Scotland's Salmond would consider non-nuclear NATO bases

By Daniel Bases

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Alex Salmond wants to see an independent Scotland free of submarines laden with nuclear missiles, but he says he is open to hosting NATO bases without weapons of mass destruction.

As leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), which controls the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh, the Scottish first minister announced last month that on September 18, 2014, Scots would have a chance to decide whether or not to break from the United Kingdom after more than 300 years.

A Scotland free of British Trident nuclear submarines has been a long-standing aim of the SNP.

In an interview with Reuters in New York on Thursday, Salmond said he would not get into a debate before the referendum about allowing foreign military bases on Scottish soil. But he did say it was the SNP's intention to be a NATO member.

"The choice in policy terms is to be a non-nuclear member of that organization," he said. "So then if we are talking about a non-nuclear base, then of course that would be something that would be possible in terms of the (NATO) treaty agreement."

In February, the British government led by Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron warned in a legal opinion that an independent Scotland would forfeit its membership in international bodies such as NATO and the European Union.

Salmond said an application to join the EU would be one of his first acts after a successful referendum. He predicted EU entry for an independent Scotland in 2016.

Salmond is in the United States to promote the independence cause and to drum up investment to bolster the economy of the 5.2 million strong Scottish nation. He will seek to promote a distinct foreign policy view when he visits Washington next week and meets with U.S. lawmakers.

Salmond said neither he nor Washington had broached the subject of a U.S. military base in Scotland, but the SNP had had discussions with U.S. representatives about NATO membership.

CAMERON AND TRIDENT

Cameron visited Scotland on Thursday and welcomed back the crew of a Trident submarine. He is at odds with some members of his own coalition government in saying that scaling back Britain's nuclear deterrent would be unwise given potential threats from Iran and North Korea.

Salmond argues that Scotland's annual contribution of 180 million pounds ($275 million) to help maintain the submarines would be better spent elsewhere.

"I accept that cleaning up contaminated land is part of the responsibilities of government, but the most important step in decontaminating nuclear materials in Scotland is not to renew a nuclear missile system for the next half century," he said.

Salmond and the SNP face a hard battle to secure independence. Opinion polls around the time the referendum date was set showed support for independence at 30 percent of the Scottish electorate while 50 percent favor the status quo.

Salmond hopes to boost support for the SNP cause by convincing Scots they would be better off with independence, not least by redirecting North Sea oil and gas revenues to their own Treasury.

According to the Scottish government, in the fiscal year ending in March 2012, Scotland accounted for 9.3 percent of UK public spending but 9.9 percent of UK tax revenue. Oil and gas aside, Scotland is pushing wind energy while building technology services in addition to tourism and Scotch Whisky industries.

On his first day of a week-long trip, Salmond signed deals with two U.S. businesses - Massachusetts-based life sciences firm Daktari and North Carolina-based business analytics software and services firm SAS - to expand operations in Scotland and add approximately 220 new jobs.

Salmond reiterated his challenge to debate Cameron on television about the merits of Scottish independence. He accused the prime minister of visiting Scotland to "scare" Scots about the impact of independence just as he was trying to promote its business and culture in the United States.

(Reporting By Daniel Bases; Editing by David Brunnstrom)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/scotlands-salmond-consider-non-nuclear-nato-bases-004049698.html

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Face-sized tarantula lives in trees in Sri Lanka

Face-sized tarantula: With a leg span of up to 8 inches across, the?Poecilotheria rajaei, is one of the larger species of tarantula.

By Eoin O'Carroll,?Staff / April 4, 2013

Wired reports on what may be a new species of tarantula in Northern Sri Lanka, and it's unlikely to be appearing on the island nation's tourism materials any time soon.

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Writer Nadia Drake describes the tree-dwelling?Poecilotheria rajaei??as "about the size of your face" ? the human face apparently being a standard metric for tarantula sizes ? and notes that it has a pink band on its underside.?

The spider was first discovered in 2009, by?Ranil Nanayakkara, co-founder of Sri Lanka?s Biodiversity Education and Research.

?They are quite rare,? Nanayakkara told Wired. ?They prefer well-established old trees, but due to deforestation the number have dwindled, and due to lack of suitable habitat they enter old buildings.?

As huge as P. rajaei is, it's not actually the world's biggest tarantula. That distinction goes to Theraphosa blondi,?the Goliath birdeater, a burrowing spider native to the rainforests of northern South America. These spiders have a leg span of up to 12 inches ? or 1.5 faces.

