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Religious Pilgrimages: 14 Of The World's Most Spiritual Destinations
David Hnyda: Attending Space Camp solidified his dream of space flight
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Here is an Army experimental test pilot, an aspiring astronaut. He has wanted to be in space since childhood.
His childhood goal was to fly - to experience the weightlessness that came with being in space.
"Going to Space Camp, I realized what was going on," he said. "It was going into space. I still want to do it."
So that is how Maj. David Hnyda, now 35, latched even tighter to his childhood ambition, never letting go of it after first attending Space Camp when he was in the sixth grade.
"I am still pursuing," he said.
Last year, NASA announced it was seeking astronauts. Hnyda applied, and he's scheduled to find out this summer if he made the initial round of cuts.
At Space Camp, he said, he learned how much was required to travel and be in space.
"Absolutely, you would say it impacted my choice in majoring in college," he said. "It confirmed that, yes, I do want to try to be an astronaut. It solidified the dream."
The dream flourished at Space Camp in the late 1980s. Growing up in Lilburn, Ga., east of Atlanta, he learned about Space Camp.
"When I went the first time, I did the whole thing," he said. "I had to work a deal with my parents and grandfather. If I could earn half of the money, they would match that, and they would pay the other half."
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David Hnyda: Attending Space Camp solidified his dream of space flight
Kerri-Anne turns heads in red undies
KERRI-Anne Kennerley sure is making the most of her post Dancing With The Stars bod - and is not too keen to hang up her dancing shoes just yet, either.
The TV veteran has stripped off - kind of - for a campaign for Red Undies Week, which raises awareness for kidney disease.
Some 1.3 million Australians are walking around with the "silent killer" and don't know it, so make sure you get checked.
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Unmanned NASA aircraft to study hurricanes in 2012
Washington, June 3 (ANI): NASA will be sending unmanned aircrafts dubbed "severe storm sentinels" above stormy skies, beginning this summer and over the next several years, to help researchers and forecasters uncover information about hurricane formation and intensity changes.
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Computer-designed proteins programmed to disarm variety of flu viruses
ScienceDaily (June 1, 2012) Computer-designed proteins are under construction to fight the flu. Researchers are demonstrating that proteins found in nature, but that do not normally bind the flu, can be engineered to act as broad-spectrum antiviral agents against a variety of flu virus strains, including H1N1 pandemic influenza.
"One of these engineered proteins has a flu-fighting potency that rivals that of several human monoclonal antibodies," said Dr. David Baker, professor of biochemistry at the University of Washington, in a report in Nature Biotechnology.
Baker's research team is making major inroads in optimizing the function of computer-designed influenza inhibitors. These proteins are constructed via computer modeling to fit exquisitely into a specific nano-sized target on flu viruses. By binding the target region like a key into a lock, they keep the virus from changing shape, a tactic that the virus uses to infect living cells. The research efforts, akin to docking a space station but on a molecular level, are made possible by computers that can describe the landscapes of forces involved on the submicroscopic scale.
Baker heads the new Institute for Protein Design Center at the University of Washington. Biochemists, computer scientists, engineers and medical specialists at the center are engineering novel proteins with new functions for specific purposes in medicine, environmental protection and other fields. Proteins underlie all normal activities and structures of living cells, and also regulate disease actions of pathogens like viruses. Abnormal protein formation and interactions are also implicated in many inherited and later-life chronic disorders.
Because influenza is a serious worldwide public health concern due to its genetic shifts and drifts that periodically become more virulent, the flu is one of the key interests of the Institutes for Protein Design and its collaborators in the United States and abroad. Researchers are trying to meet the urgent need for better therapeutics to protect against this very adaptable and extremely infective virus. Vaccines for new strains of influenza take months to develop, test and manufacture, and are not helpful for those already sick. The long response time for vaccine creation and distribution is unnerving when a more deadly strain suddenly emerges and spreads quickly. The speed of transmission is accelerated by the lack of widespread immunity in the general population to the latest form of the virus.
Flu trackers refer to strains by their H and N subtypes. H stands for hemagglutinins, which are the molecules on the flu virus that enable it to invade the cells of respiratory passages. The virus's hemagglutinin molecules attach to the surface of cells lining the respiratory tract. When the cell tries to engulf the virus, it makes the mistake of drawing it into a more acidic location. The drop in pH changes the shape of the viral hemagglutinin, thereby allowing the virus to fuse to the cell and open an entry for the virus' RNA to come in and start making fresh viruses. It is hypothesized that the Baker Lab protein inhibits this shape change by binding the hemagglutinin in a very specific orientation and thus keeps the virus from invading cells.
