Elisabeth Hasselbeck Goes After Bill Maher On “The View” (VIDEO)
Stupid comments that Bill Maher made over a year ago were tossed in his face during his visit to “The View”. Elisabeth Hassebeck, a staunch [...]
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ScienceDaily (Nov. 15, 2011) ? Columbine flowers are recognizable by the long, trailing nectar spurs that extend from the bases of their petals, tempting the taste buds of their insect pollinators.
New research at Harvard and the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) helps to explain how columbines have achieved a rapid radiation of approximately 70 species, with flowers apparently tailored to the length of their pollinators' tongues.
Bees, for example, enjoy the short spurs of Aquilegia vulgaris, whereas hawkmoths favor A. longissima, whose spurs can grow to up to 16 centimeters.
According to results published November 15 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the dramatic diversity in the length of the columbines' spurs is the result of one simple change during development: the extent of cell elongation.
"The evolutionary importance of interactions between flowers and pollinators has been recognized for centuries," says co-lead author Sharon Gerbode, a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS).
"Charles Darwin, observing orchids, recognized that the extraordinarily long nectar spur on the Angraecum must have evolved in concert with the equally long tongue of the moth that pollinated it, but the exact mechanism for this kind of adaptation has been a matter of speculation."
For more than 60 years, biologists have assumed that the length of columbine spurs was achieved primarily by cell proliferation. The new research reveals that proliferation plays almost no role at all in creating the vast diversity of Aquilegia species currently seen.
In fact, 99 percent of the variation in spur length can be attributed to changes in cell shape -- specifically, changing round cells into long ones.
The researchers made more than 13,000 measurements to count the number of cells along the spur, as well as the area and degree of elongation of each cell.
They found that cell division ceases early in the development of the spur -- when it is about 5 millimeters long. At that point, the general pattern for the spur has been established, and all species of columbine petals look the same. From that point on, the cells elongate to varying extents, creating diverse spur lengths across species.
"The controlled elongation of cells within the petal spurs was a critical evolutionary innovation for Aquilegia, a genus that is considered to be a textbook example of adaptive radiation," says co-lead author Joshua Puzey, a graduate student in Harvard's Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology (OEB).
The researchers confirmed their results through mathematical analysis and modeling, and through in vivo experiments to disrupt cellular structure. The next step will be to examine several major hormone pathways and cytoskeletal elements that are known to influence cell elongation and developmental timing.
"We want to understand the genes that are responsible for both the initial evolution of nectar spurs and their subsequent diversification," says co-principal investigator Elena Kramer, Professor of OEB at Harvard.
It is clear, she says, that the starting point for the spur is likely to have already been present in the last common ancestor of all the columbine species.
"Now that we understand the real developmental basis for the first appearance and diversification of spurs, we can make much more informed guesses about what genes contributed to the process," Kramer adds.
"Fundamentally, these studies will help us answer questions about the genetic basis for speciation and how developmental processes evolve."
Columbines show promise as a model organism for the study of evolution in plants because they have experienced such a rapid adaptive radiation within the past 3 million years.
"The fact that this occurred quite recently is incredibly useful," says Kramer, "because it means that the species are still very similar to each other at the genetic level."
Once researchers have identified the molecular signals that drive elongation in the spurs, the hope is that they will be able to recognize and understand speciation at all levels, from genes to populations.
"Aquilegia serve as a nice example of how environmental selective pressures may drive extreme morphologies -- as here the flower and pollinator strive for an exclusive relationship," adds co-principal investigator L. Mahadevan, the Lola England de Valpine Professor of Applied Mathematics at SEAS and Professor of OEB and Physics at Harvard.
"Given that we can now manipulate spur length using externally applied drugs, our study even raises the possibility of artificially tuning that process and studying the results from an ecological perspective."
The research was supported by the MacArthur Foundation, the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard, The Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology at Harvard, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the NSF-supported Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at Harvard.
UCSB faculty member Scott A. Hodges served as co-author for the research.
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Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111115191155.htm
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BANGKOK ? World stocks rose Monday after Japan's economy grew for the first time in four quarters and Europe moved closer to resolving a debt crisis that threatens to hurl the region into recession.
Benchmark oil hovered near $99 per barrel while the dollar gained against the euro but fell against the yen.
