Qi wireless charger showdown

We take a look at three popular Qi wireless charging solutions and put them head to head in Jerry's bedroom

Qi (pronounced Chee, and is totally a word no matter what Words with Friends says) is a wireless standard developed in 2009 by the Wireless Power Consortium. The standard itself covers inductive power transfer over short distances -- up to four centimeters -- and uses a electromagnet embedded in a transmission pad to induce current in a coil on the back of the thing you're charging. In our case, that means a Nexus 4 smartphone.

With big-name device makers like Samsung, HTC, LG, Motorola and Nokia (as well as others) using the standard, it is slowly emerging as the winner in the obscure wireless charging war that goes on in cubicles all over the world. Long live Qi! On a serious note, it's an open standard with over 100 companies in Asia, Europe and North America cooperating to set a good standard that everyone can implement. That's good for business, and good for consumers in the long run. Of course, there will always be companies that buck the trend and take another path, but for now if you're going to spend your hard-earned money on a wireless charger that you should be able to use for the life of multiple devices, Qi charging is the way to go.

Because it's a standard, there are quite a few different companies making the base stations (a fancy term for the charging pad). I took a look at the three most popular and put them head to head to see which one I'd recommend. While I used a Nexus 4 for my tests, these chargers should work for any Qi-compatible phone with a flat back. Jump past the break and see who wins the Qi charger showdown.

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Pakistani Christian accused of blasphemy in Canada

ISLAMABAD -- A Christian girl who was accused of burning Islam's holy book in a case that focused international attention on Pakistan's harsh blasphemy laws was forced to move to Canada over security concerns, her lawyer said Saturday.

The girl left Pakistan with her parents, three sisters and a brother on March 14, attorney Tahir Naveed Chaudhry said.

A Muslim cleric who lobbied for her release, Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, said she had been facing threats and was moving constantly.

"I am sad that this innocent girl had to leave Pakistan. She had been acquitted by the court, and despite that it was not possible for her to live freely," he said.

Canada's immigration service said privacy concerns prevented them from saying whether she was in the country.

The girl was arrested in August in Islamabad after a Muslim cleric accused her of burning the Quran.

The cleric was later accused of fabricating evidence, and the girl was acquitted.

The case received attention in part because of her young age and questions about her mental abilities. An official medical report at the time put her age at 14 although some of her supporters said she was as young as 11. The medical report also said her mental state did not correspond with her age.

The Associated Press is withholding the girl's name because it does not generally identify underage suspects.

Even though the case against her was thrown out, people accused of blasphemy in Pakistan are often subject to vigilante justice. Mobs have been known to attack and kill people accused of blasphemy, and two prominent politicians who have discussed changes to the blasphemy laws have been killed.

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/06/29/3477018/pakistani-christian-accused-of.html

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94% Stories We Tell

All Critics (86) | Top Critics (35) | Fresh (81) | Rotten (5)

Everyone has a different story. I found myself holding my breath listening to them talk. The story twists like a thriller.

Stories We Tell is not just very moving; it is an exploration of truth and fiction that will stay with you long after repeated viewings.

Part of the movie's pleasure is how comfortable the "storytellers" are with their director; you get a sense of a complicated but tight-knit family, going along with Sarah's project because they love her.

Never sentimental, never cold and never completely sure of anything, Polley comes across as a woman caught in wonder.

After you see it, you'll be practically exploding with questions - and with awe.

Polley approaches every character with compassion, intent upon blessing them, and serving the audience with useful questions about how we seek the truth.

Polley is working in the tradition of Orson Welles, but her trickery can be exasperating; it also neutralises many of the emotional revelations.

With Away From Her and Take This Waltz, actress-turned-filmmaker Polley has proved herself as an unusually gifted director, but this inventive, moving documentary reveals even more artistic ambition.

What saves it is our realisation that it isn't just a documentary.

A bittersweet and compelling autobiographical family portrait.

Kane-like in its mirrored complexity, flashing in its mischievous irony, the story is a shiny maze which Polley enters knowing exactly where and what her Minotaur is - the secret of her paternal parentage - while spinning for us a thread to follow.

Polley ... smilingly tells us that a story like hers can never truly be tied down, even as she screws every last piece into place.

Polley's cine-tribute is a gripping and absorbing meditation on the unknowability of other lives.

The films greatest achievement is in how deeply mesmerising one woman's story can be, regardless of whether she's famous or not.

Honestly, it's one of the best things you'll see this year.

Polley's fearless personal journey is a huge achievement, a genuine revelation - but the less detail you know beforehand, the better. Go in cold, come out warmed.

Sarah Polley is often referred to in Canada as a 'national treasure'. She's far more than that. She's a treasure to the world - period. And so, finally, is her film.

An absorbing exercise not only in documentary excavation but in narrative construction.

Sarah Polley's exploration of her tangled family history is a complex and thoroughly fascinating inquiry into the nature of truth and memory -- and, inevitably, into Polley herself.

This is simply a gorgeously realised and warmly compiled family album, which lingers with us not because its subjects are so unusual and alien, but because they feel so close to home. What a success.

Sarah Polley's personal "documentary" suffers from one additional emotional beat too many. Otherwise, it's mesmerizing.

Polley interviews her family and acquaintances with remarkable candor and intimacy, perhaps as a method of catharsis, but it never feels like a vanity project or a simple airing of dirty laundry.

The great conceit of Polley's theories of perspective and truth is that she, as director, ultimately controlled everyone's memories because she arranged them on film.

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stories_we_tell/

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Galactic miracle babies? Smallish planets survived birth in stellar maelstrom.

Astronomers say the Kepler mission found two mini-Neptune planets orbiting stars in a stellar cluster that would have been a most inhospitable environment at the time they were born.

By Pete Spotts,?Staff writer / June 26, 2013

In the star cluster NGC 6811, astronomers have found two planets smaller than Neptune orbiting Sun-like stars.

