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Fruit, Berry and Nut Inventory: An Inventory of Nursery Catalogs Listing all Fruit, Berry and Nut Varieties Available read Historic Wallpapers in the Whitworth Art Gallery, from the collection presented to the Gallery in 1967 download e-book The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe: The Case of the Midnight Ride & Other Tales
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama plans to appoint longtime adviser Jason Furman to be his new chief White Houseeconomist, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Furman, who will replace economist Alan Krueger as chair of the White House's Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), has a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University and has advised Obama since his 2008 election campaign.
Furman has been instrumental in formulating administration policies on taxes, the response to the U.S. recession, and efforts to avoid a "fiscal cliff" at the end of last year.
Krueger, who was confirmed as CEA chair in November 2011, is returning to his professor post at Princeton University, from which he has been on leave, the White House confirmed.
"Alan was the driving force behind many of the economic policies that I have proposed that will grow our economy and create middle-class jobs," Obama said in a statement.
"And while we have more work to do, today our economy is improving - thanks, in no small part, to Alan's efforts," he said.
Krueger had to return to the school by this fall in order to maintain his tenure, according to one source.
A White House spokeswoman declined to comment on Furman.
Furman is currently assistant to the president for economic policy and principal deputy director of the White House National Economic Council (NEC), which is run by Gene Sperling, and was an economist in the Clinton administration.
When former NEC head Larry Summers left the administration at the end of 2010, Furman was considered a possible replacement, but the post went to Sperling instead.
"He's as bright and able as any economist I've worked with," Summers said of Furman in an interview. "I think he'll be terrific."
The CEA advises the president on domestic and international economic policy based on data and economic research. The chairman is a cabinet member and requires Senate confirmation.
Former colleagues said Furman would be effective because of his good relationship with the president and White House staff.
"Jason has got analytical chops plus extensive economic experience. The president listens to him," said Austan Goolsbee, a University of Chicago professor and former CEA chair under Obama.
"It's hard to find someone with his combination of policy experience and pragmatism along with serious economic and analytic rigor," said Jason Bordoff, a professor at Columbia University and a former White House adviser on energy issues.
"He's strategic. He understands how the White House policy process works, all of which will allow the CEA to be incredibly relevant," he said.
The appointment is likely a sign that budget and tax fights with Congress will continue to play a high profile role in White House economic policy. It could also raise the profile of the CEA within the White House itself.
(Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Sandra Maler)
One musical icon reached out to another Sunday when former Beatle Paul McCartney visited Graceland and left one of his guitar picks on the grave of the late Elvis Presley.
McCartney was in Memphis to play a concert at FedEx Forum as part of his "Out There" tour. McCartney said that the pick was "so Elvis can play guitar in heaven," the Associated Press reports.
He also tweeted a photo of himself inside the mansion holding one of Presley's personalized guitars.
Although Sunday's visit to Graceland was believed to be the first time McCartney visited the historic home, Presley and The Beatles famously met in Los Angeles in 1965 for just four hours. Both McCartney and Beatle John Lennon often cited Presley as an influence, covering many of his songs. Presley died at Graceland in 1977.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]A postmenopausal woman could have a baby from her own previously frozen eggs, though the eggs have to have been stored in time.
BOSTON ? The Red Sox saved their best for last Sunday afternoon. A four-run eruption in the ninth inning gave them a 6-5 walk-off win over the Indians. It was the only lead the Sox had all day. ? It was the Sox? fourth walk-off win this season, just their second when trailing after eight innings, and 12th come-from-behind win. It was the first time they have scored four runs in an inning to win in a walk-off since overcoming a 5-0 deficit to win 6-5 against the Orioles on May 13, 2007. ? Left-hander Felix Doubront started and gave up two runs in the first inning. He settled down, though, at one point retiring a string of 10 straight Indians batters, five on strikeouts. ? Doubront? was not involved in the decision. He went six innings, giving up four runs, two earned, on five hits and two walks with eight strikeouts and two home runs. ? Craig Breslow, who pitched the final two innings, earned the win. He gave up one run on two hits,? improving to 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA. ? The Indians got to Doubront for two unearned runs in the first. Michael Bourn opened the game with a single and stole second and Jason Kipnis reached on a Jacoby Ellsbury error. After Asdrubal Cabrera struck out, Nick Swisher singled to load the bases.? After Mark Reynolds struck out, Carlos Santana singled, scoring Bourn and Kipnis. But, Santana was thrown out trying to stretch a double. ? The Red Sox got a run in the third when Stephen Drew led off with a ground-rule double, scoring on a two-out single by Daniel Nava, who was thrown out trying to stretch a double. ? Solo home runs by Kipnis with two outs in the fifth, just beyond the Pesky Pole, and Swisher leading off the sixth extended Cleveland?s lead. ? With one out in the second, Doubront allowed back-to-back walks to Cleveland?s Nos. 8 and 9 hitters, Mike Aviles and Drew Stubbs, Doubront then retired the next 10 batters ? five on strikeouts ? before Kipnis? home run. ? With Craig Breslow in for the eighth, Kipnis led off with a double to right-center, taking third on Cabrera?s single to center, and scoring on Swisher?s sacrifice fly, as Cabrera was caught off first base, giving the Indians a 5-1 lead. ? The Sox added a run in the eighth when Drew led off with a triple, scoring on Jose Iglesias? sacrifice fly. ? Trailing by three the Red Sox sent eight batters to the plate in the ninth to face Chris Perez. Dustin Pedroia led off with a walk, followed by a David Ortiz double. Pedroia scored on Napoli?s ground out. With Saltalamacchia batting, Ortiz stole third base ? for the second time in his career and second time in less than a week ? and scored on Saltalamacchia?s groundout. After Gomes walked, Drew singled sending Gomes to third, and Drew stole second base. Iglesias walked, loading the bases for Ellsbury. But on a 2-and-1 pitch to Ellsbury, Perez was injured, bringing in Joe Smith. ? Ellsbury needed just one pitch, slamming a double into center field, scoring the tying and winning runs. ? Alex Wilson pitched a scoreless seventh, giving up one walk with a strikeout. ? Perez? (2-1, 4.32) took the loss, while Smith was charged with his first blown save. ? The Sox won the season series against the Indians, 5-2.
