CELLPHONES DAMAGE TO THE BRAIN

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Cell phones also cut off the highest-pitched ranges of our voices. Those high-frequency sounds convey a surprising amount of information, according to the study.
NEWS: Your Brain Hears Silence
The results suggest that we may be missing the full meaning of what people say when we talk to them on our mobile devices.
"The prevailing thought was that, because high frequencies are not as loud in the voice, that the brain must not pay much attention to them," said Brian Monson, a speech and hearing scientist at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City. "If the brain is paying that much attention to high frequencies, there must be some kind of perceptual information there."

VIDEO: Neuroscientists Develop High-Tech Ear Implant
A typical male voice measures about 100 hertz and an average woman speaks at about 200 Hz. Unlike a monotonic sound like a whistle, voices also contain quieter overtones with frequencies that range as high as 20,000 Hz. But because most of the energy in our voices falls below 5,000 Hz, scientists have long assumed that those high-pitched sounds are irrelevant.
Monson, who is also a singer with experience as a sound engineer, started to suspect that assumption a few years ago. While working with other singers, he noticed that they improved the quality of their voices by making adjustments in very high frequency overtones. In a follow-up project, he found that people could detect tiny differences in the volume of high-frequency sounds – on the scale of just a few decibels.
For the new study, Monson recorded people speaking and singing the Star-Spangled Banner. He filtered the recordings to keep only sounds above 5,000 Hz. He played those recordings to about 50 people in a handful of experiments. Then, he asked listeners to try to identify details about what they heard.
He was surprised at how well people did. Even though the recordings sound much like cricket chirps, just about everyone was able to quickly distinguish between talking and singing, he’ll announce next week at the annual meeting of the Acoustical Society of America in San Diego. It took listeners a little longer to tell whether the voice was male or female, but they all did that task really well, too.
HOW STUFF WORKS: Hearing
Most surprising of all based on the current understanding of sound recognition, Monson said, listeners could tell that they were hearing the Star-Spangled Banner, not just when the voices were singing but also when they were just speaking. People were even able to identify key information about the recordings when distracting noises were added to make the task harder.
"If they can understand what's being said, that means there's an ability to extract intelligible information from high frequencies, and nobody would have predicted that," Monson said. "If you're in a situation where there's low-frequency noise covering all of the information you're used to getting from a voice, as long as you have the high-frequency stuff, you can still figure out what the person is saying and get the information you need."

That may be why talking on a cell phone in noisy places is so tough. Most mobile phones and landlines transmit sounds up to about 3,500 Hz, mostly because higher-frequency sounds were never thought to be very important.
According to other research, our brains have to work harder to extract information when it comes in limited bandwidth, Monson said, which explains why phone conversations can be more fatiguing than talking in person. And studies in kids have shown that they learn new words three times more quickly if they hear recordings that range up to 9,000 Hz instead of 4,000 Hz.
To improve the quality of our mobile phone conversations, the new findings suggest that it may be time for a technology upgrade.
"We listen to things over cell phones in pretty adverse situations, and I think their data strongly suggests you can give the listener more information by keeping high frequencies salient," said William Yost, an auditory perception researcher at Arizona State University in Tempe. 2011 Discovery Channel

Thoughts of God Make Us Slackers, Study Suggests

No matter if you're a believer, thinking about God and religion may turn you into a slacker, according to a new study.
"More than 90 percent of people in the world agree that God or a similar spiritual power exists or may exist,"study researcher Kristin Laurin of the University of Waterloo in Canada, said in a statement. "This is the first empirical evidence that simple reminders of God can diminish some types of self-regulation, such as pursuing one's goals, yet can improve others, such as resisting temptation."
Even for those without a personal belief in God, U.S. culture is saturated with religious references and imagery that could impact them, Laurin said. The study's results were independent of the participants' religious beliefs. Even without knowing it, these signs and signals can have a psychological effect.
A Gallup poll in May found that more than nine out of 10 Americans believe in God. These numbers drop for groups of younger Americans, liberals, those living in the Eastern United States, those with postgraduate educations and political independents. However, belief in God is nearly universal among Republicans and conservatives and, to a slightly lesser degree, in the South.
In the new study, the researchers primed more than 350 engineering students with the idea of God or faith, for example, by having participants write a sentence using a list of words with spiritual connotations. Students then completed skill tests in which they had to make as many words as possible from a group of letters. When prompted with religious imagery or language beforehand, the students came up with fewer words, regardless of their religious background, than those who hadn't been primed with such imagery.
The researchers think the lack of effort in the "religious-primed" group could be dictated by a belief that fate is in God's hands. If the students believe that God controls their destiny, trying to be better isn't going to help them actually be better, resulting in less effort. This entire thought process seems to be unconscious, but just the presence of these God-conjuring words or images could alter behavior.
A second study tempted participants with cookies after they had read one of two passages — one about God and the other on a non-religious topic. Participants who read the God passage not only reported a greater willingness to resist temptation, but also were less likely to help themselves to the cookies.
This effect, however, was found only among participants who had previously said they believe an omniscient entity watches over them and notices when they misbehave, though the strength of their devotion to that God didn't come into play in any of the experiments, the researchers found.
The researchers say like the "Santa Claus" effect, people "behave" because God knows when they've been bad or good. Being reminded of the presence of an all-knowing God helps people resist temptations, for fear they will be "caught" by God and punished, the researchers speculate.
The study was published online Oct. 24 in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
You can follow LiveScience staff writer Jennifer Welsh on Twitter @microbelover. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience and on Facebook.