The Goliath birdeater is the world's second largest spider by leg span, and might be the largest by mass. The cave-dwelling giant huntsman spider, Heteropoda maxima,?discovered in Laos in 2001, has a leg span that is slightly longer than that of the birdeater.

For what it's worth, the world's smallest spider is the?Patu marplesi, a species native to Western Samoa. According to the Guinness Book of World records, It measures?0.017 inches. You could fit about 470 of them on your face, if you felt so inclined. ??

But back to the Sri Lankan tarantula. Researchers are not completely certain that it represents a new species. Wired's Drake spoke with?Robert Raven, an arachnologist at the Queensland Museum in Australia, who suspects that it very well could be a local variant of a related species. She notes that the spider closely resembles?Poecilotheria regalis, a species native to the Indian mainland. We won't know until DNA samples are taken.

Ms. Drake writes that the spider's discoverer "hints that he?s got several more potential new tarantulas up his sleeve, awaiting review." Let's hope that she didn't mean that literally.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/sZAV51obdRY/Face-sized-tarantula-lives-in-trees-in-Sri-Lanka

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Inexpensive Newer Sarasota Homes - Sarasota Real Estate

With the lack of inventory in the Sarasota market?new home builders are super busy. Many of our clients have decided to build a home for themselves. However, not everyone wants to go through the building process. Reasons vary as to why they don't want to build but a few of them include not wanting to live in a half complete neighborhood, they perceive homes in the resale market as a better value, husband and wife couples have a hard time deciding on what should go in the house and some just don't have the time and need a home now.?

Not Everyone Can Afford These

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What a gorgeous looking home in Point Crisp on Siesta Key. I have not seen this home yet but I imagine the water views are some of the best you will find in Sarasota. View more photos of 1456 Point Crisp Road.

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Back to Reality - Less Expensive Newer Homes

Here are some great communities in Sarasota and Lakewood Ranch where you can find a newer home for less than $500,000. These are in no particular order.?

Central Park in Lakewood Ranch

Designated as the largest green-certified community in the country, Central Park is the most recent real estate development in Lakewood Ranch, an 8500-acre property in the Florida Gulf Coast, within minutes from the Interstate 75.? The entire green community of Central Park is masterfully planned and laid out utilizing 300 acres of land in the east side of Lakewood Ranch Boulevard. View all homes for sale in Central Park in Lakewood Ranch.

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Covington Place

This is a great spot if your budget is under $300,000, want a newer home and prefer to be west of I-75. View homes for sale in Covington Place.?

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The Enclave?

This is a great community just east of I-75 and south of Fruitville Road. It?broke ground in 2002 so the community provides many amenities that newer homes like open and spacious floor plans, 3 car garages, higher ceilings and large picturesque windows. The homes were built by Centex Homes and feature barrel tile roofs. Both one-story and two-story homes are available in The Enclave with many offering preserve or lake views.?View all homes for sale in the Enclave.

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The Hammocks

Heavily wooded lots, golf course views, pristine lakes and preserves. Sound like the Florida you are seeking? This gated community is located off Bee Ridge road a few miles to the east of I-75. Here you find winding nature trails, great for exercising or solitary walks, along with a children's play area. This peaceful enclave offers impressive single-family homes which border lakes, a golf course, or the nature preserve.?View all homes for sale in The Hammocks.

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Laurel Lakes?

Located just north of Bee Ridge Road off Iona Road this 291 home neighborhood is gated and offers residents a heated community swimming pool, two har-tru tennis courts, exercise room, club house, sidewalks and street lights. Laurel Lakes is a great place for families, professionals, retirees and snowbirds.?View all homes for sale in Laurel Lakes.

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Red Hawk Reserve?

This?private gated community is conveniently located just east of I-75 off Clark Road and across from the 123 acre Twin Lakes Park. Homes range in size from roughly 2,300 square feet up to over 4,000 square feet. They are still building in Red Hawk Reserve so if a resale does not work for you then you could always consider a new build.?View all homes for sale in Red Hawk Reserve.

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Tuscana?

Located just east of Interstate 75 is the 99 home community of Tuscana. The homes here were built by local builder Lee Wetherington. It is a great location if you want a newer but still in the Sarasota area. The community has a fabulous Italian style grand entrance that sets it apart from other communities. View all homes for sale in Tuscana.

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Contact us at 941.822.0708 if we can help you buy or sell a home in Sarasota, Florida.?

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Source: http://www.luxurysarasotarealestate.com/blog/inexpensive-newer-homes.html

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Accenture acquires ChangeTrack for analytics-based change ...

