WASHINGTON ? American Crossroads, the Republican "super" political committee that plans to play a major role in this year's presidential campaign, raised more than $51 million along with its nonprofit arm last year, The Associated Press has learned.
The figures from Crossroads ? the group backed by former George W. Bush adviser Karl Rove ? were among the first financial reports being made public Tuesday, the deadline for super PACs and presidential candidates to file financial reports with federal election officials.
While most recent public attention has focused on groups spending major sums for negative TV ads assailing GOP presidential primary rivals Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, Tuesday's figures are a sign of even greater spending to come in the general election battle between the Republican nominee and Democratic President Barack Obama.
Other big super PACs required to disclose their donors Tuesday include Restore Our Future, the Romney-leaning PAC that has contributed to a deluge of ads hammering Gingrich, and Winning Our Future, the Gingrich-supportive group that has been critical of Romney's time at a venture capital firm. Both super PACs are run in part by former advisers to the candidates.
The American Crossroads PAC has about $15.6 million cash on hand, representing only part of the money it has in the bank to spend on defeating Obama. Financial details from Crossroads GPS ? the nonprofit arm ? are unclear because it doesn't have to disclose its donors under IRS rules, althoughCrossroads GPS was responsible for most of the groups' fundraising haul.
The Crossroads war chests underscore the extraordinary impact super PACs could have on this year's race for the White House. In GOP primaries so far, groups working for or against presidential candidates have spent roughly $25 million on TV ads ? about half the nearly $53 million spent on advertising so far to influence voters in the early weeks of the race.
Crossroads' financial reports, which the AP obtained ahead of the Federal Election Commission, identify wealthy donors who had given contributions reaching as high as seven figures by the end of 2011. Among the largest contributors is Dallas businessman Harold Simmons, who gave the group $5 million last November and whose holding company, Contran Corp., donated an additional $2 million.
Simmons is a major donor to GOP and conservative causes who pumped as much as $4 million into the "swift boat" campaign that helped sink Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry in 2004. Simmons, an early supporter of Texas Gov. Rick Perry's presidential run, also was a fundraising "bundler" putting donations together for Arizona Sen. John McCain.
Other super PACs have already had a major effect this primary season. One group, for instance, effectively saved Newt Gingrich's candidacy, while another tore into him in Florida and elsewhere. At the minimum, the groups' spending is a precursor to the general election ? when super PACs aligned with both Republicans and Obama plan to dole out even larger sums.
These groups are the products of a 2010 Supreme Court ruling that removed restrictions on corporate and union spending in federal elections. The groups can't directly coordinate with the candidates they support, but many are staffed with former campaign workers who have an intimate knowledge of a favored candidate's strategy.
Since this summer, the groups have spent tens of millions on ads in key GOP primary states like Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida. The PACs have also unleashed millions on expenses typically reserved for campaigns, including direct mailings, phone calls and get-out-the-vote efforts.
Few groups are likely to be as influential as American Crossroads, which plans to raise hundreds of millions of dollars this election cycle and enlists support from high-profile GOP figures such as former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour.
Crossroads' financial reports show other large donors such as Joseph W. Craft III, a Tulsa businessman whose Alliance Holdings, a major coal producer, gave $425,000. Other contributions include: $500,000 from Dallas-based Crow Holdings; $250,000 from Chicago philanthropist and GOP supporter Janet Duchossois, and $100,000 from Sam Zell, a Chicago real estate billionaire whose Tribune media company is now in bankruptcy.
Outside spending by individuals isn't new. Liberal-leaning billionaire George Soros gave more than $20 million to help groups supportive of Kerry ? these groups were known as "527" organizations ? and his 2004 White House bid. But the high court's Citizens United ruling essentially gave a green light to individuals who want to pump unlimited sums into outside groups that would in turn support candidates.
The Obama campaign on Tuesday disclosed a list of 61 people who raised at least half a million dollars for the president's re-election efforts. Among them are movie producers Jeffrey Katzenberg and Harvey Weinstein and embattled former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, whose $70,000 in contributions from himself and his wife were refunded by the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
A handful of other financial filings began trickling in to the Federal Election Commission Tuesday afternoon, including those from the Gingrich campaign. It said the former House speaker raised $10 million during the fourth quarter, in addition to $5 million this month. Those totals are separate from super PAC money being spent on his behalf by outside groups.
Perry, the Texas governor who was an early star in the Republican primaries, raised an anemic $2.9 million this past quarter, compared with $17.2 million within the first two months of his entering the race last summer. The Jon Huntsman-leaning Our Destiny super PAC raised about $2.8 million ? with more than $1.8 million coming from his father, Jon Huntsman Sr.
Endorse Liberty, a group supportive of libertarian-leaning Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, said it raised $3.9 million for online advertising in key primary states.
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Associated Press writers Stephen Braun and Jim Kuhnhenn contributed to this report.
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Follow Jack Gillum at http://twitter.com/jackgillum
This is a regular column featuring original fiction by and for high school students, provided by Figment.com, an online community writing site for young people.
I melt into a crowd heading for the auditorium, disguising myself among a hundred or so other people. Thankfully, I don?t recognize a single one of them. I don?t want to talk to anyone right now. I don?t want to see anyone except?
I find my seat among the rest of the audience and wait. Slowly, the lights dim. I can?t help noticing the butterflies in my stomach, the knot in my throat. I tear away pieces of the program, a green booklet, until a little hill of paper is in my lap. I want to run away. I want to melt into the chair. I want to dissappear.
What I want is?
The performers come out, tall and sleek in black and carrying their instruments with the regality of an old English court. They sit and ready themselves, all the while giving us the impression that we aren?t even there. We are insignificant, quiet little specks of nothing compared to them, at this very moment.
To you, I?m probably?
I?d be lying if I said I wasn?t looking for him. And I know it?s about the music and the performance and all the effort they?ve put into their work? But I can?t help it. I search for him. And I feel paranoid for a moment and I wonder if anyone has noticed me, but of course they haven?t. They talk to each other, idle chatter, and are completely unaware of my meaningless anxiety and the mess of scrap paper in my lap and the way I can?t even hear myself think and-?I?ve found him.
He?s dressed in all black, like the others, but he might as well be wearing a neon sign on his forehead for all the attention he?s robbed me of. Like a fool, I am hypnotized. Like a child, I stare straight at him. Like an idiot, I pull my hair around my face, push my glasses up, and hide.
I?m nothing more than...
The violin is at his chin, his arm is in position, and before I realize it, they?ve begun. He slowly, carefully, rocks through the notes. He sinks into a low note, rises with the high ones. He plays that instrument with his whole body; he plays it like his life depends on it. I don?t think I?ve ever known anyone so in love with music.
