Sunday, March 3, 2013

Crews to raze Fla. home over sinkhole; man missing

Jeremy Bush places flowers and a stuffed animal at a makeshift memorial in front of a home where a sinkhole opened up underneath a bedroom late Thursday evening and swallowed his brother Jeffrey in Seffner, Fla. on Saturday, March 2, 2013. Jeffrey Bush, 37, was in his bedroom Thursday night when the earth opened and took him and everything else in his room. Five other people were in the house but managed to escape unharmed. Bush's brother jumped into the hole to try to help, but he had to be rescued himself by a sheriff's deputy. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Jeremy Bush places flowers and a stuffed animal at a makeshift memorial in front of a home where a sinkhole opened up underneath a bedroom late Thursday evening and swallowed his brother Jeffrey in Seffner, Fla. on Saturday, March 2, 2013. Jeffrey Bush, 37, was in his bedroom Thursday night when the earth opened and took him and everything else in his room. Five other people were in the house but managed to escape unharmed. Bush's brother jumped into the hole to try to help, but he had to be rescued himself by a sheriff's deputy. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

In this undated photo released by Jeremy Bush, shows his brother Jeff Bush. Jeremy Bush heard a loud crash and screaming coming from his brother's room early Thursday, March 1, 2013 in Seffner, Fla. A large sinkhole opened under Jeff's bedroom and he disappeared together with most of the bedroom furniture. Jeremy jumped into the hole and was quickly up to his neck in dirt. Jeff is presumed dead. (AP Photo/Jeremy Bush, HO)

Brenda Bush is escorted by a Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputy as she places flowers, Saturday, March 2, 2013, at a makeshift memorial in front of a home where a sinkhole opened up underneath a bedroom late Thursday evening and swallowed her son Jeffrey in Seffner, Fla. Jeffrey Bush, 37, was in his bedroom Thursday night when the earth opened and took him and everything else in his room. Five other people were in the house but managed to escape unharmed. Bush's brother jumped into the hole to try to help, but he had to be rescued himself by a sheriff's deputy. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

An engineer, tethered with a safety line, walks in front of a home where a sinkhole opened up underneath a bedroom late Thursday evening and swallowed a man in Seffner, Fla. on Saturday, March 2, 2013. Jeffrey Bush, 37, was in his bedroom Thursday night when the earth opened and took him and everything else in his room. Five other people were in the house but managed to escape unharmed. Bush's brother jumped into the hole to try to help, but he had to be rescued himself by a sheriff's deputy. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Engineers talk in front of a home, where a sinkhole opened up underneath a bedroom late Thursday evening and swallowed a man, in Seffner, Fla. on Saturday, March 2, 2013. Jeffrey Bush, 37, was in his bedroom Thursday night when the earth opened and took him and everything else in his room. Five other people were in the house but managed to escape unharmed. Bush's brother jumped into the hole to try to help, but he had to be rescued himself by a sheriff's deputy. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

(AP) ? Crews planned to begin demolishing a Florida home Sunday that is perched over a huge sinkhole, deeming it too dangerous to keep searching for the man swallowed into the earth from his bedroom.

The search for Jeff Bush, 37, was called off Saturday. The 20-foot-wide opening of the sinkhole is almost completely covered by the house and rescuers feared it would collapse on them. Two neighboring homes were evacuated as a precaution.

Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill said heavy equipment would be brought in to begin razing the home Sunday morning.

"At this point it's really not possible to recover the body," Merrill said, later adding "we're dealing with a very unusual sinkhole."

Jessica Damico, spokeswoman for Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, said the demolition equipment would be placed on what they believe is solid ground and reach onto the property to pull apart the house. The crew will try pulling part of the house away from the sinkhole intact so some of the residents' keepsakes can be retrieved.

Bush was in his bedroom Thursday night in Seffner ? a suburb of 8,000 people 15 miles east of downtown Tampa ? when the ground opened and took him and everything else in his room. Five others in the house escape unharmed as the earth crumbled.

On Saturday, the normally quiet neighborhood of concrete block homes painted in Florida pastels was jammed with cars. Engineers, reporters, and curious onlookers came to the scene.

At the home next door to the Bushes, a family cried and organized boxes. Testing determined that their house and another had been compromised by the sinkhole. The families were allowed to go inside for about a half-hour to gather belongings.

Sisters Soliris and Elbairis Gonzalez, who live on the same street as the Bushes, said neighbors were worried for their safety.

"I've had nightmares," Soliris Gonzalez, 31, said. "In my dreams, I keep checking for cracks in the house."

They said the family has discussed where to go if forced to evacuate, and they've taken their important documents to a storage unit.

"The rest of it, this is material stuff, as long as our family is fine," Soliris Gonzalez said.

"You never know underneath the ground what's happening," added Elbairis Gonzalez, 30.

Experts say thousands of sinkholes form yearly in Florida because of the state's unique geography, though most are small and deaths rarely occur.

"There's hardly a place in Florida that's immune to sinkholes," said Sandy Nettles, who owns a geology consulting company in the Tampa area. "There's no way of ever predicting where a sinkhole is going to occur."

