Community forum: Being too dependent on the bright lights

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Spirituality and its connection to the words and actions of ritual are not always easy to teach.

While I do teach classes on spirituality and ritual with many age groups, I spend much of my time working with teenagers. One of my chief goals, as I prepare them for the rite of passage of Bar/Bat Mitzvah is to give them some tools for dealing with the connection of theology, spirituality and ritual action.

With these young adults I try to think outside the box and use different classroom experiments to illustrate the concepts of spirituality and prayer. One of my recent experiments focused on the Jewish value of syncing.

In Judaism we try to get ritual act in harmony with a particular story at the time the story took place. For example, we have a Passover Seder to retell and re-live the experience of the Exodus from Egypt on the anniversary of that event.

This happens again and again in Judaism as we try to sync personal experience with the grander story of the Jewish people and all of the cycles of nature that constantly flow around us. In this particular activity I challenged my students to see how many mirrors they could line up in the beam of flash light.

Could we get the energy of one act (light on a mirror) to connect withe next act, creating a circuit? They ran back and forth across the large room, having one circle of light reflect to the next mirror. Last year when we attempted this, we did not have much success.

The flashlight was not strong enough and the beam of light diffused before we got many reflections. We had to position the mirrors right next to each other, making the effect very weak. This year I went and got a stronger light, from 20 lumens to 200 lumens. I figured that with a brighter light and a better plan we would have this reflected disc of light dancing across the room.

We were more successful for the first few reflections but then the light spread out and we ran into similar problems to the year before. That is until a student said, I have a stronger light.

Sure enough with even more light we created this awesome effect with light from one mirror/place flowing to the next. We had five or six discs of light reflecting back and forth across our darkened social hall. We had a great discussion about how we have to make adjustments and be a flexible to connect story and value and ritual.

The next morning as I thought about our progress from weaker to stronger light, I realized that while the increase of light was important to make our experiment successful it also highlighted one of the difficulties of modern religious experience.

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Community forum: Being too dependent on the bright lights

NASA footage: Cygnus spacecraft leaves International Space Station for Earth – Video

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NASA footage: Cygnus spacecraft leaves International Space Station for Earth
Subscribe to ITN News: http://bit.ly/1bmWO8h Supply spacecraft Cygnus has detached from the International Space Station, as it heads for a fiery demise in th...

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NASA footage: Cygnus spacecraft leaves International Space Station for Earth - Video

NASA's Marshall Center, U.S. Space & Rocket Center sponsoring 'Robots to Rocket City' on Feb. 23

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What:NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., will cohost Robots to Rocket City with the U.S. Space & Rocket Center on Sunday, Feb. 23. At this event, area high school teams will demonstrate the robots they built to compete in upcoming competitions of FIRST -- For Inspiration and Recognition of Science & Technology.

NASA, through its Robotics Alliance Project, provides grants for high school teams and support for FIRST Robotics competitions around the country to address the critical national shortage in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics -- or STEM fields.

The event is open to the public. On Feb. 23, the Space & Rocket Center is offering a special admission price of $11 per person to those who mention "Robots to Rocket City." The ticket covers "Robots to Rocket City" and full museum admission, including simulators and the current feature exhibition, "Da Vinci: The Genius." Visitors will be able to try various robotics activities included in the centers new Space Camp Robotics Program. Demonstrations will include Lego NXT Programming and Engineering workshops, U.S. Navy Sea Perch underwater robotics, the Space Camp Robotics Challenge table and Kinect-controlled Robot Soccer.

FIRST is a national organization founded in 1989 by inventor Dean Kamen in Manchester, N.H., to inspire young people to pursue careers in science and technical fields.

Who:Students from more than half-a-dozen area high school FIRST Robotics teams will discuss and demonstrate their robots, including two NASA-sponsored "house teams": The Mad Rockers of Bob Jones and James Clemens High Schools in Madison; and Morgan County Mech Tech, comprised of Morgan County schools, including A.P. Brewer High School in Somerville. Also expected are students from schools involved in different robotics programs and grade levels, including the FIRST Lego League and a team from Madison County Schools' Central Elementary School participating in the VEX Robotics Competition.

