A new study published in 'Science' found the ice in Greenland is melting five times faster than in the early 90s, part of what accounts for a 20 percent rise in sea level over the past two decades. NBC's Anne Thompson reports.
By Miguel Llanos, NBC News
What had been a blurry picture about polar ice ? especially how it impacts sea levels???just got a whole lot clearer as experts on Thursday published a peer-reviewed study they say puts to rest the debate over whether the poles added to, or subtracted from, sea level rise over the last two decades.
"This improved certainty allows us to stay definitively that both Antarctica and Greenland have been losing ice," lead author Andrew Shepherd of the University of Leeds in Britain, told reporters. Not only that, but the pace has tripled from the 1990s, the data indicate.
Combining satellite data from dozens of earlier studies, the study "shows that the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets have contributed just over 11 millimeters (0.4 inches) to global sea levels since 1992," he added. Two-thirds was from Greenland, a third from Antarctica.
NASA Earth Observatory
This 20-mile-long rift on Antarctica's Pine Island Glacier, seen from a satellite on Oct. 26, will eventually calve off, possibly in the next few months, creating an iceberg the size of New York City. While that won't raise sea levels since the glacial tongue sits on water, the loss could speed up the flow of ice from Antarctica's mainland into the sea.
That's 20 percent of all sea level rise over the last two decades, with the rest mostly from thermal expansion of waters due to warming sea temperatures, the authors noted. In recent years, however, the percentage "has gone up significantly" to nearly 40 percent, added co-author Michiel van den Broeke from Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
Published in the journal Science, the study was based on input from 47 experts at the 26 institutes that produced earlier studies with wild variations. Some estimated melt was raising sea levels by up to 2 millimeters a year, Shepherd noted, while a few said that overall polar ice was growing, and thus countering sea level rise.
Much of the discrepancy was due to data showing that Antarctica's vast eastern ice sheet was adding, not losing ice.
Eastern Antarctica has indeed added ice, but continent-wide the last decade shows a "50 percent increase in ice loss rate," said study?co-author Erik Ivins, a satellite data expert with NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab.?
Most of that loss is in western Antarctica ? at places like Pine Island Glacier, where an iceberg the size of New York City is set to calve off. The iceberg itself won't raise sea levels since that ice is already atop water, but thinning glaciers mean that ice on the mainland can make its way downhill to the sea faster.
ESA/NASA/Planetary Visions
Based on the new study in Science, this chart shows changes in global sea level due to ice sheet melting since 1992. The background image shows thickening (blue) and thinning (red) of Antarctica's ice sheets over the same period.
Even more dramatic, Ivins said, is that Greenland?"is losing mass at about five times the rate today as it was in the early 1990s."
Greenland's melt rate has gone from 55 billion tons a year in the 1990s to nearly ?290 billion tons a year recently, according to the study.?
A top ice expert who was not a study co-author told NBC News that the new data mark "an important step forward" in better estimating future sea level rise.
"While we had a basic picture of what was going on, it was an incomplete and blurry one," said Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado-Boulder. "We needed to?step back and take a fresh look, making the best use of all of the different data sources?that we have.
"With this study," he added, "we now have a lot confidence in how the ice sheets are behaving."
The findings come as nations negotiate in Qatar over a new climate treaty to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which aimed to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases tied to a warming Earth.?
And while a half-inch rise in sea levels over 20 years doesn't sound like much, many experts fear further warming will accelerate the polar melt. The ice sheets would raise sea levels by more than 200 feet if they completely melted over centuries ? not likely, but even a tenth of that would have catastrophic impacts on coastal areas.
The authors warned that while the new data should become the benchmark for future forecasts, any new studies could be compromised if aging satellites are not replaced. In the U.S., the Obama administration is overhauling its satellite program after an outside review team found it "dysfunctional."
Related: Sea levels rose 60 percent faster than forecast, study finds
"It?s really critical that these measurements are sustained and several satellites are beginning to fail," noted?Ian Joughin, a University of Washington researcher.
"If we really want to have meaningful information that you know planners can use to build seawalls," he added, "there?s going to have to be a big push to improve our projections of sea level rise using models."
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We get to serve some cool people here at Making the Moment ? no doubt. People with fun life stories, amazingly unique professions and varying and intriguing cultural backgrounds. The common denominator across all of our couples is one simple thing. Love.I absolutely adored spending a beautiful fall evening with the two of them photographing their engagement session. I really got to know these two ? and that?s important as I?ll be their wedding photographer next october. I ? getting to know my couples this way, as it totally benefits their wedding photographs.That?s why I believe so much in the power of an engagement session with your wedding photographer, you really get to build that relationship. Relationships are the center point of all great photography, especially wedding photography in Cleveland. Without a relationship of trust and respect between a wedding photographer and a couple, you end with lifeless and dull imagery.I love the imagery above and below. Garrett is a golf pro by trade, and so I met them at a local driving range so Garrett could give Katie some lessons. It was fun watching the two of them flirt and tease.They really are in love these two ? and that love between a couple drives my imagery and my creative methods. I?m not a believer in straight up traditional wedding photography. I think its important to know how to technically capture images of course, what I mean is I think we?re all tired of images of people just ?walking around and kissing? everywhere. Although I think showing romance and intimacy (appropriately of course ) in imagery is important, Relationships have so much more dimension to them than just that. We are after all multi-faceted people, with multi-faceted relationships. That?s why I think I like Garrett and Katie?s engagement session so much ? it shows them off through so many facets of their lives and relationship. I like these images (and I believe they do too) because I was able to capture and share the essence of who they are. PS ? the out of focus image above is one of my very favorites of the year I?m beyond thrilled to be their Cleveland wedding photographer next fall. It?s going to be a beautiful and fun time, and I?m stoked to see them again.
ScienceDaily (Nov. 29, 2012) ? Anyone who has ever played in an orchestra will be familiar with the phenomenon: the impulse for one's own actions does not seem to come from one's own mind alone, but rather seems to be controlled by the coordinated activity of the group. And indeed, interbrain networks do emerge when making music together -- this has now been demonstrated by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin. The scientists used electrodes to trace the brain waves of guitarists playing in duets. They also observed substantial differences in the musicians' brain activity, depending upon whether musicians were leading or following their companion.
