Friday, April 12, 2013

Shaped Like an Apple? Beware Kidney Disease


Are apples bad for the kidneys? The answer is yes, if you're talking about an apple-shaped body in which fat is concentrated in the abdominal area.
Researchers in the Netherlands have found that excess abdominal or belly fat— as seen in the so-called apple-shaped body, as opposed to the pear-shaped body where the fat is lower down on the hips and buttocks — can significantly raise the risk of kidney disease even among people with a modest-size belly and who are generally not overweight.

While the connection between obesity and kidney disease has long been established, this latest study is the first to show how just a small increase in abdominal fat begins to strain the kidneys, reducing the blood flow to these organs and raising the local blood pressure within them. [

The study appears today (April 11) in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs, just below the rib cage, that remove waste from the blood stream and send it out of the body as urine. People can function well with just one kidney. Nevertheless, chronic kidney disease is on the rise. More than 10 percent of American adults now have some form of kidney disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Among diabetics, 35 percent have kidney disease.

Most forms of kidney disease have no cure, except through a kidney transplant from a healthy donor. Kidney disease is the eighth leading cause of death in the United States, according to the CDC, and approximately 90,000 Americans are waiting for a transplant.

To further investigate the known connection between obesity and kidney disease, researchers led by Arjan Kwakernaak, a medical doctor and a Ph.D. candidate at the University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands, analyzed kidney profiles and waist-to-hip ratios in 315 healthy individuals with an average body mass index (BMI) of about 25 kg/m2. The waist-to-hip ratio is a measure of central body fat distribution; and a BMI of 25 is considered the upper border or normal weight.

Even among healthy subjects, higher waist-to-hip ratios were directly associated with lower kidney function, lower kidney blood flow and higher blood pressure within the kidneys.

"We found that apple-shaped persons — even if totally healthy and with a normal blood pressure — have an elevated blood pressure in their kidneys," Kwakernaak said. "When they are also overweight or obese, this is even worse."

An apple-shaped body was associated with a twofold-increased risk of high renal blood pressure, seen in both men and women, Kwakernaak said.
The researchers don't know why this is happening. The reason is not because fat is weighing down on kidneys, crushing them, Kwakernaak said. The researchers speculate that the cause might be from the fat triggering inflammation or insulin resistance, which can impede blood flow, or fat creating free radicals, which can damage the kidneys at a cellular level.

"Our study now provides a possible mechanism for this increased renal risk" seen in obesity, for further investigation, Kwakernaak told LiveScience.
As for anyone with a pear-shaped body, you're not off the hook. Researchers at University of California Davis found that gluteal adipose tissue — that is, that fat around the backside, thought to be harmless, if not useful for sitting for long periods — secretes proteins associated with inflammation and insulin resistance, the latter being a precursor to diabetes. Their study was published last month in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

No word yet, though, from researchers on the healthfulness of a starfruit-shaped body.

credit:livescience.com


Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Angelina Jolie opens school in Afghanistan

Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie has reportedly opened a school in Afghanistan through her newly-established foundation - The Education Partnership for Children of Conflict.

The 37-year-old has funded the girls educational establishment that caters to about 200 to 300 students. The school is located just outside Kabul and the actress hopes it will be the first of many schools she sets up.

Jolie is also planning to fund more schools by selling her own self-designed accessories collection, the Style of Jolie, to retail stores for the first time with 100 percent profits going to her foundation. 

"Beyond enjoying the artistic satisfaction of designing these jewels, we are inspired by knowing that our work is also serving the mutual goal of providing for children in need," femalefirst.co.uk quoted Jolie as saying.

The actress, who is also United Nations Goodwill Ambassador, is known for her charity work. Last year, Jolie was left in tears after visiting a Syrian refugee camp.

credit:newindianexpress.com

Quantum Cryptography: On Wings of Light

Can worldwide communication ever be fully secure? Quantum physicists believe they can provide secret keys using quantum cryptography via satellite. Unlike communication based on classical bits, quantum cryptography employs the quantum states of single light quanta (photons) for the exchange of data. Heisenberg's uncertainty principle limits the precision with which the position and momentum of a quantum particle can be determined simultaneously, but can also be exploited for secure information transfer. Like its classical counterpart, quantum cryptography requires a shared key with which the parties encode and decode messages. However, quantum mechanical phenomena guarantee the security of quantum key distribution. Because quantum states are fragile, interception of the key by an eavesdropper will alter the behavior properties of the particles, and thus becomes detectable.

