科技要闻-新浪科技
科技时代-科技要闻
淘宝旗舰店开业 基金走"亲"路线
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Oct 31st 2013, 18:47
支玉香 廖家良
【编者按】今天的基金业，如果没有进军互联网的计划似乎已经难以想象。在这场热火朝天拥抱互联网的行业大变局中，互联网巨头和基金业突然之间就变得难舍难分，第一个吃螃蟹的天弘基金公司甚至迫不及待地献出了控股权，当然阿里巴巴的"聘礼"也足以让天弘基金老股东们喜笑颜开。
基金业的网事，是如此的绚烂多彩。
10月31日，淘宝网获证监会许可，成为互联网首家为基金销售机构提供服务、开展业务的第三方电子商务平台。
记者从多渠道了解到，一推再推的基金公司淘宝旗舰店最早将于11月1日上线。11月11日"光棍节"，首批基金淘宝旗舰店也将进行一次铺天盖地的造势活动。
当老辣的互联网公司遇上四平八稳的基金公司，会产生怎么样的化学反应？
基金的"淘宝范"
记者打开多家淘宝官方旗舰店网站，发现映入眼帘的不再是衣冠楚楚的基金经理照片，也不再是高端枯燥的金融理念，而是各种具有"淘宝范"的推广。
以鹏华基金为例，打开淘宝店铺就是热情的烈火红唇，鹏华基金重点推广"鹏华亲亲理财"和"鹏华亲亲货币"。"鹏华亲亲货币"目前特指鹏华货币市场基金A份额，是一款类余额宝产品。
"淘宝不是按照基金公司规模排名来划定合作伙伴的，按照淘宝的效率和要求走才能成为第一批，我们内部的要求是淘宝在给我们发邮件 5分钟后就回复，淘宝在设计卖基金的场景就有100多个，我们也是反复做了内测。"某家即将入住淘宝旗舰店的基金人士如是告诉记者。
记者了解到，不少基金公司走差异化路线。鹏华基金淘宝旗舰店还首家挂出QDII基金——鹏华美国房地产基金，称之"海外投资入门装备"并将其作为店内爆款，力推海外资产配置。业内人士表示，淘宝上有不少"海淘一族"，对于海外资讯非常关注，而鹏华美国房地产基金或能博得不少眼球。
亦有基金公司专门为淘宝网设计了理财产品，如国泰淘金互联网债券基金近期发布招募说明书，公告其将于11月1日正式发行。国泰淘金互联网债券基金是专门针对互联网特性度身定做的基金投资产品，作为可能成为淘宝理财平台第一只发行的基金产品，将以互联网为主要销售渠道进行发售，100元起卖，申赎费用全免。
泰达宏利的互联网定制产品淘利债数月前已获批，据了解，泰达宏利将在淘宝网上开设官方旗舰店，而泰达宏利淘利债基就是一款专攻网上直销的基金产品。
"尚不论淘宝旗舰店给基金带来多少的增量规模，单是给基金业带来的从客户角度出发思考就是有意义的。"有基金界人士如是指出。
寻找处女地
基金公司在拥抱互联网的热潮中衔枚疾行。鹏华基金现身于首批淘宝店名字之列时，与京东商城的合作亦箭在弦上。
继阿里、百度、腾讯等互联网平台，以及汇付天下等三方支付机构之后，各家基金公司都在寻找下一块处女地。
据记者了解，鹏华基金已经"锁定"了京东商城。京东收购的网银在线(北京)科技有限公司拥有第三方支付牌照，目前正在申请基金销售支付结算的牌照。"待其正式上线的时候，鹏华基金将成为其合作的基金销售机构，并将成为京东商城首家开店项目的合作伙伴。"接近京东商城人士告诉记者。
此外，苏宁云商旗下的易付宝已经和广发和汇添富两家基金公司确定了最终合作协议。
记者从汇添富基金获悉，与苏宁云商的合作项目目前进展非常顺利，进入了最后的收尾阶段。上线时间暂时不方便透露，请以苏宁云商公告为准。
但苏宁云商是一个很开放的平台，代销业务是要开放给基金行业所有基金公司的，苏宁云商的平台鹏华基金也在持续跟进。
记者了解到，鹏华基金负责电子商务的是渠道业务部，目前共5个员工，这种人员配置为中型基金公司的一般水平。
一些将电子商务作为重要战略业务的公司，电商团队阵容则较为强大，记者从汇添富获悉，今年2月，汇添富的电子商务部更名为电子金融总部，目前电子金融总部的人数近40人。
事实上，汇添富的电商业务一直走在业内前列。2011年10月业内首家推出了货币基金关联信用卡还款，并成功发行了中信汇添富现金宝信用卡；去年10月，汇添富为业内第一家推出了货币基金T+0快速赎回业务；专门面向互联网用户的汇添富现金宝货币基金今年9月份成立，该基金可以关联到现金宝账户，实现了每日结转收益，1分钱申赎等重大升级。汇添富基金电子商务总部总监杨钢向记者透露，正在接洽多家互联网平台，合作形式也不局限在类余额宝的项目。
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2013年10月31日星期四
网易科技频道IT业界新闻: 与松下签70亿美元电池合同 特斯拉将大幅扩产？
网易科技频道IT业界新闻
网易科技频道IT业界新闻
与松下签70亿美元电池合同 特斯拉将大幅扩产？
http://tech.163.com/13/1101/01/9CIDO97S000915BD.html
Nov 1st 2013, 01:35
每经记者 杨可瞻
日前，美国纯电动汽车商特斯拉（Tesla）宣布，未来4年日本松下电器拟向公司提供20亿颗锂离子汽车电池，这不仅为松下带来高达70亿美元的收入，更预示着特斯拉汽车的销量有望在未来4年将大幅增长。
双方并非第一次合作
据彭博报道，10月31日，松下宣布了与特斯拉的新合作计划，拟在未来4年向后者提供20亿颗锂离子汽车电池。彭博社新能源行业分析师AliIzadi-Najafabadi称，合同中的电池将主要为特斯拉的ModelS和还未投产的SUV运动汽车ModelX提供动力，价值约70亿美元，这份合同将巩固松下在电动汽车电池行业的老大地位。
《每日经济新闻》记者注意到，这已不是特斯拉和松下的第一次合作。据松下女发言人ChiekoGyobu介绍，松下在过去2年内向特斯拉供应了2亿个锂离子电池单元。
汽车电池的放量供应，对特斯拉意义非凡。据《福布斯》报道，考虑到最大的特斯拉将使用约7000颗电池，此次20亿颗的供应量将足够覆盖30万辆汽车，预计在特斯拉合同最后一年的汽车销量将达到10万辆。
资料显示，特斯拉目前每周的产量超过400辆。今年6月，特斯拉CEO艾龙·马斯克在接受采访时表示，计划在2014年晚些时候将产量提升至800辆/周，约合每年生产4.1万辆。而根据美国科技网站BI预计，如果要将这些松下电池在4年内全部用完，产量还需要在这一基础上再翻一倍。
换句话说，松下的锂离子电池供应为特斯拉提升产量设置了 "缓冲垫"，迫使后者有不停提升产量的压力，而这正好弥补了很多投资者此前的担心，即特斯拉的产量跟不上订单速度。
公司股价是否被高估
《福布斯》称，特斯拉目前使用的松下锂离子电池型号为18650。资料显示，这类电池常用于高档强光手电、随身电源，无线数据传输器等，优点包括容量大、寿命长、安全性高等，缺点则有体积已经固定，装载一些笔记本时不太好定位等。
彭博汇编的资料显示，截至5月21日，松下是特斯拉最大的供应商，关系值为7432万美元。
自2007年以来，特斯拉从未在一个财务年实现盈利，最好的业绩是2007年时的净亏7816万美元，那么这家硅谷公司的股票是否真的被高估了?
特斯拉目前总市值为193.4亿美元，在全球最大的15家汽车公司中排名第11。而其预测市盈率（截至今年底）为261倍，远高于行业平均值33倍，同时高于有纯电动汽车业务的比亚迪（99倍）。
从估值上看，特斯拉确实有些"高处不胜寒"，但从收入增速看，却没有任何一家公司可以企及它的水平。彭博显示，比亚迪2012年的收入同比增速为102%，远高于行业平均值13.5%。但对于特斯拉的未来，分析师们并不吝啬看好之情，预计特斯拉2013年营业收入同比增长407%至21亿美元，调整后净利润为7749万美元，到2016年，营业收入将上升至54.3亿美元，是2012年的13倍。
本文来源：每日经济新闻
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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网易科技频道IT业界新闻
与松下签70亿美元电池合同 特斯拉将大幅扩产？
http://tech.163.com/13/1101/01/9CIDO97S000915BD.html
Nov 1st 2013, 01:35
每经记者 杨可瞻
日前，美国纯电动汽车商特斯拉（Tesla）宣布，未来4年日本松下电器拟向公司提供20亿颗锂离子汽车电池，这不仅为松下带来高达70亿美元的收入，更预示着特斯拉汽车的销量有望在未来4年将大幅增长。
双方并非第一次合作
据彭博报道，10月31日，松下宣布了与特斯拉的新合作计划，拟在未来4年向后者提供20亿颗锂离子汽车电池。彭博社新能源行业分析师AliIzadi-Najafabadi称，合同中的电池将主要为特斯拉的ModelS和还未投产的SUV运动汽车ModelX提供动力，价值约70亿美元，这份合同将巩固松下在电动汽车电池行业的老大地位。
《每日经济新闻》记者注意到，这已不是特斯拉和松下的第一次合作。据松下女发言人ChiekoGyobu介绍，松下在过去2年内向特斯拉供应了2亿个锂离子电池单元。
汽车电池的放量供应，对特斯拉意义非凡。据《福布斯》报道，考虑到最大的特斯拉将使用约7000颗电池，此次20亿颗的供应量将足够覆盖30万辆汽车，预计在特斯拉合同最后一年的汽车销量将达到10万辆。
资料显示，特斯拉目前每周的产量超过400辆。今年6月，特斯拉CEO艾龙·马斯克在接受采访时表示，计划在2014年晚些时候将产量提升至800辆/周，约合每年生产4.1万辆。而根据美国科技网站BI预计，如果要将这些松下电池在4年内全部用完，产量还需要在这一基础上再翻一倍。
换句话说，松下的锂离子电池供应为特斯拉提升产量设置了 "缓冲垫"，迫使后者有不停提升产量的压力，而这正好弥补了很多投资者此前的担心，即特斯拉的产量跟不上订单速度。
公司股价是否被高估
《福布斯》称，特斯拉目前使用的松下锂离子电池型号为18650。资料显示，这类电池常用于高档强光手电、随身电源，无线数据传输器等，优点包括容量大、寿命长、安全性高等，缺点则有体积已经固定，装载一些笔记本时不太好定位等。
彭博汇编的资料显示，截至5月21日，松下是特斯拉最大的供应商，关系值为7432万美元。
自2007年以来，特斯拉从未在一个财务年实现盈利，最好的业绩是2007年时的净亏7816万美元，那么这家硅谷公司的股票是否真的被高估了?
特斯拉目前总市值为193.4亿美元，在全球最大的15家汽车公司中排名第11。而其预测市盈率（截至今年底）为261倍，远高于行业平均值33倍，同时高于有纯电动汽车业务的比亚迪（99倍）。
从估值上看，特斯拉确实有些"高处不胜寒"，但从收入增速看，却没有任何一家公司可以企及它的水平。彭博显示，比亚迪2012年的收入同比增速为102%，远高于行业平均值13.5%。但对于特斯拉的未来，分析师们并不吝啬看好之情，预计特斯拉2013年营业收入同比增长407%至21亿美元，调整后净利润为7749万美元，到2016年，营业收入将上升至54.3亿美元，是2012年的13倍。
本文来源：每日经济新闻
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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网易科技频道IT业界新闻: 索尼Q2财报公布 智能手机销售强劲
网易科技频道IT业界新闻
网易科技频道IT业界新闻
索尼Q2财报公布 智能手机销售强劲
http://tech.163.com/13/1101/01/9CIE18VN000915BD.html
Nov 1st 2013, 01:40
每经记者 孙卫涛 发自北京
没过几天好日子的索尼再次遭遇利润下滑。
昨日（10月31日），索尼公司发布2013财年第二季度财报，销售收入17755亿日元（181亿美元），同比增长10.6%，但是营业利润同比下降51.2%，为148亿日元（1.51亿美元）。与此同时，索尼宣布下调全年盈利预期。
全国消费电子渠道商联盟秘书长吴咸建在接受《每日经济新闻》记者采访时表示，目前索尼正在调整期，现在只是财年的第二季度，还看不出整个财年的状况。
影视业务拖累业绩
财报显示，第二季度索尼公司净利润为亏损193亿日元。索尼公司表示，销售收入增长的主要原因是汇率利好影响以及智能手机销售增长，而营业利润下降的主要原因是索尼影视业绩大幅下滑。
财报显示，索尼公司因为影视业务受汇率利好影响，销售收入同比增长9.1%，为1778亿日元，但营业利润亏损178亿日元，主要原因是电影票房收入低于预期，以及电视内容制作成本上升。
财报显示，索尼公司里8个部门里5个亏损，其中移动产品与通信部门得益于智能手机产品销售强劲而利润大幅增长，对收入增长贡献最大，其次为金融部门赚得最多。
此外，家庭娱乐及音频业务受到汇率利好影响，销售收入同比增长11.8%，为2638亿日元。其中电视业务销售收入同比增长18.7%，为1741亿日元。
奥维咨询(AVC)品牌总监苏亮对记者表示，今年索尼公司在中国彩电市场的表现比较稳定，尤其是在几个销售节点上，表现不错，国庆节的销量和销额都在外资前三，此次电视业务的增长应该是得益于对高清、超高清电视的布局。
下调全年盈利预期
实际上，索尼近几年的日子一直不好过。公开资料显示，从2008年到2011年连续4个财年亏损，累计亏损额达到93亿美元，直到2102年财年才首次出现盈利。
2012财年，索尼公司运营利润为2301亿日元，净利润为430亿日元，实现了5年来首次全年净盈利。2013年第一季度，索尼公司继续保持良好势头，销售收入同比增长13%，为17127亿日元，营业利润同比增加了301亿日元，为364亿日元，净利润为35亿日元。
吴咸建表示，索尼公司的盈利主要是因为日元汇率利好的影响，以及通过出售股票以及美国总部的土地、大楼等资产等原因。
去年12月，日本采取积极的经济改革措施，推动日元汇率下降。随后，索尼的海外业务营收出现增长。
在第二季度营业利润同比下滑严重的同时，索尼将本财年运营利润预期由此前的2300亿日元下调至1700亿日元，低于分析师2210亿日元的普遍预期，净利润预期数字从500亿日元下调到了300亿日元，下调幅度达到40%。
同时，索尼下调了全年电视销售目标，由先前的1500万部降至1400万部。这不是索尼首次下调电视销量，8月，索尼曾将本财年电视销量预期下调了6.3%至1500万台，此前对此的预期为1600万台。智能手机全年销售目标维持4200万台不变。
吴咸建表示，"目前索尼正在调整期，现在才是财年的第二季度，还看不出整个财年的状况，也许如上一财年进行资产的出售，受惠于日元汇率的影响，都说不好。"
本文来源：每日经济新闻
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网易科技频道IT业界新闻
索尼Q2财报公布 智能手机销售强劲
http://tech.163.com/13/1101/01/9CIE18VN000915BD.html
Nov 1st 2013, 01:40
每经记者 孙卫涛 发自北京
没过几天好日子的索尼再次遭遇利润下滑。
昨日（10月31日），索尼公司发布2013财年第二季度财报，销售收入17755亿日元（181亿美元），同比增长10.6%，但是营业利润同比下降51.2%，为148亿日元（1.51亿美元）。与此同时，索尼宣布下调全年盈利预期。
全国消费电子渠道商联盟秘书长吴咸建在接受《每日经济新闻》记者采访时表示，目前索尼正在调整期，现在只是财年的第二季度，还看不出整个财年的状况。
影视业务拖累业绩
财报显示，第二季度索尼公司净利润为亏损193亿日元。索尼公司表示，销售收入增长的主要原因是汇率利好影响以及智能手机销售增长，而营业利润下降的主要原因是索尼影视业绩大幅下滑。
财报显示，索尼公司因为影视业务受汇率利好影响，销售收入同比增长9.1%，为1778亿日元，但营业利润亏损178亿日元，主要原因是电影票房收入低于预期，以及电视内容制作成本上升。
财报显示，索尼公司里8个部门里5个亏损，其中移动产品与通信部门得益于智能手机产品销售强劲而利润大幅增长，对收入增长贡献最大，其次为金融部门赚得最多。
此外，家庭娱乐及音频业务受到汇率利好影响，销售收入同比增长11.8%，为2638亿日元。其中电视业务销售收入同比增长18.7%，为1741亿日元。
奥维咨询(AVC)品牌总监苏亮对记者表示，今年索尼公司在中国彩电市场的表现比较稳定，尤其是在几个销售节点上，表现不错，国庆节的销量和销额都在外资前三，此次电视业务的增长应该是得益于对高清、超高清电视的布局。
下调全年盈利预期
实际上，索尼近几年的日子一直不好过。公开资料显示，从2008年到2011年连续4个财年亏损，累计亏损额达到93亿美元，直到2102年财年才首次出现盈利。
2012财年，索尼公司运营利润为2301亿日元，净利润为430亿日元，实现了5年来首次全年净盈利。2013年第一季度，索尼公司继续保持良好势头，销售收入同比增长13%，为17127亿日元，营业利润同比增加了301亿日元，为364亿日元，净利润为35亿日元。
吴咸建表示，索尼公司的盈利主要是因为日元汇率利好的影响，以及通过出售股票以及美国总部的土地、大楼等资产等原因。
去年12月，日本采取积极的经济改革措施，推动日元汇率下降。随后，索尼的海外业务营收出现增长。
在第二季度营业利润同比下滑严重的同时，索尼将本财年运营利润预期由此前的2300亿日元下调至1700亿日元，低于分析师2210亿日元的普遍预期，净利润预期数字从500亿日元下调到了300亿日元，下调幅度达到40%。
同时，索尼下调了全年电视销售目标，由先前的1500万部降至1400万部。这不是索尼首次下调电视销量，8月，索尼曾将本财年电视销量预期下调了6.3%至1500万台，此前对此的预期为1600万台。智能手机全年销售目标维持4200万台不变。
吴咸建表示，"目前索尼正在调整期，现在才是财年的第二季度，还看不出整个财年的状况，也许如上一财年进行资产的出售，受惠于日元汇率的影响，都说不好。"
本文来源：每日经济新闻
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ScienceDaily: Latest Science News: Houston we have a problem: Microgravity accelerates biological aging
ScienceDaily: Latest Science News
Breaking science news and articles on global warming, extrasolar planets, stem cells, bird flu, autism, nanotechnology, dinosaurs, evolution -- the latest discoveries in astronomy, anthropology, biology, chemistry, climate and environment, computers, engineering, health and medicine, math, physics, psychology, technology, and more -- from the world's leading universities and research organizations.
Houston we have a problem: Microgravity accelerates biological aging
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/CAr5avIiVFY/131031125317.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 16:53
Oct. 31, 2013 — As nations strive to put humans farther into space for longer periods of time, the real loser in this new space race could be the astronauts themselves. That's because experiments conducted on the International Space Station involving cells that line the inner surfaces of blood vessels (endothelial cells) show that microgravity accelerates cardiovascular disease and the biological aging of these cells. These findings are presented in a new research report published in November 2013 issue of The FASEB Journal.
