NASA to recycle parts for science work

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Artist's rendering of NASA's ISS-RapidScat instrument (inset), which will launch to the International Space Station in 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/JSC

Published: Jan. 29, 2013 at 7:37 PM

PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 29 (UPI) -- NASA says it is recycling parts used to test satellites to create an instrument for the International Space Station to measure ocean surface winds.

Hardware originally built to test parts of the space agency's QuikScat satellite will be used in the building of the ISS-RapidScat instrument to help improve weather forecasts, including hurricane monitoring, and understanding of how ocean-atmosphere interactions influence Earth's climate, NASA officials said.

"The ability for NASA to quickly reuse this hardware and launch it to the space station is a great example of a low-cost approach that will have high benefits to science and life here on Earth," Mike Suffredini, NASA's International Space Station program manager, said.

The QuikScat satellite was designed to last two years but operated for 10. However, it stopped collecting ocean wind data in late 2009.

A successor satellite will not be available soon, so NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and the agency's station program proposed adapting leftover QuikScat hardware in combination with new hardware for use on the space station.

"By leveraging the capabilities of the International Space Station and recycling leftover hardware, we will acquire good science data at a fraction of the investment needed to launch a new satellite," JPL project manager Howard Eisen said.

The instrument will be launched to the space station aboard a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft and is expected to operate aboard the station for two years, NASA said.

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NASA to recycle parts for science work

NASA Planet-Hunting Spacecraft Recovering from Glitch

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NASA's Kepler space telescope has resumed its search for alien planets after resting for 10 days to work out kinks in its attitude control system, mission officials announced today (Jan. 29).

Kepler went into a protective "safe mode" on Jan. 17 after engineers detected elevated friction levels in one of its reaction wheels devices that maintain the observatory's position in space. Engineers spun the wheels down to zero speed, hoping the break would redistribute lubricant and bring the friction back down to normal.

That phase is now over and Kepler is back in action, though it will take time to determine if the problem is solved.

Kepler began coming out of safe mode at 2:30 p.m. EST (1930 GMT) Sunday (Jan. 27) and started collecting science data again at 8 p.m. EST Monday (Jan. 28; 0100 GMT Jan. 29), officials wrote in a mission update today. [Gallery: A World of Kepler Planets]

"The spacecraft responded well to commands and transitioned from thruster control to reaction wheel control as planned," Kepler mission manager Roger Hunter wrote in the update. "During the 10-day resting safe mode, daily health and status checks with the spacecraft using NASA's Deep Space Network were normal."

Kepler flags exoplanets by detecting the telltale brightness dips caused when they pass in front of their parent stars from the instrument's perpsective. The telescope requires three functioning reaction wheels to stay locked onto its roughly 150,000 target stars.

When Kepler launched in March 2009, it had four reaction wheels three for immediate use, and one spare. But one wheel (known as number two) failed in July 2012, so a major problem with the currently glitchy wheel (called number four) could spell the end of the $600 million Kepler mission.

It's unknown at the moment if the 10-day rest period will bring wheel number four back into line.

"Over the next month, the engineering team will review the performance of reaction wheel #4 before, during and after the safe mode to determine the efficacy of the rest operation," Hunter wrote.

The wheel has acted up before without causing serious problems.

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NASA Planet-Hunting Spacecraft Recovering from Glitch

NASA to Light Up East Coast

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NASA will launch a rocket tonight (Jan. 29) on a mission that promises to put on a spectacular, albeit brief, light show over the U.S. East Coast that may be visible to stargazers along the Atlantic Seaboard, weather permitting.

Unsuspecting observers of the artificial night sky display may be puzzled and amazed, so before you make that phone call to your local media outlet or police station, here is why this is happening and when you might see it.

The bright phenomenon will be caused by an experiment aboard a NASA sounding rocket. As part the mission, the rocket will release a chemical tracer that should create two bright, red-colored lithium vapor trails in space that may be seen by observers across the mid-Atlantic region, and possibly from even further away.

