Everybody hates wires, but if you want crazy speed, they're the way to go. But maybe not anymore. A team of German scientists have developed record-setting Wi-Fi that cooks right along at 100 Gigabits per second. You know, like Google Fiber but times 100.
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The name of Washington's football team has been hotly debated: criticized for being a racial slur but defended but the team's owner as actually being a kind of tribute to Native Americans. Host Scott Simon talks to Forbes senior editor Kurt Badenhausen about the economics of the Washington Redskins brand.
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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Washington, D.C.'s football team has been under increasing criticism for keeping an old team name that's a racial epithet. I usually don't say it. I will now - for the purposes of information. The Washington Redskins. That name's been hotly debated, criticized for being a racial slur, but defended by the team's owners as actually being a kind of tribute to Native Americans.
As the moral argument goes on, there's another question. How much is a team name worth in modern sports? We're joined now by Kurt Badenhausen, senior editor at Forbes Magazine. Thanks very much for being with us.
KURT BADENHAUSEN: Thanks for having me on today.
SIMON: Your magazine consistently puts the Washington franchise as one of the most valuable in the world, even though they lose so much they're often called the Deadskins. What makes them so valuable?
BADENHAUSEN: It's really the revenue that the team generates. By our count they're the third-most valuable franchise in the NFL, worth $1.6 billion and the eighth-most valuable franchise in the world behind a handful of soccer clubs as well as teams like the Yankees and Dodgers. And it's really, it's people coming to the stadium, sponsorship revenues are among the highest in the NFL. And that's what's really driving the Redskins' value.
SIMON: Is there any reason to think that the name enhances the value?
BADENHAUSEN: I don't think it enhances the value. We assign a value to the brands of the various teams and there the Redskins are the third-most valuable too, behind the Cowboys and Patriots, with a brand worth $131 million. That is really wrapped up in the history of the franchise as well as the premium that tickets, as well as rights fees for TV and radio command for the Redskins.
SIMON: Would the Redskins make even more money if they changed the name and logo to something like the Washington Shutdown, and forced millions of fans to buy new sweatshirts and puffy fingers?
BADENHAUSEN: It's really not a big financial move for the Redskins in terms of adding revenue because merchandize revenue that is bought outside of the stadium is split amongst the NFL teams evenly, 32 ways. So if you walk into a Modell's and buy a Redskins jersey, they get 1/32nd of that.
SIMON: Is there anything to be learned from Washington, D.C.'s professional basketball team? It used to be the Bullets, and Abe Pollin and the owner thought that's a little awkward with the murder rate so high, so they changed the name to Wizards. They still lose, but did it enhance the franchise or not?
BADENHAUSEN: I don't think it enhanced the franchise and it didn't hurt the franchise. If the Redskins are going to go ahead and change the name, you're going to have some hardcore fans that are going to be put off by the situation. But are those guys not going to go the stadium anymore? I don't think the Redskin name is driving any of the value of the franchise.
SIMON: Kurt Badenhausen, senior editor at Forbes Magazine. Thanks so much.
BADENHAUSEN: Thanks for having me on.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE REDSKINS SONG)
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Singing) Hail to the Redskins, hail to victory. Braves on the warpath fight for old D.C.
SIMON: This is NPR News.
Copyright © 2013 NPR. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to NPR. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.
New Jersey will choose a new U.S. Senator Wednesday. Pundits thought Newark Mayor Cory Booker would win it easily, but the Democratic Party's rising star is facing a tougher than expected challenge from Tea Party Republican Steve Lonegan — a sign of the Tea Party's growing stature in deep blue New Jersey.
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ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
New Jersey voters head to the polls tomorrow to vote in a special election for U.S. Senate. The Democratic candidate is Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a rising star in his party. NPR profiled him last week. The Republican contender is Steve Lonegan, a conservative who supports the government shutdown. From member station WNYC, Janet Babin reports on how Lonegan is faring in a state with a traditionally moderate GOP.
JANET BABIN, BYLINE: Bergen County is just a short car ride from New York City, but it gets suburban pretty fast. And the recession hit hard here. This area is home to the New Jersey Tea Party Coalition, one of about a dozen similar groups that have cropped up across the state since 2008. I meet with coalition co-founder Michele Talamo and a handful of other members at a local park. Like most tea partiers, Talamo wants lower taxes, smaller government and has a visceral mistrust of the president.
MICHELE TALAMO: I became very anxious by the election of Barack Obama, coming into office and the transition, and then the stimulus that came into being.
BABIN: Another member, Ron Ellis(ph), explains why he's worried about the erosion of personal freedom.
RON ELLIS: Have you ever ridden in the back of a pick-up truck?
BABIN: Yeah.
(LAUGHTER)
ELLIS: Yeah? Well, you know, you're one of the few. You can't do that anymore because the government has gotten bigger and bigger and is telling us everything that we can and cannot do.
BABIN: These Tea Party members say they're supporting Steve Lonegan in New Jersey's special U.S. Senate election. And when the conservative Republican ran for governor of New Jersey against Chris Christie four and a half years ago, he sounded very much like the Tea Partier. Here's Lonegan at a gubernatorial campaign event, talking about the direction he believes the country was moving in.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED SPEECH)
STEVE LONEGAN: It's called socialism and a shift from our American way of life to a European socialism.
BABIN: But fast forward to the current campaign for U.S. Senate, and Lonegan is shying away from any formal association with the Tea Party. This has been hard to do, given that he recently headed up a group favored by the Tea Party. Professor Brigid Callahan Harrison at Montclair State University says Lonegan's solid, conservative credentials are a double-edge sword.
BRIGID CALLAHAN HARRISON: That background in the Tea Party in some ways is hurting him with more moderate Republicans.
