NoshList, the restaurant waitlisting app for iPad launched just over a year ago, is today making its way to smartphones, including both the iPhone and Android devices. Although possibly not the ideal form factor for the job, the mobile app allows restaurants to test the NoshList experience on devices they likely own, before making an investment into a tablet (or multiple tablets) to run the full-screen version. In addition, the new mobile apps can serve as backup if the restaurant's Wi-Fi connection ever goes down, as they'll maintain connectivity, whereas the more affordable, Wi-Fi only iPads would have lost their signal.
Two people are injured and a suspect is in custody following a shooting in the parking lot of a Mormon temple in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday afternoon, NBC affiliate WCMH reported.
The shooting took place in the parking lot of the Columbus Ohio Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at about 4:45 p.m.
Columbus police told WCMH they have a male suspect in custody.
He and one of the victims were transported to Riverside Methodist Hospital in critical but stable condition, according to WCMH.
A second victim was taken to Mount Carmel Hospital West also in critical but stable condition.
You're still waiting to get 4G? That's old hat: the European Commission is already thinking about 5G. It's investing €50 million ($65.3 million) into research with the hope that the next-next-generation cellular technology will be a practical reality by 2020. About €16 million ($20.9 million) of that is headed toward METIS, an Ericsson-led alliance hoping to develop wireless with 10 to 100 times the capacity, a similar increase in speed and just a fifth of the lag. Like a UK parallel, though, there's only so much technology talk the Commission can offer at this stage. The funding is as much for regional pride as progress -- officials want 5G to be a Europe-led affair after Asia and North America took center stage on 4G.
With just a few taps on the screen of your iOS device, Snaptee lets you turn your photos into a stylish graphic T-shirt. Ten thousand designs have already been created by the app's users since it went live in July and now the Hong Kong-based company's founders have secured $600,000 in seed funding from a group of Hong Kong and Singapore investors, including Yat Siu of Outblaze Management Team and Animoca, Chris Lee of 6waves, Mikaal Abdulla from 8 Securities (a Techcrunch Disrupt Beijing finalist), Singapore-based angel investor Emanuel R. Breiter and Hong Kong-based investor Tytus Michalski of Fresco Capital.
Host Seth MacFarlane, right, and actress Kristin Chenoweth perform a song dedicated to the "losers" during the finale of the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday Feb. 24, 2013, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
Host Seth MacFarlane, right, and actress Kristin Chenoweth perform a song dedicated to the "losers" during the finale of the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday Feb. 24, 2013, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) ? Two female California state lawmakers have condemned Oscar host Seth MacFarlane's comments during Sunday's awards presentation as degrading toward women and asked the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to use better judgment in the future.
Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal and Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, both Democrats who lead the Legislature's women's caucus, sent a letter to Academy President Hawk Koch on Tuesday, requesting that the organization disavow MacFarlane's behavior.
They objected to the comedian's focus on the physical appearance of several actresses and quips about nude scenes.
"Furthermore, there was a disturbing theme about violence against women being acceptable and funny," the lawmakers wrote. "From topical jabs about domestic violence to singing about 'boobs' during a film's rape scene, Seth MacFarlane crossed the line from humor to misogyny."
MacFarlane's performance has drawn multiple critics since Sunday's show. Blogs compiled highlights of his punch lines, which included a song that referenced leading ladies who have bared their breasts on film that were accompanied by reaction shots from those actresses.
He also made light of a domestic violence incident between rapper Chris Brown and singer Rihanna, and joked about the heavy accents of several Latina actresses.
"On Oscar night, when Hollywood seeks to honor its best, Seth MacFarlane's monologue reduced our finest female actresses to caricatures and stereotypes, degrading women as a whole and the filmmaking industry itself," the letter stated.
Lowenthal and Jackson, both Democrats, asked Koch to respond. Academy spokeswoman Toni Thompson had no immediate comment.
In their letter, the lawmakers noted the Violence Against Women Act currently under debate in Congress and a resolution that the Legislature passed supporting the act's reauthorization. Better judgment is needed in the academy's future decisions regarding its awards show hosts and their material, they said.
"This should be a celebration of artists in the filmmaking industry, not an offensive display of disrespect toward women that sets the fight for gender equality, dignity, and respect back decades," they wrote.
A repeat hosting performance by MacFarlane doesn't look likely. Asked Tuesday on Twitter if he would host the Oscars again, he replied, "No way. Lotta fun to have done it, though."
Rick Springfield's Dr. Drake is returning to "GH"!
By Drusilla Moorhouse, TODAY contributor
For fans of Rick Springfield, this is just what the doctor ordered: The "Jessie's Girl" singer is returning to "General Hospital," reprising his role as Dr. Noah Drake.
Even better, reports People, he'll be joined by his son, Liam Springthorpe. (Springfield was born Richard Springthorpe.) The young actor-musician, who will play an undercover cop, isn't expecting to share scenes with his famous father.
Springfield debuted on the ABC soap opera in 1981 -- the same year "Jessie's Girl" topped the charts and earned him a Grammy award for best male rock vocal performance. Since we last saw Noah Drake in March 2012, Springfield says the good doctor has been "going to Doctors Without Borders and going around the world helping people."
"He lost his wife and became a drunk and regretted all these terrible, sinful ways and then cleaned his act up when he almost died from the alcohol," Springfield told People about the troubled neurosurgeon.
Noah Drake returns to Port Charles in April 2013.
"General Hospital" airs at 1 p.m. PT / 2 p.m. ET weekdays on ABC.
Will you be watching him with those eyes? Tell us on our Facebook page!
'To see my life as an MTV Show is kind of weird, but it's gonna be tight,' Mac says of his reality TV debut Tuesday on MTV2. By Nadeska Alexis, with reporting by Steven Roberts
Gray is the color between black and white and it can be created in many ways. There is cool gray and there is warm gray. There are light grays and dark grays. The question is, how do I make the right gray? Do I add one percent black to white or 99 percent white to black?
As an art teacher, I can give my students a written test to see if they remember the formula, or I can give them a paintbrush and paint.
Standardized tests are supposed to be more acceptable than non-standardized tests. They are created to gather data about answers to predetermined questions in order to determine the students? performance and intelligence. In art education, it is not so simple to measure the creative process, performance and aesthetic responses in student learning.
I am not concerned about the percent of colors my students use to make gray. I am concerned whether or not they understand the technique and can demonstrate it correctly.
Standardized testing does not relate to my ability to teach art better. In fact, there is no standardized testing in visual art. Does this make me less knowledgeable about my subject? Do I have to give my students a standardized test to prove they can make gray paint? How do you compare the artistic ability of Leonardo da Vinci to Jackson Pollock??
