THIS IS EXACTLY THE TYPE OF BOAT  USED BY Doug Lenat IN the Traveller Trillion Credit Squadron tournament WHERE HE UNEXPECTEDLY WON THE TOURNAMENT WITH A PROLIFERATION OF A CERTAIN TYPE OF SHIP.

The Chinese Stealth Frigate

Any amount appreciated	THE RISING SEA DRAGON IN ASIA By Jeff Head – Last Update: January 25, 2012	Any amount appreciated
This site’s mission is to document and analyse the rapid growth and modernization of the Red Chinese navy, known as the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), and put that growth and modernization into perspective in the current geo-political situation as it relates to US vital interests in general, and as it relates particularly to the US Navy in the Western Pacific (WESPAC). Use the links above to navigate to areas of interest. The table below represents, in general terms, the relative growth of the overall fleets (USN and PLAN) over the last fifteen years for the major combatants listed and summarizes their percentage growth or shrinkage, and their percentages as compared to each other in terms of raw numbers.

LINKS OF INTEREST

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Are U.S. Navy surface ships sitting ducks to enemies with modern weapons?

Copyright John T. Reed

In this article, I am acting like the child who pointed out that the emperor had no clothes

I am a West Point graduate. No doubt Navy people will scoff at the notion that I can comment intelligently about the Navy.

I am undeterred by scoffing or résumé-based arguments which are intellectually dishonest. If there is an error or omission in my facts or logic, point it out and I will take appropriate action to correct and apologize for it. Otherwise, you tacitly admit that I am right and are just trying to distract attention from that fact.

Falkland Islands war

On May 4, 1982, a French Mirage jet owned and operated by the Argentinean Air Force fired a French Exocet missile at the H.M.S. Sheffield, a British Navy destroyer. The missile did so much damage that the British decided to scuttle (sink) rather than repair the ship.

The Argentineans also sunk the British ships Ardent, Antelope, Atlantic Conveyor, and Coventry and badly damaged Argonaut and Brilliant. In addition, 13 Argentinean bombs hit British ships and did not explode because of defective detonators.

1967 Israel-Egypt Six-Day War

On 10/21/67, two Egyptian patrol boats—like large U.S. WW II PT boats—sank the Israeli destroyer Eliat, which was a 26-year-old former British destroyer. The Soviet-made patrol boats were P-6s with a crew of 25 each and a speed of 43 knots. They fired four SS-N-2 Styx missiles. Three hit and the Israeli destroyer broke in half and sank within two hours. The two Egyptian boats were not harmed.

Computer naval war games against the Soviets

I have read media stories that said whenever the U.S. Navy did computer war games against the Soviet Union, all significant U.S. Navy surface ships were destroyed by the Soviets within about 20 minutes of the start of the computerized war. How? Nukes. A reader says that the Soviet submarines in the Cuban missile crisis had nuclear torpedoes which they would have used if we did an amphibious landing. I have no way to confirm that.

Although the Navy ships and their carrier-based planes perform spectacularly well against third-rate enemies like Afghanistan and Iraq, I wonder how they would do against Argentina or any other enemy equipped with modern weapons.

In short, I wonder if U.S. Navy surface vessels are obsolete.

Think about it.

They are large, slow-moving, metal objects that float on the surface of the ocean—in the Twenty-First Century!

Ocean liners were the main way to get across the oceans for civilian passengers until the second half of the Twentieth Century. Since then, most people have used planes because they are much faster and cheaper. Except the U.S. military. Civilians essentially got rid of their “navy” around 1950. Only the hidebound military would still have a Navy in the Twenty-First Century.

Nowadays, civilians only ride passenger ships for pleasure cruises. An argument can be made that the Navy does the same. Only maybe the old line, “you can tell the men from the boys by the size of their toys” is a more accurate way to put it.

Navy brass want to grow up to captain a ship. A big ship. The bigger the better.

Before WW II, they wanted to be captains of battleships. After WW II, British historian B.H. Liddell Hart said, “A battleship had long been to an admiral what a cathedral is to a bishop.” Now Navy officers want to captain aircraft carriers. Very exciting. Very romantic. Great fun. But obsolete.

WW II in the Pacific last time they were not obsolete

The last time we used them to fight worthy opponents was in the Pacific during World War II. At that time, warring navies had to send out slow-moving patrol planes to search for the enemy’s ships. The motion picture Midway does an excellent job of showing both the Japanese and the Americans doing this.

Low-visibility weather would often hide ships back then.

Easily detected

Those days are long gone. Surface ships are not only easily seen by the human eye absent fog or clouds, they are also easily detected, pinpointed, and tracked by such technologies as radar, sonar, infrared detectors, satellites, motion detectors, noise detectors, magnetic field detectors, and so forth.

Nowadays, you can probably create an Exocet-type, anti-ship missile from stuff you could buy at Radio Shack. Surface ships can no longer hide from the enemy like they did in World War II.

Satellites

Satellites and spy planes obviate the need for World War II-type patrol planes and blimps, unless someone shoots them down, in which case planes can accomplish the same thing.

Too slow

Anti-ship missiles can travel at speeds up to, what, 20,000 miles an hour in the case of an ICBM aimed at a carrier task force. Carriers move at 30 knots or so which is 34.6 miles per hour.

Too thin-skinned

Can you armor the ships so anti-ship missiles do not damage them? Nope. They have to stay relatively light so they can float and go 34.6 miles per hour.

Cannot defend themselves

Can you arm them with anti-missile defenses? They are trying. They have electronic Gatling guns that automatically shoot down the incoming missiles. But no doubt those Gatling guns have a certain capacity as to number of targets they can hit at a time and range and ammunition limitations. They also, like any mechanical device, would malfunction at times. Generally, one would expect that if the enemy fired enough missiles at a Gatling-gun-equipped ship, one or more would eventually get through. How many? Let’s say the capacity of an aircraft carrier and its entourage body-guard ships to stop simultaneous Exocet-type anti-ship missiles is X. The enemy then need only simultaneously fire X + 1 such missiles to damage or sink the carrier.

In the alternative, the enemy could fire one Exocet-type missile at a time at the carrier. Unless they are programmed otherwise, having only one such target, all the relevant guns would fire at it, thereby exhausting the carrier task force’s anti- missile ammunition more quickly, in which case fewer than X +1 Exocet-type missiles might be enough to put the carrier out of action.

A U.S. 2001 Naval Academy graduate said of this scenario:

The combat scenario which you seem to be imaging surface ships facing is one of saturation fire.  14 planes loaded out with 6 Air to Surface each would defiantly [sic] win against one DDG, but that’s a highly unlikely situation.

Reed response: I disagree. This saturation fire scenario is precisely what the Japanese did at the end of World War II, only they used kamikaze suicide planes rather than missiles. It worked. Our enemies will attack in the way most likely to work. If that’s saturation, they will use saturation.

As Japan’s top WW II Admiral Yamamoto said,

There is no such thing as an unsinkable ship. The fiercest serpent may be overcome by a swarm of ants.

U.S. warships also have electronic warfare jamming devices that screw up the guidance systems of some types of incoming missiles. These, of course, are ineffective against nuclear-tipped missiles that need little guidance.

Furthermore, if the enemy uses 20,000-miles-per-hour nuclear missiles, there is no known anti-missile defense. They move too fast for the electronic Gatling guns and do not need to ever get within the Gatling guns’ range to destroy the ships. Our enemy certainly would use nukes if they had enough of them and were in an all-out war against us.

Cannot hide, run, or defend themselves

In summary, Navy surface ships cannot hide from a modern enemy. They cannot run from a modern enemy. And they cannot defend themselves against a modern enemy.

Accordingly, they are only useful for action against backward enemies like Afghanistan and Iraq or drug smugglers.

Militant stepchild

The Navy has long been a sort of stepchild in the American military. And it has been a very militant stepchild throwing such ferocious tantrums that it was able to get its own air force—Navy carrier-based planes—and its own army—the U.S. Marine Corps. Not only does the Navy have its own army and air force, the Navy’s army—the Marine Corps—has its own air force, too. (Astronaut and later Senator John Glenn was a Marine pilot.) Unbelievable.

It should be noted that the Army does not have its own air force or navy. (The Army needs its own helicopters and small fixed-wing planes because they work very closely with ground units in combat.) Nor does the Air Force have its own army or navy. The missions of the Navy pilots could just as easily be carried out by Air Force pilots trained to use carriers as their base. The Army could perform, and does perform, the functions of the Marine Corps.

Marines

The Marine Corps was originally a bunch of soldiers stationed on ships to board enemy sailing ships and/or to repel boarders from the enemy sailing ships. Those tactics went the way of the wooden sailing ships 150 years ago.

The Marine Corps then claimed it was needed for amphibious operations. But the biggest amphibious operation ever—D-Day—was all Army—no Marines. The Marines did famously engage in amphibious operations in the Pacific in World War II, but they screwed up Tarawa pretty good and when they mastered the amphibious landing, there was no indication they were much better at it than the Army was in Europe. Also, it is an extremely limited role. The earth has a lot of water and a lot of land, but relatively few beaches. Then there is the whole idea of whether amphibious landings are a sensible way to wage war in the Twenty-First Century. They bear too much resemblance to the Charge of the Light Brigade and Pickett’s charge at Gettysburg.

The Marines continue to exist because they scream bloody murder whenever anyone points out that they do not have a separate mission from the Army. According to a 3/09 Baltimore Sun story, the Marine Corps Commandant urged the Marines to “…take the major ground combat role in Afghanistan…” Afghanistan is a landlocked country—no coast.

I would let them continue to exist and wear their distinctive uniforms in recognition of their history and espirit de corps, but I would make them a subsidiary of the Army, not the Navy, and their mission would be like that of the Tenth Mountain Division: a specialized Army unit (although a 10th Mountain Division veteran told me the 10th Mountain Division is a mountain division in name only. They have no training or equipment for that role.)

‘What business are we in?’

At Harvard Business School, the most-commonly-asked question as we analyzed actual business cases from the perspective of the executives of the company was, “What business are we really in?” For example, manufacturers of printers and copiers are really in the toner business.

The most famous article ever printed in the Harvard Business Review was called, “Marketing Myopia.” It said too many companies defined what they do incorrectly, usually overly narrowly. The classic example in the article was that the railroad companies generally failed because they did not realize they were in the transportation business, not the railroad business. When interstate highways and trucks ascended, the railroads regarded those technologies as the enemy. Had they thought of themselves as being in the transportation business, they would have embraced motor vehicles and highways and integrated them into their existing railroad capabilities.

Goofy ‘old salt’ affectations
Similarly, it may be that the Navy’s problem is that they think they are in the business of operating ships. When I was a junior at West Point, I spent a long exchange weekend at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. During the weekend, a midshipmen expressed contempt for many of the officers there explaining, “They think this is a ship,” while waving his hand at the Bancroft Hall dormitory in which we were sitting. He went on to explain that many officers stationed at Annapolis refer to all floors as “decks,” all doors as “hatches,” all walls as “bulkheads,” and so forth. Sure enough, when I was a senior at West Point, our company tactical officer (disciplinarian) was Navy Lieutenant and Annapolis graduate who was there as an exchange officer. He told cadets visiting him in his office to, “Close the hatch.” He once gave one of my company mates demerits for, “Shoes adrift.” (shoes not lined up under the bed straight enough)

The Army and Air Force have hatches, decks, and bulkheads, too, on tanks and aircraft, but I have never heard of a career tanker or pilot calling a door a “hatch.”

The Navy has a great history and tradition and they should make use of it. Many nautical phrases, like “batten down the hatches,” have become part of everyday language and appropriately so. But they are carrying it too far and engaging in affectation when they purport to be such old salts that they can’t stop themselves from calling a door a “hatch.” I point this out only to support my allegation that Navy officers see themselves overly narrowly as ship operators.

Command at sea
In Evan Thomas’s book Sea of Thunder, he says, “Ambitious naval officers avoided staff jobs if at all possible: the route to advancement and fulfillment was command at sea…” It’s hard to command at sea without ships—including very big ships—no matter how obsolete they are. Here’s one more quote from that book about WW II Admiral Bull Halsey. “Halsey was railing against inhumanity, but also against modernity, against a world in which there would be no place for a sea dog like Bill Halsey.”

They really are in the business of securing international waterways to prevent enemies from using them to attack us and enabling our military to use international waterways to attack overseas enemies. (A career Navy reader told me the U.S. Navy also protects merchant vessels. No, they don’t. They tried in the Gulf of Aden to prevent pirarcy but the piracy continutes, but grade school dropouts in zodiacs. The oceans are too vast, the number of merchant vessels is too great, few are U.S.-flagged because of U.S. maritime union greed, and the Navy ships are too slow to respond to merchant 911 calls. You need air craft to do thta, also,) That being the case, the Navy should either make much more use of aircraft or cede the role to the Air Force. The role of ships in the world has been greatly reduced, especially in modern war. In other words, it may be that the Navy actually needs its own air force. What the Navy may not need is its own navy.

At the outset of World War II, many erroneously thought that the battleship was the main naval warfare instrument. They quickly learned what the Japanese had already figured out. The aircraft carrier was the main weapon. Sixty years later, the U.S. Navy still thinks the aircraft carrier is the main naval weapon. Nonsense. Carriers became obsolete in the mid 1950s because of long-rang land-based bombers and missiles. In modern warfare, the ship is a sort of floating Maginot line.

Weakest link

A chain is as strong as its weakest link. Our new aircraft carriers are mighty in some ways—nuclear propulsion, jet aircraft, computers, nuclear weapons. But the technological chain they comprise has some extremely weak links which would, in a fight with a modern enemy, likely be fatal.

For example, the technology of the hull design is so old that it predates recorded human history—namely, the coffin shape to three sides and the bottom with a V-shaped prow on the front end. Cavemen carved that shape out of trees.

Making it out of steel instead of wood is late Nineteenth Century technology. The first metal-clad ships were the Monitor and the Merrimack in the Civil War.

In terms of propulsion, the recently-built aircraft carrier U.S.S. Ronald Reagan is a steam ship. True, they heat the water with nuclear power rather than wood or coal, but the propellers are turned by steam. Before nuclear steam boilers, diesel engines were the most technologically-advanced ship propulsion. Steam boats are also Nineteenth Century technology.

One Navy guy told me they now use steam turbines instead of steam pistons so I’m wrong about Nineteenth Century technology. Irrelevant. The issue is whether heating water until it turns to steam requires nuclear reactors. It does not. Bunker or diesel oil will do just fine and you can combine bunker-oil-fired boilers with turbines. Most, if not all, land-based electric power plants nowadays use oil, gas, or coal to heat water into steam then send the steam through turbines to turn it into electricity.

Compare today’s Navy ships with those made of wood and powered by sail in the Nineteenth Century In terms of speed, the U.S.S. Lightning was the fastest clipper sailing ship and had a maximum speed of 18 knots under full sail. That is more than half the 30 knot speed of the nuclear powered U.S.S. Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier. Some progress. (A guy who claimed to be knowledgeable about such things said the top speed of the Reagan is actually secret, but figures it probably cannot be more than 44 knots. Whatever. There are no modern missiles—conventional- or nuclear-tipped—that can be outrun by a 44-knot ship.)

In contrast, the weapons used to sink ships have increased in speed from about 18 knots (about 21 mph) before gunpowder was invented to the 4 kilometers per second or 8,942 miles per hour that an ICBM warhead reentering the Earth’s atmosphere travels. Exocet missiles are slower but quite fast enough.

If the nuclear engines do not produce much speed, what is the point? They can go a long time without refueling. Actually, not as long as a sail boat, but the wind is not always blowing the right speed or direction while the fission reactor is always hot.

I am not sure there is a lot of difference between putting lipstick on a pig and putting a nuclear reactor on the world’s biggest barge.

Gotta stop for gas every day anyway

Carriers may be nuclear powered, but their planes are not. That means the carrier has to rendezvous with aviation gas supply ships every day. So what’s the advantage of not needing to get diesel or bunker oil for the carrier’s own propulsion at the same time? I’ll bet that over the long run, using diesel or bunker oil as the fuel for the carrier’s own propulsion would cost less than using nuclear reactors.

Then there is the fact that carriers do not operate alone. They operate in a “battle group.” What’s that? A whole bunch of ships whose function is to protect the damned carrier. The nautical equivalent of a hip-hop star’s entourage. And what fuel propels the swarm of protector ships? Nuclear? Nope. They burn old-time fossil fuels. So not only does the carrier have to stop at the gas station daily for aviation fuel, all its protector ships also have to stop for diesel oil.

Once again, if the carrier has to keep stopping for 19th cenury fuel, why bother putting a nuclear reactor in it? I think it’s because you can tell the men from the boys by the size of their toys. Nuclear carriers are more impressive toys to a bunch of admirals who want to play “mine’s more powerful than yours.” They also cost more which means more pork for the districts and states of a bunch of congressmen and senators.

Plus there’s the sick sibling rivalry need to make sure the Navy always gets more money than the Army. Nuclear powered carriers are excellent tools for beating out the Army for budget share.

Is anyone concerned that wasting money on surface ships hurts the national defense? I am. So are a number of big picture think tanks and Secretary Gates, but I think that’s about it. The Navy officers and Congress are out for their own selfish, childish interests.

Nuclear power does make sense for submarines because they do not have to gas up their weapons or entourage every day. Nuclear power makes submarines true submriens, no the submsibles that had to surfacte to run diesel engiens to recharge their batteries every night in World War II. Nuclear submarines can stay on patrol until their food runs out.

Navy tantrums

Given their tantrum history, you can imagine how the Navy brass reacts to it being pointed out that their surface ships are obsolete in the modern world against modern enemies. Too bad! The national security is at stake here.

Plus you don’t have to imagine. This debate has been going on since General Billy Mitchell. He committed the heresy of pointing out that a plane could sink a ship with a bomb or aerial torpedo. The Navy swore it was not true. Mitchell was court martialed and forced to resign. Later, he was honored by having the B-25 bomber named after him, got the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor, was on a USPS stamp in 1999, and received other honors—all posthumous. The mess hall at the U.S. Air Force Academy is named after Mitchell. But I’ll bet nothing is named after him at the U.S. Naval Academy. I’ll further bet that there are things at the Naval Academy that are named after the Navy brass who persuaded the Army brass to court-martial Mitchell for criticizing the Navy’s disdain for air power.

Congress and the President and the other services need to stand up, at long last, to their crybaby sibling and allocate the nation’s resources intelligently among the three major services. The fact is that the surface Navy is obsolete in modern warfare. Its budget and role should be drastically reduced accordingly. It is a sort of blue-water coast guard and a provider of floating island air bases (carriers) for actions against militarily-backward countries. I suspect the nation would be stronger, less vulnerable to attack, and have more money for more appropriate weapons if we spent the surface-ship money on longer-range aircraft and missiles and on obtaining rights to overseas island and continental air bases. Land-based aircraft, in addition to not being in danger of having their landing strip sunk, can carry heavier weapons and more of them.

Must stay away from land-based bombers

On page 48 of Sea of Thunder, Evan Thomas’s excellent book about the ‘last great naval battle,” the 1942 Battle of Leyte Gulf, he mentions that bringing one’s carrier within range of shore-based bombers violated naval doctrine.

Back then, the areas of the world’s oceans in which Navy ships dared not go were limited to a strip several hundred miles wide along the world’s coasts—namely the range of land-based military aircraft big enough to carry effective anti-ship weapons. In the late 1940s and early 1950s as the range of land-based piloted aircraft and unmanned missiles grew, the areas of the world’s oceans where navy ships could safely operate shrank until it disappeared entirely in the 1950s. Nowadays, all ships everywhere in the world are within range of land-based piloted aircraft or sea-, air-, and land-launched missiles. Because of satellites, the locations of all the ships in the world are also known at all times. (A Navy reader said we still sometimes lose track of them. I’d like to know why since we now have all sorts of non-visual ways to “see” through clouds.)

And, nowadays, all carriers everywhere on earth are within range of shore-based bombers because some aircraft have almost unlimited range now. And you no longer need manned bombers. Unmanned missiles would probably be a better weapon to use to sink carriers and some of them truly do have unlimited range on planet earth.

Fly-over permission and range

A 2001 U.S. Naval Academy graduate reader said:

You mention in your Navy tantrums section that Surface ship funding would be better spent on long range bombing.  I would submit to you that we already have aircraft that can achieve this function, but are rarely used because they require overflight consent and their on-station time isn’t enough to maintain sustained combat operations.

Reed response: There is always the question of how many such planes we have and is it enough. I was not aware that it was harder to get fly-over permission than sail-over permission. Fly-over permission is only needed with regard to landlocked countries. Is he saying that the Navy is better for dealing with landlocked enemies than the Air Force? That makes no sense. If on-station time (essentially range or size of fuel tank combined with good gas mileage) is inadequate, spend the money saved by no longer building aircraft carriers on increasing the on-station time of our planes. Our drones now have great on-station time, partly because they got rid of the pilot and all the equipment to protect him. By such things an increasing wing span, removing pilots and pilot-associated equipment and increase fuel capacity and mid-air refueling capacity, we can improve on-station time greatly.

The 2001 USNA guy also said:

The US Navy probably only needs a total of 180 total ships, none going any further than middle of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Apparently, the U.S. Navy currently has about 400 toys, er, ships and they are going farther than the middle of the Atlantic and Pacific. If we suddenly, unexpectedly get in a war with a non-third-world military, according to this USNA grad, our Navy should instantly run for home, although I must say that they would not be safe even here.

Via spy satellites, a modern enemy knows where all of our ships are at all times. They could hide from visual spotting by going to some area of the world’s oceans where there is almost always heavy cloud cover. But that would not help if the enemy in question used radar or infrared detection. Furthermore, enemies with ICBMs or submarine- or plane-based missiles can sink ships anywhere in the world’s oceans or ocean harbors. The sad truth is that in 2009, a better-than-third-world enemy would not even bother to waste the ammo sinking U.S. Navy surface ships unless they dared to get within range where they could inflict harm on the enemy country or its interests.

