Defective nanotubes turned into light emitters

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31-Oct-2013

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Contact: Aitziber Lasa
a.lasa@elhuyar.com
34-943-363-040
Elhuyar Fundazioa

UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country researchers have developed and patented a new source of light emitter based on boron nitride nanotubes and suitable for developing high-efficiency optoelectronic devices

This news release is available in Spanish.

Scientists are usually after defect-free nano-structures. Yet in this case the UPV/EHU researcher Angel Rubio and his collaborators have put the structural defects in boron nitride nanotubes to maximum use. The outcome of his research is a new light-emitting source that can easily be incorporated into current microelectronics technology. The research has also resulted in a patent.

Boron nitride is a promising material in the field of nanotechnology, thanks to its excellent insulating properties, resistance and two-dimensional structure similar to graphene. And specifically, the properties of hexagonal boron nitride, the focus of this research, are far superior to those of other metals and semiconductors currently being used as light emitters, for example, in applications linked to optical storage (DVD) or communications. "It is extremely efficient in ultraviolet light emission, one of the best currently available on the market," remarked the UPV/EHU researcher Angel Rubio.

However, the light emission of boron nitride nanotubes takes place within a very limited range of the ultraviolet spectrum, which means they cannot be used in applications in which the emission needs to be produced within a broader range of frequencies and in a controlled way (for example in applications using visible light).

The research carried out by the UPV/EHU's NanoBio Spectroscopy Group has come up with a solution to overcome this limitation, and open up the door to the use of hexagonal boron nitride nanotubes in commercial applications.

They have shown that by applying an electric field perpendicular to the nanotube, it is possible to get the latter to emit light across the whole spectrum from the infrared to the far ultraviolet and to control it in a simple way. This ease of control is only to be found in nanotubes due to their cylindrical geometry (these are tubular structures with lengths in the order of micrometres, and diameters in the order of nanometres).

Rubio has been working with boron nitride nanotubes for nearly 20 years. "We proposed them theoretically, and then they were found experimentally. So far, all our theoretical predictions have been confirmed, and that is very gratifying," he explained. Once the properties of layered hexagonal boron nitride and its extremely high efficiency in light emission were known, this research sought to show that these properties are not lost in nanotubes. "We knew that when a sheet was rolled up and a tube was formed, a strong coupling was produced with the electric field and that would enable us to change the light emission. We wanted to show," and they did in fact show, "that light emission efficiency was not being lost due to the fact that the nanotube was formed, and that it is also controllable."

Boron absences

The device functions on the basis of the use of natural (or induced) defects in boron nitride nanotubes. In particular, the defects enabling controlled emission are the gaps that appear in the wall of the nanotube due to the absence of a boron atom, which is the most common defect in its manufacture. "All nanotubes are very similar, but the fact that you have these defects makes the system operational and efficient, and what is more, the more defects you have, the better it functions."

Rubio highlighted "the simplicity" of the device proposed. "It's a device that functions with defects, it does not have to be pure, and it's very easy to build and control." Nanotubes can be synthesised using standard methods in the scientific community for producing inorganic nanotubes; the structures synthesised as a result have natural defects, and it is possible to incorporate more if you want by means of simple, post-synthesis irradiation processes. "It has a traditional transistor configuration, and what we are proposing would work with current electronic devices," he stressed. The "less attractive" part, as specified by Rubio, is that boron nitride nanotubes are still only produced in very small quantities, and as yet there is no economically viable synthesis process on a commercial scale.

Beyond graphene

Rubio is in no doubt about the potential of the new materials based on two-dimensional systems, and specifically, of compounds that offer an alternative to graphene, like, for example, hexagonal boron nitride. Without prejudice to graphene, Rubio believes that the alternative field could have greater potential in the long term and needs to be explored: "It's a field that has been active for over the last fifteen years, even though it has been less visible. We have been working with hexagonal boron nitride since 1994, it's like our child, and I believe that it has opened up an attractive field of research, which more and more groups are joining."

