Mars opposition 2020: How to see the red planet shine …

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Mars will bright and beautiful in the October 2020 night sky.

October 2020 is all about the glory of Mars as the glimmering red planet puts on a show in the night sky. We passed Mars' close approach to Earth on Oct. 6 and now we can look forward to Mars being in opposition Tuesday night.

Mars has a reputation as the "red" planet, but its color in the night sky is a little more on the Halloween side of the spectrum. It appears as a bright orange-red dot to the naked eye, like a little spot of glittering rust.

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Mars' distinctive color is one clue you've found it in the dark. Look to the eastern sky to catch it rising at night. This is a great time for viewing the planet, partly because spotting it is so simple. It should be visible for most of the night.As NASA says, "Simply go outside and look up and, depending on your local weather and lighting conditions, you should be able to see Mars."

Check out our list of stargazing apps if you want some extra help with locating the planet.

When Mars and the sun line up with Earth in the middle, the red planet is said to be in opposition. This is a perfect time to track Mars' movement across the sky. It will rise in the east as the sun goes down, move across the sky and then set in the west as the sun comes up.

NASA describes opposition as"effectively a 'full' Mars." Tuesday, Oct. 13 is the time to enjoy opposition. You'll have to wait over two years for it to happen again.

The Virtual Telescope Project, which brings us live feeds of celestial events, will stream a Mars opposition viewing starting at 1 p.m. PT. on Oct. 13. It's a perfect way to enjoy the action without weather worries. For people in the US, it will give you a preview of what to look for after sundown.

The project expects this to be "the best observing conditions since July 2018."

"The racetrack model of planetary orbits explains why. Earth and Mars are like runners on a track. Earth is on the inside, Mars is on the outside,"NASA said in its What's Up blog for October. "Every 26 months, speedy Earth catches up to slower Mars and laps it. Opposition occurs just as Earth takes the lead."

Mars isn't the only show-off in the sky for October. You can alsolook forward to a rare Halloween blue moonwhen our lunar neighbor is full on Oct. 31. It's not spooky; it's boo-tiful.

Tuesday, Oct. 6 marked the close approach of Mars to Earth, but this entire month is still a good time to grab a telescope and get a little better look. Give a wave to NASA's Perseverance rover while you're at it. The vehicle is on track to reach the planet in February 2021.

NASA shared an artist's view of the Tuesday, Oct. 6 close approach compared with the last time it snuggled up in July 2018. The apparent sizes look very similar. This year, Mars had a minimum distance of 38.6 million miles (62 million kilometers), which is about 3 million miles farther away than in 2018.

This artist's view shows the apparent sizes of Mars during close approaches in 2018 and 2020.

Close approach may be over, but the planet is still plenty bright in the night, so get out and take a gander, or tune into the Virtual Telescope Project's live feed from the comfort of your computer.

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Mars opposition 2020: How to see the red planet shine ...

Sols 3272-3273: Emerging From the Shadows… NASA’s Mars Exploration Program – NASA Mars Exploration

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The triangular shaped rock in the immediate foreground contains the crushed nodule targets Helmsdale Boulder Beds and the Crovie bedrock target. In the background, the slope is covered with grey float blocks similar to those being imaged by Mastcam. The pediment-capping rock is at the top of the image, just right of centre. This image was taken by Front Hazard Avoidance Camera (Front Hazcam) onboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 3270. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Download image

Curiosity went into hibernation for a few weeks, executing only routine environmental and radiation monitoring activities, while the Sun was positioned between us and Mars (conjunction). Today is our first day planning since Mars has emerged from behind the sun. Curiosity is healthy after her rest, and we wasted no time planning a multitude of science activities.

Prior to conjunction, Curiosity drove away from the Maria Gordon drill site to an area nearby that contained large (~6-7 cm across) resistant nodules (Helmsdale Boulder Beds). We deliberately drove over the nodules to crush them and expose their fresh interiors for examination by a number of the science instruments. The team is interested in determining the chemistry of the nodules relative to the flat bedrock. Why are they resistant? How does their composition compare to other nodules previously encountered, and what might this tell us about fluids that were present in these rocks? The workspace imaging that came down confirmed that we had successfully broken some of the nodules, such that we were able to make several observations just before conjunction. But we were not able to use the arm mounted APXS and MAHLI instruments; we did not want the arm left out over conjunction.

Today, we took advantage of pre-planning prior to conjunction to acquire APXS chemistry and MAHLI images on the crushed Helmsdale Boulder Beds. MAHLI will also image another fresh-looking nodule, Goose Stone. These observations will be complemented with ChemCam LIBS measurements and Mastcam images on the same crushed Helmsdale Boulder Beds target and the Crovie bedrock target. Looking further afield, Curiosity will image resistant, pediment-capping rock in the distance with ChemCam RMI and Mastcam. The pediment is a gently sloping surface that appears to cut across the underlying rocks that we are currently driving over. Mastcam will also image some grey float rocks that may be derived from those pediment-capping rocks.

We will also uplink several environmental observations including Mastcam images to detect changes in the unconsolidated sediment and wind activity while Curiosity has been parked in the same location for the last few weeks. Atmospheric observations are also planned to look for dust devils and to measure the opacity of the atmosphere.

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Sols 3272-3273: Emerging From the Shadows... NASA's Mars Exploration Program - NASA Mars Exploration

Mars transit in Libra 2021: Need to restore balance in relationships – Hindustan Times

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In Vedic astrology, the transit of Mars is considered to be a significant phenomenon. Mars is the Chief Executing Officer (CEO) of the zodiac. Its power lies not so much in thinking, but executing things at breakneck speed. It is the catalyst that connects the static with the dynamic. In whichever zodiac sign it moves into, it brings about a strong sense of action and non-nonsense attitude relating to the aspects of life indicated by the particular zodiac sign as well as the signs that the planet influences.

On October 22, Mars will be moving from Virgo to Libra sign and will stay there till early hours of December 5. In Virgo, Mars was in the sign of its enemy, Mercury, while Libra is ruled by Venus, which shares a neutral relationship with the red planet. Libra is zodiacs natural sign of love, relationship and marriage. It is the sign of pleasure, balance, harmony and shows our desire to be appreciated and loved by others. Being a fiery planet, Mars presence in this sign will ignite our deep-seated emotions relating to love and affection, which, if not met, can become a bone of contention with those whom we love dearly. Whether we like it or not, we will be forced to exercise our decision-making skills to achieve what we desire.

The coming together of the two strong and enthusiastic elements indicates the perfect time to bring about balance in relationships and bring a much-needed spark to get things back on track when it comes to personal life.

Impact on zodiac signs

The transit is particularly favourable for Aries, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Libra and Sagittarius signs. Here, Mars constructive energy will be at display which will lead to all-round prosperity. Relations with spouse and romantic partner will improve and bosses will be happy at workplace.

Three zodiac signs that need to be watchful in relationships are Taurus, Scorpio and Pisces. Mars transit in Libra activates the destructive energy of Mars for these signs which can lead to friction and disengagement.

Virgos need to be watchful about their words and choose them carefully else they can land in trouble. Capricornians will find it easy to execute pending work and will experience a new-found momentum in their life. Aquarians can plan to travel and look at restoring and improving their relationship with their siblings.

Neeraj Dhankher

(Corporate Astrologer, Founder - Astro Zindagi)

Email:info@astrozindagi.in, neeraj@astrozindagi.in

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Thousands of tiny ice needles may explain mysterious stone patterns on Earth and Mars – Livescience.com

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Some of the most breathtaking zen garden patterns on the planet owe their existence to an unlikely artist: thousands of tiny "ice needles." From swirls to circles to orderly rows, each delicate design is created when similarly-sized stones clump together across a landscape.

New research published Oct. 5 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences documents, for the first time, how ice needles create intricate patterns of stone in various landscapes. As ice needles freeze, they nudge small rocks to one side or another. Over time, the rocks become concentrated in one area, forming a design. The work confirms more than a century's worth of scientific speculation about the relationship between ice needles and stone patterns, said study coauthor Bernard Hallet, a geologist at the University of Washington. And it might shed light on the origins of an even more mysterious set of patterns ones found on Mars.