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"Understanding the cellular and molecular events of senescence might help in finding preventive measures that are useful to improve the quality of life of millions of people," said Silvia Bradamante, a researcher involved in the work from the CNR-ISTM, Institute of Molecular Science and Technologies in Milan, Italy. "Our study further supports the role of oxidative stress in accelerating aging and disease."
In this report, Bradamante and colleagues examined endothelial cells in real microgravity aboard the International Space Station and conducted deep gene expression and protein analysis on the cells. They compared space-flown endothelial cells to endothelial cells cultured under normal gravity, looking for differences in gene expression and/or in the profile of secreted proteins. Space-flown cells differentially expressed more than 1,000 genes and secreted high amounts of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Ultimately, this induced significant oxidative stress, causing inflammation among endothelial cells, which in turn, led to atherosclerosis and cell senescence (biological aging).
"As we plan to send people deeper into space than ever before, and for longer flights, we've got to make sure that they remain in best health possible," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. "We've evolved to rely on gravity to regulate our biology, and without it, our tissues become confused. Worst of all: they age faster!"
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The above story is based on materials provided by Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
S. Versari, G. Longinotti, L. Barenghi, J. A. M. Maier, S. Bradamante. The challenging environment on board the International Space Station affects endothelial cell function by triggering oxidative stress through thioredoxin interacting protein overexpression: the ESA-SPHINX experiment. The FASEB Journal, 2013; 27 (11): 4466 DOI: 10.1096/fj.13-229195
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Breaking science news and articles on global warming, extrasolar planets, stem cells, bird flu, autism, nanotechnology, dinosaurs, evolution -- the latest discoveries in astronomy, anthropology, biology, chemistry, climate and environment, computers, engineering, health and medicine, math, physics, psychology, technology, and more -- from the world's leading universities and research organizations.
Houston we have a problem: Microgravity accelerates biological aging
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/CAr5avIiVFY/131031125317.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 16:53
Oct. 31, 2013 — As nations strive to put humans farther into space for longer periods of time, the real loser in this new space race could be the astronauts themselves. That's because experiments conducted on the International Space Station involving cells that line the inner surfaces of blood vessels (endothelial cells) show that microgravity accelerates cardiovascular disease and the biological aging of these cells. These findings are presented in a new research report published in November 2013 issue of The FASEB Journal.
Share This:
"Understanding the cellular and molecular events of senescence might help in finding preventive measures that are useful to improve the quality of life of millions of people," said Silvia Bradamante, a researcher involved in the work from the CNR-ISTM, Institute of Molecular Science and Technologies in Milan, Italy. "Our study further supports the role of oxidative stress in accelerating aging and disease."
In this report, Bradamante and colleagues examined endothelial cells in real microgravity aboard the International Space Station and conducted deep gene expression and protein analysis on the cells. They compared space-flown endothelial cells to endothelial cells cultured under normal gravity, looking for differences in gene expression and/or in the profile of secreted proteins. Space-flown cells differentially expressed more than 1,000 genes and secreted high amounts of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Ultimately, this induced significant oxidative stress, causing inflammation among endothelial cells, which in turn, led to atherosclerosis and cell senescence (biological aging).
"As we plan to send people deeper into space than ever before, and for longer flights, we've got to make sure that they remain in best health possible," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. "We've evolved to rely on gravity to regulate our biology, and without it, our tissues become confused. Worst of all: they age faster!"
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
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Story Source:
The above story is based on materials provided by Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
S. Versari, G. Longinotti, L. Barenghi, J. A. M. Maier, S. Bradamante. The challenging environment on board the International Space Station affects endothelial cell function by triggering oxidative stress through thioredoxin interacting protein overexpression: the ESA-SPHINX experiment. The FASEB Journal, 2013; 27 (11): 4466 DOI: 10.1096/fj.13-229195
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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ScienceDaily: Latest Science News: Stem cell scarring aids recovery from spinal cord injury
ScienceDaily: Latest Science News
Breaking science news and articles on global warming, extrasolar planets, stem cells, bird flu, autism, nanotechnology, dinosaurs, evolution -- the latest discoveries in astronomy, anthropology, biology, chemistry, climate and environment, computers, engineering, health and medicine, math, physics, psychology, technology, and more -- from the world's leading universities and research organizations.
Stem cell scarring aids recovery from spinal cord injury
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/59Z3OQXhrS8/131031140632.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 18:06
Oct. 31, 2013 — In a new study, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden show that the scar tissue formed by stem cells after a spinal cord injury does not impair recovery; in fact, stem cell scarring confines the damage. The findings, which are published in the scientific journal Science, indicate that scar tissue prevents the lesion from expanding and helps injured nerve cells survive.
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Spinal cord injuries sever nerve fibres that conduct signals between the brain and the rest of the body, causing various degrees of paralysis depending on the site and extent of the injury. Functional impairment is often permanent, since the cut nerve fibres do not grow back. The lack of regeneration has been attributed to a blockage from scar tissue that forms at the lesion. It has therefore been suggested that the nerve fibres could regenerate and that recovery could improve if scar formation is inhibited, and many proposed therapeutic strategies have been designed around this concept.
In the present study, the researchers focused on spinal cord stem cells, which are one of the main sources of the scar tissue that is formed after spinal cord injury. They found that when blocking scar formation by preventing the stem cells from forming new cells after an injury, the injury gradually expanded, and more nerve fibres were severed. They also observed that more spinal cord nerve cells died in these mice compared to mice with intact stem cell function, which were able to form normal scar tissue.
"It turned out that scarring from stem cells was necessary for stabilising the injury and preventing it from spreading," says principal investigator Professor Jonas Frisén at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology. "Scar tissue also facilitated the survival of damaged nerve cells. Our results suggest that more rather than less stem cell scarring could limit the consequences of a spinal cord injury."
According to earlier animal studies, recovery can be improved by transplanting stem cells to the injured spinal cord. The new findings suggest that stimulating the spinal cord's own stem cells could offer an alternative to cell transplantation.
The study was supported by grants from the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Cancer Society, the Tobias Foundation, AFA Insurance, the Strategic Research Programme in Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine (StratRegen) at Karolinska Institutet and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.
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The above story is based on materials provided by Karolinska Institutet, via AlphaGalileo.
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Journal Reference:
Hanna Sabelström, Moa Stenudd, Pedro Réu, David O. Dias, Marta Elfineh, Sofia Zdunek, Peter Damberg, Christian Göritz, and Jonas Frisén. Resident Neural Stem Cells Restrict Tissue Damage and Neuronal Loss After Spinal Cord Injury in Mice. Science, 1 November 2013: 637-640 DOI: 10.1126/science.1242576
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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Breaking science news and articles on global warming, extrasolar planets, stem cells, bird flu, autism, nanotechnology, dinosaurs, evolution -- the latest discoveries in astronomy, anthropology, biology, chemistry, climate and environment, computers, engineering, health and medicine, math, physics, psychology, technology, and more -- from the world's leading universities and research organizations.
Stem cell scarring aids recovery from spinal cord injury
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/59Z3OQXhrS8/131031140632.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 18:06
Oct. 31, 2013 — In a new study, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden show that the scar tissue formed by stem cells after a spinal cord injury does not impair recovery; in fact, stem cell scarring confines the damage. The findings, which are published in the scientific journal Science, indicate that scar tissue prevents the lesion from expanding and helps injured nerve cells survive.
Share This:
Spinal cord injuries sever nerve fibres that conduct signals between the brain and the rest of the body, causing various degrees of paralysis depending on the site and extent of the injury. Functional impairment is often permanent, since the cut nerve fibres do not grow back. The lack of regeneration has been attributed to a blockage from scar tissue that forms at the lesion. It has therefore been suggested that the nerve fibres could regenerate and that recovery could improve if scar formation is inhibited, and many proposed therapeutic strategies have been designed around this concept.
In the present study, the researchers focused on spinal cord stem cells, which are one of the main sources of the scar tissue that is formed after spinal cord injury. They found that when blocking scar formation by preventing the stem cells from forming new cells after an injury, the injury gradually expanded, and more nerve fibres were severed. They also observed that more spinal cord nerve cells died in these mice compared to mice with intact stem cell function, which were able to form normal scar tissue.
"It turned out that scarring from stem cells was necessary for stabilising the injury and preventing it from spreading," says principal investigator Professor Jonas Frisén at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology. "Scar tissue also facilitated the survival of damaged nerve cells. Our results suggest that more rather than less stem cell scarring could limit the consequences of a spinal cord injury."
According to earlier animal studies, recovery can be improved by transplanting stem cells to the injured spinal cord. The new findings suggest that stimulating the spinal cord's own stem cells could offer an alternative to cell transplantation.
The study was supported by grants from the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Cancer Society, the Tobias Foundation, AFA Insurance, the Strategic Research Programme in Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine (StratRegen) at Karolinska Institutet and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
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Story Source:
The above story is based on materials provided by Karolinska Institutet, via AlphaGalileo.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Hanna Sabelström, Moa Stenudd, Pedro Réu, David O. Dias, Marta Elfineh, Sofia Zdunek, Peter Damberg, Christian Göritz, and Jonas Frisén. Resident Neural Stem Cells Restrict Tissue Damage and Neuronal Loss After Spinal Cord Injury in Mice. Science, 1 November 2013: 637-640 DOI: 10.1126/science.1242576
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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科技要闻-新浪科技: 淘宝网“绕过”销售牌照卖基金
科技要闻-新浪科技
科技时代-科技要闻
淘宝网"绕过"销售牌照卖基金
http://go.rss.sina.com.cn/redirect.php?url=http://tech.sina.com.cn/i/2013-11-01/02008873825.shtml