STAR OF THE GAME: Jacoby Ellsbury Ellsbury took the first pitch he saw from Joe Smith - entering the game as an injury replacement for Chris Perez, with two outs, the bases loaded, two runs already in, the Sox trailing by a run, with a 2-and-1 count - and drilled it into center field for a walk-off double. ? It was Ellsbury's fourth career walk-off hit, and first since Sept. 11, 2012 (his birthday) against the Yankees. Three of his four walk-off hits have come against the Indians, including back-to-back games in 2011, a single on Aug. 2 and a home run ? also off Smith ? on Aug. 3. ? Ellsbury has driven in the game-winning run in each of Boston?s last three walk-off wins against the Indians. ? HONORABLE MENTION: Stephen Drew Drew went 3-for-4 with three runs scored, a double, a triple and a stolen base? ? a home run shy of the cycle. He raised his average from .205 to .222, and scored the game-tying run on Ellsbury?s walk-off double. ? Drew matched his season high in extra-base hits for the third time. The triple was his third of the season, all at Fenway Park. Since 1978, the only other Sox shortstop with at least three triples in a season is Nomar Garciaparra, who did it four times. ? THE GOAT: Chris Perez Given a three-run lead in the ninth, Perez entered for what could have been his seventh save of the season. Instead, he gave up four runs and the game, facing eight batters. Perez left with a shoulder injury, and a 2-and-1 count to Ellsbury. The situation Smith inherited from Perez could not have been more difficult for a reliever. Perez was charged with the loss, falling to 2-1 with a 4.32 ERA. ? THE TURNING POINT In his first three plate appearances, Iglesias was hit by a pitch, grounded out, and hit a sacrifice fly. In the ninth inning, he went to the plate with two outs, a runner on first and the Sox trailing by two runs. After being down 0-and-1 and then fouling off a couple of pitches, he worked a seven-pitch walk, to bring up Ellsbury. Ellsbury?s game-winning double scored two runs, with Iglesias as the game-winner.
? BY THE NUMBERS It was the 1st time the Sox have scored four runs in an inning to win in walk-off fashion since overcoming a 5-0 deficit to win 6-5 on May 13, 2007, against the Orioles, in a game that was known as the ?Mother?s Day Miracle.? It was the Sox fourth walk-off win this season, and their second win when trailing after eight innings (they are now 2-15 in such situations) and 12th come-from-behind victory. ? QUOTE OF NOTE ?I?ve never really been in that situation.? But I know him coming in, his mindset is to throw a strike and try to make it 2-2. I figured I?d be aggressive, if I got my pitch.? -- Jacoby Ellsbury, on his walk-off double, after a pitching change during his at-bat.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Sen. John McCain, a proponent of arming Syrian rebels, quietly slipped into Syria for a meeting with anti-government fighters Monday.
Spokeswoman Rachael Dean confirms the Arizona Republican made the visit. She declined further comment about the trip.
The visit took place amid meetings in Paris involving efforts to secure participation of Syria's fractured opposition in an international peace conference in Geneva.
And in Brussels, the European Union decided late Monday to lift the arms embargo on the Syrian opposition while maintaining all other sanctions against Bashar Assad's regime after June 1, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said following the meeting.
Two years of violence in Syria has killed more than 70,000 people. President Barack Obama has demanded that Assad leave power, while Russia has stood by Syria, its closest ally in the Arab world.
McCain has been a fierce critic of Obama administration policy there while stopping short of backing U.S. ground troops in Syria, but he supports aggressive military steps against the Assad regime.
Gen. Salem Idris, chief of the Supreme Military Council of the Free Syrian Army, accompanied McCain across the Turkey-Syria border. McCain met with leaders of the Free Syrian Army from across the country, who asked him for increased U.S. support, including heavy weapons, a no-fly zone and airstrikes on Syrian government and Hezbollah forces, according to The Daily Beast, which first reported the senator's unannounced visit.
The White House declined to comment late Monday.
A State Department official said the department was aware of McCain crossing into Syrian territory on Monday. Further questions were referred to McCain's office.
Last Tuesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to provide weapons to rebels in Syria, as well as military training to vetted rebel groups and sanctions against anyone who sells oil or transfers arms to the Assad regime. McCain is a member of the committee.