Related: Snowflake gallery: no two alike, of course

Ice needles form when there is an imbalance between the temperature of moist soil and the temperature of the air. At night, certain types of dirt "exhale", contracting with the drop in temperature. Simultaneously, water in the soil is drawn upward by capillary action, the molecules of water sticking to the sides of very narrow pores in the ground. But as this water rises and hits the frosty air, it turns to ice, freezing into a crystalline needle-like shape.

"Sometimes they are very striking," Hallet told Live Science. "And theyre quite common." If youve ever walked over "crunchy" ground early in the morning, youve probably crushed some ice needles without realizing it.

For a long time, scientists associated these tiny ice sculptures with the intricate patterns of lines and swirls that sometimes appear on pebbly ground, like the striped landscapes around Hawaii's volcanoes.

What they didnt know was exactly how ice was able to trace these designs without any intervention from living things. So they started investigating.

The researchers covered a flat 1 by 1 foot (.4 meter) square of soil with uniformly small, regularly spaced stones. Then they ran the patch through 30 freeze-thaw cycles, allowing ice needles to form and melt away. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the rising and falling needles pushed the pebbles to one side, driven by tiny environmental imbalances, such as the landscape's slope. Because a pile of stones is heavier than a single pebble, ice needles aren't able to push the stones once they reach a high enough concentration. By the end of their experiments, the team noticed zen garden-like patterns beginning to form: stones on one side, and bare ground on the other.

"So this tendency for stones to move toward stony domains is a very, very strong one," said Hallet. Stones on flat ground tended to form loops and swirls, while stones on a gentle slope tended to organize into rows.

Not all soil is porous enough to form ice needles; generally, soils high in silt or organic matter work best, according to research published in the journal Arctic and Alpine Research. Similarly, not all climates will produce needle ice. It will only form in areas where the ground is moist and the air cools down rapidly.

Experts believe that a subtler version of this cycle may be behind the patterns on Mars examined by NASAs Curiosity rover. While the Martian atmosphere is very low in water, the Red Planets soil does show some evidence of tiny ice crystals, according to NASAs Kennedy Space Center. As this dirt heats up, it expands slightly, only to shrink again as it cools.

Though this process is much less dramatic than ice needles pushing aside stones, it can still cause tiny pebbles and dust to shift over time. On Earth, Hallet said, the fine patterns from such minute soil expansions and contractions might go unnoticed. But on Mars, "because theres so little going on except for the wind, we see these features."

Sadly though, science is yet to discover any Martian ice needles.

Originally published on Live Science.

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Thousands of tiny ice needles may explain mysterious stone patterns on Earth and Mars - Livescience.com

University of Regina team hoping to help send humans to Mars with new airlock prototype – CTV News

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REGINA -

A team from the University of Regina, known as Celestial Labs, has created a national award-winning airlock prototype that they hope will allow humans to visit Mars in the future.

An airlock is a bridge between two environments that need to stay separate, Anwit Adhikari, the division head for structure and design at Celestial Labs, said. An airlock is essentially a small room that is attached outside the spacecraft so if youre trying to exit into the void of space or Mars, youd first enter [the airlock] and the doors would close, then youd open the other door an go outside, therefore keeping the atmosphere isolated.

The team had to consider a number of factors when building a structure for Mars. Those include, but are not limited to, a structure immune to radiation, wind loads, gravity, temperature and pressure.

This will be one of the first operational Martian airlock [prototypes] in Canadas history if we do it right, Adhikari said. I never thought we would get this far.

They also had to ensure the airlock would be safe for use on Mars.

Previous airlocks would just be inflatables because there was no gravity. Astronauts could essentially float outside, he said. Because Mars has a non negligible gravity, and astronauts will be walking in there, it needs to have a structure that can hold the shape of the airlock.

He said this airlock also has an electronic system that is as simple as possible because of radiation levels.

Finally, the fabric used for the airlock has to stand up to the environment. Mylar and aerogel are used for insulation purposes. The polymer being used to give the airlock structure inside is still private information to the team.

Celestial Labs first started working on the prototype in 2018, when the University of British Columbia announced a national competition to see which school could design and build the best airlock for Mars.

This was taken in light of the consideration the Elon Musk is planning to do a man mission to Mars in the next few years, Adhikari said.

The competition had two phases. The first was held in 2019 and was focused on design. In 2021, phase two focused on a built prototype. Celestial Labs from the University of Regina won both.

Im just really proud that a small group from an underdog university can beat all the big shots of the University of Waterloo and the University of Toronto, Samuel Reddekop, the chief of electronics design with Celestial Labs, said.

The team originally set out just to win the competition, but because of their years of work and success, their sights are now set even higher.

Because we designed the airlock with real constraints in mind, somewhere along the line we thought maybe this is a technology that the industry could appreciate or find use for, Adhikari said.

Within the next few months, the team will complete the prototype. They then plan to present it to industry professionals.

We dont expect that the whole airlock will be used by the industry, but we are hopeful that certain subsystems that we worked on for three years now will be applicable to certain aspects, he said. The most optimistic target would be that it would actually be used in Mars. We will work as hard as we can to get there, but in the event that that doesnt happen, we are hoping it will find some use in earth-like terrestrial applications.

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University of Regina team hoping to help send humans to Mars with new airlock prototype - CTV News

U of R team hoping to help bring humans to Mars with new airlock prototype – CTV News

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REGINA -

A team from the University of Regina, known as Celestial Labs, has created a national award-winning airlock prototype that they hope will allow humans to visit Mars in the future.

An airlock is a bridge between two environments that need to stay separate, Anwit Adhikari, the division head for structure and design at Celestial Labs, said. An airlock is essentially a small room that is attached outside the spacecraft so if youre trying to exit into the void of space or Mars, youd first enter [the airlock] and the doors would close, then youd open the other door an go outside, therefore keeping the atmosphere isolated.

The team had to consider a number of factors when building a structure for Mars. Those include, but are not limited to, a structure immune to radiation, wind loads, gravity, temperature and pressure.

This will be one of the first operational Martian airlock [prototypes] in Canadas history if we do it right, Adhikari said. I never thought we would get this far.

They also had to ensure the airlock would be safe for use on Mars.

Previous airlocks would just be inflatables because there was no gravity. Astronauts could essentially float outside, he said. Because Mars has a non negligible gravity, and astronauts will be walking in there, it needs to have a structure that can hold the shape of the airlock.

He said this airlock also has an electronic system that is as simple as possible because of radiation levels.

Finally, the fabric used for the airlock has to stand up to the environment. Mylar and aerogel are used for insulation purposes. The polymer being used to give the airlock structure inside is still private information to the team.

Celestial Labs first started working on the prototype in 2018, when the University of British Columbia announced a national competition to see which school could design and build the best airlock for Mars.

This was taken in light of the consideration the Elon Musk is planning to do a man mission to Mars in the next few years, Adhikari said.

The competition had two phases. The first was held in 2019 and was focused on design. In 2021, phase two focused on a built prototype. Celestial Labs from the University of Regina won both.

Im just really proud that a small group from an underdog university can beat all the big shots of the University of Waterloo and the University of Toronto, Samuel Reddekop, the chief of electronics design with Celestial Labs, said.

The team originally set out just to win the competition, but because of their years of work and success, their sights are now set even higher.

Because we designed the airlock with real constraints in mind, somewhere along the line we thought maybe this is a technology that the industry could appreciate or find use for, Adhikari said.

Within the next few months, the team will complete the prototype. They then plan to present it to industry professionals.

We dont expect that the whole airlock will be used by the industry, but we are hopeful that certain subsystems that we worked on for three years now will be applicable to certain aspects, he said. The most optimistic target would be that it would actually be used in Mars. We will work as hard as we can to get there, but in the event that that doesnt happen, we are hoping it will find some use in earth-like terrestrial applications.

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U of R team hoping to help bring humans to Mars with new airlock prototype - CTV News

Smokey Robinson and Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds Honored with Appearances from Bruno Mars, Demi Lovato, Boyz II Men, Charlie Wilson and More at…

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LAS VEGAS, Oct. 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Keep Memory Alive's 25th annual Power of Love gala at Resorts World Las Vegas on Oct. 16 brought top talent Anthony Anderson, Tori Kelly, Kenny Loggins, Demi Lovato, Bruno Mars, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr., AJ McLean, Wanya Morris and Shawn Stockman from Boyz II Men, Jordin Sparks and Charlie Wilson together to honor legendary musicians Smokey Robinson and Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds and raise crucial funds and awareness for Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.

Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds and Demi Lovato at Keep Memory Alive's 25th annual Power of Love gala. Credit Denise Truscello, Contributor, Getty Images for Keep Memory Alive

Also in attendance were "Bar Rescue" star Jon Taffer, jeweler Steven Lagos, Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis and Patrn Spirits Co. Founder John Paul DeJoria.

Paying tribute to Edmonds' massive library of penned songs, Boyz II Men opened the show with a medley of "Water Runs Dry," "I'll Make Love to You" and "End of the Road," before Mars presented the award to Edmonds, calling him his mentor and hero. He shared advice Edmonds had given him for any time he's recording in the studio, to "make sure there's love in it." Keep Memory Alive Founder and Chairman Larry Ruvo thanked Edmonds for his dedicated support of Keep Memory Alive throughout the years.

Edmonds shared his personal tie to Keep Memory Alive, saying, "My mother was losing her memory in her last years and there's nothing more painful than to watch someone you love not remember you." He thanked Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health for the support and counsel and for "not just working to keep her memory alive, but to keep all of our memories alive." Boyz II Men returned to the stage with Lovato and McLean to perform a spectacular rendition of "Change the World."

After the lively performances, Anderson took the stage to present Robinson with his award. Dressed in a maroon floral print suit jacket, Robinson thanked guests and the performers, saying, "It's an incredible feeling to be up here tonight with my really good friends, most of whom I haven't seen in a long time." He shared his personal experience of dementia, remembering Bobby Rogers of The Miracles, "We were born on the same day in the same hospital and sang together for 12 years. Every year on our birthday, we would call each other. He passed away several years ago, and I called him the year he passed, and he had no idea who I was. It's a horrible disease." He expressed his appreciation for Keep Memory Alive, ending with a shout out to Babyface, saying "I am flattered and honored you are my brother."

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His tribute included performances of his many hits including "Who's Loving You" by Kelly, "Shop Around" by Loggins, "My Guy" by Sparks and "Cruisin'" by McCoo & Davis, Jr. to the delight of the audience. Wilson and Robinson duetted "All My Love," while fans cheered "Uncle Charlie." Robinson continued solo with "Being With You" and "Tracks of My Tears" before the entire cast rejoined him for "Get Ready" to close out the show.

Earlier in the evening, CEO & Chairman of Genting Berhad and developer of Resorts World K.T. Lim received a standing ovation when receiving the Keep Memory Alive Community Leadership award from Ruvo and Keep Memory Alive Vice Chairwoman and Co-Founder Camille Ruvo, who said, "Your avalanche of support from the beginning is because of the care you have given to us, and has allowed us to provide much needed resources for the caregivers who take care of the patients 24/7."

Chefs Wolfgang Puck and Bobby Flay prepared exquisite cuisine paired with wines from Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits, followed by a showstopping dessert display from the Resorts World Las Vegas pastry team that featured a pineapple lychee bonbon, ube waffle basket and more. Flay posted to his Instagram that he was honored to be a part of the event and cook alongside his culinary idol, Puck.

Guests bid on exceptional experiences and items during the silent and live auctions including a private dinner with Jon Bon Jovi in East Hampton, an opportunity to announce the Las Vegas Raiders live draft pick alongside Mark Davis at the 2022 NFL Draft and a day of playing chess with Andrea Bocelli followed by attending one of his concerts.

The evening generated the majority of annual revenue for Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health to provide service, care and resources for patients and their caregivers in the fight against neurodegenerative disorders including Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and Huntington's diseases; multiple system atrophy; frontotemporal dementia and related disorders; multiple sclerosis and more.

For additional information visit keepmemoryalive.org. Follow Keep Memory Alive on Instagram @ccnevadakma, Twitter @ccnevadakma and facebook.com/ccnevadakma.

About Keep Memory Alive:Keep Memory Alive, whose mission is to provide enhanced treatment and ultimately cures for patients and their families suffering from neurocognitive disorders, raises awareness and funds in support of Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. By supporting Keep Memory Alive and its fight against neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's, Parkinson's, ALS and memory disorders of all kinds, we can ensure progress towards better treatments and ultimately cures will occur in Las Vegas. For additional information, call (702) 263-9797 or visit keepmemoryalive.org.

About the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health:Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, which opened in 2009, provides expert diagnosis and treatment for individuals and families living with Alzheimer's disease, Lewy body, frontotemporal and other dementias; Parkinson's and Huntington's disease, multiple system atrophy and other movement disorders; and multiple sclerosis. With locations in Cleveland, OH; Weston, Florida and headquarters in Las Vegas, Nevada, the center offers a continuum of care with no-cost opportunities for the community to participate in education and research, including disease prevention studies and clinical trials of promising new medications. An integrated entity, Keep Memory Alive, raises funds exclusively in support of the Nevada location. clevelandclinic.org/Nevada.

For photos and b-roll, please CLICK HEREMedia ContactsCarrie Giverson | Dawn Britt321563@email4pr.com 702.472.7692

AJ McLean, Smokey Robinson, Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds, Charlie Wilson, Kenny Loggins at Keep Memory Alive's 25th annual Power of Love gala.Photo credit Denise Truscello, Contributor, Getty Images for Keep Memory Alive

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This Atomic Clock Will Transform Deep Space Exploration – WIRED

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James Camparo of the Aerospace Corporation thinks the drift of their clock is exceptionally low. These on-orbit frequency stability results are very encouraging for the technology, even though the clock did not operate in its optimal settings while in space, says Camparo, who holds a doctorate in chemical physics and was not involved in the study. He anticipates that during the next phase of the mission, the JPL team will achieve even lower frequency variations, further improving the clocks performance.

This kind of precision timing will be needed for future deep space missions. Currently, navigation in space actually requires all of the decisions to be made on Earth. Ground navigators bounce radio signals to a spacecraft and back, and ultraprecise clocks can time how long the round trip takes. This measurement is used to calculate information about position, speed, and direction, and a final signal is sent back to the space vessel with commands on how to adjust course.

But the time it takes to send messages back and forth is a real limitation. For objects near the moon, the two-way trip only takes a couple of seconds, Ely says. But as you travel further out, the time required quickly becomes inefficient: near Mars, the round trip time is about 40 minutes, and near Jupiter, this increases to about an hour and a half. By the time you travel all the way out to the current location of the Voyager, a satellite exploring interstellar space, he says, it can take days. Far out into the cosmos, it would be impractical and unsafe to rely on this method, especially if the craft was carrying people. (Currently, uncrewed missions, like the Perseverance rovers landing on Mars, rely on automated systems for navigation decisions that have to be made on short timescales.)

The solution, the JPL team says, is to equip the spacecraft with its own atomic clock and eliminate the need for ground-based calculations. The craft will always need to receive an initial signal from Earth, in order to measure its position and direction from a constant point of reference. But there would be no need to bounce a signal back, because the subsequent navigation calculations could be done in real time onboard.

Until now, this was impossible. Atomic clocks used to navigate from the ground are too bigthe size of refrigeratorsand current space clocks arent accurate enough to rely on. The JPL teams version is the first one thats both small enough to fit on a spacecraft and stable enough for one-way navigation to become a reality.

It may prove useful for ground travel too. On Earth, we use GPS, a network of satellites carrying atomic clocks that help us navigate on the surface. But according to Ely, these clocks arent nearly as stabletheir drift needs to be corrected at least twice a day to ensure a constant stream of accurate information for everyone on Earth. If you had a more stable clock that had less drift, you could decrease that kind of overhead, says Ely. In the future, he also imagines that a large population of humans or robots on the moon or Mars will need to have their own tracking infrastructure; a GPS-like constellation of satellites, equipped with tiny atomic clocks, could accomplish this.

Camparo agrees, and says the device could even be configured to use on ground stations on Mars or the moon. Its worth noting that when we consider space-system timekeeping, we often focus on the atomic clocks carried by the spacecraft, he says. However, for any constellation of satellites, there has to be a better clock at the satellite systems ground station, since this is how scientists monitor the accuracy of clocks in space.

