Experts Decide That Earth Has Five Oceans, Actually

Posted on by

Big Promotion

Finally, experts in the National Geographic Society have determined that Earth actually has five oceans, not the four that it already officially recognized.

Joining the crew is the Southern Ocean, the National Geographic publication reports, a circular body of water that envelops Antarctica. While the Southern Ocean was first named in the 1500s and scientists commonly refer to it in their work, Live Science reports, the body of water has been promoted and demoted from “ocean” status several times over the course of history. This official recognition finally sets things straight.

Tumultuous History

In 1921, when the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) was founded, it readily referred to the Southern Ocean as a distinct body of water, Live Science reports. It later changed its mind and demoted the ocean in new guidelines published in 1953. But scientists and trade organizations continued to refer to the ocean as such anyway.

However, as National Geographic Society geographer Alex Tait explained, officially recognizing the Southern Ocean could have a tangible impact by improving the state of kids’ science educations.

“Students learn information about the ocean world through what oceans you’re studying,” Tait said in the NatGeo article. “If you don’t include the Southern Ocean, then you don’t learn the specifics of it and how important it is.”

Arbitrary Delineation

Since most of Earth’s surface area is covered in water, designating the number and boundaries of oceans is actually a fairly arbitrary endeavor. After all, the various oceans are all technically connected to one another and the closest thing to a tangible boundary separating the Southern Ocean from the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans is a circular current in the area that gives the Southern Ocean a different temperature and salinity from the others.

“The Southern Ocean has long been recognized by scientists, but because there was never agreement internationally, we never officially recognized it,” Tait said in the NatGeo article. “It’s sort of geographic nerdiness in some ways.”

READ MORE: Earth’s fifth ocean just confirmed [Live Science]

More on oceans: The Early Universe Was a Vast Liquid Ocean, Scientists Say

The post Experts Decide That Earth Has Five Oceans, Actually appeared first on Futurism.

Follow this link:
Experts Decide That Earth Has Five Oceans, Actually

New Data: COVID Reached the US Earlier Than We Thought

Posted on by

After well over a year of living through this pandemic, it’s hard to remember what things were like back in January 2020. But if you try to think back, you might recall that was a particularly stressful time in the United States. The government had just identified the country’s first COVID-19 infection on the 21st and, with how little we understood about the coronavirus at the time, very few people could conceptualize the horrors and devastation that were soon to follow.

But at that point, the coronavirus may have already been circulating throughout the country, according to new research published Tuesday in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases that challenges the official pandemic timeline. After studying blood samples gathered by volunteers in early 2020, researchers from Johns Hopkins, Harvard, the National Institutes of Health, and other research institutes, found signs of coronavirus antibodies as early as January 7, meaning Americans had already been infected by December 2019.

To complicate things even further, none of those patients were in New York or Seattle, which were thought to be infection hotspots at the time.

“We continue to add more pieces to this story about low levels of disease and infection prior to the recognition of the epidemic at larger magnitude,” study coauthor and Johns Hopkins public health expert Keri Althoff told Axios.

This isn’t the first time that experts challenged the official record of global coronavirus spread. Last April, it became clear that US intelligence agencies received a warning — which largely went ignored — that the coronavirus was spreading throughout China even earlier in November 2019.

Scientists have also been questioning the official timeline for over a year — this new antibody research could now be the smoking gun evidence that they were right.

“We haven’t followed up with these participants to know if they had traveled outside the U.S., or had contact with folks who traveled outside the U.S.,” study coauthor and NIH researcher Sheri Schully told Axios. “But, it is important, for future pandemic planning, to know what’s happening during periods of low prevalence in epidemics, such as this.”

The post New Data: COVID Reached the US Earlier Than We Thought appeared first on Futurism.

The rest is here:
New Data: COVID Reached the US Earlier Than We Thought

Experts Beg World Leaders To Actually Learn Lessons From Pandemic, Please

Posted on by

An international panel of experts warns that political leaders around the world seem to have ignored the lessons of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, as it’s called, is a World Health Organization initiative to figure out what went wrong with the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and make recommendations on how to do better next time, according to a Harvard University press release. The overall message? Not great! The panel concluded that global leadership seems like it would rather try to return to business as usual and forget that the pandemic ever happened than actually take steps to fix the problems and improve the conditions that made things so bad this time.

Among other things, the panel recommends creating a Global Threats Council made up of 20 or so world leaders to promote collaboration and communication among powerful governments rather than the finger-pointing, political posturing, and deception that plagued the global COVID-19 response. But more important than any individual suggestion is the central idea that global reform is necessary if we want to actually end the coronavirus pandemic and fare any better against the next one.

“Don’t nitpick about the ideas. See the big picture here,” panel member David Miliband said in the release. “I really believe that there’s a window here, which if we’re not careful will close. … We’ve had the most monumental warning from some combination of natural and man-made disasters. Next time it could be much worse. It could be more transmissible and more fatal.”

Allowing wealthy nations to move on instead of immediately acting to improve conditions while the pandemic is fresh in everyone’s mind will likely lead to further inaction — and relegate coronavirus management to poorer nations whose outbreaks continue raging for longer, panel member Joanne Liu argued in the release.

“We owe that to the 3.6 million people who died… most of them alone,” Liu, a former president of Doctors Without Borders, said. “It needs to happen now, and the window of attention is very short.”

“The scale of the crisis has not yet brought the momentum for reform that is necessary,” Miliband added. “And I think we have to take that exceedingly seriously, whether you’re in government, an NGO, an academic institution, or another capacity.”

The post Experts Beg World Leaders To Actually Learn Lessons From Pandemic, Please appeared first on Futurism.

View original post here:
Experts Beg World Leaders To Actually Learn Lessons From Pandemic, Please

Astronomer: Aliens Will Most Likely Resemble AI if We Ever Make Contact

Posted on by

According to this researcher, if we ever make contact with an extraterrestrial civilization, we're unlikely to find a group of little green Martians.

If we ever make contact with an extraterrestrial civilization, we’re unlikely to find a group of little green Martians running around.

That’s at least according to Seth Shostak, senior astronomer and director at the Center for SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Research. In a recent opinion piece for The Guardian, Shostak argues that we are far more likely to encounter beings that resemble artificial intelligence.

As we’re expecting the release of a Pentagon report into sightings military pilots made of “unidentified aerial phenomena” later this month, the topic of UFOs and aliens has made a significant resurgence — and it’s being taken more seriously than ever before.

The report, however, is unlikely to claim that we’ve already made first contact with an alien race here on Earth — but to Shostak, that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re alone in the universe.

“I think it’s overwhelmingly likely that aliens are present in our galaxy,” he wrote. “But I don’t believe they’re hanging out in our airspace. Not now, and not in historic times.”

So what would first contact even look like once it does happen? To Shostak, we won’t be encountering the kind of bug-eyed, and green-skinned aliens that works of science fiction have included over the last 60 or so years.

“All terrestrials have DNA blueprints, and share similarities in molecular makeup,” he argued. “Nonetheless, few of our fellow Terrans resemble us. The extraterrestrials wouldn’t either.”

“Any aliens that trek to our planet are unlikely to be carbon-based life forms, either hirsute or hairless,” Shostak said. “Their cognitive abilities will probably not be powered by a spongy mass of cells we’d call a brain. They will probably have gone beyond biological smarts and, indeed, beyond biology itself.”

In other words, extraterrestrials “won’t be alive.”

