Preferences shaped by evolution draw voters to candidates with lower-pitched voices

Public release date: 14-Nov-2011
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Contact: Wade Hemsworth
hemswor@mcmaster.ca
905-525-9140 x27988
McMaster University

HAMILTON -- Voters prefer to choose candidates with lower-pitched voices, according to new findings by researchers at McMaster University.

A team from the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behavior found that study subjects were more inclined to vote for men with lower-pitched voices, suggesting that perceptions developed long ago may be still be influencing the way we choose leaders.

"We're looking at men's low voice-pitch as a cue to dominance, which is related to leadership," says graduate student Cara Tigue, lead author of the paper, published on-line today in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior. "Throughout our evolutionary history, it would have been important for our ancestors to pay attention to cues to good leadership, because group leaders affected a person's ability to survive and reproduce within a group. We're looking at it in a present-day, 21st-century context."

To test voice-related perceptions, the researchers manipulated archival recordings of US presidents, creating lower- and higher-pitched versions of each voice.

They played the altered recordings for test subjects and asked them to rate their perceptions of the speakers' attractiveness, leadership potential, honesty, intelligence and dominance. They also asked subjects which version of the voice they would prefer to vote for, both in peacetime and wartime.

Though the motivations were different, in all cases they preferred candidates with lower-pitched voices.

While political strategists have long taken voice-pitch into account in presenting their candidates, the premise that voters prefer men with lower-pitched voices had never been scientifically tested until now.

While voice-pitch is not the only influence on voters, the researchers say, their study shows it is clearly part of the decision-making process.

"One of the implications of our research is that voters may take it into account when making voting decisions," says Tigue.

Earlier research that looked at US presidential candidates between 1960 and 2000 found that in all eight elections, the candidate with the lower voice had won the popular vote.

Other studies had concluded that both men and women find lower-pitched voices more attractive.

Subjects consider men with low-pitched voices to be both more attractive and more dominant, but the new research shows that it's the perception of dominance that has a greater influence on voting decisions.

"People think we want to vote for men with lower-pitched voices because they're more attractive," says David Feinberg, the McMaster psychology professor who supervised the research, "but it's because people perceive them as better leaders and more dominant, not just because they're attractive."

Feinberg says future projects will look at perceptions of Canadian politicians and female politicians.

###

McMaster University, one of four Canadian universities listed among the Top 100 universities in the world, is renowned for its innovation in both learning and discovery. It has a student population of 23,000, and more than 150,000 alumni in 128 countries.

For more information, please contact:

Wade Hemsworth
Public Relations Manager
McMaster University
905-525-9140 ext. 27988
hemswor@mcmaster.ca

Michelle Donovan
Public Relations Manager
McMaster University
905-525-9140 ext. 22869
donovam@mcmaster.ca

Attention editors: Broadcast-quality video and a high-resolution photo are available at http://www.science.mcmaster.ca/medialab/downloads/OPR-Voice/.

---

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 14-Nov-2011
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Wade Hemsworth
hemswor@mcmaster.ca
905-525-9140 x27988
McMaster University

HAMILTON -- Voters prefer to choose candidates with lower-pitched voices, according to new findings by researchers at McMaster University.

A team from the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behavior found that study subjects were more inclined to vote for men with lower-pitched voices, suggesting that perceptions developed long ago may be still be influencing the way we choose leaders.

"We're looking at men's low voice-pitch as a cue to dominance, which is related to leadership," says graduate student Cara Tigue, lead author of the paper, published on-line today in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior. "Throughout our evolutionary history, it would have been important for our ancestors to pay attention to cues to good leadership, because group leaders affected a person's ability to survive and reproduce within a group. We're looking at it in a present-day, 21st-century context."

To test voice-related perceptions, the researchers manipulated archival recordings of US presidents, creating lower- and higher-pitched versions of each voice.

They played the altered recordings for test subjects and asked them to rate their perceptions of the speakers' attractiveness, leadership potential, honesty, intelligence and dominance. They also asked subjects which version of the voice they would prefer to vote for, both in peacetime and wartime.

Though the motivations were different, in all cases they preferred candidates with lower-pitched voices.

While political strategists have long taken voice-pitch into account in presenting their candidates, the premise that voters prefer men with lower-pitched voices had never been scientifically tested until now.