The National Art Education Association said it best, ?Assessment is ongoing; formative; performance-based; and designed to assess students? critical thinking and art making skills, creativity, and content knowledge.?
Because I teach at a vocational high school and am considered a Career Technical Educator (CTE), my job is to teach real life skills to prepare students for success in their future. When I walk into my classroom, I know that I?m giving my students the workplace readiness skills they need based upon my experience in working in the field as a professional artist.
As an art educator, I?m fortunate I don?t feel pressure to ?teach to the test.? While my curriculum is not based on preparing students for a state-mandated test, I do have to focus on measuring their learning. There are times when I do give my students written tests based on practical skills to make sure they understand the lesson. However, this is not the only source of assessment, nor is it standard.
There are many ways to teach someone how to paint, and that assessment should be based on students? knowledge, attitude, and performance.
There is a lot of emphasis placed on subjects that are measured on state standardized tests. Unfortunately, standardized testing is often deemed the end all in education. Non-academic subjects, like art, are being cut and teachers? jobs eliminated because school districts focus on standardized test scores as the only source of assessment for student growth.
Student improvement should not be confined to a single score on a standardized test.
I would encourage schools, teachers, and parents to focus on real student learning and on what students are able to produce, not on how well they fill in bubbles on paper with a number two pencil.
Does a student?s ability to answer a series of questions correctly actually indicate proficiency?
I enter my classroom with enthusiasm knowing that I not only teach my students how to paint a self-portrait using Chuck Close style, but I also know I am giving them freedom to use the right side of their brain and give the left side a rest.?
Student improvement should not be confined to a single score on a standardized test. I know a students? classroom performance on how they think and perform a task are factors of authentic learning. Students must be challenged to understand integrated forms of knowledge, not just the memorization of terms.
How do you make gray?
These are solely the author's opinions and do not represent those of TakePart, LLC or its affiliates.
Related Stories on TakePart:
? Is Standardized Testing for Preschoolers a Good Idea?
? Is It Time We Threw Standardized Testing Out the Door?
? Standardized Tests: The Good, the Bad, and the Very Ugly
Indira Bailey is a visual art teacher at Essex County Vocational School, Bloomfield, NJ. Ms. Bailey is a 2013 Hope Street Group National Teacher Fellow (HSG).? She is also the 2012-2013 Essex County Teacher of the Year and finalist for New Jersey Teacher of the Year. TakePart.com
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The EAC Consultant 3 position includes a broad range of Employee Assistance and Organizational Risk Management/Influence competencies including: management consultations to Wells Fargo managers, Human Resource and other corporate partners; direct support to assigned Wells Fargo business groups; behavioral risk management services; and significant participation/leadership on EAC service and project teams. Key Position Responsibilities:
- Provide specialized behavioral health telephonic consultation on the impact of robberies, natural disasters, critical incidences and other complex risk management areas as needed to support Wells Fargo team members, managers and HR and other corporate partners - Provide professional telephonic consultation to Wells Fargo managers and HR professionals about behavioral health issues affecting the workplace, workplace conduct issues, resiliency, preventing workplace exhaustion or other business line issues/goals - Provide individual, confidential personal support to Wells Fargo managers - Conduct individual and workplace threat screenings and ongoing threat management in conjunction with corporate partners - Coordinate Fitness-For-Duty evaluations in conjunction with Wells Fargo Law department, Employee Relations and external FFD evaluators - Establish and maintain key line of business or corporate group customer influential relationships and provide Business Support services as appropriate - Provide on site incident responses as needed - Provide leadership on an EAC Functional Team and contribute to completion of annual Functional Team goals (examples of functional Teams include: Quality Assurance, Threat Services and Robbery Response) - Contribute to EAC Quality Assurance activities - Manage and/or monitor vendor performance and service issues
NOTES:
2 openings. Additional Salary Information: This is a bonus eligible position
Minimum Qualifications - Licensed to practice mental health - 2-4 years post-Masters clinical experience - 1+ years Employee Assistance or comparable corporate setting experience
- Excellent behavioral health consultation/clinical assessment and action planning skills - Highly effectively collaboration/consultation skills in working with managers, HR partners and team members on a diverse range of workplace and personal topics - Ability to create and grow internal and external partner relationships independently - Excellent verbal and written communication skills - Proficient user of Microsoft Office Applications - Excellent collaboration, team work and conflict resolution skills with peers - Ability to work a flexible work schedule covering regular daytime business hours, some evening and weekend regular and on call shift work- Preferred Skills: - Five or more years of Employee Assistance or corporate/organizational experience
BEIRUT (AP) ? At least 141 people, half of them children, were killed when the Syrian military fired at least four missiles into the northern city of Aleppo last week, Human Rights Watch confirmed Tuesday after a researcher visited the area.
The international rights group said the strikes hit residential areas and called them an "escalation of unlawful attacks against Syria's civilian population."
Aleppo, Syria's largest city, has been the scene of some of the heaviest fighting of the civil war pitting President Bashar Assad's regime against rebels fighting to oust him.
Rebels quickly seized several neighborhoods in an offensive on the city in July, but the government still controls some districts and the battle has developed into a bloody stalemate, with heavy street fighting that has ruined neighborhoods and forced thousands to flee.
A Human Rights Watch researcher who visited Aleppo last week to inspect the targeted sites, said up to 20 buildings were destroyed in each area hit by a missile. There were no signs of any military targets in the residential districts, located in rebel-held parts of Aleppo, said Ole Solvang, the HRW's researcher.
"Just when you think things can't get any worse, the Syrian government finds ways to escalate its killing tactics," Solvang said.
Human rights watch said 71 children were among the 141 people killed in the four missile strikes on three opposition-controlled neighborhoods in eastern Aleppo. It listed the names of the targeted neighborhoods as Jabal Badro, Tariq al-Bab and Ard al-Hamra. The fourth strike documented by the group was in Tel Rifat, north of Aleppo.
"The extent of the damage from a single strike, the lack of (military) aircraft in the area at the time, and reports of ballistic missiles being launched from a military base near Damascus overwhelmingly suggest that government forces struck these areas with ballistic missiles," the report said.
Syrian anti-regime activists first reported the attacks last week, saying they involved ground-to-ground missiles, and killed dozens of people. The reports could not be independently confirmed because Syrian authorities severely restrict access to media.
Human Rights Watch said it compiled a list of those killed in the missile strikes from cemetery burial records, interviews with relatives and neighbors, and information from the Aleppo Media Center and the Violations Documentation Center, a network of local activists.
