Vote for the Most Important Gadget of the Year: Semifinals [Gadget Of The Year]

A Year in the Woods of Our Bodies, Bedrooms and Bathrooms

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OK, it is time for a some year?s end soul searching and that searching leads me to the inescapable conclusion that I am apparently spending too much time thinking about the life in peoples bodies, bedrooms, and bathrooms.

It started off innocently. I finished my book on The Wild Life of Our Bodies this year and so was left with many, many stories I wanted to follow up on but that didn?t fit in the book or hadn?t yet emerged when the book was finished.

I?ve been fascinated with the discoveries being made on in and around our bodies, discoveries relevant to us, no matter who we are, a reality which led me to write about the ecology on Lady Gaga and the wars of microbes that might be going on Jon Stewart?s feet, as well as the story of the first guy to climb under a cow and try to get milk (no one said our history was without dark days), or what bed bugs, houseflies, and the species on your toilet seat, respectively, have to say about who you are.

My favorite piece I wrote this year was a blog post that took six or seven years to write, about a discovery made at a truck stop. This discovery probably has as much to say about the species around us in our daily lives as any of the articles about our more immediate habitats and parts.

The year closes for me, with a mystery, the question of what is living in my basement and your basement and what those species eat. That piece ended up yielding a nascent flickr site with pictures of the species in many peoples basement and then an ongoing survey in which you can participate that has already resulted in enough data for us to map the distribution of camel crickets in peoples? basements across North America.

In writing about all of these species and stories of our daily lives I have come to the realization people actually want to know not just about what lives with and around them but also what they should do about those species. That should be obvious, but sometimes things obvious to most humans are not obvious to scientists. Such is our clan. So I?ve also written this year about what probiotics are doing to you and whether or not you should be using antimicrobial wipes.

I?ll keep trying to answer practical questions in the New Year. I still haven?t yet gotten around to writing an answer to the practical question I get asked the most often, namely ?what should I do about the ants in my kitchen?? I?ll tell you what I say at dinner parties, if you want to know. I say, offer them some sugar and other food and watch them because they are about as interesting a thing as there is in the world and you are lucky that they live alongside you. We are all lucky, in this new year, or any year, to still live in a world full of mystery and wild species, species worth studying and blogging about, species that aren?t yet understood or even, as is the case for the most common urban ant in North America, Tetramorium spE, the pavement ant, even named. OK, that isn?t exactly what I say, but you get the idea. Ants are cool. Follow them. Learn their ways.

In the New Year, I vow to look for more answers about what to do about the species in our daily lives. First though, I want to write about appendixes a little more and the good things they can do. I also need to pack up, since my family and I are headed to Europe on sabbatical.

In Europe, I?ll find new species to write about. I?m sure of it. I just don?t know which ones yet. Who can say what might be discovered in European houses? Or on the bodies of Europeans? I?ll be studying and writing about European daily life. I?ll also be starting a new study with David Kroll and Julie Horvath at the Nature Research Center and Holly Menninger at North Carolina State University of the ecology and evolution armpits. The French armpit may truly be the last great, unexplored frontier. I?ll bring my laptop to write about what we find and, of course, long swabs so I can step back a little when I take the samples.

In the meantime, may your New Year be filled with discoveries. And may your wild life, the species on your feet, in your gut, and all around you, even in that raised glass of wine, be happy, healthy and diverse. Cheers to the wild things everywhere!

Image source.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=ed3ea2694b84bec0d2fb3ea9b4ec11c5

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Penguins coach Bylsma: Sidney Crosby still sidelined by concussion

December 28, 2011 at 4:38 PM by AHN ? ?

AHN Sports Staff

Pittsburgh, PA, United States (AHN Sports) ? Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby has undergone light workouts but his return remains unknown as he struggles to overcome concussion symptoms, coach Dan Bylsma reported Wednesday.

Bylsma said during Wednesday?s practice Crosby is still experiencing concussion symptoms despite performing light workouts.