###

Further information:

This research has been conducted by the NanoBio Spectroscopy Group (ETSF-Centre for Scientific Development, Department of Materials Physics, Faculty of Chemistry of the UPV/EHU), led by Prof ngel Rubio, in collaboration with Dr Ludger Wirtz (University of Luxembourg), Dr Claudi Attaccalite (University of Grenoble) and Dr Andrea Marini (CNR Italian Research Council - Rome), who are three veteran researchers in the group.

ngel Rubio is professor of Materials Physics of the UPV/EHU, head of the NanoBio Spectroscopy Group and Chairman of the ETSF-European Theoretical Spectroscopy Facility of the UPV/EHU, as well as external director of the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society.

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

31-Oct-2013

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Contact: Aitziber Lasa
a.lasa@elhuyar.com
34-943-363-040
Elhuyar Fundazioa

UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country researchers have developed and patented a new source of light emitter based on boron nitride nanotubes and suitable for developing high-efficiency optoelectronic devices

This news release is available in Spanish.

Scientists are usually after defect-free nano-structures. Yet in this case the UPV/EHU researcher Angel Rubio and his collaborators have put the structural defects in boron nitride nanotubes to maximum use. The outcome of his research is a new light-emitting source that can easily be incorporated into current microelectronics technology. The research has also resulted in a patent.

Boron nitride is a promising material in the field of nanotechnology, thanks to its excellent insulating properties, resistance and two-dimensional structure similar to graphene. And specifically, the properties of hexagonal boron nitride, the focus of this research, are far superior to those of other metals and semiconductors currently being used as light emitters, for example, in applications linked to optical storage (DVD) or communications. "It is extremely efficient in ultraviolet light emission, one of the best currently available on the market," remarked the UPV/EHU researcher Angel Rubio.

However, the light emission of boron nitride nanotubes takes place within a very limited range of the ultraviolet spectrum, which means they cannot be used in applications in which the emission needs to be produced within a broader range of frequencies and in a controlled way (for example in applications using visible light).

The research carried out by the UPV/EHU's NanoBio Spectroscopy Group has come up with a solution to overcome this limitation, and open up the door to the use of hexagonal boron nitride nanotubes in commercial applications.

They have shown that by applying an electric field perpendicular to the nanotube, it is possible to get the latter to emit light across the whole spectrum from the infrared to the far ultraviolet and to control it in a simple way. This ease of control is only to be found in nanotubes due to their cylindrical geometry (these are tubular structures with lengths in the order of micrometres, and diameters in the order of nanometres).

Rubio has been working with boron nitride nanotubes for nearly 20 years. "We proposed them theoretically, and then they were found experimentally. So far, all our theoretical predictions have been confirmed, and that is very gratifying," he explained. Once the properties of layered hexagonal boron nitride and its extremely high efficiency in light emission were known, this research sought to show that these properties are not lost in nanotubes. "We knew that when a sheet was rolled up and a tube was formed, a strong coupling was produced with the electric field and that would enable us to change the light emission. We wanted to show," and they did in fact show, "that light emission efficiency was not being lost due to the fact that the nanotube was formed, and that it is also controllable."

Boron absences

The device functions on the basis of the use of natural (or induced) defects in boron nitride nanotubes. In particular, the defects enabling controlled emission are the gaps that appear in the wall of the nanotube due to the absence of a boron atom, which is the most common defect in its manufacture. "All nanotubes are very similar, but the fact that you have these defects makes the system operational and efficient, and what is more, the more defects you have, the better it functions."

Rubio highlighted "the simplicity" of the device proposed. "It's a device that functions with defects, it does not have to be pure, and it's very easy to build and control." Nanotubes can be synthesised using standard methods in the scientific community for producing inorganic nanotubes; the structures synthesised as a result have natural defects, and it is possible to incorporate more if you want by means of simple, post-synthesis irradiation processes. "It has a traditional transistor configuration, and what we are proposing would work with current electronic devices," he stressed. The "less attractive" part, as specified by Rubio, is that boron nitride nanotubes are still only produced in very small quantities, and as yet there is no economically viable synthesis process on a commercial scale.