The rebels control large swaths of land in northeastern Syria. In recent weeks, Assad's regime has lost control of several sites with key infrastructure in that part of the country, including a hydroelectric dam, a major oil field and two army bases along the road linking Aleppo with the airport to its east.
A key focus for the rebels in the Aleppo area is to capture the city's international airport, which the opposition fighters have been attacking for weeks.
Opposition forces have also been hitting the heart of Damascus with occasional mortars shells or bombings, posing a stiff challenge to the regime in its seat of power.
U.S. and NATO officials have previously said that Syria has a significant ballistic missile capability and is believed to have a few hundred missiles with a range of some 700 kilometers (440 miles) that could hit targets deep inside Turkey, a NATO member and one of the harshest critics of the Assad regime.
NATO has in recent weeks deployed Patriot missile systems along Turkey's border with Syria.
The missile attacks have outraged the leaders of the exiled opposition who have accused their Western backers of indifference to the suffering of the Syrian people.
When we first featured Catmoji on our blog, little did we know that it would soon become the talk of the town (especially, among the cats... they are all meowing at it!)?Jokes apart, there are so many social networking and photo-bookmarking websites on the internet but what makes Catmoji stand out from the rest is the fact that it's?a social network exclusively for cat?lovers.
Developed by two huge cat lovers, Matthew Phiong and Koekoe Loo, Catmoji is a platform for cat lovers where they can share and discover images and videos of cats, and express what they think or feel through emoji.
According to the website, "Catmoji is on a mission to make the internet a better and happier place with cats. Join and help us disrupt the Internet with cats and happiness".
Catmoji is a user-friendly website and is specifically designed for cat lovers. At first, it might look Pinterest-like because of its layout but once you create your profile and get a hang of it, you'll realize the difference.
Catmoji is all about cats, you just have to upload content or re-share already uploaded content by other users. Other users can follow you back, like or re-share your content and comment on it. Based on your activity on Catmoji you can unlock different yet addictive?Catsome badges.
Catmoji is one fab website for cat lovers and owners and in case, you're not a cat person I bet you'll fall in love with cats once you visit Catmoji.?Read on to know more about Catmoji in our exclusive interview with its founder. 1. Hi Matt and Koekoe, please introduce yourselves to our readers.
Hey! We are the founders of Catmoji. Matt is the geeky programmer and Koekoe is the funky designer.
2. What is Catmoji? What inspired you guys to come up with it? Curious about the etymology of your website?s name. Why a website just for cat lovers?
Catmoji is a social network for cats where cat owners and lovers can share and discover cat pictures and videos through emoji.
We had this idea while working on our previous project, Flvrd (Flvrd is a place that lets people share and discover interesting visual content (pictures and videos) based on their tastes). Many of the content shared on Flvrd are cat pictures and videos and that gives us the initial spark. That is how Catmoji was born.
Catmoji is simply the combination of Cat + Emoji.
Well, we found out that there is no one place on the Internet that allows us to easily share and collect cat pictures and videos. Cat owners and lovers share cat pictures and videos all over the Internet from Instagram to Flickr to Youtube and also on social media site like Facebook and Twitter. Plus, the Internet loves cats :)
3. How is Catmoji different from let?s say creating different boards on Pinterest? What differentiates Catmoji from Pinterest? Although a lot of people visually compared us to Pinterest, we build Catmoji specifically for cat lovers from the design to features. For example, every user on Catmoji has a Catvatar associated to their profile.
4. What inspired you guys to open a Catmoji shop on Society6? Have you considered selling directly through your own website? With the limited resources we have, Society6 is a no-brainer because it does a lot of heavy lifting for us (printing, shipping, payment, etc). In the future, we do want to have our own shop.
5. What are these Catvatars and the Catsome Badges?
Catvatar (Cat avatar) basically is a visual representation of cat breeds or cat lover's alter ego. Catsome Badges are cat-based badges that users can unlock on Catmoji.
6. How are you guys promoting Catmoji? What do you think is the ideal mix of social, online and offline promotion? What about word-of-mouth promotion? Currently, most of the buzz are generated by our users and visitors and yes word-of-mouth through social media. On our side, we use mainly Twitter and Facebook to promote Catmoji. Offline promotion? We never thought of that, maybe in the future.
7. What sort of traction are you guys seeing as far as members is concerned? Could you share the median age of userbase? What is the biggest compliment that you have received for creating the website?
We have just passed 12,000 users last week and the median age is around 30 years old.
Tons of love messages from all around the world from Facebook messages to tweets and emails. Best part is they all came in different languages (Russian, Spanish, Italian and Japanese to name a few) and we had to use Google Translate for that.
8. What is the fondest memory that the two of you have of the process, from conceiving Catmoji to having it up and running ? What issues/difficulties did you face initially?
Going viral. We never expected this to happen and if it doesn't, we might not be having this interview with you.
Initially, Catmoji had a lot of bugs and expectedly so. Also, our servers were pushed to the limit and crashed frequently when Catmoji went viral.
9. What sort of activities do you guys like to pursue in your free time? Which of these do you find to be most de-stressing??
We love to play games on iPad, watch cat pictures and videos, and chill out with cats in our neighborhood. Most de-stressing one? Definitely chilling out with cats.
10. If both of you could have one superhero (or magical) power each, what would it be and why?
Matt: Power that can keep me awake all day long so I don't have to waste time sleeping :)
Koekoe: Being able to converse with dogs as if I'm chatting with real human. It will be fuuuun.
11. What are your future plans for Catmoji? Any new feature(s)/enhancement(s) in the pipeline?
We constantly improving and enhancing Catmoji based on the feedback and suggestions we get from our users. There should be a search feature soon and we are currently working on an iPhone app. Stay tuned!
Thank you Matt and Koekoe for taking out the time and doing this interview with us. We'd like to wish you both and your team at Catmoji the very best for the future. Well, currently you can only sign-up with Catmoji by requesting for an invite but since the founders of Catmoji are way too kind, they decided to provide our readers a special invite code so that they can easily sign-up using this link -?http://catmoji.com/join/ejunkie/. Keep in mind that this link is only valid for the first 500 readers. Want us to share your start-up story on our blog, contact us.?