Michael Bachofner

Enlarge

In a cosmic episode of "Survivor," astronomers say they have found two mini-Neptunes, each orbiting its own star in a stellar cluster that would have been a very rough neighborhood when the planets were born.

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The discovery addresses a longstanding question: "What is the effect of the stellar environment on the process of planet formation?" writes astronomer Soren Meibom, who led the team announcing the find, in an e-mail.

The find suggests that planet formation is a more robust, insistent process than previously thought. Planets appear to form at about the same rate in dense, open clusters as they do in far more benign ones, writes Dr. Meibom, a researcher at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass. The team is publishing a formal report of its results in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.

Four other planets have been found previously orbiting stars in clusters, but they have been Jupiter's size or larger. These two new planets represent the smallest yet found in a once-dense cluster.

These are not the kind of planets that would set an astrobiologist to tingling with delight. Each planet is about three times the size of Earth. Each orbits a 1-billion-year-old, sun-like star every 16.8 days for one planet and 15.7 days for the other. These planets would be baking.

Even so, they represent the galaxy's miracle babies.

They appeared in data gathered by NASA's ailing Kepler mission. Kepler is a craft designed to orbit the sun at Earth's distance and stare at one patch of sky continuously, taking in views of some 170,000 stars. The craft detects the slight wink a planet imparts to starlight as it transits in front of its host star. The goal is to develop a planetary census, with a particular eye to estimating the number of Earth-mass planets orbiting sun-like stars at earth-like distances.

The two new planets are the first to be found orbiting stars in a cluster in Kepler's data.

The stars, Kepler 66 and 67, appear in an open cluster dubbed NGC6811, some 3,600 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. The cluster contains?at least 450 stars.?The stars are loosely bound by their collective gravity and so disperse over time, hence the moniker "open." [Editor's note:?The original version of this story incorrectly identified how many stars the cluster contains.]

Nearly all stars form in open clusters as they condense out of common clouds of gas and dust, researchers say. Most of these open clusters are relatively sparsely populated ? perhaps forming fewer than 100 stars for each cubic parsec of space ? a cube roughly 3 light-years on a side. Even that is overpopulation by the standard's of today's sun. Its closest neighbor is Proxima Centauri, about 4 light-years away.

These less-dense clusters, such as the one that gave birth to the sun, are relatively peaceful planetary nurseries and tend to disperse quickly.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/H1d2PO1Zydw/Galactic-miracle-babies-Smallish-planets-survived-birth-in-stellar-maelstrom

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Maker Faire participants @ Union Station

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06/28/13 23:56:01

Ryan Bell, created her own wearable technology with a custom-made dress that lights up. The dress includes small octopi made from a 3-D printer. Bell will appear at Maker Faire, a festival of invention and creativity, scheduled for June 29-30th at Union Station in Kansas City, Mo. DAVID EULITT/The Kansas City Star

Bob Spangler, left, Jenna Tomlin, center, and Randall Jessee, right, steampunk enthusiasts with the group Steamship Noir, posed for a portrait at Union Station, site of the upcoming Maker Faire, a festival for invention and creativity, scheduled for June 29-30. DAVID EULITT/The Kansas City Star

Jenna Tomlin, a steampunk enthusiast with the group Steamship Noir, posed for a portrait at Union Station, site of the upcoming Maker Faire, a festival for invention and creativity, scheduled for June 29-30. DAVID EULITT/The Kansas City Star

Austin Feathers wore a copper glove he crafted to safely absorb the lightning bolts created by his tesla coil. Feathers will appear at Maker Faire, a festival of invention and creativity, scheduled for June 29-30th at Union Station in Kansas City, Mo. DAVID EULITT/The Kansas City Star

Jordie Smith has created a wearable animatronic tail that he controls it with special gloves. Smith will appear at Maker Faire, a festival of invention and creativity, scheduled for June 29-30th at Union Station in Kansas City, Mo. DAVID EULITT/The Kansas City Star

Marta (left) and Hana Spangler (right) team as a pair of mad scientists, posed for a portrait at Union Station, site of the upcoming Maker Faire, a festival for invention and creativity, scheduled for June 29-30. DAVID EULITT/The Kansas City Star

Marta Spangler is part of a duo with her sister as a pair of mad scientists, posed for a portrait at Union Station, site of the upcoming Maker Faire, a festival for invention and creativity, scheduled for June 29-30. DAVID EULITT/The Kansas City Star

Jenna Tomlin, a steampunk enthusiast with the group Steamship Noir, posed for a portrait at Union Station, site of the upcoming Maker Faire, a festival for invention and creativity, scheduled for June 29-30. DAVID EULITT/The Kansas City Star

Randall Jessee, a steampunk enthusiast with the group Steamship Noir, posed for a portrait at Union Station, site of the upcoming Maker Faire, a festival for invention and creativity, scheduled for June 29-30. DAVID EULITT/The Kansas City Star

Hana Spangler is part of a duo with her sister as a pair of mad scientists, posed for a portrait at Union Station, site of the upcoming Maker Faire, a festival for invention and creativity, scheduled for June 29-30. DAVID EULITT/The Kansas City Star

Bob Spangler, a steampunk enthusiast with the group Steamship Noir, posed for a portrait at Union Station, site of the upcoming Maker Faire, a festival for invention and creativity, scheduled for June 29-30. DAVID EULITT/The Kansas City Star

Luis Rodriguez coordinates Maker Faire, a festival of invention and creativity, scheduled for June 29-30 at Union Station in Kansas City, Mo. DAVID EULITT/The Kansas City Star

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Source: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/06/28/4320147/maker-faire-participants-union.html

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Video: The Guardian editor in chief speaks out on security, leaks (cbsnews)

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NSA chief says surveillance programs helped foil 54 plots

By Courtney Kube, Producer, NBC News

As of last Friday, the U.S. government disrupted 54 terrorist activities using information collected under the controversial "Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act" and "Section 215 of the Patriot Act," the director of the National Security Agency said Thursday.

