Cotton fabric cleans itself when exposed to ordinary sunlight

Cotton fabric cleans itself when exposed to ordinary sunlight

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Imagine jeans, sweats or socks that clean and de-odorize themselves when hung on a clothesline in the sun or draped on a balcony railing. Scientists are reporting development of a new cotton fabric that does clean itself of stains and bacteria when exposed to ordinary sunlight. Their report appears in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

Mingce Long and Deyong Wu say their fabric uses a coating made from a compound of titanium dioxide, the white material used in everything from white paint to foods to sunscreen lotions. Titanium dioxide breaks down dirt and kills microbes when exposed to some types of light. It already has found uses in self-cleaning windows, kitchen and bathroom tiles, odor-free socks and other products. Self-cleaning cotton fabrics have been made in the past, the authors note, but they self-clean thoroughly only when exposed to ultraviolet rays. So they set out to develop a new cotton fabric that cleans itself when exposed to ordinary sunlight.

Their report describes cotton fabric coated with nanoparticles made from a compound of titanium dioxide and nitrogen. They show that fabric coated with the material removes an orange dye stain when exposed to sunlight. Further dispersing nanoparticles composed of silver and iodine accelerates the discoloration process. The coating remains intact after washing and drying.

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American Chemical Society: http://www.acs.org

Thanks to American Chemical Society for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116005/Cotton_fabric_cleans_itself_when_exposed_to_ordinary_sunlight_

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California DUI deaths drop to record low

The number of alcohol-related fatalities on California highways dropped to a record low last year, with the biggest single-year drop in DUI deaths in 14 years, according to a federal report released Tuesday.

The drop was largely attributable to federally funded anti-drunk driving campaigns, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.

Alcohol contributed to 791 deaths in the state in 2010, a nearly 17% decline from the 950 deaths in 2009.

"Education is the key thing we use to inform the public about the reality and dangers of drunk driving," said Officer Mike Harris, a public information officer for the California Highway Patrol. "We develop programs and different awareness campaigns. Put all those things together and it's bound to have an impact."

Trends show that DUI deaths in the state increased annually from 1998 to 2005 but have decreased every year since then.

Officials attribute the recent sharp decline to an increase in the number of DUI checkpoints, a practice that allow police to stop cars in designated areas in search of drivers under the influence.

In 2010, the federal government beefed up the budget for drunk driving checkpoints. The Office of Traffic Safety allocated $16.8 million in federal funds to law enforcement agencies to conduct 2,553 DUI checkpoints last year, up from the $11.7 million allocated for 1,740 checkpoints in 2009.

In Costa Mesa, police are moving away from DUI checkpoints and toward saturation patrols, which target impaired drivers, both as a cost-saving measure and because of direction from the City Council.

Saturation patrols require half as many police officers as checkpoints and allow officers to respond to emergency calls at other locations. Councilwoman Wendy Leece said it's a better fit for the recently reduced Police Department.

Chief Tom Gazsi said saturation patrols are more effective for catching drunk drivers, whereas checkpoints are more of an educational service.

Officials said the state endorses many tactics to combat drunk driving, including saturation patrol. However, it prefers DUI checkpoints because of the high deterrence rate, said Chris Cochran, a spokesman for the California Office of Traffic Safety.

"Saturation patrols arrest more drunk drivers," Cochran said. "DUI checkpoints save more lives. Our end product is to save lives."

angel.jennings@latimes.com

Los Angeles Times staff writer Lauren Williams contributed to this report.

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/local/crime/~3/PN4mn8v4GcU/la-me-dui-deaths-20111214,0,7321517.story

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m3sweatt: RT @heuge: I'm back at the Microsoft Store in U District. This place has great customer service. It feels like 50 people are helping me :)

I'm back at the Microsoft Store in U District. This place has great customer service. It feels like 50 people are helping me :) Il y a environ 7 heures via web

Source: http://twitter.com/m3sweatt/statuses/147116133244342273

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Troops, police patrol Moscow after protests

Russian police block a road to prevent opposition rallies against Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his party, which won the largest share of a parliamentary election, as the monument of the heroes of the Revolution of 1905 is seen in the background, in downtown Moscow, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. Security forces beefed up their presence across the capital Tuesday in apparent anticipation of more protests. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Russian police block a road to prevent opposition rallies against Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his party, which won the largest share of a parliamentary election, as the monument of the heroes of the Revolution of 1905 is seen in the background, in downtown Moscow, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. Security forces beefed up their presence across the capital Tuesday in apparent anticipation of more protests. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Russian police gather to prevent an opposition rally against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his party, which won the largest share of a parliamentary election in downtown Moscow, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. Security forces beefed up their presence across the capital Tuesday in an apparent anticipation of more protests. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Opposition leader Ilya Yashin is escorted by police from a court in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. Yashin was sentenced Tuesday to a 15-day arrest for disobeying police after he was detained Monday along with some 300 protesters who rallied against what they called vote rigging during Sunday's parliamentary election. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)