Kauai, the Petrified Forest, Costa Rica, and more: New GSA Bulletin articles now onlinePublic release date: 26-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kea Giles kgiles@geosociety.org Geological Society of America
GSA Bulletin articles published online ahead of print 22 Feb. 2013
Boulder, Colo., USA New GSA Bulletin articles cover wind erosion and sediment traps in the Qaidam basin; rain erosion on Kauai; new insights from the Petrified Forest, USA; a forearc sliver in Costa Rica; Quebec's St. Lawrence rift system; a new model for the development of Ries Crater Lake, Germany; bending and buckling mountain belts; a record of 22 large earthquakes in northern Fiordland, New Zealand; and the evolution of the ancient Montana landscape.
GSA BULLETIN articles published ahead of print are online at http://gsabulletin.gsapubs.org/content/early/recent; abstracts are open-access at http://gsabulletin.gsapubs.org/. Representatives of the media may obtain complimentary copies of articles by contacting Kea Giles.
Sign up for pre-issue publication e-alerts at http://www.gsapubs.org/cgi/alerts for first access to new journal content as it is posted. Subscribe to RSS feeds at http://gsabulletin.gsapubs.org/rss/.
Please discuss articles of interest with the authors before publishing stories on their work, and please make reference to GSA BULLETIN in your articles or blog posts. Contact Kea Giles for additional information or assistance. Non-media requests for articles may be directed to GSA Sales and Service, gsaservice@geosociety.org.
Detailed highlights are provided below.
Climatic and tectonic controls on sedimentation and erosion during the Pliocene-Quaternary in Qaidam Basin (China) Richard V. Heermance et al., Dept. of Geological Sciences, California State University-Northridge, Northridge, California 91330-8266, USA. Posted online 22 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/B30748.1.
The Pliocene-Quaternary boundary, approx. 2.6 million years ago (2.6 Ma), represents a time of rapid global climate change from warm and moist to cool and arid (i.e., glacial) conditions. The influence of this climate change on both sedimentation and tectonics is preserved in strata within the Qaidam Basin, China. Overall, climate-controlled basin aridification initiated 3.1 million years ago and caused the gradual change from more humid lacustrine sedimentation to evaporite conditions by 2.6 Ma. After 2.6 Ma, uplift above active structures combined with wind erosion of the basin sediments produced localized sediment traps that controlled sedimentation. This study provides isotopic (O and C), paleomagnetic, and sedimentologic data that distinguish the climatic versus tectonic controls on sedimentation and erosion within the northeastern Tibetan Plateau at this important time period.
Variation of climate and long-term erosion rates across a steep rainfall gradient on the Hawaiian island of Kauai
Ken L. Ferrier et al., Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139-4307, USA. Posted online 22 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/B30726.1.
The erosion of volcanic ocean islands creates dramatic landscapes, modulates Earth's carbon cycle, and delivers sediment to coasts and reefs. Despite concerns that modern sediment fluxes to island coasts may exceed long-term fluxes, little is known about how erosion rates and processes vary across island interiors. This study by Ken L. Ferrier and colleagues presents new measurements of erosion rates over five-year to five-million-year time scales on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, which is home to one of Earth's steepest precipitation gradients, with mean annual precipitation ranging from 0.5 to 9.5 m. Eroded rock volumes from basins across Kauai indicate that basin-averaged erosion rates over the past several million years vary by a factor of 40 across the island and increase with modern mean annual precipitation. In the Hanalei basin of Kauai, estimates of sediment fluxes and solute fluxes imply that modern erosion rates are no more than 2.3 plus or minus 0.6 times faster than erosion rates over the past few thousand years, as determined by new measurements of helium-3 in olivines in stream sediment. To the extent that modern precipitation patterns resemble long-term precipitation patterns, these measurements provide new support for a link between precipitation rates and long-term basin-averaged erosion rates.
Sedimentological constraints on the evolution of the Cordilleran arc: New insights from the Sonsela Member, Upper Triassic Chinle Formation, Petrified Forest National Park (Arizona, USA)
Evan R. Howell, Noble Energy, 1625 Broadway, Suite 2200, Denver, CO 80202, USA; and Ronald C. Blakey. Posted online 22 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/B30714.1.
The Sonsela Member of the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation in Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, USA, forms a distinctive part of an extensive ancient river system that once flowed, at least in part, from a major volcanic arc bordering the western margin of North America (Cordilleran magmatic arc). The Sonsela Member is characterized as a relatively coarse-grained unit compared to other mudstone-dominated members of the Chinle Formation, and is therefore thought to reflect a unique period in the evolution of the basin. Modern exposures of the Cordilleran arc are poorly preserved, the result of subsequent tectonic deformation, erosion, and sedimentation in western North America since the Late Triassic. Sedimentary sequences of the Chinle Formation, however (particularly those of the Sonsela Member), preserve the dynamic evolution of the basin as the volcanic arc was established in southwestern North America. The Sonsela Member therefore serves as the most reliable indicator of fluctuations in arc dynamics of a poorly preserved and disjointed portion of the Cordilleran magmatic arc.
Neotectonic faulting and forearc sliver motion along the Atirro-Ro Sucio fault system, Costa Rica, Central America
Walter Montero P. et al., Geological Sciences Research Center, University of Costa Rica, San Jos, Costa Rica; Corresponding author: Sarah Kruse, Dept. of Geology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620, USA. Posted online 22 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/B30471.1.
Two important questions about the Cocos-Caribbean subduction zone of Costa Rica are how trench-parallel forearc motion is accommodated and what drives forearc sliver motion. This work by Walter Montero P. and colleagues provides critical constraints on the former and lays the foundation for exploring the latter. It documents a network of northwest-striking right-lateral strike slip faults that appears to mark the northern boundary of an upper-plate sliver moving NW relative to the Caribbean plate. Despite high erosion rates and deep weathering, the fault system includes pull-apart basins with preserved normal fault scarps and tilted hanging-wall buttress unconformities, pressure ridges, displaced and beheaded drainages, sag ponds, and fault-controlled upland valleys. Montero and colleagues integrate geomorphic observations with outcrop-scale bedrock fault kinematic and earthquake focal mechanism data to map the active through-going fault zone. The mapping reveals that the fault system traverses the active volcanic arc from NW to SE and connects to an area of high uplift rate in the inactive Talamanca magmatic arc, where the faults are interpreted to originate inboard of the actively colliding Cocos ridge. This suggests that, kinematically, the forearc sliver is rooted in the collision zone.
Mesozoic fault reactivation along the St. Lawrence rift system, eastern Canada: Thermochronologic evidence from apatite fission-track dating
Alain Tremblay et al., Dpartement des Sciences de la Terre et de l'Atmosphre and GEOTOP, Universit du Qubec. Posted online 22 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/B30703.1.
