PAUL RYAN: Reaction to Trump's call with Taiwanese president is 'much ado about nothing' PAUL RYAN: Reaction to Trump's call with Taiwanese president is 'much ado about nothing'

Paul Ryan. AP

House Speaker Paul Ryan defended President-elect Donald Trump's call last week with Taiwan's president, saying the negative reaction was "much ado about nothing."

Ryan said he spoke with the president of Taiwan himself recently.

"I spoke with the president of Taiwan when she was transiting planes in Miami two months ago," Ryan told reporters on Tuesday.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy also brushed aside the implications of Trump's call, telling reporters that one congratulatory call would not change US policy.

Trump's call with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen caused a firestorm late last week, and foreign-policy experts said it could strain US relations with China. Trump's call amounted to the first time a US president had directly spoken with Taiwan's leadership in more than 30 years.

The US suspended formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979 after establishing a "One China" position in an effort to establish diplomatic channels with Beijing.

Quantum solar cells could explain why plants are green

Quantum photocells could copy plants

Nathaniel Gabor QMO Lab

By Leah Crane

The next wave of solar cells might be green… literally. Quantum mechanics is helping to make better solar cells – and may give us another perspective on why plants are green in the process.

A big problem in solar power is that sunlight is not constant: because of seasonal changes, night-time and clouds, the amount of sunlight that reaches panels is constantly shifting. This means we must regulate the power from the cells so that the grid doesn’t fry on sunny days and the lights don’t flicker as clouds pass. Trouble is, this dents the efficiency of the panels.

This is a potential issue for plants, too. Unlike solar cells, plants can regulate light levels by dissipating some solar energy as heat. But it turns out that plants’ green colour may also play a role.

Nathan Gabor at the University of California, Riverside, stumbled on this idea by chance. “I was sitting at this seminar, and I thought to myself ‘physicists are often credited with explaining why the sky is blue’,” he says. “So I thought, ‘well, why are plants green?’ ”

Gabor found that, while there are many hypotheses, none have been definitively proven. “The evolutionary evidence has several missing links along the way,” he says. So, when he and his team designed a solar cell that would efficiently regulate its power intake and output, they were surprised to find a potential answer.

A green dilemma

When a molecule in a solar cell absorbs sunlight, some of its electrons jump to a higher energy level. The molecule can’t hold on to that energy, so it transfers an electron to a different molecule, setting up an electric current.

Different materials are sensitive to different wavelengths, so it’s possible to tune your cell to respond to different kinds of light.

If a solar cell or a plant wanted to simply take in the most possible energy, absorbing green light would be the obvious choice: the sun emits more green light than any other colour. Most plants reflect it, though, giving them their colour.

That matches up with Gabor’s calculations: he and his team found that the best way for the cells to maintain high efficiency is to take in two different colours of light, neither of which was green. Over the course of the day, when the amount of light in different wavelengths varies, the cell takes in more of one colour and less of the other to keep output steady.

Gabor thinks green light’s very abundance is what makes it undesirable for both plants and solar cells. The more light you get in a particular wavelength, the more that signal fluctuates, making it harder to absorb it efficiently.

“Green light is very noisy just because there’s a lot of it in our solar spectrum,” he says. “The plants don’t actually want that very noisy light because it’s harder to fine-tune it to create a steady flow of energy.”

Richard Cogdell at the University of Glasgow, UK, is sceptical of that explanation, however.

“Biology hasn’t had freedom to choose which pigments it uses,” he says. “I think it’s smashing science in its own right, but the link to photosynthesis and the natural system is not there.”

Gabor remains confident in his model. “It’s based on very simple quantum mechanical rules, and from that emerges this idea that maybe plants have a very very good reason to be green,” he says. And the self-regulating, extra-efficient solar cells could be pretty good too.

Journal reference: Nano Letters, DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b03136

Andrew Castle reveals fears over possible historical abuse in tennis

Andrew Castle has raised concerns over the possibility of abuse in tennis

Former tennis professional Andrew Castle has warned tennis could potentially be the next sport to be hit by claims of historical abuse.

Speaking on his LBC radio show, Castle warned there was an unwelcome culture in the sport that existed which "may still be there and it [may] need to be investigated".

"We used to talk in changing rooms and with each other about it and you would say and there would be knowing glances that somebody was a bit of a wrong 'un," said Castle.

"That was just what people lived with, it was the culture of the time. There's no way I __can name names now. There's no way that even back then I could have pointed the finger and said, 'that person isn't right'.

"I wouldn't have done that publicly because it would have shattered their reputation and it would have cast aspersions on them and their character.

"Have I got specific examples, was I abused myself? No. Did I hear about things, did we think people weren't right in the game? Absolutely.

"What we are going to get, football started it, across sport is something so massive.

