzz saw and was clearly outmatched. Tebow outlived expectations this year and should be proud of the wins he (and the Broncos defense) managed this season, as well as making it to the playoffs, but the Patriots offense hung 45 points on the vaunted Broncos defense.

New England looks to continue its performance next weekend against the Baltimore Ravens, whose defense is miles ahead of the Broncos. The only hitch in the Ravens' game plan could be found in their regular season record: Of the four games they lost, all were away from home. Next week they'll play at Gillette Stadium, where New England is a tidy 7-1. That sole loss, by the way? It came to the New York Giants.

Both games will be televised on Sunday, with Baltimore and New England at 1 PM on CBS, and New York playing in San Francisco at 4:30 p.m. on Fox.

Source: http://alibi.com/blog/40200/NFL-conference-championships-coming-up.html

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Gay marriage play '8' goes national during 2012 (AP)

NEW YORK ? For anyone who missed the star-studded, one-night-only Broadway debut of the gay marriage play "8" or can't get to Los Angeles this spring to see George Clooney lead a West Coast version, there's hope: The play is coming to a theater near you.

The only bad news ? no Clooney.

The pro-gay marriage American Foundation for Equal Rights and partner Broadway Impact are sponsoring dozens of productions of Dustin Lance Black's play starring local actors across the country this election year. It'll be shown in states where marriage battles loom, including Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire and North Carolina.

Adam Umhoefer, the foundation's project director, said the glitzy Broadway show and upcoming California counterpart help fund getting the play mounted elsewhere. "Those big tent-pole shows bring attention to the play so that all these other groups across the country can work on their productions," he said.

The play is mostly culled from the transcripts of the 2010 federal court battle that dealt with the legality of Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that outlawed same-sex marriage in California.

Black's play was first performed on Broadway as a one-time benefit reading in September starring Morgan Freeman, Ellen Barkin, Anthony Edwards, Bradley Whitford, John Lithgow, Cheyenne Jackson, Christine Lahti and Rob Reiner, who is developing a film based on the trial. The Broadway event raised more than $1 million and Clooney will lead his own starry version in Los Angeles on March 3.

The trial is important to gay activists because former U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson and attorney David Boies ? who represented opposing sides in the disputed 2000 presidential election ? put on a powerfully clear argument in favor of same-sex marriage. It was recorded but Prop. 8 backers have so far succeeded in getting the U.S. Supreme Court to bar broadcast of the landmark case.

That's spurred AFER and Broadway Impact to get "8" out into the nation. While they insist the play is fair to opponents, "8" clearly champions same-sex unions mostly because those who support gay marriage marshaled the most powerful arguments at trial. The judge in the case sided with gay rights activists and ruled Prop. 8 unconstitutional, but the decision has been appealed.

After the Broadway reading, a test version was produced at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in November, which featured a mix of alumni and students led by Michigan graduate and Tony Award-winner Gavin Creel. The question everyone wanted answered was: Would the play work without big stars or established actors?

"The answer was overwhelmingly yes," said Umhoefer, who traveled to Michigan to see the performance. "It worked. It played. It convinced us that it didn't need John Lithgow up there to make this play have impact."

Some of the first productions this year will be in New Hampshire, where gay-rights activists are fighting an attempt to repeal the state's gay-marriage law. "8" will be performed at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, N.H., on Feb. 7 and then three days later at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, N.H.

"In places where there is specific action being taken ? where marriage equality is going to become a reality or going to be prohibited legally, or perhaps, in the case of New Hampshire, repealed ? that is a focus and where we want to make sure this play is seen and heard," said Umhoefer.

More than 40 readings are scheduled from now until November in more than 17 states so far. It will be produced by colleges such as Stanford University in California, Towson University in Maryland and the University of Toledo in Ohio to theater companies such as the Uptown Players in Dallas and the American Repertory Theatre outside Boston. It will also be included in the Williamstown Theatre Festival and Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

"We wanted to have some more flexibility and respond to different events that are happening at different places and be able to do it throughout the year," said Ben Pelteson of Broadway Impact. Many productions will include talkback discussions.

The play will get two showings at PlayMakers Repertory Company, the theater-in-residence at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The first will be April 9 and the second will be May 8, the same day voters in that state vote decide whether to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage.

"We look at this as an opportunity to start and carry on a conversation with our community and our students," said A. McKay Coble, the university's chair of the Department of Dramatic Art, who says she suspects it may trigger some controversy on campus. "My job is to unsettle settled minds."

