A state-by-state look at superstorm's effects

The massive storm that started out as Hurricane Sandy slammed into the East Coast and morphed into a huge and problematic system, killing at least 90 people in the United States. Power outages now stand at more than 4 million homes and businesses, down from a peak of 8.5 million. Here's a snapshot of what is happening, state by state.

CONNECTICUT

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says the federal government will offer as much help as it can to Connecticut homeowners and business owners affected by the Superstorm Sandy. She toured the state's storm-battered shoreline by helicopter Thursday with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and other government officials. Deaths: 3. Power outages: 270,000, down from a peak of 625,000.

DELAWARE

Governor lifts state of emergency and authorizes National Guard to continue cleanup support. Shelters close. Deaths: none. Power outages: 550, down from more than 45,000.

KENTUCKY

The last remnants of Sandy drop more snow in the mountains on top of a foot that already fell. Deaths: none. Power outages: none.

MAINE

Amtrak's Downeaster resumes service. Governor sends forest rangers to New York City to help with recovery there. Deaths: none. Power outages: none, down from more than 90,000.

MARYLAND

Residents return to polls after storm forced cancellation of early voting for two days. Deaths: 3. Power outages: 22,000, down from 365,700.

MASSACHUSETTS

Storm shifted a dead whale that had been left to rot on the shoreline to a spot where scientists can now recover the bones before it is buried. Deaths: none. Power outages: 7,200, down from 400,000.

MICHIGAN

Cargo shipping on the Great Lakes resumes after high waves subside. Deaths: none. Power outages: 5,000, down from 154,000.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Surprise "microburst" from vestiges of storm topples pines onto lake cottages. Trick-or-treating postponed to Sunday. Deaths: 1. Power outages: 2,600, down from 210,000.

NEW JERSEY

Motorists across New Jersey were in long lines at gas stations for a second stressful day on Thursday. Many stations were closed because of a lack of electricity or supplies, or both. At a Gulf station in Newark, a police officer directed traffic as a line of vehicles stretched for about two miles. Deaths: 14. Power outages: 1.6 million, down from 2.7 million.

NEW YORK

Police say the bodies of two missing New York City boys have been found. The 2- and 4-year-olds disappeared Monday night when waves crashed into an SUV being driven by their mother in Staten Island. The U.S. Coast Guard opened the Port of New York and New Jersey on a restricted basis to get gasoline and fuel to the areas hit hardest. Deaths: 46, including 39 in New York City. Power outages: 1.51 million, down from 2.2 million.

NORTH CAROLINA

Sea search continues for the captain of a tall ship that sank. Deaths: 2. Power outages: mostly restored.

OHIO

Cleanup begins after another day of steady rains and gusty winds that led to flood warnings along Lake Erie. Deaths: 2. Power outages: 89,000, down from more than 250,000.

PENNSYLVANIA

Utility crews struggle to restore power in state where most damage was driven by wind, not water. Deaths: 12. Power outages: 384,000, down from 1.2 million.

RHODE ISLAND

Officials say Federal Emergency Management Agency crews are assessing storm damage in Rhode Island. That's one of the first steps that must occur before the president can declare the state a disaster area, which would allow governments and homeowners to apply for federal assistance. About half of Newport's 3.5-mile Cliff Walk has been closed because of extensive damage. Deaths: none. Power outages: 25,000, down from more than 122,000.

TENNESSEE

Elizabethton businesses close off a street and cover sidewalks for trick-or-treaters as snow falls in mountainous areas. Deaths: none. Power outages: minimal.

VERMONT

Amtrak works to restore service to the state after tracks were damaged in other areas. Deaths: none. Power outages: mostly restored, down from more than 10,000.

VIRGINIA

National Guard winds down most recovery operations. U.S. Navy sends three Virginia-based ships toward the Northeast in case they're needed. Deaths: 2. Power outages: 6,100, down from more than 180,000.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Early voting resumes after being shut down for two days, and hours are extended. Federal workers return, National Mall reopens. Deaths: none. Power outages: mostly restored, down from 25,000.

WEST VIRGINIA

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin plans to ask President Barack Obama for a federal disaster declaration to help residents and businesses in the hardest-hit areas of the state. Some areas have seen nearly 3 feet of snow. Deaths: 6. Power outages: 136,875, down from about 271,000.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/state-state-look-superstorms-effects-072324148.html

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Family Fresh Meals: Crockpot Macaroni and Cheese Slow Cooker

I have run across many crockpot recipes that require you to precook the noodles before placing in the slow cooker. I always wondered ...."what would happen if I did this with uncooked noodles?"?
The point of the crockpot is to SAVE time, so why not skip this step! Macaroni and cheese seemed like the perfect test recipe.?
I am happy to report, it worked like a charm!

