Arctic sunshine cranks up threat from greenhouse gases

IT'S a solar double whammy. Not only does sunlight melt Arctic ice, but it also speeds up the conversion of frozen organic matter into carbon dioxide.

The amount of carbon in dead vegetation preserved in the far northern permafrost is estimated to be twice what the atmosphere holds as CO₂. Global warming could allow this plant matter to decompose, releasing either CO₂ or methane – both greenhouse gases. The extent of the risk remains uncertain because the release mechanisms are not clear.

Rose Cory at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her colleagues analysed water from ponds forming on melting permafrost at 27 sites across the Arctic. They found that the amount of CO₂ released was 40 per cent higher when the water was exposed to ultraviolet light than when kept dark. This is because UV light, a component of sunlight, raises the respiration rate of soil bacteria and fungi, amplifying the amount of organic matter they break down and the amount of CO₂ released.

The thawing Arctic is emerging as a potentially major source of positive feedback that could accelerate global warming beyond existing projections. "Our task now is to quantify how fast this previously frozen carbon may be converted to CO₂, so that models can include the process," Cory says.

Journal reference: PNAS, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1214104110.

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Shocked world media speculates on pope's successor

MANILA: The world's media speculated on whether the next pontiff may come from the developing world, while paying mixed tributes to Pope Benedict XVI following his shock resignation announcement.

The 85-year-old Benedict said on Monday that he would step down at the end of this month because of health reasons, becoming the first leader of the Catholic Church to resign of his own free will in 700 years.

Argentina's largest selling newspaper, Clarin, ran a headline on its website asking whether the next pope might hail from the Americas, Asia or Africa rather than Europe, where all popes have come from through the centuries.

"After the virtually unprecedented decision by the head of the church to resign, there is a growing possibility that deeply established traditions and criteria might change in the next choosing of the pope and there could be a surprise," the report said.

Clarin said this was not just a matter of geography but something that went much deeper.

Catholicism is in serious decline in Europe but growing robustly in Africa and Asia. And Latin America, despite fervent adherence to the faith being patchy, is home to 40 percent of the world's Catholics, the paper noted.

In the Philippines, the Catholic Church's stronghold in Asia, the pope's decision dominated the front pages of newspapers, while major Internet news sites focused on whether Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle may succeed him.

"He has the rare chance, like 116 others, to choose the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics. And who knows? He himself may become Pope Benedict XVI's successor," news portal Rappler wrote of Cardinal Tagle.

The pope's resignation made the front pages of most British newspapers, which largely praised his personal qualities, but they also called for the next pope, whether he is from Europe, Asia, Africa or the Americas, to bring about reform.

In an editorial, The Guardian said that Benedict's papacy was "theologically, politically and organisationally a continuation of that of John Paul II, with all its defects and its virtues".

It painted a sober picture of the future, saying that "not a single liberal candidate to succeed Benedict can be identified".

The Times described Benedict's resignation in an editorial as a "noble and selfless decision" but said his successor should try to make the Catholic church "a more collegial venture".

The Independent newspaper focused on the future with the headline "Situation Vacant: New leader wanted for 1.2 billion Roman Catholics".

It added that Benedict's announcement "plunges his Church into turmoil".

In France, daily Catholic newspaper La Croix praised Benedict for making a tough decision.

"This is a man of faith who has decided to resign with the consciousness of having given everything he could for the good of the Church," the newspaper said.

Conservative French newspaper Le Figaro published a special edition in which it welcomed the "humility" of Benedict XVI, who "felt that the challenges of the contemporary church exceeded its powers".

The pope's resignation also made the front pages in Australia, with Rupert Murdoch's national daily newspaper The Australian carrying a headline that said: "Pope Benedict surrenders: too old, too frail to lead a billion people".

In an opinion piece, the newspaper's foreign editor said Benedict was "a good man but a poor pope".

"Benedict was always going to have a hard time following in the footsteps of John Paul II, the most charismatic, and perhaps the most influential, pope in the 20th century," wrote Greg Sheridan.

"But he disappointed even his closest supporters."

