RICHMOMD, Va. Vice President Joe Biden continued a busy political pace Saturday, appearing with Virginia's Democratic gubernatorial candidate at the swing state's premier party fundraiser and ridiculing this fall's conservative Republican statewide ticket as extreme captives of tea party ideology.
Biden brought about 1,000 Democrats to their feet repeatedly at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner barely four months ahead of the nation's only competitive governor's race. His appearances at state fundraisers haved evoked speculation that he is laying his footing for a 2016 presidential bid.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we stand for equal rights and women's rights," Biden said. "With virtually zero support from the Republicans, the president and I have moved the country from the worst recession since the Great Depression to 38 months of private-sector growth."
With Democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe at his side, Biden took aim at McAuliffe's opponent, state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who won the GOP nomination with strong tea party support and his socially conservative ticket mates.
"There is so much they stand for that is so at odds with the value set of Virginians," Biden said.
The vice president warned that a GOP victory in Virginia would only galvanize the tea party's grip on the GOP in Congress, where he said even longtime moderate Republicans are fearful of a primary challenge if they don't do the tea party's bidding.
"They are so afraid of a challenge by the tea party that they vote against what is the right vote. Imagine what they will do to Barack and me if Terry McAuliffe loses," he said.
A McAuliffe victory, he said, would "send a strong signal to Republicans across America that there's no reason to be afraid of these extreme guys."
Before speaking to activists who paid $175 or more per ticket, Biden joined McAuliffe, a longtime confidante of Bill and Hillary Clinton, in surprising patrons at a Richmond restaurant, shaking hands before wolfing down two plates of fried whiting.
Among other campaign events this season, Biden aided Democratic Rep. Ed Markey in a Massachusetts special election ? Markey won, thus keeping Secretary of State John Kerry's old seat in Democratic hands ? and held a series of closed-door "donor-maintenance" events in Washington.
Sen. Tim Kaine, elected on the same Virginia ballot as President Barack Obama last fall, said it's too early for Democrats to take sides in a potential nomination contest between Biden and Hillary Clinton, but he counseled both to try pragmatism over progressive partisanship.
"I think the Virginia Democratic success model is, we'll let the other guys be the ideology people and we will be the work-together, compromise, make-things-happen party. That's been the model that has allowed Dems to win," said Kaine, like McAuliffe, a former Democratic National Committee chairman.
In speeches warming up the crowd, Kaine and Sen. Mark Warner congratulated gay-rights activists for the ruling that cleared the way for same-sex marriages in 13 states but not in Virginia, where a 7-year-old amendment to the state Constitution prohibits it. And both hailed the immigration reform bill that they supported ? it now faces an uncertain future in a conservative Republican-led House.
Virginia Republicans fired back, using Biden's visit as an occasion to attack the ticket for Obama's clean-energy initiative, warning that it will devastate Virginia's struggling coal industry and drive up utility bills.
State GOP Chairman Pat Mullins called it "the most anti-coal slate of candidates ever fielded in the history of Virginia," a distinction intended to lock up the rural, rugged but independent southwestern tip of the state for the GOP in a neck-and-neck governor's race.
Republicans weren't alone in protesting Biden's trip. About three dozen environmental activists opposed to construction of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline stood on a street corner as Biden's motorcade passed, waving placards that read "Say No to Big Oil" and chanting "Hey, Joe, you ought to know, Keystone pipeline's got to go."
On Friday a neighbor who contradicted what other witnesses have said about the struggle between George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin, was questioned as to how well he could really see in the dark. Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, claiming it was self-defense. NBC's Ron Mott reports.
By Elizabeth Chuck, Tom Winter and Rob Rivas, NBC News
A resident of the gated community where Trayvon Martin was killed told a Florida court Friday he saw the unarmed teen punching George Zimmerman before the two had a fatal confrontation in February of 2012.
Jonathan Good was watching TV with his wife at the Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford, Fla., on Feb. 26, 2012, when a faint noise caught his attention, he told a Seminole County court Friday. When he heard more noise, he opened his sliding glass door, took a step outside, and spotted what "seemed like a tussle.?
??I could really only see one person, and I think I described it as possibly being some type of dog attack, because there are a lot of dogs that walk in that back area,? Good said.
But as the figures rolled a little closer to Good on the rainy evening, he realized it was two people.
?And then at one point I yelled out, ?What?s going on?? and ?Stop it,? I believe,? Good told the jury, who is seated for Zimmerman?s second-degree murder trial. Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty, claiming self-defense.
Good only saw the two fighting for what he described as ?10 seconds, max?before running inside to call 911, but his eyewitness account of Martin?s final moments could prove crucial for jurors and investigators in the case.
Good didn?t recognize either men, and said one was straddling the other.
?I could tell the person on the bottom had a lighter skinned color,? Good said. Zimmerman is of white and Hispanic descent, and Martin is black. ?
When one straddled the other, the person on the bottom was ?face up,? he said.
?I think at that time is when I thought it was serious,? he said.
?OK. What made you think that?? prosecutor Bernie De La Rionda asked.
??'Cause it looked like there were strikes being thrown, or punches being thrown, but as I clarified, due to the lighting, it could have also been, you know, holding down. But there were arm movement[s] going downward,? Good said.
?And the arm movements that you describe, would that have been from the person on top?? De La Rionda asked. ?
?Correct,? responded Good.
Later, in cross-examination, defense attorney Mark O?Mara pressed Good for specifics of the confrontation.
?The person who you now know to be Trayvon Martin was on top, correct?? O?Mara asked.
?Correct,?Good said.
?And he was the one who was raining blows down on the person on the bottom, George Zimmerman, right??
?That?s what it looked like,? Good said.
Good added it was too dark to see many details, and said he was too far away. He also said he didn?t see either person slam the other?s head against concrete, something Zimmerman alleges Martin did and part of the reason he says he acted out of self-defense in shooting Martin.
But Good did say he later heard screams coming from one person, who he believed to be Zimmerman.
?If it was coming from on top it would have echoed off a wall instead of coming directly at me,? he said.
He added he couldn?t say for sure which person it was.
911 call played in court Good?s 911 call ? which he placed when he heard the gun go off ? was also played for the first time in court on Friday.
