The Ouya, a $99 video game console powered by the Android operating system. (Courtesy: The Associated Press)
Ouya, a bite-sized game console running on Google's Android operating system, wants to take a bite out of the video game system market long ruled by Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo.
The console, which went on sale Tuesday for $100, lets players try games for free before buying them, a selling point that Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman likes to bring up since new games for the big three consoles often cost as much as $60 and that's before trying.
"We are definitely disrupting the console market," Uhrman said. "We offer something different."
There are more than 170 games available for Ouya, ranging from the likes of "Crazy Cat Lady" to the more established "Final Fantasy III" from Square Enix, with more to come.
Non-gaming apps include TuneIn Radio. Pricing is up to the game developers and generally in the single-digits. "Final Fantasy" is an exception at $16. While you won't find "Grand Theft Auto IV" or the latest "Call of Duty" among the available titles, there are plenty of others from independent developers who wouldn't necessarily make it on to the dominant consoles.
Ouya is unlikely to make a dent in the demand for high-end video game consoles coming out from Sony and Microsoft later this year, lacking high-end graphics and computing power, not to mention blockbuster games such as the latest "Call of Duty."
But at a fraction of the price (it costs $500 for the Xbox One and $400 for the PlayStation 4), it could appeal to budget-conscious gamers, gadget geeks and those looking for a second or third console.
"We sought to build a $99 game console where all the games are free to try, where any developer whether established or newcomer can bring the games to television," siad Uhrman.
The project to build the console launched on Kickstarter last July. "We brought it to Kickstarter because we wanted to know if anybody really wanted this," Uhrman said.
On Aug. 9, 2012, Ouya's funding period ended with $8.6 million pledged, more than nine times the original $950,000 goal its creators had set out to reach.
More than 63,000 people donated, with 12 pledging $10,000 or more. This May, Ouya received another $15 million, this time in venture capital funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and other VC firms, along with chip maker Nvidia.
It's going to be a very small picture, but we're all going to be in it. All trillions of us on Earth.
It's not our first group portrait, but Carolyn Porco, the woman in charge, says it's going to be gasp-worthy. She should know. She helped shoot some of the early ones.
What am I talking about?
Well, going back a bit, here's the first one, the granddaddy of Earth pictures. It's often called the "Blue Marble" shot, and it was our first look at our whole planet suspended in space, taken in 1972 as the Apollo 17 crew headed toward the moon. It makes us look dazzlingly blue ? and quite alone.
The next one on my list is trickier. For one thing, the camera was much farther from Earth ? about 3.7 billion miles away. It was on a space probe called Voyager sent by NASA to explore the outer solar system. In 1990, after traveling for 12 years, just as it was about to leave the solar system, astronomer Carl Sagan asked that it be turned around and given one last photographic instruction. Carolyn Porco was on the team that did this. Sagan wanted to make pictures of the various planets so we could see what we looked like from far, far away. Earth makes a teeny appearance here.
You can find us at the midpoint of this image, inside the band of scattered sun rays at the far right, peeping through. That little dot is Earth, our planet.
Looking at this, Carl Sagan thought, first, how small we look, how small we are ? which inspired him to write his eloquent Pale Blue Dot meditation, which, if you haven't read it lately, take a minute and a half to look at this short version gorgeously animated by Joel Somerfield at Order, a British design studio. Carl Sagan himself is narrating.
Our smallness, our alone-ness impressed Sagan, but so did our noisy colorfulness. We emit radio waves and TV signals. We have technology. We are blue in our watery parts, reddish on our land parts (because the chlorophyll in our plants absorbs red and blue light waves, reflecting green back into space). Which gave Sagan an idea.
Imagine you are sweeping through a solar system, looking for a place, any place that might harbor some sign of life, and there, in the blackness, you see a dot of light, a little pinprick shining back at you. Could you, from a distance, learn if there is life there? Are there telltale signs?
Check Out This Place Called 'Earth'
Sagan imagined four traits that he thought would be strong indicators of life: the persistent presence of methane, an unusual proportion of oxygen in the atmosphere (both often produced by life), a reddish coloring on land, (because of the chlorophyll) and radio waves. If the planet is broadcasting, somebody down there must be talking (and tinkering).
Then he proposed an experiment ? the first ever life-sensing test. He knew, back in 1990, that another NASA spacecraft, Galileo, was zipping past Earth on its way to Jupiter, so he asked NASA to turn to the probe to earth to see if it could pick up the four traits. Yup, yup, yup and yup. Methane, oxygen, reddish tones and radio waves, all of them, of course, were there.
Then, because he wanted this to be the world's first-ever controlled experiment in astrobiological sensing, he asked that the probe be turned to the moon.
Check Out This Place Called 'The Moon'
We all know there's life on Earth, (i.e., you reading this, me writing this) and we are pretty sure that there's none on the moon. It's cold. It's barren. It's always been so. So would Galileo pick up any life traces when looking moonward? No, no, no and no. Galileo sniffed and found "Nothing," says David Noever, a NASA astrobiologist.
"There was no evidence for life. No chlorophyll, no oxygen-methane atmosphere, no artificial radio transmissions. It was just as we would have expected, and consistent with the Sagan criteria."
Ever since, we have been looking, using Sagan's criteria and a few more, to hunt for signs of like on distant dots of light. We like signs of water. There are several watery orbs in our solar system. It's why we like the color blue. It's our color, and so it's a hue that teases us, that makes us wonder, "You too?"
The last photo on my list was taken in 2006 by the Cassini probe, 930 million miles from Earth, near Saturn. You can see some of Saturn's rings on the right. Earth, once again, is a little dot in the background, but in this image, we've enlarged ourselves, so you can see us better.
Carolyn Porco, now a team leader on the Cassini project, says what we see here, hanging in dark space, is a "pale blue orb, and a faint suggestion of the moon." The moon is a "dim protrusion to the upper left of Earth" and from this angle, if we could zoom in (we can't), we'd be looking down on the Atlantic Ocean and the west coast of North Africa.
In 2006, this was the best Cassini could do. But Carolyn says they're going to try again, On July 19, in just a few weeks, Cassini's cameras will take advantage of Saturn eclipsing the sun, and snap a new photo. It will be, says Carolyn "an image of the highest resolution we are capable of taking."
That doesn't mean we'll see cities glowing at night, or continents. What we will see, she thinks, is a telltale difference. The part of the image that is the moon, she says, will be "a colorless, star-like point of light." That's our lifeless moon. The other part, the bigger part, will have traces of color, hints of red, and the distinct blush of blue.
