For the fellas

And the best way to woo women is...

LONDON (Reuters) - Forget expensive presents or costly jewelry. Wining and dining is the best way for men to woo women, scientists said Tuesday.
Researchers at Imperial College London developed a mathematical formula and modeled courtship as a sequential game to find the best way to impress the ladies.

Their results show that offering an expensive present signals the man's serious intentions but he must be wary of being exploited by gold-diggers who will dump him after receiving the gift.

"Guys are less likely to offer expensive gifts to females they don't have a long-term interest in. And girls won't be impressed with cheap gifts. By offering expensive but worthless gifts, such as dinner and theater trips, the male pays no cost if the invitation isn't accepted," said Dr Peter Sozou, of University College London (UCL).

If women are not interested they are unlikely to accept the invitation, according to the research published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B.

The researchers said giving gifts was a feature of courtship in humans and other species to impress females. Physical attraction is an important element but offering gifts also helps.

"Our analysis shows there is evolutionary logic in men 'burning money' to impress the girl," said Professor Robert Seymour of UCL's department of mathematics.

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Beamed up

Farewell, Scotty
By Joal Ryan

Once, at a convention of astronomers, James Doohan was asked what it felt like "to be beamed." The actor who'd abided by the order, "Beam me up, Scotty," countless times on the Star Trek set reported that it was "very pleasurable." "You end up beaming all over the place," Doohan said, per StarTrek.com.
Doohan, who sweated it out in the engine room of the U.S.S. Enterprise as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott on the original Trek TV series and, indeed, found himself beamed all over the world, via reruns, videos and DVDs, died Wednesday at his home in Washington state. He was 85, and had been battling Alzheimer's disease, and, most recently, pneumonia.

Per Doohan's request, said longtime agent Steve Stevens Sr., the sci-fi star will be cremated and his ashes launched into space by the same Houston-based aerospace company that shot the remains of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry into orbit following his 1991 death. Stevens said he didn't know precisely when Doohan's outer space memorial would occur. "As soon as the next flight goes up," he said.

In addition to the trailblazing 1966-69 series, the Canadian-born Doohan affected his Scotty brogue for the first seven Trek feature films and the 1973 animated series. And when he wasn't burring, he was grunting what would become the basis for the native tongue of the villainous Klingons in the big-screen adventures.

It was a year ago last July that Doohan's family disclosed the Trek star had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. That, combined with Parkinson's and diabetes, led Doohan to sign off from the lucrative convention and college circuit, which he had worked like few other Enterprise alums. But first there was to be a final farewell.

Last August, Doohan, his longtime costars and fans converged in Hollywood for three days of roasting, toasting and starring the actor on the Walk of Fame. With a nod to the signature phrase that Doohan himself never uttered at the transporter controls, the event was called "Beam Me Up Scotty...One Last Time."

At the time, Walter Koenig, who played the Russian navigator Chekov to Doohan's Scotsman on Trek, called the convention "a beautiful gesture." He told E! Online he wished DeForest Kelley, the starship's venerable Dr. McCoy, had had a similar public goodbye. Kelley died in 1999.

On Wednesday, Stevens said Doohan was very ill during "Beam Me Up Scotty," but that "he sucked it up" to be on the convention floor with the faithful.

"Nobody embraced the fans like James did," Stevens said. "He loved the fans, and they loved him. And he felt that he needed to give back what he got."

With Doohan's passing, the surviving original Trek crew members include: Koenig;
William Shatner (Captain Kirk);
Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock);
Nichelle Nichols (Lieutenant Uhura); and
George Takei (Lieutenant Sulu).

Although they played a tight-knit bunch on TV and in the movies, in real life, the actors were not always on speaking terms, with Doohan and Shatner being chief exhibits. But last July, Doohan's son, Chris Doohan, told E! Online that the two men had patched up things, and "told each other how much they love each other."

Coming to terms--with costars, with fans, with the realities of typecasting--is a trick all Trek stars have had to master over the last 30-plus years. For his part, Doohan decided to embrace Scotty, something that perhaps was best evidenced by the title of his 1996 autobiography, Beam Me Up, Scotty.

"Many actors get upset when they are typecast, but that didn't concern him, because he was typecast as Scotty," Chris Doohan told the Los Angeles Times last year. "It's been his bread and butter."

Born March 3, 1920, in Vancouver, Doohan came about Scotty's fiery personality and doggedness the old-fashioned way: The battlefield. Fighting with the Royal Canadian Artillery during World War II, the future Starfleet officer landed on the beaches of Normandy, France, as part of the U.S.-led D-Day invasion. He lost a finger; the Allies won the war.

