Study: Stress Isn't Hot

Stress makes its mark on the female face, according to a new study that finds men judge women with high levels of a stress hormone less attractive.

The finding is a gender turnaround on previous research that has found that women go for low-stress guys, too. Stress can suppress fertility, said study researcher Markus Rantala, a professor of biology at the University of Turku in Finland. Thus, Rantala told LiveScience, it's no surprise that both men and women might have evolved to prefer chilled-out faces.

But the new study does suggest one intriguing gender difference: Men weren't more attracted to women with stronger immune systems, another factor that can show up in facial features. Even so, previous research on men's judgments of beauty has found that women prefer guys with strong immune responses.

"Our major finding is a little bit of a disappointment for us, because we didn't find that immunology is linked to attractiveness in women," Rantala said. [Busted! 6 Gender Myths in the Bedroom and Beyond]

Judgments of beauty are both cultural and individual, but psychologists and biologists find that humans the world over tend to agree on a few things. For example, men prefer younger women to older women, and neither men nor women tend to prefer people who look sick or diseased, Rantala said. The evolutionary drive to reproduce likely pushes people toward looks that indicate health and fertility.

Studies on women's perceived attractiveness and their health have been mixed, however, Rantala said. He and his colleagues asked 52 Latvian women to have the photographs of their faces taken during fertile times in their menstrual cycles. The women also received a hepatitis B vaccination. A month before and after the shot, the researchers took a blood sample to measure the women's hormones and antibodies, immune proteins that help the body defend against foreign invaders. The researchers also measured the women's body-fat percentages.

Next, 18 men rated the photographs of the women's faces for attractiveness on a scale of 0 to 11. The results revealed that the prettiest faces didn?t necessarily belong to the women with the strongest immune response ? but the women with the lowest levels of the stress hormone cortisol were consistently ranked as hotter.

Body fat was also linked to attractiveness, such that the thinnest and fattest women were seen as the least attractive. As with stress, both obesity and being underweight can cause fertility problems, Rantala said, which could explain the finding.

Men may not cue into women's immune strength the way women cue into men's because of different reproductive strategies between the sexes. For men, reproduction is relatively cheap, so the goal, evolutionarily speaking, would be to have as many offspring as possible. For women, who have to gestate their offspring, giving each baby the best chance to survive to adulthood is far more important. The sex difference could explain why women might be more alert to facial signals of a strong immune system in a potential mate.

The researchers note to measure immunity they looked only at antibodies, which make up just one factor for immune response; the prettier women may have had immune advantages the researchers couldn't measure.

Rantala and his colleagues report their findings today (May 21) in the journal Biology Letters.

Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter?and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook?& Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/study-stress-isnt-hot-230522565.html

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Bird's playlist could signal mental strengths and weaknesses

May 21, 2013 ? Having the biggest playlist doesn't make a male songbird the brainiest of the bunch, a new study shows.

"For songbirds, singing a lot of songs indicates a bird is smart, but that signal is not necessarily indicative of intelligence for everything," said Duke biologist Steve Nowicki.

In a series of problem-solving tests with the birds, he and his colleagues found that the male song sparrows that sang the most songs learned to solve food-finding puzzles more slowly than the birds singing fewer songs. The results are the first to show that a larger song repertoire links to cognitive deficits in other mental processes.

The researchers think that female song sparrows may use potential mates' songs to gauge both mental strengths and weaknesses.

Since birdsong is a good model for studying speech development, the findings, published May 22 in Biology Letters, could also help neuroscientists better understand the trade-offs taking place as the human brain matures.

Nowicki and collaborators first measured the number of songs 14 male song sparrows sang. They then taught the birds to identify where a mealworm was hidden in one of 12 shallow wells on a wooden rectangle. The scientists put plastic caps over six wells so that the birds had to learn and remember spatially where the worm was on the wooden block.

The birds that learned to solve the food puzzle more quickly sang fewer songs -- an observation opposite of what the scientists expected.

"This study is very exciting," said University of Nevada-Reno biologist Vladimir Pravosudov, who was not involved in the study. "It is the first of its kind to show a negative correlation between song repertoire size and spatial memory in songbirds, and it goes against the grain of what many scientists had thought about the relationship between song and other cognitive abilities in birds."

