Monthly Archives: July 2012

Virgin boss Branson gets kids on board for first space flight of his Galactic venture

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By Pan Pylas, The Associated Press

FARNBOROUGH, England - The first space flight of Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic venture will be a family affair: The billionaire adventurer confirmed Wednesday he will be joined by his two adult children.

The British tycoon behind the Virgin business empire that spans cable television, airlines and space tourism revealed that the three will make the journey 62-miles (100 kilometres) above the Earth aboard the SpaceshipTwo (SS2) next year. Some 120 other tourists who have signed up for the $200,000 two-hour trips into space over the coming years were also present at the Farnborough Airshow south of London.

"Next year, Holly and Sam will be joining me for a first voyage into space," the thrill-seeker told a packed conference on the third day of the show. "Going into space is a hard business. It keeps my mind buzzing."

Virgin says it has 529 paid up passengers already one more than the total of space travellers since the former Soviet Union's Yuri Gagarin became the first man to go into space in 1961.

The future space tourists glimpsed a replica of the SS2 set up outside the auditorium as the actual one undergoes flight testing in California's Mojave Desert. It will take off from a spaceport in New Mexico that was designed by British architect Lord Foster. The craft is designed to seat six people as well as the two pilots.

The tourists will have to undergo a week of training at the spaceport before taking their flight.

"I wanted to be the first Irishman in space and I'm really looking forward to it," said 70-year-old businessman and author Bill Cullen, who said he was the first to sign up for the ride in 2004.

Grant Roberts, 36, said his dream of space flight came from his grandfather, who was a pilot for Britain's Royal Air Force and flew on missions over Germany in World War II.

Branson also said a new launch vehicle LauncherOne would take small satellites into space at much lower cost than is now possible The Virgin Galactic team said a number of companies were hoping to use LauncherOne, which is expected to begin operations in 2016 and can carry up to 500 pounds (227 kilograms) of weight.

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Virgin boss Branson gets kids on board for first space flight of his Galactic venture

First Galactic flight to lift Bransons

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FARNBOROUGH, England (AP) - The first space flight of Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic venture will be a family affair: The billionaire adventurer says he will be joined by his adult children.

The British tycoon behind the Virgin business empire that spans cable television, airlines and space tourism revealed that the three will make a 60-mile (100-kilometer) journey on the SpaceshipTwo (SS2) next year.

Some 120 other tourists who have signed up for the $200,000 two-hour trips into space over the coming years were also present at the Farnborough Airshow south of London.

"Next year, Holly and Sam will be joining me for a first voyage into space," the thrill-seeker told a packed conference Wednesday on the third day of the show. "Going into space is a hard business. It keeps my mind buzzing."

Virgin says it has 529 paid up passengers already - one more than the total of space travelers since the former Soviet Union's Yuri Gagarin became the first man to go into space in 1961.

The future space tourists got their first glimpse of the SS2, with a replica set up outside the auditorium as the real one gets fixed up in the Mojave Desert. It will take off from a spaceport in New Mexico that was designed by British architect Lord Foster.

The craft is designed to seat six people as well as the two pilots.

The tourists will have to undergo a week of training at the spaceport before taking their flight.

"I wanted to be the first Irishman in space and I'm really looking forward to it," said 70-year-old businessman and author Bill Cullen, who was the first to sign up for the ride in 2004.

Grant Roberts, 36, said his dream of space flight came from his grandfather, who was a pilot for Britain's Royal Air Force and flew on missions over Germany in World War II.

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First Galactic flight to lift Bransons

Sir Richard Branson's kids to join him on first space flight

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FARNBOROUGH, England The first space flight of Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic venture will be a family affair: The billionaire adventurer says he will be joined by his adult children.

The British tycoon behind the Virgin business empire that spans cable television, airlines and space tourism revealed that the three will make a 60-mile (100-kilometer) journey on the SpaceshipTwo (SS2) next year -- along with 120 other tourists who have signed on to take the $200,000 two-hour trip where only a select few have gone before.

"Next year Holly and Sam will be joining me for a first voyage into space," the thrill-seeker told a packed conference Wednesday on the third day of the Farnborough Airshow south of London. "Going into space is a hard business. It keeps my mind buzzing."