This encrypting strategy is already being used by some government agencies and banks. Data are sent either along glass-fiber cables or through the atmosphere. However, optical key distribution via these channels is limited to distances of less than 200 km, due to signal losses along the way. In 2007, LMU physicist Harald Weinfurter and his group successfully transmitted a key over 144 km of free space between ground stations on the islands of Tenerife and La Palma. Distribution of such keys via satellite networks would make secure data transmission possible on a global scale.


Optical data from a mobile transmitter
A team led by Weinfurter and Sebastian Nauerth at the Physics Faculty at LMU Munich, in collaboration with the German Center for Aeronautics and Space Research (DLR), has now succeeded in optically transmitting quantum information between a ground station and a plane in flight. This is the first time that quantum cryptography has been used for communication with a mobile transmitter.
The quantum channel was integrated into DLR's laser-based, wireless communications system, allowing DLR's expertise and experience with the system to be utilized in the realization of the experiment.
"This demonstrates that quantum cryptography can be implemented as an extension to existing systems," says LMU's Sebastian Nauerth. In the experiment, single photons were sent from the aircraft to the receiver on the ground. The challenge was to ensure that the photons could be precisely directed at the telescope on the ground in spite of the impact of mechanical vibrations and air turbulence. "With the aid of rapidly movable mirrors, a targeting precision of less than 3 m over a distance of 20 km was achieved," reports Florian Moll, project leader at the DLR's Institute for Communication and Navigation. With this level of accuracy, William Tell could have hit the apple on his son's head even from a distance of 500 m.
With respect to the rate of signal loss and the effects of air turbulence, the conditions encountered during the experiment were comparable to those expected for transmission via satellite. The same holds for the angular velocity of the aircraft. The success of the experiment therefore represents an important step towards secure satellite-based global communication.

Eat fish, add 2 yrs to your life

Older adults with higher levels of blood omega-3 levels —fatty acids found almost exclusively in fish and seafood — are likely to lower their overall mortality risk by 27% and mortality risk from heart disease by about 35%, a new Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Washington study has found. 
   

 It found older adults with highest blood levels of the fatty acids on an average lived 2.2 years longer than those with lower levels. Earlier studies have shown that consuming baked or broiled fish reduced the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by almost five-fold. The latest results showed that people who did so at least once a week had better preservation of grey matter volume on MRI in brain areas at risk for Alzheimer’s disease. 
   

 In MCI, memory loss is present, but to a lesser extent than in Alzheimer’s. People with MCI often go on to develop Alzheimer’s. Grey matter volume is crucial to brain health. When it remains higher, brain health is maintained. Decrease in grey matter volume indicate that brain cells are shrinking. “Although eating fish has long been considered part of a healthy diet, few studies have assessed blood omega-3 levels and total deaths in older adults,” said lead author Dariush Mozaffarian. “Our findings support the importance of adequate blood omega-3 levels for cardiovascular health, and suggest that later in life these benefits could actually extend the years of remaining life.” 
   

 The study is the first to look at how objectively measured blood biomarkers of fish consumption relate to total mortality.

credit: TNN

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Easter Science: 6 Facts About Jesus


He may be the most famous man who ever lived, but surprisingly little is known about his life.
This Sunday (March 31), more than 2 billion Christians will celebrate Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead. While there is no scientific way to know whether that supernatural event at the heart of Christianity actually happened, historians have established some facts about his life.
From his birth to his execution by the Romans, here are six facts about the historical Jesus.

1. His birth … in a manger?
Most historians believe Jesus was a real man. To test the veracity of biblical claims, historians typically compare Christian accounts of Jesus' life with historical ones recorded by Romans and Jews, most notably the historians Flavius Josephus and Cornelius Tacitus.
And though a manger may or may not have figured prominently in the birth, scholars do agree that Jesus was born between 2 B.C. and 7 B.C. as part of the peasant class in a small village called Nazareth in Galilee. Historians also back the claim that Joseph, Jesus' father, was a carpenter, meaning Jesus would have gone into the family profession as well.
2. A mystical baptism
One of the pivotal moments in the New Testament is Jesus' baptism in the wilderness by a radical mystic named John the Baptist. Most historians believe this event actually occurred, and that Jesus experienced some sort of vision that led him to begin preaching. In the New Testament, Mark 1:10 (The New American Bible, Revised Edition) describes Jesus seeing "the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him." Jesus is then tempted by Satan in the wilderness for 40 days, the passage continues.
The Jewish historian Josephus mentions the mystical activities of John the Baptist, as well as his execution by King Herod.

