Your Slingbox isn't just for streaming realtime television content anymore. SlingSync, which we first heard about during CES, is now available as part of this week's firmware update, letting you upload photos and videos captured with an Android or iOS device directly to a USB drive connected to a Slingbox 500. Using SlingPlayer Mobile on your handset or tablet, you can opt for either automatic or manual transfers, enabling you to offload captured content for safekeeping. And, assuming the Slingbox 500 is connected to your television, you can then view photos and videos on your TV. Your device will need firmware number 1.3.462 in order to take advantage of SlingSync, while mobile gadgets should be using SlingPlayer Mobile version 2.4.2 for Android or 3.4.1 on iOS. Though the above feature only applies to the 500, the update also marks the return of Audio-Only mode on the Solo, Pro-HD and 500 -- the Slingbox 350 will receive that last feature in a future update.
LONDON (Reuters) - British scientists have developed a new vaccine against foot-and-mouth disease that is safer and easier to manufacture, an advance they believe should greatly increase production capacity and reduce costs.
The technology behind the livestock product might also be applied to make improved human vaccines to protect against similar viruses, including polio.
The new vaccine does not require live virus in its production - an important consideration as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is extremely infectious and vaccine facilities handling virus samples are difficult to secure.
"It spreads like wild fire," said David Stuart, a professor of biology at the University of Oxford, who led the research.
A 2007 outbreak of FMD in southeast England, for example, was traced to a nearby vaccine site. The same facility, ironically, is home to some of the researchers behind the new vaccine.
In contrast to standard FMD livestock vaccines, the new product is made from synthetic empty protein shells containing no infectious viral genome, scientists reported in the journal PLOS Pathogens on Wednesday.
This means the vaccine can be produced without expensive biosecurity and does not need to be kept refrigerated.
"One of the big advantages is that since it is not derived from live virus, the production facility requires no special containment," Stuart said.
"One could imagine local plants being set up in large parts of the world where foot and mouth is endemic and where it still remains a huge problem."
Worldwide, between 3 billion and 4 billion doses of FMD vaccine are administered every year but there are shortages in many parts of Asia and Africa were the disease is a serious problem.
Current standard vaccines are based on 50-year-old technology, although U.S. biotech company GenVec last year won U.S. approval for a new one.
The purely synthetic British vaccine has so far been tested in small-scale cattle trials and found to be effective.
Stuart said the research team from the universities of Oxford and Reading and two state-funded bodies - Diamond Light Source and the Pirbright Institute - would now conduct larger tests while discussing the vaccine's commercial development.
"We are talking to a potential commercial partner," Stuart told Reuters, adding that it would probably take around six years to bring the new vaccine to market. He said it was too early to give an indication of how much the vaccine would cost.
He declined to name the company involved but said it was not Merial, the animal health division of Sanofi that shares Pirbright's site in southeast England.
Stuart and his colleagues were able to produce empty protein shells to imitate the protein coat that surrounds the FMD virus using Diamond's X-ray system to visualize images a billion times smaller than a pinhead.
The same approach could in future be used to make empty shell vaccines against related viruses such as polio and hand-foot-and-mouth, a human disease that mainly affects infants and children, the researchers said.
Mar. 26, 2013 ? Supernovae were always thought to occur in two main varieties. But a team of astronomers including Carnegie's Wendy Freedman, Mark Phillips and Eric Persson is reporting the discovery of a new type of supernova called Type Iax.
This research has been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal.
Previously, supernovae were divided into either core-collapse or Type Ia categories. Core-collapse supernovae are the explosion of a star about 10 to 100 times as massive as our sun. Type Ia supernovae are the complete disruption of a tiny white dwarf.
This new type, Iax, is fainter and less energetic than Type Ia. Although both types come from exploding white dwarfs, Type Iax supernovas may not completely destroy the white dwarf. "A Type Iax supernova is essentially a mini supernova," says lead author Ryan Foley, Clay Fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). "It's the runt of the supernova litter."
The research team--which also included Max Stritzinger, formerly of Carnegie--identified 25 examples of the new type of supernova. None of them appeared in elliptical galaxies, which are filled with old stars. This suggests that Type Iax supernovas come from young star systems.
Based on a variety of observational data, the team concluded that a Type Iax supernova comes from a binary star system containing a white dwarf and a companion star that has lost its outer hydrogen, leaving it helium dominated. The white dwarf collects helium from the normal star.
Researchers aren't sure what triggers a Type Iax. It's possible that the outer helium layer ignites first, sending a shock wave into the white dwarf. Alternatively, the white dwarf might ignite first due to the influence of the overlying helium shell.
Either way, it appears that in many cases the white dwarf survives the explosion, unlike in a Type Ia supernova where the white dwarf is completely destroyed.
The team calculates that Type Iax supernovae are about a third as common as Type Ia supernovae. The reason so few have been detected is that the faintest are only one-hundredth as bright as a Type Ia supernova.
"The closer we look, the more ways we find for stars to explode," Phillips said.
The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope could discover thousands of Type Iax supernovas over its lifetime.
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Journal Reference:
Ryan J. Foley, P. J. Challis, R. Chornock, M. Ganeshalingam, W. Li, G. H. Marion, N. I. Morrell, G. Pignata, M. D. Stritzinger, J. M. Silverman, X. Wang, J. P. Anderson, A. V. Filippenko, W. L. Freedman, M. Hamuy, S. W. Jha, R. P. Kirshner, C. McCully, S. E. Persson, M. M. Phillips, D. E. Reichart, A. M. Soderberg. Type Iax Supernovae: A New Class of Stellar Explosion. The Astrophysical Journal, 2013; 767 (1): 57 DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/767/1/57
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
(Reuters) - The sole winning ticket in the $338 million Powerball lottery was sold in a Passaic, New Jersey, liquor store, authorities said on Monday.
The winner has yet to step forward, Judith Drucker, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey lottery, said.
The winning ticket was sold on Saturday at Passaic's Eagle Liquor store, which manager Ram Yadav said is known locally as a good place for playing the lottery. The store sells a half dozen or so winners each year and last year had a $159,000 winner, he said.
"The neighborhood says this store is a lucky store all the time," Yadav said, though he has "no idea" who bought Saturday's lucky ticket.
"I feel good that I made somebody lucky," Yadav added.
Eagle Liquor, as the seller of the winning ticket, will get $10,000.
The town of Passaic is struggling economically, and according to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly one in three of its nearly 70,000 residents live in poverty.
Lottery officials say the $338 million pot was the fourth largest in Powerball history. The winning ticket was bought as a cash ticket, meaning it can be claimed in a lump sum of $211 million, Drucker said.
The record jackpot for Powerball nationally was $587.5 million in 2012, lottery officials said.
