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Sunday, August 14, 2011

On endless ice, searching for clues to our future (AP) : Technet

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On endless ice, searching for clues to our future (AP) : Technet

On endless ice, searching for clues to our future (AP)

Posted: 14 Aug 2011 09:01 PM PDT

By CHARLES J. HANLEY, AP Special Correspondent Charles J. Hanley, Ap Special Correspondent – 47 mins ago

ON JAKOBSHAVN GLACIER, Greenland – The pilot eased his five-ton helicopter toward the glacier's rumpled surface, aiming for the lightest of setdowns atop one of the fastest-flowing ice streams on Earth.

David Holland's voice suddenly broke in on the intercom.

"Carl doesn't like this!" the scientist shouted. "Carl says it's snow bridges!" — drifts that can hide a deep crevasse.

The chopper pulled up sharply and veered off over the chaotic icescape of white knobs and pinnacles and bluish glints of meltwater, on to another, safer landing spot where Carl Gladish, Holland's lanky, ponytailed assistant, stepped cautiously off the skid and onto the ice, under the thudding rotor blades, to swiftly carry out his assigned task.

It was one of eight 2-minute touchdowns on which the New York University research team positioned instruments to measure the movement and internal cracking of Jakobshavn Glacier, a risky operation meant to shed light on one more tiny piece of the giant puzzle called Greenland.

Other scientists elsewhere were working on their own pieces, on demanding and often dangerous missions, sometimes in subfreezing temperatures and high winds, sleeping in tents on the ice, isolated for weeks at a time, linked tenuously by satellite phone.

On this same July day, Alun Hubbard was on a solitary trek to the north coast's spectacular, remote Petermann Glacier. Liz Morris was in the first hours of a monthlong research traverse along the hump of Greenland's vast, 3-kilometer-thick (2-mile-thick) ice sheet. Asa Rennermalm and her colleagues, at the ice's western fringe, were in their fourth summer of meticulous, tedious sampling of the meltwater flow from the interior.

Scattered across the world's largest island, as big as Alaska and California combined and 80 percent covered by ice, small bands of specialists tended to GPS sites and automatic weather stations, drilled down into the island's frozen cap, and analyzed the air and clouds overhead, working long hours under the midnight sun to help begin answering a crucial question:

How much of Greenland's ice will melt, and how quickly, in a world growing warmer, and warming fastest in the Arctic?

If all the ice eventually slipped into the ocean, it would be enough to raise global sea levels by 7 meters (23 feet). Even a fraction of that would inundate Bangladesh and south Florida, drown small islands, threaten Shanghai and New York.

But as temperatures rise from greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the answer isn't coming easily. The challenge — scientific, logistical — appears greater than the resources devoted to it.

This Greenland puzzle, and uncertainty over Antarctica's ice, led the U.N.-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to essentially disregard the impact on oceans of an accelerating polar melt. In its 2007 global warming report, the IPCC projected a sea-level rise of only 18 to 59 centimeters (7 to 23 inches) this century, mostly from water expanding when warmed.

But researchers have since determined that Greenland lost ice in the 2004-2009 period four times faster than in 1995-2000. This May, the eight-nation Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program forecast a much higher global sea-level rise — of 90 to 160 centimeters (35 to 63 inches) by 2100.

To those best informed, like Cambridge University's Morris, a polar research veteran, melt is inevitable in a place where temperatures over the ice sheet have risen by 2.2 degrees C (4 degrees F) in just 20 years.

"There's no way that you put greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and it won't warm and the ice won't melt," she said before setting out on her snowmobile expedition. "The uncertainty is when."

The "when" hinges on a web of variables in what Morris called Greenland's "massively complex" ice system.

When and where, for example, are warmer southern waters reaching Greenland's fjords, spreading under their glaciers? How effectively is meltwater percolating from the ice sheet's inland surface to its base, lubricating movement toward the sea? How much does snowfall — water drawn from the oceans — offset the melted ice?

Researchers long focused on southern outlet glaciers like the west coast's Jakobshavn, an awesome iceberg producer 6 kilometers (4 miles) wide, believed to be the Northern Hemisphere's biggest single contributor to ocean rise. The ice where doctoral candidate Gladish did his quick work is streaming toward the sea at a rate of 30 meters (100 feet) a day, twice as fast as in the 1990s.

The big melt is now moving northwest. Last year, U.S. and Danish scientists reported that "crustal uplift," the rising of land as the weight of ice melts away, was detected far up the coast.

