Benedict XVI Begins Final Day as Pope

Pope Benedict XVI, the first pontiff to resign in 600 years, will step down today to lead a secluded life of prayer, far from the grueling demands of the papacy and the scandals that have recently plagued the church.

Benedict, 85, will spend a quiet final day as pope bidding farewell to his colleagues that have gathered in Vatican City to see him depart. His first order of business this morning is a meeting with the College of Cardinals in the Clementine Hall, a room in the Apostolic Palace, where Angelo Sodano, the dean of the College of Cardinals, is set to speak, but not Benedict.

Pope Benedict XVI Delivers Farewell Address

Despite the historical nature of Benedict's resignation, not all cardinals are expected to attend the event. With their first working meeting not until Monday, only around 100 cardinals are set to be in Vatican City Thursday, the Vatican press office said. Those who are there for Benedict's departure will be greeted by seniority.

In the evening, at 5:00 p.m. local time, Benedict will leave the Vatican palace for the last time to head to Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence outside of Rome. Before his departure the German-born theologian will say some goodbyes in the Courtyard of San Damaso, inside the Vatican, first to his Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone and then to the Swiss Guards who have protected him as pontiff.

9 Men Who Could Replace Pope Benedict XVI

Pope's Successor Needs to be 'Attuned to Modern Communication' Watch Video

From there it is a short drive to a heliport for the 15-minute flight via helicopter to Castel Gandolfo, just south of the city. Benedict will not be alone on his journey, accompanied by members of the Pontifical Household such as two private secretaries, the head of protocol, his personal physician and his butler.

Once Benedict lands in the gardens at Castel Gandolfo, a group of dignitaries, such as the governor of the Vatican City state Giovanni Bertello, two bishops, the director of the pontifical villas, and the mayor and parish priest. Off the helicopter and into a car, Benedict will head to the palace that he will call home for the coming months. From a window of the palace, Benedict will make one final wave to the crowd at the papal retreat.

It is there, at 8:00 p.m., that Benedict's resignation will take effect once and for all. Once the gates to the residence close, the Swiss Guards will leave Benedict's side for the last time, their time protecting the pontiff completed.

Pope Benedict's Last Sunday Prayer Service

For some American Catholics in Rome for the historic occasion, Benedict's departure is bittersweet. Christopher Kerzich, a Chicago resident studying at the Pontifical North American College of Rome, said Wednesday he is sad to see Benedict leave, but excited to see what comes next.

"Many Catholics have come to love this pontiff, this very humble man," Kerzich said. "He is a man who's really fought this and prayed this through and has peace in his heart. I take comfort in that and I think a lot of Catholics should take comfort in that."

In his final address to the faithful as leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Benedict on Wednesday said his decision to resign was "the fruit of a serene trust in God's will and a deep love of Christ's Church." Before a crowd of hundreds of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square, Benedict said he was "deeply grateful for the understanding, support, and prayers of so many of you, not only here in Rome, but also throughout the world."

The date of the conclave to determine Benedict's successor has yet to be determined. In one of his last moves as pope, Benedict issued a decree permitting the cardinals to convene the conclave before the March 15 date that would have been required under the old rules.

Benedict is eventually planning to move to a monastery inside Vatican City once work there is finished, but until then he will call home the palace at Castel Gandolfo. He will be known as "pope emeritus" and don brown shoes given to him on his trip to Mexico, rather than the red ones he wore as pontiff.

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We need a piece of Mars to continue search for life

THERE'S no need to cry over spilt chemicals. Thanks to an accident inside one of its instruments, NASA's Curiosity rover has detected the presence of a substance called perchlorate in Martian soil (see "Curiosity's spills add thrills to the Mars life hunt").

Not exactly earth-shattering, you might think. But it adds a new twist to the most controversial chapter in Martian history: did the Viking landers detect life?

