Warming Fix

LONDON (Reuters) - A series of giant pipes in the oceans to mix surface and deeper water could be an emergency fix for the Earth's damaged climate system, the scientist behind the Gaia theory said on Wednesday.

James Lovelock, whose Gaia hypothesis that planet Earth is a living entity has fuelled controversy for three decades, thinks the stakes are so high that radical solutions must be tried -- even if they ultimately fail.

In a letter to the journal Nature, he proposes vertical pipes 100 to 200 meters long and 10 meters wide be placed in the sea, so that wave motion pumps up water and fertilizes algae on the surface.

This algal bloom would push down carbon dioxide levels and also produce dimethyl sulphide, helping to seed sunlight-reflecting clouds.

"If we can't heal the planet directly, we may be able to help the planet heal itself," Lovelock, of the University of Oxford, and co-author Chris Rapley, from London's Science Museum, said.

The two scientists argued it was unlikely any of the well-intentioned technical or social schemes for limiting carbon would restore the planet's status quo.

International climate experts have warned that global warming, blamed mainly on greenhouse gases emitted by burning fossil fuels, will bring more droughts, heatwaves, floods and rising sea levels.

Commenting on Lovelock's idea, Brian Hoskins, professor of meteorology at the University of Reading, said it was scientifically sound but there were huge unknowns.

"This is the latest in a line of geo-engineering solutions," he said. "In my opinion, our uncertainties over the likely regional impact of what our greenhouse gas emissions may do is high. The uncertainties over what these solutions may do is an order of magnitude higher."

© Reuters 2007, by Ben Hirschler.

Toward a More Perfect Espresso

Italian roaster Illycaffè will introduce this month a coffee machine in the U.S. Called Hyper Espresso, it pairs a custom machine produced by Illy, which runs $600 to $800 for home versions, with a coffee-filled plastic capsule, also made by Illy.

Like other single-serve systems, including Nestle's Nespresso and Kraft's Tassimo, it's meant to make it easier for groggy consumers or harried waiters to make a serviceable cup.

But it also represents a departure: Current one-cup setups take the familiar brewing process of an espresso or drip coffee maker and put it inside a disposable disc or cartridge.

Illy's system, on the other hand, tweaks the espresso recipe--changing parameters like temerature and pressure that baristas and jittery espresso geeks long considered absolute.

From an article appearing August 31, 2007 in The Wall Street Journal by Jeff Grocott.

Irish Gangster in Sicily?

The fugitive gangster James "Whitey" Bulger and his girlfriend, Catherine Greig, may have been spotted in Sicily in April by a vacationing federal Drug Enforcement Administration agent who shot a brief video of the couple before they slipped away.

Among 'Ten Most Wanted'

The FBI posted the video and a still photo today on its website and launched a media blitz in Italy and throughout Europe in an effort to boost the international profile of Bulger, 78, one of the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted," and Greig, 56, who is believed to be traveling with him.

The video taken April 10 shows a white-haired couple strolling past shops in the seaside resort town of Taormina. The man is wearing Bulger's trademark sunglasses and baseball cap and dressed in khaki pants and a sweater over a plaid shirt. He's accompanied by a woman with short hair, also wearing sunglasses.

Investigators who have been tracking Bulger for years agree it's "a very good look-alike, probably the best they've seen in a very long time."

Warned to Flee

Bulger, a longtime FBI informant, was warned to flee just before his January 1995 federal racketeering indictment in Boston by his former handler, retired FBI agent John J. Connolly Jr.

Bulger has eluded authorities ever since, despite a worldwide manhunt. Since he fled, he's been charged with 19 murders. The FBI is offering a $1 million reward for information that leads to his capture.

Obstruction of Justice

Connolly was convicted in 2002 of racketeering and obstruction of justice for protecting Bulger from prosecution and is serving 10 years in prison. The former agent is also awaiting trial in Florida on charges that he helped Bulger and fellow informant, Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi, orchestrate a 1982 gangland slaying.

From an article printed in the International Herald Tribune by Shelley Murphy of the Boston Globe on September 14, 2007.

Don't Ask About Him

Jane Wyman, who starred in the television series "Falcon Crest" while her ex-husband Ronald Reagan was in the White House, died of undisclosed causes Sept. 10 at her home in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

Off Limits

She forbade reporters to ask about the U.S. President. She said she felt she had long proved herself as an actress and celebrity in her own right and walked away from those who questioned her about subjects she considered off-limits.

