While Tilera's forthcoming 100-core processors threaten to set off fire alarms around the world, the company has finally brought out its more sensible 36-core variant. The 1.2GHz Tile-GX36 sips just 24 watts and is designed to be especially handy with short and sharp jobs like processing internet transactions. It's a reduced instruction set (RISC) chip, so it's less power hungry and cheaper than Intel's x86 silicon. It also sports 64-bit architecture, whereas rival ARM is set to remain 32-bit until 2014. Then again, with Tilera lagging behind in terms of brand recognition and software support, a two-year head start might not be long enough.
KIEV (Reuters) ? Ukrainian police on Tuesday shut down the former Soviet republic's most popular file sharing website, Ex.ua, accusing its owners of illegally distributing copyright-protected software, music and videos.
The move, which followed a crackdown by the United States on a similar but much larger website Megaupload earlier this month, was a result of complaints by software companies such as Microsoft and Adobe, police said.
"During a search at the website (owners') office and data centers, police confiscated numerous computers... including 200 servers containing about 6,000 terabytes of information in total," the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
"Police have found out that the website was run by a citizen of Latvia."
The ministry said 16 people who had worked at Ex.ua's office were being questioned but did not say how many people, if any, had been detained.
Under Ukrainian laws, the website's owners could face up to five years in prison if found guilty, it said.
Ex.ua's users numbered in the millions, according to police. Most users logged on from within Ukraine.
(Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Peter Graff)
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WEST POINT, N.Y. ? A retired U.S. general who made comments denigrating Islam has been invited to speak to cadets at the U.S. Military Academy during a national prayer breakfast next month.
The Times Herald-Record of Middletown reports ( http://bit.ly/wyhEis) that Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin is among the speakers scheduled to attend the Feb. 8 event at West Point. Military academy officials say Boykin will speak to a gathering of Christian, Jewish and Muslim cadets.
Boykin served as an intelligence official during President George W. Bush's administration. In 2003, he made statements portraying the fight against terrorism as a Christian fight against Satan and suggesting that Muslims worship idols.
Boykin retired in 2007.
VoteVets.org, whose supporters include veterans and an Islamic group, has asked West Point's superintendent to drop Boykin from the prayer breakfast.
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Information from: The Times Herald-Record, http://www.th-record.com
A fireman sprays the interior of a burned vehicle that was involved in a multi-vehicle accident that killed at least nine people, on Interstate 75 near Gainesville, Fla., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. Authorities were still trying to determine what caused the pileup on the highway, which had been closed for a time because of the mixture of fog and heavy smoke from a brush fire. At least five cars and six tractor-trailers were involved, and some burst into flame. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)
A fireman sprays the interior of a burned vehicle that was involved in a multi-vehicle accident that killed at least nine people, on Interstate 75 near Gainesville, Fla., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. Authorities were still trying to determine what caused the pileup on the highway, which had been closed for a time because of the mixture of fog and heavy smoke from a brush fire. At least five cars and six tractor-trailers were involved, and some burst into flame. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)
Debris and wreckage lie along the highway after a multi-vehicle accident that killed at least nine people, on Interstate 75 near Gainesville, Fla., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. Authorities were still trying to determine what caused the pileup on the highway, which had been closed for a time because of the mixture of fog and heavy smoke from a brush fire. At least five cars and six tractor-trailers were involved, and some burst into flame. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)
Aerial view of Interstate 75 in Gainesville, Fla. where according to Florida Highway Patrol at least 9 people have died as a result of multiple crashes Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012 involving 4 commercial vehicles and at least 10 passenger vehicles. The majority of the accidents happened in an area adjacent to where a brush fire was burning and producing heavy smoke. (AP Photo/The Gainesville Sun, Rob C. Witzel)
Firemen hose down a commercial carrier truck on Interstate 75 near Gainesville, Fla., after it was involved in a multi-vehicle wreck which killed at least 9 people in the early hours of Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. Authorities were still trying to determine what caused the pileup on the highway, which had been closed for a time because of the mixture of fog and heavy smoke from a brush fire. At least five cars and six tractor-trailers were involved, and some burst into flame. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)
Officials work at the scene of a multi-vehicle wreck on Interstate 75 at Paynes Prairie on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, south of Gainesville, Fla. (AP Photo/The Gainesville Sun, Matt Stamey)
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) ? Steven R. Camps and some friends were driving home hours before dawn Sunday when they were suddenly drawn into a massive pileup on Florida's Interstate 75.
"You could hear cars hitting each other. People were crying. People were screaming. It was crazy," the Gainesville man said hours later. "If I could give you an idea of what it looked like, I would say it looked like the end of the world."
Authorities were still trying to determine what caused the horrific pileup south of Gainesville, where a long line of cars and trucks collided one after another on a dark highway so shrouded in haze and smoke that drivers were blinded. At least 10 people were killed and another 18 were taken to a nearby hospital, Shands at the University of Florida. As of Sunday night, six patients remained in the trauma center and three others admitted through the emergency room remained.
The interstate had been closed for a time before the accidents because of a mixture of fog and heavy smoke from a brush fire that may have been intentionally set. The decision to reopen it early Sunday will certainly be a focus of investigators, as will the question of how the fire may have started.
Authorities also must figure out when to reopen the southbound lanes of I-75, the north-south highway that runs virtually the entire length of Florida. Complicating matters is that some of the road's asphalt melted. The northbound lanes were reopened late Sunday afternoon.
"Our standard operating procedure is to get the road open as quickly as possible but let's not forget we have 10 people who are not with us today," Lt. Patrick Riordan, a Florida Highway Patrol spokesman, said Sunday evening. "So we are going to take our time assessing the situation."
The pileups happened around 3:45 a.m. Sunday on both sides of I-75. When rescuers first arrived, they could only listen for screams and moans because the poor visibility made it difficult to find victims in wreckage that was strewn for nearly a mile.
At least a dozen cars and six tractor-trailers were involved, and some burst into flames.
Hours later, twisted, burned-out vehicles were scattered across the pavement, with smoke still rising from the wreckage.
Cars appeared to have smashed into the big rigs and, in one case, a motor home. Some cars were crushed beneath the heavier trucks.
Reporters who were allowed to view the site saw bodies still inside a burned-out Grand Prix. One tractor-trailer was burned down to its skeleton, charred pages of books and magazines in its cargo area. And the tires of every vehicle had burned away, leaving only steel belts.