And somewhere in the middle of it all, I feel strange, creepy, intrusive? like I?m witnessing something that I really shouldn?t be. I try focusing on the others, on the conductor, on anything but him. I focus on the song. Beethoven?s Moonlight Sonata, a version specifically arranged for the string ensemble. It?s beautiful and slow with a painful undertone.
He?s completely focused. I think to myself, it must have been this moment. This is the moment that I first felt myself drawn to him. I say ?drawn? because I don?t know how else to describe all these emotions. Admiration? Respect? Love? I feel like they?re so closely related?How do I differentiate them all?
Is there even such as thing as?
Suddenly it?s over. He breathes. He?s pleased, raises his eyebrows and smiles a little to his friends. The conductor bows, the performers rise and bow. He glances out into the audience, looks in my direction.
But I know he isn?t looking me. He?s looking at someone next to me, someone behind me. Hell, he?s probably just looking at the clock on the opposite side of the auditorium. Never at me. I hold my breath and resist the urge to look away. He couldn?t have seen me watching him, it?s way too dark over here?
The performers exit, the lights go on, and I?m outside and into the hallway as soon as they open the doors. My head is full of too many things and the boy and his violin are still playing loudly in my mind. I try and remember how to breathe? The reality is really unavoidable.
It?s official.? In Saturday?s edition of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, ?reader representative? Ted Diadiun addressed at length the decision to remove long-time Browns writer Tony Grossi from the team?s beat.? Diadiun?s article is well-written, superficially persuasive, and apparently effective, given the number of emails we?ve received from folks who believe based on Diadiun?s article that the newspaper did the right thing.
But it doesn?t change our opinion that the Plain Dealer cowered to the Browns.? In fact, it strengthens it.
When scrutinizing an employment decision, inconsistencies in the reasons and rationalizations from the employer become extremely important.? The thinking is that, if the employer can?t tell a unified story in support of a supposedly legitimate decision, it?s possible that the employer is trying to conceal potentially illegitimate motives.? Circumstantial evidence also takes on a critical role, since the employer rarely will admit to ordering the Code Red.? Or, perhaps for these purposes, a Code Orange.
And that?s really the ultimate question.? Did the Browns order a Code Orange on Grossi?? Or, more accurately, did the Plain Dealer reassign Grossi because it believed the Browns wanted Grossi out?
Let?s consider the facts, the circumstances, and the inconsistencies.
First, the facts.? Grossi posted on his Twitter page a message that he had intended to keep private.? In the message, Grossi called Browns owner Randy Lerner a ?pathetic figure? and ?the most irrelevant billionaire in the world.?? (Of all the billionaires in the world, technically one of them must be the most irrelevant.)? Grossi immediately deleted the tweet once he realized his mistake.? By then, however, his words had been copied and repeated across the Internet, and it was impossible to unring the bell.
Grossi apologized publicly, the Plain Dealer apologized publicly, and Plain Dealer publisher Terrance C.Z. Egger sent a written apology to the Browns and to Lerner.
Though not addressed in Diadiun?s column, the Browns responded with silence.? Apart from declining to comment in response to inquiries from PFT, the Browns and Lerner refused to take calls from Grossi, and possibly from other officials of the Plain Dealer.? Indeed, Diadiun admits that ?[n]one of the editors involved talked with anyone connected with the team? before making the decision to reassign Grossi.
Diadiun omits reference to the key question of whether the Plain Dealer tried to have such discussions.
Second, the circumstances.? Most significantly, Diadiun admits that Egger personally met with Lerner and team president Mike Holmgren on Wednesday, after the decision was made to reassign Grossi.? The fact that a meeting occurred invites speculation that the Browns cared ? or at a minimum that the Plain Dealer believed the Browns cared ? about the manner in which this situation was handled.
Third, the inconsistencies.? On Thursday, Plain Dealer managing editor Thom Fladung told 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland that the ?determining factor? for the decision was the following standard:? ?Don?t do something that affects your value as a journalist or the value of your newspaper or affects the perception of your value and the perception of that newspaper?s value.?? Fladung also said that Grossi?s opinions would have been permissible if he had posted them not on his Twitter page, but in the pages of the Plain Dealer.? ?Let?s say Tony had written that Randy Lerner?s lack of involvement with the Browns and their resulting disappointing records over the years has made him irrelevant as an owner, that?s defensible,? Fladung said.? ?That?s absolutely defensible.?
But Diadiun?s item contains a contradictory quote from Plain Dealer editor Adam Simmons, who thinks that Grossi?s role as a beat writer precluded him from making the statements about Lerner in any context.? ?If it had been a columnist who wrote that, we might cringe, but that role is different,? Simmons said. ?They?re paid to offer up opinions, however prickly. But we?re not asking them to go out and cover a team in a fair and balanced and objective way, like we are with a reporter.?? (Presumably, Simmons also believes that a columnist could have offered those opinions on his Twitter page, since opinions are fair game for a columnist.)
Complicating matters is Diadiun?s attempt to reconcile the action against Grossi with his First Amendment rights.? Rather that relying on the simple ? and accurate ? notion that employees of a private, for-profit enterprise have no First Amendment rights, Diadiun draws a clumsy line between personal and professional social media.? ?Anyone who works at the paper has the right to say, write or Tweet anything they wish,? Diadiun writes.? ?But they do not have a corresponding right to say it in the newspaper or on the website or on their newspaper Twitter account.? If they do, the editors who are in charge of maintaining the credibility of the newspaper have the right to change their assignment.?
So Fladung says that Grossi could have said what he said in the paper, Simmons says that Grossi couldn?t have said what he said anywhere unless he was a columnist, and Diadiun says that Grossi could have said what he said on his own, personal Twitter page.? And no one says it?s impermissible for Grossi to secretly possess those views, even if those views (as Diadiun writes) undermine his credibility.? Under the newspaper?s view of journalistic ethics, it only becomes a problem when those views are disclosed ? which actually should make Grossi even more credible, since he has openly acknowledged his bias.
The end result is a stew of mixed messages, which invites speculation that the real reason for the move was to maintain a good relationship with the Browns.? Though there continues to be ? and likely never will be ? any evidence that the Browns told the Plain Dealer what the Browns wanted the Plain Dealer to do, some of the loudest and clearest messages can be sent through silence.
When Grossi or others from the Plain Dealer tried to call Lerner and/or Holmgren and they refused to speak, what should a reasonable person conclude?? Moreover, why would a meeting with Lerner and Holmgren even be needed if the Plain Dealer didn?t care about the team?s response to the situation?? If this decision was solely about journalistic standards and the integrity and credibility of Grossi?s coverage in the eyes of the audience given his personal views regarding Lerner, there was no reason to go to Berea and kiss rings and/or smooch butts.
