Weaver ants help flowers get the best pollinator

MOST flowers don't want pesky ants hanging around scaring away would-be pollinators. Not so the Singapore rhododendron - the first flower found to recruit ants to chase poor pollinators away.

Francisco Gonzálvez at EEZA, the arid zone experimental station in Almeria, Spain, and colleagues studied flowers frequented by large carpenter bees (Xylocopa) and a much smaller solitary bee, Nomia. The larger bees seemed to be better pollinators - setting far more fruit than the smaller bees.

The team found that Nomia avoided plants with weaver ant patrols, and when they did dare to land, were chased away or ambushed by the ants. Being so much bigger, carpenter bees weren't troubled by the ants (Journal of Ecology, DOI:10.1111/1365-2745.12006).

Plants usually produce chemical repellents to scare off insects that prey on their pollinators. But lab tests suggested Gonzálvez's flowers were actively attracting weaver ants, although how remains a mystery. The team thinks carpenter bees choose flowers with ants so they don't have to compete with Nomia.

Michael Kaspari of the University of Oklahoma in Norman says this is a new kind of plant-ant interaction, and that the team makes a "strong case" for the rhododendron manipulating the behaviour of weaver ants to ward off inefficient pollinators.

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Big plans to make comeback in post-crisis Dubai

DUBAI: Dubai is back in the business of unveiling mega projects, three years after a severe financial crisis crippled its booming property sector, but doubts still linger over finance and feasibility.

Just as the economy in the glitzy city-state begins to look promising, despite a large debt burden dating back to the years when growth appeared endless, Dubai has once again set its sights on building superlatives.

"We do not anticipate the future. We build it," Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, architect of its meteoric rise into a regional tourism and services hub, boasted last week as he unveiled plans to build a "city" carrying his name.

Among the attractions of the new mega plan is a mall touted to be the largest in the world, not far from what is already the world's largest shopping and entertainment destination, the Dubai Mall.

Mohammed bin Rashid City will sprawl over a large swathe of the emirate's desert and have gardens 30 per cent larger than London's Hyde Park, in addition to 100 hotels, and a Universal Studios theme park.

No price tag was attached to the project which is to be developed by the ruler's Dubai Holding conglomerate and Emaar, which built Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest tower.

This week, Dubai also announced a 10 billion dirham (US$2.7 billion) leisure centre and theme parks.

Dubai appears keen to capitalise on its growing tourism sector which it said is expanding 13 per cent a year, with hotel occupancy rate hitting 82 per cent last year.

Sheikh Mohammed said the emirate must stay ahead of expanding demand and match its ambitions.

"The current facilities available in Dubai need to be scaled up in line with the future ambitions for the city," he said, highlighting a constant rise in tourism and the business of hosting forums and exhibitions.

"A large part of these projects are linked to expanding Dubai's capacity in core sectors with comparative advantage, such as tourism, which is positive," said Monica Malik, chief economist at EFG-Hermes investment bank in Dubai.

But the source of funding for such grandiose projects remains vague.

"We do have our own resources and way to finance... We are sure that these projects will be achieved," the Arabian Business online magazine quoted Hani al-Hamli, Dubai Economic Council secretary general, as saying.

Beyond general assurances, Dubai continues to deal with the burden of maturing debt, after it racked US$113 billion in borrowings during years of extensive investments, with US$9.8 billion reportedly coming due next year and US$3 billion in 2014.

"Banks remain wary about lending to real estate developments at a time when they still have to make major provisions against non-performing real estate loans from the last development boom," said real estate consultancy firm Jones Lang LaSalle in a statement on Thursday.

However, "the fact that these projects have long-term time lines is positive as they can be developed alongside demand, both domestically and internationally, so as not to build overcapacity," Malik told AFP.

"The funding of these plans is important and should be matched with revenue growth potential," she added.

Dubai's economy contracted 2.4 per cent in 2009 when it rattled global markets over its debt crisis before receiving a US$10-billion bailout from Abu Dhabi, its oil-rich partner in the Emirates, and reaching restructuring deals with lenders.

The economy has since made a comeback, growing 2.8 per cent in 2010, 3.4 per cent in 2011, and 4.1 per cent on an annual basis in the first half of this year, as tourism, trade and transport keep expanding.

But real estate -- a main engine of rapid growth before the crisis -- lags behind other sectors, with growth of just 1.5 per cent in the first six months of 2012.

The sector crashed in 2009 as the global crisis dried up finance and investors walked away from planned projects, many of which were eventually put on hold or cancelled.

"Encouragingly, there are indications that some of the lessons of the last real estate crisis have been learned," said Jones Lang LaSalle.

"The most important of these is the need to adopt a long-term and coordinated approach, rather than developing too much real estate too quickly."

- AFP/xq

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McAfee nabbed? His blog says maybe, following CNN interview

The bizarre real-life potboiler concerning on-the-lam antivirus-software pioneer John McAfee continued today, as -- following a cloak-and-dagger CNN interview with the fugitive -- McAfee's own blog posted an item saying he may have been captured at the Belize-Mexico border.

The item, pictured above and reported earlier by news agency AFP, says little more than that and calls the report of the capture "unconfirmed." We'll update this post -- or link to a new, separate story -- when we know more.

Earlier, CNN managed to track McAfee down for an on-camera interview somewhere in his longtime country of residence, Belize -- where he's in hiding after his neighbor was shot to death. A CNN article accompanying an online video of the interview says its reporter had to provide a secret password and partake in a secret-agent-like, twisting-and-turning
car ride to get to the millionaire turned mystery man.

In the brief interview, which you can check out here, McAfee says, "I will certainly not turn myself in, and I will certainly not quit fighting. I will not stop my blog." He says he'll either get arrested or get away and clarifies that "Get away doesn't mean leave the country. It means they will, No. 1, find the murderer of Mr. Faull and, No. 2, the people of this country -- who are by and large terrified to speak out -- start speaking out,"

McAfee has been on the run since November 12, when his neighbor Gregory Faull was discovered with a bullet in his head. McAfee and Faull had reportedly had run-ins with each other over McAfee's dogs and armed security guards. In an interview with Wired that same day, McAfee said he thought the killers had actually been looking for him and not Faull.

