"Fantastic" New Flying Frog Found—Has Flappy Forearms

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Scientists have stumbled across a new species of flying frog—on the ground.

While hiking a lowland forest in 2009, not far from Ho Chi Minh City (map), Vietnam, "we came across a huge green frog, sitting on a log," said Jodi Rowley, an amphibian biologist at the Australian Museum in Sydney and lead author of a new study on the frog.

Rowley later discovered that the 3.5-inch-long (9-centimeter-long) creature is a relatively large new type of flying frog, a group known for its ability to "parachute" from tree to tree thanks to special aerodynamic adaptations, such as webbed feet, Rowley said. (Also see "'Vampire Flying Frog' Found; Tadpoles Have Black Fangs.")

Rowley dubbed the new species Helen's flying frog, in honor of her mother, Helen Rowley, "who has steadfastly supported her only child trekking through the forests of Southeast Asia in search of frogs," according to a statement.

The newfound species—there are 80 types of flying frogs—is also "one of the most flying frogs of the flying frogs," Rowley said, "in that it's got huge hands and feet that are webbed all the way to the toepad."

"Females even have flappy skin on their forearms to glide," added Rowley, who has received funding from the National Geographic Committee on Research and Exploration. (National Geographic News is part of the National Geographic Society.) "The females are larger and heavier than males, so the little extra flaps probably don't make much of a difference," she said.

As Rowley wrote on her blog, "At first it may seem strange that such a fantastic and obvious frog could escape discovery until now—less than 100 kilometers [60 miles] from an urban centre with over nine million people."

Yet these tree dwellers can easily escape notice—they spend most of their time in the canopy, she said.

Flying Frog on the Edge

Even so, Helen's flying frog won't be able to hide from development near Ho Chi Minh City, which may encroach on its existing habitats.

So far, only five individuals have been found in two patches of lowland forest hemmed in by rice paddies in southern Vietnam, Rowley said. The animals can probably tolerate a little bit of disturbance as long as they have large trees and temporary pools, she added.

But lowland forests are among the most threatened habitats in the world, mostly because they're so accessible to people, and thus chosen for logging and development. (Get the facts on deforestation.)

"While Helen's flying frog has only just been discovered by biologists," Rowley wrote, "unfortunately this species, like many others, is under great threat from ongoing habitat loss and degradation."

The new flying frog study was published in December 2012 in the Journal of Herpetology.


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Jodi Arias: The New Casey Anthony?

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The murder trial of Jodi Arias is drawing comparisons to the trial of Casey Anthony, another woman who initially told elaborate lies and then claimed at trial that she was a victim.


Arias, 32, eventually admitted that she killed her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander, but insists it was in self defense because he was an abusive and sexually deviant lover.


Anthony, now 25, insisted her daughter Caylee had been stolen by a nanny and didn't drop that story until the first day of her murder trial when she said the toddler drowned in a backyard pool. Anthony said she had become accustomed to lying to hide alleged sexual abuse by her father for much of her life.


Both women lied about their jobs, sought out sex immediately after the deaths, and even had similar hair styles.


Anthony was found innocent by a jury in 2011, while Arias is still on trial and could face the death penalty if found guilty.


Nancy Grace, a legal analyst for ABC News, says the Arias trial is also similar to Scott Peterson's murder of his wife Laci, who was eight months pregnant when she was killed in 2002. Peterson was having an affair with a masseuse at the time of his wife's death.

Key Players and Key Evidence in Jodi Arias Trial


"The obvious one is that all three of them killed the one they professed to love the most...their love object, the thing they held dearest," said Grace, who has covered all three trials on her TV show.






Matt York/AP Photo|Al Golub/Pool/AP Photo|Joe Burbank-Pool/Getty Images















Jodi Arias Trial: Jurors See Photos of Bloody Handprint Watch Video





"You also have of course the promiscuity, a very obvious (similarity)," Grace said. "You could argue all three were sexually driven murders. 'Tot Mom' [Grace's nickname for Casey Anthony] clearly wanted a wild carefree single life. She was dancing in a push-up bra and go-go boots while her daughter's body was rotting. She's going from one man's arms to another man's arms."


See Full Coverage of Jodi Arias Trial


"Scott Peterson was a dog, there's no other way I can put it. And then Jodi Arias, who went from slashing the throat of her lover to literally hopping on top of another guy within a few hours," Grace said.