?Um, I?m pretty sure the guy?s dead out here. Holy sh*t,? he says to the 911 operator.
Joe Burbank / Orlando Sentinel pool via EPA
Eyewitness Jonathan Good watches prosecutor Bernie De La Rionda demonstrate possible fight positions of George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin during the 15th day of the Zimmerman trial in Seminole circuit court, in Sanford, Fla., on June 28.
Martin?s parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, sat quietly during Good?s testimony. Fulton held ?Our Daily Bread,? a Christian monthly devotional, in her hand.
Parts of the cross-examination were decidedly antagonistic.
?Don?t really want to be here, do you?? O?Mara opened his cross-examination by asking. ?You were very reluctant to be involved in the case at all, correct??
Good agreed that he was one of the only witnesses who had requested anonymity and had not wanted to partake in the trial.
O?Mara questioned Good about a martial arts phrase he had used with police officers in his initial statement to describe Martin and Zimmerman?s fight.
?What you saw was the person on top in an MMA-style straddle position, correct? That was further described, was it not, as being ?ground and pound.? What is ?ground and pound? as you define it?? O?Mara asked.
?The person on top being able to punch the person on the bottom, but the person on the bottom also has a chance to get out or punch the person on top. It?s back and forth,? Good said.
O?Mara also demanded to know exactly what Good, who did not know either Zimmerman or Martin, saw that night, questioning him numerous times about his definition of being positioned in ?vertical? and ?horizontal? standings. Good, visibly annoyed at times, invited O?Mara to get down on his knees to demonstrate the positions he saw for the jurors, which the lawyer did.
Good is the next-door neighbor of Jenna Lauer, another resident at the Retreat at Twin Lakes gated community, who testified on Thursday. Lauer placed the 911 call that captured screams in the moments before Martin?s death. On Thursday, she told the court that she heard ?scuffling? that sounded like ?sneakers on pavement and grass? before she called 911.
Editor's note: George Zimmerman has sued NBC Universal for defamation. The company strongly denies the allegation.
FileMaker Go, which originally began life as a very solid $30 iPad app, should now be considered must-have mobile database software among desktop FileMaker Pro?users. The database program's excellent design, multiple file layouts, integrated search, digital signature capture, and charting capabilities made it a compelling offer when it debuted, but FileMaker Go 12 ups the ante with enhanced multimedia capabilities, multitasking support, and best of all a new price: Free! A few niggles still linger?you still can't create new files and there's no true two-way synchronization?but FileMaker Go 12 is an iPad?database app that can keep you productive while on the go.
What's It All About? FileMaker Go 12 is designed to do one thing: run FileMaker Pro 12 software (both the regular and advanced versions) on Apple's slate. You cannot, however, create new files using FileMaker Go; that's reserved for the Windows and Mac desktop software. That sting is a bit easier to deal with now that that FileMaker Go costs absolutely nothing to download.
FileMaker Go 12 looks and functions very much like its FileMaker 1.2 predecessor. By default, FileMaker Go displays a very basic two-column interface that contains the heading "Files on Device" in the left column, and "Remote Files and Hosts" in the right column. This setup remains the same regardless of whether you hold the iPad in vertical or horizontal alignment. The "Remote Files and Hosts" column lets you connect to a remote host, and lists recently used FileMaker Pro 12 files. When you open a single file or multiple files, an icon appears in the upper-left corner that displays the number of open windows. Tapping that icon lets you effortlessly navigate through the open windows using a finger swipe.
The FileMaker Go Experience After transferring a FileMaker Pro 12 database table to the iPad using iTunes' File Sharing feature, I tapped the file, causing it to open in full screen mode. I was pleased to see that the layout hadn't been altered in the transfer, and that I could edit any of the fields. You can have multiple records (think of them as pages) within a single database table, which you can smoothly navigate between by moving the slider at the bottom of the screen, or by tapping the forward or backward arrows. An options icon resides in the upper-right portion of the screen which you can use to change the view ("Form," "List," and "Table"), activate/deactivate the toolbar, print to an Airplay-enabled printer (or use AirPrint), and tweak other settings. Tapping "Save/Send" and then "Database" lets you email, save, or save and open a file, while tapping "PDF" lets your e-mail, view, or save a print-ready file. You can also export data in one of several new file formats including Excel, CSV, TAB, and HTML?very useful.
At the bottom of the interface are three icons that give additional functionality. The first, located to the far left of the navigation slider, lets you select one of 40 themes, including several iPad-friendly designs. The second, located to the right of the navigation slider, lets you add a new set of records to a pre-existing database table, duplicate a database table, delete a database table, or delete found records. The icon to the far right lets you search by file name, omit records from a file, and sort by various criteria (age, amount in stock, item, and much more). In addition, you can now add audio or video that you recorded with your iPad to a container field with just a few button taps. In my time with FileMaker Go 12, I found that all of the options worked smoothly, but FileMaker cautions that there may be some calculation and script behavioral differences when porting files into its mobile app.
Chart Support and Synchronization FileMaker Go 12 supports Charts created with the desktop FileMaker Pro 12. You can view, edit, and update chart bar, line, and pie charts, but you can't create them from scratch? within FileMaker Go.
The previous version of FileMaker Go let you transfer FileMaker Pro files from your desktop to your iPad using iTunes (or, alternately, by opening and saving an e-mailed file), but the changes weren't synchronized; you needed to use FileMaker Pro on the desktop to import data, which was annoying as it resulted in multiple entries. But if you had files stored on a hosted FileMaker server, any changes that you made using FileMaker Go were automatically saved to the original database file. Overall, the experience was less than ideal.
The situation has been (somewhat) addressed. The Charts feature introduced in FileMaker 12 "syncs" FileMaker Pro data within the chart itself; it isn't, however, a true sync between the local file and the remote file as the changes aren't immediately reflected within the server or desktop software (you must export the changes you've made back to the FileMaker Pro 12). It's a decent first step, but true synchronization would be marvelous.