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Women who delay having their eggs frozen reduce their chances of conceiving through IVF later in life, researchers have found

A human egg at ovulation...
Flaws accumulate in eggs leading to a rapid decrease in fertility from 35 onwards. Photograph: Yorgos Nikas/Getty Images

Single women who have their eggs frozen so they can put off having a family till later in life may be delaying the procedure too long, fertility specialists warn.
Freezing offers women the chance to store their eggs while they are still in good condition, but many wait until their late-30s, when the quality of their eggs has started to decline, scientists found.
Researchers said women who had their eggs frozen for non-medical reasons were typically aged 37-39. But flaws that accumulate in eggs over time lead to a rapid decrease in fertility over the age of 35.
A team led by Aylin Pelin Cil, at Reproductive Medicine Associates in New York, analysed 26 studies on egg freezing and found women were more likely to conceive if their eggs were frozen when they were under 30.
The analysis included 1,990 cycles of fertility treatment using eggs that were frozen slowly and 291 cycles of treatment with eggs that had been rapidly frozen through a technique called vitrification.
The likelihood of an embryo created from a slow-frozen egg implanting in the womb fell from 10.4% in women who were under 30 when it was frozen to 4.7% in women who had been over 40. The implantation rates for embryos made from vitrified eggs was higher, but suffered a similar decline with age, from 18.8% in the under-30s to 10.3% in the over-40s.
The results will be discussed at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) meeting in Orlando on Tuesday.
Roger Lobo, president of the ASRM and head of obstetrics and gynaecology at Columbia University in New York, said the study highlighted the importance of not delaying motherhood.
"Despite increasing numbers of clinics offering the procedure and the significant media attention paid to it in recent years, women are not pursuing elective egg freezing at an age when it would be most likely to help them accomplish their fertility goals," he said. "It is apparent that patients need more education about their fertility at younger ages."
But Gillian Lockwood, medical director at Midland Fertility Services in Aldridge, near Birmingham, said: "Egg freezing is not an option for many women in their late 30s when they've discovered Mr Right has turned out to be Mr Wrong, because it possibly is too late.
"But we have to ask what the comparator is here. The comparator is how well will these women do with their own eggs in their early 40s? A 39-year-old frozen egg is going to do better in IVF than a 42-year-old fresh egg, because the drop-off becomes so sharp during these years."
Dr Lockwood said she sees many women in their mid to late-30s who hope to freeze their eggs. "Unfortunately, 37 is the cusp when the chances go from more or less OK to really not good," she said.
"The women I see who are freezing for social reasons, their stories are very similar. They have been in the same relationship since their late 20s, early 30s, with a man they thought was going to be the father of their child.
"The woman gets to 36 or 37 and says 'I think it's about time we had a child' and he says he's not ready to settle down yet."

Somali militants threaten to enter Kenya if troops don't withdraw

A masked member of the Al Shabaab militia, pictured in a photograph dated December 14, 2008.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Al-Shabaab says Kenyan planes are killing Somali citizens
"We shall come into Kenya if you do not go back," the group says on a website
Kenya is pursuing militants after recent abductions

Narobi, Kenya (CNN) -- Islamic militants in Somalia have threatened to "come into Kenya" if Kenyan forces do not leave Somalia, according to an online message posted on a jihadist website.
"Kenyan troops have entered 100 kilometers into Somalia, and their planes are bombarding and killing residents," said Sheikh Ali Mahmud Ragi, spokesman for Al-Shabaab, an Islamic extremist group considered a terrorist organization by the United States, in the posting. "We shall come into Kenya if you do not go back."
Kenyan forces crossed into Somalia to pursue Al-Shabaab fighters after the recent abductions of tourists and aid workers in Kenya heightened tensions in East Africa. Kenya invoked the United Nations charter allowing military action in self-defense against its largely lawless neighbor.
"If you are attacked by an enemy, you have to pursue that enemy through hot pursuit and to try (to) hit wherever that enemy is," said Kenyan Defense Minister Yusuf Haji in a news conference aired on CNN affiliate NTV on Sunday.
Al-Shabaab, which is linked to al Qaeda, has been fighting to impose its own interpretation of Islamic law, or sharia, on Somalia.
On September 11, armed bandits broke into a beachfront cottage where Britons Judith and David Tebbutt, both in their 50s, were staying. David Tebbutt was shot dead while trying to resist the attack. His wife was grabbed and spirited away onboard a speedboat, and is believed to have been taken into Somalia.
On October 1, pirates made another cross-border raid, this time snatching a French woman in her 60s from a holiday home on Manda Island where she lived part of the year.
Earlier this month, gunmen abducted two Spanish workers from the medical charity Medicins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) from the Dadaab refugee complex, about 80 kilometers from the Somali border.
Kenya announced its new tactics days after African Union forces claimed victory against Al-Shabaab in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. The military said last week it had taken the remaining Al-Shabaab strongholds in the far northeast of the city.
"The challenge is now to protect civilians from the sort of terror attack we saw last week, as they attempt to rebuild their lives," African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) spokesman Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda said. He was referring to a suicide truck bombing in Mogadishu earlier this month that left dozens dead. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility. Other Al-Shabaab attacks that week led to the deaths of at least 10 civilians.
Federal and African Union forces have battled Al-Shabaab in the impoverished and chaotic nation for years. Many analysts believe the AMISOM military push has severely affected Al-Shabaab, along with targeted strikes against organization members and the weakening of al Qaeda.
Al-Shabaab said in August it was withdrawing from Mogadishu, and Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, backed by African Union peacekeepers, now controls most districts of the capital city, the United Nations office has said.
However, the group still poses a threat, Ankunda has previously said.