Oct 31st 2013, 18:00
安卓
"淘宝卖基金"终于有了明确的说法。
10月31日，《第一财经日报》从阿里获悉，据《证券投资基金销售机构通过第三方电子商务平台开展业务管理暂行规定》，淘宝网正式获得证监会出具的无异议函，获准销售基金。由此，淘宝成为互联网首家为基金销售机构提供服务开展业务的第三方电子商务平台。
不过，据阿里内部人士透露，该牌照并非真正意义上的基金销售牌照。
目前，淘宝平台已经涉猎保险、基金、银行等传统金融领域，而支付宝作为第三方支付机构，同时也拥有基金支付牌照，多类金融业务有望在淘宝网上进行有效整合。
淘宝组建基金项目团队
与此前业内盛传淘宝需要跨越"销售牌照"这道门槛不同的是，淘宝所获得的并非真正意义上的销售牌照，其也不需要获得真正意义上的销售牌照，而是拿到了与基金销售机构合作的"类销售牌照"。
证监会统计数据显示：截至9月份，取得销售牌照的基金销售机构包括82家商业银行、98家证券公司、1家期货公司、6家证券投资咨询机构以及25家独立的基金销售机构。另外，为基金销售机构提供支付结算服务的第三方支付机构共有10家，其中就包括支付宝和财付通。
今年初，为了保障基金销售机构在第三方电子商务平台上基金销售活动的有序开展，证监会出台了《证券投资基金销售机构通过第三方电子商务平台开展业务管理暂行规定》(下称《暂行规定》)。
《暂行规定》指出，第三方电子商务平台可以为基金销售机构开展基金销售业务提供辅助服务。第三方电子商务平台自行开展基金销售业务的，其经营者应当取得基金销售业务资格。第三方电子商务平台为基金销售机构的销售业务提供辅助服务的，其经营者应当按照中国证券监督管理委员会的规定进行备案。
显然，淘宝只需要向证监会报备，就可以为基金销售机构提供辅助服务。而此条路也是今后众多第三方电子商务平台销售基金的"范本"。
记者从多方渠道获悉，此前，淘宝向证监会提交了《关于淘宝网开展基金销售机构合作的申请报告》。在该报告中，淘宝表示，为了拓宽基金电子商务的场景，淘宝网联合支付宝组建基金项目团队，共同搭建适应淘宝用户习惯的基金网店体系。项目组与基金公司、独立销售机构等进行了大量深入的调研，拟定基金网店交易的主体流程和模式，并进行技术开发和联调对接。
电商化公募百态
目前，基金的销售渠道仍然是银行代销为主，基金管理公司、证券公司和独立销售机构为辅。事实上，各销售渠道之间发展极不平衡。
"之所以电商渠道今年风起云涌，一方面也与银行渠道的佣金越来越高有关，而且银行也不愿意与基金公司共享客户资料，这让基金公司觉得难以为继，电商渠道的利润肯定要比银行渠道高。"深圳一基金业内人士对本报说。
从基金销售量来看，电商渠道占比超过10%的只有天弘基金，一般大型基金公司则不到1% ，而银行渠道却普遍占比60%~70%，券商渠道、机构直销和独立第三方销售机构总共约10%。
"余额宝的规模如此迅速膨胀令基金公司无比崇拜，所以大家都希望能够借助淘宝平台实现快速增长。"上述深圳基金业内人士说，淘宝渠道若成气候或将改写目前基金销售渠道的状态。
事实上，不少基金公司在近两天就提前获知消息，"淘宝提前给大家通了气，原来说是本周五可以上线，后来又说随时可以上线，大家都翘首以待最终的上线时间。"首批14家准备上线的公募之一的基金公司电商部负责人在昨晚对记者表示。
从淘宝平台来看，上述14家公募几乎均有销售记录显示，比如海富通货币基金、易方达货币市场基金A、华夏活期通等，部分基金公司旺旺客服在线。对于基金淘宝店的客服，部分基金公司采用电商部门的原班人马，也有基金公司将该业务外包。
在一些公司张罗着淘宝店的同时，有些公募也处于观望状态，"我们会先看看同行是怎么做的，其实，未来其他外部电商平台都可以介入，前期已经有不少第三方电商平台主动找过我们寻求合作，也不是说一定要搭上淘宝这班车才能到达目的地。"一位基金公司高管对记者说。
另外，也有基金人士对本报道出了些许担忧，他说，基金公司淘宝店开业后，各家基金公司一定会大力推广自己的货币基金，而购买基金份额也可以用支付宝支付，"支付宝"对应的就是余额宝，那么，对于"余额宝"来说，是否存在着被分流的风险呢？这一疑问仍需淘宝方面再三权衡。
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科技时代-科技要闻
淘宝网"绕过"销售牌照卖基金
http://go.rss.sina.com.cn/redirect.php?url=http://tech.sina.com.cn/i/2013-11-01/02008873825.shtml
Oct 31st 2013, 18:00
安卓
"淘宝卖基金"终于有了明确的说法。
10月31日，《第一财经日报》从阿里获悉，据《证券投资基金销售机构通过第三方电子商务平台开展业务管理暂行规定》，淘宝网正式获得证监会出具的无异议函，获准销售基金。由此，淘宝成为互联网首家为基金销售机构提供服务开展业务的第三方电子商务平台。
不过，据阿里内部人士透露，该牌照并非真正意义上的基金销售牌照。
目前，淘宝平台已经涉猎保险、基金、银行等传统金融领域，而支付宝作为第三方支付机构，同时也拥有基金支付牌照，多类金融业务有望在淘宝网上进行有效整合。
淘宝组建基金项目团队
与此前业内盛传淘宝需要跨越"销售牌照"这道门槛不同的是，淘宝所获得的并非真正意义上的销售牌照，其也不需要获得真正意义上的销售牌照，而是拿到了与基金销售机构合作的"类销售牌照"。
证监会统计数据显示：截至9月份，取得销售牌照的基金销售机构包括82家商业银行、98家证券公司、1家期货公司、6家证券投资咨询机构以及25家独立的基金销售机构。另外，为基金销售机构提供支付结算服务的第三方支付机构共有10家，其中就包括支付宝和财付通。
今年初，为了保障基金销售机构在第三方电子商务平台上基金销售活动的有序开展，证监会出台了《证券投资基金销售机构通过第三方电子商务平台开展业务管理暂行规定》(下称《暂行规定》)。
《暂行规定》指出，第三方电子商务平台可以为基金销售机构开展基金销售业务提供辅助服务。第三方电子商务平台自行开展基金销售业务的，其经营者应当取得基金销售业务资格。第三方电子商务平台为基金销售机构的销售业务提供辅助服务的，其经营者应当按照中国证券监督管理委员会的规定进行备案。
显然，淘宝只需要向证监会报备，就可以为基金销售机构提供辅助服务。而此条路也是今后众多第三方电子商务平台销售基金的"范本"。
记者从多方渠道获悉，此前，淘宝向证监会提交了《关于淘宝网开展基金销售机构合作的申请报告》。在该报告中，淘宝表示，为了拓宽基金电子商务的场景，淘宝网联合支付宝组建基金项目团队，共同搭建适应淘宝用户习惯的基金网店体系。项目组与基金公司、独立销售机构等进行了大量深入的调研，拟定基金网店交易的主体流程和模式，并进行技术开发和联调对接。
电商化公募百态
目前，基金的销售渠道仍然是银行代销为主，基金管理公司、证券公司和独立销售机构为辅。事实上，各销售渠道之间发展极不平衡。
"之所以电商渠道今年风起云涌，一方面也与银行渠道的佣金越来越高有关，而且银行也不愿意与基金公司共享客户资料，这让基金公司觉得难以为继，电商渠道的利润肯定要比银行渠道高。"深圳一基金业内人士对本报说。
从基金销售量来看，电商渠道占比超过10%的只有天弘基金，一般大型基金公司则不到1% ，而银行渠道却普遍占比60%~70%，券商渠道、机构直销和独立第三方销售机构总共约10%。
"余额宝的规模如此迅速膨胀令基金公司无比崇拜，所以大家都希望能够借助淘宝平台实现快速增长。"上述深圳基金业内人士说，淘宝渠道若成气候或将改写目前基金销售渠道的状态。
事实上，不少基金公司在近两天就提前获知消息，"淘宝提前给大家通了气，原来说是本周五可以上线，后来又说随时可以上线，大家都翘首以待最终的上线时间。"首批14家准备上线的公募之一的基金公司电商部负责人在昨晚对记者表示。
从淘宝平台来看，上述14家公募几乎均有销售记录显示，比如海富通货币基金、易方达货币市场基金A、华夏活期通等，部分基金公司旺旺客服在线。对于基金淘宝店的客服，部分基金公司采用电商部门的原班人马，也有基金公司将该业务外包。
在一些公司张罗着淘宝店的同时，有些公募也处于观望状态，"我们会先看看同行是怎么做的，其实，未来其他外部电商平台都可以介入，前期已经有不少第三方电商平台主动找过我们寻求合作，也不是说一定要搭上淘宝这班车才能到达目的地。"一位基金公司高管对记者说。
另外，也有基金人士对本报道出了些许担忧，他说，基金公司淘宝店开业后，各家基金公司一定会大力推广自己的货币基金，而购买基金份额也可以用支付宝支付，"支付宝"对应的就是余额宝，那么，对于"余额宝"来说，是否存在着被分流的风险呢？这一疑问仍需淘宝方面再三权衡。
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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科技要闻-新浪科技: 比特币VSRipple：不同“货币哲学”的碰撞
科技要闻-新浪科技
科技时代-科技要闻
比特币VSRipple：不同"货币哲学"的碰撞
http://go.rss.sina.com.cn/redirect.php?url=http://tech.sina.com.cn/it/2013-11-01/02068873846.shtml
Oct 31st 2013, 18:06
严湘君
几年前，一个名叫Stefan Thomas的青年为了搞清楚神秘的中本聪(Satoshi，比特币概念的提出者和系统的设计者)到底是哪国人，在论坛上搜罗了中本聪的500多条发言，做了各种数据分析和推理，最终判断他来自英国。然而，就是这个比特币的超级粉丝最近却倒戈到Ripple阵营，摇身一变成了Ripple Labs(优化Ripple支付协议的一家公司)的首席科技官。
"没错，我早前曾是比特币的爱好者，但当我得知Ripple解决了一些比特币不能解决的问题时，我就加入Ripple Labs的团队。"Stefan Thomas在接受《第一财经日报》记者采访时说，"首先，我认为Ripple的名声更好，没有和非法交易联系在一起；其次Ripple系统中的交易确认时间也只需要几秒钟，而不像比特币那样需要几十分钟；我们还有非常优质的伙伴比如谷歌、IDG资本等；更重要的是，Ripple网络上可以流通各种货币而非只有某一种货币。"
Stefan Thomas确实道出了比特币和Ripple之间某种程度上的不同，但在这些不同的背后却隐藏着其创造者不同的"货币哲学"。事实上，Ripple和比特币并无优劣之分，它们同是金融与科技结合的创新产物，都希望能够解决一些现有货币系统无法解决或不想解决的问题。
使命的不同
"比特币是一种数字货币，解决的是货币本身的问题，例如央行超发导致货币贬值、跨国汇款手续费高昂等；而Ripple支付协议解决的是数字货币与法币、法币与法币之间流通的问题。"比特币资深爱好者"暴走恭亲王"(笔名)在接受本报记者采访时说。
事实上，比特币也可以在Ripple的支付系统上使用，两者之间并不存在直接竞争关系，而与比特币抗衡的则是一个更为强大的对手：法币。虽然不少比特币玩家在接受本报记者采访时都认为比特币不会取代任何一个国家的货币，而是解决现有货币体系的一些问题，作为补充部分存在，但比特币去中心化的姿态天生就令政府警惕。
"我认为有两样大的东西是国家永远都会控制的，一个是国家主权，另一个就是铸币权，"布朗兄弟哈里曼银行全球首席外汇策略师马克·钱德勒在接受本报记者采访时说。他认为，比特币很时髦，但作为现有货币体系的补充这件事情是永远不会发生的。"从经济危机中刚刚走出来的人们对央行非常沮丧，沮丧是真实的，但答案是不是比特币却值得怀疑。"
这位华尔街的银行家对比特币作为投资手段和一种真实货币的前景表示悲观，他说："外汇市场每天5.3万亿美元的交易量，如果比特币只有几百万美元，根本连零头都算不上，它的体量太小了。"
传统金融行业人士的判断不无道理，而另一方面，比特币也确实面临着监管上的尴尬。
虽然比特币合法化的呼声不断，但官方对此却不置可否，唯一表过态的德国财政部也只是把它定性为一种在德国银行业条例下的金融工具。"这也就是Ripple和监管机构关系更好的原因：归根结底，它是一个支付系统。""暴走恭亲王"对本报记者说。
当然，这并非说比特币不能完成支付。工作量证明机制将比特币支付和货币发行巧妙地连在了一起，但这个网络只允许比特币在其上面流通；Ripple Labs也发行了能够在Ripple支付网络中使用的Ripple币——XRP，但即使没有XRP，Ripple系统也能够运行，不过，两者运行的机制是迥异的。
信用的角色
信用，在交易系统中扮演的是主角还是配角，是比特币和Ripple交易机制中最大的区别。比特币的工作量证明机制令比特币成为人类历史上第一个不基于信用而使用的货币，但Ripple支付系统从诞生之初就带有社交的DNA，即必须建立在信用网络上。
"你不需要相信任何人，你只需要相信写进计算机代码中的协议就可以了，六个区块被确认之后，交易将永远无法取消，但Ripple的交易确认机制却和比特币有很大的不同。"暴走恭亲王对本报记者说。
区块确认的过程就是所谓的"挖矿"，由于计算机只能通过原始的穷举法来"挖矿"，所以每个区块的确认时间会永远维持在10分钟左右，不能更快，那么等待六个区块确认就需要1小时。
但比特币的追随者们并不认为这是绝对的劣势。"虽然1小时的确认时间听上去很长，但在大额跨境支付领域，比特币的优势还是很明显，因为它几乎是免费的，而且相对于电汇来说，一个小时的确认时间已经很快了。"比特币资讯网站巴比特站长长铗(笔名)对本报记者表示。事实上，比特币的使用者可以根据自己的商业模式，选择到底需要几个区块被确认后才无法修改交易信息，例如在最近兴起的比特币博彩网站上，就连一个区块也不用确认就可以在网站上参与博彩游戏。
相比之下，Ripple网络则快多了，只需要几秒钟的时间，几乎可以和现在所有的在线支付系统媲美，但它也与这些支付系统有同样的问题：无法系统地避免恶意违约的发生，安全性得不到十足的保障，而这却是比特币的创造者绞尽脑汁解决的问题。
在Ripple交易系统中，每个人都有一本账本，如果甲要向乙支付100美元，在甲的账单上就会减少100美元的资产，而在乙的账单上则会显示从甲欠乙100美元，听上去这只是会计上最简单的借贷，并非什么新鲜概念，但特别的是，在Ripple的系统中，甲给乙的这张欠条是可以流通使用的，前提是你信任这张欠条是有效的。因此，任何货币都能够通过记账的方式在网络上流通。
实际上，这好比一个天平的两端分别放着安全和速度，Ripple和比特币在中间做出了不同的权衡，用户可以根据自己的需要来选择合适的支付手段。如果说安全和速度是一个"可调和的矛盾"的话，那么比特币本身和XRP之间"中心化与否之争"就显得激烈得多。
中心化之争
"你搞不清楚Ripple Labs到底什么时候会发行货币。有时候XRP的价格已经很低了，但是Ripple Labs却还继续发币，XRP价格很高时我们却买不到币。没人知道这背后的逻辑是什么。"暴走恭亲王对本报记者说。
实际上，XRP最初在Ripple系统是不存在的，其实即使没有XRP，Ripple支付系统也能够很好地运行，但是为了让各种货币能够在Ripple网络中有个统一的度量单位，让不同货币之间的交易更为简单，Ripple Labs在接手了Ripple项目后，发行了XRP。
暴走恭亲王认为，从这个角度看，XRP更像是Q币，但问题是，作为统一交易单位的XRP与法币之间汇率却无法稳定。更重要的是，中心化的发行过程和逻辑都谈不上公开透明，这正是许多比特币的"死忠粉"所嗤之以鼻的。
不过，"半去中心化"实际上有好的一面，例如监管会变得更为容易。Stefan Thomas在接受本报记者采访时也表示，它们的去中心化其实是相对于银行等大的金融机构而言。他同时也指出，Ripple Labs有很多投资方，并不是一个非营利性的机构，而赚钱的方式则是卖出XRP。
相比之下，比特币的发行机制则非常固定，甚至有些"僵化"。比特币的总量是按照设计预定的速率逐步增加的，增加速度是逐步放缓的，并最终在2140年达到2100万个的极限。在最初的四年里，每十分钟生产一枚，而这个数值每四年都会减半。任何人都不能改变这个规则。
不过，虽然发行机制公开透明，但比特币汇率暴涨暴跌的故事早已令大众耳熟能详，比特币的体量过小容易被大庄家操纵也颇受诟病。因此，如何稳定汇率一直是业内探讨的问题。
币行联合创始人蒋长浩在接受本报记者采访时表示，尽快开发出易用的比特币应用软件，从而降低比特币的使用门槛是稳定汇率的手段之一。而暴走恭亲王则认为，在汇率波动仍然很剧烈的时候去谈比特币的应用有些本末倒置。"应用开发的象征意义大于实际意义，尽快引入更多的金融工具以及制定相应的交易规则，例如允许做空比特币，才是稳定汇率的最好方法。"
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科技时代-科技要闻
比特币VSRipple：不同"货币哲学"的碰撞
http://go.rss.sina.com.cn/redirect.php?url=http://tech.sina.com.cn/it/2013-11-01/02068873846.shtml
Oct 31st 2013, 18:06
严湘君
几年前，一个名叫Stefan Thomas的青年为了搞清楚神秘的中本聪(Satoshi，比特币概念的提出者和系统的设计者)到底是哪国人，在论坛上搜罗了中本聪的500多条发言，做了各种数据分析和推理，最终判断他来自英国。然而，就是这个比特币的超级粉丝最近却倒戈到Ripple阵营，摇身一变成了Ripple Labs(优化Ripple支付协议的一家公司)的首席科技官。
"没错，我早前曾是比特币的爱好者，但当我得知Ripple解决了一些比特币不能解决的问题时，我就加入Ripple Labs的团队。"Stefan Thomas在接受《第一财经日报》记者采访时说，"首先，我认为Ripple的名声更好，没有和非法交易联系在一起；其次Ripple系统中的交易确认时间也只需要几秒钟，而不像比特币那样需要几十分钟；我们还有非常优质的伙伴比如谷歌、IDG资本等；更重要的是，Ripple网络上可以流通各种货币而非只有某一种货币。"
Stefan Thomas确实道出了比特币和Ripple之间某种程度上的不同，但在这些不同的背后却隐藏着其创造者不同的"货币哲学"。事实上，Ripple和比特币并无优劣之分，它们同是金融与科技结合的创新产物，都希望能够解决一些现有货币系统无法解决或不想解决的问题。
使命的不同
"比特币是一种数字货币，解决的是货币本身的问题，例如央行超发导致货币贬值、跨国汇款手续费高昂等；而Ripple支付协议解决的是数字货币与法币、法币与法币之间流通的问题。"比特币资深爱好者"暴走恭亲王"(笔名)在接受本报记者采访时说。
事实上，比特币也可以在Ripple的支付系统上使用，两者之间并不存在直接竞争关系，而与比特币抗衡的则是一个更为强大的对手：法币。虽然不少比特币玩家在接受本报记者采访时都认为比特币不会取代任何一个国家的货币，而是解决现有货币体系的一些问题，作为补充部分存在，但比特币去中心化的姿态天生就令政府警惕。
"我认为有两样大的东西是国家永远都会控制的，一个是国家主权，另一个就是铸币权，"布朗兄弟哈里曼银行全球首席外汇策略师马克·钱德勒在接受本报记者采访时说。他认为，比特币很时髦，但作为现有货币体系的补充这件事情是永远不会发生的。"从经济危机中刚刚走出来的人们对央行非常沮丧，沮丧是真实的，但答案是不是比特币却值得怀疑。"
这位华尔街的银行家对比特币作为投资手段和一种真实货币的前景表示悲观，他说："外汇市场每天5.3万亿美元的交易量，如果比特币只有几百万美元，根本连零头都算不上，它的体量太小了。"
传统金融行业人士的判断不无道理，而另一方面，比特币也确实面临着监管上的尴尬。
虽然比特币合法化的呼声不断，但官方对此却不置可否，唯一表过态的德国财政部也只是把它定性为一种在德国银行业条例下的金融工具。"这也就是Ripple和监管机构关系更好的原因：归根结底，它是一个支付系统。""暴走恭亲王"对本报记者说。
当然，这并非说比特币不能完成支付。工作量证明机制将比特币支付和货币发行巧妙地连在了一起，但这个网络只允许比特币在其上面流通；Ripple Labs也发行了能够在Ripple支付网络中使用的Ripple币——XRP，但即使没有XRP，Ripple系统也能够运行，不过，两者运行的机制是迥异的。
信用的角色
信用，在交易系统中扮演的是主角还是配角，是比特币和Ripple交易机制中最大的区别。比特币的工作量证明机制令比特币成为人类历史上第一个不基于信用而使用的货币，但Ripple支付系统从诞生之初就带有社交的DNA，即必须建立在信用网络上。
"你不需要相信任何人，你只需要相信写进计算机代码中的协议就可以了，六个区块被确认之后，交易将永远无法取消，但Ripple的交易确认机制却和比特币有很大的不同。"暴走恭亲王对本报记者说。
区块确认的过程就是所谓的"挖矿"，由于计算机只能通过原始的穷举法来"挖矿"，所以每个区块的确认时间会永远维持在10分钟左右，不能更快，那么等待六个区块确认就需要1小时。
但比特币的追随者们并不认为这是绝对的劣势。"虽然1小时的确认时间听上去很长，但在大额跨境支付领域，比特币的优势还是很明显，因为它几乎是免费的，而且相对于电汇来说，一个小时的确认时间已经很快了。"比特币资讯网站巴比特站长长铗(笔名)对本报记者表示。事实上，比特币的使用者可以根据自己的商业模式，选择到底需要几个区块被确认后才无法修改交易信息，例如在最近兴起的比特币博彩网站上，就连一个区块也不用确认就可以在网站上参与博彩游戏。
相比之下，Ripple网络则快多了，只需要几秒钟的时间，几乎可以和现在所有的在线支付系统媲美，但它也与这些支付系统有同样的问题：无法系统地避免恶意违约的发生，安全性得不到十足的保障，而这却是比特币的创造者绞尽脑汁解决的问题。
在Ripple交易系统中，每个人都有一本账本，如果甲要向乙支付100美元，在甲的账单上就会减少100美元的资产，而在乙的账单上则会显示从甲欠乙100美元，听上去这只是会计上最简单的借贷，并非什么新鲜概念，但特别的是，在Ripple的系统中，甲给乙的这张欠条是可以流通使用的，前提是你信任这张欠条是有效的。因此，任何货币都能够通过记账的方式在网络上流通。
实际上，这好比一个天平的两端分别放着安全和速度，Ripple和比特币在中间做出了不同的权衡，用户可以根据自己的需要来选择合适的支付手段。如果说安全和速度是一个"可调和的矛盾"的话，那么比特币本身和XRP之间"中心化与否之争"就显得激烈得多。
中心化之争
"你搞不清楚Ripple Labs到底什么时候会发行货币。有时候XRP的价格已经很低了，但是Ripple Labs却还继续发币，XRP价格很高时我们却买不到币。没人知道这背后的逻辑是什么。"暴走恭亲王对本报记者说。
实际上，XRP最初在Ripple系统是不存在的，其实即使没有XRP，Ripple支付系统也能够很好地运行，但是为了让各种货币能够在Ripple网络中有个统一的度量单位，让不同货币之间的交易更为简单，Ripple Labs在接手了Ripple项目后，发行了XRP。
暴走恭亲王认为，从这个角度看，XRP更像是Q币，但问题是，作为统一交易单位的XRP与法币之间汇率却无法稳定。更重要的是，中心化的发行过程和逻辑都谈不上公开透明，这正是许多比特币的"死忠粉"所嗤之以鼻的。
不过，"半去中心化"实际上有好的一面，例如监管会变得更为容易。Stefan Thomas在接受本报记者采访时也表示，它们的去中心化其实是相对于银行等大的金融机构而言。他同时也指出，Ripple Labs有很多投资方，并不是一个非营利性的机构，而赚钱的方式则是卖出XRP。
相比之下，比特币的发行机制则非常固定，甚至有些"僵化"。比特币的总量是按照设计预定的速率逐步增加的，增加速度是逐步放缓的，并最终在2140年达到2100万个的极限。在最初的四年里，每十分钟生产一枚，而这个数值每四年都会减半。任何人都不能改变这个规则。
不过，虽然发行机制公开透明，但比特币汇率暴涨暴跌的故事早已令大众耳熟能详，比特币的体量过小容易被大庄家操纵也颇受诟病。因此，如何稳定汇率一直是业内探讨的问题。
币行联合创始人蒋长浩在接受本报记者采访时表示，尽快开发出易用的比特币应用软件，从而降低比特币的使用门槛是稳定汇率的手段之一。而暴走恭亲王则认为，在汇率波动仍然很剧烈的时候去谈比特币的应用有些本末倒置。"应用开发的象征意义大于实际意义，尽快引入更多的金融工具以及制定相应的交易规则，例如允许做空比特币，才是稳定汇率的最好方法。"
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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网易科技频道IT业界新闻: 商务部称媒体曝光三星星巴克非针对外企
网易科技频道IT业界新闻
网易科技频道IT业界新闻
商务部称媒体曝光三星星巴克非针对外企
http://tech.163.com/13/1101/00/9CI8ALI300094MOK.html
Oct 31st 2013, 23:46
10月31日，商务部新闻发言人沈丹阳就若干经贸热点问题接受媒体联合采访，会上，沈丹阳否认媒体近日批评三星、苹果、星巴克等企业是有意针对外商投资企业。
近期，三星、苹果、星巴克等外企分别因服务质量以及在华定价偏高等原因，遭到中国媒体的曝光和批评，有国外媒体认为，这是中方故意针对外商投资企业的举措。
商务部称，这类报道和批评是媒体履行社会责任的体现，这类报道和批评并非仅仅针对外商投资企业。
对于媒体报道和批评的这些问题，沈丹阳说，要实事求是、客观理性的来看待。相关企业是不是涉嫌违反中国的法律法规，相信相关执法部门会依法做出认定。
沈丹阳说，商务部从自身职责出发，将积极会同和配合有关部门依法开展工作，既要切实维护消费者的合法权益，也会切实保护企业的合法权益。
今年10月，央视先后"点名"三星和星巴克。央视报道称，三星手机售后服务因地而异，中国消费者面临高昂的维修费用。对于星巴克，央视报道称，同样一款星巴克饮品，中国市场价格足足比美国的贵了1/3。央视采访并对比了北京、伦敦、纽约、孟买的星巴克同款拿铁咖啡的价格，北京最贵27元，孟买最便宜，只有人民币14元多。
此前，在今年的3•15晚会中，央视也曾曝光苹果在华涉嫌售后服务实行国内国外双重标准。央视称，高度一体化的苹果手机除了少数部件外，不做维修，只整机交换。可是针对中国消费者，苹果交换的却并不是整机--新手机仍沿用旧后盖。小小后盖大有文章，国内外待遇有别，而这也是霸道的苹果拒不执行三包规定的借口。
对央视的报道，星巴克近日曾发声明称：在中国市场，星巴克的运营成本和市场动因完全不同。另外，财务报表显示不同地区利润率的巨大差异，主要是中国及亚太地区加盟店占比比北美地区多很多的原因，因为加盟店都是直接将利润体现在报表中，而直营店的财务报告是要体现各项成本以及最终的利润。
本文来源：南方周末
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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网易科技频道IT业界新闻
商务部称媒体曝光三星星巴克非针对外企
http://tech.163.com/13/1101/00/9CI8ALI300094MOK.html
Oct 31st 2013, 23:46
10月31日，商务部新闻发言人沈丹阳就若干经贸热点问题接受媒体联合采访，会上，沈丹阳否认媒体近日批评三星、苹果、星巴克等企业是有意针对外商投资企业。
近期，三星、苹果、星巴克等外企分别因服务质量以及在华定价偏高等原因，遭到中国媒体的曝光和批评，有国外媒体认为，这是中方故意针对外商投资企业的举措。
商务部称，这类报道和批评是媒体履行社会责任的体现，这类报道和批评并非仅仅针对外商投资企业。
对于媒体报道和批评的这些问题，沈丹阳说，要实事求是、客观理性的来看待。相关企业是不是涉嫌违反中国的法律法规，相信相关执法部门会依法做出认定。
沈丹阳说，商务部从自身职责出发，将积极会同和配合有关部门依法开展工作，既要切实维护消费者的合法权益，也会切实保护企业的合法权益。
今年10月，央视先后"点名"三星和星巴克。央视报道称，三星手机售后服务因地而异，中国消费者面临高昂的维修费用。对于星巴克，央视报道称，同样一款星巴克饮品，中国市场价格足足比美国的贵了1/3。央视采访并对比了北京、伦敦、纽约、孟买的星巴克同款拿铁咖啡的价格，北京最贵27元，孟买最便宜，只有人民币14元多。
此前，在今年的3•15晚会中，央视也曾曝光苹果在华涉嫌售后服务实行国内国外双重标准。央视称，高度一体化的苹果手机除了少数部件外，不做维修，只整机交换。可是针对中国消费者，苹果交换的却并不是整机--新手机仍沿用旧后盖。小小后盖大有文章，国内外待遇有别，而这也是霸道的苹果拒不执行三包规定的借口。
对央视的报道，星巴克近日曾发声明称：在中国市场，星巴克的运营成本和市场动因完全不同。另外，财务报表显示不同地区利润率的巨大差异，主要是中国及亚太地区加盟店占比比北美地区多很多的原因，因为加盟店都是直接将利润体现在报表中，而直营店的财务报告是要体现各项成本以及最终的利润。
本文来源：南方周末
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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ScienceDaily: Latest Science News: Butterflies show origin of species as an evolutionary process, not a single event
ScienceDaily: Latest Science News
Breaking science news and articles on global warming, extrasolar planets, stem cells, bird flu, autism, nanotechnology, dinosaurs, evolution -- the latest discoveries in astronomy, anthropology, biology, chemistry, climate and environment, computers, engineering, health and medicine, math, physics, psychology, technology, and more -- from the world's leading universities and research organizations.