Digital Signatures FileMaker Go now lets you accept digital signatures, which will prove a vital offering for those that signing contracts, confirming the receipt of goods, conducting field surveys, and more. Accepting a signature is as simple as having someone John Hancock the "Receiving Signature" field (either with a finger or iPad-compatible stylus). You can then export the captured signature to FileMaker Pro 12 or upload it to a FileMaker Server database. FileMaker 12 now supports multi-tasking so that when you leave the app and then return to it, you'll pick up exactly where you left off.
FileMaker A-Go-Go! FileMaker Go 12, despite some limitations, is a useful tool for businesspeople who want to access databases on the go, as it gives them the option of shedding a laptop or roaming free from a desktop PC. The ability to create new files and charts from scratch would be a huge benefit (as would true synchronization), but even without those features, FileMaker Go 12 is a more than worthy download for FileMaker Pro 12 and FileMaker Pro 12 Advanced users who need to quickly retrieve, or input, important data on the go.
Human-caused global warming played a role in making this past summer Australia's hottest on record, a new study suggests.
The summer of 2012-2013 probably won't retain its title for long; researchers say record-breaking scorching summers are five times more likely to occur now in Australia due to climate change.
"Our research has shown that, due to greenhouse gas emissions, these types of extreme summers will become even more frequent and more severe in the future," study author Sophie Lewis of the University of Melbourne said in a statement.
Australia's summer occurs from December to February, during the Northern Hemisphere's winter. In those three months between 2012 and 2013, the country's average temperature was 83.5 degrees Fahrenheit (28.6 degrees Celsius), 2 degrees F (1 degree C) above normal, according to Australia's Bureau of Meteorology. It broke the previous summer temperature record, set in the 1997-1998 season, by 0.18 degree F (0.1 degree C).
Unusually high temperatures gripped nearly the entire country, with just three percent of Australia experiencing below-normal temperatures. Bush fires and flooding, combined with the extreme heat, prompted Australians to call it the "angry summer."
Lewis and colleagues looked at climate observations and more than 90 climate model simulations of summer temperatures in Australia over the past 100 years. They found that human influences likely stoked the record heat during a summer when Australians may have otherwise expected cooler temperatures.
"This extreme summer is not only remarkable for its record-breaking nature but also because it occurred at a time of weak La Ni?a to neutral conditions, which generally produce cooler summers," Karoly said. "Importantly, our research shows the natural variability of El Ni?o Southern Oscillation is unlikely to explain the recent record temperatures." The El Ni?o Southern Oscillation is a climate cycle that can impact weather and cliamte systems around the globe; it's El Ni?o phases features warmer-than-normal sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean, while the La Ni?a phase features cooler-than-normal temperatures.
Climate describes weather that occurs over long periods, such as decades, centuries or millennia, and scientists are typically quick to point out that no individual storm, heat wave or unusual season can be directly blamed on climate change. But researchers have said that global warming can make some events, on average, more severe and more frequent than they would have been in the past.
The research has been accepted for publication in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
Follow Megan Gannon on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
NIST announces plan to create center of excellence for advanced materials researchPublic release date: 28-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Michael Baum michael.baum@nist.gov 301-975-2763 National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced that it plans to establish a new Advanced Materials Center of Excellence to facilitate collaborations between NIST and researchers from academia and industry on advanced materials development.
The planned center, which NIST expects to fund at approximately $25 million over five years, will emphasize innovations in measurement technology, modeling, simulation, and data and informatics tools related to advanced materials. NIST plans to hold a competition this summer to select an organization to host the new center.
The center will play a major role in NIST's support for the President's Materials Genome Initiative (MGI), which was launched two years ago.* The MGI is a multiagency effort in materials research with a goal of cutting development times in half while reducing the cost of discovering, engineering and deploying new advanced materials.
Typically, it takes 10 to 20 years for a new material to go from initial research to first use. Advanced materials and products, from the tough new glasses used for smartphone screens to new biomaterials to repair damaged tissues and organs in the body, are critical for the United States to get to market first in order to fuel innovation, create jobs and spur economic growth.
The President's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) announced a series of new initiatives in support of the MGI, including the planned NIST center of excellence. See: "Two Years Later, Bold New Steps for the Materials Genome Initiative" at http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/06/24/two-years-later-bold-new-steps-materials-genome-initiative.
###
* For more on the Materials Genome Initiative, see http://www.whitehouse.gov/mgi.
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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.
NIST announces plan to create center of excellence for advanced materials researchPublic release date: 28-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Michael Baum michael.baum@nist.gov 301-975-2763 National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced that it plans to establish a new Advanced Materials Center of Excellence to facilitate collaborations between NIST and researchers from academia and industry on advanced materials development.
The planned center, which NIST expects to fund at approximately $25 million over five years, will emphasize innovations in measurement technology, modeling, simulation, and data and informatics tools related to advanced materials. NIST plans to hold a competition this summer to select an organization to host the new center.
The center will play a major role in NIST's support for the President's Materials Genome Initiative (MGI), which was launched two years ago.* The MGI is a multiagency effort in materials research with a goal of cutting development times in half while reducing the cost of discovering, engineering and deploying new advanced materials.
Typically, it takes 10 to 20 years for a new material to go from initial research to first use. Advanced materials and products, from the tough new glasses used for smartphone screens to new biomaterials to repair damaged tissues and organs in the body, are critical for the United States to get to market first in order to fuel innovation, create jobs and spur economic growth.
The President's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) announced a series of new initiatives in support of the MGI, including the planned NIST center of excellence. See: "Two Years Later, Bold New Steps for the Materials Genome Initiative" at http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/06/24/two-years-later-bold-new-steps-materials-genome-initiative.
###
* For more on the Materials Genome Initiative, see http://www.whitehouse.gov/mgi.
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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.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) ? The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday asked for additional information about an Oklahoma law that bans certain abortion-inducing drugs, a move that gave supporters new hope the justices would ultimately determine the state's top court went too far by striking down the law.
The law passed in 2011 required doctors to follow strict guidelines authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and prohibited off-label uses of certain abortion-inducing drugs such as RU-486. Such moves include changing a recommended dosage or prescribing it for different symptoms than the drug was initially approved for. The law also required doctors to examine women before prescribing the drugs, document certain medical conditions and schedule follow-up appointments.
