Monthly Archives: August 2017

Let’s learn from South Korea’s success – News24

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South Africans are sitting on a ticking economic time bomb, and we need to do all we can to ensure that it does not detonate.

On releasing the quarterly Labour Force Survey for the second quarter this week, Statistician-General Pali Lehohla said the labour absorption rate which is a proportion of those who are employed among the population aged 15 to 64 declined by 0.4 of a percentage point to 43.3%.

Youth unemployment is close to 56%, which means that 3.3 million of our young people are idle and not taking up any form of education or training.

South Africa and South Korea celebrated enjoying 25 years of diplomatic relations last week. This milestone could not have come at a better time in light of the current economic challenges we face and the ANCs upcoming elective conference in December.

The occasion afforded the ANC an opportunity to reflect on the progress of the National Development Plan and the lessons to be learnt from South Korea. It was also a chance for the governing party to analyse models that could accelerate the process of economic transformation.

Asias fourth-largest economy launched its first five-year economic development plan 14 years ago. It triggered the Republic of Koreas economic transformation. The country succeeded in achieving land reform and economic growth simultaneously, something that we are also striving for.

South Korea, now a major role player among the worlds top exporting nations, implemented its plan by focusing on developing its industrial sector. This bore fruit, resulting in the growth of its exports.

At the same time, South Korea directed its attention towards developing its rural and agricultural sector. Success at this endeavour also contributed to the countrys robust and sustained economic growth.

Three principles

South Africa must examine how South Korea managed to develop its rural areas by considering the political initiative known as the Saemaul Undong movement, which began in 1970.

This movement, aimed at modernising South Koreas rural economy, spread like wildfire as it gained buy-in from the citizenry.

The successful campaign was spearheaded by then president Park Chung-hee, who said: I am convinced that if we care for our communities with our own hands in a spirit of self-reliance and independence, doing our work by our own sweat, then soon our living standards will improve and we can remodel our communities into neat and attractive places to live.

In South Africa, the reality is that we remain stuck in a situation akin to pre-1970s South Korea, as much of our economic growth attained thus far is urban-based. Rural areas have been left out. And poverty is still very much a rural reality.

The situation cannot be left unchanged. For South Africa to learn from the Korean movement, the ANC leadership must understand the three principles that underpinned it.

Firstly, emphasis was placed on self-help and on improving village conditions, roads, irrigation and water supply, and the overall upkeep of the surroundings. In all participating villages, government supplied raw materials to the inhabitants free of charge and, on the basis of voluntary labour, let the locals decide what to do. Where roads were built, stream embankments repaired and other agriculture infrastructure set up, the equity realised lay in the voluntary labour.

The second phase saw the growth of self-reliance. Education and training were the impetus behind projects and served to instil the ideology of Saemaul Undong in villagers, inspiring them to come up with ways to raise their income and upgrade their skills and craftsmanship. Farming schools in particular offered courses in spiritual enlightenment aside from modern farming technologies, as well as practical lessons on how to operate and maintain farm equipment.

By the third stage, the movement had attained full development. There were many success stories involving cooperatives in villages and towns, along with a nationwide call for social reform.

The National Development Plan is a detailed blueprint for how South Africa can eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030. The plan has various objectives, such as reducing unemployment by 6% by creating more than 5 million jobs.

Perhaps the main lesson to be gleaned from Saemaul Undong is that South Africa must become less reliant on government to solve its problems. If each of us contributes to providing a solution to the scourge of poverty, which breeds inequality, something greater can result.

As ANC branches prepare to nominate a new leader, the focus must be on electing a cadre willing to take up the challenge of developing our rural and agricultural areas. In doing so, the dream of a progressive developmental state will be realised.

South Korea remains a beacon of hope for what can be achieved through visionary leadership, a love for ones nation, abhorrence of corruption, the determination to make the most of the little one has and leading by example.

Nhlapo is a former print journalist, TV executive and communication strategist

24.com encourages commentary submitted via MyNews24. Contributions of 200 words or more will be considered for publication.

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Let's learn from South Korea's success - News24

Cosmonauts launch 3D-printed satellite from space station – Space Daily

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During a lengthy spacewalk on Thursday, Russian cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Sergey Ryazanskiy released five mini satellites by hand, including one made almost entirely of 3D-printed materials.

Some new reports are claiming the satellite is the first built from 3D-printed components to be launched into space, but in June, NASA launched a cube satellite made almost entirely of 3D-printed materials.

NASA claimed the satellite was not only the first 3D-printed satellite launched into space, it was the lightest satellite ever launched, weighing just 64 grams.

The latest satellite launch marks the first time the Russian team has launched a 3D-printed satellite. The mini satellite was designed and built at Siberia's Tomsk Polytechnic University.

Tomsk TPU-120 will spend roughly six months in orbit. Scientists are keen to learn how the 3D-printed materials are weathered by space.

Three-dimensional printing has the potential to save aeronautics and satellite manufacturers time and money.

"We have satellites ready for launch that have 50 to 60 printed parts on them," Mark Spiwak, president of Boeing Satellite Systems International, told reporters during a press conference in March. "We are actively working with our suppliers on complex brackets and fittings that used to be machined parts. There is tremendous progress being made."

Four other nano-satellites were also hand-launched by Yurchikhin and Ryazanskiy, all weighing between 10 and 24 pounds. One of the nano-satellites was launched in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Sputnik 1 launch, the world's first artificial space satellite, as well as the 160th anniversary of the birth of Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, a pioneer in the fields of astronautics and rocketry.

During Thursday's spacewalk, the cosmonauts installed a series of struts and handrails outside the Russian module. Yurchikhin and Ryazanskiy also collected fresh dust samples as part of the ongoing effort to monitor microbial communities living on the space station.

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Cosmonauts launch 3D-printed satellite from space station - Space Daily

Assembly complete for Minotaur launcher at Cape Canaveral – Spaceflight Now

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A view of pad 46 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, where crews have stacked a Minotaur 4 rocket for launch Aug. 25. Credit: Orbital ATK

Using industrial cranes at a no-frills launch pad on the eastern tip of Cape Canaveral, a team of Orbital ATK and U.S. Air Force technicians have fully stacked a modified Cold War-era missile set for launch next week with a $49 million satellite built to track other objects in orbit.

The Minotaur 4 rocket, made up of five solid-fueled stages, is scheduled to fire into space from pad 46 at Cape Canaveral next Friday night, Aug. 25, at 11:15 p.m. EDT (0315 GMT on Aug. 26).

The mission has a four-hour window to lift off, or else wait until another day.

The spacecraft closed up inside the Minotaur 4s nose cone is named SensorSat. Developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technologys Lincoln Laboratory, the Air Force-funded mission will spend three years scanning orbital traffic lanes, detecting and tracking satellites and space debris in a belt nearly 22,300 miles (35,800 kilometers) over the equator.

Objects at that altitude remain over fixed geographic positions on Earth, making geostationary orbit an ideal location for military and commercial communications satellites, weather observatories, and intelligence-gathering spy craft.

SensorSat is managed by the Air Forces Operationally Responsive Space division, an office established in 2007 to investigate lower-cost satellites and launchers. The Air Force calls the mission ORS-5, the latest in a line of projects aimed at testing out new satellite and launch innovations.

The delivery and upcoming launch of ORS-5 marks a significant milestone in fulfilling our commitment to the space situational awareness mission and U.S. Strategic Command, said Lt. Gen. John F. Thompson, commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center and Air Force program executive officer for space. Its an important asset for the warfighter and will be employed for at least three years.

Next weeks nighttime blastoff will mark the first Minotaur launch from Cape Canaveral. Five Minotaur 4 rockets have launched on suborbital and orbital missions since 2010 from sites in California and Alaska.

The three main rocket motors that will power the Minotaur 4 into space came from stockpiles left over from the Air Forces retired nuclear-tipped Peacekeeper missiles. The rocket motors were filled with pre-packed solid fuel in the 1980s, then placed on alert in missile silos until the military decommissioned the Peacekeeper.

Two commercially-produced Orion 38 rocket motors built by Orbital ATK, the company charged with operating the Minotaur, will do the extra lifting to place SensorSat into orbit.

The Minotaur 4 usually flies with a single Orion 38 motor as a fourth stage, but SensorSats unusual orbit requires another boost.

The fifth stage motor will give the relatively small 249-pound (113-kilogram) SensorSat satellite a kick into an equator-hugging orbit at an altitude of approximately 372 miles (600 kilometers) at zero degrees inclination.

The Air Force paid $27.2 million for the launch, opting for a commercial-like launch service to keep costs to a minimum. Orbital ATK considered basing the launch from a Minotaur pad at Wallops Island, Virginia, but the site is too far north to reach the equatorial orbit needed on the ORS-5 mission.

