COMMENTARY | Newt Gingrich, campaigning for the GOP slot in this year's presidential election, has a new idea: colonize the moon. CNN reports the price tag for this idea could be more than $500 billion. Taking a look at Gingrich's concept it becomes apparent that this is a grandstanding move, impractical at best, and has no real merit other than grabbing headlines.
Gingrich fears Chinese space domination
Gingrich said it concerns him another nation, like China, might come to "dominate space." What is he afraid they are going to do, build a military base on the moon? Act out a scene from an Austin Powers movie and build a huge laser on it to fire at Earth? Does he think they will swarm over the surface of the moon and inhabit the entire surface of the moon?
If the Chinese want to build a moon base go ahead and let them. The closest analogy we have on Earth at the moment is the South Pole. No nation has rushed to swarm all over that land mass. Gingrich is fearful for no reason.
Gingrich says moon base programs will spark innovation
That's possible, but is it advisable? We already have hard-to-reach places right here on Earth where human bases of operation could be useful -- like on the ocean floor, where we might find oil reserves. Why not innovate ideas that can be used right on our own planet?
Big price, small base
The base in question might be big enough to house 10 people. You'd think a half-trillion-dollar price tag would buy something a little more useful. What real benefit would be gained by moving 10 people to the moon? It's not like the moon is a large brick of solid gold floating in orbit around Earth. We sure don't have the technology to turn the moon into a human-habitable planet -- and if we did how would ten people change the entire moon?
Gingrich is showboating, nothing more. The moon colony plan would be an expensive waste of taxpayer funds with no real benefit to recoup its cost. Focus on creating opportunity on this planet, Mr. Gingrich, before you worry about others.
President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 24.
By Suzanne Choney
President Barack Obama does his first Google+ "Hangout" Monday at 2:30 PT/5:30 ET, and while questions for the live-streamed interview are now closed ? more than 228,000 people submitted questions ? you can still watch it online.
Google+, the social network that's trying to take on Facebook, limits Hangout participants to 10, but you can still watch and listen to the "Post-State of the Union conversation" on both the White House's Google+ page and on its YouTube channel. There's also the White House's regular website for watching the session, expected to go for 45 minutes.
Six regular folks will be among the 10 participants chosen by Google to participate in the Hangout.
The presidential digital town hall may be the first for Google's social network, but not for others. The president has also done similar events on Facebook and Twitter.
Vic Gundotra, Google's senior vice president, engineering, said on his own Google+ page that the "team is nervous tonight. A lot of unusual circumstances that make this broadcast even more challenging. (You just don't walk into the West Wing of the The White House and set up computer equipment!)"
Related stories:
Check out Technolog, Gadgetbox, Digital Life and In-Game on?Facebook,?and on Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.
MOSCOW (Reuters) ? Syria has agreed to take part in Moscow-mediated talks on solving the country's crisis, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday, calling on the Syrian opposition to join the planned negotiations.
However, a senior member of the Syrian opposition council said that no invitation had been received from Moscow and that it would be refused anyway.
Moscow, a permanent United Nations Security Council member with veto powers, has offered to host the talks in an effort to end the bloodshed since protests began 10 months ago against President Bashar al-Assad.
"We have received a positive response from the Syrian authorities to our call (to hold talks in Moscow)," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website www.mid.ru.
"We hope ... that the Syrian opposition will agree to that in the next few days, putting the interests of the Syrian people above all other concerns."
Moscow's offer of talks may be an attempt to strengthen its arguments against a Western draft resolution at the Security Council supporting an Arab League call for Assad to cede power.
Russia has said that Assad's resignation must not be a precondition for the Syrian peace process. It has remained one of Assad's few allies and has supplied him with arms and ammunition during the protests.
Moscow has repeatedly said Assad's opponents share the blame for the bloodshed. It fears a Western resolution could be interpreted broadly enough to lead to a Libyan-style military intervention, which Russia says it will not allow.
Russia submitted its own draft resolution in December, but Western diplomats said they could not accept Russian wording assigning blame to government and opposition for the violence, which the United Nations says has killed more than 5,000 people.
(Reporting By Alexei Anishchuk, Editing by Timothy Heritage and David Stamp)
It's been 51 years since audiences first fell in love with Mary Tyler Moore on The Dick Van Dyke Show.
The admiration continued Sunday, when the 75-year-old actress was honored by the Screen Actors Guild with a lifetime achievement award, presented by her TV husband, DickVanDyke.
PHOTOS: 2012 SAG Awards - What the Stars Wore!
During her speech, Moore revealed how using her middle name professionally changed the course of her career. "I spoke it out loud. It sounded right," Moore told the star-studded audience. "I wrote it out on the form, and it looked right. And it was right."
VIDEO: Best and worst SAG dresses of all time
Van Dyke, 86, spoke fondly of the actress, saying: "I know everyone loves her, but I mean, I'm serious about it. I saw her first."
Moore -- who had a benign tumor on the lining tissue of her skull removed in May 2011 -- was also recognized for raising awareness and funds for diabetes research.
PHOTOS: Sizzling seniors
Previous Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement recipients include Betty White, JamesEarlJones, Julie Andrews, ClintEastwod and Robert Redford.
Get more Us! Follow us on Twitter, Friend us on Facebook, Subscribe to Us Weekly
WASHINGTON ? The pitch from the Republican presidential contenders to voters sounds a lot like the children's game of follow the leader.
When Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich aren't puffing up their own leadership credentials, they're running down the leadership skills of one another and of President Barack Obama.
If anyone missed Monday's conference call from the Romney campaign about Gingrich's record as a "failed leader," not to worry. They could have tuned in to Tuesday's conference call. Or Wednesday's. Or Thursday's. Or checked out the "unreliable leader" banner splashed across a Romney news release that labeled Gingrich "unhinged."
Romney's political biography, meanwhile, is all about his leadership as a businessman, Massachusetts governor and savior of the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.
It's hard to miss Gingrich's frequent broadsides at Romney for failing to provide consistent, visionary leadership. Or the former House speaker's pronouncements that he, by contrast, offers "exactly the kind of bold, tough leader the American people want." Or Gingrich's descriptions of all that was accomplished in his four years as speaker in the 1990s.
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, trailing in the polls, keeps trying to muscle his way into the conversation by offering himself as the steady bet who can be counted on to offer more reliable conservative leadership than "erratic" Gingrich or "moderate" Romney.
In a race where all the candidates are trying to out-conservative one another, stressing leadership credentials gives the GOP rivals a way to try to distinguish themselves. In a year when Obama's own leadership skills are seen as one of his weakest qualities, it gives the Republicans one more arrow in their quiver as they argue over who would be most electable in a matchup with Obama come November.
Leadership is always a part of the equation in presidential elections. In 2008, for example, the candidates all were abuzz with claims that they offered "transformational" leadership.
"I want to transform this country," Obama said when he announced he was running.