The cast will include professional actors, graduate and undergraduate students, company members and even city officials including the mayor. The school hopes both sides in the debate will have a place at the table. "It's very important for us to have it be eclectic," said Dan VanHoozer, one of the three producers.

Opponents of gay marriage have largely ignored the play in favor of fighting their battles in court. Maggie Gallagher, co-founder of the National Organization for Marriage, wrote in an email to The Associated Press that she has "no problem" with the rollout and questioned whether it will have much impact.

"It's not really a play and normal audiences will find it kind of dull," wrote Gallagher, who attended the Broadway reading and watched herself portrayed on stage by Jayne Houdyshell. "It won't affect any court cases."

Representatives from AFER and Broadway Impact will try to attend the shows but have also sent each producer packets of material on how best to stage "8." One obvious aid won't be available: A video recording of the Broadway production so far hasn't been released because there are too many legal hurdles.

With or without the recording, the Intiman Theatre in Seattle plans to put on "8" in June as supporters of gay marriage in Washington push to get gay marriage through the legislature this year.

Andrew Russell, artistic director of the Intman, says that "8" is "a thorough, textured, timely, gut-punch of a play" that "raises the right questions and personalizes the driving forces on either side of this important debate."

Even though the Intiman is struggling financially to open its doors this season, Russell stands by putting on the potentially controversial play. "I hope this event helps spark discussion, foster productive debate and build support for this important movement," he says.

___

Online:

AFTER: http://www.afer.org

Broadway Impact: http://www.broadwayimpact.com

National Organization for Marriage: http://www.nationformarriage.org

___

Mark Kennedy is on Twitter at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120117/ap_en_ce/us_theater_gay_marriage_play

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In presidential race, it's the attack of the PACs (reuters)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/187854127?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Patriots rout Broncos 45-10 in AFC playoff rout (AP)

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. ? Tebowmania had no chance against Tom Brady's playoff pedigree.

All the heroics, all the big plays and quite a few records belonged to Brady and the New England Patriots on Saturday night in a 45-10 rout of overmatched Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos. Brady threw six touchdown passes, five in the first half, putting the Patriots into the AFC championship game and silencing the nationwide frenzy surrounding Tebow.

The Patriots (14-3), winners of nine straight games, will host either Baltimore or Houston next Sunday for a spot in the Super Bowl. Saturday night's romp snapped a three-game postseason losing streak, two of those at Gillette Stadium, and lifted the Patriots to the verge of their fifth Super Bowl appearance in 11 seasons. They've won three of those, two with Brady as the game's MVP.

"We came in and started fast and it was a big win for us," said Brady, who even got off a 48-yard punt on third down.

"I have no idea about records and stuff like that. Anytime you score 45, obviously with the help of our defense, and special teams played great ? hopefully we can go out next week and play even better."

From the first snap in 24-degree temperature (wind chill of 12), this was a mismatch. The Patriots were not going to make the same mistakes the Steelers made against this team.

"He's been around the block a few times," cornerback Champ Bailey said of Brady. "He knows how to win games. If you're not ready to punch him in the mouth he's going to eat you up all night."

A nation transfixed by Tebow's play, if not his religious beliefs, tuned in Saturday to see if he had any more magic in store for Brady and company. He had nothing left as the Patriots made this must-see TV only for those who live in New England.

"Any time you're getting beat like that, it doesn't change how you fight," Tebow said. "It didn't matter whether it was the first play or the last play or whether we're down by 42. ... I wanted to be the same player."

With New England up 42-7, the fans began their derisive Teeee-bow chants. On the next play, the Broncos quarterback was sacked for an 11-yard loss ? one of five sacks for New England's 31st-ranked defense.

"We went out and played very hard and good things happened," defensive tackle Vince Wilfork said. "A great team win."

And so ended one of the season's most exciting story lines ? one that began when Denver was 1-4 and made Tebow a starter. The one-time third-stringer promptly won six in a row and seven of eight, with a string of stunning comebacks.

"A lot of ups and downs," Tebow said of his second NFL season. "Overall, it's been a very special opportunity for me, something I'm really thankful for. There's a lot of things we're proud of. Obviously, it's hard to see them all right now."

That winning surge ended with a 41-23 home loss to New England, and the Broncos dropped their next two, backing into the AFC West title.

But they rebounded nicely in their first playoff game since the 2005 season with the longest overtime touchdown in playoff history, an 80-yard catch and run by Demaryius Thomas against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Like everyone else on the Broncos' offense, Thomas was invisible against the Patriots.

Denver couldn't cover or tackle All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski, who tied a postseason mark with three touchdown catches, all in the opening half. Brady toyed with the Broncos (9-9), throwing more TD passes than Tebow had completions (three) in the first 30 minutes.