Baker and his team wanted to create antivirals that could react against a wide variety of H subtypes, as this versatility could lead to a comprehensive therapy for influenza. Specifically, viruses that have hemagglutinins of the H2 subtype are responsible for the deadly pandemic of 1957 and continued to circulate until 1968. People born after that date haven't been exposed to H2 viruses. The recent avian flu has a new version of H1 hemagglutinin. Data suggests that Baker's proteins bind to all types of the Group I Hemagglutinin, a group that includes not just H1 but the pandemic H2 and avian H5 strains.
Recognizing the importance of new flu therapies to national and international security, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency funded this work, along with the National Institutes of Health's National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The researchers also used the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratories in Illinois, with support from the Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences.
The methods developed for the influenza inhibitor protein design, Baker said, could be "a powerful route to inhibitors or binders for any surface patch on any desired target of interest." For example, if a new disease pathogen arises, scientists could figure out how it interacts with human cells or other hosts on a molecular level. Scientists could then use protein interface design to generate a diversity of small proteins that they predict would block the pathogen's interaction surface.
Genes for large numbers of the most promising, computer-designed proteins could be tested using yeast cells. After further molecular chemistry studies to find the best binding among those proteins, those could be re-programmed in the lab to undergo mutations, and all the mutated forms could be stored in a "library" for an in-depth analysis of their amino acids, molecular architecture and energy bonds. Advanced technologies would allow the scientists to quickly thumb through the library to pick out those tiny proteins that clung to the pathogen surface target with pinpoint accuracy. The finalists would be selected from this pool for excelling at stopping the pathogen from attaching to, entering and infecting human or animal cells.
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Computer-designed proteins programmed to disarm variety of flu viruses
'Nano technology' [program can pay off big for IRSC students
FORT PIERCE A new partnership at Indian River State College's Brown Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship between its nanotechnology lab and NanoProfessor will take the college to the cutting edge of tomorrow's technology.
So said Kevin Cooper, director of advanced technology at the newly named NanoProfessor Advanced Materials Lab, which officially will be teaching about new-age nano technology studies starting in the fall.
What is nano technology? Nano technology is extremely small scale, said Dean Hart, chief commercial officer of NanoInk Inc. and the NanoProfessor and Nano Science education program in Skokie, Ill.
"Nano-scale is one billionth of a meter, so when you talk about nano technology applications, it's looking at normal biology, physics and material science it's how those sciences work on a very, very small scale," Hart said.
That's 80,000 times smaller than a human hair, according to an IRSC brochure.
IRSC is the first college in the Southeastern United States to offer students access to a fully nano-instrumentation equipped laboratory with an expert-driven curriculum, and student-teacher support materials.
Cooper said IRSC will be offering technician certificates starting in the spring of 2013 that will qualify graduates to seek four-year degrees in fields such as materials science, biology, physics and medicine at large universities.
Cooper said there already is ongoing undergraduate nano research at the Fort Pierce lab where student researchers have been working in partnership with industry clients; they are expecting to have their first publication in the fall.
The new nano program will not only introduce new degrees, but provide real-world research opportunities for students while fostering partnerships with universities and industry. It will provide lab space for scientists and those promoting economic growth in the nano fields.
What is nano research at IRSC looking at now?
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'Nano technology' [program can pay off big for IRSC students
Kid Icarus: Uprising – Introduction – Video
02-06-2012 15:44 If this video reaches the certain amount of Likes I have in mind I'll upload Part 1 tonight! Subscribe to the Show! -Facebook & Twitter-
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Wii U Getting Achievements And Cloud Saves [Rumor]
E3 doesnt start officially until Tuesday, but many publishers will be pushing out news and game reveals starting tomorrow. Nintendo may even get the ball rolling later today with its Nintendo Direct presentation. While we dont expect Nintendo to reveal anything mind blowing during the presentation, a recent rumor suggests that Nintendo will have even more exciting news to share during its proper E3 press conference on Tuesday.
Speaking to anonymous developers working on multiple Wii U projects, Wii U Daily learned that the Wii U will be getting achievements, cloud storage and deep social networking integration. The developers suggest that Nintendo will be showing off these features during its E3 press conference. If true, these rumors suggest a Nintendo that is doing some exciting and innovative things in fields that we have taken for granted thus far.
