RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia said on Thursday it had expelled three people working at Syria's consulate in Jeddah, a new sign of ill feeling between the countries as Riyadh backs rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad's government in Damascus.
"The steps were taken based on the public interest as their conduct ... was incompatible with the consular duties associated with their work," said a Foreign Ministry statement carried by state media, without giving further details.
The conservative Islamic kingdom, which this week is hosting Islam's annual haj pilgrimage in Mecca, closed its embassy in Damascus in March, a month after expelling Syria's ambassador to Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia has only granted haj visas to Syrians applying at consulates in neighboring countries, instead of working with the government in Damascus to allocate visas to pilgrims.
Riyadh has led Arab efforts to isolate Assad's government, condemning its violent suppression of the uprising in August last year before orchestrating Arab League moves to impose sanctions.
It has supported the rebels with money and logistics and called for them to be armed.
Syria and its ally Shi'ite Muslim Iran have accused Saudi Arabia and other Sunni states in the region of fuelling the bloodshed by their backing of the rebels.
(Reporting By Angus McDowall; Editing by Stephen Powell)
Strengthening fragile forests of carbon nanotubes for new MEMS applications Public release date: 26-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Catherine Meyers cmeyers@aip.org 301-209-3088 American Institute of Physics
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are incredibly tiny devices, often built on the scale of millionths of a meter. Conventional MEMS structures tend to be made out of silicon-based materials familiar to the micro-electronics industry, but this ignores a suite of useful materials such as other semiconductors, ceramics, and metals. By using a variety of materials not commonly associated with MEMS technology, a team from Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah has created stronger microstructures that can form precise, tall and narrow 3-D shapes characteristics that were never before possible in MEMS. The researchers will present their latest findings at the AVS 59th International Symposium and Exhibition, held Oct. 28 Nov. 2, in Tampa, Fla.
To break the MEMS materials barrier, the researchers devised a new production process called carbon nanotube templated microfabrication (CNT-M). It uses patterned, vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays called forests as a 3-D microfabrication scaffold. With this scaffold, the researchers can create precise, tall and fine-featured microstructures. But the forests are extremely fragile. To make them hardier the team replaced the air spaces between the carbon nanotubes with a filler material by atomistic deposition.
The team has used their new CNT-M framework to fabricate metal components from tungsten, molybdenum and nickel. These metals provide desirable properties for MEMS applications and components, including high electrical and thermal conductivity, high melting temperatures, resistance to corrosion, low thermal expansion and hardness.
The BYU team's advances open the door for manipulating matter in novel ways that optimize efficiency, performance and cost across a range of fields, including medicine, imaging, computing, materials synthesis, chemical synthesis, and printing. Most biological and biomedical processes occur at the nanoscale. Developing models and templates at this scale enables scientists to interact with, control and leverage the unusual physical, chemical, mechanical, and optical properties of materials in naturally tiny systems.
Already, the BYU researchers have successfully used their new technique to make chemical detection devices that can validate chemical reactions during pharmaceutical production. Team member Robert C. Davis, PhD , imagines that one day CNT-M might even play a role in devising new longer-lasting batteries.
###
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE AVS 59th INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM & EXHIBITION
The Tampa Convention Center is located along the Riverwalk in the heart of downtown Tampa at 333 S. Franklin St., Tampa, Florida, 33602.
USEFUL LINKS:
Main meeting website:
http://www2.avs.org/symposium/AVS59/pages/greetings.html
Technical Program:
http://www.avssymposium.org/
Housing and Travel Information:
http://www2.avs.org/symposium/AVS59/pages/housing_travel.html
PRESS REGISTRATION
The AVS Pressroom will be located in the Tampa Convention Center. Your complimentary media badge will allow you to utilize the pressroom to write, interview, collect new product releases, review material, or just relax. The media badge will also admit you, free of charge, into the exhibit area, lectures, and technical sessions, as well as the Welcome Mixer on Monday evening and the Awards Ceremony and Reception on Wednesday night. Pressroom hours are Monday-Thursday, 8-5 p.m.
To register, please contact:
Della Miller, AVS
E-mail: della@avs.org
This news release was prepared for AVS by the American Institute of Physics (AIP).
ABOUT AVS
Founded in 1953, AVS is a not-for-profit professional society that promotes communication between academia, government laboratories, and industry for the purpose of sharing research and development findings over a broad range of technologically relevant topics. Its symposia and journals provide an important forum for the dissemination of information in many areas of science and technology, enabling a critical gateway for the rapid insertion of scientific breakthroughs into manufacturing realities.
[ | 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.
