Could we INHALE the movies of the future? Scientists encode moving pictures into a gas - and inspire a YouTube song

By Rob Waugh

One young man was inspired by the lingo of the University of Maryland's paper, especially the storage of images in the atomic memory, and contrived a song which he performs on a YouTube video clip.

As yet, there are not many practical uses for the technique, which stores information in tiny vials of rubidium, by beaming  light into a 20cm long tube.

To play back, the magnetic field is flipped backwards, the control beam turned back on, and the atoms start to move in the opposite direction.

The point? There is one, beyond simply creating a new storage medium, and presumably inspiring George Lucas to re-release the Star Wars films in gaseous form.

The gas can store 'quantum' information - and once it's refined, could be a crucial building block for the computers of the future. 

As yet, there are not many practical uses for the technique,
which stores information in tiny vials of rubidium, by
beaming light into a 20cm long tube

‘The big thing here,’ said Lett, ‘is that this allows us to do images and do pulses (instead of individual photons) and it can be matched (hopefully) to our squeezed light source, so that we can soon try to store ‘quantum images’ and make essentially a random access memory for continuous variable quantum information.

The thing that really attracted us to this method---aside from its being pretty well-matched to our source of squeezed light---is that the ANU group was able to get 87% recovery efficiency from it - which is, I think, the best anyone has seen in any optical system, so it holds great promise for a quantum memory.’

WATCH VIDEO HERE

More grisly details emerge from face-eating attack in Miami

Rudy Eugene

police identified Eugene’s victim as Ronald Poppo,
a 65-year-old homeless man who has lived on
Miami’s streets for more  than three decades.



By DAVID OVALLE, SCOTT HIAASEN and DIANA MOSKOVITZ / Miami Herald

Rudy Eugene walked naked alongside the MacArthur Causeway before pouncing on a homeless man he found dozing in the shade of the elevated Metromover train tracks.

For almost 18 grisly minutes, Eugene savaged his victim, punching him and stripping the man’s pants before gnawing off the homeless man’s face — all as cars and cyclists rolled by on the busy causeway on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

The new details of the horrific attack were captured in additional video footage taken by security cameras at the nearby Miami Herald building.

At least five passersby, including a Road Ranger from the Florida Department of Transportation, called police to report what they saw of the macabre scene. Three bicyclists pedaled by the two bloody men in the minutes before the arrival of Miami police officer Jose Rivera, who shot and killed Eugene to end the attack, the new footage shows. The shooting itself was obstructed in the video, and the officer appeared to shoot Eugene within a minute of arriving.

On Tuesday police identified Eugene’s victim as Ronald Poppo, a 65-year-old homeless man who has lived on Miami’s streets for more than three decades. With his nose, mouth and eyes torn off, he remained in critical condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital on Tuesday.

The new video, and information from police, suggest that Eugene stumbled upon Poppo by sheer happenstance.

The footage shows Eugene walking naked on the sidewalk along the Biscayne Boulevard off-ramp of the causeway at around 1:55 p.m. Saturday when he paused in a shady spot under the Metromover Omni loop line. Eugene appeared to twirl as a bicyclist zoomed by. For about two minutes, Eugene bent over a second figure in the shade, though the images are obscured by a rustling palm frond.

Eugene then rolled Poppo out onto the sunny sidewalk, stripping off his clothes while Poppo appeared to kick in resistance. Eugene later appeared to straddle Poppo and hunch over him for several minutes.

Meanwhile, two more cyclists passed by, and one motorist in a white car slowed down while descending the off-ramp. But for many motorists, the scene was obscured by a waist-high concrete safety wall along the highway.

According to Miami police, the first call of a disturbance came from a passing motorist who reported seeing Eugene stripping off his clothes and acting erratically. That call was routed to the Florida Highway Patrol — it’s unclear why — and then transferred to the Miami police. Police have not disclosed the time of the first call.

A Road Ranger called to the scene also called 911 and used a loudspeaker to call for the naked attacker to cease. As the attack dragged on, two other motorists called police, as did another cyclist, Larry Vega, who later told reporters that Eugene “just stood, his head up like that, with pieces of flesh in his mouth. And he growled.”