- AFP/al

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North Korea says it conducted third nuclear test

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: The test is "a significant step forward" for the North's program, an analysts says


• Obama calls the test "highly provocative," calls for "swift" international action


• North Korea confirms it carried out a more powerful test


• It says it used a smaller, lighter bomb than in previous tests

Hong Kong (CNN) -- North Korea said Tuesday that it had conducted a new, more powerful underground nuclear test using more sophisticated technology, jolting the already fragile security situation in Northeast Asia and drawing condemnation from around the globe.

It is the first nuclear test carried out under the North's young leader, Kim Jong Un, who appears to be sticking closely to his father's policy of building up the isolated state's military deterrent to keep its foes at bay, shrugging off the resulting international condemnation and sanctions.

It also provided a provocative reminder of a seemingly intractable foreign policy challenge for President Barack Obama ahead of his State of the Union address later Tuesday.

"The test was carried out as part of practical measures of counteraction to defend the country's security and sovereignty in the face of the ferocious hostile act of the U.S.," the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, referring to new U.S.-led sanctions on Pyongyang in the wake of a recent long-range rocket launch.

The nuclear test Tuesday, which follows previous detonations by the North in 2006 and 2009, had greater explosive force and involved the use of a smaller, lighter device, KCNA reported.

North Korea's nuclear program is shrouded in secrecy, so it's almost impossible to independently verify many of the details of the test. But its claims play into fears among the United States and its allies that Pyongyang is moving closer to the kind of miniaturized nuclear device that it can mount on a long-range missile.

Despite the North's claims of progress Tuesday, analysts say they believe it is still years away from having the technology to deliver a nuclear warhead on a missile.

"This test isn't going to do that in and of itself, but it is a significant step forward," said Mike Chinoy, a senior follow at the University of Southern California's U.S.-China Institute.

Condemnation from world leaders

After Pyongyang confirmed it had gone ahead with the test in defiance of international pressure, world leaders responded with condemnation.

"This is a highly provocative act" that threatens regional stability, breaches U.N. resolutions and increases the risk of proliferation, Obama said in a statement.

"North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs constitute a threat to U.S. national security and to international peace and security," he said. "The United States remains vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations and steadfast in our defense commitments to allies in the region."

Obama called for "further swift and credible action by the international community" in response to Pyongyang's actions.

"It is a clear and grave violation of the relevant Security Council resolutions," the office of Ban Ki-moon, the secretary-general of the United Nations, said in a statement referring to the test.

The United Nations Security Council will meet in New York on Tuesday morning to discuss the development, a security council diplomat said, declining to be identified because of U.N. protocol on such matters.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the test was "extremely regrettable," adding that Tokyo would "strongly" protest it.

Seismic activity

U.S. seismologists reported a disturbance on Tuesday morning in North Korea centered near the site of the secretive regime's two previous atomic blasts.

The area around thepicenter of the tremor in northeastern North Korea has little or no history of earthquakes or natural seismic hazards, according to U.S. Geological Survey maps.

The disturbance reported Tuesday had a magnitude of 5.1 -- upgraded from an initial estimate of 4.9 -- took place at a depth of about 1 kilometer, the USGS said.

Kim Min-seok, a spokesman for the South Korean defense ministry, said the magnitude of the "artificial tremor" suggested the size of the blast could be in the order of 6 to 7 kilotons, more powerful than the North's two prior nuclear tests.

That calculation, though, was based on the USGS's initial estimate of a 4.9-magnitude seismic disturbance, he said. A 5.1-magnitude tremor could indicate a 10 kiloton explosion.

The China Earthquake Network Center said on its website that the seismic disturbance in North Korea was a "suspected explosion."

News breaks at a quiet time in Asia

The test took place at a time when several East Asian countries, including China, North Korea's major ally, are observing public holidays for the Lunar New Year, which began Sunday.

It also comes ahead of the birthday on Saturday of Kim Jong Il, the former North Korean leader who died in December 2011 and was succeeded by his son, Kim Jong Un.

North Korea announced last month that it was planning a new nuclear test and more long-range rocket launches, all of which it said were part of a new phase of confrontation with the United States.

