Feeling perky post-split? Liberty Ross proudly flaunted her body on the red carpet of the MOCA Awards in Beverly Hills on Wednesday, Nov. 6. The 35-year-old estranged wife of Rupert Sanders went braless in a see-through black dress that exposed her nipples.
Ross appeared to be in great spirits at the event, flashing a big smile to photographers while posing on the carpet. The model styled a short, sleeveless dress with a sheer black bodice and white-and-black printed skirt and black high-heels. The British mom of two also playfully posed in a pair of dark shades, which she later placed on the top of her head.
Ross recently opened up to Vanity Fair about life after her husband's public affair. The Snow White and the Huntsman director was caught cheating with the star of his movie, Kristen Stewart, on July 17, 2012.
"It was horrible," Ross told the December issue of the magazine. "It was really the worst, really the worst."
After filing for divorce from Sanders in January 2013, Ross, who is now dating music honcho Jimmy Iovine, said she's finally moving on. "I have no words to describe what we went through," she told Vanity Fair. "But I think, for me, something always has to completely die for there to be a rebirth. And, for me, I feel like I'm going through a rebirth."
Tricking algae's biological clock boosts production of drugs, biofuels
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
7-Nov-2013
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Contact: David Salisbury david.salisbury@vanderbilt.edu 615-343-6803 Vanderbilt University
Tricking algae's biological clock to remain in its daytime setting can dramatically boost the amount of valuable compounds that these simple marine plants can produce when they are grown in constant light.
That is the conclusion of a "proof of concept" experiment described in the Dec. 2 issue of the journal Current Biology. The study found that when the biological clocks of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) were stopped in their daylight setting, the amount of several biomolecules that they were genetically altered to produce increased by as much as 700 percent when grown in constant light.
"We have shown that manipulating cyanobacteria's clock genes can increase its production of commercially valuable biomolecules," said Carl Johnson, Stevenson Professor of Biological Sciences at Vanderbilt University, who performed the study with collaborators at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, MD and Waseda University in Tokyo. "In the last 10 years, we have figured out how to stop the circadian clocks in most species of algae and in many higher plants as well, so the technique should have widespread applicability."
If it lives up to its promise, bioclock stopping could have significant economic benefits: Microalgae are used for a wide variety of commercial applications ranging from anti-cancer drugs to cosmetics to bioplastics to biofuels to neutraceuticals. In addition, biotech companies are currently rushing to set up "biofactories" that use microorganisms to create a wide variety of substances that are too difficult or expensive to synthesize using conventional chemical methods. Many of them are based on microorganisms that have biological clocks.
In 2004, Johnson was a member of the team that determined the molecular structure of a circadian clock protein for the first time. Subsequent work mapped the entire clock mechanism in cyanobacteria, which is the simplest bioclock found in nature. The researchers discovered that the clock consisted of three proteins: KaiA, KaiB and KaiC. Detailed knowledge of the clock's structure allowed them to determine how to switch the clock on and off.
In the current study, the researchers discovered that two components of the clock, KaiA and KaiC, act as switches that turn the cell's daytime and nighttime genes on and off. They have dubbed this "yin-yang" regulation. When KaiA is upregulated produced in larger amounts and KaiC is downregulated produced in smaller amounts then the 95 percent of cell's genes that are active during daylight are turned on, and the 5 percent of the cell's genes that operate during the night are turned off. However, when KaiC is upregulated and KaiA is downregulated then the day genes are turned off and the night genes are turned on.
"As a result, all we have to do to lock the biological clock into its daylight configuration is to genetically upregulate the expression of KaiA, which is a simple manipulation in the genetically malleable cyanobacteria," Johnson said.
To see what effects this capability has on the bacteria's ability to produce commercially important compounds, the researchers inserted a gene for human insulin in some of the cyanobacteria cells, a gene for a fluorescent protein (luciferase) in other cells and a gene for hydrogenase, an enzyme that produces hydrogen gas, in yet others. They found that the cells with the locked clocks produced 200 percent more hydrogenase, 500 percent more insulin and 700 percent more luciferase when grown in constant light than they did when the genes were inserted in cells with normally functioning clocks.
###
Coauthors of the study include Research Associate Professor Yao Xu, Postdoctoral Fellow Ximing Qin and Graduate Student Jing Xiong from Vanderbilt; Assistant Professor Philip Weyman and Group Leader Qing Xu from the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Md., and Graduate Student Miki Umetani and Professor Hideo Iwasaki at Waseda University in Tokyo.
