The art of the nap: Tilda Swinton at MoMA

Actress Tilda Swinton performs the art of sleeping in her one-person piece called "The Maybe," in New York's Museum of Modern Art, Monday, March 25, 2013. In "The Maybe," first performed at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1995, Swinton lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The exhibit will move locations within the museum every time Swinton performs. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Actress Tilda Swinton performs the art of sleeping in her one-person piece called "The Maybe," in New York's Museum of Modern Art, Monday, March 25, 2013. In "The Maybe," first performed at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1995, Swinton lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The exhibit will move locations within the museum every time Swinton performs. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Actress Tilda Swinton performs the art of sleeping in her one-person piece called "The Maybe," in New York's Museum of Modern Art, Monday, March 25, 2013. In "The Maybe," first performed at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1995, Swinton lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The exhibit will move locations within the museum every time Swinton performs. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Actress Tilda Swinton performs the art of sleeping in her one-person piece called "The Maybe," in New York's Museum of Modern Art, Monday, March 25, 2013. In "The Maybe," first performed at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1995, Swinton lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The exhibit will move locations within the museum every time Swinton performs. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Actress Tilda Swinton performs the art of sleeping in her one-person piece called "The Maybe," in New York's Museum of Modern Art, Monday, March 25, 2013. In "The Maybe," first performed at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1995, Swinton lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The exhibit will move locations within the museum every time Swinton performs. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Actress Tilda Swinton performs the art of sleeping in her one-person piece called "The Maybe," in New York's Museum of Modern Art, Monday, March 25, 2013. In "The Maybe," first performed at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1995, Swinton lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The exhibit will move locations within the museum every time Swinton performs. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

NEW YORK (AP) ? It's not the kind of performance that will win her another Academy Award, but Tilda Swinton certainly has them buzzing at the Museum of Modern Art.

But keep it down, please. She's trying to sleep.

The "Moonrise Kingdom star has been engaging in a different kind of performance art. She's presenting a one-person piece called "The Maybe," in which she lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The first performance was over the weekend, and the museum won't say if there's a schedule for when exactly it will come back for six other performances.

On Monday, the display drew a line of spectators that wound through a whole second-floor gallery into a museum hallway.

Erwin Aschenbrenner, a bemused German tourist, said it "just what you'd expect to see at MoMA."

The actress "is so pale and not moving in there that she looks like she's dead," said Robbie von Kampen, 20, a philosophy major at Bard College, north of New York City.

But after about seven hours a day of the shuteye pose on a white mattress in the glass box ? with only a carafe of water and a glass to get her through ? Swinton can stretch and walk off into the Manhattan night. But only when spectators leave.

So what's the point?

"This makes me think about myself, looking at her," said Quinn Moreland, 20, also a Bard student, majoring in art history.

"You don't usually get to stare at somebody like this; it makes me self-conscious," she explained.

Added von Kampen, "Yeah, it's socially unacceptable ? it's kinda creepy."

No one, not even museum curators, could say whether the thin, mostly immobile Swinton is actually getting some sleep while people stare at her.

At least Swinton was comfortable. She wore a pair of grubby sneakers, dark sporty slacks and a checkered shirt. Her glasses lay on the mattress.

But no snacks were in sight. And none could be offered in the closed chamber.

Swinton also starred in a glass box in 1995 at London's Serpentine Gallery ? seven days, eight hours a day ? in an exhibition seen by 22,000 people.

The next year, she repeated the spectacle at the Museo Barracco in Rome.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-03-25-People-Swinton/id-c3a30c9d1f514e848a4bece6236ff406

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Bachmann?s presidential campaign probed

ORLANDO, Florida, March 25 (Reuters) - Tiger Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill on Monday to reclaim the world number one ranking for the first time since 2010. Woods, who collected his 77th career PGA Tour win and third in five starts this season, shot a final-round two-under 70 for a 13-under 275 total that left him two shots clear of runner-up Justin Rose (70). (Reporting by Steve Keating; Editing by Frank Pingue)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/report-ethics-panel-investigates-michelle-bachmann-presidential-campaign-175159553--election.html

