Obama wins the second debate. Too bad it?s not the one that mattered.

When the evening began, one observation dominated the conversation: ?If President Barack Obama has another debate like the last one, the election?s over.?

When the evening ended, I was struck by a different thought: If Obama had performed this way at the first debate, the election would have been over.

In every debate, whatever the format, whatever the questions, there is one and only one way to identify the winner: Who commands the room? Who drives the narrative? Who is in charge? More often than not on Tuesday night, I think, Obama had the better of it.

From a substantive view, there was one argument that the president was seeking to make over and over: Don?t let Mitt Romney fool you; he?s a rich guy out to protect the interests of the well-off, not the middle-class.

That?s why he referenced not just Romney?s tax plan, but Romney?s taxes, the fact that the Republican presidential nominee paid a lower rate on his millions than ordinary working-class folks do on theirs, the fact that Romney has invested heavily in China. And when Romney went at Obama with almost the exact same argument he used so devastatingly against Newt Gingrich??have you checked your pension???Obama came back with, ?I haven?t looked at my pension; it?s not as big as yours. (For super-wonks it harked back to a 1982 debate between Mario Cuomo and the super-wealthy Lew Lehrman, when Cuomo reached over, grabbed Lehrman?s hand, and said, ?Nice watch, Lou!?)

As a tactical matter, Obama executed one of the toughest of maneuvers: the counterpunch. When Romney attacked Obama for hindering the use of coal, the President recalled an appearance of Romney as governor of Massachusetts, where he vowed to shut down a coal-fired power plant. (The fact that Romney was probably right about the danger will be the subject of earnest substantive post-debate analyses that have no place here!)

And in talking about an area where the Obama administration has clear vulnerabilities?the attack on the American consulate in Libya?Obama summoned the inherent high ground of the presidency to condemn the ?politicization? of the attack.

To be clear: There was nothing particularly off about Romney. He had several strong moments, most especially contrasting what Obama said he would do in 2008 with what in fact had happened over the past four years. This was, and is, the single most powerful argument against returning Obama to the White House, and Romney deployed it effectively.

It?s just that Obama found what he could not find in Denver?a coherent thread to make the case that he understands the middle-class in a way Romney does not. For those Democratic partisans wondering where ?the 47 percent? argument was, Obama was saving it for the close which?because of a pre-debate coin flip?Romney could not answer. In this sense, it was like Reagan?s famous ?are you better off?? question from 1980.

In a larger sense, however, Obama?s success is unlikely to have anything like the impact of that 1980 debate, nor will it likely alter the terrain of the campaign as the first debate of 2012 did. Had the Obama of this debate showed up two weeks ago, he might well have ended Romney?s effort to present himself as a credible alternative to the president.

That opportunity vanished that night. While it?s clear that Obama?s performance will revive the enthusiasm of his supporters, it seems unlikely that it will cause those impressed by Romney to reconsider. Like they say in show business, timing is everything.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-wins-the-second-debate--too-bad-it%E2%80%99s-not-the-one-that-mattered-1568495.html

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Poetry in motion: Gemini Observatory releases image of rare polar ring galaxy

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 18-Oct-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Peter Michaud
pmichaud@gemini.edu
808-936-6643
Gemini Observatory

When the lamp is shattered,
The light in the dust lies dead.
When the cloud is scattered,
The rainbow's glory is shed.

These words, which open Shelley's poem "When the Lamp is Shattered," employ visions of nature to symbolize life in decay and rebirth. It's as if he had somehow foreseen the creation of this new Gemini Legacy image, and penned a caption for it. What Gemini has captured is nothing short of poetry in motion: the colorful and dramatic tale of a life-and-death struggle between two galaxies interacting. All the action appears in a single frame, with the stunning polar-ring galaxy NGC 660 as the focus of attention.

Polar-ring galaxies are peculiar objects. Astronomers have found only a handful of them, so not much is known about their origins. Most have an early-type spiral system, called a lenticular galaxy, as the central showpiece. But NGC 660, which lies about 40 million light-years distant toward the direction of Pisces the Fishes, is the only polar-ring galaxy known with what is called a late-type lenticular galaxy as its host. All, however, display a ring of stars, dust, and gas that extends tens of thousands of light-years across space along an orbit nearly perpendicular to the main disk.

Models of how polar-ring galaxies for offer two general formation scenarios: 1) a piercing merger between two galaxies aligned roughly at right angles, or 2) when the host galaxy tidally strips material from a passing gas-rich spiral and strews it into a ring.

