Key state Senate committee backs mattress recycling bill

SACRAMENTO ? A key state Senate committee has blessed a compromise among bedding manufacturers, environmentalists and local governments about how best to keep about 2 million used mattresses a year from being dumped on California streets or into landfills.

Still to be determined is exactly what kind of consumer fee or tax would be levied on mattress and box spring purchases, which manufacturers have estimated might be around $25. The money would create a first-in-the-nation "recovery and recycling" program that would be run by the mattress industry and overseen by California regulators.

The bill also would require retailers to offer free pickup of old mattresses when delivering new ones.

Although the proposal received no public opposition, it still faces major obstacles to becoming law. According to the state Constitution, the still-unspecified consumer fee is considered a tax, and thus must be approved by at least two-thirds of the Senate and the Assembly. That would require an aye vote from every member of a group of conservative Democrats or support from predominantly anti-tax Republicans.

"We have work to do," said state Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), referring to the process of rounding up the minimum of 54 votes in the Assembly and 27 in the Senate.

Mattresses were just one of three consumer product recycling bills considered by the Senate Environmental Quality Committee on Wednesday. The panel also approved a statewide ban on plastic supermarket bags and a measure aimed at promoting greater recycling and composting of fast-food packaging.

The mattress bill, by coauthors Sens. Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) and Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana), is needed to counter "a health issue and a tipping-point, blight issue in many communities," Hancock testified. The committee approved the bill, SB 254, on a 6-0 vote, with only Democrats voting in support. It was sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Used mattresses can become breeding grounds for mold and pests, supporters said. Their presence in communities often sets the stage for other forms of vandalism, such as graffiti, they added.

Until last week, the mattress industry, which helped defeat a Hancock recycling bill last year, had been backing a rival measure by Correa.

The International Sleep Products Assn. feared being saddled with an expensive, bureaucratic state program. But the compromise mollified those worries by allowing the private sector to develop its own program with a goal of recycling or reusing three-quarters of all used mattresses by 2020.

The bill's first provision ? requiring retailers to offer free pickup of old mattresses when they deliver new ones ? would take effect July 1, 2014. An industrywide mattress recycling council must be organized by April 2015.

The result is a system similar to what California currently uses to encourage recycling of electronic waste, such as computers and monitors, tires, carpets and paint.

"This bill will increase recycling, create recycling jobs without endangering retail jobs," said Ryan Trainer, executive vice president and general counsel of the Sleep Products Assn.

Passage of the measure will be boon for the infant mattress recycling industry, Correa predicted. The director of a Los Angeles recycling center, he said, recently told him that he would run two or three shifts of workers a day to handle the increased volume of used mattresses should the bill pass. Recyclers say that at least 85% of a used mattress' components can be turned into usable materials.

marc.lifsher@latimes.com

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/_rpcOpPLeGc/la-fi-mattress-recycle-bill-20130418,0,1705171.story

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SOFIA observations reveal a surprise in massive star formation

Apr. 17, 2013 ? Researchers using the airborne Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) have captured the most detailed mid-infrared images yet of a massive star condensing within a dense cocoon of dust and gas.

The star is G35.20-0.74, commonly known as G35. It is one of the most massive known protostars and is located relatively close to Earth at a distance of 8,000 light-years.

Until now, scientists expected the formation process of massive stars would be complicated by the turbulent, chaotic environments in the centers of new star clusters where they form. But observations of G35 suggest this giant star, more than 20 times the mass of our sun, is forming by the same orderly process as do stars with the same mass as the sun. Stars most like the sun are understood to form by simple, symmetric collapse of interstellar clouds.

"The focus of our study has been to determine how massive stars actually form," said Yichen Zhang of the University of Florida. Zhang is lead author of a paper about the discovery published April 10 in the Astrophysical Journal. "We thought the G35 protostar's structure would be quite complicated, but instead we found it is simple, like the cocoons of protostars with the sun's mass."

The observations of G35 were made in 2011 with a special camera aboard SOFIA, a modified Boeing 747SP aircraft that can carry a telescope with an effective diameter of 100 inches (2.5 meters) to altitudes as high as 45,000 feet (13,700 meters).

G35 was an ideal target for investigations because it is in an early stage of development. But infrared light coming from G35 is so strong it prevented infrared space telescopes from making detailed images. Also, the protostar is embedded so deeply in its natal cloud that it cannot be detected by optical telescopes observing from the ground at visible wavelengths.