__
Associated Press writer Bradley Klapper in Paris contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Senator John McCain, a former presidential candidate and one of the loudest voices calling for military aid to the Syrian opposition, met with some of the rebels during a surprise visit to the war-torn country on Monday, his spokesman said.
Spokesman Brian Rogers confirmed McCain's meeting with the rebels, but declined to give any details about the visit, which came a week after a U.S. Senate panel voted overwhelmingly to send weapons to forces fighting the Syrian government.
General Salem Idris, who leads the Supreme Military Council of the Free Syrian Army, told the Daily Beast in an interview that McCain's visit came at a critical time for the rebels, who have stepped up their calls for U.S. support, including heavy weapons, creation of a no-fly zone and air strikes.
"The visit of Senator McCain to Syria is very important and very useful especially at this time," the publication quoted Idris as saying. "We need American help to have change on the ground; we are now in a very critical situation."
McCain entered Syria from the country's border with Turkey and stayed there for several hours before returning to Turkey, according to the report. It said McCain met with assembled leaders of Free Syrian Army units in both Turkey and Syria.
McCain, who made a similar visit to Libya early in that conflict, called for U.S. military aid to the forces opposing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a Time magazine column earlier this month, arguing that the cost of inaction outweighed the cost of intervention.
"The U.S. does not have to act alone, put boots on the ground or destroy every Syrian air-defense system to make a difference," McCain wrote, arguing that training for the rebels, targeted air strikes and the stationing of Patriot missiles just across the border would help change the current dynamic.
McCain recalled his support for a U.S.-led effort under then President Bill Clinton to stop mass atrocities in Bosnia two decades ago and said the United States was uniquely positioned to help in Syria as well.
"Taking these steps would save innocent lives, give the moderate opposition a better chance to succeed and eventually provide security and responsible governance in Syria after Assad," he wrote in the Time magazine article. "However, the longer we wait, the worse the situation gets."
The Obama administration has increased humanitarian aid, but has stopped short of providing lethal assistance to Syrian opposition forces. President Barack Obama has resisted pressure to deepen U.S. involvement in Syria's civil war, wary of getting U.S. forces embroiled in another ground war just as American troops are preparing to withdraw from Afghanistan.
The Pentagon remains concerned about Assad's ability to shoot down enemy aircraft with surface-to-air missiles, particularly in a sustained campaign.
The Pentagon estimates than Syria has five times more air defenses than those that existed in Libya, where the United States helped establish a no-fly zone in 2011. They are also far more densely packed and sophisticated.
In Libya, there were no Western casualties. But the risks are higher in Syria and it's unclear whether the war-weary American public - exhausted by the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan - would tolerate U.S. casualties.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Eric Walsh)
Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia are the couple that make up Amadou & Mariam, an afro-blues group from Mali. The pair has been performing for decades and have released seven albums, including last year's Folila, along with a number of compilations. Both musicians are blind and they are sometimes called "the blind couple from Mali," which is sort of more informational than it is a nickname.
I first started listening to Amadou & Mariam in 2000 when they released Tje Ni Mousso, and my favorite track from that album is still Si Ni Kan. Most of Amadou & Mariam's music is in Bambara, the national language of Mali, but they also sing in French or occasionally in English, Spanish, or another Malian language. I haven't looked into the meaning of their lyrics because it's so easy to appreciate the rhythm and diverse instrumentation in their music anyway, but it would be cool to know what some of these tracks are about. [Spotify, Amazon, iTunes]
It's been another busy week here on iMore, and as we get closer and closer to WWDC 2013 we're starting to see more iOS 7 rumors surface. Also making headlines this week was Yahoo!, who had a pretty busy Monday, Microsoft's future of the Xbox event, oh, and we were treated to an all-new iMore Show! Read on for the recap!
We'll start with Yahoo!, who came out swinging this past Monday. Rumors had been rife that they were preparing a bid to acquire blogging platform Tumblr, and those rumors turned into truth on Monday morning. Yahoo! and Tumblr announced the deal was to take place, and would be worth $1.1 billion in cash. Yahoo! CEO, Marissa Meyer, posted her first blog post on Tumblr that very same morning, proclaiming that "we promise we won't screw it up." Nice touch.
Then, at a press event in New York on Monday evening, Meyer herself took to the stage at the Flickr press event and presented a major overhaul to the popular photography service. The headline items were an all-new, and pretty awesome looking interface, along with a new pricing strategy that sees every single user on a free account receive a full terabyte of storage for their photos. An insane amount of free storage for your photos.
Next it was over to Microsoft to impress, with their Xbox event up at the company's Richmond headquarters. Our buddies from Windows Phone Central provided excellent coverage of the event, but while there was no specific mention of iOS related items, it's hard to deny that we were all pretty impressed. With gestures and speech recognition galore, did Microsoft beat Apple to making the killer Apple TV? Both Derek Kessler and Peter Cohan have written excellent pieces on the Xbox One and how it may fit into our world, so be sure to check them out if you missed them first time around.
Unless you've been living under a rock, you'll know that excitement is building as we get ever closer to WWDC 2013. We all have things we'd like to see come out of the annual developer conference, but likewise there's things we're pretty sure we will be seeing. One such thing is iOS 7, and this week a couple of rumors surfaced on what to expect. Firstly we heard that Flickr and Vimeo may well be integrated into iOS 7, much the same as Twitter and Facebook currently are. Then we were treated to the latest rumor around Jony Ive's all-new, flatter UI and that it is set to be "black, white and flat all over." Rumors are still just that, rumors, but it does still build up our anticipation ahead of WWDC.
