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The bride and groom work in New York, she as a lawyer and he as an investment manager.    
As the second month of the school year nears, some parents wonder whether their children are getting all they need. The lessons might seem too simple. Their kids are bored. If their children have been designated gifted, there might be occasional pullout lessons to enrich what they are learning, b...Consider
the collapse of your favorite annual as an invitation to experiment.    
Since the 1970s, when early autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) were developed at MIT, Institute scientists have tackled various barriers to robots that can travel autonomously in the deep ocean.
This

four-part series examines current MIT efforts to refine AUVs’ artificial intelligence, navigation, stability and tenacity.Imagine
dropping an underwater vehicle into the ocean and having it survey the ocean floor for debris from an accident or examine a ship’s hull for signs of damage.
Without any outside guidance or prior knowledge, the vehicle

would traverse the target area in a methodical fashion, never repeating itself or going astray, all the while generating a map that shows the surface of interest.An MIT team has developed advanced mathematical techniques that enable such a scenario to occur — even when the area being examined is large, complex and cluttered, and the information coming from the vehicle’s sensors is not always clear and accurate.“A big problem for an autonomous underwater vehicle is knowing

where it’s been, where it is now and where it should go next — without any outside help,†says John J. Leonard, a professor of mechanical and ocean engineering and a member of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Navigating underwater is tricky.
Radio waves don’t propagate through seawater, so an AUV can’t use GPS as a guide. Optical methods don’t work well. Computer

vision is difficult, even for terrestrial robots; water reflects and refracts light in complex ways, and visibility may be poor due to murkiness and turbidity.What’s left? Sound waves, which can be monitored by acoustic sensors.
To help an underwater vehicle navigate, a deepwater energy company may drop a network of acoustic transponders onto the seafloor. The vehicle exchanges acoustic “pings†with the transponders, generating data with which it can calculate its position. But sometimes the signal bounces off extraneous objects, producing inaccurate data. Sometimes several robots share multiple transponders, leading to confusion. And sometimes deploying enough transponders to cover a sufficiently large area is prohibitively expensive.“So
here’s the challenge.
You want to place the AUV at an unknown location in an unknown environment and, using only data from its acoustic sensors, let it incrementally build a map while at the same time determining its location on the map,†Leonard says.
Robot designers have studied the so-called mapping problem for decades, but it’s still not solved.
As Leonard notes, it’s a chicken-and-egg problem: You need to know where you are to build the map, but you need the map to know where you are.To illustrate how robotic mapping works — and doesn’t work — Leonard considers the aftermath of a hypothetical accident.
The seabed is covered with debris, and officials need to figure out where it all is.
Ideally they’d send down an AUV and have it cruise back and forth in a lawnmower-type pattern, recording information about where it is and what it sees.One
conventional way of accomplishing that task is using dead reckoning.
The AUV starts out at a given position and simply keeps track of how fast and in what direction it’s going. Based on that information, it should know where it is located at any point in time.
But the calculations to determine its position quickly become wrong,

and over time, the error grows “without bounds.â€
Leonard likens it to mowing the lawn blindfolded.
“If you just use dead reckoning, you’re going to get lost,†he says. Using expensive accelerometers, gyroscopes and other equipment will make the error grow more slowly, but not eliminate it entirely.So how can an AUV use poor data from relatively inexpensive sensors to build a map? To tackle that problem, Leonard and his team have been using a

technique called Simultaneous Localization and Mapping, or SLAM.
With this approach, the AUV records information, builds a map and concurrently uses that map to navigate. To do so, it keeps track of objects it observes — in the accident example, say, a particular piece of debris on the seafloor.
When the AUV detects the

same object a second time — perhaps from a different vantage point — that new information creates a “constraint†on the current map. The computer program generating the map now adds that object and at the same time optimizes the map to make its layout consistent with this new constraint. The map adjusts, becoming more accurate.“So you can use that information to take out the error, or at least some of the error, that has accrued between the first time you saw that object and the next time you saw it,†Leonard says. Over time, the program continues to optimize the map, finding the version that best fits the growing set of observations of the vehicle’s environment.In some cases, the AUV may see the same object again just a few minutes later.
Identifying it as the same object is easy. But sometimes — especially when surveying a large area — the AUV may see the same object early on and then again much later, possibly even at the end of its travels. The result is a “loop closing†constraint. “That’s a very powerful constraint because it lets us dramatically reduce the error,†Leonard says. “That helps us get the best estimate of the trajectory of the vehicle and the structure of the map.â€While SLAM has been in use for several decades, the Leonard group has made significant advances.
For example, they’ve come up with new computational algorithms that can calculate the most likely map given a set of observations — and can do it at high speed and with unprecedented accuracy, even

