Could botox change your life for the better?

Michael Bond, consultant

(Image: Thierry Du Bois/Reporters/Eyevine)

In The Face of Emotion, Eric Finzi explores how one of the world's most popular cosmetic procedures could alleviate depression

THE idea that emotions and feelings are triggered by changes in the body, rather than the other way round, seems counter-intuitive. Yet this idea has been entertained by psychologists for more than a century. In 1890, the father of them all, William James, wrote: "Common-sense says, we lose our fortune, are sorry and weep; we meet a bear, are frightened and run; we are insulted by a rival, are angry and strike... The more rational statement is that we feel sorry because we cry, angry because we strike, afraid because we tremble."

Recent research has put flesh on the bones of these musings. Neurobiologists such as Antonio Damasio of the University of Southern California have demonstrated that emotions begin with actions - rapidly increased heart rate, for example - and end with the perception of those actions - the sensation of fear or anger. Damasio calls this the "body loop": the brain learns of the body's response to change via chemical and electric signals conveyed by the bloodstream and nervous system. Thus feeling follows behaviour; the mind follows the body.

In The Face of Emotion, Eric Finzi explores how this plays out in facial expressions. There is no doubt these are integral to the way we embody and experience emotions: simply forcing your face into a smile or frown will induce feelings of happiness or sadness. Finzi, an American dermatological surgeon, is a fundamentalist in the church of embodied emotion. He believes facial expressions are "the power behind the throne", the principal driver of our moods and feelings.

More than that, he thinks he can change people's feeling of mental well-being by manipulating what they can do with their face. And for some years he has been doing just that by injecting botox into the corrugator, or "frowning", muscle of depressed patients to prevent it from contracting. This, he reasons, interrupts the feedback loop to the brain that causes their negative outlook and thus improves their mood.

It sounds incredible. Finzi seems to be saying that people with depression can cure themselves just by looking happier, or by repressing their ability to look sad. Yet he describes some striking success stories. One person who had had severe depression for 13 years felt so much better after botox that he decided not to take his Prozac. Another who had tried therapy and various antidepressants with no effect reported a "dramatic improvement" after Finzi's work. Finzi mentions several clinical trials, such as one last year in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, that confirm his findings.

Is this a solution to depression or is it merely cosmetic? Time and more research will tell. Finzi does acknowledge the treatment is no cure, and that the injections need repeating every few months to maintain the effect. He says his patients do not feel better simply because they look better - not all of them had pronounced frown lines before treatment (a contracting corrugator does not always leave wrinkles). Yet given the effect of social interaction on mood, it is possible that some of the improvement is due to those around the treated person reacting more positively to a brighter countenance.

This is one of several questions that Finzi fails to address. He has a knack of glossing over or not recognising potential downsides. What are the effects of not being able to express sadness or anger? How might it affect the way we relate to others, beyond boosting our ability to bluff in poker? Some studies, not mentioned in the book, suggest that because botox impairs people's capacity to mimic facial expressions, it can make them seem less trustworthy or likeable. None of this gets much of a look-in. It all sounds a bit too good to be true.

Yet The Face of Emotion is well worth reading. The scientific debate about the regulation of the emotions is as lively as ever, and this is a provocative and insightful contribution. Some of the outcomes Finzi reports look remarkable, even if the mechanism is unclear. As one satisfied patient testifies after receiving botox to reduce his anger, "I don't really understand how this is working, but my wife says keep it up."

Book information:
The Face of Emotion: How botox affects our mood and relationships by Eric Finzi
Palgrave Macmillan
£16.99/$27

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Govt unveils measures to ease air pollution in Beijing

BEIJING : The mayor of China's capital Beijing has unveiled new measures to ease the chronic air pollution in the city.

This follows criticism earlier this month, when Beijing experienced a record level of pollution, at 30 to 45 times above recommended safety levels.

The aim of the measures is to cut the density of major air pollutants by 2 per cent, as well as improve the monitoring and release of public information on air quality.

In an effort to paint the skies blue again, 180,000 old vehicles will be taken off the roads this year.

The government is also promising to control the excessive growth of new car sales. About 250,000 new cars hit the roads of Beijing each year.

In other measures, the heating systems of 44,000 old homes and coal-burning boilers will be replaced with clean energy systems.

Beijing is under more pressure to speed up the construction of a green city, after its air pollution index hit a record high over a week ago.