Gen. Keith Alexander said these programs enabled the United States to disrupt 54 "events," 42 of which "involved disrupted plots."

Of those 54:

• 12 involved cases of material support to terrorists;
• 50 lead to arrests or detentions;
• 25 occurred in Europe;
• 11 were in Asia;
• 5 were in Africa;
• 13 had a homeland nexus.

Forty-one of the terrorist activities did not involve events in the United States, Alexander said.

Alexander went on to say that in 53 of the 54 cases, data collected under Section 702 provided the initial tip to "unravel the threat stream." He said that almost half of terrorist reporting comes from Section 702, and added that of those 54 terrorist activities disrupted, there was not a single case where the government willfully violated the law.

Earlier this month, the revelation of two ultra-secret government surveillance programs raised outrage among many Americans. The man at the center of the leaks, former NSA-contractor Edward Snowden, is still on the lam ? reportedly in Russia ? with U.S. authorities calling for his return to face espionage charges.

Among other things, Section 215 of the Patriot Act greatly expands the government's ability to spy on people living in the United States and allows the FBI to order any person or organization? to turn over ?any tangible things ... for an authorized investigation ... to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities.?

Meanwhile, Section 702 is a provision of FISA that was "designed to facilitate the acquisition of foreign intelligence information concerning non-U.S. persons located outside the United States," according to a statement from the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper earlier this month.

Speaking at the non-profit AFCEA International Cyber Symposium in Baltimore on Thursday, Alexander recounted how these programs were born shortly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, when the intelligence community "could not connect the dots."

He said the government can only go into the "virtual lock box" of metadata on a "selector" ? or target ? if there is reasonable suspicion that the individual or group is related to terrorism.

He added that, in 2012, fewer than 300 selectors' lock boxes were approved for query. The numbers show, however, that there was no where near 300 disrupted terrorist activities.

Alexander joined the chorus of national security leaders to condemn the recent leaks, saying that public discussion of NSA techniques and tools provides insights that terrorists "can and do use to hide their activities."

He said that those who wish the U.S. harm now know how we counter their actions.

"These leaks have caused significant and irreversible damage to our nation's security," he said, adding that whenever tools are revealed, "we lose our ability to track these targets."

"What is going on in these leaks is unconscionable in my opinion," he said, adding that it hurts the United States and its allies. "It is flat wrong."

"I worry that there will be more leaks," and people will attempt to further sensationalize this issue, Alexander said.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663306/s/2de69982/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A60C270C191754660Ensa0Echief0Esays0Esurveillance0Eprograms0Ehelped0Efoil0E540Eplots0Dlite/story01.htm

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ZEN & TECH 54: Change aversion

Windows 8 made us want our Start button back. iOS 7 caused icon strife. BlackBerry 10 was a huge departure. Going from TouchWiz to Sense can be stressful. And that's just technology! Imagine changing jobs, partners, and places in life! Georgia and Rene discuss the challenges of change!

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• Georgia (@Georgia_Prime)
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While Georgia is a therapist, she's not YOUR therapist. Everything said or implied on this show is for informational and entertainment purposes only. And shouldn't be taken in any way as a replacement for proper, professional care.

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Music is Peace on Earth by wellman.

Thanks everyone, you're the best community on the web and we love having you with us!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/IPfp45jq5dU/story01.htm

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T-Mobile holding a press event July 10th, promises 'boldest moves yet'

We're never ones to turn down a particularly intriguing teaser, so you can bet we'll be be there with bells on. T-Mobile's event's going down on July 10th in New York City. Beyond that, well, your guess is as good as ours. The minimalistic magenta invite promises that the carrier will be delivering its "boldest moves yet," via an image file titled, fittingly, "moonshot." Moon rockets? PlayStation Moves? BlackBerry Bolds? The sky's the limit, apparently.

Filed under: Mobile, T-Mobile

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/cx4W1-h8-4Q/

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Vows wait, but gay pairs cheer Supreme Court moves

Joe Mac smiles while talking with people in the Castro neighborhood in San Francisco, Wednesday, June 26, 2013. In a major victory for gay rights, the Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a provision of a federal law denying federal benefits to married gay couples and cleared the way for the resumption of same-sex marriage in California. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Joe Mac smiles while talking with people in the Castro neighborhood in San Francisco, Wednesday, June 26, 2013. In a major victory for gay rights, the Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a provision of a federal law denying federal benefits to married gay couples and cleared the way for the resumption of same-sex marriage in California. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

A rainbow flag flies in front of the Castro Theater in San Francisco, Wednesday, June 26, 2013. In a major victory for gay rights, the Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a provision of a federal law denying federal benefits to married gay couples and cleared the way for the resumption of same-sex marriage in California. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Cissie Bonini holds up a rainbow flag as she waves to cars driving by in the Castro neighborhood in San Francisco, Wednesday, June 26, 2013. In a major victory for gay rights, the Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a provision of a federal law denying federal benefits to married gay couples and cleared the way for the resumption of same-sex marriage in California. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

People crowd Castro St. to celebrate the U. S. Supreme Court's rulings on Prop. 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act in San Francisco on Wednesday, June 26, 2013. In a major victory for gay rights, the Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a provision of a federal law denying federal benefits to married gay couples and cleared the way for the resumption of same-sex marriage in California. (AP Photo/Mathew Sumner)

Larry Pascua carries a rainbow flag at a celebration for the U. S. Supreme Court's rulings on Prop. 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act in the Castro District in San Francisco, on Wednesday, June 26, 2013. In a major victory for gay rights, the Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a provision of a federal law denying federal benefits to married gay couples and cleared the way for the resumption of same-sex marriage in California. (AP Photo/Mathew Sumner)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Backed by rainbow flags and confetti, thousands celebrated in California's streets after U.S. Supreme court rulings brought major advances for gay marriage proponents in the state and across the country.

Though wedding bells may be weeks away, same-sex couples and their supporters filled city blocks of San Francisco and West Hollywood on Wednesday night to savor the long awaited decisions as thumping music resounded.