Red lights of police cars are reflected on the wet asphalt where police officers block the road after a political rally in downtown Moscow, Monday, Dec. 5, 2011. Several thousand people have protested in Moscow against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his party, which won the largest share of a parliamentary election that observers said was rigged. A group of several hundred then marched toward the Central Elections Commission near the Kremlin, but were stopped by riot police and taken away in buses. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Russian Communist Party supporters hold flags with the color and emblem of the Communist Party during a protest against the official results of the parliamentary elections in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Dec. 5, 2011. The Communist Party appeared to benefit most from the protest vote, getting nearly 20 percent, up from less than 12 percent four years ago. The socialist Just Russia and the Liberal Democratic Party led by mercurial nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky are also expected to increase their representation in the Duma; both have generally voted with United Russia, and the Communists pose only token opposition. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

MOSCOW (AP) ? Thousands of police and Interior Ministry troops patrolled central Moscow on Tuesday, an apparent attempt to deter any further protests day after a rally against vote fraud and corruption caught Russian authorities by surprise.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, called his party's reduced number of seats in Sunday's parliamentary election an "inevitable" result of voters always being dissatisfied with the party in power. Putin also dismissed allegations of corruption among his United Russia party members, calling it a "cliche" that the party had to fight.

In neighboring Lithuania, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton again criticized the Russian election and urged that widespread reports of voting fraud be investigated.

United Russia party won slightly less than 50 percent of Sunday's vote, according to nearly complete preliminary results. Although that gives the party an absolute majority in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, it is a significant drop from the 2007 election when the party got a two-thirds majority, enough to change the constitution unchallenged.

Even that smaller majority is seen as questionable in the wake of numerous reports of voting fraud to inflate United Russia's total. Russian officials, however, have denied any significant vote violations.

Still, the election results reflected public fatigue with Putin's authoritarian streak and with official corruption in Russia, signaling that his return to the presidency in next March's election may not be as trouble-free as he expected.

Russia's beleaguered opposition has been energized by the vote. Late Monday, thousands marched in Moscow chanting "Russia without Putin!"

On Tuesday evening, hundreds of police cordoned off Triumphal Square, adjacent to the capital's main boulevard, after reports that anti-Putin demonstrators would try to gather there. Hundreds of young men, some wearing emblems of the Young Guards, United Russia's youth wing, also were seen at the square.

Police also cordoned off a monument to the 1905 Revolution, which also has been the site of demonstrations.

Police detained about 300 protesters in Moscow on Monday and 120 participants in a similar rally in St. Petersburg. One of the leaders, Ilya Yashin, who was among those arrested, was sentenced to 15 days in jail Tuesday for disobeying police.

Security forces already had been beefed up in the capital ahead of the election. Moscow police said 51,500 Interior Ministry personnel were involved and it was all part of increased security for the election period.

Putin's comments Tuesday appeared aimed at saving face and discouraging the opposition from seeing United Russia as vulnerable.

"Yes, there were losses, but they were inevitable," Putin said. "They are inevitable for any political force, particularly for the one which has been carrying the burden of responsibility for the situation in the country."

Putin also addressed the popular characterization of United Russia as "the party of crooks and thieves," saying corruption was a widespread problem not limited to a single party.

"They say that the ruling party is associated with theft, with corruption, but it's a cliche related not to a certain political force, it's a cliche related to power," he said during a meeting with provincial officials.

"What's important, however, is how the ruling government is fighting these negative things," he said.

Clinton criticized the Russian vote for a second straight day, saying Tuesday that "Russian voters deserve a full investigation of electoral fraud and manipulation."

Konstantin Kosachev, a senior United Russia member, described Clinton's statement as "one of the darkest pages in the Russian-U.S. relations" and warned Washington against supporting the opposition.

Russia's only independent election monitoring group, Golos, which is funded by U.S. and European grants, came under heavy official pressure ahead of Sunday's vote after Putin likened Russian recipients of foreign support to Judas. Golos' website was incapacitated by hackers on election day, and its director Lilya Shibanova and her deputy had their cell phone numbers, email and social media accounts hacked.

The Russian election even drew criticism from one of Putin's predecessors.

"There is no real democracy here and there won't be any, if the government is afraid of the people," former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said on Ekho Moskvy radio.