"There are big red zones, big thinning rates going on in the far northwest, and that's bizarre because it's meant to be very cold up there," said Hubbard, of Wales' Aberystwyth University.

The ruggedly built British glaciologist spoke with a reporter at Kangerlussuaq, a southern research hub, hours before helicoptering off on a one-man mission to collect GPS and other data from Petermann Glacier, just 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from the North Pole.

A year ago, a 290-square-kilometer (110-square-mile) piece broke off giant Petermann and into the sea — a chunk of ice three times the size of Manhattan island.

But Hubbard, like others, said intensive research is now most needed deeper in the interior, to learn how the main body of ice is reacting to longer, warmer summers, and particularly whether meltwater pouring down to its base might cause "runaway instability" in the ice sheet.

He said the melt has moved inland up Greenland's icy dome to 1,500 meters (5,000 feet) elevation, some 120 kilometers (75 miles) in from the ice cap's edge.

This summer a U.S.-Swiss team was drilling boreholes into the ice sheet northeast of Jakobshavn Glacier to better understand how ice movement detected by GPS stations relates to the "plumbing," the under-ice meltwater system the boreholes find below.

Far up the slope, at the 3,200-meter-high (10,500-foot-high) frigid heart of the ice sheet, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) maintains its remote Summit Station research site, serviced by big New York Air National Guard LC-130 transport planes equipped with ski landing gear for the ice runway.

In small labs bristling with rooftop sensors, American researchers at Summit upgraded their instruments this summer to better study cloud formation and thickness, precipitation, the reflectivity of the snow and ice, and the presence of "black carbon," falling soot, that would dim that reflectivity and absorb warming sunlight.

Snowfall is key, but "we know so little detail about Greenland," said Summit visitor Erica Key, an Arctic program manager for the NSF, a major funder of Greenland research.

"Most models" — computer climate simulations — "block out Greenland as a black box," she said.

It was in Summit's thin air that 64-year-old Morris, her 155-centimeter (5-foot-1) frame bundled in orange cold-weather gear, set out with assistant John Sweeny on a one-month, two-snowmobile mission to supply her piece of the puzzle: measuring the snow density along a 400-kilometer (250-mile) route, to give the new European Cryosat 2 satellite some "ground truth" data to compare and calibrate with its own remote readings of ice thickness.

Those readings are badly needed. The European Union's first ice-surveying satellite failed on launch in 2005, and NASA's ICESAT orbiter stopped working in 2009, not to be replaced until at least 2015.

Any hard-won data emerging on the ice sheet's dynamics would help refine computer models for a better fix on how a warmer Greenland will produce higher seas. But modelers are short not only on satellite readings, but also on ground observations from a too-thin corps of scientists.

Below its gravelly fringe, near Kangerlussuaq, Rennermalm's team was measuring the volume of meltwater gushing down stream beds from the ice sheet — at up to 2.3 meters (7.5 feet) per second. But this was only one spot on a huge white map.

"I want to understand how much water is coming from the ice sheet," said the Danish researcher, a leader of the Rutgers-UCLA project. "But there are very few measurements like this in Greenland. This is a difficult place to do science, a logistical challenge."

Back up at Summit, two young Dartmouth College engineering graduates put one potential answer on display, testing the tiny, tractor-like "Yeti" autonomous robot over the ice. Like humans, Yeti could deploy ground-penetrating radar, meteorological gear and other research tools, say its designers, who envision hundreds crisscrossing Greenland offering up-to-the-minute data.

Someday. For now, NYU's Holland has opted for ringed seals, two sea mammals he fitted with instruments for recording temperature and depth in a southeastern fjord of interest — "researchers" whose findings were transmitted by satellite back to his NYU lab.

But two seals against 44,000 kilometers (27,000 miles) of Greenland coastline still come up short.

Solving the problem, said the veteran glaciologist, means accurately forecasting sea-level rise for particular regions over particular time periods. And "we don't have that capability yet."

He sees gaping holes: a need for new technology to comprehensively measure ocean temperatures; a need for an icebreaker dedicated to research in colder seasons.

"We are making a really noble effort," Holland said. "But if you ask me whether we are making adequate progress at an adequate pace, I'd say no."

The authoritative Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program, in its May report, seemed to agree. Greenland's ice sheet is expected to melt faster and faster, but the impact remains highly uncertain, it said, and only "more robust observational networks" can change that.

"The Fate of Greenland," a new book co-authored by glaciologist Richard Alley and other leading U.S. scientists, offers stunning photos of an extraordinary white world, and dark words of warning.

