?Nerdy News? is a mini-news show geared towards gamers, technosexuals, and all other geeky peeps.
In this one hundredth episode of Nerdy News, I?ll be reporting on:
Here?s the new episode of Nerdy News!
What do you think?
Has Halo 2 online multiplayer had a good run or is it still too soon? Are you encouraged or discouraged by the latest rhetoric concerning violence in video games? Should the industry ?do something? to ?clean up their image?? Or is that already happening organically with hits like Minecraft and Portal? Even if you are sure violent video games do not damage fragile child psyches what would you want to see done to assuage the fears of concerned parents?
Tags: Halo 2
Categories: 3DS News, Mac News, Mobile News, Nerdy News, News, PC News, PS Vita News, PS3 News, Shows, Videos, Wii News, Wii U News, Xbox 360 News
About the author
By Laura Jones: She blogs about and reviews video games to recapture her misspent youth, growing up gaming on hand-me-down consoles and cast-off computers with three siblings fighting over the controllers and helping each other beat Bosses. Read her posts and watch her video game reviews here and connect with her on Twitter and at Google+.
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The family of a Pennsylvania kindergartner suspended from school for talking about a soap bubble toy gun is protesting her punishment and wants her record cleared, an attorney for the family said on Monday.
The unidentified 5-year-old child from Mount Carmel in eastern Pennsylvania was suspended after she talked on January 10 about a Hello Kitty Bubble Gun while waiting for a bus after school, said attorney Robin Ficker.
According to the attorney, the little girl said to a friend: "I'm going to shoot you and I will shoot myself, and we'll all play together."
Her comments were overheard by an adult who reported them to the school, he said.
But the toy shoots only soap bubbles, and the girl did not even have one, he said.
"She had no gun," he said. "She talked about the Hello Kitty Bubble Gun, just talked about it. They searched her back pack, they searched her coat, they searched her, she had no gun."
The family wants school authorities to clear her record, issue an apology and admit they made a mistake, he said.
The incident comes in the wake of the shooting of 20 schoolchildren and six adults at a Connecticut school last month, which has ignited renewed debate about gun violence.
Ficker said he had scheduled a January 30 meeting with school district solicitor Edward Greco. Greco's office confirmed the meeting.
Greco declined to comment on the case.
In a statement issued to local media, the school district said it was continuing to investigate the case and said some information given to media may not be consistent with the facts. It did not elaborate.
Ficker said the child's mother wants to transfer her out of the school but the new school will not accept her because her record includes the allegation of making terroristic threats.
Founded at Stanford University in 2008, Syapse has been on a mission to help disrupt healthcare by incorporating "omics" (or the study of fields within biology typically ending in "-omics," like genomics, proteomics or metabolomics, for example) data into standard medical use. Simply put, Syapse is developing a suite of cloud-based applications that brings next-gen genomic sequencing to laboratories and clinics to help better diagnose and treat their patients. Through its software, the company is now processing over 3,000 genomes and has over 100 billion "omics" and clinical data points and 10 terabytes of genomic data under management, making it one of the largest repositories of human genome and clinical data out there.
Contact: Diana Yates diya@illinois.edu 217-333-5802 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. While working out the structure of a cell-killing protein produced by some strains of the bacterium Enterococcus faecalis, researchers stumbled on a bit of unusual biochemistry. They found that a single enzyme helps form distinctly different, three-dimensional ring structures in the protein, one of which had never been observed before.
The new findings, reported in Nature Chemical Biology, should help scientists find new ways to target the enterococcal cytolysin protein, a "virulence factor that is associated with acute infection in humans," said University of Illinois chemistry and Institute for Genomic Biology professor Wilfred van der Donk, who conducted the study with graduate student Weixin Tang.
Enterococcus faecalis (EN-ter-oh-cock-us faye-KAY-liss) is a normal microbial inhabitant of the gastrointestinal tracts of humans and other mammals and generally does not harm its host. Some virulent strains, however, produce cytolysin (sigh-toe-LIE-sin), a protein that, once assembled, attacks other microbes and kills mammalian cells.
"The cytolysin protein made by Enterococcus faecalis consists of two compounds that have no activity by themselves but when combined kill human cells," van der Donk said. "We know from epidemiological studies that if you are infected with a strain of E. faecalis that has the genes to make cytolysin, you have a significantly higher chance of dying from your infection." E. faecalis contributes to root canal infections, urinary tract infections, endocarditis, meningitis, bacteremia and other infections.
Enterococcal cytolysin belongs to a class of antibiotic proteins, called lantibiotics, which have two or more sulfur-containing ring structures. Scientists had been unable to determine the three-dimensional structure of this cytolysin because the bacterium produces it at very low concentrations. Another problem that has stymied researchers is that the two protein components of cytolysin tend to clump together when put in a lab dish.
Van der Donk and Tang got around these problems by producing the two cytolysin components separately in another bacterium, Escherichia coli (esh-uh-REE-kee-uh KOH-lie), and analyzing them separately.
"The two components are both cyclic peptides, one with three rings and the other with two rings," van der Donk said. "Curiously, a single enzyme makes both compounds."
In a series of experiments, the researchers found that one ring on each of the proteins adopted a (D-L) stereochemistry that is common in lantibiotics (see image, above). But the other rings all had an unusual (L-L) configuration, something van der Donk had never seen before.
Scientists had assumed that the enzyme that shaped enterococcal cytolysin, a lantibiotic synthetase, acted like a three-dimensional mold that gave the ring structures of cytolysin the exact same stereochemistry, van der Donk said.
"But we found that the enzyme, enterococcal cytolysin synthetase, makes the rings with different stereochemistry," he said. "I don't know of any other examples where one enzyme can make very similar products but with different stereochemistries."
The researchers don't know how the enzyme accomplishes this feat, but found a clue in the sequence of amino acids that make up the protein rings. The chemical characteristics of the three amino acids in the middle of the ring structure and their proximity to another amino acid, a cysteine, determined whether the rings took on a D-L or L-L stereochemistry.
The researchers tested the idea that the amino acid sequence of the cytolysin protein was guiding the stereochemistry by looking at other lantibiotic proteins with similar sequences. So far, every protein they've tested that has the same sequence characteristics conforms to the pattern they discovered, van der Donk said.
Further tests showed that the cytolysin produced in E. coli had the same anti-microbial and cell-killing potency as the E. faecalis variety.
"Knowing the structure of enterococcal cytolysin and having a method to produce it in relatively large quantities will allow scientists to find out how it kills human cells and, in turn, how we might fight against it," van der Donk said.
