New method for tailoring optical processors

May 21, 2013 ? Rice University scientists have unveiled a robust new method for arranging metal nanoparticles in geometric patterns that can act as optical processors that transform incoming light signals into output of a different color. The breakthrough by a team of theoretical and applied physicists and engineers at Rice's Laboratory for Nanophotonics (LANP) is described this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Rice's team used the method to create an optical device in which incoming light could be directly controlled with light via a process known as "four-wave mixing." Four-wave mixing has been widely studied, but Rice's disc-patterning method is the first that can produce materials that are tailored to perform four-wave mixing with a wide range of colored inputs and outputs.

"Versatility is one of the advantages of this process," said study co-author Naomi Halas, director of LANP and Rice's Stanley C. Moore Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering and a professor of biomedical engineering, chemistry, physics and astronomy. "It allows us to mix colors in a very general way. That means not only can we send in beams of two different colors and get out a third color, but we can fine-tune the arrangements to create devices that are tailored to accept or produce a broad spectrum of colors."

The information processing that takes place inside today's computers, smartphones and tablets is electronic. Each of the billions of transistors in a computer chip uses electrical inputs to act upon and modify the electrical signals passing through it. Processing information with light instead of electricity could allow for computers that are both faster and more energy-efficient, but building an optical computer is complicated by the quantum rules that light obeys.

"In most circumstances, one beam of light won't interact with another," said LANP theoretical physicist Peter Nordlander, a co-author of the new study. "For instance, if you shine a flashlight at a wall and you cross that beam with the beam from a second flashlight, it won't matter. The light that comes out of the first flashlight will pass through, independent of the light from the second.

"This changes if the light is traveling in a 'nonlinear medium,'" he said. "The electromagnetic properties of a nonlinear medium are such that the light from one beam will interact with another. So, if you shine the two flashlights through a nonlinear medium, the intensity of the beam from the first flashlight will be reduced proportionally to the intensity of the second beam."

The patterns of metal discs LANP scientists created for the PNAS study are a type of nonlinear media. The team used electron-beam lithography to etch puck-shaped gold discs that were placed on a transparent surface for optical testing. The diameter of each disc was about one-thousandth the width of a human hair. Each was designed to harvest the energy from a particular frequency of light; by arranging a dozen of the discs in a closely spaced pattern, the team was able to enhance the nonlinear properties of the system by creating intense electrical fields.

"Our system exploits a particular plasmonic effect called a Fano resonance to boost the efficiency of the relatively weak nonlinear effect that underlies four-wave mixing," Nordlander said. "The result is a boost in the intensity of the third color of light that the device produces."

Graduate student and co-author Yu-Rong Zhen calculated the precise arrangement of 12 discs that would be required to produce two coherent Fano resonances in a single device, and graduate student and lead co-author Yu Zhang created the device that produced the four-wave mixing -- the first such material ever created.

"The device Zhang created for four-wave mixing is the most efficient yet produced for that purpose, but the value of this research goes beyond the design for this particular device," said Halas, who was recently named a member of the National Academy of Sciences for her pioneering research in nanophotonics. "The methods used to create this device can be applied to the production of a wide range of nonlinear media, each with tailored optical properties."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/NXwTwOcHafs/130521121603.htm

cotton bowl Fiscal cliff deal kathy griffin jadeveon clowney orange bowl Rose Parade 2013 rex ryan

Tech News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://rss.news.yahoo.com/rss/techblog

Univision josh hamilton Susan Rice the Who jon bon jovi jon bon jovi Kliff Kingsbury

Monster machines fan out on U.S. farms facing slow sow

By Tom Polansek and Mark Weinraub

SHERIDAN, Illinois (Reuters) - With the U.S. spring planting season off to a historically slow start, an increasing number of farmers are counting on powerful tools to catch up: Monster machines that sow 36 rows of corn at once and feature high-tech innovations like computer-guided directional equipment.

The technological wizardry from companies like Deere & Co and AGCO Corp is pitted in a frantic race against time, with farmers scrambling to get seeds in the ground because a slow start depresses yields and reduces the size of their harvest. Delayed planting in turn can raise prices for food processors, livestock feeders, and ethanol producers, leading to eventual increases in food and fuel costs nationwide.

Grain traders and analysts so far have shrugged off the sluggish planting pace due to soggy soils, partly because they believe the big machines can sow crop quickly.

While the giant planters can put seed in the ground at record speeds, the paradox of the modern farm economy is this: the advances in technology cannot offset the consolidation in the industry, according to agronomists. With fewer farmers tilling the nation's soil, and the average farm size growing year by year, the 2013 crop cannot get in the ground much faster than it did decades ago.

"When you see big planters running fast, they're certainly planting eight or 12 times faster than we planted 30 years ago," said Emerson Nafziger, an agronomist at the University of Illinois. "We had smaller planters and tractors, but we just had so many more of them."

The number of farms producing the nation's corn crop declined 27 percent in the decade leading to 2007, an analysis of the most recent U.S. Department of Agriculture data shows. It took 112,122 farms to produce 80 percent of the corn crop in 2007, down from 153,389 farms 10 years earlier.

In the three years since 2010, it has taken U.S. farmers 62 days to plant their crops. That is virtually unchanged from an average of 63 days over the prior three decades. Planted acreage has climbed 21 percent since the 1980s, to 92.4 million acres (37.4 million hectares).

The consolidation of farming is a key reason farmers - no matter how hard they work during improving weather - will struggle to eclipse a record that has stood for nearly two decades. The fastest stretch of planting occurred in a single week of May in 1992, when farmers rolled through 34,103,730 acres, or roughly 43 percent of that year's planting. That bested the prior record, set in 1984, by more than 5 million acres.

Farmers and agronomists are focused on corn because it is the biggest crop grown in the United States and is planted prior to soybeans in the spring. And the record-slow start to seeding this year already is affecting USDA harvest estimates, with the USDA last week lowering its forecast for the yield on this season's corn crop to 158 bushels per acre, down 4 percent from its outlook in February.

The forecast is still 28 percent higher than last year's drought-ridden yield, which pushed grain prices to record highs.

CRITICAL DAYS

The next few days will be crucial, since experience shows corn planted after May 20 could see a 12 percent loss in yield, said Nafziger, the Illinois economist. Where planting is delayed beyond May 31, yield could see a 20 percent decline.

The USDA on Monday will report on planting progress.

"This is the type of year all farmers wish they had the big planters," said Justin Welch, an account manager for Dupont Pioneer, one of the world's largest seed companies.

Delayed planting causes yields to drop because of its effect on how plants develop. For corn, it means the crop will pollinate later in the summer, when hot, dry weather is more likely to cause damage.

