Evolved In Pollution Sooty-moth tale stands test

A recently criticized textbook example of evolutionary forces in action, the dark forms of peppered moths that spread with industrialization in Britain, may be on its way back.

Results of an ambitious experiment on the moths (Biston betularia) support the original hypothesis that their dark-colored forms spread in soot-coated landscapes because they are more difficult for hungry birds to spot, says evolutionary biologist James Mallet of Harvard University. He and three colleagues have published the final peppered moth experiment of Michael Majerus, who spent six years monitoring the fates of a total of 4,864 moths, presented his conclusions at a conference but died before publishing them. The study appears online February 8 in Biology Letters.

The moth story not only makes “a compelling example of evolution in action,” but it's “a terrific case history of how science works,” says evolutionary biologist Scott Freeman of the University of Washington in Seattle. “Majerus raised questions; he and his colleagues did the hard work required to answer them.”

The moths, which usually have salt-white wings sprinkled with pepper-black, have long played a role in evolutionary biology. In the early years of genetics, breeding experiments established that a single gene can create a black form. It showed up in Manchester, England, in 1848, and by 1895, 98 percent of the region's moths were dark. Moths went dark in similarly industrializing areas, and when clean-air regulations began to clear the pollution, dark forms went into decline.

Experiments in the mid-20th century supported the idea that industrial grime provided better camouflage for dark wings, but that work drew escalating challenges starting in the 1990s. Majerus and other scientists raised questions about those studies' methods, such as whether the high densities of moths released had altered the results and whether the tree trunks where moths were placed were a normal resting place.

Tuning Home Homesick frog

When wooing females, a type of frog in China describes its home through songconveying the depth and entrance size of the muddy burrow with some accuracy, a study suggests.

Scientists based at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and University of California investigated the frog Babina dauchina, better known as the Emei music frog thanks to its distinctive banjo-like call.

He male frogs build burrows alongside ponds to provide a suitable place for mating, laying eggs and rearing tadpoles. The researchers noticed that they seem to make different calls from inside and outside the burrows.

By analysing the acoustic properties of the calls and examining the way female frogs react to them, the scientists found that the male frogs not only advertise whether they have a burrow or not, but also its characteristics. Female music frogs are then able to choose the male with the most desirable real estate, without having to go through the time-consuming business of waiting to be shown round.

Males inside burrows play higher-pitched notes if the entrance is wider, and longer notes if the hole is deeper, the investigators explained. Also, “Inside-nest calls consisted of notes with energy concentrated at lower frequency [pitch] ranges and longer note durations when compared with outside-nest calls,” they wrote, reporting their findings in Dec. 7 in the advance online edition of the journal Biology Letters.

Did You Know? How fast can a hippo run?

A hippopotamus may seem huge but it can still run faster than a man.

Hippos are the second-largest land animal -- second only to elephants. Male hippos can weigh more than 6,000 pounds. Females are more "delicate," topping out around 3,000 pounds. Despite their massive bulk, hippos can run faster than humans -- up to 30 miles per hour!

After Fukushima Third-generation nuclear reactor designed

The United States has approved construction of new nuclear reactors for the first time in three decades. The two new reactors approved today (Feb. 9) for Georgia would represent the first U.S. versions of next-generation reactor designs that have begun appearing in China.

These "third-generation" reactors are said to be safer, with longer-lasting batteries and passive cooling systems powered by gravity so that they can survive longer during emergencies without outside power.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved construction of the two reactors at an existing nuclear power plant in Vogtle, Ga., in a 4-1 vote.

"The last plant that got to this stage of the [approval] process did so in 1978," said Harold McFarlane, manager of the nuclear science and technology directorate at Idaho National Laboratory. "We think it's a very significant step going forward. It is the first of the new generation."

The U.S. froze construction of nuclear power plants after the partial core meltdown at Three Mile Island, Pa., in 1979. Consequently, the 104 nuclear plants still operating in the country have designs dating to the 1960s and 1970s. Meanwhile, the first of the third-generation plants were designed in the 1990s and were updated throughout the new millennium.

Following the devastating earthquake and tsunami that led to the meltdown at Japan's Fukushima Plant last March, Germany, Switzerland and Spain halted construction of any new nuclear power plants. However, energy-hungry China has pressed ahead with adding new, third-generation nuclear reactors.

The newly approved AP1000 reactors for the Vogtle plant to be made by Westinghouse have safety features that would give people "days instead of hours" to restore electric power in a Fukushima scenario, McFarlane told InnovationNewsDaily. The Fukushima reactors suffered a meltdown after the lack of electricity knocked out their cooling systems.

In the new models, which Westinghouse already has built for China, "the water needed to cool the reactors is stored inside the containment building rather than outside of containment," explained Robert Buell, a risk analyst at Idaho National Laboratory. "You use physics and natural circulation along the containment walls to cool the reactors instead of relying on mechanical systems."