Other aspects of the tale include the fact that the 67-year-old McAfee's home was raided in May and that police said they found multiple unlicensed firearms and McAfee with a 17-year-old girl. They also said he was manufacturing an antibiotic in his home without a license. McAfee's blog provides another unusual twist. Apparently begun about a week after Faull's murder, it includes entries from McAfee himself about his flight. In one such post, McAfee writes that he is traveling with a 20-year-old woman named Samantha, whom he credits with helping to keep him fed, clothed, and in hiding:

"She has also helped me evade detection by grabbing me and kissing me, in public, in a fashion that causes passerby's to feel embarrassment at the thought of staring and by creating emotional scenes that cause the curious to momentarily forget what they were looking for," he wrote. "She is acutely aware of her surroundings and is as street smart as a sober hobo."

Today's CNN report noted that police in Belize have said they don't consider McAfee a suspect in the killing; they want him only for questioning. The news agency also noted that McAfee maintains that his troubles began when he refused to bribe a government official and that he will be killed if he's arrested.

Again, the post on McAfee's whoismcafee.com/The Hinterland blog says the report of McAfee's capture is unconfirmed, so it remains to be seen if it turns out to be true. If nothing else, however, the post adds yet another chapter to this strangely unfolding tale.

Read More..

Photos: Kilauea Lava Reaches the Sea

• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Into the Sea

  Photograph by Hugh Gentry, Reuters

  A spectacular natural phenomenon was on display early this week as lava from a vent in Hawaii's Kilauea volcano flowed into the ocean, sending up plumes of steam as it made contact with the waves.

  Though lava can still be viewed from Kalapana near the Big Island's Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, ocean entry is no longer occurring, according to the National Park Service.

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Sea of Fire

  
  Photograph by Hugh Gentry, Reuters
  

  The lava traveled 7 miles (11 kilometers) from Kilauea’s Pu'u O'o vent to the ocean. When lava reaches the water, it cools and hardens, forming a lava delta that can be dangerous to nearby onlookers, according to Reuters.

  The news service reported that no communities on the Big Island were threatened by the lava flow.

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Volcanic Flare

  
  Photograph by Hugh Gentry, Reuters
  

  A burst of volcanic activity erupts from Kilauea’s crater in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park on November 27.

  The volcano has been erupting continuously for nearly 30 years. No major damage has been suffered by a town since 1986, according to Reuters.

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Fiery Encounter

  Photograph by Hugh Gentry, Reuters

  “Ocean entries are beautiful but dangerous,” said Janet Babb, spokeswoman for the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, in a statement reported by Reuters. She warned that the steam could be more hazardous than it appears.

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Point of Contact

  
  Photograph by Matt Northam, My Shot
  

  A plume of smoke billows where lava from Kilauea meets the sea in this aerial photo taken November 27.

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Photograph by Peter Vancoillie, Your Shot

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  

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Wikileaks Case: Guards Deny Intimidating Manning

(Brendan Smialkowski/AFP/Getty Images)

Bradley Manning’s former guards testified today that they did not intimidate the man accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of classified cables to the anti-secrets website Wikileaks during  a Jan. 18, 2011 incident that resulted in Manning being placed on a temporary suicide risk watch.

Manning’s attorneys cite the event as a key reason why his pre-trial confinement at the Marine brig in Quantico, Va., was unlawful and warrants the dismissal of the charges against him.

Manning faces life imprisonment on charges that he leaked the classified military and diplomatic cables to Wikileaks.  Details of those charges will come at a trial scheduled for February and are not being discussed at this week’s hearing, which is focused on his nine-month confinement at Quantico from July 2010 to April 2011.

On Jan. 18, 2011 Manning was being moved to his daily “recreation call” in a room at the brig when he experienced an apparent anxiety attack.  Manning said Thursday the guards escorting him seemed to have an aggressive attitude that made him feel nervous and ultimately feel faint.

Manning testified Thursday that he “lost my demeanor” during a later discussion with brig officials about the incident that led them to place him on temporary suicide risk watch.

Former Marine guards Lance Corporal Joshua Tankersly and Lance Corporal Jonathan Cline testified today that Manning had been moving around while his hand and leg restraints were placed on him for the escort to the exercise room.  They said they reminded Manning that he should respond properly to their orders by referring to their ranks when he answered them.

When Manning entered the recreation room they described a situation in which Manning fell backwards and landed on his backside.

They then said that when out of his leg restraints Manning ran to a weightlifting machine, hid behind it and began to cry.  Both Cline and Tankersly said they could not explain Manning’s behavior.  Both guards were ordered to leave the room and were replaced by two other guards who escorted Manning back to his cell.

Cline said he was puzzled when a supervisor later told him “we intimidated him or something like that.”

Each guard said he could not recall if they sounded harsh when they talked to Manning on the way to the exercise room.

They both said that aside from the January incident, Manning was courteous and professional in his interactions with them.  Both described him as an average prisoner, though Tankersly acknowledged that Manning was a high profile detainee who had the attention of high-ranking officials at the base.

“It’s hard to put ‘average’ on such a high profile, when you have higher ups on base come and check through to that see all was OK,” Tankersly said.

Gunnery Sgt. William Fuller, one of the senior officers at the brig, also testified today about his participation in a Classification and Assessment board that routinely assessed whether Manning’s Maximum Custody and Prevention of Injury status should be downgraded. The board never reduced Manning’s status during his stay.

Fuller acknowledged that before the January incident he and another brig official had considered a downgrade because Manning was “doing pretty good.”

He said the Jan. 18incident “kind of reset things … we had to keep him on Prevention of Injury.”

Fuller also cited Manning’s quiet interactions with him as a reason for keeping Manning on that status.

According to Fuller “he wouldn’t communicate … it seemed like he didn’t really want to talk” and that concerned him, given training he had received that being withdrawn could be an indicator of suicidal behavior.

Fuller admitted that the conversations were really just quick interactions to see how Manning was doing..  When asked to provide examples of longer exchanges he had with other prisoners, Fuller provided brief sentences.  That led David Coombs, Manning’s defense attorney to say sarcastically, “so if he’d thrown in more words then he would have classified as a Chatty Patty?”

Manning’s attorneys claim that a protest on Jan. 17 by Manning supporters, at the entrance to the base, may have motivated an aggressive attitude towards the detainee.

Cline recalled other guards “were annoyed” by the protest” because it would close parts of the base and hinder or interrupt how they got home.”  But Tankersly said the protest had no impact on Manning’s treatment.

Read More..

