New 'True Blood' trailer is bloody good

TV

Drusilla Moorhouse TODAY contributor

7 hours ago

HBO finally released a juicy full-length trailer for season six -- which teases "the beginning of the end" for our favorite supernatural hotties. Oh no!

Here are the highlights:

Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgard) is shirtless -- a lot.

Alcide (Joe Manganiello) is shirtless -- a lot.

Bill (Stephen Moyer) still has a God complex.

The humans, however, have other ideas about God's plan: They've declared war against the supes "to save the human race by eradicating the vampire race." Apparently, "it's time for humans to bite back" -- or as Jason (Ryan Kwanten) says, before he's hilariously shushed by Sookie (Anna Paquin) and company, "It's about damn time somebody did something about y'all!"

"Events have been set in motion -- it is the beginning of the end," the promo warns, in between scenes of "True Blood's" signature sex and violence.

"I can barely remember the last time I wasn't in danger," Sookie says. "I want my life back."

That's not going to be easy, especially with the appearance of the mysterious Warlow -- widely believed to be played by new cast member Rutger Hauer, who makes a brief cameo in the trailer set to Delta Rae's haunting " Bottom? of the River."

Season six of "True Blood" premieres Sunday, June 16 at 9 p.m. on HBO. Will you be watching?

Tell us what you think of the new promo on our Facebook page!

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/new-true-blood-trailer-bloody-good-6C9783844

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Slow-Motion Proof That Bats Are Way More Graceful Than You Thought

You don't think of a bat as being as graceful in the air as say an eagle or a hummingbird. After all, they look like mother nature just hacked some wings onto a rat. But thanks to the magic of high-speed photography, this bat's mid-flight dining is more graceful than a performance of The Nutcracker.

This awesome footage was capture by researchers at Brown University studying the bat's impressively long tongue that actually engorges with blood while dining so there's more surface area to snag more nectar. The researchers are hoping to learn more about the mechanisms behind this as they could be beneficial in humans when it comes to keeping passages in the body open and clear during surgery. And, of course, getting every last drop of sugar water out of a can of soda. [Vimeo via Geekosystem]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/slow-motion-proof-that-bats-are-way-more-graceful-than-493557876

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Tiny magnets as a model system

May 5, 2013 ? In the microscopic world, everything is in motion: atoms and molecules vibrate, proteins fold, even glass is a slow flowing liquid. And during each movement there are interactions between the smallest elements -- for example, the atoms -- and their neighbours. To make these movements visible, scientists at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have developed a special model system. It is so big that it can be easily observed under an X-ray microscope, and mimics the tiniest movements in Nature. The model: rings made from six nanoscale magnetic rods, whose north and south poles attract each other. At room temperature, the magnetisation direction of each of these tiny rods varies spontaneously. Scientists were able to observe the magnetic interactions between these active rods in real time.

These research results were published on May 5 in the journal Nature Physics.

Scientists at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI in Switzerland have developed a novel magnetic nano-system. This has allowed the first observation of spontaneous changes in the magnetisation direction at room temperature in such an artificial system. This system is fascinating, particularly for fundamental research, as it can be a model for many different interactions at the atomic and molecular level. Alan Farhan studied this model system as part of his doctoral thesis.??

The perfect thickness: 3 nanometres

The breakthrough for these scientists came when they found exactly the right thickness for their nanostructure. This structure consisted of one or more rings of six nano-rods. These nano-rods were in turn composed of an alloy of iron and nickel, which can be magnetised easily. Spontaneous changes in the direction of magnetisation of the individual rods took place at room temperature, or with slight heating, when the rods had exactly the right thickness. The scientists were able to record these so-called magnetic fluctuations in real time under the microscope. Thinner rods changed their magnetisation direction too quickly to make an experimental observation, whilst thicker rods kept their initial magnetisation direction constant. "We were lucky to find the perfect thickness so soon," said Laura Heyderman, Head of the Magnetic Nanostructures Research Group at PSI. "Whilst other groups have studied such magnetic nanostructures, we are the first to have found the right thickness."

The researchers produced the nano-rods by depositing the magnetic alloy in an appropriate shape onto a flat support material. To ensure the right thickness was not missed, they created many structures next to each other and, during the deposition process, they moved a shutter slowly from one side to the other. In this way, the structures had different thicknesses ranging from 0 to 20 nanometres. "Under the microscope, we could instantly see the area in which the fluctuations took place ," said Heyderman.

In an individual ring, the magnetisation of each rod was oriented so that the south pole was always next to a north pole of a neighbouring rod. For the system, this was the lowest and therefore energetically most favourable state.