That’s because the enormous distances from one star system to the next could take eons to cover. Shostak however acknowledges the simple fact that thanks to the relatively young age of our solar system, other much older systems could house far more advanced civilizations than us.

But that doesn’t allow them to break the laws of physics. “Star Trek and similar scenarios aside, it’s extremely difficult to traverse light-years of space in less than a lifetime – anyone’s lifetime,” he argued. “You can call up Scotty in the engine room, but he won’t be able to help.”

It’s a long trip that won’t “appeal to biological passengers who will die long before their destination is reached,” but AIs or machines aren’t limited by this.

If recent advances in artificial intelligence here on Earth are anything to go by, much older alien civilizations are likely far ahead. “Researchers who work in AI estimate that machines able to beat humans on an IQ test will emerge from the labs by mid-century,” Shostak wrote. “If we can do it, some extraterrestrials will have already done it.”

And while some researchers have argued any extraterrestrials coming in for a visit could spell disaster, Shostak is far less worried. “So, if alien craft ever do settle on the White House lawn, you can hope that whatever’s inside is friendly,” he argued. “If not, there’s always negotiation.”

READ MORE: If we ever encounter aliens, they will resemble AI and not little green martians [The Guardian]

More on aliens: Physicist Warns That Contacting Aliens Could End All Life on Earth

The post Astronomer: Aliens Will Most Likely Resemble AI if We Ever Make Contact appeared first on Futurism.

See original here:
Astronomer: Aliens Will Most Likely Resemble AI if We Ever Make Contact

It’s Official: Tesla Model S Plaid Fastest Production Car Ever Made

Posted on by

A Winner

As seen on a recent episode of “Jay Leno’s Garage,” the former late night host hit the drag strip at Pomona Raceway in California with Tesla’s latest Model S refresh dubbed “Plaid.”

Leno covered the quarter mile in just 9.247 seconds, speeding up to 152.09 mph, numbers confirmed by representatives from the National Hot Rod Association, who were present during the sprint, as CleanTechnica reports.

Tesla’s chief designer Franz von Holzhausen cheered on Leno from the sidelines.

It’s a massive achievement for the Elon Musk-led car company. “It was a winner,” Leno told CNBC. “It is now the fastest production car you can buy. It’s faster than any Ferrari; faster than any $3.5 million Bugatti.”

Taking Off

Leno noted just how quiet the Model S Plaid performed. “When I stepped on the accelerator, took off, and I came back down after going 152, the birds were still there,” the car enthusiast told CNBC, referring to nearby birds nesting on a Christmas tree. The loud engine noises of hot rods would’ve easily scared them away.

“I’m a huge fan of American technology, especially products that are developed here in America that are using locally sourced stuff,” he added. “And that’s why I love this car.”

Leno also noted that $130,000, the price of the upcoming variant, may be steep, but nothing compared to hypercars that go for millions.

“From the minute you step on the accelerator, boom you’re gone,” he said.

READ MORE: Jay Leno tries to break record in Tesla’s new Model S Plaid on ‘Jay Leno’s Garage’ [CNBC]

More on Plaid: Tesla’s Model S Plaid Breaks the Quarter-Mile Record at 152 MPH

The post It’s Official: Tesla Model S Plaid Fastest Production Car Ever Made appeared first on Futurism.

Read more from the original source:
It’s Official: Tesla Model S Plaid Fastest Production Car Ever Made

Elon Musk Shares New Pic of Giant Starship Rocket Booster

Posted on by

SpaceX has made big progress towards building its first flightworthy prototype of its Starship booster called Super Heavy.

Booster Butt

SpaceX has made big progress towards building the first flightworthy prototype of its Starship booster called Super Heavy.

An image shared by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk early Tuesday morning shows just how tall the booster prototype already is, towering above the intrepid billionaire inside High Bay, a 265 feet tall vertical assembly structure at the company’s South Texas testing facilities.

The image shows the “aft section” or the rear-facing section of the Super Heavy booster.

Stacking Super Heavy Aft Section pic.twitter.com/itydacQ4hM

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 15, 2021

SpaceX has hugely ambitious plans to launch its first Starship prototype into orbit. The space company wants to complete the first orbital test flight as early as next month — and it will need a Super Heavy booster to do just that. The company’s blazing pace however suggests it may just have a chance.

Rocket Stacking

The gigantic towering structure will eventually stand 230 feet tall and is meant to launch a Starship spacecraft prototype, which alone stands at 160 feet tall, into orbit.

Musk also shared a nighttime video of the view from on top of High Bay, a vertigo-inducing height.

To get both rocket and booster off the ground — let alone stacked on top of each other — SpaceX is currently constructing a gigantic 400-foot launch tower made up of massive prefabricated steel segments.

According to the latest pictures, SpaceX is about halfway there. According to Teslarati, SpaceX is only two prefabricated sections away from reaching its full height.

If all goes according to plan, we could soon see a Starship prototype being hoisted on top of a Super Heavy — a momentous occasion in the launch platform’s years-long development.

But whether the first Starship orbital launch test will end in yet another explosion remains to be seen.

More on Starship: The Air Force Seems to Be Investing Heavily in SpaceX’s Starship

The post Elon Musk Shares New Pic of Giant Starship Rocket Booster appeared first on Futurism.

Read more:
Elon Musk Shares New Pic of Giant Starship Rocket Booster

New Tech Could Take Doctors Out of Hospitals Completely

Posted on by

Now that new medical sensors and gadgets can reliably monitor a patient’s health — in real time and theoretically from anywhere in the world — healthcare providers are left navigating a new kind of medicine where machines might handle so many parts of the job that they don’t even need to show up in person.

Primary care physician Neil Singh of Brighton and Sussex Medical School grapples with this changing landscape of medicine in a new, thoughtful Wired essay about how for better or worse — but most likely both — some traditions in medicine might die off as remote sensing technology gets more powerful.

Part of the story talks about how these sensors are starting to demonstrate the potential to save countless lives: Through real-time biometric analysis, they might be able to flag a patient’s deteriorating condition hours before a doctor or nurse happens to run another round of bloodwork. Singh opens the essay by mourning a patient who took a turn for the worse and died in the hospital, wondering whether more sensors and gadgets might have granted more time to act and potentially save his life.

But if the professionals don’t need to fuss over patients on a regular basis, what happens to the value of bedside manner or the mere possibility of building up trust between practitioner and patient?

“Remote patient monitoring technologies also have another potential: to uncouple patients from their health workers, allowing theoretically limitless distance between the two,” Singh wrote.

Overall, the essay is a fascinating introspection into what role doctors might play in a future where new technology takes over parts of their job and potentially takes them out of the room altogether — and what that means for all of our healthcare.

The post New Tech Could Take Doctors Out of Hospitals Completely appeared first on Futurism.

View post:
New Tech Could Take Doctors Out of Hospitals Completely

Oh No, Oil Companies Are Paying Social Media Influencers Now

Posted on by

Oil companies like Shell are actively trying to rehabilitate their image by paying social media influencers to paint them in a good light.

SponCon

In retrospect, we have known that it was only a matter of time before giant oil companies like Shell started to sponsor influencers’ posts on social media — because here we are.

Surely, you may be telling yourself, surely no one is buying into an eco-friendly cross-country trip sponsored by big oil. But that’s exactly what’s happening, Earther reports. Just look at this disturbingly ironic post by lifestyle Cherrie Lynn Almonte that talks about the perils of climate change and how it threatens California’s iconic landscapes — right beneath a disclaimer that the post was paid for by Shell.