"We were playing complementary football, and it was awesome," Gronkowski said. "Obviously, you can't start off the game any better than that."

Brady's sixth TD was to his other tight end, Aaron Hernandez, as the quarterback tied Steve Young and Daryle Lamonica for the most in a postseason game.

The two-time league MVP threw for 5,235 yards during the season, second in NFL history to Drew Brees' 5,476 in 2011. He looked ready to get that much against the Broncos as he moved to third place in career touchdown passes in the playoffs with 36, trailing Joe Montana (45) and Brett Favre (44).

Brady was 26 for 34 for 363 yards and Gronkowski made 10 catches for 145 yards as the Patriots gained 509 yards in all. In stark contrast, Tebow was 9 for 26 for 136 yards.

The Broncos won the coin toss and elected to defer. Bad idea: They never were in the game after that.

Brady hit his first eight passes for 79 yards and two touchdowns. Offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien, who's leaving to become Penn State's coach once the Patriots are done, threw in a wrinkle by using Hernandez as a running back. On one of those plays, Hernandez broke free down the left sideline for a 43-yard gain, the team's longest run this season.

But with the ball in his hands and a 14-0 lead, Brady momentarily stumbled. His throw over the middle for Julian Edelman sailed directly to safety Quinton Carter, whose weaving return set up Denver at the New England 24.

Willis McGahee scored on a 5-yard run.

Carter left the game moments later with a neck injury; Denver was already without strong safety Brian Dawkins with a neck problem. And its secondary had no chance without them.

Yes, Brady had cooled off, but only for a while.

Using the no-huddle, and aided by an effective running game, Brady hit three passes for 31 yards, with Gronkowski getting free over the middle this time for the 12-yard score. Several times, and not just on his romps into the end zone, Gronkowski simply shoved aside would-be tacklers to tack on yards after catches.

Brady's TDs covered 10, 12 and 19 yards to Gronkowski, 7 to Wes Welker, 61 to Deion Branch and 17 yards to Hernandez early in the third quarter. Coach Bill Belichick wasn't about to back off at that point, but the Patriots stalled inside the Denver 5 early in the fourth period and Stephen Gostkowski made a 21-yard field goal to conclude New England's scoring.

Hernandez left in the fourth quarter with a head injury.

"He's feeling great," Gronkowski said. "Hernandez is a beast and I love playing with him and everything."

On Brady's surprise punt, which Belichick said they had worked on for years without using, Broncos rookie linebacker Von Miller slammed into the back of New England's Dan Connolly, who wasn't looking. Matt Light then shoved Miller, Connolly turned around and got into a pushing match with Miller as several players joined in and shoved each other, spilling onto the Patriots' sideline.

Miller drew an unnecessary roughness penalty.

Notes: Brady holds team records for most playoff games with three or more TD passes (four); most yards passing in a playoff game (363); most postseason completions (450); most yards passing in postseason (4,770); most TD passes for a career (36); and most postseason victories for a quarterback (15). ... In addition to Carter's injury, S David Bruton left with a concussion in the third period. DT tackle Brodrick Bunkley also left in that quarter, with a concussion.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120115/ap_on_sp_fo_ga_su/fbn_broncos_patriots

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Wholesale Suppliers of Automotive Parts ? Drop Shipping News For ...

Wholesale Suppliers of Automotive Parts ? Drop Shipping News For Cheap Auto Parts and Repairs

The term automotive refers to materials that are made into mechanisms or components for automobiles. Examples include catalysts and supports for devices like the emission control, spark plug insulators, and sensors of various kinds.

In the automotive industry, distributors and dealers have always something new for their clients. Sale of automotive parts always includes drop shipping information to facilitate delivery as service to their clients. Hot news includes interactive automotive websites such as Intellichoice.com, Automotive.com, MotorTrend.com and many more. These websites are the premier source for auto and new car leads, used car leads, sub prime finance leads and more. For dealership, a form has to be filled up and submitted for review.

Internationally known wholesaler and manufacturer, not only have interactive websites but also have offshore factories affiliated to them for the purpose of manufacturing automotive parts.

Even though these wholesalers are well-known, quantity discounts are still given to serious customers. They sell in any quantity to meet their clients? needs. This includes drop shipping services.

Some of these well-know manufacturers and wholesalers do not have drop shipping services for shipments into other countries. They only cater to services connecting within the USA, like Hawaii and Alaska.