Apple CEO Tim Cook made the trip cross-country this week to appear at a Senate hearing regarding the company's approach to taxes. Chris Umiastowski posted an excellent editorial on the subject that really got the iMore readers engaged, so if you happened to miss that one be sure to give it a read.
Elsewhere this week, Peter Cohan gave us some excellent tips on how to breathe new life into your ageing Mac Pro, well worth reading if, like many, you're clinging onto your Mac Pro until the bitter end. Leanna continued her round up of photography related apps, this week moving onto a great selection for the professional photographer. And, speaking of photography, I just so happened to come across a piece of vintage Apple in the QuickTake 150 digital camera, so I had to share it with you guys. Ally also posted an excellent piece on where to find the best pre-paid deal for your iPhone in the U.S. All well worth a read.
Next week we'll be telling you all about #TM13, but this week we told you about the launch party in New York City! If that's not enough, we're offering a trip for two to NYC and the launch party where you'll get to meet all the editors from Mobile Nations. If you haven't entered yet, what are you waiting for?!
And last, but by no means least, this week saw the first edition of our revamped iMore Show. Rene and Peter were joined by Derek Kessler, our Mobile Nations EiC-at-large, along with Michael Simmons of Flexibits to talk Apple Taxes, the Xbox One, the Mac Pro, apps, accessories and more!
There you have it, the best of iMore for the week. What stood out for you in everything that went on in the last 7 days? What do you still want to comment about? Have at it below!
BEIJING (AP) ? U.S. National Security Adviser Tom Donilon began discussions with Chinese officials Monday for a summit between their two presidents that will confront divisive security issues while trying to overcome a growing distrust between the governments.
Donilon and State Councilor Yang Jiechi, China's senior foreign policy official, said next month's summit is a chance for the U.S.'s Barack Obama and China's Xi Jinping to work through problems. Though they did not identify those challenges in their public remarks, ties are strained across the board, from longstanding differences over Iran's and North Korea's nuclear programs to new disputes over cyber-attacks and China's more assertive pursuit of territorial claims against U.S. allies Japan and the Philippines.
In a sign that both sides want to stem the drift besetting ties, the summit now scheduled for June 7-8 is taking place months earlier than the two presidents were supposed to meet. It's their first face-to-face meeting since Obama's re-election and Xi's promotion to head of the Communist Party last November. The setting ? at the private estate of the late publishing tycoon Walter Annenberg in southern California ? is supposed to be informal, giving Xi and Obama and chance to build a rapport.
That Xi agreed to an informal summit has been seen by Chinese and U.S. experts as positive. His predecessors always preferred formal state visits, splashing images of White House ceremonies and banquets in the Chinese media to bolster their standing as world statesmen.
Good will aside, distrust has deepened in relations in recent years as the U.S. feels its world leadership challenged and China, its power growing, demands greater deference to its interests and a larger say over global rule-setting. Chinese officials and state media regularly say Washington is thwarting China's rise, strengthening alliances in Asia to hem in Beijing and discouraging Chinese investment in the U.S. on national security issues.
The official Xinhua News Agency reported Monday that late last week battle ships and submarines from the Chinese navy's three fleets staged a war game in the South China Sea. The area is already a flashpoint, with Beijing's aggressive claims to disputed islands having rattled the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.
On Sunday, Li Keqiang ? on a visit to Germany in his first trip abroad as China's premier ? pressed China's claim to a cluster of East China Sea islands held by Japan. Traveling to Potsdam, where allied powers declared the terms for Japan's surrender 68 years ago in the waning days of World War II, Li told reporters that Japan must not "deny or glorify the history of fascist aggression."
The aggrieved sense emanating from Beijing goes beyond recent flare-ups in old territorial disputes. The website of the People's Daily, the Communist Party's flagship newspaper, is running a recurring column that takes a critical look at Americans and their institutions. First called "Immoral, dishonest Americans," the title of the column was changed to "The Americans you don't know about."
State Councilor Yang in welcoming Donilon said his trip helps "in strengthening the bilateral trust and cooperation." Looking toward the summit, Donilon said, "The meeting will be an important opportunity for our presidents to have in-depth discussions about US-China relations, and a wide range of global and regional challenges facing both our countries."
One item on Donilon's summit agenda is the guest list. Xi will stop in California after formal visits to Trinidad and Tobago and Mexico where he will be accompanied by a large group of senior officials. If that entourage descends in full on the Sunnylands estate, U.S. diplomats said the White House might feel the need to bring similarly large numbers, making the summit less intimate.
Why sign up for a one-way Mars trip? Three applicants explain the appeal - Cosmic Log
NASA / STScI
Mars looms large in a Hubble Space Telescope photo - and in the imaginations of those who have signed up for a one-way trip to the Red Planet. "It's not that I'm trying to get away," says 18-year-old Kayli McArthur, one of tens of thousands of applicants. "It's like I'm trying to strive for something more."
By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News
A one-way trip to Mars sounds like something you'd wish on your worst enemy ? so why would more than 78,000 people from around the world pay up to $75 for a chance to die on another planet?
