Saudi warns citizens against travel to Lebanon

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/saudi-warns-citizens-against-travel-lebanon-115325924.html

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Climate adaptation may be a family affair

Newborn reef fish can cope with changed water conditions if their parents have already adjusted

Web edition : 8:51 pm

A newfound ability of reef fish to adapt to shifting conditions over the course of two generations indicates they might be less vulnerable to climate change than previous research has suggested.

In a new study, young anemonefish (Amphiprion melanopus) exposed to elevated carbon dioxide levels and warmer water grew slowly, needed extra energy to perform normal bodily functions and died at higher rates. But they showed no adverse impacts if their parents had lived under the same conditions prior to breeding.

Recent research shows that young fish are particularly vulnerable to the decreases in water pH that are expected to occur over the next century as elevated CO₂ levels change the chemistry of the oceans (SN Online: 12/13/11). Zoologist Gabrielle Miller and her colleagues at James Cook University in Townsend, Australia, wanted to know what might happen if parents as well as hatchlings were exposed to such conditions.

The researchers exposed prebreeding adults to an environment representative of the Great Barrier Reef today or to water similar to what?s projected to develop in the oceans over the next 50 to 100 years: temperatures 1.5 to 3 degrees Celsius warmer and somewhat lower pH. After at least two months the adults were allowed to breed.

??We thought there might be some cost to the parents from this high CO₂,? says marine ecologist Philip Munday. The changed conditions might have sapped the parents? energy or triggered stress reactions that led to smaller, less hardy babies. But 31 days after hatching, young anemonefish growing up under the experiment?s most extreme temperature and pH exhibited comparable in weight, length and survival to those raised in present-day conditions.

That outcome suggests ?parents can precondition their offspring for the environment they?ll be born into,? says Hannes Baumann, a fish ecologist at Stony Brook University in New York who was not involved in the work. This idea, known as transgenerational plasticity, is ?a type of adaptation without genetic change,? Baumann explains, ?and has researchers all over the place scratching their heads.?

Hatchlings from all treatments emerged at about the same size and robustness, an observation that argues against the parental advantage reflecting some egg-nurturing effect, Miller?s team reports July 1 in Nature Climate Change.

Instead, the researchers say, it appears the parental benefit might be due to epigenetics ? chemical alterations to portions of DNA that control gene activity. Pollution and other environmental factors can essentially introduce new on-off switches to affected genes. And emerging evidence, Munday notes, indicates that such epigenetic changes ?can carry over between generations.? But he concedes his team currently lacks proof that epigenetics underlies the CO₂ accommodation.

Even if most reef fish can show climate accommodation, they ?will still face serious problems as their habitat changes, such as from a loss of corals,? Munday cautions. This could jeopardize their access to both food and shelter.

?I think it?s great that folks who are studying ocean acidification are thinking about transgenerational plasticity and epigenetics,? says evolutionary biologist Stephan Munch with the National Marine Fisheries Service in Santa Cruz, Calif.

But the data on hatchlings? accommodation to climate ?is not unambiguously transgenerational,? he says. Fertilized eggs spent at least a week developing in their parents? environment. Any accommodation, epigenetic or otherwise, might reflect direct effects of that environment on the young, he says ? independent of their parents.

Found in: Ecology, Environment and Life

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/341931/title/Climate_adaptation_may_be_a_family_affair

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Soyuz spacecraft lands safely in Kazakhstan

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/soyuz-spacecraft-lands-safely-kazakhstan-084727840.html

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Asian stocks inch higher on Europe optimism

SINGAPORE (AP) ? Asian stock markets inched higher Monday amid continued optimism over Europe's moves to ease its debt crisis and economic malaise.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 0.2 percent to 9,020.93 and South Korea's Kospi gained 0.2 percent to 1,857.26. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index added 1.1 percent to 4,140. China's Shanghai Composite index shed 0.3 percent to 2,218.14.

Markets in Hong Kong were closed Monday to commemorate the hand-over of the territory to China in 1997.

