REIMS, France (AP) ? A possible gas explosion ripped off the side of a five-story residential building in France's Champagne country on Sunday, killing at least two people and injuring 14 others, officials said. Search teams extracted a victim's body as they pored over the rubble in a hunt for possible survivors.
More than 100 rescue workers, firefighters, sniffer-dog squads and bomb and gas experts rushed to the gutted building in a subsidized housing complex in the city of Reims, east of Paris, officials said. Heaps of debris spilled out of the building onto a grassy esplanade below.
"The explosion of a residential building in Reims is a terrible drama," the office of French President Francois Hollande said in a statement, conveying his condolences to the victims' relatives.
The Interior Ministry also issued a statement saying two people died and 14 people were injured.
"We don't know the cause of the explosion. It was probably due to gas," Reims mayor Adeline Hazan said at the scene. "We know two people are dead ? we don't know their identities yet," she said, adding that the survivors were taken to hospital.
"These are not definite numbers, because we are looking for another two to five people," Hazan said. An official investigation was under way to determine the cause, she said. Authorities insisted that the two people known to have died were adults.
Witnesses described a powerful blast.
"The explosion was very strong, like a sonic boom from a fighter plane. We had been playing football on a field about 30 meters (100 feet) away, and ran to the scene," housing project resident Abdel Kader said. "The building had fallen like a house of cards ... 30 seconds after that we saw a man calling for help, he was on a slab. His legs were caught."
"Later, he died," Abdel Kader, a 27-year-old job seeker who declined to provide his family name, said.
Michel Bernard, the top government official in Reims, said the building dated to the 1960s. About 10 of the 40 or so apartments were affected on the end of the rectangular building, he said.
Late in the day, authorities deployed backhoes to help clear away the rubble.
The precariousness of some buildings has come to light internationally in recent days following the collapse Wednesday of an eight-story building in a suburb of Dhaka, Bangladesh, where at least 362 people have been confirmed to have died. Officials said three floors of the building, which had housed garment factories, had been built illegally.
___
Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten contributed to this story from Paris.
One thing I love about my job is hearing the stories from small business owners all over the country. Last year, we helped 97 small business owners in 27 states purchase, construct, renovate, or refinance their commercial property. When you work with that many business owners, you?re bound to hear some wonderful stories about overcoming adversity, going the extra mile, and finding creative ways to solve problems.
I probably don?t need to tell you this, but being a small business owner (and working with small business owners in an advisory role) takes a considerable amount of thinking outside the box. In today?s post-recession economy, there?s a ?new normal? that a lot of us are still trying to figure out. For those looking to start a new venture but not sure where to begin, franchising may be a really exciting option.
Franchising as a business model has seen steady growth since the Great Recession, and it?s great for the continuing lean economic environment. Aligning yourself with a proven business model that provides support for training, operations, marketing, and more ca make it easy to get up-and-running in a relatively short time. If you or someone you know is interested in becoming a franchisee, go here to read my latest Huffington Post blog about the 15 do?s and don?ts of ?starting a franchise. Since I work with franchisees here at Mercantile, and I?m also a franchisor/franchisee with my second business (Kennedy?s All-American Barber Club), I have a unique perspective on the process.
The other thing I?ll share with you today is that I keep hearing from business owners how difficult it is to secure financing from ordinary banks. Even banks that have money to lend continue to impose far too many and too stringent restrictions on their potential small business borrowers (in my opinion). But creative business owners are still finding ways to make it happen. Go here to read today?s FOX Business article about specialist lenders and credit unions that are giving small business owners the support and funding they need to grow and succeed (hint: Mercantile is one of them).
What are some creative ways you?ve made things happen for your business (or your clients? businesses)? Tell me about it in the comments section below.
Dedicated to Your Continued Success,
-Chris
P.S. If you or someone you know is looking to purchase, construct, or renovate commercial real estate for a small business, contact me right away to find out how we can help. I can be reached at ChrisHurn@MercantileCC.com or 1-866-622-4504. Unlike those ordinary lenders who continue to make it tough for small business owners, we like to find creative ways to help our clients get the loans they need to grow their businesses. Call or email today to find out just how creative we can get (still, no churches or apartment buildings, though)?
P.P.S. If you?re looking for even more outside-the-box thinking, then you should pick up a copy of my book, The Entrepreneur?s Secret to Creating Wealth. In addition to being a step-by-step guide for generating real and lasting wealth in a small business, every chapter ends with one of those small business success stories I mentioned at the top of this blog post. Go here to get your copy from Amazon.com today!
P.P.P.S. Learn why NOW is the best time for small business owners to buy their commercial real estate in my book for entrepreneurs.
About Chris Hurn
Chris Hurn is the CEO of Mercantile Capital Corporation. MCC is a nationwide, nonbank commercial lending firm that specializes in SBA 504 loans for business owners who want to own their commercial property. It has appeared on the Inc. 500|5000 list of America?s read more?
9 April 2013Last updated at 20:15 ETBy Matt McGrathEnvironment correspondent, BBC News
New research suggests that fracking is not a significant cause of earthquakes that can be felt on the surface.
UK scientists looked at quakes caused by human activity ranging from mining to oil drilling; only three could be attributed to hydraulic fracturing.
Most fracking events released the same amount of energy as jumping off a ladder, the Durham-based team said.
They argue that the integrity of well bores drilled for fracking is of much greater concern.
The research is published in the Journal of Marine and Petroleum Geology .
Continue reading the main story
?Start Quote
Hydraulic fracturing is not really in the premier league for causing felt seismicity...?
End QuoteProf Richard DaviesDurham University
In recent years, hydraulic fracturing has become a significant means of recovering oil and gas that is too tightly bound into rock formations to be recovered by normal drilling.
Fracking, as it is called, utilises a mixture of water, sand and chemicals pumped underground at high pressure to crack open sedimentary rocks and release the fuels within.
Earth movers
But opponents of fracking have long been concerned that the process could induce earthquakes such as the one that occurred near a shale gas operation in Lancashire in 2011.