"Our lack of fundamental understanding of ice-sheet behavior leaves open the possibility that we could be greatly underestimating the rate of response to warming, with potentially major implications," they write.

The world must pay attention to Greenland, these scientists say, "because in the fate of Greenland lie clues to the fate of the world."

Greenland's ice: beauty and threat (AP)

Posted: 14 Aug 2011 09:01 PM PDT

– 44 mins ago

ILULISSAT, Greenland – Greenland's Inuit people have countless terms in their language to describe ice in all its varieties. This gallery of photographs by AP's Brennan Linsley likewise is something of a visual vocabulary for the striking and beautiful forms ice takes on and around the giant Arctic island.

Greenland's ice sheet and glaciers are melting more and more as the world warms, sending gushing water and towering icebergs into the sea, threatening to raise ocean levels worldwide in the years and decades to come. Researchers are hard at work trying to gauge how much will melt and when.

Some of the most spectacular icebergs are calved from the 6-kilometer-wide (4-mile-wide) Jakobshavn Glacier near this town on the west central coast, icebergs that push out into the 50-kilometer-long (30-mile-long) Ilulissat Ice Fjord, and then into Disko Bay and eventually the North Atlantic.

The ice, much of it tens of thousands of years old, originates in the 1.7-million-square-kilometer (660,000-square-mile) ice sheet covering 80 percent of Greenland.

Sales of gold up on eBay amid stock market turmoil (AP)

Posted: 14 Aug 2011 10:56 AM PDT

By RACHEL METZ, AP Technology Writer Rachel Metz, Ap Technology Writer – Sun Aug 14, 1:56 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – For gold sellers on eBay, the recent stock market turmoil has been a boon for business. Gold and silver sales on eBay had already been rising steadily over the past several years — so much so that eBay Inc. created a special area in May to make it easier for buyers to find sellers.

Now, activity on that part of the site, the Bullion Center, is intensifying as consumers unnerved by the economic uncertainty flock to gold in hopes it will be a stable investment.

"When people are coming down to the question, `Do they want to have cash in the bank or gold in their hands?' the answer is they'd rather have gold or silver," said Jacob Chandler, CEO of Great Southern Coins, the largest seller of precious metals on eBay.

The stock market just ended one of its most volatile weeks in years, prompted in part by a downgrade in the nation's credit rating and fears of another recession. The Dow Jones industrial average fell nearly 6 percent on Monday, its worst one-day drop since December 2008. Then the index rose Tuesday, fell Wednesday and rose Thursday and Friday to end the week 2 percent lower than a week ago.

Through most of last week, the average selling price increased for gold bullion — bars or coins stamped with their weight and level of purity.

According to the most recent data available from eBay, sales of 1-ounce gold American Eagle coins and 1-ounce gold Pamp Suisse bars rose steadily from Aug. 5 to Wednesday, before dipping slightly on Thursday.

On Aug. 5, when Standard & Poor's lowered the nation's credit rating, American Eagle coins were selling for an average of $1,800 among eBay's featured sellers. The average price of the coins, produced by the U.S. Mint, rose more than 8 percent to $1,952 on Wednesday, before dropping to $1,915 on Thursday.

The Pamp Suisse brand of gold bars sold for an average of $1,787 on Aug. 5 and climbed nearly 8 percent to $1,927 by Wednesday. On Thursday, the bars dropped slightly to $1,890.

Even before last week's market turbulence, investors were cautious because economic signals in the U.S. and overseas pointed toward trouble.

The Dow index fell 6 percent in the week ending Aug. 6. That week, the number of gold buyers on eBay rose 11 percent compared with the year's weekly average. The number of gold sellers rose 14 percent. EBay would not provide the total number of buyers and sellers.

"With all the turmoil in the markets, this is seen as a way to diversify," said Anthony Delvecchio, eBay's vice president of business management and strategy for eBay's North America business.

EBay, which is based in San Jose, Calif., does not impose minimum purchase amounts for bullion. Sellers offer gold both through auctions and "Buy It Now" fixed-price sales.

The increased popularity of gold on eBay echoes what's happening in the broader gold market, where prices have spiked during the past two years.

Gold traded at about $900 per ounce in the summer of 2008, before the financial crisis unfolded that year. It passed $1,600 in late May and briefly rose above $1,800 for the first time on Wednesday before pulling back to $1,784. On Friday, gold fell to $1,740.60 per ounce, still nearly twice the summer 2008 prices.