Malaria deaths fall nearly 40% worldwide in last decade

Child suffering from malaria in south Sudan

Malaria accounts for 20% of childhood deaths in Africa.

There has been a fall of nearly 40% in the number of deaths from malaria worldwide in the past decade, the World Health Organization says.

A new report said that one-third of the 108 countries where malaria was endemic were on course to eradicate the disease within 10 years.
Experts said if targets continued to be met, a further three million lives could be saved by 2015.
Malaria is one of the deadliest global diseases, particularly in Africa.
In 2009, 781,000 people died from malaria. The mosquito-borne disease is most prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, where 85% of deaths occurred, most of them children under five.
It has been eradicated from three countries since 2007 - Morocco, Turkmenistan and Armenia.
The Roll Back Malaria Partnership aims to eliminate malaria in another eight to 10 countries by the end of 2015, including the entire WHO European Region.

Malaria Factfile

2000: 233 million cases, 985,000 deaths

2009: 225 million cases, 781,000 deaths
Malaria present in 108 countries and territories
1.3% GDP reduction in heavily-infected countries

Robert Newman, director of the WHO's Global Malaria Programme, said "remarkable progress" had been made.

"Better diagnostic testing and surveillance has provided a clearer picture of where we are on the ground - and has shown that there are countries eliminating malaria in all endemic regions of the world," he told an international Malaria Forum conference in Seattle.
"We know that we can save lives with today's tools."
Global eradication A global malaria eradication campaign, launched by WHO in 1955, succeeded in eliminating the disease in 16 countries and territories.
But after less than two decades, the WHO decided to concentrate instead on the less ambitious goal of malaria control.
However, another eight nations were declared malaria-free up until 1987, when certification was abandoned for 20 years.
In recent years, interest in malaria eradication as a long-term goal has re-emerged.
The WHO estimates that malaria causes significant economic losses, and can decrease gross domestic product (GDP) by as much as 1.3% in countries with high levels of transmission.
In the worst-affected countries, the disease accounts for: Up to 40% of public health expenditures; 30% to 50% of inpatient hospital admissions; and up to 60% of outpatient health clinic visits.

Steve Jobs

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs died of respiratory arrest linked to the spread of his pancreatic cancer, his death certificate has revealed.

The certificate, filed in Santa Clara County, California listed his occupation as "high-tech entrepreneur".
The Apple co-founder died on 5 October at the age of 56 at his home in Palo Alto.
No post-mortem examination was performed, and Jobs was buried on Friday.
The death certificate was released by the Santa Clara County Public Health Department on Monday the Associated Press news agency reports.
According to the document, Jobs had a "metastatic pancreas neuroendocrine tumour" for the past five years.
In 2004, he announced that he was suffering from pancreatic cancer. He had a liver transplant five years later.
In January 2011 he took medical leave, before formally resigning as CEO in August and handing over his duties to Tim Cook.
A statement from Jobs' family said they were with him when he died peacefully.
Jobs died the day after Apple announced its latest iPhone, the 4S.
On Monday Apple said it received more than one million pre-orders on Friday for the device, breaking a record set by the iPhone 4 when it was released in 2010.

The 10 best-selling games

1. FIFA12

2. Gears of War 3

3. F1 2011

4. Zumba Fitness

5. Dead Island

6. Deus Ex: Human Revolution

7. Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection

8. Driver San Francisco

9. LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: the Video Game

10. Call of Duty: Black Ops

Users find bugs in Facebook app for iPad

The Facebook app works both on the iPhone and the iPad

Just hours after Facebook's release of its long-awaited iPad app, users have started reporting minor bugs.

Some said it should have been tested better to ensure it worked properly with peripherals developed for the iPad, such as the iPad dock.
Facebook admitted that there were some bugs, but said that it was not unusual for new products.
The app comes out 18 months after the launch of the first Apple tablet.
Available for free at the Apple app store, the program is actually an upgrade of the existing iPhone app, tweaked to fill the larger iPad screen.
The interface for the application lets users "pinch" the screen to zoom in and out, as well as swipe to flip through photos that fill the entire display, as with a real photo album.
A Facebook spokesperson told BBC News that all products were always "vigorously" tested before launch.
"However, as with all new technology products, occasionally unexpected bugs will surface once people start using products on a mass scale."
The company added that it was "following up on feedback".
'Repeated delays' iPad owners have been pondering over the lengthy wait for a proper Facebook app ever since the tablet was first launched, back in 2010.