Virgin says 529 have paid for the right to go to space -- one more than the total number of space travelers since Russia's Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space in 1961.

- Sir Richard Branson

The future space tourists got their first glimpse of the SS2, with a replica set up outside the auditorium as the real one gets fixed up in the Mojave Desert, New Mexico, along with a spaceport designed by British architect Lord Foster. The tourists will have to undergo a week of training at the spaceport before taking their flight.

"I wanted to be the first Irishman in space and I'm really looking forward to it," said 70-year-old businessman and author Bill Cullen, who was the first to sign up for the ride in 2004.

Grant Roberts, 36, said his dream of space flight came from his grandfather, who was a pilot for Britain's Royal Air Force and flew on missions over Germany in World War II.

Branson also said a new launch vehicle -- LauncherOne -- would take small satellites into space at much lower cost than is now possible The Virgin Galactic team said a number of companies were hoping to use LauncherOne, which is expected to begin operations in 2016 and can carry up to 500 pounds (227 kilograms) of weight.

"It will be a critical new tool for the global research community, enabling us all to learn about our home planet more quickly and affordably," he said.

Continued here:

Sir Richard Branson's kids to join him on first space flight

Branson gets kids on board for first space flight

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FARNBOROUGH, England (AP) -- The first space flight of Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic venture will be a family affair: The billionaire adventurer confirmed Wednesday he will be joined by his two adult children.

The British tycoon behind the Virgin business empire that spans cable television, airlines and space tourism revealed that the three will make the journey 62-miles (100 kilometers) above the Earth aboard the SpaceshipTwo (SS2) next year. Some 120 other tourists who have signed up for the $200,000 two-hour trips into space over the coming years were also present at the Farnborough Airshow south of London.

"Next year, Holly and Sam will be joining me for a first voyage into space," the thrill-seeker told a packed conference on the third day of the show. "Going into space is a hard business. It keeps my mind buzzing."

Virgin says it has 529 paid up passengers already one more than the total of space travelers since the former Soviet Union's Yuri Gagarin became the first man to go into space in 1961.

The future space tourists glimpsed a replica of the SS2 set up outside the auditorium as the actual one undergoes flight testing in California's Mojave Desert. It will take off from a spaceport in New Mexico that was designed by British architect Lord Foster. The craft is designed to seat six people as well as the two pilots.

The tourists will have to undergo a week of training at the spaceport before taking their flight.

"I wanted to be the first Irishman in space and I'm really looking forward to it," said 70-year-old businessman and author Bill Cullen, who said he was the first to sign up for the ride in 2004.

Grant Roberts, 36, said his dream of space flight came from his grandfather, who was a pilot for Britain's Royal Air Force and flew on missions over Germany in World War II.

Branson also said a new launch vehicle LauncherOne would take small satellites into space at much lower cost than is now possible The Virgin Galactic team said a number of companies were hoping to use LauncherOne, which is expected to begin operations in 2016 and can carry up to 500 pounds (227 kilograms) of weight.

"It will be a critical new tool for the global research community, enabling us all to learn about our home planet more quickly and affordably," he said.

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Branson gets kids on board for first space flight

NASA Hubble Discovers Fifth Moon of Pluto

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A team of astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is reporting the discovery of another moon orbiting the icy dwarf planet Pluto.

The moon is estimated to be irregular in shape and 6 to 15 miles across. It is in a 58,000-mile-diameter circular orbit around Pluto that is assumed to be co-planar with the other satellites in the system.

"The moons form a series of neatly nested orbits, a bit like Russian dolls," said team lead Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif.

The discovery increases the number of known moons orbiting Pluto to five.

The Pluto team is intrigued that such a small planet can have such a complex collection of satellites. The new discovery provides additional clues for unraveling how the Pluto system formed and evolved. The favored theory is that all the moons are relics of a collision between Pluto and another large Kuiper belt object billions of years ago.

The new detection will help scientists navigate NASA's New Horizons spacecraft through the Pluto system in 2015, when it makes an historic and long-awaited high-speed flyby of the distant world. The team is using Hubble's powerful vision to scour the Pluto system to uncover potential hazards to the New Horizons spacecraft. Moving past the dwarf planet at a speed of 30,000 miles per hour, New Horizons could be destroyed in a collision with even a BB-shot-size piece of orbital debris.

