Of Flash Mobs and Four Loko

Image: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

On an ordinary afternoon at Copenhagen Central Station, a performer sets up a drum in the center of a large hall. A cellist joins him. A woman approaches with her flute. They strike up a melody that seems familiar. A clarinet and bassoon and other instruments start playing. People pull out their cell phones and record video. Within minutes an entire symphony orchestra has assembled in the middle of the station, and suddenly it?s clear that this isn?t just your typical street performance; it?s the Copenhagen Philharmonic, and the tune is Ravel?s Bol?ro. This musical flash mob is a very different experience from watching an orchestra perform in a music hall, perhaps because of the novelty of the surroundings.

The same sort of disconnect may explain the peculiar potency of Four Loko, a fruit flavored, caffeinated, alcoholic drink that was invented by three Ohio State University students in 2005. Following a series of reported hospitalizations, in 2010 the Food and Drug Administration declared that it was illegal to add caffeine to alcoholic beverages, and the makers of Four Loko complied.

Case closed? That caffeinated alcoholic drinks are dangerous is clear, but is caffeine the culprit? Shepard Siegel, a psychologist at McMaster University in Ontario writing in a recent issue of Perspectives on Psychological Science, doesn?t think so.

For one thing, caffeine doesn?t seem to affect the way that alcohol gets absorbed by the body. Moreover, many drugs, including alcohol, are known to be more potent if they are taken in an unusual context. In a 1976 paper in Science, Siegel termed this the ?situational specificity of tolerance.? Environmental variables ranging from the room where a drug is administered to flavor cues can influence an individual?s drug-related tolerance. What this comes down to is classical Pavlovian conditioning. The body of a social drinker learns to prepare for the alcohol in response to the environment, before the alcohol is even ingested. Siegel?s argument is that people became especially drunk after drinking Four Loko because of the unexpected way in which it was presented: it doesn?t actually taste like alcohol.

If Siegel is right, the decaf approach that the manufacturer of Four Loko has now taken could be troubling. It has announced a new beverage that comes with ?a brand new flavor profile every four months.? This doesn?t fix the problem. Once someone becomes tolerant to the effects of the alcohol in one flavor, his or her tolerance would be eliminated when the next one is released. Intentional or not, Four Loko takes advantage of the situational specificity of tolerance. It has more in common with the
Copenhagen Philharmonic flash mob than with your morning cuppa joe.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=1cf8f21929edb71c9421c79fa2bd8bf4

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Gaddadi son Saif al-Islam finds friends in desert (Reuters)

AGADEZ (Reuters) ? Muammar Gaddafi's fugitive son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi can expect a warm welcome and even help hiding among the desert communities south of Libya which were long courted by his father.

Alienated further from the West by a war which risks unsettling a fragile regional peace, some were ready to defy an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant and shelter the son of a man who for years promoted the kinship of Saharan peoples.

"We are ready to hide him wherever needed," said Mouddour Barka, a resident of Agadez in northern Niger.

"We are telling the international community to stay out of this business and our own authorities not to hand him over -- otherwise we are ready to go out onto the streets and they will have us to deal with," he added.

Earlier this week hundreds joined a communal prayer at Agadez's main mosque in memory of Gaddafi and to ask for God's blessing for his children.

A senior Libyan official said on Thursday Saif al-Islam, 39, fearing the same fate as his slain father, was trying to arrange an aircraft to fly him from a desert refuge into the custody of the ICC, the world's top war crimes court.

His location remains unclear but Libyan and other sources have suggested he is somewhere in the mountainous border region between Niger and Mali, two African countries which have signed the Rome Statute of The Hague-based court.

BROTHER COUNTRIES

Niger's government in the capital Niamey has vowed to meet its ICC commitments but 750 km (400 miles) north in a region where cross-border allegiances among Tuareg nomads often outweigh national ties, the picture looks different.

"I am ready to welcome him in. For me his case is quite simply a humanitarian one," said Mohamed Anako, president of the council of Agadez region, a barren stretch of land almost the same size of France.

"Libya and Niger are brother countries and cousins. You find the same communities in Libya as you do in northern Niger -- so we will welcome him in," said Anako, who said only that he had heard "talk" of Saif al-Islam being in the area.

Aided by local Tuareg guides in a region Niger concedes is too vast for its forces to patrol effectively, Saif al-Islam could remain hidden almost indefinitely in the mountains that straddle the borders of Niger, Algeria and Mali.

