Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/295497850?client_source=feed&format=rss
Melissa Nelson sound of music foot locker champs champs calvin johnson calvin johnson
Friday, March 29, 2013
Gay marriage at high court: How a case can fizzle
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Late in the oral argument over same-sex marriage in California, Justice Anthony Kennedy made a startling comment, given the months of buildup and mountain of legal briefs that have descended on the justices.
"You might address why you think we should take and decide this case," Kennedy said to lawyer Charles Cooper, representing opponents of same-sex marriage.
One might have thought the court had already crossed that bridge.
But now the justices were openly discussing essentially walking away from the case over California's Proposition 8, a voter-approved ban on gay marriage, without deciding anything at all about such unions.
Indeed, this case offers a rare glimpse at the court's opaque internal workings, in which justices make cold political calculations about what to do and Kennedy's often-decisive vote can never be far from his colleagues' minds.
The court on Wednesday concluded two days of arguments involving gay marriage. In the second case, a constitutional challenge to a portion of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, a majority of the court appeared likely to rule that legally married gay couples should be able to receive a range of benefits that the law currently reserves for straight married couples.
The decision to hear the DOMA case was easy. The Supreme Court almost always has the final word when lower courts strike down a federal law, as they did in this case.
Proposition 8's route to the Supreme Court was not as obvious. The appeals court ruling under review by the justices seems to have been written to discourage the high court from ever taking up the case because it applies only to California and limited a much broader opinion that had emerged earlier from the trial court.
And yet in December, the court decided it would hear the case. It takes a majority of five to decide a case a particular way, but just four justices can vote to add a case to the calendar. And the court does not disclose how the justices vote at this stage.
It seems apparent after the argument, though, that it was the conservative justices who opted to hear Proposition 8. It also seems that one factor in their decision was that this could be their last, best opportunity to slow the nation's march toward recognition of gay marriage at a time when only nine states and the District of Columbia allow gays and lesbians to marry ? despite a rapid swing in public opinion in favor of gay marriage.
From their comments and questions Tuesday, Justices Samuel Alito and Antonin Scalia indicated they preferred what they called the cautious approach: allowing the debate over gay marriage to play out in the states and not overturning by judicial fiat the will of California voters who approved Proposition 8 in 2008. Justice Clarence Thomas, as is his custom, said nothing during the argument, but he and Scalia were dissenters in the court's earlier two gay rights cases in 1996 and 2003.
Chief Justice John Roberts also had tough questions for lawyers for the same-sex couples who sued for the right to marry, and for the Obama administration.
Scalia sought to counter Kennedy's comment, and a similar one from Justice Sonia Sotomayor, that maybe the court should get rid of the case.
"It's too late for that, too late for that now, isn't it? I mean, we granted cert," Scalia said, using the legal shorthand for the court's decision to hear a case. "We have crossed that river, I think."
Once or twice a term, occasionally more often, the justices do dismiss cases after they have been argued, without rendering opinions and establishing a rule for the whole nation. The language they use is the wonderfully vague "dismissed as improvidently granted." Roughly translated, it means "sorry for wasting everyone's time."
That is one potential outcome, discussed publicly by Kennedy and Sotomayor.
Another possibility would be a decision limited to the technical legal question of whether the Proposition 8 supporters have the right to defend the measure in court. If they don't, the court can't reach the broader issues in the case.
On this point, Roberts' view seemed more in line with questions from some of the liberal justices.
So why would a justice who appeared favorably inclined to California's ban on gay marriage want to rule that the case should not even be in front of the court?
The answer is that Roberts might want to dispose of the case in this narrow way if he saw a decision in support of gay marriage emerging and wanted to block it. Or, he might choose this route if the justices appeared unable to reach a decisive ruling of any kind.
Narrowly based decisions sometimes seem more attractive to the justices than fractured rulings.
One example is the court's 2009 decision in a voting rights case in which eight of the justices agreed to sidestep the looming and major constitutional issue in the case after an argument in which the court appeared sharply split along ideological lines.
___
Follow Mark Sherman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/shermancourt
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gay-marriage-high-court-case-fizzle-065952825--politics.html
devils dodgers rachel maddow gia la riots new jersey devils torn acl
Britain opens inquest into Berezovsky's unexplained death
By Maria Golovnina
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain opens a judicial inquiry into the death of Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky on Thursday to establish how he died in the locked bathroom of his vast mansion near London.
Berezovsky, who survived years of intrigue, power struggles and assassination attempts in Russia, was found dead on Saturday in his home in Ascot, a town close to Queen Elizabeth's Windsor Castle.
Police said there was no sign of a struggle and the 67-year-old's death was "consistent with hanging", suggesting he might have killed himself.
Berezovsky was the king-maker behind Vladimir Putin's ascent to power in Russia but later became his number-one enemy and fled to Britain in 2000.
Berezovsky's associates have hinted he was depressed after losing a $6 billion court case against another tycoon, Roman Abramovich, last year, when a judge humiliated him publicly by saying he was an unimpressive and unreliable witness.
Other people close to him have said they were not convinced by the official account.
"If he really hanged himself why was that not known from the very beginning?" said Andrei Sidelnikov, an opposition figure who knew Berezovsky. "I don't believe it was a suicide."
In Russia, state media quoted Deputy Prosecutor General Alexander Zvyagintsev as saying the government would continue efforts to "bring back assets that Berezovsky and his accomplices acquired criminally and legalized abroad".
Mass-circulation tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda, which supports the Kremlin, ran a front page headline on Wednesday that read: "Did Berezovsky hang himself or did he have help?"
The inquest will open in the town of Windsor on Thursday.
MANIPULATOR
A master of political manipulation, Berezovsky had been known as the "godfather of the Kremlin" and wielded immense influence during a decade that followed the Soviet collapse.
Once a mathematician with Nobel Prize aspirations, he built a massive business empire under former President Boris Yeltsin and was the first of Russia's so-called oligarchs.
He then became one of the first victims of a ruthless political crackdown of the early Putin era after falling out with his prot?g?.
Once in exile, Berezovsky often said he feared for his life, particularly after the fatal poisoning of his friend and former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko with a dose of the radioactive isotope polonium-210 in London in 2006.
Another friend and business partner, Badri Patarkatsishvili, also died in unclear circumstances two years later.
For many, Berezovsky personified the decade of wild capitalism, chaos and violence that followed the Soviet fall. He left a trail of enemies in Russia and beyond, and no doubt once featured on many a hit list.
Berezovsky survived an assassination attempt in 1994 when a bomb exploded in his car, decapitating his driver.
In his final months he led a much less extravagant life, apparently bitter and broken and rarely seen in public.
He suffered another blow in 2011 when he was forced to pay one of Britain's biggest divorce settlements to his former wife Galina. Media reported the settlement topped $100 million.
"My father was not the typical parent, nothing about him was ordinary," said his daughter Anastasia in a tribute. "He has colored my life in infinite ways, and I know that what he concerned himself most with was making all his children proud."
