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Selasa, 10 Juni 2008

Turning Out the Lights

Turning Out the Lights

The dangers of a bright night are becoming more apparent

Posted March 14, 2008

The night is not what it was. Once, the Earth was cast perpetually half in shadow. Man and beast slept beneath inky skies, dotted with glittering stars. Then came fire, the candle, and the light bulb, gradually drawing back the curtain of darkness and giving us unprecedented control over our lives.

Photo Gallery: Light Pollution

But a brighter world, it is becoming increasingly clear, has its drawbacks. A study released last month finding that breast cancer is nearly twice as common in brightly lit communities as in dark ones only added to a growing body of evidence that artificial light threatens not just stargazing but also public health, wildlife, and possibly even safety.

Those findings are all the more troubling considering that an estimated 30 percent of outdoor lighting—plus even some indoor lighting—is wasted. Ill-conceived, ineffective, and inefficient lighting costs the nation about $10.4 billion a year, according to Bob Gent of the International Dark-Sky Association, a nonprofit that aims to curtail light pollution, and it generates 38 million tons of carbon dioxide a year.

Motivated by such trends, more than two dozen cities worldwide will go dim on March 29 in an hourlong demonstration. At 8 p.m. local time, Atlanta's and Chicago's tallest towers, the Phoenix Suns' arena, and San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge will join many other sites in turning off their lights. According to the World Wildlife Fund, which is organizing the event, an estimated 2.2 million Australians switched off their lights or took other action during "Earth Hour" last year in Sydney, briefly reducing that city's energy use by more than 10 percent.

A number of groups are trying to measure light pollution and assess its detrimental effects on the environment in the hope that people will reduce their own contribution to the problem. Last week, as part of an annual program called GLOBE at Night, thousands of students and amateur scientists stared up at the constellation Orion from locations across the country and reported how many of its stars they could see. No data are yet available, but in dark, rural areas, says Gent, about 2,000 stars are typically visible at night, compared with "maybe five" in a bright city square—and about 5,000 in centuries past. "One of the goals," says Steve Pompea of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Tucson, Ariz., "is to identify urban oases—places in our cities that are dark enough to see the sky."

People who are working while others are stargazing may face the greatest risks. Hormonal disturbances triggered by nighttime exposure to white or bluish light can disrupt circadian rhythms and fuel the growth of tumors, experiments show. Two decades of research indicate that women who work night shifts have unusually high rates of breast cancer, and some data suggest a parallel effect on male workers' prostate cancer rates. Last December, a unit of the World Health Organization deemed shift work a probable human carcinogen.

Yet light and cancer may be even more fundamentally linked. In last month's study, a team that included Richard Stevens, the University of Connecticut Health Center epidemiologist who first proposed the connection, compared satellite images of Israel at night with maps showing where cancers are most common. Its analysis suggests that 73 percent more breast cancers occur in the country's brightest communities than in its darkest.

Beaming up. Light beamed into the sky is squandered, since it's not illuminating any target. Yet many fixtures—like old-fashioned spherical streetlamps—send plenty of photons upward and outward. "If you fly into a city at night and you can see the streetlights from the airplane," says Chad Moore, leader of the National Park Service's Night Sky Program, "that light is counterproductive." As the light bounces off particles in the air, it casts a far-reaching "sky glow," he says. "We have documented light from distant cities traveling roughly 200 miles into national parks."

And while lighting is often installed in the name of safety, says Gent, it may ironically benefit criminals. A pedestrian temporarily blinded by the glow of an ATM, for instance, may be an easier target for a mugger hiding in the shadows. In fact, most light that goes directly from its source to a person's eye is worse than worthless. Such glare—from a car's high beams, a poorly aimed porch light, or even an unshielded window—inhibits night vision, paradoxically making it harder to see. That can endanger drivers, not to mention hapless deer.

College Kids and Sleep

health.usnews.com

College Kids and Sleep: 4 Tips

It's best for your grades to be a morning person, if you can

Posted June 9, 2008

Here's some unfortunate news for teenagers about to head off to college: New research being presented today at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies says that a morning person is apt to get better grades than a late riser. Researchers surveyed 824 college students enrolled in psychology classes about their sleep habits and daily functioning. Result: The better performers were not the ones who stayed up until the wee hours and slept till afternoon.

Teenager in pajamas yawning with alarm clock
(Jupiter Images)
Video: Common Sleeping Problems
Video: Common Sleeping Problems

So what to do if you hate waking up in the morning? Use the summer to develop good sleep habits, and then minimize the damage come fall.