Leaders of the 27 European Union countries said after a meeting Friday that they would seek to centralize regulation of European banks and, if necessary, bail them out directly, instead of funneling loans through governments that already have too much debt.

The EU said it also plans to ease borrowing costs for Italy and Spain, the euro region's third- and fourth-largest economies, stop mandating painful budget cuts to every country in need of emergency financial aid and tie their budgets, currency and governments more tightly.

Investors will be closely watching as EU finance ministers hash out the details of these plans over the next two weeks.

Some analysts expect the European Central Bank and the Bank of England to cut lending rates this week in a bid to spur economic growth.

"We look this week for renewed easing by the ECB and BoE in an environment of very soft business confidence," Barclays said in a report. "The primary factor behind weak global confidence is weakness in EU demand."

Trading volume in the U.S. will likely be light this week amid the Independence Day holiday on Wednesday.

Global stock and commodity markets soared Friday amid EU optimism. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 2.2 percent at 12,880.09. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 2.5 percent to 1,362.16. The Nasdaq composite average jumped 3 percent to 2,935.05.

Benchmark oil for August delivery was down $1.26 to $83.70 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract soared $7.27 to close at $84.96 in New York on Friday.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.2632 from $1.2646 Friday in New York. The dollar rose to 79.85 yen from 79.82 yen.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-07-01-World%20Markets/id-df3859840af84b4c9b2faa947a0f425f

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RPG Aeon Avenger (for Android)

RPG Aeon Avenger ($3.99) is a pretty good Japanese-style adventure game for Android phones and tablets. While the combat mechanics can get a bit dull, and character advancement is entirely through weapon configuration, the zippy, propulsive plot makes up for a lot.

Aeon Avenger is the tale of a young man who saw his family killed by a black-clad baddie, and the time-traveling priestess he's bringing along for the ride. Other characters join or leave the party at various times as the plot demands, and the story takes place in several dozen locations over three different time periods.

Controls here are a simple virtual D-pad and an action button. A menu bar pops up at the top of the screen during battles. You can tap menu item or enemies directly, or use the D-pad to select them; the D-pad works better on smaller phone screens because some of the interface elements are pretty small.

There's one location scale for the little anime sprites, along with a battle view that shows larger monster images. Rather than walking a world map, you teleport among locations that open up on a static map, like on many console-style games.

Character advancement is a little disappointing. While characters do level up from experience, most skills are acquired through adding magic "bits" to weapons. The bits can be swapped in and out, and different weapons are more useful against different enemies, making equipment management absolutely critical. This feels a lot less personal than a traditional class or skill-based advancement systems. The result is that you get much less attached to the characters.

That said, all the classic gaming elements are here: a plot you want to get to the bottom of, plenty of NPCs to talk to, treasure chests with the next cool magic item, and just enough challenge to keep you occupied. RPG Aeon Avenger isn't a masterpiece like our Editors' Choice Symphony of Eternity ($2.99, 4 stars), but it's definitely worth the four dollars.

For more Android App Reviews, see:

??? Google Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean"
??? Symphony of Eternity (for Android)
??? RPG Grinsia (for Android)
??? RPG Aeon Avenger (for Android)
??? Chrome (for Android)
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/WZg1T6wY5qw/0,2817,2406392,00.asp

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Ants farm root aphid clones in subterranean rooms

Public release date: 1-Jul-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Hilary Glover
hilary.glover@biomedcentral.com
44-203-192-2370
BioMed Central

The yellow meadow ant, Lasius flavus, farms root aphids for sugar (honeydew) and nitrogen (protein). In turn these species of aphids have developed distinctive traits never found in free living species such as the 'trophobiotic organ' to hold honey dew for the ants. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology shows that over half of ant mounds contained only one of the three most common species of aphid, and two thirds of these has a single aphid clone. Even in mounds which contained more than one species of aphid 95% of the aphid chambers contained individuals of a single clone.

Aphid farming by ants is considered to be mutualistic. The ants cultivate and protect the aphids which in turn provide food for the ants. In farming mutualism, monocultures may reduce competition and are perhaps the result of husbandry (caused by the ants selecting the best aphids for their needs).