Strengthening fragile forests of carbon nanotubes for new MEMS applications Public release date: 26-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Catherine Meyers cmeyers@aip.org 301-209-3088 American Institute of Physics
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are incredibly tiny devices, often built on the scale of millionths of a meter. Conventional MEMS structures tend to be made out of silicon-based materials familiar to the micro-electronics industry, but this ignores a suite of useful materials such as other semiconductors, ceramics, and metals. By using a variety of materials not commonly associated with MEMS technology, a team from Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah has created stronger microstructures that can form precise, tall and narrow 3-D shapes characteristics that were never before possible in MEMS. The researchers will present their latest findings at the AVS 59th International Symposium and Exhibition, held Oct. 28 Nov. 2, in Tampa, Fla.
To break the MEMS materials barrier, the researchers devised a new production process called carbon nanotube templated microfabrication (CNT-M). It uses patterned, vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays called forests as a 3-D microfabrication scaffold. With this scaffold, the researchers can create precise, tall and fine-featured microstructures. But the forests are extremely fragile. To make them hardier the team replaced the air spaces between the carbon nanotubes with a filler material by atomistic deposition.
The team has used their new CNT-M framework to fabricate metal components from tungsten, molybdenum and nickel. These metals provide desirable properties for MEMS applications and components, including high electrical and thermal conductivity, high melting temperatures, resistance to corrosion, low thermal expansion and hardness.
The BYU team's advances open the door for manipulating matter in novel ways that optimize efficiency, performance and cost across a range of fields, including medicine, imaging, computing, materials synthesis, chemical synthesis, and printing. Most biological and biomedical processes occur at the nanoscale. Developing models and templates at this scale enables scientists to interact with, control and leverage the unusual physical, chemical, mechanical, and optical properties of materials in naturally tiny systems.
Already, the BYU researchers have successfully used their new technique to make chemical detection devices that can validate chemical reactions during pharmaceutical production. Team member Robert C. Davis, PhD , imagines that one day CNT-M might even play a role in devising new longer-lasting batteries.
###
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE AVS 59th INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM & EXHIBITION
The Tampa Convention Center is located along the Riverwalk in the heart of downtown Tampa at 333 S. Franklin St., Tampa, Florida, 33602.
USEFUL LINKS:
Main meeting website:
http://www2.avs.org/symposium/AVS59/pages/greetings.html
Technical Program:
http://www.avssymposium.org/
Housing and Travel Information:
http://www2.avs.org/symposium/AVS59/pages/housing_travel.html
PRESS REGISTRATION
The AVS Pressroom will be located in the Tampa Convention Center. Your complimentary media badge will allow you to utilize the pressroom to write, interview, collect new product releases, review material, or just relax. The media badge will also admit you, free of charge, into the exhibit area, lectures, and technical sessions, as well as the Welcome Mixer on Monday evening and the Awards Ceremony and Reception on Wednesday night. Pressroom hours are Monday-Thursday, 8-5 p.m.
To register, please contact:
Della Miller, AVS
E-mail: della@avs.org
This news release was prepared for AVS by the American Institute of Physics (AIP).
ABOUT AVS
Founded in 1953, AVS is a not-for-profit professional society that promotes communication between academia, government laboratories, and industry for the purpose of sharing research and development findings over a broad range of technologically relevant topics. Its symposia and journals provide an important forum for the dissemination of information in many areas of science and technology, enabling a critical gateway for the rapid insertion of scientific breakthroughs into manufacturing realities.
[ | 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.
Cybersecurity getting increased attention from US government after a wave of Internet attacks on US banks. Pentagon blames Iran, but cybersecurity expert Gil Shwed says they could come from any developed country.
By Jason Gewirtz,?CNBC.com / October 25, 2012
In this September file photo, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta speaks at a news conference at the Pentagon, in Washington. A wave of attacks on US bank websites has raised cybersecurity concerns among US government officials. The Pentagon blames Iran for the attacks.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP/File
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The man often credited as being the father of Internet defense says it's still unclear where a recent wave of hacking attacks targeting the U.S. financial industry are coming from.
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Gil Shwed is the co-founder and CEO of?Check Point Software Technologies.?Many recognize him and the company's other co-founder, Marius Nacht, as the world's pioneers in cyber-security. Shwed developed his expertise designing systems for an elite technology unit in the Israel Defense Forces years before the internet became a daily part of our lives.
?Shwed said today "Iran is definitely capable of launching these kinds of attacks but so is just about any other developed country."
?In the last several weeks reports have surfaced that several major American banks have been hit by a wave of Internet-based attacks slowing down or temporarily cutting off service.? Officials at the Pentagon were the first to?point the finger at the government of Iran. Shwed agrees it is possible Iran is to blame but cautions it's very difficult to tell where attacks come from because they can be diverted over and over to cover up the actual source.