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This Atomic Clock Will Transform Deep Space Exploration - WIRED

Mars families at odds over plans to build gas station near high school, middle school – WPXI Pittsburgh

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MARS, Pa. Plans for a gas station to be built next to the Mars senior high school and middle school have parents aggravated.

Leaders are considering building either a GetGo or a Sheetz. The Sheetz could be built on one side of Route 228, but some parents told Channel 11 theyre worried about beer being sold so close to a school.

As for the GetGo, it could be built across the street where there are currently soccer fields.

The president of the Mars Area Soccer Club, Aaron Wollerton, said his group cant afford to lose those fields.

This season, the Mars Area Soccer Club has the largest enrollment we ever had in our 35 year history which is tremendous. But theres already a need for additional athletic facilities in our community and all of our youth sports leagues are already cramped. Things are in the works but property around here is expensive and it takes years to develop a playable field, Wollerton said.

Adams Township Manager Gary Peaco said the Board of Supervisors denied the GetGo late last month, but the company could appeal the decision. As for the Sheetz, the board is expected to make a decision on those plans later this month.

Other parents said theyre concerned about a gas station causing traffic issues on Route 228, especially in the morning and afternoon during arrival and dismissal.

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Mars families at odds over plans to build gas station near high school, middle school - WPXI Pittsburgh

Why Jacinda Arderns clumsy leadership response to Delta could still be the right approach – The Conversation AU

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Leading people through the pandemic is clearly no easy task. But does the criticism currently directed at New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern reveal a major misstep on her part, or something deeper about the nature of leadership itself?

Ardern has previously won widespread praise for her COVID-19 response and crisis communication, topping Fortune magazines worlds greatest leaders list in 2021.

Focused on minimising harm to both lives and livelihoods, her pandemic leadership has comprised three main strands: reliance on expert advice, mobilising collective effort and cushioning the pandemics disruptive effects.

These built the trust needed to secure high levels of voluntary compliance for measures designed to limit the spread of the virus.

Then came the Delta outbreak in mid-August, which sees Auckland still under lockdown measures nearly eight weeks later. Despite the efforts of many, elimination proved elusive a daunting reality that Ardern and her cabinet colleagues appear to have accepted.

This shift by Ardern, who engages deeply with the scientific evidence, has confused and angered many, even those who normally support her.

With vaccination rates climbing, in early October, Ardern announced the beginning of a gradual transition away from the established zero COVID strategy in favour of suppression of inevitable outbreaks.

Read more: Three reasons why Jacinda Ardern's coronavirus response has been a masterclass in crisis leadership

This included a three-step roadmap to guide Auckland carefully towards reduced restrictions. What criteria will be used to trigger movement through those steps, however, have not been specified.

Both the strategic shift and the roadmaps ambiguity have become the source of heated debate. But beyond merely choosing sides, how can we make sense of Arderns leadership at this point?

The pandemic presents a particular type of problem for political leaders, described as wicked or adaptive by leadership experts Keith Grint and Ronald Heifetz, respectively.

Basically, wicked or adaptive problems have complex and contentious causes, generating equally complex and contentious responses.

Their wickedness isnt fundamentally a question of morality, although they do typically entail making values-based choices. Rather, it refers to how difficult they are to contend with. Poverty, the housing crisis and climate change are other good examples of these kinds of problems.

Wicked/adaptive problems dont have clear boundaries, nor are they static. They have multiple dynamic dimensions. Their effects typically spill out into many parts of our lives and organisations, creating confusion, harmful consequences and disruption to established routines.

To make matters worse, there simply arent tried and trusted solutions that can resolve or dissolve such problems. Instead, they require leaders to accustom people to uncomfortable and disruptive changes to established ways of thinking and acting.

Unsurprisingly, many leaders avoid facing up to such difficulties, requiring as it does the cobbling together of a range of imperfect responses to ever-changing circumstances. It requires constant engagement, mobilising people to help craft a way forward.

Read more: Anniversary of a landslide: new research reveals what really swung New Zealand's 2020 'COVID election'

Leaders cant and dont have all the answers to such problems. Whatever answers they do have likely need to keep changing as things unfold. The best possible scenario is what Grint calls a clumsy solution a patchwork of adaptive initiatives that blunt the problems worst effects.

Only genuinely transformative change can truly overcome these wicked or adaptive problems in the long run.

In the meantime, clumsy leadership will typically trigger conflict between leaders and citizens (or employees in a work setting), and among those people too. There will be blame, recrimination, avoidance, denial, grief, what ifs and if onlys, as people struggle to deal with the changes needed.

Indeed, all these very normal responses have characterised much of the commentary about the Ardern governments decision to change tack.

That criticism, however, doesnt mean she has failed in her leadership responsibilities. Instead, she has required the population to face up to an adaptive challenge. Its unavoidably contentious and painful.

Read more: Phased border reopening, faster vaccination, be ready for Delta: Jacinda Ardern lays out NZ's COVID roadmap

For all that we can debate whether different decisions could or should have been made, the difficulties involved in facing the new reality are unavoidable.

To help people navigate this, Ardern is seeking to regulate distress, as Heifetz recommends. She has repeatedly assured people a cautious approach remains in place and has appeared not to have been distracted by the criticism.

Instead, she has stayed focused on mobilising the individual and collective effort to follow the rules and get vaccinated.

Read more: The COVID-zero strategy may be past its use-by date, but New Zealand still has a vaccination advantage

Wicked/adaptive problems are not amenable to resolution by way of quick, easy or elegant answers. They arent fixed by recourse to command and control, although some top-down decisions are needed.

They entail ambiguity and uncertainty, a constant piecing together of efforts to outflank, mitigate or adapt, giving rise to inevitably imperfect or clumsy solutions.

Asking people to adjust to efforts to achieve the least-worst outcome possible from a range of unpalatable options may not be the easiest path to political popularity. But it is arguably what responsible leaders do.

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Why Jacinda Arderns clumsy leadership response to Delta could still be the right approach - The Conversation AU

When will Aucklanders turn on Jacinda Ardern? – MacroBusiness

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Like Australia, New Zealands COVID vaccination efforts have been spectacular.

As shown in the table below, 85% of the eligible (16+) population has received at least one vaccine dose, with 66% full vaccinated:

This has moved New Zealand from global vaccination laggard towards leader:

Auckland New Zealands largest city of 1.7 million people has been in lockdown for 63 days despite having only 1,736 community cases and Auckland being more highly vaccinated than New Zealand as a whole. 89% of the Greater Aucklands eligible population has received one vaccine dose and 70% are fully vaccinated.

Yet, despite the low active case numbers and Aucklands high vaccination rate, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern yesterday announced that Auckland would remain in lockdown for another two weeks:

Ardern has not yet announced a specific point in vaccination levels where restrictions will be loosened, but has previously ruled out dropping public health measures before the country reaches 90%. She said on Monday afternoon that restrictions would be needed for a while longer to avoid a spike in cases

If we get this right, if we keep case numbers low while we vaccinate people then it makes it easier for us to keep control of Covid, while we ease restrictions in the future, and that is everyones goal, she said. The question for cabinet today has been how do we avoid a spike in case numbers, and hospitalisations, and protect vulnerable communities as much as possible in the coming weeks, while we keep lifting vaccination numbers.

There has only been two deaths in this outbreak out of more than 1700 cases. At what point will Aucklanders say enough is, enough and revolt against Jacinda Arderns draconian lockdown?

Residents of Auckland must be looking across the pond at Sydney and Melbourne and wondering what the hell is going on?

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.

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When will Aucklanders turn on Jacinda Ardern? - MacroBusiness

Everyday activities won’t be available to the unvaccinated – Jacinda Ardern – RNZ

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If you are not vaccinated, there will be everyday things you will miss out on, the prime minister says.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the framework will provide people with greater clarity moving forward. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

A new Covid-19 response framework is being finalised and will be released on Friday, providing people with greater clarity, Jacinda Ardern said.

"It will become very clear to people that if you are not vaccinated there will be things that you miss out on, everyday things that you will miss out on," Ardern told Morning Report.

"It's about both rewarding people who have gone out and done the right thing but also keeping away people who are less safe."