as new sensor information continues to arrive. Another algorithm can help determine whether a feature that the robot sees now is in fact the same one

it saw in the past.
Thus, even with ambiguous data, the algorithm can reject incorrect “feature matching†that would have made the map less rather than more accurate.Finally,
their methods ensure that uncertainty is explicitly addressed. Leonard emphasizes that SLAM may not produce a perfect map. “It’s easy for a vehicle to get fooled by errors in the acoustic information,†he says.
“So we don’t want to be overconfident. There’s a certain inherent uncertainty to the sensor data, and coffee shop millionaire marketing to get that uncertainty right.
So we’re not only building the map but also including the right error bounds on it.â€A problem of particular interest to Leonard is using AUVs to enable rapid response to accidents and other unforeseen

events. For example, one challenge during the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill was determining whether there was a spreading plume

of oil and if so, tracking where it was going. A network of AUVs working together could play a critical role in carrying out such tasks.To that end, Leonard and his team are developing techniques that will enable AUVs to communicate with one another so

they can navigate and collect information cooperatively. “If they can share information, they can accumulate data far more quickly than if they work alone,†he says. “Together, they’ll be able to sweep a large area and quickly produce the best possible map so that people can understand what’s going on and develop and implement an effective response.â€Next:
Biomimetic pressure sensors help guide oceangoing vessels.
A new seed promises to flower in more climates, improving freshness and taste for many.    
Federal regulators on Tuesday blessed Comcast's $30 billion acquisition of NBC Universal,

imposing a slew of conditions on everything from competition with rivals to the price of Internet service for poor families out of concern that the firm's vast sweep could harm consumers.
Humor, music and spirituality can boost your mood, but growing evidence suggests that they also offer physical benefits. Since a vicious, high-profile attack on several Pakistani schoolgirls in October, the Taliban’s violent campaign against girls’ education in northwestern Pakistan has continued unabated.     KABUL - More than

200 Afghans were killed in attacks and military operations during the past two weeks, Afghan officials said Saturday, calling it the deadliest period for civilians since the war began.
Figure for greater Swansea area rises by 56 as experts warn epidemic shows no sign of easingMeasles cases in south Wales have jumped by 56 in two days as experts warn the outbreak shows no sign of ending.The headline total has reached 942 cases in the greater Swansea area with the 10-18 age group worst hit.The latest figures come a week after the death of Gareth Williams, 25, a father of one who had measles. The results of tests to establish the cause of his death are still awaited.A £20m programme to vaccinate 1 million children and teenagers across England has been announced.It has been prompted by fears that the epidemic in Wales could spread across the border into England. Just as in Wales, many people missed out on the vital MMR jab and are unprotected against the spread of the disease.In both cases, unfounded fears that the three-in-one jab was linked to autism in children were responsible for the drop in vaccination uptake.Public Health Wales has urged teenagers preparing to sit GCSE and A-level exams to ensure they are vaccinated.Efforts
to

vaccinate thousands of

children and young adults who missed out in the past are still under way.Thousands
of parents have been attending weekend drop-in clinics with their children.
An urgent in-school vaccination programme has also been going on to ensure children are protected against the disease.The
outbreak in Swansea is one of the biggest to have hit the UK in the past decade.Although the outbreak is centred mainly on Swansea, rates of measles are high throughout the Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University, Powys and Hywel Dda health board areas, especially in Neath Port Talbot and north Powys.As part of the £20m programme in England, GP surgeries, schools

and community programmes will be used as vaccination centres.The campaign will target children and young people who have not had either one or two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella jab.It
comes after Public Health England revealed there were 587 confirmed measles cases in the first three months of this year in England, more than three times the 168 cases in the same period of 2012.MMRHealthVaccines
and immunisationInfectious diseasesWalesChildrenguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
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is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds     A delicious and healthy morning meal. A decade-long study of more than 3,000 women found that dietary iron may reduce the risk