Several rings are frustrated

Systems consisting of two or three rings were of particular interest to the scientists. Here, adjacent rings share one of the rods, with two rings containing 11 rods and three rings containing 15 rods (see image, middle and lower structure). Already with two rings, the rod in the middle could not adopt a magnetisation direction without at least two north poles or two south poles meeting (marked in yellow in image). There was always a part of the system, even in the lowest energy state, that was unsatisfied -- referred to as geometrical frustration. In addition, the scientists discovered that the number of energetically favourable configurations -- the so-called degeneracy -- increased with the size of the system. Particularly for this case, the system was found to be constantly fluctuating.

"Our system is like easy-going hikers in the Swiss Alps," explained Heyderman. "They love to hike, but avoid going directly over a mountain. Instead, they look for a way around the mountain, going through low mountain passes from one valley to the next. This is just like our system: it explores the minima of its potential energy landscape." For a system composed of several nano-rods, however, this landscape can only be represented theoretically in more than three dimensions.

Simulation reveals hidden connections and confirms experiments Researchers calculated the form of this higher-dimensional landscape using kinetic Monte-Carlo-simulations and their results were consistent with experimental observations. The theoretical calculations showed that the larger the system, with a larger number of rings, the shorter the connections between the energy landscape minima. This is a typical signature of frustration, which increases with the size of the system. This result will be important in the future for the understanding of larger systems.

Co-author Peter Derlet was responsible for the simulations. "In the end, the simplest of the various theoretical models applied was found to best reflect the experimental results" Derlet realised unexpectedly.

For experimental imaging of the magnetisation, scientists made use of X-ray microscopy techniques at the Paul Scherrer Institute. Using these techniques, video recordings of the nanostructures could be made at 1.4 frames per second, which made the tiny magnetisation changes visible in time lapse sequences.

Potential applications in theoretical physics and data storage applications "Although our model system is relatively simple, it has allowed us to investigate heat-related fluctuations in a system in real space, and thus to delve deeper than ever before into the world of thermodynamics," said Heyderman.

With their newly developed system, the scientists now want to obtain further insights into fundamental phenomena like phase transitions, geometrical frustration and the physics of glassy materials. Technological applications for data storage, transferring magnetic rather than electrical charge, might be also be possible.

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/IQcYi8tu3jo/130505145836.htm

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TBank loan strategy set to take SME portfolio past target - The Nation

Home ? business ? TBank loan strategy set to take SME portfolio past target

banking

Sucheera Pinijparakarn
The Nation May 6, 2013 1:00 am

Thanachart Bank's lending to small and medium-sized enterprises this year has a good chance of exceeding the target of Bt90 billion thanks to its business plan for the remaining months of the year to finance university student apartments and aggressively pursue auto-related business.

After targeting outstanding SME loans of Bt90 billion for the entire year, the figure in the first four months alone reached Bt84 billion, said Jiratchayuth Amyongka, head of SME banking.

TBank adjusted its SME portfolio last year by moving some customers to corporate loans to set a strategy to advance the SME segment.

He said the board had given the green light to the SME banking division to provide loans for university-student apartments in the country's education hubs.

TBank conducted a study in this field and found that the supply of student apartments was insufficient, he said. The number of new university students increases by 10 per cent a year, and new accommodation for them is not keeping pace.

"We will provide loans to apartment developers based in education hubs. In the northern region, potential locations are around Chiang Mai University and Payap University. In the Northeast, apartments near Khon Kaen University are the focus," he said.

The lending will be divided into two types. First is project financing to apartment developers, for which sales teams from TBank in Bangkok will help teams in provincial branches. Second is working capital, for which provincial sales teams can approve loans themselves through the scorecard system.

Working-capital loans will provide a credit line of up to Bt10 million, while the figure will be above Bt10 million for project financing, for which apartment developers will require annual turnover of Bt600 million.

Jiratchayuth said the bank would add two business-centre branches from five currently to support lending to SMEs in the provinces.

Another key strategy this year is auto-related business, which also will help strengthen SME lending. TBank is already the leader in instalment lending, and other auto-related businesses such as garages will be the focus as well. He said such businesses had good potential to service vehicles purchased under last year's first-car tax-break scheme.

TBank has 400 garage partners nationwide, which might require more capital to support their growing business.

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Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/TBank-loan-strategy-set-to-take-SME-portfolio-past-30205440.html

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Monkey math: Baboons show brain's ability to understand numbers

May 3, 2013 ? Opposing thumbs, expressive faces, complex social systems: it's hard to miss the similarities between apes and humans. Now a new study with a troop of zoo baboons and lots of peanuts shows that a less obvious trait -- the ability to understand numbers -- also is shared by humans and their primate cousins.