At the end of World War II, both the German and Japanese navies were sunk in their harbors or when they dared even to begin to head toward U.S. personnel. That was in 1945, yet here we are in 2011 building ships that would immediately suffer the same fate if we were at war with any first- or second-world military. If we were to somehow get into a war with, say, Argentina as the U.K. did in the 1980s, I expect we would not dare send U.S. Navy surface ships within range of Argentinean planes or missiles. We would fight them with submarines and air power, both manned and unmanned, and we would use ground troops only if we had a ground route that got them there or by air lift. We would not use troop ships as U.K. did in the Falklands War or as we did in the World Wars or Korea. Those of us who served in third-world Vietnam got there by civilian chartered jetliner.

And the 2001 USNA guy said,

One of the reasons I left the Navy was because of the intransigent attitudes of those in the upper echelons. I have argued that the Counter Drug Mission is at best ineffective (as the price of cocaine has gone down, not up since 1990) and that the military is losing the war for talent not because it can’t compete in terms of pay, but because its inability to adapt.  Admirals (and I suspect Generals too) are only capable of planning for past threats.  The creativity required to imagine and design counters to future hazards is squashed by the anyone get to Flag rank.

Reed response: In general at my Web site, I have complained that the U.S. military attracts and retains the wrong people and spends too much time doing the wrong thing. You can see the list of other pertinent articles at www.johntreed.com/military.html.

‘Update your facts’
On 10/7/07, I got a phone message saying that I’d better update my facts because I don’t know what I’m talking about in this article. Tellingly, the caller failed to mention a single specific error in this article. That’s called an attempt at intimidation. Use elucidation, not intimidation, if you want to have any chance at getting me to change the Web page.

Fleet week
But as it happened, Fleet Week occurred in San Francisco this past weekend. I live in the San Francisco area. I was planning to take a couple of ship tours at Fleet week and I did on 10-9-07. I visited the USS Vandergrift, a guided missile frigate that no longer has any missiles and the USS Shoup, a guided missile destroyer.

First, I want to thank the crews for letting us civilians visit their ship, especially those crew members who conducted the tours. My wife and I were especially impressed with Chief Kevin on the Shoup.

Did the visits and briefings by the crew members change my mind about U.S. Navy surface ships being sitting ducks? Au contraire! I was shocked to learn that I had understated the case. The ships are more sitting ducks than I realized.

Those are the only weapons they have?!
Let’s start with the Vandergrift. I have no idea why this ship exists. Supposedly, it protects carriers. I don’t know how. It cannot even protect itself. It has a 3-inch (76mm) deck gun, six torpedo tubes (which are irrelevant to incoming missiles or planes), and an MK 15 Gatling gun. (They also have about four .50 cal machine guns that are mainly for preventing another U.S.S. Cole

A U.S. Naval Academy grad reader said:

The USS Cole, while tragic, was an easily avoidable incident.  The US Navy has spent decades perfecting Underway Replenishment <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underway_replenishment>, which is basically when two ships transfer weapons, fuel and other stores from one to the other while at sea.  The Cole stopped was completely unnecessary and was essential[ly] there to show the flag.

You know what other weapons platform had a 76-mm cannon? A World War II Sherman tank. That tank weighed 30 tons, as did what it was shooting at roughly speaking. The Vandergrift weighs 4,100 tons, as do its opponents, if it is lucky. Do you know how long it would take to sink a 4,100-ton ship with a 3-inch gun? Me neither. I doubt it has ever been attempted. I doubt it is even possible. Molotov cocktails would probably be more effective.

The Vandergrift has one Gatling gun. It shoots 4,500 rounds per minute, which sounds impressive. But you cannot shoot any rapid-fire weapon that I am aware of at its maximum rate for very long for at least two reasons:

• You run out of ammo and at least have to stop to insert more ammunition into the high-speed feed mechanism.
• Unless they have some extraordinary cooling mechanism, the metal parts of the weapon will overheat and swell thereby causing the weapon to jam.

A U.S. Naval Academy graduate reader said,

The USS Vandergrift, as you stated is woefully inadequate for combat, which is why most FFG’s are deployed to South America for counter drug operations.

So why was it ever built in the first place? Why does it still exist?

Reload
I asked and was told that they could not replenish the gun’s ammo while it is firing. They have to stop firing to do that. I do not know how long it takes, but it sounds like several minutes. What gun is protecting the ship during that time? Apparently none.

Is the U.S. Navy a sitcom—some sort of colossal joke on the American taxpayers and its sailors?

Malfunction
The Gatling gun is complex and subject to extreme stress while operating. Common sense would tell us that such a device would malfunction frequently. So you need multiple Gatling guns both so that some are still operating when the other runs out of ammo and so that others are still operating when one malfunctions. Plus you need one Gatling gun for each incoming missile or plane.

It shoots 4,500 rounds a minute. The rounds are 20-mm, tungsten or depleted uranium rounds. They have a range of about 2,000 yards—damn close when the target is traveling mach 1 or mach 2.

How much space do 4,500 rounds take up? So much that they can only put 1,550 rounds in one drum that feeds the gun. That drum is about the size of a 55-gallon oil drum.

So although it can fire 4,500 rounds per minute, it does not have that much ammo attached to the gun. In other words, it can only fire for about one-third of a minute or 20 seconds then it stops firing for lack of ammunition.

So the more accurate way to put it would be that it can fire 1,550 rounds for twenty seconds and then do it again after you install a new 55-gallon drum size magazine of belted ammo which has to be threaded through a long serpentine guide before the gun is ready to fire. I do not know how long it takes to reload after emptying a 1,550 round magazine drum, but I would guess it’s a couple of minutes at least.

As far as I can tell, the ship is defenseless during that time with regard to close-in targets. I doubt the 3-inch gun is effective at close range because it shoots at too slow a rate per minute (the crewman said 80 rounds per minute, but seemed skeptical when he said it) and traverses and elevates too slowly.

Can’t shoot forward
But here’s the topper. The Vandergift’s two guns are both on the back of the ship. The commander’s bridge is in the traditional place on the front and facing front. But the ship has to point its rear end at the enemy, like a skunk, to shoot at the enemy. Very simply, it cannot shoot forward because the guns are blocked by the superstructure of the ship. Any enemy plane or missile that managed to attack the ship head on would have nothing to worry about other than the .50 cal. machine guns on the front sides of the weather deck. Those may have, I repeat, may have, been effective anti-aircraft weapons against propeller-driven planes in World War II.

A Vandergrift officer said they have “friends” (other U.S. ships) in the vicinity to help defend them. OK. Now tell me who’s protecting the friends. I expect those friends would say the Vandergrift is. And why does it make more sense to have two ships each with one Gatling gun than one ship with two Gatling guns? Are the guns coordinated electronically between ships? I doubt it. Are guns on the same ship coordinated so they do not shoot at the same target at the same time? I would hope and expect so. But I don’t know.

‘Funding?!’
At the end of World War II, U.S. navy ships were covered with anti-aircraft weapons to shoot down kamikazes. They put one everywhere they could. Now, the U.S. Navy puts one Gatling gun on an entire ship. Why, someone on the tour asked. “Funding” was the answer we got. The Shoup has two Gatling guns, but it just got the second one. Why the delay on the five-year old ship? “Funding.”

This is an $800 million ship. I could not find the cost of the MK15 on the Internet. I wonder why. Anyway, I’ll guess it costs $1 million. So we are risking an $800 million ship and its crew to save the $1 million or whatever that each additional Gatling gun would cost!?

Chaff
The crews of both ships said they could fire chaff (aluminum foil, or metallic glass or plastic fibers) into the air to confuse the guiding systems of incoming missiles. OK. But two points. That only confuses radar-guided missiles and it confuses all radar guided weapons in the vicinity, including your own. The MK 15 Gatling gun is radar guided. So it will not be hitting any enemy targets while chaff is in the air. And what’s to stop the enemy from using missiles that drop chaff as they approach. Chaff is World War II technology. Our enemies just might figure it out.

If there is chaff either from its own ship or from the enemy missile or plane, the MK 15 will put 1,550 rounds of ammo into 1,550 pieces of chaff.

Heat-seeking
What if the incoming missile or plane is heat-seeking rather than radar guided? The Shoup said they have an infrared decoy they shoot off that orbits the ship to distract heat-seeking enemy weapons. Of course, such a decoy would also screw up our heat-seeking weapons. One type of 3-inch cannon shell is detonated by target heat. Also, many other U.S. weapons, like the sidewinder air-to-air missile, are heat-seeking. Those weapons cannot be used when an infrared decoy is in the air.

Visual guidance
There is no human way to confuse a visually-guided weapon like a kamikaze or a missile with a video camera that is guided by a guy who can see the target in the video and controls the missile. The public saw some examples of that in Desert Storm where the picture on the TV screen was cross hairs on a building that would rapidly get closer until the picture abruptly ended as the missile struck the target. About the only countermeasure would be smoke if it was not a windy day or intense light that temporarily blinded the enemy. But as with the above countermeasures, they have about the same effect on both the enemy and our guys. We can’t see through smoke or light flashes either.

The Shoup, like the Vandergrift, only has one cannon, but at least it’s a five-inch one. It also has two MK15 Gatling guns, one on the front and one on the back of the ship. The Vandergrift has huge radar antennas and a bunch of little tubes that fire chaff that would confuse all radar including their own.

Sure wish someone would explain to me why or surface ships are not sitting ducks. I fear for the men I met today and for the nation they are supposedly protecting. Their training, courage, dedication, and professionalism are all irrelevant if they are the target of a missile they cannot stop. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

Boarding
One of the Vandergrift’s missions is to send boarding parties to suspect ships and boats. When the U.S. Navy did that once in the Persian Gulf in recent years, the suspicious boat which was approaching U.S. Navy warships, turned out to be a suicide bomb and all the U.S. sailors on the boarding party were killed. I suggest we knock off that tactic in suicide bomber territory and just draw a line in the water. Cross it, and we vaporize you. No boarding or even getting close enough to get hit. The civilians will figure out soon enough to stay away from U.S. warships like they did in World War II.

Maybe the majority of U.S. service people killed in the last six years died because we were pussyfooting around trying to avoid civilian casualties and the enemy was using that against us by disguising vicious enemy fighters as innocent civilians.

Missiles
The Shoup has 80 missile silos that can hold one to for missiles each. Some of those are GPS guided. They are also multi-purpose depending upon the type of missile they put in each. They have available ship-to-ship, anti-submarine, anti-air, and ship-to-land (cruise missiles). The public saw the latter used in wars against Iraq. The typical video showed the missile blasting off straight up then seeming to falter before taking off at jetliner speed for the target.

Generally, those missile silos are impressive, but a couple of things. I asked if they had more missiles on board than were in the 80 silos. Yes. Another guy asked if they could reload the silos themselves. No. They need to meet up with a ship that has a crane. I would expect they have to do that in port also. Doesn’t seem like they could use a crane on one ship to drop a missile into a silo on another while the two ships are bucking up and down and rolling end-to-end and side-to-side. Well, then what’s the point of having extra missiles on board? To make it easier for the enemy to hit the ship’s magazine and blow it up? The missiles are all bunched together with 16 on the front deck and 64 on the back deck. Seems like one enemy round hitting the deck in the right spot could disable all the silos at that end of the ship.

Again, except for visual and GPS-guided missiles, it would appear that the Shoup would screw up its own missiles if it were taking chaff or infrared countermeasures against enemy missiles while firing its own. And GPS missiles can probably be fouled up by radio jamming or, in the case of advanced nations, shooting down the satellites.

When you think about it, World War II weapons were arguably more reliable if less accurate.The number of things that can go wrong with high tech is far greater and we have gone 66 years without a naval opponent who would test our Navy. I expect 66 years without a test means we’re cruising’ for a bruising’. In all wars, including World War II and our next naval war, the two sides constantly modify their tactics and weapons. In the early years of World War II, our torpedoes did not work because they had been inadequately and dishonestly tested before the war. In Desert Storm, the same thing happened with our Patriot anti-missile missiles. In its early years, the M-16 assault rifle kept jamming because they Army refused to follow the recommendations of the investor of the rifle regarding chrome plating the firing chamber and inside of the barrel.

Have we really adequately tested the MK 15 Gatling gun in enough realistic circumstances to have shaken out all the problems like overheating and reloading? I doubt it. High tech weapons cost so much that the military cannot afford to fire them very often.

In World War II, the Germans would wait until the Americans had used up a clip of ammo to attack. They could count the number of shots and hear the pling of the clip being ejected when they were fighting from close range. Seems like an advanced navy could do something similar with the Shoup.

U.S.S. Cole
The Shoup is an Arleigh Burke Class Guided missile destroyer. So is the U.S.S. Cole, the American ship that was almost destroyed by Al Qaeda suicide bombers in a small motor launch in Aden. Those suicide bombers simply drove up to the side of the Cole and set off their bomb. They killed 17 sailors and wounded 39.

Knew it was coming but gave no warning
U.S. military leaders knew in advance, from intelligence, that an attack on a U.S. Navy ship was being planned, but because they did not know the date or location, they decided not to warn the fleet. I offer that in case you were under the misconception that the U.S. Navy leaders had brains or any common sense. Remember that the next time you hear the phrase “the lessons of Pearl Harbor.”

Four .50 cal machine guns
On the Shoup, we could see what the Navy did to prevent another U.S.S. Cole incident. What did they do? They put four .50 cal machine guns on the ship. There is one on each side of the front weather deck and one on each side of the rear weather deck. Will that prevent another Cole-type bombing?

Unprotected
I wouldn’t think so. Why not? The guns are mounted in an unprotected spot along the rail on the edge of the ship. The assumption that caused the U.S.S. Cole disaster was that the enemy would not attack while the ship was in port—even in a known terrorist area. Now we have a new assumption: that the enemy will not shoot at the .50 cal machine gunner.

Sniper
Seems obvious that the way to attack now would be to have a sniper or RPG man shoot the machine gunner nearest the terrorists’ point of attack then approach at an angle that prevents any of the other three .50 cals from being able to hit them. The .50 cals do not have 360-degree coverage even when all four are shooting. For example, assume that you impose a compass over the ship with the bow being north or 0º/360º. Terrorists could kill the portside front .50 cal gunner then attack from an angle of about 355º with impunity because no other .50 cal could aim at that pathway. The bigger weapons would be useless because they cannot shoot at targets so close or so low. In other words, the ship has blind spots when all four .50 cals are manned and ready and even bigger blind spots when one or more of those guns is out of action.

Hidden cannon
The enemy could also hide a cannon or recoilless rifle (big bazooka) in a building or vehicle near where a U.S. ship docks and fire at almost point blank range at the side of the ship at the water line. Very simply, the Shoup can protect itself from certain discrete threats, but not every threat. The enemy will study the ship and figure out the seams between its weapons. The Cole incident was one such effort. They almost sank a billion dollar ship with about $1,000 worth of motorized inflated boat and explosives. The only way the Shoup will be attacked is in a way that the Shoup does not expect.

In their zeal to avoid another Vincennes incident, the U.S. Navy has adopted a number of measures to avoid shooting down a civilian airliner like the U.S.S. Cruiser Vincennes did in 1988. No doubt any future air attack on a U.S. ship will be carried out by a civilian airliner that has been hijacked or flown from the ground so as to trigger the U.S. Navy’s civilian-casualty-avoidance measures. The Shoup’s weapons are of no use if the Shoup does not pull the trigger until it’s too late or never.

Visual gun direction
Also, those guns are directed visually. Smoke, fog, lasers, or bright light flashes could silently blind the gunners. So can a plain old moonless night. The silent, long-range heat ray that is now used in some crowd-control situations could drive the gunner away from his gun.

Outnumber them
The enemy could also just overwhelm the four gunners with multiple attacks that outnumber the two gunners on the side of the ship from which they attacked.

Some readers may think I am helping the terrorists by explaining how to do this. Nope. They can see exactly what I’m saying in photos of the ships or through binoculars in any port of call. The .50 cals are easy to see, especially when they are manned as they are when in port. And al Qaeda guys are no dummies. Bin Laden was a civil engineer. 9/11 was a very clever plan that was almost perfectly executed. (The planes that were intended to attack targets in DC both dove into the ground—one harmlessly to those on the ground in PA and one that bounced into the Pentagon thereby reducing its destructiveness.)

Back corners
Two .50 cals should have been placed on the back corners of the ship—probably mounted on flying stands that protrude from the ship so they can see all of the stern and sides of the ship where it meets the water. They are instead about 40 feet toward the bow in front of the back corners of the ship.

Blind spots
As it stands now, I do not believe those .50 cals can shoot at a bad guy directly astern of the ship after he gets to a certain closeness. They may also not be able to shoot down at the water right alongside the ship because they are mounted on the railing which is above the deck. That means you can only depress the gun so far and probably not far enough to hit someone who is close to the ship. Also, the ship hull appears to be tapered from top to water line so that the deck overhangs the side of the ship to an extent.

The two front .50 cals are in better shape because the front of the ship comes to a point rather than being perpendicular to the sides like the stern. But again, the guns should have put on flying mounts that protrude out beyond the main deck so that the gunners could hit enemies along the side of the ship at the water line. At present, I do not believe they could depress the gun that far.

More guns in better spots
They should move those guns and add more like an additional one right on the point of the bow that could shoot to either side of the ship if need be. They also need to provide some protection for the gunners manning those machine guns. Many military guns have a shield attached to the gun barrel. You can see a small version of such a shield in an otherwise unprotected ship rail position in the photo at http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_50cal-M2_MG.htm.

In other words, the new measures the Navy adopted to prevent another Cole are half-assed. Here we have a billion-dollar ship and several hundred crewmen and all the Navy does to help it protect itself from another Cole-type attack is to install four, unprotected, visual-only, World War II machine guns in relatively poorly-chosen locations around the ship. (They also have speed boats patrolling the waters around the ship now when in port.)

In short, the Navy appears not to have learned the lesson the Cole, namely, that ships in hostile ports are vulnerable to all manner of attacks that are not prevented by four .50 cal machine guns.

Anyway, as a result of my Fleet Week tours of current U.S. Navy ships, I am now able to report to the guy who said I’d better update my facts: mission accomplished.

The Navy needs to update its testing to make sure all possible problems are taken into account and the tactics, training, ships, and/or weapons modified appropriately. I think the Navy needs to sell the Vandergrift to the Coast Guard. It is too impotent to be a Navy ship. In 2007, the Shoup is too ready for the Battle of Okinawa and not enough ready for another Cole incident. Considering whom our enemies are, the Cole-type attack is the one they ought to be concentrating on.

Malcolm Gladwell’s 5/11/09 New Yorker article

Malcolm Gladwell is the author of the best-selling books Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers. He also wrote an excellent article on being unconventional is combat and other types of competitions in the 5/11/09 New Yorker magazine. Militarily, it talks about David and Goliath, Lawrence of Arabia, and a naval war game contest repeatedly won easily by a computer with no preconceived notions about how to fight a war. It also talks about a girls youth basketball team coached by a guy who never played basketball that made it to the national championship final where a ref local to the opponent called a zillion fouls against the underdogs so they lost.

The basic point of the article is that conventional expertise in many competitive areas, especially war where there are few rules, is too inside the box and that outside-the-box commanders have often won spectacularly over much bigger or stronger opponents. See my The Contrarian Edge For Football Offense for a book-length discussion of the application of these principles to that field.

Here is an email I got in June, 2008. I did not publish the name of the sender because I did not get an answer to my request for permission.

Mr. Reed,

Thank you for your time,

Here are comments from a U.S. Naval Academy graduate reader:

You reference of Malcolm Gladwell’s article on an inferior opponent can defeat a superior one is slightly specious in my opinion because as I’m sure you are aware, the US Military Rules of Engagement severely limit what actions our combat forces can use to achieve victory.

Reed response: How is this relevant? This is just, “Yeah, you’re right but we Navy guys have a good excuse for not winning.” The Navy is the least flexible U.S. military service because of its dependence on ships rather than an equipment configuration relying more on manned and unmanned aircraft.

If you analyze the value of the Navy’s surface fleet based upon its combat worthiness, then yes some of our current ships are inadequate.  But to be perfectly honest, the surface fleets role has more to do with presence than it does combat.   As most of the world’s commerce travel via the seas, the US Navy visible presence, is supposed to act as a deterrent against privacy.

Reed response: I suspect he means deterrent to “piracy,” not “privacy.” Well, that’s a reason for spending a zillion dollars on aircraft carriers that I never heard before, but it’s very topical with the recent pirate sniper incident. Obviously, the most sensible way to deter piracy is to put armed guards on the cargo ships, not to have the U.S. Navy trying to handle it. Furthermore, if the U.S. Navy is going to do that, we need to reinstate World War II-style convoys with air cover, not try to have enough U.S. Navy ships to cover every place in the ocean where pirates are or can be a problem. Also, since there are few ocean-going cargo ships showing U.S. flags nowadays—the U.S. maritime unions’ greed drove them all to foreign flags—whose commerce are we protecting? I read a book about Somali pirates. It indicated that multi-nation convoys are now often used off the coast of Somalia but they cannot get every merchant ship to wait for a convoy so the convoys have not stopped piracy.

Also, “presence” is only useful against third-world countries. If we were at war with, say, Argentina, as the U.K. was during the Falkland Islands war, the enemy would likely note our “presence” and say,

Oh, look! The stupid American have put their fleet within easy range of our land-based bombers and missiles.

The Argentinean Air Force sank six British Ships. Against first or even second-world militaries, naval “presence” is nothing but naval suicide and has been since about 1955.

The 8/17/10 Wall Street Journal has an article titled, “U.S. Sounds Alarm at China’s Military Buildup.” It has these two sentences:

A particular concern for the U.S. is China’s development of an anti-ship ballistic missile with a projected range of nearly 1,000 miles Some experts say the missile could herald the end of U.S. naval domination.

Could? What’s going to stop it? And domination is not the issue. The mere suvival of U.S. Vany surface ships in the face of such a missile is at stake. But they probably need not worry. 1. the U.S. Navy would probably have enough sense to keep our Navy in port in a war against a grown-up military power. 2. An intelligent enemy would not waste ammo on U.S. Navy surface ships. They cannot hurt the enemy until they get within several hundred miles of the enemy shore.