for premenstrual syndrome, while potassium intake may increase it. Patti Moreno’s book “Gardening by Cuisine†provides basics on growing food as well as recipes. A look at exhibitions across the city during Asia Week New York.
THE QUESTION Might sugar-sweetened drinks lead to gestational diabetes? A backlash against short

sellers has begun,

with regulators in the U.S. and Britain tightening rules and authorities in New York intensifying investigations.
Who is the new pope? Where was he archbishop? • Manager is positive team will focus on Leicester play-off• Zola hopes first-choice goalkeeper Manuel Almuniawill be fitThere were broken bones and broken hearts at Vicarage Road on Saturday and the challenge for Gianfranco Zola now is to pick Watford's players off the floor after their failure to snatch the final automatic promotion place out of Hull's hands. On a manic

last day in the Championship, Hull's 2-2 draw with Cardiff meant that Premier League football would already be Watford's if they had beaten Leeds, only for a 2-1 defeat to consign them to a play-off semi-final against Leicester.With the first leg to come on Thursday, Watford have not got long to flush the disappointment out of their system before they head to the King Power Stadium. Yet this was a defeat that came at a heavy price. The signs were ominous when Watford's first-choice

goalkeeper, Manuel Almunia, felt a tweak in his left hamstring during the warm-up and it got even worse for them when his replacement, Jonathan Bond, was taken to hospital after a careless push on Ikechi Anya by the Leeds substitute Dominic Poleon led to a horrible collision that caused a 12-minute delay.After
Bond, who suffered a broken nose and a concussion, was taken off, Zola had to turn to Jack Bonham, a 19-year-old debutant who had expected to watch from the stands and, irony of ironies, Poleon – who was on the pitch only because Steve Morison had been caught by a stray elbow from Joel Ekstrand early on – then capitalised on indecision between Bonham and Ekstrand to give Leeds the lead. Almen Abdi equalised in the sixth of the 16 minutes added on in the first half, but Bonham was later at fault for Ross McCormack's chipped winner in the 90th minute.
Over the course of the season, Watford threw away 14 points because of goals conceded in the last 15 minutes.Zola
said that Bonham's mistakes tinnitus him stronger, but he is still hopeful that Almunia and Bond will make swift recoveries. "Hopefully Almunia should be all right for Thursday and we hope Bond's injury is not too bad," Zola said, suggesting that Bond could play with

a protective mask. "Manuel felt a problem in his left hamstring, which has given him a problem recently, during the warm-up, and it was

too risky to play him – but we think he can play at Leicester."If Bonham does get another chance,

however, at least he can count on the support of his team-mates. "He's fine," Nathaniel Chalobah said.
"He is a good lad, the whole team got behind him in the changing room and everyone makes mistakes.
As long as you have people round you, people trying to get your confidence back up then it's fine. Jack does not get any blame."There was less sympathy for Troy Deeney, who will be suspended for the first leg on Thursday after his red card. Zola smiled ruefully when it was pointed out that Deeney's first booking was for kicking the ball away and Watford will miss their 19-goal striker.
Yet they have strength in depth and have beaten Leicester 2-1 home and away this season. Zola, though, is already

setting the example his players must follow by focusing on the future."I don't think the games we've played against Leicester earlier this season will be relevant," Zola said.
"This is a completely new game, a new challenge, and we will be ready for it. The players will still be down over the weekend, but on Monday they will be ready to fight."Man of the match Tom Lees (Leeds)WatfordLeeds UnitedLeicester CityGianfranco ZolaChampionshipJacob Steinbergguardian.co.uk
© 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds     BP's internal report on the causes of the Deepwater Horizon blowout, released

earlier this month, summarized the calamity as the result of eight separate breaches of physical and operational barriers, any one of which could have,

and should have, stopped the unfolding disaster. The blowout, in the... For Neal Beckstedt, an interior designer, the