This issue is also expected to be a focus at the upcoming National People's Congress to be held in March this year.

One Beijing resident said: "Every year the government says it has new measures to improve air quality but every time it is only talk without action. This leaves us very upset."

Another commented: "Perhaps there are too many social problems, let us solve them slowly. We should still have confidence."

A third noted: "There has to be a process as we develop from merely fighting for survival to learning to care about the environment. This cannot be rushed."

- CNA/ms

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GeeksPhone announces Firefox OS phones for developers

GeeksPhone's lower-end Keon, left, and higher-end Peak are designed for programmers wishing to improve Firefox OS, Mozilla's browser-based operating system.

(Credit:
GeeksPhone)

A small Spanish start-up called GeeksPhone has started selling phones that let developers get a taste of Mozilla's new Firefox OS.

GeeksPhone announced two 3G phones for the browser-based operating system, the lower-end Keon and higher-end Peak. The phones, while geared for programmers rather than mainstream customers, make Mozilla's open-source mobile OS a lot more real, since programmers will be able to develop apps as well as to debug and advance the underlying operating system.

Firefox OS is Mozilla's ambitious attempt to build an operating system that brings more openness to the walled gardens of Apple's iOS and Google's
Android. Although the latter is an open-source project, it's run in secrecy by Google and its corporate allies and is closely linked to Google's ecosystem of app distribution and online services. Apple's iOS is even more closely locked down, with proprietary source code and only Apple-approved apps on the app store.

Walled gardens or not, iOS and Android have been very popular for phones and
tablets, and it's not clear whether the mass market truly wants an alternative even if it shuns lock-in. And even if some customers do value the openness, it won't be easy for Firefox OS to gain a competitive foothold.

But the GeeksPhone models at least make it possible for Mozilla and its allies -- Telefonica, Qualcomm, among others -- to try.

However, it's not yet clear how much the phones will cost or when they'll ship. CNET has contacted GeeksPhone and will update this post if they reply.

According to its LinkedIn profile, GeeksPhone is based in Madrid, Spain, and has 10 or fewer employees. It got its start in 2009 when it launched an Android phone.

The Keon has a 1GHz Qualcom Snapdragon S1 processor, 3.5-inch screen, 1,580mAh battery, and 3MP camera; the higher-end Peak has a 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, 4.3-inch screen, 1,800mAh battery, and 8MP camera.

Both phones also have 4GB of ROM, 512MB of RAM, a MicroSD slot, 802.11n wireless networking, light and proximity sensors, GPS, an accelerometer, and a camera flash.

Firefox OS is a browser-based operating system. Although it draws on Android and Linux for foundational software, it runs Web apps written with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. That makes it a mobile analog to Google's Chrome OS.

To run those Web apps, Firefox OS naturally uses the Gecko browser engine that's also the foundation of Firefox. Mozilla is adapting the engine with new interfaces to let Web apps take advantage of all the hardware features. Firefox OS got its start with the project name Boot to Gecko, or B2G.

Using this browser-based approach poses some technical challenges, but it also means that a huge amount of services already work on the phone, at least in principle, simply by pointing the phone at a Web page.

Mozilla and its allies are aiming the phone initially at developing markets where customers are upgrading to smartphones from lower-end feature phones. Telefonica believes the Firefox OS phones will be much less expensive than iPhones.

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Attack at Algeria Gas Plant Heralds New Risks for Energy Development

The siege by Islamic militants at a remote Sahara desert natural gas plant in Algeria this week signaled heightened dangers in the region for international oil companies, at a time when they have been expanding operations in Africa as one of the world's last energy frontiers. (See related story: "Pictures: Four New Offshore Drilling Frontiers.")

As BP, Norway's Statoil, Italy's Eni, and other companies evacuated personnel from Algeria, it was not immediately clear how widely the peril would spread in the wake of the hostage-taking at the sprawling In Amenas gas complex near the Libyan border.

Map by National Geographic

Algeria, the fourth-largest crude oil producer on the continent and a major exporter of natural gas and refined fuels, may not have been viewed as the most hospitable climate for foreign energy companies, but that was due to unfavorable financial terms, bureaucracy, and corruption. The energy facilities themselves appeared to be safe, with multiple layers of security provided both by the companies and by government forces, several experts said. (See related photos: "Oil States: Are They Stable? Why It Matters.")