The New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights has sued to stop the law, arguing that the restrictions would leave women no choice but to undergo invasive surgeries to end their pregnancies. Judges have halted its enforcement, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in December that the anti-abortion law was "facially unconstitutional" and that judges were right to prevent its enforcement.
But the federal justices ordered the Oklahoma Supreme Court to answer two questions about the law before they consider an appeal form the Oklahoma attorney general.
The Supreme Court wants to know if the Oklahoma law "prohibits the use of misoprostol to induce abortions, including the use of misoprostol in conjunction with mifepristone according to a protocol approved by the Food and Drug Administration." The high court also wants to know if the law stops "the use of methotrexate to treat ectopic pregnancies," which is when an embryo implants somewhere outside of the uterus.
Mifepristone is also known as Mifeprex or RU-486, according to court papers.
"This is an extraordinary decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to review the actions of Oklahoma's Supreme Court, which has consistently misapplied federal law to strike down Oklahoma abortion laws," Republican Attorney General Scott Pruitt said in a statement. "This law does not ban the use of abortion-inducing drugs, but seeks to protect women from harmful off-label uses."
Rep. Randy Grau, R-Edmond, the author of the bill, said the high court's inquiry "confirms my concern all along that the Oklahoma Supreme Court sidestepped the specific issues in this case and the purpose of the bill, which is to protect the health and safety of Oklahoma patients."
The two sides arguing over the law disagree in court papers to the answer to those questions, so "further proceedings in this case are reserved pending receipt of a response from the Supreme Court of Oklahoma," the high court said in its statement.
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The case is Cline v. Oklahoma Coalition for Reproductive Justice, 12-1094.
___
Sean Murphy can be reached at www.twitter.com/apseanmurphy
Encouraging news about the U.S. economy sent the stock market to its third straight gain Thursday.
Consumer spending rose last month as incomes increased, claims for unemployment benefits fell last week and the number of pending home sales jumped in May to the highest level in more than six years. Investors were also encouraged after the yield on the 10-year Treasury note stabilized below 2.50 percent after surging earlier in the week.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 114.35 points, or 0.8 percent, to 15,204.49.
The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 9.94 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,613.20.
The Nasdaq composite index rose 25.64 points, or 0.8 percent, to 3,401.86.
For the week so far:
The Dow is up 225.09 points, or 1.5 percent.
The S&P 500 is up 20.77 points, or 1.3 percent.
The Nasdaq composite is up 44.61 points, or 1.3 percent.
For the year so far:
The Dow is up 1,920.35 points, or 14.7 percent.
The S&P 500 is up 187.01 points, or 13.1 percent.
The Nasdaq composite is up 382.35 points, or 12.7 percent.
No more leakage of explosive electrolytes in batteriesPublic release date: 27-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Eunhee Song ehsong@unist.ac.kr 82-522-171-224 Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology(UNIST)
Konnyaku-like electrolytes with high ionic conductivity and cationic transference number
Ulsan, South Korea-- A research team at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), S. Korea, found a new physical organogel electrolyte with two unique characteristics: an irreversible thermal gelation and a high value of the Li+ transference number.
A Recent fire on a Boeing 787 on the ground in Boston, US, was caused by a battery failure, it resulted in the release of flammable electrolytes, heat damage and smoke. If they had used a safer electrolyte, the risk would have been reduced.
Electrolytes are essential components of supercapacitors, batteries and fuel cells. The Most widely used electrolyte is a liquid type since its overall ionic conductivity and value of transference numbers are better than solid-type electrolytes. However, safety concerns caused by its leakage and explosive nature, caused an extensive call for the research on the development of solid-type electrolyte.
The development of solid-type electrolytes, safe from explosion caused by high temperature and overcharge, is urgently needed to replace the liquid electrolytes. The solid electrolyte enables batteries to be safer as well as the use of higher energy electrode materials.
The most important parameter of electrolytes used in electrochemical cells is ionic conductivity. The use of solid-state electrolytes has been limited due to low ionic conductivity caused by their immobile matrix regardless of their own merits such as no leak, non-volatility, mechanical strength and processing flexibility.
Another parameter we should consider is transference of the number of ions. Electrolytes are characterized by their ionic conductivity, It is desirable that overall ionic results from the dominant contribution of the ions of interest. However high values of the cationic transference number achieved by solid or gel electrolytes have resulted in low ionic conductivity leading to inferior cell performances.
The research team of Profs. Hyun-Kon Song and Noejung Park of UNIST, presented an organogel polymer electrolyte characterized by a high liquid-electrolyte-level ionic conductivity with high a cationic transference number for Lithium ion batteries (LIB).
The research team acquired the two required properties simultaneously in polymer gel electrolytes: a liquid-electrolyte-level conductivity with a high transference number. Cyanoethly polyvinyle alchohol (PVA-CN) played a key role in the highly conductive gel electrolyte while another cyano resin, Cyanoethlyle pullulan (Pullulan-CN), was used as a control representing a liquid electrolyte containing cyano chains. The PVA-CN-containing liquid electrolyte was thermally gelated even without any chemical crosslinkers or polymerizations initiators.
Hyun-Kon Song and Noejung Park, both, professors of the Interdisciplinary School of Green Energy, UNIST, South Korea, led the effort. Fellow authors include: Young-Soo Kim, Yoon-Gyo Cho, and Dori Odkhuu from UNIST.
"We believe that this new type of electrolyte gel provides us with design flexibility in devices as well as enhanced safety and stability to electro-chemical devices," said Prof. Song.
###
*Konnnyaku: a thermo-irreversible gelatin which is used in Japanese food, maintains its gelatin physical statue at high temperatures.
This research was funded by the World Class University (WCU) programs through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) and published on May 29, 2013 in the (Nature Publishing Group) Scientific Reports. (Title: A Physical organogel electrolyte: characterized by in situ thermo-irreversible gelation and single-ion-predominent conduction, DOI: 10.1038/srep01917)
Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) http://www.unist.ac.kr
Homepage of Prof. Hyun-Kon Song http://echem.kr
Homepage of Prof. Noejung Park http://dkphysics.cafe24.com/sub_kor/index.php
The original research article can be found at http://www.nature.com/srep/2013/130529/srep01917/full/srep01917.html
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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.