While voice-pitch is not the only influence on voters, the researchers say, their study shows it is clearly part of the decision-making process.

"One of the implications of our research is that voters may take it into account when making voting decisions," says Tigue.

Earlier research that looked at US presidential candidates between 1960 and 2000 found that in all eight elections, the candidate with the lower voice had won the popular vote.

Other studies had concluded that both men and women find lower-pitched voices more attractive.

Subjects consider men with low-pitched voices to be both more attractive and more dominant, but the new research shows that it's the perception of dominance that has a greater influence on voting decisions.

"People think we want to vote for men with lower-pitched voices because they're more attractive," says David Feinberg, the McMaster psychology professor who supervised the research, "but it's because people perceive them as better leaders and more dominant, not just because they're attractive."

Feinberg says future projects will look at perceptions of Canadian politicians and female politicians.

###

McMaster University, one of four Canadian universities listed among the Top 100 universities in the world, is renowned for its innovation in both learning and discovery. It has a student population of 23,000, and more than 150,000 alumni in 128 countries.

For more information, please contact:

Wade Hemsworth
Public Relations Manager
McMaster University
905-525-9140 ext. 27988
hemswor@mcmaster.ca

Michelle Donovan
Public Relations Manager
McMaster University
905-525-9140 ext. 22869
donovam@mcmaster.ca

Attention editors: Broadcast-quality video and a high-resolution photo are available at http://www.science.mcmaster.ca/medialab/downloads/OPR-Voice/.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-11/mu-psb111111.php

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Charity linked to Penn State abuse case cleans house (Reuters)

STATE COLLEGE (Reuters) ? The charity founded by a former assistant football coach at Penn State University who has been charged with child sex abuse started a shake-up on Monday, with its long-time leader out and an internal investigation under way.

Prosecutors say former coach Jerry Sandusky met all of his alleged victims through The Second Mile, a charity for at-risk children with close ties to Penn State that counted university trustees and football stars among its backers.

The charity and Penn State remain under siege as allegations of sex crimes and a cover-up draw national attention. The fallout ended the career of legendary head football coach Joe Paterno, who along with the university's president was fired on November 9 by the board of trustees.

Meanwhile, a New York-based charity for disadvantaged kids said it was checking on whether any of its members might have spent time at the home of Sandusky, who was charged on November 5 with sexually abusing young boys over a 15-year period.

Penn State and Second Mile face a string of investigations and what experts say is an inevitable surge of civil litigation reflecting concerns not enough was done to stop the alleged abuse.

Second Mile said it has accepted the resignation of Jack Raykovitz, its chief executive for 28 years.

According to a grand jury report, the charity learned almost a decade ago that Sandusky had showered with a young boy. Like Penn State officials, it did not inform police.

The resignation, posted on the group's website, was also taped to the door of its headquarters in State College.

David Woodle, the vice chairman of the group's board of directors, will now be responsible for day-to-day operations of the charity, founded by Sandusky in 1977.

The charity said it hired former Philadelphia district attorney Lynne Abraham of the law firm of Archer & Greiner to serve as its general counsel, replacing Wendell Courtney, who resigned from that post last week.

Second Mile barred Sandusky from activities involving children in late 2008, when he informed them he was under investigation. But he continued to be involved with some of the group's activities, including a summer golf outing, until the charges were handed down.

The charity, which has operations or serves people in every Pennsylvania county, on Monday launched an internal probe into its policies, which it plans to complete by year-end.

"We need to take a little bit of time, but not a long time, to systematically talk to people," Woodle told Reuters.

FRESH AIR

The Fresh Air Fund, which sends disadvantaged New York City children to camps and volunteer host families in 13 U.S. states and Canada for "free summer experiences," announced it was checking into a possible Sandusky link.

News reports from about a decade ago -- related to the promotion of Sandusky's memoir "Touched" -- mentioned that Sandusky and his wife, Dottie, served as volunteer hosts for children from The Fresh Air Fund for several years.

"We have contacted the Pennsylvania authorities to report any Fresh Air involvement," Andrea Kotuk, spokeswoman for The Fresh Air Fund, told Reuters.

