Facebook revamps Messenger for Android with friendlier chats, teases core app update soon (update: part of a fast update strategy)

Facebook revamps Messenger for Android with friendlier chats, teases core app update soon

Facebook has already been making its mea culpas for the state of its main Android app, and it's showing further atonement through an Android-first update to its Facebook Messenger companion release. The new app is imbued with a "more conversational" (if fairly familiar-looking) bubble-driven layout for chats. Likewise, it's easier to see if a conversation is needed in the first place: a friend status list is always available with a swipe, while fresh support for texting directly from Messenger can keep the discussion flowing when SMS comes into play. Android users can get the Messenger upgrade today, with promise of an iOS equivalent soon. The regular Android app is getting an update as well, although we wouldn't cry with joy just yet: it's more of a parallel to the Messenger update than the speed-up that some of us crave.

Update: The company's Christian Legnitto has posted a lengthy explanation that the Messenger rework and the core Facebook update (already available) are part of a new strategy that brings Android and iOS updates at regular intervals, rather than waiting solely for major features. If all goes well, the social network can provide speed upgrades and bug fixes at a much quicker pace.

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Researchers identify possible key to slow progression toward AIDS

Thursday, September 20, 2012

One of the big mysteries of AIDS is why some HIV-positive people take more than a decade to progress to full-blown AIDS, if they progress at all.

Although the average time between HIV infection and AIDS in the absence of antiretroviral treatment is about 10 years, some individuals succumb within two years, while so-called slow progressors can stay healthy for 20 years or longer.

Researchers already know that many slow progressors carry a gene called HLA-B*57 (B57), an immune gene variant that is found in less than 5 percent of the general population but in 40 to 85 percent of slow progressors. Yet even among those with the B57 gene, the speed of disease progression can vary considerably.

Now, a group of investigators from the Multi-Center AIDS Cohort Study (MACS), housed within the UCLA AIDS Institute, may have uncovered the key to this variation. It is a killer T-cell immune response that occurs early on in HIV infection and targets a section ? or epitope ? of the HIV protein called IW9.

The novel findings are featured on the cover of the October issue of the Journal of Virology.

"Since the hope for a vaccine is that it would elicit immune control, the thought has been that understanding how B57 protection works would yield helpful lessons and principles for vaccine design," said Catherine Brennan, an assistant research scientist in the department of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the study's lead author. "There have been a lot of efforts to understand how the immune response to HIV in B57 carriers is superior to the response in non-B57 carriers, but it has been hard to nail anything down conclusively."

HLA-B genes are known to work by activating killer T cells that recognize unique sections of proteins, or epitopes, but it has been a mystery which section or sections of HIV protein HLA-B57 and the killer T cells work through.

Previous research had largely focused on the killer T-cell response after several years of infection. However, Beth D. Jamieson, a professor of medicine at the Geffen School of Medicine and the study's principal investigator, believes that the most critical responses are likely to occur early during infection, when the T cells are still strong and can reduce the number of places where HIV hides out in the human body.

Researchers have studied the immune response in the early months of infection, but since it is not easy to predict at early stages which people will ultimately become slow progressors, correlating early immune responses with long-term outcomes has been difficult.

"What made this kind of study possible for us is the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study, which is an incredible longitudinal study," Brennan said.

The MACS has been freezing blood samples every six months since 1984 from thousands of men either at risk of HIV infection or already infected.

"The size and duration of the study, along with the careful documentation of participant health and stewardship of frozen samples, allowed us to recover blood samples taken shortly after HIV infection from 14 HLA-B57 carriers with known infection dates and known long-term outcomes," Brennan said. "This allowed us to correlate early immune responses with long-term outcomes."

It was important to the researchers to compare only the killer T-cell responses among those with the B57 gene variant, instead of comparing the responses of those with and without B57. Although B57 carriers have, on average, much better prognoses than non-carriers, there is tremendous variability among the population, and not all do well, Jamieson said.

"Since possession of the B57 variant is not sufficient, we wanted to determine what specific immune events in B57 carriers are associated with immune control of the virus," she said. "We found that those who targeted the IW9 epitope early in infection had significantly longer times until onset of AIDS than those who did not. The finding that targeting of IW9 seems to be important is novel, as this epitope had been overlooked in many earlier studies of B57 and HIV."