###
The National Institutes of Health supported this research. Van der Donk also is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.
Editor's notes:
To reach Wilfred van der Donk, call 217-244-5360;
email vddonk@illinois.edu.
The paper, "The Sequence of the Enterococcal Cytolysin Imparts Unusual Lanthionine Stereochemistry," is available to the media from the U. of I. News Bureau.
[ | E-mail | 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.
Contact: Diana Yates diya@illinois.edu 217-333-5802 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. While working out the structure of a cell-killing protein produced by some strains of the bacterium Enterococcus faecalis, researchers stumbled on a bit of unusual biochemistry. They found that a single enzyme helps form distinctly different, three-dimensional ring structures in the protein, one of which had never been observed before.
The new findings, reported in Nature Chemical Biology, should help scientists find new ways to target the enterococcal cytolysin protein, a "virulence factor that is associated with acute infection in humans," said University of Illinois chemistry and Institute for Genomic Biology professor Wilfred van der Donk, who conducted the study with graduate student Weixin Tang.
Enterococcus faecalis (EN-ter-oh-cock-us faye-KAY-liss) is a normal microbial inhabitant of the gastrointestinal tracts of humans and other mammals and generally does not harm its host. Some virulent strains, however, produce cytolysin (sigh-toe-LIE-sin), a protein that, once assembled, attacks other microbes and kills mammalian cells.
"The cytolysin protein made by Enterococcus faecalis consists of two compounds that have no activity by themselves but when combined kill human cells," van der Donk said. "We know from epidemiological studies that if you are infected with a strain of E. faecalis that has the genes to make cytolysin, you have a significantly higher chance of dying from your infection." E. faecalis contributes to root canal infections, urinary tract infections, endocarditis, meningitis, bacteremia and other infections.
Enterococcal cytolysin belongs to a class of antibiotic proteins, called lantibiotics, which have two or more sulfur-containing ring structures. Scientists had been unable to determine the three-dimensional structure of this cytolysin because the bacterium produces it at very low concentrations. Another problem that has stymied researchers is that the two protein components of cytolysin tend to clump together when put in a lab dish.
Van der Donk and Tang got around these problems by producing the two cytolysin components separately in another bacterium, Escherichia coli (esh-uh-REE-kee-uh KOH-lie), and analyzing them separately.
"The two components are both cyclic peptides, one with three rings and the other with two rings," van der Donk said. "Curiously, a single enzyme makes both compounds."
In a series of experiments, the researchers found that one ring on each of the proteins adopted a (D-L) stereochemistry that is common in lantibiotics (see image, above). But the other rings all had an unusual (L-L) configuration, something van der Donk had never seen before.
Scientists had assumed that the enzyme that shaped enterococcal cytolysin, a lantibiotic synthetase, acted like a three-dimensional mold that gave the ring structures of cytolysin the exact same stereochemistry, van der Donk said.
"But we found that the enzyme, enterococcal cytolysin synthetase, makes the rings with different stereochemistry," he said. "I don't know of any other examples where one enzyme can make very similar products but with different stereochemistries."
The researchers don't know how the enzyme accomplishes this feat, but found a clue in the sequence of amino acids that make up the protein rings. The chemical characteristics of the three amino acids in the middle of the ring structure and their proximity to another amino acid, a cysteine, determined whether the rings took on a D-L or L-L stereochemistry.
The researchers tested the idea that the amino acid sequence of the cytolysin protein was guiding the stereochemistry by looking at other lantibiotic proteins with similar sequences. So far, every protein they've tested that has the same sequence characteristics conforms to the pattern they discovered, van der Donk said.
Further tests showed that the cytolysin produced in E. coli had the same anti-microbial and cell-killing potency as the E. faecalis variety.
"Knowing the structure of enterococcal cytolysin and having a method to produce it in relatively large quantities will allow scientists to find out how it kills human cells and, in turn, how we might fight against it," van der Donk said.
###
The National Institutes of Health supported this research. Van der Donk also is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.
Editor's notes:
To reach Wilfred van der Donk, call 217-244-5360;
email vddonk@illinois.edu.
The paper, "The Sequence of the Enterococcal Cytolysin Imparts Unusual Lanthionine Stereochemistry," is available to the media from the U. of I. News Bureau.
[ | E-mail | 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.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Three blasts, including a suicide bomber attack near an army base, killed least 17 people across Baghdad on Tuesday, the latest violence as Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki faces increasing pressure from a political crisis.
The most deadly explosions took place in Taji, 20 km (12 miles) north of Baghdad, where a suicide bomber driving a car packed with explosives detonated his bomb near an army base, killing at least seven people and wounding 24.
Another parked car bomb exploded in a crowded market in the Shi'ite neighborhood of Shula, northwestern Baghdad, killing 5 people and wounded 13, police and hospital sources said.
In Mahmudiya, a town 30 km (20 miles) south of Baghdad, a car bomb attack near an army checkpoint killed five people, including two soldiers and wounded 14 more, including four soldiers.
Violence in Iraq has eased since the widespread sectarian carnage of 2006-2007, but Sunni Islamist insurgents still launch frequent attacks, seeking to reignite confrontation between the Shi'ite majority, Sunni Muslims and ethnic Kurds.
Shi'ite premier Maliki's government is trying to ease mass Sunni protests that erupted a month ago and his central government is also locked in a dispute with the country's autonomous Kurdistan region over control of oilfields.
(Reporting by Kareem Raheem and Ahmeed Rasheed; writing by Patrick Markey)
Crude-oil futures prices climbed 1% to settle at a near four-month high Wednesday, after a surprise decline in nationwide U.S. crude-oil stocks.
Data from the Energy Information Administration showed crude-oil stocks fell by 951,000 barrels in the week ended Jan. 11, while forecasters had called for a rise of 2.1 million barrels. The drop was caused by a reduction of crude-oil imports on the West Coast.
Analysts said that in steering prices higher, market players put strong emphasis on certain bullish aspects of the report while ignoring some other elements of the report that may not be suggestive of higher prices.
Crude-oil stocks are at multidecade highs for this time of year, and while demand for gasoline and distillate fuel (diesel/heating oil) rose in the week, the gain came from extremely low levels. Total demand for petroleum products averaged less than 18 million barrels a day for the second straight week, something that hasn't occurred in nearly a year.
"It's not a surprise that crude popped a little higher on the surprise draw, but a sub-one million barrel [crude oil stock] draw doesn't seem to warrant such a large move," said Matt Smith, an analyst at Summit Energy.