This is a question that has divided the Viking missions' researchers for almost three decades. One group has resolutely stuck to its guns that the landers detected signs of life. Equally adamant is a second group who say they absolutely did not – a view that has always been the official version of events.

The unexpected discovery of perchlorate supplies a legitimate reason to reopen the debate. Perchlorate is an oxidising agent that destroys organic molecules. Its presence could finally explain the disputed results.

The episode highlights another important issue. Curiosity is a sophisticated machine, but there is only so much soil chemistry we can do from millions of kilometres away. A sample return mission must be a priority.

This article appeared in print under the headline "We need a piece of Mars"

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Hong Kong unveils budget, warns on global risks

HONG KONG: Hong Kong's finance chief on Wednesday unveiled a budget to kickstart growth in the city and temper property prices but warned the world economy could face headwinds from possible trade and currency battles.

During a speech interrupted by protests, Financial Secretary John Tsang also set out a series of measures to support the middle class and alleviate poverty in the first budget under an increasingly unpopular leader Leung Chun-ying.

The announcement came as data showed the southern Chinese financial hub saw growth of just 1.4 per cent in 2012 and was tipped to expand only 1.5-3.5 per cent this year.

In unveiling measures to boost the city's financial sector and private equity industry he warned: "The whole world will have to face wars on three fronts, namely 'currency', 'trade' and 'geopolitics'.

"As a highly open and small economy, Hong Kong will be impacted by the development of these wars to a certain extent."

His comment come after a sharp drop in the value of the yen sparked accusations of government meddling and concerns about a possible global war in which nations weaken their currencies to gains give a jolt to softening exports.

Tsang outlined plans to boost the city's financial sector, including extending profits tax exemption for offshore private equity funds, with an eye on regional rival Singapore.

He also unveiled a string of populist measures aimed at supporting the middle class and poor, while looking to address the city's chronically high property prices, which have doubled since 2009, squeezing average citizens.

Tsang vowed to increase land-supply to allow the building of more houses while quarterly rates amounting to HK$11.6 billion and covering 75 per cent of properties will be waived. That follows Friday's decision to double stamp duty on second homes to 8.5 per cent.

Also on Wednesday, Tsang said there will be a 75-per cent cut in salaries tax to a ceiling of HK$10,000.

However analysts said the budget would do little to improve the lot of the middle-class or poor or give a lift to the popularity of Leung, whose government has been rocked by a series of protests since he came to power in July.

Leung, who was chosen by a committee dominated by pro-Beijing elites, has seen his support rating drop after scandals involving illegal structures at his home, and last year came close to facing impeachment proceedings.

"For the middle class there is very minimal. If the middle class is renting property -- those rates are nothing to do with him," said Philip Hung, President of the The Taxation Institute of Hong Kong.

Hung added the level of some of one off measures, such as the salary-tax cut, was lower than last year.

Despite announcing a budget surplus of HK$64.9 billion ($8.4 billion) this year -- which swelled reserves to HK$734 billion -- the new measures totalled only HK$33 billion, down from the HK$80 billion-worth introduced last year.

In a sign of the dissatisfaction with the administration, dozens of people, some dressed as the Chinese "wealth god", waved banners and shouted slogans outside government headquarters demanding handouts of HK$10,000 and more welfare spending.

"The government should give money directly to the general public so that they can make ends meet," activist Tam Kwok-kiu told AFP, adding that the government is sitting on a fiscal surplus.

Two lawmakers including radical Leung Kwok-hung were escorted out of the chambers after interrupting Tsang's speech and calling him a "liar".

Tsang said he had had been listening to the concerns of the middle class, who are faced with rising bills for rent, medical care, and supporting their parents and children.

"I agree that middle-class families should be given some support. However, as one may appreciate, it is impracticable for the government to respond to each and every demand," he said.

- AFP/xq

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Fabric + algorithm: The fit geek's quest for a suit that fits

Buying men's suits online sounds risky, but a few fit geeks think they can get the right fit better than anyone else.

