Excited, but cold: Scientists unveil the secret of a reaction for prebiotic synthesis of organic matter

June 24, 2013 ? How is it that a complex organism evolves from a pile of dead matter? How can lifeless materials become organic molecules that are the bricks of animals and plants? Scientists have been trying to answer these questions for ages. Researchers at the Max Planck Institut f?r Kohlenforschung have now disclosed the secret of a reaction that has to do with the synthesis of complex organic matter before the origin of life.

Since the 1960's it has been well known that when concentrated hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is irradiated by UV light, it forms an imidazole intermediate that is a key substance for synthesis of nucleobases and nucleotides in abiotic environment. The way how UV radiation acts in this reaction to produce complex organic matter was, however, never clarified. Dr. Mario Barbatti and his colleagues in Germany, India and Czech Republic have now shown how this process occurs via computer simulations.

Using diverse computational-chemistry methods, the team has arrived at astonishing conclusions: For example that the reaction does not take place in the hot spot created by the solar radiation. "This has nothing to do with heat, but with electrons," says Mario Barbatti.

The reaction proceeds through a series of electronically excited intermediates. The molecules get into the "electronic excited state" because of the UV radiation, which means that their electrons are distributed in a much different way than the usual. That changes the molecule's attitudes. "But this takes some time," says Mario Barbatti. They showed that the radiation energy is dissipated too fast, and because of that each reactant molecule absorbs hundreds of UV photons before it finally gets converted into the imidazole intermediate.

"This is very inefficient -- and quite extraordinary," says Mario Barbatti. That is why it was quite challenging to comprehend the reaction, explains the physicist from Brazil. He and his colleagues have calculated a lot of possible intermediates, tried -- and discarded most of them. Finally they found out that there is only one single pathway that is consistent with the fast energy dissipation and previous experimental observations.

But why did they work on the computer? Isn't it the case that chemical reactions are worked on in laboratories? "Some intermediates are too elusive to analyze them in the laboratory -- they disappear before we may see them," Barbatti explains. Computational Chemistry allows the scientists to comprehend the reactions in a theoretical way.

"As I said before, this reaction has nothing to do with heat," says Barbatti. The transformation works in a cold environment, as in comets and in terrestrial ices, where spontaneous HCN polymerization is most expected to occur.

The team has published their results, which help to understand the role of solar radiation on the origin of life, in the recent issue of Angewandte Chemie.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/Q7w5RJO2C7M/130624104213.htm

louisville Kevin Ware Injury Video Richard Griffiths FGCU Reid Flair tony romo Good Friday 2013

No bail for Fla. sex offender charged in death

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) ? A judge on Sunday denied bail to a registered sex offender accused of abducting and killing an 8-year-old Florida girl.

Donald James Smith, of Jacksonville, was charged Saturday with murder and kidnapping in the death of Cherish Perrywinkle.

Authorities said Smith befriended the girl and her mother while they shopped at a dollar store Friday night.

Smith took them to a Wal-Mart, where he offered to buy them clothes and hamburgers, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

Instead of buying the snacks, Smith walked out of the store with the girl, the sheriff's office said. The girl's mother called 911 when she noticed they were missing.

A tip led investigators to the girl's body in the woods near a church Saturday morning. Police arrested Smith after stopping his van on Interstate 95. Authorities have not said how Cherish died.

Smith's public defender, Fred Gazaleh, told The Florida Times-Union (http://bit.ly/10dmKxy) before the hearing that Smith didn't have a chance of getting bail.

Gazaleh did not immediately respond to messages left Sunday by The Associated Press.

Smith's next court appearance is scheduled July 16.

Authorities initially spelled the girl's name Charish Perriwinkle in an Amber Alert on Saturday, but later changed her last name to Perrywinkle. Victim's advocate Ann Dugger of the Justice Coalition said she spoke with the girl's mother, who said her daughter's name is Cherish Perrywinkle.

Smith did not immediately cooperate with investigators after his arrest, said Mike Williams, director of investigations at the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

Smith has been a registered sex offender since a 1993 conviction in Duval County for attempted kidnapping and selling obscene materials. He has been arrested several times since then, most recently in 2009 on a charge of child abuse after making obscene phone calls to a 10-year-old girl, making verbal threats, and impersonating a social worker with the Florida Department of Children and Families who claimed to be investigating the girl's family.

