Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey have both announced they were leaving "Idol."
Updated at 8:16 p.m. ET: It's official: "American Idol" is down two more judges as both Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj announced their departures after only one season on Thursday night.
Carey was the first to reveal her exit when her publicist tweeted that the success of her new single, "#Beautiful," is prompting the superstar to go on a world tour and leave the singing competition.
Carey herself has not yet commented on her decision, other than to retweet PMK-BNC. But the network and the show's producers issued a joint statement bidding her adieu:
?Mariah Carey is a true global icon -- one of the most accomplished artists on the planet -- and we feel extremely fortunate that she was able to bring her wisdom and experience to the 'American Idol' contestants this season," the statement by Fox, 19 Entertainment and Freemantle Media said. "We know she will remain an inspiration to 'Idol' hopefuls for many seasons to come.?
Shortly after the announcement, Minaj made her own exit via Twitter:
"Nicki Minaj is a superstar who brought a level of honesty and passion to 'American Idol' and who had a tremendous positive impact on so many contestants this season. Given her extremely busy career, we understand and respect her decision and wish her the best," Fox and producers FremantleMedia and 19 Entertainment said in a statement.
Of the three new judges who joined in season 12, only Keith Urban remains, though his future on the show is not yet clear.
Original judge Randy Jackson announced shortly before the finale that he was exiting at the end of the season. Even before news of his resignation came, rumors of a complete overhaul of the judges' table had been rampant as the former ratings juggernaut continued to lose viewers. Recent reports suggest the show may be bringing back former contestants to fill out the panel next season.
Carey and Minaj's tenure on the show was rocky from the start because of their well-publicized spats. Critics never took to Carey, who appeared to lacked focus and did not provide constructive criticism of the contestants, while few longtime "Idol" fans seemed to appreciate Minaj and her outgoing character.
The new judges must be in place by August when the auditions begin.
LONDON (AP) ? A British Airways jet that made an emergency landing at Heathrow Airport last week lost panels from both its engines after they were left unlatched during maintenance, accident investigators said Friday.
In an initial report on the incident, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch said the unlatched fan cowl doors weren't noticed before the Airbus A319-131 took off.
The covers detached as the plane climbed, damaging the airframe and some aircraft systems and rupturing a fuel pipe on the plane's right engine, which developed an external fire. The pilots managed to land the plane on one engine.
Britain's Transport Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, said the report contained "serious findings" and called on the industry to act to ensure safety.
"Airline passengers have the right to expect to travel safely and it is the responsibility of all involved in aviation to make sure that happens," he said.
Britain's busiest airport was briefly closed May 24 after the Oslo-bound flight made the emergency landing.
TV footage showed smoke streaming from one of the engines. The 80 passengers and crew were evacuated without serious injuries, and fire crews quickly put out the blaze.
The report said that in 2012 Airbus had reported 32 cases in which fan cowl doors became detached, usually during takeoff, but none of the incidents up to that point had caused an engine fire.
Investigators said the BA incident "has shown that the consequences of fan cowl door detachment are unpredictable and can present a greater risk to flight safety than previously experienced."
The report recommended Airbus stress to airlines the importance of ensuring the doors were latched before takeoff.
BA said it had already acted to implement the recommendation.
It said it could not comment further on the incident while the investigation continued.
"We commend the professionalism of the flight crew for the safe landing of the plane and the cabin crew and pilots for its safe evacuation," said BA chief executive Keith Williams.
"We continue to offer our full support to those customers who were onboard the flight."
In Hong Kong, Starbucks patrons are upset and for good reason: the coffee chain's Central Hong Kong branch has used "toilet water" to brew coffee since it opened two years ago.
According to Apple Daily, a staffer would push a cart into a men's restroom in a nearby parking garage, fill it will water, and then push the cart back to Starbucks, where the "toilet water" would be then filtered. This would happen up to seventy times a day. The bathroom faucet was used because there was no nearby water source.
The faucet that Starbucks used was only a few feet away from a urinal. There were concerns about hygiene, and Hong Kong's Food and Environmental Hygiene Department told Apple Daily that this Starbucks' use of water was not within regulations. Since this discovery, the department has apparently issued a warning to the coffee chain's Central Hong Kong restaurant.
Ben Cowling, associate professor from the University of Hong Kong?s School of Public Health, told HK Magazine that filtering the water should remove harmful bacteria. However, a purifier would be necessary to remove the smaller-sized viruses that could be present in the water.
But that wasn't his only concern, HK Magazine pointed out. "If the staff need to frequently visit the toilet, they may increase the risk of bringing other pathogens from the washroom into their food and drink preparation area," Cowling added.
Patrons are understandably upset. One woman told Apple Daily that it was Starbucks' responsiblity to have a clean water supply, no matter the cost. "People with common sense wouldn't have used the water from toilet pipes," said a male Hong Kong resident. Many Starbucks patrons expressed uneasiness about the whole situation.
While it might be debatable whether what we all are drinking is technically "toilet water", the thing that many patrons seem to find most offensive is where the water was taken from?literally, a faucet next to a urinal.
"Making huge profits globally but chose [SIC] to use toilet water for making coffee in that store rather than spending a few cents to use distilled water," wrote Hong Kong resident Kevin L on the Starbucks Facebook page. "We pay a few dollars to buy a cup of coffee (and you know your profit margin) and we get this kind of disrespect for our mind and health!"
On Facebook, Starbucks Hong Kong issued this reply: "Please kindly accept our apologies for the concerns raised by the coverage on the water source at the Bank of China Tower store. While the water used at that store was drinking water and certified as safe, we would like to clarify any misperceptions, as quality and safety have always been our top priority. We are now using distilled water to serve that store while we work with all parties on acceptable options."
The Starbucks began using distilled bottled water this past weekend.
Starbucks Hong Kong [Facebook]
??STARBUCKS??????? [Apple Daily]
To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft.
Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.
The first death in France from a new SARS-like coronavirus brings the worldwide total for the disease to 27 deaths and 49 infections, CNN reports.
The 65-year-old Frenchman was diagnosed after returning from a stay in Dubai.
According to CNN, the World Health Organization has said that the disease was first seen in Saudi Arabia last year.?The virus is "a threat to the entire world," Margaret Chan, WHO's general director, told the network.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, coronaviruses can affect people or animals and, in worst-case scenarios, cause SARS. And it notes there's currently no vaccine to protect against human coronavirus infection.
