Zebrafish made to grow pre-hands instead of fins

PERHAPS the little fish embryo shown here is dancing a jig because it has just discovered that it has legs instead of fins. Fossils show that limbs evolved from fins, but a new study shows how it may have happened, live in the lab.

Fernando Casares of the Spanish National Research Council and his colleagues injected zebrafish with the hoxd13 gene from a mouse. The protein that the gene codes for controls the development of autopods, a precursor to hands, feet and paws.

Zebrafish naturally carry hoxd13 but produce less of the protein than tetrapods - all four-limbed vertebrates and birds - do. Casares and his colleagues hoped that by injecting extra copies of the gene into the zebrafish embryos, some of their cells would make more of the protein.

One full day later, all of those fish whose cells had taken up the gene began to develop autopods instead of fins. They carried on growing for four days but then died (Cell, DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2012.10.015).

"Of course, we haven't been able to grow hands," says Casares. He speculates that hundreds of millions of years ago, the ancestors of tetrapods began expressing more hoxd13 for some reason and that this could have allowed them to evolve autopods.

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Body found in Singapore River

SINGAPORE: A man was found dead in the Singapore River along Clarke Quay early Sunday morning.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it received a call at about 1.30am.

Someone was spotted jumping into the river near Block A.

SCDF officers arrived about four minutes later and conducted a search around the area.

Diving at a depth of about 3 metres, rescuers retrieved the body of a man about three-and-a-half hours later.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police are investigating the unnatural death.

- CNA/ir

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Google will alter search to end FTC antitrust inquiry, says report

The Federal Trade Commission may bring its two-year antitrust investigation of Google to a close by allowing the company to make voluntary changes to its search business, according to a report.

The search giant is said to be readying an announcement about changes to its use of "snippets," bits of text culled from sites such as Yelp and TripAdvisor and displayed in search results, Politico reports, citing unnamed sources. Yelp and others had charged Google with using their content without permission.

Google will also makes tweaks that will allow for easier porting of search-ad campaigns from Google to rival search services, Politico's sources said.

Politico suggested on Tuesday that the FTC may leave the search-related case to the European Commission, which has mounted an investigation of its own. Reuters reported on Tuesday that some Google competitors, sensing a possible defeat, are taking the case to the Justice Department.

Google and the FTC also look to be close to a settlement in a case involving so-called frand -- or standard essential -- patents owned by Google.

Politico said the FTC declined to comment on today's report about the search tweaks, and it said Google would provide only the following statement: "We continue to work cooperatively with the Federal Trade Commission and are happy to answer any questions they may have."

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Space Pictures This Week: Frosty Mars, Mini Nile, More

Photograph by Mike Theiss, National Geographic

The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, illuminates the Arctic sky in a recent picture by National Geographic photographer Mike Theiss.

A storm chaser by trade, Theiss is in the Arctic Circle on an expedition to photograph auroras, which result from collisions between charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere and gaseous particles in Earth's atmosphere.

After one particularly amazing show, he wrote on YouTube, "The lights were dancing, rolling, and twisting, and at times looked like they were close enough to touch!" (Watch his time-lapse video of the northern lights.)

Published December 14, 2012

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Conn. Victim's Father Remembers 'Loving' Daughter

(Image credit: Emilie Parker Fund/Facebook)

Emilie Parker, the little girl with the blond hair and bright blue eyes, would have been one of the first to comfort her classmates at Sandy Hook Elementary School, had a gunman’s bullets not claimed her life, her father said.

“My daughter Emilie would be one of the first ones to be standing and giving support to all the victims because that’s the kind of kid she is,” her father, Robbie Parker said as he fought back tears, telling the world about his “bright, creative and loving” daughter who was one of the 20 young victims in the Newtown, Conn., shooting.

“She always had something kind to say about anybody,” her father said.  ”We find comfort reflecting on the incredible person Emilie was and how many lives she was able to touch.”

Emilie, 6, was helping teach her younger sisters to read and make things, and she was the little girls would go to for comfort, he said.

“They looked up to her,” Parker said.

READ: Complete List of Sandy Hook Victims

Parker moved his wife and three daughters to Newtown eight months ago after accepting a job as  a physician’s assistant at Danbury Hospital. He said Emilie, his oldest daughter, seemed to have adjusted well to her new school, and he was very happy with the school, too.

“I love the people at the school. I love Emilie’s teacher and the classmates we were able to get to know,” he said.

      (Image Credit: Alex von Kleydorff/AP Photo)

The family dealt with another tragic loss in October when Emilie lost her grandfather in an accident.

