Researchers at Cern in Switzerland have proved the merits of a way to test antimatter as a source of the long-postulated "anti-gravity".
Antimatter particles are the "mirror image" of normal matter, but with opposite electric charge.
How antimatter responds to gravity remains a mystery, however; it may "fall up" rather than down.
Now researchers reporting in Nature Communications have made strides toward finally resolving that notion.
Antimatter presents one of the biggest mysteries in physics, in that equal amounts of matter and antimatter should have been created at the Universe's beginning.
Continue reading the main story
?Start Quote
It's the first time that anyone has even been able to talk about doing this?
End QuoteJeffrey HangstAlpha experiment spokesperson
Yet when the two meet, they destroy each other in what is called annihilation, turning into pure light.
Why the Universe we see today is made overwhelmingly of matter, with only tiny amounts of antimatter, has prompted a number of studies to try to find some difference between the two.
Tests at Cern's LHCb experiment and elsewhere, for example, have been looking for evidence that exotic particles decay more often into matter than antimatter.
Last week, the LHCb team reported a slight difference in the decay of particles called Bs mesons - but still not nearly enough to explain the matter mystery.
One significant difference between the two may be the way they interact with gravity - antimatter may be repelled by matter, rather than attracted to it.
But it is a difference that no one has been able to test - until the advent of Cern's Alpha experiment.
Getting annihilated
Alpha is an acronym for Antihydrogen Laser Physics Apparatus - an experiment designed to build and trap antimatter "atoms".
Just as hydrogen is made of a proton and an electron, antihydrogen is an atom made of their antimatter counterparts antiprotons and positrons.
The trick is not just in making it, but in making it hang around long enough to study it - before it bumps into any matter an annihilates.
In 2010 the Alpha team did just that, and in 2011 they showed they could keep antihydrogen atoms trapped for 1,000 seconds.
The team has now gone back to their existing data on 434 antihydrogen atoms, with the antigravity question in mind.
"In the course of all the experiments, we release (the antihydrogen atoms) and look for their annihilation," said Jeffrey Hangst, spokesperson for the experiment.
"We've gone through those data to see if we can see any influence of gravity on the positions at which they annihilate - looking for atoms to fall for the short amount of time they exist before they hit the wall," he told BBC News.
The team has made a statistical study of which antihydrogen atoms went where - up or down - and they are able to put a first set of constraints on how the anti-atoms respond to gravity.
The best limits they can suggest is that they are less than 110 times more susceptible to gravity than normal atoms, and less than 65 times that strength, but in the opposite direction: antigravity. In short, the question remains unanswered - so far.
"It's not a very interesting band yet but it's the first time that anyone has even been able to talk about doing this," said Prof Hangst.
"We actually have a machine that can address this question, that's what's exciting for us here, and we know how to get from here to the interesting regime."
The Alpha experiment's main task is to study the energy levels within antihydrogen, to spot any differences between it and the hydrogen that physicists know to extraordinary precision.
Prof Hangst said the antigravity measurement was just an "interesting sideshow" for the experiment.
"We have a lot of options for studying antimatter and this is a new one that has a future."
FILE - In this April 22, 2013 file photo, Bartholomew Granger, left, enters court for the start of his trial in Galveston, Texas. The Houston man who admitted shooting his daughter outside a Texas courthouse was convicted Tuesday, April 30, of capital murder for the death of a 79-year-old bystander. Granger said he was angry with his daughter for testifying against him in a sex assault case. (AP Photo/The Beaumont Enterprise, Dave Ryan)
FILE - In this April 22, 2013 file photo, Bartholomew Granger, left, enters court for the start of his trial in Galveston, Texas. The Houston man who admitted shooting his daughter outside a Texas courthouse was convicted Tuesday, April 30, of capital murder for the death of a 79-year-old bystander. Granger said he was angry with his daughter for testifying against him in a sex assault case. (AP Photo/The Beaumont Enterprise, Dave Ryan)
GALVESTON, Texas (AP) ? A Houston man who admitted shooting his daughter outside a Texas courthouse was convicted Tuesday of capital murder for the death of a 79-year-old bystander.
Bartholomew Granger, 42, testified in his own defense that he didn't shoot Minnie Ray Sebolt last March when he opened fire on his daughter outside the Jefferson County Courthouse in downtown Beaumont. Granger said he was angry with his daughter for testifying against him in a sex assault case.
The daughter and her mother were among three women who were wounded. Granger took responsibility for his daughter's injuries that left her in a coma for three months, but he insisted he shot no one else.
Jurors returned their guilty verdict after about one hour and 45 minutes of deliberations.
Granger and his lawyers were seated at the defense table when the verdict was read. He had no discernible reaction, but winked at the lead prosecutor, Jefferson County assistant district attorney Ed Shettle, as he was escorted by deputies from the courtroom.
"Amazing," Shettle said, shaking his head and turning back toward spectators in the courtroom.
The punishment phase will begin Wednesday and could go into next week, Judge Bob Wortham said. The same jury will hear testimony to decide whether the former truck driver and rapper heads to prison for life without chance of parole or to death row. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
"This is the best feeling I've had in over a year and a half," Deborah Ray Holst, Sebolt's daughter, said. "All I'm waiting now is for them to convict him with the death penalty."
She said the verdict helped Sebolt's family and also Granger's daughter and her family "to not be afraid any more, especially if he gets the death penalty. They can live in peace."
Asked about Granger's exit from the courtroom, she responded: "Having the audacity to wink, how dense is that? Nobody can be that stupid.
"There's no doubt that he needs to be on death row. And that he needs to get the needle. He is a menace to anyone."
The trial was moved 75 miles to Galveston, so jurors didn't have to walk past the crime scene each day.
In closing arguments earlier Tuesday, Shettle said recordings of jail phone calls showed Granger saying he was proud of the attack.
"I ask you to do what you know in your heart," Shettle told jurors. "Find him guilty."