Butterflies show origin of species as an evolutionary process, not a single event
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/9f5nO7YrF-U/131031124914.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 16:49
Oct. 31, 2013 — The evolution of new species might not be as hard as it seems, even when diverging populations remain in contact and continue to produce offspring. That's the conclusion of studies, reported in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports on October 31st, that examine the full genome sequences of 32 Heliconius butterflies from the Central American rain forest, representing five different species.
"The butterflies have performed a beautiful natural experiment for us that lets us address important questions about evolution," said Marcus Kronforst of the University of Chicago. "Even as biologists, we often think of the origin of new species as a moment in time when a new species splits from an old one, and this type of thinking is reflected in the evolutionary 'trees,' or phylogenies, that we draw. In reality, evolution is a long-term process that plays out in stages, and speciation is no different."
Kronforst and his colleagues found that the initial divergence between butterfly populations is restricted to a small fraction of the genome. In the case of the butterflies, the key genes are those involved in wing patterning. The butterfly species under study all have very different wing patterns, which are important in the butterflies' mating behavior and predator avoidance.
Comparison of those closely related, interbreeding species to a slightly more distant third species showed that hundreds of genomic changes had arisen rather quickly in evolutionary time sometime after those early differences took hold.
"We find that only a small fraction of the genome is markedly different between closely related species, but then much more of the genome -- more than you'd expect -- shows similar differences between more distantly related species," Kronforst explained. "That indicates that the genetic changes that are important for causing speciation are tightly clustered early in speciation, but not so later on in the process; the overall pattern of genome divergence starts slow and then skyrockets."
The researchers view the process as a kind of tug-of-war between natural selection and gene flow. The result in the case of the butterflies has been a rapid divergence of species, driven by a combination of new mutations and borrowed genes. The butterfly genomes also show that the same spots in the genome have been important in multiple speciation events.
"Beyond butterflies, it is possible that this type of speciation, in which natural selection for ecology causes the origin of new species, has been important in the evolution of other organisms," Kronforst said.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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Breaking science news and articles on global warming, extrasolar planets, stem cells, bird flu, autism, nanotechnology, dinosaurs, evolution -- the latest discoveries in astronomy, anthropology, biology, chemistry, climate and environment, computers, engineering, health and medicine, math, physics, psychology, technology, and more -- from the world's leading universities and research organizations.
Butterflies show origin of species as an evolutionary process, not a single event
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/9f5nO7YrF-U/131031124914.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 16:49
Oct. 31, 2013 — The evolution of new species might not be as hard as it seems, even when diverging populations remain in contact and continue to produce offspring. That's the conclusion of studies, reported in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports on October 31st, that examine the full genome sequences of 32 Heliconius butterflies from the Central American rain forest, representing five different species.
"The butterflies have performed a beautiful natural experiment for us that lets us address important questions about evolution," said Marcus Kronforst of the University of Chicago. "Even as biologists, we often think of the origin of new species as a moment in time when a new species splits from an old one, and this type of thinking is reflected in the evolutionary 'trees,' or phylogenies, that we draw. In reality, evolution is a long-term process that plays out in stages, and speciation is no different."
Kronforst and his colleagues found that the initial divergence between butterfly populations is restricted to a small fraction of the genome. In the case of the butterflies, the key genes are those involved in wing patterning. The butterfly species under study all have very different wing patterns, which are important in the butterflies' mating behavior and predator avoidance.
Comparison of those closely related, interbreeding species to a slightly more distant third species showed that hundreds of genomic changes had arisen rather quickly in evolutionary time sometime after those early differences took hold.
"We find that only a small fraction of the genome is markedly different between closely related species, but then much more of the genome -- more than you'd expect -- shows similar differences between more distantly related species," Kronforst explained. "That indicates that the genetic changes that are important for causing speciation are tightly clustered early in speciation, but not so later on in the process; the overall pattern of genome divergence starts slow and then skyrockets."
The researchers view the process as a kind of tug-of-war between natural selection and gene flow. The result in the case of the butterflies has been a rapid divergence of species, driven by a combination of new mutations and borrowed genes. The butterfly genomes also show that the same spots in the genome have been important in multiple speciation events.
"Beyond butterflies, it is possible that this type of speciation, in which natural selection for ecology causes the origin of new species, has been important in the evolution of other organisms," Kronforst said.
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ScienceDaily: Latest Science News: Lefties more likely to have psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia
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Lefties more likely to have psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/_lvRAn3b1cA/131031125319.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 16:53
Oct. 31, 2013 — Being left-handed has been linked to many mental disorders, but Yale researcher Jadon Webb and his colleagues have found that among those with mental illnesses, people with psychotic disorders like schizophrenia are much more likely to be left-handed than those with mood disorders like depression or bipolar syndrome.
The new study is published in the October-December 2013 issue of the journal SAGE Open.
About 10% of the U.S. population is left-handed. When comparing all patients with mental disorders, the research team found that 11% of those diagnosed with mood disorders such as depression and bipolar disorder are left-handed, which is similar to the rate in the general population. But according to Webb, a child and adolescent psychiatry fellow at the Yale Child Study Center with a particular interest in biomarkers of psychosis, "a striking of 40% of those with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder are left-handed."
"In general, people with psychosis are those who have lost touch with reality in some way, through hallucinations, delusions, or false beliefs, and it is notable that this symptom constellation seems to correlate with being left-handed," said Webb. "Finding biomarkers such as this can hopefully enable us to identify and differentiate mental disorders earlier, and perhaps one day tailor treatment in more effective ways."
Webb and his colleagues studied 107 individuals from a public outpatient psychiatric clinic seeking treatment in an urban, low-income community. The research team determined the frequency of left-handedness within the group of patients identified with different types of mental disorders.
The study showed that white patients with psychotic illness were more likely to be left-handed than black patients. "Even after controlling for this, however, a large difference between psychotic and mood disorder patients remained," said Webb.
What sets this study apart from other handedness research is the simplicity of the questionnaire and analysis, said Webb. Patients who were attending their usual check-ups at the mental health facility were simply asked "What hand do you write with?"
"This told us much of what we needed to know in a very simple, practical way," said Webb. "Doing a simple analysis meant that there were no obstacles to participating and we had a very high participation rate of 97%. Patients dealing with serious symptoms of psychosis might have had a harder time participating in a more complicated set of questions or tests. By keeping the survey simple, we were able to get an accurate snapshot of a hard-to-study subgroup of mentally ill people -- those who are often poverty-stricken with very poor family and community support."
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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Lefties more likely to have psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/_lvRAn3b1cA/131031125319.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 16:53
Oct. 31, 2013 — Being left-handed has been linked to many mental disorders, but Yale researcher Jadon Webb and his colleagues have found that among those with mental illnesses, people with psychotic disorders like schizophrenia are much more likely to be left-handed than those with mood disorders like depression or bipolar syndrome.
The new study is published in the October-December 2013 issue of the journal SAGE Open.
About 10% of the U.S. population is left-handed. When comparing all patients with mental disorders, the research team found that 11% of those diagnosed with mood disorders such as depression and bipolar disorder are left-handed, which is similar to the rate in the general population. But according to Webb, a child and adolescent psychiatry fellow at the Yale Child Study Center with a particular interest in biomarkers of psychosis, "a striking of 40% of those with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder are left-handed."
"In general, people with psychosis are those who have lost touch with reality in some way, through hallucinations, delusions, or false beliefs, and it is notable that this symptom constellation seems to correlate with being left-handed," said Webb. "Finding biomarkers such as this can hopefully enable us to identify and differentiate mental disorders earlier, and perhaps one day tailor treatment in more effective ways."
Webb and his colleagues studied 107 individuals from a public outpatient psychiatric clinic seeking treatment in an urban, low-income community. The research team determined the frequency of left-handedness within the group of patients identified with different types of mental disorders.
The study showed that white patients with psychotic illness were more likely to be left-handed than black patients. "Even after controlling for this, however, a large difference between psychotic and mood disorder patients remained," said Webb.
What sets this study apart from other handedness research is the simplicity of the questionnaire and analysis, said Webb. Patients who were attending their usual check-ups at the mental health facility were simply asked "What hand do you write with?"
"This told us much of what we needed to know in a very simple, practical way," said Webb. "Doing a simple analysis meant that there were no obstacles to participating and we had a very high participation rate of 97%. Patients dealing with serious symptoms of psychosis might have had a harder time participating in a more complicated set of questions or tests. By keeping the survey simple, we were able to get an accurate snapshot of a hard-to-study subgroup of mentally ill people -- those who are often poverty-stricken with very poor family and community support."
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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ScienceDaily: Latest Science News: Dogs know a left-sided wag from a right
ScienceDaily: Latest Science News
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Dogs know a left-sided wag from a right
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/UGK_Nw0HFp8/131031124916.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 16:49
Oct. 31, 2013 — You might think a wagging tail is a wagging tail, but for dogs there is more to it than that. Dogs recognize and respond differently when their fellow canines wag to the right than they do when they wag to the left. The findings reported in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on October 31 show that dogs, like humans, have asymmetrically organized brains, with the left and right sides playing different roles.
The discovery follows earlier work by the same Italian research team, which found that dogs wag to the right when they feel positive emotions (upon seeing their owners, for instance) and to the left when they feel negative emotions (upon seeing an unfriendly dog, for example). That biased tail-wagging behavior reflects what is happening in the dogs' brains. Left-brain activation produces a wag to the right, and right-brain activation produces a wag to the left.
But does that tail-wagging difference mean something to other dogs? Yes it does, the new study shows.
While monitoring their reactions, the researchers showed dogs videos of other dogs with either left- or right-asymmetric tail wagging. When dogs saw another dog wagging to the left, their heart rates picked up and they began to look anxious. When dogs saw another dog wagging to the right, they stayed perfectly relaxed.
"The direction of tail wagging does in fact matter, and it matters in a way that matches hemispheric activation," says Giorgio Vallortigara of the Center for Mind/Brain Sciences of the University of Trento. "In other words, a dog looking to a dog wagging with a bias to the right side -- and thus showing left-hemisphere activation as if it was experiencing some sort of positive/approach response -- would also produce relaxed responses. In contrast, a dog looking to a dog wagging with a bias to the left -- and thus showing right-hemisphere activation as if it was experiencing some sort of negative/withdrawal response -- would also produce anxious and targeting responses as well as increased cardiac frequency. That is amazing, I think."
Vallortigara doesn't think that the dogs are necessarily intending to communicate those emotions to other dogs. Rather, he says, the bias in tail wagging is likely the automatic byproduct of differential activation of the left versus the right side of the brain. But that's not to say that the bias in wagging and its response might not find practical uses; veterinarians and dog owners might do well to take note.
"It could be that left/right directions of approach could be effectively used by vets during visits of the animals or that dummies could be used to exploit asymmetries of emotional responses," Vallortigara says.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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Dogs know a left-sided wag from a right
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/UGK_Nw0HFp8/131031124916.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 16:49
Oct. 31, 2013 — You might think a wagging tail is a wagging tail, but for dogs there is more to it than that. Dogs recognize and respond differently when their fellow canines wag to the right than they do when they wag to the left. The findings reported in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on October 31 show that dogs, like humans, have asymmetrically organized brains, with the left and right sides playing different roles.
The discovery follows earlier work by the same Italian research team, which found that dogs wag to the right when they feel positive emotions (upon seeing their owners, for instance) and to the left when they feel negative emotions (upon seeing an unfriendly dog, for example). That biased tail-wagging behavior reflects what is happening in the dogs' brains. Left-brain activation produces a wag to the right, and right-brain activation produces a wag to the left.
But does that tail-wagging difference mean something to other dogs? Yes it does, the new study shows.
While monitoring their reactions, the researchers showed dogs videos of other dogs with either left- or right-asymmetric tail wagging. When dogs saw another dog wagging to the left, their heart rates picked up and they began to look anxious. When dogs saw another dog wagging to the right, they stayed perfectly relaxed.
"The direction of tail wagging does in fact matter, and it matters in a way that matches hemispheric activation," says Giorgio Vallortigara of the Center for Mind/Brain Sciences of the University of Trento. "In other words, a dog looking to a dog wagging with a bias to the right side -- and thus showing left-hemisphere activation as if it was experiencing some sort of positive/approach response -- would also produce relaxed responses. In contrast, a dog looking to a dog wagging with a bias to the left -- and thus showing right-hemisphere activation as if it was experiencing some sort of negative/withdrawal response -- would also produce anxious and targeting responses as well as increased cardiac frequency. That is amazing, I think."
Vallortigara doesn't think that the dogs are necessarily intending to communicate those emotions to other dogs. Rather, he says, the bias in tail wagging is likely the automatic byproduct of differential activation of the left versus the right side of the brain. But that's not to say that the bias in wagging and its response might not find practical uses; veterinarians and dog owners might do well to take note.
"It could be that left/right directions of approach could be effectively used by vets during visits of the animals or that dummies could be used to exploit asymmetries of emotional responses," Vallortigara says.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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ScienceDaily: Latest Science News: Primary GOES-R instrument ready to be installed onto spacecraft
ScienceDaily: Latest Science News
Breaking science news and articles on global warming, extrasolar planets, stem cells, bird flu, autism, nanotechnology, dinosaurs, evolution -- the latest discoveries in astronomy, anthropology, biology, chemistry, climate and environment, computers, engineering, health and medicine, math, physics, psychology, technology, and more -- from the world's leading universities and research organizations.
Primary GOES-R instrument ready to be installed onto spacecraft
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/EGW_CRs2G5k/131031111951.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 15:19
Oct. 31, 2013 — A key instrument that will fly on the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite -- R (GOES-R) spacecraft, NOAA's next-generation of geostationary satellites, is cleared for installation on the spacecraft.
The Advanced Baseline Imager, or ABI, is GOES-R's primary instrument for scanning Earth's weather, oceans, and environment and is a significant improvement over instruments on NOAA's current geostationary satellites. The ABI will offer faster imaging with much higher detail. It will also introduce new forecast products for severe weather, volcanic ash advisories, fire and smoke monitoring and other hazards.
"The United States is home to some of the most severe weather in the world including tornadoes, hurricanes, snowstorms, floods, and wildfires," said Mary Kicza, assistant administrator for NOAA's Satellite and Information Service. "The ABI offers breakthrough technology that will help NOAA develop faster and more accurate forecasts that will save lives and protect communities."
The first satellite in the GOES-R Series is currently scheduled for launch in early 2016. GOES-R's instruments will also feature improved lightning detection and solar weather monitoring tools, and will provide near real time data to forecasters during severe weather events.
The ABI has two scan modes. It will have the ability to continuously take an image of the entire planet, or a full disk image, every five minutes compared to every 30 minutes with the current GOES imager. It also has an alternative, or flex mode, which will concurrently take a full disk image every 15 minutes, an image of the continental U.S. every five minutes, and smaller, more detailed images of areas where storm activity is present, as often as every 30 seconds. This kind of flexibility and increased frequency of images is a boon for forecasters.
"Completing ABI is a major milestone for the program, the culmination of nine years of work to develop an instrument with extraordinary capabilities for weather observation," said Pam Sullivan, project manager of the GOES-R Flight Project at NASA Goddard. "With its increased resolution and faster scan times, ABI is comparable to a hi-definition upgrade for our geostationary weather satellites."
In early 2014 the ABI will be shipped from its developer, ITT Exelis, in Ft. Wayne, Ind. to the spacecraft developer, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. in Littleton, Colo., to be installed onto the first GOES-R spacecraft. Lockheed is building the spacecraft for the GOES-R series.
The remaining GOES-R instruments to be delivered are:
Geostationary Lightning Mapper, which will provide continuous surveillance for the first time of total lightning activity from geostationary orbit over the western hemisphere;
Space Environment In-Situ Suite, which consists of sensors that will monitor radiation hazards that can affect satellites, radio communications and navigation systems;
Solar Ultraviolet Imager, a high-powered telescope that observes the sun, monitoring for solar flares and other solar activity that could impact Earth by disrupting power utilities communication and navigation systems and causing damage to orbiting satellites and the International Space Station; and
Magnetometer, which will provide measurements of the magnetic field surrounding Earth that protects the planet from charged particles released from the sun. These particles can be dangerous to spacecraft and human spaceflight. The geomagnetic field measurements will provide alerts and warnings to satellite operators and power utilities.
A sixth instrument, the Extreme X-Ray Irradiance Sensor (EXIS), was completed in May 2013 and was the first of GOES-R's instruments to be ready for integration. EXIS will provide important early warnings of impending solar storms and give scientists a more accurate measure of the power of solar energy radiating toward earth, which can severely disrupt telecommunications, air travel and the performance of power grids.
NOAA manages the GOES-R Series program through an integrated NOAA-NASA office, staffed with personnel from both agencies and located at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
For more information about GOES-R and the current GOES satellite fleet, visit:
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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Breaking science news and articles on global warming, extrasolar planets, stem cells, bird flu, autism, nanotechnology, dinosaurs, evolution -- the latest discoveries in astronomy, anthropology, biology, chemistry, climate and environment, computers, engineering, health and medicine, math, physics, psychology, technology, and more -- from the world's leading universities and research organizations.
Primary GOES-R instrument ready to be installed onto spacecraft
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/EGW_CRs2G5k/131031111951.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 15:19
Oct. 31, 2013 — A key instrument that will fly on the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite -- R (GOES-R) spacecraft, NOAA's next-generation of geostationary satellites, is cleared for installation on the spacecraft.
The Advanced Baseline Imager, or ABI, is GOES-R's primary instrument for scanning Earth's weather, oceans, and environment and is a significant improvement over instruments on NOAA's current geostationary satellites. The ABI will offer faster imaging with much higher detail. It will also introduce new forecast products for severe weather, volcanic ash advisories, fire and smoke monitoring and other hazards.
"The United States is home to some of the most severe weather in the world including tornadoes, hurricanes, snowstorms, floods, and wildfires," said Mary Kicza, assistant administrator for NOAA's Satellite and Information Service. "The ABI offers breakthrough technology that will help NOAA develop faster and more accurate forecasts that will save lives and protect communities."