(Additional reporting by Steve Gutterman in Moscow; Writing by Maria Golovnina; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/britain-opens-inquest-berezovskys-unexplained-death-231921302.html
aaron smith wilt chamberlain joe arpaio cat in the hat green eggs and ham wiz khalifa and amber rose oh the places you ll go
Budget cuts border security, immigrant detention
FILE - In this Jan. 3, 2013 file photo, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton speaks during a news conference at ICE headquarters in Washington. The Obama administration reversed itself Thursday, acknowledging to Congress that it had, in fact, released more than 2,000 illegal immigrants from immigration jails due to budget constraints during three weeks in February. Four deemed especially dangerous have been placed back in jail. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
FILE - In this Jan. 3, 2013 file photo, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton speaks during a news conference at ICE headquarters in Washington. The Obama administration reversed itself Thursday, acknowledging to Congress that it had, in fact, released more than 2,000 illegal immigrants from immigration jails due to budget constraints during three weeks in February. Four deemed especially dangerous have been placed back in jail. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
In this photo posted to the Twitter account of U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., McCain, right, and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., left, stand with U.S. Border Patrol agents during a tour of the Mexico border with the United States on Wednesday, March 27, 2013, in Nogales, Ariz. The senators are part of a larger group of legislators shaping and negotiating details of an immigration reform package vowed Wednesday to make the legislation public when Congress reconvenes next month. McCain tweeted that he witnessed a woman successfully climb the 18-foot fence during the visit. (AP Photo/Office of Sen. John McCain)
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., right, and Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., left, listen as Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., talks prior to a news conference after their tour of the Mexico border with the United States on Wednesday, March 27, 2013, in Nogales, Ariz The senators are part of a larger group of legislators, including Sen. Michael Bennett, D-CO, who also joined the three at the border for the tour, who are shaping and negotiating details of an immigration reform package vowed Wednesday to make the legislation public when Congress reconvenes next month. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
PHOENIX (AP) ? Marco Antonio Durazo had been awaiting deportation from an Arizona detention center for six months when an officer came to get him from his cell.
"Obama doesn't have any money," the officer said.
"We found it very funny," Durazo said, but it wasn't a joke.
Soon, he was free along with hundreds of other illegal immigrants who were released by the Obama administration because of budget pressures. Officials have also scaled back border agent hours, drug patrols and staffing at border crossings ? all during the peak illegal border-crossing season.
While prompted by the nation's money woes, the changes also come amid the nation's shifting immigration policy after years of mass arrests and deportations and billions spent on border security.
The long-term impact of that change has yet to be seen. The Border Patrol said January and February numbers showed a nearly 10 percent increase in apprehensions along the Mexico border for the first two months of the year, compared with 2012.
There could be several factors for the rise, including immigrants motivated by an improving U.S. economy or those anticipating congressional action that could create a path to citizenship. The cuts come as lawmakers are struggling to work out a comprehensive immigration reform package whose success may ultimately be tied to questions of border security.
On Wednesday, Sen. John McCain led a bipartisan group of senators on a tour of the border, and they said they were close to a deal but continued to tie it to keeping immigration in check. They promised more details next week, but McCain said that there's "no doubt" in his mind that the border is less secure because of the budget cuts.
The release of more than 2,200 immigrants like Durazo drew headlines this month as the government prepared for looming cuts that began in March. In February, the government let go of hundreds of immigrants from detention centers in states including Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia and Texas. The administration planned to let roughly 3,000 more go in March, according to an internal government budget document reviewed by the AP and later released by the House Judiciary Committee.
The moves were an attempt by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to get its detainee population in line with what it could afford. The released immigrants still face deportation but will not be held while awaiting their court dates.
Some in Congress said ICE should have explained beforehand that there wasn't enough money to keep everyone in detention.
The immigrants and their lawyers say they were released with little notice or instruction beyond being told to check in periodically.
In many cases, the immigrants were dropped off in the middle of the night at bus stations or airports in metropolitan centers without money to finish their journey home. In Florida, some were released from a facility bordering rural swamp land outside Miami.
Critics argue the plan allowed the release of thousands of criminals without regard to public safety, but officials say almost all the detainees were characterized as low risk. ICE Director John Morton told a congressional panel that 10 of the 2,228 people were the highest level of offender.
"In reducing detention levels, we took careful steps to ensure that national security and public safety were not compromised," he told a congressional hearing.
Meanwhile, the Obama administration, in the midst of trying to get immigration overhauled, switched from daily declarations that the border was secure to warning of the increasingly dire consequences of cutting $754 million from Customs and Border Protection's $12 billion budget.
In the first week of the cuts, some agents in South Texas reported a spike in arrests of immigrants who said smugglers told them they would be briefly detained and then released. The agents' union quickly spread word of a "tidal wave" of immigrants taking advantage of the situation.
Several immigrants interviewed at a migrant shelter in Reynosa, Mexico, across the border from McAllen, Texas, said they had not heard anything suggesting now was a particularly good time to cross. Instead, several said they were returning home because the drug cartel that controlled river crossings made it too expensive and dangerous.
"Here, they say you can't cross the river right now because there are a lot of kidnappings. They're killing a lot of people," said Josue Manuel Vazquez, who added that he escaped kidnappers who held him for five days as they tried to extort $4,500 from his daughter, a legal U.S. resident.
Some contend the budget cuts are relatively small when put in the broader context of the huge build-up of border security over the past decade.
According to the Government Accountability Office, the Department of Homeland Security assigned about 28,100 people in 2004 to patrol land borders and inspect travelers at all ports of entry at a cost of about $5.9 billion. By the end of 2011, those figures were 41,400 employees at a cost of $11.8 billion.
"The scale of (automatic budget cuts) is minuscule compared to the vast build-up," said Geoff Boyce, spokesman for No More Deaths, an immigration advocacy group in Tucson, Ariz.
The effects of the cuts are being seen in border cities and among agents. Customs and Border Protection reduced overtime for its officers at ports of entry. In San Diego and other crossing points, that translated to fewer lanes open at land crossings and longer waits for people and trucks carrying produce and other goods from Mexico.
Those waits are only expected to worsen in coming weeks as the agency begins furloughs amid a hiring freeze. In a letter to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano warned that peak wait times at the busiest border crossings could reach five hours or more.
Border Patrol agents received notices advising them they would face up to 14 days of furloughs during the next six months and would no longer be eligible for overtime that for years has added an average of two hours to every agent's shift.
The agency is also suspending assignments known as "details" that sent agents from slower parts of the border to busier areas for months at a time. Agents on detail are often put up in hotels and receive a per diem.
The cuts have also forced the government to pull back on flight and ship patrols in the drug war in Central America.
Durazo learned about the budget issues while watching the news at his sister's home in the Phoenix area after his release. He crossed into the U.S. from his native Mexico in 1969 when he was 19, and he said he doesn't know what will happen next with his immigration case. He has, however, decided to embrace his good fortune.
