Rutgers downs Iowa State 27-13 in Pinstripe Bowl (AP)

NEW YORK ? Chas Dodd hit Brandon Coleman for an 86-yard touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter and Jawan Jamison ran for two scores to lead Rutgers over Iowa State 27-13 in the Pinstripe Bowl on Friday.

The Scarlet Knights (9-4) ran their bowl winning streak to five and improved to 2-0 this season at Yankee Stadium, where they beat Army last month. Rutgers, which played in one bowl game before 2005, is 5-1 in the postseason under coach Greg Schiano.

The Cyclones (6-7) finished the season on a three-game losing streak, their last win coming on Nov. 18 in Ames, Iowa, when they pulled off the biggest upset of the season against Oklahoma State.

That night Jared Barnett threw for 376 yards. In this game, Steele Jantz relieved Barnett in the second quarter and helped pull the Cyclones within 20-13 in the fourth on Jeff Woody's 20-yard touchdown run with 10:00 left.

After an exchange of punts left Rutgers deep in its own end, Dodd went deep to Coleman. The 6-foot-6 redshirt freshman went over 5-7 cornerback Jeremy Reeves, then outran the corner to the end zone to make it 27-13 with 5:47 left.

It was Coleman's only catch, but it turned out to be the play of the game.

Jamison, another redshirt freshman giving Rutgers fans hope for more bowls to come, finished with 134 yards on 27 carries.

The Scarlet Knights missed the postseason last year for the first time since 2004, but rebounded this season to challenge for the Big East title behind a defense that came in ranked 14th in the nation.

There was also some inspiration from a fallen former teammate.

Eric LeGrand, who was left paralyzed from the shoulders down making a tackle during a game in 2010, went to all the Rutgers home games, worked on the radio broadcasts and was with the team in New York all week leading up to the bowl.

After the game, as the Scarlet Knights accepted the trophy at midfield, Schiano's acceptance speech was short: "Eric! Eric!" he shouted into the microphone, "this one's for you."

LeGrand was shown in his wheelchair on the jumbotron, beaming a wide grin and the crowd chanted, "Eric! Eric!"

Rutgers grabbed a 7-6 lead early in the second quarter when Jamison powered through a tackler and scored on fourth-and-goal from the 1.

On the next possession, Iowa State couldn't handle one of Rutgers' many blitzes, and Khaseem Greene and Wayne Warren swarmed and stripped Barnett. Scott Vallone scooped up the fumble and returned it 12 yards to the Iowa State 4. The Cyclones managed to hold Rutgers to San San Te's 21-yard field goal.

Jantz, who was Iowa State's starter the first half of the season, replaced Barnett after the sack.

The Cyclones' defense didn't hold up as well on Rutgers' next possession. The Scarlet Knights marched 66 yards, 49 on the ground, and Jamison juked his way into the end zone from 12 yards out to make 17-6.

Justin Francis finished Rutgers' strong second half by blocking Zach Guyer's 44-yard field goal attempt with 57 seconds left.

Iowa State jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first quarter, with Guyer kicking field goals of 40 and 46 yards on the Cyclones' first two possessions. Inaccurate throws by Barnett were key to stalling each drive.

The redshirt freshman was 2 for 7 before giving way to Jantz.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111231/ap_on_sp_co_ga_su/fbc_pinstripe_bowl

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Portland, Maine, mayor undergoes cancer surgery (AP)

PORTLAND, Maine ? The mayor of Maine's largest city has undergone cancer treatment.

Portland officials say Mayor Michael Brennan had successful surgery last weekend to remove a tumor from his small intestine. The tumor was discovered when Brennan sought treatment for abdominal pain.

Brennan will get additional, non-invasive treatment for lesions found on his liver. He says neither chemotherapy nor radiation is needed.

Brennan was released from the hospital Thursday. He intends to return to City Hall next week on a limited basis.

He says his ordeal made him realize that it is important to ensure that all Maine residents have access to health care. He says nearly one in four does not have health insurance.

Brennan won the election last month. He is first popularly-elected mayor in nearly 90 years.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/diseases/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111230/ap_on_re_us/us_portland_mayor_cancer

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Alibaba hires U.S. lobbying firm as it eyes Yahoo (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Alibaba Group has hired a Washington lobbying firm in a sign that the Chinese e-commerce company would be willing to make a bid for all of Yahoo Inc in the event that talks to unwind their Asian partnership fail.

Japan's Softbank Corp, which owns a 30 percent stake in Alibaba and is a partner in Yahoo Japan, is also listed as an Alibaba affiliate in the disclosure by the lobbying firm, Duberstein Group Inc.

Alibaba Group's founder, Jack Ma, said in September he was keen to buy all of Yahoo if the opportunity presented itself.

Hiring a Washington lobbying firm could help Alibaba address any U.S. political opposition to a complete takeover of Yahoo by a company from a country that controls and censors the Internet.

Chinese companies, such as telecoms giant Huawei Technologies Co, have run into opposition when they have tried to buy U.S. assets over the years.

"The national security concern is sometimes just an excuse for commercial concerns for any country, but certainly for the United States," said Mark Natkin, managing director of Beijing-based consultancy Marbridge Consulting. "I don't think there should be a big concern (for Alibaba buying Yahoo). Users may share or keep as much data as they like.

"If they subscribe to Yahoo and (they know) Yahoo is owned by a Chinese company, they are going to have to make the decision themselves," Natkin added.

Alibaba, Softbank and Yahoo have been looking to unwind their complex web of relationships. Alibaba retained Duberstein in the fall when it was discussing a proposal with private equity firms to carve up Yahoo, a source familiar with the situation said.