The disease acts like a cold and causes upper respiratory system problems. Symptoms include fever and cough, which can lead to kidney failure and pneumonia.
The WHO has not learned how the virus spreads, making it difficult to prevent infections. The organization has named it, though: Middle East Respiratory Symptom Coronavirus, or MERS-CoV, according to CNN.
<strong><u>Dog</u></strong>: <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/wendys-new-burger-worlds-largest-bratwust-and-other-news-weekend?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Bratwurst</strong></a> (large, white, pork-based hot dog), preferably Usinger's
<strong><u>Bun</u></strong>: A brat bun (Milwaukee) or hard-roll (Sheboygan)
<strong><u>Method</u></strong>: Simmered with onions in beer and finished off on a charcoal grill
<strong><u>Toppings</u></strong>: Onions; Brats are cooked with and finished off with brown or Dijon mustard, never yellow.
<strong><u>The Spot</u></strong>: State Street Brats and Lambeau Field's parking lot a few hours before a Packers game.
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/somenametoforget/" target="_hplink"><strong>? Flickr/somenametoforget</strong></a>
Cheese Coney (Cincinnati, Ohio)
<strong><u>Dog</u></strong>: <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/sonics-spices-menu?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Pork or beef hot dog</strong></a>
<strong><u>Bun</u></strong>: Steamed
<strong><u>Method</u></strong>: Boiled or grilled
<strong><u>Toppings</u></strong>: Mustard, diced onions, Cincinnati-style chili and a mound of shredded Cheddar
<strong><u>The Spot</u></strong>: Skyline
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ataradrac/" target="_hplink"><strong>? Flickr/Sarah-Braun</strong></a>
Chicago-Style Dogs (Chicago)
<strong><u>Dog</u></strong>: All-beef frank, <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/chicagos-wieners-circle-1?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>traditionally Vienna Beef</strong></a>
<strong><u>Bun</u></strong>: Doughy poppy-seed bun
<strong><u>Method</u></strong>: Boiled or grilled
<strong><u>Toppings</u></strong>: Yellow mustard, sport peppers, tomatoes, a pickle spear, onions, bright green relish, celery salt and absolutely no ketchup
<strong><u>The Spot</u></strong>: What a question. Superdawg, Wolfy's, Wiener's Circle, Murphy's, Hot Doug's, Portillo's and many more. The more interesting question is who makes Chicago's worst hot dogs, and how much better are they than New York's?
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> ? Arthur Bovino
Hot Doug's Foie Gras Dog (Chicago)
While not a regional style, the foie gras dog at Hot Doug's does deserve mention among the country's iconic hot dogs. Doug Sohn, the owner of Hot Doug's, created this "celebrity" dog in 2006 to flout the ban pushed by <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/chef-bios-charlie-trotter?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Chicago chef Charlie Trotter</strong></a> and Alderman Joe Moore. The ban was repealed in 2008, but the foie gras dog is still on the menu.
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> ? Arthur Bovino
Coney I-Lander (Tulsa, Okla.)
<strong><u>Dog</u></strong>: Mini pork dogs
<strong><u>Bun</u></strong>: Mini steamed buns
<strong><u>Method</u></strong>: Slow-grilled
<strong><u>Toppings</u></strong>: Shredded cheese, chili, onions and mustard
<strong><u>The Spot</u></strong>: <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/coney-i-lander" target="_hplink"><strong>The Coney I-Lander mini-chain</strong></a>
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<br><br>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/greyhawk68/" target="_hplink"><strong>? Flickr/Greyhawk68</strong></a>
Coney Island Dog (Detroit, Mich.)
<strong><u>Dog</u></strong>: An all-natural beef hot dog with natural casing
<strong><u>Bun</u></strong>: Steamed
<strong><u>Method</u></strong>: Grilled
<strong><u>Toppings and the Spot</u></strong>: Detroit-Style ("wet") means beanless chili with beef hearts, yellow onions and mustard. The place for it? <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/lafayette-coney-island?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Lafayette Coney Island</strong></a>. Flint-Style ("dry") means chili, diced yellow onions and mustard. The spot? Lipuma Coney Island.
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/melaniewong/" target="_hplink"><strong>? Flickr/mswine</strong></a>
The Half-Smoke (Washington, D.C.)
<strong><u>Dog</u></strong>: Beef or pork dog, or a combination of the two.
<strong><u>Bun</u></strong>: Grilled
<strong><u>Method</u></strong>: Griddle-cooked
<strong><u>Toppings</u></strong>: With or without chili, and sometimes onion and mustard
<strong><u>The Spot</u></strong>: <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dogs-not-just-lips-and-aholes-anymore?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Ben's Chili Bowl</strong></a>
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/scubaman/" target="_hplink"><strong>? Flickr/theblackdog</strong></a>
Italian-Style Hot Dog (New Jersey)
<strong><u>Dog</u></strong>: One or two all-beef dogs
<strong><u>Bun</u></strong>: Half a giant Italian-roll
<strong><u>Method</u></strong>: Griddle-cooked
<strong><u>Toppings</u></strong>: Fried peppers, potatoes and onions
<strong><u>The Spot</u></strong>: <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/jimmy-buffs-italian-hot-dogs?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Jimmy Buff's</strong></a>
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> ? SimpleRecipes
Hungarian Hot Dog (Toledo, Ohio)
<strong><u>Dog</u></strong>: Pork sausage
<strong><u>Bun</u></strong>: Toasted rye-bread
<strong><u>Method</u></strong>: Grilled
<strong><u>Toppings</u></strong>: Chili-sauce
<strong><u>The Spot</u></strong>: <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/packos-tony?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Tony Packos</strong></a>
<strong><u>Special Note</u></strong>: If you're famous and want to represent, sign a bun. They'll frame it and hang it there.
