As the economy continues along its path of recovery, many small businesses are optimistic about their financial outlook in 2013.
In a recent survey of more than 500 small-business owners, nearly half said they are somewhat or very confident that their organization will be in better financial shape than it was in 2012, according to TD bank.
In addition, 47 percent were confident they?ll exceed their sales performance from 2012. More than half plan to keep their staffing levels the same, and nearly one-third plan to hire at least one new employee.
With many employers feeling positive about their business? capabilities this year, they may consider how worker safety and wellness play into their organization?s overall financial situation.
Every year, employers spend nearly $1 billion per week on direct workers? compensation costs, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The additional expenses associated with an employee injury or illness can include medical care, legal services, training replacement employees, accident investigation, lost productivity, repairs to equipment damaged during an incident, lower employee morale and absenteeism.
Businesses that invest in appropriate safety procedures and preventative measures greatly benefit financially from a safer workplace.
Listen to "Hang Up and Listen" with Stefan Fatsis, Josh Levin, and Mike Pesca by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:
Hang Up and Listen is brought to you by?Stamps.com.?Click on the radio microphone and enter HANGUP to get our $110 bonus offer.
In this week?s episode of?Slate?s sports podcast Hang Up and Listen, Stefan Fatsis, Josh Levin, and Mike Pesca are joined by Sports Illustrated?s Melissa Segura to discuss Danica Patrick, Ronda Rousey, and a historic weekend for women in sports. They also talk with Puck Daddy?s Greg Wyshynski about the Chicago Blackhawks? hot start, whether the NHL will create a coach?s challenge system, and the rise of Kevlar socks. Finally, on the occasion of the worst free throw of all time, they create a taxonomy of sports bloopers.
Here are links to some of the articles and other items mentioned on the show:
Josh?s afterbutt: Robert Driscoll started the fire that (indirectly) kept baseball in Seattle.
Podcast production and edit by Mike Vuolo. Our intern is Eric Goldwein.
Article by everyday-wisdom.com, Recommended by Jessica Loeser, Wellness Outreach Team
According to current estimates, almost one in three U.S. adults has high blood pressure. But because there are no symptoms, almost one-third of these men and women aren?t even aware they have it (which explains why it is known as the silent killer).
Uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to stroke, heart attack, heart failure or even kidney failure. The one and only way to know if you have hypertension is to have your blood pressure checked on a regular basis. Having it checked by a professional ensures accurate readings.
By getting the facts on high blood pressure, you will learn how to live a heart-healthier life. High blood pressure directly increases the chance of coronary heart disease which leads to heart attack and stroke, particularly when it?s combined with additional risk factors.
High blood pressure can appear in children or adults, but it?s most commonly found in men and women over the age of 35. It is also predominant in those people who are one or more of the following: -obese -over the age of 50 -African-Americans -heavy drinkers -and in women who take birth control pills.
It may run in a family?s history, but in some cases, people with a strong family history of high blood pressure never develop it themselves. Also, men and women with diabetes mellitus, gout, or kidney disease are often prone to having high blood pressure.
Even if you have high blood pressure, you can lower your risks for heart attack and stroke with proper monitoring by a health care provider and easy lifestyle changes.
Alcohol Use. Over 9% of high blood pressure cases are brought on by alcohol misuse (two or more drinks per day); the more alcohol consumed the greater possibility of having high blood pressure.
In studies it was concluded that the abuse of alcohol could result in elevated systolic pressure and a decreased diastolic pressure. Also of surprise, it was found that people who just went out occasionally and drank heavily had even higher blood pressure than men and women who drank daily. Moderate drinking (less than two drinks a day) may have some benefits for the heart and may even guard against different types of stroke.
Of some concern was a study denotative that even low or modest drinking may heighten the danger for hypertension in African-Americans. Red wine, specifically, may have chemicals that benefit blood pressure; red grape juice may have the same advantages. It is critical, in any case, for men and women who can?t drink in moderation to refrain from alcohol all together.
Smoking is a significant risk consideration. One study reported that smokers typically have blood pressures up to 10 points higher than that of nonsmokers.
Caffeine causes an increase in one?s blood pressure temporarily, which was thought to be safe in men and women with normal blood pressure. Studies are indicating, however, that routine, heavy coffee drinking (an average of 5 cups per day) can raise blood pressure, and there is developing corroboration that a high consumption of coffee may be dangerous in men and women with hypertension and may even heighten their danger for stroke. Drinking coffee also increases loss of calcium, which also may affect blood pressure. Anyone who drinks coffee should retain a sufficient calcium intake.
Obesity; nearly one-third of patients with elevated blood pressure are obese. Even somewhat overweight adults have twice the danger of hypertension than men and women with acceptable weights. In reality, the rise in blood pressure in aging Americans may be due principally to weight increase. In other cultures, old age does not automatically line up with weight increase or elevated blood pressure. Children and adolescents who are overweight are at increased danger for developing hypertension when they become adults..
A diet known as ?Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension? (DASH) is now being used in efforts to better control blood pressure. This diet is not only loaded in significant nutrients and fiber, but also includes foods that are superior in supplemental calcium, magnesium, and potassium than those that are currently in the typical American?s dietary intake.
-Refrain from saturated fat although incorporate calcium-rich dairy products that are no- or low-fat. When choosing fats, pick monounsaturated oils, such as olive or canola oils. One study reported a reduced requirement for antihypertensive medicines in men and women with a high consumption of virgin olive oil, but not sunflower oil, a polyunsaturated fat. -Select whole grains or multigrain bread, not white bread. The same holds true for pasta. -Chose from a select choice of fresh fruits and vegetables every day. Most of these foods are loaded in fiber, which may assist you to lower your blood pressure. -Substantial foods that will assist you in lowering your blood pressure are mostly fruit?specifically those rich in potassium which could include bananas, oranges, cantaloupes and prunes?as well as vegetables such as carrots, celery, spinach, alfalfa, mushrooms, lima beans, avocados, potatoes, and broccoli. -You should also consume nuts, seeds, legumes, dried beans or peas, cooked turnip greens, salmon, cottage cheese, low-fat milk, and yogurt as part of your daily nourishment. -Select and choose smaller portions of protein?preferably chicken, turkey and fish, or soy goods. -Soy products combined with foods that contain fiber or supplements may have definite benefits. -Oily fish may also be extremely favorable as they contain omega-3 fatty acids, which have been connected with heart and nerve protection. -Most people know that salt is bad for people with high blood pressure, but they are unsure how best to reduce their intake. Controlling and maintaining a normal blood pressure is one area that we do have some command and control over. By keeping blood pressure levels within an acceptable range, you will also be eliminating other possible health problems in the future. Check your blood pressure on a consistent basis, and if it starts to elevate into the higher-than-normal levels, it is important to check with your physician. Strokes and heart attacks are irreversible!