The rocket will be fired from NASA's Wallops Island Flight Facility on Virginia's Atlantic coast. Liftoff is slated to occur as early as 5:30 p.m. EST (2230 GMT). The suborbital rocket, which can launch high above Earth but not orbit the planet, will be launched tonight to test technology for gathering science data during future projects.

You can watch the launch live on SPACE.com here via a webcast that will begin at 4:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT).

By rocket's red glareThe launch window for tonight's NASA night light show opens at 5:30 p.m. EST and extends to 6:50 p.m. EST (2350 GMT), but the optimum target time is 5:45 p.m. EST (2245 GMT). NASA intends to photograph the resulting red luminescent trails from Wallops Island and from an aircraft as well.

- Libby West, mission project manager with the NASA Sounding Rocket Program

Should weather conditions be unfavorable, the firings will be deferred to another night. Alternate dates run from Thursday through Friday (Jan. 30 to Feb. 1).

The sounding rocket that will be used to create the two NASA-made glowing cloud trails will be a Terrier-Improved Orion. In this technology test launch, two canisters in the rocket's payload section will contain solid metal lithium rods or chips embedded in a thermite cake. The thermite is ignited and produces heat to vaporize the lithium.

Once the vapor is released in space, it can be detected and tracked optically. The rocket will eject two streams of lithium which will be illuminated at high altitudes by the sun (which will be below the local horizon at ground level).

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NASA to Light Up East Coast

For NASA, a Somber Week of Space Disaster Anniversaries

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This week marks a somber time for NASA, with the anniversaries of three U.S. spaceflight disasters recalling the memories of those astronauts who made the ultimate sacrifice in the pursuit of space exploration.

On Friday (Feb. 1), NASA will pause to honor the memories of the three astronauts killed in the Apollo 1 fire of 1967, the seven astronauts killed in the Challenger shuttle disaster in 1986, and the seven astronauts who died when the space shuttle Columbia broke apart during re-entry on Feb. 1, 2003. This year's Day of Remembrance ceremony is especially poignant it will mark the 10th anniversary of the Columbia disaster that led to the end of the space shuttle program.

"NASA's Day of Remembrance honors members of the NASA family who lost their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery," NASA officials wrote in an announcement. "Flags across the agency will be flown at half-staff in their memory."

NASA will hold a televised ceremony on Friday at the Kennedy Space Center's Space Mirror, a memorial to astronauts who died during spaceflight. The service, hosted by the Astronaut Memorial Foundation, will begin at 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT) and be webcast live via NASA TV. SPACE.com will carry the NASA video stream live.

NASA chief Charles Bolden a former space shuttle commander will pay tribute with other NASA officials during an observance at the astronaut memorial at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. [Columbia Shuttle Disaster: Share Your Thoughts]

NASA's spaceflight tragedies

On Jan. 27, 1967, Apollo 1 astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee were killed when a fire broke out in their crew capsule during a ground test a month before their planned launch. It was NASA's first mission-related tragedy and led to a safety investigation into the Apollo spacecraft. Two years later, in July 1969, the agency's Apollo 11 mission landed the first astronauts on the moon.

On Jan. 28, 1986, 19 years and a day after the Apollo 1 fire, NASA's space shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds after liftoff due to an O-ring failure in one of the orbiter's twin solid rocket boosters. The malfunction allowed hot gas to escape the rocket booster, ultimately causing the shuttle's external fuel tank to explode. [NASA's Fallen Astronauts: A Photo Memorial]

Killed in the explosion were astronauts Francis "Dick" Scobee, Ronald McNair, Mike Smith, Ellison Onizuka, Judy Resnik, Greg Jarvis and Connecticut teacher Christa McAuliffe. McAuliffe was slated to become the first teacher in space during the mission, boosting national attention on the spaceflight. It would take NASA three years to resume flying the shuttle.

Today, the nonprofit StoryCorps released a video to honor the memory of Ronald McNair, the second African-American in space. The video commemorates McNair's childhood in Lake City, S.C., and his path to space.