The first satellite in the GOES-R Series is currently scheduled for launch in early 2016. GOES-R's instruments will also feature improved lightning detection and solar weather monitoring tools, and will provide near real time data to forecasters during severe weather events.
The ABI has two scan modes. It will have the ability to continuously take an image of the entire planet, or a full disk image, every five minutes compared to every 30 minutes with the current GOES imager. It also has an alternative, or flex mode, which will concurrently take a full disk image every 15 minutes, an image of the continental U.S. every five minutes, and smaller, more detailed images of areas where storm activity is present, as often as every 30 seconds. This kind of flexibility and increased frequency of images is a boon for forecasters.
"Completing ABI is a major milestone for the program, the culmination of nine years of work to develop an instrument with extraordinary capabilities for weather observation," said Pam Sullivan, project manager of the GOES-R Flight Project at NASA Goddard. "With its increased resolution and faster scan times, ABI is comparable to a hi-definition upgrade for our geostationary weather satellites."
In early 2014 the ABI will be shipped from its developer, ITT Exelis, in Ft. Wayne, Ind. to the spacecraft developer, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. in Littleton, Colo., to be installed onto the first GOES-R spacecraft. Lockheed is building the spacecraft for the GOES-R series.
The remaining GOES-R instruments to be delivered are:
Geostationary Lightning Mapper, which will provide continuous surveillance for the first time of total lightning activity from geostationary orbit over the western hemisphere;
Space Environment In-Situ Suite, which consists of sensors that will monitor radiation hazards that can affect satellites, radio communications and navigation systems;
Solar Ultraviolet Imager, a high-powered telescope that observes the sun, monitoring for solar flares and other solar activity that could impact Earth by disrupting power utilities communication and navigation systems and causing damage to orbiting satellites and the International Space Station; and
Magnetometer, which will provide measurements of the magnetic field surrounding Earth that protects the planet from charged particles released from the sun. These particles can be dangerous to spacecraft and human spaceflight. The geomagnetic field measurements will provide alerts and warnings to satellite operators and power utilities.
A sixth instrument, the Extreme X-Ray Irradiance Sensor (EXIS), was completed in May 2013 and was the first of GOES-R's instruments to be ready for integration. EXIS will provide important early warnings of impending solar storms and give scientists a more accurate measure of the power of solar energy radiating toward earth, which can severely disrupt telecommunications, air travel and the performance of power grids.
NOAA manages the GOES-R Series program through an integrated NOAA-NASA office, staffed with personnel from both agencies and located at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
For more information about GOES-R and the current GOES satellite fleet, visit:
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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ScienceDaily: Latest Science News: Suzaku study points to early cosmic 'seeding'
ScienceDaily: Latest Science News
Breaking science news and articles on global warming, extrasolar planets, stem cells, bird flu, autism, nanotechnology, dinosaurs, evolution -- the latest discoveries in astronomy, anthropology, biology, chemistry, climate and environment, computers, engineering, health and medicine, math, physics, psychology, technology, and more -- from the world's leading universities and research organizations.
Suzaku study points to early cosmic 'seeding'
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/mRs5H01EnrI/131031110723.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 15:07
Oct. 31, 2013 — Most of the universe's heavy elements, including the iron central to life itself, formed early in cosmic history and spread throughout the universe, according to a new study of the Perseus Galaxy Cluster using Japan's Suzaku satellite.
Between 2009 and 2011, researchers from the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC), jointly run by Stanford University and the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California, used Suzaku's unique capabilities to map the distribution of iron throughout the Perseus Galaxy Cluster.
What they found is remarkable: Across the cluster, which spans more than 11 million light-years of space, the concentration of X-ray-emitting iron is essentially uniform in all directions.
"This tells us that the iron -- and by extension other heavy elements -- already was widely dispersed throughout the universe when the cluster began to form," said KIPAC astrophysicist Norbert Werner, the study's lead researcher. "We conclude that any explanation of how this happened demands lead roles for supernova explosions and active black holes."
The most profligate iron producers are type Ia supernovae, which occur either when white dwarf stars merge or otherwise acquire so much mass that they become unstable and explode. According to the Suzaku observations, the total amount of iron contained in the gas filling the cluster amounts to 50 billion times the mass of our sun, with about 60 percent of that found in the cluster's outer half.
The team estimates that at least 40 billion type Ia supernovae contributed to the chemical "seeding" of the space that later became the Perseus Galaxy Cluster.
Making the iron is one thing, while distributing it evenly throughout the region where the cluster formed is quite another. The researchers suggest that everything came together during one specific period of cosmic history.
Between about 10 and 12 billion years ago, the universe was forming stars as fast as it ever has. Abundant supernovae accompany periods of intense star formation, and the rapid-fire explosions drove galaxy-scale outflows. At the same time, supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies were at their most active, rapidly accreting gas and releasing large amounts of energy, some of which drove powerful jets. Together, these galactic "winds" blew the chemical products of supernovae out of their host galaxies and into the wider cosmos.
Sometime later, in the regions of space with the largest matter densities, galaxy clusters formed, scooping up and mixing together the cosmic debris from regions millions of light-years across.
"If our scenario is correct, then essentially all galaxy clusters with masses similar to the Perseus Cluster should show similar iron concentrations and smooth distributions far from the center," said co-author Ondrej Urban, also at KIPAC.
Galaxy clusters contain hundreds to thousands of galaxies, as well as enormous quantities of diffuse gas and dark matter, bound together by their collective gravitational pull.
New gas entering the cluster falls toward its center, eventually moving fast enough to generate shock waves that heat the infalling gas. In the Perseus Cluster, gas temperatures reach as high as 180 million degrees Fahrenheit (100 million C), so hot that the atoms are almost completely stripped of their electrons and emit X-rays.
The Perseus Galaxy Cluster, which is located about 250 million light-years away and named for its host constellation, is the brightest extended X-ray source beyond our own galaxy, and the brightest and closest cluster for which Suzaku has attempted to map outlying gas.
The team used Suzaku's X-ray telescopes to make 84 observations of the Perseus Cluster, resulting in radial maps along eight different directions. Thanks to the sensitivity of the spacecraft's instruments, the researchers could measure the iron distribution of faint gas in the cluster's outermost reaches, where new gas continues to fall into it.
The findings are published in the Oct. 31 issue of the journal Nature.
Suzaku (Japanese for "red bird of the south") was launched as Astro-E2 on July 10, 2005, and renamed in orbit. The observatory was developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science in collaboration with NASA and other Japanese and U.S. institutions. NASA Goddard supplied Suzaku's X-ray telescopes and data-processing software and continues to operate a facility that supports U.S. astronomers who use the spacecraft.
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Breaking science news and articles on global warming, extrasolar planets, stem cells, bird flu, autism, nanotechnology, dinosaurs, evolution -- the latest discoveries in astronomy, anthropology, biology, chemistry, climate and environment, computers, engineering, health and medicine, math, physics, psychology, technology, and more -- from the world's leading universities and research organizations.
Suzaku study points to early cosmic 'seeding'
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/mRs5H01EnrI/131031110723.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 15:07
Oct. 31, 2013 — Most of the universe's heavy elements, including the iron central to life itself, formed early in cosmic history and spread throughout the universe, according to a new study of the Perseus Galaxy Cluster using Japan's Suzaku satellite.
Between 2009 and 2011, researchers from the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC), jointly run by Stanford University and the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California, used Suzaku's unique capabilities to map the distribution of iron throughout the Perseus Galaxy Cluster.
What they found is remarkable: Across the cluster, which spans more than 11 million light-years of space, the concentration of X-ray-emitting iron is essentially uniform in all directions.
"This tells us that the iron -- and by extension other heavy elements -- already was widely dispersed throughout the universe when the cluster began to form," said KIPAC astrophysicist Norbert Werner, the study's lead researcher. "We conclude that any explanation of how this happened demands lead roles for supernova explosions and active black holes."
The most profligate iron producers are type Ia supernovae, which occur either when white dwarf stars merge or otherwise acquire so much mass that they become unstable and explode. According to the Suzaku observations, the total amount of iron contained in the gas filling the cluster amounts to 50 billion times the mass of our sun, with about 60 percent of that found in the cluster's outer half.
The team estimates that at least 40 billion type Ia supernovae contributed to the chemical "seeding" of the space that later became the Perseus Galaxy Cluster.
Making the iron is one thing, while distributing it evenly throughout the region where the cluster formed is quite another. The researchers suggest that everything came together during one specific period of cosmic history.
Between about 10 and 12 billion years ago, the universe was forming stars as fast as it ever has. Abundant supernovae accompany periods of intense star formation, and the rapid-fire explosions drove galaxy-scale outflows. At the same time, supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies were at their most active, rapidly accreting gas and releasing large amounts of energy, some of which drove powerful jets. Together, these galactic "winds" blew the chemical products of supernovae out of their host galaxies and into the wider cosmos.
Sometime later, in the regions of space with the largest matter densities, galaxy clusters formed, scooping up and mixing together the cosmic debris from regions millions of light-years across.
"If our scenario is correct, then essentially all galaxy clusters with masses similar to the Perseus Cluster should show similar iron concentrations and smooth distributions far from the center," said co-author Ondrej Urban, also at KIPAC.
Galaxy clusters contain hundreds to thousands of galaxies, as well as enormous quantities of diffuse gas and dark matter, bound together by their collective gravitational pull.
New gas entering the cluster falls toward its center, eventually moving fast enough to generate shock waves that heat the infalling gas. In the Perseus Cluster, gas temperatures reach as high as 180 million degrees Fahrenheit (100 million C), so hot that the atoms are almost completely stripped of their electrons and emit X-rays.
The Perseus Galaxy Cluster, which is located about 250 million light-years away and named for its host constellation, is the brightest extended X-ray source beyond our own galaxy, and the brightest and closest cluster for which Suzaku has attempted to map outlying gas.
The team used Suzaku's X-ray telescopes to make 84 observations of the Perseus Cluster, resulting in radial maps along eight different directions. Thanks to the sensitivity of the spacecraft's instruments, the researchers could measure the iron distribution of faint gas in the cluster's outermost reaches, where new gas continues to fall into it.
The findings are published in the Oct. 31 issue of the journal Nature.
Suzaku (Japanese for "red bird of the south") was launched as Astro-E2 on July 10, 2005, and renamed in orbit. The observatory was developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science in collaboration with NASA and other Japanese and U.S. institutions. NASA Goddard supplied Suzaku's X-ray telescopes and data-processing software and continues to operate a facility that supports U.S. astronomers who use the spacecraft.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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ScienceDaily: Latest Science News: NASA advances world's first spaceborne sodium lidar: Small-scale measurements of Earth's mesosphere sought
ScienceDaily: Latest Science News
Breaking science news and articles on global warming, extrasolar planets, stem cells, bird flu, autism, nanotechnology, dinosaurs, evolution -- the latest discoveries in astronomy, anthropology, biology, chemistry, climate and environment, computers, engineering, health and medicine, math, physics, psychology, technology, and more -- from the world's leading universities and research organizations.
NASA advances world's first spaceborne sodium lidar: Small-scale measurements of Earth's mesosphere sought
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/KpELJbkx-8M/131031111600.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 15:16
Oct. 31, 2013 — It's used as a coolant in nuclear power plants and as a desiccant to remove humidity that otherwise would ruin moisture-sensitive products. Found in every cell in the human body, it transmits nerve impulses and regulates blood pressure. And as it turns out, sodium -- the sixth most abundant element in Earth's crust -- also is useful as a tracer for characterizing Earth's mesosphere, a poorly understood region of Earth's atmosphere that's sensitive to both the influences from the sun above and the atmospheric layers below.
A team of scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., now wants to develop the world's first spaceborne sodium lidar that would illuminate the complex relationship between the chemistry and dynamics of the mesosphere that lies 40-110 miles above Earth's surface -- the region where Earth's atmosphere meets the vacuum of space.
Though this relatively small region contains other granules of metals, including iron, magnesium, calcium, and potassium -- all produced by the evaporation of extraterrestrial dust when it encounters Earth's atmosphere -- sodium is easiest to detect. This dust is part of the so-called Zodiacal Dust Cloud that originates from the debris produced by asteroids and comets.
"There is literally a layer of atomic sodium in the mesosphere," said Principal Investigator Diego Janches, who is leading the lidar-development team. "When you shoot yellow light into the region, the light bounces off the sodium particles, causing them to resonate, or glow. By detecting the glow-back, you can measure how much sodium is in the mesosphere, its temperature, and the speed at which it's moving."
And because of its relative abundance, sodium provides higher-resolution data that reveals more information about the small-scale dynamics occurring in the upper atmosphere. From this, scientists can learn more about the influence of the Sun's energy, helping to differentiate its effects from that of humans.
Although scientists have used sodium lidars in ground-based measurements for at least four decades, they never before have gathered data from a spaceborne instrument. As a result, the data is limited in time and space and does not offer a global picture of the dynamics. "We want to do this from space," Janches added. "We want to map the entire mesosphere by the fluorescence of sodium."
To achieve that end, the team is using Goddard research-and-development program funding to advance the lidar technology, with the aim of first demonstrating it on the International Space Station. In addition to studying the influences of the sun on Earth, the instrument is ideal for studying other planetary atmospheres, Janches added.
Although NASA'S Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) spacecraft -- whose mission NASA has extended several times since its launch in 2001 -- has given scientists their first long-term look at this poorly understood region of Earth's atmosphere, the team believes its instrument concept is the logical next step.
"Because of TIMED's high inclination, it takes 60 days for the satellite to cover all longitudes at all local times. As a result, data from the satellite's SABER instrument (Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry) assume that the dynamics are constant during that time," Janches said. "In addition, SABER is a scanning-type instrument. In other words, it looks at the horizon, gathering signals from all parts of the atmosphere."
In sharp contrast, the sodium lidar will illuminate a specific spot and gather data from that spot only. "Because of this, we get small-scale dynamics, which are the biggest unknowns," Janches explained. "And they are important. They are believed to be the major driver of circulation in the upper atmosphere."
Team Leverages Instrument Heritage
Mike Krainak, a team member and recognized expert in laser technologies, also believes NASA would benefit from such a spaceborne instrument, which he says poses few technological risks.
"We have a lot of leverage from other missions we've done," he said, adding that his colleagues already have developed laser-related technologies for the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System on the NASA ICESat (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite) mission and the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science, a space shuttle payload. The laser itself, developed in large part by team member Tony Yu, is a modified version of the lasers flown on NASA missions to Mercury and Mars.
"All of the laser components are the same," Janches said. "This work has put us 20 years ahead and saved us $30 million in development costs. We have a general idea of what's going on," he continued. "We just want to get a bigger picture."
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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Breaking science news and articles on global warming, extrasolar planets, stem cells, bird flu, autism, nanotechnology, dinosaurs, evolution -- the latest discoveries in astronomy, anthropology, biology, chemistry, climate and environment, computers, engineering, health and medicine, math, physics, psychology, technology, and more -- from the world's leading universities and research organizations.
NASA advances world's first spaceborne sodium lidar: Small-scale measurements of Earth's mesosphere sought
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/KpELJbkx-8M/131031111600.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 15:16
Oct. 31, 2013 — It's used as a coolant in nuclear power plants and as a desiccant to remove humidity that otherwise would ruin moisture-sensitive products. Found in every cell in the human body, it transmits nerve impulses and regulates blood pressure. And as it turns out, sodium -- the sixth most abundant element in Earth's crust -- also is useful as a tracer for characterizing Earth's mesosphere, a poorly understood region of Earth's atmosphere that's sensitive to both the influences from the sun above and the atmospheric layers below.
A team of scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., now wants to develop the world's first spaceborne sodium lidar that would illuminate the complex relationship between the chemistry and dynamics of the mesosphere that lies 40-110 miles above Earth's surface -- the region where Earth's atmosphere meets the vacuum of space.
Though this relatively small region contains other granules of metals, including iron, magnesium, calcium, and potassium -- all produced by the evaporation of extraterrestrial dust when it encounters Earth's atmosphere -- sodium is easiest to detect. This dust is part of the so-called Zodiacal Dust Cloud that originates from the debris produced by asteroids and comets.
"There is literally a layer of atomic sodium in the mesosphere," said Principal Investigator Diego Janches, who is leading the lidar-development team. "When you shoot yellow light into the region, the light bounces off the sodium particles, causing them to resonate, or glow. By detecting the glow-back, you can measure how much sodium is in the mesosphere, its temperature, and the speed at which it's moving."
And because of its relative abundance, sodium provides higher-resolution data that reveals more information about the small-scale dynamics occurring in the upper atmosphere. From this, scientists can learn more about the influence of the Sun's energy, helping to differentiate its effects from that of humans.
Although scientists have used sodium lidars in ground-based measurements for at least four decades, they never before have gathered data from a spaceborne instrument. As a result, the data is limited in time and space and does not offer a global picture of the dynamics. "We want to do this from space," Janches added. "We want to map the entire mesosphere by the fluorescence of sodium."
To achieve that end, the team is using Goddard research-and-development program funding to advance the lidar technology, with the aim of first demonstrating it on the International Space Station. In addition to studying the influences of the sun on Earth, the instrument is ideal for studying other planetary atmospheres, Janches added.
Although NASA'S Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) spacecraft -- whose mission NASA has extended several times since its launch in 2001 -- has given scientists their first long-term look at this poorly understood region of Earth's atmosphere, the team believes its instrument concept is the logical next step.
"Because of TIMED's high inclination, it takes 60 days for the satellite to cover all longitudes at all local times. As a result, data from the satellite's SABER instrument (Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry) assume that the dynamics are constant during that time," Janches said. "In addition, SABER is a scanning-type instrument. In other words, it looks at the horizon, gathering signals from all parts of the atmosphere."
In sharp contrast, the sodium lidar will illuminate a specific spot and gather data from that spot only. "Because of this, we get small-scale dynamics, which are the biggest unknowns," Janches explained. "And they are important. They are believed to be the major driver of circulation in the upper atmosphere."
Team Leverages Instrument Heritage
Mike Krainak, a team member and recognized expert in laser technologies, also believes NASA would benefit from such a spaceborne instrument, which he says poses few technological risks.
"We have a lot of leverage from other missions we've done," he said, adding that his colleagues already have developed laser-related technologies for the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System on the NASA ICESat (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite) mission and the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science, a space shuttle payload. The laser itself, developed in large part by team member Tony Yu, is a modified version of the lasers flown on NASA missions to Mercury and Mars.
"All of the laser components are the same," Janches said. "This work has put us 20 years ahead and saved us $30 million in development costs. We have a general idea of what's going on," he continued. "We just want to get a bigger picture."
