THQ's third downloadable content (DLC) pack for WWE ?12 features three former WWE Champions in its "Legends Pack": "Macho Man" Randy Savage, "The Animal" Batista, and "Hardcore Legend" Mick Foley.
The "WWE Legends Pack" will be available this winter, featuring the three playable Legends, plus WWE Superstar Brodus Clay, who will be available as a free download for all players. Each will be available individually for $0.99 each (on PlayStation 3), or 80 MS Points (on Xbox 360).
Also planned for WWE '12 downloadable content are the following packs:
The ?WrestleMania Pack? (PHOTOS)? includes:
The ?Divas Pack? (PHOTOS) includes:
Kharma as playable Diva
Brie & Nikki Bella as playable Divas
Trish Stratus as playable Diva
Alicia Fox as playable Diva (will be FREE for download for all gamers)
Vickie Guerrero as selectable Superstar manager
?
THQ offers savings of 25 percent on DLC packs if you buy their ?WWE ?12 ?Fan Axxess? subscription. For a one-time cost of $11.99 (on PS3) or 960 MS points, all post-launch DLC THQ releases for WWE ?12 will be yours upon its release, instead of buying each individual item separately.
WWE ?12 is in stores now. For more information, visit THQ'sWWE '12microsite by clicking here.
Three American students were arrested Monday evening during protests in Tahrir Square, a spokeswoman for The American University in Cairo told NBC News.
Luke Gates, a student at Indiana University from Bloomington, Ind., Gregory Porter, a student at Drexel University from Glenside, Pa., and Derrik Sweeney, a student at Georgetown University from Jefferson City, Mo., are being held at the Abdeen police station in Cairo, reported NBC.?
The three are currently studying abroad at The American University in Cairo. University spokeswoman Morgan Roth said the university is in?"fact-finding mode" about the detentions at the moment.
Read more about the events in Egypt
"I don't have specifics on the charges they are facing or if they have been formally charged. I just know that they are being detained," Roth told NBC.?The American University is working with the U.S. Embassy in Cairo to monitor the students' well-being, she said.
NBC's Richard Engel said Egyptian television was reporting three American citizens were arrested after being seen throwing fire bombs from the roof of a building belonging to the American University near Tahrir Square, and that the U.S. Embassy was investigating.
The State Department has not yet been able to gain consular access to the students.
The students' parents were notified Tuesday morning of the arrests. Drexel University, Gregory Porter's school, released a statement saying "administrators are in contact with Porter's parents and are working with authorities at the American University in Cairo and the U.S. Embassy to have Porter released and returned home safely."
The two other students' universities have been notified of the arrests as well.
Meanwhile, Egyptians converged on Tahrir Square on Tuesday in response to a call for a so-called "million-man march" as protests against the country's military rulers entered a fourth day. Read full coverage here.
Smithsonian scientists use fossil feathers reveal lineage of extinct, flightless ibisPublic release date: 22-Nov-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: John Gibbons gibbonsjp@si.edu 202-633-5187 Smithsonian
A remarkable first occurred recently at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History when ornithologists Carla Dove and Storrs Olson used 700- to 1,100-year-old feathers from a long extinct species of Hawaiian ibis to help determine the bird's place in the ibis family tree. The feathers are the only known plumage of any of the prehistorically extinct birds that once inhabited the Hawaiian Islands.
Discovered with a nearly complete skeleton, the feathers retained enough microscopic structure to allow the scientists to confirm the classification of the bird, known by its scientific name Apteribis sp, as a close relative of the American white ibis (Eudocimus albus) and scarlet ibis (Eudocimus buber). DNA analysis confirmed this classification.
Remarkably, the feathers also retained enough pigmentation for Dove and Olson to determine that the bird was brown-black to ivory-beige in color. This is a first?the plumage color of any prehistorically extinct Hawaiian bird up until now had been speculation.
Apteribis sp. is one of only two species of flightless ibis, both now extinct. Its skeleton differs so much from its mainland ancestors that the bird's relationship to other ibises could only be determined through the study of its feathers and DNA analysis.
"This find is highly unusual because feathers do not preserve well and often decay before a bird is fossilized," Dove said. "These weren't fossil imprints in a rock, but feathers and bones we could actually pick up."
Exceptional geologic circumstances led to the preservation of the feathers inside a lava cave on the Hawaiian Island of Lanai. The floor of the cave was partially covered in a deep layer of flaky gypsum crystals, which, for hundreds of years absorbed humidity in the cave and created an arid environment ideal for preservation of the feathers.
