NASA rover launched to see if Mars can sustain life

By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida | Sat Nov 26, 2011 1:33pm EST

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - An unmanned Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Saturday, launching a $2.5 billion nuclear-powered NASA rover toward Mars to look for life habitats there.

The 20-story-tall booster built by United Launch Alliance lifted off from its seaside launch pad at 10:02 a.m. EST (3:02 p.m. GMT), soaring through partly cloudy skies as it headed into space to send NASA's Mars Science Laboratory on a 354-million mile (556 million km), nearly nine-month journey to the 'Red Planet.'

"It has 'phoned home', and it's on the way to Mars," said NASA launch commentator George Diller, describing how tracking stations successfully picked up the traveling probe's signal after launch.

The car-sized rover nicknamed Curiosity is expected to touch down on August 6, 2012, to begin two years of detailed analysis of a 96-mile (154-km) wide impact basin near the Martian equator called Gale Crater.

The mission's goal is to determine if Mars has or ever had environments to support life. It is the first astrobiology mission to Mars since the 1970s-era Viking probes.

Scientists chose the landing site because it has a three-mile (4.8-km) high mountain of what appears from orbital imagery and mineral analysis to be layers of rock piled up like the Grand Canyon, each layer testifying to a different period in Mars' history.

The rover has 17 cameras and 10 science instruments, including chemistry labs, to identify elements in soil and rock samples to be dug up by the probe's drill-tipped robotic arm.

'LONG SHOT'

The base of the crater's mountain has clays, evidence of a prolonged wet environment, said planetary scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology and the mission's lead scientist.

Water is considered to be a key element for life, but not the only one.

Previous Mars probes, including the rovers Spirit and Opportunity, searched for signs of past surface water.

With Curiosity, which is twice as long and three times heavier than its predecessors, NASA shifts its focus to look for other ingredients for life, including possibly organic carbon, the building block for life on Earth.

"It's a long shot, but we're going to try," Grotzinger told reporters before launch.

Launch is generally considered the riskiest part of a mission, but Curiosity's landing on Mars will not be without drama.

The 1,980-pound (898 kg) rover is too big for the airbag or thruster-rocket landings used on previous Mars probes, so engineers designed a rocket-powered "sky-crane" to gently lower Curiosity to the crater's floor via a 43-foot (13-meter) long cable.

"We call it the 'six-minutes of terror,'" said Doug McCuistion, director of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, referring to the risky landing. "It is pretty scary, but my confidence level is really high."

Curiosity is powered by heat from the radioactive decay of plutonium. It is designed to last one Martian year, or 687 Earth days.

United Launch Alliance is a partnership of Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

(Editing by Pascal Fletcher and Philip Barbara)

Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/scienceNews/~3/if_A6Mbkd0o/us-space-mars-idUSTRE7AN0AT20111126

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Mars Science Laboratory: NASA launches most capable and robust rover to Red Planet

ScienceDaily (Nov. 26, 2011) ? NASA began a historic voyage to Mars with the Nov. 26 launch of the Mars Science Laboratory, which carries a car-sized rover named Curiosity. Liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard an Atlas V rocket occurred at 10:02 a.m. EST (7:02 a.m. PST).

"We are very excited about sending the world's most advanced scientific laboratory to Mars," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "MSL will tell us critical things we need to know about Mars, and while it advances science, we'll be working on the capabilities for a human mission to the Red Planet and to other destinations where we've never been."

The mission will pioneer precision landing technology and a sky-crane touchdown to place Curiosity near the foot of a mountain inside Gale Crater on Aug. 6, 2012. During a nearly two-year prime mission after landing, the rover will investigate whether the region has ever offered conditions favorable for microbial life, including the chemical ingredients for life.

"The launch vehicle has given us a great injection into our trajectory, and we're on our way to Mars," said Mars Science Laboratory Project Manager Peter Theisinger of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "The spacecraft is in communication, thermally stable and power positive."

The Atlas V initially lofted the spacecraft into Earth orbit and then, with a second burst from the vehicle's upper stage, pushed it out of Earth orbit into a 352-million-mile (567-million-kilometer) journey to Mars.

"Our first trajectory correction maneuver will be in about two weeks," Theisinger said. "We'll do instrument checkouts in the next several weeks and continue with thorough preparations for the landing on Mars and operations on the surface."

Curiosity's ambitious science goals are among the mission's many differences from earlier Mars rovers. It will use a drill and scoop at the end of its robotic arm to gather soil and powdered samples of rock interiors, then sieve and parcel out these samples into analytical laboratory instruments inside the rover. Curiosity carries 10 science instruments with a total mass 15 times as large as the science-instrument payloads on the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Some of the tools are the first of their kind on Mars, such as a laser-firing instrument for checking the elemental composition of rocks from a distance, and an X-ray diffraction instrument for definitive identification of minerals in powdered samples.

To haul and wield its science payload, Curiosity is twice as long and five times as heavy as Spirit or Opportunity. Because of its one-ton mass, Curiosity is too heavy to employ airbags to cushion its landing as previous Mars rovers could. Part of the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft is a rocket-powered descent stage that will lower the rover on tethers as the rocket engines control the speed of descent.

The mission's landing site offers Curiosity access for driving to layers of the mountain inside Gale Crater. Observations from orbit have identified clay and sulfate minerals in the lower layers, indicating a wet history.

Precision landing maneuvers as the spacecraft flies through the Martian atmosphere before opening its parachute make Gale a safe target for the first time. This innovation shrinks the target area to less than one-fourth the size of earlier Mars landing targets. Without it, rough terrain at the edges of Curiosity's target would make the site unacceptably hazardous.

The innovations for landing a heavier spacecraft with greater precision are steps in technology development for human Mars missions. In addition, Curiosity carries an instrument for monitoring the natural radiation environment on Mars, important information for designing human Mars missions that protect astronauts' health.

The mission is managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The rover was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. NASA's Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida managed the launch. NASA's Space Network provided space communication services for the launch vehicle. NASA's Deep Space Network will provide spacecraft acquisition and mission communication.