The St. Lawrence rift system is formed by a series of northeast-southwest-trending faults in southeastern Qubec that links and includes the northwest-trending Ottawa-Bonnechre and Saguenay River regions. It is an active fault zone where reactivation of Late Precambrian (less than one billion years ago) faults, at times as young as post-Late Devonian (350 million years ago), is believed to occur. Apatite fission-track (AFT) ages, which represent the time that the rocks cooled through 100 degrees Celsius (3-4 km depth) on their way to the surface, have been determined for Late Precambrian rocks from both sides of typical rift faults at different locations in the St. Lawrence and Saguenay river fault systems along the St. Lawrence rift system. Differences in AFT ages were found across all the faults studied, suggesting reactivation of extensional movement approx. 250-200 million years. Along the St. Lawrence River fault system, the AFT ages also suggest a renewal of movement in a compressional sense at ca. 150 Ma. This study provides evidence for extension related to rifting in the Atlantic Ocean followed by compressional deformation in the interior of Canada, more than 500 km west of the Atlantic coastal margin.
Chemical and ecological evolution of the Miocene Ries impact crater lake, Germany: A reinterpretation based on the Enkingen (SUBO 18) drill core
Gernot Arp et al., Georg-August-Universitt Gttingen, Geowissenschaftliches Zentrum, Goldschmidtstrasse 3, 37077 Gttingen, Germany. Posted online 22 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/B30731.1.
Impact crater lakes potentially form valuable climatologic archives. The lacustrine succession of the 15-million-year-old Ries Crater Lake has previously been interpreted as climate-controlled development from a playa to a highly saline soda lake, which successively decreased in salinity to reach freshwater sedimentation with temporary coal swamps. New multidisciplinary investigations based on a partial section now question this view: The sediments of this new drill core reflect increasing, not decreasing salinities, with brown coals formed by plant debris swept into a hypersaline setting. In addition, the chemical composition of the inflowing waters changed due to the weathering of different ejecta layers in the catchment area. Interpolated to the whole succession, a new model for the Ries Crater Lake is developed: After the development of a brackish soda lake and erosion of the upper ejecta blanket (suevite), an increasing ion influx from the lower ejecta (Bunte Breccia) caused a change to a marine-like, and finally hypersaline salt lake. Therefore, intrinsic factors, such as weathering history in the catchment area, probably dominated over external, climatic factors with respect to the chemical and ecological evolution of this impact crater lake. Moreover, the initial suevite blanket might have been more widespread than previously assumed.
Oroclines: Thick and thin
S.T. Johnston et al., School of Earth & Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria, PO Box 3065 STN CSC, Victoria British Columbia, Canada V8P 4B2. Posted online 22 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/B30765.1.
Folded rocks characterize young and old mountain belts the world over, and form some of the most familiar and spectacular of geological structures. But can you fold an entire mountain belt? Stephen Johnston of the University of Victoria and his colleagues Arlo Weil of Bryn Mawr University and Gabriel Gutierrez-Alonso of the University of Salamanca have been studying the geometry of mountain belts, and their findings, summarized in this review paper, suggest that not only can you bend a mountain belt, but that folds of mountain belts, referred to as oroclines, constitute the largest geological structures on Earth. Based on an extensive compilation of geological and geophysical data, they demonstrate that during the development of a mountain chain, minor bends of faults and folds can develop, but that subsequently the entire mountain chain can be buckled into one or more oroclines. For example, the 320-million-year-old Variscan Mountain chain of Iberia, which formed during the continental collisions that gave rise to Pangea, subsequently buckled giving rise to two coupled oroclines. During buckling, a 2,300-km-long, 300-km-wide, linear mountain chain was shortened by more than 1,100 km, giving rise to two of Earth's largest folds and forming the Iberian Peninsula. These findings suggest that the buckling of mountain chains is an important process responsible for the development and growth of continents.
Deriving a long paleoseismic record from a shallow-water Holocene basin next to the Alpine fault, New Zealand
K.J. Clark et al., GNS Science, PO Box 30368, Lower Hutt, New Zealand. Posted online 22 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/B30693.1.
Scientists have investigated evidence left by large surface-rupturing earthquakes on the Alpine Fault in New Zealand over an 8,000 year period. The earthquakes left "geological signatures" of alternating peat and silt in the exposed banks of Hokuri Creek, an isolated creek in northern Fiordland. Detailed mapping, sedimentology and microfossil analysis were used to investigate the relationship between sediment deposition and Alpine fault rupture at Hokuri Creek. Repeated fault rupture involving a component of vertical movement is shown to be the most convincing mechanism for explaining the cyclical peat and silt sedimentary sequence. This article by K.J. Clark and colleagues delves into the detail of how a record of 22 earthquakes between circa AD 800 to 6000 BC was obtained. The Hokuri Creek sequence represents one of the longest continuous large earthquake records of any on-land plate boundary fault in the world. The Alpine Fault extends about 600 km along the spine of the South Island between Milford Sound and Marlborough. It last ruptured in 1717 AD producing an earthquake of approx. magnitude 8.
Paleogene postcompressional intermontane basin evolution along the frontal Cordilleran fold-and-thrust belt of southwestern Montana
Theresa M. Schwartz and Robert K. Schwartz, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, 450 Serra Mall, Bldg. 320, Stanford, California 94305, USA. Posted online 22 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/B30776.1.
This article by Theresa M. Schwartz and Robert K. Schwartz investigates the evolution of the Montana landscape between approximately 50 and 20 million years ago. Detailed examination of the depositional facies and provenance of the Renova Formation in southwestern Montana provides important insight into the physical processes that affected the eastern part of the North American Cordillera after it became inactive. These include the interplay between tectonism (both in the crust and deeper in the lithosphere), erosion on the surface by large river systems, and shifts in climate patterns. Ultimately, this study finds that the complex structure that was generated more than 50 million years ago exerted and continues to exert strong controls on the landscape, dictating areas of erosion and deposition.
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Kauai, the Petrified Forest, Costa Rica, and more: New GSA Bulletin articles now onlinePublic release date: 26-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kea Giles kgiles@geosociety.org Geological Society of America
GSA Bulletin articles published online ahead of print 22 Feb. 2013
Boulder, Colo., USA New GSA Bulletin articles cover wind erosion and sediment traps in the Qaidam basin; rain erosion on Kauai; new insights from the Petrified Forest, USA; a forearc sliver in Costa Rica; Quebec's St. Lawrence rift system; a new model for the development of Ries Crater Lake, Germany; bending and buckling mountain belts; a record of 22 large earthquakes in northern Fiordland, New Zealand; and the evolution of the ancient Montana landscape.