Earlier studies with starlings had shown that the birds with larger playlists learned to solve spatial tasks more quickly. Other studies had also shown that a bird that sang more songs performed better on other cognitive tasks.

This newly discovered negative relationship between the number of songs a bird sings and speed of solving a spatial task suggests there is a trade-off between song learning and other cognitive abilities, Nowicki said.

He noted one caveat with the experiment -- the fact that song sparrows don't cache their food or migrate long distances. Both require advanced spatial learning and memory, but the ability isn???t as important for sparrows as it is for blue jays and other species.

Still, the negative correlation suggests birds' brains may develop differently depending on how much effort is put toward learning songs or doing other mental tasks. Song learning happens in the HVC, the area of the bird's brain that controls song. Spatial learning happens in the hippocampus. During development, more resources may go to one area or the other, giving an individual bird a strength in one cognitive ability and a weakness in the other, Nowicki said.

The study supports the idea of trade-offs in the development of the birds' brains. But, "this behavioral data is only tip of iceberg," Pravosudov said. Scientists will need to look at the structures, circuits and chemicals in the birds' brains to better understand mechanistically what the new results mean for brain development.

Nowicki agrees and said his team may perform those experiments next. If the work pans out, he added, scientists could one day use songbirds and birdsong to better understand how trade-offs in brain development influence behavior and cognition in humans too.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/hJ-wEqNzabA/130521194141.htm

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Estimates reveal low population immunity to new bird flu virus H7N9 in humans

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

The level of immunity to the recently circulating H7N9 influenza virus in an urban and rural population in Vietnam is very low, according to the first population level study to examine human immunity to the virus, which was previously only found in birds. The findings have implications for planning the public health response to this pandemic threat.

The study used a new, high throughput method that allows blood samples to be analysed for antibodies to multiple human and animal influenza viruses at the same time and is easier to standardise than previous techniques. However, the assay is yet to be validated clinically for the H7N9 virus, and the researchers caution that the results must be interpreted with care.

Since the first case of H7N9 infection in humans was reported in February 2013, there have been 131 confirmed cases and 36 deaths, all in China apart from one case in Taiwan. All of the infections seem to have come from infected poultry and there is no evidence of sustained transmission between people. One of the first key pieces of information that officials need when considering how best to respond to the threat of a pandemic is how much, if any, immunity the human population has to this virus. This helps to predict where the virus is likely to affect first and how likely it is that the virus will spread further. Having this knowledge also helps to understand the risks of severe infection, as well as helping to target protective measures such as where to direct antiviral medication.

Researchers at the Wellcome Trust Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU) in Vietnam tested 1723 blood samples collected in southern Vietnam for the presence of antibodies to five different bird flu viruses, including one from the H7 sub type. The presence of antibodies would be an indication of past exposure to these particular strains of flu. They used a new technique that was developed by their research collaborators at the National Institute of Public Health of The Netherlands that is faster and easier to use than previous methods.

The results reveal that although the level of antibodies to the H7 sub-type of flu virus are higher than any of the H5 sub-types tested, levels of antibodies to all five bird flu viruses are much lower than to human flu viruses. This suggests that people living in this particular area of Vietnam have had very little or no exposure to the H7 sub-type of virus, similar to other bird flu viruses. As this population of people would be expected to be among the first to be affected in the event of a pandemic, these findings have important implications for pandemic preparedness plans in this area.

Dr Maciej Boni, a Sir Henry Dale Fellow at the OUCRU and first author of the study, explains: "H7N9 is a virus that until now has only infected birds so it's not surprising that we don't find much evidence of humans having been exposed to it. It is reassuring that in Vietnam we don't see any evidence that the current outbreaks represent a tip-of-the iceberg observation of widespread H7N9 infection in people. On the other hand, the low antibody levels indicate that there is likely to be very little immunity to this virus."

Around half of the samples were taken from an urban environment, Ho Chi Minh City, and half from a rural area, the nearby Khanh Hoa province. The team found no difference in the level of immunity to bird flu viruses between these two populations, even though people living in rural areas are more likely to live in close proximity to poultry.

"It has been suggested that people who live in closer proximity to chickens and other birds will have higher levels of immunity to bird flu viruses simply because their exposure is likely to be greater. However we find no evidence for this. Our findings would suggest that both rural and urban populations should be treated the same when considering how best to respond to the threat of an outbreak," added Dr Boni.