Some users have reported bugs - like the "Send" button not appearing when the iPad is on a dock

Until now, they had a choice of whether to use a tiny iPhone-size screen in the centre of the iPad display; to download one of the apps that supported the social network but was developed by a third party, or to access Facebook through its website.
But the company did not go into any detail about why users had been forced to wait so long.
"We're releasing it now because it's done," said Bret Taylor, the firm's chief technology officer.
It was reported in September that Jeff Verkoeyen, the application's lead developer, wrote in his blog about the app's repeated delays despite it being almost finished several months ago.
Bugs found But shortly after the app's release, users have started complaining of a number of bugs.
Michael Clawson wrote on Twitter that he was not able to see his pages when clicking on left panel icons.
Another user, journalist Mark Coyle said that the app came "complete with a glaring bug".
"I have an Apple dock/keyboard, and if you put the iPad on the dock then try to comment on a post, the 'Send' button doesn't appear," he said.
"Take it off the dock - it appears. Poor testing by FB."
Twitter user @Cocoanetics wrote: "Facebook App first impression: decoding images on the main thread cause stutter when scrolling, even on iPad 2."
According to Facebook, of the 350 million people who access the social network on their mobile devices every month, about half do so through a web browser and half use applications built on their phone or tablet operating system.

Fall Of Gaddafi's Home Town 'Hours Away'

Anti-Gaddafi forces will today attack part of Colonel Gaddafi's home town where loyalists remain holed up - amid signs that the battle is nearly over.

Sky's Alex Rossi, reporting from the front line, said fighters loyal to the National Transitional Council (NTC) have advanced deep into the city, taking the university, conference centre, hospital and main police station.
They claim supporters of Col Gaddafi remain in just one area, known as district 2, in the north-west of the city.
Rossi said: "The fall of Sirte is inevitable - most likely today.
"The big question is who is inside this city and why have they put up such a resistance.
"It is believed that senior members of the Gaddafi regime have been here and were resisting so much because they know what fate awaits them."
Fighting continues in Sirte as anti-Gaddafi fighters push forward in a concerted attack.

Fighting continues in Sirte as anti-Gaddafi fighters push forward in a concerted attack.

One of Gaddafi's sons is reportedly hiding in Sirte

The head of the NTC has arrived in Sirte, as the fighting continues.
Sky's security editor Sam Kiley said the rebels have reached a crucial point in the battle for the city: "I think the rebels now have decided they have to go for it.
"If this drags on for much longer they simply won't have the manpower or the resources to be able to sustain a siege of the Gaddafi forces for very much longer."
Anti-Gaddafi forces have reportedly raised their flag on top of the city's convention centre.
One of the commanders in Sirte said he had reports that one of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's sons and several senior officials from the regime were hiding in villas in the city.

Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Other CEOs and Celebrities React to Steve Jobs' Death

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Hailed as a visionary and a technological genius, Steve Jobs' death prompted several Fortune 500 company CEOs, celebrities, politicians, fellow tech-savvy experts and Apple lovers to offer their condolences and praises of Jobs' life accomplishments.

Apple, Inc. also launched a shout-out tribute page on their website, Apple.com, inviting all to share their "thoughts, memories and condolences."

Jobs died on Wednesday. He was 56.