That?s the fundamental disconnect.? The Plain Dealer wants us to believe it engaged in a textbook exercise in ethics while at the same time doing things like writing letters of apology to Lerner and publicly calling Grossi?s words about Lerner insulting and personally meeting with Lerner and Holmgren.
Though the Browns may not have intended to order a Code Orange, we believe that the Plain Dealer believed that it needed to remove Grossi from the beat in order to remain in the good graces of the Browns.? And we?d have far more (or, as the case may be, any) respect for this decision if the Plain Dealer would simply admit that which upon inspection of the facts, the circumstances, and the inconsistencies seems obvious.
NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Research in Motion's Thorsten Heins plans to waste no time in his new job. The BlackBerry maker's chief executive said he will present the board with his plan for company's future in just a matter of weeks.
The German-born executive, who took over from two longstanding co-CEOs on Saturday, said his plans for RIM would be "significant" though he did not divulge details in an interview with Reuters.
"I will have time with the board in two weeks to present my ideas and changes," Heins said.
But the executive, who was promoted from the role of chief operating officer, said he has already done groundwork to tackle his company's most pressing problem - persuading the U.S. market to covet the BlackBerry again.
While RIM is growing in other countries, Heins conceded that its U.S. business is in need of a major revival after losing out to rivals like Apple Inc's iPhone at U.S. service providers and corporations, where it once had a clear advantage among employees heavily dependent on its email service.
"In general I wouldn't consider RIM as a turnaround candidate. It is a turnaround candidate in the U.S.," he said. "We lost market share in this market quite substantially. That is something that we have to address."
While U.S. operators such as Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc have helped BlackBerry with heavy advertising and promotions in the past, these operators have been much more focused in the last few years on devices like iPhone and smartphones based on the Google Inc operating system.
Heins' quest to regain ground with these operators has been complicated by the fact that RIM had to announce in December that it is delaying the launch of phones based on BlackBerry 10 - its next-generation software - until the later part of 2012 as it is awaiting the availability of a high-powered chip.
The executive would not say when exactly these phones would hit the market but implied that they would arrive in time for the year-end holiday-shopping season in the fourth quarter.
So in the meantime, Heins will concentrate on getting the most current BlackBerrys into more consumers hands. He noted that only 20 percent of U.S. BlackBerry users have the company's latest phones, which he says are competitive with rival smartphones.
The rest of RIM's U.S. customers have devices with older RIM software, some of which are "two generations behind," he said.
To overcome this, RIM has devised a new upgrade plan with U.S. operators to promote phones with the BlackBerry 7 system, which was launched in August last year.
"All the plans are ready. The carrier agreements are all ready. Now we have to get off the starting grid. Now we need to execute that upgrade program," Heins said.
While he did not want to disclose specifics about the new agreements, Heins said RIM could look at new ways of bundling different devices together or offering carriers smartphones with a package of pre-loaded applications.
He is also betting on the company's PlayBook tablet to compete with the Apple iPad tablet. This spring, Heins said that RIM will launch a version of the Playbook, with a high-speed wireless connection based on LTE - a technology that the top three U.S. operators are building into their networks.
Verizon Wireless and AT&T are already promoting LTE devices including smartphones and tablets from RIM's rivals. RIM's first smartphones with LTE connections will be in the company's BlackBerry 10 line-up, Heins said.
MOMENT OF SURPRISE
In his first presentation to Wall Street as CEO earlier this week, Heins said he did not think the company needed drastic change, causing some analysts to worry that the executive would not do enough to reverse the company's fortunes.
But the executive said on Friday that he was merely telling Wall Street that he does not want to change the core of RIM.
"Is RIM up for sale, is RIM up for a split-up?" He rejected those possibilities as "a drastic, seismic change because it would tear the company apart."
Heins, who has been with RIM for four years after spending over two decades at German engineering group Siemens, was became COO responsible for software and products seven months ago.
He explained that RIM had succession plans for co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie in place for some time and that he had an inkling that he was being groomed to follow in their footsteps when he was named COO.
"The moment they tell you it's still a surprise," Heins said, smiling broadly and adding that he immediately said yes.
Lazaridis and Balsillie, who turned the BlackBerry maker into a global company and a household name, stepped down last week but will remain on the board.
Some analysts have worried whether these executives would have too much of a say in the future strategy of the company because of their position on the board.
Heins said, it would be an advantage to be able to tap into the experience and company knowledge of RIM founder Lazaridis, but he made it clear that he would be the one calling the shots.
"What I do with the company is my decision. The CEO runs the company."
(Reporting By Sinead Carew; Additional reporting by Alastair Sharp and Peter Lauria; Editing by Gary Hill)
PARIS ? President Nicolas Sarkozy says France and Afghan President Hamid Karzai will ask NATO to hand over all combat missions in Afghanistan to Afghan troops in 2013 ? a year earlier than planned.
Sarkozy also says France has informed U.S. President Barack Obama of the proposal and will present it at a meeting of NATO defense ministers early next month.
The move, if confirmed, comes at a time of widespread fatigue among European contributors to the 10-year allied intervention in Afghanistan, and would accelerate a gradual drawdown of NATO troops that Obama planned to see through until the end of 2014.
"We have decided in a common accord with President Karzai to ask NATO to consider a total handling of NATO combat missions to the Afghan army over the course of 2013," Sarkozy said.
News of the French-Afghan proposal comes one week after Sarkozy abruptly suspended France's training missions and joint military patrols with Afghan forces following the shooting death of four unarmed French troops by an Afghan soldier on Jan. 20.
Sarkozy announced that the French will resume their training mission as of Saturday and withdraw its own troops by the end of 2013.
With Karzai at his side, Sarkozy also said authority in the strategic province of Kapisa east of Kabul, where nearly all French troops are deployed, will be handed over to the Afghans in March.
When?British nightclub DJ Tony Alleyne rebuilt his apartment to resemble?a spaceship from?"Star Trek," he couldn't have foreseen the day when he'd?have to boldly go ... someplace else.
The British tabloid The Sun reports that Alleyne's apartment, in the English town of Hinckley, is actually owned by the wife he's been separated from since 1994. Now she wants to sell, meaning he'll have to leave the space-themed home behind.
"To say I'm gutted is an understatement. It is my life's work," Alleyne told the Sun. "I admit there were tears."
He says it would cost at least 100,000 British pounds (more than $150,000 American) to redo the theme in a new apartment.
When msnbc TV reported on the apartment back in 2006, Alleyne was about to file for bankruptcy over the money spent on renovations, and said he had hoped to start a business transforming homes for other "Star Trek" fans.
