Obituary: Simon Chan made breakthroughs in plant breeding

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Simon Chan, an associate professor of plant biology at the University of California, Davis, whose work on plant breeding promised to help some of the world's poorest people, died Aug. 22. He was 38.

Chan had been suffering from primary sclerosing cholangitis, an autoimmune disorder, and developed complications while awaiting a liver transplant.

"Simon was an incredible scientist, superb mentor and a great friend," said James Hildreth, dean of the College of Biological Sciences at UC Davis. "His brilliant work could fundamentally change how new crop plants are generated and may shed light on how new plant species are formed."

Professor Bill Lucas, chair of the Department of Plant Biology, described Chan as "one of a kind."

His enthusiasm for his science was contagious and his passion for teaching and mentoring his students served as a true role model for us all. Words cannot express our deep sorrow at losing such a talented and wonderful human being, Lucas said.

Working with the model plant Arabidopsis, Chan's laboratory discovered a way to breed plants with genes from only one parent, making it possible to "breed true" without generations of inbreeding.

In June 2011, Chan was one of two UC Davis scientists selected for the first-ever class of HHMI-GBMF Investigators, funded jointly by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to support promising research in plant sciences. (The other awardee was Jorge Dubcovsky, professor of plant sciences.)

Chan planned to use the HHMI-GBMF award to expand his work to crop plants such as tomatoes and Chinese cabbage.

Chan was also working with plant breeders in Colombia, Tanzania and Kenya to find new ways to breed bananas, plantain and cassava, staple foods for millions of the world's poorest people. That project was supported by a grant from the NSF-BREAD (Basic Research to Enable Agricultural Development) program, a joint initiative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Science Foundation.

Chan was born in 1974 in Auckland, New Zealand, and earned his bachelor's degree in biochemistry from the University of Auckland in 1996. From there he went to UCSF, where he worked with Professor Elizabeth Blackburn, winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, and was awarded his doctoral degree in cell biology in 2002.

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Grey's Anatomy Season 9 Video: Who's Going to Survive?

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Ellen Pompeo

"Who's going to survive?"

That's what the new trailer for the ninth season of Grey's Anatomy asks. So, um, does that mean more death is on the way? Naturally, with the exit of Eric Dane from the series and the deafening silence from executive producer Shonda Rhimes on the fate of Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) fans have suspected that one of the two beloved doctors would meet their maker as a result of last season's plane crash.

Grey's Anatomy: Will Arizona Robbins and Mark Sloan die?

In the new trailer, someone is being pushed on a gurney through the hospital. Could it be the potentially ill-fated Mark, who had suffered chest injuries during the crash, or Arizona, who was not only last seen coughing up blood, but also had a bone sticking out of her leg? Maybe Derek (Patrick Dempsey) is being wheeled in to get his hand fixed up? Another question: Is the gurney even being pushed through the hallowed halls of Seattle Grace? Check out the trailer below:

Who do you think will survive?

Grey's Anatomy returns Thursday, Sept. 27 at 9/8c on ABC.

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Grey's Anatomy Season 9 Video: Who's Going to Survive?

Microbiology and Genome Experts Quell Deadly Bacteria Outbreak

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Latest Infectious Disease News

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 22 (HealthDay News) -- A deadly outbreak of antibiotic-resistant bacteria at a U.S. research hospital lasted six months and was finally brought under control through the combined efforts of genomics and microbiology experts, government researchers report.

The outbreak began when a 43-year-old New York City patient carrying a multi-drug resistant strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae introduced the dangerous bacteria into the 243-bed U.S. National Institutes of Health's Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md., in June 2011. The microbe is a common cause of hospital-borne infections.

Even with enhanced infection-control procedures, including patient isolation, the bacteria began to spread to other patients in the facility at the rate of one a week. The bacteria eventually affected 17 patients. Ten of these patients died; six from infection and four from underlying diseases while infected.

Clinical Center staff worked with investigators at the U.S. National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) to use genome sequencing to learn how the microbe spread. That collaboration helped bring the outbreak under control by the end of the year. Since then, there have been no new cases associated with the outbreak.

"Infectious outbreaks happen in every hospital in the world, afflicting millions of patients each year in the United States alone," NHGRI director Dr. Eric Green, said in an NIH/NHGRI news release.