?Without admitting guilt, Iranian officials have boasted about their increasing capability to carry out such attacks.
?While the Islamic Republic of Iran is widely blamed, a group calling itself the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters Group has claimed responsibility. Their name comes from a Muslim leader that directed waves of murderous attacks targeting Jews living in the Middle East in the 1920s and 1930s.? The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters dubbed their internet attacks "Operation Ababil" (Ababil is Farsi for swallow ? the Iranian government also has a fleet of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles by the same name).
?In a statement filed on the internet late Tuesday night the group said, "Operation Ababil is retaliation in response of the organized insulting to the Prophet of Islam done by some arrogant western governments." The statement then again took credit for attacks on several American banks and threatened to carry out more.
On Wednesday, a New York Times report said Iranian hackers were also able to break into the?computer system of oil giant Saudi Aramco?earlier this year and wipe out almost three quarters of the data saved on the company's servers.
?There are signs the U.S. Government is starting to take these threats more seriously. Earlier this month Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta?sounded the alarm?on the nation's cyber-security saying "an aggressor nation or extremist group could gain control of critical switches and derail passenger trains, or trains loaded with lethal chemical. They could contaminate the water supply in major cities, or shut down the power grid across large parts of the country... a cyber-Pearl Harbor that would cause physical destruction and loss of life, paralyze and shock the nation, and create a profound new sense of vulnerability.''
Shwed echoed the Secretary of Defense's comments saying "the risk is absolutely there. But it isn't just government and infrastructure agencies that need to be on guard.? Every individual with a computer is at risk. These organizations, wherever they are, can infect tens of thousands or even millions of computers."
Shwed added keeping your company or your individual computer or mobile device's security software updated is essential.
Despite the recent wave of cyber-attacks Check Point's stock has taken a hit in the last six months, it's down about 30 percent. Shwed blames the drop in large part to concerns over the European slowdown and the impact that will have on growth. But he optimistically says "the company is doing well whether profits increase 20 percent or decrease 20 percent." He also noted despite the recent downturn, shares are up almost 35 percent over the last three years.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a longtime Republican, is sticking with President Barack Obama in this year's election.
He told CBS' "This Morning" he respects fellow Republican Mitt Romney but thinks he's been vague on many issues.
Powell said the president got the United States out of Iraq, has laid out a plan for leaving Afghanistan "and didn't get us into any new wars."
He praised Obama's economic performance, saying, while difficult choices are ahead on taxes, spending and budgetary policies, "steadily, I think we've begun to come out of the dive and we're gaining altitude."
Obama later called Powell to thank him.
Powell, a retired general, was also a White House national security adviser and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Young adults are making big moves in the fledgling economic recovery, leaving college towns and parents' homes and heading out of state at the highest rate since the height of the housing boom.
New census data offer a detailed look at U.S. migration, which fell to a record low in early 2011.
The latest numbers show that adults ages 25-29 had the biggest gain in interstate migration in 13 years. They are striking out on their own to test the job market in such urban, high-tech meccas as Washington, D.C.; Denver; Portland, Ore.; Seattle; and Austin, Texas.
In contrast, groups that showed some of the most movement in the housing boom that peaked in 2005 ? working professionals, families and would-be retirees ? are still mostly locked in place.
LOS ANGELES -- Immigrants would get access to banking services in Los Angeles under a proposal by the mayor that would create an official city photo identification card that could also be used as a prepaid ATM card for their private bank account.
"It will be an official ID," Villaraigosa told the newspaper. "It will be as strong an effort as San Francisco's."
An estimated 4.3 million immigrants live in LA.
Supporters say helping immigrants open bank accounts could reduce crime because fewer people would have to carry cash. An official city ID would also make it easier for many residents to obtain city services and identify themselves to law enforcement officials, they argue.
But critics say the plan is an accommodation to immigrants who are in the country illegally.
"Los Angeles is making it easier for people who have violated federal immigration laws to live in the city," said Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group critical of illegal immigration.
A City Council committee will discuss the ID card proposal on Tuesday, the Times said.
Card applicants would have to meet "strict" criteria, the mayor's office told the newspaper. The card, which officials say would look like a student ID, would include a photo, street address, date of birth, hair and eye color, height and weight. Law enforcement agencies could choose whether to recognize the card, and it would not substitute for a driver's license, the mayor's office said.
The city would hire an outside vendor who would charge applicants between $10 and $20 to obtain a card, and a few dollars a month for the debit service, which would be optional, the Times said.
Thousands of poor and elderly legal residents who don't have a driver's license or other identification would benefit from the program, the mayor's office told the newspaper.
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Public release date: 26-Oct-2012
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