How "Cheating" Slime Mold Escapes Death

Cheaters do prosper—at least if you're a slime mold, a new study says.

The slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum, found in most warm parts of the world, has an unusual life cycle. Most of the time Dicytostelium cells are "happy" single cells that hang out and eat bacteria, according to study leader Lorenzo Santorelli of the University of Oxford, who conducted the research while at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine.

But sometimes, when food is scarce, different strains of Dictyostelium, including a mutated strain, form a mobile, multicellular organism called a "slug." This cluster then sprouts a stalk called a fruiting body, which produces spores that disperse into new slime molds. (Also see "Slime Has Memory but No Brain.")

For a slug to produce a stalk, however, nearly 20 percent of its cells must die—essentially sacrificing themselves to pass on their genes. (Get a genetics overview.) The remaining 80 percent live on and become spores.

Now, for the first time, Santorelli and colleagues have figured out the mechanism by which the mutated strain is able to survive in higher numbers than the others.

It suppresses normal cells from becoming spores, thereby forcing more of these cells to sacrifice themselves for the stalk and die. Meanwhile, more cells in the mutated strain become spores—and thus avoid dying as stalk cells. In other words, more than the "fair share" of cheater cells see another day.

Cheating Cells Surprisingly Healthy

To make the discovery, the team mixed the cheater strain with normal strains and observed that more cells in the cheater strain live on. (See "Smart Slime, Ovulating Strippers Among 2008 Ig Nobels.")

On one hand, this isn't all that surprising, Santorelli noted: "Cooperation is always under attack in any organism—trying to get something for [yourself], it's just nature."

But what is striking, he said, is that usually cheaters eventually cause the entire cooperative system to collapse. Not so in Dictyostelium—somehow it's evolved a way to keep everything running smoothly, said Santorelli, whose study was recently published in the journal BMC Evolutionary Biology.

What's more, cheaters are usually weaker than cooperative individuals. But not in Dictyostelium cheaters, which appear to be quite healthy.

Santorelli wants to find out how the cheater strain is so successful. And, just maybe, the lowly slime mold could unravel the evolutionary and genetic basis for cooperation, he added.

"Slime mold is an amazing organism."

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Jodi Arias' Lies Detailed at Murder Trial

The jury in the Jodi Arias murder trial watched a television interview today in which Arias said "no jury will convict me" for killing her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander.

Arias also said she could never imagine commiting such a violent act as killing Alexander.

"I understand all the evidence is really compelling," she said in the interview. "In a nutshell, two people came in and killed Travis. I've never even shot a gun. That's heinous. I can't imagine slitting anyone's throat."

She went on to tell the interviewer, "No jury will convict me and you can mark my words on that... I am innocent."

Arias made the statements to the television show Inside Edition after she was indicted for murdering Alexander. Months later, she would confess to killing him in his Mesa, Ariz., home and say it was in self-defense.

Jodi Arias Trial: Watch Live

Jodi Arias Murder Trial: Full Coverage

Photos of Key Players and Evidence in the Jodi Arias Murder Trial

The tape was played on the fifth day of testimony in Arias's trial, in which police allege that she carried out the murder with such brutal force that she stabbed Alexander 27 times, slashed his throat from ear to ear, and shot him in the head.

Arias, now 32, claims Alexander was a controlling and abusive "sexual deviant" who she was forced to kill in self-defense.

She could face the death penalty if convicted of Alexander's murder.

Jodi Arias Trial: Jurors See Photos of Bloody Handprint Watch Video

Jodi Arias Murder Trial: Who Is the Alleged Killer? Watch Video

Jodi Arias Trial: Defense Claims Victim Was Sex Deviant Watch Video

The jury also watched as dozens of photos of blood-spattered walls, flooring, stained carpets and blood smeared sink were explained in detail by a forensic analyst from the Mesa police department, who noted that on many of the stains, water had been mixed with the blood and diluted it.

The prosecution alleges that Arias tried to wash away the evidence of the killing with water.

Prosecutors spent much of today and Wednesday using Arias' recorded statements and other testimony to prove that she lied about her relationship with Alexander, where she was when Alexander was killed, and even where she worked as a bartender.