The Pancreatic Cancer That Killed Steve Jobs

In their announcement of founder Steve Jobs' death, at age 56, Apple officials did not mention a specific cause of death. But the visionary digital leader had been battling pancreatic cancer since 2004.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the faster spreading cancers; only about 4% of patients can expect to survive five years after their diagnosis. Each year, about 44,000 new cases are diagnosed in the U.S., and 37,000 people die of the disease.
The pancreas contains two types of glands: exocrine glands that produce enzymes that break down fats and proteins, and endocrine glands that make hormones like insulin that regulate sugar in the blood. Jobs died of tumors originating in the endocrine glands, which are among the rarer forms of pancreatic cancer.
IN MEMORIAM: Technology's Great Reinventor: Steve Jobs (1955-2011)
In 2004, Jobs underwent surgery to remove the cancer from his pancreas. In 2009, after taking another leave of absence from Apple, Jobs had a liver transplant in an effort to retain as much of his organ function as possible after his cancer had spread beyond the pancreas. In January, he took a third leave from the company before resigning as CEO in August.
"I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know," Jobs wrote in a letter to the Apple board of directors on August 24. "Unfortunately, that day has come."
According to experts, Jobs' was an uphill medical battle. "He not only had cancer, he was battling the immune suppression after the liver transplant," Dr. Timothy Donahue of the UCLA Center for Pancreatic Disease in Los Angeles, who had not treated Jobs, told MSNBC.com. He noted that most patients who receive liver transplants survive about two years after the surgery.
Standard treatments for pancreatic cancer include the common tumor-fighting strategies — surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and, most recently, targeted anticancer drugs that may slightly extend patients' lives. In 2005, the Food and Drug Administration approved erlotinib, a drug that specifically targets growth factors found on cancer cells, for the treatment of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer who are receiving chemotherapy. The drug has been shown in trials to improve overall survival by 23% after a year when added to routine chemotherapy. The tumors in patients being treated with erlotinib and chemo also develop more slowly than those in patients receiving chemotherapy alone.
PHOTOS: The Long, Extraordinary Career of Steve Jobs
Because of the poor prognosis of pancreatic cancer, however, many patients elect to try alternative therapies, including a popular therapy known as the Gonzalez regimen, which involves fighting pancreatic tumors with pancreatic enzymes. Patients on the Gonzalez regimen also take a large number of nutritional supplements, including vitamins and minerals such as magnesium citrate, along with coffee enemas performed twice a day.
The treatment's developer, Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez of New York, has claimed that the use of pancreatic enzymes is a powerful way to suppress the growth of advanced pancreatic cancer cells. But a study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology in 2009, which compared groups of patients on the Gonzalez regiment to patients on standard chemotherapy treatment, found that those on chemo survived for a median of 14 months while those on the alternative therapy survived for a median of only 4.3 months.
Jobs is not reported to have tried the Gonzalez regimen, but he is known to have suscribed to alternative therapy. In a 2008 story, Fortune reported that Jobs initially tried to treat his tumor with diet instead of surgery, soon after he was diagnosed in 2004. In January, Fortune reported that he had also made a hush-hush trip to Switzerland in 2009 for a radiation-based hormone treatment. The exact details aren't clear, but the University Hospital of Basel in Switzerland is known for its special form of treatment for neuroendocrine cancer, which is not available in the U.S.
Whether these treatments helped to extend Jobs' life or improve the quality of his last days isn't clear. But cancer experts expressed surprise that Jobs survived as long as he did, continuing to fight his disease. Other pancreatic cancer patients typically aren't as fortunate. Another high-profile patient, actor Patrick Swayze, managed to live for 20 months after his diagnosis, taking advantage of chemotherapy treatments. But, overall, patients' median survival is generally only five months.
VIDEO: Steve Jobs' Career at Apple (in Two Minutes)
Jobs lost his battle with cancer at a time when researchers are constantly pushing the boundaries of treatments, particularly with antitumor agents that can home in on abnormally growing cells with increasing precision. In the end, his cancer proved too advanced to rein in with even the most innovative technologies.
"Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being," Tim Cook, Jobs' successor at Apple, wrote to employees on Wednesday. "Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple."

Steve Jobs: Silicon Valley Mourns the Death of a Founding Father

"We will miss you, R.I.P. Steve Jobs" is written on the sidewalk outside the the home of Steve Jobs in Palo Alto, California, October 5, 2011

Beck Diefenbach / Reuters

By the time Rakesh Achanta and Chris Young, two electrical engineering masters students at Stanford, got to Steve Jobs' home in Palo Alto it was past midnight. "We just had to come pay homage," says Achanta, 28, from Hyderabad, India.
"He was just such a gigantic influence," echoes Young, 25, from San Antonio. (See photos of the long and extraordinary career of Steve Jobs.)
The two squint in the candlelight at the chalk and crayon messages of love and condolences scrawled across the sidewalk in front of the English country home, just a block and a half from Google CEO Larry Page's house. Flowers line the wooden fence, behind which stand three apple trees just dropping their fruit. On several of the fence posts, fans have placed apples with one bite taken out of them, a reference to the Apple logo. Interspersed amongst the flowers are iPhone boxes wrapped with notes and even a first-generation iPod with "Steve Jobs 1955-2011" written on it in black marker.
Since the announcement Wednesday evening that Jobs, 56, co-founder and chairman of Apple, had died, a steady stream of visitors have come to his home to pay their respects. Police barriers block vehicular traffic down a side road, but otherwise people are allowed to wander around the property where Jobs' wife Laurene and their three children still reside. That night, a similar scene was playing out at two other locations across town. At the Apple Store Jobs himself used to frequent a mile-and-a-half away on Palo Alto's main drag, people left candles, poems — some slightly singed from the flickering flames — and flowers. Steve Jobs/ the pursuit of beauty and excellence/ demanding perfect ..." read the beginning of one lengthy tribute. (See photos of Steve Jobs' TIME covers.)
But the biggest memorial was at Apple headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino 10 miles away, where seven satellite trucks tracked people streaming through with flowers, balloons and mementos. Six Chinese computer science students from nearby colleges used tea candles to created a big Apple logo and write "Jobs" in English and Chinese on the pavement. At the foot of a bench, swamped with flowers and condolences, red candle wax ran in rivulets along the pavement grooves. "You can read about Gandhi, about people of that level, but it's rare that you could interact with them, meet them," says Ishdeep Sawhney, a software developer for Apple originally from Delhi. "We all knew his health wasn't doing well, but this was a shock." Sawhney, accompanied by his teary wife Bino Kohli, a product developer at Oracle, had come to pay his respects to the man whose sheer work ethic lured Sawhney from Microsoft five years ago.
Jobs announced to his employees in mid-2004 that he'd been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. In April 2009, he underwent a liver transplant. And then in August, he announced his resignation as CEO due to health reasons. On Monday, he succumbed to an unknown disease in the presence of his family. "We'll miss you, Steve," read one thank you card. "We believe that people with passion can change the world for the better." (See a two-minute video of Steve Jobs' career.)
Jobs certainly didn't lack in passion. He was an infamously demanding boss. "I can't decide whether or not to be sad," said one employee who didn't want to be named, walking up to the office memorial. But he was unquestionably brilliant. "He was a big influence on my life," says Richard Jordan, 39, a Brit who works in tech start ups and used to know Jobs as a neighbor in Palo Alto. "He was a big influence on most people's lives around here. He was one of Silicon Valley's founding fathers."
In recent years Jobs has given the world the iPod, iPhone, iPad, and iCloud. But perhaps the biggest loss is of the innovations he'd yet to realize. He also didn't live to see his new home or offices completed — both are in the works. In fact, it was his charging ahead with the new projects that had led many close Jobs watchers — he was infamously private - to speculate that his health wasn't that bad. But, clearly, it was.
"Who knows, Chris, maybe you're the next Steve Jobs," electrical engineering student Achanta said to his fellow mourner outside Jobs' Palo Alto home. "Yeah, and you're Woz," Young shot back, referring to Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. (See the top 10 Apple moments.)
But Achanta was already reconsidering. "But you wouldn't want to die at 56. I know I wouldn't," he mused. "Though, I suppose I would if I could make an impact like Jobs did. Okay, I'd be the next Steve." By half-past midnight the pair were on their way back to school, having left a note on the only piece of paper they had, a Post It. It read: "An apple falls to the ground to become a shade-giving tree."