This year, leadership is getting an extra dose of attention, perhaps because of statistics such as this: The share of Americans viewing Obama as a strong leader slipped from 77 percent at the start of his presidency to 52 percent in a Pew Research Center poll released this month. Among Republicans, only about one-fourth of those surveyed in the most recent poll said Obama was a strong leader, compared with 80 percent of Democrats.
At a campaign debate last week in Tampa, Fla., Gingrich and Romney both turned a question about electability into an answer about the L-word.
"This is going to come down a question of leadership," Romney said. Then the former Massachusetts governor recited his track record as a leader in business and government and took a dig at Gingrich for having to "resign in disgrace" when he was speaker in the 1990s.
Gingrich, answering the same question, aligned himself with the leadership record of conservative hero Ronald Reagan and offered himself as someone "prepared to be controversial when necessary" to bring about great change.
The answers offer a window into how differently the two candidates define leadership: Romney more as a manager with business school credentials, Gingrich more as a big-thinking visionary.
The leadership argument is a particularly potent campaign weapon for Romney because a number of Republicans who served in Congress with Gingrich have been happy to describe his shortcomings in running the House.
"If you were somebody trying to serve with him, you were always sort of left standing with your hands empty in terms of moving forward with an actual plan or putting a plan to paper," Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., said of Gingrich on a Romney campaign conference call Thursday. "So for me, it's an example that he's just not an effective leader. I think Mitt has the temperament and the ability to lead."
Gingrich, who resigned after a spate of ethics problems and a poor showing for House Republicans in the 1998 elections, managed to turn even his resignation as speaker into evidence that he's a strong leader.
"I took responsibility for the fact that our results weren't as good as they should be," he said in the Tampa debate. "I think that's what a leader should do."
As for the turbulence of his tenure as speaker, Gingrich casts that, too, as evidence of his bold leadership.
"Look, I wish everybody had loved me, but I'd rather be effective representing the American people than be popular inside Washington," he said earlier in the campaign.
Stephen Wayne, a presidential scholar at Georgetown University, said the harsh judgment of Obama's presidential leadership by Republicans and even some Democrats in part is due to the high hopes that he raised during the 2008 campaign. Obama the president has been measured against the words of Obama the candidate ever since.
Now that it's campaign season again, says Wayne, "he's not competing against his own image, he's competing against a real life person that has frailties. ... In a sense, that lowers the bar for Obama."
___
AP Deputy Polling Director Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.
___
Follow Nancy Benac at http://www.twitter.com/nbenac
In a new video to promote the Lifetime original series - which centers on a broke Texas housewife who takes over a brothel - star/executive producer Jennifer Love Hewitt takes off a great deal of clothing and writhes all around, surrounded by half-naked men.
Her business is your pleasure, the tagline reads. And - GULP! - the show is not kidding. Sit back now, fellas, press Play and prepare a cold shower immediately afterwards. You're gonna need it:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Republican Senator John Hoeven is set to introduce legislation on Monday seeking to bypass President Barack Obama and empower Congress to approve the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, an aide said on Friday.
Obama put TransCanada's $7 billion Canada-to-Texas pipeline on ice last week, saying that the administration needed more time to review its environmental impacts.
Hoeven's bill would seek to put Congress effectively in control of the pipeline decision and take it away from the Obama administration.
But any such measure faces the steep hurdle of having to be approved by the Democratic-controlled Senate. And even if it did, it would have to be signed by the president in order to become law.
Environmentalists pushed for Obama to block the 1,700-mile (2,735-km) pipeline. They loathe the idea of increasing the flow of oil sands crude from Canada because of its bigger carbon footprint in the mining process.
Republicans say the pipeline would create jobs but environmentalists say the job-creation claims are inflated.
"We've been working with (the Republican) leadership in the Senate and all our colleagues, and we believe Senator Hoeven's bill has support from a lot of people in the Senate," said Ryan Bernstein, an energy advisor to Hoeven.
Bernstein declined to elaborate on how many other senators have signed on to sponsor the bill.
Republicans have made the pipeline and its construction jobs a key political issue in the run-up to the 2012 presidential election.
Lawmakers in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives also are considering legislation to advance the project, and have not ruled out attaching it to payroll tax cut legislation that needs to pass Congress by the end of February.
On the Senate side, the route for Keystone to advance to a vote is not yet clear.
"We'll introduce it and I'm sure we'll be looking at all options," Bernstein told Reuters.
(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Sandra Maler and Christopher Wilson)
A lot of Canada news this week, which is why three of the four podcasters behind the mic today are from the land up north: international man of mystery Sean Cooper, Myriam Joire (yep, she's got some Canadian blood in her) and our special guest Kevin Michaluk -- also known to millions as CrackBerry Kevin. Brad Molen's here too, and while he's admittedly all US of A through and through, he can still say "eh" like the best of 'em. We kid, of course, but we're serious that we want you to join us tomorrow afternoon at 5PM ET!
Note: Oh, and there's plenty of other stuff to talk about as well, so if RIM isn't your schtick, you'll probably still find it of interest. As always, send your questions to us via Twitter (@engadgetmobile) and we'll pick some out to answer.
You've seen him on the arm of breakout Bridesmaids star Melissa McCarthy at all of this year's hottest awards shows, but just who is her husband of seven years, Ben Falcone?
Us Weekly uncovers five need-to-know tidbits about McCarthy's actor spouse, 38, who will soon romance Elizabeth Banks in What to Expect When You're Expecting.
1. When McCarthy made her breakout appearance in 2011's Bridesmaids, so did Falcone! Although he appeared on 17 episodes of Matt LeBlanc's short-lived Friends spinoff Joey, it was his wife's ensemble comedy that catapulted him into the big-time: As Air Marshal Jon.? (McCarthy's character, Megan, famously hit on Jon during a disastrous flight to Las Vegas, panting "can you feel that steam heat?"; the end credits of the smash featured the couple filming a kinky sex tape with an overstuffed "bear sandwich.") The couple are set to work together next on an as-yet-untitled half-hour comedy for CBS.
PHOTOS: Melissa and other stars who broke out in 2011
2. He has a twisted sense of humor. According to McCarthy, her hubby has an interesting way of interpreting stories to read to their daughters Vivian, 4, and Georgette, 21 months. "The story is written as '[Disney princess] Jasmine was a nice girl,'" McCarthy tells Entertainment Weekly. "I'll be brushing Georgie's teeth and he's in the other room reading to Viv and he's like 'When Jasmine opened her new orthodontist's office the prince came in with terrible teeth and she saved him.'"?and I'll hear Viv like 'No, no, no."
PHOTOS: Famous film princesses
3. After this year's Golden Globes, Falcone can say he's hobnobbed with not only Brad Pitt but also Angelina Jolie! "They're nice and chatty and bubbly," his wife says of the high-profile pair. "I got a little weird and I was like 'you have to stop for a minute because it's a lot visually to take in.' I said that to them. They just kind of laughed. I said, 'No really.' It is a lot visually to take in."