Great Southern Coins has benefited from this uptick. Chandler said the company is selling more gold lately, and its silver sales remain strong, too. Chandler estimated his business has nearly quadrupled in the past 45 days, and he said it appeared to be up about five or six times during the past week, with most of this growth coming from sales on eBay.

Daniel Hirsch, a New York-based statistician who recently purchased more than a dozen gold coins on eBay from Great Southern Coins, said he started buying gold less than a year ago in an effort to expand his investment portfolio.

"It's kind of a safe haven and a hedge against low interest rates," he said.

Robo roaches dance to Gaga, not born this way (Yahoo! News)

Posted: 12 Aug 2011 05:34 PM PDT

Interactive YouTube Video Lets You Control Skateboarder's Tricks [EXCLUSIVE] (Mashable)

Posted: 13 Aug 2011 09:04 AM PDT

Charlie White Charlie White – Sat Aug 13, 12:04 pm ET

[More from Mashable: Turntable.fm For Video: Introducing Chill]

This interactive YouTube video lets you instantly skip from one segment to the next, deciding exactly what you'll see and when you'll see it. Using keyboard keys 4 through 9, you can replay the skateboard tricks, skip others, and create your own rhythmic masterpieces on the fly.

The promotional YouTube video, dreamed up by the Interactive Marketing Team at Coca-Cola Germany for Sprite Zero, minimizes branding because its creators "wanted the focus to be on the content and the interactivity." They added, "This sort of video is quite different from what we at Coca-Cola usually do, in terms of 'edginess' and branding."

[More from Mashable: The Making of iPad Head Girl [VIDEO]]

Shot in Berlin in early August, the spot's production team gave us this exclusive first look for North America before the video goes live next week. We think it's exceptionally well done, and were amused by the excellent audio track, arty shooting, and the responsiveness of the "skipping" function.

Nice video, but will it sell more sugar water?

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Boxee introduces iPad app for users and nonusers alike (Appolicious)

Posted: 14 Aug 2011 06:00 AM PDT

How Long Until Your IPhone Goes Obsolete? (ContributorNetwork)

Posted: 14 Aug 2011 12:36 PM PDT

Jared Spurbeck Jared Spurbeck – Sun Aug 14, 3:36 pm ET
Contribute content like this. Start here.

In The Story of Electronics, Annie Leonard explains how today's electronic gadgets are "designed for the dump" -- made to be used for a little while, then thrown away so you can buy the next year's model. And as I pointed out in an article, some Android smartphones seem especially dump-worthy, as they're confusing and underpowered and not really worth holding onto.

Not all smartphones are like this. I'm personally an Android fan, and I love my HTC Aria that I bought last year. But what about iPhone owners? The iPhone's still the most popular smartphone, and easily outsells any one Android device. How long will you be able to hold onto yours, and what'll get you to buy a new one?

The upgrade cycle

Apple fans are stereotyped as being sheep, who drink the Kool-Aid given out by Steve Jobs and rush to buy each new Apple device. The irony, though, is that Apple products are often better-designed and better supported than anything else on the market. I had to reinstall everything on my phone and use a Windows app, to upgrade it to the Froyo version of Android. But in the time since I purchased my smartphone, iPhone owners have seen numerous iOS updates. These upgrades add new features for free, and increase the value of the iPhone you already own.

The thing is, after awhile Apple stops supporting its older devices. iOS simply becomes too advanced to run on older, slower iPhones, and so if you're still using one you're stuck on the old version, the way that I am with my Android phone. That not only means no more new features for free, it also means certain apps will stop working.

A closer look

If you don't mind a bit of technical jargon, Marco Arment, the developer of the popular Instapaper app, wrote an article about how and why he's planning to "break" his app on older iPhones.

First he shows graphs and charts, which show that very few of his customers are using his app on older devices anymore; fewer than 5% are using devices older than the iPhone 3GS, which was introduced in 2009. And fewer than 1 in 200 customers are using first-generation iPhones and iPods, which will no longer be able to use his app soon.

Next, he explains why he's breaking compatibility with older devices: "Development and testing of the new release with iOS 4's luxuries has been more productive and efficient than ever. My code is cleaner, I've deleted a lot of old hacks, and I'm able to do a lot of new features with far less code (like gesture recognizers)." In a nutshell, using Apple's new technology makes things easier on him as an app developer, just as it makes things more convenient for iPhone owners. And that productivity is worth more to him, and to Apple, than continuing to support the 2007 iPhone.

Four years, tops?

In the footnotes, Marco explains how he hopes not to lose iPhone 3G and second-generation iPod Touch owners until late 2012. That gives them -- at least for his app -- a lifespan of roughly four years.