While Americans and Canadians have enjoyed making app-based voice calls to their Facebook contacts since January, their overseas buddies have missed out -- until now. The social network's iOS Messenger app has just doled out the calling feature to the UK and potentially other parts of Europe too, although we haven't yet been able to confirm exactly how far and wide the update reaches. It's worth noting that the feature isn't enabled on the Android iteration yet, either. The new calling service isn't powered by Skype this time, although it works in a similarly uncomplicated way, with the ability to leave voice messages with any busy users. According to Pocket-lint, this is an experimental version, warning that you might experience a few bugs and glitches as you play around with it, but hey, you're getting free calls to (most of) your friends, barring any data charges. We've tested the new feature and it's working for several of our UK editors over both WiFi and 3G, but if you haven't already picked up the messaging app yet, you can grab it at the source below.
Barnes & Noble is kicking off a seriously nice limited time deal where buyers of a Nook tablet will be given a free Nook e-reader to complete the set. The tablet was already a good buy, but the addition of the e-reader makes this offer nearly irresistible.
The 9-inch Nook HD+ tablet has a nice full HD screen (1920x1280) and solid specs, as well as an eye-grabbing design. It's not the biggest, smallest, cheapest, or most advanced tablet on the market, but it's still a good device (we'd advise spending the extra $30 to double your storage to 32GB).
Adding a free e-reader to go along with it really sweetens the pot. The Nook Simple Touch doesn't light up like the latest generation of e-paper devices, but it's a solid, simple reading device ? and at 100 percent off, the price sure is right.
You can take advantage of the deal by buying a Nook HD+ any time during the week starting Sunday the 24th and ending on the 31st.
Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is coldewey.cc.
From Frumpy To Fashionable: Great Style Tips Which You Can Use
Anything goes worldwide of fashion. You can watch the trends, yet it is really your choice to make your personal style. Read these ideas and follow people who meet your needs. Read on to learn great advice that you could tailor to the own wants and needs.
Never let someone else try to influence your decisions on what to wear. When it comes to style, there is not any wrong or right. Everybody should make their particular choice about which kind of fashion they want on their own. If a person tries to obtain to use something you don?t desire to wear, then politely tell them that you are currently deciding everything you place on your system.
Wedge heels are in style, appearing on boots, shoes and sandals. Women love these shoes mainly because they seem taller and with the additional height, they appear slimmer. When wearing wedges, ensure they aren?t too thick, because you could have problems walking with them.
If you desire to have fuller lips, you can have it without going the cosmetic surgery route. Reveal your lips by using a lightly colored lipstick or shiny finish lip gloss. The conclusion can give off a reflection which enables your lips have got a fuller effect. Avoid wearing dark lipstick, as as a result your lips look thinner.
Donate your old clothing to some shelter or donation center. Not merely could this be great as you are helping out those less fortunate, however you are also cutting down the time period it should take for you to obtain an outfit you want to put on.
Why not hire a fashion consultant? Those with stressful jobs or busy family lives often feel they do not have time for you to be fashionable. To actually look great even if you are busy, you ought to employ someone to assist you to create good choices while you shop.
Steer clear of horizontal stripes if you don?t want your body appearing wider. These will make you appear wider than you are. Try to find patterns with vertical lines so your height is emphasized as an alternative to your width.
A great foundation is vital to fashion. A bra which fits properly ensures the body shape looks its best. Undergarments are meant to provide good support, and create a smoother look. Just look online or through those mail catalogs if you want to find something that?s ideal for you. You can find certainly many options to pick from.
Shop with friends and get their clothing advice. Sometimes, a friend?s fashion advice can open one?s eyes to new possibilities.
Don?t have a trend just because it?s ?in.? Because something looks fantastic about the super slim runway model, it does not always mean it is going to look really good on the body shape and size. Make use of your own taste as a guideline rather than blindly following fashion magazines. You have to believe in instincts regarding fashion. It is actually the best way to go.
Expres your own personality using the clothes you wear. Simply because a particular style is trending does not mean that it must be good for you. You don?t want to look silly, so over these circumstances, stick with everything you know does look nice upon you. Any style, from haute couture to relaxed hipster, could work when you own it.
With what you?ve learned here, you need to be able to renovate your wardrobe. A few of the advice will fit you and some will not. Everyone is different. It?s not required to try to keep up with every trend which comes along. Breaking from the trends is much better if you want to be unique.
Thanks for reading. For more on fashion shops online and fashion design online please see our website
Chris Christie, governor of a liberal state and a potential national GOP contender, has walked a fine line on gay marriage. But a proposed N.J. ban on gay conversion therapy threatens that balancing act.
By Husna Haq,?Correspondent / March 22, 2013
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks to a large gathering in Manasquan, N.J., Thursday, during a town hall meeting.
Mel Evans/AP
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A proposal to ban gay conversion therapy in New Jersey has put Gov. Chris Christie, a possible 2016 GOP contender, in the spotlight at a time when many in the US, and in the Republican Party, appear to be reevaluating their stance on gays and gay marriage.
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Governor Christie ?does not believe in conversion therapy? for homosexuals, a spokeswoman said Thursday, but has not yet decided whether he will support a bill outlawing the practice that is currently under consideration by state lawmakers.
On Wednesday Christie sparked headlines for declining to take a stand on the controversial practice, which attempts to reduce homosexual tendencies in people and put them on a path to heterosexuality.
The debate may erode support for the perennially popular governor as he gears up for a gubernatorial race later this year ? and considers running on the GOP ticket in 2016. It also presses Christie, who opposes gay marriage but believes voters should ultimately decide whether same-sex couples should be allowed to wed, to take a more decisive stand on that issue.
As a Republican leader of a liberal state, the governor has long walked a tightrope on gay marriage, says Brigid Harrison, a political scientist at Montclair State University in Montclair, N.J.
?This is in my view a really complex issue for the governor,? says Professor Harrison. ?On the one hand you have his need to placate socially conservative Republicans nationally for whom this is a litmus test issue,? while at the same time, ?not cause a rise in the state.?
As a result, she says, ?He really has kind of played both sides, not advocating an anti-gay position but not being the champion on gay rights that many people in New Jersey think their leader should be.?
?In response to that, Democrats, including Senate president and likely [gubernatorial] opponent [State Senator Barbara] Buono, have tried to capitalize on this issue ? by painting him into a corner and making him clarify his position to voters,? she adds.?
The hullabaloo began earlier this week when the New Jersey State Senate, led by Buono, a Democrat, passed a bill banning gay conversion therapy.
When asked whether he supports such a ban, the typically straight-talking governor waffled.
?I?m of two minds just on this stuff in general. No. 1, I think there should be lots of deference given to parents on raising their children,? Christie said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. ?I don?t ? this is a general philosophy, not to his bill ? generally, philosophically, on bills that restrict parents? ability to make decisions on how to care for their children, I?m generally a skeptic of those bills. Now there can always be exceptions to those rules, and this bill may be one of them."
From there, the issue ballooned. Media reports on the governor?s comments mushroomed, the Democratic Governors Association began a fundraising campaign to stop the ?right-wing reactionary,? and sensing an opportunity, Buono called Christie?s unwillingness to reject the practice ?disgusting.?