PHOTOS: Brangelina's surprise BFFs!
4. Just call him "The Denim Guy." A member of the legendary Groundlings acting troupe, Falcone appeared in a Target commercial as an elementary school music teacher who creates "The Denim Song" just in time for back-to-school season. (WATCH IT HERE)
5. He's a loony toon -- literally! In 2011, the actor lent his voice to two episodes of The Looney ToonsShow, credited as the tough-talking, angry bird Henery Hawk.
Get more Us! Follow us on Twitter, Friend us on Facebook, Subscribe to Us Weekly
Weather Underground Forecast for Thursday, January 26, 2012.
Active weather will spread across much of the East on Thursday as the storm system from eastern Texas lifts northeastward across the Eastern Valleys to the Northern Appalachians. Ample moisture from the Gulf of Mexico will accompany this system and will aid in producing moderate to heavy rainfall and thunderstorms on the northern and eastern edge of this system, from the Central Gulf Coast through the Ohio River Valley and Mid-Atlantic and into the Northeast later in the day. Energy from an associated warm front lifting through the Mid-Atlantic will enhance precipitation in the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys and the Appalachians, while energy from a trailing cold front enhances storms in the Gulf Coast States. There is a slight chance for severe weather development across the central to northeastern Gulf Coast. Damaging wind and isolated tornadoes will be the main concerns with severe storms in these areas. Meanwhile, more light to moderate rain showers and thunderstorms will be possible on the back of this system in eastern Texas.
To the north, a few flurries may be possible in the northern Upper Great Lakes as a low pressure system moves eastward through southern Canada. A cold front associated with this low pressure will extend through the nation 1/4's mid-section during the day before dissipating by the evening.
In the West, another wet system will move through the Northwest, bringing rain and high elevation snowfall to areas from the Pacific Northwest and areas of northern California through the Northern Intermountain West and the northern tier of the Central Great Basin. Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Wednesday have ranged from a morning low of -4 degrees at Big Piney, Wyo. to a high of 96 degrees at Bonifay, Fla.
Dozens of pilot whales have died after being stranded on a New Zealand beach. Forty more are at severe risk. Rescuers have been working tirelessly to save them but their only hope now is that a high tide will allow them to swim to deeper waters. ITN?s Richard Pallot reports.
TEHRAN, Iran ? Two Iranian lawmakers on Monday stepped up threats their country would shutter the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's crude flows, in retaliation for oil sanctions on Tehran.
The warnings came as EU nations agreed in Brussels on an oil embargo against Iran as part of sanctions over the country's controversial nuclear program. The measure includes an immediate embargo on new contracts for Iranian crude and petroleum products while existing ones are allowed to run until July.
Iran has repeatedly warned it would choke off the strait if sanctions affect its oil sales, and two lawmakers ratcheted up the rhetoric on Monday.
Lawmaker Mohammad Ismail Kowsari, deputy head of Iran's influential committee on national security, said the strait "would definitely be closed if the sale of Iranian oil is violated in any way."
Kowsari claimed that in case of the strait's closure, the U.S. and its allies would not be able to reopen the route, and warned America not to attempt any "military adventurism."
Another senior lawmaker, Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, said Iran has the right to shutter Hormuz in retaliation for oil sanctions and that the closure was increasingly probable, according to the semiofficial Mehr news agency.
"In case of threat, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is one of Iran's rights," Falahatpisheh said. "So far, Iran has not used this privilege."
Monday's EU measure also includes a freeze on the assets of Iran's central bank as part of sanctions meant to pressure Tehran to resume talks on its uranium enrichment, a process that can lead to making nuclear weapons. Iran insists its nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes.
For its part, the United States has enacted, but not yet put into force, sanctions targeting Iran's central bank and, by extension, the country's ability to be paid for its oil.
Some 80 percent of Iran's oil revenue comes from exports and any measures or sanctions taken that affect its ability to export oil could hit hard at its economy. With about 4 million barrels per day, Iran is the second largest producer in OPEC.
Tensions over the strait and the potential impact on global oil supplies and also the price of crude have weighed heavily on consumers and traders. Both the U.S. and Britain have warned Iran over any disruption to the world's oil supply through he strait.
Another Iranian lawmaker, Ali Adyani, sought to downplay the latest EU move, describing it as a "mere propaganda gesture," according to the semiofficial Fars news agency.
Former intelligence minister, Ali Falahaian, suggested Iran should stop all its crude exports "so that oil prices would go up and the Europeans' sanctions would collapse."
Threats to close the strait escalated during Iran's naval exercises in the Persian Gulf in January. Iran plans more naval war games in February.
PARK CITY, Utah ? Sigourney Weaver may not believe in ghosts, but the paranormal world of her latest film is not alien territory for her.
Weaver's Sundance Film Festival premiere, "Red Lights," is a dark exploration of the supernatural realm she previously took on in comic mode with "Ghostbusters" and its sequel.
"I probably don't believe in fairies and ghosts, but I certainly believe that people have souls," Weaver, 62, said in an interview. "I think that, and that's there's more going on around us than we can explain in a rational way."
What did surprise Weaver in preparing for her role is "what a huge business psychic entertainment was," she said.
"Red Lights" features Weaver as a skeptic whose life's work is debunking phony claims of the paranormal. The film from writer-director Rodrigo Cortes co-stars Robert De Niro as a superstar of the psychic realm, Cillian Murphy as Weaver's assistant and Elizabeth Olsen as one of their students.
There has been talk of a third "Ghostbusters" movie that would reunite Weaver with Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and other co-stars. Weaver likes the idea but has doubts it will happen.
"I'd love to work with everybody again," Weaver said. "I think, mmm, at this point, I think it's probably less than 50-50. That's what I think."
Another sequel to one of Weaver's blockbusters definitely is on. But Weaver cannot say much about "Avatar 2," James Cameron's next chapter in his science-fiction franchise. The first "Avatar" film was the biggest commercial smash of modern times, making $2.8 billion worldwide.
Weaver's character died and underwent a cosmic transformation in "Avatar." But Weaver has been bumped off before in her "Alien" sci-fi franchise and came back to battle on in another sequel.
"As Jim would say, there's no death in science fiction," Weaver said. "But no, I can't really talk about it. But I am looking forward to it."
Weaver is more talkative about a film that's an offshoot of the franchise that made her a star. In Ridley Scott's 1979 hit "Alien," Weaver played Ellen Ripley, the lone survivor of a spaceship crew terrorized by an unstoppable creature.
She earned a best-actress Academy Award nomination as Ripley in Cameron's 1986 follow-up "Aliens," and she reprised the role in two more sequels.
Scott makes his return to science fiction with this summer's "Prometheus," a cousin to "Alien" that stars Charlize Theron, Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender. The director and his actors have been coy about whether "Prometheus" is an outright prequel to "Alien," though they have said there are connections between the films, and the trailer for the new one has images resembling the design and features of the 1979 tale.