On Friday authorities in Texas said they were investigating whether Sandusky should be charged with sexual assault of a boy in Texas, following grand jury testimony indicating one of Sandusky's alleged assaults may have taken place when he was at the December 1999 Alamo Bowl in San Antonio.

The same victim, whom Sandusky at times allegedly forced to perform oral sex, also traveled with Sandusky to the Outback Bowl in Florida, which was played Jan 1, 1999.

The close relationship between Penn State, its football program, The Second Mile and Sandusky's alleged victims continues to be a focus of the developing scandal.

In an interview on NBC's "Today Show," the attorney for one of the alleged victims described his client's complex emotional response to recent events, including Paterno's dismissal.

Sandusky took his alleged victims to football games and other team events. They spent "significant amounts of time traveling with the team and/or in the locker room with the team," said Harrisburg attorney Ben Andreozzi.

"He's interwoven into this Penn State football community," Andreozzi said of his client.

On Sunday it was reported that the district court judge who ordered Sandusky to be freed on $100,000 unsecured bail had donated to The Second Mile and worked as a volunteer for the group. Prosecutors had requested a $500,000 bail for Sandusky and that he be required to wear a leg monitor.

Former Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and former finance official Gary Schultz have been charged with failing to report an incident after Paterno told them in 2002 that an assistant saw Sandusky being sexually inappropriate with a boy in the team's locker room showers.

Sandusky, Curley and Schultz have all denied the charges.

Football holds near-religious status in State College, where Paterno coached the team for 46 years. The Nittany Lions regularly sell out 106,000-seat Beaver Stadium.

The Big Ten athletic conference said on Monday it will remove Paterno's name from the trophy that will be given to the winner of its first-ever championship game, scheduled to be played in Indianapolis in December.

"The trophy and its namesake are intended to be celebratory and aspirational, not controversial," Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said in a statement.

(Additional reporting by Ernest Scheyder and Kristina Cooke; Writing by Ros Krasny; Editing by Eric Beech and Jackie Frank)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111114/ts_nm/us_usa_crime_coach1

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Berlusconi's party backs Monti to be new PM

Italian Economist Mario Monti and his wife Elsa leave St. Ivo church at the end of a mass in Rome, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2011. Monti won pledges of support Sunday to lead a new technocratic government to try to rescue Italy from financial disaster, including from Silvio Berlusconi's conservative party. But Berlusconi's ally, the Northern League, said it would become an opposition party rather than back Monti. (AP Photo/Angelo Carconi)

Italian Economist Mario Monti and his wife Elsa leave St. Ivo church at the end of a mass in Rome, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2011. Monti won pledges of support Sunday to lead a new technocratic government to try to rescue Italy from financial disaster, including from Silvio Berlusconi's conservative party. But Berlusconi's ally, the Northern League, said it would become an opposition party rather than back Monti. (AP Photo/Angelo Carconi)

Northern League party leader Umberto Bossi meets with journalists at the Quirinale Presidential Palace in Rome after talks with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2011. Bossi, the longtime ally of Silvio Berlusconi, says he told Italy's president his Northern League party won't back any government led by Mario Monti "for now," but will be in the opposition at least until the economist spells out his program. Bossi told reporters after talks with President Giorgio Napolitano that the League will be a "vigilant" opposition to any Monti government. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

ROME (AP) ? Economist Mario Monti won pledges of support Sunday to lead a new technocratic government to try to rescue Italy from financial disaster, including from Silvio Berlusconi's conservative party.

But Berlusconi's ally, the Northern League, said it would become an opposition party rather than back Monti.

After days of being pummeled by international investors skittish about Italy's massive debts, Italy faces severe pressure from financial markets to have a new government before Asian markets open.

President Giorgio Napolitano was talking Sunday with all party leaders and could tap Monti as soon as Sunday evening, just 24 hours after Berlusconi reluctantly resigned from the premiership due to a loss of faith in his leadership.

But even if Monti is chosen, he would still have to assemble a cabinet, present his rescue strategy to Parliament, and then seek a confidence vote after a debate. All that could take a few days.

