NO SEAT FOR OVERWEIGHT TEEN-SOUTHWEST AIRLINES

A petite woman says Southwest Airlines removed her from a full flight to make room for an overweight teenager, The Sacramento Bee reports.

The newspaper says the incident involving the 5-foot-4, 110-pound woman "happened last week on an early-evening Southwest flight from Las Vegas to Sacramento."

The Bee reports that the woman paid to upgrade to Southwest's full fare so that she could fly standby on the flight. The newspaper adds she was given the "last available seat, got on board, stowed her bags and sat down – only to be told she would have to deplane immediately."

That, of course, was so the airline could accommodate the heavy passenger that needed two seats.

Then, the booted woman -- the Bee writes "she has asked to remain anonymous for fear some may regard her as insensitive" -- claims she was berated by Southwest workers when she questioned their decision.

Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis acknowledged to the Bee the airline could have managed the incident more carefully. "We know this was awkward and we should have handled it better," she tells the paper.

Still, Southwest spokesman Paul Flannigan tells The 33 News of Dallas/Fort Worth that extenuating circumstances made the situation difficult.

"The passenger in question was a minor who was traveling alone," Flannigan tells the station. "Normally if the passenger were an adult, she would be required to purchase an extra ticket, but we did not want to leave the 14-year-old stranded."

McInnis adds to the Bee that the airline's staff also may have been reluctant to put the teenage girl into a possibly embarrassing situation.

Southwest put the thinner woman on a later flight. Company officials say the airline will apologize to the woman and offer her credit toward a future flight.

India unveils prototype of $35 tablet computer

MUMBAI, India — It looks like an iPad, only it's 1/14th the cost: India has unveiled the prototype of a $35 basic touchscreen tablet aimed at students, which it hopes to bring into production by 2011.
If the government can find a manufacturer, the Linux operating system-based computer would be the latest in a string of "world's cheapest" innovations to hit the market out of India, which is home to the 100,000 rupee ($2,127) compact Nano car, the 749 rupees ($16) water purifier and the $2,000 open-heart surgery.

The tablet can be used for functions like word processing, web browsing and video-conferencing. It has a solar power option too — important for India's energy-starved hinterlands — though that add-on costs extra.

"This is our answer to MIT's $100 computer," human resource development minister Kapil Sibal told the Economic Times when he unveiled the device Thursday.

In 2005, Nicholas Negroponte— cofounder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab — unveiled a prototype of a $100 laptop for children in the developing world. India rejected that as too expensive and embarked on a multiyear effort to develop a cheaper option of its own.

Negroponte's laptop ended up costing about $200, but in May his nonprofit association, One Laptop Per Child, said it plans to launch a basic tablet computer for $99.

Sibal turned to students and professors at India's elite technical universities to develop the $35 tablet after receiving a "lukewarm" response from private sector players. He hopes to get the cost down to $10 eventually.

Mamta Varma, a ministry spokeswoman, said falling hardware costs and intelligent design make the price tag plausible. The tablet doesn't have a hard disk, but instead uses a memory card, much like a mobile phone. The tablet design cuts hardware costs, and the use of open-source software also adds to savings, she said.

Varma said several global manufacturers, including at least one from Taiwan, have shown interest in making the low-cost device, but no manufacturing or distribution deals have been finalized. She declined to name any of the companies.

India plans to subsidize the cost of the tablet for its students, bringing the purchase price down to around $20.

The project is part of an ambitious education technology initiative, which also aims to bring broadband connectivity to India's 25,000 colleges and 504 universities and make study materials available online.

So far nearly 8,500 colleges have been connected and nearly 500 Web and video-based courses have been uploaded on YouTube and other portals, the Ministry said.

Help Wanted ???

The Transportation Security Administration appears to be getting creative in its efforts to recruit new airport security workers.

Promising "a career where X-ray vision and federal benefits come standard," the agency has begun posting help-wanted ads on pizza delivery boxes in the Washington, D.C., area.

That's according to Washington's Federal News Radio, which posts six photos of the ad-seeking pizza boxes. The ads are for positions at Washington's Dulles and Reagan National airports.