Thursday, April 4, 2013 by Helena Schwenk

This week Accenture quietly announced its acquisition of Australian predictive analytics service vendor ChangeTrack Research Pty Ltd, for an undisclosed amount.

The company offers a methodology and tool ? called ChangeTracking ? which helps organisations monitor, measure and optimise large scale change management programs, for example where an organisation is undergoing M&A activity, a company-wide ERP or CRM program, or a restructuring exercise. Initiatives of this nature tend to involve managing a complex array of factors and dimensions, including people, technology and processes that need to be continuously aligned and managed; so it?s no surprise that projects often go off track and don?t deliver the business outcome expected. ChangeTrack?s technology aims to address this challenge by providing more rigour and discipline to the measurement process surrounding a program, so managers can pick up on early warn signs and identify where action is needed while change is actually taking place, rather than doing this after the fact (as is often the case).

The notion underlying the offering is that change is not a random set of events, but is in fact a series of very predictable paths that an organisation can take depending on what decisions are made. At the heart of the ChangeTracking tool is a database comprising responses collected from over 600,000 people across more than 300 change programs ? both those that have been successful and others less so. Using the insight and knowledge accumulated over the years, and by capturing survey-based performance information from the client, the tool is able to statistically analyse data ? using its patented mathematical algorithms ? and identify patterns and critical success factors to highlight what is normal and not normal in different types of change programs at different stages. This then forms the basis of an action plan used to help put a program back on track.

ChangeTrack?s methodology and offering has attracted a pretty impressive client list too, including BP, Nike, 3M, LloydsTSB, and Shell. Similarly it has worked with a number of large global consulting firms, including Accenture, with whom it worked as part of product development to help the company understand how consultants plan and implement change in their client organisations. Having a productive working relationship has obviously been an influential factor in Accenture?s decision to key to acquire the company. The consulting firm is expected to use its new purchase to complement its own set of methods, tools and capabilities for measuring and managing change programs. Longer term, however, we can also envisage the tool and its predictive analytics capabilities being used across a wider range of industries and geographies. The other benefit of being own by one of the largest global consulting firms is that the more clients that use the tool, the more data can be collected and analysed, and the better the tool can get at identifying issues and recommending corrective action ? so all in all we see this as a good thing for ChangeTracker and its customers and prospects.

Posted in Analytics, Information Management

Source: http://www.mwdadvisors.com/blog/2013/04/accenture-acquires-changetrack-for-analytics-based-change-management.html

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Ancient pool of warm water questions current climate models

Apr. 3, 2013 ? A huge pool of warm water that stretched out from Indonesia over to Africa and South America four million years ago suggests climate models might be too conservative in forecasting tropical changes.

Present in the Pliocene era, this giant mass of water would have dramatically altered rainfall in the tropics, possibly even removing the monsoon. Its decay and the consequential drying of East Africa may have been a factor in Hominid evolution.

Published in Nature today, the missing data for this phenomenon could have significant implications when predicting the future climate.

When analysing all the available sea surface temperature records spanning the past five million years, the international team -- with academics from UCL and Yale -- found that none of the currently proposed mechanisms can account for such conditions in the Pliocene, when tested using a climate model.

"Essentially, we've looked at a warm world in the past and it shows changes in the pattern of tropical sea surface temperatures. We've analysed all the existing theories to explain this vast pool of ancient warm water, and even in combination they can't explain something as odd as this," said Dr Chris Brierley (UCL Geography), a co-author of the paper.

Occurring between three and five million years ago, the Pliocene was the last time the world was in a steady climate that was warmer, and with a carbon dioxide level higher than the conditions that existed before the Industrial Revolution. As a result, it has attracted strong attention as a possible basis for future climate conditions once carbon dioxide levels have been stabilized.

The three critical conditions that defined the tropical Pliocene climate were:

• Evidence of the maximum ocean temperature not being much warmer;
• Reduced east-west temperate differences; and
• Weaker north-south differences in the tropics.

It is these three conditions that the team say that any future efforts at modelling the past must explain.

"An important question is how much the evidence of climate evolution over the last five million years shapes our assessment of future change. From these observations, it is clear that the climate system is capable of remarkable transformations even with small changes in external parameters such as carbon dioxide," said Dr Brierley.

"Therefore, explaining the discrepancy between model simulations and the early Pliocene temperature patterns is essential for building confidence in our climate projections.