Libya's southern neighbors learned to live with Gaddafi, accepting his largesse despite exasperation at his vision of a trans-Saharan people, rhetoric which prompted concerns over their territorial integrity in a region where borders are already porous.

For northern communities in both Niger and Mali, the NATO-backed Libyan war that removed Gaddafi has brought nothing but trouble, with thousands of African migrant workers and armed Tuaregs who fought for the fallen dictator turning up at their door.

This has sparked new concerns over stability in countries which have only in the past two years won respite from years of off-on Tuareg rebellions sometimes goaded on by Gaddafi.

While the security consequences for the region may take months to become clear, the build-up in recent weeks of 500 armed pro-Gaddafi fighters in the Kidal region of Mali by the Nigerien border may offer an opportunity for Saif al-Islam.

"He could be anywhere in the border region around Niger, Mali or Algeria," said a ministerial source in Mali.

"But hundreds of Libyan soldiers, all of Malian origin, are sheltering in Kidal, where they came in convoys commanded by pro-Gaddafi colonels. He would be safer among his own in Mali," the source added.

(Additional reporting by Tiemoko Diallo in Bamako; writing by Mark John)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111028/wl_nm/us_libya_saif_tuaregs

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Iran oil blast kills one, separate incident hits refinery (Reuters)

TEHRAN (Reuters) ? An explosion and fire at an Iranian oil refinery on Friday was brought under control and caused no casualties, while a separate oil field blast killed one person, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

"At the moment, the (refinery) incident has been completely brought under control," Majid Rajabi, managing director of the Shazand oil refinery, told Mehr.

"The incident caused neither casualties nor financial damage and everything is normal now," he said.

Rajabi said an accumulation of gas caused the incident.

Last year a scheme to develop Shazand was launched with an investment of $3.3 billion to boost its initial refining capacity from 170,000 barrels per day to 250,000 bpd and increase the country's gasoline production by 2 million litres per day.

The second incident occurred at an oil field at Bibi Hakimeh near the Gulf, killing one person and injuring three, Mehr said.

Mehr said it occurred during drilling when workers unexpectedly encountered an "enormous volume of unknown accumulated gas" in the layers of a reservoir.

(Reporting by Ramin Mostafavi; Editing by Jason Neely)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iran/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111028/wl_nm/us_iran_blasts

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Gaming sponsors promise destination casinos won't create loss in ...

By Kathleen Haughney October 27, 2011 02:08 PM

Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami and Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale are at the Sun-Sentinel editorial board talking up their new gaming bill that was released yesterday. (Read our Q and A on the bill yesterday.)

One big question that has been looking is what happens to the state's 20-year deal with the Seminole Tribe, which guarantees the state more than $1 billion over a five year period for a monopoly on slots outside of Miami-Dade and Broward and table games like blackjack and baccarat. The terms of the deal are set to be renegotiated at the five year point. If the new casinos are approved and start dealing games before the five year point, the state would lose out on some of the money from the Seminoles because the compact would be invalidated.

Fresen told the editorial board that destination casinos will somehow be responsible for the money if the state has to forgo the funds from the tribe.

"Those that get licensed for a destination would be on the hook for any lost money for the compact," he said.

But, Fresen said he thinks by the time that the destination casinos are operational -- a commission is to award licenses by mid-2013 -- the five years would have expired anyway.

Fresen added that it is better for Florida to bring gaming in that it can regulate as opposed to depending on the Seminoles, which it has no power of because the tribe is a sovereign nation.

"I don?t think the compact is worth the paper it?s printed on and I think something like this would be," he said.

Categories: None

Source: http://blogs.trb.com/entertainment/news/gambling/blog/2011/10/gaming_sponsors_promise_destin.html

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Prehistoric greenhouse data from ocean floor could predict earth's future

Thursday, October 27, 2011

New research from the University of Missouri indicates that Atlantic Ocean temperatures during the greenhouse climate of the Late Cretaceous Epoch were influenced by circulation in the deep ocean. These changes in circulation patterns 70 million years ago could help scientists understand the consequences of modern increases in greenhouse gases.

"We are examining ocean conditions from several past greenhouse climate intervals so that we can understand better the interactions among the atmosphere, the oceans, the biosphere, and climate," said Kenneth MacLeod, professor of geological sciences in the College of Arts and Science. "The Late Cretaceous Epoch is a textbook example of a greenhouse climate on earth, and we have evidence that a northern water mass expanded southwards while the climate was cooling. At the same time, a warm, salty water mass that had been present throughout the greenhouse interval disappeared from the tropical Atlantic."