Beyond graphene

Rubio is in no doubt about the potential of the new materials based on two-dimensional systems, and specifically, of compounds that offer an alternative to graphene, like, for example, hexagonal boron nitride. Without prejudice to graphene, Rubio believes that the alternative field could have greater potential in the long term and needs to be explored: "It's a field that has been active for over the last fifteen years, even though it has been less visible. We have been working with hexagonal boron nitride since 1994, it's like our child, and I believe that it has opened up an attractive field of research, which more and more groups are joining."

###

Further information:

This research has been conducted by the NanoBio Spectroscopy Group (ETSF-Centre for Scientific Development, Department of Materials Physics, Faculty of Chemistry of the UPV/EHU), led by Prof ngel Rubio, in collaboration with Dr Ludger Wirtz (University of Luxembourg), Dr Claudi Attaccalite (University of Grenoble) and Dr Andrea Marini (CNR Italian Research Council - Rome), who are three veteran researchers in the group.

ngel Rubio is professor of Materials Physics of the UPV/EHU, head of the NanoBio Spectroscopy Group and Chairman of the ETSF-European Theoretical Spectroscopy Facility of the UPV/EHU, as well as external director of the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society.

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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/ef-dnt103113.php
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Women working in Head Start programs report poor physical and mental health

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31-Oct-2013

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Contact: Preston M. Moretz
pmoretz@temple.edu
215-204-4380
Temple University

Women working in Head Start, the nation's largest federally funded early childhood education program which serves nearly one million low-income children, report higher than expected levels of physical and mental health problems, according to researchers at Temple University. Their findings are reported in the first-ever survey conducted on the health of Head Start staff.

In a paper published October 31 in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease, the Temple researchers, led by Robert Whitaker, professor of public health and pediatrics, reported that:

• Six physical health conditionsobesity, asthma, high blood pressure, diabetes or prediabetes, severe headache or migraine, and lower back painwere each between 19-35 percent more common in Head Start staff than in the comparable U.S. population;
  
• 24 percent of the staff suffered from significant depressive symptomsenough to be diagnosed with depression;
  
• 28 percent reported that their physical or mental health was "not good" on half or more of the 30 days prior to the survey;
  
• 15 percent rated their overall health as either "fair or poor;" and
  
• 9 percent were absent from work 10 or more days in the last year due to illness.

The work of Head Start staff can be very emotionally demanding as they help children and families living in poverty who face multiple social risks, noted the researchers. Staff members also work for low pay, with teachers' salaries well below those of public school kindergarten teachers. One teacher who participated in the survey summarized her situation by writing, "My job is why I'm stressed all the time and my personal health suffers. I chose a demanding job, but the pay is bare minimum and isn't enough to get by."

The Temple researchers conducted an anonymous, online survey of staff working in 66 Pennsylvania Head Start programs. Of those who participated in the survey, the researchers focused on 2,122 female respondents, which included managers and classroom teachers of three and four year olds, as well as those making home visits to families of infants and toddlers participating in Early Head Start. The survey results were compared with previous national health surveys involving a large number of women whose social and demographic characteristics matched those in the Head Start survey.

"In the 50 years that the Head Start program has been in existence, many studies have reported on the health of the children and families," said Whitaker. "However, no study has ever examined the health of the staff, which is the group on which the program relies to achieve its goals. The staff must be well to do well by the children and their families."

The researchers noted several potential approaches to address the health of the staff, including:

• Making staff wellness part of professional development activities;
  
• Using available Head Start mental health resources for families and children to also address the mental health needs of the staff;
  
• Adopting mindfulness-based stress-reduction techniques, now used in other emotionally demanding occupations like health care, to prevent and treat psychological distress in the staff;
  
• Changing the workplace culture to increase co-worker support and monitor and adjust the demands placed on the staff;
  
• Incorporating more movement into activities that are designed to promote children's cognitive and social development; and
  
• Improving the quality of food served to staff and children.

"Those working in Head Start have been entrusted with the development and education of some of the nation's most vulnerable and disadvantaged children," said Whitaker. "The adults providing these services deserve a compassionate response to their health problems, which may be due in part to the stressful nature of their important jobs. Addressing the health of the staff may improve outcomes for children in Head Start."

###

The survey was a collaboration between Temple University's Department of Public Health and its Institute for Survey Research.

