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AI Can Help Life Insurers Hear What the Customers Are Saying – ThinkAdvisor

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Over the years banks, retailers, and telecommunications have embraced new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to enhance their customer communication and, ultimately, customer experience. While there may have been a time to sit back and see what works and what doesnt, these are now proven technologies. Organizations in the life insurance space need to adopt this thinking or risk being left behind.

Not only is todays customer more tech-savvy than ever and expects the same high levels of convenience from their insurers as they do from other companies, but the last few months have put a spotlight on the need for a better digital communication customer experience.

The renewed battle over federal and state annuity sales standards further emphasizes the value of addressing customers concerns.

(Related:5 Ways Annuity Providers Can Use Tech for Fiduciary Compliance)

By meeting and, hopefully, exceeding these expectations, insurers can ensure customer loyalty in an increasingly competitive market.

That in turn comes with several major business benefits, including increased revenue.

Of course, this kind of transformation wont happen overnight.

Historically, life insurers havent done well when it comes to customer communication. Within the last few years, more than 90% of insurers worldwide did not communicate with their customers even once a year, and many customers did not receive a single communication all year. Of those interactions, many were limited to claims and related advice.

In a world where highly personalized products and services, supported by relevant, easy to understand and contextual information have become the norm, thats no longer viable.

In order to overcome that deficit, it wont be enough for life insurers to simply retrain their staff and hope for the best. Instead, they need to embrace the kind of technologies that will have an immediate positive impact on customer experience.

Enter AI and ML. While some life insurers have adopted these technologies to great effect in the back office to speed up claims processes and in fraud detection, for instance they havent been used to anywhere near the same effect when it comes to customer communications, which is a missed opportunity.

AI improves customer experience through the analysis of data on hand in order to decide the next message that is best suited to each customer, based on actions taken with the insurer, demographics, and changes in life stages that change a customers needs.

By delivering the right message to the right person, at the right time, an organization can dramatically improve the customer experience.

That relevance and timeliness, meanwhile, is most likely to result in the response the business wants: a policy renewal, an upsell or a new sale.

As a subset of AI focused on automating tasks, ML can help decide which content is suited to a customer based on data on hand, such as past behavior, demographics and location, making it easier to deliver truly hyper-personalized communication.

There are several ways organizations incorporate AI in their customer communications beyond hyper-personalization and next-best-action messaging. These include customizing customer journey touch-points (ensuring that tone is appropriate when the customer has suffered a loss, for instance) and allowing customers to interact with communications using voice-enabled tech (such as smart devices). Integrating chatbots into customer communications additionally allows for one-way communication to become a conversation.

By making these changes, life insurers can give their customers a markedly improved experience.

In doing so, they encourage loyalty and additional spend, which can ultimately benefit their bottom line.

Simply put, there are a multitude of reasons why insurers should embrace AI in their customer communications.

Connect with ThinkAdvisor Life/Health onFacebook,LinkedInandTwitter.

Mia Papanicolaou is the chief operating officer at Striata, a digital communications strategy company based in Johannesburg.

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AI Can Help Life Insurers Hear What the Customers Are Saying - ThinkAdvisor

The Future of AI and CX in Today’s COVID-19 World – AiThority

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The global coronavirus pandemic is dramatically changing our world, including the landscape of customer experience (CX) much faster than the marketing and media industries could have anticipated.

With people at home, brick-and-mortar businesses have to quickly adopt new digital strategies to provide their customers with what they need right now. In order to deliver on customer expectations, the best brands have strategies that continuously develop relationships through a series of thoughtful interactions, resulting in an increasingly hyper-personalized experience across the customer journey, which is usually backed by artificial intelligence (AI).

Companies who are already using AI with their CX efforts need to adjust their strategies to our worlds collective new normal. Customers experiences are underscored by anxiety, concern, stress, and confusion, and todays AI must be emotionally intelligent. With this new and ever-changing landscape in mind, the following areas are what marketing and customer experience leaders must do to shift accordingly.

Read Also:5G, AI And IoT : IBM And Verizon Business Close To Edge Of Virtually Mobile

Hyper-personalization is the CX term for it, but the root value is actually empathy. Human beings want to feel known its about trust and comfort (especially at a time like this). Businesses can (and should) make their customers feel known and valued with digital experiences. AI makes this possible across huge swaths of customers in a digital landscape.

Personalization tactics have grown well beyond simply using someones name or location in an email campaign.

By continuously developing a healthy mix of both profile data (name, age, preferences, etc.) and behavioral data (what the customer does at your various touchpoints), companies can send timely, personalized communication or create unique experiences that are specific and helpful to each customer.

A great example of a company collecting data to empower hyper-personalization is Spotify. The streaming music app used by millions regularly looks at data to automate song suggestions and create daily or weekly playlists. While other streaming services pair song suggestions based on your listening preferences, few are actually predicting that you will or wont like a new album (at least not with the success rate I find on Spotify).

Spotify also suggests playlists based on world events and situations that users are likely facing humanizing the experience. For example, the company released a COVID-19 quarantine playlist for those needing some upbeat music (or meditation, study music, etc.) in their lives. Spotifys ability to deliver on that experience and then to continually nurture a relationship with their customers is based entirely on their progressive use of data and AI.

Being able to collect, decode and leverage complex data sets is essential for meeting CX demands during this quarantine period.

Since personalization is core to a dynamic CX, companies need to consider new and interesting ways to connect the data they have and to continually refine CX profiles for accuracy. Customers data should be drawn from and influenced across the customer journey: from marketing and sales and customer retention to product management and customer support. The entire digital ecosystem of data should be a collaborative touchpoint between product development, marketing, and support.

Trust is an essential component of CX, particularly right now during this time of uncertainty. While customers are no doubt becoming more and more comfortable with the benefits of personalization, they get turned off if they think a company isnt being responsible for their data. Building AI solutions that allow users to progressively provide information in exchange for real value is paramount.

While the promise of AI around automation and personalization is exciting, the narrative a company builds around AI and CX strategies need to align closely with customer needs and expectations. Customers want and expect hyper-personalization already; they just dont want to think about what it took for a company to get there. Given our reliance on the digital world in our new reality, its more important than ever that companies are transparent and good stewards of your data.

AI also needs to be able to adapt to unprecedented circumstances and override some personalization settings in case of a crisis. Specifically, CX needs to include awareness of potential news events so that customers arent being served with distressing or inappropriate ads.

For example, takeout and delivery apps like GrubHub and Postmates have pop-up notifications about COVID-19, which also remind users about the impact this pandemic has on the entire restaurant industry (i.e., your order might take longer than usual due to staff shortages or certain restaurants that are not open, might not be accurately reflected in the app).

The old fashioned face-to-face, human-to-human customer service experience cant be replicated across millions of online customers. But in times like this, if companies want to grow and set themselves apart from others, AI needs to be used primarily as a tool for automating and analyzing customer data collection so the CX can be relevant and emotionally aware to todays ever-changing landscape.

This marriage of AI and CX will help companies develop a strategy for leveraging hyper-personalized data to give their customers what they truly want and need.

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The Future of AI and CX in Today's COVID-19 World - AiThority

LinkedIn details AI tool that better matches jobs to candidates – VentureBeat

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LinkedIn today pulled back the curtains on Qualified Applicant (QA), an AI system that learns from job candidate interactions the kinds of skills and experience a hirer prefers. Its the model the Microsoft-owned platform uses to help over 690 million users in 200 countries find jobs for which they have the best chances of hearing back, and which aims to reduce the likelihood recruiters overlook applicants by highlighting those deemed a fit.

Creating a system that can contend with the transient nature of job posts was no walk in the park, according to LinkedIn. It had to work at scale QA has billions of coefficients and it had to be effective for as many job seekers and hirers as possible. Formally, QA tries to project the probability of a positive recruiter action conditional on a given member applying for a specific role. What constitutes a positive recruiter action depends on the context it can include viewing an applicants profile, messaging them, inviting them to an interview, or sending them a job offer.