Professor Jeremy Farrar, Director of the Wellcome Trust Major Overseas Programme in Vietnam and the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit Hospital for Tropical Diseases, explains: "This is the first study to give us information about the level of antibodies and potentially human immunity to this new bird flu virus, H7N9 in the region. But we need to interpret the findings cautiously, these assays are relatively new and we need to understand how they correspond to existing assays and how they reflect past infection and true human immunity.

"We know that antibodies are very important for immunity to other flu viruses but at this stage, we still don't know what level of antibody measured using this assay would provide protection against this novel strain. Further studies will be needed to understand the clinical relevance of these new assays, how they compare with classic techniques and what the apparent absence of antibodies to these viruses in the human population means. However these new techniques do allow for much higher throughput of samples, ease of use and once validated may allow much more rapid assessment of the spread of infection and levels of population immunity than do traditional assays."

The study, which was carried out in collaboration with scientists at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in the Netherlands, is published online this week in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Professor Marion Koopmans, who is Head of Virology at the RIVM and senior author of the study, said: "We developed this technique exactly to be used in the current situation: we wanted a standardised test that allowed us to rapidly compare antibodies to the new virus with those to influenza viruses that we already know are common in people. The level of immunity to a new virus is one of the important questions during any emerging disease outbreak. We need only one drop of blood, so that tests can also be run when only small sample volumes are available, for instance when testing children. For outbreak investigations, testing of animals may be needed, and we are currently working on that. To do the clinical validation studies, we need blood samples from patients (and animals) with confirmed H7N9, and we hope to be able to do that soon through collaborations with other groups working on H7N9."

###

Wellcome Trust: http://www.wellcome.ac.uk

Thanks to Wellcome Trust 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/128349/Estimates_reveal_low_population_immunity_to_new_bird_flu_virus_H_N__in_humans

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What do you do about toxic relationships? ? katrina mayer

Hey, beautiful ones!

As promised, here?s the first blog on detoxing. And we?re starting off with a biggie!!!? How do you detox your relationships and make them better than ever? This is information I wish I had years ago. Seriously!

Now, if you?re someone who only has perfect relationships and you get along amazingly well with everyone, this blog?s not for you. Feel free to forward it on to someone who may need it. If, however, you?re like most of us and have one or two or three relationships that need a bit of fine tuning or even a complete overhaul, then please read on because there is hope!

The first step in this exercise is to figure out how much detoxing your relationship needs. Here?s a simple guideline for the five levels of relationships. Of course, these descriptions may not fit every relationship, but as they say in the garment industry, ?if you?re between sizes, please size up.?

1.? The Completely Non-Toxic Relationship ? These are beautiful relationships usually reserved for small kittens, puppies, babies and newlyweds. Everything is perfect. There are no misunderstandings. And even if someone soils the carpet, you get over it quickly or think it?s cute. This relationship needs no detoxing. YAY!

2.? Your BFF (Best Friend Forever) ? There are some people that you just click with and it takes very little effort for you to get along. You barely have to speak and you understand each other totally with just a nod or an eyeroll. But, even in these relationships there can be occasional moments of friction. A little friction is normal in every relationship, but if you find it building up you may want to take some of the actions steps I?ll give you in a minute.

3.? The DGR or Darn Good Relationship ? Ahhh? so many relationships fall into this category. Things are good. They aren?t always great, but you won?t complain. You get along pretty well most of the time. You have respect, admiration and for some people even love. It?s a darn good relationship, but you know it could definitely be better. Read on. This relationship has great potential for improvement.

4.? The Functional Relationship ? This is the relationship where you?re probably getting along out of necessity, but your heart isn?t really into it. Maybe you?re divorced and have to get along for the kids. Or maybe it?s a fellow employee that you have to work with everyday. Maybe it?s a family member that is in your life for keeps. Deep sigh. It?s okay. There is even room for improvement in this relationship. Trust me.

5.? The Nuclear Reactor Relationship ? This is the relationship that can actually cause you physical, mental, emotional or spiritual harm. It?s the one that sets bells off for you and/or your close friends and makes you want to run far away in case it explodes. This one is very toxic and it?s serious business. I will address this one at the end of the blog.