No more leakage of explosive electrolytes in batteriesPublic release date: 27-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Eunhee Song ehsong@unist.ac.kr 82-522-171-224 Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology(UNIST)
Konnyaku-like electrolytes with high ionic conductivity and cationic transference number
Ulsan, South Korea-- A research team at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), S. Korea, found a new physical organogel electrolyte with two unique characteristics: an irreversible thermal gelation and a high value of the Li+ transference number.
A Recent fire on a Boeing 787 on the ground in Boston, US, was caused by a battery failure, it resulted in the release of flammable electrolytes, heat damage and smoke. If they had used a safer electrolyte, the risk would have been reduced.
Electrolytes are essential components of supercapacitors, batteries and fuel cells. The Most widely used electrolyte is a liquid type since its overall ionic conductivity and value of transference numbers are better than solid-type electrolytes. However, safety concerns caused by its leakage and explosive nature, caused an extensive call for the research on the development of solid-type electrolyte.
The development of solid-type electrolytes, safe from explosion caused by high temperature and overcharge, is urgently needed to replace the liquid electrolytes. The solid electrolyte enables batteries to be safer as well as the use of higher energy electrode materials.
The most important parameter of electrolytes used in electrochemical cells is ionic conductivity. The use of solid-state electrolytes has been limited due to low ionic conductivity caused by their immobile matrix regardless of their own merits such as no leak, non-volatility, mechanical strength and processing flexibility.
Another parameter we should consider is transference of the number of ions. Electrolytes are characterized by their ionic conductivity, It is desirable that overall ionic results from the dominant contribution of the ions of interest. However high values of the cationic transference number achieved by solid or gel electrolytes have resulted in low ionic conductivity leading to inferior cell performances.
The research team of Profs. Hyun-Kon Song and Noejung Park of UNIST, presented an organogel polymer electrolyte characterized by a high liquid-electrolyte-level ionic conductivity with high a cationic transference number for Lithium ion batteries (LIB).
The research team acquired the two required properties simultaneously in polymer gel electrolytes: a liquid-electrolyte-level conductivity with a high transference number. Cyanoethly polyvinyle alchohol (PVA-CN) played a key role in the highly conductive gel electrolyte while another cyano resin, Cyanoethlyle pullulan (Pullulan-CN), was used as a control representing a liquid electrolyte containing cyano chains. The PVA-CN-containing liquid electrolyte was thermally gelated even without any chemical crosslinkers or polymerizations initiators.
Hyun-Kon Song and Noejung Park, both, professors of the Interdisciplinary School of Green Energy, UNIST, South Korea, led the effort. Fellow authors include: Young-Soo Kim, Yoon-Gyo Cho, and Dori Odkhuu from UNIST.
"We believe that this new type of electrolyte gel provides us with design flexibility in devices as well as enhanced safety and stability to electro-chemical devices," said Prof. Song.
###
*Konnnyaku: a thermo-irreversible gelatin which is used in Japanese food, maintains its gelatin physical statue at high temperatures.
This research was funded by the World Class University (WCU) programs through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) and published on May 29, 2013 in the (Nature Publishing Group) Scientific Reports. (Title: A Physical organogel electrolyte: characterized by in situ thermo-irreversible gelation and single-ion-predominent conduction, DOI: 10.1038/srep01917)
Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) http://www.unist.ac.kr
Homepage of Prof. Hyun-Kon Song http://echem.kr
Homepage of Prof. Noejung Park http://dkphysics.cafe24.com/sub_kor/index.php
The original research article can be found at http://www.nature.com/srep/2013/130529/srep01917/full/srep01917.html
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Television is no longer the only game in town for distributing and watching video.?The Internet and the social web have provided content creators and advertisers with a cost-effective way to distribute video.
"Social" video ?is video that is influenced ? in any part of the pipeline, from production to distribution ? by social media.?For audiences, discovery is no longer about flipping through channels or a TV guide, it's about listening to friends' recommendations and glancing at social media feeds.
Just how big is social media-influenced video? It's big, having eclipsed non-social video on the Web in audience size (see chart, top right).?And it's only getting bigger.?
In a new report?from?BI?Intelligence,?we look at?the general state of social video, examine social video audiences and their demographics, analyze how marketers and advertisers are getting into the mix, compare the major social video platforms, and?detail how social is influencing video as a content medium.
Access The Full Report And Data By Signing Up For A Free Trial Today >>
Here's an overview of the?rise of social video:
Social media-influenced video has eclipsed non-social video on the Web in terms of audience size:?Online video audiences are expected to double in 2016, reaching 1.5 billion?globally, according to Cisco. A majority now , and an increasingly significant portion of them in the future, will discover or watch video and TV content on social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and new mobile-focused social video apps like Vine.?comScore found that 63 million U.S. users watched a video on Facebook alone during April 2013. In the U.S.,Facebook had the fastest-growing online video audience?of major Web properties over the last 10 months, and is only second to Google in terms of video audience size.
Social media is having a profound effect on this content medium:?Video length is shrinking, in part to accommodate the preferences of social media audiences who like to snack on video. The intersection of mobile devices and social media will likely be crucial to video's future.?Videos are increasingly discovered and shared on mobile devices, but through social media channels. Video content that is well-suited to small screens and social contexts will do well.
Advertisers want to be next to social video: 85% of the U.S. Internet audience viewed online video in April 2013, and?video advertising is now up to 13.2 billion monthly views?in the U.S. alone.?Data?shows that consumers are more likely to enjoy a brand video and remember the brand involved if they come across it thanks to a social media recommendation. Also, socially-referred video starts are more likely to be completed?than non-social video, according to Adobe.
And social is key to the all-valuable viral video: Brands are keen to spur video virality. The push for ?earned media? is driving this. For a brand, a video that goes ?viral,? and earns millions of views on YouTube means that a brand has earned millions of impressions that it didn't have to pay for. Brands are experimenting with cracking the code to videos that will tap the right emotions and trigger mass sharing.?
In full,?the?report:
For full access to the report on Social Video sign up for a free trial subscription today.
