Michelle Williams on her 'Journey to Freedom'

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As one-third of Destinys Child, Michelle Williams' multi-platinum success withone of the biggest girl groups of all time has long overshadowed what shes done on her own. But that hasnt stopped her from carving a solo career packed with reinvention -- and lots of ambitious risks.

Nearly a decade after the groups swan song, Beyonce is a singular pop force and Kelly Rowland has perfected a unique brand of slinky urban-pop. Williams, however, has dipped her toes in numerous lanes. She has issued hit gospel albums (she was the first to go solo), tackled Broadway with roles in "Aida" and "Chicago" and has toured with productions of "The Color Purple" and "Fela!"

Her fourth album, "Journey to Freedom," released Tuesday, is her first effort since 2008s underappreciated dance-pop-R&B trip Unexpected. Already No. 1 on the iTunes Christian & Gospel chart, "Journey to Freedom" blends the many genres Williams has explored for an uplifting set that retains the soul and fiery grooves her fans have come to expect.

The album has quite a declarative title. What has your journey to freedom meant?

Im still on the journey. Its a journey of leaving the past and moving forward and being free from anything thats going to keep me from being my absolute best. Sometimes youre scared of letting go of your comfort zone. You might be scared of letting go of familiar territory. On the road to greatness or success there is a season where you have to be alone and you have to get free from those worries and those doubts.

What was the comfort zone you felt you wanted to break from?

I cant tell you how many times I got cursed out, because there would be a song and Id say Thats not for me. I allowed myself to be put in a box. People say, Oh thats the good girl, shes conservative. I had to get out of that comfort zone of feeling like what gospel music is supposed to sound like. Somebody hit me on Twitter a few days ago saying Youre not a Christian because you mix secular and gospel. Its stupid. I didn't know there was a sound to gospel. I thought it was more about the message. I don't think God cares if its an angel playing with a harp or if a rapper is talking about the good news and inspiring.

Six years have passed since the last album. Did Broadway delay the project?

From 2007 to 2013, it was consumed with theater. Some of these shows require six months or more. I had done Chicago in London, Morocco and then we toured with it. My contract with The Color Purple was for a year. For a year I toured with What My Husband Doesnt Know and for seven months I toured with Fela. [The album] probably could have came out last year but I was doing Fela. I would have been stupid to not do Fela, it was such a great opportunity to be with such an historic show. Hopefully next year I'm on the Broadway stage again.

You were supposed to tour with Jesus Christ Superstar but the production fell apart in the eleventh hour. What did you take from that?

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Michelle Williams on her 'Journey to Freedom'

Gadget can knock drones offline

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By Doug Gross, CNN

Creators of Cyborg Unplug acknowledge that its ability to detach devices from Wi-Fi signals may be used illegally.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- Bothered by gadgets like Google Glass that can, theoretically, be used to snoop on you in public? Then why not get your own gadget that can knock them all offline?

That's what the creators of Cyborg Unplug promise. Billed as a "wireless anti-surveillance system," Unplug is, essentially, a portable router that can detect drones, surveillance cameras and mobile tech like Glass trying to access your Wi-Fi signal and boot them off of it.

"Whether business office, restaurant, school or nightclub: it's your territory and your rules, so make it harder for those that seek to abuse it," Cyborg's website reads.

That's Unplug's stated purpose, anyway. But, as its creators freely note, it also has an "All Out Mode" that would let you knock devices off of any wireless network, not just yours.

The company says it doesn't recommend doing that because ... you know ... it's probably really, really illegal.

"We take no responsibility for the trouble you get yourself into if you choose to deploy your Cyborg Unplug in this mode," the company says on its site.

The company notes that the device is not a jammer, which blocks all digital signals in a particular area. Instead, it targets certain devices the user has identified. So, for example, you could tell Unplug that Glass is no bother, but drones and microphones need to be shut down. It uses the unique hardware signature that all Wi-Fi devices have to recognize what it's seeing before sending a "deauthentication packet" blocking access.