Crosby has been sidelined with concussion symptoms since the Penguins? loss to the Boston Bruins on Dec. 5.

It remains unknown if the symptoms are due to a new injury or the concussion that sidelined the Penguins star for 10 months.

Crosby made his return from his previous bout with concussion on Nov. 21, recording two goals and two assists in a win against the New York Rangers.

Article ? AHN ? All Rights Reserved

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Source: http://gantdaily.com/2011/12/28/penguins-coach-bylsma-sidney-crosby-still-sidelined-by-concussion/

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Griffin, Baylor win record-breaking Alamo Bowl (AP)

SAN ANTONIO ? If that really was Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III's final college game, what an incredible way to go out.

Just ask him.

"We went out in style!" Griffin shouted to his teammates.

It was amazing the Baylor quarterback had any breath left at all. Not after a record-shattering Alamo Bowl that might not only be remembered as the highest-scoring regulation bowl game in history, but also possibly as Griffin's last addition to his legacy in Waco.

The AP Player of the Year wasn't dazzling Thursday night, but he didn't need to be as No. 15 Baylor still pulled out an incredible 67-56 victory over Washington.

If it was RG3's final showcase before jumping to the NFL, it was a gripping goodbye to watch. One of the nation's most electrifying players was upstaged by an even more exciting nail-biter that shattered the previous record for points in regulation set in the 2001 GMAC Bowl.

Fans showered Griffin with chants of "One more year! One more year!" as he paraded the Alamo Bowl trophy around the field. He stopped at the front-row stands and showed off his prize to his mother, who has already been looking at her son's NFL draft prospects.

Griffin said he'll start looking, too, soon enough.

For now, there was still the craziness of this game to sort through.

"I want Baylor nation to enjoy this," Griffin said. "It's not about me. I've got about two weeks. I'll enjoy this the next day, and then the next day, and then I'll make it."

The previous bowl record for a regulation game was 102 points in the 2001 GMAC Bowl between Marshall and East Carolina. That game went to double overtime and ended with a combined 125 points, which still stands as the overall bowl record.

Baylor, which a bowl game for the first time since 1992, and Washington (7-6) also set a bowl record for total offense with 1,397 yards.

"We just knew we needed to score," Washington quarterback Keith Price said. "We needed to score fast, just to give our defense a boost."

Griffin had an unremarkable night, throwing just one touchdown pass and running for another score. But Terrance Ganaway starred ably in his place, rushing for 200 yards and five touchdowns. His last was a 43-yard run with 2:28 left to seal Baylor's first 10-win season since 1980.

Price outplayed his Heisman counterpart, going 23 for 27 with 438 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran for another three scores.

"I think we'll have a hard time this bowl season to see a quarterback play as well as he did," Washington coach Steve Sarkisian.

Griffin was 24 of 33 for 295 yards ? and his only touchdown throw came on the game's opening drive.

Blown out in four other games against ranked opponents this season, the Huskies finally made one interesting. Not that it started that way after Baylor ran up 245 yards of offense alone in the first quarter ? awful even by the standards of Washington's defense, which is among the nation's worst.

Price, a sophomore who threw a school-record 29 touchdown passes in his first year as the starter, began cutting into a 21-7 deficit with a 12-yard scoring strike to James Johnson. Seven minutes later, Washington tied it when Devin Aguilar somersaulted over the goal line after catching a 1-yard lob.

The overwhelming crowd of Baylor fans ? decked in green-and-gold Heisman shirts and armed with signs such as "Superman wears RG3 socks" ? stood in stunned silenced. That gave way to disbelieving gasps on the next series, when the typically sure-handed Griffin fumbled after getting popped by Andrew Hudson.

After that, it was practically a free-for-all of big plays.

A 56-yard touchdown dash by Chris Polk. An 80-yard touchdown catch by Washington's Jermaine Kearse two plays into the second half. An 89-yard scoring rumble Ganaway. Kearse again, catching and darting for 60 yards before getting dragged down, setting up Price's fourth touchdown toss the next play.