Two cousins with Las Vegas fashion industry ties, Mo Melwani and Vishaal Melwani, have teamed up with former space geek Raj Sareen to launch Sareen's new tech fit algorithm. Their site sells men's business wear and are aiming for the customers who don't like to shop, so a better fit means less returns and more repeat business. The technology, powered by Sareen's startup Styku, helps consumers find their correct clothing size online with just a few pieces of information: age, weight and height.

Tech fit is not new and it's a crowded space right now -- other companies, like Clothes Horse and True Fit, use similar methods -- but it hasn't been mastered.

"Nobody's really run away with the market yet," Sareen said. "Fit is not just about the dimension of the garment, it's also about fabric, it's also how they wear them, the shape of the person -- not just their measurement."

Sareen, who holds degrees in space sciences and physics, wants to change that with Styku. The algorithm debuted on the Melwanis' new online retail store, Combat Gent, today.

Styku impressed investors at a Microsoft event for startups last summer by turning a Kinect's motion-sensing video game controller into a body scanner that told users what their measurements were and gave them a virtual mock up of how would look on them.

While that tech hasn't been perfected for the consumer market yet, Sareen said his company's fit algorithm takes into account things other companies don't. The company uses 3D apparel technology, cloth simulation, and computer-aided design to pull together its algorithm. The technology takes less input from customers -- which means they'll have to answer less questions that other tech fit services -- and factors in details like how a certain fabric may stretch or how a man's body may sag after a certain age.

"Certain fabrics drape a certain way, certain fabric stretch a certain way, so getting all the numbers right doesn't necessarily mean it's going to work," Mo Melwani said.

This is why Combat Gent choose Styku. Sareen understands the garment industry. Styku's parent company TukaTech, run by Sareen's parents, creates software used by companies to design garment patterns. The cousins appreciates that. Vishaal Melwani said they grew up in the fashion business -- they were yelled at if they didn't hold a measuring tape correctly.

Styku is also partnering with several other companies for other types of clothes, including a test run for another tricky fit challenge -- jeans. Sareen said he's been testing his algorithm out with a popular national chain (he didn't want to publicly say who because they are still in the testing phase).

Both companies have a ways to go to prove fit tech works. During the trial run on the Combat Gent they tested the algorithm on small sampling -- 67 men. For three of those men, all of whom were above six feet tall, Styku's algorithm picked the wrong sizes. But, all the other men found success with the algorithm. Vishaal Melwani knows it isn't a perfect science yet, but he thinks Styku's ties to fashion will make the difference in the long run.

"Fit technology has to start from the clothing," he said. "It can't start from pure engineering."

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A History of Balloon Crashes

A hot-air balloon exploded in Egypt yesterday as it carried 19 people over ancient ruins near Luxor. The cause is believed to be a torn gas hose. In Egypt as in many other countries, balloon rides are a popular way to sightsee. (Read about unmanned flight in National Geographic magazine.)

The sport of hot-air ballooning dates to 1783, when a French balloon took to the skies with a sheep, a rooster, and a duck. Apparently, they landed safely. But throughout the history of the sport, there have been tragedies like the one in Egypt. (See pictures of personal-flight technology.)

1785: Pioneering balloonist Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier and pilot Pierre Romain died when their balloon caught fire, possibly from a stray spark, and crashed during an attempt to cross the English Channel. They were the first to die in a balloon crash.

1923: Five balloonists participating in the Gordon Bennett Cup, a multi-day race that dates to 1906, were killed when lightning struck their balloons.

1924: Meteorologist C. LeRoy Meisinger and U.S. Army balloonist James T. Neely died after a lightning strike. They had set off from Scott Field in Illinois during a storm to study air pressure. Popular Mechanics dubbed them "martyrs of science."

1995: Tragedy strikes the Gordon Bennett Cup again. Belarusian forces shot down one of three balloons that drifted into their airspace from Poland. The two Americans on board died. The other balloonists were detained and fined for entering Belarus without a visa. (Read about modern explorers who take to the skies.)

