NASA's free video game for Xbox Live: 'Mars Rover Landing'

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Three weeks before the Mars Curiosity rover is scheduled to touch down on the Red Planet, NASA had unveiled a new video game that takes players through the spacecraft's 'seven minutes of terror.'

NASA revealed a new video game today (July 16), one that celebrates the Aug. 5 landing of its huge Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars.

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The game, called "Mars Rover Landing," is produced in collaboration with Microsoft and plays on the Xbox 360 system using the Kinect motion sensor. It's available free of charge in the Xbox Live Marketplace and Kinect Central, officials said.

"Mars Rover Landing" allows players to take control of Curiosity's spacecraft as it streaks through the Red Planet's atmosphere on a harrowing journey that mission engineers have dubbed "seven minutes of terror."

At the end, a rocket-powered sky crane lowers the rover to the Martian surface on cables, then flies off to crash-land intentionally a safe distance away.

"Families can get a taste of the daring that's involved in this, just landing this mission on the surface," Doug McCuistion, director of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, told reporters today. "It's going to be very similar to the way the team actually is going to do that." [The Best (And Worst) Mars Landings in History]

The game is an outreach vehicle, McCuistion added, an attempt to raise awareness of Curiosity's mission and NASA's planetary exploration endeavors in a more general sense.

The 1-ton Curiosity rover is the centerpiece of NASA's $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory mission. It blasted off in late November and is on schedule to touch down at Mars' Gale Crater on the night of Aug. 5.

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NASA's free video game for Xbox Live: 'Mars Rover Landing'

NASA has big plans for future Mars rover

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FARNBOROUGH, England A possible rover mission to Mars within the next eight years may rely on a larger parachutes, atomic clocks and inflatable decelerators, NASA's Mars exploration chief says.

With a large NASA rover only weeks away from arriving at the Red Planet, NASA's Doug McCuistion outlined ideas for another, far less expensive Martian mission in 2018 or 2020.

The inflatable decelerators, also known as ballutes, and big parachutes would help the spacecraft reduce its speed through the Martian atmosphere, while the atomic clocks would improve its landing accuracy, McCuistion announced Tuesday (July 10) at the Farnborough International Airshow here.

NASA expects to have up to $800 million to spend on the mission. That's a far cry from the $2.5 billion the agency is spending on its 1-ton Curiosity rover, which is due to land on the Red Planet Aug. 5.

"That price point [$800 million] is frankly around the point of a Discovery mission," McCuistion told SPACE.com. "Those missions tend to be characterized by simple systems, not too challenging." [ The Best (And Worst) Mars Landings in History ]

McCuisition added that he likely wont have the budget to fund the ballutes, parachutes and atomic clocks. Instead, NASAs Office of the Chief Technologist probably would pay for them.

For its Mars missions NASA is still using parachutes based on the design of the 1970s Viking landers. Those old-school chutes are 69 feet (21 meters) wide; the 2018 or 2020 mission would employ a 98-foot-wide (30 m) chute with a design that produces far more drag.

Working within the budget The lower price tag for a 2018 or 2020 mission reflects NASA's efforts to find a way forward in tough fiscal times. President Barack Obama's proposed 2013 federal budget, which was released in February, slashes NASA planetary science funding by 20 percent, with much of that coming out of the Mars program.

The cuts led NASA to withdraw from the European Space Agency-led ExoMars mission, which aims to send an orbiter and rover to the Red Planet in 2016 and 2018, respectively.

In response to its new budget situation, NASA asked scientists for ideas on how to explore Mars on the cheap. The most promising of these proposals were presented at a workshop at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston in late June.

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NASA has big plans for future Mars rover

NASA's Car-sized Rover Nears Daring Landing on Mars

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WASHINGTON -- NASA's most advanced planetary rover is on a precise course for an early August landing beside a Martian mountain to begin two years of unprecedented scientific detective work. However, getting the Curiosity rover to the surface of Mars will not be easy.

"The Curiosity landing is the hardest NASA mission ever attempted in the history of robotic planetary exploration," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "While the challenge is great, the team's skill and determination give me high confidence in a successful landing."

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission is a precursor mission for future human mission to Mars. President Obama has set a challenge to reach the Red Planet in the 2030s.

