The Xbox One! It looks terrific, assuming you're into turning your home entertainment system into a motion-and-voice-controlled dictatorship. And while the devices won't be shipping until the "end of the year" (read: in time for the holidays), you can go ahead and preorder yours right now.
You've got two preorder options, according to Xbox guru Larry Hryb (better known as Major Nelson): You can go to Amazon or the Microsoft Store online. Going with the latter will get you a $10 store credit, while it's doesn't seem that Amazon is offering the same incentive.
Have at it! And yes, just to be clear, this is the preorder for the preorder. [Twitter]
May 22, 2013 ? Dinosaurs are often thought of as large, fierce animals, but new research highlights a previously overlooked diversity of small dinosaurs. In the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, a team of paleontologists from the University of Toronto, Royal Ontario Museum, Cleveland Museum of Natural History and University of Calgary have described a new dinosaur, the smallest plant-eating dinosaur species known from Canada. Albertadromeus syntarsus was identified from a partial hind leg, and other skeletal elements, that indicate it was a speedy runner. Approximately 1.6 m (5 ft) long, it weighed about 16 kg (30 lbs), comparable to a large turkey.
Albertadromeus lived in what is now southern Alberta in the Late Cretaceous, about 77 million years ago. Albertadromeus syntarsus means "Alberta runner with fused foot bones." Unlike its much larger ornithopod cousins, the duckbilled dinosaurs, its two fused lower leg bones would have made it a fast, agile two-legged runner. This animal is the smallest known plant-eating dinosaur in its ecosystem, and researchers hypothesize that it used its speed to avoid predation by the many species of meat-eating dinosaurs that lived at the same time.
Albertadromeus was discovered in 2009 by study co-author David Evans of the Royal Ontario Museum as part an on-going collaboration with Michael Ryan of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History to investigate the evolution of dinosaurs in the Late Cretaceous of North America. The known dinosaur diversity of this time period is dominated by large bodied plant-eating dinosaurs.
Why are so few small-bodied dinosaurs known from North America some 77 million years ago? Smaller animals are less likely to be preserved than larger ones, because their bones are more delicate and are often destroyed before being fossilized. "We know from our previous research that there are preservational biases against the bones of these small dinosaurs," said Caleb Brown of the University of Toronto, lead author of the study. "We are now starting to uncover this hidden diversity, and although skeletons of these small ornithopods are both rare and fragmentary, our study shows that these dinosaurs were more abundant in their ecosystems than previously thought."
The reason for our relatively poor understanding of these small dinosaurs is a combination of the taphonomic processes (those related to decay and preservation) described above, and biases in the way that material has been collected. Small skeletons are more prone to destruction by carnivores, scavengers and weathering processes, so fewer small animals are available to become fossils and smaller animals are often more difficult to find and identify than those of larger animals.
"Albertadromeus may have been close to the bottom of the dinosaur food chain but without dinosaurs like it you'd not have giants like T. rex," said Michael Ryan. "Our understanding of the structure of dinosaur ecosystems is dependent on the fossils that have been preserved. Fragmentary, but important, specimens like that of Albertadromeus suggest that we are only beginning to understand the shape of dinosaur diversity and the structure of their communities."
"You can imagine such small dinosaurs filling the niche of animals such as rabbits and being major, but relatively inconspicuous, members of their ecological community" said Anthony Russell of the University of Calgary.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.
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Journal Reference:
Caleb Marshall Brown, David C. Evans, Michael J. Ryan, Anthony P. Russell. New data on the diversity and abundance of small-bodied ornithopods (Dinosauria, Ornithischia) from the Belly River Group (Campanian) of Alberta. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 2013; 33 (3): 495 DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2013.746229
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Wall Street Journal reports that, in a push to broaden its user base, the music streaming service is sharing the data?and the music to match. The top-50 lists will be embeddable and entirely free to listen to, so even non-subscribers will be able to listen to the songs that are currently topping interent playlists around the world. The service?called Charts?is already live. [Spotify via Wall Street Journal]
Boost Mobile launched a Mobile Wallet app and service today at CTIA 2013 with an interesting twist in that it is tied to a Visa Prepaid card. Boost Mobile customers simply hit up a store to get signed up, download an app onto their handset and once funds are added to their account can use them in a wide variety of ways. From sending money via the app to people in 135 other countries, the ability to pay more than 3,500 billers nationwide, top up your prepaid account and using the included Visa debit card any money in your account can be accessed via that card as well. The app also makes use of your handset's camera with its Quick Check feature -- which is coming soon -- allowing an account holder to snap a photo of a check and submit it using the app to have the check's value added to your mobile wallet once approved -- which is nifty, if you don't use a bank we suppose. There are no month-to-month fees for the service but each bill you pay will cost some $2 and climbs depending on how quickly you need the payment made against the account. The service launches in Los Angeles, San Diego and parts of New Jersey today with rollout to all markets expected by the end of the year.
You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
I need a single-frame cartoon drawn up of three birds sitting in a grape vine, having a conversation. The style can be a simple line drawing and be in B+W, but I'd need high-res jpeg or vector files supplied.
Exact details of the cartoon and conversation between the characters will be supplied to shortlisted proposals.
The winning bidder will also need to supply a quick concept sketch of their drawing for approval before working on and delivering the finished file.
I'd suggest the sketch would take half an hour, and the finished work and file deliverables would be a further two hours' work.
Please give a full cost estimate of the job in your proposal.
Any questions, just ask! Good luck.
Disney researchers develop fast, economical method for high-definition video compositingPublic release date: 20-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jennifer Liu jennifer.c.liu@disney.com 818-544-6130 Disney Research
DuctTake system combines multiple takes into single video
ZURICH - Video compositing to create special effects, replace backgrounds or combine multiple takes of an actor's performance is an integral, but highly labor-intensive, part of modern film making. Researchers at Disney Research, Zrich, however, have found an innovative way to create these composite videos that is simple, fast, and easy to use.
Rather than perform a painstaking segmentation of elements that are to be added or subtracted from a video, the Disney system, called DuctTake, uses computer algorithms to find a spatiotemporal "seam" through the video frame that enables two or more videos to be joined together.