European stocks were higher in early trading. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.1 percent at 5,551.35, while Germany's DAX gained marginally to 6,059.49. France's CAC-40 added 0.1 percent to 3,154.03.
Wall Street was headed for a higher opening, with Dow Jones industrial futures gaining 0.2 percent to 12,141 while S&P 500 futures rose 0.1 percent at 1,263.30.
Asian markets posted solid gains earlier in the day. Japan's Nikkei 225 index added 1.1 percent to close at 8,603.70. Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 2 percent to 19,508.18 and South Korea's Kospi climbed 2.1 percent to 1,902.81
On mainland China, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.9 percent to 2,528.71 while the smaller Shenzhen Composite Index jumped 2.5 percent to 1,083.04. Benchmarks in Singapore, Australia, and Indonesia were also higher.
Hopeful signs emerged over the weekend from Europe after Silvio Berlusconi reluctantly bowed to market pressure and resigned as Italy's premier. His successor, economist Mario Monti, faces the monumental task of enacting profound reforms aimed at preventing Italy from defaulting on its huge debts.
Unlike Greece, Portugal and Ireland ? which have received emergency financial help from international lenders ? Italy is considered much too big to bail out. Its next government must push through austerity measures to deal with euro1.9 trillion ($2.6 trillion) in debt.
"There is a silver lining from the past two weeks of political uncertainties in Greece and Italy," analysts at DBS Bank Ltd. in Singapore said in a report. "Both countries now have leaders who are not only closer to the European Union, but are also moving towards forming technocratic governments better suited to implement much needed reforms."
Investment confidence was also boosted after Japan released data showing its economy ? sent into recession by a record earthquake ? had surged in the latest quarter. The economy jumped 6 percent, the first expansion for the world's No. 3 economy in four quarters.
The surge comes as Japan claws its way out of a crisis stemming from an earthquake and tsunami that decimated factories across the country's northeast on March 11.
Since then, the country has steadily restored its factories, helping the economy rebound despite the threats of a financial crisis in Europe, slowing global economy and a strong yen.
In Greece, there was good news Friday, as former central banker Lucas Papademos was sworn in as interim prime minister following a political crisis that jeopardized the country's ability to continue receiving emergency loans.
Papademos must now get his government to agree to a debt deal that will net the country billions of euros in acutely needed rescue money ? provided that it enacts painful austerity measures including tax hikes and sharp cuts in public spending.
Without the rescue money, Greece's faces insolvency and a massive default on its debts ? an event that experts believe could set off a banking crisis and eventually blow up into an all-out European recession.
But some analysts suggested Europe's crisis was already beyond repair and that no realistic amount of budget-cutting or aid could revive Greece's comatose economy or relieve Italy of the mountain of IOUs that it is sitting on.
"I am not very optimistic. All those who think the euro has stabilized or that Europe has stability, I think they are wrong," said Tom Kaan of Louis Capital Markets in Hong Kong. "The risk is still very much out there."
Rising energy prices helped lift resource shares. Hong Kong-listed China Coal Energy Co. rose 4.6 percent. China National Offshore Oil Corp. gained 2.3 percent.
High-tech shares also advanced. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing rose 3.4 percent and South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor, the world's second-largest memory chip maker, added 3.5 percent.
A resumption of service by bullet trains that had been recalled following a deadly crash in July sent Chinese rail shares bounding. Hong Kong-listed China Railway Group soared 8.6 percent and China Railway Construction Co. surged 9.3 percent.
State-owned Xinhua news Agency quoted a Ministry of Railways official as saying that the trains have been repaired and would start entering service on Wednesday.
Still, plenty of uncertainty hangs over financial markets as traders await U.S. economic data. Reports on October retail sales, inflation and housing data are due this week, starting Tuesday.
Despite its 2.5 percent growth rate last quarter, the U.S. economy remains fragile. The Federal Reserve recently lowered its economic outlook for 2012. The central bank predicted that the economy will grow at a rate of about 2.7 percent next year. That is a full percentage point below a forecast from June, and below the 3 to 5 percent annual growth rate that is considered healthy.
On Wall Street, stocks surged Friday after Italy and Greece moved closer to getting their financial crises under control.
The Dow Jones industrial average jumped or 2.2 percent to 12,153.68. The S&P 500 rose 1.9 percent to 1,263.85. The Nasdaq composite rose or 2 percent to 2,678.75.