Too Boring

While making "Johnny Belinda," she ended her eight-year marriage to Reagan, then a B-list actor starting his political career in the Screen Actors Guild. Initially attracted to his modest and mild demeanor, Ms. Wyman said she they grew apart as she focused more on her fast-moving career and he on his political interests.

She once described becoming bored by his breakfast table commentary "expounding on the far right, far left, the conservative right, the conservative left."

A Daughter and Son

They had a daughter, Maureen (who died in 2001) and adopted a son, Michael, now a right-wing radio talk show host. Another child died in 1947, soon after birth, and Ms. Wyman left for New York. She announced to a reporter her dissatisfaction with the marriage but neglected to tell Reagan, who tried to win her back before eventually giving up.

In 1952, Reagan married actress Nancy Davis, who became his spouse during his governorship of California and during his eight years in the White House.

Oscar Winning

Jane Wyman, who won an Academy Award as best actress for "Johnny Belinda," had a career spanning six decades and more than 80 films, Ms. Wyman earned Oscar nominations for "The Yearling" (1946), as the backwoods wife of Gregory Peck; "The Blue Veil" (1951), as a nursemaid viewed over many decades; and "Magnificent Obsession" (1954), as a blind woman romanced by a playboy (Rock Hudson) who accidentally killed her saintly husband.

Early Role Cut

Her biggest early-career role, in a party scene in the William Powell-Carole Lombard screwball comedy "My Man Godfrey" (1936), was mostly cut.

She grieved at the time but years later tried to have a sense of humor:

"I'm still in the picture, next to the monkey and the organ grinder . . . That monkey bit me, too."

'Stage Fright'

The next year, she went to England to film "Stage Fright" with director Alfred Hitchcock. He reportedly accepted her reluctantly, complaining she was more a star than an actress. He fought with her as she tried to glamorize the outfits she was supposed to wear while playing a poor drama student trying to clear a friend (Richard Todd) of murder.

'Essentially Alone'

She was comfortable with solitude, telling one reporter:

"I have always felt that I was essentially alone at the beginning of my life and that I will be essentially alone at the end of it."

Adapted from an obituary appearing in The Washington Post by Adam Bernstein on September 11, 2007.

Second Life

Ric Hoogestraat sits at his computer with the blinds drawn, smoking a cigarette. He chats online with a tall, slim redhead while his wife, Sue, watches television in the living room.

'Curiosly Real Dimensions'

He's never met the woman outside of the computer world of Second Life, a well-chronicled digital fantasyland with more than eight million registered 'residents' who get jobs, attend concerts and date other users. He's never so much as spoken to her on the telephone. But their relationship has taken on curiously real dimensions.

They own two dogs, pay a mortgage together and spend hours shopping at the mall and taking long motorcycle rides. Their bond is so strong that three months ago, Mr. Hoogestraat asked Janet Spielman, the 38-year-old Canadian woman who controls the redhead, to become his virtual wife.

The woman he's legally wed to is not amused. Says Sue Hoogestraat, 58, an export agent for a shipping company, who has been married to Mr. Hoogestraat for seven months:

"It's really devastating. You try to talk to someone or bring them a drink, and they'll be having sex with a cartoon."

Only a Game

Mr. Hoogestraat plays down his online relationship, assuring his wife that it's only a game. While many busy people can't fathom the idea of taking on another set of commitments, especially imaginary ones, Second Life and other multiplayer games are moving into the mainstream.

The site now has more than eight million registered 'residents,' up from 100,000 in January 2006. A typical 'gamer' spends 20 to 40 hours a week in a virtual world.

Says Byron Reeves, a professor of communication at Stanford University:

"People respond to interactive technology on social and emotional levels much more than we ever thought. People feel bad when something bad happens to their avatar, and they feel quite good when something good happens."

Bounced Between Jobs

Before discovering Second Life, Mr. Hoogestraat had bounced between places and jobs, working as an elementary schoolteacher and a ski instructor, teaching computer graphics and spending two years on the road selling herbs and essential oils at Renaissance fairs.

Mr. Hoogestraat was fascinated by the virtual world's free-wheeling, Vegas-like atmosphere. With his computer graphics background, he quickly learned how to build furniture and design clothing.

Mr. Hoogestraat's real-life wife is losing patience with her husband's second life:

"It's sad; it's a waste of human life. Everybody has their hobbies, but when it's from six in the morning until two in the morning, that's not a hobby, that's your life."

Online Support Group

Mrs. Hoogestraat joined an online support group for spouses of obsessive online gamers called EverQuest Widows, named after another popular online fantasy game that players call Evercrack.