So what can you do if you decide your relationship needs some fine-tuning and detoxing? Here are a few things that will help most relationships very quickly. Try these out:

1.? Look in the mirror. That?s right. Here?s a little tough love for ya. Every relationship takes two people and you have to honestly decide what part you are playing in it. You have to ?own? your half of the situation or nothing will ever change. Really. So hold that mirror up and take a good look. I do this exercise very often myself!

2.? The 80/20 rule. It?s highly recommended that at least 80% of the comments you share with your spouse, partner, friend, co-worker, etc. should be positive, complimentary, empowering, and/or encouraging. Only 20% (at the very most) should be about criticism, critiquing, irritations or negativity.? If this equation is leaning too much towards the criticism and negativity, try to adjust it the other way. I promise this one step alone will help big time!

3.? Read The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. This book gives such amazing insights into relationships. I?ve been recommending it to people for over ten years and still refer to it often myself. It will really help you see all relationships differently. There?s a quiz at the end of the book that helps you determine your love language. Read the book and take the quiz! Good stuff!

4.? Write a letter to the person. You don?t have to mail it or even give it to them. This letter is just for you to write down your true feelings. This is where you can be really honest about what is going through you heart and head. Let it out. Let it flow. Then shred it or toss it in the fireplace. In other words, let it all go. No need to hold on to old stuff.

5.? Forgive yourself. Forgive others. Life is short and a lot of stuff that bothers us now won?t even make a bit of difference in a few days, weeks, months or years. The things we hold on to that irritate and annoy us create toxins in our bodies, our relationships and our world. So, whaddya say? Can you just let it go and forgive?

Okay? this list can go on for a while, but these five actions steps are an excellent place to start. Remember that every single person is in your life for a reason. Sometimes that reason is to love, sometimes to learn and sometimes to let go.

And speaking of letting go, there are some relationships that are just too toxic for you ? especially if you?re experiencing physical or emotional harm. Those are the ones I referred to as nuclear reactor relationships. You will not win any awards by trying to change someone, or ?help? them to be a better person. Usually the best thing you can do for that person and for yourself is to leave. This can take a great deal of courage and fortitude. I know it isn?t easy, but you owe it to yourself to steer clear of people who try to take the beauty and magic from you. If you can?t do it on your own, please, please, please reach out to a group or organization that can help. You are not alone and there are people who can guide you through the transition. I believe in you!!!

So, how did you do? Did you notice a one or two things you could do to detoxify a relationship? Please let me know how you did by leaving a comment below.

Can you think of one or two people who might benefit by reading this post? Please feel free to use the buttons below to share it with anyone who is having a relationship challenge.

I?m send you all hugs on angel wings.
Katrina

Get Weekly Wellness, Happiness and Longevity Tips

and a FREE eBook, ?Staying Young: A Matter of Body, Mind, and Spirit.?

Source: http://katrinamayer.com/what-do-you-do-about-toxic-relationships/

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Robert Pattinson Moves Out?.And On To Katy Perry?

Robert Pattinson Moves Out….And On To Katy Perry?

Robert Pattinson packed up his belongings and moved out of Kristen Stewart’s Los Feliz, California home, after the couple’s recent split. Insiders said that it wasn’t just Kristen’s cheating scandal that caused issues in their relationship, revealing that Katy Perry was involved in their split. Hmmm…. Kristen and Robert had a nasty fight on Rob’s ...

Robert Pattinson Moves Out….And On To Katy Perry? Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/05/robert-pattinson-moves-out-and-on-to-katy-perry/

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From Green Light to Boot-Up: Behind the Scenes of Xbox One?s Development

All photos: Ariel Zambelich/Wired

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Buggy hordes of cicadas sighted in Virginia ... but New York? Not yet

The first of the Brood II cicadas, which only mature every 17 years, are being spotted in some southern states including Virginia. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

There's been a groundswell of 17-year cicadas in Virginia and other southern states, as revealed by a fresh wave of photos and eyewitness reports. In some areas, the outbreak has been accompanied by the insects' loud chorus call. And that's music to the ears of University of Connecticut entomologist John Cooley.

"That's where I'm heading," Cooley told NBC News. The weather is still too cool in New England and the New York City area for a full-blown Brood II emergence, so Cooley is planning a field trip to watch the insects rise up in Virginia.