Gene McGillian, broker and analyst at Tradition Energy, cited gains coming on "expectations of improvement in the economy, but as the last few months have shown, that's not a straight line upwards." He said the market will need to see strong demand for several weeks to hold on to gains.
Light, sweet crude oil for February delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled 96 cents higher, at $94.24 a barrel, the most since Sept. 18. ICE North Sea Brent crude oil for February expired 31 cents higher at $110.61 a barrel. Brent's premium to the Nymex contract dropped to a four-month low of $16.37 a barrel. March Brent settled 5 cents higher, at $109.68 a barrel.
Despite the decline, nationwide U.S. crude oil stocks stand at a 30-year high for this week and are 8.8% above the year-earlier level, EIA data show. Measured against current refinery-processing rates, crude stocks cover 23.9 days of refiner demand, a 19-year high for the week and compared with the five-year average of 22.3 days.
Crude-oil inventories at Cushing, Okla., the Midwestern hub that is the delivery point for the benchmark U.S. futures contract, rose 1.78 million barrels to a record high 51.862 million barrels last week, the EIA said.
Analysts said the rise at Cushing and a drop to one-year lows in Gulf Coast stocks reflected the temporary closure of the Seaway Pipeline ahead of its expansion. The shutdown halted flows of 150,000 barrels a day of crude from Cushing to the Gulf, but the expanded system is now running at a rate of 400,000 barrels a day. Cushing stocks, which have risen by 13.7% over the past seven weeks, could record a drawdown next week, analysts said.
Traders expect the price of the Nymex contract to gain at the expense of Brent as U.S. crudes are able to compete in the Gulf with imports that are priced in relation to Brent.
Gasoline inventories climbed for an eighth-straight week and stand at the highest level for this time of year on EIA data beginning in 1990. Stocks are highest in any week in nearly two years, since February 2011.
Normally, rising stocks would pressure prices, but the gain of 1.91 million barrels was below expectations.
Gasoline stocks have climbed more than 17.3% in the past eight weeks. But the modest rise last week reduced the size of the surplus to the year-ago and five-year-average levels.
Gasoline and distillate demand rose from extremely low levels in recent weeks, which reflected lower deliveries from primary storage sites, such as refineries during the holidays.
Despite the rise in nationwide gasoline stocks, inventories in the heavily populated Northeast remain low, at nearly 8.8% below a year earlier and 14.5% below the five-year average for this time of year.
The EIA also said distillate stocks (diesel/heating oil) rose by 1.686 million barrels, which was slightly more than expected.
Demand for distillate rose 11.7% in the week, from a three-and-half-year low a week earlier, but still lagged behind the year-earlier level by 5.2%.
Distillate stocks nationwide are 10.5% below a year ago and at a five-year low for the week. In the Northeast U.S., the main heating oil region, distillate stocks are 30% below the five-year average for this time of year.
February reformulated gasoline blendstock futures posted the biggest rise in a week, settling up 1.48 cents, at $2.7214 a gallon, while heating oil fell 1.22 cents, to $2.9991 a gallon, the lowest price in a month.
Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.
Chemotherapy pills can target specific cancers better than some traditional intravenous drugs, but can be difficult for patients to take. (Credit: tr0tt3r/Flickr)
MICHIGAN STATE (US) ? Chemotherapy pills, which are taken at home, come with complex instructions that can be difficult for many patients to follow.
A new study, published in the journal Cancer Nursing, underscores the challenges patients face in administering their own chemotherapy outside the supervised environment of a cancer clinic.
?Prescriptions for some oral pills have complex instructions,? says Sandra Spoelstra, assistant professor of nursing at Michigan State University.
?Some of them require patients to take pills several times a day or cycle their doses, taking one pill a day for three weeks, then stopping for a week before starting again. And some patients take two types of pills to treat their cancer or have multiple medications for other chronic conditions. It can be very complicated.?
In addition, side effects such as severe nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, skin reactions, and pain are common. Those symptoms can lead some patients to skip doses, which may render their cancer treatment ineffective.
During the study more than 40 percent of participating patients took too many pills or missed doses. People with complex treatment regimens were more likely to show poor adherence.
Researchers randomly assigned patients to one of three groups. Members of the first group only had help from an automated calling system to see if they were following their prescriptions and help them monitor and manage symptoms.
The second group got the automated calls and follow-up calls from nurses with strategies for sticking to their pill regimen. The rest got automated calls and nurse advice on both adhering to their regimen and managing symptoms.
Patients in all three groups reported less severe symptoms at the end of the study. The automated calls were just as effective alone as when they were coupled with nurse guidance. That suggests the automated system could be a simple and inexpensive way to help some patients take their drugs properly, Spoelstra says.
The small study will be the springboard for more comprehensive research that may yield clearer lessons for health care professionals, says Barbara Given, a professor who co-authored the study and leads the College of Nursing?s efforts to improve oral chemotherapy.
In the meantime, nurses should be attentive when explaining oral chemo regimens to be sure patients and their families understand how to take the drugs as prescribed.
?It?s cutting-edge treatment, but we don?t know enough about it yet,? she says. ?People think if they had a life-threatening disease and their doctor recommended treatment, they?d follow the recommendations. But it?s really not that simple.?
As reported above, these berries contain significant amounts of vitamin B that is beneficial for speeding up the metabolism and enhancing mobile development. Vitamin B is furthermore essential for improving the immune program plus having healthy hair plus skin.
Senior home care employees could be carefully screened for proper training, skills, plus temperament. Fully discuss the needs of the elder care recipient throughout an interview with a potential home healthcare employee. There ought to be a created copy the job description and the sort of experience you may be looking for.
There is little doubt that most people should obtain advantageous health along with a greater standard of lifetime. The healthy living Mall is the answer. The key to the is sustaining a great physique plus thoughts relationship and also correct consuming practices. You moreover will receive services plus packages which is crafted thus to be healthy. We can also receive a lot of information which could be helpful for we as you try to ponder on what it's to reside a healthy life. The Healthy Living Mall is the important thing to all of the totally different woes inside terms of acquiring healthy food, health supplements, and keys to weight reduction as a method to obtain a superb body, sound thoughts, plus high future.
Level of distress will also influence where people find help: Consumer Reports' common study of over 4,000 participants found that individuals tend to see a primary care doctor for less severe emotional distress plus seek a psychological specialist for more severe distress (Consumer Reports, 1995), whilst Jorm, Griffiths, and Christensen (2004) found which individuals with depressive signs were many likely to utilize self-help strategies in light to moderate degrees of severity plus to seek professional help at high levels of severity.