From a taxonomic standpoint feathers are significant because the shape of microscopic barbs on specific areas of a feather have distinct features that taxonomists can use to determine what bird group it belongs to.
"The barbs are unique only on the downy, fluffy part at the base of the feather, not at the tip," Dove said. "These microstructures are similar among orders of birdspigeons, ducks, songbirds, for example.
Using specimens from the Smithsonian's collection, Dove compared the microscopic structures of the ancient feathers to those of modern day birds. Her analysis confirmed that Apteribis sp. is most closely related the New World ibises of the genus Eudocimus. Apteribis sp. was first described from fossils found on the Hawaiian Islands of Molokai and Maui. It is one of dozens of bird species known to have gone extinct following the arrival of humans on the Hawaiian Islands.
"Fossil Feathers from the Hawaiian Flightless Ibis (Apteribis SP.): Plumage Coloration and Systematics of a Prehistorically Extinct Bird," by Carla Dove and Storrs Olson appeared in the September 2011 issue of the Journal of Paleontology.
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Smithsonian scientists use fossil feathers reveal lineage of extinct, flightless ibisPublic release date: 22-Nov-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: John Gibbons gibbonsjp@si.edu 202-633-5187 Smithsonian
A remarkable first occurred recently at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History when ornithologists Carla Dove and Storrs Olson used 700- to 1,100-year-old feathers from a long extinct species of Hawaiian ibis to help determine the bird's place in the ibis family tree. The feathers are the only known plumage of any of the prehistorically extinct birds that once inhabited the Hawaiian Islands.
Discovered with a nearly complete skeleton, the feathers retained enough microscopic structure to allow the scientists to confirm the classification of the bird, known by its scientific name Apteribis sp, as a close relative of the American white ibis (Eudocimus albus) and scarlet ibis (Eudocimus buber). DNA analysis confirmed this classification.
Remarkably, the feathers also retained enough pigmentation for Dove and Olson to determine that the bird was brown-black to ivory-beige in color. This is a first?the plumage color of any prehistorically extinct Hawaiian bird up until now had been speculation.
Apteribis sp. is one of only two species of flightless ibis, both now extinct. Its skeleton differs so much from its mainland ancestors that the bird's relationship to other ibises could only be determined through the study of its feathers and DNA analysis.
"This find is highly unusual because feathers do not preserve well and often decay before a bird is fossilized," Dove said. "These weren't fossil imprints in a rock, but feathers and bones we could actually pick up."
Exceptional geologic circumstances led to the preservation of the feathers inside a lava cave on the Hawaiian Island of Lanai. The floor of the cave was partially covered in a deep layer of flaky gypsum crystals, which, for hundreds of years absorbed humidity in the cave and created an arid environment ideal for preservation of the feathers.
From a taxonomic standpoint feathers are significant because the shape of microscopic barbs on specific areas of a feather have distinct features that taxonomists can use to determine what bird group it belongs to.
"The barbs are unique only on the downy, fluffy part at the base of the feather, not at the tip," Dove said. "These microstructures are similar among orders of birdspigeons, ducks, songbirds, for example.
Using specimens from the Smithsonian's collection, Dove compared the microscopic structures of the ancient feathers to those of modern day birds. Her analysis confirmed that Apteribis sp. is most closely related the New World ibises of the genus Eudocimus. Apteribis sp. was first described from fossils found on the Hawaiian Islands of Molokai and Maui. It is one of dozens of bird species known to have gone extinct following the arrival of humans on the Hawaiian Islands.
"Fossil Feathers from the Hawaiian Flightless Ibis (Apteribis SP.): Plumage Coloration and Systematics of a Prehistorically Extinct Bird," by Carla Dove and Storrs Olson appeared in the September 2011 issue of the Journal of Paleontology.
###
[ | 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.
TOKYO ? The Tokyo Stock Exchange is making a $1.1 billion offer for its Osaka rival under a plan to join the two markets by January 2013 as global competition between bourse operators intensifies.
The takeover would create the world's No. 3 exchange behind NYSE Euronext and Nasdaq OMX Group Inc., with a portfolio of companies worth more than $3.6 trillion, according to October data from the World Federation of Exchanges.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange Group Inc. said Tuesday it will pay 480,000 yen ($6,239) for each share of Osaka Securities Exchange Co. in a tender offer. The TSE wants to buy between half and two-thirds of OSE's 270,000 issued shares.