"Whatever they call it, I think everyone's very excited to see what Ridley does with some of these wonderful elements, and I think I'll be just as excited as everybody," Weaver said. "I don't really want to know anything about it. I have great confidence in him, and I'm sure they'll make a wonderful movie."
Could Weaver ever imagine resurrecting Ripley for another film?
"No. Let the poor woman rest," Weaver said. "No one ever believed her, anyway. They gave her such a hard time."
Today the FFII sent a letter to the European Parliament about the EP legal service?s opinion on ACTA. (pfd version, see also press release)
Dear Members of the European Parliament,
In the coming months the Parliament will have to decide whether to give consent to ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) or not. In preparation, the INTA and JURI committees asked the Parliament?s legal service an opinion on ACTA.
We welcome the decision to release this opinion. We have compared the legal service?s opinion with multiple academic opinions on ACTA and some civil society analyses.
We found that many issues pointed out by academic opinions and the study commissioned by the INTA committee are not addressed by the legal service?s opinion.
The legal service fails to see major issues with damages, injunctions and provisional, border and criminal measures. The legal service consistently overlooks known issues. Taking the issues the legal service did not address into consideration, it is clear that ACTA goes beyond current EU law, the acquis.
The legal service underestimates problems with Internet governance and access to medicine. It fails to see ACTA is not compatible with fundamental rights, international agreements and the EU Treaties.
ACTA will negatively impact innovation, start up companies, mass digitization projects, access to medicines and Internet governance. ACTA threatens the rule of law and fundamental rights.
We call upon the Parliament to say no to ACTA.
Below we will present the main conclusions. Please find attached this letter as a pdf and the full analysis.
Yours sincerely,
Ante Wessels
Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure
MAIN CONCLUSIONS
1. Compatibility with current EU law
Damages: The legal service overlooks that ACTA?s damages based on retail price lead to damages based on an imaginary gross revenue, which is way beyond actual loss suffered. This issue has been pointed out by NGOs, the European academics Opinion and the EP INTA study. In our analysis, we provide some simple examples which show that ACTA?s damages are much higher than EU law damages.
Border measures: Both the European Academics Opinion on ACTA and the EP INTA committee study had pointed out there is a serious issue with the condition ?not discriminate unjustifiably?. The Commission did not provide the justification to limit ACTA to EU law. While the legal service quotes article 13 ACTA, it leaves out this condition. Since DG-Trade and the US Trade Representative undermine the Doha Declaration in other fora, there is also a threat to access to medicine.
Injunctions and provisional measures: The legal service does not address the issues with injunctions and provisional measures, pointed out in multiple academic opinions.
Compatibility: Taking the issues the legal service did not address into consideration, it is clear that ACTA goes beyond current EU law, the acquis.
2. Criminal measures: The legal service fails to see ACTA removes the scale element from the definition of the crime. The legal service fails to notice ACTA criminalises everyday computer use. ACTA can be used to criminalise newspapers and websites revealing a document, office workers forwarding a file, people making a private copy and whistle-blowers revealing documents in the public interest.
3. Internet: ACTA?s criminal and heightened civil measures will also apply to the digital environment. This will put pressure on Internet Service Providers, who may decide to pre-emptively censor Internet communications. ACTA incites privatised enforcement outside the rule of law.
4. Fundamental rights: To establish whether ACTA violates fundamental rights, fair balance tests are needed. The legal service does not provide any fair balance test. The 61 pages Douwe Korff & Ian Brown opinion provides many such tests. These tests show ACTA is manifestly incompatible with fundamental rights. Just providing a general reference to fundamental rights is not enough.
The ARTICLE 19 organisation ?finds that ACTA fundamentally flawed from a freedom of expression and information perspective. If enacted, it will greatly endanger the free-flow of information and the free exchange of ideas, particularly on the internet.?
Korff & Brown conclude: ?Overall, ACTA tilts the balance of IPR protection manifestly unfairly towards one group of beneficiaries of the right to property, IP right holders, and unfairly against others, equally disproportionally interferes with a range of other fundamental rights, and provides for (or allows for) the determination of such rights in procedures that fail to allow for the taking into account of the different, competing interests, but rather, stack all the weight at one end.
This makes the entire Agreement, in our opinion, incompatible with fundamental European human rights instruments and -standards.?
5. Public health: The legal service mentions references to the TRIPS agreement and the Doha Declaration in the ACTA text. But the combination of heightened measures with a non binding reference to the Doha Declaration, and undermining the Doha Declaration in other fora does not provide sufficient safeguards for access to medicine.
6. International agreements: The legal service does not address the global pricing problem and the right to take part in cultural life. ACTA is not compatible with article 15 of the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR),
The ARTICLE 19 organisation also notes issues with Article 15 of the ICESCR, and with articles 17 and 19 of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
7. EU Treaties: ACTA is not compatible with article 21 Treaty on European Union (TEU): ?The Union?s action on the international scene shall be guided by the principles (?): democracy, the rule of law, the universality and indivisibility of human rights and fundamental freedoms (?)?
Nor is ACTA compatible with articles 3.3, 3.5 and 5 Treaty on European Union.
The ruins of a home in Pleasant Valley, south of Reno, Nev., are seen on Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, after a wind-driven brush fire raced through the area Thursday. The blaze started shortly after noon Thursday and, fueled by wind gusts reaching 82 mph, mushroomed to more than 6 square miles before firefighters stopped its surge toward Reno. (AP Photo/Cathleen Allison)
The ruins of a home in Pleasant Valley, south of Reno, Nev., are seen on Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, after a wind-driven brush fire raced through the area Thursday. The blaze started shortly after noon Thursday and, fueled by wind gusts reaching 82 mph, mushroomed to more than 6 square miles before firefighters stopped its surge toward Reno. (AP Photo/Cathleen Allison)
The ruins of a home in Pleasant Valley, south of Reno, Nev., are seen on Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, after a wind-driven brush fire raced through the area. The blaze started shortly after noon Thursday and, fueled by wind gusts reaching 82 mph, mushroomed to more than 6 square miles before firefighters stopped its surge toward Reno. (AP Photo/Cathleen Allison)
Firefighters battle a wind-driven brush fire burning through Pleasant Valley, south of Reno, Nev., on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. Reno Fire Chief Michael Hernandez says crews were able to stop the wall of flames before it reached Galena High School. (AP Photo/Cathleen Allison)
Firefighters wait for water before attacking an outbuilding adjacent to a home Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012 in Pleasant Valley, Nev. Winds gusting up to 82 mph pushed a fast-moving brush fire south of Reno out of control on Thursday as it burned several homes, threatened dozens more and forced more than 4,000 people to evacuate their neighborhoods. (AP Photo/The Reno Gazette-Journal, Tim Dunn) NEVADA APPEAL OUT; MAGS OUT; NO SALES
The ruins of a home in Pleasant Valley, south of Reno, Nev. smolders as firefighters battle a wind-driven brush fire on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. Winds gusting up to 82 mph pushed a fast-moving brush fire south of Reno out of control on Thursday as it burned several homes, threatened dozens more and forced more than 4,000 people to evacuate their neighborhoods. (AP Photo/Cathleen Allison)
RENO, Nev. (AP) ? An elderly man discarding fireplace ashes accidentally touched off the brush fire that raged south of Reno, destroying 29 homes and forcing thousands of people to flee the flames, authorities said.