NEW YORK (AP) ? Federal prosecutors planned to use a graphically detailed trail of emails, computer files and instant messages to show that a New York City police officer had dangerous schemes to abduct women, cook them and devour them.
Opening statements were expected early Monday afternoon in the case against 28-year-old Gilberto Valle.
"I'm planning on getting me some girl meat," Valle allegedly wrote in one chat room. "It's this November, for Thanksgiving. ... She's not a volunteer. She has to be abducted."
A criminal complaint claimed that Valle had created a computer file cataloging at least 100 women with their names, addresses and photos. And it accused him of illegally culling some of the information from a restricted law enforcement database.
He is charged with conspiring to kidnap a woman and unauthorized use of a law enforcement database. A conviction on the kidnapping count carries a possible life sentence.
A prosecutor told a judge on Monday the government had decided not to have an FBI agent testify about disputed cellphone data it claimed showed Valle stalked his victims.
Prosecutors have enough "overwhelming other evidence" to prove their case, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall Jackson.
The baby-faced tabloid sensation known as the "Cannibal Cop" is expected to take the stand as his defense tries to make the case that it was all fantasy, that his online chats were so offensive, so over-the-top that they couldn't possibly be taken seriously.
In pretrial proceedings, defense attorney Julia Gatto even showed prospective jurors a kinky staged photo of a woman trussed up in a roasting pan, aiming to drive home the argument that Valle's only appetite was for fantasies.
"The government's case is nothing more than a hard drive full of disturbing, sexually deviant talk between my client and other men who share his, albeit weird, proclivities," the attorney said.
The defense has been bolstered by pretrial rulings that will allow Valle's lawyers to call expert witnesses expected to give jurors a tutorial on online sexual deviance and fetishes often called "vore," short for carnivore.
A clinical sexologist will testify about sexually explicit websites that "resemble improvisational theater," court papers say. "The style is to maintain the repartee, regardless of how implausible, ridiculous or even impossible the conversations gets."
A forensic psychiatrist and criminologist who examined Valle and contends most men "who have sexually sadistic fantasies ... engage in no harmful actions toward others," the papers say.
The witness found that Valle has no serious mental illness or personality disorders related to violence. Instead, he says, the defendant has recurring fantasies of sexual sadism - a condition known as paraphilia.
At trial's end, Valle's fate will rest with a jury of six men and six women, most of whom are college-educated and have lived in Manhattan or New York's suburbs most of their lives.
A New Jersey man charged with scheming with Valle to kidnap, rape and murder a Manhattan woman is awaiting trial. He also says he intended no harm.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The White House and Republicans kept up the unrelenting mudslinging Sunday over who's to blame for roundly condemned budget cuts set to take effect at week's end, with the administration detailing the potential fallout in each state and governors worrying about the mess.
But as leaders rushed past each other to decry the potentially devastating and seemingly inevitable cuts, they also criticized their counterparts for their roles in introducing, implementing and obstructing the $85 billion budget mechanism that could affect everything from commercial flights to classrooms to meat inspections. The GOP's leading line of criticism hinged on blaming Obama's aides for introducing the budget trigger in the first place, while the administration's allies were determined to illustrate the consequences of the cuts as the product of Republican stubbornness.
Former Republican National Committee chairman Haley Barbour, aware the political outcome may be predicated on who is to blame, half-jokingly said Sunday, "Well, if it was a bad idea, it was the president's idea."
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said there was little hope to dodge the cuts "unless the Republicans are willing to compromise and do a balanced approach."
No so fast, Republicans interjected.
"I think the American people are tired of the blame game," said Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H.
Yet just a moment before, she was blaming Obama for putting the country on the brink of massive spending cuts that were initially designed to be so unacceptable that Congress would strike a grand bargain to avoid them.
Obama nodded to the squabble during his weekly radio and Internet address.
"Unfortunately, it appears that Republicans in Congress have decided that instead of compromising ? instead of asking anything of the wealthiest Americans ? they would rather let these cuts fall squarely on the middle class," Obama said Saturday, in his last weekly address before the deadline.
"We just need Republicans in Washington to come around," Obama added. "Because we need their help to finish the job of reducing our deficit in a smart way that doesn't hurt our economy or our people."
With Friday's deadline nearing, few in the nation's capital were optimistic that a realistic alternative could be found and all sought to cast the political process itself as the culprit. If Congress does not step in, a top-to-bottom series of cuts will be spread across domestic and defense agencies in a way that would fundamentally change how government serves its people.
Obama senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer told reporters the GOP is "so focused on not giving the president another win" that they will cost thousands of jobs. To back up their point, the White House released state-by-state tallies for how many dollars and jobs the budget cuts would mean to each state.
"The Republicans are making a policy choice that these cuts are better than eliminating loopholes," Pfeiffer said.
And, yes, those cuts will hurt. They would slash from domestic and defense spending alike, leading to furloughs for hundreds of thousands of government workers and contractors.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said the cuts would harm the readiness of U.S. fighting forces. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said travelers could see delayed flights. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said 70,000 fewer children from low-income families would have access to Head Start programs. And furloughed meat inspectors could leave plants idled.
In Virginia, for instance, 90,000 Defense Department civilian employees could be furloughed, including nurses at Army hospitals, said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. He also said ship-repair contractors could lay off 300 of their 450 employees.
"There is no reason that this has to happen. We just need to find a balanced approach," Kaine said.
White House officials also pointed to Ohio as another state that would be hit hard: $25.1 million in education spending and another $22 million for students with disabilities. Some 2,500 children from low-income families would also be removed from Head Start programs.
Officials said their analysis showed Kentucky would lose $93,000 in federal funding for a domestic abuse program, meaning 400 fewer victims being served in Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's home state. Georgia, meanwhile, would face a $286,000 budget cut to its children's health programs, meaning almost 4,200 fewer children would receive vaccinations against measles and whooping cough.
White House officials said Nevada would face military furloughs totaling $12.1 million in reduced pay, a $424,000 cut to pay for meals for seniors and an almost $2 million reduction for clean air and water programs.