The man Berlusconi chose to be his political heir, Angelino Alfano, said the conservative People of Freedom party would "give the OK to Monti's being tapped. "

"Then we'll see and will talk with Monti about his program, and if it suits us well, we will support him," Alfano told state TV. Berlusconi's party is the largest in Parliament, and its leaders were the last in a long line of politicians having their say to Napolitano. The party's backing would be crucial for any new government to successfully push economic reform.

Pierluigi Bersani, head of the largest opposition force, made up largely of former Communists and Christian Democrats, said his party would back an "emergency, transition government," whose "strong, technical, authoritative character" will help Italy deal with the crisis.

Whoever leads Italy faces a monumental task: an Italian default could tear apart the coalition of 17 countries that use the euro and wallop Europe and the U.S., which are trying to avoid new recessions.

Italy's economy is hampered by high wage costs, low productivity, fat government payrolls, excessive taxes, choking bureaucracy, and an educational system that produces one of the lowest levels of college graduates among rich countries.

In addition, as the third-largest economy in the eurozone, Italy is considered too big for Europe to bail out like it did Greece, Portugal and Ireland.

The next Italian government needs to push through even more painful reforms and austerity measures to deal with euro1.9 trillion ($2.6 trillion) in debt ? about 120 percent of the country's economic output. And many of those debts are coming due soon ? Italy has to roll over more than euro300 billion ($410 billion) of its debts next year alone.

Most centrists and center-left parties in the opposition have pledged support for a Monti government, saying the former European Union competition commissioner has the moral authority and economic know-how to get Italy to pass long-delayed structural economic reforms.

"Italian parties are at fork in the road. Either they speculate on the situation, hoping that they can get some campaign capital from it, or they take up their responsibilities to save the country," said centrist opposition leader Pier Ferdinanco Casini, expressing hope that a new government could last until elections are scheduled for spring 2013.

But Umberto Bossi said his Northern League party won't back any Monti-led government "for now." Bossi said he told Napolitano that his party, whose support kept Berlusconi's conservative coalition in power for years, will be a "vigilant" opposition to any Monti government until the economist spells out his plans.

"For now, we said, 'no.' Then we'll see the program and decide, time by time" whether to support specific legislation, Bossi said. "In any case, we won't give him any blank check."

Bossi's party has been demanding early elections instead. He also has opposed one key remedy, a pension reform that raises the retirement age for women.

Roberto Maroni, a founder of the Northern League, said he personally esteems Monti but won't back him.

"Parliament must have the guarantee of an opposition," Maroni told Italy's Sky TG24 TV. "Otherwise it won't be a democratic parliament."

Pressured for days by the markets, the 75-year-old Berlusconi stepped down Saturday night after new austerity measures won approval in Parliament. He slipped out of the presidential palace through a side door after handing in his resignation, as a hecklers jeered in the square outside the main entrance.

Even those new austerity measures are not enough to revive the dormant Italian economy. They raised the retirement age to 67, but not until 2026. They called for the sale of state property and privatizing some services but contained no painful labor reforms.

Maroni said he spoke with Berlusconi Saturday night and found him "very tried, physically tired. But he is always a great fighter."

"It was an ugly show to see. People spitting, throwing" objects, Maroni said.

"This phase is over, a blank page is being opened," Maroni said, holding out hope that the League and Berlusconi's forces might again join in a future political coalition.

Berlusconi's longtime nemesis, former anti-corruption prosecutor Antonio Di Pietro, said his small Italy of Values Party would be willing to back a strictly "technocrat" government with no politicians in the cabinet "to respond to the (economic) emergency and give back this country its credibility."

Without mentioning Monti by name, Di Pietro insisted that elections must be held as soon as possible. But, he acknowledged, "in these hours of emergency, it's very hard" to carry out an electoral campaign.

Monti was reserved Sunday as he and his wife headed to church in Rome. Asked whether he was excited at the prospect of being Italy's next premier, he responded: "Have you noticed what a beautiful day it is?"

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-11-13-EU-Italy-Financial-Crisis/id-02a2c328db234a69b6833454240f903a

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Venezuelan police free major leaguer Wilson Ramos (AP)

CARACAS, Venezuela ? The kidnapping ordeal of Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos ended after two days when Venezuelan police commandos swooped in to rescue him in a flurry of gunfire and arrested five alleged abductors.