Before Camps hit the fog bank, a friend who was driving ahead of him in a separate vehicle called to warn of the road conditions. The friend said he had just seen an accident and urged Camps to be careful as he approached the Paynes Prairie area, just south of Gainesville.
A short time later, Camps said, traffic stopped along the northbound lanes.
"You couldn't see anything. People were pulling off the road," he said.
Camps said he began talking about the road conditions to a man in the car stopped next to him when another vehicle hit that man's car.
The man's vehicle was crushed under a semi-truck stopped in front of them. Camps said his car was hit twice, but he and another friend were able to jump out. They took cover in the grass on the shoulder of the road.
All around them, cars and trucks were on fire, and they could hear explosions as the vehicles burned.
"It was happening on both sides of the road, so there was nowhere to go. It blew my mind," he said, explaining that the scene "looked like someone was picking up cars and throwing them."
Authorities had not released the names of victims Sunday evening, but said one passenger car had four fatalities. A "tour bus-like" vehicle also was involved in the pileup, police said.
All six lanes of the interstate were closed most of Sunday as investigators surveyed the site and firefighters put out the last of the flames. Some traffic was being diverted onto U.S. 301 and State Road 27, Riordan said. The northbound lanes were reopened at about 5:30 p.m.
At some point before the pileup, police briefly closed the highway because of fog and smoke. The road was reopened when visibility improved, police said. Riordan said he was not sure how much time passed between the reopening of the highway and the first crash.
A spokeswoman for the Florida Forest Service, Ludie Bond, said the fire began Saturday, and investigators were trying to determine whether the blaze had been intentionally set. She said there were no controlled burns in the area and no lightning.
Bond also said the fire had burned 62 acres and was contained but still burning Sunday. A similar fire nearby has been burning since mid-November because the dried vegetation is so thick and deep. No homes are threatened.
Four years ago, heavy fog and smoke were blamed for another serious crash.
In January 2008, four people were killed and 38 injured in a series of similar crashes on Interstate 4 between Orlando and Tampa, about 125 miles south of Sunday's crash. More than 70 vehicles were involved in those crashes, including one pileup that involved 40 vehicles.
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Associated Press writer Freida Frisaro in Miami contributed to this report.
We're pretty excited about WiGig's miraculous wireless transmission rates and Panasonic's now in the process of jamming the functionality into SD cards set to arrive next year. It's now got a working prototype and DigInfo's managed to grab a brief video demo (embedded below) showcasing the tech. Both photos and videos can be effortlessly pinged from a tablet (housing the aforementioned memory card) to compatible in-car displays. We're told that those heady transfer speeds are more than capable of handling a whole DVD of video content in under a minute, although the range of the transmission remains between one to three meters. We may be willing to cope with that limitation -- especially if these multi-gigabit speeds still make it across to future phones.
CHICAGO -- In a bout to decide the next light heavyweight title contender, Rashad Evans controlled Phil Davis on his way to a unanimous decision at the United Center on Saturday night. The judges saw it 50-45 on all three cards for Evans.
Davis landed a spinning leg kick, then ducked low into a takedown. Evans pushed him into the fence and fended off the takedown attempt. Every time Davis came in to try to get the takedown, Evans made him pay with a punch or two. Evans got a takedown at the 1:30 point of the first round, then moved to side control. From there, he put Davis into a crucifix hold and landed a bevy of short punches.
In the second round, Evans was aggressive, landing several punches early in the round. They clinched, but things slowed down considerably. They had a few striking exchanges, with Evans coming out on top. In the last 30 seconds, Evans took Davis down and again landed punches from side control.
Davis shot in for a takedown to start the third round. Davis drove him against the fence until he finally got the takedown. Evans reversed position and landed several lefts to Davis' face. They returned to their feet, and Davis got another takedown, and Evans returned to his feet while Davis held on for dear life.
Early in the fourth round, Davis landed a punishing rib kick, but Evans did not slow down. He continued to move forward, stalking Davis around the cage. When Davis shot in for a takedown, Evans fended him off before getting a takedown of his own.
Evans started the fifth round with a huge strike, and then held off Davis' attack. Evans caught a kick, then as he held the single leg, punched Davis until he went down. He stretched Davis into side control, and continued to land punches even as Davis worked to his feet. Evans controlled the rest of the round the way he controlled the whole fight.
With this win, Evans should punch his ticket for a fight with Jon Jones. The UFC announced Saturday that Jones' next bout will be in April in Atlanta. As long as Evans is healthy, the bout should be his.
OAKLAND, Calif (Reuters) ? More than 400 anti-Wall Street protesters were arrested in Oakland during a night of skirmishes in which police fired tear gas and bean bag projectiles, the city said on Sunday, marking one of the biggest mass arrests since nationwide economic protests began last year.
Earlier on Sunday, authorities had said that the arrest figure was between 200 and 300. But the Oakland emergency operations center said in a statement that revised that up to more than 400, and said that Oakland Police were expected to announce a more precise number later on Sunday.
Riot police on Saturday night fought running skirmishes with protesters, injuring three officers and at least one demonstrator.
The scuffles erupted in the afternoon as activists sought to take over a shuttered downtown convention center, sparking cat-and-mouse battles that lasted well into the night in a city that has seen tensions between police and protesters boil over repeatedly.
Oakland has become an unlikely flashpoint of the national "Occupy" protests against economic inequality that began last year in New York's financial district and have spread to dozens of cities across the country.
The protests in most cities have been peaceful and sparked a national debate over how much of the country's wealth is held by the richest 1 percent of the population. President Barack Obama has sought to capitalize on the attention by calling for higher taxes on the richest Americans.
Protests focused on Oakland after a former Marine, Scott Olsen, was critically injured during a demonstration in October. Protesters said he was hit in the head by a tear gas canister but authorities have never said exactly how he was hurt.
The Occupy movement appeared to lose momentum late last year as police cleared protest camps in cities across the country.
Violence erupted again in Oakland on Saturday when protesters attempted to take over the apparently empty downtown convention center to establish a new headquarters and draw attention to the problem of homelessness.
Police in riot gear moved in, firing smoke grenades, tear gas and bean-bag projectiles to drive the crowd back.
"Officers were pelted with bottles, metal pipe, rocks, spray cans, improvised explosive devices and burning flares," the Oakland Police Department said in a statement. "Oakland Police Department deployed smoke and tear gas."
Some activists, carrying shields made of plastic garbage cans and corrugated metal, tried to circumvent the police line, and surged toward police on another side of the building as more smoke canisters were fired.