The first rumor says that the Wii U will be getting achievements called Nintendo Points. They will be similar to Xbox 360 achievements and PlayStation 3 trophies in that players will earn them for completing objectives in game. Unlike the other console manufacturers, however, Nintendo will be bringing a much needed change to the achievement system. As of now, players will only receive points in exchange for completing in-game objectives. Its all kind of superficial and only appeals to the base instinct of wanting to see a number rise. Nintendo Points will offer in-game rewards for completing objectives and getting achievements. Think of a Mario game that unlocks new levels as you earn achievements. Thats what the developers are suggesting.
The second rumor points to Nintendo getting a cloud saving feature just like what Sony and Microsoft offer. Comparably, the Nintendo cloud storage solution will allow players to save their game saves and profiles on the cloud for easy transfer between consoles. The difference between Nintendos and the competitions solution is that Nintendos cloud storage will be free. Sony and Microsoft require that players pay for either PlayStation Plus or Xbox Live Gold respectively to gain access to cloud saves.
The third and most exciting feature is the integration of social media into the Wii Us operating system. The developers specifically point out that Facebook, Twitter and YouTube will be the first services to be integrated. Unlike the other consoles integration, Nintendo is apparently going for a deeper integration that has yet to be seen on a console. The developers say that players will be able to pause a game at any moment to share a screenshot of the game on Facebook or Twitter. The YouTube feature is the most exciting as it would allow players to record and upload gameplay videos to YouTube directly from the console.
A few other details from the developers include a new Mii creation system that relies on a camera API that transfers a persons face onto the Mii proper. The 3DS has this feature as well, but the camera is so low-res that it cant really capture a persons face that well.
The other rumor is a bit more unfortunate. The developers say that porting current projects to the Wii U is harder than originally thought. Fortunately, porting from the Xbox 360 to the Wii U isnt that bad since they have similar architecture. Just like the Xbox 360 before it, porting from the PlayStation 3 is an all-together different beast. It should be expected as the Wii U is rumored to have a quad-core processor similar to the processor on the Xbox 360. The cell processor in the PS3, while powerful, does not make it easy to port to the more traditional CPU architectures.
A lot of the rumors that you see here are entirely plausible and will probably show up at Nintendos E3 press conference or the Nintendo Direct later tonight. The achievements and cloud storage are the most likely, but I wouldnt count out the social networking features either. Nintendo needs to wow us at E3 and some of these features alone are enough to cause a stir. Heres hoping that Nintendo has the games to back up these admittedly exciting rumors.
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Warner to Mount 'Liberty,' Show of Firsts
By RICKY CAMPBELL Register Citizen Staff
TORRINGTON Liberty, an upcoming musical at the Warner Theatre premiering on June 30, is a production of firsts and everyone involved isnt just content with that, but theyre rather excited.
Liberty will showcase the story of an immigrant girl coming from Paris, gathering outside influences ideals of what liberty is to them, and integrating their multiple thoughts into her own development. Its the first time the musical will see the light of day in its entirety, the first time its lead actress will be the focal point in her young career and its the first time Liberty will have the opportunity to push its cast and crew to their ultimate goal: a New York City stage.
On Thursday, cast and crew members of Liberty introduced themselves to Warner staffers, city officials and the public. After explaining the musicals premise, fine details and an opening, teasing number from its lead actress, Liberty cast members hit the stage for their first weekend of rehearsals.
The crew will spend their Thursdays through Saturdays leading up to the June 30 world premiere on the Torrington Main Street theatres stage, practicing their lines and developing their characters. When the show leaves the Warner Theatre after its final performance on July 12, the production, aiming for brighter lights and bigger venues, can look to Torrington as its jumping off point.
For some, it could be the initial catapult to a career under the lights.
For a first gig, this isnt too shabby, lead actress Madeline Brewer said with a smile Thursday following the warm welcome. Brewer, 20, graduated from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York a week ago. Outside of her hometown theater in Pitman, New Jersey, Brewer said shes never landed the lead role.
On June 30, 2012, that will change for Brewer as she becomes the first actress to ever don the copper-turned-green wardrobe of Liberty an immigrant girl from France trying to make a life in 19th century America.
Liberty will hit the stage for the first time, creating a new draw, officials believe, for the different demographics of show-goers.