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen, University of Groningen and Rockefeller University used DNA microsatellite analysis to look at the genetic similarity of the three most common species of root aphids (Geoica utricularia, Tetraneura ulmi, and Forda marginata) within L. flavus nests, soil samples within nests, and single aphid chambers.

Results indicated that while there was considerable aphid diversity within the 7 km test site at all sampling levels (ant mound, soil sample and chamber), monocultures occurred more frequently than expected. 52% of mounds and 99% of aphid chambers contained a single species and 60% of these contained a single clone. When multiple species or clones existed in the same mound they were kept separated.

Aniek Ivens, who led this research, explained, "Although two years later most ant mounds seemed to contain the same clones, two mounds had gained new clones of their species. It is possible that either these aphids have been brought in or that they were previously at a very low level in the mound and missed during an earlier survey."

The combination of underground nesting, aphid clones, and very low gene flow between aphid populations has allowed L. flavus to evolve an unusual form of symbiosis. Miss Ivens continued, "In a parallel with human farming methods this most likely gives colonies the possibility to actively manage the diversity and abundance of their livestock - allowing maximal honeydew yield from mature aphids that are kept under optimal conditions of phloem feeding and ant care. Ants also secure dietary protein by eating the excess of young aphids, and replacement of their honeydew-producing livestock when adult aphids become less productive."

###

Notes to editors

1. Ants farm subterranean aphids mostly in clone groups: an example of prudent husbandry for carbohydrates and proteins?
Aniek BF Ivens, Daniel JC Kronauer, Ido Pen, Franz J Weissing and Jacobus J Boomsma
BMC Evolutionary Biology (in press)

Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central's open access policy.

Article citation and URL available on request at press@biomedcentral.com on the day of publication.

2. BMC Evolutionary Biology is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on all aspects of molecular and non-molecular evolution of all organisms, as well as phylogenetics and palaeontology.

3. BioMed Central is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

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

Public release date: 1-Jul-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Hilary Glover
hilary.glover@biomedcentral.com
44-203-192-2370
BioMed Central

The yellow meadow ant, Lasius flavus, farms root aphids for sugar (honeydew) and nitrogen (protein). In turn these species of aphids have developed distinctive traits never found in free living species such as the 'trophobiotic organ' to hold honey dew for the ants. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology shows that over half of ant mounds contained only one of the three most common species of aphid, and two thirds of these has a single aphid clone. Even in mounds which contained more than one species of aphid 95% of the aphid chambers contained individuals of a single clone.

Aphid farming by ants is considered to be mutualistic. The ants cultivate and protect the aphids which in turn provide food for the ants. In farming mutualism, monocultures may reduce competition and are perhaps the result of husbandry (caused by the ants selecting the best aphids for their needs).

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen, University of Groningen and Rockefeller University used DNA microsatellite analysis to look at the genetic similarity of the three most common species of root aphids (Geoica utricularia, Tetraneura ulmi, and Forda marginata) within L. flavus nests, soil samples within nests, and single aphid chambers.

Results indicated that while there was considerable aphid diversity within the 7 km test site at all sampling levels (ant mound, soil sample and chamber), monocultures occurred more frequently than expected. 52% of mounds and 99% of aphid chambers contained a single species and 60% of these contained a single clone. When multiple species or clones existed in the same mound they were kept separated.

Aniek Ivens, who led this research, explained, "Although two years later most ant mounds seemed to contain the same clones, two mounds had gained new clones of their species. It is possible that either these aphids have been brought in or that they were previously at a very low level in the mound and missed during an earlier survey."

The combination of underground nesting, aphid clones, and very low gene flow between aphid populations has allowed L. flavus to evolve an unusual form of symbiosis. Miss Ivens continued, "In a parallel with human farming methods this most likely gives colonies the possibility to actively manage the diversity and abundance of their livestock - allowing maximal honeydew yield from mature aphids that are kept under optimal conditions of phloem feeding and ant care. Ants also secure dietary protein by eating the excess of young aphids, and replacement of their honeydew-producing livestock when adult aphids become less productive."

