Northrop Grumman's MQ-4C Triton long-range drone completes first flight (video)

Northrop Grumman's MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft is one step closer to serving the Navy in reconnaissance and surveillance missions, having just completed its first flight. The drone spent 80 minutes in the air, reaching an altitude of 20,000 feet. That's child's play compared to the aircraft's full potential: according to the Navy, it can soar at up to 60,000 feet and stay airborne for as long as 30 hours, due in no small part to its 130-foot wingspan. By 2015, the Triton will undergo operational testing and evaluation, and the Navy hopes to add additional aircraft to its existing fleet (currently just two strong). Check out the long-range spy plane in action just past the break.

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Source: Defense Tech

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Bay Bowl: San Francisco to host 50th Super Bowl

BOSTON (AP) ? Build a new stadium, host the Super Bowl to show it off.

The NFL rewarded the San Francisco Bay Area on Tuesday with hosting rights for the 2016 championship game, slotting the 50th Super Bowl in the 49ers' high-tech Santa Clara stadium scheduled to open next year.

The league also voted at its spring meetings to give the 2017 game to Houston, which last hosted the big game in 2004.

"After losing a Super Bowl, it feels really good to win a Super Bowl," said 49ers CEO Jed York, whose team lost to Baltimore in the NFL title game in February. "We are so excited to be able to put on the 'Golden Super Bowl' in the Golden State."

The back-to-back, first-ballot votes also sent a message to South Florida that it needs to settle its squabble over renovations at the Miami Dolphins' stadium before it will get a chance to host its 11th Super Bowl.

"I can tell you that I think the stadium is a very import part of any of these proposals. The condition of the stadium is a factor," commissioner Roger Goodell said. "I think it's the stadium, at the end of the day. Their proposal was really quite exciting. I think owners would like to be in Miami. But it's competitive right now."

The 49ers are preparing to begin play in 2014 in what they are billing as the most technologically advanced stadium in the world ? the first cashless, ticketless venue in NFL championship history, with WiFi capability for 75,000 people. The 2016 Super Bowl will be the first in northern California since the 1985 game at Stanford Stadium.

When Goodell announced the 2016 decision, members of the San Francisco bid committee let out a roar of approval, then toasted each other with champagne. Asked what he believed swayed the owners to vote for San Francisco, York added: "It's the willpower of an entire area that gave an overwhelming push for us."

It was the first time in a decade that a Super Bowl was awarded on the first ballot. York said 25 percent of the proceeds from the game will be donated to fight poverty in the Bay Area.

"The Bay Area has been waiting for a (title) game since 1985. We have a stadium now," said Daniel Lurie, a leader of the San Francisco bid. "We are just thrilled and couldn't be happier about this."

Houston staged the 2004 Super Bowl, which is perhaps best known for Janet Jackson's halftime "wardrobe malfunction." That was just two years after Reliant Stadium opened.

"I think a lot of them just felt like, 'Hey, it's Houston's time,'" Texans owner Robert McNair said. "They knew we could do a good job. From 2004 to '17, that's 13 years. So I agree, I think it's Houston's time."

Miami has hosted 10 of them ? including the Jets' upset of the Colts in 1969 ? and is tied with New Orleans for the most. But South Florida got rejected twice after the Florida Legislature did not support financing to renovate Sun Life Stadium ? a likely backlash over the Marlins' new baseball stadium.

Multibillionaire Dolphins owner Stephen Ross contends $350 million in stadium improvements are badly needed, but he doesn't want to pay for them by himself. Nor does he want a scaled-down renovation of the 26-year-old facility.

"I suspect there's a couple of state reps down in Miami-Dade County where I live who are going to look at this and realize this was a huge mistake," South Florida bid committee chairman Rodney Barreto said. "We had the better bid. I could just look at the body language from the NFL staff. It's a shame. We may not see another Super Bowl for another 10 years."

Ross said South Florida "won't stop trying" to get one.

Next Feb. 2, the game goes outdoors in a cold-weather site for the first time, at MetLife Stadium in the New Jersey Meadowlands. If that gamble pays off for the NFL, look for other cities in similar climates ? Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver ? to bid for future Super Bowls.

The 2015 game will be played in the Phoenix area.