Now researchers from Durham University's Energy Institute say that the pumping of fracking liquid does indeed have the potential to reactivate dormant fault lines. But they say that compared to many other human activities such as mining or filling reservoirs with water, fracking is not a significant source of tremors that can be felt on the surface.
Continue reading the main story
Earthquakes
There are thousands of earthquakes each day, most too small to be detected without equipment
Earthquakes are usually caused by the motion of tectonic plates over the viscous mantle beneath
The Shaanxi earthquake of 1556 is the deadliest on record - killing nearly one million
"We've looked at 198 published examples of induced seismicity since 1929," Prof Richard Davies from Durham told BBC News.
"Hydraulic fracturing is not really in the premier league for causing felt seismicity. Fundamentally it is is never going to be as important as mining or filling dams which involve far greater volumes of fluid."
The researchers detailed just three incidences of earthquakes created by fracking - one each in the US, the UK and Canada. The biggest at Horn River Basin in Canada in 2011 had a magnitude of 3.8.
"Most fracking related events release a negligible amount of energy roughly equivalent to, or even less than someone jumping off a ladder onto the floor," said Prof Davies.
What has been shown to cause bigger seismic activity is the underground injection of oil-drilling waste water. Recent research in the US has linked this to a 5.7 magnitude earthquake in Oklahoma in 2011. This isn't an issue in the UK as the practice of injecting waste water underground is banned by EU legislation.
If oil and gas exploration companies want to reduce the risk from fracking completely, the key thing according to Prof Davies is not to drill too close to tectonic faults.
By using 3D seismic imaging he says, these problem could be identified and the risk of quakes avoided. However this technology is not a legal requirement at present and is likely to be resisted as it will increase drilling costs.
Cement issues
Of greater concern to Prof Davies is the long term threat posed by the well bores that are drilled to allow fracking to take place. There have been concerns that over time the cement that is used to line the wells may give way under pressure.
"I think there are some good research questions about the long term integrity of well bores - it has been shown in the US and Canada that a percentage have not been cemented properly and are going to leak or do leak - that's what I would focus on," he added.
This view is echoed by Robert Jackson, professor of environmental sciences at Duke University in the US, who has published research on ground water contamination through hydraulic fracturing.
"If I were to emphasise one thing it would be well integrity. There are many examples of well integrity issues, we know that a certain number of wells leak through time. Some people might say 5 % but one study suggested as many as half of all wells have sustained casing pressure, suggesting there is something wrong," he said.
Prof Jackson says that transparency is key to successfully developing the shale gas industry. With new incentives from the Government announced in the budget to boost the recovery of shale gas, the likelihood was the fracking industry was going to expand rapidly in the UK.
According to Prof Jackson this would have implications for people all over the country.
"One thing that will change in the UK, is that gas extraction is no longer in the North sea it is in people's neighbourhood," he said.
"It is an industrial activity in people's backyards. It means trucks, dust, noise - people aren't used to that in the UK."
BEIJING (AP) ? A 4-year-old boy has recovered from a new strain of bird flu that has killed nine people in China, a doctor said Wednesday, as the country's premier said the outbreak was under control.
The child from Shanghai is among 33 people confirmed to have been infected with the H7N9 virus. The official Xinhua News Agency said he was the first to completely recover and be discharged from a hospital.
A doctor at the Infectious Disease Department of the Pediatric Hospital affiliated with Shanghai's Fudan University confirmed the boy had recovered and left the hospital, but said she didn't know if it was the first recovery from H7N9. She refused to give her name, as Chinese officials often do.
Five new cases of H7N9 infection were reported on Wednesday. Two of those were in Shanghai, two in Jiangsu province, and one in Zhejiang province, according to the websites of the provincial and city health authorities. Both Zhejiang and Jiangsu border Shanghai.
Premier Li Keqiang told Cabinet members that efforts to prevent and contain the virus were proceeding in an orderly manner and would be extended into areas including standardization of treatment and international cooperation.
"Overall, the outbreak is at a stage where it can be prevented and contained," Li was quoted as saying by state broadcaster CCTV.
China announced the first known cases on March 31, sparking concern among experts worldwide because it was the first time the strain of bird flu has been known to infect humans. They fear the virus could mutate in a way that allows it to spread easily among people, but so far there has been no sign of human-to-human transmission.
Chinese health officials believe people may be getting sick from direct contact with infected fowl, but the virus is hard to track because it appears to be spreading in birds without making them ill. The World Health Organization says at least two family clusters are being investigated, but that there is no evidence of infections among other contacts or health workers who cared for them. There have been no reported cases outside of eastern China.
Xinhua also said Wednesday that police in southwest China detained three people for up to 10 days for spreading false rumors online that the H7N9 virus had been detected in a live poultry market in Guizhou province. It said the report was reposted many times, causing fear among local people.
Meanwhile, Indonesia announced it is suspending the import of poultry products from China.
Vice Agriculture Minister Rusman Heriawan said the ban was signed Wednesday and would be lifted after the Chinese government confirms the country is free of the virus.
Indonesia currently only imports duck feathers from China, used to make shuttlecocks in the badminton-obsessed country. Some have expressed fears that the ban may lead to a shuttlecock shortage.
Key indicators of the financial results for the three months ended 31March 2013 are shown below. These results do not include financial results of NSGB- Egypt. QNB Group has recently concluded the acquisition of a controlling stake in NSGB amounting to 97.12%. It is anticipated that the incorporation of the financial results of NSGB will be completed during the second quarter of 2013.
- Robust balance sheet growth
Total assets increased by 22.2% from March 2012 to reach QR380bn, the highest ever achieved by the Bank. This was the result of a strong growth rate of 28.7% in loans and advances to reach QR259bn, while customer deposits increased by 28.2% to QR280bn.
- Maintenance of an outstanding assets quality
The Bank was able to maintain the ratio of non-performing loans to gross loans at 1.4%, a level considered one of the lowest amongst banks in the Middle East and Africa, reflecting the high quality of the Group's loan book and the effective management of credit risk. The Group's conservative policy in regard to provisioning continued with the coverage ratio reaching 119% in March 2013.