These seams can be highly irregular, following the contours of people, furniture and other objects that are common in each take of the scene. Because it can only combine scenes that have overlapping content, DuctTake isn't useful for combining arbitrary video clips. But it works like a charm when combining multiple takes of the same shot.
The Disney Research, Zrich researchers showed the technique can be used across a wide range of video composites. For example, it can combine the best performances by actors from several different takes into a single seamless output, reducing the number of on-set takes that are required to be filmed. Furthermore, the same technique can be used to make a cut seamless, allowing the first half of one take to be combined into a second take. In another case, the researchers eliminated unwanted cars from a street scene by offsetting the vehicle with empty street imagery from the same video take. Hard-to-shoot scenes involving animals, they demonstrated, become a bit easier when an animal trainer can be easily removed from the shot, or other actors can be added at the moment of time when the animal does the right thing.
"The most delicate component is alignment," said Oliver Wang, post doctoral researcher at Disney Research, Zrich. "But given properly aligned views, we can almost always generate good composites with minimal work."
The findings by Wang and his Disney Research, Zrich team of Jan Regg, Aljoscha Smolic and Markus Gross were presented at Eurographics 2013, the European Association for Computer Graphics conference. More information and a video demonstration is available online at http://www.disneyresearch.com/project/ducttake/.
Most video compositing is accomplished now by the digital equivalent of "cut-and-paste." Rotoscoping is the process by which elements can be added by drawing segmentation outlines. Chroma-keying, familiar to viewers of TV weathercasts in which news announcers appear to stand in front of large, animated maps, separates actors from backgrounds based on color hues; it's cheap and robust, but restricts filming to studio environments, and can require challenging color balancing in post-production.
"Our approach solves a simpler problem," Gross acknowledged, "but as a result it is robust, fast to compute and easy for artists to use, enabling compositing techniques to be used on lower budget shots and productions."
A DuctTake user can combine two videos by making a few quick brush strokes to indicate which parts of the video to keep in each take. An algorithm developed by the Disney Research, Zrich team then computes an optimal seam and merges the two videos together.
DuctTake also includes a number of tools necessary to create a composite that looks realistic, such as adjusting the seam between frames to compensate for camera movement or content movement. Other tools adjust for differences in brightness, contrast and hue between takes, blend images along seams that are visible in a common background, and increase the blurriness in some video to match blurring that occurs in the video with which it is being combined.
###
About Disney Research
Disney Research is a network of research laboratories supporting The Walt Disney Company. Its purpose is to pursue scientific and technological innovation to advance the company's broad media and entertainment efforts. Disney Research is managed by an internal Disney Research Council co-chaired by Disney-Pixar's Ed Catmull and Walt Disney Imagineering's Bruce Vaughn, and including the directors of the individual labs. It has facilities in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Boston and Zrich. Research topics include computer graphics, video processing, computer vision, robotics, radio and antennas, wireless communications, human-computer interaction, displays, data mining, machine learning and behavioral sciences.
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?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Disney researchers develop fast, economical method for high-definition video compositingPublic release date: 20-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jennifer Liu jennifer.c.liu@disney.com 818-544-6130 Disney Research
DuctTake system combines multiple takes into single video
ZURICH - Video compositing to create special effects, replace backgrounds or combine multiple takes of an actor's performance is an integral, but highly labor-intensive, part of modern film making. Researchers at Disney Research, Zrich, however, have found an innovative way to create these composite videos that is simple, fast, and easy to use.
Rather than perform a painstaking segmentation of elements that are to be added or subtracted from a video, the Disney system, called DuctTake, uses computer algorithms to find a spatiotemporal "seam" through the video frame that enables two or more videos to be joined together.
These seams can be highly irregular, following the contours of people, furniture and other objects that are common in each take of the scene. Because it can only combine scenes that have overlapping content, DuctTake isn't useful for combining arbitrary video clips. But it works like a charm when combining multiple takes of the same shot.
The Disney Research, Zrich researchers showed the technique can be used across a wide range of video composites. For example, it can combine the best performances by actors from several different takes into a single seamless output, reducing the number of on-set takes that are required to be filmed. Furthermore, the same technique can be used to make a cut seamless, allowing the first half of one take to be combined into a second take. In another case, the researchers eliminated unwanted cars from a street scene by offsetting the vehicle with empty street imagery from the same video take. Hard-to-shoot scenes involving animals, they demonstrated, become a bit easier when an animal trainer can be easily removed from the shot, or other actors can be added at the moment of time when the animal does the right thing.
"The most delicate component is alignment," said Oliver Wang, post doctoral researcher at Disney Research, Zrich. "But given properly aligned views, we can almost always generate good composites with minimal work."
The findings by Wang and his Disney Research, Zrich team of Jan Regg, Aljoscha Smolic and Markus Gross were presented at Eurographics 2013, the European Association for Computer Graphics conference. More information and a video demonstration is available online at http://www.disneyresearch.com/project/ducttake/.
Most video compositing is accomplished now by the digital equivalent of "cut-and-paste." Rotoscoping is the process by which elements can be added by drawing segmentation outlines. Chroma-keying, familiar to viewers of TV weathercasts in which news announcers appear to stand in front of large, animated maps, separates actors from backgrounds based on color hues; it's cheap and robust, but restricts filming to studio environments, and can require challenging color balancing in post-production.
"Our approach solves a simpler problem," Gross acknowledged, "but as a result it is robust, fast to compute and easy for artists to use, enabling compositing techniques to be used on lower budget shots and productions."
A DuctTake user can combine two videos by making a few quick brush strokes to indicate which parts of the video to keep in each take. An algorithm developed by the Disney Research, Zrich team then computes an optimal seam and merges the two videos together.
DuctTake also includes a number of tools necessary to create a composite that looks realistic, such as adjusting the seam between frames to compensate for camera movement or content movement. Other tools adjust for differences in brightness, contrast and hue between takes, blend images along seams that are visible in a common background, and increase the blurriness in some video to match blurring that occurs in the video with which it is being combined.