It made the threats two days after the United Nations Security Council had approved the broadening of sanctions on the reclusive, Stalinist regime in response to the North's launching of a long-range rocket in December that succeeded in putting a satellite in orbit.

Pyongyang said it carried out the launch for peaceful purposes, but it was widely considered to be a test of ballistic missile technology.

U.S. analysts say North Korea's first bomb test, in October 2006, produced an explosive yield at less than 1 kiloton (1,000 tons) of TNT. A second test in May 2009 is believed to have been about two kilotons, National Intelligence Director James Clapper told a Senate committee in 2012.

By comparison, the bomb the United States dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 was a 15-kiloton device.

In May 2012, North Korea said it had amended its constitution to formally proclaim itself a "nuclear state."

CNN's Jethro Mullen reported and wrote from Hong Kong. CNN's K.J. Kwon in Seoul, South Korea; Yoko Wakatsuki and Junko Ogura in Tokyo; Judy Kwon in Hong Kong; Dana Ford and Matt Smith in Atlanta, Georgia; Anna Maja Rappard in New York; and Elise Labott in Washington contributed to this report. Journalists Katie Hunt in Hong Kong and Connie Young in Beijing also contributed reporting.

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State of the Union guests reflect nation's hot-button issues

Several lawmakers are bringing special guests to President Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night in order to make a statement.

Several lawmakers are bringing guests to help underscore the importance of gun control. More than 20 House Democrats are bringing guests who have been personally affected by gun violence. A bipartisan pair of Arizona lawmakers, meanwhile, will host former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and her husband Mark Kelly.

Other lawmakers are bringing guests tied to issues like immigration and voting rights.

Below is a partial list of officials and the guests they are bringing. CBS News will update the list as more guests are confirmed:

First Lady Michelle Obama:

• Lt. Brian Murphy, who was wounded while responding to the Sikh Temple shooting last August in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. He was struck by 15 bullets.
• Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton and Nathaniel Pendleton Sr., parents of 15-year-old Hadiya who was killed in a Chicago park.
• Desiline Victor, a 103-year-old Florida woman who waited in line for several hours to vote.
• Tim Cook, CEO of Apple.

House Minority Leader Pelosi:

• Mother and daughter from Newtown, Conn. The 4th grader sent Pelosi a letter asking for her support to strengthen gun laws in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Rep. Ron Barber, D-Ariz.:

• Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and her husband Mark Kelly

Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas:

• Musician and gun advocate Ted Nugent

Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn.:

• First Selectwoman Pat Llodra, a Republican and the Chief Executive Officer of Newtown
• Newtown Detectives Jason Frank and Dan McAnaspie, two of several first responders who rushed to Sandy Hook Elementary School on the day of the tragedy

Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill.:

• Undocumented immigrant Gabino Sanchez. The South Carolina husband and father of two U.S. citizen children is fighting deportation. Sanchez entered the country when he was 15 years old and has been working and living peacefully in the U.S. ever since.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.:

• Josh Stepakoff, who in 1999 was shot at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills, Calif. Stepakoff, now 20, is a student at California State University Northridge.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.:

• Matt Gross, a New Jersey native who was shot in the head in 1997, at the age of 27. Gross was one of several victims wounded during a shooting attack on the observation deck of the Empire State Building.

More House Democrats bringing guests affected by gun violence:

Rep. Jim Langevin, R.I.

Rep. Keith Ellison, Minn.

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, N.Y.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Conn.

Rep. David Cicilline, R.I.

Rep. Diana DeGette, Colo.

Rep. Tammy Duckworth, Ill.

Rep. Elizabeth Esty, Conn.

Rep. Lois Frankel, Fla.

Rep. Lujan Grisham, N.M.

Rep. Janice Hahn, Calif.

Rep. Jim Himes, Conn.

Rep. Alan Lowenthal, Calif.

Rep. Gloria Negrete-McLeod, Calif.

Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C.

Rep. Ed Perlmutter, Colo.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Ill.

Rep. Brad Schneider, Ill.

Rep. Bobby Scott, Va.