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For NASA, a Somber Week of Space Disaster Anniversaries

New NASA Satellite to Boost Space Communications Network

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A NASA communications network used to track satellites and spacecraft orbiting the Earth is about to get an upgrade with the launch of a new satellite on Wednesday (Jan. 30).

The space agency is set to launch the newTracking and Data Relay Satellite K(TDRS-K for short) on Wednesday at 8:48 p.m. EST (0148 Jan. 31 GMT) from a pad at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket will boost the satellite into an orbit 22,300 miles (35,888 kilometers), where it will join a network of other relay spacecraft high above the planet.

The TDRS-K satellite isthe first of three new satellites to launch between now and 2015 to bolster the TDRS communications satellite network that relays data and messages between spacecraft in orbit and ground stations. Without factoring in the cost of the vehicles used to transport it, the TDRS-K satellitecosts anywhere from $350 to $400 million.

"Any day we support over 100 missions," Badri Younes a scientist in the Space Communications and Navigation office in NASA said of his division. "Anything you see going to space has to be enabled by us." [NASA's New Comsat: TDRS-K Spacecraft in Photos]

While the TDRS system isn't responsible for all communication between crewed spacecraft, satellites and NASA, it does make up part of the agency's Space Network. By using the network's seven satellites currently in orbit around the Earth and some ground-based elements, NASA can monitor the full treks of every satellite in low-Earth orbit.

The large TDRS-K satellite is the 11th spacecraft to join the TDRS network since the first TDRS satellite was launched in 1983. The most recent TDRS launch before now was in 2002. Five TDRS satellites are still functioning in orbit today. According to a NASA mission description, the TDRS-K satellite is expected to last at least 15 years in orbit.

"All of the beautiful images, looking at galaxies, looking at weather trends, providing support to the International Space Station are because of TDRS," Younes said. "Science couldn't be performed the way you expect it today without it."

If the space agency only used ground-based antennas to keep watch on the satellites, it would be impossible to constantly monitor spacecraft, and that creates problems. The International Space Station, for example, sends all of its data through the TDRS satellites.

Since the orbiting science laboratory is always in motion, sometimes it leaves the direct range of ground-based telescopes. The TDRS satellites are positioned in such a way to keep communication lines open between the crew and NASA on the ground.

The Hubble Space Telescopealso transmits its data through TDRS first before the data is beamed back down to Earth. The network of satellites functions as an intermediary between NASA's White Sands Complex in Las Cruces, N.M. and the various spacecraft that use it to send information back to the ground.

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New NASA Satellite to Boost Space Communications Network

NASA Rocket to Spark Light Show Over US East Coast Tonight

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NASA will launch a rocket tonight (Jan. 29) on a mission that promises to put on a spectacular, albeit brief, light show over the U.S. East Coast that may be visible to stargazers along the Atlantic Seaboard, weather permitting.

Unsuspecting observers of the artificial night sky displaymay be puzzled and amazed, so before you make that phone call to your local media outlet or police station, here is why this is happening and when you might see it.

The bright phenomenon will be caused by an experiment aboard a NASA sounding rocket. As part the mission, the rocket will release a chemical tracer that should create two bright, red-colored lithium vapor trails in space that may be seen by observers across the mid-Atlantic region, and possibly from even further away.

The rocket will be fired from NASA's Wallops Island Flight Facility on Virginia's Atlantic coast. Liftoff is slated to occur as early as 5:30 p.m. EST (2230 GMT). The suborbital rocket, which can launch high above Earth but not orbit the planet, will be launched tonight to test technology for gathering science data during future projects. [NASA Rocket Launches Light Up Night Sky (Photos)]

You can watch the launch live on SPACE.com herevia a webcast that will begin at 4:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT).

By rocket's red glare

The launch window for tonight's NASA night light show opens at 5:30 p.m. EST and extends to 6:50 p.m. EST (2350 GMT), but the optimum target time is 5:45 p.m. EST (2245 GMT). NASA intends to photograph the resulting red luminescent trails from Wallops Island and from an aircraft as well.

You can submit any amazing photos of the launch or the resulting night sky show to SPACE.com here: spacephotos@space.com.