When guitarists play a duet, the activity of their brain waves synchronises. Scientists working with Ulman Lindenberger at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin had already discovered this in 2009. Now they have gone one step further, examining the brain activity of various pairs of guitar players performing a piece of music with two different parts. Their aim was to find out whether synchronisation of the brain waves would still occur when two guitarists are not playing exactly the same notes. If it did, this would be inconsistent with the assumption that similarities in brain activity between the two guitarists are entirely due to perceiving the same stimuli or performing the same movements. Instead, it would suggest something more spectacular: that the two brains synchronize to support interpersonal action coordination.
To test this hypothesis, the psychologists assigned 32 experienced guitarists to 16 duet pairs and attached 64 electrodes to each of the musicians' heads. This enabled the scientists to record the activity of the brain waves over different regions across the entire head. Then, the musicians were asked to play a rondo sequence from the Sonata in G major by Christian Gottlieb Scheidler a total of 60 times. Importantly, the two duet partners were given slightly different tasks: They had to play in two voices, and one of the two was assigned a leading role, ensuring that they both started at the same time and were keeping the same tempo.
The difference between leader and follower was reflected in the electrical activity captured by the electrodes: "In the player taking the lead, synchronization of brain waves measured at a single electrode was stronger, and already present before to the duet started to play," says Johanna S?nger, the first author of the study. This was particularly true for delta waves, which are located in the frequency range below four Hertz. "This could be a reflection of the leading player's decision to begin playing," S?nger thinks.
The scientists also analysed the coherence between the signals from different electrodes attached to the duets' heads. The result was remarkable: When the musicians had to actively coordinate their playing, that is especially at the beginning of a sequence, the signals from frontal and central electrodes were clearly associated -- not only within the head of one player, but also between the heads of the duet partners.
"When people coordinate actions with one another, small networks within the brain and, remarkably, between the brains are formed, especially when the activities need to be precisely aligned in time, for example at the joint play onset of a piece," says Johanna S?nger.
The current data thus indicate that interbrain networks connect areas of both brains that previously have been associated with social cognition and music production. And such interbrain networks are expected to occur not only while performing music. "We assume that different people's brain waves also synchronise when people mutually coordinate their actions in other ways, such as during sport, or when they communicate with one another," S?nger says.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Max-Planck-Gesellschaft.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Johanna S?nger, Viktor M?ller, Ulman Lindenberger. Intra- and interbrain synchronization and network properties when playing guitar in duets. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2012; 6 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00312
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
More evidence for an ancient Grand CanyonPublic release date: 29-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Brian Bell bpbell@caltech.edu 626-395-5832 California Institute of Technology
Caltech study supports theory that giant gorge dates back to Late Cretaceous period
PASADENA, Calif.For over 150 years, geologists have debated how and when one of the most dramatic features on our planetthe Grand Canyonwas formed. New data unearthed by researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) builds support for the idea that conventional models, which say the enormous ravine is 5 to 6 million years old, are way off.
In fact, the Caltech research points to a Grand Canyon that is many millions of years older than previously thought, says Kenneth A. Farley, Keck Foundation Professor of Geochemistry at Caltech and coauthor of the study. "Rather than being formed within the last few million years, our measurements suggest that a deep canyon existed more than 70 million years ago," he says.
Farley and Rebecca Flowersa former postdoctoral scholar at Caltech who is now an assistant professor at the University of Colorado, Boulderoutlined their findings in a paper published in the November 29 issue of Science Express.
Building upon previous research by Farley's lab that showed that parts of the eastern canyon are likely to be at least 55 million years old, the team used a new method to test ancient rocks found at the bottom of the canyon's western section. Past experiments used the amount of helium produced by radioactive decay in apatitea mineral found in the canyon's wallsto date the samples. This time around, Farley and Flowers took a closer look at the apatite grains by analyzing not only the amount but also the spatial distribution of helium atoms that were trapped within the crystals of the mineral as they moved closer to the surface of the earth during the massive erosion that caused the Grand Canyon to form.
Rocks buried in the earth are hotwith temperatures increasing by about 25 degrees Celsius for every kilometer of depthbut as a river canyon erodes the surface downwards towards a buried rock, that rock cools. The thermal historyshown by the helium distribution in the apatite grainsgives important clues about how much time has passed since there was significant erosion in the canyon.
"If you can document cooling through temperatures only a few degrees warmer than the earth's surface, you can learn about canyon formation," says Farley, who is also chair of the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences at Caltech.
The analysis of the spatial distribution of helium allowed for detection of variations in the thermal structure at shallow levels of Earth's crust, says Flowers. That gave the team dates that enabled them to fine-tune the timeframe when the Grand Canyon was incised, or cut.
"Our research implies that the Grand Canyon was directly carved to within a few hundred meters of its modern depth by about 70 million years ago," she says.
Now that they have narrowed down the "when" of the Grand Canyon's formation, the geologists plan to continue investigations into how it took shape. The genesis of the canyon has important implications for understanding the evolution of many geological features in the western United States, including their tectonics and topography, according to the team.
"Our major scientific objective is to understand the history of the Colorado Plateauwhy does this large and unusual geographic feature exist, and when was it formed," says Farley. "A canyon cannot form without high elevationyou don't cut canyons in rocks below sea level. Also, the details of the canyon's incision seem to suggest large-scale changes in surface topography, possibly including large-scale tilting of the plateau."
###
"Apatite 4He/3He and (U-Th)/He evidence for an ancient Grand Canyon" appears in the November 29 issue of the journal Science Express. Funding for the research was provided by the National Science Foundation.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
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.
More evidence for an ancient Grand CanyonPublic release date: 29-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Brian Bell bpbell@caltech.edu 626-395-5832 California Institute of Technology
Caltech study supports theory that giant gorge dates back to Late Cretaceous period
PASADENA, Calif.For over 150 years, geologists have debated how and when one of the most dramatic features on our planetthe Grand Canyonwas formed. New data unearthed by researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) builds support for the idea that conventional models, which say the enormous ravine is 5 to 6 million years old, are way off.
In fact, the Caltech research points to a Grand Canyon that is many millions of years older than previously thought, says Kenneth A. Farley, Keck Foundation Professor of Geochemistry at Caltech and coauthor of the study. "Rather than being formed within the last few million years, our measurements suggest that a deep canyon existed more than 70 million years ago," he says.
Farley and Rebecca Flowersa former postdoctoral scholar at Caltech who is now an assistant professor at the University of Colorado, Boulderoutlined their findings in a paper published in the November 29 issue of Science Express.