"The discovery of so many small moons indirectly tells us that there must be lots of small particles lurking unseen in the Pluto system," said Harold Weaver of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md.

"The inventory of the Pluto system we're taking now with Hubble will help the New Horizons team design a safer trajectory for the spacecraft," added Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo., the mission's principal investigator.

Pluto's largest moon, Charon, was discovered in 1978 in observations made at the United States Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. Hubble observations in 2006 uncovered two additional small moons, Nix and Hydra. In 2011 another moon, P4, was found in Hubble data.

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NASA Hubble Discovers Fifth Moon of Pluto

NASA's Commercial Crew Partner Sierra Nevada Completes Dream Chaser Nose Landing Gear Test

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LOUISVILLE, Colo. -- NASA partner Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has completed a successful test of the nose landing gear for its full-scale Dream Chaser engineering flight test vehicle. The completed test and an upcoming flight test are part of SNC's Commercial Crew Development Round 2 (CCDev2) agreement with NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

The gear test is an important milestone to prepare for the upcoming approach and landing test of the Dream Chaser Space System later this year. It evaluated the impact the nose landing gear will experience on touchdown in order to ensure a safe runway landing.

SNC is one of seven companies developing commercial crew transportation capabilities to ferry U.S. astronauts to and from low Earth orbit and the International Space Station. The Dream Chaser is the only spacecraft under CCDev2 that is winged and designed to land on a conventional runway. It is designed to carry as many as seven astronauts to space.

"The landing gear system must perform flawlessly, just like the space shuttle orbiter's did, for the safe return of the crew," CCP program manager Ed Mango said. "It's great to see that SNC is building on that experience while developing the Dream Chaser spacecraft."

SNC tested the spacecraft's main landing gear in February. This nose landing gear test completes the milestones leading up to the upcoming approach and landing test, which will complete the CCDev2 partnership.

"This test marks a significant point in the development of the Dream Chaser orbital crew vehicle. As the last milestone before free flight of the Dream Chaser spacecraft, we are now preparing for the approach and landing tests to be flown later this year," said Jim Voss, SNC vice president of space exploration systems and program manager for the Dream Chaser.

All of NASA's industry partners, including SNC, continue to meet their established milestones in developing commercial crew transportation capabilities under CCDev2.

For more information about NASA's Commercial Crew Program and CCDev2, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

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NASA's Commercial Crew Partner Sierra Nevada Completes Dream Chaser Nose Landing Gear Test

Destination Pluto: NASA's New Horizons Mission in Pictures

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NASA's New Horizons Mission at Pluto

An artist's concept of the New Horizons spacecraft as it visits Pluto in 2015. Instruments will map Pluto and its moons, providing detail not only on the surface of the dwarf planet, but also about its shape, which could reveal whether or not an ocean lies beneath the ice.

This artist's rendering depicts the New Horizons spacecraft as it approaches Pluto and its moons in summer 2015.

An overhead view of the New Horizons spacecraft's path across Uranus' orbit.

New Horizons has undergone extensive testing at NASAs Goddard Space Flight center and arrived at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

This montage of New Horizons images shows Jupiter and its volcanic moon Io, and were taken during the spacecraft's Jupiter flyby in early 2007.

NASA's New Horizons snapped this view of Jupiter and its volcanic moon Io in early January 2007.

KBO: Artist's impression of the New Horizons spacecraft meeting up with a Kuiper Belt object. The Sun is more than 4.1 billion miles (6.7 billion kilometers) away. Jupiter and Neptune are visible as orange and blue stars to the right of the Sun. Though KBOs would not be so visible at any one moment, they're shown here to illustrate the extensive disk of icy worlds beyond Neptune.

To be dispatched early 2006, the outward bound New Horizons spacecraft will throw new light on distant Pluto and its moon, Charon, as well as Kuiper Belt objects. Image

This amazing color portrait of Jupiters Little Red Spot (LRS) combines high-resolution images from the New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), taken at 03:12 UT on February 27, 2007, with color images taken nearly simultaneously by the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) on the Hubble Space Telescope.