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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科技要闻-新浪科技: 广东联通流量经营模式大转身 上网G时代到来
科技要闻-新浪科技
科技时代-科技要闻
广东联通流量经营模式大转身 上网G时代到来
http://go.rss.sina.com.cn/redirect.php?url=http://tech.sina.com.cn/t/2013-10-31/22278872999.shtml
Oct 31st 2013, 14:27
新浪科技讯 10月31日晚间消息，近日有关广东联通的一项变革已引发业内高度关注。相关消息显示，广东联通在大力实施3G网速提速的同时，宣布推出大量以G为计算单位的上网流量套餐包，并首创了流量共享产品。业内认为，大流量上网套餐包是运营商流量经营的趋势，而且这可能是联通3G网络带来的独有优势，意味着广东联通率先进入流量"G时代"。
用户上网不用再担心流量
广东联通的相关发布会于10月28日下午召开，其宣布推出的流量经营改革受到用户热烈欢迎，包括推出用户欢迎的流量套餐包，或者是与著名移动互联网企业合作，推出用户喜欢的相关应用，还有独创的流量共享产品，已引发了媒体和网友的热烈讨论。
广东联通已正式宣布全省21个地市的3G网络全部升级至42M。至此，广东省率先全面进入极速42Mbps时代，成为当之无愧的全国最大无线高速城市群。在极速网络的支持下，最令用户们感兴趣的是大量以G为计算单位的上网流量套餐包，其改变了过去以M为计算单位的上网流量计费方式，使得用户上网可以更加痛快淋漓。
"流量经营"一词在移动互联网时代大家都耳熟能详，随着3G的大发展，流量也已经成为运营商收入增长的重要来源。运营商在如何改革智能管道"变现流量价值"的道路上也一直在探索和不断深化。
广东联通一直走在市场的前沿，去年推出的2G"随意玩"被视为其坚持流量经营创新的标志性产品，而今年，在联通42M优质网络的支撑下，也已经逐步树立了流量经营领先的领导者地位。
对于此次改革，广东联通也做了精心调研，以前，用手机看电影，用户是谨慎的，因为虽然联通的3G网速足够快，但每个用户一般都只有几百M流量，不敢用来看视频，而现在，广东联通大推以G为计算单位的流量套餐，对用户来说也将能获得巨大套餐资费实惠。
并且，广东联通还打破国内只有语音共享产品的局面，全国首家推出G时代"流量共享产品"，全面满足家庭用户、多终端上网用户、企业共享上网用户需求。用户手机用不完的流量，可以共享给平板电脑、PC或其他手机；自己用不完的流量，可以共享给家庭其他成员使用，实现一人付费、全家共享；企业内部员工也可以共享流量包，实现T级别流量的数据交互。
流量改革的行业标杆意义
广东联通历来是3G改革的试验田，尤其是目前运营商正从传统的语音时代转向移动互联网时代，广东联通的举措在业内有标杆性作用。
工信部最新统计数据显示，今年一季度，我国移动互联网流量增幅超过了50%，语音和短信业务则出现趋缓或下滑，数据流量对于传统通信业务的替代效应明显。在数据流量激增的背景下，三大运营商近期纷纷推出流量套餐改革措施，试图通过满足不同层次用户的需求，最大限度拉拢用户。
在移动互联网时代，用户上网流量的快速增长对运营商来说既是机会也是挑战，提升流量变现的价值是运营商当前的重点。电信运营商已开始在流量经营上推陈出新，针对不同人群、不同市场开始精细化服务。广东联通今年与腾讯合作推出微信沃卡就是这样的典型例子。
电信运营商正在逐步放弃单纯的资费比拼，进而过渡到利用流量套餐改革来吸引用户的阶段，折射出国内3G发展持续深入，数据业务营收将成运营商的收入增长主力。广东联通流量经营模式的大转身，显示适应了市场需求，业内预计将引领整个电信业流量经营的改革方向。（童锤）
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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科技时代-科技要闻
广东联通流量经营模式大转身 上网G时代到来
http://go.rss.sina.com.cn/redirect.php?url=http://tech.sina.com.cn/t/2013-10-31/22278872999.shtml
Oct 31st 2013, 14:27
新浪科技讯 10月31日晚间消息，近日有关广东联通的一项变革已引发业内高度关注。相关消息显示，广东联通在大力实施3G网速提速的同时，宣布推出大量以G为计算单位的上网流量套餐包，并首创了流量共享产品。业内认为，大流量上网套餐包是运营商流量经营的趋势，而且这可能是联通3G网络带来的独有优势，意味着广东联通率先进入流量"G时代"。
用户上网不用再担心流量
广东联通的相关发布会于10月28日下午召开，其宣布推出的流量经营改革受到用户热烈欢迎，包括推出用户欢迎的流量套餐包，或者是与著名移动互联网企业合作，推出用户喜欢的相关应用，还有独创的流量共享产品，已引发了媒体和网友的热烈讨论。
广东联通已正式宣布全省21个地市的3G网络全部升级至42M。至此，广东省率先全面进入极速42Mbps时代，成为当之无愧的全国最大无线高速城市群。在极速网络的支持下，最令用户们感兴趣的是大量以G为计算单位的上网流量套餐包，其改变了过去以M为计算单位的上网流量计费方式，使得用户上网可以更加痛快淋漓。
"流量经营"一词在移动互联网时代大家都耳熟能详，随着3G的大发展，流量也已经成为运营商收入增长的重要来源。运营商在如何改革智能管道"变现流量价值"的道路上也一直在探索和不断深化。
广东联通一直走在市场的前沿，去年推出的2G"随意玩"被视为其坚持流量经营创新的标志性产品，而今年，在联通42M优质网络的支撑下，也已经逐步树立了流量经营领先的领导者地位。
对于此次改革，广东联通也做了精心调研，以前，用手机看电影，用户是谨慎的，因为虽然联通的3G网速足够快，但每个用户一般都只有几百M流量，不敢用来看视频，而现在，广东联通大推以G为计算单位的流量套餐，对用户来说也将能获得巨大套餐资费实惠。
并且，广东联通还打破国内只有语音共享产品的局面，全国首家推出G时代"流量共享产品"，全面满足家庭用户、多终端上网用户、企业共享上网用户需求。用户手机用不完的流量，可以共享给平板电脑、PC或其他手机；自己用不完的流量，可以共享给家庭其他成员使用，实现一人付费、全家共享；企业内部员工也可以共享流量包，实现T级别流量的数据交互。
流量改革的行业标杆意义
广东联通历来是3G改革的试验田，尤其是目前运营商正从传统的语音时代转向移动互联网时代，广东联通的举措在业内有标杆性作用。
工信部最新统计数据显示，今年一季度，我国移动互联网流量增幅超过了50%，语音和短信业务则出现趋缓或下滑，数据流量对于传统通信业务的替代效应明显。在数据流量激增的背景下，三大运营商近期纷纷推出流量套餐改革措施，试图通过满足不同层次用户的需求，最大限度拉拢用户。
在移动互联网时代，用户上网流量的快速增长对运营商来说既是机会也是挑战，提升流量变现的价值是运营商当前的重点。电信运营商已开始在流量经营上推陈出新，针对不同人群、不同市场开始精细化服务。广东联通今年与腾讯合作推出微信沃卡就是这样的典型例子。
电信运营商正在逐步放弃单纯的资费比拼，进而过渡到利用流量套餐改革来吸引用户的阶段，折射出国内3G发展持续深入，数据业务营收将成运营商的收入增长主力。广东联通流量经营模式的大转身，显示适应了市场需求，业内预计将引领整个电信业流量经营的改革方向。（童锤）
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ScienceDaily: Latest Science News: Breakthrough research produces brighter, more efficiently produced lighting
ScienceDaily: Latest Science News
Breaking science news and articles on global warming, extrasolar planets, stem cells, bird flu, autism, nanotechnology, dinosaurs, evolution -- the latest discoveries in astronomy, anthropology, biology, chemistry, climate and environment, computers, engineering, health and medicine, math, physics, psychology, technology, and more -- from the world's leading universities and research organizations.
Breakthrough research produces brighter, more efficiently produced lighting
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/v25Ug-bhQqs/131031090435.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 13:04
Oct. 31, 2013 — By determining simple guidelines, researchers at UC Santa Barbara's Solid State Lighting & Energy Center (SSLEC) have made it possible to optimize phosphors -- a key component in white LED lighting -- allowing for brighter, more efficient lights.
"These guidelines should permit the discovery of new and improved phosphors in a rational rather than trial-and-error manner," said Ram Seshadri, a professor in the university's Department of Materials as well as in its Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, of the breakthrough contribution to solid-state lighting research. The results of this research, performed jointly with materials professor Steven DenBaars and postdoctoral associate researcher Jakoah Brgoch, appear in The Journal of Physical Chemistry.
LED (light-emitting diode) lighting has been a major topic of research due to the many benefits it offers over traditional incandescent or fluorescent lighting. LEDs use less energy, emit less heat, last longer and are less hazardous to the environment than traditional lighting. Already utilized in devices such as street lighting and televisions, LED technology is becoming more popular as it becomes more versatile and brighter.
According to Seshadri, all of the recent advances in solid-state lighting have come from devices based on gallium nitride LEDs, a technology that is largely credited to UCSB materials professor Shuji Nakamura, who invented the first high-brightness blue LED. In solid-state white lighting technology, phosphors are applied to the LED chip in such a way that the photons from the blue gallium nitride LED pass through the phosphor, which converts and mixes the blue light into the green-yellow-orange range of light. When combined evenly with the blue, the green-yellow-orange light yields white light.
The notion of multiple colors creating white may seem counterintuitive. With reflective pigments, mixing blue and yellow yields green; however, with emissive light, mixing such complementary colors yields white.
Art to science
Until recently, the preparation of phosphor materials was more an art than a science, based on finding crystal structures that act as hosts to activator ions, which convert the higher-energy blue light to lower-energy yellow/orange light.
"So far, there has been no complete understanding of what make some phosphors efficient and others not," Seshadri said. "In the wrong hosts, some of the photons are wasted as heat, and an important question is: How do we select the right hosts?"
As LEDs become brighter, for example a they are used in vehicle front lights, they also tend to get warmer, and, inevitably, this impacts phosphor properties adversely.
"Very few phosphor materials retain their efficiency at elevated temperatures," Brgoch said. "There is little understanding of how to choose the host structure for a given activator ion such that the phosphor is efficient, and such that the phosphor efficiency is retained at elevated temperatures."
However, using calculations based on density functional theory, which was developed by UCSB professor and 1998 Nobel Laureate Walter Kohn, the researchers have determined that the rigidity of the crystalline host structure is a key factor in the efficiency of phosphors: The better phosphors possess a highly rigid structure. Furthermore, indicators of structural rigidity can be computed using density functional theory, allowing materials to be screened before they are prepared and tested.
This breakthrough puts efforts for high-efficiency, high-brightness, solid-state lighting on a fast track. Lower-efficiency incandescent and fluorescent bulbs -- which use relatively more energy to produce light -- could become antiquated fixtures of the past.
"Our target is to get to 90 percent efficiency, or 300 lumens per watt," said DenBaars, who also is a professor of electrical and computer engineering and co-director of the SSLEC. Current incandescent light bulbs, by comparison, are at roughly 5 percent efficiency, and fluorescent lamps are a little more efficient at about 20 percent.
"We have already demonstrated up to 60 percent efficiency in lab demos," DenBaars said.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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Breaking science news and articles on global warming, extrasolar planets, stem cells, bird flu, autism, nanotechnology, dinosaurs, evolution -- the latest discoveries in astronomy, anthropology, biology, chemistry, climate and environment, computers, engineering, health and medicine, math, physics, psychology, technology, and more -- from the world's leading universities and research organizations.
Breakthrough research produces brighter, more efficiently produced lighting
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/v25Ug-bhQqs/131031090435.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 13:04
Oct. 31, 2013 — By determining simple guidelines, researchers at UC Santa Barbara's Solid State Lighting & Energy Center (SSLEC) have made it possible to optimize phosphors -- a key component in white LED lighting -- allowing for brighter, more efficient lights.
"These guidelines should permit the discovery of new and improved phosphors in a rational rather than trial-and-error manner," said Ram Seshadri, a professor in the university's Department of Materials as well as in its Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, of the breakthrough contribution to solid-state lighting research. The results of this research, performed jointly with materials professor Steven DenBaars and postdoctoral associate researcher Jakoah Brgoch, appear in The Journal of Physical Chemistry.
LED (light-emitting diode) lighting has been a major topic of research due to the many benefits it offers over traditional incandescent or fluorescent lighting. LEDs use less energy, emit less heat, last longer and are less hazardous to the environment than traditional lighting. Already utilized in devices such as street lighting and televisions, LED technology is becoming more popular as it becomes more versatile and brighter.
According to Seshadri, all of the recent advances in solid-state lighting have come from devices based on gallium nitride LEDs, a technology that is largely credited to UCSB materials professor Shuji Nakamura, who invented the first high-brightness blue LED. In solid-state white lighting technology, phosphors are applied to the LED chip in such a way that the photons from the blue gallium nitride LED pass through the phosphor, which converts and mixes the blue light into the green-yellow-orange range of light. When combined evenly with the blue, the green-yellow-orange light yields white light.
The notion of multiple colors creating white may seem counterintuitive. With reflective pigments, mixing blue and yellow yields green; however, with emissive light, mixing such complementary colors yields white.
Art to science
Until recently, the preparation of phosphor materials was more an art than a science, based on finding crystal structures that act as hosts to activator ions, which convert the higher-energy blue light to lower-energy yellow/orange light.
"So far, there has been no complete understanding of what make some phosphors efficient and others not," Seshadri said. "In the wrong hosts, some of the photons are wasted as heat, and an important question is: How do we select the right hosts?"
As LEDs become brighter, for example a they are used in vehicle front lights, they also tend to get warmer, and, inevitably, this impacts phosphor properties adversely.
"Very few phosphor materials retain their efficiency at elevated temperatures," Brgoch said. "There is little understanding of how to choose the host structure for a given activator ion such that the phosphor is efficient, and such that the phosphor efficiency is retained at elevated temperatures."
However, using calculations based on density functional theory, which was developed by UCSB professor and 1998 Nobel Laureate Walter Kohn, the researchers have determined that the rigidity of the crystalline host structure is a key factor in the efficiency of phosphors: The better phosphors possess a highly rigid structure. Furthermore, indicators of structural rigidity can be computed using density functional theory, allowing materials to be screened before they are prepared and tested.
This breakthrough puts efforts for high-efficiency, high-brightness, solid-state lighting on a fast track. Lower-efficiency incandescent and fluorescent bulbs -- which use relatively more energy to produce light -- could become antiquated fixtures of the past.
"Our target is to get to 90 percent efficiency, or 300 lumens per watt," said DenBaars, who also is a professor of electrical and computer engineering and co-director of the SSLEC. Current incandescent light bulbs, by comparison, are at roughly 5 percent efficiency, and fluorescent lamps are a little more efficient at about 20 percent.
"We have already demonstrated up to 60 percent efficiency in lab demos," DenBaars said.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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科技要闻-新浪科技: 广东电信营业厅成功直播首回合亚冠决赛
科技要闻-新浪科技
科技时代-科技要闻
广东电信营业厅成功直播首回合亚冠决赛
http://go.rss.sina.com.cn/redirect.php?url=http://tech.sina.com.cn/t/2013-10-31/22088872941.shtml
Oct 31st 2013, 14:08
广东电信21个地市的中国电信营业厅直播恒大亚冠首回合比赛
在电信营业厅观看直播的恒大球迷
新浪科技讯 10月31日消息，在与恒大足球队全面合作后，广东电信已于日前在其网上营业厅成功直播了亚冠决赛的首回合比赛，与此同时，广东电信还开启了网厅充值赢取恒大亚冠决赛次回合主场门票的活动，在广东电信网上营业厅最低只需充值300元，即有机会赢取到广州恒大亚冠决赛主场主场门票一张。
此前，10月26日，2013赛季亚冠联赛决赛首回合较量在韩国首尔的世界杯球场打响，中超劲旅广州恒大队以2:2的比分逼平首尔FC队，虽然只收获了一场平局，但凭借着两个客场进球的优势，夺冠形势上仍占据主动。
据了解，有上万名恒大球迷出现在首尔主场为恒大队加油，但对于没有去首尔现场的球迷，是否只能在家中的电视机前为心爱的球队加油？答案是否定的。据悉，广东电信21个地市的营业厅直播了亚冠决赛的首回合比赛，不仅为广大球迷提供了一起观看比赛的场所，为恒大队助威，同时还为球迷准备了丰厚的礼品。
据悉，在广东，每一个设有亚冠决赛直播的电信营业厅网点，都驻足了大批球迷，为恒大队呐喊助威，而在抽奖环节，更有球迷获得了恒大官方球迷服大奖。与此同时，新入网用户还可参加首回合的比分竞猜活动，赢得亚冠决赛主场门票，亲临广州天河体育场为恒大加油，共同见证恒大队登顶亚洲之巅。
与此同时，广东电信还开启了网厅充值赢取恒大亚冠决赛次回合主场门票的活动，在广东电信网上营业厅最低只需充值300元，即有机会赢取到广州恒大亚冠决赛主场主场门票一张，而充值越多，赢门票的机会越大。与高达8000元的天价球票相比，无疑为广大球迷带来的福音。（银刀）
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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科技时代-科技要闻
广东电信营业厅成功直播首回合亚冠决赛
http://go.rss.sina.com.cn/redirect.php?url=http://tech.sina.com.cn/t/2013-10-31/22088872941.shtml
Oct 31st 2013, 14:08
广东电信21个地市的中国电信营业厅直播恒大亚冠首回合比赛
在电信营业厅观看直播的恒大球迷
新浪科技讯 10月31日消息，在与恒大足球队全面合作后，广东电信已于日前在其网上营业厅成功直播了亚冠决赛的首回合比赛，与此同时，广东电信还开启了网厅充值赢取恒大亚冠决赛次回合主场门票的活动，在广东电信网上营业厅最低只需充值300元，即有机会赢取到广州恒大亚冠决赛主场主场门票一张。
此前，10月26日，2013赛季亚冠联赛决赛首回合较量在韩国首尔的世界杯球场打响，中超劲旅广州恒大队以2:2的比分逼平首尔FC队，虽然只收获了一场平局，但凭借着两个客场进球的优势，夺冠形势上仍占据主动。
据了解，有上万名恒大球迷出现在首尔主场为恒大队加油，但对于没有去首尔现场的球迷，是否只能在家中的电视机前为心爱的球队加油？答案是否定的。据悉，广东电信21个地市的营业厅直播了亚冠决赛的首回合比赛，不仅为广大球迷提供了一起观看比赛的场所，为恒大队助威，同时还为球迷准备了丰厚的礼品。
据悉，在广东，每一个设有亚冠决赛直播的电信营业厅网点，都驻足了大批球迷，为恒大队呐喊助威，而在抽奖环节，更有球迷获得了恒大官方球迷服大奖。与此同时，新入网用户还可参加首回合的比分竞猜活动，赢得亚冠决赛主场门票，亲临广州天河体育场为恒大加油，共同见证恒大队登顶亚洲之巅。
与此同时，广东电信还开启了网厅充值赢取恒大亚冠决赛次回合主场门票的活动，在广东电信网上营业厅最低只需充值300元，即有机会赢取到广州恒大亚冠决赛主场主场门票一张，而充值越多，赢门票的机会越大。与高达8000元的天价球票相比，无疑为广大球迷带来的福音。（银刀）
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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Solidot: Edward Snowden找到了工作：技术支持
Solidot
奇客的资讯，重要的东西
Edward Snowden找到了工作：技术支持
http://solidot.org.feedsportal.com/c/33236/f/556826/s/3324c71d/sc/38/l/0L0Ssolidot0Borg0Cstory0Dsid0F370A51/story01.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 12:41
美联社报道，目前在俄罗斯避难的前NSA合同工Edward Snowden已经在一家俄罗斯网站找到了技术支持的工作。Snowden的律师 Anatoly Kucherena透露，他的客户将从周五开始上班。他拒绝透露公司的名字，但表示它是一家大型俄罗斯网站。Snowden因为泄漏NSA的机密而遭到美国的间谍指控，俄罗斯在8月接受了他的临时避难申请。This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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奇客的资讯，重要的东西
Edward Snowden找到了工作：技术支持
http://solidot.org.feedsportal.com/c/33236/f/556826/s/3324c71d/sc/38/l/0L0Ssolidot0Borg0Cstory0Dsid0F370A51/story01.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 12:41
美联社报道，目前在俄罗斯避难的前NSA合同工Edward Snowden已经在一家俄罗斯网站找到了技术支持的工作。Snowden的律师 Anatoly Kucherena透露，他的客户将从周五开始上班。他拒绝透露公司的名字，但表示它是一家大型俄罗斯网站。Snowden因为泄漏NSA的机密而遭到美国的间谍指控，俄罗斯在8月接受了他的临时避难申请。This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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网易科技频道IT业界新闻: 松下宣布上调2013财年全年盈利预期
网易科技频道IT业界新闻
网易科技频道IT业界新闻
松下宣布上调2013财年全年盈利预期
http://tech.163.com/13/1031/20/9CHSQHML000915BD.html
Oct 31st 2013, 20:40
网易科技讯 10月31日消息，据国外媒体报道，正如外界所期待的，松下今天宣布上调2013财年全年盈利预期。目前，该公司汽车系统和环保技术销售强劲，正推动其从一家消费电子公司转型为一家工业零部件供应商。
松下将其2013财年（截止明年3月）全年的运营利润预期上调至2700亿日元（ 约合27.5亿美元），而此前为2500亿日元。相比之下，受汤森路透调查的19位分析师此前平均预期为2682亿日元。
在经历了一轮大幅重组后——松下撤出了等离子电视、智能手机领域，同时压缩了其芯片制造业务——该公司宣布第二财季（截止今年9月）净利润为615亿日元，高于受汤森路透调查的五位分析师此前平均预期的609.2亿日元。
松下今天表示，在截止2017年的未来4年，该公司供应给美国汽车制造商特斯拉的锂电池数将增加至近20亿颗。相对于在截止今年12月的两年内，松下预计将供应给特斯拉2亿颗锂电池的数量，这是一个巨大的跨越。
松下与特斯拉达成的锂电池供应协议，证明该公司正在加速转型。去年，该公司宣布取消2012财年的分红，为60年来首次。在过去两个财政年度，松下净亏损总额达到150亿美元。
松下还一直积极地抛售旗下资产，最近同意将旗下健康医疗部门的80%股份出售给美国私募股权巨头KKR，售价为1650亿日元。
松下今天还宣布将2013财年全年净利润预期上调至1000亿日元，高于受汤森路透调查的分析师平均预期的755.2亿日元。
（刘春）
本文来源：网易科技报道
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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网易科技频道IT业界新闻
松下宣布上调2013财年全年盈利预期
http://tech.163.com/13/1031/20/9CHSQHML000915BD.html
Oct 31st 2013, 20:40
网易科技讯 10月31日消息，据国外媒体报道，正如外界所期待的，松下今天宣布上调2013财年全年盈利预期。目前，该公司汽车系统和环保技术销售强劲，正推动其从一家消费电子公司转型为一家工业零部件供应商。
松下将其2013财年（截止明年3月）全年的运营利润预期上调至2700亿日元（ 约合27.5亿美元），而此前为2500亿日元。相比之下，受汤森路透调查的19位分析师此前平均预期为2682亿日元。
在经历了一轮大幅重组后——松下撤出了等离子电视、智能手机领域，同时压缩了其芯片制造业务——该公司宣布第二财季（截止今年9月）净利润为615亿日元，高于受汤森路透调查的五位分析师此前平均预期的609.2亿日元。
松下今天表示，在截止2017年的未来4年，该公司供应给美国汽车制造商特斯拉的锂电池数将增加至近20亿颗。相对于在截止今年12月的两年内，松下预计将供应给特斯拉2亿颗锂电池的数量，这是一个巨大的跨越。
松下与特斯拉达成的锂电池供应协议，证明该公司正在加速转型。去年，该公司宣布取消2012财年的分红，为60年来首次。在过去两个财政年度，松下净亏损总额达到150亿美元。
松下还一直积极地抛售旗下资产，最近同意将旗下健康医疗部门的80%股份出售给美国私募股权巨头KKR，售价为1650亿日元。
松下今天还宣布将2013财年全年净利润预期上调至1000亿日元，高于受汤森路透调查的分析师平均预期的755.2亿日元。
（刘春）
本文来源：网易科技报道
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ScienceDaily: Latest Science News: Tagging aquatic animals can disrupt natural behavior
ScienceDaily: Latest Science News
Breaking science news and articles on global warming, extrasolar planets, stem cells, bird flu, autism, nanotechnology, dinosaurs, evolution -- the latest discoveries in astronomy, anthropology, biology, chemistry, climate and environment, computers, engineering, health and medicine, math, physics, psychology, technology, and more -- from the world's leading universities and research organizations.