While they would jointly make a bid for the whole company, the idea was for the buyout firms to take over Yahoo's U.S. operations and for Alibaba and Softbank to get the Asian assets.

But a buyout of Yahoo has now been put on the backburner as the U.S. Internet company is considering a proposal to address just the Asian assets that Alibaba and Softbank want. That plan, valued at roughly $17 billion, would reduce Yahoo's 40 percent stake in Alibaba and get Yahoo out of Yahoo Japan, sources told Reuters last week.

Yahoo is exploring proposals to revamp its business in the face of competition from Internet heavyweights such as Google Inc and Facebook.

Investors have long said Yahoo's investment in Alibaba, along with its 35 percent slice of Yahoo Japan, are far and away the U.S. company's most prized assets. Yahoo has a market value of around $20 billion.

Earlier in December, Thomson Reuters publication Basis Point reported that a handful of lenders are considering committing to a $4 billion loan for Alibaba that will help it buy back part of the 40 percent stake that Yahoo owns in the company.

LOBBYING FIRM

The filing marks the first time Alibaba has registered to lobby the U.S. government, according to a search of congressional records.

The Duberstein Group is headed by Kenneth Duberstein, a former White House chief of staff under U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Its other clients include BP America Inc, Goldman Sachs & Co and Pfizer Inc.

The lobbying registration lists the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, which specializes in mergers and acquisitions, as an intermediary between Alibaba and the company's lobbying team.

The registration was received by a U.S. Senate office on Dec 23 and then posted online, but the lobbying work likely began earlier.

Under U.S. law, a lobbying firm is required to file a public disclosure within 45 days of crossing certain thresholds such as making contact with a public official. The filing for Alibaba says it is effective as of December 1.

Messages left with the Duberstein Group and Wachtell were not immediately returned on Wednesday.

(Reporting by David Ingram in Washington and Paritosh Bansal in New York, and Melanie Lee in Shanghai; Editing by Richard Chang, Steve Orlofsky and Matt Driskill)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111229/bs_nm/us_yahoo_alibaba

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Twin GRAIL Probes To Map Lunar Gravity Field

When you have to fly oxygen, food, and water to feed humans, you have to make the trip happen much faster -- and therefore burn way moe fuel -- than when you can take your time because the only thing you're consuming is electricity (and you can recover some of it via solar).

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/80oo4xA1jG8/twin-grail-probes-to-map-lunar-gravity-field

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Muppets now 'Hangout' on Google+

Google

Screenshot of Muppets Google+ Hangout video on YouTube

By Athima Chansanchai

Taking advantage of the resurgence of the Muppets, which another generation is blessed to know thanks to a new movie, Google has cast them into a new ad for Google+, and it's the best argument for Hangouts yet.

I don't get the appeal of Google+ hangouts, but then again video conferencing is general is not on the menu of most of us who work from home and spend most of the day in pajamas and no makeup.

But the Muppets, who have once again charmed audiences who grew up with them (and now, their kids), have taken to G+ Hangouts to do a rendition of David Bowie's "Under Pressure" that shows Kermit, the Swedish Chef, Miss Piggy, Animal and the others in the ensemble doing what they do best: working together and making us laugh, even as they show us how individuals can shine in this group endeavor.

Check it out for yourself:

Lately, there's been even more buzz about G+'s star feature, which added the ability to launch a group video chat at any point in a post, phone integration to add anybody to a Hangout and listing active Hangouts you could join on your stream page.

While a recent comScore report cautiously tags G+, with its 65 million users around the world, as a potential "disrupter" to the almighty Facebook, another report shows interest may be on a slippery slope.

? via Mashable

More stories:

Check out Technolog on?Facebook, and on Twitter, follow?Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the?Google+?stream.

Source: http://digitallife.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/27/9742447-muppets-now-hangout-on-google

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Disgraced ex-journalist fights for CA law license (AP)

SAN FRANCISCO ? A former journalist who became the subject of a Hollywood movie after he was caught fabricating articles in the late 1990s is fighting to become a lawyer in California over the objections of a state bar committee.

Stephen Glass, whose ethical missteps at The New Republic and other magazines were recounted in the film "Shattered Glass" and an autobiographical novel, has challenged the bar committee's decision to deny him a license to practice law, the San Francisco Chronicle (http://bit.ly/sfh2je) reported Monday.

Glass attended law school at Georgetown University and passed California's bar exam in 2007. His application for an attorney's license was turned down by the state's Committee of Bar Examiners, which judged him morally unfit for his new profession.

But an independent state bar court ruled in Glass's favor in July and the California Supreme Court has since agreed to hear the committee's appeal. No date for oral arguments has been set.

The bar association's lawyers said in written filings that even though Glass' transgressions occurred when he was in his 20s, his attempts at atonement were inadequate and in some cases coincided with the publication of his novel. They faulted him for never compensating anyone who was hurt by his falsehoods.

Law and journalism "share common core values ? trust, candor, veracity, honor, respect for others," Rachel Grunberg, a lawyer for the State Bar of California, told the Chronicle. "He violated every one of them."

The bar court that overruled the committee in July was convinced, however, that Glass was genuinely repentant and had been rehabilitated. His appeal included character references from 22 witnesses, including two judges who had employed him, two psychiatrists, and Martin Peretz, who owned The New Republic when Glass' deception occurred.

In his own statement to the bar, Glass said he was "greatly ashamed and remorseful about my lying" but "forthright and candid about my years of misconduct."

Glass tried to become a lawyer in New York after he passed that state's bar exam in 2003, but withdrew his application when his request for moral character approval from the New York bar languished.