Defense attorney Sonny Cribbs said if there was any doubt that Granger fired the bullets that killed Sebolt ? a contention the defense raised ? Granger should not be found guilty of a capital crime.
"Our position is he's not guilty of capital murder," Cribbs told jurors. "He might be guilty of murder."
From the witness stand Monday, Granger explained how he emptied the 10-bullet magazine of his illegally purchased semi-automatic carbine, saying he fired toward his daughter. Then, when he saw his daughter was still moving while lying in the street, he ran over her with his pickup truck in an attack that was captured on courthouse surveillance video and shown to jurors.
His daughter, her mother and Granger's estranged wife had testified against him in a trial in which his daughter accused him of sexual assault. He denied that charge.
Prosecutors said he parked outside the courthouse for hours waiting for the women to show, then pounced when he spotted them late in the morning of March 14, 2012. Sebolt also was outside at the time, accompanying a relative to the courthouse.
"I didn't kill her," Granger testified. "I didn't have any more bullets. How could I have killed her?"
Sebolt was shot twice and died in the revolving door at the courthouse entrance.
Prosecutors spent all last week building their case against Granger. His daughter, now 22, was among those who testified.
Under questioning from his own lawyer, Granger recalled in detail how he ran at his daughter and pulling the trigger of his gun. He remembered her falling and crying out, "Daddy, stop!" He then ran over her with the truck.
He abandoned the bullet-riddled truck about three blocks away, walked inside a construction business and took several people hostage. Granger, who at some point was wounded, eventually was overpowered by his captives and police moved in to take him into custody.
After quoting Marx ("Groucho, not Karl?) to squeeze one last laugh out of the White House Correspondents? Association Dinner, President Obama abruptly stopped joking. Hundreds of politicians, celebrities, journalists, and corporate sponsors fell silent as he dropped a 607-word morality bomb: ?We can do better,? Obama told the elites.
?If we?re only focused on profits or ratings or polls,? he admonished an audience focused on profits, ratings, and polls, ?then we?re contributing to the cynicism that so many people feel right now.?
The last quarter of Obama?s remarks Saturday night received little coverage from media organizations because reporters tend to be biased toward conflict and the familiar--in this case the president?s traditionally humorous and self-conscious monologue (?I?m not the strapping young Muslim socialist I used to be?).?
But it may stand as one of the best rhetorical moments of Obama?s presidency, a clearheaded indictment of four national institutions (the media, the entertainment industry, big business, and the political system), coupled by a prescription for revival.
He started by reminding the well-fed and wine-soaked audience that it?s been a bad couple of weeks for their countrymen.
Obviously, there has been no shortage of news to cover over these past few weeks. And these have been some very hard days for too many of our citizens. Even as we gather here tonight, our thoughts are not far from the people of Boston and the people of West, Texas. There are families in the Midwest who are coping with some terrible floods. So we?ve had some difficult days.
Like any presidential address of note, Obama didn?t let spirits sag.
But even when the days seemed darkest, we have seen humanity shine at its brightest. We?ve seen first responders and National Guardsmen who have dashed into danger, law-enforcement officers who lived their oath to serve and to protect, and everyday Americans who are opening their homes and their hearts to perfect strangers.
And, like any decent presidential address, Obama pandered a bit. Remember, this was a dinner celebrating White House reporters.
And we also saw journalists at their best?especially those who took the time to wade upstream through the torrent of digital rumors to chase down leads and verify facts and painstakingly put the pieces together to inform, and to educate, and to tell stories that demanded to be told.
He didn?t need to tell the crowd that many news organizations reported inaccuracies about the Boston bombings. Nor did he mention the relatively little coverage given to regulatory failures in West Texas. With a nod to one newspaper and to NBC reporter Pete Williams?s impressively accurate coverage in Boston, Obama subtly reminded journalists that their industry is nothing without the public?s trust.
If anyone wonders, for example, whether newspapers are a thing of the past, all you needed to do was to pick up or log on to papers like the Boston Globe. When their communities and the wider world needed them most, they were there making sense of events that might at first blush seem beyond our comprehension. And that?s what great journalism is, and that's what great journalists do. And that?s why, for example, Pete Williams?s new nickname around the NBC newsroom is "Big Papi."
Obama happens to be president at a time when virtually all of the nation?s social institutions are losing the public?s trust and facing irrelevancy in the digital age. There are exceptions--the military, for example--and Americans are generous in their praise of those who serve causes greater than themselves.
And in these past few weeks, as I?ve gotten a chance to meet many of the first responders and the police officers and volunteers who raced to help when hardship hits, I was reminded, as I?m always reminded when I meet our men and women in uniform, whether they?re in war theater, or here back home, or at Walter Reed in Bethesda?I?m reminded that all these folks, they don?t do it to be honored, they don?t do it to be celebrated. They do it because they love their families and they love their neighborhoods and they love their country.
And so, these men and women should inspire all of us in this room to live up to those same standards; to be worthy of their trust; to do our jobs with the same fidelity, and the same integrity, and the same sense of purpose, and the same love of country. Because if we?re only focused on profits or ratings or polls, then we?re contributing to the cynicism that so many people feel right now. ?
Heads nodded in the audience. A woman sitting at a table next to me murmured, ?He went there. Good for him.? To some in his audience, anyway, Obama had struck a wellspring of guilt.
And so, those of us in this room tonight, we are incredibly lucky. And the fact is, we can do better?all of us. Those of us in public office, those of us in the press, those who produce entertainment for our kids, those with power, those with influence?all of us, including myself, we can strive to value those things that I suspect led most of us to do the work that we do in the first place?because we believed in something that was true, and we believed in service, and the idea that we can have a lasting, positive impact on the lives of the people around us.
"Including myself" implies that Obama realizes that his presidency falls short at times of its promise. Elected by voters who had the audacity to hope for change and unity, Obama is instead the third-straight president known more for polarization than unification.