The U.S. has not had naval domination of anything since around the mid 1950s if a developed country wanted to stop us. Any country with missiles can sink any of our ships that are within range of their missiles, some of which are cruise-type missiles that can be fired from long-range aircraft.

The 8/27/10 Wall Street Journal had an article about a new Marine “Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle.” The photo accompanying the article looks like a floating tank. The article had several statements that caused me to think, “You gotta be kidding me.” They relate to the thesis of this article, namely, that the U.S. surface Navy is obsolete and has been for 55 years. Journal statements in italics, my comments in red.

If the program [to acquire 573 ETVs] is scaled back, it raises questions about the Marine Corps’ future as the U.S. military’s designated force for landing on beaches.

“Landing on beaches!?” When is the last time we did that under fire? Would you believe 1945 on Okinawa? (Our landing at Inchon during the Korean War was a successful surprise with relatively light resistance. Also, we landed at port there, not on a beach.) We don’t need to land on no stinking beaches. In 2010, against any but a third-world enemy, that would be suicidal, especially when we can now just vaporize the enemy beach defenses from the air as we did the Iraqi Army in Desert Storm.

Note the phrase “Marine Corps’ future.” Were you aware that the Navy’s Army—the Marine Corps—constantly worries about its future existence? That’s because the Marines know better than anyone that they have no real reason to exist.

Then the Navy figured that the Army was for land and the Navy was for sea so the Marines must be for the in between: the beach or the transition from sea to land. Cute. So the Marines became the U.S.’s amphibious fighting force. However, that is literally and metaphorically so narrow as to define itself out of existence. Obviously, the U.S. Army can handle the beach which, after all, is land.The most inept amphibious landing in World War II was probably Tarawa, which was run by our amphibious landing experts, the Marines. The Navy can handle the transition from sea to land as they do every time a boat goes into port or delivers stuff or people to a coast without a port per se, like Normandy on D-Day.

A very odd comment was made in 1945 when the Marine Corps was at the height of its power and renown.

Gazing upward, at the red, white, and blue speck, [Secretary of the Navy James] Forrestal remarked to [Marine General Holland] Smith: “Holland, the raising of that flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next five hundred years.”

In other words, no matter how great they are doing, the Marines always live in abject fear that they are going to be folded into the Army, which they should be. They have a great tradition, record, and espirit de corps. They should continue because of that, but as a U.S. army unit like the Big Red One or the 101st Airborne Division. Being under the Navy is, and long has been, a bunch of BS. They should get a unit patch and a division commander or two, but no more Commandant or different uniforms.

…the new vehicle is designed to be launched 25 miles off shore, theoretically keeping Navy ships at a safer distance from enemy guns.

Say what!?

You’re going to make a squad or fire team of marines go 25 miles onto a beach in a floating tank!? They will be knee deep in their own vomit by the time they arrive.

And what’s this about keeping Navy ships safer?

Here are two lines from an old nautical poem of unknown origin:

Because ships are safe in the harbour
But that is not what ships are made for

If safety is the goal of the U.S. Navy ships, they should stay home. And since when is 25 miles the range of land-based weapons? There were cannons that could shoot farther than that at least as early as World War I, not to mention the invention of the airplane in 1903. As I said above, U.S. Navy doctrine said stay outside of range of land-based enemy bombers in World War II. As I also said above, there was no place on earth where that rule could be complied with starting in about the late 1950s. The notion that enemy guns cannot shoot more than 25 miles sounds like something out of the late 1800s—an ancient rule for setting territorial waters boundaries.

And which Navy ships are we making safe: the big ones that stay 25 miles out at sea or the little floating tanks that will be put-putting toward the hostile shore for hours at horse-and-wagon speed? Seems like the bigger ships could handle enemy fire better than a floating tank.

Has anyone noticed that the Navy used to use ships to attack the enemy—losing lives and ships if necessary—and somewhere along the line morphed into an organization set up to preserve itself rather than the nation? Our mighty carriers—“4.5 acres of sovereign U.S. territory” and all that swaggering bullshit—have to be surrounded and protected by dozens of other ships. 4.5 acres of shivering U.S. Navy personnel with a mere four inches of steel between them and the dee blue sea if the enemy has anti-ship missiles is more like it.

The Navy seems to think its reason for existence is to protect its precious ships—or at least its big ships that are commanded by admirals. They apparently do not care much about the safety of floating tanks that are commanded by Marine gunnery sergeants or lieutenants.

Imagine the Army deciding it purpose was to avoid expending precious ammunition. I discussed this “preserve our precious, hard-to-replace-for-budgetary-reasons military personnel and equipment above all else” mentality as a by-product of the end of the draft in my article about why we need to reinstate the draft. The purpose of military personnel and equipment is to attack the enemy, not to provide careers or toys for military brass.

Taxpayer stinginess with funds for personnel and equipment (exacerbated by chronic outrageous military waste) has turned the U.S. military partially into a preserve-itself organization, not a defend-the-nation organization. (Yes, I am aware U.S. military personnel are dying overseas. Are you aware that we have not won a war since 1945? The purpose of the military is not to avoid dying or losing large pieces of equipment. It is to win our wars. The welfare of the men in the military is secondary to the war-winning mission. Protecting equipment is a distant third—unless you’re the U.S. Navy in which case operating your equipment is your true reason for existence, so preserving it apparently becomes job one.

To his credit, Secretary of Defense Gates said,

We have to take a hard look at where it would be necessary or sensible to launch another major amphibious landing again—especially as advances in anti-ship systems keep pushing the launch point further from shore.

Ya think? Note no one in the Navy or Marines—the experts on amphibious landings—is saying this. They are more expert on preserving their anachronistic role in the Pentagon than on the combat operations they use to justify their “do we still have that?” existence. The U.S. Navy brass has been lying about their continued relevance since airplanes started dropping bombs in World War I. Note also that Gates was still pussyfooting around out of fear of the Navy and Marine lobby. What he should have said is large-scale amphibious landings no longer are viable because of modern anti-ship weapons and that the damned idiots who ordered the EFV should be court martialed. For continued refusing to call a spade a spade, he should have been punished, too.

Here’s an email from a guy who says he was or is in the Navy:

Dear Mr. Reed,
I don’t know when you wrote about the Navy being sitting ducks article and you may already know the things that I would like to point out, but you lead off the article with a statement that you would change any errors in your facts.

These are a few errors that I found, if you are a man of integrity, please make the corrections to your article. Also research the SPY-1, Aegis, Electronic Warfare and Command and Decision systems for today’s fleet and wright about those. Feel free to E-mail back and we could discuss the the tactical capabilities of the Navy.
Sincerely,
Joseph P. Harris SGT U.S Army and GM3 SW U.S. Navy

I did not find any of this persuasive. For example, he says it’s OK that the .50 cal do not cover all angles of atack but that does not matter because the sailors on the ship have rifles and shotguns. Army Air Corps General Billy Mitchell got court martialed and driven out of the Army for, among other things, saying a plane could sink a ship. Even he did not say a rifle or shotgun could stop a suicide boat attack. I would be surprised if a rifle or shotgun fired from the deck of a Navy ship could sink an electric toy boat going full speed over the waves at a Navy ship.

Most of Harris’s directions assigning me homework should be directed at the Navy personnel who spoke to us on the above-named ships. They were my sources for stuff he disputes.

Here is another email I received [my comments in red brackets]:

Hello I do not know if you still update that page about u.s. navy ships sitting ducks but I thought I might give you some info for your page. I was a Mk 15 phalanx CIWS technician in the navy and I wanted to alert you to some facts for your page about it and Air defense. Phalanx is not electric its pneumatic, yes it only has enough rounds for 20 seconds of firing on a full load, No you cannot swap in a new drum, you attach a loading mechanism to the belt feed to the drum and crank in the new rounds. (rounds are not keep in a belt in drum)

For reference, a properly maintained CIWS is not prone to failures but it is maintance heavy (it is an old system) The reason 1550 rounds is its load is even with barrel support and good metal firing the 20mm penetrators will warp/deform the barrels very quickly making the gun wildly inaccurate.

This all sounds like CIWS is a bad system but in fact It is a great system for what its designed for. It is the LAST Line of defense for a ship. If the missile got past the air guard, past the long range missiles the medium range missiles the short range missiles the 5″ or 3″ if it penetrates all other layers then CIWS is the answer. in PACFIRES and other operational tests It doesn’t fail. It will hit anything incoming to the ship.

On the next topic, if a ship is struck by a anti ship missile the survivability of a ship is not in its armor but its design. bulkheads and water tight doors [these have been around since ships were first made of steel], A well trained Damage control team, that’s what makes a ship survive not a armor belt, those were designed against shells, now that warhead technology has improved Armor just would not be effective. [The Japanese sunk a lot of U.S. ships in WW II with kaimkaze planes that were the equivalent of big shells and the sailors on those ships were very good at damage control and use of watertight doors]

It is true that carrier task groups are not invincible, Nothing is. [I did not attack lack of invincibility. I said they could be sunk by the Argentinian and a zillion other nothing-special navies in the first hours of a war. I said they were sitting ducks, not that they failed to be invincilble. There is a big difference between saying something is a sitting duck and saying it fails the invincible test.]

and did you know that yes its quite possible to sink a ship with a 3 ” gun. [Could we get the names of the navies involved and the date when that last happened in naval warfare? Where was their well trained damage control team?] not as easy but with modern rear fuse rounds and quality precision fire control targeting we can put rounds in the engine bay or threw the bridge or take out the deck guns etc.

Nuclear carriers do take on Fuel despite being nuclear but it is not every day,[nit picking]

they also take on more than just JP-5 for their air wing, this might surprise you but they also act as a tanker for the battle group they sail with. [I am surprised but I see the logic] and do unreps with them for food and fuel.

Modern ships also do not burn Bunker oil, that generates billowing clouds and isn’t efficient, modern warships are Gas steam turbine driven, they run on Diesel. [Whatever]

As for the navy being Obsolete [I did not say the whole navy was obsolete. I said that surface ships were obsolete. I further said the Navy should acomplish its mission with aircraft and I think the submarines are great as long as the enemy does not know where they are.]

I disagree to the extent that the mobile air power of the aircraft carrier is impressive [Impressive? Actually, I think that’s too much what the surface navy is really about: impressing people. The navy is supposed to be about winning wars and you cannot win a war with the nation’s aircraft carriers on the bottom of the ocean.]

and used in every major conflict. [We have not had a major conflict since Vietnam. The North Vietnamese navy did not sink the carriers, but they shot down a lot of Navy and Marine planes (That’s how most of our 800 POWs got to be POWs) and the North Vienamese won the war. That was not very impressive.]

the stand off weapons capability of modern Burke class DDG is an arsenal in and of itself with Tomahawk and STANDARD missiles. [Stand off is what my article is about. There was a rule in World War II that the Navy needed to stay out of range of enemy land-based bombers. Since around 1956, no such place existed anywhere on earth vis a vis major enemies. The stand-off weapons capability of the non-navy missiles and aircraft that can be fired from land and submarines is also an arsenal and requires no multi-billion-dollar, floating metal object accompanied by an expensive entourage of other metal floating objects. The surface navy is an anachronism.]

We may not broadside anymore but the Navy is still very effective to get Power where it needs to be quickly. [We did not even broadside much in World War II. The surface navy today is literally a force that needs to run away from the weapons of significant modern enemies. “Quickly” is not a word that applies to any suface navy. The top speed of a carrier task force is the speed of its slowest ship. I am not sure what that is, but I suspect around 30 miles per hour. The Atlantic Ocean is about 3,000 miles by 12,000 miles; the Pacific, about 9,000 miles by 12,000 miles. With those distances, in a world with supersonic missiles and jets, 30 miles per hour is anything but quick. Against a strong enemy, it is another reason not to have a surface navy. Running away from supersonic missiles and jets at 30 mph is not likely to be successful. Some may say our brave sailors would not run away. They would attack in spite of difficult odds. A certain amount of that is often needed in war, but there is a point at which it becomes mindless suicide—very expensive mindless suicide of a 5,000-man crew in the case of an aircraft carrier. Near the end of World War II, the Japanese navy decided to show their bravery by leaving their safe ports and attacking the U.S. Navy involved in the battles for Iwo Jima and Okinawa. There sunk long before they got with in their gun range of our ships. Germany’s biggest battleship Terpitz was sunk in its safe harbor. Talk about a waste of German Reichmarks! We can make better use of 5,000 brave sailors and billions of military dollars.]

Thankyou for your time , Yours truly Michael Kierum

P.S. everything I stated is public domain knowledge but sure your free to quote me. I would Like to add that the warping of the barrels only makes the gun inaccurate after the barrels heat up from use.

The 2011 book Rollback by Thoman Woods, Jr. has this on page 111:

Wiliam Lind, a key theorist of Fourth Generation Warfare, says the U.S. Navy in the twenty-first century is “still structured to fight the Imperial [World War II] Japanese Navy.” As Lind puts it, the Navy’s aircraft-carrier battle groups “have cruised on mindlessly for more than half a century, waiting for those Japanese carriers to turn up. They are still crusing today, into, if not beyond, irrelevance.”

John T. Reed

Link to information about John T. Reed’s Succeeding book which, in part, relates lessons learned about succeeding in life from being in the military

John T. Reed military home page

A guided missile destroyer is a destroyer designed to launch guided missiles. Many are also equipped to carry out anti-submarine, anti-air, and anti-surface operations. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG. Nations vary in their use of destroyer D designation their hull pennant numbering, either prefixing, or dropping it altogether. The U.S. Navy has adopted the classification DDG in the US hull classification symbol.

In addition to the guns that destroyers have, a guided missile destroyer is usually equipped with two large missile magazines which store the missiles for the ship, usually in Vertical Launch Cells. Some guided missile destroyers contain powerful weapon system radars, like the United States’ Aegis combat system, and may be adopted for use in an anti-missile role or a ballistic missile defense role. This is especially true of navies that no longer operate cruisers, as other vessels must be adopted to fill in the gap.

[edit] Active and planned guided missile (GM) destroyers

[edit] List of GM destroyers of the Royal Australian Navy

• Hobart Class destroyer
  • HMAS Hobart
  • HMAS Brisbane
  • HMAS Sydney

HMCS Iroquois (DDG-280), an Iroquois class destroyer

[edit] List of GM destroyers of the Royal Canadian Navy

• Iroquois class destroyer
  • HMCS Iroquois (DDG-280)
  • HMCS Athabaskan (DDG-282)
  • HMCS Algonquin (DDG-283)

[edit] List of GM destroyers of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy

Lanzhou (170), a Type 052C destroyer

• Type 052C (Luyang II) class destroyer
  • Lanzhou (170)
  • Haikou (171)
• Type 052B (Luyang I class) destroyer
  • Guangzhou (168)
  • Wuhan (169)
• Type 052 (Luhu class) destroyer
  • Harbin (112)
  • Qingdao (113)
• Type 051C (Luzhou class) destroyer
  • Shenyang (115)
  • Shijiazhuang (116)
• Type 051B (Luhai class) destroyer
  • Shenzhen (167)
• Type 051 (Luda class) destroyer
  • Yinchuan (107)
  • Xining (108)
  • Kaifeng (109)
  • Dalian (110)
  • Nanjing (131)
  • Hefei (132)
  • Chongqing (133)
  • Zunyi (134)
  • Nanning (162)
  • Nanchang (163)
  • Guilin (164)
  • Zhanjiang (165)
  • Zhuhai (166)
• Sovremenny class destroyer
  • Hangzhou (136)
  • Fuzhou (137)
  • Taizhou (138)
  • Ningbo (139)

[edit] List of GM destroyers of the French Navy

Forbin (D620), a Horizon class destroyer

Although the French Navy no longer uses the term “destroyer” (French: destructeur), the largest frigates are assigned pennant numbers with flag superior “D”, which designates destroyer.

• Horizon class frigate
  • Forbin (D620)
  • Chevalier Paul (D621)
• Cassard class frigate
  • Cassard (D614)
  • Jean Bart (D615)
• Tourville class frigate
  • Tourville (D610)
  • De Grasse (D612)
• Georges Leygues class frigate
  • Georges Leygues (D640)
  • Dupleix (D641)
  • Montcalm (D642)
  • Jean de Vienne (D643)
  • Primauguet (D644)
  • La Motte Picquet (D645)
  • Latouche-Tréville (D646)

[edit] List of GM destroyers of the Indian Navy

INS Delhi (D61), a Delhi class destroyer

• Kolkata class destroyers
  • INS Kolkata
  • INS Kochi^[1]
  • INS Chennai
• Delhi class destroyers
  • INS Delhi (D61)
  • INS Mysore (D60)
  • INS Mumbai (D62)
• Rajput class destroyers
  • INS Rajput (D51)
  • INS Rana (D52)
  • INS Ranjit (D53)
  • INS Ranvir (D54)
  • INS Ranvijay (D55)

[edit] List of GM destroyers of the Italian Navy

Caio Duilio (D554), an Orizzonte class destroyer

• Durand de la Penne class destroyer
  • Luigi Durand De La Penne (D560)
  • Francesco Mimbelli (D561)
• Orizzonte class destroyer
  • Andrea Doria (D553)
  • Caio Duilio (D554)

[edit] List of GM destroyers of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force

JDS Ashigara (DDG-178), an Atago class destroyer

• Hatakaze class destroyer
  • JDS Hatakaze (DDG-171)
  • JDS Shimakaze (DDG-172)
• Kongō class destroyer
  • JDS Kongō (DDG-173)
  • JDS Kirishima (DDG-174)
  • JDS Myōkō (DDG-175)
  • JDS Chōkai (DDG-176)
• Atago class destroyer
  • JDS Atago (DDG-177)
  • JDS Ashigara (DDG-178)

[edit] List of GM destroyers of the Russian Navy

Nastoychivyy (610), a Sovremenny class destroyer

• Kashin class destroyer
  • Smetlivy
• Sovremenny class destroyer
  • Bystryy (715)
  • Gremyashchiy (406)
  • Bespokoynyy (620)
  • Nastoychivyy (610)
  • Admiral Ushakov (434)
• Udaloy class destroyer
  • Vice-Admiral Kulakov
  • Admiral Tributs (552)
  • Marshal Shaposhnikov (543)
  • Severomorsk (619)
  • Admiral Levchenko (605)
  • Admiral Vinogradov (572)
  • Admiral Panteleyev (548)
  • Admiral Chabanenko (650)

ROCS Tso Ying (DDG-1803)

[edit] List of GM destroyers of the Republic of China Navy (Taiwan)

• Kee Lung (Kidd) class destroyer
  • ROCS Kee Lung (DDG-1801)
  • ROCS Su Ao (DDG-1802)
  • ROCS Tso Ying (DDG-1803)
  • ROCS Ma Kong (DDG-1805)

ROKS King Sejong the Great (DDG-991), a King Sejong the Great class destroyer

[edit] List of GM destroyers of the Republic of Korea Navy

• King Sejong the Great class destroyer
  • ROKS King Sejong the Great (DDG-991)
  • ROKS Yulgok Yi I (DDG-992)

[edit] List of GM destroyers of the Royal Navy

HMS Daring (D32), a Type 45 destroyer

• Type 45 destroyer
  • HMS Daring (D32)
  • HMS Dauntless (D33)
  • HMS Diamond (D34)
  • HMS Dragon (D35)
  • HMS Defender (D36)
  • HMS Duncan (D37)

• Type 42 destroyer
  • HMS Liverpool (D92)
  • HMS Manchester (D95)
  • HMS Edinburgh (D97)
  • HMS Gloucester (D96)
  • HMS York (D98)

[edit] List of GM destroyers of the US Navy

USS Bainbridge (DDG-96), an Arleigh Burke class destroyer

• Arleigh Burke class destroyer
  • USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51)
  • USS Barry (DDG-52)
  • USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53)
  • USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54)
  • USS Stout (DDG-55)
  • USS John S. McCain (DDG-56)
  • USS Mitscher (DDG-57)
  • USS Laboon (DDG-58)
  • USS Russell (DDG-59)
  • USS Paul Hamilton (DDG-60)
  • USS Ramage (DDG-61)
  • USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62)
  • USS Stethem (DDG-63)
  • USS Carney (DDG-64)
  • USS Benfold (DDG-65)
  • USS Gonzalez (DDG-66)
  • USS Cole (DDG-67)
  • USS The Sullivans (DDG-68)
  • USS Milius (DDG-69)
  • USS Hopper (DDG-70)
  • USS Ross (DDG-71)
  • USS Mahan (DDG-72)
  • USS Decatur (DDG-73)
  • USS McFaul (DDG-74)
  • USS Donald Cook (DDG-75)
  • USS Higgins (DDG-76)
  • USS O’Kane (DDG-77)
  • USS Porter (DDG-78)
  • USS Oscar Austin (DDG-79)
  • USS Roosevelt (DDG-80)
  • USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG-81)
  • USS Lassen (DDG-82)
  • USS Howard (DDG-83)
  • USS Bulkeley (DDG-84)
  • USS McCampbell (DDG-85)
  • USS Shoup (DDG-86)
  • USS Mason (DDG-87)
  • USS Preble (DDG-88)
  • USS Mustin (DDG-89)
  • USS Chafee (DDG-90)
  • USS Pinckney (DDG-91)
  • USS Momsen (DDG-92)
  • USS Chung-Hoon (DDG-93)
  • USS Nitze (DDG-94)
  • USS James E. Williams (DDG-95)
  • USS Bainbridge (DDG-96)
  • USS Halsey (DDG-97)
  • USS Forrest Sherman (DDG-98)
  • USS Farragut (DDG-99)
  • USS Kidd (DDG-100)
  • USS Gridley (DDG-101)
  • USS Sampson (DDG-102)
  • USS Truxtun (DDG-103)
  • USS Sterett (DDG-104)
  • USS Dewey (DDG-105)
  • USS Stockdale (DDG-106)
  • USS Gravely (DDG-107)
  • USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG-108)
  • USS Jason Dunham (DDG-109)
  • USS William P. Lawrence (DDG-110)
  • USS Spruance (DDG-111)
  • USS Michael Murphy (DDG-112)

[edit] Former guided missile destroyer classes

Italy

• Impavido class destroyer
• Audace class destroyer

Japan

• Amatsukaze class destroyer
• Tachikaze class destroyer

Soviet Union

• Kotlin class destroyer
• Kildin class destroyer
• Kanin class destroyer

United Kingdom

• County class destroyer

United States

• Farragut class destroyer
• Charles F. Adams class destroyer
• Spruance class destroyer

Disinformation from the Chinese below: 

China to ready 12 Type 054A stealth frigates by this year?