"In many ways, this work on past climates is part of understanding the uncertainty of future climate. It can give us a heads-up of potential climates that we hadn't imagined possible before." added Dr Brierley.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University College London, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. A. V. Fedorov, C. M. Brierley, K. T. Lawrence, Z. Liu, P. S. Dekens, A. C. Ravelo. Patterns and mechanisms of early Pliocene warmth. Nature, 2013; 496 (7443): 43 DOI: 10.1038/nature12003

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/0mrC8R3Ip1Y/130403131352.htm

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Vegan Richa: Cara's Crispy Orange Cauliflower. Vegan Glutenfree ...

I told you all about all the amazing people that will drop by on the blog right.. Its Wednesday and a day to celebrate eating awesome food even with restrictions. Cara at Fork And Beans, the place where you can find hope and allergy-friendly candy that you can gobble up anyday.

Cara whips up adorable things like these pretty?mini Valentine Doughnuts, cracked Egg Easter Cupcakes! and these Nachos(pictured below). Dont let these Nachos fool you. These are Dessert Nachos.?At Fork & Beans, you never have to go without all the goodies you love. Cara provides gluten, dairy and egg free candy, cookies, holiday treats, savories and what not. Also, read her story and look up her Glutenfree and vegan baking and Guide to going Glutenfree.

You can find Cara on Facebook and Pinterest.
Thank you for the lovely guest post Cara. I definitely need these crispy caulis in my life. I heart Cauliflower.
Over to Cara. :)

You don't need me to tell you about Richa's natural talent to not only create some of the most beautiful vegan recipes on the internet but also how she?is one of the kindest souls walking on this planet. But I'm going to anyway. I'm a huge Richa fan and I find myself constantly inspired by her. So because of that I wanted to create for her one?my most tasty dinner recipes to date.

I might create?recipes that are gluten, egg, and dairy-free but I?by no means claim?to?always be healthy with the way I choose to make said recipes. Sometimes,?for one who?is limited in what they can eat, it's kind of?nice to be able to eat those foods similar to?what you?once remembered it tasting like. Good ol' fried Chinese food is no exception. Sometimes a girl has gotta splurge...

Nothing is better for the body, mind, and soul?than a fried vegetable. At least that?is the truth according to me. And let me tell you, this is one fried dinner that will not disappoint (it's ridiculously good!)?Here's to feeling better, friend!?

Crispy Orange Cauliflower Recipe

Gluten, egg, and dairy-free

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

• 1 small head of cauliflower, cut into small florets?(I used a pre-package of cauliflower bought from Trader Joe's)

For Flour Mixture:

1. Blend all ingredients together until a nice batter is formed (shouldn't be too thick: think waffle batter consistency).
2. While you are doing this, heat up a skillet with 1/2 c. oil on medium/high heat.?Make sure it?has been properly heated.?
3. Dip each small floret into the batter and make sure each piece is entirely covered.
4. Fry in oil until completely browned.
5. Allow to drain on a paper towel-lined plate.

For Orange Sauce:

• 2?Tb oil
• 3-4 garlic cloves, peeled and zested
• 6?green onions, thinly sliced
• zest of 1 orange + juice of orange
• 2?Tb soy sauce (gluten-free)
• 2 Tb rice wine vinegar

1. In a clean?skillet, heat oil and garlic for 1 minute.
2. Add green onions, zest and juice. Cook another 1 minute.
3. Add soy sauce and vinegar and bring to a boil. Toss in?crispy cauliflower into the skillet and?coat thoroughly. Keep on the pan briefly.
4. Place ontop of rice.

• 1/4 c. orange juice
• 1 tsp corn starch
• 1 tsp brown sugar

1. In that same skillet, throw in the remainder ingredients and bring to a boil for just 1 minute, stirring constantly.
2. Drizzle over orange cauliflower and rice.
3. Garnish with green scallions, orange zest, and sesame seeds.

Source: http://www.veganricha.com/2013/04/caras-crispy-orange-cauliflower-vegan.html

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New clues in the search to rediscover the mysterious Maya Blue formula

Apr. 2, 2013 ? The recipe and process for preparing Maya Blue, a highly-resistant pigment used for centuries in Mesoamerica, were lost. We know that the ingredients are a plant dye, indigo, and a type of clay known as palygorskite, but scientists do not know how they were 'cooked' and combined together. Now, a team of chemists from the University of Valencia and the Polythecnic University of Valencia (Spain) have come up with a new hypothesis about how it was prepared.

Palace walls, sculptures, codices and pieces of pottery produced by the ancient Maya incorporate the enigmatic Maya Blue. This pigment, which was also used by other Mesoamerican cultures, is characterised by its intense blue colour but, above all, by the fact that it is highly resistant to chemical and biological deterioration. Indeed, it was used centuries ago and when it is analysed now it appears virtually unchangeable.