Rep. Mike Thompson, Calif.

Rep. Krysten Sinema, Ariz.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, Md.

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Why we're building a €1 billion model of a human brain

The Human Brain Project has just won a €1 billion research prize. Its director Henry Markram says the initiative will unify our understanding of the brain

Your project aims to recreate the human brain in a supercomputer. Why?
We want to reach a unified understanding of the brain and the simulation on a supercomputer is the tool. Today you have neuroscientists working on a genetic, behavioural or cognitive level, and then you have informaticians, chemists and mathematicians. They all have their own understanding of how the brain functions and is structured. How do you get them all around the same table? We think of the project as like a CERN for the brain. The model is our way of bringing everyone, and our understanding, together.

What do you hope will come of the project?
There are three goals. As the model becomes more accurate and behaves more like a brain, we could couple it to a robot and see the robot learning. Then we'll be able to trace the chain of events from molecules to cognition.

Second, we plan to collect data from hospitals around the world to search for biological signatures of disease. We believe this will give us a new classification of brain disease, which can be used to diagnose people objectively - not solely based on their symptoms.

And finally, we want to build neuromorphic computers, which would have processors that can learn, mimicking the way the brain does.

How close are you to recreating a brain?
We've developed an algorithm to work out some of the rules for how to reconstruct the brain. We can now make thousands of predictions that when tested are accurate, and we can reconstruct small brain circuits of up to about 1 million rat neurons. Now we've got to connect those groups of neurons to make brain regions, then connect the regions to make a computer model of a whole brain. Once we've modelled a rat brain, then we update the rules and gradually move towards a human model.

Could the model be too detailed?
People are afraid of detail and complexity. But a drug is a molecule. It doesn't hit a cell, or the brain, it hits other molecules. There's no reason why we shouldn't try to explain how all the molecules are interacting with one another. Sheer numbers do not equal complexity. One hundred billion neurons is numbers, not complexity.

What about criticisms that it drains funds from more readily achievable neuroscience?
That is an incredibly short-sighted view of how a big science project impacts the rest of the field. Take the Human Genome Project - you can criticise them for all the promises they made at the time, but we would be in the dark ages now if we hadn't done that project. It has benefitted every biologist and geneticist on the planet today.

Once completed, could the simulated brain ever become conscious?
When we couple the model to a robot, the robot will behave, and we'll see this in the way its neurons are firing. Does that mean it's conscious? That's a philosophical question - and an unresolved one.

This article appeared in print under the headline "One minute with... Henry Markram"

Profile

Henry Markram is the director of the Human Brain Project at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). The project just won a €1 billion European research prize

If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.

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Philippines' Aquino visits rebel stronghold

SULTAN KUDARAT, Philippines: Philippine President Benigno Aquino paid a historic visit Monday to Muslim rebel territory in a bid to speed up efforts to end one of Asia's longest and deadliest insurgencies.

Four months after his government agreed on a roadmap with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front for a final peace deal by 2016, Aquino travelled to the insurgents' stronghold in the far south as a confidence-building measure.

"We have just three years and four months left. We have to speed up everything we are doing now to make this (peace) permanent," Aquino said on a stage alongside MILF chief Murad Ebrahim just outside the rebels' main base.

The deadline for peace coincides with the end of Aquino's six-year term as president. The constitution limits him to one term and there are concerns that the next president may not be able, or may not want, to pursue the peace agenda.

The 12,000-strong MILF has been fighting since the 1970s for independence in Mindanao, the southern third of the mainly Catholic Philippines that the country's Muslim minority claim as their ancestral homeland.

An estimated 150,000 people have died in the conflict with Muslim rebels, although a ceasefire in place since 2003 has largely held.

In the "framework agreement" signed last October, the MILF said it would give up its quest for independence in exchange for significant power and wealth-sharing in a new autonomous region covering large parts of Mindanao.

Many of the toughest details have yet to be agreed, and there have been no major breakthroughs in ensuing negotiations between the two sides.

However Aquino expressed confidence that the negotiations would yield significant results within weeks, and that a final peace pact could be achieved by 2016.