The single global QA model is individually tailored to members and roles, with per-member and per-job models trained on data unique to the members and jobs. Each of the many models is independent within a single training iteration, making them parallel and easier to serve at scale. While the global model is trained on all data, per-member models are trained using only members job applications. Per-job models, meanwhile, are trained on jobs applicants.

The global QA is retrained once every few weeks, but the personalized models must be refreshed regularly to combat degradation. (LinkedIn says the per-member models performance advantage over the baseline halves after three weeks.) Training labels are generated every day from events like hirer engagement with new candidates; an approximate label collection pipeline heuristically infers negatives and uses explicit positive and negative feedback as soon as it becomes available. For example, if a recruiter responds to other applications submitted later, the pipeline might infer a negative label for an application with no engagement after 14 days.

It takes up to a day to generate labels and retrain the personalized QA model components, which are only deployed if they pass certain automated quality checks. In the future, LinkedIn hopes to reduce the lag time to minutes with a near-real-time data collection and training framework built atop stream processing technologies like Apache Samza and Apache Kafka.

Across LinkedIn business lines where QA has been deployed Job Seekers, Premium, and Recruiter the company says its enabled new experiences. On the seeker side, QA highlights search results if a members profile is a good match for the job. For Premium members, it showcases opportunities for which members are competitive with other job applicants. And hirers using LinkedIn Recruiter benefit from a smarter ranking of applicants, as well as notifications for members with very high match scores.

LinkedIn says the personalized models delivered double-digit gains in hirer interaction rates and click-through rate (CTR) for recruiter notifications compared with the systems they replaced, as well as a site-wide lift in confirmed hires and premium job seeker CTR. Our analysis demonstrates that the majority of job applicants apply to at least 5 jobs, while the majority of job postings receive at least 10 applicants. This proves to result in enough data to train personalization models, LinkedIn wrote in a blog post. Our vision is to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce. Key to achieving this is making the marketplace between job seekers and hirers more efficient Active job seekers apply for many jobs, and hear back from only a few.

LinkedIns use of AI is pervasive. In October 2019, the Microsoft-owned platform revealed a model that generates text descriptions for images uploaded to LinkedIn, achieved using Microsofts Cognitive Services platform and a unique LinkedIn-derived data set. LinkedIns Recommended Candidates feature learns the hiring criteria for a given role and automatically surfaces relevant candidates in a dedicated tab, and its AI-driven search engine employs data like the kinds of things people post on their profiles and the searches that candidates perform to produce predictions for best-fit jobs and job seekers. Moreover, LinkedIns AI-driven moderation tool automatically spots and removes inappropriate user accounts.

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LinkedIn details AI tool that better matches jobs to candidates - VentureBeat

A Brief Outlook on the Artificial Intelligence landscape in Germany – Analytics Insight

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Artificial Intelligence acts as a potential key technology of dystopian future concepts, social control, and autocratic world power fantasies. It is gradually finding its way to the public and private board room discussions and government policies. Even countries like Germany, which were lagging in the AI race, have gone through tremendous change in the past few years. According to PwC research, by 2030, Germany alone shall have Gross Domestic Product (GDP) up by 11.3% and generate 430 billion due to AI. And by percentage, this potential is more than most of the other European Nations. This makes the country as Europes largest economy, with a thriving market and high potential for new to market brands. The study also that industries like healthcare, energy, and the auto industry will benefit from significant productivity gains by adopting AI applications.

While Germany is currently at the forefront of AI in Europe, research and innovative projects have also commenced in the Cyber Valley. The goal is to further the mission to develop increasingly sophisticated machines with extensive capabilities and boost R&D in AI. Founded just four years ago by the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPII) together with auto groups Bosch, Daimler, BMW, and Porsche, the cluster had also secured 1.25 million investment from Amazon for research partnership. The main motive behind this initiative is to leverage AI to make theGerman industries, services, and products even better. Germany is also striving to bring the digital revolution through Industry 4.0, which was also mentioned in the AI strategy of 2018. The strategy report further expresses that the country shall expand its strong position and rise to be a global leader in AI on the grounds of ethics and legal terms too. It also intends to use AI to promote social participation, freedom of action, and self-determination for citizens and foster the sustainable development of the society. To achieve this goal, the Federal Government first allocated a total of 500 million to beef up the AI strategy for 2019 and further anticipates matching funds from the private sector and other the federal states, therefore bringing the total investment to 6 billion.

Meanwhile, the emphasis is also made on improving data sharing facilities by providing open access to governmental data. The government is also working to build a reliable data and analysis infrastructure based on cloud platforms and upgraded storage and computing capacity. These measures are crucial and necessary as, without data, AI innovations cannot be used to solve the bottlenecks and other issues faced by different industries in their quest for AI adoption. Recently, Germany is looking for ways to tighten data security. It is calling for a more concrete definition when data records must be stored on a mandatory basis. At the European Union, it has also requested for developing a new classification scheme together with the member states.

On the business front, tests are carried to maximize the use of collaborative AI robots and link augmented reality technology to AI-based production planning systems. Major automobile behemoths Volkswagen, BMW, and Daimler, are investing heavily in modern, AI-controlled factories. They are working on solutions for assisted and autonomous driving, intelligent operating systems, entertainment systems, and navigation systems at their German R&D centers.

Germany is also growing as a preferred hub for startups focusing on AI and its applications like machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, predictive analysis, and so on. Further, it has the most active corporate venture investors in Europe (91% of all non-IPO exitsin 2019 were related to corporates). The most common areas of focus for these AI startups are software development, image recognition, customer support and communication, and marketing and sales. These five categories are found to constitute around 48% of German AI startups. Currently, Berlin is the fourth largest global AI hub, following Silicon Valley of the USA, London, and Paris. So, it is high time that companies take Germany as an upcoming nation in global AI leadership and start investing or collaborating with it.

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A Brief Outlook on the Artificial Intelligence landscape in Germany - Analytics Insight

Candis raises nearly $14 million to automate accounting processes with AI – VentureBeat

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Candis, a startup developing a platform for automated accounting and payment processes, this week closed a 12 million ($13.97 million) funding round. A spokesperson for the company said the money will be used to further develop Candis machine learning engine and fuel growth and expansion within Europe, specifically in the Netherlands.

Most paperwork is still done manually. According to a study published by Wakefield Research and Concur, 84% of small businesses rely on some kind of manual process each day. Some of these are financial and require specialized knowledge, and the stakes are high. Errors could result in a client being unable to deliver payments or in late bills that hurt planning.

Candis aims to expedite some of the more complex workflows with algorithms that import files, extract data, approve invoices, and handle exporting. Customers upload documents in one place by scanning them with an app or forwarding them to an email address. The platform handles payment reconciliation with linked business accounts, credit cards, and PayPal accounts by assigning account movements to the correct invoices and notifying admins of missing documents. Candis also automatically updates payment lists and maintains an overview of open liabilities and completed invoices while storing things like invoice numbers to simplify bank transfers and collaboration among team members.

Above: Candis web dashboard.

Image Credit: Candis

Candis platform runs without installation in a web browser on any device, and the company claims it stores data on ISO-certifiedservers in Germany.

Studies show thevast majorityof day-to-day accounting tasks can be automated with software. That may be why over 50% of respondents in asurvey conducted by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants said they anticipate the development of automated and intelligent systems will have a significant impact on accounting businesses over the next 30 years. Indeed, Candis cofounder and managing director Christian Ritosek says the companys software automates more than 80% of accounting processes for tax advisors at thousands of companies. Despite competitors like Botkeeper, Candis says business has grown 500% since its last funding round at the end of 2018. Ritosek estimates the small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) market in the EU to be worth around $4 billion.

Existing investors Viola Ventures and Rabo Frontier Ventures, the investment arm of Rabobank, led this latest investment in Berlin-based Candis. Returning investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Point Nine Capital, and Speedinvest (the main incubator of Commerzbank and 42CAP) also participated.

