This Ax Is Really Scary And Then You Realize It Has A Slingshot Inside

This week Joerg invited some students from the Technical University of Munich to create general mayhem with him via a steel axe. But an axe by itself isn't menacing/relevant enough. It obviously has to double as a slingshot. And it does! The handle of the axe is hollow . . .

The device houses four aluminum tubes, a magnesium firestarter and three steel tipped bolts. Because the axe is meant to be a survival tool (by the way the axe is meant to be a survival tool) one of the bolts has an active carbon water filter and can be used as a straw for drinking unpurified water. The bolts fire through the center barrel of the slingshot, and are pretty accurate, partly because they're forward weighted. Not that you were going to, but never trust an axe-wielding engineering student again. [Slingshot Channel]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/this-ax-is-really-scary-and-then-you-realize-it-has-a-s-628811330

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The 'Internet of Things' pits?George Jetson vs. George Orwell

Red Tape Chronicles

Bob Sullivan, Columnist NBC News

7 hours ago

Kim Kyung Hoon / Reuters file

A model in Tokyo poses in an LED dress designed by Swarovski and Hussein Chalayan. One day soon, electronic clothing like this will even be connected to the Internet.

Doors that magically unlock as you approach. Clothes that advise you when they're out of style, then tell your car how to get to the nearest sale. Cough medicine that tells you when it's time to go to the doctor. This magical, futuristic world now called the "Internet of Things" is coming straight from science fiction into your home. Like "the cloud," the "Internet of Things" is largely a marketing term designed to create buzz around a series of not-yet-ready-for-prime time technologies, and also like the cloud, you won't be able to avoid hearing about it soon.

But this time, the stakes are much higher. It?s a full-on cage match between George Jetson and George Orwell.

Maybe it's a miracle to think about high-tech insulin pumps that patients never need to touch, while doctors control them from thousands of miles away. But what happens when a hacker hijacks that insulin pump ? or simply threatens to hijack it, and messages the patient that he'd better pay a ransom to keep it functioning properly? Those runaway gadgets from "The Jetsons" cartoon might not be such a laughing matter in real life.

We already have an Internet of Things ? your PC, laptop, tablet, everything already connected to the Internet. What the "IoT" crowd means by "things" is "everything." They want to attach tiny computers and sensors to just about every object in the world, and make them all talk to each other.

"We have everyday objects we've been interacting with for years, and many of these objects are now gaining intelligence and connectivity," said Jason Johnson, leader of the IoT consortium. "We will create this fabric of connected devices."

The back story
The idea of putting little connected computers everywhere, even floating in the air around us, isn't new. You'll find popular references to "ubiquitous computing" nearly 20 years ago. Since then, there has been one failed effort after another to bring James Bond-like automation to our lives. Take the hobbyist X-10 technology, which let users turn off household lights via remote control ? X-10 gadgets had trouble competing with The Clapper, much less "The Jetsons."

Today, continually shrinking sensors and processors put us on the threshold of the Internet of Things. In fact, some of this futuristic wizardry already has a devoted following. Members of the burgeoning Quantified Self movement use iPhones and wearable sensors like Fitbit to measure their heart rate, blood pressure and sleep patterns, upload that data into spreadsheets, sometimes even share it automatically via Twitter and Facebook. They use the data to find the optimal temperature to go for a run, or the best humidity conditions in which to sleep.

Fitbit

The Fitbit system combines wireless trackers, a Wi-Fi smart scale, smartphone apps and cloud-based information management to help people keep in shape.

Advanced medicine also already employs many of these technologies. For instance, probes with cameras work their way through our circulatory systems into our hearts, sending back detailed pictures to doctors who can make repairs in minutes in situations that would previously proved fatal.

When that kind of technology inevitably gets cheap ? when our pens, cars, toilets and everything else can see and hear us ? many exciting notions become possible. You might never run out of toilet paper, for example. At the same time, you might share uncomfortably up-to-date health information with your doctor.

What could go wrong?
But anyone who's every suffered a dropped phone call, gotten bad directions from a GPS, or even had a printer jam will realize that technology lets us down as often as it lifts us up. So aren't we setting ourselves up for gadget failure hell?

No, says Johnson, for two reasons. First, stepping on the shoulders of other futuristic failures, Internet of Things entrepreneurs know they have to prioritize substance over glitz. And second, the gadgets they sell must have an old-fashioned backup system.

"You must solve a real problem for people," he said. "We have to make sure our products and services aren't just gizmos that will shortly outgrow the gee-whiz factor. We have to have a positive impact on people's lives, making them simpler and more relaxed."

One such gadget, Johnson hopes, is the August Smart Lock ? making it is his day job. The front door lock recognizes who is approaching your home and lets you open the door on command. No need to give the dog walker a spare key; Smart Lock users can grant access to certain people at certain times, even during emergencies.

"It lets you rethink what it means to give access to your home," he said.

Smart Lock has a second important feature: If the power goes out, the homeowner can use an old-fashioned key to get in. For the Internet of Things to work, there must be a plan B when it doesn't work, Johnson says. Anyone stuck in a car with a dead battery and electric windows can appreciate that.

August

The August Smart Lock, which installs over a standard deadbolt, lets you unlock your door over the Internet.

Big Brother
Potentially comical failures ? what if your toilet paper sensor battery goes dead? ? are not the biggest potential obstacle for the Internet of Things, however.

The NSA is.

If you are even the slightest bit worried about the federal government reading your email, how concerned will you be that it could create a database of every bowel movement? Far fetched? Imagine what the National Institute of Health could do with such data.

Every one of these computer things will collect data that could end up in the hands of law enforcement, marketing companies, or even hackers, and at the moment, there is little to stop that. This worries Kevin Mahaffey, who runs mobile security company Lookout Inc.

"There are two possible ways this works. A world where everything you do is surveilled, and everything is potentially hacked by someone,? Mahaffey said. "But the alternative way is a world where you as an individual can control this data. And that's a pretty exciting world, a world where you can have the benefit of the technology, but not some Orwellian dystopia, where even in your own home you aren?t safe from the Internet-connected pen."

One privacy nightmare ? the reselling of bathroom data to drug companies, an insulin pump hacker attack, or a law enforcement incident involving home automation or monitoring ? could derail the Internet of Things for years, Mahaffey warns.

Johnson acknowledges this, but he believes companies in his space can rise to the challenge of balancing convenience with privacy.

?All the Internet of Things companies, we're capturing a lot of data about users,? Johnson said. Government regulations and industry policies should restrict usage of the data, but communication with consumers will also be key. ?We need to be very cognizant of the sensitivity of that data and how we make users aware of how this data can be used ? It's important they understand what?s going on.?