Benchmark crude for December delivery was down 10 cents at $98.89 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.21 to settle at $98.99 in New York on Friday.
In currency trading, the euro fell to $1.3726 from $1.3747 late Friday in New York. The dollar fell to 77.01 yen from 77.17 yen.
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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia ? Malaysian-led activists plan to hold a symbolic trial this month against former President George W. Bush and British ex-leader Tony Blair on charges of committing crimes against peace in the Iraq war.
The Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal is an initiative of Malaysia's retired Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who staunchly opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Malaysian lawyer Yaacob Hussain Marican says the tribunal will convene a four-day hearing starting Saturday to determine whether Bush and Blair committed crimes against peace and violated international law in the Iraq invasion.
Yaacob said Tuesday the effort is modeled after a 1967 Vietnam war crimes panel convened by philosophers Bertrand Russell and Jean-Paul Sartre.
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OMAHA, Neb. ? Investor Warren Buffett says his company bought about $10.7 billion of IBM stock this year, giving it a stake of more than 5 percent stake in the technology company.
Buffett revealed the investment during an interview on CNBC on Monday. Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., will file a full quarterly update on its U.S. stock portfolio Monday afternoon.
Buffett has long refused to invest in high-tech companies because he has said it's too difficult to predict which technology businesses will prosper in the long run.
But he said he recently changed his view of IBM based on what he read in the company's annual reports and what he learned by talking to IT departments at Berkshire subsidiaries. He said he should have realized years sooner that the heart of IBM's business is providing service and equipment to information technology departments.
"There's a fair amount of presumption in many places that if you're with IBM, you stay with them," Buffett said.
So Berkshire bought about 64 million shares since March, or about 5.5 percent of IBM. Buffett says he believes IBM has a sound plan for the future.
IBM officials declined to comment on Buffett's investment Monday morning.
International Business Machines Corp., based in Armonk, N.Y., says it plans to continue growing its software business and invest about $20 billion in acquisitions between 2011 and 2015. IBM predicts that its operating earnings per share will top $20 by the end of 2015.
IBM shares gained $1.71 to $189.09 in morning trading, approaching its 52-week high of $190.53 reached in mid-October.
Buffett said Berkshire paid an average of about $170 per share for the IBM stock.
Berkshire's investments are closely watched in the market because of Buffett's successful record. Buffett has said that Berkshire has been buying aggressively during the recent market turmoil.
Buffett said Monday that Berkshire had been adding to its already sizeable stake in Wells Fargo, but he didn't say how many more shares had been bought recently. At the end of June, Berkshire held 352.3 million Wells Fargo shares. That was up from 342.6 million shares Berkshire held at the end of March.
Monday afternoon's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission may not reveal a full picture of Berkshire's investments because regulators often allow the Omaha-based company to conceal new investments for a time while building a position.
Buffett said that the third-quarter report that will be filed Monday won't show all of Berkshire's new IBM stake because some of the shares were bought in the fourth quarter.
Besides investments, Berkshire owns roughly 80 subsidiaries including insurance, railroad and utility firms.
___
Online:
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.: http://www.berkshirehathaway.com
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U.S. golfer Tiger Woods tees off on the 18th hole during the second round of the Australian Open golf tournament in Sydney, Australia, Friday, Nov. 11, 2011. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
U.S. golfer Tiger Woods tees off on the 18th hole during the second round of the Australian Open golf tournament in Sydney, Australia, Friday, Nov. 11, 2011. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
U.S. golfer Tiger Woods chips onto the 11th green during the second round of the Australian Open golf tournament in Sydney, Australia, Friday, Nov. 11, 2011. Woods started the second round at 4 under the card. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
U.S. golfer Tiger Woods plays a shot on the 11th fairway during the second round of the Australian Open golf tournament in Sydney, Australia, Friday, Nov. 11, 2011. Woods started the second round at 4 under the card. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
U.S. golfer Tiger Woods, right, and caddie Joe LaCava wait to tee off on the 18th during the second round of the Australian Open golf tournament in Sydney, Australia, Friday, Nov. 11, 2011. Woods started the second round at 4 under the card. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
U.S. golfer Tiger Woods looks into the early morning sun as he walks along the 10th fairway during the second round of the Australian Open golf tournament in Sydney, Australia, Friday, Nov. 11, 2011. Woods started the second round at 4 under the card. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
SYDNEY (AP) ? It was the shot of the day Friday at the Australian Open, and one that made the Tiger Woods of today look ominously like the one of yesterday.