- Increased revenues with improved efficiency
Total operating income, including the share of results of associates, increased to QR3.0bn, up by 5.5% compared to March 2012, demonstrating QNB Group's success in achieving strong growth across the range of revenue sources. Net interest income increased by 4.7% to reach QR2.4bn, with net fees and commissions and net gain from foreign exchange reaching QR350m and QR172m, respectively, reflecting success in diversifying sources of income.
The Group's prudent cost control policy and strong revenue generating capability allowed it to maintain efficiency ratio (cost to income ratio) of 17.7%, which is considered one of the best ratios among financial institutions in the region.
- Robust capitalisation
Total Equity increased by 9.3% from March 2012 to reach QR46bn as at 31 March 2013. The capital adequacy ratio stood at 20.5% as at 31 March 2013, far higher than the regulatory requirements of QCB and the Basel Committee. The Group is keen to maintain a strong capitalisation in order to support future strategic plans.
- Significant expansion of international presence
During the first quarter of 2013, QNB Group has successfully completed the acquisition of a controlling stake in NSGB amounting to 97.12%, which included the full stake of Soci?t? G?n?rale - France amounting to 77.17% along with 19.95% acquired from other shareholders.
This acquisition is considered one of the largest in the Middle East and is in line with QNB Group's strategy to expand its presence in selected markets in the region that have a strong growth potential. This acquisition is an important step for QNB Group to realise its vision of being a Middle East and Africa Icon by 2017.
NSGB has a solid financial position and a strong standing in Egypt's banking sector, with operations throughout the country.
The announced results of QNB Group do not include financial results of NSGB, which are anticipated to be incorporated during the second quarter of 2013.
- High credit ratings
QNB Group has maintained its credit rating, which is considered as being one of the highest in the region, with various rating agencies affirming the Bank's rating during the first quarter of 2013. This is as a result of QNB Group's strong financial position, high quality of its assets and leading position in the financial sector.
As a result of the Bank's high credit ratings and outstanding asset quality, it was selected as one the world's 50 safest financial institutions by Global Finance.
Based on the Group's continuous strong performance and the expanding international presence, the bank is currently ranked as the most valuable brand in the MENA region, with a world ranking of 120.
- Innovative products and services
In line with ongoing efforts to expand the range of products and services, QNB First was launched across all five branches in Oman. The introduction of this elite and exclusive service for affluent customers is designed to meet their high expectation, which is provided by a dedicated and highly experienced team. The Group aims to roll out this service during this year to a number of countries in the region where it operates.
- Staff development remains a key priority
With the addition of NSGB, QNB Group's presence through its subsidiaries and associate companies increased to 25 countries providing a comprehensive range of advanced products and services. The total number of staff exceeded 13,000 operating from over 560 locations, with an ATM network exceeding 1,150 machines.
The Bank continues to place high emphasis on recruiting Qatari nationals and provide them with dedicated training programs to further enhance their capabilities. This has resulted in the Bank having a Qatarisation ratio that exceeds 50%, the highest among financial institutions in Qatar.
Experimental medicine uses seek-and-destroy technique against tumor cells
By Nathan Seppa
Web edition: April 8, 2013
WASHINGTON ? A newfangled drug candidate featuring an antibody that totes a tumor-killing toxin can knock down ovarian cancer in some patients. In the first test of the experimental drug in people, scientists gave it to 44 patients with advanced ovarian cancer that was resistant to the effects of platinum-based chemotherapy, a standard treatment.
One patient showed what the researchers called a ?complete response,? meaning any tumors became undetectable. Four other patients had a partial response, which means their tumors shrank by at least 30 percent, said Joyce Liu, a medical oncologist at Harvard Medical School. The results, presented April 6 at a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, represent a considerable improvement for a patient group with few treatment options.
?Most [ovarian] cancers will recur and become increasingly resistant to chemotherapy,? Liu said.
The experimental drug is called DMUC5754A. The sharp end of the stick in DMUC5754A is a toxin called monomethyl auristatin E, or MMAE, which must be wielded carefully. The toxin is ?very, very powerful,? said Louis Weiner, director of the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. MMAE disrupts microtubules inside cells, which are essential for all cells? survival. That means the toxin must be tightly controlled when used inside the body. When attached to the antibody, Liu said, ?MMAE is released inside the [tumor] cell and kills it.?
Liu?s early findings in patients suggest the antibody is capable of delivering the toxin where it is needed, Weiner said. Such conjugate therapies ?are examples of where this field is going in the future,? he said.
The antibody portion of the compound binds to a large protein called MUC16 that shows up in 80 percent of ovarian cancers, Liu said. Only patients with high levels of MUC16 had a good response in this early trial, she said.
While that caveat may limit the number of patients who could benefit, it also means that tests showing high levels of MUC16 might reveal to doctors which cancer patients might best benefit from the experimental drug.
DMUC5754A appeared safe. Only two patients experienced side effects potent enough to require lowering their doses. Slightly more than half experienced fatigue, and about a third reported some nausea ? both common side effects for anticancer drugs. Liu said DMUC5754A, which is being developed by the biotech company Genentech, will get further testing with larger groups of patients.
Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death among gynecological malignancies in the United States, killing more than 14,000 patients each year.
MUC16 also shows up in people who have pancreatic cancer, she said. Researchers are recruiting volunteers with pancreatic cancer to test the drug candidate.
This entry was posted on Sunday, April 7th, 2013 at 9:39 pm and is filed under Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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How To Buy Term Life Insurance
Buying term life insurance is a great protection source in the tragic event of death so the family can pay off bills and funeral costs in an already stressful and emotional time.? Buying term life insurance is a big decision for family members and the last thing they want to worry about is burying in a cheap casket and not being able to afford respectful funeral services to say goodbye.? Trusted information can help anyone discover how to buy term life insurance to help loved ones after death.
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Please read our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | User published content is licensed under a Creative Commons License except where otherwise noted. ? Copyright 2008 ? 2013 Webika Ltd. All Rights Reserved. v. 3.0.1 / 20130131 (w2) Hebrew | Portuguese
ISTANBUL (AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry struggled Sunday to convince Turkey's leaders they should promptly restore full diplomatic ties with Israel, two American allies counted on by President Barack Obama to help calm the turbulent Middle East.