"It is particularly striking not only because it hasn't happened before, but because it happened in Algeria, one of the stronger states in the region," says Hanan Amin-Salem, a senior manager at the industry consulting firm PFC Energy, who specializes in country risk. She noted that in the long civil war that gripped the country throughout the 1990s, there had never been an attack on Algeria's energy complex. But now, hazard has spread from weak surrounding states, as the assault on In Amenas was carried out in an apparent retaliation for a move by French forces against the Islamists who had taken over Timbuktu and other towns in neighboring Mali. (See related story: "Timbuktu Falls.")

"What you're really seeing is an intensification of the fundamental problem of weak states, and empowerment of heavily armed groups that are really well motivated and want to pursue a set of aims," said Amin-Salem. In PFC Energy's view, she says, risk has increased in Mauritania, Chad, and Niger—indeed, throughout Sahel, the belt that bisects North Africa, separating the Sahara in the north from the tropical forests further south.

On Thursday, the London-based corporate consulting firm Exclusive Analysis, which was recently acquired by the global consultancy IHS, sent an alert to clients warning that oil and gas facilities near the Libyan and Mauritanian borders and in Mauritania's Hodh Ech Chargui province were at "high risk" of attack by jihadis.

"A Hot Place to Drill"

The attack at In Amenas comes at a time of unprecedented growth for the oil industry in Africa. (See related gallery: "Pictures: The Year's Most Overlooked Energy Stories.") Forecasters expect that oil output throughout Africa will double by 2025, says Amy Myers Jaffe, executive director of the energy and sustainability program at the University of California, Davis, who has counted 20 rounds of bidding for new exploration at sites in Africa's six largest oil-producing states.

Oil and natural gas are a large part of the Algerian economy, accounting for 60 percent of government budget revenues, more than a third of GDP and more than 97 percent of its export earnings. But the nation's resources are seen as largely undeveloped, and Algeria has tried to attract new investment. Over the past year, the government has sought to reform the law to boost foreign companies' interests in their investments, although those efforts have foundered.

Technology has been one of the factors driving the opening up of Africa to deeper energy exploration. Offshore and deepwater drilling success in the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil led to prospecting now under way offshore in Ghana, Mozambique, and elsewhere. (See related story: "New Oil—And a Huge Challenge—for Ghana.") Jaffe says the Houston-based company Anadarko Petroleum has sought to transfer its success in "subsalt seismic" exploration technology, surveying reserves hidden beneath the hard salt layer at the bottom of the sea, to the equally challenging seismic exploration beneath the sands of the Sahara in Algeria, where it now has three oil and gas operations.

Africa also is seen as one of the few remaining oil-rich regions of the world where foreign oil companies can obtain production-sharing agreements with governments, contracts that allow them a share of the revenue from the barrels they produce, instead of more limited service contracts for work performed.

"You now have the technology to tap the resources more effectively, and the fiscal terms are going to be more attractive than elsewhere—you put these things together and it's been a hot place to drill," says Jaffe, who doesn't see the energy industry's interest in Africa waning, despite the increased terrorism risk. "What I think will happen in some of these countries is that the companies are going to reveal new securities systems and procedures they have to keep workers safe," she says. "I don't think they will abandon these countries."

This story is part of a special series that explores energy issues. For more, visit The Great Energy Challenge.

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Inauguration: 7.5 Things You Should Have Seen

A presidential inauguration is a big, long event that lasts all day and into the night–and who has time to really watch it? People have jobs, ones that don’t let you off for a federal holiday.

Everyone (or, at least, some) will be talking about it, which means potential embarrassment for anyone who doesn’t know what happened. Thankfully, ABC employs  news professionals stationed in Washington, D.C., to pay attention to these kinds of things and boil off some of the less noteworthy or interesting stuff, presenting you with short videos of everything that really mattered. Or at least the things a lot of people were talking about.

A full day of paying attention to President Obama’s second Inauguration leads one of those professionals to offer these 7 1/2 things:

1. Beyonce Sang the National Anthem

Boy, howdy! Did she ever? Beyonce has essentially become the Obama’s go-to female performer: She recorded a music video for Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” initiative in 2011, and she performed at the president’s last inauguration in 2009. Her velvety, soulful “Star Spangled Banner” is getting good reviews.