The photos came to the to the attention of Federal News Radio courtesy of another Washington radio journalist, WTOP News Radio's Michelle Basch. In sending the photos to Federal News Radio, Basch wondered whether the pizza-box ads indicated that the TSA was "desperate" or "creative

Indian Ocean Sea-Level Rise Threatens Coastal Areas

Indian Ocean sea levels are rising unevenly and threatening residents in some densely populated coastal areas and islands, a new study concludes.

The study, led by scientists at the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo., finds that the sea-level rise is at least partly a result of climate change.

Sea-level rise is particularly high along the coastlines of the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, as well as ...


More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=117322&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click

Coca-cola sued over vitamin claims

A consumer group has brought a lawsuit against Coca-Cola for the marketing of its VitaminWater products.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest says that the company is engaging in "deceptive" practices by selling the beverages as a healthier alternative to soda.

In fact, each bottle of VitaminWater contains 33 grams of sugar, the CSPI says, which "do more to promote obesity, diabetes and other health problems" than the advertised vitamins do good.

Among the "unsubstantiated" claims made by Coca-Cola mentioned in the suit are the products’ potential to reduce the risk of chronic disease, promote healthy joints and support optimal immune function.

"While it is true that vitamins do play various roles in the human body, the statements on VitaminWater labels go far beyond even the loose, so-called ’structure/function claims’ allowed by the FDA and cross the line into outright fraud," the CSPI says.

The news comes after the FDA scolded Coca-Cola in December over the labeling of its fortified drink Diet Coke Plus, saying it did not contain enough health benefits to use the term "plus."

New York considers ban on short-term vacation rentals

For many budget-conscious Big Apple visitors, scoring a short-term apartment rental through Craigslist or lodging websites like AirBnB and Roomorama is a money-saving alternative to pricey Manhattan hotels - and a way t

This undated file photo shows a close up of the Statue of Liberty. CAPTIONAP Photoo live, if only for a few nights, like a real New Yorker.

But maybe not for long: This week, writes Budget Travel, "New York state senators vote on a bill that would make it illegal for any homeowner or renter to sublet for less than a month. The new law would be a blanket ban on short-term rentals no matter how ethical the renter is. (It's always been illegal to violate co-op leases and condominium bylaws.)"


As I noted back in 2008, the practice of renting New York City apartments for short-term stays was already controversial, in part because some landlords were scamming potential guests with substandard or even nonexistent digs.

"This isn't a business practice we support, and we strongly discourage people" from renting apartments, Chris Heywood of NYC & Company, the city's official tourism arm, told me back then. "It's a real case of buyer beware."

On the plus side, "sites like AirBnB generally offer security measures, such as holding your payment in escrow until you and the renter both meet in person and agree you're a good match. The sites also let you ask a host questions eBay-style before you book," says Budget Travel.

"Vacation rentals in New York are a love-hate relationship, with multiple layers of regulations," says Carl Shepherd of HomeAway, Inc.

Unlike sites such as AirBnB, adds Shepherd, HomeAway's 800-plus listings in the city are a combination of units offered through property management companies and apartments used expressly as short-term rentals. While the current bill "may have been intended to properly stop a tenant from subletting an apartment or transients staying on couches or in back rooms or Murphy-beds of someone they met on Craigslist," he says, the proposed law "calls into question whether or not a property owner can choose to rent his property for less than 30 days for a legitimate, legal purpose."
Sources >>> By Laura Bly, USA TODAY

Research Mission Studies Oil Spill Using Autonomous Underwater Vehicle and Mass Spectrometry

To characterize subsurface oil plumes in the Gulf using novel technology and the latest in biogeochemical techniques, a team of scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) embarked on June 17 for a 12-day research effort in the Gulf of Mexico.

Aboard the research vessel (R/V) Endeavor, they are conducting projects funded through the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s rapid response program.

The research should help answer questions about the fate of oil released into the water, examining the physical extent, chemical composition and biological impact of subsea plumes.

"The project has been implemented in a remarkably short period of time, deploying some of the most advanced technology available for underwater chemical sampling, and underwater autonomous vehicles," said Phillip Taylor, acting director of NSF's Division of Ocean Sciences.