That is why Michelle and John Stewart, owners of Spirit Farms in Sheridan, Ill., last week let loose four massive, green-and-yellow John Deere planters, each capable of covering 36 rows of corn. The Stewarts have traded up year-by-year recently, and the 36-row planters are the biggest that can run in their area of northern Illinois.

A large planting rig can run more than $250,000 and is a marvel of modern farming technology. The planters' arms stretch 90 feet wide when in use and fold for storage. A GPS device inside the tractors helps operators steer straight and prevent planting sections of the field twice, saving seed and time.

Vacuum-release spindles drop kernels at just the right depth, in precisely spaced intervals. And seed hoppers have been centralized on planters to efficiently distribute seed to each row, reducing how often farmers must stop to restock seed.

Climbing a ladder into the driver's seat of a Deere tractor recently, Spirit Farms' crop production manager Dane Killam said the technology in the machine is "the next step in farming."

"It's more-precision planting," Killam said.

The monster-sized machines have quickly gained a foothold. Nationwide, about 40 percent of planters are more than 16 rows wide, up from about 4 percent 10 years ago, according to IRON Solutions, which tracks transactions of agricultural equipment.

"Farmers are sitting on a lot of great years," said Darwin Melnyk, chief executive of IRON Solutions, referring to profitable harvests. "We've seen them invest a lot in their farming operations, including more land and certainly equipment."

SUPPLY CUSHION

Coming off a year in which planting finished early, only to see young crops whither in the drought, investors want to see how the crop develops after planting before making any judgments on yield potential, said Nicole Thomas, a partner for McKeany-Flavell Co, which has advised companies like General Mills Inc and Kraft Foods Group Inc about commodity costs.

The United States is expected to see a "pretty substantial" increase in corn inventories even if yields are cut by planting delays, she said. The reason: An increase in yield after last year's drought and another year of massive plantings.

A rush to plant can set the stage for havoc in the markets, though, because haste creates risks of its own. Corn planted in soil that has not had sufficient time to dry does not develop root systems and can yield poorly.

Planting too quickly also can expose crops to widespread losses. An entire harvest might be hit by an ill-timed heat wave just when corn is pollinating, for example.

North Dakota farmer Randy Thompson has new 36-row and 24-row planters that enable him to seed his corn crop about three times as fast as he could with older, smaller machines.

But the technology has not made good farming technique obsolete. A decade ago, farmers would "plant for awhile and then they'd wait awhile," said Thompson, who has been farming his land for 28 years and plans to grow about 5,000 acres.

"If some of the crop had a problem, at least all of it didn't have a problem," he said. "Nowadays, they don't seem to care. They just want to get 'er done."

(Editing by David Greising, Mary Milliken and Marguerita Choy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/monster-machines-fan-u-farms-facing-slow-sow-110459248.html

baby found alive in morgue rockies second degree murders bobby petrino brian dunn vin scully petrino fired

Yahoo looks to regain its cool with Tumblr deal

Yahoo CEO Marrissa Mayer speaks during a news conference Monday, May 20, 2013, in New York. Yahoo edged up 31 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $26.83 after the Internet company said it was buying online blogging forum Tumblr for $1.1 billion. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Yahoo CEO Marrissa Mayer speaks during a news conference Monday, May 20, 2013, in New York. Yahoo edged up 31 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $26.83 after the Internet company said it was buying online blogging forum Tumblr for $1.1 billion. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, and Tumblr Chief Executive David Karp speak during a news conference Monday, May 20, 2013, in New York. Yahoo edged up 31 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $26.83 after the Internet company said it was buying online blogging forum Tumblr for $1.1 billion. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks during a news conference on Yahoo, Flickr and Tumblr Monday, May 20, 2013, in New York. Yahoo edged up 31 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $26.83 after the Internet company said it was buying online blogging forum Tumblr for $1.1 billion. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer speaks during a news conference Monday, May 20, 2013, in New York. Yahoo edged up 31 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $26.83 after the Internet company said it was buying online blogging forum Tumblr for $1.1 billion. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2012 file photo, Tumblr founder David Karp participates in the "Bloomberg Leadership Summit" seminar in New York. In a deal announced Monday, May 20, 2013, Yahoo is buying New York-based Tumblr, the online blogging forum, for $1.1 billion. About $275 million will go to Karp, 26, who dropped out of high school to concentrate on computer programming and started Tumblr six years ago. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes/Invision for Advertising Week)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? After falling woefully out of fashion, Yahoo wants to be cool again while catering to the capitalistic demands of its shareholders. That goal led CEO Marissa Mayer to make a $1.1 billion bet on online blogging forum Tumblr in a risky acquisition that revolves around the vision and instincts of a 26-year-old entrepreneur who dropped out of high school to pursue his dream of bringing more beauty and creativity to the Internet.

The deal announced Monday is Mayer's boldest move since she left Google 10 months ago to lead Yahoo's latest comeback attempt. It marks Yahoo's most expensive acquisition since it bought online search engine Overture a decade ago for $1.3 billion.

While hailing Tumblr as a fount of creativity that attracts 300 million visitors each month, Mayer told analysts Monday that she is "making a sincere promise to not screw it up." Yahoo said its founder, David Karp, will remain in charge and will keep Tumblr's headquarters in New York to retain the same "irreverence, wit and commitment to empower creators."

Tumblr's audience, which boasts a large concentration of teens and people in their early 20s, is already fretting that the service is going to become more stodgy and commercial under the ownership of an 18-year-old company that seems ancient by Internet standards. Advertising largely has been a missing ingredient so far as Tumblr, like many online services in their early stages, focused on building a loyal audience before turning its attention to making money. By purchasing Tumblr, Yahoo will have more opportunities to sell ads.

"I can't help but be concerned that Yahoo will 'Yahooize' Tumblr and make it as irrelevant as the mother ship," said Jennifer Grant, 36, who has a Tumblr blog.

Founded in 2007, Tumblr emerged as a trendy online hangout by providing a blogging service that makes it easy to share posts, photos, video and other content in an enthralling mosaic of interlocking information. Tumblr forums are devoted to such diverse topics as art, architecture, food, politics, pets and fashion.

Although there are several competing services for people to blog, Tumblr makes it easy to create, discover and share content. Tumblr users rely on a dashboard to pinpoint the kinds of blogs that they want to track. Tools help users pass along posts that interest them.

The service says it has amassed more than 50 billion posts from 108 million blogs, with some 75 million new posts every day. More than half of Tumblr's users connect through its mobile app and engage in an average of seven visits per day.

Mayer is betting that Tumblr will provide Yahoo with a captivating hook to reel in more traffic and advertisers on smartphones and tablet computers. That rapidly growing market is expected to become even more important during the next decade as people increasingly consume digital content on mobile devices instead of laptop and desktop machines.