---

This is the big year for Brood II cicadas, which are expected to emerge from the ground in the billions over an area of the East Coast ranging from North Carolina up to Connecticut. The bugs are hard-wired to spend 17 years underground, feeding on the fluid from plant roots, and then pop up during the appointed spring when the soil temperature reaches 64 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Celsius).

For weeks, bug-watchers have been posting their sightings (and soil temperature readings) to websites such as Cooley's Magicicada.org and RadioLab's Cicada Tracker. Another website maintained by the Sutron weather information network tracks the soil temperature in Washington, D.C.?

When the winged cicadas throng, they can cover trees and buildings ? and raise a din as loud as a lawnmower or jet engine (90 decibels). Over the course of four to six weeks in May and June, the bugs mate, lay their eggs and die, setting the 17-year life cycle in motion once again. (Scientists theorize that there are evolutionary advantages to the long, odd-numbered cycle.)

Although the cicadas have been patiently waiting for 17 years, some cicada-watchers up north are getting impatient with the pace of the emergence. Cooley said the relatively slow pace may be due to this spring's cool temperatures. In order to bring the soil up to 64 degrees F, air temperatures have to get significantly higher than that on a consistent basis.

"I want 80s and 90s," he said, "and so do the cicadas."

Dave Ellis / The Free Lance-Star via AP

Brood II cicadas emerge in the Leavells Crossing neighborhood in Spotsylvania, Va., on May 16.

Carol via Twitter.com/oikwtm_

Cicadas throng near a house in Fredericksburg, Va.

Carol via Twitter.com/oikwtm_

A cat looks through a screen door as cicadas swarm outside a house in Fredericksburg, Va.

Take a closer look at the curious 17-year life of the flying bug as the East Coast prepares for an invasion.

More about the cicada outbreak:

---

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the NBC News Science Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with NBCNews.com's stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2c13a955/l/0Lcosmiclog0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A50C170C183267310Ebuggy0Ehordes0Eof0Ecicadas0Esighted0Ein0Evirginia0Ebut0Enew0Eyork0Enot0Eyet0Dlite/story01.htm

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Is It Quantum Computing or Not?

This week I had a fascinating discussion on BBC Radio 4 with Dr Geordie Rose, the CTO of DWave, triggered by the news that NASA and Google are investing in DWave?s ?quantum computer?. The idea is to set up a facility that is used by both NASA and Google but also allows academics to book time on the system to try out new ideas.

Our radio conversation brought out an important issue that has dogged this subject for several years: when is a quantum computer not a quantum computer?

I began by explaining the theory behind quantum computing and why they hold the promise of significantly faster processing.? In essence, it relies upon the fact that whilst conventional ?bits?? can be 0 or 1, quantum bits (so called qubits) can be both 0 and 1 at the same time (known as superposition).? If you can combine qubits (known as entanglement) you can have a system that can process values that expand exponentially with the number of qubits you entangle. As with conventional programming, these qubits are passed through various logic gates to achieve the desired results.? Hence, this is known as the ?gate theory? of quantum computing.

Many academics, and increasingly large corporations such as IBM and Microsoft, have spent years working on the algorithms, error correction and a variety of techniques for creating qubits, ranging from photons to ion traps to braided anyons. To date, we have found it extremely difficult to maintain these qubits in superposition and to ensure they are truly entangled. ?Decoherence?, where the qubits drop out of superposition and become just a 0 or a 1, is the bane of all quantum computer engineers.

This decoherence problem has spurred many to look for methods that are naturally immune from the effect. DWave were one such group. They have based their processor on an effect called quantum annealing, also sometimes referred to as adiabatic quantum computing, which was first discussed in 2000 as a possible means of conducting certain calculations.

The quantum annealing process is, as the name suggests, a quantum level effect. At the scale of a qubit, you can use the effect to determine the lowest ?energy? state of a system.? Hence, if you can describe a problem in terms of a function that has a ?cost? of ?energy? versus some other parameter, you can find the configuration that represents the optimal state. So, for example, think of the classic travelling salesman problem where one tries to find the shortest path when travelling between a number of cities.? If you did this using simple trial and error on a conventional computer it would take longer than the age of the universe by the time you were up to 30 cities. Using quantum annealing you can define the problem as an optimisation task which means you can programme a DWave system to calculate it.