Women's health changes along with her age. So the need to keep a good health additionally changes, however, the standard health needs remain the same. Hence, by after the above revealed simple wellness tips, you are able to boost the quality of the lifetime.
Research reveals that the spice is especially effective inside the advertised pill shape, with each pill equivalent to 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder. The medications have proven efficient inside reducing fasting blood glucose.
There has been growing healthcare evidence that when excessive "free radicals" are enabled to exist close to the nucleus of the mobile, immense damage to the DNA of the cell results. This "free radical" damage can then cause mutation of the DNA of the cell. Whenever the cell replicates, this mutation to the DNA is carried to the next generation of cells as well as the actual hereditary damage that happens could lead to abnormal growth of the mobile.
If you want added points on igob131 dosage check out Roseanna H. Peluse's site there's a lot of information not outlined on this page, visit Author's website to uncover more.
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Fighting raged across Syria on Monday with clashes reported just a few miles from where President Bashar al-Assad had unveiled a "peace plan" that Syrians on both sides said would do nothing to end the country's 21-month-old uprising.
Hours after Assad addressed cheering loyalists at the Damascus Opera House on Sunday in his first public speech in months, fighting erupted near the road to the city's international airport, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The opposition-linked group said artillery hit the district of Aqraba, 3 miles from the Opera House. Fighting continued all night and into Monday around the capital, as well as in the northern provinces of Idlib and Aleppo, it said.
In central Syria, the towns of Taybet Imam and Halfaya were bombarded with aerial strikes and artillery, said Abu Faisal, an activist speaking over the internet from Taybet Imam.
"Every four to five minutes, we hear the burst from a rocket. We cannot get any wounded out because we are essentially under siege by the shelling," he said, adding that many civilians had fled. Taybet Imam sits on an entrance to Syria's main north-south highway, close to the central city of Hama.
The government restricts access by international media and the accounts could not be verified.
Damascus residents said Assad's speech, which offered no concessions to his foes, was met with celebratory gunfire in pro-Assad neighborhoods.
But even there, some saw no sign peace was closer: a loyalist resident of southern Damascus reached by internet said the speech was eloquent but empty.
"It sounded more like gloating than making promises," said the woman, who gave only her first name, Aliaa. "I agree with the ideas but words are really just words until he takes some action. He needs to do something. But even so, everything he suggests now, it is too late, the rebels aren't going to stop."
"NO ONE CARES"
In the once-affluent district of Mezzeh, scene of several bomb attacks, an Assad critic said people had more pressing concerns than a TV speech. "Here, no one cares about this speech. They care about food and electricity."
Another said few people had watched the speech and that Assad's crackdown would not stop: "Military operations will continue in full swing, and he is staying."
France, the United States, Britain and Turkey all said Assad's speech, his first to an audience since June last year, showed he had lost touch with reality after unrest that the United Nations says has killed 60,000 people.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland had harsh words for Assad when she was asked whether the United States regarded him as a rational actor and whether he was "evil."
"I don't think anybody who is guilty of the kinds of crimes against your own people that he's guilty of could be considered rational," Nuland told reporters in Washington. "I personally consider what he's done evil."
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan accused Assad on Monday of "directing state terrorism".
"Bashar al-Assad's speech is further evidence of just how far he has cut himself off from reality in order to justify his repression of the Syrian people," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot said.
The plan described by the Syrian leader as a new peace initiative proposed an army ceasefire only after rebels halt their operations and summoned Syrians to mobilize for a war to defend the state against "a puppet made by the West".
The United Nations said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was disappointed that Assad's speech rejected the idea of a transitional government to pave the way to new elections - a central plank of a peace plan promoted by international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.
"NATIONAL PROGRAMME"
Syria's Prime Minister Wael al-Halki called on Monday for a special cabinet meeting to implement the "national program announced by President Bashar al-Assad yesterday to solve the crisis in Syria", the state news agency SANA said.
George Sabra, vice president of the opposition National Coalition, said the putative peace plan "did not even deserve to be called an initiative".
"We should see it rather as a declaration that he will continue his war against the Syrian people," he told Reuters.
Assad's ally Iran defended the speech as offering a "comprehensive political process". "This plan rejects violence and terrorism and any foreign interference," Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said.
There was no immediate response from Moscow, which has acted as Assad's main protector on the diplomatic stage. Russian state offices were quiet for the Orthodox Christmas holiday.
Syrian state television played up the speech, showing footage of convoys of cars driving through main streets in Damascus. People waving the Syrian flag leaned out of car windows and some braved the cold and rain to walk alongside.
"It was a victorious speech that respects the martyred Syrian soldiers," said one man on state TV, adding that his brother had been killed fighting the opposition.
After six months of advances, rebels now control wide areas of northern and eastern Syria, most of its border crossings with Turkey and a crescent of Damascus suburbs.
Assad's government is still firmly entrenched in the capital and controls most of the densely populated southwest, the Mediterranean coast, the main north-south highway and military bases countrywide. Its helicopters and jets are able to strike rebel-held areas with impunity.
U.S. military cargo planes carrying equipment and personnel arrived at the Incirlik air base in Turkey on Monday, part of a deployment of NATO Patriot anti-missiles to bolster security along Turkey's 900-km (560-mile) border with Syria. Dutch Patriot missile batteries bound for Turkey left an army base in the Netherlands.
(Additional reporting by Ayat Basma in Beirut, Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem, Vicky Buffery in Paris and Arshad Mohammed in Washington; writing by Peter Graff; editing by Philippa Fletcher and Giles Elgood)
Child Guidance & Family Solutions has announced that Stacey Kelly, Child & Family Partner, has been recognized by Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority?s top administration for taking the initiative and using creativity to involve children and families. Kelly is a Solutions staff member who works with the housing authority in the Early Childhood Initiative.
Kelly worked with toddlers and preschoolers at four housing authority early childhood initiative development events in November to design and craft snowflakes to reflect the idea that ?children are special and unique like snowflakes.? She decorated the housing authority?s entryways with the snowflakes and the cirriculum logo on the doors. The display has prompted incoming residents to inquire about the program.
The program offers early care and education to 3,000 children under age 5. Nearly 10 percent of the county's children are in this age group. The goal is to connect families to build trusting relationships and empower parents to be their child's first and most important teacher. Early Childhood Inititive also links families to community resources and offers monthly educational family events in selected housing developments, such as the Mom-ME Time and Parents as Teachers programs.
Kelly provides home visits to assist with pre-school and kindergarten readiness by way of screening assessments, referrals, educational activities and support to families. She has a degree in education from Walsh University.