What you see in this new Gemini Legacy image, then, is not a single dynamic body but either the "bloody" aftermath of one galaxy piercing the heart of another or the remains of a furious tidal struggle between two galaxies that shattered one galaxy's "lamp," scattered its dust and gas, and formed a colorful, 40,000-light-year-long ring of visual glory.

Born of Violence

Brian Svoboda of the University of Arizona, who recently studied the chemical and temperature environment of NGC 660, believes that unique morphology arises from a previous interaction with a gas-rich galaxy. The geometry of NGC 660 an enormous edge-on polar ring (some 40,000 light-years across) contains more gas (and associated star formation) than its host, which strongly suggests a violent formation. "One of the main characteristics of NGC 660 is that the ring is not truly polar, but is inclined ~45 degrees from the plane of the disk," Svoboda points out. "The simulations for the piercing mergers cannot reproduce these low inclination polar rings; however, the tidal accretion scenario can."

NGC 660's polar ring resolves into hundreds of objects, a considerable part of which are blue and red supergiant stars. The youngest detected stars in the ring formed only about 7 million years ago, indicating a long, ongoing process.

"Gemini's incredible definition of the active star forming regions strewn through the polar ring in NGC 660, juxtaposed against the exquisite crossing dust lanes, is simply beautiful. It really is the most incredible picture I've seen of the galaxy," Svoboda exclaims. "None of the other images I've seen, including those from the Hubble Space Telescope, show the star forming regions with such clarity."

Weighing the Evidence

If NGC represents a merging of two galaxies, astronomer would expect to find a collapsed core and a burst of star formation, which they do see. But the monkey wrench is the uniquely high gas content of both NGC 660's disk component and its polar ring.

"A tidal accretion event will place gas in the polar ring without strongly interacting with the original gas rich host, Svoboda explains. "Tidal interaction is consistent with an influx of gas into the nuclear region creating the starburst that we observe now." Further evidence, he says, is NGC 660's lack of a double nucleus (i.e. two super-massive black holes), which one would expect from a merger.

Astronomers have not detected any "tails" extending from NGC 660, a key signature of many tidal interactions. Usually, when galaxy passes close to another, tidal forces eject stars, gas, and dust into a graceful tail of extragalactic debris and stretched them far into space. But both polar-ring models have produced systems without tidal tails while creating active star formation in the polar ring.

While it can't be proven with a great deal of confidence, in the case of NGC 660, Svoboda says, "I think that there is good evidence to suggest that the origin of the polar ring lies in the tidal accretion event scenario." Particularly he notes that the ring may be about 1 billion years old, so the stripped galaxy could have moved out of the field by the time of our observations now.

Life from Death?

Unseen to the eye, but bright at radio wavelengths, is a compact source (less than 32 light-years in extent) at the host's core. Believed to be a super cluster of stars in a dense cloud of dust and gas, this powerful radio emitter contains perhaps a few thousand hot, blue youthful stars.

Galaxies usually have a majority of old red stars at their cores, but one of the violent scenarios that created NGC 660 has triggered a furious burst of star formation at the galaxy's core. Either way, the gravitational interaction between the two galaxies created shock waves that plowed into giant clouds of gas, causing them to collapse into behemoth blue stars, many likely containing more than 100 times the mass of our Sun. These monstrous, short-lived, stars exploded shortly thereafter as supernovae, which generated more shock waves, creating a domino effect that has ever since perpetuated the creation of youthful stars at NGC 660's core. NGC 660, then, is not only a polar-ring galaxy but also a starburst galaxy. These systems are among the most dense and intense star-forming environments known.

Probing Dark Matter

The ring in a polar-ring galaxy rotates at a speed comparable to that of its host galaxy. By determining how fast a polar ring rotates at different distances from the center of the system, astronomers can search for evidence of elusive and mysterious dark matter in NGC 660's halo. Radio observations have shown that while the ring's velocity close to NGC 660's core is normal, the velocity in the ring's outer parts remains consistent; theoretically the rotational velocity should have dropped off significantly due to the region's gas-poor environment. This finding points to the existence of huge amounts of dark matter in NGC 660.

Astronomers believe dark matter influences the dynamics of all galaxies. Yet understanding dark matter remains one of the astronomy's greatest challenges. Further observations of the enigmatic environment of NGC 660 may shed more light on this well dark matter.