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Gadget can knock drones offline

DON’T WEAR TURTLE BEACHES – Let’s Play Five Nights at Freddy’s Part 1 (Night 1-2) – Video

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DON #39;T WEAR TURTLE BEACHES - Let #39;s Play Five Nights at Freddy #39;s Part 1 (Night 1-2)
+READ+ These jumpscares are gonna kill me before it kills itself 🙁 Welcome to my let #39;s play of Five Nights at Freddy #39;s for the PC. It can be found here: htt...

By: ratchetness

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DON'T WEAR TURTLE BEACHES - Let's Play Five Nights at Freddy's Part 1 (Night 1-2) - Video

Beaches closed and a community in mourning after fatal Byron shark attack

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A white pointer mauled 50-year-old British expat Paul Wilcox as his wife waited for him on the shore.

A man joked with his parents about sharks in their last phone call before he was mauled in a fatal attack at Byron Bay.

Beaches remain closed today after a white pointer mauled 50-year-old British expat Paul Wilcox, while his wife waited for him on the shore.

Wilcox had been swimming between the Pass and Main Beach at Byron Bay when he was bitten.

His grieving parents Bryan and Marie Wilcox, who live in northern Wales, have revealed they spoke to their son about sharks soon before he set off on the final swim of his life.

"But he said there had only been three shark attacks in the last 12 years. It's just extraordinary."

Newcastle paddleboarder Mark Hickey spotted him in trouble, just beyond the sandbar.

"I thought it was a turtle and then I looked closer and there was a lot of blood in the water, there was a shark circling and I recognised that it was a person," Mr Hickey told 7News.

Ignoring the threat, he ran out to chest-deep water and dragged Paul back to the beach.

"We then tried to give him CPR and mouth-to-mouth for about 20 minutes, Hickey said.

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Beaches closed and a community in mourning after fatal Byron shark attack

Byron beaches closed for second day

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A surfer has died as a result from a shark attack at a popular beach at Byron Bay on the NSW north coast.

BYRON Bay shark attack victim Paul Wilcox joked about sharks during his last phone call to his parents in Wales.

In an interview with the Welsh newspaper Rhyl, Prestatyn and Abergele Journal the 50-year-old British expats parents Bryan and Marie Wilcox said the subject of sharks had come up oin their last phone call, just a day before he was stalked and killed by a 3m white pointer.

This subject came up in a joke when we last spoke to him, Mr Wilcox said.

But he said there had only been three shark attacks in the last 12 years. Its just extraordinary.

Byron Bay lifeguards patrolling the closed beach today. Picture: Adam Head Source: News Corp Australia

Northern NSW Lifeguard co-ordinator Scott McCartney said the organisation had decided it was better to be safe than sorry.

Lifeguards spent the morning patrolling the waters on jet-skis while the Jet Rescue boat from Ballina went further afield searching for any sign of the 3-metre great white that attacked Byron Bay local Paul Wilcox yesterday morning.

Mr McCartney said the rough conditions today were making it difficult to spot sharks or any other marine life.

We have made the decision to keep the beaches closed for another day, he said.

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Byron beaches closed for second day

Trio arrested over deadly 'Batman' ecstasy pills

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Joshua Hanley, who has been arrested for supplying the potentially deadly drug Batman. Photo: Supplied

They appeared to be three normal northern beaches mates who liked to ski together and party hard.

But police believe the trio of 23-year-old school friends are behind the spread of one of the most potent and potentially deadly batches of ecstasy pills the state has seen.

A warning was issued in August after police detected a batch of blue pills stamped with a Batman logo and spiked with the deadly 25c-NBOMe, a synthetic LSD-like substance linked to the deaths of several young people, including north shore teenager Henry Kwan.

Arrested: Zac Fenson. Photo: Supplied

The pills had turned up in the southern region of NSW, on the state's ski fields and at a party in the Hawkesbury, where several users had bad reactions, prompting police to warn partygoers about the "extremely potent psychoactive substance responsible for a number of deaths in Australia and overseas".

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Fearing potentially deadly consequences, police began a full-scale operation in May to trace the source of the pills and shut down the network of suppliers.

