Monthly Archives: January 2014

R.I.P. John Dobson

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Ever heard of the Dobsonian telescope? Or of the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers? The amateur astronomer John Dobson who founded the Sidewalk Astronomers and did so much more besides died on January 15, 2014, leaving a legacy thats sure to endure.

John Dobson is a hero to all who love astronomy, telescopes, and astronomy for the public. Hes been called the Pied Piper of Astronomy, and the Star Monk. As described in his bio on the website of the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers, he is:

arguably one the most influential personalities in amateur astronomy in the last 50 years. He has almost single-handedly revolutionized backyard astronomy by bringing it out to the street, making it accessible for anyone who has ever looked up in wonder, and asked Why?

Born in Peking (Beijing), China in 1915 to a family of musicians and intellectuals, Dobson joined the Vedanta Monastery in San Francisco in 1944, becoming a monk of the Ramakrishna Order. He built his first telescope in 1956 and was said to be so fascinated with what he saw that he said to himself:

Everybodys got to see this.

Telescopes at the time were complicated and expensive pieces of equipment, and Dobson was a monk, with no money. He ultimately developed what has come to be known as the Dobsonian telescope with an inexpensive mounting thats unique is its simplicity, moving up and down, left and right. The design for these telescope mounting has been duplicated by countless amateur astronomers who wanted to find an inexpensive way to build what they needed to peer up at the night sky.

But Dobson didnt stop there. In 1968, he founded the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers, who began bringing astronomy to the streets and to parks. His efforts inspired amateur astronomers around the world to share their equipment and their knowledge with the public at regular star parties. If youve ever attended a star party, its perhaps thanks to John Dobsons early efforts.

A note at John Dobsons Facebook page yesterday said:

It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we have to report the passing of Mr John L. Dobson. He died peacefully this morning, January 15th, 2014, in Burbank, California. He was 98. John leaves behind a son, many close friends, and legions of friends, fans, and admirers around the globe.

ISAN 7 (International Sidewalk Astronomy Night) will be held in honor of John on March 8th. Amateur astronomers worldwide can join in and celebrate his life by carrying the torch that John lit back in 1968 when he co-founded the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers.

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R.I.P. John Dobson

Marvin Minsky, 2013 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge in Technologies – Video

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Marvin Minsky, 2013 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge in Technologies
The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Information and Communication Technologies category goes in this sixth edition to American Marvin Min...

By: Ruth Barrientos

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Marvin Minsky, 2013 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge in Technologies - Video

‘Intelligence’ showrunners address comparisons to ‘Chuck’: ‘We never watched it’

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Many have been comparing the new CBS drama "Intelligence" to NBC's cult favorite spy series "Chuck." Makes sense: Both have a main character with upgraded artificial intelligence implanted in their brains that help them save the world, one spy mission at a time.

Of course, the differences between the two shows are pretty major: "Intelligence" is a serious drama, while "Chuck" had all the makings of a quirky romantic comedy. But the similarities couldn't be ignored during the TCA winter press tour panel for "Intelligence" on Wednesday (Jan. 15), and executive producers Tripp Vinson, Michael Seitzman and Barry Schindel addressed the inevitable elephant in the room: Did "Chuck" influence "Intelligence" in any way?

According to Vinson, not at all. "We're embarrassed to say that neither of us watched ['Chuck'], so obviously it wasn't an influence for us because we hadn't seen it," Vinson says of himself and Seitzman. "We did a lot of research about how [technology] like this could exist and work -- like Google Glass was in the news quite a bit. so that was more of an influence."

Seitzman was quick to add that while they weren't "Chuck" viewers themselves, they'd definitely welcome that fandom with open arms. "'Chuck' has this amazing fanbase that is enviable," Seitzman says. "We keep hearing from them online. They definitely have an invitation to our party, let's put it that way. They're an amazing group of fans and we'd love to have them."

The "Intelligence" showrunners actually think it's better that they never watched "Chuck" to begin with, lest they accidentally plagiarize any story lines at four in the morning when a deadline is quickly approaching. "You don't want to steal anyone's idea so it's actually a good thing that we stayed away," Seitzman says. "It's better for us if we keep our distance."

That doesn't mean, however, that the actors didn't watch. "I've seen 'Chuck' and I liked 'Chuck,'" "Intelligence" starJosh Holloway says. "The difference [between the two shows] is Chuck could download things and learn to do things and [my character] can't do that."

"Intelligence" airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on CBS.

Photo/Video credit: CBS

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'Intelligence' showrunners address comparisons to 'Chuck': 'We never watched it'

Global Nanomedicine Market is Expected to Reach USD 177.60 Billion in 2019: Transparency Market Research

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Albany, New York, USA (PRWEB) January 15, 2014

According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research "Nanomedicine Market (Neurology, Cardiovascular, Anti-inflammatory, Anti-infective, and Oncology Applications) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share,Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2013 - 2019," the market for nanomedicine was valued at USD 78.54 billion in 2012 and is expected to reach a value of USD 177.60 billion in 2019, growing at a CAGR of 12.3% from 2013 to 2019.