###

Media Contact:

Peter Michaud
Gemini Observatory, Hilo, HI
Email: pmichaud@gemini.edu
Cell: (808) 936-6643
Desk: (808) 974-2510

About Gemini Observatory:

The Gemini Observatory is an international collaboration with two identical 8-meter telescopes. The Frederick C. Gillett Gemini Telescope is located on Mauna Kea, Hawai'i (Gemini North) and the other telescope on Cerro Pachn in central Chile (Gemini South); together the twin telescopes provide full coverage over both hemispheres of the sky. The telescopes incorporate technologies that allow large, relatively thin mirrors, under active control, to collect and focus both visible and infrared radiation from space.

The Gemini Observatory provides the astronomical communities in seven partner countries with state-of-the-art astronomical facilities that allocate observing time in proportion to each country's contribution. In addition to financial support, each country also contributes significant scientific and technical resources. The national research agencies that form the Gemini partnership include: the US National Science Foundation (NSF); the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC); the Canadian National Research Council (NRC); the Chilean Comisin Nacional de Investigacin Cientifica y Tecnolgica (CONICYT); the Australian Research Council (ARC); the Argentinean Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnologa e Innovacin Productiva; and the Brazilian Ministrio da Cincia, Tecnologia e Inovao. The observatory is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the NSF. The NSF also serves as the executive agency for the international partnership.


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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.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 18-Oct-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Peter Michaud
pmichaud@gemini.edu
808-936-6643
Gemini Observatory

When the lamp is shattered,
The light in the dust lies dead.
When the cloud is scattered,
The rainbow's glory is shed.

These words, which open Shelley's poem "When the Lamp is Shattered," employ visions of nature to symbolize life in decay and rebirth. It's as if he had somehow foreseen the creation of this new Gemini Legacy image, and penned a caption for it. What Gemini has captured is nothing short of poetry in motion: the colorful and dramatic tale of a life-and-death struggle between two galaxies interacting. All the action appears in a single frame, with the stunning polar-ring galaxy NGC 660 as the focus of attention.

Polar-ring galaxies are peculiar objects. Astronomers have found only a handful of them, so not much is known about their origins. Most have an early-type spiral system, called a lenticular galaxy, as the central showpiece. But NGC 660, which lies about 40 million light-years distant toward the direction of Pisces the Fishes, is the only polar-ring galaxy known with what is called a late-type lenticular galaxy as its host. All, however, display a ring of stars, dust, and gas that extends tens of thousands of light-years across space along an orbit nearly perpendicular to the main disk.

Models of how polar-ring galaxies for offer two general formation scenarios: 1) a piercing merger between two galaxies aligned roughly at right angles, or 2) when the host galaxy tidally strips material from a passing gas-rich spiral and strews it into a ring.

What you see in this new Gemini Legacy image, then, is not a single dynamic body but either the "bloody" aftermath of one galaxy piercing the heart of another or the remains of a furious tidal struggle between two galaxies that shattered one galaxy's "lamp," scattered its dust and gas, and formed a colorful, 40,000-light-year-long ring of visual glory.

Born of Violence

Brian Svoboda of the University of Arizona, who recently studied the chemical and temperature environment of NGC 660, believes that unique morphology arises from a previous interaction with a gas-rich galaxy. The geometry of NGC 660 an enormous edge-on polar ring (some 40,000 light-years across) contains more gas (and associated star formation) than its host, which strongly suggests a violent formation. "One of the main characteristics of NGC 660 is that the ring is not truly polar, but is inclined ~45 degrees from the plane of the disk," Svoboda points out. "The simulations for the piercing mergers cannot reproduce these low inclination polar rings; however, the tidal accretion scenario can."

NGC 660's polar ring resolves into hundreds of objects, a considerable part of which are blue and red supergiant stars. The youngest detected stars in the ring formed only about 7 million years ago, indicating a long, ongoing process.

"Gemini's incredible definition of the active star forming regions strewn through the polar ring in NGC 660, juxtaposed against the exquisite crossing dust lanes, is simply beautiful. It really is the most incredible picture I've seen of the galaxy," Svoboda exclaims. "None of the other images I've seen, including those from the Hubble Space Telescope, show the star forming regions with such clarity."

Weighing the Evidence

If NGC represents a merging of two galaxies, astronomer would expect to find a collapsed core and a burst of star formation, which they do see. But the monkey wrench is the uniquely high gas content of both NGC 660's disk component and its polar ring.

"A tidal accretion event will place gas in the polar ring without strongly interacting with the original gas rich host, Svoboda explains. "Tidal interaction is consistent with an influx of gas into the nuclear region creating the starburst that we observe now." Further evidence, he says, is NGC 660's lack of a double nucleus (i.e. two super-massive black holes), which one would expect from a merger.