Be consistent. "The most important thing is try to maintain a consistent wake and bedtime in the summer," suggests Daniel Taylor, assistant professor at the University of North Texas and one of the study's authors. He'd advise going to bed most nights between 11 p.m. and midnight. If you do start turning in and getting up later once you're at school, continue to be as regular as possible, says Ana Allen Gomes, a professor at the University of Aveiro in Portugal, who has researched college students' sleeping patterns.

Become a morning person. At least two to three weeks before the semester starts, start training yourself. "The best way to do it is to wake yourself up successively earlier every few days, and get out in the sunlight ," says Taylor. The sunlight helps reset your internal clock.

Schedule classes with care. "A lot of kids turn into evening types when they go to college," Taylor says. So don't pick 8 a.m. classes just because you're used to waking up early for high school.

Compensate. If you're just not able to become an early riser, and do end up with early classes, plan some study time in the afternoon, when you're less likely to be tired, Gomes suggests. And avoid studying all night so that you're not exhausted in the morning.

Phone 3G: Hits and misses

www.tech.yahoo.com

Phone 3G: Hits and misses

Mon Jun 9, 2008 5:28PM EDT

See Comments (104)

Buzz up!on Yahoo!

As expected, we got 3G, GPS, and lower prices. But some of the most exciting iPhone rumors—such as videoconferencing and additional iPhone models—failed to materialize. Also: Details on rate plans, contracts, and battery life.

First of all, let's talk turkey—specifically, the $299 price tag for the 16GB model and $199 for the 8GB version. Now, in a moment, you're going to find me grousing about what's missing in the new iPhone, but from the feedback I'm getting so far, people are thrilled about the lower prices. While $199 isn't exactly cheap for a phone, it's a bargain when you consider the features packed into the iPhone 3G. Expect lines around the block when it goes on sale July 11.

That said, AT&T just announced that the data plan for the iPhone 3G will run you $30 a month, a $10 premium over the original's EDGE-only plan, so keep that in mind while you're calculating your savings. And yes, you'll need to sign a new two-year contract with AT&T, even if you're a current subscriber.

Anyway, the iPhone looks pretty much like the iPhone of old—and while Jobs crowed that the new iPhone is thinner "at the edges" than the original, the iPhone 3G is, in fact, about 0.02 inches thicker than its predecessor. That said, according to the specs, the new iPhone is about 0.1 ounce lighter than the EDGE-only model.

About the glossy black (or white) backing … I'm not thrilled about it. The beauty of the old brushed-metal finish was that it was practically impervious to scratches—indeed, my old iPhone, which I bought last June and lives sans case in my pocket, has nary a scratch on the back. We'll have to wait and see how the new glossy backing holds up, but I'm not optimistic.

On the 3G front: Yes, the new iPhone will access data twice as quickly (at least) over AT&T's speedy HSDPA network than the original did over EDGE. Another advantage: You'll be able to browse and access data when you're on a voice call, even if you're not in Wi-Fi range.

But one of the chief advantages of 3G is that it's fast enough for music and video—though for now, there's no word on whether we'll be able to download songs, podcasts, or videos from iTunes over AT&T's 3G network. Still, that could change with a future firmware upgrade.

In terms of battery life, Steve Jobs is promising an acceptable 5 hours of talk time using 3G (which allows for simultaneous calls and data use, compared to voice-only over EDGE), along with 7 hours of video and 24 hours of music. In my experience, real-world battery life is almost always less than what they tell you in the specs, but I'll give Apple the benefit of the doubt. Of course, the battery is still sealed in the iPhone case—a major bone of contention for many users.

GPS-wise, I'm excited. Live tracking of your position on the iPhone looks awesome—watch out, Garmin—and you'll also be able to tag your photos with GPS coordinates. Oh, and Loopt has already announced a social-networking app that'll use GPS to pinpoint your nearest buddies. Finally, Jobs said that the iPhone turns GPS off automatically when it's not in use so as not to drain the battery. Nice.

As for rumors that didn't quite come true, take videoconferencing, which was the hot topic over the weekend thanks to a slew of (clearly faked) fuzzy photos. The thought was that the new iPhone would have a front-facing camera for video-enabled iChat, but no dice.

Another rumor: Wireless music and video syncing with iTunes, similar to what the Zune does with its PC software. Prying eyes thought they found hidden Mac OS code that would make wireless iTunes syncing a reality. Guess not.

