Hands-on with the NEC Terrain: the company's first US phone in eight years

Let's face it: no rugged phone is going to get more attention today than the Galaxy S4 Active. Just the same, NEC is showing off the Terrain, its first handset for the US market since 2005. The phone, which is hitting AT&T for $99 with a two-year agreement, is mainly aimed at the enterprise (read: field technicians and other mobile workers). Since it's unlikely to reach mainstream consumers, we won't be running a full-on review, but we did take the opportunity to get hands-on. As you'd expect of a device that can be immersed in water up to 30 minutes, this thing's coated in rubber, with a sealed USB port and a secure (but removable) battery cover. It's a bit chunky for a phone, to be sure, but at 6.06 ounces it's still eminently portable. In fact, the rounded edges and soft finish make it more comfortable to hold than some of the more minimal handsets we've seen recently.

Other than that, you'll be pleased to find an unskinned version of Android, though it's 4.0 and not a newer build like 4.2. The capacitive screen responds well to taps and swipes, though the 640 x 480 resolution isn't going to knock anyone'e socks off -- and neither will the washed-out colors. Performance-wise, the dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 8960 processor means transitions happen quickly, and there isn't any tiling in the Chrome browser. We also got on well with the QWERTY keyboard, though the buttons are packed in quite tightly. And that's a good thing: it's slim pickings for anyone who wants a portrait QWERTY Android phone. Finishing up our tour, you'll find a microSD slot (to support the 8GB of built-in storage), dedicated speaker and push-to-talk buttons and dual 5MP / 0.3MP cameras, with an NFC radio under the hood. It'll be available tomorrow on AT&T's LTE network, and through the carrier's business channel, specifically. Check out the hands-on photos below -- we even got a requisite shot of it in a fish tank.

Gallery: NEC Terrain hands-on

Zach Honig contributed to this report.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/ex3DL8i2PmY/

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Samsung Galaxy NX mirrorless camera: hands-on with an Android ILC (video)

After last year's Galaxy Camera, Samsung split in two directions. It went closer to the phone with the Galaxy S 4 Zoom, shrinking the form factor (and some of the specs) for something that closer approximates a pocket-friendly device, and it got serious about interchangeable-lens cameras. This is the Galaxy NX, an ILC with LTE connectivity that's capable of capturing at 8.6 fps and contains a hybrid autofocus system made by Samsung. In fact, the company says it's behind every part of this new device, from the quad-core 1.6GHz Pega-Q processor, to the 4.8-inch LCD screen, to even the shutter mechanism. With a "DSLR-class" 20.3-megapixel APS-C CMOS image sensor we've seen on other NX cameras, new DRIMe IV image processor and ISO settings from 100 to 25,600, Samsung appears to be making a serious pitch for photographers interested in more than just an Instagram hook-up. This mirrorless shooter will be compatible with the full gamut of NX lenses, currently totaling 13. We paired the Galaxy NX with its 18-55mm OIS kit lens and tested it out for a bit. Read up on our impressions after the break.

Update: Now with a dollop of video from the Premiere event in London.

Gallery: Samsung Galaxy NX camera hands-on

Filed under: Cameras, Samsung

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

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Mars had oxygen-rich atmosphere 4,000 million years ago

June 19, 2013 ? Differences between Martian meteorites and rocks examined by a NASA rover can be explained if Mars had an oxygen-rich atmosphere 4000 million years ago -- well before the rise of atmospheric oxygen on Earth 2500m years ago.

Scientists from Oxford University investigated the compositions of Martian meteorites found on Earth and data from NASA's 'Spirit' rover that examined surface rocks in the Gusev crater on Mars. The fact that the surface rocks are five times richer in nickel than the meteorites was puzzling and had cast doubt on whether the meteorites are typical volcanic products of the red planet.

'What we have shown is that both meteorites and surface volcanic rocks are consistent with similar origins in the deep interior of Mars but that the surface rocks come from a more oxygen-rich environment, probably caused by recycling of oxygen-rich materials into the interior,' said Professor Bernard Wood, of Oxford University's Department of Earth Sciences, who led the research reported in this week's Nature.

'This result is surprising because while the meteorites are geologically 'young', around 180 million to 1400 million years old, the Spirit rover was analysing a very old part of Mars, more than 3700 million years old.'