That little beacon of life-light, of course, is our home, our pale blue dot.
Unraveling the largest outbreak of fungal infections associated with contaminated steroid injectionsPublic release date: 26-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Eileen Leahy ajpmedia@elsevier.com 732-238-3628 Elsevier Health Sciences
Findings suggest black mold targeting the base of the brain, reports The American Journal of Pathology
Philadelphia, PA, June 26, 2013 Investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describe pathologic findings from 40 case reports of fungal infection in patients who had been given contaminated epidural, paraspinal, or intra-articular (into joints) steroid injections and correlate these findings with clinical and laboratory data. The report, published in the September issue of The American Journal of Pathology, alerts clinicians and the general public to the catastrophic dangers of contaminated epidural injections.
In September 2012, CDC began hearing multiple reports of fungal meningitis in patients following epidural steroid injections. By June 2013, 745 people had confirmed infections and 58 had died, making this the largest reported outbreak of infections associated with epidural and intra-articular injections.
After intensive investigation, the contamination was traced to more than 17,000 vials from three contaminated lots of preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate (MPA) originating from a single compounding pharmacy. More than 13,000 people were injected with the potentially contaminated drug. Most cases were attributable to Exserohilumrostratum, a dark-colored environmental mold that rarely infects humans.
Researchers, including the CDC's Exserohilum Infections Working Group, report that of 40 cases reviewed, 16 were fatal, and all except two fatal cases had a clinical diagnosis of meningitis. Autopsy examination showed extensive hemorrhage and necrosis (tissue decay) around the base of the brain and thrombi (clots) involving the basilar arterial circulation.
Tissue specimens from infected individuals showed inflammation of the leptomeninges (thin membranes lining the brain) and blood vessel walls within the brain. Distinctive abnormalities were observed around blood vessels, and fungus was found around and within arterial walls. Interestingly, fungus deep within the brain tissue itself was found in only one case.
Similar pathologic findings were seen at the epidural injection site. Fungus was not found in tissue samples taken from the heart, lung, liver, or kidney.
Investigators wondered why fungus injected in the spinal region should target the base of the brain. "The observation of abundant fungi in the perivascular tissues, but relatively low numbers of fungi inside blood vessels, suggests migration of fungus into, rather than out of, vessels at this location. This supports the hypothesis that Exserohilum migrates from the lumbar spine to the brain through the cerebrospinal fluid with subsequent vascular invasion, rather than migration through the vasculature," suggests Jana M. Ritter, DVM, a veterinary pathologist at the CDC's Infectious Diseases Pathology Branch.
In addition to characterizing the histopathology seen in this outbreak, the authors also provide practical information for pathologists, including an evaluation of various diagnostic methods to detect the fungal infection in tissues. Polyfungal immunohistochemistry (IHC) in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues (FFPE) was found to be the most sensitive method. IHC identified fungus in 100% of cases, compared with 43% by standard hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) and 95% with Grocott's methenamine silver (GMS) stains. Factors that may affect cellular inflammatory patterns and fungal concentration are discussed, and the authors note that their findings may reflect the simultaneous introduction of the fungus along with the steroid.
###
Contributors to the investigation also included researchers from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Louisville, KY and the Department of Pathology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Unraveling the largest outbreak of fungal infections associated with contaminated steroid injectionsPublic release date: 26-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Eileen Leahy ajpmedia@elsevier.com 732-238-3628 Elsevier Health Sciences
Findings suggest black mold targeting the base of the brain, reports The American Journal of Pathology
Philadelphia, PA, June 26, 2013 Investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describe pathologic findings from 40 case reports of fungal infection in patients who had been given contaminated epidural, paraspinal, or intra-articular (into joints) steroid injections and correlate these findings with clinical and laboratory data. The report, published in the September issue of The American Journal of Pathology, alerts clinicians and the general public to the catastrophic dangers of contaminated epidural injections.
In September 2012, CDC began hearing multiple reports of fungal meningitis in patients following epidural steroid injections. By June 2013, 745 people had confirmed infections and 58 had died, making this the largest reported outbreak of infections associated with epidural and intra-articular injections.
After intensive investigation, the contamination was traced to more than 17,000 vials from three contaminated lots of preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate (MPA) originating from a single compounding pharmacy. More than 13,000 people were injected with the potentially contaminated drug. Most cases were attributable to Exserohilumrostratum, a dark-colored environmental mold that rarely infects humans.
Researchers, including the CDC's Exserohilum Infections Working Group, report that of 40 cases reviewed, 16 were fatal, and all except two fatal cases had a clinical diagnosis of meningitis. Autopsy examination showed extensive hemorrhage and necrosis (tissue decay) around the base of the brain and thrombi (clots) involving the basilar arterial circulation.
Tissue specimens from infected individuals showed inflammation of the leptomeninges (thin membranes lining the brain) and blood vessel walls within the brain. Distinctive abnormalities were observed around blood vessels, and fungus was found around and within arterial walls. Interestingly, fungus deep within the brain tissue itself was found in only one case.
Similar pathologic findings were seen at the epidural injection site. Fungus was not found in tissue samples taken from the heart, lung, liver, or kidney.
Investigators wondered why fungus injected in the spinal region should target the base of the brain. "The observation of abundant fungi in the perivascular tissues, but relatively low numbers of fungi inside blood vessels, suggests migration of fungus into, rather than out of, vessels at this location. This supports the hypothesis that Exserohilum migrates from the lumbar spine to the brain through the cerebrospinal fluid with subsequent vascular invasion, rather than migration through the vasculature," suggests Jana M. Ritter, DVM, a veterinary pathologist at the CDC's Infectious Diseases Pathology Branch.
In addition to characterizing the histopathology seen in this outbreak, the authors also provide practical information for pathologists, including an evaluation of various diagnostic methods to detect the fungal infection in tissues. Polyfungal immunohistochemistry (IHC) in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues (FFPE) was found to be the most sensitive method. IHC identified fungus in 100% of cases, compared with 43% by standard hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) and 95% with Grocott's methenamine silver (GMS) stains. Factors that may affect cellular inflammatory patterns and fungal concentration are discussed, and the authors note that their findings may reflect the simultaneous introduction of the fungus along with the steroid.