###

Notes to editors

1. Ants farm subterranean aphids mostly in clone groups: an example of prudent husbandry for carbohydrates and proteins?
Aniek BF Ivens, Daniel JC Kronauer, Ido Pen, Franz J Weissing and Jacobus J Boomsma
BMC Evolutionary Biology (in press)

Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central's open access policy.

Article citation and URL available on request at press@biomedcentral.com on the day of publication.

2. BMC Evolutionary Biology is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on all aspects of molecular and non-molecular evolution of all organisms, as well as phylogenetics and palaeontology.

3. BioMed Central is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

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

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-07/bc-afr062912.php

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Leap second: Earth's slowing rotation makes Saturday one second longer (+video)

Leap second: International timekeepers are adding an extra second to the official time to ensure that our clocks will keep pace with the Earth's rotation.

By Chris Wickham,?Reuters / June 29, 2012

This Jan 2012 composite image provided by NASA shows the Earth taken from the The Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite instrument aboard NASA's Suomi NPP satellite. International timekeepers are adding a second to the clock at midnight universal time Saturday.

NASA/AP/File

Enlarge

The world is about to get a well-earned long weekend but don't make big plans because it will only last an extra second.

Skip to next paragraph

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
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'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "off"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // --> There's a leap second scheduled for June, and this one little second has sparked a big discussion over how humanity keeps time.

A so-called 'leap second' will be added to the world's atomic clocks as they undergo a rare adjustment to keep them in step with the slowing rotation of the earth.

To achieve the adjustment, on Saturday night atomic clocks will read 23 hours, 59 minutes and 60 seconds before moving on to midnight Greenwich Mean Time.

Super-accurate atomic clocks are the ultimate reference point by which the world sets its wrist watches.

But their precise regularity - which is much more constant than the shifting movement of the earth around the sun that marks out our days and nights - brings problems of its own.

If no adjustments were made, the clocks would move further ahead and after many years the sun would set at midday. Leap seconds perform a similar function to the extra day in each leap year which keeps the calendar in sync with the seasons.

The grandly named International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) based in Paris, is responsible for keeping track of the gap between atomic and planetary time and issuing international edicts on the addition of leap seconds.

"We want to have both times close together and it's not possible to adjust the earth's rotation," Daniel Gambis, head of the Earth Orientation Centre of the IERS, told Reuters.

Gambis said the turning of the earth and its movement around the sun are far from constant.

In recent years a leap second has been added every few years, slightly more infrequent than in the 1970s despite the long-term slowdown in the earth's rotation caused by tides, earthquakes and a host of other natural phenomena.

Adjustments to atomic clocks are more than a technical curiosity.

A collection of the highly-accurate devices are used to set Coordinated Universal Time which governs time standards on the world wide web, satellite navigation, banking computer networks and international air traffic systems.

There have been calls to abandon leap seconds but a meeting of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the U.N. agency responsible for international communications standards, failed to reach a consensus in January.

"They decided not to decide anything," says Gambis, adding that another attempt will be made in 2015.

Opponents of the leap second want a simpler system that avoids the costs and margin for error in making manual changes to thousands of computer networks. Supporters argue it needs to stay to preserve the precision of systems in areas like navigation.

Britain's Royal Astronomical Society says the leap second should be retained until there is a much broader debate on the change.

"This is something that affects not just the telecom industry," said RAS spokesman Robert Massey. "It would decouple time-keeping from the position of the sun in the sky and so a broad debate is needed."

Time standards are important in professional astronomy for pointing telescopes in the right direction but critical systems in other areas, not least defense, would also be affected by the change.

"To argue that it would be pain free is not quite true," Massey said.

A decision is not urgent. Some estimate that if the current arrangement stays, the world may eventually have to start adding two leap seconds a year. But that is not expected to happen for another hundreds years or so.

In the meantime, Massey plans to use his extra second wisely this weekend. "I'll enjoy it with an extra second in bed," he said.

(Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/1QxH_ix8r8g/Leap-second-Earth-s-slowing-rotation-makes-Saturday-one-second-longer-video

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