Death, Taxes, Branding

The irony, of course, is that the Joshua Trees Almonte photographed were declared endangered specifically because of climate change, Earther reports, making Shell squarely responsible for the problems mentioned in its new eco-tourism sponcon.

But oil companies aren’t letting that irony get in the way of their marketing ­— not while there’s potential goodwill to manufacture! These companies are already framing themselves as part of the answer to global climate change in carefully crafted advertisements, and going directly to social media personalities is simply the next obvious manifestation of that big marketing push.

“My gut would be, they’re probably going to lean into the [corporate social responsibility]-focused stuff as a way in to generate some goodwill, versus being like, ‘we’ve got great gas!'” Brendan Gahan, the chief social officer at an ad agency called Mekanism, told Earther.

Specifically, he was predicting how oil companies might advertise in the future.

“These conglomerates, they’re almost so polished, there’s no humanity there,” he added. “I think they could benefit from humanity, even if some of it’s pointing out their flaws.”

Meanwhile, a peek behind the curtain shows that these companies are fare more interested in cleaning up their image than cleaning up their actual operations, Earther reports, meaning that the goal isn’t to actually fight climate change as much as it is to stop looking like the bad guys that they are.

READ MORE: The Big Oil Instagram Influencers Are Here [Earther]

More on climate change: Scientists Warn of “Ghastly Future” for Global Environment

The post Oh No, Oil Companies Are Paying Social Media Influencers Now appeared first on Futurism.

Read more from the original source:
Oh No, Oil Companies Are Paying Social Media Influencers Now

Watch This Terrifying Segway on Steroids Backflip Using Its Tail

Posted on by

Tencent Robotics X Lab, a Chinese robot maker, has unveiled a terrifying new

Do a Backflip

Tencent Robotics X Lab, a subsidiary of Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent, has unveiled a terrifying new “novel wheel-legged robot” called Ollie that can drive around on two wheels-wielding, leg-like appendages, as IEEE Spectrum reports.

Thanks to plenty of muscle power and a creepy tail, Ollie can jump a good foot in the air — and even do a backflip while jumping over a gap, as evidenced in a new video.

Fetch Me My Coffee

Thanks to its extremely flexible extremities, it can right itself, drive down a step of stairs — and stay upright even when its makers throw all kinds of abuse at it.

It’s all quite reminiscent of US-based robot maker Boston Dynamics, who has on numerous occasions shown off the athletic prowess of its robotic offspring.

Apart from backflipping over a crevasse, Ollie may soon be running errands for its masters thanks to a really long robotic arm attached to the top. The arm turns Ollie into the perfect coffee delivery robot, as suggested in the promotional video.

The robot is still very much in development and won’t be hitting markets any time soon. Until then, we’ll have to make do with Boston Dynamics’ four-legged robot dog Spot Mini — that is, if you have $75,000 to spare.

READ MORE: Tencent’s New Wheeled Robot Flicks Its Tail To Do Backflips [IEEE Spectrum]

More on robots: Hawaii Cops Spent COVID Relief Funds on Robot Dog

The post Watch This Terrifying Segway on Steroids Backflip Using Its Tail appeared first on Futurism.

Go here to see the original:
Watch This Terrifying Segway on Steroids Backflip Using Its Tail

Elon Musk: “Decided to Sell My Last Remaining House”

Posted on by

Just weeks after news emerged Elon Musk paid zero dollars in federal income tax over several years, the billionaire has decided sell his last home.

No House

Just weeks after news emerged Tesla CEO Elon Musk paid zero dollars in federal income tax over several years, the billionaire has decided to cash in and sell the last of his homes, according to a recent tweet.

“Decided to sell my last remaining house,” Musk tweeted on Monday. “Just needs to go to a large family who will live there. It’s a special place.”

Earlier this month, Musk revealed that he had “sold my houses, except for one in bay Area that’s rented out for events.”

It’s a sign that the entrepreneur is fulfilling his minimalist dream — with the intention to focus all his efforts on making humanity multi-planetary. When asked if he was downsizing to focus on Mars, Musk replied with “yeah.”

Mars Devotion

The billionaire put two of his California homes on sale last month, just days after announcing he is “selling almost all physical possessions.”

At the time, he made “one stipulation on sale: I own Gene Wilder’s old house. It cannot be torn down or lose any its soul.”

Musk also revealed last week that despite reports claiming Musk paid close to zero — or zero, as was the case in 2018 — in federal income taxes, he will “continue to pay income taxes in California proportionate to my time in state, which is and will be significant.”

Musk moved to Texas in August, a move that may have been in part motivated much lower tax rates in the state.

It sure seems like Musk has had enough of Earth and his Earthly possessions. “Don’t need the cash,” Musk tweeted last month. “Devoting myself to Mars and Earth. Possession [sic] just weigh you down.”

READ MORE: Elon Musk Says He’s Putting Last Remaining House on the Market [Bloomberg]

More on Musk: Elon Musk Shares New Pic of Giant Starship Rocket Booster

The post Elon Musk: “Decided to Sell My Last Remaining House” appeared first on Futurism.

Original post:
Elon Musk: “Decided to Sell My Last Remaining House”

Here’s How Quickly Aliens Could Conquer the Galaxy

Posted on by

Scientists modeled how long it would take for an advanced alien race to colonize an entire Milky Way-like galaxy, assuming it would want to.

Risk: Galaxy Edition

Colonizing the Milky Way is an unfathomable task for us mere Earthlings, but for an extraterrestrial civilization capable of hopping from one star system to the next, it’s shockingly doable.

Based on reasonable technological constraints, the researchers suggest it would take an ambitious alien race about one billion years to conquer and colonize the entire inner portion of the galaxy, according to research published in the journal Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society. That may seem comically long, but the researchers told Gizmodo that it’s not that bad compared to how long the galaxy has been sitting around, just waiting to be conquered.

Why would aliens want to? Well that’s a separate question, but it’s not that far-fetched of an idea — just think about how many Earthlings talk about colonizing the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Ground Rules

In the realm of far-out science fiction, a super-advanced extraterrestrial civilization could lay waste to Earth and claim the galaxy in the blink of an eye. But the scientists wanted their model of galactic conquest to be somewhat grounded in reality, so they imposed technological constraints that reflect a more believable scenario. That means warp drives are out, planetary civilizations die off over time, and spacecraft travel at the fastest speeds that we can achieve today with our own tech.

“This means we’re not talking about a rapidly or aggressively expanding species, and there’s no warp drive or anything,” study coauthor and Penn State astrophysicist Jason Wright told Gizmodo. “There’s just ships that do things we could actually manage to do with something like technology we can design today, perhaps fast ships using solar sails powered by giant lasers, or just very long-lived ships that can make journeys of 100,000 years running on ordinary rockets and gravitational slingshots from giant planets.”

But they would still get some help — even if the aliens are limited by boring old rules like the speed of light, the movement of the galaxy itself would give them a little boost in their journey.

Extra Boost

In an accompanying animation of the scientists’ model, you can watch as the aliens hop among the stars as they rapidly spiral around the galaxy’s center, claiming greater and greater swaths of the galaxy at a time.

“Stars themselves are moving around, so once you settle a nearby system, the star moves you to another part of the galaxy where more new stars will wander by and give you another nearby star to settle,” Wright told Gizmodo.