Tumblr could also help Yahoo recapture some of its cachet with teens and adults in their early 20s, a demographic that has become tougher for Yahoo to reach in recent years as it fell behind the technological curve and struggled to develop compelling services.

While Facebook has turned into a mainstream social network where even grandparents now connect family and friends, Tumblr has become one of the places where the cool kids hang out.

But Yahoo will have to manage Tumblr's next stage carefully to avoid driving away the Web surfers and mobile device users that had made Tumblr such an enticing takeover target.

Micah Gray, 22, a Tumblr user who lives in Denver, likened Yahoo to an old, rich uncle who shows up to a high school or college party and hops into the hot tub to the disgust of almost everyone else there. But "the owner of the house you're partying at sold the rights of the hot tub to him and he can use it whenever he wants and bring his other old, rich friends," Gray said.

On the other hand, investors will want to see results from the $1.1 billion price tag. Yahoo is paying mostly cash for Tumblr, dipping into what remains of a $7.6 billion windfall reaped last year from selling about half of its stake in Chinese Internet company Alibaba. Taking over Tumblr will devour about one-fifth of the $5.4 billion in cash that Yahoo had at the end of March.

Mayer is confident she can balance the needs of Tumblr's users and Yahoo's investors.

The deal overshadowed Yahoo's previously scheduled announcement on changes to its Flickr photo-sharing service, including a boost in the amount of free storage to 1 terabyte, far more than what rivals offer. Like Tumblr, Yahoo got the photo service by buying a promising startup.

Mayer called Tumblr a "game changer" during a conference call with analysts and was effusive in her praise of Karp during an interview with The Associated Press. She likened him to other great entrepreneurs she knows ? a list that includes Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, a duo for which she worked for 13 years.

Karp, who built Tumblr from his tiny childhood bedroom in New York, "will be one the legends of his generation in terms of an entrepreneur who has really changed the way people express themselves," Mayer predicted.

If Mayer wasn't running Yahoo, Karp said he probably wouldn't have agreed to sell Tumblr. Karp and Mayer began to talk late last year, when Tumblr was looking into ways to show ads that fit in well with the rest of its content. Those discussions morphed into Tumblr selling all or part of itself. Other interested suitors are believed to include Google, Microsoft Corp. and Facebook.

Mayer's enthusiasm, a promise of independence and Yahoo's rich offer won over Karp.

"Marissa is the real deal," Karp said in a Monday interview. "Marissa is going to be in the trenches standing next to me while we build this thing."

The deal is expected to close by the end of the year. Yahoo isn't counting on Tumblr producing significant revenue until next year. Tumblr's 175 employees, including Karp, will join Yahoo.

Mayer and Karp believe Yahoo and Tumblr can complement each other. Tumblr can draw upon Yahoo's search engine to help users find things that interest them. Meanwhile, Tumblr's wealth of content could be interwoven into Yahoo's other services, including those that provide coverage of general news, sports, finance and entertainment.

Tumblr may help define Mayer's legacy at Yahoo. Since coming to Yahoo, Mayer has concentrated on improving employee morale, redesigning services and bringing in more engineering talent through a series of small acquisitions that have collectively cost less than $50 million.

As popular as Tumblr has become, the service remains unprofitable. That already has analysts questioning whether Yahoo paid too much in Mayer's zeal to gain control of a hot service.

Mayer's efforts at Yahoo have been well-received on Wall Street so far, although analysts say most of the 70 percent surge in Yahoo's stock price under Mayer's leadership has been driven by the rising value of Yahoo's remaining 24 percent stake in Alibaba. When Alibaba goes public within the next few years, analysts have estimated that Yahoo could collect another $10 billion to $20 billion by selling the rest of its Alibaba stock.

If this deal pays off the way Mayer envisions, Tumblr could help Yahoo finally get its stock price to $33. That would be a major coup because many investors soured on Yahoo after a previous regime led by co-founder Jerry Yang squandered an opportunity five years ago to sell the Sunnyvale, Calif., company to Microsoft for $33 per share. The stock spent more than four years trading below $20 before the surge in recent months. The shares added 6 cents Monday to close at $26.58.

Tumblr also will fill Yahoo's gaping void in social media. Yahoo so far has had to connect its services to Facebook and Twitter to give its users a social networking outlet.

Having its own social networking service will give Yahoo more insights into the things that people like ? a key to distributing ads to consumers most likely to be interested in specific products. That data, in turn, should help Yahoo sell more ads and accelerate its revenue growth. After three successive years of declines, Yahoo's revenue rose slightly last year, but lagged far behind the growth at Google and Facebook. Mayer has vowed to bring Yahoo's revenue growth back to at least the level of the overall Internet ad market.

The deal also has some symbolic significance for Yahoo after spending much of the past decade aimlessly drifting under different management teams while Google overtook it in terms of size and influence. At the same time, newcomers such as Facebook Inc. and Twitter began to command the attention of people who found themselves spending less and less time on Yahoo.

Part of Yahoo's problems stemmed from missed chances to improve its service and technology.

Yahoo flirted with buying Google and Facebook in their early days, only to have the talks unravel because Yahoo wasn't prepared to pay asking prices that were far below the current market values of $300 billion for Google and $62 billion for Facebook. Yahoo also considered buying YouTube in 2006, only to be outbid by Google, which snapped up the world's leading video-sharing service for $1.76 billion ? a price that now looks like a bargain.

Karp's estimated cut from the Tumblr sale will range from $250 million to $300 million. He dropped out of high school to concentrate on computer programming and ended up being home schooled while taking classes in Japanese and working on gambling software. Later, he became a product executive at the parenting website UrbanBaby. After CNet bought the site in 2006, Karp set up his own development service called "Davidville" before deciding to create an outlet for personal expression ? an endeavor that hatched Tumblr.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-05-20-US-Yahoo-Tumblr-Acquisition/id-0df202e938f6468abe9e15a5b219e048

James Righton finish line kentucky derby Iron Man 3 Emmett Till margaret thatcher MET GALA 2013

BEAUTIFUL DESIGN Social media Business. Huge income ... - Flippa

Social Media Business, Ready To Go, Fully Automated

Make instant profit reselling?Facebook Fans,?Pinterest Followers,Twitter Followers,Instagram Followers, youtube views, linkIn Connection, repins, .EDU and .GOV backlinks and muchmuch more...

Jump-start Your Earnings with highly in demand, Unforgettable and Premium Domain

Its proven that a professional design and layout will get top conversion rates. fastfollowers.net is completely setup and ready to take orders, Just Change your paypal Email address and you are ready to go.