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Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663301/s/2df996a2/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Cinternet0Ethings0Epits0Egeorge0Ejetson0Evs0Egeorge0Eorwell0E6C10A462818/story01.htm

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Hookup Shocker: The Sex Is Legal, but Talking About It Is a Felony ...

This week the Ohio House of Representatives unanimously approved a bill ostensibly aimed at fighting "human trafficking" that makes it a crime to "solicit" a legal act: sex with someone who is 16 or 17 years old. The age of consent in Ohio is 16. Yet under H.B. 130, a 20-year-old who asks a 16-year-old to have sex with him, or a 21-year-old who does the same with a 17-year-old, thereby commits a fifth-degree felony, punishable by six to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine. He also has to register as a sex offender. But if the teenager broaches the subject, or if the sex proceeds without any explicit verbal reference to it, no crime has been committed. Here is the relevant provision:

No person shall solicit another, not the spouse of the offender, to engage in sexual conduct with the offender, when the offender is eighteen years of age or older and four or more years older than the other person,?and?the other person is sixteen or seventeen years of age,?whether or not?the offender knows?the age of the other person.

Since there is no requirement that money change hands, this provision criminalizes ordinary sexual propositions if one person is 16 or 17 and the other is at least four years older when it is the older person who makes the suggestion, even though the sex itself remains legal. Having sex is fine, as long as you don't talk about it beforehand.

The elimination of any knowledge requirement, which is problematic even when the "solicitation" involves someone below the age of consent, is especially so when the person approached is 16 or 17. Since the difference between a 16- or 17-year-old and an 18-year-old may be difficult to discern, someone keen to avoid a felony charge would be wise to demand proof of age before saying anything about sex. And if the object of his attention happens to have a fake ID?as teenagers pretending to be older than they are sometimes do, especially when they go to bars or clubs?that is no defense. As Granville, Ohio, attorney Drew Mc Farland notes, the bill imposes ?a "strict liability" sta ndard, meaning that "even an honest mistake is unforgiven." Mc Farland, who drew my attention to this bill, suggests one such scenario:

A mature 17-year-old is lawfully in a liquor-serving establishment and meets a 22-year-old who suggests they go back to his or her place for some sexual fun.?Under this change in the law, the 22-year-old is guilty of a felony.

Legislators already define "human trafficking" broadly enough to include consensual sex (when it occurs in exchange for money). Now Ohio is poised to classify merely talking about consensual sex, even when no money is involved, as a species of sexual slavery.

The Ohio Senate is expected to take up the bill after returning from its summer break.

Source: http://reason.com/blog/2013/06/28/hookup-shocker-the-sex-is-legal-but-talk

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Facebook is pulling ads from racy, violent pages

MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) ? Facebook is pulling ads from pages that contain violence or sexual content.

The social network said that on Monday, it will expand its definition of pages and groups that are too controversial to carry advertisements.

Facebook has sought to strike a balance between giving its 1.1 billion users the freedom to post what they want and providing advertisers with space to sell their products.

In May, Facebook Inc. lost more than a dozen advertisers, at least temporarily, after the activist group Women, Action and the Media urged an advertising boycott to protest hate speech on the Facebook site. The controversial content included grisly photos and mottos that encouraged rape, abuse and other violence against women.

The company said then that it would review its guidelines, update training for employees and increase accountability for those who post such matter. It also said it would work more closely with women's groups. Some of the companies that initially pulled their ads ? including automaker Nissan and the car-sharing service Zipcar ? said then that they were pleased with Facebook's response.

Facebook had already banned ads on certain pages. The new policy will expand on the categories affected by the ban. In the past, a company selling adult-theme products could have ads running on the right side of the page, for instance. Those pages will be ad-free starting Monday.

"We recognize we need to do more to prevent situations where ads are displayed alongside controversial Pages and Groups," the company said in a statement Friday. "So we are taking action."

Facebook will continue to remove entire pages if they are deemed to violate its terms of service. The new policy covers pages that are permitted, but controversial.

Facebook said the new restrictions won't have a meaningful impact on its business.

___

Online:

New policy: http://newsroom.fb.com/News/658/A-New-Review-Policy-For-Pages-and-Groups

Content guidelines: https://www.facebook.com/communitystandards

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-06-29-Facebook-Advertisements/id-446a7a22fb6942cd8b1a1d0d2060ec84

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'Swan mom:' A Washington woman is surrogate for baby trumpeters

A Washington woman has become a surrogate 'swan mom' for a bevy of baby trumpeter swans. Each summer for 14 years she's raised hatchlings for 80 days and released them into the wild.

By Staff,?Associated Press / June 28, 2013

Five 13-day-old cygnet trumpeter swans gather around "mom", a decoy swan, in their human foster parent Martha Jordan's back yard earlier this week.

AP

Enlarge

All Martha Jordan has to do to get her five baby swans to run across the back yard is pull their "mom" along on a rope ? a life-size, plastic swan decoy.

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The fuzzy cygnets, two weeks old, scurry to keep up in a scene that can only be described as impossibly cute.

For all intents and purposes, though, Ms. Jordan is really the baby birds' mom.

A wildlife biologist and authority on swans, Jordan agreed to raise the cygnets until they can be released into the wild.

The babies were hatched by a mating pair of swans at Northwest Trek, a wildlife park near Eatonville. In past years, some of the cygnets hatched there were lost to some of the other inhabitants of the park.

"They were becoming lunch for the bald eagles who live at the lake," Jordan said.

Jordan will raise the cygnets for about 80 days, after which they'll be released in Eastern Oregon. They become fully grown and ready to fly in just over 100 days, she said.

Though the cygnets' fledgling feathers are softer than silk, Jordan says petting them can condition the birds to human contact and make it harder for them to make it in the wild.

"I try not to handle them," she said.

Jordan has served as a foster?parent?for cygnets for 14 of the past 18 years, she said. Usually, she keeps them only for a few weeks and hands them off to another person who has room to house the cygnets as they get bigger.

An adult swan weighs from 25 to nearly 40 pounds and has a wingspan of 7? to 9 feet, according to Jordan.

The person who usually takes the swans from Jordan can't do it this year, so she is having a larger pen built in the back yard of her south Everett home.

Jordan is coordinator of the Washington Swan Stewards, a subsidiary of the Trumpeter Swan Society, a national non-profit organization. The local group provides education about swans and works on habitat conservation.

Trumpeter swans live only in North America and primarily in the Northwest. The other swan species native to the continent is the tundra swan, some of which also winter in the Northwest.

Trumpeter swans are migratory. Those that winter in Western Washington are among the 26,000 that breed in Alaska in the summer, Jordan said. They leave here in March and return in October.