"We're very close to agreements on all the points," he said.

The key event on Monday, held just outside the MILF's heavily fortified Camp Darapanan, was the launch of joint development projects seen by both sides as crucial to the peace process.

It was the first peace mission by a president to the MILF's powerbase.

Then-president Joseph Estrada travelled to the area in 2000 but only at a time of heavy fighting, shortly after government troops overran another base that was then the rebels' main camp.

Estrada infamously brought pork and beer to the Muslim areas so government troops could celebrate their victory.

Speaking at Monday's event, Murad said Aquino's trip was a highly symbolic and important boost to the peace process.

"Truly we are humbled by this grand gesture of the president of personally launching several socio-economic projects... on this hallowed ground which has seen many of the battles we have fought," he said.

Murad emphasised the need to bring prosperity to Mindanao, a fertile and resource-rich region that remains one of the country's poorest areas because of the conflict as well as corruption.

"Development is so important... this goal must therefore be the single most important task of this partnership," he said.

The programmes launched on Monday involve education scholarships, expanded health networks and job creation projects.

After the launch of the development projects, Aquino travelled to a military camp to watch a game of football between MILF fighters and government soldiers.

-AFP/ac

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'Within seconds, everything changed'

By Dana Ford, CNN

updated 12:26 AM EST, Mon February 11, 2013

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant declares a state of emergency in four counties


• At least a dozen people are injured; no deaths are reported


• "Within seconds, everything changed," says a Hattiesburg, Mississippi resident

iReport: Please send your photos and videos, but stay safe

(CNN) -- A tornado touched down in southern Mississippi on Sunday, injuring more than a dozen people and causing widespread damage.

So far, no one has been reported killed, which authorities hope will remain true.

"We're really blessed because we don't have a fatality that we know of right now, and no major injuries. But we have a number of major damages to our structures around town," said Johnny DuPree, mayor of Hattiesburg, where the tornado hit.

"If there is a good thing about this, it happened on a Sunday when most of these structures were vacant," he said.

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant declared a state of emergency in four counties: Forrest, Lamar, Lawrence and Marion.

iReporter shopping at Target captures video of tornado

Hattiesburg, which straddles Forrest and Lamar counties, is home to the University of Southern Mississippi. It suffered damage to several buildings, but there were no reports of injuries there. University police declared a state of emergency and urged those not on campus to stay away until further notice.

Nearby Oak Grove High School also suffered damage. Randy Wright posted photographs to his Twitter account of the school, showing debris strewn on what looked to be a parking lot and a truck upside down in a baseball diamond.

The Hattiesburg Public School District canceled classes Monday. The university campus will also be closed.

"There's quite a few homes without power at this point. Quite a few trees on houses, on cars, that type of thing," said Forrest County Sheriff Billy McGee.

He said that from 10 to 15 people were taken to the hospital, but that none suffered serious injuries. Another three were reported injured in nearby Marion County.

It was not clear how those people were hurt.

Sarah Lawrence, a Hattiesburg resident, said that the storm sounded like "stuff being thrown."

"Within seconds, everything changed," she said. "I didn't feel like there was much notice. I heard the sirens and everything looked OK outside, so I started making preparations to go into the bathroom. And then, next thing I know, all the lights went out, and it got dark outside."

As the storm system moved east Sunday night, tornado warnings were issued -- then expired -- for parts of southeastern Mississippi and southwestern Alabama.

Northeast begins digging out from major blizzard

The 10 deadliest U.S. tornadoes on record

23 incredible weather photos

CNN's Maggie Schneider, Elwyn Lopez and Janet DiGiacomo contributed to this report.

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New Englanders slowly recover from weekend blizzard

NEWPORT, R.I. Travel eased and life slowly returned to normal for most New Englanders after a massive blizzard, but many remained without power in cold and darkened homes and a forecast of rain brought a new worry: Weight piling up dangerously on roofs already burdened by heavy snow.