Msnbc TV did another segment on Alleyne in 2007 when he was apparently also hoping to sell the tricked-out home, which includes a mock transporter.
"Most people thought I was barmy," Alleyne said at the time. "I mean, you could go spend the time down the pub or in a nightclub or whatever ... I decided to live in a spaceship." He says on his website, which bills him as a "24th century interior designer,"?that he became hooked on science fiction at age 11.
In the msnbc video, Alleyne, clad in a "Trek" uniform and with a bald head reminscent of "Next Generation" Captain Picard, ?demonstrates that even his microwave has a snap-on panel to hide it and make it look like part of the gleaming spaceship technology. He started the project in 1997 and refitted it from the Starship Enterprise to Voyager later on.
Too bad it doesn't have a working holodeck. Would you want to live in Alleyne's apartment??Beam over to Facebook and tell us.
All Critics (170) | Top Critics (40) | Fresh (163) | Rotten (6)
It may not entirely work as a movie, but The Muppets shines as a piece of touching pop nostalgia.
The purity of the nostalgia turns this franchise film into a love letter to childhood.
You can rest easy - if you have previously loved the Muppets, you will likely currently love The Muppets.
The chorus of one of the songs declares, 'I've got everything that I need, right in front of me.' For 120 minutes, that's precisely how I felt.
[Filmmakers] hew close to the essential innocence informing the Muppets' silliness.
The Muppets is a triumph of simplicity, innocence and goofy jokes. It's a triumph of felt.
So genial, so joyous, and suffused with such a lip-smacking sweetness, that the occasional pacing issues and subplot hiccups simply don't seem to matter.
It's never cloying or too knowing. Cynicism and wariness are real world concerns that have no place among the foam and felt.
Brushing aside decades of nostalgia, this is a whip-smart postmodern romp with a warm heart to boot, and as such, it should please both life-long fans and new initiates to the Muppet universe.
invites viewers to become a bit like the dreamer Walter and, in (re)discovering and embracing their inner child (not to mention their inner muppet), to join a fantastic, funny family that never grows old, no matter how times may have changed.
The innocence is slightly twisted, the harmonious camaraderie is slightly corrosive and the characters are slightly eccentric
I smiled throughout this madcap joyous adventure in which the Muppets are funny, silly, colourful and totally endearing in what must be the happiest film of the New Year
MY inner child - the one who loved The Muppet Show, The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper - really wants to give this film five stars.
By focusing on the Muppets of The Muppet Show (1976-1981) rather than the independent Muppets of prior films, the writers open up an unexplored aspect of Muppet lore ripe for revival.
A nice throwback to the good old days of the Muppets.
Under James Bobin's direction, however, the outing feels cheap and strangely small-screen.
An altogether charming, smart and strangely moving little movie.
The Muppets may be one of the best films of the year, not judged as a children's film, or a family film, but instead, simply as a film.
The Muppets is really two movies. And one of those movies is quite good, albeit awfully similar to previous films.
Even balcony critics Waldorf and Statler would have a hard time faulting this Wonkaful delight.
I am a fan of The Muppets and I'm glad to see them making a comeback. Maybe if this movie is a hit, they'll make a sequel where they'll actually get to be the stars of their own film.
A good imitation of the Muppet style.
The Muppets is a celebration of all things Muppets -- filled with fun, laughter and moments of pure joy.
The Muppets heralds the return of Jim Henson's beloved furry creations, resurrected from pop-culture irrelevance and lovingly restored to their former greatness in a vibrant comedy-musical.
LONDON ? An untold number of U.K. residents may have unwittingly broadcast their numbers to sites across the Web while browsing the Internet with their cellphones during the past two weeks.
Mobile service provider O2 said Wednesday that a glitch had exposed the numbers of smartphone-toting customers who connected to the Internet over the company's network.
The company, a major subsidiary of Spain's Telefonica, S.A., has some 22 million customers in Britain. It was unclear how many of those may have been affected and a call seeking further comment from O2 was not immediately returned.
The glitch was "potentially very serious," said Matt Bath, the technology editor for British consumer watchdog Which?
"You are making private information available into the wilds of the Web," he said. "A lot of good websites won't do anything with that data at all (but) there's a potential for a rogue website to harvest the information. That is an open door when it comes to spam, which is annoying, but also outright scams."
O2 said in a blog post that the company routinely shares its customers' telephone numbers with what it described as "trusted partners" for purposes such as age-verification and billing for premium content. But because of a glitch introduced during a routine maintenance operation around January 10, "there has been the potential for disclosure of customers' mobile phone numbers to further website owners."
O2 said it had fixed the bug Wednesday and apologized for any concern caused. But Bath said the damage may already have been done.
"This genie is completely out of the bottle," he said. "Some unruly website may be rubbing their hands with glee at the data bounty that's landed on their laps."
The Information Commissioner's Office, Britain's data protection watchdog, said it was looking into the potential breach.
"When people visit a website via their mobile phone they would not expect their number to be made available to that website," the office said in a statement.
'Absolutely do not be drunk or high on anything,' Dame Helen Mirren advises MTV News in latest edition of Don't Do That. By Christina Garibaldi
Vanessa Hudgens Photo: MTV News
With awards season is in full swing — Oscar nominations were announced on Tuesday, the Screen Actors Guild Awards are set for Sunday — the stars have been stepping up their fashion game in hopes of taking home one of the most important honors: Best Dressed.
But a lot of work goes into making that coveted list. MTV News asked some of the biggest actresses in the business for advice on what not to do on a red carpet.
"Don't wear something that's uncomfortable," said "Descendents" star Shailene Woodley when asked about how to leave a lasting impression. "Wear something that's super comfortable."
Hudgens had some unusual advice for what not to do on the red carpet. "A cartwheel ... in a dress," she said.
Comfort may not have been at the top of the list for Reese Witherspoon and Charlize Theron, who wowed at the 2012 Golden Globes, but they were certainly dazzling. Similarly, young starlets like Demi Lovato and Vanessa Hudgens made daring fashion choices at the People's Choice Awards and came out winners.
"The Help" star Jessica Chastain — who just got her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress — seemed to agree with Woodley.
"You should never wear something that makes you uncomfortable because then you look uncomfortable," Chastain said. "We've all done that, right? We've all been talked into something we didn't love, by our grandmothers, our aunts, my great aunt."
Chastain's fellow Oscar nominee and "Help" co-star, Viola Davis, has a busy red-carpet season ahead of her, but don't expect her to strike a pose. "My big thing, I never do over-the-shoulder shots," Davis told us. "I just don't. I think they're cheesy.