?The governor said he doesn?t know much about gay conversion therapy. I don?t know how much more you need to know,? she said on a conference call, according to the New Jersey Star-Ledger. ?I couldn?t believe the stunning level of ignorance that that statement showed,? she said, adding, ?It?s an outrageous practice that has no place in New Jersey.?
The governor?s office issued a statement Thursday clarifying that Christie does not believe in gay conversion therapy. ?There is no mistaking his point of view on this when you look at his own prior statements where he makes clear that people?s sexual orientation is determined at birth.?
By then, says Harrison, the damage was already done.
?All of the kind of things that accentuate Governor Christie?s position as socially conservative hurt him with that segment of voters ? voters for whom this is a salient issue,? she says.
The gay conversion controversy comes as the national climate on gay rights is undergoing a leftward shift. Earlier this week former Secretary of State and possible 2016 Democratic contender Hillary Clinton publicly voiced her support of same-sex marriage in a YouTube video. Last week Sen. Rob Portman (R) of Ohio also embraced gay marriage after revealing his son?s homosexuality.
The Supreme Court is preparing to take up the issue next week when it hears arguments on the Defense of Marriage Act, as well as California?s Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage, as public support for gay marriage appears to rise. A new ABC News/Washington Post poll finds 58 percent of Americans support gay marriage, up from 32 percent a decade ago.
As such, it was only a matter of time before the issue landed on the doorstep of the outspoken New Jersey governor.
To date, says Harrison, ?he has waffled on his position so that he can simultaneously placate his national and his New Jersey constituency.?
Though he opposes gay marriage, Christie favors civil unions and has said he would like to see a gay marriage referendum on the ballot in November to allow New Jersey voters to decide ?what?s right for the state.?
In an appearance on CNN?s Piers Morgan in 2011, he said he did not think homosexuality was a sin and believed some people are born gay.
New Jersey Democrats including Buono have used the gay conversion controversy to pressure Christie to clarify his position on gay marriage. It?s one of a number of issues on which the governor has had to make a tough choice, says Harrison.
?This year has put enormous pressure on the governor,? she says, citing difficult decisions he?s confronted on Medicare, funding for Planned Parenthood, accepting federal funding for state infrastructure projects, and now the gay rights controversy. ?He recognizes, and the party elite recognize, that he has to make his deal with the devil.?
Nonetheless, challenging as this situation may be, the governor has mastered the delicate dance of mollifying allies and constituents on both sides of the aisle.
?He?s not one that often succumbs to external pressure for him to define himself politically,? says Harrison. ?He?s very good at changing the story, criticizing others to deflect criticism from himself. I anticipate that?s what we?ll see.?
WHAT the hell has Coronation Street star Bill Roache been supping down The Rovers?
Roache is one of those oddballs who believed the Mayan prediction that the world would end last year. Now he probably wishes it had.
He doesn?t do many interviews, which is probably just as well.
Because his latest would be well advised to be his last.
The 80-year-old actor ? who has played bore-next-door fictional character Ken Barlow on Coronation Street for over half a century ? has gone on New Zealand TV to give his opinion on, of all things, child sex victims.
Although Roache ? a member of the Pure Love Movement ? was quick to condemn the perpetrators, he did appear to claim that the poor unfortunate victims had only themselves to blame.
He told Garth Bray on One News: ?If you know that you are pure love and therefore live that pure love, these things won?t happen to you.?
The interviewer was quick to round on Roache, asking: ?To some people, that sounds perhaps like you?re saying victims bring things on themselves. Is that what you?re saying??
The actor responded: ?Not quite, but then, yes I am, because everything that happens to us has been a result of what we have been in previous lives.?
Then followed an almost immediate, unreserved and fairly genuine apology.
Speaking on Sky News, Roache backtracked: ?I am very sorry for any offence that has been caused as a result of my comments.
?I would never say that victims of sexual offences are in any way responsible for the abuse they have suffered.?
Roache?s views on reincarnation are right up there with those of former England manager Glenn Hoddle, who once claimed that disabilities are a result of ?karma?.
It was Piers Morgan who bagged the exclusive that Roache has bedded a thousand women.
No one?s quite sure if he slept with these ladies during the course of his current lifetime or whether the conquests occurred throughout a previous one.
Roache can sleep with whom he likes but to insinuate that sexual abuse is metered out as some kind of retribution for past crimes is grossly insulting to all victims of sex abuse.
We live in a cruel world but saying that humans could be capable of acts so bad that they receive sexual abuse as punishment beggars belief.
This misguided old fool?s outrageous claptrap must reopen so many old wounds and greatly upset those who have already spent plenty of time asking ?why me??
There are no previous lives ? qualified by the fact that there are far more people alive today than have ever existed in history.
Bill Roache is a seasoned media professional and should know better so there?s really no excuse for his nonsense.
He has the right to air his airy-fairy spiritual beliefs but must be willing to accept the flak that will follow such crass comments.
His Coronation Street paymasters must surely now be worried that his personal views on child sex abuse have damaged the actor ? and his character ? beyond repair.
And let?s not forget ? there is only ever one person responsible for abuse and that is the abuser.
Mar. 21, 2013 ? Seventy-five percent of the world's population consumes nearly twice the daily recommended amount of sodium (salt), according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism and Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention 2013 Scientific Sessions.
Global sodium intake from commercially prepared food, table salt, salt and soy sauce added during cooking averaged nearly 4,000 mg a day in 2010.
The World Health Organization recommends limiting sodium to less than 2,000 mg a day and the American Heart Association recommends limiting sodium to less than 1,500 mg a day.
"This study is the first time that information about sodium intake by country, age and gender is available," said Saman Fahimi, M.D., M.Phil., lead author and a visiting scientist in the Harvard School of Public Health's epidemiology department in Boston, Mass. "We hope our findings will influence national governments to develop public health interventions to lower sodium."
Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in the world; excess sodium intake raises blood pressure. High blood pressure is one of the major contributors to the development of cardiovascular disease.
Among women and men, average sodium intake exceeded healthy levels in almost all countries, researchers said. Kazakhstan had the highest average intake at 6,000 mg per day, followed by Mauritius and Uzbekistan at just less than 6,000 mg per day.
Kenya and Malawi had the lowest average intake at about 2,000 mg per day. In the US, the average intake was about 3,600 mg a day.
One hundred eighty-one of 187 countries, representing 99 percent of the world's population, exceeded the World Health Organization's recommended sodium intake of less than 2,000 mg a day; and 119 countries, representing 88 percent of the world's population, exceeded this recommended intake by more than 1,000 mg a day. All countries except Kenya exceeded the American Heart Association recommended sodium intake of less than 1,500 mg a day.
The researchers analyzed 247 surveys of adult sodium intake to estimate sodium intake, stratified by age, gender, region and nation between 1990 and 2010 as part of the 2010 Global Burden of Diseases Study, which is an international collaborative study by 488 scientists from 303 institutions in 50 countries around the world. .