"By marshaling the ability to sequence bacterial genomes in real time to accurately trace the bacteria as it spread among our Clinical Center patients, our researchers successfully elucidated what happened, which in turn has taught us some important lessons," he explained. "This study gives us a glimpse of how genomic technologies will alter our approach to microbial epidemics in the future."

A case history of the outbreak was published online Aug. 22 in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

"Genome sequencing and analysis is our best hope for anticipating and outpacing the pathogenic evolution of infectious agents," Julie Segre, an NHGRI senior investigator involved in the outbreak, said in the news release. "Though our practice of genomics did not change the way patients were treated in this outbreak, it did change the way the hospital practiced infection control."

About 1.7 million hospital-associated infections, and 99,000 related deaths, occur each year in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Multi-drug resistant K. pneumoniae is among the more dangerous infections because there are few effective treatments and the death rate can be as high as 50 percent, the researchers pointed out in the news release.

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Vt. DNA exoneration law is headed for 1st test

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MONTPELIER, Vt.A state law passed in 2008 that allows people convicted of crimes to try to be exonerated based on DNA evidence appears headed for its first test.

John Grega, a Long Island man convicted in 1995 of killing his wife, Christine, while on vacation in Vermont, was released from prison Wednesday, a day after a judge vacated his sentence and ordered a new trial because DNA from an unknown man was found on her body. He was released on $75,000 bail.

The case marks the first time a court in Vermont has even entertained -- never mind granted -- a request that a felony conviction be overturned based on new DNA evidence.

Grega's lawyers said Thursday that the Vermont Innocence Protection Act doesn't spell out the procedures that take place when new DNA evidence raises questions about a conviction and the defendant is granted a new trial.

"There are some basic procedural questions that need to be answered. They probably need to be discussed with the court," lawyer Ian Carleton said.

Gretchen Bennett, executive director of the Boston-based New England Innocence Project, which works on such cases around the six-state region, said DNA evidence has resulted in numerous prisoners being freed, as well as the person who actually did a crime then being charged and convicted.

Bennett said the Grega case was the first to her knowledge in which the state had pushed for a new trial. When new DNA evidence points to someone other than the person convicted, "it's generally considered to be pretty conclusive," she said.

Prosecutors had accused John Grega of raping, sodomizing, beating and strangling his 31-year-old wife in 1994 and leaving her body in a whirlpool bathtub at the West Cover condominium where they were staying on vacation with their then-2-year-old son. He had been found guilty of aggravated murder.

Grega, a former Lake Grove, N.Y., resident, walked out of the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield and into the arms of family and friends late Wednesday afternoon.

A month earlier, Carleton and the Vermont defender general's office had filed a motion in court saying new analysis showed that skin cells taken from inside Christine Grega's rectum belonged not to her husband but to another unknown man.

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Grey’s Anatomy Admits Newcomer Tessa Ferrer for Recurring Role

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Aug 23, 2012 06:31 PM ET by Kate Stanhope Follow katestanhope Tweet

Tessa Ferrer

Grey's Anatomy may have lost a few faces this past year, but there will be plenty of newbies roaming the halls when the medical drama returns this fall.

Newcomer Tessa Ferrer has scored a recurring role on the ABC drama's upcoming ninth season, TVLine reports.

Exclusive: Veronica Mars alum Tina Majorino lands a Grey's gig

It is unknown whether Ferrer will play a character based at Seattle Grace, or if she'll be tied to one of the new hospitals to be featured on the show this season when several longtime characters start their new gigs.

Grey's marks Ferrer's TV debut, where she joins new recurring guest stars Veronica Mars vet Tina Majorino, Friday Night Lights' Gaius Charles and True Blood's Camilla Luddington. Former series regulars Chyler Leigh and Kim Raver will not returning come fall, and Eric Dane is set to wrap his arc early in Season 9.

The new season of Grey's Anatomy premieres on Thursday, Sept. 27 at 9/8c on ABC.

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Grey’s Anatomy Admits Newcomer Tessa Ferrer for Recurring Role

'The Owner’s Cottage' in line for World Travel Award

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'The Owners Cottage at the 5-star, award-winning Grande Provence Heritage Wine Estate, Franschhoek, part of Huka Retreats Huka Lodge in New Zealand and Dolphin Island in Fiji has been nominated once again in the category of South Africas Leading Villa within the 2012 World Travel Awards.