What is important is that the customer decides on the method of shipping. Priority Mail and United Parcel Services are included in the shipping methods. Clients are informed which are shipped through Priority Mail and which belong to United Parcel Services.

All drop-shipments must be prepaid. The cost of merchandise, handling charges and freight charges are part of the prepayment.

A handling fee is charged to customers on per shipping carton basis. Drop shipping staffs are expert in packaging each shipment. Similar items are put together and secured from any danger of damage to the merchandise. Conditions for drop-shipping are discussed by the shipping staffs to every client. That includes the different charges using the drop-ship rate chart or the actual shipping charges.

More drop-shipping news in the automotive industry is accessible on the interactive websites of these automotive manufacturers and wholesalers. This makes the clients aware of any new rules or regulations in drop-shipping services, any new automotive parts that have to be introduced in the industry, and any new car make and models for smart clients.

In order to make money in business online, one of the core factors determining this would be the strength of your supply chain. Compare the Top 3 Wholesale Directory online. Salehoo, the only Approved Wholesale directory with 100% verified Salehoo Wholesale Suppliers.
Get 2,000,000 Wholesale Products right here. 100% Guaranteed Cheapest Wholesale (75%-85% Discounts on All Products!)

Source: http://riotfest.net/673/wholesale-suppliers-of-automotive-parts-drop-shipping-news-for-cheap-auto-parts-and-repairs

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3M Touch Systems 46-inch Projected Capacitive Display hands-on (video)

Heard of Microsoft Surface? Sure you have. It's the tech that takes capacitive touch and smears it across a table-like design. While those devices, manufactured by the likes of Samsung, have begun their slow creep into the market, rival companies are hard at work on their own multi-user, widescreen touch solutions. Which is precisely what 3M Touch Systems is showing off today at CES Unveiled. At 46-inches, its prototype Projected Capacitive Technology ups the ante on user input, allowing a theoretical maximum of 60 touch points and up to four split screens. We had a chance to take the table for a test run, so click on past the break to see how it fared.

Gallery: 3M multitouch table

Continue reading 3M Touch Systems 46-inch Projected Capacitive Display hands-on (video)

3M Touch Systems 46-inch Projected Capacitive Display hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Jan 2012 21:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/UtduCAA4BFw/

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China accused by Philippines of Spratlys intrusion

China accused by Philippines of Spratlys intrusion

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Sunday, January 08, 2012

The Philippines has accused China of intruding into its waters around the disputed Spratly islands after three ships were spotted in December.

A Chinese naval vessel and two other Chinese ships were seen near the Sabina shoal on 11 and 12 December, the foreign ministry said in Manila.

China's charge d'affaires was summoned on Thursday to hear a formal protest.

Six countries dispute the area in the South China Sea, which is believed to contain huge deposits of oil and gas.

Along with China and the Philippines, they are Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan.

Philippine regional military commander Lt Gen Juancho Sabban said a Philippine navy patrol ship and an air force plane had kept watch from a distance until the Chinese vessels left the country's territorial waters.

The three had apparently come from the Chinese-occupied Mischief Reef.

"We were watching them," the commander told the Associated Press news agency.

"They did not drop anchor or unload construction materials and appeared to be just passing through."

There was no immediate, direct response from China, but a deputy foreign minister, Liu Zhenmin, said in Beijing that the situation in the South China Sea was "peaceful and stable".

Source: http://www.trangonews.com/n/China_accused_by_Philippines_of_Spratlys_intrusion/10172.aspx

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Ohioans React to President Obama's Visit (ContributorNetwork)

President Obama traveled to Ohio yesterday to discuss the state of the economy, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The president shared center stage at the Shaker Heights High School in Cleveland with former Ohio Attorney General, Richard Cordray. President Obama used the recess appointment clause to appoint Cordray the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

Ohioans shared their thoughts on the President Obama's speech via Twitter, email and instant messaging.

* "The speech offered nothing new, no real economic plan. Just the same old pep talk. Does he really expect anyone to believe that his visit to one of the biggest battleground states right after the Iowa caucus is strictly business? Just call it what it is, a campaign stop at the expense of the taxpayers. Why does he need to visit a single city to discuss anything with all the national media at his disposal?" -- Lonnie Clark, small business owner, Cleveland.

* "President Obama said exactly what we needed to hear. He has to battle the Republicans at every turn to get anything accomplished. The President has a plan to fix our economy and is making strikes. He is always so inspiring. I am glad he visited our state, sharing his message and listening to what we have to say. People need to have patience, he will get the economy fixed, it was just too broken when he took office to accomplish everything overnight." -- Rashawna Eastman, Ohio State University graduate student, Columbus.

