Bruins-Red Wings: What To Watch For

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BOSTON (CBS) Prior to the start of this season, many fans of old-time hockey were happy to see that the Bruins and Red Wings would be playing in the same division under the NHLs most recent realignment. And now at the end of the regular season, theyre getting more than they could have realistically hoped for.

The two Original Six teams will meet in the postseason for the first time since 1957, introducing a new generation or two to a whole new brand of playoff hockey.

Though the Bruins finished the regular season as the best team in the entire NHL, this matchup of the top seed versus the eighth seed is expected to be a close one. Thats in part due to the Red Wings winning the season series three games to one against Boston, and its in part due to the mystique if you will of that Detroit sweater in the playoffs. Its true that the Wings havent made it deep in the playoffs since losing in the Stanley Cup Final in 2009, but theyre a team with a firm base, a solid coach, and a home rink that is sure to be packed and loud for Games 3 and 4 and Game 6 if necessary.

The Bruins are the better team on paper, but in the NHLs postseason, truly anything can happen. And usually, it does.

Here are four items to watch during what should be an entertaining series between two of the NHLs classic franchises.

Whos Healthy?

Nobody wanted to wait from Sunday until Friday for this series to get under way, but considering the number of injured and/or sick players involved, both teams are likely happy to have had a few extra days to recover and regroup.

Patrice Bergeron, Loui Eriksson, Kevan Miller, Chris Kelly and Matt Bartkowski were all absent from the Bruins first practice of the week due to a flu bug (and back issues for Kelly), though all but Kelly and Bartkowski were able to return to the ice by Thursday. Daniel Paille sustained what has to be assumed as a concussion on Saturday, and hes yet to skate since taking a hit from Buffalos Jake McCabe. Dennis Seidenberg, a long shot to return this postseason, also got in some intense skating work as he tries to pull off a rapid recovery from a torn ACL.

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Bruins-Red Wings: What To Watch For

NASA’s Kepler Discovers First Earth-Size Planet In The Habitable Zone of Another Star – Video

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NASA #39;s Kepler Discovers First Earth-Size Planet In The Habitable Zone of Another Star
Astronomers have discovered the first Earth-size planet orbiting a star in the "habitable zone" -- the range of distance from a star where liquid water might...

By: NASA Ames Research Center

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NASA's Kepler Discovers First Earth-Size Planet In The Habitable Zone of Another Star - Video

NASA Celebrates Earth Day with Public Events, Online Activities

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NASA will celebrate the 44th anniversary of Earth Day with a variety of live and online activities April 21-27 to engage the public in the agencys mission to better understand and protect our home planet.

This year, for the first time in more than a decade, five NASA Earth Science missions will be launched into space in the same year. These new missions will help address some of the critical challenges facing our planet today and in the future: climate change, sea level rise, access to freshwater resources, and extreme weather events. For more information about NASA's Earth science activities in 2014, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/earthrightnow

Earth Day in the Nations Capital Monday, April 21 (11 a.m. - 5 p.m. EDT) and Tuesday, April 22 (10 a.m. - 6 p.m.) -- NASA Hyperwall and Science Gallery exhibits in the main hall of Union Station at 40 Massachusetts Ave., NE. The exhibit will include activities and displays showing how NASA uses satellite technology to better understand our changing planet. NASA scientists will give a series of talks April 22 at the Hyperwall stage. For a complete listing of events, visit:

http://go.nasa.gov/1kIrbtX

NASA #GlobalSelfie Event Join NASA April 22 as we encourage people all over the world to step outside and celebrate environmental awareness. Anyone, anywhere on the globe, can participate by posting a "selfie" with their local environment as a backdrop. Post your photo to Twitter, Instagram or Google+ using the hashtag #GlobalSelfie or to the event groups on Facebook and Flickr. Photos tagged #GlobalSelfie will be used to create a mosaic image of Earth. For details on how to participate, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/globalselfie/

NASA Center Activities Stennis Space Center, Hancock County, Miss., April 22 (10:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. CDT) -- Demonstrations and hands-on activities will be part of the center's Earth Week at Infinity Science Center. School groups and the general public will be able to participate in the solar beads bracelet activity, tornado in a bottle experiment, Science on a Sphere presentations, and Experimentation Station demonstrations. For more information, visit:

http://www.visitinfinity.com/

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NASA Celebrates Earth Day with Public Events, Online Activities

LADEE, NASA's moon-orbiting robot, crashes down as planned

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The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft orbits the moon in this artist's rendering.AP/NASA

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. NASA's robotic moon explorer, LADEE, is no more.