At about 2:11 p.m. — 16 minutes after the attack began — a Miami police patrol car briefly turned up the causeway ramp, against traffic, before turning around, the video shows.

About two minutes later, the patrol car turned against traffic again and drove up the ramp to scene, just south of the Miami Herald’s parking garage. Just a few seconds after stepping from his car to confront the attacker, Officer Rivera drew his gun, but it’s unclear when he fired on Eugene, killing the 31-year-old man. A second officer arrived about one minute later.

Police have just begun to piece together Eugene’s actions in the hours before the attack.

It appears Eugene had been in Miami Beach — in full party mode for Urban Beach Week over the Memorial Day Weekend — shortly before the attack. Eugene’s car, a purple 1995 Chevrolet Caprice, was towed for being parked illegally at 1100 10th St.

The night before, Eugene had been with his girlfriend in Miami Gardens. She reported that he was acting strangely before leaving in his car. According to police, Eugene later called her to say that his car broke down.

Still unclear is what motivated the attack. Though some have speculated that Eugene was under the influence of some kind of stimulants or other drugs that sometimes cause violent episodes, police said they found no evidence of drugs or paraphernalia at the scene. Toxicology tests of Eugene’s blood will likely take several weeks.
 



Benny Hinn Announces Reconciliation With Former Wife

Popular televangelist Benny Hinn has officially announced that he and his former wife are on the path to reconciliation after the couple decided two years ago to end their 30-year marriage.

"Our God is a God of restoration and reconciliation. The cross is the ultimate symbol of His unending yearning to reconcile man to God and will be our only hope for healing. I know, for I experienced this healing when I gave my heart to my precious Master Jesus so many years ago; but I have experienced His healing touch more recently when He began His glorious healing work in my own family, as the process of restoration in my marriage has begun," Hinn announced in a recent statement on his website. The charismatic leader revealed that the reconciliation process had started over Christmas.

Suzanne Hinn separated from Benny Hinn on Jan. 26, 2010 and filed a petition for divorce in Orange County Superior Court on Feb. 1, citing irreconcilable differences, court papers revealed.

"I pray every day for you, my precious partner, and I ask that He will move in a mighty way on your behalf -- healing your home, your life, and your finances. I pray that He will make you whole in every area of your life. You are precious to Him, just as you are precious to me. And together we can truly be part of the coming greatest harvest!" Hinn added in the recent statement, addressing his former wife.

Back in 2010 when Pastor Hinn received the news, his ministry expressed shock over Suzanne Hinn's petition for divorce.

"Pastor Benny Hinn and his immediate family were shocked and saddened to learn of this news without any previous notice," said Don Price, longtime senior adviser to Benny Hinn Ministries.

"Although Pastor Hinn has faithfully endeavored to bring healing to their relationship, those efforts failed and were met with the petition for divorce that was filed without notice."

Upon reflecting on his life with his family, Pastor Hinn later suggested that it might have been his constant traveling around the world that distanced him from his wife.

"I've made mistakes because I wasn't the perfect husband and the perfect dad because I was always gone traveling the world," he said on the Aug. 5, 2010 edition of his show "This Is Your Day."

"That's probably what broke the whole thing up," he added. Hinn urged viewers "not to neglect your family," saying that the call of God should first touch the family.

A year after the separation announcement, the Benny Hinn Ministries leader was reported by some sources to have been in a relationship with megachurch pastor Paula White, who herself went through a divorce in 2010.

Hinn and White were pictured last summer in the National Enquirer leaving a hotel in Italy holding hands and were accused of having an affair.

"They're going to talk about you and write ... because it sells ragtag magazines," White said several months after the photo was published. "They're going to lie on you but God's going to tell you to keep your mouth shut."

Hinn admitted to having a friendship with White while he was still married, but said that he "forcefully, categorically and absolutely renounce(s) the lies that have been spread about me and want to set the record straight with you. There is nothing inappropriate or morally improper about my friendship with Paula White. There has been no immorality whatsoever!"