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/whizchickenonabun/" target="_hplink"><strong>? Flickr/whizchickenonabun</strong></a>
Michigan Hot Dog (Montreal and Quebec, Canada)
<strong><u>Dog</u></strong>: Pork or beef hot dog
<strong><u>Bun</u></strong>: Steamed
<strong><u>Method</u></strong>: Griddle-cooked
<strong><u>Toppings</u></strong>: Spaghetti sauce
<strong><u>The Spot</u></strong>: <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/fast-food-you-cant-find-america-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>The Quebecois Lafleur Restaurant chain</strong></a>
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wiless/" target="_hplink"><strong>? Flickr/Will S.</strong></a>
Michigan Hot Dog (Upstate New York)
<strong><u>Dog</u></strong>: All-beef natural casing, usually Zweigle's
<strong><u>Bun</u></strong>: Buttered and crustless Frankfurt bun
<strong><u>Method</u></strong>: Grilled
<strong><u>Toppings</u></strong>: Meat-based "Michigan-sauce," mustard and onions
<strong><u>The Spot</u></strong>: <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/mc-sweeneys-red-hots?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Mc Sweeney's Red Hots</strong></a>
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> ? Farkleberries.com/Lenka
North Carolina Slaw Dog (North Carolina)
<strong><u>Dog</u></strong>: Red-hots, all-beef natural casing
<strong><u>Bun</u></strong>: Griddle-cooked
<strong><u>Method</u></strong>: Griddle-cooked
<strong><u>Toppings</u></strong>: The slaw topping is tinged red with a vinegary BBQ sauce. Mustard and chili, optional.
<strong><u>The Spot</u></strong>: <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/10-chain-restaurants-worth-visiting-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Slaw Dogs</strong></a> can be found throughout the South.
<strong><u>Special Note</u></strong>: West Virginians lay claim to originating the Slaw Dog, but it's North Carolina where this variation has taken on a bolder hue.
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> Troutunderground.com
New York City Dog (Vendor-Style, "Dirty Water", New York City)
<strong><u>Dog</u></strong>: All-beef dog in natural casing, preferably Nathan's or Sabrett's
<strong><u>Bun</u></strong>: Steamed
<strong><u>Method</u></strong>: Boiled or Griddle-cooked
<strong><u>Toppings</u></strong>: Sweet Sabrett's "onions," mustard, kraut and ketchup
The Spot: Every other corner in Manhattan, <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/grays-papaya-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Gray's Papaya</strong></a> and Papaya King take-out joints
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/churl/" target="_hplink"><strong>? Flickr/churl</strong></a>
New York City Dog (Deli-Style, New York City)
<strong><u>Dog</u></strong>: Kosher all-beef
<strong><u>Bun</u></strong>: Griddle-cooked
<strong><u>Method</u></strong>: Griddle-cooked
<strong><u>Toppings</u></strong>: Sauerkraut and mustard
<strong><u>The Spot</u></strong>: <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/katzs-delicatessen?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Katz's Delicatessen</strong></a>
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> ? Thegluttony.com
Bonanza Dog (Oyster Bay, NY)
<a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/bonanzas-chil-and-cheese-doused-dogs?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Bonanza's</strong></a> may not be a regional style, but the Oyster Bay, Long Island hot dog and Italian ice joint knows how to pile on fun toppings. They make hot dogs the way you'd have made them for yourself when you were a kid, if someone had let you. Tangy, spicy, vinegary, salty, chili, cheese, ketchup and slices of fresh jalape?o -- toppings are piled so high that you'll have trouble finding a way to eat it all in one go without spilling all over the sidewalk.
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> ? Arthur Bovino
This is great if you're watching your waistline and even if you're not?Google has added very specific nutritional information to search. Whether you want to know how many carbs are in an apple to how much sodium is in a bowl of miso soup, it will give you an exact answer.
Your queries can be everything from very specific questions to more general searches. Want to know how if there's protein in granola? Go ahead and ask. Need to hear about the nutritional value of corn? Search corn. It doesn't look like you can get information specific to restaurants yet, but data will be available for more than 1,000 different edibles. Google says the feature is rolling out gradually, and we're not seeing it yet, but it's something we'll be very glad to have. Nutritional information can be hard to interpret, so it's nice to see it coming our way in an easy to digest form. [Google]
<strong><u>Dog</u></strong>: <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/wendys-new-burger-worlds-largest-bratwust-and-other-news-weekend?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Bratwurst</strong></a> (large, white, pork-based hot dog), preferably Usinger's
<strong><u>Bun</u></strong>: A brat bun (Milwaukee) or hard-roll (Sheboygan)
<strong><u>Method</u></strong>: Simmered with onions in beer and finished off on a charcoal grill
<strong><u>Toppings</u></strong>: Onions; Brats are cooked with and finished off with brown or Dijon mustard, never yellow.
<strong><u>The Spot</u></strong>: State Street Brats and Lambeau Field's parking lot a few hours before a Packers game.
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/somenametoforget/" target="_hplink"><strong>? Flickr/somenametoforget</strong></a>
Cheese Coney (Cincinnati, Ohio)
<strong><u>Dog</u></strong>: <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/sonics-spices-menu?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Pork or beef hot dog</strong></a>
<strong><u>Bun</u></strong>: Steamed
<strong><u>Method</u></strong>: Boiled or grilled
<strong><u>Toppings</u></strong>: Mustard, diced onions, Cincinnati-style chili and a mound of shredded Cheddar
<strong><u>The Spot</u></strong>: Skyline
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ataradrac/" target="_hplink"><strong>? Flickr/Sarah-Braun</strong></a>
Chicago-Style Dogs (Chicago)
<strong><u>Dog</u></strong>: All-beef frank, <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/chicagos-wieners-circle-1?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>traditionally Vienna Beef</strong></a>
<strong><u>Bun</u></strong>: Doughy poppy-seed bun
<strong><u>Method</u></strong>: Boiled or grilled
<strong><u>Toppings</u></strong>: Yellow mustard, sport peppers, tomatoes, a pickle spear, onions, bright green relish, celery salt and absolutely no ketchup
<strong><u>The Spot</u></strong>: What a question. Superdawg, Wolfy's, Wiener's Circle, Murphy's, Hot Doug's, Portillo's and many more. The more interesting question is who makes Chicago's worst hot dogs, and how much better are they than New York's?
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> ? Arthur Bovino
Hot Doug's Foie Gras Dog (Chicago)
While not a regional style, the foie gras dog at Hot Doug's does deserve mention among the country's iconic hot dogs. Doug Sohn, the owner of Hot Doug's, created this "celebrity" dog in 2006 to flout the ban pushed by <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/chef-bios-charlie-trotter?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Chicago chef Charlie Trotter</strong></a> and Alderman Joe Moore. The ban was repealed in 2008, but the foie gras dog is still on the menu.
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> ? Arthur Bovino
Coney I-Lander (Tulsa, Okla.)