"We gave many thanks to God, because we prayed a lot while we were in there," he said.
___
Cristina Silva can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/cristymsilva .
Christopher Sherman can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/chrisshermanap .
Associated Pressleap year moratorium dwts season 14 cast leap day michigan primary results olympia snowe davey jones dead
Spat between two Dutch companies sparks record-breaking 300Gbps DDoS attack
By Dave Warner (Reuters) - The winner of one of the biggest Powerball jackpots of all time owes $29,000 in overdue child support payments, the Passaic County, New Jersey, sheriff's office said on Thursday. Pedro Quezada, 44, a county resident who is married and the father of five children ages 5 to 23, was the sole winner of a $338 million jackpot on Saturday. Because he chose the lump sum option, instead of annual payments over 30 years, he will actually receive $211 million, lottery officials said on Thursday. Officials said that is the third-largest lump sum payment in Powerball history. ...
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/spat-between-two-dutch-companies-sparks-record-breaking-010927453.html
pecan pie recipe Hector Camacho Jill Kelly McKayla Maroney gronkowski jeremy renner best buy black friday deals
U.S. law to restrict government purchases of Chinese IT equipment
By Alina Selyukh and Doug Palmer
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress quietly tucked in a new cyber-espionage review process for U.S. government technology purchases into the funding law signed this week by President Barack Obama, reflecting growing U.S. concern over Chinese cyber attacks.
The law prevents NASA, and the Justice and Commerce Departments from buying information technology systems unless federal law enforcement officials give their OK.
A provision in the 240-page spending law requires the agencies to make a formal assessment of "cyber-espionage or sabotage" risk in consultation with law enforcement authorities when considering buying information technology systems.
The assessment must include "any risk associated with such system being produced, manufactured or assembled by one or more entities that are owned, directed or subsidized" by China.
The U.S. imports a total of about $129 billion worth of "advanced technology products" from China, according to a May, 2012 report by the Congressional Research Service.
The amendment to the so-called "continuing resolution" to fund the government through September 30 originated in the Commerce, Justice and Science subcommittee of the House of Representatives, chaired by Virginia Republican Representative Frank Wolf.
It had gotten little attention until a blog post this week by Stewart A. Baker, a partner in the Washington office of Steptoe & Johhson and a former Assistant Secretary in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Writing in the Volokh Conspiracy, one of the country's most prominent legal blogs, Baker wrote on Monday that the measure "could turn out to be a harsh blow" for Chinese computer-maker Lenovo and also "bring some surprises for American companies selling commercial IT gear to the government."
U.S. concern about Chinese cyber-attacks has mounted in recent months, with top officials - including President Barack Obama - vocally condemning the practice.
Obama raised the issue in a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this month, and told ABC news in an interview that some cyber security threats are "absolutely" sponsored by governments.
"We've made it very clear to China and some other of the state actors that, you know, we expect them to follow international norms and abide by international rules," he said.
Xi said the United States and China should avoid making "groundless accusations" against each other about cyber-security and work together on the problem.
The exchange came after U.S. computer security company Mandiant said a secret Chinese military unit based in Shanghai was the most likely driving force behind a series of hacking attacks on the United States.
Last year, the House Intelligence Committee released a report urging U.S. telecommunication companies not to do business with Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp because it said potential Chinese state influence on the companies posed a threat to U.S. security.
Both companies took issue with the report, which Huawei spokesman William Plummer called "baseless."
Plummer said in an email their reading of the bill is that it "does not apply to Huawei based on the description of covered entities."
Baker, a technology security lawyer, said he believed the language would live on in future appropriations bills and possibly get tougher over time.
"Once a provision ends up in the appropriations bill ... it tends to stay there unless there's a good reason to take it out," Baker said. "We could easily see (the appropriation committees) tighten up some of the language in the future."
China could challenge the measure as a violation of World Trade Organization rules, but may have a tough time making that case because it is not a member of the WTO agreement setting international rules for government procurement.
A Chinese government spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
The agreement also contains a national security exemption that would be another U.S. line of defense against a possible Chinese challenge, Baker said.
It is possible other countries could raise objections because of the potential for the provision to prevent purchases of Lenovo computers manufactured in Germany or Huawei handsets designed in Britain, he said.
But they may decide to tolerate it because of their own concerns about Chinese hacking, Baker said.
"The goal is not to hurt American and European companies that have operations in China," said a congressional aide who worked on the House bill where the wording originated. "It was really targeting entities that are directed by Beijing," said the aide, who asked not to be identified.
The federal government's purchases, which are funded by taxpayers' money, are often urged to give preference to vendors that offer the cheapest services.
The congressional aide said China may heavily subsidize some companies to present the U.S. market with a much lower price.
"It's a helpful reminder to look at the supply chain" of U.S. firms, the aide said. "The cheap option may be artificially lowered because potentially there are ulterior motives."
(Reporting by Alina Selyukh; Editing by Fred Barbash, Bernard Orr)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-law-restrict-government-purchases-chinese-equipment-210122056.html
What is a Jesuit nbc news pi day Samsung Galaxy S4 St Francis Anquan Boldin Pope Benedict
George Zimmerman's brother says Twitter rant a "mistake"
By Barbara Liston
ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - The brother of George Zimmerman, the man charged in the 2012 shooting death of unarmed black Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, said on Wednesday he was wrong to tweet a series of racially charged comments about his brother's case.
"I made a mistake," Robert Zimmerman Jr. said during an appearance on CNN's Piers Morgan Live. "It unfortunately may not have helped George."
George Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder for killing Martin, who was 17, after an altercation in a residential neighborhood in Sanford, Florida.
Prosecutors contend George Zimmerman, then a neighborhood watch captain, racially profiled Martin, then pursued and shot him while Martin was returning from a convenience store to a townhouse where he was staying with his father.
Robert Zimmerman this week posted side-by-side photos of Martin and one of two teenagers arrested last week in a fatal shooting of a 13-month-old boy as his mother was pushing his stroller down the street in a coastal Georgia town.
The separate photos showed Martin and the teenager posing while making an obscene gesture.
Robert Zimmerman wrote in a tweet, "a picture is worth a thousand words ... any questions?" In another tweet, he said, "Lib media shld ask if what these2 black teens did 2 a woman&baby is the reason ppl think blacks mightB risky."
Morgan, in his interview with Zimmerman, called the tweets "incendiary" and "bordering on outright racism."
"I understand this was controversial and I apologize," Robert Zimmerman said.
Mark O'Mara, George Zimmerman's lawyer, has criticized Robert Zimmerman's tweets.
George Zimmerman's trial is set to start in June.
(Editing by Kevin Gray and Lisa Shumaker)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/george-zimmermans-brother-says-twitter-rant-mistake-032522332.html
Dedication 4 labor day college football scores khan academy Espn College Football Eddie Murphy died Suzanne Barr
Donovan: Goal is to get back on US soccer team
Associated Press Sports
updated 12:34 p.m. ET March 28, 2013
WASHINGTON (AP) - Landon Donovan has returned to training with the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Now his goal is to work his way back into the national team picture.