3. Reformer
After his vision, Jesus began to preach that the Earth could be changed into a "Kingdom of God." Jesus' message of reform was deeply rooted in the Jewish tradition, and he likely never viewed himself as creating a new religion per se — just reforming the one he was born into, scholars say.
4. A wise teacher
Josephus not only mentions Jesus, in one passage he also describes him as a wise man and a teacher. (The passage is controversial because many historians believe a Christian author later added in phrases such as "He was the messiah" to the text, leading a few scholars to doubt the authenticity of the passage as a whole). Most historians agree, however, that Jesus was viewed as a teacher and healer in Galilee and Judea.
5. Timing of Jesus' crucifixion
Several sources mention Jesus' crucifixion at the hands of Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect. Christian Gospels say the skies darkened for hours after the crucifixion, which historians viewed either as a miracle or a portent of dark times to come. Using astronomy, later historians have used this mention to pinpoint the death of Christ. Some tie the crucifixion to a one-minute 59-second total solar eclipse that occurred in 29 C.E., whereas others say a second total eclipse, blocking the sun for four minutes and six seconds, in 33 C.E. marked Jesus' death. (C.E. stands for Common Era or Christian Era, and is an alternative name for anno Domini, or A.D.)
Death by crucifixion was one of the goriest ends the Romans meted out, and it was typically reserved for slaves and those seen to be challenging Roman authority.
6. Historical relics
The historical veracity of various physical relics, such as the crucifixion nails and crown of thorns Jesus wore on the cross, have decidedly less historical or scientific backing. Most scientific studies suggest that these relics originated long after Jesus died. But the most famous relic of Jesus, the shroud of Turin, may be on more solid footing: Whereas some parts of the shroud date to A.D. 1260, other analyses have suggested that the shroud is about as old as Jesus.
Another more recent finding, a scrap of papyrus from the early Christian era referring to Jesus' wife was unveiled last year, to much skepticism. Since then, evidence has come out to suggest the so-called Gospel of Jesus' Wife is a forgery, though the jury may still be out on that relic.

credit:livescience.com



You Are What You Eat

A pair of papers published in Cell by A.J. Marian Walhout, PhD, co-director of the Program in Systems Biology and professor of molecular medicine at UMMS, describe how metabolism and physiology are connected to diet. Using C. elegans, a transparent roundworm often used as a model organism in genetic studies, Dr. Walhout and colleagues observed how different diets produce differences in gene expression in the worm that can then be linked to crucial physiological changes.


"In short, we found that when C. elegans are fed diets of different types of bacteria, they respond by dramatically changing their gene expression program, leading to important changes in physiology," said Walhout. "Worms fed a natural diet of Comamonas bacteria have fewer offspring, live shorter and develop faster compared to worms fed the standard laboratory diet of E. coli bacteria."
Walhout and colleagues identified at least 87 changes in C. elegans gene expression between the two diets. Surprisingly, these changes were independent of the TOR and insulin signaling pathways, gene expression programs typically active in nutritional control. Instead, the changes occur, at least in part, in a regulator that controls molting, a gene program that determines development and growth in the worm. This connection provided one of the critical links between diet, gene expression and physiology detailed in "Diet-induced Development 
Acceleration Independent of TOR and Insulin in C. elegans." "Importantly, these same regulators that are influenced by diet in the worms control circadian rhythm in humans," said Lesley MacNeil, PhD, a postdoctoral student in the Walhout Lab and first author on the paper. "We already know that circadian rhythms are affected by diet. This points to the real possibility that we can now use C. elegans to study the complex connections between diet, gene expression and physiology and their relation to human disease."