The study found that at the end of the Late Cretaceous greenhouse interval, water sinking around Greenland was replaced by surface water flowing north from the South Atlantic. This change caused the North Atlantic to warm while the rest of the globe cooled. The change started about five million years before the asteroid impact that ended the Cretaceous Period.

To track circulation patterns, the researchers focused on "neodymium," an element that is taken up by fish teeth and bones when a fish dies and falls to the ocean floor. MacLeod said the ratio of two isotopes of neodymium acts as a natural tracking system for water masses. In the area where a water mass forms, the water takes on a neodymium ratio like that in rocks on nearby land. As the water moves through the ocean, though, that ratio changes little. Because the fish take up the neodymium from water at the seafloor, the ratio in the fish fossils reflects the values in the area where the water sank into the deep ocean. Looking at changes through time and at many sites allowed the scientists to track water mass movements.

While high atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide caused Late Cretaceous warmth, MacLeod notes that ocean circulation influenced how that warmth was distributed around the globe. Further, ocean circulation patterns changed significantly as the climate warmed and cooled.

"Understanding the degree to which climate influences circulation and vice versa is important today because carbon dioxide levels are rapidly approaching levels most recently seen during ancient greenhouse times," said MacLeod. "In just a few decades, humans are causing changes in the composition of the atmosphere that are as large as the changes that took millions of years to occur during geological climate cycles."

###

University of Missouri-Columbia: http://www.missouri.edu

Thanks to University of Missouri-Columbia for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/114698/Prehistoric_greenhouse_data_from_ocean_floor_could_predict_earth_s_future

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Insurgents attack US-run base in Afghanistan (AP)

KABUL, Afghanistan ? An Afghan official says insurgents have launched an attack on a U.S.-run civilian and military base in the southern city of Kandahar.

Kandahar provincial police chief, Gen. Abdul Razzaq says at least three insurgents had taken over an office in front of the base on Thursday afternoon and started shooting. The base is home to NATO troops, including Americans, and a provincial reconstruction team.

Razzaq says he was at the base for a meeting when the attack started.

Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi says two of the attackers have been killed, but he had no other details.

A hospital in Kandahar said at least one civilian was killed and at least two others and a member of the Afghan security forces have been wounded.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/usmilitary/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111027/ap_on_re_as/as_afghanistan

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Anthony jurors lay low after names released

The names of the Casey Anthony jurors are public, yet the reason they acquitted her is still largely unknown.

Jurors were either unavailable or didn't want to talk to the media Tuesday when a judge released their names, three months after they found Anthony not guilty in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. In the days since the verdict, Anthony and the jurors received death threats and angry messages were posted online. Many people across the nation thought the jurors let a guilty woman go free.

Anthony went into hiding, and it appears jurors have done the same thing.

Associated Press reporters went to the homes where jurors were thought to live, but in most cases, the blinds or drapes were closed and no one answered. Dogs could be heard barking inside some of the homes. When someone did come to the door, they said the juror didn't want to speak or in one case, said the juror didn't live there.

"The jurors have known that this day would be coming for a long time. They've had plenty of time to think about it," said Tampa defense attorney John Fitzgibbons, who was not involved in the Anthony case. "It may simply be that the jurors want to move on from this case. Or it could be some sort of collective decision by the jurors if they are working on something else jointly."

Fearing for their safety, Judge Belvin Perry delayed releasing their names, saying he wanted a "cooling off period" to pass. It may have worked. Vitriolic comments popped up online Tuesday, but in far less numbers.

Legal experts said Perry's decision was reasonable, but highly unusual.

"I can't recall another situation like this, but I think in this case it was necessary," said Leslie Garfield, law professor at Pace Law School in New York. "... You ask people to serve the justice system, but in situations like this there has to be protection for these people. We have to try to protect them somehow."

Anthony was accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee in June 2008. After extensive searches for the little girl, her body turned up about six months later in woods near Casey's parents' home in Orlando.

Prosecutors said that Anthony ? a single mother living with her parents ? suffocated Caylee with duct tape because she wanted to be free to party at nightclubs and spend time with her boyfriend.

But prosecutors could never say with certainty how Caylee died and defense lawyers successfully cast enough doubt on their case.

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Anthony was convicted of lying to investigators who were searching for Caylee and released from jail for time served about two weeks after the trial ended. She is serving probation on an unrelated check fraud charge at an undisclosed location in Florida.