But Turkey demanded that Israel first end all commercial restrictions against the Palestinians before the once-close partners could end their estrangement, which stems from an Israeli raid in 2010 on a flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip. Eight Turks and a Turkish-American died.
Obama revived the rapprochement during a visit to Israel last month, and Kerry aimed to firm that up in Istanbul, the first stop in a 10-day trip.
The stakes are high, given that the U.S. sees Turkey and Israel as anchors of stability in a region riven by Syria's civil war, Arab Spring political upheavals and the potential threat posed by Iran's nuclear program.
"We would like to see this relationship that is important to stability in the Middle East and critical to the peace process ... get back on track in its full measure," Kerry told reporters at a news conference with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
Kerry said that meant promises of "compensation be fulfilled, ambassadors be returned and that full relationship be embraced."
He also met with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and then went to Israel.
Obama, before leaving Israel two weeks ago, arranged a telephone conversation between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Erdogan. Netanyahu apologized for the flotilla incident; compensation talks are expected to begin this week.
But Davutoglu suggested that full normalization of ties would probably take some time.
"There is an offense that has been committed and there needs to be accountability," Davutoglu said.
He signaled that Turkey would pursue a "careful" advance toward a complete restoration of relations, with compensation and an end to Israeli trade restrictions on the Gaza Strip as the stumbling blocks.
"All of the embargoes should be eliminated once and for all," he said through an interpreter.
Fixing the relationship long has been a goal of the Obama administration, and the U.S. desperately wants significant progress by the time Erdogan visits the White House in mid-May.
The Turks have reveled somewhat in what they view as a diplomatic victory, with billboards in Ankara celebrating Netanyahu's apology and praising Erdogan for bringing pride to his country.
Perhaps seeking to add to his leverage, Erdogan indicated shortly after the call that he was in no hurry to finalize the deal and pledged to visit the Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory soon.
From a U.S. strategic sense, cooperation between the American allies has only become more important as Syria's 2-year conflict has grown ever deadlier.
More than 70,000 people have died in the war, according to the United Nations, but the U.S. fears it could get even worse, by spilling into neighboring countries or through the use of chemical weapons.
Both potential scenarios have led to intense contingency planning among Washington and its regional partners, including Israel and Turkey.
Kerry, who noted his twice-weekly telephone chats with Davutoglu, spoke of shared U.S. and Turkish efforts to support Syria's opposition coalition.
The opposition has suffered from poor coordination between its political leadership and the military factions leading the fight against the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, and from intense infighting among those who seek to guide the amorphous movement's overall strategy.
Turkey has gone further than the U.S. in its assistance, accepting some 180,000 Syrians as refugees and sending advanced weaponry to rebels fighting to overthrow Assad.
The U.S. is only providing nonlethal aid to the rebels in the form of meals, medical kits and training.
Kerry praised Turkey for its generosity toward refugees and commitment to keeping its borders open, an issue of growing U.S. concern as the outflow of Syrians stretches the capacities of neighboring countries to accommodate them.
"The United States and Turkey will continue cooperating toward the shared goal of a peaceful transition in Syria," he said.
After arriving in Israel for his trip there in two weeks, Kerry went directly to the West Bank city of Ramallah, where he met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
He planned to see Netanyahu and other senior Israeli and Palestinian officials Monday and Tuesday as part of a fresh American bid to unlock the long-stalled Middle East peace process.
Conversations in Israel will also cover shared U.S. and Israeli concerns over Iran's nuclear program.
Representatives from the U.S. and other world powers met the Islamic republic in Kazakhstan for another round of negotiations, but no breakthrough was announced on a proposed deal that would see international penalties eased on Iran if Tehran convinces the world that it is not trying to develop nuclear weapons.
Kerry said the "door is still open" for a negotiated agreement, but that the onus was on the Iranians.
"If you have a peaceful program for nuclear power, as a number of nations do, it's not hard to prove that," he said. "They have chosen not to live up to the international requirements and standards with respect to verification of their program."
The other stops on his trip are Britain, South Korea, China and Japan. He returns to Washington on April 15.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Confronting bipartisan criticism, President Barack Obama conceded Saturday his proposed budget is not his "ideal plan" but said it offers "tough reforms" to the nation's benefit programs while closing loopholes for the wealthy, a mix that he argued will provide long-term deficit reduction without harming the economy.
In his first comments about a budget he is to release Wednesday, Obama said he intends to reduce deficits while providing new spending for public works projects, early education and job training.
"We don't have to choose between these goals - we can do both," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address.
Obama's budget calls for slower growth in government benefits programs for the poor, veterans and the elderly, as well as higher taxes, primarily from the wealthy. Some of its details, made public Friday, drew a fierce response from liberals, labor unions and advocates for older Americans and prompted an unimpressed reaction from Republican House Speaker John Boehner.
"It's a compromise I'm willing to accept in order to move beyond a cycle of short-term, crisis-driven decision-making, and focus on growing our economy and our middle class for the long run," Obama said.
Obama proposes spending cuts and revenue increases that would result in $1.8 trillion in deficit reductions over 10 years, replacing $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts that are otherwise poised to take effect over the next 10 years.
Counting reductions and higher taxes that Congress and Obama have approved since 2011, the 2014 budget would contribute $4.3 trillion to total deficit reduction by 2023.
The key deficit reduction elements of the plan incorporate an offer Obama made to Boehner in December as both men sought to avert an impending "fiscal cliff" of automatic, across the board spending cut and broad tax increases
Obama's plan has two central features ? $580 billion in new taxes that Republicans oppose and a new inflation formula, rejected by many liberals, that would reduce the annual cost of living adjustments for a broad swath of government programs, including Social Security and benefits for veterans.
In his address, Obama said he would achieve deficit reduction by making "tough reforms" to Medicare and enacting "common-sense tax reform that includes closing wasteful tax loopholes for the wealthy and well-connected."