Flight controllers confirmed Friday that the orbiting spacecraft crashed into the back side of the moon as planned, just three days after surviving a full lunar eclipse, something it was never designed to do.

Researchers believe LADEE likely vaporized when it hit because of its extreme orbiting speed of 3,600 mph, possibly smacking into a mountain or side of a crater. No debris would have been left behind.

"It's bound to make a dent," project scientist Rick Elphic predicted Thursday.

By Thursday evening, the spacecraft had been skimming the lunar surface at an incredibly low altitude of 300 feet. Its orbit had been lowered on purpose last week to ensure a crash by Monday following an extraordinarily successful science mission.

LADEE short for Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer was launched in September from Virginia. From the outset, NASA planned to crash the spacecraft into the back side of the moon, far from the Apollo artifacts left behind during the moonwalking days of 1969 to 1972.

It completed its primary 100-day science mission last month and was on overtime. The extension had LADEE flying during Tuesday morning's lunar eclipse; its instruments were not designed to endure such prolonged darkness and cold.

But the small spacecraft survived it's about the size of a vending machine with just a couple pressure sensors acting up.

The mood in the control center at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., was upbeat late Thursday afternoon, according to project manager Butler Hine.

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LADEE, NASA's moon-orbiting robot, crashes down as planned

NASA Innovative Advanced Concept Program Seeks Phase II Proposals

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NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program is seeking proposals for technologies that could be used on future exploration missions. The new proposals will build on the most promising ideas developed in the program's first phase.

The NIAC program funds cutting-edge concepts that have the potential to transform future missions, enable new capabilities, or significantly alter current approaches to launching, building, and operating aerospace systems.

NIAC's Phase II studies provide an opportunity to develop the most promising Phase I concepts. These are aerospace architecture, mission, or system concepts with transformative potential. They must continue to push into new frontiers, while remaining technically and programmatically credible. NIAC's current portfolio of diverse efforts advances aerospace technology in many areas, including construction, human systems, transportation, imaging, and robotic exploration.

"During the second phase of our NIAC program, visionary concepts are matured to advance concepts from notional to feasible," said Michael Gazarik, NASA's associate administrator for space technology at the agency's headquarters in Washington. "These advanced technology concepts are critical for kick-starting innovation that will enable our future missions."

Recent NIAC Phase II studies have included a concept for a sample return for extreme environments, which could lead to a simple and efficient way to obtain multiple samples drilled out of an asteroid crust.

Another NIAC Phase II study is examining "SpiderFab," an approach to 3D-printing of large structures in space. This could one day enable NASA to produce giant telescopes in orbit without having to design them to fit within a rocket shroud or withstand the vibration and g-loads of launch.

"In NIAC Phase I Studies, the focus is basic feasibility and potential benefit. In Phase II, we can get into real systems engineering and in some cases even demonstration" said Jay Falker, NIAC program executive at NASA Headquarters. "This is critical for taking concepts from paper studies to engineering implementation. Phase II also helps address the important technology development needs of NASA's current and future programs."

NASA will be accepting NIAC Phase II proposals of no more than 20 pages until June 3. Selection announcements are expected later this year. This solicitation is open only to current or previously awarded NIAC Phase I concepts. Complete guidelines for proposal submissions are available on the NIAC website at

http://www.nasa.gov/niac

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NASA Innovative Advanced Concept Program Seeks Phase II Proposals

EU Funding Nanotechnology Research To Monitor Air Pollution At Home, Work And In The Car

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Air pollutants like organic compounds, carbon monoxide, mold and other debris can cause headaches, fatigue, respiratory illnesses and worse.

That is the reasoning behind the European Unions decision to fund a new nanotechnology project that would allow people to gauge air quality real-time at home, work and in cars with low cost, mini sensor systems, the EUs community research and development information service announced Friday.

The control of indoor air quality and the related comfort it provides should have a huge societal impact on health, presence at work and economic-related factors, Claude Iroulart, coordinator of IAQSENSE, said in a statement.