Earlier Tuesday, owners approved a $200 million loan for stadium construction in Atlanta. The multipurpose stadium could cost as much as $1 billion, with team owner Arthur Blank committed to funding most of it. Blank called the decision by the team owners an "important milestone" in moving the project forward. The owners also approved financing for renovations of stadiums in Charlotte and Philadelphia.

Speaking with reporters after the votes, Goodell also said:

? The draft will be held between May 8 and May 17 next year because the venue, Radio City Music Hall, is hosting an Easter show in April. He expects the draft will remain in May, with other adjustments to the NFL's calendar, including the dates for the combine and the opening of free agency, to be discussed with the players' union.

? A third international game in upcoming seasons could be added now that both games for 2013 in London have sold out.

? The Pro Bowl could be moved from Hawaii back to mainland cities after the 2014 game, but will still be held on the Sunday one week before the Super Bowl.

? Expanding the playoffs, and cutting two games off the preseason, still are being discussed. A reduced preseason could happen with either the current 16-game regular season or with an 18-game schedule.

___

AP Pro Football Writer Barry Wilner contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bay-bowl-san-francisco-host-50th-super-bowl-072421818.html

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Questions for Obama on drones, Guantanamo before his counterterrorism speech

President Barack Obama at the Oval Office in Washington on May 20, 2013. (Larry Downing/Reuters)President Barack Obama will defend his counterterrorism policies in a speech at National Defense University on Thursday afternoon, looking to reassure Americans concerned about his hugely controversial targeted assassination strategy with drones and revive efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay prison for suspected extremists.

Obama?s remarks come as key lawmakers have begun debating whether to revise and update the post-9/11 law that underpins most of the so-called war on terrorism, legislation known as the Authorization for Use of Military Force, or AUMF. Critics worry the executive branch has interpreted the AUMF as a blank check for a global campaign over which lawmakers have only limited oversight.

Ahead of the speech, here are some questions about Obama?s approach to the anti-terror campaign begun when al-Qaida militants slammed hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

-- How long does Obama think the conflict against al-Qaida will last?

It?s been called "the forever war.? Some critics have scoffed at the very idea of a ?war on terrorism,? arguing that because terrorism is a tactic, the United States might as well be fighting a ?war on flanking maneuvers.? Obama once seemed to share this view, at least in these remarks from 2004.

What does he think now? Does he agree with Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict Michael Sheehan, who told the Senate Armed Services Committee in a May 16 hearing that the conflict will last "at least 10 to 20 years" from today?

-- Are drones creating more extremists than they are killing?

At an April 30, 2013, press conference, Obama renewed his call to close the detention facility for suspected extremists at the U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Why? "It is critical for us to understand that Guantanamo is not necessary to keep America safe. It is expensive. It is inefficient. It hurts us in terms of our international standing. It lessens cooperation with our allies on counterterrorism efforts. It is a recruitment tool for extremists. It needs to be closed."

Will he address that same question now for drones? There is ample evidence that America's drone strikes are vastly unpopular across the Muslim world. While U.S. officials play down civilian casualties and insist that the United States takes every precaution to minimize them, such tragedies occur and plainly fuel anti-U.S. sentiment.

There is precedent for a president asking the U.S. intelligence community to make such an assessment. A formal 2006 study by America?s intelligence community found that the Iraq invasion and occupation was creating terrorists faster than U.S. forces could take them out.

-- How will America respond to drone strikes by other countries?

The Obama administration has argued that it has the right to kill suspected terrorists inside other countries, with or without the host country's green light. The president reaffirmed that right in May 2011 when he order the raid on a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, that killed terror mastermind Osama bin Laden.

So what happens when China or Russia assassinates someone they consider a terrorist? It's hardly an idle concern. Countries are racing to make up lost time in the race for drones. U.S. ally France, for instance, is in talks to buy drones from the United States and Israel. Others aren't far behind.

There are related questions. Will Obama push for some kind of global regulatory structure affecting drone sales, something akin to nonproliferation regimes affecting the transfer of nuclear or chemical weapon technology?

-- How many Americans, total, have been killed by their government since 2009?

The administration revealed late Wednesday that four Americans have been killed in drone strikes "outside of areas of active hostilities" since 2009: radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and three others who were ?not specifically targeted.? What about inside areas of active hostilities, like Iraq or Afghanistan?

- How will Obama overcome bipartisan opposition to closing Guantanamo Bay?