Whilst it is possible that the geological composition of Mars varies immensely from region to region the researchers believe that it is more likely that the differences arise through a process known as subduction -- in which material is recycled into the interior. They suggest that the Martian surface was oxidised very early in the history of the planet and that, through subduction, this oxygen-rich material was drawn into the shallow interior and recycled back to the surface during eruptions 4000 million years ago. The meteorites, by contrast, are much younger volcanic rocks that emerged from deeper within the planet and so were less influenced by this process.

Professor Wood said: 'The implication is that Mars had an oxygen-rich atmosphere at a time, about 4000 million years ago, well before the rise of atmospheric oxygen on earth around 2500 million years ago. As oxidation is what gives Mars its distinctive colour it is likely that the 'red planet' was wet, warm and rusty billions of years before Earth's atmosphere became oxygen rich.'

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/zRjA9yX29rQ/130619132446.htm

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Total amount of exercise important, not frequency, research shows

Public release date: 20-Jun-2013
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Contact: Jenny Ryan
jenny.ryan@nrcresearchpress.com
Canadian Science Publishing (NRC Research Press)

A new study by Queen's University researchers has determined that adults who accumulated 150 minutes of exercise on a few days of the week were not any less healthy than adults who exercised more frequently throughout the week.

Ian Janssen and his graduate student Janine Clarke studied 2,324 adults from across Canada to determine whether the frequency of physical activity throughout the week is associated with risk factors for diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

"The findings indicate that it does not matter how adults choose to accumulate their 150 weekly minutes of physical activity," says Dr. Janssen. "For instance, someone who did not perform any physical activity on Monday to Friday but was active for 150 minutes over the weekend would obtain the same health benefits from their activity as someone who accumulated 150 minutes of activity over the week by doing 20-25 minutes of activity on a daily basis."

Physical activity was measured continuously throughout the week by having research participants wear accelerometers on their waists. Accelerometers are tiny electrical devices (about the size of a small package of matches) that record how much a person moves every minute.

Dr. Janssen divided the adults who met the physical activity guidelines (more than 150 minutes per week of aerobic activity) into those who were frequently active (active five to seven days of the week) and infrequently active (active one to four days of the week).

"The important message is that adults should aim to accumulate at least 150 minutes of weekly physical activity in whatever pattern that works for their schedule."

###

The paper was published today in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism and is available open access at http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/apnm-2013-0049#.UcMH7Jzm_Wg

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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.

Public release date: 20-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jenny Ryan
jenny.ryan@nrcresearchpress.com
Canadian Science Publishing (NRC Research Press)

A new study by Queen's University researchers has determined that adults who accumulated 150 minutes of exercise on a few days of the week were not any less healthy than adults who exercised more frequently throughout the week.

Ian Janssen and his graduate student Janine Clarke studied 2,324 adults from across Canada to determine whether the frequency of physical activity throughout the week is associated with risk factors for diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

"The findings indicate that it does not matter how adults choose to accumulate their 150 weekly minutes of physical activity," says Dr. Janssen. "For instance, someone who did not perform any physical activity on Monday to Friday but was active for 150 minutes over the weekend would obtain the same health benefits from their activity as someone who accumulated 150 minutes of activity over the week by doing 20-25 minutes of activity on a daily basis."

Physical activity was measured continuously throughout the week by having research participants wear accelerometers on their waists. Accelerometers are tiny electrical devices (about the size of a small package of matches) that record how much a person moves every minute.

Dr. Janssen divided the adults who met the physical activity guidelines (more than 150 minutes per week of aerobic activity) into those who were frequently active (active five to seven days of the week) and infrequently active (active one to four days of the week).

"The important message is that adults should aim to accumulate at least 150 minutes of weekly physical activity in whatever pattern that works for their schedule."

###

The paper was published today in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism and is available open access at http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/apnm-2013-0049#.UcMH7Jzm_Wg

---

[ | 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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/csp-tao062013.php

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Wooden beam could be detached part of shipwreck

FAIRPORT, Mich. (AP) ? A wooden beam that has long been the focus of the search for a 17th century shipwreck in northern Lake Michigan was not attached to a buried vessel as searchers had suspected, but still may have come from the elusive Griffin or some other ship, archaeologists said Wednesday.

Shipwreck hunter Steve Libert discovered a 10.5-foot section of the timber jutting from the lake bed 12 years ago in an area where he was convinced that the Griffin, commanded by the French explorer Rene Robert Cavelier de la Salle, sank in 1679. French experts who inspected the beam in recent days said it appeared to be a bowsprit ? a spur or pole that extends from a vessel's stem ? that was hundreds of years old.