The testimony today showed that Arias had lied to her new boyfriend Ryan Burns about working at a bar called Margaritaville in her hometown of Yreka, Calif.

"Is there any restaurant in Yreka called Margaritaville? Has there ever been?" prosecutor Juan Martinez asked Nathaniel Mendes, a former detective with the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office in California.

"No, sir," Mendes replied.

Mendes testified that Arias worked at a restaurant called Casa Ramos in Yreka, not a Margaritaville bar that she told Burns. Mendes also went over receipts showing that Arias rented a car the day before she killed Alexander, and noted that she went to a rental outfit 90 miles from her hometown despite two businesses that rented cars in Yreka.

Arias told friends and investigators that she rented a car to go on a road trip to visit Burns, in West Jordan, Utah, on June 3, 2008. She showed up to Burns' house a day late with cuts on her hands, but told Burns that she got lost driving and that the cuts were from broken glass at her Margaritaville bar tending job, according to Burn's testimony Wednesday.

The trail of receipts showed that Arias drove from California to Alexander's hometown of Mesa on Tuesday, June 4, 2008.

There, the pair had sex and took sexually graphic photos of one another, according to photographs and the opening statement of Arias' lawyer. Shortly after the tryst, Arias killed Alexander, both sides agree.

Burns testified that Arias never mentioned going to Alexander's house when she arrived at his home in Utah. He said he did not know that Arias and Alexander were still sexually involved, and that she told him they had broken up.

When she arrived at his home, just 24 hours after killing Alexander, she seemed "normal," he said. The pair kissed and cuddled, and went out with Burns' friends, where she laughed and made conversation.

Prosecutors have also played recorded phone conversations between detectives and Arias in the weeks after Alexander's body was found. She can be heard lying multiple times to investigators as they ask about the last time she spoke with Alexander and her trip to Utah.

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Football: Swansea stun Chelsea in fresh League Cup shock

LONDON: Swansea produced the second surprise English League Cup semi-final first leg result after defeating Chelsea 2-0 at the European champions' Stamford Bridge ground on Wednesday.

Though not as great an upset as fourth-tier Bradford City's 3-1 defeat of Premier League Aston Villa on Tuesday, Swansea's victory over their top flight rivals was still a surprise.

Both Swansea goals in a backs-to-the-wall effort came as a result of two errors by Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic.

In-form Spanish striker Michu, signed for just £2 million from La Liga side Rayo Vallecano, scored his 16th goal of the season in the 39th minute with a curling shot from the edge of the box after Ivanovic miscontrolled the ball.

Chelsea boss Rafael Benitez brought Frank Lampard and Demba Ba off the bench in search of an equaliser but none came.

And in stoppage time, shortly after Ba had had a penalty appeal turned down on his home debut, Swansea's Danny Graham scored for the fourth match in a row after another Ivanovic mistake.

Now Welsh side Swansea will look to seal the tie in the second leg at the Liberty Stadium on January 23, with the prospect of an improbable final against Bradford in their sights.

"We've had some historic results already this season but to win here is very special," Swansea manager Michael Laudrup told Sky Sports.

"We had to defend a lot, they had a lot of possession but to be honest they only had three good chances all night," the Denmark great added.

"They gave us two goals but you have to score them. It was a marvellous fight, we are a team that always try to play but when you play the European champions away you have to change.

"There is still a mountain to climb, Chelsea have so much quality. We will have to play with the same intensity, they can still win and can score three or four goals against us."

- AFP/jc

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Maoist tactic during Latehar gunbattle evokes memories of acclaimed Bosnian war film

NEW DELHI: In an action reminiscent of a scene from Oscar-winning Bosnian war film "No Man's Land", Naxalites in Latehar district of Jharkhand put the body of a critically injured and incapacitated jawan over a landmine following a fierce battle between the Maoists and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on Monday morning. On Tuesday evening, security forces along with local villagers found the jawan's body deep in Karmatiya jungles. However, as soon as the body was picked up, the mine exploded, killing three villagers and blasting the jawan to smithereens.

The death toll of forces in the encounter has now risen to 10, including a jawan from Jharkhand Jaguars. However, a senior CRPF official, alluding to the landmine blast, put the figures rather tragically. "We can confirm the death of 10 jawans. However, we have found only nine bodies so far," he told TOI.