Now 39, Glass works as a law clerk at a Beverly Hills firm. His Los Angeles-based attorney Susan Margolis declined to comment Monday evening.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111227/ap_on_re_us/us_law_license_fight

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Today, Dec. 26 - Game On! at Der Rathskeller | Monday Night Football: Atlanta vs. New Orleans

|

• Date Today, Dec. 26
• Time 7:30 p.m.
• LocationMemorial Union
• Web sitehttp://www.union.wisc.edu
• Contact262-7324, granat@wisc.edu
• Tagged under
  • Recreation

Add this event to your calendar: iCalendar

Source: http://www.today.wisc.edu/events/view/45329

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Visualized: IBM's 1956 HDD packs 5MB of storage, requires forklift for installation

Check out IBM's 305 RAMAC (Random Access Method of Accounting and Control) hard disk and those gripes about dragging around that USB thumb drive soon evaporate. This 1956 HDD was composed of 50 24-inch discs, stacked together and taking up 16 sq ft of real estate. The once-cutting-edge monstrosity was capable of commanding an annual fee of $35,000 and stored up to 5MB of data. Sure, by modern standards it's a pretty modest capacity, but the RAMAC still weighed in at just shy of a ton. Our technological forefathers could have done with that exoskeleton prototype.

Visualized: IBM's 1956 HDD packs 5MB of storage, requires forklift for installation originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Dec 2011 10:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/27/visualized-ibms-1956-hdd-packs-5mb-of-storage-requires-forkli/

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Video: Refugees at home in choir

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45783290#45783290

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Cruise's 'Mission' accomplishes box-office win (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Hollywood has picked up a little Christmas bonus.

Studios generally underestimated the size of their movie audiences over the weekend, and they're now revising the holiday revenues upward.

Leading the way is Tom Cruise's "Mission: Impossible ? Ghost Protocol," which pulled in $29.5 million for the weekend. That Monday figure is $3 million more than distributor Paramount estimated a day earlier.

For the four-day period Friday to Monday, Paramount estimates "Ghost Protocol" will have taken in $46.2 million to raise its domestic total to $78.6 million. That's on top of $140 million the film has taken in overseas, giving it a worldwide haul of $218.6 million.

Studios Monday also reported stronger results than they did a day earlier for Robert Downey Jr.'s "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows," which was No. 2 at $20.3 million for the three-day weekend and $31.8 million for the four-day period; Steven Spielberg's "The Adventures of Tintin" at No. 5 with $9.7 million over three days and $16.1 million for four days; and Matt Damon's "We Bought a Zoo" at No. 6 with $9.5 million over three days and $15.6 million for four days.

In a tight race for the No. 4 spot were David Fincher's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and the family sequel "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked."

"Dragon Tattoo" did $12.8 million over three days and $19.4 million for four days. "Chipwrecked" took in $12.7 million over three days and $20 million for four days.

A few films debuted on Christmas Day, among them Spielberg's World War I epic "War Horse," which took in $7.5 million Sunday. Through Monday, its estimated two-day total is $15 million.

Also debuting was Emile Hirsch's action thriller "The Darkest Hour," which earned $3 million Sunday and had a two-day total of $5.5 million through Monday.

Opening solidly in just six theaters was Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock's Sept. 11 drama "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," which took in $71,000 Sunday and $136,000 through Monday. The film expands to nationwide release in January.

Despite the upward revision on some movies' revenues, the Christmas weekend continued a box-office slide that has persisted since Thanksgiving. Overall revenues from Friday to Sunday totaled $128 million, down 10 percent from Christmas weekend last year, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Monday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

1. "Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol," Paramount, $46,210,000, 3,448 locations, $13,402 average, $78,645,000, two weeks.

2. "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows," Warner Bros., $31,810,000, 3,448 locations, $9,226 average, $90,564,000, two weeks.

3. "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked," Fox, $20,000,000, 3,734 locations, $5,356 average, $56,940,187, two weeks.

4. "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," Sony, $19,400,000, 2,914 locations, $6,658 average, $27,716,000, one week.

5. "The Adventures of Tintin," Paramount, $16,100,000, 3,087 locations, $5,215 average, $24,107,000, one week.

6. "We Bought a Zoo," Fox, $15,600,000, 3,117 locations, $5,005 average, $15,600,000, one week.

7. "War Horse" (opened Sunday), Disney, $15,025,000, 2,376 locations, $6,324 average, $15,025,000, one week.

8. "The Darkest Hour" (opened Sunday), Summit, $5,500,000, 2,324 locations, $2,367 average, $5,500,000, one week.

9. "New Year's Eve," Warner Bros., $4,950,000, 2,585 locations, $1,915 average, $34,287,000, three weeks.

10. "The Descendants," Fox Searchlight, $3,425,000, 813 locations, $4,213 average, $33,716,552, six weeks.

11. "The Muppets," Disney, $3,355,000, 1,752 locations, $1,915 average, $76,911,000, five weeks.

12. "Hugo," Paramount, $3,300,000, 1,256 locations, $2,627 average, $44,927,000, five weeks.

13. "Arthur Christmas," Sony, $3,100,000, 1,804 locations, $1,718 average, $44,062,000, five weeks.

14. "The Sitter," Fox, $3,000,000, 1,786 locations, $1,680 average, $23,488,202, three weeks.

15. "Young Adult," Paramount, $2,775,000, 987 locations, $2,812 average, $8,184,000, three weeks.

16. "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn ? Part 1," Summit, $2,150,000, 1,603 locations, $1,341 average, $270,951,901, six weeks.

17. "The Artist," Weinstein Co., $1,402,000, 167 locations, $8,395 average, $2,900,430, five weeks.

18. "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," Focus, $1,210,160, 55 locations, $22,003 average, $2,311,670, three weeks.

19. "My Week with Marilyn," Weinstein Co., $888,000, 602 locations, $1,475 average, $7,307,196, five weeks.

