Hasta La Gadget!

This beautiful alien landscape is right here on Earth: a never-ending sea of ice flowers quietly floating over a thinly frozen sea. These strange ice structures are very rich in salt and bacteria—and very hard to pick, according to oceanography doctoral candidate Jeff Bowman. More »

A Newtown, Conn. priest who accompanied police when they notified parents that they had lost their children in Friday’s massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary school said that some of the parents asked officials about their kids’ final moments.

“They were wondering, did the child know what was happening? Were they afraid? Did they see something coming?” Rev. Robert Weiss, the pastor of St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, told Savannah Guthrie on Saturday’s “Today” show. “And of course no one can answer those quesitons because there are no survivors. So these parents are left with those unanswered questions in addition to just why this had to happen? Why to their child?”

WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW ABOVE

Read More…
More on Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

By Andrew Quinn

WASHINGTON, Dec 15 (Reuters) – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who canceled an overseas trip last weekend because of illness, suffered a concussion after fainting due to dehydration, prompting the postponement of her scheduled congressional testimony on the attack on a U.S. mission in Libya, officials said on Saturday.

“While suffering from a stomach virus, Secretary Clinton became dehydrated and fainted, sustaining a concussion,” State Department spokesman Philippe Reines said in a statement.

“She has been recovering at home and will continue to be monitored regularly by her doctors. At their recommendation, she will continue to work from home next week, staying in regular contact with department and other officials. She is looking forward to being back in the office soon,” Reines added.

Clinton fell ill with a stomach virus last weekend and was forced to cancel a planned trip to the Middle East and North Africa. The virus also hit other members of her staff, who were returning with her from a European trip, and was described as uncomfortable, but not medically serious.

Clinton, 65, has often been cited as a potential candidate for the U.S. presidency in 2016 and frequently refers to her general good health, saying in an interview with ABC broadcast that she has “incredible stamina and energy.”

She has maintained a punishing schedule in her final weeks as the top U.S. diplomat, a position she intends to leave toward the end of January when U.S. President Barack Obama is sworn in for a second term.

BENGHAZI TESTIMONY NEXT WEEK

Clinton had been expected to testify on Dec. 20 before the House of Representatives and Senate foreign affairs committees on a report on the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans and raised questions about security at far-flung posts..

Jodi Seth, a spokeswoman for Senate Foreign Relations Committee head John Kerry, said that given her condition, Clinton’s testimony would be postponed, but did not say until when. Seth said the planned hearings would be held with other senior officials appearing in Clinton’s place.

The Republican chair of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, issued a statement saying she was sorry to hear of Clinton’s ill health, but it was “unfortunate” she was unable to testify before the committee next week.

“We still don’t have information from the Obama Administration on what went so tragically wrong in Benghazi that resulted in the deaths of four patriotic Americans.

“We have been combing through classified and unclassified documents and have tough questions about State Department threat assessments and decision-making on Benghazi. This requires a public appearance by the Secretary of State herself.”

Ros-Lehtinen’s statement said Deputy Secretary William Burns and Deputy Secretary Thomas Nides would provide testi8mony in Clinton’s place.

REPUBLICAN CRITICISM

Republicans have criticized the Democratic Obama administration for its early public explanations of the attack.

Much of the criticism focused on U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, who on Thursday said she was withdrawing her name from consideration to replace Clinton as secretary of state to avoid a potentially disruptive confirmation process..

Clinton has appointed a special panel known as an accountability review board to assess both the incident and the official response to it.

The board’s report, which will contain both classified and unclassified sections, is expected to be complete next week and Clinton has promised to be as transparent as possible with Congress in sharing its findings.

Clinton, whose husband, Bill Clinton, was president from 1993 to 2001 and who herself came tantalizingly close to winning the Democratic presidential nomination four years ago, has used her star power to promote U.S. interests around the world since Obama named her to lead the State Department in 2009.

She has consistently been rated as the most popular member of Obama’s cabinet, leading to speculation she might mount another White House bid in 2016, although she herself has played down suggestions that she still hopes to become president.

“I’ve said I really don’t believe that that’s something I will do again. I am so grateful I had the experience of doing it before,” Clinton told ABC’s Barbara Walters in the interview broadcast this week.

“I just want to see what else is out there. I’ve been doing … this incredibly important and … satisfying work here in Washington, as I say, for 20 years. I want to get out and spend some time looking at what else I can do to contribute.”

Read More…
More on Hillary Clinton

Companies will go to fascinating lengths to demonstrate their belief in a product, but there was still something refreshing in watching Solidoodle founder Sam Cervantes climbed atop his company’s latest creation, beaming. After all, the announcement of a $500 printer back in April left us wondering what sorts of corners the company would have to cut to offer a product at a fraction the cost of what Cervantes’ former employer, MakerBot, has brought to the market. Asked whether Solidoodle had to make any compromises to hit such an impressive price point, the one-time aerospace engineer stood by his product’s build quality. And then he stood on it.

Announced in November and due out next month, the company’s latest product doesn’t quite hit that price point. Solidoodle had to drive cost up a fair amount to double the last generation’s build platform to 512 cubic inches. Still, $799 seems like chump change for entrance into the nascent world of home 3D printing, particularly for a device that is built as solidly as Cervantes claims. The team popped by our New York offices to drop off and stand on the Solidoodle 3. Cervantes was quick to point out that the printer is still firmly in prototype mode (in fact, it’s the first prototype to leave the confines of the company’s headquarters), with his team doing its damnedest to get the product in the hands of customers by early next month. A quick glance at the rear of the printer confirms this — there’s a fair amount of exposed wiring back there and the spool of plastic hangs on an exposed PVC pipe.

Continue reading Solidoodle 3 is an $800 3D printer that you can stand on, we go hands (and feet) on (video)

Filed under: Misc

Comments

Every school shooting I’ve ever heard about has been exceedingly heartbreaking and has stirred feelings of both rage and sorrow in me. Each one is tragic and awful, and there have been far too many of them in recent years.

But Friday’s massacre in Newtown has affected me in a profoundly personal way, as I have a unique perspective on the town … I am blessed to have grown up there.

Read More…