Detectives stormed a hotel room in Sutton on Friday night, in the state's alpine region, where they arrested Jeffrey Gilmour, 23, from Collaroy Plateau and Zachary Fenson, 23, from Wheeler Heights,

The potentially deadly Batman pills. Photo: Supplied

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Trio arrested over deadly 'Batman' ecstasy pills

Boys behind Batman pills unmasked: police

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Joshua Hanley, who has been arrested for supplying the potentially deadly drug Batman. Photo: Supplied

They appeared to be three normal northern beaches mates who liked to ski together and party hard.

But police believe the trio of 23-year-old school friends are behind the spread of one of the most potent and potentially deadly batches of ecstasy pills the state has seen.

A warning was issued in August after police detected a batch of blue pills stamped with a Batman logo and spiked with the deadly 25c-NBOMe, a synthetic LSD-like substance linked to the deaths of several young people, including north shore teenager Henry Kwan.

Arrested: Zac Fenson. Photo: Supplied

The pills had turned up in the southern region of NSW, on the state's ski fields and at a party in the Hawkesbury, where several users had bad reactions, prompting police to warn partygoers about the "extremely potent psychoactive substance responsible for a number of deaths in Australia and overseas".

Advertisement

Fearing potentially deadly consequences, police began a full-scale operation in May to trace the source of the pills and shut down the network of suppliers.

Detectives stormed a hotel room in Sutton on Friday night, in the state's alpine region, where they arrested Jeffrey Gilmour, 23, from Collaroy Plateau and Zachary Fenson, 23, from Wheeler Heights,

The potentially deadly Batman pills. Photo: Supplied

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Boys behind Batman pills unmasked: police

Astronomy – Ch. 2: Understanding the Night Sky (11 of 23) How to Find the Zodiacs – Video

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Astronomy - Ch. 2: Understanding the Night Sky (11 of 23) How to Find the Zodiacs
Visit http://ilectureonline.com for more math and science lectures! In this video I will discuss the zodiacs and where to find them in the night sky.

By: Michel van Biezen

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Astronomy - Ch. 2: Understanding the Night Sky (11 of 23) How to Find the Zodiacs - Video

Astronomy – Star Gazing in Northern New Jersey

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For thousands of years people have looked up at night into the void of outer space and gazed at the stars and planets.

In Northern New Jersey there are quite a few of these people as evidenced by the number of amateur astronomy clubs. With a current star chart and a good cloudless night, anyone can begin learning about the universe we live in. A star chart for your area can be found on the Internet or in your local paper. The New York Times publishes a star chart weekly in the Sunday edition that is good for the following week. Binoculars are an excellent next step for beginners who then may move on to a telescope.

In 2002 and 2003, a good subject for observation is Saturn. New Jersey and the rest of the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward Saturn where it is high above the horizon, buildings and trees. Saturn's light is passing though the least amount of atmosphere creating the perfect conditions for viewing. Last year, Mars, named for the Roman god of war, was prominent in the sky. Now Saturn, the bringer of wisdom, rules the night sky. Saturn has the most moons of any planet with more than twenty and was one of the first objects observed by Galileo through the newly invented telescope in 1610.

To Galileo, Saturn's unusual shape presented a mystery until another astronomer, Christiaan Huygens, correctly identified Saturn as a sphere with disc-like rings around it. The space between the outermost and the inner ring is called the Cassini Division which was discovered in 1676. The spacecraft Pioneer 11 and Voyager 2 visited Saturn between 1979 and 1981. The Cassini-Huygens Satellite is on it's way to Saturn and it's moon Titan to begin orbiting Saturn on July 1, 2004.

The time Saturn takes to go once around the sun, a Saturn year, is a little more than 29 Earth years. The last time Saturn and it's rings were in the same position was 1972. During the mid to late 1980's, Saturn was very low in the sky and viewing was diminished by the haze of the Earth's atmosphere.

This year, the Earth will be the closest to Saturn since 1975. The rings change their tilt because Saturn's axis, like Earth, is tilted at an angle to the sun. The rings in the current position clearly display the Cassini Division. As Saturn orbits the sun, the tilt causes it to have different seasons similar to what happens one Earth. This change is evidenced by the position of the rings. In the time lapse images above, the Hubble Space Telescope recorded this change over a five year period beginning in 1996 and continuing to the year 2000.

False color image of Saturn using the Hubble Space Telescope's Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS), April 23, 1998.