Mrs. Hoogestraat says she's not ready to separate.

"I'm not a monster; I can see how it fulfills parts of his life that he can no longer do because of physical limitations, because of his age. His avatar, it's him at 25. He's a good person. He's just fallen down this rabbit hole."

Better Than Real Life

Sitting alone in the living room in front of the television, Mrs. Hoogestraat says she worries it will be years before her husband realizes that he's traded his real life for a pixilated fantasy existence, one that doesn't include her.

"Basically, the other person is widowed. This other life is so wonderful; it's better than real life. Nobody gets fat, nobody gets gray. The person that's left can't compete with that."

From an article appearing in the Wall Street Journal by Alexandra Alter on August 10, 2007.

Next Year in Jerusalem

Police said Sunday they have cracked a cell of young Israeli neo-Nazis accused in a string of attacks on foreign workers, religious Jews, drug addicts and gays.

Soviet Immigrants

Eight immigrants from the former Soviet Union have been arrested in recent days in connection with at least 15 attacks, and a ninth fled the country, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, in the first such known cell to be discovered in Israel.

All the suspects are in their late teens or early 20s and have Israeli citizenship, Rosenfeld said.

News of the arrests came as a shock in Israel, which was founded nearly 60 years ago as a refuge for Jews in the wake of the Nazi Holocaust and remains a most sensitive subject. Any forms of anti-Semitism around the world outrage Israelis, and the discovery of such violence in the country's midst made the front pages of newspapers and dominated talk on morning radio shows.

'Heil Hitler!'

Police found knives, spiked balls, explosives and other weapons in the suspects' possession, Rosenfeld said. One photo that was seized showed one suspect holding an M16 rifle in one hand and in the other, a sign reading "Heil Hitler," he added.

Police discovered the skinhead ring after investigating the desecration of two synagogues that were sprayed with swastikas in the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva more than a year ago, Rosenfeld said.

Part of International Movement

Police computer experts have determined they maintained contacts with neo-Nazi groups abroad, and materials seized include a German-language video about neo-Nazis in the U.S.

The group planned its attacks, and its targets were foreign workers from Asia, drug addicts, homosexuals, punks and Jews who wore skullcaps. In one case they discussed planning a murder, Rosenfeld said, without providing details.

Not Haters, Just Deniers

Israel doesn't specifically have a hate crimes law, and suspects in past cases have been tried as Holocaust deniers, he said.

The Anti-Defamation League, a U.S.-based group that fights anti-Semitism, condemned the neo-Nazi cell, but urged Israelis not to stigmatize the entire Russian immigrant community based on the acts of what appeared to be a marginal group.

Their statement read . .

"The suspicion that immigrants to Israel could have been acting in praise of Nazis and Hitler is an anathema to the Jewish state and is to be repelled. The tragic irony in this is that they would have been chosen for annihilation by the Nazis they strive to emulate."

Amos Herman, an official with the semiofficial Jewish Agency, which works on behalf of the government to encourage immigration to Israel, said the phenomenon was not representative of the Russian immigration.

He called the gang a group of frustrated, disgruntled youths trying to strike at the nation's most sensitive core.

"We thought that it would never happen here, but it has and we have to deal with it."

Adapted from an Associated Press story by Amy Teibel appearing September 9, 2007.

Double Oops

The discovery of an ancient penguin fossil has shaken u a debate over when modern birds evolved, writes Jeff Hecht in New Scientist.

Paleontologists long believed that most birds and all dinosaurs died at around the same time, about 65 million years ago. The few avian survivors evolved rapidly to produce today's modern birds, who have little in common with their dinosaur-era forebears.

But according to some molecular biologists, the genes of modern birds suggest they were flying as far back as 100 million years ago, overlapping with dinosaurs. That theory gained credence after paleontologists described a bird fossil they called Waimanu, which looked like a penguin, had a cormorant-like head and lived in New Zealand about 62 million years ago.

It is the second fossil of a modern-style bird from that period--the first was a waterfowl. Because both kinds of birds are relatively high up the evolutionary chain, they would have to have emerged earlier, around 90 million to 100 million years ago.

adapted from an item appearing in the New York Times

Fugitive Fundraiser Captured

GRAND JUNCTION, COLORADO -- Fugitive political fundraiser Norman Hsu, who skipped out on San Mateo County authorities this week rather than face sentencing for a 1992 fraud conviction, was apprehended Thursday night by federal and local lawmen in Grand Junction, Colo.