"I think absolutely you should be who you are, it has a huge calming effect as opposed to adding anxiety to yourself and trying to channel another persona; it really doesn't work," the Best Actress nominee continued. "Can you imagine the over-the-shoulder, hair-flip kinda pose for myself?"
Of course, it's not just about the dress or the most flattering pose — viewers keep an eye on carpet etiquette, too. According to Dame Helen Mirren, a star should always be on their best behavior.
"Don't be drunk, absolutely do not be drunk or high on anything," Mirren said. "Don't be nervous and do enjoy it. Think [to yourself], 'This is crazy, this is ridiculous, it's absurd, it has absolutely no place in the modern world. I'm just gonna love it.' "
Share your favorite red-carpet looks of the season so far in the comments!
Stay with MTV Style during awards-show season, and every day!
LIVERPOOL, England - Craig Bellamy scored against his former club in the 74th minute, and Liverpool advanced to the English League Cup final with a 2-2 tie against Manchester City on Wednesday night and a 3-2 aggregate win.
Liverpool will play Cardiff in the final at Wembley on Feb. 26.
Following Liverpool's 1-0 win in the first leg of the home-and-home, total-goals semifinal, Nigel de Jong put City ahead with a spectacular long-range strike in the 31st minute. Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard tied the score with a penalty nine minutes later, but Edin Dzeko gave the visitors a 2-1 lead with a tap-in from close range in the 67th
Bellamy scored with a low shot from inside the penalty area.
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MILAN (AP) ? Edinson Cavani scored twice to lead Napoli over two-time defending champion Inter Milan 2-0 and into the Italian Cup semfinals.
Cavani converted a penalty kick in the 50th minute after being tripped by Thiago Motta in what could have been the Brazilian's last game for Inter. Cavani added a goal in stoppage time.
Inter failed to reach the semifinals for the first time since 2003.
Napoli will meet Siena after the Serie A struggler reached the semifinals for the first time by winning 1-0 at Chievo Verona despite having a player ejected. Mattia Destro scored in the 54th minute, and Paolo Grossi was sent off six minutes later.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Barca holds off Madrid rally
Pedro Rodriguez and Daniel Alves scored first-half goals, and Barcelona held off a spirited Real Madrid comeback attempt to eliminate the defending Copa del Rey champion with a 2-2 tie Wednesday night.
Do-or-die
The U.S. women's soccer team was still on the field, having dispatched rival Mexico, when Abby Wambach gathered her teammates for a little speech.
Nano form of titanium dioxide can be toxic to marine organismsPublic release date: 24-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: James Badham media@bren.ucsb.edu 805-893-5049 University of California - Santa Barbara
Ultraviolet radiation is the catalyst for cellular damage in phytoplankton
Santa Barbara, CA The Bren School-based authors of a study published Jan. 20 in the journal PLoS ONE have observed toxicity to marine organisms resulting from exposure to a nanoparticle that had not previously been shown to be toxic under similar conditions.
Lead author and assistant research biologist Robert Miller and co-authors Arturo Keller and Hunter Lenihan both Bren School professors and lead scientists at the UC Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (UC CEIN) Bren Phd student Samuel Bennett, and Scott Pease, a former UCSB undergraduate and current graduate student in public health at the University of Washington, found that the nanoparticulate form of titanium dioxide (TiO2) exposed to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) can be toxic to marine organisms.
"Application of nanomaterials in consumer products and manufacturing is quickly increasing, but there is concern that these materials, including nanoparticles, may harm the environment," says Miller. "The oceans could be most at risk, since wastewater and factory discharges ultimately end up there."
Nano-titanium dioxide is highly reactive to sunlight and other forms of ultraviolet radiation (UVR,) the authors write, adding that TiO2's property of generating reactive oxygen species (ROS) when exposed to UVR makes it useful in antibacterial coatings and wastewater disinfection, and potentially valuable as an anti-cancer agent.
Until now, they say, no research has demonstrated that photoactivity causes environmental toxicity of TiO2 under natural levels of UVR.
"Previous experiments have suggested that TiO2 does not affect aquatic organisms, but these experiments used artificial lighting that generated much lower levels of UVR than sunlight," Miller explains. "In these new experiments, we used lights simulating natural sunlight."
But now, the authors say, "We show that relatively low levels of ultraviolet light, consistent with those found in nature, can induce toxicity of TiO2 nanoparticles to marine phytoplankton, the most important primary producers on Earth.
"With no exposure to UVR, the TiO2 had no effect on phytoplankton, but under low-intensity UVR, ROS in seawater increased with increasing concentrations of nano- TiO2."
The concern is that rising concentrations of nano- TiO2 "may lead to increased overall oxidative stress in seawater contaminated by TiO22, and cause decreased resiliency of marine ecosystems."
The authors suggest, therefore, that UVR exposure should be considered when conducting experiments to determine the ecotoxicity of nanomaterials having photoactive potential.
###
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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.
Nano form of titanium dioxide can be toxic to marine organismsPublic release date: 24-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: James Badham media@bren.ucsb.edu 805-893-5049 University of California - Santa Barbara
Ultraviolet radiation is the catalyst for cellular damage in phytoplankton
Santa Barbara, CA The Bren School-based authors of a study published Jan. 20 in the journal PLoS ONE have observed toxicity to marine organisms resulting from exposure to a nanoparticle that had not previously been shown to be toxic under similar conditions.
Lead author and assistant research biologist Robert Miller and co-authors Arturo Keller and Hunter Lenihan both Bren School professors and lead scientists at the UC Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (UC CEIN) Bren Phd student Samuel Bennett, and Scott Pease, a former UCSB undergraduate and current graduate student in public health at the University of Washington, found that the nanoparticulate form of titanium dioxide (TiO2) exposed to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) can be toxic to marine organisms.
"Application of nanomaterials in consumer products and manufacturing is quickly increasing, but there is concern that these materials, including nanoparticles, may harm the environment," says Miller. "The oceans could be most at risk, since wastewater and factory discharges ultimately end up there."
Nano-titanium dioxide is highly reactive to sunlight and other forms of ultraviolet radiation (UVR,) the authors write, adding that TiO2's property of generating reactive oxygen species (ROS) when exposed to UVR makes it useful in antibacterial coatings and wastewater disinfection, and potentially valuable as an anti-cancer agent.
Until now, they say, no research has demonstrated that photoactivity causes environmental toxicity of TiO2 under natural levels of UVR.
"Previous experiments have suggested that TiO2 does not affect aquatic organisms, but these experiments used artificial lighting that generated much lower levels of UVR than sunlight," Miller explains. "In these new experiments, we used lights simulating natural sunlight."