For more information about the mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ .

For more information about the Deep Space Network, visit: http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn .

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Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/5_YiO8AXnr8/111126155300.htm

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Pakistan retaliation leaves NATO drivers in limbo

Trucks are parked at a road as authorities closed the Torkham border for NATO supply trucks at Pakistani border town of Torkham on Saturday, Nov 26, 2011. Pakistan on Saturday accused NATO helicopters of firing on two army checkpoints in the northwest and killing 25 soldiers, then retaliated by closing a key border crossing used by the coalition to supply its troops in neighboring Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Qazi Rauf)

Trucks are parked at a road as authorities closed the Torkham border for NATO supply trucks at Pakistani border town of Torkham on Saturday, Nov 26, 2011. Pakistan on Saturday accused NATO helicopters of firing on two army checkpoints in the northwest and killing 25 soldiers, then retaliated by closing a key border crossing used by the coalition to supply its troops in neighboring Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Qazi Rauf)

Soldiers of the Pakistani militia force stand guard at the Pakistani border post of Torkham as it is closed for NATO trucks carrying supplies to neighboring Afghanistan, on Saturday, Nov 26, 2011. Pakistan on Saturday accused NATO helicopters of firing on two army checkpoints in the northwest and killing 25 soldiers, then retaliated by closing a key border crossing used by the coalition to supply its troops in neighboring Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Qazi Rauf)

Pakistani security personnel stop trucks carrying supplies for NATO forces in neighboring Afghanistan at Takhtabeg check post in Pakistani tribal area of Khyber, Pakistan, on their way to Torkham border post on Saturday, Nov 26, 2011. Pakistan on Saturday accused NATO helicopters of firing on two army checkpoints in the northwest and killing 25 soldiers, then retaliated by closing a key border crossing used by the coalition to supply its troops in neighboring Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)

Pakistani security personnel stop trucks carrying supplies for NATO forces in neighboring Afghanistan at Takhtabeg check post in Pakistani tribal area of Khyber, Pakistan, on their way to Torkham border post on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011. Pakistan, on Saturday, accused NATO helicopters of firing on two army checkpoints in the northwest and killing 25 soldiers, then retaliated by closing a key border crossing used by the coalition to supply its troops in neighboring Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)

Trucks carry supplies for NATO forces in neighboring Afghanistan are halt at Takhtabeg check post in Pakistani tribal area of Khyber, Pakistan, on their way to Torkham border post on Saturday, Nov 26, 2011. Pakistan on Saturday accused NATO helicopters of firing on two army checkpoints in the northwest and killing 25 soldiers, then retaliated by closing a key border crossing used by the coalition to supply its troops in neighboring Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Qazi Rauf)

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) ? Stranded Pakistani truck drivers carrying fuel and other supplies to U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan said Sunday that they were exposed to attacks by Islamist militants, after Islamabad closed the country's border crossings in retaliation for coalition airstrikes that allegedly killed 24 Pakistani troops.

Suspected militants destroyed around 150 trucks and injured drivers and police a year ago after Pakistan closed one of its Afghan border crossings to NATO supplies for about 10 days in retaliation for a U.S. helicopter attack that accidentally killed two Pakistani soldiers.

The situation could be more dire this time because Pakistan, outraged at the alleged NATO attack before dawn Saturday, has closed both its crossings. Nearly 300 trucks carrying coalition supplies are now backed up at Torkham in the northwest Khyber tribal area and Chaman in southwestern Baluchistan province. Last year, Pakistan only closed Torkham.

"We are worried," said driver Saeed Khan. He spoke by telephone from the border terminal in Torkham. "This area is always vulnerable to attacks. Sometimes rockets are lobbed at us. Sometimes we are targeted by bombs."

Khan and hundreds of other drivers and their assistants barely slept Saturday night because they were worried about potential attacks, he said.

Some drivers said Pakistan had sent paramilitary troops to protect their convoys since the closures, but others were left without any additional protection. Even those who did receive troops did not feel safe.

"If there is an attack, what can five or six troops do? Nothing," said Niamatullah Khan, a fuel truck driver who was parked with 35 other vehicles at a restaurant about 125 miles (200 kilometers) from Chaman. "It is just a matter of some bullets or a bomb, and that's it."

NATO ships nearly 50 percent of its non-lethal supplies to its troops in Afghanistan through Pakistan. The trucks are periodically targeted by suspected militants as they travel through the country, and their occupants are sometimes killed. NATO has said these attacks do not significantly impact its ability to keep its troops supplied.

A prolonged closure of the border would, however. NATO has reduced the amount of supplies it ships through Pakistan from a high of around 80 percent of its total non-lethal supplies by using routes through Central Asia, but they are costly and less efficient. It would likely be difficult to increase significantly the amount of supplies shipped on these alternative routes in a short timeframe if Pakistan's borders remain closed.

Some critical supplies, including ammunition, are airlifted directly to Afghan air bases.

The decision to close the borders highlights the leverage Pakistan has over the U.S. and other NATO forces, but there is a potential cost to Islamabad as well. Pakistan relies on billions of dollars in American military and civilian aid, and that could be jeopardized if Islamabad blocks NATO supplies for long.

Pakistan eventually relented and reopened Torkham last year after the U.S. apologized. But the number of alleged casualties is much higher this time. The relationship between the two countries has also severely deteriorated over the past year, especially following the covert U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani garrison town in May. Pakistan was outraged because it wasn't told about the operation beforehand.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar told U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Sunday that the alleged NATO attack negated all progress in improving the tattered alliance between the two countries.

The U.S. has constantly been frustrated by Pakistan as an ally, because of its unwillingness to target Taliban militants on its territory staging attacks against American troops in Afghanistan. But Washington still needs the country's help to try to push those same militants to the negotiating table.

Khar told Clinton in a phone call that the alleged NATO attack was unacceptable, showed complete disregard for human life and sparked rage within Pakistan, according a press release issued by the Pakistani prime minister's office.