Trumpeter swans are not endangered but their future is only as stable as that of the farmlands on which they depend for food in the winter, Jordan said.

Swans have historically wintered in local wetlands but as those have disappeared, the birds have adapted by landing at farms and eating the corn and other food put out for the livestock, she said. Farmers generally don't mind, Jordan said.

The Skagit Valley is the largest local wintering area, while the Stillaguamish and Snohomish valleys also attract many of the birds, she said.

Hunting Trumpeter swans in Washington state is illegal. Some of the lakes and fields where the swans land, however, are laden with lead buckshot leftover from decades ago or that's been fired at ducks or other waterfowl that may be legally hunted.

Swans ingest small pebbles as grit to help their digestion, and sometimes mistake the buckshot for pebbles, eat them and die from lead poisoning, she said.

Jordan gets paid for some of her work for the swan groups when grants are available. She goes on rescue missions in addition to banding and documenting the birds' whereabouts. But mostly she makes her living as a massage therapist, she said.

Still, she's recognized around the state as a leading authority on swans. She was asked to write the plan for minimizing the effect on swans from the demolition of the Elwha Dam, she said. Jordan confesses that she's sometimes referred to as the "swan lady."

She didn't set out to be a swan expert. Early in her career as a wildlife biologist working with other birds such as migratory geese, she frequently encountered swans and wound up studying them as part of her work.

In 1985, the state paid her to do a comprehensive swan survey.

"By that time, I was hooked on swans," she said.

It hasn't always been as much fun as watching the cygnets run across the lawn. Since 1999, more than 2,300 swans in the state have died from lead poisoning, according to the swan stewards website.

At the height of the die-off around 2003, "I was handling 4,000 pounds of dead swans," Jordan said.

Other times, she's been beaten up by swans when she got too close to a nest. Swans have claws on their webbed feet and hard edges to the front of their wings that they can swing like clubs.

They also have flexible, serrated bills. "They grab you and pinch and then twist and pull," she said.

Still, when she encounters a banded adult swan that she raised as a baby, or when people tell her stories of how swans have inspired them, it makes it all worthwhile, she said.

"You learn about humans and their connection to the land, and all that has come to me through the swan," she said.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/theculture/~3/b43h9gMY9VE/Swan-mom-A-Washington-woman-is-surrogate-for-baby-trumpeters

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Iraq official says Baghdad open to US military aid

BAGHDAD (AP) ? Iraq is open to greater American military cooperation as U.S. commanders explore ways to boost security assistance to the country, a top Iraqi official said Thursday as a fresh wave of bombings claimed 16 lives.

The Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, has recommended that military American commanders look for ways to help improve the military capabilities of Iraq and Lebanon, which both face the risk of spillover from the civil war in neighboring Syria.

Dempsey said Wednesday that the assistance would not involve sending U.S. combat troops, but could involve the U.S. sending in training teams and accelerating sales of weapons and equipment.

The last American combat troops left Iraq in December 2011, ending a nearly nine-year war that cost nearly 4,500 American and more than 100,000 Iraqi lives.

About 100 military and civilian Department of Defense personnel remain in Iraq as an arm of the American Embassy to act as liaisons with the Iraqi government and facilitate arms sales. The U.S. has similar offices in other countries.

Ali al-Moussawi, the media adviser for Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, told The Associated Press that Baghdad would welcome increased arms sales and faster weapons deliveries along with U.S. training teams to help it confront rising regional instability and terrorist threats.

"We welcome this kind of cooperation and we consider it a part of the existing agreement between us," al-Moussawi said when asked about Dempsey's comments.

"Because of the high risks the region faces, I think there should be bigger cooperation and coordination between all countries threatened by terrorism."

Iraq is struggling to contain a resurgent al-Qaida that is one of the main drivers behind the country's worst uptick in violence in half a decade. More than 2,000 people have been killed in car bombings and other violent attacks in Iraq since the start of April.

More violence rocked Iraq late Thursday when bombs struck cafes in and around Baghdad, killing 16 and wounding dozens. The attacks struck in quick succession at the start of the local weekend while the cafes were filled with patrons watching a soccer match.

Police reported five people killed and 17 wounded in Baghdad's largely Sunni neighborhood of Azamiyah, and another three dead and 14 wounded in Shiite-dominated Umm al-Maalif, in the southwestern suburbs of the capital.

Another blast struck the Shiite town of Jbala, about 50 kilometers (35 miles) south of Baghdad, killing 8 and wounding 25.

Hospital officials confirmed the casualty toll. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information to journalists.

The upsurge in violence comes as Iraqi fighters have been traveling to fight on both sides of Syria's civil war. The Iraqi branch of al-Qaida is pushing to make itself a player in the conflict, and now calls itself the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant to highlight its cross-border ambitions.

Iraq has acquired billions of dollars' worth of American-made military equipment, including howitzers, armored personnel carriers and Abrams tanks in recent years.

It has yet to receive the first of as many as 36 F-16 fighter jets it has ordered, and Baghdad has been pressing U.S. officials to speed delivery of the warplanes.

Also on Thursday, a spokesman for Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission said a voting list backed by influential Sunni politicians has won the biggest single bloc of seats in provincial elections in the Sunni-dominated province of Anbar.

Safaa al-Moussawi, a spokesman for the Independent High Electoral commission, said the United list led by Iraqi Parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi won 8 of 30 seats in Anbar's provincial council. A bloc backed by al-Maliki came in second with five seats.

The western province of Anbar, a former al-Qaida stronghold, has been the center of anti-government rallies protesting what Sunnis say is their second-class treatment by the Shiite-led government.

Residents in Anbar and neighboring Ninevah province voted last week in local elections that had been delayed due to security concerns.

___

Associated Press writers Sameer N. Yacoub and Adam Schreck contributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iraq-official-says-baghdad-open-us-military-aid-142850054.html

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Julia Stiles: Love in the Time of Technology - Huffington Post

"Who could refrain, that had a heart to love? And in that heart, courage to... text message?"

I met a young couple recently, in the throes of their newly formed love affair. The kind where they can't keep their hands of each other, tipsy in their own bubble of pheromones. I asked how they met, because I love those stories. The wicked part of me is rapt watching a couple squirm, or swoon, if the stories are different. Two people can reveal so much in the retelling of their early memories. When "boy meets girl" doesn't match "girl meets boy," how they treat each other in front of an audience is the key. I also relish the stuff of old movies -- unexpected love-at-first-sight, spontaneous eye contact on the subway, and stolen kisses in a rainstorm. If you scripted it, you'd win a Razzie.

This particular couple met on Facebook, sort of. A friend of the Dude wanted to set him up, but before this Dude could commit to a blind date, he had to see what the Chick looked like. And so, Facebook to the rescue! It all worked out in the end, and the Chick even giggled proudly at the origins of her spring romance.