<strong><u>Dog</u></strong>: Mini pork dogs
<strong><u>Bun</u></strong>: Mini steamed buns
<strong><u>Method</u></strong>: Slow-grilled
<strong><u>Toppings</u></strong>: Shredded cheese, chili, onions and mustard
<strong><u>The Spot</u></strong>: <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/coney-i-lander" target="_hplink"><strong>The Coney I-Lander mini-chain</strong></a>
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
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<em>Photo Credit:</em> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/greyhawk68/" target="_hplink"><strong>? Flickr/Greyhawk68</strong></a>
Coney Island Dog (Detroit, Mich.)
<strong><u>Dog</u></strong>: An all-natural beef hot dog with natural casing
<strong><u>Bun</u></strong>: Steamed
<strong><u>Method</u></strong>: Grilled
<strong><u>Toppings and the Spot</u></strong>: Detroit-Style ("wet") means beanless chili with beef hearts, yellow onions and mustard. The place for it? <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/lafayette-coney-island?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Lafayette Coney Island</strong></a>. Flint-Style ("dry") means chili, diced yellow onions and mustard. The spot? Lipuma Coney Island.
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/melaniewong/" target="_hplink"><strong>? Flickr/mswine</strong></a>
The Half-Smoke (Washington, D.C.)
<strong><u>Dog</u></strong>: Beef or pork dog, or a combination of the two.
<strong><u>Bun</u></strong>: Grilled
<strong><u>Method</u></strong>: Griddle-cooked
<strong><u>Toppings</u></strong>: With or without chili, and sometimes onion and mustard
<strong><u>The Spot</u></strong>: <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dogs-not-just-lips-and-aholes-anymore?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Ben's Chili Bowl</strong></a>
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/scubaman/" target="_hplink"><strong>? Flickr/theblackdog</strong></a>
Italian-Style Hot Dog (New Jersey)
<strong><u>Dog</u></strong>: One or two all-beef dogs
<strong><u>Bun</u></strong>: Half a giant Italian-roll
<strong><u>Method</u></strong>: Griddle-cooked
<strong><u>Toppings</u></strong>: Fried peppers, potatoes and onions
<strong><u>The Spot</u></strong>: <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/jimmy-buffs-italian-hot-dogs?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Jimmy Buff's</strong></a>
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> ? SimpleRecipes
Hungarian Hot Dog (Toledo, Ohio)
<strong><u>Dog</u></strong>: Pork sausage
<strong><u>Bun</u></strong>: Toasted rye-bread
<strong><u>Method</u></strong>: Grilled
<strong><u>Toppings</u></strong>: Chili-sauce
<strong><u>The Spot</u></strong>: <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/packos-tony?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Tony Packos</strong></a>
<strong><u>Special Note</u></strong>: If you're famous and want to represent, sign a bun. They'll frame it and hang it there.
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/whizchickenonabun/" target="_hplink"><strong>? Flickr/whizchickenonabun</strong></a>
Michigan Hot Dog (Montreal and Quebec, Canada)
<strong><u>Dog</u></strong>: Pork or beef hot dog
<strong><u>Bun</u></strong>: Steamed
<strong><u>Method</u></strong>: Griddle-cooked
<strong><u>Toppings</u></strong>: Spaghetti sauce
<strong><u>The Spot</u></strong>: <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/fast-food-you-cant-find-america-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>The Quebecois Lafleur Restaurant chain</strong></a>
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wiless/" target="_hplink"><strong>? Flickr/Will S.</strong></a>
Michigan Hot Dog (Upstate New York)
<strong><u>Dog</u></strong>: All-beef natural casing, usually Zweigle's
<strong><u>Bun</u></strong>: Buttered and crustless Frankfurt bun
<strong><u>Method</u></strong>: Grilled
<strong><u>Toppings</u></strong>: Meat-based "Michigan-sauce," mustard and onions
<strong><u>The Spot</u></strong>: <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/mc-sweeneys-red-hots?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Mc Sweeney's Red Hots</strong></a>
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> ? Farkleberries.com/Lenka
North Carolina Slaw Dog (North Carolina)
<strong><u>Dog</u></strong>: Red-hots, all-beef natural casing
<strong><u>Bun</u></strong>: Griddle-cooked
<strong><u>Method</u></strong>: Griddle-cooked
<strong><u>Toppings</u></strong>: The slaw topping is tinged red with a vinegary BBQ sauce. Mustard and chili, optional.
<strong><u>The Spot</u></strong>: <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/10-chain-restaurants-worth-visiting-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Slaw Dogs</strong></a> can be found throughout the South.
<strong><u>Special Note</u></strong>: West Virginians lay claim to originating the Slaw Dog, but it's North Carolina where this variation has taken on a bolder hue.
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> Troutunderground.com
New York City Dog (Vendor-Style, "Dirty Water", New York City)
<strong><u>Dog</u></strong>: All-beef dog in natural casing, preferably Nathan's or Sabrett's
<strong><u>Bun</u></strong>: Steamed
<strong><u>Method</u></strong>: Boiled or Griddle-cooked
<strong><u>Toppings</u></strong>: Sweet Sabrett's "onions," mustard, kraut and ketchup
The Spot: Every other corner in Manhattan, <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/grays-papaya-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Gray's Papaya</strong></a> and Papaya King take-out joints
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/churl/" target="_hplink"><strong>? Flickr/churl</strong></a>
New York City Dog (Deli-Style, New York City)
<strong><u>Dog</u></strong>: Kosher all-beef
<strong><u>Bun</u></strong>: Griddle-cooked
<strong><u>Method</u></strong>: Griddle-cooked
<strong><u>Toppings</u></strong>: Sauerkraut and mustard
<strong><u>The Spot</u></strong>: <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/katzs-delicatessen?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Katz's Delicatessen</strong></a>
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> ? Thegluttony.com
Bonanza Dog (Oyster Bay, NY)
<a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/bonanzas-chil-and-cheese-doused-dogs?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Bonanza's</strong></a> may not be a regional style, but the Oyster Bay, Long Island hot dog and Italian ice joint knows how to pile on fun toppings. They make hot dogs the way you'd have made them for yourself when you were a kid, if someone had let you. Tangy, spicy, vinegary, salty, chili, cheese, ketchup and slices of fresh jalape?o -- toppings are piled so high that you'll have trouble finding a way to eat it all in one go without spilling all over the sidewalk.