In addition to closing its border crossings, Pakistan also responded by giving the U.S. 15 days to vacate an air base in Baluchistan used by American drones. The U.S. uses Shamsi Air Base to service drones that target al-Qaida and Taliban militants in Pakistan's tribal region when they cannot return to their bases inside Afghanistan because of weather conditions or mechanical difficulty, said U.S. and Pakistani officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

The Pakistani army said Saturday that NATO helicopters and fighter jets carried out an "unprovoked" attack on two of its border posts in the Mohmand tribal area before dawn, killing 24 soldiers and wounding 13 others.

Pakistan held funerals for the soldiers Sunday at the army's headquarters in Peshawar, the most important city in the country's northwest. Mourners, including Pakistan army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, said prayers in front of caskets wrapped in green and white Pakistani flags.

A spokesman for NATO forces, Brig. Gen. Carsten Jacobson, said Saturday that Afghan and coalition troops were operating in the border area of eastern Afghanistan when "a tactical situation" prompted them to call in close air support. It was "highly likely" that the airstrikes caused Pakistani casualties, but an investigation is being conducted to determine the details, he told BBC television.

U.S. officials have expressed their sympathies over the incident and have promised to work closely with Pakistan as NATO carries out its investigation.

In the meantime, truckers in Pakistan are wondering how long they will be stranded and whether they will make it through the ordeal with being attacked.

"Who knows what is going to happen," said Manzoor Agha, an oil tank driver stuck at the Chaman crossing. "We don't have any special security protection."

_____

Associated Press writers Abdul Sattar in Quetta, Pakistan, Matiullah Achakzai in Chaman, Deb Riechmann in Kabul and Sebastian Abbot in Islamabad contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-11-27-AS-Pakistan/id-7d57c4183b30436abbe5de8af7c3efb0

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3 American students arrested in Cairo back in US (AP)

INDIANAPOLIS ? One of three American college students arrested during protests in Cairo says he's not taking it as a negative experience and still believes Egypt is "a great country."

Twenty-one-year-old Luke Gates briefly spoke with The Associated Press after his flight landed in Indianapolis. His parents, sisters and two friends anxiously greeted him when he arrived.

Gates was arrested last Sunday on the roof of a university building near Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square. Officials accused him and the other two young men of throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters.

An Egyptian court ordered their release Thursday.

Family also greeted the other two students when they arrived home late Saturday. Nineteen-year-old Derrik Sweeney arrived at St. Louis' international airport, and 19-year-old Gregory Porter landed in Philadelphia a few hours earlier.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

All three American college students arrested during protests in Cairo arrived back in the U.S. on Saturday, three days after an Egyptian court ordered their release.

The mother of one of the students, 19-year-old Derrik Sweeney, was anxiously awaiting her son's arrival late Saturday night at St. Louis' international airport. She said she spoke with him briefly when he landed in Washington, D.C.

"He still hasn't processed what a big deal this is," Joy Sweeney told The Associated Press from the airport. "He has been in isolation. He doesn't have a clue as to what's going on."

Sweeney, 19-year-old Gregory Porter and 21-year-old Luke Gates were arrested on the roof of a university building near Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square last Sunday. Officials accused the young men of throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters.

The protests have been ongoing since Nov. 19, in anticipation of the landmark parliamentary elections in Egypt due to start Monday. On Friday, the crowd grew to more than 100,000 people.

Porter was greeted by his parents and other relatives earlier Saturday evening when he landed at Philadelphia International Airport. Porter took no questions, but said he was thankful for the help he and the other American students received from the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, administrators at the university they were attending, and attorneys in Egypt and the U.S.

"I'm just so thankful to be back, to be in Philadelphia right now," said Porter, who is from nearby Glenside, Pa., and attends Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Gates also arrived in the U.S. late Saturday and was expected back home in Indiana soon, Indiana University spokesman Mark Land said. Gates attends the university, and his parents have declined to talk with the media. Land said he spoke with Gates' father, who said his son was in good spirits.

"He said he was doing very well and he was very excited to be on his way home," Land said. He added that Gates' parents are "really hopeful they can spend a little time with him without having to answer a lot of questions" in the media spotlight.

All three left the Egyptian capital Saturday morning on separate connecting flights to Frankfurt, Germany, an airport official in Cairo said. The three were studying at American University in Cairo.

Joy Sweeney said staff at the school packed her son's bags because he wasn't allowed to return to his dorm room. Waiting for her son had been grueling, she said, but she was grateful he would be home before the holiday weekend was over.

She said she was trying not to dwell on the events of the last week and was ecstatic that her son, a student at Georgetown University in Washington, was coming home. The family is from Jefferson City, Mo., about 130 miles west of St. Louis.

Earlier in the week, she talked about how she put a Thanksgiving celebration on hold because the idea seemed "absolutely irrelevant" while her son still was being held.

"It's been an emotional rollercoaster. I mean, I don't know how to describe it other than that," she said Saturday night. "But I never looked at the worst-case scenario."

___

Matheson reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press writers Maggie Michael in Cairo; Andale Gross and Erin Gartner in Chicago; Sandy Kozel in Washington; Rick Callahan in Indianapolis; and Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia contributed to this report. AP photographer Jeff Roberson contributed from St. Louis.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111127/ap_on_re_us/us_egypt_american_students

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Black Friday shoppers get bargains, less brouhaha

Anna Staab gets her ticket at Walmart for a $199 Xbox with Kinect and a $50 gift certificate.

By Eve Tahmincioglu, Career and labor reporter

Extended Black Friday hours may have angered those store employees who had to work before their turkey dinners were digested, but many shoppers were happy with this year's earlier store opening times because they found fewer raucous crowds and shorter lines as a result.

?This was the absolute calmest Black Friday I have ever experienced,? said Nathan Luna, 24, who began his shopping trek at 12:08 a.m. this morning and headed to Best Buy in Wheaton, Md.

While things may have been more relaxed, projections for the number of consumers heading out on the biggest shopping day of the year are up.