It's customary now for people to exchange social media accounts instead of phone numbers, even if there is romantic interest. It's less risky, too. Becoming a Facebook friend or a Twitter follower doesn't reveal too much about anyone's intentions. Courtship in the virtual world allows for a somewhat imaginary exchange, full of connection and surprise, but always at a distance. The more communication via text message outnumbers actual physical encounters, the more conceptual the interaction becomes. We are essentially talking to little blue and green cartoon bubbles on a screen, and our memory of the person at the other end.

I sometimes wonder what life would have been like for my grandparent's generation, had they been able to court each other online. Back in the 1950s, Sylvia Plath, poet and ill-fated wife of Ted Hughes, famously bit his cheek upon their first encounter at a party. That kind of passion couldn't possibly be captured with a mobile device, but I imagine the flirtatious exchange that would follow; "How's the cheek?" accompanied by a winking emoticon. ;)

As of two years ago, I was reluctant to join Facebook. (We've since had a honeymoon that ended a month later, and as of this moment we are "still working on it.") If you had asked this (former) Luddite about Twitter, I would have held up my flip-phone and rolled my eyes. First, because I righteously thought it would be the downfall of society -- narcissistic, voyeuristic, and a recipe for shortened attention spans. Second, and more importantly, because I feared what would happen if I could impulsively broadcast my inner thoughts to anyone who gave a crap. (And third, who could possibly give a crap?) I finally caved, largely due to curiosity. Admittedly, Twitter is like my mistress, and I have shed (most of) my guilt over the shameless self promotion she brings out in me. Initially, I felt illiterate trying to decode the language in Twittersphere. Hashtag, what? Arroba, who? At best, it is succinct; at worst, we have created expressions that are entirely meaningless. An extreme example: I heart you.

I recently wrote a series for the Web (#paloma, @wigs, HASHTAG Shameless Self Promotion Alert) that is a rumination on the ephemeral nature of love. The title character shares coffee the morning after a one-night stand and reflects, "In some languages, to say, 'I love you,' you actually say, 'I want you... There's a big difference," she observes. Particularly with our dwindling attention spans, romantic commitment seems increasingly difficult. She wonders where will this one will lead, as she looks at her new crush. What ultimately sabotages the couple in Paloma is simply the idea of attraction to someone outside the pair. Without any infidelity, the relationship is fractured when Paloma lights up in front of another man. Mental cheating, if you will.

With the advent of social networks and mobile conversations, we are always somewhat absent when we are present. We have one part of our brain out the door, engaged with people and places other than where we actually reside. Even when focused on what is in front of us, an experience is often overshadowed by a need to document it for broadcast later. We need an audience to validate an event, or make it less mundane. If no one tweets about it, did it make a sound? There is now potentially always a third party present, that of the audience in cyber space. Strange bedfellows, to be sure.

To watch "Paloma" visit the WIGS website.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julia-stiles/love-in-the-time-of-techology_b_3418502.html

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Jay-Z's 'Annie' Remake Lands Its Miss Hannigan

Cameron Diaz will join Quvenzhane Wallis and Jamie Foxx in long-awaited remake.
By Jocelyn Vena

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1709669/jay-z-annie-remake-cameron-diaz-hannigan.jhtml

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Senate on verge of historic immigration vote

FILE ? In this May 9, 2013, file photo Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., left, confers with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., as the Senate Judiciary Committee meets on immigration reform on Capitol Hill in Washington. Republicans are deeply split over the immigration bill now steaming toward Senate passage, with business allies pulling in one direction and tea party supporters in the other. The divide makes the bill's fate unpredictable in the House and complicates the party's campaign to broaden its appeal among Hispanic voters. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

FILE ? In this May 9, 2013, file photo Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., left, confers with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., as the Senate Judiciary Committee meets on immigration reform on Capitol Hill in Washington. Republicans are deeply split over the immigration bill now steaming toward Senate passage, with business allies pulling in one direction and tea party supporters in the other. The divide makes the bill's fate unpredictable in the House and complicates the party's campaign to broaden its appeal among Hispanic voters. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Senate is on the cusp of approving historic immigration legislation offering citizenship to millions in the U.S. illegally and spending billions of dollars to secure the border.

The vote on final passage of the White House-backed bill was expected as early as Thursday, after a series of test votes so far this week demonstrated supporters command a bipartisan majority well over the 60 votes needed to secure passage and send the bill to the House. First must come two more procedural tests set for Thursday.

"We're on the edge of passing one of the most significant pieces of legislation that this body has passed in a very long time," Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor Wednesday. "The vast majority of members in this body realize that the immigration system is broken and needs fixing."

Supporters posted 67 votes or more on each of three procedural tests Wednesday. More than a dozen Republicans sided with Democrats on each, ensuring bipartisan support that the bill's backers hope will change minds in the House.

The outlook there is uncertain. Many in the GOP-controlled House oppose the pathway to citizenship at the center of the Senate bill. And many prefer a piecemeal approach rather than a sweeping bill like the one the Senate is producing.

The House Judiciary Committee is in the midst of a piece-by-piece effort, signing off Wednesday on legislation to establish a system requiring all employers within two years to check their workers' legal status.

The Judiciary Committee was turning its attention Thursday to a bill on high-skilled workers. Last week it approved two more measures, one on agriculture workers and a second to make illegal presence in the country a federal crime, instead of a civil offense as it is now.

At its core, the legislation in the Senate includes numerous steps to prevent future illegal immigration, while at the same time it offers a chance at citizenship to the 11 million immigrants now living in the country unlawfully.

It provides for 20,000 new Border Patrol agents, requires the completion of 700 miles of fencing and requires an array of high-tech devices to be deployed to secure the border with Mexico.

Businesses would be required to check on the legal status of prospective employees. Other provisions would expand the number of visas for highly skilled workers relied upon by the technology industry. A separate program would be established for lower-skilled workers, and farm workers would be admitted under a temporary program.

The basic legislation was drafted by four Democrats and four Republicans who met privately for months to produce a rare bipartisan compromise in a polarized Senate. They fended off unwanted changes in the Senate Judiciary Committee and then were involved in negotiations with Republican Sens. John Hoeven of North Dakota and Bob Corker of Tennessee on a package of tougher border security provisions that swelled support among Republicans.

Outnumbered critics insist the bill falls short of the promises made for it.

Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., called it "the mother of all amnesties."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-06-27-Immigration/id-037ef159990f432081b01df17bc6b23e

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Solar power heads in a new direction: Thinner

June 26, 2013 ? Most efforts at improving solar cells have focused on increasing the efficiency of their energy conversion, or on lowering the cost of manufacturing. But now MIT researchers are opening another avenue for improvement, aiming to produce the thinnest and most lightweight solar panels possible.