Standing about 280 yards from the green on the par-5 eighth hole at The Lakes, Woods grabbed his 3-wood, flushed it with a slight fade into a brisk breeze and rolled it on to the green. Two putts later, his birdie helped him to a 5-under 67 and a one-stroke lead over Australian veteran Peter O'Malley going into the weekend.
That impressed one of his playing partners, Australian Robert Allenby, who missed the cut after rounds of 75-73, but who still seemed to enjoy the front-row seat to Woods' apparent resurgence.
"Probably in the last six months, that's the best I've seen him play," Allenby said in the scorers' area while Woods was mobbed by autograph seekers. "I've seen him at his absolute best ... that was a different human being. He's on his way back, that's for sure.
"I think where he is right now is good enough to win. I think you'll find if he keeps going the way he is going, he'll win over the weekend."
Woods, who was at 9-under 135, thought Friday's round might even have been better ? "it felt it could have been 8 or 9 deep."
Asked how it felt to be atop a leaderboard again, Woods appeared to take some satisfaction of saying that perhaps he shouldn't have been written off just yet.
"The headlines tell the whole story, don't they? ... They know all," Woods said. "It is one of those things, just being patient. I'm playing like I am playing at home. It has finally come to the golf course in a tournament setting. It takes a little time but once it starts coming, the confidence starts building."
That confidence just might see him end a two-year winless drought ? his last tournament victory came two years ago at Melbourne at the Australian Masters. Combined with his opening-round 68, Woods posted his best back-to-back rounds of the year.
It's the first time he has led a tournament since the third round of the Chevron World Challenge last year, and the first time against a full field since the Australian Masters. Woods was tied for the first-round lead at The Barclays last year.
O'Malley, who is a member at The Lakes and birdied his last two holes, shot a 66. He was the No. 64 seed who beat Woods in the opening round of the Match Play Championship at La Costa in 2002.
Jason Day, who played alongside Woods and Allenby, had a 68 and was two behind. Bubba Watson, among eight Americans to came to the Australian Open to get ready for the Presidents Cup next week at Royal Melbourne, birdied his last three holes for a 70 and was three shots behind.
American Nick Watney faded on the front nine and shot 73, although he remained tied for fifth at 5-under 139. First-round leader Jarrod Lyle, with a 74 Friday, was among five tied with Watney.
A large crowd that packed into the knolls and dunes became louder the longer Woods stayed atop the leaderboard, and even some of the tournament officials appeared to get wrapped up in the day. At one point, they had his name spelled simply "Tiger" on a leaderboard.
For Woods, it was a strange sight.
"It feels good," he said of his name listed first. "It feels good to be there playing properly."
Woods repeated that he has been hitting the ball this well in practice at home in south Florida, and based on the other times he has changed swings, he referred to the process of getting confidence in practice and eventually taking it to the golf course.
"That's progress. That's what happens," he said. "And once it starts coming, the confidence is building."
The Americans lost one of their players at the Australian Open when Hunter Mahan withdrew Friday morning because of pain in the back of his right shoulder that wouldn't go away. Rather than risking it, Mahan decided to take a few days of rest. He said he expects to be playing next week at Melbourne.
The Presidents Cup captains both made the cut. U.S. head Fred Couples shot 74 and was at 3-under, six behind Woods. International team captain Greg Norman also shot 74 and was at 1-over, 10 behind. Matt Kuchar, one of Couples' team members, failed to make the weekend, shooting 73 Friday to miss by one stroke.
Woods was among the controversial selections by Couples to the U.S. team, especially because he hasn't won in two years and rarely has put himself in contention. But it was a day like Friday, on the back of the opening round, that made any questions about him look moot.
"It's a great pick," Day said. "A few people questioned it. He was not playing that great a couple of months ago, but he has certainly turned it around. Overall, his game is looking good for next week."
Woods looked like he was enjoying himself Friday as he soaked up the adulation of thousands of Sydney golf fans who haven't seen him play a tournament in Australia's largest city since 1996.
"It was great," Woods said. "Yesterday and today, playing with two Aussies, that helps. Everyone is kind of into it. The crowds were just rooting for me. It was a fun atmosphere to be part of. "
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