The first lawmaker to deal a major blow to Obama's promise to close the facility was a Democrat, then-House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey. And with the campaign ahead of the 2014 midterms already heating up, vulnerable Democrats may not rush to support the president's approach.

-- How does an American get off Obama's "kill list"?

Apart, of course, from the way that results in drone pilots half a world away high-fiving each other? If there are no formal charges to contest, where do you go if you think your government has wrongly targeted you for assassination? Or, as the author of a harrowing book on Obama's counterterrorism strategy, Jeremy Scahill, puts it: "How do you surrender to a drone?"

-- Why can't the next president just roll back any changes Obama makes?

A White House official said late Wednesday that Obama's speech would coincide with "the signing of new Presidential Policy Guidance that lays out the standards under which we take lethal action."

But presidents have a tough enough time fulfilling their own campaign promises (see: Guantanamo Bay, Obama's pledge to close), never mind abiding by their predecessors' rules. Whatever unilateral steps Obama announces on Thursday, a future president could likely undo.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/questions-obama-drones-guantanamo-counter-terrorism-speech-141259101.html

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Tamerlan Tsarnaev Linked To 2011 Murder - Business Insider

NBC News is reporting new details that link Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev to a 2011 triple homicide.

From NBC News' Twitter feed:

On Sept. 11, 2011, three men were found in a Boston-area apartment with their throats slit and their bodies covered in marijuana.

Tamerlan described one of the murder victims, 25-year-old Brendan Mess,?as his best friend. He and Mess were once roommates and boxed together.

The two others who died were 31-year-old?Erik Weissman and 37-year-old Raphael Teken, both of Cambridge.

Since the bombings, people have been speculating that Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev ? the two brothers suspected of the Boston marathon bombing attack that killed three people and injured about 260 others ? were tied to the killings.

Law enforcement officials told?ABC?News that "mounting"?forensic evidence from the murders?links Tamerlan and Dzhokhar to the crime.?Cell phone records reportedly placed the brothers in the area of the murders on the day they were committed, and some crime scene forensic evidence?provided a match to the Tsarnaev brothers.

Investigators are reportedly still looking into whether Dzhokhar, the younger Tsarnaev brother, played a role in the triple homicide. Sources earlier told ABC News that authorities needed to wait for more definitive DNA testing before bringing an indictment against Dzhokhar. Tamerlan was killed in a police shootout shortly after the marathon bombings.

Ibragim Todashev, the man?shot and killed during an interview with FBI agents late Tuesday, reportedly confessed to being involved in the murder,?investigators told?NBC?News.?Todashev, a 27-year-old Chechen, used to live in the Boston area and was friends with Tamerlan. They knew each other through mixed martial arts fighting.

Todashev reportedly implicated Tamerlan in the triple murder, but attacked an FBI agent before he could sign a written confession.

Law enforcement officials told NBC News that the two men wanted to steal drugs from the victims and decided to kill them so there were no witnesses to the crime.

After the killings,?Middlesex District Attorney Gerard Leone released a statement saying "based on the present state of the investigation, it is believed that the victims knew the assailant or assailants, and the attacks were not random." Police also said they believed the murders were drug-related.

An unnamed official told The New York Times that authorities are investigating whether Tsarnaev and Todashev were drug dealers.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/tamerlan-tsarnaev-linked-to-2011-murder-2013-5

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Galifianakis pays rent for once-homeless woman

Celebs

Gael Fashingbauer Cooper TODAY

9 hours ago

COLEMAN-RAYNER

Zach Galifianakis escorted Mimi Haist to the "Hangover Part II" premiere and after-party in 2011.

Zach Galifianakis' character, Alan, is always doing the unexpected in the "Hangover" movies -- and the actor is apparently the same way in real life.

Galifianakis has helped an 87-year-old Los Angeles woman climb out of homelessness, finding her an apartment and paying her rent, and he has escorted her to premieres of his films, the New York Daily News reports.

The actor met Elizabeth "Mimi" Haist in 1994 when he visited the Fox Laundry laundromat in Santa Monica, Calif., where she volunteered, subsisting on tips from customers, the Daily News reports.

Just two years ago, he learned Haist was homeless and had been staying with various friends. Galifianakis arranged a small apartment for her, paying her rent, and introduced her to actress Renee Zellweger, who furnished the apartment, according to the newspaper.