Obama, however, made no mention of the effect his budget would have on Social Security and other social safety net programs, a key feature of his proposal and one that drew hostile reaction from some of his most ardent political backers.
An AP-GfK poll conducted late last year found 49 percent of those asked were opposed to changing the way Social Security benefits are calculated to produce smaller annual increases and reduce the federal budget deficit. The poll found 30 percent supported the idea and 15 percent were neutral. Of those opposed to a recalculation, 32 percent said they "strongly opposed" the change, compared with just 11 percent who strongly support it.
Obama rejected a House Republican plan that aims to balance the budget in 10 years with steep cuts in domestic spending. His remarks reflected the White House's argument that Obama's blend of tax increases and spending cuts have widespread public support and will ultimately change the terms of the fiscal debate in Washington.
"My budget will reduce our deficits not with aimless, reckless spending cuts that hurt students and seniors and middle-class families ? but through the balanced approach that the American people prefer, and the investments that a growing economy demands," he said.
Still, Obama has been unable to move House Republicans from their opposition to higher taxes. And his proposed reduction in the growth of benefits drew swift objections from allies.
"The president should drop these misguided cuts in benefits and focus instead on building support in Congress for investing in jobs," AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in a statement Friday.
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback delivered the Republican radio and Internet address, arguing that "the ideas on how to fix the federal government are now percolating in the states."
"You see, you don't change America by changing Washington ? you change America by changing the states," he said. "And that's exactly what Republican governors are doing across the country ? taking a different approach to grow their states' economies and fix their governments with ideas that work.
Brownback, a former House member and U.S. senator, called for a "taxing structure that encourages growth, an education system that produces measurable results, and a renewed focus on the incredible dignity of each and every person, no matter who they are."
Microalgae produce more oil faster for energy, food or productsPublic release date: 7-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Michael Bernstein
m_bernstein@acs.org
504-670-4707 (New Orleans Press Center, April 5-10)
202-872-6042
Michael Woods
m_woods@acs.org
504-670-4707 (New Orleans Press Center, April 5-10)
202-872-6293
American Chemical Society
NEW ORLEANS, April 7, 2013 Scientists today described technology that accelerates microalgae's ability to produce many different types of renewable oils for fuels, chemicals, foods and personal-care products within days using standard industrial fermentation. The presentation was part of the 245th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society. The meeting, with 12,000 presentations on advances in science and other topics, continues here through Thursday.
Walter Rakitsky, Ph.D, explained that microalgae are the original oil producers on earth, and that all of the oil-producing machinery present in higher plants resides within these single-cell organisms. Solazyme's breakthrough biotechnology platform unlocks the power of microalgae, achieving over 80 percent oil within each individual cell at commercial scale while changing the triglyceride oil paradigm by their ability to tailor the oil profiles by carbon chain and saturation. The ability to produce multiple oils in a matter of days out of one plant location using standard industrial fermentation is a game-changer. Solazyme's patented microalgae strains have become the workhorses of a growing industry focused on producing commercial quantities of microalgal oil for energy and food applications. Rakitsky is with Solazyme, Inc., of South San Francisco, Calif., one of the largest and most successful of those companies, which in 2011 supplied 100 percent microalgal-derived advanced biofuel for the first U.S. passenger jetliner flight powered by advanced biofuel.
In a keynote talk at the ACS meeting, Rakitsky described Solazyme's technology platform that enables the company to produce multiple oils from heart-healthy high-oleic oils for food to oils that are tailored to have specific performance and functionality benefits in industry, such as safer dielectric fluids and oils that are the highest-value cuts of the barrel for advanced fuels. The benefits of these oils far surpass those of other oils that are currently available today.
"For the first time in history, we have unlocked the ability to completely design and tailor oils," he said. "This breakthrough allows us to create oils optimized for everything from high-performance jet and diesel fuel to renewable chemicals to skin-care products and heart-healthy food oils. These oils could replace or enhance the properties of oils derived from the world's three dominant sources: petroleum, plants and animals."
Producing custom-tailored oils starts with optimizing the algae to produce the right kind of oil, and from there, the flexibility of the fermentation platform really comes into play. Solazyme is able to produce all of these oils in one location simply by switching out the strain of microalgae they use, Rakitsky explained. Unlike other algal oil production processes, in which algae grow in open ponds, Solazyme grows microalgae in total darkness in the same kind of fermentation vats used to produce vinegar, medicines and scores of other products. Instead of sunlight, energy for the microalgae's growth comes from low-cost, plant-based sugars. This gives the company a completely consistent, repeatable industrial process to produce tailored oil at scale.
Sugar from traditional sources such as sugarcane and corn has advantages for growing microalgae, especially their abundance and relatively low cost, Rakitsky said. The company's first fit-for-purpose commercial-scale production plant is under construction with their partner Bunge next to a sugarcane mill in Brazil. Initial production capacity will be 110,000 tons of microalgal oil annually, expanding up to 330,700 tons. In addition, the company has a production agreement with ADM in Clinton, Iowa, for 22,000 tons of oil, expandable to 110,000 tons. Ultimately, cellulosic sources of sugars from non-food plants or plant waste materials, like grasses or corn stover, may take over as those technologies reach the right scale and cost structures.
###
The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.
Note to journalists: Please report that this research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.
Follow us: Twitter | Facebook
Abstract
Solazyme, Inc. is a renewable oil and bioproducts company that transforms a range of low-cost plant-based sugars into high-value tailored triglyceride oils. Headquartered in South San Francisco, Solazyme's renewable products can replace or enhance the properties of oils derived from the world's three dominant sources: petroleum, plants, and animals.
Harnessing the oil-producing capabilities of microalgae, Solazyme's biotechnology platform utilizes standard industrial fermentation equipment to efficiently scale and accelerate natural oil development cycle time from years to merely a few days. By feeding simple plant sugars to proprietary strains of microalgae in industrial fermentation vessels, Solazyme takes advantage of "indirect photosynthesis", in contrast to the traditional open-pond approaches most often associated with microalgae.