And that?s our obligation. That?s a task we should gladly embrace on behalf of all of those folks who are counting on us; on behalf of this country that?s given us so much.
The audience rose, and a man near me shouted, ?Amen!?? It was time to hit the after-parties.
Tom Sizemore: Drugs, immaturity, arrogance are among the failings that led to actor Tom Sizemore's downfall. He details his career arc in "By Some Miracle I Made It Out of There."
By Mike Householder,?Associated Press / April 29, 2013
The cover photo of Tom Sizemore's autobiography, "By Some Miracle I Made It Out of There," is a perfect introduction for what's to come.
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The 51-year-old actor stands looking up at the camera, instantly recognizable because of his work portraying tough-guy characters in such memorable 1990s films as "Saving Private Ryan," ''Heat" and "Natural Born Killers."
His face, though, looks worn, and his eyes are those of a man who's been to hell and back.
And that's exactly what his book details ? Sizemore's ascent to the height of cinema, working for the Steven Spielbergs and with the Robert De Niros of the world ? and his drug-fueled descent that left him imprisoned and out of options.
"I was a guy who'd come from very little and risen to the top," writes Sizemore, who was born and raised in hardscrabble Detroit. "I'd had the multimillion-dollar house, the Porsche, the restaurant I partially owned with Robert De Niro.
"And now I had absolutely nothing."
"By Some Miracle" ? the title is taken from a line uttered by his "Saving Private Ryan" character, Sgt. Mike Horvath ? is a painfully honest look at a man, who, by his own admission, had become a "spoiled movie star" and an "arrogant fool" who at his lowest point was "a hope-to-die addict."
Sizemore recounts his friendships with Hollywood's elite ? Sean Penn, Robert Downey Jr. and De Niro among them ? and his dalliances with actresses Edie Falco, Elizabeth Hurley and Juliette Lewis.
It was during Sizemore's tabloid romance with former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss that his life truly fell apart. He was convicted in 2003 of harassing, annoying and physically abusing Fleiss. While Sizemore admits in the book to being "immature" and says he regrets may of his actions, he denies striking Fleiss.
Readers interested in a behind-the-scenes look at Hollywood's machinations will love Sizemore's book, but it's not for everyone.
It's written in a plain, sometimes coarse prose befitting some of the hard-boiled characters Sizemore brought to life on screen. And the subject matter can at times be difficult to stomach ? sex tapes, copious amounts of drug taking, etc.
But in many ways, it's a story of redemption ? of a man who now is trying to regain a small measure of what he squandered.
"I've led an interesting life, but I can't tell you what I'd give to be the guy you didn't know anything about," Sizemore writes.
Tom, readers who get through your book will know just about everything about you.
___
Mike Householder can be reached at mhouseholder(at)ap.org and http://twitter.com/mikehouseholder
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A potential new treatment strategy for patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is on the horizon, thanks to research by neuroscientists now at the University at Buffalo's Hunter James Kelly Research Institute and their colleagues in Italy and England.
The institute is the research arm of the Hunter's Hope Foundation, established in 1997 by Jim Kelly, Buffalo Bills Hall of Fame quarterback, and his wife, Jill, after their infant son Hunter was diagnosed with Krabbe Leukodystrophy, an inherited fatal disorder of the nervous system. Hunter died in 2005 at the age of eight. The institute conducts research on myelin and its related diseases with the goal of developing new ways of understanding and treating conditions such as Krabbe disease and other leukodystrophies.
Charcot-Marie-Tooth or CMT disease, which affects the peripheral nerves, is among the most common of hereditary neurological disorders; it is a disease of myelin and it results from misfolded proteins in cells that produce myelin.
The new findings, published online earlier this month in The Journal of Experimental Medicine, may have relevance for other diseases that result from misfolded proteins, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, Type 1 diabetes, cancer and mad cow disease.
The paper shows that missteps in translational homeostasis, the process of regulating new protein production so that cells maintain a precise balance between lipids and proteins, may be how some genetic mutations in CMT cause neuropathy.
CMT neuropathies are common, hereditary and progressive; in severe cases, patients end up in wheelchairs. These diseases significantly affect quality of life but not longevity, taking a major toll on patients, families and society, the researchers note.
"It's possible that our finding could lead to the development of an effective treatment not just for CMT neuropathies but also for other diseases related to misfolded proteins," says Lawrence Wrabetz, MD, director of the institute and professor of neurology and biochemistry in UB's School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and senior author on the paper. Maurizio D'Antonio, of the Division of Genetics and Cell Biology of the San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan is first author; Wrabetz did most of this research while he was at San Raffaele, prior to coming to UB.
The research finding centers around the synthesis of misfolded proteins in Schwann cells, which make myelin in nerves. Myelin is the crucial fatty material that wraps the axons of neurons and allows them to signal effectively. Many CMT neuropathies are associated with mutations in a gene known as P0, which glues the wraps of myelin together. Wrabetz has previously shown in experiments with transgenic mice that those mutations cause the myelin to break down, which in turn, causes degeneration of peripheral nerves and wasting of muscles.
When cells recognize that the misfolded proteins are being synthesized, cells respond by severely reducing protein production in an effort to correct the problem, Wrabetz explains. The cells commence protein synthesis again when a protein called Gadd34 gets involved.
"After cells have reacted to, and corrected, misfolding of proteins, the job of Gadd34 is to turn protein synthesis back on," says Wrabetz. "What we have shown is that once Gadd34 is turned back on, it activates synthesis of proteins at a level that's too high?that's what causes more problems in myelination.
"We have provided proof of principle that Gadd34 causes a problem with translational homeostasis and that's what causes some neuropathies," says Wrabetz. "We've shown that if we just reduce Gadd34, we actually get better myelination. So, leaving protein synthesis turned partially off is better than turning it back on, completely."