1.jpg (34.28 KB)

2010-10-5 09:56

China’s Type 054A Jiangkai II-class guided-missile frigates (FFGs)

At a conference last summer, a respected China scholar stated flatly that the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) halted development of its submarine fleet after taking delivery of the last of its Russian-built Kilo-class diesel attack boats in 2006. From such leading indicators he concluded that Beijing can do little more than issue ‘hollow threats’ against US naval operations in Asia. And it’s ‘hyperbole’ to think the Chinese military can contest US Navy access to regional waters.

This autumn, in a similar vein, some maritime specialists in places like Washington and Newport have taken to pointing out that the PLAN has built no new destroyers for its surface fleet for five years. Such reports imply, without quite coming out and saying it, that Beijing’s naval project has stalled or been deliberately terminated. If so, other seafaring nations like the United States and Japan can relax their guard, sparing taxpayers the expense and hazards of competing with China on the high seas.

To be sure, there’s a grain of truth to the speculation. Consider the no-new-submarines claim. The authoritative website GlobalSecurity shows that overall PLAN submarine totals remained nearly flat between 2007-2010. The subsurface fleet increased only marginally during this interval, rising from 62 to 63 boats. New construction barely outpaced the retirement of decrepit Cold War-era hulls.

But this is a momentary lull. Once the PLAN finishes shedding old assets, the submarine fleet will resume its upward
trajectory. Estimates indicate that the navy will add 10 modern Song- and Yuan-class diesel subs by 2015 and an additional 10 by 2020. If such projections are accurate, the fleet will be 78 boats strong. Moreover, this leaves aside the possibility, fanned by photos now circulating among China-watchers, that the PLAN is preparing to unveil a new class of diesel boats based partly on older craft, partly on Russian designs.

By contrast, the US Naval Vessel Register lists 54 US nuclear-powered attack submarines in commission, only 60 percent of which are stationed in the Pacific. This total may shrink given the strains on American acquisition budgets. Boat for boat, the US Navy undersea force remains superior to its emerging rival, but the weight of numbers is shifting increasingly toward China. This will remain true as long as the Chinese Navy remains concentrated in East Asia and the US Navy remains encumbered with worldwide commitments, attenuating the numbers available for deployment to any one trouble spot.

Next, consider surface combatants. A casual glance at Jane’s Fighting Ships shows that destroyer construction has indeed ceased for now. Between 2001 and 2005, the PLAN laid down six guided-missile destroyer (DDG) keels, namely two Type 051C Luzhous, two Type 052B Luyang Is, and two Type 052C Luyang IIs. DDGs represent the core of Chinese surface action groups and can screen major platforms — Russian-built Sovremenny destroyers or, eventually, aircraft carriers — against air and submarine attack.

The PLAN touts the Luyang II as the equal of the DDG-51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, the US Navy’s premier Aegis surface combatant (though whether it will live up to this billing is another matter.) The last of these DDGs joined the surface fleet in early 2007.

12 Jiangkais will be in service by this year

2.jpg (35.13 KB)

2010-10-5 09:56

Type 054A Jiangkai II-class guided-missile frigates (FFGs)

3.jpg (55.81 KB)

2010-10-5 09:56

Type 054A Jiangkai II-class guided-missile frigates (FFGs)

But there’s more to fleet development than destroyers. Ship construction has not stopped altogether; it has merely shifted around. China continues to lay down hulls for Type 054A Jiangkai II-class guided-missile frigates (FFGs), the most advanced ships of their type in the PLAN inventory. These FFGs are now entering service. GlobalSecurity.org projects that 12 Jiangkais will be in service by this year, 22 by 2015. The surface fleet clearly is not stagnating despite the halt in production of top-end combatants.

Moreover, China has been pouring resources into refurbishing the decommissioned Soviet aircraft carrier Varyag, most likely as a training platform for naval aviators. The Varyag was reportedly completed without a propulsion plant and certainly suffered from years of neglect. Correcting such deficiencies consumes time, effort, and resources that might otherwise have gone into additional surface warships.

And this leaves aside the new-construction flattops Beijing has more or less admitted it’s pursuing. Competing demands on finite resources begin to explain China’s on-and-off procurement process. Carrier construction is an enormous undertaking, and one that Chinese shipwrights have never before attempted. It is not at all surprising that the pace of manufacturing certain ship types would slacken to make way for high-profile projects like aircraft carriers.
Furthermore, the pause in destroyer construction would conform to the PLAN’s history of ‘fleet experimentation.’

That is, the dearth of serious threats to maritime security affords the Chinese Navy the leisure to build small batches of ships of different configurations, take them to sea, evaluate their performance, and incorporate the lessons-learned into future classes. Shipbuilders thereby improve on strengths and compensate for past shortcomings.

That the PLAN simultaneously built two apiece of three classes of DDGs, then, is noteworthy. The Luyang II class in
particular may be undergoing evaluation and redesign in keeping with longstanding practice. The likely result: a new,
improved DDG.

Beijing’s naval quest is simply entering another phase?

This would fit another pattern in Chinese naval development: the trend toward larger-displacement warships. The PLAN has derived successively heavier and more sophisticated ships from the same basic hull design, much as the US Navy used the same hull for Spruance-class destroyers, Kidd-class guided-missile destroyers, and Ticonderoga-class Aegis cruisers from the 1970s through the 1990s. And indeed, judging from photos now making the rounds, it appears the PLAN may be pursuing combatants exceeding 10,000 tons’ displacement.

These would be the biggest such vessels ever to slide down the ways in China. But such a bombshell would be nothing new. The PLAN sprang the Yuan submarine, the Type 022 Houbei fast patrol boat (a stealthy missile-armed catamaran), and the Luyang II itself on unsuspecting Western intelligence services. The only surprise would be if no further surprises lie in store. Serial production of heavy, long-range escorts is a logical step for Beijing as it lays the groundwork for aircraft-carrier task forces.

And the cautious, methodical approach to fleet development allows the Chinese naval leadership to hedge against premature investment in poor designs and systems. The reputation of the Chinese military-industrial complex for manufacturing substandard equipment confirms the wisdom of the go-slow approach. For example, China’s Xia-class nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarine has never conducted a single deterrent patrol since its debut in the 1980s. The Xia has been plagued by shoddy engineering and will likely be retired without ever performing its primary mission. Prudence inclines Chinese officials to guard against similar debacles.

In other words, the PLAN has been exploring a wide array of ship classes, combat systems, and weaponry, picking and choosing those best suited to Beijing’s operational and strategic needs. The evident pause in construction is probably a gestation period while the naval establishment debates the pros and cons of certain technologies. It’s far too soon for the United States and its Asian allies and friends to heave a sigh of relief. The safest assumption for Western strategists is that Beijing’s naval quest is simply entering another phase. (From the Diplomat)

Will 12 Type 054A Jiangkai II-class guided-missile frigates be in service by this year?

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  Bilayer Graphene Works as an Insulator: Research Has Potential Applications in Digital and Infrared Technologies

  January 25, 2012 — Physicists have identified a property of “bilayer graphene” that the researchers say is analogous to finding the Higgs boson in particle physics. The physicists found that when the number of electrons on the BLG sheet is close to 0, the material … > full story
• Soil Types; Public Health; Pests and Parasites; Diseases and Conditions; Infectious Diseases; Foodborne Illness;

  Availability and Use of Sanitation Reduces by Half the Likelihood of Parasitic Worm Infections

  January 25, 2012 — Access to sanitation facilities, such as latrines, reduces by half the risk of becoming infected by parasitic worms that are transmitted via soil, according to a new … > full story
• Agriculture and Food; Genetics; Nature; Pests and Parasites; Cell Biology; Insects (and Butterflies);

  ‘Green’ Pesticide Effective Against Citrus Pests

  January 25, 2012 — Researchers have discovered a key amino acid essential for human nutrition is also an effective insecticide against caterpillars that threaten the citrus … > full story
• Conflict; Pregnancy and Childbirth; Infant’s Health; Diet and Weight Loss; Birth Control; Gynecology;

  Study Shows Connection Between Birth Weights and Armed Conflict

  January 25, 2012 — A new study shows pregnant women exposed to armed conflict have a higher risk of giving birth to underweight … > full story

5 am EST

• Cholesterol; Triglycerides; Gene Therapy; Diseases and Conditions; Genes; Human Biology;

  With Mutation, You Can Have Your Cream and Eat It, Too

  January 25, 2012 — People who carry a malfunctioning copy of a particular gene are especially good at clearing fat from their systems. The report shows how the mutant gene influences metabolism in this … > full story
• Organic Chemistry; Chemistry; Graphene; Inorganic Chemistry; Pharmacology; Nanotechnology;
   

  Chemists Devise Chemical Reaction That Holds Promise for New Drug Development

  January 25, 2012 — Scientists have devised a new method for making complex molecules. The reaction they have come up with should enable chemists to synthesize new varieties of a whole subclass of organic compounds called nitrogen-containing heterocycles, thus opening … > full story
• Hypertension; Heart Disease; Smoking; Public Health; Health Policy; Blood Clots;

  Tobacco Smoking and High Blood Pressure Are Biggest Killers of Japanese Adults, Study Finds

  January 25, 2012 — The life expectancy of a person born in Japan is among the highest in the world (82.9 years) yet tobacco smoking and high blood pressure are still the major risk factors for death among adults in Japan, emphasizing the need to reduce tobacco smoking … > full story
• Endangered Plants; Botany; Agriculture and Food; Nature; Seeds; Genetics;

  Improving Crops from the Roots Up

  January 25, 2012 — Scientists have taken us a step closer to breeding hardier crops that can better adapt to different environmental conditions and fight off attack from … > full story
• Gender Difference; Menopause; HIV and AIDS; Women’s Health; Staying Healthy; Dogs;

  Love of a Dog or Cat Helps Women Cope With HIV/AIDS

  January 25, 2012 — A spoonful of medicine goes down a lot easier if there is a dog or cat around. Having pets is helpful for women living with HIV/AIDS and managing their chronic illness, according to a new … > full story

2 am EST

• Breast Cancer; Ovarian Cancer; Diseases and Conditions; Colon Cancer; Personalized Medicine; Women’s Health;

  Women With Certain Type of Ovarian Cancer and BRCA Gene Mutation Have Improved Survival at 5 Years

  January 25, 2012 — Among women with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer, patients having a germline (gene change in a reproductive cell that could be passed to offspring) mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes was associated with improved five-year overall survival, with … > full story
• Wind Energy; Renewable Energy; Energy and the Environment; Electricity; Solar Energy; Environmental Science;
   

  Power Generation Is Blowing in the Wind

  January 25, 2012 — By looking at the stability of the atmosphere, wind farm operators could gain greater insight into the amount of power generated at any given time. Power generated by a wind turbine largely depends on the wind speed. In a wind farm in which the … > full story
• Asthma; Children’s Health; Allergy; Attention Deficit Disorder; Diseases and Conditions; Chronic Illness;

  Addition of Proton Pump Inhibitor to Treatment of Poorly Controlled Asthma in Children Does Not Improve Symptoms

  January 25, 2012 — Children without symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux whose asthma was being poorly controlled with anti-inflammatory treatment did not have an improvement in symptoms or lung function with the added treatment of the proton pump inhibitor … > full story
• Biology; Endangered Plants; Genetics; Molecular Biology; Nature; Botany;

  Molecular Structure and Function of Essential Plant Hormone Could Profoundly Change Our Understanding of a Key Cell Process

  January 25, 2012 — A recent study investigating the molecular structure and function of an essential plant hormone could profoundly change our understanding of a key cell process, and might ultimately lead to the development of new drugs for a variety of … > full story
• Alcoholism; Addiction; Behavior; Today’s Healthcare; World Development; Nutrition Research;
   

  Homeless Heavy Drinkers Imbibe Less When Housing Allows Alcohol, Study Finds

  January 25, 2012 — A study of a controversial housing project that allows chronically homeless people with severe alcohol problems to drink in their apartments found that during their first two years in the building residents cut their heavy drinking by 35 … > full story

11 pm EST

• Liver Disease; HIV and AIDS; Infectious Diseases; Diseases and Conditions; Viruses; Virology;
   

  Entry Point for Hepatitis C Infection Identified

  January 24, 2012 — A molecule embedded in the membrane of human liver cells that aids in cholesterol absorption also allows the entry of hepatitis C virus, the first step in hepatitis C infection, according to new … > full story
• Ozone Holes; Environmental Issues; Atmosphere; Air Quality; Climate; Global Warming;
   

  Low Temperatures Enhance Ozone Degradation Above the Arctic

  January 24, 2012 — Extraordinarily cold temperatures in the winter of 2010/2011 caused the most massive destruction of the ozone layer above the Arctic so far: The mechanisms leading to the first ozone hole above the North Pole have now been … > full story
• Developmental Biology; Pregnancy and Childbirth; Stem Cells; Biology; Biotechnology; Genetics;

  Parental Controls on Embryonic Development?

  January 24, 2012 — When a sperm fertilizes an egg, each contributes a set of chromosomes to the resulting embryo, which at these very early stages is called a zygote. Early on, zygotic genes are inert, so embryonic development is largely controlled by parental … > full story
• Cell Biology; Molecular Biology; Biology; Genetics; Human Biology; Mice;

  Membrane Fusion a Mystery No More

  January 24, 2012 — The many factors that contribute to how cells communicate and function at the most basic level are still not fully understood, but researchers have uncovered a mechanism that helps explain how intracellular membranes fuse, and in the process, … > full story
• Smoking Addiction; Smoking; Behavior; Staying Healthy; Addiction; Lung Cancer;

  Poorest Smokers Face Toughest Odds for Kicking the Habit

  January 24, 2012 — Quitting smoking is never easy. However, when you’re poor and uneducated, kicking the habit for good is doubly hard, according to a new … > full story

8 pm EST

• Cholesterol; Diet and Weight Loss; Heart Disease; Nutrition; Obesity; Hypertension;

  High Levels of Fructose Consumption by Adolescents May Put Them at Cardiovascular Risk, Evidence Suggests

  January 24, 2012 — Evidence of cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk is present in the blood of adolescents who consume a lot of fructose, a scenario that worsens in the face of excess belly fat, researchers … > full story
• Geomagnetic Storms; Weather; Severe Weather; Storms; Atmosphere; Earth Science;
   

  Space Weather Arrives: Relatively Minor Impacts Expected from Solar Storm

  January 24, 2012 — A significant blast of energy from the sun arrived at Earth on Jan. 24, 2012 at 10 a.m. EST, triggering a moderate geomagnetic storm here that’s unlikely to cause major problems. But skywatchers take note: the storm could set off bright Northern and … > full story
• Brain Tumor; Brain Injury; Psychology Research; Neuroscience; Intelligence; Nervous System;

  The Big Picture: Long-Term Imaging Reveals Intriguing Patterns of Human Brain Maturation

  January 24, 2012 — Now, new research describes the first comprehensive study of coordinated anatomical maturation within the developing human brain. The study reveals that functionally connected brain regions mature together and uncovers fascinating sex-specific … > full story
• Insects (and Butterflies); Trees; Animals; Birds; New Species; Agriculture and Food;
   

  Wasp Found in Upstate New York Shows Up in Southern California

  January 24, 2012 — In August 2010, an entomologist at the University of California, Riverside discovered a tiny fairyfly wasp in upstate New York that had never been seen in the United States until then. Nearly exactly a year later, he discovered the wasp in Irvine, … > full story
• Mental Health Research; Schizophrenia; Mental Health; Disorders and Syndromes; Intelligence; Psychology Research;

  Brain Activity Linked to Delusion-Like Experience

  January 24, 2012 — People with schizophrenia showed greater brain activity during tests that induce a brief, mild form of delusional thinking. This effect wasn’t seen in a comparison group without … > full story

5 pm EST

• Genes; Human Biology; Personalized Medicine; Gene Therapy; Children’s Health; Down Syndrome;

  Is Short Stature Associated With a ‘Shortage’ of Genes?

  January 24, 2012 — New research sifts through the entire genome of thousands of human subjects to look for genetic variation associated with height. The results of the study suggest that uncommon genetic deletions are associated with short … > full story
• Computer Modeling; Computer Science; Climate; Distributed Computing; Mobile Computing; Environmental Issues;
   

  Supercomputers Take a Cue from Microwave Ovens: Co-Design May Be the Answer to Modeling Clouds and Other Big Problems

  January 24, 2012 — As sophisticated as modern climate models are, one critical component continues to elude their precision — clouds. Clouds modulate the climate. Experts agree that getting their effect on the climate system correct is critical to increasing … > full story
• Brain Tumor; Lung Cancer; Cancer; Ovarian Cancer; Breast Cancer; Lymphoma;

  Cell Signaling Key to Stopping Growth and Migration of Brain Cancer Cells

  January 24, 2012 — Inhibition of cell signaling through the Mer receptor tyrosine kinase pathway shown to both sensitize glioblastoma cells to chemotherapy and decrease their ability to migrate to other, non-targeted areas of the … > full story
• Floods; Water; Landslides; Sustainability; Hurricanes and Cyclones; Drought Research;
   

  Efforts to Control the ‘Mighty Mississippi’ Result in Flooded Farmland and Permanent Damage, Research Shows

  January 24, 2012 — When the water in the Mississippi River rose to 58 feet with a forecast of 60 feet or higher in May 2011, the emergency plan to naturally or intentionally breach the levees, established over 80 years prior, was put in motion. The flood of 1937 did … > full story
• Gender Difference; Racial Issues; Relationships; Scientific Conduct; Behavior; Conflict;

  It’s Evolution: Nature of Prejudice, Aggression Different for Men and Women

  January 24, 2012 — Prejudice against people from groups different than their own is linked to aggression for men and fear for women, suggests new … > full story

2 pm EST

• Stem Cells; Heart Disease; Stroke Prevention; Skin Cancer; Vioxx; Prostate Cancer;

  Newly Discovered Heart Stem Cells Make Muscle and Bone

  January 24, 2012 — Researchers have identified a new and relatively abundant pool of stem cells in the heart. The findings show that these heart cells have the capacity for long-term expansion and can form a variety of cell types, including muscle, bone, neural and … > full story
• Extreme Survival; Origin of Life; Global Warming; Endangered Plants; Nature; Environmental Science;
   

  New Study Sheds Light on Evolutionary Origin of Oxygen-Based Cellular Respiration

  January 24, 2012 — Researchers in Japan have clarified the crystal structure of quinol dependent nitric oxide reductase (qNOR), a bacterial enzyme that offers clues on the origins of our earliest oxygen-breathing ancestors. In addition to their importance to … > full story
• Breast Cancer; Heart Disease; Diseases and Conditions; Cholesterol; Vioxx; Stroke Prevention;

  Breast Cancer and Heart Disease May Have Common Roots

  January 24, 2012 — Women who are at risk for breast cancer may also be at greater risk for heart disease, new research has … > full story
• Cell Biology; Molecular Biology; Biology; Human Biology; Genetics; Biochemistry Research;
   

  How Cells Dispose of Their Waste: Researchers Reveal the Structure of the Cellular Protein Degradation Machinery

  January 24, 2012 — Defective proteins that are not disposed of by the body can cause diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. Scientists recently succeeded in revealing the structure of the cellular protein degradation machinery (26S proteasome) by … > full story
• Psychedelic Drugs; Intelligence; Brain Tumor; Psychology Research; Neuroscience; Nervous System;

  Magic Mushrooms’ Effects Illuminated in Brain Imaging Studies

  January 24, 2012 — Brain scans of people under the influence of the psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, have given scientists the most detailed picture to date of how psychedelic drugs work. The findings of two new studies identify areas of the brain … > full story

11 am EST

• Nervous System; Hair Loss; Skin Care; Psoriasis; Bone and Spine; Diseases and Conditions;

  How Skin Is Wired for Touch

  January 24, 2012 — Compared to our other senses, scientists don’t know much about how our skin is wired for the sensation of touch. Now, new research provides the first picture of how specialized neurons feel light touches, like a brush of movement or a vibration, are … > full story
• Dementia; Alzheimer’s; Alzheimer’s Research; Healthy Aging; Intelligence; Disorders and Syndromes;
   

  Lifelong Brain-Stimulating Habits Linked to Lower Alzheimer’s Protein Levels

  January 24, 2012 — People who have made mental engagement a lifelong habit have lower levels of a key protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study by neuroscientists. The findings could provide support for cognitive therapies to help prevent the … > full story
• Memory; Intelligence; Dementia; Neuroscience; Behavior; Psychology;

  Greater Brain Activation After Cognitive Rehabilitation for MS

  January 24, 2012 — Scientists have documented increased cerebral activation in patients with multiple sclerosis following memory retraining using modified Story Memory Technique. This study is the first to demonstrate that behavioral interventions can have a positive … > full story
• Water; Seeds; Sustainability; Environmental Issues; Trees; Pollution;

  ‘Miracle Tree’ Substance Produces Clean Drinking Water Inexpensively and Sustainably

  January 24, 2012 — A natural substance obtained from seeds of the “miracle tree” could purify and clarify water inexpensively and sustainably in the developing world, where more than 1 billion people lack access to clean drinking water, scientists … > full story
• Anger Management; Relationships; Behavior; Child Psychology;

  To ‘Think Outside the Box,’ Think Outside the Box

  January 24, 2012 — Want to think outside the box? Try actually thinking outside of a box. In a new study, researchers had students think up solutions to problems while acting out various metaphors about creative thinking and found that the instructions actually … > full story

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Health & Medicine

Diseases, Cancer, Diabetes, Heart, Obesity, HIV/AIDS, Stem Cells …

With Mutation, You Can Have Your Cream and Eat It, Too

People who carry a malfunctioning copy of a particular gene are especially good at clearing fat from their systems. The report shows how the mutant gene influences metabolism in this …  > full story