Astronomers have not detected any "tails" extending from NGC 660, a key signature of many tidal interactions. Usually, when galaxy passes close to another, tidal forces eject stars, gas, and dust into a graceful tail of extragalactic debris and stretched them far into space. But both polar-ring models have produced systems without tidal tails while creating active star formation in the polar ring.

While it can't be proven with a great deal of confidence, in the case of NGC 660, Svoboda says, "I think that there is good evidence to suggest that the origin of the polar ring lies in the tidal accretion event scenario." Particularly he notes that the ring may be about 1 billion years old, so the stripped galaxy could have moved out of the field by the time of our observations now.

Life from Death?

Unseen to the eye, but bright at radio wavelengths, is a compact source (less than 32 light-years in extent) at the host's core. Believed to be a super cluster of stars in a dense cloud of dust and gas, this powerful radio emitter contains perhaps a few thousand hot, blue youthful stars.

Galaxies usually have a majority of old red stars at their cores, but one of the violent scenarios that created NGC 660 has triggered a furious burst of star formation at the galaxy's core. Either way, the gravitational interaction between the two galaxies created shock waves that plowed into giant clouds of gas, causing them to collapse into behemoth blue stars, many likely containing more than 100 times the mass of our Sun. These monstrous, short-lived, stars exploded shortly thereafter as supernovae, which generated more shock waves, creating a domino effect that has ever since perpetuated the creation of youthful stars at NGC 660's core. NGC 660, then, is not only a polar-ring galaxy but also a starburst galaxy. These systems are among the most dense and intense star-forming environments known.

Probing Dark Matter

The ring in a polar-ring galaxy rotates at a speed comparable to that of its host galaxy. By determining how fast a polar ring rotates at different distances from the center of the system, astronomers can search for evidence of elusive and mysterious dark matter in NGC 660's halo. Radio observations have shown that while the ring's velocity close to NGC 660's core is normal, the velocity in the ring's outer parts remains consistent; theoretically the rotational velocity should have dropped off significantly due to the region's gas-poor environment. This finding points to the existence of huge amounts of dark matter in NGC 660.

Astronomers believe dark matter influences the dynamics of all galaxies. Yet understanding dark matter remains one of the astronomy's greatest challenges. Further observations of the enigmatic environment of NGC 660 may shed more light on this well dark matter.

###

Media Contact:

Peter Michaud
Gemini Observatory, Hilo, HI
Email: pmichaud@gemini.edu
Cell: (808) 936-6643
Desk: (808) 974-2510

About Gemini Observatory:

The Gemini Observatory is an international collaboration with two identical 8-meter telescopes. The Frederick C. Gillett Gemini Telescope is located on Mauna Kea, Hawai'i (Gemini North) and the other telescope on Cerro Pachn in central Chile (Gemini South); together the twin telescopes provide full coverage over both hemispheres of the sky. The telescopes incorporate technologies that allow large, relatively thin mirrors, under active control, to collect and focus both visible and infrared radiation from space.

The Gemini Observatory provides the astronomical communities in seven partner countries with state-of-the-art astronomical facilities that allocate observing time in proportion to each country's contribution. In addition to financial support, each country also contributes significant scientific and technical resources. The national research agencies that form the Gemini partnership include: the US National Science Foundation (NSF); the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC); the Canadian National Research Council (NRC); the Chilean Comisin Nacional de Investigacin Cientifica y Tecnolgica (CONICYT); the Australian Research Council (ARC); the Argentinean Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnologa e Innovacin Productiva; and the Brazilian Ministrio da Cincia, Tecnologia e Inovao. The observatory is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the NSF. The NSF also serves as the executive agency for the international partnership.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


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


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-10/go-pim101812.php

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Dem convention used corporate cash, despite pledge

(AP) ? Last month's Democratic National Convention in Charlotte relied on at least $5 million in corporate donations, despite repeated pledges by top party officials to only use money raised from small, individual donors.

Reports filed Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission show the convention's host committee raised $24 million from individual donors, well short of its $36.7 million fundraising goal.

To help make up for the shortfall, committee officials spent $5 million from corporate donors to rent the basketball arena used to hold the convention. They spent nearly $8 million more from a line of credit provided by Duke Energy, the nation's largest electricity provider.