In both cultures and a transgenic mouse model of CMT neuropathies, the researchers improved myelin by reducing Gadd34 with salubrinal, a small molecule research drug. While salubrinal is not appropriate for human use, Wrabetz and colleagues at UB and elsewhere are working to develop derivatives that are appropriate.
"If we can demonstrate that a new version of this molecule is safe and effective, then it could be part of a new therapeutic strategy for CMT and possibly other misfolded protein diseases as well," says Wrabetz.
And while CMT is the focus of this particular research, the work is helping scientists at the Hunter James Kelly Research Institute enrich their understanding of myelin disorders in general.
"What we learn in one disease, such as CMT, may inform how we think about toxins for others, such as Krabbe's," Wrabetz says. "We'd like to build a foundation and answer basic questions about where and when toxicity in diseases begin."
The misfolded protein diseases are an interesting and challenging group of diseases to study, he continues. "CMT, for example, is caused by mutations in more than 40 different genes," he says. "When there are so many different genes involved and so many different mechanisms, you have to find a unifying mechanism: this problem of Gadd34 turning protein synthesis on at too high a level could be one unifying mechanism. The hope is that this proof of principle applies to more than just CMT and may lead to improved treatments for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Type 1 diabetes and the other diseases caused by misfolded proteins."
###
University at Buffalo: http://www.buffalo.edu
Thanks to University at Buffalo for this article.
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Fertilizers provide mixed benefits to soil in 50-year Kansas studyPublic release date: 29-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Madeline Fisher mfisher@sciencesocieties.org 608-268-3973 American Society of Agronomy
Fertilizing with inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus definitely improves crop yields, but does it also improve the soil?
The latest study to tackle this question has yielded mixed results. While 50 years of inorganic fertilization did increase soil organic carbon stocks in a long-term experiment in western Kansas, the practice seemingly failed to enhance soil aggregate stabilitya key indicator of soil structural quality that helps dictate how water moves through soil and soil's resistance to erosion.
The results of the research, which was carried out in continuous corn that was also irrigated and conventionally tilled, were somewhat surprising to lead author Humberto Blanco, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln soil physicist. The findings appear in the May-June issue of the Journal of Environmental Quality.
Fertilization typically leaves behind more crop residues in fields, he explains, which in turn can boost soil organic carbon levels. But unexpectedly in this case, "we didn't see improvement in soil aggregate stability even though soil organic carbon concentration increased," Blanco says, noting that soil particles usually bind together more strongly in aggregates as soil organic carbon concentrations rise.
He cautions, however, that more research is needed over a wider range of management and climatic conditions, particularly since studies of fertilizers' impacts on soil structural properties, such as aggregate stability, are currently few.
"Definitely the effects of inorganic fertilizer application on soil properties will depend on tillage and cropping systems," Blanco says. "So we need to look at this in other long-term experiments."
In the present study, he and co-author Alan Schlegel studied a randomized and replicated experiment that was set up in 1961 at Kansas State University's Southwest Research-Extension Center in Tribune. The experimental plots of irrigated and tilled (disk/chisel) continuous corn have received six different rates of ammonium nitrate fertilizer (range 0 to 200 pounds/acre) for 50 years. The plots also received two rates of triple superphosphate fertilizer (0 and 18 pounds/acre) for 50 years, and a higher phosphorus rate (36 lb/acre) for 19 years.
Growing corn continuously under conventional tillage and with high inputs of water and fertilizer may seem outmoded, but this management system is "not uncommon," as demand for corn grain and crop residues grow, Blanco says.
When he tested soils from the experimental plots, he saw soil organic carbon concentrations rise gradually with increases in nitrogen fertilization at soil depths from 0 to 6 inches, although not at deeper ones. Similarly, phosphorus fertilization increased soil organic carbon at depths of 0 to 3 inches and 6 to 12 inches.
But Blanco observed a different trend in soil aggregate stability, especially when nitrogen and phosphorus were applied together at high rates. At a depth of three to 12 inches, for example, adding more than 80 pounds of nitrogen per acre reduced the number of stable soil aggregates by 1.5 times when no phosphorus was applied, by 2.1 times at 18 pounds of phosphorus/acre, and by 2.5 times at 36 pounds of phosphorus/acre.
Blanco can't say for certain why this occurred, but he has some hypotheses. Some studies suggest that adding fertilizers rich in ammonium ions may cause soil particles to disperse rather than aggregate, thereby offsetting any positive effects of increased soil organic carbon content. Because tillage periodically disturbs the soil, it may also negate any benefits of fertilization.
Blanco is now testing these hypotheses in three additional long-term experiments in Nebraska that encompass a wider range of tillage practices and cropping systems. The effects of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers on crop yields are well-researched, of course. Likewise, reduced tillage, cover crops, intensified cropping systems, and other conservation practices are known to build the soil long-term. Blanco now wants to see the two come together.
"It's clear that we need inorganic fertilizers to meet the increasing demands for food production, so it's important to look at how the extensive use of inorganic fertilizers affects soil properties in the long term," he says. "The hypothesis is that inorganic fertilization combined with conservation tillagestrip till, no-till, and othersmay improve soil structural properties relative to conventional tillage systems."
###
The full article is available at no charge for 30 days following the date of this release: https://www.agronomy.org/publications/jeq/abstracts/42/3/861.
The Journal of Environmental Quality is a peer-reviewed, international journal of environmental quality in natural and agricultural ecosystems published six times a year by the American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), and the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA). The Journal of Environmental Quality covers various aspects of anthropogenic impacts on the environment, including terrestrial, atmospheric, and aquatic systems.
[ | 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.
Fertilizers provide mixed benefits to soil in 50-year Kansas studyPublic release date: 29-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Madeline Fisher mfisher@sciencesocieties.org 608-268-3973 American Society of Agronomy
Fertilizing with inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus definitely improves crop yields, but does it also improve the soil?