NO EXPERIENCE NEEDED! 5 DAYS AUCTION! LOW RESERVE!

Social media services is now very popular and proven to generate huge profits. having a website that looks?professionally?done and converts well will?defiantly?be a great boost to your business.

About Me:

My name is Kash Ghasemi and?I'm?currently living in Calgary, Alberta. I do SEO and Web Design for living and I am very passionate about what I do. I'm also professional and?committed?to my work. Sofar I?have?around 150 happy clients and over 1500 SEO?enthusiast?subscribers through my seo/web design Business.?Maintaining a good relationship with my clients, keeping them happy and satisfied is important to me and my team.

Fastfollowers.net Overview:

Very Easy to run -?I used a Premium Wordpress Theme to make sure that the site will convert well.?fastfollowers.net offers high, in demand social media services.?The business is very simple and easy to run even for a beginner, doesn't require any experience or maintenance. The services offered are based on the hottest social media platforms today.

Pricing / profitability -?it all depends on you. See the suppliers prices and?decide?how much?profit you want. make an easy 300%-400% profit and still be lower than many competitors.

Fully Outsourced,?Reliable?Suppliers.

Beautiful & Catchy Design

??GREAT DESIGN??

??Professional, Attractive and Friendly??

?So far, the site has generated?$160 in sales.?I have promoted it a bit on my Facebook pages?and sent an email to my subscribers' list.?I tried to combine everything I learned sofar in creating fastfollowers.net the Website went live the first week of April.

Domain's Info:

Registrar:?Godaddy (free push to godaddy members)

Domain Registered Date -? Jan 2012

How It Works:

- Customer clicks buy now?and will be directed to PayPal Payment Page and make a payment to you.
- You outsource the order to the supplier.
- The supplier completes your order and you just made hands free profit.

Maintenance: 2-3 hours weekly for handling orders and marketing the business on-line.

Winner Will get:

• Full ownership of domain name and Websites.
• Full website files, web graphics as well as databases and the contents.
• Site?Transfer?(I will transfer and install everything for you. Just sit and relax! )
• Support via email/skype/Gtalk from me for any questions you may have regarding the website, wordpress, ads and setups.
• Gravity Forms plugin?Developers?Licence ( Costs $199)
• CSS3 WEB?pricing?Tables plugin (Costs $15)
• All Design files
• Promo Video

?

AFTER SALES SUPPORT:

I provide support via email as often as you need it!

If you have any questions or want to get more details about how to run this business please feel?free to contact me by private message or email.

My Email: kash@trafficmeet.com

My skype: trafficmeet.support

As I said,?"fastfollowers.net"?is one of the best looking websites I have made and has?huge potential. It is ready to be handle by someone who will have time to develop it and generate thousands of dollars in profits. The site will definitely convert well.

Below are some of the Packages with their supplier costs:

1,100?Facebook?fans - $5----Selling for $9.99

10,000 twitter followers - $9.99----selling for $99

5,000 Instagram followers - $10.99---- selling for $69

250 Pinterest Followers - $5.00----Selling for $19

SEO Services:

Full SEO Website SEO audit - $4.95

100 .edu backlinks - $4.50

30,000 Unique Visitors - $23

and much much more...

Please go to the direct url at www.fastfollowers.net?as the Flippa top bar causes content loss (which is a well known issue with Flippa).

To express your interest to the seller, or post a public comment, you need to log in or sign up.

Source: https://flippa.com/2928344-beautiful-design-social-media-business-huge-income-potential-low-reserve

Cassadee Pope Victoria Soto nbc sports morgan freeman Survivor Philippines Fashion Island shooting Victor Cruz

The New ?Handmade?

Amid grumblings of a "general fatigue" when it comes to software-based startups, a potentially transformative technology called 3D printing is poised to reach critical mass and mainstream awareness. Today's news headlines about the technology tend to focus on the extreme possibilities in being able to print objects on demand - from the terrors of things like a homemade 3D-printed gun to heartwarming tales of printed robotic hands for children born without fingers. But the innovation is also powering a revolution of a different kind. An emerging class of creatives are using 3D printing techniques, not to either save or destroy the world and the people in it, but simply to create a little beauty along the way.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/JGpzyg6X2e4/

Chris Webber linda perry luke bryan WrestleMania 29 Lilly Pulitzer Ben And Jerrys Accidental Racist Lyrics

Audit THIS! Tea Party groups to protest at IRS offices nationwide on Tuesday (Michellemalkin)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/306878966?client_source=feed&format=rss

curacao home run derby kourtney kardashian kourtney kardashian DNS Changer ernest borgnine ESPYs 2012

Car bombs in Baghdad, south Iraq kill at least 34

BAGHDAD (AP) ? A wave of car bombings across Baghdad's Shiite neighborhoods and in the southern city of Basra killed at least 34 people on Monday, Iraqi officials said.

The attacks are the latest in a recent spike of bombings that has hit both Sunni and Shiite civilian targets over the past week. The bloodshed has raised fears of a return to the widespread sectarian violence of 2006-2007 that brought the country to the edge of civil war.

In the Iraqi capital, nine car bombs went off, striking at bus stops, market places and in the streets of Shiite areas during the busy morning hours, killing 24 people and wounding 112, according to police officials.

In the southern city of Basra, two car bombs ? one near a restaurant and the other at a bus stop ? killed at least 10 people and wounded 27, according to police officials in the oil-rich city.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts but such large-scale bombings bear the hallmarks of al-Qaida in Iraq.

Hospital officials in Baghdad and Basra confirmed the casualty tolls. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Tensions have been intensifying In Iraq since the country's minority since Sunnis began protesting what they say is mistreatment at the hands of the Shiite-led government, including random detentions and neglect.

The protests, which began in December, have largely been peaceful, but the number of attacks rose sharply after a deadly security crackdown on a Sunni protest camp in the country's north on April 23.

Majority Shiites control the levers of power in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq. Wishing to rebuild the nation rather than revert to open warfare, they have largely restrained their militias over the past five years or so as Sunni extremist groups such as al-Qaida have targeted them with occasional large-scale attacks.

___

Associated Press writer Nabil Al-Jurani in Basra contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-05-20-ML-Iraq/id-4a6ef1e82e09413cba542b6aa192606b

Neverwinter George Jones tim tebow Farrah Abraham Tape farrah abraham amber heard act

Audit THIS! Tea Party groups to protest at IRS offices nationwide on Tuesday (Michellemalkin)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/306878966?client_source=feed&format=rss

Benghazi Ariel Castro Filomena Tobias Raquel Pomplun the great gatsby the great gatsby stephen curry

Scientists respond to planet hunter's plight with pointers ? and poetry

NASA

An artist's conception shows NASA's Kepler space telescope observing a planetary transit.