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Candis raises nearly $14 million to automate accounting processes with AI - VentureBeat

Artificial Intelligence In Diagnostics Market Worth $3.0 Billion By 2027: Grand View Research, Inc. – PRNewswire

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SAN FRANCISCO, July 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The global artificial intelligence in diagnostics market size is expected to reach USD 3.0 billion by 2027, expanding at a CAGR of 32.3%, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Increase in the number of healthcare Artificial Intelligence (AI) diagnostic startups coupled with huge investments by venture capitalist firms to develop innovative technologies that allow fast and effective diagnostic procedures due to continuous increase in number of patients suffering from chronic diseases supports the growth of the market. Around 33.3% of all healthcare AI SaaS companies are engaged in developing diagnostics, making it largest focus area for startups in the market.

Growing investments and funding for AI in healthcare is also one of the key factors driving the market. For instance, in 2016, the U.S.-based startup, PathAI, secured USD 75.2 million investment for developing machine learning technology that assists pathologists in making more precise diagnosis. Rising investments in AI diagnosis-based startups is one of the key indicators that depicts upcoming opportunities.

Key suggestions from the report:

Read 150 page research report with ToC on "Artificial Intelligence In Diagnostics Market Size, Share And Trends Analysis Report By Component (Software, Hardware, Services), By Diagnosis Type, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2020 - 2027" at: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/artificial-intelligence-diagnostics-market

Moreover, increasing adoption of AI technology by hospitals and research centers for clinical diagnosis purpose is another factor propelling market growth. For instance, in July 2018, two national research institutes in Japan succeeded in implementing AI technology for detecting early stage stomach cancer with high precision rate of 95.0% for healthy tissues and 80.0% for cancer tissues. According to National Cancer Centre and Riken, AI technology took 0.004 seconds to identify whether obtained endoscopic image contains normal stomach tissue or early stage cancer tissue. Growing awareness regarding the technology is expected to boost the usage of AI in medical procedures.

Grand View Research has segmented the artificial intelligence in diagnostics market on the basis of component, diagnosis type, and region:

Find more research reports on Healthcare IT Industry,by Grand View Research:

Gain access to Grand View Compass,our BI enabled intuitive market research database of 10,000+ reports

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, U.S.-based market research and consulting company, provides syndicated as well as customized research reports and consulting services. Registered in California and headquartered in San Francisco, the company comprises over 425 analysts and consultants, adding more than 1200 market research reports to its vast database each year. These reports offer in-depth analysis on 46 industries across 25 major countries worldwide. With the help of an interactive market intelligence platform, Grand View Research helps Fortune 500 companies and renowned academic institutes understand the global and regional business environment and gauge the opportunities that lie ahead.

Contact:

Sherry James Corporate Sales Specialist, USAGrand View Research, Inc.Phone: +1-415-349-0058Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519Email: [emailprotected] Web: https://www.grandviewresearch.com Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter

SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc.

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Artificial Intelligence In Diagnostics Market Worth $3.0 Billion By 2027: Grand View Research, Inc. - PRNewswire

South Korea Turns to AI and 5G to Revive Economy From COVID-19 Induced Slump – DirectIndustry e-Magazine

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South Korea announced a project 'New Deal' in June 2020 to revive the countrys economy by focusing on digitalization (iStock)

By GlobalData

South Korea announced a project New Deal in June 2020 to revive the countrys economy by focusing on digitalization. Technologies such as 5G network and artificial intelligence (AI) are set to become the key players in supporting Koreas economic recovery plan and placing the country among the leading technology countries post-COVID-19, says analytics company GlobalData.

For Urte Jakimaviciute MSc, Senior Director of Market Research,

South Koreas telecom operators were one of the first adopters of 5G launching the services more than a year ago in April 2019. The government-backed New Deal will give an additional boost to the expansion of the 5G. With the EU and North American countries turning away from Chinas Huawei, South Koreas Samsung may become an alternative.

While the development and expansion of 5G infrastructure are becoming a critical tool to facilitate the data collection, transmission and exchange, AI becomes a critical component in 5Gs evolution by creating network intelligence and automation, Jakimaviciute continues:

Koreas Samsung Medical Center became the worlds first hospital to use 5G technology for on-site medical procedures establishing itself as a 5G smart hospital powered by AI and other digital technologies.

Global concerns over the virus transmittance in public places, together with emerging safety regulations and social distancing norms are giving a surge to touch free economies with technologies starting to play more important role than ever. Technological advancement has made it possible to aggregate the data from various digital tools and technology networks such as wearables, virtual reality devices and mobile apps.

The convergence of 5G and AI has the potential to bring a lot of possibilities across various industries including transportation, defense and healthcare. For example, Koreas Samsung Medical Center became the worlds first hospital to use 5G technology for on-site medical procedures establishing itself as a 5G smart hospital powered by AI and other digital technologies.

Jakimaviciute concludes:

By announcing national strategy for AI at the end of 2019, Korea acknowledged AI as an important foundation to foster its future economic growth. While Korea still falls behind countries such as the US, the UK and China in AI competitiveness, its success in controlling COVID-19 outbreak may give it the confidence to accelerate the adoption of AI. According to International Monetary Fund (IMF), Koreas economy is set to contract by 2.1% in 2020. Nevertheless, South Korea is expected to do much better than the developed nations such as Japan, the UK and the US, which are expected to have far sharper declines.

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South Korea Turns to AI and 5G to Revive Economy From COVID-19 Induced Slump - DirectIndustry e-Magazine

AI model developed to identify individual birds without tagging – The Guardian

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For even the most sharp-eyed of ornithologists, one great tit can look much like another.

But now researchers have built the first artificial intelligence tool capable of identifying individual small birds.

Computers have been trained to learn to recognise dozens of individual birds which could potentially save scientists arduous hours in the field with binoculars, as well as the catching of birds to fit coloured rings to their legs.

We show that computers can consistently recognise dozens of individual birds, even though we cannot ourselves tell these individuals apart, said Andr Ferreira, a PhD student at the Centre for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology (CEFE-CNRS), in France. In doing so, our study provides the means of overcoming one of the greatest limitations in the study of wild birds reliably recognising individuals.

Ferreira began exploring the potential of artificial intelligence while in South Africa, where he studied the co-operative behaviour of the sociable weaver, a bird which works with others to build the worlds largest nest.

He was keen to understand the contribution of each individual to building the nest, but found it hard to identify individual birds from direct observation because they were often hiding in trees or building parts of the nest out of sight. The AI model was developed to recognise individuals simply from a photograph of their backs while they were busy nest-building.

Together with researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour, in Germany, Ferreira then demonstrated that the technology can be applied to two of the most commonly-studied species in Europe: wild great tits and captive zebra finches.

For AI models to accurately identify individuals they must be trained with thousands of labelled images. This is easy for companies such as Facebook with access to millions of pictures of people voluntarily tagged by users, but acquiring labelled photographs of birds or animals is more difficult.

The researchers, also from institutes in Portugal and South Africa, overcame this challenge by building feeders with camera traps and sensors. Most birds in the study populations already carried a tag similar to microchips which are implanted in cats and dogs. Antennae on the bird feeders read the identity of the bird from these tags and triggered the cameras.

The AI models were trained with these images and then tested with new images of individuals in different contexts. Here they displayed an accuracy of more than 90% for wild great tits and sociable weavers, and 87% for the captive zebra finches, according to the study in the British Ecological Society journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution.

While some larger individual animals can be recognised by the human eye because of distinctive patterns a leopards spots, or a pine martens chest markings, for example AI models have previously been used to identify individual primates, pigs and elephants. But the potential of the models had not been explored in smaller creatures outside the laboratory, such as birds.

According to Ferreira, the lead author of the study, the use of cameras and AI computer models could save on expensive fieldwork, spare animals from procedures such as catching and marking them, and enable much longer-term studies.