Today on New Scientist: 30 November 2012

Dinosaurs might have once gazed into the Grand Canyon

It had been thought that the canyon formed 6 million years ago, but now two geologists say it is actually closer to 70 million years old

Saturn's rings may double up as a moon factory

A new model suggests Saturn's famous rings spawned the planet's moons. Could the mechanism explain the moons of Uranus, Neptune and even Earth?

Gaming the future: the best of 2012

New Scientist looks back at the video games that explored the boundaries of science and technology this year

Friday Illusion: Mystery mirror reveals missing banana

A prize for the first person to figure out how a strange mirror image remains in view

Syria again disconnects nation from the internet

Once again, the Syrian government appears to have pulled the plug on the internet, cutting off its citizens from the rest of the world

Crowdfund your area's projects one brick at a time

As the recession bites and budgets are cut, websites are springing up that allow citizens to club together to fund everything from parks to bridges

Omniphobia: the stuffs that stick at nothing

Whether it's water, oil, ketchup or ants, materials that repel everything that touches them are on the way, says Jessica Griggs

Feedback: Commas in breach of copyright

Why these words break the law, impure apples, Google rewrites the history of everything, and more

A quantum of... We want to see your movies!

The deadline for the Quantum Shorts Film Competition is hard on us and we've already had some amazing entries - submit yours before Sunday

LHC sees hint of high-speed particle pancake

Purely by accident, the Higgs-boson-hunting Large Hadron Collider may have stumbled upon a rare state of matter called a colour-glass condensate

Social bee-haviour: The secret life of the hive

Bees have a brain the size of a pinhead, yet their daily activities rival the range of behaviours seen in many mammals

Florida pet spa mystery link to China's great firewall

China's censors have innovative ways of stopping its citizens accessing banned websites, including poisoning internet servers

Giant tortoises bounce back in the Galapagos

A slow and steady rescue mission has seen the population of the iconic creatures on Española Island leap from just 12 into the thousands

Messenger finds hints of ice at Mercury's poles

The innermost planet of the solar system could harbour a small polar habitable zone - but the chances of finding life there are remote

Projections of sea level rise are vast underestimates

Estimates made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007 were wildly wrong

Read More..

Macau triad boss "Broken Tooth" freed from jail

MACAU: A Macau triad boss known as "Broken Tooth" walked free from jail on Saturday after more than 14 years behind bars for heading a gang blamed for a string of murders and bombings in the former Portuguese colony.

The release of Wan Kuok-koi has triggered tightened security in the world's biggest gaming hub, although experts say it is unlikely Macau will witness a return to the violence seen before 1999.

Wan, wearing a white T-shirt, walked out from a high-security prison and was collected by two men -- one reported to be his brother -- in a white car just before 7:00 am (2300 GMT Friday), an AFP photographer saw.

Now aged 57, he smiled but did not gesture to waiting journalists.

Wan was leader of the 14k triad, the largest organised crime outfit in Macau in the mid-1990s, and was jailed over offences linked to loan sharking, money laundering and triad activities.

At his trial, police said his gang had been involved in a string of murders, bombings, drive-by shootings and kidnappings that plagued the colony in the run-up to the handover to Chinese rule.

He stood trial with nine other gang members facing a raft of charges, among them membership of a triad society, illicit gambling, extortion, drug trafficking, smuggling and illegal possession of firearms.

His release has rekindled memories of Macau's darker days, but a lawyer representing Wan, said he intends to lead a quiet life.

"The only thing he wants is for people to forget him," Pedro Leal told the South China Morning Post.

"In recent weeks he's been on the cover of many magazines and they've all talked about his past. All he wants is to be left in peace. He's going to lead a quiet life from now on," the lawyer said.

During Wan's time in prison, Macau has been transformed into the world's top gaming destination after the casino sector that was once monopolised by tycoon Stanley Ho was opened up to foreign competition in 2002.

Macau now earns five times the gaming revenue of Las Vegas, with six firms licenced to operate casinos there.

- AFP/xq

Read More..

Android-based Ouya game console shipping soon

Early birds get their hands on Ouya after December 28.

(Credit:
Ouya)

Let the gamers,
Android nuts, and open-source geeks rejoice -- the Ouya is shipping on time!

Well, at least the developers' consoles are, that is. Ouya first garnered attention by raising more than $8.5 million on Kickstarter this summer to create an inexpensive, open-source, Android-based game system.

Early supporters of the crowdfunding campaign got first dibs on a finished Ouya for as little as $95, but those aren't scheduled to ship until March. However, the hundreds of folks who ponied up $699 or more for a first-run, rooted developers' system with early SDK access get to experience Christmas twice in the same week when their consoles ship on December 28.

If creators of the Ouya do fulfill their original commitment to ship the dev kits in December, they'll deserve kudos. Plenty of other Kickstarter-funded projects have run into snags meeting original timelines and commitments -- the Pebble watch is now months late on its original ship date and still working out production issues, for example.

Ouya points out that all consoles will actually be dev kits, but the late December batch is a special group that cost more to produce and give big early backers a first crack at working with the platform. The only catch for developers is that at least some part of the game play has to be available for free, be it a demo or the whole shebang.

Ouya is also working on its own ODK (Ouya development kit) that game designers will be able to access. At the same time, Ouya says it's been busy optimizing Android Jelly Bean for gameplay on a large screen.

If Ouya takes off, 2013 could be a year in which a certain segment of the population gets even less exposure to the sun than in the past.

If you missed out on the first Ouya rush, there's still a chance to get in on the ground floor noob level. Ouya is giving away 10 developers' consoles next month.

Read More..

Photos: Kilauea Lava Reaches the Sea

• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Into the Sea

  Photograph by Hugh Gentry, Reuters

  A spectacular natural phenomenon was on display early this week as lava from a vent in Hawaii's Kilauea volcano flowed into the ocean, sending up plumes of steam as it made contact with the waves.

  Though lava can still be viewed from Kalapana near the Big Island's Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, ocean entry is no longer occurring, according to the National Park Service.

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Sea of Fire

  
  Photograph by Hugh Gentry, Reuters
  

  The lava traveled 7 miles (11 kilometers) from Kilauea’s Pu'u O'o vent to the ocean. When lava reaches the water, it cools and hardens, forming a lava delta that can be dangerous to nearby onlookers, according to Reuters.

  The news service reported that no communities on the Big Island were threatened by the lava flow.