"The effort is another example of research scientists stepping up quickly to address the crucial and challenging questions about the fate and environmental consequences of the spilled oil."

Four WHOI scientists will focus on different but complementary problems associated with the oil spill.

WHOI researcher Rich Camilli will use underwater mass spectrometers called TETHYS on two subsea platforms--an enhanced water sampler, or CTD rosette, and the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Sentry--to investigate underwater hydrocarbon plumes.

Unlike most mass spectrometers, which are quite large--sometimes the size of a small house--TETHYS is one of the smallest mass spectrometers in the world. It can fit in a shoebox.

TETHYS is capable of identifying minute quantities of petroleum and other chemical compounds in seawater instantly.

"Our effort draws upon the excellent work of many scientists and researchers throughout the country," said Camilli.

"We have studied archived oil spill reports stretching back more than 40 years, and have received data and advice from colleagues at other institutions who have recently surveyed the site.

"Our team will build on their results using our own unique scientific tools to better understand the spill's extent, composition and impact."

WHOI scientist Dana Yoerger, a robotic vehicle specialist and a principal developer of the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Sentry (supported through a grant by NSF), has been working closely with Camilli to integrate TETHYS into Sentry as a payload sensor, enabling chemical measurements to be used as a guidance system for the vehicle.

"The TETHYS payload on Sentry can be used to efficiently track plumes in the water column," said Camilli, "not only to define their shape, but to 'fingerprint' the individual chemicals within the plume."

The data they collect will be used by colleagues Chris Reddy and Ben Van Mooy, two WHOI chemists who are studying how oil degrades over time, its distance from the source and how much is degraded by microbes.

Armed with data collected by TETHYS and Sentry, the chemists will be better able to determine where to make important measurements using a CTD water sampler.

"TETHYS tells me where to invest time," said Reddy.

"I'll look at the map and decide where to take samples that will help answer lots of questions about the plume, such as: 'Has it changed in the middle?' 'Has it changed at the edges?' 'Is it mixing inside?' and 'Why is it changing?'"

Addressing such questions can help scientists understand the wide range of processes that may act on oil in the ocean.

The samples will help Van Mooy piece together how much of the oil is being eaten by microbes.

"Natural microbial degradation plays an important role in the remediation of crude oil released into the ocean," he said.

"Yet microbes cannot survive on oil alone; they need nutrients from the water to grow and degrade the oil."

Nutrients are thought to be scarce in surface waters, while by contrast, nutrients are likely to be abundant within the subsurface plume.

"Work conducted during the past Ixtoc disaster showed very clearly that nutrients played a huge role in regulating the extent of oil degradation," said Van Mooy.

Understanding microbes' ability to break down oil from this spill, and the role that specific nutrients play in that ability, could partially determine how long the oil will remain in the environment.

It also could point to novel remediation strategies.

The powerful combination of robotics, advanced sensors and enhanced programming represents a novel approach to this kind of science.

Camilli and Reddy call it the "hunter-gatherer" approach, where Sentry hunts for oil in the water and then the scientists use the CTD to gather appropriate samples.

All told, the information will help tell the story of what has happened to the oil as it is released into the water a mile below the surface.

"It's like balancing your checkbook," Reddy said. "This much evaporated, this much biodegraded, this much dissolved into the water. We hope to track where all the compounds went."

The team will share the information it collects with colleagues to help guide future sampling by other researchers who don't have this technology.

"Oceanographers usually have a year or more to prepare for an expedition of this magnitude, but these are extraordinary times," said Camilli. "We have gone from a concept to operational state in less than two weeks.

"It is a great credit to the National Science Foundation, University of Rhode Island, numerous federal agencies, our colleagues at WHOI and elsewhere, all working in high gear to make this expedition successful."

The NSF response to the Gulf oil spill involves active research in geosciences, computer simulation, engineering, biology, materials research and other fields represented across the agency, with more than two dozen awards totaling over $3 million. For more on the RAPID program, please see: RAPIDs. See also a regularly updated list of RAPIDs targeting the Gulf oil spill response. Because RAPID grants are being awarded continuously, media can also contact Josh Chamot in OLPA (jchamot@nsf.gov) for the latest information on granted awards.