She said by the time the framework is ready to move to, the government is confident vaccine certificates will be ready.

It's like an alert level system, she said.

"We've always said once we're vaccinated it will be different, so we need to therefore design what that looks like."

Ardern said the government is drawing some distinctions though, they don't want an environment where people can't access necessary goods and services to maintain their lives.

"We can't say someone can't get health services, medical needs, pharmacies, food."

The government is supporting providers who are providing incentives for people to get vaccinated, she said.

"Anything that they identify will work for their community has our backing."

Ardern said domestic travel is being looked at separately from the framework to be announced Friday, and work is being down to see if there is a way to safely allow movement.

"But that would have a number of checks around it - is there a way that we can use vaccine certificates but also acknowledge that even if you're vaccinated it is still possible for you to have asymptotic Covid."

The border is putting a lot of strain on Auckland the more time is it needed, she said.

"At the same time, the rest of New Zealand wants to remain... Covid free or be in the position to extinguish Covid cases as they arrive. So we've got to balance those two needs."

Epidemiologist Rod Jackson told Morning Report the government needs to go hard on those who just haven't yet got around to getting a vaccine - "With no jab, no job, no fun".

The second group of people who aren't vaccinated however, don't trust the system, he said.

"And for those we have to find the people that they trust.

"The only game in town is to buy time until we get everyone vaccinated."

The government has signalled a vaccination target will be part of the soon to be announced framework.

Jackson says if 95 percent of the population is vaccinated, there will be death, disease and hospitalisations for the last five percent.

"Those were the 5 percent who were the first to get Covid in Europe last year, those are where most of the deaths are, those are where most of the hospitalisations are...For the rest of us, we're all going to get Covid again.

He said people don't realise that.

"There's two ways to get vaccinated. You either get vaccinated by the virus, and that's brutal, one in 10 hospitalisations in this latest outbreak. If you get Covid after you've been vaccinated it will happen slowly because the vaccine is fantastic for dealing with severe disease but it only slows down infection."

Slowing down infection is the key problem a vaccinated population faces, he said.

"Because Covid spreads so rapidly, even if the vaccine has reduced your risk of going to hospital from one in 10 to one in 100. That is still one in 100 of a lot of people if Covid is spreading rapidly."

A flexible approach is needed, he said.

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Everyday activities won't be available to the unvaccinated - Jacinda Ardern - RNZ

Covid 19 Delta outbreak: Scathing feedback from experts on Jacinda Ardern’s traffic light system to replace alert levels – New Zealand Herald

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Politics

15 Oct, 2021 04:00 PM4 minutes to read

Watch: Kiwis have smashed the government's 'Super Saturday' goal of 100,000 vaccine doses today - and Auckland should hit the 90 per cent first-dose target in the next five days.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's office has been sent some heavily critical feedback on the Government's draft traffic light system, which is meant to replace alert levels when the population is highly vaccinated.

"Not fit for purpose" and "no consultation" were strong sentiments among the expert feedback for a new system that Ardern will reveal next week.

During a visit to Taranaki yesterday, she said the new system was about incorporating vaccination certificates into a framework of restrictions based on risk.

"How can we use vaccination as a way to give greater access to some of the things that have been high risk in the past?

"There has been consultation on it over the last couple of weeks."

That included a Zoom meeting on Thursday co-chaired by Professor Dame Juliet Gerrard, chief science adviser to the Prime Minister, and Professor Ian Town, chief science adviser at the Ministry of Health.

It included dozens of health experts including microbiologist Dr Siouxsie Wiles, developmental paediatrician Dr Jin Russell, GP Rawiri Jansen, Auckland University Associate Professor Collin Tukuitonga, Covid-19 modeller Professor Shaun Hendy, and epidemiologists Sir David Skegg, Professor Michael Baker, and Dr Rod Jackson.

The traffic light system aligns the level of risk to red, amber and green.

In the draft proposal, green is similar to level 1 settings but with mandatory vaccination requirements for large events - which Ardern has already said will be needed for summer festivals.

Amber is similar to level 2, where the virus is increasing in circulation and restrictions such as mandatory mask-wearing would be used. There would also potentially be a requirement for vaccinations at retail and hospitality businesses.

15 Oct, 2021 12:07 AMQuick Read

15 Oct, 2021 04:32 AMQuick Read

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15 Oct, 2021 12:53 AMQuick Read

Ardern has said the Government is yet to decide on whether to make vaccinations mandatory for the hospitality sector.

Red is similar to level 2.5, with some limits on gatherings and possibly further vaccination requirements for businesses.

Several people familiar with the Zoom call told the Weekend Herald that the general feedback was that the new system wasn't fit for purpose, and its usefulness was for a time when enough of the population was fully vaccinated - which could be months away.

That is considered to be the only scenario when lockdown restrictions, which were notably absent in the red settings, would no longer be needed.

It would then be premature to reveal it to the public if it wasn't going to be implemented for some time, the Weekend Herald was told, and if it was going to come into force sooner, then that would be risky.

Concerns were also raised around how flexible the system would be, and why it would be better to move to a system than was less nuanced that the current one, and which was also already well understood.

There were also questions around who had developed it.

Level 3 and 4 settings were mooted as still being a necessary part of the toolbox, given the possibility that a new variant might emerge that was resistant to vaccines.

The latest data shows 83 per cent of the eligible population across the country with a single dose, and 62 per cent fully vaccinated (and for Mori, 41 per cent) - well below what those figures need to be to safely jettison lockdown restrictions.

Ardern has previously talked about the ability to avoid level 3 restrictions if 90-plus per cent of the population were fully vaccinated.

The Government is understood to have sought independent expert advice on the public health strategies that should be pursued for a highly vaccinated population.

Cabinet will discuss the traffic light system on Monday, including when the right time would be to transition to the new system, and what the triggers would be to move between the different settings.

The new threshold for lockdown-type restrictions will also be discussed, given the increasingly vaccinated population.

Gerrard, who posted a photo of the Zoom meeting on Twitter, said that minutes for the meeting would be publicly available within a month.

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Covid 19 Delta outbreak: Scathing feedback from experts on Jacinda Ardern's traffic light system to replace alert levels - New Zealand Herald

New Zealand increases climate aid ahead of UN summit – The Indian Express

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New Zealand is making a four-fold increase in foreign aid spending on countries most vulnerable to climate change, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday.

The announcement comes in the run-up to a landmark UN climate conference in Glasgow.How much climate funding is New Zealand planning?

Ardern said Wellington would boost its climate aid budget to NZ$1.3 billion ($920 million; 790 million) over four years.

New Zealand will do its fair share in the global race to tackle climate change by providing $1.3 billion to assist lower-income countries to protect lives, livelihoods and infrastructure from the impacts of climate change, she said in a statement.

At least half of the funding will go to Pacific island nations as they tackle the climate emergency, the statement said.

We need to continue to step up our support for our Pacific family and neighbours who are on the front line of climate change and need our support most, Ardern said.

The prime minister said the money would help Wellington in supporting clean energy projects in developing nations.

She added that the investment would help communities withstand damaging storms and rising sea levels.

How does that compare with other nations?

Monitoring website Climate Action Tracker rates New Zealands existing climate aid budget as critically insufficient and the nations overall response to global warming as highly insufficient.

With the increased commitment from 2022-25, New Zealands per capita contribution to global climate finance would match that of Britains.

Climate Change Minister James Shaw said it was the duty of comparatively wealthy nations like New Zealand to help at-risk nations prepare for climate change.

Our history over the last 30 years has been woefully inadequate when it comes to the scale of the challenge, Shaw told Radio New Zealand.

What thats left us with now is only a few years remaining to dramatically reduce the greenhouse gases that we put into the atmosphere, he added.

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New Zealand increases climate aid ahead of UN summit - The Indian Express

Anniversary of a landslide: new research reveals what really swung New Zealand’s 2020 ‘COVID election’ – The Conversation AU

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Nine months out from the 2020 election, opinion polls suggested it would be a close race between Labour and National. But that all changed with the arrival of the global pandemic.

COVID came to dominate the policy and political agenda from March 2020, ensuring Labour focused its re-election campaign firmly on its pandemic response. As Jacinda Ardern said at the campaign launch, When people ask, is this a COVID election, my answer is yes, it is.