“[This] has been a topic that has been discussed in our family in the past couple of  months,” Parker said. “[My daughters ages 3 and 4] seem to get the idea that there’s somebody who they will miss very much.”

Emilie, a budding artist who carried her markers and pencils everywhere, paid tribute to her grandfather by slipping a special card she had drawn into his casket, Parker said.  It was something she frequently did to lift the spirits of others.

“I can’t count the number of times Emilie would find someone feeling sad or frustrated and would make people a card,” Parker said. “She was an exceptional artist.”

The girl who was remembered as “always willing to try new things, other than food” was learning Portuguese from her father, who speaks the language.

(Image Credit: Emilie Parker Fund/Facebook)

On Friday morning, Emilie woke up before her father left for his job and exchanged a few sentences with him in the language.

“She told me good morning and asked how I was doing,” Parker said. “She said she loved me, I gave her a kiss and I was out the door.”

Parker found out about the shooting while on lockdown in Danbury Hospital and found a television for the latest news.

“I didn’t think it was that big of deal at first,” he said. “With the first reports coming in, it didn’t sound like it was going to be as tragic as it was. That’s kind of what it was like for us.”

CLICK HERE for full coverage of the Sandy Hook shooting.

Parker said he knows that God can’t take away free will and would have been unable to stop the Sandy Hook shooting. While gunman Adam Lanza used his free agency to take innocent lives, Parker said he plans to use his in a positive way.

“I’m not mad because I have my  [free] agency to use this event to do whatever I can to make sure my family and my wife and my daughters are taken care [of],” he said. “And if there’s anything I can do to help to anyone at any time at anywhere, I’m free to do that.”

(Image credit: Emilie Parker Fund/Facebook)

Friday night, hours after he learned of his daughter’s death, Parker said he spoke at his church.

“I don’t know how to get through something like this. My wife and I don’t understand how to process all of this,” he said today. “We find strength in our religion and in our faith and in our family. ”

“It’s a horrific tragedy and I want everyone to know our hearts and prayers go out to them. This includes the family of the shooter. I can’t imagine how hard this experience must be for you and I want you to know our family … love and support goes out to you as well.”

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CERN becomes first pure physics voice in UN chorus

Lisa Grossman, physical sciences reporter

(Image: UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras)

If CERN observes the proceedings of the United Nations, will it change the outcome?

The international particle physics laboratory, based near Geneva, Switzerland, has been granted observer status in the General Assembly of the United Nations, CERN officials announced today. 

The lab joins environmental groups and public health agencies as the first physical sciences research organization in the ranks of UN observers. Observer status grants the right to speak at meetings, participate in procedural votes, and sign and sponsor resolutions, but not to vote on resolutions.

In some ways, CERN's addition seems a natural move - and a long time coming.

The facility was founded in 1954 under the auspices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). Its initial mission was to provide collaborative projects for researchers from Allied countries and former Axis countries after the second World War.

Arguably the lab's most high-profile project, the Large Hadron Collider, made headlines worldwide this year when it revealed detection of a new particle that appears to be the elusive Higgs boson.

"Through its projects, which bring together scientists from all over the world, CERN also promotes dialogue between nations and has become a model for international cooperation," CERN states in a press release. The lab says it may use its new status with the UN to help shore up scientific education and technological capabilities in developing countries, particularly in Africa.

But just as observing a quantum particle can change its state, can CERN's involvement truly collapse the UN's wavefunction and trigger better global science and technology policies? Only time will tell.

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Police hunt man who threatened shooting at US mosque

LOS ANGELES: Police in California are looking for a man who reportedly walked into a California mosque saying he had a gun and threatened to kill everyone, a spokeswoman said Friday.

The man entered the Ibrahim Khalilullah Islamic Center in Fremont, south of San Francisco, during afternoon prayer Wednesday, said mosque leaders, urging official action to track down the man.

According to witnesses, a "white male in his thirties entered the IKI Center Mosque during prayer, and shouted that he had a gun and wanted to kill everyone. When confronted, the male left," said a police spokeswoman.

"We are a little worried because of the situation that happened in Oregon," said Fareed Wardak, a member of the center's board of directors, referring to a shooting in the western US state that left three dead on Tuesday.

"We don't want the same thing to happen," he told KTVU television, in comments made before Friday's shooting at an elementary school in the eastern state of Connecticut that killed 20 children and six adults.

The man left without taking out a gun. Fremont Police Department spokeswoman Geneva Bosques told AFP: "He never displayed a gun, kept his hands in his pockets. We are following up in an attempt to look at video surveillance."

The man possibly drove a 1990s gray Toyota Camry, and officers will be carrying out extra patrols looking for anything suspicious, KTVU reported.