Donovan, whose asked club coach Bruce Arena for an extended offseason after the Galaxy's MLS Cup triumph early last December, says it will take some time to regain his form.
After a training session with the Galaxy Thursday at Georgetown, Donovan says he realizes he has "a long way to go, both on the field and off the field, to work back into the national team."
Donovan, who joined the Galaxy ahead of their visit to the White House Tuesday, says he will not play in Los Angeles' match Saturday at Toronto, but could return as a substitute in upcoming league matches.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
advertisement
More newsIf World Cup draw was today ...
PST: We took the current standings from qualifying tournaments around the world, assumed the teams? points-per-game rates played out, and then ?qualified? the appropriate teams for Brazil.
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/51362405/ns/sports-soccer/
hornets prince johan friso windows 8 logo anguilla gone with the wind checkers imbibe
Researchers find novel way plants pass traits to next generation
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
New research explains how certain traits can pass down from one generation to the next ? at least in plants ? without following the accepted rules of genetics.
Scientists have shown that an enzyme in corn responsible for reading information from DNA can prompt unexpected changes in gene activity ? an example of epigenetics.
Epigenetics refers to modifications in the genome that don't directly affect DNA sequences. Though some evidence has suggested that epigenetic changes can bypass DNA's influence to carry on from one generation to the next, this is the first study to show that this epigenetic heritability can be subject to selective breeding.
Researchers bred 10 generations of corn and found that one particular gene's activity persisted from one generation to the next whether the enzyme was functioning or not ? meaning typical genetic behavior was not required for the gene's trait to come through.
And that, the scientists determined, was because the enzyme targets a tiny piece of DNA ? previously thought of as "junk DNA" ? that had jumped from one area of the genome to another, giving that little fragment power to unexpectedly turn on the gene.
The gene in question affects pigmentation in the corn plant. As a result of these experiments, the researchers were able to change yellow kernel corn to a blue kernel variety by compromising the activity of the enzyme in each male parent.
"This is the first example where somebody has been able to take an epigenetic source of variation and, through selective breeding, move it from an inactive state to an active state," said Jay Hollick, associate professor of molecular genetics at The Ohio State University and lead author of the study. "The gene changes its expression in an epigenetic fashion and it doesn't follow standard inheritance behaviors. Those two factors alone have pretty profound implications not only for breeding but also for evolution."
The study appears online in the journal The Plant Cell.
Plant breeders tend to expect to generate desired traits according to what is known as Mendelian principles of inheritance: Offspring receive one copy of genes from each parental plant, and the characteristics of the alleles, or alternative forms of genes, help predict which traits will show up in the next plant generation.
However, epigenetic variations that change the predictability of gene behavior have complicated those expectations.
"The breeding community searches for novel traits that will have commercial interest and they really don't care what the basis is as long as they can capture it and breed it. Epigenetic heritability throws a kink in the expectations, but our findings also provide an opportunity ? if they recognize the variation they're looking for is the result of epigenetics, they could use that to their advantage," said Hollick, also an investigator in Ohio State's centers for RNA Biology and Applied Plant Sciences.
"Just by knowing that this allele behaves in this epigenetic fashion, I can breed plants that either have full coloration or no coloration or anything in between, because I am manipulating epigenetic variation and not genetic variation. And color, of course, is only one trait that could be affected."
With a longtime specialization in the molecular basis for unexpected gene activity in plants, Hollick had zeroed in on an enzyme called RNA polymerase IV (Pol IV). Multiple types of RNA polymerases are responsible for setting gene expression in motion in all cells, and Pol IV is an enigmatic RNA polymerase that is known in plants to produce small RNA molecules.
Pol IV has puzzled scientists because despite its strong conservation in all plants, it appears to have no discernible impact on the development of Arabidopsis, a common model organism in plant biology. For example, when it is deleted from these plants, they show no signs of distress.
In corn, however, Hollick's lab had discovered previously that the absence of Pol IV creates clear problems in the plants, such as growing seeds in the tassel.
Hollick and colleagues observed that plants deficient in Pol IV also showed pigmentation in kernels of ears expected not to make any color at all ? meaning they were expected to be yellow.
"Since we knew the misplaced tassel-seed trait was due to misexpression of a gene, we hypothesized that this pigment trait might be due to a pigment regulator being expressed in a tissue where it normally is never expressed. Molecular analysis showed that that was in fact the case," Hollick said.
The researchers selected dark kernels and light kernels from multiple generations of plants and crossed the plants derived form these different kernel classes to create additional new generations of corn.
"We found that the ears developed from those plants had even more darkly colored kernels and fewer lightly colored kernels. We could segregate the extreme types and cross them together and get this continued intensification of the pigmentation over many generations," he said. "We generated more progeny that had increasing amounts of pigment. This is taking a gene that is genetically null, that doesn't have any function in this part of the plant, and turning it from a complete null to a completely dominant form that produces full coloration.
"Essentially we were breeding a novel trait, but not by selecting for any particular gene. We were just continually altering the epigenetic status of one of the two parental genomes every time."
This led the scientists to question why the affected alleles of the pigmentation gene would behave in this way. An investigation of the affected alleles revealed the nearby presence of a transposon, or transposable element: a tiny piece of DNA that has leapt from one area of the genome to another.
Because the sequence of some small RNA fragments that come from Pol IV's activity are identical to the sequence of these transposons, the finding made sense to the scientists.
"Now that we know that Pol IV is involved in regulating transposons, it's not surprising that genes that are near transposons are now regulated by Pol IV," Hollick said.
###
Ohio State University: http://researchnews.osu.edu
Thanks to Ohio State University for this article.
This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.
This press release has been viewed 38 time(s).
Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127473/Researchers_find_novel_way_plants_pass_traits_to_next_generation
Miss America 2013 Aaron Swartz Java Gangster Squad school shooting oscar nominations C7 Corvette
Thursday, March 28, 2013
RIM sells 1M BlackBerry 10s, surprise 4Q profit
TORONTO (AP) ? Research In Motion Ltd. said Thursday that it sold about 1 million phones running its new BlackBerry 10 system. It also surprised Wall Street by returning to profitability in the most recent quarter.
The earnings provide a first glimpse of how the BlackBerry 10 system, widely seen as crucial to the company's future, is selling internationally and in Canada since its debut Jan. 31. The 1 million new touch-screen BlackBerry Z10 phones were above the 915,000 that analysts had been expecting. Details on U.S. sales are not part of the fiscal fourth quarter's financial results because the Z10 just became available there last week, after the quarter ended.
In another sign of uncertainty, RIM lost about 3 million subscribers to end the quarter with 76 million. It's the second consecutive quarterly decline for RIM, whose subscriber based peaked at 80 million last summer.
Bill Kreyer, a tech analyst for Edward Jones, called the decline "pretty alarming."
"This is going to take a couple of quarters to really see how they are doing," Kreyer said.