Building upon previous research by Farley's lab that showed that parts of the eastern canyon are likely to be at least 55 million years old, the team used a new method to test ancient rocks found at the bottom of the canyon's western section. Past experiments used the amount of helium produced by radioactive decay in apatitea mineral found in the canyon's wallsto date the samples. This time around, Farley and Flowers took a closer look at the apatite grains by analyzing not only the amount but also the spatial distribution of helium atoms that were trapped within the crystals of the mineral as they moved closer to the surface of the earth during the massive erosion that caused the Grand Canyon to form.
Rocks buried in the earth are hotwith temperatures increasing by about 25 degrees Celsius for every kilometer of depthbut as a river canyon erodes the surface downwards towards a buried rock, that rock cools. The thermal historyshown by the helium distribution in the apatite grainsgives important clues about how much time has passed since there was significant erosion in the canyon.
"If you can document cooling through temperatures only a few degrees warmer than the earth's surface, you can learn about canyon formation," says Farley, who is also chair of the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences at Caltech.
The analysis of the spatial distribution of helium allowed for detection of variations in the thermal structure at shallow levels of Earth's crust, says Flowers. That gave the team dates that enabled them to fine-tune the timeframe when the Grand Canyon was incised, or cut.
"Our research implies that the Grand Canyon was directly carved to within a few hundred meters of its modern depth by about 70 million years ago," she says.
Now that they have narrowed down the "when" of the Grand Canyon's formation, the geologists plan to continue investigations into how it took shape. The genesis of the canyon has important implications for understanding the evolution of many geological features in the western United States, including their tectonics and topography, according to the team.
"Our major scientific objective is to understand the history of the Colorado Plateauwhy does this large and unusual geographic feature exist, and when was it formed," says Farley. "A canyon cannot form without high elevationyou don't cut canyons in rocks below sea level. Also, the details of the canyon's incision seem to suggest large-scale changes in surface topography, possibly including large-scale tilting of the plateau."
###
"Apatite 4He/3He and (U-Th)/He evidence for an ancient Grand Canyon" appears in the November 29 issue of the journal Science Express. Funding for the research was provided by the National Science Foundation.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
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.
Holiday gift ideas for food and drink lovers. Now, I know that covers everyone because we all eat and drink but some of us care more about what we eat than others.
We are the connoisseurs, or gluttons if you will, or perhaps the wine or beer aficionado who talks incessantly about the new breweries or local wine. Hey, that's me! Anyway, I've come up with a list of ideas for the foodie (I was trying to avoid that word) in your life.
First, I think everyone should be giving gift certificates to restaurants, breweries and wineries with a note attached saying, "We're going together because part of this gift is that we are spending time together and enjoying great food and drink." So, we really could end all this holiday gift quandary right now.
However, if you want something a little bit different, get someone on your list a cooking class at Stages at One Washington in Dover. Chef Evan Hennessey's concept restaurant in the mills there has two or three themed dinners each month and the chef has thrown something new into the mix ? you can take a cooking class that cooks the dishes for a given dinner. Alice in Wonderland? Indulgence? Sounds like a ton of fun. The kitchen is spectacular, I really want to get my hands on some of that equipment and the food will be delicious. www.stages-dining.com
While we're on classes, take a brewing class. At A&G Homebrew Supply in Portsmouth and The Homebrew Barn in Hampton, you can get someone the gift of learning how to brew beer and wine or even cider, vinegar or make cheese. That's something you can do together, too! www.aghomebrewsupply.com and www.thehomebrewbarn.com.
In October I did something that was a heck of a lot of fun. Over at the Lindt Chocolate Outlet in Kittery they have Create Your Own Chocolate Bar set up where you get a tray with melted chocolate, which is just like a Lindt bar (so much so that it actually is a Lindt chocolate bar), and then you go over to the bar where you can festoon it with all sorts of treats like gummy sharks, hot cinnamon hearts, coconut, nuts ? oh about 30 or so fun "toppings" in all colors. Then, the expert there will put it into a machine to harden it, wrap it up and label it and voila! You have a personalized, creative, and delicious gift for someone. This is one of those things your kids can make and give to Grandma and Grandpa (which was always the difficult part at the holidays for me). It's just $10. Now, while I was there, I discovered all sorts of new things about Lindt, including chocolate bars I'd never seen before (the outlet has a vast selection including many made in other countries). They also introduced me to the technique of putting one of those Lindt truffle balls into my coffee. I had a big "hey why didn't I think of that" moment. They have their fun gold foil-covered bears and colorful foil Santas as well as many other chocolate figures this year too. www.lindtusa.com.
I'm also recommending, as did Oprah, the Corkcicle, which you put in the freezer, then your white wine and your wine stays nice and chilled. www.corkcicle.com.
The SodaStream is on my gift list too (you can carbonate vodka!) because you can make your own soda out of an infinite list of flavor possiblities (bacon!). www.sodastreamusa.com.
I'm thinking about getting a juicer too after seeing "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead," and there are many to choose from at all price points. I love kale and carrot juice, I really do!
There are many great food-related books on the top of my list this year, including "Pastries," by Alison Pray who owns Standard Baking Co. in Portland (co-writer Tara Smith) Down East Books. The book is wonderfully designed and the recipes are easy and tasty.
Timothy Ferriss just came out with "The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life" (Kindle Edition and in hardback from Amazon Books) His whole premise is that you can become a world-class chef in six months or less and he takes us from Manhattan to Okinawa, and from Silicon Valley to Calcutta, unearthing the secrets of the world's fastest learners and greatest chefs.
Ferriss uses cooking to explain "meta-learning," a step-by-step process that can be used to master anything, whether searing steak or shooting 3-pointers in basketball. That is the real "recipe" of "The 4-Hour Chef." You'll train inside the kitchen for everything outside the kitchen. Featuring tips and tricks from chess prodigies, world-renowned chefs, pro athletes, master sommeliers, super models, and everyone in between, this "cookbook for people who don't buy cookbooks" is a guide to mastering cooking and life." I'm pretty intrigued by this. He brings you through meta-learning, then the building blocks of cooking, foraging and more before sending you on your way to lifelong mastery of everything.
Wine lovers will like "The Juice," by Jay McInerney. (Alfred A. Knopf, 2012). It's a collection of his columns from the Wall Street Journal and you learn about wine through entertaining and well-written stories from his life. He's quite an expert. He'll also be at The Music Hall Loft tonight (Nov. 29) if you can get there.