Today, Solazyme's biotechnology platform is pioneering the expanded the use of renewable, resources by producing oils that are tailored to meet specific industry demands, impacting end-use applications ranging from fuels to chemicals to foods. These unique oil profiles have performance and functionality benefits that far surpass what's currently available.
Throughout this presentation, Solazyme will highlight the versatility of the technology platform by discussing the properties and applications of a new source of renewable oils derived from microalgae.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Microalgae produce more oil faster for energy, food or productsPublic release date: 7-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Michael Bernstein
m_bernstein@acs.org
504-670-4707 (New Orleans Press Center, April 5-10)
202-872-6042
Michael Woods
m_woods@acs.org
504-670-4707 (New Orleans Press Center, April 5-10)
202-872-6293
American Chemical Society
NEW ORLEANS, April 7, 2013 Scientists today described technology that accelerates microalgae's ability to produce many different types of renewable oils for fuels, chemicals, foods and personal-care products within days using standard industrial fermentation. The presentation was part of the 245th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society. The meeting, with 12,000 presentations on advances in science and other topics, continues here through Thursday.
Walter Rakitsky, Ph.D, explained that microalgae are the original oil producers on earth, and that all of the oil-producing machinery present in higher plants resides within these single-cell organisms. Solazyme's breakthrough biotechnology platform unlocks the power of microalgae, achieving over 80 percent oil within each individual cell at commercial scale while changing the triglyceride oil paradigm by their ability to tailor the oil profiles by carbon chain and saturation. The ability to produce multiple oils in a matter of days out of one plant location using standard industrial fermentation is a game-changer. Solazyme's patented microalgae strains have become the workhorses of a growing industry focused on producing commercial quantities of microalgal oil for energy and food applications. Rakitsky is with Solazyme, Inc., of South San Francisco, Calif., one of the largest and most successful of those companies, which in 2011 supplied 100 percent microalgal-derived advanced biofuel for the first U.S. passenger jetliner flight powered by advanced biofuel.
In a keynote talk at the ACS meeting, Rakitsky described Solazyme's technology platform that enables the company to produce multiple oils from heart-healthy high-oleic oils for food to oils that are tailored to have specific performance and functionality benefits in industry, such as safer dielectric fluids and oils that are the highest-value cuts of the barrel for advanced fuels. The benefits of these oils far surpass those of other oils that are currently available today.
"For the first time in history, we have unlocked the ability to completely design and tailor oils," he said. "This breakthrough allows us to create oils optimized for everything from high-performance jet and diesel fuel to renewable chemicals to skin-care products and heart-healthy food oils. These oils could replace or enhance the properties of oils derived from the world's three dominant sources: petroleum, plants and animals."
Producing custom-tailored oils starts with optimizing the algae to produce the right kind of oil, and from there, the flexibility of the fermentation platform really comes into play. Solazyme is able to produce all of these oils in one location simply by switching out the strain of microalgae they use, Rakitsky explained. Unlike other algal oil production processes, in which algae grow in open ponds, Solazyme grows microalgae in total darkness in the same kind of fermentation vats used to produce vinegar, medicines and scores of other products. Instead of sunlight, energy for the microalgae's growth comes from low-cost, plant-based sugars. This gives the company a completely consistent, repeatable industrial process to produce tailored oil at scale.
Sugar from traditional sources such as sugarcane and corn has advantages for growing microalgae, especially their abundance and relatively low cost, Rakitsky said. The company's first fit-for-purpose commercial-scale production plant is under construction with their partner Bunge next to a sugarcane mill in Brazil. Initial production capacity will be 110,000 tons of microalgal oil annually, expanding up to 330,700 tons. In addition, the company has a production agreement with ADM in Clinton, Iowa, for 22,000 tons of oil, expandable to 110,000 tons. Ultimately, cellulosic sources of sugars from non-food plants or plant waste materials, like grasses or corn stover, may take over as those technologies reach the right scale and cost structures.
###
The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.
Note to journalists: Please report that this research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.
Follow us: Twitter | Facebook
Abstract
Solazyme, Inc. is a renewable oil and bioproducts company that transforms a range of low-cost plant-based sugars into high-value tailored triglyceride oils. Headquartered in South San Francisco, Solazyme's renewable products can replace or enhance the properties of oils derived from the world's three dominant sources: petroleum, plants, and animals.
Harnessing the oil-producing capabilities of microalgae, Solazyme's biotechnology platform utilizes standard industrial fermentation equipment to efficiently scale and accelerate natural oil development cycle time from years to merely a few days. By feeding simple plant sugars to proprietary strains of microalgae in industrial fermentation vessels, Solazyme takes advantage of "indirect photosynthesis", in contrast to the traditional open-pond approaches most often associated with microalgae.
Today, Solazyme's biotechnology platform is pioneering the expanded the use of renewable, resources by producing oils that are tailored to meet specific industry demands, impacting end-use applications ranging from fuels to chemicals to foods. These unique oil profiles have performance and functionality benefits that far surpass what's currently available.
Throughout this presentation, Solazyme will highlight the versatility of the technology platform by discussing the properties and applications of a new source of renewable oils derived from microalgae.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) ? An African leopard tortoise thought to be stolen from an Iowa museum was actually trapped behind paneling in her enclosure, and a misguided employee who found her lied to keep up the story about her theft, the museum announced Friday.
In a bizarre move, the employee who found the 18-pound reptile named Cashew put her into a building elevator in an attempt to prevent the museum further embarrassment, said Jerry Enzler, president and CEO of the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium in Dubuque.
The tortoise was found alone in a museum elevator on Thursday, two days after the museum had discovered she was missing and announced that she had been stolen. Museum officials told media outlets Thursday that they believed a regretful thief had smuggled her back inside.
But several hours later, a museum employee came forward and told the truth: Cashew was never stolen.
"The action taken by the employee Thursday afternoon was wrong and is not reflective of the integrity of the staff who dedicate themselves to the highest of Museum & Aquarium standards," Enzler said in a statement Friday.
Enzler said the employee, whose name and position has not been released, will be reprimanded. He said it was a personal issue and did not provide any additional information.