Flying high above the light-blocking water vapor in Earth's atmosphere, the airplane-mounted Faint Object Infrared Camera for the SOFIA Telescope (FORCAST) enabled astronomers to see G35 where it hides -- inside a dark, dense, interstellar dust cloud -- by collecting infrared light escaping the cloud. Uniquely suited for this work, FORCAST detected faint details next to bright structures at wavelengths inaccessible to any other telescope on the ground or in space.

"Massive stars, although rare, are important because there is evidence they foster the formation of smaller stars like our sun, and because at the ends of their lives they create and distribute chemical elements that are the basic building blocks of Earth-like planets," said co-author James De Buizer, a SOFIA staff scientist with the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.

Images of G35 may be viewed on NASA's SOFIA site: http://www.nasa.gov/sofia

Figures 1a and 1b show FORCAST images of G35 at wavelengths of 31 and 37 microns. Figures 2a and 2b respectively present G35 images obtained by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the Gemini-North telescope at Mauna Kea, Hawaii, also used in this study. Figure 3 shows computer model images intended to match characteristics of the central regions of the images in figures 1a and 1b.

The model images show greatly simplified versions of what is revealed especially in the SOFIA images: a luminous protostar heating a dense interstellar cloud from the inside while simultaneously expelling cone-shaped jets of gas toward the tops and bottoms of the frames. The top outflow cone appears brighter because it is directed toward us and there is less obscuring material along the line of sight.

The high resolution of the images showcases the capability of modern infrared detector arrays when used on an airborne platform and gives scientists hope that data gathered in this way substantially will advance their understanding of the Milky Way galaxy.

FORCAST was built by a team led by Terry Herter of Cornell University in Ithica, N.Y. Co-authors of the Astrophysics Journal paper include scientists from the University of Florida in Gainesville; University of Wisconsin in Madison; University of California at Berkeley; Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge; the Arcetri Observatory in Florence, Italy; and the USRA SOFIA science staff at Ames.

SOFIA is a joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center. SOFIA is based and managed at NASA's Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif. NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., manages the SOFIA science and mission operations in cooperation with the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) headquartered in Columbia, Md., and the German SOFIA Institute at the University of Stuttgart.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/nasa/~3/WtYI7hK-HuQ/130417132555.htm

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Monetization TBD: Instagram Hires Facebook's Emily White As Director Of Business Operations

Instagram has hired a Director of Operations, the first of what we're assuming will be many steps to monetize its explosive scale. Facebook's Director of Mobile partnerships Emily White will be moving over to the more than 20 person team, which just surpassed the 100 million user mark in February.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/V6sEU4-Kw_0/

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PFT: Thompson ban implies multiple drug violations

AP

Chuck Fairbanks, a successful but volatile coach who led the Patriots for six seasons in the 1970s, has died.

The Patriots announced on Tuesday that Fairbanks died of brain cancer.

In January of 1973, Fairbanks quit as head coach at Oklahoma ? where he had just led the Sooners to a win in the Sugar Bowl ? to become the head coach of the Patriots. Fairbanks left behind him at Oklahoma a scandal related to altering players? transcripts, and the Sooners went on NCAA probation for two years. That would not be the last time Fairbanks left a job in a controversial manner.

With the Patriots, he built a lousy team into a winner, but in December of 1978, with the Patriots 11-4 and in first place in the AFC East, Fairbanks abruptly decided to leave to become the head coach at Colorado. A messy battle with then-Patriots owner Billy Sullivan ensued, and Colorado boosters ended up buying Fairbanks out of his Patriots contract.

Fairbanks was unsuccessful at Colorado, going just 7-26, and he quit after three seasons to become head coach of the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League. After one season there, Fairbanks was done as a coach.

Although he?s mostly remembered in the NFL for the circumstances of his departure from the Patriots, there was a time when Fairbanks was considered one of the smartest and most innovative coaches in football. Patriots coach Bill Belichick said in September that Fairbanks had been a friend and a mentor.

?Chuck has been a good friend for a long time and he?s meant a lot to this organization,? Belichick said. ?Really, at the time he came here, he did a great job in turning the Patriots around, making them into one of the top teams in the AFC. Also, some of the things he brought to the Patriots and the league in the ?70s were things that stood the test of time and have been a big principle of this league for many, many years and the disciples and the people that were with him, such as the 3-4 defense, the way he organized the draft, personnel meetings, things like that and some of the great coaches that were here under Chuck.?