Oakland city officials said "extremists" were fomenting the demonstrations and using the city as a playground for the movement. Protesters have accused the city of overreacting and using heavy-handed tactics.
Across the country in New York, police said four people were arrested on Saturday night after protesters clashed with police at what demonstrators had called an "OccuParty" inside an abandoned building in the borough of Brooklyn. Protesters knocked over garbage pails and hurled objects at police, slightly injuring six officers, a police spokesman said. The four people were charged with a variety of crimes including inciting a riot.
Tension was rising in Washington as well, where the National Park Service has said it will bar Occupy protesters in the nation's capital from camping in two parks near the White House where they have been living since October.
That order, if carried out as promised on Monday, could be a blow to one of the highest-profile chapters of the movement.
(Additional reporting by Barbara Goldberg in New York and Kim Dixon and Rachelle Younglai in Washington; Editing by Greg McCune and Corrie MacLaggan)
TAMPA, Fla. ? Greg Schiano relishes the challenge of trying to turn around the struggling Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The 45-year-old Schiano was formally introduced Friday as the ninth coach in franchise history, inheriting a team that allowed the most points in the NFL this season.
"We're beginning a new chapter for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers," Bucs co-chairman Joel Glazer said, adding that they're very excited for that new chapter to begin."
Glazer said Schiano "has a vision for what he wants to do."
Schiano transformed Rutgers from a struggling college football program into a Big East contender during an 11-year run with the Scarlet Knights. The Bucs are banking on him to have the same kind of impact in Tampa Bay, which has not won a playoff game since winning the Super Bowl following the 2002 season.
"There's been several opportunities to go to places that were quote, unquote bigger names or bigger programs.," Schiano said. "And at times I listened. But when I tried to put myself there, it just didn't feel good.
"As I went through this process, and pictured myself being the coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, I only felt one feeling that was negative and that was sadness of leaving my players (at Rutgers). Other than that it was tremendous excitement. That's how I knew this was the one."
Schiano replaces Raheem Morris who went 17-31 in three seasons. The Bucs were 4-12 in 2011, missing the postseason for the fourth straight year.
The Morris era ended with a 10-game losing streak, during which a porous defense allowed 31 of more points in seven of the team's last eight games and the offense sputtered, in part because of the inconsistent play of Josh Freeman, who threw took a step back in his development while throwing a career-high 22 interceptions.
Schiano was one of at least 10 candidates the Glazer family interviewed during a 24-day search. Oregon coach Chip Kelly turned down the job earlier this week, leaving Schiano, former Green Bay Packers and Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman and Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski as finalists for the Tampa Bay opening.
In addition to getting Freeman back on track, Schiano faces the challenge of improving a defense that yielded a franchise-record 494 points while also ranking near the bottom of the NFL in sacks and yards allowed.
The Bucs used first- and second-round selections in each of the past two drafts to rebuild the defense line, yet still have not been able to generate a consistent pass rush.
Schiano an assistant coach in the NFL with Chicago and was the University of Miami's defensive coordinator before moving to Rutgers.
"Our team will be built around a humble, unselfish, attitude and sacrifice. It's hard to find that in today's world," Schiano said. "But that's who we'll be."
LOS ANGELES ? Demi Moore smoked something before she was rushed to the hospital on Monday night and was convulsing and "semi-conscious, barely," according to a caller on a frantic 911 recording released Friday by Los Angeles fire officials.
The woman tells emergency operators that Moore, 49, had been "having issues lately."
"Is she breathing normal?" the operator asks.
"No, not so normal. More kind of shaking, convulsing, burning up," the friend says as she hurries to Moore's side, on the edge of panic.
The recording captures the 10 minutes it took paramedics to arrive as friends gather around the collapsed star and try to comfort her as she trembles and shakes.
Another woman is next to Moore as the dispatcher asks if she's responsive.
"Demi, can you hear me?" she asks. "Yes, she's squeezing hands. ... She can't speak."
When the operator asks what Moore ingested or smoked, the friend replies, but the answer was redacted.
"Some form of ... and then she smoked something. I didn't really see. She's been having some issues lately with some other stuff. So I don't know what she's been taking or not," the friend says.
The city attorney's office advised the fire department to redact details about medical conditions and substances to comply with federal medical privacy rules.
"She smoked something. It's not marijuana. It's similar to incense," the friend says to the 911 operator.
While Moore's friends don't say exactly what she smoked, an increasingly popular drug known as Spice is sometimes labeled as "herbal incense."
Spice is a synthetic cannabis drug and also called K2. It's sold in small packets over the Internet, in smoke shops and at convenience stores. The packaging sometimes reads "not for human consumption" to conceal its purpose.
In 2011, there were twice as many spice-related calls to Poison Control Centers nationwide as in the previous year, according to the National Office of Drug Control Policy.
The adverse health effects associated with synthetic marijuana include anxiety, vomiting, racing heartbeat, seizures, hallucinations, and paranoid behavior.
Asked if Moore took the substance intentionally or not, the woman says Moore ingested it on purpose but the reaction was accidental.
"Whatever she took, make sure you have it out for the paramedics," the operator says.
The operator asks the friend if this has happened before.
"I don't know," she says. "There's been some stuff recently that we're all just finding out."
Moore's publicist, Carrie Gordon, said previously that the actress sought professional help to treat her exhaustion and improve her health. She would not comment further on the emergency call or provide details about the nature or location of Moore's treatment.
The past few months have been rocky for Moore.
She released a statement in November announcing she had decided to end her marriage to fellow actor Ashton Kutcher, 33, following news of alleged infidelity. The two were known to publicly share their affection for one another via Twitter.
Moore still has a Twitter account under the name mrskutcher but has not posted any messages since Jan. 7.
Meanwhile, Millennium Films announced Friday that Sarah Jessica Parker will replace Moore in the role of feminist Gloria Steinem in its production of "Lovelace," a biopic about the late porn star Linda Lovelace. A statement gave no reason for the change. The production, starring Amanda Seyfried, has been shooting in Los Angeles since Dec. 20.
During the call, the woman caller says the group of friends had turned Moore's head to the side and was holding her down. The dispatcher tells her not to hold her down but to wipe her mouth and nose and watch her closely until paramedics arrive.
"Make sure that we keep an airway open," the dispatcher says. "Even if she passes out completely, that's OK. Stay right with her."
The phone is passed around by four people, including a woman who gives directions to the gate and another who recounts details about what Moore smoked or ingested. Finally, the phone is given to a man named James, so one of the women can hold Moore's head.