The researchers cautioned that the study was based on a small sample of only 14 individuals and that a wider pool of subjects is needed to replicate their findings. Also, their results point to a correlation with ? not causation of ? slower disease progression among B57 carriers who target the IW9 epitope soon after HIV infection.

"This work, although not powered by a large cohort and necessarily exploratory in nature, does suggest that the role of IW9 targeting in B57-mediated protection merits closer attention," the researchers conclude. "Understanding the detailed mechanisms by which B57 is associated with slow progression to disease will reveal underlying principles of immune control of HIV-1, which is critical for the development of rational vaccine-design strategies."

###

University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences: http://www.uclahealth.org/

Thanks to University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/123675/Researchers_identify_possible_key_to_slow_progression_toward_AIDS_

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Romney campaign looks to shift focus to Obama clip | KDVR.com ...

Posted on: 1:25 pm, September 19, 2012, by Eli Stokols, updated on: 07:46pm, September 19, 2012

DENVER ? After two days of brutal press coverage over Mitt Romney?s videotaped remarks that 47 percent of Americans are dependent on government, the Republican?s presidential campaign is trying to shift the focus to another clip of audio and a statement President Barack Obama made 14 years ago.

Explaining his own statement about the poor as an ?inartful? attempt to articulate a belief in individualism and the free-market system, Romney is pointing to an Obama statement about redistributing wealth in order to sharpen the distinction.

Audio of Obama speaking at a 1998 Loyola University conference first surfaced Tuesday afternoon. Obama can be heard suggesting that society needed to find a way to ?structure government systems that pool resources and hence facilitate some redistribution, because I actually believe in redistribution, at least at a certain level, to make sure that everybody?s got a shot.?

Almost immediately, Romney and his campaign, in full damage control mode, began referencing the Obama clip in interviews and press releases.

?The president?s view is one of a larger government; I disagree,? Romney told Fox News host Neil Cavuto on Tuesday. ?I think a society based on a government-centered nation, where government plays a larger and larger role, redistributes money, that?s the wrong course for America.?

Romney made the same argument in a column for USA Today Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Romney?s top Colorado surrogates echoed that argument at a press conference at the campaign?s Lakewood headquarters and even argued that it was the Obama campaign, not Romney?s, trying to change the subject.

?He wants to talk about this [video] because he doesn?t want us to talk about the failures of his record,? said Ryan Call, the Colorado GOP chairman. ?So in terms of changing the conversation, it?s the Obama campaign doing that. Mitt Romney continues to talk about his vision for a free and prosperous America.?

Bob Beauprez, Romney?s most visible surrogate in Colorado, admitted that Romney?s comments ?probably [weren't] the most eloquent way to make a point.

?But the larger point is what kind of America do we want?? Beauprez continued. ?Do we want an America where increasingly more and more people are dependent on government to help take care of their family? Or do we want an America where once again people can find good paying jobs and move up the economic ladder. We still call that the American Dream.?

White House press secretary Jay Carney Wednesday called the GOP attack the sign of a ?desperate? campaign that is having a ?very bad week.?

Romney?s, secretly videotaped at a private fundraiser for big donors in May, said that 47 percent of Americans, those who support the president, don?t pay taxes and depend almost entirely on the government.

?[M]y job is is not to worry about those people,? Romney said. ?I?ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.?

For those remarks, Romney has been pummeled ? both by Democrats in Colorado and across the country and by many conservative commentators, lamenting that he appears to blowing his chances of winning the White House in what should be a good year for the GOP.

The comments are already the focus of a new television ad from Priorities USA, the Super PAC supporting the president, which begins with a snapshot of the lavish mansion where Romney?s controversial comments were made.

On Tuesday, Ann Romney, the candidate?s wife, told FOX31 Denver in an exclusive interview that her husband was talking about poverty in American and said that he harbors no disdain for the poor.

Source: http://kdvr.com/2012/09/19/romney-campaign-looks-to-shift-focus-to-obama-clip/

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Don't Miss this Spacious South City Home | Saint Louis Real Estate ...

Don?t Miss this South City Home

Don?t Miss this  South City Home

Possible Short Sale

2145 Mccausland Ave, St Louis 63143-2537

Elegant 5 bedroom, 2 bath home! Gleaming hard wood floors, open floor plan, newer 2 car garage and updated kitchen! This is an excellent short sale opportunity. Forget doing cosmetic work, all you have to do is move in to this home! 2 main floor master bedrooms and full bath, spacious entry foyer offers plenty of light through the decorative windows. Kitchen is large and connects to screened in porch to enjoy a cup of coffee or entertain. Decorative fireplace, built-in window seat, Wood paneling, Built in Butlers pantry?lots of room to grow! Roof, privacy fence and garage are newer, bright kitchen completely remodeled with newer island and cabinets. home sold as is but in excellent condition!!