BABIN: It also may be what's helping him. The race was predicted to be a blowout win for Democrat Cory Booker. And with a 10-point lead in one of the most recent polls, those predictions will likely come true. But Lonegan has been cutting down on Booker's big lead these past few days. Patrick Murray is director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute.
PATRICK MURRAY: Most voters say that Cory Booker's views are in line with the state of New Jersey, whereas Steve Lonegan's are not. But it's the sense that the Garden State voters feel that their vote may have been taken for granted.
BABIN: Murray says New Jersey voters perceive Booker as a candidate who craves the national spotlight, and Lonegan has taken advantage of that weakness. At a campaign even in Newark last month, Lonegan said he's bringing the GOP together.
LONEGAN: We have pro-gun support and not so pro-gun Republicans. We have pro-life Republicans, not so pro-life Republicans.
BABIN: Professor Callahan Harrison at Montclair State says Lonegan deserves credit for making the race competitive.
HARRISON: As Lonegan's numbers in the polls increase, it then signals other voters that maybe this guy actually has a shot and it's OK to say that you're going to support him.
BABIN: Despite the current groundswell, Lonegan may not be able to overcome the math. It's been 40 years since New Jerseyans have elected a GOP senator. But what better time for conservatives to throw a hail Mary pass than a Wednesday, in the middle of October, with turnout expected to hit a record low. For NPR News, I'm Janet Babin.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SIEGEL: This is NPR News.
Copyright © 2013 NPR. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to NPR. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.
NEW YORK (AP) — Little did Nico Muhly know when he composed "Two Boys" that the type of Internet deception he based the opera on would keep repeating over and over.
So when reports surfaced last winter that Notre Dame football star Manti Te'o was duped into an online relationship with a nonexistent woman, Muhly took notice.
"I was so happy," he said, "in a perverse way."
Then he explained how the Web had created such a tangled web.
"It wasn't just some sort of man and girl in the suburbs. So that to me was very satisfying," he added with a laugh, going on to cite the case of a physicist duped into smuggling cocaine while believing he was courting a bikini model.
"It happens to random people, to famous people, to really smart people, to educated people, to uneducated people. There's a real kind of egalitarian nature to deceit, you know what I mean?"
The work by the 32-year-old New Yorker receives its North American premiere at the Metropolitan Opera on Monday night, a fictionalized account of a British teenager who used the Internet in an attempt to arrange his own murder in 2003. The first composition to reach the Met stage from the company's 7-year-old commissioning program with Lincoln Center Theater, "Two Boys" has been revised since its world premiere two years ago at the English National Opera.
Starring mezzo-soprano Alice Coote as Detective Anne Strawson and tenor Paul Appleby as Brian, a 16-year-old accused in the stabbing of a 13-year-old named Jake, "Two Boys" is a starkly contemporary piece.
Met General Manager Peter Gelb said the adult themes ruled out the opera from inclusion in the company's high-definition theater simulcasts.
"It's full of such darkness, such personally really upsetting things that I have to witness that, yeah, I feel very tired," Coote said. "There's a lot of sexual and emotional abuse going on in this piece."
Gelb first became aware of Muhly when he was an executive at Sony. They started talking soon after Muhly was a pianist for a workshop of what became Rufus Wainwright's "Prima Donna."
Muhly wrote the opera with librettist Craig Lucas in a method Mozart, Verdi and Wagner would be unfamiliar with. When he had drafts of music ready, he would email them to Lucas as PDF files. Muhly composes at home and on the road — and on Amtrak trains.
"The cafe car is the best," he said. "I find out in advance where it's going to be and then wait by the staircase in Penn Station."
Reviews at the original run were lukewarm. Rupert Christiansen wrote in The Telegraph that it was "a bit of a bore — dreary and earnest rather than moving and gripping, and smartly derivative rather than distinctively individual. Yet I wish that I could have heard it again before passing judgment."
Since the London premiere, they've switched the beginnings of the two acts to make the work more linear, created more of a backstory to the detective, added about 1½ minutes of music, inserted dancing to the online chat room choruses and made minor changes to the orchestration,
"I think most operas after their first performance get revised, since the beginning of time," Muhly said. "And others go through a period of heavy, heavy revision, and then you realize the first instance was right."
Gelb has instituted a commitment to contemporary operas at the Met since he took over as general manager in 2006, presenting the company premieres of John Adams' "Nixon in China," Thomas Ades' "The Tempest" and Philip Glass' "Satyagraha." Trying to fill its 3,800 seats, the Met has put up posters in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, erected signs in New York City subways and advertised on MTV's "Catfish: The TV Show," a reality program about Manti Te'o-style trickery in online dating.
"In general a piece that is completely unfamiliar to the audience is harder to sell, obviously, than a piece that is familiar," Gelb said.
For all the modern technology, Appleby says the emotions of the story are familiar. He compares it to plays of Shakespeare and the French dramatist Cyrano de Bergerac.
"A very, old traditional story about people trying to reach out and looking, longing for a connection or longing for love and not feeling comfortable expressing themselves," he called it.
Everyone involved describes "Two Boys" as troubling.
"This is written in such a way that it almost expresses the disjointedness of daily life that we all live," Coote said. "What has become of us as humanity when we're so dominated now by the Internet, by technology, as our lives are quite a lot of the time being lived within those realms?"
A NASA plan to launch the world's largest solar sail into space and unfurl it like a giant parasol has passed a major test as the mission moves closer to a planned January 2015 launch. Sunjammer mission successfully deployed part of its huge solar sail in a test on Sept. 30, revealing the craft should be ready to function successfully following its January 2015 launch.
The giant Sunjammer solar sail, cleared a successful design test that required the deploying beam to stretch a quarter of the sail completely open. Because the Sept. 30 test took place on Earth, gravity and atmosphere made conditions more challenging than they would be in the vacuum of space, the sail's designers said.
"If this test succeeded under these stressing conditions, we certainly anticipate it will work exceedingly well in space," Nathan Barnes, President of lead contractor L'Garde Inc, said in a statement.