Should weather conditions be unfavorable, the firings will be deferred to another night. Alternate datesrun fromThursday through Friday (Jan. 30 to Feb. 1).

The sounding rocket that will be used to create the two NASA-made glowing cloud trails will be a Terrier-Improved Orion.In this technology test launch, two canisters in the rocket's payload section will contain solid metal lithium rods or chips embedded in a thermite cake. The thermite is ignited and produces heat to vaporize the lithium.

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NASA Rocket to Spark Light Show Over US East Coast Tonight

How to Pronounce Nanotechnology – Video

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How to Pronounce Nanotechnology
Learn how to say Nanotechnology correctly with EmmaSaying #39;s "how do you pronounce" free tutorials. Definition of nanotechnology (oxford dictionary): noun [mass noun] the branch of technology that deals with dimensions and tolerances of less than 100 nanometres, especially the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules.: http://www.emmasaying.com Take a look at my comparison tutorials here http://www.youtube.com Subscribe to my channel here : http://www.youtube.com

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Research and Markets: Lipids in Nanotechnology Book Plus

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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/25dzfd/lipids_in) has announced the addition of AOCS Press's new book "Lipids in Nanotechnology Book Plus" to their offering.

Nanotechnology is a rapidly expanding field which includes fundamental nanoscale phenomena and processes, nanomaterials, nanoscale devices and systems, nanomanufacturing, and benefits and risks of nanotechnology.

This book serves as a valuable reference and resource for those interested in the field of nanotechnology; from basic research to engineering aspects of nanoparticles. It covers from thermodynamics to engineering aspects of nanoparticles or nanoemulsions; synthesis and applications of surface active lipids to food and cosmetics; and from pharmaceutical applications to nanomedicine.

Readership

Lipids in Nanotechnology will be useful to scholars, scientists, and technologists who are interested in the field of lipid nanotechnology.

Key Topics Covered

Nanotechnology: Emerging Interest, Opportunities, and Challenges

Surface Active Lipids as Encapsulation Agents and Delivery Vehicles

Milk Phospholipids: A Nanocarrier System for Delivery of Bioactive Compounds

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Research and Markets: Lipids in Nanotechnology Book Plus

Medicine ball squat – Video

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Medicine ball squat
Balance on the medicine ball. Bend at the knees, sitting butt back. Press up, squeezing butt tight. If you use the dumbbells, hold them at the shoulders with the palms facing in. Squat down holding dumbbells at the chest. As you stand, press the dumbbells overhead turning the dumbbells out.

By: Michele Lumadue

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Medicine ball squat - Video

Society for Participatory Medicine Names Barbara Kornblau as its First Executive Director

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WASHINGTON, Jan. 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --The Society for Participatory Medicine (SPM), an organization devoted to advancing communication and cooperation among all health care stakeholders, has chosen Barbara L. Kornblau as its first executive director. Her appointment marks a milestone for the society, founded in 2009 as a partnership among empowered patients ("e-patients"), health professionals and the systems that support them.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130129/PH49607LOGO)

"We are very excited by the extensive experience Barbara brings to the society," said Sarah Krg, SPM's president. "Her background working in health care and her expertise in law, policy, academia and advocacy will all reinforce the society's mission of catalyzing collaborative partnerships to optimize health and health care."

Kornblau is an attorney and licensed occupational therapist, with both advocacy and academic experience. She was dean of the School of Health Professions and Studies at the University of Michigan, Flint and professor of Occupational Therapy and Public Health at Nova Southeastern University.

A former Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow for U.S. Senators Tom Harkin and Jay Rockefeller, Kornblau has also served as government relations consultant for Special Olympics, International. In addition, she is the founder of the Coalition for Disability Health Equity and has published several books and articles. She holds a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a J.D. from the University of Miami. She is a member of the Florida Bar, the United States Supreme Court Bar, and several appellate court bars.

"Participatory medicine will play a key role in improving our nation's health," Kornblau said. "On a personal and a professional level, I am proud and excited at the opportunity to help this premier organization, dedicated to bringing together health care providers, patients, and other stakeholders, to make better health care decisions."