Listing Price: $140,000


Check out St. Louis CIty!
Enjoy all the conveniences of City living. Whether you?re single or part of a family, a sports fanatic or culture enthusiast, a fitness buff or movie expert, you will love St. Louis. The city has so much to offer. We?re more than the Arch, we?re a community. Learn More about St. Louis City!

For questions or to set up a tour of this home call:

314.802.0797

For a 24 Hour toll free Recorded message about this home call:

866-993-2410 Home ID #1220

Priya Soni: I am a positive, self motivated person, and I love my job! Ignore all the bad news you hear, it isn?t true. Right now is the best time to take advantage of the real estate market. I look forward to helping you sell your home or buy the home of your dreams, and becoming your trusted source for real estate.


Search for more Saint Louis Homes:

If you are trying to sell your home or if you are looking to purchase a new home , contact one of our professional agents. Visit Hermann London for the latest MLS listings and search homes in your area. You can also find helpful information on Foreclosure Listings, information on Preventing Foreclosure and Short Sales. Please contact us at 314.802.0797 if our agents can be of any assistance.


Source: http://www.hermannlondon.com/blog/dont-miss-this-spacious-south-city-home/

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Name Your Own Price for $340 Worth of Mac Apps, a Portion Goes to Charity [Bundles]

Name Your Own Price for $340 Worth of Mac Apps, a Portion Goes to CharityOS X: Bundles are one of the best ways to get a great discount on software. This one is pretty unique. Up for grabs are 9 award-winning Mac apps worth $340?but you pay what you want. 10% of that goes to a select charity of your choice.

The 9 apps are:

  • MacFlux 4: web design program (one of our favorite WYSIWYG editors)
  • Typinator: text expansion app
  • ForkLift 2: dual-pane file manager with syncing, also useful for file transfers
  • iDocument: document management app
  • iClip: clipboard manager
  • MacCleanse 3: delete unwanted files
  • Sparkbox: capture and organize visual inspirations (see our review here)
  • Jaksta Music Converter: converts to/from all popular audio formats
  • skEdit: HTML editor

Many of these are alone well worth the $11 or so average price users are currently paying for the bundle. If you pay $49, you're still getting the bundle for 85% off the total value.

A really great bonus is that part of the proceeds go to charity, your choice of: Electronic Frontier Foundation, Charity Water, or Stand Up To Cancer.

There's one catch: To get all 9 apps, you have to choose a price higher than the average everyone else is naming (currently that's $11.76, which comes out to $1.31 per app). If you name a price below that, you'll get 6 of the apps?all of them except MacFlux4, ForkLift 2, and Typinator.

The deal ends in 15 days, so go name your price, grab some useful apps, and donate to charity all at the same time.

The Name Your Own Price Mac bundle | Stack Social

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/iA_yoDMi85o/name-your-own-price-for-340-worth-of-mac-apps-a-portion-goes-to-charity

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Prince Harry unharmed after Taliban attack in Afghanistan - NATO

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/prince-harry-unharmed-taliban-attack-afghanistan-nato-065716924.html

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Cause of chemotherapy resistance in melanoma found

ScienceDaily (Sep. 17, 2012) ? Researchers with UC Irvine's Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a major reason why melanoma is largely resistant to chemotherapy.

UCI dermatologist Dr. Anand Ganesan and colleagues found a genetic pathway in melanoma cells that inhibits the cellular mechanism for detecting DNA damage wrought by chemotherapy, thereby building up tolerance to cancer-killing drugs.

Targeting this pathway, comprising the genes RhoJ and Pak1, heralds a new approach to treating the deadly skin cancer, which claims nearly 10,000 U.S. lives each year. Study results appear online in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

"If we can find a way to turn off the pathway responsible for this resistance, melanoma tumors would suddenly become sensitive to therapies we've been using for the last 20 years," said Ganesan, assistant professor of dermatology and biological chemistry at UCI.

In pursuit of a cause for the chemo tolerance, he and his colleagues performed a genome-wide scan for genes controlling drug resistance in melanoma cells. Their search identified RhoJ, a gene normally involved in blood vessel growth. They saw that in response to drug-induced DNA damage in a melanoma cell, RhoJ activated another gene, Pak1, which initiated a molecular cascade suppressing the cell's ability to sense this damage -- and blocking the apoptosis process.

