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When Star Wars Rebels brought back Mortis and introduced time travel [Jabba the Pod 3.13] – SYFY WIRE

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Danzig

Did Star Wars Rebels go gently into that good galactic night in the last couple of episodes before its finale? No it did not it did the exact opposite.

Just in case the death of a lead character and force sensitive space wolves weren't enough for you, the episodes "Wolves and a Door" and "A World Between Worlds" came along. Not only do they give us a wicked space archeologist played by Malcolm McDowell, they also bring back the Mortis storyline from Star Wars: The Clone Warsas well as Ahsoka Tano.

Also there's time travel.

For the first canonical time in any Star Wars project, time travel is a thing here. It's not because of a machine, or a sentient blue box. It comes to us in the form of a liminal space (thanks Caitlin) known as the World Between Worlds. In this place within the cosmic force, all of Star Wars is happening at once.

It's a crazy concept which shouldn't work, but it does, because... Dave Filoni. Our heroes over on Jabba the Pod have a lot to say about all of this and more! Join Brian, Caitlin (she of the liminal space knowledge) and Matt as they go through it all, and also discuss the trending of Ezra, Star Wars: Squadrons, and more. Get liminal right here, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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When Star Wars Rebels brought back Mortis and introduced time travel [Jabba the Pod 3.13] - SYFY WIRE

Dream Vacations Lift and Shifts National Conference Aboard Celebrity Apex to 2021; This Years Conference will be Virtual – Franchising.com

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Danzig

By: Dream Vacations / CruiseOne | 0Shares 78Reads

October 02, 2020 // Franchising.com // Fort Lauderdale, Fla. - Dream Vacations announced that its 2020 National Conference will now be held virtually from November 9 - 12; it was originally scheduled to take place aboard Celebrity Apex during the same week. The decision to Lift and Shift was made to ensure that an exceptional conference onboard could still be delivered, and with so much uncertainty in the current environment, that wasnt feasible.

Even though we cannot reunite in person for a fun-filled week of learning, networking and fun aboard the beautiful Celebrity Apex, our ultimate goal is to replicate the onboard conference experience virtually, said Drew Daly, senior vice president and general manager of Dream Vacations. What we are most excited about this year is that even more people will be able to attend and get a taste of what our National Conference is all about.

The Dream Vacations training program is nationally recognized, and its National Conference is lauded by travel industry suppliers as one of the most comprehensive in the industry. To add to its prestige, this year for the first-time ever conference attendees who have earned the distinction of Certified Travel Associate (CTA), Certified Travel Counselor (CTC) or Certified Travel Industry Executive (CTIE) with The Travel Institute will earn the required 10 Continuing Education Units (CEUS) as part of their annual continued education.

The home-based travel agency franchise is no stranger to hosting virtual events as three of its five regional trainings were virtual this year. The Dream Vacations training and events team plans to elevate the Virtual Regional Training experience to the next level for National Conference by integrating even more interactive and engaging events. Just like onboard, attendees will have the opportunity to attend general sessions, workshops and networking mixers; meet one-on-one with industry executives and members of the headquarters team; and participate in online fundraising events for signature charity Make-A-Wish.

I was originally unable to attend National Conference, but after experiencing our Virtual Regional Trainings I am so excited to attend National Conference virtually and re-connect with all of my travel industry friends, said Aggie Batista, Dream Vacations franchise owner and vacation specialist in Rockaway Park, N.Y. The Dream Vacations headquarters team has gone above and beyond this year to keep our networks morale high and to make sure we are educated on the latest industry news and engaged with each other.

Using Celebrity Cruises Lift & Shift policy, the 2021 National Conference will be held November 13 - 20, 2021, aboard Celebrity Apex.

Use the #2020VisionConference hashtag to follow the excitement leading up to the annual Dream Vacations conference.

Travel agents with the top-ranked home-based travel agency franchise Dream Vacations have the resources to plan and create seamless vacation experiences for their customers while offering the best value. A member of the International Franchise Association, Dream Vacations is part of World Travel Holdings and has received franchise partner of the year, a top-ranking status, by all the major cruise lines as well as national recognition for its support of military veterans. For more information about Dream Vacations, visit the website. Like Dream Vacations on Facebook, follow on Twitter and watch its videos on their youtube.

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Dream Vacations Lift and Shifts National Conference Aboard Celebrity Apex to 2021; This Years Conference will be Virtual - Franchising.com

Tratok and Hotel Data Cloud Sign Agreement to Restart Travel Industry Through Blockchain Powered Technology and Artificial Intelligence Enabled…

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Danzig

DUBAI, UAE, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --Two UAE based technology pioneers have agreed to form a strategic partnership that will help accelerate the revival of the global travel and tourism sector. Tratok, a blockchain-powered travel ecosystem, and Hotel Data Cloud, a content distribution channel for the hospitality industry, have joined forces to extend the services of both companies to their respective client bases. The partnership will ensure that the data from Hotel Data Cloud's portfolio of over 11,400 hotels in 153 countries which feature more than 1.2 million rooms, will be utilized by Tratok's ecosystem and its 1.3 million verified users.

