By Simon Evans March 28 (Reuters) - United States forward Landon Donovan, returning to soccer after a three-month break from the game, said on Thursday he hopes to be back with the national team for June's World Cup qualifiers. Donovan announced last December that he needed a break from the game, saying he had lost his passion and enjoyment for the sport, raising the question as to whether he would play at next year's World Cup finals in Brazil should the U.S. qualify. But after returning to training with his Major League Soccer club L.A. ...
Mar. 26, 2013 ? When the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission begins its journey to the Red Planet in 2013, it will carry a sensitive magnetic-field instrument built and tested by a team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
Scheduled for launch in late 2013, MAVEN will be the first mission devoted to understanding the Martian upper atmosphere.
The goal of MAVEN is to determine the history of the loss of atmospheric gases to space through time, providing answers about Mars' climate evolution.
By measuring the current rate of escape to space and gathering enough information about the relevant processes, scientists will be able to infer how the planet's atmosphere evolved.
The trip to Mars takes 10 months, and MAVEN will go into orbit around the planet in September 2014.
The Goddard-built MAVEN magnetometer will be a sensitive tool investigating what remains of the Red Planet's magnetic "shield." It will play a key role in studying the planet's atmosphere and interactions with solar wind, helping answer the question of why a planet once thought to have an abundance of liquid water became a frozen desert.
"The MAVEN magnetometer is key to unraveling the nature of the interactions between the solar wind and the planet," said MAVEN principal investigator Bruce Jakosky from University of Colorado at Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (CU/LASP).
The magnetometer will measure the planet's magnetic field through a series of coils, each containing a magnetic ring wrapped around a metal core. The sensors, known as "flux gates," are driven in and out of saturation by applied magnetic fields.
If there is no ambient magnetic field, the sensors remain balanced. If there is an ambient field present, the sensors will go into saturation more quickly in one direction than the other. It's the imbalance that reveals the presence of an ambient field.
"A magnetometer is like an electronic compass," said Jack Connerney, mission co-investigator at Goddard. "But we measure the strength, as well as the direction, of the magnetic field."
The importance of studying the planet's magnetic field is rooted in the theory that Mars lost its global magnetic field billions of years ago, allowing the solar wind to strip the atmosphere and dry out the planet.
Unlike Earth's global magnetic field, which surrounds the entire planet, Mars only has patches of magnetic field left in its crust. This can create pockets of atmosphere that are protected against solar wind and others that are left vulnerable.
By measuring sections of the planet's magnetic field, the magnetometer could help scientists create a bigger picture of the planet's overall atmosphere.
"The magnetometer helps us see where the atmosphere is protected by mini-magnetospheres and where it's open to solar wind," Connerney said. "We can study the solar wind impact and how efficient it is at stripping the atmosphere."
The magnetometer is one of six instruments that make up the Particles and Fields Package, being assembled by team members at the University of California, Berkeley. The magnetometer works with the other instruments from this package to gather data throughout the course of the projected yearlong orbit around the planet.
The spacecraft will go into orbit and pass closely over the planet's surface and then move further away to study solar wind beyond the planet's influence.
The magnetometer is a very sensitive instrument, so engineers have to work to ensure the instrument doesn't accidentally measure the spacecraft's magnetic field instead of the one the planet produces.
"We have to go to great extremes to be sure that we have minimized any magnetic fields from the spacecraft," Jakosky said. "We are working hard to build a very 'magnetically clean' spacecraft that will meet our needs with regard to the magnetometer."
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T-Mobile already let its new "UnCarrier" plans loose on its website without much fanfare this past weekend, but it's now finally talking a bit more about them at its big launch event in NYC. Dubbed Simple Choice, the new plans all of course do away with the traditional two-year contracts, and they all start with both unlimited talk and text. The differences come with the data options: the basic $50 a month plan will get you 500MB of high-speed data with rates throttled down to 2G speeds after you hit that limit. Heavier data users can opt for 2GB of unthrottled data for an extra $10 per month, while fully unlimited 4G data will set you back an extra $20 a month (or $70 total). A second line will run another $30 on top of that, with each additional line costing $10 apiece. Not surprisingly, the carrier is also making a big marketing push to promote its new approach. You see its first commercial after the break, and find a full breakdown of the plans at the source link below.