When:Robots to Rocket City teams will begin demonstrations at 1 p.m., Feb. 23., beneath the Saturn V rocket on display in the Davidson Center for Space Exploration.

Where:U.S. Space & Rocket Center, One Tranquility Base, Huntsville, Ala.

To attend:News media interested in covering the event should contact Tim Hall at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center at 256-701-0916, or Angela Storey of the Marshall Public & Employee Communications Office at 256-714-4370 no later than 4:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21.

More information about FIRST programs and competitions is available at:http://www.usfirst.org

More information about the Marshall Space Flight Center is available at:www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall

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NASA's Marshall Center, U.S. Space & Rocket Center sponsoring 'Robots to Rocket City' on Feb. 23

Florida Space Industry to Visit Capitol on March 12

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL(February 19, 2014) Representatives from Floridas aerospace industry will visit Tallahassee on March12, 2014, to participate in Florida Space Day and share with legislators the opportunities the industry brings to Florida and the nations space program.

In Florida, aerospace means business, said Patty Stratton, chair of Florida Space Day 2014. Nearly all 67 counties contribute to this $9 billion industry, led by nearly 500 companies employing 30,000 residents; and space-related industries grow that amount to $19.2 billion, supporting 20,000 companies and 140,000-plus jobs.

It translates into high tech, high paying jobs, said Stratton. We want Florida to continue its aggressive stance to create a robust atmosphere for space exploration and business. Florida has the third largest space industry in the nation.

Former NASA astronaut Bob Crippen, pilot of the first orbital test flight of the Shuttle program and former NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Director, will be making scheduled appearances throughout the event. Space-related exhibits will be available on the third floor Rotunda of the Capitol.

Florida Space Day participants include Abacus Technology Corp, AECOM Government Technical Service, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, ASRC Aerospace Corporation, Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, Astrotech Space Operations, ATK, Bionetics, The Boeing Company, Blue Origin, Brazil-Florida Chamber of Commerce, Craig Technologies, D3 Air & Space Operations, Delaware North Companies, Dynamac Corporation, Economic Development Commission of Floridas Space Coast, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Exelis, Florida Space Institute, Harris Corporation, InDyne Inc, Jacobs, Jacksonville Aviation Authority, LJT & Associates, Lockheed Martin, Millennium Engineering & Integration, QinetiQ North America, Space Coast Launch Services, Space Florida, SpaceX, United Launch Alliance and URS.

To learn more about Florida Space Day 2014, visitwww.floridaspaceday.com, join us on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/FloridaSpaceDayand follow us on Twitter at @FLSpaceDay.

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NASA training robot to perform medical procedures in space

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NASA's Robonaut 2 and Dr. Zsolt Garami, of the Houston Methodist Research Institute, practice telemedicine techniques during a test of the robot's bedside manner. This image is a still from a NASA video documenting the Robonaut 2 test. NASA

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Gallery: Robonaut 2 will make history when it blasts off Thursday with the space shuttle Discovery

Having a robotic "physician" would take some pressure off of the astronauts. Currently, NASA astronauts are trained as basic surgeons before embarking on their space missions, which often last six months.

In a video released by NASA, an Earth-bound twin of R2 performed an ultrasound scan on a mannequin. It used a syringe to perform mock injections as part of the ultrasound.

"Humans at the controls are able to perform the task correctly and efficiently by using R2's dexterity to apply the appropriate level of force and can track their progress using R2's vision system," officials added in the video's YouTube description.

One of the key benefits is the speed at which the robots learn.

"I would say that within an hour I trained him more than with other studentsI'm working for a week, so I think that he's learning really fast," Garami says in the video.

"This demonstration of robotic capabilities could one day result in the ability for physicians to conduct complex medical procedures on humans in remote locations," the officials added, "whether on the Earth's surface or even in low Earth orbit."

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NASA training robot to perform medical procedures in space

NASA ups ante on crowdsourcing patents

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Innovation

Over the decades, NASA technologies were designed to hurl astronauts into space and develop satellites with pinpoint precision. But off-label uses have led to advanced medical ultrasound, camera phone enhancements and commercial airline improvements.

In October 2013, NASA posted 14 patents on the crowdsourcing site Marblar to facilitate more innovation through collaboration by the space program, industry and individuals. NASA now has 35 patents on its Marblar page and has welcomed practical applications of its technology.