There is no document that verifies how this paint was prepared and so it remains a mystery. Archaeologists and scientists have sought to uncover the mystery in recent years but it seems that researchers cannot come to an agreement.

The dominant theory proposes that there is a single type of Maya Blue that was also prepared in a unique way and that a specific type of bond binds the two components: one organic component, indigo -the dye used for denim that is obtained from the Indigofera suffruticosa plant in Mesoamerica- and another inorganic component, palygorskite, a type of clay characterised by its crystal structure full of internal channels.

But the work of a team from the University of Valencia (UV) and the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) seem to contradict this 'monoist' version. "We detected a second pigment in the samples, dehydroindigo, which must have formed through oxidation of the indigo when it underwent exposure to the heat that is required to prepare Maya Blue," stated Antonio Dom?nech, a UV researcher.

"Indigo is blue and dehydroindigo is yellow," the expert explained, "therefore the presence of both pigments in variable proportions would justify the more or less greenish tone of Maya Blue. It is possible that the Maya knew how to obtain the desired hue by varying the preparation temperature, for example heating the mixture for more or less time or adding more of less wood to the fire."

Another of the unsolved questions is how the dye molecules are distributed in palygorskite's crystal network. According to some scientists, the indigo adheres to the exterior of the clay structure with the 'brick' shape although it could also form a sort of 'cover' on the entrance to the channels.

However, other researchers believe that the indigo penetrates into the channels. This is the theory supported by the team from Valencia that has just published a study in the "Microporous and Mesoporous Materials" journal on the reactions that could be behind the formation of the blue pigment.

Two-stage process

The results reveal that two stages occur when both components are heated to temperatures between 120 and 180 ?C. In the first and fastest of the two stages water evaporates from the palygorskite and the indigo bonds to the clay, although a part oxidises and forms dehydroindigo.

In the second stage it would appear that the dye disperses through the channels in the clay. "The process is similar to what happens when we pour a drop of ink into a glass of water," Dom?nech said, drawing a comparison, although he acknowledges that "this is a hypothesis" at present.

The researcher's team, like other groups in other parts of the world, is also investigating the secret of the unknown chemical bonds that bind the organic to the inorganic component. These bonds are the reason behind Maya Blue's resistance.

In addition to palaces and buildings of the Maya nobility, this pigment is traditionally associated with ritual ceremonies conducted by priests, and may even have been used during human sacrifices. Containers holding traces of the pigment found at the bottom of some natural and human-made wells on the Yucat?n peninsula point to this ceremonial use.

Studies such as the one published by US anthropologists in 2008 on a bowl found in the Sacred Cenote of Chich?n Itz? led some media outlets to state that the mystery of Maya Blue had been solved. "The bowl contained Maya Blue mixed with copal incense so the simplified conclusion was that it was only prepared by warming incense," stated Dom?nech.

The researcher believes that the composition and function of Maya Blue could have varied down through the centuries: "Although quite a few samples would be required, it could be possible to establish the evolution in its properties and preparation throughout the Maya culture from approximately 150 B.C. to 800 A.D., in such a way that we could establish a chronology based on analysing the pigment. This provides a far more 'flexible' view of this culture, breaking with that traditional monolithic view of inflexible ritualism."

Small greenish balls in La Blanca

In support of this view, the team also recently found other pigments that are different from Maya Blue but follow the same pattern of a plant dye combined with clay. They found small greenish balls with this material in the ancient Maya city of La Blanca, modern day Guatemala, and it is assumed they were used to plaster and decorate the walls of palatial buildings.

"These materials were certainly not within the reach of the common people but they signal a more 'everyday' use of the pigments that would not have had to be restricted to ritual or ceremonial activities," Dom?nech pointed out and said by way of conclusion: "Maya Blue can be considered a polyfunctional material as it can combine different organic components with an inorganic carrier, which, in addition, can be distributed and react differently, thereby producing functions that are also different."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Plataforma SINC, via AlphaGalileo.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Antonio Dom?nech, Mar?a Teresa Dom?nech-Carb?, Laura Osete-Cortina, Noem? Montoya. Application of solid-state electrochemistry techniques to polyfunctional organic?inorganic hybrid materials: The Maya Blue problem. Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, 2013; 166: 123 DOI: 10.1016/j.micromeso.2012.04.031

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/biochemistry/~3/HQUB8idoYD8/130402091147.htm

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