61 Photos

Powerful blizzard descends on Northeast

Play Video

Northeast sees record snow fall

The storm that slammed into the region with up to 3 feet of snow was blamed for at least 14 deaths in the Northeast and Canada, and brought some of the highest accumulations ever recorded. Still, coastal areas were largely spared catastrophic damage despite being lashed by strong waves and hurricane-force wind gusts at the height of the storm.

President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency for Connecticut, allowing federal aid to be used in recovery, and utilities in some hard-hit New England states predicted that the storm could leave some customers in the dark for days.

CBS News correspondent Miguel Bojorquez reports that Hamden, Conn., about 80 miles from New York City, experienced the deepest snow: 40 inches. The blizzard had dumped five inches of snow per hour.

Hundreds of people, their homes without heat or electricity, were forced to take refuge in emergency shelters set up in schools or other places.

"For all the complaining everyone does, people really came through," said Rich Dinsmore, 65, of Newport, R.I., who was staying at a Red Cross shelter set up in a middle school in Middletown after the power went out in his home on Friday.

Dinsmore, who has emphysema, was first brought by ambulance to a hospital after the medical equipment he relies on failed when the power went out and he had difficulty breathing.

"The police, the fire department, the state, the Red Cross, the volunteers, it really worked well," said the retired radio broadcaster and Army veteran.

Utility crews, some brought in from as far away as Georgia, Oklahoma and Quebec, raced to restore power to more than 300,000 customers -- down from 650,000 in eight states at the height of the storm. In hardest-hit Massachusetts, where some 234,000 customers remained without power on Sunday, officials said some of the outages might linger until Tuesday.

Driving bans were lifted and flights resumed at major airports in the region that had closed during the storm, though many flights were still canceled Sunday.

Boston recorded 24.9 inches of snow, making it the fifth-largest storm in the city since records were kept.

On eastern Long Island, which was slammed with as much as 30 inches of snow, hundreds of snowplows and other heavy equipment were sent in Sunday to clear ice- and drift-covered highways where hundreds of people and cars were abandoned during the height of the storm.

More than a third of all the state's snow-removal equipment was sent to the area, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, including more than 400 plow trucks and more than 100 snow blowers, loaders and backhoes.

Play Video

Snow leaves Long Island Expressway commuters stranded

Play Video

Mass. town powerless after record snow storm

The National Weather Service was forecasting rain and warmer temperatures in the region on Monday -- which could begin melting some snow but also add considerable weight to snow already piled on roofs, posing the danger of collapse. Of greatest concern were flat or gently-sloped roofs and officials said people should try to clear them -- but only if they could do so safely.

"We don't recommend that people, unless they're young and experienced, go up on roofs," said Peter Judge, spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

Officials also continued to warn of carbon monoxide dangers in the wake of the storm.

In Boston, two people died Saturday after being overcome by carbon monoxide while sitting in running cars, including a teenager who went into the family car to stay warm while his father shoveled snow. The boy's name was not made public. In a third incident, two children were hospitalized but expected to recover.

A fire department spokesman said in each case, the tailpipes of the cars were clogged by snow.

Authorities also reminded homeowners to clear snow from heating vents to prevent carbon monoxide from seeping back into houses.

In Maine, the Penobscot County Sheriff's office said it recovered the body of a 75-year-old man who died after the pickup he was driving struck a tree and plunged into the Penobscot River during the storm. Investigators said Gerald Crommett apparently became disoriented while driving in the blinding snow.

Christopher Mahood, 23, of Germantown, N.Y., died after his tractor went off his driveway while he was plowing snow Friday night and rolled down a 15-foot embankment.

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Possible Dorner Sighting Leads to Store Evacuation

A Northridge, Calif., home improvement store was evacuated tonight because of a possible sighting of suspected cop-killer Christopher Dorner, just hours after police announced a $1 million reward for information leading to his arrest.

As helicopters hovered overhead and a command center was established, police searched the Lowe's store and eventually told shoppers they could leave, but could not take their cars out of the parking lot.

LAPD spokesman Gus Villanueva said the major response to the possible sighting was a precaution, but couldn't say whether Dorner was in the area.

The announcement of the $1 million reward today came as authorities in Big Bear, Calif., scaled back their search for Dorner, the disgruntled ex-cop who is suspected in three revenge killings.