But now, the authors say, "We show that relatively low levels of ultraviolet light, consistent with those found in nature, can induce toxicity of TiO2 nanoparticles to marine phytoplankton, the most important primary producers on Earth.
"With no exposure to UVR, the TiO2 had no effect on phytoplankton, but under low-intensity UVR, ROS in seawater increased with increasing concentrations of nano- TiO2."
The concern is that rising concentrations of nano- TiO2 "may lead to increased overall oxidative stress in seawater contaminated by TiO22, and cause decreased resiliency of marine ecosystems."
The authors suggest, therefore, that UVR exposure should be considered when conducting experiments to determine the ecotoxicity of nanomaterials having photoactive potential.
###
[ | 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.
During times when the economy is weak, some firms cut back & others go into hibernation. But, there are businesses that decide to expand no matter how the economy is going. Boettcher Communications in Sturgeon Bay is one of them. The full service marketing agency, now entering its eighth year in business will soon be expanding its offices at 101 North 4th Avenue. Dina Boettcher, president of Boettcher Communications, says it?s important to move ahead with positive changes no matter what shape the economy is in?
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Boettcher Communications has been broadening its horizons by taking on larger scale projects as well as several key accounts located out of the area. An increase in staff & an expanded office area was needed in order to continue to offer the best service possible. To learn more about Boettcher Communications visit their web site http://www.boettchercommunications.com/
COMMENTARY | Mitt Romney, candidate for the GOP nomination to run against Barack Obama this year, released his tax returns today, demonstrating an approximately 14 percent tax rate, according to CNN. That outlet continues by infuriatingly insisting that Romney's tax rate is higher than that of 80 percent of Americans. Such claims are misleading and demonstrate how politicians use statistics to their advantage, and as a voter it makes me mad as heck. I'm very interested in Mr. Romney's tax situation because it will affect whether I could vote for him.
Assume for a minute that Romney actually pays more than 80 percent of Americans. A quick look at IRS Publication 15, Page 37, Table 7 shows just one tax bracket lower than the rate Romney paid: a 10 percent bracket. It shows the only people who would pay a lower bracket than Romney are single people making less than $10,851 a year or couples making less than $25,501.
In other words, the only reason those people would pay less than Romney is that you can't get blood from a stone. For the claim to be true it would mean 80 percent of Americans are living on wages so low they're lucky they can buy food.
Romney also took his sweet time releasing his returns, and only gave data for two years, according to the New York Times. It leaves me wondering what he is hiding. Did he try to find some way to doctor his documentation? Did his publicists need time to write the spin-heavy press-releases meant to make his ridiculously low tax rate seem acceptable? If they did, they should have taken more time because his tax rate appalls me.
No matter what Romney may say one simple fact remains clear: Romney is so rich he will never understand the common citizen's struggles. It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the gates of heaven, so it is said. Let's hope it's equally hard for him to enter the White House.
There?s a storm coming in space, and it looks like a big one. A solar storm will hit the Earth at around 9 on Tuesday, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration?s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center. It will likely cause the largest solar radiation storm that the earth has encountered since 2005. The sun is constantly releasing charged particles into space in the form of an ongoing solar wind, but sometimes, parts of the sun can behave more energetically than others, accelerating particles into space in huge solar flares. This is what happened when a solar flare erupted on Sunday night, and with it, a coronal mass ejection, or CME. "Coronal mass ejection is the name given to a blob of the sun?s atmosphere that lifts off with the explosion and goes speeding out into interplanetary space," Terry Onsager, a NOAA physicist, says.
According to Onsanger, this particular CME started traveling towards Earth at about 2000 km/s, or approximately 4.5 million miles per hour, but probably was slowed down slightly. NOAA has a scale for geomagnetic storms that ranges from 1, the most minor, to 5, the most serious. The one that will hit on Tuesday is expected to be around a 2 or 3.
"When the Coronal Mass Ejection hits us, it?s like a battering ram" Onsanger says. The wave of charged particles is expected to start a geomagnetic storm, screwing up the earth?s magnetic field for a few hours and potentially affecting technologies like GPS and the electric grid that rely on our magnetic field keeping a nice, steady profile. Luckily, this CME is expected to be more of glancing blow to the northern hemisphere than a direct hit.
But even a moderate solar storm has the potential to mess things up here on earth, at least for humans. "It?s not because the sun is doing anything different than it did 100 years ago but because our technological infrastructure has evolved to where it has become more vulnerable to space weather," Onsanger says. Our delicate electrical grid is vulnerable to changes in the magnetic field. Unexpected variations can cause surges in the grid, potentially overloading the infrastructure.
Onsanger says that charged protons traveling with the cloud also have the potential to mess with satellites. The protons are small enough to affect sensitive computer chips embedded in the satellites, and could change parts of the programming. While satellites today are built with plenty of security measures to ensure that a single solar storm doesn?t mess everything up, a serious solar storm could still wreak plenty of havoc.
A CME like this one can even reroute airline travel. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, airlines have increasingly begun to take the polar route from Europe and North America to Asia, and back. During a solar storm however, protons ionize the atmosphere in high latitudes, causing high frequency radio communications to be absorbed and lost. This matters, Onsanger explains, because above 82 degrees latitude, airline pilots can?t communicate using satellites, and usually rely on those high frequency airline channels.
"Many airlines reroute their flights and they will not fly polar routes during that time" Onsanger says. If the storm is bad, airlines will have to deal with crowded airspace and longer flights in the lower latitudes while their polar shortcut is cut off.
Here on the surface of the Earth, we have our planet?s magnetic field to protect our bodies from the worst of a solar outburst. But the astronauts currently on the International Space Station don?t. "What NASA typically does during events like this they won?t do their space walks," Onsanger says. "There have been times in the past where they recommend the crew relocate to places that have the most shielding," he says. Back in 2005, during the most serious solar storm before this one, that?s exactly what the astronauts did.
The storm coming Tuesday morning may end up not causing any major disruptions. But even if it doesn?t, expect to hear much more about CMEs and the sun?s outbursts in the next year or so.
Every 11 years, the sun?s magnetic field shifts, flipping from north to south. It flips back again 11 years later. The part of this sequence in which the sun becomes the most active is called the solar maximum. "We are in the ramp up to the next solar maximum," Onsanger says.
"In the past five or six years there has been an unusual absence of these proton events" Onsanger says. Soon though, there will be more. Scientists expect there to be about four extreme, 100 severe, and around 200 strong geomagnetic storms per 11-year cycle.
As much as that may worry, well, anyone that uses GPS, satellites, or electricity, it isn?t all bad news. Solar storms mean that the aurora borealis can be seen at lower latitudes, a bright spot for people who live too far south to the phenomenon under normal circumstances.