Here is what you need (serves 8-10)

- 1 box (13.25oz) of?rotini, shell or macaroni pasta
- 4 TB butter
- 4 cups shredded cheese (I used a Colby-Jack blend, but Cheddar would work great too)
- 4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature, cubed
- 1.5 cup of milk
- 12oz evaporated milk
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp paprika

1. In crockpot mix together butter, cream cheese, milk, evaporated milk, sour cream, salt, pepper and paprika. Try to stir out as many lumps as possible.

2. Stir in UNCOOKED noodles.

3. Top with shredded cheese. (DO NOT mix at this point. The cheese will melt and make it's way through the noodles. Cover and cook on LOW for 3-4 hours.

Got Leftovers??

Make sure to check back later this week to see how I use my leftovers for lunch! Do you?love?Family Fresh Meals??Never?miss out on a FUN?new?meal or idea and?SIGN UP?to have my posts sent right to your inbox! It's EASY PEASY! Just?CLICK HERE?and enter your email!
XO
Corey, Darryl, Big D & Little D

Here is what I used to make this yummy meal!

Source: http://www.familyfreshmeals.com/2012/11/crockpot-macaroni-and-cheese-slow-cooker.html

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Dark clouds, young stars, and a dash of Hollywood: New results from space telescope's explorations of stellar birthplaces

ScienceDaily (Oct. 31, 2012) ? An astronomical project led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) has examined the earliest stages of star formation in unprecedented depth: Using the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Telescope and techniques more commonly encountered in Hollywood blockbuster computer graphics than in astronomy, the researchers produced a three-dimensional map of the molecular cloud B68, a possible future birthplace for a low-mass star. Turning their attention to much more massive molecular clouds, the researchers also managed to identify a previously unobserved class of object that is likely the earliest known precursor of the birth of massive stars.

Stars are born in hiding, when dense regions within clouds of gas and dust collapse under their own gravity. But the clouds not only provide the raw material for star formation, they also absorb most of the light from their interior, hiding from view the crucial details of stellar birth ? one of the key astronomical processes if we want to understand our own origins!

Now, two groups in the EPoS ("Earliest Phases of Star formation") project led by MPIA's Oliver Krause, using ESA's Herschel Space Telescope, report new results in understanding the earliest stages of star formation.

On the trail of the origin of low-mass stars (with less than about twice the mass of our Sun), a team led by Markus Nielbock (MPIA) has completed a detailed investigation of one of the best-known potential stellar birthplaces: the dark cloud (or "globule") Barnard 68 in the constellation Ophiuchus. Combining the Herschel Space Telescope's unrivaled sharpness and sensitivity in the far-infrared range with a method more often encountered in visual effects companies working on Hollywood blockbusters than in astronomy, the researchers were able to construct the most realistic 3D model of the cloud to date.

The method, adapted for this particular use by MPIA's Ralf Launhardt, uses what is known as raytracing: For each minute portion of the object that we can see, the line of sight is traced back into the object itself. The contribution by each portion of the light's path ? is light being absorbed at this particular point? is it being emitted? if yes, at which wavelengths? ? are added up. Raytracing is routinely used to produce realistic-looking computer-generated creatures, objects or whole scenes. Here, it helped to match light emitted within Barnard 68 at different wavelengths with simplified models of the cloud's three-dimensional shape, density and temperature distribution.

The results have shaken up some of what astronomers thought they knew about this cloud. The emerging picture is one of Barnard 68 condensing from a drawn-out filament, heated by unevenly distributed external radiation from the direction of the central plane of our home galaxy. The astronomers also found some signs pointing to a cloud fragment in collision with Barnard 68, which might lead to the cloud's collapse, and the formation of one or more low-mass stars, within the next hundreds of thousands of years, and whose existence had been predicted by a previous study (Burkert & Alves 2009).

As cosmic clouds go, Barnard 68 is rather small. Clouds of this size will give birth to a few low-mass stars at most. To find out how massive stars are born (mass greater than about twice the mass of the Sun), a team led by MPIA's Sarah Ragan turned Herschel's PACS camera to 45 significantly more massive dark clouds. The clouds contain numerous stars about to be born, so-called "protostars". While previous missions, such as NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, have also searched for protostars, Herschel enables astronomers to probe deeper into the clouds than ever before. Younger protostars are hidden much more effectively within their clouds than older ones. Herschel managed to find the youngest and most primitive protostars known.