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An Iraq War veteran who joined the U.S. Army two days after 9/11 has written a powerful open letter to former President George W. Bush and ex-Vice President Dick Cheney accusing them of war crimes, "plunder" and "the murder of thousands of young Americans?my fellow veterans?whose future you stole."
Tomas Young, who was shot and paralyzed during an insurgent attack in Sadr City in 2004, five days into his first deployment, penned the letter from his Kansas City, Mo., home, where he's under hospice care.
"I write this letter, my last letter, to you, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney," Young wrote in the letter published on Truthdig.com. "I write not because I think you grasp the terrible human and moral consequences of your lies, manipulation and thirst for wealth and power. I write this letter because, before my own death, I want to make it clear that I, and hundreds of thousands of my fellow veterans, along with millions of my fellow citizens, along with hundreds of millions more in Iraq and the Middle East, know fully who you are and what you have done. You may evade justice but in our eyes you are each guilty of egregious war crimes, of plunder and, finally, of murder, including the murder of thousands of young Americans?my fellow veterans?whose future you stole."
The 33-year-old, who was the subject of Phil Donahue's 2007 documentary "Body of War," continued:
I joined the Army two days after the 9/11 attacks. I joined the Army because our country had been attacked. I wanted to strike back at those who had killed some 3,000 of my fellow citizens. I did not join the Army to go to Iraq, a country that had no part in the September 2001 attacks and did not pose a threat to its neighbors, much less to the United States. I did not join the Army to ?liberate? Iraqis or to shut down mythical weapons-of-mass-destruction facilities or to implant what you cynically called ?democracy? in Baghdad and the Middle East. I did not join the Army to rebuild Iraq, which at the time you told us could be paid for by Iraq?s oil revenues.
Young believes he was injured fighting the wrong war:
I would not be writing this letter if I had been wounded fighting in Afghanistan against those forces that carried out the attacks of 9/11. Had I been wounded there I would still be miserable because of my physical deterioration and imminent death, but I would at least have the comfort of knowing that my injuries were a consequence of my own decision to defend the country I love. I would not have to lie in my bed, my body filled with painkillers, my life ebbing away, and deal with the fact that hundreds of thousands of human beings, including children, including myself, were sacrificed by you for little more than the greed of oil companies, for your alliance with the oil sheiks in Saudi Arabia, and your insane visions of empire.
"When Tomas Young saw President Bush on television speaking from the ruins of the Twin Towers, his life changed," his bio on the "Body of War" website reads. "As his basic training began at Ft. Hood, he assumed that he would be shipped off to Afghanistan where the terrorist camps were based, routing out Al Qaeda and Taliban warriors. But soon, Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq."
In an interview with Truthdig.com, Young?who suffered an anoxic brain injury in 2008?said he had been contemplating "conventional" suicide, but decided to go on hospice care, "stop feeding and fade away."
He said, "This way, instead of committing the conventional suicide and I am out of the picture, people have a way to stop by or call and say their goodbyes," Young said. "I felt this was a fairer way to treat people than to just go out with a note."
Iraqi Christians attend Holy Trinity Church in London.
By Annabel Roberts, Correspondent, NBC News
LONDON -- Rana stepped out of church in Baghdad in December 2006 to find an envelope wedged against her car windshield. Inside was a bullet -- a message that meant she and her family were next on an assassin?s list.?
They fled the city the next day, leaving behind a business, a home?-- everything. ?
"I didn't like Saddam Hussein, but he didn't bother the Christians," said Rana, 29, after a church service in London. "He was a dictator. When he went, the gangs came from everywhere."
Andrew Testa / Panos Pictures for NBC News
Father Nizar Semaan gives Holy Communion at Holy Trinity church in the Brook Green area of London.
Rana isn?t alone: Bombings, kidnappings and generalized violence unleashed by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that toppled Hussein caused hundreds of thousands of Christians to flee their homeland.
While there is no centralized source of information on the number of Christians who have left Iraq, it is estimated that there were 2 million there in the 1990s. That number has fallen to between 200,000 to 500,000 today, according to church leaders.
Rana, who like others interviewed would not give her last name because of fear for the safety of relatives still in Iraq, is now part of a congregation that worships at Holy Trinity Brook Green, a Roman Catholic church in West London.
The congregants -- Syriac Catholics whose services are conducted in Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus -- are part of the estimated 2,500 Iraqi Christians thought to live in the U.K.?
In a pew near Rana sat Wasseem, a 26-year-old who arrived in the U.K. five months ago.?The murder of his friend Rariq haunts him, Wasseem said through a translator. Rariq, also a Christian, was a driver for American forces in Baghdad and was kidnapped on his way to meet Wasseem. Rariq?s dismembered body was returned to his family five days later.
Extremists have stepped up attacks on Iraqi Christians in recent months, threatening the ancient community's very existence. NBC News' Stephanie Gosk reports.
Wasseem received a handwritten death threat himself. Terrified, he decided to stay in his village in northern Iraq, he said. While safe, the predominantly Christian area offered no jobs, and he soon fled the country.
Extremists haven't targeted only individual Christians and their families. On Oct. 31, 2010, gunmen stormed Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad during Sunday Mass, taking more than a hundred hostages. When security forces tried to free those held, the attackers detonated explosives. At least 58 people were killed, including two priests.
Related video:?Baghdad church siege has bloody end ?
A singer at Holy Trinity Brook Green lost her father in the bombing. Rev. Nizar Semaan, chaplain to the Syriac Catholic ?community in the U.K., knew both of the murdered priests well.?
"They were very courageous people. It is not easy to do their job. And not easy to be a martyr," he said.?
Andrew Testa / Panos Pictures for NBC News
Iraqi children make up the choir at the London church.
Semaan?s support for Christians who have fled to the U.K. goes beyond the spiritual.?
"I try to help them find accommodation, I ask people to help in any way," he said. ?"I call people to help them find a job."
Semaan said that he and his fellow priests refused to contemplate the extinction of the Christian community in Iraq, despite its falling numbers.
"Christianity can flourish again. It will grow back as an important part of the region," he said.?
Warina, who also attends Mass at Holy Trinity, is more downbeat. Like many of her fellow?worshipers, she said life for Christians was better under Saddam Hussein.
"Our neighbors were Muslims. Our relations were friendly. We would visit them," said the dentist who fled Iraq in 2007. "Now it is just fighting. There are lots of churches and monasteries and places to worship in Baghdad -- but they are all empty."
This week marks the 10th anniversary of the start of the Iraq War. ITV's John Irvine in Baghdad assesses a country that, 10 years on, remains gripped by the violence of its sectarian divide.
"We love Iraq. It's our country, the origin of Christianity. But it is not safe," she added.
As Christians, Warina said, they are doubly vulnerable -- not only are they a minority, but they are perceived by some as having colluded with the invading American forces.