Tagging aquatic animals can disrupt natural behavior
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/Oc5UVEXNFHg/131031090429.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 13:04
Oct. 31, 2013 — American and Canadian researchers have for the first time quantified the energy cost to aquatic animals when they carry satellite tags, video cameras and other research instruments.
Studying fibreglass casts of sea turtles in a wind tunnel, the team found that while most commercially available tags increased drag by less than five per cent for large adult animals in the wild, these same devices increased drag by more than 100 per cent on smaller or juvenile animals.
"Many marine animals make yearlong breeding migrations crossing entire oceans, while others may rely on high speeds and acceleration -- enabling them to catch prey or to escape predators," says T. Todd Jones, a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center in Hawaii, who led the study while a doctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia.
"If the drag costs from carrying tags disrupts their natural behaviour, they may miss out on breeding and foraging seasons, be unable to catch enough food, or even end up becoming someone else's meal."
The study, published today in the journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution, also includes a universal formula that allows scientists to calculate drag for a wide range of marine species including turtles, mammals, fish, and diving birds to inform study design.
"In addition to the animal welfare and conservation implications, excessive drag may also impede the collection of research data in the wild," says Jones, whose previous research on leatherback sea turtle physiology has improved conservation practices.
"The guidelines we've developed can help ensure that the data collected accurately reflect the animals' natural behaviours in the wild, so we can devise conservation strategies accordingly."
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Tagging aquatic animals can disrupt natural behavior
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/Oc5UVEXNFHg/131031090429.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 13:04
Oct. 31, 2013 — American and Canadian researchers have for the first time quantified the energy cost to aquatic animals when they carry satellite tags, video cameras and other research instruments.
Studying fibreglass casts of sea turtles in a wind tunnel, the team found that while most commercially available tags increased drag by less than five per cent for large adult animals in the wild, these same devices increased drag by more than 100 per cent on smaller or juvenile animals.
"Many marine animals make yearlong breeding migrations crossing entire oceans, while others may rely on high speeds and acceleration -- enabling them to catch prey or to escape predators," says T. Todd Jones, a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center in Hawaii, who led the study while a doctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia.
"If the drag costs from carrying tags disrupts their natural behaviour, they may miss out on breeding and foraging seasons, be unable to catch enough food, or even end up becoming someone else's meal."
The study, published today in the journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution, also includes a universal formula that allows scientists to calculate drag for a wide range of marine species including turtles, mammals, fish, and diving birds to inform study design.
"In addition to the animal welfare and conservation implications, excessive drag may also impede the collection of research data in the wild," says Jones, whose previous research on leatherback sea turtle physiology has improved conservation practices.
"The guidelines we've developed can help ensure that the data collected accurately reflect the animals' natural behaviours in the wild, so we can devise conservation strategies accordingly."
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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ScienceDaily: Latest Science News: Seeing in the dark: Most people can see their body's movement in the absence of light
ScienceDaily: Latest Science News
Breaking science news and articles on global warming, extrasolar planets, stem cells, bird flu, autism, nanotechnology, dinosaurs, evolution -- the latest discoveries in astronomy, anthropology, biology, chemistry, climate and environment, computers, engineering, health and medicine, math, physics, psychology, technology, and more -- from the world's leading universities and research organizations.
Seeing in the dark: Most people can see their body's movement in the absence of light
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/OZJVXbuatJs/131031090431.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 13:04
Oct. 31, 2013 — Find a space with total darkness and slowly move your hand from side to side in front of your face. What do you see?
If the answer is a shadowy shape moving past, you are probably not imagining things. With the help of computerized eye trackers, a new cognitive science study finds that at least 50 percent of people can see the movement of their own hand even in the absence of all light.
"Seeing in total darkness? According to the current understanding of natural vision, that just doesn't happen," says Duje Tadin, a professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester who led the investigation. "But this research shows that our own movements transmit sensory signals that also can create real visual perceptions in the brain, even in the complete absence of optical input."
Through five separate experiments involving 129 individuals, the authors found that this eerie ability to see our hand in the dark suggests that our brain combines information from different senses to create our perceptions. The ability also "underscores that what we normally perceive of as sight is really as much a function of our brains as our eyes," says first author Kevin Dieter, a post-doctoral fellow in psychology at Vanderbilt University.
The study seems to confirm anecdotal reports that spelunkers in lightless caves often are able to see their hands. In other words, the "spelunker illusion," as one blogger dubbed it, is likely not an illusion after all.
For most people, this ability to see self-motion in darkness probably is learned, the authors conclude. "We get such reliable exposure to the sight of our own hand moving that our brains learn to predict the expected moving image even without actual visual input," says Dieter.
Tadin, Dieter, and their team from the University of Rochester and Vanderbilt University reported their findings online October 30 in Psychological Science, the flagship journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
Although seeing one's hand move in the dark may seem simple, the experimental challenge in this study was to measure objectively a perception that is, at its core, subjective. That hurdle at first stumped Tadin and his postdoctoral advisor at Vanderbilt Randolph Blake after they initially stumbled upon the puzzling observation in 2005. "While the phenomenon looked real to us, how could we determine if other people were really seeing their own moving hand rather than just telling us what they thought we wanted to hear?" asks Blake, the Centennial Professor of Psychology at Vanderbilt and a co-author on the paper.
Years later, Dieter, at the time a doctoral student working in Tadin's Rochester lab, helped devise several experiments to probe the sight-without-light mystery. For starters, the researchers set up false expectations. In one scenario, they led subjects to expect to see "motion under low lighting conditions" with blindfolds that appeared to have tiny holes in them. In a second set up, the same participants had similar blindfolds without the "holes" and were led to believe they would see nothing. In both set ups, the blindfolds were, in fact, equally effective at blocking out all light. A third experiment consisted of the experimenter waving his hand in front of the blindfolded subject. Ultimately, participants were fitted with a computerized eye tracker in total darkness to confirm whether self-reported perceptions of movement lined up with objective measures.
In addition to testing typical subjects, the team also recruited people who experience a blending of their senses in daily life. Known as synesthetes, these individuals may, for example, see colors when they hear music or even taste sounds. This study focused on grapheme-color synesthetes, individuals who always see numbers or letters in specific colors.
The researchers enlisted individuals from Rochester, Nashville, Fenton, Michigan, and Seoul, South Korea, but, in a lucky coincidence, one synesthete could not have been closer. At the time, Lindsay Bronnenkant was working as a lab technician for co-author David Knill, a professor of brain and cognitive sciences at Rochester.
"As a child, I just assumed that everybody associated colors with letters," says the 2010 Rochester graduate who majored in brain and cognitive sciences. For Bronnenkant, "A is always yellow, but Y is an oranger yellow." B is navy, C burnt orange, and so on. She thought of these associations as normal, "like when you smell apple pie and you think of grandma." She doesn't remember a time when she did not see numbers and letters in color, but she does wonder if the particular colors she associates with numbers derived from the billiard balls her family had going up. When she donned the blindfold and waved her hand in the experiment, "what I saw was a blur. It was very dim, but it was almost like I was looking at a light source."
Bronnenkant was not atypical in that respect. Across all types of participants, about half detected the motion of their own hand and they did so consistently, despite the expectations created with the faux holes. And very few subjects saw motion when the experimenter waved his hand, underscoring the importance of self-motion in this visual experience. As measured by the eye tracker, subjects who reported seeing motion were also able to smoothly track the motion of their hand in darkness more accurately than those who reported no visual sensation -- 46 percent versus 20 percent of the time.
Reports of the strength of visual images varied widely among participants, but synesthetes were strikingly better at not just seeing movement, but also experiencing clear visual form. As an extreme example in the eye tracking experiment, one synesthete exhibited near perfect smooth eye movement -- 95 percent accuracy -- as she followed her hand in darkness. In other words, she could track her hand in total darkness as well as if the lights were on.
"You can't just imagine a target and get smooth eye movement," explains Knill. "If there is no moving target, your eye movements will be noticeably jerky."
The link with synesthesia suggests that our human ability to see self-motion is based on neural connections between the senses, says Knill. "We know that sensory cross talk underlies synesthesia. But seeing color with numbers is probably just the tip of the iceberg; synesthesia may involve many areas of atypical brain processing."
Does that mean that most humans are preprogrammed to see themselves in the dark? Not likely, says Tadin. "Innate or experience? I'm pretty sure it's experience," he concludes. "Our brains are remarkably good at finding such reliable patterns. The brain is there to pick up patterns -- visual, auditory, thinking, movement. And this is one association that is so highly repeatable that it is logical our brains picked up on it and exploited it."
Whether hardwired or learned, Bronnenkant finds the cross talk between her senses a potent reminder of the underlying interconnectivity of nature. "It's almost a spiritual thing," she says. "Sometimes, yeah, I think to myself, 'I just got this sense from a billiard ball,' but other times I think that being able to cross modalities actually reflects how unified the world is. We think of math and chemistry and art as different fields, but really they are facets of the same world; they are just ways of looking at the world through different lenses."
See video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNTOvMwbPsc
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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Seeing in the dark: Most people can see their body's movement in the absence of light
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/OZJVXbuatJs/131031090431.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 13:04
Oct. 31, 2013 — Find a space with total darkness and slowly move your hand from side to side in front of your face. What do you see?
If the answer is a shadowy shape moving past, you are probably not imagining things. With the help of computerized eye trackers, a new cognitive science study finds that at least 50 percent of people can see the movement of their own hand even in the absence of all light.
"Seeing in total darkness? According to the current understanding of natural vision, that just doesn't happen," says Duje Tadin, a professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester who led the investigation. "But this research shows that our own movements transmit sensory signals that also can create real visual perceptions in the brain, even in the complete absence of optical input."
Through five separate experiments involving 129 individuals, the authors found that this eerie ability to see our hand in the dark suggests that our brain combines information from different senses to create our perceptions. The ability also "underscores that what we normally perceive of as sight is really as much a function of our brains as our eyes," says first author Kevin Dieter, a post-doctoral fellow in psychology at Vanderbilt University.
The study seems to confirm anecdotal reports that spelunkers in lightless caves often are able to see their hands. In other words, the "spelunker illusion," as one blogger dubbed it, is likely not an illusion after all.
For most people, this ability to see self-motion in darkness probably is learned, the authors conclude. "We get such reliable exposure to the sight of our own hand moving that our brains learn to predict the expected moving image even without actual visual input," says Dieter.
Tadin, Dieter, and their team from the University of Rochester and Vanderbilt University reported their findings online October 30 in Psychological Science, the flagship journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
Although seeing one's hand move in the dark may seem simple, the experimental challenge in this study was to measure objectively a perception that is, at its core, subjective. That hurdle at first stumped Tadin and his postdoctoral advisor at Vanderbilt Randolph Blake after they initially stumbled upon the puzzling observation in 2005. "While the phenomenon looked real to us, how could we determine if other people were really seeing their own moving hand rather than just telling us what they thought we wanted to hear?" asks Blake, the Centennial Professor of Psychology at Vanderbilt and a co-author on the paper.
Years later, Dieter, at the time a doctoral student working in Tadin's Rochester lab, helped devise several experiments to probe the sight-without-light mystery. For starters, the researchers set up false expectations. In one scenario, they led subjects to expect to see "motion under low lighting conditions" with blindfolds that appeared to have tiny holes in them. In a second set up, the same participants had similar blindfolds without the "holes" and were led to believe they would see nothing. In both set ups, the blindfolds were, in fact, equally effective at blocking out all light. A third experiment consisted of the experimenter waving his hand in front of the blindfolded subject. Ultimately, participants were fitted with a computerized eye tracker in total darkness to confirm whether self-reported perceptions of movement lined up with objective measures.
In addition to testing typical subjects, the team also recruited people who experience a blending of their senses in daily life. Known as synesthetes, these individuals may, for example, see colors when they hear music or even taste sounds. This study focused on grapheme-color synesthetes, individuals who always see numbers or letters in specific colors.
The researchers enlisted individuals from Rochester, Nashville, Fenton, Michigan, and Seoul, South Korea, but, in a lucky coincidence, one synesthete could not have been closer. At the time, Lindsay Bronnenkant was working as a lab technician for co-author David Knill, a professor of brain and cognitive sciences at Rochester.
"As a child, I just assumed that everybody associated colors with letters," says the 2010 Rochester graduate who majored in brain and cognitive sciences. For Bronnenkant, "A is always yellow, but Y is an oranger yellow." B is navy, C burnt orange, and so on. She thought of these associations as normal, "like when you smell apple pie and you think of grandma." She doesn't remember a time when she did not see numbers and letters in color, but she does wonder if the particular colors she associates with numbers derived from the billiard balls her family had going up. When she donned the blindfold and waved her hand in the experiment, "what I saw was a blur. It was very dim, but it was almost like I was looking at a light source."
Bronnenkant was not atypical in that respect. Across all types of participants, about half detected the motion of their own hand and they did so consistently, despite the expectations created with the faux holes. And very few subjects saw motion when the experimenter waved his hand, underscoring the importance of self-motion in this visual experience. As measured by the eye tracker, subjects who reported seeing motion were also able to smoothly track the motion of their hand in darkness more accurately than those who reported no visual sensation -- 46 percent versus 20 percent of the time.
Reports of the strength of visual images varied widely among participants, but synesthetes were strikingly better at not just seeing movement, but also experiencing clear visual form. As an extreme example in the eye tracking experiment, one synesthete exhibited near perfect smooth eye movement -- 95 percent accuracy -- as she followed her hand in darkness. In other words, she could track her hand in total darkness as well as if the lights were on.
"You can't just imagine a target and get smooth eye movement," explains Knill. "If there is no moving target, your eye movements will be noticeably jerky."
The link with synesthesia suggests that our human ability to see self-motion is based on neural connections between the senses, says Knill. "We know that sensory cross talk underlies synesthesia. But seeing color with numbers is probably just the tip of the iceberg; synesthesia may involve many areas of atypical brain processing."
Does that mean that most humans are preprogrammed to see themselves in the dark? Not likely, says Tadin. "Innate or experience? I'm pretty sure it's experience," he concludes. "Our brains are remarkably good at finding such reliable patterns. The brain is there to pick up patterns -- visual, auditory, thinking, movement. And this is one association that is so highly repeatable that it is logical our brains picked up on it and exploited it."
Whether hardwired or learned, Bronnenkant finds the cross talk between her senses a potent reminder of the underlying interconnectivity of nature. "It's almost a spiritual thing," she says. "Sometimes, yeah, I think to myself, 'I just got this sense from a billiard ball,' but other times I think that being able to cross modalities actually reflects how unified the world is. We think of math and chemistry and art as different fields, but really they are facets of the same world; they are just ways of looking at the world through different lenses."