Ramos said he was happy and thankful to be alive, and that the final moments had been hair-raising as police and the kidnappers exchanged heavy fire in the remote mountainous area where he was being held.

"The truth is I'm still very nervous, but thanks to God everything turned out well," Ramos told Venezuelan state television, speaking by telephone after arriving at a police station in his hometown of Valencia early Saturday.

He thanked the police and National Guard commandos who rescued him, saying "the boys did a great job."

Ramos, 24, had not been seen or heard from since he was seized at gunpoint outside his home Wednesday night and whisked away in an SUV. It was the first known kidnapping of a Major League Baseball player in Venezuela, and the abduction set off an outpouring of candlelight vigils and public prayers at stadiums as well as outside Ramos' home.

Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami announced on Friday night that Ramos was "safe and sound" after the rescue. He didn't say whether anyone had been wounded in the gunfire.

Five men were arrested in the kidnapping, including a Colombian "linked to paramilitary groups and to kidnapping groups," El Aissami said.

"I don't know who those people were. I know they're Colombians by their accent," Ramos said. "Three guys grabbed me there in front of my house, they took me to another SUV and from there they took me into the mountains," in central Carabobo state.

He said his abductors spoke little to him. "They simply told me to cooperate, that they were going to ask for a ton of cash for me."

"They put me in a room with a bed. I was lying there," he said. "It was hard for me to think about, if I was going to get out alive first of all ... about how my family, my mother were."

Ramos was to first undergo medical checks at the police station and then be reunited with his family, El Aissami said.

Ramos' mother Maria Campos de Ramos celebrated, exclaiming on television: "Thanks to God!"

"Thanks to my country, to my neighbors and to my family, who were supporting us," she said. Shortly afterward, she spoke with her son by phone and said jubilantly: "He's fine."

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo hailed the news.

"We are thrilled with reports that he has been rescued," Rizzo said in a statement. "We greatly appreciate all the prayers and thoughts of all who have joined us in wishing for this conclusion to what has been a nightmarish 48 hours. We are eager to see Wilson and let him know just how many all over the world have been waiting for this news."

Ramos had recently returned to his homeland after his rookie year with the Nationals to play during the offseason in the Venezuelan league.

"As soon as I feel all right, I'm going to start playing," Ramos said.

"They didn't physically harm me, but psychologically I underwent very great harm," he said.

Ramos had been just outside his door with relatives on Wednesday when he was abducted in his working-class neighborhood in Valencia, about 90 miles (150 kilometers) west of Caracas. Authorities tracked down the abductors after initially locating their stolen SUV abandoned in a nearby town on Thursday.

"I was always praying to God, and thanks to God he gave me the miracle of sending me these wonderful people," Ramos said. "I'm alive thanks to them."

President Hugo Chavez had authorized the "rescue operation by air" that freed Ramos, Information Minister Andres Izarra said on his Twitter account.

Security has increasingly become a concern for Venezuelan players and their families as a wave of kidnappings has hit the wealthy as well as the middle class.

The country has one of the highest murder rates in Latin America, and the vast majority of crimes go unsolved. The number of kidnappings has soared in recent years.

Major League Baseball officials said it was the first kidnapping of a major leaguer that they could recall. But relatives of several players have previously been kidnapped for ransom in Venezuela, and in two cases have been killed.

Some kidnappings in Venezuela have previously been carried out by highly organized criminal groups that demand ransom.

Bodyguards typically shadow major leaguers when they return to their homeland to play in Venezuela's baseball league.

Izarra praised the authorities' handling of the rescue, saying that the police "hit a tremendous home run."

___

Associated Press writer Christopher Toothaker in Caracas and AP Sports writers Howard Fendrich in Washington and Ron Blum in New York contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111112/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/bbn_venezuela_ramos_abducted

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Bill Chameides: Oops. A Green Turnabout in the Presidential Race?

Crossposted with TheGreenGrok.com.

It's Friday. High time for for the latest lowdown on political takes on the Environmental Protection Agency.

In recent weeks, I've discussed Obama's relationship with EPA. Now let's look at his opponents' side.

Wednesday night's Republican presidential debate will probably be known forevermore as Governor Rick Perry's "oops" moment. I'm willing to wager that "Sorry, I had a Rick Perry moment" will soon be part of the American lexicon.