Browse the full report with complete TOC at http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/nanomedicine-market.html

The advent of new applications and technology in the field of nanomedicine will be one of the major growth factors for the global nanomedicine market. In addition, increase of funding aimed at boosting the research activities pertaining to nanomedicine by the government as well as private institutions will expedite the process of commercialization of new products and hence will drive the market. Other driving factors include rising base of geriatric population, presence of high unmet medical needs and rising worldwide incidences of chronic diseases.

The global nanomedicine market by applications was dominated by the oncology market with a market share of approximately 38.0% in 2012 on account of the presence of high number of commercialized products in this segment. Development of nanomedicine products enabling drugs crossing blood brain barrier and targeting the tumor in brain and at other sites in the body will prove to be a significant future growth driver for this market.

However, the global cardiovascular market for nanomedicine is the fastest growing application segment. Factors such as the presence of large patient prevalence coupled with rising demand for nanotechnology enabled drugs and devices catering to this segment, attribute to its high growth rate.

Related Report: Oxygen Concentrator Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/oxygen-concentrator-market.html

North America dominated the market in 2012 and is expected to maintain its market position till 2019. However, theAsia-Pacific market is estimated to grow at a faster pace (CAGR of 14.6% from 2013 to 2019).Europe is expected to grow at a relatively higher rate compared to North America owing to constantly improving regulatory framework and the presence of an extensive product pipeline portfolio.

Some of the key players in the global nanomedicine market include GE Healthcare, Merck & Co Inc., Abbott Laboratories, Pfizer Inc., Nanosphere Inc., Mallinckrodt plc, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals Inc., Celgene Corporation, Novavax, Inc.; Life Technologies, MagArray, Inc., Gilead Sciences Inc. and others.

Browse All Market Research Reports: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/

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Global Nanomedicine Market is Expected to Reach USD 177.60 Billion in 2019: Transparency Market Research

James Brennan: A profession in crisis

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Almost a decade ago, a single question completely changed my life.

Sitting in my catechism classroom with a dozen other 5th graders, we had just finished discussing some Biblical story and the instructor was taking a short break to transition to our next subject. I raised my hand and she called on me.

How do we know any of this is real? I asked.

This question was not some type of challenge to authority or cross-examination it just seemed natural that I should ask for confirmation about all of these fantastic stories I was being exposed to. Rather than my teacher citing historical record or some scientific study which was for some reason what I expected her to do she simply responded by saying, We just have to believe. Thats what it means to have faith. You just believe.

All of a sudden my perceptions of God, religion and the meaning of life were completely shattered. By the time I reached middle school I had completed my transition to agnosticism, on my way to full-blown atheism.

It all started with a single question, one that challenged the status quo and, in essence, authority.

Today, American political and media culture seems far too afraid of these types of questions. Im not talking about questions challenging religion, but rather questions that ask for hard verification of what were all told every day. Journalists and citizens alike take too many statements at face value, backing down from challenging people in power and asking them to verify what they claim. Despite an established history of government and big business peddling half-truths and flat-out lies about their more controversial activities, we too often sit back and accept what people or organizations say rather than what they actually do.

Years after asking my catechism teacher to prove what she was telling me, I found myself sitting in another classroom facing a similar situation.

Last June, journalist Glenn Greenwald began publishing articles with The Guardian about the vast meta-data collection of the NSA thanks to documents provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden. In my public policy class we spent time debating the merits of our massive intelligence state, with a central question asking whether or not such a huge system was necessary. Like seemingly all debates about the NSA, the conversation quickly became a matter of safety weighed against liberty.

Most of my classmates were apprehensive about such an invasive surveillance system, but deferred to threats of terrorism as justification for its existence. Over and over again, students shot down any challenge to the NSAs behavior by referencing the claim that meta-data had stopped some 50 terrorist plots. It seemed to be a closed case; programs like PRISM were saving American lives, plain and simple.

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James Brennan: A profession in crisis

New tool assists stem cell therapy

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Published:Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Updated:Tuesday, January 14, 2014 18:01

A new tool that could help facilitate future stem cell therapy has recently been identified by a UVM professor and his colleagues, according to UVMs College of Medicine.

The development of this tool could potentially help more than 700,000 Americans who suffer a heart attack each year.

Because stem cells have the potential to develop into a variety of cell types in the body, they may offer a renewable source of replacement cells to treat diseases, conditions and disabilities, and even regenerate damaged tissue and organs.

However, the field of regenerative medicine has struggled to successfully graft cells from culture back into injured tissue.

UVM Associate Professor of Medicine Jeffrey Spees, Ph.D., collaborated with the Center for Gene Therapy at Tulane University. His research team recently set out to develop ways to enhance graft success.

Dr. Spees and his team focused on a type of bone marrow-derived progenitor cell or biological cell that forms stromal cells or connective tissue cells.

They found that the medium contained Connective Tissue Growth Factor (CTGF) and the hormone insulin, and together, they have a synergistic effect, Spees said to UVMs College of Medicine.

The group found that the protective ligands resulted in improved graft success, breaking the record for engraftment.

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New tool assists stem cell therapy