The Society for Participatory Medicine is open to both individual and institutional members and has a governing board comprised of both clinicians and patients. It publishes the Journal of Participatory Medicine, the only peer-reviewed publication devoted to advancing the understanding and practice of participatory medicine, and the popular blog, e-patients.net.

For more information, see: http://participatorymedicine.org/

This press release was issued through eReleases Press Release Distribution. For more information, visit http://www.ereleases.com.

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Society for Participatory Medicine Names Barbara Kornblau as its First Executive Director

Modernizing Medicine Sees Massive Adoption of Its EMR and More Than Doubles Staff in 2012

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BOCA RATON, FL--(Marketwire - Jan 29, 2013) - Modernizing Medicine, the creator of the Electronic Medical Assistant (EMA), a cloud-based specialty-specific EMR application, announced today that in 2012 the company launched into a new market and scaled massively in existing markets, winning the business of numerous physician practices. The company also entered into agreements with several key vendors, increased its staff to triple digits and secured its largest round of funding to date.

New Products and Gain in Market ShareIn October, Modernizing Medicine launched EMA Plastic Surgery at the American Society of Plastic Surgery's annual conference in New Orleans. The adoption rate of the already launched user-friendly and adaptive EMA Dermatology, EMA Ophthalmology and EMA Optometry grew by over 1000%, bringing the total number of providers using EMA to over 2,000.

Modernizing Medicine won the business of numerous large physician practices, including the Beatrice Keller Clinic, a full service dermatology clinic in Arizona with three offices and 17 physicians.States Dan A. Nelson MD, Medical Director, Beatrice Keller Clinic: "We researched a number of products and chose EMA due to the ease of use, speed and quality of the medical records produced.I would say that EMA is far more Derm specific with better Derm content, a workflow that fits Derm practice better and superior graphics and photo capabilities.EMAs competitors are less interesting for exactly the inverse reasons -- the workflow is designed for more general medicine with less specificity for Derm and inferior graphics and photo capabilities."

Strategic Agreements and EndorsementModernizing Medicine entered into agreements with several key vendors that have added tremendous value to EMA's users. Based on Modernizing Medicine's agreement with Logical Images, EMA Dermatology users now have the option to access Logical Images' VisualDx technology, which is a comprehensive digital image library with nearly 90,000 images representing all ages and skin types. Modernizing Medicine's agreement with Sonomed Escalon will provide EMA Ophthalmology users with the option to use AXIS image management software.

Modernizing Medicine also received an endorsement from the Inga Ellzey Practice Group, the leader in dermatology coding and billing.

Corporate Growth and Looking ForwardModernizing Medicine added 62 employees to its team in 2012, bringing the company total to 110 employees. Modernizing Medicine moved its headquarters from Boynton Beach, Florida to a larger office at the Research Park on the Florida Atlantic University campus in Boca Raton, Florida.

In 2012, Modernizing Medicine announced that it had closed a $12 million dollar capital raise, with a combination of equity capital and a senior debt bank facility, that was led by Pentland Group plc and joined by many of the company's own customers.

"What a year! I am thrilled with Modernizing Medicine's incredible growth in 2012 and could not be more proud of our amazing team," said Modernizing Medicine, co-Founder, President and CEO, Dan Cane. "From new product launches and key partnerships to unbelievable sales numbers and a strong funding round, we've done a lot this year.We are looking forward to a promising 2013 with the launch of EMA Cosmetic, EMA Orthopedics and EMA Otolaryngology."

About Modernizing Medicine Modernizing Medicine is delivering the next generation of electronic medical records (EMR) technology for the healthcare industry. Our product, Electronic Medical Assistant (EMA), is a cloud-based specialty-specific EMR with a massive library of built-in medical content, designed to save physicians time. Available as a native iPad application or from any web-enabled Mac or PC, EMA adapts to each provider's unique style of practice and is designed to interface with over 400 different practice management systems. Today, Modernizing Medicine provides specialty-specific offerings for the dermatology, ophthalmology, optometry and plastic surgery markets, and to more than 750 physician practices across the country.