The White House was ready with state-by-state reports designed to get hold-out lawmakers to compromise or face unhappy constituents.
The White House compiled the numbers from federal agencies and its own budget office. The numbers reflect the impact of the cuts this year. Unless Congress acts by Friday, $85 billion in cuts are set to take effect from March to September.
As to whether states could move money around to cover shortfalls, the White House said that depends on state budget structures and the specific programs. The White House did not have a list of which states or programs might have flexibility.
Republican leaders were not impressed by the reports for the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
"The White House needs to spend less time explaining to the press how bad the sequester will be and more time actually working to stop it," said Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio.
Some governors said the impasse was just the latest crisis in Washington that is keeping businesses from hiring and undermining the ability of state leaders to develop their own spending plans.
"It's senseless and it doesn't need to happen," said Gov. Martin O'Malley, D-Md., during the annual meeting of the National Governors Association this weekend.
"And it's a damn shame, because we've actually had the fastest rate of jobs recovery of any state in our region. And this really threatens to hurt a lot of families in our state and kind of flat-line our job growth for the next several months," O'Malley said.
Obama did not mention the budget cuts in remarks before his dinner with the governors Sunday evening at the White House; he is expected to address the issue in a speech Monday morning to the same group. But time is running out and hope is waning.
Suggestions intended to instill a spirit of compromise included a presidential summit at Camp David and even a field trip to watch "Lincoln."
Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy said it is past time for both sides to sit down to help dodge cuts that will hurt all states' budgets.
"Come to the table, everyone. Everybody. Let's work this thing out. Let's be adults," said Malloy, a Democrat.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., called the defense cuts "unconscionable" and urged Obama to call lawmakers to the White House or the presidential retreat of Camp David for a last-minute budget summit.
"I won't put all the blame all on the president of the United States. But the president leads. The president should be calling us over somewhere ? Camp David, the White House, somewhere ? and us sitting down and trying to avert these cuts," McCain said.
LaHood, who served as a Republican representing Illinois in the U.S. House, urged his colleagues to watch Steven Spielberg's film about President Abraham Lincoln's political skills.
"Everybody around here ought to go take a look at the 'Lincoln' movie, where they did very hard things by working together, talking together and compromising," said LaHood. "That's what's needed here."
LaHood and Duncan were the only representatives from the administration to appear on Sunday shows. The White House did not book any of its senior aides.
Barbour, Malloy and McCain appeared on CNN's "State of the Union." McCaskill was interviewed on "Fox News Sunday." Ayotte, Duncan and Kaine spoke with CBS' "Face the Nation." LaHood appeared on both CNN and NBC.
___
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Carl Pistorius, brother of Oscar Pistorius, currently faces a culpable homicide charge for a 2008 car accident in which a woman motorcyclist was killed. Olympic star Oscar Pistorius is charged with premeditated murder in the Feb. 14 shooting of his girlfriend.
By Raf Casert,?Associated Press / February 24, 2013
Carl Pistorius, (r.), and Henke Pistorius, the brother and father of Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, charged with the shooting death of his girlfriend attend Oscar's bail hearing at the magistrate court in Pretoria, South Africa Feb. 19. Carl Pistorius is facing a charge of culpable homicide for the death of a woman knocked down on her motorbike in 2008.
Themba Hadebe/AP/File
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The brother of Olympic star Oscar Pistorius is facing a culpable homicide charge for a 2008 road death, compounding problems for the family after the double-amputee runner was charged with premeditated murder in the Feb. 14 shooting death of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
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Lawyer Kenny Oldwage said in a statement that Carl had been involved in a car accident "in which a woman motorcyclist sadly lost her life." He said that "there is no doubt that Carl is innocent and the charge will be challenged in court."
Carl Pistorius was already in court last Thursday, as his brother Oscar was facing a bail hearing, and will appear again at the end of next month.
Oscar Pistorius was released on bail Friday and his brother Carl was seen driving into the home of their uncle Arnold early Sunday in Waterkloof, an affluent suburb of Pretoria, the nation's capital, where Oscar is now staying.
The problems surrounding his older brother Carl are the latest twist in a case that has transfixed South Africa and much of the world. Sunday's revelation of the culpable homicide charge immediately created a stir.
"It's also doubly sad because it's involved with Oscar and his brother and all the family ? so they have double sort of trouble. So, not good," said Johannesburg resident Jim Plester.
Oldwage said that "Carl deeply regrets the accident" and that a blood test showed he was not drunk at the time. "It was a tragic road accident after the deceased collided with Carl's car."
He said the charges had initially been dropped, only to be reinstated later.
It was the second time the Pistorius case was weighed down by additional charges.
South African police appointed a new chief investigator last Thursday, replacing a veteran detective after unsettling revelations that the officer was charged with seven counts of attempted murder.
Oscar Pistorius was charged with premeditated murder, but the athlete says he killed his girlfriend accidentally, opening fire after mistaking her for an intruder in his home.
On Saturday, the family took steps to lower its profile on social media after someone hacked into the Twitter account of Carl. They cancelled all the social media sites for both Oscar's brother and his sister Aimee.
Carl has always been close to Oscar but was notably absent when their uncle Arnold, flanked by Oscar's sister Aimee, read out a first reaction to the shooting on Feb. 17, even though he was also on the premises.
Feb. 22, 2013 ? Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the seventh most common form of cancer in the United States, but other than an association with the human papillomavirus, no validated molecular profile of the disease has been established. By analyzing data from DNA microarrays, a UNC-led team has completed a study that confirms the presence of four molecular classes of the disease and extends previous results by suggesting that there may be an underlying connection between the molecular classes and observed genomic events, some of which affect known cancer genes. The clinical relevance of the classes and certain genomic events was demonstrated, thus paving the way for further studies and possible targeted therapies.
The study was published in the Feb. 22, 2013 issue of the PLOS ONE.
Neil Hayes, MD, MPH, associate professor of medicine and senior author, says, "Cancer is a disease caused by alteration in the DNA and RNA molecules of tumors. A cancer results when broken molecules initiate a cascade of abnormal signals that ultimately results in abnormal growth and spread of tissues that should be under tight control within the body.
"However, most common tumors, including head and neck cancer, have relatively little information in the public record as to how these signals coordinate to create different patterns of abnormalities. This study is among the largest ever published to document reproducible molecular tumor subtypes. Subtypes, such as those we describe, represent attractive models to understand and attack cancers for treatment and prognosis."