###
About Disney Research
Disney Research is a network of research laboratories supporting The Walt Disney Company. Its purpose is to pursue scientific and technological innovation to advance the company's broad media and entertainment efforts. Disney Research is managed by an internal Disney Research Council co-chaired by Disney-Pixar's Ed Catmull and Walt Disney Imagineering's Bruce Vaughn, and including the directors of the individual labs. It has facilities in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Boston and Zrich. Research topics include computer graphics, video processing, computer vision, robotics, radio and antennas, wireless communications, human-computer interaction, displays, data mining, machine learning and behavioral sciences.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Google is prepping... something. An announced Google media streamer was recently found in the FCC's testing database. Details are nearly nonexistent as most are held under a confidentiality agreement for the next 45 days. However, the documents released to the public call the device several times a "media player" and that it features WiFi connectivity.
CANNES, France (AP) ? Associated Press journalists open their notebooks at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival:
A DIFFERENT TUNE FOR TIMBERLAKE
In the Coen brothers' "Inside Llewyn Davis," Justin Timberlake sings music set to a very different beat than "Suit and Tie."
Timberlake plays a bearded pop folkie in the film, which was to premiere Sunday night at the Cannes Film Festival, about the music scene of early 1960s Greenwich Village. Oscar Isaac stars as a more serious but less successful folk musician than Timberlake's smiley Jim Berkey.
Speaking to reporters Sunday, Timberlake called Berkey "part of the transition that is sort of the underbelly of the time." The film summons the period of New York folk just before Bob Dylan arrived in the early '60.
"Obviously, it's on the surface, a different style from the music that I make in real life," said Timberlake. "But listen, man. I grew up in Tennessee, the home of the blues, the birthplace of rock 'n' roll ? Memphis ? and a lot of country music. So my first musical lessons were given to me by my grandfather an old Gibson guitar. He taught me how to fingerpick."
Timberlake helped write the music to the film's most comical song, "Please, Mr. Kennedy," which he sings with Isaac and Adam Driver of "Girls." The oft-repeated chorus goes: "Please, Mr. Kennedy, don't shoot me into outer space."
Timberlake got reflective about the curious mix of talent, luck and timing that goes into a music act breaking out. In contrast to the success Timberlake has had in music and acting, the characters of "Llewyn Davis" are those for whom things never click.
"I've been in the right place and met the wrong people, and I've been in the wrong place and met the right people," the former boy band singer said. "Usually, the second one ends up being the thing that can catapult someone's career."
Timberlake suggested disregarding how one's work is received.
"There's a lot of analysis now, a lot of analytics on what might be success and what might be failure," he said. "I don't know that I would measure the success or failure of it by how it's perceived because once it's done, it's sort of out there. You have to let it live in the ether."
? Jake Coyle, http://twitter.com/jake_coyle
Young British actor George MacKay is making a splash at Cannes ? literally, amid the weekend's torrential downpours ? with his compelling central performance in mythic maritime drama "For Those In Peril."
Set in a fishing town on the stark Scottish coast, Paul Wright's debut feature stars 21-year-old MacKay as sole survivor of a boat accident that killed five others, including his elder brother. MacKay carries the intense and poetic film as a young man struggling to cope with loss, even as his survival alienates him from his bereaved neighbors.
"You got our film and our weather, too," MacKay joked, sitting in a wind-whipped beachside cafe during interviews for the film in Cannes.
Playing in Cannes' Critics' Week competition, the movie has garnered strong reviews for its exploration of guilt, masculinity and mythology.
It's a mature and meaty role for MacKay, who got his movie start aged 10 as one of the Lost Boys in P.J. Hogan's 2003 adaptation of "Peter Pan," shot at Warner Bros' studios on Australia's Gold Coast.
"It was mad. They built a pirate ship ? it was extraordinary. I think, the fact that we were 10, I don't think we realized how ridiculous the scale (was)," said MacKay, who also appeared alongside Clive Owen in 2009 family drama "The Boys Are Back."
"For Those in Peril" was a much smaller-scale operation, shot over six weeks in a small town in northeast Scotland ? and, for several key sequences, in the cold North Sea.
The boundlessly enthusiastic MacKay says even the frigid water scenes were made bearable by "lots of cups of tea ... lots of towels, lots of food."
"We were kept safe," he said. "We were out in the middle of the ocean doing it and we had the water safety guys come ? very dramatic ? shooting across in their little (boat), whack you out and wrap you in towels. It was all good."
And the town had a bonus: "Best fish and chips you've ever had."
Israel Channel 2 broadcast this satellite image showing a Damascus airport warehouse before and after the airstrike (Screenshot: Channel 2 News)
The Justice Department's seizure of Associated Press reporters' phone records was reportedly one element of a "sweeping" federal investigation to find out who leaked classified information about a failed Al-Qaeda plot to bomb an American airliner.
Now, the Obama administration has reportedly apologized to Israel for another leak of classified information to the media, one that occurred earlier this month and which Israeli officials are concerned could place Israeli lives at risk.
Israel Radio's diplomatic correspondent Chico Menashe reported Sunday morning (via the Jerusalem Post):
American officials apologized to their Israeli counterparts for confirming that Israel was behind the airstrikes on the Damascus airport earlier this month, Israel Radio reported on Sunday.
The confirmation reportedly came from the lower ranks at the Pentagon, and the reasons for the leak are being investigated.
Menashe tweeted: "The U.S. has apologized to Israel for leaking details of the attack in Syria. Senior administration officials said to their [Israeli] counterparts that they are examining the issue and that low-level [officials] were responsible for the leak."
Menashe also wrote, "US officials told that they [will] review the matter. The leak forced Assad to react harshly."
U.S. apologized for leaking details of Israel. US officials told that they review the matter.The leak forced assad to react harshly.
The New York Times attributed its report about the bombing on May 3 to an Obama administration official: "Israel aircraft bombed a target in Syria overnight Thursday, an Obama administration official said Friday night, as United States officials said they were considering military options, including carrying out their own airstrikes."
CNN, which broke the story first on May 3, quoted two unnamed U.S. officials:
The United States believes Israel has conducted an airstrike into Syria, two U.S. officials first told CNN.