Another option Orbital ATK briefly considered was setting up a temporary Minotaur launch pad at the European-run spaceport in French Guiana, just north of the equator, but Cape Canaveral eventually became the best choice once engineers devised a way to add another rocket motor on top of the Minotaur 4.

Ground crews at pad 46 topped off the Minotaur rocket Tuesday with the addition of the SensorSat satellite and the Orion 38 fifth stage motor already closed up inside the launchers nose shroud.

The first four stages of the Minotaur 4 will fire in quick succession in the first 15 minutes of the flight to climb into a preliminary parking orbit between around 248 miles and 372 miles (400 to 600 kilometers) above Earth. That temporary orbit will have a tilt of approximately 24.5 degrees to the equator.

During the 10-minute coast until ignition of the fifth stage motor, the Minotaur will release two CubeSats for an undisclosed U.S. government agency, and a three-unit shoebox-sized CubeSat for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA.

Seattle-based Spaceflight made arrangements for the CubeSats launching on the Minotaur 4.

The Minotaurs last firing will last a little over a minute.

The way to think of that fifth stage is its an insertion stage, said Phil Joyce, vice president of small launch programs at Orbital ATK. We used the standard Minotaur 4 to put us in a parking orbit And then that fifth stage Orion 38 is there to circularize and to do the plane change down to equatorial.

With stacking of the Minotaur 4 now complete, attention turns to testing the rocket.

Now were in the process of our post-stack verification tests, said Terry Luchi, Orbital ATKs Minotaur program manager. This is where well go through a series of avionics tests and verify that everything is still playing as expected.

A full mission dress rehearsal with the pad team and launch controllers is scheduled for Monday. The rest of the week leading up to launch day will be spent installing ordnance and preparing to arm the vehicle.

Luchi said the Minotaur team had to work around a busy launch manifest at Cape Canaveral. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took off last Monday, Aug. 14, and a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 booster launched Friday.

This is the first time that well take Minotaur out of the Cape. We have some experience in the past on other vehicles, but bringing Minotaur to the Cape obviously presents some challenges, Luchi said in an interview with Spaceflight Now.

Orbital ATK is preparing the Minotaur 4 for launch at pad 46, a rarely-used facility operated by Space Florida, the state government agency chartered to lure commercial aerospace business to the area. The last launch from pad 46 occurred in 1999.

The Minotaur launch team raised three inert Peacekeeper stages at pad 46 earlier this year in a pathfinder test to familiarize themselves with the ground facilities and verify their compatibility.

The Air Force-run Eastern Range is also getting acquainted with the Minotaur for the first time.

While there are no more Minotaur missions from Cape Canaveral on Orbital ATKs manifest, Luchi said the experience gained on the ORS-5 campaign could set the stage for future Florida-based flights.

I think were done with this one time (at Cape Canaveral), its going to be all that much easier in the future, Luchi said.

Orbital ATK has one more Minotaur 1 launch in its backlog from Wallops Island, Virginia, in late 2018. That flight, using a smaller version of the Minotaur based on retired Minuteman missile stages, will loft a classified spacecraft for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Joyce said Orbital ATK anticipates future Minotaur launch contracts from the U.S. government for small-class satellites. Because they use government-furnished rocket motors, the Minotaur 1 and 4 families are restricted from competing for commercial launch awards, a U.S. government policy that has drawn the ire of Orbital ATK, which sees privately-owned satellites in the Minotaurs lift envelope, including many U.S. payloads, going up on Indian, Russian and European launchers.

Proponents of the policy say that selling already-built missile motors into the commercial launch market would dampen innovation and keep new companies from introducing commercial rockets.

Several companies are working on commercial small satellite launch vehicles. Some have major strides, including a full-up test flight in the case of the U.S.-New Zealand company Rocket Lab, but none have successfully placed a payload into orbit.

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Assembly complete for Minotaur launcher at Cape Canaveral - Spaceflight Now

Pioneering ESA mission aims to create artificial solar eclipses – Spaceflight Now

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Due to launch together in 2020, the two satellites making up Proba-3 will fly in precise formation to form an external coronagraph in space, one satellite eclipsing the sun to allow the second to study the otherwise invisible solar corona. Credit: ESA

As skywatchers and scientists converge on a transcontinental band of totality for Mondays solar eclipse in the United States, engineers in Europe are building a unique pair of satellites to create artificial eclipses lasting for hours a feat that that could be a boon for solar physicists but will escape the view of Earth-bound spectators.

The European Space Agencys Proba-3 mission, scheduled for launch in late 2020, is made possible by two satellites, one about the size of a refrigerator, and another slightly smaller spacecraft with the rough dimensions of a coffee table.

The basic idea is to fly the smaller satellite directly between the sun and the field-of-view of cameras and instruments mounted on the bigger spacecraft, blocking the sunlight and revealing the glow of the suns corona, or super-hot atmosphere, and filament-like eruptions called solar flares.

The light coming from the surface of the sun is a million times brighter than the corona, requiring special measures to see the solar atmosphere.

The concept of obstructing the brightest light emanating from the sun to study activity around it is not new. Scientists have made observations of the corona for centuries during solar eclipses, and there are other space missions that carry coronagraphs, light-blocking discs buried inside telescopes used to make the relatively dim solar atmosphere visible.

But coronagraphs mounted inside telescopes are prone to stray light, a common problem in optics. Light escaping around the coronagraph disc can distort or mask views of the corona.

One simple way to think of the stray light problem is to compare an image of a total solar eclipse, a spectacular phenomenon where the faint corona suddenly springs into view. Holding your thumb over the sun at arms length does not produce the same result because sunlight has already been scattered by particles in Earths atmosphere.

One of the science goals of Proba-3 is to reproduce the conditions of a total solar eclipse as much as possible, said Andrei Zhukov, principal investigator for Proba-3s coronagraph at the Royal Observatory of Belgium, in response to questions from Spaceflight Now.

In general, the longer the distance between an observer or a camera and the object obscuring the sun, the better the result. Scientists also do not have to worry about atmospheric distortions in space.

This problem can be minimized by extending the coronagraph length, the distance between the camera and the disc, as far as possible but there are practical limits to coronagraph size, Zhukov said in an ESA press release.

Instead, Proba-3s coronagraph uses two craft: a camera satellite and a disc satellite, Zhukov said. They fly together so precisely that they operate like a single coronagraph, 150 meters (492 feet) long.

The duo will launch together into an highly elliptical, oval-shaped orbit around Earth taking the satellites as high as 37,611 miles (60,530 kilometers) and as low as 372 miles (600 kilometers).

In that orbit, the satellites will complete one lap around the planet every 19.6 hours. For six of those hours, cameras on Proba-3s larger satellite will have an artificial eclipse.

Proba-3 will see the features down to 34,500 miles (55,600 kilometers) from the sun about 8 percent of the solar radius resolving activity closer to the solar limb than any current space mission. Zhukov said ground-based observers looking at a total solar eclipse can still see more of the corona than Proba-3, but the advantage of a space mission is the eclipses longevity.

During two years of its nominal mission, Proba-3 will provide around 1,000 hours of coronal observations, Zhukov wrote in an email to Spaceflight Now. This has to be compared with several minutes of duration of natural eclipses during the same time.

Proba-3 will also be free from disturbances produced by the Earths atmosphere in all astronomical observations, Zhukov wrote.

ESA is developing the Proba-3 mission as an experimental demonstration, with scientific observations of the sun a secondary goal.

Engineers want to test out technologies for autonomous formation flying on Proba-3, which will use ranging measurements with the help of GPS navigation signals and optical sensors.

The two spacecraft will be connected with an inter-satellite radio link, and the so-called occulter satellite the smaller of the pair will carry low-power micro-thrusters for fine maneuvers, keeping the two vehicles positioned with millimeter precision.

Proba-3 will create an eclipse when the satellites are farthest from Earth. The satellites will passively drift apart during the rest of each orbit, a fuel-saving measure to minimize consumption of the missions limited supply of propellant.

The capabilities to be proved out on Proba-3 could be used on future missions to repair satellites in orbit or return samples from Mars, according to ESA.

Already approved for development as a tech demo mission, Proba-3 won the backing of ESAs science program committee earlier this year. The agencys scientific division will pay for Proba-3s science operations center to ensure astronomers get the most out of the project.

Proba-3 was scheduled for launch in 2019, but officials recently pushed back the missions liftoff to the fourth quarter of 2020.

The complexity in the development of the formation flying technology does not allow the launch in late 2019 as was planned earlier, Zhukov said. The project schedule is now consolidated, and the launch in the fourth quarter of 2020 is the new baseline. That does look feasible.

