Piner High SPARQs STEM education

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Monday, May 5, 2014, 6:20 am

By Jeff Quackenbush, Business Journal Staff Reporter

SANTA ROSA As STEM education picks up momentum in U.S. schools, the multiscience SPARQ Center opened earlier this month at Piner High School.

Piner High School Geospatial Technology Pathway program coordinator and instructor Kurt Kruger and Principal Sally Brimrose (credit: Tenaya Fleckenstein Photography)

Short for Science, Position, Astronomy, Research and Query Center, SPARQ describes the planned uses for the 5,000-square-foot building. The center opened April 11 with an astronomical telescope, global positioning system (GPS) and geographic information system (GIS) technology (position), climate and meteorological instruments and a multiaxis planetarium.

Named by the Piner High Astronomy Science Club, the center uses astronomy as a way to pull in lessons about physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology and Earth science. And STEM science, technology, engineering and mathematics learning is a major focus of state and national 21st century schools curriculum.

The SPARQ Center includes a planetarium and observatory. (credit: Tenaya Fleckenstein Photography)

Indeed, Piner teachers have noted increased interest in STEM classes and extracurricular activities such as the schools astronomy club because of the construction of the SPARQ Center, according to project designer Quattrocchi Kwok Architects of Santa Rosa.

Piners Geospatial Technology Pathway program has garnered nationwide exposure from construction trade periodicals such as American Surveyor Magazine for bringing GPS and GIS technology and local professional know-how to training high school students.

Bill Carle, president of the Santa Rosa City Schools Board of Education, speaks in front of the SPARQ Center at Piner High School at the April 11 opening. (credit: Tenaya Fleckenstein Photography)

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Piner High SPARQs STEM education

ASTRO Urges Medicare to Provide National Coverage of Low-Dose CT Screening for Adults at High Risk for Lung Cancer

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Newswise Fairfax, Va., May 5, 2014 The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) is concerned by the Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Committees (MEDCAC) April 30, 2014 recommendation to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that adults at high risk for lung cancer should not receive Medicare coverage of annual, low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening. ASTRO urges CMS to support the December 2013 proposal of the United States Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF), which scored LDCT as a Grade B screening procedure, rather than MEDCACs recommendation.

The USPSTF Recommendation Statement recommends annual lung cancer screening with LDCT in adults aged 55 to 80 years who have a 30 pack-year smoking history and who currently smoke or have quit within the past 15 years, and that screening should be discontinued once a person has not smoked for 15 years or develops a health problem that substantially limits life expectancy or the ability or willingness to have curative lung surgery. The USPSTF Recommendation Statement reviewed the results of four randomized clinical trials, including the National Cancer Institutes National Lung Screening Trial, which included more than 50,000 asymptomatic adults aged 55 to 74 who had at least a 30 pack-year history and found a 16 percent reduction in lung cancer mortality for those who received annual screening.

Under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), private health care insurers are required to cover, without a co-pay, all medical exams or procedures graded B or higher by the USPSTF. The PPACA does not require Medicare to follow the USPSTFs recommendations for its beneficiaries.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women in the United States, surpassing the number of deaths from breast, colon and prostate cancers combined. Research demonstrates that screening current and former heavy smokers with low-dose CT scans can reduce lung cancer mortality by nearly 20 percent in high-risk individuals, said ASTRO Chair Colleen A.F. Lawton, MD, FASTRO. Regular screening for those at highest risk for lung cancer has the potential for earlier diagnosiswhen treatment can be most successful and save lives. ASTRO strongly encourages CMS to provide coverage to Medicare beneficiaries for this life-saving screening.