* "There is nothing wrong with Cordray, but we do not need another governmental agency. A bunch of politicians sitting around debating the same old questions does nothing to fix a problem. Does our current commander in chief actually spend any time in his office working? He spends millions of dollars of our money on a nearly two week vacation in Hawaii and then returns to Washington, packs a bag and heads to Ohio to campaign. Make no mistake about it, this was a campaign stop." -- Natalie Cook, pediatric nurse, Cincinnati.

* "There was really no point to the speech. He announced Cordray as his consumer director and said nothing else of any substance. I do not believe that a trip by any American President during a campaign year is strictly business. I am glad that Obama is coming to Ohio though. I am still waiting to hear his plan to pull us back from the brink of insolvency." -- Dale Stevens, unemployed, Cleveland.

* "President Obama offered both encouragement and hope during his speech. He demonstrated how much he cares about regular people by visiting an elderly couple who had been screwed by the bank. He and his staff ate pies the lady made. The Republicans have to start understanding that more taxes are needed to keep the poor from living on the streets and prevent the middle class from becoming the poor." -- Bryce Messer, Ohio University student, Athens.

* "I was not disappointed in President Obama's speech, he delivered exactly what I expected - nothing. He is a PR guy and nothing more. That man sure does enjoy the sound of his own voice. Talk, talk, talk, travel, talk, talk, more travel-that is all he has done since taking office. Foolish voters supported a man with the least amount of experience of any candidate who ever ran for the office. The 2012 election cannot come soon enough." -- Reuben Swartz, small-business owner, Columbus.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120106/pl_ac/10791373_ohioans_react_to_president_obamas_visit

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Boy or girl? Simple blood test in the first trimester predicts fetal gender

ScienceDaily (Jan. 3, 2012) ? A new research study published in the January 2012 edition of The FASEB Journal describes findings that could lead to a non-invasive test that would let expecting mothers know the sex of their baby as early as the first trimester. Specifically, researchers from South Korea discovered that various ratios of two enzymes (DYS14/GAPDH), which can be extracted from a pregnant mother's blood, indicate if the baby will be a boy or a girl. Such a test would be the first of its kind.

"Generally, early fetal gender determination has been performed by invasive procedures such as chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis. However, these invasive procedures still carry a one to two percent risk of miscarriage and cannot be performed until 11 weeks of gestation. Moreover, reliable determination of fetal gender using ultrasonography cannot be performed in the first trimester, because the development of external genitalia is not complete," said Hyun Mee Ryu, M.D., Ph.D., a researcher involved in the work from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynocology at Cheil General Hospital and Women's Healthcare Center at the KwanDong University School of Medicine in Seoul, Korea. "Therefore, this can reduce the need for invasive procedures in pregnant women carrying an X-linked chromosomal abnormality and clarify inconclusive readings by ultrasound."

To make this discovery, Ryu and colleagues collected maternal plasma from 203 women during their first trimester of pregnancy. The presence of circulating fetal DNA was confirmed by a quantitative methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction of U-PDE9A. Multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to simultaneously quantify the amount of DYS14 and GAPDH in maternal plasma. The results were confirmed by phenotype at birth.

"Although more work must be done before such a test is widely available, this paper does show it is possible to predict the sex of a child as early as the first few weeks after conception," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. "At present, parents are sometimes given the wrong information about the sex of their unborn child; this test should prove helpful in resolving any uncertainties of today's ultrasound observations."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. J. H. Lim, S. Y. Park, S. Y. Kim, D. J. Kim, J. E. Choi, M. H. Kim, J. S. Choi, M. Y. Kim, J. H. Yang, H. M. Ryu. Effective detection of fetal sex using circulating fetal DNA in first-trimester maternal plasma. The FASEB Journal, 2011; 26 (1): 250 DOI: 10.1096/fj.11-191429

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120103135454.htm

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Future awards out of question?

Buster Olney posed an interesting question on Twitter and then in his column this morning:

If?Ryan Braun?is suspended for his positive drug test, will writers never again consider Braun for any award during his playing career? In other words, if he?s suspended 50 games this year, then passes all subsequent tests and hits 60 homers in 2015, would they leave him off their MVP ballot because of what transpired in 2011/2012?

To be clear: Olney has come out staunchly against the BBWAA reconsidering Braun?s award and is on record opposed to Hall of Fame voters turning themselves into the morality police. So in this I take that Olney would be decidedly against anyone treating Braun differently in the future for awards purposes.

But would they do such a thing?