It is not very expensive to put a remote camera on a study population for eight years but for somebody to stay there and do the fieldwork for that long is not always possible, he said. It removes the need for the human to be a data collector so researchers can spend more time thinking about the questions instead of collecting the data.

The AI model is currently only able to re-identify individuals it has been shown before. But the researchers are now trying to build more powerful AI models that can identify larger study groups of birds, and distinguish individuals even if they have never seen them before. This would enable new individuals without tags to be recorded by the cameras and recognised by the computers.

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AI model developed to identify individual birds without tagging - The Guardian

What’s up in August? The brightest comet in 23 years – Press Herald

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The month of August is named for Augustus Caesar. We have reached the middle of summer and there are as many interesting highlights in our skies, as always, with one additional and rare bonus the brightest comet in 23 years.

So get out under the warm skies and enjoy the great beauty always residing far above us, along with this rare primordial visitor from deep space, not to return again for nearly 7,000 years.

Our four brightest planets will be nicely lined up in the morning sky all month by 3 a.m. each morning. Then there will be the usual close conjunctions with the moon, along with the less usual opposition of our largest asteroid, Ceres. The famous Perseid Meteor Shower will happen on the night of the 11th. This is usually the second best shower each year, a close second to the Geminids in December. But the real bonus will be the remaining views of Comet NEOWISE. It will remain visible all month, but will fade fromvisibility without binoculars by around the middle of August.

Jupiter and Saturn now both rise before sunset, since both are just past opposition, but still nearly at their best for the whole year. They will reach their highest point in our summer sky before midnight.

Mars now rises before midnight and Venus will rise at 2:45 a.m. all month long, becoming the last planet to fill in the quartet of our fellow traveling planets. Notice that Mars is getting visibly brighter and larger each evening as the earth is rapidly catching up with our neighbor in its orbit. The red planet will not begin its retrograde motion until early next month, leading to its close opposition in October.

Our largest and first-discovered asteroid, Ceres, will reach opposition on the 28th in the constellation of Aquarius at 7.7 magnitude, so you would need binoculars. It is 600 miles in diameter, about the size of Texas, and makes up a quarter of all the mass of the millions of asteroids inhabiting the belt between Mars and Jupiter.

The Perseid meteor shower will last for much of this month, but it will peak on Tuesday night the 11th into Wednesday morning. Caused by Comet Swift-Tuttle, this shower lasts for around 20 days, since the material from this comet is spread out over nearly 30 million miles of space. It was last here in 1992. You can expect up to 60 meteors per hour, but the last quarter moon will rise just after midnight to wash out about one third of the meteors after that time, which is when showers usually reach their peak toward morning as the earth is spinning into the source of the meteors after midnight. Look northeast toward Perseus as soon as it gets dark. The radiant of this shower is just below the double cluster in Perseus. Sand grain-sized pieces of this huge comet (it is 16 miles in diameter, one of the largest of all comets) will disintegrate in our upper atmosphere at 36 miles per second, or twice as fast as we are always orbiting the sun.

The star of that memorable night was undoubtedly Comet NEOWISE. Discovered by a low-earth orbiting satellite on March 27, it has already brightened more than 1 million times to second magnitude as of the middle of July when I first saw it. It should still be visible without binoculars as it traverses below the Big Dipper into Coma Berenices and Bootes above Virgo for part of this month, even though it is fading fast. Contrary to popular belief, it is only moving about one degree per day westward right now. You can see it as soon as it gets dark until about 11 p.m., when it sinks too low into the western horizon. It will pass right by a globular star cluster named M53 in Coma Berenices on Aug. 7, which will make a great photo op.

NEOWISE stands for Near Earth Orbiting wide field infrared survey explorer. Most comets are discovered by automated ground-based telescopes doing sky surveys and specifically looking for potentially hazardous asteroids that could hit us in the near future. PanSTARRS, LINEAR, SWAN and NEAT are four more of these that have discovered dozens of new comets and asteroids.

The nucleus of NEOWISE is only 3 miles across, but its long tail stretches about 1 million miles, always facing away from the sun. Its coma is about the size of Earth. NEOWISE has two distinct tails, a straight ion tail and a slightly curved dust tail. NEOWISE is the brightest comet to grace our skies since Hale-Bopp in 1997 and only the fifth bright naked-eye comet in the last 50 years, so make sure you try to catch and photograph it before it disappears, not to be seen again for nearly 7,000 years.

AUGUST HIGHLIGHTS

Aug. 1: Maria Mitchell was born in 1818. She was an important American astronomer, naturalist, and educator who also discovered a comet in 1847. The nearly full moon will be close to Jupiter tonight and near Saturn the next night, soon after sunset.

Aug. 3: Full moon is at noon. This is also known as the Grain, Green Corn or Sturgeon moon. The Messenger Spacecraft was launched to Mercury in 2004.

Aug. 4: The Phoenix mission to Mars was launched in 2007.

Aug. 6: The Curiosity Rover landed on Mars in 2012. It is still working well and making lots of new discoveries and taking many great pictures.

Aug. 9: The moon and Mars will be just one degree apart 1 hour before sunrise.

Aug. 11: Last quarter moon is at 12:46 p.m. The Perseid Meteor Shower peaks tonight.

Aug. 15: The moon passes close to Venus in Gemini in the morning sky an hour before sunrise.

Aug. 17: In 2006, Voyager 1 reached 100 A.U. from the sun, which is twice as far out as Pluto orbits on average. Seven years later, it crossed over the heliopause at 123 A.U., where the influence of our sun ends in space.

Aug. 18: New moon is at 10:43 p.m.

Aug. 25: The Spitzer Space Telescope was launched in 2003. Thats the infrared telescope related to the Hubble Space Telescope. The Spitzer just stopped working at the end of January. Last quarter moon is at 1:59 p.m.

Aug. 28: The moon passes near Jupiter for the second time this month.

Bernie Reim of Wells is co-director of the Astronomical Society of Northern New England.

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What's up in August? The brightest comet in 23 years - Press Herald

Astro Bob: See the twin Messier craters and a curious lunar ‘comet’ – Duluth News Tribune

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Ive lived the comet this month. You, too? After so many fainter comets for so many years NEOWISE is like drinking from a fire hose. Last night, when hazy skies and tiredness dissuaded me from driving to a dark site to photograph the comet, I went out anyway, powerless to resist. Blame the aurora. On a late walk with my daughter we noticed the northern horizon aglow with northern lights, so I made a short drive to watch the show on the big screen.

And there it was when I arrived Comet NEOWISE. How could I NOT include it in photos of the aurora?

This odd pair of craters, named Messier A (left) and Messier, may have formed during a single impact. A butterfly-wing pattern of rays above and below the crater surround Messier while twin-tails of debris lie downrange of Messier A. NASA / LRO / ACT-REACT

Weve discussed how the moons entry into the evening sky the past few days will begin to affect the comets visibility. No lunar disrespect intended. The moon is a wonderful place to explore in binoculars and small telescopes in its own right. Unlike bright comets you dont have to wait 10 or 20 years for the orb of night to show up. It cycles around the sky in under a month, its pockets stuffed with goodies. One of those bonbons is a pair of craters named Messier and Messier A.

Use this photo to find the Messier craters. The duo and comet tail are located in the diamond-shaped Sea of Fertility and are visible every clear night until past full moon from July 25 to Aug. 5. Sight the moon at low magnification, navigate to the Sea of Fertility then increase the magnification to 75x 150x for the best view. (Bob King for the News Tribune)

That name might already be familiar to you because it belongs to famous 18th century French comet hunter Charles Messier. Messier compiled a catalog of bright galaxies, star clusters and nebulae that includes many of the finest sights in the night sky for smaller telescopes. Each Messier crater is about 8 miles (12 km) across and located in the western half of the diamond-shaped Sea of Fertility (Mare Fecunditatis).