NOTE: Copies of this study are available to working journalists and may be obtained by contacting Preston M. Moretz in Temple's Office of University Communications at 215/204-4380 or pmoretz@temple.edu.

---

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

31-Oct-2013

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Contact: Preston M. Moretz
pmoretz@temple.edu
215-204-4380
Temple University

Women working in Head Start, the nation's largest federally funded early childhood education program which serves nearly one million low-income children, report higher than expected levels of physical and mental health problems, according to researchers at Temple University. Their findings are reported in the first-ever survey conducted on the health of Head Start staff.

In a paper published October 31 in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease, the Temple researchers, led by Robert Whitaker, professor of public health and pediatrics, reported that:

• Six physical health conditionsobesity, asthma, high blood pressure, diabetes or prediabetes, severe headache or migraine, and lower back painwere each between 19-35 percent more common in Head Start staff than in the comparable U.S. population;
  
• 24 percent of the staff suffered from significant depressive symptomsenough to be diagnosed with depression;
  
• 28 percent reported that their physical or mental health was "not good" on half or more of the 30 days prior to the survey;
  
• 15 percent rated their overall health as either "fair or poor;" and
  
• 9 percent were absent from work 10 or more days in the last year due to illness.

The work of Head Start staff can be very emotionally demanding as they help children and families living in poverty who face multiple social risks, noted the researchers. Staff members also work for low pay, with teachers' salaries well below those of public school kindergarten teachers. One teacher who participated in the survey summarized her situation by writing, "My job is why I'm stressed all the time and my personal health suffers. I chose a demanding job, but the pay is bare minimum and isn't enough to get by."

The Temple researchers conducted an anonymous, online survey of staff working in 66 Pennsylvania Head Start programs. Of those who participated in the survey, the researchers focused on 2,122 female respondents, which included managers and classroom teachers of three and four year olds, as well as those making home visits to families of infants and toddlers participating in Early Head Start. The survey results were compared with previous national health surveys involving a large number of women whose social and demographic characteristics matched those in the Head Start survey.

"In the 50 years that the Head Start program has been in existence, many studies have reported on the health of the children and families," said Whitaker. "However, no study has ever examined the health of the staff, which is the group on which the program relies to achieve its goals. The staff must be well to do well by the children and their families."

The researchers noted several potential approaches to address the health of the staff, including:

• Making staff wellness part of professional development activities;
  
• Using available Head Start mental health resources for families and children to also address the mental health needs of the staff;
  
• Adopting mindfulness-based stress-reduction techniques, now used in other emotionally demanding occupations like health care, to prevent and treat psychological distress in the staff;
  
• Changing the workplace culture to increase co-worker support and monitor and adjust the demands placed on the staff;
  
• Incorporating more movement into activities that are designed to promote children's cognitive and social development; and
  
• Improving the quality of food served to staff and children.

"Those working in Head Start have been entrusted with the development and education of some of the nation's most vulnerable and disadvantaged children," said Whitaker. "The adults providing these services deserve a compassionate response to their health problems, which may be due in part to the stressful nature of their important jobs. Addressing the health of the staff may improve outcomes for children in Head Start."

###

The survey was a collaboration between Temple University's Department of Public Health and its Institute for Survey Research.

NOTE: Copies of this study are available to working journalists and may be obtained by contacting Preston M. Moretz in Temple's Office of University Communications at 215/204-4380 or pmoretz@temple.edu.

---

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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/tu-wwi102913.php
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Senate blocks Obama picks for judge, housing posts

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans blocked President Barack Obama's nominees to lead an influential federal court and a housing agency on Thursday, despite Democratic warnings of a return to last summer's partisan brawl over who wields power in the Senate.

In rapid succession, Democrats failed to overcome GOP delaying tactics against Patricia Millett to join the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and Rep. Melvin Watt to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The votes were 55-38 to free Millett's nomination for final passage and 56-42 for Watt's, but both fell short of the 60 votes needed to break the Republican procedural blockade.

The Millett nomination was the flashpoint because the D.C. circuit court rules on federal agency and White House actions, and Millett's confirmation would have given that court's judges a 5-4 tilt toward those chosen by Democratic presidents. Appointments to that court, which currently has three vacant judgeships, are lifetime positions.