20. "Puss in Boots," Paramount, $685,000, 389 locations, $1,761 average, $143,935,000, nine weeks.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111226/ap_en_ot/us_box_office

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Satellite Piece Crashes Through Man's Roof

PolygamousRanchKid writes "A Siberian resident miraculously escaped serious injury or even death when a fragment of a Russian communication satellite crashed through the roof of his house. A Meridian satellite that was launched Friday from the Plesetsk space center in northern Russia on board a Soyuz-2 carrier rocket crashed near the Siberian city of Tobolsk minutes after lift-off. A titanium ball of about five kg fell on to the roof of a house in Ordyn district."

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/J7pJ-2vC0Ks/satellite-piece-crashes-through-mans-roof

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Vogel's Releases RingO Tablet Mount for Samsung Galaxy Tab

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Source: http://www.mobiletechreview.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Board=news&Number=41873

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Windows Phone 7 App of the Week: Don?t Trip Over Your Travel Plans ? Get My Trips

My Trips is an app designed to work with the travel site TripIt.com, and syncs all of your travel plans to the app, giving you an easy, accessible place to review your travel plans. That also means you?ll have quick offline access to your travel plans, which is pretty handy for filling out those immigration and customs forms on international flights. The app includes a Live Tile, and if you have a TripIt Pro account, you can access real time flight status, gate, baggage claim, and frequent flyer miles information. My Trips is available now from the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace for $1.99.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChipChick/~3/cAIJtGBvXQw/my-trips-windows.html

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Plex media app: streaming soon to Nook Tablet and Color

Well, well, if it isn't the famed iOS and Android media jock (read: Plex) making its way to the Nook universe. The application's now gone through yet another good-to-go regime, and if all goes according to plan, it should be hitting Barnes & Noble's virtual stores in the coming days. For those of you out of the loop on Plex's offerings; the service acts as a media server ready to stream online and locally stored content, which are great features to have -- especially when someone limits how your internal storage can be used. We've got no info on how much cash you'll have to spend to start using the goods on your Nook slates, but we can imagine it'll be around the same ($4.99) as its other platform variants.

Plex media app: streaming soon to Nook Tablet and Color originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 24 Dec 2011 19:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/dgNrATKBMEI/

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uzbekistan_news: Chinese boat captains arrested in Japan waters http://t.co/H8Uy2A0L

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Football star tells of agony at being branded a rapist

SCOTLAND striker David Goodwillie has spoken of the torment he suffered after being accused of rape.

Source: http://uk.express.feedsportal.com/c/33338/f/565859/s/1b322e62/l/0L0Sdailyexpress0O0Cposts0Cview0C291580A0CFootball0Estar0Etells0Eof0Eagony0Eat0Ebeing0Ebranded0Ea0Erapist0C/story01.htm

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Tags: agony, david goodwillie, football, football star, rapist, Scotland

This entry was posted on December 23, 2011 at 01:00 and is filed under Daily Express. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Source: http://county-news.co.uk/2011/12/23/football-star-tells-of-agony-at-being-branded-a-rapist/

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On Eve of Major Bus Tour, Romney Delivers Closing Argument Speech in N.H. (ABC News)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/177291177?client_source=feed&format=rss

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2011 National Geographic Photo Contest Winners Announced (PHOTOS)

2011 National Geographic Photo Contest
Photo and caption by Shikhei Goh This photo was taken when I was taking photos of other insects, as I normally did during macro photo hunting. I wasn't actually aware of this dragonfly since I was occupied with other objects. When I was about to take a picture of it, it suddenly rained, but the lighting was just superb. I decided to take the shot regardless of the rain. The result caused me to be overjoyed, and I hope it pleases viewers. Location:?Batam, Riau Islands, Indonesia

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/19/2011-national-geographic-photo-contest_n_1159064.html

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Troops, protesters clash in Cairo for third day (Reuters)

CAIRO (Reuters) ? Military police battled demonstrators in Cairo's Tahrir Square Sunday, the third day of clashes that have killed 10 people and injured hundreds, casting a shadow over the first free election most Egyptians can remember.

Soldiers advanced from barriers around the square shortly before dawn, scuffling with protesters, activists said. A Reuters witness heard gunfire and saw protesters, brandishing big sticks, running from the scene of the latest flare-up.

"It's cat-and-mouse. The army raid and retreat," a protester in the square, Mostafa Fahmy, said by telephone.

Hundreds of protesters were in Tahrir in the early morning, some huddled round fires to keep warm in the chill air after troops burned down tents that had been erected by activists camped there since a protest against army rule on November 18.

The latest flare-up in violence has exposed divisions among Egyptians about the role of the army, which took over after the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak in February.

Activists have stayed out on the streets for weeks, angered by the army's seeming reluctance to give up power. But other Egyptians back the military as a force for badly needed stability during a difficult transition to democracy.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For a graphic: http://link.reuters.com/tax45s

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Army vehicles and soldiers were deployed on several roads leading into the square. Protesters and troops have clashed repeatedly, throwing rocks at each other, and some protesters have lobbed petrol bombs at army lines.

In earlier clashes, troops in riot gear chased protesters into side streets, grabbed them, beat them to the ground and battered them, a Reuters journalist said. Shots were fired in the air.

Soldiers pulled down protester tents and set them on fire, local TV footage showed. Reuters footage showed one soldier in a line of charging troops firing a shot at fleeing protesters, though whether he was using blanks or live rounds was not known.

State media gave conflicting accounts of what sparked the violence. They quoted some people as saying a man went into the parliament compound to retrieve a mis-kicked football, but was harassed and beaten by police and guards. Others said the man had prompted scuffles by trying to set up camp in the compound.

