Nasa: Radiation Study Shows Mars Mission Not Safe For Humans

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Curiosity's First Color Photo

Curiosity snaps the first color view of the north wall and rim of Gale Crater, where NASA's Mars rover landed Sunday night. The picture was taken by the rover's camera at the end of its stowed robotic arm and appears fuzzy because of dust on the camera's cover.

NASA's Curiosity rover and its parachute were spotted by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as Curiosity descended to the surface on Aug. 5 PDT (Aug. 6 EDT). The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera captured this image of Curiosity--the rover and its parachute are in the center of the white box.

The green diamond shows approximately where NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Mars, a region about 2 kilometers northeast of its target in the center of the estimated landing region (blue ellipse).

This is one of the first images taken by NASA's Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars the evening of Aug. 5 PDT (morning of Aug. 6 EDT). It was taken through a "fisheye" wide-angle lens on the left "eye" of a stereo pair of Hazard-Avoidance cameras on the left-rear side of the rover.

In this black and white photo released by NASA's JPL-Caltech, This is the first image taken by NASA's Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars the evening of Aug. 5 a.m. PDT. It was taken through a "fisheye" wide-angle lens on one of the rover's front left Hazard-Avoidance cameras at one-quarter of full resolution. The clear dust cover on the camera is still on in this view, and dust can be seen around its edge, along with three cover fasteners. The rover's shadow is visible in the foreground. As planned, the rover's early engineering images are lower resolution. Larger color images are expected later in the week when the rover's mast, carrying high-resolution cameras, is deployed. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech)

In this black and white photo released by NASA's JPL-Caltech, Curiosity rover snaps picture of its shadow. This is the first image taken by NASA's Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars the evening of Aug. 5 PDT . It was taken through a "fisheye" wide-angle lens on one of the rover's rear left Hazard-Avoidance cameras at one-quarter of full resolution. The clear dust cover on the camera is still on in this view, and dust can be seen around its edge, along with three cover fasteners. Larger color images are expected later in the week when the rover's mast, carrying high-resolution cameras, is deployed. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech)

A spectator watches a live stream of the Mars Curiosity landing while listening to an audio broadcast on her phone among the hundreds of other on-lookers in Times Square, August 6, 2012, in New York. After traveling 8 1/2 months and 352 million miles, Curiosity landed on Mars Sunday night. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Steve Collins waits during the "Seven Minutes of Terror" as the rover approaches the surface of mars, inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. The Curiosity robot is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability, and potentially paving the way for human exploration. (AP Photo/Brian van der Brug, Pool)

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden smiles as the rover begins its decent to the surface of mars, inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday August 5, 2012. The Curiosity robot is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability, and potentially paving the way for human exploration.(AP Photo/Brian Van Der Brug, Pool)

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Nasa: Radiation Study Shows Mars Mission Not Safe For Humans

NASA Research Announcement: Tribal College and University: Experimental Learning Opportunity

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Synopsis - May 30, 2013

General Information

Solicitation Number: NNH13ZHA002N-TCUELO Posted Date: May 30, 2013 FedBizOpps Posted Date: May 30, 2013 Recovery and Reinvestment Act Action: No FedGrants Posted Date: May 30, 2013 Application Due Date Explanation: NNH13ZHA002N-TCUELO Release Date: Apr 24, 2013 Proposals Due: July 24, 2013 Classification Code: A -- Research and Development NAICS Code: 541712

Grant Specific Information

Funding Instrument Type: Grant Funding Instrument Type: Cooperative Agreement Funding Instrument Type: Other CFDA Number: 43.008 Cost Sharing or Matching Required: No Estimated Total Program Funding: $500,000.00 Expected Number of Awards: 5 Ceiling Amount: none Floor Amount: none Funding Activity: Other (O) Other (see text field entitled "Explanation of Other Category of Funding Activity" for clarification) Eligible Applicants: 25 - Others Tribal Colleges and Universities Link to Full Announcement: http://nspires.nasaprs.com

Contracting Office Address

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Headquarters Acquisition Branch, Code 210.H, Greenbelt, MD 20771

Description

Awards will be made as grants, cooperative agreements, and inter- or intra-agency transfers depending on the nature of the proposing organization and/or project requirements. The period of performance for an award is up to 3 years. Note that it is NASA policy that all investigations involving non-U.S. organizations will be conducted on the basis of no exchange of funds.

Prospective proposers are requested to submit any questions in writing to tcu-elo-questions@lists.nasa.gov no later than 10 business days before the proposal due date so that NASA will be able to respond.