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Destination Pluto: NASA's New Horizons Mission in Pictures

NASA's Mars chief frets over heat shield for probe

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FARNBOROUGH, England (AP) So far, the scorecard for missions to Mars reads attempts 40, successes 14.

Not so good.

Well over 60 percent of Earth missions to Mars have failed, ever since the pioneering efforts of the former Soviet Union in the 1960s and including Britain's high-profile Beagle 2 space probe.

As NASA's latest mission to Mars heads closer to the Red Planet, the head of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, Doug McCuistion, acknowledged Tuesday that many things could still go wrong before its scheduled Aug. 6 landing date.

The one thing that worries him most is if the spacecraft's heat shield will detach as planned when the U.S. Mars Science Laboratory mission sets down a large, mobile laboratory on Mars the rover Curiosity.

"If you look at the scorecard, Earth is doing less than 50 percent; less than 50 percent of Earth's missions to Mars have been successful," McCuistion, a former U.S. fighter pilot, said at the Farnborough Airshow south of London.

In the seven minutes before its planned touchdown, the U.S. spacecraft has a number of tasks it has to complete for Curiosity to make a safe landing. First it must get rid of the heat shield and avoid a subsequent collision with it. Then it has to slow its descent to the Red Planet with the aid of a massive parachute as well as use rockets mounted around the rim of an upper stage. In the final seconds, the upper stage of the spacecraft acts as a sky crane, lowering the upright rover on a tether to the surface.

In spite of the challenges, McCuistion remains positive that the $2.5 billion mission will be a success and praises the unprecedented international cooperation between NASA and companies like German electronics company Siemens AG.

After all, NASA, the world's biggest space agency, enjoyed success with its twin Mars Exploration Rovers in the mid-2000s.

"I can't really give you a hard number .... but I think we are in a medium-to-low risk environment," McCuistion said.

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NASA's Mars chief frets over heat shield for probe

Will NASA's Mars rover crash?

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For NASA's Curiosity Mars rover to arrive undamaged on the surface of the Red Planet, a lot of things will have to go right.

So far, the scorecard for missions toMarsreads attempts 40, successes 14.

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Not so good.

Well over 60 percent of Earth missions toMarshave failed, ever since the pioneering efforts of the former Soviet Union in the 1960s and including Britain's high-profile Beagle 2 space probe.

As NASA's latest mission toMarsheads closer to the Red Planet, the head of NASA'sMarsExploration Program, Doug McCuistion, acknowledged Tuesday that many things could still go wrong before its scheduled Aug. 6 landing date.

The one thing that worries him most is if the spacecraft's heat shield will detach as planned when the U.S.MarsScience Laboratory mission sets down a large, mobile laboratory onMars the roverCuriosity.

"If you look at the scorecard, Earth is doing less than 50 percent; less than 50 percent of Earth's missions toMarshave been successful," McCuistion, a former U.S. fighter pilot, said at the Farnborough Airshow south of London.

In the seven minutes before its planned touchdown, the U.S. spacecraft has a number of tasks it has to complete forCuriosity to make a safe landing. First it must get rid of the heat shield and avoid a subsequent collision with it. Then it has to slow its descent to the Red Planet with the aid of a massive parachute as well as use rockets mounted around the rim of an upper stage. In the final seconds, the upper stage of the spacecraft acts as a sky crane, lowering the upright rover on a tether to the surface.

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Will NASA's Mars rover crash?

Baylor College of Medicine and Gradalis Enter Collaboration Agreement to Utilize Gradalis' Bifunctional shRNA Platform …

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DALLAS, July 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Today Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and Gradalis, Inc. announced the signing of a Master Collaboration Agreement focused on BCM scientists' use of Gradalis' proprietary bifunctional shRNA (bi-shRNA) platform in BCM's research directed at various biological targets for therapeutic intervention. The translational medicine collaboration covers multiple BCM investigators and multiple therapeutic targets in cancer.

This collaboration will further BCM's mission of advancing human health through the integration of education, research, patient care and community service. Gradalis will benefit from the collaboration because BCM researchers will conduct early-stage research needed for proof of concept and formal pre-clinical studies, manufacturing, quality assurance and quality control, supporting assay development, regulatory submissions and clinical development.