Such panels, which have the potential to surpass any substance other than reactor-grade uranium in terms of energy produced per pound of material, could be made from stacked sheets of one-molecule-thick materials such as graphene or molybdenum disulfide.

Jeffrey Grossman, the Carl Richard Soderberg Associate Professor of Power Engineering at MIT, says the new approach "pushes towards the ultimate power conversion possible from a material" for solar power. Grossman is the senior author of a new paper describing this approach, published in the journal Nano Letters.

Although scientists have devoted considerable attention in recent years to the potential of two-dimensional materials such as graphene, Grossman says, there has been little study of their potential for solar applications. It turns out, he says, "they're not only OK, but it's amazing how well they do."

Using two layers of such atom-thick materials, Grossman says, his team has predicted solar cells with 1 to 2 percent efficiency in converting sunlight to electricity, That's low compared to the 15 to 20 percent efficiency of standard silicon solar cells, he says, but it's achieved using material that is thousands of times thinner and lighter than tissue paper. The two-layer solar cell is only 1 nanometer thick, while typical silicon solar cells can be hundreds of thousands of times that. The stacking of several of these two-dimensional layers could boost the efficiency significantly.

"Stacking a few layers could allow for higher efficiency, one that competes with other well-established solar cell technologies," says Marco Bernardi, a postdoc in MIT's Department of Materials Science who was the lead author of the paper. Maurizia Palummo, a senior researcher at the University of Rome visiting MIT through the MISTI Italy program, was also a co-author.

For applications where weight is a crucial factor -- such as in spacecraft, aviation or for use in remote areas of the developing world where transportation costs are significant -- such lightweight cells could already have great potential, Bernardi says.

Pound for pound, he says, the new solar cells produce up to 1,000 times more power than conventional photovoltaics. At about one nanometer (billionth of a meter) in thickness, "It's 20 to 50 times thinner than the thinnest solar cell that can be made today," Grossman adds. "You couldn't make a solar cell any thinner."

This slenderness is not only advantageous in shipping, but also in ease of mounting solar panels. About half the cost of today's panels is in support structures, installation, wiring and control systems, expenses that could be reduced through the use of lighter structures.

In addition, the material itself is much less expensive than the highly purified silicon used for standard solar cells -- and because the sheets are so thin, they require only minuscule amounts of the raw materials.

John Hart, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, chemical engineering and art and design at the University of Michigan, says, "This is an exciting new approach to designing solar cells, and moreover an impressive example of how complementary nanostructured materials can be engineered to create new energy devices." Hart, who will be joining the MIT faculty this summer but had no involvement in this research, adds that, "I expect the mechanical flexibility and robustness of these thin layers would also be attractive."

The MIT team's work so far to demonstrate the potential of atom-thick materials for solar generation is "just the start," Grossman says. For one thing, molybdenum disulfide and molybdenum diselenide, the materials used in this work, are just two of many 2-D materials whose potential could be studied, to say nothing of different combinations of materials sandwiched together. "There's a whole zoo of these materials that can be explored," Grossman says. "My hope is that this work sets the stage for people to think about these materials in a new way."

While no large-scale methods of producing molybdenum disulfide and molybdenum diselenide exist at this point, this is an active area of research. Manufacturability is "an essential question," Grossman says, "but I think it's a solvable problem."

An additional advantage of such materials is their long-term stability, even in open air; other solar-cell materials must be protected under heavy and expensive layers of glass. "It's essentially stable in air, under ultraviolet light, and in moisture," Grossman says. "It's very robust."

The work so far has been based on computer modeling of the materials, Grossman says, adding that his group is now trying to produce such devices. "I think this is the tip of the iceberg in terms of utilizing 2-D materials for clean energy" he says.

This work was supported by the MIT Energy Initiative.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/8FVH4mhCcNE/130626153926.htm

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A Garbage-Crushing Trash Can You Control With Your Bare Hands

Who likes taking out the trash? Nobody, that's who. We'll do anything we can to avoid trips to the curb, or the garbage chute, including letting it pile up for weeks on end. But a giant mountain of stinking trash in your kitchen isn't the only solution. This stainless steel trash can includes a manual compressor letting you squeeze roughly twice the amount of trash into its 10 gallon capacity.

It's kind of like having your own personal garbage truck, except that it's not waking you up at six o'clock in the morning. At $200 it is a pricey alternative to less capable garbage cans, but you have to factor in all the quality time you'll be gaining with this. Not to mention the sheer joy when you're able to squeeze one more empty chip bag in there, instead of having to empty it. [Frontgate via The Green Head]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/a-garbage-crushing-trash-can-you-control-with-your-bare-584924314

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Not So Sure This Thing's Done (talking-points-memo)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/315452224?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Health Insurance Innovations: Reform Sets Stage For A 2014 Home ...

Health Insurance Innovations' (HIIQ) CEO and Chairman Michael Kosloske envisions "tremendous year-over-year growth in '13 and a home run in '14." Actually more like a grand slam, as our projections of industry evolving tailwinds indicate a potential 93% upsurge in 18 months. We believe the recent sell-off due to cautionary guidance and increasing competition from bigger players, WellPoint (WLP), is short-sighted and overblown. Our FY2014 estimated fair value of $17.22 is based on a forward P/E of 14x.

COMPANY OVERVIEW

Health Insurance Innovations was founded by Michael Kosloske in 2007 and IPO'd this past February. Kosloske is an industry pioneer in online health insurance as he presided over HPA (founded by his grandfather) from 1987 to 2007 when he sold-out to IHC. HIIQ operates similar to HPA in designing affordable Short-Term Medical (STM), Hospital Indemnity, and Ancillary Product insurance plans that are sold online. STMs are a niche product within the individual insurance market that provides a low-cost alternative to the traditional Individual Major Medical (IMM) plans. The STM health insurance plans are appealing to individuals outside employer group plans which include small business owners and their employees, early retirees, part-time and seasonal workers, and the unemployed. Hospital Indemnities are insurance plans that pay hospital patients cash for the days spent in the hospital and are typically targeted at individuals with high-deductible policies. Ancillary Products are stick-on plans such as dental, critical illness, pharmacy benefit cards, and cancer plans. Each plan is underwritten by top-shelf insurance carriers: CIGNA (CI), ING, Markel, Starr Indemnity, United States Fire, and Companion Life, therefore, HIIQ assumes no underwriting risk, no reimbursement risk, does not have to settle claims, and is not held to any minimum loss ratios. Thus, HIIQ is less risky and very lean compared to the industry as there is no need for claims or underwriting departments. The company has a wide and growing distribution network with 54 agent call centers (up from 32 last November), 274 wholesalers including Marsh&McLennan (MCC), eHealthInsurance, Aon (AON) and MasterCard (MA), and 8965 licensed brokers.