Even before that time, though, you'll start to notice new apps coming out that won't work on your phone, just because it's not powerful enough. And if you bought it on contract, you'll have been offered an upgrade after only one or two years; even a $199 iPhone 4 is only as expensive as three months' wireless fees.

The upshot

If you're attached to your smartphone already -- or you're short on cash, or concerned about the environment -- an upgrade might not be such a tempting prospect. If you do decide to purchase a new phone, however, consider recycling or donating your old one. The Story of Electronics' website has helpful links, that will show you the most environmentally conscious way to recycle your old iPhone.

Just remember that the greenest phone is the one you already have ... and the second-greenest is the one that you love so much that you don't part with it, 'till it's worn out.

Android tabs move on Apple iPad, but problems lurk (Appolicious)

Posted: 14 Aug 2011 11:30 AM PDT

Hackers protest BART decision to block cellphones (AP)

Posted: 14 Aug 2011 08:33 PM PDT

By JOHN S. MARSHALL, Associated Press John S. Marshall, Associated Press – 1 hr 14 mins ago

SAN FRANCISCO – Hackers broke into a website for San Francisco's mass transit system Sunday and posted contact information for more than 2,000 subscribers, the latest showdown between anarchists angry at perceived attempts to limit free speech and officials trying to control protests that grow out of social networking and have the potential to become violent.

Bay Area Rapid Transit officials blocked underground cellphone service for a few hours Thursday at several stations as protesters tried to use social networking to organize a demonstration over the recent fatal shooting of a 45-year-old man by police. The decision was criticized by many as heavy handed, and some raised questions about whether the move violated free speech.

The hacker group known as Anonymous responded Sunday by posting the names, phone numbers, and street and email addresses of a Bay Area Rapid Transit website's subscribers. The hackers got the information from a database of 55,000 subscribers who receive alerts and other information from the transit agency's MyBart.org, BART spokesman Jim Allison said.

He did not know if the group had obtained information from all the subscribers. No personal financial information, such as bank accounts or credit card information was listed, according to Allison.

Bay Area Rapid Transit district officials said they were attempting to shut down the hackers' website, which contained the confidential information. The agency has notified the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, Allison said.

"We are Anonymous, we are your citizens, we are the people, we do not tolerate oppression from any government agency," the hackers wrote in an online posting. "BART has proved multiple times that they have no problem exploiting and abusing the people."

Laura Eichman was among those whose e-mail and home phone number were posted.

"I think what they (the hackers) did was illegal and wrong. I work in IT myself, and I think that this was not ethical hacking. I think this was completely unjustified," Eichman said.

She said she doesn't blame BART and feels its action earlier in the week of blocking cell phone service was reasonable.

"It doesn't necessarily keep me from taking BART in the future but I will certainly have to review where I set up accounts and what kind of data I'm going to keep online," Eichman said.

The group Anonymous, according to its website, does "not tolerate oppression from any government agency," and it said it was releasing the User Info Database of MyBart.gov as one of many actions to come.

"We apologize to any citizen that has his information published, but you should go to BART and ask them why your information wasn't secure with them. Also do not worry probably the only information that will be abused from this database is that of BART employees," the statement said.

Facing backlash from civil rights advocates and one of its own board members, BART has defended the decision to block cell phone use, with spokesman Jim Allison saying the cell phone disruptions were legal because the agency owns the property and infrastructure.

"I'm just shocked that they didn't think about the implications of this. We really don't have the right to be this type of censor," Lynette Sweet, who serves on BART's board of directors, said previously. "In my opinion, we've let the actions of a few people affect everybody. And that's not fair."

BART officials on Sunday were also working a strategy to try to block plans by protesters to try to disrupt BART service Monday.

"We're making preparations to try to prevent any unsafe conditions on the platform," Allison told the San Jose Mercury News. "I'm not going to discuss any specifics, other than to say we're preparing."

The American Civil Liberties Union has also questioned Thursday's incident. The ACLU has a scheduled meeting with BART's police chief on Monday about other topics and the cellphone issue will added be to the agenda, spokeswoman Rebecca Farmer said.

___

Associated Press writer Terry Tang in Phoenix also contributed to this report.