The project, called IAQSENSE, aims to develop nanotechnology-based sensors to monitor the composition of air in terms of chemical and bio contaminants, designed to be tiny, low cost and mass-produced. France, Bulgaria, Germany, Switzerland and Spain are collaborating in the research and development of the project, and testing is expected to end in September 2016. The estimated cost is $6.8 million, $4.8 million contributed by the EU.

The gas sensor systems would be located in fixed places, connected to a network of wireless sensors that would rapidly detect gas molecules, one of three patented technologies the project would utilize. Applications in cars and smartphones would also be explored.

The European Lung Foundation estimates that respiratory illnesses in Europe costs about $141 billion each year in work absences and inefficiency. The foundation also believes that levels of indoor pollution may be ten times higher than levels outdoors.

Almost all of deaths associated with indoor or household air pollution in 2012 occurred in low and middle income countries, where people commonly burn wood, charcoal and trash inside for cooking, according to WHO data. About 88 percent of deaths from outdoor air pollution occur in low- and middle-income countries, particularly regions in and near China and India and secondly, Africa. Still, deaths from air pollution occur even in high-income countries. Nearly 300,000 Europeans living in high-income countries died from health effects associated with air pollution in 2012, WHO reported.

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EU Funding Nanotechnology Research To Monitor Air Pollution At Home, Work And In The Car

Innovative strategy to facilitate organ repair

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5 hours ago Phase 1 Skin injury, Phase 2 Application of the solution, Phase 3 Using pressure to hold the edges together, Phase 4 Skin closure. Illustration of the first experiment conducted by the researchers on rats: a deep wound is repaired by applying the aqueous nanoparticle solution. The wound closes in thirty seconds. "Matire Molle et Chimie" Laboratory. Credit: CNRS/ESPCI Paris Tech

A significant breakthrough could revolutionize surgical practice and regenerative medicine. A team led by Ludwik Leibler from the Laboratoire Matire Molle et Chimie (CNRS/ESPCI Paris Tech) and Didier Letourneur from the Laboratoire Recherche Vasculaire Translationnelle (INSERM/Universits Paris Diderot and Paris 13), has just demonstrated that the principle of adhesion by aqueous solutions of nanoparticles can be used in vivo to repair soft-tissue organs and tissues. This easy-to-use gluing method has been tested on rats. When applied to skin, it closes deep wounds in a few seconds and provides aesthetic, high quality healing.

It has also been shown to successfully repair organs that are difficult to suture, such as the liver. Finally, this solution has made it possible to attach a medical device to a beating heart, demonstrating the method's potential for delivering drugs and strengthening tissues. This work has just been published on the website of the journal Angewandte Chemie.

In an issue of Nature published in December last year, a team led by Ludwik Leibler presented a novel concept for gluing gels and biological tissues using nanoparticles. The principle is simple: nanoparticles contained in a solution spread out on surfaces to be glued bind to the gel's (or tissue's) molecular network. This phenomenon is called adsorption. At the same time the gel (or tissue) binds the particles together. Accordingly, myriad connections form between the two surfaces. This adhesion process, which involves no chemical reaction, only takes a few seconds. In their latest, newly published study, the researchers used experiments performed on rats to show that this method, applied in vivo, has the potential to revolutionize clinical practice.

In a first experiment, the researchers compared two methods for skin closure in a deep wound: traditional sutures, and the application of the aqueous nanoparticle solution with a brush. The latter is easy to use and closes skin rapidly until it heals completely, without inflammation or necrosis. The resulting scar is almost invisible.

In a second experiment, still on rats, the researchers applied this solution to soft-tissue organs such as the liver, lungs or spleen that are difficult to suture because they tear when the needle passes through them. At present, no glue is sufficiently strong as well as harmless for the organism. Confronted with a deep gash in the liver with severe bleeding, the researchers closed the wound by spreading the aqueous nanoparticle solution and pressing the two edges of the wound together. The bleeding stopped. To repair a sectioned liver lobe, the researchers also used nanoparticles: they glued a film coated with nanoparticles onto the wound, and stopped the bleeding. In both situations, organ function was unaffected and the animals survived.

"Gluing a film to stop leakage" is only one example of the possibilities opened up by adhesion brought by nanoparticles. In an entirely different field, the researchers have succeeded in using nanoparticles to attach a biodegradable membrane used for cardiac cell therapy, and to achieve this despite the substantial mechanical constraints due to its beating. They thus showed that it would be possible to attach various medical devices to organs and tissues for therapeutic, repair or mechanical strengthening purposes.