Smith pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in that case and was released from jail May 31. He had just met with police Friday morning to comply with a state law that requires sex offenders to verify their address once a year.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/no-bail-fla-sex-offender-charged-death-202225050.html

indonesia quake stephen strasburg shabazz legion baby found alive in morgue rockies second degree murders

'Family Ties' creator Gary David Goldberg dies

NEW YORK (AP) ? Gary David Goldberg, who created the 1980s sitcom hit "Family Ties" and expanded into feature films, has died.

Goldberg died of brain cancer in Montecito, Calif., on Saturday, days before his 69th birthday, The New York Times reported.

Goldberg's TV successes also included the ABC comedy "Spin City," which in 1996 reunited him with "Family Ties" breakout star Michael J. Fox as the deputy mayor of New York City.

"With a full heart I say goodbye to my mentor, benefactor, partner, second father and beloved friend," Fox said in a statement on Monday. "He touched so many with his enormous talent and generous spirit. He changed my life profoundly."

A more modest hit for Goldberg yet much-acclaimed, CBS' "Brooklyn Bridge" (1991-93) was a tender comedy based on his experiences growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y. Marion Ross starred as a character inspired by his grandmother.

Goldberg's films included "Dad" (1989), starring Jack Lemmon and Ted Danson, as well as "Bye Bye Love" (1995) and "Must Love Dogs" (2005), which he wrote as well as directed.

His own dog, Ubu, contributed the name of his production company and was widely known from the onscreen credit where viewers heard the command, "Sit, Ubu, sit," then a bark.

Goldberg began his TV career in the 1970s as a writer for series including "The Bob Newhart Show," and was a producer of "Lou Grant."

In 1982 "Family Ties" premiered on NBC, introducing Michael J. Fox as a business-loving Young Republican son of left-wing baby boomers who were former hippies.

"Basically, those parents are me and Diana," Goldberg once said, referring to his wife, Diana Meehan, who survives him.

The series became a huge hit, making Fox a star and Goldberg an important behind-the-camera name.

During his career, Goldberg won two Emmy awards, two Golden Globes and a Peabody award.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/family-ties-creator-gary-david-goldberg-dies-200720990.html

Jordan Pruitt real housewives of new jersey emmys emmys Kanye West sex tape torrey smith torrey smith

David Gregory, Glenn Greenwald Spar Over Snowden - Business ...

NBC

"Meet the Press" moderator David Gregory had a heated exchange with Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald on Sunday, during which?Gregory asked Greenwald, point blank, if he should be charged with a crime for his role in publishing leaked classified documents from NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

"To the extent that you have aided and abetted Snowden," Gregory said, "even in his current movements, why shouldn't you, Mr. Greenwald, be charged with a crime?"

"I think it's pretty extraordinary that anybody who would call themselves a journalist would publicly muse about whether or not other journalists should be charged with felonies," Greenwald responded.?

"The assumption in your question, David, is completely without evidence ? the idea that I've 'aided and abetted' him in any way."

Greenwald accused Gregory of advocating a position that has touched off some controversy in recent weeks with the Obama administration and leak investigations. Greenwald pointed to the Justice Department's obtaining of Associated Press reporters' phone records and its investigation involving Fox News reporter James Rosen.

"The scandal that arose in Washington before our stories began was about the fact that the Obama administration is trying to criminalize investigative journalism ? by going through the emails and phone records of AP reporters, accusing a Fox News journalist of the theory you just embraced ? being a 'co-conspirator.'"

Here's the clip:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/david-gregory-glenn-greenwald-edward-snowden-crime-2013-6

ufc arrested development arrested development Champions League Everett Golson June Carter monsanto

Snowden charges first step in long extradition process

By Tabassum Zakaria and Mark Hosenball

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has filed espionage charges against Edward Snowden, a former U.S. National Security Agency contractor who admitted revealing secret surveillance programs to media outlets, according to a court document made public on Friday.

The charges are the government's first step in what could be a long legal battle to return Snowden from Hong Kong, where he is believed to be in hiding, and try him in a U.S. court. A Hong Kong newspaper said he was under police protection, but the territory's authorities declined to comment.