This partnership offers multiple benefits for service providers and clients. Through leveraging Tratok's blockchain technology, and combining it with HDC's intelligent algorithms, both parties can benefit from timelier, more economic and transparent transactions in Tratok's sanitized ecosystem that is free from manipulation and fraud. At the same time, more accurate and standardized descriptions and data from Hotel Data Cloud will result in enhanced user experiences and higher conversion rates due to cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence content presentation. The combination means that clients get more affordable and better-matched offerings while service providers get better-matched guests and increase profits by up to 30%. This comes as a welcome relief to an industry which has spent much of the year being adversely affected by Covid-19.

"We are extremely proud to be partnering with Tratok to help restart the travel and tourism industry. The key to coming out of this crisis is to work together to make customers feel safe to travel again, while enabling hotels to streamline and be more cost-efficient through technological solutions," said Gregor Amon, co-founder of Hotel Data Cloud. Mohammed Altajir, Custodian of Tratok added: "The technology exists to address key problems in the sector and there is no excuse for lack of adoption given the sector's importance and growth potential. We are empowering stakeholders giving themthe nextevolutionary ecosystem."

The agreement represents another tourism milestone for the United Arab Emirates as two home grown, revolutionary and cutting-edge technology companies come together to offer groundbreaking products to the travel sector. The partnership also complements the country's aim to diversify the economy from natural resources to knowledge, innovation and the export of services. The partnership was brokered by the Middle East Hospitality Asset Managers Association. Mr. Amit Nayak, Vice President of HAMA Middle East commented, "This partnership is in line with the vision of Hama MEA advancing the transparency and ease of doing business in a structured way for all parties involved."

About Tratok Founded in November 2017, Tratok leverages blockchain technology to create an all-encompassing global travel ecosystem. Be it reserving a hotel room, booking a flight or renting a car, this multi-platform application will result in more economical, hassle-free arrangements for clients and service providers alike. Tratok offers significant advantages over existing conventional platforms. Principally, it lowers transaction fees, eradicates the need for intermediaries, saves time on bookings and results in more profit for service providers and savings for consumers.

About Hotel Data Cloud Hotel Data Cloud (HDC) was founded in June 2016 as a solution to help hotels win back control of the descriptive content of their listings. The global platform stores a variety of current data, images and regularly updated descriptive information in a standardized format, sourced directly from hotels. This is freely accessible and automatically distributed to travel agents, tour operators, online platforms and intermediaries that facilitate bookings. HDC is headquartered in Dubai with global operations.

Media Contact:Nicholas PaillartEmail: [emailprotected]

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the-two-uae-based-technology.jpg The two UAE based technology pioneers have formed a strategic partnership Tratok, a blockchain-powered travel ecosystem, and Hotel Data Cloud, a content distribution channel for the hospitality industry, have joined forces to extend the services of both companies to their respective client bases.

How You Can Help Animal Shelters Around the World During COVID – Fodor’s Travel

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Danzig

Here's how to help animals stuck in shelters abroad.

Shelters in the U.S. sit empty as quarantine puppies have stolen the hearts of many American familiesbut in different parts of the world, travel restrictions have created a backlog in the number of animals stuck in shelters abroad and unable to fly overseas for adoption. In some parts of the world, there is an influx of dogs being rescued that are in need of families as soon as possible. Theyre arriving by the dozen and desperately seeking volunteers to assist in finding forever homes.

From the Caribbean to Colombia to Mexico, heres how people can help the animals facing the diverse challenges of the pandemic.

Cargo flights usually save thousands of animals each year by transporting them to countries like the U.S. to be adopted, but since the start of COVID-19, these flights have not been occurring due to recent travel restrictions.

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The Animal Care Center (ACC) of St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands has partnered with shelters from the U.S. Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico to form a coalition leading efforts to fundraise for lifesaving private cargo rescue flights for animals, which will save more than 300 animals from shelters across the Caribbean.

At the end of the day what I want everyone to take away from this and realize is that these are U.S. territories, these are U.S. heartbeats and they need our help, said animal rescue volunteer Jessica Nicodemo, whose specialty is disaster animal relief and logistics.

So far, the group has raised over $70,000, which has saved hundreds of animals from euthanasia. The coalitions current goal is to raise $125,000 which will allow for three additional transports out of these islands, as well as for the spaying and neutering of the island dogs after the third transport has been completed. Now that hurricane season is in full-force, its even more important to get the animals out of danger as soon as possible.

To lend a hand by donating money to future rescues and to learn more about each organization, check out the GoFundMe for this Caribbean Coalitions relief efforts.