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Rehnquist is a good guy

Rehnquist Says He'll Stay on Supreme Court
By RON FOURNIER and GINA HOLLAND, Associated Press Writers
Thu Jul 14,11:48 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Squelching rumors of his retirement, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist said Thursday he will continue heading the Supreme Court while battling thyroid cancer. "I'm not about to announce my retirement," he said.
"I want to put to rest the speculation and unfounded rumors of my imminent retirement," Rehnquist, 80, said in a statement first disclosed by The Associated Press and later confirmed by the court. "I will continue to perform my duties as chief justice as long as my health permits."

Rehnquist issued the statement hours after being released from an Arlington, Va., hospital after being treated for two days with a fever.

President Bush had not been informed in advance about Rehnquist' statement but the White House welcomed the chief justice's announcement.

"The chief justice is doing an outstanding job, and we are pleased he will continue his great service to the nation," presidential spokesman Scott McClellan said.

His declaration scrambles an unsettled situation on the high court for the second time in less than two weeks. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor unexpectedly stepped down earlier this month at a time when the White House, the Senate and outside groups had been preparing for the chief justice to leave the court.

Rumors of his departure intensified after Rehnquist was hospitalized. The White House was proceeding with contingency plans to fill two vacancies, a prospect that might have given Bush the political flexibility to please more than one constituency. Now that just one seat is vacant, Bush is likely to come under intense pressure from his political base to nominate a hard-line conservative.

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, who were dreading the possibility that Bush would have two immediate court picks, cheered Rehnquist's statement.

"I commend him for putting an end to the guessing game in Washington," said top Judiciary Democrat Patrick Leahy of Vermont. Rehnquist "has served the court and the nation ably and honorably and he has earned the right for his future retirement to be his own decision, on his own terms."

Sen. Charles Schumer (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y., who is also head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said a second nomination would have slowed the confirmation process down and completely changed the Senate dynamic.

"Having more than one nomination could have made things harder, or easier," Schumer said. "I'm glad we can now move forward with the one vacancy that we do have."

Still, this is the first vacancy of Bush's presidency, and even one new justice to the court has the potential to tip the balance on critical issues such as abortion, affirmative action and gay rights.

Rehnquist, who has been through at least one round of chemotherapy and radiation, surprised many people when he presided at Bush's inauguration in January and returned to the bench in March, keeping a full schedule.

But outside of a handful of brief statements issued by the court since October, Rehnquist has said nothing publicly about his condition or prognosis. He had also said nothing about his plans on the bench despite the vigil kept by reporters and photographers outside his home.

"I think this is going to put the speculation to rest," said Edward Lazarus, a Los Angeles attorney and former Supreme Court clerk. "He's saying, `I'm here and I'm not going anywhere.'"

Rehnquist gave no clue how long he'll remain on the bench, but observers said that's not unusual because justices rarely tip their hand.

"This should allow the chief and the court to get on with their business," said Richard Garnett, a former law clerk under Rehnquist. "I'm confident the chief justice would not come to this decision unless he was convinced he could lead the court in the dignified and efficient manner he has been."

Medical experts initially speculated that Rehnquist probably had the deadly anaplastic form of thyroid cancer, based on the chemotherapy-radiation treatment. But now that seems less likely.

"The prognosis for that is so poor. Most patients succumb very quickly, within three to six months," said Dr. Mark Urken, a cancer expert at Beth Israel Hospital in New York.

It is more likely that Rehnquist has another more treatable type, said Urken and other physicians not involved in his treatment.

Dr. Kenneth Burman, a thyroid specialist at Washington Hospital Center, said other possibilities are papillary thyroid cancer or lymphoma of the thyroid. People with those types can be treated and live for years without more problems.

Before Thursday evening, Rehnquist had said nothing in public about his future until last week, when a reporter called out to him outside his house to respond to retirement rumors. "That's for me to know and you to find out," Rehnquist replied.

Unless another justice unexpectedly retires, Rehnquist's announcement removes the immediate possibility of a double vacancy, which could have changed Bush's thinking in nominating someone to fill O'Connor's seat.

Some advocates had argued that a double vacancy would have given the president the opportunity — although it's unclear if he would have taken it — to nominate a bona fide conservative jurist to satisfy those on the right and a person with more moderate judicial views to placate Senate Democrats.

"I think having two simultaneously confused the issue and gave the left the opportunity to argue for a mixed slate — one more conservative, one less conservative," said Sean Rushton, director of the Committee for Justice, a group formed to push Bush's nominee.

He said conservative groups in recent weeks have been operating on the assumption that Rehnquist was staying. But he said he thinks having one fewer nominee for liberal groups to denounce makes it harder for the left to turn the Senate confirmation hearing into a "back alley brawl."

"I don't think this does change things all that much," Rushton said. "Politically, this announcement allows the president to get down to the serious business of picking a qualified, principled constitutionalist to replace Justice O'Connor."

___

Associated Press writers Jesse J. Holland, Terence Hunt and Deb Riechmann contributed to this report.