The result was resounding. On October 17, Labour won an unprecedented victory, forming the first single-party majority government of the MMP era. It was the largest ever swing to an incumbent in the history of New Zealand politics.

So what does this result tell us about electoral politics in the context of a global crisis, and the role of incumbency, leadership, trust?

When it comes to analysing an election result, changes in party vote or seats give us an overall picture. But to understand why the electorate votes the way it does we need to consider the choices made by individuals.

The New Zealand Election Study (NZES) allows us to look at a random sample of individuals drawn from the electoral roll, and to test some of the factors we know influence voting behaviour.

Read more: New Zealand's new parliament turns red: final 2020 election results at a glance

The NZES has been conducted after every general election since 1990. In 2020, we surveyed 3,731 participants whose views and votes provide us with a unique insight into the complex interplay of variables that might determine an election result.

Here we highlight some of the topline numbers from our analysis of the 2020 NZES to cast light on what led to the historical election outcome 12 months ago.

The data reveal that 2020 was indeed a COVID election. For instance, we asked people to say what they thought was the most important issue of the election. As our word cloud below shows, COVID was clearly the most mentioned issue, and ranked above many issues traditionally seen as important during election campaigns.

Moreover, the public overwhelmingly supported the governments response to COVID, with 84% of people approving or strongly approving, while only 6% disapproved.

Of those who approved or strongly approved of the response, 57% reported casting a vote for Labour (9% voted Green, 3% New Zealand First and 1% Mori Party), while only 19% voted for National.

The majority (50%) of people who disapproved of the governments COVID response voted for National, and a further 19% for ACT, while only 8% voted for Labour.

Nationals loss and Labours win sparked a number of speculative explanations. For example, Labours gains in provincial electorates were claimed to be a result of strategic voting by farmers anxious about Green Party policies and water reform.

Federated Farmers Mid-Canterbury president David Clark argued that plenty of farmers have voted Labour so they can govern alone rather than having a Labour-Greens government.

Read more: Labour's single-party majority is not a failure of MMP, it is a sign NZ's electoral system is working

But our analysis of the NZES data reveals only a small change in the farming vote between parties. A majority (57%) of those in farming occupations voted for National and 21% voted for Labour. These numbers contrast with 2017 when National received 67% of the farming vote and Labour just 8%.

On the other hand, ACTs share of the farming vote increased from 2% to 16%, while the NZ First vote collapsed from 13% to less than 1%.

While these observations are based on a very small sample size of farmers, and should be interpreted with caution, our findings indicate the combined National-ACT vote was relatively unchanged making the anti-Green argument a little far-fetched.

Looking at the responses of all voters in our study, we find that of those who switched from National in 2017 to Labour in 2020, 46% placed themselves at the centre of the political spectrum, compared with 25% of voters who voted for National in both the last two elections.

This suggests these centre voters may have always been open to switching from National to Labour, casting further doubt on the strategic voting claim.

Read more: Her cabinet appointed, Jacinda Ardern now leads one of the most powerful governments NZ has seen

The popularity of Jacinda Ardern and the lack of popularity of Judith Collins is also highly likely to have contributed to Labours success. Of our NZES respondents, 65% said they most wanted Ardern to be prime minister on election day, compared to only 17% supporting Collins (no one else received over 2% support).

When asked to rate leaders from 0 (strongly dislike) to 10 (strongly like), 33% of people gave Ardern 10, and 69% gave her a 7 or above. In contrast, only 22% of people gave Collins a 7 or above, and 23% gave her 0.

We found, unsurprisingly, that likeability and trust are highly correlated, but we also found trust in Ardern as leader was statistically significant in explaining the shift to Labour, even after controlling for how much people liked or disliked her, their prior vote, and their left-right positions.

This supports assessments from around the world that decisive and rapid responses to COVID-19, combined with clear communication, can lead to increased trust in political leaders.

Read more: Can New Zealand's most diverse ever cabinet improve representation of women and minorities in general?

We also know Labour won nearly half a million new voters compared to 2017. Where did this support come from? Around 16% of 2020 Labour voters reported voting for National in 2017, while 13% stated they did not vote in the previous election.

Of the new Labour voters, the majority (55.5%) were women and just over half (51%) were under the age of 40, with 33% Millennials and 18% Gen Z. When asked which party best represented their views, 58% chose Labour and just 11% chose National.

However, when asked if there was a party they usually felt close to, only 29% reported feeling close to Labour, while 53% did not feel close to any party.

Our NZES data clearly show the 2020 New Zealand general election can indeed be thought of as a COVID election. Support for the governments rapid public health and economic policy responses, and the popularity of Ardern, go a long way to explaining the outcome.

However, as the word cloud suggests, there are a number of policy issues that remain of concern to voters, including housing, health and the economy. These were issues that featured in 2017 and may continue to matter through to the 2023 election.

Our preliminary analysis, then, is a reminder that Labour cannot take its new voters for granted.

The rest is here:

Anniversary of a landslide: new research reveals what really swung New Zealand's 2020 'COVID election' - The Conversation AU

Covid 19: No change likely for Auckland, Waikato but alert levels now on borrowed time – Stuff.co.nz

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ANALYSIS: This week, and probably for a few more after, we will see the last gasp of alert level decisions.

Hopefully by the end of the first quarter of next year, the memory of alert levels will be receding from sight as life gets back to more normal and there is a general acceptance of Covid-19 in the community.

However, on Monday afternoon at 4pm there will be decisions being made on Auckland, Northland and Waikato.

Northland seems a no-brainer. It looks like it should go back to alert level 2. There haven't been any extra cases pop up there for a few days.

Waikato, similarly, seems like a no-brainer except in the other direction. There were another four reported cases in Waikato on Sunday. Clearly Covid-19 is still floating around Waikato not least in the wastewater and not all the sources of it are known yet.

MONIQUE FORD/Stuff

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in Lower Hutt on Saturday.

READ MORE:* Covid-19 Australia: Quarantine-free travel to NSW starts November 1 for double-jabbed* Covid-19: Australia on track for 90 per cent vaccination rate* Covid-19: Pressure on Government for weeks ahead as Northland locks down and vaccine campaign takes centre stage* PM Jacinda Ardern warns lockdowns will continue without more vaccination

In a way, getting the case numbers down in Waikato is of more immediate importance to the Government than Auckland. Because of its relatively porous border, chances of the virus getting out once entrenched are greater than in Auckland.

That matters because the Government is still effectively running an elimination strategy outside of Auckland, while doing suppression inside, and it doesn't want to have to lock down other parts of the country while getting vaccination rates up.

In Auckland, the question facing the Government will be whether to move the city to the next step of fewer restrictions: this would involve the reopening of retail, public places such as zoos, libraries and museums, and increased limits to weddings and funerals of 25 people.

On the face of it, it seems highly unlikely that this will occur. Clearly Covid is in Auckland to stay and the trend line of cases is rising. But until full vaccination rates are higher, it is unlikely more restrictions will be eased.

MONIQUE FORD / STUFF

Music, dancing, food stalls and a visit from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern brought crowds down to the youth-led vaccination festival 'Do it 4 the East' in Cannons Creek, Porirua.

The big vaxathon on Saturday clearly helped Auckland is now almost up at 90 per cent first doses, but it's the full course that is of the most public health interest.

According to the Ministry of Healths figures 85 per cent of the population nationally has had one jab of vaccine, while 65 per cent have had two doses. In Auckland, however, first doses are 89 per cent while second doses are at 71 per cent.

Second dose figures in Auckland are starting to really rise now, but it is unlikely to be enough for the Government to ease up immediately. It has consistently said that it wants everyone eligible to have the chance to get vaccinated this year. While clearly everyone has had the chance, thats a lot of people still waiting on their second jab.

For that reason, more liberalising in Auckland looks unlikely.

It is difficult seeing these sorts of alert level decisions last more than a few weeks, and the Government is expected to announce a raft of changes to how it manages Covid-19 this week. Monday will most likely focus on the alert levels, but the PM may give a taster of what is to come later in the week.

Behind closed doors the Government stresses that the plan will still, more or less, be what was broadly signalled in its Reconnecting New Zealand work in mid- August, just prior to the lockdown although Delta has sped it up dramatically.