Daniel Lockney, NASA's technology transfer program executive, said that although the agency always has a specific reason for developing a technology, it doesn't always realize all the different ways that technology might be applied.

"That's why we've worked with the company Marblar to help us to tap into the untapped cognitive surplus that exists in the world," he said.

For instance, NASA engineer Fred Schramm developed a two-component method for identifying and verifying objects. It uses an X-ray fluorescent inspection and a visual readout to identify objects. Marblar users have floated ideas for applying it to detecting counterfeit prescription drugs, among other uses. They also suggested using NASA's method of storing ultra-low-temperature fluids to store tissues for biomedical research.

Of about 11,000 U.S. patents filed by academia in 2013, less than 5 percent were commercialized, said Dan Perez, founder and CEO of Marblar.

"There's a big gulf between turning science that's happening all around us at all the universities in the U.S. into new products," he added.

According to NASA, parties not affiliated with NASA filed more than half of the 2,100 active patents that were derived from NASA programs and products in 2013.

"What's exciting about turning science into new products -- and for anybody interested in developing some of NASA's technologies into new products or universities' technologies into new products -- is that when you work with something that's already patented or research that's already been done, you kind of get a running start," Perez said.

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NASA ups ante on crowdsourcing patents

NASA Seeks Targets For Asteroid-Capture Mission

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NASA has set up a "rapid response system" to pick the best candidates for its ambitious asteroid-capture mission.

The space agency aims to use a robotic spacecraft to haul a near-Earth asteroid into a stable lunar orbit, where astronauts would visit it in the future. It's not as easy as just picking a space rock and going, however. Many asteroids are too big to be moved easily or are in unstable orbits. Others are too distant for telescopes to figure out what they're made of, which could make them unsuitable candidates.

"There are other elements involved, but if size were the only factor, we'd be looking for an asteroid smaller than about 40 feet (12 meters) across," Paul Chodas, a senior scientist in the Near-Earth Object Program Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California, said in a a statement. [NASA's Asteroid-Capture Mission in Pictures]

"There are hundreds of millions of objects out there in this size range, but they are small and don't reflect a lot of sunlight, so they can be hard to spot," Chodas added. "The best time to discover them is when they are brightest, when they are close to Earth."

Asteroids hit the headlines in a big way a year ago, when a space rock broke up over Chelyabinsk, Russia, injuring 1,500 people. Since the Russian meteor explosion, space agencies worldwide have stepped up the search for space rocks that are potentially hazardous to Earth.

NASA is billing the asteroid-capture mission as one step in that process, arguing that the effort could help test out processes to move a threatening rock out of its Earth-crossing orbit.

To ferret out the best candidates, NASA has a relatively new screening process in place that plumbs a database of "small bodies" discovered near Earth. Asteroids are typically found by astronomers, who then pass on the information to the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Mass. Researchers at JPL use this database to update their own information.

"If an asteroid looks as if it could meet the criteria of size and orbit, our automated system sends us an email with the subject 'New ARM Candidate,' " Chodas said. "When that happens, and it has happened several dozen times since we implemented the system in March of 2013, I know we'll have a busy day."

NASA needs to move quickly when one of these candidates is found, because newly spotted near-Earth objects are usually visible in telescopes for just a few days before they move out of range. If the telescopes are available, NASA uses two massive radar observatories the Deep Space Network station at Goldstone, Calif., and the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico to get more details on size and rotation.

Sometimes, other observatories are used to chart the asteroid's path in space. The NASA-funded Infrared Telescope Facility in Mauna Kea, Hawaii, if it's available, can provide information on the asteroid's composition. Another potential helper is NASA's reactivated NEOWISE spacecraft, whose new mission is to track asteroids that pass close to Earth.

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NASA Seeks Targets For Asteroid-Capture Mission

Nanotechnology could enable on-demand manufacture of vaccines

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Researchers from the University of Washington have created a vaccine with the potential to make on-demand vaccination cheaper and quicker, using engineered nanoparticles. Tests with mice show definite promise for the technology's use on humans.

A vaccine is essentially a biological preparation containing elements that resemble the disease it is designed to inoculate against. This has the effect of teaching the body to recognize the harmful foreign agent, and to allow the body's immune system to efficiently destroy it. This information is stored by the body and creates an immunity to future exposure to the disease.

