A gorilla in the midst – of emotional rebirth?

Rowan Hooper, news editor

(Image: Anup Shah)

In the Central African Republic, a female western lowland gorilla runs through a cloud of butterflies. She capers, if a gorilla can be said to caper. The other gorillas in her group carry on feeding, ignoring her.

It is in stark contrast to the week before: the capering gorilla, named Malui, had given birth to a stillborn fetus. It would have been Malui's fourth offspring, and Makumba, the silverback's, thirteenth. "Malui tried to revive the baby and even tried to get it to suckle," says wildlife photographer Anup Shah, who was watching the animals at the Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve. What happened next was unusual. Malui's daughter, Mosoko, started grooming her. "Since grooming is rare, it probably signifies something profound," says Shah. "Was the daughter telling her mother that she understood her grief?"

It's not easy to interpret human behaviour in such circumstances, let alone that of other animals. But behaviours associated with grief in humans have been seen in animals such as dolphins and, indeed, gorillas. Malui carried the stillborn baby on her back, finally abandoning the body some 30 hours after giving birth.

The next week, Shah shot the butterfly picture. "Malui was thoroughly enjoying herself," he says - and she seemed to have put the loss of the baby behind her. "I did not see any other instances of deep emotions in these gorillas," says Shah. "My theory is that gorillas reserve deep emotions for extreme situations."

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Speculation rife of year-end general election in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: Speculation in rife in Malaysia that a general election could still be held before the end of the year.

Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad said he is confident that the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition would recapture its two-thirds majority in parliament if the ballot is held now.

As Malaysia's largest political party UMNO gets ready to hold its annual congress on Wednesday, rumours are rampant that parliament may be dissolved immediately after the general assembly, paving the way for a year-end general election.

Speculation was fuelled by a comment made by Prime Minister Najib Razak that the year-end monsoon weather and flash floods were not major problems.

When asked, former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad did not give much away.

"Do you think it's timely? Anytime is a good time," he said.

Dr Mahathir was speaking to the media after delivering his keynote address at the Third World Conference on Riba/Usury on Monday.

He said Malaysia would no longer be independent if foreigners were allowed to interfere in deciding who should govern the country.

Dr Mahathir said the opposition's intention of inviting foreign observers to monitor the upcoming 13th general election was to accuse the government of cheating in the elections.

"There's only one aim. If they lose, they will hold street demonstrations, accusing the government of rigging the elections. They will say the government has cheated, so the ruling party wins. That's all.

"(They) want to resort to rioting like what happened in some of the Arab countries, to topple the duly elected government," he said.

Commenting on the last general election, Dr Mahathir said: "There is no country where the ruling party could lose five states and one federal territory if it had cheated in the general election. I think the opposition would have not have won these if the ruling government had cheated."

Other party seniors voiced preference for a later date, as the second round of government handouts for lower income households will only be given out in January.

Many also believe that the window for an early election this year had closed.

Syed Hamid Albar, Supreme council member of UMNO and former home minister, said: "The most important thing is he has already assessed fully, he has gone around the country many times. So, that is why he says that he thinks anytime... this year also can, but that is more a diversion. I think it will be held next year."

Separately, Mr Najib urged Malaysians not to gamble away their future, by handing over the country to parties which could not deliver.

He outlined reasons why the ruling Barisan Nasional must be given a big mandate in the upcoming general election.

Top of the list is the clarity of the vision and direction of the BN government in developing the nation.

Mr Najib made the comments in a special interview with Malaysian media, ahead of the UMNO General Assembly.

He said as an experienced party, UMNO has always spurred numerous ideas to transform the nation towards a bright future.

He said the opposition was still unclear on the matter.

UMNO forms the backbone of the ruling coalition.

Mr Najib also said UMNO and the BN have no conflict whether in terms of policy or ideology.

He said this was not the case for the opposition parties, which often issued opinions which were at odds, even on basic and fundamental matters.

Mr Najib, who is the BN chairman and UMNO president, said the coalition has a proven track record of their achievements in managing the nation.

"We have recorded all these achievements which people say run contrary to the world economic trend. As such, we are able to ensure the capability of the government remains at a high level, with a high level of confidence," he said.

