Missing woman found dead at bottom of Chicago high-rise trash chute

The body of an elderly woman missing since Saturday was found Monday at the bottom of a trash chute of the Chicago high-rise building in which she lived.

Florence Banta, 80, lived on the 17th floor of the Astor Condominiums, in the 1500 block of North Astor Street.

Her body was found on the ground floor of the trash chute by a building engineer, a Cook County Medical Examiner's Office spokeswoman said.

The building is the same in which a 16-year-old fell to his death in a trash chute a little more than a year ago.

A spokesman at Chicago's Department of Buildings explained at that time that the city code -- written with fire safety in mind -- required a minimum of 18-inch clearance so trash could fall safely but said nothing about maximum size or safety concerns for people or animals.

Banta had previously been reported missing and had last been seen Saturday, said police spokeswoman Antoinette Ursitti.

Read more from NBCChicago.com

Authorites were not releasing further information about Banta's death on Monday evening.

An autopsy to determine manner and cause was scheduled for Tuesday.

NBCChicago.com

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Teen falls 46 stories to death down high-rise garbage chute

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Light tsunami in a superconductor

Apr. 3, 2013 ? In their latest experiment, Prof. Andrea Cavalleri from the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter at the Hamburg-based Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL) and Dr. Michael Gensch from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) investigated together with other colleagues from the HZDR, the United Kingdom, and Japan if and how superconductivity can be systematically controlled. The objective of their research is to improve the usability of superconducting materials for such new technologies as, for example, the processing of information.

For this purpose, and for a better understanding of the underlying phenomena, it is essential to increase the critical temperature -- critical temperature means that materials below this value are superconducting. Today, most superconductors only function at very low temperatures.

Typically, modern high temperature superconductors are solids which consist of a stack of thin layers, similar to the pages in a book. These layers are conductive and transport electricity. However, no electricity can flow from layer to layer at room temperature since those electrons which are responsible for the current flow can only move freely in the respective layer. If, however, such a layer stack is cooled to the right temperature, then superconductivity occurs along all directions. But there is one difference: While the electrons flow inside a layer without any resistance, these electrons can now also move from layer to layer by "tunneling" through the insulating areas located between these layers. Dr. Gensch explains: "Already the geometry suggests that the mechanisms of superconductivity are different inside and between the layers. We were interested in how the electrons transport this property vertically from layer to layer and/or whether we would be able to control this transport without disrupting the superconductivity in the horizontal layers."

For their experiments, the researchers used one of the HZDR's two free electron lasers (FELBE) which generates laser flashes of a specific, freely adjustable wavelength between the infrared and the microwave range. If such a short terahertz flash penetrates the material layers of the superconductor at the right frequency, then it deactivates the superconductivity very selectively and locally by directly changing the tunneling properties of the electrons found between the superconducting layers. More precisely, the light generates a pair of normal-conducting vortex currents which rotate in opposite directions. These vortices then move through the superconductor with the light. A so-called soliton wave is formed. What's so special about these waves: They always retain their shape irrespective of any faults in the superconductor. This resembles the behavior of such known soliton waves as, for example, tsunamis; the shape of which is also not influenced by any ground dislocations or irregularities.

The vortices moving through the superconductor also alter the optical properties of the material -- it becomes slightly transparent. While not for visible light, this is the case for wavelengths in the terahertz regime. The laser flashes last only for a few picoseconds, i.e. the billionth part of a second, so the scientists are able to observe all processes -- such as the emergence of the vortices and their soliton movement -- directly along this very fast time scale. The team headed by Prof. Cavalleri had successfully achieved something similar already once before. But back then, the scientists had only been able to quickly and consecutively switch the entire superconductivity off and on again between the layers. For the first time ever, the experiment in Dresden successfully managed to switch off the superconductivity very precisely and, above all, also locally -- and to stabilize this state almost ten times longer than has been the case before.

In particular, the physicists expect a number of new applications from these light generated vortices inside superconductors. Since they move through the crystal just like a tsunami irrespective of any faults or irregularities, these vortices are perfectly suited to store and transport information inside them. Information is transported within DNA like soliton waves. The experiment, which furnished proof and demonstrated that the vortices can be controlled by laser light, has the physicists in Prof. Cavalleri's team already dreaming about new opportunities for information processing in superconductors.

Superconductors under Constant Bombardment

For a number of years now, intense pulses in the invisible terahertz range (0.1 THz -- 10 THz) have been sparking enormous interest among scientists who investigate such so-called complex materials as high temperature superconductors. This is due to the specific properties of this long-wave radiation which has wavelengths between 0.03 and three millimeters. The energy per light particle is so low that the radiation doesn't really interact anymore directly with the electrons in a material, but instead, for example, with the atomic lattice. Sufficiently strong sources have been available for this purpose only for a couple of years now. The strongest terahertz pulses are generated by devices which are powered by electron accelerators.