But lost amid the media frenzy over the governor's failure to conjure up the name of the Department of Energy -- the third agency, along with Commerce and Education, which he says he'd do away with as president -- was the really big news: Rick Perry's evolving position as an environmentalist who supports the EPA.

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Anti-EPA Rhetoric: The Rule for Republican Hopefuls

Until Wednesday night the would-be standard-bearers for the Republican Party have been unanimous when it comes to EPA -- they don't like it.

Of the field of candidates, Mitt Romney has arguably been the gentlest, some might say, safely-on the-fence one. He's been supportive at times, but given statements like those from a Town Hall meeting last month in New Hampshire -- "sometimes ...they take the Environmental Protection Agency and turn it into an agency that stops the development of our economy and kills jobs. That I won't allow." -- one would have to say he's not all that supportive.

As for Rick Santorum, not known for his pro-environment positions (the League of Conservation Voters ranked him between zero and 11 percent during his time in the Senate), he wants, as RealClearPolitics.com reported, "to rein in government agencies like the EPA and National Labor Relations Board, whose regulations, he argues, hamper businesses from expanding and hiring." And how far would that reining in go? According to RickSantorum.com: "Santorum would immediately repeal the regulatory alphabet soup implemented by the Obama Administration."

But compared to the other candidates in the field, Santorum and Romney are veritable EPA pussycats.

Michele Bachmann has guaranteed that, if elected, "the EPA will have doors locked and lights turned off."

The Herminator, a k a pizza mogul Herman Cain, has stated: "If I were forced to eliminate a department, I would start with the EPA and start all over. It's out of control."

Newt Gingrich wants to abolish EPA, plain and simple, and "replace" it with the Environmental Solutions Agency.?

Jon Huntsman, the presumed moderate in the candidate field, foresees "ending the EPA's regulatory reign of terror."

Ron Paul maintains that the EPA is "constitutionally-illegitimate."

And then there's Rick Perry.

Before Wednesday night's debate, Perry had bashed EPA with the best of them, urging all to "Tell the EPA that we don't need you monkeying around and fiddling around and getting in our business on every kind of regulation you can dream of. You're doing nothing more than killing jobs. It is a cemetery for jobs at the EPA."

But Did We See a Perry Green Epiphany on National Television?

As Perry was trying to remember the name of the third agency he would ax as president, Romney, ever the helper, volunteered that Perry might be reaching for the EPA. To which Perry, after some urging by moderator John Harwood, replied emphatically: "No, sir. No, sir." That's right -- not one "no" but two! Why two? I can think of only one explanation: While under duress by the endless badgering from the media, Perry could suddenly no long contain his avid, gut-level support for -- nay, love of -- EPA, and it burst forth on national TV for all to see.

So there you have it. Governor Perry, in his heart of hearts, is a closet environmentalist. Extrapolate this to a Perry administration, and you clearly have an EPA even more proactive than it is today.

Other politicos may disagree, but I think it was a daring strategic move on the part of a faltering campaign that could pay off hugely in the polls. And if it does, just you wait. How many of the other candidates, in fear of being outflanked by the wily Texan, will begin to grow green stripes? Who knows? By Election Day, the party of the Red States could become the party of the greens.

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Follow Bill Chameides on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TheGreenGrok

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-chameides/oops-a-green-turnabout-in_b_1088916.html

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Lawyer says call supports parents in missing baby case (Reuters)

KANSAS CITY, Mo (Reuters) ? A call from a cell phone reportedly stolen the night Kansas City infant Lisa Irwin vanished from her home points to the innocence of the parents in her disappearance, their lawyer said Saturday night.

Investigators are still searching for Irwin, last seen when her mother, Deborah Bradley, said she put her to bed the evening of October 3. Lisa's father, Jeremy Irwin, said the girl was gone when he came home at 4 a.m. the next day.

The couple said their three cell phones were also missing. One phone was used at 11:57 p.m. October 3 to call the number of a woman the couple does not know, lawyer John Picerno said Saturday on the "Justice with Judge Jeanine" show on Fox News. The FBI told him of the call, Picerno said.

While police questioned Bradley and Irwin intensely about Lisa's disappearance, the couple insists their daughter and the cell phones were stolen. The cell phone call that night is important evidence, Picerno said.