The man admitted his role by improperly disposing of the ashes at his home.
Investigators already had tracked the origin of the fire to a location in East Lake on the north end of the Washoe Valley, where the man lives about 20 miles south of downtown Reno.
"He came forward on his own accord," Reno Fire Chief Michael Hernandez said. "He has given statements to our investigators as well as law enforcement officers. He is extremely remorseful."
Fueled by 82 mph wind gusts, the blaze burned nearly 3,200 acres and forced the evacuation of up to 10,000 people Thursday.
A break in the weather and calmer winds allowed firefighters to get the upper hand on the blaze Friday.
Hernandez estimated it to be 65 percent contained Friday night. He said 300 firefighters would remain on the scene through the night checking for hot spots along with another 125 support people, including law enforcement officers and the Nevada National Guard.
The next challenge may be the forecast for rain and snow in the mountains on Saturday, which officials fear could cause flooding in burned areas.
The Highway Patrol said Friday night that all of U.S. Highway 395 between Reno and Carson City had reopened.
Washoe County Sheriff Mike Haley said a formal case file will be forwarded to the district attorney next week for consideration of charges.
"The DA will have to give this case a lot of deliberation," Haley said.
"The fact he came forward and admitted it plays a role. But so does the massive damage and loss of life," he said. "It's a balancing act."
In addition to the potential for facing jail time on arson charges, the man could also be ordered to pay the cost of fighting the fire, which already totals $690,000.
Washoe County Manager Katy Simon said she expects the final bill to run into the millions of dollars.
Gov. Sandoval toured the fire damaged area Friday, describing it as "horrendous, devastating."
"There is nothing left in some of those places except for the chimneys and fireplaces," he said.
The blaze started shortly after noon Thursday and, fueled by the wind, mushroomed to more than 6 square miles before firefighters stopped its surge toward Reno.
The strong, erratic winds caused major challenges for crews evacuating residents, Sierra Front spokesman Mark Regan said. "In a matter of seconds, the wind would shift," he said.
Haley confirmed that the body of June Hargis, 93, was found in the fire's aftermath, but her cause of death has not been established, so it's not known if it was fire related.
Jeannie Watts, the woman's 70-year-old daughter, told KRNV-TV that Hargis' grandson telephoned her to tell her to evacuate but she didn't get out in time.
About 2,000 people remained subject to evacuation, and about 100 households still were without power.
Marred in Reno's driest winter in more than 120 years, residents had welcomed the forecast that a storm was due to blow across the Sierra Nevada this week.
Instead, thousands found themselves fleeing their homes Thursday afternoon.
Connie Cryer went to the fire response command post Friday with her 12-year-old granddaughter, Maddie Miramon, to find out if her house had survived the flames.
"We had to know so we could get some sleep," Cryer said, adding her house was spared but a neighbor's wasn't. She had seen wildfires before, but nothing on this scale.
"There was fire in front of me, fire beside me, fire behind me. It was everywhere," she said. "I don't know how more didn't burn up. It was terrible, all the wind and the smoke."
Fire officials said Thursday's fire was "almost a carbon copy" of a blaze that destroyed 30 homes in Reno during similar summer-like conditions in mid-November.
State Forester Pete Anderson said he has not seen such hazardous fire conditions in winter in his 43 years in Nevada. Reno had no precipitation in December. The last time that happened was 1883.
An inch of snow Monday ended the longest recorded dry spell in Reno history, a 56-day stretch that prompted Anderson to issue an unusual warning about wildfire threats.
"We're usually pretty much done with the fire season by the first of November, but this year it's been nonstop," Anderson said.
Kit Bailey, U.S. Forest Service fire chief at nearby Lake Tahoe, said conditions are so dry that even a forecast calling for rain and snow might not take the Reno-Tahoe area out of fire danger.
"The scary thing is a few days of drying after this storm cycle and we could be back into fire season again," he said.
___
Associated Press writers Michelle Rindels in Las Vegas and Sandra Chereb in Carson City, Nev., contributed to this report.
COLUMBIA, S.C. ? Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney told supporters Saturday he's going to compete for every vote in every state after former House speaker Newt Gingrich beat him in the South Carolina primary.
"Our campaign has fought very hard here in South Carolina and in the coming weeks and months, I'll keep fighting for every single vote," the former Massachusetts governor told supporters at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds, only mentioning Gingrich by name to congratulate him. "I will compete in every single state."
Romney wasted no time jabbing first at President Barack Obama for a lacking business or management experience, and then at Gingrich: "Our party can't be led to victory by someone who also has never run a business and never led a state."
Romney said Obama has attacked free enterprise and that "we cannot defeat that president with a candidate who has joined that very assault on free enterprise." Gingrich has attacked Romney's record running Bain Capital, a private equity firm.
The loss dampens Romney's momentum heading into Florida ? the state that crushed his presidential hopes four years ago when he lost to John McCain and immediately dropped out of the race.
Romney came to South Carolina riding high on what were then twin wins in Iowa and New Hampshire. Gingrich finished far behind him in both contests. But Romney's narrow Iowa victory was revoked this week, and questions about his refusal to release his tax returns before April have dogged him day after day. He slid in polls in the last days going into the primary and ultimately lost to the former House speaker.
"We've still got a long way to go and a lot of work to do and tomorrow we're going to move on to Florida," Romney said Saturday.
It's a dramatic reversal of fortune for a campaign that just 10 days ago was hoping to perform well here, go on to win Florida and wrap up the nomination fight quickly. Instead, he spent the week ahead of the primary trying to fight off the surging Gingrich, who repeatedly called on the multimillionaire Romney to release his tax returns. Gingrich has attacked Romney as a "Massachusetts moderate."
In recent days, Romney has jumped from topic to topic as he has struggled to attack Gingrich. His surrogates have labeled Gingrich an "unreliable leader," while Romney has called on the former House speaker to release documents related to an ethics inquiry from the 1990s. On Saturday he shifted back to an attack he'd used in earlier debates, calling on Gingrich to further explain his ties to Freddie Mac. Gingrich was a consultant for the quasi-government mortgage agency over a period of eight years.
Romney still has significant advantages over his three remaining Republican rivals, including an enormous financial edge and a well-organized campaign. In next-up Florida, he's been organizing supporters for months and has particularly focused on absentee voters. Hundreds of thousands of voters have already sent in their ballots in Florida's primary.