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Volcanic Flare

  
  Photograph by Hugh Gentry, Reuters
  

  A burst of volcanic activity erupts from Kilauea’s crater in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park on November 27.

  The volcano has been erupting continuously for nearly 30 years. No major damage has been suffered by a town since 1986, according to Reuters.

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Fiery Encounter

  Photograph by Hugh Gentry, Reuters

  “Ocean entries are beautiful but dangerous,” said Janet Babb, spokeswoman for the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, in a statement reported by Reuters. She warned that the steam could be more hazardous than it appears.

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Point of Contact

  
  Photograph by Matt Northam, My Shot
  

  A plume of smoke billows where lava from Kilauea meets the sea in this aerial photo taken November 27.

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Photograph by Peter Vancoillie, Your Shot

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  

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Could Outgoing Republicans Hold Keys to 'Cliff' Deal?

Nov 30, 2012 1:45pm

AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

The outlook for reaching some sort of bipartisan agreement on the so-called “fiscal cliff” before the Dec. 31 deadline is looking increasingly grim. Shortly after noon today, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, appeared before the cameras to say the talks had reached a “stalemate.”

But there may be a glimmer of hope. There are currently 33 outgoing members of Congress — they’re either retiring or were defeated last month — who have signed the Grover Norquist pledge stating that they will not raise taxes. Those members, particularly the ones who have traditionally been somewhat moderate, could hold the key to that stance softening.

“You have 33 people who do not have to worry about the future political consequences of their vote,” said ABC political director Amy Walter. “These are people who theoretically can vote based purely on the issue rather than on how it will impact their political future.”

One outgoing member has publicly indicated a willingness to join with Obama and the Democrats on a partial deal.

“I have to say that if you’re going to sign me up with a camp, I like what Tom Cole has to say,” California Republican Rep. Mary Bono Mack said on CNN on Thursday. Cole is the Republican who suggested that his party vote to extend the Bush tax-rates for everyone but the highest income earners and leave the rest of the debate for later. Mack’s husband, Connie, however, also an outgoing Republican member of Congress, said he disagreed with his wife.

But in general, among the outgoing Republican representatives with whom ABC News has made contact, the majority have been vague as to whether or not they still feel bound by the pledge, and whether they would be willing to raise tax rates.

“[Congressman Jerry Lewis] has always been willing to listen to any proposals, but there isn’t,” a spokesman for Rep. Lewis, Calif., told ABC News. “He’s said the pledge was easy because it goes along with his philosophy that increasing tax doesn’t solve any problems. However, he’s always been willing to listen to proposals.”

“Congressman Burton has said that he does not vote for tax increases,” a spokesman for Dan Burton, Ind., said to ABC.

“With Representative Herger retiring, we are leaving this debate to returning members and members-elect,” an aide for Wally Herger, Calif., told ABC News.

The majority of Congress members will likely wait until a deal is on the table to show their hand either way. However, it stands to reason that if any members of Congress are going to give in and agree to raise taxes, these would be the likely candidates.

An agreement will require both sides to make some concessions: Republicans will need to agree to some tax increases, Democrats will need to agree to some spending cuts. With Republicans and Democrats appearing to be digging further into their own, very separate territories, the big question is, which side will soften first?

Read More..

Projections of sea level rise are vast underestimates

Expect more water to lap at your shores. That's the take-home message from two studies out this week that look at the latest data on sea level rise due to climate change.

The first shows that current projections for the end of the century may seriously underestimate the rise in global sea levels. The other, on the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica, looks at just how much of the water stored up there has been moving into the oceans.

Both demonstrate that global warming is a real and imminent threat.

What mechanisms could lead to a rise in global sea level as climate change warms the planet?
There are four major mechanisms: the thermal expansion of oceans in a warming world; the loss of ice from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets; the melting of mountain glaciers and ice caps (such as those in the Himalayas); and the extraction and discharge of groundwater.

What is the latest on sea level rise?
One of the two new studies shows that last report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published in 2007, vastly underestimated actual sea level rise. That's because the IPCC's fourth assessment report (AR4) did not include contributions from the melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets.

So, for the years 1993-2011, the IPCC estimated that sea level would rise by about 2 millimetres a year. But the satellite data from that period now tell a different story.

Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany and colleagues compared IPCC AR4 projections with actual measurements and found the projections lagging behind what was happening in the real world. Global sea level has been rising at about 3.2 millimetres a year over the past two decades (Environmental Research Letters, doi:10.1088/1748-9326/7/4/044035).

Why the discrepancy?
The likely culprits are continental ice sheets. "[In IPCC models], the two big ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica contribute nothing to future sea level rise, because they assume that the mass loss from Greenland is balanced by ice gain in Antarctica due to higher snowfall rates," says Rahmstorf.

But satellite data show that the ice sheets are losing ice to the oceans.

If the models have not accurately reproduced what happened in recent years, it is likely that their projections for the future are not correct either. Since 2007, the IPCC has recognised this. Its initial projection of a maximum sea level rise of 60 centimetres by 2100 has been upped to include an additional 20-centimetre rise due to ice sheets melting. This effect comes from simplified models of what the ice sheets are doing, however, so even the updated projections could be off the mark and sea level rise could potentially be greater still.

So, what do the latest satellite readings tell us about ice sheets?
They tell us that the melting in Greenland is not offset by gain of ice in Antarctica. Andrew Shepherd of the University of Leeds, UK, and colleagues combined data from three independent types of satellite studies to lessen uncertainties and remove year-to-year variability.

"It's probably now the best overall and most comprehensive estimate of what the ice sheets are doing and what they have been doing for the last 20 years," says team member Ian Joughin of the University of Washington in Seattle.

And the data are clear: from 1990 to 2000, the melting of Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets added about 0.25 millimetres a year to global sea level rise. For 2005-2010, that number has increased to about 1 millimetre a year (Science, http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1228102"

This is a concern, says Joughin. "It shows an accelerating increase of mass loss."

Is there a difference in how Greenland and Antarctica are reacting to global warming?
Yes. Greenland is losing the most ice, causing sea level to rise by about 0.75 millimetres per year. What's happening in Antarctica is more nuanced. East Antarctica is gaining mass because of increased snowfall, but this is more than offset by the loss of ice from West Antarctica, particularly along the Amundsen Coast, where warm water is melting ice shelves from beneath. This is leading to thinning and speed-up of glaciers, such the Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers.