"Today the words emblazoned across the Supreme Court ring true: equal justice under law," said Paul Katami, one of the plaintiffs who challenged California's gay marriage ban, as he celebrated in West Hollywood.

In one of two 5-4 rulings, the high court cleared the way for gay marriages to resume in California, holding that the coalition of religious conservative groups that qualified a voter-approved ban for the ballot did not have the authority to defend it after state officials refused. The justices thus let stand a San Francisco trial court's ruling in August 2010 that overturned the ban.

In the other, the court wiped away part of a federal anti-gay marriage law, the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, putting legally married gay couples on equal federal footing with all other married Americans, allowing them to receive the same tax, health and pension benefits.

The court sidestepped the larger question of whether banning gay marriage is unconstitutional, and states other than California and the 12 others where gay couples already have the right to wed were left to hash out the issue within their borders.

As the sun set on San Francisco, a crowd surged from hundreds to several thousand in the city's Castro neighborhood, with rainbow flags and confetti filling the air.

James Reynolds, 45, was among the revelers, saying he had been married to his partner of 23 years several times, including once in California.

"It's been taken away from us," Reynolds said as he stood in a crosswalk near the barrier blocking off the street for the celebration. "But we'll be married again."

In Southern California, an all-day celebration in West Hollywood grew to hundreds by night, including many gay couples dressed in red, white and blue and one sign that read "Today we are American."

Brendan Banfield, 46, stood on the very spot under a tree in West Hollywood Park where in 2008 he married his partner Charles, becoming one of an estimated 18,000 couples that got married during the four-and-a-half months when gay marriage was legal in California.

"I want to cry," Banfield said. "It's been a long journey. I'm grateful I'm alive to see it."

It remained unclear, however, when California's gay marriages might start again. Backers of the ban known as Proposition 8 have 25 days to ask the Supreme Court to reconsider. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also must lift a hold it placed on the lower court order before the state can be free to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Still, state officials moved quickly. Gov. Jerry Brown said he had directed the California Department of Public Health to start issuing licenses as soon as the hold is lifted, and state Attorney General Kamala Harris went even further, publicly urging the appellate court to act ahead of the final word from the Supreme Court.

In the DOMA decision, Justice Anthony Kennedy, joined by the four liberal justices, said the purpose of the federal law was to impose a disadvantage and "a stigma upon all who enter into same-sex marriages."

Justice Antonin Scalia issued a pungent dissent, predicting that the ruling would be used to upend state restrictions on marriage, reading aloud in a packed courtroom that included two couples who sued for the right to marry in California.

"It takes real cheek for today's majority to assure us, as it is going out the door, that a constitutional requirement to give formal recognition to same-sex marriage is not at issue here," Scalia read.

President Barack Obama praised the ruling, labeling DOMA "discrimination enshrined in law."

"It treated loving, committed gay and lesbian couples as a separate and lesser class of people," Obama said in a statement. "The Supreme Court has righted that wrong, and our country is better off for it."

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said he was disappointed in the outcome case and hoped states continue to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

Without offering any specifics about their next move, lawyers for Proposition 8 sponsors insisted state officials remained obligated by the California Constitution to enforce the ban, and that the ruling only legalized marriage for the two couples who sued to overturn it.

"What was sought in this lawsuit was a 50-state mandate or to establish there is a fundamental right to same-sex marriage, which the Supreme Court did not rule today," said Austin Nimiocks, senior counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom.

California's same-sex marriage California has been in overdrive since then-San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom began issuing marriage licenses to gay couples in 2004. Resulting lawsuits spurred the California Supreme Court to overturn the state's man-woman marriage laws in 2008.

But opponents responded by qualifying Proposition 8 for the ballot, and it passed with 52 percent of the vote.

Katami, the Proposition 8 co-plaintiff, said he and longtime partner Jeff Zarrillo were seeking status only a legal wedding could provide.

"There was something about that word marriage and what it meant," Katami said. "Something about the celebration and the right, the language and the association across the globe that comes with the word marriage."

___

AP writers Mihir Zaveri in San Francisco and Sarah Parvini in West Hollywood contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-06-27-Gay%20Marriage/id-1053fe314be4404d884c37e89a85441d

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PayPal looks to conquer space (payments)

FILE - This Jan. 19, 2011 file photo shows the eBay/PayPal offices in San Jose, Calif. PayPal, which is eBay Inc.?s payments business, says it is launching an initiative called PayPal Galactic with the help of the nonprofit SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., and the Space Tourism Society, an industry group focused on space travel. Its goal, PayPal says, is to work out how commerce will work in space. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

FILE - This Jan. 19, 2011 file photo shows the eBay/PayPal offices in San Jose, Calif. PayPal, which is eBay Inc.?s payments business, says it is launching an initiative called PayPal Galactic with the help of the nonprofit SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., and the Space Tourism Society, an industry group focused on space travel. Its goal, PayPal says, is to work out how commerce will work in space. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

NEW YORK (AP) ? PayPal wants to explore space ? or at least begin to figure out how payments and commerce will work beyond Earth's realm once space travel and tourism take off.

PayPal, which is eBay Inc.'s payments business, says it is launching an initiative called PayPal Galactic with the help of the nonprofit SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., and the Space Tourism Society, an industry group focused on space travel. Its goal, PayPal says, is to work out how commerce will work in space.

Questions to be answered include how commerce will be regulated and what currency will be used. PayPal's president, David Marcus, said the company is very serious about the idea. He says that while space tourism was once the stuff of science fiction, it's now becoming a reality.

"There are lots of important questions that the industry needs to answer," he said. There are regulatory and technical issues, along with safety and even what cross-border trade will look like when there are not a lot of borders.

"We feel that it's important for us to start the conversation and find answers," Marcus added. "We don't have that much time."