When Sunjammer launches in 2015, it will be the largest solar sail ever flown. Covering an area of almost 13,000 square feet (1,200 square meters), the full sail will span approximately a third the length of a football field. Despite its size, the enormous sail will be only about five millionths of a meter thick, keeping its weight down to 70 pounds (31 kilograms).
The lightweight, reflective material will rely on the pressure generated by sunlight to maneuver it through space. Smaller sails at the end of each of four booms will act as rudders to help the craft navigate.
Sunjammer will monitor solar activity as it demonstrates the validity of relying solely on low-cost, propellantless solar winds for spacecraft navigation. Ultimately, Sunjammer could form a part of a fleet of solar sail crafts providing an early warning system for space weather. Other sun-powered craft could travel completely out of the solar system.
The successful deployment of Sunjammer's solar sail is a key step for the success of the mission.
"We are very pleased by these results, as they bring us one step closer to realizing NASA's vision of a propellantless spacecraft and introduce the exciting potential of solar sails to the world," L'Garde's Space Services CEO Charles Chafer said in the same statement.
Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on SPACE.com.
LYON, France – Quentin Tarantino brought out the big guns – including Harvey Weinstein, Uma Thurman and Harvey Keitel – when he received the Prix Lumiere at the film festival here Friday night.
The Prix Lumiere, which has been awarded to Clint Eastwood, Milos Forman, Gerard Depardieu, and Ken Loach in the five years since its inception, was envisioned by Cannes and Lumiere film festivals head Thierry Fremaux to become the Nobel prize of filmmakers to honor their bodies of work.
At an exceptionally emotional tribute and award ceremony, which preceded a brief backstage government ceremony in which he was awarded the Commander of Arts and Letters by French culture minister Aurelie Filippetti, the director was honored by his longtime friends and creative collaborators.
PHOTOS: Quentin Tarantino's 'Django Unchained' NYC Premiere
Tim Roth got the evening off to a bawdy start with a few well-placed swears, but the mood soon turned more sweet and serious as producers Lawrence Bender and Weinstein took the stage. The famously demanding Weinstein credited Tarantino for both of his businesses success.
"My first company, Miramax, was the house that Quentin built, and my second company, The Weinstein Company, is the house that Quentin saved," he said, showing an uncharacteristic soft spot when adding that Tarantino is "tough minded and tough, but really one of the most compassionate human beings I know."
Keitel, who took the stage next, was moved by Weinstein's words and grew teary as he began to talk about the director. "Damn, I'm not going to make it through this," he said when composing himself, before comparing his relationship with Tarantino to a great romance. "I always felt we were meant for each other and nothing could keep us apart. Maybe if he had been a woman we could have gotten married, had kids," he joked. "Working with Quentin is like reading a great novel or hearing a great symphony or piece of music -- it changes you. You don't know how, but it has."
With a barrage of superlatives that required Fremaux to translate from her "terribly" hand-written speech on the back of the day's program, Thurman declared: "For all your wildness, your work always has aspirations for justice, freedom from oppression, courage, and most of all love and passion."
PHOTOS: 25 of Fall's Most Anticipated Movies
"You have been an explosion of dynamite in the art of cinema itself," she said, comparing him to Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite and the namesake of the Nobel Prize. "You invented your own dynamite, your 'cinemite.' May your legacy be your fearlessness and the flicker of light projected through the darkness of a movie house forever be your fuse."
"I don't have words for how I feel -- probably one of the first times that has happened to me," said Tarantino. He credited the actors onstage for bringing his characters to life, and Bender and Weinstein for backing him and his dreams throughout his career.
"I have always thought of myself as a lone wolf, but always because I never really had a family, but these people are my family. Their affection and respect is all I ever want," he said, just before Thurman presented him with the award.
He thanked the roaring crowd, the city of Lyon - where film was invented by the Lumiere brothers in 1895 - and France as well. "Cinema is my religion and France is my Vatican," he said, causing much confusion in the crowd. "I probably just insulted you a little bit with that but it was the best example I could come up with."
"I don't know where I would be if the Lumiere brothers' mother and father had never met," he said. "Probably somewhere selling 'Royale with Cheese.' "
Take a whiff of those pears and peaches: All white wines have a citrus aroma, but some also emit tropical or more subtle fruit flavors, Richard Betts explains in his book.
Take a whiff of those pears and peaches: All white wines have a citrus aroma, but some also emit tropical or more subtle fruit flavors, Richard Betts explains in his book.
Knock wine off its pedestal. That's the goal of wine expert Richard Betts. And he has come up with a brilliant way to do it: a scratch n' sniff guide to the aromas and flavors of the wine world.
With beautiful illustrations from Wendy MacNaughton, the 10-page board book looks like it belongs with your kid's toys instead of next to The Joy of Cooking.
But don't let the playfulness fool you. There's some serious wine science in Bett's new book, The Essential Scratch and Sniff Guide to Becoming a Wine Expert.
The 10-page board book is as sweet to the nose as it to the eyes. But don't let the playfulness fool you: There's some serious wine science hidden in there.
From the peach and pineapple notes in a chardonnay to the burnt rubber and mushroom odors that plague some cheaper wines, Betts covers the wine sensory gamut with humor and a refreshing simplicity.
"Until recently, wine has been more hoity-toity, not accessible to people," Betts, one of just 200 Master Wine Sommeliers, tells The Salt. "We're making it more inclusive. Wine is a grocery, not a luxury."
He came up with the idea of a scratch 'n' sniff guide late one night over a glass of wine, of course. "We were talking and realized that the wine world didn't need another tome with glossy photos, maps and descriptions of wines you will never drink."
So he opted instead for something fun and perhaps even more useful. He steers clear of wine jargon that's meaningless to most of us, and strips down tasting concepts to their essential, so they're easier to remember.