"I can say I have an ulterior motive," said David Brin, who has written more than a dozen science-fiction novels ??including "The Postman," which was turned into a Kevin Costner movie in 1997. "I'd get a lot of writing done, and it might be memorable."
As a master of hard science fiction, the 62-year-old Brin knows better than most applicants what the first Red Planet settlers would face if they're sent off in 2022, as the Dutch-based Mars One venture has proposed.
The settlers would have to be sealed up in habitats, protected from harsh radiation, supplied with machine-made air and water, and nourished by whatever food can be grown on a cold, barren planet. They'd have to keep their sanity, millions of miles away from their families and Mission Control. Worst of all, they'd have to face the fact that there's no guarantee of ever going back.
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Will this scheme actually work? "I give it a low probability of happening," Brin said, "and I don't consider it to be the most responsible thing I've ever seen."
Nevertheless, the venture has an attraction for Brin and tens of thousands of others, The ages of those listed in Mars One's database range from 18 to 71. All those applicants are facing a long road even before the first four-person crew gets off the planet. Mars One is accepting applicants through Aug. 31. The field of applicants would first be whittled down by panels of experts. Then they'd undergo trial by reality TV, followed by years of training.
"This may sound crazy, but it kind of reminds me of 'The Hunger Games,'" said Kayli McArthur, an 18-year-old student who's one of the youngest Mars One applicants. "It's cool that it would be televised, but that's not my whole thing."
On the other end of the age spectrum, 71-year-old psychiatrist Sanford Pomerantz is a little surprised that it's taking this long to get something like Mars One off the ground. "I thought by now we would have colonized Mars," said Pomerantz, who's currently the oldest applicant on Mars One's list.
So what's the appeal of Mars One? It's too early for Brin, McArthur and Pomerantz to give a lot of thought to their adventure on Mars, let alone their death on Mars. Instead, they're focusing on the adventure here on Earth. Here's what's behind their thinking:
Mars One
David Brin: 'My main purpose is the conversation' Brin sees Mars One as just one of a number of ventures aimed at expanding humanity's frontier, ranging from Virgin Galactic's suborbital space tours to Golden Spike's moon missions. "It's emblematic of the new era that we're about to enter at long last ? what I call the barnstorming era," he said.
Like the daring airplane fliers of the 1920s, these 21st-century space barnstormers are willing to take bigger risks in hopes of providing bigger thrills ? and eventually, earning bigger payoffs. The Mars One project is "a great way to get the discussion going," Brin said.
"You have to assume that it may not work, and that there will be a statue of you on Mars someday," he said. "I'm aware of the tradeoffs, and I'm willing to explore it further, but largely my main purpose is the conversation. We've got to be talking about how we can be a more exploratory people ? a more interesting people, if you like."
Brin doesn't doubt that Mars One will find plenty of qualified (and interesting) people willing to take the risk.
"People who cannot imagine any sane person making that choice simply aren't envisioning the wide range of human diversity," said Brin, who has three children in school. "Consider what I told my family. By the very earliest date that Mars One might launch, I expect to be a spry 75-year-old whose kids are already successfully launched, and who might spend a few years doing something truly remarkable."
Even if it means dying on alien soil? Brin isn't completely sure he'd go that far, but he's willing to bet that others would.
"I think you'll find tens of thousands of people who, under those circumstances, will at least ponder it seriously," Brin said.
Mars One
Kayli McArthur: 'I'm trying to strive for something more' McArthur, a freshman at the University of Arizona, is one of more than three dozen?18-year-olds?on Mars One's list of applicants. Ever since she applied, she's been hearing that she has her whole life ahead of her, so why would she want to leave it all behind for Mars?
"Being young doesn't make me want to do it any less because I have my whole life ahead of me," she said. "It makes it more exciting. ... I love all my friends, my guy friends, my family. It's not that I'm trying to get away. It's like I'm trying to strive for something more."
She has long dreamed of going into outer space, and she figures that her future degree in materials science would come in handy for creating the first interplanetary settlement. "Going to Mars, there are so many opportunities for that," she said.?
So far, her family hasn't stood in her way. "My family jokes, like, 'Oh, Kayli, have your fun with it,'" she said. If the selection process gets more serious, she suspects she might face more resistance from her parents. But not from her grandfather.
"My grandpa is a retired three-star [general] in the Air Force," she said. "We were talking about it. I get really worked up and excited, and he was talking about it, too, and being realistic about it. He said, 'That would be so cool if you were able to do it.' ... I know my grandpa would totally support me."
Mars One
Sanford Pomerantz: 'Grandpa is going to Mars!' Pomerantz is old enough to remember when the idea of sending people into outer space seemed as far out as the idea of sending people on a one-way trip to Mars seems now. One of the books that made an impression on him in grade school was Robert Heinlein's "Red Planet: A Colonial Boy on Mars,"?which was published in 1949.
"I started as a physics major in the university, but then I got accepted into med school and changed directions," he said. At the age of 71, he's still a practicing psychiatrist in Topeka, Kan. But he's also still holding onto that boyhood dream of spaceflight.
"The Mars thing is exciting, because I hope it'll stimulate people to get interested in space. ... And I hope it has the secondary effect of stimulating science education, especially in the U.S.," he said.
Just as McArthur believes that Mars will need a materials scientist, Pomerantz believes the crew will need a psychiatrist. "Psychologically, it's going to be an interesting challenge, but human beings are very adaptable," he said. "It'll be exciting to go to a whole new world. It'll be a major step in human evolution."