Crews have been digging since last week beside the timber, where sonar readings indicated that one or more objects that together exceeded 40 feet long were submerged in mud. Libert and other expedition leaders believed they might be the hull of the Griffin, and that the excavation would find a connection between it and the presumed bowsprit.

But on Tuesday, as a diver was widening the pit, the timber began wobbling. Archaeologists and leaders of Libert's Great Lakes Exploration Group decided to take it down instead of trying to stabilize it, fearing it was a safety risk. So the diver eased it to the lake bed after checking beneath and discovering that it wasn't attached to another object, but simply had been embedded in the tightly packed sediments.

Even though no other wreckage was found, project manager Ken Vrana said there's still a chance the ship is nearby. With the timber no longer in place, crews stepped up their dredging operation in hopes of reaching a hard surface that a probing device indicated is 18 to 20 feet down. But they reported late Wednesday that they had found only bedrock, with no signs of a vessel.

"It could be that the ship is very close to this area, but it is impossible to say for sure at this point," said Michel L'Hour, director of France's Department of Underwater Archaeological Research and a shipwreck expert.

Members of the expedition team pointed to other hopeful signs: The bottom of the timber was cut at an angle suggesting it might have been fashioned to fit into another structure; and the timber's full length proved to be just over 19 feet, similar to that of bowsprits on other French vessels from La Salle's era. The upper end is tapered, and a series of fastening pegs are attached to the side.

Leaders were discussing whether to leave the timber in the lake for the present ? wrapped in protective cloth and hidden to shield it from theft, vandalism or accidental damage from contact with objects such as boat anchors ? or bring it ashore for safekeeping. Recovering it would allow further study and perhaps eventual display, but would require expensive treatment to prevent deterioration.

Michigan's state archaeologist, Dean Anderson, who has received daily phone briefings from the searchers, told The Associated Press he favored keeping the beam submerged while long-term options are considered.

"Any time you bring a water-logged item off the lake bottom, it would be a complicated and difficult process," Anderson told the AP in a phone interview. "In this case, I don't think we know what this piece is. We would need a lot more information about it before anyone would consider bringing it up. Leaving it down there is a good solution."

Anderson's office has the ultimate say because the state asserts jurisdiction over Michigan's Great Lakes bottomlands ? including shipwrecks, although officials have acknowledged that if the Griffin is found, it will belong to France.

He said he wasn't unhappy that the beam was dislodged, even though a research proposal submitted by Great Lakes Exploration Group agreed to keep it stable.

"These sorts of plans are based on the best information you have at the time," Anderson said. Removing it from the sediment didn't appear to do any damage, he added.

Libert and the state battled for years in federal court over control of the suspected Griffin site before reaching a settlement in 2010. The Department of Natural Resources, which includes the state archaeologist's office, issued an excavation permit that expires Friday.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wooden-beam-could-detached-part-shipwreck-152523203.html

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Etheridge: Jolie mastectomy 'fearful,' not 'brave'

9 hours ago

Getty Images file

Melissa Etheridge, Angelina Jolie.

Angelina Jolie's decision to get a double mastectomy after learning she had the breast cancer gene mutation has been lauded by many as courageous, empowering, and even heroic. But singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge -- a breast cancer survivor herself -- thinks it's actually the opposite of those things.

Asked about Jolie's recent New York Times op-ed, in which she revealed the news of her mastectomy and breast reconstruction, Etheridge told the Washington Blade that she wouldn't make the same decision for herself. Nor would she encourage others to do so without properly researching their options.

PHOTOS: All of Angelina's Us Weekly covers through the years

"I have to say I feel a little differently," the Grammy-winning chanteuse (who, incidentally, performed at Brad Pitt's wedding to Jennifer Aniston) said of the choice to get a preventive mastectomy. "I have that gene mutation too, and it's not something I would believe in for myself. I wouldn't call it the brave choice. I actually think it's the most fearful choice you can make when confronting anything with cancer."

"My belief is that cancer comes from inside you, and so much of it has to do with the environment of your body. It's the stress that will turn that gene on or not. Plenty of people have the gene mutation and everything, but it never comes to cancer," she continued, noting that surgical removal of one's breasts is "way down the line on the spectrum of what you can do" to lessen your risk of the disease.