To achieve the precision needed for landing safely inside Gale Crater, the spacecraft will fly like a wing in the upper atmosphere instead of dropping like a rock. To land the 1-ton rover, an air-bag method used on previous Mars rovers will not work. Mission engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., designed a "sky crane" method for the final several seconds of the flight. A backpack with retro-rockets controlling descent speed will lower the rover on three nylon cords just before touchdown.

During a critical period lasting only about seven minutes, the MSL spacecraft carrying Curiosity must decelerate from about 13,200 mph (about 5,900 meters per second) to allow the rover to land on the surface at about 1.7 mph (three-fourths of a meter per second).

Curiosity is scheduled to land at approximately 1:31 a.m. EDT Aug. 6

(10:31 p.m. PDT Aug. 5).

"Those seven minutes are the most challenging part of this entire mission," said Pete Theisinger, JPL's MSL project manager. "For the landing to succeed, hundreds of events will need to go right, many with split-second timing and all controlled autonomously by the spacecraft. We've done all we can think of to succeed. We expect to get Curiosity safely onto the ground, but there is no guarantee. The risks are real."

During the initial weeks after the actual landing, JPL mission controllers will put the rover through a series of checkouts and activities to characterize its performance on Mars while gradually ramping up scientific investigations. Curiosity then will begin investigating whether an area with a wet history inside Mars' Gale Crater ever has offered an environment favorable for microbial life.

"Earlier missions have found that ancient Mars had wet environments,"

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NASA's Car-sized Rover Nears Daring Landing on Mars

NASA's Mars rover may be in for blind landing

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - NASA's new Mars rover is heading for a risky do-or-die touchdown next month to assess conditions for life on the planet, but the U.S. space agency may not know for hours whether it arrived safely, managers said on Monday. That's because the satellite that NASA was counting on for real-time coverage of the Mars Science Laboratory's descent into Gale Crater ...

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NASA issues 'Mars Rover Landing' for Xbox

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NASA revealed a new video game Monday, one that celebrates the Aug. 5 landing of its huge Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars.

The game, called "Mars Rover Landing," is produced in collaboration with Microsoft and plays on the Xbox 360 system using the Kinect motion sensor. It's available free of charge in the Xbox Live Marketplace and Kinect Central, officials said.

"Mars Rover Landing" allows players to take control of Curiosity's spacecraft as it streaks through the Red Planet's atmosphere on a harrowing journey that mission engineers have dubbed " seven minutes of terror."

More space news from NBCNews.com

Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: The pawprint of a cosmic cat comes into sharper focus in this week's featured picture from the European Southern Observatory.

At the end, a rocket-powered sky crane lowers the rover to the Martian surface on cables, then flies off to crash-land intentionally a safe distance away.

"Families can get a taste of the daring that's involved in this, just landing this mission on the surface," Doug McCuistion, director of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, told reporters today. "It's going to be very similar to the way the team actually is going to do that." [ The Best (And Worst) Mars Landings in History ]

The game is an outreach vehicle, McCuistion added, an attempt to raise awareness of Curiosity's mission and NASA's planetary exploration endeavors in a more general sense.

The 1-ton Curiosity rover is the centerpiece of NASA's $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory mission. It blasted off in late November and is on schedule to touch down at Mars' Gale Crater on the night of Aug. 5.

Curiosity's main goal is to determine if the Gale Crater area is, or ever was, capable of supporting microbial life. The rover sports 10 difference science instruments to help it in this task, including a rock-zapping laser and gear that can detect organic compounds the carbon-containing building blocks of life as we know it.

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NASA issues 'Mars Rover Landing' for Xbox

Industrial Nanotech, Inc. Announces Continuing Increase in Orders for Nansulate(R) Crystal, the Company’s Patented …

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NAPLES, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Industrial Nanotech, Inc. (Pink Sheets:INTK), an emerging global leader in nanotechnology based energy saving and sustainable solutions announced increased demand this year for their patented Nansulate(R) Crystal clear insulating and mold resistant roof coating. This coating offers a clear alternative to the increasingly popular idea of using white roof coatings to increase building energy efficiency, providing a great solution for building roofs made of decorative concrete roof tile and all colors of asphalt shingle roof tile, allowing the customer to enjoy the benefits of energy savings and mold/mildew resistance and added UV protection without changing the appearance of the roof of their home or commercial building. Nansulate(R) Crystal nanotechnology-based coating offers an advancement to this concept by reducing direct heat conduction rather than simply reflecting the suns rays, which allows it to be effective in all climates, reducing winter heating costs as well as summer cooling costs.