A catastrophic rise in sea level before the end of the century could have a hitherto-unforeseen side effect. Melting icebergs might cool the seas around Greenland and Antarctica so much that the average surface temperature of the entire planet falls by a few degrees, according to unpublished work by climate scientist James Hansen of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City.
While it might sound welcome, the temperature differences produced by the "iceberg cooling effect" could lead to even more climate chaos in a world already devastated by extreme weather. Winter storms, for instance, are powered by the temperature differences between the poles and the equator, so there might be storms of unprecedented ferocity.
And the temporary cooling would be deceptive. Due to the greenhouse effect, the planet as a whole would still be accumulating heat - it's just that vast amounts of heat would be going into melting ice and warming water. "It's a redistribution of heat energy," says Daniel Sigman of Princeton University, who studies the end of the last ice age and was not involved in Hansen's work.
Freezer door
To visualise the cooling effect, imagine being shut in a stiflingly hot kitchen. You could cool the air by flinging open the freezer and letting the food defrost. The kitchen as a whole will not lose heat if there is nowhere for it to escape to, but some of the heat energy will go into defrosting the freezer rather than warming the air.
Most climate scientists think the "freezer door" will remain firmly shut this century, but not Hansen. He has longed warned that there could be a huge rise in sea level this century and, with colleagues Makiko Sato and Reto Ruedy, he recently simulated the possible effects. Hansen included a brief summary of some of the results in an analysis of Greenland ice loss released in December. He told New Scientist a full paper is being prepared for publication, but would not discuss the details.
Assuming a disastrous 0.6-metre sea level rise by 2065, Hansen's model suggests the average global surface temperature would be just 1.5??C warmer than in preindustrial times, compared to 1.9??C without the iceberg cooling effect. With a massive 1.4-metre rise by 2080, the surface temperature would fall by 0.9??C, instead of rising by 2.2??C. Although most of the world would remain much warmer than now, northern Europe might cool to preindustrial levels and the UK might actually be chillier.
Other climate scientists are reluctant to comment before seeing the full details, but Sigman points out that climate modellers have long done experiments looking at the complex effects of melting ice sheets. These experiments also typically show regional cooling, but in Hansen's simulation the effect is much greater. The likely reason for the difference is because his simulation assumes a much more rapid acceleration of ice loss, doubling every 10 years.
Most other climate scientists think the ice sheets will only melt slowly, largely because this is what happened at the end of past ice ages. Hansen, however, thinks this logic is flawed. The reason that sea level only rose slowly in the past, he writes, is because the planet only warmed slowly. After the last ice age, for instance, it took 10,000 years for the average global temperature to rise around 4??C. Now the world is on course to warm this much in less than 200 years.
If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.
Have your say
Only subscribers may leave comments on this article. Please log in.
Only personal subscribers may leave comments on this article
Subscribe now to comment.
All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us.
If you are having a technical problem posting a comment, please contact technical support.
10-digit dialing is coming to Saskatchewan. Is your business prepared?
Jan 6, 2013, Calgary, AB?- Saskatchewan is not the first province in Canada to move from 7-digit dialing to 10-digit dialing. Your business can learn from the struggles of your peers in other provinces.
The time to prepare is now.
Starting in February, you will start to hear recorded announcements reminding you to call all ten digits when calling within your local calling area. This means that all calls your business makes will require 10 digits to be dialed.
Is your telephone system able to handle 10 digit dialing?
Many older telephone systems used by businesses across Saskatchewan will not be able to make the transition from 7-digit dialing to 10-digit dialing.
InfinIT Solutions provides businesses in Saskatchewan with telephone systems using the latest technologies and fully supports 10 digit dialing.
We invite you to join us for one of our upcoming webinars to help you best prepare for 10 digit dialing in the province and what your business must do now to prepare.
InfinIT Solutions provides IT services and telephone systems to businesses in Saskatchewan and across Western Canada. InfinIT Solutions support the Fortivoice VoIP telephone system designed for business across Canada.
ASUS today at CES in Las Vegas officially announced the ASUS Qube -- a Google TV device that's been strongly suggested for the past few weeks, both from the FCCas well as Google. ASUS is promising more info today, but so far all we've got is this single picture, the fact that it's a Google TV device and it has access to Android apps and movies and TV and whatnot, can be controlled via a smartphone or tablet app -- and has some sort of "rotating on-screen cube shape," which immediately makes us think of failed Windows Mobile UIs. (Chances are ASUS has done better here, but seeing is believing.)
And that's it for now. More on the Qube as we get it. We've got the whole of the announcement after the break.
Is Scuba Diving the World of Silence as Cousteau professed?
Hmm? I?d say yes and no!
Surprised?
Ok? let?s dive in and find out why.
?Marseilles, Aug 1997, 8:30 pm. Sunset on the horizon. On the Zodiac -our tanks are filled up with regulators in place. We put our wets on and a warm breeze welcomes us. We talk softly, each one of us dreaming about the next hour to come for a night dive that looks very promising.
Because at night everything is different! And species that you never see during a day dive will now appear in front of you and tease you under the beam of your lights.
The boat stops.
The moon is here with its crescent a bit arrogant.
We start our dive, slowly?? *
I was 18 when I took my very first scuba class. I had always dreamed about diving in the ocean. For years, each week I watched the epic adventures of Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Calypso crew on TV. I was just a kid? but so impressed. Breathing quietly underwater? I couldn?t believe it!
I wanted to do the same thing and see it all myself!
Nowadays, according to the Dema 2012 Annual Report there are around 6 million active scuba divers worldwide, with half of those in North America.
Recreational Scuba Diving has become a very popular, family-oriented sports activity. It wasn?t always like that. Indeed, scuba diving? (SCUBA means Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) was originally the exclusive activity of? military groups.
However in 1943 ?Navy officer Jacques-Yves Cousteau and a young engineer, ?mile Gagnan, developed the now famous Aqua-Lung? a self-contained and automatic regulator. A new sport was born! And for everyone to enjoy? though that took a few decades to happen.
For the purpose of this post I?ll use the term recreational diving ?diving for leisure and fun. This is different from technical diving which requires specialized training and equipment.
?We continue our descent toward that depth that seems to suck all of us deeper and deeper.
The Ocean is like a skin at the same time soft and sensual, warm and cold, safe and dangerous?
We?re now close to the Wall. I remember the pre-dive briefing but what I see with my light makes me forget to breathe!
I cannot take my eyes away from this vision: so much to see and watch.
I?m weightless?simply floating? staring at an abundance of colors and forms of all sizes: small hydroids in a polypoid shape turning the rock into a red-yellow carpet, clavelinesor light bulb tunicates in grapes, and moving with the water flow??