"Agreements with commercial partners like Gradalis will help BCM accelerate the development of promising therapeutic approaches and links our strengths in discovery phase research with Gradalis' clinical development capabilities," said Adam Kuspa, Ph.D., Vice President for Research for BCM. "We look forward to a very fruitful research and development relationship."

As part of the collaboration, Gradalis will share with the scientists at BCM the company's novel bi-shRNA constructs that shut down expression of specific proteins of therapeutic interest. Gradalis will also provide BCM researchers access to its portfolio of proprietary research-enabling technologies including SuperClean DNA, reversible masking, liposomal delivery and liposomal targeting. Those bi-shRNA constructs showing promise in pre-clinical testing at BCM will be moved forward into clinical development by Gradalis.

"We look forward to entering into the collaborative development of a new line of therapeutic molecules that have not been exploited previously," said Bert W. O'Malley, M.D., Professor and Chair, BCM Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology. "To this end, the Gradalis technology, in combination with our basic discovery and pre-clinical research in molecular and cellular biology, will constitute a formidable team moving forward."

The collaboration has the potential not only to advance the interests of the two organizations but the RNA therapeutic field as a whole.

"This is truly a landmark opportunity for both organizations, and both groups stand to benefit tremendously from this relationship," said John Nemunaitis, M.D., executive medical director of the Mary Crowley Cancer Research Centers and chief medical officer and co-founder of Gradalis. "Baylor College of Medicine's pre-clinical research capabilities are best-in-class and will even further advance some of the great results we are seeing in our primary platforms, including our tumor-based personalized cancer therapeutic vaccine, FANG."

About Baylor College of Medicine

Baylor College of Medicine (www.bcm.edu) in Houston is recognized as a premier academic health science center and is known for excellence in education, research and patient care. It is the only private medical school in the greater southwest and is ranked as one of the top 25 medical schools for research in U.S. News & World Report. BCM is listed 17th among all U.S. medical schools for National Institutes of Health funding, and No. 2 in the nation in federal funding for research and development in the biological sciences at universities and colleges by the National Science Foundation. Currently, BCM trains more than 3,000 medical, graduate, nurse anesthesia, and physician assistant students, as well as residents and post-doctoral fellows. Follow Baylor College of Medicine on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/BaylorCollegeOfMedicine) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/BCMHouston).

About Gradalis, Inc.

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Baylor College of Medicine and Gradalis Enter Collaboration Agreement to Utilize Gradalis' Bifunctional shRNA Platform ...

By The Numbers: Quinnipiac University's Frank H. Netter M.D. School of Medicine

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Students: Expected to peak at 500 with 125 students per class. Will then be state's largest medical school by students.

Charter class: 60 students.

Faculty: 20 to 22 basic sciences faculty at peak, but hundreds more clinical faculty at partner hospitals.

Emphasis: Primary health care, collaboration with other health professionals, global public health.

Opening: August 2013 (projected).

Affiliated hospitals: St. Vincent's Hospital in Bridgeport, principal clinical partner. Others include Middlesex Hospital in Middletown and MidState Medical Center in Meriden.

Location: North Haven.

Cost: $100 million.

Size: 145,000 square feet.

Total employees (by 2016): About 70 full time.

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By The Numbers: Quinnipiac University's Frank H. Netter M.D. School of Medicine

Liberty Energy Corp. Announces Draw-Down to Fund Exploration of New Leases and Operational Activities

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HOUSTON, July 11, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Liberty Energy Corp. (LBYE) ("Liberty" or "the Company") is pleased to announce a draw-down from its equity financing agreement.

The funds have been drawn to support the exploration of the Company's newly acquired Texas acreage and the ongoing operational activities on its existing oil and gas leases.

The Company has received the draw-down under the terms of its equity investment agreement that does not include any debt financing and facilitates funding of up to $8,000,000.

The Company is working to finalize geological and geophysical work plans to be completed on the new leases. The new leases make up over 1,000 acres in Texas and are considered to be low risk being positioned within proven, multiple payzone, producing counties. The Company also intends to work with existing partners to investigate and further develop the new and existing leases.

"We are delighted to have the continued support and financial backing of our investors. We are working with geologists and consultants to determine the best approach for our Company and its stakeholders. With the continued support of the financing agreement we hope to proceed with developing our new and existing assets" commented Ian Spowart, CEO of Liberty Energy Corp.