U.S. and Western intelligence agencies are reviewing classified data showing Israel most likely conducted a strike in the Thursday-Friday time frame, according to both officials. This is the same time frame that the U.S. collected additional data showing Israel was flying a high number of warplanes over Lebanon.
One official said the United States had limited information so far and could not yet confirm those are the specific warplanes that conducted a strike. Based on initial indications, the U.S. does not believe Israeli warplanes entered Syrian airspace to conduct the strikes.
Two weeks later, Israel still has not officially taken responsibility for the bombings, which allegedly targeted Iranian Fateh-110 missiles intended to bolster Hezbollah's arsenal.
Israeli security analysts suggest that confirmation of Israel Defense Forces involvement - even if leaked via American sources - not only could potentially endanger any agents still on the ground in Syria, but would also put pressure on embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad to retaliate against the Jewish state.
Barry Rubin, director of the Global Research in International Affairs Center, told TheBlaze, "It requires the Syrians to react officially rather than deny that it happened or that it was an accident. It forces Syria and Hezbollah and Iran to react officially and say they want to seek revenge, which makes things more dangerous for Israel."
"Can you imagine if things were reversed and somebody did that to the U.S.?" he added.
Assad may already be responding. Britain's Sunday Times reported that the Syrian military has placed advanced weapons on standby to strike Israel, in the event Israel strikes targets again in Syria.
The report said that reconnaissance satellite images show Syria has surface-to-surface Tishreen missiles ready for use and aimed at Tel Aviv. Each can carry a half ton payload, according to the paper.
In an interview with CNN shortly after the airstrikes, Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al Mekdad called the attack a "declaration of war," adding that Syria would retaliate in its own time and way.
At the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the tumult facing the Middle East, calling it "one of its most sensitive periods in decades with the escalating upheaval in Syria at its center."
"We are closely monitoring the developments and changes there and we are prepared for any scenario. The government of Israel is working responsibly and with determination and sagacity, in order to ensure the supreme interest of the state of Israel - the security of Israeli citizens in keeping with the policy that we have set, to - as much as possible - prevent the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah and to [other] terrorist elements," he said.
"We will work to ensure Israelis' security interest in the future as well," Netanyahu added.
Last week, Russia said it would move forward with a sale of S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems to Syria, after Netanyahu made a visit to Moscow in person to try to convince the Russians to halt the deal. Once deployed, the advanced system will make future Israeli sorties over Syria more difficult, as well as rendering any notion of a U.S. or European-led no-fly zone much more complicated to implement.
Nylanderia fulva, also known as the tawny crazy ant, hails from northern Argentina and southern Brazil. It's now spreading throughout the Southeast of the United States.
By Douglas Main, LiveScience
Invasive fire ants have been a thorn in the sides of Southerners for years. But another invasive species, the so-called "crazy" ant ? which many describe as being worse ? has arrived and is displacing fire ants in several places.
"When you talk to folks who live in the invaded areas, they tell you they want their fire ants?back," said Edward LeBrun, a researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, in a statement from the school. "Fire ants are in many ways very polite. They live in your yard. They form mounds and stay there, and they only interact with you if you step on their mound."
Crazy ants, on the other hand, "go everywhere," invading homes and nesting in walls and crawlspaces, even damaging electrical equipment by swarming inside appliances. [Image Gallery: Ants of the World]
A study published in the April issue of the journal Biological Invasions found that in areas infested with crazy ants, few to no fire ants were present. Exactly how they are able to outcompete fire ants is so far unknown. In areas with crazy ants, the researchers also found greatly diminished numbers of native ant species, according to the study.
Fire ants are known for their painful stings and have spread through the Southeast since arriving from South America in the 1930s. Crazy ants were first discovered in Houston in 2002, and they have already spread to coastal areas from Texas to Florida, according to the researchers. Although the "crazies" don't have as painful a sting as fire ants, they multiply in even greater numbers. They are also difficult to control since they don't eat the same poison baits as fire ants do, the statement noted.
Gallery: Eight insects with the 'ick' factor
Last year, the crazy ant species was identified as Nylanderia fulva, which hails from northern Argentina and southern Brazil, according to a 2012 study in PLOS ONE. It's also known as the tawny crazy ant and was previously named the Rasberry crazy ant after the exterminator Tom Rasberry, who first discovered it. The "crazy" moniker comes from the ant's quick, seemingly random movements.
Luckily, the crazy ant doesn't spread as quickly as the fire ant, advancing only 650 feet (200 meters) per year on its own, the release noted. Therefore, it's vital that people don't accidentally transport the ant, the prime method by which it has spread, according to the release.
Email?Douglas Main?or follow him on?Twitter?or?Google+. Follow us @livescience, ?Facebook?or ?Google+. Article originally on LiveScience.com.
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Over 23 years ago, Luo Gong?just five years old at the time?was on his way to kindergarten in the Sichuan region of China, when he was abducted and taken over 1,000 miles to Fujian in the southeast. But now, he's used the power of internet to find his family again.
A Fujian news service, Nhaidu, reports that Lou?being only five at the time when he was snatched?had no way of finding his way back. The only thing he remembered was that he lived in a town somewhere close to two bridges.
After years of struggling to come to terms with his situation, Lou came across a website dedicated to reuniting missing children with their families. He quickly posted his story, which was spotted by a volunteer?and soon found out that a family in Guangan city had lost a son 23 years ago. From there, he turned to Google Maps to try and identify his old neighbourhood. Eventually, he spotted the two bridges he remembered?and headed home to find his family.
He's now been reunited with his parents, 23 years after being abducted. It's currently not clear if Lou?s adoptive family will face charges over his abduction. [Nhaidu via South China Morning Post via Verge]
May 17, 2013 ? Levels of physical inactivity and obesity are very high in children, with fewer than 50% of primary school-aged boys and fewer than 28% of girls meeting the minimum levels of physical activity required to maintain health. Exergaming, using active console video games that track player movement to control the game (e.g., Xbox-Kinect, Wii), has become popular, and may provide an alternative form of exercise to counteract sedentary behaviors. In a study scheduled for publication in The Journal of Pediatrics, researchers studied the effects of exergaming on children.