The latest study to tackle this question has yielded mixed results. While 50 years of inorganic fertilization did increase soil organic carbon stocks in a long-term experiment in western Kansas, the practice seemingly failed to enhance soil aggregate stabilitya key indicator of soil structural quality that helps dictate how water moves through soil and soil's resistance to erosion.
The results of the research, which was carried out in continuous corn that was also irrigated and conventionally tilled, were somewhat surprising to lead author Humberto Blanco, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln soil physicist. The findings appear in the May-June issue of the Journal of Environmental Quality.
Fertilization typically leaves behind more crop residues in fields, he explains, which in turn can boost soil organic carbon levels. But unexpectedly in this case, "we didn't see improvement in soil aggregate stability even though soil organic carbon concentration increased," Blanco says, noting that soil particles usually bind together more strongly in aggregates as soil organic carbon concentrations rise.
He cautions, however, that more research is needed over a wider range of management and climatic conditions, particularly since studies of fertilizers' impacts on soil structural properties, such as aggregate stability, are currently few.
"Definitely the effects of inorganic fertilizer application on soil properties will depend on tillage and cropping systems," Blanco says. "So we need to look at this in other long-term experiments."
In the present study, he and co-author Alan Schlegel studied a randomized and replicated experiment that was set up in 1961 at Kansas State University's Southwest Research-Extension Center in Tribune. The experimental plots of irrigated and tilled (disk/chisel) continuous corn have received six different rates of ammonium nitrate fertilizer (range 0 to 200 pounds/acre) for 50 years. The plots also received two rates of triple superphosphate fertilizer (0 and 18 pounds/acre) for 50 years, and a higher phosphorus rate (36 lb/acre) for 19 years.
Growing corn continuously under conventional tillage and with high inputs of water and fertilizer may seem outmoded, but this management system is "not uncommon," as demand for corn grain and crop residues grow, Blanco says.
When he tested soils from the experimental plots, he saw soil organic carbon concentrations rise gradually with increases in nitrogen fertilization at soil depths from 0 to 6 inches, although not at deeper ones. Similarly, phosphorus fertilization increased soil organic carbon at depths of 0 to 3 inches and 6 to 12 inches.
But Blanco observed a different trend in soil aggregate stability, especially when nitrogen and phosphorus were applied together at high rates. At a depth of three to 12 inches, for example, adding more than 80 pounds of nitrogen per acre reduced the number of stable soil aggregates by 1.5 times when no phosphorus was applied, by 2.1 times at 18 pounds of phosphorus/acre, and by 2.5 times at 36 pounds of phosphorus/acre.
Blanco can't say for certain why this occurred, but he has some hypotheses. Some studies suggest that adding fertilizers rich in ammonium ions may cause soil particles to disperse rather than aggregate, thereby offsetting any positive effects of increased soil organic carbon content. Because tillage periodically disturbs the soil, it may also negate any benefits of fertilization.
Blanco is now testing these hypotheses in three additional long-term experiments in Nebraska that encompass a wider range of tillage practices and cropping systems. The effects of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers on crop yields are well-researched, of course. Likewise, reduced tillage, cover crops, intensified cropping systems, and other conservation practices are known to build the soil long-term. Blanco now wants to see the two come together.
"It's clear that we need inorganic fertilizers to meet the increasing demands for food production, so it's important to look at how the extensive use of inorganic fertilizers affects soil properties in the long term," he says. "The hypothesis is that inorganic fertilization combined with conservation tillagestrip till, no-till, and othersmay improve soil structural properties relative to conventional tillage systems."
###
The full article is available at no charge for 30 days following the date of this release: https://www.agronomy.org/publications/jeq/abstracts/42/3/861.
The Journal of Environmental Quality is a peer-reviewed, international journal of environmental quality in natural and agricultural ecosystems published six times a year by the American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), and the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA). The Journal of Environmental Quality covers various aspects of anthropogenic impacts on the environment, including terrestrial, atmospheric, and aquatic systems.
[ | 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.
NEW YORK (AP) ? The off-Broadway show "Giant" and the quickly shuttered Broadway musical "Hands on a Hardbody" lead the Drama Desk nomination race this season, with the British import "Matilda," the audience-friendly "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" and a revival of Stephen Sondheim's "Passion" close behind.
"Giant," based on the 1952 Edna Ferber novel of the same name, made it's off-Broadway premiere at the Public Theater this winter, and "Hands on a Hardbody," a show with songs co-written by Phish founder Trey Anastasio based on a documentary film, both earned nine nominations Monday. "Matilda," ''Passion" and "Drood" each captured seven.
Shows with six nominations are "A Christmas Story: The Musical," ''Chaplin: The Musical," ''Pippin" and "The Other Josh Cohen."
The Drama Desk, an organization of theater journalists and critics, honors both Broadway and off-Broadway productions.
The awards will be presented May 19 at The Town Hall.
After 24 hours of hard work at the Disrupt NY Hackathon, Michael Kolodny, Jingen Lin and Ricardo Falletti demoed us HangoutLater, a nifty hack built on top of the Foursquare API. When you check in and a friend is close to you, it will ask you if you want to hang out later. Then, it will automatically find you a central location to meet. Kolodny and Lin already knew each other before the event. They met Falletti at the Manhattan Center. As they already knew what they wanted to work on, they started developing right away. Over the past 24 hours, the team has not slept a single minute to deliver this hack built in Python using the Django framework. They certainly needed Red Bull and coffee to keep going during the wee hours of the night. Yet, The team had a great time and will certainly take part in other hackathons. When asked whether Kolodny will hang out later with fiends that were not at the hackathon, he said that he wouldn’t use the service this afternoon. It’s time for them to celebrate, or more probably to finally rest. Stage demo coming soon.