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Pioneering ESA mission aims to create artificial solar eclipses - Spaceflight Now

Astronauts showcase space art created with childhood cancer patients – SpaceFlight Insider

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Press Release

August 20th, 2017

The HOPE spacesuit was the first suit created by the Spacesuit Art Project. A third spacesuit, UNITY will be unveiled by the crew of the International Space Station. Photo Credit: MD Anderson Cancer Center / Spacesuit Art Project

Patients from around the world will have the opportunity to see a spacesuit art project they helped create. Astronauts currently living and working on the International Space Station will unveil the project at10:25 a.m. EDT(14:25 GMT) Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2017. The 20-minute Earth-to-space call will air live on NASA Television and the agencyswebsite.

Expedition 52 crew members will answer questions from international partner astronauts and several patients turned artists in Mission Control Houston. In the fall of 2016, spacesuit UNITY was created at cancer hospitals in Houston, Canada, Germany, Russia and Japan with collaboration from astronauts from NASA and its international partners ESA (European Space Agency), Roscosmos, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.

Three spacesuits, HOPE, COURAGE and UNITY, were created during the project. The UNITY spacesuit arrived to the station on SpaceXs Dragon spacecraft Wednesday, Aug. 16 along with more than 6,400 pounds (2,900 kilograms) of supplies and experiments.

The participating hospitals that helped create the UNITY spacesuit were:

Follow the Space Suit Art Project on Twitter athttps://twitter.com/Spacesuitart.

For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information, visit:http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv.

For more information about the International Space Station, visit:http://www.nasa.gov/station.

For more information about the International Space Station, visit:http://www.nasa.gov/station.

Video courtesy of MD Anderson Cancer Center

Tagged: Expedition 52 International Space Station MD Anderson Cancer Center Press Release Spacesuit Art Project The Range

The preceding is a press or news release either issued by one of the space agencies or by an aerospace firm or organization. The views expressed in the above post do not necessarily reflect those of SpaceFlight Insider.

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Astronauts showcase space art created with childhood cancer patients - SpaceFlight Insider

Nasa: July 2017 == record July 2016 – climate.nasa.gov

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A global map of the June 2017 LOTI (land-ocean temperature index) anomaly, relative to the 1951-1980 June average. View larger image.

July 2017 was statistically tied with July 2016 as the warmest July in the 137 years of modern record-keeping, according to a monthly analysis of global temperatures by scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York.

Last month was about 0.83 degrees Celsius warmer than the mean July temperature of the 1951-1980 period. Only July 2016 showed a similarly high temperature (0.82 C), all previous months of July were more than a tenth of a degree cooler.

Starting with this update, the previously used ocean data set ERSST v4 was replaced by the newer ERSST v5. This contributed to the changes of some of the data in last month's update. For more information, see theUpdates to Analysisand theHistory Pages.

The monthly analysis by the GISS team is assembled from publicly available data acquired by about 6,300 meteorological stations around the world, ship- and buoy-based instruments measuring sea surface temperature, and Antarctic research stations.

The modern global temperature record begins around 1880 because previous observations didn't cover enough of the planet. Monthly analyses are sometimes updated when additional data becomes available, and the results are subject to change.

For more information on NASA GISS's monthly temperature analysis, visitdata.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp.

For more information about NASA GISS, visitwww.giss.nasa.gov.

Leslie McCarthy, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, N.Y., 212-678-5507, leslie.m.mccarthy@nasa.gov

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Nasa: July 2017 == record July 2016 - climate.nasa.gov

Are you ready for the Great American Eclipse? These NASA astronaut saw one from space. – South Bend Tribune

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After more than 38 years 14,057 days to be precise the path of a total solar eclipse will traverse American soil. It hasnt happened anywhere in the U.S. since Feb. 26, 1979.

Millions of people from coast-to-coast will turn their gaze skyward on Monday hoping for a glimpse of whats being billed as the Great American Eclipse, so named because the eclipse will occur exclusively in the United States. Adding to the allure, it will be the first total solar eclipse to cross the entire country from west coast to east coast in 99 years.

Over the ages, more than 107 billion people are estimated to have inhabited the Earth. Fewer than 600 have escaped the planets gravitational bounds and flown into space. A group of fewer than 20, however, have seen a solar eclipse from space.

The latter group is expected to grow on Monday as the crew of the International Space Station is expected to catch a glimpse of the moons umbra the 70-mile-wide dark, inner shadow moving across the American heartland.

Its an awe-inspiring view for those fortunate enough to have the experience.

Were a very fortunate group, said Bill McArthur, a recently retired NASA astronaut and a veteran of four spaceflights. You realize very quickly youre very blessed to get to experience something like that.

McArthur would know. He was serving as commander and science officer of Expedition 12 aboard the International Space Station on March 29, 2006, when a total solar eclipse crossed the Earths surface from the eastern tip of Brazil across the Atlantic Ocean and portions of Africa before ending over portions of Mongolia.

Despite the countless hours astronauts spend training for each mission to space, McArthur said he didnt know about the eclipse until just a few days beforehand.

Theres always a bit of pressure to be as prepared as you can be knowing if you blink youll miss it, so to speak, McArthur said.

It was a similar experience for Donald Pettit, a current NASA astronaut and a veteran of three spaceflights.

You have this amazing view that you cant get any other way than being in space, Pettit said. You can see all these structural details the umbra, the penumbra (the moons lighter outer shadow) that astronomers and physicists through the ages never actually saw, yet they mathematically worked it out, and you get to see that they were right.

Neither McArthur nor Pettit has ever seen a total solar eclipse from Earth. While theyve both seen one from space, Pettit holds another distinction.

Ive seen two from orbit, Pettit said. Its about time I see one from Earth.

Pettits first encounter was with a total solar eclipse on Dec. 4, 2002, as part of Expedition 6 on the International Space Station. The second was an annular solar eclipse one where the moon isnt quite big enough to cover the entire sun so a narrow ring of fire is visible on the edge as part of Expedition 31 on May 20, 2012.

Its just amazing to be able to see whats going on on the scale of half a continent, Pettit said. Its something you cant see with your feet on the ground or in an airplane. You have to have the vantage point of being in space.

Many members of the Michiana Astronomical Society are hitting the roads for the eclipse.

The moons shadow will travel about 10,000 miles across the Earths surface, from the middle of the Pacific Ocean across the continental United States to the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. The umbra will spend about an hour and a half crossing 14 states from Oregon to South Carolina.

Linda Marks, the vice president of the Michiana Astronomical Society, said society members will be spread out from coast to coast.

Were pretty much everywhere, she said.

While all of North America will have a view of a partial eclipse, weather permitting, club members are hedging their bets on being in the path of totality. In South Bend, the moon is expected to block about 86 percent of the sun with the maximum eclipse coming at 2:22 p.m., according to NASA.

One of the clubs members, Granger resident Chuck Bueter, an amateur astronomer and past president of the society who hosts a blog at Nightwise.org, is heading for Idaho. Its not just the total eclipse hes hoping to see, however.

One of the many splendors of an eclipse is youve got all these people looking skyward, Bueter said. After the eclipse, keep looking up. With the new moon at night its going to be amazing stargazing.

As excited as Bueter is for this eclipse, hes equally excited for the next opportunity to see a total solar eclipse in the U.S. April 8, 2024. It will be another eclipse exclusive to North America as the umbra will cross Canada, Mexico and the United States. The part that has Bueter most excited is that unlike Mondays eclipse, the path of totality will cross Indiana, just south of Indianapolis.

Were going to have totality in Indiana, Bueter said. We should prepare now.

Having viewed Earth from the perspective of space on multiple occasions, both Pettit and McArthur said one of the aspects of Mondays eclipse that excites them is the opportunity it presents to pique the interest of the next generation of explorers and scientists.

Any time some natural event piques scientific interest in the public thats a good thing, Pettit said. Theres any number of things that happen that show science and math front and center in terms of trying to explain what is going on.

The universe is an amazing thing, yet so much of it is still a mystery, he said. The more we can inspire curiosity I think the better off we are in the long run. We have the next generation of adults that understand where we stand in the grand scheme of things, our place, our environment and how to be good stewards for future generations.

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Are you ready for the Great American Eclipse? These NASA astronaut saw one from space. - South Bend Tribune

NASA astronaut Mike Fincke talks solar eclipse – Grand Island Independent

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RAVENNA A couple hundred people poured into Ravenna High School to hear NASA astronaut Mike Fincke speak about the upcoming solar eclipse and his space experiences.

Mike was joined by his wife Renita, who is a NASA engineer who is working on figuring out how to keep astronauts healthy while in space.