The business model is constructed around a proprietary online platform that provides a win-win-win proposition for the insurance carriers, distributors, and policyholders or 'members.' The platform allows members quick and easy access to health insurance at HIIQ.com and distributor web-sites. Plans can be quoted, bought, and printed in a matter of minutes for about half the cost of a IMM health plan. The "wins" for distributors are: attractive compensation in a declining commission environment, turnkey solutions to customize and bundle plans among carriers through one website, and real-time sales conversions. The "wins" for carriers include access to a large member base with no pre-existing conditions and real-time sales for quicker cash conversion. Management credits this model with building strong relationships in which the team has not lost a carrier in over 10 years. The model is also highly scalable with strong operating leverage as customer care personnel are unnecessary.

INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

Beginning January 2014, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will require Americans to possess a health insurance plan or suffer a monetary penalty come tax day 2015. The ACA's goal is to have each individual's health covered and eventually reduce the cost of healthcare over the long term. Several surveys suggest the current number of uninsured is ~50 million individuals. A 2011 McKinsey survey approximates an additional ~40-50 million people will enter the uninsured pool in 2014 due to being dropped from their employer's group plans. The reasoning is that employers with >50 employees will get hit with only a $2000 penalty for dropping coverage, which is meaningfully less than the estimated $10,000+ per employee health plan (employers with <50 employees face no penalty). Adding the two pools is 90+ million people and combining the current ~14 million people with individual health insurance creates a 100+ million addressable market for 2014. The estimated spend on the ~14 million individual health insurance plans is $50 billion annually and reaching 100+ million would result in a projected $350+ billion spend.

Competition is very intense and highly concentrated as 30 states had one carrier controlling over half the individual insurance market. The online marketplace is also heating up as Blue Cross - Blue Shield, a major licensor to WellPoint, just announced a plan to open online exchanges in several states beginning October 1st. However, HIIQ management believes its online platform provides an edge by creating a value-added proposition for each constituent and should primarily benefit members as a lowest-cost policy provider. The closest competitor is the largest online health insurance provider/exchange, eHealthInsurance, which is also a partner of HIIQ.

The recent decline in stock price began on the Q1 earnings call when management issued cautionary guidance that triggered a one-day drop of nearly 15%. The cautionary guidance referenced an LA Times article concerning a loophole within the ACA that allows health insurers to extend existing individual health policies into the year 2014. It was previously believed that as of January '14 all insurance plans would be switched to fall under ACA guidelines. An excerpt from the earnings call:

"Starting second quarter of 2013 some industry participants are temporarily taking advantage of an ACA loophole? what's happening is a few of the insurance companies are lowering their individual major medical premiums. They are paying full commissions, they are advancing those commissions nine months and they are paying a $500 bonus in addition to that, which we do not feel is economically feasible. So there are some headwinds moving forward that started in April. We know that this will end by January '14, because it will not be legal once ACA takes effect and we think that this is a temporary headwind? We have taken into account these new circumstances that have created some headwind. We have taken a conservative approach in projecting 25% to 35% organic premium equivalent growth year-over-year." - CEO Kosloske

In other words carriers are paying up in an effort to retain their healthiest members. We want to emphasize the choice words of 'few' and 'temporary' and 'conservative' as later in the Q&A the CEO responded to a related question, "I see a few, a very few carriers that are taking advantage of that loophole." From this, while we are delighted with a conservative approach, the resulting month-long sell-off of over 45% (as of last Thursday's close) is unmerited as we believe the overall big picture remains soundly intact.

INVESTMENT SUMMARY (TOP-DOWN)

ACA reform transforms the health insurance landscape shifting employer group policies to the individual insurance market. This is directly beneficial to HIIQ as its products are specifically designed for individuals. Projections for the shift from employer plans are an increase of 40-50 million people to the individual market. We believe the people dropped from their employers' coverage are more likely than the current uninsured to purchase a new individual plan by 2014. Reasons could be they are more accustomed to carrying health insurance and realize the benefits of having coverage. We conservatively assume 20 million of the people dropped from group plans will obtain an individual plan by 2014. For HIIQ, this is a direct increase to their addressable market and alleviates some fears surrounding big industry players entering the STM market. Since the larger competitors are concentrated on providing group policies, they are the ones losing market share upon the shift. Hence, the best they can accomplish by moving into the individual market is to maintain share. If we assume HIIQ will also maintain their current market share, which is miniscule: $75 million in premium equivalents / $50 billion individual market = .15% share x 20 million people = 30,000 new policies for 2014. Q1 '13 STM revenue per policy in force was: $291.30 x (30,000 new) = $8,739,000 new STM revenue for 2014. In Q1 '13, STM revenue was 57% of total revenue, if we assume the recent trend in the product mix continues, STM revenue at 50% of total suggests ~$17.5+ million in new revenue from the individuals that are dropped from employer plans.

The estimated 50 million currently uninsured will be required to obtain health insurance or face a penalty. The penalties are extremely light until 2016:

	2014	2015	2016
Flat Penalty	$95	$325	$695
or % of income	1%	2%	2.5%
avg. income $42,693	$427	$854	$1,067
break even income to pay flat penalty	$9,500	$16,250	$27,800

The stipulations are the greater of the flat penalty or the % of income, which elevates as each year passes. The average American with income of $42,693 would be paying the percentage of income penalty in all years for not carrying a health plan. The bottom row shows how much an individual can earn before being charged the percentage of income penalty. The average STM plan is believed to be a cost of $1800/year, but on eHealthInsurance.com the average cost in 2011 was $804. The lowest price in our zip code for a 30-year old non-smoking male was $360. With an assumption near the middle of $600 annually ($50/month), it would be cheaper for the currently uninsured person (earning up to $59,999) to continue for all of 2014 without health insurance and pay the penalty, which would cost $599. In 2015 and 2016 the income limits would be $29,999 and $23,999, respectively. The uninsured by income earned is:

Income	% of Uninsured
<$11,500 Fed. Poverty Level	29%
$11,500 - $23,000	30.00%
$23,000 - $46,000	28.20%
>$46,000	13.10%

Therefore, 2014 is concerned with only the portion of the earners at >$46,000 income or 13.1%. Additionally, of the ~50 million uninsured, only 25.5 million are employed (excluding children and military) which results in ~6.5% or just over 3 million. Of the ~18 million Americans that are both uninsured and unemployed, we assume 9 million will obtain a plan through subsidies. Adding the two numbers represents ~12 million of the currently uninsured that is assumed to obtain health insurance for 2014. Using the same math/method from the above section suggests revenue from the uninsured portion would be ~$10.5 million.