According to?data compiled for the National Retail Federation by BIGresearch, up to 152 million people plan to shop over the Black Friday weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), that's higher than the 138 million people who planned to do so last year. According to the survey, 74 million people say they will definitely hit the stores and another 77 million are waiting to see if the bargains are worth braving the cold and the crowds.

Overall, electronics and clothing were among the biggest scores for many consumers, especially video game players and high-end fashions. And many shoppers said they found the sales items they wanted, unlike past Black Fridays that offered slim pickings; and lots of sales people to help them navigate the stores.

Here are some first-hand accounts of the day and deals from Black Friday aficionados:

?The crowds were very well-behaved,? said Brad Williams, 39, an analyst for Duke University who headed out at 9:15 p.m. last night with his wife Wendy. ?The line at Target, as I said, was enormous, but my wife said that the people there were jovial and pretty Zen about the wait. No pushing or shoving whatsoever.?

The couple has two young kids, but grandparents take the kids after Thanksgiving dinner to their house so Brad and his wife can shop unfettered.

"The crowds seemed to be bigger this year at Target and Kohl's, but smaller elsewhere," Williams added. "I think that has to do with when we arrived. We were in the teeth of the initial rush at those two places, but by the time we got to Crabtree, about 3 a.m., that had subsided and the second rush, when non-crazy people are getting up, hadn't yet begun."

?

Brad Williams

Orderly crowds at the Tanger Outlets in Mebane, N.C.

The deals overall were good, he said, but his ?best bargains? were ?a pair of Lucky Brand jeans for my wife, which were $18 (original outlet price was $69.50, they were on clearance for $30, and 40 percent off that), and a Brooks Brothers sports shirt, which was $29.90.?

Wendy Novicenskie

Brad Williams shows off his Black Friday loot.

Anna Staab, 51, Metamora, Il., hit the stores around 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving and found lots of merchandise available at Walmart and Menards, a regional department store chain. ?After seeing plenty of merchandise left at Walmart at this hour we wondered if it had something to do with the economy or if people were just avoiding it due to the earlier hours,? she surmised.

Staab, a retired Post Master who has seven kids living with her, some foster, some adopted and some biological, said she needed to be out early to get the big bargains and ended up with quite a few.

Her biggest complaint was where Walmart placed the sales items.

?Big box items, i.e. trampoline, ping pong table, power ride on toys, were all at the back of the store. Customers had to fight the crowds with the huge boxes,? she explained. ?They need a better system for those.?

And?Staab didn't like that many retailers staggered sales throughout the night.

"Certain things went on sale at 10 p.m. Thursday, then midnight, then 8 a.m.," she noted.

Besides a few annoyances, she was able to get the one thing she really wanted. She's most proud of the Xbox with Kinect she got at Walmart for $199 and a $50 Walmart card included, about half the price it was last year.

The iPad 2 was the only thing Nathan Luna was looking for.

He arrived at the Best Buy in Wheaton, Md., at 12:20 a.m. and found the parking log jammed and a line of more than 700 people.

?Less-experienced Black Friday shoppers would have probably turned around in horror, but I pressed on,? said Luna, a TV photographer for Canadian Television who has been Black Friday shopping since he was a kid when he shopped with his mom and grandmother.

Nathan Luna

Lines formed at the Best Buy in Wheaton, Md., and police were on hand to keep things moving smoothly.

Despite the crowds, he said, a group of police officers helped shuffle shoppers into the store and the line within 20 minutes after the store opened.

Nathan Luna

There were big crowds at the Best Buy in Wheaton, Md., but lines moved quickly, according to one shopper.

?I was greeted by a wall of Dynex 32-inch TVs and thousands of people jamming up the aisles,? he described. ?I asked the greeter where the iPads were, and he directed me to the back of the store. I had to bump a few elbows to get back there, but when I did, I noticed something new.?

Instead of a line snaking around the entire store, he said, there were check-out lines scattered throughout the store near key items.

?When I got in the iPad line, I literally had eleven people in front of me,? he said, adding that it took about a half hour to check out, compared to the hours it has taken during past Black Fridays.

He eventually got his iPad for $454.

Related stories:

Black Friday turns ugly:?Two shot, 15 pepper-sprayed

Why Black Friday shopping is crucial for retailers

Source: http://lifeinc.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/25/9015767-black-friday-shoppers-find-bargains-with-less-brouhaha

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Brain imaging, behavior research reveals physicians learn more by paying attention to failure

Brain imaging, behavior research reveals physicians learn more by paying attention to failure

Thursday, November 24, 2011

When seeking a physician, you should look for one with experience. Right? Maybe not. Research on physicians' decision-making processes has revealed that those who pay attention to failures as well as successes become more adept at selecting the correct treatment.

"We found that all the physicians in the study included irrelevant criteria in their decisions," said Read Montague, Ph.D., director of the Human Neuroimaging Laboratory at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, who led the study. "Notably, however, the most experienced doctors were the poorest learners."

The research is published in the Nov. 23 issue of PLoS One, the Public Library of Science open-access journal, in the article, "Neural correlates of effective learning in experienced medical decision-makers," by Jonathan Downar, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto and Toronto Western Hospital; Meghana Bhatt, Ph.D., assistant research professor at Beckman Research Institute, the City of Hope Hospital, Duarte, Calif.; and Montague, who is also a professor of physics in the College of Science at Virginia Tech.

The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to look at the brain activity of 35 experienced physicians in a range of non-surgical specialties as they made decisions.

The doctors were instructed to select between two treatments for a series of simulated patients in an emergency room setting. "First they had a chance to learn by experience which of two medications worked better in a series of 64 simulated heart-attack patients, based on a simplified history with just six factors," said Bhatt.

Unknown to the test subjects, of the six factors, only one was actually relevant to the decision: diabetes status. One medication had a 75 percent success rate in patients with diabetes, but only a 25 percent success rate in patients without diabetes. The other had the opposite profile. The physicians had 10 seconds to select a treatment. Then they were briefly presented with an outcome of "SUCCESS: (heart attack) aborted" or "FAILURE: No response."