The Ravenna Area Vision Fund sponsored the Finckes coming to town. Mike was selected by NASA in April 1996 and has been on several space missions. According to his bio, he was first assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Station Operations Branch, serving as an International Space Station Capsule Communicator. Hes also qualified to be a co-pilot on the Russian Soyuz TM and TMA spacecraft.

Mike currently serves as branch chief for the Commercial Crew Branch for NASA. He was on Expedition 9 in 2004 and Expedition 18 in 2008. He also was on the STS-134 mission in 2011. Total, he has spend 381 days, 15 hours and 11 minutes in orbit in space.

Mike outlined how unique the solar eclipse on Monday is. The totality that youre going to see on Monday is extremely special, Mike said.

He said hes never even seen anything like it, being in an area that is in the line of complete totality.

So when you ask NASA if we can send an astronaut, we say Yes!, Mike said, crediting the eclipses uniqueness.

He said not only is the eclipse unique, but its important in learning more about the sun. The more we learn about the sun, the more we can make life better on planet Earth, he said.

He showed video of his space adventures, including the fun things astronauts do: floating around acting like Iron Man in the space station, splashing floating bubbles of water in their face, and letting their hair go wild in the zero gravity.

It can turn these 40-year-olds into kids again, Mike said.

Gina McPherson, director of the Ravenna Chamber of Commerce, was clad in a sun costume. She said having Mike and Renita in Ravenna for a big event like the eclipse was huge. The Finckes spoke on Friday to Ravenna students and rode in Saturday mornings parade.

Its one thing to have a NASA astronaut here, but to have it be apart of the eclipse stuff takes it to a whole other level, McPherson said.

She also said having Renita speak to the students was great because shes an engineer in a male-dominated field. McPherson said the students took to Renita and were inspired.

Mike said being in space made him realize how beautiful our home planet is. He said he used to think Mars was his favorite planet until he was in orbit. He got to see the city lights, the water and land from way above.

Our Earth is the most beautiful planet in the solar system, Mike said, adding that we need to take care of it and each other.

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NASA astronaut Mike Fincke talks solar eclipse - Grand Island Independent

NASA, PBS Marking 40 Years Since Voyager Spacecraft Launches – Voice of America

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CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA.

Forty years after blasting off, Earth's most distant ambassadors the twin Voyager spacecraft are carrying sounds and music of our planet ever deeper into the cosmos.

Think of them as messages in bottles meant for anyone or anything out there.

Sunday marks the 40th anniversary of NASA's launch of Voyager 2, now almost 11 billion miles distant. It departed from Cape Canaveral on August 20, 1977, to explore Jupiter and Saturn.

Voyager 1 followed a few weeks later and is ahead of Voyager 2. It's humanity's farthest spacecraft at 13 billion miles away and is the world's only craft to reach interstellar space, the vast, mostly empty space between star systems. Voyager 2 is expected to cross that boundary during the next few years.

Each carries a 12-inch, gold-plated copper phonograph record (there were no CDs or MP3s in 1977) containing messages from Earth: Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, chirping crickets, a baby's cry, a kiss, wind and rain, a thunderous moon rocket launch, African pygmy songs, Solomon Island panpipes, a Peruvian wedding song and greetings in dozens of languages. There are also more than 100 electronic images on each record showing 20th-century life, traffic jams and all.

Tweets, photos

NASA is marking the anniversary of its back-to-back Voyager launches with tweets, reminiscences and still-captivating photos of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune taken by the Voyagers from 1979 through the 1980s.

Public television is also paying tribute with a documentary, The Farthest Voyager in Space, airing Wednesday on PBS at 9 p.m. EDT.

The two-hour documentary describes the tense and dramatic behind-the-scenes effort that culminated in the wildly successful missions to our solar system's outer planets and beyond. More than 20 team members are interviewed, many of them long retired. There's original TV footage throughout, including a look back at the late astronomer Carl Sagan of the 1980 PBS series Cosmos. It also includes an interview with Sagan's son, Nick, who at 6 years old provided the English message: "Hello from the children of planet Earth."

Planetary scientist Carolyn Porco who joined Voyager's imaging team in 1980 puts the mission up there with man's first moon landing.

'Iconic' achievement

"I consider Voyager to be the Apollo 11 of the planetary exploration program. It has that kind of iconic stature,'' Porco, a visiting scholar at the University of California-Berkeley, told The Associated Press on Thursday.

It was Sagan who, in large part, got a record aboard each Voyager. NASA was reluctant and did not want the records eclipsing the scientific goals. Sagan finally prevailed, but he and his fellow record promoters had less than two months to rustle everything up.

The identical records were the audio version of engraved plaques designed by Sagan and others for Pioneers 10 and 11, launched in 1972 and 1973.

The 55 greetings for the Voyager Golden Records were collected at Cornell University, where Sagan taught astronomy, and the United Nations in New York. The music production fell to science writer Timothy Ferris, a friend of Sagan living then in New York.

For the musical selections, Ferris and Sagan recruited friends along with a few professional musicians. They crammed in 90 minutes of music recorded at half-speed; otherwise, the discs would have held just 45 minutes' worth of music.

How to choose from an infinite number of melodies and melodious sounds representing all of Earth?

Beethoven, Bach and Mozart were easy picks. Louis Armstrong and His Hot Seven represented jazz, Blind Willie Johnson gospel blues.

Chuck Berry

For the rock 'n' roll single, the group selected Chuck Berry's 1958 hit "Johnny B. Goode." Bob Dylan was a close runner-up, and the Beatles also rated high. Elvis Presley's name came up (Presley died four days before Voyager 2's launch). In the end, Ferris thought "Johnny B. Goode'' best represented the origins and creativity of rock 'n' roll.

Ferris still believes it's "a terrific record'' and he has no "deep regrets'' about the selections. Even the rejected tunes represented "beautiful materials.''

"It's like handfuls of diamonds. If you're concerned that you didn't get the right handful or something, it's probably a neurotic problem rather than anything to do with the diamonds,'' Ferris told the AP this week.

But he noted: "If I were going to start into regrets, I suppose not having Italian opera would be on that list.''

The whole record project cost $30,000 or $35,000, to the best of Ferris' recollection.

NASA estimated the records would last 1 billion to 3 billion years or more potentially outliving human civilization.

For Ferris, it's time more than distance that makes the whole idea of finders-keepers so incomprehensible.

A billion years from now, "Voyager could be captured by an advanced civilization of beings that don't exist yet. ... It's literally imponderable what will happen to the Voyagers,'' he said.

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Monday’s Eclipse a ‘once in a lifetime’ event, NASA education specialist says – ABC NEWS 4

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How much do you actually know about the eclipse? Hundreds of people lined up Saturday to learn from a NASA education specialist at the Charleston County Library. Not only was the specialist dropping some serious knowledge, but the library was also handing out free glasses.

Eyes will be on the sky in Charleston come 2:46 on Monday, but there are also other things to keep a look out for. NASA broke that down and explained why this event is so important to scientists.

How is the moon, that's that tiny, cover up a sun that's that big? Jennifer Hudgins asked the group.

Hudgins, a NASA education specialist, broke it all down for those in attendance.

"The moon is able to cover up the sun, because it's closer to us. The sun is so much further away that they actually end up being the same size, which is how we're able to view totality of an eclipse here, Hudgins said.

She described Monday as a once in a lifetime event.

"To be here in Charleston and see totality, I can't wait. I'll be one of those looking up at the eclipse the whole time too," Hudgins said.

Glasses were handed out for safety, but Hudgins said theres more than one way to view the eclipse.

"You can even take a colander or a strainer from your kitchen and shine it on the ground, and you're going to get many eclipses all over the ground, Hudgins said.

But if you're safely looking up with the proper eye wear, take a look around.

"So Mercury is right near the sun, so we hardly ever see Mercury. So with the sun being eclipsed, Mercury will be visible. So, we are actually mapping the surface during that time, Hudgins said.

She said you'll be able to see Venus and Mars, as well as some major stars, like Regulus, Sirius and the Orion constellation.

NASA scientists will be using space-based satellites to study the sun that day as well.

"During the eclipse the corona of the sun is visible, and it's the only time that we can really study the corona. We also have some jets that are going to be flying for NASA that's going to follow the path of the eclipse and the shadow of the moon across the country. So, those satellites can study the corona longer," Hudgins said.

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NASA’s Parker Probe Will Explore The Sun’s Hellish Atmosphere in 2018 – Space.com

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NASA's Parker Solar Probe will fly closer to the sun than any spacecraft in history, and help scientists unlock secrets of our nearest star.