In this March 20, 2013 photo, a North Korean flag hangs inside the interior of Pyongyang?s Supreme Court. North Korea says it will soon deliver a verdict in the case of detained American Kenneth Bae it accuses of trying to overthrow the government, further complicating already fraught relations between Pyongyang and Washington. The announcement about Bae comes in the middle of a lull after weeks of war threats and other provocative acts by North Korea against the U.S. and South Korea. Bae, identified in North Korean state media by his Korean name, Pae Jun Ho, is a tour operator of Korean descent who was arrested after arriving with a tour on Nov. 3 in Rason, a special economic zone bordering China and Russia. (AP Photo)
In this March 20, 2013 photo, a North Korean flag hangs inside the interior of Pyongyang?s Supreme Court. North Korea says it will soon deliver a verdict in the case of detained American Kenneth Bae it accuses of trying to overthrow the government, further complicating already fraught relations between Pyongyang and Washington. The announcement about Bae comes in the middle of a lull after weeks of war threats and other provocative acts by North Korea against the U.S. and South Korea. Bae, identified in North Korean state media by his Korean name, Pae Jun Ho, is a tour operator of Korean descent who was arrested after arriving with a tour on Nov. 3 in Rason, a special economic zone bordering China and Russia. (AP Photo)
In this March 20, 2013 photo, a North Korean flag hangs inside the interior of Pyongyang?s Supreme Court. North Korea says it will soon deliver a verdict in the case of detained American Kenneth Bae it accuses of trying to overthrow the government, further complicating already fraught relations between Pyongyang and Washington. The announcement about Bae comes in the middle of a lull after weeks of war threats and other provocative acts by North Korea against the U.S. and South Korea. Bae, identified in North Korean state media by his Korean name, Pae Jun Ho, is a tour operator of Korean descent who was arrested after arriving with a tour on Nov. 3 in Rason, a special economic zone bordering China and Russia. (AP Photo)
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) ? North Korea announced Saturday that an American detained for nearly six months is being tried in the Supreme Court on charges of plotting to overthrow the government, a crime that could draw the death penalty if he is convicted.
The case involving Kenneth Bae, who has been in North Korean custody since early November, further complicates already fraught relations between Pyongyang and Washington following weeks of heightened rhetoric and tensions.
The trial mirrors a similar situation in 2009, when the U.S. and North Korea were locked in a standoff over Pyongyang's decision to launch a long-range rocket and conduct an underground nuclear test. At the time, North Korea had custody of two American journalists, whose eventual release after being sentenced to 12 years of hard labor paved the way for diplomacy following months of tensions.
Bae was arrested in early November in Rason, a special economic zone in North Korea's far northeastern region bordering China and Russia, according to official state media. In North Korean dispatches, Bae, a Korean American, is called Pae Jun Ho, the North Korean spelling of his Korean name.
The exact nature of his alleged crimes has not been revealed, but North Korea accuses Bae, described as a tour operator, of seeking to overthrow North Korea's leadership.
"In the process of investigation he admitted that he committed crimes aimed to topple the DPRK with hostility toward it," the state-run Korean Central News Agency said Saturday. "His crimes were proved by evidence. He will soon be taken to the Supreme Court of the DPRK to face judgment."
DPRK is the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. No timing for the verdict issued at the austere Supreme Court in Pyongyang was given.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. government is "aware of reports that a U.S. citizen will face trial in North Korea" and that officials from the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang had visited Bae on Friday. She said she had no other information to share.
Because Washington and Pyongyang do not have diplomatic relations, the Swedish Embassy in North Korea represents the United States in legal proceedings.
Friends and colleagues described Bae as a devout Christian from Washington state but based in the Chinese border city of Dalian who traveled frequently to North Korea to feed the country's orphans.
At least three other Americans detained in recent years also have been devout Christians. While North Korea's constitution guarantees freedom of religion, in practice only sanctioned services are tolerated by the regime.
Under North Korea's criminal code, crimes against the state can draw life imprisonment or the death sentence.
In 2009, American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were sentenced to hard labor for trespassing and unspecified hostile acts after being arrested near the border with China and held for four months.
They were freed later that year to former President Bill Clinton, who flew to Pyongyang to negotiate their release in a visit that then-leader Kim Jong Il treated as a diplomatic coup.
Including Ling and Lee, Bae is at least the sixth American detained in North Korea since 2009. The others eventually were deported or released.
"For North Korea, Bae is a bargaining chip in dealing with the U.S.," said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University in Seoul, South Korea. "The North will use him in a way that helps bring the U.S. to talks when the mood slowly turns toward dialogue."
As in 2009, Pyongyang is locked in a standoff with the Obama administration over North Korea's drive to build nuclear weapons.
Washington has led the campaign to punish Pyongyang for launching a long-range rocket in December and carrying out a nuclear test, its third, in February.
North Korea claims the need to build atomic weapons to defend itself against the United States, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea and over the past two months has been holding joint military drills with South Korea that have included nuclear-capable stealth bombers and fighter jets.
Diplomats from China, South Korea, the U.S., Japan and Russia have been conferring in recent weeks to try to bring down the rhetoric and find a way to rein in Pyongyang before a miscalculation in the region sparks real warfare.
South Korean defense officials said earlier in the month that North Korea had moved a medium-range missile designed to strike U.S. territory to its east coast.
The Korean Peninsula remains in a technical state of war because the three-year Korean conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, in 1953.
___
Associated Press writers Jean H. Lee in Pyongyang; Sam Kim and Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea, and Tom Strong in Washington contributed to this report. Follow Lee, AP's Korea bureau chief, at www.twitter.com/newsjean and Sam Kim at www.twitter.com/SamKim_AP.