The research was funded by National Institute of General Medical Sciences grants GM067152 and GM088595, Department of Energy grant DE-FG36-05GO15027, Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science grants 23657138 and 23687002, the Asahi Glass Foundation and the Yoshida Scholarship Foundation.
Visit Research News @ Vanderbilt for more research news from Vanderbilt. [Media Note: Vanderbilt has a 24/7 TV and radio studio with a dedicated fiber optic line and ISDN line. Use of the TV studio with Vanderbilt experts is free, except for reserving fiber time.]
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Tricking algae's biological clock boosts production of drugs, biofuels
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
7-Nov-2013
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Contact: David Salisbury david.salisbury@vanderbilt.edu 615-343-6803 Vanderbilt University
Tricking algae's biological clock to remain in its daytime setting can dramatically boost the amount of valuable compounds that these simple marine plants can produce when they are grown in constant light.
That is the conclusion of a "proof of concept" experiment described in the Dec. 2 issue of the journal Current Biology. The study found that when the biological clocks of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) were stopped in their daylight setting, the amount of several biomolecules that they were genetically altered to produce increased by as much as 700 percent when grown in constant light.
"We have shown that manipulating cyanobacteria's clock genes can increase its production of commercially valuable biomolecules," said Carl Johnson, Stevenson Professor of Biological Sciences at Vanderbilt University, who performed the study with collaborators at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, MD and Waseda University in Tokyo. "In the last 10 years, we have figured out how to stop the circadian clocks in most species of algae and in many higher plants as well, so the technique should have widespread applicability."
If it lives up to its promise, bioclock stopping could have significant economic benefits: Microalgae are used for a wide variety of commercial applications ranging from anti-cancer drugs to cosmetics to bioplastics to biofuels to neutraceuticals. In addition, biotech companies are currently rushing to set up "biofactories" that use microorganisms to create a wide variety of substances that are too difficult or expensive to synthesize using conventional chemical methods. Many of them are based on microorganisms that have biological clocks.
In 2004, Johnson was a member of the team that determined the molecular structure of a circadian clock protein for the first time. Subsequent work mapped the entire clock mechanism in cyanobacteria, which is the simplest bioclock found in nature. The researchers discovered that the clock consisted of three proteins: KaiA, KaiB and KaiC. Detailed knowledge of the clock's structure allowed them to determine how to switch the clock on and off.
In the current study, the researchers discovered that two components of the clock, KaiA and KaiC, act as switches that turn the cell's daytime and nighttime genes on and off. They have dubbed this "yin-yang" regulation. When KaiA is upregulated produced in larger amounts and KaiC is downregulated produced in smaller amounts then the 95 percent of cell's genes that are active during daylight are turned on, and the 5 percent of the cell's genes that operate during the night are turned off. However, when KaiC is upregulated and KaiA is downregulated then the day genes are turned off and the night genes are turned on.
"As a result, all we have to do to lock the biological clock into its daylight configuration is to genetically upregulate the expression of KaiA, which is a simple manipulation in the genetically malleable cyanobacteria," Johnson said.
To see what effects this capability has on the bacteria's ability to produce commercially important compounds, the researchers inserted a gene for human insulin in some of the cyanobacteria cells, a gene for a fluorescent protein (luciferase) in other cells and a gene for hydrogenase, an enzyme that produces hydrogen gas, in yet others. They found that the cells with the locked clocks produced 200 percent more hydrogenase, 500 percent more insulin and 700 percent more luciferase when grown in constant light than they did when the genes were inserted in cells with normally functioning clocks.
###
Coauthors of the study include Research Associate Professor Yao Xu, Postdoctoral Fellow Ximing Qin and Graduate Student Jing Xiong from Vanderbilt; Assistant Professor Philip Weyman and Group Leader Qing Xu from the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Md., and Graduate Student Miki Umetani and Professor Hideo Iwasaki at Waseda University in Tokyo.
The research was funded by National Institute of General Medical Sciences grants GM067152 and GM088595, Department of Energy grant DE-FG36-05GO15027, Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science grants 23657138 and 23687002, the Asahi Glass Foundation and the Yoshida Scholarship Foundation.