Top Democrats, including party chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, had pledged prior to the 2012 convention not to use money from corporations, lobbyists or political action committees.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-10-17-DNC-Fundraising/id-68d11092d29c4bf99796264c99f6c09b

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Roleplay Partner Wanted

Hey Roleplay People out There in Cyber Land!


So over the past few months I have been trying to get back into the swing of roleplaying. I have been writing back and forth for a few years now, on multiple websites. This as many of you have probably have noticed, is the best site so far I have found! Any who I am looking for a roleplay partner, someone who is willing to write relatively frequently and also have the ability to provide more then just a simple paragraph. I have a few ideas of my own, which I will write down later :) But I am also willing to work out any other ideas and willing to read up on anything to get into a character for a story! I do prefer not to have any anime based roleplays, I am sorry I just have a hard time getting into them! Other then that I am pretty much open to all ideas. I am partial to playing a female character, but have no problem writing in a boys perspective!

Ideas
1. The tried and true story of two kids who grow up together, deal with war and fall in love. Now this could be based in about a hundred different times in history. Civil war, World War 2, Elizabethan Era, Roman era. Basically I love history and a good classic love story. Now twists and turns can be added, i would prefer to play the girl, though for a good writing partner, i can play a boy too! Even better if someone could bring a darker aspect to the role!

2.Gang based story. Now this is up to interpretation. I would like it based in Chicago, in the bootlegging time of America's dirty history. Other then that I am welcome to other ideas to create the plot. A assassination gone wrong? Man on the run? anything. I love this idea, and dont mind bouncing ideas off someone to make it more specific.

3.Pirates! But realistic pirates. In this story I would like to play the girl again. A woman raised by the sea, forced to work to a small ship to help her family make ends meet. Preferably my character would be from England, now someone else could play a revile, a friend or foe. Foreign or domestic, anything :)

4. This idea is pretty rough, but again if someone had the same idea I am sure we can work something out. I want to do something similar to the Hunger Games story line. Different districts? Maybe a capital kid and a district kid?

5. Last but not least, something in the realm of fantasy. Vampires? Witches, anything :)

I love historical based roleplays, so anyone willing to place a story in a different time, I am totally game!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/AWlCQ-RFCCc/viewtopic.php

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Search resumes for North Texas student missing at lake

by WENDY CORONA / WFAA

WFAA

Posted on October 15, 2012 at 2:44 PM

Updated today at 3:36 PM

COPPELL, Texas ? Authorities resumed their search Monday morning for Coppell High School football player Jacob Logan, 17, who went missing at Possum Kingdom Lake on Sunday afternoon.

Head coach Joe McBride told WFAA Jacob jumped into the water from a lakeside cliff and did not surface.

Jacob, a senior, is a defensive back and wide receiver for the 6-0 Coppell Cowboys, one of the top-ranked high school teams in the state.

"Everybody knew him; everybody respected him," said classmate Clayton Jones.

"Jacob stood for everything that's right," McBride said. "He is a great testimony of what's good in kids today. He's a teacher's dream in the classroom; he's a coach's dream on the field. He's a very humble and confident kid."

Dozens of students attended an impromptu prayer vigil at the school's football stadium on Sunday evening. Players from the arch-rival Southlake Dragons team joined them as a show of unity.

"We were together with some people in our grade, and we prayed with a few of our friends," said Coppell student Kate Perlioni.

"Everybody cares so much about what happened to him," added student Carson Reynolds. "It's just a tragedy."

One week ago, Jacob Logan appeared with some of his teammates on WFAA's "High School Sports Special" to talk about the Cowboys' success so far this season.

"Anybody can be a playmaker if you're put in the right situation," Jacob said. "These coaches and Coach McBride do that, so I feel that any person at any given time can be a playmaker."

Jacob was Coppell's leading receiver last season and has been a starter on the team for three seasons. Eight colleges have shown interest in him, including Texas Tech and Oregon, but Logan had not yet committed to any school.

Austin Fuerst attended church with Jacob. "Everybody knows that Jacob is a great Christian, strong Christian guy, and we all know that he's going to be in a better place," he said.

"I know everybody can hang in there and get through this together."

An account for the benefit of the Logan family has been set up at Frost Bank at 102 North Denton Tap Road in Coppell. The account number is 952050293.

E-mail wcorona@wfaa.com

Source: http://www.kvue.com/news/state/Search-resumes-for-North-Texas-student-missing-at-lake-174249031.html

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Toyota dealers pass on electric cars, prefer hybrids

A recent survey from AutoRetailNet shows that?85 percent of Toyota dealers say the automaker was correct to kill production plans for its electric car, Gordon-Bloomfield writes.

By Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield,?Guest blogger / October 16, 2012

The Toyota logo is seen on the bonnet of a Toyota Avensis outside Germany's headquarters of Japan's Toyota Motor Corp in Cologne in this October 2012 file photo. According to a new survey, only 5 percent of Toyota dealers say they believe all-electric cars would be the best-selling electric car technology in five years? time, Gordon-Bloomfield writes.

Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters/File

Enlarge

Thanks to its ever-expanding range of hybrids, including the well-known Prius liftback, Toyota?Toyota dealers have a wide range of green?cars?to sell.?

Skip to next paragraph GreenCarReports

The website focuses on the auto industry?s future, the evolution of cars beyond fossil fuels, and the green movement's relevance to car shoppers today. For more stories on green cars, click here.

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You may think that would make them more receptive to selling all-electric cars, but a recent survey from AutoRetailNet (via?plugincars) suggests otherwise.

In fact, the online publication for dealers reports, 85 percent of Toyota dealers say the automaker was?correct to kill production plans?for its electric?Scion?iQ city car just a week before it was due to?debut at the 2012 Paris Auto Show.

At the time, Toyota had?justified the decision?by telling Reuters that electric cars ?do not meet society?s needs.??

For now, most Toyota dealers agree, with only 5 percent saying they believed all-electric cars would be the best-selling electric?car?technology in five years? time.?

The majority, a massive 70 percent, said they believed regular hybrid cars would occupy that slot, while 10 percent said plug-in hybrids would be number one.?

Even though Toyota isn?t?due to release its first production fuel cell car until 2015, 15 percent of dealers said hydrogen fuel-cell cars would sell in greater numbers than battery electrics.

The reasons for this disinterest in electric cars seem wide and varied. On average, it takes a dealer a lot longer to sell an electric car than it does a gasoline car.?

In addition, the profit margins tend to be smaller, meaning less income for the dealer.

As a consequence, the job of selling plug-in cars may pass to junior salespeople, many of whom are just as keen to prove themselves with high-profit sales as their peers, but lack the experience and knowledge required to sell a plug-in car.

With the exception of a handful of Toyota dealers in California?now selling the 2012 RAV4 EV?electric?crossover?SUV, most Toyota dealers do not have a battery electric car to sell--and don't appear to have much interest in getting one.

They?d much rather sell a hybrid car, although for some, governmental pressure to sell high-mileage cars is unwelcome.

?The government is pushing CAFE regulations too hard and not allowing consumers to spend their own money,? one dealer in Arizona said in the survey. ?Most customers will not spend an additional $6,500 to get a 20 percent increase in fuel [economy].?

This line of thought echoes the long-held position of the?National Auto Dealers Association (NADA) trade group, which has been uniformly and consistentlyopposed to the higher 2017-2025 fuel-economy standards?proposed by the EPA and NHTSA, and agreed to by most major automakers.

At dealerships where the attitudes toward electric and plug-in cars are positive, plug-in cars enjoy similarly positive sales figures. At dealerships where there?s an?ambivalence toward plug-in vehicles, they can languish on the dealer lot for weeks.?

There?s clearly a lot of dealer prejudice against plug-in cars, but how should automakers, dealerships, and consumers solve it??

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best auto bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger,?click here.?To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on the link in the blog description box above.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/TSr6CPLHlVY/Toyota-dealers-pass-on-electric-cars-prefer-hybrids

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Dark matter filament studied in 3-D for the first time

ScienceDaily (Oct. 16, 2012) ? Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have studied a giant filament of dark matter in 3D for the first time. Extending 60 million light-years from one of the most massive galaxy clusters known, the filament is part of the cosmic web that constitutes the large-scale structure of the Universe, and is a leftover of the very first moments after the Big Bang. If the high mass measured for the filament is representative of the rest of the Universe, then these structures may contain more than half of all the mass in the Universe.

The theory of the Big Bang predicts that variations in the density of matter in the very first moments of the Universe led the bulk of the matter in the cosmos to condense into a web of tangled filaments. This view is supported by computer simulations of cosmic evolution, which suggest that the Universe is structured like a web, with long filaments that connect to each other at the locations of massive galaxy clusters. However, these filaments, although vast, are made mainly of dark matter, which is incredibly difficult to observe.

The first convincing identification of a section of one of these filaments was made earlier this year [1]. Now a team of astronomers has gone further by probing a filament's structure in three dimensions. Seeing a filament in 3D eliminates many of the pitfalls that come from studying the flat image of such a structure.