Snowden was charged with theft of government property, unauthorized communication of national defense information and willful communication of classified communications intelligence to an unauthorized person, said the criminal complaint, which was dated June 14.

The latter two offenses fall under the U.S. Espionage Act and carry penalties of fines and up to 10 years in prison.

A single page of the complaint was unsealed on Friday. An accompanying affidavit remained under seal.

Two U.S. sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States was preparing to seek Snowden's extradition from Hong Kong, which is part of China but has wide-ranging autonomy, including an independent judiciary.

The Washington Post, which first reported the criminal complaint earlier on Friday, said the United States had asked Hong Kong to detain Snowden on a provisional arrest warrant.

Hong Kong's Chinese-language Apple Daily quoted police sources as saying that anti-terrorism officers had contacted Snowden, arranged a safe house for him and provided protection.

The report said the police had checked his documents but had not discussed other matters or taken any statements.

Hong Kong Police Commissioner Andy Tsang declined to comment other than to say Hong Kong would deal with the case in accordance with the law.

Snowden earlier this month admitted leaking secrets about classified U.S. surveillance programs, creating a public uproar. Supporters say he is a whistleblower, while critics call him a criminal and perhaps even a traitor.

He disclosed documents detailing U.S. telephone and Internet surveillance efforts to the Washington Post and Britain's Guardian newspaper.

The criminal complaint was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, where Snowden's former employer, Booz Allen Hamilton, is located.

That judicial district has seen a number of high-profile prosecutions, including the spy case against former FBI agent Robert Hanssen and the case of al Qaeda operative Zacarias Moussaoui. Both were convicted.

'ACTIVE EXTRADITION RELATIONSHIP'

Documents leaked by Snowden revealed that the NSA has access to vast amounts of Internet data such as emails, chat rooms and video from large companies such as Facebook and Google, under a government program known as Prism.

They also showed that the government had worked through the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to gather so-called metadata - such as the time, duration and telephone numbers called - on all calls carried by service providers such as Verizon.

President Barack Obama and his intelligence chiefs have vigorously defended the programs, saying they are regulated by law and that Congress was notified. They say the programs have been used to thwart militant plots and do not target Americans' personal lives.

U.S. federal prosecutors, by filing a criminal complaint, lay claim to a legal basis to make an extradition request of the authorities in Hong Kong, the Post reported. The prosecutors now have 60 days to file an indictment and can then take steps to secure Snowden's extradition from Hong Kong for a criminal trial in the United States, the newspaper reported.

The United States and Hong Kong have "excellent cooperation" and as a result of agreements, "there is an active extradition relationship between Hong Kong and the United States," a U.S. law enforcement official told Reuters.

Since the United States and Hong Kong signed an extradition treaty in 1998, scores of Americans have been sent back home to face trial. However, the process can take years, lawyers say.

Under Hong Kong's extradition process, a request would first go to Hong Kong's chief executive. A magistrate would issue a formal warrant for Snowden's arrest if the chief executive agrees the case should proceed.

Simon Young, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong, said the first charge of theft against Snowden might find an equivalent charge in Hong Kong, needed to allow extradition proceedings to move forward, but the unauthorized communication and willful communication charges may be sticking points that lead to litigation and dispute in the courts.

Whatever the Hong Kong courts decide could be vetoed by the territory's leader or Beijing on foreign affairs or defense grounds.

An Icelandic businessman linked to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks said on Thursday he had readied a private plane in China to fly Snowden to Iceland if Iceland's government would grant asylum.

Iceland refused on Friday to say whether it would grant asylum to Snowden.

(Additional reporting by James Pomfret, Venus Wu and Grace Li in HONG KONG; Editing by Warren Strobel, Peter Cooney and Neil Fullick)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-files-espionage-charges-against-snowden-over-leaks-015108216.html

power ball livan hernandez soledad o brien mega ball lottery winner lottery numbers mega millions lottery

Sexually Active in High School? Predictors of Hookup Behavior For ...

By Janice Wood Associate News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on June 22, 2013

Researchers have identified several factors associated with an increase in hookups ? casual, no-strings-attached sex ? among women in their first year of college.

?Our findings suggest hooking up during the first year of college is influenced by pre-college hookups, personality, behavioral intentions, the social and situational context, family background and substance use patterns ? particularly marijuana use,? said Robyn L. Fielder, M.S., a research intern at The Miriam Hospital?s Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine in Providence, R.I.