Comments General Manager, Karl Lambour: We are extremely proud to have been nominated for our unique accommodation, The Owners Cottage, which forms part of the exclusive Grande Provence experience - The Restaurant, The Jonkershuis, The Gallery, The Shop and The Tasting Room as well as our fine cuisine and award-winning signature wines.

This year marks the 19th World Travel Awards, which acknowledges excellence within the global travel and tourism industry and is voted by numerous travel agents worldwide.

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'The Owner’s Cottage' in line for World Travel Award

Private Space Taxi Builders Pass Key Milestones for NASA

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Two commercial spaceflight companies have checked off vital milestones on the path toward flights to the International Space Station for NASA, the space agency announced today (Aug. 23).

The Hawthorne, Calif.-based SpaceX has completed its Space Act Agreement under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program, or COTS. The company is slated to launch the first of its 12 contracted robotic cargo flights to the space station from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in October, officials said.

Meanwhile, theDream Chaser space planebeing developed by Sierra Nevada Space Systems in Colorado has reached its first milestone a program implementation plan review under NASA's recently announced Commercial Crew integrated Capability initiative. CCiCap is part of the agency's effort to spur the development of private American crew-carrying spaceships, to fill the void left by the space shuttle's retirement.

"We're working to open a new frontier for commercial opportunities in space and create job opportunities right here in Florida and across the United States," Bolden said from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. "And we're working to in-source the work that is currently being done elsewhere and bring it right back here to the U.S. where it belongs." [Top 10 Private Spaceships]

Would you take a ride on SpaceX's Dragon space capsule?

SpaceX has already flown to the space station once as part of its COTS partnership. The company's unmanned Dragon capsule docked to the orbiting lab during a historic demonstration mission in May, becoming the first private vehicle ever to do so.

The flight was designed to test whether Dragon and SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket were ready to begin the 12 official resupply flights, for which SpaceX holds a NASA contract worth $1.6 billion.

NASA also signed a $1.9 billion deal with Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corp. for eight robotic cargo flights with its Cygnus vessel. Orbital plans to launch its first test flight with Cygnus this winter, NASA officials said.

Earlier this month, NASA announced that Sierra Nevada will receive $212.5 million under CCiCap, the latest initiative of the agency's Commercial Crew Program. SpaceX will get $440 million to help upgrade Dragon to a crew-carrying craft, while Boeing was awarded $460 million for its CST-100 capsule.

The Commercial Crew Program also awarded funding to private spaceflight firms in each of the last two years, in rounds known as Commercial Crew Development 1 and 2. Sierra Nevada got funding during both CCDev-1 and CCDev-2 as well.

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Smooth sailing: Space launch system giving Marshall, Langley wind tunnels a workout

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ScienceDaily (Aug. 23, 2012) Launching rockets is no easy or inexpensive task. Developers must consider the ground support infrastructure, fuel elements and flight hardware itself; not to mention the safety of everyone involved.

Since well before the inception of NASA, engineers used wind tunnels and scale models to test how vehicles would respond and interact with the atmosphere. At the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., engineers are using wind tunnel testing to enhance the development of NASA's Space Launch System, a heavy-lift launch vehicle that will propel science and human exploration into deep space and launch NASA's Orion spacecraft to expand human presence beyond low Earth orbit.

Engineers at Marshall's Trisonic Wind Tunnel have spent the past four months putting early SLS scale models through more than 900 tests of various crew and cargo configurations.

"We need to evaluate all the possible conditions that the launch vehicle may encounter as it traverses the atmosphere," said John Blevins, SLS lead engineer for aerodynamics and acoustics. "We look at many different configurations and designs of the same rocket, discovering how it reacts under variations in flight conditions. It is a very busy and exciting time for us."

The Trisonic Wind Tunnel is testing the flight stability of SLS, providing the initial configuration testing and the basis to assess flight stability. Testing on a larger geometric scale at Langley's Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel and tests planned for Boeing's Polysonic Wind Tunnel in St. Louis will improve understanding of the vehicle's aerodynamics as the design matures. The Langley facility can accurately test limits of rocket designs, but only at speeds above Mach 1.5. The Boeing facility will be used for the lower Mach conditions on the larger model. At Marshall, tests are conducted to determine how the designs respond to roll, pitch and yaw at speeds from Mach 0.3 to Mach 5. The data from both tunnels will be merged to evaluate the design's performance, guidance and control.