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How the Higgs Boson Might Spell Doom for the Universe

Under the simplest assumptions, the measured mass of the Higgs could mean the universe is unstable and destined to fall apart. But don?t worry?it won?t happen for billions of eons

By Saswato R. Das

A reconstructed particle collision in the CMS detector of the LHC. Image: CMS/CERN

Physicists recently confirmed that the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, the particle physics laboratory in Geneva, had indeed found a Higgs boson last July, marking a culmination of one of the longest and most expensive searches in science. The finding also means that our universe could be doomed to fall apart. "If you use all the physics that we know now and you do what you think is a straightforward calculation, it is bad news," says Joseph Lykken, a theorist who works at the Fermilab National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois. "It may be that the universe we live in is inherently unstable."

The Higgs boson helps explain why particles have the mass they do. The Higgs particle that the LHC has found possesses a mass of approximately 126 giga-electron volts (GeV)?roughly the combined mass of 126 protons (hydrogen nuclei). (One GeV equals a billion electron volts.)

Based on the data analysis so far, the discovered particle is consistent with the Standard Model of particle physics, the highly successful theory that describes the subatomic world, although other models cannot be ruled out. "It is looking very much like the Standard Model Higgs boson?although there may be a very massive Higgs particle that also exists, and which our experiment is not sensitive enough to detect," says Joseph Incandela, the spokesman for the CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) experiment at the LHC, one of the two experiments that detected the current Higgs particle,

And that very nature of being a Standard Model Higgs may be the reason our universe is ultimately unstable. It has to do with the so-called vacuum stability in the Standard Model.

According to the description currently favored by physicists, a vacuum is not completely devoid of matter but instead teems with particles and antiparticles that pop into existence and then run into one another and annihilate themselves, all in very short times. The inherent uncertainty embodied in quantum mechanics permits these spontaneous fluctuations?as long as the particles don't live for more than a fleeting instant, the process violates no laws of physics.

The Standard Model also says, as Lykken puts it, that "for the vacuum of empty space to be stable, we should be living at a minimum of potential energy." In other words, most things end up resting in a place of lowest energy. A ball rolls downhill and settles in a low point; getting it to move away from this point requires a kick of energy. In the case of the universe it would be like living at the bottom of a valley bordered by hills: the value of the Higgs potential would be lowest point of the valley.

Our universe might end if our valley really isn't the lowest one around. Physicist Benjamin Allanach of the University of Cambridge explains: "The shape of the Higgs potential is determined precisely by the Higgs mass." The observed 126 GeV mass seems to imply the universe does not exist in the lowest possible energy state but is in fact positioned in a slightly unusual place. "It turns out that for a Higgs boson of?126 GeV, we might be in the gray area where the universe is at a local minimum that is not the global minimum," says physicist Matthew Strassler of Rutgers University.

It is sort of like being in a valley whose floor is higher than that of an adjoining valley. If you didn't know that a deep valley was on the other side of the hill, you would think you were at the lowest level you could be. If you somehow managed to get to the other side, however, you could fall much lower.

This situation would normally not pose a problem, as you couldn't travel between valleys?except in quantum mechanics, which allows particles to tunnel through hills unpredictably. As a result, "in the future our universe could spontaneously and randomly tunnel through to the deeper one, with potentially catastrophic consequences," Allanach says.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=121406c405a697e7951dfc28b4e69e93

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Here's a Laptop Stand That's Better for Your Back

Vool is a handsome laptop stand that might ease the strain on your back and shoulders. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/z1DK42CFFhk/heres-a-laptop-stand-thats-better-for-your-back

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Justices hear arguments on Calif. Gay marriage ban

AAA??Mar. 26, 2013?11:42 AM ET
Justices hear arguments on Calif. Gay marriage ban
By MARK SHERMANBy MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press??