"Normally, such drug-induced DNA damage would result in cell death," Ganesan said. "But this blunting of DNA damage response allows melanoma cells to mutate and proliferate. Being capable of rapid adaptation and change is a hallmark feature of this challenging form of cancer and makes it very difficult to treat."

On the heels of this discovery, he and colleagues have begun exploring methods to inhibit the genes responsible for this DNA damage tolerance. What they come up with could one day supplement chemotherapy treatments for melanoma, Ganesan added.

Hsiang Ho, Jayavani Aruri, Rubina Kapadia and Hootan Mehr of UCI and Michael A. White of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas participated in the study, which received support from the National Institutes of Health, the University of California Cancer Research Coordinating Committee, the American Cancer Society, Outrun the Sun Inc. and the Robert A. Welch Foundation.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - Irvine.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. H. Ho, J. Aruri, R. Kapadia, H. Mehr, M. A. White, A. K. Ganesan. RhoJ and Pak Kinases Regulate Melanoma Chemoresistance by Suppressing Pathways that Sense DNA Damage. Cancer Research, 2012; DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-12-0775

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/TdqfxrpfVKY/120917132351.htm

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iPhone 5 Meta-Review: A Better iPhone In Every Way [Iphone 5]

The first reviews of the iPhone 5 are out and everyone's in unison: the larger screen, the impossibly thin (and light!) body and the increased speed all make for the best iPhone ever. But is it for you? More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/2bLHN1HPe_8/iphone-5-meta+review-a-better-iphone-in-every-way

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Most coral reefs are at risk unless climate change is drastically limited

ScienceDaily (Sep. 16, 2012) ? Coral reefs face severe challenges even if global warming is restricted to the 2 degrees Celsius commonly perceived as safe for many natural and human-made systems. Warmer sea surface temperatures are likely to trigger more frequent and more intense mass coral bleaching events. Only under a scenario with strong action on mitigating greenhouse-gas emissions and the assumption that corals can adapt at extremely rapid rates, could two thirds of them be safe, shows a study now published in Nature Climate Change. Otherwise all coral reefs are expected to be subject to severe degradation.

Coral reefs house almost a quarter of the species in the oceans and provide critical services -- including coastal protection, tourism and fishing -- to millions of people worldwide. Global warming and ocean acidification, both driven by human-caused CO2 emissions, pose a major threat to these ecosystems.

"Our findings show that under current assumptions regarding thermal sensitivity, coral reefs might no longer be prominent coastal ecosystems if global mean temperatures actually exceed 2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level," says lead author Katja Frieler from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. "Without a yet uncertain process of adaptation or acclimation, however, already about 70% of corals are projected to suffer from long-term degradation by 2030 even under an ambitious mitigation scenario." Thus, the threshold to protect at least half of the coral reefs worldwide is estimated to be below 1.5 degrees Celsius mean temperature increase.

A more comprehensive and robust representation than in previous studies

This study is the first comprehensive global survey of coral bleaching to express results in terms of global mean temperature change. It has been conducted by scientists from Potsdam, the University of British Columbia in Canada and the Universities of Melbourne and Queensland in Australia. To project the cumulative heat stress at 2160 reef locations worldwide, they used an extensive set of 19 global climate models. By applying different emission scenarios covering the 21st century and multiple climate model simulations, a total of more than 32,000 simulation years was diagnosed. This allows for a more robust representation of uncertainty than any previous study.

Corals derive most of their energy, as well as most of their famous color, from a close symbiotic relationship with a special type of microalgae. The vital symbiosis between coral and algae can break down when stressed by warm water temperatures, making the coral "bleach" or turn pale. Though corals can survive this, if the heat stress persists long enough the corals can die in great numbers. "This happened in 1998, when an estimated 16% of corals were lost in a single, prolonged period of warmth worldwide," says Frieler.

Adaptation is uncertain and ocean acidification means even more stress

To account for a possible acclimation or adaptation of corals to thermal stress, like shifts to symbiont algae with a higher thermal tolerance, rather optimistic assumptions have been included in the study. "However, corals themselves have all the wrong characteristics to be able to rapidly evolve new thermal tolerances," says co-author Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, a marine biologist at the University of Queensland in Australia. "They have long lifecycles of 5-100 years and they show low levels of diversity due to the fact that corals can reproduce by cloning themselves. They are not like fruit flies which can evolve much faster."