Most sinkholes are small, like one found Saturday morning in Largo, 35 miles away from Seffner. The Largo sinkhole, about 10 feet long and several feet wide, is in a mall parking lot.

The state sits on limestone, a porous rock that easily dissolves in water, with a layer of clay on top. The clay is thicker in some locations ? including the area where Bush became a victim ? making them even more prone to sinkholes.

Jonathan Arthur, the state geologist and director of the Florida Geological Survey, said other states sit atop limestone in a similar way, but Florida has added factors such as extreme weather, development, aquifer pumping and construction.

"The conditions under which a sinkhole will form can be very rapid, or they can form slowly over time," he said.

But it remained unclear Saturday what, if anything, had caused the Seffner sinkhole.

"The condition that caused that sinkhole could have started a million years ago," Nettles said.

Jeremy Bush, who tried to rescue his brother, lay flowers near the house Saturday morning and wept.

He said someone came to his home a couple of months ago to check for sinkholes and other issues, apparently for insurance purposes, but found nothing wrong. State law requires home insurers to provide coverage against sinkholes.

"And a couple of months later, my brother dies. In a sinkhole," Bush said Friday.

___

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Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-03-03-Sinkhole%20Swallows%20Man/id-7beed10e6f5f4a3c9b1e9e7e8935599e

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Turbulence in a crystal

Mar. 1, 2013 ? When a crystal is hit by an intense ultrashort light pulse, its atomic structure is set in motion. A team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ), the Technischen Universit?t M?nchen (TUM), the Fritz-Haber Institute in Berlin (FHI) and the Universit?t Kassel can now observe how the configuration of electrons and atoms in titanium dioxide, a semiconductor, changes under the impact of an ultraviolet laser pulse, confirming that even subtle changes in the electron distribution caused by the excitation can have a considerable impact on the whole crystal structure.

Knowledge regarding the interaction between light and solid matter on an atomic scale is still comparable to a map with many blank spots. A number of phenomena are still waiting to be observed or understood. A new, up to date unknown aspect of the interplay between light and matter has now been examined by a team of scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ), the Technischen Universit?t M?nchen (TUM), the Fritz-Haber Institute in Berlin (FHI) and the Universit?t Kassel using intensive ultraviolet laser pulses with only a few femtoseconds duration (one femtosecond is a millionth of a billionth of a second).

The physicists illuminated a titanium dioxide crystal (consisting of titanium and oxygen atoms) with an intense ultraviolet laser pulse of less than five femtoseconds duration. The laser pulse excites the valence electrons in the crystal and generates a small number of hot electrons with a temperature of several thousand Kelvin. Valence electrons are electrons that are only weakly bound to the atoms in a crystal that interact strongly with each other and therefore form the bond between the atoms in a crystal. The continuous interplay between the positions of the atomic cores and the valence electrons determines the material characteristics such as electric conductivity, optical properties or the crystal lattice structure.

Following the first, intense laser pulse, the changes in the reflectivity of the crystal on the femtosecond timescale were observed by a second, weak light pulse. This measurement provides the scientists with information on the changes in the crystal induced by the first laser pulse: the intense ultraviolet laser pulse did not only heat up the valence electrons but also changed the electron distribution within the lattice. The electron density was reduced around the oxygen atoms and increased around the titanium atoms. This redistribution of the electrons causes a shift of the equilibrium position of the oxygen atoms relative to the titanium atoms, which leads to an oscillatory motion of the oxygen atoms around the new equilibrium position. In an intuitive picture the oxygen atoms in the crystal potential surface can be compared to a ball in a bowl. In the ground state, the ball is at rest at the center of the bowl. The excitation of the electrons corresponds to a sudden shift of the bowl, and the ball oscillates around its new minimum position.

In their experiment, the scientists also observed a suprising effect: after the excitation with the laser pulse, the electrons cool down to room temperature within about 20 femtoseconds, while the crystal is only heated slightly on these timescales. The cooling of the electrons led to an additional significant change in the valence electron distribution. In consequence, the equilibrium position of the lattice was shifted even further from the initial position of the ground state. Such a dependence of the crystal structure on the electron temperature has long been predicted theoretically. Now it could be observed experimentally for the first time. The results show that even subtle changes in the electron distribuition can have a significant impact on the equilibrium state of a crystal. The understanding of such phenomena can be helpful in the design of new materials.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics. The original article was written by Thorsten Naeser.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. Elisabeth M. Bothschafter, Alexander Paarmann, Eeuwe S. Zijlstra, Nicholas Karpowicz, Martin E. Garcia, Reinhard Kienberger, Ralph Ernstorfer. Ultrafast Evolution of the Excited-State Potential Energy Surface of TiO_{2} Single Crystals Induced by Carrier Cooling. Physical Review Letters, 2013; 110 (6) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.067402

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/electricity/~3/FYNvm5HLh0U/130301051617.htm

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Susan Boyle to make screen acting debut

LONDON (AP) ? Susan Boyle is making her big-screen acting debut in a Christmas-themed British period drama.

The Scottish singer appears in "The Christmas Candle," a story of angels and wishes set in an English village in the 1890s.