How much will the extraction of groundwater for irrigation add to the sea level?
Until now, sea level rise from the extraction of groundwater (which eventually ends up in the sea) has been countered by dams built on rivers over the last century, which hold water back on land. But the best sites for dams have now been utilised, so we can't expect to store more water on land.

As we extract more groundwater for irrigation – a trend that could increase as climate change causes droughts – it could add up to 10 centimetres to the sea level by 2100, according to Rahmstorf. "This will become a net contribution to sea level rise in the future," he says. "Not big, but not negligible."

If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.

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Japan hails EU approval for free trade talks

TOKYO: Japan on Friday welcomed the green light given by the European Union to launching negotiations on a massive free trade agreement (FTA) between the two economies.

The long-awaited move by EU trade ministers was hailed as particularly good news for Japanese automakers, who have struggled with the shrinking domestic market, a strong yen and a bitter island row with China.

"Acting on the principle of competition and cooperation, Japan's motor industry has, over many years, cultivated an ever-growing number of fruitful partnerships with European automobile manufacturers," said a statement by Akio Toyoda, Toyota president and chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.

"We are convinced that an EU-Japan FTA will provide a key impetus in promoting robust trade, investment and industrial cooperation between the two sides... fuelling growth and expansion of the automobile industries in both Japan and Europe."

Japan's Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba also welcomed the development, saying "the economic partnership agreement will benefit economic growth both for Japan and Europe."

European car and car part manufacturers are fearful the removal of tariffs will lead to a rise in Japanese car imports, pointing to a previous trade deal with South Korea that bumped up sales of their vehicles in Europe.

EU trade ministers pledged to safeguard Europe's struggling carmakers, but auto companies have slammed the envisaged deal as what the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association dubbed "a one-way street" for Japanese cars.

- AFP/xq

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Sprint tacks $10 charge on to iDEN subscribers not on CDMA

Sprint will begin charging Nextel iDEN customers who do not upgrade to Sprint's CDMA push-to-talk service an extra $10 a month starting in January.

The move is apparently designed to encourage customers migrate from the iDEN network, which Sprint plans to shut down on June 30, 2013. The charge will not apply to CDMA customers.

"Customers that migrate prior to January will likely find a price plan comparable to what they have now," Sprint spokesman Mark Bonavia said in a statement. "They are also eligible to receive a variety of very attractive device offers."

Sprint, which acquired Nextel in 2004 for $35 billion, announced nearly two years ago that it would phase out Nextel's iDEN technology starting in 2013. The phasing out of iDEN is part of Sprint's larger Network Vision plan, which is an overhaul of its existing network and move to 4G LTE technology.

Despite offering a 2G technology largely useful for talk and text messaging, iDEN continues to have a loyal following among those in the construction, public safety, and enterprise areas. However, Sprint recently decided to stop offering iDEN products.

Instead, Sprint has been pushing customers to Sprint Direct Connect handsets, which offer the same kind of push-to-talk capability of an iDEN phone. Sprint has previously attempted to make this push, but the technology wasn't ready.

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Pictures: Inside the World's Most Powerful Laser

Photograph courtesy Damien Jemison, LLNL

Looking like a portal to a science fiction movie, preamplifiers line a corridor at the U.S. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility (NIF).

Preamplifiers work by increasing the energy of laser beams—up to ten billion times—before these beams reach the facility's target chamber.

The project's lasers are tackling "one of physics' grand challenges"—igniting hydrogen fusion fuel in the laboratory, according to the NIF website. Nuclear fusion—the merging of the nuclei of two atoms of, say, hydrogen—can result in a tremendous amount of excess energy. Nuclear fission, by contrast, involves the splitting of atoms.

This July, California-based NIF made history by combining 192 laser beams into a record-breaking laser shot that packed over 500 trillion watts of peak power-a thousand times more power than the entire United States uses at any given instant.

"This was a quantum leap for laser technology around the world," NIF director Ed Moses said in September. But some critics of the $5 billion project wonder why the laser has yet to ignite a fusion chain reaction after three-and-a-half years in operation. Supporters counter that such groundbreaking science simply can't be rushed.

(Related: "Fusion Power a Step Closer After Giant Laser Blast.")

—Brian Handwerk

Published November 29, 2012

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Man Arrested in Fla. Girl's 1993 Disappearance

Police have arrested a 42-year-old man and charged him with murder in the case of a Florida girl who vanished almost 20 years ago.

Andrea Gail Parsons, 10, of Port Salerno, Fla., was last seen on July 11, 1993, shortly after 6 p.m. She had just purchased candy and soda at a grocery store when she waved to a local couple as they drove by on an area street and honked, police said.

Today, Martin County Sheriff's Department officials arrested Chester Duane Price, 42, who recently lived in Haleyville, Ala., and charged him with first-degree murder and kidnapping of a child under the age of 13, after he was indicted by a grand jury.

Price was acquainted with Andrea at the time of her disappearance, and also knew another man police once eyed as a potential suspect, officials told ABC News affiliate WPBF in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Handout/Martin County Sheriff's Office

"The investigation has concluded that Price abducted and killed Andrea Gail Parsons," read a sheriff's department news release. "Tragically, at this time, her body has not been recovered."

The sheriff's department declined to specify what evidence led to Price's arrest for the crime after 19 years or to provide details to ABCNews.com beyond the prepared news release.

Reached by phone, a sheriff's department spokeswoman said she did not know whether Price was yet represented by a lawyer.

Price was being held at the Martin County Jail without bond and was scheduled to make his first court appearance via video link at 10:30 a.m. Friday morning.

In its news release, the sheriff's department cited Price's "extensive criminal history with arrests dating back to 1991" that included arrests for cocaine possession, assault, sale of controlled substance, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and violation of domestic violence injunction.

"The resolve to find Andrea and get answers surrounding the circumstances of her disappearance has never wavered as detectives and others assigned have dedicated their careers to piecing this puzzle together," Martin County Sheriff Robert L. Crowder said in a prepared statement. "In 2011, I assigned a team of detectives, several 'fresh sets of eyes,' to begin another review of the high-volume of evidence that had been previously collected in this case."

A flyer dating from the time of Andrea's disappearance, and redistributed by the sheriff's office after the arrest, described her as 4-foot-11 with hazel eyes and brown hair. She was last seen wearing blue jean shorts, a dark shirt and clear plastic sandals, according to the flyer.