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Astronomy - Star Gazing in Northern New Jersey

RVCC Planetarium to celebrate Astronomy Day with family activities in Branchburg

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The Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) Planetarium in Branchburg will offer a day of programs for the entire family in celebration of Astronomy Day on Saturday, Oct. 4. Participants may attend from 2-5 or 6-9 p.m.

Visitors will be introduced to the Planetariums 3M Observatory for solar observing during the day, or will get a chance to take peeks of the Moon and other celestial objects in the evening sky. Some of the activities will include viewing a scale model of the solar system or using ones body to tell time on a sundial. A light pollution demonstration also is planned. The event is appropriate for families with children ages 6 and older. Participants are invited to see one or two of four planetarium shows scheduled:

Fall Skies, 3 p.m. Explore the night sky under the Planetarium dome with an expert guide. Learn what stars, planets and constellations are visible in tonights sky. The constellations Andromeda, Pegasus and Cassiopeia are easy to find.

Laser Pop Rock, 4 p.m. Enjoy a laser light show featuring such songs as Yellow Submarine by the Beatles, Party Rock by LMFAO, and Let It Go from Disneys Frozen.

Fall Skies, 7 p.m. Explore the night sky under the Planetarium dome with an expert guide. Learn what stars, planets and constellations are visible in tonights sky. The constellations Andromeda, Pegasus and Cassiopeia are easy to find.

Laser Grateful Dead, 8 p.m. Enjoy the Planetariums newest laser rock concert, which includes such classics as Truckin', Touch of Grey, and Sugar Magnolia.

All of the Astronomy Day activities are free of charge, but there is a cost for the star shows and laser concerts. Tickets cost $7 for one show or $13 for two shows. Reservations for the shows are strongly suggested.

For additional information about Astronomy Day or to make reservations, call 908-231-8805 or visit raritanval.edu/planetarium.

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RVCC Planetarium to celebrate Astronomy Day with family activities in Branchburg

Researcher gets $1.2 million to develop system to predict solar cycles

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

10-Sep-2014

Contact: LaTina Emerson lemerson1@gsu.edu 404-413-1353 Georgia State University http://www.twitter.com/GSU_News

ATLANTADr. Petrus Martens, a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Georgia State University, has received a three-year, $1.2 million NASA Grand Challenge grant to develop a system to predict solar cycles and determine the long-term frequency of events such as solar flares, potentially more than a decade in advance.

Martens is collaborating with an international team of researchers from India, England, Scotland and France, as well as NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley and the National Solar Observatory in Tucson, Ariz.

"We think we can forecast the cycle about 11 years ahead, so one cycle," Martens said. "We will use the latest data both from ground-based observatories and spacecraft because they set the conditions for the future. We will look at previous cycles for which we have data already, feed our programs with that and see what results come out. If we can do a couple of previous cycles correctly, we think we can confidently predict the future."

The researchers are developing a computer program that can simulate data and perform data analysis. They are using existing data from the National Solar Observatory, the Solar Dynamics Observatory and the Global Oscillation Network Group.

This research area is significant because of the solar cycle's potential economic impact on the United States. According to a 2008 National Academy of Sciences' report on the societal and economic impacts of severe space weather events, the economic costs of a "severe geomagnetic storm scenario" knocking out the power grid of the United States could be an estimated $1 to $2 trillion during the first year alone, with a recovery time of four to 10 years.

The sun goes through an 11-year cycle called the solar cycle, which has periods of increasing and decreasing magnetic activity. Sunspots, or regions on the solar surface that appear dark because they are cooler than surrounding areas, occur most frequently during the peak of the cycle and result in increased magnetic activity, solar flares and coronal mass ejections, which can be hazardous to Earth.

A solar flare is a large explosion on the surface of the sun that heats material to many millions of degrees and releases huge amounts of energy in the forms of electromagnetic radiation (Gamma rays and X-rays) and energetic particles (protons and electrons), according to NASA. Solar flares can pose health hazards to astronauts and people onboard flights near the North and South poles because of exposure to radiation. They can also disrupt radio communications, the Global Positioning System and satellites.

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Researcher gets $1.2 million to develop system to predict solar cycles