2. Kelly Clarkson Also Sang

Kelly Clarkson is not as “in” with the First Couple as Beyonce seems to be, but they let her sing “My Country ‘Tis of Thee,” and she did a pretty good job with it. This was kind of weird, though, because at one point she said she loved Ron Paul, although she later said she would vote for Obama.

3.  Obama Talked About Gay Rights

This may not seem shocking since more than half the country, including President Obama, supports gay marriage. But the president made a point of mentioning gay rights during his speech, equating the struggles of the LGBT community with those of  past civil rights movements, and in doing so made history.

He name-checked Stonewall, the New York City bar that was raided by police in 1969 sparking riots to protest the anti-gay crackdown. And he actually used the word “gay”: “Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well,” Obama said in his address.

Plenty of inaugural addresses have been chock full of rhetoric about freedom and equality, but in the last four years, the political culture surrounding gay rights has changed significantly, as more states legalized same-sex marriage and as broad swaths of the country got more comfortable with homosexuality in general. Obama’s “evolution” on gay marriage, and now his inaugural address, have helped signify that change.

4. Joe Biden Made Jokes and Shook Hands With People

Could we expect anything less?

Here’s how the Vice President toasting Sen. Chuck Schumer instead of President Obama at the big luncheon:  ”I raise my glass to a man who never, never, never operates out of fear, only operates out of confidence, and a guy–I’m toasting you, Chuck.” Watch it:

And here he is, scurrying around and jovially shaking hands with people along the parade route:

5. Richard Blanco Read a Poem That Was Sort of Whitman-esque, But Not Entirely

Cuban-born Richard Blanco became America’s first openly gay, Latino Inauguration poet. He read a nine-stanza poem entitled “One Today,” which set a kind of unifying American tableau scene.

6. Obama and Michelle Walked Around Outside The Limo

President Obama walked part of the parade route, from the Capitol to the White House, with Michelle. They waved to people. It is not entirely abnormal for a president to do this at an inaugural parade. But they walked quite a ways.

7. John Boehner: ‘Godspeed’

The speaker of the House presented American flags to Obama and Biden, telling them: “To you gentlemen, I say congratulations and Godspeed.”

7 1/2. Sasha and Malia Were There. 

Obama’s daughters, Sasha and Malia, were there. They didn’t really do much, but they did wear coats of different shades of purple that got a lot of  attention on Twitter.

Reports of the daughters looking at smartphones and applying lip gloss highlighted their day. As did this .gif of Sasha yawning.

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First video of squid sex reveals deep-sea Kama Sutra

Sandrine Ceurstemont, editor, New Scientist TV

Think deep-sea squid have sex in the missionary position? Now the first video capturing a pair in the act is revealing the unexpected details of cephalopod coupling in the abyss.

The clip, filmed by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) submersible in the Gulf of Mexico last year, allowed Michael Vecchione from the Smithsonian Institution and colleagues to observe for the first time how a male squid uses its penis to transfer packets of sperm. They were surprised at the sexual position the pair adopted: the male was upside down on top of the female and back to front, with his arms around her head. There are a few possible reasons for this arrangement: it could be out of comfort (for the female), or to allow the male to access the best spot for his sperm, but it's also thought to prevent the female from grabbing and perhaps eating her partner.

As the male holds his partner in what appears to be a firm grip, the video shows the penis extending out to make contact with the female's back. Although a package of sperm is usually deposited during the process, a transfer isn't visible in this clip. Squid caught by trawlers have revealed that the sperm mass is usually somehow implanted deep into the female's tissues, in some species randomly all over her body but in others at the base of the arms. The packet remains in place until her eggs are ready to be fertilised.

Many squid species use a modified arm, instead of a penis, to deliver sperm. It's very rare to come across a pair of mating squid.

If you enjoyed this post, watch a male crayfish get turned on by urine or see the first camera trap footage of Asian elephants having sex.

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M1 provides details on service disruption & recovery

SINGAPORE: M1 has provided more details on the service disruption which affected customers from 15 to 17 January.

On 15 January, a vendor was carrying out upgrading works on the backhaul transmission network at one of its network centres.

At around 2.30am, the vendor attempted to connect its power cables from the transmission equipment rack to the distribution rack.

This caused sparks at the distribution rack, and resulted in both racks emitting smoke which caused the gas suppression system to discharge gas.

A water sprinkler was set off, causing damage to one of the mobile network switches, resulting in the service disruption.