<em>Related:</em> <a href="http://www.thedailymeal.com/hot-dog-nation-slideshow-0?utm_source=huffington%2Bpost&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=regional%2Bhot%2Bdogs" target="_hplink"><strong>Click here for the 33 Best Hot Dogs Around the Country</strong></a>
<em>Photo Credit:</em> ? Arthur Bovino
NEW YORK (AP) ? CBS says Neil Patrick Harris is hosting the Emmys again.
It's the second go-around for the TV, film and stage star. He last did the honors at the "Prime Time Emmy Awards" in 2009.
CBS will air the Emmycast live from Los Angeles on Sept. 22.
But for viewers who just can't wait to see Harris in emcee mode, he'll preside over "The 67th Annual Tony Awards" on CBS on June 9. It's Harris' fourth time hosting that show, which salutes the best of Broadway.
Harris currently stars on the hit CBS sitcom "How I Met Your Mother."
May 30, 2013 ? Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology (UNIST) has demonstrated that a live rabbit could wear contact lenses fitted with inorganic light-emitting diode with no side effects. This new class of hybrid transparent and stretchable electrode paves the way for flexible displays, solar cells, and electronics.
The scientists have combined graphene with silver nanowires to form a thin, transparent and stretchable electrode which overcome the weaknesses of each individual material, resulting in a new class of electrodes with widespread possible applications including picture taking and scanning using soft contact lenses.
Transparent electrodes have been widely used in things like touch screens, flat-screen TVs, solar cells and light-emitting devices. Commonly made from indium tin oxide(ITO), it is brittle and cracks thus losing functionality if flexed. It also degrades over time, and is expensive due to the limited quantities of indium metal.
As an alternative, the networks of randomly distributed mNWs have been considered as promising candidates for next-generation transparent electrodes, due to their low-cost, high-speed fabrication of transparent electrodes. However, the number of disadvantages of the mNW networks limited their integration into commercial devices. They have low breakdown voltage, typically high NW-NW junction resistance, high contact resistance between network and active materials, material instability and poor adhesion to plastic substrates.
Graphene is also well known as good a candidate for transparent electrode because of their unique electrical properties and high mechanical flexibility. However, scalable graphene synthesis methods for commercialization produces lower quality graphene with individual segments called grains which increases the electrical resistance at boundaries between these grains.
Silver nanowires, on the other hand, have high resistance because they are randomly oriented like a jumble of toothpicks facing in different directions. In this random orientation, there are many contact between nanowires, resulting in high resistance due to large junction resistance of nanowires. Due to these drawbacks, neither is good for conducting electricity, but a hybrid structure, combined from two materials, is.
The hybrid material presents a high electrical and optical performance with mechanical flexibility and stretchability for flexible electronics. The hybrid transparent electrode has a low "sheet resistance" and high transmittance. There's almost no change in its resistance when bent and folded. Where the ITO is bent, its resistance increases significantly. Additionally the hybrid material preserve its electrical and optical properties against thermal oxidation condition
The graphene-mNW hybrid structure developed by the UNIST research team is a new class of electrodes and may soon find use in a variety of other applications. The research team demonstrated Inorganic light-emitting diode (ILED) devices fitted on a soft eye contact lens using the transparent, stretchable interconnects of the hybrid electrodes as an application example.
As an in vivo study, this contact lens was worn by a live rabbit eye for five hours and no abnormal behavior, such as bloodshot eye or the rubbing of eye areas were observed in the live rabbit. Wearing eye contact lenses, picture-taking and scanning, is not science fiction anymore.
The research was led by Jang-Ung Park, professor of the School of Nano-Bioscience and Chemical Engineering at UNIST. "We believe the hybridization between two-dimensional and one-dimensional nanomaterials presents a promising strategy toward flexible, wearable electronics and implantable biosensor devices, and indicate the substantial promise of future electronics," said Prof. Park.
Tapbots' Tweetbot for Mac already has a reputation as the desktop Twitter client for media hounds, but a just-posted 1.3 update should make that especially clear. Like its iOS counterpart, the Mac app gains a dedicated media timeline: start a search and you can spotlight only photos and videos. There are a few perks for the vain among us, too. Tweetbot now supports profile cover images, and a redesigned tweet layout shows the counts for those inevitable favorites and retweets. So long as $20 isn't too much to pay for a dedicated social networking tool, 1.3's greater media savviness is waiting at the Mac App Store.
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? The Kings' seven-game series with the Sharks came down to another tense third period, with the home team clinging to another one-goal lead. Two teams with tiny differences were one or two mistakes away from the Western Conference finals or summertime.
Jonathan Quick hardly ever makes mistakes in the postseason, and that's the biggest reason Los Angeles' Stanley Cup title defense is still rolling.
Justin Williams scored two goals in the second period, Quick made 25 saves in his latest dominant playoff performance and the Kings advanced with a 2-1 victory over San Jose in Game 7 on Tuesday night.
Seven games over 15 days only served to underline the similarities between these Pacific Division powers, but the indomitable goalie in the Kings' net wouldn't allow the Sharks to equalize in the final minutes. The defending champs finished off this agonizingly even series with their 14th consecutive home victory over the past two months, including seven straight in the postseason.
"Jonathan Quick is just a fantastic goalie," Sharks captain Joe Thornton said.
Quick and his teammates barely held off the Sharks in the frantic final minutes after Dan Boyle's goal early in the third. Quick showed off his Conn Smythe Trophy form yet again, capped by an astonishing glove save on Joe Pavelski's chance at an open net with 5:04 left, to finish the seven-game series by allowing just 10 goals.
"We're going to play every game like this, no matter what," said Quick, who leads the league in postseason goals-against average (1.50) and save percentage (.948). "It doesn't matter how many games it takes, especially against that team. We're fortunate to move forward."
The Kings will face Chicago or Detroit when they attempt to reach the Stanley Cup finals for the third time. The Blackhawks will host the Red Wings in Game 7 on Wednesday night.
Quick couldn't do it all by himself, and he got help from a familiar big-game source: Williams scored on a power-play tap-in and a one-timer, putting the Kings on top to stay. The veteran wing came in with an eight-game goal-scoring drought, but the two-time Stanley Cup winner has scored nine points in his four career appearances in a Game 7.