"The human capacity for complex symbolic math is clearly unique to our species," says co-author Jessica Cantlon, assistant professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester. "But where did this numeric prowess come from? In this study we've shown that non-human primates also possess basic quantitative abilities. In fact, non-human primates can be as accurate at discriminating between different quantities as a human child."

"This tells us that non-human primates have in common with humans a fundamental ability to make approximate quantity judgments," says Cantlon. "Humans build on this talent by learning number words and developing a linguistic system of numbers, but in the absence of language and counting, complex math abilities do still exist."

Cantlon, her research assistant Allison Barnard, postdoctoral fellow Kelly Hughes, and other colleagues at the University of Rochester and the Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester, N.Y., reported their findings online May 2 in the open-access journal Frontiers in Comparative Psychology. The study tracked eight olive baboons, ages 4 to 14, in 54 separate trials of guess-which-cup-has-the-most-treats. Researchers placed one to eight peanuts into each of two cups, varying the numbers in each container. The baboons received all the peanuts in the cup they chose, whether it was the cup with the most goodies or not. The baboons guessed the larger quantity roughly 75 percent of the time on easy pairs when the relative difference between the quantities was large, for example two versus seven. But when the ratios were more difficult to discriminate, say six versus seven, their accuracy fell to 55 percent.

That pattern, argue the authors, helps to resolve a standing question about how animals understand quantity. Scientists have speculated that animals may use two different systems for evaluating numbers: one based on keeping track of discrete objects -- a skill known to be limited to about three items at a time -- and a second approach based on comparing the approximate differences between counts.

The baboons' choices, conclude the authors, clearly relied on this latter "more than" or "less than" cognitive approach, known as the analog system. The baboons were able to consistently discriminate pairs with numbers larger than three as long as the relative difference between the peanuts in each cup was large. Research has shown that children who have not yet learned to count also depend on such comparisons to discriminate between number groups, as do human adults when they are required to quickly estimate quantity. Studies with other animals, including birds, lemurs, chimpanzees, and even fish, have also revealed a similar ability to estimate relative quantity, but scientists have been wary of the findings because much of this research is limited to animals trained extensively in experimental procedures. The concern is that the results could reflect more about the experimenters than about the innate ability of the animals.

"We want to make sure we are not creating a 'Clever Hans effect,'" cautions Cantlon, referring to the horse whose alleged aptitude for math was shown to rest instead on the ability to read the unintentional body language of his human trainer. To rule out such influence, the study relied on zoo baboons with no prior exposure to experimental procedures. Additionally, a control condition tested for human bias by using two experimenters -- each blind to the contents of the other cup -- and found that the choice patterns remained unchanged.

A final experiment tested two baboons over 130 more trials. The monkeys showed little improvement in their choice rate, indicating that learning did not play a significant role in understanding quantity.

"What's surprising is that without any prior training, these animals have the ability to solve numerical problems," says Cantlon. The results indicate that baboons not only use comparisons to understand numbers, but that these abilities occur naturally and in the wild, the authors conclude.

Finding a functioning baboon troop for cognitive research was serendipitous, explains study co-author Jenna Bovee, the elephant handler at the Seneca Park Zoo who is also the primary keeper for the baboons. The African monkeys are hierarchical, with an alpha male at the top of the social ladder and lots of jockeying for status among the other members of the group. Many zoos have to separate baboons that don't get along, leaving only a handful of zoos with functioning troops, Bovee explained.

Involvement in this study and ongoing research has been enriching for the 12-member troop, she said, noting that several baboons participate in research tasks about three days a week. "They enjoy it," she says. "We never have to force them to participate. If they don't want to do it that day, no big deal.

"It stimulates our animals in a new way that we hadn't thought of before," Bovee adds. "It kind of breaks up their routine during the day, gets them thinking. It gives them time by themselves to get the attention focused on them for once. And it reduces fighting among the troop. So it's good for everybody."

The zoo has actually adapted some of the research techniques, like a matching game with a touch-screen computer that dispenses treats, and taken it to the orangutans. "They're using an iPad," she says.

She also enjoys documenting the intelligence of her charges. "A lot of people don't realize how smart these animals are. Baboons can show you that five is more than two. That's as accurate as a typical three year old, so you have to give them that credit."