The BlackBerry, pioneered in 1999, had been the dominant smartphone for on-the-go business people and other consumers before the iPhone debuted in 2007 and showed that phones can handle much more than email and phone calls. RIM faced numerous delays modernizing its operating system with the BlackBerry 10. During that time, it had to cut more than 5,000 jobs and saw shareholder wealth decline by more than $70 billion.
In the quarter that ended March 2, RIM earned $98 million, or 19 cents a share, compared with a loss of $125 million, or 24 cents a share, a year earlier. After adjusting for restructuring and other one-time items, RIM earned 22 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had been expecting a loss of 31 cents.
Revenue fell 36 percent to $2.7 billion, from $4.2 billion. Analysts had expected $2.82 billion.
The company also announced that co-founder Mike Lazaridis will retire as vice chairman and director. He and Jim Balsillie had stepped down as co-CEOs in January 2012 after several quarters of disappointing results. Thorsten Heins, the chief operating officer, took over and spent the past year cutting costs and steering the company toward the launch of new BlackBerry 10 phones.
Investors appeared happy with the financial results. RIM's stock rose 27 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $14.84 in morning trading Thursday after the release of results.
"I thought they were dead. This is a huge turnaround," Jefferies analyst Peter Misek said from New York.
Misek said the Canadian company "demolished" the numbers, especially its gross margins. RIM reported gross margins of 40 percent, up from 34 percent a year earlier. The company credited higher average selling prices and higher margins for devices.
"This is a really, really good result," Misek said. "It's off to a good start."
The new BlackBerry 10 phones are redesigned for the new multimedia, Internet browsing and apps experience that customers are now demanding.
The Z10 has received favorable reviews since its release, but the launch in the critical U.S. market was delayed until late this month as wireless carriers completed their testing.
A version with a physical keyboard, called the Q10, won't be released in the U.S. for two or three more months. The delay in selling the Q10 complicates RIM's efforts to hang on to customers tempted by the iPhone and a range of devices running Google Inc.'s Android operating system. Even as the BlackBerry has fallen behind rivals in recent years, many users have stayed loyal because they prefer a physical keyboard over the touch screen on the iPhone and most Android devices.
RIM, which is changing is formal name to BlackBerry, said it expects to break even in the current quarter despite increasing spending on marketing by 50 percent compared with the previous quarter.
"To say it was a very challenging environment to deliver improved financial results could well be the understatement of the year," Heins said during a conference call with analysts.
Heins said more than half of the people buying the touch-screen Z10 were switching from rival systems. The company didn't provide details or specify whether those other systems were all smartphones. He said the Q10 will sell well among the existing BlackBerry user base. It's expected in some markets in April, but not in the U.S. until May or June.
Associated Pressacademy award nominations cynthia nixon cspan state of the union drinking game oscar noms capital gains tim thomas
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Noahpinion: Atlantic column: Building the wealth of the poor and ...
New column up at The Atlantic. The basic idea: We should try to make Americans' wealth distribution more equal. Excerpts:
The math of wealth is actually pretty simple: It all boils down to four things: 1. How much you start with, 2. How much income you make, 3. How much of your income you save, and 4. How good of a rate of return you get on your savings...
So one obvious thing we could do to make wealth more equal is - surprise! - redistribution...giving the poor and middle-class more income will boost the amount they are?able?to save, the percentage they are?willing?to save, and the?return?they get on those savings. Part of the reason America's wealth distribution is so unequal in the first place is that our income distribution is very unequal...?
[But] the most potent way to get more wealth to the poor and middle-class is to get these people to save more of their income, and to invest in assets with higher average rates of return...?"Cheap" is an insult, but being cheap is how you get rich...?
?For years, behavioral economists such as Richard Thaler have been studying ways to "nudge" people to save more...This means that more financial education in public schools is a must. I'm not talking about teaching kids the Capital Asset Pricing Model. I mean what Bob Shiller calls "basic Suze Orman stuff." How to make a monthly budget. What "saving" and "borrowing" mean. How wealth builds over time. How to avoid borrowing lots of money at high interest rates (e.g. credit cards and payday loans). Etc. The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can help a lot with this too, by preventing companies from tricking poor people into taking out high-interest debt...?
In addition to "nudging" middle-class and poor Americans to save more, we can help them get a better return on their assets -- the second thing that has a huge effect on wealth in the long run. This means helping middle-class people invest in stocks without paying high fees. The first part of this is teaching middle-class people to avoid making frequent changes in their stock portfolios...?
The second way to get better returns is to avoid actively managed funds. Actively managed mutual funds charge high fees to purchase portfolios of stocks that, statistically, are no better than simply buying a low-cost "index" fund that tracks the overall level of the market. Pension plans like TIAA-CREF tend to charge even higher fees, meaning even worse returns. Financial education can teach middle-class people what a low-cost index fund is, and how to invest in one.Read the whole thing here!
Source: http://noahpinionblog.blogspot.com/2013/03/atlantic-column-building-wealth-of-poor.html
albert nobbs a star is born oscar nominees oscar nominations 2012 kombucha tea separation of church and state dale earnhardt
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Obama to meet with technology, defense CEOs on cyber threats: White House
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is slated to meet on Wednesday with a group of technology and defense chief executives to discuss the increase in cyber security threats, White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
The meeting in the White House Situation Room will include Honeywell International's David Cote, AT&T's Randall Stephenson, and Northrop Grumman's Wes Bush, Carney said.
(Reporting by Roberta Rampton)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-meet-ceos-cyber-security-131556769--finance.html
Jake Dalton London 2012 field hockey Missy Franklin Hunter Pence NBCOlympics Danell Leyva Ye Shiwen
Google Scoops Up Neural Networks Startup DNNresearch To Boost Its Voice And Image Search Tech
Well, Google's M&A strategy is nothing if not diverse in focus. In November, it acquired package delivery startup Bufferbox. Last month, Google it made its first acquisition of the year, buying eCommerce startup Channel Intelligence. Today, Google dug into the Computer Science at The University of Toronto to acquire DNNresearch, a young startup founded by professor Geoffrey Hinton and two of his grad students, Alex Krizhevsky and Ilya Sutskever.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/asemahQfSQc/
jetblue jetblue michelle malkin october baby sugarland 16 and pregnant ludwig mies van der rohe
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
92% No
All Critics (75) | Top Critics (25) | Fresh (69) | Rotten (6)
It's a funny look at the way the media warp public opinion, and a curiously hopeful one.
On every level, "No" leaves one with bittersweet feelings about democracy, love and the cost of compromise.
If you can shake off the inherent grossness of mining the Pinochet years for yet another Mad Man-style deification of zeitgeist-grasping salesmen, this is moderately interesting stuff.
If there are fewer white-knuckle showdowns than in a Hollywood movie, the trade-off is a cool, ironic intelligence that ripples off the screen and up the years to where we live.
"No" stands proudly in a select sub-category of historical fiction films that work, completely and satisfyingly, as their own movies.