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NASA Research Announcement: Tribal College and University: Experimental Learning Opportunity

NASA’s HS3 Mission aircraft will double-team from Virginia during the 2013 hurricane season

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WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. (NASA WALLOPS) During this years hurricane season NASA will double-team on research with two unmanned Global Hawk aircraft winging their way over storms that develop during the peak of the season. NASAs Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel, or HS3 airborne mission, will revisit the Atlantic Ocean to investigate storms using additional instruments and for the first time two Global Hawks.

IMAGE: NASA WALLOPS

The advantage this year over 2012 is that the second aircraft will measure eyewall and rainband winds and precipitation, something we didnt get to do last year, said Scott Braun, HS3 mission principal investigator and research meteorologist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. In addition, just as we did in 2012, the first aircraft will examine the large-scale environment that tropical storms form in and move through and how that environment affects the inner workings of the storms.

HS3 is a mission that brings together several NASA centers with federal and university partners to investigate the processes that underlie hurricane formation and intensity change in the Atlantic Ocean basin. Among those factors, HS3 will address the controversial role of the hot, dry and dusty Saharan Air Layer in tropical storm formation and intensification, and the extent to which deep convection in the inner-core region of storms is a key driver of intensity change.

The HS3 mission will operate between Aug. 20 and Sept. 23. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30 and usually peaks in early to mid-September.

The NASA Global Hawks are unmanned aircraft that will be piloted remotely from the HS3 mission base at NASAs Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Va. Global Hawk aircraft are well-suited for hurricane investigations because they can fly for as long as 28 hours and over-fly hurricanes at altitudes greater than 60,000 feet.

The second Global Hawk will carry a payload of a Doppler radar for wind and precipitation measurements, a microwave radiometer for surface wind measurements, and a microwave sounder for the measurement of atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles. In addition, an instrument called ADELE (Airborne Detector for Energetic Lightning Emissions) is being added to examine gamma ray emissions caused by lightning. The ADELE instrument first flew on a Gulfstream V aircraft in 2009.

The radar and microwave instruments will fly aboard Global Hawk Two for the first time in HS3 and will focus on the inner region of the storms. The High-Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler conically scanning Doppler radar, the Hurricane Imaging Radiometer, and the High-Altitude Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit Sounding Radiometer microwave sounder will be new to the mission this year. These instruments have previously participated in NASAs GRIP (Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes) experiment that studied hurricanes during the 2010 season and represent advanced technologies developed by NASA that are precursors to potential future satellite sensors

This year, one HS3 mission Global Hawk will provide the opportunity to test out a non-hurricane related instrument: the ADELE gamma ray detector.

Making a return appearance to NASA Wallops for the 2013 season and flying on Global Hawk One are three instruments to examine the environment of the storms. The scanning High-resolution Interferometer Sounder, the Advanced Vertical Atmospheric Profiling System also known as dropsondes, and the Cloud Physics Lidar will be mounted in the Global Hawk that will be studying the environment around storms.

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NASA’s HS3 Mission aircraft will double-team from Virginia during the 2013 hurricane season

NASA Invites Media to Space Weather Enterprise Forum

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NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will deliver the keynote address at the annual Space Weather Enterprise Forum Tuesday, June 4, at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Auditorium and Science Center, located at 1301 East-West Highway in Silver Spring, Md.

Media representatives are invited to attend the forum, which will focus on the impact of space weather events on communications, navigation, and national security. The theme of this year's forum is "Space Weather Impacts: They Happen All the Time." It will examine the high-frequency, low-impact events that routinely occur, but generally go unnoticed by the public. The meeting will take place from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EDT. Bolden will speak at 8:30 a.m., and several other NASA officials will make presentations.

Forum participants include researchers, policymakers, and forecasters sharing information to raise awareness about space weather and its effects. Space weather involves conditions and events on the sun and in near-Earth space that can affect critical space-borne and ground-based technological systems, such as electric power grids, communications and navigation systems.

The NASA participants include:

-- Victoria Elsbernd, acting director, Heliophysics Division, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters -- Madhulika Guhathakurta, STEREO and Living with a Star program scientist, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington

-- Michael Wargo, chief exploration scientist, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters -- Lauri Newman, robotic conjunction assessment manager, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. -- Neal Zapp, Office of the Chief Engineer, NASA Headquarters

The forum is sponsored by the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology's National Space Weather Program Council in Washington. Registration is required, but free of charge for journalists. For additional information and to register online, visit: http://www.nswp.gov/swef/swef_2013.html

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Innovative new nanotechnology stops bed bugs in their tracks—literally

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Javascript is currently disabled in your web browser. For full site functionality, it is necessary to enable Javascript. In order to enable it, please see these instructions. 5 hours ago A screen capture of a video demonstration of the new technology stopping bed bugs in their tracks.

