Paris Air Show peek: Wide-body battle and drones

PARIS (AP) ? The Paris Air Show, which opens for business on Monday, brings hundreds of aircraft to the skies around the French capital, the usual tense competition between aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Airbus, and a slew of innovations large and small. Here's what to look for over the show:

BATTLE OF THE WIDE-BODIES

The much-anticipated Airbus A350 flew for the first time on Friday, launching a new air race between the European plane maker and Boeing for long-haul wide-body aircraft.

Boeing has dominated the market so far, but troubles with the lithium ion batteries in its 787 Dreamliner are giving customers a reason to give a close look at Airbus' first all-new plane in eight years. The CEO of Airbus parent EADS, Tom Enders, has said he expects a "few hundred" new orders. Boeing executives, meanwhile, downplayed the air show's importance for orders, noting that the two companies have historically split the commercial aircraft market.

A year ago, at the Paris Air Show's sister event in Britain, Boeing beat Airbus for the number of orders announced. The U.S. company took in $37 billion in orders and commitments, well above Airbus' $16.9 billion.

But the announcements during the air shows are not always a reliable indicator of business since prices are often negotiated down heavily and big orders don't always coincide with the event.

The race for the title of biggest plane maker is as tight as ever. Over the whole of 2012, Airbus delivered 588 planes. That was a record, but one Boeing beat with 601 deliveries, the first time since 2003 it came out on top.

NO HANDS ON DECK

They have swooped into wildfires to take temperatures and tracked animals across Africa. They have guided a fuel tanker to safety through icy waters. Drones are increasingly being used for non-military purposes and are expected to feature prominently at the Paris Air Show.

There are still tough restrictions on their flight for safety reasons, but while the Federal Aviation Authority works on new rules, the makers of drones will aim to show off innovation and technical prowess at the show. Eurocopter, a company based in France, will showcase new technology that can transform a manned helicopter into one that flies without a pilot.

EVEN IN PARIS, SEQUESTRATION TAKES TOLL

American fighter jets aren't taking to the skies above Paris, nor will they be seen on the ground, for the first time in more than two decades thanks to the U.S. government's spending cuts - the infamous 'sequestration'.

The U.S. pavilion remains the largest, but the event will be less of a sales showcase for latest military hardware and more a place for suppliers to meet up with potential customers.

Russia, on the other hand, is looking to make a splash by presenting fighter jets and military helicopters at the show for the first time since 2001. The Sukhoi manufacturer will showcase its Su-35, a twin-engine multipurpose fighter, for the first time outside Russia. Britain and France also will have fighter jets on display.

"It's two different trends between commercial aircraft and defense," said Eric Bernardini, a consultant for AlixPartners who follows the aerospace industry.

EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS

Less flashy but just as important for the industry will be the myriad technological innovations that parts suppliers will come to Paris to present. The biggest issue? The cost of fuel.

The price of jet fuel has more than tripled worldwide since 2003 ? a trend both jet manufacturers and airlines expect to continue. Electric- or solar-powered commercial flights are wildly improbable and biofuels aren't yet economically viable, so airlines are looking to improve mileage any way possible.

For long-haul flights, that means more carbon-fiber in airplane bodies and other design tweaks, such as electric motors for taxiing. For passengers, it means no end in sight on extra baggage fees.

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Follow Lori Hinnant at: https://twitter.com/lhinnant

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/paris-air-show-peek-wide-body-battle-drones-080137533.html

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Alleged metallic Nokia EOS body teased again, this time with a dozen of them

That baffling metallic Nokia EOS chassis we saw the other day? It's back, but this time the same leakster from Sina Weibo managed to get a shot of at least 12 of them, meaning the device has likely reached some sort of production stage. In another photo, we can see the same button arrangement -- presumably volume, power and camera -- that's already present on the current Lumia range. The strange thing is we've yet to see a cover plate that will match this seemingly smaller camera opening, but the square shape does make us wonder whether this will fit Pelican Imaging's 16-lens array camera. After all, Nokia did announce its investment in this plenoptic camera technology. Hopefully Elop will personally explain what's going on at his event on July 11th -- maybe with both this and the plastic EOS in his hands.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Nokia

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Firefighters advance containment on Colo. wildfire

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) ? Fire officials say crews have gained the upper hand on the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history and had more than half the blaze contained by late Saturday.

Incident commander Rich Harvey said at an evening news conference that containment of the Black Forest Fire was at 55 percent, up from 45 percent earlier Saturday.

The wildfire left behind a grim landscape and El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa said that in some areas of the blaze's path, it appeared as if "a nuclear bomb went off."