Traveling salesemen problem

An obvious question is how much faster is quantum annealing than conventional computers? Based upon solving specific problems, that question was addressed in a paper just published, where academics compared conventional computers with a DWave system when solving optimisation problems which were known to be computationally hard.? The DWave system is reported as being many thousands of times faster in some cases.

Thus, we have a system that can do useful computations based on quantum effects. It may not be a quantum computer as some purists might define it, but it does have one huge advantage: it exists and is available to do meaningful work. For all the theory, quantum computers based upon gate theory are still very experimental and can muster only a handful of qubits.? Gate based quantum computing will come eventually; the money being invested and the screaming need for the technology as we head towards the end of Moore?s law mean that it?s a question of when not if. But, on the journey, which is currently of uncertain length, we should not be blind to opportunities on the way. It may prove to be a detour, but many interesting developments have arisen in computing by those who spotted just such an opportunity.

So, is DWave?s system a quantum computer? I think that?s the wrong question.? Better to ask if the DWave system can help with some computations that were previously impractical, in which case the answer is yes.

Images:

D-Wave Systems, Inc., Arnab Das, WhiteTimberwolf, Saurabh.harsh

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=0ef4558baed0a98eaa17a3aba444c97b

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Report: Yahoo nearing $1.1B acquisition of Tumblr

NEW YORK (AP) ? Yahoo may be on the verge of closing its biggest acquisition during the 10-month reign of CEO Marissa Mayer as she tries to attract more traffic and advertisers to the Internet company's website and mobile applications.

The Sunnyvale, Calif., company's board of directors will meet Sunday evening to consider approving a $1.1 billion acquisition of online content-sharing site Tumblr in a deal Mayer negotiated, according to the technology news site All Things D. The story posted late Friday cited anonymous sources.

If Yahoo Inc.'s board signs off, the deal could be announced Monday.

In an invitation sent Friday, Yahoo promised to unveil "something special" Monday evening in New York. The event is being held in a Times Squares lounge located about two miles from Tumblr's headquarters.

Yahoo has only said that Mayer will be on hand to unveil something related to a product. A company spokeswoman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about the potential Tumblr acquisition.

Buying Tumblr would fulfill Mayer's goal of reaching a wider audience on smartphones and tablet computers.

Tumblr serves up a constantly changing collage of stories, photos and other digital content served up by users who are increasingly connecting to the service through its mobile applications. The service is also one of the hottest sites among teens and young adults, a demographic that Mayer, 37, thinks Yahoo needs to do a better job of reaching.

If it's completed, the Tumblr deal would be Mayer's biggest coup ? and, at the same time, the biggest risk ? since she ended her 13-year career as a key executive at Google Inc. to try to snap Yahoo out of a prolonged malaise that had demoralized employees and investors alike.

Since her arrival, Mayer has been focused on redesigning several Yahoo services and bringing in more mobile engineering talent, primarily by buying a series of small startups.

None of those previous acquisitions have required Yahoo to dip too deeply into its bank account. Late last year, Yahoo paid a total of $7 million for two startups called OnTheAir and Stamped. In the first three months of this year, Yahoo snapped up three more startups for a total of $10 million, according to the company's regulatory filings.

Tumblr, founded in 2007 by its CEO David Karp, presumably would become a pivotal part of Mayer's effort to sell more advertising.

Mayer has been winning back investors, even though the company's revenue is still lagging the overall growth of the booming Internet and mobile advertising market. Yahoo's stock price has risen 69 percent under Mayer's leadership.

Yahoo shares fell 6 cents Friday to close at $26.52.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-05-17-US-Yahoo-Event/id-2732516db30f41b4840daf930ade9432

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Now With More Than 1.5B Page Views A Month, Secret Sharing App Whisper Launches On Android

Secret sharing app Whisper has seen tremendous growth since launching last fall. But until recently, it?s only been available on iOS. With a launch on Android?s Google Play store this week, Whisper is going to be available to a whole bunch of new users, particularly in its key demographic of young adults aged 18-24.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/o1tRI3vO-LA/

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NRSC narrowly edges out DSCC in April fundraising (Washington Post)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

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