If Pomerantz ends up being selected for the first Mars crew, he's likely to become not only the oldest human to head for the Red Planet, but the oldest human to go on any space mission. (The current record-holder is John Glenn, who flew on the shuttle Discovery when he was 77 years old.) For now at least, that prospect doesn't faze Pomerantz's three children and two grandchildren. "The grandchildren are excited," he said. "It's like, 'Grandpa is going to Mars!'"
Pomerantz became a certified scuba diver just two years ago, and he still expects to be in good physical and mental shape for liftoff in 2022. "Remember, age is a state of mind," he said. "Chronologlcally, I may be 71. ... But psychologically and physically, I'm definitely in my 20s. I look in the mirror and say, 'Who's that old guy?'"
Mars One's founders and would-be astronauts discuss plans to go a one-way trip to the Red Planet in 2023.
More about missions to Mars:
David Brin's latest science-fiction novel is "Existence,"?which is set in the latter part of the 21st century and involves matters way beyond Mars.
Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the NBC News Science Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with NBCNews.com's stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
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Why sign up for a one-way Mars trip? Three applicants explain the appeal - Cosmic Log
NASA / STScI
Mars looms large in a Hubble Space Telescope photo - and in the imaginations of those who have signed up for a one-way trip to the Red Planet. "It's not that I'm trying to get away," says 18-year-old Kayli McArthur, one of tens of thousands of applicants. "It's like I'm trying to strive for something more."
By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News
A one-way trip to Mars sounds like something you'd wish on your worst enemy ? so why would more than 78,000 people from around the world pay up to $75 for a chance to die on another planet?
"I can say I have an ulterior motive," said David Brin, who has written more than a dozen science-fiction novels ??including "The Postman," which was turned into a Kevin Costner movie in 1997. "I'd get a lot of writing done, and it might be memorable."
As a master of hard science fiction, the 62-year-old Brin knows better than most applicants what the first Red Planet settlers would face if they're sent off in 2022, as the Dutch-based Mars One venture has proposed.
The settlers would have to be sealed up in habitats, protected from harsh radiation, supplied with machine-made air and water, and nourished by whatever food can be grown on a cold, barren planet. They'd have to keep their sanity, millions of miles away from their families and Mission Control. Worst of all, they'd have to face the fact that there's no guarantee of ever going back.
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Will this scheme actually work? "I give it a low probability of happening," Brin said, "and I don't consider it to be the most responsible thing I've ever seen."
Nevertheless, the venture has an attraction for Brin and tens of thousands of others, The ages of those listed in Mars One's database range from 18 to 71. All those applicants are facing a long road even before the first four-person crew gets off the planet. Mars One is accepting applicants through Aug. 31. The field of applicants would first be whittled down by panels of experts. Then they'd undergo trial by reality TV, followed by years of training.
"This may sound crazy, but it kind of reminds me of 'The Hunger Games,'" said Kayli McArthur, an 18-year-old student who's one of the youngest Mars One applicants. "It's cool that it would be televised, but that's not my whole thing."
On the other end of the age spectrum, 71-year-old psychiatrist Sanford Pomerantz is a little surprised that it's taking this long to get something like Mars One off the ground. "I thought by now we would have colonized Mars," said Pomerantz, who's currently the oldest applicant on Mars One's list.
So what's the appeal of Mars One? It's too early for Brin, McArthur and Pomerantz to give a lot of thought to their adventure on Mars, let alone their death on Mars. Instead, they're focusing on the adventure here on Earth. Here's what's behind their thinking:
Mars One
David Brin: 'My main purpose is the conversation' Brin sees Mars One as just one of a number of ventures aimed at expanding humanity's frontier, ranging from Virgin Galactic's suborbital space tours to Golden Spike's moon missions. "It's emblematic of the new era that we're about to enter at long last ? what I call the barnstorming era," he said.
Like the daring airplane fliers of the 1920s, these 21st-century space barnstormers are willing to take bigger risks in hopes of providing bigger thrills ? and eventually, earning bigger payoffs. The Mars One project is "a great way to get the discussion going," Brin said.
"You have to assume that it may not work, and that there will be a statue of you on Mars someday," he said. "I'm aware of the tradeoffs, and I'm willing to explore it further, but largely my main purpose is the conversation. We've got to be talking about how we can be a more exploratory people ? a more interesting people, if you like."
Brin doesn't doubt that Mars One will find plenty of qualified (and interesting) people willing to take the risk.
"People who cannot imagine any sane person making that choice simply aren't envisioning the wide range of human diversity," said Brin, who has three children in school. "Consider what I told my family. By the very earliest date that Mars One might launch, I expect to be a spry 75-year-old whose kids are already successfully launched, and who might spend a few years doing something truly remarkable."
Even if it means dying on alien soil? Brin isn't completely sure he'd go that far, but he's willing to bet that others would.
"I think you'll find tens of thousands of people who, under those circumstances, will at least ponder it seriously," Brin said.
Mars One
Kayli McArthur: 'I'm trying to strive for something more' McArthur, a freshman at the University of Arizona, is one of more than three dozen?18-year-olds?on Mars One's list of applicants. Ever since she applied, she's been hearing that she has her whole life ahead of her, so why would she want to leave it all behind for Mars?