"We do have surveillance cameras. We'll be getting pictures out of that system," said Wardak, adding: "We're not sure what kind of person" the man was.

"It's Christmas, people are going back and forth," said Mohammed Zarabi, president of the board of directors. "Maybe he needs some money. I can't say what his intention was. I just hope it doesn't happen again."

The center has some 500 members, mostly of Afghan descent, and has been in the city for two decades.

This week's shootings in Oregon and Connecticut have revived the perennial debate about gun control in the United States, a country that regularly has to cope with such apparently random killings.

Friday's massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut was the second deadliest US school shooting, after the 2007 campus shootings at Virginia Tech University, which left 32 dead.

- AFP/ck

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Put your phone into 'car mode' with these dashboard apps

Sadly, Android's original Car Home app is incompatible with most modern versions of the OS.

(Credit:
Google)

My first
Android phone, the original Motorola Droid, was one of the first phones to debut Google Maps Navigation. Now, Google knew that this feature would get drivers interested in using their Android phones in the car and that the tiny virtual buttons and shortcuts that worked well when the device was handheld wouldn't cut it behind the wheel. So, when users popped their Droids into their
car docks, they were presented with a simplified interface with large shortcut buttons to car-centric apps, designed for safer use while driving.

Smartphones have come a long way since I retired my Droid, but--with the exception of a few devices with customized OSes--the Car Home feature has largely disappeared from newer Android phones. In a time where drivers are more concerned than ever about distraction behind the wheel, this is a shame.

Here's where the third-party steps in to help. We've rounded up a collection of our favorite dashboard apps that closely replicate (and in many cases, exceed) the functionally of that old Car Home app for both Android. We've also included a number of apps for iOS devices, which have never boasted such a car-specific feature.

---

Vlingo Virtual Assistant
Android, price: Free

Vlingo Virtual Assistant is one of my favorite apps for in-car use. When placed in its Vlingo InCar mode, the app listens for an activation phrase and responds to your voice commands without your ever having to actually touch your phone. Simply say, "Hey Vlingo, navigate home." or "Hey Vlingo, text Wayne, 'I'm going to be a bit late.'" to interact with your phone in the safest way possible. You can even ask Vlingo trivia like, "What's the capitol of California?" or "How tall is the Empire State Building?"

---

CarHome Ultra
Android, price: $3.99 after 30 day free trial

CarHome Ultra hearkens back to the original Car Home mode that debuted as part of Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Firing up this app presents the user with large, easy to see and tap shortcuts for functions commonly used while driving, such as Maps, Navigation, or Voice Search. Any of these buttons can be customized, so can add shortcuts to Pandora or MOG, for example, if you're a heavy Internet radio listener. CarHome Ultra also features a Night Mode to reduce glare and can automatically disable your Wi-Fi and enable your Bluetooth when activated.

---

Car Widget
Android, price: $0.99 after 10-use free trial

CarWidget is a bit like a simpler, cheaper version of CarHome Ultra. This widget lives on your Android phone's home screen and presents six customizable shortcuts to car-centric apps such as Navigation, Phone, or your favorite music or podcast player. CarWidget can be set to automatically adjust your phone's settings when certain conditions are met--such as pairing with your car's Bluetooth system--to automatically disable Wi-Fi, disable the screen timeout, or adjust the volume levels for calls and media. This 4x4 widget takes up an entire homescreen, which could be problematic for some users.

---

Awesome HUD
Apple iOS, price: Free

Awesome HUD transforms your iPhone in a customizable GPS speedometer that also offers easily touchable shortcuts for control of your iPod music app. Put the Awesome HUD app into its HUD mode and place your phone screen up on the dashboard to see a head-up display reflected onto your car's windshield. This way, you can monitor your speed, direction, and drive time without taking your eyes off of the road. The HUD is really only visible at night and, unfortunately, Awesome HUD isn't compatible with the
iPhone 5, but it's not bad for a free app.

---

Drive
Apple iOS, price: $1.99

Drive is probably one of the better car-specific dashboard apps for the Apple iPhone and is definitely worth its $1.99 price tag. Fire up the app and you'll be greeted with four large shortcuts for four functions. Music gives quick gesture-based control of the iPod app; Map brings up, well, a Map and enables users to track their trip; quick text fires off predefined text messages to predefined contacts, such as "I'm stuck in traffic and will be late."; and quick call puts your favorite contacts at your fingertips for quick hands-free calling.