Regardless of whether elections will be held this year or next, the ruling BN coalition's tenure expires on April 28, 2013 and the prime minister must call for the general election by the middle of next year.

The UMNO general assembly will be his final platform to fire up the spirits of the party and unite UMNO delegates to face the toughest general election in history.

- CNA/de

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Cyber Monday: Dells's deals on good TVs

You won't have any trouble finding rock-bottom prices on no-name TVs from sketchy online vendors this Cyber Monday, but if buying a good television from a trustworthy retailer is your priority, Dell's site has a couple of very good prices on bigscreen TVs I can actually recommend.

Samsung 51-inch plasma, $578 with free shipping. Judging from their published specifications, PN51E530 has the same picture quality as the PN51E550 we really liked. Yeah it's missing Smart TV and 3D, but you could always just add a $40 Roku if you want streaming apps.

Samsung 60-inch plasma, $848 with free shipping. If you like what you just read about the 51-inch version, this 60-incher promises more of the same, just a whole lot bigger.

Sharp 60-inch LED, $999 with free shipping. The LC-60LE600U is basically the same as the LC-LE640U we reviewed earlier this year and called one of the best bargains around. It still is, especially since it has better picture quality than the 60-inch Vizio. Yes, the Vizio has the Smart TV that the Sharp 600U lacks, but see above re: Roku.

All three of these deals are available now, but as usual supplies are limited so they could sell out anytime. If you see any other tempting Cyber Monday deals on good TVs, leave a comment.

Bonus Tip: Deal to Avoid If you're tempted by Amazon's deal for 60% off select Panasonic LEDs, you might want to know that every Panasonic LED TV we've reviewed this year has shown inferior, and sometimes downright bad, picture quality.

Via Dealnews

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Distant Dwarf Planet Secrets Revealed

Orbiting at the frozen edges of our solar system, the mysterious dwarf planet Makemake is finally coming out of the shadows as astronomers get their best view yet of Pluto's little sibling.

Discovered in 2005, Makemake—pronounced MAH-keh MAH-keh after a Polynesian creation god—is one of five Pluto-like objects that prompted a redefining of the term "planet" and the creation of a new group of dwarf planets in 2006. (Related: "Pluto Not a Planet, Astronomers Rule.")

Just like the slightly larger Pluto, this icy world circles our sun beyond Neptune. Researchers expected Makemake to also have a global atmosphere—but new evidence reveals that isn't the case.

Staring at a Star

An international team of astronomers was able for the first time to probe Makemake's physical characteristics using the European Southern Observatory's three most powerful telescopes in Chile. The researchers observed the change in light given off by a distant star as the dwarf planet passed in front of it. (Learn how scientists found Makemake.)

"These events are extremely difficult to predict and observe, but they are the only means of obtaining accurate knowledge of important properties of dwarf planets," said Jose Luis Ortiz, lead author of this new study and an astronomer at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, in Spain.

It's like trying to study a coin from a distance of 30 miles (48 kilometers) or more, Ortiz added.

Ortiz and his team knew Makemake didn't have an atmosphere when light from the background star abruptly dimmed and brightened as the chilly world drifted across its face.

"The light went off very abruptly from all the sites we observed the event so this means this world cannot have a substantial and global atmosphere like that of its sibling Pluto," Ortiz said.

If Makemake had an atmosphere, light from the star would gradually decrease and increase as the dwarf planet passed in front.

Coming Into Focus

The team's new observations add much more detail to our view of Makemake—not only limiting the possibility of an atmosphere but also determining the planet's size and surface more accurately.

"We think Makemake is a sphere flattened slightly at both poles and mostly covered with very white ices—mainly of methane," said Ortiz.

"But there are also indications for some organic material at least at some places; this material is usually very red and we think in a small percentage of the surface, the terrain is quite dark," he added.

Why Makemake lacks a global atmosphere remains a big mystery, but Ortiz does have a theory. Pluto is covered in nitrogen ice. When the sun heats this volatile material, it turns straight into a gas, creating Pluto's atmosphere.

Makemake lacks nitrogen ice on its surface, so there is nothing for the sun to heat into a gas to provide an atmosphere.