The new observations swelled the ranks of known protostars from 330 to nearly 500 and, most excitingly, led to the discovery of a new type of not-quite-a-star: dense regions at a mere 15 degrees above absolute zero (-258 degrees Celsius) with no sign of a protostar. These regions are likely to be in an early precursor stage of star formation. In astronomy, where timescales of hundreds of millions or of billions of years are the norm, the fact that this precursor stage is expected to last less than 1000 years makes it extremely short-lived. Studying these elusive, pristine objects lays a necessary foundation for all subsequent studies of star formation.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Max Planck Institute for Astronomy/Max-Planck-Institut f?r Astronomie.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. M. Nielbock, R. Launhardt, J. Steinacker, A. M. Stutz, Z. Balog, H. Beuther, J. Bouwman, Th. Henning, P. Hily-Blant, J. Kainulainen, O. Krause, H. Linz, N. Lippok, S. Ragan, C. Risacher, A. Schmiedeke. The Earliest Phases of Star formation (EPoS) observed withHerschel: the dust temperature and density distributions of B68. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2012; 547: A11 DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201219139

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/3w2uCg5s49k/121031081524.htm

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Man with bionic leg to climb Chicago skyscraper

In this Oct. 25, 2012 photo, Zac Vawter, fitted with an experimental "bionic" leg, is silhouetted on the Ledge at the Willis Tower in Chicago. Vawter is training for the world's tallest stair-climbing event where he'll attempt to climb 103 flights to the top of theWillis Tower using the new prosthesis. (AP Photo/Brian Kersey)

In this Oct. 25, 2012 photo, Zac Vawter, fitted with an experimental "bionic" leg, is silhouetted on the Ledge at the Willis Tower in Chicago. Vawter is training for the world's tallest stair-climbing event where he'll attempt to climb 103 flights to the top of theWillis Tower using the new prosthesis. (AP Photo/Brian Kersey)

In this Oct. 25, 2012 photo, Dr. Levi Hargrove, lead researcher for the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago's Center for Bionic Medicine, holds an experimental "bionic" prosthetic leg at the institute. Zac Vawter, a 31-year-old software engineer who lost his right leg in a motorcycle accident, will help test the trailblazing prosthetic leg, that's controlled by his thoughts, when he attempts to climb 103 flights of stairs to the top of Chicago's Willis Tower on Sunday, Nov. 4. (AP Photo/Brian Kersey)

In this Oct. 25, 2012 photo, biomedical engineer Annie Simon, left, and research prosthetist Elizabeth Halsne fit an experimental "bionic" prosthetic leg on Zac Vawter at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. After losing his right leg in a motorcycle accident, the 31-year-old software engineer signed up to become a research subject, helping test a trailblazing prosthetic leg that's controlled by his thoughts. He will put this leg to the ultimate test Sunday, Nov. 4 when he attempts to climb 103 flights of stairs to the top of Chicago's Willis Tower, one of the world?s tallest skyscrapers. (AP Photo/Brian Kersey)

In this Oct. 25, 2012 photo, Suzanne Finucane, a physical therapist assistant, right, and prothetist Robert Lipschutz, top, attach electrodes to Zac Vawter's leg as he is fitted with an experimental "bionic" leg at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. After losing his right leg in a motorcycle accident, the 31-year-old software engineer signed up to become a research subject, helping test a trailblazing prosthetic leg that's controlled by his thoughts. He will put this leg to the ultimate test Sunday, Nov. 4 when he attempts to climb 103 flights of stairs to the top of Chicago's Willis Tower, one of the world?s tallest skyscrapers. (AP Photo/Brian Kersey)

In this Oct. 25, 2012 photo, Zac Vawter practices walking with an experimental "bionic" leg at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. After losing his right leg in a motorcycle accident, the 31-year-old software engineer signed up to become a research subject, helping test a trailblazing prosthetic leg that's controlled by his thoughts. He will put this leg to the ultimate test Sunday, Nov. 4 when he attempts to climb 103 flights of stairs to the top of Chicago's Willis Tower, one of the world?s tallest skyscrapers. (AP Photo/Brian Kersey)

CHICAGO (AP) ? Zac Vawter considers himself a test pilot. After losing his right leg in a motorcycle accident, the 31-year-old software engineer signed up to become a research subject, helping to test a trailblazing prosthetic leg that's controlled by his thoughts.