Ryan Burns testified that the day after Arias killed Alexander, he had a date with Arias and she laid on top of him and began kissing him.


"It could also be argued that all three are physically attractive," Grace said, "though I find none of them attractive. But all three use their looks and their charisma."


Each of the three changed their looks, dying their hair different colors and drastically changing their appearances for court. Grace was particularly struck by the similarity of Arias' and Anthony's hair style.


"With Arias coming in like 'Tot Mom' with the long hair draping their faces. If I sat 'Cousin It' at the table I don't think anyone would notice," the commentator said.


Grace claimed that none of the defendants looked at their juries. "They all sit in a position where their lawyers are kind of shielding them," she said.


There are other similarities. Anthony claimed falsely to work at Universal Studios while Arias told friends falsely that she worked at a Margaritaville bar.


Anthony said her daughter was taken by a fictitious nanny while Peterson said he wife was the victim of a Satanic cult. At one point Arias said she was present when a man and woman entered Alexander's apartment and killed him.


"All three lied about their jobs and positions in life, their relationships, what they do," Grace said. "All three changed their stories over and over and all three are caught on tape."


There is one other similarity, Grace said.


"I truly believe that their most important deadly common flaw is that they cannot empathize with others, they can't feel for someone who is suffering, and the murders don't mean anything to them," she said.


Grace predicted that unlike Anthony's trial, Arias will be convicted of murdering Alexander the same way Peterson was convicted of murdering Laci Peterson. In that case, Peterson was sentenced to the death penalty, a fate that Arias could face if convicted.


"It's very hard to get a woman sent to death row," Grace said. "Tot Mom' was acquitted, but I don't think Jodi Arias will be acquitted. The question is will they [jury] have the back bone to send her to death row."



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Activist's death sparks open-access tribute on Twitter

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Hundreds of researchers have been sharing PDFs of their work on Twitter as a tribute to Aaron Swartz, the internet freedom activist who committed suicide on Friday.












Swartz was facing hacking charges from the US government after accessing the network of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and downloading nearly 5 million articles from the digital library JSTOR.












Academics are now offering open-access versions of their work using the hashtag #pdftribute in memory of Swartz and building a collection of papers at pdftribute.net. The tribute was started by Jessica Richman, a computer scientist at the University of Oxford, and Eva Vivalt, a development economist at the World Bank in Washington DC, who wrote earlier today that there have been about 30,000 tweets so far.











SOPA stopper













"We are at the beginning of a revolution in tools to create and communicate science. Thank you Aaron," tweeted Richman. The move is supported by hacktivist group Anonymous, which also appears to have defaced MIT websites with tributes to Swartz.












Swartz helped develop RSS and Reddit, two mainstays of the modern internet, and was instrumental in fighting the Stop Online Piracy Act, which aimed to give copyright holders more control over the internet. Numerous sites including Wikipedia and Reddit self-censored for 24 hours in protest against the proposed law.












Swartz's desire for open access to information led to criminal charges, however, after he broke into a computer wiring closet at MIT and set up a laptop to download millions of files from JSTOR. The move crashed servers and caused JSTOR to temporarily block MIT.











Wise elder lost













Swartz eventually gave the hard drives containing the downloads to JSTOR, which dropped all charges against him – but he was charged with hacking and fraud by the US government and faced a sentence of up to 35 years in prison and $1 million in fines. Those charges have now been dropped as a routine consequence of his death.












In a statement following his death, Swartz's parents criticised the Massachusetts US attorney's office for pursuing charges against their son, and MIT for failing to support him.












Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the world wide web, tweeted his own tribute: "Aaron dead. World wanderers, we have lost a wise elder. Hackers for right, we are one down. Parents all, we have lost a child. Let us weep."


















































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Golf: McIlroy joins Nike in blockbuster golf deal

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ABU DHABI: World No.1 Rory McIlroy on Monday confirmed he had signed on with sportswear and equipment giant Nike in a deal believed to be one the biggest sponsorship contracts in sport.

With the Abu Dhabi Grand Mosque lit up in the background, McIlroy stepped onto a stage wearing the Nike swoosh and revealed the clubs he will take into competition starting at this week's Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in the UAE capital.

No exact details of what the deal was worth were released, but press reports have estimated it could bring the 23-year-old Northern Irishman up to US$250 million over 10 years.

"Growing up I always thought all the best athletes in most sports were Nike players and I'm looking forward to joining the Nike family," he said.

"I began testing the clubs late last year at the Nike factory in Texas and I could not be more happy.