Paul Sutter is an astrophysicist at The Ohio State University and the chief scientist at COSI Science Center. Sutter leads science-themed tours around the world at AstroTouring.com.

By now, with so little time left until a total solar eclipse crosses the U.S. from coast to coast on Monday (Aug. 21), skywatchers planning to attend the event should understand that it's dangerous to look directly at the sun with the unaided eye, even if it's almost entirely covered by the moon. Seriously, don't do it.

The intense radiation emitted by the sun at multiple wavelengths, from the infrared through the ultraviolet, heats and warms our little world, but even at a distance of 93 million miles (149 million kilometers) and through our thick atmosphere, it can damage our skin and eyes. And occasionally make it possible to cook eggs on the sidewalk, if you're the adventurous sort.

So, NASA is going to send a spacecraft closer than ever before, and hope to capture useful data before the probewell, melts.

The Parker Solar Probe was named after astrophysicist Eugene Parker (and let me interrupt myself and take this opportunity to castigate NASA for missing the golden opportunity to christen it the Icarus). The mission is set to launch in the summer of 2018. The craft won't take long to start taking dips near the sun, coming within 3.7 million miles (6 million km) of the surface. That sounds like a pretty large distance, which might lead some people to think the probe isn't getting that close to the sun but the spacecraft will experience the sun's inferno at a scale 520 times greater than us here on Earth.

That mission design will continuously dip the probe in and out of the danger zone, coming seven times closer to the sun than any spacecraft before it. That puts poor Parker squarely within the sun's corona, the poorly understood wispy outer layer of our star. The hope is that this Evel Knievel-inspired plan will help us unlock the mysteries of that outer layer.

How does the corona reach temperatures exceeding 3 million degrees Fahrenheit (6 million Celsius), despite extending so far from the relatively cool surface? How do charged particles emanating from the sun get accelerated to near-light speed before spilling out into the system as a continuous solar wind? How do magnetic fields twist and tangle to transfer such tremendous energies?

We currently just have fuzzy half-answers to the above questions, and it's only by taking direct measurements as close to the furnace as possible that we can make more progress in answering them.

If you're lucky enough to see totality during the upcoming eclipse, you'll get to witness the sun's corona for yourself. And starting next year, plucky little Parker will be soon swimming in that sweltering soup, bravely collecting data before it, too, succumbs to the flames.

Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

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NASA Admin: By the Time You’re a Junior, What You Learned as a Freshman is Obsolete – Futurism

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Fundamental Skills

As automation looms over the world of work, the changing face of labor factors more and more into decisions about which college course makes for the best investment of time and money. In a recent discussion with Futurism, Robert M. Lightfoot Jr. a graduate of the University of Alabama and the acting administrator of NASA had a few pointers for students and educators about how to navigate this increasingly bumpy terrain.

Lightfoot began by noting how quickly progress moves in todays world, and how this may leave some young people (and some educators) at a loss: By the time you are a junior in college, what you learned as a freshman is already obsolete. Of course, he notes that there are some basics you will always need, there are some fundamental skills that are required either way. If you are in a science program, you need science. If you are in a technology program, you need engineering and math. Thats just the bottom line.

But still, issues remain.

Regardless of what fundamentals you learn, by the time that you graduate college, much of the information you acquired there will no longer applyand things are only going to get worse as our research into automation and artificial intelligence continues to advance.

This said, Lightfoot maintains that higher education does teach students a lot of valuable lessons they just might not be on the syllabus (yet). Ultimately, he outlined what needs to change to prepare young people for the world, and workforce, of tomorrow.

Most college courses require students to work alongside one another sooner or later. The way Lightfoot sees it, this kind of experience plays an essential role in preparing the sort of candidates who are going to excel at an organization like NASA.

There are a couple of skills that will always be needed, says Lightfoot. Thats being able to work on a team, to work well with other people, and to understand that youre never an individual in this. I can tell you, theres not a soul in this agency that can say I did something. No. We did something.

An organization like NASA cant complete its important work without every cog in the machine working in sync. Automation and robotics are going to change the kind of job opportunitiesleft available to college graduates in the next decade and beyond, but good collaboration skills will still be valuable.

You need to learn to communicate, adds Lightfoot. Those skills are very important, and theyre something that you can always teach and will always be important. It may not be much, but in the end, having skills inhuman-centered interactions will help ensure you are employable in the world of tomorrow.

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2-Faced 2D Material Is A First At Rice – Photonics Online

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This image shows top (left) and side views of Janus sulfur molybdenum selenium created at Rice University. Careful control of heating allows sulfur to replace just the top plane of selenium atoms in the new two-dimensional material. Click on the image for a larger version. Image courtesy of the Lou Group

Rice materials scientists create flat sandwich of sulfur, molybdenum and selenium

Like a sandwich with wheat on the bottom and rye on the top, Rice University scientists have cooked up a tasty new twist on two-dimensional materials.

The Rice laboratory of materials scientist Jun Lou has made a semiconducting transition-metal dichalcogenide(TMD) that starts as a monolayer of molybdenum diselenide. They then strip the top layer of the lattice and replace precisely half the selenium atoms with sulfur.

The new material they call Janus sulfur molybdenum selenium (SMoSe) has a crystalline construction the researchers said can host an intrinsic electric field and that also shows promise for catalytic production of hydrogen.

The work is detailed this month in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Nano.

The two-faced material is technically two-dimensional, but like molybdenum diselenide it consists of three stacked layers of atoms arranged in a grid. From the top, they look like hexagonal rings a la graphene, but from any other angle, the grid is more like a nanoscale jungle gym.

Tight control of the conditions in a typical chemical vapor deposition furnace 800 degrees Celsius (1,872 degrees Fahrenheit) at atmospheric pressure allowed the sulfur to interact with only the top layer of selenium atoms and leave the bottom untouched, the researchers said. If the temperature drifts above 850, all the selenium is replaced.

Like the intercalation of many other molecules demonstrated to have the ability to diffuse into the layered materials, diffusion of gaseous sulfur molecules in between the layers of these Van der Waals crystals, as well as the space between them and the substrates, requires sufficient driving force, said Rice postdoctoral researcher Jing Zhang, co-lead author of the paper with graduate student Shuai Jia. And the driving force in our experiments is controlled by the reaction temperature.

Close examination showed the presence of sulfur gave the material a larger band gap than molybdenum diselenide, the researchers said.

This type of two-faced structure has long been predicted theoretically but very rarely realized in the 2-D research community, Lou said. The break of symmetry in the out-of-plane direction of 2-D TMDs could lead to many applications, such as a basal-plane active 2-D catalyst, robust piezoelectricity-enabled sensors and actuators at the 2-D limit.

He said preparation of the Janus material should be universal to layered materials with similar structures. It will be quite interesting to look at the properties of the Janus configuration of other 2-D materials, Lou said.

Co-authors of the paper are graduate students Weibing Chen and Zehua Jin and postdoctoral researcher Hua Guo of Rice; research scientist Iskandar Kholmanov and professor Li Shi, the Myron L. Begeman Fellow in Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin; and graduate students Liang Dong and Dequan Er and Vivek Shenoy, a professor of materials science and engineering, of mechanical engineering and applied mechanics and of bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania. Lou is a professor of materials science and nanoengineering.

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Welch Foundation, the Army Research Office and the National Science Foundation supported the research.

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Bio-inspired materials give boost to regenerative medicine – Medical Xpress

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August 18, 2017 In a new studyin Nature Communications, Stephanopoulos and his colleague Ronit Freeman successfully demonstrated the ability to dynamically control the environment around stem cells, to guide their behavior in new and powerful ways. Credit: Northwestern University

What if one day, we could teach our bodies to self-heal like a lizard's tail, and make severe injury or disease no more threatening than a paper cut?

Or heal tissues by coaxing cells to multiply, repair or replace damaged regions in loved ones whose lives have been ravaged by stroke, Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease?

Such is the vision, promise and excitement in the burgeoning field of regenerative medicine, now a major ASU initiative to boost 21st-century medical research discoveries.

ASU Biodesign Institute researcher Nick Stephanopoulos is one of several rising stars in regenerative medicine. In 2015, Stephanopoulos, along with Alex Green and Jeremy Mills, were recruited to the Biodesign Institute's Center for Molecular Design and Biomimetics (CMDB), directed by Hao Yan, a world-recognized leader in nanotechnology.

"One of the things that that attracted me most to the ASU and the Biodesign CMDB was Hao's vision to build a group of researchers that use biological molecules and design principles to make new materials that can mimic, and one day surpass, the most complex functions of biology," Stephanopoulos said.

"I have always been fascinated by using biological building blocks like proteins, peptides and DNA to construct self-assembled structures, devices and materials, and the interdisciplinary and highly collaborative team in the CMDB is the ideal place to put this vision into practice."