• Tobacco Smoking and High Blood Pressure Are Biggest Killers of Japanese Adults, Study Finds
• Women With Certain Type of Ovarian Cancer and BRCA Gene Mutation Have Improved Survival at 5 Years
• Addition of Proton Pump Inhibitor to Treatment of Poorly Controlled Asthma in Children Does Not Improve Symptoms
• Membrane Fusion a Mystery No More
• more stories

Mind & Brain

Psychology, Mental Health, Child Development, ADHD, Headaches …

 

Homeless Heavy Drinkers Imbibe Less When Housing Allows Alcohol, Study Finds

A study of a controversial housing project that allows chronically homeless people with severe alcohol problems to drink in their apartments found that during their first two years in the building residents cut their heavy drinking by 35 …  > full story

• Poorest Smokers Face Toughest Odds for Kicking the Habit
• The Big Picture: Long-Term Imaging Reveals Intriguing Patterns of Human Brain Maturation
• Brain Activity Linked to Delusion-Like Experience
• Cell Signaling Key to Stopping Growth and Migration of Brain Cancer Cells
• more stories

Living Well

Diet, Nutrition, Fitness, Insomnia, Sexual Health, Alternative Med …

High Levels of Fructose Consumption by Adolescents May Put Them at Cardiovascular Risk, Evidence Suggests

Evidence of cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk is present in the blood of adolescents who consume a lot of fructose, a scenario that worsens in the face of excess belly fat, researchers …  > full story

• It’s Evolution: Nature of Prejudice, Aggression Different for Men and Women
• How Skin Is Wired for Touch
• Lifelong Brain-Stimulating Habits Linked to Lower Alzheimer’s Protein Levels
• To ‘Think Outside the Box,’ Think Outside the Box
• more stories

Biological & Earth Sciences

---

Plants & Animals

Biology, Genetics, New Species, Animal Behavior, Zoology …

Improving Crops from the Roots Up

Scientists have taken us a step closer to breeding hardier crops that can better adapt to different environmental conditions and fight off attack from …  > full story

• Love of a Dog or Cat Helps Women Cope With HIV/AIDS
• Molecular Structure and Function of Essential Plant Hormone Could Profoundly Change Our Understanding of a Key Cell Process
• Entry Point for Hepatitis C Infection Identified
• Parental Controls on Embryonic Development?
• more stories

Earth & Climate

Global Warming, Pollution, Geology, Natural Disasters, Weather …

 

Low Temperatures Enhance Ozone Degradation Above the Arctic

Extraordinarily cold temperatures in the winter of 2010/2011 caused the most massive destruction of the ozone layer above the Arctic so far: The mechanisms leading to the first ozone hole above the North Pole have now been …  > full story

• Space Weather Arrives: Relatively Minor Impacts Expected from Solar Storm
• Wasp Found in Upstate New York Shows Up in Southern California
• Efforts to Control the ‘Mighty Mississippi’ Result in Flooded Farmland and Permanent Damage, Research Shows
• ‘Miracle Tree’ Substance Produces Clean Drinking Water Inexpensively and Sustainably
• more stories

Fossils & Ruins

Anthropology, Archaeology, Early Humans, Dinosaurs, Evolution …

 

New Study Sheds Light on Evolutionary Origin of Oxygen-Based Cellular Respiration

Researchers in Japan have clarified the crystal structure of quinol dependent nitric oxide reductase (qNOR), a bacterial enzyme that offers clues on the origins of our earliest oxygen-breathing ancestors. In addition to their importance to …  > full story

• Waiting for Death Valley’s Big Bang: Volcanic Explosion Crater May Have Future Potential
• Unusual ‘Tulip’ Creature Discovered: Lived in the Ocean More Than 500 Million Years Ago
• When It Comes to Accepting Evolution, Gut Feelings Trump Facts
• First Physical Evidence of Tobacco in Mayan Container
• more stories

Physical & Applied Sciences

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Space & Time

Astronomy, Big Bang, Solar System, Black Holes, Extrasolar Planets …

 

Solar Dynamics Observatory Helps Measure Magnetic Fields on the Sun’s Surface

A subset of data that helps map out the sun’s magnetic fields was recently released from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Observations that measure the strength and direction of magnetic fields on the solar surface — known as vector …  > full story

• Revisiting the ‘Pillars of Creation’
• Catching a Comet Death on Camera
• Hearty Bacteria Help Make Case for Life in the Extreme
• Helix Nebula in New Colors
• more stories

Matter & Energy

Chemistry, Physics, Solar Energy, Wind Energy, Nanotechnology …

 

Chemists Devise Chemical Reaction That Holds Promise for New Drug Development

Scientists have devised a new method for making complex molecules. The reaction they have come up with should enable chemists to synthesize new varieties of a whole subclass of organic compounds called nitrogen-containing heterocycles, thus opening …  > full story

• Power Generation Is Blowing in the Wind
• Tactile Imaging Sensor Can Assist Doctors With Early Identification of Tumors
• Metadynamics Technique Offers Insight Into Mineral Growth and Dissolution
• Ultrafast Magnetic Processes Observed ‘Live’ Using an X-Ray Laser
• more stories

Computers & Math

Computer Science, Math Models, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence …

 

Supercomputers Take a Cue from Microwave Ovens: Co-Design May Be the Answer to Modeling Clouds and Other Big Problems

As sophisticated as modern climate models are, one critical component continues to elude their precision — clouds. Clouds modulate the climate. Experts agree that getting their effect on the climate system correct is critical to increasing …  > full story

• New Tool Enhances View of Muscles
• Cooling Semiconductors by Laser Light
• Theory Explains How New Material Could Improve Electronic Shelf Life
• People Behave Socially and ‘Well’ Even Without Rules, Online Avatar Study Shows
• more stories

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Jupiter’s Trojan Asteroids in Single Atom

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Winged Dinosaur Was Dressed for Flight

New Electron Interactions in Quantum Systems

Sunshade Geoengineering OK for Food Supply?

New Material Cleans Spent Nuclear Fuel

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Baby Treadmill

Kinesiologsts developed a tiny treadmill to help infants with Down Syndrome learn to balance themselves earlier. Typically, these children learn how. …  > full story

• Interactive Telecommunications Researchers Develop A Device For Plants To Send Text Messages
• Cyber Forensic Researchers Make The Call: Crime Scene Evidence Is Quickly Extracted From Mobile Phones
• Biophysicists Grow Pretty Bacteria In Petri Dishes To Find Antibiotics
• more science videos

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• Delta diverts polar flights due to solar storm
• Delta diverts polar flights due to solar storm
• Sumatran elephants driven closer to extinction: WWF
• Keeping brain sharp may ward off Alzheimer’s protein
• Sun hurls strong geomagnetic storm toward Earth
• more science news

In Other News …

• Even without Hormuz blockade, Iran has options
• Merkel urges EU to bury cliche of bullying Germany
• Greece hoping for debt swap deal as early as this week
• EU exec sticks to size of taxpayer part of 2nd Greek bailout
• EU exec sticks to agreed size of taxpayer contribution to 2nd
• Iran’s Ahmadinejad ups rates to stem money crisis
• Citi mulls more cuts in securities and banking
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Strange Science News

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• ‘Speed Gene’ in Modern Racehorses Originated from British Mare 300 Years Ago, Scientists Claim
• Scientists Produce World’s First Magnetic Soap
• Ancient Domesticated Dog Skull Found in Siberian Cave: 33,000 Years Old
• Speed Limit for Birds: Researchers Find Critical Speed Above Which Birds — And Drones — Are Sure to Crash
• Worm Seeks Worm: Chemical Cues Drive Aggregation in Nematodes
• more strange science news

• Russian Scientist’s Claim of Life on Venus Proven False

  A respected Russian scientist claims to have found signs of life on Venus in photographs taken by a Soviet probe 30 years ago. However, outside analysis suggests he is breathing life into an assortment of camera lens covers and image blurs.

• 

  Weaker sun will not delay global warming: study Reuters – Mon, Jan 23, 2012LONDON (Reuters) – A weaker sun over the next 90 years is not likely to significantly delay a rise in global temperature caused by greenhouse gases, a report said Monday. … More »Weaker sun will not delay global warming: study

  

  LONDON (Reuters) – A weaker sun over the next 90 years is not likely to significantly delay a rise in global temperature caused by greenhouse gases, a report said Monday. The study, by Britain’s Meteorological Office and the university of Reading, found that the Sun’s output would decrease up until 2100 but this would only …

• 

  Weaker sun will not delay global warming Reuters – Mon, Jan 23, 2012LONDON (Reuters) – A weaker sun over the next 90 years is not likely to significantly delay a rise in global temperature caused by greenhouse gases, a report said on … More »Weaker sun will not delay global warming

  

  LONDON (Reuters) – A weaker sun over the next 90 years is not likely to significantly delay a rise in global temperature caused by greenhouse gases, a report said on Monday. The study, by Britain’s Meteorological Office and the university of Reading, found that the Sun’s output would decrease up until 2100 but this would …

• 

  Scientists find new plant in Fiji AFP – Fri, Jan 20, 2012Scientists have discovered a new flowering plant belonging to the scarce Medinilla group on Fiji’s Kadavu island, the International Union for Conservation of Nature said … More »Scientists find new plant in Fiji

  

  Scientists have discovered a new flowering plant belonging to the scarce Medinilla group on Fiji’s Kadavu island, the International Union for Conservation of Nature said on Friday.

• 

  Iran says scientist’s killer may have used U.N. info Reuters – Thu, Jan 19, 2012UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Iran charged on Thursday that assassins who killed an Iranian nuclear scientist in Tehran last week may have used information obtained from … More »Iran says scientist’s killer may have used U.N. info

  

  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Iran charged on Thursday that assassins who killed an Iranian nuclear scientist in Tehran last week may have used information obtained from the United Nations. Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, 32, was killed by a motorbike hitman who put a magnetic bomb on his car on a street during the morning rush hour …

• Killer Whales Targeting Sea Lion Pups, Alarming Scientists LiveScience.com – Thu, Jan 19, 2012Killer whales and other ocean predators are targeting and killing the pups of a threatened northern sea lion species at an increasingly high rate, scientists warned this … More »Killer Whales Targeting Sea Lion Pups, Alarming Scientists

  Killer whales and other ocean predators are targeting and killing the pups of a threatened northern sea lion species at an increasingly high rate, scientists warned this week.

• NASA Debunks Mysterious Triangular ‘UFO’ SPACE.com – Thu, Jan 19, 2012Once again, alien conspiracy theorists have attempted to use publicly available NASA images to prove that the space agency must be engaging in an elaborate UFO cover-up. … More »NASA Debunks Mysterious Triangular ‘UFO’

  Once again, alien conspiracy theorists have attempted to use publicly available NASA images to prove that the space agency must be engaging in an elaborate UFO cover-up. And, once again, they’ve been foiled by the laws of physics.

• G-Spot: Science Can’t Find It After 60 Years, Study Says LiveScience.com – Wed, Jan 18, 2012Many women swear they have one, but a new review of 60 years of sex research shows science still can’t definitively find the G-spot. More »

 

LEADERSHIP |  Comment

3 Secrets To Recruiting Tech Talent In Tough Markets

BY Shane SnowToday

Running a tech company and looking for Ruby developers? Got a “great idea” for a startup, and all you need is a programmer? Congratulations! You’ve just joined the 10,000 other geeks in the same coder-starved boat, especially if you live in a tech hub like Silicon Valley or New York. Fortunately for cash-strapped startups, money and perks aren’t the answer to hiring talent. READ»

 

MEGAUPLOAD |  Comment

RapidShare Responds To Megaupload Comparisons: Only 5% Of Our Files Are Pirated

BY Austin CarrToday

RapidShare attorney Daniel Raimer explains why the amount of pirated content a service hosts is not the proper metric for deciding whether it deserves the same fate as Megaupload.READ»

 

AMAZON |  Comment

Unmasking A Digital Pirate On Amazon

BY Adam PenenbergToday

A Kuwaiti national using fake names and selling others’ copyrighted stories in the Kindle Store sheds light on black hat hacker forums–and the theft, taboo sex, and swindles festering in the recesses of Amazon.READ»

 

FAST FEED |  Comment

Google Privacy Changes To Unite User Tracking Info, Yahoo Posts Tepid Q4 Earnings, Obama Announces Trade Practice Monitor

BY Nidhi SubbaramanToday

Breaking news from your editors at Fast Company, with updates all day. READ»

 

CO.CREATE

More Than Luck: David Milch and Michael Mann On Their HBO Collaboration

BY Susan KarlinTue Jan 24, 2012

Powerhouse producers David Milch and Michael Mann ensured a smooth production process by staking out clear territories in HBO’s new horse-racing drama, “Luck.” But that didn’t mean they weren’t open to a little give and take … READ»

 

CO.EXIST

A New Service For Africa Gets Rid Of Pain At The Panel

BY Ben SchillerTue Jan 24, 2012

Much of Africa is lit and powered by polluting and unhealthy kerosene. But plans to leapfrog the country to renewables often come up against the lack of funds to purchase panels. But Eight19 has a model to get solar power into African … READ»

 

CO.DESIGN

A Seat Made From Hand-Folded Sheets Of Paper

BY Belinda LanksTue Jan 24, 2012

Cecilie Manz is a demi-goddess of product design: She may lack the name recognition of Patricia Urquiola or Hella Jongerius, but the Dane’s varied output is consistently (and understatedly) first rate. Take, for instance, her design … READ»

 

MICROSOFT |  Comment

How Good Are You at Loving?

By Elliot D. Cohen, Ph.D. on January, 25, 2012 in What Would Aristotle Do?

You can get better (or worse) at loving someone. It is also possible to rank how well you are doing at loving someone. In fact, I will provide a “love inventory” that will help you to determine just how good you (or your significant others) really are at loving. Read More

Relationships

Falling in Love with a Culture and a Language

By Francois Grosjean, Ph.D. on January, 25, 2012 in Life as a Bilingual

Some people fall in love with a new culture and language. The way Julia Child discovered the French culture and language, and French cuisine – and became enamored with all three – is very moving. Read More

Health

90 Minute Checkup – A Doctor’s Discovery of Health

By Shawn A. Tassone, M.D. on January, 24, 2012 in The 90 Minute Checkup

I remember waiting at the doctor’s office. I filled out the 4 to 5 pages of personal information. Carefully laid out the medications I had been prescribed and the reasons why I was being referred. I was a bit nervous because I was having horrendous abdominal pain that was radiating to my chest and back. Read More

Autism

A Dream That Leads To A Nightmare

By Lynne Soraya on January, 24, 2012 in Asperger’s Diary

Last night, I had a dream. I was in a store with family, and I had an outburst, what we in the autism community call a meltdown. As the stress and frustration boiled over, I had to get out. So I ran.Outside the store, I found a quiet corner in which to stand and wait for my family to be done. Read More

Gender

Breaking A Glass Ceiling With a Bat and a Ball: How Women Influence Sports

By Vivian Diller, Ph.D. on January, 24, 2012 in Face It

It’s about this time of year, as football winds down and the Super Bowl approaches, that sports fans like me start their countdown to MLB Spring Training. Twenty three days, 16 hours and 45 minutes to go — yes, there’s an app for that — ’til Pitchers and Catchers report. Read More

Eating Disorders

The Curious Incident of the Fish Sticks in the Nighttime

By Carrie Arnold on January, 24, 2012 in Body of Evidence

Visiting hours were soon, and if I wanted to see my parents, I had to finish my dinner. I truly didn’t have an out. If I didn’t eat on tray sitting, I knew my doctor would order a nasogastric tube. If I refused that, he would get a court order to have one placed. So ever reluctantly, I picked up my fork and started eating. Read More

Philosophy

The Jews and Capitalism

By Walter E. Block on January, 24, 2012 in Defending the Undefendable

I. IntroductionThere is no doubt that at least in some sense, there is a love hate relationship between Jews and Capitalism.On the one hand, there is a strong tradition of support for socialism, communism, labor unionism, feminism, affirmative action, within the Jewish community. Read More

Relationships

Time is the currency of self-esteem

By Lynne Griffin on January, 24, 2012 in Field Guide to Families

“How do I give my child a self-esteem?” “If my child doesn’t get a [fill in with sticker, souvenir, lollipop, trophy etc] won’t that damage his self-esteem?”People ask me lots of questions about self-esteem as if it’s an entity or unit that can be measured.  Yet “the self- esteem” doesn’t sit in some mysterious place in our minds or bodies. Read More

Ethics and Morality

Life Lessons From a Poodle

By Jory Goodman, M.D. on January, 24, 2012 in Attention, Please

It has been said that we live in the information age. Most people have more access to more information–fact, fiction, reality, opinion…–than ever before. Simultaneously we live in an age where the quality of primary and secondary education has deteriorated steadily. More and more people spend more and more time in cyberspace than in reality. Read More

Ethics and Morality

Powerful Psychiatrists Push False Theory on Unknowing Souls

By Paula J. Caplan, Ph.D. on January, 24, 2012 in Science Isn’t Golden

Top psychiatrists conceal truth from depressed patients Read More

Self-Help

Breaking Up is Awkward–But Needn’t Trigger Depression

By Susan Heitler, Ph.D. on January, 24, 2012 in Resolution, Not Conflict

Relationship endings can be disheartening. It is possible though to lower the risk that a breakup will lead to depression. The same strategy works whether you are the one who initiates the breakup or the one who receives the bad news. Read More

Parenting

What Your Five Year-Old Needs To Know About Sex

By Fred Kaeser, Ed.D. on January, 24, 2012 in What Your Child Needs To Know About Sex (And When)

When our kids are infants, many of us really don’t think a whole lot about what we’re going to say to them about sex when they get older. For the most part the stuff we’re going to discuss with them later on is not even on our radar screen as yet. And even if it is, it is all so far off in the future that we think we have a bunch of time to prepare for it, correct? Read More

Work

Listen Your Way Up the Ladder

By Nancy Ancowitz on January, 24, 2012 in Self-Promotion for Introverts

“We think we listen, but we don’t,” says Nancy Kline in her book Time to Think. “We finish each other’s sentences, we interrupt each other, we moan together, we fill in the pauses with our own stories, we look at our watches, we sigh, frown, tap our finger, read the newspaper or walk away. We give advice, give advice, give advice.” Read More

Neuroscience

Reality Check

By Susan R. Barry, Ph.D. on January, 24, 2012 in Eyes on the Brain

We may mistake a change in our bodies for a change in the outside world. Read More

Relationships

Top 10 Wrecking Balls Of Love

By John R. Buri, Ph.D. on January, 24, 2012 in Love Bytes

Love doesn’t simply die for no reason…just as a building doesn’t fall for no reason. Here are the Top 10 Wrecking Balls of Love. Read More

Integrative Medicine

Mind and Heart: The Doorways to Existence

By Marilyn Mitchell, M.D. on January, 24, 2012 in Heart and Soul Healing

We get into trouble when we listen to the voice of our mind and identify it as who we are. We are not our minds, but a much greater consciousness. Read More

Stress

The Biggest Myth in Time Management

By Peter Bregman on January, 24, 2012 in How We Work

The truth is, we can’t ever really get away from it. There is no escaping the nonstop surge of email, text, voicemail, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn — and that’s just the technology-based stream. How can we ever catch up? We can’t. Read More

Creativity

Commitment to the Creative Life

By Dennis Palumbo on January, 24, 2012 in Hollywood on the Couch

As a psychotherapist, one of the themes that often emerges in my work with patients is commitment. In dealing with relationship issues, for example, the depth of a commitment is tested by fears about the future, questions about trust and fidelity, and concerns about the tension between dependence and independence. Read More

Happiness

Am I worthy? Lesson 1 in Vulnerability

By Jaime Booth Cundy, BSW, MAPP on January, 24, 2012 in The Beauty in the Beast

When you finally allow people to see who you are they may reject you and you can’t protect your ego by saying that they didn’t really know you. That thought alone terrifies me. Read More

Child Development

Evaluate Yourself as a Coach

By Catherine McCall, MS, LMFT on January, 24, 2012 in Overcoming Child Abuse

I married into a large Irish/Italian Catholic family of athletes, coaches, and teachers. My husband, an athlete himself, was the baby of the family by 10 years and more. We watched his married brothers and sister organize their lives around their children’s sports schedules for years. Read More

Addiction

A Possible Cure for Sexual Addiction—In an Essay

By Ravi Chandra, M.D. on January, 24, 2012 in The Pacific Heart

David Mura’s classic essay is an absolute must read for anyone interested in how male sexuality interacts with pornography and other sexual addictions. The essay goes right to the heart, and makes it possible to “cure” pornography addiction in about 10,000 words that stimulate deep reflection and maturation. Read More

Self-Help

Why Leaders Have More Willpower, and More Willpower Failures

By Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D. on January, 24, 2012 in The Science of Willpower

In my Science of Willpower course, we talk about willpower as a strength that can be trained. I encourage people to think of themselves as willpower athletes. Try doing something harder than you’re used to; dig in to your determination and motivation; trust that by training, the difficult will become easier. Read More

Relationships

See Beings Not Bodies

By Rick Hanson, Ph.D. on January, 24, 2012 in Your Wise Brain

When we encounter someone, the mind summarizes & simplifies tons of details. Though fast and efficient this process has lots of problems Read More

Animal Behavior

Cat Killed and Defaced As a Political Statement

By Marc Bekoff on January, 24, 2012 in Animal Emotions

Sometimes it’s difficult to figure out why some people do what they do to other animals. Our relationships with animals are often challenging, frustrating, complicated, and ambiguous, and this incident should surely make everyone reflect on how we interact with other animals and why some people do the heinous things they do to innocent beings. Read More

Parenting

Training Family Court Judges About Parental Alienation: A Lot to Think About

By Amy J.L. Baker, Ph.D. on January, 24, 2012 in Caught Between Parents

I have been asked to develop and give a one-hour training to family court judges and I am thrilled at the prospect of have an opportunity to speak directly to them about this issue that is near and dear to my and their hearts. Read More

Stress

The Association Between Violence and PTSD

By Tracy Stecker, Ph.D. on January, 24, 2012 in Survivors

“It is better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness” Confuscius. The worst part for him was standing there watching, not being able to do anything to help as he watched an Afghan man whip an innocent 8-year old Afghan boy at his captain’s urging. Read More

Parenting

The Minds of Abused and Alienated Children

By Amy J.L. Baker, Ph.D. on January, 24, 2012 in Caught Between Parents

As I continue to read first-hand accounts of individuals who have been abducted, I gain increasing insight into the mind of abused and alienated children. Read More

Psychiatry

Defenses From DSM 5 Get ‘Curiouser and Curiouser’

By Allen J. Frances, M.D. on January, 24, 2012 in DSM5 in Distress

Elizabeth Lopatto has written an excellent piece in today’s Bloomberg News summarizing concerns that DSM 5 will expand the boundaries of psychiatry, increase the already existing diagnostic inflation, and promote the excessive use of medications to treat life problems that don’t really require them. Read More

Parenting

Occupying the Toy Aisle One Pink Lego at a Time

By Polly Palumbo, Ph.D. on January, 24, 2012 in Momma Data

A drama has settled over Lego’s new Heartlake City, a pink and purple village with girly figures sporting hearts and butterfies. The feminized, pre-assembled play sets that include a beauty shop, bakery and stage have been accused of promoting gender roles, sexualizing girls and stunting spatial abilities. Are toys marketed towards girls really so harmful? Read More

Work

Why Ask “So, What Do You Do?”