The latest bloodshed follows unrest in which 42 people were killed in the week before November 28, the start of a phased parliamentary poll in which Islamist parties repressed during the 30-year Mubarak era have emerged as strong front-runners.

Voting in the second round of the election process, part of a promised transition from army to civilian rule by July, passed peacefully Wednesday and Thursday. The last run-off vote for the lower house takes place on January 11.

SKIRMISHES, DEATH, INJURIES

Health Minister Fouad el-Nawawy told local television 10 people had been killed, most of them Friday or early on Saturday, and 441 injured. State media said at least 200 people were taken to hospital.

Among the dead was Emad Effat, a senior official of Egypt's Dar al-Ifta, a religious authority that issues Islamic fatwas (edicts). His wife told Reuters Effat died from a gunshot wound. At his funeral Saturday, hundreds of mourners chanted "Down with military rule."

Army-appointed Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri, 78, said 30 security guards outside parliament had been hurt, and blamed the violence on youths among the protesters. "What is happening in the streets today is not a revolution, rather it is an attack on the revolution," he said.

The army assault Saturday followed skirmishes between protesters and troops during which a fire destroyed archives, some more than 200 years old, in a building next to Tahrir.

An army official said troops had tackled thugs, not protesters, after shots were fired at soldiers and petrol bombs set the building ablaze, the state news agency MENA reported.

Tahrir protesters and some other Egyptians are infuriated by the perceived reluctance to quit power of the army, whose ruling council is headed by Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, Mubarak's defense minister for two decades.

Other Egyptians, desperate for order, voiced frustration about the unrest that has battered the economy.

"We can't work, we can't live, and because of what? Because of some thugs who have taken control of the square and destroyed our lives. Those are no revolutionaries," said Mohamed Abdel Halim, a 21-year-old who runs a store near Tahrir.

A new civilian advisory council to the generals said it would suspend its meetings until the violence stopped. It called for prosecution of those responsible and the release of all those detained in the unrest.

Islamist and liberal politicians decried the army's tactics.

The Muslim Brotherhood, whose party list is leading the election, said in a statement the military must make "a clear and quick apology for the crime that has been committed."

The army council is in charge until a presidential election in June, but parliament will have a popular mandate that the military will find hard to ignore as it oversees the transition.

(Additional reporting by Ashraf Fahim, Marwa Awad and Dina Zayed; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Tim Pearce)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111218/wl_nm/us_egypt

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Comet survives fiery plunge through sun

A newfound comet defied long odds Thursday, surviving a suicidal dive through the sun's hellishly hot atmosphere, according to NASA scientists.

Comet Lovejoy plunged through the sun's corona at about 7 p.m. ET, coming within 87,000 miles of our star's surface. Temperatures in the corona can reach 2 million degrees Fahrenheit, so most researchers expected the icy wanderer to be completely destroyed.

But Lovejoy proved to be made of tough stuff. A video taken by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft, or SDO, showed the icy object emerging from behind the sun and zipping back off into space.

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"Breaking News! Lovejoy lives! The comet Lovejoy has survived its journey around the sun to reemerge on the other side," SDO researchers tweeted.

SDO is one of many instruments that scientists ? eager to record and study the comet's presumed demise ? trained on Lovejoy as it streaked toward the sun.

"We have here an exceptionally rare opportunity to observe the complete vaporization of a relatively large comet, and we have approximately 18 instruments on five different satellites that are trying to do just that," Karl Battams, a scientist at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, wrote on the Sungrazing Comets website before Lovejoy's closest solar approach.

Battams runs the website, which is devoted to comets discovered by two different spacecraft: NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) and the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), which is operated jointly by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). [Death of a Comet: Photos of Sungrazing Comet Lovejoy]

Preparing for the end
Lovejoy has a core about 660 feet wide. It belongs to a class of comets known as Kreutz sungrazers, whose orbits bring them very close to the sun.

All Kreutz sungrazers are thought to be the remnants of a single giant comet that broke apart several centuries ago. They're named after the 19th-century German astronomer Heinrich Kreutz, who first showed that such comets are related.

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Comets plunge into the sun on a regular basis, but they rarely give much advance notice of their suicidal intentions. That's why scientists were so excited about Lovejoy. Australian amateur astronomer Terry Lovejoy discovered the icy wanderer on Nov. 27, giving researchers plenty of time to map out their observation campaign.

And that campaign has been intense, involving five different spacecraft. In addition to SDO, SOHO and STEREO, scientists planned to use Japan's Hinode satellite and ESA's Proba spacecraft to track Lovejoy's movements, Battams wrote.

NASA also created a website providing updates about the comet's pass through the corona, as well as images of the event beamed down by SDO. It can be found here: http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/lovejoy.php

For his part, Terry Lovejoy said he was happy to have made a contribution, and he marveled a bit at all the attention the comet has been getting.

"It's been tremendous," Lovejoy told Space.com. "Apparently it's all over Facebook, and I don't use Facebook. But there's a lot of interest. I think a lot of people like the name ? the Lovejoy name seems to strike a chord with people."

A dramatic escape
Lovejoy is quite large for a sungrazing comet, and experts expected it to die an impressive death. The website Spaceweather.com, for example, predicted Lovejoy would blaze as brightly as Jupiter or Venus in the sky as it neared the sun.

Battams also expected a good show, saying the comet might even be visible from the ground around sunset today in the Northern Hemisphere.?

"I do think that it will put on a spectacular show for us and will be the brightest Kreutz-group comet that SOHO has ever observed," Battams wrote last week.

Though the early returns are just starting to come in, those forecasts appear to be on the money. Observations from various spacecraft do indeed show Lovejoy flaring up significantly as it neared our star.