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Sounds interesting! I could possibly be interested in the Mimi Sheslic character, or possiby creating one of my own. :)
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ZAGREB (Reuters) ? Croatia voted Sunday in favor of joining the European Union in 2013, shrugging off concerns over the economic turmoil in the bloc, according to preliminary official results of a referendum.
With 38 percent of votes counted, 67 percent had ticked 'Yes' to becoming the bloc's 28th member, the state electoral commission said, more than two decades after ?Croatia broke away from socialist Yugoslavia.
Turnout looked unlikely to breach 50 percent of eligible voters, but there is no binding minimum for the referendum to be deemed valid.
"This is a big day for Croatia and 2013 will be a turning point in our history. I look forward to the whole of Europe becoming my home," President Ivo Josipovic said after voting.
The EU has said Croatia can become its 28th member on July 1, 2013, after completing seven years of tough entry talks in June last year. It would become the second former Yugoslav republic to join, following Slovenia in 2004.
Opponents said the timing is all wrong because the EU is not what it once was, given the debt crisis threatening the single currency. Others complained they were unsure what membership will mean for the country of 4.3 million people.
Croatia broke away from Yugoslavia in a 1991-95 war and missed the bloc's eastward expansion in 2004 and 2007.
It saw strong growth in the past decade on the back of foreign lending and waves of tourists to its Adriatic coast, but its economy has been hit hard by the global economic crisis.
Analysts and government officials say a rejection of EU accession Sunday would bring down the country's credit rating, deter investors and further dampen any prospect of a quick economic recovery.
Asghar Farhadi's "A Separation" (made in Iran) is a deceptively simple film. On the surface, it seems quite mundane. But gradually, its deeper themes emerge beautifully. It is not just about the specific legal disputes that make up the plot. It's a deep expression of sorrow about the divisions in present-day Persian society.
It's complex enough that one could analyze it in different ways ad infinitum. (How often are you able to say that about a film nowadays?!) The divisions that hit me most powerfully are:
- Class stratification. The gap between the well-educated professional class and the poorly educated working class is depicted in a brutal, heart-wrenching way.
- Religious stratification. The gap between the religious population (Muslim, of course) and the secular population is shown to have some correspondence to class stratification, with the poor and less educated tending to be more religious, but not always.
- Family divisions. This is explored several ways. A well-educated family is torn apart over whether to leave Iran. The mother wants to leave; the father does not. Their teenage daughter is caught in the middle, forced to make an agonizing choice: which parent does she want to stay with?
Before this, I had always thought that families were united in the desire to migrate. This film clued me into the devastating struggles families go through trying to reach consensus around the momentous decision to uproot the family and possibly never again see family members left behind. A chief reason the man does not want to leave is that he cannot leave his father alone.
The divisions inside a poor family are also explored. Here it surrounds whether a married woman should work outside the home. This struggle has religious overtones as well.
"A Separation" is uncommonly rich.
Its weakness is that it does become tedious at times. There are endless scenes in make-shift courtrooms, where witnesses bicker with each other. The camera work is extremely pedestrian. Farhadi seems to be of the mind that the director's hand should be invisible. He should just set up the camera, point it toward the actors, and turn it on.
This approach to filmmaking is risky. Sometimes a flat style is paradoxically exhilarating. But more often it leads to a dull cinematic experience for the audience. Unfortunately, this happened too often during the film, at least for me.
But still, there's no denying the depth and uniqueness of "A Separation." I'm delighted that it has become an art-house sensation in America. I also look forward to following Asghar Farhadi's career with more care. (This is the fifth film he has directed but the first I've seen or even heard of.)
REL, Inc. teams with NYU-Poly to create lightweight, ultra durable automotive brake rotorPublic release date: 19-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kathleen Hamilton hamilton@poly.edu 718-260-3792 Polytechnic Institute of New York University
REL, Inc. teams with NYU-Poly to create lightweight, ultra durable automotive brake rotor
Researchers at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) and Michigan-based REL, Inc., are creating a next-generation aluminum composite brake rotor potentially weighing 60 percent less than today's cast iron rotors with triple the life expectancy.
Due to expense, today's composite brakes have been reserved for motorcycles, race cars and high-performance sports cars, but this new, fiber reinforced, metal matrix composite (MMC) brake rotor aims at the mass market. It will be easier to manufacture, and the fiber reinforcements will provide longer life span.
The researchers also estimate that their composite rotor will shave approximately 30 pounds from a mid-size sedan a significant advantage in an industry facing fleet a fuel economy requirement of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.
REL, Inc., a developer of MMC transportation and aerospace components, received a $150,000 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research Grant from the National Science Foundation to develop the initial product design, material and manufacturing process. The company tapped the expertise of NYU-Poly Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Associate Professor Nikhil Gupta and his Composites Materials and Mechanics Lab to develop the technology for automotive application. The collaboration will result in a prototype, first-of-its-kind rotor that may revolutionize a market valued at $10 billion annually.
Manufacturers have long sought to improve the durability and performance of automotive brakes, which are subject to tremendous temperature and pressure changes.
Gupta and REL are developing a one-piece brake rotor uniquely tailored to meet the extreme and variable temperature and loading conditions. Most of today's brake rotors are made of cast iron, which offers strength but at a cost of weight. Iron also doesn't adapt well to the demands placed on different sections of the rotor. A brake rotor has three functional zones, each of which requires a material with distinct strain and thermal properties to function optimally. Temperature and pressure changes across the rotor surface are a major cause of wear, warp and brake failure.
The team will replace the traditional rotor material with a high-temperature aluminum alloy reinforced with functionally graded ceramic particles and fibers to create a lightweight but extremely durable material that can be customized to best serve each section of the rotor.
"These functionally graded materials allow us to create the optimal composition for each part of the rotor," Gupta explained. "The hybrid material allows us to provide reinforcement where additional strength is needed, increase high-temperature performance, and minimize stress at the interfaces between the zones. Together, this should boost rotor life significantly, reducing warranty and replacement costs, and the weight savings will improve the vehicle's fuel efficiency."
"As auto companies strive to meet increasingly high efficiency and low emissions targets, there's a tremendous business opportunity in creating novel lightweight components which reduce overall vehicle weight and increase vehicle performance", said Adam Loukus, vice president of REL, Inc. "Professor Gupta is highly regarded in MMC research and analysis, and his expertise backed by the resources of NYU-Poly is an ideal complement to our goals for this exciting project."
"This is a valuable opportunity for our students to gain real-world business experience," Gupta added. "Working closely with the REL team, they will understand the demands of the automotive component development process."