Richard Betts explains wine tasting with simplicity and clarity. For instance, he boils down wine's bouquet to just four odors: fruit, wood, Earth and other.
Richard Betts explains wine tasting with simplicity and clarity. For instance, he boils down wine's bouquet to just four odors: fruit, wood, Earth and other.
Take, for instance, the infamous "wine aroma wheel." Developed by a researcher at the University of California, Davis, the original infographic lists about a hundred wine aromas, including not-so-common odors like tar, mousy and kerosene.
But Betts pares it down to just four categories: fruit, wood, Earth and other. He hits the nail on the head. Those few terms will get you far in the wine-tasting world.
So what about the scratch 'n' sniff elements? Unfortunately, the technology hasn't changed much in the past few decades and still isn't so great at recreating fruit smells.
When I sniffed the peach illustration, the artificial aroma immediately transported me back to my childhood bedroom in the early '80s, reading Richard Scarry's Lowly Worm. Clearly, the bouquet of Mr. Rabbit's fruit isn't exactly what you'll find in a 2011 sauvignon blanc.
But Betts says his goal isn't to replicate wine nuances exactly. "It's not about saying that this smell is the most faithful recreation of peach in a glass of wine," he says. "But the book gets you thinking about what you like and don't like — and talking about them in terms of vocabulary [readers] already have, not in 'wine speak.' "
When it comes to wine smelling, size really doesn't matter.
When it comes to wine smelling, size really doesn't matter.
"When we were hunter-gatherers, we depended on our smell so much for survival," Bett adds. "We need to tap back into that."
Some of the science in the book is also a little outdated. For instance, the tongue really isn't divided up into five sections for various tastes. And most flavor chemists would say that American oak has more vanilla odor than French oak does.
Still though, Betts has succeeded where others in the wine business have failed. He's taken a complex, overworked topic, and presented it in a innovative, inviting way. Mastering the ideas in the book won't turn you into a sommelier, but it will make drinking wine at dinner more fun.
The Poets of Rhythm were a group of young retro-soul musicians from Germany. An anthology of their work was recently released.
The Poets of Rhythm were a group of young retro-soul musicians from Germany. An anthology of their work was recently released.
Long before Amy Winehouse or Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, there were the Poets of Rhythm: A group of young, 20-something musicians out of Munich, Germany. In the early 1990s, they perfected the sounds and rhythms of '60s and '70s American funk. In the process, they became one of first and most influential practitioners of what's now known as retro-soul. While the band began by imitating James Brown, the musicians eventually carved out a sound all their own, evident in the recently released record, The Poets of Rhythm Anthology: 1992-2003.
In one sense, funk had never left pop music; even by the 1990s, you could clearly hear it in hip-hop samples and the elastic snap of dance records. But the Poets weren't interested in the modern, chicka-wow-wow versions of funk. They were still under the sway of early Kool & the Gang, The Meters of New Orleans and, of course, late '60s James Brown. In those early years, the Poets experimented with these styles on a slew of singles, often released under such fanciful names as Bus People Express, the Pan-Atlantics and the Excursionists of Perception.
Members of the group supposedly came to the U.S. and left copies of their 7-inch records in music stores, hoping that people would assume the singles were obscure, long-forgotten tracks from the past. Their ruse actually worked with a few collectors, a testament to how accurately this German band had mastered recreating the deep funk sound of yore.
The new anthology catalogs the Poets' recordings from 1992 through 2003. Though that's barely a decade's worth of music, it traces an evolution away from their reputation as obsessively authentic funk reanimators. By mid-career, jazz and West African influences began to wind their way in.
By the early 2000s, the Poets had all but shed their old, purely revivalist sound. They were still dabbling in a melange of past styles — including psychedelic rock — but their approach became more syncretic and imaginative, resulting in some of the best music of their career.
I had forgotten that the band broke up 10 years ago, partially because their influence is still widely heard today. That's especially true at Daptone Records, which is releasing the anthology. Daptone's house band, the Dap-Kings, more or less began where the Poets left off.
Even though the Poets of Rhythm stopped putting out records long ago, that hasn't stopped me from looking for their 7-inch records in countless dusty bins, hoping to find one of the funky easter eggs they buried so long ago.
This publicity image released by NBC shows Ella Rae Peck as Molly Yoder, left, and Joey Haro as Junior Hernandez in "Welcome to the Family." NBC says it's canceling two freshman shows, "Ironside" and "Welcome to the Family." "Parks and Recreation" episodes and specials will fill in for the departed "Welcome to the Family," the network said Friday, Oct. 18, 2013. (AP Photo/NBC, Adam Taylor)
This publicity image released by NBC shows Ella Rae Peck as Molly Yoder, left, and Joey Haro as Junior Hernandez in "Welcome to the Family." NBC says it's canceling two freshman shows, "Ironside" and "Welcome to the Family." "Parks and Recreation" episodes and specials will fill in for the departed "Welcome to the Family," the network said Friday, Oct. 18, 2013. (AP Photo/NBC, Adam Taylor)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — NBC says it's canceling two freshman shows, "Ironside" and "Welcome to the Family."
"Ironside," starring Blair Underwood in an updated version of the Raymond Burr police drama, will air its final episode on Wednesday. Burr's "Ironside" aired from 1967-75, but low ratings will keep the new series to a total of four episodes.
"Welcome to the Family," a Thursday night comedy about a young couple's unplanned pregnancy, won't have a chance to say goodbye. Its last airing was this week.
Replacing "Ironside" on Wednesday nights in November and December will be a mix of shows including episodes of "Dateline" and "Saturday Night Live" holiday-themed specials, NBC said.