The sheriff's department became involved in the case after Andrea's mother, Linda Parsons, returned home from work around 10 p.m. on July 11, 1993, to find her daughter missing and called police, according to the initial sheriff's report.

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Today on New Scientist: 28 November 2012

Out-of-proportion black hole is a rare cosmic fossil

A fairly small galaxy is host to a strangely enormous black hole, which could be a remnant of a quasar from the dawn of time

Flowing lithium atoms form accidental transistor

A transistor that controls the flow of atoms, rather than electrons, could be used as a model to probe the mysterious electrical property of superconductivity

Europe in 2050: a survivor's guide to climate change

A new report gives a clear picture of how global warming is affecting Europe - so how must countries adapt to survive?

Arctic permafrost is melting faster than predicted

A UN report and NASA research highlight greenhouse gases from melting permafrost, which they say could warm Earth's climate faster than we thought

Cassini spots superstorm at Saturn's north pole

The end of Saturn's 15-year winter reveals a huge hurricane-like vortex at the centre of the mysterious hexagon that tops the ringed planet

Infinity in the real world: Does space go on forever?

Watch an animation that tries to pin down the size of the universe, the largest thing that exists

Endangered primates caught in Congolese conflict

As the UN warns of a growing humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the advance of the M23 rebels also puts the region's gorillas and chimps at risk

Hive minds: Honeybee intelligence creates a buzz

Bees do remarkable things with a brain the size of a pinhead, raising some intriguing questions about the nature of intelligence for David Robson

Humans head for moon's orbit - and beyond

A NASA mission might focus on the dark side, while a private mission may attempt something even more novel

Europe has right stuff to take NASA back to moon

ESA's redesigned cargo drone will give NASA's Orion spacecraft air, power and manoeuvrability on two new trips to the moon

DNA imaged with electron microscope for the first time

The famous twists of DNA's double helix have been seen with the aid of an electron microscope and a silicon bed of nails

Holiday gifts: Books to give by

CultureLab picks the best books to delight the scientifically curious this holiday season

How do you solve a problem like North Korea?

Forging scientific links may be one of the best ways to help bring rogue states back into the international fold

What truly exists? Structure as a route to the real

Some say we should accept that entities such as atomic particles really do exist. Others bitterly disagree. There is a way out, says Eric Scerri

Gas explosion in Springfield points to ageing pipes

Gas company officials attributed natural gas explosion on 23 November to human error, but the pipeline's corrosion made it susceptible to puncture

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385 new HIV cases in S'pore between Jan & Oct

SINGAPORE: From January to October this year, 385 new cases of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) were reported among Singapore residents, said the health ministry on Thursday.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) expects the total number of notified HIV cases in 2012 to be similar to that of 2011, when there were 461 cases.

In the first six months of this year, 215 new cases of HIV, which causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), were reported.

Between July and October, there were 170 new cases.

MOH said among the cases reported between January and June, 92 per cent (198) were males and 8 per cent (17) were females.

Most of them caught the virus through sex.

Half of those infected had heterosexual sex, while 43 per cent were infected from homosexual transmission, and 4 per cent from bisexual transmission.

About half, or 47 per cent, of those infected were between 30 and 49 years.

63 per cent were single, 23 per cent were married and 10 per cent were divorced or separated.

Half of the new cases reported between January and June already had late-stage HIV infection when they were diagnosed, similar to the pattern in previous years.

Slightly more than half found out they had the virus during HIV testing, as part of medical care.

Another 15 per cent were detected through health screening.

14 per cent were detected during voluntary HIV screening and the rest found out they were HIV-positive through contact tracing and other screening methods.

A higher proportion of homosexuals - or 28 per cent - were detected during voluntary screening, compared with 4 per cent for heterosexuals.

MOH and the Health Promotion Board (HPB) have urged individuals to protect themselves from HIV infection by following the principles of "ABCD": abstinence, being faithful, correct and consistent use of condoms and early detection.

- CNA/xq

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Apple branches out with new campus in Santa Clara

Apple's proposed new headquarters would be able to fit all of its employees but has yet to be built.

(Credit:
Apple)

As delays have hampered the construction of Apple's proposed upcoming spaceship-like headquarters, the tech giant has begun construction on a two-building campus in nearby Santa Clara, Calif., to house its overflow of employees, according to the Oakland Tribune.

Apple agreed to lease the Santa Clara site, which is close to its current Cupertino headquarters, and plans to move in by 2014. Now under construction, this office will be nearly 296,000 square feet, take up two six-story buildings, and accommodate at least 1,200 employees.

Apple has been making moves to find extra space to fit employees around Silicon Valley, leasing office space well outside of its Cupertino headquarters, which can hold about 2,800 employees. The company has some 12,000 employees in the area, which led the company to pitch plans to the city of Cupertino last year to build a new headquarters that can fit up to 14,200 people.

This new headquarters is designed to be a gigantic circular building, which somewhat resembles the Pentagon and is slated to be completed by mid-2016. Originally, Apple hoped to move into its new digs in 2015, but the city of Cupertino hasn't yet completed its environmental impact survey, so construction has been pushed back until next year.

CNET contacted Apple for comment. We'll update the story when we get more information.

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Caterpillar Fungus Has Anti-Inflammatory Properties

In the Tibetan mountains, a fungus attaches itself to a moth larva burrowed in the soil. It infects and slowly consumes its host from within, taking over its brain and making the young caterpillar move to a position from which the fungus can grow and spore again.

Sounds like something out of science fiction, right? But for ailing Chinese consumers and nomadic Tibetan harvesters, the parasite called cordyceps means hope—and big money. Chinese markets sell the "golden worm," or "Tibetan mushroom"—thought to cure ailments from cancer to asthma to erectile dysfunction—for up to $50,000 (U.S.) per pound. Patients, following traditional medicinal practices, brew the fungal-infected caterpillar in tea or chew it raw.

Now the folk medicine is getting scientific backing. A new study published in the journal RNA finds that cordycepin, a chemical derived from the caterpillar fungus, has anti-inflammatory properties.

"Inflammation is normally a beneficial response to a wound or infection, but in diseases like asthma it happens too fast and to too high of an extent," said study co-author Cornelia H. de Moor of the University of Nottingham. "When cordycepin is present, it inhibits that response strongly."

And it does so in a way not previously seen: at the mRNA stage, where it inhibits polyadenylation. That means it stops swelling at the genetic cellular level—a novel anti-inflammatory approach that could lead to new drugs for cancer, asthma, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and cardiovascular-disease patients who don't respond well to current medications.