Dr. Louise Naylor and researchers from The University of Western Australia, Liverpool John Moores University, and Swansea University evaluated 15 children, 9-11 years of age, who participated in 15 minutes each of high intensity exergaming (Kinect Sports -- 200m Hurdles), low intensity exergaming (Kinect Sports -- Ten Pin Bowling), and a graded exercise test (treadmill). The researchers measured energy expenditure. They also measured the vascular response to each activity using flow-mediated dilation (FMD), which is a validated measure of vascular function and health in children.
They found that high intensity exergaming elicited an energy expenditure equivalent to moderate intensity exercise; low intensity exergaming resulted in an energy expenditure equivalent to low intensity exercise. Additionally, although the low intensity exergaming did not have an impact on FMD, high intensity exergaming significantly decreased FMD, suggesting that the latter may improve vascular health in children. High intensity exergaming also increased heart rate and the amount of energy burned. Participants reported similar enjoyment levels with both intensities of exergaming, which indicates that children may be equally likely to continue playing the high intensity games.
According to Dr. Naylor, "Higher intensity exergaming may be a good form of activity for children to use to gain long-term and sustained health benefits." These findings also support the growing notion that high intensity activity is beneficial for children's health, and high intensity exergaming should be considered a means of encouraging children to become more active.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Elsevier Health Sciences.
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Journal Reference:
Andrew Mills, Michael Rosenberg, Gareth Stratton, Howard H. Carter, Angela L. Spence, Christopher J.A. Pugh, Daniel J. Green, Louise H. Naylor. The Effect of Exergaming on Vascular Function in Children. The Journal of Pediatrics, 2013; DOI: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2013.03.076
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Emergency workers arrive the scene of a train collision, Friday, may 17, 2013 in Fairfield, Conn. A New York-area commuter railroad says two trains have collided in Connecticut. The railroad says the accident involved a New York-bound train leaving New Haven. It derailed and hit a westbound train near Fairfield, Conn. Some cars on the second train also derailed. (AP Photo/The Connecticut Post, Christian Abraham) MANDATORY CREDIT
Emergency workers arrive the scene of a train collision, Friday, may 17, 2013 in Fairfield, Conn. A New York-area commuter railroad says two trains have collided in Connecticut. The railroad says the accident involved a New York-bound train leaving New Haven. It derailed and hit a westbound train near Fairfield, Conn. Some cars on the second train also derailed. (AP Photo/The Connecticut Post, Christian Abraham) MANDATORY CREDIT
FAIRFIELD, Conn. (AP) ? Two commuter trains collided outside New York City during the evening rush hour Friday, injuring 20 or more people, authorities said. There were no reports of fatalities.
The Metro-North Railroad, a commuter line serving the northern suburbs, referred in a news release to a "major derailment" near Fairfield, in southern Connecticut. It said emergency workers were at the scene of the accident, which came shortly after 6 p.m.
Twenty to 25 people were injured, Fairfield Police Officer Matt Panilaitis told The Associated Press. He said there were no fatalities.
Photos taken at the scene showed a train car askew on the rails, with its end smashed up and brushing against another train
The railroad said the accident involved a New York-bound train leaving New Haven. It derailed and hit a westbound train near Fairfield. Some cars on the second train also derailed.
"At this stage, we don't know if this is a mechanical failure, an accident or something deliberate," Fairfield police spokesman Lt. James Perez told the Connecticut Post.
Whether we're listening to Bach or the blues, our brains are wired to make music-color connections depending on how the melodies make us feel, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley. For instance, Mozart's jaunty Flute Concerto No. 1 in G major is most often associated with bright yellow and orange, whereas his dour Requiem in D minor is more likely to be linked to dark, bluish gray.
Moreover, people in both the United States and Mexico linked the same pieces of classical orchestral music with the same colors. This suggests that humans share a common emotional palette ? when it comes to music and color ? that appears to be intuitive and can cross cultural barriers, UC Berkeley researchers said.
"The results were remarkably strong and consistent across individuals and cultures and clearly pointed to the powerful role that emotions play in how the human brain maps from hearing music to seeing colors," said UC Berkeley vision scientist Stephen Palmer, lead author of a paper published this week in the journalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Using a 37-color palette, the UC Berkeley study found that people tend to pair faster-paced music in a major key with lighter, more vivid, yellow colors, whereas slower-paced music in a minor key is more likely to be teamed up with darker, grayer, bluer colors.
"Surprisingly, we can predict with 95 percent accuracy how happy or sad the colors people pick will be based on how happy or sad the music is that they are listening to," said Palmer, who will present these and related findings at the International Association of Colour conference at the University of Newcastle in the U.K. on July 8. At the conference, a color light show will accompany a performance by the Northern Sinfonia orchestra to demonstrate "the patterns aroused by music and color converging on the neural circuits that register emotion," he said.
The findings may have implications for creative therapies, advertising and even music player gadgetry. For example, they could be used to create more emotionally engaging electronic music visualizers, computer software that generates animated imagery synchronized to the music being played. Right now, the colors and patterns appear to be randomly generated and do not take emotion into account, researchers said.
They may also provide insight into synesthesia, a neurological condition in which the stimulation of one perceptual pathway, such as hearing music, leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a different perceptual pathway, such as seeing colors. An example of sound-to-color synesthesia was portrayed in the 2009 movie The Soloist when cellist Nathaniel Ayers experiences a mesmerizing interplay of swirling colors while listening to the Los Angeles symphony. Artists such as Wassily Kandinksky and Paul Klee may have used music-to-color synesthesia in their creative endeavors.
Nearly 100 men and women participated in the UC Berkeley music-color study, of which half resided in the San Francisco Bay Area and the other half in Guadalajara, Mexico. In three experiments, they listened to 18 classical music pieces by composers Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johannes Brahms that varied in tempo (slow, medium, fast) and in major versus minor keys.
In the first experiment, participants were asked to pick five of the 37 colors that best matched the music to which they were listening. The palette consisted of vivid, light, medium, and dark shades of red, orange, yellow, green, yellow-green, green, blue-green, blue, and purple.