To restore service, contingency plans for the core network was to increase network capacity and signaling links between all the other mobile network switches.

Plan A for the radio network was activated, with the radio network controller and its associated media gateway being re-linked to the alternative mobile network switch.

While the links were being re-configured, Plan B was activated.

This involved complex step-by-step restoration work including the reconfiguration of 416 base stations to the alternative mobile network switch, re-establishing communication links, and traffic rebalancing.

This was followed by comprehensive testing, including drive tests in the coverage area of each base station to ensure full call continuity for both voice and data services.

Plan B resulted in a total of 199 sites being connected by 3am on 17 January and Plan A completed the remaining 217 sites.

Partial 3G service to customers in the affected areas was restored on the evening of 15 January.

Restoration work for all affected sites was completed at about 3pm on 17 January and full service was restored at 6pm on the same day.

Plans to further enhance and improve network resiliency incorporating the latest technology commenced in the second half of 2011, with target completion date of mid-2013.

- CNA/xq

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NFC: Not just for mobile payments anymore

LG demos NFC technology in appliances at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

(Credit:
Sarah Tew/CNET)

Move over, mobile payments. NFC is finding other ways to make itself useful.

In fact, paying for items with one's phone seems to be the least common use for the close-range connectivity technology right now, at least based on gadgets unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show. Rather, essentially all products using NFC shown at the recent confab employed the technology in one of two ways: To set up a sort of digital handshake between a mobile device and another gadget or as a way to share information between products with just a tap.

"NFC really simplifies things," Scott McGregor, CEO of connectivity chipmaker Broadcom, told CNET at
CES. "The most advanced technology is stifled if it's not easy to use. ... NFC plays a very valuable role in simplifying user interfaces for consumer products."

NFC is short for near-field communication, a chip technology that allows devices to transfer small amounts of data between each other. Both devices must contain NFC chips and must be closer than an inch to connect. Typically, NFC works by tapping the two devices together to securely exchange data such as credit card information, train tickets, coupons, press releases, and more.

NFC has long been hailed as the technology to bring mobile payments, or the idea of waving your phone in front of a cash register to purchase a good, closer to reality. However, the mobile payments trend has been slow to take off, and it continues to face many hurdles for adoption. While the technological issues have largely been resolved, there just aren't that many stores and point-of-sales terminals equipped with NFC for widespread use.

But at CES, NFC popped up in nearly everything imaginable (just not at cash registers). Along with the usual devices, like smartphones, there were speakers, cameras, televisions, refrigerators, business cards, and numerous other items. Some companies, such as Panasonic, have even added NFC to rice cookers and other usual items.

Sony introduced speakers with NFC technology at CES.

(Credit:
Sarah Tew/CNET)

NFC is already becoming a familiar spec in smartphones. Aside from mobile payments, many handset vendors have been using NFC technology as a way to differentiate their products from rivals, particularly the iPhone. Apple is the most notable NFC holdout, though it's widely expected to incorporate the technology into future devices.

Samsung, meanwhile, has been one of the biggest companies pushing the technology. It has released several ads that show what users can do with NFC (like sharing videos by tapping two Galaxy S3 phones together), and it also has slammed the iPhone 5 for its lack of sharing capabilities. At CES, the company unveiled speakers that use NFC to pair a phone to the device. Content is then streamed via Bluetooth.

And Sony included NFC in nearly all of its products shown at CES, including TVs, smartphones, remotes, and speakers. The company, which dubbed the technology "One Touch," said during its press conference that it offers more NFC-enabled products than any other electronics maker in the world. Sony noted the technology would ease media transfer and streaming among phones,
tablets, TVs, and audio devices by establishing a link between them just by touching the devices to one another.

"Customers are asking for easy, seamless ways to be able to access and transfer their personal content," Brian Siegel, Sony vice president of marketing, told CNET at CES. "We've been talking about it collectively for a long time, and it's been this combo of wireless and wired solutions. NFC and Sony's One Touch, we believe, is the easiest solution ever brought to market."

Panasonic unveiled a couple cameras with the technology, and LG also incorporated NFC into its electronics, as well as its appliances such as washing machines, vacuums, and refrigerators. In the case of appliances, people will be able to pair their smartphones with the product and then control it remotely, like turning on the washing machine while still in the office.