Strikingly, Walhout and colleagues observed that even when fed a small amount of the Comamonas bacteria in a diet otherwise composed of E. coli bacteria, C. elegans exhibited dramatic changes in gene expression and physiology. These results provide the tantalizing possibility that different diets are not "healthy" or "unhealthy" but that specific quantities of certain foods may be optimal under different conditions and for promoting different physiological outcomes.
"It's just as true that a small amount of a 'healthy' food in an otherwise unhealthy diet could elicit a beneficial change in gene expression that could have profound physiological effects," said Walhout.
Additional research by the Walhout Lab further explored the possibility of using C. elegans as a model system to answer complex questions about disease and dietary treatment in humans. Detailed in the "Integration of Metabolic and Gene Regulatory Networks Modulates the C. elegans Dietary Response," Walhout and colleagues found that disrupting gene expression involved with C. elegans metabolism lead to metabolic imbalances that interfered with the animal's dietary response; a result that may have a direct correlation to the treatment of a class of human genetic diseases.
"To better understand the molecular mechanisms by which diet effects gene expression in the worm, we performed complimentary genetic screens looking for genes that gave an abnormal response to diet," said Emma Watson, a doctoral student in the Walhout Lab and co-first author on the secondCell study together with Dr. MacNeil. "What we discovered was a large network of metabolic and regulator genes that can integrate internal cellular nutritional needs and imbalances with external availability," said Watson. "This information is then communicated to information processing genes in the worm to illicit the appropriate response in the animal."
These findings suggest the existence of a genetic regulatory network that facilitates rapid responses to internal physiological and external environmental cues in order to maintain a metabolic balance in the worm. Interestingly, a similar phenomenon is involved in mutations that lead to inborn metabolic diseases in humans; classes of genetic diseases resulting from defects in genes that code for enzymes which help convert nutrients into usable materials in the cell. These diseases are usually treated by dietary interventions designed to avoid build-up of toxins and to supplement patients with metabolites that may be depleted.
According to Dr. Walhout, it may be possible to use this genetic regulatory network in C. elegans to compare how certain dietary regimens can be used to mitigate these metabolic diseases. It may also be used to screen for drugs or other small molecules that can produce the same results as dietary treatments.
Though Walhout and colleagues started out asking a fundamental dietary question in the worm, what they got was an answer directly related to disease and treatment in humans, thus establishing C. elegans as a model system for elucidating the mechanisms for dietary responses, inborn metabolic diseases and the connections between them.
"It's very hard to answer questions about the complex interaction between diet, gene expression and physiology in humans for many reasons," said Walhout. "Now, we can use a very tractable system -- namely C. elegans -- to ask precise questions about which components in diet can effect gene expression and physiological traits and ultimately disease, in humans."

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Freddie Mercury "smuggled Diana in to gay bar in disguise.



New book claims Queen frontman took princess to nightspot dressed as a male model



Comedienne Cleo Rocos says in her new book, The Power of Positive Drinking, that she, 

Mercury and fellow comedian Kenny Everett dressed Diana in an army jacket, cap and 

sunglasses for a night out at gay haunt the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, in South London.

Rocos says they met the princess at Everett's penthouse and revealed their plans to go to a 

gay pub later in the evening.



"Freddie told her we were going to the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, a notorious gay bar in London. 

Diana said she had never heard of it and said she'd like to come," says Rocos.


"Now this was not a good idea. 'It's not for you,' said Kenny, 'it's full of hairy gay men. 

Sometimes there are fights outside.' This didn't put her off in the slightest.

"When we walked in... we felt she was obviously Princess Diana and would be discovered at 

any minute.


"But people seemed to blank her. She sort of disappeared but she loved it."

Rocos says regulars' attention was diverted to her, Mercury and Everett and the princess was 

able to order drinks and enjoy the night out.

The Princess of Wales was killed in a car crash in Paris and 1997 and Mercury died in 1991 

after an Aids-related illness.

CREDIT:thesun.co.uk


Saturday, March 30, 2013

Swarming Robots Could Be the Servants of the Future

Researchers in the Sheffield Centre for Robotics, jointly established by the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University, have been working to program a group of 40 robots, and say the ability to control robot swarms could prove hugely beneficial in a range of contexts, from military to medical.

The researchers have demonstrated that the swarm can carry out simple fetching and carrying tasks, by grouping around an object and working together to push it across a surface.

The robots can also group themselves together into a single cluster after being scattered across a room, and organize themselves by order of priority.