Some of our recent sales include Nansulate(R) Crystal for two church properties in the continental U.S. and Puerto Rico totaling 77,900 S.F. of roof surface, residential applications throughout the United States from California to Florida, industrial retail sales, and demand internationally from countries like the UK, Brunei, China, and Thailand. The robust increase in sales during the first half of this year reinforces our updated marketing strategy for Crystal, which included a new website and product branding, direct to consumer and business mail and media campaigns, as well as other initiatives for brand awareness, stated Francesca Crolley, VP of Business Development for Industrial Nanotech, Inc. The combination of benefits that this roof coating provides are unique, and we are seeing it increasingly adopted in commercial, institutional, and residential settings. Our technology is clear, which is a tremendous benefit over the competition because it adds energy savings to a roof without changing the color and also offers the benefits of mold and fungi resistance, UV resistance, and moisture/weathering resistance. The coating is easily applied and is low VOC and eco-friendly. We expect this product to continue to gain marketshare in the popular cool roof arena which is touted for its energy savings by the U.S. Department of Energy, among others, while also expanding the market for insulating roof coatings by offering a technology that can save energy for those in northern/colder climates as well as southern.

In a recent release, Coatings for Commercial and Residential Roofing: The North American Market (AVM076A) from BCC Research, the North American market for roof coatings was worth $750 million in 2011 and is projected to be valued at $984 million in 2016, a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.6%.

About Nansulate(R)

Nansulate(R) is the Company's patented product line of award winning, specialty coatings containing a nanotechnology based material and which are well-documented to provide the combined performance qualities of thermal insulation, corrosion prevention, resistance to mold growth, fire resistance, chemical resistance and lead encapsulation in an environmentally safe, water-based, coating formulation. The Nansulate(R) Product Line includes industrial, residential, agricultural and solar thermal insulation coatings. Additional information about the Company and its products can be found at their websites, (www.inanotk.com) and (www.nansulate.com). Blog: http://www.nansulate.com/nanoblog, Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/NanoPioneer, Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Nansulate.

About Industrial Nanotech Inc.

Industrial Nanotech Inc. is a global nanoscience solutions and research leader and member of the U.S. Green Building Council. The Company develops and commercializes new and innovative applications for sustainable nanotechnology which are sold worldwide.

Safe Harbor Statement

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This release includes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, the impact of competitive products, the ability to meet customer demand, the ability to manage growth, acquisitions of technology, equipment, or human resources, the effect of economic and business conditions, and the ability to attract and retain skilled personnel. The Company is not obligated to revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release.

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Princeton scientists using nanotech to make cancer 3 million times more detectable

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Scientists at Princeton University say they have used nanotechnology to make tests to detect diseases, like cancer and Alzheimer's disease, 3 million times more sensitive.

That means what researchers are calling a breakthrough in nanotechnology and medicine could enable doctors to detect these illnesses at much earlier stages, when they are more treatable.

"This advance opens many new and exciting opportunities ... in disease early detection and treatment," said Stephen Chou, a Princeton engineering professor, who led the research team. "You can have very early detection with our approach."

Princeton researchers used nanotechnology to improve a biological test called an immunoassay, which measures the concentration of a substance in a body fluid sample, and is used to find markers for cancers and Alzheimer's, in patients. The test produces a fluorescent glow when the disease is detected. The stronger the presence of the disease, the brighter the test glows.

However, if only faint, early-stage, traces of the disease are present, the glow can't be detected and the disease could be missed.

The Princeton researchers used nanotechnology to amplify the fluorescence, which gave them a 3-million-fold improvement in detection. It means the test now can detect disease with 3 million times fewer disease biomarkers present.

The earlier a cancer can be detected, the sooner treatment can begin, and the better chance a patient has of survival.