The Fukushima disaster did not go unmentioned during the Nuclear Regulatory Commission vote. According to the news service Reuters, NRC chairman Gregory Jaczko cast the lone vote against the new reactors, arguing that the commission should delay approval until it requires all nuclear plant operators to include "Fukushima enhancements" safety and operational lessons learned from the meltdown

Engineers build no-waste laser

A team of University of California, San Diego researchers has built the smallest room-temperature nanolaser to date, as well as an even more startling device: a highly efficient, "thresholdless" laser that funnels all its photons into lasing, without any waste.

The two new lasers require very low power to operate, an important breakthrough since lasers usually require greater and greater "pump power" to begin lasing as they shrink to nano sizes. The small size and extremely low power of these nanolasers could make them very useful components for future optical circuits packed on to tiny computer chips, Mercedeh Khajavikhan and her UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering colleagues report in the Feb. 9 issue of the journal Nature.

They suggest that the thresholdless laser may also help researchers as they develop new metamaterials, artificially structured materials that are already being studied for applications from super-lenses that can be used to see individual viruses or DNA molecules to "cloaking" devices that bend light around an object to make it appear invisible.

All lasers require a certain amount of "pump power" from an outside source to begin emitting a coherent beam of light or "lasing," explained Yeshaiahu (Shaya) Fainman, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UC San Diego and co-author of the new study. A laser's threshold is the point where this coherent output is greater than any spontaneous emission produced.

The smaller a laser is, the greater the pump power needed to reach the point of lasing. To overcome this problem, the UC San Diego researchers developed a design for the new lasers that uses quantum electrodynamic effects in coaxial nanocavities to alleviate the threshold constraint. Like a coaxial cable hooked up to a television (only at a much smaller scale), the laser cavity consists of a metal rod enclosed by a ring of metal-coated, quantum wells of semiconductor material. Khajavikhan and the rest of the team built the thresholdless laser by modifying the geometry of this cavity.

The new design also allowed them to build the smallest room-temperature, continuous wave laser to date. The new room-temperature nanoscale coaxial laser is more than an order of magnitude smaller than their previous record smallest nanolaser published in Nature Photonics less than two years ago. The whole device is almost half a micron in diameter -- by comparison, the period at the end of this sentence is nearly 600 microns wide.

These highly efficient lasers would be useful in augmenting future computing chips with optical communications, where the lasers are used to establish communication links between distant points on the chip. Only a small amount of pump power would be required to reach lasing, reducing the number of photons needed to transmit information, said Fainman.

The nanolaser designs appear to be scalable -- meaning that they could be shrunk to even smaller sizes -- an extremely important feature that makes it possible to harvest laser light from even smaller nanoscale structures, the researchers note. This feature eventually could make them useful for creating and analyzing metamaterials with structures smaller than the wavelength of light currently emitted by the lasers.

Fainman said other applications for the new lasers could include tiny biochemical sensors or high-resolution displays, but the researchers are still working out the theory behind how these tiny lasers operate. They would also like to find a way to pump the lasers electrically instead of optically.

Co-authors for the Nature study, "Thresholdless Nanoscale Coaxial Lasers," include Mercedeh Khajavikhan, Aleksandar Simic, Michael Kats, Jin Hyoung Lee, Boris Slutsky, Amit Mizrahi, Vitaliy Lomakin, and Yeshaiahu Fainman in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. The nanolasers are fabricated at the university's NANO3 facility. The research was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the National Science Foundation, the NSF Center for Integrated Access Networks (CIAN), the Cymer Corporation and the U.S. Army Research Office

Border killings irk PM She reassures Blake of Dhaka's anti-terror stance

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has noted with regret that despite assurance from India's highest political level of putting an end to the killing at border, stray incidents of killing and torture of Bangladeshi nationals by the Indian BSF continued.

She expressed her annoyance while talking to US Assistant Secretary of State Robert O Blake, who asked Hasina whether the recent killings by BSF deteriorated Bangladesh-India relations.

The US envoy was talking to the premier at her Sangsad Bhaban office in the capital yesterday evening.

“We are trying to stop such incidents, we are repeatedly requesting them to keep their words that were given by their highest level at different times,” Hasina told Blake.

About the issue of terrorism and counter-terrorism, the premier informed the US envoy that Bangladesh soil will not be allowed to be used for any terrorist and extremist activities.

She mentioned various laws adopted by parliament to combat terrorism. “We are showing zero tolerance to terrorism and extremism.”

Hasina also mentioned that in the last three years no bombing incident had occurred in the country, which was normal during the BNP-Jamaat regime.

She said there is no boundary for terrorists. “If it is nurtured in one corner of the world, this will be a big problem for the rest of the world.”