There was some confusion at the beginning of the call. The emergency response was delayed by nearly two minutes as Los Angeles and Beverly Hills dispatchers sorted out which city had jurisdiction over the street where Moore lives.
As the call is transferred to Beverly Hills, the frantic woman at Moore's house raises her voice and said, "Why is an ambulance not on its way right now?"
"Ma'am, instead of arguing with me why an ambulance is not on the way, can you spell (the street name) for me?" the Beverly Hills dispatcher says.
Although the estate is located in the 90210 ZIP code above Benedict Canyon, the response was eventually handled by the Los Angeles Fire Department.
By the end of the call, Moore has improved.
"She seems to have calmed down now. She's speaking," the male caller told the operator.
Moore and Kutcher were wed in September 2005.
Kutcher became a stepfather to Moore's three daughters ? Rumer, Scout and Tallulah Belle ? from her 13-year marriage to actor Bruce Willis. Moore and Willis divorced in 2000 but remained friendly.
Moore and Kutcher created the DNA Foundation, also known as the Demi and Ashton Foundation, in 2010 to combat the organized sexual exploitation of girls around the globe. They later lent their support to the United Nations' efforts to fight human trafficking, a scourge the international organization estimates affects about 2.5 million people worldwide.
Moore can be seen on screen in the recent films "Margin Call" and "Another Happy Day." Kutcher replaced Charlie Sheen on TV's "Two and a Half Men" and is part of the ensemble film "New Year's Eve."
New York ? Tehran threatens to block the world's busiest oil-shipping route. What would happen if the strait were closed?
Why is the Strait of Hormuz so important? A narrow strip of water separating Iran from Oman, the strait is the major maritime link between the oil-rich Persian Gulf region and the rest of the world. Tankers carry 17 million barrels of oil, about a fifth of the world's supply, through the channel every day. Five of the planet's biggest oil producers ? Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates ? rely on the waterway to ship almost all of their energy exports. The waterway is now at the center of the West's increasingly tense standoff with Iran, which in recent weeks has warned that it would shut the shipping artery if the U.S. or Europe tightened economic sanctions in response to its nuclear program. Iran's top naval commander, Habibollah Sayyari, said closing the strait would be "easier than drinking a glass of water." The Obama administration has publicly dismissed the threat as "saber rattling," but sent word to Tehran through back channels that closing the strait would cross "a red line" and provoke an American military response.
Could Iran actually shut down the strait? "The simple answer is yes, they can block it," said Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Over the past two decades, Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard has stockpiled at least 2,000 naval mines. Those garbage-can-size explosives could be slipped into the water by midget submarines and civilian dhows and other fishing vessels. Although the waterway is 21 miles wide, Iran could make the strait a no-go zone for big vessels by laying mines across the deep, central passage that holds the inbound and outbound shipping lanes, which are each only two miles wide. That operation could be completed in a matter of hours. "All the Iranians have to do is say they mined the strait and all tanker traffic would cease immediately," said Jon Rosamond, editor of the journal Jane's Navy International.
SEE MORE: 6 so-called vices banned by Iran's morality police
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Has Iran ever acted on its threats? Iran last tried to sabotage shipping during its decade-long conflict with Saddam Hussein's Iraq. When Iraq began attacking Iranian tankers in 1984, Iran responded by targeting vessels headed to and from Gulf ports, and laying mines in shipping lanes. The frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts almost sank after it hit an Iranian mine in 1988, leading President Reagan to order retaliatory strikes. In a single day, the U.S. Navy destroyed two Iranian oil platforms, a frigate, a gunboat, and three speedboats. Today, Iran's navy is a more formidable enemy. Not only does it have an arsenal of mines 10 times more powerful than those used in the 1980s, but it now boasts "hundreds of advanced cruise missiles and possibly more than 1,000 small, fast attack craft," U.S. Navy Cmdr. Daniel Dolan wrote in a 2010 report.
How would oil prices react? They'd skyrocket. Energy analysts warn that even a partial blockage of the strait could send the price of a barrel of oil soaring to $150, up from about $100 today. Gas prices in the U.S. would quickly rise above $4.50 a gallon, and imperil the global economic recovery. But the Islamic Republic itself would likely pay the highest price for closing the strait. The Iranian government generates 65 percent of its revenues from oil exports, almost all of which pass through the waterway. Shutting off that cash stream would devastate Iran's economy, which is already reeling from international sanctions and mismanagement. By delivering on their threat, said Dennis Ross, a former White House adviser on the Mideast, the Iranians "would basically be taking a vow of poverty."
SEE MORE: Are sanctions starting to 'bite' Iran?
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What could the U.S. do to reopen the strait? It can't just send in minesweepers. Any warship entering the narrow waterway could be easily surrounded by swarms of missile-armed Iranian speedboats, and targeted by anti-ship cruise missiles hidden on Iran's coastline, islands, and oil platforms. So the U.S. would likely begin any mine-clearing mission by launching aerial attacks on Iran's naval bases and missile silos. Since that would essentially put the two nations in a state of war, the U.S. would probably go further and embark on a broader offensive against the Islamic Republic. "You'd almost certainly also see serious strikes on their nuclear facilities," said Anthony Cordesman, a defense expert at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Once the Iranians have initiated hostilities, there is no set level at which you have to stop escalation."
So will Iran really close the strait? Probably not. Most analysts think Iran will find less dangerous ways to dissuade the West from approving new sanctions. If they wanted to disrupt shipping, they could temporarily shut part of the strait for military exercises, or launch one-off hit-and-run attacks they could then blame on pirates. But Iran's calculation would change if the U.S. or Israel launched a bombing attack on its nuclear facilities. Then a Hormuz shutdown "would happen pretty much automatically," said Henry Smith of London-based security consultancy Control Risks. "The Iranians have been saying for a long time that is an option, and they would have little choice but to stick to that."
SEE MORE: Bomb-detecting dolphins: The Navy's secret weapon against Iran?
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Sending in the dolphins If Iran shuts the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. will likely deploy its best mine detector: Flipper. The Navy has an 80-strong squad of bottle-nosed dolphins, some of which have been trained to find mines and mark their location by dropping an acoustic transponder. Navy divers are then sent in to destroy the explosives. The dolphins' incredible natural sonar makes them perfect minesweepers: They can distinguish between a nickel and a dime at 100 yards, and among brass, aluminum, and stainless steel ? even when the metal is buried under two feet of mud. "They are astounding in their ability to detect underwater objects," said retired Adm. Tim Keating. Those skills have undoubtedly saved the lives of U.S. military personnel. During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, nine Navy dolphins helped clear more than 100 mines and underwater booby traps placed by Saddam Hussein's forces.