Republicans argued that the D.C. court's workload was lighter than other districts and didn't merit an additional judge. They also said Democrats want to turn that court, considered second in power only to the Supreme Court, into a rubber stamp for Obama administration policies.

"This is the court that can rule for or against the executive orders of this administration," said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. "We need to maintain checks and balances of the government."

Democrats say caseload totals for the D.C. circuit are close to its 10-year average. They also say that when Republicans held the White House, they voted to fill the D.C. court's ninth seat with John Roberts, now the chief justice of the U.S.

They also said GOP opposition to Millett is based strictly on politics and warned they might use their 55-45 Senate majority to weaken the Senate minority party's powers to block nominations. Such a move would infuriate Republicans and might prompt retaliatory GOP procedural moves that could grind the Senate's work to a crawl.

"If Republican senators are going to hold nominations hostage without consideration of individual merit, we will have drastic measures," said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

Some senior Democrats have been reluctant to limit minority party power in the Senate, saying it would hurt them whenever the GOP gains the majority. But many younger Democratic senators have been eager to streamline Senate rules.

"The conversation on rules changes can't come fast enough for me," Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said after Thursday's votes. He called the GOP procedural hurdles "a government shutdown by another tactic."

Last July, Democrats abandoned a threat to change Senate rules after Republicans agreed to supply enough votes for approval of several Obama nominations. Those included his choices to head the Environmental Protection Agency and the Labor Department.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., indicated early Thursday that Democrats might not act immediately, saying, "I appreciate" a suggestion by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that the two parties talk about the next steps.

"Always willing to do that," Reid said.

After the votes, Reid said the Millett vote was "hard to comprehend." Asked about the next steps, he said, "Time will only tell."

Reid switched his vote to "no" on the roll calls for both Millett and Watt, a procedural move that gives him the right to force fresh votes on both nominees.

Initially, Millett's nomination seemed to have a potential for a revival. She could get to 60 Senate votes when Reid switches back to "yes;" with certain support from Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who did not vote; and with the backing of all three senators who voted "present" Thursday: Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga.

Millett was an assistant solicitor general, representing the administration before the Supreme Court, under both Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. She has argued 32 cases before the highest court.

Obama has also nominated attorney Cornelia "Nina" Pillard and U.S. District Judge Robert Wilkins to bring the court to its full strength of 11 judges, nominations that have yet to reach the full Senate.

Republicans are backing a bill by Grassley and others to eliminate one of the D.C. court's 11 judgeships and transfer two others to districts with heavier workloads.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency oversees government-owned mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Watt, D-N.C., is a 21-year House veteran who has served his entire tenure on the House Financial Services Committee. At the housing agency, he would succeed acting director Edward DeMarco, a George W. Bush appointee criticized by Democrats for not letting Fannie and Freddie reduce principal costs for homeowners risking foreclosure.

Democrats have praised Watt for having a pro-consumer record, including opposing risky Wall Street behavior that helped produce the 2008 financial industry collapse. He's won support from the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of Home Builders.

Republicans said Watt was short on technical expertise needed to oversee Fannie and Freddie and said he lacked political independence.

He also faced opposition from the influential conservative groups Heritage Action for America and the Club for Growth. They warned Republicans that their votes on Watt would be counted in their ratings of 2014 candidates.

___

Associated Press writer Henry C. Jackson contributed to this report.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-10-31-Senate-Nominations/id-697868e0a7b84b1486a3d47143e59767
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UK hacking prosecutor: Brooks, Coulson had affair