1989: Two hot air balloons collided during a sightseeing trip near Alice Springs, Australia. One balloon crashed to the ground killing all 13 people on board. The pilot of the other balloon was sentenced to a two-year prison term for "committing a dangerous act." Until today, this was considered the most deadly balloon accident.

2012: A balloon hit a power line and caught fire in New Zealand, killing all 11 on board. Investigators later determined that the pilot was not licensed to fly and had not taken  proper safety measures during the crash, like triggering the balloon's parachute and deflation system.

2012: A sightseeing balloon carrying 32 people crashed and caught fire during a thunderstorm in the Ljubljana Marshes in Slovenia. Six died; many other passengers were injured.

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What's Next for Pope Benedict XVI?

The party for the world's most prominent soon-to-be retiree began today when Pope Benedict XVI hosted his final audience as pontiff in St. Peter's Square.

More than 50,000 tickets were requested for the event, according to the Vatican, while the city of Rome planned for 250,000 people to flood the streets.

FULL COVERAGE: Pope Benedict XVI Resignation

With his belongings packed up, Pope Benedict XVI will spend the night, his final one as pope, in the Apostolic Palace.

The pontiff, 85, who is an avid writer, will be able to take his personal notes with him. However, all official documents relating to his papacy will be sent to the Vatican archives.

On Thursday, Pope Benedict XVI will take his last meeting as pontiff with various dignitaries and the cardinals, said the Rev. Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican Press Office.

INTERACTIVE: Key Dates in the Life of Pope Benedict XVI

While not all of the cardinals are in Rome, it is possible that among the princes of the church saying farewell to the pope could be the man who will succeed him.

"I think the overall tone is going to be gratitude. From the cardinals' perspective, it'll be like the retirement party for your favorite professor," said Christopher Bellitto, a professor at Kean University in New Jersey who has written nine books on the history of the church.

AP Photo/Andrew Medichini

Papal Appearance: Faithful Flock to Saint Peter's Square Watch Video

RELATED: Cardinal Resigns Amid Sexual Misconduct Allegations

Pope Benedict XVI will depart the Vatican walls in the afternoon, taking a 15-minute helicopter ride to Castel Gandolfo, the papal retreat just outside of Rome, where he will live while his new Vatican quarters undergo a renovation.

Around sunset, the pontiff is expected to greet the public from his window in the palace, which overlooks the small town square, for the last time as pope.

At 8 p.m. local time, the papal throne will be vacated. The man known as Pope Benedict XVI for the past eight years will take on a new title: Pope Emeritus.

What Lies Ahead for the Pope Emeritus

The announcement that Benedict XVI would be the first pope to resign in 600 years shocked the world and left the Vatican with the task of creating new rules for an event that was unprecedented in the modern church.

"Even for the historical life of the church, some of this is brand new territory," said Matthew Bunson, general editor of the "Catholic Almanac" and author of "We Have a Pope! Benedict XVI."

"The Vatican took a great deal of care in sorting through this," he said. "This is establishing a precedent."

Along with Benedict's new title, he will still be allowed to wear white, a color traditionally reserved for the pope.

He'll still be called Your Holiness. However, the Swiss Guards, who are tasked with protecting the pope, will symbolically leave his side at 8 p.m. Thursday.

His Ring of the Fisherman, kissed by thousands of the faithful over the years, will be crushed, according to tradition.

Not much is known about the pope's health.

In his resignation statement, the pontiff said his physical strength has deteriorated in the past few months because of "an advanced age."

He also mentioned the "strength of mind and body" necessary to lead the more-than-1-billion Catholics worldwide.

If he is able to, Bellitto believes the pope will keep writing, perhaps on the Holy Trinity, a topic of great interest to him.

RELATED: Papal Conclave 2013 Not Politics as Usual

As the pope emeritus settles into the final chapter of his life, experts have said it is likely he will stay out of the public realm.