The film No Man's Land had ended with an injured Bosnian soldier lying on the mine while still alive with no hope of rescue. Bosnian Serbs had put his body over a landmine while he was unconscious.

Sources said, in all probability the jawan bled to death while lying on the mine adding that even if he had gained consciousness and tried to move, he would have died. Following the blasts, the forces retreated on Tuesday night and the combing operation was restarted with reinforcements on Wednesday.

On the trail of senior CPI (Maoist) leader Arvindji, around 300 soldiers from CRPF and Jharkhand Jaguars were combing Karmatiya forests when they were ambushed by a contingent of around 200 Maoists — led by a woman — who were firing at them from hill top. The forces had taken the only narrow path that cut through the jungle and then opened into a plain with hills surrounding it. That the Maoists were in Army fatigues confounded matters. About 600 Maoists are suspected to be hiding in the jungles moving between Bihar and Jharkhand.

The government, however, is not perturbed by the deaths as the operation is part of a "fight-to-finish" war to flush out Maoists from Latehar and Chhattisgarh's Sukma districts. "Maoists have been considerably weakened as is evident from constantly decreasing incidents of Naxal violence (from 2,258 in 2009 to 1,412 in 2012). This is the season (before the onset of monsoons) to strike and we want to considerably weaken them through continuous offensive," said a home ministry official.

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Pictures: Florida Wildlife Corridor to Protect Bears, Panthers

Photograph by Carlton Ward

Bears in Florida aren't just the stuff of Disney—the Sunshine State is home to at least three thousand black bears, including M13, pictured, a male captured in Highlands County (map) in 2006.

But due to human activities, bears and other Florida wildlife are increasingly isolated in remote patches of habitat, preventing them from moving freely through their territories and potentially leading to the local extinction of some species.

That's partly why, a year ago this January, a team of explorers set off on a hundred-day, 1,000-mile (1,600-kilometer) expedition to drum up awareness and support for a proposed Florida Wildlife Corridor, a strip of uninterrupted wild and rural land that would link landscapes from the Florida Peninsula all the way to Georgia. (Related blog: "Follow Carlton Ward's 1,000-Mile Trek Through Florida.")

The corridor would protect wide-ranging species such as the black bear; keep the watershed that drains into the Everglades clean and safe; and also maintain ranches and farms, which house much of the potential corridor land, Carlton Ward, Jr., a National Geographic explorer and conservation photographer who led the expedition, said recently. (National Geographic News is a division of the National Geographic Society.)

"Despite very intensive development, we still have a chance to create a corridor that touches millions of acres of high-quality conservation land," Ward said.

The Florida Wildlife Corridor is gaining recognition within state agencies, Ward said, and formal recognition is a near-term goal.

Overall, the state's wild wonders are "really an untold story," he said.

"This is Florida—it's not just coast, beaches, and amusement parks."

—Christine Dell'Amore

Published January 9, 2013

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Arias Kissed New Beau Day After Killing Boyfriend

Jodi Arias drove to the home of her new romantic interest, kissed him, and laughed with his friends just 24 hours after she stabbed and shot her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander to death, according to court testimony today.

Ryan Burns, whom Arias met in the spring of 2008, took the stand today at the start of the fourth day of testimony in the trial.

Arias, 32, is accused of murdering Alexander, 30, her one-time boyfriend whom she continued to sleep with occasionally. She claims he was abusive and she stabbed and shot him in self-defense. Alexander's body was riddled with 27 knife wounds including a slashed throat and a bullet wound to the head.

WATCH LIVE: Jodi Arias Murder Trial

Burns, who met Arias at a business conference, exchanged frequent long phone calls and online conversations with Arias before inviting her to come visit him in West Jordan, Utah, in June. Arias lived in California at the time.

Arias has confessed to driving to Alexander's home in Mesa, Ariz., where she killed him, and then to Burns' home in Utah. She arrived at Burns's home 24 hours after she was expected there, telling him that she got lost, drove the wrong way on a freeway for a few hours, fell asleep for awhile, and then got lost again, Burns testified today.