PHOTOS: Stars who've had mastectomies

"I've been cancer-free for nine years now, and looking back, I completely understand why I got cancer," she added. "There was so much acidity in everything. I really encourage people to go a lot longer and further before coming to that conclusion (of a mastectomy)."

To be fair, Jolie said in her May 14 editorial that the decision to have a mastectomy was a personal one. Her main point was that women should be informed about the various options available to them.

PHOTOS: Stars who beat cancer

"I want to encourage every woman, especially if you have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, to seek out the information and medical experts who can help you through this aspect of your life, and to make your own informed choices," she wrote.

"Life comes with many challenges," she explained. "The ones that should not scare us are the ones we can take on and take control of."

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/melissa-etheridge-angelina-jolies-mastectomy-fearful-not-brave-6C10356643

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Past care tied to later treatment's success

By Andrew M. Seaman

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - If a person doesn't have much success with one pain treatment, they may say the next one they try doesn't work so great either, suggests a new study from Germany.

Previous studies have found that people receiving a dummy pill in clinical trials don't fare as well once they're switched to the real drug, compared to those who have been getting the real treatment all along, according to Dr. Ulrike Bingel, the study's lead author from the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf.

The phenomenon has also been looked at before in people trying the same treatment twice, but she said doctors typically move on to other treatments if the first one doesn't work.

For the study, published in a research letter in JAMA Internal Medicine, the researchers recruited 39 healthy people to undergo three days of testing.

Each person was outfitted with patches that heated up on their arms to create a moderate amount of pain on the first two days.

One group had an inactive cream applied to their patches, and researchers lowered the pain level to make them think the cream was working. The other group had the same cream applied to their patches but the pain level was kept the same to make them think it wasn't working.

The experiment was repeated on the third day but both groups were told that they were receiving a different treatment, and the researchers lowered the pain level in each group.

On a scale from 0 to 100 - with a higher score signifying more pain - the researchers lowered the pain of each group from 80 to 50 after applying the cream.

The group that had the successful "treatment" the day before reported their pain levels dropped from 81 to 40. The group that had a negative "treatment" the day before reported their levels dropped from 81 to 54.

Bingel told Reuters Health that the 14 point difference between the two groups would be noticeable to the average person.

What's more, images of each person's brain showed the group that had the previous negative experience felt more pain.

"This was not the patient saying, ?Well this didn't work, I'll just tell them it's not working.' We saw their brains telling them they had different levels of pain," said Ted Kaptchuk, an expert on placebo effects at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

But Kaptchuk, who was not involved with the new research, said it's hard to make any firm conclusions from a small trial.

"What it does suggest is that doctors need to know about people's previous experiences with medications," he said.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/15gth9d JAMA Internal Medicine, online June 17, 2013.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/past-care-tied-later-treatments-success-204632189.html

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'Anchorman: The Legend Continues' Trailer Breaks Down Racial Barriers

The latest trailer for "Anchorman: The Legend Continues" finally gives us a look at footage from the sequel, and just about all we can say is "Super duper!" We're also getting our first taste of the continuing story of the Channel 4 News Teams. Ron, Brick, Champ, and Brian are getting back together to form [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2013/06/19/anchorman-the-legend-continues-trailer-3/

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4 US troops killed in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON ? ?Defense officials say four U.S. troops were killed Tuesday at or near Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.

Officials say the four were killed by indirect fire, likely a mortar or rocket, but they had no other details.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to provide details on the deaths.

The attack comes as U.S. and allied forces formally handed over control of the country's security to the Afghan army and police in a ceremony in Kabul. The transition to Afghan-led security means U.S. and other foreign combat troops will not be directly carrying the fight to the insurgency, but will advise and back up the Afghan forces as needed with air support and medical evacuations.

Source: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/y-RQvZ-rRY8/

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ASUS Memo Pad HD 7 Android tablet is the New Google Nexus? Specs and What to Expect

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Source: www.ibtimes.com --- Tuesday, June 18, 2013
The release of Google Nexus 7 ushered in a new preference for computing devices: small and cheap. The market is quick to adapt and many manufacturers started producing tablets. ASUS has joined the era of producing ultrabooks and tablets. The Memo Pad HD 7 is the company’s latest attempt at penetrating the same market as Google Nexus 7. ...

Source: http://www.ibtimes.comhttp:0//www.ibtimes.co.in/articles/480395/20130619/asustek-computer-inc-asus-memo-pad-google.htm

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