Fielder and her team surveyed 483 incoming first-year female college students about their risk behaviors, personality traits and social environment.

Specific questions covered the students? sexual behavior, hookup attitudes and intentions, self-esteem, religious beliefs, parents? relationship status, alcohol and marijuana use, smoking, impulsivity, and sensation-seeking behavior. Researchers followed up with the women monthly for eight months.

What the researchers found is that pre-college hookups emerged as the strongest predictor of hooking up during freshmen year, suggesting early experiences may provide a model for future behavior.

?These findings suggest that women?s hookup behavior during the first year of college may influence their hookup behavior later in college,? said Fielder.

?That?s why the transition to college is an important time for health care professionals to provide sexual health information and resources to help women make informed choices.?

It?s also important to consider the array of individual, social and contextual factors when studying hookup behavior, she noted.

?Focusing on any one area of influence fails to capture the complicated matrix of forces that influence young adults? relationship decisions,? Fielder added.

The study was published online in the Archives of Sexual Behavior.

Source: Lifespan

College woman looking into the camera photo by shutterstock.

APA Reference
Wood, J. (2013). Sexually Active in High School? Predictors of Hookup Behavior For College Women. Psych Central. Retrieved on June 23, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/06/22/sexually-active-in-high-school-predictors-of-hookup-behavior-for-college-women/56324.html

?

Source: http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/06/22/sexually-active-in-high-school-predictors-of-hookup-behavior-for-college-women/56324.html

nfl draft 2012 whitney mercilus 2012 nfl draft picks andrew luck andrew luck trent richardson robert griffin iii

Development of nonvolatile liquid anthracenes for facile full-color luminescence tuning: Application to foldable light-emitting devices expected

June 23, 2013 ? A research team headed by Dr. Takashi Nakanishi, a Principal Researcher of the NIMS Organic Materials Group, Polymer Materials Unit, developed a full-colour tunable luminescent liquid material with excellent light stability based on an anthracene molecule, which is a general organic fluorescent dye.

A research team headed by Dr. Takashi Nakanishi, a Principal Researcher of the Organic Materials Group (Group Leader: Masayuki Takeuchi), Polymer Materials Unit (Unit Director: Izumi Ichinose) of the National Institute for Materials Science (President: Sukekatsu Ushioda), developed a full-colour tunable luminescent liquid material with excellent photostability based on anthracene, which is a general organic fluorescent dye.

In the development of full-colour display monitors, mobile devices, and other electronic devices, organic molecular and polymer materials are essentially important, as they offer advantages such as light weight, flexibility, and printability. However, in virtually all cases, the light-emitting organic molecular materials developed until now have had difficulties to demonstrate their inherent luminescent performance due to various problems, which include low photostability (durability to prevent discoloration or decolorization under photoirradiation) and aggregation of molecules in the coating process. Moreover, from the viewpoint of production of flexible devices, materials should be free of deterioration of the continuous emissive layer, even when subjected to excessive bending and folding. On the other hand, development of organic molecular materials which enable simple, low-cost manufacture of full-colour luminescence devices, in comparison with individual synthesis of organic molecular materials that display various luminescent colours, is also desired.

The team led by Dr. Nakanishi developed a blue-emitting liquid material which is free of aggregation among adjacent anthracene parts, has a melting point of approximately -60 ?C, and is thermally stable up to about 300 ?C, by attaching highly flexible branched alkyl chains around an anthracene core moiety, which is a fluorescent general dye molecule. This material is a low-viscosity liquid with viscosity of approximately 0.3 Pa-s at room temperature and is a blue-emitting with an absolute fluorescence quantum yield of ca. 55% and photostable more than 5~10 times longer lifetime than that of commercially-available anthracene dyes. Furthermore, because other luminescent dye molecules can be doped homogeneously in this liquid, it was found that full-colour luminescence tuning is available assisted by up to 96% fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) of dyes by single blue-light (365nm) excitation.