"After Saddam's death, people turned on Christians because they think the Christians encouraged the Americans to come to Iraq. Month after month, more and more are killed," she said.
Still, Semaan said he thinks a newly elected Pope Francis will act to support his threatened community.
"The pope will see the persecution and he will take care of us. He will not forget the church in the Middle East," Semaan said. "He is not a politician and he has no army, but he has good will and can encourage dialogue and maybe this can bring about a better situation."
Besides, Iraq needs its Christians, Semaan?added.
"The Middle East without Christians would be a country without light," he said. "The future would be very dark."?
In the ten years since guided bombs brought "shock and awe" to Baghdad, almost 4,500 troops and 130,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed and Saddam Hussein has been captured and executed in a mission that has cost nearly $2 trillion. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
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Did Iraq War accomplish what Bush vowed?
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St. Mary's guard Matthew Dellavedova scores against Middle Tennessee in the first half of a first-round game of the NCAA men's college basketball tournament, Tuesday, March 19, 2013, in Dayton, Ohio. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)
St. Mary's guard Matthew Dellavedova scores against Middle Tennessee in the first half of a first-round game of the NCAA men's college basketball tournament, Tuesday, March 19, 2013, in Dayton, Ohio. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)
Middle Tennessee forward JT Sulton (30) is pressured by St. Mary's forward Mitchell Young in the first half of a first-round game of the NCAA men's college basketball tournament, Tuesday, March 19, 2013, in Dayton, Ohio. (AP Photo/Skip Peterson)
Middle Tennessee coach Kermit Davis urges on his players in the first half of a first-round game of the NCAA men's college basketball tournament against St. Mary's, Tuesday, March 19, 2013, in Dayton, Ohio. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)
St. Mary's coach Randy Bennett talks to his bench in the first half of a first-round game of the NCAA men's college basketball tournament against Middle Tennessee, Tuesday, March 19, 2013, in Dayton, Ohio. (AP Photo/Skip Peterson)
Middle Tennessee forward Neiko Hunter fouls St. Mary's guard Stephen Holt (14) during the first half of a first-round game of the NCAA men's college basketball tournament, Tuesday, March 19, 2013, in Dayton, Ohio. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) ? Matthew Dellavedova scored 22 points on Tuesday night, and Saint Mary's got a good start on its second straight NCAA tournament appearance, beating Middle Tennessee 67-54 in the First Four.
The Gaels (28-6) make a quick trip to Auburn Hills, Mich., to play sixth-seeded Memphis on Thursday.
Saint Mary's is making back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances for the first time in its history. The Gaels reached the round of 16 in 2010 before losing to Baylor. Not so good last year, when they dropped their opening game to Purdue 72-69.
With four starters back and Dellavedova, the school's career scoring leader, handling the ball and making the biggest shots, the Gaels were too much for Middle Tennessee (28-6), which was making its first NCAA tournament appearance in 24 years.
Credit Dellavedova for making a difference, as he has all season. The point guard went 7 of 14 from the field, including 5 of 7 behind the arc, and had four assists and six rebounds.
Tweety Knight led Middle Tennessee with 16 points. The Blue Raiders went only 4 of 12 from behind the arc, hitting one fewer 3-pointer than Dellavedova.
With those four starters back, Saint Mary's is looking for one of its best finishes yet. The Gaels did pretty much what they wanted all season long, except for one thing: Beating rival Gonzaga. Saint Mary's lost only three times in its last 22 games, all three times to the Bulldogs.
Fortunately for the Gaels, they put a lot of space between themselves and the Zags this week. No. 1 Gonzaga snagged the top seed in the West Regional and is playing in Salt Lake City. The Gaels get to stay in the Midwest for a while.
Middle Tennessee counted it a breakthrough just to be playing in the First Four ? the Blue Raiders hadn't been there since 1989.
They won the Sun Belt's regular-season title and were expected to win the tournament and their league's automatic bid, but were upset in the semifinals, ending a 17-game winning streak. They had to sweat out a few days before finding out that the NCAA selection committee picked them over defending champion Kentucky and other basketball blue bloods for an at-large bid.
One main reason: Consistency, especially on the road. The Blue Raiders didn't lose two games in a row all season until their last two tournament games.
Dellavedova had made only one of his last 18 shots from behind the arc heading into the game, but found his mark early. He had a pair of 3s as well as a steal and a layup, helping Saint Mary's pull ahead 13-9. After his second 3-pointer fell, Middle Tennessee coach Kermit Davis called a timeout to get the Blue Raiders reset on defense.
Couldn't stop Dellavedova for long. He hit a floater in the lane, passed to Brad Waldow for a dunk, then drew a foul and made a pair of free throws during an 11-2 run that closed the first half and gave Saint Mary's a 29-20 lead.
The Blue Raiders repeatedly missed close-up shots and managed only two free throws in the final 6 minutes, shooting 32 percent from the field overall in the half.
Dellavedova showed he was comfortable in the big moments, pumping up teammates with a pat or fist bump and slicing into the lane and pulling the defense to him like a magnet. He was part of Australia's backcourt in the 2012 Olympics in London, and it showed.
Dellavedova hit a pair of long 3s for a 39-28 lead early in the second half. Middle Tennessee pushed the pace and got its first significant run of the game, a 7-0 spurt that cut it to 41-38 with 12:38 to go.
Dellavedova had a 2-minute break on the bench to rest, then came back and hit his fifth 3-pointer of the game, helping the Gaels pull ahead 54-42 with 6 minutes to go. Middle Tennessee never got closer than nine points the rest of the way.
___
Follow Joe Kay on Twitter: http://twitter.com/apjoekay
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? North Korea's nuclear test last month wasn't just a show of defiance and national pride; it also is advertising. The target audience, analysts say, is anyone in the world looking to buy nuclear material.
Though Pyongyang has threatened to launch nuclear strikes on the U.S., the most immediate threat posed by its nuclear technology may be North Korea's willingness to sell it to nations that Washington sees as sponsors of terrorism. The fear of such sales was highlighted this week, when Japan confirmed that cargo seized last year and believed to be from North Korea contained material that could be used to make nuclear centrifuges, which are crucial to enriching uranium into bomb fuel.
The dangerous message North Korea is sending, according to Graham Allison, a nuclear expert at the Harvard Kennedy School: "Nukes are for sale."
North Korea launched a long-range rocket in December, which the U.N. called a cover for a banned test of ballistic missile technology. On Feb. 12, it conducted its third underground nuclear test, which got Pyongyang new U.N. sanctions.
Outside nuclear specialists believe North Korea has enough nuclear material for several crude bombs, but they have yet to see proof that Pyongyang can build a warhead small enough to mount on a missile. The North, however, may be able to help other countries develop nuclear expertise right now, as it is believed to have done in the past.
"There's a growing technical capability and confidence to sell weapons and technology abroad, without fear of reprisal, and that lack of fear comes from (their) growing nuclear capabilities," Joel Wit, a former U.S. State Department official, said at a recent nuclear conference in Seoul.