###
Contributors to the investigation also included researchers from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Louisville, KY and the Department of Pathology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
BlackBerry announced plans for broadening its business services earlier this year. The new service makes its security features and operating system available to the growing trend of ?bring your own device? users who have opted for something other than ?
While Disney and Marvel Studios prepare for the home video release of?Iron Man 3 as it nears the end of its theatrical run, and while?Captain America 2, Thor 2 and?Guardians of the Galaxy overlap production, Marvel?s placed the attention of fans even further into the future. Adding to the five confirmed features releasing between and the end of 2015, there are three unannounced Marvel Studios films with dates in 2016-17.
The three projects were made official over the last two weeks, representing the bulk of Phase Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which kicks off with?Ant-Man in November 2015. With Marvel now expected to release details on their?new slate of upcoming projects at Comic-Con next month, will we finally learn who will star in?Ant-Man?
Looking past rumors about the two new characters, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, joining Joss Whedon?s?Avengers sequel, one of the most important characters Marvel must cast in the near future is the protagonist spearheading Phase Three. It may be a stretch, but Armie Hammer (The Social Network)?earning his spot in the Disney family by starring as the titular character alongside Disney go-to-man?Johnny Depp in The Lone Ranger, makes us curious as to whether or not Dsiney and Marvel have him eyed to one day joins Earth?s Mightiest. Why would we think that? He recently visited the set of Captain America: The Winter Soldier so?during Disney?s press junket for?The Lone Ranger?last week, Amy Nicholson asked him.
Ant-Man costume from Edgar Wright?s test footage
Hammer?s awkward, dodgy and at times, funny responses to the topic really got us thinking.
So, you and Edgar Wright visited the?Captain America 2?set?
Me and Edgar? Who?s Edgar? The actor?
The director. Edgar Wright.
Edgar Wright?
Is this an act? If this is an act, you?re convincing.
No, it?s not an act. Who?s Edgar Wright?
The supposed director of?Ant-Man.
Of what?
Ant-Man.
Ant-Man??Oh! Wait! You think you know something! No, there?s nothing! What do you know? What?s the rumor?
That you were spotted on the?Captain America 2?set with Edgar Wright.
No, there?s nothing.
Really?
Yeah!
Really.
I promise. I promise-promise. Ant-Man?
You?re saying it like you?ve never heard of him before.
No, I know the character Ant-Man?like, the comic book character.
You can?t tell me that this is the first time you?ve heard the rumor that you?re playing Ant-Man.
First in my life. I swear to god, cross my heart, hope to die. Amy! [Turns to his publicist Amy, who says, '"I've never heard of that ever ever. Who's Ant-Man?"] They make him shrink! You?re a news-breaker right there.
Potentially fictitious, apparently.
Well, it works. [Fake enthusiasm] I?m doing?Ant-Man, I?m?very?excited about it. Me and Edgar.
Congrats.
I did go visit the set, though. Not with Edgar.
With who?
Just by myself.
Any reason?
Um? a buddy of mine was working on the movie so I just wanted to go say hi.
From pretending to not know anything to admitting he was on the set of Captain America 2. Maybe Mr. Hammer was just going to visit a friend, maybe it was something more. With rumors that we?ll meet the?Guardians of the Galaxy at Comic-Con, and that the event may see?Doctor Strange?finally become an official part of Marvel?s big screen future, it would be the place to announce any major castings as well. Ant-Man is still quite a while away but with its 2015 release date, it should begin shooting late next year. Marvel president and film producer Kevin Feige spoke earlier this year about the casting of?Ant-Man?which may provide a hint on the timeline of casting:
?We?ve talked about various names over the past eight years, but as you can imagine, they keep changing as time goes by. But toward the end of this year, we?ll buckle down and start casting and start refining the script.?
Would Armie Hammer make for a good Ant-Man? Would you like to see him play another character in the MCU? Here are 10 actors we listed a while back for who could play?Ant-Man.
_____
Iron Man 3?is currently in theaters,?Thor: The Dark World?on November 8, 2013,?Captain America: The Winter Soldier?on April 4, 2014,?Guardians of the Galaxy?on?August 1, 2014,?The Avengers 2?on May 1, 2015,?Ant-Man?on November 6, 2015, and unannounced films for?May 6 2016, July 8 2016 and?May 5 2017.
Follow Amy on Twitter @TheAmyNicholson and?Rob @rob_keyes.
Vietnam vets with PTSD more than twice as likely to have heart diseasePublic release date: 25-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: NHLBI Communications Office NHLBI_news@nhlbi.nih.gov 301-496-4236 NIH/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
NIH-funded study finds PTSD is a risk factor for heart disease among Vietnam vets
Male twin Vietnam veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were more than twice as likely as those without PTSD to develop heart disease during a 13-year period, according to a study supported by the National Institutes of Health.
This is the first long-term study to measure the association between PTSD and heart disease using objective clinical diagnoses combined with cardiac imaging techniques.
"This study provides further evidence that PTSD may affect physical health," said Gary H. Gibbons, M.D., director of the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), which partially funded the study. "Future research to clarify the mechanisms underlying the link between PTSD and heart disease in Vietnam veterans and other groups will help to guide the development of effective prevention and treatment strategies for people with these serious conditions."
The findings appear online today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and in the September 10 print issue.
Researchers from the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health in Atlanta, along with colleagues from other institutions, assessed the presence of heart disease in 562 middle-aged twins (340 identical and 222 fraternal) from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry. The incidence of heart disease was 22.6 percent in twins with PTSD (177 individuals) and 8.9 percent in those without PTSD (425 individuals). Heart disease was defined as having a heart attack, having an overnight hospitalization for heart-related symptoms, or having undergone a heart procedure. Nuclear scans, used to photograph blood flow to the heart, showed that individuals with PTSD had almost twice as many areas of reduced blood flow to the heart as individuals without PTSD.
The use of twins, identical and fraternal, allowed researchers to control for the influences of genes and environment on the development of heart disease and PTSD.
"This study suggests a link between PTSD and cardiovascular health," said lead researcher Viola Vaccarino, M.D., Ph.D., professor in the department of medicine at Emory University and chair of the department of epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health. "For example, repeated emotional triggers during everyday life in persons with PTSD could affect the heart by causing frequent increases in blood pressure, heart rate, and heartbeat rhythm abnormalities that in susceptible individuals could lead to a heart attack."
When researchers compared the 234 twins where one brother had PTSD and the other did not, the incidence of heart disease was almost double in those with PTSD compared to those without PTSD (22.2 percent vs. 12.8 percent).
