'Wave Glider' drones zero in on ocean record

More than 500 years after Ferdinand Magellan's expedition crossed the Pacific Ocean on its way to circumnavigating the globe, robot explorers have also begun to leave their watery mark on the world. Four "Wave Glider" drones took aim at a new distance record for unmanned ocean vehicles by launching on a trans-Pacific voyage from San Francisco last Thursday.

The Wave Gliders could set a Guinness World Record by traveling across 33,000 nautical miles of the Pacific during a voyage expected to take more than 300 days. That would not only beat previous records set by underwater drones that have already crossed the Atlantic Ocean, but could also allow for new scientific discoveries in the largely unmapped ocean frontier.

Anyone can follow the journey virtually online courtesy of Liquid Robotics ? the company operating the Wave Gliders ? and Ocean in Google Earth. Liquid Robotics has also teamed up with Virgin Oceanic to begin exploring the deepest part of the world's oceans in the Mariana Trench.

"Most of the ocean remains unexplored with less than 10 percent of it mapped out," said Jenifer Austin Foulkes, Ocean in Google Earth manager. "This expedition creates an opportunity for students, marine researchers and aspiring oceanographers to follow these brave Liquid Robotics ocean robots as they cross the Pacific virtually through the Ocean Showcase on the Google Earth website."

Once the drones reach Hawaii, one pair will continue onward to Japan by crossing over the Mariana Trench. The other pair is scheduled to head for Australia.

Each drone consists of a floating section connected with a cable to an underwater glider, so that it can convert wave motion into forward thrust. Such self-sustaining design has already allowed Wave Gliders to complete individual voyages of more than 2,500 miles since 2008.

Solar panels on top of the floater can supply power to onboard sensors designed to track ocean salinity, water temperature, waves, weather, fluorescence and dissolved oxygen. The Wave Gliders can transmit the data to shore by passing it on to satellites.

The public can access such data for free if they register, but Liquid Robotics has also invited scientists to submit research proposals describing how they would use the data in a newly announced PacX Challenge. A grand prize winner chosen by ocean scientists will receive six months of free Wave Glider data services and help Liquid Robotic plan out the six-month deployment.

"These Wave Gliders are much like small 'spacecraft' that open up new opportunities for robotic exploration," said Ed Lu, chief of innovative applications at Liquid Robotics. "I challenge all scientists who are interested in advancing ocean exploration to take advantage of this unique opportunity."

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? 2011 InnovationNewsDaily.com. All rights reserved. More from InnovationNewsDaily.com.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45394819/ns/technology_and_science-innovation/

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Shares in Japan's Olympus jump on hopes it will avoid delisting (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) ? Shares in Japan's Olympus Corp jumped more than 15 percent in early trade Monday on persistent speculation that the disgraced maker of cameras and endoscopes may avoid delisting despite the accounting scandal engulfing it.

Japanese police, prosecutors and the securities watchdog are investigating Olympus after the 92-year-old firm admitted this month that it had hid investment losses for decades, disguising some of them as merger and acquisition payments.

The scandal has raised the prospect of the company being delisted from the Tokyo stock exchange, but speculators who believe Olympus' core medical equipment business still has value have been buying shares on hopes that this won't happen.

Instead, they are betting that executives responsible for the scandal will bear the brunt of any punishment.

"It's been over a month since the scandal emerged. There hasn't been good news and the outlook for the company is still unclear, but the stock sometimes rises on buying by those who hope for short-term gains," said Masayoshi Okamoto, head of dealing at Jujiya Securities.

"I think fears of delisting are fading after foreign shareholders requested that the stock remain listed. The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) might be sensitive to outside pressure from foreign shareholders," he added.

The scandal at the once-proud firm has rekindled concerns about lax corporate governance in Japan. It has also revived worries about links between companies and organised crime, as investigators probe possible involvement by "yakuza" gangsters.

A unit from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's organised crime division has joined the investigation, a source familiar with the matter said Friday. But the source added that it was premature to say whether gangsters were involved.

Olympus has admitted to improperly accounting for part of $1.3 billion in M&A payments going back to 2006, although an independent panel commissioned by the firm to investigate the matter is still trying to get to the bottom of the issue.

A large share of these payments went to obscure Cayman Islands firms, making it difficult to trace the money.