PayPal is no stranger to outer space. One of its founders, Elon Musk, heads the privately held space company Space Exploration Technologies Corp., better known as SpaceX. And James Doohan, best known for his role as "Scotty" on "Star Trek," was PayPal's first official spokesman when it launched in 1999.

PayPal said it plans to hold an event announcing the venture at the SETI Institute in Mountain View on Thursday.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-06-27-PayPal-Space/id-d3f5b6c08d4b4f8a83d5e8e6c510ef61

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U.S. military court overturns Marine's conviction in Iraqi's death

By Alex Dobuzinskis

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The highest U.S. military appeals court on Wednesday overturned the murder conviction of a Marine sergeant found guilty in 2007 of leading a squad in Iraq that was accused of killing a civilian they had captured, bound and gagged.

Three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces found Sergeant Lawrence Hutchins gave a statement to a U.S. Navy investigator while in custody that should have been ruled inadmissible and tainted his court-martial.

The case stems from the 2006 death in Hamdania, Iraq, of Hashim Ibrahim Awad, 52, a father of 11 and grandfather of four.

In 2007, a court-martial at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base north of San Diego sentenced Hutchins to 15 years in military prison after finding him guilty of unpremeditated murder, larceny and other crimes.

Hutchins was the leader of a squad that went on a mission aimed at stopping militants' use of improvised explosive devices. Witnesses had testified that Hutchins and another Marine shot Awad and placed an AK-47 and a shovel next to the corpse to suggest he had been planting a bomb.

Earlier, Awad had been bound and gagged at another location, according to a finding by a lower court of appeal for the military.

In its ruling on Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces said that in May 2006, a Navy investigator began to question Hutchins but he invoked his right to an attorney and was put under guard in a trailer.

Hutchins was not allowed to call a lawyer and no attorney was provided to him, according to the ruling written by Judge Charles Erdmann. Seven days later, the investigator entered the trailer and asked to search Hutchins' belongings and the sergeant said he wanted to talk, the ruling states.

The next day, Hutchins provided a written confession, the ruling stated.

The court found that after Hutchins requested an attorney the investigator had initiated the conversation - by coming back for a search. That led to Hutchins' admission and the judge and two colleagues found that it violated his constitutional right to remain silent.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces found "it was an error for the military judge to admit the statement made by Hutchins," which was used at his court-martial.

"Therefore, notwithstanding the other evidence of Hutchins' guilt, there is a reasonable likelihood that the statement contributed to the verdict," the court ruled.

A spokesman for Camp Pendleton where the 2007 court-martial was held said he could not comment on whether Hutchins might soon be released from custody.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces sent the case to a military judge advocate general for referral to an "appropriate convening authority who may authorize a rehearing."

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; editing by Christopher Wilson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-military-court-overturns-marines-conviction-iraqis-death-040915181.html

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Monica Lewinsky Negligee, Other Items Up For Auction

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Partying with fans, Blackhawks show off Cup

Chicago Blackhawks center Michal Handzus carries the Stanley Cup after arriving at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, on Tuesday, June 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Chicago Blackhawks center Michal Handzus carries the Stanley Cup after arriving at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, on Tuesday, June 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Dani Weadley, center left, of Fox Lake, Ill., cheers with fellow Chicago Blackhawks fans at Harry Caray's Restaurant in Rosemont, Ill., early Tuesday, June 25, 2013, as the Blackhawks players arrived carrying the Stanley Cup after beating the Boston Bruins Monday in the NHL Stanley Cup hockey finals. (AP Photo/Daily Herald, Mark Welsh) MANDATORY CREDIT, MAGS OUT

A plane carrying the Stanley Cup winning Chicago Blackhawks is welcomed with water cannons after arriving at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, on Tuesday, June 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

A plane carrying the Stanley Cup winning Chicago Blackhawks is welcomed after arriving at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, on Tuesday, June 25, 2013. The Chicago Blackhawks landed home with the Stanley Cup just before dawn Tuesday morning and were greeted on the tarmac with a water cannon salute, about a dozen fire trucks and even more police cars _ all with their lights flashing. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Chicago Blackhawks center Michal Handzus carries the Stanley Cup after arriving at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, on Tuesday, June 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

CHICAGO (AP) ? The after-party roared on until well after dawn for the victorious Chicago Blackhawks and some die-hard fans.

Hours after returning from their 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins, the team gave awed fans a close-up look at the gleaming Stanley Cup on Tuesday, hauling their prize around to bars and restaurants around the city for the second time in four seasons.

Just like in 2010, their first stop was at Harry Caray's in suburban Rosemont, where more than a thousand fans were waiting before sunrise in hopes the team would again use the Italian steakhouse to kick off their party. Players took turns lifting the trophy above their heads as fans went wild, still barely able to fathom the two third-period goals just 17 seconds apart that gave the Hawks the win.

"I was in shock. ... I jumped up so high that I stubbed my toe," Frank Espinoza told WBBM radio at Harry Caray's, recalling the stunning pair of goals. "I didn't realize it until the game was over; I felt a pain in my toe afterwards."

The team and their families wound their way through Chicago in a convoy of limos and buses under police escort and trailed by TV news helicopters. At their second stop, The Scout bar in the South Loop area of downtown, team members greeted cheering fans outside with high-fives before filing into the bar. Mayor Rahm Emanuel even showed up to share in the fun, WBBM reported.

Emanuel released a statement congratulating the team on a "hard-fought victory" and offering best wishes to the people of Boston.

Earlier, the team was greeted on the tarmac at O'Hare International Airport with a water cannon salute from about a dozen fire trucks and even more police cars ? all with their lights flashing.

Minutes before the chartered Boeing 737 from Boston touched down at 4:05 a.m., lightning danced across the sky as the edge of a windy storm front passed through.

Veteran forward Michal Handzus, who skated with significant injuries, was the first player to emerge from the aircraft, hoisting the Cup above his head with both hands and shaking it several times. Guests, police officers and firemen cheered at the bottom of the stairs.

Players, coaches and team officials mingled with the crowd for about 10 minutes before heading for the city to continue the party at locations that were kept secret until the team showed up.