"After the training, we tested the physicians to see how often they were able to pick the better drug in a second series of 64 simulated patients," said Bhatt. "When we looked at their performance, the doctors separated into two distinct groups. One group learned very effectively from experience, and chose the better drug more than 75 percent of the time. The other group was terrible; they chose the better drug only at coin-flipping levels of accuracy, or half the time, and they also came up with inaccurate systems for deciding how to prescribe the medications, based on factors that didn't matter at all."

In fact, all the doctors reported including at least one of the five irrelevant factors, such as age or previous heart attack, in their decision process.

"The brain imaging showed us a clear difference in the mental processes of the two groups," said Montague. "The high performers activated their frontal lobes when things didn't go as expected and the treatments failed." Such activity showed that the doctors learned from their failures, he said. These physicians gradually improved their performance.

In contrast, the low performers activated their frontal lobes when things did go as expected, said Bhatt. "In other words, they succumbed to 'confirmation bias,' ignoring failures and learning only from the successful cases. Each success confirmed what the low performers falsely thought they already knew about which treatment was better." The researchers termed this counterproductive learning pattern "success-chasing."

"The problem with remembering successes and ignoring failures is that it doesn't leave us any way to abandon our faulty ideas. Instead, the ideas gain strength from each chance success, until they evolve into something like a superstition," said Downar.

The fMRI showed that a portion of the brain called the nucleus accumbens "showed significant anticipatory activation well before the outcome of the trial was revealed, and this anticipatory activation was significantly greater prior to successful outcomes," Montague said. "Based on the outcome of the training phase, we were actually able to predict results in the testing phase for each low-performing subject's final set of spurious treatment rules."

The authors state in the article that the formation of spurious beliefs is universal, such as an athlete's belief in a lucky hat. "But the good news is that physicians can probably be trained to think more like the high performers," said Downar. "I tell my students to remember three things: First, when you're trying to work out a diagnosis, remember to also ask the questions that would prove your hunches wrong. Second, when you think you have the answer, think again and go through the possible alternatives. Third, if the treatment isn't going as expected, don't just brush it off ? ask yourself what you could have missed."

"These findings underscore the dangers of disregarding past failures when making high-stakes decisions," said Montague. "'Success-chasing' not only can lead doctors to make flawed decisions in diagnosing and treating patients, but it can also distort the thinking of other high-stakes decision-makers, such as military and political strategists, stock market investors, and venture capitalists."

###

Virginia Tech: http://www.vtnews.vt.edu

Thanks to Virginia Tech for this article.

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Online Degrees Can Charge Your Legal And Paralegal Careers ...

The need for trained legal professionals and paralegals is expected to grow faster than the national average for job growth within the next five years. Stiff competition is expected, making your decision to enter the legal profession a critical one. The online program you choose will be a crucial decision affecting the level of success you enjoy.

While paralegals and legal assistants once were trained on the job, employers today are increasingly depending upon employees who have already completed some type of formal legal education or training. That?s why a legal or paralegal certification, degree or online degree is so important to your future success in the legal profession.

One of a paralegal?s most important tasks is helping lawyers prepare for closings, hearings, trials, and corporate meetings. Your classes and online programs will teach you to investigate the facts of cases and ensure that all relevant information is considered. Colleges and online schools also will teach you critical skills such as preparing the legal arguments, drafting pleadings and motions to be filed with the court, obtaining affidavits, and assisting attorneys during trials.

Once you have earned your legal certification via an online legal degree, you will be able to find work in all types of organizations, but most are employed by law firms, corporate legal departments, and various government offices. Your degree program or online courses will prepare you for work in all areas of the law, including litigation, personal injury, corporate law, criminal law, employee benefits, intellectual property, labor law, bankruptcy, immigration, family law, and real estate.

Because computer use and technical knowledge has become essential to paralegal work, a well-rounded degree program or online program is critical.There are several ways to become a paralegal. Increasingly, employers prefer graduates of four-year paralegal programs or college graduates who have completed paralegal certificate or online paralegal training programs.

Over 800 formal paralegal training programs are offered by 4-year colleges and universities, law schools, community and junior colleges, business schools, and proprietary schools.

Paralegal programs include 2-year associate?s degree programs, 4-year bachelor?s degree programs, and certificate programs that take only a few months to complete. Many certificate programs only require a high school diploma or GED for admission, but they usually are designed for students who already hold an associate or baccalaureate degree.Your legal or paralegal education will prepare you for a rewarding and relaxed life. According to the National Association of Legal Assistants, paralegals had an average salary of $38,000 in 2000.

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Source: http://fatbikezreview.com/online-degrees-can-charge-your-legal-and-paralegal-careers-2/

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India latest stop as Md. and Va. governors compete abroad for economic boost (Washington Post)

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Screen Grabs: Covert Affairs exposes secret Rogers service in Washington DC

Screen Grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today's movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dot com.

Fans of USA's Covert Affairs know that Annie Walker's stomping ground is Washington DC, where she pretends to be a buyer for the Smithsonian. So, there's only two plausible explanations for her iPhone 4 being able to connect to Rogers Wireless Canadian network: Either she's got a nuclear powered antenna on that thing, or the company is running a south-of-the-border service for Government agencies. Some might point out that the show is filmed in Toronto for cost purposes and the art directors aren't too hot at spotting continuity errors, but we'd dismiss that as paranoid fantasy.

[Thanks, Mike G]

Screen Grabs: Covert Affairs exposes secret Rogers service in Washington DC originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Nov 2011 00:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How NASA's Curiosity Mars rover could help future searches for life

NASA's new Mars rover, dubbed Curiosity, is designed to investigate Mars's chemical environment, paving the way for future missions to search for past or present life on the Red Planet.?