By Lissa Rankin, M.D. on January, 24, 2012 in Owning Pink

The 15 minutes of fame garnered by my blog, my books, and my social media success lead strangers to reach out and ask to meet me from time to time. Read More

Apple CEO Tim Cook Touches On Kindle Fire, Android, Windows Phone

BY Austin CarrTue Jan 24, 2012

Offering a rare peek inside the famously secretive company, Apple’s earnings are watched by every industry analyst and news outlet–and even live blogged in some instances, like a worldwide sporting event.READ»

 

CO.DESIGN

12 Famous Chairs Designed By Famous Architects

BY Suzanne LaBarreTue Jan 24, 2012

You can tell a lot about architects by the furniture they design. Take Zaha Hadid, who whips up sleek, liquidy tables that look every bit as futuristic as her buildings. Or Frank Gehry, whose cardboard Wiggle chair summons the same … READ»

 

CO.DESIGN

An Ecosystem For Growing Your Own Veggies At Home And Indoors

BY Belinda LanksTue Jan 24, 2012

Food accounts for about 13 percent of trash in the United States, the third-largest component behind paper and yard trimmings. Although composting may be the natural extension of recycling paper, metal, and plastic, many urbanites … READ»

 

CO.DESIGN

Sign Of The Times: Safety Maps Help You Plan For Catastrophe

BY Tim MalyTue Jan 24, 2012

Most of us live in places saturated with comms signals. We carry phones in our pockets and we’ve come to rely on them for coordinating our movements. As Clay Shirky points out, we’ve basically replaced planning with coordination. We … READ»

 

E. COIL

Tricking Stomach Microbes To Convert Seaweed To Fuel

BY Scientific AmericanTue Jan 24, 2012

Seaweed grows fast and naturally without fertilizer and is a better source of biofuel than most land-based plants. And with a little alteration, our good friend E. coli loves to eat it and spit out fuel. READ»

 

APPLE |  Comment

Apple Beats Estimates Again: $46.33 Billion In Revenues, $13.06 Billion In Profit

BY Kit EatonTue Jan 24, 2012

Apple’s just reported its first quarter finances for this year, and they’re astonishing. Again. READ»

 

MEGAUPLOAD |  Comment

RapidShare Attorney: If We’re Shut Down Like Megaupload, Then YouTube, Dropbox, Apple’s iCloud Are Next

BY Austin CarrTue Jan 24, 2012

RapidShare is one of the world’s most popular file-hosting sites, and many have wondered whether the site could be next on the feds’ list of targets after Megaupload.READ»

 

CO.DESIGN

Leo Burnett’s Short, Sweet Guide To Creative Satisfaction (And Making Money) [Video]

BY John PavlusTue Jan 24, 2012

Whether you believe it or not, Google’s (in)famous motto, “Don’t be evil,” is one of the most unambiguous value statements by a major company. Leo Burnett, the legendary ad executive and founder of an eponymous agency, delivered a … READ»

 

CO.DESIGN

Two Porsche Cayennes Made Entirely of Wood And Smashed

BY James GaddyTue Jan 24, 2012

The German duo Köbberling and Kaltwasser are obsessed with wood, but only as an anachronistic take on contemporary modes of transportation. In the past two years, they’ve built a bulldozer made from discarded panels of the Olympic … READ»

 

LEADERSHIP |  Comment

Leadership Lessons From Community Maven Tara Hunt: When Not To Listen To The Crowd

BY Lydia DishmanTue Jan 24, 2012

Any entrepreneur or community-building connector worth their salt should know when to crowdsource, and when to listen to their inner voice.READ»

 

CO.EXIST

Can Google’s Thrun Create The First Real Online College Degree?

BY EdSurgeTue Jan 24, 2012

After helping to pioneer a selection of online courses at Stanford, the man behind the driverless car is leaving the ivory tower to do something potentially more groundbreaking: start a high-quality online university. READ»

To Be A Better Leader, Learn How To Referee Work Relationships

When you are able to put on the striped black-and-white referee shirt and mediate conflict–when you take responsibility for fostering cooperation, collaboration, and collegiality between coworkers–you’ve taken a large step toward becoming a more productive and valuable leader.READ»

Strongest solar storm since 2005 hitting Earth

• Mysterious ‘Winged’ Structure from Ancient Rome Discovered

• Huge Solar Eruption Sparks Strongest Radiation Storm in 7 Ye …

• Conservatives & Liberals Don’t See Eye-to-Eye, Literally
• Celestial Stunner: Venus to Cross Face of Sun This Year
• Magic Mushrooms Trip Up Brain Activity
• Rare Sea Creature Appears on Seattle Woman’s Dock

Analysts: New software won’t save Blackberry maker

In the trend-setting North American market, BlackBerry phones have gone from must-have messaging toys to outdated clunkers —all in the space of a few years. The new CEO of Research In Motion Ltd., the company behind the phones, says it can claw its way back to the top with new software, but analysts are deeply doubtful. More »Analysts: New software won’t save Blackberry maker

Google’s 4Q lobbying bill triples to $3.76 mi …

Google’s U.S. lobbying bill more than tripled to $3.76 million in … More »Google’s 4Q lobbying bill triples to $3.76 mi …

Warrant needed for GPS tracking, high court says

In a rare defeat for law enforcement, the Supreme Court unanimously agreed on Monday to … More »Warrant needed for GPS tracking, high court says

Philadelphia News Change location

• Premier Research Appoints Etienne Drouet Executive Director, …citybizlist Philadelphia – 21 hrs ago
• BluPanda Raises $702K – cblcitybizlist Philadelphia – Sun, Jan 22, 2012

 

Race and Ethnicity

The Culture of Race

By Ruth C. White, Ph.D. on January, 23, 2012 in Culture in Mind

W.E.B. DuBois once said that the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line. As the twenty-first century enters its second decade the color line is sitll a problem. But now there are fancier names than racism; names like racial disproportionality and racial disparities.  What is Race?Race is what we see and how we feel but race is not who we are. Read More

Relationships

The Malignant Divorce: Has NASA Gone Postal?

By Mark Banschick, M.D. on January, 23, 2012 in The Intelligent Divorce

Heaven has no rage like love betrayed   We owe the term “going postal” to a series of killing sprees instigated by postal workers. It would seem that, sadly, a new term “going NASA” is in the works. On January 13th 2012, Shannon O’Roark Griffin become the second former NASA employee to commit a crime of vengeful rage. Read More

Relationships

What Matters to You and Why?

By Thomas G. Plante, Ph.D. on January, 23, 2012 in Do the Right Thing

If you want to truly connect with someone, talk about what matters…what really matters! Too often we interact with others (and make judgments about them as well) based on very superficial information such as appearances. Or we don’t feel that we really connect with someone partially because our conversation is about something that isn’t very fulfilling or satisfying. Read More

Politics

Fighting Fire With Fire: Psychology Lessons From Newt

By Dr. Jeremy Sherman on January, 23, 2012 in Ambigamy

The debate exchange between Newt Gingrich and John King highlights the psychopath’s gift for climbing into power and how, to beat it we need to be able to join it as necessary. Read More

Personality

Quiet Excitement

By Barbara Markway, Ph.D. on January, 23, 2012 in Shyness Is Nice

Susan Cain’s book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, comes out January 24th. In honor of the book’s release, I’ve compiled a list of famous quotes that point to the value of quiet. Read More

Relationships

My College Friend Suddenly Cut Off Our Friendship

By Irene S. Levine, Ph.D. on January, 23, 2012 in The Friendship Doctor

While I was in college I decided to room with one of my really good friends that I had made at school. Things seemed to go great that year and I felt that we had become really close. However, near the end of that school year she suddenly left for home and refused to take my calls. Read More

Social Life

The Secret of Credit

By Ken Eisold, Ph.D. on January, 23, 2012 in Hidden Motives

Trust Is the Glue . . . Most of us view trust as valuable and desirable, something that improves the quality of our personal lives. We seldom take the next step and view it as indispensable, a vital ingredient in society — and in the economy. Read More

Self-Help

Carry Your Brain in Your Pocket

By Joseph Cardillo on January, 23, 2012 in Attention Training

Whether your musical taste is Bono, Billie Holiday or Celine Dion, you can customize playlists (a combination of your favorite songs) to keep you in an optimized mindset throughout the day. Read More

Diet

The Amazing Technicolor Synesthesia Coat

By Maureen Seaberg on January, 23, 2012 in Tasting the Universe

The synesthete and artist Carrie C. Firman is leading the way in the current synesthesia arts renaissance. Read More

Autism

How Will the DSM V Changes in Autism Affect People?

By John Elder Robison on January, 23, 2012 in My Life With Asperger’s

Last week’s NY Times and ABC News stories really got people talking, especially when one doctor suggested that 75 percent of today’s Asperger population would not qualify for a diagnosis under the new definitions. Let me say at the outset, I think that 75 percent statement is inaccurate, and a substantial overreaction to the available data. Read More

Addiction

Understanding the Dynamics of Workaholism—Perfectionism

By Barbara Killinger, Ph.D. on January, 23, 2012 in The Workaholics

Our topic is the particular role that perfectionism plays in our understanding of one of the interacting dynamics of workaholism—that perfectionism leads to obsession, and in turn, obsession leads to increasing levels of narcissism. Read More

Social Life

Requiem for the Banal Business Book

By Joachim I. Krueger, Ph.D. on January, 23, 2012 in One Among Many

How much can be learned from the success of business organizations? Are there universally valid principles to be extracted? A popular genre of business books says the answer is ‘Yes.’ Scientists with a background in psychometrics, judgment and decision-making, however, curb their enthusiasm. Welcome to the Larry David School of Business. Read More

Self-Help

Personal Growth: Five Building Blocks of Positive Life Change

By Jim Taylor, Ph.D. on January, 23, 2012 in The Power of Prime

Nothing of value in life, including life change, is easy or fast. In attempting to change, you are swimming against the tide of many years of baggage, habits, emotions, and environment. If you can dismantle those obstacles and commit yourself to a new direction in your life, positive change can actually occur. Read More

Philosophy

Life Lists and Happiness

By Jennifer Baker, Ph.D. on January, 23, 2012 in For the Love of Wisdom

Does pursuing a life list make you happy? Or does it make you a dilettante? Why have traditional ethicists held up the life of a dilettante as a formula for failure? Read More

Politics

Perceiving and Politics

By Sally Augustin, Ph.D. on January, 23, 2012 in People, Places, and Things

The United States is now fully engaged in its quadrennial (every 4 years) presidential politics frenzy. Read More

Relationships

Perfect Love in the Twilight Saga: Real Love or a Fantasy Bond?

By Lisa Firestone, Ph.D. on January, 23, 2012 in Compassion Matters

Perfect loves and addictive bonds, like that depicted so intensely in Twilight, are not always based on the qualities and realities that would lead to lasting relationships. Instead, they may be based on a draw toward fantasy, a false sense of being completed, or an innate desire to merge one’s identity with another. Read More

Self-Help

Tips for Starting Over and Rebooting Your Life

By Kimberly Key on January, 23, 2012 in Counseling Keys

It’s never too late for a life reboot. If you’re reading this on the first New Moon of the New Year, you’ll discover the essential recipe for creating resolutions. If you’re reading this at another time, try it out on any other special day (like a first day of the week, a birthday, anniversary, or any special day that you declare as your life reboot day). Read More

Health

An Unbearable Heaviness of Being: Considering Bariatric Surgery

By Sylvia R. Karasu, M.D. on January, 23, 2012 in The Gravity of Weight

As the population of the U.S. grows heavier and heavier, obese patients have turned to major abdominal surgery as an alternative treatment when they have been unsuccessful at losing significant weight (and maintaining that weight loss over time) by a combination of diet, exercise, and even medication alone. Read More

Addiction

Do Not Suppress Addictive Thoughts!

By Lance Dodes, M.D. on January, 23, 2012 in The Heart of Addiction

Recently, a man suffering with alcoholism told me how he approached his problem: when he had thoughts of drinking, he tried to push them out of his mind. This didn’t always work of course, and even when it did he regularly drank later. But he was still pleased that he was “putting up a good fight” against his enemy — his terrible drive to drink. Read More

Psychiatry

DSM 5 and Diagnostic Inflation

By Allen J. Frances, M.D. on January, 23, 2012 in DSM5 in Distress

My biggest concern regarding DSM 5 is that it will dramatically increase the rates of mental disorder and cheapen the currency of psychiatric diagnosis. The DSM 5 proposals do this two ways: 1) by reducing thresholds for existing disorders; and, 2) by introducing new high prevalence disorders at the boundary with normality. Read More

Spirituality

Why Are There So Many Songs About Rainbows?

By Ben Michaelis, Ph.D. on January, 23, 2012 in The Creative Imperative

It’s time to come out of the closet. I’m a Muppet-lover and I don’t care who knows it. I’m gonna shout it from the mountaintops, consequences be dammed. I’ve been a Muppet-lover since forever. I just never had the courage to tell anyone. Read More

Neuroscience

Can You Prime Your Brain to Get Rich?

By Susan Reynolds on January, 23, 2012 in Prime Your Gray Cells

Thanks to millions of years of evolution, we are highly intelligent biological organisms, but when it comes to making financial decisions, we can be unduly influenced by ancient brain skills, such as hair-trigger responses to perceived fear. Read More

Media

My Week with Marilyn: A Portrait of Mental Illness

By Goal Auzeen Saedi on January, 23, 2012 in Millennial Media

Marilyn Monroe is synonymous with sexy blonde bombshell. She was at times a controversial figure, both for the scandals that followed her, and the objectification she brought to womanhood. But what was she like behind the scenes? A new film shares an intimate portrait of illness and self-doubt that shines a new light on the film star. Read More

Relationships

Are You Addicted to Doomed Relationships?

By Lisa Firestone, Ph.D. on January, 23, 2012 in Compassion Matters

Given the variety and diversity of people in the world, one is often left to wonder: So why do I keep winding up with the same type of partner? Why, no matter how many new criteria I mentally create, do I seem to be addicted to the same not-so-great relationship? Read More

Relationships

Are Great Expectations Dooming Our Relationships? Humble and Fred Weigh In!

By Dr. J. R. Bruns on January, 23, 2012 in Repairing Relationships

What happens when we stop liking one another? Read More

Child Development

The Highly Sensitive Boy

By Maureen Healy on January, 23, 2012 in Creative Development

Does your boy cry often? Has he ever been bullied? Does he enjoy his time alone and quiet space? Is he deeply affected by violence? Or keenly perceptive to how you are feeling or thinking? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be raising a highly sensitive boy. Read More

Sex

Sexual Distancers Want to Satisfy Their Partners

By Laurie J. Watson, LMFT, LPC on January, 23, 2012 in Married and Still Doing It

Sexual distancers like sex. Truly, they do. They like sex to happen when they are ready for it, when they are expecting it, when they want it. Seduction is often the elixir that awakens their sexual desire. They’d like to be tempted, coaxed, reassured, charmed and sweet-talked toward this precipice that feels slightly dangerous and out of control. Feeling safe emotionally is a prerequisite. Read More

Procrastination

What Will You Do? What Would We Predict?

By Timothy A. Pychyl, Ph.D. on January, 23, 2012 in Don’t Delay

The honest answer to this question is, “it depends.” However, far too often we’re led to believe, or we’d like to believe, that someone can actually predict what we’ll do. Although it’s true we’re like all other people in some respects, we’re also like no other person. Read More

 

RapidShare Attorney: If We’re Shut Down Like Megaupload, Then YouTube, Dropbox, Apple’s iCloud Are Next

CO.CREATE

More Than Luck: David Milch and Michael Mann On Their HBO Collaboration

BY Susan KarlinToday

Powerhouse producers David Milch and Michael Mann ensured a smooth production process by staking out clear territories in HBO’s new horse-racing drama, “Luck.” But that didn’t mean they weren’t open to a little give and take … READ»

CO.EXIST

A New Service For Africa Gets Rid Of Pain At The Panel

BY Ben SchillerToday

Much of Africa is lit and powered by polluting and unhealthy kerosene. But plans to leapfrog the country to renewables often come up against the lack of funds to purchase panels. But Eight19 has a model to get solar power into African … READ»

CO.DESIGN

A Seat Made From Hand-Folded Sheets Of Paper

BY Belinda LanksToday

Cecilie Manz is a demi-goddess of product design: She may lack the name recognition of Patricia Urquiola or Hella Jongerius, but the Dane’s varied output is consistently (and understatedly) first rate. Take, for instance, her design … READ»

MICROSOFT |  Comment

Apple CEO Tim Cook Touches On Kindle Fire, Android, Windows Phone

BY Austin CarrToday

Offering a rare peek inside the famously secretive company, Apple’s earnings are watched by every industry analyst and news outlet–and even live blogged in some instances, like a worldwide sporting event.READ»

CO.DESIGN

12 Famous Chairs Designed By Famous Architects

BY Suzanne LaBarreToday

You can tell a lot about architects by the furniture they design. Take Zaha Hadid, who whips up sleek, liquidy tables that look every bit as futuristic as her buildings. Or Frank Gehry, whose cardboard Wiggle chair summons the same … READ»

CO.DESIGN

An Ecosystem For Growing Your Own Veggies At Home And Indoors

BY Belinda LanksToday

Food accounts for about 13 percent of trash in the United States, the third-largest component behind paper and yard trimmings. Although composting may be the natural extension of recycling paper, metal, and plastic, many urbanites … READ»

CO.DESIGN

Sign Of The Times: Safety Maps Help You Plan For Catastrophe

BY Tim MalyToday

Most of us live in places saturated with comms signals. We carry phones in our pockets and we’ve come to rely on them for coordinating our movements. As Clay Shirky points out, we’ve basically replaced planning with coordination. We … READ»

E. COIL

Tricking Stomach Microbes To Convert Seaweed To Fuel

BY Scientific AmericanToday

Seaweed grows fast and naturally without fertilizer and is a better source of biofuel than most land-based plants. And with a little alteration, our good friend E. coli loves to eat it and spit out fuel. READ»

APPLE |  Comment

Apple Beats Estimates Again: $46.33 Billion In Revenues, $13.06 Billion In Profit

BY Kit EatonToday

Apple’s just reported its first quarter finances for this year, and they’re astonishing. Again. READ»

MEGAUPLOAD |  Comment

RapidShare Attorney: If We’re Shut Down Like Megaupload, Then YouTube, Dropbox, Apple’s iCloud Are Next

BY Austin CarrToday

RapidShare is one of the world’s most popular file-hosting sites, and many have wondered whether the site could be next on the feds’ list of targets after Megaupload.READ»

CO.DESIGN

Leo Burnett’s Short, Sweet Guide To Creative Satisfaction (And Making Money) [Video]

BY John PavlusToday

Whether you believe it or not, Google’s (in)famous motto, “Don’t be evil,” is one of the most unambiguous value statements by a major company. Leo Burnett, the legendary ad executive and founder of an eponymous agency, delivered a … READ»

CO.DESIGN

Two Porsche Cayennes Made Entirely of Wood And Smashed

BY James GaddyToday

The German duo Köbberling and Kaltwasser are obsessed with wood, but only as an anachronistic take on contemporary modes of transportation. In the past two years, they’ve built a bulldozer made from discarded panels of the Olympic … READ»

LEADERSHIP |  Comment

Leadership Lessons From Community Maven Tara Hunt: When Not To Listen To The Crowd

BY Lydia DishmanToday

Any entrepreneur or community-building connector worth their salt should know when to crowdsource, and when to listen to their inner voice.READ»

CO.EXIST

Can Google’s Thrun Create The First Real Online College Degree?

BY EdSurgeToday

After helping to pioneer a selection of online courses at Stanford, the man behind the driverless car is leaving the ivory tower to do something potentially more groundbreaking: start a high-quality online university. READ»

LEADERSHIP |  Comment

To Be A Better Leader, Learn How To Referee Work Relationships

BY Ken Blanchard and Scott BlanchardToday

When you are able to put on the striped black-and-white referee shirt and mediate conflict–when you take responsibility for fostering cooperation, collaboration, and collegiality between coworkers–you’ve taken a large step toward becoming a more productive and valuable leader.READ»

CO.EXIST

Is It Time To Stop Constructing New Green Buildings?

BY Ariel SchwartzToday

Making a new building is notably worse for the environment than fixing an old one–no matter how many solar panels you put on it. READ»

CO.EXIST

I Saw The Sign … And It Made Me Take The Stairs

BY Andrew PriceToday

A simple health intervention–a sign that tells people to skip the elevator for the stairs–is having dramatic effects on the health of New Yorkers. READ»

LEADERSHIP |  Comment

The Weigh-In: What’s The Best Way To Motivate Your Employees?