Artist view of the meteoroid impact on the moon. NASA

Point a telescope at the crater twins and youll immediately be struck by what looks like double tail shooting out of Messier A, which rather resembles the head of a comet. The streaks might also remind you of a jet contrail or the forked tail displayed by NEOWISE shortly after it passed closest to the sun in early July. What youre really seeing are two rays composed of material ejected from the impact that created the two craters. Lunar rays like these form when rocks and boulders excavated by an impact fall back to the surface and dig countless secondary craters of their own, each mini-impact exposing fresh, lighter-toned lunar soil in the process.

The Messier craters (upper right) as they appear in a medium-sized telescope. They likely formed when a small asteroid struck the moon at a very low angle. Damian Peach

Ballistics experiments at NASAs Ames Research Center have shown that when meteoroids and asteroids strike the moon they punch out circular craters until the angle of the impactor drops to about 15 or less. At these super-shallow angles speeding space debris digs out an oval or elliptical crater like the peculiarly elongated Messier.

Likewise with rays. Above 15 an impactor will create a circular pattern of debris, but a low-angle strike will spray material off to one side. One arriving at just a few degrees produces rays running sideways, creating a butterfly-wing pattern. As a result of these experiments, astronomers hypothesize that an asteroid or comet striking the moon at an angle of 1 to 5 at more than 35,000 miles per hour first excavated the trough-shaped Messier and produced faint butterfly wings . Its partner Messier A may have been carved out almost simultaneously by a piece of the impactor that broke off and ricocheted downrange. Debris from that strike formed dual plumes of debris in the direction opposite the impact.

These fascinating craters and their unique rays tell a fascinating story. You can see the crazy lunar comet from now until waning gibbous phase more than 10 nights in a row. How generous of the moon to provide another comet as it steals our dear NEOWISE from view.

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Astro Bob: See the twin Messier craters and a curious lunar 'comet' - Duluth News Tribune

The first interplanetary helicopter is on its way to Mars – Space.com

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The first helicopter designed to fly on another planet is now on its way to Mars.

NASA's Mars helicopter, called Ingenuity, is hitching a ride to the Red Planet with the agency's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, which lifted off on an Atlas V rocket from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station today (July 30).

Tucked beneath the rover's belly, Ingenuity will spend the next six months en route to Mars. The mission is scheduled to land on Mars on Feb. 18, 2021, and within the next few months the rotorcraft will attempt the first-ever flight through another planet's atmosphere.

Related: Meet Ingenuity: Alabama teen names NASA's Mars helicopterLive Updates: NASA's Mars rover Perseverance mission in real time

"We as human beings have never flown or rotorcraft outside of our own Earth's atmosphere, so this will actually be a very much a Wright Brothers moment, except on another planet," Mimi Aung, NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter project manager, said in a news conference on Tuesday (July 28).

While NASA and other space agencies around the world have sent landers, orbiters and rovers to the Red Planet, no one has attempted to fly an aircraft on another planet before. On Mars the atmosphere is much thinner than it is on Earth, which means there's less air to generate lift and more technical challenges in designing a craft that will stay aloft.

"Flying a rotorcraft at Mars is very difficult. First and foremost, the atmosphere there is very thin, about 1% compared to the Earth's atmospheric density here," Aung said. "To build a vehicle that can fly at Mars, it has to be very light and be able to spin very fast."

In photos: NASA's Mars Perseverance rover mission to the Red Planet

Ingenuity weighs about 4 lbs. (1.8 kilograms) and has two counter-rotating blades that measure about 4 feet (1.2 meters) long. Those blades should spin at a rate of about 2,400 revolutions per minute, NASA said in Ingenuity's mission description.To test the helicopter, NASA simulated the Martian atmosphere in a testing chamber at the agency's Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California.

While Ingenuity is only an experimental mission its primary objective is to test powered flight on Mars a successful flight could shape the future of exploration on Mars.

For robotic missions like the Perseverance rover, helicopters could scout the Martian terrain and help plan driving routes. With that same aerial view, rotorcraft could also be used to study the planet's geology from a different perspective, and they could even help astronauts explore Mars someday, NASA said.

"This Mars helicopter Ingenuity could lead to the opening up of a whole new way to explore space" and to take "exploration missions to the aerial dimension," Aung said.

Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us on Twitter@Spacedotcom and onFacebook.

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The first interplanetary helicopter is on its way to Mars - Space.com

SpaceX: Crew Dragon is returning to Earth heres when to hold your breath – The Conversation UK

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The Crew Dragon spacecraft, produced by private company SpaceX, is scheduled to return from the International Space Station (ISS) and splash down in the Atlantic ocean on August 2. Contingent on a favourable weather forecast and a successful final week at the ISS, NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley will begin the undocking procedure on August 1, and re-enter Earths atmosphere the next day a total of 64 days since lift off.

The historic launch took place on May 30 from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking the first time a commercial space company has carried humans into orbit around Earth. But while the launch was a nail-biting experience to watch, reentry will be even more risky presenting a tense moment for mission control. SpaceX founder Elon Musk said that the reentry is indeed his biggest concern.

The joint SpaceX and NASA mission was successful in docking with the ISS, so that astronauts could complete scientific and maintenance work, including four spacewalks.

Importantly, the missions primary purpose is to test and demonstrate the vehicles capability to safely carry crew to and from Earth orbit, as the first step in the plan of commencing regular ISS missions and commercial space flights.

The extreme velocities and temperatures the vehicle must endure present a major challenge to engineers and makes reentry the most perilous part of a mission.

The danger starts with finding the right angle of the trajectory as the spacecraft enters the upper atmosphere. If it is too steep, the astronauts will experience potentially fatal g-forces, and the friction of the air drag could cause the spacecraft to explode. If it is too shallow, the capsule will instead catastrophically skip off the atmosphere and back into Earth orbit.

The spacecraft will enter the upper atmosphere at 27,000km/hour. That is 7.5km/second, or more than 20 times the speed of sound. In whichever units you prefer this is fast. At these velocities, a very strong shock wave forms around the front of the vehicle, compressing and superheating the air. Managing the immense thermal load is a huge reentry engineering challenge.

At the most extreme stage, the temperature of the air in the shock layer exceeds 7,000C. By comparison, the temperature at the surface of the Sun is around 5,500C. This makes the vehicles heat shield so hot that it starts to glow a process called incandescence. SpaceXs new and advanced PICA-X material heat shield has managed to protect the capsule in test flights, later being recovered in a very charred state.

The air molecules around the vehicle also break down into positively charged atoms and free electrons a so-called plasma. When some of the molecules recombine, excess energy is released as photons (light particles) giving the air around the vehicle an amber glow.

This plasma layer may be beautiful, but it can cause radio blackouts. When an electron travels along a conductive wire, we have electricity. Similarly, when free electrons move through the plasma around the vehicle, we have an electric field. If the electric field becomes too strong, it can reflect and attenuate the radiowaves trying to reach the spacecraft.

Blackout not only leads to a loss of connection to on-board crew and flight data, it can also make remote control and guidance impossible. The Apollo missions, the Mars Pathfinder and the recent, failed 2018 Soyuz rocket launch all incurred communications blackout on the order of minutes. NASA mission control are anticipating a nervous six minutes of blackout during the peak heating phase of Crew Dragons return if anything goes wrong during this time, its in the hands of the astronauts.

Another risky stage is the parachute-assisted landing. The Crew Dragon will deploy four parachutes upon the final stage of reentry, as the vehicle descends toward a gentle splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida. This manoeuvre has been tested by SpaceX 27 times prior to next weeks crewed landing, so it should work.

A successful landing will have huge implications lowering the cost of space exploration through the use of reusable rockets and enabling private space exploration. While SpaceX engineered the Crew Dragon vehicle under contract to NASA, the company is free to use the spacecraft for commercial flights without NASA involvement after operational certification.