Jodi Arias Murder Trial: Who Is the Alleged Killer? Watch Video

Jodi Arias Trial: Defense Claims Victim Was Sex Deviant Watch Video

Photos of Key Players and Evidence in the Jodi Arias Murder Trial

She never told him that she had confronted Alexander with a knife or gun and ended up killing him just hours before their date.

When she arrived, the pair quickly got physical, he testified.

"We went back to my house. We talked for awhile, and agreed that we were going to watch a movie. At some point we were talking and we kissed. Every time we started kissing it got a little more escalated. Our clothes never came off, but at some point she was kissing my neck, I was kissing hers, but our clothes never came off," he said.

Burns said that both he and Arias stopped kissing at the time, though they again became physically involved later in the evening when Arias climbed on top of Burns and began kissing him. Burns said that they stopped kissing because he did not want her to "regret the visit" because of her Mormon beliefs about sex.

He also told prosecutors upon questioning that Arias was physically strong.

"She's very fit," he said, describing their encounter when she climbed on top of him. "She's very strong. She has close to a six pack (of abs)."

Prosecutors likely asked about the strength of Arias because in testimony Tuesday Maricopa County medical examiner Kevin Horn said Alexander was stabbed so forcefully that the blade chipped his skull and his neck was cut all the way back to the spinal cord.

Burns, who is also a Mormon, said he noticed two bandages on Arias's hand when she arrived at his house, which she told him she got when a glass broke at her place of employment, Margaritaville.

During her visit, the pair also went to a business meeting and went out with Burns' friends where Burns described Arias as acting "shy" and a "little awkward."

"She was fine, she was laughing about simple little things like any other person. I never once felt like anything was wrong during the day. With a crowd she was a little awkward in social areas, but one on one she was very talkative and excitable," he said.

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Football: Bradford stun Villa to close on League Cup final

BRADFORD: Fourth-tier Bradford City continued their extraordinary League Cup journey by upsetting Premier League Aston Villa 3-1 in the first leg of their semi-final on Tuesday.

Nehki Wells, Rory McArdle and Carl McHugh scored for the hosts at a raucous Valley Parade, with Andreas Weimann replying for Villa, as the Yorkshire club closed on a first major final since their FA Cup success in 1911.

Bradford have already accounted for Wigan Athletic and Arsenal in this season's competition and are bidding to become the first team from the English fourth division to reach the League Cup final since Rochdale in 1962.

"They came with a really attacking line-up, but they left space and we passed the ball so well. They had chances, but so did we," Bradford manager Phil Parkinson told Sky Sports.

"We don't want to get carried away with our celebrations because we still have to go to Villa Park for the second leg, but the lads can enjoy themselves tonight."

Ahead of the return leg at Villa Park on January 22, Paul Lambert's Villa face the prospect of yet another disappointment in a sorry season that has seen them sink to within a point of the Premier League relegation zone.

"We're very disappointed we lost the game," said Lambert.

"You know what's coming with the set pieces. We never defended them well and that's what hurt us. It wasn't good enough."

Villa made four changes to the team that beat Ipswich Town 2-1 in the FA Cup on Saturday, with Christian Benteke recalled in place of Darren Bent, and the visitors were soon on the front foot.

Charles N'Zogbia twice tested home goalkeeper Matt Duke in the opening 12 minutes, while Benteke headed off-target from corners on two occasions.

Duke was called into action to save from Benteke after Fabian Delph threaded a pass down the inside-left channel, before Bradford took the lead from their first real sight of goal.

Zavon Hines' volley from a Bradford corner flicked off a Villa defender before landing in the path of Wells, and with defenders vainly appealing for offside, the 22-year-old Bermudan kept his cool to beat Shay Given.

Villa stirred, Duke pushing aside a 30-yarder from Benteke, but Bradford refused to retreat.

Hines had a shot saved by Given after jinking into the box from the right, while James Hanson saw a header cleared off the line by Delph and then headed wide at the near post.

Shortly before half-time, Duke boxed away a powerful shot from Gabriel Agbonlahor after a sinuous surge down the right by N'Zogbia, but the first half belonged to Bradford.

Duke thwarted Benteke and Agbonlahor again early in the second half, before Lambert turned to his bench and threw Bent into the fray.