Youre building a relationship here and that relationship is with the Warner family, Warner Theatre Executive Director John Bonanni said to the group. When you leave, youre going to find yourself missing this place.
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WNBA: Catchings, Fever cruise by winless Liberty
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Tamika Catchings scored 16 points to help the Indiana Fever defeat the New York Liberty 91-68 on Saturday night.
Roneeka Hodges scored 15 points, Jeanette Pohlen added 12 and Katie Douglas had 11 for Indiana (4-0). The Fever made 13 of 26 3-pointers while New York made 5 of 17. The Fever made 22 of 27 free throws and committed just 12 turnovers.
Indiana's reserves outscored New York's 52-18.
Plenette Pierson scored 24 points on 10-for-13 shooting for the Liberty (0-5). Cappie Pondexter, New York's leading scorer, finished with 13 points on 4-for-15 shooting. Pierson and Pondexter were the only Liberty players to score in double figures.
New York's past four losses have all been by double digits, by a combined 82 points. The teams play again Sunday at New York.
Indiana, which entered the game as the No. 2 scoring team in the league, shot 47 percent from the field.
The Fever shot just 6-for-19 from the field in the first quarter but made enough free throws to tie the score at 20 by the end of the period.
Indiana heated up in the second quarter making 10 of its 16 shots to take a 49-36 halftime lead. Catchings scored 14 points in the first half and Hodges scored eight off the bench in the second quarter. The Fever made 6-of-13 three-pointers in the first half.
New York cut Indiana's lead to nine points early in the third quarter before the Fever took control. A three-pointer by Shavonte Zellous pushed Indiana's lead to 60-45 and forced the Liberty to call a timeout.
Catchings disagreed with a foul call, then made contact with an official and was issued a technical foul. New York made all three free throws to cut Indiana's lead to 12.
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Fever-Liberty Preview
The Indiana Fever have matched the best start in franchise history.
The New York Liberty are off to their worst start, thanks in part to the Fever.
Indiana looks to set a club record by capitalizing on another matchup with the last-place Liberty and completing a sweep of a home-and-home set Sunday night at Prudential Center.
The Fever (4-0) are trying to prove they're contenders for a WNBA championship after falling to Atlanta in last season's Eastern Conference finals. They're certainly playing like contenders so far in 2012.
Indiana has tied its longest winning streak to open a season, achieved in both 2006 and 2007. Another meeting with New York (0-5) may be just what the Fever need to win a fifth straight.
They had little trouble with the Liberty on Saturday, rolling to a 91-68 home victory. Indiana made 13 of 26 3-pointers and nearly tripled New York in bench points, holding a 52-18 edge.
Indiana has lost its last two road games against the Liberty, including an 87-72 defeat Sept. 17 in Game 2 of the East semifinals. The Fever clinched the series with a victory at home two days later.
Tamika Catchings has totaled 11 points while shooting just 3 of 16 from the field the last two times the Fever have visited the Liberty, including a two-point effort in the playoff matchup.
The reigning WNBA MVP was much better at home against the Liberty on Saturday, scoring 14 of her 16 points in the first half. However, she was issued a technical after making contact with an official while arguing a foul call.
Averaging 19.8 points on the season, Catchings may be in for another strong performance since New York is being outscored by an average of 17.4 points during the worst start to a season in its franchise history.
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In the Galápagos Islands, A Bigger Center for Divers
The new dive center, to open this summer, will be bigger than any other on the archipelago.
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Islands pedestrian hit by car dies
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Health care: The self-employed owner
James Schoenhard, 43, hopes the health law survives, and with it the individual mandate. It won't affect him directly. He carries health insurance as owner of Schoenhard Lawn Care in Sioux Falls.
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Health care: The pre-existing condition
Jennifer Lee, 35, is uninsurable. She has little money and suffers ailments from asthma to cellulitis, depression, anxiety and a chromosome disorder called digeorge syndrome.
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Health care: The small business
Jeremy Seefeldt, 35, employs almost 50 people in two Sioux Falls stores as owner of Boss' Pizza and Chicken. He buys insurance for his five managers for $330 apiece or $1,700 total every month. He pays 100 percent of the bill.
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Health care: The insurer
Somebody has to pay for this stuff. 'The quick answer is, insurance companies. But ultimately, premiums will reflect that.' Kirk Zimmer is talking about the Affordable Care Act and its many parts to expand health insurance.