Garc?a Bernal quietly carries this film as a soft-spoken kid in blue jeans and untucked shirt.
Stirring as a celebration of voter empowerment, No may also inspire pangs of wistful nostalgia.
Fascinating work from director Pablo Larrain and screenwriter Pedro Peirano, who manage to slip into the skin of a beleaguered country and detail the urgency of a revolution, sold one jingle at a time.
Swims upstream against high-definition with a defiantly lo-fi approach that's also ingeniously evocative of the historical period.
Wildly colorful strokes, full of bitter humor.
It's a fascinating and surprisingly fun look behind the scenes of politics and media.
An Oscar-nominated win for more than just political junkies.
A worthy and a quite interesting slice of modern international history ...
Paranoia mixes neatly with optimism in this dramedy about the ad campaign that made Chile democratic.
It hangs on three ideas...While each...is intriguing, the execution of all is less than satisfying.
Larra?n's script is punctuated by dark bursts of humour, and the filmmaker knowingly navigates his audience to a nail-biting - though never cloying, and fully warranted - climax.
No quotes approved yet for No. Logged in users can submit quotes.
Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/no_2012/
chevy volt christina hendricks lifelock camp david hawaii weather the jerk lake havasu
No suspensions from Canada-Mexico brawl at Classic
PHOENIX (AP) ? The violent misdeeds of the Mexican and Canadian baseball teams will go unpunished.
The World Baseball Classic decided no players will be suspended in the aftermath of Saturday's nasty brawl between the teams. Video of the fighting spread across the globe, giving the WBC a major league dose of unwanted attention.
Organizers said Sunday that while the mayhem "runs counter to the spirit of sportsmanship and respectful competition," suspensions would not be appropriate because one team and possibly both will not advance to the second round.
Canada's 10-3 victory eliminated Mexico from the competition. But the Canadians were also sent home Sunday with a 9-4 loss to the United States, which advanced to the second round in Miami.
The organizers, in a statement attributed to World Baseball Classic Inc., said punishment would be inappropriate because of the format of the tournament, which is now held every four years.
"Because at least one club ? and potentially both ? will not advance to the second round, WBCI has determined that disciplinary measures would not have a meaningful corrective impact," the statement said.
The brawl began in the ninth inning Saturday when Canada's Rene Tosoni was hit by a pitch from Mexico's Arnold Leon after Canadian Chris Robinson reached on a bunt single.
The organization said it spoke with representatives of the Canadian and Mexican federations Saturday night.
"We are aware of the perspectives held by both sides in a competitive environment," the WBC said. "Nevertheless, we relayed to both teams that such an altercation is inappropriate under any circumstances and has no place in baseball."
Canada manager Ernie Whitt said the WBC "did the right thing."
When asked if the failure to take further action might give players license to such behavior in future WBC games, he said: "I certainly hope that's not the case. I know it's not the case with our team in there. ... We had guys that were worried about it yesterday because of the fact of what happened. I think that if it happened again, then there would be suspensions."
Seven players were ejected, four from Mexico and three from Canada.
Left unsaid was whether the WBC would look at changing the tiebreaker rule that was behind Robinson's decision to bunt for a base hit with his team leading 9-3 in the ninth. In the WBC's first round, a three-way tie is decided by overall run differential.
Mexico manager Rick Renteria said after the game he believed his players didn't realize there was a reason behind Robinson's decision.
"I think in just the heat of the moment you lose sight of it and maybe that's how it occurred," Renteria said. "It was just a misunderstanding."
A very violent misunderstanding.
While some players tried to hold back teammates, others tumbled to the ground in hand-to-hand combat with opposing players.
When Canada returned to the dugout, someone in the largely pro-Mexican crowd hurled a full water bottle that hit pitching coach Denis Boucher in the head. Canadian shortstop Cale Iorg grabbed the bottle and angrily threw it back in the stands. When play resumed, someone threw a ball from the crowd that almost hit Canada first base coach Larry Walker in the head.
That's when Whitt went to home plate umpire Brian Gorman and said if anything else is thrown at them from the crowd, he was pulling his players off the field. Several people in the crowd were escorted away by security personnel.
Robinson, who played for Baltimore's Triple-A club in Norfolk last season, was in the center of the intensity all afternoon. First, there was a home plate crash with Karim Garcia, who was out trying to score from second. Then Robinson's hard slide into second broke up a double play and allowed a run to score in the eighth. Finally, there was the bunt.
"The sad thing about the whole thing is we had a lot of great performances that were overshadowed by this incident," Whitt said. "And you look at the pitching of (Chris) Leroux and (Andrew) Albers and (Trystan) Magnuson, you look at the offense that we put out there with (Justin) Morneau and (Mike) Saunders. I mean, unfortunately, that was overshadowed by an ugly incident."
Mexico was frustrated in the late innings as its WBC hopes, so bright after a 5-2 victory over the United States a night earlier, were slipping away.
"We're not here to lose," Renteria said. "If you would say that that's a failure, well, we were here to win and we didn't. So, yeah, you can take it as a failure."
___
Follow Bob Baum at www.twitter.com/Thebaumerphx
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/no-suspensions-canada-mexico-brawl-classic-183316443--mlb.html
pinnacle airlines kansas vs kentucky joe posnanski michael kidd gilchrist national championship calipari national archives
Ancient Infrared-Emitting Egyptian Pigment Could Be Useful as Nano-Ink
The pigment's chemistry could be incorporated into modern applications. For instance, inkjet printers could fabricate devices with the pigment's near-infrared-emitting property
Considered to be the first synthetic pigment, Egyptian blue (also known as calcium copper silicate) was used by many cultures for thousands of years. Image: Wikimedia Commons/FK1954
This story was originally published by Inside Science News Service.
(ISNS) -- An ancient Egyptian pigment -- apparently humanity's first artificial pigment -- could soon find new life-enabling modern high-tech applications such as telecommunications networks and state-of-the-art biomedical imaging, according to researchers.
Known as Egyptian blue, the pigment first appeared roughly 5,000 years ago in a tomb painting dated to the reign of Ka-sen, the last king of Egypt's First Dynasty.
"Egyptian blue was the first synthetic pigment produced by people, so it represents a major milestone for both human civilization and the development of chemistry," said researcher Tina Salguero, a chemist and materials scientist at the University of Georgia, in Athens, Ga.
The strikingly bright blue pigment embellished paintings on statues and other artifacts throughout the ancient Mediterranean world. Examples of it have been found on the belt of the statue of Iris, messenger goddess of the rainbow, in the Parthenon in Athens, and in a fresco of a garden in the afterlife found in the tomb of the Egyptian scribe and counter of grain Nebamun in Thebes, Egypt.
The material giving Egyptian blue its color is calcium copper silicate. It was made by grinding sand, lime and copper (or copper ore) and heating the mixture in a furnace.
"Its manufacture was shared by the Egyptians with occupying and neighboring groups -- Greeks, then Romans -- spreading the technology throughout the Mediterranean," said art and artifacts conservator Renee Stein at Emory University in Atlanta.