Yan's research center uses DNA and other basic building blocks to build their nanotechnology structuresonly at a scale 1,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair.

They've already used nanotechnology to build containers to specially deliver drugs to tissues, build robots to navigate a maze or nanowires for electronics.

To build a manufacturing industry at that tiny scale, their bricks and mortar use a colorful assortment of molecular Legos. Just combine the ingredients, and these building blocks can self-assemble in a seemingly infinite number of ways only limited by the laws of chemistry and physicsand the creative imaginations of these budding nano-architects.

Learning from nature

"The goal of the Center for Molecular Design and Biomimetics is to use nature's design rules as an inspiration in advancing biomedical, energy and electronics innovation through self-assembling molecules to create intelligent materials for better component control and for synthesis into higher-order systems," said Yan, who also holds the Milton Glick Chair in Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Prior to joining ASU, Stephanopoulos trained with experts in biological nanomaterials, obtaining his doctorate with the University of California Berkeley's Matthew Francis, and completed postdoctoral studies with Samuel Stupp at Northwestern University. At Northwestern, he was part of a team that developed a new category of quilt-like, self-assembling peptide and peptide-DNA biomaterials for regenerative medicine, with an emphasis in neural tissue engineering.

"We've learned from nature many of the rules behind materials that can self-assemble. Some of the most elegant complex and adaptable examples of self-assembly are found in biological systems," Stephanopoulos said.

Because they are built from the ground-up using molecules found in nature, these materials are also biocompatible and biodegradable, opening up brand-new vistas for regenerative medicine.

Stephanopoulos' tool kit includes using proteins, peptides, lipids and nucleic acids like DNA that have a rich biological lexicon of self-assembly.

"DNA possesses great potential for the construction of self-assembled biomaterials due to its highly programmable nature; any two strands of DNA can be coaxed to assemble to make nanoscale constructs and devices with exquisite precision and complexity," Stephanopoulos said.

Proof all in the design

During his time at Northwestern, Stephanopoulos worked on a number of projects and developed proof-of-concept technologies for spinal cord injury, bone regeneration and nanomaterials to guide stem cell differentiation.

Now, more recently, in a new study in Nature Communications, Stephanopoulos and his colleague Ronit Freeman in the Stupp laboratory successfully demonstrated the ability to dynamically control the environment around stem cells, to guide their behavior in new and powerful ways.

In the new technology, materials are first chemically decorated with different strands of DNA, each with a unique code for a different signal to cells.

To activate signals within the cells, soluble molecules containing complementary DNA strands are coupled to short protein fragments, called peptides, and added to the material to create DNA double helices displaying the signal.

By adding a few drops of the DNA-peptide mixture, the material effectively gives a green light to stem cells to reproduce and generate more cells. In order to dynamically tune the signal presentation, the surface is exposed to a soluble single-stranded DNA molecule designed to "grab" the signal-containing strand of the duplex and form a new DNA double helix, displacing the old signal from the surface.

This new duplex can then be washed away, turning the signal "off." To turn the signal back on, all that is needed is to now introduce a new copy of single-stranded DNA bearing a signal that will reattach to the material's surface.

One of the findings of this work is the possibility of using the synthetic material to signal neural stem cells to proliferate, then at a specific time selected by the scientist, trigger their differentiation into neurons for a while, before returning the stem cells to a proliferative state on demand.

One potential use of the new technology to manipulate cells could help cure a patient with neurodegenerative conditions like Parkinson's disease.

The patient's own skin cells could be converted to stem cells using existing techniques. The new technology could help expand the newly converted stem cells back in the laband then direct their growth into specific dopamine-producing neurons before transplantation back to the patient.

"People would love to have cell therapies that utilize stem cells derived from their own bodies to regenerate tissue," Stupp said. "In principle, this will eventually be possible, but one needs procedures that are effective at expanding and differentiating cells in order to do so. Our technology does that."

In the future, it might be possible to perform this process entirely within the body. The stem cells would be implanted in the clinic, encapsulated in the type of material described in the new work, and injected into a particular spot. Then the soluble peptide-DNA molecules would be given to the patient to bind to the material and manipulate the proliferation and differentiation of transplanted cells.

Scaling the barriers

One of the future challenges in this area will be to develop materials that can respond better to external stimuli and reconfigure their physical or chemical properties accordingly.

"Biological systems are complex, and treating injury or disease will in many cases necessitate a material that can mimic the complex spatiotemporal dynamics of the tissues they are used to treat," Stephanopoulos said.

It is likely that hybrid systems that combine multiple chemical elements will be necessary; some components may provide structure, others biological signaling and yet others a switchable element to imbue dynamic ability to the material.

A second challenge, and opportunity, for regenerative medicine lies in creating nanostructures that can organize material across multiple length scales. Biological systems themselves are hierarchically organized: from molecules to cells to tissues, and up to entire organisms.

Consider that for all of us, life starts simple, with just a single cell. By the time we reach adulthood, every adult human body is its own universe of cells, with recent estimates of 37 trillion or so. The human brain alone has 100 billion cells or about the same number of cells as stars in the Milky Way galaxy.

But over the course of a life, or by disease, whole constellations of cells are lost due to the ravages of time or the genetic blueprints going awry.

Collaborative DNA

To overcome these obstacles, much more research funding and recruitment of additional talent to ASU will be needed to build the necessary regenerative medicine workforce.

Last year, Stephanopoulos' research received a boost with funding from the U.S. Air Force's Young Investigator Research Program (YIP).

"The Air Force Office of Scientific Research YIP award will facilitate Nick's research agenda in this direction, and is a significant recognition of his creativity and track record at the early stage of his careers," Yan said.

They'll need this and more to meet the ultimate challenge in the development of self-assembled biomaterials and translation to clinical applications.

Buoyed by the funding, during the next research steps, Stephanopoulos wants to further expand horizons with collaborations from other ASU colleagues to take his research team's efforts one step closer to the clinic.

"ASU and the Biodesign Institute also offer world-class researchers in engineering, physics and biology for collaborations, not to mention close ties with the Mayo Clinic or a number of Phoenix-area institutes so we can translate our materials to medically relevant applications," Stephanopoulos said.

There is growing recognition that regenerative medicine in the Valley could be a win-win for the area, in delivering new cures to patients and building, person by person, a brand-new medicinal manufacturing industry.

Explore further: New technology to manipulate cells could help treat Parkinson's, arthritis, other diseases

More information: Ronit Freeman et al. Instructing cells with programmable peptide DNA hybrids, Nature Communications (2017). DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15982

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Gwinnett Medical Center unveils Sports Medicine and Concussion … – Gwinnettdailypost.com

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Gwinnett Medical Center unveiled Georgias first sports injury treatment center and concussion classroom on wheels Wednesday.

This is the first vehicle of its kind in the state of Georgia and one of the first in the United States, said Kristin Crea, director of GMCs Sports Medicine department.

The Sports Medicine and Concussion Care-A-Van is a mobile care unit equipped with a full-service athletic training room. Basically, it allows GMCs Sports Medicine department to take its injury treatment and prevention services on the road.

When we travel around and talk to different directors, most athletic directors and coaches dont have access to injury prevention, Crea said. This really allows us to reach and have better access to these places that dont have this kind of care.

That includes care for concussions. GMCs Sports Medicine department includes a Concussion Institute directed by Dr. Saadiq El-Amid. Since the institute opened in August 2013, its treated more than 8,500 concussions.

Concussions are happening at epidemic levels, Crea said.

But El-Amid said the real scary cases are concussions that never receive treatment or get attention too late.

I cant tell you how many people ignore concussions, he said. If you ignore a concussion and continue to play a sport, you could hit your head again. That could lead to other issues.

Some patients accidentally ignore concussions because they dont think they could have sustained one unless they were hit on the head while playing a sport. But El-Amid said concussions are more common than that. In fact, any motion that jerks or whiplashes the head could move the brain and cause a concussion.

I personally sustained a concussion once because I tried to ride every roller coaster ride at Six Flags in 24 hours, El-Amid said.

Misinformation and ignorance about concussions thrives, particularly in areas where residents dont have contact with medical personnel or literature. Crea said she hopes the Care-A-Van can fix that gap. She and El-Amid plan to drive it all over the state, including to rural areas that wouldnt normally receive a lot of information about sports injuries or concussions.

The beauty of the Care-A-Van is its mobile, Crea said. So we can go wherever we need to different sports facilities, high schools, day cares, corporations, programs, schools and churches. We can go whereever we see fit.

Both Crea and El-Amid hope to use the Care-A-Van as a sort of moving billboard for concussion awareness and treatment.