In this research, a blue-emitting anthracene liquid with excellent photostability was synthesized, and a liquid material which displays high quality full-colour luminescence and precise luminescence tuning by the facile operation of doping the liquid with other dyes was developed. Since the nonvolatile liquid material developed in this work can be coated on the surface of various substrates, production of organic multicolour devices with stable single color excitation can be expected. A continuous active emitting layer can be maintained, without breaking or interruption even when bent and folded, which is a favorable property for the development of foldable flexible devices.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/wiw-4VNFXlY/130623153502.htm

Instagram Video Odin Lloyd Confederations Cup russell brand conundrum Alex Minsky christina aguilera

Watch Wimbledon tennis live on YouTube beginning Monday (video)

It may not be the NBA Finals or Stanley Cup Playoffs, but the world's oldest tennis tournament has a solid following as well, particularly abroad. A new Wimbledon partnership with YouTube could help boost the competition's appeal stateside; for the first time, you'll be able to access video feeds from the two-week London event, live on Google's prized streaming site. Beginning this Monday, you can catch all the action on Wimbledon's YouTube channel, with Rolex footing the bill. You'll also find interviews, behind-the-scenes segments and press conference streams on the video site, along with past match highlights and other featured content. There's a teaser clip waiting for you just past the break.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD, Google

Comments

Source: YouTube

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

DNS Changer ernest borgnine ESPYs 2012 venus williams Freeh Report direct tv wimbledon

French President Hollande's popularity down again: poll

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande's popularity was back to record lows in June after inching up in May, according to an Ifop poll carried out for French newspaper Journal du Dimanche.

The survey for publication on Sunday showed 26 percent of those interviewed were satisfied with Hollande's performance, down 3 percentage points, while 73 percent were dissatisfied, up 2 points.

The proportion of people satisfied with Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault also declined 2 points to 31 percent.

The Socialist government has been struggling with rising unemployment, stalled economic growth, and a large public deficit, while Hollande's same-sex marriage law prompted huge protests.

Elected in May 2012, Hollande's low popularity is lower than almost all previous presidents at the same point in their terms.

The study was based on the views of 1,865 people aged 18 or over contacted by telephone between June 14 and June 22.

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/french-president-hollandes-popularity-down-again-poll-223830923.html

live free or die hard carlos pena amanda bynes arrested f 18 jet crash in virginia beach nicki minaj beez in the trap video food network

GOG's 24-hour 'Longest Day of Gaming' sale discounts over 150 ...

As far as massive sales go, GOG's Longest Day of Gaming event has about the same discount density as a white dwarf made out of Payless BOGO coupons. For the next 24ish hours, over 150 games have been discounted by up to 85 percent, covering everything from classic PC games, modern indies, big-budget AAA releases and sizable bundles of similar titles.

There's too much going on in this sale for us to list every single hot deal here, but we'd be remiss if we didn't at least mention that you can snag Fez, Dyad, Hotline Miami, The Witcher 2, Retro City Rampage, FTL, Waking Mars, Slender: The Arrival and every game in the Myst series for less than $10 each. The sale even includes Mac games ? get up on this.

Source: http://www.joystiq.com/2013/06/21/gogs-24-hour-longest-day-of-gaming-sale-discounts-over-150-ga/

corned beef hash the walking dead season 2 finale born free walking dead finale nascar bristol narwhal st louis university

Wambach breaks Hamm's mark for career goals

United States' Megan Rapinoe, right, celebrates with Abby Wambach as teammates rush in after Wambach scored a goal against South Korea during the first half of an international friendly soccer match at Red Bull Arena, Thursday, June 20, 2013, in Harrison, N.J. With the goal, Wambach broke Mia Hamm's national goal-scoring record. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

United States' Megan Rapinoe, right, celebrates with Abby Wambach as teammates rush in after Wambach scored a goal against South Korea during the first half of an international friendly soccer match at Red Bull Arena, Thursday, June 20, 2013, in Harrison, N.J. With the goal, Wambach broke Mia Hamm's national goal-scoring record. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

United States' Abby Wambach, center right, reacts after scoring a goal against South Korea as United States' Heather O'Reilly (9) and Crustal Dunn (6) and South Korea's Jeoun Eunha (18) look on during the first half of an international friendly soccer match at Red Bull Arena, Thursday, June 20, 2013, in Harrison, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

United States' Abby Wambach, left, reacts after scoring a goal against South Korea during the first half of an international friendly soccer match at Red Bull Arena, Thursday, June 20, 2013, in Harrison, N.J. With the goal Wambach ties for most scored goals with former US player Mia Hamm. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