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Electronic health records have own merit
Regardless of how the vote goes on health-care reform, providers can benefit from converting patient records to electronic health records by receiving incentives under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
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Hiltzik: An eco-stadium? Promises, promises
Feelings of betrayal dividing friends, lovers, and political allies have provided grist for Shakespeare and Verdi, among other great scrutinizers of the human condition.
It's intriguing to ponder what they would have made of the breakup between the Natural Resources Defense Council and Anschutz Entertainment Group, the would-be developer of a downtown Los Angeles football stadium.
Last September, the NRDC's Los Angeles office did the stadium developers a big favor by throwing its weight behind a gift bill streamlining the environmental review process for the stadium project, and only for the stadium project. The bill, SB 292, eliminated one whole level of court review otherwise provided for by the California Environmental Quality Act. For this project alone, litigation would have to start at the Court of Appeal level, rather than in the lower courts, and the judges would face tight deadlines. That was a big giveaway to the developers, for whom time is money.
The NRDC's involvement in the stadium project grows out of its interest in promoting mass transit and energy efficiency in urban communities, and therefore in seeing that the stadium be "green" in its construction and operational phases, and not encourage more automobile traffic. But its dalliance with the developers roiled environmentalists, many of whom are concerned about the impact of the huge project and anticipated going to court, if necessary, to make sure their views would be heard. The NRDC explained that it had negotiated several safeguards into SB 292, including the commitments from AEG.
"It was our assumption that some form of this would pass whether we liked it or not," NRDC Senior Attorney David Pettit, director of its Southern California air program, said at the time. "So we made the decision to be at the table rather than just say no. At the end of the day, we got what we wanted."
Plainly, NRDC now feels it did not get what it wanted. Earlier this month, Pettit complained in a letter to the city that the draft environmental impact report submitted by AEG for the stadium project lacks numerous commitments the builders had made to the group.
Studies that AEG promised to conduct of alternatives to bringing fans to the stadium by car were missing, for instance. Promises AEG made to the Clinton Global Initiative, a climate change program sponsored by the former president, were mysteriously scaled back; AEG told the Clinton group it would recycle 90% of solid waste produced during construction, NRDC says, but the draft report promises only 50%.
"We also have concerns about air quality, health risk, green construction practices and sustainability relating to the project," NRDC wrote.
"The letter does accurately portray that we're disappointed in what we see in the [draft environmental impact statement]," Pettit told me last week, "when you compare it to what AEG promised to do in connection with SB 292." This sounds like a tactful way of saying "we got rooked," though Pettit says he still favors the stadium project.
But he also acknowledges that the absence of some studies AEG had committed to conducting for the report means leaving the public in the dark about many of AEG's environmental plans. That's something that Pettit thought he had negotiated into SB 292 in return for shutting the courthouse door to the public at the ground floor.
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Policemen Undergo Stress Management Seminar
MANILA, Philippine --- Even Robocop, they say, needs an overhauling for optimum performance.
And not a cyborg like the popular superhero cop, members of the Philippine National Police, particularly those assigned in the field, underwent overhauling through the conduct of stress management seminar, an official said.
What made the stress management seminar special, according to Chief Supt. Agrimero Cruz, Jr., is that the lecture was done a member of the Chaplain Service of the Delano City Police in California, Rev. Joseph Wright, who is dubbed as an expert on the field.
Cruz, the acting director of the Police Community Relations Group (PCRG), said the lecture which was done on Friday is vital to the several policemen who attended it as police works are faced with various pressures both from the community and within the organization.
The basic stress management learned from the lecture would be of great help to the PNP since its members touch base with the community, said Cruz.
The activity also endeavors to reduce the impact of trauma to individuals especially police officers by providing early intervention and allowing for early effective expression of crisis experience, he added.
Cruz said the PNP was lucky to have personally received lectures from Wright who has been conducting psychological and spiritual lectures not only in the United States but also in other parts of the world.
Wright, who used to be a staff sergeant of the United States Air Force, is one of the five chaplains from the Delano City who are well-trained as Critical Incident Management counselors.
The conduct of stress management was first earlier raised for the members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines amid incidents in the past of running berserk even inside the camp.
Some critics also raised the importance of stress management to fight the tendency of maltreating arrested suspects. It was recalled that the recent US State Department revealed that torture and other human rights issues still haunt the PNP.
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