Of course, this all just raises an even more crucial question: If these theoretical aliens are so capable of galactic conquest, what the hell are they waiting for?

READ MORE: Aliens Wouldn’t Need Warp Drives to Take Over an Entire Galaxy, Simulation Suggests [Gizmodo]

More on aliens: Astronomer: Aliens Will Most Likely Resemble AI if We Ever Make Contact

The post Here’s How Quickly Aliens Could Conquer the Galaxy appeared first on Futurism.

alt : https://cfn-live-content-bucket-iop-org.s3.amazonaws.com/journals/2515-5172/5/6/141/1/rnaasac0910f1_video.mp4https://cfn-live-content-bucket-iop-org.s3.amazonaws.com/journals/2515-5172/5/6/141/1/rnaasac0910f1_video.mp4

See the article here:
Here’s How Quickly Aliens Could Conquer the Galaxy

Scientists Turned Snails Into Tiny Cyborgs

Posted on by

In order to determine how a scrappy snail evaded an invasive predator for decades, scientists turned it into a cyborg with a mini shell computer.

SnailBot 9000

Scientists from the University of Michigan took an unusual approach to wildlife conservation: turning the threatened animals into cyborgs so they could keep track of them and study how they survive.

Back in the 1970s, scientists introduced an invasive snail called the rosy wolf snail to the Society Islands in French Polynesia. What followed was a bloodbath, according to a press release on the new research, as the invasive snail eradicated nearly every native tree snail species in the area. It was a devastating loss of biodiversity, but five species managed to survive, including the Partula hyalina. Now, thanks to the cyborg study, which was published Tuesday in the journal Communications Biology, researchers have finally figured out how.

Solar Snails

Both snails — P. hyalina and the rosy wolf snail that hunts it — are nocturnal. But the study revealed that the rosy wolf snail is more vulnerable to sunlight than the P. hyaline, allowing the latter to hang out near the edges of the forest during the day while its predator needs to retreat into the shadows, empty-handed.

To figure all of that out, the University of Michigan researchers glued a tiny computer called the Michigan Micro Mote (M3) to the rosy wolf snail’s shell and used the data from its solar panels as a proxy for how much sun the snails could endure. Because the P. hyaline is protected, the scientists couldn’t be as hands-on. Instead, they stuck the computer to the leaves that the snails cling to during the day.

“We were able to get data that nobody had been able to obtain,” Michigan electrical engineer and computer scientist David Blaauw said in the press release. “And that’s because we had a tiny computing system that was small enough to stick on a snail.”

Going forward, scientists hope that the M3 might be able to help with other conservation projects — meaning more animal cyborgs might be on the way soon.

READ MORE: Snails carrying the world’s smallest computer help solve mass extinction survivor mystery [University of Michigan]

More on cyborgs: Scientists Build Tiny Camera for Beetles To Carry Around

The post Scientists Turned Snails Into Tiny Cyborgs appeared first on Futurism.

More here:
Scientists Turned Snails Into Tiny Cyborgs

Childfree by Choice, Regretting Parenthood and the Taboo of Freedom – KQED

Posted on by

It is not exclusive to Saudi Arabia, of course, but patriarchy in Saudi Arabia is especially sharp. I made a vow to myself soon after we moved to Saudi Arabia that I would never allow myself to be in a situation I couldn't walk away from. I felt like I had been sentenced to prison in Saudi Arabia as a teenage girl. And part of that vow to myself was not to get married and not to have children.

Jill, you authored a May 11 essay titled "The Things We Don't Discuss," which asked the question, "Why does the very concept of parental regret engender such outrage?" Can you tell us about the vitriol and backlash that you faced?

Jill Filipovic: The one aspect of parenthood generally, but motherhood specifically, that seems to remain entirely taboo is maternal or paternal regret not in the sense of, "Oh, I hate my kids and wish they never existed," but just opening up about the ways in which mothers may look at a parallel un-lived life in which they didn't have kids, or had kids later, or had fewer kids and think maybe it looks nicer over there.

And it was an immediate avalanche of overwhelming outrage. You know, essentially people saying that if parents and mothers in particular do regret having children or regret some aspect of parenthood, they're essentially monsters who should keep their mouths shut.

And it was so striking that the conversation about a taboo resulted in this very strong and very angry social enforcement of that taboo. I had many, many women sending me private messages and emails saying, "I wish that there was a space for women to share the complicated feelings around parenthood."

There is this pressure to explain why you may not want children, but rarely are people asked to justify why they do want children.

Mona Eltahawy: This is Pride Month and I identify as queer. And this is kind of like when someone straight asked someone who's queer, how did you know you're queer? Well, how did you know you were straight? Because the assumption is always in one direction that the power goes in one direction and never in the other.

See the article here:

Childfree by Choice, Regretting Parenthood and the Taboo of Freedom - KQED

Report: SpaceX Ignored FAA Warnings Before Massive Starship Explosion

Posted on by

Despite last last minute warnings from the FAA, SpaceX went ahead and launched its first high-altitude Starship prototype in December.

Despite last-minute warnings from the Federal Aviation Administration, SpaceX went ahead and launched its first high-altitude Starship prototype in December, a launch that ended in a gigantic explosion, The Verge reports.

The prototype, dubbed SN8, violated the company’s launch license, as issued by the FAA, according to documents obtained by The Verge.

Explosion or not, SpaceX seems to have gotten away with it. In fact, the company recently signed a massive $2.9 billion contract to help NASA return astronauts to the Moon’s surface as soon as 2024.

The disregard of the FAA’s rules is yet more evidence that the Elon Musk-led company did little to appease regulators’ safety concerns over the launch of its massive spacecraft prototypes.

According to the documents, SpaceX complained that the FAA’s software was a “source of frustration” and that data was “overly conservative.”

“Although the report states that all SpaceX parties believed that such risk was sufficiently low to comply with regulatory criteria, SpaceX used analytical methods that appeared to be hastily developed to meet a launch window,” a letter by the FAA’s space division chief Wayne Monteith to SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell read.

The documents also show that the shockwave of a possible explosion could be exacerbated by weather conditions including speed and thereby endanger nearby homes, according to The Verge.

SpaceX was reportedly warned that launching without clearance would violate the company’s launch license. The warning went ignored because SpaceX staff “assumed that the inspector did not have the latest information,” according to the documents.

“These actions show a concerning lack of operational control and process discipline that is inconsistent with a strong safety culture,” Monteith wrote in a letter to Shotwell, as quoted by The Verge.

According to the report, SpaceX agreed to reevaluate its safety procedures and agreed to heed the FAA’s requests to cancel future launches.

Fortunately, SN8’s demise didn’t end up damaging nearby homes. After a “hard landing,” the rocket went up in a massive fireball.

Musk later explained in a tweet that the “fuel header tank pressure was low during landing burn, causing touchdown velocity to be high,” but claimed SpaceX engineers “got all the data we needed.”

The FAA and SpaceX seem to have made up since the December explosion. In late April, the FAA approved three upcoming launches of SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft. The first of those three, dubbed SN15, launched in mid-May — and became the first high-altitude prototype to survive the ordeal.

Musk’s fight with regulators however is far from over. In January, the FAA scrubbed the launch of SpaceX’s SN9 launch. A fuming Musk took to Twitter to vent his frustration, claiming that the FAA space division “humanity will never get to Mars.”