See video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNTOvMwbPsc
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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ScienceDaily: Latest Science News: Reducing price differences in energy market may not help consumers
ScienceDaily: Latest Science News
Breaking science news and articles on global warming, extrasolar planets, stem cells, bird flu, autism, nanotechnology, dinosaurs, evolution -- the latest discoveries in astronomy, anthropology, biology, chemistry, climate and environment, computers, engineering, health and medicine, math, physics, psychology, technology, and more -- from the world's leading universities and research organizations.
Reducing price differences in energy market may not help consumers
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/qkuWnoEm0I8/131030214203.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 01:42
Oct. 30, 2013 — A more sophisticated understanding of what motivates consumers to choose energy suppliers is needed if the government is to stimulate activity and promote competition in the market effectively, according to new research published today.
The study, from the ESRC Centre for Competition Policy at the University of East Anglia (UEA), found that consumers are very different in what affects their switching behaviour when it comes to energy firms, and the factors which persuade some people to switch may have little effect on others. All consumers are more likely to switch if they expect higher savings, so the government and regulator Ofgem must avoid policies that reduce differences in the prices charged by the various suppliers and which will deter switching.
It follows a number of announcements of prices increase for electricity and gas and accusations that the Big Six energy suppliers are charging households too much. On Tuesday representatives from the companies appeared before MPs at the energy and climate change select committee to explain how they set their prices.
The government and regulator urge consumers to combat rising energy bills by changing energy supplier, however in the UK levels of switching have continued to fall to their lowest level since records began a decade earlier -- now only about ten per cent per year, half the level five years ago -- suggesting growing obstacles to consumers' activity in the market.
Prof Catherine Waddams, who co-authored the working paper on consumer behaviour in the British retail electricity market, said: "Our results show that relying on consumers' activity to promote competition in the retail electricity market has limitations. Even if the government focuses on promoting the use of the internet, for example through price comparison websites, such a policy might have only a small effect on the number of switchers.
"Policy makers need to have a more sophisticated understanding of what motivates consumers if they are to stimulate activity effectively in competitive markets. Rather than blanket policies, which may be better for headlines, agencies should instead research these differences and target a variety of strategies carefully at particular groups, and so stimulate suppliers to offer good deals across the market. The less active groups are likely to require different measures to reach them, engage their attention and motivate them to act."
The research, which analysed responses from interviews with 2537 people from across the UK, divided people into three groups according to their attitudes to shopping generally, such as whether they enjoyed bargain hunting, tended to regret purchases if they later found a better deal or enjoyed looking around for good deals. They were asked about whether they had looked around for better electricity deals, changed supplier, had received information or marketing about energy deals from another supplier, how much money they expected to save a year by changing supplier, how long they expected it to take to find a better deal and change supplier, and their experience of switching for other services, such as broadband, car insurance or mobile phone.
Sometimes differences in price seem to be unfair, and policy makers try to reduce them to protect vulnerable customers who may be paying higher prices because they are less active in the market. But the consumers who had switched least in this research also felt it was easier to make ends meet, and so did not seem to be a poorer group than others who were more active. And surprisingly, a lengthy or difficult switching process did not deter people from moving, so making comparisons and switching easier may not stimulate as much activity as Ofgem hopes. Most of the consumers surveyed rarely check the deals available and many do not switch even if they expect that they could save money by changing supplier.
Prof Waddams said: "We were surprised at the differences between the groups, and the different drivers for looking around for better deals and changing suppliers. Among the more alert and informed we found that searching and switching do not always go together, and that using the internet more often increases the probability of switching only for some consumers."
Although the survey asked a representative group of consumers about switching, fewer than half (812) could answer all the questions about how much they thought they might gain by switching and how long and difficult the process might be. These are the most active consumers, and even in this group few looked around regularly, and fewer still changed supplier.
The working paper 'Consumer behaviour in the British retail electricity market', Miguel Flores and Catherine Waddams, is published by the ESRC Centre for Competition Policy at UEA.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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Breaking science news and articles on global warming, extrasolar planets, stem cells, bird flu, autism, nanotechnology, dinosaurs, evolution -- the latest discoveries in astronomy, anthropology, biology, chemistry, climate and environment, computers, engineering, health and medicine, math, physics, psychology, technology, and more -- from the world's leading universities and research organizations.
Reducing price differences in energy market may not help consumers
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/qkuWnoEm0I8/131030214203.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 01:42
Oct. 30, 2013 — A more sophisticated understanding of what motivates consumers to choose energy suppliers is needed if the government is to stimulate activity and promote competition in the market effectively, according to new research published today.
The study, from the ESRC Centre for Competition Policy at the University of East Anglia (UEA), found that consumers are very different in what affects their switching behaviour when it comes to energy firms, and the factors which persuade some people to switch may have little effect on others. All consumers are more likely to switch if they expect higher savings, so the government and regulator Ofgem must avoid policies that reduce differences in the prices charged by the various suppliers and which will deter switching.
It follows a number of announcements of prices increase for electricity and gas and accusations that the Big Six energy suppliers are charging households too much. On Tuesday representatives from the companies appeared before MPs at the energy and climate change select committee to explain how they set their prices.
The government and regulator urge consumers to combat rising energy bills by changing energy supplier, however in the UK levels of switching have continued to fall to their lowest level since records began a decade earlier -- now only about ten per cent per year, half the level five years ago -- suggesting growing obstacles to consumers' activity in the market.
Prof Catherine Waddams, who co-authored the working paper on consumer behaviour in the British retail electricity market, said: "Our results show that relying on consumers' activity to promote competition in the retail electricity market has limitations. Even if the government focuses on promoting the use of the internet, for example through price comparison websites, such a policy might have only a small effect on the number of switchers.
"Policy makers need to have a more sophisticated understanding of what motivates consumers if they are to stimulate activity effectively in competitive markets. Rather than blanket policies, which may be better for headlines, agencies should instead research these differences and target a variety of strategies carefully at particular groups, and so stimulate suppliers to offer good deals across the market. The less active groups are likely to require different measures to reach them, engage their attention and motivate them to act."
The research, which analysed responses from interviews with 2537 people from across the UK, divided people into three groups according to their attitudes to shopping generally, such as whether they enjoyed bargain hunting, tended to regret purchases if they later found a better deal or enjoyed looking around for good deals. They were asked about whether they had looked around for better electricity deals, changed supplier, had received information or marketing about energy deals from another supplier, how much money they expected to save a year by changing supplier, how long they expected it to take to find a better deal and change supplier, and their experience of switching for other services, such as broadband, car insurance or mobile phone.
Sometimes differences in price seem to be unfair, and policy makers try to reduce them to protect vulnerable customers who may be paying higher prices because they are less active in the market. But the consumers who had switched least in this research also felt it was easier to make ends meet, and so did not seem to be a poorer group than others who were more active. And surprisingly, a lengthy or difficult switching process did not deter people from moving, so making comparisons and switching easier may not stimulate as much activity as Ofgem hopes. Most of the consumers surveyed rarely check the deals available and many do not switch even if they expect that they could save money by changing supplier.
Prof Waddams said: "We were surprised at the differences between the groups, and the different drivers for looking around for better deals and changing suppliers. Among the more alert and informed we found that searching and switching do not always go together, and that using the internet more often increases the probability of switching only for some consumers."
Although the survey asked a representative group of consumers about switching, fewer than half (812) could answer all the questions about how much they thought they might gain by switching and how long and difficult the process might be. These are the most active consumers, and even in this group few looked around regularly, and fewer still changed supplier.
The working paper 'Consumer behaviour in the British retail electricity market', Miguel Flores and Catherine Waddams, is published by the ESRC Centre for Competition Policy at UEA.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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科技要闻-新浪科技: 易传媒CEO闫方军：将为企业提供DSP技术服务
科技要闻-新浪科技
科技时代-科技要闻
易传媒CEO闫方军：将为企业提供DSP技术服务
http://go.rss.sina.com.cn/redirect.php?url=http://tech.sina.com.cn/i/2013-10-31/19528872863.shtml
Oct 31st 2013, 11:52
新浪科技讯 10月31日上午消息，在线广告网络公司易传媒CEO闫方军今天在一个小范围的媒体沟通会上表示，未来为大中型的广告主和代理公司建立DSP平台将是公司的重要发展方向，而提供技术和服务将成为易传媒未来的重要收入来源。DSP是Demand-Side Platform的缩写，即需求方平台，广告主通过竞价的方式，在这个平台上购买到产品在互联网媒体上曝光的机会。
DSP改变了传统广告的投放模式，顺应了广告主整合跨媒体资源投放广告的趋势，并将按媒介购买转变为按受众购买。不过，随着数据的价值越发提高，很多优质的媒体、大型广告主都开始自建DSP平台，这一定程度上挤压了一些第三方DSP平台的利润。
闫方军今天在接受媒体专访时表示，"优质的媒体资源、大型广告主都会自建嵌入式平台去除中间方，独立DSP的日子会变得难过。"
为了应对这样的行业发展趋势，易传媒决定发展成为一家DSP技术和服务提供商，但同时也会继续运营DSP平台业务。
目前，易传媒已经为部分广告代理公司、大型快消品、汽车企业客户建立了企业级DSP，但是闫方军表示，企业级DSP还处于初期发展阶段。
对于上市计划，闫方军表示，易传媒一直在与投资者、基金公司进行沟通，可以随时启动上市。他认为，今年下半年和明年一季度的资本市场形势都会不错，但现在还没有有关上市计划的具体的时间表。
2012年2月，易传媒公布上市招股文件，计划在美上市，最多融资1亿美元。不过1年之后，由于认为美国资本市场疲软及投资人对中概股信心不足，易传媒撤回赴纳斯达克上市申请。
易传媒于2007年初创立于美国硅谷，为客户投放展示类广告、视频广告、社交媒体广告、移动广告，提供品牌传播、口碑传播、和促销解决方案。该公司官网介绍，易传媒媒体平台每月管理来自优质门户、垂直、社交媒体和电子商务类媒体的387亿流量，覆盖5.37亿在线互联网网民和2.89亿移动互联网网民。
艾瑞咨询集团最新发布的《2013年中国DSP行业发展报告》显示，品牌广告主DSP投放意愿与日俱增，预计2013年中国DSP展示广告投放规模将达到15.3亿元，到2017年，该规模将达到172.2亿元。(罗亮)
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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科技时代-科技要闻
易传媒CEO闫方军：将为企业提供DSP技术服务
http://go.rss.sina.com.cn/redirect.php?url=http://tech.sina.com.cn/i/2013-10-31/19528872863.shtml
Oct 31st 2013, 11:52
新浪科技讯 10月31日上午消息，在线广告网络公司易传媒CEO闫方军今天在一个小范围的媒体沟通会上表示，未来为大中型的广告主和代理公司建立DSP平台将是公司的重要发展方向，而提供技术和服务将成为易传媒未来的重要收入来源。DSP是Demand-Side Platform的缩写，即需求方平台，广告主通过竞价的方式，在这个平台上购买到产品在互联网媒体上曝光的机会。
DSP改变了传统广告的投放模式，顺应了广告主整合跨媒体资源投放广告的趋势，并将按媒介购买转变为按受众购买。不过，随着数据的价值越发提高，很多优质的媒体、大型广告主都开始自建DSP平台，这一定程度上挤压了一些第三方DSP平台的利润。
闫方军今天在接受媒体专访时表示，"优质的媒体资源、大型广告主都会自建嵌入式平台去除中间方，独立DSP的日子会变得难过。"
为了应对这样的行业发展趋势，易传媒决定发展成为一家DSP技术和服务提供商，但同时也会继续运营DSP平台业务。
目前，易传媒已经为部分广告代理公司、大型快消品、汽车企业客户建立了企业级DSP，但是闫方军表示，企业级DSP还处于初期发展阶段。
对于上市计划，闫方军表示，易传媒一直在与投资者、基金公司进行沟通，可以随时启动上市。他认为，今年下半年和明年一季度的资本市场形势都会不错，但现在还没有有关上市计划的具体的时间表。
2012年2月，易传媒公布上市招股文件，计划在美上市，最多融资1亿美元。不过1年之后，由于认为美国资本市场疲软及投资人对中概股信心不足，易传媒撤回赴纳斯达克上市申请。
易传媒于2007年初创立于美国硅谷，为客户投放展示类广告、视频广告、社交媒体广告、移动广告，提供品牌传播、口碑传播、和促销解决方案。该公司官网介绍，易传媒媒体平台每月管理来自优质门户、垂直、社交媒体和电子商务类媒体的387亿流量，覆盖5.37亿在线互联网网民和2.89亿移动互联网网民。
艾瑞咨询集团最新发布的《2013年中国DSP行业发展报告》显示，品牌广告主DSP投放意愿与日俱增，预计2013年中国DSP展示广告投放规模将达到15.3亿元，到2017年，该规模将达到172.2亿元。(罗亮)
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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科技要闻-新浪科技: 去哪儿将IPO发行价区间调为12美元至14美元
科技要闻-新浪科技
科技时代-科技要闻
去哪儿将IPO发行价区间调为12美元至14美元
http://go.rss.sina.com.cn/redirect.php?url=http://tech.sina.com.cn/i/2013-10-31/20588872895.shtml
Oct 31st 2013, 12:58
新浪科技讯 北京时间10月31日晚间消息，去哪儿(Qunar)周三更新了IPO(首次公开招股)招股书，将发行价区间由9.50美元至11.50美元上调至12美元至14美元，最多将融资1.56亿美元。
去哪儿10月1日向美国证券交易委员会(SEC)提交了IPO招股书，称拟在纽约证券交易所(NYSE)上市，股票交易代码为"QUNR"，最多融资1.25亿美元。
10月19日，去哪儿更新IPO招股书，将发行价区间定在每股美国存托股(ADS)9.50美元至11.50美元，最高融资1.47亿美元。
周三，去哪儿再次更新招股书，将发行价区间由9.50美元至11.50美元上调至12美元至14美元。去哪儿将发行1110万部ADS，最高将融资1.56亿美元。
招股书还显示，去哪儿2012年总营收为人民币5.02亿元，2011年为人民币2.62亿元，2010年为人民币1.23亿元。去哪儿2012年净亏损为人民币9110万元，2011年净亏损为4600万元，2010年净亏损为440万元。
去哪儿IPO承销商为高盛、德银证券、Stifel, Nicolaus & Company、太平洋皇冠证券和香港华兴资本证券。(李明)
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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科技时代-科技要闻
去哪儿将IPO发行价区间调为12美元至14美元
http://go.rss.sina.com.cn/redirect.php?url=http://tech.sina.com.cn/i/2013-10-31/20588872895.shtml
Oct 31st 2013, 12:58
新浪科技讯 北京时间10月31日晚间消息，去哪儿(Qunar)周三更新了IPO(首次公开招股)招股书，将发行价区间由9.50美元至11.50美元上调至12美元至14美元，最多将融资1.56亿美元。
去哪儿10月1日向美国证券交易委员会(SEC)提交了IPO招股书，称拟在纽约证券交易所(NYSE)上市，股票交易代码为"QUNR"，最多融资1.25亿美元。
10月19日，去哪儿更新IPO招股书，将发行价区间定在每股美国存托股(ADS)9.50美元至11.50美元，最高融资1.47亿美元。
周三，去哪儿再次更新招股书，将发行价区间由9.50美元至11.50美元上调至12美元至14美元。去哪儿将发行1110万部ADS，最高将融资1.56亿美元。
招股书还显示，去哪儿2012年总营收为人民币5.02亿元，2011年为人民币2.62亿元，2010年为人民币1.23亿元。去哪儿2012年净亏损为人民币9110万元，2011年净亏损为4600万元，2010年净亏损为440万元。
去哪儿IPO承销商为高盛、德银证券、Stifel, Nicolaus & Company、太平洋皇冠证券和香港华兴资本证券。(李明)
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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Solidot: Facebook测试屏幕跟踪软件
Solidot
奇客的资讯，重要的东西
Facebook测试屏幕跟踪软件
http://solidot.org.feedsportal.com/c/33236/f/556826/s/3323faa3/sc/21/l/0L0Ssolidot0Borg0Cstory0Dsid0F370A49/story01.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 12:00
《华尔街日报》报导，Facebook正在测试能跟踪用户鼠标光标运动的软件，监视用户在手机上看新闻源（newsfeed）的频率。Facebook收集的数据如用户与内容互动的时间长度，光标在页面某一部分徘徊的时间长度，将可以作为筹码提高广告价格。这些数据可用于从产品开发到更精确的针对性广告。为了分析额外的数据，Facebook将利用一个定制版本的Hadoop。Facebook 不是第一家这么做的公司，营销公司Shutterstock也是利用Hadoop分布式文件系统分析用户在网站上的光标移动数据。This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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奇客的资讯，重要的东西
Facebook测试屏幕跟踪软件
http://solidot.org.feedsportal.com/c/33236/f/556826/s/3323faa3/sc/21/l/0L0Ssolidot0Borg0Cstory0Dsid0F370A49/story01.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 12:00
《华尔街日报》报导，Facebook正在测试能跟踪用户鼠标光标运动的软件，监视用户在手机上看新闻源（newsfeed）的频率。Facebook收集的数据如用户与内容互动的时间长度，光标在页面某一部分徘徊的时间长度，将可以作为筹码提高广告价格。这些数据可用于从产品开发到更精确的针对性广告。为了分析额外的数据，Facebook将利用一个定制版本的Hadoop。Facebook 不是第一家这么做的公司，营销公司Shutterstock也是利用Hadoop分布式文件系统分析用户在网站上的光标移动数据。This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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Solidot: 黑客破解验钞机，能将纸验证为真钞
Solidot
奇客的资讯，重要的东西
黑客破解验钞机，能将纸验证为真钞
http://solidot.org.feedsportal.com/c/33236/f/556826/s/3324c2b6/sc/28/l/0L0Ssolidot0Borg0Cstory0Dsid0F370A50A/story01.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 12:20
如果间谍是世界上第二古老的职业，那么伪造将可以排在第三位。伪造货币和防伪之间的竞争已经持续了很长时间，今天的防伪技术依赖的是计算机和软件，和所有软件一样，它肯定存在缺陷。IOActive的研究人员逆向工程了一款流行的欧元纸币验钞机的固件，发现他们可以嵌入自己开发的固件，迫使机器将任何纸识别为真钞。这项研究意味着，如果攻击者能物理接触验钞机并安装定制固件，将可以诱使该设备接受假钞。考虑到验钞机通常部署的地方，这种方法完全可行。This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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奇客的资讯，重要的东西
黑客破解验钞机，能将纸验证为真钞
http://solidot.org.feedsportal.com/c/33236/f/556826/s/3324c2b6/sc/28/l/0L0Ssolidot0Borg0Cstory0Dsid0F370A50A/story01.htm
Oct 31st 2013, 12:20
如果间谍是世界上第二古老的职业，那么伪造将可以排在第三位。伪造货币和防伪之间的竞争已经持续了很长时间，今天的防伪技术依赖的是计算机和软件，和所有软件一样，它肯定存在缺陷。IOActive的研究人员逆向工程了一款流行的欧元纸币验钞机的固件，发现他们可以嵌入自己开发的固件，迫使机器将任何纸识别为真钞。这项研究意味着，如果攻击者能物理接触验钞机并安装定制固件，将可以诱使该设备接受假钞。考虑到验钞机通常部署的地方，这种方法完全可行。This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Massacres That Matter - Part 1 - 'Responsibility To Protect' In Egypt, Libya And SyriaMassacres That Matter - Part 2 - The Media Response On Egypt, Libya And SyriaNational demonstration: No attack on Syria - Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London, UK
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