"Hopefully now using Nike I have an even better year than last year. Last year was great winning a second major Championship and getting to No.1 in the world and this year I feel I can go to a new level and higher than I ever had and hopefully more majors."

McIlroy was introduced as a Nike staff player by Cindy Davis, president of Nike Golf, who indicated he had signed a 'multi-year' agreement.

"Today marks a significant moment for our brand and our golf business, and for the career of an extraordinary young athlete," she said.

"We could not be more thrilled with tonight's announcement.

"The beginning of 2013 for us is one of the most exciting times since Tiger Woods joined the 'Swoosh'."

McIlroy, who grew up in humble surrounds in suburban Belfast, insisted his switch of clubs from Titleist to Nike was not about the money.

"I don't play golf for the money as I am well past that," he said.

"I am Major Champion that I have always dreamed of being and I am World No. 1 as I have always dreamed of being, and really Nike is the company that can help me sustain that.

"So I play for Major titles, not the money."

Welcoming McIlroy to the Nike family were three of Nike's famed stars - Manchester United's Wayne Rooney, tennis great Roger Federer and 14-time Major winning Tiger Woods, who delivered video welcome messages to McIlroy.

McIlroy will face Woods in this week's Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, part of the European PGA Tour with both players choosing the emirate to start their season's for the second straight year.

Like Woods, McIlroy was a boy wonder who was the world under-10 champion in 1998, turning professional in 2007, two months after finishing as the leading amateur in The Open at Carnoustie.

He had to wait until the 2009 Dubai Desert Classic for his first victory and oddly he has yet to win on European soil, all his successes since coming in the United States (five, including two majors), Asia (two) or back in the Middle East.

He finished last season with five birdies in a row to lift the DP World Tour title in Dubai.

It was the 2011 US Masters that put him on a new level in terms of fame and popularity.

McIlroy led by four with a round to play and was still out in front at the turn, but in a horrific back-nine meltdown he crashed to an 80 and ended up in only 15th place, 10 shots behind winner Charl Schwartzel.

The sporting world waited to see how long the mental scars would last, and got their answer two months later when he won the US Open by eight shots.

At just 22 he was the youngest winner of the title since Bobby Jones in 1923. A superstar was born.

- AFP/jc



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Cook fast or slow at the push of a button

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This multicooker can take you where you want to go at the speed of your choice.

This multicooker can take you where you want to go at the speed of your choice.



(Credit:
Williams Sonoma)



The kitchen is all about timing. Sometimes things happen fast; other times patience is required. The slow simmering of an all-day sauce combined with the quick heat of a fast sear on a choice cut of protein brings together flavor combinations that rally our taste buds into believing that anything is possible as long as we take the time to do them right. But it is not just time that has a monopoly on efficiency in the kitchen. It's also about versatility.



The Breville BPR600XL Fast Slow Cooker ($179.95) is capable of cooking up a storm or calmly maintaining a slow simmer. The enclosed multicooker can operate as a slow cooker, a steamer, a pressure cooker or a sauté pan. Additionally, a warm setting allows for efficient time management allowing for maximum utility, without the need to fuss about the kitchen.



With a 6-quart capacity, the countertop appliance is well-suited for a variety of tasks. With variable settings for the slow cooker as well as for the pressure cooker functions, it is easy to select the right mode for the job. Simplicity is key in this device, and the uncluttered control panel facilitates the process. When it comes time to cook up a meal, users can dive into the action or just let the multicooker proceed at its own pace. Best of all, the choice is only a button press away.


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Space Pictures: 7 Ways You Could Blast Off by 2023

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Obama to Congress: 'We Are Not a Deadbeat Nation'

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President Obama says the U.S. economy is "poised for a good year" but that progress could be threatened by political brinksmanship on the nation's debt limit.


"While I'm willing to compromise and find common ground over how to reduce our deficits, America cannot afford another debate with this Congress about whether or not they should pay the bills they've already racked up," Obama said at a White House news conference.


"We are not a deadbeat nation," he said. "The consequences of us not paying our bills would be disastrous."


Lawmakers have until the end of February to raise the nation's debt limit and address the delayed $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts to defense and domestic spending.


Failure to raise the debt limit would set the stage for a U.S. default on its loan obligations or force immediate cuts to government spending that could threaten hundreds of thousands of federal employees and beneficiaries of government aid, including Social Security recipients and active-duty military personnel.