The dwarf planet has less mass, and a weaker gravitational field, than Pluto, said Ortiz. This means that over eons of time, Makemake may not have been able to hang on to its nitrogen.

Methane ice will also transform into a gas when heated. But since the dwarf planet is nearly at its furthest distance from the sun, Ortiz believes that Makemake's surface methane is still frozen. (Learn about orbital planes.)

And even if the methane were to transform into a gas, any resulting atmosphere would cover, at most, only ten percent of the planet, said Ortiz.

The new results are detailed today in the journal Nature.

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President Obama Prepares for Cabinet Shuffle

Nov 26, 2012 6:45am

Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo

As President Obama prepares for his second term, preparations have begun for the traditional shuffling of the Cabinet.

Top priority for the president: filling slots for those top officials heading — if not running — for the door: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner.

To replace Clinton, Democratic insiders suggest that U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Dr. Susan Rice is the frontrunner, with Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., also a viable candidate.

Rice has been harshly criticized by Republicans for the erroneous comments she made on Sunday news talk shows after the attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, comments that were based on intelligence reports that falsely blamed the attack on a protest against an anti-Muslim video. When the president, during his recent press conference, offered a vociferous defense of Rice, many of those close to him began to suspect he was tipping his hand as to what he might decide.

To replace Geithner at Treasury, White House chief of staff Jack Lew is thought to have the inside track if he wants it, with other possibilities including Neal Wolin, the current deputy secretary of the Treasury and Lael Brainard, current under secretary of the Treasury for international affairs.

Other informed sources suggest that there is consideration being given to a business/CEO type such as investor Roger Altman, former Time/Warner chair Richard Parsons, and Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg.

Those are the two most pressing jobs to fill, with Clinton exhausted from a long stretch in government — eight years as first lady, eight as senator, and four as secretary of state — and the president having personally promised Geithner’s wife that he could leave as soon as possible after the election.

Any of the business/CEO types being discussed for treasury secretary could also serve as secretary of commerce, a position that for the Obama administration has proved as troublesome as the role of drummer in Spinal Tap. Jeff Zients, the acting director of the Office of Management & Budget, is said to be under consideration.

It’s too flip to refer to it as a consolation prize, but informed sources say that — with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta also planning on leaving — Kerry could be offered the position secretary of defense if he wants it, though the Massachusetts senator has suggested he only wants State. Another option, Michelle Flournoy, a former under secretary of defense for Policy, would be the first female to serve in that position. There was some discussion of National Security Adviser Tom Donilon moving across the river, but it seems clear, sources say, that he’s staying where he is.

If Lew leaves to take the position at Treasury, some possible replacements for him as chief of staff include deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough or Vice President Biden’s former chief of staff Ron Klain. Tom Nides, deputy secretary of state for management and resources, has also been discussed.

President Obama’s senior adviser David Plouffe has also long discussed leaving the White House. There are many options to fill his shoes, including the elevation of communications director Dan Pfeiffer. Also possible: bringing back former press secretary Robert Gibbs, or former deputy chief of staff/campaign manager Jim Messina. Another option might be to bring in some of the people who were part of the messaging shop in the campaign — David Simus, who served as director of opinion research for the campaign, or Larry Grisolano, who did ads for campaign.

– Jake Tapper

SHOWS: World News

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Keystroke-logger checks your identity as you type

WHETHER an aggressive finger-jabber or a fluent touch-typist, the way you type says more about you than you might think. A biometric authentication system monitors the telltale timing gaps between the letters you type to continually verify your identity.

The traditional password is notoriously troublesome as a way of keeping your devices secure. Many people use simple, easy-to-guess passwords like qwerty or 123456, or reuse the same one across multiple services, putting only one line of defence in front of their entire digital life.

David Hibler of Christopher Newport University, Virginia, and colleagues designed software called URIEL, which uses the average time between keystrokes as a surprisingly accurate way of identifying an individual. The software learns the user's typing style by measuring the time between key presses over 10 areas of the keyboard as a user types, and learns who they are as they type words from a specific ...

To continue reading this article, subscribe to receive access to all of newscientist.com, including 20 years of archive content.