John Nighland, husband of juror Kathleen Nighland, spoke to The Associated Press by telephone. He said his wife wasn't interested in talking about the verdict. When asked how she has been since the trial, he said: "She's doing well. She's doing well."

The husband of alternate juror Elizabeth Jones answered the door at their home and said she was at work.

"I'll leave your card with the pile here," Mike Jones said. "But I don't think she is going to want to talk." He added that since she didn't deliberate, "she doesn't have a whole lot to say."

A few of the jurors spoke with various media outlets immediately after the trial, but none went into extensive details about their deliberations or the public's reaction to their decision.

The jury foreman, David W. Angelo, told Fox News Channel in July: "We don't know the cause of death, and that was one of the major issues that we had and one of the major issues that we had to address. We don't know the cause of death. Everything was speculation."

Russell Huekler, one of the alternate jurors, was not involved in the deliberations but sat through more than 33 days of testimony.

"I'm sure they looked at the law and the evidence that was presented and unfortunately, the prosecution didn't meet their burden of proof," he told AP after the verdict.

Associated Press writers Terry Spencer and Jennifer Kay contributed to this report from Miami and Michael Schneider contributed from Clearwater.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45029137/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

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Boyz II Men Celebrate Twenty Years With New Album

'We're trying our best to transcend time,' Wanya Morris tells MTV News.
By Jocelyn Vena


Boyz II Men
Photo: Sandy Young/ Getty Images

Boyz II Men came on the scene 20 years ago with their debut album, Cooleyhighharmony. That's right: 20 years ago. To put that in a pop-culture timeline: that's three years before Justin Bieber was born, and seven years before Destiny's Child released their first album.

That's important to note because this year not only are the guys releasing a new album, the aptly titled Twenty, they also appear on Beyoncé's "Countdown" and will be featured on Justin Bieber's Christmas album, Under the Mistletoe. In addition to all the love from this new crop of pop stars, Boyz II Men enthusiasts should enjoy their latest endeavor.

Twenty is a mix of eight old-school classics, like "End of the Road," as well as 12 new tracks. That's 20 songs, for those keeping count.

"Twenty is our latest effort," Wanya Morris explained to MTV News. "It consists of the span of 20 years of our career. It's been seven years since we did an album with our own music; it felt like it was time to put our efforts and our maturity and all of the things we gained through the 20 years on this album. We're trying our best to transcend time, but at the same time maintain our integrity and allow people to see the maturity as well."

Nathan Morris admits that while they're not the fresh-faced kids they were two decades ago, they aren't that different from the rookies who declared "Motownphilly" a thing. Or, at least their music hasn't strayed much from that R&B sound that made them famous.

"Music is who we are. Our concepts may be different; obviously, it's 20 years later, [and] we've grown. But the music itself is the constant," Nathan said. "It's the only thing that has really kept us here for 20 years. The concept of music is still the same, but what we write about and what we think about nowadays is a little different. We're a little older, but the main objective is still all about love."

In the end, the men, who know a thing or two about performing love songs both happy and sad, hope to capture that spirit again. "I think we're most excited for people to hear the whole album," Wanya added. "We have a lot of different new songs and styles that will actually show the growth of Boyz II Men. At the same time, we still kept the same vibrations, the same integrity. Nate's idea, and all of our idea, is just keep it love and try and be ambassadors. We might not do it all that well, but we love love."

What's your favorite classic Boyz II Men jam? Tell us below!

Related Artists

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1673094/boyz-ii-men-twenty.jhtml

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SemiTether Makes Tethered iOS 5 Jailbreaks Rebootable Without a Computer [Ios Downloads]

SemiTether Makes Tethered iOS 5 Jailbreaks Rebootable Without a ComputerApple's iOS 5 is currently jailbreakable, but only with a tethered jailbreak. That means if your phone ever crashes, or if you have to reboot it for any reason, you need to have it connected to a Mac or PC. That sucks! If someone ever wants to murder you they'd just reboot your phone and you'd have no way to call the cops. But ho! SemiTether solves this problem.

SemiTether is a Cydia download that bypasses the rebooting limitation, allowing you to get back to your phone without connecting it to a computer. However, you will not be able to use any jailbreak apps, or use Mail and Safari, and your phone might take longer to boot than usual. If you compare this to having an entirely unusable phone, it's a pretty decent alternative.

Boot Tethered Jailbroken iOS 5 iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch Without PC/Mac | Addictive Tips

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/FyT6c0aJ3A0/semitether-makes-tethered-ios-5-jailbreaks-rebootable-without-a-computer

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