"I certainly enjoy pressure situations," said Williams, whose goals came 2:57 apart. "I know everyone in this dressing room does. We pride ourselves on being a team that, push comes to shove, we're going to get it done. We've been through it before, and we know we can do it."
The home team won all seven games in the series, as did the team that scored first. The fifth-seeded Kings barely rode their home-ice advantage to victory in their first potential elimination game in the last two years.
"They were as good as us," Los Angeles coach Darryl Sutter said. "We just scored."
Antti Niemi stopped 16 shots for the Sharks, who fell just short of their third trip to the conference finals in four years. Even during a year of roster turnover and significant change, sixth-seeded San Jose remained a serious contender in its ninth straight playoff appearance.
"We thought we could come in here and steal a game," Thornton said. "We were just having so much fun. It's disappointing that it has to end, because we were really enjoying this. It's a tough way to finish."
Los Angeles has won eight straight home playoff games, dating to last season's Stanley Cup clincher, but this one might have been the toughest. San Jose pressed the action throughout the third period after Williams' back-to-back goals put the Sharks in a mid-game hole, but Quick and the Kings' defense hung on for a win in Los Angeles' first Game 7 at home since 1989.
"We had a bunch of chances in the third," Sharks forward Logan Couture said. "That's what teams do when they move on: They score on those chances they get. They did it, and we didn't."
After a scoreless first period in Game 7, featuring plenty of near-miss chances but just eight combined shots, the Sharks again came out aggressively in the second. San Jose held the Kings without a shot for nearly 19 consecutive minutes.
But the Kings finally broke through after San Jose's Brent Burns took an interference penalty near Los Angeles' net. Williams got the puck to the post and hacked at it until it slid behind Niemi for his first goal since Game 4 of the first round.
Williams, who had just two assists in the previous eight games, has been candid about his line's offensive struggles during this postseason, saying the Kings' top scorers had to get better for Los Angeles to advance. So he did it again 2:57 later, taking a cross-ice pass from Anze Kopitar and beating Niemi from short range with a one-timer.
Niemi kept the Sharks in it with two stunning saves, preventing a natural hat trick by Williams several minutes before stopping Brad Richardson's one-timer. Niemi made another enormous save during 4-on-4 play early in the third, stopping Jeff Carter on a breakaway.
Boyle ended Quick's bid for his third shutout of the series with a long shot through traffic with 14:34 to play, giving the defenseman his third goal of the postseason.
"We probably made one more mistake than they did, and we couldn't find a way to get another puck by Quick," McLellan said. "We would love to go back and play Game 2 over again, the last four or five minutes. That's probably one that we needed and didn't get."
The Sharks missed either team's best chance to win a road game 12 days earlier, giving up two power-play goals in the final minutes of a 4-3 loss in Game 2. The clubs were similarly equal in the regular season, when the Kings' 3-2 home victory over San Jose in the finale pushed fifth-seeded Los Angeles ahead of the Sharks.
That eventually led to the Kings starting a playoff series at home for the first time since 1992, but the uncanny home-ice advantage held: The home team has won 16 of these California rivals' 17 meetings in the past two seasons.
With one more postseason test, the Kings passed.
"It comes from the hunger of winning one and having that drive for another one," Williams said. "You don't want anyone else to raise the Cup but you."
NOTES: San Jose kept its lineup from Game 6, while Los Angeles replaced fourth-liner Jordan Nolan with rookie Tyler Toffoli. Hobbling Sharks F Marty Havlat missed the final four games of the series and six of seven overall, playing only 4:52 in Game 3. ... Kings C Jarret Stoll missed his sixth straight game with an apparent concussion after an illegal hit in Game 1 by Sharks F Raffi Torres, who was suspended for the rest of the series. Stoll, who has been skating outside practice lately, is Los Angeles' third-line center and a key contributor on penalty-killing and faceoffs. ... The Kings hadn't hosted a Game 7 since Wayne Gretzky had a hat trick to beat the Edmonton Oilers in 1989 at the Forum.
A new biosensing tool puts the power of a high tech laboratory in the pockets of researchers in the field. This iPhone-enabled device could be used in pop-up clinics, waste management sites, refugee camps and anywhere else the mobile testing of biological materials such as blood is necessary.
Developed by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the tool consists of an iPhone cradle and an accompanying app. Although the cradle only holds about $200 worth of optical components, it performs as accurately as a $50,000 spectrophotometer.
The wedge-shaped cradle keeps the iPhone's camera aligned with a series of lenses and filaments, which are used to measure light. And at the heart of the device's biosensing capabilities is a simple microscope slide coated with a photonic material, which reflects only one wavelength of light and allows the rest of the spectrum to pass through the slide.
When a biological substance ? like protein or DNA ? attaches itself to the photonic crystal slide, the color that is reflected will shift from a shorter to longer wavelength. The size of this shift depends on the amount of the substance present on the slide.
So to test for the presence of a protein, for example, researchers would first prime the slide with the protein they want to test for, insert the slide into the cradle and then use the app to measure the length of the protein's reflected wavelength. This gives them a base measurement.
They can then expose the slide to a field sample containing the protein and remeasure the wavelength. The shift in the reflected wavelength tells the researchers how much of the protein is present in the sample.
The test takes only a few minutes to complete, and the app walks the user through the entire process. This means that samples that once had to be sent back to a lab for analysis can now be tested on-the-spot in a matter of minutes.
Researchers have high hopes for this device as a viable option for doctors, nurses, scientists and others in need of efficient, affordable biological testing on the go. They think it could be particularly useful in developing countries, where resources are limited and laboratories are scarce.
With help from the iPhone's GPS tool, the device could even be used to track groundwater contamination, map the spread of pathogens or monitor contaminant checks in the food processing and distribution chain, according to researchers.
"We're interested in biodetection that needs to be performed outside of the laboratory," said Brian Cunningham, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Illinois. "Smartphones are making a big impact on our society- the way we get our information, the way we communicate. And they have really powerful computing capability and imaging."
The team is now working on a similar cradle and app solution to provide mobile testing on Android devices.
And a recent grant from the National Science Foundation is enabling researchers to expand the range of biological experiments that can be performed with the tool, including tests that will detect toxins in harvested corn and soybeans, as well as tests to detect pathogens in food and water.
The use of smartphones as a platform for detecting environmental phenomena seems to be a growing trend, not only among researchers, but consumers as well.
