NASA Solicitation: Research Opportunities for Flight Experiments in Space Biology

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This NASA Research Announcement (NRA) solicits hypothesis-driven space-flight research in Space Biology (SB) to be conducted on ISS. NASA SB experiments have one or more of the following primary goals: 1) to effectively use microgravity and the other characteristics of the space environment to enhance our understanding of basic biological processes; 2) to develop the scientific and technological foundations for a safe, productive human presence in space for extended periods and in preparation for exploration; and 3) to apply this knowledge and technology to improve our nation's competitiveness, education, and the quality of life on Earth. NASA SB experiments will be designed to discover how space flight affects a diverse group of microorganisms, plants, and animals; study the effects of gravity (g) across the g-spectrum, i.e., from micro- to hyper-gravity; and characterize the biological effects of radiation, magnetic fields, and the interaction among species in the unusual environments of space and spacecraft. In this NRA, selection preference will be given to proposals developed by teams of investigators that provide a multifaceted, integrated project to understand some aspect of adaptation to space by biological systems. Individual investigator lead proposals may be submitted, but selection preference will be given to team proposals, and the budgets for individual projects must be appropriate for the work proposed.

This solicitation (NRA NNH14ZTT002N), entitled, "Research Opportunities for Flight Experiments in Space Biology," will be available on or about February 28, 2014. This solicitation will be found by opening the NASA Research Opportunities homepage athttp://tinyurl.com/SB-ILSRA.

Short (1-5 pages) Step-1 proposals will be due on March 28, 2014 at 5 PM Eastern Time, and invited full-length Step-2 proposals will be due on May 23, 2014 at 5 PM Eastern Time. Proposals must be submitted electronically by an authorized official of the proposing organization. Proposers can use either NSPIRES (http://nspires.nasaprs.com/) orGrants.gov(http://www.grants.gov) for proposal submission. NASAs selection of research projects will be guided by recommendations of the National Research Councils 2011 Decadal Survey Report, Recapturing a Future for Space Exploration: Life and Physical Sciences Research for a New Era (http://www.nap.edu/catalog/13048.html).

All categories of U.S. institutions are eligible to submit proposals in response to this NRA. Principal Investigators (PIs) may collaborate with investigators from universities, Federal Government laboratories, the private sector, state and local government laboratories and other countries.

Every organization that intends to submit a proposal in response to this NRA must be registered with NSPIRES, and such registration must identify the authorized organizational representative(s) who will submit electronic proposals. Instructions on how to register in NSPIRES will be described in the NRA. Each electronic proposal requires the registration of principal investigators and other participants (e.g. co-investigators). Potential proposers and proposing organizations are urged to access the system(s) well in advance of the proposal due date(s) to familiarize themselves with its structure and enter the requested information. Questions about this NRA may be addressed to the contacts referenced in the full solicitation document.

This is a broad agency announcement as specified in FAR 6.102 (d)(2). All awards resulting from selections of proposals to this NRA will be grants or cooperative agreements.

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NASA Solicitation: Research Opportunities for Flight Experiments in Space Biology

Future of space travel from Wallops Island looks bright

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Launching rockets from Wallops Island is a big deal in Virginia now. But the possibilities that exist for space travel in the near future could be an even bigger deal.

We have developed a space port that proves we can launch into space. We launch critical missions to the International Space Station and were looking forward to building on that, says Dale Nash, the Executive Director of the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority.

The Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority at ODU makes some of the big decisions when it comes to space travel from our shores.

And one thing that has been a big topic recently is the possibility of human spaceflight from Wallops Island.

Any time you have astronauts on, your cargo is extremely precious, and you pay a lot of attention to that. So it`s a different game in many ways. But don`t discount what we`ve done so far because that`s very significant, too. It is the supplies and the lifeline to the astronauts on the International Space Station being launched from here. But that would be a very big deal, Nash says.

In order to continue the launches, the board is working with NASA and the Army Corps to replenish sand and restore dunes to protect the infrastructure at Wallops Island.

Its very beneficial. It was that sand buildup that helped us ride out Superstorm Sandy very well. We didnt really receive any kind of damage to the launch pad, just some erosion. This is building it back up, Nash says.

So from the Space Station to the moon, these board members are playing a big role in keeping Wallops Island on the map for space travel.

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Future of space travel from Wallops Island looks bright

Mars Alien Spoon & Shovel: NASA Curiosity Anomalies: MARS ZOO 2014. (Ishallah) ArtAlienTV 50fps Full – Video

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Mars Alien Spoon Shovel: NASA Curiosity Anomalies: MARS ZOO 2014. (Ishallah) ArtAlienTV 50fps Full
A very clear spoon with what looks very much like a small shovel or trowel type object lying near to it in the sand in Gale Crater on Mars. Also a Birds claw...