There is always a great new cookbook from Phaidon press to get, and this year it's "The Lebanese Kitchen," the definitive book on Lebanese home cooking, featuring 500 authentic and delicious recipes that are simple to create at home. Salma Hage is a Lebanese housewife from Mazarat Tiffah, with more than 50 years of experience as a family cook and the recipes are simple and elegant at the same time.
If you know any restaurateurs or anyone who works in a restaurant, get them "The Art of the Restaurateur," which reveals the hidden stories behind some of the world's best restaurants, and celebrate the complex but unrecognized art of the restaurateur. It's by Nicholas Lander who owned L'Escargot in London in the 1980s and is now a renowned food columnist for the Financial Times. It covers everything you ever wanted to know about the highs and lows of the restaurant business, presenting the untold stories of the world's best restaurateurs, from luxurious Michelin-starred restaurants, to bustling neighbourhood bistros, to stylish fast-food cafes.
I also like "Jerusalem" (Ten Speed Press, 2012). This is a collection of 120 recipes exploring the flavors of Jerusalem from the New York Times bestselling author of "Plenty," Yotam Ottolenghi along with Sami Tamimi. You'll explore the vibrant cuisine of their home city ? with its diverse Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities.
Also great is "Burma: Rivers of Flavor" by Naomi Duguid (Artisan, 2012). She tells terrific stories interspersed with 125 recipes and teaches you about the culture through food.
That's all for now! As I find more, I'll post them on my Facebook and Twitter pages so follow Rachel Forrest on both.
Rachel Forrest is a former restaurant owner who lives in Exeter. Her column appears Thursdays in Go&Do. Her restaurant review column, Dining Out, appears Thursdays in Spotlight magazine. Buy "Maine Classics: More Than 150 Delicious Recipes from Downeast," written by Chefs Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier with Rachel Forrest at www.rachelforrest.com. She can be reached by e-mail at rachel.forrest@dowjones.com.
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If your gift recipients like Lindt chocolate, they'll love making their own giant bar.Andrew Moore courtesy photo
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Holiday gift ideas for food and drink lovers. Now, I know that covers everyone because we all eat and drink but some of us care more about what we eat than others.
We are the connoisseurs, or gluttons if you will, or perhaps the wine or beer aficionado who talks incessantly about the new breweries or local wine. Hey, that's me! Anyway, I've come up with a list of ideas for the foodie (I was trying to avoid that word) in your life.
First, I think everyone should be giving gift certificates to restaurants, breweries and wineries with a note attached saying, "We're going together because part of this gift is that we are spending time together and enjoying great food and drink." So, we really could end all this holiday gift quandary right now.
However, if you want something a little bit different, get someone on your list a cooking class at Stages at One Washington in Dover. Chef Evan Hennessey's concept restaurant in the mills there has two or three themed dinners each month and the chef has thrown something new into the mix ? you can take a cooking class that cooks the dishes for a given dinner. Alice in Wonderland? Indulgence? Sounds like a ton of fun. The kitchen is spectacular, I really want to get my hands on some of that equipment and the food will be delicious. www.stages-dining.com
While we're on classes, take a brewing class. At A&G Homebrew Supply in Portsmouth and The Homebrew Barn in Hampton, you can get someone the gift of learning how to brew beer and wine or even cider, vinegar or make cheese. That's something you can do together, too! www.aghomebrewsupply.com and www.thehomebrewbarn.com.
In October I did something that was a heck of a lot of fun. Over at the Lindt Chocolate Outlet in Kittery they have Create Your Own Chocolate Bar set up where you get a tray with melted chocolate, which is just like a Lindt bar (so much so that it actually is a Lindt chocolate bar), and then you go over to the bar where you can festoon it with all sorts of treats like gummy sharks, hot cinnamon hearts, coconut, nuts ? oh about 30 or so fun "toppings" in all colors. Then, the expert there will put it into a machine to harden it, wrap it up and label it and voila! You have a personalized, creative, and delicious gift for someone. This is one of those things your kids can make and give to Grandma and Grandpa (which was always the difficult part at the holidays for me). It's just $10. Now, while I was there, I discovered all sorts of new things about Lindt, including chocolate bars I'd never seen before (the outlet has a vast selection including many made in other countries). They also introduced me to the technique of putting one of those Lindt truffle balls into my coffee. I had a big "hey why didn't I think of that" moment. They have their fun gold foil-covered bears and colorful foil Santas as well as many other chocolate figures this year too. www.lindtusa.com.
I'm also recommending, as did Oprah, the Corkcicle, which you put in the freezer, then your white wine and your wine stays nice and chilled. www.corkcicle.com.
The SodaStream is on my gift list too (you can carbonate vodka!) because you can make your own soda out of an infinite list of flavor possiblities (bacon!). www.sodastreamusa.com.
I'm thinking about getting a juicer too after seeing "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead," and there are many to choose from at all price points. I love kale and carrot juice, I really do!
There are many great food-related books on the top of my list this year, including "Pastries," by Alison Pray who owns Standard Baking Co. in Portland (co-writer Tara Smith) Down East Books. The book is wonderfully designed and the recipes are easy and tasty.
Timothy Ferriss just came out with "The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life" (Kindle Edition and in hardback from Amazon Books) His whole premise is that you can become a world-class chef in six months or less and he takes us from Manhattan to Okinawa, and from Silicon Valley to Calcutta, unearthing the secrets of the world's fastest learners and greatest chefs.
Ferriss uses cooking to explain "meta-learning," a step-by-step process that can be used to master anything, whether searing steak or shooting 3-pointers in basketball. That is the real "recipe" of "The 4-Hour Chef." You'll train inside the kitchen for everything outside the kitchen. Featuring tips and tricks from chess prodigies, world-renowned chefs, pro athletes, master sommeliers, super models, and everyone in between, this "cookbook for people who don't buy cookbooks" is a guide to mastering cooking and life." I'm pretty intrigued by this. He brings you through meta-learning, then the building blocks of cooking, foraging and more before sending you on your way to lifelong mastery of everything.
Wine lovers will like "The Juice," by Jay McInerney. (Alfred A. Knopf, 2012). It's a collection of his columns from the Wall Street Journal and you learn about wine through entertaining and well-written stories from his life. He's quite an expert. He'll also be at The Music Hall Loft tonight (Nov. 29) if you can get there.
There is always a great new cookbook from Phaidon press to get, and this year it's "The Lebanese Kitchen," the definitive book on Lebanese home cooking, featuring 500 authentic and delicious recipes that are simple to create at home. Salma Hage is a Lebanese housewife from Mazarat Tiffah, with more than 50 years of experience as a family cook and the recipes are simple and elegant at the same time.