This April 22, 2013 file photo provided by Millennium shows actor Zach Braff at the DeLeon Tequila special screening of "The Iceman" at the Arclight in Los Angeles. In the wake of the enormously successful ?Veronica Mars? Kickstarter campaign, Zach Braff is turning to crowd-funding to help realize a goal he?s had since his 2004 film ?Garden State?: make another movie. The ?Scrubs? star on Wednesday, April 22, 2013 launched a campaign to raise $2 million from fans on Kickstarter. (AP Photo/ Millennium, Todd Williamson)
This April 22, 2013 file photo provided by Millennium shows actor Zach Braff at the DeLeon Tequila special screening of "The Iceman" at the Arclight in Los Angeles. In the wake of the enormously successful ?Veronica Mars? Kickstarter campaign, Zach Braff is turning to crowd-funding to help realize a goal he?s had since his 2004 film ?Garden State?: make another movie. The ?Scrubs? star on Wednesday, April 22, 2013 launched a campaign to raise $2 million from fans on Kickstarter. (AP Photo/ Millennium, Todd Williamson)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Zach Braff has met his goal on Kickstarter, raising $2 million in three days to fund his follow-up to "Garden State."
The actor-director's crowd-funding campaign follows Rob Thomas' wildly successful use of Kickstarter to finance a movie of the defunct TV series "Veronica Mars." Thomas pulled in $2 million in less than a day, eventually gathering more than $5.7 million in 30 days.
But some observers have criticized Hollywood stars for using the Kickstarter website to dip into the pockets of their loyal fans. Braff has said this is the only way for him to direct his first film since "Garden State" with final cut and his desired casting.
After passing his goal Saturday, the "Scrubs" star said on Twitter: "I will not let you down. Let's go make a killer movie."
All Critics (120) | Top Critics (28) | Fresh (112) | Rotten (8)
The harmonies they strike in this reality-inspired charmer are sweetly sublime.
You could drive an Abrams tank through the film's plot holes, but you'll likely be too busy enjoying yourself to bother.
"The Sapphires" feels like a movie you've already seen, but it's nonetheless thoroughly enjoyable, like a pop song that's no less infectious when you know every word.
"The Sapphires" sparkles with sass and Motown soul.
Sapphires is hardly a cinematic diamond mine. But this Commitments-style mashup of music and melodrama manages to entertain without demanding too much of its audience.
A surefire crowdpleaser with all the ingredients for the type of little-movie-that-could sleeper success that Harvey Weinstein has nurtured in years and award seasons past.
You've seen this story before, but never pulled off with so much joie de vivre.
They can put a song across just like the Dreamgirls. What's not to like?
Exuberant but fairly formulaic.
Doesn't always mix its anti-prejudice message and its feel-good nostalgia with complete smoothness. But despite some ragged edges it provides a reasonably good time.
Director Wayne Blair -- another veteran of the stage show -- finds his footing during the film's many musical numbers.
Despite the prosaic plot and reserved approach taken by Blair, Briggs, and Thompson, it's tough to get cynical about such a warmhearted picture that strives to tell so uplifting a story.
A movie with enough melody and camaraderie to cover up its lack of originality.
Draining most of the blood, sweat and tears from a true story, this music-minded movie capably covers a song we've heard a hundred times before.
"Sapphires," which was inspired by a true story, is propelled by a strong sense of music's power to connect people and change lives.
Fires on all cylinders when it drops all pretense and allows its talented cast to simply belt out a series of pure, unfiltered slices of ear candy.
A rousing soundtrack helps to compensate for some of the historical embellishments in this Australian crowd-pleaser.
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All Critics (108) | Top Critics (28) | Fresh (102) | Rotten (7) | DVD (1)
There's enough real evidence supporting the theory that Kubrick was a genius, and that's pretty entertaining all by itself.
It's about the human need for stuff to make sense - especially overpowering emotional experiences - and the tendency for some people to take that sense-making to extremes.
The results can range from enlightening - Kubrick did like to mess with things - to embarrassing. But it's never dull. "Room 237" shines.
You don't have to buy any of the nutty theories in Room 237 to appreciate what director Rodney Ascher has accomplished.
It's nuts, in the best possible way.
Their imaginings are not far removed from the deconstuctionist gobbledygook that has hammerlocked academic film and literary scholarship. But here at least the gobbledygook is entertaining.
Termitic film nerds could chow down for years on the wood chips.
You know when "Room 237? starts getting really scary? When the people in the film start making sense.
Kubrick fans and movie geeks will want to check this film out as soon as possible
Kubrick fans will take 'Shining' to 'Room 237.'
The credibility of these theories ranges from faintly plausible to frankly ridiculous, but Ascher isn't interested in judging them; his movie is more about the joys of deconstruction and the special kind of obsession that movies can inspire.
Some of the interpretations seem more of a stretch than others but all are entertainingly presented by director Rodney Ascher. (The movie) serves as a testament to Stanley Kubrick's cinematic mastery.
As fascinating as it is frustrating
It is nice to see a doc that makes you smile instead of making you angry. Anyone who is a fan of Stanley Kubrick will eat this up.
Powered by a deep and abiding affection for both The Shining and Kubrick in general, Room 237 is an amuse-bouche of remix culture.
Room 237 is an extended riff of the "Paul is dead" variety. But, you know what? Sometimes a guy moving a table in the background is just a guy moving a table in the background.
A diverting excursion for lovers of Kubrick's films...even if, at over a hundred minutes, it does go on a bit long.
A fascinating doc that will get both film geeks and conspiracy theorists alike drooling, it all but guarantees you'll never watch The Shining quite the same way again.
Confounding, eye-opening, and often hilarious.
I suspect that Ascher's intention was to dynamize an academic exercise, but these constant, sundry inserts render the tone as corny and glib as a VH1 special.
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CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) -- Assembly Republicans are renewing their opposition to a plan being pushed by some Senate colleagues to seek a 10 percent tax on Nevada's gold and silver mine operators.
"Members of the Assembly Republican caucus, many of whom represent areas of the state where mining is a vital partner in their local communities, are not anxious to single out the mining industry at a time when Nevada's economy is still trying to recover," Assemblyman James Oscarson, R-Pahrump, said in statement released late Thursday.