Andy Coulson arrives at The Old Bailey law court in London, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013. Former News of the World national newspaper editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson went on trial Monday, along with several others, on charges relating to the hacking of phones and bribing officials while they were employed at the now closed tabloid paper. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Andy Coulson arrives at The Old Bailey law court in London, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013. Former News of the World national newspaper editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson went on trial Monday, along with several others, on charges relating to the hacking of phones and bribing officials while they were employed at the now closed tabloid paper. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Rebekah Brooks and her husband Charlie Brooks arrive at The Old Bailey law court in London, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013. Former News of the World national newspaper editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson went on trial Monday, along with several others, on charges relating to the hacking of phones and bribing officials while they were employed at the now closed tabloid paper. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Former News of The World news editor Ian Edmondson arrives at The Old Bailey law court in London, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013. Former News of the World national newspaper editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson went on trial Monday, along with several others, on charges relating to the hacking of phones and bribing officials while they were employed at the now closed tabloid paper. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Former Royal Editor Clive Goodman arrives at The Old Bailey law court in London, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013. Former News of the World national newspaper editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson went on trial Monday, along with several others, on charges relating to the hacking of phones and bribing officials while they were employed at the now closed tabloid paper. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Andy Coulson arrives at The Old Bailey law court in London, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013. Former News of the World national newspaper editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson went on trial Monday, along with several others, on charges relating to the hacking of phones and bribing officials while they were employed at the now closed tabloid paper. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

LONDON (AP) — In a blockbuster declaration at Britain's phone hacking trial, a prosecutor said two of Rupert Murdoch's former senior tabloid executives — Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, later a top aide to Prime Minister David Cameron — had an affair lasting at least six years.

Prosecutor Andrew Edis made the disclosure Thursday during Coulson's and Brooks' trial on phone hacking and other charges, the first major criminal case to go to court in the hacking saga that has shaken Britain's political, judicial and media elite.

Brooks, Coulson and six other people are now on trial, including Brooks' current husband Charles. All deny the various charges against them, which range from phone hacking to bribing officials for scoops to obstructing police investigations.

Edis said the relationship between Brooks and Coulson was relevant to the hacking case because it showed they trusted one another and shared intimate information.

"Throughout the relevant period, what Mr. Coulson knew Mrs. Brooks knew, and what Mrs. Brooks knew Mr. Coulson knew," Edis said.

Edis said the affair began in 1998 and lasted about six years. If his timeline is correct, the affair ended before Coulson became Cameron's top communications director, which began after Cameron's election in 2010. Coulson started working for Cameron in 2007, when Cameron became leader of Britain's Conservative opposition party.

The affair covered the period when Brooks was the top editor of Murdoch's News of the World tabloid and Coulson was her deputy. Brooks edited the paper from 2000 to 2003, then went on to edit its sister paper, The Sun, and later became the chief executive of Murdoch's British newspaper division. Coulson edited the News of the World from 2003 to 2007.

The affair covered the crucial period in 2002 when the News of the World hacked the phone of murdered teenager Milly Dowler. Brooks has long denied knowing about that hacking. When the Dowler hacking case became public in 2011, the outrage in Britain was so great that Murdoch shut down the 168-year-old paper.

Edis said a February 2004 letter from Brooks showed there was "absolute confidence between the two of them in relation to all the problems at their work." He said the letter appeared to have been written by Brooks in response to Coulson's attempt to end the relationship.

"You are my very best friend. I tell you everything. I confide in you, I seek your advice," Brooks wrote, according to Edis. "Without our relationship in my life I am really not sure I will cope."

Edis said the affair was uncovered when police searched a computer found at Brooks' home in 2011 as part of the hacking investigation.

It's not clear whether the letter was ever sent.

Brooks married soap-opera star Ross Kemp in 2002. They later divorced and she married horse trainer Charles Brooks in 2009.

In his opening arguments Thursday, Edis said News of the World journalists, with consent from the tabloid's top editors, colluded to hack the phones of politicians, royalty, celebrities and even rival reporters in a "frenzy" to get scoops.

He said the "dog-eat-dog" environment led to routine lawbreaking that was sanctioned by those in charge of the Murdoch-owned tabloid: editors Rebekah Brooks and Coulson.

Jurors were shown email exchanges involving private investigator Glenn Mulcaire and News of the World news editor Ian Edmondson — one of the defendants — detailing the 2006 hacking of former government minister Tessa Jowell, royal family member Frederick Windsor and one-time Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, who was the subject of a major kiss-and-tell story from a mistress.

Mulcaire also hacked the phones of two journalists at the rival Mail on Sunday tabloid who were working on their own story about the Prescott affair, the prosecutor said.