NFC has many benefits over other connectivity technology. Most important, it allows users to bypass all the steps required to set up something like Bluetooth. Just think about how long pairing a phone to a Bluetooth speaker takes. You have to discover the device, enter passwords, etc. For less tech savvy users, simply getting two devices to talk to each other can be daunting. With NFC, it's one tap and the items are paired.

It can even be used to get information from a poster or other non-electronic device by installing passive NFC tags in the item. Unlike NFC readers, which are used in smartphones and other electronic devices, the passive tags don't need batteries, and they're very cheap, costing only pennies. An NFC-enabled smartphone is able to decipher the information on the tag by sending energy to it to power it up and receive the data.

Caesars Entertainment, owner of eight hotels and casinos in Las Vegas, is making use of such technology. It installed more than 4,500 interactive Samsung TecTiles in its resorts, allowing anyone with an NFC-enabled device to tap the various TecTiles for information such as game tutorials, show times, restaurant menus, and ticket purchases.

"People are talking about putting them in virtually every consumer device," Henry Samueli, Broadcom co-founder and board chairman, told CNET at CES. "You could walk through your grocery store, and something you buy for a couple dollars could have a tag. That would be useful for stores for inventory control and things like that, and for the consumer, it's a fast way of exchanging information."

The Panasonic Lumix TS5 features NFC capabilities.

(Credit:
Panasonic)

By getting NFC into more devices, companies are easing consumers into the idea of using the technology, which should help when (if) mobile payments take off. Because NFC is a secure technology, it's still seen as an ideal way to handle mobile transactions.

"NFC was very present at CES, but it had nothing to do with payments," Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi said. "It's smart because you're getting consumers familiar with the technology so when mobile payments is ready and the ecosystem ready, they'll feel comfortable with it."

Of course, NFC isn't perfect. Because the technology requires two devices to be very close to each other, it won't be replacing Bluetooth or Wi-Fi anytime soon. Those longer-range connectivity technologies will still be required for streaming content. Also, in the early days of NFC, it was hard to figure out where to tap to make the connection.

In addition, while NFC technology itself is a standard, not all NFC products work together. That's because companies incorporate their own software into the systems, limiting what devices the products work with. That helps create brand loyalty (if you have a Samsung phone and want to stream content to your TV, it's easier to also own a Samsung television), but it also limits what consumers are actually able to do with their products.

Market watchers say that should change as industry groups and companies agree on a standard. And in time, NFC might actually show up in the majority of consumer electronics.

"Right now you see Samsung commercials where you tap a Galaxy S3 with another and you're exchanging videos." Gartner analyst Mark Hung said. "That's great, but try doing that with a Nokia phone. All these other companies also have NFC, but interoperability leaves much to be desired. I expect that to be sorted out this year."

Samsung handed out wristbands with NFC technology at its CES press conference.

(Credit:
James Martin/CNET)

Here are some products that use NFC (Note: not all of these were announced at CES):

• Virtual press kits and business cards -- Various execs and companies used NFC as a fast way to share their contact information and press releases. All people meeting them had to do was tap their NFC-enabled phone (sorry, iPhone users) to the item, typically a wristband or business card, to access the information. Samsung, for example, handed NFC-enabled wristbands to all attendees at its press conference, and Sharp gave out business cards embedded with its press release.


• Information points such as posters -- Caesars Entertainment, owner of eight hotels and casinos in Las Vegas, installed more than 4,500 interactive Samsung TecTiles in its resorts. Anyone with an NFC-enabled device will be able to tap the various TecTiles for information such as game tutorials, show times, restaurant menus, and ticket purchases.


• Speakers -- NFC is typically used in these devices to pair a smartphone to a speaker. The music is not actually streamed to the system via NFC but is shared through Bluetooth. Samsung and Sony were two notable companies with NFC speakers.


• Headphones -- The function is much like wireless speakers. Users tap their phone to the headphones to allow pairing for the transfer of music. Sony also makes these.


• Boomboxes and other music players -- Sony, again.


• Cameras -- At least two cameras introduced at CES included NFC capabilities: The Panasonic Lumix ZS30 and the Panasonic Lumix TS5. Along with built-in Wi-Fi, the cameras should enable "the widest range of remote shooting options, remote viewing, and instant sharing on social networks."
  


• TVs -- LG and Sony were a couple big companies showing off NFC-enabled TVs at CES. Like with audio devices, NFC is used to pair a phone to the TV by tapping the two together.