"This is completely amazing," said Willis Morgan, a 24-year-old electrical engineer, soaking up the scene of celebration at Harry Caray's.

"I watched the game at work on my phone and then we came right over," he told the Daily Herald newspaper of Arlington Heights. "Having the Stanley Cup back in Chicago is unbelievable."

A parade for the team was planned for Friday morning.

The Blackhawks fifth Cup in their 87-year history capped an amazing run through a lockout-shortened season that didn't start until mid-January.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-06-25-Blackhawks%20Return%20With%20Cup/id-5854b5781afe48a1b70095fce9eecf47

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DOE, NREL announce new research center to boost clean energy technologies on a smarter grid

Public release date: 25-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: David Glickson
david.glickson@nrel.gov
303-275-4097
DOE/National Renewable Energy Laboratory

The Energy Department and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) today announced the Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) in Golden, Colorado, as the latest Energy Department user facility and the only one in the nation focused on utility-scale clean energy grid integration. The facility's first industry partner Colorado-based Advanced Energy Industries has already signed on to start work at ESIF, developing lower cost, better performing solar power inverters.

"Our National Laboratories are a national treasure that help America's entrepreneurs and innovators to accelerate the development of new technologies," said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. "This new facility will allow for an even stronger partnership with manufacturers, utilities and researchers to help integrate more clean, renewable energy into a smarter, more reliable and more resilient power grid."

"ESIF is an excellent example of the impact that federally-funded research can have on solving national problems beyond the scope of private investment. And, it demonstrates the importance of partnerships among the federal government, industry, and academia," NREL Director Dan Arvizu said. "With NREL's 35-year focus on developing competitive renewable energy and efficiency technologies, we're pleased to take a leadership role in this next frontier of energy research."

Energy Systems Integration Facility DOE's Newest User Facility

Located at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's campus in Golden, Colorado, the 182,500-square-foot Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) is the nation's first facility to help both public and private sector researchers scale-up promising clean energy technologies from solar modules and wind turbines to electric vehicles and efficient, interactive home appliances and test how they interact with each other and the grid at utility-scale.

ESIF will house more than 15 experimental laboratories and several outdoor test beds, including an interactive hardware-in-the-loop system that lets researchers and manufacturers test their products at full power and real grid load levels. The facility will also feature a petascale supercomputer that can support large-scale modeling and simulation at one quadrillion operations per second.

The Energy Systems Integration Facility is aimed at overcoming generation, transmission, distribution and end-use challenges to support a cleaner, affordable and more secure U.S. energy mix, including research into next generation building technologies, microgrids, energy storage batteries and utility-scale renewable energy. As the cost of clean energy technologies continues to come down, seamless and efficient grid integration will help make these resources and products even more affordable, while giving Americans more control over how they use energy in their homes and businesses.

The Energy Systems Integration Facility is the latest addition to the Energy Department's national network of user facilities that provide nearly 30,000 scientists and engineers each year with open access to some of the world's best instruments and tools, including x-ray sources, accelerators and supercomputers. Corporate users pay the full cost of conducting research and retain their intellectual property and data rights, while users who agree to publish their research results are charged a discounted fee.

First Industry Partner to Develop Next Generation Solar Inverters

As the first industry partner to use ESIF, Advanced Energy Industries is testing its new solar photovoltaic (PV) inverter technology with the facility's utility-scale grid simulators and hardware-in-the-loop systems. Solar inverters are responsible for a number of critical functions within a solar PV system, including converting the direct current output into alternating current for the grid. Advanced Energy's inverter will help support a smarter grid that can handle two-way flows of power and communication while reducing hardware costs.

In the last four years, solar generation in the U.S. has more than doubled, while at the same time the costs of photovoltaic systems have dropped 80 percent. As more and more solar power contributes to the U.S. energy mix, lower cost advanced solar inverters will help usher in an increasingly diverse electricity portfolio, while providing American consumers and businesses with reliable and affordable energy options.

Congress provided $135 million to construct and equip the user facility. The President's FY 2014 budget request includes an additional $20 million for facility operations. The Department encourages utilities, manufacturers, universities and other national labs to fully utilize ESIF's unique capabilities and resources. Find more information on the Energy Systems Integration Facility.

###

---

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 25-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: David Glickson
david.glickson@nrel.gov
303-275-4097
DOE/National Renewable Energy Laboratory

The Energy Department and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) today announced the Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) in Golden, Colorado, as the latest Energy Department user facility and the only one in the nation focused on utility-scale clean energy grid integration. The facility's first industry partner Colorado-based Advanced Energy Industries has already signed on to start work at ESIF, developing lower cost, better performing solar power inverters.

"Our National Laboratories are a national treasure that help America's entrepreneurs and innovators to accelerate the development of new technologies," said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. "This new facility will allow for an even stronger partnership with manufacturers, utilities and researchers to help integrate more clean, renewable energy into a smarter, more reliable and more resilient power grid."

"ESIF is an excellent example of the impact that federally-funded research can have on solving national problems beyond the scope of private investment. And, it demonstrates the importance of partnerships among the federal government, industry, and academia," NREL Director Dan Arvizu said. "With NREL's 35-year focus on developing competitive renewable energy and efficiency technologies, we're pleased to take a leadership role in this next frontier of energy research."

Energy Systems Integration Facility DOE's Newest User Facility

Located at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's campus in Golden, Colorado, the 182,500-square-foot Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) is the nation's first facility to help both public and private sector researchers scale-up promising clean energy technologies from solar modules and wind turbines to electric vehicles and efficient, interactive home appliances and test how they interact with each other and the grid at utility-scale.

ESIF will house more than 15 experimental laboratories and several outdoor test beds, including an interactive hardware-in-the-loop system that lets researchers and manufacturers test their products at full power and real grid load levels. The facility will also feature a petascale supercomputer that can support large-scale modeling and simulation at one quadrillion operations per second.