Pyongyang says it needs nuclear weapons because of what it calls a hostile U.S. policy aimed at invading the North. An unidentified spokesman for North Korea's Foreign Ministry warned Wednesday of military strikes if the United States repeats recent test flights in South Korea of the nuclear-capable B-52 bomber.
The U.S., South Korea and others say North Korean brinksmanship meant to win aid and other concessions is the real motive. Even China, North Korea's most important ally, opposes its neighbor's nuclear ambitions.
North Korean nuclear sales earn the impoverished country money that can be pumped back into weapons development, analyst Shin Beomchul at the South Korean-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses in Seoul said Tuesday.
Its growing capabilities could make North Korea more attractive to buyers, especially if it is determined that highly enriched uranium was used in last month's test.
North Korean members of the Worker-Peasant Red Guards attend military training in this picture released by the North's official KCNA news agency in Pyongyang March 13, 2013. North Korea said on March ... more? North Korean members of the Worker-Peasant Red Guards attend military training in this picture released by the North's official KCNA news agency in Pyongyang March 13, 2013. North Korea said on March 5, 2013 that it will scrap the armistice signed in 1953 that ended a three-year war with South Korea if the South and the United States continue with two-month long annual military drills. REUTERS/KCNA (NORTH KOREA - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. QUALITY FROM SOURCE. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. NOT FOR USE BY REUTERS THIRD PARTY DISTRIBUTORS less? Proliferation worries have ramped up since late 2010, when North Korea unveiled a long-suspected uranium enrichment operation. North Korea's first two nuclear tests, in 2006 and 2009, were suspected to be fueled by its limited plutonium stockpile. A crude uranium bomb is easier to produce than one made with plutonium, and uranium production is easier to conceal.
Little is known about North Korea's uranium program, but Washington and others are keenly interested in whether it is producing highly enriched uranium for bombs and whether uranium was used in the third test ? two things suspected, but not yet confirmed, by outsiders.
A nuclear test using highly enriched uranium "would announce to the world ? including potential buyers ? that North Korea is now operating a new, undiscovered production line for weapons-usable material," Allison, the Harvard nuclear specialist, wrote in a New York Times op-ed after the North's test.
U.S. officials have hinted that retaliation would follow should Washington discover North Korean cooperation behind any atomic attack on an American city or U.S. ally.
Pyongyang's nuclear transfers and any use of weapons of mass destruction "would be considered a grave threat to the United States and our allies, and we will hold North Korea fully accountable for the consequences," President Barack Obama's national security adviser, Tom Donilon, said last week.
U.S. officials have long tracked North Korean dealings in nuclear and weapons technology. Sanctions have cut down on missile sales, but Iran and Syria, two countries seen by Washington as rogue actors, may continue to be customers.
In November, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization proposed observing North Korea's nuclear test, the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported, citing an unidentified Western diplomatic source privy to Pyongyang-Tehran ties.
North Korea is believed to have helped Syria build what senior U.S. intelligence officials called a secret nuclear reactor meant to produce plutonium. In 2007, Israeli jets bombed the structure in a remote Syrian desert.
Japan's government said Monday that it has determined that a shipment believed to have originated in North Korea violated U.N. sanctions because it contained material that could be used to make nuclear centrifuges.
The shipment of an aluminum alloy was seized from a Singaporean-flagged ship transiting Tokyo last August. The ship was reportedly bound for Myanmar from the Chinese port of Dalian, although Japanese government officials didn't confirm Myanmar as the destination.
Japan's chief government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, said officials searched the ship because they believed it carried North Korean cargo. News reports said the United States tipped off Japan. Suga said officials had determined in subsequent analyses that the rods were made of an alloy that suggests they were intended for use in a nuclear centrifuge.
Suga said the seizure was the first to be conducted under a law Japan passed in 2010 to clamp down on the movement of materials that could be used for nuclear weapons development being brought into, or exported from, North Korea.
The murkiness of the clandestine nuclear trade is a major worry. It's difficult to know how a buyer would use atomic material or know-how, or where material could end up after being sold.
"The terrorist threat of an improvised nuclear device delivered anonymously and unconventionally by a boat or a truck across our long and unprotected borders is one against which we have no certain deterrent or defensive response," Robert Gallucci, a former senior U.S. diplomat who negotiated a U.S.-North Korea nuclear deal used to defuse a nuclear crisis in the 1990s, said late last month in Seoul.
"For Americans, this threat is far greater than the unlikely threat that may someday be posed by North Korean nuclear weapons delivered by a ballistic missile," he said.
___
Associated Press writers Eric Talmadge in Tokyo and Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul contributed to this report. Follow Foster Klug on Twitter at twitter.com/APKlug
Accounting as a subject is defined as the production of information regarding an organization. The information is then passed to those people who require it. This form of communication generally takes place in the form of financial statements. The accountancy principles are used in the following divisions
? ? Accounting
? ? Book keeping
? ? Auditing
Accountancy has been defined by American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) in the following manner.
?It is the technique of recording, classifying and summarizing in an effective manner and in terms of manner?. Accounting as a discipline is thousands of years old. It was first used in Mesopotamia. It was dated back more than 7000 years old. During that period, people use to depend on primitive accounting methods to maintain the records of the growth of herds and crops. The term accountant is derived from French word ?Compter?. Later, it evolved as a discipline and improved itself as a business method. In modern days, accounting is also known as the ?language of business?. Here question may come up why accounting is considered as language of business. This is mainly due to the fact that accounting is considered as the vehicle for informing different groups of people about financial reporting about a business organization.? Two important aspect of accounting is management accounting and financial accounting. Accounting dealing with informing people inside business organization is known as management accounting.
It actually takes operation decision. Accounting which provides information to people outside business organization is called financial accounting. It provides information to shareholders, proprietors, bank, financial agencies, economists and governmental agencies.
Accounting as a discipline has gained its importance due to its application in every field of life. Mainly to run a business successfully one need to understand the business of language. By business of language we mean accounting. People are keen on taking up accounting as a subject for their higher studies. Especially for those, who wants to run their own business is taking up accounting. Accounting, no doubt is a very interesting subject. Here gaining good grades is also not too difficult. It is a very scoring subject. But unfortunately student often face problem in dealing with accounting problem. It is due to their lack of understanding of the basics of subject. They look for detailed and systematic knowledge of business accounting. They remain worried about their accounting problem. However, to help them out online homework help is available. Different websites are helping them out.
We also provide online homework help in accounting. We have team of experts who help the student in their accounting homework. They also provide student about the details of solutions provided by them. Moreover, they try to keep the projects as simple as possible so that students can understand without any difficulty. Our team is dedicated to bring out the best. Moreover, you can approach to us at any point of time. Our tutors don?t sleep. They are ready to serve you for 24*7 hours. We offer our services at ban affordable rate. Henceforth, whenever you will have a problem in accounting just come to us we are there at your service.