I would love to be able to see this thing sitting in front of the mall on the weekends, El-Amid said. Its not only to teach those around, but also to let them have a name and an institution to get in touch with if they think they have a concussion.

The Care-A-Van can also help if nearby residents are already concerned they might have a concussion or could sustain one in the future. The van comes equipped with several laptops and tablets that allow physicians to give Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Tests and baseline tests.

An ImPACT assesment is an online test that measures congnitive ability. A patient can take an ImPACT test after sustaining a head injury to figure out whether the brain is concussed.

The Care-A-Van can administer these tests. But they arent helpful unless the person has a baseline score to compare with the ImPACT score. And few concussion patients have thought far enough ahead to take a baseline ImPACT score test before they were injured.

El-Amin said he hopes the Care-A-Van can change that.

Lets say we administer a baseline test to a kid in rural south Georgia. Then, the kid goes off to Alabama and sustains a concussion, El-Amin said. Then, when they want to ImPACT test him, hell be able to tell doctors, Hey, my family got impact tested by this mobile center a few years ago.

He said the Care-A-Van would be able to share the kids baseline score so his doctors could figure out the severity of his injury.

Right now, El-Amin said GMC plans to take its new mobile center all over Georgia, educating residents in as widespread an area as possible. But he doesnt want Gwinnett to monopolize the states mobile education space forever.

I would love to see other hospitals follow us, El-Amin said.

Its all about preventing potentially serious injuries.

Were in a position right now to really, really make a difference, El-Amin said.

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Top UCSD researchers pitch yoga, massage and integrative medicine for healing – The San Diego Union-Tribune

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She wielded a kitchen knife, not a scalpel, but Serena Silberman was doing her part Saturday to heal the human body, one chop of parsley, peach and pomegranate at a time.

Food can be medicine, said Silberman, an instructor at the University of California San Diego Integrative Medicine Natural Healing Cooking Program, as she prepped a meal for more than 200 people at the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine in La Jolla.

Her feast was to commemorate the debut of UC San Diegos Centers for Integrative Health, an initiative throughout the university and health network to unify current research, education and clinical programs ranging from nutrition and acupuncture to meditation and yoga.

Saturdays all-day conference rang in the new collaborative health effort at UC San Diego by discussing how western science can be better wedded to traditional folk cures and alternative medicine to offer better outcomes for patients.

Charlie Neuman/U-T

At the Sanford Consortium, UC San Diego on Saturday launched the new Centers for Integrative Health. At the beginning of the event attendees participate in meditation.

At the Sanford Consortium, UC San Diego on Saturday launched the new Centers for Integrative Health. At the beginning of the event attendees participate in meditation. (Charlie Neuman/U-T)

To Silberman, that means parsley. Rich in antioxidants, the green leaves naturally contain the anti-inflammatory luteolin; Vitamin A to boost the white blood cells that attack infection; and folate, which can help protect patients from heart attack, stroke and hardened arteries.

And then theres her generous dusting of turmeric, the orange-colored herb from the ginger family that doubles as a curry spice and dye. Researchers are studying whether it might heal heart disease and diabetes with very few side effects.

Indian cooks have only been doing it for 5,000 years, so they might know something, said Silberman, punctuating her point with the chop-chop-chop of peaches.

None of this is new to UC San Diego. The Center for Integrative Medicine, for example, was established seven years ago and now treats more than 10,000 patients annually, but organizers hope future consultations will seamlessly involve the Centers for Mindfulness, Integrative Research, Integrative Nutrition and Integrative Education into a one-stop experience.

That means 26 practitioners in 10 clinics within eight departments throughout the health system will be integrated.

Dr. Dan Slater, a physician and UC San Diego professor of family medicine and public health, presented to a packed Sanford Consortium audience a case study he thinks might guide future patient care.

Charlie Neuman/U-T

Attendees to the launch of UC San Diego's Centers for Integrative Health get acupuncture and massages while listening to therapeutic harp music by Carolyn Worster.

Attendees to the launch of UC San Diego's Centers for Integrative Health get acupuncture and massages while listening to therapeutic harp music by Carolyn Worster. (Charlie Neuman/U-T)

A 61-year-old woman was suffering from symptoms suggesting ulcerative colitis, a painful inflammatory bowel disease. The wait had grown to six months in her small town for a colonoscopy that peeked at the lining of her intestine and took a sample of the tissue, a procedure Slater noted was not cheap and was not necessarily convenient.

So he and his team of integrative health specialists prescribed a diet high in fiber, fruits and vegetables and low in fats and sweets. A little more turmeric and a few dollops of probiotics good bacteria to boost the digestive system and within three months she was feeling better. By the time her colonoscopy rolled around, her condition was either in remission or cured.

To Slater, that highlights what the Centers for Integrative Health might do best researching many pathways to a cure but letting the body do most of the work by exploring everything from aromatherapy to zen.

cprine@sduniontribune.com

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Top UCSD researchers pitch yoga, massage and integrative medicine for healing - The San Diego Union-Tribune

Is it too easy to get pain medicine? – Fredericksburg.com

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After everything thats been reported about the opioid epidemic in our nation, I didnt expect a painkiller to be offered so easily.

But after a brief visit to the emergency room, I wondered if my experience is part of the reason America is awash in opioids, in the words of Thomas Frieden, former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

I was in the hospital after a prolonged stomach flu. For seven days, I either couldnt keep down or get into my system much of anything, and 9 pounds fell off me. Normally, Id jump up and down at that statement, but I was too miserable.

Before I got to the ER, Id been to my primary care doctor, twice. My doctor thought Id been knocked down to the point I needed a jump start, in the form of intravenous fluids.

So, as I tried to get comfortable on a really uncomfortable slab of mattress, I told the ER doctor my symptoms. I mentioned stomach pain throughout, and that my primary care doctor thought it was muscle soreness from so much retching. The ER doctor listened patiently, poked my innards, felt the pulse in my ankle and listened to my heart.

He agreed that IV fluids were the ticket and ordered a CT scan to rule out any ugly possibilities, like appendicitis or diverticulitis.

Then he asked something about my comfort level. I didnt really grasp what he was saying, so he rephrased it: Do you want anything for the pain?

I said no right off the bat, then asked what was available. As we talked, I told him I didnt want any kind of opioid, and I swear he almost looked embarrassed when I said that. He said there were lesser pain relievers that could be administered through the IV.

My mother, who was in the room with me, said its no wonder so many people have problems with prescription painkillers. Look at how easy it would have been for me to get some.

As I recounted the story, one co-worker made the valid point that doctors want to alleviate the pain and suffering they see. Thats their purpose. Plus, she said, the doctor probably could tell that I didnt look like an addict.

If this epidemic has taught us anything, isnt it that those who get addicted to pain medicine dont fit any kind of profile?

They dont look like strung-out junkies; they look like the rest of us: hard-working moms and dads, honor students and Eagle Scouts, bus drivers, day-care workers and executives. Then, an accident or injury comes along and theyre given highly addictive narcotics to cope with the pain. Some develop an ungodly form of addiction to the highs the medicine produces in the brain and cant turn off the need for it.

But if you still think that only those with tattoos and stringy hair become hooked to the point they lose sight of everything else that matters, I encourage you to attend any of the upcoming town-hall meetings sponsored by a coalition formed to tackle the problem in our region. The Community Collaborative for Youth and Families is holding sessions in each locality in Planning District 16 through October.

The group also will show the documentary, Chasing the Dragon: The Life of an Opiate Addict, which is an eye-opening look at the drug problem in our nation. It was filmed in Virginiaincluding at the Rappahannock Regional Jailso dont think for a second that this is a problem limited to the nations urban areas.

The meetings are from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at these locations:

Aug. 21: King George Middle School

Sept. 13: Caroline County Community Center

Sept. 26: Brooke Point High School, Stafford

Oct. 2: James Monroe High School

Oct. 16: Rubicon Caf, Salem Fields Community Church, Spotsylvania

The conversation about opioid drugs needs to include a lot of different people, including health-care providers on the front lines. Certainly, they want to make people feel better, but they cant put people into positions that might cause more pain in the long run.

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WRCF, Inova Sports Medicine Host Third Annual High School Coaches Clinic – Redskins.com

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The Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation on Friday hosted the third annual High School Coaches Clinic for 100 high school coaches from the Washington, D.C., region.

In the midst of the preseason, the Washington Redskins are still in their building phase coaches continue to scout the roster, take notes during games and practice and preach unity that will become vital for the year ahead.

Its a comforting notion for DuVal High School football head coach Carlos Lockwood, who was one of roughly 100 coaches to take in the teams third annual High School Coaches Clinic presented by Inova Sports Medicine at the Inova Sports Performance Center at Redskins Park on Friday.