NASA's new state-of-the-art Mars rover, which is slated to launch into space on Saturday (Nov. 26), will investigate whether the Martian environment is ? or ever was ? habitable. While the ambitious mission is expected to help researchers understand the Red Planet better than ever before, it is also a key stepping stone in the wider search for alien life in the universe, scientists said.

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The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), or Curiosity rover, is equipped with a suite of instruments that will allow scientists to study features on the Martian surface and the surrounding environment to piece together clues of the?planet's potential habitability.

"We have to remember that any life that exists somewhere else will be a function of that environment," Pamela Conrad, deputy principal investigator for the Mars Science Laboratory, said in a news briefing today (Nov. 22). "Mars Science Laboratory is off to study that environment. Hopefully we'll walk away with a lot more information about what environments look like on the surface of Mars. I like to say it's extraterrestrial real estate appraisal."

Curiosity is carrying 10 instruments that will allow it to dig, drill and analyze rock samples. The vehicle also has the ability to fire a laser at rocks, creating a cloud of plasma that can be scanned to reveal its chemical makeup.

As the rover rolls along the surface of Mars, it will also be able to sniff the air to help scientists paint a clearer picture of the?Martian environment, Conrad said.

The Mars Science Laboratory is not a life detection mission, but by understanding the chemical environment of Mars, and by searching for signs of habitability in the planet's geological history, researchers can gain additional insight into whether and how microbial life could exist on the Red Planet. [7 Biggest Mysteries of Mars]

But, like any mission of exploration, it's impossible to say in advance what discoveries will be made.

"Do we anticipate that we'll learn a lot about Mars? Absolutely," Conrad said. "Do we know specifically what that will be? We have no clue."

Still, the car-size Curiosity rover should help clarify whether or not Mars ever hosted life. In addition, the mission is also an important stepping stone for other?searches for alien life.

"The game is afoot, the search is on and MSL is taking a very important step and part of it is developing a strategy for narrowing that search," Mary Voytek, director of NASA's astrobiology program, said.

Ultimately, scientists said the search for life elsewhere in the universe is of fundamental importance to humankind.??

"It'sthe argument that is made for exploration anywhere," said Catharine Conley, a planetary protection officer at NASA. "We don't know what we're going to find, but if we don't go there, we're not going to find it."

You can follow SPACE.com staff writer Denise Chow on Twitter?@denisechow. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter?@Spacedotcom?and on?Facebook.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/Vwx8BOLPpH4/How-NASA-s-Curiosity-Mars-rover-could-help-future-searches-for-life

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Maria Rodale: Got Dirt? Give Thanks (Huffington post)

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Broncos release former starting quarterback Orton (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? The Denver Broncos cut former starting quarterback Kyle Orton on Tuesday now that his replacement has helped get the once-struggling team back into the National Football League (NFL) playoff picture.

Orton, who joined the Broncos in 2009 after a trade with the Chicago Bears, was replaced by Tim Tebow as the starter last month during a loss to the San Diego Chargers that dropped Denver to 1-4 on the season.

Tebow, a fan favorite and former Heisman Trophy winner as the top U.S. collegiate player, has helped the team improve to 5-5, just one game out of first place in the AFC West.

"We thought it was best for the Broncos at this time as well as for Kyle to catch on with a different team," Broncos Vice President John Elway said on his weekly Internet show.

"Kyle is going to have more options in the NFL and he'll get an opportunity to play somewhere else and we wish him the best of luck."

There was immediate speculation that Orton could return to Chicago since Bears quarterback Jay Cutler needs surgery after breaking the thumb on his throwing hand on Sunday.

(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Salvo, North Carolina; Editing by Frank Pingue)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111122/sp_nm/us_nfl_broncos_orton

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Report: 2 new cases alleged against Sandusky

Two new child sex abuse investigations have been launched against former Penn state football coach Jerry Sandusky. Unlike the previous eight cases, these new alleged victims are still minors. NBC's Peter Alexander reports.

?

Msnbc.com staff and wire reports

Officials with The Children and Youth Services in Pennsylvania are investigating two new cases of child abuse alleged against former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, The Patriot News reported?Tuesday.

If the new allegations -- reported less than 60 days ago --?are found to be credible, it would the first known cases involving people who are still under the age of 18, the newspaper reported.

The state's Children and Youth Services only investigates reports of abuse if victims are minors. All others are handled by police agencies, according to Pennsylvania law.

Sandusky faces 40 criminal counts accusing him of sexually abusing eight boys beginning in the?mid-1990s. Authorities say some assaults happened on Penn State's campus and were reported to administrators but not to police agencies.

Sandusky has maintained his innocence.

Hearing delayed
Also on Tuesday,?a judge delayed Sandusky's preliminary hearing in the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa.

The hearing, set for Tuesday, was rescheduled for Dec. 13, according to court records. The change was made ?to accommodate the logistical needs involved in the hearing,? a posting on the courthouse website read.

Messages seeking comment from Sandusky?s attorney Joe Amendola and the state attorney general's office weren't immediately returned to msnbc.com or NBC News.

Amendola told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Tuesday that he was worried that?there would be new criminal allegations against his client.

"My concern is, if they bring new charges based upon new people coming forward, that bail's going to be set and he's going to wind up in jail," Amendola said.?

Sandusky was initially released on $100,000 unsecured bail, which means he didn't have to post collateral to be freed.

Until the preliminary hearing, prosecutors can seek to have bail modified by the district judge, Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin told The Associated Press. After that hearing, bail changes would have to be pursued by a county court petition, he said.

Scandal
Meantime, Pennsylvania court officials say all the judges in Penn State's home county have removed themselves from potentially presiding over the child sex-abuse case against Sandusky.

The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts announced Tuesday that out-of-county judges have been named to deal with any related court business in the Centre County case.

?The sex-abuse?allegations have stunned Penn State and altered the image of its legendary?college football coach, Joe Paterno, who was ousted amid the scandal.

Hearings for Gary Schultz and Tim Curley, the two former?Penn State administrators accused of failing to properly report suspected abuse and of?perjury before a grand jury, was set for Dec. 6 in the Dauphin County Courthouse in Harrisburg. Both maintain their innocence.

