Giant 3-D Printer to Make An Entire House in 20 Hours

3-D Printing Concrete Houses Contour Crafting
3-D printers can make airplanes and their parts, food and more why not entire buildings? A professor at the University of Southern California aims to print out whole houses using layers of concrete and adding
plumbing, electrical wiring and other guts as it moves upward.Professor Behrokh Khoshnevis at USC created a layered fabrication method he calls Contour Crafting, which he says can be used to build a single house or a colony of houses.It could be used with concrete or adobe he says. Khoshnevis has been developing the system for several years and hosted a presentation about it at a recent TEDx even It would use a movable gantry taller than the house you want to build. Concrete pours out and is set down layer by layer, like a typical 3-D printer would sinter plastic together. It could be ideal for emergency housing, commercial or low-income structures, but it could also be used to print out customized luxury homes, according to Khoshnevis. Or, he adds, it might be ideal for the moon or Mars. “Contour Crafting technology has the potential to build safe, reliable, and affordable lunar and Martian structures, habitats, laboratories, and other facilities before the arrival of human beings his website reads. Khoshnevis is hardly the only 3-D printing expert advocating this Enrico Dini the Italian inventor of the D-Shape 3-D printer, wants to 3-D print moon buildings out of lunar regolith.On Earth, the automated system could prevent delays, injuries and other labor issues related to human workers. With this system, maybe a 3-D printer could beat the Chinese attempt to construct the world’s tallest building in three months.

New Pakistan Army chief visits troops on LoC

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's new army chief Gen Raheel Sharif today visited troops deployed at forward locations along the Line of Control (LoC), which has witnessed tensions and fierce exchanges of fire in the recent past.This was his first visit to the region since taking over late last month, and part of a series of trips to army bases around the country.Sharif was briefed by the local formation commander on the prevailing security situation along the LoC. Rawalpindi Corps Com.

New Pakistan Army chief visits troops on LoC

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PM expresses concern over continuing US drone strikes

Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Monday expressed deep concern over the continuing drone strikes by the United States in the country.
Talking to US Secretary Defence Chuck Hagel who called on him here, the Prime Minister stressed that
drone strikes were counter-productive to the government’s efforts to combat terrorism and extremism on an enduring basis. The US Defence Secretary held in-depth exchange on the whole range of issues of mutual interest between the two countries. “The two leaders agreed to work together to strengthen Pakistan-US relations and advance the shared interest of a stable, secure and prosperous Pakistan and the region,” a Foreign Office press release said.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif stressed the importance Pakistan attached to a peaceful, stable and united Afghanistan and reaffirmed Pakistan’s support for the Afghan peace and reconciliation process.
Secretary Hagel acknowledged Pakistan’s efforts to support an inclusive reconciliation process in Afghanistan.
The two leaders reaffirmed the importance of Pakistan-US strategic partnership for peace and stability in the region.
They noted the substantial progress made in the bilateral relationship in recent months and acknowledged that the recent high-level exchanges including the Prime Minister’s visit to Washington, meetings of the Working Groups on energy, defence and security, non-proliferation and disarmament had greatly helped in building trust and strengthening the relationship.
The two leaders also reviewed the current state of bilateral defence and security cooperation and explored ways of further expanding cooperation in this important area of the relationship.
The Prime Minister stressed the importance of establishing a long-term and broad-based defence cooperation with the United States on the basis of mutual interest.
The two leaders also discussed the situation in Afghanistan.
Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Minister for Defence, Sartaj Aziz,
Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs, Syed Tariq Fatemi, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Jalil Abbas Jilani, Foreign Secretary and Lt.  Gen. Asif Yasin Malik, Secretary Defence also attended the meeting.