The key to the breakthrough, according to Princeton's researchers, lies in a new nanomaterial they call D2PA. The nanomaterial, which was developed in Chou's lab, consists of a thin layer of gold nanostructures surrounded by glass pillars that are 60 nanometers in diameter. About 1,000 of the pillars can be laid side-by-side and still only be as wide as a human hair.

Each pillar, spaced 200 nanometers apart, is capped with a gold disk. Each pillar also is speckled with even smaller gold dots. The pillars boost the collection and transmission of light by a billion-fold, Princeton said.

The university noted that Chou is focused on using the new technology to detect early-stage breast and prostate cancers. He also is working with researchers at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York to develop tests to detect proteins associated with early stage Alzheimer's disease.

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Princeton scientists using nanotech to make cancer 3 million times more detectable

Visionary NE3I — Nanotechnology Employment, Education, and Economic Development Initiative — Chooses NanoProfessor …

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SKOKIE, IL--(Marketwire -07/16/12)- NanoProfessor, a division of NanoInk, Inc. focused on nanotechnology education, announced that the newly launched Nanotechnology Employment, Education, and Economic Development Initiative (NE3I) has chosen the NanoProfessor Nanoscience Education Program to serve as the cornerstone of its educational activities, with the goal of making nanotechnology education accessible for high school and community college students in the northern suburbs of Chicago.

The NE3I is a partnership between the Village of Skokie, Oakton Community College (Oakton), the Illinois Science + Technology Park (IS+TP), and NSERVE, which is a consortium of nine local high schools representing approximately 24,000 secondary students. Oakton recently received a $250,000 grant from the Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust to support the launch of the NE3I; and that grant was matched by the Village of Skokie, using funds from the Village's Downtown Science + Technology Park Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District.

"NanoProfessor is a global leader in undergraduate nanotechnology education, working with universities, community colleges, and high schools around the world to provide students with the necessary skills and real-world experiences needed to succeed in the fast growing nanotechnology industry," said Dean Hart, Chief Commercial Officer at NanoInk. "We commend Mayor Van Dusen, the Village of Skokie, Oakton Community College, the Illinois Science + Technology Park, NSERVE, and the Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust for their collaborative and visionary efforts in establishing Skokie and the surrounding communities as leaders in nanotechnology education."

"The NE3I partner organizations share a common goal of training 125 to 300 local students each year to address a growing and documented need for a nano-savvy work force at the Illinois Science + Technology Park and other northern Illinois locations," said Skokie Mayor, George Van Dusen. "I am grateful to the Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust for supporting the initiative, and am pleased that the Village of Skokie has the resources to contribute to this important jobs training initiative. With a locally trained, professional nanotechnology work force, it is expected that additional nanotechnology firms will establish a presence at the Illinois Science + Technology Park and regionally throughout northern Illinois."

"The nanotechnology field is growing rapidly and as it does, technicians will play an increasingly important role in the lab," said Oakton Community College President, Margaret B. Lee, Ph.D. "We're excited to be working with NanoProfessor and the NE3I group because ultimately this partnership will help meet that need and create a skilled workforce -- and career pathways for our students."

Oakton's Departments of Math, Technologies, Science, and Health Careers will lead the NE3I's nanotechnology training curriculum, which will build upon the strong foundation provided by the existing curriculum from NanoProfessor. The NE3I will be housed at the IS+TP in Skokie and is expected to be available to students through Oakton in spring 2013.

Nanotechnology is the understanding and control of matter at dimensions between approximately one and 100 nanometers (nm), where unique phenomena enable novel applications which are not feasible when working with bulk materials. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter. Encompassing nanoscale science, engineering, and technology, nanotechnology involves imaging, measuring, modeling, and manipulating matter at the nanoscale. A study funded by the National Science Foundation projects that six million nanotechnology workers will be needed worldwide by 2020, with two million of those jobs in the United States. However, as of 2008, there were only 400,000 estimated workers worldwide in the field of nanotechnology, with an estimated 150,000 of those jobs in the United States.

The NanoProfessor Nanoscience Education Program alternates between classroom lectures and hands-on lab work. The curriculum includes a textbook authored by leading nanotechnology experts, covering the topics of Nanotechnology Basics, Nanophysics, Nanochemistry, Nanobiology, and Environmental, Health, and Safety perspectives on nanotechnology. In conducting the hands-on lab experiments, students learn the fundamentals for building custom-engineered nanoscale structures while working with state-of-the-art equipment including NanoInk's NLP 2000 Desktop NanoFabrication System, a student-friendly atomic force microscope (AFM), a best-of-class fluorescence microscope, an advanced nanoparticle characterization instrument, and various chemical and biological materials used today within current and emerging nanotechnology applications.