Visit Research News @ Vanderbilt for more research news from Vanderbilt. [Media Note: Vanderbilt has a 24/7 TV and radio studio with a dedicated fiber optic line and ISDN line. Use of the TV studio with Vanderbilt experts is free, except for reserving fiber time.]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
NASA's Hubble sees asteroid spouting 6 comet-like tails
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
7-Nov-2013
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Contact: Cheryl Gundy gundy@stsci.edu 410-338-4707 NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Astronomers viewing our solar system's asteroid belt with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have seen for the first time an asteroid with six comet-like tails of dust radiating from it like spokes on a wheel.
Unlike all other known asteroids, which appear simply as tiny points of light, this asteroid, designated P/2013 P5, resembles a rotating lawn sprinkler. Astronomers are puzzled over the asteroid's unusual appearance.
"We were literally dumbfounded when we saw it," said lead investigator David Jewitt of the University of California at Los Angeles. "Even more amazing, its tail structures change dramatically in just 13 days as it belches out dust. That also caught us by surprise. It's hard to believe we're looking at an asteroid."
Jewitt leads a team whose research paper appears online in the Nov. 7 issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
P/2013 P5 has been ejecting dust periodically for at least five months. Astronomers believe it is possible the asteroid's rotation rate increased to the point where its surface started flying apart. They do not believe the tails are the result of an impact with another asteroid because they have not seen a large quantity of dust blasted into space all at once.
Scientists using the Pan-STARRS survey telescope in Hawaii announced their discovery of the asteroid Aug. 27. P/2013 P5 appeared as an unusually fuzzy-looking object. The multiple tails were discovered when Hubble was used to take a more detailed image Sept. 10.
When Hubble looked at the asteroid again Sept. 23, its appearance had totally changed. It looked as if the entire structure had swung around.
"We were completely knocked out," Jewitt said.
Careful modeling by team member Jessica Agarwal of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Lindau, Germany, showed that the tails could have been formed by a series of impulsive dust-ejection events. She calculated that dust-ejection events occurred April 15, July 18, July 24, Aug. 8, Aug. 26 and Sept. 4. Radiation pressure from the sun stretched the dust into streamers.
Radiation pressure could have spun P/2013 P5 up. Jewitt said the spin rate could have increased enough that the asteroid's weak gravity no longer could hold it together. If that happened, dust could slide toward the asteroid's equator, shatter and fall off, and drift into space to make a tail. So far, only about 100 to 1,000 tons of dust, a small fraction of the P/2013 P5's main mass, has been lost. The asteroid's nucleus, which measures 1,400 feet wide, is thousands of times more massive than the observed amount of ejected dust.
Astronomers will continue observing P/2013 P5 to see whether the dust leaves the asteroid in the equatorial plane. If it does, this would be strong evidence for a rotational breakup. Astronomers will also try to measure the asteroid's true spin rate.
Jewitt's interpretation implies that rotational breakup must be a common phenomenon in the asteroid belt; it may even be the main way small asteroids die.
"In astronomy, where you find one, you eventually find a whole bunch more," Jewitt said. "This is just an amazing object to us, and almost certainly the first of many more to come."
Jewitt said it appears P/2013 P5 is a fragment of a larger asteroid that broke apart in a collision roughly 200 million years ago. There are many collision fragments in orbits similar to P/2013 P5's. Meteorites from these bodies show evidence of having been heated to as much as 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. This means the asteroid likely is composed of metamorphic rocks and does not hold any ice as a comet does.
###
For images and more information about P/2013 P5, visit:
http://hubblesite.org/news/2013/52
For more information about NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/hubble
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NASA's Hubble sees asteroid spouting 6 comet-like tails
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
7-Nov-2013
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Contact: Cheryl Gundy gundy@stsci.edu 410-338-4707 NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Astronomers viewing our solar system's asteroid belt with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have seen for the first time an asteroid with six comet-like tails of dust radiating from it like spokes on a wheel.
Unlike all other known asteroids, which appear simply as tiny points of light, this asteroid, designated P/2013 P5, resembles a rotating lawn sprinkler. Astronomers are puzzled over the asteroid's unusual appearance.
"We were literally dumbfounded when we saw it," said lead investigator David Jewitt of the University of California at Los Angeles. "Even more amazing, its tail structures change dramatically in just 13 days as it belches out dust. That also caught us by surprise. It's hard to believe we're looking at an asteroid."