Pastor Hinn is a well known prosperity preacher who travels around the world performing faith healings and teaching that those who follow Christ will be rewarded. He has been the subject of media scrutiny and faced questions over the lavish lifestyle he leads, including the possession of a private jet and a multimillion-dollar home, but he has refused to apologize for it.

"Look, you know there's this idea supposedly that we preachers are supposed to walk about with sandals and ride bicycles. That's nonsense," Hinn has said.

Benny Hinn Ministries and Hinn's World Healing Center Church are located in Grapevine, Texas.

Rockefellers and Rothschilds unite

By Daniel Schäfer in London

Two of the best-known business dynasties in Europe and the US will come together after Lord Jacob Rothschild’s listed investment trust and Rockefeller Financial Services agreed to form a strategic partnership.

RIT Capital Partners is to buy a 37 per cent stake in the Rockefeller’s wealth advisory and asset management group for an undisclosed sum, giving Lord Rothschild’s London-listed trust a much sought-after foothold in the US.

The transatlantic union brings together David Rockefeller, 96, and Lord Rothschild, 76 – two family patriarchs whose personal relationship spans five decades.

The Rockefeller group traces its roots back to 1882 when John D. Rockefeller established one of the world’s first family offices dedicated to investing his wealth. It has since developed into a provider of wealth and asset management services to other families, foundations and institutions. It is majority-owned by the 19th century oil magnate’s family and has $34bn of assets under administration.

The partnership with RIT will focus on setting up investment funds, eyeing joint acquisitions of wealth and asset managers and granting each other non-executive directorships.

RIT Capital Partners is minority-owned by Lord Rothschild and its net assets of £1.9bn are spread across global investments from public equities to government bonds and private equity.

The deal stemmed from a meeting two years ago when Mr Rockefeller introduced Lord Rothschild to the US group’s chief executive, Reuben Jeffery.

In a follow-up meeting one year later at Lord Rothschild’s office at Spencer House in London, the financier won Mr Jeffery’s blessing for opening talks to buy a stake in the Rockefeller group.

He then launched long negotiations with Société Générale Private Banking, which has owned the shareholding since 2008.

The French bank’s wealth management arm has had several suitors for the minority stake – estimated to be worth less than £100m – but Lord Rothschild was the only one supported by the Rockefellers.

Lord Rothschild concentrated on RIT Capital Partners three decades ago after he fell out with his cousin Sir Evelyn de Rothschild and disposed of his stake in NM Rothschild, the family’s UK branch.

Sir Evelyn at the time ran NM Rothschild, which rose to fame in 1815 when Nathan Meyer Rothschild made a fortune buying British government bonds in anticipation of Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo.

Baron David de Rothschild, chairman of the Rothschild Group, is currently bringing the UK-based investment bank under a joint roof with the French family operations.

At the same time Lord Rothschild launched an investment partnership in March with the Franco-Swiss private bank Edmond de Rothschild Group, which is yet another separate branch of the sprawling banking dynasty.

Christine Lagarde attack on Greece backfires as she pays no tax

Christine Lagarde, the International Monetary Fund managing director who provoked an angry reaction from the Greek people after telling them to pay their taxes, does not pay tax on her own salary, it has emerged.

By Philip Aldrick, Economics Editor

Ms Lagarde was forced to publish an embarrassing climbdown on her Facebook page over the weekend after being bombarded by hundreds of Greek people who felt insulted by her suggestion that the country’s crisis was partly due to “all these people in Greece who are trying to escape tax”.

However, on Tuesday she had to admit that her $467,940 (£300,000) annual salary and $83,760 of additional allowances are entirely tax-free as the IMF is an international organisation.

An IMF spokesman said: “Salaries, like those in most international organizations, are paid on a lower, net of tax basis to ensure equal pay for equal work regardless of nationality.”

He added that Ms Lagarde, 56, does pay all other “taxes levied on her, including local and property taxes in the US and France”.

Ms Lagarde earns more than President Barack Obama and David Cameron, both of whom pay taxes.