My gut on this is no, Braun would not face some sort of defacto discipline from awards voters as a result of what looks like it will be a 50-game drug suspension in 2012. ?The biggest reason: the different voting pools for the Hall of Fame and the postseason awards.

Awards voters are active, working baseball writers. Primarily beat reporters who skew younger, smarter and more open-minded than the Hall of Fame electorate as a whole. As I?ve said before, I wish these men and women had the Hall of Fame vote to themselves too, but alas they don?t. ?Maybe I?m wrong about that. The awards electorate does not strike me as a body that would mete out some sort of moralistic justice against Braun. If he put up another MVP-worthy season I presume, absent any future PED questions, he?d get his plaque just like he did this year.

Bonus Braun stuff: ?There have been rumors floating around about what may have caused Braun?s positive test. It has been said by some that got a false-positive caused by a treatment he?s receiving for a ?private medical issue.? ?A rumor has started to spread about what the private medical issue is. ?I don?t like to get into fanning the flames on such rumors, but if there is some scientific or medical fact that we can throw into the mix to at least make such rumors more informed, that can?t be a bad thing.

To that end, I direct you to a blog post by long, long long-time reader Paul Sax ? who is a doctor and who is the Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Brigham and Women?s Hospital ? in which he talks about what could have led to Braun?s positive test and what it means for those rumors that are floating around. ?Upshot: if the rumors are right, Braun has a right to be pretty mad at his doctor.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/05/are-future-awards-out-of-the-question-for-ryan-braun/related/

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The Evolving Truth about Fracking for Natural Gas [Updated]

Web Exclusives | Energy & Sustainability

Scientists are speaking out about the risks that fracking may or may not pose to drinking water

By Mark Fischetti ?| January 3, 2012?| 35

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Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=f2fc64ff956066b213fbc4003f75f04f

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Samsung outs revamped Galaxy Ace Plus: bigger screen, worse resolution

Samsung clearly didn't spend the holiday season kicking back listening to Dick Clark, or else it wouldn't be able to show off the revamped edition of the Galaxy Ace: the Galaxy Ace Plus. Unimaginative names aside, the budget blower gets a speed bump, to last year's minimum spec -- 1GHz processor, five megapixel camera, 3GB internal memory, HSDPA and a 3.65-inch HVGA (320 x 480) screen (really, Samsung?). You'll get the same combination of Gingerbread and TouchWiz, so you might have to go elsewhere if you wanna upgrade to ICS. The cheapie phone will go on sale this month in Europe, Russia, Latin America, Asia, Africa and China, we guess retailing in the same bracket as its predecessor. Head on past the break to read all about it in a combination of words and punctuation we like to call a press release.

Update: The phone's resolution hasn't changed in the update, but the screen size has, which means the pixel density is now worse than before.

Continue reading Samsung outs revamped Galaxy Ace Plus: bigger screen, worse resolution

Samsung outs revamped Galaxy Ace Plus: bigger screen, worse resolution originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Jan 2012 06:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/03/samsung-outs-revamped-galaxy-ace-plus-bigger-screen-worse-reso/

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Quakes could cause shift in support for fracking

COLUMBUS, Ohio?? In Ohio, geographically and politically positioned to become a leading importer of wastewater from gas drilling, environmentalists and lawmakers opposed to the technique known as fracking are seizing on a series of small earthquakes as a signal to proceed with caution.

Earthquakes caused by the injection of wastewater that's a byproduct of high-pressure hydraulic fracture drilling, aren't new. Yet earthquakes have a special ability to grab public attention.

That's especially true after Saturday's quake near Youngstown, at magnitude 4.0 strong enough to be felt across hundreds of square miles. Gov. John Kasich, a drilling proponent, has shut down the wastewater well on which the quake has been blamed, along with others in the area, as the seismic activity is reviewed.

"Drilling's very important for our economy and to help us progress as a state, but every single person in the Mahoning Valley felt this earthquake," said state Sen. Joe Schiavoni, a Youngstown Democrat who on Tuesday called for a public hearing.

"I wouldn't deem it as an emergency, but when you live in a place that you're not used to earthquakes and you have 11 earthquakes, you're concerned," he said. "We need to give them some sort of confidence or security that this is going to be OK."

Fracking involves blasting millions of gallons of water, laced with chemicals and sand, deep into the ground to unlock vast reserves of natural gas, a boon both for energy companies and a public hungry for cheap sources of fuel.

That process, though, leaves behind toxic wastewater that must be expensively treated or else pumped deep into the earth. The wastewater is extremely briny and can contain toxic chemicals from the drilling process ? and sometimes radioactivity from deep underground.