"This is the largest local reward ever offered, to our knowledge," Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said at a news conference today. "This is an act of domestic terrorism. This is a man who has targeted those that we entrust to protect the public. His actions cannot go unanswered."

The money for the reward was pooled by businesses, government, local law enforcement leaders and individual donors, Beck said.

PHOTOS: Former LAPD Officer Suspected in Shootings

The reward comes on the fourth day of a manhunt for Dorner, who has left Southern California on edge after he allegedly went on a killing spree last week to avenge his firing from the police force. Dorner outlined his grievances in a 6,000 word so-called "manifesto" and said he will keep killing until the truth is known about his case.

Irvine Police Department/AP Photo

Manhunt for Alleged Cop Killer Heads to California Mountains Watch Video

Christopher Dorner Search: Officials Search for Ex-officer in the Mountains Watch Video

Dorner's threats have prompted the LAPD to provide more than 50 law enforcement families with security and surveillance detail, Beck said.

Authorities are chasing leads, however they declined to say where in order to not impede the investigation.

Dorner's burned-out truck was found Thursday near Big Bear Lake, a popular skiing destination located 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

Investigators found two AR-15 assault rifles in the burned-out truck Dorner abandoned, sources told ABC News.

The truck had a broken axle, which may be the reason he decided to set fire to it, the police sources said.

Full Coverage: Christopher Jordan Dorner

Officers have spent the past couple of days going door-to-door and searching vacant cabins. The manhunt was scaled back to 25 officers and one helicopter in the resort town today, according to the San Bernadino Sheriff's Office.

On Saturday, Beck announced he would reopen the investigation into Dorner's firing but said the decision was not made to "appease" the fugitive ex-cop.

"I feel we need to also publicly address Dorner's allegations regarding his termination of employment, and to do so I have directed our Professionals Standards Bureau and my Special Assistant for Constitutional Policing to completely review the Dorner complaint of 2007; To include a re-examination of all evidence and a re-interview of witnesses," Beck said. "We will also investigate any allegations made in his manifesto which were not included in his original complaint."

Dorner is suspected of killing Monica Quan and her fiancé Keith Lawrence last Sunday in their car in the parking lot of their Irvine, Calif., condominium complex. Both were struck with multiple gunshot wounds.

Quan's father, Randal Quan, was a retired captain with the LAPD and attorney who represented Dorner before a police review board that led to Dorner's dismissal from the force in 2008.

On Wednesday, after Dorner was identified as a suspect in the double murder, police believe he ambushed two Riverside police officers, killing one and wounding the other.

The next day, Randal Quan reported he received a taunting call from a man claiming to be Dorner who told him that he "should have done a better job of protecting his daughter," according to court documents documents.

Anyone with information leading to the arrest of Christopher Dorner is asked to call the LAPD task force at 213-486-6860.

ABC News' Dean Schabner, Jack Date, Pierre Thomas, Jason Ryan and Clayton Sandell and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Time to rinse! AI assistant helps clean your teeth

FOR most of us, brushing our teeth is just a tedious part of the daily grind. But for people with dementia or learning difficulties, such tasks can be difficult. They could soon gain more independence thanks to an AI designed by Christian Peters at Bielefeld University in Germany and his colleagues.

Peters has already come up with a system that guides people when washing their hands. Brushing teeth is more complicated because it involves many steps - such as putting toothpaste on the brush, filling a glass with water or rinsing the mouth.

The TEBRA system uses a video camera to monitor someone brushing their teeth and checks that each step happens at the right time. It prompts them via a screen on the washstand if they forget a step or if they get stuck. The idea is not to dictate a routine, but to adapt to that of the user, says Peters.

TEBRA is being tested at a care home in Bielefeld for people with learning disabilities. Caregivers there reported that the system was less distracting for some people than a human carer. The work will be presented at the International Conference on Health Informatics in Barcelona, Spain, next week. Peters also plans to adapt his system to tasks such as shaving.

This article appeared in print under the headline "Time to rinse! An AI to help you clean your teeth"

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