SANFORD, Fla. (AP) ? A friend who was on the phone with 17-year-old Trayvon Martin moments before he was fatally shot by George Zimmerman testified that she heard the Miami teen shout, "Get off! Get off!" before his telephone went dead.
Rachel Jeantel, 19, recounted to jurors in Zimmerman's second-degree murder trial how Martin told her he was being followed by a man as he walked through the Retreat at Twin Lakes townhome complex on his way back from a convenience store to the home of his father's fiancee.
Jeantel is considered one of the prosecution's most important witnesses because she was the last person to talk to Martin before his encounter with Zimmerman on Feb. 26, 2012.
She testified that Martin described the man following him as "a creepy-ass cracker" and he thought he had evaded him. But she said a short time later Martin let out a profanity.
Martin said Zimmerman was behind him and she heard Martin ask: "What are you following me for?"
She then heard what sounded like Martin's phone earpiece drop into the grass and she heard him say, "Get off! Get off!" The phone then went dead, she said.
Zimmerman, 29, could get life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder for killing Martin. Zimmerman followed him in his truck and called a police dispatch number before he and the teen got into a fight.
Zimmerman has claimed self-defense, saying he opened fire after the teenager jumped him and began slamming his head against the concrete sidewalk. Zimmerman identifies himself as Hispanic and has denied that his confrontation with the black teenager had anything to do with race, as Martin's family and its supporters have claimed.
Jeantel's testimony came after two former neighbors of Zimmerman testified Wednesday about hearing howls and shouts for help in the moments before the shooting.
Jayne Surdyka told the court that immediately before the shooting, she heard an aggressive voice and a softer voice exchanging words for several minutes in an area behind her townhome at the Retreat at Twin Lakes.
"It was someone being very aggressive and angry at someone," she said.
During the struggle, she said, she saw a person in dark clothes on top of the other person. Martin was wearing a dark sweatshirt and Zimmerman wore red clothing. Surdyka said she saw the person who was on top get off the body after the shot was fired.
Surdyka said she heard cries for help and then multiple gunshots: "pop, pop, pop." Only one shot was fired in the fatal encounter.
"I truly believe the second yell for help was a yelp," said Surdyka, who later dabbed away tears as prosecutors played her 911 call. "It was excruciating. I really felt it was a boy's voice."
During cross-examination, defense attorney Don West tried to show there was a lapse in what Surdyka saw. Defense attorneys contend Martin was on top of Zimmerman during the struggle, but after the neighborhood watch volunteer fired a shot, Zimmerman got on top of Martin.
West also challenged Surdyka about her belief that the cry for help was a boy's voice, saying she was making an assumption.
The other neighbor, Jeannee Manalo, testified that she believed Zimmerman was on top of Martin, saying he was the bigger of the two based on pictures she saw of Martin on television after the fight. Manalo also described hearing howling, but she couldn't tell who it was coming from, and then a "help sound" a short time later.
Under cross-examination, defense attorney Mark O'Mara asked why Manalo had never mentioned her belief that Zimmerman was on top in previous police interviews. He also got her to concede that her perception of Martin's size was based on five-year-old photos on television that showed a younger and smaller Martin.
Martin's parents have said they believe the cries for help heard by neighbors came from their son, while Zimmerman's father believes the cries belong to his son. Both prosecutors and defense attorneys believe they could show whether Zimmerman or Martin was the aggressor in the encounter. Defense attorneys successfully argued against allowing prosecution experts who claimed the cries belonged to Martin.
Jeantel on Wednesday testified that she believed the cries were Martin's because "Trayvon has kind of a baby voice." The defense attorney challenged that, claiming she was less certain in a previous deposition.
Jeantel, 19, also explained that she had initially lied about her age ? she claimed to be 16 ? to protect her privacy when she was initially contacted by an attorney for Martin's family to give a recorded statement over the telephone about what she knew about the few moments before Martin's encounter with Zimmerman. She was expected to finish her testimony on Thursday.
While being cross-examined, Jeantel had several testy exchange with West, including one moment when she prompted the defense attorney to ask his next question: "You can go. You can go."
Before the February 2012 shooting, Zimmerman had made about a half dozen calls to a nonemergency police number to report suspicious characters in his neighborhood. Judge Debra Nelson on Wednesday ruled that they could be played for jurors.
Prosecutors had argued that the police dispatch calls were central to their case that Zimmerman committed second-degree murder since they showed his state of mind. He was increasingly frustrated with repeated burglaries and had reached a breaking point the night he shot the unarmed teenager, prosecutors say.
Defense attorneys argued that the calls were irrelevant and that nothing matters but the seven or eight minutes before Zimmerman fired the deadly shot into Martin's chest.
Seven of the nine jurors and alternates scribbled attentively on their notepads as the calls were played.
___
Follow Kyle Hightower on Twitter at http://twitter.com/KHightower
Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP
What "MythBusters" fans want, "MythBusters" will give! In 2007, the hit Discovery show took on the case of the "Bifurcated Boat." A man who was driving a speedboat had crashed into a channel marker, and the accident had nearly split the boat in two. Sounds like speed was involved, right? Maybe not. The man claimed that he was going just a measly 25 MPH.
"MythBusters" to the rescue! With some tests, the gang busted the tale after their model boat merely glanced off their marker with little damage. But viewers complained about the bust, so the show is now revisiting the myth in its 10th season, and Discovery is sharing an exclusive look at the second attempt to bust the myth with TODAY.com.
"Our results were less than spectacular," Grant Imahara admits in the clip. "But according to you fans, that's because our methodology was totally wrong!"
"Because we didn't do it on water!" Kari Byron adds in the video.
Testing damage to a boat and not using a body of water of some sort? No wonder fans wanted a redo!
And it turns out there were some other problems too when testing the myth the first time. (Including an accident involving dropping one boat. Oops!) Take a look at some of the blunders, as well as what the "MythBusters" plan to do to make this attempt more accurate:
"MythBusters" airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on Discovery.
We are in the post-PC era, and soon billions of consumers will be carrying around Internet-connected mobile devices for up to 16 hours a day.?Mobile audiences have exploded as a result.