In addition to the automotive market, the composite rotors may benefit military fleets, where up-armored vehicles operate at weights well above their design capacity. While the development of lightweight armor remains a long-term goal for the military, any weight savings on the vehicles themselves will immediately improve fleet efficiency, which can be critical to mission success where fuel delivery is difficult.
Gupta and the team at REL expect to complete a functional rotor prototype within 12 months.
###
About Polytechnic Institute of New York University
Polytechnic Institute of New York University (formerly Polytechnic University), an affiliate of New York University, is a comprehensive school of engineering, applied sciences, technology and research, and is rooted in a 158-year tradition of invention, innovation and entrepreneurship: i2e. The institution, founded in 1854, is the nation's second-oldest private engineering school. In addition to its main campus in New York City at MetroTech Center in downtown Brooklyn, it also offers programs at sites throughout the region and around the globe. Globally, NYU-Poly has programs in Israel, China and is an integral part of NYU's campus in Abu Dhabi. For more information, visit http://www.poly.edu.
About REL, Inc.
REL of Calumet, Michigan, specializes in designing and building Custom Automated Equipment and manufacturing Advanced Lightweight Composite Materials. REL has developed and deployed new and innovative MMC products in motorcycle braking applications, lightweight survivability materials and high temperature insulation materials. REL's vertically integrated approach to manufacturing MMCs has made composites more cost effective and thereby is expanding the use of MMC materials in targeted markets. For more information, visit http://www.relinc.net.
Note to Editors:
To download an image, visit http://research.poly.edu/~resourcespace/?c=510&k=0da2e1409d
Contacts:
Kathleen Hamilton, NYU-Poly
718-260-3792 office
347-843-9782 mobile
hamilton@poly.edu
David Bekkala, REL, Inc.
906-337-3018 office
david@relinc.net
Joshua Chamot, NSF
703-292-7730
jchamot@nsf.gov
[ | 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.
REL, Inc. teams with NYU-Poly to create lightweight, ultra durable automotive brake rotorPublic release date: 19-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kathleen Hamilton hamilton@poly.edu 718-260-3792 Polytechnic Institute of New York University
REL, Inc. teams with NYU-Poly to create lightweight, ultra durable automotive brake rotor
Researchers at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) and Michigan-based REL, Inc., are creating a next-generation aluminum composite brake rotor potentially weighing 60 percent less than today's cast iron rotors with triple the life expectancy.
Due to expense, today's composite brakes have been reserved for motorcycles, race cars and high-performance sports cars, but this new, fiber reinforced, metal matrix composite (MMC) brake rotor aims at the mass market. It will be easier to manufacture, and the fiber reinforcements will provide longer life span.
The researchers also estimate that their composite rotor will shave approximately 30 pounds from a mid-size sedan a significant advantage in an industry facing fleet a fuel economy requirement of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.
REL, Inc., a developer of MMC transportation and aerospace components, received a $150,000 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research Grant from the National Science Foundation to develop the initial product design, material and manufacturing process. The company tapped the expertise of NYU-Poly Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Associate Professor Nikhil Gupta and his Composites Materials and Mechanics Lab to develop the technology for automotive application. The collaboration will result in a prototype, first-of-its-kind rotor that may revolutionize a market valued at $10 billion annually.
Manufacturers have long sought to improve the durability and performance of automotive brakes, which are subject to tremendous temperature and pressure changes.
Gupta and REL are developing a one-piece brake rotor uniquely tailored to meet the extreme and variable temperature and loading conditions. Most of today's brake rotors are made of cast iron, which offers strength but at a cost of weight. Iron also doesn't adapt well to the demands placed on different sections of the rotor. A brake rotor has three functional zones, each of which requires a material with distinct strain and thermal properties to function optimally. Temperature and pressure changes across the rotor surface are a major cause of wear, warp and brake failure.
The team will replace the traditional rotor material with a high-temperature aluminum alloy reinforced with functionally graded ceramic particles and fibers to create a lightweight but extremely durable material that can be customized to best serve each section of the rotor.
"These functionally graded materials allow us to create the optimal composition for each part of the rotor," Gupta explained. "The hybrid material allows us to provide reinforcement where additional strength is needed, increase high-temperature performance, and minimize stress at the interfaces between the zones. Together, this should boost rotor life significantly, reducing warranty and replacement costs, and the weight savings will improve the vehicle's fuel efficiency."
"As auto companies strive to meet increasingly high efficiency and low emissions targets, there's a tremendous business opportunity in creating novel lightweight components which reduce overall vehicle weight and increase vehicle performance", said Adam Loukus, vice president of REL, Inc. "Professor Gupta is highly regarded in MMC research and analysis, and his expertise backed by the resources of NYU-Poly is an ideal complement to our goals for this exciting project."
"This is a valuable opportunity for our students to gain real-world business experience," Gupta added. "Working closely with the REL team, they will understand the demands of the automotive component development process."
In addition to the automotive market, the composite rotors may benefit military fleets, where up-armored vehicles operate at weights well above their design capacity. While the development of lightweight armor remains a long-term goal for the military, any weight savings on the vehicles themselves will immediately improve fleet efficiency, which can be critical to mission success where fuel delivery is difficult.
Gupta and the team at REL expect to complete a functional rotor prototype within 12 months.
###
About Polytechnic Institute of New York University
Polytechnic Institute of New York University (formerly Polytechnic University), an affiliate of New York University, is a comprehensive school of engineering, applied sciences, technology and research, and is rooted in a 158-year tradition of invention, innovation and entrepreneurship: i2e. The institution, founded in 1854, is the nation's second-oldest private engineering school. In addition to its main campus in New York City at MetroTech Center in downtown Brooklyn, it also offers programs at sites throughout the region and around the globe. Globally, NYU-Poly has programs in Israel, China and is an integral part of NYU's campus in Abu Dhabi. For more information, visit http://www.poly.edu.
About REL, Inc.
REL of Calumet, Michigan, specializes in designing and building Custom Automated Equipment and manufacturing Advanced Lightweight Composite Materials. REL has developed and deployed new and innovative MMC products in motorcycle braking applications, lightweight survivability materials and high temperature insulation materials. REL's vertically integrated approach to manufacturing MMCs has made composites more cost effective and thereby is expanding the use of MMC materials in targeted markets. For more information, visit http://www.relinc.net.
Note to Editors:
To download an image, visit http://research.poly.edu/~resourcespace/?c=510&k=0da2e1409d
Contacts:
Kathleen Hamilton, NYU-Poly
718-260-3792 office
347-843-9782 mobile
hamilton@poly.edu
David Bekkala, REL, Inc.
906-337-3018 office
david@relinc.net
Joshua Chamot, NSF
703-292-7730
jchamot@nsf.gov
[ | 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.
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Public release date: 24-Jan-2012
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