Previous analyses estimated the effect of thermal adaptation on bleaching thresholds, but not the possible opposing effect of ocean acidification. Seawater gets more acidic when taking up CO2 from the atmosphere. This is likely to act to the detriment of the calcification processes crucial for the corals' growth and might also reduce their thermal resilience. The new study investigates the potential implications of this ocean acidification effect, finding that, as Hoegh-Guldberg says: "The current assumptions on thermal sensitivity might underestimate, not overestimate, the future impact of climate change on corals."

This comprehensive analysis highlights how close we are to a world without coral reefs as we know them. "The window of opportunity to preserve the majority of coral reefs, part of the world's natural heritage, is small," summarizes Malte Meinshausen, co-author at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and the University of Melbourne. "We close this window, if we follow another decade of ballooning global greenhouse-gas emissions."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. K. Frieler, M. Meinshausen, A. Golly, M. Mengel, K. Lebek, S. D. Donner, O. Hoegh-Guldberg. Limiting global warming to 2??C is unlikely to save most coral reefs. Nature Climate Change, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/NCLIMATE1674

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/Q1lxAUZ2UFk/120916160926.htm

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RolePlayGateway?

IDES: The Shattered Phase

In this Compendium, we are going to be taking a look at the varied races, factions, technology, and other useful information contained in the world of IDES. This Compendium is an ever-expanding database that will provide you with the knowledge of the universe that makes up this epic storyline.

RACES

Aeons- Self-proclaimed "master race" of the universe, the Aeons are a hyper-intelligent, all-seeing race of beings that are responsible for the construction of the universe. It is unknown whether they even exist within the universal dimensions, or outside of them. Little to nothing is known about these beings, but they have left evidence regarding their hand in the universe's birthing on worlds all over their expansive creation. They seek to end the Fourth Phase by choosing a Catalyst to unleash their superweapon: the cosmic being called Argus.

Humans- Although they are the youngest race in the universe, humans are, if nothing else, very flexible and possess an ingenuity about them unseen in any other race. While not as technologically advanced as the other races, humans have made their way into the far reaches of space, utilizing their adaptability and resourcefulness to accomplish any goal set before them. Truly, they are a very interesting race, despite being of very simple biological makeup. Humans can be anywhere from one to eight feet tall.
Image

Thalians- Thalians are the first extraterrestrial race to come into contact with the humans, originating from the planet Balsted. Initially, they had waged a massive war spanning some five years. With the unrelenting fortitude of the humans and the stubborn and tactful nature of the Thalians, the two races eventually underwent a truce, signing a peace treaty known as the "New Regard Compact," thereby making humans and Thalians allies in militaristic and diplomatic affairs, as well as establishing an industrial trading relationship. Thalians are adapt users of augmentation and energy weapons, combining the two into their military armor. Their biological makeup is a very confusing concept, as their genetic code is derived into system very unlike a human's DNA "ladder." Instead, a Thalian's genes are not observed as spirals, but as individual, self-replicating cells. Can be anywhere from ten to twelve feet in height, with augmentation, and between eight to nine feet without it, although it is hard to find a Thalian without augments. Their hard outer skin makes them resistant to most weather conditions, but they have low visibility in the dark. Thalians, like humans, reproduce sexually. However, Thalians are hermaphroditic, and each partner can can, during mating, choose which gender role to play.
Image

Dell'kar- The Dell'kar are a giant insectoid-like species of the desert planet Geshmire, standing anywhere from sixteen to twenty and a half feet tall. Interesting traits other than their size includes their many spindly appendages and their insect-like exoskeleton. The head of a Dell'kar is the most fascinating: It contains antennae protruding horizontally from both ends, capable of receiving radio, sound, and brain waves with great intensity. They stand on four stalky legs which support their elongated bodies, with arms that protrude from underneath their torsos as well. These long arms allow for them to grab objects without having to bend, making them efficient at capturing their prey. Dell'kar can be mostly compared to spiders on Earth. Upon the first contact with the human race, the Dell'kar reacted in a docile and welcoming fashion, exhibiting a strong urge to learn about this young species. Dell'kar communicate with all beings telepathically, but understand spoken words from other species. Almost every being in the Dell'kar species exhibits a beyond genius-level intellect. Dell'kar reproduce by regeneration. Normally a male Dell'kar, after reaching a certain age, will lose one of its limbs. From the limb a new Dell'kar is born, and the father regrows the lost arm. Newborn Dell'kar retain the knowledge of the parent through genetic coding. The offspring is either male, which are capable of reproduction, or female, which are not.
Image