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Gaza damage to cost US$1.2b: Hamas spokesman

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Israel's eight-day bombardment of the Gaza Strip has caused more than US$1.2 billion in direct and indirect damages, a spokesman for the Hamas government said on Sunday.

"The total cost of damages caused by the Israeli aggression is US$1.245 billion (960 million euros)," Taher al-Nunu told reporters in Gaza City.

He said direct damage caused by more than a week of Israeli aerial bombardment had cost US$545 million (420 million euros) while indirect damages added up to some US$700 million (540 million euros).

Nunu said the eight-day operation had completely destroyed 200 homes and partially damaged another 8,000.

Another 42 non-residential buildings, including the Hamas government headquarters, were also completely destroyed, he said.

Three mosques and a health centre were levelled, and hundreds of official buildings were also partially razed, Nunu said.

During the operation, the Israeli military said it hit more than 1,500 targets, including 19 command centres, 26 weapons manufacturing and storage facilities and "hundreds of underground rocket launchers" as well as "dozens" of longer-range rocket launchers.

Statistics provided by the Hamas-run health ministry show that between November 14-21, 166 Gazans were killed, most of them civilians, and another 1,235 people were wounded.

Of those killed, at least 43 were children and 13 women, the emergency services and rights groups said.

In Israel, rocket fire from Gaza killed six Israelis -- four civilians and two soldiers -- while another 240 people were injured, the military said.

- AFP/xq

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Apple targets Galaxy Note 2, S3 Mini in latest court request

Apple and Samsung continue to hurl gadgets at each other in their seemingly never-ending patent battle.

Midweek, Samsung filed a request that the
iPad Mini, the fourth-generation iPad, and the fifth-generation iPod Touch be included in a California case set to go to trial in 2014. Not to be outdone, Apple responded last night by asking that several more Samsung devices, including the
Galaxy Note 2, the Galaxy S3 with
Android 4.1, and the Galaxy S3 Mini, be covered by the case.

The last round of tit-for-tat additions to the list of gadgets covered by the case included Apple's iPhone 5, Samsung's Galaxy Note 10.1, and the Galaxy Nexus smartphone in conjunction with Google's Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS. The U.S. model of the Galaxy S3 -- which was not yet running Android 4.1 -- was also part of the earlier back-and-forth.

Back in August, Apple won an earlier California case, which focused on exterior design issues and not just on what Apple said were similarities to patented software features. This case deals more with software and user interface patents, raising the question of whether Android-maker Google might somehow get pulled directly into the fray.

The case is being overseen by U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal in a federal court in San Jose, Calif.

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Distant Dwarf Planet Secrets Revealed

Orbiting at the frozen edges of our solar system, the mysterious dwarf planet Makemake is finally coming out of the shadows as astronomers get their best view yet of Pluto's little sibling.

Discovered in 2005, Makemake—pronounced MAH-keh MAH-keh after a Polynesian creation god—is one of five Pluto-like objects that prompted a redefining of the term "planet" and the creation of a new group of dwarf planets in 2006. (Related: "Pluto Not a Planet, Astronomers Rule.")

Just like the slightly larger Pluto, this icy world circles our sun beyond Neptune. Researchers expected Makemake to also have a global atmosphere—but new evidence reveals that isn't the case.

Staring at a Star

An international team of astronomers was able for the first time to probe Makemake's physical characteristics using the European Southern Observatory's three most powerful telescopes in Chile. The researchers observed the change in light given off by a distant star as the dwarf planet passed in front of it. (Learn how scientists found Makemake.)

"These events are extremely difficult to predict and observe, but they are the only means of obtaining accurate knowledge of important properties of dwarf planets," said Jose Luis Ortiz, lead author of this new study and an astronomer at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, in Spain.

It's like trying to study a coin from a distance of 30 miles (48 kilometers) or more, Ortiz added.

Ortiz and his team knew Makemake didn't have an atmosphere when light from the background star abruptly dimmed and brightened as the chilly world drifted across its face.

"The light went off very abruptly from all the sites we observed the event so this means this world cannot have a substantial and global atmosphere like that of its sibling Pluto," Ortiz said.

If Makemake had an atmosphere, light from the star would gradually decrease and increase as the dwarf planet passed in front.