On Friday, the Australian state of New South Wales announced that, come November 1, it would be allowing all fully vaccinated travellers to NSW be they residents, tourists, or anyone else to come to the state without quarantine or even self-isolation. (Scott Morrison and the Australian Government quickly scotched that suggestion for non-Australians for a bunch of pretty weak reasons, not least of which is the frenemy-style relationship between Morrison and new NSW premier and fellow Liberal Dominic Perrottet).

Quarantine-free travel to Australia from the South Island will now be restarted for the fully vaccinated.

But the point is, at an 80 per cent vaccination rate, NSW is only a few weeks ahead of New Zealand.

But NSW, with its population of 8-odd million has gone through its big Covid wave, it is now down to about 300 cases per day and falling. New Zealand's reopening or even further spread of Covid-19 in Auckland beforehand will take place with a far more vaccinated population than in NSW or Victoria at similar stages of their outbreaks.

But that wont give much succour to desperate business and residents of Auckland destined to be looking at the same four walls for another week or few. A firm plan of what will happen when, dished up this week, might.

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Covid 19: No change likely for Auckland, Waikato but alert levels now on borrowed time - Stuff.co.nz

MOV.AI launches a Robotics Engine Platform that allows manufacturers and integrators to develop AMRs and deploy them in dynamic environments – KEVN…

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The latest version of the MOV.AI platform offers a visual IDE, advanced algorithms such as 3D SLAM, simulation tools, scene and behavior editors, an open API framework and more.

Published: Oct. 19, 2021 at 5:00 AM MDT|Updated: 19 hours ago

TEL-AVIV,Israel & LISBON, Portugal, Oct. 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- MOV.AI today launched its revolutionary Robotics Engine Platform, which allows AMR manufacturers, automation integrators and manufacturers of manual logistics vehicles to quickly build AMRs suitable for 85% dynamic environments. The platform is the latest version of the MOV.AI software.

The Robotics Engine Platform speeds up robot development, ensures deployment success and enables smooth operation and control of robot fleets.

The demand for Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) is exploding. By 2026, The AGV and AMR Market is expected to reach $13.2B with a growth rate of ~35%, according to Research and Markets. In the forklift market, automated vehicles are expected to rise from 1% to 33% in 2030, according to ABI Research.

Despite growing demand, logistic vehicle manufacturers and new players find it hard to develop AMRs and automated logistics vehicles that meet customer expectations.

"Until now, AMR manufacturers had to choose between long and expensive inhouse development and 3rd party black-box solutions with hardware limitations, " says Motti Kushnir, MOV.AI CEO. "We are changing that. For the first time, companies have everything they need to easily build advanced robots that are simple to deploy and operate. By providing an end-to-end system that contains everything that is needed to create great robot software - whether it's integrating 3rd party hardware, selecting and integrating advanced autonomy algorithms, visual deployment and operation tools or integration with automation environments - MOV.AI frees manufacturers to focus on what makes them unique."

"Robot development is complex, and there are very few development tools to speed it up. ROS is great and constantly evolving, but it was built for robotics researchers that do not need to deal with enterprise needs such as quality, versioning or security," says Limor Schwietzer, CTO and founder of MOV.AI. "We built a platform that non-expert developers can use to pick and choose the functionality they need and easily configure it into their robot software. We also added all the tools needed for the important tasks of deployment and operation."

New version highlights:

Robot development tools and advanced functional algorithms:

Integrated deployment tools

Tools for Robot and robot fleet operation

About MOV.AI

MOV.AIis changing AMRs as we know them.

It provides AMR manufacturers and integrators with the tools they need to create great robots quickly, allowing users to benefit from automation products that are as flexible as the age we live in.

Born out of an unmet need, MOV.AI is a ROS-based Robotics Engine Platform packaged in an intuitive web-based interface. It contains everything needed to build, deploy, and operate intelligent robots. MOV.AI completely changes the way Autonomous Mobile Robots are developed, in terms of time to market, cost and flexibility.

Media contactRuth Zamirpr@g2mteam.com

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SOURCE MOV.AI

The above press release was provided courtesy of PRNewswire. The views, opinions and statements in the press release are not endorsed by Gray Media Group nor do they necessarily state or reflect those of Gray Media Group, Inc.

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MOV.AI launches a Robotics Engine Platform that allows manufacturers and integrators to develop AMRs and deploy them in dynamic environments - KEVN...

Q&A: Ghost Robotics CEO on Armed Robots for the U.S. Military – IEEE Spectrum

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The way the inspections are done has changed little as well.

Historically, checking the condition of electrical infrastructure has been the responsibility of men walking the line. When they're lucky and there's an access road, line workers use bucket trucks. But when electrical structures are in a backyard easement, on the side of a mountain, or otherwise out of reach for a mechanical lift, line workers still must belt-up their tools and start climbing. In remote areas, helicopters carry inspectors with cameras with optical zooms that let them inspect power lines from a distance. These long-range inspections can cover more ground but can't really replace a closer look.

Recently, power utilities have started using drones to capture more information more frequently about their power lines and infrastructure. In addition to zoom lenses, some are adding thermal sensors and lidar onto the drones.

Thermal sensors pick up excess heat from electrical components like insulators, conductors, and transformers. If ignored, these electrical components can spark or, even worse, explode. Lidar can help with vegetation management, scanning the area around a line and gathering data that software later uses to create a 3-D model of the area. The model allows power system managers to determine the exact distance of vegetation from power lines. That's important because when tree branches come too close to power lines they can cause shorting or catch a spark from other malfunctioning electrical components.

AI-based algorithms can spot areas in which vegetation encroaches on power lines, processing tens of thousands of aerial images in days.Buzz Solutions

Bringing any technology into the mix that allows more frequent and better inspections is good news. And it means that, using state-of-the-art as well as traditional monitoring tools, major utilities are now capturing more than a million images of their grid infrastructure and the environment around it every year.

AI isn't just good for analyzing images. It can predict the future by looking at patterns in data over time.

Now for the bad news. When all this visual data comes back to the utility data centers, field technicians, engineers, and linemen spend months analyzing itas much as six to eight months per inspection cycle. That takes them away from their jobs of doing maintenance in the field. And it's just too long: By the time it's analyzed, the data is outdated.

It's time for AI to step in. And it has begun to do so. AI and machine learning have begun to be deployed to detect faults and breakages in power lines.

Multiple power utilities, including Xcel Energy and Florida Power and Light, are testing AI to detect problems with electrical components on both high- and low-voltage power lines. These power utilities are ramping up their drone inspection programs to increase the amount of data they collect (optical, thermal, and lidar), with the expectation that AI can make this data more immediately useful.

My organization, Buzz Solutions, is one of the companies providing these kinds of AI tools for the power industry today. But we want to do more than detect problems that have already occurredwe want to predict them before they happen. Imagine what a power company could do if it knew the location of equipment heading towards failure, allowing crews to get in and take preemptive maintenance measures, before a spark creates the next massive wildfire.

It's time to ask if an AI can be the modern version of the old Smokey Bear mascot of the United States Forest Service: preventing wildfires before they happen.

Damage to power line equipment due to overheating, corrosion, or other issues can spark a fire.Buzz Solutions

We started to build our systems using data gathered by government agencies, nonprofits like the Electrical Power Research Institute (EPRI), power utilities, and aerial inspection service providers that offer helicopter and drone surveillance for hire. Put together, this data set comprises thousands of images of electrical components on power lines, including insulators, conductors, connectors, hardware, poles, and towers. It also includes collections of images of damaged components, like broken insulators, corroded connectors, damaged conductors, rusted hardware structures, and cracked poles.

We worked with EPRI and power utilities to create guidelines and a taxonomy for labeling the image data. For instance, what exactly does a broken insulator or corroded connector look like? What does a good insulator look like?

We then had to unify the disparate data, the images taken from the air and from the ground using different kinds of camera sensors operating at different angles and resolutions and taken under a variety of lighting conditions. We increased the contrast and brightness of some images to try to bring them into a cohesive range, we standardized image resolutions, and we created sets of images of the same object taken from different angles. We also had to tune our algorithms to focus on the object of interest in each image, like an insulator, rather than consider the entire image. We used machine learning algorithms running on an artificial neural network for most of these adjustments.