The effects of PTSD on heart disease remained strong even after researchers accounted for lifestyle factors such as smoking, physical activity level, and drinking; and major depression and other psychiatric diagnoses. Researchers found no link between PTSD and well-documented heart disease risk factors such as a history of hypertension, diabetes or obesity, suggesting that the disease may be due to physiologic changes, not lifestyle factors.
Affecting nearly 7.7 million U.S. adults, PTSD is an anxiety disorder that develops in a minority of people after exposure to a severe psychological trauma such as a life-threatening and terrifying event. People with PTSD may have persistent frightening thoughts and memories of their trauma, may experience sleep problems, often feel detached or numb, and may be easily startled. According to a 2006 analysis of military records from the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study, between 15 and 19 percent of Vietnam veterans experienced PTSD at some point after the war.
The study used state-of-the-art imaging scans with positron emission tomography, which measures blood flow to the heart muscle and identifies areas of reduced blood flow, at rest and following stress.
###
The study was supported by grants from NHLBI (K24HL077506), (R01 HL68630), and (R21HL093665), the National Institute on Aging (R01 AG026255), the National Institute of Mental Health (K24 MH076955), and by the American Heart Association. Support also was provided by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (UL1TR000454) and the National Center for Research Resources (MO1-RR00039).
For additional information or to arrange an interview with Susan M. Czajkowski, Ph.D., program officer in the NHLBI's Clinical Applications and Prevention Branch, please contact the NHLBI Office of Communications at 301-496-4236 or nhlbi_news@nhlbi.nih.gov. To arrange an interview with Dr. Vaccarino, please contact Melva Robertson at the Emory School of Medicine at 404-727-5692 or melva.robertson@emory.edu.
Resources
Part of the National Institutes of Health, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) plans, conducts, and supports research related to the causes, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of heart, blood vessel, lung, and blood diseases; and sleep disorders. The Institute also administers national health education campaigns on women and heart disease, healthy weight for children, and other topics. NHLBI press releases and other materials are available online at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http:http://www.nih.gov.
NIH...Turning Discovery Into Health
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Vietnam vets with PTSD more than twice as likely to have heart diseasePublic release date: 25-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: NHLBI Communications Office NHLBI_news@nhlbi.nih.gov 301-496-4236 NIH/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
NIH-funded study finds PTSD is a risk factor for heart disease among Vietnam vets
Male twin Vietnam veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were more than twice as likely as those without PTSD to develop heart disease during a 13-year period, according to a study supported by the National Institutes of Health.
This is the first long-term study to measure the association between PTSD and heart disease using objective clinical diagnoses combined with cardiac imaging techniques.
"This study provides further evidence that PTSD may affect physical health," said Gary H. Gibbons, M.D., director of the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), which partially funded the study. "Future research to clarify the mechanisms underlying the link between PTSD and heart disease in Vietnam veterans and other groups will help to guide the development of effective prevention and treatment strategies for people with these serious conditions."
The findings appear online today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and in the September 10 print issue.
Researchers from the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health in Atlanta, along with colleagues from other institutions, assessed the presence of heart disease in 562 middle-aged twins (340 identical and 222 fraternal) from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry. The incidence of heart disease was 22.6 percent in twins with PTSD (177 individuals) and 8.9 percent in those without PTSD (425 individuals). Heart disease was defined as having a heart attack, having an overnight hospitalization for heart-related symptoms, or having undergone a heart procedure. Nuclear scans, used to photograph blood flow to the heart, showed that individuals with PTSD had almost twice as many areas of reduced blood flow to the heart as individuals without PTSD.
The use of twins, identical and fraternal, allowed researchers to control for the influences of genes and environment on the development of heart disease and PTSD.
"This study suggests a link between PTSD and cardiovascular health," said lead researcher Viola Vaccarino, M.D., Ph.D., professor in the department of medicine at Emory University and chair of the department of epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health. "For example, repeated emotional triggers during everyday life in persons with PTSD could affect the heart by causing frequent increases in blood pressure, heart rate, and heartbeat rhythm abnormalities that in susceptible individuals could lead to a heart attack."
When researchers compared the 234 twins where one brother had PTSD and the other did not, the incidence of heart disease was almost double in those with PTSD compared to those without PTSD (22.2 percent vs. 12.8 percent).
The effects of PTSD on heart disease remained strong even after researchers accounted for lifestyle factors such as smoking, physical activity level, and drinking; and major depression and other psychiatric diagnoses. Researchers found no link between PTSD and well-documented heart disease risk factors such as a history of hypertension, diabetes or obesity, suggesting that the disease may be due to physiologic changes, not lifestyle factors.
Affecting nearly 7.7 million U.S. adults, PTSD is an anxiety disorder that develops in a minority of people after exposure to a severe psychological trauma such as a life-threatening and terrifying event. People with PTSD may have persistent frightening thoughts and memories of their trauma, may experience sleep problems, often feel detached or numb, and may be easily startled. According to a 2006 analysis of military records from the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study, between 15 and 19 percent of Vietnam veterans experienced PTSD at some point after the war.
The study used state-of-the-art imaging scans with positron emission tomography, which measures blood flow to the heart muscle and identifies areas of reduced blood flow, at rest and following stress.
###
The study was supported by grants from NHLBI (K24HL077506), (R01 HL68630), and (R21HL093665), the National Institute on Aging (R01 AG026255), the National Institute of Mental Health (K24 MH076955), and by the American Heart Association. Support also was provided by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (UL1TR000454) and the National Center for Research Resources (MO1-RR00039).
For additional information or to arrange an interview with Susan M. Czajkowski, Ph.D., program officer in the NHLBI's Clinical Applications and Prevention Branch, please contact the NHLBI Office of Communications at 301-496-4236 or nhlbi_news@nhlbi.nih.gov. To arrange an interview with Dr. Vaccarino, please contact Melva Robertson at the Emory School of Medicine at 404-727-5692 or melva.robertson@emory.edu.
Resources
Part of the National Institutes of Health, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) plans, conducts, and supports research related to the causes, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of heart, blood vessel, lung, and blood diseases; and sleep disorders. The Institute also administers national health education campaigns on women and heart disease, healthy weight for children, and other topics. NHLBI press releases and other materials are available online at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http:http://www.nih.gov.