Bed bugs now need to watch their step. Researchers at Stony Brook University have developed a safe, non-chemical resource that literally stops bed bugs in their tracks. This innovative new technology acts as a man-made web consisting of microfibers 50 times thinner than a human hair which entangle and trap bed bugs and other insects. This patent-pending technology is being commercialized by Fibertrap, a private company that employs non-toxic pest control methods.

The nanotech solution was developed at Stony Brook University's Center for Advanced Technology in Sensor Materials (Sensor CAT), a program funded by NYSTAR, as part of a statewide effort to encourage greater technological and economic collaboration between industry and research universities.

"Our nanotechnology produces entanglements that are millions of times more dense than woven products such as fabrics or carpets," said lead researcher Miriam Rafailovich, Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Co-Director in the Program of Chemical and Molecular Engineering at Stony Brook University. "The microfibers trap them by attaching to microstructures on their legs taking away their ability to move, which stops them from feeding and reproducing."

Successful tests were performed using live bed bugs and termites in Professor Rafailovich's lab with the assistance of Ying Liu, a scientist with Stony Brook University's Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center and Stony Brook graduate students Shan He and Linxi Zhang.

Kevin McAllister, Fibertrap's co-founder added, "We are very excited to move this advancement from the lab to the consumer. Our goal has always been to make a difference for people living in areas where bed bugs are pervasive and difficult to eradicate."

The microfibers are safe for humans and pets and unlike chemical treatments the insects cannot develop a resistance to it.

About bed bugs

Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) are small, flat, parasitic insects that feed solely on the blood of people and animals while they sleep. Bed bugs are reddish-brown in color, wingless, range from one millimeter (mm) to seven mm (roughly the size of Lincoln's head on a penny), and can live several months without a blood meal.

Infestation

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Innovative new nanotechnology stops bed bugs in their tracks—literally

Dr. Hook

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Dr. Hook The Medicine Show - I Ain #39;t Got No Home - Rock N Roll Experience
Rock N Roll Experience is where you can find all the greatest Rock Roll music! Find your favourite songs and artists, and (re)discover the classic hits. Fr...

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Dr. Hook

NHL draft tracker: Hunter Shinkaruk, Medicine Hat Tigers

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Medicine Hat Tigers left wing Hunter Shinkaruk.Medicine Hat Tigers forward Hunter Shinkaruk thinks outside of the box to better his hockey career.

Heading into his third season with the Tigers, the 18-year-old made a PowerPoint to breakdown what he wanted to accomplish.

I made the PowerPoint at the start of the year to look at my goals and what I wanted to improve on this year, said Shinkaruk. It helped me visualize what I needed to work on and what I wanted to focus on. It helped with everything in front of me what I wanted to work towards.

The 5-foot-11, 175-pounders season ended up having its ups and downs. He did tally an impressive 37 goals and 86 points in 64 games, but was unable to raise his game, stats wise anyways, from his previous 91-point season largely because of nagging injuries.

It seemed as soon as I started going on a roll, Id have to deal with an injury, he said. I would have liked to have done more, but the circumstances made it hard to.

Shinkaruk taking on a bigger role with Medicine Hat was a challenge he had to face this year. Last season he was in a dynamic 1-2 scoring punch with Anaheim Ducks first-rounder Emerson Etem. This year he had more offensive pressure on his shoulders with Etem gone to the pros and played a bigger role in the dressing room as he was named the teams captain.

I definitely had to get used to playing without Etem on my line, said Shinkaruk. Hes such a great player and he really makes it easier on his linemates by opening up space. But a lot of the guys stepped up for us this year I really liked being captain. I like helping out the rookies and just being a leader young players can look to.

Shinkaruks PowerPoint wasnt the first time he looked to unorthodox ways to accomplish his goals. In his sophomore season with the Tigers, he wrote the number 50 down everywhere he could think of to motivate himself to notch that many goals as a 17-year-old.

I always wrote down the number 50 and would stare at it for a couple minute to just motivate me to score 50 goals, said Shinakruk. I got that idea from a book called The Secret. Its a book about trying to stay positive. I think its really important to keep a positive mindset.

Unfortunately for Shinkaruk, he came up one-goal short with 49 on the year. He did make an unbelievable last minute effort to reach his goal, though. In the Tigers last game of the season against the Lethbridge Hurricanes, he scored a hat trick and almost potted another on an empty net in the final minute of the contest.