So why should Scuba Diving be your next great adventure?
Reason 1: There?s No Gravity!
Yes? that?s a huge discovery! Strapping on a tank of air and diving into the sea gives you an immediate feeling of flying or floating in space? just like an astronaut! No other place on earth can bring you this wonderful, unmatched sensation. It?s called neutral buoyancy. And that is why NASA has been conducting training to simulate deep-space missions at the Aquarius Reef Base underwater habitat off Key Largo, Fla since 2001.
The moment I start my descent it?s like a freefall. But I?m in control. I can choose to go slowly or just dive in and rush -arms open like I?m sky diving! A great feeling ? )
Reason 2: You?ll Discover the Ocean as Another Planet
The underwater world is like no other you?ve seen: Right in front of your eyes is an ecosystem that has remained untouched and out of reach from air-breathing bipeds for millions or years.
Reason 3: It?s a Family Adventure
The truth is it has always been a family activity as Cousteau himself started the trend with his wife and two suns over 40 years ago. It was truly a family adventure!
It?s possible to discover scuba diving with the whole family and share many fun memories. Today even your 8 year-old child can take PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) courses. There are indeed plenty opportunities for adventures including shore dives, or spending the afternoon on a boat dive. Kids never stop smiling as they spend a few hours discovering and exploring. Then, when they get out of the water, they can?t wait to put their hands on books telling them about the ?new fish or sponges or corals they have discovered through the glass of their masks.
Oh? almost forgot. Kids Sea Camps are also a very nice way to let your child discover and enjoy an outdoor activity with friends! See this beautiful video (with your kids!):
And I can see now a question at the tip of your tongue: Is there an age limit? To my knowledge, no. It all depends on one?s physical and mental health.
So be ready to plan trips with kids and grandparents.
Having doubts?! Check this recent article by Stan Waterman, who?s 88 and diving more than ever!
Reason 4: It?s an Encounter of the 3rd Kind
I couldn?t skip this reason? the one that makes me go diving again and again: Scuba Diving gives me the chance to meet new species and remember that incredible experience for the rest of my life!
In my case, diving? -on the great Barrier Reef in Australia has been a constant source of discovery and wonder: This is where I saw my Manta Rays? swimming (or maybe flying!)near me during a drift dive!
But See what Brian Skerry from National Geographic has to say about his encounter with a? well just watch the video!
Reason 5: You can Choose Your Dive
That?s the beauty of Scuba Diving! There are so many dive types that the choices may sometimes be overwhelming! But it?s not! Simply choose according to your taste, destination and level of certification. Your dive is yours to enjoy!
Types of available dives can include from shore, a boat, a pier or drift dives; they can include caves, wrecks or even search and recovery dives; and they can be done day or night.
You can even try experimenting with underwater photography or videography dives, especially in warm water destinations! When you return home you?ve got plenty of treasured memories to talk about and share on your Facebook page.
Reason 6: You can Choose Your Location
Why is Scuba Diving so great? You can dive worldwide!
In the States you have many choices: Oceans, lakes, rivers and quarries. And let?s not forget the Florida Keys, or the Hawaiian and Catalina Islands.
I?ll not telling you to go here or there because I think one place is better than another. By experience, each new destination I?ve visited has been a very special discovery for me: in British Columbia -which provides some of the best cold-water dives around I saw giant white anemones.
In Egypt, it was the blue spotted rays and giant Napoleon fish that delighted me.
In Australia, I loved the Great Barrier Reef (by the way it?s the largest living organism on Earth). Diving over boomies and watching that tiny coral life just under my ever astonished eyes (and observing reef sharks swimming around!) was an experience I?ll never forget!
In the Caribbean I had the chance to see seahorses -and wonderful night creatures like lobsters and crabs?
I can safely say every dive is different and every one a thrilling adventure!
Reason 7: You Meet Nice People and Learn Different Cultures
I remember when I was diving off Lady Eliot Island, the first coral reef Island on the Great Barrier Reef. You can see on the photo below how the reef atoll extends far away from the island. Impressive, isn?t it!
At the end of the dive we always had some warm hot chocolate to drink. And the captain of the boat was pretty cool. He?d learned Swahili and always teased us by replying: ?Acoona Matata (No Worries)!?
Anyway, scuba diving will let you discover the many faces of human culture wherever you travel. And you?ll grow from these experiences.
Reason 8: As You Learn More About the Ocean You?ll Want to Protect It
Generally scuba divers share the same fascination and respect for the underwater world. We all have our secret language with hand signs and our favorite dive spots with so many wonders that we can all talk about these experiences for hours.
It?s like being part of a special group or community. And that community is bound to cherish and thus protect the water around us from pollution, oil and bad fishing practices? to name just a few.
ProjectAware Foundation is a growing movement of scuba divers all around the world dedicated to protecting the oceans: />
Reason 9: You Can Take Your Adventure to the Next level
This is obvious. I think by now you?ve guessed that scuba diving can be very rewarding and fulfilling. But now there is something new to experience. It?s like an underwater treasure hunt and it?s called geocaching!
When you go geocaching you become the Indiana Jones of the 21st century! You plan your next adventure by reading hints and following coordinates to find tiny treasures known as caches. You can get real creative at this new game and surprise people. (You may even surprise yourself!)
You can practice this sport as a beginner or even as a tech diver.
Reason 10: You?ll find a World of Silence to Escape Into and Explore
Now I?ll answer my question at the top of this post: Is Scuba Diving the World of Silence as Cousteau professed?
We know how cacophonous the terrestrial world can be. Well, below the surface the noise quietly fades away.
You descent and observe. You?re lost in your thoughts while automatic movements make your dive safe. You?re alone?
But not quite. You can hear your own breathing (remember Darth Vader ?that was no special effect in the movie!) The lullaby of bubbles moving up towards the surface. The slip of an eagle ray just passing by? or the swish of a lobster crawling on the ocean floor.
It?s a very peaceful experience. Finally you give up swimming and just drift lazily with the current.
At the bottom of the sea, it?s a different world that no back-to-nature documentaries can match.
You sit on a sandy place, stop thinking and enjoy the view: a tiny fish swimming under the sand to hide, or an anemone fish -its colors hypnotizing you?
Suddenly you feel lucky to be part of a world you can witness without efforts.
How incredible! You never imagined this to be ?part of our beautiful planet!
?Time is running out and so is my air. I start the ascent. It?s with lots of regrets that I turn away from this marvellous spectacle.
?I turn off my flash light.