About NanoProfessor The NanoProfessor Nanoscience Education Program aims to advance undergraduate nanotechnology education and address the growing need for a skilled, nano savvy work force. The NanoProfessor Program, including instruments, an expert-driven curriculum, and student/teacher support materials, is available for high schools, community colleges, technical institutes, and universities worldwide. More information is available at http://www.NanoProfessor.net or (847)679-NANO (6266). You can also like NanoProfessor on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/NanoProfessor1 and follow on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/nanoprofessor1.

NanoInk, NanoProfessor, and the NanoProfessor logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of NanoInk, Inc.

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Visionary NE3I -- Nanotechnology Employment, Education, and Economic Development Initiative -- Chooses NanoProfessor ...

NPA slams ‘needlessly scary’ Archives of Internal Medicine commentary

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A commentary in the American Medical Associations journal theArchives of Internal Medicine may needlessly scare people into not taking products they use to support their health, says the Natural Products Association (NPA).

On July 9, the Archives of Internal Medicine published the commentary, The Consequences of Ineffective Regulation of Dietary Supplementsby Donald Marcus, MD, from Baylor College of Medicine in Texas and Arthur Grollman, MD, from Stony Brook University in New York.

Drs Marcus and Grollman conclude: The consequences of DSHEA [the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994] for consumers include the expenditure of tens of billions of dollars annually on ineffective and potentially dangerous dietary supplements.

The commentary also calls for internists to strongly support the controversial draft guidance for new dietary ingredients (NDI), and they should urge Congress to revise DSHEA to give the FDA the authority required to effectively regulate dietary supplements.

To read the commentary, please click here .

Wrong

In response to the commentary, Cara Welch, PhD, senior VP of scientific and regulatory affairs for the NPA said: The commentary gets it wrong about dietary supplement regulation and may needlessly scare people into not taking products they use to support their health.

Its been long established that supplements provide nutrients we sometimes miss in our regular diet. Before taking any supplements, the Natural Products Association advises Americans to discuss supplement usage with their healthcare provider.

Its important to note that supplements are a fully-regulated industry under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act. Weve said it before and well say it again. The Food and Drug Administration has all the authority it needs to regulate supplements under DSHEA. And the FDA agrees. Their officials have testified before Congress that they have all the tools they need to effectively regulate supplements.

Enforcement, not more regulations

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NPA slams ‘needlessly scary’ Archives of Internal Medicine commentary

Metagenics and GotProHealth Announce Strategic Alliance

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SAN CLEMENTE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Metagenics, Inc., a nutrigenomics and lifestyle medicine company focused on reducing chronic health conditions and improving health, and GotProHealth, a national complementary medicine provider network dedicated to providing National Football League (NFL) players and their families referrals to quality professionals, today announced a strategic alliance for the purpose of advancing awareness of patient-centered approaches and increasing access to healthy living strategies.

This partnership will allow GotProHealth to include practitioners who are trained and certified in one of the best lifestyle medicine programs available, commented Willy Pardinas, Senior Vice President, Americas at Metagenics. GotProHealth providers will be able to incorporate programs like Metagenics' FirstLine Therapy into their practices to change the way they help professional athletes and their loved ones manage, reduce risks for, or even reverse chronic illness.

The FirstLine Therapy lifestyle medicine program incorporates a low-glycemic-load eating plan, nutritional recommendations (including medical foods), exercise, and stress management. Leading health organizations now recommend therapeutic lifestyle changes as the first line of therapy for treating and reducing common risk factors associated with obesity, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and conditions related to aging. To date, Metagenics has certified over 4,000 healthcare professionals in the FirstLine Therapy program, assisting in the implementation of a patient-friendly program that has been clinically shown in a joint university study to reverse established markers of metabolic syndrome.