Dr Roderich Gross, head of the Natural Robotics Lab, in the Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering at the University of Sheffield, says swarming robots could have important roles to play in the future of micromedicine, as 'nanobots' are developed for non-invasive treatment of humans. On a larger scale, they could play a part in military, or search and rescue operations, acting together in areas where it would be too dangerous or impractical for humans to go. In industry too, robot swarms could be put to use, improving manufacturing processes and workplace safety.


The programming that the University of Sheffield team has developed to control the robots is deceptively simple. For example, if the robots are being asked to group together, each robot only needs to be able to work out if there is another robot in front of it. If there is, it turns on the spot; if there isn't, it moves in a wider circle until it finds one.
Dr Gross said: "We are developing Artificial Intelligence to control robots in a variety of ways. The key is to work out what is the minimum amount of information needed by the robot to accomplish its task. That's important because it means the robot may not need any memory, and possibly not even a processing unit, so this technology could work for nanoscale robots, for example in medical applications."
This research is funded by a Marie Curie European Reintegration Grant within the 7th European Community Framework Programme. Additional support has been provided by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.


Friday, March 29, 2013

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Thursday, March 28, 2013

March 28th's Celestial Sandwich


If you're up in late evening on Thursday, March 28th, check out the brilliant, nearly full Moon and its two lovely attendants: the ringed planet Saturn and the icy-white star Spica.

Just about every night, after the 11 o'clock news and just before heading off to bed, I take a moment to walk outside and look up into the sky. If it's clear, there's always something worth seeing. Last Sunday, for example, I was greeted by the close pairing of a crescent Moon and Jupiter. Lovely, indeed!

f it's clear on the night of Thursday, March 28th, I'll be on the lookout (and you should too) for a just-past-full Moon perched midway between the icy-white star Spica to its upper right and creamy-hued Saturn to its lower left. This grouping won't be particularly tight — Saturn and Spica are currently 17° apart, about twice the width of your fist at arm's length — but it will still look nice.

This wide spacing actually helps you take in the trio. Ordinarily such a big, fat Moon would wash out anything in its vicinity. But Spica is no slouch: it's a 1st-magnitude blue giant. Saturn reaches opposition late next month, so it's already a half magnitude brighter than Spica. Look for the trio after 11 p.m., after they've had some time to clear the eastern horizon and are well up in the southeast.

Were I on the other side of the world (say, in Mumbai, India), the Moon would appear dramatically close to Spica on the 28th and just 3° from Saturn the next night. In fact, the Moon actually occults (covers up) Spica beginning around 13h Universal Time as seen from much of southeast Asia and northern Australia. Details are available here.

For the rest of us, March 28th's celestial sandwich will simply be a nice moment to enjoy. Reflected sunlight takes about 1¼ seconds to reach us from the Moon's bleak, dusty surface. For Saturn, now just under 9 astronomical units (830 million miles) away, the travel time is 74 minutes. And the light from Spica, a star that shines 12,000 times brighter than our Sun, has been traveling about 260 years — since well before the American Revolution.

CREDIT: skyandtelescope.com

HAMSA:A totally new concept in fragrance!


A totally new concept in fragrance!

Hamsa is an exquisitely pleasing scent, carefully crafted with sacred oils from cultures and faiths around the world. The fragrance is packaged in a beautiful bottle adorned with the powerful and ancient symbol of the Hamsa, which provides protection from evil and promotes peace and prosperity. The combination of the positive powers of the sacred oils and the protection and good fortune from the Hamsa symbol make Hamsa Perfume more than just another fragrance.

The Concept

Hamsa is an age old mystical symbol that is said to bring good luck and protection from evil. Hamsa is also becoming popular as a symbol of tolerance, peace and unity since it used by Muslims and Jews alike. Designer Celine Leora has combined notes of White Lotus, Frankincense, Black Currant and Coffee, creating a fragrance that represents Eastern, Western, and Middle Eastern culture and spiritualism. By wearing the fragrance one is protected when going out of the home, while the Hamsa symbol on the bottle protects the home and its occupants


The Designer



Designer Celine Leora has been fascinated and inspired by the power of the Hamsa amulet since her childhood in N. Africa. Called by different names: The hand of Fatima or the hand of Miriam possesses mystical powers to protect those who surround themselves with it. Celine Leora has carefully crafted a magnificent fragrance and a strikingly beautiful bottle that emits strength, positive energy and good fortune. Celine traces her own personal history through the mystique of the Hamsa. From her birth in Morocco, her childhood in the Middle East, to Paris, Switzerland and now in the United States, the Hamsa has always inspired and protected her throughout her journey through life. She shares this energy, strength and power with all, in this exotic fragrance and bottle. "I developed the Idea of using the Hamsa symbol on perfume bottles, so that the symbol and its power will always be present in the home. The perfume, or cologne, can carry a scent that reminds the wearer of their positive spiritual potential."