Jewitt leads a team whose research paper appears online in the Nov. 7 issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
P/2013 P5 has been ejecting dust periodically for at least five months. Astronomers believe it is possible the asteroid's rotation rate increased to the point where its surface started flying apart. They do not believe the tails are the result of an impact with another asteroid because they have not seen a large quantity of dust blasted into space all at once.
Scientists using the Pan-STARRS survey telescope in Hawaii announced their discovery of the asteroid Aug. 27. P/2013 P5 appeared as an unusually fuzzy-looking object. The multiple tails were discovered when Hubble was used to take a more detailed image Sept. 10.
When Hubble looked at the asteroid again Sept. 23, its appearance had totally changed. It looked as if the entire structure had swung around.
"We were completely knocked out," Jewitt said.
Careful modeling by team member Jessica Agarwal of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Lindau, Germany, showed that the tails could have been formed by a series of impulsive dust-ejection events. She calculated that dust-ejection events occurred April 15, July 18, July 24, Aug. 8, Aug. 26 and Sept. 4. Radiation pressure from the sun stretched the dust into streamers.
Radiation pressure could have spun P/2013 P5 up. Jewitt said the spin rate could have increased enough that the asteroid's weak gravity no longer could hold it together. If that happened, dust could slide toward the asteroid's equator, shatter and fall off, and drift into space to make a tail. So far, only about 100 to 1,000 tons of dust, a small fraction of the P/2013 P5's main mass, has been lost. The asteroid's nucleus, which measures 1,400 feet wide, is thousands of times more massive than the observed amount of ejected dust.
Astronomers will continue observing P/2013 P5 to see whether the dust leaves the asteroid in the equatorial plane. If it does, this would be strong evidence for a rotational breakup. Astronomers will also try to measure the asteroid's true spin rate.
Jewitt's interpretation implies that rotational breakup must be a common phenomenon in the asteroid belt; it may even be the main way small asteroids die.
"In astronomy, where you find one, you eventually find a whole bunch more," Jewitt said. "This is just an amazing object to us, and almost certainly the first of many more to come."
Jewitt said it appears P/2013 P5 is a fragment of a larger asteroid that broke apart in a collision roughly 200 million years ago. There are many collision fragments in orbits similar to P/2013 P5's. Meteorites from these bodies show evidence of having been heated to as much as 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. This means the asteroid likely is composed of metamorphic rocks and does not hold any ice as a comet does.
###
For images and more information about P/2013 P5, visit:
http://hubblesite.org/news/2013/52
For more information about NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/hubble
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Bloomberg Businessweek has an in-depth report today alleging that electronics supplier Flextronics used recruiters who charged workers exorbitant fees to place them in Malaysian plants, confiscating their passports and deserting them in employee housing without food when production idled.
This combination of Sept. 10 and 23, 2013 photos provided by NASA shows six comet-like tails radiating from a body in the asteroid belt, designated P/2013 P5. The Hubble Space Telescope discovered it in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. A research team led by the University of California at Los Angeles believes the asteroid is rotating so much that its surface is flying apart. It’s believed to be a fragment of a larger asteroid damaged in a collision 200 million years ago. (AP Photo/NASA, ESA, D. Jewitt - UCLA)
This combination of Sept. 10 and 23, 2013 photos provided by NASA shows six comet-like tails radiating from a body in the asteroid belt, designated P/2013 P5. The Hubble Space Telescope discovered it in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. A research team led by the University of California at Los Angeles believes the asteroid is rotating so much that its surface is flying apart. It’s believed to be a fragment of a larger asteroid damaged in a collision 200 million years ago. (AP Photo/NASA, ESA, D. Jewitt - UCLA)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — This is one strange asteroid.
The Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a six-tailed asteroid in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Scientists say they've never seen anything like it. Incredibly, the comet-like tails change shape as the asteroid sheds dust. The streams have occurred over several months.
A research team led by the University of California, Los Angeles, believes the asteroid, designated P/2013 P5, is rotating so much that its surface is flying apart. It's believed to be a fragment of a larger asteroid damaged in a collision 200 million years ago.
Scientists using the Pan-STARRS telescope in Hawaii spotted the asteroid in August. Hubble picked out all the tails in September.
The discovery is described in this week's issue of Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Those who troll the dark recesses of the Internet with drugs, murder and sexual perversion on their minds can once again patronize one of their favorite cesspools -- Silk Road. Though the marketplace for mainly illicit goods and services was shut down by the FBI a month ago and the alleged "Dread Pirate Roberts" running it was arrested, it's back in business again.