ABOUT ASTRO ASTRO is the premier radiation oncology society in the world, with more than 10,000 members who are physicians, nurses, biologists, physicists, radiation therapists, dosimetrists and other health care professionals that specialize in treating patients with radiation therapies. As the leading organization in radiation oncology, the Society is dedicated to improving patient care through professional education and training, support for clinical practice and health policy standards, advancement of science and research, and advocacy. ASTRO publishes two medical journals, International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics (www.redjournal.org) and Practical Radiation Oncology (www.practicalradonc.org); developed and maintains an extensive patient website, http://www.rtanswers.org; and created the Radiation Oncology Institute (www.roinstitute.org), a non-profit foundation to support research and education efforts around the world that enhance and confirm the critical role of radiation therapy in improving cancer treatment. To learn more about ASTRO, visit http://www.astro.org. ###

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ASTRO Urges Medicare to Provide National Coverage of Low-Dose CT Screening for Adults at High Risk for Lung Cancer

ULTIMATE HUMANIZED PHONES 3 – APPLE Siri vs ANDROID Robin – Companion TEST – 2014 – Video

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ULTIMATE HUMANIZED PHONES 3 - APPLE Siri vs ANDROID Robin - Companion TEST - 2014
So artificial intelligence is the future and is right there in your phone if you are also a Android or Apple user. How many of you really use them , and what...

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ULTIMATE HUMANIZED PHONES 3 - APPLE Siri vs ANDROID Robin - Companion TEST - 2014 - Video

Stephen Hawking Warns Artificial Intelligence Could be 'Worst Mistake in History' as Johnny Depp's 'Transcendence …

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May 5, 2014|11:23 am

Actor Johnny Depp as Dr. Will Caster in a scene from the science fiction movie 'Transcendence' (2014) currently playing in movie theaters.

"Imagine a machine with a full range of human emotions. Its analytical power will be greater than the collective intelligence of every person in the history of the world. Some scientists refer to this as the 'singularity'. I call it 'transcendence'," says Johnny Depp's character, Dr. Will Caster, in the haunting new science fiction drama "Transcendence."

While many moviegoers might embrace the power of artificial intelligence displayed in the movie released in theaters last month as just science fiction, world famous physicist Stephen Hawking along with computer scientist Stuart Russell, physicists Max Tegmark and Frank Wilczek say it could be a harbinger of humanity's doom.

Stephen Hawking, the British physicist and best-selling author famed for his work on time and space theory while confined to a wheelchair, answers questions during an interview in Orlando, Florida April 25, 2007. Hawking will fly weightless on the ZERO-G Experiment on April 26, 2007, the flight will take off from the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center.

"With the Hollywood blockbuster 'Transcendence' playing in cinemas, with Johnny Depp and Morgan Freeman showcasing clashing visions for the future of humanity, it's tempting to dismiss the notion of highly intelligent machines as mere science fiction. But this would be a mistake, and potentially our worst mistake in history," warn the scientists in a report in The Independent.

"Artificial-intelligence (AI) research is now progressing rapidly. Recent landmarks such as self-driving cars, a computer winning at Jeopardy! and the digital personal assistants Siri, Google Now and Cortana are merely symptoms of an IT arms race fuelled by unprecedented investments and building on an increasingly mature theoretical foundation. Such achievements will probably pale against what the coming decades will bring," they noted.

While praising the benefits humanity could reap from the creation of artificial intelligence and positing that it would be the "biggest event in human history," Hawking and his peers say it could be humanity's last unless "we learn how to avoid the risks."

A scene from the science fiction movie 'Transcendence'.

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Stephen Hawking Warns Artificial Intelligence Could be 'Worst Mistake in History' as Johnny Depp's 'Transcendence ...

Stephen Hawking says threat of artificial intelligence a real concern

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Stephen Hawking, in an article inspired by the new Johnny Depp flick Transcendence, said it would be the "worst mistake in history" to dismiss the threat of artificial intelligence.

In a paper he co-wrote with University at California, Berkeley computer-science professor Stuart Russell, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology physics professors Max Tegmark and Frank Wilczek, Hawking said cited several achievements in the field of artificial intelligence, including self-driving cars, Siri and the computer that won Jeopardy!

"Such achievements will probably pale against what the coming decades will bring," the article in Britain's Independent said.

"Success in creating AI would be the biggest event in human history," the article continued. "Unfortunately, it might also be the last, unless we learn how to avoid the risks."