Dr. Hayes is a member of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and national co-chair of the Data Analysis Sub-Group for The Cancer Genome Atlas, a program of the National Institutes of Health.
The team, composed of investigators from UNC and five other institutions, analyzed a set of nearly 140 HNSCC samples. By searching for recurrent patterns known as gene expression signatures, they were able to detect four gene expression subtypes. The subtypes are termed basal, mesenchymal, atypical, and classical based on similarities to established gene expression subtypes in other tumor types and expression patterns of specific genes.
In spite of being the seventh most common form of cancer in the United States, HNSCC is relatively under-studied in comparison to other tumor types, e.g. breast and lung. By leveraging the similarities found in the gene expression subtypes, the results of this study provide a connection to a range of well-established findings and additional insight into the disease.
Other UNC authors are: Vonn Walter, PhD; Xiaoying Yin, MD; Matthew Wilkerson, PhD; Christopher Cabanski, PhD, now at Washington University at St. Louis; Ni Zhao, MS; Ying Du,PhD; Mei-Kim Ang, MD, now at the National Cancer Center in Singapore; Michele Hayward, RD; Ashley Salazar, BA; Katherine Hoadley, PhD; Mark Weissler, MD; William Shockley, MD; Adam Zanation, MD; Trevor Hackman, MD; Leigh Thorne, MD; William Funkhouser, MD; Andrew Olshan, PhD; Scott Randell, PhD; and Carol Shores, MD, PhD.
Other institutions are the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio, and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock.
Funding for the study was provided by a Clinical/Translational Award from the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, the University Cancer Research Fund, and a grant from the National Institutes of Health (K12-RR-023248).
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of North Carolina School of Medicine, via Newswise.
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Journal Reference:
Vonn Walter, Xiaoying Yin, Matthew D. Wilkerson, Christopher R. Cabanski, Ni Zhao, Ying Du, Mei Kim Ang, Michele C. Hayward, Ashley H. Salazar, Katherine A. Hoadley, Karen Fritchie, Charles G. Sailey, Mark C. Weissler, William W. Shockley, Adam M. Zanation, Trevor Hackman, Leigh B. Thorne, William D. Funkhouser, Kenneth L. Muldrew, Andrew F. Olshan, Scott H. Randell, Fred A. Wright, Carol G. Shores, D. Neil Hayes. Molecular Subtypes in Head and Neck Cancer Exhibit Distinct Patterns of Chromosomal Gain and Loss of Canonical Cancer Genes. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (2): e56823 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0056823
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Hey. I just made a RP a while ago called Discord: love is war. It's a slice of life roleplay that takes place in a huge mansion that is used as a private, boarding scholarship for the gifted. But here's the thing, they are gifted talent wise. Not power or mutation wise. The student are each a prodigy when it comes to their separate talents. Their are only twelve students attending at one given time.
The main focus to this is story, romance and relationships. Love and friendship are the two main driving forces behind this story RP. The reason behind it being named discord is due to the cheating, revenge, backstabbing, and love triangles that are likely to(and will, mind you.) Take place. And everyone can agree that love is a battlefield.
What i need are experienced role players that don't mind participating in a long term role play and be consistent with posting. I don't want this RP to die. If you think you want to join please do, I have lots of open spots. Or if you know someone who would fit perfectly in this Story Role Play then please give them a link or something. I'ed be grateful. ^^
SlashGear writes, Google is looking into creating its own music streaming service, according to the folks over at the Financial Times. The service would offer free unlimited streaming, and would be in direct competition with similar services, such as Spotify. The service would be supported by ads, but word has it that an ad-free subscription version might also be available. Google already offers its own music download store in the United States and various locations across Europe, and so the launch of its own streaming service would give it a leg up on its competitors, including Apple and Amazon, neither of?
Continue reading Google reportedly to launch free unlimited music streaming service at SlashGear
New York Yankees' Mariano Rivera pitches during a workout at baseball spring training, Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
New York Yankees' Mariano Rivera pitches during a workout at baseball spring training, Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
New York Yankees' Mariano Rivera laughs during a workout at baseball spring training, Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) ? Yankees closer Mariano Rivera did more than throw on Friday. He also called balls and strikes.
The 43-year old Rivera threw 25 pitches in his first batting practice session since knee surgery last year and said he was happy with the results.
"It feels great to be on the mound," said Rivera, who expects to throw BP one or two more times. "Basically, just wanted to see hitters. I'm excited. Build up, and we'll go from there."
The first batter Rivera faced was minor leaguer Rob Segedin. After the first pitch, which the right-handed batter took, Rivera said: "Strike 1." When the next pitch was taken, Rivera said: "Strike 2, you better swing."
Segedin took the advice on the third offering, and lined what would have been a single to right center.
"There you go," Rivera said.
Rivera was limited to nine games last year, his season ending when he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee while tracking down a fly ball during batting practice in Kansas City on May 3. He had surgery to repair the injury on June 12.
"He looked great," manager Joe Girardi said. "Looked like what you'd expect him to look like, which is a good thing."
Rivera is a 12-time All-Star with 608 saves in the regular season and 42 more in the postseason. After additional BP sessions, he might throw a simulated game before starting exhibition play ahead of the Yankees' April 1 opener against Boston.
Ace CC Sabathia, likely to start that opener, threw 40 pitches during his third bullpen session and intends to throw batting practice on Monday.
"Felt good. No problems," Sabathia said.
The left-hander had arthroscopic surgery Oct. 25 to remove a bone spur from his left elbow.
Shortstop Derek Jeter, coming back after ankle surgery, continues to increase his workouts. He is hitting and fielding, and participating in an indoor running program.
"Every day is more and more," Jeter said. "More agility, more running."
Andy Pettitte, who turns 41 in June, threw 24 pitches in his initial batting practice session.
Right-hander Phil Hughes, receiving treatment for bulging disk in his upper back, said he feels significantly better and could start pool work Sunday. He might resume playing catch next week.
Notes: Jorge Posada arrived in camp as a guest instructor. The former catcher again said he has no interest in making a comeback and is talking with the team about being a part-time instructor. "I'm not second guessing myself," Posada said. "I know I can't play. So, in my mind I think I made the right decision." ... RHP David Phelps is the scheduled starter for Saturday's spring training opener against Atlanta. Position players making the trip to Kissimmee include 1B Mark Teixeira, 2B Robinson Cano and SS Eduardo Nunez. ... Reliever Joba Chamberlain is scheduled to take part in a simulated game Saturday. ... Minor league pitching prospect Mark Montgomery (back spasms) threw 28 pitches in a bullpen session.