And as far as a range of iPhone models goes, well ... as I predicted, Jobs is keeping it simple: 8GB and 16GB versions—no 32GB model, which is particularly disappointing—in black and white flavors. No "thin," EDGE-only iPhone, as some thought, and notably, it appears the original EDGE-only iPhone has been purged from the Apple Store. That said, the original iPod eventually spawned a whole range of iPod Nanos, Videos, Touches, and what have you, so we may see the same thing happen with the iPhone eventually.

And speaking of the iPod Touch ... no new models or prices. You'll be able to download the new 2.0 firmware to the Touch for $9.95, but that's about it.

On the services side, I'm pleased with the upcoming MobileMe, the revamped version of .Mac, which will now allow for push, over-the-air syncing of contacts from Address Book, events from iCal, e-mail and photos with the iPhone—and yes, Outlook users on Windows are included. Yes, MobileMe is still $99 a year—but that comes out to a little over eight bucks a month, not bad considering the 20GB of online storage (twice as much as you got with the old .Mac).

And let's not forget the App Store, which is coming in early July. We saw just a handful of games and applications during the keynote, but I'm excited already—especially with the games, which look amazingly polished for something on a cell phone. I'm expecting office suites, multimedia applications, IM, and social networking apps ... you name it. This'll be huge.

And one more thing ... there was no "one more thing" in Steve Jobs' keynote, dashing the hopes of those looking for a Mac tablet or redesigned MacBooks. This marks the second major keynote in a row where "one more thing" was nowhere in sight (three if you count the iPhone SDK roadmap address in March). Interesting.

Kamis, 05 Juni 2008

Kekalahan HIllary Clinton

Clinton will quit and back Obama

Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton has seen her opponent maintain his lead

Hillary Clinton will withdraw from the race to become the Democratic candidate for the US presidency, and back her rival Barack Obama, her campaign says.

On Tuesday, Mr Obama gained enough delegates to win the nomination, after the final votes of the primary season.

Mrs Clinton has still not admitted in public that she lost the contest, but on Saturday she will do so "and express her support for Senator Obama".

Mr Obama has already announced a team to help select his running mate.

Reports that Mrs Clinton was ready to concede came after she made a conference call to senior Democrats in Congress.

At a Democratic Party event in Washington, Mrs Clinton will also "express her support... for party unity", her communications director Howard Wolfson said.

Earlier, it had been announced that the event would be held on Friday, but Mr Wolfson said it had been delayed a day "to accommodate more of Senator Clinton's supporters who want to attend".

The BBC's Jane O'Brien in Washington says that as Mr Obama was claiming victory, Hillary Clinton stunned even her own supporters with a speech that offered no indication that she was giving up.

There is speculation that the delay in conceding was an attempt to position herself as a possible vice-president, our correspondent adds.

Clinton 'open'

DELEGATE COUNT
Winner: Needs 2,118 delegates
Super-delegates: Obama, 389; Clinton, 282
Total delegates: Obama, 2,154; Clinton, 1,919
South Dakota and Montana: Obama, 25; Clinton, 13
Source: AP at 0230 GMT on 5 June

Mr Obama's three-member panel to look for a presidential running mate comprises Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John Kennedy, former deputy Attorney General Eric Holder and Jim Johnson.

Mr Johnson performed the same selection task for John Kerry in 2004.

"Senator Obama is pleased to have three talented and dedicated individuals managing this rigorous process," said Bill Burton, a spokesman for the Illinois senator.

"He will work closely with them in the coming weeks but ultimately this will be his decision and his alone."

Barack Obama addressing Aipac, 4 June, 2008
Mr Obama could be the first black candidate from a major political party

Earlier, Mr Obama had paid tribute to Mrs Clinton and hinted that she would play a role in any future Obama administration.

Mrs Clinton has said she would be "open" to the idea of being Mr Obama's vice-presidential running-mate.

Referring to a brief conversation he had held with his defeated rival, the Illinois senator said: "I'm very confident of how we're going to be able to bring the party together."

The Republican party's candidate, John McCain has challenged Mr Obama to take part in debates in 10 town hall meetings before August's Democratic convention, and the Obama team is said to be considering the invitation.

The final primaries of the season were held on Tuesday - with Mr Obama winning Montana and Mrs Clinton winning South Dakota.

A candidate needs 2,118 delegates to secure the nomination and Mr Obama now has the support of 2,154 delegates. Mrs Clinton has 1,919.

Sumber: bbcnews.com