NIH...Turning Discovery Into Health
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?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Slate?s Mad Men ?TV Club? writers Hanna Rosin and Seth Stevenson were on Facebook on Monday to chat with readers about the Season 6 finale. The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Seth Stevenson: How did everyone feel about the final episode?
Johanna Humphrey: I don't know if it was just the music at the end (Matthew Weiner uses the closing music in very interesting ways) or that I was expecting all season for someone to die, but I feel like next season will be redemptive. The closing shot of Don coming to grips with his past might be signaling a reversal of this season, where we saw him sliding deeper and deeper into the abyss. It might not be a happy ending, but I imagine we'll see a different Don next year. (I've said this before?and was wrong.)
Hanna Rosin: I'm with you, Johanna. Anyway, how much lower can he go? The trick will be to make a clean, open Don still feel like Don. Maybe the harder trick will be to make him still interesting.
Seth Stevenson: Me three. I think viewers couldn't have taken watching Don take another spin on the wheel of suffering. It was time for some evolution. I'm OK with a sobered-up Don in Season 7. Let's have Peggy spiral out of control!
Cathy Pike Maynard: I had to watch it twice to absorb it. I thought it was one of the best-written to date. I think it's Jon Hamm's time to win an Emmy.
Hanna Rosin: What was your favorite scene?
Cathy Pike Maynard: My favorite scene was the last shot of him showing the kids where he grew up.
Hanna Rosin: I loved that scene, too. The house was over-the-top, but it was also beautiful. I really bought that scene.
Andrea Serna: I also watched it twice. I loved the closing scene. It gave me hope for Sally.
Seth Stevenson: Yes, I found myself surprisingly moved by the look that Sally and Don exchanged. You could sense their relationship becoming stronger as it overcomes Don's mistakes. And Sally might have realized some of the privileges she takes for granted.
Monica Chiaramonte: I think with this final scene all the flashbacks during the season (hated by so many, not by me though) made sense and made this last scene even more powerful.
Sam Perez: SPOILER ALERT! The scene right after Don receives his forced hiatus, we see Peggy in an office. She sits with her back to the camera but facing the windows. Was I the only one who thought we were about to get a flash of Don falling to his doom?
Hanna Rosin: Brilliant! Morbid! It didn't cross my mind, but maybe that's what was being hinted at.
Scott Brannon: Yeah, I was waiting for that to happen as well. Scary.
Seth Stevenson: Now that would have spurred some water-cooler talk! I did feel Peggy's commandeering Don's desk chair?suddenly wearing pants, no less?was a bit heavy handed. I half expected her to find Don's wingtips under the desk and slip them on.
Hanna Rosin: You are all leading me to believe that Peggy will carry next season?Peggy as Don, icy cool, brilliant, hiding secrets of her own. Very ?end of men.?
Seth Stevenson: Yes! I vote for a Season 7 with a reformed, optimistic Don and a Peggy who is at the top of her game careerwise but loses control of her personal life. I want Peggy commanding the conference room, then clocking out to do some boozing and to break some hearts.
Cathy Pike Maynard: I loved it when he shook hands with the Hershey?s reps and told them that he may never have a chance to meet them again. He wanted to come clean, even to them. I thought it was so poignant.
Seth Stevenson: He couldn't lie to representatives of the product that was the only thing that could make him feel "like a normal kid"?the "only sweet thing in his life." He couldn't spoil it. He doesn't even want them to grubby it up with advertising.
Hanna Rosin: Agree that's what was so moving about that scene, how a Hershey's chocolate bar was genuinely critical to his well being, his sense of childhood and normalcy.
Jeremy Stahl: Watching that boardroom scene, I felt like it was kind of too melodramatic, too over-the-top, and too cringeworthy. But maybe that was the point, though?
Hanna Rosin: I liked it because it took me so much by surprise. It was the way he never changed his posture or expression that moved me. It was also that we have been waiting for this release all season, as he's nearly lost it at board meetings in nearly every episode. And in some ways we've been waiting for this public reveal for the whole of the series. The one problem is: I think the show's writers are more enchanted with Don's rise and fall than the audience is. Am I right?
Laine Doss: I like Don when he's at his oily best. A humble, sober Don? Meh.
If you followed our Insert Coin: New Challengers contest at our first-ever Expand event, you may recognize this guy. The Ziphius, an WiFi-enabled aquatic drone powered by a Raspberry Pi, won $25,000 in prize money back in San Francisco, and three months later it's taking the next big plunge: launching on Kickstarter. The bot launched its crowd-funding campaign tonight -- at Engadget+ gdgt live in NYC, no less -- and the Ziphius team says the $125,000 in requested money will go toward refining the device's mold for the final-production version. As you can see from our gallery below, the package already looks sleeker, and it comes in pink along with several other new colors. Backers of all pocket sizes will be rewarded with everything from their name on the website ($1 pledge) to a Ziphius of their own ($195 and up). Click the source to check out the Kickstarter page for yourself and donate if you're so inclined; the project has 29 days to meet that lofty funding goal.
LONDON (AP) ? Britain's Vodafone PLC has launched a takeover bid for Germany's biggest cable operator, Kabel Deutschland, as part of its push to dominate media services in its biggest market.
Vodafone, a British cellphone company with wide international interests, confirmed Monday it will offer 87 euros per share for Kabel Deutschland. The deal values the German company at 7.7 billion euros ($10.2 billion), but when including 3 billion euros in net debt, the total value is 10.7 billion euros.
Vodafone Group Chief Executive Vittorio Colao said the combination comes amid growth in German demand for fast broadband and data services.
"The combination of Vodafone Germany and Kabel Deutschland will greatly enhance our offerings in response to those needs and is consistent with Vodafone's broader strategy of providing unified communications services."
Kabel Deutschland Holding AG, which has more than 8 million customers, said that its management and supervisory boards "welcome this announcement."
Kabel Deutschland shares were up 1.7 percent in midday Frankfurt trading at 85.52 euros.
Vodafone made a preliminary approach to Kabel Deutschland earlier this month. That was followed by a preliminary takeover proposal from U.S. rival Liberty Global.
Though the reaction of the markets appeared to suggest the price was in line with expectations, analysts like Keith Bowman offered a note of caution, wary of Vodafone's track record on mergers. In 2000, the company took over Mannesmann AG in a stock-swap deal valued at $180 billion ? at the time, the largest corporate merger ever ? a price many analysts believed overvauled the German company.
"Vodafone's European acquisition track record is not great, still marred somewhat by its previous over payment for Germany's Mannesmann, whilst rival cable group Liberty Global could still look to bid for Kabel," Bowman said in a statement that followed the announcement.