The practice of dumping underground has been controversial in light of scant research done on potential environmental dangers, highlighted by reports of contamination of aquifers in some communities in Pennsylvania and Wyoming. Some states are reconsidering it.

A coalition of environmental groups is preparing a protest for next week's return of the Ohio Legislature. Activists opposed to increased oil and gas drilling activity across Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and West Virginia ? where the Utica and Marcellus Shale formations are believed to hold vast quantities of gas ? see trouble with the Ohio injection well. It took wastewater from fracking, as well as other forms of drilling.

"What other business or industry isn't held accountable for its full cradle-to-grave processes?" said Deborah Nardone, director of the Sierra Club's Natural Gas Campaign. "They need to be responsible for the waste stream that they've created."

Ohio's closure of the well will have little to no impact on drilling, said Travis Windle, a spokesman for the Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry group based in Pennsylvania. Four of the five wells that Ohio shut down were not operational, Windle said.

Pennsylvania's drillers have turned in recent months to deep-well injection of millions of gallons of wastewater because of a voluntary state moratorium last year on dumping of waste at treatment plants where the partially treated liquids are discharged into rivers and streams that drinking water is taken from.

Pennsylvania has six deep injection wells that currently accept fracking fluid, said Amanda Witman, a spokeswoman for the Department of Environmental Protection. But much of its waste is trucked into Ohio, where the geology allows for more injection wells.

Ohio's willingness to accept the fracking leftovers amid a drilling boom in states to the east, south and west worries some residents and environmental advocates who say the science isn't proven ? and point to the earthquakes as evidence.

The Ohio Petroleum Council, an industry group, says any public anxiety is misplaced.

"Injection wells have worked well to protect public safety for decades, and a situation like the one in question near Youngstown is very rare," executive director Terry Fleming said in a statement.

Kasich told reporters over the weekend that he doesn't believe the energy industry should be blamed for issues arising from disposal of their byproducts. That would be like blaming the auto industry for improper disposal of old tires, the first-term Republican said.

Scientists have known for decades that drilling or injecting water into areas where a fault exists can cause earthquakes, said Paul Hsieh, a research hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, Calif.

"That's widely documented and accepted within the science community," he said. "It's seen all over the world."

Injection wells have also been suspected in quakes in Arkansas, Colorado and Oklahoma.

Oklahoma's sharpest earthquake on record, of magnitude 5.8 on Nov. 5, was centered on a county that has 181 such wells, according to Matt Skinner, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, which oversees oil and gas production in the state and intrastate transportation pipelines.

However, a study by the Oklahoma Geological Survey released earlier in 2011 found that most of the state's seismic activity didn't appear to be tied to the wells, although more investigation was needed.

"It's a real mystery," seismologist Austin Holland said in November. "At this point, there's no reason to think that the earthquakes would be caused by anything other than natural" shifts in the Earth's crust.

New York state's Department of Environmental Conservation is wrapping up an environmental impact review and proposed new regulations for gas drilling. Permitting for new gas wells has been on hold since the review began almost four years ago.

While the proposed permit guidelines do mention injection wells as a possible means of wastewater disposal, any shutdown of such wells in Ohio would have no effect on New York's regulatory process, department spokesman Emily DeSantis said Tuesday.

James Smith, spokesman for the Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York, said he knows of no drillers in the state who are shipping waste to Ohio and whether they would in the future is a matter of speculation.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45862549/ns/business-oil_and_energy/

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03:00 pm Women's Basketball at New York University (NYU New Year's Classic)

General contact: Wesleyan Station, Middletown, CT 06459, (860) 685-2000 ? Office of Admission: 70 Wyllys Avenue, (860) 685-3000

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Lariscy: Negative political ads are here to stay (CNN)

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Reports: Penn State zeroing in on new head coach

Bill O'Brien is currently the offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots. Could he be Penn State's next head football coach? (File photo)

Several media outlets are reporting this afternoon that Penn State has identified New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien as the coach it wants to succeed Joe Paterno and that university officials hope to meet with him this week to work out the details of a contract.

O'Brien, 42, is in the last year of his contract as the Patriots offensive coordinator. He is a graduate of Brown University, just like Joe Paterno.

According to ESPN, Penn State is expected to intensify its efforts to hire O'Brien following Monday's TicketCity Bowl between Penn State and Houston.

Meanwhile, Jonny Saraceno of USA Today stated today that "only contract details need to be finalized" before Penn State names O'Brien as the football program's new head coach.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette also has a new report this afternoon on the coaching search, which may still include Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Munchak. Read the Post-Gazette report here.