“Their rules are meant for a handful of expendable launches per year from a few government facilities,” he added. “Under those rules, humanity will never get to Mars.”

READ MORE: SpaceX ignored last-minute warnings from the FAA before December Starship launch [The Verge]

More on SpaceX: Elon Musk Shares New Pic of Giant Starship Rocket Booster

The post Report: SpaceX Ignored FAA Warnings Before Massive Starship Explosion appeared first on Futurism.

Follow this link:
Report: SpaceX Ignored FAA Warnings Before Massive Starship Explosion

Help Name NASA’s Moon-Bound Manikin

Posted on by

Crash Test Dummy

NASA is gearing up for its Artemis I mission, but the space agency overlooked one crucial detail — and it’s asking the public for help.

The upcoming mission, expected to launch in early November, is essentially a test run for the following crewed launches that will send actual humans to the Moon. So, to prepare, NASA is sending a yet-unnamed manikin around the Moon in an Orion spacecraft first — and just put out a call for help naming it.

Manny McManikinFace

NASA has seemingly learned the lessons of past open-ended naming contests like the one that brought us Boaty McBoatface — us members of the public will have to choose between eight pre-nominated names when voting opens on NASA’s Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts on Wednesday.

The choices are Ace, Campos, Delos, Duhart, Montgomery, Rigel, Shackleton, and Wargo. Each is inspired by an acronym or dedication. For example, Delos is the place where Artemis and Orion were born, according to Greek mythology, and “Ace” stands for “Artemis Crew Explorer.”

The unnamed manikin has already bene through quite a few tests. But before NASA launches it into space, it’ll be outfitted with sensors to detect radiation exposure while also measuring what impact the powerful vibrations and acceleration associated with space travel might have on a real human crew member.

READ MORE: Bracket Contest to Help NASA Name ‘Moonikin’ Flying on Artemis I Mission Around Moon [NASA]

More on the Artemis missions: NASA Has Assembled a Megarocket to Take Humans to the Moon

The post Help Name NASA’s Moon-Bound Manikin appeared first on Futurism.

See more here:
Help Name NASA’s Moon-Bound Manikin

Who Can Even Afford to Have a Child? – Jezebel

Posted on by

Photo: Getty (Getty Images)

Recently, a handful of articles have revisited the decade-old anxiety that people who could procreate are declining to do so. The statistics are there, as they have been for some time: Before the pandemic, the number of births recorded in the United States had dropped to its lowest point for the fifth consecutive year. Now, some estimates predict an additional 300,000 fewer births in the immediate aftermath of covid-19. The baby bust, long predicted by researchers and feared by the sorts of people who wring their hands over the death of the family as a signal of American decline, is definitively here.

Bolstered by a rather vigorous online community of childfree women, the most recent interpretations of these statistics frame declining to have a kid as a sort of internal moral calculus based on a womans ideal lifestyle, a courageous choice that defies societys longstanding expectations around what a persons womb is for. Reporters refer to the rising population of people going child-free as a mass lifestyle choice bolstered by the budding understanding that self-fulfillment isnt a one-size-fits-all proposition: Basically, a decision not to become a parent as an advanced form of self-care.

Last month, the New York Times profiled a photographer working on a documentary project about women without children. She said she was trying to break the taboo of a woman saying the reason I dont have kids is because I dont want them. In a recent story in Today, a 32-year-old describes the years of honest observation and considerate introspection that helped her realize she didnt have to procreate to be a whole woman. And in HuffPost this week, a reporter interviews a number of people about their decision to go child-free, some of whom cited the stress of raising children and the opportunity to engage in meaningful work. But at least one of them, thank God, made the obvious connection between precarity and her particular choice: Who the heck has housing and money for three kids!? asked a 47-year-old psychologist. I think Americans need to get it through their heads how awful the safety net is here.

The acknowledgment that the generation of people who are currently of child-bearing age have the worst economic prospects of any in American history has been conveniently muted since at least 2013, when a Time magazine cover story pondered whether having it all means not having children. But theres something particularly ludicrous about framing a persons decision not to be a parent in this very momentone in which over 4 million women just left the workforce and 40 million recently experienced housing insecurityas a sign of mass self-actualization and broad feminist progress. If a person delivers their child in a hospital, it can cost them thousands of dollars even if they have insurance. In 2015, the USDA put the average yearly cost of raising a child at a little over $13,000, which seems fantastically low considering full-time child care programs around the same time were found to put parents out around $16,000. And none of that really begins to account for the less easily quantifiable variables a person might consider when it comes to raising a human being, among them stable housing, whether their elder family members have recently died in a pandemic, or an economic future thats certain at all.

The articles that interpret declining birth rates as a matter of a womans personal identity lean, to various degrees, on the personalities central to the online childfree movement, which like most groups on the internet naturally gravitate towards labels and vague aphorisms. One of them, mentioned in the HuffPost article, is Rich Auntie Supreme, a motivational Instagram account that describes the kind of life a child-free auntie can have. Rich means owning a summer home or the extra time to hone a craft, one post reads. Rich might mean a weekend ritual of sleeping in until 1 p.m. or luxury skincare items. Its meant to shatter preconceptions about women who decide not to have children, but it inadvertently presents the decision as another step towards total actualization, a mode of being that must be endlessly tended to with affirmations and Instagram quote cards. Its a tone thats replicated in stories that center a womans decision not to have kids as a spiritual calculus. But wouldnt it be equally useful to point out, particularly in the broader media, that there are specific, material reasons a person doesnt feel they can have a kid and also a complicated skincare routine?

Originally posted here:

Who Can Even Afford to Have a Child? - Jezebel

More Women Are Saying No To Motherhood. Will Society Ever Listen? – HuffPost

Posted on by

Child-free women are having a bit of a moment in the media.

Why many women are intentionally opting out of parenthood, one recent Today Show headline said. Choosing child-free does not equate to a dislike for children, the subhed added lest we think these women are baby-disinterested jerks.

Last month, The New York Times ran a photo series by Zo Noble, a photographer in Berlin whos capturing the lives and stories of the consciously child-free.

People ask me Why not? one woman featured in the story said. Why dont we ask the other question: Why are you choosing to have a child? Thats the bigger question. Do you have the resources and emotional ability? Or is it just a shot in the dark because you feel youre supposed to? With our friends, we see that a lot of women have children because its next in their checklist. The world is overpopulated. We have a climate crisis. If someone says they dont want kids, it should be like, Cool move on.

Add sky-high rent and home prices, lingering college debt for many, and the total cost of raising a child ($233,610, in the U.S., and thats excluding the cost of college) to that list and its all too easy to see why a person might eschew parenthood.

Other articles and interviews have tapped into matters of quality of life. For instance, in a recent appearance on Howard Sterns show, Seth Rogan detailed all the things he and his wife have been able to pursue as a direct result of not having kids: writing books, taking up pottery, getting high in bed and watching movies all day.

We have so much fun, Rogen said. I dont know anyone who gets as much happiness out of their kids as we get out of our non-kids. (Even parents commenting on the interview admitted that, as much as they loved their kids, they could see where he was coming from.)

These why arent millennials popping out more kids? articles arent coming out of nowhere, obviously: People are have been opting into the childfree by choice lifestyle with gusto. According to a report from Pew Research Center, 37% of childless adults dont want kids and arent planning on having any in the future. In 2018, the number of babies born in the U.S. fell to the lowest level in 32 years, and that rate has been declining steadily ever since.