"Parks and Recreation" episodes and specials will fill in for the departed "Welcome to the Family," the network said Friday.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-10-18-US-TV-NBC-Cancellations/id-89847d21018048a894a1a88b2ab324ee![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 18-Oct-2013
ShareContact: Jason Socrates Bardi
jbardi@aip.org
240-535-4954
American Institute of Physics
WASHINGTON D.C. Oct. 18, 2013 -- Plasmas are a soup of charged particles in an electric field, and are normally found in stars and lightning bolts. With the use of high voltage equipment, very small plasmas can be used to manipulate fluid flows. In recent years, the development of devices known as plasma actuators has advanced the promise of controlling flows in new ways that increase lift, reduce drag and improve aerodynamic efficiencies -- advances that may lead to safer, more efficient and more quiet land and air vehicles in the near future.
Unlike other flow control devices, plasma actuator geometries can be easily modified. Enter the serpentine shape, courtesy of the Applied Physics Research Group (APRG), a University of Florida research team in Gainesville that has been developing this and other types of novel plasma actuators for several years. The serpentine's sinuous, ribbon-like curves appear to impart greater levels of versatility than traditional geometries used in plasma flow control devices, according to Mark Riherd, a doctoral candidate working under Subrata Roy, the founding director of APRG.
"Our serpentine device will have applications in reducing drag-related fuel costs for an automobile or an aircraft, minimizing the noise generated when flying over populated areas, mixing air-fuel mixtures for lean combustion, and enhancing heat transfer by generating local turbulence," Riherd said.
In a report appearing in the Journal of Applied Physics, which is produced by AIP Publishing, the team validated the complex, three-dimensional flow structures induced by their serpentine plasma actuators by comparing numerical results with recent physical experiments in non-moving air. They then simulated the effects of the actuators in a non-turbulent boundary layer and over a small aircraft wing. Further tests are needed, but early results suggest serpentine flow wrangling may improve transportation efficiencies.
"This may result in significant weight and fuel savings for future aircraft and automobiles, improving energy efficiency all around," Riherd said.
###
The article, "On Using Serpentine Geometry Plasma Actuators for Flow Control" by Mark Riherd and Subrata Roy appears in the Journal of Applied Physics. See: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4818622
ABOUT THE JOURNAL
The Journal of Applied Physics, produced by AIP Publishing, is an influential international journal featuring significant new experimental and theoretical results of applied physics research. See: http://jap.aip.org
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 18-Oct-2013
ShareContact: Jason Socrates Bardi
jbardi@aip.org
240-535-4954
American Institute of Physics
WASHINGTON D.C. Oct. 18, 2013 -- Plasmas are a soup of charged particles in an electric field, and are normally found in stars and lightning bolts. With the use of high voltage equipment, very small plasmas can be used to manipulate fluid flows. In recent years, the development of devices known as plasma actuators has advanced the promise of controlling flows in new ways that increase lift, reduce drag and improve aerodynamic efficiencies -- advances that may lead to safer, more efficient and more quiet land and air vehicles in the near future.
Unlike other flow control devices, plasma actuator geometries can be easily modified. Enter the serpentine shape, courtesy of the Applied Physics Research Group (APRG), a University of Florida research team in Gainesville that has been developing this and other types of novel plasma actuators for several years. The serpentine's sinuous, ribbon-like curves appear to impart greater levels of versatility than traditional geometries used in plasma flow control devices, according to Mark Riherd, a doctoral candidate working under Subrata Roy, the founding director of APRG.
"Our serpentine device will have applications in reducing drag-related fuel costs for an automobile or an aircraft, minimizing the noise generated when flying over populated areas, mixing air-fuel mixtures for lean combustion, and enhancing heat transfer by generating local turbulence," Riherd said.
In a report appearing in the Journal of Applied Physics, which is produced by AIP Publishing, the team validated the complex, three-dimensional flow structures induced by their serpentine plasma actuators by comparing numerical results with recent physical experiments in non-moving air. They then simulated the effects of the actuators in a non-turbulent boundary layer and over a small aircraft wing. Further tests are needed, but early results suggest serpentine flow wrangling may improve transportation efficiencies.
"This may result in significant weight and fuel savings for future aircraft and automobiles, improving energy efficiency all around," Riherd said.
###
The article, "On Using Serpentine Geometry Plasma Actuators for Flow Control" by Mark Riherd and Subrata Roy appears in the Journal of Applied Physics. See: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4818622
ABOUT THE JOURNAL
The Journal of Applied Physics, produced by AIP Publishing, is an influential international journal featuring significant new experimental and theoretical results of applied physics research. See: http://jap.aip.org
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
More names, including Britney Spears' pick James Franco, have been added to the Christian Grey list after Charlie Hunnam's exit last week.
By Jocelyn Vena
DETROIT (AP) — Auto sales tailed off last week, and some dealers and experts are pointing the finger at bickering politicians in Washington.
Data collected by J.D. Power and Associates show that sales fell in the second week of October as the partial shutdown of the government and the debate over the nation's borrowing dragged on. During the first week, sales ran at an annual rate of 15.6 million. But the rate fell to 15.3 million in the week ended Oct. 11.
Analysts such as Jeff Schuster expected sales to recover in October after a weak September, bouncing back to the robust pace seen in August. But J.D. Power data collected from auto dealers nationwide shows otherwise, and there's no explanation other than the government gridlock, said Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting for LMC Automotive, an industry consulting firm that works closely with J.D. Power.
"It's been enough of a hit to consumer confidence that it's affected sales," said Schuster, who would not give specific numbers.
On Wednesday, Congress raced to pass legislation to avoid a national default and end the 16-day partial government shutdown after Senate leaders forged a deal. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has warned that Thursday is the day that Treasury would reach the current $16.7 trillion debt limit, and could no longer borrow to meet its obligations.
J.D. Power numbers are not normally released publicly, but they were obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press from one of the company's clients.