HOUSTON, Feb. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --?In a conference entitled, "Iran: Prospects for Democratic Change, U.S. Policy Options," a distinguished panel of bi-partisan former U.S. officials spoke to the need for a new course in dealing with the nuclear and terrorist threats posed by the Iranian regime, namely reaching out to Iran's organized opposition movement and protecting its members who are currently in Iraq.
Mayor Rudy Giuliani was joined by former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, former U.S. Ambassador to Morocco Marc Ginsberg and Col. Wes Martin (Ret.), chief protection officer for all of the Coalition Forces in Iraq and commandant of Camp Ashraf, Iraq, home to over 3,000 members of the main Iranian dissident movement, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK).
While rejecting the current policy of negotiating with the rulers of Tehran and underlining the futility of sanctions in changing the regime's behavior, Mayor Giuliani stressed the need to embrace the Iranian resistance. "They are our only hope that within our generation we can see an Iran that lives up to the wonderful Persian culture and lives up the incredible accomplishments that these people have had. These are enormously talented, cultured, civilized and educated people," he said.
In referring to the February 9th rocket attack at Camp Liberty, which killed seven residents, including a woman, and wounded 100, Mayor Giuliani added, "The Iraqi government knows there are going to be more attacks [on Camp Liberty] and before there are more attacks? at least they should be immediately moved to Camp Ashraf where they can do a better job of taking care of themselves." He urged the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to immediately declare the residents of Camps Liberty and Ashraf as refugees.
Recalling the promises given by the UN Secretary General's Special Representative to Iraq Martin Kobler, Mayor Giuliani said, "Because he has proven himself to be a professional liar? if the UN wants to do the right thing he should be removed immediately.? He is doing the dirty work of the Iraqi and Iranian governments ?"
Attorney General Mukasey noted, "Unfortunately, the moral responsibility lies with the United Nations and with our own government as well? And of course the attack itself could not have occurred without active Iraqi cooperation, [because] the commander of the forces that were supposed to provide security at Camp Liberty was the commander of the forces that last time attacked the MEK in Camp Ashraf and murdered more than 20 people."
Ambassador Marc Ginsberg quoted from the statement by members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee following their meeting with the Iranian Resistance's President-elect Mrs. Maryam Rajavi in Paris. The statement added, among other things, "The U.S. Government, the Secretary General of the United Nations, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees should give top priority to resolving the security situation of the residents of Camp Liberty?which can be ensured by their return to Camp Ashraf?before conducting any further interviews with the residents."
Col. Martin also blamed the Iraqi government for facilitating the attack on Liberty. "This last rocket attack proved it is an extermination camp waiting to happen? The only nation able to do this attack, the only organization able to do this attack in that region is the Iranian Quds force, backed by the Maliki military. That precision, putting those rockets into that Camp, wasn't an adjustment of fire; it took a professional military organization, he said.
The new HTC One is causing some excitement -- head on in to the new HTC One Forums to join in -- and gradually we're getting more concrete release information for various territories. One carrier in the UK picking it up is Three, and today we know when it's coming and how much it will cost.
The One will be available to pre-order from Three beginning today, ahead of general release on Mar. 15. Three is marketing the One as compatible with its Ultrafast network, although this isn't surprising and will work on the carriers LTE network when it launches. Two tariffs are mentioned specifically, both with an upfront cost of £69 for the device. On the Ultimate Internet 500 tariff you're looking at £34 a month, but for just £2 more you can get the HTC One on The One Plan -- a whole lot of One -- which gives tethering along with unlimited data. Additionally, Three is selling the phone on pay-as-you-go for £479.99. You can pre-order one for yourselves at the source link below.
ALLEN PARK, Mich. - The Detroit Lions have hired Terry Heffernan as their assistant offensive line coach.
Heffernan has been the offensive line coach at Wayne State in Detroit for the past six seasons. The Lions announced the move Thursday.
Before his tenure at Wayne State, Heffernan spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at Michigan. He is a native of Arlington Heights, Ill., and played college football at Dayton.
Like me, you might find yourself asking whether traditional strategies for self-improvement really work. For example, does meditation really improve your mental clarity? Can it truly change you in substantial ways? Or take other spiritual disciplines and practices, like yoga, prayer, journaling, or simply taking daily time to sit on a park bench and just be. Do these practices of deliberation and intentionality really make us better people? Or is it just some sort of retreat from reality? Something we do to make us feel better about ourselves, for a brief time, before real life swallows us up again.
Hansen is a?neuropsychologist. In?Buddha?s Brain, he approaches spiritual disciplines and practice from the perspective of neuropsychology. He puts traditional methods of spiritual self-improvement (particularly from Buddhism) in dialog with modern neuroscience to demonstrate that regular spiritual practices change and re-wire our brains.
For various reasons, our habitual mental patterns do not always serve us well. We may have developed unhealthy responses in our brain as a result of coping with childhood trauma, or we may be wired for fear and anxiety in a Darwinian world of survival. Whatever the reason, we find ourselves burdened with responses of fear, anger, or pride. We are quick to be critical, we have difficulty being attentive, we can?t say ?no,? we are easily stressed, we are beset with anger issues. These habitual responses can be changed.
Change isn?t easy, nor is Hansen?s book an attempt to suggest that traditional spiritual practices like meditation and mindfulness will fix any and all problems. However, for many of us, we can change the way our brain functions to increase our attentiveness, make ourselves more serene and more grounded, and to develop greater equanimity.
For many, spiritual practices are adopted by some manner of faith. We find a spiritual discipline and it sort of resonates with us. Then we find a teacher, or we read and study on the tradition of that practice. And then we just do it, and hope to God that we are doing the right thing! But Buddha?s Brain and other studies of neuropsychology are increasingly demonstrating that there is hard evidence that supports the fact that regular spiritual practice changes us on a chemical and molecular level.
I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in science and spirituality, but I would particularly like to see skeptics of spirituality take a crack at it. For me, personally,?Buddha?s Brain?helped to add a different dimension to my spiritual practices. Yes, I still have faith, but it?s nice to know that when I sit in silence for 15 or 30 minutes that I?m not just wasting my time. I?m changing my brain. And I?m changing it in ways that will help me to live life in a way that is more full and rich.