Back and forth, back and forth. One after another. In all, five plays covered 50 or more yards, three of them for scores.

"That was crazy," Baylor coach Art Briles said.

For an Alamo Bowl short on drama and light on matchups in recent years, it was a thrilling scoring spree that overshadowed the mere novelty of featuring the Heisman winner. And that in itself was a rarity for a bowl of this stature. Not since Ty Detmer took BYU to the Holiday Bowl in 1990, had a Heisman winner played in a bowl before New Year's Day.

Plenty came to see this one.

Anticipating a surge of Heisman gawkers, Alamo Bowl officials added 800 temporary seats and opened up others with obstructed views that required ticket-buyers to sign a form acknowledging the poor sightlines. Those seats sold, anyway, and the announced attendance of 65,256 was the fifth-largest in the bowl's history.

Others had better seats.

That includes Miami Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland, who kicked for Baylor in the late 1980s but was here on business scouting Griffin in case the fourth-year junior enters the draft. Griffin's parents, two sisters and fiancee watched from front-row seats.

Griffin acknowledged this week his parents are looking at his draft prospects but denies having any substantial talks with them.

Win or lose, it was an impressive finale for Washington after stumbling into the postseason losing four of its last six. Particularly against a ranked team after then-Top 25 opponents Nebraska, Stanford, Oregon and USC all crushed the Huskies by an average of 24 points.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111230/ap_on_sp_co_ga_su/fbc_t25_alamo_bowl

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NASCAR's Kahne sorry for breastfeeding comments

(AP) ? NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne has apologized for comments he made on his Twitter account about public breastfeeding.

According to multiple media reports, Kahne posted messages on his account that he saw a mother breastfeeding a child in a supermarket, calling it "nasty" and saying he didn't "feel like shopping any more or eating."

Reports say Kahne then sent a crude reply message to a Twitter user who took issue with his comments.

After apparently deleting the offending posts from his Twitter feed, Kahne posted an apology on his Facebook page Wednesday, saying it wasn't his intention "to offend any mother who chooses to breastfeed her child, or, for that matter, anyone who supports breast feeding children. I want to make that clear."

Kahne said he understands his comments were "offensive to some people" and apologized.

"In all honestly, I was surprised by what I saw in a grocery store," Kahne said. "I shared that reaction with my fans on Twitter. It obviously wasn't the correct approach, and, after reading your feedback, I now have a better understanding of why my posts upset some of you.

"My comments were not directed at the mother's right to breastfeed. They were just a reaction to the location of that choice, and the fashion in which it was executed on that occasion."

Kahne said he respects the mother's right to feed her child "whenever and wherever she pleases."

Kahne also posted a personal reply to the user he'd insulted.

"I wanted to apologize for saying what I said to you yesterday," Kahne wrote. "It was out of line."

Kahne's team said its "concerns have been conveyed" to Kahne.

"We appreciate that he chose to follow up with his fans and others who were upset by the comments," Hendrick Motorsports said in a statement.

NASCAR did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-12-29-NASCAR-Kahne%20Apology/id-7d893c8257f54703a8f588f05eccdf77

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White House Seeks $1.2T Hike in Debt Limit

John Boehner, meanwhile, asks Obama to intercede

(NEWSER) - The White House launched a PR campaign to try to save the floundering payroll tax cut extension last night, asking supporters to chime in with what $40 meant to them?since that?s how much the average family stands to lose per paycheck if the extension doesn?t pass, CNN reports. Whitehouse.gov was inundated with more than 10,000 responses, and #40dollars soon topped Twitter?s trending chart, David Plouffe boasted in an email. Many respondents spoke of gas money, grocery bills, and health care costs. More?

Source: http://www.newser.com/story/136272/white-house-seeks-12t-hike-in-debt-limit.html

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Mitt Romney's easy path thus far in GOP race surprises experts and dismays Obama's allies

DES MOINES, Iowa - Regardless of whether Mitt Romney wins the Iowa Republican caucus Tuesday, he has enjoyed a remarkably easy presidential race so far.