Here are their words:

Statement from President Barack Obama

"Michelle and I are saddened to learn of the passing of Steve Jobs. Steve was among the greatest of American innovators - brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.

By building one of the planet's most successful companies from his garage, he exemplified the spirit of American ingenuity. By making computers personal and putting the internet in our pockets, he made the information revolution not only accessible, but intuitive and fun. And by turning his talents to storytelling, he has brought joy to millions of children and grownups alike. Steve was fond of saying that he lived every day like it was his last. Because he did, he transformed our lives, redefined entire industries, and achieved one of the rarest feats in human history: he changed the way each of us sees the world.

The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve's success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented. Michelle and I send our thoughts and prayers to Steve's wife Laurene, his family, and all those who loved him."

Statement from Bill Gates

"I'm truly saddened to learn of Steve Jobs' death. Melinda and I extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends, and to everyone Steve has touched through his work.

Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives.

The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come.

For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely. "

Statement from Jerry Yang, Yahoo! founder
"Steve was my hero growing up. He not only gave me a lot of personal advice and encouragement, he showed all of us how innovation can change lives. I will miss him dearly, as will the world."

Statement from Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO

"Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you."

Statement from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen

"My condolences to Steve Jobs family and friends. We've lost a unique tech pioneer and auteur who knew how to make amazingly great products."

Statement from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

"Steve Jobs was a visionary who changed the way we live, an innovator whose products brought joy to millions, a risktaker who wasn't afraid to challenge the status quo, and an entrepreneur who led one of the most creative companies of our time.

"His sage advice was respected by policymakers on both sides of the aisle. His courageous fight against cancer brought strength to many.

"I hope it is a comfort to those who loved him, especially his family, that so many grieve his loss and are praying for them at this sad time."

Statement from Walt Disney president Bob Iger

"Steve Jobs was a great friend as well as a trusted advisor. His legacy will extend far beyond the products he created or the businesses he built. It will be the millions of people he inspired, the lives he changed, and the culture he defined. Steve was such an "original," with a thoroughly creative, imaginative mind that defined an era. Despite all he accomplished, it feels like he was just getting started. With his passing the world has lost a rare original, Disney has lost a member of our family, and I have lost a great friend. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Laurene and his children during this difficult time."

Statement from California Gov. Edmund Brown

"Steve Jobs was a great California innovator who demonstrated what a totally independent and creative mind can accomplish. Few people have made such a powerful and elegant imprint on our lives. Anne and I wish to express our deepest sympathy to Steve's wife, Laurene, and their entire family."

Statement from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg

"Tonight, America lost a genius who will be remembered with Edison and Einstein, and whose ideas will shape the world for generations to come. Again and again over the last four decades, Steve Jobs saw the future and brought it to life long before most people could even see the horizon. And Steve's passionate belief in the power of technology to transform the way we live brought us more than smart phones and iPads: it brought knowledge and power that is reshaping the face of civilization. In New York City's government, everyone from street construction inspectors to NYPD detectives have harnessed Apple's products to do their jobs more efficiently and intuitively. Tonight our City - a city that has always had such respect and admiration for creative genius - joins with people around the planet in remembering a great man and keeping Laurene and the rest of the Jobs family in our thoughts and prayers."

Celebrities and Politicians Take to Twitter to Offer Condolences

Arianna Huffington, Huffington Post CEO

"@ariannahuff: My thoughts go out to Steve Jobs' family and friends. Thank you for changing our world."

Steve Levitan, co-creator/executive producer of ABC's "Modern Family"

"@SteveLevitan: I'm so sorry to hear about the death of Steve Jobs. He was truly one of my heroes. He leaves one hell of a legacy. #iSad"

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger

"@Schwarzenegger: Steve lived the California Dream every day of his life and he changed the world and inspired all of us. #ThankYouSteve"

Former California first lady Maria Shriver

"@mariashriver: I'm going to turn off my Apple computer, iPhone and iPad tonight at 8pm and honor Steve with a moment of digital silence. Will you join me?"