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Researchers in Japan have now discovered that the arachnids accurately sense distances by comparing a blurry version of an image with a clear one, a method called image defocus.
Jumping spiders, which hunt by pouncing on their prey, gauge distances to their unsuspecting meals in a way that appears to be unique in the animal kingdom, a new study finds.
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The superability boils down to seeing green, the researchers found.
There are several different visual systems that organisms use to accurately and reliably judge distance and depth. Humans, for example, have binocular stereovision. Because?our eyes?are spaced apart, they receive visual information from different angles, which our brains use to automatically triangulate distances. Other animals, such as insects, adjust the focal length of the lenses in their eyes, or move their heads side to side to create an effect called motion parallax ? nearer objects will move across their field of vision more quickly than objects farther away.
However,?jumping spiders?(Hasarius adansoni) lack any kind of focal adjustment system, have eyes that are too close together for binocular stereovision and don?t appear to use motion parallax while hunting. So how are these creatures able to perceive depth?
Researchers in Japan have now discovered that the arachnids accurately sense distances by comparing a blurry version of an image with a clear one, a method called image defocus.
Jumping spiders have four eyes densely packed in a row: two large principal eyes and two small lateral eyes. The spider uses its lateral eyes to sense the motion of an object, such as a fly, which it then zeros in on using its principal eyes, Akihisa Terakita, a biologist at Osaka City University in Japan and lead author of the new study, explained in an email to LiveScience.
Rather than having a single layer of?photoreceptor cells, the retinas in the spider?s principal eyes have four distinct photoreceptor layers. When Terakita and his colleagues took a close look at the spider's principal eyes, they found that the two layers closest to the surface contain ultraviolet-sensitive pigments, whereas the deeper layers contain green-sensitive pigments.
However, because of the layers' respective distances from the lens of the eye, incoming green light is only focused on the deepest layer, while the other green-sensitive retinal layer receives defocused or fuzzy images. The researchers hypothesized that the spiders gauge depth cues from the amount of defocus in this fuzzy layer, which is proportional to the distance an object is to the lens of the eye.
To test this, they placed a spider and three to six?fruit flies?in a cylindrical plastic chamber, housed in a white styrene foam box. They then bathed the bugs in different colored lights: If the defocus of green light is important to the spiders, then they should not be able to accurately judge jumping distance in the absence of green light.
Sure enough, the spiders could easily catch the flies under green light, but consistently underestimated their jumps under red light (which doesn't contain shorter-wavelength light, such as green and blue). The researchers suggest that green light is just right to produce the image defocus necessary to gauge distances, unlike other wavelengths of light.
The team doesn?t know if any other animals employ similar depth-perception techniques, though they think the findings could have important implications for the future design of?visual systems in robots.
"Further investigation of the optics, retinal structure and neural basis of depth perception in jumping spiders may provide biological inspiration for computer vision as well," they write in their study, published in the Jan. 27 issue of the journal Science.
TD;TR: Converting games to HTML5 is hurting the cause. We need more games written in web technologies.
OK, I might be a bit late to the party but the latest ?web version? of Angry Birds, ?subtly? advertising this time not itself but Wonderful Pistachios was the talk of the day on some of my mailing lists.
The main thing was that it requires Chrome to run. This is nothing new, but I really enjoyed the ingenious way of testing for Chrome in the first place:
if(Modernizr.testProp('-webkit-box-shadow')){
So the CSS box shadow (which will soon be deprecated with the vendor prefix in Chrome) is the main identifier. Not bad. So let?s hack around the detection with:
var l = document.createElement('link');l.rel='stylesheet'; l.href='http://wac.5DC0.edgecastcdn.net/805DC0/site/static/css/style.css'; document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(l); GetCrackin.init();
Which leads us to a JSP file that detects on the server side and writes out a lot of inline webkit only code OK, never mind.
I am less annoyed that this is Chrome only. It was never claimed that this game runs everywhere (other than the Angry Birds released on Google IO). I am more annoyed about the bad performance the game has in Chrome and Safari on this Macbook Air. And I know the reason for this: conversion instead of dedicated development.
A look back in time ? games on Commodore 64
As I have mentioned before, I used to work on some games on Commodore 64. In its heyday there was no way to have a game without writing it by hand ? in assembly language and knowing what all the chips do. Perusing the memory map and the ROM allocations was part of the game of writing one.
When computers got more ubiquitous and better in terms of sound and graphics a lot of companies started building games on the other machines first ? Amiga mostly. And to make extra money and sell even more copies, they also made C64 versions as conversions afterwards. These were most of the time shoddy at best and weren?t tested much. The C64 was the machine that is not where the money was made ? the new hardware was the one to support.
The thing that got lost ? and later on even more so ? was the tinkering with the hardware and finding tricks to work around limitations. Out of the box the C64 had 8 sprites and a resolution of 160?200 pixels in 16 colours or 320?200 in 2 colours per 8?8 pixels. Using interrupts (executing code whilst the screen was painted by the TV or monitor) people came up with multiplexers that allowed for hundreds of sprites. With overlaying techniques we produced 256 colors at a interlaced 640 pixel resolution and so on.
A few of those tricks made it into the conversion tools from the ?higher? computers to C64 code, but most were deemed too costly and time consuming and didn?t make sense to do any longer.
HTML5 gaming without the web stack?
This is happening now with ?HTML5? games, too. Angry Birds is done with Google Web Toolkit, converted from Java I presume. It is made to work quickly and not show off what a web game can do, but instead how easy it can be to convert a game from Java to the ?web?. And when that fails to bring the results it should, then we limit the web to one browser. And even fail at that as Angry Birds ? in this case created to promote Chrome as a HTML5/games platform ? doesn?t work on my Chrome book ? the hardware dedicated to the browser.
Seeing this makes me frustrated, and it causes a lot of sniggering up to outright laughter from the Flash community. And they have all the right to. Flash games perform well, and showed that they can be easily changed and rebranded and extended when you build them the right way.
The HTML5 game engine vanishing act
Of course there are great minds on the case already and a lot of people build great demos and JavaScript frameworks to build HTML5 games in the technology rather than converting to it. The interesting thing about that is that every games engine released open source very quickly gets bought and un-opensourced and then vanishes from sight. The optimist in me thinks that this means there is great stuff afoot. The cynic in me sees the talent behind and the engines rotting away in a corporate environment as they were seen as a threat instead of an opportunity.