BY Erin SchulteToday

Motivation is a hot topic year-round, but particularly in January, the month of fresh starts, checklists, and lofty goals. We try to figure out how to prod our employees to excel, to hit and surpass ambitious targets. So what’s the best way to get it done? Fast Company experts have weighed in–now tell us what’s worked for you. READ»

CO.DESIGN

How Helvetica Conquered The World With Its Cool, Comforting Logic

BY Simon GarfieldToday

This is the second excerpt from Just My Type. To read the first, “The 8 Worst Fonts in the World,” go here. What is it about the Swiss? Or, to be precise: what is it about the Swiss and their sans serif typefaces? Helvetica and … READ»

Happiness

45 Quotes on Dreams

By Dr. Stephanie Sarkis, Ph.D. on January, 23, 2012 in Here, There, and Everywhere

Ever been ridiculed for your dreams? Ever feel like your dreams are just that — dreams? See what well-known people know about dreams. They are essential to your life. Read More

Neuroscience

What Exactly Is the Self? Insights from Neuroscience

By Allen R. McConnell, Ph.D. on January, 23, 2012 in The Social Self

What is the self? Although my stock answer to this question of “the self is memory” may be correct, recent neuroscience evidence suggests that our self-concept is the product of multiple, complex memory systems. Evidence from patients ranging from amnesiacs to those suffering from Alzheimer’s dementia is shedding new, important light on this age-old question. Read More

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Space Shuttle Discovery headed to the Smithsonian

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum is preparing to welcome the space shuttle Discovery into its collection. More »Space Shuttle Discovery headed to the Smithsonian

Sumatran elephants could be extinct in 30 yea …

The Sumatran elephant could be extinct in the wild within three decades … More »Sumatran elephants could be extinct in 30 yea …

Strongest solar storm since 2005 hitting Earth

The sun is bombarding Earth with radiation from the biggest solar storm in more than six … More »Strongest solar storm since 2005 hitting Earth

Breakthrough

• in seaweed biofuel reported
• 1 in 6 Teen Moms Say They Didn’t Believe They Could Get Preg …
• Rare Sea Creature Appears on Seattle Woman’s Dock
• Mystery Surrounds Air Force’s Secretive X-37B Space Plane Landing …
• Why Some Sex Offenders Don’t Stop Abusing
• Russian Mars Probe Crash Sets Off Confusion, Conspiracy Theo …
• Why Gay Parents May Be the Best Parents

Endangered turtle to be tracked in Cambodia

One of the world’s most endangered turtles has been released into a Cambodian river with a satellite transmitter attached to its shell to track how it will navigate through commercial fishing grounds and other man-made hazards. More »Endangered turtle to be tracked in Cambodia

Beijing starts releasing key air pollution da …

Beijing has started releasing hourly readings for key air quality … More »Beijing starts releasing key air pollution da …

Delay for space station’s 1st private cargo run

• Scientists pause research with lab-bred bird flu AP – Fri, Jan 20, 2012Scientists who created easier-to-spread versions of the deadly bird flu said Friday they are temporarily halting more research, as international specialists debate what … More »Scientists pause research with lab-bred bird flu

  Scientists who created easier-to-spread versions of the deadly bird flu said Friday they are temporarily halting more research, as international specialists debate what should happen next.

• Air Force launches military satellite into space AP – Fri, Jan 20, 2012The Air Force has sent into space a satellite that is expected to improve communications with military drones in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. More »Air Force launches military satellite into space

  The Air Force has sent into space a satellite that is expected to improve communications with military drones in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

• Why Some Sex Offenders Don’t Stop Abusing LiveScience.com – 14 hrs agoA new study of single young men finds that 43 percent report pressuring or forcing a woman to do something sexual against her will at least once. But according to the … More »Why Some Sex Offenders Don’t Stop Abusing

  A new study of single young men finds that 43 percent report pressuring or forcing a woman to do something sexual against her will at least once. But according to the results, there may be differences between those men who are sexually coercive only as teens and those who continue into adulthood.

• A Good Wingman Will Lie for a Buddy LiveScience.com – 15 hrs agoThis just in: Researchers have found that a good friend will lie for you, though it helps if you’re in the room when they’re asked to fib. More »A Good Wingman Will Lie for a Buddy

  This just in: Researchers have found that a good friend will lie for you, though it helps if you’re in the room when they’re asked to fib.

• Romney’s Weapon Against Anti-Mormon Bias: Obama LiveScience.com – Sat, Jan 21, 2012New voter survey results indicate that Mitt Romney does indeed face bias against his religion, Mormonism, from Republicans, and in particular from Southern evangelical … More »Romney’s Weapon Against Anti-Mormon Bias: Obama

  New voter survey results indicate that Mitt Romney does indeed face bias against his religion, Mormonism, from Republicans, and in particular from Southern evangelical Christians. But, the survey also reveals something else about evangelicals that could help Romney overcome this bias, should he win the nomination.

• Russian Mars Probe Crash Sets Off Confusion, Conspiracy Theories SPACE.com – 23 hrs agoWhen an ill-fated Russian Mars probe fell to Earth over the weekend, the spacecraft’s untimely demise set off a flurry of conflicting media reports and conspiracy th … More »Russian Mars Probe Crash Sets Off Confusion, Conspiracy Theories

  When an ill-fated Russian Mars probe fell to Earth over the weekend, the spacecraft’s untimely demise set off a flurry of conflicting media reports and conspiracy theories.

• Mystery Surrounds Air Force’s Secretive X-37B Space Plane Landing Plan SPACE.com – Sat, Jan 21, 2012The United States Air Force’s secretive X-37B space plane has been circling Earth for more than 10 months, and there’s no telling when it might come down. More »Mystery Surrounds Air Force’s Secretive X-37B Space Plane Landing Plan

  The United States Air Force’s secretive X-37B space plane has been circling Earth for more than 10 months, and there’s no telling when it might come down.

• 

  Scientists find new plant in Fiji AFP – Fri, Jan 20, 2012Scientists have discovered a new flowering plant belonging to the scarce Medinilla group on Fiji’s Kadavu island, the International Union for Conservation of Nature said … More »Scientists find new plant in Fiji

  

  Scientists have discovered a new flowering plant belonging to the scarce Medinilla group on Fiji’s Kadavu island, the International Union for Conservation of Nature said on Friday.

• 

  Iran says scientist’s killer may have used U.N. info Reuters – Thu, Jan 19, 2012UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Iran charged on Thursday that assassins who killed an Iranian nuclear scientist in Tehran last week may have used information obtained from … More »Iran says scientist’s killer may have used U.N. info

  

  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Iran charged on Thursday that assassins who killed an Iranian nuclear scientist in Tehran last week may have used information obtained from the United Nations. Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, 32, was killed by a motorbike hitman who put a magnetic bomb on his car on a street during the morning rush hour …

• Killer Whales Targeting Sea Lion Pups, Alarming Scientists LiveScience.com – Thu, Jan 19, 2012Killer whales and other ocean predators are targeting and killing the pups of a threatened northern sea lion species at an increasingly high rate, scientists warned this … More »Killer Whales Targeting Sea Lion Pups, Alarming Scientists

  Killer whales and other ocean predators are targeting and killing the pups of a threatened northern sea lion species at an increasingly high rate, scientists warned this week.

• NASA Debunks Mysterious Triangular ‘UFO’ SPACE.com – Thu, Jan 19, 2012Once again, alien conspiracy theorists have attempted to use publicly available NASA images to prove that the space agency must be engaging in an elaborate UFO cover-up. … More »NASA Debunks Mysterious Triangular ‘UFO’

  Once again, alien conspiracy theorists have attempted to use publicly available NASA images to prove that the space agency must be engaging in an elaborate UFO cover-up. And, once again, they’ve been foiled by the laws of physics.

• G-Spot: Science Can’t Find It After 60 Years, Study Says LiveScience.com – Wed, Jan 18, 2012Many women swear they have one, but a new review of 60 years of sex research shows science still can’t definitively find the G-spot. More »G-Spot: Science Can’t Find It After 60 Years, Study Says

  Many women swear they have one, but a new review of 60 years of sex research shows science still can’t definitively find the G-spot.

• 

  Kids & Cursing: ‘Modern Family’ Toddler Typical, Scientists Say LiveScience.com – Wed, Jan 18, 2012Bleeped-out swearing may be okay for adults on TV, but what about kids? The ABC show “Modern Family” is about to find out by airing an episode this week about a foul-mouthed … More »Kids & Cursing: ‘Modern Family’ Toddler Typical, Scientists Say

  

  Bleeped-out swearing may be okay for adults on TV, but what about kids? The ABC show “Modern Family” is about to find out by airing an episode this week about a foul-mouthed 2-year-old.

• 

  Scientists confirm rocks fell from Mars AP – Tue, Jan 17, 2012They came from Mars, not in peace, but in pieces. More »Scientists confirm rocks fell from Mars

  

  They came from Mars, not in peace, but in pieces.

• Permafrost bacteria may slow down ageing: scientists AFP – Tue, Jan 17, 2012A hardy type of bacteria recently discovered in the permafrost of Siberia could help slow down the ageing process, Russian scientists claimed on Tuesday. More »Permafrost bacteria may slow down ageing: scientists

  A hardy type of bacteria recently discovered in the permafrost of Siberia could help slow down the ageing process, Russian scientists claimed on Tuesday.

• Big Space Science in an Era of Austerity Yahoo! Contributor Network – Mon, Jan 16, 2012Scientists, especially astronomers, are starting to feel more than a little angst about the willingness of governments to fund big science projects in an era of huge … More »Big Space Science in an Era of Austerity

  Scientists, especially astronomers, are starting to feel more than a little angst about the willingness of governments to fund big science projects in an era of huge budget deficits. Space projects are particularly vulnerable in the current climate.

• Scientists Set to Drill to Buried Antarctic Lake LiveScience.com – Mon, Jan 16, 2012A team of four British engineers recently returned from a 10-day trip to a desolate, windswept plain in Antarctica, setting the stage for a project that could uncover … More »

• RedPad: Android tablet for Chinese politicians that costs twice as much as the iPad Technology News Blog – Fri, Jan 20, 2012Would you buy a $1,600 Android tablet that doesn’t have any special features compared to other slates half its price? A relatively unknown Chinese manufacturer seems … More »RedPad: Android tablet for Chinese politicians that costs twice as much as the iPad

  Would you buy a $1,600 Android tablet that doesn’t have any special features compared to other slates half its price? A relatively unknown Chinese manufacturer seems to think people would, and released a tablet called the RedPad — a Honeycomb device specifically … Continue reading →

• Stretched Audi R8 becomes the world’s fastest limo Technology News Blog – Fri, Jan 20, 2012If you’re in the market for an Audi R8, you not only have excellent taste in vehicles, you’re also probably not hurting for cash. But if you want to add even more luxury … More »Stretched Audi R8 becomes the world’s fastest limo

  If you’re in the market for an Audi R8, you not only have excellent taste in vehicles, you’re also probably not hurting for cash. But if you want to add even more luxury to your dream car, consider the upcoming R8 limousine … Continue reading →

• 29 Percent of U.S. Adults Own a Tablet or Ereader [STUDY] Mashable – 9 hrs ago19 percent of adults in the United States own a tablet, and 29 percent own either a tablet or an ereader, according to the latest study from Pew Internet. More »29 Percent of U.S. Adults Own a Tablet or Ereader [STUDY]

  19 percent of adults in the United States own a tablet, and 29 percent own either a tablet or an ereader, according to the latest study from Pew Internet.

• Minn. bear delivers at least 2 cubs on Internet AP – 10 hrs agoA 3-year-old bear in Minnesota has given birth to two cubs before an Internet audience. More »Minn. bear delivers at least 2 cubs on Internet

  A 3-year-old bear in Minnesota has given birth to two cubs before an Internet audience.

• 

  After protest, Congress puts off movie piracy bill AP – Fri, Jan 20, 2012Caving to a massive campaign by Internet services and their millions of users, Congress indefinitely postponed legislation Friday to stop online piracy of movies and … More »After protest, Congress puts off movie piracy bill

  

  Caving to a massive campaign by Internet services and their millions of users, Congress indefinitely postponed legislation Friday to stop online piracy of movies and music costing U.S. companies billions of dollars every year. Critics said the bills would result in censorship and stifle Internet innovation.

• 

  Renowned attorney Bennett to represent Megaupload AP – Fri, Jan 20, 2012When Megaupload executives arrive in court to answer charges that they orchestrated a massive online piracy scheme, they’ll be backed by a prominent lawyer who has defended … More »Renowned attorney Bennett to represent Megaupload

  

  When Megaupload executives arrive in court to answer charges that they orchestrated a massive online piracy scheme, they’ll be backed by a prominent lawyer who has defended Bill Clinton against sexual harassment charges and Enron against allegations of corporate fraud.

• Get ready for the Super Bowl these mobile apps @ Appolicious – 1 hr 9 mins agoSuper Bowl XLVI is just around the corner. Do you know what mobile apps to download to get ready for the big game and even bigger Super Bowl party? More »Get ready for the Super Bowl these mobile apps

  Super Bowl XLVI is just around the corner. Do you know what mobile apps to download to get ready for the big game and even bigger Super Bowl party?

• Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom denies piracy AP – 10 mins agoKim Dotcom, the detained founder of the file-sharing website Megaupload, insists he is innocent and poses no flight risk. More »Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom denies piracy

  Kim Dotcom, the detained founder of the file-sharing website Megaupload, insists he is innocent and poses no flight risk.

• Study finds tablet, e-book ownership soared AP – 28 mins agoTablets and e-readers were a popular gift over the holidays, so much so that the number of people who own them nearly doubled between mid-December and January, a new … More »Study finds tablet, e-book ownership soared

  Tablets and e-readers were a popular gift over the holidays, so much so that the number of people who own them nearly doubled between mid-December and January, a new study finds.

• 

  Quad-core smartphone scene hots up with the LG X3, but not everyone thinks they’re a good thing Digital Trends – 53 mins agoSmartphones powered by quad-core processors are most likely going to be the thing to have this year, with HTC, Samsung, Fujitsu and others all linked to such devices. … More »Quad-core smartphone scene hots up with the LG X3, but not everyone thinks they’re a good thing

  

  Smartphones powered by quad-core processors are most likely going to be the thing to have this year, with HTC, Samsung, Fujitsu and others all linked to such devices. LG has now been added to the list following a leak of the X3, which is said to use Nvidia’s Tegra 3 chip.

• Poland reviews stance on treaty after web attacks AP – 1 hr 2 mins agoPolish leaders will debate on Monday their stance on an international copyright agreement after activists attacked government websites to protest the treaty. More »Poland reviews stance on treaty after web attacks

  Polish leaders will debate on Monday their stance on an international copyright agreement after activists attacked government websites to protest the treaty.

• Sony, Fujifilm top rivals for Olympus tie: sources Reuters – 2 hrs 22 mins agoTOKYO (Reuters) – Sony Corp and Fujifilm Holdings are leading contenders for an equity stake in Olympus Corp, sources familiar with the situation said, as the scandal-hit … More »Sony, Fujifilm top rivals for Olympus tie: sources

  TOKYO (Reuters) – Sony Corp and Fujifilm Holdings are leading contenders for an equity stake in Olympus Corp, sources familiar with the situation said, as the scandal-hit medical equipment maker moves to shore up its finances. The field of possibilities has narrowed, with foreign firms and some domestic companies such as …

• 

  CyanogenMod Android App Store Coming Soon Digital Trends – 2 hrs 37 mins agoThe popular Android custom ROM known as CyanogenMod could soon benefit from its own application store, following the embracing of an idea suggested by one of the team … More »CyanogenMod Android App Store Coming Soon

  

  The popular Android custom ROM known as CyanogenMod could soon benefit from its own application store, following the embracing of an idea suggested by one of the team members recently. Posting to his Google+ account, Koushik Dutta said an independent store would be a much-needed source of income for CyanogenMod, which is …

• 

  RIM CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis step down Relaxnews – 3 hrs agoThorsten Heins has taken over the reins at Research In Motion (RIM) after current co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis stepped down from their positions. More »RIM CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis step down

  

  Thorsten Heins has taken over the reins at Research In Motion (RIM) after current co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis stepped down from their positions.

• 

  Toyota finds way to avoid using rare earth: report Reuters – 3 hrs agoTOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp has developed a way to make hybrid and electric vehicles without the use of expensive rare earth metals, in which China has a near-monopoly, … More »Toyota finds way to avoid using rare earth: report

  

  TOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp has developed a way to make hybrid and electric vehicles without the use of expensive rare earth metals, in which China has a near-monopoly, Japan’s Kyodo News reported. Toyota, the world’s top producer of fuel-saving hybrid cars such as the Prius, could bring the technology to market …

• 

  Nokia Siemens secures 1.2 billion euro loan: source Reuters – 4 hrs ago(Reuters) – Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) has raised more than 1.2 billion euros from a group of 14 European and U.S. banks as it looks to restructure the business and … More »Nokia Siemens secures 1.2 billion euro loan: source

  

  (Reuters) – Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) has raised more than 1.2 billion euros from a group of 14 European and U.S. banks as it looks to restructure the business and pay costs of a big redundancy program, a source close to the deal said on Monday. NSN was originally seeking to raise 1.5 billion euros, but had to settle …

• Mashable Weekend Recap: 36 Stories You May Have Missed Mashable – 5 hrs agoIt was a blustery and snowy midwinter weekend in much of the northern hemisphere, and while many of you were hunkered down watching football this weekend, we were watching … More »Mashable Weekend Recap: 36 Stories You May Have Missed

  It was a blustery and snowy midwinter weekend in much of the northern hemisphere, and while many of you were hunkered down watching football this weekend, we were watching the social media and digital world for you.

• Firm stops file sharing after Megaupload case Reuters – 7 hrs ago(Reuters) – FileSonic, a website providing online data storage, has disabled its file sharing services following a U.S.-led crackdown on a rival website and amid heated … More »Firm stops file sharing after Megaupload case

  (Reuters) – FileSonic, a website providing online data storage, has disabled its file sharing services following a U.S.-led crackdown on a rival website and amid heated debate over Washington’s attempts to clamp down on online piracy. Police in New Zealand and Europe have made a number of arrests in recent days related …

• 29 Percent of U.S. Adults Own a Tablet or Ereader [STUDY] Mashable – 9 hrs ago19 percent of adults in the United States own a tablet, and 29 percent own either a tablet or an ereader, according to the latest study from Pew Internet. More »29 Percent of U.S. Adults Own a Tablet or Ereader [STUDY]

  19 percent of adults in the United States own a tablet, and 29 percent own either a tablet or an ereader, according to the latest study from Pew Internet.

• 

  RIM CEOs Lazaridis and Balsillie step down Digital Trends – 9 hrs agoAfter a miserable 2011 in which Research In Motion struggled with a myriad of issues, the company’s co-CEOs and co-chairmen, Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, have stepped … More »

1. Are You with the Right Mate?

   by Rebecca Webber
2. 2
   
   Don’t Try to Reason with Unreasonable People

   by Dr. Susan Biali, M.D.
3. 3
   
   Curing Pornophobia

   by Stanley Siegel, LCSW
4. 4
   
   Use of Vibrators Among American Women

   by Gad Saad, Ph.D.
5. 5
   Self-Portrait in a Skewed Mirror

   by Carlin Flora

Resilience

The Power of Positive Thinking Revisited

By Dr. Leslie Becker-Phelps on January, 23, 2012 in Making Change

People who view the world through rose-colored glasses are wonderfully optimistic, but their look-only-at-the-positive attitude sometimes sets them up for painful failure. A better way of using positive thinking is to focus on yourself – not your abilities or accomplishments – and to work toward an appreciation of you for just being who you are. Read More

Neuroscience

Race and reputation in the brain

By John Whitfield, Ph.D. on January, 23, 2012 in People Will Talk

When we decide whether to trust, knowledge and prejudices all go into the same pot. Read More

Parenting

Adolescence and the Loss of Athletic Participation

By Carl E. Pickhardt, Ph.D. on January, 23, 2012 in Surviving (Your Child’s) Adolescence

In general, I believe organized sports are good for adolescents. Through these athletics, young people get to exercise their bodies, enjoy companionship, learn teamwork, engage in competition, benefit from coaching, play by rules, increase skills, develop physical competence, and build self-esteem. Read More

Child Development

Reflections on Exercise and Depression

By Steve Baskin on January, 23, 2012 in S’mores and More

My travels in Asia have driven home the point that our bodies are designed to be active and outside. Our modern lifestyles, however, find us indoors and idle, resulting in increased depression. Read More

Sex

Use of Vibrators Among American Women

By Gad Saad, Ph.D. on January, 22, 2012 in Homo Consumericus

How many American women use vibrators within their sexual repertoire? Furthermore, are there differences between users and non-users when it comes to health conscious behaviors and sexual functioning? Read More

Parenting

Arguments Against the Villainization of Childfree Women

By Ellen Walker, Ph.D. on January, 22, 2012 in Complete Without Kids

It seems unfair to generalize about women who are childfree, but just go online, and you’ll come across myriad examples of this very topic. Sadly, many of these generalizations are negative and hurtful, and the comments are popping up worldwide. Let’s take a look at a few that I’ve run across lately. Childfree women are less reliable at work than mothers. Read More

Relationships

Loving You Is Breaking My Heart

By Aaron Ben-Zeév, Ph.D. on January, 22, 2012 in In the Name of Love

Love, is “a many splendored thing”; but love also involves a lot of suffering—especially in the case of unrequited love. Love can feel like being in paradise as well as being in hell. In both cases, the best suggestion is to keep on going. Why is it that love is so ambivalent, and why do we keep on loving even when it leads to heartbreak? Read More

Animal Behavior

Close Encounters of the Gorilla Kind

By Marc Bekoff on January, 22, 2012 in Animal Emotions

A video well-worth watching to see friendly and inquisitive gorillas pet and groom a human. The portrayal of animals as being mean and violent is simply wrong. It’s a misrepresentation of who they really are. Sit back and enjoy this amazing encounter between a human ape and one of our close relatives. Read More

Ethics and Morality

The Earthquake in Haiti, Two Years Later

By Dennis Rosen, M.D. on January, 22, 2012 in Sleeping Angels

This month marks the second anniversary of the January 2010 earthquake that devastated Port au Prince, killing more than a quarter million, injuring over 350,000, and leaving an estimated one million without shelter. Read More

Neuroscience

Sex on the Brain: 5 Relationship Myths Bashed by Brain Science

By Kayt Sukel on January, 22, 2012 in Dirty Minds

We’ve heard it time and time again: there are “rules” when it comes to love. But does neuroscience back up those notions? Read More

Psychiatry

Problems? I Have a NAC for That.