"@mariashriver: I'm so happy that I knew him and was so blessed by his friendship. He impacted all of our lives and changed the world."

"@mariashriver: My heart weeps for all who worked with Steve and who loved him, especially my friend Laurene and their children."

Jon Huntsman, Republican presidential candidate

"@JonHuntsman: Sad to hear about the passing of Steve Jobs, a true inspiration and a great American innovator."

Ryan Seacrest, "American Idol" host/radio talk show personality/producer

"@RyanSeacrest: 'Have the courage to follow ur heart & intuition. They already know what u truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.' - Steve Jobs"

Nancy Grace, TV host, "Dancing With the Stars" contestant

"@NancyGraceHLN: About to go to air & discovered news about Steve Jobs - My heart goes out to his family tonight. #RIP Steve Jobs"

Lebron James, Miami Heat forward

"@KingJames: R.I.P Steve Jobs. Someone who definitely left his mark on this world! Innovations that will live and last forever!!"

Neil Patrick Harris, Actor on "How I Met Your Mother"

"@ActuallyNPH: Rest in peace, Steve Jobs. Your genius will live on for generations to come..."

Zach Braff, Actor

"@zachbraff: RIP Steve Jobs. A legend. A visionary innovator."

Nick Lachey, singer, host of "The Sing-Off"

"@NickSLachey: Best wishes to the family of #stevejobs. What an amazing man and amazing life! Certainly, his legacy will be with us all forever. #RIP."

Human 'alarm clock' enzyme discovered

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7KPHMQUmR2WhzTEAGl5ubdevyrh2IBdtUpU0Vt-iblIJH1wuMzYRonwdcXMxA7C87V9dG9gbK93ptH76ozGs9lF4Uxx6uoSdwmHy9WCvmdx7rYw0oczOjqfxO8GhJ7oYS7MfrZgrkSTjM/s400/778alarm_clock.jpg

Boffins isolate molecular wake-up call!When your alarm clock doesn't go off, you can thank a humble enzyme for getting you out of bed, scientists at the Salk Institute reveal in research published today.
Researchers examining the mechanisms that control our sleep have found the chemical reaction that makes us stir abruptly, throw the cat off the bed and stumble blinking into the bathroom.

They have pinpointed an enzyme called JARID1a which acts as a molecular "bugle call" to our cells, firing them into action, say research team led by Satchindananda Panda and Luciano DiTacchio.

We've already known that a protein called PERIOD or PER is at the centre of our biological clock – raising blood pressure, stimulating heart rate and mental processes – but what shuts it down at night or gets it going again in the morning was unclear.
Tests with human cells and fruit flies suggest that JARID1a is vital to healthy sleep patterns, and that it ensures that the PER protein rises to its normal peak each day.
Fruit flies that were genetically modified to under-produce JARID1a lost their circadian rhythms completely: "Flies deprived of JARID1a took frequent naps and were unable to settle into a normal pattern of sleeping," the researchers reported.
Our body clock is vital in regulating a whole range of functions – and any malfunctioning in the genes which control these processes can result in various disorders. Scientists hope their research will be useful in helping with investigations into those diseases.

Dead Sea Scrolls Come Alive On Google

Google and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem have partnered to launch a new website that allows people the ability to view the Dead Sea Scrolls in detail. Host Audie Cornish talks with Jon Stokes, who writes about technology for Wired.com.
AUDIE CORNISH, host: For 2,000 years, the Dead Sea scrolls were seen by no one. Today, they can be viewed by anyone with access to the Internet. Google and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem teamed up to put high-quality images of the scrolls online. Images of the relics - the oldest known copies of biblical text - went live on the Web last week. Jon Stokes writes about technology for Wired.com. He is also a scholar of biblical history. And he joins us from KALW in San Francisco. Jon Stokes, welcome to the program.
JON STOKES: Thank you. It's good to be here.
CORNISH: Now, the scrolls may be new to the Web, but they were discovered in 1947, and historical scholars have had access to copies and translations for decades. I mean, what's the big deal about having them online now?
STOKES: So, there's a long and kind of sordid and really interesting publication history behind the scrolls. Because if you're a scholar, you dig something up out of the ground that's brand new or you're assigned to work on something that hasn't been discovered, you might take, you know, a decade to publish this, to really get it in shape to publish it because this is your career. I mean, this is going to be your piece of immortality. You're going to be the guy that did the first critical edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls, you know, Isaiah Scroll or what have you. And so there was fierce scholarly competition and the work just dragged on and on and on and scholars got really frustrated at the delays; the wider scholarly community, because they said, hey, you know, this is a once in a generation kind of find and it's been, you know, 20 years and we haven't had access to this, especially not in the way that we want. So, when I was in grad school, there would be a special day in the semester and everybody would get excited because we would get to go and have an in-person look at some of the manuscripts that were in the University of Chicago's collection, or in Harvard's collection. And, you know, the students would sit and these things would be laid out for us and we wouldn't be able to touch them and you could look at them with a magnifying glass. But that was, like, you know, once or twice in my life that happens. Most scholars are lucky if you're able to just get your hands on a really good high-quality color copy of a text that you're working on. So, now this thing has been put online and anyone, you know, my daughter, you know, God forbid, decides to follow in my footsteps and try to become a humanity scholar or a historian, she'll have grown up in a world where she can get really, really close to these manuscripts in a way that almost nobody could.
CORNISH: How close will you be able to get. I'm trying to imagine - what will the scrolls look like online? Will you be able to zoom in on the material the way you can like Google Earth or?
STOKES: Yeah, that's correct. So, these were photographed at a 1,200 megapixel resolution. You know, so if you think about an eight megapixel camera. I mean, this is, you know, 10-Xed out or better. And you can scroll up and see the fibers, you know, and the particles in the manuscript.
CORNISH: Jon, you're a biblical scholar, so I have you ask: have you gone online and looked at the Dead Sea Scrolls and are you excited about the possibilities of what it means for your own work?
STOKES: Absolutely, absolutely. These are searchable. You know, I can actually search these, you know, by English translation. You know, I can go to a specific verse or a specific phrase and I can zoom in and I can attach comments to it. But, yeah, I mean, it's definitely the kind of tool that scholars need.
CORNISH: So, it's not the same as actually getting to touch it but it's the closest any of us are going to get.
STOKES: It's almost better. I mean, I've seen these things in person. And, you know, you look at them with a magnifying glass and it's almost better to be able to do the kind of really, really high-level zoom in and that's going to be incredible.
CORNISH: Jon Stokes is a technology writer and biblical scholar. He joins us from KALW in San Francisco. Jon Stokes, thank you so much for joining us.
STOKES: Thank you.