Wii U tablet's tech specs slip out in Nintendo patent filing (Digital Trends)

Posted: 14 Aug 2011 12:26 PM PDT

Adam Rosenberg Adam Rosenberg – Sun Aug 14, 3:26 pm ET

Gamers left wondering about what Nintendo's upcoming Wii U console can do have some new facts to mull over thanks to a patent filing for the device's tablet-like controller (via Joystiq). While most of the components were already revealed, things like the touchscreen and gyroscope, there is also mention of a magnetometer and flash memory in the documentation.

The most common usage for a magnetometer that most of us are familiar with would be a cellphone's compass. Such a component could also potentially be used to pick up non-touch gestures made in close proximity to the device, though a magnet would need to be worn on your hand to take advantage of that.

As for the flash memory, it's there and it's separate from the CPU's dedicated memory. No specifics are offered on what purpose it will serve, though it's not surprising to see it included. The tablet is presumably going to be sending and receiving plenty of data, and having that added space to work with ought to be helpful.

You can check out the filing for yourself online.

Anomaly Warzone Earth HD tops iPad Games of the Week (Appolicious)

Posted: 14 Aug 2011 02:00 PM PDT

Paris Hilton loses cellphones on plane to Manila (AP)

Posted: 14 Aug 2011 07:38 PM PDT

– 2 hrs 9 mins ago

MANILA, Philippines – Paris Hilton is suffering a new bout of cellphone drama. The heiress-turned-TV star reportedly lost two mobile devices on a flight to the Philippines for a visit to promote a hotel resort.

Television footage showed Hilton combing through a bag looking upset while she was surrounded by airline staff at the Manila airport late Sunday after arriving from Dubai.

Manila radio station DZBB reported that airport and airline authorities are investigating.

In 2005, hackers gained access to Hilton's Sidekick cellphone and famously splashed the private mobile numbers of her celebrity friends online.

The latest loss apparently didn't leave Hilton completely cut off — she greeted fans with a tweet "I love you" in the local Tagalog language.

Facebook adds another app to its arsenal with Messenger (Appolicious)

Posted: 14 Aug 2011 10:30 AM PDT

China Bright Food to buy Manassen for over $516 million (Reuters)

Posted: 14 Aug 2011 02:48 PM PDT

By Denny Thomas Denny Thomas – Sun Aug 14, 5:48 pm ET

HONG KONG (Reuters) – China's state-owned Bright Food Group has agreed to buy Australian branded food business Manassen Foods, giving it an enterprise value (EV) of over A$500 million ($516 million), a person with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Sunday.

Bright Food is buying 75 percent stake in Manassen, which is being sold by CHAMP Private Equity. The deal will mark Bright's biggest ever overseas acquisition, the person said, after missing out on some offshore transactions in previous few attempts.

Existing shareholders and management will continue to own the rest of Manassen Foods, the source added.

The Shanghai-based Bright Food has been actively looking for acquisitions overseas to boost its profile and cater to a rapidly growing domestic market. However, it has been unsuccessful so far with a string of failed bids that includes CSR's (CSR.AX) sugar business and French yoghurt maker Yoplait.

"Bright Food has big plans for Manassen and this gives them a beachhead in Australia," the person added.

Bright Food, which makes the famous "White Rabbit" candy, was also reportedly in talks to buy U.S. nutritional retailer GNC and Britain's United Biscuits, but talks fell apart over pricing, terms and uncertainty over regulatory approval.

Despite the setbacks, Bright Food is keen to expand into overseas markets to grow its dairy, sugar, wine, food industry and agriculture businesses among others, a company spokesman previously said.

Last year, the company bought a controlling stake in New Zealand's Synlait Milk.

The source said an announcement regarding Manassen's purchase is expected as early as Tuesday after the two companies formally sign the deal on Monday. CHAMP, an Australian buyout fund, acquired Manassen Foods in 2006. It owns Sunbeam and Angus Park dried fruits and Margaret River Dairy.

The source declined to give Manassen's equity value, but including debt Manassen will have a total value of more than A$500 million. Food Holdings Pty, the parent of Manassen Foods, had earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of A$50.4 million for the 12 months ended June 2010, according to company accounts.

CHAMP, which ran a dual-track IPO and sale process, finally agreed to sell the business to Bright Food as the IPO markets in Australia have been extremely tough. There has been a drought in Australian share offerings due to soft equity markets, with two floats pulled in June and no IPOs worth more than A$100 million reaching the market.

The source declined to be identified as the deal was not public yet. Bright Food and CHAMP could not be reached for an immediate comment.

Nomura Holdings is advising Bright Food, while UBS (UBSN.VX) and Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) are advising Manassen.

(Reporting by Denny Thomas; Editing by Mike Nesbit)
at 9:48 PM

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