Auto sales have been running at an annual rate of 15.5 million in 2013, up from last year's 14.4 million, putting them back at pre-recession levels. September sales slipped because strong sales from the Labor Day weekend were counted in August this year. Auto sales have been a bright spot in the U.S. economy for the past four years, gradually rising from a 30-year low of 10.4 million in 2009.
Analysts say that some customers have backed out of the auto market, unwillingly to make a big-ticket commitment given uncertainty in Washington. Many analysts predicted rising interest rates or even a recession should the government fail to raise the debt ceiling and default on its obligations.
David Westcott, chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association and a Buick-GMC dealer in Burlington, N.C., said he senses that sales are down slightly nationwide when compared with September.
"Consumer confidence has dipped a little bit," he said after speaking Wednesday to the Automotive Press Association in Detroit. Customer traffic and sales are off a little at his dealership compared with September, he said.
Hyundai's North American sales and marketing CEO John Krafcik said Tuesday that he expects October sales as a whole to be off 10 percent from September levels, largely laying the blame with Washington.
Schuster said if the budget agreement gets passed, it's possible sales could bounce back in the second half of this month. But he's still predicting sales at a rate of 15.2 million or 15.3 million for the full month.
Senate leaders announced last-minute agreement Wednesday to avert a threatened Treasury default and reopen the government. Congress raced to pass the measure by day's end. Officials said the proposal called for the Treasury to have authority to continue borrowing through Feb. 7, and the government would reopen through Jan. 15.
The deal sets up another showdown in Congress for early next year — it gives Treasury the authority to continue borrowing through Feb. 7, and reopens the government through Jan. 15.
Some dealers said the brinksmanship in Washington did not impact sales. Richard Bazzy, owner of two Ford Motor Co. franchises in Pittsburgh's northern suburbs, said his October sales are about 35 percent above last year's numbers.
"I'm really not feeling it," he said. "I understand it will be solved. It's just a matter of when and how. That's the attitude of the American public," Bazzy said.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-10-16-Budget%20Battle-Auto%20Sales/id-233eddf0a9bb4d2fb41bb5ffbc1153e5 ShareContact: Rahel Marsie-Hazen
rmarsie-hazen@edf.org
415-293-6105
Environmental Defense Fund
(SAN FRANCISCO, CA October 17, 2013) Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) today launched the world's most comprehensive toolkit for designing and implementing management systems that can restore the resiliency, sustainability and profitability of fisheries around the world. Visit http://www.fisherytoolkit.edf.org.
"Global overfishing is a 21st century problem that people have been trying to fix with 20th century solutions," said Kate Bonzon, Director of EDF's Catch Share Design Center. "Our toolkit provides low cost, cutting-edge and highly replicable solutions to help fishermen and fishery managers achieve economic and ecological recovery, even in fisheries lacking adequate data."
According to a recent study in Science, 80% of global fisheries lack important data for stock assessments, a critical first step toward sustainable fisheries. EDF's toolkit includes a guide dedicated to bridging this gap, providing fishermen and managers with key resources and expertise.
Developed in conjunction with more than 80 global experts, the toolkit reflects the experience of successful and diverse fisheries around the world. It highlights pragmatic solutions to pressing problems and provides guidance that fishermen and managers can use to navigate the administrative hurdles they often face.
"Each year, poor governance costs the global fishing industry as much as $50 billion," said Michael Arbuckle, Senior Fisheries Specialist for the World Bank. "EDF has developed a valuable tool that can help fisheries managers create economic and social benefits for the many fishers and communities dependent on the resource for their future."
The toolkit includes more than a dozen design, planning and educational features:
For decades, EDF has worked alongside fishermen and fishery managers to end overfishing by developing proven fishery management solutions.
"I needed advice on how to suggest management decisions for the Prawn fishery in Sweden and the design manual has been my guide," said Peter Olsson, a Swedish fisherman who catches Norwegian lobster and herring out of Smgen, Sweden.
"We believe access to helpful, easy-to-use tools is key to developing sustainable and profitable fisheries," said Amanda Leland, Vice President for EDF's Oceans Program. "And we want to ensure these tools are readily available to managers and fishermen around the world."
###
Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org), a leading nonprofit organization, creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. EDF links science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships. Connect with us on our Oceans Twitter and Facebook, and follow our EDFish blog.
Environmental Defense Fund's Catch Share Design Center is a diverse team of global fishery experts who are dedicated to providing research-driven insight on improving fisheries management. From data to design, the center equips fisheries stakeholders with the tools and resources needed to create and maintain sustainable and profitable fisheries.
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
ShareContact: Rahel Marsie-Hazen
rmarsie-hazen@edf.org
415-293-6105
Environmental Defense Fund
(SAN FRANCISCO, CA October 17, 2013) Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) today launched the world's most comprehensive toolkit for designing and implementing management systems that can restore the resiliency, sustainability and profitability of fisheries around the world. Visit http://www.fisherytoolkit.edf.org.
"Global overfishing is a 21st century problem that people have been trying to fix with 20th century solutions," said Kate Bonzon, Director of EDF's Catch Share Design Center. "Our toolkit provides low cost, cutting-edge and highly replicable solutions to help fishermen and fishery managers achieve economic and ecological recovery, even in fisheries lacking adequate data."
According to a recent study in Science, 80% of global fisheries lack important data for stock assessments, a critical first step toward sustainable fisheries. EDF's toolkit includes a guide dedicated to bridging this gap, providing fishermen and managers with key resources and expertise.
Developed in conjunction with more than 80 global experts, the toolkit reflects the experience of successful and diverse fisheries around the world. It highlights pragmatic solutions to pressing problems and provides guidance that fishermen and managers can use to navigate the administrative hurdles they often face.
"Each year, poor governance costs the global fishing industry as much as $50 billion," said Michael Arbuckle, Senior Fisheries Specialist for the World Bank. "EDF has developed a valuable tool that can help fisheries managers create economic and social benefits for the many fishers and communities dependent on the resource for their future."