Coming Into Focus

The team's new observations add much more detail to our view of Makemake—not only limiting the possibility of an atmosphere but also determining the planet's size and surface more accurately.

"We think Makemake is a sphere flattened slightly at both poles and mostly covered with very white ices—mainly of methane," said Ortiz.

"But there are also indications for some organic material at least at some places; this material is usually very red and we think in a small percentage of the surface, the terrain is quite dark," he added.

Why Makemake lacks a global atmosphere remains a big mystery, but Ortiz does have a theory. Pluto is covered in nitrogen ice. When the sun heats this volatile material, it turns straight into a gas, creating Pluto's atmosphere.

Makemake lacks nitrogen ice on its surface, so there is nothing for the sun to heat into a gas to provide an atmosphere.

The dwarf planet has less mass, and a weaker gravitational field, than Pluto, said Ortiz. This means that over eons of time, Makemake may not have been able to hang on to its nitrogen.

Methane ice will also transform into a gas when heated. But since the dwarf planet is nearly at its furthest distance from the sun, Ortiz believes that Makemake's surface methane is still frozen. (Learn about orbital planes.)

And even if the methane were to transform into a gas, any resulting atmosphere would cover, at most, only ten percent of the planet, said Ortiz.

The new results are detailed today in the journal Nature.

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New Congress: Fewer Moderates Make Deals Harder

When the next Congress cranks up in January, there will be more women, many new faces and 11 fewer tea party-backed House Republicans from the class of 2010 who sought a second term.

Overriding those changes, though, is a thinning of pragmatic, centrist veterans in both parties. Among those leaving are some of the Senate's most pragmatic lawmakers, nearly half the House's centrist Blue Dog Democrats and several moderate House Republicans.

That could leave the parties more polarized even as President Barack Obama and congressional leaders talk up the cooperation needed to tackle complex, vexing problems such as curbing deficits, revamping tax laws and culling savings from Medicare and other costly, popular programs.

"This movement away from the center, at a time when issues have to be resolved from the middle, makes it much more difficult to find solutions to major problems," said William Hoagland, senior vice president of the Bipartisan Policy Center, a private group advocating compromise.

In the Senate, moderate Scott Brown, R-Mass., lost to Democrat Elizabeth Warren, who will be one of the most liberal members. Another GOP moderate, Richard Lugar of Indiana, fell in the primary election. Two others, Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and Olympia Snowe of Maine, are retiring.

Moderate Democratic senators such as Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, James Webb of Virginia are leaving, as is Democratic-leaning independent Joe Lieberman.

While about half the incoming 12 Senate freshmen of both parties are moderates, new arrivals include tea party Republican Ted Cruz of Texas, conservative Deb Fischer of Nebraska, and liberals such as Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Hawaii's Mazie Hirono.

There's a similar pattern in the House, where 10 of the 24 Democratic Blue Dogs lost, are retiring or, in the case of Rep. Joe Donnelly, R-Ind., are moving to the Senate. That will further slash a centrist group that just a few years ago had more than 50 members, though some new freshmen might join.

Among Republicans, moderates like Reps. Judy Biggert of Illinois and New Hampshire's Charles Bass were defeated while others such as Reps. Jerry Lewis of California and Steven LaTourette of Ohio decided to retire.

"Congress seems to be going in the opposite direction of the country, just as the country is screaming for solutions to gridlock," said Democratic strategist Phil Singer.

Whether the changes are good is often in the eye of the beholder.

Seventy-one of the 83 House GOP freshmen of 2010 were re-elected Nov. 6, but 11 lost, including one of the group's highest profile members, conservative Rep. Allen West, R-Fla. Another faces a runoff in December.

"Some of the people who are the anti-government ideologues, some of them are gone," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "And that message has been rejected by the American people."

Sal Russo, strategist for the Tea Party Express, said such departures would be balanced by newly elected conservatives, including the Senate's Cruz and GOP Reps.-elect Ted Yoho of Florida and Mark Meadows of North Carolina.

"Pretty much everybody that ran in 2012 was talking about the economic woes we face, stopping excessive spending, controlling unsustainable debt," he said.

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