GSA BULLETIN articles published ahead of print are online at http://gsabulletin.gsapubs.org/content/early/recent; abstracts are open-access at http://gsabulletin.gsapubs.org/. Representatives of the media may obtain complimentary copies of articles by contacting Kea Giles.
Sign up for pre-issue publication e-alerts at http://www.gsapubs.org/cgi/alerts for first access to new journal content as it is posted. Subscribe to RSS feeds at http://gsabulletin.gsapubs.org/rss/.
Please discuss articles of interest with the authors before publishing stories on their work, and please make reference to GSA BULLETIN in your articles or blog posts. Contact Kea Giles for additional information or assistance. Non-media requests for articles may be directed to GSA Sales and Service, gsaservice@geosociety.org.
Detailed highlights are provided below.
Climatic and tectonic controls on sedimentation and erosion during the Pliocene-Quaternary in Qaidam Basin (China) Richard V. Heermance et al., Dept. of Geological Sciences, California State University-Northridge, Northridge, California 91330-8266, USA. Posted online 22 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/B30748.1.
The Pliocene-Quaternary boundary, approx. 2.6 million years ago (2.6 Ma), represents a time of rapid global climate change from warm and moist to cool and arid (i.e., glacial) conditions. The influence of this climate change on both sedimentation and tectonics is preserved in strata within the Qaidam Basin, China. Overall, climate-controlled basin aridification initiated 3.1 million years ago and caused the gradual change from more humid lacustrine sedimentation to evaporite conditions by 2.6 Ma. After 2.6 Ma, uplift above active structures combined with wind erosion of the basin sediments produced localized sediment traps that controlled sedimentation. This study provides isotopic (O and C), paleomagnetic, and sedimentologic data that distinguish the climatic versus tectonic controls on sedimentation and erosion within the northeastern Tibetan Plateau at this important time period.
Variation of climate and long-term erosion rates across a steep rainfall gradient on the Hawaiian island of Kauai
Ken L. Ferrier et al., Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139-4307, USA. Posted online 22 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/B30726.1.
The erosion of volcanic ocean islands creates dramatic landscapes, modulates Earth's carbon cycle, and delivers sediment to coasts and reefs. Despite concerns that modern sediment fluxes to island coasts may exceed long-term fluxes, little is known about how erosion rates and processes vary across island interiors. This study by Ken L. Ferrier and colleagues presents new measurements of erosion rates over five-year to five-million-year time scales on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, which is home to one of Earth's steepest precipitation gradients, with mean annual precipitation ranging from 0.5 to 9.5 m. Eroded rock volumes from basins across Kauai indicate that basin-averaged erosion rates over the past several million years vary by a factor of 40 across the island and increase with modern mean annual precipitation. In the Hanalei basin of Kauai, estimates of sediment fluxes and solute fluxes imply that modern erosion rates are no more than 2.3 plus or minus 0.6 times faster than erosion rates over the past few thousand years, as determined by new measurements of helium-3 in olivines in stream sediment. To the extent that modern precipitation patterns resemble long-term precipitation patterns, these measurements provide new support for a link between precipitation rates and long-term basin-averaged erosion rates.
Sedimentological constraints on the evolution of the Cordilleran arc: New insights from the Sonsela Member, Upper Triassic Chinle Formation, Petrified Forest National Park (Arizona, USA)
Evan R. Howell, Noble Energy, 1625 Broadway, Suite 2200, Denver, CO 80202, USA; and Ronald C. Blakey. Posted online 22 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/B30714.1.
The Sonsela Member of the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation in Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, USA, forms a distinctive part of an extensive ancient river system that once flowed, at least in part, from a major volcanic arc bordering the western margin of North America (Cordilleran magmatic arc). The Sonsela Member is characterized as a relatively coarse-grained unit compared to other mudstone-dominated members of the Chinle Formation, and is therefore thought to reflect a unique period in the evolution of the basin. Modern exposures of the Cordilleran arc are poorly preserved, the result of subsequent tectonic deformation, erosion, and sedimentation in western North America since the Late Triassic. Sedimentary sequences of the Chinle Formation, however (particularly those of the Sonsela Member), preserve the dynamic evolution of the basin as the volcanic arc was established in southwestern North America. The Sonsela Member therefore serves as the most reliable indicator of fluctuations in arc dynamics of a poorly preserved and disjointed portion of the Cordilleran magmatic arc.
Neotectonic faulting and forearc sliver motion along the Atirro-Ro Sucio fault system, Costa Rica, Central America
Walter Montero P. et al., Geological Sciences Research Center, University of Costa Rica, San Jos, Costa Rica; Corresponding author: Sarah Kruse, Dept. of Geology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620, USA. Posted online 22 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/B30471.1.
Two important questions about the Cocos-Caribbean subduction zone of Costa Rica are how trench-parallel forearc motion is accommodated and what drives forearc sliver motion. This work by Walter Montero P. and colleagues provides critical constraints on the former and lays the foundation for exploring the latter. It documents a network of northwest-striking right-lateral strike slip faults that appears to mark the northern boundary of an upper-plate sliver moving NW relative to the Caribbean plate. Despite high erosion rates and deep weathering, the fault system includes pull-apart basins with preserved normal fault scarps and tilted hanging-wall buttress unconformities, pressure ridges, displaced and beheaded drainages, sag ponds, and fault-controlled upland valleys. Montero and colleagues integrate geomorphic observations with outcrop-scale bedrock fault kinematic and earthquake focal mechanism data to map the active through-going fault zone. The mapping reveals that the fault system traverses the active volcanic arc from NW to SE and connects to an area of high uplift rate in the inactive Talamanca magmatic arc, where the faults are interpreted to originate inboard of the actively colliding Cocos ridge. This suggests that, kinematically, the forearc sliver is rooted in the collision zone.
Mesozoic fault reactivation along the St. Lawrence rift system, eastern Canada: Thermochronologic evidence from apatite fission-track dating
Alain Tremblay et al., Dpartement des Sciences de la Terre et de l'Atmosphre and GEOTOP, Universit du Qubec. Posted online 22 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/B30703.1.