The toolkit includes more than a dozen design, planning and educational features:
For decades, EDF has worked alongside fishermen and fishery managers to end overfishing by developing proven fishery management solutions.
"I needed advice on how to suggest management decisions for the Prawn fishery in Sweden and the design manual has been my guide," said Peter Olsson, a Swedish fisherman who catches Norwegian lobster and herring out of Smgen, Sweden.
"We believe access to helpful, easy-to-use tools is key to developing sustainable and profitable fisheries," said Amanda Leland, Vice President for EDF's Oceans Program. "And we want to ensure these tools are readily available to managers and fishermen around the world."
###
Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org), a leading nonprofit organization, creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. EDF links science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships. Connect with us on our Oceans Twitter and Facebook, and follow our EDFish blog.
Environmental Defense Fund's Catch Share Design Center is a diverse team of global fishery experts who are dedicated to providing research-driven insight on improving fisheries management. From data to design, the center equips fisheries stakeholders with the tools and resources needed to create and maintain sustainable and profitable fisheries.
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Google’s quarterly sales increased again, although the company reported mixed results within its advertising business and a decrease in its Motorola mobile sales.
Revenue was $14.89 billion for the period ended Sept. 30, the company announced Thursday. That’s a 12 percent increase from the same period last year, excluding commissions and fees, or traffic acquisition costs that Google pays to other sites that run its ads. Taking those into account, the company’s sales were $11.92 billion.
Google’s net income for the quarter was $2.97 billion, a roughly 36 percent jump from the $2.18 billion reported for the third quarter last year. The company’s earnings per share were $8.75, up strongly from $6.53 last year.
“We are closing in on our goal of a beautiful, simple and intuitive experience regardless of your device,” Google CEO Larry Page said in a statement regarding the company’s progress toward addressing the shift by users to mobile devices.
Looking specifically at its advertising business, however, Google saw more mixed results. Paid clicks, or the clicks on search ads paid for by advertisers, increased by 26 percent over the third quarter of 2012, Google said, and increased by 8 percent over 2013’s second quarter. But the cost of paid clicks, or the money Google charges when someone clicks on an ad, fell by 8 percent over last year, and also decreased by 4 percent compared to this year’s second quarter, Google reported.
There was also a decrease in revenue from Motorola mobile, which includes hardware. That unit’s sales were $1.18 billion, or 8 percent of Google’s consolidated revenue—about a 33 percent drop.
Google paid more than $12 billion to buy Motorola Mobility last year. The highly anticipated Moto X smartphone, the first phone designed after the acquisition, launched in August with a focus on more user-friendly features.
Meanwhile, Google-owned sites generated revenue of $9.39 billion, a 22 percent increase over the same period last year, Google reported. The company’s partner sites contributed revenue of $3.15 billion, roughly flat compared to last year.
Zach Miners covers social networking, search and general technology news for IDG News Service
More by Zach Miners, IDG News Service
On the other side of the universe, a supermassive black hole is devouring enormous quantities of matter and spewing material in a jet that's 150 light years long. One scientist identifies the situation as "black hole indigestion," and boy, is it pretty.
Source: http://gizmodo.com/supermassive-black-hole-indigestion-is-super-gorgeous-1447115111
19 hours ago
Getty Images file
Mischa Barton discussed her past psychiatric treatment with People magazine.
Former "O.C." star Mischa Barton had a "full-on breakdown," she tells People magazine in a cover story this week.
"It was terrifying," said Barton, now 27. "Straight out of 'Girl, Interrupted.'"
The magazine's story begins with an unnerving description of a terrified Barton in 2009, strapped to a gurney and threatening to kill herself. Her family had just staged an intervention due to the 23-year-old's nonstop partying and erratic behavior, and she'd taken a powerful sedative and blacked out. She was eventually committed to the psychiatric ward at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. where she was held against her will for four days.
"I was never suicidal," she told the magazine, calling her threat to harm herself just a "slip of the tongue." "I was just overworked and depressed." And she said the time spent in the psychiatric ward turned out for the best, giving her needed time to be away from "work, my family and all the pressure."
Barton had ridden the heights of fame when starring as Marissa Cooper on "The O.C.", but the everpresent media attention was hard to handle. "It was like this fascination switch on all of us, aimed especially at me," she said.
And she helped create the flashy headlines. "I was living a jet-set lifestyle," Barton said. "There were a lot of enablers around, people to fly you around and to make it all possible."
Her weight was also a public issue. "It was always, 'She's too skinny, she must be sick,'" Barton said. "Then it was, 'She's too big.' I was never the right weight."
Things are much brighter for her now. Barton has a London boutique, a handbag line, just filmed a TV pilot, and also stars in a new supernatural thriller, "I Will Follow You into the Dark."
"I've learned a lot," the actress told the magazine. "I'm stronger now."
The Hong Kong government has faced a wave of complaint this week, after they rejected upstart television network HKTV’s application for a free-to-air license.
Established by local entrepreneur Ricky Wong, Hong Kong Television Network (HKTV) has hired hundreds of actors and TV professionals and produced more than 300 hours of original programming since it was founded in 2009, in a bid to take on the territory’s sole player in fictional television, TVB. Wong says he has invested more than $116 million in the venture.
STORY: Michael Bay Attacked on 'Transformers 4' Set in Hong Kong
But the company’s hopes were dashed this week when Hong Kong’s Commerce and Economic Development Bureau announced that it would be issuing free TV licenses to the city’s two pay-TV operators, PCCW and i-Cable, but not to HKTV. The two winning networks will compete with TVB and Asia Television, which have been operating alone in the free TV space for decades.
Wong told Hong Kong newspaper the South China Morning Post he was shocked by the decision, as it was the government that invited him to make a bid for a license in the first place.
"In 2009, the government called me to invite me [to bid]. On December 31, 2009, we submitted the application," he told the SCMP.