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

NASA is getting plenty of advice?? and sympathy?? as it assesses whether its Kepler planet-hunting telescope can be revived after the failure of its reaction-control system. The reactions from scientists and engineers range from repair tips to an Audenesque elegy. Here's a sampling:

---

How to fix Kepler
The reason why the $600 million Kepler spacecraft can no longer search for planetary transits is that two of its four gyroscopic reaction wheels can no longer spin. Mission managers say Kepler needs at least three of those wheels in working order to hold its position still enough to stare at alien stars.

The most recent part to fail is known as reaction wheel 4. The mission's deputy project manager, Charlie Sobeck, told reporters that the Kepler team could try putting some reverse torque on that wheel in hopes of freeing it up.

Two other possibilities were raised by Scott Hubbard, who headed NASA's Ames Research Center during the development of the Kepler mission and is now a consulting professor of aeronautics and astronautics at Stanford University.

One option would be to try turning on reaction wheel 2, which failed last July. "It was putting metal on metal, and the friction was interfering with its operation, so you could see if the lubricant that is in there, having sat quietly, has redistributed itself, and maybe it will work," Hubbard said in a Stanford Q&A.

"The other scheme, and this has never been tried, involves using thrusters and the solar pressure exerted on the solar panels to try and act as a third reaction wheel and provide additional pointing stability," he said. The mission's principal investigator, Ames' Bill Borucki, said on Wednesday the thrusters couldn't hold the spacecraft stable enough for planet-hunting. Nevertheless, it might be one of the options under consideration.

For the time being, Kepler has been put into a holding pattern that should minimize its thruster fuel consumption and give the Kepler team several months to weigh all the options, the costs and the potential scientific benefits.

The problems facing the Kepler planet-hunting probe are reviewed in NASA's weekly video roundup.

Going beyond Kepler
Even if the Kepler spacecraft can't be revived, Borucki says that only half of the data collected so far have been fully analyzed. He estimates it'll take another two years or so to complete the analysis.

Meanwhile, NASA has just given the go-ahead its next planet-hunting satellite: the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS. That $200 million project would put a telescope array in space in 2017 to perform an all-sky survey, looking for exoplanets in orbit around the nearest and brightest stars. That strategy is markedly different from the one used by Kepler, which stared at a relatively small patch of sky straddling the constellations Cygnus and Vega.

This October, the European Space Agency plans to launch a space probe called Gaia to conduct a census of more than a billion stars in the Milky Way. Gaia could detect thousands of distant planetary systems, and measure their orbits and masses using a technique known as astrometry.

ESA is working on another planet hunter called the Characterizing Exoplanets Satellite, or CHEOPS, which is due for launch in 2017. CHEOPS would conduct high-resolution transit observations of stars that have already been found to host planets.?

The $8.8 billion James Webb Space Telescope, which NASA bills as the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, could conceivably analyze the atmospheres of alien planets. It's currently due for launch in 2018.

Paying tribute to Kepler
NASA's associate administrator for science, John Grunsfeld, said it's too early to consider Kepler "down and out." But many astronomers fear that Kepler's planet-hunting days are finished.

"I think 'The mission is not over' means 'the mission is over,'" Caltech's Mike Brown said in a Twitter update on Wednesday. "Might be other things it can do. But, kids, I think the mission is over."

Alan Boss, an astrophysicist at the Carnegie Institution for Science who's part of the Kepler team,?was similarly downbeat. In an email sent to AAAS MemberCentral, he called this week's setback a "disaster":

"I am afraid that the loss of this second reaction wheel effectively means the partial loss of Kepler's main science goal: determining the frequency of Earth-sized planets orbiting their stars at distances such that liquid water could occur on the planets' surfaces.?Kepler has taken an outstandingly impressive four years of data, but we still need another three or so years of outstandingly impressive data to be certain of the frequency of Earth-size planets. Right now we have enough data to make an intelligent extrapolation about what that number is, but that is not the same as actually determining that number. Kepler was planned to do that for us. There is no other mission in sight that can reproduce for us what Kepler was in the process of doing. The upcoming?(2017) NASA TESS Mission?will help to push the exoplanet field forward, but it is not designed to find Earthlike planets around sunlike stars, like Kepler was."

"This is one of the saddest days in my life. A crippled Kepler may be able to do other things, but it cannot do the one thing it was designed to do."

Another Kepler team member, Geoff Marcy of the University of California at Berkeley, told KQED that he felt dizzy and teary-eyed over the spacecraft's situation. "It?s a loss for our species," he said. "That sounds dramatic, but we pride ourselves as a species of exploration, seeking answers beyond the horizon, answers about our place in the universe. And Kepler was answering those questions."

Marcy went so far as to tweak W.H. Auden's poem "Funeral Blues" to pay tribute to Kepler. Here's the astronomer's elegy to a spacecraft:

Stop all the clocks, cut off the Internet,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let jet airplanes circle at night overhead
Sky-writing over Cygnus: Kepler is dead.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of doves,
Let the traffic officers wear black cotton gloves.

Kepler was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week, no weekend rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talks, my song;
I thought Kepler would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are still wanted now; let's honor every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods;
For nothing will ever be this good.

With thanks to W.H.Auden.

---

For a video rendition of "Funeral Blues," check out this clip from "Four Weddings and a Funeral."

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the NBC News Science Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with NBCNews.com's stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2c1458b4/l/0Lcosmiclog0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A50C180C183288810Escientists0Erespond0Eto0Eplanet0Ehunters0Eplight0Ewith0Epointers0Eand0Epoetry0Dlite/story01.htm

pid corned beef hash the walking dead season 2 finale born free walking dead finale nascar bristol narwhal

Kanye West Projects "New Slaves" Music Video on Buildings Around the World

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/05/kanye-west-projects-new-slaves-music-video-on-buildings-around-t/

What Is Labor Day jersey shore Pasquale Rotella Michael Clark Duncan michael jackson courtney stodden Ncaa Football Scores

Milwaukee bra ban is lifted after publicity campaign

Milwaukee bra ban: A Milwaukee city inspector cited a bowling alley and bar for hanging dozens of bras from the ceiling as a fire hazard. But the owner used publicity to get the bra ban lifted.

By Carrie Antlfinger,?Associated Press / May 18, 2013

Marcy Skowronski, 87, sorts a pile of bras that used hang from the ceiling of her bar and bowling alley, Holler House, in Milwaukee. The city told her recently they were a fire hazard and ordered them to be taken down but later backed down.

(AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger)

Enlarge

A historic Milwaukee bowling alley and bar almost went without the appropriate support after a city inspector decided dozens of bras hanging from its ceiling were a fire hazard.