Republicans have said they plan to use the debate on a debt-limit increase to extract spending cuts from the Obama administration. They note a legislative precedent, including most recently in 2011, of coupling the debt ceiling with deficit-reduction legislation.






Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images













"The president and his allies need to get serious about spending, and the debt-limit debate is the perfect time for it," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in response to Obama's remarks.


"We are hoping for a new seriousness on the part of the president with regard to the single biggest issue confronting the country," he said. "And we look forward to working with him to do something about this huge, huge problem."


Obama says he will "not negotiate" on an increase to the debt limit, which covers spending obligations that have already been passed into law, insisting that the issue should be independent of a debate on new limits on future spending.


"The financial well being of the American people is not leverage to use," Obama said. "The full faith and credit of the U.S.A. is not a bargaining chip to use."


The White House said the news conference would be Obama's last of his first term, coming six days before the inauguration and at a critical juncture in an ongoing fight with Congress on federal deficits and debt.


It also comes one day before Vice President Joe Biden will present to Obama his task force's recommendations for curbing gun violence in the wake of the deadly Newtown, Conn., shooting.


"They've presented me now with a list of sensible, common-sense steps that can be taken to make sure that the kinds of violence we saw at Newtown doesn't happen again," Obama said.


"I expect to have a fuller presentation later in the week to give people some specifics about what I think we need to do. My starting point is not to worry about the politics," he said. "My starting point is to focus on what makes sense, what works."


ABC News' Mary Bruce contributed to this report.



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Video games take off as a spectator sport

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Editorial: "Give video games a sporting chance"













EVERY sport has its idols and superstars. Now video gaming is getting them too. Professional gaming, or e-sports, exploded in popularity in the US and Europe last year.












The scene has been big in Asia - particularly South Korea - for about a decade, with top players such as Lim Yo-Hwan earning six-figure salaries and competing for rock-star glory in Starcraft tournaments that attract audiences in the hundreds of thousands.












The phenomenon is taking off in the West partly because of improved video-streaming technology and large financial rewards. Video games are becoming a spectator sport, with certain players and commentators drawing massive online audiences.












And where people go, money follows. The second world championship of League of Legends - a team-based game in which players defend respective corners of a fantasy-themed battle arena - was held in Los Angeles in October. The tournament had a prize pool of $5 million for the season, with $1 million going to winning team Taipei Assassins, the largest cash prize in the history of e-sports.












League of Legends has also set records for spectator numbers. More than 8 million people watched the championship finals either online or on TV - a figure that dwarfs audience numbers for broadcasts of many traditional sports fixtures.


















But gamers don't need to compete at the international level to earn money. Video-streaming software like Twitch makes it easy for players to send live footage to a website, where the more popular ones can attract upwards of 10,000 viewers - enough for some to make a living by having adverts in their video streams. Gamers can go pro without leaving their homes.












Currently, e-sports productions are handled by gaming leagues - but that could soon change. Last November saw two moves that will make it even easier to reach a global online audience. First, Twitch announced it would be integrating with Electronic Arts's Origin service, a widely used gaming platform. This would let gamers stream their play at the click of a button, making it easy for people around the world to watch.












Also in November came the latest release from one of gaming's biggest franchises, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, which has the ability to live-stream via YouTube built into the game itself. Another feature allows the broadcast of in-game commentary for multiplayer matches.












"I think we will reach a point, maybe within five years, where spectator features are a necessity for all big game releases," says Corin Cole of e-sports publishing company Heaven Media in Huntingdon, UK.












David Ting founded the California-based IGN Pro League (IPL), which hosts professional tournaments. He puts the popularity of e-sports down to the demand for new forms of online entertainment. "After 18 months, IPL's viewer numbers are already comparable to college sports in the US when there's a live event," he says. "The traffic is doubling every six months."












Ting sees motion detection, virtual reality and mobile gaming coming together to make physical exertion a more common aspect of video games, blurring the line between traditional sport and e-sports. "Angry Birds could be this century's bowling," says Ting.




















































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Grieving relatives mark Italy shipwreck anniversary

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GIGLIO ISLAND: Grieving relatives of the 32 victims of the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster laid flowers by the giant wreck on Sunday in an emotional one-year anniversary commemoration on the Italian island of Giglio to try and heal the wounds of the tragedy.

Salvage workers on a tugboat also used a crane to lower into the sea a piece of the enormous rock that the Costa Concordia crashed into and then tore from its base before veering sharply and keeling over with 4,229 people from 70 countries on board.