The Energy Systems Integration Facility is aimed at overcoming generation, transmission, distribution and end-use challenges to support a cleaner, affordable and more secure U.S. energy mix, including research into next generation building technologies, microgrids, energy storage batteries and utility-scale renewable energy. As the cost of clean energy technologies continues to come down, seamless and efficient grid integration will help make these resources and products even more affordable, while giving Americans more control over how they use energy in their homes and businesses.

The Energy Systems Integration Facility is the latest addition to the Energy Department's national network of user facilities that provide nearly 30,000 scientists and engineers each year with open access to some of the world's best instruments and tools, including x-ray sources, accelerators and supercomputers. Corporate users pay the full cost of conducting research and retain their intellectual property and data rights, while users who agree to publish their research results are charged a discounted fee.

First Industry Partner to Develop Next Generation Solar Inverters

As the first industry partner to use ESIF, Advanced Energy Industries is testing its new solar photovoltaic (PV) inverter technology with the facility's utility-scale grid simulators and hardware-in-the-loop systems. Solar inverters are responsible for a number of critical functions within a solar PV system, including converting the direct current output into alternating current for the grid. Advanced Energy's inverter will help support a smarter grid that can handle two-way flows of power and communication while reducing hardware costs.

In the last four years, solar generation in the U.S. has more than doubled, while at the same time the costs of photovoltaic systems have dropped 80 percent. As more and more solar power contributes to the U.S. energy mix, lower cost advanced solar inverters will help usher in an increasingly diverse electricity portfolio, while providing American consumers and businesses with reliable and affordable energy options.

Congress provided $135 million to construct and equip the user facility. The President's FY 2014 budget request includes an additional $20 million for facility operations. The Department encourages utilities, manufacturers, universities and other national labs to fully utilize ESIF's unique capabilities and resources. Find more information on the Energy Systems Integration Facility.

###

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/drel-dna062513.php

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Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S

If you were waiting for a full Windows 8 convertible tablet/laptop combo, the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S ($999) has potential. Its innovative design gives you a laptop full time that you can use as a tablet part time. It's a good leap of faith by Lenovo, but internal components and battery life in particular hold it back from being great.

Design and Features
The IdeaPad Yoga 11S is the little brother to the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 ($999) we saw last year. The Yoga 11S looks a lot like the Windows RT-powered Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 ($669) we looked at earlier this year, thought the Yoga 11S is a smidge thicker and heavier.

The Yoga 11S measures about 0.67 by 12 by 8 inches (HWD), and weighs in at 2.96 pounds. Like the other IdeaPad Yoga systems, the Yoga 11S is a convertible tablet that acts like a laptop. When you first open the system, it looks very much like a normal clamshell laptop. Once you swing the lid past 180 degrees, however, you'll be able to use the system's tent mode (like an a-frame), stand mode (screen out, but keyboard facing the table), and tablet mode (just what it sounds like).

The tent mode and stand mode are innovative, though limited to specific uses (mainly to present videos or presentations on a table without needing the keyboard). When in tablet mode, the Yoga 11S works like a somewhat heavy slate tablet PC. Compared to the Editors' Choice Microsoft Surface Windows 8 Pro ($999) or the Dell Latitude 10 ($749), the Yoga 11S is a little heavier and a little more awkward on account of its larger chassis. The Surface Pro and Latitude 10 have smaller 10-inch screens, and hence are easier to carry.

On the other hand, the Yoga 11S has a very comfortable and sturdy keyboard that is a joy to use in laptop mode. The keyboard isn't backlit, but the trackpad is multi-touch. The screen also has 10-point touch, so you have quite a few ways to interact with the bright IPS screen. The screen sports a 1,366-by-768 resolution, which is short of the Microsoft Surface Pro's 1080p screen, but the Yoga 11s' screen is bright and quite clear. You may not miss the extra screen space unless you're working on large spreadsheets or megapixel images.

When you swing the lid over past 190 degrees, the keyboard and touchpad automatically deactivate, but they are still tactile, i.e. they are not a smooth surface like on the back of a true slate tablet. If you think this will bother you, you may want to try the Yoga 11S out in a store first. That said, slate tablets above are a lot less comfortable to type on, even the Surface Pro with the Microsoft Type Cover. If there's any real nit to tablet mode, it's that the system vents warm to hot air right into the arm that's holding the tablet or on your supporting palm, depending on how you have the tablet oriented. This is a consequence of using a ultrabook-class Intel Core i5-3339Y processor instead of a lower powered Tegra 3 processor as in the Windows RT-equipped Yoga 11.

The Yoga 11S comes with a capacious 256GB SSD in this configuration, along with 8GB of system memory. This means you'll have plenty of space for files before you have to resort to using the SD card slot for additional storage space. The system comes with one USB 2.0 and one USB 3.0 port for connecting a mouse and external hard drive, respectively. The system also comes with a full-size HDMI port for connecting an external display. The Yoga 11S comes with a 2.4GHz 802.11 b/g/n WiFi adapter for connecting to your home router.

The system comes with an ambient light sensor to control the screen's brightness, but it's a little overly aggressive. The screen dimming and brightening frequently while in use distracted and annoyed us, often when we were reaching for the touch screen. The room itself was brightly lit, so it was the process of using the laptop that made the screen dim. Also, you may need to get used to the screen rotating due to the built-in gyroscope and accelerometer. Lenovo added its motion control interface to Windows 8, and while novel it's more of a gimmick than a useful interface, especially since the touch screen and touchpad are so responsive. Essentially, you can interact with the Yoga 11S in a plethora of manners, so if you're looking to develop an innovative software package, interface, or use for the PC, this is the system to get.

The Yoga 11S comes with quite a few pre-loaded programs, including McAfee Security Advisor, Accuweather, Kindle, Rara music, Evernote Touch, Zinio, Lenovo Companion, Lenovo Support, Skype, Encyclopedia Britannica, Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Enfeel Birzzle (a touch-based block puzzler), SugarSync, FilmOn Television, an ad for Microsoft Office, Intel AppUp, and eBay. The Yoga 11S comes with a one-year base warranty.