"Once we analyze the data, we can determine the best configuration and refine our design of the vehicle," said SLS Chief Engineer Garry Lyles. "Any changes can be made safely, easily and inexpensively before the full-scale version is built. This helps ensure that SLS is an affordable and sustainable capability for human space exploration beyond low Earth orbit."

On a larger scale, engineers use wind tunnels to evaluate unsteady aerodynamic effects that can cause vehicle vibrations and resonance. The biggest SLS wind tunnel model test to date is scheduled for mid-September. Langley's Transonic Dynamics Tunnel will test the first large scale integrated model -- a 12-foot-long version of the heavy-lift rocket to evaluate these unsteady aerodynamic phenomena.

Each test moves the agency closer to giving the nation a launch capability to take humans farther than ever before. Designed to be flexible for launching spacecraft for crew and cargo missions, including NASA's Orion multipurpose vehicle, SLS will enable NASA to meet the president's goal of sending humans to an asteroid by 2025 and to Mars in the 2030s.

For more information about the Space Launch System, including the newest proposed rocket configurations, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/sls

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Is NASA focusing too much on Mars? (+video)

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Even as the Curiosity Mars rover was still testing its equipment in preparation for its surface mission, NASA has unveiled plans for another unmanned mission to Mars. Is the agency playing favorites?

NASA unveiled plans this week for a brand-new mission to Mars in 2016, even as its newest rover was just settling in on the Red Planet. But space agency officials say it's not a case of Red Planet favoritism.

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On Monday (Aug. 20), NASA announced that its next low-budget exploration effort will launch a lander called InSight to Mars in 2016 to investigate the Red Planet's interior. InSight's selection comes barely two weeks after the agency's $2.5 billion Curiosity rover touched down inside Mars' huge Gale Crater.

NASA's golf-cart-size Opportunity rover is still cruising around the Red Planet more than eight years after it landed with its twin, Spirit. And the space agency has two orbiters Mars Odyssey and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter actively observing the planet from above.

No other planet has received nearly this much attention in recent years. But NASA isn't too narrowly focused, officials said.

"We still have an extremely broad portfolio of missions, you know, heading out into the solar system now for instance, Juno on its way to Jupiter, Osiris-Rex being worked in preparation for its mission to an asteroid," John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, told reporters Monday. "And so I think we've shown very broad diversity in past selections."

Grunsfeld also cited the Dawn probe which has been studying the huge asteroid Vesta for the past year and is getting set to depart for the dwarf planet Ceres next month and New Horizons, which is speeding toward a flyby of Pluto in 2015. [Quiz: How Well Do You Know Mars?]

InSight short for Interior exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport will be NASA's 12th Discovery-class mission, and its cost is capped at $425 million in 2010 dollars (excluding the launch vehicle).

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Is NASA focusing too much on Mars? (+video)

NASA crew explores an asteroid … sort of

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NASA is conducting a mock asteroid mission in Houston to test out technologies that would allow humans to explore space rocks on future missions.

The 10-day simulation is part of NASA's Research and Technology Studies program, known as RATS, which has been held every year since 1998. It usually occurs in remote desert locations, often earning it the nickname Desert RATS. But RATS 2012 is being held at the Johnson Space Center, which houses tools and simulators that would be difficult to transfer to the field, NASA officials said.

The crew members are testing NASA's prototype for its next generation of Space Exploration Vehicles, or SEVs, on a mock mission to the asteroid Itokawa.

In an Aug. 21 blog post for NASA, RATS crew member Trevor Graff, a planetary geologist, explained that the vehicle sits in front of a large screen displaying the simulated asteroid. The virtual rock draws on data from Japan's Hayabusa mission to Itokawa and "looks and moves just like the real thing."

"This extremely realistic simulation allows us to fly around, approach, and anchor to the asteroid, all while monitoring our flight controls, propellant usage and many other factors," Graff wrote. "Once we approach or anchor to the asteroid, one or more of us will perform a simulated spacewalk, also known as an EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity)."

The crew can carry out a virtual spacewalk in two ways. They can put on special glasses in JSC's virtual reality lab, which provides an "immersive environment" with real-time graphics and motion simulators. Or they can get strapped into NASA's Active Response Gravity Offload System (ARGOS), which uses a crane to simulate the weightlessness astronauts would feel while exploring an asteroid's surface.