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NHL draft tracker: Hunter Shinkaruk, Medicine Hat Tigers

More Sleep Reduces Suicide Risk in Those with Insomnia, According to Penn Medicine Study

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PHILADELPHIA Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have found that more sleep is associated with lower suicide risk in those with insomnia. The findings showed that in those with some suicide risk as exemplified by self-reports of suicidal thoughts there was a 72 percent drop in the likelihood of moderate or high risk of suicide for every hour of sleep that persons reported getting at night.

The research team from the Penn Behavioral Sleep Medicine Research Program merged and assessed data from two studies of insomnia that included 471 total subjects. Of the total subjects, 73 indicated suicide risk, with 55 classified as low suicide risk and 18 classified as moderate or high risk. Using a statistical analysis, the authors determined that variations in suicide risk were successfully differentiated using sleep duration. As such, increased sleep duration was associated with lower likelihood of moderate/high suicide risk, versus low risk.

The authors note that the results highlight the importance of sleep for our mental and physical well-being. Insomnia is a common disorder, with about 1 in 3 Americans experiencing symptoms at any given time, and about 1 in 10 Americans probably meets criteria for an insomnia disorder that should be treated. Insomnia is an important medical condition that not only has implications for health, functioning during the day, and quality of well-being, but it may also lead to increased risk of suicide.

The study is scheduled to be presented June 4 at SLEEP 2013, the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.

Penn authors include Linden Oliver, Andrea Segal, Florda Priftanji, Michael Grandner, PhD, and Michael Perlis, PhD.

For more information, please see the American Academy of Sleep Medicine news release.

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Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $4.3 billion enterprise.

The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States for the past 16 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $398 million awarded in the 2012 fiscal year.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania -- recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report; Penn Presbyterian Medical Center; and Pennsylvania Hospital -- the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Penn Medicine also includes additional patient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region.

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More Sleep Reduces Suicide Risk in Those with Insomnia, According to Penn Medicine Study

Penn Medicine Presents New Research at SLEEP 2013

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Newswise PHILADELPHIA - Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania clinicians and researchers will be presenting compelling data and giving talks about emerging issues in the field of sleep medicine during SLEEP 2013, in Baltimore, MD, June 2 5, 2013.

To arrange interviews with any of these presenters, please call 215-796-4829, or email jessica.mikulski@uphs.upenn.edu.

Monday, June 3, 2013

12PM Oral Presentation 242 - Neurobehavioral and Physiological Effects of High Cognitive Workload and Chronic Sleep Restriction Namni Goel, PhD, Marcia Braun, PhD, and David Dinges, PhD This study provides the first experimental evidence that the amount of cognitive workload a person experiences produces negative effects such as fatigue and sleepiness independent of sleep loss.

4 PM Poster Presentation 326 - Are those with more physically demanding jobs more likely to exhibit short/long sleep duration? Holly E. Barilla, Charles Corbitt, Subhajit Chakravorty, MD, Michael Perlis, PhD, and Michael A. Grandner, PhD Those with jobs that are more manual labor and physically demanding are more likely to be short sleepers. This could be one of the social/environmental factors leading to insufficient sleep.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

12:15 PM Oral Presentation 243 - Effects of Cognitive Workload on Sleep Physiology under Sleep Restricted and No Sleep Restricted Conditions Takashi Abe, PhD, Namni Goel, PhD, and David Dinges, PhD This study indicates that people with jobs or daily tasks that require higher cognitive workload can experience difficulties falling asleep initially, but stay asleep longer before awakening, independent of sleep loss.

4 PM Poster Presentation 267 - Sleep Duration as a Predictor of Moderate/High (vs Low) Suicide Risk in Insomnia Linden Oliver, Andrea Segal, Florda Priftanji, Michael Grandner, PhD, and Michael Perlis, PhD

Insomnia is a newly-identified risk factor for suicidality. Among patients with insomnia, short sleepers are more likely to report suicidal ideation. However, in those with some suicide risk, the likelihood of being high risk (versus low risk) decreased by 72 percent for every hour of sleep that person reported getting at night.

Poster Presentation 288 - Suicidal Ideation Associated with Insomnia Symptoms and Sleep Duration. H.Y. Katy Siu, Linden Oliver, Subhajit Chakravorty, MD, James Findley, PhD, Michael Perlis, PhD, and Michael Grandner, PhD In a national-level sample, insomnia and short/long sleep were associated with increased suicidal ideation. This is the first time that insomnia is established as a risk factor for suicide at the national level.

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Penn Medicine Presents New Research at SLEEP 2013