If you know any restaurateurs or anyone who works in a restaurant, get them "The Art of the Restaurateur," which reveals the hidden stories behind some of the world's best restaurants, and celebrate the complex but unrecognized art of the restaurateur. It's by Nicholas Lander who owned L'Escargot in London in the 1980s and is now a renowned food columnist for the Financial Times. It covers everything you ever wanted to know about the highs and lows of the restaurant business, presenting the untold stories of the world's best restaurateurs, from luxurious Michelin-starred restaurants, to bustling neighbourhood bistros, to stylish fast-food cafes.
I also like "Jerusalem" (Ten Speed Press, 2012). This is a collection of 120 recipes exploring the flavors of Jerusalem from the New York Times bestselling author of "Plenty," Yotam Ottolenghi along with Sami Tamimi. You'll explore the vibrant cuisine of their home city ? with its diverse Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities.
Also great is "Burma: Rivers of Flavor" by Naomi Duguid (Artisan, 2012). She tells terrific stories interspersed with 125 recipes and teaches you about the culture through food.
That's all for now! As I find more, I'll post them on my Facebook and Twitter pages so follow Rachel Forrest on both.
Rachel Forrest is a former restaurant owner who lives in Exeter. Her column appears Thursdays in Go&Do. Her restaurant review column, Dining Out, appears Thursdays in Spotlight magazine. Buy "Maine Classics: More Than 150 Delicious Recipes from Downeast," written by Chefs Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier with Rachel Forrest at www.rachelforrest.com. She can be reached by e-mail at rachel.forrest@dowjones.com.
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More neurologists and neurosurgeons are associated with fewer deaths from strokes in the USPublic release date: 30-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jo Ann M. Eliason jaeliason@thejns.org 434-982-1209 Journal of Neurosurgery Publishing Group
Charlottesville, VA (November 30, 2012). Researchers at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, have found an association in the United States between a higher density of neurologists and neurosurgeons and a decreased risk of death from stroke. The findings of their study are described in the article "Association of a higher density of specialist neuroscience providers with fewer deaths from stroke in the United States population. Clinical article," by Atman Desai, M.D., and colleagues, published today online, ahead of print, in the Journal of Neurosurgery.
Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability in the United States. Given that neurologists and neurosurgeons are specialists in the field of stroke, the researchers hypothesized that there would be an association between the density of these neuroscience providers and the number of stroke-related deaths.
Desai and colleagues performed a retrospective analysis of data from the Area Resource File 2009-2010, a database containing county-level information on health care facilities and their utilization and expenditures; health care professionals and their training; and socioeconomic and environmental characteristics. Data from 3141 US counties were analyzed. The primary outcome variable was the average number of deaths from cerebrovascular disease per million population for each county during the 3-year period 2004 through 2006.The primary independent variable was the density of neuroscience providers (the combined number of neurologists and neurosurgeons per million population) in 2006.
In the 3141 US counties that were examined, the median number of deaths from stroke per million persons was 586. The median number of neuroscience providers per county was zero (0).
In an unadjusted analysis, the authors found that an increase of one neuroscience provider per million population was associated with 0.71 fewer deaths due to stroke per million population. In a multivariate analysis, in which adjustments were made for county urbanicity, socioeconomic conditions, and the density of general practitioners, an increase of one neurologist or neurosurgeon was associated with 0.38 fewer deaths from stroke per million population. Curiously, an increase in one general practitioner per million population was associated with 0.143 more stroke deaths in that population. The authors speculate that this may be due to a decreased density of neuroscience providers in counties with high numbers of general practitioners or to increased recruitment of general practitioners to high-risk locales.
The association between the density of neuroscience providers and fewer stroke deaths was present regardless of whether the county was rural or urban. Rural setting was associated with a significant increase in stroke-related deaths, whereas low level of education and persistent poverty were not significant factors.
In an editorial accompanying the article by Desai and colleagues, Fred G. Barker II, M.D., states that the most powerful finding of the report is "the much higher stroke-related mortality for rural residents." Barker points out the time-sensitive nature of stroke treatment and the lack of sophisticated stroke care in many areas. Of the 3141 counties listed in the Area Resource File, 2051 are classified as rural. Neurosurgeons are generally clustered in and around cities that house tertiary care hospitals, and thus there is large disparity in the density of neuroscience providers throughout US counties. Desai and colleagues state that timely diagnosis and intervention depend on the immediate availability of both specialties, and this is extremely important in cases of stroke.
Given the association found between the distribution of neuroscience providers and stroke-related deaths, Desai and colleagues conclude that the availability of local neurologists and neurosurgeons may be important for the overall likelihood of surviving a stroke, and thus specialist education and practice throughout the US should be promoted.
###
Desai A, Bekelis K, Zhao W, Ball PA, Erkmen K: Association of a higher density of specialist neuroscience providers with fewer deaths from stroke in the United States population. Clinical Article. Journal of Neurosurgery, published ahead of print
November 30, 2012; DOI: 10.3171/2012.10.JNS12518.
Disclosure: The authors report no conflict of interest concerning the materials or methods used in this study or the findings specified in this paper.
For additional information, please contact:
Ms. Jo Ann M. Eliason, Communications Manager
Journal of Neurosurgery Publishing Group
One Morton Drive, Suite 200
Charlottesville, VA 22903
Email: jaeliason@thejns.org
Telephone 434-982-1209
Fax 434-924-2702
For 68 years, the Journal of Neurosurgery has been recognized by neurosurgeons and other medical specialists the world over for its authoritative, clinical articles, cutting-edge laboratory research papers, renowned case reports, expert technical notes, and more. Each article is rigorously peer reviewed. The Journal of Neurosurgery is published monthly by the JNS Publishing Group, the scholarly journal division of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, an association dedicated to advancing the specialty of neurological surgery in order to promote the highest quality of patient care. The Journal of Neurosurgery appears in print and on the Internet.
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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.
More neurologists and neurosurgeons are associated with fewer deaths from strokes in the USPublic release date: 30-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jo Ann M. Eliason jaeliason@thejns.org 434-982-1209 Journal of Neurosurgery Publishing Group
Charlottesville, VA (November 30, 2012). Researchers at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, have found an association in the United States between a higher density of neurologists and neurosurgeons and a decreased risk of death from stroke. The findings of their study are described in the article "Association of a higher density of specialist neuroscience providers with fewer deaths from stroke in the United States population. Clinical article," by Atman Desai, M.D., and colleagues, published today online, ahead of print, in the Journal of Neurosurgery.
Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability in the United States. Given that neurologists and neurosurgeons are specialists in the field of stroke, the researchers hypothesized that there would be an association between the density of these neuroscience providers and the number of stroke-related deaths.
Desai and colleagues performed a retrospective analysis of data from the Area Resource File 2009-2010, a database containing county-level information on health care facilities and their utilization and expenditures; health care professionals and their training; and socioeconomic and environmental characteristics. Data from 3141 US counties were analyzed. The primary outcome variable was the average number of deaths from cerebrovascular disease per million population for each county during the 3-year period 2004 through 2006.The primary independent variable was the density of neuroscience providers (the combined number of neurologists and neurosurgeons per million population) in 2006.
In the 3141 US counties that were examined, the median number of deaths from stroke per million persons was 586. The median number of neuroscience providers per county was zero (0).
In an unadjusted analysis, the authors found that an increase of one neuroscience provider per million population was associated with 0.71 fewer deaths due to stroke per million population. In a multivariate analysis, in which adjustments were made for county urbanicity, socioeconomic conditions, and the density of general practitioners, an increase of one neurologist or neurosurgeon was associated with 0.38 fewer deaths from stroke per million population. Curiously, an increase in one general practitioner per million population was associated with 0.143 more stroke deaths in that population. The authors speculate that this may be due to a decreased density of neuroscience providers in counties with high numbers of general practitioners or to increased recruitment of general practitioners to high-risk locales.
The association between the density of neuroscience providers and fewer stroke deaths was present regardless of whether the county was rural or urban. Rural setting was associated with a significant increase in stroke-related deaths, whereas low level of education and persistent poverty were not significant factors.
In an editorial accompanying the article by Desai and colleagues, Fred G. Barker II, M.D., states that the most powerful finding of the report is "the much higher stroke-related mortality for rural residents." Barker points out the time-sensitive nature of stroke treatment and the lack of sophisticated stroke care in many areas. Of the 3141 counties listed in the Area Resource File, 2051 are classified as rural. Neurosurgeons are generally clustered in and around cities that house tertiary care hospitals, and thus there is large disparity in the density of neuroscience providers throughout US counties. Desai and colleagues state that timely diagnosis and intervention depend on the immediate availability of both specialties, and this is extremely important in cases of stroke.
Given the association found between the distribution of neuroscience providers and stroke-related deaths, Desai and colleagues conclude that the availability of local neurologists and neurosurgeons may be important for the overall likelihood of surviving a stroke, and thus specialist education and practice throughout the US should be promoted.
###
Desai A, Bekelis K, Zhao W, Ball PA, Erkmen K: Association of a higher density of specialist neuroscience providers with fewer deaths from stroke in the United States population. Clinical Article. Journal of Neurosurgery, published ahead of print
November 30, 2012; DOI: 10.3171/2012.10.JNS12518.
Disclosure: The authors report no conflict of interest concerning the materials or methods used in this study or the findings specified in this paper.
For additional information, please contact:
Ms. Jo Ann M. Eliason, Communications Manager
Journal of Neurosurgery Publishing Group
One Morton Drive, Suite 200
Charlottesville, VA 22903
Email: jaeliason@thejns.org
Telephone 434-982-1209
Fax 434-924-2702
For 68 years, the Journal of Neurosurgery has been recognized by neurosurgeons and other medical specialists the world over for its authoritative, clinical articles, cutting-edge laboratory research papers, renowned case reports, expert technical notes, and more. Each article is rigorously peer reviewed. The Journal of Neurosurgery is published monthly by the JNS Publishing Group, the scholarly journal division of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, an association dedicated to advancing the specialty of neurological surgery in order to promote the highest quality of patient care. The Journal of Neurosurgery appears in print and on the Internet.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
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.
NEW YORK (AP) ? A wealthy Missouri man posing as "Secret Santa" stunned New Yorkers on Thursday, handing $100 bills to many in Staten Island who had lost everything to Superstorm Sandy.
The Kansas City businessman is giving away $100,000 this holiday season, and spent the day in New Jersey and New York giving away thousands. But he says money is not the issue.
"The money is not the point at all," said the anonymous benefactor as he walked up to surprised Staten Island residents and thrust crisp bills into their hands. "It's about the random acts of kindness. I'm just setting an example, and if 10 percent of the people who see me emulate what I'm doing, anybody can be a Secret Santa!"
A police motorcade with sirens took him across the borough, passing a church ripped from its foundations and homes surrounded by debris. At a nearby disaster center run by volunteers, a woman quietly collected free food and basic goods.
"Has anyone given you any money?" he asked her.
"No," replied Carol Hefty, a 72-year-old retiree living in a damaged home.
"Here," he said, slipping the money into her hand.
"But this isn't real money!" said Hefty, glancing at the red "Secret Santa" stamped onto the $100.
"It is, and it's for you," he tells her.
She breaks down weeping and hugs him.
And so it went, again and again.
Secret Santa started his daylong East Coast visit with stops in Elizabeth, N.J. Keeping close watch over the cash handouts was his security entourage ? police officers in uniform from New York and New Jersey, plus FBI agents and former agents from various states. Some have become supporters, wearing red berets marked with the word "elf" and assisting "Santa" to choose locations where people are most in need. He himself wears an "elf" cap and a red top, plus blue jeans.
The group must choose stops carefully, and refrain from simply appearing outdoors in a neighborhood, lest they be mobbed by people hearing that cash is being handed out.
At a stop at a Staten Island Salvation Army store, one woman is looking over a $4 handbag. "But you get $100!" he tells her, offering the bill.
"Are you serious?" said Prudence Onesto, her eyes widening. "Really?"
"Secret Santa," he deadpans, breaking into a broad grin.
The 55-year-old unemployed woman opened her arms and offered him a hug.
An aisle over, 41-year-old Janice Kennedy is overwhelmed: She received four $100 bills.
Unemployed with a 2-year-old daughter, she lost her home in the storm and lives with her boyfriend. The money will go toward Christmas presents and her toddler's next birthday.
"You're not alone. God bless you!" the Missouri stranger tells Phillip and Lisa Morris, a couple in their 30s whose home was badly damaged ? but now had an extra $300 in cash for rebuilding.
Secret Santa took up the holiday tradition from a close Kansas City friend, Larry Stewart, who for years handed out bills to unsuspecting strangers in thrift stores, food pantries and shelters. Stewart died in 2007 after giving away more than $1 million to strangers each December in mostly $100 bills.