So, mobile advertising should be a bonanza, right? Not exactly. It has been a bit slow off the ground, and its growth trajectory is not clear cut. Part of the reason is that the mobile ad ecosystem is not as strictly delineated as the desktop ecosystem.?In mobile advertising, the rules of the road change with different combinations of device, wireless operator, and operating system.
In a recent reportfrom?BI?Intelligence?on, we?explain the complexities and fractures of the ecosystem. We specifically examine the central and dynamic roles played by mobile ad networks, demand side platforms, mobile ad exchanges, real-time bidding, agencies, brands, and new companies hoping to upend the traditional banner ad.
Access The Full Report And Data By Signing Up For A Free Trial Today >>
Take look at this infographic from our report: ?
Mobile lacks the technical consensus that enables ad targeting, delivery, and measurement to work fairly seamlessly across the desktop world.?As the mobile ad industry matures it will likely become more streamlined and simple, but for now there are innumerable actors interacting with one another and attempting to find a niche.
Here's an overview of some of the major players in the ecosystem:
To access BI Intelligence's full report on The Mobile Advertising Ecosystem, sign up for a free trial subscription here.
Sporting sleek cases, sensitive touch screens, and an ever-increasing array of features, today?s smartphones and tablets provide consumers unparalleled mobile computing capability.
Yet, these and many other technologies are critically dependent on sophisticated new materials that can solve challenges in areas ranging from clean energy and national security to human health and well-being. And currently, a new material?s journey from discovery to commercial product typically takes as long as two decades.
With expertise in manufacturing; materials science, engineering and processing; and computer science and engineering, the University of Wisconsin-Madison is tackling today?s materials challenges through creation of the interdisciplinary Wisconsin Materials Innovation Institute, or WIMII.
The White House named UW-Madison a partner institution in its Materials Genome Initiative for Global Competitiveness, a national effort to double the speed with which the country discovers, develops and manufactures new materials.
?Whether we?re talking about high-efficiency, high-temperature jet engines, solar cells that generate electricity as inexpensively as coal, wind turbines that use magnets free of rare-earth elements, or the biocompatibility of replacement joints and implants, materials matter,? says Cyrus Wadia, assistant director for clean energy and materials RD in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. ?The Materials Genome Initiative is catalyzing important collaborative advances from industry, academia and the federal government, so that together we can secure the nation?s future as a leader in this critical technological domain.?
Building a materials innovation infrastructure is key to the initiative. The UW-Madison College of Engineering is pledging an initial investment of $5 million to create WIMII. A cross-disciplinary technological hub, WIMII will provide infrastructure for researchers in such areas as mathematics, statistics, computer sciences, information science, chemistry, medicine and engineering, and create synergy among materials researchers at UW-Madison and elsewhere.
Researchers in the institute will interact with a variety of new and existing university, governmental and industrial partners ? among them, Argonne National Laboratory and CAMECA, a world leader in scientific instrumentation and metrology solutions for the semiconductor manufacturing industry ? to form the tools, teams and technologies needed to dramatically enhance U.S. materials innovation.
Additionally, UW-Madison, the University of Michigan and Georgia Tech together will begin dialog to begin building a nationwide network for materials innovation. ?This will serve a national need in bringing together leaders in these various fields and to produce the means to design new materials, as well as to invent processes needed to synthesize and characterize them,? says Thomas Kuech, the Milton J. and A. Maude Shoemaker and Beckwith-Bascom professor of chemical and biological engineering at UW-Madison.
Kuech will co-direct WIMII with Dane Morgan, an associate professor of materials science and engineering at UW-Madison.
In the past, researchers created materials with new functions or forms simply by processing existing compounds or materials in different ways. However, as manufacturing and technological demands increase, researchers now need to develop capabilities that allow them to understand and design completely new materials at the atomic and molecular levels.
?Discovering new materials is an increasingly interdisciplinary process, requiring access to advanced computer simulations, large databases and a multitude of sophisticated tools for synthesis and characterization,? says Morgan. ?Developing integrated multidisciplinary teams to tackle all these components is critical to accelerating our rate of materials innovation.?
In an effort to create not only innovative materials, but also methods and tools that allow researchers to study and make those materials, WIMII will leverage computational, experimental and data analysis infrastructure and expertise at UW-Madison.
In particular, UW-Madison researchers are poised to address challenges associated with the vast amounts of experimental and computational data generated by materials analysis, synthesis and characterization efforts. ?This growing amount of data is being generated from a wide variety of sources worldwide and is an essential, largely untapped, resource,? says Kuech.
A critical part of the materials investment is to develop new means with which researchers can collect, assemble and draw on this worldwide database of materials information. ?We must develop software to extract trends and understanding from this data,? says Morgan. ?WIMII will help develop and integrate a powerful web of simulation tools that can seamlessly interact with these enormous databases to model materials synthesis and performance from the atomic to macro scale.?
An increasing fraction of patents for new materials comes from outside the United States and U.S. researchers are at a competitive disadvantage in developing transformative materials that are discovered outside the country. WIMII is supporting the U.S. Materials Genome Initiative to ensure the country continues to lead in materials innovation.
Ultimately, WIMII discoveries will help broaden the palette of advanced material discoveries within the United States. ?UW-Madison plays a major role in innovation and spin-off companies and this institute will provide a broader base to accelerate that innovation,? says Kuech.
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Michael Jackson's eldest son testified Wednesday that his father was excited about going back on tour before his death but wasn't happy about the pressure that came with the ill-fated shows.
Prince Jackson told jurors his father wanted more time to rehearse and had several tense phone conversations with promoters of his "This Is It" shows that sometimes ended with his father in tears.
The 16-year-old said his father remarked after one of the conversations, "'They're going to kill me.'" He did not elaborate.
The testimony came in a lawsuit claiming AEG negligently hired Conrad Murray, the doctor who was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter for giving Jackson an overdose of the anesthetic propofol.
AEG denies it hired the physician or bears any responsibility for the entertainer's death.
Wearing a black suit with a dark grey tie and his long brown hair tucked behind his ears, Prince testified that he saw AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips at the family's rented mansion in a heated conversation with Murray in the days before his father died. The teenager said Phillips grabbed Murray's elbow.