When his rivals have stopped battering each other long enough to criticize him, they've often done so tentatively and ham-handedly. Romney's injury-free journey is all the more surprising because, despite some obvious campaign skills, he has well-known vulnerabilities ripe for attack.

The turn of events has astonished campaign pros in both parties, who expected Romney to be more bloodied. And it has dismayed President Barack Obama's allies, who assumed Republicans would at least soften up the man they viewed as the likeliest nominee from the start.

"By all rights, Romney should have spent the last six months with a target painted on his back," said Dan Schnur, a former GOP adviser who teaches politics at the University of Southern California. "But he has been able to keep his head low," Schnur said, while a series of rivals have taken turns quarreling, surging and falling.

New polls show Romney heading into Tuesday's caucus as the front-runner in a state that seems ill-suited to his background, and which snubbed him four years ago. The Iowa Republican caucus is usually dominated by evangelical voters, home-schoolers and other social conservatives. Yet his rivals have done little here to turn those dynamics against Romney, a Mormon who supported legalized abortion and mandatory health insurance as governor of liberal Massachusetts.

Romney began this year's campaign de-emphasizing Iowa. But his rivals' inability to produce a clear leader has opened a possible path for him to seize the prize.

A Romney win in Iowa, which is far from certain, would make him the clear favorite to win the nomination. Next up is the Jan. 10 primary in New Hampshire. Romney has a second home there, and the GOP voters' greater emphasis on financial matters is better suited to his politics.

Romney's luck stems largely from his opponents' early conclusion that he had enough money and experience to go deep into the nominating contest, and only one viable alternative could emerge. They've been competing for that spot, and attacking each other, ever since.

"If you have modest resources, you're going to spend your time differentiating yourself from the rest of the non-Romney crowd," said GOP lobbyist and strategist Mike McKenna.

Campaign attack ads in Iowa underscore the point. When former House Speaker Newt Gingrich surged in polls earlier this month, he was quickly pilloried by TV ads and mailings financed by groups associated with Romney, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.

In two weeks in Iowa, a PAC that supports Romney dumped $2.6 million into the effort, according to records compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. Having little money to respond, Gingrich has plummeted in the polls.

A far smaller sum was spent on anti-Romney ads, mostly by a pro-Obama group trying to fill the vacuum.

Campaign veterans say Perry had the best chance to establish himself early as the Romney alternative. That could have positioned him to hammer away at his Massachusetts rival. A proven fundraiser with 10 years as Texas governor, Perry rocketed to the top of GOP polls when he announced his candidacy in mid-August.

But he quickly fell after debate performances that typified the GOP field's inability, or unwillingness, to train sustained fire on Romney's obvious soft spots: his changed positions on abortion, gun control and gay rights, and his policy of requiring Massachusetts residents to buy health insurance or pay a penalty.

In a Sept. 22 debate in Florida, Perry started to describe Romney's various flip-flops. But he stammered and wandered so badly that it was nearly impossible to understand his point.

After that, the GOP field showed little interest in launching focused attacks on Romney's policy changes.

Romney was equally lucky in June. Then-candidate Tim Pawlenty had said in a TV interview that "Romneycare" was the inspiration for "Obamacare," the GOP term for the Democrats' 2010 health care overhaul. But in a televised debate that followed, Pawlenty refused to repeat the criticism. His reticence contributed to his fast decline, and gave Romney a big break.

Conservative columnist George Will said on ABC in September: "Tim Pawlenty got in trouble when he got a chance to attack Romney and didn't. Perry's in trouble because he attacked Romney and did it so incompetently."

Romney has enjoyed other breaks. James Pethokoukis of the conservative American Enterprise Institute noted that Romney recently stopped short of endorsing a value-added tax without ruling it out in all circumstances.