(000's)	2014E Revenue
Dropped from coverage	17.5
Previously uninsured	10.5
2013E * 79% retention	43.5
Total	71.5

INVESTMENT SUMMARY (BOTTOM-UP)

Greater penetration through strategic growth initiatives focused on increasing awareness should (at a minimum) allow HIIQ to maintain its current growth level as the industry dynamics play out. Most Americans and even some insurance brokers are perceived as having no awareness to the existence of STMs. In order to build this awareness, HIIQ is expanding distribution channels and lead generation methods. The two key initiatives are partnering with 10-20 new call centers per year and advancing commissions to proven brokers for paying upfront lead costs. Both initiatives have been highly successful as the number of call centers has grown from 32 to 54 in ~six months and policies in force have grown 52.5% y/y. In addition, the company is seeking to increase market share in Hospital Indemnities and Ancillary Products through cross-selling and expanding offerings. This strategy has also been a success with Hospital Indemnity and Ancillary plans in force growing 62.3% and 93.5% y/y, respectively.

Plans In Force	Q1 12	Q1 13	% y/y
STM	20,044	24,459	22.0%
Hospital Indemnity	5,370	8,714	62.3%
Ancillary Products	13,631	26,372	93.5%
Total	39,045	59,546	52.5%

Aside from future industry tailwinds and the increase in selling agents, HIIQ grew premiums over 40% in 2012. Therefore, it is easy to foresee as the addressable market experiences a giant influx in 2014, that HIIQ has the potential to compound its small footprint at a rapid pace. Thus, management's mention of a 'home run' could actually be a 'grand slam.' However, we remain highly guarded as to the risks of the uncertain regulatory future and also to the fact the business model could be quickly replicated; thus, we assume a growth level in line with updated guidance of 30%.

	2012	2013E	2014E
Premium Equivalents	$75,782	$98,517	128,072
Less: Risk Premium and 3rd Party payments	$33,932	$43,348	$56,352
Revenue	$41,940	$55,169	$71,720

Highly scalable platform provides significant operating leverage from an expected boost in volume. In the Q1 earnings call management cited, "we can grow our revenue $100 million and only add a handful of administrative staff and systems specialists?with minimal capex." As stated above, HIIQ operates with zero need for claims, or underwriting, or customer care personnel and thus, only has 79 employees. This is compared to large competitors with 50,000+ employees. During Q1, management bought out Ivan Spinner of TSG Agency, a director of growing the call center business, for a cash expense of $5.5 million, which will reduce third-party commissions by an expected $1 million in 2013, and incrementally going forward.

	2011	2012	2013E	2014E
Revenues	29,878	41,940	55,169	71,720
Third-party commissions	21,704	27,858	32,787	38,172
ACH fees	670	963	1,269	1,650
G&A expenses	4,762	8,611	8,882	9,137
D&A	298	1,012	903	954
Total op. expenses	27,434	38,444	43,841	49,913
Operating income	2,444	3,496	11,328	21,807
% of revenue
Third-party commissions	72.64%	66.42%	59.43%	53.22%
ACH fees	2.24%	2.30%	2.30%	2.30%
G&A expenses	15.94%	20.53%	16.10%	12.74%
D&A	1.00%	2.41%	1.64%	1.33%
Total op. expenses	91.82%	91.66%	79.47%	69.59%
Operating income	8.18%	8.34%	20.53%	30.41%

VALUATION

Base Case. Referencing the McKinsey survey, management provided analysts with a top-down view suggesting reform could expand the individual insurance market from ~14 million people spending $50 billion to ~100+ million people spending $350+ billion. In our view, considering the level of uncertainty surrounding reform changes and people's desire to obtain health insurance, we predict a lower addressable market for 2014 of 46 million people. Our computation of market share and premium equivalent growth led to an estimated revenue of $71.7 million. In our bottom-up view, despite the high probability of industry tailwinds creating a grand slam for HIIQ, we remain cautious to the stated risks and increased competition, and extrapolate management's guided mid-point, resulting in forecasted 2014 revenue of $71.5 million. The two views are very close and using the bottom-up number we get:

	2011	2012	Adj. 2013E	2014E
Premium Equivalents	53,206	75,872	98,517	128,072
Revenues	29,878	41,940	55,169	71,20
Oper. Income	2,444	3,496	11,328	21,807
EBITDA	2,742	4,508	12,231	22,761
Net Income	2,373	3,260	10,768	18,406
EPS		0.24	0.74	1.23

Forward P/E multiple of 14 x $1.23 = $17.22 PT

The closest competitor, EHTH, is trading at a FY2014 forward P/E of 32.5. Larger carriers, though not as comparable, are trading at a FY2014 forward P/E around 9x - 10x. Considering HIIQ is less risky, leaner, and has the ability to grow exponentially, we believe it deserves a higher multiple than the average. Though, we also realize the level of uncertainty holds significant weight and choose to apply a 14x forward multiple, resulting in our 2014 price target of $17.22. We treat 2013 as a transition year due to a number of one-time expenses and IPO related costs, in which our forecasted expenses are adjusted to best estimate. Therefore, it is more appropriate to give an 18 month price target. Also, on account of industry uncertainty and HIIQ's microscopic footprint, the effort to forecast a long-term horizon is tremendously difficult. Hence, we choose to wait until further developments take place.

COMMON STOCK STRUCTURE

HIIQ has two classes of stock: Class A and Class B. The float consists of Class A and has ordinary claims on operations and voting rights. Class A represents ~39% of total or about 5.2 million shares. Class B represents Chairman and CEO Michael Kosloske's stake of ~62 of total or about 8.6 million shares. Class B also has claims on operations and the same voting rights as Class A. Class B can only be extinguished by conversion into Class A stock, which contains tax implications for HIIQ. The purpose of this structure is most likely to ward off takeover attempts. We view HIIQ's Class A shares as an excellent opportunity to invest alongside a highly capable owner that is a pioneer to the online health insurance market. We also believe since Mr. Kosloske has a controlling interest and previously sold his last company, that HIIQ may be an eventual buy-out target.

RISKS

The most prevalent risk is the uncertainty of the reform's acceptance amongst individuals and each state government. In addition, delays and lack of detailed enforcement by the government can create increased confusion. Any partnership terminated or renegotiated by a large carrier or distributor may adversely affect HIIQ's operations; at year end 2012, Starr Indemnity, United States Fire, and Companion Life accounted for 46%, 25%, and 22% of premium equivalents, respectively. A third-party association, Med-Sense Guaranteed had 80.9% of HIIQ's business become members of the association. Any disruption with Med-Sense would significantly impact operations. We view this as limited as CFO Hershberger was previously president of Med-Sense. Another widespread risk is the expected increase in competition for the lower-end market, which we believe is limited due to the size of the industry tailwinds in relation to HIIQ's footprint. If the lack of awareness of HIIQ and its products persists, then growth might not be as high as expected. HIIQ's business model is easily replicable.