This adhesion method is exceptional because of its potential spectrum of clinical applications. It is simple, easy to use and the nanoparticles employed (silica, iron oxides) can be metabolized by the organism. It can easily be integrated into ongoing research on healing and tissue regeneration and contribute to the development of regenerative medicine.

Explore further: Revolutionary method for gluing gels and biological tissues

More information: "Organ Repair, Hemostasis, and In Vivo Bonding of Medical Devices by Aqueous Solutions of Nanoparticles." Anne Meddahi-Pelle, Aurelie Legrand, Alba Marcellan, Liliane Louedec, Didier Letourneur, Ludwik Leibler. Angewandte Chemie. Published online April 16, 2014. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201401043

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Innovative strategy to facilitate organ repair

Depp Impact: The Science Behind 'Transcendence'

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In the new science-fiction thriller Transcendence, Johnny Depp uploads his mind to a powerful computer, melding his consciousness with artificial intelligence in a scenario many refer to as the singularity.

Far-fetched? Yes, but so is the idea of a brooding Depp as an awkward neuroscientist. That doesnt mean people are not trying to make it happen in real life, including Russian billionaire Dmitry Itskov, who makes immortality an explicit goal of his 2045 Initiative.

Two researchers who consulted on Transcendence, both professors of electrical engineering and neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley, are not sure that is an attainable goal, but that does not mean its not worth pursuing.

Will what we see in the movie be happening in 30 years? I would have to say no, because we dont even understand what consciousness is, Jose Carmena told NBC News.

To upload the mind, you would have to build technology that would let you interface with the brain, added his colleague, Michel Maharbiz. The race to do try and do that could motivate a lot of technology along the way, and that could potentially help a lot of people.

In other words, before we get a virtual Johnny Depp, we are going to need to really understand how the brain works a goal that a lot of people have put a lot of money behind.

In April 2013, President Barack Obama announced the BRAIN Initiative, a $232 million collaboration between the government and private companies to map the human brain.

People with disabilities could benefit the most from this kind of research. Zac Vawter, a Seattle-area man who lost his lower right leg in a motorcycle accident, made headlines when he was outfitted with a prosthetic leg that he could control with signals from his brain.

Other scientists are looking into whether people like Stephen Hawking could communicate with the outside world without moving a muscle something made easier with technology that can measure brain activity without the need to connect electrodes to someones scalp. That same type of technology has also been used for the less noble cause of wriggling robotic cat ears.

Carmena and Maharbiz spent 10 hours in Los Angeles, followed by two more visits, going over the science in the script with "Transcendence" director Wally Pfister. This being Hollywood, plenty of the scenes include a bit of creative license, including one (spoiler alert!) involving a popular science-fiction trope called grey goo, a mass of self-replicating nanobots that can heal people and create matter out of nothing in a matter of seconds.

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Depp Impact: The Science Behind 'Transcendence'

Johnny Depp's New Movie 'Transcendence' Says Technology Will Turn Us Into X-Men

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Peter Mountain / Warner Bros.

After watching a screening of Johnny Depp's new movie, "Transcendence" Wednesday evening, I was left with a ton of questions.

The movie follows Dr. Will Caster (Depp), an Artificial Intelligence scientist, who has created an omniscient machine that appears to have the ability to feel. When Caster is poisoned by anti-technology terrorists, his mind is uploaded into his AI super computer, and, ultimately, the Internetto keep him alive.

Yes, it's a stretch.

Plotwise, the movie has a lot of holes and problems that I won't bother getting into because it gets rather confusing. (The film is currently sitting at a sour 13% on Rotten Tomatoes.)

The big takeaway from the film is to address the possible dangers of not only artificial intelligence but our technology-driven society as a whole.

However, there was one brief topic that stuck out to me that audiences will probably have questions about.

Peter Mountain / Warner Bros.

The next time we see the character on screen, he exhibits super strength he's able to lift objects that no possible human could with their bare hands.

He's not the only one. As the movie progresses, more individuals are seen with impossible strength as a result of Caster enhancing particular genes in addition to healing individuals. Soon these new enhanced humans start to be called hybrids.

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Johnny Depp's New Movie 'Transcendence' Says Technology Will Turn Us Into X-Men