"Being young doesn't make me want to do it any less because I have my whole life ahead of me," she said. "It makes it more exciting. ... I love all my friends, my guy friends, my family. It's not that I'm trying to get away. It's like I'm trying to strive for something more."
She has long dreamed of going into outer space, and she figures that her future degree in materials science would come in handy for creating the first interplanetary settlement. "Going to Mars, there are so many opportunities for that," she said.?
So far, her family hasn't stood in her way. "My family jokes, like, 'Oh, Kayli, have your fun with it,'" she said. If the selection process gets more serious, she suspects she might face more resistance from her parents. But not from her grandfather.
"My grandpa is a retired three-star [general] in the Air Force," she said. "We were talking about it. I get really worked up and excited, and he was talking about it, too, and being realistic about it. He said, 'That would be so cool if you were able to do it.' ... I know my grandpa would totally support me."
Mars One
Sanford Pomerantz: 'Grandpa is going to Mars!' Pomerantz is old enough to remember when the idea of sending people into outer space seemed as far out as the idea of sending people on a one-way trip to Mars seems now. One of the books that made an impression on him in grade school was Robert Heinlein's "Red Planet: A Colonial Boy on Mars,"?which was published in 1949.
"I started as a physics major in the university, but then I got accepted into med school and changed directions," he said. At the age of 71, he's still a practicing psychiatrist in Topeka, Kan. But he's also still holding onto that boyhood dream of spaceflight.
"The Mars thing is exciting, because I hope it'll stimulate people to get interested in space. ... And I hope it has the secondary effect of stimulating science education, especially in the U.S.," he said.
Just as McArthur believes that Mars will need a materials scientist, Pomerantz believes the crew will need a psychiatrist. "Psychologically, it's going to be an interesting challenge, but human beings are very adaptable," he said. "It'll be exciting to go to a whole new world. It'll be a major step in human evolution."
If Pomerantz ends up being selected for the first Mars crew, he's likely to become not only the oldest human to head for the Red Planet, but the oldest human to go on any space mission. (The current record-holder is John Glenn, who flew on the shuttle Discovery when he was 77 years old.) For now at least, that prospect doesn't faze Pomerantz's three children and two grandchildren. "The grandchildren are excited," he said. "It's like, 'Grandpa is going to Mars!'"
Pomerantz became a certified scuba diver just two years ago, and he still expects to be in good physical and mental shape for liftoff in 2022. "Remember, age is a state of mind," he said. "Chronologlcally, I may be 71. ... But psychologically and physically, I'm definitely in my 20s. I look in the mirror and say, 'Who's that old guy?'"
Mars One's founders and would-be astronauts discuss plans to go a one-way trip to the Red Planet in 2023.
More about missions to Mars:
David Brin's latest science-fiction novel is "Existence,"?which is set in the latter part of the 21st century and involves matters way beyond Mars.
Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the NBC News Science Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with NBCNews.com's stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
US basketball star Dennis Rodman recently hung out with North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un - now he's tweeted a request?that the American sentenced to 15 years' hard labor be released.
By Ryan Lenora Brown,?Correspondent / May 9, 2013
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (l.) and former NBA star Dennis Rodman watch North Korean and US players in an exhibition basketball game at an arena in Pyongyang, North Korea, in February. Rodman is tapping his friendship with Kim Jong-un when he tweeted a request 'to do me a solid' and free Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American man detained in the North.
Jason Mojica/VICE Media/AP/File
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When Dennis Rodman spent a week touring North Korea in February, he had nothing but glowing words for the country?s leader, Kim Jong-un.
Skip to next paragraph Ryan Lenora Brown
Correspondent
Ryan Brown edits the Africa Monitor blog and contributes to the national and international news desks of the Monitor. She is a former Fulbright fellow to South Africa and holds a degree in history from Duke University.?
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?Guess what? I love him,? he told reporters. ?He?s really awesome.?
But now the basketball diplomat is testing his friendship with the young Kim by asking the leader to release an American sentenced last week to 15 years of hard labor for ?hostile acts? against the North Korean regime.
?I?m calling on the Supreme Leader of North Korea, or as I call him, ?Kim,? to do me a solid and cut Kenneth Bae loose,? Mr. Rodman tweeted Tuesday.?
The missive came in response to a Seattle Times opinion piece last week, in which writer Thanh Tan called on Rodman to put his goodwill with Pyongyang on the line for Mr. Bae, a tour operator arrested in November on murky charges.
Perhaps now is the time for the NBA has-been to practice some real basketball diplomacy and call up his so-called friend for a favor: Grant American detainee Kenneth Bae amnesty and release him to his family?.
Bae is being used as a political pawn by a desperate despot who happened to?gallivant around the country with Rodman?in March. Perhaps now is the retired player?s chance to use his notoriety for something other than to over-inflate his ego.
Rodman apparently got the message.
?In direct response to your article headline, 'Ok.' Read your story @uscthanhtan, and I decided to help,? he tweeted.
And while Twitter is an admittedly feeble platform for diplomacy, it?s not out of the question that Kim will see the tweet. After all, the North Korean government has an active ? if bizarre ? Twitter presence itself, putting out an erratic blast of messages about American imperialism and the ?victory and glory? of the Kim regime.