SpaceX has a partnership with commercial aerospace company Axiom Space, which has the ultimate goal of building the worlds first commercial space station. The proposed commercial activities for the station are broad: from in-space research and manufacturing to space exploration support.

Then there is space tourism. Private citizens are already queuing for their ticket to space, and with a successful Crew Dragon splashdown, they wont be waiting long. American space tourism company, Space Adventures (partnered with SpaceX), are planning to offer zero-gravity atmospheric flights, orbital flights with a spacewalk option and laps of the Moon by late 2021.

Read more: Elon Musks Starship may be more moral catastrophe than bold step in space exploration

Whether the costs, environmental impact and dangers of spaceflight is justified for space tourism is debatable. As this articles shows, the required safety briefing for Space Adventure ticket holders will be much more comprehensive than your regular please take a moment to read the safety card in the seat pocket in front of you.

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‘On our way to Mars’: NASA rover to look for signs of life – The Daily Times

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A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off from pad 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Thursday, July 30, 2020, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The mission will send a Mars rover to the Red Planet to search for signs of life, explore the planet's geology and much more. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. The biggest, most sophisticated Mars rover ever built a car-size vehicle bristling with cameras, microphones, drills and lasers blasted off for the red planet Thursday as part of an ambitious, long-range project to bring the first Martian rock samples back to Earth to be analyzed for evidence of ancient life.

NASAs Perseverance rode a mighty Atlas V rocket into a clear morning sky in the worlds third and final Mars launch of the summer. China and the United Arab Emirates got a head start last week, but all three missions should reach their destination in February after a journey of seven months and 300 million miles.

The plutonium-powered, six-wheeled rover will drill down and collect tiny geological specimens that will be brought home in about 2031 in a sort of interplanetary relay race involving multiple spacecraft and countries. The overall cost: more than $8 billion.

NASAs science mission chief, Thomas Zurbuchen, pronounced the launch the start of humanitys first round trip to another planet.

Oh, I loved it, punching a hole in the sky, right? Getting off the cosmic shore of our Earth, wading out there in the cosmic ocean, he said. Every time, it gets me.

In addition to potentially answering one of the most profound questions of science, religion and philosophy Is there or has there ever been life beyond Earth? the mission will yield lessons that could pave the way for the arrival of astronauts as early as the 2030s.

Theres a reason we call the robot Perseverance. Because going to Mars is hard, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said just before liftoff. In this case, its harder than ever before because were doing it in the midst of a pandemic.

Shortly after liftoff, Perseverance unexpectedly went into safe mode, a sort of protective hibernation, after a temperature reading triggered an alarm. But deputy project manager Matt Wallace later said that the spacecraft appeared to be in good shape, with its temperatures back within proper limits, and that NASA will probably switch it back to its normal cruise state within a day or so.

Everything is pointing toward a healthy spacecraft ready to go to Mars and do its mission, he said.

NASAs deep-space tracking stations also had some difficulty locking onto signals from Perseverance early in the flight but eventually established a solid communication link, Wallace said.

The U.S., the only country to safely put a spacecraft on Mars, is seeking its ninth successful landing on the planet, which has proved to be the Bermuda Triangle of space exploration, with more than half of the worlds missions there burning up, crashing or otherwise ending in failure.

China is sending both a rover an orbiter. The UAE, a newcomer to outer space, has an orbiter en route.

Its the biggest stampede to Mars in spacefaring history. The opportunity to fly between Earth and Mars comes around only once every 26 months when the planets are on the same side of the sun and about as close as they can get.

The launch went off on time at 7:50 a.m. despite a 4.2-magnitude earthquake 20 minutes before liftoff that shook NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which is overseeing the rover.

Launch controllers at Cape Canaveral wore masks and sat spaced apart because of the coronavirus outbreak, which kept hundreds of scientists and other team members away from Perseverances liftoff.

That was overwhelming. Overall, just wow! said Alex Mather, the 13-year-old Virginia schoolboy who proposed the name Perseverance in a NASA competition and watched the launch in person with his parents.

About an hour into the flight, controllers applauded, pumped their fists, exchanged air hugs and pantomimed high-fives when the rocket left Earths orbit and began hurtling toward Mars.

We have left the building. We are on our way to Mars, Perseverances chief engineer, Adam Steltzner, said from JPL.

If all goes well, the rover will descend to the Martian surface on Feb. 18, 2021, in what NASA calls seven minutes of terror, during which the craft will go from 12,000 mph to a complete stop. It is carrying 25 cameras and a pair of microphones that will enable Earthlings to vicariously tag along.

Perseverance will aim for Jezero Crater, a treacherous, unexplored expanse of boulders, cliffs, dunes and possibly rocks bearing the chemical signature of microbes from what was a lake more than 3 billion years ago. The rover will store half-ounce rock samples in dozens of super-sterilized titanium tubes.

It also will release a mini helicopter that will attempt the first powered flight on another planet, and test out other technology to prepare the way for future astronauts. That includes equipment for extracting oxygen from Mars thin carbon-dioxide atmosphere.

The plan is for NASA and the European Space Agency to launch a dune buggy in 2026 to fetch the rock samples, plus a rocket ship that will put the specimens into orbit around Mars. Then another spacecraft will capture the orbiting samples and bring them home.

Samples taken straight from Mars, not drawn from meteorites discovered on Earth, have long been considered the Holy Grail of Mars science, according to NASAs now-retired Mars czar, Scott Hubbard.

To definitively answer the life-beyond-Earth question, the samples must be analyzed by the best electron microscopes and other instruments, far too big to fit on a spacecraft, he said.

Ive wanted to know if there was life elsewhere in the universe since I was 9 years old. That was more than 60 years ago, Hubbard said from his Northern California cabin. But just maybe, Ill live to see the fingerprints of life come back from Mars in one of those rock samples.

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'On our way to Mars': NASA rover to look for signs of life - The Daily Times

KOTG: Mass testing at McCrossan Boys Ranch, FBI phone scam and cooler weather in the forecast – KELOLAND.com

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KOTG: Mass testing at McCrossan Boys Ranch, FBI phone scam and cooler weather in the forecast - KELOLAND.com

Global space economy grows to $423.8 billion in 2019 – Geospatial World

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Combined Activity in Government Spending and Commercial Revenue has Jumped 73% in the Last Decade, According to Newest Analysis from Space Foundation

The global space economy in 2019 grew more than $9 billion over the previous year, reaching $423.8 billion, according to new findings published by Space Foundations 2020 second-quarter issue ofThe Space Report.

Economic analysis also found:

For more than a decade,The Space Reporthas been widely recognized as the definitive body of information about the global space industry. It contains worldwide space research and data relating to the industrys economy, infrastructure, and workforce, and also details the diverse benefits of space exploration. The report is a resource for government and business leaders, educators, financial analysts, students, space-related companies, and media.

Among the other findings released inThe Space Report 2020, Q2issue:

Space Foundations Research & Analysis team producesThe Space Reportquarterly to provide regular updates on global space activity.

This is the account of the Newsdesk team at Geospatial Media. Reach us at newsdesk [@] geospatialmedia.net or call us on +91-120-4612500

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Global space economy grows to $423.8 billion in 2019 - Geospatial World

Report proposes actions to strengthen US space industry and military capabilities – SpaceNews

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One of the narratives in the report is that the United States is at risk of being displaced by China as the world's space superpower.

WASHINGTON A group of more than 120 experts from the U.S. military, government space agencies and the private sector issued a report July 28 calling for investments in technology and education to ensure the United States remains the dominant space power.

The 86-page report, State of the Space Industrial Base 2020: A Time for Action to Sustain U.S. Economic & Military Leadership in Space, summarizes the results of a May conference led by the Defense Innovation Unit, the Air Force Research Laboratory, the U.S. Space Force and NewSpace New Mexico.

One of the narratives in the report is that the United States is at risk of being displaced by China as the worlds leader in space exploration and use of space for economic development. It suggests the U.S. could meet that challenge by increasing its support of the commercial space industry and giving the military a bigger role in protecting civilian and private sector space assets.