"Filaments of the cosmic web are hugely extended and very diffuse, which makes them extremely difficult to detect, let alone study in 3D," says Mathilde Jauzac (LAM, France and University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa), lead author of the study.

The team combined high resolution images of the region around the massive galaxy cluster MACS J0717.5+3745 (or MACS J0717 for short), taken using Hubble, NAOJ's Subaru Telescope and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, with spectroscopic data on the galaxies within it from the WM Keck Observatory and the Gemini Observatory. Analysing these observations together gives a complete view of the shape of the filament as it extends out from the galaxy cluster almost along our line of sight.

The team's recipe for studying the vast but diffuse filament combines several crucial ingredients.

First ingredient: A promising target. Theories of cosmic evolution suggest that galaxy clusters form where filaments of the cosmic web meet, with the filaments slowly funnelling matter into the clusters. "From our earlier work on MACS J0717, we knew that this cluster is actively growing, and thus a prime target for a detailed study of the cosmic web," explains co-author Harald Ebeling (University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA), who led the team that discovered MACS J0717 almost a decade ago.

Second ingredient: Advanced gravitational lensing techniques. Albert Einstein's famous theory of general relativity says that the path of light is bent when it passes through or near objects with a large mass. Filaments of the cosmic web are largely made up of dark matter [2] which cannot be seen directly, but their mass is enough to bend the light and distort the images of galaxies in the background, in a process called gravitational lensing. The team has developed new tools to convert the image distortions into a mass map.

Third ingredient: High resolution images. Gravitational lensing is a subtle phenomenon, and studying it needs detailed images. Hubble observations let the team study the precise deformation in the shapes of numerous lensed galaxies. This in turn reveals where the hidden dark matter filament is located. "The challenge," explains co-author Jean-Paul Kneib (LAM, France), "was to find a model of the cluster's shape which fitted all the lensing features that we observed."

Finally: Measurements of distances and motions. Hubble's observations of the cluster give the best two-dimensional map yet of a filament, but to see its shape in 3D required additional observations. Colour images [3], as well as galaxy velocities measured with spectrometers [4], using data from the Subaru, CFHT, WM Keck, and Gemini North telescopes (all on Mauna Kea, Hawaii), allowed the team to locate thousands of galaxies within the filament and to detect the motions of many of them.

A model that combined positional and velocity information for all these galaxies was constructed and this then revealed the 3D shape and orientation of the filamentary structure. As a result, the team was able to measure the true properties of this elusive filamentary structure without the uncertainties and biases that come from projecting the structure onto two dimensions, as is common in such analyses.

The results obtained push the limits of predictions made by theoretical work and numerical simulations of the cosmic web. With a length of at least 60 million light-years, the MACS J0717 filament is extreme even on astronomical scales. And if its mass content as measured by the team can be taken to be representative of filaments near giant clusters, then these diffuse links between the nodes of the cosmic web may contain even more mass (in the form of dark matter) than theorists predicted. So much that more than half of all the mass in the Universe may be hidden in these structures.

The forthcoming NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled for launch in 2018, will be a powerful tool for detecting filaments in the cosmic web, thanks to its greatly increased sensitivity.

Notes:

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.

The international team of astronomers in this study consists of Mathilde Jauzac (Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, France, and University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa), Eric Jullo (Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, France and Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USA), Jean-Paul Kneib (Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille), Harald Ebeling (University of Hawaii, USA), Alexie Leauthaud (University of Tokyo, Japan), Cheng-Jiun Ma (University of Hawaii), Marceau Limousin (Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille and University of Copenhagen, Denmark), Richard Massey (Durham University, UK) and Johan Richard (Lyon Observatory, France)

The research is presented in a paper entitled "A Weak-Lensing Mass Reconstruction of the Large-Scale Filament Feeding the Massive Galaxy Cluster MACSJ0717.5+3745", to be published in the 1 November 2012 issue of Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The paper will be published online this week.

[1] The first identification of a dark matter filament was published in J. Dietrich et al, "A filament of dark matter between two clusters of galaxies" published in Nature on 4 July 2012.

[2] Dark matter, which makes up around three quarters of all matter in the Universe, cannot be seen directly as it does not emit or reflect any light, and can pass through other matter without friction (it is collisionless). It interacts only by gravity, and its presence must be deduced from its gravitational effects, for example its effect on the rotation rate of galaxies and its ability to deflect light according to the theory of general relativity.