"If you're going to name names, you better give evidence, but the culture was there, it may still be there and it [may] need to be investigated."

Paralympic champion Gordon Reid ends year as world No 1

Gordon Reid: Ends 2016 as world No 1

Gordon Reid emulated his fellow Scot Andy Murray by defeating Stephane Houdet at the Wheelchair Masters to clinch the year-end world No 1 spot.

Reid has had a sensational year, winning grand slam singles titles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, along with doubles titles at the French Open and Wimbledon.

Moving on to the Paralympics in Rio, he defeated team-mate Alfie Hewett to take singles gold, having partnered Hewett to a silver medal in the doubles.

Reid arrived at the Wheelchair Masters at Lee Valley Tennis Centre on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park ranked second just behind Frenchman Houdet.

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But, after three wins in his group, the Scot put in a dominant performance to win 6-2 6-1.

He will face either Joachim Gerard of Belgium or Swede Stefan Olsson in the final on Sunday.

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The CEO of United Technologies just let slip an unintended consequence of the Trump-Carrier jobs deal The CEO of United Technologies just let slip an unintended consequence of the Trump-Carrier jobs deal

President-elect Donald Trump talks with workers during a visit to the Carrier factory, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016, in Indianapolis, Ind.AP Photo/Evan Vucci

Greg Hayes, the CEO of United Technologies, the parent company of air-conditioner manufacturer Carrier, just let slip a consequence of a deal struck to keep jobs in Indiana.

And American workers aren't going to like it.

Carrier said last month that it would keep more than 1,000 jobs across two locations in Indiana, following pressure from president-elect Donald Trump. The decision was touted as a win for the incoming president, who had pledged keep the jobs from moving to Mexico.

In a wide-ranging interview with CNBC's Mad Money with Jim Cramer aired December 5, Hayes set out the comparative advantages of moving to jobs to Mexico, the motivation behind his decision to keep those jobs in Indiana, and the ultimate outcome of the deal: there will be fewer manufacturing jobs in Indiana. 

Before we get to that

First, Hayes was asked what's so good about Mexico. Quite a lot, it turns out. From the transcript (emphasis added):

JIM CRAMER: What's good about Mexico? What's good about going there? And obviously what's good about staying here?

GREG HAYES: So what's good about Mexico? We have a very talented workforce in Mexico. Wages are obviously significantly lower. About 80% lower on average. But absenteeism runs about 1%. Turnover runs about 2%. Very, very dedicated workforce.

JIM CRAMER: Versus America?

GREG HAYES: Much higher.

JIM CRAMER: Much higher.

GREG HAYES: Much higher. And I think that's just part of these-- the jobs, again, are not jobs on assembly line that people really find all that attractive over the long term. Now I've got some very long service employees who do a wonderful job for us. And we like the fact that they're dedicated to UTC, but I would tell you the key here, Jim, is not to be trained for the job today. Our focus is how do you train people for the jobs of tomorrow?

So Mexico has cheaper labor with a much more dedicated workforce, and these are the kinds of low-skilled jobs most people don't find that attractive. Elsewhere in the interview, he made clear that United Technologies intends to keep engineering jobs in the US, and that these higher-skilled jobs are not at risk of being moved overseas. 

"The assembly lines in Indiana-- I mean, great people. Great, great people. But the skill set to do those jobs very different than what it takes to assemble a jet engine," he said. 

Hayes was then asked why he decided to cancel the move to Mexico. From the transcript (emphasis added):

GREG HAYES: So-- there was a cost as we thought about keeping the Indiana plant open. At the same time, and I'll tell you this because you and I, we know each other, but I was born at night but not last night. I also know that about 10% of our revenue comes from the US government. And I know that a better regulatory environment, a lower tax rate can eventually help UTC of the long run.

But here's the kicker

The result of keeping the plant in Indiana open is a $16 million investment to drive down the cost of production, so as to reduce the cost gap with operating in Mexico.

What does that mean? Automation. What does that mean? Fewer jobs, Hayes acknowledged.

From the transcript (emphasis added):

GREG HAYES:  Right. Well, and again, if you think about what we talked about last week we're going to make a $16 million investment in that factory in Indianapolis to automate to drive the cost down so that we can continue to be competitive. Now is it as cheap as moving to Mexico with lower cost labor? No. But we will make that plant competitive just because we'll make the capital investments there.

JIM CRAMER: Right.

GREG HAYES: But what that ultimately means is there will be fewer jobs.

The general theme here is something we've been writing about a lot at Business Insider. Yes, low-skilled jobs are being lost to other countries, but they're also being lost to technology. 

Everyone from liberal, Nobel-winning economist Paul Krugman to Republican Senator Ben Sasse have noted that technological developments are a bigger threat to American workers than trade. Viktor Shvets, a strategist at Macquarie, has called it the "third industrial revolution."