The St. Lawrence rift system is formed by a series of northeast-southwest-trending faults in southeastern Qubec that links and includes the northwest-trending Ottawa-Bonnechre and Saguenay River regions. It is an active fault zone where reactivation of Late Precambrian (less than one billion years ago) faults, at times as young as post-Late Devonian (350 million years ago), is believed to occur. Apatite fission-track (AFT) ages, which represent the time that the rocks cooled through 100 degrees Celsius (3-4 km depth) on their way to the surface, have been determined for Late Precambrian rocks from both sides of typical rift faults at different locations in the St. Lawrence and Saguenay river fault systems along the St. Lawrence rift system. Differences in AFT ages were found across all the faults studied, suggesting reactivation of extensional movement approx. 250-200 million years. Along the St. Lawrence River fault system, the AFT ages also suggest a renewal of movement in a compressional sense at ca. 150 Ma. This study provides evidence for extension related to rifting in the Atlantic Ocean followed by compressional deformation in the interior of Canada, more than 500 km west of the Atlantic coastal margin.
Chemical and ecological evolution of the Miocene Ries impact crater lake, Germany: A reinterpretation based on the Enkingen (SUBO 18) drill core
Gernot Arp et al., Georg-August-Universitt Gttingen, Geowissenschaftliches Zentrum, Goldschmidtstrasse 3, 37077 Gttingen, Germany. Posted online 22 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/B30731.1.
Impact crater lakes potentially form valuable climatologic archives. The lacustrine succession of the 15-million-year-old Ries Crater Lake has previously been interpreted as climate-controlled development from a playa to a highly saline soda lake, which successively decreased in salinity to reach freshwater sedimentation with temporary coal swamps. New multidisciplinary investigations based on a partial section now question this view: The sediments of this new drill core reflect increasing, not decreasing salinities, with brown coals formed by plant debris swept into a hypersaline setting. In addition, the chemical composition of the inflowing waters changed due to the weathering of different ejecta layers in the catchment area. Interpolated to the whole succession, a new model for the Ries Crater Lake is developed: After the development of a brackish soda lake and erosion of the upper ejecta blanket (suevite), an increasing ion influx from the lower ejecta (Bunte Breccia) caused a change to a marine-like, and finally hypersaline salt lake. Therefore, intrinsic factors, such as weathering history in the catchment area, probably dominated over external, climatic factors with respect to the chemical and ecological evolution of this impact crater lake. Moreover, the initial suevite blanket might have been more widespread than previously assumed.
Oroclines: Thick and thin
S.T. Johnston et al., School of Earth & Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria, PO Box 3065 STN CSC, Victoria British Columbia, Canada V8P 4B2. Posted online 22 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/B30765.1.
Folded rocks characterize young and old mountain belts the world over, and form some of the most familiar and spectacular of geological structures. But can you fold an entire mountain belt? Stephen Johnston of the University of Victoria and his colleagues Arlo Weil of Bryn Mawr University and Gabriel Gutierrez-Alonso of the University of Salamanca have been studying the geometry of mountain belts, and their findings, summarized in this review paper, suggest that not only can you bend a mountain belt, but that folds of mountain belts, referred to as oroclines, constitute the largest geological structures on Earth. Based on an extensive compilation of geological and geophysical data, they demonstrate that during the development of a mountain chain, minor bends of faults and folds can develop, but that subsequently the entire mountain chain can be buckled into one or more oroclines. For example, the 320-million-year-old Variscan Mountain chain of Iberia, which formed during the continental collisions that gave rise to Pangea, subsequently buckled giving rise to two coupled oroclines. During buckling, a 2,300-km-long, 300-km-wide, linear mountain chain was shortened by more than 1,100 km, giving rise to two of Earth's largest folds and forming the Iberian Peninsula. These findings suggest that the buckling of mountain chains is an important process responsible for the development and growth of continents.
Deriving a long paleoseismic record from a shallow-water Holocene basin next to the Alpine fault, New Zealand
K.J. Clark et al., GNS Science, PO Box 30368, Lower Hutt, New Zealand. Posted online 22 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/B30693.1.
Scientists have investigated evidence left by large surface-rupturing earthquakes on the Alpine Fault in New Zealand over an 8,000 year period. The earthquakes left "geological signatures" of alternating peat and silt in the exposed banks of Hokuri Creek, an isolated creek in northern Fiordland. Detailed mapping, sedimentology and microfossil analysis were used to investigate the relationship between sediment deposition and Alpine fault rupture at Hokuri Creek. Repeated fault rupture involving a component of vertical movement is shown to be the most convincing mechanism for explaining the cyclical peat and silt sedimentary sequence. This article by K.J. Clark and colleagues delves into the detail of how a record of 22 earthquakes between circa AD 800 to 6000 BC was obtained. The Hokuri Creek sequence represents one of the longest continuous large earthquake records of any on-land plate boundary fault in the world. The Alpine Fault extends about 600 km along the spine of the South Island between Milford Sound and Marlborough. It last ruptured in 1717 AD producing an earthquake of approx. magnitude 8.
Paleogene postcompressional intermontane basin evolution along the frontal Cordilleran fold-and-thrust belt of southwestern Montana
Theresa M. Schwartz and Robert K. Schwartz, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, 450 Serra Mall, Bldg. 320, Stanford, California 94305, USA. Posted online 22 Feb. 2013; http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/B30776.1.
This article by Theresa M. Schwartz and Robert K. Schwartz investigates the evolution of the Montana landscape between approximately 50 and 20 million years ago. Detailed examination of the depositional facies and provenance of the Renova Formation in southwestern Montana provides important insight into the physical processes that affected the eastern part of the North American Cordillera after it became inactive. These include the interplay between tectonism (both in the crust and deeper in the lithosphere), erosion on the surface by large river systems, and shifts in climate patterns. Ultimately, this study finds that the complex structure that was generated more than 50 million years ago exerted and continues to exert strong controls on the landscape, dictating areas of erosion and deposition.
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This is Legonardo, an automaton capable of drawing portraits. Obviously, it doesn't have the complex clockwork used by automatons of old, like its Swiss counterpart made by Pierre Jacquet-Droz and Henri Maillardet in the 18th century. But it's pretty neat anyway. More »
US Secretary of State John Kerry reacts after listening a reporter's question during a joint news conference with Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague, not seen, following their meeting in central London, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. This is the first overseas trip for the US Secretary of State in his new role. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, pool)
US Secretary of State John Kerry reacts after listening a reporter's question during a joint news conference with Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague, not seen, following their meeting in central London, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. This is the first overseas trip for the US Secretary of State in his new role. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, pool)
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, is greeted by US Ambassador to Germany Philip Murphy on arrival at Tegel International Airport in Berlin, with James Melville, Jr., Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy Berlin, on Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. Berlin is the second stop in Kerry?s first official trip overseas as secretary. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)
Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague, right, watches as US Secretary of State John Kerry, left, answers a reporter's question during a joint news conference following their meeting in central London, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. This is the first overseas trip for the US Secretary of State in his new role. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, pool)
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, accompanies British Foreign Secretary William Hague as they leave Downing Street in London, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. Kerry kicked off his first official overseas trip by meeting with British leaders in London on the first leg of a hectic nine-day dash through Europe and the Middle East. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, second from left, speaks alongside U.S. Ambassador Louis Susman, third from left, during a visit to the U.S. Embassy, London, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. Kerry was in London for the first leg of his debut overseas trip ? a hectic nine-country dash through Europe and the Middle East. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)
BERLIN (AP) ? Skeptical Syrian opposition leaders agreed Monday to attend an international conference in Rome after first threatening to boycott the session that was to be the centerpiece of Secretary of State John Kerry's first overseas mission in his new job.