Marcus, left, and Daniel German-Dominguez stand outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Tuesday, March 26, 2013, before the court's hearing on California?s voter approved ban on same-sex marriage. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Marcus, left, and Daniel German-Dominguez stand outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Tuesday, March 26, 2013, before the court's hearing on California?s voter approved ban on same-sex marriage. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Actor, director and producer Robert Reiner is interviewed outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Tuesday, March 26, 2013, before the court will hear arguments on California?s voter approved ban on same-sex marriage. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Sandy Stier, left, and Kris Perry of Berkeley, Calif., arrive at the National Archives in Washington, Monday, March 25, 2013, to view the U.S. Constitution, a day before their same-sex marriage case is argued before the Supreme Court. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Demonstrators stand outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Tuesday, March 26, 2013, where the court will hear arguments on California?s voter approved ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Supreme Court is raising the prospect that it will find a way out of the case over California's ban on same-sex marriage without issuing a substantial ruling on whether gays have a right to marry.

Several justices, including some liberals who seem open to gay marriage, raised doubts Tuesday that the case is properly before them. Justice Anthony Kennedy, the potentially decisive vote on a closely divided court, suggested that the court could dismiss the case with no ruling at all.

Associated PressNews Topics: Lifestyle, Government and politics, Same sex marriage, Marriage, Supreme courts, Family issues, Social affairs, Gay rights, Human rights and civil liberties, Social issues, National courts, National governments, Courts, Judiciary

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-03-26-Supreme%20Court-Gay%20Marriage/id-e7f72168370e4778a504292b241aedb3

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Coney Island's coaster back, even if it isn't

The Cyclone in Coney Island (Holly Bailey/Yahoo News)BROOKLYN, N.Y.?Erik Knapp was just 7 when he took his first turn on the Cyclone, Coney Island?s famed wooden roller coaster. His mother had insisted that he was too young to ride the old rickety coaster, but his grandfather took him anyway, and to hear Knapp tell it, it was love at first ride.

In the years since, Knapp, who is now 47, estimates he?s ridden the coaster ?at least 2,000 times? and says he?ll ride it until the day he dies. As proof, he points to a gigantic tattoo of the Cyclone he had inked on his right bicep many years ago. It?s a permanent depiction of the coaster?s iconic red Cyclone sign and a train of passengers falling on the ride?s first major drop. Seated in the front seat alone is a skeleton.

?That?s me,? Knapp says, grinning. ?This ride is such a part of my life. I have never lost the thrill of it, and I don?t think I ever will.?

But in October, Knapp worried he might lose his beloved ride forever in the fierce winds and flooding of Superstorm Sandy. A massive nine-foot storm surge wiped out many businesses along Surf Avenue, Coney Island?s main strip, and flooded the 86-year-old coaster. But unlike the Jet Star, the coaster in Seaside Heights, N.J., which collapsed into the sea and became an iconic image of Sandy?s devastation, the Cyclone stayed put. And on Sunday, it reopened?along with the Wonder Wheel Ferris wheel and the rest of the amusement park that city officials once feared might not be able to recover in time for this summer.

?Coney Island is open!? Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz declared as he and Sen. Chuck Schumer christened the Cyclone?s reopening by smashing a wine bottle full of egg cream on the ride?s first car.

But all around Coney Island, there are still signs of Sandy?s wrath.

Down the block, the original location of Nathan?s Famous hot dogs remains closed. Its customers have been rerouted to another location on the boardwalk as it tries to reopen later this spring. Coney Island USA, home to vintage games and a freak show, is still closed after flooding caused more than $400,000 in damage to its historic building. And the nearby New York Aquarium also remains closed after heavy damage. Staff there say they hope to reopen by May.

On Sunday, across the street from the Cyclone, about a dozen local residents quietly protested the hype surrounding the amusement park?s reopening. Waving signs that read ?People Live Here? and ?Coney Island is Not Back,? they accused city officials of focusing more on getting the rides open than helping to rebuild the rest of the neighborhood.

?In a lot of buildings, we still don?t have heat. We don?t have a library. We don?t have a police station. We don?t have a post office,? said Dana Monroe of the People?s Coalition of Coney Island, which organized the protest. ?Where are the grand openings for things that actually help the people who live here??