Six senators led by Minority Leader Michael Roberson, R-Henderson, are proposing a ballot question to raise the mining tax as an alternative to a 2 percent business tax that will be on the 2014 ballot.
The business tax option was an initiative backed by the Nevada State Education Association and other labor groups that gathered more than 150,000 signatures to send the matter to the 2013 Legislature. Legislators failed to act on it within 40 days as required by law, automatically sending it to voters next year.
Backers of that tax say it would raise $800 million annually for education.
Senate Republicans said their plan, which has yet to be introduced as a bill, would raise $600 million during the two-year budget cycle to fund education. It would be contingent upon ultimate approval of SJR15 to remove the mining industry's 5 percent tax cap on net proceeds that is in the state constitution. That resolution has cleared the Senate and awaits action the Assembly, where passage is likely. It would then go to voters in 2014 for ratification.
Without the support of Assembly Republicans and Gov. Brian Sandoval, it's questionable whether the Senate Republicans' plan will advance.
"Given Nevada's still high unemployment numbers, now would not be a good time to propose a tax that more than doubles the tax burden on a single industry that has been one of the state's strongest job creators," said Assemblyman John Ellison, R-Elko.
Tim Crowley, president of the Nevada Mining Association, has said the industry would support efforts to broaden the state's tax base and called the targeting of a specific industry "short-sighted."
Assembly Republicans agree, saying legislators "should be looking at tax policies that are both broad and equitable and mitigate the financial burden on businesses and individuals."
Assembly Minority Leader Pat Hickey, R-Reno, said if voters approve SJR15 next year, then lawmakers in 2015 "will decide if and how mining taxes should be reset."
After a false alarm, HP is keeping to its initial promise of delivering its Slate 7 Android tablet this month -- and with a few days to spare, no less. The seven-inch device, which first popped up at MWC back in February, is now on sale in the US through the company's retail site, for the low, low price of $170. Click on the source link below to get your hands on the Beats-rocking Nexus 7 competitor.
SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc's stock sank on Friday on concern about slowing growth at the world's largest Internet retailer.
Late Thursday the company reported slower revenue growth and offered a disappointing outlook for this quarter, exacerbating uncertainty about the health of its business beyond the United States.
Amazon faces a sluggish European economy and inconsistent efforts to break into emerging markets such as China, where competition from the likes of Alibaba is intense.
"Amazon's now growing at about 2x eCommerce, compared to 3x a year ago," Doug Anmuth, an analyst at J.P. Morgan, wrote in a note to investors following the company's results.
Traditional retailers are losing less market share to Amazon than they used to as they increase selection online, price-match more aggressively, and work to combat showrooming, Anmuth argued.
Amazon shares were down 7.3 percent at $254.63 late on Friday morning on the Nasdaq.
(Writing by Ben Berkowitz; editing by Edwin Chan, Lisa Shumaker and Matthew Lewis)
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Global miner Vale SA signed an agreement with the Argentine government on Friday that will allow the Brazilian company to leave the $6 billion Rio Colorado potash mining project, a company spokeswoman told Reuters on Friday.
The agreement could put an end to months of uncertainty for Vale , which suspended work on the fertilizer project in December and announced its intention to pull out in March.
Under the terms of the agreement, Vale's existing concession at the mine remains in place for up to four years, the spokeswoman said. In the meantime, Vale is free to seek a buyer or partner for the venture.
Between December and March, Vale sought and failed to get the Argentine government to approve tax breaks to help ease rising costs related to surging Argentine inflation and the country's tightly controlled official exchange rate.
Vale said the inflation and exchange rate could make the project unviable.
People familiar with Vale's plans have said the company, the world's second-biggest miner, planned to sell the project in efforts to recoup the $2.2 billion it has already spent on the mine and on railway and port improvements needed to move the potash to market.
In a conference call with analysts and investors on Thursday, Vale said it is seeking new potash projects in Brazil and abroad to replace the Rio Colorado project.
Since approving plans to pull out and seek a buyer for the project, Vale and the Argentine government have been at loggerheads over the fate of at least 6,500 jobs at the Rio Colorado site.
Despite the suspension, an Argentine court ordered Vale to maintain work sites and continue paying its workers.
Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff said on Thursday, after meeting with Argentine President Cristina Fernandez in Buenos Aires, that she was confident Vale and Argentina would come to an agreement.
The Rio Colorado project includes an 800-km (500-mile) rail line from the mine in Mendoza province to Bahia Blanca, an Atlantic Ocean port.
Potash, a potassium salt, is a key fertilizer and is considered a strategic product for Brazil. While it is the world's largest producer of coffee, orange juice, sugar and beef and the No. 2 exporter of soybeans, Brazil must import the vast bulk of its fertilizers, including about 90 percent of its potash.
Potassium is one of three key plant nutrients along with nitrogen and phosphorous.
(Reporting by Sabrina Lorenzi.; Writing by Jeb Blount; Editing by Gary Hill and Lisa Shumaker)
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Public release date: 29-Apr-2013
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After 24 hours of hard work at the Disrupt NY Hackathon, Michael Kolodny, Jingen Lin and Ricardo Falletti demoed us HangoutLater, a nifty hack built on top of the Foursquare API. When you check in and a friend is close to you, it will ask you if you want to hang out later. Then, it will automatically find you a central location to meet. Kolodny and Lin already knew each other before the event. They met Falletti at the Manhattan Center. As they already knew what they wanted to work on, they started developing right away. Over the past 24 hours, the team has not slept a single minute to deliver this hack built in Python using the Django framework. They certainly needed Red Bull and coffee to keep going during the wee hours of the night. Yet, The team had a great time and will certainly take part in other hackathons. When asked whether Kolodny will hang out later with fiends that were not at the hackathon, he said that he wouldn’t use the service this afternoon. It’s time for them to celebrate, or more probably to finally rest. Stage demo coming soon.
This continues?our series?highlighting new positions posted at Twitter each week.?Check out past listings?here.
And here they are: