Ideas: Genetic Testing and Insurance: One Datum

Reductions in the cost of genetic testing and improvements in what we know about what it tells us produce obvious benefits; if you know you are? likely to have some particular medical problem, you may be able to take precautions against it. But they also have at least one potential downside. The more is known about the chance of bad things happening to us, the less able we will be to insure against them.

A solution to this problem that is sometimes proposed is to permit individuals to have their genes tested but forbid insurance companies to require testing as a condition of insurance or to use the information it produces. The problem with that is adverse selection. If the customer knows his risk and the insurance company doesn't, high risk and low risk customers are charged the same price, making insurance a good deal for the former and a bad deal for the latter. Insurance companies, realizing that most of those who choose to buy their insurance are bad risks, will charge accordingly, driving more of the low or average risk customers out of the market. In the limiting case, insurance is bought only by high risk customers, at a high risk price. A famous description of the problem is Akerlof's article "The Market for Lemons."

If we allow both insurance companies and their customers to make use of genetic information, then both high risk and low risk customers can buy insurance, but at different prices. The risk of having genetic variants that make you more likely to suffer some expensive medical problem is uninsurable, although you can still insure against the risk that, given those genes, the problem will actually appear.

The theoretical analysis of the problem is straightforward; interested readers can find one version in Chapter 6 of my Law's Order. But the theory does not tell us how large the problem is. That depends on empirical facts, in particular on how much the information provided by genetic testing affects the expected cost of insuring someone.As it happens, I recently came across a datum relevant to that question, as a result of having my own genes tested by 23andMe, a company that does mail order genetic testing. It turned out that I had a genetic variant that implied a moderately increased risk of meningioma, the second most common type of brain tumor.

The information came a little late to be useful. Last summer, while I was part of a group on World of Warfare, one of the other players noticed that I had stopped responding. He called the house. My son took the call, came into my office, and found me half conscious on the floor. The diagnosis at the local hospital was meningioma, a benign (i.e. non-cancerous) tumor inside my skull but fortunately outside my brain. It was large enough to put pressure on my brain, so required surgery. I got surgery, all went well, and I am now fully recovered, aside from a visible scar and a tendency of my scalp to itch.

According to 23andMe, 35,000 Americans a year are diagnosed with meningioma, and in most cases the tumor is small enough not to require surgery. Assume that 10,000 of those, like my case, do, making the annual probability for a random American 1/30,000. Further assume that the average cost is $100,000. That's the right order of magnitude?I saw the figures for what it cost my insurance company, but don't have them ready to hand at the moment. The average cost to the insurance company of that particular risk is then about $3.

Finally, assume that my "moderately increased risk" means twice the average risk, which seems if anything a high guess. It follows that in a world where insurance companies had and used that data, my medical insurance would cost me, or my employer, three dollars a year more than in a world where the data was not available.

There are, of course, lots of other risks that my health insurance insures against. For some my genetics are presumably favorable, for some unfavorable. It would require much more information than I have to estimate how much the cost of insurance would vary from one person to another if all of that information was available and used. But at least the single datum I happen to have suggests that the effects might be small.

Source: http://daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/2012/01/genetic-testing-and-insurance-one-datum.html

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Tibet protester tells China cops: Come get me

BEIJING?? A young man posts his photo with a leaflet demanding freedom for Tibet and telling Chinese police, come and get me. Protesters rise up to defend him, and demonstrations break out in two other Tibetan areas of western China to support the same cause.

Each time, police respond with bullets.

The three clashes, all in the past week, killed several Tibetans and injured dozens. They mark an escalation of a protest movement that for months expressed itself mainly through scattered individual self-immolations.

It's the result of growing desperation among Tibetans and a harsh crackdown by security forces that scholars and pro-Tibet activists contend only breeds more rage and despair.

That leaves authorities with the stark choice of either cracking down even harder or meeting Tibetan demands for greater freedom and a return of their Buddhist spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama ? something Beijing has shown zero willingness to do.

"By not responding constructively when it was faced with peaceful one-person protests, the (Communist) party has created the conditions for violent, large-scale protests," Robbie Barnett, head of modern Tibetan studies at New York's Columbia University, said.

China to again close Tibet during sensitive period

This is the region's most violent period since 2008, when deadly rioting in Tibet's capital Lhasa spread to Tibetan areas in adjoining provinces.

Flooded with troops
China responded by flooding the area with troops and closing Tibetan regions entirely to foreigners for about a year. Special permission is still required for non-Chinese visitors to Tibet, and the Himalayan region remains closed off entirely for the weeks surrounding the March 14 anniversary of the riots that left 22 people dead.

Video smuggled out by activists shows paramilitary troops equipped with assault rifles and armored cars making pre-dawn arrests.

Video: Dalai Lama to US: ?Keep your spirit? (on this page)

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Huge convoys of heavily armored troops are seen driving along mountain roads and monks accused of sedition being frog-marched to waiting trucks.

For the past year, self-immolations have become a striking form of protest in the region. At least 16 monks, nuns and former clergy set themselves on fire after chanting for Tibetan freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama, who fled to India amid an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.

Report: Body paraded afer China self-immolation

China, fiercely critical of the Dalai Lama, says Tibet has been under its rule for centuries, but many Tibetans say the region was functionally independent for most of that time.

In a change from the individual protests, several thousand Tibetans marched to government offices Monday in Ganzi prefecture in Sichuan province.

Police opened fire into the crowd, killing up to three people, witnesses and activist groups said.

On Tuesday, security forces opened fire on a crowd of protesters in another area of Ganzi, killing two Tibetans and wounding several more, according to the group Free Tibet.

Slideshow: The Dalai Lama (on this page)

On Thursday in southwestern Sichuan province's Aba prefecture, a youth named Tarpa posted a leaflet saying that self-immolations wouldn't stop until Tibet is free, the London-based International Campaign for Tibet said.

He wrote his name on the leaflet and included a photo of himself, saying that Chinese authorities could come and arrest him if they wished, group spokeswoman Kate Saunders said in an email.

Too sensitive to discuss
Security forces did so about two hours later. Area residents blocked their way, shouting slogans and warning of bigger protests if Tarpa wasn't released, Saunders said. Police then fired into the crowd, killing a a 20-year-old friend of Tarpa's, a student named Urgen, and wounding several others.

The incident, as with most reported clashes in Tibetan areas, could not be independently verified and exact numbers of casualties were unclear because of the heavy security presence and lack of access. The topic is so sensitive that even government-backed scholars claim ignorance of it and refuse to comment.

The government, however, acknowledged Tuesday's unrest, saying that a "mob" charged a police station and injured 14 officers, forcing police to open fire on them. The official Xinhua News Agency said police killed one rioter and injured another.

Q&A: The Dalai Lama, China and Tibet

"The Chinese government will, as always, fight all crimes and be resolute in maintaining social order," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in comments on the incident.

The harsh response points to a deep anxiety about the self-immolations, said Youdon Aukatsang, a New Delhi-based member of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile.

"They're worried that there is an underground movement in Tibet that is coming to the surface," she said.

Slideshow: The dance of two giants (on this page)

Tibetan desperation has been fed both by the harsh crackdown ? security agents reportedly outnumber monks in some monasteries ? along with a deep fear that the Dalai Lama, probably the most potent symbol of Tibet's separate identity, will never return.

The 76-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate handed his political powers to an elected assembly last year.

That was intended to ensure the Tibetan cause would live on after him, but was met with considerable anxiety among many Tibetans who saw it as a sign he was giving up his role as leader of their struggle.

Dibyesh Anand, a Tibet expert at London's University of Westminster, said resistance to Chinese rule is likely to grow more fierce.

"Protests will get more radicalized since the Tibetans in the region see no concession, no offer of compromise, no flexibility coming from the government," he said.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46172845/ns/world_news-asia_pacific/

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New look at evidence OK'd in fatal 1989 Pa. fire (AP)

PHILADELPHIA ? A federal appeals court has granted another look at the evidence in the case of a man convicted of killing his daughter in what authorities alleged was an arson fire two decades ago in eastern Pennsylvania. Defense attorneys and some arson specialists say that determination was made using what's now considered flawed science.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday granted 76-year-old Han Tak Lee's request for an independent examination of evidence from the July 1989 fire that killed 20-year-old Ji Yun Lee at a religious retreat in the Pocono Mountains.

Attorneys for Lee argue that advances in fire science now show that expert testimony was unreliable.

Defense attorney Peter Goldberger says his client is "delighted." Monroe County District Attorney David Christine says an appeal is under consideration.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_re_us/us_arson_on_trial

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Will Israel really attack Iran? And if they do, how will that affect you?

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Source: www.newadvent.org --- Thursday, January 26, 2012
As the Sabbath evening approached on Jan. 13, Ehud Barak paced the wide living-room floor of his home high above a street in north Tel Aviv, its walls lined with thousands of books on subjects ranging from philosophy and poetry to military strategy. Barak, the Israeli defense minister, is the most decorated soldier in the country?s history and one of its most experienced and controversial politicians. He has served as chief of the general staff for the Israel Defense Forces, interior minister, foreign minister and prime minister. He now faces, along with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and 12 other members of Israel?s inner security cabinet, the most important decision of his life ? whether to launch a pre-emptive attack against Iran. We met in the late afternoon, and our conversation ? the first of several over the next week ? lasted for two and a half hours, long past nightfall. ?This is not about some abstract concept,? Barak said as he gazed out at the lights of Tel Aviv, ?but a genuine concern. The Iranians are, after all, a nation whose leaders have set themselves a strategic goal of wiping Israel off the map.? ...

Source: http://feeds.newadvent.org/~r/bestoftheweb/~3/4-SJGthbevw/will-israel-attack-iran.html

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Samsung 4Q profit rises 17 pct on smartphone sales (AP)

SEOUL, South Korea ? Samsung Electronics Co. reported a 17 percent jump in fourth quarter profit on the strength of smartphone sales even as the company battled claims it had copied Apple's iPhone.

Samsung said Friday in a regulatory filing that its net profit reached 4 trillion won ($3.5 billion) in the three months that ended in December. The company earned 3.4 trillion won in the same quarter a year earlier.

The Suwon, South Korea-based company said its operating profit jumped 75.8 percent to 5.3 trillion won in the fourth quarter. The figure was closely in line with the company's estimate earlier this month of a 73 percent rise.

The company, however, posted an operating loss of 220 billion won in its display division in the fourth quarter despite a sales increase of 19 percent from the previous year.

"If profit in handsets continues to stream in, this year will also likely be a solid one for Samsung," said Jae Lee, an analyst at Daiwa Securities in Seoul. "The biggest threat would be if the global economy worsens."

Samsung, the world's biggest manufacturer of memory chips and liquid crystal displays, said demand for semiconductors in mobile products and servers remained solid despite weakness in personal computers, which face stiff competition from the rising popularity of tablets.

Samsung has over the decades grown into a key global manufacturer of components that let PCs, digital music players and handsets store data and display it on flat, high-resolution screens. The company has recently been stepping up its challenge against Apple Inc. in the global smartphone business, releasing models such as the Galaxy S II.

Cupertino, California-based Apple, which spurred the smartphone boom with the launch of its iPhone in 2007, has accused Samsung of "slavishly" copying its smartphone and iPad in design, user interface and packaging. Apple sued Samsung in April last year in the United States.

The legal battle has now spilled into 10 countries, according to Samsung officials. Court rulings so far have tended to side with Apple.

Lee said legal battles with Apple would start weighing less on Samsung this year as the South Korean company is expected to release models with new designs.

The quarterly profit brought 2011 net profit to 13.7 trillion won, down 15 percent from the previous year.

Samsung shares rose 0.4 percent to 116,000 won in Seoul.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_hi_te/as_skorea_earns_samsung

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Players can use Twitter at Pro Bowl

KAPOLEI, Hawaii?? The NFL is relaxing its social media policy and allowing players to tweet before and during Sunday's Pro Bowl.

The NFL on Wednesday said it will set up a computer on each sideline where players can use Twitter.

Mobile devices will not be allowed during the game.

The players can also tweet from their phones before the game and at halftime.

The existing policy bans players from tweeting 90 minutes before games all the way until they fulfill their postgame media obligations.

NFL officials say the Pro Bowl experiment is not being considered for the regular season or playoffs.

The players will be tweeting with the hashtag (hash)ProBowl.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46137480/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/

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Courtroom battle splits star's Oklahoma hometown (AP)

YUKON, Okla. ? A water tower proudly proclaims that this is the hometown of country music star Garth Brooks. The main road through town? Garth Brooks Boulevard. So when the singer was awarded $1 million this week after suing the local hospital ? whose logo is on a slightly larger water tower across town ? residents felt torn.

A jury in the Oklahoma county where Brooks now lives agreed that the hospital, which sits along Brooks' namesake street, reneged on a pledge to use his $500,000 donation to build a women's health center in honor of his late mother. Jurors chipped in another $500,000 in punitive damages.

Now, residents in Yukon are stuck in the middle of a spat between their native son and one of the city's largest employers that sponsors dozens of programs, from local school events to the Yukon Senior Olympics. The hospital had argued that Brooks put no restrictions on the 2005 anonymous donation.

"My oldest kids grew up in this town with no medical facility," said Jeannie Benson, a local real estate agent and longtime resident. "If they got hurt, it was a 30-minute drive to the nearest place to get help. The hospital, to me, is a very, very big deal.

"I don't know Garth. I've never met the man. I do know the hospital and the people that work there," Benson said.

Brooks left Yukon as a teenager for Oklahoma State University and eventually a country music career in the 1980s, well before Integris Canadian Valley Hospital opened in 2001. Since then, Integris has become a vital part of this Oklahoma City suburb, which was among the state's fastest growing communities over the last decade.

The hospital employs 350 people and donates to dozens of local events and youth groups, including the high school choir, band and basketball teams and the annual Christmas in the Park. Integris also is Oklahoma's largest health care company and employs about 9,000 people at its 16 hospitals and nearly 100 affiliated clinics across the state.

Yukon and its roughly 24,000 residents are about 140 miles from where the two-week trial was held in Claremore. Brooks and his country music star wife, Trisha Yearwood, live in nearby Owasso, and locals there described the couple as generous philanthropists.

"He's a silent but engaged Owassoan," said Chelsea Harkins, the city's economic development director. "He oftentimes likes to remain anonymous, and we respect that. They're great community citizens and great community partners."

Brooks also has performed concerts to help victims of flooding in Nashville, Tenn., and for people who lost their homes from wildfires in California. In 1999, he founded the Teammates for Kids Foundation that raises money for children's charities by partnering with celebrity athletes.

After the jury announced its verdict Tuesday night, Brooks indicated he wouldn't abandon the idea of honoring his mother in his hometown but made clear he was done with Integris.

"This is how I feel: One day, mom's name is going to go on the women's center right there where the hospital is, but that hospital won't be owned by Integris when it happens, I can tell you that. That's my dream," he said after jurors ? many of whom said they were fans of his music but could be impartial ? awarded him double his original donation.

Hospital officials are looking forward to putting the matter behind them and hope it won't affect future donations, Integris spokesman Hardy Watkins said. During the trial, hospital attorneys noted that Brooks, while questioned during a deposition about conversations he had with the hospital's president, said he couldn't remember what promises had been made.

"I hope that people will come away with an understanding that this is one isolated, granted a high-profile, donor encounter," Watkins said. "There are numerous other examples of successful donations being received and those projects being completed and now serving the public.

"While it is uncomfortable to consider right now, I think and hope people will certainly look at the entire spectrum of our donor history and commitment to the communities we serve."

For now, though, the courtroom drama has been the topic around town, said Tamara Gray, a 19-year-old waitress at a diner near the hospital.

"My thought is, if you donate money, it should go where you expect it to go," Gray said Wednesday.

"I think they both have an important impact on the community," 31-year-old J.T. Chronister said as he sat in a coffee shop across from the hospital. "It seems like there was just a communication failure in there somewhere. That's my guess."

Catrina Steury, who works in a hair shop along Garth Brooks Boulevard, said "it's cool to have a big star from the community" but that the singer isn't usually a topic of conversation.

But most said there were clearly no winners in the case and wished the entire situation could have been avoided.

"It's given everybody a black eye: the city, Garth, the hospital, everybody," said Benson, the local relator. "I think it's very unfortunate."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_en_ot/us_people_garth_brooks

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Disclosing the many homes in the life of Mitt Romney

By Erika Riggs, Zillow

After a barrage of pressure to release his tax forms, former Massachusetts Gov.?Mitt Romney revealed his?income this week, confirming what most already knew: He's the wealthiest of the GOP candidates, earning $42.5 million over the past two years.

The presidential contender grew up in relative wealth as the son of American Motors CEO and former Michigan Gov.?George W. Romney. Since then?Romney has been?no stranger to high-end real estate, having owned properties in Massachusetts, Utah, New Hampshire and California.

Here is a look at some of the homes of Mitt Romney.

Childhood home ? Detroit, Mich.

Romney spent the first five years of his life in this 5,500-square-foot home in Detroit's upscale?Palmer Woods neighborhood before moving to the city's Bloomfield Hills suburb. Although Detroit real estate has been hard hit in the past few years, Palmer Woods real estate remained steady. However, even an upscale location couldn't save Romney's childhood home from foreclosure or the wrecking ball. After falling into disrepair in 2009, the house was one of 3,000 Detroit homes razed in the city's renewal plan.

Belmont, Mass.,?mansion

According to property records, Romney and his family purchased the 7-bedroom, 6.5-bath home in Belmont in 1989 ? five years after Romney founded Bain Capital. The Romneys' home sold for $3.5 million in 2009 ? a gain of 293 percent over the?purchase price of $890,000 two decades?earlier.

Situated on 2.44 acres and within a 25-minute drive of downtown Boston, the 6,434-square-foot colonial was an ideal home base for Romney, his wife, Ann, and their five sons for 20 years.

Wolfeboro, N.H.,?compound

In 1997, the Romneys plunked down $3 million for a summer home situated on 11 acres of lakefront in New Hampshire. The three-story, six-bedroom contemporary sits along Lake Winnipesaukee in Wolfeboro, "the oldest summer resort in America."

With a 5,400-square-foot main building and additional guest house, the estate is currently worth an estimated $10 million. Home to the Romney crew ? children and grandchildren ? each summer, the estate gave Romney deep roots in New hampshire, a factor that may have been decisive in handing the candidate his only early-season victory so far.

Park City, Utah, ski home

In 1999, the Romneys picked up another vacation home. This time, the family decided on a mountain ski getaway in Park City, Utah. At the time, Romney was working as CEO and president of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, where he is credited with restoring?credibility to?the scandal-plagued organizing committee. Romney's leadership in the Olympics was largely viewed as a success, leading him to write "Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership and the Olympic Games," about his experience.

More chalet than cabin, Romney's seven-bedroom, 9.5-bath home sits at the end of a cul-de-sac on nearly 11 acres. Park City is a premier destination for snow sport enthusiasts, and?real estate there doesn't come cheap. Romney's home was no exception; the 9,514-square-foot home sold in 2009 for a little under the $5.25 million asking price.

La Jolla, Calif.,?beachfront home

When Romney purchased his $12 million La Jolla home in 2008, he said?he wanted to be somewhere where he could "hear the waves." Apparently a home on the high-priced California coast was the right location.?(The median price for a home in La Jolla has fallen in the past few years but is still over $1 million.)

It may be the ideal location, but it isn't quite the ideal home, at least not yet. In August,?Romney filed an application with the city to bulldoze the single-story beachfront home and replace it with a larger, two-story one.

A spokesperson for the Romneys explained, saying:?"They want to enlarge their two-bedroom home, because with five married sons and 16 grandchildren it is inadequate for their needs."

The renovation will not begin until after the?campaign, the spokesperson said.

Boston, Mass.,?townhouse

Romney's most recent real estate purchase is also the most modest on the list. In June 2010, he and Ann bought a two-bedroom townhouse in suburban Belmont. According to property listing information, the Romneys paid $895,000 for the 2,100-square-foot home in the new residential development The Woodlands.

This was the first property the Romneys?owned in the Boston area since selling their Belmont mansion?in 2009. Previously, the Romneys had?claimed a basement apartment in their eldest son's home as their legal Massachusetts address.

More from Zillow:

Homes of GOP candidates?????
Zillow election coverage

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/25/10225753-disclosing-the-homes-of-mitt-romney

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Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch: Turning Enemies Into Friends In Israel and the Palestinian Territories

In early Jan. 15 senior rabbis, ministers and imams traveled together to Israel and the Palestinian territories. We are from among New York City's leading religious institutions. Collectively, our houses of worship are home to tens of thousands of prominent New Yorkers.

Anyone who appreciates the hectic schedules and unique demands upon congregational clergy realizes that it is no small matter to bring 15 spiritual leaders together for five days. So why did we leave our congregations for a week? Why did our congregants insist that we go and even pay for our mission?

In the post 9/11 world, religious rapprochement is no longer a luxury; it is a necessity. To ignore dialogue is to invite destruction. If we do not find ways to live together in dignity we will die together in agony. Religious moderates must build new bridges of coexistence or religious extremists will burn the last bridges of peace.

Our presence in the Middle East was intended to broadcast that we can live together, work together, travel together, dream together and build together. In a world awash in religious conflict, we wish to model a different way: the way of coexistence, respect and peace.

It was a tough trip. We did not paper over our differences. We visited the heart of the conflict. There were moments of despair. We met with presidents, prime ministers, members of parliament and mayors on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide. We met with priests, imams and rabbis. We met with journalists, academics, students, villagers and farmers.

Daily headlines do not begin to tell the story. None of the people we met -- not one -- believed that the Middle East is closer to peace today than ten years ago. If this is the truth, we need to hear it. Progress rests upon the solid rock of reality, not the shifting sands of fantasy.

Despite it all, many of us returned to New York guardedly optimistic. None of the people we met -- not one -- felt that the status quo was sustainable. Everyone understood that a way must be found to break out of the suffocating reality. There is broad agreement that the present is not working and that a new future must be forged.

People of faith have a unique role to play. Both Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad urged us to engage. Both of them emphasized that religion could be a source of enormous support as the politicians seek a political solution. We can help to create a context that is conducive to peace.

Religion specializes in hope. We are good at articulating our common humanity and giving voice to the better angels of our nature. We were also cautioned that if we do not step up the forces of religious intolerance will continue to drag the rest of us towards war. Our era has placed a sacred obligation on the forces and figures of religious moderation to speak out and act out.

There are many good people working to build bridges. In Haifa we met Christians, Muslims and Jews who have built a true house of coexistence. In Tel Aviv we met doctors, nurses and hospital staff who treated illness without regard to race, religion or creed. Even on the Gaza border, in Israeli towns that were fired upon in a barrage of missiles, there were people who were reaching out to the other side.

Peace is made piece by piece, from the bottom up. Progress is advanced day by day, person by person, each laboring in their own corner of the universe, connecting with others who together create an irresistible force. We should connect with those people and strengthen their hand. This daily labor is heroic work.

Jewish sages ask: Who is a hero? They respond: He who turns an enemy into a friend.

This is our task: person by person to help turn enemies into friends.

WISE VIDEO ? FINAL DAY from Stephen Wise Free Synagogue on Vimeo.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-ammiel-hirsch/turning-enemies-into-frie_b_1224995.html

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New Target Discovered for Pain Relief

News | Health

A neuropathic pain expert says, however, that in the past 30 years virtually no new drug targets have made it into the clinic as effective pain-relief drugs

By Katharine Sanderson and Nature magazine ?| January 22, 2012

Image: National Cancer Institute

An uncharted trawl through thousands of small molecules involved in the body's metabolism may have uncovered a potential route to treating pain caused by nerve damage.

Neuropathic pain is a widespread and distressing condition, and is notoriously difficult to treat. So Gary Siuzdak, a chemist and molecular biologist at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., and his team decided to take an unusual route to finding a therapy. Their results are published today in?Nature Chemical Biology.

They took rats with surgically damaged paws, who were consequently suffering from neuropathic pain, and instead of analyzing changes in gene expression and proteins in the animals, focused on metabolites?the biochemical intermediates and end-products of bodily processes such as respiration and the synthesis and breakdown of molecules. The science that looks at the body's metabolite composition is known as metabolomics. Using mass spectrometry, which can detect many different chemicals simultaneously, the researchers were able to identify the metabolites present in these animals 21 days after surgery.

Surprise finding

The team analyzed samples of the injured rats? blood plasma, of tissue near the injured paw, and of tissue from different areas of the spinal column, and compared the metabolites present with that of the same site in healthy rats. One particular area differed markedly between the two cases: the dorsal horn in the spinal column.

"It took me by surprise,? says Siuzdak, who had expected to see most differences in metabolite composition near the site of injury.

The researchers then looked more closely at the metabolites and recognized that the ones that were changing the most were associated with the metabolic pathway that synthesizes and breaks down the phospholipid sphingomyelin, a component of cell membranes, and its ceramide precursors.

?It was a huge flare to us that this was something we should home in on,? says team member Gary Patti, a chemist at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, Missouri.

Using cultures of spinal cord cells the researchers then tried to work out which of the altered metabolites might be responsible for pain. One molecule,?the previously unidentified metabolite?N,N-dimethylsphingosine (DMS), stood out for the amount of pain signallng it triggered in the cells.

Untargeted screening

To test experimentally whether this molecule was involved in neuropathic pain, the team then injected small amounts of DMS into healthy rats, and sure enough, those rats showed signs of pain.

The team hopes that DMS might prove to be important in the biochemistry of pain, and perhaps offer a target for drug manufacturers. But neuropathic pain expert Andrew Rice at Imperial College London says that in the past 30 years he has seen many targets identified, but virtually none of them has made it into the clinic as an effective pain-relief drug.

Rice lauds the attention shown to neuropathic pain but is concerned that the current animal model for pain is limited: it only corresponds to pain resulting from trauma, and not to the many other sources of neuropathic pain, which include diabetes, HIV infection and stroke. ?I?d like to see if this is more than a peripheral nerve damage model,? he says.

Siuzdak says his untargeted screening technique could prove useful in identifying drug targets for many other conditions. The more conventional way of using metabolomics is with targeted searches, where the molecule of interest is identified first, before seeing where it might be present. ?[Our approach] is more challenging than targeted analyses,? he says. ?You have to be open to any possibility of what pathways are affected.?

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=04551fe8a40f41d960dbae884bea5b53

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Macy's sues Martha Stewart Living

NEW YORK (AP) ? Macy's Inc. has sued Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. in a bid to block a licensing deal between the housewares company and J.C. Penney Co.

The lawsuit was filed Monday in New York State Supreme Court. Macy's claims Martha Stewart Living's deal with J.C. Penney violates the terms of an exclusive pact Macy's has to sell Martha Stewart Living products at its stores, according to reports in The Wall Street Journal and other publications.

The complaint comes after Plano, Tex.-based J.C. Penney acquired a 16.6 percent stake in Martha Stewart Living and announced plans last month to open mini-Martha Stewart shops inside most of its stores, beginning next year. The deal announced last month was seen as part of J.C. Penney's efforts to re-image itself under its new CEO Ron Johnson, a former Apple Inc. executive.

Cincinnati-based Macy's has asked the court for a preliminary injunction to block the deal.

Martha Stewart Living said it does not comment on legal matters, but issued a statement saying that it received a notification from Macy's that it intends to renew and extend its commercial agreement with Martha Stewart Living to feature and promote the Martha Stewart Collection in Macy's stores.

The New York-based lifestyle, media and merchandising company also noted that its commercial agreement with J.C. Penney remains in effect.

Calls and an email seeking comment from Macy's and its attorney were not immediately returned late Monday.

Macy's shares added 9 cents in aftermarket trading. The stock ended regular trading down 29 cents at $35.09.

Martha Stewart Living shares slid 15 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $4.15 in aftermarket trading after slipping 13 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $4.30 during the regular session.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-24-Macy's-Martha%20Stewart-Lawsuit/id-422aa5ad316d43c7a23be9097fcf35a6

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Pa. woman hosted 'kegger' before 3 teens crashed (AP)

GREENSBURG, Pa. ? A prosecutor will seek a prison term for a western Pennsylvania woman who has pleaded guilty to serving a half-keg of beer to teen guests at her son's graduation party, before three of them were killed in a crash about a mile away.

Susan Sanders-Watt, 60, of Greensburg, pleaded guilty Monday to four counts each of corruption of minors and reckless endangerment and 17 citations of serving alcohol to minors, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (http://bit.ly/A4aNSq) reported.

Sanders-Watt wasn't charged with involuntary manslaughter, because prosecutors couldn't prove the beer she served caused the crash on June 26, 2010. That's because the driver, 19-year-old Michael Simpson, had been drinking at another location before the defendant's party.

But Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck said Sanders-Watt faces a maximum of 45 years in prison and, though she'll likely receive less under state sentencing guidelines, he will ask a judge to put her in jail or prison rather than letting her serve probation or house arrest. Her sentencing will be scheduled in about three months.

"We're recommending a period of incarceration because three people were killed as a result of consuming alcohol," Peck said. "I think adults have to realize there are going to be horrible consequences giving alcohol to minors."

"This is probably one of the worst cases," Peck said, referring to the crash that killed Simpson, who was legally drunk, along with two passengers, Carly Kudray, 18, and Jordan Cobb, 19. A third passenger was injured but has recovered.

All four were graduates of Greensburg-Salem High School, about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh.

Defense attorney Scott Bitar said Sanders-Watt gave letters of condolence to the victims' families and will make a public statement about the incident when she's sentenced.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_re_us/us_westmoreland_county_crash

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James' passion, great range remembered (AP)

NEW YORK ? On her last album "The Dreamer," released just three months before her death, Etta James sings a mix of covers, from the R&B classic "Misty Blue" to the Ray Charles song "In the Evening." But perhaps the most curious tune included on the disc may be the Guns N' Roses staple "Welcome to the Jungle."

That a 73-year-old icon of R&B would tackle the frenetic rock song ? albeit in a pace more fitting her blues roots ? might seem odd. But the song may be the best representation of James as both a singer and a person ? rambunctious in spirit, with the ability to sing whatever was thrown at her, whether it was jazz, blues, pining R&B or a song from one of the rowdiest bands in rock.

"She was able to dig so deep in kind of such a raw and unguarded place when she sang, and that's the power of gospel and blues and rhythm and blues. She brought that to all those beautiful standards and rocks songs that she did. All the number of vast albums she recorded, she covered such a wide variety of material that brought such unique phrasing and emotional depth," said Bonnie Raitt, a close friend, in an interview on Friday afternoon after James' death.

"I think that's what appealed to people, aside from the fact that her personality on and off the stage was so huge and irrepressible. She was ribald and raunchy and dignified, classy and strong and vulnerable all at the same time, which is what us as women really relate to."

James, whose signature song was the sweeping, jazz-tinged torch song "At Last," died in Los Angeles from complications of leukemia. Her death came after she struggled with dementia and other health problems, health issues that kept her from performing for the last two or so years of her life.

It was a life full of struggles. Her mother was immersed in a criminal life and left her to be raised by friends, she never knew her true father (though she believed it was billiards great Minnesota Fats), and she had her own troubles, which included a decades-long addiction to drugs, turbulent relationships, brushes with the law, and other tribulations.

One might think all of those problems would have weighted down James' spirit, and her voice, layering it with sadness, or despair. While she certainly could channel depression, anger, and sorrow in song, her voice was defined by its fiery passion: Far from beaten down, James embodied the fight of a woman who managed to claw her way back from the brink, again and again.

It's an attitude that influenced her look as well. Despite the conservative era, she dyed her hair platinum blonde, sending out the signal that she was far from demure, and owning a brassy, sassy attitude. She relished her role as saucy singer, a persona that she celebrated in her private life as well.

"In terms of 1950s rhythm and blues stars, she had kind of a gutsy attitude and she went out there and did what she did, and she was kind of bold ... and it had a huge influence," she said. "I think her gutsiness and her lack of fear and just her courage (made her special). ... I believe that made her important and memorable."

Beyonce, who played James in the movie "Cadillac Records" about Chess Records, also spoke about her influence on other singers.

"I feel like Etta James, first of all, was the first black woman I saw with platinum, blonde hair. She wore her leopard and she wore her sexy silhouette and she didn't care. She was strong and confident and always Etta James," said Beyonce in a 2008 interview.

James could often be irascible. Ritz remembers when he was working with her on the autobiography, touring with her around the country, one time he approached her with his tape recorder and she barked: "If see that tape recorder again I'm going to cram it up your (expletive)."

But at other times, she'd be effusive and warm and anxious to talk.

"Once she did talk, she was always candid and unguarded. She was a free spirit," Ritz said.

While Ritz put her in the category of other greats like Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and Marvin Gaye, she never enjoyed their mainstream success. Though "At Last" has become an enduring classic, there were times when James had to scrounge for work, and while she won Grammys and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, she did not have the riches, the multitude of platinum records or the hits that some of her peers enjoyed.

"She at least enjoyed a great resurgence like John Lee Hooker did and B.B. King, (and) has had some great decades of appreciation from new generations around the world," said Raitt. "There's no one like her. No one will ever replace Etta."

And Ritz said the lack of commercial success does nothing to diminish her greatness, or her legacy.

"Marvin certain knew it and Ray knew it ... the people who know that she was in that category," he said. "Whatever the marketplace did or didn't do or whether her lack of career management didn't do, it has nothing to do with her talent."

And on Friday, the Queen of Soul was among those who paid tribute to James greatness, calling her "one of the great soul singers of our generation. An American original!

"I loved `Pushover,' `At Last' and almost any and everything she recorded! When Etta SUNG, you heard it!"

___

AP Entertainment Writer Chris Talbott and AP Writer Mesfin Fekadu contributed to this report.

___

Nekesa Mumbi Moody is the AP's music editor. Follow her at http://www.twitter.com/nekesamumbi

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_en_mu/us_etta_james_appreciation

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Wisconsin recall webcam so boring it's mesmerizing

MADISON, Wis. (AP) ? You know you live in a state consumed by politics when a webcam showing bureaucrats silently shuffling around a nondescript room feeding papers into a scanner attracts tens of thousands of viewers.

Such is the case in Wisconsin.

The cam (http://mirrors.5nines.com/stream/), featuring a live look at the guarded, secret location where petitions to recall Gov. Scott Walker and five other Republicans are being housed and processed, has its own account on Twitter and a growing cadre of followers who've attached nicknames to the workers, pointed out when people mug for the camera and generally mock the entire process.

Live sex shows, it ain't.

It isn't even as interesting as all those webcams that have drawn large followings in recent years to watch pandas give birth or baby eagles take flight.

But this is Wisconsin, after all, a state that's been at the center of the political universe since Walker was elected governor. He immediately turned the state upside down, taking on public sector unions and igniting a protest movement that led to the recall effort. On Tuesday, organizers said they turned in more than a 1.9 million signatures to recall Walker and the others, 3 tons of paper that would extend 66 miles if laid end to end.

And someone has got to deal with all that.

Enter the ultimate in blandly named bureaucratic bodies ? the Government Accountability Board ? which has the important job of overseeing Wisconsin's elections and determining whether recall elections can proceed.

Its task is to examine every signature and make sure that Mickey Mouses and Adolf Hitlers get caught and discarded, along with any Walker-hater who signed multiple times. But before that can happen, all 300,000 pages must be scanned in to computers.

The Government Accountability Board, or GAB as it's known in these parts, wants to be, well, accountable. So as the work proceeds at the secret location, it's letting the public eavesdrop through the webcam.

When it first got plugged in Tuesday night, the view was straight on at roughly waist level. Viewers got a chance to look at the back of the bald head of one worker and the scanner, presumably humming had there been sound, and the somewhat blank stare of the police officer sitting in the corner making sure security wasn't breached.

By Thursday, onlookers were treated to a new view of their government at work. This time the cam was positioned higher up, offering a bird's-eye view of eight computers and four folding tables arranged together where stacks of paper with post-it notes attached were picked up, moved, set back down, and moved again. All of the action takes place against a stark, white cinder block wall.

Political junkies couldn't get enough. They made observations on the Twitter account (at)recallcam.

Much of the debate focused on where in Madison the work was being done.

One tweeter posited it was Osama bin Laden's old compound.

Others comment on what the workers are wearing, noting more sweaters and scarves on a day when temperatures dipped near zero outside.

Still others came up with nicknames for the workers like "Sideburns," ''White Glasses" and "Flirty von Flirtenheimer."

Board spokesman Reid Magney, who has made cameo appearances on the cam, said at its busiest when it went online Wednesday around 400 people at the same time were watching it. By Thursday afternoon, after the tantalizing angle change, the webcam had logged 29,308 total visitors. The webcam is a first for GAB and is being provided free of charge to taxpayers by 5Nines.com of Madison, Magney said.

Magney, who acknowledged that watching the cam is as exciting as watching paint dry, was somewhat at a loss about its allure.

"People are interested in watching people do things, I guess," he said.

Part of the attraction is just how boring it is.

Alas, all good things must come to an end and some of the mystery will be revealed in coming days when the board provides more details about what each worker is doing and where the processing is happening.

"We've had some questions from the public like, 'What's the guy on the left doing?'" Magney said.

But for now, the mystery is fueling the snark, even though the business being conducted is serious and likely to be the subject of multiple lawsuits. And the end result of the work could result in Walker and the others standing for recall elections later this year.

And that will be a spectacle certain to attract far more attention than the webcam at the undisclosed, secure location.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-20-Wisconsin%20Recalls-Webcam/id-1df82ec342be4fffa8042a89b93aba80

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Mutant bird flu research halted on bioterror fears

Researchers studying a potentially deadlier, airborne version of the bird flu virus have voluntarily suspended their studies for 60 days because of concerns it could be used as a devastating form of bioterrorism, according to a letter published in the journals Nature and Science on Friday.

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Ron Fouchier of Erasmus Medical College in the Netherlands, Adolfo Garcia-Sastre of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, defend the research as crucial to public health efforts to detect when the H5N1 influenza virus might change in the wild in a way that could spark a pandemic.

But they are bowing to widespread fear that the mutant viruses "may escape from the laboratories" and be used to create a bioterror weapon, they wrote.

Should scientists create deadly viruses?

A U.S. advisory committee in December had asked Science and Nature to censor details of the research from two teams that was submitted for publication. Biosecurity experts fear an airborne version transmissible between humans could spark a pandemic worse than the 1918-19 outbreak of Spanish flu that killed between 20 million and 40 million people.

The studies from Erasmus and the University of Wisconsin have shown that the mutant H5N1 can be transmitted through the air between ferrets, which are considered good models of how influenza viruses behave in people.

They have not taken the next step to see whether the altered virus can be transmitted the same way between people by coughing or sneezing, because such an experiment would be unethical.

To give the scientific community and governments time to determine whether the research can be conducted safely, the scientists write, "we have agreed on a voluntary pause of 60 days on any research involving highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 viruses" that can produce easily transmissible forms of the virus.

The researchers wrote that no experiments with live, mutant viruses "already shown to be transmissible in ferrets will be conducted during this time."

Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46073540/ns/health-health_care/

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Mass Effect 3 Kinect Voice On: You're About to Start Yelling at Your TV for a Good Reason [Video]

Kinect launched a little over a year ago. I'll bet you can't name very many games for it, and if you can, they probably fall in one of two or three categories: sports/exercise and dance, and they're prooooobably not exactly AAA titles. More »

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Eli Manning misses practice with stomach illness

FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2011 file photo, New York Giants' Eli Manning, right, is congratulated by New England Patriots' Tom Brady after the Giants' 24-20 win in an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass. Brady has three Super Bowl rings, with another taken away by Manning and the Giants in 2008. Both have their teams on course for a reprise of that memorable title game. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2011 file photo, New York Giants' Eli Manning, right, is congratulated by New England Patriots' Tom Brady after the Giants' 24-20 win in an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass. Brady has three Super Bowl rings, with another taken away by Manning and the Giants in 2008. Both have their teams on course for a reprise of that memorable title game. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

New York Giants' Eli Manning reacts following a touchdown during the second half of an NFL divisional playoff football game against the Green Bay Packers Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012, in Green Bay, Wis. New York won 37-20. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) ? New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning missed part of Wednesday's practice session with an illness that coach Tom Coughlin called "a stomach bug, hopefully a 24-hour deal."

Manning was placed on the Giants' injury report for the first time this season as a limited participant in practice, though he missed the majority of it. The team is preparing to play the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday for the NFC championship.

"If there is one guy who can miss a practice Wednesday mentally, it's No. 10," guard Chris Snee said of Manning, who has had his best pro season. "He was probably in here on Monday and Tuesday looking at film."

Tight end Jake Ballard figured Manning headed right home to recuperate ? and watch film.

"He's probably going to spend the rest of the day doing that," Ballard said.

Also limited Wednesday were defensive ends Justin Tuck (shoulder) and Osi Umenyiora (ankle, knee), cornerback Corey Webster (hamstring) and rookie linebacker Mark Herzlich (ankle).

Missing practice completely was running back Ahmad Bradshaw with a foot problem. Bradshaw frequently has sat out practices or been limited in recent weeks.

Ballard said it was apparent immediately Wednesday morning that Manning wasn't feeling well.

"You could tell he was hurting bad," Ballard said. "He usually toughs things out like that. You could tell he was dragging, and you don't like to see your Pro Bowl quarterback throwing up or feeling like that. Hopefully he's better tomorrow."

Snee wants to make sure of that, so he offered some help.

"I'm actually going to bring him some soup tomorrow," Snee said. "I'll do whatever it takes to make sure he is at full strength."

Some home cooking?

"Southern gumbo," Snee joked. "Or whatever they have in the cafeteria."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-18-FBN-Eli-Manning-Illness/id-a82ab4c6ec8e451f965cb905e09ab922

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Ticketmaster?s New Facebook App Recommends Concerts From Your Listening Activity

Of all the new Open Graph apps launched tonight, Ticketmaster's new Facebook experience is the most impressive. Sure it can share that you've "bought" tickets, but lots of apps have similar publishing functionality. What makes Ticketmaster's app cool is that it pulls your Facebook profile's music app activity from services such as Spotify or Rdio, and recommends nearby concerts of artists you actually listen to, not just those you say you Like.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/voW18EYLLl8/

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Reports: Samsung Galaxy Note Headed to Verizon and Sprint as 'Galaxy Journal'

Samsung's launch of its Galaxy Note was a smash hit at the recently concluded Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, but for one major disappointment that followed - AT&T's exclusivity on the Galaxy Note.