Source: http://www.ydr.com/ci_19654341?source=rss_viewed

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SWEDISH WOMAN FINDS WEDDING RING AFTER 16 YEARS, ON A CARROT

A Swedish woman who lost her?wedding ring?16 years ago was flabbergasted when she found it again, around a carrot growing in her garden, media reported Saturday.

Lena Paahlsson?had taken off the?white gold ring?before a?Christmas baking?session with her daughters in 1995, but it had disappeared from the kitchen counter where she placed it.

After looking everywhere, and even pulling up floorboards in the search,?Paahlsson?and her family, who live on a farm in northern Sweden, had given up on seeing the ring again, she told the?Dagens Nyheter?daily.

That was until October this year, when she was picking the last carrots in her garden and suddenly found one with her ring glimmering around it.

The family thinks the ring must have fallen into the sink back in 1995 and been mixed with potato peels that were composted or fed to the sheep, since all the soil in the garden comes from composted vegetables and sheep dung.

The ring no longer fits Paahlsson, but she told Dagens Nyheter she plans to have it enlarged.

?I had given up hope. Now that I have found the ring again ? I want to be able to use it,? she said.

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NASA probe circling the moon on New Year's Eve (AP)

PASADENA, Calif. ? As planet Earth rang in the new year, a different kind of countdown was happening at the moon.

After a 3 1/2-month journey, a NASA spacecraft flew over the moon's south pole, fired its engine and dropped into orbit Saturday in the first of two back-to-back arrivals over the New Year's weekend.

Mission control at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory erupted in cheers and applause after receiving confirmation that the probe was healthy and circling the moon. An engineer was seen on closed-circuit television blowing a noisemaker to herald the New Year's Eve arrival.

"Everything went just as we hoped. The burn was spot-on," chief scientist Maria Zuber of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said in a post-mission interview with The Associated Press.

The team toasted sparkling cider, but the celebration was brief. Despite the successful maneuver, the work was not over. Its twin still had to enter lunar orbit on New Year's Day.

The Grail probes ? short for Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory ? have been cruising independently toward their destination since launching in September aboard the same rocket on a mission to measure lunar gravity.

Hours before revelers in Times Square watched the ball drop, Grail-A approached the moon and fired its engine for about 40 minutes to get captured into orbit. Deep space antennas in the California desert and Madrid tracked every move and fed real-time updates to ground controllers

About 270 family members and friends of the mission team descended on the NASA campus to watch the drama unfold on a live feed.

"This is great, a big relief," deputy project scientist Sami Asmar told the jubilant crowd.

Grail is the 110th mission to target the moon since the dawn of the Space Age including the six Apollo moon landings that put 12 astronauts on the surface. Despite the attention the moon has received, scientists don't know everything about Earth's nearest neighbor.

Why the moon is ever so slightly lopsided with the far side more mountainous than the side that always faces Earth remains a mystery. A theory put forth earlier this year suggested that Earth once had two moons that collided early in the solar system's history, producing the hummocky region.

Grail is expected to help researchers better understand why the moon is asymmetrical and how it formed by mapping the uneven lunar gravity field that will indicate what's below the surface.

Previous lunar missions have attempted to study the moon's gravity ? which is about one-sixth Earth's pull ? with mixed results. Grail is the first mission devoted to this goal.

Once in orbit, the near-identical spacecraft will spend the next two months refining their positions until they are just 34 miles above the surface and flying in formation. Data collection will begin in March.

The $496 million mission will be closely watched by schoolchildren. An effort by Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, will allow middle school students to use cameras aboard the probes to zoom in and pick out their favorite lunar spots to photograph.

Despite the latest focus on the moon, NASA won't be sending astronauts back anytime soon. The Obama administration last year nixed a lunar return in favor of landing humans on an asteroid and eventually Mars.

A jaunt to the moon is usually speedy. It took the Apollo astronauts three days to zip there aboard the powerful Saturn V rocket. Since NASA wanted to economize by launching on a small rocket, it took Grail a leisurely 3 1/2 months to make a roundabout trip.

NASA's last moonshot occurred in 2009 with the launch of a pair of spacecraft ? one that circled the moon and another that deliberately crashed into the surface and uncovered frozen water in one of the permanently shadowed lunar craters.

___

Online:

Mission: http://grail.nasa.gov

___

Follow Alicia Chang's coverage at http://www.twitter.com/SciWriAlicia

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120101/ap_on_sc/us_sci_nasa_moonshot

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