What HTML5 gaming needs to impress
I would love to see more real web games. Built in open technologies, with source available (or not, this is a nice to have) and really using the web. A web version of Angry Birds to me wouldn?t have a very long loader and ask me to sign in to Google to use it. It would be snappy and load the levels on demand, storing the ones I played and the next one locally in my browser while I am playing the current one. It would also allow me to build my own levels and share them on Twitter to see if I can build awesome stuff in the game that other people enjoy. All of this would be a total pain to make work on a mobile and a 3G connection, but is very much fine in a browser on a laptop with a good connection.
In other words, HTML5 games should be fit for the environment and use it to its strengths.
What about WebGL?
WebGL is an awesome opportunity for game developers to get into web gaming without needing to learn a new skillset. It is pretty obvious that an openGL developer could take it up much easier than a web developer would. Right now, WebGL is great for demos, but we have the issue of hardware access. If the biggest sound of the game is the fan of your processor and video card then this diminishes the experience. I for one never started gaming on PC as every new game coming out told me I need to buy new hardware in order to play it. This is not what I could afford. And this is not what we should force onto people on the web. A web app saying I need a certain browser or that my video card is not good enough to use it is not much better than the old ?best viewed in IE4 with 800?600 pixels?.
We should think less World Of Warcraft and more Doodle Jump when it comes to HTML5 gaming.
Maybe I am a dreamer, and this is so not how the games market works. That is fine, though. A new market could emerge that takes the best of offline gaming and online experiences. But, we need to make that happen.
DAVOS, Switzerland ? The founder of Wikipedia has hailed the online encyclopedia's role in helping halt U.S. legislation aimed at cracking down on Internet piracy.
Jimmy Wales told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday that the idea to black out Wikipedia's English pages for 24 hours came from the site's volunteer editors, who voted overwhelmingly in favor of the move.
Wales says the two bills that Congress postponed indefinitely last week were "very badly designed, technologically incompetent, and just something that we felt needed to be stopped."
Wikipedia was among a number of sites that argued the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act would hurt technological innovation and infringe on free-speech rights.
RAMALLAH, West Bank ? Israel is proposing to essentially turn its West Bank separation barrier into the border with a future state of Palestine, two Palestinian officials said Friday, based on their interpretation of principles Israel presented in talks this week.
The officials said Israeli envoy Yitzak Molcho told his Palestinian counterpart that Israel wants to keep east Jerusalem and consolidate Jewish settlements behind the separation barrier, which slices close to 10 percent off the West Bank. They spoke on condition of anonymity, citing strict no-leaks rules by Jordanian mediators.
The proposal would fall short of what the Palestinians seem likely to accept, especially because it would leave Jerusalem on the "Israeli" side of the border.
But it would also mark a significant step for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has spent most of his career as a staunch opponent of Palestinian independence.
And if talks advance in such a direction, it could also spell the end for his nationalist coalition, where key members would consider the abandonment of most of the West Bank ? a strategic highland and biblical heartland ? an unforgivable betrayal.
Israel has confirmed that it presented principles this week for drawing a border with a Palestinian state. But the politically charged nature of the talks ? even though they were held at a relatively low level, below that of Cabinet ministers ? was reflected in the guarded refusal by any top official to discuss details.
An Israeli government official said that as far as he knew, the information was incorrect, but declined to elaborate or go on the record, citing Jordan's demand for discretion.
Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor, one of the closest Cabinet ministers to Netanyahu, said he has been supporting such an offer for months, and that Israel should concentrate on preserving the large West Bank settlement blocs, close to the pre-1967 border. But he could not confirm whether the offer was in fact made.
"I do not know if (Molcho) said these words exactly, but it would be great," Meridor told The Associated Press.
The Palestinian officials ? one a senior member of the leadership ? said Molcho told the Palestinians that Israel wants to leave peacefully beside a Palestinian state.
It would be the most detailed offer yet from Netanyahu on how much he wants to keep of the lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War ? the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem.
The Palestinians want to establish their state in virtually all of these lands ? although they do seem ready to accept minor adjustments, through land swaps in which Israel keeps some of the largest settlements.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is certainly unlikely to consider a proposal that keeps east Jerusalem under Israeli control. The eastern sector of the city is home to key Jewish, Muslim and Christian sites.
And Israel's position, as described by the Palestinians, is less than what was offered by Netanyahu's predecessors, Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert, who were willing to discuss a partition of Jerusalem as well.
About half a million Israelis settled in east Jerusalem and the West Bank after 1967, including tens of thousands east of the barrier.
Israel started building the barrier in 2002, in the midst of a Palestinian uprising that included scores of deadly attacks by Palestinian militants who crossed from the West Bank into Israel and blew themselves up among civilians.
Israelis have generally credited the barrier ? along with other punitive measures ? with stopping the spate of incursions several years ago.
However, it was routed in a way that raised questions about Israel's claim that it was a temporary security measure ? weaving through the West Bank, looping wide around some settlements to leave room for expansion, and looking very much like a border a future Israeli government might argue for. The Palestinians condemned it from the start as a land grab.
The Palestinian officials also said that Molcho portrayed the Jordan Valley, which makes up about one-fourth of the West Bank and borders Jordan, as a strategic Israeli security asset. However, that wording suggests less than a demand for firm territorial control.
Netanyahu has said he wants a continued Israeli presence on the eastern border of a future Palestinian state as part of any peace deal.
Netanyahu has long argued Israel needs the area as a security buffer ? protection against possible attack from the east.
The 1994 peace treaty with Jordan eased this concern ? but the Arab Spring has given it new life: although it is almost never discussed by officials, mindful of riling Jordan, many in Israel ponder a nightmare scenario in which the Jordanian monarchy falls to Israel's enemies, who then pour weapons and militants into the West Bank, reaching within miles (kilometers) from its major cities.
A senior Israeli military official said last week the Israeli army had to consider in its planning the possibility of heightened threats from east of the West Bank.
Israeli officials have said any presence in the Jordan Valley could be reviewed over time.
Abbas, meanwhile, is under growing pressure from the Quartet of Mideast mediators ? the U.S., the U.N., the EU and Russia ? to continue the talks with Israel, which began earlier this month. The Quartet had asked the sides to present detailed proposals on borders and security arrangements.
The Palestinians argue that the period set aside for the contacts ended Thursday, or three months after the Quartet issued its marching orders. Israel says the intention was to have three months of talks, and so wants meetings to continue.