____

Vladimir Isachenkov contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-06-EU-Russia-Election/id-349df9345e834423ba862ca7c3cbd4f0

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Indian film star Dev Anand dies in London at 88 (omg!)

NEW DELHI (AP) ? Bollywood star Dev Anand, a charismatic and flamboyant Indian film fixture for more than a half-century, has died of a heart attack in London, his family said Sunday. He was 88.

Famed for his roles in dozens of movies, including "Jewel Thief" and "Guide," the veteran actor, director and producer was working up to the last minute, with a new script in the works.

Anand lived and died on "his own terms," his nephew and renowned film director Shekhar Kapur said in a posting on Twitter. "He was working one minute. Sat down and smiled. And was gone the next. So much to learn."

Anand died of a heart attack Saturday night in a hotel in London, where he had gone recently for a medical checkup, the family said.

India's prime minister joined Indian film stars and officials in lauding Anand's achievements and expressing sorrow for his death.

"Dev Anand was a great artist who entertained generations of cinema lovers over five decades," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in a statement. "He was an embodiment of long passion for acting and filmmaking. I join millions of his fans in mourning his death."

Born on Sept. 26, 1923, as the son of a Punjab lawyer, Anand studied English literature and law, eventually moving in his early 20s to India's film capital of Mumbai, then called Bombay, where he pursued a love of acting.

Known for his good looks, melodious voice and success in romantic leads, Anand was considered a superstar within just a few years of his 1946 screen debut in the Hindi-language film "Hum Ek Hain."

Others in his family followed, with his brothers Chetan and Vijay also winning praise as film producers, screenwriters and directors.

Dev Anand also began producing in 1949, and made his directorial debut in 1971 with the popular hippie cult film "Hare Rama Hare Krishna."

Never giving up the career, Anand released his latest film, "Chargesheet," just a few months ago and was reportedly working on another script when he died.

On his birthday in September, the upbeat actor told the Press Trust of India that he still had more to offer.

"My life is the same, and I am at a beautiful stage at 88," he reportedly said in the interview. "I am as excited as I was in my 20s. I have so many things to do," including a sequel to his 1971 film that he had titled "Hare Rama Hare Krishna Aaj."

Anand was given several prizes during his career, including lifetime achievement awards by Filmfare in 1993 and Screen Videocon in 1996. His 2007 memoirs, titled "Romancing With Life," underlined his belief in making films that were socially relevant.

Also known for social work, Anand dabbled in politics in the 1970s, launching a short-lived political party and leading other film stars in opposing then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's "Emergency" regime, which gave her the power to rule by decree.

"With his death, an era has come to an end. For a career spanning more than five decades, Dev Anand gave us films which will stay entrenched in our minds for years on," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said in a statement carried by Press Trust of India. "He was truly a multifaceted performer as an actor, director and producer."

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan said in a posting on Twitter that Anand's death "leaves a void never perhaps to be filled again."

Prize-winning British-Indian novelist Salman Rushdie lamented in a post: "I grew up watching your films. Sorry to say goodbye."

Anand's family plans to cremate his body in London on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_indian_film_star_dev_anand_dies_london88_083244319/43798488/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/indian-film-star-dev-anand-dies-london-88-083244319.html

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Bob Burnett: Occupy Wall Street: The Enthusiasm Gap

The latest polls indicate that approximately 75 percent of Americans agree with the goals of Occupy Wall Street. Nonetheless, only 29 percent consider themselves supporters of OWS. What accounts for this enthusiasm gap?

The October Time magazine poll asked respondents if they agreed with the positions advocated by Occupy Wall Street and discovered extraordinary concurrence. 86 percent agreed that, "Wall Street and its lobbyists have too much influence in Washington." 79 percent agreed that, "The gap between rich and poor in the United States has grown too large." 71 percent agreed with ""Executives of financial institutions responsible for the financial meltdown in 2008 should be prosecuted." And 68 percent agreed that, "The rich should pay more taxes." Nonetheless, there remains a 45-50 percent enthusiasm gap, because the same voters who express these strong positive sentiments say they don't support OWS.

Perhaps these voters don't know enough about OWS. A recent USA Today/Gallup poll found that 59 percent of respondents felt they didn't know enough to approve or disapprove of the movement's goals.