• Remote controls -- In this instance, users tap their phones to their remote instead of their TV to pair the device to the television. Sony is one company doing this.


• Appliances -- LG showcased a slew of washers, dryers, ovens, refrigerators, and vacuums with NFC technology. After pairing the appliance with a phone, users can program their products from afar, such as turning on a washing machine while still in the office.


• Other weird kitchen items -- Panasonic's Asian operations have made an NFC-enabled rice cooker and a steam microwave oven. Users can search for recipes and program cooking instructions using their smartphones.


• Computers -- HP's SpectreOne all-in-one desktop PC, announced in September, incorporates NFC technology, which it calls HP TouchZone. Via a sensor built into the base of the unit, users can log into the SpectreOne or transfer files to it by simply swiping a smartphone or another device equipped with NFC. HP's Envy 14 Spectre ultrabook also includes NFC, as does Sony's Vaio Tap 20 mobile desktop PC.


• Smart meters for utility companies -- Landis+Gyr in late 2011 said it was working with NXP Semiconductor on energy management products with integrated NFC.


• Digital bubble gum machine -- Digital advertising agency Razorfish last July developed a high-tech prototype version of the gum ball machine that allows users to download digital content like apps and movies to their NFC-enabled phone for a small fee.


• Heart monitor -- Impak Health, a joint venture between Swedish chipmaker Cypak and U.S.-based Meridian Health, developed the RhythmTrak heart monitor. The product tracks certain heart-related data, which can then be downloaded or sent to a clinician by placing it next to an NFC-enabled phone.


• Wii U -- It's not really clear how NFC will be used in this Nintendo console, but it may allow users to do things like add new characters to games.


• Cars -- An NFC-enabled smartphone will be able to unlock Hyundai cars by 2015.

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Attack at Algeria Gas Plant Heralds New Risks for Energy Development

The siege by Islamic militants at a remote Sahara desert natural gas plant in Algeria this week signaled heightened dangers in the region for international oil companies, at a time when they have been expanding operations in Africa as one of the world's last energy frontiers. (See related story: "Pictures: Four New Offshore Drilling Frontiers.")

As BP, Norway's Statoil, Italy's Eni, and other companies evacuated personnel from Algeria, it was not immediately clear how widely the peril would spread in the wake of the hostage-taking at the sprawling In Amenas gas complex near the Libyan border.

Map by National Geographic

Algeria, the fourth-largest crude oil producer on the continent and a major exporter of natural gas and refined fuels, may not have been viewed as the most hospitable climate for foreign energy companies, but that was due to unfavorable financial terms, bureaucracy, and corruption. The energy facilities themselves appeared to be safe, with multiple layers of security provided both by the companies and by government forces, several experts said. (See related photos: "Oil States: Are They Stable? Why It Matters.")

"It is particularly striking not only because it hasn't happened before, but because it happened in Algeria, one of the stronger states in the region," says Hanan Amin-Salem, a senior manager at the industry consulting firm PFC Energy, who specializes in country risk. She noted that in the long civil war that gripped the country throughout the 1990s, there had never been an attack on Algeria's energy complex. But now, hazard has spread from weak surrounding states, as the assault on In Amenas was carried out in an apparent retaliation for a move by French forces against the Islamists who had taken over Timbuktu and other towns in neighboring Mali. (See related story: "Timbuktu Falls.")

"What you're really seeing is an intensification of the fundamental problem of weak states, and empowerment of heavily armed groups that are really well motivated and want to pursue a set of aims," said Amin-Salem. In PFC Energy's view, she says, risk has increased in Mauritania, Chad, and Niger—indeed, throughout Sahel, the belt that bisects North Africa, separating the Sahara in the north from the tropical forests further south.

On Thursday, the London-based corporate consulting firm Exclusive Analysis, which was recently acquired by the global consultancy IHS, sent an alert to clients warning that oil and gas facilities near the Libyan and Mauritanian borders and in Mauritania's Hodh Ech Chargui province were at "high risk" of attack by jihadis.

"A Hot Place to Drill"

The attack at In Amenas comes at a time of unprecedented growth for the oil industry in Africa. (See related gallery: "Pictures: The Year's Most Overlooked Energy Stories.") Forecasters expect that oil output throughout Africa will double by 2025, says Amy Myers Jaffe, executive director of the energy and sustainability program at the University of California, Davis, who has counted 20 rounds of bidding for new exploration at sites in Africa's six largest oil-producing states.