Participants consistently picked bright, vivid, warm colors to go with upbeat music and dark, dull, cool colors to match the more tearful or somber pieces. Separately, they rated each piece of music on a scale of happy to sad, strong to weak, lively to dreary and angry to calm.
Two subsequent experiments studying music-to-face and face-to-color associations supported the researchers' hypothesis that "common emotions are responsible for music-to-color associations," said Karen Schloss, a postdoctoral researchers at UC Berkeley and co-author of the paper.
For example, the same pattern occurred when participants chose the facial expressions that "went best" with the music selections, Schloss said. Upbeat music in major keys was consistently paired with happy-looking faces while subdued music in minor keys was paired with sad-looking faces. Similarly, happy faces were paired with yellow and other bright colors and angry faces with dark red hues.
Next, Palmer and his research team plan to study participants in Turkey where traditional music employs a wider range of scales than just major and minor. "We know that in Mexico and the U.S. the responses are very similar," he said. "But we don't yet know about China or Turkey."
###
University of California - Berkeley: http://www.berkeley.edu
Thanks to University of California - Berkeley for this article.
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Bill "Didn't Inhale" Clinton has supported decriminalizing marijuana for more than a decade and more recently has spoken out against the war on drugs. ?I think that most small amounts of marijuana have been decriminalized in some places, and should be," he said back in 2000 in an <a href="http://norml.org/news/2000/12/07/president-clinton-states-marijuana-should-be-decriminalized" target="_blank">interview with Rolling Stone</a>. "We really need a re-examination of our entire policy on imprisonment.? He's since spoken about the issue of marijuana and drug prohibition a number of times. Last year, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-angell/bill-clinton-drug-war_b_2271885.html" target="_blank">he appeared</a> in the documentary, "Breaking the Taboo," where he argued that the war on drugs has been a failure.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)
Paul exhibited his libertarian tendencies earlier this year when he explained that he'd favor reforming marijuana laws to either decriminalize or reduce penalties for possession. ?I don't want to promote that but I also don't want to put people in jail who make a mistake," Paul <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/24/rand-paul-marijuana_n_2945307.html" target="_blank">said</a>. "There are a lot of young people who do this and then later on in their twenties they grow up and get married and they quit doing things like this. I don't want to put them in jail and ruin their lives."
Former Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas)
As a congressman, Paul took his opposition to marijuana and drug prohibition a step farther than his son has so far. He supported a number of bills that would have removed the plant from its current status as a Schedule I substance under federal law, where it is considered alongside heroin and PCP. Because his history on the topic is so expansive, just take a look at the video to the left for a selection of his comments.
Evangelist Pat Robertson
While the 83-year-old Robertson may say a lot of things that make him sound like a kooky old man, he's also made a few remarks to endear himself to marijuana advocates.
"I really believe we should treat marijuana the way we treat beverage alcohol," Robertson said in an <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/08/us/pat-robertson-backs-legalizing-marijuana.html" target="_blank">interview with The New York Times</a> in 2012. "I've never used marijuana and I don't intend to, but it's just one of those things that I think: this war on drugs just hasn't succeeded."
Robertson has made similar remarks on his "700 Club" show before, but the Times, like many others, perhaps felt they must have misheard him.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg
In a state of the city address earlier this year, Bloomberg made it clear that he supported a <a href="https://www.governor.ny.gov/press/01092013sostranscript" target="_blank">promise</a> by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) to push marijuana decriminalization.
"I support Governor Cuomo's proposal to make possession of small amounts of marijuana a violation, rather than a misdemeanor, and we'll work to help him pass it."
A <a href="http://gothamist.com/2013/03/22/nyc_marijuana_reform_hits_pot_hole.php" target="_blank">similar effort specific to NYC</a> has made some progress, but faces an unclear path forward with New York lawmakers.
Actor Bryan Cranston
Some may think of Cranston as more of a meth guy thanks to Walter White, his character on AMC's hit show "Breaking Bad," but in real life he's spoken out against current pot laws, suggesting that recreational marijuana use isn't a big deal -- and shouldn't be treated like it. ?[T]o me, marijuana is no different than wine," he said in an <a href="http://hightimes.com/read/high-times-interview-bryan-cransto" target="_blank">interview with High Times</a>. "It's a drug of choice. It's meant to alter your current state -- and that's not a bad thing. It's ridiculous that marijuana is still illegal. We're still fighting for it ... It comes down to individual decision-making. There are millions of people who smoke pot on a social basis and don't become criminals. So stop with that argument -- it doesn't work.? <a href="http://marijuanamajority.com/?id=72" target="_blank">[H/T Marijuana Majority]</a>
Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson (R)
Unlike many politicians, Johnson, a Libertarian presidential candidate in 2012, has <a href="http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/meet-gary-johnson-ron-paul-2012_520775.html" target="_blank">unabashedly admitted using marijuana</a>. But beyond his personal history with pot, he's been an outspoken advocate for legalizing and taxing it.
From his <a href="https://www.garyjohnson2012.com/issues/drug-policy-reform" target="_blank">campaign platform</a>:
"By managing marijuana like alcohol and tobacco - regulating, taxing and enforcing its lawful use - America will be better off. The billions saved on marijuana interdiction, along with the billions captured as legal revenue, can be redirected against the individuals committing real crimes against society."
Author Stephen King
King hasn't been shy about advocating for a legal marijuana industry that could give easy access to recreational users and revenue to the states. ?Marijuana should not only be legal, I think it should be a cottage industry," he said in an interview with <a href="http://hightimes.com/read/interview-stephen-king-1981" target="_blank">High Times</a>. "My wife says, and I agree with her, that what would be really great for Maine would be to legalize dope completely and set up dope stores the way that there are state-run liquor stores.? <a href="http://marijuanamajority.com/?id=92" target="_blank">[H/T Marijuana Majority]</a>
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.)