[3] The light captured by telescopes encapsulates information about the object that emitted it. One important application of this is to study the redshift of an object (the extent to which its light is reddened by the expansion of the Universe) which can be used to measure distances. Estimating distances based on the relative brightnesses of colours that galaxies appear in images is done using a technique called photometric redshift. Although the precision of the distance estimate is limited, it is a relatively straightforward technique to use on large numbers of galaxies, and it works well even for faint objects.

[4] Spectrometers analyse the detailed properties of the light coming from an object. In this study, the subset of galaxies observed with spectrometers provided detailed information on the motion of the objects within the filament.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/nasa/~3/KfOO0xT2fk0/121016092208.htm

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Pakistan sends girl shot by Taliban to UK for care

ISLAMABAD (AP) ? Pakistan airlifted a wounded teenage activist shot by the Taliban to the United Kingdom on Monday for more specialized medical care and to protect her from follow-up attacks threatened by the militants.

The attack on 14-year-old Malala Yousufzai as she was returning home from school in Pakistan's northwest a week ago has horrified people across the country and abroad. It has also sparked hope the government would respond by intensifying its fight against the Taliban and their allies.

Malala was targeted by the Taliban for promoting girls' education and criticizing the militant group's behavior when they took over the scenic Swat Valley where she lived. Two of her classmates were also wounded in the attack and are receiving treatment in Pakistan.

The Taliban have threatened to target Malala again until she is killed because she promotes "Western thinking."

Malala was flown out of Pakistan on Monday morning in a specially equipped air ambulance provided by the United Arab Emirates, said the Pakistani military, which has been treating the young girl at one of its hospitals.

Video footage handed out by the military showed Malala being wheeled out of the hospital on a stretcher, covered in a white sheet and surrounded by uniformed army officers. She was placed in the back of an ambulance and driven to the airport, where she was put on a plane.

A panel of doctors recommended that Malala be shifted to a center in the United Kingdom that has the ability to provide "integrated" care to children who have sustained severe injuries, said a military statement.

"It was agreed by the panel of Pakistani doctors and international experts that Malala will require prolonged care to fully recover from the physical and psychological effects of trauma that she has received," the military said.

The plane stopped for several hours in the Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi on the way to the United Kingdom, said the Pakistani Ambassador to the UAE Jamil Ahmed Khan. The ambassador visited Malala during the stop and said she appeared to be in stable condition. Her parents were not on the plane with her, he said.

Malala will be treated at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham in central England, a center which has specialized in the treatment of troops wounded in Afghanistan, said British Prime Minister David Cameron's office.

"The UK stands shoulder to shoulder with Pakistan in its fight against terrorism," said British Foreign Secretary William Hague in a statement sent to reporters. "Malala's bravery in standing up for the right of all young girls in Pakistan to an education is an example to us all."

Pakistani doctors at a military hospital earlier removed a bullet from Malala's body that entered her head and headed toward her spine. The military has described her recovery as satisfactory and said she was able to move her legs and hands several days ago when her sedatives were reduced. They have not said whether she suffered any brain damage or other permanent damage.

On Monday, the military said damaged bones in Malala's skull will need to be repaired or replaced, and she will need "intensive neuro rehabilitation." The decision to send the girl abroad was taken in consultation with her family, and the Pakistani government will pay for her treatment.

Pakistanis have held rallies for Malala throughout the country, but most have only numbered a few hundred people. The largest show of support by far occurred Sunday when tens of thousands of people held a demonstration in the southern party city of Karachi organized by the most powerful political party in the city, the Muttahida Quami Movement.

Late Sunday night, over 100 Taliban militants attacked a police station in the small town of Matni, 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of the main northwest city of Peshawar. The heavily armed militants killed six policemen, including two who were beheaded, said police officer Ishrat Yar.

The police engaged the militants in a gunbattle that lasted for several hours, but the insurgents escaped after burning the police station and four police vehicles, said Yar.

One of the policemen who was beheaded was a senior official who commanded several police stations in the area and was leading reinforcements against the attack, said Yar. Another 12 policemen received gunshot wounds.

A Pakistani Taliban spokesman, Mohammad Afridi, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the police were targeted because they had killed several militants.

The Taliban have carried out hundreds of attacks throughout Pakistan but the attacks rarely include such a high number of militants as in the assault on the police station in Matni.

____

Khan reported from Peshawar, Pakistan. Associated Press writers Asif Shahzad in Islamabad, Ishtiaq Mahsud in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan, Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, and David Stringer in London contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pakistan-sends-girl-shot-taliban-uk-care-043737088.html

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