China is committed and credible in its pledge to become the leading, global superpower, to include space, by 2049 marking the 100 th anniversary of the Peoples Republic, the report says. A key component of Chinas strategy is to displace the U.S. as the leading power in space and lure U.S. allies and partners away from US-led space initiatives.

A central recommendation in the report is for the U.S. to develop a guiding national vision for space industrialization and national space development.

Other recommendations:

Expand role of U.S. Space Force The report recommends a broader role for the U.S. Space Force protecting U.S. commercial and civil space capabilities, commerce and civil infrastructure in the space domain, similarly to how the U.S. Navy protects the global maritime commerce. Clarity on this issue will drive commercial confidence for a more rapid expansion of U.S. space entrepreneurial activity, says the report.

The Space Force also could help support Americas return to the moon by providing safety of navigation services in cislunar space. The Space Force should articulate its role in planetary defense, the report says. Such a role could accelerate Americas edge in asteroid mining and in-space transportation. In this context, the Space Force would be like the Army Corps of Engineers, helping accelerate the development of critical infrastructure.

Support domestic space industry The industry has been financially damaged by the COVID-19 pandemic and the full extent of the crisis is still unclear. The U.S. government could encourage investments in the space industry in the form of bonds, a space commodities exchange and a government commitment to procure products and services through such an exchange.

Include allies and partners in space development efforts China is trying to lure U.S. allies through offers of joint participation in the development of global platforms and international infrastructure and wealth, including space development. In response, the U.S. should deepen ties with allies and partners in space development projects.

Increase investment in STEM education The U.S. government should provide incentives to fill the demand for talent. One suggestion could be a STEM ROTC with targeted undergraduate scholarships for U.S. citizens in return for working in STEM in the United States after graduation. NASAs Artemis program will require an additional 10,000 STEM graduates for civil needs alone, with more needed to support the Space Force.

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Love the US Space & Rocket Center? #SaveSpaceCamp now – Bham Now

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Sunset over an old Space Shuttle in Huntsville. Photo via the U.S. Space & Rocket Centers Facebook page

Never in a million years would I have imagined the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville and its beloved Space Camp programs could be a casualty of COVID-19. But unless they raise $1.5 million dollars, both will have to close permanently in October. We reached out to people here in Birmingham to find out how Space Camp shaped them and why we all need to do our part to save the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, an irreplaceable national treasure. #SaveSpaceCamp now.

Long story short, according to Ben Chandler, Chairman of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center Foundation and a Space Camp alum:

the coronavirus pandemic has devastated our revenue stream, and without your support, were on a trajectory to have to close the doors of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center museum, Space Camp and its sister programs sometime in October of this year. Our organization, our beloved Space Camp, and the U.S. Space & Rocket Center museum does not qualify for federal, state or local relief. Its up to us. We have to save Space Camp. We have to raise $1.5 million by October to ensure that the museum stays operational and so that Space Camp can reopen in the Spring of 2021.

Go to spacecamp.com to give now.

We reached out to Dennis Leonard of Birmingham-based EDPA (Economic Development Partnership of Alabama) to find out what more about the impact of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center on the state. Heres what he said:

The U.S. Space and Rocket is Center is a shining jewel brilliantly highlighting Alabamas leadership in winning the first Space Race and in rocketing towards winning the second.

Dr. Wernher Von Braun led 400,000 engineers from Huntsville, in building NASAs Apollo program, which led to the greatest innovation in the 20thCentury, the Apollo 11 Moonshot and landing.

The US Space and Rocket Center pays homage to this otherworldly accomplishment while remaining a symbol of American ingenuity and investment, all solely centered in our great state.

The capital investment made alone in the more than 300 aerospace and defense contractors, the countrys second largest research park, Redstone Arsenal, NASA, and now Blue Origin, Dynetics, and United Launch Alliance is an economic development juggernaut unseen in the rest of the country.

Heres how John Nerger, Chair of the Alabama Space Science Exhibit Commission, which is the board that oversees the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, opened todays press conference:

The coronavirus pandemic has created a dire situation at our beloved Space & Rocket Center and we are now struggling for our very survival.

We closed in mid-March to comply with state health orders. Our museum opened in late May with limited attendance. Space Camp resumed in late-June at a mere 20% of capacity to abide by safe distancing requirements.

Low attendance has meant a 2/3 reduction in revenue, an amount that means we are not financially viable.

Space Camp will have to close its week-long programs again in September due to the lack of enrollment from our international students and our school groups.

We continue to seek local, state and federal assistance, but we realize their ability to help is limited. We just cannot afford to wait for someone wearing a cape to swoop in and rescue us.

Therefore, we are doing a couple of things that are essential for protecting the Center, for protecting Space Camp, and making it possible for both to reopen and rise again in 2021.

First, we are cutting costs, drastically. Sadly, this means letting go over 90% of our valued personnel.

Second, we are turning to the public and the communitywhether local, in our state, across the country and even overseasfor help, immediate help.Thats why we are launching our Save Space Camp campaign today. The campaign to Save Space Camp must raise a minimum of $1.5m to keep the U.S. Space & Rocket Center open past October, which is when we run out of money, and allow us to reopen Space Camp next April.

The program here is far too important to both young and old, but especially our young people. Anyone who sees how vital space, science, engineering and education are to the future of this country and even the future of humanity, we simply must save Space Camp. There is no other option.

Other impacts of a potential closure, according participants at the press conference, include:

Do you know people whove been to Space Camp? With one million alums across the globe, its likely that you do. As for me, Ive never heard anyone say it was anything less than life changing. In fact, its the sort of program my husband and I have talked about wanting to send our own kids to one day.

Dennis Leonard of EDPA said this about the importance of Space Camp to our state:

Space Camp is certainly an economic development attraction and tourism destination. There is only one Space Camp in the US and two others in the world. We attract space campers from all 50 states and 150 countries around the world who are intrigued by space, are motivated by STEM and STEAM education, and who themselves want to be space explorers. If the US Space and Rocket Center, along with Space Camp, were to close, we would lose this youthful engagement, the allure of future students wanting to attend Alabama colleges and universities, and the likelihood of talent attraction for our multidimensional workforce.

I reached out to two Birmingham-area leaders who are both space camp alums to find out what it means to them, and here is what they said.

The Space and Rocket Center is more to me than a tourist destination. It IS the reason I became a meteorologist. As a middle school student I attended The Space Academy in Huntsville where my eyes were opened to the world of space.

I fell in love with science because of Space Camp. From there, I decided I would like to study earths atmosphere and become a meteorologist. Literally, if it wasnt for Space Camp, Im not sure I would be where I am today.

I have vivid memories of my missions, my experiences, and my role as CAPCOM (Capsule Communicator) at Space Camp.

I dream of the day when my kids can attend. At space camp, kids are inspired, taught, challenged, and build lasting friendships. Its a world class program focused on growing our next generation of leaders, scientists, engineers, and innovators.

In a state that doesnt have the best reputation for being ahead of the curve academically, having NASA, and the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville has been a huge source of pride.

It has given us a means to put our best foot forwardone of science, innovation, and exploration to share with the rest of the world through tourism and Space Camp, inviting commerce and investment in our state.

As incredible new innovations are in progress even here in Birmingham, how often we hear the term moonshot. This will be our moonshot. That turn of phrase carries with it an expectation that science is still important in Alabamathat inspiring our businesses, entrepreneurs, andchildrento reach for the moon and beyond really matters.

In one incredible place in Alabama children can be inspired, practice teamwork, be exposed to people from around the globe and all the good that entails, and truly experience how math and science apply in daily life. Its incredible, and its RIGHT HERE in our back yard. We should be EXPANDING on that, not contemplating eliminating it.

Who doesnt have memories of going to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center when they were a kid? What parent doesnt love watching their own kids hop into lunar modules, eat lunch underneath a Space Shuttle, or enjoy the outdoor rides among real rockets?