ABOUT LIBERTY: Liberty Energy Corp. (LBYE) is an Independent Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Company dedicated to the sourcing and production of fuel supplies in the United States and Europe. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, the company has signed agreements to acquire leases and royalties in both Texas and Bulgaria, covering several wells with extensive potential for future development. In Texas, four leases -- Dahlstrom, Ratliff, and two at Lockhart Northeast -- are identified as rich oil and gas sites based around numerous geological pay zones. In North-West Bulgaria, Liberty has acquired royalty rights to a 1,000,000+ acre natural gas property (the A-Lovech exploration block), an area of high quality, low- sulphur natural gas condensate. Through this combined international reach and domestic focus, Liberty Energy is committed to the development of US fuel reserves while seeking out further opportunities for the global energy markets.

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements are within the meaning of that term in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Liberty Energy Corp. bases these forward-looking statements on current expectations and projections about future events, based on information currently available. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release may also include statements relating to Liberty Energy Corp.'s anticipated financial performance, business prospects, new developments, strategies and similar matters. Liberty Energy Corp. disclaims any obligation to update any of its forward-looking statements, except as may be required by law.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS,

Liberty Energy Corp

Ian Spowart Chief Executive Officer

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Liberty Energy Corp. Announces Draw-Down to Fund Exploration of New Leases and Operational Activities

Liberty Media Corporation Announces Second Quarter Earnings Release and Conference Call

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ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Liberty Media Corporation (Nasdaq: LMCA, LMCB) will release its second quarter earnings on Wednesday, August 8th, at 10:45 a.m. (ET). Greg Maffei, Liberty Medias President and CEO, will host the call. During the call, Mr. Maffeiwill discuss the company's financial performance.

Please call Premiere Conferencing at (888) 587-0613 or (719) 457-2654 at least 10 minutes prior to the call. Callers will need to be on a touch-tone telephone to ask questions. The conference administrator will provide instructions on how to use the polling feature.

Replays of the conference call can be accessed through 12:15 p.m. (ET) on August 15th, by dialing (888) 203-1112 or (719) 457-0820 plus the passcode 4996345#.

In addition, the second quarter earnings conference call will be broadcast live via the Internet. All interested participants should visit the Liberty Media Corporation website at http://www.libertymedia.com/events to register for the web cast. Links to the press release and replays of the call will also be available on the Liberty Media website. The conference call and related materials will be archived on the website for one year.

About Liberty Media Corporation

Liberty Media (Nasdaq: LMCA, LMCB) owns interests in a broad range of media, communications and entertainment businesses, including its subsidiaries Atlanta National League Baseball Club, Inc. and TruePosition, Inc., its interests in Starz, LLC, SiriusXM, Live Nation Entertainment and Barnes & Noble, and minority equity investments in Time Warner Inc. and Viacom.

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Liberty Media Corporation Announces Second Quarter Earnings Release and Conference Call

Liberty Mutual Insurance Schedules Second Quarter 2012 Earnings Conference Call

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BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Liberty Mutual Holding Company Inc., the parent corporation of the Liberty Mutual Insurance group of entities (the Company), is scheduled to review its second quarter financial results on July 25, 2012. At 11:00 a.m. EDT that day, David Long, Liberty Mutual Insurance President and CEO, will host a conference call to discuss the Companys financial results.

The earnings release, financial results and other supplemental information will be available on the website http://www.libertymutual.com/investors prior to the call.

To listen to the call and participate in the Q&A, please dial 8008572190, providing the pass code Liberty when prompted. A replay will be available until 5:00 p.m. on August 1, 2012 at 800-934-9450.

For further information, please contact Alison Erbig, Vice President and Director, Investor Relations, at 617-574-6655 or email investor_relations@libertymutual.com.

About Liberty Mutual Insurance

"Helping people live safer, more secure lives" since 1912, Boston-based Liberty Mutual Insurance is a diversified global insurer and the third largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S. based on 2011 direct premiums written as reported by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

Liberty Mutual Insurance also ranks 84th on the Fortune 100 list of largest corporations in the U.S. based on 2011 revenue. As of December 31, 2011, Liberty Mutual Insurance had $117.1 billion in consolidated assets, $99.3 billion in consolidated liabilities, and $34.7 billion in annual consolidated revenue.