The England striker was presented with a gilt-edged chance to equalise in the 67th minute when Duke could only scoop N'Zogbia's low shot into the air, but with the goal gaping, Bent mistimed his leap and headed over.

McArdle made it 2-0 with a powerful header from Gary Jones' left-wing corner in the 77th minute and Hanson came within inches of putting Bradford three goals up moments later, only for his header to hit the bar.

It looked set to be a telling let-off, as Weimann bravely beat Duke in the 82nd minute to give Villa hope, only for McHugh's 88th-minute bullet header to restore Bradford's two-goal lead and leave their fans dreaming of Wembley.

- AFP/jc

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2G scam: JPC summons former auditor RP Singh

NEW DELHI: The joint parliamentary committee (JPC) looking into the 2G spectrum scam that met on Tuesday decided to call former auditor RP Singh, who had alleged that he was forced to sign the controversial report of the government auditor ( CAG) on the 2G issue, attorney general G E Vahanvati and telecom secretary R Chandrashekhar as witnesses before the panel.

While the next meeting of the JPC has been scheduled for January 22, the members have decided to hold a JPC meeting every Tuesday after the next meeting so that the JPC report could be submitted to Parliament in the budget session, which begins by end-February.

A decision on calling finance minister P Chidambaram to appear before a parliamentary panel is also expected to be taken this month. The JPC appears to have entered its final few laps with members deciding "unanimously" to complete examination of witnesses by February 12 after which the drafting of the report would begin. Tuesday's meeting saw no decision on calling Chidambaram before the panel being taken. "To call somebody we do not need longer time. It is only a question of sending a notice and their coming before the committee," chairman P C Chacko said, while replying to a volley of questions on whether Chidambaram will be called as a witness, after Tuesday's meeting got over.

"Some members had written to the committee to ask R P Singh to appear again in view of some recent statements he had made," Chacko said. Vahanvati has also been asked to appear before the panel on the same day.

Chacko appeared to downplay BJP's demand for calling Chidambaram before the committee. "You know all what had happened in the past. There were demands, there were walkouts, there were coming backs," he said, adding that BJP members Harin Pathak and Ravi Shankar Prasad were present at the meeting on Tuesday. BJP member Yashwant Sinha, who has been most vocal on calling Chidambaram, was not present at the Tuesday's meeting. Sinha is caught up with developments in his home state Jharkhand, where a political crisis has erupted with the JMM withdrawing support to the BJP-led Arjun Munda government.

Members of the Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India, which represents CDMA operators, appeared before the panel on Tuesday.

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Pictures: Wildfires Scorch Australia Amid Record Heat

Photograph by Jo Giuliani, European Pressphoto Agency

Smoke from a wildfire mushrooms over a beach in Forcett, Tasmania, on January 4. (See more wildfire pictures.)

Wildfires have engulfed southeastern Australia, including the island state of Tasmania, in recent days, fueled by dry conditions and temperatures as high as 113ºF (45ºC), the Associated Press reported. (Read "Australia's Dry Run" inNational Geographic magazine.)

No deaths have been reported, though a hundred people are unaccounted for in the town of Dunalley, where the blazes destroyed 90 homes.

"You don't get conditions worse than this," New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons told the AP.

"We are at the catastrophic level, and clearly in those areas leaving early is your safest option."

Published January 8, 2013

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CIA Nominee May Have 'Zero Dark Thirty' Problem

Navy SEALs are seen fighting through a dust storm in the new thriller directed by Kathryn Bigelow, "Zero Dark Thirty." (Columbia Pictures/AP Photo)

There’s only one White House staffer portrayed in the new movie “Zero Dark Thirty,” and it is someone described in the credits as “National Security Advisor.”

It’s a position that’s possibly filled in real life by John Brennan, the president’s counterterrorism advisor, who President Obama nominated Jan. 7 to be director of C.I.A.. The character in the movie, with references to the C.I.A’s involvement in the flawed intelligence on weapons of mass destruction that led the U.S. into war in Iraq, explains to a frustrated agency representative the difficulty of the president’s decision in acting on partial intelligence.

Spoiler alert: The president does ultimately act on that partial intelligence and Osama bin Laden is nabbed.