The fire that exploded Tuesday outside of Colorado Springs destroyed nearly 500 homes and killed two people who appeared ready to flee. It's unknown what sparked the blaze.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/firefighters-advance-containment-colo-wildfire-184819754.html

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One person killed in second plant incident in two days in Louisiana parish

WVLA-TV

The CF Industries plant in Donaldsonville, La., is just 30 miles south of Geismar, where a chemical plant explosion killed two people Thursday, June 13.

By M. Alex Johnson, staff writer, NBC News

A container ruptured at a Louisiana nitrogen plant Friday night, killing one person and injuring at least seven others, the company said ? just a day after an explosion at a?chemical plant?killed two people in the same parish.

Louisiana State Police told NBC News that three of the injured were in critical condition.

The plant's owner, CF Industries of Deerfield, Ill., said the incident occurred about 6 p.m. (7 p.m. ET) at its facility in Donaldsonville, roughly halfway between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.?"There was no fire or chemical release nor is there any threat or hazard posed to the community," it said.

Ascension Parish Sheriff Jeff Wiley and plant manager Lou Frey said at a news conference Friday night that the rupture ? which initially was reported as an explosion ? was caused by workers who overpressurized a nitrogen vessel they were filling from a truck at CF Industries in Donaldsonville.

"There was no explosion, no fire," Frey said.

Wiley said it was "like a balloon popping."

Federal records show that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined CF Industries, one of the world's biggest nitrogen fertilizer producers, about?$150,000 for safety and health violations after a fire and explosion killed three people at?the Donaldsonville plant?in 2000. It cited 12 violations posing "substantial probability" of serious injury or death.?

The blast Friday occurred just a day after an explosion and fire at the Williams Olefins chemical plant in Geismar, just 30 miles north of Donaldsonville, killed two people and injured more than 70 others. State Police confirmed the second death Friday.

"The irony of back-to-back incidents has not escaped us," Wiley, said. "We express our sincere condolences to the families of the deceased and injured."

Azhar Fateh of NBC News contributed to this report.

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This story was originally published on Fri Jun 14, 2013 10:06 PM EDT

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Iran's Rowhani seeks 'constructive interaction'

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? Just weeks after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election victory in 2005, Iran's top nuclear negotiator Hasan Rowhani stepped down from the post after quarrelsome meetings with the new president.

The decision cemented Rowhani's reputation as a moderate who rejected Ahmadinejad's combative approach in world affairs in favor of the more nuanced philosophy of Ahmadinejad's leading political foe, former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Rafsanjani was rejected by Iran's election guardians from Friday's presidential ballot. But for many reformists and liberals in Iran, the 64-year-old Rowhani is somewhat of a mirror image of the elder Rafsanjani by reflecting his outlook that Iran can maintain its nuclear program and ease tensions with the West at the same time.

Rowhani was declared the president-elect on Saturday after winning 50.7 percent of the more than 36 million votes cast. He takes office in August.

"Rafsanjani was really the only choice to re-energize reformists," said Rasool Nafisi, an Iranian affairs analyst at Strayer University in Virginia. "Rowhani only got their support because he is seen as Rafsanjani's man and a vote for Rowhani was a vote for Rafsanjani."

This deep connection between the two men could give Rowhani's presidency a dual nature: Rowhani as the public face and Rafsanjani behind the scenes as its powerful godfather and protector.

Although all key policies such the nuclear program are directed by the ruling clerics, the alliance with Rafsanjani may give Rowhani more latitude to put his stamp on Iran's negotiation tactics with world powers after four rounds of talks since last year have failed to make any significant headway.

At campaign rallies, Rowhani pledged to seek "constructive interaction with the world" that includes efforts to ease Western concerns about Iran's program and lift punishing international sanctions that have pummeled the economy. The West and its allies fear Iran could be moving toward development of a nuclear weapon. Iranian officials, including Rowhani, insist that the country only seeks nuclear reactors for energy and medical applications.

"We won't let the past eight years be continued," Rowhani told a cheering crowd last week in a clear reference to Ahmadinejad's back-to-back terms. "They brought sanctions for the country. Yet, they are proud of it. I'll pursue a policy of reconciliation and peace. We will also reconcile with the world."

Rowhani ? the only cleric in the six-candidate presidential field ? started religious studies at a teenager. He soon established himself as an outspoken opponent of the Western-backed shah, traveling frequently for anti-monarchy speeches and sermons that caught the attention of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the eventual leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Rowhani later graduated from Tehran University with a law degree in 1972. He then went abroad to Glasgow Caledonian University for a master's degree in legal affairs, according to his campaign biography.

While outside Iran, the stirrings of the Islamic Revolution were growing stronger. Rowhani returned to Iran and stepped up his denunciations of the shah, but fled the country to avoid arrest. He then joined up with Khomeini, who was in self-exile in France, and the rest of his inner circle, including Rafsanjani.