Researchers will keep analyzing the images to better understand the comet's daring solar approach. And now skywatchers apparently have another shot to catch a glimpse of the resilient Lovejoy on Friday morning.

For observers in North America, the comet will rise approximately 5 to 10 minutes before dawn and will be situated to the upper right of the sun. If Lovejoy is still shining at least as brightly as Venus, it may be visible, experts say.?

You could also try to spot Lovejoy after the sun comes up, if you're exceedingly careful. Block the rising sun behind a distant building and focus on the part of the sky 3 to 4 degrees above and to the right of the sun (your clenched fist held at arm's length is equal to roughly 10 degrees).

CAUTION: Never point binoculars or a telescope at or near the sun, and never look directly at the sun with the naked eye. Serious eye damage can result.

And don't get your hopes up, either. The comet may well be too faint to see, experts say.

Note: If you take any good pictures of Comet Lovejoy and would like them to be considered for a future story or image gallery, contact Space.com managing editor Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com.

Space.com assistant managing editor Clara Moskowitz (@ ClaraMoskowitz ) contributed to this story. You can follow Space.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter:@michaeldwall. Follow Space.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom??and on Facebook.

? 2011 Space.com. All rights reserved. More from Space.com.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45691807/ns/technology_and_science-space/

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Torrent of bad financial news flows out of Europe

The Euro sculpture stands in front of the European Central Bank, right, in Frankfurt, Germany, on Friday, Dec.16, 2011.(AP Photo/Michael Probst)

The Euro sculpture stands in front of the European Central Bank, right, in Frankfurt, Germany, on Friday, Dec.16, 2011.(AP Photo/Michael Probst)

The Euro sculpture stands in front of the European Central Bank, right, in Frankfurt, Germany, on Friday, Dec.16, 2011.(AP Photo/Michael Probst)

The Euro sculpture stands in front of the European Central Bank, in Frankfurt, Germany, on Friday, Dec.16, 2011. Poster underneath the Euro sign reads: Let's talk about Future. At left tents of the occupy movement still remain. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi, left, and and Charles Wyplosz, director of the International Center of Money and Banking at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, arrive for a commemoration of late economist Tommaso Padoa Schioppa, in Rome, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011. The Italian government faces a confidence vote over a package of austerity measures while a transport strike to protest the cuts is causing havoc for commuters across the country. Premier Mario Monti is putting his package of new and higher taxes and pension reforms to a confidence vote in the lower Chamber of Deputies to speed up its passage. The vote, which is expected by early evening Friday, will likely clear the measures, paving the way for final approval in the Senate within days. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

A man walks across tram rails in Milan, Italy, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011. The Italian government faces a confidence vote over a package of austerity measures while a transport strike to protest the cuts is causing Friday havoc for commuters across the country. Premier Mario Monti is putting his package of new and higher taxes and pension reforms to a confidence vote in the lower Chamber of Deputies to speed up its passage. The vote, which is expected by early evening Friday, will likely clear the measures, paving the way for final approval in the Senate within days.(AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

DUBLIN (AP) ? Alarming financial news flowed out of Europe in a torrent, just a week after the EU leaders struck a deal they thought would contain the continent's debt crisis.

The bombardment Friday shredded hopes of a lasting solution to the turmoil that is endangering the euro ? the currency used by 17 European nations ? and threatening the entire global economy.

In quick succession:

? The Fitch Ratings agency announced it was considering further cuts to the credit scores of six eurozone nations ? heavyweights Italy and Spain, as well as Belgium, Cyprus, Ireland and Slovenia. It said all six could face downgrades of one or two notches.

? Moody's Investors Services downgraded Belgium's credit rating by two notches. Belgium's local- and foreign-currency government bond ratings fell to "Aa3" from Aa1," with a negative outlook. The ratings remain investment grade.

? Ireland's economy shrunk again much deeper than had been expected, with its third-quarter gross domestic product falling 1.9 percent. Ireland is one of three eurozone nations kept solvent only by an international bailout.

? Bankers and hedge funds were balking in talks about forgiving 50 percent of Greece's massive debts, a key issue in the debate over Greece's second rescue bailout.

? The red ink in Spain's regional governments surged 22 percent in the last year, endangering the central government's efforts to cut overall Spanish debt.

? France, the second-largest eurozone economy after Germany, warned that it faced at least a temporary recession next year.

? The euro hovered Friday just above $1.30, a cent higher than its 11-month low.

On the positive side, Fitch said France should keep its top AAA credit rating even though the country's debt load is projected to rise through 2014. Italian lawmakers overwhelmingly passed Premier Mario Monti's new austerity package in a confidence vote, even though many still objected to its pension reforms.

French officials and investors had feared that France could get downgraded, which would have immediate repercussions for the entire eurozone. France and Germany's AAA credit ratings underpin the rating for the eurozone's bailout fund.

European Union leaders confirmed Friday they have distributed the text of their proposed new budget-stability treaty, a pact designed to deter runaway deficits and supposed to become EU law by March. But as growth prospects fade across the continent, governments are facing the likelihood that Europe's debt crisis will prove longer and tougher to overcome than even their most recently revised forecasts.

Until this week, EU leaders held up Ireland as the model for how a debt-struck nation should behave ? defying economic gravity by simultaneously growing its economy while sucking billions out of that same economy in Europe's longest austerity drive.

But on Friday, Ireland announced its third-quarter gross domestic product fell 1.9 percent, its national product 2.2 percent. Economists had expected only an 0.5 percent fall for GDP and none at all for GNP. The latter figure is considered a better measure of Ireland's economic vitality because it excludes the largely exported profits of about 600 American companies based in the country.