"In the frenzy to get the huge story ... that's what you do," Edis said.

Edis also played a recording of Mulcaire "blagging" — seeking information about a voicemail password from a service provider using a false name. He said Mulcaire — an "accomplished" blagger and hacker — made the recording himself, and also recorded some of the voicemails he hacked.

The prosecutor said the emails, the recordings and pages from Mulcaire's notebooks provided "very clear evidence" of hacking so widespread that senior editors must have known about it.

Edis said Mulcaire was paid almost 100,000 pounds a year under a contract that started in 2001 and ended when he was arrested in 2006 for hacking the phones of royal aides. He and the tabloid's royal editor Clive Goodman were briefly jailed and for years, Murdoch's media company maintained that hacking had been limited only to that pair.

That claim was demolished when the Dowler case became public in 2011. Murdoch's company has since paid millions in compensation to scores of people whose phones were hacked.

Rebekah Brooks, Coulson, Edmondson and former managing editor Stuart Kuttner all deny charges of phone hacking. The trial is expected to last roughly six months.

Mulcaire has pleaded guilty, along with three former News of the World news editors.

Edis said there are few records of what Mulcaire was paid to do by the newspaper, but that senior editors must have known of his illicit activity.

"The question is, did nobody ever ask, 'What are we paying this chap for?'" he said. "Somebody must have decided that what he was doing was worth an awful lot of money. Who was that?"

He said Rebekah Brooks, who edited the News of the World when Mulcaire was put on retainer "was actively involved in financial management" and sent editors stern emails about keeping costs down.

Under Coulson, who succeeded her as editor, Mulcaire's fee was increased to 2,019 pounds a week.

Edis said there was no evidence that Mulcaire's fees were ever questioned.

"You would question it — unless you knew all about it," Edis said.

___

Jill Lawless can be reached at http://Twitter.com/JillLawless

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-10-31-Britain-Phone%20Hacking/id-66303238c6c447bdb1812e09c2c680b8
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If Zombies Were Real, What Would Be Going on in Their Brains?

TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010, AT 6:19 PM
Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma

FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2011, AT 3:07 PM
Obama Gets Firsthand Look at a Tornado Damage

TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010, AT 6:19 PM
Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma. Very long title. Long long long. Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma. Very long title. Long long long.

TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010, AT 6:19 PM
Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma. Very long title. Long long long. Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma. Very long title. Long long long.

Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/video/video/2013/10/zombie_neuroscience_if_the_living_dead_were_real_what_would_be_going_on.html
Category: homeland   dancing with the stars   nfl scores   Rihanna   Snowden  

If Zombies Were Real, What Would Be Going on in Their Brains?

TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010, AT 6:19 PM
Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma

FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2011, AT 3:07 PM
Obama Gets Firsthand Look at a Tornado Damage

TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010, AT 6:19 PM
Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma. Very long title. Long long long. Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma. Very long title. Long long long.

TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010, AT 6:19 PM
Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma. Very long title. Long long long. Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma. Very long title. Long long long.

Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/video/video/2013/10/zombie_neuroscience_if_the_living_dead_were_real_what_would_be_going_on.html
Category: homeland   dancing with the stars   nfl scores   Rihanna   Snowden  

Chloe Moretz: Hard at Work on “If I Stay”

Reporting for another day of duty, Chloe Moretz showed up on the set of “If I Stay” in Vancouver, Canada on Wednesday (October 30).

The “Kick-Ass 2” cutie looked pretty intense as she filmed scenes on an outdoor location along with costar Mireille Enos. “If I Stay” is about a fatal car accident involving a 17-year-old musician and her boyfriend.

Meanwhile, Miss Moretz’s new flick “Carrie” is scaring the hell out of audiences the world over, and it sounds like she poured her all into the gig.

Chloe told press, "The role of Carrie is an incredibly emotional role. It's probably the most vulnerable I've ever been as an actor, so in some ways it's kind of terrifying for people to see it, but at the same time it's very exciting and kind of an awakening for me because it's something I've never done before."

Source: http://celebrity-gossip.net/chloe-moretz/chloe-moretz-hard-work-%E2%80%9Cif-i-stay%E2%80%9D-952857
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