From Worm to Pill

But such new drugs may be a long way off. The science of parasitic fungi is still in its early stages, and no medicine currently available utilizes cordycepin as an anti-inflammatory. The only way a patient could gain its benefits would by consuming wild-harvested mushrooms.

De Moor cautions against this practice. "I can't recommend taking wild-harvested medications," she says. "Each sample could have a completely different dose, and there are mushrooms where [taking] a single bite will kill you."

Today 96 percent of the world's caterpillar-fungus harvest comes from the high Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayan range. Fungi from this region are of the subspecies Ophiocordyceps sinensis, locally known as yartsa gunbu ("summer grass, winter worm"). While highly valued in Chinese traditional medicine, these fungi have relatively low levels of cordycepin. What's more, they grow only at elevations of 10,000 to 16,500 feet and cannot be farmed. All of which makes yartsa gunbu costly for Chinese consumers: A single fungal-infected caterpillar can fetch $30.

Brave New Worm

Luckily for researchers, and for potential consumers, another rare species of caterpillar fungus, Cordyceps militaris, is capable of being farmed—and even cultivated to yield much higher levels of cordycepin.

De Moor says that's not likely to discourage Tibetan harvesters, many of whom make a year's salary in just weeks by finding and selling yartsa gunbu. Scientific proof of cordycepin's efficacy will only increase demand for the fungus, which could prove dangerous. "With cultivation we have a level of quality control that's missing in the wild," says de Moor.

"There is definitely some truth somewhere in certain herbal medicinal traditions, if you look hard enough," says de Moor. "But ancient healers probably wouldn't notice a 10 percent mortality rate resulting from herbal remedies. In the scientific world, that's completely unacceptable." If you want to be safe, she adds, "wait for the medicine."

Ancient Chinese medical traditions—which also use ground tiger bones as a cure for insomnia, elephant ivory for religious icons, and rhinoceros horns to dispel fevers—are controversial but popular. Such remedies remain in demand regardless of scientific advancement—and endangered animals continue to be killed in order to meet that demand. While pills using cordycepin from farmed fungus might someday replace yartsa gunbu harvesting, tigers, elephants, and rhinos are disappearing much quicker than worms.

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Huge Jackpot Looms, but Can Money Buy Happiness?

Nov 28, 2012 1:02pm

Can money buy happiness? If you’re clutching several Powerball tickets in one hand as you thumb through yacht and pony catalogs with the other, you’re probably betting yes.

We’re all told the odds of winning are abysmal — about 1 in 175 million — but let’s assume you win the $500 million jackpot. Experts say the initial euphoria will wear off relatively quickly and you’ll be left with pretty much the same dismal outlook on life you’ve always had.

“Winning will release some pleasurable chemicals in your brain over the short term,” said Scott Bea, a clinical psychologist with the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. “Unfortunately, your brain will likely revert back to the same old same old before too long.”

Bea conceded that the extra bushels of cash would ease any anxiety over paying the bills, and you’d probably get an additional rush of those joy-boosting neuro-hormones when you went on a shopping spree, but ultimately the basal ganglia, the part of your brain that tends to dwell on the negative, will kick in and you’ll be back to your usual miserable self in no time.

Why? Because in its dark little heart, the brain is a pessimistic organ. Studies show bad memories tend to be far stickier than pleasant memories. And as Bea pointed out, complaints are the topic of nearly 70 percent of all conversation. So according to this logic, you’re less likely to relive the glory of your jackpot moment than you are to grouse about all the fifth cousins suddenly friending you on Facebook to ask for a handout.

Bea also said big winners who aren’t careful to cultivate happiness skills such as optimism, a charitable attitude and savvy money management habits often wind up in more wretched circumstances than where they started. History is certainly littered with such examples.

Back in the 1980s, Evelyn Adams won the New Jersey lottery not once, but twice. She quickly gambled away all $5.4 million and today she’s flat broke, living in a trailer park. Then there’s Billy Bob Harrell Jr. a Pentecostal preacher who was working as a stock boy in 1997 when he scored a cool $31 million in the Texas lottery. The stress of winning so overwhelmed him that he divorced his wife and committed suicide.

Does this mean you should hope the odds work against you when they draw those lucky numbers at 10:59 ET tonight? According to Bea, not at all.

“For most people, purchasing a ticket and fantasizing about what life will be like once you’ve won is the most pleasant part of the lottery experience,” he said, “You could probably flush the same amount of money down the toilet and get much the same result — but then you wouldn’t have the dream.”

SHOWS: Good Morning America

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Gas explosion in Springfield points to ageing pipes

Human error and corroded pipes were a catastrophic combination on 23 November when a natural gas explosion in Springfield, Massachusetts, injured 21 people and damaged more than 40 buildings.

Gas company officials attributed the incident to an employee puncturing a high-pressure pipeline with a metal probe while looking for a leak. However, the steel pipeline was highly corroded, making it susceptible to damage, according to Mark McDonald, president of the New England Gas Workers Association. "You would have to be Superman to go through steel pipe in good condition," he says.

Ageing natural gas pipelines in the US are increasingly coming under scrutiny. A recent study found 3356 leaks from pipelines under Boston alone. Twenty-five thousand leaks have been reported throughout Massachusetts, some of which have been leaking continuously for more than 20 years, McDonald says. "Enough is enough," he says. "We have to fix the leaks and maintain the gas lines."

The leaks raise safety concerns, and have implications for global warming. Methane is thought to be more than 20 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide over a 100 year period.

Incidents involving natural gas pipelines in the US cause an average of $133 million in property damage each year according to data collected by the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Even accounting for inflation, annual damages are several times higher today than they were 20 years ago.

If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.

All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us.

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Maldives defends scrapping India airport deal

COLOMBO: The Maldives defended Wednesday its controversial decision to terminate an airport management contract with an Indian firm, saying the deal was dogged by "legal, technical and economic issues".

President Mohamed Waheed's government gave five days to GMR Group to leave after prematurely ending the 25-year lease of the nation's main international airport for a one-time fee of $78 million and revenue share thereafter.

The government said it was advised by unnamed British and Singaporean lawyers to abrogate the agreement, prompting India to warn that the move could scare away foreign investors from the archipelago.