Even women who do want children end up having fewer. On average, women report wanting2.6 children but having only 1.73.

Indeed, instead of the pandemic leading to a baby bump, as many predicted would happen (couples are quarantining at home, what else do they have to do?), demographers and sociologists think were in the early stages of a baby bust. The inclination to have kids just isnt there like it was before.

Hearing how friends with kids are teetering on the edge and wished they had the energy to scream during remote schooling certainly didnt make parenting sound any more appealing.

I think there is more recognition today of the challenges of parenting, Caroline Sten Hartnett, an associate professor of demography and sociology at the University of South Carolina, told HuffPost.

People talk a lot about the fact that parenting is difficult, and in friend groups, women in particular talk about the challenges of managing the majority of child care responsibilities in addition to work responsibilities, she said. I think that type of discourse creates a context in which it seems very reasonable to say, I dont think that lifestyle is for me.

Even women who do want children end up having fewer. Women report wanting 2.6 children but having only 1.73, on average. The same survey found that financial concerns factored heavily into people having fewer kids: 64% said child care was too expensive, 43% said financial precarity forced them to wait to have kids, and about 40% cited a lack of paid family leave as a reason they had fewer children.

Education levels factor into this decision, too. According to Pew Research Centers social research on childlessness, 7% of women who lack a high school diploma are childless. This figure just about doubles to 13% for those who graduated from high school or have some college experience. Among women with a bachelors degree or more, about 20% are childless.

With higher education comes fewer births, said Beverly Yuen Thompson, an associate professor of sociology at Siena College. The peak for rates of being childfree was in 2006 but we see that the numbers also vary greatly by race, with white women having the highest rates of being childfree.

But has the internets robust conversation about the choice to be child-free had any impact offline? Do women feel less pressured to have kids when they visit with overly invested family and friends? Would Rogens wife, Lauren Miller, receive the same good for you! reaction if she said the same thing as her husband?

Child-free women we spoke to remain skeptical.

When it comes to perception of child-free women, weve got a long way to go. The expectation to bring kids into the world is still so strong that a 2016 study found that voluntarily child-free people inspired significantly greater moral outrage than those with two children.

Those who are child-free may be stigmatized but overall, theyre happier; a 2018 study that looked at 40 years of data on children and happiness in America found that married mothers were less happy than married women without kids.

Research also suggests that parents in the U.S. face the largest happiness gap compared to people without children, a disparity that is largely attributed to the countrys lack of family-friendly social policies like subsidized child care, paid vacation and sick leave.

The abysmal state of child care and paid leave is one of many reasons Helen Hsu, a 47-year-old psychologist who works at Stanford University, chose not to have kids with her husband.

Financially, raising kids almost felt like an impossibility, Hsu told HuffPost.

Who the heck has housing and money for three kids!? she said. I think Americans need to get it through their heads how awful the safety net is here: bad health care, unsafe schools and streets, no child care, minimal parental leaves or sick leaves, nor job security.

Everyone in Hsus family told her shed have a burning desire to procreate once she hit her 30s. That never happened, she said.

That might be at least in part due to her perspective on the subject as a working therapist: A big part of her job is helping to repair hurtful parenting and family dynamics.

She spends all day nurturing people at work; shes not eager to nurture even more in her downtime. On a societal level, shes starting to sense a growing acceptance of her child-free lifestyle.

Its happening at a snails pace, and with fits and starts, Hsu said. I think media coverage is slightly better because you have more women telling stories, but I still feel there is still a powerful baseline assumption that the pinnacle of most womens goals and fulfillment ought to be kids. Its a strong cultural value narrative in all patriarchies.

Klaus Vedfelt via Getty Images

Jameelah Woodard, 28, who lives just outside of Los Angeles, is childless by choice, too. As the oldest daughter in her family, growing up she helped out with everything around the house: the cooking, cleaning, diaper changes and general care of her younger siblings.

That kind of life would not make me happy, she said. Top that with having a traumatic childhood, and I did not want to unintentionally pass that trauma onto my children.

Even as a little kid, Woodard would talk openly about not wanting to be a mom, much to the chagrin of the women in her family. (Even now, Woodard said her mom regularly asks God to give her daughter children.)

I am almost 30 and I am still being told, When you meet the right man, you will have children, she said. I have been told more than once, from men that I have attempted to date, that if a man hasnt tried to get me pregnant, there has to be something wrong with me.

For Black women, the pressure to have kids is even greater.

After three decades of trying to avoid being railroaded into having kids, Woodard admits she was taken aback by all the recent articles about women happily declaring their child-free status. Maybe for white women, she thought when she read the accounts, but its a different story if youre Black.

I was actually shocked to see people agreeing with me, that they didnt want children, Woodard said. As a Black woman in America, its expected to have children. It seems like all elders are concerned about our womb room.

While it may be freeing and validating for a white women to talk about her choice to forgo parenting, Black women often struggle to do the same because of cultural expectations, said Kimya Nuru Dennis, a sociologist who has studied perceptions of African and Black people who choose not to become parents.

Most of these permanently child-free-by-choice news stories, research and social media platforms are based on European-white people, she said.

My research highlights how many African-Black people come from traditional and conservative cultures and family backgrounds that are not accepting of gendered freedom, including sexual freedom and reproductive freedom, Nuru Dennis explained. Its very pro-natalist.

Julia McQuillan, the Willa Cather professor of sociology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, also isnt surprised that experiences of women of color are rarely factored into these why isnt anyone having kids? stories.

There is little public outcry when Hispanic or Black women decide not to have children, she said.

In fact I recall the outcry about Black women having children in the 1990s when they were not married, she said. Meanwhile, there was little consciousness of the dramatic increase in mass incarceration of Black men that made it very hard for Black women to marry the fathers of their children even if they really wanted to.

Say goodbye to childless spinster, say hello to the cool auntie.

The way we talk about child-free women is changing, albeit slowly. Even the semantic embrace of child-free over the far more diminishing child less counts as a win.

Social media has also created a larger community for women who are opting out of parenthood. For example, author and activist Rachel Cargle, who established the Loveland Foundation in 2018 to help give Black women and girls access to therapy and other mental health support, runs an Instagram account where child-free women can gather and validate each others decision.

The account, which has more than 75,000 followers, is named for Cargles preferred title for the child-free by choice.

I often use the phrase Rich Auntie Supreme to describe those of us who are indulgent in the lives of the children around us even though we choose not to have our own, she told the Today Show recently.

Through memes, quote cards and short essays by Cargle, the account offers a portrayal of a child-free existence thats joyous, Oprah-esque. (Oprah, the patron saint of child-free women at this point, makes appearances on the page.) The message is living my best life and buying whatever the hell I want but still very much active and invested in my community. Its a far cry from the tragic, depressing stereotype of child-free women from earlier generations: unfulfilled, selfish, sad spinsters.

To center the voice of Black child-free women in particular, Angela L. Harris created a podcast and private Facebook group where women can encourage one another, regardless of how their families feel about their choice. Harris, the assistant dean of students at Davidson College in North Carolina, calls her movement and group #NoBibsBurpsBottles.

Were trying to empower Black women to unapologetically live their best child-free life, she said. In general, were bombarded with images every day with what it means to be a woman. Nine times out of 10 the message is clear that womanhood equals motherhood. Womanhood is so much more than that.