Skip to next paragraph

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } 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 = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

Subscribe Today to the Monitor

Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of
The Christian Science Monitor
Weekly Digital Edition

Holler House owner Marcy Skowronski said she and some of her friends started the tradition 45 years ago, when they had a few drinks and threw their bras onto skis hanging from the bar's ceiling.

They've amassed dozens of all sizes and colors over the years, even replacing old bras with new ones at the bar's 100th anniversary five years ago. Many times people sign and date the bras or leave notes on them.

But an inspector that visited in April apparently wasn't as accepting of the tradition. She said the bras were a fire hazard and Skowronski needed to take them down.

"They've been hanging there for 45 years," Skowronski said Friday. "I had inspectors here for 45 years. Every year they come and nobody's said anything."

The 87-year-old great-grandmother, who has worked at the bar for 59 years, went to the city Tuesday to appeal but missed the deadline. So her son-in-law took the bras down for fear they would get a fine, which according to the official inspection order can run from $150 to $10,000 a day.

Taking the bras down made Skowronski even more frustrated. She called a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist, hoping publicity would help, and her alderman, Bob Donovan. Donovan made some calls, and within a day the city backed down.

"Long story short, common sense prevailed and the city backed down," Donovan said.

"We're going to have a rehang the bras party over there and perhaps charge at the door," he added. "And any money we are able to bring in, the proceeds will go to buying a little common sense for the Department of Neighborhood Services."

Besides the bras, the bar started by Skowronski's in-laws in 1908 is also known for its two downstairs bowling alleys, which are the oldest certified in America according to its sign.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/ffME_tu3IQg/Milwaukee-bra-ban-is-lifted-after-publicity-campaign

bars lindzi cox bachelor finale courtney robertson ben flajnik hunger games premiere red meat

What Kind of Wallet Do You Carry? Sleek and Slim or Over-Stuffed?

Zippo, a brand long associated with smokers and arsonists, has now decided to use its expertise in stainless steel to help those burdened with a giant Costanza wallet as it's come to be known. The company's new wallet is just under half an-inch thick, and its stainless steel housing will help block wireless signals if you're worried about ID theft.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/cScEK7qu0v8/what-kind-of-wallet-do-you-carry-sleek-and-slim-or-ove-507654354

lra lra eric johnson eric johnson big east tournament ashley olsen new apple tv

Facebook Says Likes Must Have Free-Speech Protection

In a court room in Virginia, Facebook's lawyers are busy arguing that the social network's "Like" feature needs to be recognised with free-speech protection under the US Constitution.

The Big Blue is hoping it can reverse a lower court ruling, which arose from a lawsuit which suggested a Facebook ?Like? isn?t First Amendment speech. Bloomberg explains the background to that case:

The case involves Danny Carter, a former Hampton jailer, who claims he was fired after he posted a picture of his boss?s opponent in the sheriff?s race on his Facebook page, along with a link to the contender?s website. The post, made almost four years ago because Carter clicked the ?Like? button on the ?Jim Adams for Hampton Sheriff? Facebook page, was the subject of arguments today over how to view one-click, online endorsements of a person, idea or product.

There are two opposing stances over how much protection a Facebook like deserves. Back in April 2012, District Judge Raymond Jackson ruled that ?liking? something on Facebook didn?t amount to ?a substantive statement? that warranted constitutional protection.

But in this new hearing, Circuit Judge Stephanie Thacker has noted that ?Carter clicked the Like because he liked something... How is that any different than perhaps putting a sign in the yard saying ?I Like Ike??? If you were wondering, yard signs were ruled protected speech by the US Supreme Court in 1994.

Of course, the arguments far from over?and it's not clear that the judgement in the current case, Bland v. Roberts, will be the end of things. But in the meantime, it might just pay to be careful about what you choose to Like. [Bloomberg]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/facebook-likes-must-have-free-speech-protection-508133613

eric cantor HGTV Sugar Bowl 2013 chick fil a chick fil a rose parade bowl games

Easy Innovation for the Enterprise : Just Let ServiceNow Run Your IT ...

Bart Murphy, who serves as Vice President of Shared Services and CTO of CareWorks, sat down with Dave Vellante and Jeff Frick on theCube at ServiceNow Knowledge13 to speak about his service experience.

CareWorks is a family of six businesses. Murphy explains that five of them re centered on healthcare in different avenues, while one is technology consulting business that also services the other 5 businesses. The ServiceNow platform is currently being used on all six of these businesses as well.

?I had to look at a platform that could help me run the business of IT so that I could focus on the innovation of the enterprise.?

When he joined on as CTO, Murphy said that each business had different levels of interaction with IT and also had varying amounts of sophistication when it came to technology. He sought out ServiceNow to create a standardized way to interface with all the business. With the integration there have not only been improvements technology-wise, but improvements in business operations have also been impacted to save the company costs in other realms.

Watch the entire discussion below.

Anthony Coln is a Morehouse College grad with a degree in Mathematics. He covers the ServicesAngle and DevOps beats. If you have a news tip or story idea, please tweet us @SiliconAngle

Source: http://siliconangle.com/blog/2013/05/16/easy-innovation-for-the-enterprise-just-let-servicenow-run-your-it-business/

kevin love think like a man world peace world peace lakers colorectal cancer metta neil diamond

Computer Games May Improve 'Chemo Brain' in Cancer Patients

Doing computer puzzles may improve thinking skills in women who've undergone chemotherapy, according to a Stanford study.

In the study, breast cancer survivors who suffered from cognitive impairments due to chemotherapy, sometimes called chemo brain, showed enhanced cognitive functions after three months of playing online games, according to the researchers. The games targeted various cognitive skills such as verbal fluency and memory.

While physical side effects of chemotherapy such as fatigue, nausea and hair loss are well-known and common, many cancer patients also experience cognitive problems that affect their quality of life. Research shows that chemotherapy can change the brain, and damage cognitive functions.

The study included 41 breast cancer patients who were randomly assigned to either a group that completed computer exercises four times a week for three months, or a control group. Exercises included mentally rotating objects, word finding, route planning and puzzle solving.

The women who played the games showed markedly larger improvements in word finding, thinking speed and verbal memory, compared to the control group.

The women who played the games also reported fewer everyday cognitive function problems, according to the study published this month in the journal Clinical Breast Cancer.

The findings suggest that cancer patients with cognitive deficits might benefit from behavioral and non-pharmacological interventions such as brain training exercises, researchers said.

Follow Bahar Gholipour @alterwired. Follow MyHealthNewsDaily @MyHealth_MHND, Facebook & Google+. Originally published on LiveScience.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/computer-games-may-improve-chemo-brain-cancer-patients-120305128.html

john goodman kendall marshall whitney houston news sylvia plath whitney houston autopsy results obama trayvon jim yong kim

Boston bomb suspect's nasty note

As police searched for him, and as he lay bleeding in his boat hideout, Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev wrote "F*** America" on the side panel of the boat, police in Massachusetts told ABC News.