GotProHealth is an approved member program of the NFL Players Association and has been working to educate its members on current health and wellness strategies, as well as providing a network of premier practitioners and health-related advisors across the nationincluding osteopaths, chiropractors, naturopaths, homeopaths, acupuncturists, and nutritionists. GotProHealth is expanding its reach to include other professional sports organizations in the very near future. These additional members will also have ready access to the network of health care professionals certified in the FirstLine Therapy lifestyle medicine program, as well as other participating practitioners that offer Metagenics nutritional protocols to promote health.

President of GotProHealth and former NFL running back Ken Jenkins, stated, We are ecstatic to have Metagenics as an ally in this fight for health and wellnessnot only for our players but also for the public at large.

For more information view a video on the alliance or call GotProHealth at 202-822-0659 or Metagenics at 800-692-9400.

About Metagenics, Inc.

Metagenics, Inc. (www.metagenics.com) is a nutrigenomics and lifestyle medicine company focused on reducing chronic illness and improving health. Founded in 1983, Metagenics serves more than 75,000 healthcare providers worldwide through premium quality, science-based medical foods, nutritional formulas, and lifestyle therapy programs to help their patients achieve a lifetime of good health. Metagenics scientific staffamong the largest in the nutrigenomics industryhas published more than 80 articles in peer-reviewed journals and has been awarded more than 50 international or domestic patents. The companys educational arm, Metagenics University, collaborates with renowned medical experts to annually deliver more than 200 events designed to help healthcare professionals stay on the leading edge of lifestyle medicine and incorporate nutrition into their clinical practice.

Metagenics maintains its corporate headquarters in San Clemente, CA; R&D headquarters in Gig Harbor, WA; and operating subsidiaries in Brussels, Belgium and Brisbane, Australia.

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Push to rid universities of alternative medicine

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Homeopathy is one of the 'Friends of Science in Medicine''s targets. Photo: John McNamara

A ROW has erupted within the Australian medical community over ways to handle the growth in alternative and complementary medicine, with claims that some doctors are exploiting their power and trying to censor others.

A group of high-profile scientists, dubbed ''Friends of Science in Medicine'', has been calling for universities to dump courses on ''pseudo sciences'' that they say are not supported by valid scientific research.

The targets include homeopathy, naturopathy, iridology and chiropractic and osteopathy courses, although they acknowledge the last two have evidence for musculo-skeletal treatments.

Led by John Dwyer, emeritus professor of medicine at the University of New South Wales, the group has also been campaigning for the federal government and health insurance providers to stop funding complementary and alternative medicine unless evidence is found to back them.

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But the group - backed by renowned biologist Sir Gustav Nossal and cervical cancer vaccine creator Ian Frazer - faced criticism this week from a handful of doctors who say they are exploiting their positions in the community and engaging in censorship.

In an article published in the Medical Journal of Australia, professor of medicine at Monash University Paul Komesaroff and bone marrow transplant physician Ian Kerridge accused the group of exceeding ''the boundaries of reasoned debate'' and risked ''compromising the values (they) claim to support''.

Together with Amber Moore, a Chinese medicine practitioner, they argued that the group was trying to suppress all approaches to healthcare that they do not understand, rather than contributing to fair and open debate in line with core values and practices of science and medicine. They also said there was extensive evidence for some complementary therapies including herbal products, nutritional supplements and meditation.

''It is important that those who seek to be friends of science do not inadvertently become its enemies. We call on the members of FSM to revise their tactics and instead support open, respectful dialogue'', they wrote.

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Push to rid universities of alternative medicine

UC Riverside trying again for medical school

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RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) - The University of California, Riverside, is making a second bid for a 4-year medical school, saying it has obtained alternative financial backing worth about $10 million a year for a decade.

The university has operated a joint medical school program with UCLA for three decades. Its 25 students spend their first two years in Riverside and finish at UCLA.

The state refused to pay for a full medical school last year and it was denied national accreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education.

The Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/NCpolL ) says school officials have now secured the $10 million-a-year alternative financing from private donors, local government and the UC system in hopes its first 50 students can enroll in fall 2013.

Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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CSU medical school support snowballing

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AN online campaign supporting Charles Sturt Universitys push for a medical school is closing in on its target of 25,000 supporters on its Facebook page.

Almost 17,000 people have now liked CSUs Doctors For The Bush page, supporting a campaign to bring more general practitioners to country areas and establishing a new medical school.