Just because you dont want to have kids doesnt mean you dont want to have a family. I have a lovely family with my life partner and two dogs. We are happy and fulfilled with one another.

- Ashley Gomes, a 32-year-old, child-free bartender

Women we spoke to appreciate smartly branded takes on the lifestyle like Rich Auntie Supreme, but a few wondered if some people will see it as further proof of child-free womens selfishness.

Theyre committed to that understanding, Hsu said. I have always found it kind of funny and confusing that people accuse child-free women of being selfish. Like, its somehow in a social contract that our very lives are owed to child bearing? Why arent child-free and single bachelors vilified as selfish?

For what its worth, shes having a great time as an actual cool auntie, as she put it.

Personally I have never been besotted with infants or toddlers and I hate Disney, so the early childhood stuff was not interesting to me, Hsu said. Now that my nieces and nephews are older, cool auntie is who can take them to music concerts, afternoon tea at the Palace, and to weight lift.

When theyre together, Hsu and her teen nieces and nephews talk about everything: sexual orientation, first loves and first jobs, Asian American identity, college decisions. Theyll chat, shell help them with their college essays, then she sends them back to their parents houses and goes on her merry, child-free way.

Mengzhu Wang, a 32-year-old dentist who lives in Queensland, Australia, also takes issue with the lingering belief that child-free women are selfish.

Before the pandemic, Wang traveled to developing countries like Papua New Guinea and Timor Leste as part of volunteer programs to provide dental treatment. If she had children, she thinks she would be 100% focused on parenting, with little room for much else.

I couldnt have worked in such a remote setting providing medical care for people in pain, she said. What is more selfless: devoting myself to one person exclusively, or helping relieve the pain and suffering of hundreds of people (many of them vulnerable children who already exist) who would otherwise not be able to see anyone else?

More and more, there seems to be a budding understanding that self-fulfillment isnt a one-size-fits-all proposition: Careers that have a strong impact on the community and future generations are fulfilling. Unconventional looking families are fulfilling.

I cant stress this enough: Just because you dont want to have kids doesnt mean you dont want to have a family, said Ashley Gomes, a 32-year-old bartender whos child-free. I have a lovely family with my life partner and two dogs. We are happy and fulfilled with one another.

Gomes cant ever imagine giving birth to a baby, she could see herself fostering a teen some day in the future.

I would help a child if and when Im able to, she said. But right now, I want to take care of myself, my life partner and my dogs and the planet.

Ali Ha, a 43-year-old artist, spent her reproductive years trying to make her art career happen and stay afloat financially. It hasnt been easier to endure judgement from others, she said. Shes hopeful these conversations today will make it easier for younger women to make the right decisions for themselves rather than following any expected track.

They seem to prioritize individuality as a generation, I see them as bold and unapologetic, she said. I look forward to seeing them show us how child-free is done.

Of course, even in her 40s, Ha is still getting pushback on her choice. She jokes that she has a million stories of cousins still thinking she might have some time left. A well-meaning friend once told her, Janet Jackson just had a kid, theres still hope!

The older you get, the easier it is to brush those comments off.

Currently Im the only woman in my age group in my family who is child-free, she said. Luckily my parents told me they are OK with me knowing who I am. And I am OK with it too and thats what matters the most in the end. Whether youre child-free or have kids, ultimately youre the only one that has to live with your choices.

Read the original post:

More Women Are Saying No To Motherhood. Will Society Ever Listen? - HuffPost

Agawam High School teacher realizes dream of publishing books – Reminder Publications

Posted on by

AGAWAM After serving as an English teacher for 22 years, 18 of which were at Agawam High School, Kelly Hawkins decided it was time to carry out her dream of becoming an author.

In 2020, after the pandemic hit, Hawkins took a leave of absence as she was the sole caretaker for her parents. In the meantime, she began exploring other avenues, including some freelance work at the Hark Journal. Hark Journal, as described by Hawkins is, a free daily email subscription that provides ghost written posts using William Shakespeare.

This was right up my alley, said Hawkins.

In Dec. 2020, she received an opportunity to begin her first book called 50 Things to Know about Being a High School English Teacher A Guide from a Teacher. Hawkins designed this book to draw on her years of experience in the classroom, offering advice and suggestions on how to successfully manage the myriad roles educators are expected to play, and navigating the ups and downs of teaching.

Hawkins told Reminder Publishing that she had to have the book completed within a month. A major perk was that the book wasnt incredibly lengthy. In Jan. 2021, the book was published on paperback, hard cover, and Kindle.

Shortly after publication, the book earned #1 New Release in its category. Hawkins said, although this number one spot is constantly changing, seeing the banner was amazing.

Currently, the book has 29 five-star ratings on Amazon.

Hawkins completed an audiobook as well, which led to her narration. This version is now available on Audible.

Some of my biggest challenges have been the narration and setting up a website. Technology is not my strength, she emphasized.

Through watching videos and reading countless articles, Hawkins was able to teach herself all there was to know about this. She received some assistance from one of her former students a voice over artist along with help from a former colleague.

Ive learned that with time and interest, I can do it, she said.

Piling on to her successes, Hawkins released her second book, 50 Things to Know about Being Childfree by Choice, on May 25. The purpose of this story is to share Hawkins reasons, along with the other women she interviewed, for deciding not to have children.

Hawkins said, I hope it will serve as a resource for fellow childfree women to show them they are not alone. She wants to promote an understanding and acceptance of this non-traditional choice, while incorporating her own humor within. Hawkins hopes to encourage her readers to see this from a different perspective parenthood is not the desired path for everyone.

Nowadays, Hawkins believes this choice doesnt seem to be completely accepted, even though its much more common. My husband and I are very happy for making this choice, she stated.

When looking to write her second book, Hawkins posted on her Facebook page that she was in search of other women who have made the same childfree choice.

She said, Childfree isnt something you ask, but I got feedback and a lot of former students came forward. Hawkins also belongs to some childfree groups on Facebook, which raised the book's ratings after its release.

Currently, Hawkins is working on her second Audible and hopes to have it completed by the end of summer. The second book is in paperback and on Kindle.

Aside from the excitement of being a twice published author within a few short months, additional opportunities have presented themselves.

Through another one of Hawkins former students, she landed a speaking engagement at Bay Path University. As a former alumni of Bay Path herself, Hawkins was invited to be guest speaker in April. She spoke with students who were pursuing a degree in teaching, and shared with them five of the 50 things within her book that all teachers should know.

Hawkins currently lives in Feeding Hills and has resigned from Agawam High School. She said, I did enjoy my years there, but its nice to step away. However, she still tutors on the side.

Hawkins has many goals for the future. I would like to write another 50 things to know a trilogy, she said. In addition, she would like to write fiction, mystery, crime/thriller, and of course, the biggest goal: a novel.

She said, I have received incredible support from people- my family and friends, and its amazing to me to see former students reaching out in support Its been a wild ride I hope it continues.

Hawkins books can be found on Amazon and Goodreads. The audio is separate, and can be found on Audible and the companies connected.

Read the rest here:

Agawam High School teacher realizes dream of publishing books - Reminder Publications

Hackensack Meridian Health Trio of Experts Honored as ‘Champions of Humanistic Care’ – Newswise

Posted on by

Newswise June 15, 2021, Nutley, NJ Hackensack Meridian Health, New Jerseys largest and most comprehensive health network, is pleased to announce that three of its team members were honored as Champions of Humanistic Care by The Arnold P. Gold Foundation.