Performance
The Intel Core i5-3339Y CPU, 8GB of memory, and 256GB SSD combine to give the Yoga 11S decent, though not stellar, performance. The Yoga 11S got a passable 3,829 point score on the day-to-day PCMark 7 test, far ahead of Intel Atom-powered systems, but behind the Surface Pro and other Core i5-powered systems. The Yoga 11S did boot up and wake from sleep in seconds, as you would expect from a SSD-powered system.

The major disappointment for the Yoga 11S is its short rundown time of 3 hours 31 minutes battery rundown time on our standard battery test. This is short of other ultrabooks and tablets in this price range. The low battery life is probably due to the Yoga 11S's smallish 42WHr sealed battery. If battery life is important to you, recent Haswell-powered laptops have shown promise, so you may want to wait for the next rev of the Yoga with 4th-generation Intel Core. However, there is no official word from Lenovo for when or if that will happen.

As an innovative next-generation form factor, the Lenovo Yoga 11S is a cool experiment and shows potential. As a usable laptop and convertible tablet, the Yoga 11S isn't quite all there yet. It's usable, yes, innovative, yes, but has far too short a battery life to replace both the laptop and tablet in your life. Maybe next year this will be an irresistible combo. For now, the Yoga 11S shows promise, but is held back a bit by what it can deliver.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Lenovo Yoga 11S with several other laptops and tablets side by side.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/B03dxaaBI8Y/0,2817,2420958,00.asp

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Qatar declares bank holiday on Tuesday

DEAR ABBY: I was taken away from my parents at 13 and placed into foster care, where I stayed until I aged out at 21. My biological mother is a drug addict who abandoned me to my father when I was 11. She never tried to contact me while I was in care.I am now 24 and she won't leave me alone. She sends Facebook messages that alternate between begging me to let her get to know me, and condemning me for being vindictive and not having forgiveness in my heart. Abby, this woman exposed me to drugs and all manner of seedy people and situations. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/qatar-declares-bank-holiday-tuesday-035337350.html

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Particle Pals: Neutrino Experiment Shows Protons and Neutrons Pairing Up

The first physics results from MINERvA shed light on subtle nuclear behavior

By John Matson

NEUTRINO CATCHER: MINERvA co-spokesperson Deborah Harris in front of the detector. Image: FNAL

• 

  We?ve long understood black holes to be the points at which the universe as we know it comes to an end. Often billions of times more massive than the Sun, they...

  Read More??

Neutrinos are notoriously antisocial, nearly always slipping past atoms of matter without so much as a ?how do you do.? But new research indicates that on the rare occasion a neutrino and an atomic nucleus do make contact, the interaction is surprisingly involved.

By training a beam of neutrinos on a plastic target, researchers at the MINERvA experiment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Ill., have found that when a neutrino collides with an atom it often knocks free not just one proton or neutron, but two. Some of the particles within the atomic nuclei, it appears, are pairing up rather than moving about independently, only to be sprung free in twos when a neutrino strikes. The results will have implications for precision neutrino measurements, which often rely on carefully reconstructing the physics of rare collisions between neutrinos and atoms.

MINERvA, an apparatus about the size of a bread truck, is parked in the path of a Fermilab neutrino beam, nearly all of which passes cleanly through the detector and into another neutrino experiment called MINOS. MINERvA?s detector contains a variety of different materials, including layers of lead and iron fronting the hydrocarbon plastic material of the inner detector. ?It?s chewy on the inside and crunchy on the outside,? says Deborah Harris, a Fermilab physicist and co-spokesperson for the MINERvA collaboration. ?One of the goals is to measure the neutrino interaction on several different nuclei.? Now the experiment has produced its first physics results, an analysis of neutrino interactions with carbon nuclei in the plastic portion of the detector.

In two new studies that will appear in the journal Physical Review Letters, the MINERvA collaboration reports on several months of experimental operation in 2010 and 2011. The analyses focus on so-called quasi-elastic scattering, which in the simplest case involves a neutrino colliding with a neutron in one of the carbon atoms. The interaction of those two electrically neutral particles yields two oppositely charged particles, a positively charged proton and a negatively charged muon, which scatter outward like billiard balls struck by a cue ball. ?It spits out a proton, and leaves the rest of the nucleus basically undisturbed,? Harris says. ?Some fraction of the time, it looks like more than just one proton comes out.?

The appearance of an extra proton alongside a neutron-turned-proton indicates that neutrinos tend to strike particle pairs. ?Twenty-five percent of the time, with some errors, protons are traveling around with neutrons,? Harris says. The physicists observed a similar trend in analogous reactions involving antineutrinos?the particles? antimatter counterpart. ?Let?s say that the carbon nucleus was really just six pairs of protons and neutrons? rather than a dozen independent particles, Harris explains, ?so whenever you hit a proton you?re also hitting a neutron. That?s kind of an extreme view of what might be going on in the nucleus.?

Neutrinos and antineutrinos come in three flavors?electron, muon and tau?each of them associated with a charged elementary particle of the same name. But as a neutrino zips through space at nearly the speed of light, it oscillates between the three possible flavors, a phenomenon that several experiments around the world are currently investigating. The tendency toward nuclear pairings documented at MINERvA could inform the analysis of those neutrino-oscillation experiments. ?It is not accounted for in the standard kinds of simulations of how neutrinos interact in all these oscillation experiments,? Harris says. ?In order to predict what the neutrino energy was coming in, you have to make some assumptions about what was going on in the nucleus.?

Adds physicist John Arrington of Argonne National Laboratory, who did not contribute to the new research: ?You really have to understand those reaction mechanisms to know what?s going on? in experiments where neutrinos scatter off of atomic nuclei. ?That really just wasn?t possible with the types of neutrino-scattering experiments that have been done before.??

Source: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=neutrino-minerva

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