Update: As Android Central notes, there's also some changes to the way T-Mobile is handling plans for tablets, hotspots and other devices. Basically, if you have a standalone device on its own account, your options start at $20 a month for 500MB of unthrottled data and go up to $80 for 12.5GB. If you're adding that device to your existing account, though, it simply counts as an extra line, costing the same $10 for 500MB or an extra $20 for unlimited data.
Ludwig cancer researchers honored among first class of fellows in AACR AcademyPublic release date: 26-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Rachel Steinhardt rsteinhardt@licr.org 212-450-1582 Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
March 26, 2013, New York, NY Three Ludwig scientists were named as Fellows in the inaugural class of the AACR Academy, the most prestigious honor bestowed by the American Association for Cancer Research.
The first class of Fellows includes Webster K. Cavenee, PhD, Director, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at the University of California San Diego; Bert Vogelstein, MD, Director, Ludwig Center for Cancer Genetics and Therapeutics at Johns Hopkins University; and Robert A. Weinberg, PhD, Director, Ludwig/MIT Center for Molecular Oncology.
"Each of these researchers has pioneered advancements in cancer research. They have helped to transform the landscape by enhancing the understanding of the underlying causes of cancer and accelerating the development of new tools to defeat it," said Edward A. McDermott, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. "We are grateful for the recognition by AACR of the life work of these researchers."
The 106 Fellows who comprise the inaugural class were selected by their peers for their extraordinary contributions to the cancer field and will be inducted on April 5, 2013. The AACR Academy was created to recognize and honor distinguished scientists whose major scientific contributions have propelled significant innovation and progress against cancer.
###
About the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
The Ludwig Institute is an international non-profit organization committed to improving the understanding and control of cancer through integrated laboratory and clinical discovery. Leveraging its worldwide network of investigators and the ability to sponsor and conduct its own clinical trials, the Institute is actively engaged in translating its discoveries into applications for patient benefit. Since its establishment in 1971, the Institute has spent more than $1.5 billion on cancer research. http://www.licr.org
About the Ludwig Centers
The Ludwig Centers, located at six leading U.S. academic institutions, are laboratories dedicated to cancer research. The Centers were endowed by the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Fund for Cancer Research.
For further information please contact Rachel Steinhardt, rsteinhardt@licr.org or +1-212-450-1582.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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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.
Ludwig cancer researchers honored among first class of fellows in AACR AcademyPublic release date: 26-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Rachel Steinhardt rsteinhardt@licr.org 212-450-1582 Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
March 26, 2013, New York, NY Three Ludwig scientists were named as Fellows in the inaugural class of the AACR Academy, the most prestigious honor bestowed by the American Association for Cancer Research.
The first class of Fellows includes Webster K. Cavenee, PhD, Director, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at the University of California San Diego; Bert Vogelstein, MD, Director, Ludwig Center for Cancer Genetics and Therapeutics at Johns Hopkins University; and Robert A. Weinberg, PhD, Director, Ludwig/MIT Center for Molecular Oncology.
"Each of these researchers has pioneered advancements in cancer research. They have helped to transform the landscape by enhancing the understanding of the underlying causes of cancer and accelerating the development of new tools to defeat it," said Edward A. McDermott, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. "We are grateful for the recognition by AACR of the life work of these researchers."
The 106 Fellows who comprise the inaugural class were selected by their peers for their extraordinary contributions to the cancer field and will be inducted on April 5, 2013. The AACR Academy was created to recognize and honor distinguished scientists whose major scientific contributions have propelled significant innovation and progress against cancer.
###
About the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
The Ludwig Institute is an international non-profit organization committed to improving the understanding and control of cancer through integrated laboratory and clinical discovery. Leveraging its worldwide network of investigators and the ability to sponsor and conduct its own clinical trials, the Institute is actively engaged in translating its discoveries into applications for patient benefit. Since its establishment in 1971, the Institute has spent more than $1.5 billion on cancer research. http://www.licr.org
About the Ludwig Centers
The Ludwig Centers, located at six leading U.S. academic institutions, are laboratories dedicated to cancer research. The Centers were endowed by the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Fund for Cancer Research.
For further information please contact Rachel Steinhardt, rsteinhardt@licr.org or +1-212-450-1582.
[ | 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.
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Public release date: 26-Mar-2013
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