Police probe motive in deadly Pennsylvania shooting spree

(Reuters) - Investigators are searching for a possible motive in a shooting spree that left four people dead in rural Pennsylvania, including two apparent neighbors of the gunman, state police said on Saturday.

The violence erupted on Friday when a man with a pistol fatally shot three people in Frankstown Township, about 100 miles east of Pittsburgh, before he was killed in a shootout with state troopers as he tried to flee in a pickup truck, authorities said.

Officials identified the gunman as Jeffrey Lee Michael, 44.

Pennsylvania State Police spokesman David McGarvey said two of the three people the gunman killed appeared to be neighbors, but gave few further details.

He said investigators "aren't aware of any dispute" between Michael and the victims, who were identified as Kimberly Scott, 58, Kenneth Lynn, 60, and William Rhodes Jr., 38.

The violence in Pennsylvania unfolded as bells tolled and many Americans observed a moment of silence for the 20 children and six adults shot to death a week earlier by a gunman at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.

The Newtown shooter, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, also shot his mother to death at their home before going on his rampage, which ended with his suicide and has reignited a national debate over gun control.

In the Pennsylvania incident, the gunman in fairly rapid succession shot and killed a woman inside a church, then fatally shot two men at their respective homes - all within a short distance from each other - before trying to flee.

He opened fire at two state police patrol cars rushing to the scene as he passed them on a two-lane road and slammed head-on into a third patrol car. The gunman was killed in an exchange of gunfire with police at the crash scene, police said.

All three troopers involved in the chase were injured - one from the collision, another from bullet fragments and shattered glass, and a third who was shot in the chest but survived thanks to a bullet-proof vest. They were treated and released from a local hospital, McGarvey said.

Police have said that it did not appear that the shooting had any connection to the massacre in Connecticut.

(Reporting by James B. Kelleher; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Paul Simao)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/police-probe-motive-deadly-pennsylvania-shooting-spree-030651621.html

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HBT: Report: Ross reaches three-year deal with Arizona

UPDATE: Jim Bowden of ESPN.com and MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM reports that Ross got a three-year, $26 million contract. The deal includes a club option for 2016 which carries a $1 million buyout. Not a bad deal for someone who made $3 million in 2012.

12:01 PM: According to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News, Cody Ross has reached agreement with the Diamondbacks on a three-year contract. No word yet on the terms involved.

This is a pretty surprising destination for Ross, as he hasn?t been linked to the Diamondbacks at all this winter. The latest we heard was a meeting with the Rangers earlier this week.

The Diamondbacks already have Justin Upton, Jason Kubel, Gerardo Parra and Adam Eaton in-house, so the addition of Ross is a bit superfluous on the surface. However, general manager Kevin Towers now figures to step up his efforts to trade an outfielder, likely Kubel. And I suppose it?s possible Upton could be dealt if they are blown away by an offer.

Ross, who turns 32 tomorrow, batted .267/.326/.481 with 22 home runs, 81 RBI and an .807 OPS in 130 games this past season with the Red Sox. He enjoyed most of his success at Fenway Park, but he should have a decent chance at a comparable follow-up playing half of his games at the hitter-friendly Chase Field.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/12/22/report-diamondbacks-reach-three-year-deal-with-cody-ross/related/

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Video: Eep! Three more days to shop

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/50280479/

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Engineers seek ways to convert methane into useful chemicals

Friday, December 21, 2012

Little more than a decade ago, the United States imported much of its natural gas. Today, the nation is tapping into its own natural gas reserves and producing enough to support most of its current needs for heating and power generation, and is beginning to export natural gas to other countries.

The trend is expected to continue, as new methods are developed to extract natural gas from vast unrecovered reserves embedded in shale. Natural gas can be used to generate electricity, and it burns cleaner than coal.

"With petroleum reserves in decline, natural gas production is destined to increase to help meet worldwide energy demands," said Matthew Neurock, a chemical engineering professor in the University of Virginia's School of Engineering and Applied Science. "But petroleum ? in addition to being used to make fuels ? is also used to make ethylene, propylene and other building blocks used in the production of a wide range of other chemicals. We need to develop innovative processes that can readily make these chemical intermediates from natural gas."