By Emily Deans, M.D. on January, 22, 2012 in Evolutionary Psychiatry

In the chemical soup that comprises our bodies and biochemistry, oxidants and antioxidants are at constant war.  A supplement called N-acetylcysteine (we’ll shorten that to NAC) has the potential to make a huge difference in how we process toxins. Read More

Sex

Curing Pornophobia

By Stanley Siegel, LCSW on January, 22, 2012 in Intelligent Lust

Understanding our favorite porn is a key to understanding who we are. Read More

Cognition

The True Meaning Of Freedom

By Alex Lickerman, M.D. on January, 22, 2012 in Happiness in this World

America is a symbol of freedom all over the world, enjoying as we do freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of the press. Our ancestors prized these political freedoms so much that many of them were willing to die defending them. Read More

Relationships

Closure, Part 2

By Nancy Kalish, Ph.D. on January, 22, 2012 in Sticky Bonds

Several of my research participants confided to me that the night before their wedding, they were in a hotel room with their lost loves, having sex, crying and “saying goodbye.” And next day, they got married to an unsuspecting new spouse! Read More

Politics

Newt Gingrich and “The Art of Fiction”

By George Davis on January, 22, 2012 in Modern Melting Pot

A successful author of alternative history fiction can be a formidable Presidential candidate Read More

Depression

Can We Prevent Postpartum Depression?

By Karen Kleiman, MSW, LCSW on January, 22, 2012 in This Isn’t What I Expected

Most women who experience postpartum depression, at some point or another, wonder, why did this happen? Read More

Relationships

When Siblings Attack

By Avidan Milevsky, Ph.D. on January, 22, 2012 in Band of Brothers, and Sisters

Siblings will fight, what is important is how you respond Read More

Diet

Putting Paula Deen’s Diabetes in Perspective

By Martina M. Cartwright, Ph.D., R.D. on January, 22, 2012 in Food For Thought

This week celebrity chef Paula Deen announced that she has had Type II diabetes for the past 3 years. Ms. Deen is noted for her “comfort food” recipes that are rich in butter and sugar and are consequently high in calories. Many have chided the 65-year old cook promoting an unhealthy diet…but is this fair? Diabetes is a multi-factorial disease with diet as one component and Ms. Read More

Parenting

How Parenting Makes You a Superhero

By Zanthe Taylor, MFA on January, 22, 2012 in A Million Meals

I was eleven when I caught the falling baby. No one praised me for this heroic act. I’m not even sure anyone saw what really happened. But when the baby toppled over the edge of the snowbank above me–as I’d known he would–I was prepared. Clumping into the ski lodge for lunch, I’d spotted a small toddler playing with a ski pole stuck into the snow. Read More

Creativity

How To Spot A Verbal Virtuoso

By Jonathan Wai, Ph.D. on January, 22, 2012 in Finding the Next Einstein

Are you quietly brilliant? Read More

Relationships

More Balance, More Fun: How to Up the “Co” in Co-uplehood and Co-parenting

By Elaine Shpungin, Ph.D. on January, 22, 2012 in Peacemeal

“Co-creation” is the hot trend in leadership and business. How can you increase it in your relationship – and what are the pros and cons of having one person more “in charge” of daily decisions and family plans? Read More

Gender

Two Old Buddies Sending the Same Christmas Card Back and Forth

By Dr. Geoffrey Greif on January, 22, 2012 in Buddy System

Every so often I get an email that is important to share with other readers about how men construct friendships across the life span.  This came in from Sande who gave me permission to use it.  I have removed the full name of her father’s friend and another buddy that is referenced.  It is sweet and speaks for itself.”Dr. Read More

Philosophy

Love and suffering

By Gordon S. Livingston on January, 22, 2012 in Lifelines

And yet the questions of why we are here, how best to live, and the meaning of human suffering remain answerable only by the bargains with life that each of us choose to strike. Read More

Personality

Borderline Personality: The Promiscuous Diagnosis

By Dr. Jerold J. Kreisman, M.D. on January, 22, 2012 in I Hate You, Don’t Leave Me

Promiscuous Borderline Personality hangs out with many other diagnoses Read More

Media

Newt Gingrich: Sex, Lies, and Politics

By Dr. Dale Archer on January, 22, 2012 in Reading Between The (Head)Lines

Is infidelity ok, if we ask politely? Read More

Animal Behavior

“What Were Wars?” Don’t Blame Other Animals For Human Violence

By Marc Bekoff on January, 22, 2012 in Animal Emotions

Human war is a choice and non-human animals should not be blamed for our violent leanings. Scientific data show clearly that other animals are predominantly peaceful beings and we must factor this into our attempts to justify war-mongering, but more importantly to stop it. We need to develop a science of peace and build a culture of empathy. Read More

Animal Behavior

Elephants Shaba and Connie To Be Moved Together: Public Concern Works

By Marc Bekoff on January, 22, 2012 in Animal Emotions

Plans to separate two long-time elephant friends have been changed. Arizona zoo residents Shaba and Connie will now both be shipped to San Diego but may not be housed together. Activism and widespread public concern does indeed work. Sadly, other elephants will also be moved in this heartless profit-motivated game of “musical elephants.” Read More

Relationships

An Interview With Marianne Williamson: The Essential Steps To Finding Love

By Ken Page, LCSW on January, 22, 2012 in Finding Love

I’m honored to have Marianne Williamson share her wise insights about the path to romantic love. Marianne is one of America’s most beloved spiritual teachers, and the New York Times bestselling author of numerous spiritual classics. In this interview, she shares some invaluable–and unexpected–insights about how to find and keep true love. Read More

Parenting

Are Men’s Contributions to Childcare Equal to Women’s?

By Michael Ungar, Ph.D. on January, 22, 2012 in Nurturing Resilience

Men are four times more likely than women to say they provide equal amounts of care for their children. They may not be entirely wrong if we redefine what caregiving means and acknowledge what men provide. But is it enough? Read More

Self-Help

How to Grow a Thicker Skin – The Dangers of Feeling Slighted

By Steve Taylor on January, 22, 2012 in Out of the Darkness

Jane spent weeks organizing the office Christmas party. She booked the room, organized the entertainment and tickets, sent out the e-mails. The party went well and at its end, her manager stood up to make the customary speech. ‘He didn’t even bother to thank me,’ Jane says. ‘I was enraged. All the effort I’d put in and he didn’t even acknowledge it. Read More

The

• Chinese view of SOPA
• G-Spot: Science Can’t Find It After 60 Years, Study Says
• Comet’s Death Dive Into Sun Seen in Detail for 1st Time
• 1 in 6 Teen Moms Say They Didn’t Believe They Could Get Preg …
• Why Gay Parents May Be the Best Parents
• Iran says scientist’s killer may have used U.N. info
• NASA Debunks Mysterious Triangular ‘UFO’

• 

  No Wikipedia? What if the Internet went down? AP – Wed, Jan 18, 2012If a day without Wikipedia was a bother, think bigger. In this plugged-in world, we would barely be able to cope if the entire Internet went down in a city, state or … More »No Wikipedia? What if the Internet went down?

  

  If a day without Wikipedia was a bother, think bigger. In this plugged-in world, we would barely be able to cope if the entire Internet went down in a city, state or country for a day or a week.

• 

  NASA spaceport breaks ground for shuttle display AP – Wed, Jan 18, 2012NASA’s retired space shuttle Atlantis is a step closer to completing its final journey. More »NASA spaceport breaks ground for shuttle display

  

  NASA’s retired space shuttle Atlantis is a step closer to completing its final journey.

• Female Fish Attracted to Well-Fed Mates LiveScience.com – 10 hrs agoFor some animals, looks and wealth aren’t everything. Female mosquitofish prefer mates that had a steady nutritional upbringing over those that suffered a poor start … More »Female Fish Attracted to Well-Fed Mates

  For some animals, looks and wealth aren’t everything. Female mosquitofish prefer mates that had a steady nutritional upbringing over those that suffered a poor start in life with a restricted diet, even though the male fish are physically similar in adulthood, a new study shows.

• Behind Biofuel and Beer: A Visit to a Yeast Collection LiveScience.com – 10 hrs agoDAVIS, Calif. — Two freezers tucked behind a lab on the campus of the University of California, Davis, are kept humming at an icy-cold minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit (minus … More »Behind Biofuel and Beer: A Visit to a Yeast Collection

  DAVIS, Calif. — Two freezers tucked behind a lab on the campus of the University of California, Davis, are kept humming at an icy-cold minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 80 degrees Celsius). White and unremarkable on the outside, inside they are packed with exotic living things, kept dormant by the blistering cold.

• Is That Ethical? Italian Cruise Disaster Sparks Leadership Questions LiveScience.com – 12 hrs agoBy now everyone has heard the story of the capsized Costa Concordia cruise ship and its captain, Francesco Schettino, who has come under fire for abandoning the ship … More »Is That Ethical? Italian Cruise Disaster Sparks Leadership Questions

  By now everyone has heard the story of the capsized Costa Concordia cruise ship and its captain, Francesco Schettino, who has come under fire for abandoning the ship as it was sinking.  Although the saying is, “the captain should go down with the ship,” many people are not exactly sure of the ethical consequences of the …

• Air Force Launches New Military Communications Satellite Into Orbit SPACE.com – 9 hrs agoAn unmanned rocket lit up the Florida night sky Thursday (Jan. 19) as it launched a vital new communications satellite into orbit for the U.S. military — the first major … More »Air Force Launches New Military Communications Satellite Into Orbit

  An unmanned rocket lit up the Florida night sky Thursday (Jan. 19) as it launched a vital new communications satellite into orbit for the U.S. military — the first major American space launch of the year.

• Russia Eyes Possible Moon Base with NASA: Reports SPACE.com – 12 hrs agoRussia is talking to NASA and the European Space Agency about building manned research colonies on the moon, according to Russian news reports. More »Russia Eyes Possible Moon Base with NASA: Reports

  Russia is talking to NASA and the European Space Agency about building manned research colonies on the moon, according to Russian news reports.

• 

  Iran says scientist’s killer may have used U.N. info Reuters – 10 hrs agoUNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Iran charged on Thursday that assassins who killed an Iranian nuclear scientist in Tehran last week may have used information obtained from … More »Iran says scientist’s killer may have used U.N. info

  

  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Iran charged on Thursday that assassins who killed an Iranian nuclear scientist in Tehran last week may have used information obtained from the United Nations. Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, 32, was killed by a motorbike hitman who put a magnetic bomb on his car on a street during the morning rush hour …

• Killer Whales Targeting Sea Lion Pups, Alarming Scientists LiveScience.com – 19 hrs agoKiller whales and other ocean predators are targeting and killing the pups of a threatened northern sea lion species at an increasingly high rate, scientists warned this … More »Killer Whales Targeting Sea Lion Pups, Alarming Scientists

  Killer whales and other ocean predators are targeting and killing the pups of a threatened northern sea lion species at an increasingly high rate, scientists warned this week.

• NASA Debunks Mysterious Triangular ‘UFO’ SPACE.com – 21 hrs agoOnce again, alien conspiracy theorists have attempted to use publicly available NASA images to prove that the space agency must be engaging in an elaborate UFO cover-up. … More »NASA Debunks Mysterious Triangular ‘UFO’

  Once again, alien conspiracy theorists have attempted to use publicly available NASA images to prove that the space agency must be engaging in an elaborate UFO cover-up. And, once again, they’ve been foiled by the laws of physics.

• G-Spot: Science Can’t Find It After 60 Years, Study Says LiveScience.com – Wed, Jan 18, 2012Many women swear they have one, but a new review of 60 years of sex research shows science still can’t definitively find the G-spot. More »G-Spot: Science Can’t Find It After 60 Years, Study Says

  Many women swear they have one, but a new review of 60 years of sex research shows science still can’t definitively find the G-spot.

• 

  Kids & Cursing: ‘Modern Family’ Toddler Typical, Scientists Say LiveScience.com – Wed, Jan 18, 2012Bleeped-out swearing may be okay for adults on TV, but what about kids? The ABC show “Modern Family” is about to find out by airing an episode this week about a foul-mouthed … More »Kids & Cursing: ‘Modern Family’ Toddler Typical, Scientists Say

  

  Bleeped-out swearing may be okay for adults on TV, but what about kids? The ABC show “Modern Family” is about to find out by airing an episode this week about a foul-mouthed 2-year-old.

• 

  Scientists confirm rocks fell from Mars AP – Tue, Jan 17, 2012They came from Mars, not in peace, but in pieces. More »Scientists confirm rocks fell from Mars

  

  They came from Mars, not in peace, but in pieces.

• Permafrost bacteria may slow down ageing: scientists AFP – Tue, Jan 17, 2012A hardy type of bacteria recently discovered in the permafrost of Siberia could help slow down the ageing process, Russian scientists claimed on Tuesday. More »Permafrost bacteria may slow down ageing: scientists

  A hardy type of bacteria recently discovered in the permafrost of Siberia could help slow down the ageing process, Russian scientists claimed on Tuesday.

• Big Space Science in an Era of Austerity Yahoo! Contributor Network – Mon, Jan 16, 2012Scientists, especially astronomers, are starting to feel more than a little angst about the willingness of governments to fund big science projects in an era of huge … More »Big Space Science in an Era of Austerity

  Scientists, especially astronomers, are starting to feel more than a little angst about the willingness of governments to fund big science projects in an era of huge budget deficits. Space projects are particularly vulnerable in the current climate.

• Scientists Set to Drill to Buried Antarctic Lake LiveScience.com – Mon, Jan 16, 2012A team of four British engineers recently returned from a 10-day trip to a desolate, windswept plain in Antarctica, setting the stage for a project that could uncover … More »Scientists Set to Drill to Buried Antarctic Lake

  A team of four British engineers recently returned from a 10-day trip to a desolate, windswept plain in Antarctica, setting the stage for a project that could uncover previously unknown life that has been cut off from the world for millennia.

• 

  Science’s “most beautiful theories” Reuters – Mon, Jan 16, 2012NEW YORK (Reuters) – From Darwinian evolution to the idea that personality is largely shaped by chance, the favorite theories of the world’s most eminent thinkers are … More »

US Internet piracy case brings New Zealand arrests

With 150 million registered users, about 50 million hits daily and endorsements from music superstars, Megaupload.com was among the world’s biggest file-sharing sites. Big enough, according to a U.S. indictment, that it earned founder Kim Dotcom $42 million last year al … More »US Internet piracy case brings New Zealand arrests

Google’s 4Q disappoints as advertising prices sink

What was supposed to be a celebration of the most prosperous quarter in Google’s 13-year … More »Google’s 4Q disappoints as advertising prices sink

Experts see tough road for Kodak to reinvent self

• Nike FuelBand is the hot, healthy new thing to wear around your wrist Technology News Blog – 9 hrs agoFollowing up on the pioneering success of the 2006′s Nike+, the company that started the wearable digital fitness revolution has a slick new product. Meet the Nike+ FuelBand, … More »Nike FuelBand is the hot, healthy new thing to wear around your wrist

  Following up on the pioneering success of the 2006′s Nike+, the company that started the wearable digital fitness revolution has a slick new product. Meet the Nike+ FuelBand, a bracelet in the same fitness-forward family as the FitBit and the Jawbone Up The FuelBand … Continue reading →

• Don’t Miss Video of the Day: Champion Muay Thai kickboxer smacks down offensive banana tree Technology News Blog – 9 hrs agoWe don’t know what this banana tree could have said to Buakaw Por. Pramuk to deserve such a savage beating, but we’re fairly sure the tree learned its lesson. In this … More »

Dog Cloning Infomercial on TV

A fluffy TV show about three people who paid a fortune to have their former dogs cloned obscured the real harm that the process does, ignoring the suffering of animals and exploiting the grief of the well-meaning but deluded owners. Read More

Resilience

Your Story Is a Survival Saga

By Loretta Graziano Breuning, Ph.D. on January, 19, 2012 in Greaseless

Every brain seeks rewards and avoids pain, but no one likes to think of themselves as a reward-seeking, pain-avoiding creep. So we edit our stories, sometimes gutting our true core out of them. Here are some strategies for honoring your primal self. Read More

Health

The “Best” Treatment for Neck Pain: Manipulation or Medicine?

By Dr. Mark Borigini on January, 19, 2012 in Overcoming Pain

Neck pain is a common condition, with almost 75% of the population experiencing such pain at some time in their lives. The prevalence is higher in women and urban areas; and the onset and course of neck pain is influenced by exposure to tobacco and poor psychological health. It contributes to health care costs, and negatively affects work productivity and quality of life. Read More

Diet

iVegetarian: The High Fructose Diet of Steve Jobs

By Dr. Kaayla T. Daniel, Ph.D., C.C.N. on January, 19, 2012 in Naughty Nutrition

Steve Jobs, the genius behind Apple Computer, died October 5, and the animal rights organization PETA quickly lifted a tall glass of carrot juice to his memory.   That’s what Jobs gave out to trick or treaters one Halloween, and PETA reminded us not only of that, but of other positive steps Jobs took for health and the environment. Read More

Therapy

Why Do Marriage Therapists Undertreat Sexual Problems?

By Susan Heitler, Ph.D. on January, 19, 2012 in Resolution, Not Conflict

Surprisingly few marriage therapists inquire in sufficient detail about the frequency and satisfaction levels of their couples’ sexual activity, or focus enough on sexual issues during treatment. Read More

Work

Wanted: Job Seekers With This

By Michelle Gielan on January, 19, 2012 in Lights, Camera… Happiness!

Train your brain to think in a way that will increase your chances of landing your dream job. Read More

Psychiatry

Panic Disorder in the Age of Anxiety

By Christopher Lane, Ph.D. on January, 19, 2012 in Side Effects

A recent New York Times op-ed argued that we are “well-medicated” in our anxiety. Is that actually true? Read More

Memory

Evidence Matters

By William R. Klemm, D.V.M, Ph.D. on January, 19, 2012 in Memory Medic

You may not be the expert, but you need to know the evidence for the advice of experts. Advice doesn’t help if you don’ take it. That’s why you need to know the reasons to take it. Read More

Work

Sound Bites for Small Business Success

By Karen Leland on January, 19, 2012 in The Perfect Blend

If you think sound bites are just for movie stars, politicians and the pundits you see on TV, think again. In today’s get-to-the-point-centric world, your small business spin has power.I was reminded of the importance of this during a coaching session I had last week with a group of women entrepreneurs. Read More

Behavioral Economics

Grabbing Control

By Michael Kay on January, 19, 2012 in Financial Focus

Many factors of our modern day existence make it difficult for us to feel a sense of control. (For starters: family, work, desire, dreams, health, the economy, the media, and the multitude of distractions that are a part of our everyday existence.) Small wonder that we surround ourselves with rituals, beliefs and habits that insulate us. Read More

Psych Careers

Is Graduate School a Ponzi Scheme?

By Michael W. Kraus, Ph.D. on January, 19, 2012 in Under the Influence

In an article published several years ago in The Economist, the pursuit of a Ph.D. degree was assessed as a waste of time. Whether or not you agree with this perspective, it is important to consider the points being made. If you are, or have been, a graduate student, you probably learned much of this during your time in grad school. Read More

Memory

What Is Your Gender Identity Story?

By John P. Schuster on January, 19, 2012 in The Power of Your Past

Each week the Emmy-winning show Modern Family brings into our homes the comic interactions of three families’ genders blending and clashing. In the ’80s-for the older crowd’s memory-Dustin Hoffman chose to take his kids as a single dad in an act of male liberation in the movie Kramer vs. Kramer. Read More

Health

Can You Really Die of a Broken Heart?

By Marc Gillinov, M.D. on January, 19, 2012 in Heart 411

Shakespeare knew it. Seventeenth-century poet John Donne wrote about it. Country and Western stars sing about it. And anybody who has experienced the pain of deep loss or the joy of unconditional love has felt it. Read More

Philosophy

The Fifth Joint Point

By Gregg Henriques on January, 19, 2012 in Theory of Knowledge

The fifth joint point is the singularity that leads to the next dimension of complexity and a higher state of being. Read More

Sleep

Psychology in the Bedroom

By E. E. Smith on January, 19, 2012 in Not Born Yesterday

A noted specialist has come out with a simple prescription for what to do (and not to do) in the bedroom. Read More

Evolutionary Psychology

Successful Male Artists Have More Sexual Conquests

By Gad Saad, Ph.D. on January, 19, 2012 in Homo Consumericus

Gentlemen: You want to become irresistible to the ladies. Become a successful artist. A recent study validates the adage that women have a weakness for the achieving artistic types. Even Robert Pattinson’s wax replica is intoxicating to his legion of female fans! Read More

Sleep

Who Can I Sleep With?

By Matthew J. Edlund, M.D. on January, 19, 2012 in The Power of Rest

From deaths of infants to a litany of zoological diseases, who knew that co-sleeping could be so perilous? Is there anyone you can sleep with safely? Read More

Parenting

Homesickness and Growth in Children

By Steve Baskin on January, 19, 2012 in S’mores and More

Parents should strive to provide growth experiences for their children that stretch them. Summer camp can be a great opportunity to do this. Also, parents should embrace their role as emotional leaders with their children. Read More

Self-Help

Does Complaining Damage Our Mental Health?

By Guy Winch, Ph.D. on January, 19, 2012 in The Squeaky Wheel

We all complain many times a day to our families, friends, co-workers, customer service representatives, and even strangers in the elevator. But what many of us don’t realize is that how we voice our complaints can have huge implications for our mental health Read More

Cognition

Human Error and Hubris Sank the Costa Concordia

By David Ropeik on January, 19, 2012 in How Risky Is It, Really?

Amid smiles and optimism they boarded the Costa Concordia for a luxurious Mediterranean cruise, eating and drinking and planning their upcoming visits at various ports of call with little or no concern for the unimaginable risk that the massive modern ship could sink. Read More