Ireland has been cutting spending and hiking taxes since late 2008 and has plans to keep doing so through 2015. Next year's target is ?2.2 billion ($2.9 billion) in cuts and ?1.6 billion ($2.1 billion) in extra charges, including a hike in national sales tax to 23 percent and introduction of a new ?100 ($131) tax on every property.

But the country's finances this year are seriously out of whack: It is spending ?57 billion ($74.5 billion), including ?10 billion ($13 billion) to keep its five nationalized banks afloat, but collecting just ?34 billion ($44 billion) in taxes.

Labor union leaders say the unexpected slump confirmed Friday is irrefutable evidence that Ireland's 4.5 million citizens already have been squeezed too much, too quickly.

"Current policies are making recovery almost impossible," said David Begg, general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. "No economy can sustain the sort of ongoing damage that is being inflicted on us."

"We need growth and we need it quickly," he added.

Ireland's year-old international bailout requires the Irish to reduce their annual deficits from an EU record 32 percent of GDP in 2010 to the traditional eurozone limit of 3 percent by 2015. But analysts agree that Ireland cannot hope to meet the 2015 goal if its economy doesn't grow sufficiently.

Ireland's recovery plan now presumes 1.6 percent growth in 2012 and 2.8 percent growth in each of the next three years ? figures many consider way too optimistic.

Alan McQuaid, chief economist at Bloxham Stockbrokers in Dublin, said Ireland would "do well" to reach 0.5 percent growth this year "given the deteriorating world economic backdrop and the fall-off in global demand." He said he doubted Ireland could top 1 percent growth next year.

In other developments:

ITALY:

The new premier's austerity package passed 495-88 Friday, but lawmakers on both the left and right criticized the pension reforms as too harsh. The plan raises ?30 billion ($39 billion) in extra taxes and pension reforms and plows about ?10 billion ($13 billion) of that back into growth measures.

Prosecutors in the southern region of Calabria, meanwhile, said they were investigating 10 envelopes with bullets inside found in a post office in the town of Lamezia Terme. The envelopes were addressed to the new leader Monti, his labor minister, former Premier Silvio Berlusconi and other top political or media figures, according to the Italian news agency ANSA.

Reports said the envelopes contained notes threatening those named if the austerity package wasn't changed.

GREECE:

European officials told The Associated Press that private holders of Greek bonds were resisting EU efforts to persuade them to take a voluntary 50 percent cut in the value of their holdings. The talks in Paris between EU and Greek leaders against representatives of global banks and hedge funds have been very difficult, they said.

The proposed ?100 billion ($130.6 billion) write-off of privately held Greek bonds is supposed to be agreed upon by early next year ? and it's central to Greece's second bailout deal. Without it, Greece's debt is forecast to escalate to nearly 200 percent of GDP.

SPAIN:

A new conservative government committed to increased austerity is coming into office next week, but it faces a rapidly deteriorating financial outlook.

The Bank of Spain announced a 22 percent surge over the past year in the debts of the country's 17 regional governments to ?135.2 billion ($176.6 billion). Spain's central government debt rose 15 percent to above ?706 billion ($922.3 billion).

PORTUGAL:

The main opposition party refused Friday to support the government's plan to amend the constitution to include a budget-deficit limit. All 17 members of the eurozone are supposed to make such commitments as part of the bloc's week-old plan to enshrine spending controls in a new treaty.

In a further worrying development, ratings agency Standard & Poor's on Friday downgraded the credit rating of six leading Portuguese banks to junk status.

Portugal received its own ?80 billion ($104.5 billion) international bailout deal in April.

___

Associated Press writers Angela Charlton in Paris, Gabriele Steinhauser in Brussels, Barry Hatton in Lisbon and Ciaran Giles in Madrid contributed to this report.

___

Online:

Ireland's GDP and GNP, http://bit.ly/vTKjuI

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-12-16-Europe-Financial%20Crisis/id-bfe0d7701cf7488992d2cc670c718345

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Verizon Galaxy Nexus now available online

More in the Verizon Galaxy Nexus forums

The wait is over, and you can now order the Verizon Galaxy Nexus online!  Many will say it's a month late, many will say there never was a date, but none of that matters now, and you'll all have soon forgotten.  Things change when you get the shiny Nexus feeling in your hands, the birds sing more, the sun shines brighter, dogs and cats lie together in harmony, you get the idea.  Like all good things in life though, this one isn't free.  It will set you back $299 with a new contract, but that's the same as any high-end LTE phone available on Big Red.

What are you waiting for?  Go grab one!

Verizon

 

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/cS1s44sPAXg/story01.htm

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Doubts, fears nag Iraqis as U.S. pulls out (Reuters)

BAGHDAD (Reuters) ? Zahora Jasim lost two brothers to bombs and gunmen in the years of turmoil and violence that followed the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Now, as the troops leave for home, the Baghdad housewife fears her country's troubles are not over and wonders, like many Iraqis, if their fragile democracy will slide back into sectarian strife.

"The only images I have in my mind from these nine years are the deaths of my brother and his wife, of being forced from our homes, and the death of another brother in a bombing," she said.

"I don't think anything will really change. There will still be bombings, we will still have assassinations, and the government will not be able to do anything."

The U.S. military departure evokes mixed emotions. Some feel gratitude to the Americans for overthrowing dictator Saddam Hussein in the 2003 invasion. For others, a sense of sovereignty is tainted by sadness over lost relatives and memories of U.S. violations like the abuse of inmates in Abu Ghraib prison.

The last U.S. troops are rolling out of the country across the Kuwaiti border as President Barack Obama winds up the most unpopular war since Vietnam.

But Iraq remains uncertain in many ways. A power-sharing deal includes Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish parties, but the government struggles with sectarian tensions. Violence is down sharply but bombings and attacks remain part of daily life.