Carriens- A warrior race since the beginning of the universe, the Carriens have long been the rivals of the Thalians, until recently. Now, they share somewhat cool relations, what with the invading Ern and the terroristic assaults from the Federation. Originally from the planet Nizo, the Carriens have since migrated to colonies after the Nizo Event of 2258, in which their planet was reduced to a barren wasteland by plasma blasts from Thalian Phalanx ships. Carriens thrive off of helium; they need no food, water, or anything else any other species would need to function so long as they have helium. The downside to this is, if they breathe anything other than helium, they die a slow, agonizing death as their respiratory system collapses. Therefore, they wear apparatuses that pump helium into the four 2" holes in their faces that act as their mouths. Deadly with almost all forms of weapon, the Carriens are regarded as the ultimate warriors of the universe. They have neglected to allign themselves with either the Concordance or the Federation, and instead founded the mercenary unit called The Gunslingers, alongside a group of human enthusiasts. Here, they have developed their own weapons and technology, and profit from the Concordance-Federation-Ern war that is currently all the rage in the galaxy. Carriens reproduce through external fertilization. Carriens are always around seven feet tall, disregarding mutations accounted for.
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Ern- Horrid-looking creatures with only the thought of conquest in mind, the Ern are a race of brutal and militaristic creatures bent on universal domination. Their physical appearance is intimidating: midnight-colored skin, hulking physique, and a patch of flesh covering all but their gnarled teeth. Despite this, Ern have perfect sight, and see with natural thermal optics granted to them by their mismatched genetics. Their technology isn't very advanced compared to the other races, their weapons composed of hefty masses of parts that launch giant shards of metal at their opponents, but what the Ern lack in technological advancement, they well make up for in numbers and indomitable will. They are a force to be reckoned with, and are feared despite their inferior technology. Their home planet, Hu'tun, is a planet made entirely of molten rock and laced with wide chasms and crags. The Ern are adapted to hellish environments, which makes them ever more lethal. Ern reproduce using parthenogenesis, meaning they lay eggs that don't need to be fertilized to hatch. The eggs are expelled from the mouth, and take anywhere from two to four years to grow to complete size. Ern can be anywhere from six to nine feet tall.
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Ro'ch'eck- This particular being is a cunning predator, despite its meager appearance. If standing, the Ro'ch'eck is around five to five and a half feet tall. It is a quick, merciless, and rather primal killer. It lacks the ability to speak or utilize compassion. All the Ro'ch'eck know are their instincts: when they grow tired, they sleep. And when they grow hungry, they hunt and feed....on anything. Their biology allows them to blend into their environment, like a chameleon. They reside on the planet Ackunn, but reports have shown them on various other planets as well. Autopsies suggest they are a relative species of the Dell'kar, possibly a devolved offspring. Conversely, it is thought that the Dell'kar evolved from these predatory monsters. The Ro'ch'eck operate by stalking their prey, and kill by jumping upon their target embracing it in a death grip with its eight limbs, crushing their prey before devouring them piece by piece, sometimes saving portions of the carcass for later consumption.
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The Salvation- A race of beings known only as, collectively, The Salvation. They are a corrupted experiment of a race of beings long-since extinct whose names have drifted, forgotten within the binds of history. However, they did leave behind their legacy of monstrous sentient machines. Originally created to solve such devastation as disease, famine, and even death, these beings are no more than heartless killers whose sole purpose is to infect and recruit new members into their ranks. Within each individual unit of this collective force of homicidal machines is an array of nanomachines that act in lieu of organic biological components. Every unit within The Salvation bears a sharp, steel proboscis within its right hand, which is used to pierce into the flesh of organic lifeforms and transfer a set number of these nanomachines into the victim's internal system. The machines attach to and hostilely take over the cells, using them to replicate more and more of the nanomachines until there are enough of them to attack the organs and other body parts. The host is then transformed into a machine from the inside out, its skin turned into a hard metal armor; some would call this a parasitic form of reproduction. The Salvation are impervious to conventional bullets and explosives, and only energy weapons that can doll out super-charged beams are enough to melt through them. Sizes vary on host.
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