Opposition leaders had protested what they see as inaction by other nations in the face of violence from Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.
Kerry not only made a public plea at a joint news conference Monday with British Foreign Secretary William Hague, he also called Moaz Khatib, leader of the Syrian Opposition Council, "to encourage him to come to Rome," a senior U.S. official said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the matter, described the conversation as "good" but declined to offer more detail.
Spokesman Walid al-Bunni said the council had decided to send a delegation to Rome after all.
Al-Bunni told Al-Arabiya TV the decision was made based on guarantees al-Khatib heard from western diplomats that the conference would be different and that the opposition would receive real commitments this time. "We will go and we will see if the promises are different this time," he said.
After speaking with Khatib, Kerry flew to Berlin from London, the first stop of his first trip as secretary of state ? a hectic nine-country dash through Europe and the Middle East.
Kerry had also dispatched his top Syrian envoy to Cairo in hopes of convincing opposition leaders that their participation is critical to addressing questions from potential donors and securing additional aid from the United States and Europe.
"We are determined that the Syrian opposition is not going to be dangling in the wind, wondering where the support is, if it is coming," Kerry told reporters in London after meeting British Prime Minister David Cameron and Hague. "We are not going to let the Syrian opposition not have its ability to have its voice properly heard in this process."
For his part, Hague said the violence in Syria, especially recent scud missile attacks on the city of Aleppo, was unacceptable and that the west's current position could not be sustained while an "appalling injustice" is being done to Syrian citizens.
"In the face of such murder and threat of instability, our policy cannot stay static as the weeks go by," Hague told reporters, standing beside Kerry. "We must significantly increase support for the Syrian opposition. We are preparing to do just that."
Kerry agreed.
"We are not coming to Rome simply to talk, we are coming to Rome to talk about next steps," Kerry said, adding that he was sympathetic to opposition complaints that they were not getting the support they need to defend themselves against the Assad regime or oust him from power.
"I am very sensitive to that frustration," recalling that as a U.S. senator he was one of several who pushed the administration to consider military aid to the Syrian opposition.
"But I am the new secretary of state ... and the president of the United States has sent me here and sent me to this series of meetings and in Rome because he is concerned about the course of events.
"This moment is ripe for us to be considering what more we can do," he said, adding that if the opposition wants results, "join us" in Rome.
Meanwhile, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said Monday the Assad regime was ready to hold talks with opposition leaders, the first time that a high-ranking Syrian official has stated publicly that the government would meet with the opposition. Al-Moallem made his comments after meeting in Moscow with Russian officials.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said Moallem's remarks appeared positive but expressed caution about the seriousness of the offer.
"I don't know their motivations, other than to say they continue to rain down horrific attacks on their own people," Ventrell told reporters. "So that speaks pretty loudly and clearly."
If the Assad regime is serious, he said, it should inform the U.N. peace envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi of its readiness for talks. Ventrell said the Assad regime hasn't yet done that.
Obama administration officials have debated whether the U.S. should arm the rebels, with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey having said they urged such a course of action. The White House has been unwilling to do so for fears the weapons could end up in the wrong hands. Currently, the U.S. provides only non-lethal support and humanitarian aid.
The United Nations says at least 70,000 people have been killed in Syria's 2-year civil war, which began as an uprising against Assad's regime.
Kerry said the Syrian people "deserve better" than the violence currently gripping their country as he stood alongside Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague.
___
Associated Press writers Cassandra Vinograd in London and Bradley Klapper in Washington contributed to this report.
Low-birth-weight babies with a particular brain abnormality are at greater risk for autism, according to a new study that could provide doctors a signpost for early detection of the still poorly understood disorder.
Led by Michigan State University, the study found that low-birth-weight newborns were seven times more likely to be diagnosed with autism later in life if an ultrasound taken just after birth showed they had enlarged ventricles, cavities in the brain that store spinal fluid. The results appear in the Journal of Pediatrics.
"For many years there's been a lot of controversy about whether vaccinations or environmental factors influence the development of autism, and there's always the question of at what age a child begins to develop the disorder," said lead author Tammy Movsas, clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at MSU and medical director of the Midland County Department of Public Health.
"What this study shows us is that an ultrasound scan within the first few days of life may already be able to detect brain abnormalities that indicate a higher risk of developing autism."
Movsas and colleagues reached that conclusion by analyzing data from a cohort of 1,105 low-birth-weight infants born in the mid-1980s. The babies had cranial ultrasounds just after birth so the researchers could look for relationships between brain abnormalities in infancy and health disorders that showed up later. Participants also were screened for autism when they were 16 years old, and a subset of them had a more rigorous test at 21, which turned up 14 positive diagnoses.
Ventricular enlargement is found more often in premature babies and may indicate loss of a type of brain tissue called white matter.
"This study suggests further research is needed to better understand what it is about loss of white matter that interferes with the neurological processes that determine autism," said co-author Nigel Paneth, an MSU epidemiologist who helped organize the cohort. "This is an important clue to the underlying brain issues in autism."
Prior studies have shown an increased rate of autism in low-birth-weight and premature babies, and earlier research by Movsas and Paneth found a modest increase in symptoms among autistic children born early or late.
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Michigan State University: http://www.newsroom.msu.edu
Thanks to Michigan State University for this article.
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NoshList, the restaurant waitlisting app for iPad launched just over a year ago, is today making its way to smartphones, including both the iPhone and Android devices. Although possibly not the ideal form factor for the job, the mobile app allows restaurants to test the NoshList experience on devices they likely own, before making an investment into a tablet (or multiple tablets) to run the full-screen version. In addition, the new mobile apps can serve as backup if the restaurant's Wi-Fi connection ever goes down, as they'll maintain connectivity, whereas the more affordable, Wi-Fi only iPads would have lost their signal.
With just a few taps on the screen of your iOS device, 
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