A ship's horn sounded out 32 times under a leaden sky in memory of those who died, echoing across the water as the rock slowly descended into the sea and tearful families looked on from another ship.

"I want justice for my family and for all the victims," said Susy Albertini, mother of a five-year-old girl who perished with her father.

Twelve of the victims on the luxury liner were from Germany, seven from Italy, six from France, two from Peru, two from the United States, one from Hungary, one from India and one from Spain.

Survivors of the disaster who came for the ceremony re-lived the panic of that night, when hundreds had to jump into the freezing waters, clamber down a rope ladder in the dark or be evacuated by helicopter after several lifeboats failed to deploy.

"We came because we wanted to express our gratitude. We survived," said Ronald Dots, who was with his wife and son when tragedy struck.

"It was a painful night and at first we cried a lot. Even now, when I see the sea I shake," he said.

French passenger Daniele Dubuc broke down in tears upon stepping off a ferry -- the first time she had been back on a ship since that night.

Dubuc said she and her husband loved ballroom dancing and had enjoyed dances on the cruise, but "the tragedy has made us lose the will to dance."

Many said they also came to thank local residents who rushed to pluck shivering survivors from the water and bring them food and blankets.

Ten people are being investigated including the ship's infamous captain Francesco Schettino -- who is accused of reckless seamanship and abandoning the ship early -- and three executives from owner Costa Crociere, but a trial is still months away.

"From last January 13 and for the rest of my life I will always have something in my heart that will tie me to that event and to the families of the victims," Schettino said in a television interview from his home in southern Italy where he has been confined pending the investigation.

Costa Crociere, Europe's biggest cruise operator, had asked passengers in a letter to stay away from the ceremony on the island because of a lack of space, infuriating many survivors.

Costa Crociere said it would mark the day by holding masses in the chapels of all its vessels around the world and flying their flags at half-mast.

Among those attending the ceremony on Giglio was coast guard official Gregorio De Falco, who upbraided Schettino with an expletive in a phone call when the man dubbed "Captain Coward" refused to get back on the ship to aid the evacuation.

At a mass in the same church that served as a temporary refuge for many survivors, objects from the ship were put on display -- a life jacket, a rope, some bread and a statue of the Virgin Mary.

Of the 32 people who died that night, two -- an Indian waiter and an Italian passenger -- are still officially missing.

Elio Vincenzi, whose wife's body has never been found, could hardly speak for tears as he presented the island with a statue of the Virgin Mary.

Kevin Rebello, who is still searching for his brother's body, gave the island a plaque with four lions on it, the emblem of India -- which he said stood for power, courage, pride and confidence, characteristics "also shared by Giglio."

The 290-metre liner crashed into a group of rocks just off Giglio, veered sharply and keeled over just as many passengers were sitting down for supper on the first night of a Mediterranean cruise.

Salvage workers on Saturday said an unprecedented US$400 million operation to refloat and remove the ship for scrapping will be completed by September.

- AFP/jc



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Researchers honor Swartz's memory with PDF protest

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In a tribute to Aaron Swartz, the Internet activist who committed suicide Friday, researchers have begun posting PDFs to Twitter to honor his campaign for open access.


Swartz, 26, had faced $4 million in fines and more than 50 years in prison for allegedly stealing 4 million documents from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Jstor, an archive of scientific journals and academic papers. The authorities claimed that he broke into a restricted-access computer wiring closet at MIT and accessed that network without authorization.




The PDF campaign was born out of a desire to honor Swartz's memory and his battle for open access to documents on the Internet, said Micah Allen, a researcher in the fields of brain plasticity, cognitive neuroscience, and cognitive science.


"A fitting tribute to Aaron might be a mass protest uploading of copyright-protected research articles," Allen wrote yesterday on Reddit. "Dump them on Gdocs, tweet the link. Think of the great blu-ray encoding protest but on a bigger scale for research articles."


As of Sunday morning, it appeared that hundreds were participating in the protest/tribute, posting links to thousands of documents on Twitter using the hashtag #pdftribute, the creation of which Allen attributed to Eva Vivalt and Jessica Richman.



The original #pdftribute tweets.



(Credit:
Jessica Richman)



In a tweet this morning, Vivalt said the campaign was attracting growing attention.



News of Swartz's suicide came only days after Jstor announced this week that it would make "more than 4.5 million articles" publicly available for free.

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