He will put this groundbreaking bionic leg to the ultimate test Sunday when he attempts to climb 103 flights of stairs to the top of Chicago's Willis Tower, one of the world's tallest skyscrapers.

If all goes well, he'll make history with the bionic leg's public debut. His whirring, robotic leg will respond to electrical impulses from muscles in his hamstring. Vawter will think, "Climb stairs," and the motors, belts and chains in his leg will synchronize the movements of its ankle and knee. Vawter hopes to make it to the top in an hour, longer than it would've taken before his amputation, less time than it would take with his normal prosthetic leg ? or, as he calls it, his "dumb" leg.

A team of researchers will be cheering him on and noting the smart leg's performance. When Vawter goes home to Yelm, Wash., where he lives with his wife and two children, the experimental leg will stay behind in Chicago. Researchers will continue to refine its steering. Taking it to the market is still years away.

"Somewhere down the road, it will benefit me and I hope it will benefit a lot of other people as well," Vawter said about the research at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.

Bionic ? or thought-controlled ? prosthetic arms have been available for a few years, thanks to pioneering work done at the Rehabilitation Institute. With leg amputees outnumbering people who've lost arms and hands, the Chicago researchers are focusing more on lower limbs. Safety is important. If a bionic hand fails, a person drops a glass of water. If a bionic leg fails, a person falls down stairs.

The Willis Tower climb will be the bionic leg's first test in the public eye, said lead researcher Levi Hargrove of the institute's Center for Bionic Medicine. The climb, called "SkyRise Chicago," is a fundraiser for the institute with about 2,700 people climbing. This is the first time the climb has played a role in the facility's research.

To prepare, Vawter and the scientists have spent hours adjusting the leg's movements. On one recent day, 11 electrodes placed on the skin of Vawter's thigh fed data to the bionic leg's microcomputer. The researchers turned over the "steering" to Vawter.

He kicked a soccer ball, walked around the room and climbed stairs. The researchers beamed.

Vawter likes the bionic leg. Compared to his regular prosthetic, it's more responsive and more fluid. As an engineer, he enjoys learning how the leg works.

It started with surgery in 2009. When Vawter's leg was amputated, a surgeon repositioned the residual spaghetti-like nerves that normally would carry signals to the lower leg and sewed them to new spots on his hamstring. That would allow Vawter one day to be able to use a bionic leg, even though the technology was years away.

The surgery is called "targeted muscle reinnervation" and it's like "rewiring the patient," Hargrove said. "And now when he just thinks about moving his ankle, his hamstring moves and we're able to tell the prosthesis how to move appropriately."

To one generation it sounds like "The Six Million Dollar Man," a 1970s TV show featuring a rebuilt hero. A younger generation may think of Luke Skywalker's bionic hand.

But Hargrove's inspiration came not from fiction, but from his fellow Canadian Terry Fox, who attempted a cross-country run on a regular artificial leg to raise money for cancer research in 1980.

"I've run marathons, and when you're in pain, you just think about Terry Fox who did it with a wooden leg and made it halfway across Canada before cancer returned," Hargrove said.

Experts not involved in the project say the Chicago research is on the leading edge. Most artificial legs are passive. "They're basically fancy wooden legs," said Daniel Ferris of the University of Michigan. Others have motorized or mechanical components but don't respond to the electrical impulses caused by thought.

"This is a step beyond the state of the art," Ferris said. "If they can achieve it, it's very noteworthy and suggests in the next 10 years or so there will be good commercial devices out there."

The $8 million project is funded by the U.S. Department of Defense and involves Vanderbilt University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Rhode Island and the University of New Brunswick.

Vawter and the Chicago researchers recently took the elevator to the 103rd floor of the Willis Tower to see the view after an afternoon of work in the lab. Hargrove and Vawter bantered in the elevator in anticipation of Sunday's event.

Hargrove: "Am I allowed to trash talk you?"

"It's fine," Vawter shot back. "I'll just defer it all to the leg that you built."

At the top, Vawter stood on a glass balcony overlooking the city. The next time he heads to the top, he and the bionic leg will take the stairs.

___

AP Medical Writer Carla K. Johnson can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/CarlaKJohnson.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2012-10-31-Bionic%20Stair-Climber/id-2433a8637fb54661baaa3289260c5f98

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