After the era of ancient Rome, its method of creation was completely lost and remained a mystery for more than 1,500 years. However, in the 19th century, excavations at the ruins of Pompeii -- the Roman city famously buried under volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted nearly 2,000 years ago -- uncovered many spectacular wall paintings made with Egyptian blue, prompting scientific efforts that ultimately revealed the pigment's composition.
When irradiated with visible light, Egyptian blue emits near-infrared rays with exceptional strength, with even single particles of the pigment detectable from a distance of a few yards. This suggests Egyptian blue could have a variety of modern applications. For instance, this radiation is similar to the beams that communicate between remote controls and TVs, car door locks, and other telecommunications devices. It could also find use in advanced biomedical imaging "because near-infrared radiation penetrates through tissue better than other wavelengths," Salguero said.
Given how many specimens of Egyptian blue have survived for millennia, scientists had thought it a relatively durable pigment. Unexpectedly, Salguero and her colleagues now find it can peel off in microscopic sheets under remarkably simple conditions ? stirring in hot water. It can break apart into narrow sheets just a bit larger than 1 billionth of a meter thick, so thin that more than 80,000 individual sheets could fit across the width of the average human hair.
"This aspect of Egyptian blue's chemistry was under our noses for millennia," Salguero said. "The discovery wasn't made earlier for two main reasons ? nobody was looking, and now we actually have the tools to image things with nanometer dimensions."
The discovery that Egyptian blue is relatively simple to use in solutions as inks "opens up entirely new ways to incorporate this material into modern applications," Salguero said. In experiments, researchers found they could use an inkjet printer to express an Egyptian blue nano-sheet.
"Inkjet printing is a way to fabricate structures or devices that can incorporate the near-infrared-emitting properties of the material," Salguero said. The researchers detailed their findings in the Feb. 6 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=0221469e66c6365af811bd0826b9a4ee
glenn miller who do you think you are superpac steve appleton bishop eddie long madonna give me all your luvin video roseanne barr president
Iran blocks VPN access to global web, cracks down on 'illegal' filter workaround
Iran's struggle with the unfiltered internet is well documented -- the nation has spent years fending off cyber attacks, blocking access and potentially fencing its own intranet off from the outside world. Sites like YouTube and Facebook can often only be accessed by using a VPN, bypassing the country's internet filter. Sadly, Iranian users may have to get their Harlem shake fix elsewhere: Iran is putting the lid on "illegal" VPN access. "Within the last few days illegal VPN ports in the country have been blocked," explained Ramezanali Sobhani-Fard, Iran's head of information and communications technology committee. "Only legal and registered VPNs can from now on be used."
Registered and legal VPN access can still be purchased, but the typical filter workarounds no longer work. That's not stopping Iran's most dedicated internet users though: one local took to Facebook to confirm that VPN access had been restricting, noting that he was using an unrelated method to dodge Iran's content control efforts. The crackdown may have also blocked access to commonly used sites, such as Yahoo or Google Parliament plans to study the issue more in the coming week, and will presumably tweak the policy as necessary.
Filed under: Internet
Source: Reuters
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/CL-MuHRkkg0/
Nadia Comaneci Rebecca Soni Snoop Lion London 2012 Table Tennis badminton Dominique Dawes Gabby Olympic Gymnast
Monday, March 11, 2013
Marbles Kids Museum & IMAX Theatre Events Calendar | April 2013 ...
Marbles Kids Museum
Hours: Tues-Sun 9am-5pm; closed most Mondays
Museum closed, IMAX open
Sunday, March 31
Marbles Kids Museum will be closed on Easter Sunday, March 31. IMAX at Marbles will be open.
Museum Open for Spring Break
Monday, April 1 | 9am-5pm
Marbles Kids Museum will be open for Spring Break on Monday, April 1 from 9am-5pm.
Spring Break Blast
Thursday, March 28 ? Sunday, April 7 | Museum open 9am-5 pm
Join us anytime for your favorite Marbles activities for budding scientists, artists, innovators and more. Events include Hula Hoopla, Ooey Gooey Science and Garden Sprouts: Flight of the Butterflies among others. Catch Flight of the Butterflies 3D in IMAX too! Visit www.MarblesKidsMuseum.org/SpringBreak for a daily schedule of events. *The museum will be closed on Sunday,
March 31.
Elementary School?s Out Camp ? Spring Break
April 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 | 9am-5pm
$50 per day for members; $56 per day for non-members
Bring the kids to camp on the days they have off but you don?t for fun-filled days of museum discovery and unique classroom activities. Pick a day or stay all week! Extended care available. Pre-registration required. Visit www.MarblesKidsMuseum.org/SchoolsOutCamps for more info.
Preschool?s Out Camp ? Spring Break
April 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 | 9am-12pm
$25 per day for members; $28 per day for non-members
Preschoolers will fall into spring with seasonal activities, games and crafts followed by playtime in the museum. Pick a day or stay all week! Lunch bunch available. Visit www.MarblesKidsMuseum.org/SchoolsOutCamps for more info.
Jurassic Park 3D in IMAX at Marbles
Opens Friday, April 5
Universal Pictures will release Steven Spielberg?s groundbreaking masterpiece Jurassic Park in 3D on April 5. With his remastering of the epic film into a state-of-the-art 3D format, Spielberg introduces the three-time Academy Award?-winning blockbuster to a new generation of moviegoers and allows longtime fans to experience the world he envisioned in a way that was unimaginable during the film?s original release. For tickets and show times, visit www.IMAXRaleigh.org
Create|Innovate on First Friday at Marbles: Statewide Star Party
Friday, April 5 | 5-8pm ? OPEN LATE!
Join us for the official kickoff event of the 2013 NC Science Festival! Investigate light, play around with star science, create Out of this World Art and get the inside scoop of the sky. Catch a showing of Hubble 3D at IMAX and receive free museum admission with your ticket stub. Offer valid First Friday, April 5, only.
First Friday Kids Camp
Friday, April 5 | 5:30-8:30pm
Ages 3-5 and K5-11
$20 for the first child and$10 for each additional child for members
$25 for the first child and$15 for each additional child for non-members
Drop off your kids at Marbles for an evening of fun on their own, while you dine, shop or simply relax. Pre-registration required. Visit www.MarblesKidsMuseum.org/FFKC for more info.
NC Science Festival at Marbles
Friday, April 5 ? Sunday, April 21
Marbles is excited to participate in the 3rd Annual North Carolina Science Festival. Marbles hands-on activities span the length of the festival and are made for our community?s youngest chemists, physicists, geologists and more. Visit www.MarblesKidsMuseum.org/NCScienceFestival for a schedule of events. *The museum will be closed on Monday, April 8, and Monday, April 15.