Smart cities get their own operating system

Smart cities with devices chatting to each other may dot the planet in the near future

Cities could soon be looking after their citizens all by themselves thanks to an operating system designed for the metropolis.

The Urban OS works just like a PC operating system but keeps buildings, traffic and services running smoothly.
The software takes in data from sensors dotted around the city to keep an eye on what is happening.
In the event of a fire the Urban OS might manage traffic lights so fire engines can reach the blaze swiftly.
The idea is for the Urban OS to gather data from sensors buried in buildings and many other places to keep an eye on what is happening in an urban area.
The sensors monitor everything from large scale events such as traffic flows across the entire city down to more local phenomena such as temperature sensors inside individual rooms.
The OS completely bypasses humans to manage communication between sensors and devices such as traffic lights, air conditioning or water pumps that influence the quality of city life.
Channelling all the data coming from these sensors and services into a over-arching control system had lots of benefits, said Steve Lewis, head of Living PlanIT- the company behind Urban OS.

The system can help with monitoring patients at hospitals

Urban OS should mean buildings get managed better and gathering the data from lots of sources gives a broader view of key city services such as traffic flows, energy use and water levels.
"If you were using an anatomy analogy, the city has a network like the nervous system, talking to a whole bunch of sensors gathering the data and causing actions," said Mr Lewis.
"We distribute that nervous system into the parts of the body - the buildings, the streets and other things.
Having one platform managing the entire urban landscape of a city means significant cost savings, implementation consistency, quality and manageability, he added.
"And it's got local computing capacity to allow a building or an automotive platform to interact with people where they are, managing the energy, water, waste, transportation, logistics and human interaction in those areas."

“Start Quote

That's dealt with by the building itself, with the devices very locally talking to each other to figure out what's the best solution for the current dilemma”

End Quote Steve Lewis CEO, Living PlanIT

Urban apps

The underlying technology for the Urban OS has been developed by McLaren Electronic Systems - the same company that creates sensors for Formula One cars. The Urban OS was unveiled at the Machine-2-Machine conference in Rotterdam.

To support the myriad of different devices in a city the firm has developed an extensive set of application services that will run Urban OS, dubbed PlaceApps - the urban environment equivalent of apps on a smartphone.
Independent developers will also be able to build their own apps to get at data and provide certain services around a city.
Mr Lewis said that eventually applications on smartphones could hook into the Urban OS to remotely control household appliances and energy systems, or safety equipment to monitor the wellbeing of elderly people.
It could also prove useful in the event of a fire in a building, he said.
Sensors would spot the fire and then the building would use its intelligence to direct people inside to a safe stairwell, perhaps by making lights flicker or alarms get louder in the direction of the exit.
"That's dealt with by the building itself, with the devices very locally talking to each other to figure out what's the best solution for the current dilemma, and then providing directions and orchestrating themselves," said Mr Lewis.
'Magical actions' Living PlanIT is working with Cisco and Deutsche Telekom on different parts of the system.

Urban OS might help people escape during a fire

Markus Breitbach of the Machine to Machine Competence Center at Deutsche Telekom said that his firm was helping to bring all the parts of the Urban OS together.
"Everybody's talking about 50 billion connected devices, which effectively means huge amounts of data being collected, but nobody is really caring about managing it and bringing it into a context - and Urban OS can do just that," he said.
"If there's a fire alarm on the fifth floor and the elevator is going to the next floor, the light will switch on - but in addition the traffic lights will be switched accordingly to turn the traffic in the right direction so that fire workers can get through.
"And this is what Urban OS is providing, this kind of solution to analyse mass data, enter it in a context and perform magical actions."
A test bed for the Urban OS is currently being built in Portugal. For its work in developing smart cities, Living PlanIT was selected as one of the World Economic Forum's Technology Pioneers of 2012.

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