Liberty Mutual Insurance offers a wide range of insurance products and services, including personal automobile, homeowners, workers compensation, property, commercial automobile, general liability, global specialty, group disability, reinsurance and surety. Liberty Mutual Insurance (www.libertymutualinsurance.com) employs over 45,000 people in more than 900 offices throughout the world.

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Liberty Mutual Insurance Schedules Second Quarter 2012 Earnings Conference Call

Liberty Interactive Corporation Announces Second Quarter Earnings Release and Conference Call

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ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Liberty Interactive Corporation (Nasdaq: LINTA, LINTB) will release its second quarter earnings on Wednesday, August 8th at 10:00 am (ET). Greg Maffei, Liberty Interactives President and CEO, will host the call. During the call, Mr. Maffeiwill discuss the company's financial performance and may discuss the proposed creation of the Ventures Group tracking stock, as well as other forward looking matters.

Please call Premiere Conferencing at (800) 967-7187 or (719) 457-2715 at least 10 minutes prior to the call. Callers will need to be on a touch-tone telephone to ask questions. The conference administrator will provide instructions on how to use the polling feature.

Replays of the conference call can be accessed through 11:00 a.m. (ET) on August 15th, by dialing (888) 203-1112 or (719) 457-0820 plus the passcode 4430057#.

In addition, the second quarter earnings conference call will be broadcast live via the Internet. All interested participants should visit the Liberty Interactive Corporation website at http://www.libertyinteractive.com/events to register for the web cast. Links to the press release and replays of the call will also be available on the Liberty Interactive website. The conference call and related materials will be archived on the website for one year.

About Liberty Interactive Corporation

Liberty Interactive (Nasdaq: LINTA, LINTB) owns interests in a broad range of digital commerce businesses including QVC, Provide Commerce, Backcountry.com, Celebrate Interactive, Bodybuilding.com, Evite, and Expedia.

Additional Information

Nothing in this press release shall constitute a solicitation to buy or an offer to sell shares of the proposed Liberty Ventures tracking stock or Liberty Interactives existing common stock. The offer and sale of shares of the proposed tracking stock will only be made pursuant to Liberty Interactives effective registration statement. Liberty Interactive stockholders and other investors are urged to read the Form S-4 registration statement filed with the SEC, including the proxy statement/prospectus contained therein, because they contain important information about the issuance of shares of the proposed tracking stock. Copies of Liberty Interactives SEC filings are available free of charge at the SECs website (http://www.sec.gov). Copies of the filings together with the materials incorporated by reference therein will also be available, without charge, by directing a request to Liberty Interactive Corporation, 12300 Liberty Boulevard, Englewood, Colorado 80112, Attention: Investor Relations, Telephone: (720) 875-5408.

Participants in a Solicitation

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Liberty Interactive Corporation Announces Second Quarter Earnings Release and Conference Call

Japan-China islands row overshadows Asean talks

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The ongoing territorial dispute over a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea is overshadowing talks between the regions main powers at the Asean forum in Cambodia.

Japan has protested to China after three Chinese fishery patrol ships entered waters near the islands. They are said to have since left the area.

The row is not on a par with a stand-off between the two countries two years ago, but tension has again been rising between Asias two largest economies.

Known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, the islands are located near rich fishing grounds and potentially huge oil and gas reserves.

In Tokyo, the Chinese ambassador was summoned over the ships appearance. Japan also lodged a complaint in Beijing, where it was abruptly brushed aside.

The Diaoyu islands and surrounding waters have been Chinese territory since ancient times, said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin.

Chinese fishery patrol boats went into Chinese-administered waters in a routine manner during the fishing off season in accordance with Chinese law.

Last weekend, Japans prime minister Yoshihiko Noda backed an idea from Tokyos governor whereby Japan would buy the islands, now privately-owned by Japanese citizens and leased to the central government.

The Senkaku islands are without a doubt, in terms of history and international law, our territory, he said. We are in control of them.

Senkaku in Japanese, Diaoyu in Chinese and Tiaoyutai in Taiwanese. Taipei also claims the islands, and a week ago flexed its muscles over the issue.

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Japan-China islands row overshadows Asean talks