The Oils

White Lotus:

White LotusThe fragrance of the lotus flowers essence is seen as a spiritual elixir. It helps in meditation by calming the mind; promoting peace, serenity and improving concentration. Additionally, lotus flower essence can hasten recovery from illness.

Frankincense:

FrankincenseFrankincense is considered the holy anointing oil in the Middle East and has been used in religious ceremonies for thousands of years. The fragrance is known to increase spiritual awareness, promote meditation, improve attitude and uplift spirits.

Black Currant:

Coffee BeensThe fragrance of Black Currant inspires heightened sensuality. It can enhance physical awareness by increasing sensitivity of the senses.

Coffee:

Coffee BeensThe fragrance of coffee has a calming effect while at the same time it stirs activity in the brain. Coffee aromas can work to help reduce depressive symptoms.




Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Angelina Jolie joins anti-rape drive

Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie has teamed up with Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague for a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to highlight concerns over sexual violence.

The two will visit a rescue camp for women north-west of Goma to raise awareness about warzone rape.

"This visit is about hearing first hand from people who have endured rape and sexual violence during the conflict in the eastern DRC. We want justice for the victims and we want to know how the world can protect thousands of women, men and children at risk of rape in many other conflict zones. We want to persuade governments around the world to give this issue the attention it deserves," femalefirst.co.uk quoted Jolie as saying.

"Unless the world acts, we will always be reacting to atrocities, treating survivors rather than preventing rape in the first place," added Jolie, who is a UN special envoy. 

Hague hopes to present his findings to the forthcoming Group of Eight summit in London. 

He is calling on the G8 leaders to agree that rape and sexual violence constitute breaches of the Geneva Conventions governing warfare. 

"More often than not the international community looks away, the perpetrators of these brutal crimes walk free and the cycle of injustice and conflict is repeated," he said.

"It is time for real, meaningful action by the governments of the world to say that the use of rape as a weapon of war is unacceptable, to bring perpetrators to justice and to lift the stigma from survivors. This is my personal priority for the meeting of G8 foreign ministers," he added.

CREDIT:newindianexpress.com

A Minute With: 'Twilight' author Stephenie Meyer on 'The Host'