Abbas will consult Monday with senior officials from the Palestine Liberation Organization and his Fatah movement. Later next week, he will also seek advice from the Arab League.
The Orland High boys soccer team controlled Harrison Stadium with ease in Thursday's win against Las Plumas, 8-0. Alberto Munoz, Ramon Aceves and Aldrick Rosas all scored two goals apiece for the Trojans (15-1-1, 9-0 Butte View League).
Devin James and Jose Parra completed the scoring with one goal each. Angel Melgarejo and Mauricio Ziranda brought in two assists each, and goalie Arturo Ornelas recorded his ninth shutout this season. Daniel Pena contributed strong defense to the shutout effort.
Hamilton 6, Mercy 3
Rigoberto Sanchez delivered three goals for the Braves (8-2-1, 4-1-1 Sacramento Valley League) against the visiting Warriors. Louis Garcia scored twice.
Willows 4, Pierce 2
Salvador Gonzalez buried three goals and assisted on another, leading the Honkers (13-1-2, 5-0-1 Sacramento Valley League 1) to a home league victory over the Bears.
David Gonzalez had a goal and an assist and Fernando Cervantes set up two of Salvador Gonzalez's strikes for Willows, which also got eight saves from Jose Barajas.
Oroville 2, Gridley 1
Aaron Bundy won the game by scoring both goals for the Tigers (5-7-1, 4-5 Butte View League). Goalie Cody Borene made seven saves.
PREP GIRLS SOCCER
Gridley 1, Oroville 0
The Bulldogs won at home on Meranda Torres' first-half goal, which was assisted by Wendy Palafox. Goalie Sonia Janda had five saves in the shutout for Gridley (5-9-1, 3-6 Butte View League). Valerie Cagnacci made six shots on the goal for
the Tigers (2-7-3, 2-6-1 BVL) but couldn't connect.
Orland 3, Las Plumas 0
Karla Valverde, Angelica Moralez and Yaneth Munoz scored a goal apiece for the Trojans (12-4-2, 7-1-1 Butte View League). The game was the seventh shutout for goalie Esme Esquivel.
PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL
Willows 55, Pierce 31
Ally Brunner's 20 points led the game for the Honkers (11-7, 4-1 Sacramento Valley League). She also pulled down 15 rebounds. Colleen Tade scored eight points while getting 12 rebounds, four blocks, two steals and two assists.
Oroville 47, Lassen 41
The Tigers (10-9, 2-5 Eastern Athletic League South ) were led by Britteny Jenkens, who scored 16 points.
Stay up-to-date with local sports coverage from the E-R sports staff, and share your thoughts too: Visit the Chico E-R Sports Facebook fan page.
The rising death rate in Japan has lengthened the average wait for cremation to roughly four days. That's a long 96 hours to let you lay there and ripen. So what do you do after shuffling off this mortal coil? You get yourself to a corpse hotel, obviously. More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? U.S. securities regulators charged a Latvian trader with reaping more than $850,000 in illegal profits by hacking into online brokerage accounts and manipulating more than 100 securities.
In a complaint filed in federal court in San Francisco on Thursday, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Igors Nagaicevs broke into accounts at large U.S. brokerages and drove up stock prices by making unauthorized purchases and sales.
Separately, the SEC also took administrative enforcement action on Thursday against four electronic trading firms and eight executives, saying they all enabled Nagaicevs's scheme by giving him "anonymous and unfiltered access" to the U.S. market.
Two individuals and one firm have agreed to settle the matter, the agency said.
(Reporting By Sarah N. Lynch; editing by John Wallace)
Tracking the birth of an evolutionary arms race between HIV-like viruses and primate genomesPublic release date: 26-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kristen Woodward kwoodwar@fhcrc.org 206-667-5095 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
SEATTLE Using a combination of evolutionary biology and virology, scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have traced the birth of the ability of some HIV-related viruses to defeat a newly discovered cellular-defense system in primates.
The research, led by Michael Emerman, Ph.D., a member of the Hutchinson Center's Human Biology and Basic Sciences Division, and Harmit Malik, Ph.D., a member of the Center's Basic Sciences Division, was published online Jan. 26 ahead of the Feb. 16 print issue of Cell Host & Microbe.
The work, which also involved researchers in the Hutchinson Center's Computational Biology Program, hinges on the recently discovered cellular-defense protein called SAMHD1, which protects some key cells of the immune system from infection by HIV-1. The protein likely accomplishes this by reducing the available nucleotides, or DNA building blocks, the virus needs for replicating. In response, some viruses related to HIV-1, such as HIV-2 and some simian immunodeficiency viruses that infect other primates, produce a protein called Vpx that binds to SAMHD1 and targets it for destruction.
HIV-1, however, does not encode Vpx, but it does encode a related protein called Vpr. Emerman and colleagues tried to address the question of whether HIV-1 lost the ability to degrade SAMHD1 or whether this ability was gained only in the minority of lentiviruses that encode a Vpx protein.
To distinguish between these possibilities, the researchers tested both Vpx as well as the related Vpr proteins from a panel representing all currently known primate lentiviruses for their ability to bind and degrade SAMHD1. When the phylogenetic history, or evolutionary relatedness, between these two viral proteins was mapped on top of their functions, the researchers found that SAMHD1-degrading ability was acquired first by the Vpr protein before the Vpx protein was even "born."
This new function occurred only once, in a single evolutionary lineage representing three of eight currently known primate lentivirus types. "This means that the ability of lentiviruses to degrade primate SAMHD1 is a newly acquired trait," Emerman said. "However, HIV-1 does not have the capacity to degrade SAMHD1 because its Vpr gene derived from a lineage of viruses in primates that never evolved to gain this function."
The researchers also found that Vpr/Vpx proteins have highly species-specific abilities to degrade primate SAMHD1. Thus, while a lentivirus can degrade SAMHD1 within a single primate species, it cannot bind and degrade the SAMHD1 protein from a more distantly related species. The specificity of the virus for its particular host and the fact that SAMHD1 degradation was an evolutionary novelty among lentiviruses suggests that SAMHD1 from some primates is locked in an "evolutionary arms race" with Vpx/Vpr proteins.
Such genetic tugs of war exemplify what is known among evolutionary biologists as the Red Queen Principle, a phrase borrowed from the Red Queen in Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass" that refers to the paradox of running as fast as you can just to stay in place. "Red Queen conflicts" typically put pressure on both sparring partners to continually evolve new ways to outsmart and overcome each other just to stay in the game. In this case, the host proteins evolve to evade degradation by the newly evolved viral proteins.