Today, our AI algorithms can recognize damage or faults involving insulators, connectors, dampers, poles, cross-arms, and other structures, and highlight the problem areas for in-person maintenance. For instance, it can detect what we call flashed-over insulatorsdamage due to overheating caused by excessive electrical discharge. It can also spot the fraying of conductors (something also caused by overheated lines), corroded connectors, damage to wooden poles and crossarms, and many more issues.

Developing algorithms for analyzing power system equipment required determining what exactly damaged components look like from a variety of angles under disparate lighting conditions. Here, the software flags problems with equipment used to reduce vibration caused by winds.Buzz Solutions

But one of the most important issues, especially in California, is for our AI to recognize where and when vegetation is growing too close to high-voltage power lines, particularly in combination with faulty components, a dangerous combination in fire country.

Today, our system can go through tens of thousands of images and spot issues in a matter of hours and days, compared with months for manual analysis. This is a huge help for utilities trying to maintain the power infrastructure.

But AI isn't just good for analyzing images. It can predict the future by looking at patterns in data over time. AI already does that to predict weather conditions, the growth of companies, and the likelihood of onset of diseases, to name just a few examples.

We believe that AI will be able to provide similar predictive tools for power utilities, anticipating faults, and flagging areas where these faults could potentially cause wildfires. We are developing a system to do so in cooperation with industry and utility partners.

We are using historical data from power line inspections combined with historical weather conditions for the relevant region and feeding it to our machine learning systems. We are asking our machine learning systems to find patterns relating to broken or damaged components, healthy components, and overgrown vegetation around lines, along with the weather conditions related to all of these, and to use the patterns to predict the future health of the power line or electrical components and vegetation growth around them.

Buzz Solutions' PowerAI software analyzes images of the power infrastructure to spot current problems and predict future ones

Right now, our algorithms can predict six months into the future that, for example, there is a likelihood of five insulators getting damaged in a specific area, along with a high likelihood of vegetation overgrowth near the line at that time, that combined create a fire risk.

We are now using this predictive fault detection system in pilot programs with several major utilitiesone in New York, one in the New England region, and one in Canada. Since we began our pilots in December of 2019, we have analyzed about 3,500 electrical towers. We detected, among some 19,000 healthy electrical components, 5,500 faulty ones that could have led to power outages or sparking. (We do not have data on repairs or replacements made.)

Where do we go from here? To move beyond these pilots and deploy predictive AI more widely, we will need a huge amount of data, collected over time and across various geographies. This requires working with multiple power companies, collaborating with their inspection, maintenance, and vegetation management teams. Major power utilities in the United States have the budgets and the resources to collect data at such a massive scale with drone and aviation-based inspection programs. But smaller utilities are also becoming able to collect more data as the cost of drones drops. Making tools like ours broadly useful will require collaboration between the big and the small utilities, as well as the drone and sensor technology providers.

Fast forward to October 2025. It's not hard to imagine the western U.S facing another hot, dry, and extremely dangerous fire season, during which a small spark could lead to a giant disaster. People who live in fire country are taking care to avoid any activity that could start a fire. But these days, they are far less worried about the risks from their electric grid, because, months ago, utility workers came through, repairing and replacing faulty insulators, transformers, and other electrical components and trimming back trees, even those that had yet to reach power lines. Some asked the workers why all the activity. "Oh," they were told, "our AI systems suggest that this transformer, right next to this tree, might spark in the fall, and we don't want that to happen."

Indeed, we certainly don't.

Continued here:

Q&A: Ghost Robotics CEO on Armed Robots for the U.S. Military - IEEE Spectrum

Globus Medical Is Firing on All Cylinders with Its Spine Robotics Platform (and Investors Are Noticing) – Medical Device and Diagnostics Industry

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In recent weeks, Needham & Co.'s team of medtech analysts met with a series of investors across several regions of the United States. We previously shared theirinsights onAtriCure,Haemonetics,NuVasive, andLivaNova. Globus Medical was also among the most frequently asked about companies during those conversations, according to a report from Needham's Mike Matson, David Saxon, and Joseph Conway. More specifically, investors have honed in on the company's success in spine robotics.

TheAudubon, PA-based company won FDA clearance forExcelsius3D in August. The intraoperative 3-in-1 imaging system was previously identified by MD+DI as one of the 10 most anticipated new medical devices of the year.

"[Globus Medical's] above-market revenue grwoth has been driven by implant pull-through from the ExcelsiusGPS robot, sales force expansion, and new product launches," the analysts note in the report. "Weexpect this to continue into 2022, which should be augmented by the launch of its Excelsius3D imaging system. Recent checks continue to suggest GMED's ExcelsiusGPS platform has advantages over competitive robotics platforms."

Globus saysExcelsius3D consolidates 360-degreecone-beam CT, fluoroscopy, and high-resolution digital radiography into one unified solution, eliminating the need for multiple imaging systems during one procedure. The company touts the system's precise motion, omnidirectional wheels, and intelligent maneuverability. Excelsius3Dfunctions as astandalone imaging unit, or as an extension to the Excelsiusecosystem, Globus said.

Excelsius3Dunderwent rigorous performance testing of various capabilities to support this 510(k) clearance, as it is our first imaging system 510(k) to be filed with the FDAsOffice of In Vitro Diagnostics and Radiological Health, said Kelly Baker, PhD, senior vice president ofregulatory and clinical affairs at Globus.We are excited to expand into a new product space with the FDA and help bring this truly innovative system to market.

The company noted that it is ramping up production and preparing forcommercial release of Excelsius3D in the fourth quarter. The system isdesigned for 2D fluoroscopy, 2D digital radiography, and 3D imaging of adult and pediatric patients. It is indicated for use where a physician benefits from 2D and 3D information on anatomic structures and high contrast objects with high x-ray attenuation such as bony anatomy and metallic objects.

Globus also recently announced the first surgery performed with itsExcelsiusGPSCranial Solutions for robot-assisted navigated deep brain stimulation (DBS). Cranial Solutions is the latest evolution of the ExcelsiusGPSplatform, transforming it to a 2-in-1 application system, and is now commercially available inthe United States.

ExcelsiusGPSCranial Solutions combines streamlined MRI preoperative planning with fully integrated robotic trajectory alignment for a broad spectrum of cranial stereotactic procedures, Globus said. The platform is designed to adapt to each surgeons workflow and preferred instruments.

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Globus Medical Is Firing on All Cylinders with Its Spine Robotics Platform (and Investors Are Noticing) - Medical Device and Diagnostics Industry

Robotics hiring levels in the clinical trial operations industry rose in August 2021 – Clinical Trials Arena

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Credit: Halawi / Shutterstock.com

The proportion of clinical trial operations companies hiring for robotics-related positions rose in August 2021, with 19.7% of the companies included in our analysis recruiting for at least one such position.

This latest figure was higher than the 18% of companies who were hiring for robotics related jobs in July 2021 and an increase compared to the figure of 15.6% for the equivalent month last year.

When it came to the proportion of all job openings that were linked to robotics, related job postings kept steady in August 2021, with 0.6% of newly posted job advertisements being linked to the topic.

This latest figure was the highest monthly figure recorded in the past year and is an increase compared to the 0.5% of newly advertised jobs that were linked to robotics in the equivlent month a year ago.

Robotics is one of the topics that GlobalData, from whom our data for this article is taken, have identified as being a key disruptive force facing companies in the coming years. Companies that excel and invest in these areas now are thought to be better prepared for the future business landscape and better equipped to survive unforseen challenges.

Our analysis of the data shows that clinical trial operations companies are currently hiring for robotics jobs at a rate higher than the average for all companies within GlobalData's job analytics database. The average among all companies stood at 0.4% in August 2021.

GlobalData's job analytics database tracks the daily hiring patterns of thousands of companies across the world, drawing in jobs as they're posted and tagging them with additional layers of data on everything from the seniority of each position to whether a job is linked to wider industry trends.

You can keep track of the latest data from this database as it emerges by visiting our live dashboard here.

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Robotics hiring levels in the clinical trial operations industry rose in August 2021 - Clinical Trials Arena