(Reuters) - "Twilight" author Stephenie Meyer brings her romantic futuristic thriller "The Host" to movie fans on Friday, trading the vampires and werewolves for aliens who invade planet Earth, taking over human bodies.
The film stars, Saoirse Ronan as Melanie Stryder, whose body is taken over by an alien soul called Wanda. Eventually the two-in-one female team work to save the human race from total annihilation.
Meyer, 39, who was raised Mormon and attends church regularly, talked with Reuters about "The Host," working as a producer on the project and how her life has changed since the first "Twilight" film came out in 2008.
Q: How did Saoirse Ronan play Melanie and Wanda in the same body?
A: They have conversations throughout the entire film, but (she plays) two different characters that have different chemistry with two different guys. She's one person, but emoting a separate person when she's with Jared and another when she's with Ian.
Q: How did things evolve for you that you are now producing your adaptations? It didn't start that way on "Twilight."
A: It's not normal for an author to be very involved. On "Twilight," I think they were nervous about me, but I totally behaved. I came on set, I was excited, so they didn't mind having me around. With each movie I was able to be more involved.
I worked really closely with ("The Twilight Saga: New Moon" Director) Chris Weitz, especially with the casting of the side characters. We saw eye to eye really well.
Q: Did the success of "Twilight" give you producing clout?
A: After "Twilight" did really well, I think my opinion had more weight. With "The Host," from the very beginning (producer) Nick Wechsler came to me and said, 'Let's do this together.' And he meant it. I was going over the (script) notes with Andrew and the actors would come to me and say, 'What do you think?' It was a nice group. All our opinions were valued by each of us.
Q: You live in Arizona, just north of Phoenix. Do you ever think you should move to Los Angeles and work full-time in Hollywood?
A: I would never come and live here. No offense to the people that do, but I can't imagine raising kids in this town. There are a lot of plastics, even kids getting plastic surgery. And the materialism - that overwhelming sense of what you look like being the most important thing, I think that would be really difficult to live with every day. It's hard enough to be here for a week at a time. Every day you start feeling less-than because everyone's so beautiful and polished.
Q: Your three sons range from ages 10 to 15. Do they think you're the coolest mom ever because you created "Twilight?"
A: I think it's a detriment for them. It's embarrassing to have your mom be that "Twilight" lady. They would all love it if nobody knew my name. (With my oldest), people tease him a little bit. I know a lot of girls talk to him who might not otherwise. My middle son (Seth), he has a fake name. For a while it was Bernard. 'He'd be like, Hi I'm Bernard.' He doesn't like the reaction when people say, 'Oh you're that kid.'
Q: How has life changed for you since your film success?
A: People let me make movies, which is kind of cool. That certainly wasn't something anyone was going to let me do before. I've grown a lot in my confidence and in my ability to do interviews. I don't freak out as much about all these people taking pictures. I do have to be away from my kids more than I'd like, but they're so cool and mellow about it.
Q: Have you been able to fulfill any personal wishes since "Twilight" brought you to the pop culture forefront?
A: I'll tell you a story that's in the first "Twilight" book, where a little piece of me sank through to the novel. When Bella sees Edward's piano for the first time, she (vows) if she ever had a windfall, she would want to get her mom a piano like that. Well I was able to get my mom a piano like that. It was really exciting to get to do that. (Editing By Jill Serjeant and Sandra Maler)
CREDIT: Reuters.com

Who really killed bin Laden?


(CNN) -- In February, Esquire magazine published a lengthy profileof "The Man Who Killed Osama bin Laden." The story did not identify the killer by his real name, referring to him only as "the Shooter."
The Shooter told Esquire that the night bin Laden was killed he had encountered al Qaeda's leader face-to-face in the top-floor bedroom of the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where bin Laden had been hiding for more than five years.
The Shooter explained that when he found bin Laden in his bedroom the al Qaeda leader was standing up and had a gun "within reach" and it was only then that the Shooter fired the two shots into bin Laden's forehead that killed him. That account was in conflict with the account from another raid participant in a wildly successful book "No Easy Day."
Now, another member of the secretive SEAL Team 6, which executed the bin Laden raid, tells CNN the story of the Shooter as presented in Esquire is false. According to this serving SEAL Team 6 operator, the story is "complete B-S."
SEAL Team 6 operators are now in "serious lockdown" when it comes to "talking to anybody" about the bin Laden raid and say they have been frustrated to see what they consider to be the inaccurate story in Esquire receive considerable play without a response. Phil Bronstein, who wrote the 15,000-word piece about the Shooter for Esquire, was booked on CNN, Fox and many other TV networks after his story came out.
Twenty-three SEALs and their interpreter assaulted the bin Laden compound just after midnight on the morning of May 2, 2011. They shot and killed bin Laden's two bodyguards, one of bin Laden's sons and the wife of one of the bodyguards and they also wounded two other women.
The first three SEALs to make it to the top floor of bin Laden's compound where he was believed to be living were "the point man," "the Shooter" profiled by Esquire, and Matt Bissonette, the SEAL who wrote "No Easy Day"under the pseudonym Mark Owen.