The current Secret Santa will not divulge his name. Nor does he allow his face to be photographed. But he said he's been to cities across America, from San Diego to Chicago to Charlotte, N.C.
A reporter asked whether he might be a sort of Warren Buffett of Kansas City. He smiled mysteriously and said only that he admires Buffett for his philanthropy. "And I hope I give all my money away before I die."
Then, as suddenly as he arrived, the generous stranger left for the airport and home, riding in the volunteer motorcade he jokingly calls "my sleigh," zipping with ease through red lights and city traffic.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) ? Health officials warn that the Greek capital is seeing an alarming increase in new HIV infections, particularly among intravenous drug users, as the country struggles through a protracted financial crisis in which funding has been slashed for health care and drug treatment programs.
Officials said while there were about 10-14 new HIV infections per year among Athens drug users from 2008 to 2010, that number shot up to 206 new cases last year and 487 new cases by October this year ? a 35-fold increase.
Epidemiology and preventive medicine professor Angelos Hatzakis described the situation as a "big and rapidly developing epidemic in Athens."
Marc Sprenger, director of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, said the situation must be dealt with quickly to prevent it from spiraling further.
The "immortal jellyfish" can transform itself back into a polyp and begin life anew.
After more than 4,000 years ? almost since the dawn of recorded time, when Utnapishtim told Gilgamesh that the secret to immortality lay in a coral found on the ocean floor ? man finally discovered eternal life in 1988. He found it, in fact, on the ocean floor. The discovery was made unwittingly by Christian Sommer, a German marine-biology student in his early 20s. He was spending the summer in Rapallo, a small city on the Italian Riviera, where exactly one century earlier Friedrich Nietzsche conceived ?Thus Spoke Zarathustra?: ?Everything goes, everything comes back; eternally rolls the wheel of being. Everything dies, everything blossoms again. . . .?
Yoshihiko Ueda for The New York Times
Shin Kubota at Kyoto University?s Seto Marine Biological Laboratory.
Sommer was conducting research on hydrozoans, small invertebrates that, depending on their stage in the life cycle, resemble either a jellyfish or a soft coral. Every morning, Sommer went snorkeling in the turquoise water off the cliffs of Portofino. He scanned the ocean floor for hydrozoans, gathering them with plankton nets. Among the hundreds of organisms he collected was a tiny, relatively obscure species known to biologists as Turritopsis dohrnii. Today it is more commonly known as the immortal jellyfish.
Sommer kept his hydrozoans in petri dishes and observed their reproduction habits. After several days he noticed that his Turritopsis dohrnii was behaving in a very peculiar manner, for which he could hypothesize no earthly explanation. Plainly speaking, it refused to die. It appeared to age in reverse, growing younger and younger until it reached its earliest stage of development, at which point it began its life cycle anew.
Sommer was baffled by this development but didn?t immediately grasp its significance. (It was nearly a decade before the word ?immortal? was first used to describe the species.) But several biologists in Genoa, fascinated by Sommer?s finding, continued to study the species, and in 1996 they published a paper called ?Reversing the Life Cycle.? The scientists described how the species ? at any stage of its development ? could transform itself back to a polyp, the organism?s earliest stage of life, ?thus escaping death and achieving potential immortality.? This finding appeared to debunk the most fundamental law of the natural world ? you are born, and then you die.
One of the paper?s authors, Ferdinando Boero, likened the Turritopsis to a butterfly that, instead of dying, turns back into a caterpillar. Another metaphor is a chicken that transforms into an egg, which gives birth to another chicken. The anthropomorphic analogy is that of an old man who grows younger and younger until he is again a fetus. For this reason Turritopsis dohrnii is often referred to as the Benjamin Button jellyfish.
Yet the publication of ?Reversing the Life Cycle? barely registered outside the academic world. You might expect that, having learned of the existence of immortal life, man would dedicate colossal resources to learning how the immortal jellyfish performs its trick. You might expect that biotech multinationals would vie to copyright its genome; that a vast coalition of research scientists would seek to determine the mechanisms by which its cells aged in reverse; that pharmaceutical firms would try to appropriate its lessons for the purposes of human medicine; that governments would broker international accords to govern the future use of rejuvenating technology. But none of this happened.
Some progress has been made, however, in the quarter-century since Christian Sommer?s discovery. We now know, for instance, that the rejuvenation of Turritopsis dohrnii and some other members of the genus is caused by environmental stress or physical assault. We know that, during rejuvenation, it undergoes cellular transdifferentiation, an unusual process by which one type of cell is converted into another ? a skin cell into a nerve cell, for instance. (The same process occurs in human stem cells.) We also know that, in recent decades, the immortal jellyfish has rapidly spread throughout the world?s oceans in what Maria Pia Miglietta, a biology professor at Notre Dame, calls ?a silent invasion.? The jellyfish has been ?hitchhiking? on cargo ships that use seawater for ballast. Turritopsis has now been observed not only in the Mediterranean but also off the coasts of Panama, Spain, Florida and Japan. The jellyfish seems able to survive, and proliferate, in every ocean in the world. It is possible to imagine a distant future in which most other species of life are extinct but the ocean will consist overwhelmingly of immortal jellyfish, a great gelatin consciousness everlasting.
Nathaniel Rich is an author whose second novel, ??Odds Against Tomorrow,?? will be published in April.
CAIRO (Reuters) - An Islamist-led assembly raced through approval of a new constitution for Egypt on Friday to end a crisis over President Mohamed Mursi's expanded powers, but the opposition said it was an escalation that would only spur more protests.
Mursi said law decree halting court challenges to his decisions, which provoked demonstrations and violence from Egyptians fearing a new dictatorship less than two years after they ousted Hosni Mubarak, was "for an exceptional stage."
"It will end as soon as the people vote on a constitution," he told state television while the constituent assembly was still voting on the draft. "There is no place for dictatorship."
The opposition cried foul. Liberals, leftists, Christians, more moderate Muslims and others had withdrawn from the assembly, saying their voices were not being heard. They have called for big rally on Friday, an eighth day of protests.
Protesters said they would push for a 'no' vote in a referendum, which could happen as early as mid-December. If approved, it would immediately cancel the president's decree.
"We fundamentally reject the referendum and constituent assembly because the assembly does not represent all sections of society," said Sayed el-Erian, 43, a protester in Cairo's Tahrir Square. He is a member of the liberal Dostour (Constitution) Party, set up by prominent opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei.