In the past year, a number of smartphone-enabled tools and accompanying apps have come on the market that measure everything from the "organic-ness" of fruits to the temperature of soil in a vegetable garden.
Lapka, an iPhone device that includes a Geiger counter and electromagnetic sensors, is marketed as a tool for better understanding and exploring the environment. This high tech toy is turning heads as it takes science out of the lab and puts it in the hands of the everyday consumer.
Cunningham and his team believe that their device can also be used by individuals, not for analyzing their personal space, but for monitoring their health.
"A lot of medical conditions might be monitored very inexpensively and non-invasively using mobile platforms like phones," said Cunningham. "[Smartphones] can detect a lot of things, like pathogens, disease biomarkers or DNA, things that are currently only done in big diagnostic labs with lots of expense and large volumes of blood."
One such possible application, according to researchers, is testing children and pregnant women for Vitamin A and iron deficiencies.
This story was provided by TechNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience. Email asklizzyp@gmail.com?or follow her?@techEpalermo. Follow us @TechNewsDaily, on Facebook or on?Google+.
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Remember Me is an upcoming Capcom release that will combine platforming, exploration, stealth, plus lots of punching and kicking. Sounds like countless other games out there, right? Right.
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But it?s all in the details, as the saying goes. And it would appear that the first game to hail from Paris based Dontnod Entertainment, a new studio formed by individuals who worked on Rainbow 6, Splinter Cell, and Heavy Rain, is culmination of those aforementioned titles, of all the lessons learned, with a heavy sci-fi sheen laid on top.
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What?s Remember Me all about? Well,it is the year 2084 (one hundred years removed from 1984, which is no coincidence, I was told by a Capcom rep) and memories appears to be as precious as gold, perhaps more so. So much so that there are individuals who are dedicated to the art of stealing and altering memories.
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You play as one such person, Nilin, a former agent employed by MEMORIZE, the Big Brother of Remember Me. The demo I was able to test drive kicked off not long after the game?s beginning, where she awakens in the slums of Paris, where memories junkies fight over scraps of pleasant thoughts (I think).
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Nilin, quite appropriately enough, has had her memory wiped out, but thankfully you have some mysterious fellow passing along instructions, to help get one started. After learning the basics of combat, the demo required me to follow one of the underground denizens across town.
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On a purely surface level, Remember Me was visually pleasing, despite the fact that the parts I traversed were designed to be ugly. Its rendition of Paris was that of a city that was once the cradle of art and culture, now ravaged by technology and politics. One that was also quite dark and confusing, hence they liberal use directions to help Nilin on the right track. It?s clear that Dontnod Entertainment loves type, with the aforementioned instructions presented in big and bold blocks of text, bathed in white and orange. Remember Me is quite future stylish, albeit not in the most original of ways.
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Though dark corners and sans-serif fonts aside, the heart of the game is running around and climbing, which feels a lot like Uncharted, as well as melee combat, which is reminiscent of quite a few other games on the market today, pretty much insert any name you can think of here, except with one significant twist: customization. This is achieved via the Combo Lab.
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Like many similar games, you learn new moves as you play, but Remember Me allows you to create you own combos, called Pressens, by collecting the building blocks, called Procedural Mastering Power. The basic concept is that Nilin already knows these moves, and you?re simply unlocking them as you go along. Makes sense. There are different types of Pressens, and the most intriguing thing is how the elements can be combined. For example, a Power Pressen is a combo that combines various different movies and ends with a flashy finish. You also have a Regen Pressen, which doesn?t do much damage, but have regenerative qualities, if completed successfully.
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With some tinkering around in the Combo Lab, I was able to create a string that both dished a significant amount of damage and also gave myself a little health. Though, not surprisingly, the button combination that brings everything together was hard to pull off; the combat is heavily reliant upon timing and not just pure button mashing. I was only able to pull of this super mega awesome combo 2 out of the 10 times.
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The idea of a completely customized combo sounds great, and it?s even better once one has been finally crafted. But the middle part is where I had problems with Remember Me. It?s a bit ironic how a game that places such importance on customization plus sexy, clear graphic design, is not able to get the two ideals talking.
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The Combo Lab was somewhat of a chore to create combos, and I needed to be walked through the process quite heavily by the rep. There is a genuine fear that many casual players will become frustrated by the process of creating something truly unique and simply follow the onscreen prompts to create something basic. Then again, perhaps hardcore players will have no problem in the end, and maybe regular folk as well, after enough time has been spent learning the nuances of the interface. Admittedly, my time with Remember Me was quite fleeting.
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Remember Me comes out soon, very soon. June 4 in North America to be exact.
Video game stories from other sites on the web. These links leave Siliconera.
President Obama hailed the nation's fallen service members in a Memorial Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, in which he noted that the war in Afghanistan was winding down but not over.
"Fewer Americans are making the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan, and that?s progress for which we are profoundly grateful," Obama said Monday. "And this time next year, we will mark the final Memorial Day of our war in Afghanistan.
"But even as we turn the page on a decade of conflict, even as we look forward, let us never forget, as we gather here today, that our nation is still at war."
As of Friday, 2,093 U.S. troops had died in more than a decade of war in Afghanistan, according to Pentagon figures. More than 4,400 American troops died in the Iraq conflict, which Obama declared concluded in December 2011.
That shift was reflected in the fallen troops Obama chose to honor during the Arlington ceremony, which was attended by First Lady Michelle Obama, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, Joint Chiefs of Staff?Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey, and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki.
At last year's event, Obama focused on service members who died in Iraq. This year, Obama praised and spoke briefly about ?Army Capt. Sara Cullen, Army Staff Sgt. Frankie Phillips and Marine Staff Sgt. Eric Christian, all of whom died in Afghanistan.
"Today, just steps from where these brave Americans lie in eternal peace, we declare, as a proud and grateful nation, that their sacrifice will never be forgotten," Obama said. "And just as we honor them, we hold their families close."
Obama, who greeted mourners at the cemetery after his remarks, also marked the 60th anniversary of the end of the fighting in the Korean War. More than 54,000 U.S. service members died in that conflict, which is not officially over.
The president also urged Americans to remember the fighting still underway in Afghanistan, where more than 60,000 U.S. troops remain.
"Not all Americans may always see or fully grasp the depth of sacrifice, the profound costs that are made in our name -- right now, as we speak, every day," Obama said. "Our troops and our military families understand this, and they mention to me their concern about whether the country fully appreciates what?s happening."