"[Pope Benedict XVI] has moved very deliberately in this process," Bunson said, "with an eye toward making the transition as smooth, as regal, as careful as possible for the election of his successor."

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Today on New Scientist: 25 February 2013

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Stunning seeds: a biological meteor wreathed in flames

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Armband adds a twitch to gesture control

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Treat malware as biology to know it better

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Take my taxi to the moon

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How electrodes in the brain block obsessive behaviour

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Ancient continent hides beneath Indian Ocean

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People in a vegetative state may feel pain

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Sewage solutions: Six alternative toilet technologies

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Rusty rocks reveal ancient origin of photosynthesis

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GIC raises US$1.25b by selling shares in Global Logistic Properties

SINGAPORE: The Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) has raised US$1.25 billion by selling about 596 million shares in warehouse operator Global Logistic Properties (GLP).

GIC sold the shares at S$2.60 each, which is a 4.8 per cent discount to Monday's closing price.

Following the share sale, it now holds a 37 per cent stake in GLP, down from 49 per cent.

GIC said the move is part of the fund's portfolio rebalancing and it will remain a substantial shareholder for the long run.

- CNA/ms

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Mozilla CEO: Android, iOS leave lots of room for Firefox OS

Mozilla CEO Gary Kovacs speaking about Firefox OS at Mobile World Congress 2013

(Credit:
Stephen Shankland/CNET)

BARCELONA, Spain--With another 2 billion people hooking up to the Internet in the next five years, there's plenty of room for another mobile operating system, Mozilla Chief Executive Gary Kovacs said today in a sales pitch for his new Firefox OSFirefox OS.

Apple and Google have led the way in the smartphone market but can't cover the whole thing, he said in a speech to thousands at the Mobile World Congress show here, though he didn't mention the companies by name.

"I find it impossible to understand how 3, 4, 5, or 6 billion people are going to get their diverse needs satisfied by one or two or five companies, no matter how delicious those companies are," Kovacs said. "Is the farmer in the Indian countryside going to have the same needs and requirements as a lawyer sitting in New York?"

Mozilla has a mammoth challenge, though. Working in its favor is the fact that
Firefox is a browser-based operating system, meaning that Web applications such as Facebook already work for it without the need for Mozilla to marshal an army of programmers to write apps.

But even that running start has its limits: even many static Web pages don't work well on
mobile browsers, and making dynamic Web apps is a lot harder. New technologies such as camera-phone interfaces and hardware-accelerated 3D graphics help, and Mozilla is pushing hard to advance those standards and spread them to other mobile browsers.

Mozilla rounded up a solid list of Firefox OS partners, including 18 carriers across the world and handset makers LG Electronics, Huawei, ZTE, Alcatel, Geeksphone, and possibly Sony. The allies plan to bring Firefox OS to developing markets starting in the second quarter and to the United States in 2014.

The app development and distribution ecosystem of iOS and
Android is strong, but Kovacs had a slogan to counter that strength: "There's a Web for that." Many mobile apps simply repackage data already available on the Web, he said, pointing to an example of searching for a nearby restaurant, checking reviews, looking at menus, and making reservations.

'This is the Web. We're just taking it to mobile," Kovacs said. "Incumbent with that is 10 million developers already ready to go."

Mozilla has experience taking on big established players, too. Internet Explorer ruled the Web when Firefox grew from the ashes of the vanquished Netscape browser project about a decade ago.

"We did this ten years ago," Kovacs said, and Mozilla succeeded in its mission of keeping the Web open. "Today, the browser market is the most competitive it's ever been in the history of the Internet.

Now history is repeating itself on the mobile Web, where Firefox today is only rarely used but Google and Apple's browsers dominate. Both those companies' browsers are based on the WebKit browser engine, and Opera just signed up to use it, too.

"We have to make sure this shared opportunity is not something that one or two companies unnaturally control," Kovacs said.