It would be easier to accept the excuse "we don't know enough" if there was not a pattern of passivity. When we consider the past decade we can find many examples where average Americans should have taken action but didn't. In 2000, George W. Bush stole the presidency; many voters were outraged but few of them took to the streets in protest. On September 11, 2001, the US was attacked by terrorists; there were legitimate concerns that the Bush Administration had been asleep at the wheel yet once again Americans were passive observers. The terrorists were traced to Afghanistan and the US launched an attack; in December of 2001 most of the terrorists escaped from Afghanistan into Pakistan -- it was a glaring example of White House ineptitude but most citizens were quiet. Faced with failure in Afghanistan, the Bush Administration turned its attention to Iraq and, on March 20, 2003, launched an invasion; this time there were more protestors but the bulk of Americans stayed at home. Over the next several years there were glaring examples of presidential incompetence -- for example, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina -- but for the most part voters were quiet. Then the housing bubble burst and, in late September 2008, Wall Street came close to melting down; Americans were stunned and depressed, but few took to the streets. Since the turn of the century, American voters, the 99 percent, have had a lot to be angry about, but have been passive.

Historians contrast this last lost decade with World War II era America where average citizens, the 99 percent, rose up, built the weapons, and fought the fights that defeated the Axis powers. What's happened to us?

Perhaps American workers don't have the time. It's a tough economy and many work two jobs. For the 99 percent it's a grueling daily chore making ends meet. Perhaps they don't have the energy to get involved with OWS.

Perhaps they don't get it. Many observers believe Americans no longer invest in our children and, as a result, many have poor schools, teachers, and study habits. We've raised several generations of "non intellectuals." The average American spends 2.7 hours per day watching TV and only a few minutes reading. Perhaps the 99 percent don't understand what all the fuss is about.

Perhaps they've checked out. The Pew Survey of Religious Affiliation found that 26.3 percent of respondents were evangelical Protestants; this does not include Black and Catholic evangelicals and many observers believe the true number is closer to 40 percent. A recent Pew Research Poll found that 41 percent of respondents believe that Jesus Christ will return to earth by 2050 -- when the rapture will occur. Perhaps the 99 percent are not involved because they are preparing to shuffle off this mortal coil.

Perhaps they're severely damaged. The official US rate for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is 7.8 percent -- with a higher incidence among veterans. However this does not include survivors of violence against women and children. The American Psychological Association reports, "Nearly one in every three adult women experiences at least one physical assault by a partner during adulthood" -- four million US women are assaulted each year. Approximately one third of US children under 18 experience abuse during their childhood - in 2009 6 million children were reported as abused. And then there are the adults that have been economically abused -- laid off because their job was moved overseas or fired and rehired as a temp with no benefits. It's reasonable to assume that a majority of Americans -- a huge segment of the 99 percent -- suffer from PTSD. As a consequence they are depressed, hopeless, and numb. Perhaps these American agree with OWS but can't get it together to participate.

The enthusiasm gap is a result of a combination of these factors. The challenge for Occupy Wall Street is to find new ways to engage members of the 99 percent who agree with OWS objectives, but are too tired or numb to participate.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-burnett/occupy-wall-street-the-en_b_1125312.html

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Guinea-Bissau President in Paris for medical check (AP)

KINSHASA, Congo ? The spokesman for the government of Guinea-Bissau says that President Malam Bacai Sanha has been hospitalized in Paris since Nov. 26.

Aniceto Alves denied rumors on Saturday that Sanha is seriously ill. He said the president left the small West African nation of Guinea-Bissau on Nov. 23 for a medical checkup in Senegal, before continuing three days later to a hospital in Paris.

Alves said that that Sanha went to Paris for a medical checkup that he needs to do every six months in Paris. He said that Sanha did a preliminary exam in Senegal, then continued onto Paris.

Sanha's health has been the subject of intense speculation. Since his election in 2009, he has been hospitalized several times for long stretches in Senegal and Paris with the government always describing the visits as routine checkups.

Sanha is known to be a diabetic.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111203/ap_on_re_af/af_guinea_bissau_president

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Art-theft suspect pleads not guilty in NYC (AP)

NEW YORK ? A wine steward suspected in a bicoastal art-theft spree lifted pricey art from New York hotels simply by walking out with the works in a canvas tote bag and then used them to line his own walls, prosecutors said Friday.

Mark Lugo, who just spent more than four months in jail for grabbing a $275,000 Picasso off a San Francisco art gallery wall, was being held without bail after pleading not guilty Friday to grand larceny and other charges in a Manhattan court.

"In an effort to display stolen art in his apartment, this repeat art thief boldly walked out of two Manhattan hotels in broad daylight" with valuable works, District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said in a statement.

Lugo's New York lawyer, James Montgomery, said the 31-year-old was a "pleasant, engaging" man "who's been struggling with particular difficulties," which he wouldn't detail.

"When the dust settles, and the DA's office calms down a little bit, we'll find that Mr. Lugo is a man who had no commercial motive at all" in the alleged thefts, Montgomery said.