Tokyo prosecutors, who Japanese media said had questioned Olympus ex-president Hisashi Mori on a voluntary basis on Friday, are expected soon to question the firm's former president, Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, and internal auditor Hideo Yamada over their role in the scandal.

The Hong Kong-based Asian Corporate Governance Association, whose members include institutional investors that collectively manage assets of more than $10 trillion, urged the Tokyo exchange Friday not to delist Olympus.

Institutional investors, however, have been reducing their stakes as the investigation progresses.

The Tokyo exchange has placed Olympus on a watch list as a possible prelude to delisting. If the firm misses a December 14 deadline for filing its financial statements for the six-months to September, it will be automatically delisted.

Even if Olympus meets the deadline, the bourse can still delist the stock depending on the scale of its past financial misstatements or if the firm is found to have done business with organised crime syndicates.

Olympus shares were up 14 percent at 712 yen at 8:15 p.m. EST, off a high of 725 yen. The stock was the fourth most heavily traded by turnover.

(Writing by Linda Sieg; Editing by Mark Bendeich)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/japan/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111121/bs_nm/us_olympus_shares

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Overheard at the 39th annual American Music Awards (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Overheard at the 39th annual American Music Awards, presented Sunday at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles:

? "We've never won an American Music Award, and it's wonderful to be acknowledged for our music. It's very sharp, though, so we'll have to be careful around the house." ? Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine backstage on the pyramid-shaped AMA trophy.

? "We just want to say thank you to the fans. It starts and ends with you and we just love you very, very much." ? Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum as she accepted the band's prize for favorite country band, duo or group.

? "Just chase your dreams. I never thought this could be possible. Shout out to all the female rappers, past present and future." ? Nicki Minaj, who beat out Lil Wayne, Kanye West and Jay-Z to win favorite hip-hop album for "Pink Friday."

"Heavy had a huge effect on all of us. He was inspiring and optimistic. He just always told us or gave us great advice. He always wanted us to do good. He was like a father figure for us." ? Mary J. Blige backstage on Heavy D, who died unexpectedly earlier this month and whom Blige honored on stage with her performance.

? "I just want to thank my family most of all, my beautiful babies, who just inspire me every day to be a better person." ? Jennifer Lopez accepting the award for favorite Latin music artist.

? "I think the two of us should just get on TV and let our hair fight each other." ? Pompadour-ed presenter Robin Thicke backstage on fellow fluffy-haired singer, Bruno Mars, who was named favorite male pop/rock artist.

? "This is like one of the craziest things that has ever happened to me." ? Taylor Swift accepting the award for artist of the year.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111121/ap_en_tv/us_american_music_awards_quotes

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Balanced Budget Amendment fails in House vote (Los Angeles Times)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/163837369?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Actor Jeremy London sought in girlfriend's assault (omg!)

PALM SPRINGS, California (AP) ? Palm Springs police say they're seeking actor Jeremy London for questioning after receiving a call from his girlfriend alleging he assaulted her.

Sgt. Kyle Stjerne says the department received a call at about 10:30 a.m. Friday from London's girlfriend, alleging the actor assaulted her outside her Palm Springs home.

Stjerne says a verbal altercation over custody of the couple's child became violent and she suffered minor injuries. The woman's name wasn't released.

London's lawyer Catherine Lombardo denied allegations that the abuse occurred.

London's volatile relationship and addiction issues were broadcast to VH1 viewers during season four of the reality show "Celebrity Rehab" with Dr. Drew Pinsky.

London's most memorable performances include the slacker anti-hero lead role of TS Quint in "Mallrats" and roles on television's "7th Heaven" and "Party of Five."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_actor_jeremy_london_sought_girlfriends_assault043448363/43651988/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/actor-jeremy-london-sought-girlfriends-assault-043448363.html

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Is economy best birth control? US births dip again (AP)

ATLANTA ? The economy may well be the best form of birth control.

U.S. births dropped for the third straight year ? especially for young mothers ? and experts think money worries are the reason.

A federal report released Thursday showed declines in the birth rate for all races and most age groups. Teens and women in their early 20s had the most dramatic dip, to the lowest rates since record-keeping began in the 1940s. Also, the rate of cesarean sections stopped going up for the first time since 1996.

Experts suspected the economy drove down birth rates in 2008 and 2009 as women put off having children. With the 2010 figures, suspicion has turned into certainty.