“The news itself is a shock to the management and to the staff as well…I believe this decision goes against public opinion,” he said in a press briefing, adding that he viewed the process as “unfair, unreasonable and non-transparent.”
PHOTOS: Inside Hollywood's Surprise Trip to 'China's Oscars'
The decision has sparked outcry from local politicians, radio hosts and the Hong Kong public, who had all been enthusiastic about the prospect of an energized new producer of serial TV dramas and other high-quality, Chinese-language programming offers. In recent years, many viewers have complained about a decline in quality of TVB content.
Politicians and about 400,000 local people signed a Facebook petition set up shortly after the decision. It demands that the government give a full account of the reasons for denying Wong's HKTV a license. Thousands have said they will protest outside government headquarters in Hong Kong this weekend.
Wong said at least 320 of HKTV’s 500 will have to be laid off at the end of the month. He said he may attempt to sell the TV shows already produced to other Chinese language markets.
A source inside the government told the SCMP it has been careful about publicly indicating its rationale for the decision, as lawsuits are likely. A commerce minister did say, however, that a consultancy hired by the department predicted the city could not sustain five television stations. He said HKTV's bid was viewed as less strong than those of PCCW and i-Cable, both of which have been operating in the city’s pay TV space for over a decade.
Hong Kong Television Network is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Its shares climbed 36 percent ahead of the government’s announcement, and then plummeted 39 percent on Wednesday after the license application was rejected, according the Wall Street Journal.
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street finally got the deal it's been waiting for.
A last-minute agreement to keep the U.S. from defaulting on its debt and reopen the government sent the stock market soaring Wednesday, lifting the Standard & Poor's 500 index close to a record high.
The deal was reached just hours before a deadline to raise the nation's $16.7 trillion debt limit. Senate leaders agreed to extend government borrowing through Feb. 7 and to fund the government through Jan. 15.
The agreement follows a month of political gridlock that threatened to make America a deadbeat and derail global markets, which depend on the U.S. to pay its bills. American government debt is widely considered the world's safest investment.
Markets stayed largely calm throughout the drama in Washington, with the S&P 500 actually gaining 2.4 percent since the shutdown began Oct. 1, after House Republicans demanded changes to President Barack Obama's health care law before passing a budget.
Wall Street gambled that politicians wouldn't let the U.S. default, a calamity economists said could paralyze lending and push the economy into another recession.
"We knew it was going to be dramatic, but the consequences of a U.S. default are just so severe that the base case was always that a compromise was going to be reached," said Tom Franks, a managing director at TIAA CREF, a large retirement funds manager.
Congress was racing to pass the legislation before the Thursday deadline.
If the deal wraps up soon, investors can turn their attention back to economic basics like third-quarter earnings. Overall earnings at companies in the S&P 500 index are forecast to grow 3.1 percent from a year earlier, according to data from S&P Capital IQ. That's slower than the growth of 4.9 percent in the second quarter and 5.2 percent in the first quarter.
It will be harder for Wall Street to get an up-to-date view of the economy because the partial government shutdown that began Oct. 1 has kept agencies from releasing key reports on trends like hiring. In general, though, the economy has been expanding this year.
Despite broad confidence that the political parties would strike a deal, the Dow went through rough patches over the last month, at one point falling as much as 900 points below an all-time high reached on Sept. 18. The Dow has seen seven triple-digit moves in the last 10 trading days.
On Wednesday, the Dow Jones climbed 205.82 points, or 1.4 percent, to 15,373.83. The S&P 500 gained 23.48, or 1.4 percent, at 1,721.54. That's only four points below its record close of 1,725.52 set Sept. 18.
The Nasdaq composite climbed 45.42, or 1.2 percent, to 3,839.43.
The feeling among stock traders in recent days was that panicking and pulling money out of stocks could mean missing out on a rally after Washington came to an agreement. Investors have also become inured to Washington's habit of reaching budget and debt deals at the last minute.
"Investors have become, unfortunately, accustomed to some of the dysfunction," said Eric Wiegand, a senior portfolio manager at U.S. Bank. "It's become more the norm than the exception."
In the summer of 2011, the S&P 500 index plunged 17 percent between early July and early August as lawmakers argued over raising the debt limit, and Standard & Poor's cut the U.S. credit rating from AAA, its highest ranking. The market later recovered.
Stocks also slumped in the last two weeks of 2012 as investors fretted that the U.S. could go over the "fiscal cliff" as lawmakers argued over a series of automatic government spending cuts. Stocks rebounded and began a strong rally that has propelled the S&P 500 up almost 21 percent this year.
Some were glad that investors could now turn their focus back to the traditional drivers of the market rather than worrying whether the latest dispatch from Washington would shake stocks.
"It's a little bit silly in the short term for markets to go down so much on press conferences and then to go up so much on rumors," said Brad Sorensen, director of market and sector research at the Schwab Center for Financial Research. "We've urged investors to pull back a little bit and look at the longer term."
The market for U.S. Treasury bills reflected relief among bond investors. The yield on the one-month T-bill dropped to 0.13 percent from 0.40 percent Wednesday morning, an extraordinarily large move. The decline means that investors consider the bill, which would have come due around the time a default may have occurred, to be less risky.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged down to 2.67 percent from 2.74 percent Tuesday. Yields on longer-term U.S. government debt haven't moved as much as those on short-term debt because investors believed that the government would work out a longer-term solution.
Among stocks making big moves:
— Bank of America rose 32 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $14.56 after the second-largest U.S. bank reported a surge in third-quarter earnings.
— Stanley Black & Decker plunged $12.70, or 14.3 percent, to $76.75 after the company lowered its profit forecast for the year, citing slower growth in emerging markets and a hit from the U.S. government shutdown.
___
AP Markets Writer Ken Sweet contributed to this report.