From the Shi'ite-dominated south to western Sunni strongholds, sectarianism bubbles just below the surface, and many are unsure their security forces can contain al Qaeda-linked insurgents and rival militias without U.S. help.

Bombings and attacks have eased since American and Iraqi security forces weakened insurgents. But roadside bombs, car bombs and assassinations still kill and maim almost every day.

A frail economy, constant power shortages, scarce jobs and discontent with political leaders all fuel uncertainty among Iraqis.

"Thanks to the Americans. They took us away from Saddam Hussein, I have to say that. But I think now we are going to be in trouble," Malik Abed, 44, a vendor at a Baghdad fish market. "Maybe the terrorists will start attacking us again."

SECTARIAN WORRIES

With the fall of a Sunni dictator, Iraq's Shi'ite majority has risen and a fragile power-sharing government is led by Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. But for some Sunnis, there is no sharing.

"I think sectarianism will return, the struggle between Sunni and Shi'ite. It is clear from the struggle the government has," said security guard Mohammed Ibrahim. "I feel marginalized as a Sunni, there are no jobs for us in the government."

Falluja, the site of bloody urban fighting during the height of the war, has a distinct view of the American presence, with many questioning the massive U.S. military operations there.

Sitting in the Sunni heartland, Falluja was once the heart of al Qaeda operations in Iraq. U.S. troops used overwhelming troop force, gunships and jets to crush the insurgency there. Many still seek compensation.

A group of Falluja residents burned and stamped on U.S. flags on Wednesday in celebration over the withdrawal. Others waved pictures of dead relatives.

"No one trusted their promises, but they said when they came to Iraq they would bring security, stability and would build our country. Now they are walking out, leaving behind killings, ruin and mess," said Ahmed Aied, a Falluja grocer.

Even as their country shakes off the worst of its violence, memories of war leave old and young alike fretting over peace and stability.

"I was just a young girl when the Americans came. I used to walk with the U.S. soldiers and take pictures with them and they talked with me. They gave me pencils, and school books," said Roua Mansour, a young mother in Baghdad

"Now I am always scared. I prefer to stay inside at home. There was once a big bomb at the Sheraton Hotel and since then I have been frightened. A mortar landed in our garden once. I hope it gets better, but security still worries me."

(Additional reporting by Aref Mohammed and; Fadhel al-Badrani; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111215/wl_nm/us_iraq_withdrawal_reactions

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"Virtual visits" unpopular among cancer survivors (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) ? In a new survey of breast cancer survivors, few people said that having a follow-up appointment with a doctor or nurse over the phone or online instead of in person would ease their stress and worry.

Some researchers believe so-called virtual visits might be an option for continuing care as the number of cancer survivors in the United States grows and cancer doctors are stretched increasingly thin.

"There's been a lot of interest in introducing virtual visits into medical oncology follow-up," said study co-author Dr. Erica Mayer, from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

"What we had in mind was a way in which patients and physicians could communicate with each other and discuss routine non-urgent follow-up care in a (way) that would be safe and acceptable."

Mayer told Reuters Health that phone or online appointments wouldn't be a replacement for physical exams or cancer screening that's done during in-person visits, but rather a way for survivors who are doing well and might live far from a clinic to have regular, convenient check-ins. It would also ease the strain on the medical system, Mayer said.

She and her colleagues sent surveys to 218 breast cancer survivors who had been seen at their center. In the surveys, they asked patients about their comfort with getting follow-up care from cancer doctors, primary care doctors and nurse practitioners, as well as over the phone or Internet with a doctor or nurse.

Survivors said that of those options, a visit to a cancer doctor would be the most likely to decrease their appointment-related stress and their worry about cancer. The most participants -- almost 80 percent -- pointed to those appointments as likely to increase their survival.

More than half of people also said that visiting a primary care doctor or nurse practitioner would decrease their disease-related worrying and would likely extend their lifespan.

But survivors were much less confident about benefiting from a virtual visit.

Only 12 percent of survey participants said communicating with a cancer doctor or nurse on the phone or online would relieve their stress about the follow-up "visit." Twenty percent said it would decrease their cancer worrying and improve their survival. More survivors said the visits would increase their stress and worrying and likely cut their lifespan.

"When patients first hear, 'Oh, we can do a follow-up from your house, you don't even have to come in,' it might seem like they're not getting as good care," said Dr. Christine Hill-Kayser, a radiation oncologist at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, who was not involved in the new study.

The idea of the virtual visit is still a pretty new one, Hill-Kayser said, and the phone or online sessions -- using Skype, for instance -- aren't something most survivors have access to yet.

She said that in the future, researchers and doctors will have to do a better job of educating patients about the benefits of virtual visits and being clear about what they involve. Ultimately, she added, online follow-up is a promising option to help keep survivors and their medical team better connected.

"There's some potential benefit to being able to be in touch with survivors more often and in a way that's more convenient for them," Hill-Kayser told Reuters Health.

"We're certainly working in an environment with limited resources. It's sometimes difficult to schedule follow-ups as much as we'd like to with all our patients."

Mayer said that because the survey had to be brief, the researchers weren't able to fully explain what might go into a virtual visit, and that could have colored survivors' opinions of them.

Her team wrote in the Journal of Clinical Oncology that the survey did show survivors would be comfortable having follow-up care led by their primary care doctors and by nurse practitioners -- not only cancer doctors.

That's in line with research showing that survivors do just as well in those cases, Mayer pointed out, which may help shape the future picture of cancer survivor care.

"Establishing new and efficient models of care that involve sharing care among providers or even introducing an Internet option would be favorable and helpful moving forward," she concluded.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/ur2jbD Journal of Clinical Oncology, online December 12, 2011.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111215/hl_nm/us_virtual_cancer_survivors

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