By: JoeWhite - ArtAlienTV

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Mars Alien Spoon & Shovel: NASA Curiosity Anomalies: MARS ZOO 2014. (Ishallah) ArtAlienTV 50fps Full - Video

2014 NASA African-American History Month Profile: Kelvin Manning, Kennedy Space Center – Video

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2014 NASA African-American History Month Profile: Kelvin Manning, Kennedy Space Center
Kelvin Manning serves as associate director of NASA #39;s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Manning is responsible for the oversight of Kennedy #39;s institutional bu...

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2014 NASA African-American History Month Profile: Kelvin Manning, Kennedy Space Center - Video

NASA Selects Stellar Interns as Student Ambassadors

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NASA has inducted 105 top-performing interns, representing 29 states and 67 universities, into its 2014 Student Ambassadors Virtual Community.

The NASA Student Ambassadors Virtual Community (NSAVC) is an online network designed to foster greater interaction and mentorship among outstanding interns of NASA higher education projects, thereby increasing student retention through the NASA educational pipeline and into the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce.

This is the sixth group of student ambassadors to receive the honor since 2009.

"I am delighted to welcome these bright students to the NASA education family as Cohort VI student ambassadors," said Roosevelt Johnson, NASA's deputy associate administrator for education. "They are in a unique position to inspire their fellow students and the public to pursue STEM and help NASA cultivate the next generation of scientists, engineers and explorers."

NASA managers and mentors nominated the new inductees from among the hundreds of current interns and fellows across the agency based upon the participants internship performance and involvement in other NASA-related activities. The NSAVC provides a network for the interns, who are located across the U.S., and is designed to elevate the experiences, visibility, and contribution of these students; provide a suite of tools to help them serve as NASA Student Ambassadors; and offer the latest NASA news, blogs, announcements and other information.

Members of Cohort VI will have opportunities to interact with NASA, share information, make professional connections, collaborate with peers, represent NASA in a variety of venues, and help inspire and engage future interns. The Student Ambassador experience is designed to feed the pipeline of talented STEM candidates who will be the scientists, engineers and explorers of tomorrow.

For more information about the NASA Student Ambassadors Virtual Community 2014 Cohort VI participants and activities, visit:

https://intern.nasa.gov

For more information about education at NASA, visit:

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NASA Selects Stellar Interns as Student Ambassadors

Thursday Drake updates show 2/27/2014, Neil Keenan Update, Morgellons Disease, Nanotechnology – Video

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Thursday Drake updates show 2/27/2014, Neil Keenan Update, Morgellons Disease, Nanotechnology
Thursday Drake updates show 2/27/2014 http://www.blogtalkradio.com/drakebailey/2014/02/28/thursday-drake-updates-show Eoih Akiuoy has sent you a message: Nei...

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Thursday Drake updates show 2/27/2014, Neil Keenan Update, Morgellons Disease, Nanotechnology - Video

Dartmouth Researchers Find Promising Results with Local Hyperthermia of Tumors

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Newswise (Lebanon, NH, 2/28/14) A combination of iron-oxide nanoparticles and an alternating magnetic field, which together generate heat, have activated an immune system response to tumors in mice according to an accepted manuscript by Dartmouth-Hitchcock Norris Cotton Center researchers in the journal Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine released online on February 24, 2014.

The study demonstrates that controlled heating of one tumor can stimulate an immune response that attacks another tumor that has not had the heat treatment, said Steve Fiering, PhD, Norris Cotton Cancer Center researcher and professor of Microbiology and Immunology, and of Genetics at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. This is one way to try to train the immune system to attack metastatic tumors that may not be recognized yet.

Researchers injected iron-oxide nanoparticles into the tumor and then activated those agents with magnetic energy. Researchers were able to activate antigen-presenting dendritic cells in the bodys immune system. Dendritic cells somewhat serve as quarterbacks for bodys immune system by calling for quick coordinated protection against an attack. The quarterback cells show the defensive killer T cells (CD8+ cells) who to attack and these cells then directly attack tumor cells and send out an alert system to engage other cells in the fight against the cancer. The combination of these two aspects of the immune response reduce risk of recurrence and discourage spreading or metastasis of the cancer. This result was observed in sites close to the primary tumor as well as distant sites. In the experiments conducted as part of this study the primary tumor resisted regrowth for one month following overheating.

The magnetic hyperthermia system used was developed by co-author P. Jack Hoopes, DVM, PhD co-director of Norris Cotton Cancer Centers Nanotechnology Working Group. It enables very precise control of the heating to keep the temperature at a uniform 43 degrees C for as long as desired, said Fiering. This precise control was the key to optimal immune stimulation.

The experiment included mouse colon and, melanoma cancers. Tumors responded to the heat by growing more slowly or disappearing completely. A higher temperature was better at eliminating primary tumors that were heat treated, but did not activate the immune system as well to find and attack metastatic tumors. Treatment of larger primary tumors generated a stronger immune response.

In the effort to develop better cancer treatments, the challenge is to find ways to cure metastatic disease. The use of the immune system through cancer immunotherapy is a very exciting field currently and promises to contribute significantly to elimination of metastatic tumors, said Fiering. The approach demonstrated is a good new option to be combined with other immunotherapy strategies for cancer therapy.

Standard cancer care involves surgery, but surgeons have few tools to guarantee the removal of every cancer cell, especially when there is unrecognized metastases in other anatomic locations. An approach like local hyperthermia one day might be used to kick start the immune system to ward off any cancer cells not removed by surgery to increase the chances of treatment success.

The study was funded by NIH Grant # 1 U54 CA151662 and NIGMS P20 RR15639.

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Dartmouth Researchers Find Promising Results with Local Hyperthermia of Tumors

MIT Research Looks to Extend Moores Law

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Despite skepticism in the chip industry that Moores Law could be reaching its limits, MIT Researchers believe that they have found a way to enable semiconductor manufacturers to continue shrinking geometries below 20 nanometer and produce advanced components cost effectively.

MIT researchers have developed directed self-assembly (DSA) techniques that they claim resolve the issues associated with the two main lithography techniques used in the semiconductor manufacturing process today -- photolithography and electron-beam lithography. Photolithography at 193-nm is reaching its limit with feature sizes around 25-nm. And the throughput in electron-beam lithography, which can produce smaller features, is insufficient for sub-20-nm resolution pattering over large areas.

Described as a hybrid process, the DSA technique is based on a simplified template, in which complex patterns of line, bends, and junctions with feature sizes below 20 -nm can be made using block copolymer self-assembly, according to the MIT study. It also explained how to design the template to achieve a desired pattern. Electron-beam lithography was used to produce the template serially, while the block copolymer filled in the rest of the pattern in a parallel process. DSA can be five or more times faster than writing the entire pattern by electron beam lithography, according to the MIT study.

DSA is of great interest to manufacturers as scaling using traditional patterning techniques has become increasingly more challenging and costly, said Bob Havermann, Director of Nanomanufacturing Sciences at Semiconductor Research Corp., Research Triangle Park, N.C., which sponsored the MIT report.

The alternatives to DSA would be continuing to reduce pattern sizes in conventional photolithography using double, quadruple, etc... patterning; to use extreme UV lithography which has much smaller wavelength and therefore better resolution; or to do direct write using electron beam lithography, said Caroline Ross, MIT professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Cambridge, Mass.

Nanoimprint lithography may also be a viable process. Each of these has its own limitations and advantages, but overall DSA is a very attractive option because it provides scalability at high throughput and a lower cost than other processes, Ross said.

Leveraging block copolymer self-assembly to produce dense, high resolution patterns was proposed and demonstrated several years ago, but there was no systematic way to design templates to achieve a complex block copolymer pattern. The MIT study developed a simple way to design a template to achieve a specific block copolymer pattern over a large area. Although the work used electron-beam lithography to define the template, other methods such as photolithography with trimming could be used to produce the templates.

Photolithography was expected to fail when the feature sizes reached the wavelength of the UV light, 193nm. However, engineers discovered that patterning could be done using constructive and destructive superposition properties of light, according to Robert Colwell, Intel Corp.'s chief IA-32 Pentium chip architect in the 1990s, as well as an IEEE Fellow and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. As a result, the process required double exposure of the silicon, but the wavelength ceased to be the first-order determinant of the final feature size, he said.

The industry has been riding that double-exposure idea for many years now, and now were again approaching a fundamental limit, Colwell wrote in an email to EE Times, questioning whether the chip could be exposed a quadruple number of times. In principle, yes, and maybe thats what industry will try next. But its much more expensive (the cost of the mask sets alone will probably exceed $10M), and may well result in lower yield, which at todays volumes is not a prospect anyone wants to entertain.

For decades, Moores Law enabled semiconductor designers to double the number of transistors on a chip every two years, yielding higher-performance, more advanced parts with each generation. However, thermal power has become a major issue since Dennard scaling, the physics that once made the power density per unit area remain constant across process generations, has been dead for eight years, according to Colwell. In addition, power constraints are limiting clock rates and the interconnects between the transistors havent improved, he added.

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MIT Research Looks to Extend Moores Law

Report: Razer unveils cloud save support for PC games

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Gaming peripheral maker Razer has added a new feature to its GameBooster software suite that allows users to store their PC game saves in the cloud, according to IGN.

While still in beta, Razer's Save Game Manager supports "over 2,000 existing PC titles," while also allowing players to manually add other games to the cloud storage queue. Currently, saves are stored to a user's Dropbox folder, though Razer hopes to expand the service to include other cloud-based storage solutions in the near future. In addition, Save Game Manager can upload PC settings to the cloud for easy access in the future.

Those interested in putting Save Game Manager through its paces can download the GameBooster software suite, free of charge, from Razer's website. Keep in mind, this is beta software, so if something goes wrong and you lose a save, you'll have no recourse. As with all important data, multiple backups are your only safe bet.

[Image: Razer]

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Report: Razer unveils cloud save support for PC games