"Many conservatives/libertarians simply hate, hate, hate the idea of a VAT," Pethokoukis wrote. "I would be surprised if those quotes don't end up in a 30-second, anti-Romney ad in Iowa or New Hampshire."

So far, they haven't.

Democrats contrast Romney's easy ride with Obama's grueling Iowa campaign against Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards, two well-financed politicians with sharp debating skills.

Rodell Mollineau heads American Bridge, a Democratic group that gathers information to use against Republicans in campaigns. This year's GOP candidates have tried to attack Romney at times, Mollineau said, "but they're just not very good at it."

"Perry has the money, but he can't get a sentence out," Mollineau said. Gingrich is articulate, he said, but hasn't raised enough money to wound Romney with broadcast ads.

Romney's luck continued Wednesday. Rep. Michele Bachmann criticized two rivals during her fast-moving bus tour of Iowa. She said Perry has spent "27 years as a political insider," and Paul would be "dangerous as president" because of his hands-off views on national security.

Romney largely escaped her ire.

Source: http://www.startribune.com/politics/136362713.html

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The Case For Developer Platforms

developersOver the years, software development has ping-ponged between server-centric and client-centric designs. Today, with dominant mobile platforms like iOS and Android, apps have entered a hybrid client-server architecture. What this means for developers is that they have to juggle more technologies than ever before. And in response, we're seeing the rise of developer platforms that handle functionality that has never been outsourced before?everything from databases to sending email to providing user authentication. As more software moves to the cloud so too does the development tools used to make the final product.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/NefQcpq2oJA/

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Colombian city gets giant, outdoor escalator (AP)

BOGOTA, Colombia ? Officials in Colombia's second-largest city on Monday inaugurated a giant, outdoor escalator for residents of one of its poorest neighborhoods.

For generations, the 12,000 residents of Medellin's tough Comuna 13, which clings to the side of a steep hillside, have had to climb hundreds of large steps authorities say is the same as going up a 28-story building.

Now they can ride an escalator Medellin's mayor says is the first massive, outdoor public escalator for use by residents of a poor area.

"It turned out very well," said Mayor Alonso Salazar, adding that he has not heard of any such project elsewhere in this world.

Salazar said officials from Rio de Janeiro plan to visit Medellin to see if such an escalator would work in that city's favelas, which also cling precariously to hillsides.

Comuna 13 residents came out to celebrate and study the $6.7 million escalator which officials say will shorten the 35-minute hike on foot up the hillside to six minutes. Use of the escalator is free.

"This is a dream come true," homemaker Olga Holguin told RCN television.

Cesar Hernandez, head of projects for Medellin, said the electric stairway is divided into six sections and has a length of 384 meters (1,260 feet). An escalator goes up and a second goes down. Authorities plan to build a covering for inclement whether.

Salazar described Comuna 13 as the city's district that has "suffered the greatest urban violence... but lately this has been receding and we hope this social package will help it move forward."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111227/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_colombia_giant_escalator

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Carol Channing's Husband Dies at Nearly 92, 70 Years After They Met (omg!)

Carol Channing's Husband Dies at Nearly 92, 70 Years After They Met

Broadway and film legend Carol Channing is mourning the loss of her fourth husband and childhood friend Harry Kullijian.

Rancher-turned-local politician Kullijian died near the couple's home in Rancho Mirage, Calif. on Monday after suffering an aneuryism, a family spokesman told the Associated Press.

PHOTOS: Stars we lost in 2011

Now 90, the celebrated singer and actress met Kullijian over 70 years ago when they were both students at the same middle school in San Francisco.

The duo reunited in 2002, after the death of Kullijian's first wife; Channing had filed for divorce from her third husband Charles Lowe in 1998.

VIDEO: Carol Channing's 2010 visit with Us Weekly

Together, the elderly couple founded the Channing-Kullijian Foundation to support arts education in schools.

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_carol_channings_husband_dies_nearly92_70_years_201320471/44013962/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/carol-channings-husband-dies-nearly-92-70-years-201320471.html

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