Thousands have also signed an online petition that states: I call on the Federal and NSW Governments to back CSUs plan to establish a Health and Medical Education Precinct in rural NSW and commit to providing $98 million in funding and 80 medical student places to make this a reality.

The online campaign is the latest plank in CSUs bid to pressure state and federal MPs to back CSUs ongoing push for an integrated medical school across the Bathurst and Orange campuses.

It would be a huge boost to both the reputation of the university and to regional health services, with figures showing that doctors who train in the bush are more likely to remain working in the bush after they graduate.

CSU has already submitted a detailed funding proposal to the Federal Government but though Coalition MPs at a state and federal level have been happy to pledge their support, the university has so far been unable to convince Regional Australia Minister Simon Crean of the plans benefits.

CSU last week confirmed NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner had formally invited the university to start negotiations with the government on the student numbers, medical training requirements and infrastructure for a new medical school at CSU.

This is fantastic news, a post on the Facebook page said.

However, this is just a first step as final approval for a new school must be granted by the Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek.

Help us to show the government what rural people want. Today we start a campaign to get 25,000 signatures on our petition and 25,000 supporters on Facebook.

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CSU medical school support snowballing

Liberty University Campus, Students Star in New Film

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Lynchburg, Va., has become the epicenter for the upcoming faith-based film, Finding Faith, and Liberty University is right at the heart of the project.Lynchburg, Va. (PRWEB) July 16, 2012 Lynchburg, Va., has become the epicenter for the upcoming faith-based film, Finding Faith, and Liberty University is right at the heart of the project.Finding Faith aims to educate families on the importance of ...

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Liberty University Campus, Students Star in New Film

Liberty Energy Announces New Acreage in Bastrop County, Texas

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HOUSTON, July 16, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Liberty Energy Corp. (LBYE) ("Liberty" or "the Company") announces further details on its new Bastrop County Acreage, Texas.

The Company is pleased to provide further details on its newly acquired acreage in Bastrop County, Texas. The Company can confirm having acquired two highly prospective leases in Bastrop County Texas. The combined leases measure approximately 300 acres and are situated in county that currently produces primarily from the Dale Lime, Austin Chalk, Buda and Edwards.

The Austin Chalk formation stretches 500km in length and 50km in width. The first wells were drilled in 1929 and the formation is still producing oil and gas in economically viable quantities today. New wells have IP'd (initial production) at over 1,200 barrels of oil per day (bopd)1 and with significant cumulative production make it one of the most prolific shale plays in the US. Given the cell size, mean numbers of cells, the mean EUR, and the success ratio, the Austin Chalk in the Outlying Areas Play is estimated to contain a mean of about 200 million barrels of oil (MMBO).2

The Eagle Ford has long been considered the "source rock" for hydrocarbons that are now found in the Austin Chalk formation across much of South Texas.3 Wells within the oil window across the play have experienced peak rates as high as 2,000 bopd, some with sustainable rates and others with steep declines. The oil reserves are estimated at 3 billion barrels of oil (BBO) with potential output of 420,000 bopd.4 Wells located in higher geo-pressured areas appear to be the most prolific producers. Most wells in the play are still producing in the transient flow regime and have not yet reached boundary dominated flow.3 There is also considerable variability among operators as to completion techniques and numerous examples of offset wells completed in one manner resulting in poor productivity with direct offsets completed in another with great success.3

The Company confirmed that based on typical costs, new Dale Lime/Austin Chalk wells can be drilled and completed with fracs for around $200,000, which includes the cost of surface equipment. Reserves are modeled with an estimated ultimate recovery of 10 thousand barrels of oil (MBO) per well and have historically been 13 MBO per well, based on 5 acre spacing.5

"We're planning to gather both geological and geophysical evaluations in addition to seismic data, which allows us to estimate the potential recoverable reserves. A thorough understanding of all information available to us will allow us to determine the best plan to further develop the lease with a high degree of accuracy," 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 leases and royalties in both Texas and Bulgaria, covering several wells with extensive potential for future development. In Texas, Liberty owns twelve leases based around numerous geological pay zones. In North-West Bulgaria, Liberty has 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. 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

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Liberty Energy Announces New Acreage in Bastrop County, Texas