Jeri Gventer, who works with seniors who live on the west end of Coney Island, complained that many of the senior centers in the neighborhood remained without needed repairs. In one building, the elevator has been out of service since Sandy?a big deal because many elderly residents can?t climb stairs very well, if at all.

?This neighborhood is very poor,? Gventer said. ?We can?t do these things without help. And we just feel ignored.?

Across the street, Markowitz said he sympathized with their plight?and blamed delays in receiving state and federal aid as the reason for the slow recovery in the neighborhood. He pointed out that the Cyclone and the rest of the amusement park had opened so quickly in part because the owners of the facility had used their own money to make repairs instead of waiting for public help.

But Markowitz insisted the amusement park would help Coney Island?s recovery because many of its employees live in the neighborhood, and it would likely spur additional redevelopment. But, he added, that doesn?t mean the job in Coney Island is done.

Motioning to the protesters, Markowitz said, "It's right for them to be here, so they put right in front of those that have that responsibility, which is Sen. Schumer, the Assembly, the Senate, Congress, City Council, borough president, all of us, to make sure that we stay focused on resolving their needs.?

But for Knapp, the Cyclone?s return was more than just the reopening of his favorite thrill ride. In October, his home in nearby Gerritsen Beach suffered severe flooding in Sandy, and he said he's spent the past five months slowly trying to rebuild and recover from the storm.

?The Cyclone coming back is not just an important symbol of recovery for the neighborhood, it?s important to me. It gives me a sense of normalcy,? Knapp said.

So on Saturday night?as he has for the past eight years?Knapp got in line outside the Cyclone at just after 8 p.m. so that he could be the first to ride the coaster on its reopening day. He camped outside with a group of friends.

Just after noon on Sunday, he bounded up the roller coaster's entrance ramp and jumped into the train?s first car, where he proudly showed a group of reporters his Cyclone tattoo and the word ?CYCLONE? shaved into his hair. He was so excited he could barely sit still.

?Last night was one of the coldest nights I?ve ever spent out here, but it was worth it,? Knapp said. ?I love the Cyclone. I love Coney Island. It feels good to be back.?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/roller-coaster-return-symbol-recovery-coney-island-sandy-121629134--finance.html

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Nature versus nurture -- better looking birds have healthier babies

Monday, March 25, 2013

A female great tits' (Parus major) appearance is shown to signal healthy attributes in offspring in a paper in BioMed Central's open access journal Frontiers in Zoology. The black stripe across her breast and white patches on her cheeks correlate to a chick's weight at two weeks and immune strength respectively ? though the former seems to signal a genetic benefit and the latter can affect an 'adopted' chick's health, suggesting nurture is involved.

Taking two mothers with different patterning, and swapping their chicks, researchers from Palacky University in the Czech Republic were able to investigate the growth and health of the infants and the 'ornamentation' of their mothers. They compared the offspring's weight, size and immune strength and found a correlation between the chick's weight at two weeks and the size of black breast stripe on the genetic mother.

The immaculateness of both genetic and foster mother's white cheek patch was related to the strength of chick's immune response suggesting that this was due to both nurture and genetics. In contrast the body size of a chick was related only to the body size of its genetic mother and not to ornamentation at all.

In these socially monogamous birds both the males and females are brightly coloured, however neither the cheek patch nor the stripe in males affected the health of the babies.

Talking about how the ornaments can have evolved to signal reproductive fitness, Vladim?r Reme? and Beata Matysiokov? who performed this study explained, "Bigger healthier babies are important to the reproductive success of individuals, because they are more likely to survive to adulthood - so it is useful for birds to be able to work out which potential mates will produce the best babies. Maintaining bright colouration uses up resources which could otherwise be invested in reproduction or self-maintenance - consequently the evolution and maintenance of ornamentation in female great tits is probably due to direct selection by males."

###

BioMed Central: http://www.biomedcentral.com

Thanks to BioMed Central for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127433/Nature_versus_nurture____better_looking_birds_have_healthier_babies

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