Fifteen illegal occupants arrested in PU hostel raid

LAHORE: Fifteen illegal occupants were arrested by the Lahore police during an operation conducted in Punjab University with help of the university administration in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, DawnNews
reported.According to a Punjab University spokesperson, the Lahore police, along with the university administration, raided Hostels No 15 and 18 and arrested 15 illegal occupants.The spokesman added that four illegal occupants were arrested from Islami Jamiat Tulaba’s (IJT) nazim Azeem Khushi's room in Hostel No 18.Earlier in December, 21 IJT illegal occupants were arrested during a police clampdown on a hostel of the university.Following the raid, IJT activists resorted to violent protest, causing massive traffic jams for several hours on Lahore’s major roads as well as damaging and burning of public transport.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel talks drones with Pakistan PM amid tensions

 U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, right, meets with Afghan military leaders in Kandahar on Sunday.
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan -- Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel discussed the use of U.S. drones against militants in remote areas of Pakistan on Monday during the first visit by a Pentagon chief to the South Asian ally in almost four years.
The United States has a complicated relationship with Pakistan and ties have been further soured by a dispute over unmanned military aircraft the United States uses to target militants in Pakistan's tribal areas on the Afghan border.
Islamabad says drone strikes kill too many civilians and violate its sovereignty. Protests by anti-drone activists prompted the United States to suspend ground shipments of NATO cargo leaving Afghanistan via Pakistan last week.
During his visit, Hagel met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other senior officials including the newly appointed army chief, Raheel Sharif. Both sides were tight-lipped on the details of the talks. The prime minister ... conveyed Pakistan's deep concern over continuing U.S. drone strikes, stressing that drone strikes were counter-productive to our efforts to combat terrorism and extremism on an enduring basis the foreign ministry said in a statement.
A senior U.S. defense official said Hagel hoped to work with Pakistan to deepen the security partnership and reassure it of continued U.S. assistance in building its military capacity.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States believed peace and stability in the region would be enhanced by improved Afghan-Pakistan relations, "because of the unique nature of its porous border and the presence of a variety of militant groups in the AfPak border region.
Pakistan is one of the largest recipients of U.S. foreign assistance and has received more than $16 billion in security aid since 2002, a defense official said. The Obama administration has sought $305 million in military aid for 2014 and $858 million in a range of civilian assistance for Pakistan.
Before his arrival in Pakistan, Hagel visited troops in Afghanistan and met senior Afghan officials. He said a NATO meeting in February could serve as a new deadline for approval of a security pact between Kabul and Washington -- an accord Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been reluctant to sign.
Hagel is the first defense minister to visit Pakistan since the U.S. raid in the city of Abbottabad that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in 2011. Pakistan was embarrassed and angered by the surprise raid.
At the same time, Pakistan has served as a supply route for equipment flowing into Afghanistan to support the international coalition that is fighting Taliban militants.The routes, known as the Pakistani Ground Lines of Communication (GLOC), are important for withdrawing U.S. and coalition equipment as they draw down foreign forces in Afghanistan and hand over security control to Afghan forces. Prior to the talks, the defense official said Hagel would express appreciation that ... the government of Pakistan has made it a priority to keep the GLOCs open.He praised operations by Pakistani forces in a dangerous region this year to break up militants who posed a threat to the Torkham-Peshawar road that serves as part of the route between Afghanistan and the Pakistani port city of Karachi. That's an example of the kind of effort that the Pakistan government as a whole has taken to ensure that the GLOCs stay open the official said.

Hayden Panetierre and Other Stars Are Moving to Nashville

The stars are packing up and moving to Nashville! Hayden Panettiere may have been born in New York but now she's a bonafide country girl! The 24-year-old has filmed two seasons of her hit ABC show Nashville in
Tennessee, but was reluctant to set up residency there — until now. The starlet revealed to People magazine that she and her fiancé, boxer Wladimir Klitschko, are ready to buy a home in Nashville, and her hesitation has passed. Hayden told the mag, "After a year and a half of living here, I felt that I had enough personal investment here, that I want to have a grounding here, even if something happens to the show. Knock on wood it won't! But I have amazing friends here and this just feels good as a home base.But Hayden isn't the only star making a home in Nashville. In November, Justin Timberlake opened up to The Tennessean about his love of the city, saying I spend way more time in Nashville than people realize. The singer, who was born just outside of Memphis, added I admire this town a lot. They take care of their own. There are not a lot of places in the world, much less America, that do that. It's just a great place.So could Nashville be a permanent home for the 32-year-old? He told the paper, "I think there could be a place for me here in the future for sure. Absolutely I will work in Nashville. That's probably the next move for me. The next move for me is to sink some teeth in here.Nicole Kidman traded Los Angeles for Nashville when she married Keith Urban, and she couldn't be happier about the move. The Oscar winner told Ladies Home Journal I love living here. It's a long way from New York and Los Angeles, but that's part of the attraction. I feel protected here.