For me, I like stuff like this because its always about building, being a sponge, Lockwood said. Even for me being a head coach, I can always learn and when you hear the same things from the guys at the higher level, it just always hits home.

The clinic, which was hosted by the Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation, allowed local high school coaches to watch the Redskins complete Fridays walkthrough practice prior to a speakers panel that included many special guests and lunch in the team dining room.

Redskins President Bruce Allen kicked things off with a brief introduction followed by head coach Jay Gruden, who chatted about what he looks for in athletes effort and consistent work habits were primary themes before lending the stage to special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica, offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh and defensive coordinator Greg Manusky.

Together, the three of them addressed a wide range of topics, including what they learned from their high school coaches to balancing the stresses of their jobs with their families. The high school coaches, who came from Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., took notes and photos, returning home with bullet points to teach their student-athletes.

Later, EXOS Performance Director of Pro Sports,Brent Callaway, ran through a PowerPoint with slides dedicated to movement, nutrition, mindset and recovery, valuable tenets the company has dedicated their time to prepare athletes to perform at their best.

Before breaking for lunch, Super Bowl MVP and current Senior Vice President of Player Personnel Doug Williams shared a few stories about his time as a high school head coach (he had an undefeated team at Northeast High School in Zachary, La.) and the challenges and joys of the position. The former quarterback was a hit, providing insight and humor for 15 minutes and encouraging those in front of him to be ambassadors for their communities.

Dougs iconic, Lockwood said. Just to hear him speak about his childhood and what was going on back home and how meaningful it was for that team he had to go undefeated. Some of those guys never played collegiately or in the pros, but thats what brings back that community is high school football.

Also in attendance was Dunbar High Schools head football coach Matthew Vaughn, in charge of the program that Redskins tight end Vernon Davis called his growing up. Watching practice and roaming the halls where Davis walks, Vaughn was grateful to be among a community of high school coaches and see Davis up close again.

Hes made a tremendous impact on the community as well as the school, Vaughn said. We use Vernon as the standard of where the kids want to be and what they want to do. Hes a great role model for the kids and he does a lot for the community. Im proud to be here to watch him today and the kids, we always talk about Vernon and the things that hes done, and the way he went about his business and the way he still goes about his business and the way he represents the school, community and the Redskins.

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WSU’s Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine welcomes inaugural class – The Spokesman-Review

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Fri., Aug. 18, 2017, 7:13 p.m.

More than a dozen Washington State University deans, faculty and guests helped welcome the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicines inaugural class at a ceremony Friday, where the 60 doctors-to-be donned white coats embroidered with the crimson cougar.

But the spirit of the event was best captured by Carmento Floyd, the widow of the former WSU President for whom the medical school is named.

You are and will be the most important class, because you were first, she said, moments after graciously receiving a symbolic white coat through tears. We expect greatness from you, and you must expect greatness from yourselves. Her remarks were met with a long standing ovation.

The event, which nearly filled the ground floor of the Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, was much more than a celebration for future physicians. It was a recognition of the advocacy, persistence and vision from Floyd and others that led to WSU receiving approval to start the school in 2015.

This is a moment Ive been waiting for for a long time, Dean John Tomkowiak said.

The incoming class of 60 students are all from Washington, something touted repeatedly by college administrators.

We dont even have an out-of-state tuition rate, WSU President Kirk Schultz said.

The hope is for the college to make a dent in the areas of Washington considered medically underserved a list that includes some portion of nearly every county east of the Cascades. And not only rural areas; the list, according to the Washington Department of Health, includes all of Yakima and Franklin counties.

We see a lot of things out there about the need for more physicians in our state, and this is a tangible step toward that goal, Schultz said.

He added that the university is lucky to be in a state where theres bipartisan support for investing in higher education.

At a time when many states are cutting funds from state universities, Washington taxpayers are funding about $66,000 of the $100,000 it takes to educate a single medical student for a year, Tomkowiak told students at an orientation ceremony Wednesday.

The state, those 7.1 million stakeholders, are putting in $2 for every $1 that you are, he said.

Its a commitment the students have taken to heart. Following orientation on Wednesday, many members of the class said they wanted to attend WSU in part because of its focused on providing care to underserved parts of their home state.

We wanted to be able to give back to the people of our state, said Christie Kirkpatrick, whos from Longview, Washington. Its really cool to be around people who all care about the same things.

Following speeches Friday afternoon, each students walked across the stage to be cloaked in their own white coat. A display overhead broadcast an individual oath for each student about their commitment to becoming a doctor and the reasons for choosing the profession.

It is a privilege to be trained in eastern Washington, where I plan to serve, wrote student Christina Eglin. Advocating for patients, treating others with compassion and giving back to a home community were common themes.

One student, Sye Jabbouri, wrote about the care shown to his Assyrian Iraqi family by strangers as they fled war at home, and said he wanted to bring that same care to his patients.

Washington poet laureate Tod Marshall read a poem he wrote for the occasion, which focused on the symbolism of a white coat as a honor to be earned.

Today is beautiful plumage and honor. Tomorrow, your gentle actions, the music of your listening will bear out the honor of a coats threads, he recited.

Published: Aug. 18, 2017, 7:13 p.m.

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WSU's Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine welcomes inaugural class - The Spokesman-Review

Sun look to learn from Liberty loss – Norwich Bulletin

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Marc Allard mallard@norwichbulletin.com, (860) 425-4212 mallardnb

MOHEGAN The first word out of Curt Millers mouth was disappointed following Connecticuts 82-70 loss to New York on Friday.

But, in reality, the Sun coach thought it was the kind of game his team needed.

After winning six in a row and eight straight on their home floor, the Sun (18-10) were flying pretty high.

The Liberty brought them down to earth and also helped prep Connecticut for the next phase of the WNBA season the playoffs.

That game was so good for us. I cant begin to tell you how good that game will be for us in the long run. It took on a playoff feel. The physicality that we knew was going to be in this game, the intensity each and every possession of this game, simulated what we have to expect from a playoff game, Miller said.

The playoffs are on the horizon.

The Sun have just six games left in the regular season.

That final two-week stretch begins at 3 p.m. this afternoon at home against Phoenix, followed by home games on Wednesday against Dallas and Friday versus Chicago.

The final three games will take place on the road with the make up against Washington on Aug. 29, followed by a West Coast swing on Labor Day weekend to Phoenix on Sept. 1 and Los Angeles on Sept. 3.

The Sun can clinch the No. 6 spot in the WNBA standings with a win over Phoenix today. That would be important as it would give Connecticut a home game for the first round of the single-elimination portion of the playoffs.

So getting ready for a big game was important.

The Sun havent been in the playoffs since 2012 and no one on the current roster was in the locker room back then.

We needed to remember that its not going to be easy, Connecticut guard Jasmine Thomas said. Were not going to walk over people. The closer we get to the postseason and people still scrapping to get into the playoffs and solidify their spots, its going to be hard.

New York was a case in point.

The Liberty have hung around the .500 mark all season, but the win over the Sun was the fourth straight victory for New York (16-12) and moved them to within two games of the Sun, tied with Washington for the fourth spot.

We were trying to find our way, New York coach Bill Laimbeer said of the up-and-down start for the Liberty. A lot of players came late to training camp which hurt. We had some players go away. We lost Brittany Boyd (to injury), Epiphanny Prince and Kia Vaughn to the world championships for a month. Ive said from the very start that we wont know who we are until August and, now, were starting to know who we are.

For the Sun, it indicated the days of the 90-plus and 100-point games may be over, the grind may have started.

Miller called it a TNT game, dictated by toughness and tempo.

They were tougher and played with better tempo, Miller said. Their screening, their separation in offense while we held them to 40 percent shooting made us feel like we were scrambling the whole game. The toughness in the first half to pound the ball to Tina (Charles). I loved their tempo and toughness compared to us.

Miller said it also showed him how his team would handle adversity in a big game.

Charles scored 18 points in the second quarter and could have turned the game into an early blowout, the Sun rallied to trail by only three at the half.

We stuck together. We gradually made adjustments on the floor that were positive. We couldnt find any offensive rhythm to spark us. Give them credit for that, Miller said.

Its another test today.

The Mercury almost beat the Sun on Aug. 4, losing 93-92, at Mohegan Sun Arena and that was without Brittney Griner. The 6-foot-9 center will be in the lineup today.

Its extremely important to bounce back, Connecticut forward Alyssa Thomas said. We had a tough win last time and they werent full roster, BG will be back. We have to bounce back and not spiral (backwards) at this point of the season.

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Sun look to learn from Liberty loss - Norwich Bulletin