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Modernizing Medicine Sees Massive Adoption of Its EMR and More Than Doubles Staff in 2012

15-year-old girl only two years away from medical school

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OGDEN A 15-year-old Ogden teen is just two years away from attending medical school.

Jessica Brooke said she only has a few more semesters until she gets her degree.

Ive always enjoyed school, Jessica said. Ive never hated going to school.

Jessica started college when she was 12 years old, and she already has two associate degrees. Shes the youngest student at Weber State University, and she came to campus with a 4.0 GPA.

It was hard for me to go from having a whole year to learn a concept to like three to four months, Jessica said.

She said it didnt take long to adjust. Shes taking classes like chemistry and calculus, ones that make other college students cringe.

A lot of students have a hard time and have to work really hard to be successful in this class, said general chemistry professor Tim Herzog, who teaches Jessica in the subject. Its really fun to see somebody who is 15 years old and doing that great.

She may be the youngest student on campus, and she has to be driven to school by her mom, but Jessica said she doesnt feel singled out.

They dont treat me any differently when they find out or anything, which I love, Jessica said. You know, I dont want to be babied, or think that I cant do anything.

She said math has always been easy for her, and her family has always been very supportive of her early college career.

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15-year-old girl only two years away from medical school

Alpert Medical School plans population health degree program for doctors in training

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By Chelsea Conaboy, Globe Staff

Alpert Medical School of Brown University is introducing a program meant to teach primary care doctors to think beyond the care of individual patients. The school is planning a dual degree program, to begin in 2015, in which doctors in training can earn a masters degree in population health.

The program will enroll 24 people per class who plan to work in primary care, and the curriculum will include disease prevention and the needs of certain patient groups, such as newborns and new mothers or the elderly, said Dr. Edward Wing, dean of medicine and biological sciences. It will emphasize teamwork across medical disciplines and cover new health care delivery models, such as patient-centered medical homes.

Primary care doctors are playing a central role in the planned overhaul of the US health care system and coordinating patient care across many specialties. They also are under pressure to address factors affecting the overall health of the communities they serve and to provide more preventive care.

For example, Wing said, primary care physicians need to look at the individual and the systemic causes of obesity among their patients. How do you actually address that? he said. The medical system simply hasnt done it very well.

As health care changes fast, those who train medical professionals are pushing to keep up. Many are tweaking programs and introducing new ones to help health care leaders to be as prepared as possible for the changes.

Dartmouth College this month graduated the first class from its masters program in Health Care Delivery Science, a partial distance learning program that combines class time and hands-on projects meant for people already in leadership positions in health care. David Sell of The Philadelphia Inquirer described the program this way when it got started in 2011:

We were trying to attract a student body that was in the real world, said Al Mulley, director of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Care Delivery Science, who has spent 30-plus years as a doctor and teacher in Boston hospitals and at Harvard. We werent sure we wanted people who could afford to take two years off or whose organizations could afford to send them away for two years. Our argument to CEOs was that this really will be unique.

Wing said the Brown program may be the first of its kind in the country to integrate population health into a four-year medical school in this way. The program will include a clerkship program modeled after one that was piloted by Cambridge Health Alliance, in which students work with a primary care physician to follow a group of patients with varied needs over time. In a traditional model, students instead rotate among specialties, such as obstetrics, surgery, and pediatrics.

We really have to reimagine our medical education, he said.

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Alpert Medical School plans population health degree program for doctors in training

2013 Liberty Jane entry #6- "Amber’s Fall" – Video

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2013 Liberty Jane entry #6- "Amber #39;s Fall"
*PLEASE WATCH IN HD!!!!!!* This is my sixth entry. I love this one cause it #39;s simple but cute. I choose the song "Amber waves" by Erin McCarley (All credit goes to her for the song) because Amber is in the title. If anything needs to be changed in the outfit, it can be changed. Thanks Liberty Jane for letting me enter and for doing this contest. Thanks, Love, AGgirls9 😀

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2013 Liberty Jane entry #6- "Amber's Fall" - Video