Still, this primary season has been characterized by late-deciding voters. A majority of South Carolina Republican voters said they decided on a candidate in the last few days, and they favored Gingrich by a double-digit margin, according to exit polls. Romney had a small edge among those who said they made up their minds in December or earlier.
While they were confident early on, Romney's team was bracing for defeat by the end of the week. On Saturday, Romney said he would attend a debate Monday in Tampa, Fla., and his campaign confirmed he would be at one Thursday in Jacksonville, Fla., ahead of the state's primary Jan. 31. Romney did not confirm the appearances until the last minute, and they were an acknowledgment that the former Massachusetts governor would have to continue the battle with Gingrich longer than expected.
Romney plans to appear Fox News Sunday on Sunday morning ahead of a campaign rally in Daytona Beach, Fla. On Monday, Romney will campaign in the Tampa Bay area before the presidential debate.
ZURICH - World and European champion Spain retained the top spot in the FIFA rankings for the fifth straight month, and the United States moved up one place to 33rd.
The Americans' ranking is its highest since it was 31st in September. The U.S. had been 11th in September-October 2009 and reached a high of fourth in April 2006.
The top 10 places were unchanged from December after just 11 international matches were played last month. The Netherlands is second, followed by Germany, South American champion Uruguay, England. Brazil, Portugal, Croatia, Italy and Argentina.
Mexico, at 21st, has the top ranking in North and Central America and the Caribbean.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Twitter sur votre mobile ? Cliquez ici m.twitter.com!
Passer cette ?tape
Connexion
Connexion
Rejoignez Twitter !
@Ind1fference What's awesome is that you aren't forced to only play this incredible miniature golf game or one of the games you mentioned.Il y a environ 10 heuresvia TweetDeck en r?ponse ? Ind1fference
After finally issuing a version of its TWC TV app for Android tablets and phones (sans-line TV streaming, for now) Time Warner Cable has finally made its iOS version, which launched last March on the iPad, compatible with the iPhone and iPod Touch. There's no additional charge for the app which allows for the aforementioned live TV viewing (as long as you're on your home WiFi) and DVR scheduling, and the accompanying blog post reveals the available list of channels has reached 196. We should probably mention that the app is unlikely to play nicely with any jailbroken iOS devices it encounters, so some extra hackery may be in order to get things working there. Otherwise, Time Warner customers can grab it now from iTunes at the source link below.
Fidel V. Garcia, age 63 of Naples died January 15, 2012. Formerly of Alamo, Texas, he had been a resident since 1965 and was a member of St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church. Fidel was an avid music lover and played the acoustic guitar. He is survived by his loving wife, Maria, children, Gracie Cabrera, Fidel Garcia, Jr., Roel (Elizabeth) Garcia, Marisella (Raul Herrera) Garcia, Eric, Joey (Cindy), Stephanie, and Ricky Garcia, 21 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. He is also survived by his siblings, Rosa Polendo, Abel, Robert, and Lionel Garcia, Alicia Beltron, Maria Garcia, and Fortino Garcia, Jr, Fidel was preceded in death by his parents Fortino and Maria Garcia, a brother Joel V. Garcia and a sister Anita Lopez. The family will receive friends Thursday, Jan 19 from 5 to 8pm at Fuller Funeral Home, 4735 Tamiami Trail East. A funeral mass will be celebrated Friday, Jan 20th at 10:00 am at St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church, 5130 Rattlesnake Hammock Road. Burial will follow at Naples Memorial Gardens.
This edition features a story about how Fleet Activity Sasebo is doing its part to meet the Secretary of the Navy's energy conservation goals. Produced by Petty Officer 3rd Class Houston Waters.
LAHAD DATU, Malaysia | Tue Jan 17, 2012 12:18am EST
LAHAD DATU, Malaysia (Reuters) - Puntung is a Sumatran rhino, one of roughly two hundred left in the world.
Captured in a Borneo forest on Christmas Day, she is the latest addition to Malaysia's Borneo Rhino Sanctuary -- and experts say she may also be one of the last hopes for a species on the brink of extinction.
Veterinarians want to introduce Puntung to Tam, a 20-year-old male Sumatran rhinoceros in the enclosure next door, in the hopes that they will breed -- although this cannot take place for a number of months yet, until Puntung is deemed ready.
Estimated to be 10 to 12 years old, she was airlifted to the sanctuary in the Tabin Forest Reserve after her capture, and has since been adjusting to her new home, eating more than 60 kg (132 lb) of leaves each day.
"She doesn't look stressed, she's eating well ... but the stress (of a new environment) is enough to offset her cycle, her normal cycle," said Zainal Zahari Zainuddin, a veterinarian with the Borneo Rhino Alliance.
"So she may not have a cycle now. That's why we're monitoring her."
Captive breeding is now regarded as the only way to boost the population of the two-horned Sumatran rhino, which at 500 to 600 kg (1,100 to 1,322 lb) and 1.3 metres tall (4.3 feet) is the world's smallest rhinoceros.
Deforestation and illegal hunting have decimated the population in the wild, and habitat fragmentation has cut the surviving animals off from potential mates. The animals are ageing to the point where they are too old to breed.
But even the capture of Puntung, dubbed a "Christmas miracle" by scientists, does not mean success is assured.
Though she is the right age to breed, she may well turn out to be infertile, said John Payne, at the Borneo Rhino Alliance.
"The rhinos that were caught in Malaysia. Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sumatra in the past ... quite a few wild caught females did have reproductive tract problems. They weren't producing eggs or they had cysts or tumors in the fallopian tubes," Payne said.
"So we are not over the hurdle yet. It may prove that she's not fertile, in which case we need to go on what sort of treatments might be possible to make her fertile."
The sanctuary's only other female rhino, Gelegob, was unable to conceive even with the help of fertility treatment, since she could not produce eggs. She is now 30 years old and blind.
If Puntung shows signs of being ready after six months of observation, she'll be released into an enclosure with Tam, who walked out of a palm oil plantation in 2008 and refused to go back into the forest.
The two are now being kept in adjacent paddocks so each is aware of the other's existence. But Sumatran rhinos are solitary animals and only come together in the wild for courtship and the rearing of young.
Two breeding attempts have been made since the Malaysian captive breeding project began in 1983, but neither succeeded. The last successful attempt to breed captive rhinos took place at the Cincinnati Zoo in the United States.
Rhinoceros horns are a coveted ingredient in traditional Eastern medicine, which has led to widespread illegal hunting.
The WWF said last year that the Javan rhinoceros had been poached into oblivion in Vietnam and is now believed to be confined to one population of less than 50 individuals in an Indonesian national park.