Bowman also noted that another element of uncertainty comes from Vodafone's tussle with Verizon Communications Inc., the New York-based company. Vodafone and Verizon together own Verizon Wireless, the largest cellphone carrier in the U.S. and a very profitable operation.
Verizon Wireless once had a policy of using its cash to pay down debt ? a policy that ended only in January. Analysts saw that debt reduction strategy as a way to squeeze Vodafone and persuade it to sell its 45 percent stake.
New York-based Verizon Communications owns the other 55 percent of Verizon Wireless and controls its operations.
"The deal comes at a time when the exact future of its US Verizon business is still up in the air," Bowman said, adding that economic "prospects for Europe continue to remain challenging."
Ronald Klingebiel, a Warwick University professor who has consulted for the telecoms industry, said mobile companies like Vodafone increasingly pursue "multi-play strategies," to give customers broadband, fixed and mobile telephone lines and television.
But he said that Vodafone may have approached Kabel Deutschland because its present systems, which rely on Deutsche Telekom's fixed-line system are running at capacity.
"Deutsche Telekom is struggling to upgrade its network with vectoring technology, something that will increase its control over competitive data traffic," he said. "This may have convinced the Vodafone leadership to buy into Kabel Deutschland, a high-capacity cable-network provider, whom they had already approached at other times without concluding a deal."
WASHINGTON (AP) ? A petition asking President Barack Obama to pardon admitted state secret leaker Edward Snowden has passed 100,000 signatures.
The petition posted on Whitehouse.gov calls the former National Security Agency contractor a "national hero." It says he should immediately be pardoned for any crimes in "blowing the whistle" on classified government programs to collect phone records and online data.
White House policy is to respond to any petition that gets 100,000 signatures within 30 days. The Snowden petition crossed the threshold in two weeks.
The White House wouldn't say when its response will come. But it routinely declines to comment on petitions regarding law enforcement matters, including pardon requests. And the ultimate answer is the administration's pursuit of Snowden on espionage charges.
En esta imagen promocional difundida por Disney-Pixar, los personajes de Mike, en la voz de Billy Crystal, a la izquierda, y el profesor Knight, cuya voz hace Alfred Molina, a la derecha, en una escena de la cinta animada "Monsters University". (AP Foto/Disney-Pixar)
En esta imagen promocional difundida por Disney-Pixar, los personajes de Mike, en la voz de Billy Crystal, a la izquierda, y el profesor Knight, cuya voz hace Alfred Molina, a la derecha, en una escena de la cinta animada "Monsters University". (AP Foto/Disney-Pixar)
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Turns out zombies and Superman are no match for monsters.
Disney's "Monsters University" is the weekend box-office winner, according to studio estimates released Sunday. The animated family film, which reunites stars Billy Crystal and John Goodman and their characters from the 2001 hit "Monsters, Inc.," debuted in first place with $82 million, beating out swarming zombies in "World War Z" and Superman himself in "Man of Steel."
"The diversity of this weekend is part of what makes this business so great," said Dave Hollis, Disney's head of distribution. "It's a really extraordinary weekend for the industry."
Especially for "Monsters University," Pixar's 14th consecutive film to open in first place. Such expectations of excellence put a "healthy pressure" on filmmakers, Hollis said: "To deliver that kind of quality consistently is a differentiator in the marketplace."
Still, the film exceeded studio expectations with its domestic totals, he said.
Paramount's Brad Pitt zombie romp overcame critical advance publicity to open in second place with $66 million. Media reports months ahead of the film's opening chronicled its problems, including a revamped ending that delayed its release.
Rewrites and reshoots sent the film over budget. It ended up reportedly costing more than $200 million to make, but early reviews were positive.
"What 'World War Z' proves is that all the negative backstory that can be thrown at a movie doesn't matter if the movie's good," said Paul Dergarabedian of box-office tracker Hollywood.com. "I don't think the audience cares one lick if they had to reshoot the ending if they like the ending and like the movie."
The success of the film means it could be a franchise in the making. Paramount's president of domestic distribution, Don Harris, called the opening "spectacular."
"It's the biggest live-action original opening since 'Avatar,'" he said. "(It's) Brad Pitt's biggest opening ever, and in terms of Paramount's recent history, it ranks behind 'Iron Man' and 'Transformers' as the third largest potential franchise opening in the history of the company."
Warner Bros. "Man of Steel" was third at the box office, adding another $41.2 million to its coffers and bringing its domestic ticket sales over $210 million in just the second week of release.
The Sony comedy "This Is the End," which stars Seth Rogen, James Franco and Jonah Hill as versions of themselves trapped in a mansion during the apocalypse, finished in fourth place.
Summit Entertainment's magic-heist thriller "Now You See Me" held onto fifth place in its fourth week in theaters.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released on Monday.
1. "Monsters University," $82 million ($54.5 million international).
2. "World War Z," $66 million ($45.8 million international).
3. "Man of Steel," $41.2 million ($89 million international).
4. "This Is the End," $13 million.
5. "Now You See Me," $7.87 million ($6.6 million international).
6. "Fast & Furious 6," $4.7 million ($11.2 million international).
7. "The Internship," $3.43 million ($3.2 million international).
8. "The Purge," $3.41 million ($1.1 million international).
9. "Star Trek: Into Darkness," $3 million ($4.9 million international).
10. "Iron Man 3," $2.2 million ($400,000 international).
___
Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:
1. "Man of Steel," $89 million.
2. "Monsters University," $54.5 million.
3. "World War Z," $45.8 million.
4. "After Earth," $13.4 million.
5. "Fast & Furious 6," $11.2 million.
6. "The Hangover Part III," $8.6 million.
7. "Now You See Me," $6.6 million.
8. "Despicable Me 2," $6.4 million.
9. "The Great Gatsby," $5.5 million.
10. "Star Trek: Into Darkness," $4.9 million.
___
Follow AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen on Twitter: www.twitter.com/APSandy .
___
Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.
The budget tablet realm was once strictly reserved for no-name devices that were shoddy at best. That's all changed with companies like Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Google itself offering up budget-friendly, high-quality tablets that put those fringe devices of yesteryear to shame. The Idolian Studio 10 falls somewhere in between, with a low $258 (direct) asking price, but some frustrating compromises. The sturdy aluminum frame and generous port selection are nice, but it suffers from Wi-Fi issues, bugs, and short battery life. If money is your greatest concern, I'd pony up the extra cash for a tablet like the Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9"?or save $50 with the Coby MID1065.