United States' Abby Wambach kisses a soccer ball after scoring against South Korea during the first half of an international friendly soccer match at Red Bull Arena, Thursday, June 20, 2013, in Harrison, N.J. With the goal, Wambach broke Mia Hamm's national goal-scoring record. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

United States women soccer players mob Abby Wambach after she scored a goal against South Korea during the first half of an international friendly soccer match at Red Bull Arena, Thursday, June 20, 2013, in Harrison, N.J. With the goal, Wambach broke Mia Hamm's national goal-scoring record. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

HARRISON, N.J. (AP) ? Abby Wambach broke Mia Hamm's record for international career goals by a soccer player, scoring four times in the first half against South Korea to push her total to 160.

Wambach tallied three times in the first 29 minutes to break Hamm's mark of 158 international goals, and she added another in injury time to give her a nice round number.

The historic 159th came on a line-drive header that ripped into the twine in the back of the net off a corner kick by Megan Rapinoe.

The 33-year-old Wambach turned and ran a couple of steps in the direction of the U.S. bench, then stopped as Rapinoe jumped into her arms. The Rochester, N.Y., native was then mobbed by teammates on the field and those who streamed off the bench as the crowd at Red Bull Arena cheered wildly.

After the hugs, Wambach turned to the stands and blew a kiss toward her parents, Judy and Peter.

Chants of "Ab-bee, Ab-bee, Ab-bee," cascaded through the stadium as officials got the ball and gave it to the U.S. bench.

"I'm just so proud of her," Hamm said. "Just watching those four goals, that's what she is all about. She fights for the ball, she's courageous and she never gives up. Her strength and perseverance is what makes her so great and it's what defenders and opposing teams fear.

"From being her teammate early in her career, I know all she ever wanted to do was win, and she continues to do that. I'm just glad I got to share 158 with her. It was short, but it was fun."

Her first goal Thursday came on a shot in the box past South Korean goalkeeper Kim Jung-mi in the 10th minute. The second came nine minutes later in the friendly on a flicking header.

Lauren Cheney set up the first two goals on crossing passes on plays that Wambach eluded Korean defender Shim Seo-yeon.

Wambach's fourth goal was an easy tap-in after Alex Morgan made a run down the right side and centered the ball to the on-rushing Wambach, the 2012 FIFA Women's World Player of the Year.

Wambach had a chance for a fifth goal, which would have tied her single-game record, but she could not get her head on a cross early in the second half.

Wambach was given a standing ovation by many in the crowd when she was replaced in the 58th minute by Christen Press.

Before leaving the field, she exchanged hugs with long-time teammates Rapinoe, Heather O'Reilly and Carli Lloyd and a few other players. As she got to the sideline she applauded the crowd and then hugged her coaches and teammates.

Wambach said on Tuesday she wanted to get the record and stop being the center of attention. On Thursday night she held the spotlight and no one was going to take it away.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-06-20-SOC-Wambach-Record/id-d9413b92ceb2468cb16516dc6df2ad2b

Gary Collins bus driver uppercut Alex Karras BCS Rankings 2012 vampire diaries derek jeter Red Bull Stratos

Rachel Zoe: Pregnant With Second Child!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/06/rachel-zoe-pregnant-with-second-child/

Clara Schumann Jael Strauss Alison Pill Sam Bacile sprint britney spears At&t Wireless

Goodnight Moon, Goodnight Math

Copyright ? 2013 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

IRA FLATOW, HOST:

OK. Maybe E. O. Wilson's comments in his new book, "Letters to a Young Scientist", essentially says you don't want to have to be great at math to have a career in science, but it can't hurt, right? And to be great at math, it pays to start young, and my next guest is a - has a plan for you. Laura Overdeck is the founder of Bedtime Math. Her mission: to make math friendlier in a way by introducing kids to math problems at an early age.

And here's her plan. You get your kids into their PJs. You tuck them in with a math equation on top of their bedtime story. And you can find a simple - a sample of her bedtime math puzzles on our website at sciencefriday.com/bedtimemath. Laura Overdeck is here with us. Welcome to SCIENCE FRIDAY.

LAURA OVERDECK: Hi. Thank you.