Oil and natural gas are a large part of the Algerian economy, accounting for 60 percent of government budget revenues, more than a third of GDP and more than 97 percent of its export earnings. But the nation's resources are seen as largely undeveloped, and Algeria has tried to attract new investment. Over the past year, the government has sought to reform the law to boost foreign companies' interests in their investments, although those efforts have foundered.

Technology has been one of the factors driving the opening up of Africa to deeper energy exploration. Offshore and deepwater drilling success in the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil led to prospecting now under way offshore in Ghana, Mozambique, and elsewhere. (See related story: "New Oil—And a Huge Challenge—for Ghana.") Jaffe says the Houston-based company Anadarko Petroleum has sought to transfer its success in "subsalt seismic" exploration technology, surveying reserves hidden beneath the hard salt layer at the bottom of the sea, to the equally challenging seismic exploration beneath the sands of the Sahara in Algeria, where it now has three oil and gas operations.

Africa also is seen as one of the few remaining oil-rich regions of the world where foreign oil companies can obtain production-sharing agreements with governments, contracts that allow them a share of the revenue from the barrels they produce, instead of more limited service contracts for work performed.

"You now have the technology to tap the resources more effectively, and the fiscal terms are going to be more attractive than elsewhere—you put these things together and it's been a hot place to drill," says Jaffe, who doesn't see the energy industry's interest in Africa waning, despite the increased terrorism risk. "What I think will happen in some of these countries is that the companies are going to reveal new securities systems and procedures they have to keep workers safe," she says. "I don't think they will abandon these countries."

This story is part of a special series that explores energy issues. For more, visit The Great Energy Challenge.

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Obama Second Inaugural: A Déjà vu Moment

At the height of the "fiscal cliff" showdown, the final political battle of his first term, President Barack Obama lamented the bitter persistence of Washington partisanship as "déjà vu all over again."

Today, as Obama delivers his second inaugural address on the west front of the Capitol, he could say the same thing about the looming political battles of his new term.

Four years ago, Obama took office amidst what he then described as "gathering clouds and raging storms," an economic crisis that resulted from "our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age."

The nation was in the throes of a financial collapse, decades in the making, whose breadth and depth were only starting to be known. It would become a devastating recession, the worst since the Great Depression.

Now, even as the economy continues a gradual climb back from the brink, many of those "hard choices" still remain, with climbing deficits and debt and a yawning partisan gap over how to deal with them.

On the horizon is a cascade of fresh fiscal crises, these politically self-imposed, over the nation's debt ceiling, spending cuts and a federal budget, all of which economists say threaten another recession and could further downgrade of the nation's credit rating.

Obama will use the first major speech of his second term to try to reset the tone of debate and turn the page on the political battles of the past, hoping for something of a fresh start.

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He will "talk about the challenges that face us and what unites us as Americans," Obama campaign manager Jim Messina told ABC News.

"Monday is an American moment: the swearing-in of the President of the United States -- everyone's president," Messina said. "You're going to see a president who wants to work across party lines to get things done, that's what the country wants."

He will acknowledge that we won't "settle every debate or resolve every difference" but that we "have an obligation to work together," said a senior administration official, who asked to remain anonymous in order to speak freely about the speech.

Obama will not discuss specific policy prescriptions in his address, though he may broadly allude to issues of war, immigration, climate change and environment, and gun control, officials said. The details will be saved for the State of the Union address on Feb. 12.

But the president will make clear that his re-election -- the first Democrat to win two elections with more than 50 percent of the vote since FDR -- reflects momentum for his agenda, said top White House aides.

"He's going to find every way he can to compromise. But he's going to be pretty clear, and we're also going to bring the American people more into the debate than we did in the first term," senior Obama adviser David Plouffe said on ABC's "This Week."

Polls show Obama begins his second term with soaring popularity -- the highest job approval rating in years -- and strong backing on some of his top legislative priorities.

Fifty-five percent of Americans in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll approve of Obama's job performance overall, the most since November 2009, with a small exception for the 56 percent spike shortly after the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011.

That rating compares with 19 percent approval for Congress -- matching its lowest at or near the start of a new session in polls by ABC News and the Washington Post since 1975.

Majorities in the survey also broadly favor Obama's position on the debt ceiling, gun control measures, and reforms for the immigration system.

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