Captured at Hospital

Authorities said Hsu was taken into custody at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction at 7 p.m. local time. He had been on the lam for almost two days after failing to appear in a Redwood City courtroom Wednesday to surrender his passport.

Sick on Train

Hsu was taken off an eastbound passenger train at the Grand Junction train station earlier in the day by paramedics who requested a backboard to move him, said Sgt. Lonnie Chavez with the Grand Junction Police Department. The exact nature of Hsu's condition was unclear, Chavez said.

Disappearing Act Deja Vu

Hsu's disappearing act seemed to be a reprise of a move he pulled 15 years ago, when he failed to show up for sentencing in the same grand theft case. Hsu was facing up to three years in state prison, a $10,000 fine and restitution payments after pleading no contest to a single count of grand theft in what prosecutors described as a $1 million fraud scheme.

But while free on bail after his plea, Hsu dropped from sight for 15 years, apparently spending time in Hong Kong, the Philippines and Taiwan, only to emerge in recent years as a seemingly wealthy New York resident who donated generously to Democratic political campaigns, regularly attended fundraisers and was photographed with party leaders.

Two Million Dollar Bail

A week ago, Hsu, 56, surrendered to San Mateo County sheriff's deputies in Redwood City after press accounts linked him to the earlier grand theft case. He spent a few hours in county jail before posting $2 million bail and agreeing to surrender his passport.

After Hsu posted bail, his attorney, Jim Brosnahan, sent a legal assistant to Hsu's New York condominium Monday to retrieve the passport but was unable to find it after a 90-minute search.

'Hillraiser'

Hsu, listed as a "Hillraiser" committed to bringing in $100,000 or more to the presidential campaign of New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, has given an estimated $600,000 of his own money to candidates ranging from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Assemblywoman Fiona Ma to presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.

The size and scope of Hsu's contributions made him one of the party's largest individual contributors. While he gave $23,000 to Clinton and $7,000 to Obama, he also gave $62,000 to New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, $50,000 to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, and $50,000 to the New York State Democratic Party.

Ponzi Scheme

In the 1991-92 grand theft case, Hsu was charged with bilking about 20 investors, including his ex-girlfriend, out of about $1 million in connection with a business that was supposed to provide latex gloves to another firm - only no gloves were ever bought or sold, prosecutors said.

Prosecutor Ron Smetana said at a preliminary hearing . .

"What Mr. Hsu was in the business of was running a Ponzi scheme. He was taking money and spending part of it on himself and returning it as it was available. As with any Ponzi scheme, the first ones in and the first ones out always do quite well. Those (who) hope that their investment will continue and stay to the end tend to lose their shorts."

Kidnapped and Rescued

After the glove business collapsed in April 1990, Hsu was kidnapped four months later in San Francisco by a Chinatown gang leader in an effort to collect a debt from him, police said. The abduction was foiled after the car they were riding in ran a red light in Foster City and was pulled over by police, who rescued Hsu, authorities said.

Adapted from a story appearing in The San Francisco Chronicle by Jaxon Van Derbeken and John Coté on September 7, 2007

Female Elvis Dies

Janis Martin rose to fame in the 1950s as Elvis Presley’s label mate at RCA Victor, which promoted her as the Female Elvis. Her first record and biggest hit, “Will You Willyum,” was released in 1956, when she was just 15. The song made the Billboard Top 10 for one week and sold about 750,000 copies.

She appeared on the “Tonight” show and “American Bandstand” and toured with Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Faron Young, Hank Snow, Porter Wagoner and Jim Reeves. She became a star in Europe, where she is still popular, Mr. Whitt said.

Ms. Martin was voted Billboard’s most promising female artist in 1956. She formed her own band, the Marteens, and played clubs and fairs before retiring from show business in 1958. She remained largely inactive in the business until the late 1970s, when the rockabilly revival led to extensive tours in Europe and introduced Ms. Martin to a new generation of fans.

She had been scheduled to perform at the Americana, an international rockabilly show in Britain, on July 4, but had to cancel because of her illness, Mr. Whitt said.

Along with performing, Ms. Martin managed the Danville Golf Club.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by a sister, Geraldine Connor of South Boston, Va.; a granddaughter; and a great-granddaughter. She had a son, who died, by a previous marriage.

“She was a free-spirited lady who was devoted to her fan base,” Mr. Whitt said in a telephone interview. “She would stay for hours after a show and never leave a person standing, taking pictures and signing for them for four or five hours.”

The cause was cancer.

adapted from an Associated Press report