The HZDR is specialized in a particularly important type of source for material sciences at the Center for High-Performance Radiation Sources called ELBE. While other devices have to take a break after a small series of ultrashort laser flashes, the ELBE sources are able to maintain a constant bombardment. It is actually this continuous sequence of pulses which permits the accuracy that researchers like Dr. Gensch and their guest researchers, such as Prof. Cavalleri, need for their analyses. In order to cover the entire spectral range down to 0.1 terahertz and three millimeter wavelengths, respectively, with even more intense pulses in the future, the HZDR is establishing a new, superradiant terahertz source called TELBE under the supervision of Dr. Gensch. Superradiance means here that extremely intense light is produced in a novel avalanche-like, short process without needing any mirrors as resonators -- unlike, for example, free electron lasers. This allows generating even higher terahertz fields at much more flexible repetition rates. Over the next three years, the new TELBE facility will be put into operation and commissioned with the assistance of selected pilot users. The researchers hope to utilize TELBE to unravel new phenomena in the field of materials research as well as life sciences.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. A. Dienst, E. Casandruc, D. Fausti, L. Zhang, M. Eckstein, M. Hoffmann, V. Khanna, N. Dean, M. Gensch, S. Winnerl, W. Seidel, S. Pyon, T. Takayama, H. Takagi, A. Cavalleri. Optical excitation of Josephson plasma solitons in a cuprate superconductor. Nature Materials, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nmat3580

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/electricity/~3/G66U4fAjoYw/130403092658.htm

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Health risks of obese mothers-to-be - timesofmalta.com

Obese or overweight women are more likely to develop life-threatening health complications during pregnancy, research has revealed.

Their risk of gestational diabetes was increased fourfold and they were also three times as likely to have a stillbirth; premature delivery, or a newborn requiring neonatal care as women of normal weight.

Consequently overweight women are more likely to need costly, specialist medical care when pregnant.

?Obesity rates have doubled in the last 30 years. This large-scale study clearly demonstrates that being overweight or obese during pregnancy increases the risk of adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes,? said Valerie Holmes from the Centre for Public Health at Queen?s University Belfast who co-wrote the report.

The team from Queen?s University and the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust monitored more than 30,000 mothers-to-be over an eight-year period.

For the first time women were categorised according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) body mass index (BMI) classifications ? underweight (BMI less than 18.5); normal weight (BMI 18.5-24.9); overweight (BMI 25-39); plus three obese sub-categories ? class I (BMI 30-34.9), class II (BMI 35-39.9) and class III (BMI greater than 40).

?By having obesity in sub-classifications, we were able to highlight the relationship between increasing BMI and the increasing risk of adverse outcomes, with women most at risk in obese class III requiring specialist medical care during pregnancy,? added Holmes.

Of the 30,298 pregnancies assessed between 2004 and 2011, an estimated 2.8 per cent of women were underweight, 52 per cent were normal weight and 28 per cent were overweight. A further 11 per cent were obese class I, 3.9 per cent obese class II and 1.9 per cent obese class III.

In overweight and obese women there was also an increased likelihood of postnatal problems, such as unsuccessful breastfeeding.

Conversely, underweight women risked developing anaemia and were more likely to have a low birth weight baby.

Dale Spence from the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Queen?s University Belfast said new guidelines were needed to manage the care for overweight women.

?We found that the majority of overweight women fall into the overweight or obese class I categories and while they are still at an increased risk of gestational diabetes and hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, they may not be offered the same level of specialist care under current guidelines,? he said.

Source: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130402/health-fitness/health-risks-of-obese-mothers-to-be.463897

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Sam Shepard Starring in 'Klondike' for Discovery Channel

By Brent Lang

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Playwright and actor Sam Shepard has joined the cast of "Klondike," the Discovery Channel said Wednesday.

The series about the gold rush that overtook Alaska's Yukon Territory in the 19th century will mark the network's first-ever, scripted miniseries.

Shepard, who was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of aviation ace Chuck Yeager in 1983's "The Right Stuff," will play Father Judge.

He next stars in the Southern drama "Mud," opposite Matthew McConaughey, as well as in the big screen adaptation of the play "August: Osage County" opposite Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts.

The miniseries, based on Charlotte Gray's book "Gold Diggers: Striking It Rich in the Klondike," centers on a group of fortune seekers as they struggle against the elements in a small, frontier town in the remote Klondike.