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Mimi Haist at the Santa Monica laundromat where she met Zach Galifianakis.

In a 2010 interview conducted in the laundromat, Haist told Richard Stearns from Partners Trust Real Estate Brokerage that she had "no family left."

Before Monday night's Los Angeles premiere of the actor's new movie, "The Hangover Part III," the Daily News reported that Galifianakis would be escorting Haist to the event. "I?m looking forward to it," Haist told the Daily News. "I like the excitement of it."

Although Galifianakis was very visible at the event on Monday, there was no confirmation that Haist went as his guest. The premiere itself was overshadowed by the shocking news out of Oklahoma, where a devastating tornado hit Monday.

"Just like with any disasters, you feel silly doing a red carpet thing,"Galifianakis told USA Today.

The actor noted that celebrity hoopla always seemed strange to him, but especially in the storm's wake. "All of this is very bizarre to me and silly," he told USA Today. "The worship of celebrity culture is bad for our culture, to be honest. ... But as far as Oklahoma, obviously, you just hope and pray that things will turn up."

Rock Center: Zach Galifianakis talks to Brian Williams about 'Hangover' films

The actor delighted fans by signing autographs and at one point, climbing into the trunk of a car as if he was going to ride home there before jumping out to ride in the car's back seat.

Reuters

Zach Galifianakis climbed into a car trunk briefly at the Los Angeles premiere of "The Hangover Part III."

Galifianakis' character plays a major role in the final film of the "Hangover" trilogy, which opens May 23.

"If you talk to people who love these movies, they?ll often say they wish they had a friend like Alan, and that?s largely attributable to Zach," director Todd Phillips told the Philippine Star. "He has such sweetness behind his eyes, that he can say and do most anything and you?ll think, ?Oh, he didn?t mean it like that.? So he gets away with all sorts of things."

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/zach-galifianakis-pays-rent-formerly-homeless-woman-6C9993957

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'The Voice' reacts to Oklahoma tornado tragedy

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Brittany Frederick and Ree Hines TODAY

16 hours ago

NBC

Blake Shelton shares his thoughts on the devastation in Oklahoma on "The Voice."

Monday night was a particularly difficult performance show on "The Voice," and that had nothing to do with the typical top-ten stress. A much more important thing occupied the minds of the coaches and performers -- the devastation in Oklahoma following one the deadliest tornadoes in the nation's history.

Coach Blake Shelton, an Oklahoma native, described his feelings about going on with the show in the wake of the tragedy.

"They're going through hell there right now," he said of the folks back home during Monday's show. "When we went live here, I finally set my phone down. The bad news just keeps coming in -- a lot of fatalities, a lot of children. It makes it hard to actually sit here and do this tonight. But I've got a job to do, the team's counting on me, so here I am."

As for his family in particular, Shelton assured that, luckily, they're all safe.

When Team Blake act The Swon Brothers prepared for this week?s ?Voice? performance, they had no idea what their next song would mean to them. Yet after the tornado ravaged their home state, the country duo found themselves taking the stage with heavy hearts too.

?We just want to let everybody know at home (that) we're praying for you,? Colton Swon told the national audience after the pair performed Randy Houser?s ?How Country Feels.?

?Our hearts are definitely going out to you,? agreed Zach Swon.

Speaking after the show, a somber Colton told TODAY.com that the performance was ?just one of those things you've gotta (do). That's how we cope with things, is music. That's what we do. So that felt natural -- and then when you get in front of the crowd and just get that energy going, it's a great feeling. It was hard to enjoy, but at the same time we felt good about it.?

Backstage, Zach Swon reflected on what he loved about his home state. ?The music scene,? he said, naming several major country artists who are also from Oklahoma. ?(There?s) Garth (Brooks), Reba (McEntire), Blake, Vince Gill, Carrie Underwood, (and) Brooks and Dunn.?

Colton Swon was optimistic about the situation. ?Oklahoma's going to pull through this,? he said. ?They've been in these situations before, unfortunately, and it's a very strong state.?