?

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/22/8959190-report-2-new-cases-of-child-abuse-alleged-against-sandusky

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Here Are The Winners And Losers Of Tonight&#39;s ... - Business Insider

The GOP presidential candidates faced off last night in a national security debate. Here are the winners and losers:

BIG WINNER: Newt Gingrich:?He had strong answers on Iran and the Patriot Act ? and managed a strong defense of his position on illegal immigration.

On Amnesty, he provided an answer that appeals to moderates, and invoked Reagan to temper any qualms that the Tea Party and others may have. It will be an issue with some of the base, but it's a way for Gingrich to pick up some of Romney's moderate supporters.

Winner: Jon Huntsman: He had his best debate to date. He landed a big blow to Mitt Romney on Afghanistan, showing how much damage he can do if he is taken seriously in these debates.

Even:?Mitt Romney: Yet again, he didn't seal the deal. He had a rough time on the immigration question ? going to the right of Gingrich, but trying to avoid his scenario of grandmothers being separated from their grandchildren. He also had trouble with Afghanistan, allowing Huntsman to fluster him. While by no means fatal, tonight was one big missed opportunity.

Even:?Michele Bachmann: She schooled Rick Perry on Pakistan, but didn't do nearly enough to change the trajectory of her campaign.

Even: Rick Perry: Expectations were absurdly low after his "oops" moment, and he managed to avoid another major gaffe. That said, out of nowhere he called on Leon Panetta to resign as Secretary of Defense. His Pakistan answer needed a lot more work.

Loser: Herman Cain: He missed an opportunity to bounce back from his Libya gaffe, but had a strong answer on immigration and the threat of terrorists on the Mexican border. But on Iran, he seemed unprepared yet again, repeating that the country is in a "very mountainous region," and saying that is why a military strike on the country's nukes would not work.

Loser: Ron Paul: He brought up Timothy McVeigh, but seemed to forget that he killed 168 Americans, and he also confused al-Shabab and al-Qaeda. He had some strong answers that will appeal to libertarians ? but he only lessened his appeal to everyone else.

Loser:?Rick Santorum:?He called Africa a country. Enough said.?

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/winners-and-losers-of-tonights-gop-national-security-debate-2011-11

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Congressman to refund expenses of Scotland trip (The Arizona Republic)

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Eliminated ?Loser? reveals 123-pound loss

By Ree Hines

Ousted ?Biggest Loser? contestant Bonnie Griffin had her ups and downs in the weight loss competition, from constant complaining to her farewell redemption, but in the end, it?s the results that really count. As Griffin revealed during a Tuesday morning appearance on TODAY, she?s found success.

?I started at 254 (pounds), and on ?The Biggest Loser? ranch, I lost 73,? she said. ?Since last August, I?ve lost 123.?

That loss marks a life-changing gain for Griffin, who said she now feels ?like a new woman? thanks to some basics she learned on the show

?My biggest thing was to combine the nutrition and the exercise,? Griffin explained. ?I never exercised, probably since I was a teenager.?

Now she?s finding new ways to get that all-important exercise.

?I did a Buddy Walk,? the 63-year-old revealed. ?I have a (13-year-old grandson with Down syndrome), and he?s awesome. ? The Buddy Walk is all about awareness of Down syndrome.?

To see how Griffin's former fellow competitors are doing, tune in to "The Biggest Loser" Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

Are you surprised by Bonnie?s big success? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.

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Source: http://theclicker.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/22/8953552-eliminated-loser-reveals-123-pound-loss

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W.H. won't limit target shooting (Politico)

In a move sure to please gun rights groups, the Obama administration announced Wednesday that it would not be restricting recreational target shooting on public lands.

Hunting groups had complained about an Interior Department draft policy that would have limited target shooting on certain public lands near residential areas, reports the Associated Press.

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In a memo released as the Thanksgiving holiday was beginning, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said he would ?take no further action to develop or implement? the draft policy, which was written in response to complaints in Western states from residents who have clashed with gun owners who have used public lands near private property for target practice.

Gun rights groups had condemned the policy as unnecessarily restrictive, the AP said.

Salazar had commissioned a special advisory committee made up of stakeholders, including Ducks Unlimited, Cabela?s and the National Wildlife Foundation. The groups saw it as a federal bid to restrict gun rights, and pushed back against the draft policy, reports U.S. News and World Report.

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Britney Spears Video Tournament Kicks Off Today!

MTV News celebrates Brit's 30th birthday by pitting 30 of her music videos against one another to see which clip reigns supreme.
By Vaughn Trudeau Schoonmaker

Britney Spears: 30 Videos for 30 Years
Photo: Jive

Voting is now open for MTV News' Britney Spears Tournament: 30 Videos for 30 Years!

It's up to Britney fans and all MTV.com readers to vote in the first round, where we have pitted 30 of Britney's iconic videos against each other bracket-style to battle it out for the highest honor of being named the Best Britney Video Ever, just in time for Spears' 30th birthday December 2.

The first round of voting is open until Tuesday at 11:59 p.m., at which point the 30 videos will be narrowed down to the top 16. You can vote as many times as you wish and campaign as much as you see fit for your favorite videos to move on to the next round of voting.

Will the classic " ... Baby One More Time" go all the way? Or are we still intoxicated by "Toxic"? MTV News correspondents will weigh in with their picks, alongside celebrities and Britney experts alike.

Since 30 videos is an unusual number to balance a tournament bracket, we have automatically pushed forward two of Britney's VMA-winning videos videos — "Piece of Me" and "Till the World Ends" — to the second round, where they will no longer be safe from elimination.

Head over to Britney30.MTV.com and vote for your favorite music video in MTV News' Britney Spears Tournament: 30 Videos for 30 Years.

Don't forget about the lesser-known videos that may not have received much airtime, including "My Prerogative" and "Do Somethin'," since there's something unique about each clip. Make your votes count — and remember, you are voting for your favorite videos, not songs!