Cashew is one of six large tortoises on display in the enclosure. A 4-foot glass wall separates visitors from the creatures.
Enzler said the notion of a stolen tortoise grabbed national attention.
"The idea that someone may steal a tortoise was so disturbing, and I think people responded to that," he said.
He's just glad the tortoise is in good health, and he said staff is reviewing the enclosures.
"It has good karma to know Cashew wasn't stolen and someone didn't violate the museum and its exhibit," he said. "I think it restores our faith in humanity to know someone didn't take the animal."
The 9-year-old tortoise will be back on display Saturday.
An Orion exploration vehicle approaches a near-Earth asteroid in this artist's conception. Such a mission would be carried out in 2021 under the White House's new plan for NASA exploration beyond Earth orbit.
By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News
NASA's accelerated vision for exploration calls for moving a near-Earth asteroid even nearer to Earth, sending out astronauts to bring back samples within a decade, and then shifting the focus to Mars, a senior Obama administration official told NBC News on Saturday.
The official said the mission would "accomplish the president's challenge of sending humans to visit an asteroid by 2025 in a more cost-effective and potentially quicker time frame than under other scenarios." The official spoke on condition of anonymity because there was no authorization to discuss the plan publicly.
The source said more than $100 million would be sought for the mission and other asteroid-related activities in its budget request for the coming fiscal year, which is due to be sent to Congress on Wednesday. That confirms comments made on Friday by Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., a one-time spaceflier who is now chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Science and Space. It also confirms a report about the mission that appeared last month in Aviation Week.
The asteroid retrieval mission is based on a scenario set out last year by a study group at the Keck Institute for Space Studies. NASA's revised scenario would launch a robotic probe toward a 500-ton, 7- to 10-meter-wide (25- to 33-foot-wide) asteroid in 2017 or so. The probe would capture the space rock in a bag in 2019, and then pull it to a stable orbit in the vicinity of the moon, using a next-generation solar electric propulsion system. That would reduce the travel time for asteroid-bound astronauts from a matter of months to just a few days.
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The Keck study estimated the total mission cost at $2.6 billion ??but the administration official said the price tag could be reduced to $1 billion, or roughly $100 million a year, if the mission took advantage of an already-planned test flight for NASA's heavy-lift Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew exploration vehicle. That flight would send astronauts around the moon and back in 2021.
"This mission would combine the best of NASA's asteroid identification, technology development, and human exploration efforts to capture and redirect a small asteroid to just beyond the moon to set up a human mission using existing resources and equipment, including the heavy-lift rocket and deep-space capsule that have been under development for several years," the official said in an email.
The 2014 budget would set aside $78 million for planning the asteroid retrieval mission, plus $27 million to?accelerate NASA's efforts to detect and characterize potentially hazardous asteroids. The federal government currently spends $20 million annually on asteroid detection.
Meteor sparked action The official said the plan had been under discussion for months, but coalesced after February's meteor blast over Russia. The meteor's breakup injured more than 1,000 people and sparked a worldwide sensation. It also sparked a series of congressional hearings about threats from space, during which Republicans as well as Democrats hinted that they would support more funding to counter asteroid threats.
"This plan would help us prove we're smarter than the dinosaurs," said the official, referring to the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs and many other species 65 million years ago. An asteroid in the 7- to 10-meter range would be about half as wide as the one that broke up over Russia. That's?far?too small to pose any threat to Earth, even if the space rock was coming directly at our planet. But the captured asteroid could provide valuable insights for dealing with bigger ones in the future.?
Initial preparations for the mission won't have to wait for a deal to end budget sequestration, or approval of the budget for the 2014 fiscal year. NASA would begin immediately to identify the asteroid for retrieval, and take advantage of existing efforts funded by the agency's science, technology and human exploration directorates. The most expensive element of the plan, the multibillion-dollar Orion/SLS launch system, is already being funded under the terms of an agreement with Congress.
Discussions with NASA's international and commercial partners will continue in the months and years ahead, the official said. The retrieved asteroid could conceivably become a target for other scientific missions or asteroid-mining operations. In the process, governments might have to address issues surrounding the ownership and exploitation of space resources.
"We're trying to force the question," the official said. "We're trying to push the envelope on this new frontier."
Questions raised Some observers have already raised questions about the plan, based on the advance reports. Scott Pace, the director of George Washington University's Space Policy Institute, told The Associated Press that it was a bad idea on scientific as well as diplomatic grounds. It would be better for the United States to join forces with other countries to conduct?a comprehensive survey of all potentially dangerous asteroids, Pace said.
Rick Tumlinson, chairman of an asteroid-mining venture called Deep Space Industries, said he was concerned that NASA's asteroid mission might interfere with private-sector efforts?? and he called on NASA to rely on private enterprise wherever possible. The administration official assured NBC News that cooperation with commercial ventures as well as other groups such as the B612 Foundation was part of the plan.
The official noted that the mission would provide a relatively low-cost route to satisfying President Barack Obama's goal of sending astronauts to a near-Earth asteroid by 2025. The lessons learned during the mission could be applied to future missions aimed at diverting other asteroids ? perhaps?to head off a potential threat, or conduct further scientific study, or exploit the potentially valuable resources that asteroids contain.
After the asteroid mission, NASA would turn its attention to a farther-out destination: Mars. The Obama administration has called for astronauts to travel to the Red Planet and its moons by the mid-2030s, and that would be the next major target for space exploration. The administration official told NBC News that other concepts, such as sending astronauts back to the moon or creating a deep-space platform beyond the far side of the moon, are not on the agenda for the foreseeable future.?