The problem is, there currently are no cost-effective ways to do this. Methane, the principal component of natural gas, is rather inert and requires high temperatures to activate its strong chemical bonds; therefore the practical and successful conversion of methane to useful chemical intermediates has thus far eluded chemists and engineers.

Neurock is working with colleagues at Northwestern University to invent novel ways and catalytic materials to activate methane to produce ethylene. This week the collaborators published a paper in the online edition of the journal Nature Chemistrydetailing the use of sulfur as a possible "soft" oxidant for catalytically converting methane into ethylene, a key "intermediate" for making chemicals, polymers, fuels and, ultimately, products such as films, surfactants, detergents, antifreeze, textiles and others.

"We show, through both theory ? using quantum mechanical calculations ? and laboratory experiments, that sulfur can be used together with novel sulfide catalysts to convert methane to ethylene, an important intermediate in the production of a wide range of materials," Neurock said.

Chemists and engineers have attempted to develop catalysts and catalytic processes that use oxygen to make ethylene, methanol and other intermediates, but have had little success as oxygen is too reactive and tends to over-oxidize methane to common carbon dioxide.

Neurock said that sulfur or other "softer" oxidants that have weaker affinities for hydrogen may be the answer, in that they can help to limit the over-reaction of methane to carbon disulfide. In the team's process, methane is reacted with sulfur over sulfide catalysts used in petroleum processes. Sulfur is used to remove hydrogen from the methane to form hydrocarbon fragments, which subsequently react together on the catalyst to form ethylene.

Theoretical and experimental results indicate that the conversion of methane and the selectivity to produce ethylene are controlled by how strong the sulfur bonds to the catalyst. Using these concepts, the team explored different metal sulfide catalysts to ultimately tune the metal-sulfur bond strength in order to control the conversion of methane to ethylene.

Chemical companies consider methane a particularly attractive raw material because of the large reserves of natural gas in the U.S. and other parts of the world.

In 2007, Dow issued a "Methane Challenge," seeking revolutionary chemical processes to facilitate the conversion of methane to ethylene and other useful chemicals.

The company received about 100 proposals from universities, institutes and companies around the world.

In 2008, the company awarded major research grants to Cardiff University and Northwestern University to advance the quest. Neurock is a member of the Northwestern University team. He is using theoretical methods and high-performance computing to understand the processes that control catalysis and to guide the experimental research at Northwestern.

"The abundance of natural gas, along with the development of new methods to extract it from hidden reserves, offers unique opportunities for the development of catalytic processes that can convert methane to chemicals," Neurock said. "Our finding ? of using sulfur to catalyze the conversion of methane to ethylene ? shows initial promise for the development of new catalytic processes that can potentially take full advantage of these reserves. The research, however, is really just in its infancy"

###

University of Virginia: http://www.virginia.edu

Thanks to University of Virginia for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126061/Engineers_seek_ways_to_convert_methane_into_useful_chemicals

Cam Cameron

Video: NRA to break silence of Newtown tragedy

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/newsnation/50261052/

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The Best Gaming Holiday Card Is Probably The One Celebrating ...

It's the time of the year when gaming companies send me Christmas cards. Um, thanks? You didn't have to, really. Or at least just send an e-card, because I'm chucking these Santa-Yoda cards and fancy cursive well-wishes in the trash recycling bin.

Except this one.

This one was e-mailed to me by the people at Foundation 9. Best card. They win. I will not put this one in the trash folder yet.

Hey, game studios, Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to all of you right back! Next time, tuck a Durango in that card you're sending me, ok? Or maybe an Orbis?

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Bigger version, for you fans of Joust and/or Christmas:

Source: http://kotaku.com/5969385/the-best-gaming-holiday-card-is-probably-the-one-celebrating-joust-christmas

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AP PHOTOS: Connecticut shooting victims mourned

Most died at the very start of their young lives, tiny victims taken in a way not fit for anyone. Others found their life's work in sheltering the little ones, teaching them, caring for them as their own. President Barack Obama joined hundreds gathered in Newtown, Conn., in a vigil to remember the 20 young students and six adults who were killed.

Here are some images from the vigil and in the town that was the scene of the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-photos-connecticut-shooting-victims-mourned-060600389.html

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