Voting for round two begins at 7 a.m. Wednesday and will last all the way through Thanksgiving weekend, closing Sunday at 11:59 p.m.

As of Monday, November 28, we will begin with eight videos, then four, then two, until we announce the winner Friday, December 2 — Britney's actual 30th birthday!

Start voting and keep up with us at MTVNews.com through December to see which clip reigns victorious.

What's your favorite Britney video? Make sure to vote at Britney30.MTV.com or the MTV Newsroom blog, and share your picks in the comments below!

Related Videos

• Britney Spears: 30 Videos For 30 Years

Related Photos

• The Sexiest Moment From Every Britney Spears Video

Related Artists

• Britney Spears

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1674712/britney-spears-30-birthday-video-tournament.jhtml

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Merck will pay $950M to settle Vioxx investigation

NEW YORK (AP) ? The U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday that drug maker Merck will pay $950 million to resolve investigations into its marketing of the painkiller Vioxx.

The agency said Merck will pay $321.6 million in criminal fines and $628.4 million as a civil settlement agreement. It will also plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge that it marketed Vioxx as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis before getting U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval.

Merck stopped selling Vioxx in 2004 after evidence showed the drug doubled the risk of heart attack and stroke. In 2007, the company paid $4.85 billion to settle around 50,000 Vioxx-related lawsuits.

The Justice Department said the settlement resolves allegations that Merck made false, unproven, or misleading statements about Vioxx's safety to increase sales and made false statements to Medicaid agencies about its safety.

Merck said the settlement does not constitute an admission of any liability or wrongdoing, and it said the government acknowledged that there was no basis to conclude that Merck's upper-level management was involved in the violations.

Merck also entered into an agreement about its sales, marketing, publication and government pricing activities. The Justice Department said that agreement strengthens oversight of the company. It will require top officials to complete annual compliance certifications, and the company will post information about physician payments on its website.

The company took a charge of $950 million in the third quarter of 2010 to cover the anticipated settlement payments.

Vioxx was approved by the FDA in 1999, but the government did not initially approve the drug for use in rheumatoid arthritis. That meant doctors could write prescriptions for Vioxx for rheumatoid arthritis patients, but Merck could not promote the drug for that use. The Justice Department said Merck promoted Vioxx for rheumatoid arthritis for three years and continued to do so after getting an FDA warning letter in 2001. The drug was approved as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis in 2002.

The government will get $426.4 million from the settlement, and $202 million will be distributed to state Medicaid programs for 43 states and the District of Columbia.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-11-22-Merck-Vioxx%20Marketing/id-c329ca4ec48d4a83a026f743731394cd

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Analysis: U.S. government a tenuous beachhead for biofuel firms (reuters)

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Sculpting the Impossible: Solid Renditions of Visual Illusions

In an impossible figure, seemingly real objects?or parts of objects?form geometric relations that physically cannot happen. Dutch artist M. C. Escher, for instance, depicted reversible staircases and perpetually flowing streams. Mathematical physicist Roger Penrose drew his famously impossible triangle, and visual scientist Dejan Todorovi of the University of Belgrade in Serbia created a golden arch that won him third prize in the 2005 Best Illusion of the Year Contest. These effects challenge our hard-earned perception that the world around us follows certain, inviolable rules. They also reveal that our brains construct the feeling of a global percept?an overall picture of a particular item?by sewing together multiple local percepts. As long as the local relation between surfaces and objects follows the rules of nature, our brains don?t seem to mind that the global percept is impossible.

Several contemporary sculptors recently have taken up the challenge of creating impossible art. That is, they are interested in shaping real-world 3-D objects that nonetheless appear to be impossible. Unlike classic monuments?such as the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.?which can be perceived by either sight or touch, impossible sculptures can be interpreted (or misinterpreted, as the case may be) only by the visual mind.

Penrose Triangle
The impossible triangle (also called the Penrose triangle or the tribar) was first created in 1934 by Oscar Reutersv?rd. Penrose attended a lecture by Escher in 1954 and was inspired to rediscover the impossible triangle. Penrose (who at the time was unfamiliar with the work of Reutersv?rd, Giovanni Piranesi and other previous discoverers of the impossible triangle) drew the illusion in its now most familiar form and published his observations in the British Journal of Psychology in 1958, in an article co-authored with his father, Lionel. In 1961 the Penroses sent a copy of the article to Escher, who incorporated the effect into Waterfall, one of his most famous lithographs.

Impossible Arch
Elusive Arch, by Todorovic ?, shows a new impossible figure. The left-hand part of the figure appears as three shiny oval tubes. The right-hand part looks corrugated, with three alternating pairs of shallow matte ridges and grooves. The bright streaks on the figure?s surface are seen either as highlights at the peaks and troughs of the tubes or as inflections between grooves. Determining the direction of the apparent illumination falling on the figure is difficult: it depends on whether we interpret the light as falling on a receding or an expanding surface. Further, determining the exact position and shape of the transition region near the center of the arch is maddening, because the local 3-D interpretations defy the laws of illumination. For more about the arch, see http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com/2005/elusive-arch.

Homage to Escher
Escher?s Belvedere showcases columns that switch walls between their bases and capitals, a straight ladder whose base rests inside the building yet nonetheless enters the building from the outside at its top, and a sitting man holding an impossible cube. Mathieu Hama?ekers, a Belgian mathematician and sculptor, created an homage to Belvedere that features a real-life impossible cube. This photograph shows the artist holding the sculpture Upside Down, built in 1985.

Impossible Box
Hans Schepker has built outstanding sculptures of impossible objects, such as this Crazy Crate made from glass. Other views of the crazy crate show the method behind the madness. Notice that the illusion works only from a specific vantage point. At any other angle, the illusion fails. Scientists refer to this as the accidental view, but there is nothing accidental about it. To perceive the illusion, the view must be carefully staged and choreographed, or else the audience will fail to see the ?impos?sible? sculpture.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=addf8512fe29c70f9796b8645d0ca348

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