right armchair can give personality to a room.    
AMMAN, Jordan — Secretary of State John F.
Kerry arrived in Jordan late Wednesday for another round of efforts to bring Israel and the Palestinians to the negotiating table, but he acknowledged that time was growing short and gave little indication that he expected significant progress on his fifth visit to the region in as many months. Read full article >>     Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe says he will try to answer questions from lawyers for Stephen Lawrence's motherDoreen Lawrence is to meet the Metropolitan police commissioner on Friday over allegations by a former undercover officer that her family was targeted in a smear campaign.Her
lawyers have asked 13 questions of the Metropolitan police following allegations

made by Peter Francis, a former undercover officer, in the Guardian that he was asked to find dirt on the family after the murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993.Speaking at City Hall in London on Thursday morning, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said he would try to answer some of the questions that Lawrence's lawyer Imran Khan had put forward, but insisted it was not for him to call for a public inquiry.He said:

"We can see if we can answer those questions. We can tell her what we're doing."At the end of the day all I have to offer is a police inquiry.
Whether or not the government or parliament is persuaded by that, I can't really say any more than I have said already."He said it was within the powers of the Independent Police Complaints Commission to take over the Operation Herne inquiry being led by the chief constable of Derbyshire, Mick Creedon.Lawrence met Theresa May at the Home Office on Thursday morning to urge her to hold a full investigation in public.May said earlier this week that the claims could be examined by two existing inquiries: Operation Herne, the police investigation into the activities of undercover officers, and another led by Mark Ellison QC into allegations of corruption in the original investigation into the murder.Lawrence said after the meeting: "She said all options are open and she explained about the different reviews that are going on at the moment and how it could be expanded."I made my point quite clear – for the past 20 years we as a family have been talking about corruption and we have undercover officers trying to smear our family. I want answers. I want to know who was the senior officer who signed that off."Hogan-Howe told members of the police and crime committee in London that he also hoped to meet the women who had given birth to children as a result of relationships with undercover officers in the past.He said: "My heart is for trying to meet these women at some point … there is not a large group of them."He
revealed that he had asked the head of serious crime, the assistant commissioner Mark Rowley, to carry out a review of all ongoing undercover operations within the Metropolitan police and the national domestic extremism unit – now within the control of his force – as a result of the latest allegations.It is the second review of ongoing undercover operations to be carried out since he took over as commissioner.Allegations that Duwayne Brooks, who was with Stephen Lawrence when he was murdered, had been bugged during meetings with his lawyer and police officers around 1999-2000 were also being examined by Creedon, whose inquiry involves a review and investigation of the use of undercover officers by the Met police's former Special Demonstration Squad. The SDS was set up in 1968 and dissolved

in 2008.The
commissioner said he had asked Creedon to prioritise the Lawrence claims. He said: "What they are

looking at is 40 years of material. I have already asked the chief constable of Derbyshire to prioritise the particular allegations about the targeting of the Lawrence family."Referring to the allegations that Brooks was bugged, Hogan-Howe said: "In terms of how many times it happened we're not sure, because we can only get the original allegation and we've got a relatively brief – I won't say vague – letter making the allegation about one incident."It may be that Duwayne Brooks or his representatives might say: 'We don't know how many times it happened – that's what we would like you to find out.'
And that's what the investigation will look at."The deputy assistant commissioner Craig Mackey told the committee: "The questions everyone wants answers to are: who made the panic away review authorised the surveillance? On what basis were things authorised? That's the work that we're doing."Separately,
a report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) into the use of undercover officers in long-running operations within protest

movements, which was published on Thursday, revealed that recommendations made in 2012 had not all been implemented.Tom Winsor, chief inspector of constabulary, said he shared the concerns of the prime minister and home secretary over the use of undercover police officers in the wake of allegations related to the Lawrence family.Winsor said the HMIC would carry out a full review of undercover activities across all 43 forces. He said he was concerned to find that recommendations made in a 2012 report on the use of undercover policing within domestic extremist groups, such as far-right activists and animal rights protesters, had not been implemented.He said: "This week's coverage concerning the deployment of undercover police officers – and in particular, the serious allegations in relation to members of the Lawrence family and Duwayne Brooks – has rightly resulted in much debate about how the tactic has been and should be used."In
its 2012 report, HMIC called for tighter controls after it found the undercover officer Mark Kennedy, who spent seven years posing as a long-haired drop-out climber, Mark "Flash" Stone, ignored orders, carried on working after being arrested and believed he was best placed to make decisions about his deployment.His actions led to the collapse of a case against six protesters accused of planning to invade the second largest power station in the UK.Kennedy,
who admitted he had sexual relationships with at least two women during the operation, later described the world of undercover policing as "grey and murky".In its review of progress made since that report was published, HMIC said some significant work had taken place but it was concerned that recommendations had not been fully implemented.Among
key recommendations not implemented, HMIC said the Home Office, Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) and Office for Surveillance Commissioners had not made sufficient progress in establishing a system of prior approval for long-term undercover operations.The report also said the official guidelines should be adjusted so the level of