The notorious Silk Road website is back in business a month after federal authorities seized it and arrested its alleged proprietor.
The FBI shut it down following a two-and-a-half year investigation, claiming that it served as an underground marketplace for people to trade in contraband materials including narcotics, weapons and false documents -- and even to arrange murders for hire. The site promised anonymity by putting several security measures in place and accepting payment only in Bitcoins.
This time around, Silk Road is reassuring its possibly apprehensive customers that security is a main priority and warning about possible delays as it gets back on its feet.
Guilty as Charged?
Silk Road's resurrection came while its alleged owner and operator, Ross Ulbricht, was in custody following his arrest last month, which coincided with the site's seizure. Ulbricht is thought to be the person behind the "Dread Pirate Roberts" persona. However, someone claiming that identity announced Silk Road's "rise from the ashes" on Wednesday.
Ulbricht has denied the charges against him -- which include conspiracy to traffic in narcotics, solicit murder and launder money -- and has gained some supporters along the way. There is a crowdfunding site dedicated to Ulbricht that encourages supporters to donate Bitcoins to help him with legal fees.
Unless evidence is found that Ulbricht was able to help orchestrate the re-emergence of Silk Road while behind bars and prosecutors are able to include that in the charges, the site's resurrection will have no official legal ramifications for him, said Mark Rasch, attorney and expert on cybersecurity and Internet law.
Unofficially, though, Silk Road's speedy recovery could weigh heavily on anyone involved with the case, Rasch noted. It could further incense his prosecutors, reinforcing their determination to convict an alleged public face of illegal online activity.
On the other hand, it could help to rally supporters or even sway jury members into believing Silk Road's swift resurrection is proof that Ulbricht was not masterminding the operation.
"Assuming he denies being responsible but the prosecutors think otherwise, they can try to show that he is this person who is continuing to promote illegal activity and that he lacks contrition," Rasch told TechNewsWorld.
"It could also go the other way and show that Silk Road was something that was beyond his knowledge or ability to control," he pointed out.
Never-Ending Cycle
It will be some time before the Ulbricht's fate is determined, but one thing is already clear: The job of regulators trying to shut down such sites is never done, said Rasch.
"Shutting down these sites is like a game of Whac-A-Mole," he remarked. "Regulators are trying to take the incentive out of running these sites, making the costs so high ... that they'll stop doing it. They're infiltrating organizations and networks, going after the people who set up the sites and the people who buy and sell things on it."
Digital currencies may force the issue, suggested Peter Brill, attorney at Brill Legal Group.
"Efficient solutions to the self-regulation of these markets will become an expanding area of focus, as the rise of Bitcoin and similar currencies become the target of regulators worldwide," he told TechNewsWorld.
Still, last month's widely publicized shutdown of Silk Road may have deterred a few traders, and Ulbricht's arrest may cause others who might be thinking of setting up an online black market to think twice, said Rasch.
"The thing about these sites is that in order to be effective, they have to be publicly accessible and visible, and the people who are buying from them have to believe that they are safe and won't get in trouble," he noted. "These busts make them think twice about that. You can't end crime, but you can try to manage it, and that's what's going on here."
After offering birthday wishes to friend Brittny Gastineau, Kim Kardashian inadvertently raised suspicions that she is linked to the Illuminati, a conspiratorial group that theorists believe controls the world.
On Wednesday (November 7), the "Keeping up with the Kardashians" starlet posted an Instagram message to Brittny that read, “Happy Birthday to my best friend @brittgastineau We’ve shared soooo many memories over the past years! I love you! #RideorDie.” However the confusion surrounds the nature of the photo attached to the post. The snapshot features a collage of the two besties, except it showcases them within the monogram of the iconic pyramid with an eye in the center.
After hearing the feedback from followers linking her to the group, the 33-year-old posted a response the following day, writing, "I posted a IG collage for my bff @BrittGastineau & people say its the illuminate!"
Clearly confused, Kim also wrote, "What is the illuminate? A religion?… I’m a Christian. A cult?… not into that sorry! It had an eye on it, which reminded me of Britt bc her company ‘eye on glam’ & reminds me of against evil eye bracelets we wear. So sorry guys it was just a cool design I saw on one of those IG collage apps.” See for yourself, and determine whether or not Kanye West's soon-to-be wife is controlling with world as a member of the Illuminati!
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