Contact: Nick Seaver nseaver@burnesscommunications.com 301-280-5727 Burness Communications
Diana H. Wall, Ph.D., recognized for her work on the important role of soil biodiversity in climate change, ecosystems and human life; Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement celebrates its 40th anniversary
Los Angeles, CA (March 17, 2013) The Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement today named Diana H. Wall, PhD, of Colorado State University the recipient of the 2013 Tyler Prize for her research documenting and exploring the complex and fragile soil ecosystem. Her research extending from more than 20 years in Antarctica's deserts, to the plains of Kansas and New York City's Central Park has explored the dynamics of species like nematodes, small worm-like organisms, living in the soil and their impact on life above ground. Wall's work in the Antarctic continues to demonstrate the critical links between climate change and soil.
Wall's research has shown that changes in climate can fundamentally alter the ecology of soil life. This, in turn, changes the way that soil is able to transfer and store carbon from sources such as plant roots and decaying organic matter. When soil holds more organic carbon, less carbon dioxide, a driver of climate change is released into the atmosphere. This cycle of plant uptake and breakdown of carbon impacts the rate of climate change.
"I hope winning the Tyler Prize helps bring awareness that soil is more than dirt that feeds our crops, it also plays a major role in storing carbon globally," said Wall, a University Distinguished Professor, Professor of Biology, and Director of the School of Global Environmental Sustainability. "We've learned that there is an astonishing amount of life hidden underground that is critical to sustaining our planet. It is an amazing honor to receive this prestigious award and have the research results generated by my lab, students and collaborators, recognized in this way."
Since its inception 40 years ago as one of the world's first international environmental awards, the Tyler Prize has been the premier award for environmental science, environmental health and energy.
"Just as we came to understand the importance of preserving our oceans and air, Diana Wall has helped move the global community to recognize the incredible importance of the biodiversity of our soil," said Tyler Prize Executive Committee Chair Owen T. Lind, Professor of Biology at Baylor University. "Her work shows us the delicate balance that exists under our feet and the impact climate change will have on soil and our quality of life."
As the winner of the Tyler Prize, Wall will receive a $200,000 cash prize and a gold medal. The Prize, awarded by the international Tyler Prize Executive Committee with the administrative support of the University of Southern California, honors exceptional foresight and dedication in the environmental sciences qualities that mirror the prescience of the Prize's founders, John and Alice Tyler, who established it while the environmental debate was still in its infancy.
Previous laureates include Edward O. Wilson, recognized for his early work on the theory of island biogeography; Jane Goodall, selected for her seminal studies on the behavior and ecology of chimpanzees and her impact on wildlife awareness and environmental conservation; Jared Diamond, a renowned author who gave birth to the discipline of conservation biology; and Thomas Lovejoy, a central figure in alerting the world to the critical problem of dwindling tropical forests. A full list of past winners is available at http://tylerprize.usc.edu/pastlaureates.html.
Governments Turn Their Attention to Soil
Wall's research places her at the center of policy efforts to protect soil and address climate change. Efforts in the European Union and the United States, along with other regions, to protect soil in the face of urbanization have been largely informed by the work of Wall and her colleagues. Governments and international organizations increasingly see soil as a frontline of climate change, in addition to being central to sustainable agriculture. Degradation of soil and land is playing an increasingly large role in discussions at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.
"We know that we've got extensive soil problems globally," said Wall. "From the increasing spread of deserts, to decreasing soil fertility, to more frequent and severe droughts, we have things happening to land that affect the species that live in soil and the ability of that soil to help sustain plant life, purify water and store carbon."
"Soil ecology and its essential biodiversity is just now beginning to get the level of attention that the oceans, rivers, lakes and wetlands receive when it comes to protecting our environment," said Wall. "This is the new frontier of climate change and environmental preservation."
Analyzing Soil: From Antarctica to Central Park
Wall's career started in horse country Kentucky where she worked a summer analyzing parasites infecting horses. After an offer to study soil nematodes, Wall moved into the study of plant pathology. From there, her research took her south to the Dry Valleys of Antarctica. It was here that she was first able to study all the animal species living in soil and their relationships in a less complex ecosystem.
"I can see two to three animal species in the soils of Antarctica and 250 in a handful of soil elsewhere," said Wall. "By working in an isolated and extreme environment like Antarctica, without people and plants, we can study what happens when we make very specific changes to moisture or temperature to better understand soil ecology and the importance of individual species."
Lessons learned over more than 20 years in cold deserts like the Dry Valley have been applied to the hot, dry climates of deserts like the Sahara.
Today, Wall's work now spans the globe to include projects in Africa, the grasslands of Kansas, and, most recently, New York City's Central Park.
Working with colleagues around the world, Wall plans for the first time to map the biodiversity in soils and relate it to above-ground diversity to examine what connections exist.
"We assume that if we're in the Amazon and we have great biodiversity above ground, we're going to have great biodiversity below-ground. But that isn't necessarily so," explained Wall. "This will help us to identify the hotspots of biological diversity so we can be savvy about agriculture, development and habitat restoration."
Changing Soil and Changing Climate
Wall's work has shown that slight changes to temperature or moisture of soil can have dramatic impacts on relationships between species in soil even to the point of altering which bacteria or invertebrates dominate soil ecosystems. These shifts, she explains, have far-reaching reverberations in all climates.
"The soil of the prairies of Kansas, for example, will be fundamentally altered by climate change and that will most likely mean that different types of plants will grow there," said Wall. "In turn, these new types of plants will further change life in soil. This process isn't limited to Kansas; it will happen everywhere."
Changes in the community of organisms living in soil also affect how carbon is transferred and stored in the environment. Invertebrates and bacteria are responsible for processing and collecting carbon from the environment from sources like dead leaves and plant roots and making nutrients available for plants. Soil stores more carbon than the air and trees combined, but when the balance of invertebrates and bacteria in soil is altered, the ability to store carbon is disrupted.
"Climate change drives soil change and soil change drives climate change," explained Wall. "These issues are deeply intertwined and research must look at climate and soil biodiversity together."
###
Lecture and Award Ceremony
On Wednesday, April 17, at 1:30pm, Wall will deliver a public lecture on her work at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. This lecture will be open to the public.
And in a private ceremony, on Wednesday, April 17, at 7 p.m., the Tyler Prize Executive Committee and the international environmental community will honor Wall at a banquet and ceremony at The Willard InterContinental in Washington, DC.
About the Tyler Prize
The Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement is one of the first international premier awards for environmental science, environmental health and energy.
It was established by the late John and Alice Tyler in 1973 and has been awarded annually to sixty-one individuals and four organizations associated with world-class environmental accomplishments. Recipients encompass the spectrum of environmental concerns including environmental policy, health, air and water pollution, ecosystem disruption and loss of biodiversity, and energy resources.