"Voice" fans can see more from the Shelton and the Swons on Tuesday night's live episode at 9 p.m. on NBC. A recap episode, originally scheduled for 8 p.m. , will be preempted to make way for a one-hour special focused on the latest from Oklahoma.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/voice-reacts-oklahoma-tornado-tragedy-6C9996719

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Far-reaching, microvascular damage found in uninjured side of brain after stroke

May 20, 2013 ? While the effects of acute stroke have been widely studied, brain damage during the subacute phase of stroke has been a neglected area of research. Now, a new study by the University of South Florida reports that within a week of a stroke caused by a blood clot in one side of the brain, the opposite side of the brain shows signs of microvascular injury.

Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability in the United States, and increases the risk for dementia.

"Approximately 80 percent of strokes are ischemic strokes, in which the blood supply to the brain is restricted, causing a shortage of oxygen," said study lead author Svitlana Garbuzova-Davis, PhD, associate professor in the USF Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair. "Minutes after ischemic stroke, there are serious effects within the brain at both the molecular and cellular levels. One understudied aspect has been the effect of ischemic stroke on the competence of the blood-brain barrier and subsequent related events in remote brain areas."

Using a rat model, researchers at USF Health investigated the subacute phase of ischemic stroke and found deficits in the microvascular integrity in the brain hemisphere opposite to where the initial stroke injury occured.

The study was published in the May 10, 2013 issue of PLOS One.

The USF team found that "diachisis," a term used to describe certain brain deficits remote from primary insult, can occur during the subacute phase of ischemic stroke. The research discovered diachisis is closely related to a breakdown of the blood-brain barrier, which separates circulating blood from brain tissue.

In the subacute phase of an ischemic stroke, when the stroke-induced disturbances in the brain occur in remote brain microvessels, several areas of the brain are affected by a variety of injuries, including neuronal swelling and diminished myelin in brain structures. The researchers suggest that recognizing the significance of microvascular damage could make the blood-brain barrier (BBB) a therapeutic "target" for future neuroprotective strategies for stroke patients.

The mechanisms of BBB permeability at different phases of stroke are poorly understood. While there have been investigations of BBB integrity and processes in ischemic stroke, the researchers said, most examinations have been limited to the phase immediately after stroke, known as acute stroke. Their interest was in determining microvascular integrity in the brain hemisphere opposite to an initial stroke injury at the subacute phase.

Accordingly, this study using rats with surgically-simulated strokes was designed to investigate the effect of ischemic stroke on the BBB in the subacute phase, and the effects of a compromised BBB upon various brain regions, some distant from the stroke site.

"The aim of this study was to characterize subacute diachisis in rats modeled with ischemic stroke," said co-author Cesar Borlongan, PhD, professor and vice chairman for research in the Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair and director of the USF Center for Aging and Brain Repair. "Our specific focus was on analyzing the condition of the BBB and the processes in the areas of the brain not directly affected by ischemia. BBB competence in subacute diachisis is uncertain and needed to be studied."

Their findings suggest that damage to the BBB, and subsequent vascular leakage as the BBB becomes more permeable, plays a major role in subacute diachisis.

The increasing BBB permeability hours after the simulated stroke, and finding that the BBB "remained open" seven days post-stroke, were significant findings, said Dr. Garbuzova-Davis, who is also a researcher in USF Center for Aging and Brain Repair. "Since increased BBB permeability is often associated with brain swelling, BBB leakage may be a serious and life-threatening complication of ischemic stroke."

Another significant aspect was the finding that autophagy -- a mechanism involving cell degradation of unnecessary or dysfunctional cellular components --plays a role in the subacute phase of ischemia. Study results showed that accumulation of numerous autophagosomes within endothelial cells in microvessels of both initially damaged and non-injured brain areas might be closely associated with BBB damage.

Autophagy is a complex but normal process usually aimed at "self-removing" damaged cell components to promote cell survival. It was unclear, however, whether the role of autophagy in subacute post-ischemia was promoting cell survival or cell death.

More than 30 percent of patients who survive strokes develop dementia within two years, the researchers noted.

"Although dementia is complex, vascular damage in post-stroke patients is a significant risk factor, depending on the severity, volume and site of the stroke," said study co-author Dr. Paul Sanberg, USF senior vice president for research and innovation. "Ischemic stroke might initiate neurodegenerative dementia, particularly in the aging population."

The researchers conclude that repair of the BBB following ischemic stroke could potentially prevent further degradation of surviving neurons.

"Recognizing that the BBB is a therapeutic target is important for developing neuroprotective strategies," they said.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/hSrZUwvaQpE/130520133747.htm

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