By Brendan O'Brien MADISON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - A Wisconsin judge will hear a legal challenge this week to the state's new controversial voter photo identification law. Lawyers for The League of Women Voters, which says the measure violates the state constitution by disenfranchising eligible voters, present oral arguments against the law in a Dane County Circuit Court on Thursday. Their lawsuit is asking the court to block implementation of the law, passed by a Republican-controlled legislature last year. It requires voters to present identification such as a driver's license at polling places for federal, state and local elections. The suit argues the state constitution allows only convicted felons and mentally incompetent people to be excluded from voting. The new law creates a third class of people, those who do not have identification, and would largely affect minorities and the elderly, the suit says. Supporters of the law, which is set to be in full effect in time for the November presidential vote, say it is necessary to ensure the integrity of elections. They note that the measure requires the state motor vehicles department to waive the $28 fee for state IDs for people who are obtaining them to vote. But the lawsuit says to get the free state ID, voters must present the motor vehicles department with a birth certificate, passport or other documentation, none of which are free, and so the requirement represents an illegal poll tax. Thirty states require voters to show some form of ID before voting, according to the National Council of State Legislatures. In 14 of those states, including Wisconsin, the ID must include a photo. The voter ID measure was part of a raft of legislation backed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker that triggered mass protests in Madison last winter and prompted a fierce political backlash from Democrats and union supporters. (Editing by James B. Kelleher and Ellen Wulfhorst)
Good parents are predictable -- at least when it comes to cornPublic release date: 15-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Albrecht E. Melchinger melchinger@uni-hohenheim.de 49-071-145-922-3488 University of Hohenheim
For a bigger harvest and faster results: The University of Hohenheim, the MPI for Molecular Plant Physiology and the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research in Gatersleben start a new chapter in plant breeding
In order to breed new varieties of corn with a higher yield faster than ever before, researchers at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany, and other institutions are relying on a trick: early selection of the most promising parent plants based on their chemical and genetic makeup, as well as on new statistical analysis procedures. The work has now been published in the authoritative journal Nature Genetics on Sunday evening, Jan. 15.
The problem is the sheer number: In the family tree of modern-day corn, there are two main groups with 10,000 pure-breed lines each. Each of these lines could potentially be used for producing a new variety by means of cross-breeding. In mathematical terms, that equates to 100 billion possibilities. In terms of corn, however, a parent's performance is no indicator of what potential lies hidden in their offspring. Even the feeblest of parents can produce mighty offspring when cross-bred.
But time is of essence: Currently it takes approximately 10 years for breeders to develop a new variety. Issues such as climate change, food shortages and the increasing demand for more energy, however, are making it essential to find solutions even faster.
Prof. Dr. Albrecht Melchinger, PhD student Christian Riedelsheimer and their research partners are experimenting with a new technique to solve both problems. The best parent plants are selected in two steps, beginning when they are not even planted yet or when they are just small plantlets. This saves time and guarantees the highest rate of success right from the very start.
Trick Nr. 1: Use mathematics and experience when selecting
Riedelsheimer takes a tiny sample from a kernel of corn. Not enough to harm the kernel, but enough to get a full picture of its DNA structure. This analysis is conducted jointly by the University of Hohenheim and the IPK Gatersleben.
The rest is mathematics and experience. "We know today that there is no single gene which determines whether a stalk of corn will grow up strong or produce lots of kernels on the cob. Instead there are numerous sequences in its DNA which all contribute to the plant's development. We can now examine up to 56,000 of these sequences using the latest techniques in genome analysis", Riedelsheimer explains.
The analysis does not involve modifying the DNA, but rather creating a unique profile of each parent, a so-called "genome profile" or "genetic fingerprint".
To analyse the fingerprint, scientists have spent the past three years and more planting, cross-breeding, analysing chromosomes and recording yields. The observations in the field have been used to develop a mathematical-statistical model which can be used to predict a parent's genetic potency.
Trick Nr. 2: Early selection
The composition of the leaves is a second indicator of which plants make for especially good parents. More specifically, it is about the amounts of starch, sugar, amino acids, chlorophyll and other substances. As with the genetic information, this data allows for a statistical prognosis of a plant's breeding capabilities.
Tests can be conducted to find out the levels shortly after the seeds have been sown, when the plantlets are roughly three weeks old and 20 cm tall. Compared with analysing the plant's genetic structure, taking samples in the field is rather an athletic activity. "The plant's metabolism varies constantly throughout the course of a day and that makes it necessary to collect the leaves quickly and shock freeze the samples immediately", says Riedelsheimer. "All in all we collected 6,000 samples- in just 69 minutes!"
For the technically-challenging task of analysing the substances, plant breeders work in collaboration with experts from the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology in Golm. The rest involves cutting-edge statistics. "Similar to the DNA profile, it is not the individual substances which are important for making predictions, but rather how these substances stand in relation to one another", Riedelsheimer explains.
New technology saves time, money and expensive acreage
"This new technique allows us to select the most promising parents with high accuracy and to focus all of our resources on these", says Prof. Dr. Melchinger.
This method also saves cultivatable land, which, in turn, saves money. "In order to test all possible crosses, we would have to plant corn on half of the earth's surface", a utopian, if not an expensive undertaking. "A single field plot costs us 50 euros. We test on two plots per genotype at ten different locations, making a total of 1,000 euros", Prof. Dr. Melchinger explains. An analysis of the genome using a chip and a robot costs approximately 150 euros.
Impressive as well is the amount of time saved. DNA analysis of the kernels can be conducted during the winter months. Meanwhile, the plantlets to be analysed for their substance composition grow in the greenhouse. As a result, the best parent plants can be chosen and cultivated that same year.
Paradigm shift opens door to new research approaches
Nonetheless, it will take another few years until the new breed is ready. Breeders worldwide also know another trick, especially when it comes to corn. One that has been around for decades.
Prof. Dr. Melchinger describes a paradoxical phenomenon: "With corn, the offspring tend to be especially large when the parents stem from generations of in-breeding." Experts speak of "heterosis", hobby gardeners of "hybrids".
The most promising parent plants are sorted out and self-pollinated over many generations. Only then does cross-pollination take place in preparation for the sowing of the new hybrid variety.
Heterosis as a biological phenomenon has yet to be fully researched in detail, according to Prof. Dr. Melchinger. "We were able to determine in earlier research projects that the reasons for the phenomenon lie in the extremely complex interaction of many different genes."
For researchers, this has led to a paradigm shift. "We've moved away from the search for individual super genes." Instead we focus on the interplay among the diverse elements in the genetic code. "This new perspective on plants will help the hybrid breeding programme immensely", Prof. Dr. Melchinger believes. "There is so much genetic diversity in corn. One must simply know how to combine it in the right way."
###
Bibliography
Christian Riedelsheimer, Angelika Czedik-Eysenberg, Christoph Grieder, Jan Lisec, Frank Technow, Ronan Sulpice, Thomas Altmann, Mark Stitt, Lothar Willmitzer & Albrecht E Melchinger, Genomic and metabolic prediction of complex heterotic traits in hybrid maize, Nature Genetics's, Advance Online Publication (AOP) on 15 January at 1800 London time / 1300 US Eastern time, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng.1033
Background: GABI research project
The current research activities are based on the results of earlier studies conducted on Arabidopsis. The newly-publicised procedure was discovered as part of the research project GABI-ENERGY. The acronym GABI stands for "Genomanalyse im biologischen System Pflanze", a funding program of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research for projects towards innovation in the field of genetic research with plants (www.gabi.de). The Ministry has allocated 2.7 mil. towards the project.