Note: Rick Hansen has several very good YouTube videos, if you would like to hear more about him before investing in any of his writings. See particularly:?http://www.youtube.com/user/BuddhasBrain
Journey to the limits of spacetimePublic release date: 21-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Faith Singer-Villalobos faith@tacc.utexas.edu 512-232-5771 University of Texas at Austin, Texas Advanced Computing Center
Black hole simulations on XSEDE supercomputers present new view of jets and accretion disks
Voracious absences at the center of galaxies, black holes shape the growth and death of the stars around them through their powerful gravitational pull and explosive ejections of energy.
"Over its lifetime, a black hole can release more energy than all the stars in a galaxy combined," said Roger Blandford, director of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Science. "Black holes have a major impact on the formation of galaxies and the environmental growth and evolution of those galaxies."
Gravitational forces grow so strong close to a black hole that even light cannot escape from within, hence the difficulty in observing them directly. Scientists infer facts about black holes by their influence on the astronomical objects around them: the orbit of stars and clumps of detectable energy.
With this information in hand, scientists create computer models to understand the data and to make predictions about the physics of distant regions of space. However, models are only as good as their assumptions.
"All tests of general relativity in the weak gravity field limit, like in our solar system, fall directly along the lines of what Einstein predicted," explained Jonathan McKinney, an assistant professor of physics at the University of Maryland at College Park. "But there is another regimewhich has yet to be tested, and which is the hardest to testthat represents the strong gravitational field limit. And according to Einstein, gravity is strongest near black holes."
This makes black holes the ultimate experimental testing grounds for Einstein's theory of general relativity.
While black holes cannot be observed, they are typically accompanied by other objects with distinctive features that can be seen, including accretion disks, which are circling disks of superhot matter on our side of the black hole's "event horizon"; and relativistic jets, high-powered streams of ionized gases that shoot hundreds of thousands of light years across the sky.
In a paper published in Science in January 2013, McKinney, Tchekhovskoy and Blandford predicted the formation of accretion disks and relativistic jets that warp and bend more than previously thought, shaped both by the extreme gravity of the black hole and by powerful magnetic forces generated by its spin. Their highly detailed models of the black hole environment contribute new knowledge to the field.
For decades, a simplistic view of the accretion disks and polar jets reigned. It was widely believed that accretion disks sat like flat plates along the outer edges of black holes and that jets shot straight out perpendicularly. However, new 3D simulations performed on the powerful supercomputers of the National Science Foundation's Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) and NASA overturned this oversimplified view of jets and disks.
The simulations show that the jet is aligned with the black hole's spin near the black hole but that it gradually gets pushed by the disk material and becomes parallel to (but offset from) the disk's rotational axis at large distances. The interaction between the jet and disk leaves a warp in the accretion disk density.
"An important aspect that determines jet properties is the strength of the magnetic field threading the black hole," said Alexander Tchekhovskoy, a post-doctoral fellow at the Princeton Center for Theoretical Science. "While in previous works it was a free parameter, in our series of works the field is maximum: it is as strong as a black hole's gravity pull on the disk."
In the simulations, the twisting energy grows so strong that it actually powers the jet. In fact, the jet can reorient the accretion disk, rather than the other way around, as was thought previously.
"People had thought that the disk was the dominant aspect," McKinney said. "It was the dog and the jet was the wagging tail. But we found that the magnetic field builds up to become stronger than gravity, and then the jet becomes the dog and the disk becomes the wagging tail. Or, one can say the dog is chasing its own tail, because the disk and jet are quite balanced, with the disk following the jet it's the inverse situation to what people thought."
What does this have to do with Einstein and his theory of general relativity?
Astronomers are closer than ever to being able to see the details of the jets and accretion disks around black holes. In a September 2012 paper in Science, Sheperd Doeleman of MIT reported the first images of the jet-launching structure near the supermassive black hole, M87, at the center of a neighboring galaxy, captured using the Event Horizon Telescope, a very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) array composed of four telescopes at three geographical locations. It constituted a small sliver of a vast skyscape, yet the results give astronomers like McKinney, Tchekhovskoy and Blandford the hope that they will get their first comprehensive glimpse into the black hole's neighborhood in the next three to five years.
"We'll see the gases swirl around the black hole and other optical effects that will be signatures of a black holes in spacetime that one can look out for," said Blandford.
The observations will either match models like theirs, or they will be different. Both outcomes will tell researchers a lot.
"If you don't have an accurate model and anything can happen as far as you understand, then you're not going to be able to make any constraints and prove one way or another whether Einstein was right," McKinney explained. "But if you have an accurate model using Einstein's equations, and you observe a black hole that is very different from what you expected, then you can begin to say that he may be wrong."
The model Blandford and others generated using supercomputing simulations will help serve that comparative role. But they need to add one crucial element to make the simulations meaningful: a way of translating the physics of the black hole system into a visual signal as it would be seen from the vantage point of our telescopes, billions of light years away.
"We're in the process of making our simulations shine, so they can be compared with observations," McKinney said, "not only to test our ideas of how these disks and jets work, but ultimately to test general relativity."
###
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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.
Journey to the limits of spacetimePublic release date: 21-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Faith Singer-Villalobos faith@tacc.utexas.edu 512-232-5771 University of Texas at Austin, Texas Advanced Computing Center
Black hole simulations on XSEDE supercomputers present new view of jets and accretion disks
Voracious absences at the center of galaxies, black holes shape the growth and death of the stars around them through their powerful gravitational pull and explosive ejections of energy.
"Over its lifetime, a black hole can release more energy than all the stars in a galaxy combined," said Roger Blandford, director of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Science. "Black holes have a major impact on the formation of galaxies and the environmental growth and evolution of those galaxies."
Gravitational forces grow so strong close to a black hole that even light cannot escape from within, hence the difficulty in observing them directly. Scientists infer facts about black holes by their influence on the astronomical objects around them: the orbit of stars and clumps of detectable energy.
With this information in hand, scientists create computer models to understand the data and to make predictions about the physics of distant regions of space. However, models are only as good as their assumptions.
"All tests of general relativity in the weak gravity field limit, like in our solar system, fall directly along the lines of what Einstein predicted," explained Jonathan McKinney, an assistant professor of physics at the University of Maryland at College Park. "But there is another regimewhich has yet to be tested, and which is the hardest to testthat represents the strong gravitational field limit. And according to Einstein, gravity is strongest near black holes."