authorisation for undercover operations that last longer than 12 months should be set at chief constable – and this has not been done.In addition, no agreed definition of "domestic extremism" has been developed by the Home Office and Acpo.
A definition would help police make informed judgments when deciding whether an undercover operation would be an appropriate tactic.Stephen LawrenceDoreen LawrenceBernard Hogan-HoweMetropolitan policePoliceLondonSandra Lavilleguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
| Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds     Laura Perna, a researcher in college finance and affordability, answers select reader questions about paying for college. Part 2. • Somerset 320; Australia 266-4• Shane Watson hits 90 after opening for touring side The Australians have lost some high-profile leaders recently, but the one that really matters, their cricket captain, is still alive and kicking. On yet another banana skin-free day for the tourists Michael Clarke batted for almost two hours.
More often than not he hit the ball with the middle of his bat; he stroked seven silky boundaries, he scampered in between the wickets and he ducked the odd bouncer without any obvious twinge.Unless there is another lumbar rebellion Clarke is on course for the first Test at Trent Bridge and the Australians are starting to look like a coherent cricket team, though not yet too reminiscent of the 1948 Invincibles. In his first knock since March Australia's best batsman looked in fine fettle. An off drive against Jamie Overton was majestic and soon Clarke lofted the spinner, George Dockrell, back over his head as if he had never been away. Not since Sir Donald Bradman has an Australian cricketer overshadowed the other batsmen in his team so completely.Then,
to general surprise, Clarke was dismissed for 45 by Craig Meschede, who delivered a beauty that only a good player would have edged.
Meschede, 21 and with lots to learn, looks innocuous enough but he seems to specialise in dismissing galactic batsmen. Two years ago his maiden first-class wicket was Sachin Tendulkar; last week he dispatched Shivnarine Chanderpaul at Derby and Clarke (and Usman Khawaja, but he does not yet qualify for the top tier).The
other plus for the tourists was the innings of Shane Watson, who hit 90 from 94 balls and at one stage was on course for a hundred before lunch. Watson often looks invincible but then infuriates. At Taunton he hit the ball with massive authority.
He rocked on to the front foot and drove through the covers and midwicket with easy power – there were 20 boundaries in his innings so it was a marvel of energy conservation. He was particularly severe on the mighty Meschede. It all looked incredibly easy for him until just before lunch, when his leading edge gave a catch to cover off Overton, whose figures disguised his promise.Watson is comfortable at the top of the order, where

he poses a more obvious threat, so here is another thing sorted for the tourists.
Watson only knew of this plan after the sudden appointment of Darren Lehmann and he likes it. "It's nice to have the backing of the coach", he said."Opening is something I love and very exciting. I've worked with Darren

before and I know how he operates.
He doesn't beat about the bush". Watson may well be happier in the new regime.The expectation is that he will be accompanied in the Test by Ed Cowan, who had a less happy day. He was given out caught behind in Gemaal Hussain's first over and was clearly nonplussed by the decision. He loitered and for a moment it looked as if he was keen to open

a debate with the umpire about this turn of events – an idiosyncratic departure after one of several idiosyncratic decisions in this match.Nor was Khawaja very convincing before edging Meschede to first slip.
However, Phillip Hughes remained unbeaten until the rain swept in from the Quantocks at tea time. He had some luck.
On 12 he had a huge hack at Dockrell and might have been bowled or stumped but was neither.
Thereafter he was more discreet.
Brad Haddin was altogether more assured and not the first visitor to Taunton to relish the short boundary at the Old Pavilion End.Australia cricket teamMichael ClarkeAshes 2013The AshesCricketAustralia sportSomersetVic Marksguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More