More about asteroids:
Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's?Facebook page, following?@b0yle on Twitter?and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
Twitter rolled out sweeping updates to all of its mobile properties this week, mostly to support the new Twitter Cards, but unfortunately, those who are using the service on Android aren’t so happy. The app has always been a bit buggy on the Android platform, but the issues that are being reported are more than just a little problematic. Users have experienced not being able to open the “Me” tab which allows you to access your DMs and switch accounts, important parts of the service. I’ve experienced this bug from the second that the update was released, and I’ve heard that Twitter is working on the issue. It’s not affecting all devices, but this tweet search shows it as being pretty widespread. You’re presented with a blank screen and a small spinner, with no information or message that says that the service is having any problems. At first, I thought that I just had a poor connection, but after using the app with Wi-Fi turned on, it became clear that this was a big ol’ bug: Since Twitter has been streamlining all of its apps, and site, it’s a glaring issue when one of the four tabs don’t work. While no timeframe is being offered, and Twitter hasn’t made an official statement on the issue, it’s safe to say that the beautiful redesign that the Android app received is overshadowed by these issues. If you’re having the same issue, you might have to revert to using the mobile version of the site, as I’ve done. Or, you could search for yourself and get to your profile that way. The nice part about Google Play is that as soon as Twitter updates the app with a new build, it will go live for everyone to grab without any submission process like Apple’s. Hurry up, Twitter, people are cheesed off about not being able to get their DMs from cute girls and stuff. [Photo credit: Flickr]
Remote reefs can be tougher than they look Western Australia's Scott Reef has recovered from mass bleaching in 1998.
Isolated coral reefs can recover from catastrophic damage as effectively as those with nearby undisturbed neighbours, a long-term study by marine biologists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS) has shown.
Scott Reef, a remote coral system in the Indian Ocean, has largely recovered from a catastrophic mass bleaching event in 1998, according to the study published in Science today.
The study challenges conventional wisdom that suggested isolated reefs were more vulnerable to disturbance, because they were thought to depend on recolonisation from other reefs. Instead, the scientists found that the isolation of reefs allowed surviving corals to rapidly grow and propagate in the absence of human interference.
Australia's largest oceanic reef system, Scott Reef, is relatively isolated, sitting out in the Indian Ocean some 250 km from the remote coastline of north Western Australia (WA). Prospects for the reef looked gloomy when in 1998 it suffered catastrophic mass bleaching, losing around 80% of its coral cover. The study shows that it took just 12 years to recover.
Spanning 15 years, data collected and analysed by the researchers shows how after the 1998 mass bleaching the few remaining corals provided low numbers of recruits (new corals) for Scott Reef. On that basis recovery was projected to take decades, yet within 12 years the cover and diversity of corals had recovered to levels similar to those seen pre-bleaching.
"The initial projections for Scott Reef were not optimistic," says Dr James Gilmour from AIMS, the lead author on the publication, "because, unlike reefs on the Great Barrier Reef, there were few if any reefs nearby capable of supplying new recruits to replenish the lost corals at Scott Reef.
"However, the few small corals that did settle at Scott Reef had excellent rates of survival and growth, whereas on many nearshore reefs high levels of algae and sediment, and poor water quality will often suppress this recovery.
"We know from other studies that the resilience of reefs can be improved by addressing human pressures such as water quality and overfishing," says Dr Gilmour. "So it is likely that a key factor in the rapid recovery at Scott Reef was the high water clarity and quality in this remote and offshore location."
Dr Andrew Heyward, Principal Research Scientist at AIMS, highlights another conclusion from their findings.
"Previously we've tended to factor proximity to other reefs as a key attribute when estimating the resilience of a reef following a major disturbance, but our data suggests that given the right conditions, reefs might do much of the recovery by themselves." This finding could have implications for the management of marine protected areas.
In their publication the team also draws attention to the important role played by climate change in the longer-term prospects for coral reefs, as Prof Morgan Pratchett of CoECRS explains.
"While it is encouraging to see such clear recovery, we need to be mindful of the fact that the coral recovery at Scott Reef still took over a decade. If, as the climate change trend suggests, we start to see coral bleaching and other related disturbances occurring more frequently, then reefs may experience a ratcheting down effect, never fully recovering before they suffer another major disturbance.
"By preventing illegal fishing and enhancing water quality on coral reefs in all regions we will give these reefs a greater capacity to recover from major disturbances."
The highly detailed, long-term data set makes Scott Reef the best studied reef in Australia's Indian Ocean territory. The study provides valuable new perspectives on ecosystem function and resilience of coral reefs situated in the northwest Australia, and in other contexts such as the Great Barrier Reef, and illustrates the importance of AIMS' research collaborations with its industry partners.
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The paper "Recovery of an isolated coral reef system following severe disturbance", by J. P. Gilmour, L. D. Smith, A. J. Heyward, A. H. Baird and M. S. Pratchett appears online in Science on Friday, 5th April, 2013.
ARC Centre of Excellence in Coral Reef Studies: http://www.coralcoe.org.au/
Thanks to ARC Centre of Excellence in Coral Reef Studies for this article.
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Public release date: 7-Apr-2013
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Twitter rolled out sweeping updates to all of its mobile properties this week, mostly to support the new Twitter Cards, but unfortunately, those who are using the service on Android aren’t so happy. The app has always been a bit buggy on the Android platform, but the issues that are being reported are more than just a little problematic. Users have experienced not being able to open the “Me” tab which allows you to access your DMs and switch accounts, important parts of the service. I’ve experienced this bug from the second that the update was released, and I’ve heard that Twitter is working on the issue. It’s not affecting all devices, but this tweet search shows it as being pretty widespread. You’re presented with a blank screen and a small spinner, with no information or message that says that the service is having any problems. At first, I thought that I just had a poor connection, but after using the app with Wi-Fi turned on, it became clear that this was a big ol’ bug: Since Twitter has been streamlining all of its apps, and site, it’s a glaring issue when one of the four tabs don’t work. While no timeframe is being offered, and Twitter hasn’t made an official statement on the issue, it’s safe to say that the beautiful redesign that the Android app received is overshadowed by these issues. If you’re having the same issue, you might have to revert to using the mobile version of the site, as I’ve done. Or, you could search for yourself and get to your profile that way. The nice part about Google Play is that as soon as Twitter updates the app with a new build, it will go live for everyone to grab without any submission process like Apple’s. Hurry up, Twitter, people are cheesed off about not being able to get their DMs from cute girls and stuff. [Photo credit: Flickr]