What actually happened the night of the raid, according to the SEAL Team 6 operator who I interviewed, is that the "point man" ran up the stairs to the top floor and shot bin Laden in the head when he saw what looked like bin Laden poking his head out his bedroom door. The shot gravely wounded al Qaeda's leader.
Having taken down bin Laden, the point man proceeded to rush two women he found in bin Laden's bedroom, gathering them in his arms to absorb the explosion in case they were wearing suicide vests, something that was a real concern of those who planned the raid.
Two more SEALs then entered bin Laden's bedroom and, seeing that al Qaeda's leader was lying mortally wounded on the floor, finished him off with shots to the chest.
This account of bin Laden's demise is considerably less heroic than how the Shooter is presented in Esquire, in which he says he shot bin Laden while he was standing up and only after he saw that al Qaeda's leader had a gun within reach.
The SEAL Team 6 operator who spoke to me says there is no way the Shooter could have seen a gun in bin Laden's reach because the two guns that were found in bin Laden's bedroom after al Qaeda's leader was killed were only found after a thorough search of the room and were sitting on a high shelf above the frame of the door that opened to bin Laden's bedroom.
The SEAL operator also points out there was a discussion before the raid in which the assault team was told "don't shoot the guy [bin Laden] in the face unless you have to" because the CIA would need to analyze good pictures of bin Laden's face for its facial recognition experts to work effectively. Yet the Shooter in the Esquire story says he shot bin Laden on purpose twice in the forehead.
A U.S. official familiar with the details of the raid said what the SEAL Team 6 operator told me about how Bin Laden was killed is in line with what happened, and that account "has it right in my view."
The SEAL Team 6 operator also tells CNN that the Shooter was "thrown off" of Red Squadron, the core of the SEAL Team 6 group that carried out the bin Laden raid, because he was bragging about his role in the raid in bars around Virginia Beach, Virginia, where SEAL Team 6 is based. In the Esquire article, the Shooter complains he is receiving no pension, since he left the military four years before the minimum 20 required to be eligible.
CNN spoke with Bronstein, the Esquire writer, who says he passed on CNN's written questions about the Shooter's role in the bin Laden raid to his story's main character. The Shooter has not responded to those questions and Bronstein declined to be interviewed on-the-record for this story.
Stephanie Tuck, a spokeswoman for Esquire, said via e-mail, "The Esquire article, 'The Shooter: The Man Who Killed Osama Bin Laden,' in the March 2013 issue, is based on information from numerous sources, including members of SEAL Team 6 and the Shooter himself, as well as detailed descriptions of mission debriefs. We stand by our story."
According to present and former members of SEAL Team 6, the "point man" who fired the shot that likely mortally wounded bin Laden will never "in a million years" speak publicly about his role in the raid. All laud the point man for his courageous decision to throw himself on the two women in bin Laden's room.
The new account of the night of the bin Laden raid provided by the serving SEAL Team 6 operator is essentially the same as in Bissonnette's "No Easy Day." Bissonnette says he was one of the first to run into bin Laden's bedroom and he saw that the point man's shots had mortally wounded bin Laden, and Bissonette then shot the dying al Qaeda leader as he lay on the floor.
Present and former members of SEAL Team 6 say they regard Bissonnette as more credible than the Shooter.
In a previous CNN.com story about the Esquire profile, I noted that I was the only outside observer allowed to tour bin Laden's Abbottabad compound before it was demolished in late February 2012.
During that tour I looked around the bedroom where bin Laden was killed. The Pakistani military officers who were guiding me pointed out a patch of dark, dried blood on the low ceiling of bin Laden's bedroom. This patch of congealed blood seems to be consistent with the Shooter's story that he fired two shots at the forehead of a "surprisingly tall terrorist" while he was standing up. At the time, the precise location of bin Laden when he was shot was not a matter of dispute.
But the blood patch could also be consistent with the account that it was the "point man" who first shot bin Laden. The point man is 5 feet 6 inches tall and was shooting upward at a tall man as he poked his head out of his bedroom.
The compound is, of course, now gone, so it is no longer possible to reconstruct what happened the night of the raid based on forensic evidence, although it is possible the Abbottabad Commission, a panel that was appointed by the Pakistani government to look into the raid, could shed some light on this question should its findings ever be publicly released.
Finally, by all accounts, it was a confusing situation the night of the bin Laden raid in Abbottabad. One of the SEAL team's helicopters had crashed and there was then a firefight with one of bin Laden bodyguards. All the electricity in the bin Laden compound and indeed the surrounding neighborhood was off on a moonless night and the SEALs were all wearing night vision goggles that allowed them only quite limited vision.
What seems incontrovertible is that the point man, the Shooter and Bissonnette were the first three SEALs to assault bin Laden's bedroom. But to determine exactly which of them killed bin Laden may never be possible.
What is certain is that it was a team effort.
Five days after the bin Laden raid, members of the SEAL team who killed al Qaeda's leader briefed President Obama. According to those in the room, the SEAL team commander explained to the president, "If you took one person out of the puzzle, we wouldn't have the competence to do the job we did; everybody's vital. It's not about the guy who pulled the trigger to kill bin Laden, it's about what we all did together."
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