As Blake requested Hasina to send a letter to the US government to deploy US Peace Core in Bangladesh, the premier declined.

She said the US Peace Core came to Bangladesh during the previous tenure of Awami League government in 1998. But, the US government withdrew them during the BNP-Jamaat regime on security reason.

Regarding regional connectivity, Hasina said Bangladesh already had taken steps to establish a regional connectivity with India, Myanmar, Bhutan and Nepal.

“India gave green signal to set up communication link among Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan over India,” she said.

The premier requested Blake to extend his cooperation to allow duty free and quota free access of Bangladeshi apparels to the US market.

She mentioned that there are four million people employed in the RMG sector, and more than 50 percent of them are women.

Hasina said the duty free and quota free access of Bangladeshi apparels to the US market will help the RMG sector a lot. Moreover, the women workers will be directly benefited by this.

When Blake asked the premier about Bangladesh's plan to set up an embassy in Afghanistan, she said that in principle Bangladesh has agreed to set up an embassy there.

M Nazrul Islam, deputy press secretary to the premier, briefed reporters after the meeting.

Ambassador-at-Large M Ziauddin and US Ambassador in Dhaka Dan Mozena were present.

No rumour, please Urges Home boss; says probe result any time

Home Minister Shahara Khatun yesterday hinted at a positive result any moment in the investigation into the journalist couple murder and urged the media not to spread any rumour regarding the killing or suspects.

She said, “You [journalists] will perhaps get a result any moment as there have been remarkable developments.” She, however, refrained from disclosing any information about the probe findings.

On the other hand, after claiming about “substantial progress” in the murder probe on Monday, police and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) yesterday said no mentionable progress has been made yet.

Meherun Runi, senior reporter of private TV channel ATN Bangla, and her husband Sagar Sarowar, news editor of another private TV station Maasranga, were murdered in their West Rajabazar apartment early Saturday.

The home minister yesterday also declined to set further deadline for the murder investigation. She was talking to journalists after addressing the 17th founding anniversary of the Coast Guard at Aagargaon.

Asked about her initial 48-hour ultimatum to law enforcers over finding out the killers, Shahara said she had mentioned the time frame so that the law enforcers give importance to the investigation.

She urged journalists to keep from spreading any rumours regarding the killing or suspects.

Meanwhile, three days past the incident, police said they are yet to find any proof of any journalist's involvement in the murder.

“We have not arrested or detained any journalist. We have not even interrogated any media associates on the murder,” Imam Hossain, deputy commissioner of Tejgaon division, said yesterday at a press briefing in the media centre of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

He, however, said police do not know whether other law enforcement agencies, like the Criminal Investigation Department or the Detective Branch of police or Rab, have arrested or interrogated any journalist.

Asked about the newspaper reports on arresting six people, he said, “If you [the media] talk about detention, I would say we have picked up two security guards and the caretaker of the building the slain couple used to live in.”

He said police yesterday collected documents and information on what Sarowar and Runi had been working on from their offices to see whether there had been any professional issue behind the killing.

They are also collecting the book written by Sarowar, he added.

Rab, however, remained tight-lipped about their progress in the investigation.

Commander M Sohail of Rab's legal and media wing said they are yet to dig out any information “that can be reported”.

“We don't want to comment on anyone's detention unless we have adequate information about their involvement,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Newspaper Owners' Association of Bangladesh (NOAB) at a meeting yesterday condemned the gruesome murder demanded arrest of the assailants.

The meeting also appealed to all editors and journalist of print and electronic media to adhere to the highest ethical standard of journalism while reporting on the incident, and refrain from making any speculative comment.

Minister pulls for extortion

It was none but a minister who before a parliamentary sub-committee yesterday demanded extortion be made legal to stop rampant corruption in the transport sector.

Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan, who heads Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Sramik Federation, made the mind-boggling demand before the committee yesterday. Transport leaders led by him did not stop there; they placed a 17-point demand before the committee, in which they chalked-out how the “legal toll collection” would be made from buses, trucks, auto-rickshaws and labours working in the sector.

In defence of their demands, Shajahan Khan and Khandaker Enayet Ullah, a top transport owners' leader, yesterday said illegal money collection would stop on the country's roads once “toll collection” was legalised.

The controversial minister became the talk of the country last year when he suggested that professional drivers did not need education.

The parliamentary sub-committee, chaired by M Israfil Alam, yesterday at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban held the meeting with top leaders of transport labours and owners to find ways to stop raging extortion in the sector. The committee had its first meeting on October 13 last year.

After the first meeting, the sub-committee told reporters that transport workers' leaders, especially a minister-led labour organisation, were running an extortion regime and the minister's organisation was having the largest piece of the pie.

“It collects at least Tk 51 crore a year in the name of raising funds for workers' welfare,” after the October meeting Israfil told reporters quoting other transport leaders.