This makes black holes the ultimate experimental testing grounds for Einstein's theory of general relativity.
While black holes cannot be observed, they are typically accompanied by other objects with distinctive features that can be seen, including accretion disks, which are circling disks of superhot matter on our side of the black hole's "event horizon"; and relativistic jets, high-powered streams of ionized gases that shoot hundreds of thousands of light years across the sky.
In a paper published in Science in January 2013, McKinney, Tchekhovskoy and Blandford predicted the formation of accretion disks and relativistic jets that warp and bend more than previously thought, shaped both by the extreme gravity of the black hole and by powerful magnetic forces generated by its spin. Their highly detailed models of the black hole environment contribute new knowledge to the field.
For decades, a simplistic view of the accretion disks and polar jets reigned. It was widely believed that accretion disks sat like flat plates along the outer edges of black holes and that jets shot straight out perpendicularly. However, new 3D simulations performed on the powerful supercomputers of the National Science Foundation's Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) and NASA overturned this oversimplified view of jets and disks.
The simulations show that the jet is aligned with the black hole's spin near the black hole but that it gradually gets pushed by the disk material and becomes parallel to (but offset from) the disk's rotational axis at large distances. The interaction between the jet and disk leaves a warp in the accretion disk density.
"An important aspect that determines jet properties is the strength of the magnetic field threading the black hole," said Alexander Tchekhovskoy, a post-doctoral fellow at the Princeton Center for Theoretical Science. "While in previous works it was a free parameter, in our series of works the field is maximum: it is as strong as a black hole's gravity pull on the disk."
In the simulations, the twisting energy grows so strong that it actually powers the jet. In fact, the jet can reorient the accretion disk, rather than the other way around, as was thought previously.
"People had thought that the disk was the dominant aspect," McKinney said. "It was the dog and the jet was the wagging tail. But we found that the magnetic field builds up to become stronger than gravity, and then the jet becomes the dog and the disk becomes the wagging tail. Or, one can say the dog is chasing its own tail, because the disk and jet are quite balanced, with the disk following the jet it's the inverse situation to what people thought."
What does this have to do with Einstein and his theory of general relativity?
Astronomers are closer than ever to being able to see the details of the jets and accretion disks around black holes. In a September 2012 paper in Science, Sheperd Doeleman of MIT reported the first images of the jet-launching structure near the supermassive black hole, M87, at the center of a neighboring galaxy, captured using the Event Horizon Telescope, a very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) array composed of four telescopes at three geographical locations. It constituted a small sliver of a vast skyscape, yet the results give astronomers like McKinney, Tchekhovskoy and Blandford the hope that they will get their first comprehensive glimpse into the black hole's neighborhood in the next three to five years.
"We'll see the gases swirl around the black hole and other optical effects that will be signatures of a black holes in spacetime that one can look out for," said Blandford.
The observations will either match models like theirs, or they will be different. Both outcomes will tell researchers a lot.
"If you don't have an accurate model and anything can happen as far as you understand, then you're not going to be able to make any constraints and prove one way or another whether Einstein was right," McKinney explained. "But if you have an accurate model using Einstein's equations, and you observe a black hole that is very different from what you expected, then you can begin to say that he may be wrong."
The model Blandford and others generated using supercomputing simulations will help serve that comparative role. But they need to add one crucial element to make the simulations meaningful: a way of translating the physics of the black hole system into a visual signal as it would be seen from the vantage point of our telescopes, billions of light years away.
"We're in the process of making our simulations shine, so they can be compared with observations," McKinney said, "not only to test our ideas of how these disks and jets work, but ultimately to test general relativity."
###
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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.
DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend, "Doug" (24), and I (22) have been in a long-distance relationship for a year, but we were friends for a couple of years before that. I had never had a serious relationship before and lacked experience. Doug has not only been in two other long-term relationships, but has had sex with more than 15 women. One of them is an amateur porn actress.I knew about this, but it didn't bother me until recently. Doug had a party, and while he was drunk he told one of his buddies -- in front of me -- that he should watch a certain porn film starring his ex-girlfriend. ...
There was a time, back before zoom lenses were commonplace, when the standard kit lens for a 35mm SLR camera was a fast 50mm lens. Today most D-SLRs ship with a 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens, which can't match the optical quality or light-gathering capabilities of a classic 50mm prime lens. Sony's 50mm f/1.4 Prime Lens ($449.99 direct) is an important photographic tool in its D-SLR lineup, both for owners of full-frame and APS-C camera bodies. On the former, the lens delivers a classic field of view that can be used to capture many different types of photos. Famed street photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson did most of his work with a 50mm lens.
When used on an APS-C camera the lens delivers a 75mm field of view, which makes it more of a short telephoto than a standard-angle lens. This can make it difficult to use in tight situations, limiting its versatility. However, it does serve as a nice portrait lens on an APS-C camera, as its fast f/1.4 maximum aperture makes it possible to highlight a subject by blurring the background behind it. The lens also matches quite well with the smaller form factor of an APS-C camera?it weighs only half a pound and uses 55mm front filters.
The lens is quite compact, measuring just 1.7 by 2.6 inches (HD) and weighing a mere 8 ounces. Its compact design allows it to balance well on even compact D-SLRs like the Alpha 57. A lens hood is included, which protects against flare and increases image contrast, and 55mm filters are supported. The lens is noticeably smaller than Nikon's AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G, but that lens has an internal focus motor for quiet autofocus?the Sony lens is an older design that requires a noisy screw to drive its focus.
I used Imatest to measure the detail that the lens could capture when attached to the full-frame Sony Alpha 99 camera. It performed quite well at all tested apertures, recording 2,083 lines per picture height at f/1.4, 2,254 lines at f/2, and 2,363 lines at f/2.8. Resolution peaks at just under 2,500 lines at f/8. A score of 1,800 lines is considered to be very sharp, so you should feel confident in using the 50mm at any aperture setting without sacrificing image quality. There is some noticeable barrel distortion, about 1.5 percent, which causes straight lines to slightly curve outward. It can be corrected easily with Lightroom's distortion tool, but should be noted.