[ | 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.
Good parents are predictable -- at least when it comes to cornPublic release date: 15-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Albrecht E. Melchinger melchinger@uni-hohenheim.de 49-071-145-922-3488 University of Hohenheim
For a bigger harvest and faster results: The University of Hohenheim, the MPI for Molecular Plant Physiology and the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research in Gatersleben start a new chapter in plant breeding
In order to breed new varieties of corn with a higher yield faster than ever before, researchers at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany, and other institutions are relying on a trick: early selection of the most promising parent plants based on their chemical and genetic makeup, as well as on new statistical analysis procedures. The work has now been published in the authoritative journal Nature Genetics on Sunday evening, Jan. 15.
The problem is the sheer number: In the family tree of modern-day corn, there are two main groups with 10,000 pure-breed lines each. Each of these lines could potentially be used for producing a new variety by means of cross-breeding. In mathematical terms, that equates to 100 billion possibilities. In terms of corn, however, a parent's performance is no indicator of what potential lies hidden in their offspring. Even the feeblest of parents can produce mighty offspring when cross-bred.
But time is of essence: Currently it takes approximately 10 years for breeders to develop a new variety. Issues such as climate change, food shortages and the increasing demand for more energy, however, are making it essential to find solutions even faster.
Prof. Dr. Albrecht Melchinger, PhD student Christian Riedelsheimer and their research partners are experimenting with a new technique to solve both problems. The best parent plants are selected in two steps, beginning when they are not even planted yet or when they are just small plantlets. This saves time and guarantees the highest rate of success right from the very start.
Trick Nr. 1: Use mathematics and experience when selecting
Riedelsheimer takes a tiny sample from a kernel of corn. Not enough to harm the kernel, but enough to get a full picture of its DNA structure. This analysis is conducted jointly by the University of Hohenheim and the IPK Gatersleben.
The rest is mathematics and experience. "We know today that there is no single gene which determines whether a stalk of corn will grow up strong or produce lots of kernels on the cob. Instead there are numerous sequences in its DNA which all contribute to the plant's development. We can now examine up to 56,000 of these sequences using the latest techniques in genome analysis", Riedelsheimer explains.
The analysis does not involve modifying the DNA, but rather creating a unique profile of each parent, a so-called "genome profile" or "genetic fingerprint".
To analyse the fingerprint, scientists have spent the past three years and more planting, cross-breeding, analysing chromosomes and recording yields. The observations in the field have been used to develop a mathematical-statistical model which can be used to predict a parent's genetic potency.
Trick Nr. 2: Early selection
The composition of the leaves is a second indicator of which plants make for especially good parents. More specifically, it is about the amounts of starch, sugar, amino acids, chlorophyll and other substances. As with the genetic information, this data allows for a statistical prognosis of a plant's breeding capabilities.
Tests can be conducted to find out the levels shortly after the seeds have been sown, when the plantlets are roughly three weeks old and 20 cm tall. Compared with analysing the plant's genetic structure, taking samples in the field is rather an athletic activity. "The plant's metabolism varies constantly throughout the course of a day and that makes it necessary to collect the leaves quickly and shock freeze the samples immediately", says Riedelsheimer. "All in all we collected 6,000 samples- in just 69 minutes!"
For the technically-challenging task of analysing the substances, plant breeders work in collaboration with experts from the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology in Golm. The rest involves cutting-edge statistics. "Similar to the DNA profile, it is not the individual substances which are important for making predictions, but rather how these substances stand in relation to one another", Riedelsheimer explains.
New technology saves time, money and expensive acreage
"This new technique allows us to select the most promising parents with high accuracy and to focus all of our resources on these", says Prof. Dr. Melchinger.
This method also saves cultivatable land, which, in turn, saves money. "In order to test all possible crosses, we would have to plant corn on half of the earth's surface", a utopian, if not an expensive undertaking. "A single field plot costs us 50 euros. We test on two plots per genotype at ten different locations, making a total of 1,000 euros", Prof. Dr. Melchinger explains. An analysis of the genome using a chip and a robot costs approximately 150 euros.
Impressive as well is the amount of time saved. DNA analysis of the kernels can be conducted during the winter months. Meanwhile, the plantlets to be analysed for their substance composition grow in the greenhouse. As a result, the best parent plants can be chosen and cultivated that same year.
Paradigm shift opens door to new research approaches
Nonetheless, it will take another few years until the new breed is ready. Breeders worldwide also know another trick, especially when it comes to corn. One that has been around for decades.
Prof. Dr. Melchinger describes a paradoxical phenomenon: "With corn, the offspring tend to be especially large when the parents stem from generations of in-breeding." Experts speak of "heterosis", hobby gardeners of "hybrids".
The most promising parent plants are sorted out and self-pollinated over many generations. Only then does cross-pollination take place in preparation for the sowing of the new hybrid variety.
Heterosis as a biological phenomenon has yet to be fully researched in detail, according to Prof. Dr. Melchinger. "We were able to determine in earlier research projects that the reasons for the phenomenon lie in the extremely complex interaction of many different genes."
For researchers, this has led to a paradigm shift. "We've moved away from the search for individual super genes." Instead we focus on the interplay among the diverse elements in the genetic code. "This new perspective on plants will help the hybrid breeding programme immensely", Prof. Dr. Melchinger believes. "There is so much genetic diversity in corn. One must simply know how to combine it in the right way."
###
Bibliography
Christian Riedelsheimer, Angelika Czedik-Eysenberg, Christoph Grieder, Jan Lisec, Frank Technow, Ronan Sulpice, Thomas Altmann, Mark Stitt, Lothar Willmitzer & Albrecht E Melchinger, Genomic and metabolic prediction of complex heterotic traits in hybrid maize, Nature Genetics's, Advance Online Publication (AOP) on 15 January at 1800 London time / 1300 US Eastern time, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng.1033
Background: GABI research project
The current research activities are based on the results of earlier studies conducted on Arabidopsis. The newly-publicised procedure was discovered as part of the research project GABI-ENERGY. The acronym GABI stands for "Genomanalyse im biologischen System Pflanze", a funding program of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research for projects towards innovation in the field of genetic research with plants (www.gabi.de). The Ministry has allocated 2.7 mil. towards the project.
[ | 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.
DefunctGames 
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_spt2zjD_hRdeRchNLhqt29wUhqepn8oUzc56Aivl-cv5PWdwTW9ESey7SvQwnJ8iHlZB2Wxk88VWk1FDdcF-GKYw_t2rzPDW1sx35u_O4=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 15-Jan-2012
Share ]