After the revolution, Rowhani rose quickly with various roles, including reorganizing the military, serving in the new parliament and overseeing the state broadcaster, which became a valued mouthpiece for Khomeini.

He strengthened his ties to Rafsanjani during the 1980-88 war with Iraq and, later, as Rafsanjani's top national security adviser during his 1989-97 terms. Rowhani continued the role with reformist President Mohammad Khatami, who also appointed Rowhani as the country's first nuclear envoy.

Rowhani took over the nuclear portfolio in 2003, a year after Iran's 20-year-old nuclear program was revealed. Iran later temporarily suspended all uranium enrichment-related activities to avoid possible sanctions from the U.N. Security Council.

Ahmadinejad strongly opposed any such concessions and deal-making. He also had carry-over friction with Rowhani, who backed his mentor Rafsanjani against Ahmadinejad in the 2005 race.

Rowhani resigned as nuclear negotiator and head of the Supreme National Security Council after a few testy postelection meetings with Ahmadinejad.

In his campaign stops, Rowhani had been careful not to directly confront authorities over crackdowns since Ahmadinejad's disputed 2009 election. But Rowhani was seen as clearly siding with Ahmadinejad's reform-minded opponent four years ago, Green Movement leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who was placed under house arrest in early 2011 along with fellow opposition candidate Mahdi Karroubi.

Taking a page from Mousavi's color-branded campaign, Rowhani adopted purple for his run for the presidency. It also brought some backlash, including several supporters arrested at a rally that brought cries from the crowd for the release of Mousavi and Karroubi.

At Rowhani's final campaign event earlier this week, chants rang out: "Love live reforms."

___

Murphy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/irans-rowhani-seeks-constructive-interaction-023417245.html

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Duck genome provides new insight into fighting bird flu

June 9, 2013 ? The duck genome consortium, consisted of scientists from China Agricultural University, BGI, University of Edinburgh and other institutes has completed the genome sequencing and analysis of the duck (Anas platyrhynchos), one principal natural host of influenza A viruses, which caused a new epidemic in China since this February. This work reveals some noteworthy conclusions and provides an invaluable resource for unraveling the interactive mechanisms between the host and influenza viruses.

The new H7N9 bird flu strain killed 36 people and caused $6.5 billion loss to China's economy. As a natural host of influenza A viruses (including H5N1), the duck is known to often remain asymptomatic under influenza infection. To uncover the interactive mechanisms between the host and influenza viruses, researchers sequenced the genome of a 10-week-old female Beijing duck, and conducted transcriptomic studies on two virus-infected ducks.

This work yielded the draft sequence of a waterfowl-duck for the first time, and the data indicated that the duck, like the chicken and zebra finch, possessed a contractive immune gene repertoire comparing to those in mammals, and it also comprises novel genes that are not present in the other three birds (chicken, zebra finch and turkey).

By comparing gene expression in the lungs of ducks infected with either highly or weakly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 viruses, the team identified genes whose expression patterns were altered in response to avian influenza viruses. They also identify factors that may be involved in duck host immune response to avian virus infection, including the avian and mammalian -defensin gene families.

Jianwen Li, project manager from BGI, said, "This study provides very important data to better understand the interaction between the host and the avian influenza. Scientists will be able to explore more deeply the mechanisms on the spread and infection of avian influenza."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by BGI Shenzhen.

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. Yinhua Huang, Yingrui Li, David W Burt, Hualan Chen, Yong Zhang, Wubin Qian, Heebal Kim, Shangquan Gan, Yiqiang Zhao, Jianwen Li, Kang Yi, Huapeng Feng, Pengyang Zhu, Bo Li, Qiuyue Liu, Suan Fairley, Katharine E Magor, Zhenlin Du, Xiaoxiang Hu, Laurie Goodman, Hakim Tafer, Alain Vignal, Taeheon Lee, Kyu-Won Kim, Zheya Sheng, Yang An, Steve Searle, Javier Herrero, Martien A M Groenen, Richard P M A Crooijmans, Thomas Faraut, Qingle Cai, Robert G Webster, Jerry R Aldridge, Wesley C Warren, Sebastian Bartschat, Stephanie Kehr, Manja Marz, Peter F Stadler, Jacqueline Smith, Robert H S Kraus, Yaofeng Zhao, Liming Ren, Jing Fei, Mireille Morisson, Pete Kaiser, Darren K Griffin, Man Rao, Frederique Pitel, Jun Wang, Ning Li. The duck genome and transcriptome provide insight into an avian influenza virus reservoir species. Nature Genetics, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/ng.2657

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/genes/~3/gfMQv1SCE4g/130609195711.htm

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