Hayes said in the same interview that United Technologies is focused on how to "train people for the jobs of tomorrow."

In the same breath, he seems to be suggesting the jobs it is keeping in Indiana are the jobs of yesterday.

Why baby flatfish grow into the wonkiest animals in the world

Noriyuki Otani / Alamy Stock Photo

By Alice Klein

The mystery of how a Japanese flatfish pushes both eyes to one side of its body has finally been unravelled.

When Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) are newly hatched, they have eyes on opposite sides of their heads just like most other fish.

But after three weeks, one eye migrates over the top of the skull to the other side.  The skin on the side of the body with two eyes then turns sand-coloured, while the other side stays pale.

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At this point, the fish tips sideways and swims flat against the ground. The side facing upwards has two eyes to look for prey and sea-floor colored skin for camouflage in what is some of the most asymmetric body shape of all vertebrates.

Although some invertebrates like sponges can be asymmetric, almost all vertebrates have the same left and right sides to promote efficient locomotion.

Skin activation

How this unusual configuration arises has long perplexed scientists. To look for clues, Manfred Schartl at the University of Würzburg in Germany, and his colleagues identified the genes that distinguish Japanese flounder from other fish.

From this, they discovered that Japanese flounder have light-sensitive proteins in their skin called opsins. These are normally found in retinal cells in eyes, where they convert light to electrochemical signals.

But in the flounder skin, they activate retinoic acid, which controls skin colour, and thyroid hormones, which influence body shape.

Schartl’s team also revealed that in the late larval stage, the fish swims upright but with a slight sideways tilt, so that sunlight hits it unevenly. This activates opsins to a greater extent on one side, leading to the eye and skin colour asymmetry that eventually allows the fish to flip sideways.

The process probably evolved from a random mutation that was naturally selected due to its advantage at the bottom of the ocean, Schartl says.

There are two main bonuses associated with being able to lie flat and blend into the sea floor, says Culum Brown at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. “One is that you can ambush prey and the other is that you can hide from predators,” he says. “Switch the position of one eye, change your pigmentation a wee bit, and you’re sorted.”

Journal reference: Nature Genetics, DOI: 10.1038/ng.3732

Trump nominates Ben Carson for secretary of housing and urban development Trump nominates Ben Carson for secretary of housing and urban development

Donald Trump with Ben Carson at a church service in Detroit on September 3. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

President-elect Donald Trump has picked Ben Carson to be his secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Carson, a retired neurosurgeon who faced off against Trump in this year's Republican primaries, is the first African-American nominated for Trump's Cabinet.

In a statement announcing the nomination, Trump referred to Carson's overcoming a troubled youth in Detroit to become head of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

"I am thrilled to nominate Dr. Ben Carson as our next secretary of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development," Trump said. "Ben Carson has a brilliant mind and is passionate about strengthening communities and families within those communities."

"I am honored to accept the opportunity to serve our country in the Trump administration," Carson said. "I feel that I can make a significant contribution particularly by strengthening communities that are most in need. We have much work to do in enhancing every aspect of our nation and ensuring that our nation's housing needs are met."

While Carson has been a strong Trump supporter since dropping his own bid for the Republican presidential nomination, he would enter with no experience working in government.

"He has no expertise in housing policy, but he did spend part of his childhood in public housing, said a close friend, Armstrong Williams, and he was raised by a dauntless mother with a grammar-school education," The New York Times reports.

Politico notes, however, that Carson has weighed in on housing policy before, specifically the Obama administration's new fair-housing rule.

"These government-engineered attempts to legislate racial equality create consequences that often make matters worse," Carson wrote in a 2015 op-ed article for The Washington Times.

"Based on the history of failed socialist experiments in this country, entrusting the government to get it right can prove downright dangerous," he added.

Carson had previously said he was not interested in a Cabinet position. He was rumored to be under consideration for secretary of education and secretary of health and human services.

The Hill reported in November that Williams, Carson's business manager and close confidant, said Carson wouldn't join the administration and would instead be an unofficial adviser after reports surfaced that Carson rejected an offer to be HHS secretary.

"Dr. Carson was never offered a specific position, but everything was open to him," Williams told The Hill. "Dr. Carson feels he has no government experience; he's never run a federal agency. The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency."

In an interview with Business Insider just before the election, Carson said, "I don't want to be a part of the administration."

"Not that I have anything against it," he said. "Just that I think my voice will actually be more valuable outside the administration. There are so many issues that affect our country right now, and we can't lose sight of them. So winning the election is really just step one."

"I'll continue to write, continue to speak publicly, and work on helping to focus us as a nation on what's really important," he said.

Allan Smith contributed to this report.