"The cabinet decided to terminate... on grounds that there were many legal, technical and economic issues regarding the agreement, and that it was legally invalid, and impossible to further continue," Waheed's office said.

Waheed's government had objected to the privatisation carried out by his predecessor Mohamed Nasheed, the country's first democratically elected leader who quit earlier this year and claimed he was forced out.

There was no immediate comment from GMR that ran the airport -- which handles 2.6 million passengers a year -- since November 2010 together with Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad. GMR held a 77 per cent stake in the operation.

Former leader Nasheed who initiated the deal with GMR described the termination as a major blow to foreign investment and tourism, the country's main source of foreign exchange.

"This decision is bad for tourism, bad for the economy and bad for the Maldivian people," Nasheed said in a statement. "This will put off potential investors for decades."

He accused his successor of leading the nation of 330,000 Sunni Muslims "down the path to economic ruin".

The Indian foreign ministry has said that they will closely monitor the developments and asked the Maldivian government to ensure the safety of Indian nationals in the country.

- AFP/ck

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Half of mobile phone users get online with their device

People are now using their cell phones for much more than talking. According to a new study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 85 percent of U.S. adults own a mobile phone and 56 percent of them use it to get online.

"Fully 85 percent of American adults own a cell phone and now use the devices to do much more than make phone calls," Pew's Maeve Duggan and Lee Rainie wrote in the recently released study. "Cell phones have become a portal for an ever-growing list of activities."

The data is based on surveys conducted in March and August, which polled more than 4,500 cell phone owners about their habits. The survey didn't clarify what percentage of those polled owned a smartphone, but a Pew poll that came out in April showed that roughly 46 percent of American adults own a smartphone.

Interestingly, this number isn't much higher than a year ago. In July 2011, Pew data showed that 83 percent of U.S. adults have a cell phone and 35 percent own a smartphone.

Despite the small amount of growth, Pew's new survey does suggest that mobile devices are spurring more people to get online and spend more time online. For example, those people using the Internet has gone from 25 percent in 2008 to 56 percent today. And, only 22 percent of people downloaded apps in 2009, while 43 percent do so now. Whether people are taking photos, e-mailing, texting, or getting online, they are now doing more with their cell phones.

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Pictures: Falcon Massacre Uncovered in India

Photograph courtesy Conservation India

A young boy can sell bundles of fresh Amur falcons (pictured) for less than five dollars. Still, when multiplied by the thousands of falcons hunters can catch in a day, the practice can be a considerable financial boon to these groups.

Since discovering the extent of Amur hunting in Nagaland this fall, Conservation India has taken the issue to the local Indian authorities.

"They have taken it very well. They've not been defensive," Sreenivasan said.

"You're not dealing with national property, you're dealing with international property, which helped us put pressure on [them]." (Related: "Asia's Wildlife Trade.")

According to Conservation India, the same day the group filed their report with the government, a fresh order banning Amur hunting was issued. Local officials also began meeting with village leaders, seizing traps and confiscating birds. The national government has also requested an end to the hunting.

Much remains to be done, but because the hunt is so regional, Sreenivasan hopes it can eventually be contained and stamped out. Authorities there, he said, are planning a more thorough investigation next year, with officials observing, patrolling, and enforcing the law.

"This is part of India where there is some amount of acceptance on traditional bush hunting," he added. "But at some point, you draw the line."

(Related: "Bush-Meat Ban Would Devastate Africa's Animals, Poor?")

Published November 27, 2012

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Petraeus Scandal: Socialite Jill Kelley Fighting Back

Tampa socialite Jill Kelley is fighting back. Today, sources close to the woman who was caught in the media crossfire during the David Petraeus sex scandal have released new letters aimed at reclaiming her reputation.

In a letter released to reporters by Jill Kelley's spokesperson, Kelley's attorney goes after a New York businessman who claimed Kelley was using her connections to Petraeus to broker a deal with the South Korean government.

"It is impossible to overlook your attempt to get your '15 minutes of fame,'" attorney Abbe Lowell wrote to Adam Victor, the president and CEO of TransGas Development Systems. "…You have the right to do that to yourself, but you do not have the right to defame our client.

"This letter is notice to you that statements you have made are false and defamatory and are intended to portray Ms. Kelley in a false light," the letter continued.

Victor has claimed that Kelley asked for $80 million in commissions to arrange a deal between Victor and the South Korean government. Kelley was an honorary consul for the Republic of South Korean.

"While it is certainly true that Ms. Kelley communicated with you about a potential business deal, it has nothing to do with General Petraeus or other military," Lowell wrote Victor.

David Petraeus Affair: Woman Who Blew the Whistle Watch Video

Petraeus' Closed Door Benghazi Attack Testimony Watch Video

Inside the Petraeus Scandal: Did Broadwell and Kelley Profit? Watch Video

The dealings between Jill Kelley and Adam Victor were detailed in a series of emails between the two made public earlier this month. The emails appeared to confirm the New York businessman's claim that Kelley wanted a huge fee for brokering a transaction with the South Korean government.

But in his letter to Victor, Lowell denies that Kelley wanted anything close to $80 million, and says the full chain of emails reveal that "it was you (Victor) who were trying to capitalize on her contacts, and not the other way around."

Kelley and Victor were introduced at the Republican National Convention in Tampa in August by Kelley's friend, Tampa real estate developer Don Phillips. In an interview with ABC News, Phillips said he suggested that Kelley and Victor should meet because Kelley could help Victor land a deal for a coal gasification plant in South Korea.

Phillips claimed that Kelley said that Victor tried to "proposition" her "almost immediately," and said he had to cajole her into flying to New York for a second meeting with Victor.

After she met with Victor in New York, Phillips said, Kelley reported that she was no longer interested in pursuing the deal. According to Phillips, she said, "As a result of my personal investigations and business intelligence this is just not going anywhere, Don, and you just don't want to associate with this guy."

Victor, who denies propositioning Kelley, claimed she continued pushing for the deal after their meeting in New York. But sources close to Kelley say that telephone voice messages Victor left for Kelley reveal that he was the one who continued to seek Kelley's involvement, even after the Petraeus affair came to light.

Victor also claims that Kelley told him Petraeus arranged for her to be named honorary consul, and that she could use her connections with high-level Korean officials to help land the coal plant deal.

None of the emails that Victor showed to ABC News mention Petraeus. Kelley's friend Don Phillips told ABC News that Kelley has not "in any way tried to profit" from her relationship with Petraeus.

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