Boyle's role has not been disclosed. In a statement, Boyle said she was enjoying filming and "everyone on set is a delight to work with."

The movie also stars British actors Lesley Manville, John Hannah and Susan Barks, who recently played Eponine in "Les Miserables." It is due for release later this year.

A shy church volunteer from a small Scottish village, Boyle became a global sensation in 2009 after she performed "I Dreamed a Dream" on the television program "Britain's Got Talent."

She has since sold millions of records around the world.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-03-01-Britain-Susan%20Boyle/id-caa3fa28f30040378d0bf0aa9beed25a

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Saturday, March 2, 2013

Ustream Cuts Workforce By 6 Percent, Hires Two VPs From Ooyala As It Focuses On Pro Sales

ustream logoLive video service Ustream just announced "a small restructuring" of the workforce that will result in cutting approximately 6 percent of the current team. The company said the restructuring, along with the hiring of two new vice presidents, is an attempt to focus on sales of its Pro Broadcasting products and to move toward profitability. A company spokesperson told me that after today, Ustream will have a global headcount of 191 across San Francisco, Los Angeles, Budapest, Korea, and Japan offices. They also said that despite the cuts, the company is still growing, with more than 15 employees already hired this year and more than 25 open positions (16 of which are in sales).

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/ummzzygEx8U/

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Friday, March 1, 2013

Patchy Irish data dampen Barroso's sunnier outlook

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Irish retail sales fell for the third month in a row and house prices pointed to an uneven and slow recovery, dampening hopes expressed by the European Commission's President on Thursday that Ireland's economy is turning a corner.

Data released on Wednesday showed the jobless rate fell to 14.2 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, a more than two-year low, in a boost to hopes that Ireland's struggling domestic economy may soon begin to recover.

That prompted European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso, on a visit to Dublin, to say bailed-out Ireland was showing that the tough fiscal policies advocated by the European Union, but rejected by Italian voters this week, were working.

"Confidence is returning to Ireland and Europe, the Irish economy is turning the corner. The employment data just published suggest clearly that this could be happening," Barroso told a conference of company chief executives.

"It shows that the (bailout) programmes can work. It shows that there is light at the end of the tunnel."

While Ireland's economy returned to growth in 2011 and probably grew again last year, albeit at a slower pace, it has been driven by exports as the domestic side of the economy struggles due to high unemployment and relentless austerity.

A 1.7 percent month-on-month dip in retail sales in January, following a smaller fall in December which dashed retailers hopes that busier Christmas sales would spur activity, showed how cautious consumers remain in Ireland.

Irish house prices fell for the second successive month in January, dropping 0.6 percent month-on-month, and tempering hopes of a rebound after 50 percent peak-to-trough falls.

However prices in the capital Dublin, where much of the recent increase in purchases has been focused, rose 0.5 percent on the month and turned positive on annual basis for the first time since 2007 - indicative, analysts said, of the patchy nature of the stabilisation in the domestic economy.

"The general tone of the data over the last couple of days suggests an uneven and extended process of bottoming out in domestic activity," said Austin Hughes, chief economist at KBC Bank Ireland.

"The numbers for the past couple of days are telling you Ireland is in a different place to Spain and Italy, but it's not leaping forward. Even in success stories austerity has a cost in terms of the level of economic activity and spending power."

(Reporting by Conor Humphries and Padraic Halpin; Editing by Catherine Evans)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/irish-retail-sales-fall-1-2-percent-january-113353003--business.html

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How Much Twitter and Facebook Is Okay When You're On Vacation?

Barcelona is such a wonderful place to visit if you get the chance. Check out the architecture. Eat the jam?n. Drink the wine. Our own Kyle Wagner is there right now on vacation, and although you'd think he'd be chilling away from the internet, he's tweeting about which camera he's using. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Wc0cYRI0mi0/how-much-twitter-and-facebook-is-okay-when-youre-on-vacation

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Cops hunt 7 missing children in 'possible family abduction' case ...

Fresno Police Department

Five of the seven children missing from Fresno, Calif.

By John Newland, Staff Writer, NBC News

Police are searching for seven children who vanished from their Fresno, Calif., home Saturday.

Investigators are treating it as a "possible family abduction" case.

Ranging in age from 5 to 12, the kids were left at home while their mother and stepfather went to a grocery store, according to the Fresno Police Department.?

Police believe that their biological father "picked up all of the children." He was?identified as Xa Yang and is thought to live in Sacramento, about 170 miles north of Fresno.

Neither authorities nor the children's mother had been able to contact the father, who had not been involved in the children's lives "for at least three years," according to a police statement.?

Because the seven children, along with their belongings, were removed from an apartment complex in the early evening without any apparent commotion, investigators do not suspect foul play.

There was no immediate concern for the children's safety, police said.

While they have not issued an "Amber Alert," which are normally issued in suspected abductions, police are seeking the public's help.

Anyone with information can call Detective Josh Mendizabal at (559) 621-2499 or (559) 621-7000.

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/28/17129230-cops-hunt-7-missing-children-in-possible-family-abduction-case

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