However, a recent report on Los Angeles Gadgets Examiner, offers hope that other U.S. carriers will have a crack at the Galaxy Note while rolling out a new and improved version of the phone/tablet hybrid. Apparently, Paul Mueller, an industry analyst, confirmed that the Galaxy Note will head to other leading U.S. carriers, namely, Verizon and Sprint, but under a different name.

"It will possibly be called the Galaxy Journal. But it is certainly coming to both Sprint and Verizon during the first half of the year," Mueller said in a statement on the publication.

According to Mueller, the "Galaxy Journal" will make its debut on other networks by the first half of 2012. So far Samsung has not verified these reports. If the reports are to be trusted, however, specs of the rumored device could be more or less identical to that of AT&T's Galaxy Note. The existing model has an impressive 5.3" 800 x 1280 pixel WXGA Super AMOLED display, an 8-megapixel front-facing camera and is powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core processor. Despite its size, the Galaxy Note is surprisingly light and comfortable to handle, according to reviews. The device also comes equipped with a stylus, a feature we haven't seen for a while now.

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A Droid-Life report points out that a CDMA/LTE version of the Samsung Galaxy Note currently does not exist, while the HSPA+/LTE model is globally available. AT&T's version of the Galaxy Note is expected in the coming weeks; however, the network operator stopped short of announcements regarding the release date.

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Source: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/283390/20120118/reports-samsung-galaxy-note-headed-verizon-sprint.htm

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New app lets you track great white sharks

Want to travel the oceans alongside great white sharks, but your busy schedule and fear of death always seem to get in the way? There's an app for that.

Now anyone with an iPhone or an iPad (and $3.99 to spare) can follow along in near-real time with a dozen of the world's most iconic predators with the app Expedition White Shark.

"We're hoping it raises public awareness about white sharks, which helps our conservation efforts," said marine biologist Michael Domeier, the man behind the app and president of the Marine Conservation Science Institute, a small, California-based nonprofit research organization.

Domeier has studied great white sharks for many years, and was one of the first people to ever outfit adult great white sharks with satellite tracking tags ? the key to the new app. His adventures were chronicled on the National Geographic Channel program "Shark Men."

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The tags are affixed to the sharks' dorsal fins. When the fins break the surface of the water, the tags send a signal to a satellite. If the satellite is overhead at the time, it picks up the shark's location and plots the location on a map.

A few of the tracked sharks are already somewhat famous. There's Bruce, who's often seen by cage divers. "For whatever reason he is not shy of cameras," Domeier said. "He's a bit of showoff." And last year an injured great white shark named Junior got a lot of attention, thanks to some gruesome images sent around the blogosphere.

"He is doing well," Domeier told OurAmazingPlanet. Junior last checked in around Point Arena, Calif., fairly close to shore. "If anybody was thinking of surfing at Point Arena that day, that was maybe a little bit of a warning," he said.

Shark, where art thou?
"There are definitely different personality traits with respect to surface behavior," Domeier said. "Some sharks spend more time at the surface than others." Some sharks check in just 10 times a year, others ping the satellite on a weekly basis.?

Gender also appears to play a role in where sharks like to hang out. Although he acknowledged that the sample size is small, and the project has tagged three times as many males as females, Domeier said a pattern has begun to emerge.

"Males are pretty simple," he said. They travel between coastal waters off California and Mexico and an area near Hawaii in a predictable pattern each year. "They go out and come back like clockwork," Domeier said.

"The females have disappeared for two years, and we've finally figured out where they are," he added.

Satellite tags revealed the female sharks, the larger of the two sexes, spend up to 18 months in the deep, open waters in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and swim as deep as 3,300 feet (1,000 meters), a finding that Domeier called exciting.

"The theory we're working on now is they basically come to the coastal areas to mate and to give birth," he said.

Fish funding
Although the Expedition White Shark app is designed to raise awareness, Domeier said it is also designed to raise money. Domeier said he hopes to expand his research to include newer, more advanced satellite tags, and younger sharks.

"The adults are huge, so oftentimes they can break fishermen's lines and crash right through nets, but juveniles are not, and they are undoubtedly the most vulnerable," he said.

Much about great white sharks remains mysterious, including just how many there are. A recent University of California, Davis and Stanford shark study estimated that only about 220 adult great white sharks are living off the North American Pacific coast.

Domeier said he thinks there are more, but that data are sorely needed, as are newer, more accurate models for estimating population numbers.

The species as a whole, which can be found in oceans from 60 degrees north to 60 degrees south, is listed as "vulnerable" by the IUCN, an international body that assesses the state of species around the globe.

Worldwide, shark populations have declined steeply in recent years, many falling victim to overfishing for their valuable fins. Shark fins fetch high prices as a prized ingredient in shark fin soup. The soup was banned in California last year.

Domeier said he hopes the app raises enough money to allow him to move the tagging into the next phase ? using tags with cameras.

"Now we know where (great white sharks) go, but we don't really know what they're doing when they're there," he said. If the giant fish could bring back photographs of their travels, it would push the science further, he said.

Tags can be designed to pop off an animal at an appointed time, and float on the surface of the sea until researchers can come by and retrieve them, allowing scientists to sort through a virtual travelogue, complete with pictures, of the shark's activity.

Domeier said that such work might be possible within two years with the proper funding.

"This may sound like science fiction, but a lot of the things we're doing now would have sounded like science fiction 30 years ago," he said.

Reach Andrea Mustain at amustain@techmedianetwork.com. Follow her on Twitter @AndreaMustain. Follow OurAmazingPlanet for the latest in Earth science and exploration news on Twitter @OAPlanet and on Facebook.

? 2012 OurAmazingPlanet. All rights reserved. More from OurAmazingPlanet.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46046234/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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