Sleet, ice, deep-freeze hit large swath of US

A powerful storm system that spread hazardous snow, sleet and freezing rain widely across the nation's midsection rumbled toward the densely populated Eastern seaboard on Sunday, promising more of the same.
Forecasters said the potent system already blamed for numerous power outages and thousands of weekend
flight cancellations elsewhere, has Virginia and other Mid-Atlantic states in its icy sights before the Northeast is up next.Icy conditions were expected to last through the rest of the weekend from Texas to Ohio to Tennessee. And officials warned a major ice storm was possible in Virginia's Appalachian region along the busy Interstate 81 corridor.In Virginia, state Emergency Management spokeswoman Laura Southard said the storm had the potential to be a "historic ice event.This forecast is very concerning to us," Southard said. "I've worked multiple disasters, but I've never worked an ice storm with a forecast like this. It's just really important for everybody to take extra precautions.Forecasters said the storm caused freezing rain and icy conditions in parts of Tennessee as it surged across that state late Saturday and early Sunday. It also has been blamed for plunging temperatures as a cold front sweeps down from the North on the jet stream.

Bob Nations Jr., director of the emergency operations command center for the Memphis area, said early Sunday that ice coating roads, bridges and overpasses caused several multi-vehicle crashes. He issued a statement urging drivers to use extreme caution, particularly on bridges and overpasses.
Police in Memphis, meanwhile, urged motorists to stay home altogether if they could avoid travel early Sunday.Ice had built up on the windshields and roofs of parked cars throughout Memphis during the day Saturday. Law enforcement reported an increase in traffic crashes, and scattered power outages affected more than 3,000 people, emergency and utility officials said.
"It looks like we're going to be stuck with this for one, two, maybe three days said Memphis attorney Sam Chafetz, who tried to get off the roads before the worst of the storm hit.I'm not afraid of the ice and snow, I'm afraid of the other drivers who don't know how to drive in it.Forecasters said motorists traveling Interstate 81 between Roanoke, Va., and Hagerstown, Md., should be on the lookout Sunday for any deterioration in conditions like that in Texas when the storm crossed parts of that state Friday and Saturday.

In Texas earlier, icy and treacherous sections of Interstate 35 north of Dallas were closed for hours at a time after tractor-trailers had trouble climbing hills, wrecks occurred and vehicles stalled, authorities said.
Tina Pacheco, her husband and two friends were traveling through Texas on their way to Mexico when the ice-laden interstate became so treacherous that traffic came to a standstill. They were forced to spend Friday night in their pickup truck, which they kept running for heat.
We couldn't go anywhere," she said, adding, "It's a good thing we had gas.Ice up to 4 inches thick was reported on one interstate in Texas at the height of the storm there. And about 75,000 customers in the Dallas area went without power for a time Saturday, down from a peak of more than 270,000 earlier. Oklahoma utilities reported more than 7,500 power outages across the state and western Arkansas.
The weather forced the cancellation of countless events, including Sunday's Dallas Marathon, which was expected to draw 25,000 runners, some of whom had trained for months, and the St. Jude Marathon in Memphis, expected to include 20,000.
Around 7 inches of snow fell in northeast Arkansas and the Missouri boot heel, according to the National Weather Service in Memphis, and 8 to 9 inches fell in parts of southern Indiana. The storm dumped a foot of snow and more in some areas of Illinois, with police scrambling to respond to dozens of accidents and forced scores of schools to remain closed.
Residents were told to prepare for a few days without power, prompting them to rush to stores to stock up on groceries, buy electricity generators and gas up their cars. Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell reminded residents to check on family and friends who are elderly, disabled or live alone.