Rohrabacher is a co-sponsor of the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/12/respect-state-marijuana-laws-act_n_3070501.html" target="_blank">"Respect State Marijuana Laws Act,"</a> which seeks to protect marijuana users or businesses acting legally according to state marijuana laws from being prosecuted under the federal Controlled Substances Act. While marijuana has been made legal for various uses in a number of states, the Obama administration continues to enforce federal laws across the nation. This has led to numerous raids of marijuana-based businesses, as well as prosecutions of growers and other people involved in pot. Washington and Colorado, where marijuana has been legalized for recreational use, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/26/doj-marijuana-policy_n_2766959.html" target="_blank">have still not received information</a> from the federal government on how it intends to respond to their implementation of a legal pot economy.
Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska)
Young is also a co-sponsor of the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/12/respect-state-marijuana-laws-act_n_3070501.html" target="_blank">"Respect State Marijuana Laws Act."</a> Hopefully <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/29/don-young-apology_n_2978242.html" target="_blank">he'll choose his words carefully</a> when explaining who he thinks should grow marijuana.
Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.)
Amash is also a co-sponsor of the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/12/respect-state-marijuana-laws-act_n_3070501.html" target="_blank">"Respect State Marijuana Laws Act."</a>
Conservative Commentator Glenn Beck
Back in 2009, when Beck had a Fox News show, he suggested that marijuana legalization could be a worthwhile solution to raging drug violence on the nation's border with Mexico.
"I think it's about time we legalize marijuana," he said. "We have to make a choice in this country. We either put people who are smoking marijuana behind bars or we legalize it, but this little game we're playing in the middle is not helping us, it is not helping Mexico and it is causing massive violence on our southern border."
Billionaire Richard Branson
From an <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-branson/to-win-the-drug-war-follow-the-states_b_1852870.html" target="_blank">op-ed by Branson</a> arguing for an end to the war on drugs:
"Decriminalization does not result in increased drug use. Portugal's 10 year experiment shows clearly that enough is enough. It is time to end the war on drugs worldwide. We must stop criminalising drug users. Health and treatment should be offered to drug users - not prison. Bad drugs policies affect literally hundreds of thousands of individuals and communities across the world. We need to provide medical help to those that have problematic use - not criminal retribution."
GOP Mega-Donor David Koch
Koch may have funneled countless dollars to conservative candidates who oppose reforming marijuana laws, but back in 1980, when he was the vice presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party, he <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=ueUCAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA18&dq=criminalst&pg=PA20#v=twopage&q&f=false" target="_blank">suggested</a> that it was "ridiculous" to consider people who smoked pot "criminals."
Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R)
In 2010, Perry told Jon Stewart that he believed in a federalist approach to marijuana laws -- that is, to allow states to determine their own approach and to tell the federal government to butt out.
Comedy Central's Jon Stewart
Stewart has made a habit of taking down politicians who exhibit an uncompromising stance on marijuana prohibition. In 2012, Stewart took New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) to task for vetoing a marijuana decriminalization bill. ?Alright, as much as I disagree, I don?t think marijuana should be illegal, but it is illegal on the federal level," Stewart began. "Christie is a former prosecutor, a man of conviction, of principle, doesn?t believe that the state should supersede federal law." The praise in the second sentence is a good sign that Stewart is about to shred Christie. Watch the rest of his takedown to the left.
Actor Jack Nicholson
In an <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1350653/Jack-Nicholson-I-used-feel-irresistible-women-Not-more.html#ixzz24C0fOK6Q" target="_blank">interview with the UK's Daily Mail</a> in 2011, Nicholson said that he personally still used marijuana, before making the case for ending the prohibition on pot as well as other drugs.
"I don't tend to say this publicly, but we can see it's a curative thing. The narcotics industry is also enormous. It funds terrorism and - this is a huge problem in America - fuels the foreign gangs," he said. "More than 85 percent of men incarcerated in America are on drug-related offences. It costs $40,000 a year for every prisoner. If they were really serious about the economy there would be a sensible discussion about legalization."
Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman (R)
In a 2013 <a href="http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/marriage-equality-is-a-conservative-cause485/" target="_blank">American Conservative op-ed</a> chock full of moderate Republican views, Huntsman snuck in a call to "applaud states that lead on reforming drug policy." While Obama and his <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/04/17/drug-czar-no-state-can-nullify-federal-marijuana-ban/" target="_blank">administration</a> have responded to state marijuana reforms by saying they must enforce federal laws against marijuana, the president has the power to reschedule the drug, which would allow federal authorities to shift resources away from a prohibitive approach.
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R)
Palin spoke out on marijuana in 2010, saying she didn't support legalizing it but also calling it a "minimal problem" for the nation.
"However, I think we need to prioritize our law enforcement efforts," Palin said. "If somebody's gonna smoke a joint in their house and not do anybody any harm, then perhaps there are other things our cops should be looking at to engage in and try to clean up some of the other problems we have in society."
While Obama has spoken repeatedly about not being interested in prosecuting small-time marijuana users, he hasn't done anything to prevent them from being busted by law enforcement in states where the drug is still illegal.
Comedian Jimmy Kimmel
Kimmel notably took a shot at Obama while serving as host of the 2012 White House Correspondents Dinner, questioning a continued marijuana crackdown under the president's administration. He then <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/28/jimmy-kimmel-whcd-pot_n_1462140.html" target="_blank">went on to say</a> that the issue of its continued illegality was a serious political concern for many Americans. <em>(Check out the video to the left.)</em>
Former President Jimmy Carter
Carter hasn't minced words in expressing his opposition to harsh marijuana and drug prohibition policies. In 2012, the former president <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/12/jimmy-carter-marijuana_n_2283989.html" target="_blank">said he was fine</a> with state legalization efforts, though he himself doesn't necessary support legalizing the drug. ?As president 35 years ago I called for decriminalizing -- but not legalizing -- the possession of marijuana,? Carter <a href="http://cnsnews.com/news/article/jimmy-carter-decriminalize-pot" target="_blank">said</a>. ?Since then, U.S. drug policies have been very horrible to our own country because of an explosion in prison populations.?