Under the current distribution system, a vaccine must be created en mass at a production facility far from the infection site. The process of transporting large quantities of a vaccine to the required destination is extremely expensive, with the vaccines requiring constant refrigeration and often having a short lifespan.

Looking past the sheer cost of the transportation, even in today's shrinking world of high speed travel, the current system is proving to be inadequate in matching the planet's growing population, with many in the infected areas dying before the vaccine can arrive.

The research, funded by the Grand Challenges Explorations grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, hopes to revolutionize the current system by creating on-the-spot life-saving vaccines.

The vaccine would work by injecting nanoparticles created with an engineered protein designed to mimic infection, which then binds with calcium phosphate. In an experiment with the nanoparticles that was conducted on mice, it was found that eight months after the injection of nanoparticles, laboratory mice who contracted a disease showed three times the number of protective T-cells than mice who had been injected with the protein without the nanoparticles.

The nanoparticles are roughly 1,000 times smaller than a human hair inset represents the engineered proteins covering the nanoparticles' surface (Photo: University of Washington)

The nanoparticles operate by transporting the protein mimicking the infection to lymph nodes where the nanoparticles come into contact with denritic cells. The denritic cell essentially acts as a messenger between a person's innate and adaptive immune system, informing the body's T cells that the foreign body must be destroyed both now, and in the future.

Were really excited about this technology because it makes it possible to produce a vaccine on the spot," said Franois Baneyx, a professor of chemical engineering at the university. "For instance, a field doctor could see the beginnings of an epidemic, make vaccine doses right away, and blanket vaccinate the entire population in the affected area to prevent the spread of an epidemic.

The ability to create an on-the-spot vaccine using the nanoparticles has the potential to save many lives in developing countries, while cutting down on the costs of transportation and refrigeration usually inherent in vaccination. However Baneyx cautioned that whilst the laboratory tests on mice had yielded promising results, testing had not yet begun on humans.

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Nanotechnology could enable on-demand manufacture of vaccines

IN BRIEF: Vegas high school teachers get lessons in nanotechnology

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Written by: Shane Collins on June 30, 2008.

Vegas high school teachers get lessons in nanotechnology

Local high schools received hands-on experience with nanotechnology June Tuesday through Friday during UNLVs Nanotechnology Summer Institute in efforts to expose young people to the emerging industry.

Engineering professor Biswajit Das directed the event that provided in-depth overviews of nanotechnology and its real world applications. Programs included hands-on laboratory time in the Nevada Nanotechnology Center.

The programs goal was to give high school teachers ideas for lesson plans based around the growing arena of nanotechnology and to simply educate them about the expanding industry.

During the week-long program, teachers from four valley high schools built a silicone wafer etched with their school emblems and examined integrated circuit technology.

- Shane Collins

UNLV English professor wins prestigious award

Claudia Keenan, English professor and director of the creative writing program at UNLV received the 2008 Jerome J. Shestack Prize for her poem Everybodys Autobiography, from the American Poetry Review. Keenan shares this prize with Robert Hass, professor at University of California, Berkeley.

Everybodys Autobiography is an elegy to Keenans father and a commentary on Americas excessive use of fuel. The poem was originally published in the January 2007 issue of American Poetry Review.

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IN BRIEF: Vegas high school teachers get lessons in nanotechnology

Robots doubling as learning tools

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Glistening robots designed and put together by area students whirred around an area at Rackspace Hosting Inc. earlier this month in a regional robotics competition involving the area's top 62 teams.

The wireless machines scurried around the contest arena picking up plastic blocks and depositing them in baskets, grabbing a bar and pulling themselves off the ground and performing other tasks they had been designed to accomplish through months of preparation.

One San Antonio team that did advance from the Feb. 7-8 area competition has a hidden distinction.

It's name is the Bronc Botz Nano team. It is listed because of the division it is in and where it does its design and testing work as a Brandeis High School team. But the dozen or so boys and girls who make up the team are actually students at Garcia and Stinson middle schools, two schools that feed into Brandeis.