"I don't think there's any doubt now that it was the recession. It could not be anything else," said Carl Haub, a demographer with the Population Reference Bureau, a Washington, D.C.-based research organization. He was not involved in the new report.

U.S. births hit an all-time high in 2007, at more than 4.3 million. Over the next two years, the number dropped to about 4.2 million and then about 4.1 million.

Last year, it was down to just over 4 million, according to the new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For teens, birth rates dropped 9 percent from 2009. For women in their early 20s, they fell 6 percent. For unmarried mothers, the drop was 4 percent.

Experts believe the downward trend is tied to the economy, which officially was in a recession from December 2007 until June 2009 and remains weak. The theory is that women with money worries ? especially younger women ? feel they can't afford to start a family or add to it.

That's true of Mary Garrick, 27, an advertising executive in Columbus, Ohio. She and her husband, David, married in 2008 and hoped to start having children quickly, in part because men in his family have died in their 40s. But David, 33, was laid off that year from his nursing job and again last year.

He's working again, but worries about the economy linger. "It kind of made us cautious about life decisions, like having a family. It's definitely something that affected us," she said.

Kristi Elsberry, a married 27-year-old mother of two, had her tubes tied in 2009 after she had trouble finding a job and she and her husband grew worried about the financial burden of any additional children. "Kids are so expensive, especially in this day and age. And neither of us think anything's going to get better," said Elsberry, of Leland, N.C.

Many of the report's findings are part of a trend and not surprising. There was a continued decline in the percentage of premature births at less than 37 weeks. And ? as in years past ? birth rates fell in younger women but rose a little in women 40 and older, who face a closing biological window for having children and may be more worried about that than the economy.

But a few of the findings did startle experts.

One involved a statistic called the total fertility rate. In essence, it tells how many children a woman can be expected to have if current birth rates continue. That figure was 1.9 children last year. In most years, it's more like 2.1.

More striking was the change in the fertility rate for Hispanic women. The rate plummeted to 2.4 from nearly 3 children just a few years ago.

"Whoa!" said Haub, in reaction to the statistic.

The economy is no doubt affecting Hispanic mothers, too, but some young women who immigrated to the United States for jobs or other opportunities may have left, Haub said.

Another shocker: the C-section rate. It rose steadily from nearly 21 percent in 1996 to 32.9 percent in 2009, but dropped slightly to 32.8 last year.

Cesarean deliveries are sometimes medically necessary. But health officials have worried that many C-sections are done out of convenience or unwarranted caution, and in the 1980s set a goal of keeping the national rate at 15 percent.

It's too soon to say the trend has reversed, said Joyce Martin, a CDC epidemiologist who co-authored the new report.

But the increase had slowed a bit in recent years, and assuming the decline was in elective C-sections, that's good news, some experts said.

"It is quite gratifying," said Carol Hogue, an Emory University professor of maternal and child health and epidemiology.

"There are strong winds pushing against C-sections," she said, including new policies and education initiatives that discourage elective C-sections in mothers who have not reached full-term.

Hogue agreed that the economy seems to be the main reason for the birth declines. But she noted that it's possible that having fewer children is now more accepted and expected.

"Having one child may be becoming more `normal,'" she said.

___

Online:

CDC report:http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111117/ap_on_bi_ge/us_med_birth_rates

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Catchphrase "Yuuup!" In Legal Battle Between Singer And Reality ...

Yuuup!

Many Trey Songz fans might notice when the singer begins every song with the word.

Others might recognize the word from A&E's Storage Wars as star of the show Dave Hester uttered Yuuup! as well.

The two have been fighting it out to see who has legal copyright over the use of the word.

Songz has sent Hester a cease and desist letter to get the reality tv star to stop saying the word, claiming he's used it since late 2009.

But Songz hasn't trademarked Yuuup!

Hester has registered the catchphrase three times since May and he argues that Songz and his version sound completely different.

Songz apparently should've trademarked Yuuup! when he had the chance so he's probably kicking himself right now.

D'OH! (That's trademarked too.)

[Image via WENN.]

Tags: legal matters, reality tv, trey songz

Source: http://perezhilton.com/2011-11-17-trey-songz-and-reality-tv-star-battle-for-the-legal-use-of-the-word-yuuup

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