---

iCarMode
Apple iOS, price: $1.99

iCarMode is another great dashboard app for the iPhone--possibly better even than the aforementioned Drive--that presents a number of large, easy-to-tap shortcuts to music controls, contacts, audio controls, and your favorite GPS navigation and audio streaming apps. Users can also search for destinations from the iCarMode interface and quickly locate their car thanks to the app's ability to save the location of a parked car when exiting the vehicle and be reminded when it's time to feed the meter with the parking meter timer.

---

Car Dock Mode
Apple iOS, price: Free with $2.99 in-app premium feature unlock

Car Dock Mode is more of an honorable mention than a bona fide player in this space. It's designed to work with the Dension Car Dock for iPhone, but doesn't require the hardware to be installed on your iPhone. The free app presents large shortcuts to your contacts for hands-free calling, iPod music library playback, and maps. An in-app purchase unlocks the app's premium features, enabling Web Radio streaming of thousands of Internet radio stations, a GPS car finder function, and the ability to customize and re-color the app. iCarMode and Drive are much better apps, but if you're looking for a free alternative, Car Dock Mode will make do.

---

iOnRoad Augmented Driving Pro
Android, Apple iOS, price: $4.99

Odds are that you won't be using your phone's camera while you drive, so put it to work enhancing the safety of your car with the iOnRoad Augmented Driving app. This app watches the road ahead of your car for obstructions and other cars. When it detects that you're approaching an obstruction too quickly and there's potential for an collision, it sounds an alarm and flashes the screen. The app can even run in the background, if you want to also use your phone to navigate.

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Space Pictures This Week: Frosty Mars, Mini Nile, More

Photograph by Mike Theiss, National Geographic

The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, illuminates the Arctic sky in a recent picture by National Geographic photographer Mike Theiss.

A storm chaser by trade, Theiss is in the Arctic Circle on an expedition to photograph auroras, which result from collisions between charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere and gaseous particles in Earth's atmosphere.

After one particularly amazing show, he wrote on YouTube, "The lights were dancing, rolling, and twisting, and at times looked like they were close enough to touch!" (Watch his time-lapse video of the northern lights.)

Published December 14, 2012

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Conn. Shooter Adam Lanza: 'Obviously Not Well'

Adam Lanza of Newtown, Connecticut was a child of the suburbs and a child of divorce who at age 20 still lived with his mother.

This morning he appears to have started his day by shooting his mother Nancy in the face, and then driving to nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School armed with at least two handguns and at least one semi-automatic rifle.

There, before turning his gun on himself, he shot and killed 20 children, who President Obama later described as between five and 10 years of age. Six adults were also killed at the school. Nancy Lanza was found dead in her home.

A relative told ABC News that Adam was "obviously not well."

Family friends in Newtown also described the young man as troubled and described Nancy as rigid. "[Adam] was not connected with the other kids," said Barbara Frey, who also said he was "a little bit different ... Kind of repressed."

State and federal authorities believe his mother may have once worked at the elementary school where Adam went on his deadly rampage, although she was not a teacher, according to relatives, perhaps a volunteer.

Nancy and her husband Peter, Adam's father, divorced in 2009. When they first filed for divorce in 2008, a judge ordered that they participate in a "parenting education program."

Peter Lanza, who drove to northern New Jersey to talk to police and the FBI, is a vice president at GE Capital and had been a partner at global accounting giant Ernst & Young.

Adam's older brother Ryan Lanza, 24, has worked at Ernst & Young for four years, apparently following in his father's footsteps and carving out a solid niche in the tax practice. He too was interviewed by the FBI. Neither he nor his father is under any suspicion.

"[Ryan] is a tax guy and he is clean as a whistle," a source familiar with his work said.

Police had initially identified Ryan as the killer. Ryan sent out a series of Facebook posts saying it wasn't him and that he was at work all day. Video records as well as card swipes at Ernst & Young verified his statement that he had been at the office.

Investigators are looking into whether Adam Lanza was carrying his older brother Ryan's identification at the time of the shooting, which may have caused the confusion. Neither Adam nor Ryan has any known criminal history.

Numerous relatives of the Lanzas in New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, as well as multiple friends, are being interviewed by the FBI in an effort to put together a better picture of the gunman and any explanation for today's tragedy.

"I think the most important thing to point out with this kind of individual is that he did not snap this morning and decide to act out violently," said former FBI profiler Mary Ellen O'Toole. "These acts involve planning and thoughtfulness and strategizing in order to put the plan together so what may appear to be snap behavior is not that at all."

With reporting by Pierre Thomas, Jim Avila, Santina Leuci, Aaron Katersky, Matthew Mosk, Jason Ryan and Jay Shaylor

MORE: 27 Dead, Mostly Children, at Connecticut Elementary School Shooting

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