Cantlon extends those insights to young children: "In the same way that we underestimate the cognitive abilities of non-human animals, we sometimes underestimate the cognitive abilities of preverbal children. There are quantitative abilities that exist in children prior to formal schooling or even being able to use language."

Other University of Rochester co-authors on the study include Regina Gerhardt, an undergraduate student in brain and cognitive sciences, and Louis DiVincenti, a veterinarian and senior instructor in comparative medicine. This research was supported by the James S. McDonnell Foundation.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Rochester, via Newswise.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Allison M. Barnard, Kelly D. Hughes, Regina R. Gerhardt, Louis DiVincenti, Jenna M. Bovee and Jessica F. Cantlon. Inherently Analog Quantity Representations in Olive Baboons (Papio anubis). Frontiers in Comparative Psychology, 2013 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00253

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/Bed9ywunf60/130503132719.htm

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Red Wings blow 3-goal lead, beat Ducks 5-4 in OT

Detroit Red Wings players celebrate Gustav Nyquist's goal during overtime as Anaheim Ducks' Corey Perry (10) skates off in Game 2 of their first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, May 2, 2013. The Red Wings won 5-4. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Detroit Red Wings players celebrate Gustav Nyquist's goal during overtime as Anaheim Ducks' Corey Perry (10) skates off in Game 2 of their first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, May 2, 2013. The Red Wings won 5-4. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Detroit Red Wings center Damien Brunner, left, celebrates his goal with Kyle Quincey against the Anaheim Ducks during the first period in Game 2 of their first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, May 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Detroit Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard blocks a shot against the Anaheim Ducks during the first period in Game 2 of their first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, May 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Detroit Red Wings left wing Justin Abdelkader, center, celebrates his goal with Pavel Datsyuk, left, and Henrik Zetterberg as Anaheim Ducks center Daniel Winnik skates by during the first period in Game 2 of their first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, May 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Detroit Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard, left, blocks a shot by Anaheim Ducks right wing Teemu Selanne during the first period in Game 2 of their first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, May 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) ? Detroit coach Mike Babcock didn't call a timeout while the Anaheim Ducks obliterated the Red Wings' three-goal lead in the third period, believing a break would only make his younger players even more nervous.

Better to let them learn how to survive playoff pressure on their own, Babcock thought.

With help from an ill-timed penalty by Anaheim's Sheldon Souray, the Red Wings figured it out and evened the series.

Gustav Nyquist scored a power-play goal at 1:21 of overtime, giving Detroit a 5-4 victory in Game 2 on Thursday night.

Johan Franzen scored two goals and Damien Brunner had his first Stanley Cup playoff goal and two assists for the Red Wings, who survived their third-period collapse with a timely goal from Nyquist.

"We knew we had to get back to playing hard in the overtime, and we did," Nyquist said. "We knew the playoffs were on the line."

Game 3 is Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena.

Bobby Ryan scored the tying goal with 2:22 left in regulation for the Ducks, who also got goals from captain Ryan Getzlaf and Kyle Palmieri while erasing Detroit's 4-1 lead with a phenomenal surge in the final minutes.

But Souray took a slashing penalty in front of his net with 38 seconds left in regulation after an exchange with Justin Abdelkader, and Nyquist was left unchecked in the left faceoff circle for his goal with just 2 seconds remaining in the power play. The 23-year-old Swede from the University of Maine was in his sixth career playoff game.

"I think it's a great learning experience," Babcock said. "You've got the win, and you stop playing. ... You're not settling them down, you're putting gas on the fire. What are you going to do about it? You're hoping your big guys are going to go out there and make a play."

Ducks fans loudly booed the call against Souray, who joined Anaheim this season after a well-traveled career. He has been among the Ducks' best defensemen with his booming slap shot and physical two-way play.

"I didn't really see anything," Souray said of the final penalty. "It was a tough call. Tough way to end it. We battled back hard. We didn't start the game and periods as hard as they did, and they capitalized on that."

Jimmy Howard made 28 saves for Detroit, which silenced the Anaheim crowd with two goals in the first 4:20 of the Red Wings' third victory in four appearances at Honda Center this season. Abdelkader scored in the opening minute and Pavel Datsyuk had two assists.

But the Red Wings also lost rookie defenseman Danny DeKeyser for the season with a broken thumb.

"He's done," Babcock said of DeKeyser, who played a standout game before apparently getting hurt in the third period.

Jonas Hiller stopped 27 shots and Saku Koivu scored for the second-seeded Ducks, who struggled through the first two periods before rallying in the hair-raising third. Ryan and Palmieri both had a goal and an assist in the third, and Koivu added an assist.