FLATOW: This is a cute little book. It's a big book. It's nice. You think you can teach math to kids while they're getting their bedtime story?

OVERDECK: Oh, I think absolutely. Where this came from was that my husband and I, we like math, and when our first child was 2, we started rolling in a little math problem with her book at night, just, you know, started with counting the ears and noses on her stuffed animals. It got tougher as she got older. We've rolled in a second child, a third child. And what we found was that, in our house by now, math is like dessert. It's a treat...

FLATOW: Is that right?

OVERDECK: It's a treat the kids want. They actually ask for their math problem at night.

FLATOW: So they didn't say, oh, mommy, you're going to read me a math problem when you first started?

(LAUGHTER)

OVERDECK: Well, no. Well, first of all, we never wrote them down. We always did them off-the-cuff...

FLATOW: Right.

OVERDECK: ...and they were based on what we had talked about at dinner or funny things that had happened that day.

FLATOW: Mm-hmm. And how did you get the idea to write the book? Did you say, I did this so many times, I should just put them all into a book and publish it?

OVERDECK: You know, it was actually that friends started hearing we were doing this and said, well, have you thought about sharing them? So, about a year ago, I rounded up 10 or 12 people in town, and I said, OK, I'm going to mail you, I'm going to email you a math problem every night. Try it with your kids and tell me what happens. And within days, people were telling me that their kids were starting to bug them for the math problem every night.

FLATOW: Mm-hmm. Give me a sample of a math problem. Give us a math problem sample.

OVERDECK: Sure. So, a couple of days ago, we did one on animals that have eight legs. And, you know, how do you walk when you have eight feet without tripping over yourself? So I actually watched a video of a crab walking to see how they do this. There's also a spider video out there. I couldn't bring myself to watch that. That was going to give me nightmares. But I watched the crab one, and there's a pattern.

The four feet on one side go one, three, two, four, and the ones on the other side do the same thing, alternating. So if the pattern is one, five, three, seven, two, six, four eight, and then you do one, five, three again, which leg takes the next step?

FLATOW: There you go.

OVERDECK: And then the bonus was which leg takes the 37th step?

(LAUGHTER)

FLATOW: For smart kids. We're talking with Laura Overdeck on SCIENCE FRIDAY from NPR. Her book is "Bedtime Math: A Fun Excuse to Stay Up Late." Do you think grown-ups can enjoy it, to learn something when they're reading this to their kids?

OVERDECK: Oh, sure. We actually have a whole crowd of adults who follow our website who do them as a brainteaser.

FLATOW: Mm-hmm. Do the kids fall asleep if they're thinking about a math problem? Does it get them sleepier or keep them awake?

OVERDECK: You know, I'll tell you, I have three really lively children, so if it can calm them down, it can help anybody. That might have been, actually, how we started doing it.

FLATOW: Now, is there any actual evidence that this actually helps kids be better in math once they...

OVERDECK: Well, you know, I'll tell you, there is a recent study showing that when you do learning at night, you retain it better, and this may be why the bedtime story has survived the centuries and been such a beloved institution.

We actually are doing research ourselves. We did a small study last summer with Boys & Girls Clubs in New Jersey where the kids got a fun math problem every day, and we tested them before and after the six weeks. And while most kids slide two or three months in skills over the summer, we found that 72 percent of these kids actually did better...

FLATOW: Wow.

OVERDECK: ...at the end of the summer. So we're now doing a study with the University of Chicago for the next five years to see if we can pin down what's happening.

FLATOW: Are there problems in the book for kids of all ages, as they used to say?

OVERDECK: Yes. What we do is we take topics kids love - like anteaters, snowmobiles, chocolate - and each one opens with a little story and maybe some shocking facts, and then the questions are at different levels of challenge. And what's funny is even adults like to start with the wee ones, counting on their fingers and then work their way up.

FLATOW: Do you find that people say, hey, I've got a great book - a subject for you, you ought to put it in your next book? Here's a great...

OVERDECK: Oh, absolutely. I mean, because, you know, we put out a math problem every day on the website.

FLATOW: Right.

OVERDECK: We need lots of ideas, and subscribers do send them in, which is awesome.

FLATOW: Mm-hmm. Do you have any suggestions for people who want to start this? Is there the right way and the wrong way to introduce it to your kid, or you just sit down in bed and say read from the book?