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Cool Pictures

Tubers float down the Guadalupe River, Wednesday, July 6, 2005, in New Braunfels, Texas. Wednesday's weather was partly cloudy and reached a high of 101 degrees. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)


In this picture released by MPL International Ltd, Thursday June 30, 2005, adventurers Bear Grylls, 30 and Lieutenant Commander Alan Veal, 34, are the diners enjoying a dinner party suspended from a balloon at a height of nearly 24.262 ft (7395 meters) flying over Somerset, England. The pair were making a successful attempt to break the world record for the highest formal dinner party. The previous record was held by adventurer Henry Shelford, who held his dinner party 22,326ft (6805 meters) up a Tibetan mountain in 2004. (AP Photo/MPL International Ltd/ho)



View from San Marcos : View of volcano Colima from the San Marcos village in Jalisco, Mexico, as the volcano increases its activity. (AFP/Hector Guerrero)

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Lounging

Body of Steelers Fan Viewed in Recliner

PITTSBURGH - James Henry Smith was a zealous Pittsburgh Steelers fan in life, and even death could not keep him from his favorite spot: in a recliner, in front of a TV showing his beloved team in action.
Smith, 55, of Pittsburgh, died of prostate cancer Thursday. Because his death wasn't unexpected, his family was able to plan for an unusual viewing Tuesday night.

The Samuel E. Coston Funeral Home erected a small stage in a viewing room, and arranged furniture on it much as it was in Smith's home on game day Sundays.

Smith's body was on the recliner, his feet crossed and a remote in his hand. He wore black and gold silk pajamas, slippers and a robe. A pack of cigarettes and a beer were at his side, while a high-definition TV played a continuous loop of Steelers highlights.

"I couldn't stop crying after looking at the Steeler blanket in his lap," said his sister, MaryAnn Nails, 58. "He loved football and nobody did (anything) until the game went off. It was just like he was at home."

Longtime friend Mary Jones called the viewing "a celebration."

"I saw it and I couldn't even cry," she said. "People will see him the way he was."

Smith's burial plans were more traditional — he'll be laid to rest in a casket.

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Counting the Seconds

Take Your Time: Extra Second Will be Added to 2005
Bjorn Carey, LiveScience Staff Writer
LiveScience.com
Tue Jul 5, 2:04 PM ET

An extra second will be added to 2005 to make up for the slowing down of the Earth's rotation, officials said this week.
The once-common "leap second" is the first in seven years and reflects the unpredictable nature of the planet's behavior.

The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service in Paris keeps track of time by measuring the Earth's rotation, which varies, and by an atomic clock, which is unwavering. When a difference in the two clocks shows up, the IERS adds or subtracts a second to the year.

For the first time since 1998, the IERS will sneak in an extra second this year to get time back in synch, officials said in a statement Monday.

On Dec. 31, the clock will read like this as it leads into Jan. 1, 2006:

23h 59m 59s ... 23h 59m 60s ... 00h 00m 00s. Normally, the seconds would roll from 59 directly to 00.

Always on time

"As the Earth is slowing down compared to atomic clock time, noon is going to come a little later. Earth rotation time is falling behind atomic clock time," said Tom O'Brian, Chief of the Time and Frequency Division at the U.S. National Institution of Standards and Technology. "Periodically people have to add time to atomic clock time. When those two times are approaching about a second difference, we add a leap second."

While time has been measured by the planet's rotation for thousands of years, it wasn't until 1949 that scientists developed a clock that kept perfect time.

"An atomic clock keeps time by looking at the fundamental vibrations of atoms," O'Brian said. "It's like middle "C" on a tuning fork – a particular kind of atom has a set of frequencies that can be used to keep time."

The current standard is a cesium atom, which vibrates 9,192,631,770 times per second. As far as scientists know, this doesn't change over time and is the same everywhere on Earth and in space.

Tiny changes

The first leap second was added in 1972, as technology allowed for more accurate timekeeping, and they were all the rage in the beginning. At least one was added every year between 1972 and 1983 before a slight drop-off in the mid-eighties and nineties.

"And then, in 1999 for reasons still unknown, the rotation of the Earth speeded up a bit, so we haven't had to add a second since then," O'Brian told LiveScience in a telephone interview.

Part of the secret behind Earth's changing speeds is tidal force exerted by the Moon, which is responsible for the gradual slowing of our planet's rotation over time. But other slight forces are at work, such as changes in the season, movement of rock in the molten core, and other factors that scientists have yet to uncover.

Seasons, particularly those in the Northern Hemisphere, change the planet's rotational speed predictably during the year. Water evaporates from the sea surface and comes down as rain and snow in the mountains and eventually melts back to the sea.

This creates an effect similar to an ice skater sticking her arms out to slow down a spin, or pulling them close to her body to speed up.

The change is typically miniscule, however.

"By changing we're talking about a millionth of a second per day," O'Brian said. "But long term slowing is due to the Moon. It's about 1.5/1000th of a second slower per century. The day is longer today than it was in 1905."

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