Phillips "looked aggressive to me," Prince testified.
Michael Jackson wasn't at home at the time and was probably rehearsing, Prince said.
Murray's attorney Valerie Wass and AEG defense attorney Marvin S. Putnam later denied outside court that the meeting Prince described ever happened.
Putnam said Prince would be re-called to the witness stand during the defense case later in the trial.
"I think as the testimony will show when he is called in our defense that's not what happened," Putnam said. "He was a 12-year-old boy who has had to endure this great tragedy."
For the first time, the teenage publicly provided details about the day his father died. Prince testified that he saw Murray performing CPR on his father, who was hanging halfway off a bed. It appeared his dad's eyes were rolled up in the back of his head, Prince told jurors.
Prince's eyes appeared red as he recalled being told by Murray at a hospital that his father was dead.
Prince said he never saw Murray's treatments of his father.
"I was 12. To my understanding he was supposed to make sure my dad stayed healthy," Prince testified.
Prince said none of the household staff were allowed upstairs at the mansion, and the singer kept his bedroom locked while receiving treatments from Murray.
During cross-examination, Putnam played a clip from a deposition of Prince in which the teen said he discovered the bedroom was locked when he and his siblings were playing hide-and-seek and couldn't get inside.
Prince also said his father gave him and his sister Paris a stack of $100 bills on a few occasions to give to Murray. The teen said his father told him that Murray wouldn't take the money from him, and the doctor wouldn't take the full amount from the children.
The teenager said his understanding was that the money was meant to tide Murray over until he got paid by AEG Live.
Prince's grandmother, Katherine Jackson, sat in the front row of the courtroom during his testimony. She held a tissue and removed her glasses several times.
The testimony began with the teenager showing jurors roughly 15 minutes of private family photos and home videos.
He described growing up on Neverland Ranch and showed the panel videos of the property's petting zoos, amusement park and other amenities. After his father's acquittal of child molestation charges, Prince described living in the Middle East, Ireland and Las Vegas.
He told the jury that his father was always working, but the children had no idea he was a global superstar.
"We always listened to his music, but we never knew how famous he was," Prince said.
He said he and his sister Paris watched a video of one of their father's performances and got a sense of his fame when overwhelmed fans were carried from his shows on stretchers.
Prince is the first Jackson family member to testify during the trial, now in its ninth week. Attorneys have said TJ Jackson, who serves a co-guardian to Prince and his siblings, and Taj Jackson, are also expected to take the witness stand. They are the sons of Tito Jackson.
Prince Jackson, his sister Paris and brother Blanket are plaintiffs in the case against AEG, which their grandmother and primary caretaker filed in August 2010.
Prince spoke softly as he began testifying, and the first exhibit shown to jurors was a photo taken with his grandmother on his and Paris' first day of school.
He described his school life, including taking a summer course in U.S. history, participating on the school robotics team and volunteer work.
Another image showed Michael Jackson playing piano with his son while Prince was still a toddler.
Plaintiffs' attorney Brian Panish asked Prince whether he was interested in pursuing a career in music.
"I can never play an instrument and I definitely cannot sing," Prince said to laughter from the jury.
He said he wanted to study film or business when he goes to college.
The trial is expected to last several more weeks.
___
Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP
All Critics (149) | Top Critics (33) | Fresh (146) | Rotten (3)
For at least three-quarters of the way, this is a fine film, and one that kids and parents could see together.
There is an enchanted-fairy-tale aspect to Mud, but its bright, calm surface only barely disguises a strong, churning undercurrent.
A modern fairy tale, steeped in the sleepy Mississippi lore of Twain and similar American writers, and with a heart as big as the river is wide.
Nichols has a strong feeling for the tactility of natural elements-water, wood, terrain, weather.
Nichols takes his time with the story, dwelling on how the boy is shaped by the killer's tragic sense of romance, yet the suspense holds.
"Mud" isn't just a movie. It's the firm confirmation of a career.
Just like its lead character, this film is packed to the brim with sadness, swagger and soul.
All the women in this movie are shrews, liars and/or emasculators.
Mud is a moving exploration into the nature of manhood, with superb performances, striking location and engrossing story creating a mesmerising and heartfelt coming of age drama.
A stripped back approach to tracking the process of growing up, but lacks the faith to see the plan executed to the end
Nichols takes his time unravelling Mud and Ellis's entwined fates, but his characters are so rich that it's well worth being in their company.
In its energy and nuance, Mud seems like the kind of film Hollywood would've made in the Seventies, and would've continued to do if not for the advent of market-conscious filmmaking.
More than a mere tribute to Twain and Dickens: this has all the makings of a modern classic.
An extremely sophisticated and progressive examination on how adolescent masculinity is defined by often-contradictory cultural attitudes towards femininity.
Mud is as beautiful to watch as it is to listen to, and feel kinship to, whether you're from the South or just Southern at heart.
In Jeff Nichols, America has a champion of the religious and working class. With the schism between the right and left in the U.S. growing ever larger... his ascent couldn't have come at a better time.
This is a film with a great naturalistic style and captivating performances and which does just about everything right.
Jeff Nichols writes characters with depth, nurtures strong performances form his cast and allows the screenplay's backwater setting to effectively create tone and texture.
This is American cinema at its very best as Huckleberry Finn meets Stand By Me.The two boys are terrific and McConaughey is sensational as Mud, dazzlingly frazzled as the hunted and haunted man on the run.
Up till just past the three-quarter mark, Mud is one heck of a nifty psychological fable.
The Southern-fried drama "Mud" is an electrifying example of what happens when you merge a crackerjack yarn with a very specific setting, and then pour on the heat with riveting performances.
McConaughey and Sheridan 's acting skills, as well as those of the entire supporting cast, make this movie better than it ought to be.
It gets under our skin because Nichols gives us time to come to know Mud's island like the places we knew as children.
As Mud might say, it's a hell of a thing.
The boys are so skillfully played that Mud also plays like cinema verite. Nichols' fluid camerawork suggests a documentary-style approach. That helps these young lads transform into flesh-and-blood characters who get our attention and support.
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Public release date: 28-Jun-2013
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