?The moon shines its ?light fully on us.
I arrive at the surface, my mind filled with colorful memories??
Take away tips
Get your scuba diving certification with a renowned organization like PADI,NAUI or SSI. To enjoy SCUBA Diving it?s imperative to get educated and certified under controlled conditions with the supervision of an instructor
Plan your dive as much as you can. Read about new places so you can discover the best dive for your next adventure!
Search Exvana?s directory of over 400 Dive Shops across North America for training, sales, rentals and dive trips.
Now sit down, relax and get a feeling of underwater extreme beauty of colors and shapes with this superb video:
Valerie Leroyer is a freelance blogger for the Outdoor Industry. Follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn.
*the poem above is by the author after a dive in the Mediterranee.
NVIDIA's apparently still not out of news from its CES 2013 presser -- the company just unveiled the i500 Soft Modem chip. The soft modem, which is the fruit of the company's purchase of Icera and is utilized with Tegra 4, is a baseband processor that can do 1.2 trillion operations per second and is reprogrammable with software to work with a lot of different networks. The modem, which is 40 percent the size of a conventional baseband chip, is sampling to manufacturers this month.
Suspected gunman James Holmes. (Arapahoe Co. Sheriff) DENVER -- As a God-fearing man, Marcus Weaver tries to accept that alleged movie theater gunman James Holmes deserves his day in court.
?But he could do us all a favor and just plead guilty,? said Weaver, one of at least 70 people injured in last July?s ambush in Aurora, Colo. Twelve people were killed when the shooter opened fire during a during a midnight showing of the Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises."
Weaver, 42, was in the fifth row of the dark theater when the heavily-armed assailant burst in and began firing. Weaver?s right shoulder was peppered with gunshot pellets. Rebecca Wingo, one his best friends, died in the attack.
?It?s tough, it?s tough, it?s tough,? he said with a sigh. ?The noises, the sounds, it all comes back.?
Weaver is dreading the coming week when never-before-disclosed details of the case against Holmes will be made public at a long-awaited preliminary hearing.
[RELATED: Hearing may be 'mini-trial' in theater shootings]
The purpose of the hearing is for District Judge William Sylvester to determine if there is evidence to try Holmes on 166 counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder.
Holmes, a former neuroscience doctoral student at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver, has been held without bond and in isolation since being arrested without resistance behind the theater minutes after the massacre.
Shooting victim Marcus Weaver in July. (Jason Sickles/Yahoo)
No exact motive has been disclosed and any revealing records have been sealed since early on in the investigation. The preliminary hearing, which is scheduled to last for five days, could offer the first glimpse at detailed evidence such as search warrants, moviegoer 911 calls and crime scene images from inside the theater.
?I don?t know if it?ll be all the cards, but it sounds to me that it?ll be a meaningful amount of evidence,? said Barry Sorrels, a former prosecutor and veteran Texas criminal defense attorney.
[RELATED: Four dead in townhouse shooting in Aurora, Colo.]
Sorrels said the hearing will be extremely helpful to Holmes? court-appointed attorneys.
?From a criminal defense perspective, information is like gold, the more you have the richer you are,? Sorrels said. ?It doesn?t matter if it is good, bad or indifferent. You just want to know as much about what the facts of the case are as possible.?
Last week, Judge Sylvester ruled that the defense will be allowed to call two adverse witnesses to, ?rebut, impeach, contradict, or clarify testimony from government witnesses, particularly on the issue of the Defendant?s mental state.? His attorneys have indicated that Holmes, 25, is mentally ill and that they will pursue an insanity defense.
?The only possible defense in a case like this where he was arrested at the scene would be insanity,? Sorrels said. ?Whether or not it?s a viable option depends on the facts and circumstances of this case.?
Weaver, who is still undergoing physical and mental therapy, says he has seen and heard all he needs to know.
?It?s clear-cut if you ask me,? he said.
Weaver knows the odds of a prolonged trial are likely, but still prays against it.
?It holds all of us back who were either victims or had a loved one killed in the theater,? he said. ?I wish he?d just plead guilty and move forward, so we could all move forward.?
NEW YORK (AP) ? Jayne Cortez, a forceful poet, activist and performance artist who blended oral and written traditions into numerous books and musical recordings, has died. She was 78.
The Organization of Women Writers of Africa says Cortez died of heart failure in New York on Dec. 28. She had helped found the group and, while dividing her time between homes in New York and Senegal, was planning a symposium of women writers to be held in Ghana in May.
Cortez was a prominent figure in the black arts movement of the 1960s and '70s that advocated art as a vehicle for political protest. She cited her experiences trying to register black voters in Mississippi in the early '60s as a key influence.
A native of Fort Huachuca, Ariz., she was raised in the Watts section of Los Angeles. She loved jazz since childhood and would listen to her parents' record collection. Musicians including trumpeter Don Cherry would visit her home and through them she met her first husband, Ornette Coleman, one of the world's greatest jazz artists. They were married from 1954 to 1964.
Her books included "Scarifications" and "Mouth On Paper," and she recorded often with her band the Firespitters, chanting indictments of racism, sexism and capitalism. Its members included her son, drummer Denardo Coleman, and several other members of Ornette Coleman's electronic Prime Time band, guitarist Bern Nix and bassist Al McDowell.
Cortez, who described herself as a "jazz poet," performed all over the world and her work was translated into 28 languages. At the time of her death, she was living with her second husband, the sculptor Melvin Edwards.
The Federal Trade Commission has busted yet another operation that preyed upon cash?strapped consumers who were seeking relief from their credit card debts.
Just recently, a U.S. District Court halted operations, at the request of the FTC, from an agency that collected about $12 million from consumers by promising individuals that the company could allegedly obtain rates as low as zero percent.
The companies who have been named as defendants in the FTC complaint are: Southeast Trust, LLC, which was also formerly known as The Debt School, LLC. They?ve also done business as Financial Freedom Credit Counseling. The company?s principal operator is a named Paul A. Wexler.
Essentially, the court order puts a halt to the business?s illegal conduct and freezes the operation?s assets. Meantime, the FTC is moving forward with the case.
According to FTC regulators, these defendants allegedly charged people illegal up?front fees ranging anywhere from $250 to $400. (It?s against the law for debt relief firms to impose up-front fees on consumers, prior to any services being rendered).
To make matters worse, the defendants didn?t even provide any services. They made calls, robo?calls really, under the pretext of getting people to use debt consolidation services, or to use so?called ?Certified Credit Counselors.?