Officers said they also discovered the phrase "Praise Allah" on the boat's side panels and several anti-American screeds, including references to Iraq, Afghanistan and "the infidels."

A Massachusetts official showed ABC News what he said was a cell phone picture of the phrase "Praise Allah," written in black ink, with a bullet hole above it, believed to have been written by Dzhokhar as he hid inside the boat in Watertown, Mass.

Also seen in the picture was the faintly written word "brother," which the official said was part of a reference by the younger Tsarnaev "that was something about his brother is lucky to be with Allah first."

Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed hours earlier during a shootout with police several blocks away from the location of the boat.

Spokespeople for the Massachusetts State Police and the Watertown police had denied the existence of the writings when first asked about them by ABC News two weeks ago.

Today, both departments referred reporters to the FBI. A federal law enforcement official confirmed reports first broadcast by CBS News that writings had been discovered inside the boat.

The discovery of writings intensified tensions between the FBI and local police when FBI agents believed some Boston officers and state police had taken cell phone pictures of the writing.

Agents demanded the phones of all officers at the scene the night of the capture of Dzhokhar be confiscated to avoid the photos becoming public before being used as evidence at trial, according to two law enforcement officials.

A FBI spokesperson said agents cannot confiscate phones without a warrant and officials said none of the police approached would agree to turn over their phones to the FBI.

Dhzokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev are accused of setting off a pair of bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon April 15, killing three people, including an eight-year-old boy, and injuring more than 260 others. Tamerlan was killed in a shootout with police days after the attack, while Dhzokhar was wounded and later captured in the boat.

FULL COVERAGE: Boston Marathon Explosion

CLICK HERE to return to The Investigative Unit homepage.

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/f-america-boston-marathon-bomb-164144997.html

Ed Koch Groundhog Day 2013 What Time Is The Superbowl Caleb Moore House of Cards Warm Bodies Colin Kaepernick

The Lead: CIA role underreported (CNN)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/306080978?client_source=feed&format=rss

bon iver abraham lincoln vampire hunter their eyes were watching god lara logan manu ginobili sports illustrated swimsuit 2012 aretha franklin whitney houston

Head to Lafayette park for free fishing program this weekend | WLFI ...

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Anyone who wants to take up fishing can learn how at a special event this Saturday in Munger Park in Lafayette.

The event coincides with statewide Free Fishing Day, according to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR). It?s a day when Hoosiers do not need a fishing license to fish in public waters, and is in conjunction with GoFishIN in the City, a new DNR program promoting fishing in Indiana?s urban areas.

The event is free and open to the public, however children must be joined by a parent or adult. Registration runs from 8:30 to 9 p.m. at the park, and the entire event runs until noon.

If you participate, you?ll get instructions on angler ethics, fish identification, fishing tackle, casting technique and fish cleaning. After the instruction anglers will fish with casting coaches.

Fishing poles, bait and tackle will all be provided.

Beforehand, the DNR will stock 100 keeper-size channel catfish in the 5-acre pond at Munger Park.

The event is sponsored by the DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife and the Lafayette Parks and Recreation Department.

Fore more, including where the DNR is stocking fish through the program, visit the DNR?s website.

Source: http://www.wlfi.com/dpp/living_green/head-to-lafayette-park-for-free-fishing-program-this-weekend

Kyle Long UFC 159 aaron rodgers Lane Johnson Barkevious Mingo nfl draft 2013 NFL draft

Gold falls further in longest losing streak in four years

By A. Ananthalakshmi

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold fell on Friday for a seventh straight session, in its longest losing streak since March 2009, as the dollar strengthened and investors cut exposure to the precious metal, fearing further drops and choosing equities instead.

Gold has lost nearly 6 percent of its value in the six sessions through Thursday as stocks gained on the back of strong U.S. economic data, and on fears the Federal Reserve could end its bullion-friendly bond buying program.

Spot gold was down 0.34 percent at $1,380.91 an ounce by 0538 GMT, having fallen to a four-week low of $1,369.29 on Thursday as renewed liquidation in gold ETFs and a recent drop below the $1,400-per-ounce level spooked investors.

The metal is down 17 percent for the year and is on track for its worst weekly decline in a month. Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell to their lowest in four years.

Physical demand was also quiet on Friday as consumers in the biggest gold buyers, India and China, wait for prices to stabilize or drop further, traders and dealers said.

"Many people are waiting on the sidelines as they are expecting another drop," said Brian Lan, managing director of GoldSilver Central Pte Ltd in Singapore.

Demand in India is being hurt by central bank curbs on gold imports. Limits on bank consignments have hit supply and triggered a sharp jump in premiums.

Indian gold futures fell 1.5 percent on Thursday, extending losses for a second straight session to their lowest level in nearly a month, in line with global markets.

Lan said buying in India had fallen significantly from Monday, which saw the celebration of Akshaya Tritiya, considered an auspicious day to buy gold.

Premiums quoted in India on gold bars were as high as $5 an ounce, another physical dealer said.

Premiums for gold bars in Hong Kong, the main source of gold for China, hit record highs this week on supply constraints.

"Premiums for gold kilo bars have increased quite substantially. In Asia, gold bars are hard to come by," Lan said.

Gold demand fell 13 percent to a three-year low of 963 tonnes in the first quarter, as rising jewellery demand and strong appetite for coins and bars failed to offset a sharp drop in investment, the World Gold Council says.

Spot gold is headed towards a low last seen in April, when fears of European countries liquidating gold reserves sent gold prices tumbling.

SPDR said holdings fell 0.55 percent to 1041.42 tonnes on Thursday, the lowest in four years.

U.S. gold for June delivery was down 0.52 percent at $1,379.70.