The honorees are: Regina Foley, Ph.D., MBA, RN, the senior vice president of Integration and Transformation for the health network; Joshua Josephs, M.D., Ph.D., director of Health Systems Science, at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, and a Faculty Hospitalist, Hackensack University Medical Center; and Christopher P. Duffy, MLIS, AHIP, the associate dean of the Health Sciences Library at the Interprofessional Health Sciences Campus of which the medical school is part.

The skill and commitment of these professionals is a testament to what we can do if we all work together, said Robert C. Garrett, FACHE, the chief executive officer of Hackensack Meridian Health. All three went above and beyond to make positive change in the face of a global health crisis. We applaud them.

A pandemic really can show what the human spirit is capable of, said Bonita Stanton, M.D., the Schools founding dean. This group shows how someone can answer the call and change lives, no matter what their role may be.

Foley has successfully managed the COVID-19 vaccine rollout across the health network. The effort began in December 2020, and over the last four months has administered more than 500,000 shots.

Josephs is a key member of the faculty at the medical school. But as a clinician, he also spent significant amounts of time working on the front lines of the COVID-19 response in the Hackensack Meridian Health network.

Duffy is the librarian who helped a task force of Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine students perform real-time research early in the pandemic, which informed the clinical side of the health network with the latest information appearing on the Internet which impacted care for the better across Hackensack Meridian Health.

According to The Arnold P. Gold Foundation, a non-profit organization that fosters the human connection in health care, the 2021 Champions of Humanistic Care includes more than 200 physicians, nurses, and healthcare team members who have been selected by their healthcare institutions for compassion and courage during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Champions of Humanistic Care were recognized at the Gold Foundations virtual gala on June 10, 2021, alongside three esteemed National Humanism in Medicine Medal recipients:

ABOUT HACKENSACK MERIDIAN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

The Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, the first private medical school in New Jersey in more than 50 years, welcomed its first class of students in 2018 to its On3 campus in Nutley and Clifton. Hackensack MeridianHealthassumed its independent operation in July 2020. The schools vision is that each person in New Jersey, and in the United States, regardless of race or socioeconomic status, will enjoy the highest levels of wellness in an economically and behaviorally sustainable fashion. The Schools unique curriculum focuses on linking the basic science with clinical relevance, through an integrated curriculum in a team-oriented, collaborative environment. The school prides itself on outreach, through programs like the Human Dimension, which is active in communities across New Jersey.

ABOUTHACKENSACKMERIDIAN HEALTH

Hackensack Meridian Health is a leading not-for-profit health care organization that is the largest, most comprehensive and truly integrated health care network in New Jersey, offering a complete range of medical services, innovative research and life-enhancing care.

Hackensack Meridian Health comprises 17 hospitals from Bergen to Ocean counties, which includes three academic medical centers Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, JFK Medical Center in Edison; two childrens hospitals - Joseph M. Sanzari Childrens Hospital in Hackensack, K. Hovnanian Childrens Hospital in Neptune; nine community hospitals Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel, Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair, Ocean Medical Center in Brick, Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, Pascack Valley Medical Center in Westwood, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, and Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin; a behavioral health hospital Carrier Clinic in Belle Mead; and two rehabilitation hospitals - JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison and Shore Rehabilitation Institute in Brick.

Additionally, the network has more than 500 patient care locations throughout the state which include ambulatory care centers, surgery centers, home health services, long-term care and assisted living communities, ambulance services, lifesaving air medical transportation, fitness and wellness centers, rehabilitation centers, urgent care centers and physician practice locations. Hackensack Meridian Health has more than 36,000 team members, and over 7,000 physicians and is a distinguished leader in health care philanthropy, committed to the health and well-being of the communities it serves.

The networks notable distinctions include having four hospitals among the top in New Jersey by U.S. News and World Report. Other honors include consistently achieving Magnet recognition for nursing excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center and being named to Beckers Healthcares 150 Top Places to Work in Healthcare/2019 list.

The Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine opened in 2018, the first private medical school in New Jersey in more than 50 years, welcomed its third class of students in 2020 to its On3 campus in Nutley and Clifton. Additionally, the network partnered with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to find more cures for cancer faster while ensuring that patients have access to the highest quality, most individualized cancer care when and where they need it.

Hackensack Meridian Health is a member of AllSpire Health Partners, an interstate consortium of leading health systems, to focus on the sharing of best practices in clinical care and achieving efficiencies.

For additional information, please visit http://www.HackensackMeridianHealth.org.

Visit link:

Hackensack Meridian Health Trio of Experts Honored as 'Champions of Humanistic Care' - Newswise

Craig Lindsley named to Medicinal Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society Hall of Fame – Vanderbilt University News

Posted on by

Craig Lindsley, the William K. Warren, Jr. Chair in Medicine and University Professor of Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Chemistry

Craig Lindsley, the William K. Warren, Jr. Chair in Medicine and director of Vanderbilt Universitys Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery, will be inducted as a member of the 2021 class of theDivision of Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame. MEDI is a subunit of theAmerican Chemical Society, the worlds largest scientific society and the premier home ofchemistryprofessionals.

Lindsley, the youngest inductee to the Hall of Fame, was selected because of his contributions to the field of medicinal chemistry.

This is a huge, career-defining honor and an amazing group of medicinal chemists and drug discovery scientists amongst whom to be included. This is a tremendous acknowledgement of the WCNDDs work and influence in the medicinal chemistry field, said Lindsley, also University Professor of Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Chemistry. In all honesty, this honor belongs to all of my former and current colleagues from Lilly, Merck and the WCNDD. Medicinal chemistry is just one arm of successful drug discovery, and no one person can do this alone or take creditit is big team science.

Craig Lindsley is a great medicinal chemist whose impact has been recognized not only by his induction into the MEDI Hall of Fame but also by his recent appointment as editor in chief of theJournal of Medicinal Chemistry, the premier journal in the field, saidLawrence Marnett, dean of the School of Medicine Basic Sciences. He brings great credit to the Basic Sciences and to Vanderbilt, but his greatest legacy may be the contributions he is making to improving the lives of individuals suffering from neurological diseases and neuropsychiatric disorders.

Induction into the ACS Division of Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame is an acknowledgement by leaders in our field that an individual scientist has had a sustained and substantial impact on research, teaching or service to the division, saidJacob Schwarz, chair of the ACS Division of Medicinal Chemistry executive committee. Dr. Lindsley is a rare example of someone who embodies all three of these achievements: from his early career work in the pharmaceutical industry, to his current role as educator and research mentor and finally as an ad hoc member of the MEDI executive committee. Dr. Lindsley has become well-known in our scientific community thanks to his tireless efforts both as author and editor, advancing the field of neuroscience drug discovery through research and training and by being an active social media presence highlighting exciting new developments.

Other 2021 MEDI Hall of Fame inductees areEdward Roberts, professor of molecular medicine and Scripps Research, andAnabella Villalobos, medicinal chemist and senior pharmaceutical executive at Biogen. Inductees are selected annually from nominations submitted by MEDI members and who have previously received theEdward E.Smissman Award, theDivision of Medicinal Chemistry award, an ACSGlaxoSmithKline Alfred Burger Awardor anE. B. Hershberg Award.

The 2021 Hall of Fame inductees will be recognized at the ACS National Meeting in Atlanta on Aug. 22, 2021.

Continued here:

Craig Lindsley named to Medicinal Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society Hall of Fame - Vanderbilt University News