Family Science Fair
Saturday, April 6 | 10am-2pm
Marbles is teaming up with the NC Department of Public Instruction for our first ever Family Science Fair. You can participate in two ways: Sign-up to display your family?s project in our non-competitive fair or simply explore others? creations and investigations. Free museum admission for registered participants. Family Science Fair is part of the NC Science Festival. Learn more and register at www.MarblesKidsMuseum.org/FamilyScienceFair
NanoDays
Saturday, April 6 | 1-4pm
Join us for a big day of tiny science! NanoDays is a nationwide festival about nanoscale science, engineering and technology. Meet nanoscientists from Duke University, NC State University and Triangle MRSEC as they share hands-on activities and interactive demonstrations about all things teeny tiny. No registration required. NanoDays is part of the NC Science Festival. To learn more about nano before you come, visit www.whatisnano.org
Bubble-ology
Sunday, April 7|1-3pm
Immerse yourself in the fun and science of bubbles with Dr. Ken Lyle and his team of bubbleologists from Duke University?s Chemistry Outreach Program. Make giant bubbles, stir up a cauldron of bubblicious potion and play around with how different bubble frames and solutions create different kinds of bubbles. Bubble-ology is part of NC Science Festival.
Little Kids Cook ? Apple-licious
Wednesday, April 10 or Thursday, April 18|9am-12pm
Ages 3-5
$30 per class for members | $35 per class for non-members
Cook with crunch at this delicious celebration of the apple. Little chefs will get to make apple crumble and craft with apples and cinnamon. We will also read The President and Mom?s Apple Pie. Pre-registration required. Visit www.MarblesKidsMuseum.org/LittleKids for more info. Sponsored by Harris Teeter.
Experi-minute at Marbles Kids Museum
Friday, April 12 | 9-9:15am
Join Team Marbles and experiment with how many humans can join together to form a functional circuit. 10? 20? Even more? Let?s have fun finding out. Experi-minute is part of the NC Science Festival.
Moneypalooza Play Days
April 13, 14, 27 or 28 | 9am-5pm
Play in one of your favorite galleries in a whole new way. Pizza Fractions, Coin Twister and payday play for kids and families. Explore creative ways to spend, save and share the treasures of your piggy bank. Sponsored by PNC Grow up Great.*The museum will close at 4pm on April 27, for Marbles Imagination Ball.
Storybook Theater Benefitting Marbles Kids Museum ? Disney?s Winnie the Pooh, Kids
April 12-14 | Raleigh Memorial Auditorium
Friday, April 12 ? 6:30pm
Saturday, April 13 ? 11am & 5pm
Sunday, April 14 ? 11am & 2pm
Disney?s Winnie the Pooh, Kids is the second in the Storybook Theater series, a new partnership with the Duke Energy Center for Performing Arts. This one-hour professional performance is perfect for young audiences, welcoming kids to the Hundred Acre Wood, where Winnie the Pooh is once again sharing snacks. Proceeds benefit Marbles Kids Museum. Please visit www.MarblesKidsMuseum.org/StorybookTheater for more info and to purchase discounted tickets.
Butterfly Bash in IMAX at Marbles Saturday, April 13
Movie at 10am | Butterfly Bash 10:45am-12pm From chrysalis to the first flutter of colorful wings, butterflies are amazing creatures. IMAX at Marbles takes you inside the magic of a butterfly?s world! Begin with a screening of Flight of the Butterflies 3D and stay for the Butterfly Bash?hands-on activities and imaginative play all about butterflies. Just show your 10am movie ticket for admission to the Butterfly Bash! Movie tickets now on sale at www.IMAXRaleigh.org. Butterfly Bash is part of the NC Science Festival.
Sound Science! with NCSU?s NSTA Club
Saturday, April 13 | 1-3pm
Let?s make some noise! Explore the science behind sound. Investigate and create instruments, see sound waves and make oobleck dance, and play around with vibration, beat and rhythm.
Sound Science is part of NC Science Festival.
Sweet Science! with NCSU?s Food Science Club
Sunday, April 14 | 1-3pm
Be a food scientist! Dig into the chemistry of food and the science of sweet with guest star scientists from NCSU?s Food Science Club. Experiment with candy, test out tastes and get the close-up on crystals. Sweet Science is part of NC Science Festival.
Green Energy Workshop: Water Power
Sunday, April 14 | 2:30-3:30pm
Explore the power of H2O as a green energy source. Investigate properties of water, create a water wheel and build hydro-electric snap circuits. Sponsored by Duke Energy. Green Energy Workshop is part of the NC Science Festival.
Target $2 Tuesday Night
Tuesday, April 16 | 5-8pm
Bring the family for a night of play for just $2 per person! As always, members play free. Join our friends from Target for story time and illustrate your very own Marbleous book. Sponsored by Target.
Oblivion in IMAX at Marbles
Opens Thursday, April 18
Tom Cruise stars in Oblivion, an original and groundbreaking cinematic event from the director of TRON: Legacy and the producer of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. On a spectacular future Earth that has evolved beyond recognition, one man?s confrontation with the past will lead him on a journey of redemption and discovery as he battles to save mankind. For tickets and show times, visit www.IMAXRaleigh.org.
Family Fun Night
Thursday, April 18 | 5:30-8pm
Family Fun Night is an after-hours event for kids with special needs, offering the opportunity to experience Marbles in a calmer, quieter environment. Join dancers from the Carolina Youth Ballet from 6:30-7pm for a mini-performance and open dance movement workshop in celebration of their ?Alice in Wonderland? production. This event is free and exclusive for kids with special needs and their families. Sponsored by Kerr Cares for Kids Foundation.
Earth Day Celebration
Saturday, April 20 |museum open 9am-5pm
Celebrate Earth Day with green energy play! Show your support for a healthy planet, and join in on activities that promote preserving our natural resources. Activities to include the reveal of our Green Energy Mural in partnership with Duke Energy, Castaway Cove Kids Garden planting from 9-11am, recycling fun and special guests. Earth Day Celebration is part of the NC Science Festival.
Family Glee
Sunday, April 21 | 1pm & 2:30pm performances
Get movin? and groovin? with students from NC Theatre. Visitors are invited to join in on the dancing to songs by the ?King of Pop? himself?Michael Jackson.
Museum Closing Early
Saturday, April 27 | Museum closing at 4pm in preparation for Marbles Imagination Ball.
Marbles Imagination Ball ? Grown-ups Only
Saturday, April 27 | 7pm
Marbles Imagination Ball is our colorful grown-up gala on Saturday, April 27. An elegantly whimsical evening featuring fantastic food stations, drinks, live music and unique auction items. Join us to raise money for the Imagination Fund at Marbles. Find out more and purchase tickets at www.marbleskidsmuseum.org/marblesimaginationball.
Subway Sunday ? Fresh Fit Fun
Sunday, April 28 | 9am-5pm
Get your heart pumping with a special focus on fresh, fit fun activities in the museum throughout the day. Held the last Sunday of each month in partnership with Subway.
VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
hbo luck unc asheville stephen jackson ncaa tournament marchmadness mike d antoni nba trade rumors
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)