Heres why we need to help save it:

Alabamas US Space and Rocket Center is theonlyfacility like it in the US, and it was Dr. Von Brauns brainchild to challenge young, visiting minds with the center.

We must make a multi-year investment in saving the US Space and Rocket Center to preserve history, immerse visitors and campers in the infinite challenges of space exploration, and retain Alabamas singular leadership role in leading the space race which now includes the protection of our telecommunications systems, global defense, and scientific achievement.

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Love the US Space & Rocket Center? #SaveSpaceCamp now - Bham Now

Space Photonics Opportunities Abound As NASA Renews Moon And Planetary Exploration Market: Future Scenarios and Business Opportunity Analysis COVID-19…

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Report Highlights

The recentramp-up by NASAas it revitalizes its commitment to the Moon, Mars and other planetary exploration is providing new opportunities for companies involved in optics and photonics. This report examines the new technical challenges in space photonics and optics, and the spillover to manufactured products, which is both exciting and well recognized.

Reports Includes:

An overview of spacephotonics opportunities at NASAfor revitalizing Moon, Mars and other planetary exploration initiatives Coverage of pre-Artemis Moon scientific missions and photonics Comparative study on space-made vs. earth-made optical fibres Knowledge about Lunar Crater Observing and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE).

Summary

Request for Report Sample:https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/13038

The recent ramp-up by NASA as it revitalizes its commitment to the Moon, Mars and other planetary exploration initiatives is providing new opportunities for companies involved in optics and photonics. Astronomy and optics go all the way back to Galileos telescope, and instruments including the spectrometer date back to the first days of the NASA space program. The potential spin-off effects of these activities are the stuff of marketing dreams. Who among us is not delighted by the transition from room-sized valve driven mainframe computers to semiconductors? Or memory foam mattresses, infrared thermometers, freeze dried ice cream, solar cells, Bowflex exercising and water filtration recycling systems? In optics, the tracking system for LASIK eye surgery owes a debt to velocity and range imaging LADAR first used for docking spacecraft.

Unlike the outcomes of the programs leading to the first Moon mission, Mercury-Gemini-Apollo, the program here is far longer lasting and the scope is far greater. NASAs intent is not just to land on the Moon, but to develop the Moon as a launching pad where water and rocket fuelamong other things can be mined indigenously, and space exploration to Mars and beyond can occur.

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Supporters Of Expanded Gambling Turn In Signatures For 2020 Crowded Ballot Full Of Hotly Contested Issues – CBS Denver

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DENVER (CBS4) Colorado could see more types of casino games and higher bet limits. Supporters of a measure that would allow gaming towns to raise the stakes and legalize new games turned in signatures this week. Right now, if casinos in Colorado want to raise the limit on how much people can bet, the whole state has to approve it.

Under the ballot measure, only Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek would have a say.

The economies of the three communities have been hit hard by COVID-19. Residents like Michelle Joyce believe the ballot measure could be a lifeline, Were the ones who voted gaming in in the first place. Were the ones who live and die by it.

Colorado is one of only two states to limit bets. The cap here is $100. In addition to raising the stakes, the initiative would also allow those who live in the three mountain towns to legalize new games.

Steve Boulter who says he helped bring gaming to Cripple Creek 30 years ago says they will, I believe that the industry has been wonderful for the renovation of town and the creation of jobs and I think its a natural step in our growth process.

But Jeff Hunt, Director of Colorado Christian Universitys Centennial Institute, says its not right for someone to lose their house in a single bet, Casinos are going to make a lot more money off the backs of Colorado families suffering from addiction.

David Farahi, CEO of Monarch Casino and Resort, says he wants to stop gambling addicts too, We have a responsibility regardless of the bet limit to help identify people who are gambling irresponsibly.

Farahi says the measure is about keeping tax revenue in Colorado, By no stretch of the imagination are we thinking that everyone is going to stop going to Las Vegas. But if we can get some portion of those people to stay and play in Colorado, it benefits the whole state.

While signatures for the gambling measure need to be verified, several other controversial have already made the November ballot. Coloradans will decide whether to require proof of citizenship to vote, ban late term abortions, reintroduce grey wolves, elect the president based on the national popular vote, increase taxes on nicotine and tobacco products and change how property taxes are assessed.

Supporters of two other measures, to lower the income tax rate and require voter approval for fee increases, turned in petitions today. Signatures are due Monday.

One familiar issue that wont be on the 2020 ballot is oil and gas. Both sides agreed to a truce while new regulations are implemented.

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Supporters Of Expanded Gambling Turn In Signatures For 2020 Crowded Ballot Full Of Hotly Contested Issues - CBS Denver

Can Crypto Technology Expand Interest in the Real Money Gambling Industry? – hackernoon.com

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@ks.shilovKirill

Blockchain enthusiast developer and writer. My telegram: ksshilov

Gambling has always been a polarizing topic, and online gambling has only made opinions flare even stronger on both sides of the fence. One side fears that websites are not being entirely honest and could be cheating customers, while the other side believes that the convenience of online gambling may cause those who are borderline addicts to tip into a downward spiral of debt.

The beauty of this situation is that both sides (and many more) will find comfort in the techniques being implemented in the online gambling world thanks to blockchain technology. Through the utilization of decentralized, blockchain-based technology, the gambling industry will be able to transform into a fair, transparent, and safe environment for all.

From fancy casinos to spending a night with friends playing cards, onlineslot machines, and everything between, gambling finds its way into ourlives. Humans have been gambling for thousands of years and they show no signs of stopping anytime soon.

Yet even with this clear interest in gambling, there are still many people who find the entire practice despicable.

Gambling has a bad reputation, and youll often hear people say the house always wins. This statement is referring to two different ideas: the first being that the house always has the best odds of winning, and second, that anyone who gambles risks far more than the establishment they bet against.

Blockchain technology is very new and exciting. Although it feels like it could be a possible cure-all for the iGaming industry, will it be able to provide games with the same ease and entertainment that the current online websites do? There is a certain merit to using cryptocurrencies for an online gambling website, but after the initial awe wears off manyusers may want to revert to traditional gambling websites. But even in the event that this scenario comes to pass, there are still several reasons why the iGaming industry should work hard to keep itself decentralized:

Blockchain technology isnt magic, of course, and it cant automatically fix the iGaming industry. But what it can do instead is create a healthy ecosystem of decentralized nodes that support specific online gambling websites, prevent the need for sensitive customer information through the use of smart contracts, allow for greater profits since the house will more often have the same odds as the players, and make money through various means instead of strictly through players losing. This change in mentality throughout the industry has the potential to lead toseveral positive changes, particularly the change of total transparency; the rules, how much information is being collected (and for what), and exactly what the winning numbers/cards/slot chances are.

But are all of these changes positive? At first glance, there appears to bea few negative outcomes in regards to blockchain implementation, like forcing users to learn how to use cryptocurrency wallets and deal in cryptocurrency. The games themselves may be altered if they are run through smart contracts since the third party element will be removed, but even with the small shifts in the way the underlying architecture ofthe games function, the enjoyment will remain the same. Think of it more in the sense of playing cards with your friends instead of playing cards at a casino. In some cases the level of excitement and enjoyment may grow alongside larger jackpots, faster payouts, and an all around more transparent gambling experience.

Decentralized iGaming platforms will certainly be a great option for gamblers seeking to experience blockchain-based alternatives for a number of reasons. Gambling on a decentralized platform is far safer foruser data since customers dont have to send in their credit card information, personal address, or other sensitive data. Specifically, Luckchemy will also offer far larger percentages of jackpots than modernlotteries, and with everything being traced through smart contracts andblockchains, customers can rest assured knowing that they are being given fair odds in their gambling endeavors.

Blockchain enthusiast developer and writer. My telegram: ksshilov

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Can Crypto Technology Expand Interest in the Real Money Gambling Industry? - hackernoon.com