The dollar held firm near a 10-month high versus a basket of currencies on Friday while Asian shares were mixed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gold-falls-further-longest-losing-streak-four-years-063545724.html

tim tebow Farrah Abraham Tape farrah abraham amber heard act Google Now Jason Collins

Schieffer: "Is anybody home" in Washington? (cbsnews)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/306278742?client_source=feed&format=rss

Cassadee Pope Victoria Soto nbc sports morgan freeman Survivor Philippines Fashion Island shooting Victor Cruz

Heat rally past Bulls to advance, 94-91

Miami Heat's Chris Bosh and Norris Cole (30) celebrate after the Heat defeated the Chicago Bulls 94-91 in Game 5 of an NBA basketball Eastern Conference semifinal, Wednesday, May 15, 2013, in Miami. The win sent the Heat to the conference finals. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Miami Heat's Chris Bosh and Norris Cole (30) celebrate after the Heat defeated the Chicago Bulls 94-91 in Game 5 of an NBA basketball Eastern Conference semifinal, Wednesday, May 15, 2013, in Miami. The win sent the Heat to the conference finals. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade, right, shoots as Chicago Bulls' Richard Hamilton (32) defends during the first half of Game 5 of an NBA basketball Eastern Conference semifinal, Wednesday, May 15, 2013, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Miami Heat's Udonis Haslem (40) dunks in front of Chicago Bulls' Joakim Noah (13) during the first half of Game 5 of an NBA basketball Eastern Conference semifinal, Wednesday, May 15, 2013, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Miami Heat's Chris Bosh (1) drives to the basket as Chicago Bulls' Jimmy Butler, right, defends during the first half of Game 5 of an NBA basketball Eastern Conference semifinal, Wednesday, May 15, 2013 in Miami. At left is Bulls' Carlos Boozer. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Chicago Bulls' Nate Robinson, right, drives to the basket as Miami Heat's Norris Cole, center, defends during the first half of Game 5 of an NBA basketball Eastern Conference semifinal, Wednesday, May 15, 2013, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

MIAMI (AP) ? The tape around Dwyane Wade's right knee was soaked with sweat and beginning to loosen, so he headed to the locker room to get the joint re-wrapped during the fourth quarter.

Must have been one amazing tape job.

Wade was brilliant down the stretch ? and the Miami Heat are heading back to the Eastern Conference finals as a result.

LeBron James scored 23 points, Wade added 18 and the Heat clawed back from an 11-point second-half deficit to beat the Chicago Bulls 94-91 on Wednesday night and close out their second-round series in five games.

"We gave it everything we had," James said. "I have no energy left."

The Heat outscored Chicago 25-14 in the fourth quarter to escape and advance.

"I knew it was going to be a tough fourth quarter," Wade said. "I just wanted to make sure I was good."

Wade made all three of his shots in the fourth, scored six points ? his most in a final period since March 27, when Miami's 27-game winning streak ended at Chicago ? and helped ice the victory with a dazzling 45-second blitz in the final moments.

In that span alone, Wade had a blocked shot, defensive rebound, offensive rebound and putback dunk to help cap a wild night of wild comebacks. The Heat blew an early 18-point lead, then engineered a late rally to finish off the depleted Bulls.

"Dwyane is uncanny," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "When the competition is at its highest, and its fiercest, he finds a way."

The Bulls still had two chances on their last possession to force overtime. But Nate Robinson and Jimmy Butler missed 3-pointers, time expired, and Miami moved on to face Indiana or New York next week.

Carlos Boozer finished with 26 points and 14 rebounds for the Bulls, who were without Derrick Rose for the 99th straight game, as well as Kirk Hinrich (calf) and Luol Deng (illness). Robinson scored 21 points, Butler had 19, and Richard Hamilton 15 for the Bulls, who dropped the final four games of the series.

"Obviously we're disappointed in losing the series," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "But I was never disappointed in our team. I thought our team fought hard all year long. There was no quit in them."

A team that played without the 2011 NBA MVP in Rose, and dealt with a slew of other issues along the way, was within a couple shots from forcing the reigning champions to fly back to Chicago for a Game 6 on Friday night.

"We've got warriors here," Boozer said. "If we're healthy next season, we're going to be pretty good."

The Heat say they have more than a few of those warrior-types as well, including Wade. When the stakes were highest Wednesday, he was there for the Heat.

"I'll go on and on about how great he is," James said. "I really don't care for the trash talk that he receives."

For the Bulls, it was a sudden end to a season in which they never had their best player.

Rose was the NBA's MVP in 2011, but has now missed 126 of the Bulls' last 155 games with a variety of ailments ? most seriously, the one where his knee gave way in Game 1 of Chicago's first-round series against Philadelphia in April 2012.

"He has to keep working," Thibodeau said. "I think he's in a pretty good place mentally. ... We feel good about where he is. He has the whole summer to build more confidence. That's the important thing."

Chicago was up by eight entering the fourth, before Shane Battier opened the period with a 3-pointer for Miami. Another 3-pointer from Battier came not long afterward, and he connected on a pair of free throws after being fouled on a 3-point try to cut Chicago's lead to 81-79.

Norris Cole had a pair of baskets, the second being a driving, left-handed dunk, to put Miami on top, and the Heat found a way to close it out from there, even though it wasn't easy, by any measure.

Robinson's 3-pointer with 1:43 left got the Bulls to 94-91. No one scored again, even though there were plenty of chances both ways.

"I had a good couple of minutes," Wade said. "I knew they've seen a lot of LeBron and Norris. I knew they weren't prepared for me to attack, which is what I was able to do."

Miami will open the East finals at home next week. If Indiana beats New York on Thursday ? the Pacers lead that series 3-1 ? then the Heat and Pacers will meet in Game 1 in Miami on Monday. If the Knicks extend the Pacers to at least six games, then the East finals open Wednesday, regardless of opponent.

"It only gets more difficult and more challenging," Spoelstra said.

Miami led 22-4 just past the midpoint of the opening quarter. Since the start of Game 4, in barely over 53 minutes of play, the Heat had outscored the Bulls by 41 points. Everyone in the building ? except for the 20 or so guys in red uniforms or wearing suits on the Chicago bench ? had to be thinking that the series was over.

And then Game 5 turned into a microcosm of the Bulls' season. They were unfazed, unflappable, unrelenting in the face of being counted out.

"We kept fighting," Joakim Noah said. "And kept fighting."

The Bulls kept getting stops on one end, making baskets on the other. Butler's 3-pointer with 4:46 left in the half gave Chicago its first advantage of the night, 38-36.

To recap, the game started with a 22-4 Heat run ? and in the 13 minutes that immediately followed, the Bulls rebutted with a 34-14 burst.

By halftime, it was 53-47. In the third, after Chicago briefly led by 11 ? remember, they were down 18, making that a 29-point turnaround ? the Bulls took a 77-69 edge into the final 12 minutes.

"We grinded it out," Boozer said. "We had chances. We just fell a little bit short."

And Miami moved on, now halfway home in its quest for a second straight title.

NOTES: Miami is 6-0 in its last six chances to close out a series. ... The Bulls had 16 turnovers, which Miami turned into 27 points. ... Hinrich's calf injury was improving, the Bulls said, but not to the point where he could play.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-05-16-Bulls-Heat%20Folo/id-caeee746d47c497f906d3af35148db1e

tmz Sizzurp the bachelor earthquake What is a Jesuit pi day Samsung Galaxy S4