The committee chief had said the committee findings were only the tip of the iceberg and they were yet to get the full picture.

He had said the rampant “toll collection” results in transport fare hikes by 40 to 200 percent. The people end up paying high fares and also increased prices for all commodities, he said .

According to the sub-committee, more than 23 lakh workers are employed in the transport industry that has over 5 lakh buses. There are 7,490 workers' unions, 510 workers' organisations and 412 bus owners' associations.

Yesterday at the meeting of the committee, Shajahan Khan, Enayet Ullah and others demanded fixing a minimum charge which labours and owners would pay to run their respective bodies.

They said labours and owners organisations of light vehicles and auto rickshaws should be allowed to charge each vehicle Tk 20 a day to run their organisations.

Truck owners and labours organisations should be allowed to collect Tk 20 a day from each member as organisation running cost, said the recommendation placed before the committee.

They also recommended that each bus and truck pay Tk 20 on ferries to meet expenses of labours working there.

At the goods loading and unloading points, every truck would have to pay Tk 10. Trucks would have to pay Tk 10 at the beginning and conclusion of every travel.

Leaders of labours and bus-truck owners recommended that every inter-district bus and truck pay Tk 20 each to labours and owners union.

The leaders want payment of Tk 20 for each vehicle requisitioned for the labours' and owners' union and to compensate the vehicle's owners and meet daily expenses of the respective labours.

Shajahan Khan, labour leaders and Enayet Ullah-led transport owners' leaders yesterday also recommended formation of a committee comprising all stakeholders to implement policies on running their organisations and different bus terminals.

The committee yesterday did not make any observation regarding the 17-point demand that was placed before it.

Megh reeling from trauma

"Are you a policeman? “ Megh asked this correspondent.

The five-year-old looked hesitant and curious when he saw this reporter at their living room yesterday. After a while, he stepped forward and started talking to this correspondent.

Before asking the question, Mahir Sarowar Megh, the only son of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Mehrun Runi, took the notebook of this correspondent and sketched a number of things including a revolver.

"They [the killers] threatened to shoot me. They had a bullet [gun]," he said, pointing the revolver he drew.

He then abruptly changed the topic and started talking about something else.

"They set fire and ate my egg."

Overcome by fear and trauma, Megh has apparently lost his balance: he says things relevant to the incident and also things that are not relevant.

"Obviously he is shell-shocked and we are not discussing anything in front of him,” said Roman, one of Runi's brothers.

Megh is refusing to eat since the incident, he added.

Thirty-six hours after the incident, Sagar and Runi's West Rajabazar residence, where the couple was killed, wore a dark, gloomy look yesterday afternoon.

“Do you know they've killed my father and mother?” Megh said, very feebly.

Asked where he slept on the night, he said, “I slept at mimmis [he calls his mother mimmy] room.”

Showing a photo of his father wearing a black suit, he said he has a similar suit.

When asked if there were "one or three people" in their house that night, he said two.

"They hit in papa's leg and papa fell down. Blood was welling out," he said.

Nokia cuts 4,000 jobs in struggle to win smartphone market

World-leading mobile phone maker Nokia will cut 4,000 jobs at its smartphone manufacturing facilities in Finland, Hungary and Mexico by the end of 2012, it said on Wednesday.

"The expected headcount impact by country is 2,300 in Komarom (Hungary), 700 in Reynosa (Mexico) and 1,000 in Salo (Finland)," company spokesman James Etheridge told AFP.

The job cuts follow a review of smartphone operations announced in September 2011, when the company warned jobs may be cut at the plants in question.

The factories in Komarom, Reynosa and Salo will in the future focus on software-heavy smartphone customisation, while manufacturing will shift to Asia to shorten the time it takes for products to get to market, the company said in a statement.

"But these planned changes are all about speed and responsiveness and ultimately, our competitiveness," Etheridge said.

Nokia's shares edged up 0.05 percent on Wednesday to 3.89 euros while the Helsinki market added 1.4 percent overall.

The job cuts come as Nokia struggles to secure a foothold in the fiercely competitive smartphone market, with its newly-launched flagship line Lumia failing to correct falling sales in its overall smartphone business.

Nokia's comeback fight comes amid a dynamic and differentiated market, with many players offering consumers a variety of options, said Horace Dedieu of the Helsinki-based mobile industry blog Asymco.

"My initial impression is that it's a good product, but, right now, being good isn't enough," Dedieu told Finnish state broadcaster YLE about the Lumia.

In its 2011 full-year earnings report released two weeks ago, Nokia said it had sold "well over one million" Lumia phones since their launch in October in Europe, Hong Kong, India, Russia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.

However, others have noted that while the Lumia has received good grades from users, not enough are buying the new smartphone.

The phone's fledgling reputation has also already been tainted by reports of returns due to battery life problems.