Chuck Fairbanks was 79.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/04/02/thompson-suspension-implies-multiples-violations-of-substance-abuse-policy/related/

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Green Meteorite Found In Morocco May Be From Mercury

An anonymous reader writes in with news that a meteorite found in Morocco might be from Mercury. "The green rock found in Morocco last year may be the first known visitor from the solar system's innermost planet, according to meteorite scientist Anthony Irving, who unveiled the new findings this month at the 44th annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in The Woodlands, Texas. The study suggests that a space rock called NWA 7325 came from Mercury, and not an asteroid or Mars."

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/E8rjwkBjsd4/story01.htm

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Source: http://www.desiretoinspire.net/blog/2013/3/31/the-no-words-just-pictures-real-estate-stalking-posts-for-ea-1.html

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U.S. soldier playing with Afghan kids fatally stabbed by teen

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? An Afghan teenager fatally stabbed an American soldier in the neck as he played with children in eastern Afghanistan, officials said Monday, as the U.S. death toll rose sharply last month with an uptick in fighting due to warmer weather.

Last week's calculated attack shows that international troops still face a myriad of dangers even though they are increasingly taking a back seat in operations with Afghan forces ahead of a full withdrawal by the end of 2014.

Just one U.S. service member was killed in February ? a five-year monthly low ? but the American death toll climbed to at least 14 last month.

Overall, the number of Americans and other foreign forces killed in Afghanistan has fallen as their role shifts more toward training and advising government troops instead of fighting.

But a series of so-called insider attacks on foreign troops by Afghan forces of insurgents disguised as them has threatened to undermine the trust needed to help President Hamid Karzai's government take the lead in securing the country after more than 11 years at war.

The attack that killed Sgt. Michael Cable, 26, of Philpot, Ky., last Wednesday occurred after the soldiers had secured an area for a meeting of U.S. and Afghan officials in a province near the volatile border with Pakistan.

But one of two senior U.S. officials who confirmed that Cable had been stabbed by a young man said the assailant was not believed to have been in uniform so it was not being classified as an insider attack.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, said the attacker was thought to be about 16 years old. He escaped so his age couldn't be verified.

Cable's brother Raymond Johnston, a 42-year-old waiter in Owensboro, Ky., said the Army told the family the basics of what happened and that his brother was stabbed in the neck from behind.

Johnston said his brother, who also did a tour of duty in Iraq, was "prepared before he left for anything that happened" in Afghanistan.

Cable met individually with Johnston and three other family members before leaving for Afghanistan and had similar conversations with each ? that the deployment was extremely hazardous and that his family and friends should "continue to enjoy life" if he was killed.

"He was able to communicate to the family about if the worst was supposed to happen, what we were supposed to do," Johnston said.

Cable's body was scheduled to return to Owensboro in western Kentucky on Thursday. Visitation was scheduled for Friday with the funeral set for Saturday.

The Afghan and American dignitaries were attending the swearing-in ceremony of Afghan Local Police in Shinwar district in Nangarhar province, senior district official Zalmai Khan said. Afghan Local Police, or ALP, recruits are drawn from villages and backed by the U.S. military.

The soldier was playing with children outside when the attacker came from behind and stabbed him in the neck with a large knife, Khan said. Other guards nearby didn't immediately notice what had happened because there was no gunshot, and the assailant was able to flee to neighboring Pakistan, he added.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid identified the attacker as a 16-year-old local man named Khalid. He said Khalid was acting independently when he killed the soldier but had joined the Islamic militant movement since fleeing the scene.

The district official Khan did not provide a name or confirm the Taliban's claim.

The Pentagon said in a statement last week that Cable, died from injuries sustained when his unit was attacked by enemy forces.

The killing comes as the U.S. death toll rose to 14 in March, compared with four in the previous two months of the year, partly fueled by the start of the spring fighting season when the Taliban and other insurgents take advantage of improved weather to step up attacks.

By contrast, at least 67 members of the Afghan security forces were killed last month, compared with 42 in February and 55 in January.

In a success story for the Afghan government, the intelligence service announced that it had foiled a plan to attack the Sulma dam in the western province of Herat.

Agency spokesman Shafiqullah Tahiri said an Afghan man identified as Sayed Gul was arrested with 1,300 kilograms (about 1.5 tons) of explosives. He blamed the Pakistani Taliban for plotting to bomb the dam in a bid to destabilize the country.

___

Associated Press writers Kimberly Dozier, Amir Shah and Rahim Faiez in Kabul, and Brett Barrouquere in Louisiville, Ky., contributed to this report.

Follow Kim Gamel on Twitter at https://twitter.com/kimgamel

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/afghan-teenager-fatally-stabs-us-soldier-105007454.html

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