"What it tells you is our clients are telling the truth," Picerno said. The caller never did reach the woman but a record of the call was logged, he said. The woman, identified by Picerno as Megan Wright, has told reporters she did not know Bradley nor Irwin and cannot explain the call.

Friday, on another Fox News show, "America Live with Megyn Kelly", Picerno said the FBI told him someone tried to access the voice mail and internet of the couple's phone at 3:17 and 3:32 a.m. October 4. That effort happened between one-fifth and one-third of a mile from the Irwin home, he said.

Police have not commented on details of the case.

(Editing by Greg McCune)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111113/us_nm/us_baby_missing

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Russia struggles to save Mars moon probe

In this Nov.2, 2011 photo distributed by Russian Roscosmos space agency on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011, the unmanned Phobos-Grunt probe is seen on the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. The daring Russian mission to fly an unmanned probe to Phobos, a moon of Mars, and fly samples of its soil back to Earth was derailed on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011, right after its launch by equipment failure.(AP photo/ Russian Roscosmoc space agency, HO) EDITORIAL USE ONLY

In this Nov.2, 2011 photo distributed by Russian Roscosmos space agency on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011, the unmanned Phobos-Grunt probe is seen on the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. The daring Russian mission to fly an unmanned probe to Phobos, a moon of Mars, and fly samples of its soil back to Earth was derailed on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011, right after its launch by equipment failure.(AP photo/ Russian Roscosmoc space agency, HO) EDITORIAL USE ONLY

In this Nov.2, 2011 photo distributed by Russian Roscosmos space agency on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011, Russian space engineers work to prapare the unmanned Phobos-Grunt probe on the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. The daring Russian mission to fly an unmanned probe to Phobos, a moon of Mars, and fly samples of its soil back to Earth was derailed on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011, right after its launch by equipment failure.(AP photo/ Russian Roscosmoc space agency, HO) EDITORIAL USE ONLY

The Zenit-2SB rocket with Phobos-Grunt (Phobos-Soil) craft blasts off from its launch pad at the Cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, early Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011. The daring Russian mission to fly an unmanned probe to Phobos, a moon of Mars, and fly samples of its soil back to Earth was derailed right after its launch by equipment failure.(AP Photo/Oleg Urusov, Pool)

MOSCOW (AP) ? As Russia's space agency struggled Thursday to fix a probe bound for a moon of Mars that instead got stuck in Earth's orbit, some experts said the chances of saving the $170 million craft looked slim.

Roscosmos spokesman Alexei Kuznetsov said efforts to communicate with the unmanned Phobos-Grunt (Phobos-Ground) spacecraft hadn't brought any results yet. The probe will come crashing down in a couple of weeks if engineers fail to fix the problem.

The Phobos-Grunt was launched Wednesday and reached preliminary orbit, but its engines never fired to send it off to the Red Planet. Kuznetsov said controllers on Thursday will continue attempts to fix the probe's engines to steer it to its path to one of Mars' two moons, Phobos.

Roscosmos chief Vladimir Popovkin, said the system that keeps the spacecraft pointed in the right direction may have failed. Other space experts suggested that the craft's computer failure was a likely cause.

If a software flaw was the problem, scientists can likely fix it by sending new commands. Some experts think, however, that the failure was rooted in hardware and will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to fix.

"I think we have lost the Phobos-Grunt," Vladimir Uvarov, a former top space expert at the Russian Defense Ministry, said in an interview published Thursday in the government daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta. "It looks like a serious flaw. The past experience shows that efforts to make the engines work will likely fail."

Complicating the recovery efforts, the space agency only has a few hours a day to reach the probe due to Russia's limited earth-to-space communications network. Kuznetsov said new attempts to contact the craft will be made Thursday evening.

The spacecraft is 13.2 metric tons (14.6 tons), and most of that weight, about 11 metric tons (12 tons), is highly toxic fuel.

Most experts believe the fuel will likely stay liquid if the probe comes down and would harmlessly blow up about 50 miles (80 kilometers) above ground, but some fear it may freeze, survive the fiery reentry and spill on impact.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-11-10-Russia-Mars%20Moon%20Mission/id-14a3831cf74a4297bb55079f04321a11

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