But even if Kim gets Rodman?s message, will he understand it? After all, ?do me a solid? isn?t exactly a phrase that translates easily.
Washington Post blogger Max Fisher writes that the closest Korean equivalent of the colloquialism would be the somewhat menacing (at least to American ears) phrase, ?Look at my face and release Kenneth Bae.?
?Look at my face,? he writes, ?is a Korean expression that?s like a special, for-friends-only version of ?do me a favor.??
Whether Kim will look at Rodman?s face ? double nose ring and all ? remains to be seen, but Americans favored by North Korea have helped coax the regime to release American prisoners in the past.
In 2009, for instance, former President Bill Clinton visited Pyongyang and shortly after the visit then-Dear Leader Kim Jong-il pardoned two American journalists who were being held in the country. In total, six Americans ? including Bae ? have been held by the North Korean government since 2009, the Monitor reported. The other five were all released.
Rodman?s February visit to North Korea ? along with the friendship tour of Google Chairman Eric Schmidt in January ? was initially hailed by some Western observers as a sign that the young Kim might be more interested in opening his country to the rest of the world than his father and grandfather had been.
However, analysts say there have been no fundamental changes to the regime?s posture since then. If anything, interaction with Western celebrities puts the regime in a more powerful position because it can claim new geopolitical cache.?
?Ultimately, they [North Korea] come out ahead because they can portray it as the world coming to pay tribute, or at least to be there,? Aidan Foster-Carter, a Korean expert, told the Monitor in March.
Indeed, as the state-run Korean Central News Agency (as well as Western outlets) reported during Rodman?s trip, the basketball player was an enthusiastic tourist, visiting a greatest hits list of Kim-related sites.?
Rodman and his cohort "paid high tribute to Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il before their statues. They entered the halls where Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il lie in state and paid homage to them,? a press release announced. ?They made an entry in the visitor's book.?
Soccer fans in America often have a chip on their shoulder about football.? And for good reason.? Football is the dominant sport in the country, soccer isn?t.
Then again, soccer is boring.? Football isn?t.
It creates potential friction where an NFL team also owns a professional soccer team.? In New England, the Krafts are getting the brunt of some of that friction via fans of the soccer team the Krafts own.
Julian Cardillo of the Boston Globe (via SportsBusiness Daily) writes that ?[i]t appears to many that the Revolution are the Kraft family?s second priority, rather than an equal investment, to the New England Patriots.?
If it appears that way, that appearance would be accurate.? The Patriots have become one of the elite franchises in the NFL, the premier professional sports league in the United States.? The Revolution are an also-ran, at best, in a league that is an also-ran, at best.
Revolution Brian Bilello seems to think that the griping comes from soccer?s anti-football bias.
?I think both the Kraft family and the Hunt family, because they have NFL sides as well, I think there?s a weird perception,? Bilello told Cardillo.? ?Both families have been involved with the sport since the very beginning.? The fact that they?re involved in the NFL, that hurts them.?
Still, a Sports Illustrated poll of anonymous players pegged the Krafts as the worst owners in the MLS, and players like Thierry Henry and David Beckham have balked at playing on the FieldTurf at Gillette Stadium.
?There?s a lot of great things about having the Krafts as owners,? Bilello said.? ?They?ve supported this league.? They do things behind the scenes not just for the Revolution, but for the sport of soccer in this country.?
None of that matters to the average soccer fan, who can?t understand why Americans haven?t embraced the sport the way the rest of the world has.
Meanwhile, we can?t understand why the rest of the world hasn?t embraced football the way Americans have.
Cotton Offers Green, Low Cost Way to Clean Oil Spills, Study Finds
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Unprocessed raw cotton may be an ecologically friendly, lower cost solution to clean up oil spills, according to a report published in the American Chemical Society journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research.
The report, Crude Oil Sorption by Raw Cotton, describes research by scientists at Texas Tech University and includes some of the first scientific data on unprocessed, raw cotton?s use in crude oil spills. The scientists focused on the oil sorption properties of low micronaire cotton (pictured), a form of unprocessed cotton with less commercial value.
Researchers found each pound of the low micronaire, or immature, cotton has the ability to sop up and hold more than 30 pounds of crude oil. The cotton fibers take up oil in multiple ways, including both absorption and adsorption, which means the oil sticks to the outer surface of the cotton fiber, according to the report.
The low micronaire cotton can absorb higher amounts of oil than regular-grade cotton because of its finer structure and wax content, the report says.
The environmental and ecological problems caused by oil spills illustrates the need for oil-spill sorbents that are abundant, available at relatively low cost, sustainable and biodegradable, the report says. Current cleanup technologies, such as in situ burning and the use of chemical dispersants and sorbents, including booms and skimmers, don?t meet those environmentally friendly standards.
The 2010 Deepwater Horizon Disaster, which killed 11 workers and caused the worst offshore oil spill in US history, sent an estimated 4.9 million barrels of crude into the Gulf of Mexico. Conventional cleanup technologies, including floating booms, skimmer ships, controlled burns and chemical dispersant were used to clean up the spill. BP pleaded guilty last year to federal felony charges and agreed to pay $4.5 billion in fines for its role in the disaster.
Earlier this month, The Obama administration announced almost $600 million in funding for 28 projects to address damage from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Louisiana barrier islands will receive about $320 million for restoration of beaches and marshes.
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