The bid represents a 14 percent premium to OSE's closing price Monday.
Japan's bourses are joining forces at a time of increasing competition and consolidation among the world's stock exchanges. Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext are awaiting European Union approval of their merger, which would become the world's largest exchange operator.
The two Japanese companies said in a joint statement the deal would bolster Japan's role as an international financial center and serve as a "step toward the revitalization of the Japanese economy."
"For a Japanese stock exchange to survive such global competition as a player, it must establish a highly liquid and efficient market and enhance the convenience of investors and companies" by bolstering scale, diversifying services and cutting costs, the companies said.
The two bourses complement each other. The TSE dominates cash equity trading, while the OSE specializes in derivatives.
By integrating trading systems, they estimate savings of 7 billion yen ($90.8 million).
The resulting company will be known as Japan Exchange Group Inc. TSE President Atsushi Saito will serve as the new company's chief executive. OSE President Michio Yoneda will be chief operating officer.
Two decades of lackluster growth have taken their toll on Japanese equity markets. The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average is off almost 80 percent from its 1989 peak. Trading volumes hit a low for the year in October.
If Tokyo and Osaka remain separate entities, "Japan will lose," Saito said at a press briefing with Yoneda later in the day.
"A merger is in the best interest of Japan," he said.
___
AP video journalist Koji Ueda contributed to this report.
If you're looking to give another early build of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich a go on the Nexus S and prefer the ROM Manager route, Koush (a name you should well know and trust) has made available in ROM Manager an early alpha build. It's early yet, and the camcorder and a few other things aren't working 100 percent -- again, alpha build -- but it's something else to play with if you want.
Check it out at the link below, or snag it in ROM Manager.
ScienceDaily (Nov. 21, 2011) ? Whether comparing a man and a woman or a parent and a baby, we can still see when two people of different age or sex are genetically related. How do we know that people are part of a family? Findings from a new study published in the Journal of Vision increases our understanding of the brain's ability to see through these underlying variations in facial structure.
"Being able to see the family resemblance between faces that have some underlying difference, such as the difference between male and female faces, is an ability that is not well understood and merits further investigation to work out how visual information about faces is organized," says author Harry J. Griffin, PhD, of the Department of Cognitive, Perceptual and Brain Sciences at University College London.
As described in the paper "Relative faces: Encoding of family resemblance relative to gender means in face space" researchers conducted two experiments using original and synthesized cross-gender "sibling" faces that resemble each other and "anti-sibling" faces that have the opposite characteristics of the original face.
In the first experiment, participants were asked to identify male-female sibling pairs. Possible pairings included a face with its synthesised opposite-gender sibling, a face with its opposite-gender anti-sibling, and a face with a randomly selected opposite-gender face. Participants chose the sibling pair significantly more often than the randomly selected cross-gender pairings and the random pairings more often than the anti-face pairings.
"This pattern of results shows that when we see a face, we compare it to an average face for that gender, allowing us to pick out only the face cues that tell us about family membership while disregarding the irrelevant gender cues," explains Griffin.
In the second experiment, using the visual adaptation method of biasing an observer's perception of objects through prolonged exposure, participants were shown a male anti-sibling generated from a female face. The results indicate that adapting to the male face clearly influenced the perceived identity of a subsequent identity-ambiguous female face. According to the researchers, this implies that the cues underlying family resemblance for both male and female faces are processed within the same brain space.
"We used this simple, non-invasive method to show that the facial appearance of men and women are processed by overlapping populations of brain cells," says Griffin. "This takes our understanding beyond the conceptual and gives a picture of how the brain actually works."
The research team hopes their findings will prompt other researchers to investigate the perception of similarity in other aspects of facial appearance such as underlying differences in age or racial groups. They s also suggest the results may have an impact on the computer science industry.
"Understanding how we encode faces can inform computer scientists who are building face recognition systems for security applications and computer graphics teams building synthetic faces for applications in the film and gaming industry and to enhance human computer interaction," added computer scientist and team member Peter McOwan from Queen Mary, University of London.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, via Newswise.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
H. J. Griffin, P. W. McOwan, A. Johnston. Relative faces: Encoding of family resemblance relative to gender means in face space. Journal of Vision, 2011; 11 (12): 8 DOI: 10.1167/11.12.8
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
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Public release date: 22-Nov-2011
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