The program also seeks to answer some practical questions about putting humans on a near-Earth asteroid, such as how astronauts would live in the SEV.

"Once we were done with our flying tasks, we settled in for our evening tasks. That involved making a freeze-dried dinner, setting up our cycle and exercising, and filling out a bunch of data sheets," crew member David Coan, an engineer with United Space Alliance, wrote in another NASA blog post after the first day of the program.

Space news from NBCNews.com

Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: NASA's Curiosity rover has successfully made its first drive on Mars, at a spot that's been named Bradbury Landing in honor of the late sci-fi great.

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NASA crew explores an asteroid ... sort of

NASA helps 'Angry Birds' go to Mars

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Published: Aug. 23, 2012 at 5:30 PM

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- NASA says it is joining forces with the makers of the popular "Angry Birds" game, this time helping the game's birds and pigs explore martian terrain.

Rovio Entertainment's update to "Angry Birds Space," which was supported through a partnership with NASA and introduced millions of gamers to concepts of microgravity, features the title birds along with a cast of NASA Mars rovers and landers, the space agency reported Thursday.

"Rovio is teaching huge new audiences about NASA's missions to Mars thanks to this collaboration," David Weaver, associate administrator for communications at NASA headquarters in Washington said. "It's a great way to introduce both kids and adults to the wonders of the planet in a fun and entertaining way."

The game will include links to NASA Web content about Mars exploration and NASA missions that are represented in the game.

"We're huge NASA fans and we were all cheering the Mars Curiosity rover as it touched down," Peter Vesterbacka, chief marketing officer of Finland's Rovio, said.

"We're thrilled to continue working with NASA. Stay tuned for even more great fun and educational content coming up."

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NASA helps 'Angry Birds' go to Mars

Dr. Brian Jack named chief of family medicine at Boston Medical Center

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By Chelsea Conaboy, Globe Staff

Dr. Brian Jack/Courtesy photo

Dr. Brian Jack will lead the departments of family medicine at Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine. Jack replaces Dr. Larry Culpepper who left the positions last year and remains with the institutions.

Jack was hired in 1997 as vice chairman of family medicine at the hospital. He led development of Project RED (Re-engineered discharge), a process for standardizing communication between clinicians and patients when they are discharged from the hospital. The project has tested the use of virtual patient advocates, like Louise, to teach people about their medications and follow-up care during discharge.

Jack, who lives in the South End, studied medicine at the University of Massachusetts and trained in family medicine at Brown University. He became a faculty member in 1986 at Brown, where he created a maternal and child health fellowship program based in a community health center. Jack has received numerous national awards, including recognition for Project RED from the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. He has been involved in a number of programs to develop primary care internationally, including in Albania, Jordan, Vietnam, and elsewhere. He is director of the Lesotho-Boston Health Alliance, which partners with Lesotho government and health officials to build the health care system in that small country in southern Africa.

Dr. Jacks commitment to improving the health care experience will be of great benefit to our patients, Kate Walsh, the hospitals chief executive, said in a press release. We look forward to the leadership he will provide to the Department of Family Medicine and to the hospital.

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Dr. Brian Jack named chief of family medicine at Boston Medical Center

Study Shows Economic Benefits Of Proposed Austin Medical School Plan

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Austin Considers Wildfire Smoke Detectors

Bar Tries To Trademark 'I Can't Remember The Alamo'

Officials: Texas Prison System Needs Full Budget

Rabid Bat Discovered At San Marcos HS

Teachers Reach Out To Parents Of School Closed By Mold

Study Shows Economic Benefits Of Proposed Austin Medical School Plan

Tropical Storm Isaac Lashes Caribbean; New Storm Forms

Proposed Medicaid Fraud Rules Worry Texas Providers

Drivers See Modest Rise In Gas Prices

Austin Council OKs New Helicopter For Police

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Liberty Ross Not Wearing Wedding Ring, Stuns on First Red Carpet Since Rupert Sanders' Affair

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No more tears!

While Robert Pattinson yukked it up with Jimmy Kimmel, the scorned woman in the Kristen Stewart-Rupert Sanders saga, Liberty Ross, hit the town for the Hollywood premiere of Lawless hosted by DeLeon Tequila Wednesday.

Looking serene and fresh-faced, the British model, 33, wore a silky green button-down shirt, skinny black pants, and black booties on her very first red carpet since her husband's affair -- but she declined to wear her wedding ring to the event, which she attended with her brother, Nine Inch Nails musician Atticus Ross.