OVERDECK: You know, I think that reading from the book is one way to do it. What's really great is when parents just weave math into the daily routine, into playtime. And I think that a lot of adults have math anxiety and shy away from doing that. Then kids go off to school, and their first introduction to math is school, which is...

FLATOW: Right.

OVERDECK: ...homework and drilling. If kids can discover math before they have any preconceived notions, they're just going to be on much better footing.

FLATOW: Yeah. And if they have a teacher, maybe, who'll keep encouraging them, right?

OVERDECK: Right.

FLATOW: Kids are natural scientists. They're natural born inquisitors. They like to find out about everything, and we just don't have a way of doing it. Maybe your math book can help do that. Have - do teachers use it at all and think about it?

OVERDECK: We do have teachers using it. They say that they warm up the class with a math problem in the morning. We've heard all kinds of stories. There's a bus driver outside Chicago who actually puts the math problem up on a whiteboard on the bus every morning. And he has a bag of Oriental Trading prizes.

FLATOW: Right.

OVERDECK: And the first kid on the bus to get it gets to pull something out of the bag. So it's really a movement that's spreading.

FLATOW: That's great. Well, good luck to you in the movement and spreading that movement. Thank you for taking time to be with us today.

OVERDECK: Oh, thank you.

FLATOW: Laura Overdeck, illustrated by Jim Paillot, is that...

OVERDECK: Paillot.

FLATOW: Paillot. I'm doing the French version.

OVERDECK: I had to ask him how to say it.

(LAUGHTER)

FLATOW: Laura Overdeck with Jim Paillot illustrations, "Bedtime Math: A Fun Excuse To Stay Up Late". It's really cute, nicely drawn, beautiful illustrations in there. Thanks for taking time to be with us today.

OVERDECK: OK. Thank you.

FLATOW: We're going to take a break. And when we come back, were going to Sean Carroll. He's coming with us to talk about the particles - new kind of particle that's discovered, made out of four quarks, something really mysterious, stuff we'd like to talk about on SCIENCE FRIDAY. So stay with us. We'll be right back after this break. I'm Ira Flatow. This is SCIENCE FRIDAY from NPR.

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.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2013/06/21/194230824/goodnight-moon-goodnight-math?ft=1&f=1007

bobby abreu 2012 draft colt mccoy arbor day mike adams janoris jenkins john edwards trial

McCarthy responds to 'hippo,' 'obese' slams

Celebs

Ree Hines TODAY contributor

7 hours ago

Kevin Winter / Getty Images file

Melissa McCarthy.

When Melissa McCarthy's comedy "Identity Thief" hit theaters earlier this year, it met mixed reviews. Some critics found it hilarious; for others, the jokes fell flat.

But one reviewer barely bothered to focus on the film at all. When veteran film critic Rex Reed dished out his take, he set his sights on criticizing McCarthy, calling the leading lady "obese and obnoxious with equal success."

In fact, that barb was practically kind compared to what else he had to say. He also referred to McCarthy as a "female hippo," called her "cacophonous, tractor-sized." And then, after the film found box office success, he claimed the hubbub his comments stirred was actually responsible for the big draw.

As for McCarthy, she didn't take the bait, allowing the controversy to pass without a word. But now, over four months later and with the buzz behind her, the actress has something to say.

In an recent interview with the New York Times, she opened up about the infamous review.

"Really?" she said, recalling her initial reaction to the piece. "Why would someone OK that?"

During her chat with the Times, McCarthy never mentioned Reed by name, but did give her impression of him in the wake of the review.

"I felt really bad for someone who is swimming in so much hate," she said. "I just thought, that's someone who's in a really bad spot, and I am in such a happy spot. I laugh my head off every day with my husband and my kids who are mooning me and singing me songs."

While she said she didn't allow Reed's comments to get her down, McCarthy admitted that if the incident had taken place when she was younger, it would have left her "crushed."

Reed gave his reaction to the controversy shortly after his initial review. In an interview with WOR-AM, he said, "Don't make me a villain. ? She's is crying all the way to the bank!"

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/melissa-mccarthy-responds-critics-hippo-tractor-sized-slams-6C10321827

El Chapo Guzman Christmas Abbott clive davis nba trade thomas robinson nba trades Xbox 720