For more information on the Tyler Prize and its recipients, go to: http://www.tylerprize.usc.edu/laureates.html
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: Nick Seaver nseaver@burnesscommunications.com 301-280-5727 Burness Communications
Diana H. Wall, Ph.D., recognized for her work on the important role of soil biodiversity in climate change, ecosystems and human life; Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement celebrates its 40th anniversary
Los Angeles, CA (March 17, 2013) The Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement today named Diana H. Wall, PhD, of Colorado State University the recipient of the 2013 Tyler Prize for her research documenting and exploring the complex and fragile soil ecosystem. Her research extending from more than 20 years in Antarctica's deserts, to the plains of Kansas and New York City's Central Park has explored the dynamics of species like nematodes, small worm-like organisms, living in the soil and their impact on life above ground. Wall's work in the Antarctic continues to demonstrate the critical links between climate change and soil.
Wall's research has shown that changes in climate can fundamentally alter the ecology of soil life. This, in turn, changes the way that soil is able to transfer and store carbon from sources such as plant roots and decaying organic matter. When soil holds more organic carbon, less carbon dioxide, a driver of climate change is released into the atmosphere. This cycle of plant uptake and breakdown of carbon impacts the rate of climate change.
"I hope winning the Tyler Prize helps bring awareness that soil is more than dirt that feeds our crops, it also plays a major role in storing carbon globally," said Wall, a University Distinguished Professor, Professor of Biology, and Director of the School of Global Environmental Sustainability. "We've learned that there is an astonishing amount of life hidden underground that is critical to sustaining our planet. It is an amazing honor to receive this prestigious award and have the research results generated by my lab, students and collaborators, recognized in this way."
Since its inception 40 years ago as one of the world's first international environmental awards, the Tyler Prize has been the premier award for environmental science, environmental health and energy.
"Just as we came to understand the importance of preserving our oceans and air, Diana Wall has helped move the global community to recognize the incredible importance of the biodiversity of our soil," said Tyler Prize Executive Committee Chair Owen T. Lind, Professor of Biology at Baylor University. "Her work shows us the delicate balance that exists under our feet and the impact climate change will have on soil and our quality of life."
As the winner of the Tyler Prize, Wall will receive a $200,000 cash prize and a gold medal. The Prize, awarded by the international Tyler Prize Executive Committee with the administrative support of the University of Southern California, honors exceptional foresight and dedication in the environmental sciences qualities that mirror the prescience of the Prize's founders, John and Alice Tyler, who established it while the environmental debate was still in its infancy.
Previous laureates include Edward O. Wilson, recognized for his early work on the theory of island biogeography; Jane Goodall, selected for her seminal studies on the behavior and ecology of chimpanzees and her impact on wildlife awareness and environmental conservation; Jared Diamond, a renowned author who gave birth to the discipline of conservation biology; and Thomas Lovejoy, a central figure in alerting the world to the critical problem of dwindling tropical forests. A full list of past winners is available at http://tylerprize.usc.edu/pastlaureates.html.
Governments Turn Their Attention to Soil
Wall's research places her at the center of policy efforts to protect soil and address climate change. Efforts in the European Union and the United States, along with other regions, to protect soil in the face of urbanization have been largely informed by the work of Wall and her colleagues. Governments and international organizations increasingly see soil as a frontline of climate change, in addition to being central to sustainable agriculture. Degradation of soil and land is playing an increasingly large role in discussions at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.
"We know that we've got extensive soil problems globally," said Wall. "From the increasing spread of deserts, to decreasing soil fertility, to more frequent and severe droughts, we have things happening to land that affect the species that live in soil and the ability of that soil to help sustain plant life, purify water and store carbon."
"Soil ecology and its essential biodiversity is just now beginning to get the level of attention that the oceans, rivers, lakes and wetlands receive when it comes to protecting our environment," said Wall. "This is the new frontier of climate change and environmental preservation."
Analyzing Soil: From Antarctica to Central Park
Wall's career started in horse country Kentucky where she worked a summer analyzing parasites infecting horses. After an offer to study soil nematodes, Wall moved into the study of plant pathology. From there, her research took her south to the Dry Valleys of Antarctica. It was here that she was first able to study all the animal species living in soil and their relationships in a less complex ecosystem.
"I can see two to three animal species in the soils of Antarctica and 250 in a handful of soil elsewhere," said Wall. "By working in an isolated and extreme environment like Antarctica, without people and plants, we can study what happens when we make very specific changes to moisture or temperature to better understand soil ecology and the importance of individual species."
Lessons learned over more than 20 years in cold deserts like the Dry Valley have been applied to the hot, dry climates of deserts like the Sahara.
Today, Wall's work now spans the globe to include projects in Africa, the grasslands of Kansas, and, most recently, New York City's Central Park.
Working with colleagues around the world, Wall plans for the first time to map the biodiversity in soils and relate it to above-ground diversity to examine what connections exist.
"We assume that if we're in the Amazon and we have great biodiversity above ground, we're going to have great biodiversity below-ground. But that isn't necessarily so," explained Wall. "This will help us to identify the hotspots of biological diversity so we can be savvy about agriculture, development and habitat restoration."
Changing Soil and Changing Climate
Wall's work has shown that slight changes to temperature or moisture of soil can have dramatic impacts on relationships between species in soil even to the point of altering which bacteria or invertebrates dominate soil ecosystems. These shifts, she explains, have far-reaching reverberations in all climates.
"The soil of the prairies of Kansas, for example, will be fundamentally altered by climate change and that will most likely mean that different types of plants will grow there," said Wall. "In turn, these new types of plants will further change life in soil. This process isn't limited to Kansas; it will happen everywhere."
Changes in the community of organisms living in soil also affect how carbon is transferred and stored in the environment. Invertebrates and bacteria are responsible for processing and collecting carbon from the environment from sources like dead leaves and plant roots and making nutrients available for plants. Soil stores more carbon than the air and trees combined, but when the balance of invertebrates and bacteria in soil is altered, the ability to store carbon is disrupted.
"Climate change drives soil change and soil change drives climate change," explained Wall. "These issues are deeply intertwined and research must look at climate and soil biodiversity together."
###
Lecture and Award Ceremony
On Wednesday, April 17, at 1:30pm, Wall will deliver a public lecture on her work at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. This lecture will be open to the public.
And in a private ceremony, on Wednesday, April 17, at 7 p.m., the Tyler Prize Executive Committee and the international environmental community will honor Wall at a banquet and ceremony at The Willard InterContinental in Washington, DC.
About the Tyler Prize
The Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement is one of the first international premier awards for environmental science, environmental health and energy.
It was established by the late John and Alice Tyler in 1973 and has been awarded annually to sixty-one individuals and four organizations associated with world-class environmental accomplishments. Recipients encompass the spectrum of environmental concerns including environmental policy, health, air and water pollution, ecosystem disruption and loss of biodiversity, and energy resources.
For more information on the Tyler Prize and its recipients, go to: http://www.tylerprize.usc.edu/laureates.html
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
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Public release date: 17-Mar-2013
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