"When you do come back to tie it, and (then) lose it, is a little more disappointing," Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said. "I was hoping it would get done before overtime, because I knew they would gain their composure again, because the last 10 minutes (of regulation), they lost it. They were fortunate starting (overtime) on the power play, and that was it."

Until the final period, Detroit had bounced back impressively from the Ducks' 3-1 series-opening victory. Babcock put veteran Todd Bertuzzi in his lineup for the first time since Feb. 7, replacing Jordin Tootoo, but otherwise kept the same lineup ? and the Wings responded with all the poise expected from a team with 22 straight playoff appearances.

While the Wings executed, the Ducks struggled until their electric third-period rally. Game 1 hero Teemu Selanne made an egregious turnover leading to Brunner's goal, and Getzlaf passed up a breakaway shot in the third period for an ill-advised pass on a play that exemplified the Ducks' struggles.

But the Ducks rallied when Getzlaf scored on a shot with his back to the net with 12:10 to play. Palmieri then scored his first career playoff goal moments after a power play ended, firing a short shot that Howard missed with his glove with 7:29 left.

Ryan nearly scored with 5? minutes to play, but his deflection in front just caught the outside post. He didn't miss on his next chance when Cam Fowler found him driving to the net with a perfect pass for a quick shot past Howard, setting off a deafening celebration.

"I think we finally settled into a pretty good rhythm there," Ryan said. "We didn't do enough, though. ... We gave them second and third chances to come up with the puck, and they're a team that capitalizes."

The Ducks attracted another large, towel-waving crowd to Honda Center after the festive atmosphere in their opener. But many fans weren't yet in their seats when Abdelkader found space near the blue line and beat Hiller with a deceptive wrist shot just 48 seconds into the game.

NOTES: The 38-year-old Bertuzzi missed nearly three months with back pain and nerve problems affecting his right leg, even forcing him to walk with a cane at times. ... The Ducks have won the series all nine times in club history after winning the first game. ... Babcock considered putting veteran Mikael Samuelsson back into the lineup, but held off. The member of the Triple Gold Club ? an Olympic gold medal, a world championship and a Stanley Cup title ? missed 41 games this season with injuries, but is healthy again.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-05-03-HKN-Red-Wings-Ducks/id-d86b1a5b2b9849fcba52e5eccbf0022a

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PFT: Packers shuffle line, move Bulaga to blind side

Getty Images

The Jaguars have stood pat at quarterback in the offseason, good news for third-year pro Blaine Gabbert, who thus gets another chance to show he can be the club?s long-term answer at the position.

Whether Gabbert can seize the opportunity remains to be seen. But this is much is clear ? the Jaguars believe improving the pass protection even just a little bit could help Gabbert, and they have data that suggests as much.

In a story published Friday, Jaguars general manager David Caldwell told NFL.com?s Albert Breer that data provided by senior vice president of football technology and analytics?Tony Khan in the pre-draft process helped show how Gabbert?s performance related to the time he had to throw. Khan?s data, Breer reported, showed that?Gabbert ranked among the ?top-third? of the NFL at his position when he had 2.6 seconds before throwing.

In two NFL seasons, Gabbert has been sacked 62 times in 25 games (24 starts), and though he?s thrown more TDs than interceptions (21-17), he?s completed just 53.8 percent of his throws, and his play has come under criticism.

The statistics provided by Khan, Caldwell told NFL.com, did help the Jaguars decide to take an offensive tackle second overall.?According to Caldwell, the Jaguars had decided two weeks before the draft that they would be taking either Texas A&M?s Luke Joeckel or Central Michigan?s Eric Fisher with the No. 2 overall pick if Kansas City took one of the tackles first.

?What we did was fill a need where the value met the need,? Caldwell told NFL.com. ?It became clear two weeks prior, after we met with the scouting staff, the personnel staff, got their feedback, that the two highest-rated guys were the tackles. The coaches told us we needed to upgrade the line. So this was gonna be a solid pick; we felt we?d get a cornerstone, a pillar for the team.?

The Chiefs, of course, took Fisher, leaving Joeckel for the Jaguars. Joeckel is expected to ply right tackle for Jacksonville as a rookie, with veteran Eugene Monroe on the left side. Monroe, per Pro Football Focus statistics, gave up just five sacks a season ago, but Cameron Bradfield and Guy Whimper, who combined to start all 16 games at right tackle for Jacksonville in 2012, surrendered a combined 11 sacks, according to PFF.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/05/03/packers-shuffling-line-putting-bulaga-sitton-on-left-side/related/

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