They asked consumers to divulge their bank account numbers, and other personal sensitive data according to the FTC complaint. People were also essentially told: ?Don?t worry. Your account won?t be debited until you actually sign a contract and enter into debt relief services.?
But in many instances, the FTC says, people?s bank accounts actually were in fact debited without their permission. So, in a nutshell, the FTC is saying that these defendants committed multiple federal violations.
Allegedly, they violated the Federal Trade Commission Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, as well as other laws.
So, this is one instance that illustrates that you really do have to be careful with the debt relief operation that you choose. Just because someone calls you up and says: ?You?ve been pre?approved or approved to consolidate your credit cards. You can get a low interest rate, maybe even zero percent. This is not a loan,? et cetera, that doesn?t mean that the offer is legitimate.
I don?t want to paint all debt help firms as con artists. That?s definitely not the case.
Many debt relief agencies, credit counseling firms, or debt management programs can legitimately offer you help. And they may even be able to get your interest rates knocked down to the very low single digits, or maybe even zero percent.
Nevertheless, the onus is upon you as a consumer to check people out carefully, and certainly to check out any debt help company before you do business with them.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., front row, center, poses with other female House members on the steps of the House on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013, prior to the official opening of the 113th Congress . (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., front row, center, poses with other female House members on the steps of the House on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013, prior to the official opening of the 113th Congress . (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Retiring Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass. talks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013, prior to the start of the 113th Congress. Joseph Kennedy III is scheduled to be sworn in Thursday, replacing Frank. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Rep.-elect Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill. is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013, as she poses with other female House members prior to the official opening of the 113th Congress. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013, as she poses with female House members prior to the officially opening of the 113th Congress. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., front row, center, poses with female House members on the steps of the House on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013, prior to the officially opening of the 113th Congress. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The House and Senate ushered in a new Congress Thursday, hewing to tradition and hailing one its own who returned a year after being felled by a stroke.
The 113th Congress convened at 12 noon EST, the constitutionally mandated time, with pomp, pageantry ? and of course, politics ? on both sides of the Capitol.
In the Senate, Vice President Joe Biden swore in 12 new members elected in November, lawmakers who won another term and South Carolina Republican Tim Scott. The former House member was tapped by Gov. Nikki Haley to fill the remaining term of Sen. Jim DeMint, who resigned to head a Washington think tank.
Applause from members and the gallery marked every oath-taking. Looking on was former Vice President Walter Mondale.
Shortly before the session, Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., who had been absent for the past year while recovering from a stroke, slowly walked up the 45 steps to the Senate, with Biden nearby and the Senate leaders at the top of the stairs to greet him.
"A courageous man," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Members of the Illinois congressional delegation and senators stood on the steps.
As he entered the building, resting on a cane, Biden and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., helped Kirk take off his coat. The senator said he was glad to be back.
In the House, members were electing the speaker, with John Boehner poised to win another term. The speaker will then swear in the lawmakers in the afternoon.
While the dozens of eager freshmen are determined to change Washington, they face the harsh reality of another stretch of divided government. The traditions come against the backdrop of a mean season that closed out an angry election year.
A deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" of big tax increases and spending cuts split the parties in New Year's Day votes, and the House's failure to vote on a Superstorm Sandy aid package before adjournment prompted GOP recriminations against the leadership.
"There's a lot of hangover obviously from the last few weeks of this session into the new one, which always makes a fresh start a lot harder," Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said.
For all the change of the next Congress, the new bosses are the same as the old bosses.
President Barack Obama secured a second term in the November elections, and Democrats tightened their grip on the Senate for a 55-45 edge in the new two-year Congress, ensuring that Reid will remain in charge. Republicans maintained their majority in the House but will have a smaller advantage, 233-200. Former Democratic Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s Illinois seat and the one held by South Carolina Republican Tim Scott, the state's next senator, will be the two vacancies.
Boehner, R-Ohio, has faced a bruising few weeks with his fractious GOP caucus but seemed poised to win another term as speaker. He mollified angry Republicans from New York and New Jersey on Wednesday with the promise of a vote Friday on $9 billion of the storm relief package and another vote on the remaining $51 billion on Jan. 15.
The GOP members quickly abandoned their chatter about voting against the speaker.
The new Congress still faces the ideological disputes that plagued the dysfunctional 112th Congress, one of the least productive in more than 60 years. Tea party members within the Republican ranks insist on fiscal discipline in the face of growing deficits and have pressed for deep cuts in spending as part of a reduced role for the federal government. Democrats envision a government with enough resources to help the less fortunate and press for the wealthiest to pay more in taxes.
"We can only hope for more help," said Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who was re-elected in November. "Any time you have new members arriving you have that expectation of bringing fresh ideas and kind of a vitality that is needed. We hope that they're coming eager to work hard and make some difficult decisions and put the country first and not be bogged down ideologically."
The next two months will be crucial, with tough economic issues looming. Congress put off for just eight weeks automatic spending cuts to defense and domestic programs that were due to begin with the new year. The question of raising the nation's borrowing authority also must be decided. Another round of ugly negotiations between Obama and Congress is not far off.
There are 12 newly elected senators ? eight Democrats, three Republicans and one independent, former Maine Gov. Angus King, who will caucus with the Democrats. They will be joined by Scott, the first black Republican in decades, who was tapped by South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley to fill the remaining term of Sen. Jim DeMint. The conservative DeMint resigned to lead the Heritage Foundation think tank.
In a sign of some diversity for the venerable body, the Senate will have three Hispanics ? Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and one of the new members, Republican Ted Cruz of Texas. There will be 20 women in the 100-member chamber, the highest number yet.
At least one longtime Democrat, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, will be departing in a few weeks, nominated by Obama to be secretary of state. That opens the door to former Republican Sen. Scott Brown, the only incumbent senator to lose in November's elections, to possibly make a bid to return to Washington.
Eighty-two freshmen join the House ? 47 Democrats and 35 Republicans. Women will total 81 in the 435-member body ? 62 Democrats and 19 Republicans.
In the Senate, Reid and Republican leader Mitch McConnell are negotiating possible changes in the rules as lawmakers face a bitter partisan fight over filibusters, according to a Senate Democratic leadership aide who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about private matters.
Reid has complained that Republicans filibuster too often and has threatened to impose strict limits with a simple majority vote. That step could set off retaliatory delays and other maneuvers by Republicans, who argue that they filibuster because Reid often blocks them from offering amendments.
The aide said Reid was preserving the option of making changes with a simple majority vote.
Founded at Stanford University in 2008, ![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 22-Jan-2013
Share ] 
10-digit dialing is coming to Saskatchewan. Is your business prepared?