The plebiscite is a gamble based on the Islamists' belief that they can mobilize voters again after winning all elections held since Mubarak was overthrown in February 2011.
But it will need the cooperation of judges to oversee the vote, though many were angered by Mursi's decree that they said undermined the judiciary. Some judges have gone on strike.
The assembly concluded the vote after a 19-hour session, approving all 234 articles including presidential powers, the status of Islam, the military's role and the extent to which human rights will be respected in the post-Hosni Mubarak era.
HISTORIC CHANGES
The final draft contains historic changes to Egypt's system of government. It limits to eight years the amount of time a president can serve, for example. Mubarak was in power for three decades. It also introduces a degree of oversight over the military establishment - though not enough for critics.
Mursi is expected to ratify the document by Saturday, allowing a referendum to be held as soon as mid-December on a text the Islamists say reflects Egypt's new freedoms.
"We have finished working on Egypt's constitution," said Hossam el-Gheriyani, head of the assembly in a live broadcast of the session. "We will call the president today (Friday) at a reasonable hour to inform him that the assembly has finished its task and the project of the constitution is completed."
The vote was often interrupted by bickering between the mostly Islamist members and Gheriyani over the articles. Several articles were amended on the spot before they were voted on.
"This is a revolutionary constitution," Gheriyani said, asking members of the assembly to launch a cross-country campaign to "explain to our nation its constitution."
Critics argue it is an attempt to rush through a draft they say has been hijacked by the Muslim Brotherhood, which backed Mursi for president in a June election, and its allies.
Two people have been killed and hundreds injured in the protests since last Thursday's decree, which deepened the divide between the newly empowered Islamists and their opponents.
Setting the stage for more tension, the Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamist allies have called for pro-Mursi rallies on Saturday. But officials from the Brotherhood's party changed the venue and said they would avoid Tahrir Square.
Seeking to calm protesters, Mursi said he welcomed opposition but there was no place for violence. "I am very happy that Egypt has real political opposition," he said.
He said Egypt needed to attract investors and tourists. The crisis threatens to derail early signs of an economic recovery after two years of turmoil. Egypt's benchmark stock index fell on Thursday to a four-month low.
An alliance of opposition groups pledged to keep up protests and said broader civil disobedience was possible to fight what it described as an attempt to "kidnap Egypt from its people."
ISLAMIC REFERENCES
Eleven newspapers plan not to publish on Tuesday to protest Mursi's decree, one reported. Al-Masry Al-Youm, one of Egypt's most widely read dailies, also said three privately owned satellite channels would not broadcast on Wednesday in protest.
The Brotherhood argues that approval of the constitution in a referendum would bury all arguments about both the legality of the assembly and the text it has written in the last six months.
If Egyptians approve the constitution, legislative powers pass straight from Mursi to the upper house of parliament, in line with an article in the constitution, assembly members said.
The draft injects new Islamic references into Egypt's system of government but keeps in place an article defining "the principles of sharia" as the main source of legislation - the same phrase found in the previous constitution.
It caps the amount of time a president can serve at two terms, or eight years. Mubarak ruled for three decades. It also introduces a measure of civilian oversight - not nearly enough for the critics - over the military establishment.
The president can declare war with parliament's approval, but only after consulting a national defense council with a heavy military and security membership. That was not in the old constitution, used when Egypt was ruled by ex-military men.
Activists highlighted other flaws such as worrying articles pertaining to the rights of women and freedom of speech.
"There are some good pro-freedoms articles, but there are also catastrophic articles like one that prevents insults. This could be used against journalists criticizing the president or state officials," said human rights activist Gamal Eid.
A new parliamentary election cannot happen until the constitution is passed. Egypt has been without an elected legislature since the Islamist-dominated lower house was dissolved in June, based on a court order.
"The secular forces and the church and the judges are not happy with the constitution; the journalists are not happy, so I think this will increase tensions in the country," said Mustapha Kamal Al-Sayyid, a Cairo University political science professor.
(Additional reporting by Tom Perry and Tamim Elyan; writing by Edmund Blair; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
Students walk across a new bridge as they cross a river to get to school at Sanghiang Tanjung village in Lebak regency, Indonesia's Banten village on November 29, 2012.
Children in Indonesia are taking a perilous route to school using a broken suspension bridge. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.
By David R Arnott, NBC News
A perilous daily journey undertaken by a group of Indonesian schoolchildren just got a whole lot easier.
In January, PhotoBlog reported on the dangerous river crossing the children faced?after a bridge collapsed. Ten months on, Reuters reports that a new bridge has opened.
Epi Sopian, the head of Sanghiang Tanjung village, said the bridge had been built with the assistance of non-governmental organizations and the country's?largest steel producer, PT Krakatau Steel.
Related content:
Beawiharta / Reuters
Then and now: A combination photo shows children crossing the old collapsed bridge (top) on January 29, 2012, and students using the new bridge (below) on November 29, 2012.
I absolutely adored spending a beautiful fall evening with the two of them photographing their engagement session. I really got to know these two ? and that?s important as I?ll be their wedding photographer next october. I ? getting to know my couples this way, as it totally benefits their wedding photographs.
That?s why I believe so much in the power of an engagement session with your wedding photographer, you really get to build that relationship. Relationships are the center point of all great photography, especially wedding photography in Cleveland. Without a relationship of trust and respect between a wedding photographer and a couple, you end with lifeless and dull imagery.
I love the imagery above and below. Garrett is a golf pro by trade, and so I met them at a local driving range so Garrett could give Katie some lessons. It was fun watching the two of them flirt and tease.
They really are in love these two ? and that love between a couple drives my imagery and my creative methods. I?m not a believer in straight up traditional wedding photography. I think its important to know how to technically capture images of course, what I mean is I think we?re all tired of images of people just ?walking around and kissing? everywhere. Although I think showing romance and intimacy (appropriately of course 
) in imagery is important, Relationships have so much more dimension to them than just that. 
We are after all multi-faceted people, with multi-faceted relationships. That?s why I think I like Garrett and Katie?s engagement session so much ? it shows them off through so many facets of their lives and relationship. I like these images (and I believe they do too) because I was able to capture and share the essence of who they are. PS ? the out of focus image above is one of my very favorites of the year 
I?m beyond thrilled to be their Cleveland wedding photographer next fall. It?s going to be a beautiful and fun time, and I?m stoked to see them again. ![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 29-Nov-2012
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