This was the first year that Brandeis opened its robotics program up to middle school students, as permitted by the organization that puts on the competition called FIRST, or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, a Brandeis assistant principal who sponsors the robotics team said.

It also was the first year that Bronc Botz Nano was in existence. So they had a tremendous season, said Assistant Principal Mike McKenna.

The team's coach, Gabriel Guerrero, explained some of his members had siblings who had built robots before and others found mentors from other robotic teams.

What may have set them apart from other teams is that they put in so much practice time close to 10 hours driving their robot in advance of the competition, said Guerrero, whose son Brian is part of the unit's drive team.

While they can get nervous about competing against older students, they've also gained confidence after beating high school teams at both a qualifying tournament that sent them to the area contest and at the area competition, the coach said.

They're ecstatic to be moving on, Guerrero said. But the teams from two other North East Independent School District high schools The Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, or STEM, Academy at Lee High School and the Engineering and Technologies Academy at Roosevelt High School and one middle school, Lopez, also failed to qualify for a super regional robotics competition later this month that will set the stage for a world championship put on by an organization called FIRST in April.

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Robots doubling as learning tools

A*STAR scientists discover protein's role in human memory and learning functions

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

18-Feb-2014

Contact: Tan Yun Yun tan_yun_yun@a-star.edu.sg 656-826-6273 Biomedical Sciences Institutes (BMSI)

1. Scientists at A*STAR's Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) have identified the precise role of the protein, SNX27, in the pathway leading to memory and learning impairment. The study broadens the understanding of the brain's memory function and could be used to explain defects in the cognitive development of those with Down's syndrome. The newly established knowledge could potentially facilitate exploration of strategies to improve memory and learning abilities in Down's syndrome.

2. Down's syndrome is a genetic condition characterized by the presence of an additional copy of chromosome 21. About one in eight hundred new-borns is diagnosed with Down's syndrome. It is a condition that leads to impairments in both cognitive ability and physical growth that range from mild to moderate developmental disabilities. Yet, there is still no treatment for it.

3. In an earlier study published in Nature Medicine, an international team of scientists discovered that the additional copy of chromosome 21 in Down's syndrome reduces the production of SNX27 in the brain and results in synaptic dysfunction. Synapse, a structure that permits nerve cells to pass chemical signals to each other, is known to have an important role in memory formation and its dysfunction could result in impairment. By re-introducing SNX27 into the brain, memory could be restored hence suggesting that SNX27 is an essential protein for memory and learning.

4. The protein's role in the pathway leading to memory impairment, however, remained unclear until scientists from IMCB utilised live-cell imaging techniques to elucidate the mechanism of memory impairment and illustrated how SNX27 attributes to synaptic dysfunction. The scientists observed that transmission of chemical signals between the nerve cells are facilitated by AMPA-receptors and the activity occurs on the brain cell surface. As SNX27 plays an important role in shuttling the AMPA-receptor to the brain cell surface, lower levels of SNX27 means fewer receptors are carried to the surface, which consequently interrupts the signal transmission and impairs memory. This discovery was reported in the 24 January, 2014 issue of the renowned scientific journal, Nature Communications.

5. The correlation established between SNX27 levels and memory could explain why individuals with Down's syndrome encounter memory and learning difficulties. Identifying the target and its role is a crucial first step to therapy having known the role of SNX27 in memory impairment, future research on Down's syndrome could focus on developing strategies which can effectively re-introduce the protein into the brain to restore memory and learning abilities.

6. Dr Loo Li Shen was an A*STAR scholar who is now working with Executive Director of IMCB, Prof Wanjin Hong, and is also an adjunct Assistant Professor at LKC medical school of NTU. The lead author of the Nature Communications paper and co-author of the Nature Medicine paper said, "Memory and the ability to learn capture the essence of life. Our research goes beyond the lab to make a difference by finding ways to grant these fundamental capabilities to those diagnosed with Down's syndrome. Our ultimate goal is to create a positive impact on the lives of these valuable children."

7. Prof Hong added, "In IMCB, we conduct research that would contribute to our understanding of mankind. This is a good example where the study is directed at a human condition - the Down's syndrome. The knowledge established from the findings could potentially translate into treatments for Down's syndrome or even become applicable to other similar human conditions."

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A*STAR scientists discover protein's role in human memory and learning functions