The 50mm f/1.4 Prime is priced in line with its competition, and performs well. An internal focus motor would be a nice upgrade if Sony opts to refresh the lens at some point in the future, but would undoubtedly add to its size. The company does sell a lower-priced DT 50mm f/1.8 Mid-Range Prime Lens for around $170, but it only covers the image circle of an APS-C camera?if you shoot with an Alpha 99, 850, or 900, you'll want to spend the extra money to get one that lets you take advantage of your camera's full-frame image sensor.
More Digital Camera Reviews: ??? Sony Carl Zeiss 135mm f/1.8 Telephoto Prime Lens ??? Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 Telephoto Zoom Lens ??? Sony Carl Zeiss 24-70mm f/2.8 Zoom Lens ??? Sony 50mm f/1.4 Prime Lens ??? Sony 100mm f/2.8 Macro Lens ?? more
THOMSON, Ga. (AP) ? Authorities were investigating after a small jet crashed off the end of a runway after landing in eastern Georgia, killing five people and injuring two.
Thomson-McDuffie County Sheriff Logan Marshall said the jet crashed after 8 p.m. Wednesday. He said the two survivors were taken to area hospitals but did not have information on their conditions. He said the identities of those killed were being withheld pending notification of family members.
The Hawker Beechcraft 390/Premier I departed from Nashville, Tenn., when it crashed just after landing at the Thomson-McDuffie County Airport, about 30 miles west of Augusta, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said in an email.
Seven people were aboard, she told The Associated Press in the email. She told The Augusta Chronicle (http://bit.ly/WbvMGa) that the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate and determine the probable cause of the crash.
The Augusta Chronicle cited Assistant County Fire Chief Stephen Sewell as saying there were at least two survivors identified as a pilot and a passenger. But he provided no additional information about those aboard.
Bodies of the five people who died have been taken to a Georgia Bureau of Investigation lab in Decatur, where autopsies were planned, GBI spokesman John Bankhead said Thursday morning. The GBI worked with the sheriff's office to recover the bodies, as they sometimes do at accident scenes.
The newspaper also said a brush fire flared near the crash scene, quoting witnesses who reported power outages that prompted a utility to send workers to the site.
The plane was on a flight from John Tune Airport in Nashville, Tenn., to the Thomson-McDuffie airport, Bergen said in her email, adding the aircraft is registered to a company based in Wilmington, Del.
The Thomson McDuffie-Regional Airport is the largest general aviation facility in the Central Savannah River Area ? a 13 county region in east Georgia and western South Carolina, according to the airport's website. It serves Augusta, Thomson and the Reynolds Plantation/Lake Oconee Resort area.
Contact: Rebecca Scott rebeccas@unimelb.edu.au 61-383-440-181 University of Melbourne
A male fairy-wren's low pitch song indicates body size, a new international study has shown.
The study led by University of Melbourne researcher Dr Michelle Hall, is the first to show that the larger the male fairy wren, the lower the pitch of his song.
"This is the first time we have been able to show that song pitch indicates body size in song birds," said Dr Hall from the University's Department of Zoology.
The study, which began when Dr Hall was at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Germany, has been published today in the journal PLOS ONE.
Reliable communication about body size between animals is particularly important when communicating with mates or rivals. For example the bigger the rival is, the more likely it is to win in a fight so a song pitch indicating a large size may deter rivals.
"Surprisingly, there is very little evidence that the pitch of calls indicates body size differences within species, except in frogs," she said.
"In birds in particular, there has been no evidence that the pitch of songs indicated the size of the singer until now."
The study involved measuring the leg length (a good indicator of overall body size) of 45 adult male purple-crowned fairy-wrens. It found there was a correlation between the lowest song pitches and male size.
"We found the bigger males sang certain song types at a lower pitch than smaller males," she said.
Purple-crowned fairy-wrens are creek-dwelling birds from northern Australia and, like their close relatives the blue wrens, males sing trill songs after the calls of certain predators, a context that seems to attract the attention of females.
Males have a repertoire of trill song variants, and it is the low-pitched variants that indicate the size of the singer.
Dr Hall showed that it may be the complexity of birdsong that has obscured the relationship between body size and song frequency in the past.
"Birds can have large repertoires of song types spanning a wide frequency range, and some birds even shift the pitch of their songs down in aggressive contexts," she said.
"Focusing on the lowest pitches that males were able to sing was the key to finding the correlation with body size."
###
The study was conducted at Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary in collaboration with Dr Anne Peters (Monash University) and Dr Sjouke Kingma (University of East Anglia, UK), and funded by the German Max Planck Institute for Ornithology.
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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.
Contact: Rebecca Scott rebeccas@unimelb.edu.au 61-383-440-181 University of Melbourne
A male fairy-wren's low pitch song indicates body size, a new international study has shown.
The study led by University of Melbourne researcher Dr Michelle Hall, is the first to show that the larger the male fairy wren, the lower the pitch of his song.
"This is the first time we have been able to show that song pitch indicates body size in song birds," said Dr Hall from the University's Department of Zoology.
The study, which began when Dr Hall was at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Germany, has been published today in the journal PLOS ONE.
Reliable communication about body size between animals is particularly important when communicating with mates or rivals. For example the bigger the rival is, the more likely it is to win in a fight so a song pitch indicating a large size may deter rivals.
"Surprisingly, there is very little evidence that the pitch of calls indicates body size differences within species, except in frogs," she said.
"In birds in particular, there has been no evidence that the pitch of songs indicated the size of the singer until now."
The study involved measuring the leg length (a good indicator of overall body size) of 45 adult male purple-crowned fairy-wrens. It found there was a correlation between the lowest song pitches and male size.
"We found the bigger males sang certain song types at a lower pitch than smaller males," she said.
Purple-crowned fairy-wrens are creek-dwelling birds from northern Australia and, like their close relatives the blue wrens, males sing trill songs after the calls of certain predators, a context that seems to attract the attention of females.
Males have a repertoire of trill song variants, and it is the low-pitched variants that indicate the size of the singer.
Dr Hall showed that it may be the complexity of birdsong that has obscured the relationship between body size and song frequency in the past.
"Birds can have large repertoires of song types spanning a wide frequency range, and some birds even shift the pitch of their songs down in aggressive contexts," she said.
"Focusing on the lowest pitches that males were able to sing was the key to finding the correlation with body size."
###
The study was conducted at Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary in collaboration with Dr Anne Peters (Monash University) and Dr Sjouke Kingma (University of East Anglia, UK), and funded by the German Max Planck Institute for Ornithology.
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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.
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Public release date: 21-Feb-2013
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