He concluded: "Let us never forget to always remember and to be worthy of the sacrifice they make in our name."
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Spine function improves following cell replacement therapy with fetal human stem cellsPublic release date: 27-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Hilary Glover hilary.glover@biomedcentral.com 44-020-319-22370 BioMed Central
Human foetal stem cell grafts improve both motor and sensory functions in rats suffering from a spinal cord injury, according to research published this week in BioMed Central's open access journal Stem Cell Research and Therapy. This cell replacement therapy also improves the structural integrity of the spine, providing a functional relay through the injury site. The research gives hope for the treatment of spinal cord injuries in humans.
Grafting human neural stem cells into the spine is a promising approach to promote the recovery of function after spinal injury. Sebastian van Gorp, from the University of California San Diego, and team's work looks specifically at the effect of intraspinal grafting of human foetal spinal cord-derived neural stem cells on the recovery of neurological function in a rats with acute lumbar compression injuries.
A total of 42 three month-old female Sprague-Dawley rats, with spinal compression injuries, were allocated to one of three groups. The rats in the first group received a spinal injection with the stem cells, those in the second group received a placebo injection, while those in the third group received no injection.
Treatment effectiveness was assessed by a combination of measures, including motor and sensory function tests, presence of muscle spasticity and rigidity which causes stiffness and limits residual movement. The team also evaluated of how well the grafted cells had integrated into the rodents' spines.
Gorp and colleagues found that, compared to rats who received either the placebo injection or no injection, those who received the stem cell grafts showed a progressive and significant improvement in gait/paw placement, reduced muscle spasticity as well as improved sensitivity to both mechanical and thermal stimuli. In addition to these behavioural benefits, the researchers observed long-term improvements in the structural integrity of previously injured spinal cord segments.
The authors say: "Importantly, spinal cavity formation and muscle spasticity are frequently observed in human patients with high-speed, high-impact induced spinal cord injuries. Our findings demonstrate that human foetal spinal cord-derived neural stem cells, with an already established favorable clinical safety profile, represent a potential cell candidate for cell replacement therapy in patients with traumatic spinal injuries."
###
Media Contact
Dr Hilary Glover
Scientific Press Officer, BioMed Central
Mob: +44 (0) 778 698 1967
Notes to Editors
1. Amelioration of motor/sensory dysfunction and spasticity in a rat model of acute lumbar spinal cord injury by human neural stem cell transplantation
Sebastiaan van Gorp, Marjolein Leerink, Osamu Kakinohana, Oleksandr Platoshyn, Camila Santucci, Jan Galik, Elbert A Joosten, Marian Hruska-Plochan, Danielle Goldberg, Silvia Marsala, Karl Johe, Joseph D Ciacci and Martin Marsala
Stem Cell Research & Therapy 2013 4:57
Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central's open access policy.
2. Stem Cell Research & Therapy is the major forum for translational research into stem cell therapies. An international peer-reviewed journal, it publishes high quality open access research articles with a special emphasis on basic, translational and clinical research into stem cell therapeutics and regenerative therapies, including animal models and clinical trials. The journal also provides reviews, viewpoints, commentaries and reports.
3. BioMed Central is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector. @BioMedCentral
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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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.
Spine function improves following cell replacement therapy with fetal human stem cellsPublic release date: 27-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Hilary Glover hilary.glover@biomedcentral.com 44-020-319-22370 BioMed Central
Human foetal stem cell grafts improve both motor and sensory functions in rats suffering from a spinal cord injury, according to research published this week in BioMed Central's open access journal Stem Cell Research and Therapy. This cell replacement therapy also improves the structural integrity of the spine, providing a functional relay through the injury site. The research gives hope for the treatment of spinal cord injuries in humans.
Grafting human neural stem cells into the spine is a promising approach to promote the recovery of function after spinal injury. Sebastian van Gorp, from the University of California San Diego, and team's work looks specifically at the effect of intraspinal grafting of human foetal spinal cord-derived neural stem cells on the recovery of neurological function in a rats with acute lumbar compression injuries.
A total of 42 three month-old female Sprague-Dawley rats, with spinal compression injuries, were allocated to one of three groups. The rats in the first group received a spinal injection with the stem cells, those in the second group received a placebo injection, while those in the third group received no injection.
Treatment effectiveness was assessed by a combination of measures, including motor and sensory function tests, presence of muscle spasticity and rigidity which causes stiffness and limits residual movement. The team also evaluated of how well the grafted cells had integrated into the rodents' spines.
Gorp and colleagues found that, compared to rats who received either the placebo injection or no injection, those who received the stem cell grafts showed a progressive and significant improvement in gait/paw placement, reduced muscle spasticity as well as improved sensitivity to both mechanical and thermal stimuli. In addition to these behavioural benefits, the researchers observed long-term improvements in the structural integrity of previously injured spinal cord segments.
The authors say: "Importantly, spinal cavity formation and muscle spasticity are frequently observed in human patients with high-speed, high-impact induced spinal cord injuries. Our findings demonstrate that human foetal spinal cord-derived neural stem cells, with an already established favorable clinical safety profile, represent a potential cell candidate for cell replacement therapy in patients with traumatic spinal injuries."
###
Media Contact
Dr Hilary Glover
Scientific Press Officer, BioMed Central
Mob: +44 (0) 778 698 1967
Notes to Editors
1. Amelioration of motor/sensory dysfunction and spasticity in a rat model of acute lumbar spinal cord injury by human neural stem cell transplantation
Sebastiaan van Gorp, Marjolein Leerink, Osamu Kakinohana, Oleksandr Platoshyn, Camila Santucci, Jan Galik, Elbert A Joosten, Marian Hruska-Plochan, Danielle Goldberg, Silvia Marsala, Karl Johe, Joseph D Ciacci and Martin Marsala
Stem Cell Research & Therapy 2013 4:57
Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central's open access policy.
2. Stem Cell Research & Therapy is the major forum for translational research into stem cell therapies. An international peer-reviewed journal, it publishes high quality open access research articles with a special emphasis on basic, translational and clinical research into stem cell therapeutics and regenerative therapies, including animal models and clinical trials. The journal also provides reviews, viewpoints, commentaries and reports.
3. BioMed Central is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector. @BioMedCentral
[ | 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: 27-May-2013
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