PHOTOS: Kristen and Rupert's affair

After the screening of the film (starring Shia Labeouf and Guy Pearce) at the Arclight Theater, Ross headed to hotspot Eden for the DeLeon Tequila-hosted after party -- where she and her brother stayed lowkey, chatting with Australian rocker Nick Cave and other pals.

PHOTOS: Famous women who've been cheated on

According to an observer, Ross -- whose surprise appearance was the buzz of the premiere -- spent most of the bash sipping on a drink and chatting quietly with her brother.

Together with Snow White and the Huntsman director Sanders, 41, for 15 years, Ross is mom to Skyla, 7, and Tennyson, 5. Ross learned of Sanders' July 17 fling with Stewart, 22, the week before Us Weekly's exclusive photos emerged. "She was coming to terms with it," a source told Us.

PHOTOS: Kristen and Rupert's road to cheating

"It's too early to tell what will happen with them," the source added.

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Liberty Ross Not Wearing Wedding Ring, Stuns on First Red Carpet Since Rupert Sanders' Affair

Liberty Ross at film debut without husband

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British filmmaker Rupert Sanders (L) hasn't seen his wife, actress Liberty Ross (R), since news of his affair with Kristen Stewart broke last month, People.com said. The couple are pictured attending a screening of the film on May 29. UPI/Jim Ruymen/file photo

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Published: Aug. 23, 2012 at 2:59 PM

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- English model-actress Liberty Ross appeared at the Hollywood premiere of director John Hillcoat's Prohibition-era gangster film "Lawless" without her husband.

Ross, 34, was also not wearing a wedding band at the Wednesday night red-carpet ArcLight Cinemas screening, tabloid TV entertainment news Web site HollyScoop reported.

Ross' director-husband Rupert Sanders, 41, was shown in photos published by gossip magazine Us Weekly last month cheating on Ross with 22-year-old actress Kristen Stewart, prompting Stewart to issue a public apology.

Stewart and Ross were both in Sanders' fantasy film "Snow White and the Huntsman," which was released in the United States June 1.

In the film, Stewart played Snow White. Ross played Queen Eleanor, Snow White's mother.

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Liberty Ross Walks Red Carpet Alone – Who She Could Date Next

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Liberty Ross doesn't care to play the part of a woman scorned by her cheating husband.

The 33-year-old British model was in high spirits this week as she attended the premiere for "Lawless" in L.A. She walked the red carpet alone for the first time since the news broke about her husband Rupert Sanders having an affair with Kristen Stewart.

Liberty looked stunning on the red carpet in a casual look complete with a green silk blouse, black leggings, and sexy black ankle boots. She is still not wearing her wedding ring, a sign that the relationship between her and Rupert won't be repairing itself anytime soon.

Between Liberty's sexy red carpet appearances and Rob's appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" joking about the breakup it looks like these two are trying to take the scandal in stride.

Now that Rupert may be out of the picture who could she date next? We have a few ideas.

Shia LaBeouf

Now that the model is free to do as she pleases she should have some fun around Hollywood and who better to take out on the town than Shia? Liberty went to Shia's premiere of "Lawless" this week and we think with his good looks, awesome sense of humor, and undeniable talent he'd be a great rebound for Liberty.

Robert Pattinson

With everything that has happened we don't really think these two should be jumping into anything serious with anyone for awhile BUT just how awesome would it be for these two to casually go out together? With their media appearances it's clear they're trying to remain positive and lighthearted over the situation while we see Kristen Stewart looking down and depressed. It would only give Kristen a taste of her own medicine for Rob and Liberty to enjoy a night out together.

Ryan Gosling

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Liberty Ross Walks Red Carpet Alone - Who She Could Date Next

Libertarian Ron Williams campaigns in Hattiesburg

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HATTIESBURG, MS (WDAM) -

The Libertarian candidate running for Congress in Mississippi's 4th District made a campaign stop in Hattiesburg Thursday.

Ron Williams said he's running for office as a Libertarian because both political parties have spent too much money and have let the American people down.

Williams, 54, is a former Moss Point businessman. He ran unsuccessfully for Mississippi governor as a Republican in 2011.

Copyright 2012 WDAM. All rights reserved.

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Libertarian Ron Williams campaigns in Hattiesburg