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli
A staunch conservative currently running for Virginia governor, Cuccinelli suggested earlier this year that he was "evolving" on marijuana legalization, and that he supported the rights of states to determine their own pot laws. "I don't have a problem with states experimenting with this sort of thing I think that's the role of states," Cuccinelli said, according to <a href="http://www.nbc12.com/story/21079505/cuccinelli-open-to-legalizing-marijuana" target="_blank">Ryan Nobles of WWBT</a>. For more on Cuccinelli's "evolving" views on pot, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/08/ken-cuccinelli-marijuana_n_2647028.html" target="_blank">click here</a>.
Columnist Dan Savage
Savage slammed Obama for perpetuating the war on drugs while on HBO's "Real Time With Bill Maher" in 2009. ?The proof will be in the policy. The war on drugs has gotten a really bad rap, when you ask people if they support the war on drugs they say no ... [Obama's] budget once again has the same old drug warrior policy ... I reject the assumption that everybody who is using drugs needs treatment or is an addict and needs to get arrested ... Not all drug use is abuse.? He's <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/06/02/the-war-on-drugs" target="_blank">kept up the fight</a> for drug policy reform since. <a href="http://marijuanamajority.com/?id=765" target="_blank">[H/T Marijuana Majority]</a>
MSNBC's Al Sharpton
Sharpton has repeatedly spoken out in favor of reforming drug laws. In 2011, he suggested that the nation had wasted trillions of dollars in an ill-fated effort that had weighed particularly heavily on the African American community. ?We've been fighting the war on drugs since the '60s. And guess what? Trillions of dollars later, we are losing," Sharpton said during a segment on MSNBC. "When you look at the disparities in sentencing drug offenders, hasn't this kind of injustice undermined the legitimacy of our criminal justice system?? <a href="http://marijuanamajority.com/?id=430" target="_blank">[H/T Marijuana Majority]</a>
Former Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.)
Tancredo came out aggressively in favor of reforming marijuana laws in 2010, <a href="http://coloradoindependent.com/62723/tancredo-calls-for-legalizing-marijuana" target="_blank">telling the Colorado Independent</a> that the correct path forward was "Legalize it. Regulate it. Tax it." Tancredo continued, ?The arguments against marijuana today are the same as the arguments against liquor years ago.? Years later, the former congressman agreed to smoke pot on camera with a documentary filmmaker, a deal that he <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/28/tom-tancredo-backs-out-of_n_2567360.html" target="_blank">later backed out of</a>.
Floyd Mayweather Jr., right, poses for photos with his father, Floyd Mayeather Sr. after defeating Robert Guerrero by unanimous decision in a WBC welterweight title fight, Saturday, May 4, 2013, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Floyd Mayweather Jr., right, poses for photos with his father, Floyd Mayeather Sr. after defeating Robert Guerrero by unanimous decision in a WBC welterweight title fight, Saturday, May 4, 2013, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the highest-earning athlete in American sports for the second straight year.
The boxer is projected to make $90 million in 2013 according to Sports Illustrated's annual list released Wednesday. Miami Heat star LeBron James is a distant second at $56.5 million.
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees vaults into the rankings at No. 3 at $47.8 million thanks to a new contract signed before last season. Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers is fourth at just under $47 million.
Tiger Woods is fifth with $40.8 million, his lowest spot since SI started the list in 2004. He was No. 1 through 2011.
The top 50 include 25 baseball players, 13 basketball players and eight football players, with no female athletes for the fifth consecutive year.
The estimates combine salary, winnings and endorsements.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government believes a Chinese missile launch this week was the first test of a new interceptor that could be used to destroy a satellite in orbit, one U.S. defense official told Reuters on Wednesday.
China launched a rocket into space on Monday but no objects were placed into orbit, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. The object re-entered Earth's atmosphere above the Indian Ocean.
"We tracked several objects during the flight but did not observe the insertion of any objects into orbit and no objects associated with this launch remain in space," said Lieutenant Colonel Monica Matoush, a Pentagon spokeswoman.
The rocket reached 10,000 km (6,250 miles) above Earth, the highest suborbital launch seen worldwide since 1976, according to Jonathan McDowell at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
China has said the rocket, launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in western China, carried a science payload to study the earth's magnetosphere.
However, a U.S. defense official said U.S. intelligence showed that the rocket could be used in the future to carry an anti-satellite payload on a similar trajectory. Neither the U.S. official nor the Pentagon released details of what the Chinese rocket carried into space.
"It was a ground-based missile that we believe would be their first test of an interceptor that would be designed to go after a satellite that's actually on orbit," said the official, who was not authorized to speak on the record.
Representative Mike Rogers, chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee, declined to comment specifically on the rocket launch, but said China was clearly taking a more aggressive posture in space.
"Any time you have a nation-state looking to have a more aggressive posture in space, it's very concerning," Rogers said at a Reuters Cybersecurity Summit.
The United States remains concerned about China's development of anti-satellite capabilities after Beijing shot a missile at one of its own defunct satellites in orbit in 2007, creating an enormous amount of debris in space.
Monday's rocket launch was similar to launches using the Blue Scout Junior rocket that were conducted by the U.S. Air Force in the 1960s for research on Earth's magnetosphere, McDowell said in an emailed response to questions.
He said all the previous suborbital launches above 10,000 km (6,250 miles) had been conducted by the United States. All China's previous missile tests went to less than 2,000 km (1,250 miles), although Beijing had launched orbital vehicles higher, including to the Moon, he said.
Most scientific suborbital launches are at most 1,500 km (940 miles) or so, McDowell added. The 1976 launch was Gravity Probe A, when NASA and McDowell's institute worked together to launch an atomic clock to 10,280 km (6,425 miles).
Monday's launch came less than a week after U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter unveiled what he called a "long overdue" effort to safeguard U.S. national security satellites and develop ways to counter the space capabilities of potential adversaries.
U.S. military space officials are taking steps to improve the resilience of national security satellites in orbit, the defense official said. These include using new wave forms to make it more difficult for adversaries to jam signals from space, putting U.S. sensors on commercial satellites and using terrestrial high-frequency communications.
Last week, the Pentagon released an 83-page report on Chinese military developments that highlighted China's increasing space capabilities and said Beijing was pursuing a variety of activities aimed at preventing its adversaries from using space-based assets during a crisis.
(Reporting By Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by David Brunnstrom and Cynthia Osterman)
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