Design and Features Judging by outward appearances, the Studio 10 doesn't look or feel cheap. It's got a substantial, if somewhat hefty, aluminum body that feels sturdy in the hand and yields almost no flex. At 10.1 by 6.9 by 0.4 inches (HWD) and 1.29 pounds, it's in line with the MID1065 in terms of size and weight. A plastic panel along the left edge houses a microSD card slot, a 3.5mm headphone jack, micro USB and mini HDMI ports, and a DC power input. Like the MID1065, the Studio 10 syncs via micro USB, but requires the included power brick to charge. The micro USB port also supports USB OTG, and Idolian includes an adapter for plugging in peripherals like USB mice and keyboards?both of which worked fine in my tests. ?
The 1,280-by-800 pixel IPS display isn't bad, but it's unremarkable. It gets bright and viewing angles are good. Colors skew a little cool, as whites have a bit of a blue hue, and I noticed some backlight bleeding at the edges. It's neck and neck with the Coby MID1065 on the display front, while coming a bit short of tablets like the Toshiba Excite 10 SE.
This is a Wi-Fi-only tablet that connects to 802.11b/g/n networks on the 2.4GHz frequency. During testing, the Studio 10 had some trouble reconnecting to Wi-Fi when woken from sleep?there were noticeable delays even though saved networks were within range. The tablet also supports Bluetooth 2.1 and connected easily with a pair of wireless headphones
Performance and Android The Studio 10 is powered by a dual-core 1.6GHz Cortex-A9 processor with 1GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage. Performance is generally swift, and the Studio 10 did well on most of our benchmarks?besting the MID1065 in many categories. And while the MID1065 was plagued by choppy real-world performance, the Studio 10 feels much smoother in operation. Gaming performance is decent, with games like Temple Run 2 running without a hitch, but don't expect high framerates on more graphically intensive games like Real Racing 3.
The software loaded onto the Studio 10 is a mixed bag. It's running Android 4.1.1 "Jelly Bean," which is a step up from the MID1065's 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich," but buggy Google apps hold this tablet back. Google apps like the Play Store, Gmail, and Chrome are disabled by default?you have to dig into the settings, find Developer options, then uncheck "Hide Google Application." Idolian says it is still working out the kinks with its Google certification, but promised future firmware updates to resolve any bugs. As it stands, the Studio 10 can access the Play Store and its hundreds of thousands of apps, but I found frustrating deficiencies, like the fact that Chrome did not work during testing.
For media support, the Studio 10 handles Xvid, DivX, MPEG4, H.264, and AVI videos at up to 1080p resolution. For audio, you get MP3, AAC, FLAC, OGG, WAV, and WMA support. Screen mirroring worked fine using a mini HDMI cable, and the tablet was able to output video at 720p or 1080p resolution. If you absolutely need a camera on your tablet, there are front- and rear-facing 2-megapixel cameras, but they are not worth using?details are smudged, image noise is overwhelming, and dynamic range is non-existent.
In our battery rundown test, which loops a video with screen brightness set to max and Wi-Fi on, the Studio 10 lasted 3 hours, 56 minutes, which is disappointing. Compare that with the MID1065's 4 hours, 37 minutes or the Excite 10 SE's 7 hours, 37 minutes.
Conclusions The Idolian Studio 10 may look and feel like a more expensive tablet, but it makes a number of compromises to ring in at a budget-friendly price. Chief among them is haphazard Google apps implementation that can leave novices in the dark. And even if you know your way around Android, the Studio 10 can still give you problems. Performance-wise, it's right in line with budget options like the MID1065, which is even less expensive than the Studio 10. So if you have more room in your budget, I'd recommend a tablet like the Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9", which gets you a far sharper display, better performance, and a much smoother software experience.?
Cell phones don't get much cheaper than 30 bucks without a contract, and in most instances, prices that low are a good sign to stay away. But that isn't the case with the $29.99 Kyocera Coast for Boost Mobile. It has extremely little in the way of features, but it's easy to use, with good call quality, a very nice keypad, and a large, clear external display. If all you need is an inexpensive flip phone?for calls and the occasional text, the Kyocera Coast is one of the best you can get.
Design, Call Quality, and Plan Pricing There's nothing fancy about the Coast. It's a plain Jane flip phone that measures 3.94 by 2.05 by 0.68 inches (HWD) and weighs 3.7 ounces. It's made up of soft touch black plastic, with a textured back panel that gives it the look of a rugged phone. It isn't ruggedized, but it feels solid for its price. There's a power port and Volume buttons on the left and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the right. The Coast is also ULE-certified for having an environmentally friendly build.
The front of the phone is home to a 1.44-inch external display, which is surprisingly large. It only has 128-by-128-pixel resolution, but that's good enough to clearly see your battery life, message notifications, reception, and time. Inside, the 2.4-inch LCD bumps the resolution up to 320-by-240, which looks decent. The default font is easy to read, but there's an option to make it larger as well.
The Coast has an excellent keypad, with large, well-separated keys. They felt a little stiff at first, but I was able to quickly break them in after using the phone for just a few minutes. The navigation and selection buttons are few and intuitive, unlike some of the needlessly complicated control pads I've seen on feature phones lately. Using a number pad for texting is never ideal, but at least this one is large and features a surprisingly robust autocomplete feature. There's a threaded view for text messages, so you can read them out like a conversation, but there's no built-in email support.
The Kyocera Coast is a 3G phone with no Wi-Fi. Reception was solid, and voice quality is very good. Voices sound clear and pleasant in the phone's earpiece, though they distort some at top volume. Calls made with the phone are extremely clear, with average background noise cancellation. The speakerphone sounds a little harsh but is loud enough to hear outdoors, and calls sounded fine over a Jawbone Era?Bluetooth headset; Nuance-powered voice dialing allows you to make hands-free calls via Bluetooth or speakerphone. The removable 870mAh battery was good for a decent 5 hours and 47 minutes of talk time.
Boost offers unlimited, contract-free talk and text plans starting at $50 per month (you also get unlimited Web data). For every six months you pay your bill on time, your monthly fee reduces by $5, until you reach $35 per month. There are also daily unlimited plans for $2 a day, or you can pay as you go at $0.20 per minute or per text message.