Production began last week in Alberta, Canada.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sam-shepard-starring-klondike-discovery-channel-173145224.html

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Can synthetic biology save wildlife? From re-creating extinct species to the risk of genetically modified super-species

Apr. 2, 2013 ? What effects will the rapidly growing field of synthetic biology have on the conservation of nature? The ecological and ethical challenges stemming from this question will require a new and continuing dialogue between members of the synthetic biology and biodiversity conservation communities, according to authors of a new paper.

According to the paper, the field of synthetic biology -- a discipline that utilizes chemically synthesized DNA to create organisms that address human needs -- is developing rapidly, with billions of dollars being invested annually. Many extol the virtues of synthetic biology as providing potential solutions to human health problems, food security, and energy needs. Advocates also see in synthetic biology tools for combating climate change and water deficits. Critics warn that genetically modified organisms could pose a danger to native species and natural ecosystems. The paper's authors assert that, in any scenario, a dialogue on how to use and restrict synthetic biology methods and products must be initiated for the benefit of the world's societies and decision makers.

The authors of the essay -- published in the online journal PLOS Biology -- include: Kent Redford of the Wildlife Conservation Society and Archipelago Consulting; Bill Adams of the University of Cambridge; and Georgina M. Mace of University College London (UCL).

"At present, the synthetic biology and conservation communities are largely strangers to one another, even though they both share many of the same concerns and goals," said Kent Redford, lead author of the article. "An open discussion between the two communities is needed to help identify areas of collaboration on a topic that will likely change the relationship of humans with the natural world."

The authors of the paper, along with other scientists and conservationists, will discuss the potential implications that synthetic biology may have on the natural world and conservation at the Synthetic Biology and Conservation Conference, convening at Clare College in Cambridge, England, on April 9-11.

John Robinson, WCS Chief Conservation Officer, said: "Synthetic biology is an extremely important and burgeoning field, but its consequences to biodiversity and conservation are currently poorly understood. By bringing together the best thinkers in these two disciplines we hope to gain a better understanding on synthetic biology's opportunities -- and potential impacts -- to conservation."

Co-author Bill Adams of the University of Cambridge, said: "Our strategies for conserving ecosystems, species, and genetic diversity, formulated over the past century, are profoundly challenged by synthetic biology. The implications of this emerging field must be incorporated into conservation theory and practice if efforts to save biodiversity are to be effective."

The authors explain the need for new strategies in the conservation community to cope with the challenges of synthetic biology. They highlight five emerging issues requiring discussions and policy decisions by conservation scientists and practitioners. They include:

• The possibilities of recreating extinct species.
• How synthetic organisms will interact with existing species.
• Our current definition of what "natural" is.
• Using synthetic biology to produce natural services for humans (e.g. carbon sequestration, pollution control).
• The use of synthetic life for private benefits, as in the applications for industrial processes, agriculture, and aquaculture; how will a balance be struck between private risk and gain vs. public benefit and safety?

Co-author Georgina M. Mace of the Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, UCL, said: "The discussion between conservation and synthetic biology is a necessary one. We need to have a clear-eyed examination of the issues and decisions that could alter life on Earth."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Wildlife Conservation Society.

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Journal Reference:

1. Kent H. Redford, William Adams, Georgina M. Mace. Synthetic Biology and Conservation of Nature: Wicked Problems and Wicked Solutions. PLoS Biology, 2013; 11 (4): e1001530 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001530

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/EaGD56y-tUM/130402182502.htm

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Former Windows Phone Exec, Charlie Kindel, Joins Amazon To Work On ?Something Secret? - Possibly Phone-Related

Former Windows Phone developer evangelist, Charlie Kindel, has joined Amazon to head up an undisclosed project. Kindel left Microsoft in 2011 to work on his own startups but, according to his LinkedIn profile, is now at Amazon. The profile lists him as 'Director, something secret' at Amazon and notes he is "building a new team going after a totally new area for Amazon".

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/QZY60wAoWM4/

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NRA study suggests trained, armed school staffers

National School Shield Task Force Director, former Arkansas Rep. Asa Hutchinson gestures during a news conference at National Press Club in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2013, to discuss his groups's school-guns study. The National Rifle Association's study recommends schools across the nation each train and arm at least one staff member. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

National School Shield Task Force Director, former Arkansas Rep. Asa Hutchinson gestures during a news conference at National Press Club in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2013, to discuss his groups's school-guns study. The National Rifle Association's study recommends schools across the nation each train and arm at least one staff member. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Mark Mattioli the father of a child killed during the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, gestures during a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2013, where he talked about the National School Shield Task Force program. The National School Shield program is a frame work to arm security guards in any school system who want to be part of the program. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

National School Shield Task Force Director, former Arkansas Rep. Asa Hutchinson, holds a copy of group's study during a news conference at National Press Club in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2013. The National Rifle Association's study recommends schools across the nation each train and arm at least one staff member. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Senate gun control debate on the near horizon, a National Rifle Association-sponsored report on Tuesday proposed a program for schools to train selected staffers as armed security officers. The former Republican congressman who headed the study suggested at least one protector with firearms for every school, saying it would speed responses to attacks.