The professors wrote that in the future there may be nothing to prevent machines with superhuman intelligence from self-improving, triggering a so-called "singularity."

"One can imagine such technology outsmarting financial markets, out-inventing human researchers, out-manipulating human leaders, and developing weapons we cannot even understand. Whereas the short-term impact of AI depends on who controls it, the long-term impact depends on whether it can be controlled at all," the article said.

"Although we are facing potentially the best or worst thing to happen to humanity in history, little serious research is devoted to these issues outside non-profit institutes such as the Cambridge Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, the Future of Humanity Institute, the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, and the Future of Life Institute. All of us should ask ourselves what we can do now to improve the chances of reaping the benefits and avoiding the risks."

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Stephen Hawking says threat of artificial intelligence a real concern

B/E Aerospace Flies in New Direction, Explores Sale

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NEW YORK (The Deal) --High-flying aircraft interiors manufacturer B/E Aerospace (BEAV) late Sunday said it has hired Citigroup and Shearman & Sterling to help it explore options, including a potential sale.

The surprise move, which included canceling B/E's scheduled Monday investor day, caught analysts and investors off-guard. Company chairman and CEO Amin Khoury weeks ago on a quarterly investor call implied B/E was looking to buy and not sell, saying it had signed letters of intent to acquire two manufacturing businesses.

Wellington, Fla.-based B/E, a maker of fasteners, seating and other equipment for commercial and business jets, said it would explore options including a possible sale of the company, a spin-off of select businesses and other moves, but gave few details.

The seemingly quick change in direction raises questions about whether B/E was recently approached by a potential suitor, or perhaps reacting to an activist investor who might want to change aspects of the business. Indeed, a split of B/E might be more likely than an outright takeover.

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B/E Aerospace Flies in New Direction, Explores Sale

Ball Aerospace Announces Senior Leadership Changes

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Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. has announced severalleadership changes in the company's Finance, Communications and Human Resources divisions.

- Bill Unger, vice president of Finance at Ball Aerospace, will join the Ball Corporation North American beverage packaging business as vice president, Finance.

- Alison Medbery, director of Project Controls at Ball Aerospace, has been promoted to vice president, Finance, Ball Aerospace.

- Tom Deany, vice president for Human Resources at Ball Aerospace, has been named vice president, Communications, Ball Aerospace.

- Vikki Schiff, director of Human Resources Operations at Ball Aerospace, has been promoted to vice president for Human Resources, Ball Aerospace.

"Our leadership includes many company veterans with top-notch talent and considerable experience, which gives us great stability and flexibility to meet company needs," said Rob Strain, president of Ball Aerospace.

Unger has been vice president of Finance at Ball Aerospace for eight years. He will fill a similar role forBall Corporation's North American beverage packaging business.

Medbery joined Ball Aerospace in 1995. She was most recently director of Project Controls and has also served in financial analysis and cost accounting roles. She holds a bachelor's degree in business administration/accounting from Colorado State University.

Deany joined Ball Aerospace in 2006 and was named vice president for Human Resources in 2010. Deany earned a law degree, a master's degree in labor and industrial relations, and a bachelor's degree in business/marketing from the University of Illinois.

Schiff has been with Ball Aerospace since 2005 and as director of Human Resources Operations has managed the company's legal and compliance issues, as well as policy and procedure administration. She holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Florida State University.

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Ball Aerospace Announces Senior Leadership Changes

EBU NATO ships – Video

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EBU NATO ships
DOPESHEET Five NATO ships arrived in the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda to bolster defense in the region amid tensions with Russia over Ukraine. At a ceremony, Defense Minister Juozas Olekas...

By: Lietuvos nacionalinis radijas ir televizija

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EBU NATO ships - Video

US defense secy. calls on NATO members to increase military spending – Video

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US defense secy. calls on NATO members to increase military spending
The U-S defense secretary calls on NATO member states to increase their defense budgets to try to counter Russia #39;s influence. Chuck Hagel said in the short term the alliance has responded...

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US defense secy. calls on NATO members to increase military spending - Video