To assess molecular signatures of these evolutionary arms races, first author Efrem Lim, a graduate student in Emerman's lab, compared the evolutionary rates of SAMHD1 across primate evolution. He found that prior to 23 million years ago, there was very little evidence for rapid evolution of SAMHD1. In contrast, SAMHD1 proteins in Old World monkeys that harbor Vpr/Vpx-containing lentiviruses have evolved rapidly for millions of years.
"We have not only recreated the birth of SAMHD1-degrading activity in these viruses but also have captured the immediate evolutionary consequence on the host genes they antagonize," said Malik, an evolutionary geneticist. "While such arms races between viruses and host genomes have been documented previously, this is the first instance where the beginning of the Darwinian arms race has been captured in both viral and primate genomes."
Emerman, a virologist, speculates the research may have direct implications for HIV-1 and AIDS. "It is possible that HIV-1 is so pathogenic because it needs to grow rapidly in order to compensate for the lack of the ability to deal with SAMHD1," he said.
###
The National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute supported the research.
At Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, our interdisciplinary teams of world-renowned scientists and humanitarians work together to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer, HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Our researchers, including three Nobel laureates, bring a relentless pursuit and passion for health, knowledge and hope to their work and to the world. For more information, please visit www.fhcrc.org.
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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.
Tracking the birth of an evolutionary arms race between HIV-like viruses and primate genomesPublic release date: 26-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kristen Woodward kwoodwar@fhcrc.org 206-667-5095 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
SEATTLE Using a combination of evolutionary biology and virology, scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have traced the birth of the ability of some HIV-related viruses to defeat a newly discovered cellular-defense system in primates.
The research, led by Michael Emerman, Ph.D., a member of the Hutchinson Center's Human Biology and Basic Sciences Division, and Harmit Malik, Ph.D., a member of the Center's Basic Sciences Division, was published online Jan. 26 ahead of the Feb. 16 print issue of Cell Host & Microbe.
The work, which also involved researchers in the Hutchinson Center's Computational Biology Program, hinges on the recently discovered cellular-defense protein called SAMHD1, which protects some key cells of the immune system from infection by HIV-1. The protein likely accomplishes this by reducing the available nucleotides, or DNA building blocks, the virus needs for replicating. In response, some viruses related to HIV-1, such as HIV-2 and some simian immunodeficiency viruses that infect other primates, produce a protein called Vpx that binds to SAMHD1 and targets it for destruction.
HIV-1, however, does not encode Vpx, but it does encode a related protein called Vpr. Emerman and colleagues tried to address the question of whether HIV-1 lost the ability to degrade SAMHD1 or whether this ability was gained only in the minority of lentiviruses that encode a Vpx protein.
To distinguish between these possibilities, the researchers tested both Vpx as well as the related Vpr proteins from a panel representing all currently known primate lentiviruses for their ability to bind and degrade SAMHD1. When the phylogenetic history, or evolutionary relatedness, between these two viral proteins was mapped on top of their functions, the researchers found that SAMHD1-degrading ability was acquired first by the Vpr protein before the Vpx protein was even "born."
This new function occurred only once, in a single evolutionary lineage representing three of eight currently known primate lentivirus types. "This means that the ability of lentiviruses to degrade primate SAMHD1 is a newly acquired trait," Emerman said. "However, HIV-1 does not have the capacity to degrade SAMHD1 because its Vpr gene derived from a lineage of viruses in primates that never evolved to gain this function."
The researchers also found that Vpr/Vpx proteins have highly species-specific abilities to degrade primate SAMHD1. Thus, while a lentivirus can degrade SAMHD1 within a single primate species, it cannot bind and degrade the SAMHD1 protein from a more distantly related species. The specificity of the virus for its particular host and the fact that SAMHD1 degradation was an evolutionary novelty among lentiviruses suggests that SAMHD1 from some primates is locked in an "evolutionary arms race" with Vpx/Vpr proteins.
Such genetic tugs of war exemplify what is known among evolutionary biologists as the Red Queen Principle, a phrase borrowed from the Red Queen in Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass" that refers to the paradox of running as fast as you can just to stay in place. "Red Queen conflicts" typically put pressure on both sparring partners to continually evolve new ways to outsmart and overcome each other just to stay in the game. In this case, the host proteins evolve to evade degradation by the newly evolved viral proteins.
To assess molecular signatures of these evolutionary arms races, first author Efrem Lim, a graduate student in Emerman's lab, compared the evolutionary rates of SAMHD1 across primate evolution. He found that prior to 23 million years ago, there was very little evidence for rapid evolution of SAMHD1. In contrast, SAMHD1 proteins in Old World monkeys that harbor Vpr/Vpx-containing lentiviruses have evolved rapidly for millions of years.
"We have not only recreated the birth of SAMHD1-degrading activity in these viruses but also have captured the immediate evolutionary consequence on the host genes they antagonize," said Malik, an evolutionary geneticist. "While such arms races between viruses and host genomes have been documented previously, this is the first instance where the beginning of the Darwinian arms race has been captured in both viral and primate genomes."
Emerman, a virologist, speculates the research may have direct implications for HIV-1 and AIDS. "It is possible that HIV-1 is so pathogenic because it needs to grow rapidly in order to compensate for the lack of the ability to deal with SAMHD1," he said.
###
The National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute supported the research.
At Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, our interdisciplinary teams of world-renowned scientists and humanitarians work together to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer, HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Our researchers, including three Nobel laureates, bring a relentless pursuit and passion for health, knowledge and hope to their work and to the world. For more information, please visit www.fhcrc.org.
[ | 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.
While Tilera's forthcoming 100-core processors threaten to set off fire alarms around the world, the company has finally brought out its more sensible 36-core variant. The 1.2GHz Tile-GX36 sips just 24 watts and is designed to be especially handy with short and sharp jobs like processing internet transactions. It's a reduced instruction set (RISC) chip, so it's less power hungry and cheaper than Intel's x86 silicon. It also sports 64-bit architecture, whereas rival ARM is set to remain 32-bit until 2014. Then again, with Tilera lagging behind in terms of brand recognition and software support, a two-year head start might not be long enough.
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CHICAGO -- In a bout to decide the next light heavyweight title contender, Rashad Evans controlled Phil Davis on his way to a unanimous decision at the United Center on Saturday night. The judges saw it 50-45 on all three cards for Evans.
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Public release date: 26-Jan-2012
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