The character in real life – Brennan – has been opposed by some for his work at the C.I.A. under President Bush and the “enhanced interrogation” policies like waterboarding that also play a prominent role in the movie.

President Obama makes a cameo in the movie in the form of a “60 Minutes” interview in which he declares that, “America doesn’t torture, and I’m gonna make sure that we don’t torture.”

That declaration is viewed, in the film, by a table full of CIA agents in Pakistan who have been involved in “enhanced” interrogations.

The U.S. used waterboarding on three al Qaeda detainees at secret prisons run by the CIA.  It  ended the practice of using secret prisons in September of 2006 under President Bush and in 2009 President Obama signed executive orders in his first days in office that banned of the use of waterboarding and other “enhanced interrogation” techniques.

But that was after the techniques had already scuttled Brennan’s first chance to head the CIA.  Brennan wasn’t nominated to be CIA director back in the early days of the Obama administration, but he was widely considered to be a front-runner for the job. ABC’s Jake Tapper reported at the time that Brennan withdrew his name for consideration and most of the opposition came as a result of his work at the C.I.A. when those techniques were in use.

And there is indication that they will make his nomination difficult this year.

“I appreciate John Brennan’s long record of service to our nation, but I have many questions and concerns about his nomination to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, especially what role he played in the so-called enhanced interrogation programs while serving at the CIA during the last administration, as well as his public defense of those programs,” said Sen. John McCain after Brennan was nominated Monday.  ”I plan to examine this aspect of Mr. Brennan’s record very closely as I consider his nomination.”

The movie has certainly brought “enhanced interrogation” – it’s critics call it torture – back into the conversation about the war on terror, as ABC’s Lee Ferran reported Monday:

Last week three high-powered senators, Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D.-Calif.), Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D.-Mich.) and 2008 Presidential candidate John McCain (R.-Ariz.), revealed they had written two letters to Morell in December demanding to know what impact the CIA may have had on the depiction of enhanced interrogation in the film and whether the agency “misled” the filmmakers into thinking the tactic was effective.

“As you know, the film depicts CIA officers repeatedly torturing detainees. The film then credits CIA detainees subjected to coercive interrogation techniques as providing critical lead information on the courier that led to the [bin Laden] compound,” one letter says. “The CIA cannot be held accountable for how the Agency and its activities are portrayed in film, but we are nonetheless concerned, given the CIA’s cooperation with the filmmakers and the narrative’s consistency with past public misstatements by former senior CIA officials, that the filmmakers could have been misled by information they were provided by the CIA.”

Brennan, for his part, has said he opposed torture techniques, as Jake Tapper reported back in 2008 when Brennan removed his name from consideration for the C.I.A. job in 2008.

In a letter released to the media, apparently by Brennan or someone operating on Brennan’s behalf, the former CIA official wrote, “It has been immaterial to the critics that I have been a strong opponent of many of the policies of the Bush Administration such as the preemptive war in Iraq and coercive interrogation tactics, too include waterboarding. The fact that I was not involved in the decision making process for any of these controversial policies and actions has been ignored. Indeed, my criticism of these policies within government circles why I was twice considered for more senior-level positions in the current Administration only to be rebuffed by the White House.”

But Brennan did defend the practice in news media interviews when he described the actions of C.I.A. director George Tenet. This is what Brennan told CBS’s Harry Smith about enhanced interrogation in 2007: “The CIA has acknowledged that it has detained about 100 terrorists since 9/11, and about a third of them have been subjected to what the CIA refers to as enhanced interrogation tactics, and only a small proportion of those have in fact been subjected to the most serious types of enhanced procedures….There have been a lot of information that has come out from these interrogation procedures that the agency has in fact used against the real hard-core terrorists. It has saved lives. And let’s not forget, these are hardened terrorists who have been responsible for 9/11, who have shown no remorse at all for the deaths of 3,000 innocents.”

Brennan has also spoken out in support of “rendition” – the practice where the U.S. government captures terror suspects in one country and relocates them to another. That’s a practice still employed by the Obama administration, according to a recent Washington Post investigation.

Related: Watch Martha Raddatz’s Nightline interview with ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ Director Kathryn Bigelow:

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