Apps, Features, and Conclusions You're not expecting much else from this phone, right? Good. Of course, you still get some very basic apps, like an alarm, calculator, calendar, and stopwatch, which are par for the course across all phones. There's also a few games, including Midnight Bowling 3 and Uno. And you get an extremely basic built-in Access NetFront 4.1 Web browser, which reads WAP pages. Data speeds aren't so fast, and it isn't very easy to read tiny site text on the phone's display, but if you have an unlimited plan, it's there if you need it.
There's no music or video player, so this isn't much of a multimedia device. You do get a 2-megapixel camera on the back of the phone for photos. There's only 61MB of free internal memory, and no microSD card slot; that means you can only take up to 78 pictures. But while this camera captures better images than images the VGA camera on the Samsung Factor, they're still pretty poor. Photos look washed out and hazy, especially with brighter colors, which tend to blow out quite easily. There's also no easy way to transfer photos off the phone other than sending them in a message.
But as long as you go in with realistic expectations, the Kyocera Coast is actually a very good buy. If you're looking for a simple, inexpensive phone for making calls and sending texts from time to time, the Kyocera Coast is your best bet on Boost. The Samsung Factor is another decent choice, though the Coast has a better display, a better camera, and better battery life. If you're more interested in texting, Boost has lots of solid, inexpensive keyboarded options, like the LG Rumor Reflex, the Motorola Theory, and the Sanyo Innuendo. But no other phone is less expensive or easier to the use than the Kyocera Coast.
This photo of the moon over Des Moines, Iowa, was captured using a Canon Rebel XS camera.
By Denise Chow, Live Science
The largest full moon of the year will rise this weekend, and for any shutterbugs hoping to snap photos of the so-called "supermoon," following some easy guidelines can help people make the most of their moon shots.
On Sunday (June 23), the moon will reach the closest point to Earth in its asymmetrical orbit, and will appear roughly 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than the full moon at its farthest point from the planet, according to SPACE.com. Photographing the supermoon does not require much special equipment, but the trick to capturing more than just a bright, white blob is to think like a camera, said Jason Mrachina, a professional photographer based in Des Moines, Iowa.
"To your camera, the moon is extremely bright, especially compared to a black background," Mrachina told LiveScience. "It's kind of akin to taking a picture of a bare light bulb in a black room, and wondering why you can't see the filament. When you're shooting at night, the relative difference between light and dark is extremely high, so you have to take that into consideration." [ Full Moon Rising: Glitzy Photos of a Supermoon ]
Tripods are key To start, photographers should use a tripod to avoid taking blurry images. The best results come from holding the camera very still, and one of the biggest mistakes people make is trying to hold the camera steady by hand, Mrachina said.
He also recommends using a long lens ? generally 200 millimeters or longer ? to capture the dazzling lunar display.
"If you take the photo with a camera phone, or a wide-angle point-and-shoot without an optical zoom, you're going to be unhappy because the moon is going to look tiny in the image," Mrachina said. "With too wide of an angle, you don't get much of the moon to fill the frame."
Another key way to manage the sharp contrast between light and dark in moon photos is to adjust the camera's settings. This involves manually setting the shutter speed and aperture, which acts as the iris of the camera and regulates how much light will be allowed into the lens, and changing the ISO, which refers to the sensitivity of the photo cell in the camera.
"As soon as you tell people not to shoot in automatic mode, you lose a lot of people who are too scared to try it," Mrachina said. "But, it's actually not hard, and with the manual settings, you will instantly get better results than if you had shot automatic."
Recommended camera settings Since the moon is bright and moves quickly, photographers need to use a fast shutter speed. "The moon traverses the sky very quickly, so you have to have a shutter speed that can capture the frame and stop the motion of the moon, while also keeping the image properly exposed," he explained.
Mrachina recommends the following settings for handheld cameras, and ones mounted on tripods:
Tripod
ISO 100 - 200
Aperture F11 - F14
Shutter? 1/125 - 1/250
Handheld
ISO 800-1000
Aperture f8 - 9
Shutter 1/1000?- 1/1500
For even more up-close-and-personal lunar views, photographers can mount their cameras on telescopes or certain spotting scopes, which are normally attached to rifles for target shooting, Mrachina said.
"If people already own that equipment, those are inexpensive options rather than buying a new camera," he added.
Rewarding shots Photographers can snap moon photos from anywhere, so long as conditions are clear, but the most spectacular shots tend to come from locations with less pollution and humidity. [ Supermoon Secrets: 7 Surprising Big Moon Facts ]
"That includes light pollution," Mrachina said. "If you're standing in the middle of Times Square, you're not going to get as good results as if you're in a desert or on a beach."
For more artistic shots, Mrachina recommends finding something to create a silhouette in front of the moon. A nice tree, building or a fence line are all options of objects that can add to a picture. To create a dramatic effect, stand away from the object creating the silhouette, Mrachina said.
"The further away you stand from the object, the larger the moon will appear in relation to that object," he explained. "If you're too close and you're shooting with a wide-angle lens, you won't get that effect."
For amateur photographers, full moons offer a good chance to exercise creativity in choosing the shots, and the results can be quite rewarding. "Those pictures tend to be different and more memorable than if you just went out and photographed the moon from your backyard," Mrachina said.
To incorporate some natural color into the photos, try photographing the moon as it rises, rather than while it sets, Mrachina said.
"There tends to be more color in the sky in the evening, just because there tends to be more dust," he said. "If you want an orange or pink moon, the evening atmosphere can give you that."
But, even if conditions are not clear for the supermoon this weekend, or if other plans get in the way of photography, skywatchers should not give up.
"I would encourage people to go out and shoot the moon in all its phases," Mrachina said. "A crescent moon is really beautiful, too. Sometimes you can get interesting pictures with the shadows of half moons or quarter moons, so if you miss the supermoon, you shouldn't be discouraged."
You can watch a?live webcast of the supermoon on SPACE.com?on Sunday?beginning?at 9 p.m. EDT (0100 June 24 GMT), courtesy of the Slooh Space Camera, an online skywatching website (http://www.slooh.com).
Editor's note: If you snap an amazing photo of the Sunday Supermoon and you'd like to share it for a possible story or image gallery on LiveScience.com or SPACE.com, please send images and comments, including equipment used, to managing editor Tariq Malik at?spacephotos@space.com.
Follow Denise Chow on Twitter@denisechow. Follow LiveScience@livescience,Facebook?&Google+. Original article on? LiveScience.com.
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Public release date: 26-Jun-2013
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