The charges relate to two thefts of a total of six artworks, including what prosecutors called a $350,000 sketch by the French Cubist painter Fernand Leger. But prosecutors said a search of Lugo's former apartment in Hoboken, N.J., turned up four other pieces ? including a Picasso work ? that may have been stolen from Manhattan venues, and they said the investigation was continuing.

Lugo was publicly identified as a suspect in several New York heists since shortly after his July arrest in San Francisco, where police identified him as the man who walked into the Weinstein Gallery, lifted the 1965 Picasso drawing "Tete de Femme" ("Head of a Woman") off the wall, strolled down the street with the sketch under his arm and hopped into a taxi. Police tracked Lugo to a friend's Napa County apartment, where the Picasso was found unframed and prepared for shipping.

At his Hoboken apartment, investigators then found a $430,000 trove of stolen art, carefully and prominently displayed, as well as high-priced wine, authorities said.

Among some 19 artworks at the apartment was Leger's 1917 "Composition with Mechanical Elements," Assistant District Attorney Meghan Hast told a judge. The drawing disappeared June 28 from an employee entrance area at a gallery in the Carlyle Hotel; prosecutors pegged its value at $350,000, though Montgomery said that figure warranted investigating.

Lugo also is charged with stealing a group of five works by the South Korea-born artist Mie Yim, known for her disconcerting images of toy bears and other toy-like creatures, from the Chambers Hotel on June 14. The hotel had bought the Yim works, together called "Pastel on Board," for $1,800 apiece, prosecutors said.

Representatives for the hotels didn't immediately return calls Friday.

The San Francisco district attorney's office has said Lugo also was suspected of several other New York art heists, including the theft of a $30,000 Picasso etching from the William Bennett Gallery on June 27.

The sometime sommelier and kitchen server at upscale Manhattan restaurants also is charged in New Jersey with taking $6,000 worth of wine - in the form of three bottles of Chateau Petrus Pomerol - in April from Gary's Wine and Marketplace in Wayne. He hasn't appeared in a New Jersey court yet to answer those charges.

Lugo pleaded guilty in October to grand theft for the San Francisco heist. He finished his 138-day sentence Nov. 21 but was being held until he could be transferred to New York.

Lugo's San Francisco attorney, Douglas Horngrad, has called him "more like someone who was in the midst of a psychiatric episode" than a calculating art thief.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111202/ap_on_en_ot/us_purloined_picasso

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The crowd called to deciper whale songs

Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images

In this file photo, a pilot whale with an injured nose rises out of the water as a pod of approximately 100 gather in Loch Carron in Scotland. A new crowdsourcing project is attempting to decipher pilot whale calls.

By John Roach

The collective wisdom of the crowd is being called upon to help scientists decipher the language of pilot and killer whales in a project that could help us operate our machines in harmony with the ocean giants.

To participate, log on to Whale.fm, a project sponsored by Zooniverse and Scientific American, and try to match up similar sounding whale calls.?

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The researchers behind the project hope that the wisdom of the crowd will more accurately match the calls than one user can alone.

That is, what I think are two similar sounding calls might not be what you think. If hundreds or thousands of people group the same sounds together, though, they're more likely a match.

Whale.fm is particularly important for basic pilot whale research, since scientists know so little about them. What they do know suggests they communicate in similar ways to killer whales, which are known to live in family groups and communicate among themselves in unique dialects.

Scientists collected the whale calls over the years with underwater microphones suctioned onto whales, dragged behind ships and attached to buoys. Each sound and a corresponding spectrogram ? a visual representation of the whale sound snippet ? are presented for users to find a match.

The site also plots on a world map where the call was recorded and even offers users an option to track specific whales.?

If all goes well and lots of people participate, researchers should get answers to questions such as the size of the pilot whale call repertoire, any differences between the repertoires of long and short finned pilot whales, and how, if at all, the calls change amid noise such as sonar.

The project will also let researchers know how well volunteers agree with each other and, thus, how good we are at collectively categorizing the calls of vocal species such as whales.

This type of crowdsourcing ? tapping the wisdom of the crowd to form a collective intelligence ? has been used for other research projects in the past, including Zooniverse's?Planet Hunters, which is harnessing crowds to find new planets.

If the crowd turns out to be wise enough to help researchers decipher whale songs, what else can we do?

More on crowdsourcing projects:

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John Roach is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. To learn more about him, check out his website. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.

Kids' play has moved to tablets and PCs. In this new age, toy makers and researchers alike are sorting out the benefits ? and detriments ? of playful educational interaction in virtual space.

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Source: http://futureoftech.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/30/9121479-the-crowd-called-to-decipher-whale-songs

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