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Sharks Warn Off Predators By Wielding Light Sabers

Diminutive deep-sea sharks illuminate spines on their backs like light sabers to warn potential predators that they could get a sharp mouthful, a new study suggests.

Paradoxically, the sharks seem to produce light both to hide and to be conspicuous—a first in the world of glowing sharks. (See photos of other sea creatures that glow.)

"Three years ago we showed that velvet belly lanternsharks [(Etmopterus spinax)] are using counter-illumination," said lead study author Julien Claes, a biologist from Belgium's Catholic University of Louvain, by email.

In counter-illumination, the lanternsharks, like many deep-sea animals, light up their undersides in order to disguise their silhouette when seen from below. Brighter bellies blend in with the light filtering down from the surface. (Related: "Glowing Pygmy Shark Lights Up to Fade Away.")

Fishing the 2-foot-long (60-centimeter-long) lanternsharks up from Norwegian fjords and placing them in darkened aquarium tanks, the researchers noticed that not only do the sharks' bellies glow, but they also had glowing regions on their backs.

The sharks have two rows of light-emitting cells, called photophores, on either side of a fearsome spine on the front edges of their two dorsal fins.

Study co-author Jérôme Mallefet explained how handling the sharks and encountering their aggressive behavior hinted at the role these radiant spines play.

"Sometimes they flip around and try to hit you with their spines," said Mallefet, also from Belgium's Catholic University of Louvain. "So we thought maybe they are showing their weapon in the dark depths."

To investigate this idea, the authors analyzed the structure of the lanternshark spines and found that they were more translucent than other shark spines.

This allowed the spines to transmit around 10 percent of the light from the glowing photophores, the study said.

For Predators' Eyes Only

Based on the eyesight of various deep-sea animals, the researchers estimated that the sharks' glowing spines were visible from several meters away to predators that include harbor seals (Phoca vitulina), harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena), and blackmouth catsharks (Galeus melastomus).

"The spine-associated bioluminescence has all the characteristics to play the right role as a warning sign," said Mallefet.

"It's a magnificent way to say 'hello, here I am, but beware I have spines,'" he added.

But these luminous warning signals wouldn't impede the sharks' pursuit of their favorite prey, Mueller's bristle-mouth fish (Maurolicus muelleri), the study suggested. These fish have poorer vision than the sharks' predators and may only spot the sharks' dorsal illuminations at much closer range.

For now, it remains a mystery how the sharks create and control the lights on their backs. The glowing dorsal fins could respond to the same hormones that control the belly lights, suggested Mallefet, but other factors may also be involved.

"MacGyver" of Bioluminescence

Several other species use bioluminescence as a warning signal, including marine snails (Hinea brasiliana), glowworms (Lampyris noctiluca) and millipedes (Motyxia spp.).

Edith Widder, a marinebiologist from the Ocean Research and Conservation Association who was not involved in the current study, previously discovered a jellyfish whose bioluminescence rubs off on attackers that get too close.

"It's like paint packages in money bags at banks," she explained.

"Any animal that was foolish enough to go after it," she added "gets smeared all over with glowing particles that make it easy prey for its predators."

Widder also points out that glowing deep-sea animals often put their abilities to diverse uses. (Watch: "Why Deep-Sea Creatures Glow.")

"There are many examples of animals using bioluminescence for a whole range of different functions," she said.

Mallefet agrees, joking that these sharks are the "MacGyver of bioluminescence."

"Just give light to this shark species and it will use it in any possible way."

And while Widder doesn't discount the warning signal theory, "another possibility would be that it could be to attract a mate."

Lead author Julien Claes added by email, "I also discovered during my PhD thesis that velvet belly lanternsharks have glowing organs on their sexual parts."

And that, he admits, "makes it very easy, even for a human, to distinguish male and female of this species in the dark!"

The glowing shark study appeared online in the February 21 edition of Scientific Reports.

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