The report's release served as the gun-rights group's answer to improving school safety after the gruesome December slayings of 20 first-graders and six adults at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school. And it showed the organization giving little ground in its fight with President Barack Obama over curbing firearms.

Obama's chief proposals include broader background checks for gun buyers and bans on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines ? both of which the NRA opposes.

The study made eight recommendations, including easing state laws that might bar a trained school staff member from carrying firearms and improving school coordination with law enforcement agencies. But drawing the most attention was its suggested 40- to 60-hour training for school employees who pass background checks to also provide armed protection while at work.

"The presence of an armed security personnel in a school adds a layer of security and diminishes the response time that is beneficial to the overall security," Asa Hutchinson, a GOP former congressman from Arkansas who directed the study, told a news conference.

Asked whether every school would be better off with an armed security officer, Hutchinson replied, "Yes," but acknowledged the decision would be made locally.

"Obviously, we believe that they make a difference," he said.

Several NRA-supplied security guards were at Tuesday's event ? unusual for an announcement at the National Press Club, a building that houses offices for many news organizations.

Hutchinson said school security could be provided by trained staff members or by school resource officers ? police officers assigned to schools that some districts already have.

The Brady Campaign, a leading gun-control group, accused the NRA of "missing the point" by ignoring the need for expanded background checks and other measures the Senate is considering.

"The American public is calling for a comprehensive solution that not only addresses tragic school shootings, but also helps prevent the thousands of senseless gun deaths each year," it said in a statement.

Dan Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, said while a trained law enforcement officer with a gun would be valuable, his group opposes arming "a teacher or an employee who simply has taken a course and now has the ability to carry a weapon."

Also denouncing the recommendations was Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, which represents 1.5 million teachers and other workers. She called it a "cruel hoax that will fail to keep our children and schools safe" while helping only gun manufacturers.

The NRA released its report as congressional momentum seems to have stalled for any sweeping steps to curb firearms violence.

Top Senate Democrats have little hope for a proposed ban on assault weapons, and the prospects for barring large-capacity magazines also seem difficult. Key senators remain short of a bipartisan compromise on requiring gun transactions between private individuals to undergo federal background checks, which currently apply only to sales handled by licensed gun dealers. The Senate plans to begin debating gun legislation next week.

At the White House, spokesman Jay Carney said administration officials were looking for middle ground, and he emphasized background checks, widely seen by gun control advocates as the most effective step available.

"We are working with lawmakers of both parties, and trying to achieve a compromise that can make this happen. Especially when it comes to the background checks," Carney told reporters.

The spokesman commented as a White House official revealed that the president plans a trip next week to Connecticut, scene of the horrific elementary school shootings that spurred the new push for gun control legislation. Obama wants to use the trip to build pressure on Congress to pass legislation.

Obama also plans to focus on firearms curbs in a trip Wednesday to Denver, not far from last summer's mass shooting in a movie theater in Aurora, Colo.

The 225-page study cost the NRA more than $1 million, Hutchinson said. The task force included several former top officials of federal law enforcement and security agencies, including the Secret Service and Homeland Security Department.

Hutchinson acknowledged that the study omitted an earlier NRA recommendation that retired police officers and other volunteers be armed to provide school safety. He said the idea encountered "great reluctance" from school superintendents.

Hutchinson said the NRA did not interfere with his task force's work. In a written statement, the NRA said the report "will go a long way to making America's schools safer."

Hutchinson also called "totally inadequate" a gun control measure making its way through the Connecticut legislature that includes a tightening of the state's assault weapons ban. The measure wouldn't prevent an attacker with a handgun or other firearms from attacking a school, he said.

Debbie Leidlein, chairwoman of the Newtown Board of Education, said she opposed having trained staff members carry weapons in schools.

"It can become a dangerous situation to have any individuals outside of those who have police training to be carrying weapons around children," Leidlein said.

But the proposal won support from Mark Mattioli, whose 6-year-old son James was killed at Newtown and who attended the NRA news conference.

"These are recommendations for solutions, real solutions that will make our kids safer," Mattioli said.

___

Associated Press writers John Christoffersen in New Haven, Conn., and Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, N.Y., contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-04-02-Gun%20Control/id-d965e472a8f04f2988f018ddebfd4353

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