CONCLUSION

The probability of Health Insurance Innovations hitting a grand slam in 2014 is more likely than not. HIIQ's build out of distributors and call centers should effectively penetrate an expanding health insurance market allowing growth rates to remain elevated. At currently oversold levels we believe shares represent a highly attractive risk/reward especially given our use of cautiously low assumptions and a lower multiple of only 14x.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, but may initiate a long position in HIIQ over the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. (More...)

Source: http://seekingalpha.com/article/1519312-health-insurance-innovations-reform-sets-stage-for-a-2014-home-run?source=feed

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Obama's Climate Change Agenda a Solution in Search of a Problem

Yahoo News asked voters to comment on President Barack Obama's climate change plan, which he largely unveiled in a speech on Tuesday. Here's one response.

COMMENTARY l When the president delivered a speech detailing his latest assault on climate change, he presented a solution in search of a problem. Despite his insistence, which approached Al Gore levels of silliness, that the science of global warming is settled, President Obama is wide of the mark on his facts.

As Forbes pointed out recently, the rise in global temperatures stopped in the late 1990s and has not resumed since even though 100 billion tons of carbon have been pumped into the atmosphere between 2000 and 2010.

The president also intends to double down on his green energy folly, supporting alternative energy technologies before they are ready for the marketplace. The embarrassment of Solyendra has clearly not cooled his enthusiasm for environmentally correct boondoggles.

His insistence that energy efficiency standards be imposed on appliances and cars by government fiat completes the folly.

President Obama's environmental/green energy agenda has already failed the test of the democratic process. Even when Congress was controlled entirely by Democrats, it recoiled from passing cap and trade. So the president intends to use executive orders and the regulatory process to get his way no matter what Congress or the people think.

The result of all of this, if not stopped, will be a punch in the gut to the weak economy, a loss of jobs, and all for no purpose whatsoever except, as an adviser stated according to the Weekly Standard, to wage a "war on coal."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obamas-climate-change-agenda-solution-search-problem-001000474.html

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Laser guided codes advance single pixel terahertz imaging

June 25, 2013 ? The universe is awash in terahertz (THz) waves, as harmless as they are abundant. But unlike other regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, THz has proven to be extremely difficult to manipulate in order to capture novel images of objects and materials with which these light waves interact.

Most existing THz imaging devices employ prohibitively expensive technology or require several hours and cumbersome manual controls in order to generate a viable image, according to Boston College Professor of Physics Willie J. Padilla.

Padilla and researchers in his lab recently reported a breakthrough in efforts to create accessible and effective THz imaging. Using both optical and electronic controls, the team developed a single-pixel imaging technique that uses a coded aperture to quickly and efficiently manipulate stubborn THz waves, according to a recent report in the journal Optics Express.

In the so-called terahertz gap, a region of wavelengths that falls between microwave and infrared frequencies, conventional electronic sensors and semiconductor devices are ineffective. Some systems capture only a fraction of a scene and the means to tune these THz waves are inefficient. This has fueled the search for new imaging technologies in order to manipulate THz waves.

Efforts to overcome the challenges of mechanics, cost and image clarity are viewed as a crucial step in efforts to tame the THz gap since imaging and sensing at this frequency holds the potential for advances in areas as divergent as chemical fingerprinting, security imaging of hidden weapons, even real-time skin imaging to promote simple detection of skin cancer.

Central to this challenge is the development of a technology to create efficient masks -- similar to the aperture of a camera -- capable of tuning THz radiation in order to produce clear images in just a few seconds.

Padilla and graduate students David Shrekenhamer and Claire M. Watts report their new single pixel imaging method centers on what they describe as a "coded aperture multiplex technique" where a laser beam and electronic signals are used to send a set of instructions to a semiconductor so it can guide the reproduction of the image of an object after THz waves have passed through it.

A digital micro-mirror device encodes the laser beam with instructions that direct certain segments of the silicon mask to react and allow a selected sample of the THz waves to pass freely through, consistent with the image pattern. The combination of optical instructions and the reaction of the semiconductor create a THz spatial light modulator, the team reports. Functioning like the aperture of a conventional camera, the modulator then guides the digital reconstruction of the entire image based on a broad sampling of THz waves that have passed through the object.

The team's experiments found the method could produce masks of varying resolutions, ranging from 63 to 1023 pixels and acquire images at speeds up to .5 Hz, or about 2 seconds. The early findings "demonstrate the viability of obtaining real-time and high-fidelity THz images using an optically controlled SLM with a single pixel detector," the team concluded.

Padilla said the findings have spurred additional research by his lab into ways to further control THz waves, such as by using the intricate patterns of an engineered metamaterial to further manipulate terahertz waves to create images faster and with increased efficiency.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/computers_math/information_technology/~3/KpntEshym90/130625141221.htm

nicole richie

Live coverage of George Zimmerman murder trial

After spending a few days roasting over an open fire, Paula Deen is cooked. She lost her job with the Food Network on Friday meaning that she is, for all intents and purposes, gone from our lives now. But an unusual voice spoke up in her defense last night: professional opinioner Bill Maher. Eater pointed us towards this video of Maher defending the former Food Network star on last night's?Real Time with Bill Maher. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/george-zimmerman-murder-trial--live-video-and-chat-222843188.html

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How To Select The Perfect Home Based Business | EatingLinks.tk ...

How To Select The Perfect Home Based Business Today, many people are taking advantage of the flexible work and turning to home based businesses which means there are plenty of opportunities and options for those who want to start a home based business. One of the first steps towards having success with a home based [...]

The post How To Select The Perfect Home Based Business appeared first on Free PLR.

Detta inl?gg postades i Based, Business, Home, Home Business, Perfect, Select den av Ottsj?tanten.

Source: http://eatinglinks.tk/2013/06/23/how-to-select-the-perfect-home-based-business/

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College basketball: Ex-UA staffer trying to put NAU on track - Arizona Daily Star

College basketball: Ex-UA staffer trying to put NAU on track Arizona Daily Star Olson himself was at Murphy's home debut last season in Flagstaff and as a show of support for the Lumberjacks program, former Arizona Wildcats star Andre Iguodala bought season tickets. The moral of the story? Once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat. Read ?

Source: Sports ? Lumberjacks

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/flagstafftoday/~3/fs0hhvCw-NU/

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