Dogs and Cats of Antigua was established as a non-profit organization in 2015, with the aim to help save the rapidly reproducing street dog population in Antigua. This non-profit provides necessary medical care for the animals and works toward finding them forever homes.

Antigua is a very small island with a large stray population. There is very little spay and neutering done on the islandso animals breed quickly, and have nowhere to go. Business at the organization was essentially halted due to COVID-19 as the borders worldwide closed and passenger airplanes traveling into Antigua were grounded.

The organization was left with about 75 animals waiting to travel overseas and began to raise money to build their own sanctuary on the island with the intention of housing them and attracting future island visitors interested in adopting.

As tourism is the main economy on this island the Sanctuary is being built with that in mind. We are making it a destination spot with hiking trails around the property so tourists can take a dog for a hike, said Joy Farrell, Founder of Dogs and Cats of Antigua.

The organization also raised money for an Antigua Puppy Airlift-Freedom Flight, where 58 pups flew out of the island nation30 of which have already been adopted while the rest are on their way to having their applications approved.

Those interested in offering a hand can donate money to the organization online or if theyre traveling to or located in Antigua, by volunteering onsite.

The Animal Pad (TAP) has partnered with two shelters in Ensenada, Mexico, to help get dogs out of kill-shelters in Mexico and into the United States to be adopted. So far this year, the organization has rescued close to 1,000 dogs and adopted out over 800.

Were rescuing about 150 dogs a month and at least twice a month we have new dogs coming, said Founder Stephanie Nisan. About 95% of the dogs rescued have been from Mexico; around 80% of those from the organizations two partner shelters, Ellos Son La Razon, and Los Adoptables.

TAP is a volunteer and foster-based organizationall this work has all been done completely through raising money and with the help of volunteers who travel across the border weekly donating donate their time and money to fund the rescues.

Were completely volunteer-based. We have volunteers in Tijuana, Ensenada, and here in San Diego. We have members of our marketing team worldwide, said Nisan. Most of TAPs volunteer positions are administrative and can be done from anywhere in the world.

Dogs are driven up from Mexico to California in a renovated van and are quarantined in a U.S. kennel before settling into their foster homes. Fostered animals are primarily kept in the California area, close to the TAP facility which ensures any follow-up care for the dogs can be completed easily.

For however many foster homes we have, we will rescue that many dogs. Without the community, we wouldnt be able to do what we do here, said Nisan. Those interested in helping can follow their social media @theanimalpad for updates, and donate supplies using the organizations Amazon wishlist.

Cartagena Paws just celebrated its five-year anniversary and over that time, it has helped over 200 dogs and cats find homes abroad. Since the pandemic started, the organization has had to turn away new rescues, as the cost of caring for more dogs is expensive.

Now that international flights have resumed to Colombia from the U.S., anyone who is traveling to the country can help by becoming a flight volunteer. The way we can get animals out is through flight volunteers. This is crucial for us. This is anyone whos planning a trip who can take a dog with them when they return home. We handle all the vaccinations, we make sure theyre spayed and neutered, and they have a home waiting for them in the Statesits just a matter of getting them there, said flight volunteer recruiter Clementyne Chambers.

Those who arent traveling to Colombia soon can lend a hand through donating on the website, which helps dogs onsite that are in need of care, as well as assists with education for the local community on how to care for their animals.

People can also sponsor an animal from abroad online, and financially support a specific animals upkeep and adoption fees. Sponsors will get updates on bills and receive plenty of videos and pictures of their animal.

Between donating time, money, and supplies, there are many ways people can help to save hundreds of animals across the globe. These organizations assist by helping them find forever homes and give them the opportunity to receive the proper treatment they need to live a better life in the future.

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How You Can Help Animal Shelters Around the World During COVID - Fodor's Travel

Panama is reopening to tourists from all countries in October – Lonely Planet Travel News

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Danzig

Panama announced today that it will reopen its borders to international visitors from all countries from October 12, with some new regulations in place that are intended to keep everyone safe.

Following the news that its neighbour to the south has opened its borders to tourists again, Panama will welcome international visitors from all countries from October 12. The tourism board has been working closely with the ministry of health to implement new health and safety guidelines to keep visitors and locals safe. If you plan to visit you should expect some pre-travel requirements such as a negative COVID-19 result from a test taken no more than 48 hours before travel. If the test was taken before that, you'll have to undergo a new test at the airport for about US$30.

"After closing our borders to travelers in late March, we are excited to safely welcome visitors back to Panama," said Minister Eskildsen. The new health and safety protocols reflect our continuous hard work and dedication in protecting both Panamanians and our visitors, and through our efforts, have earned the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Safe Travels stamp of approval. Our beautiful country, rich in nature, biodiversity and cultural heritage is once again ready to be discovered.

Anyone arriving into Panama must also fill in an online form before flight check-ins, where they must agree to comply with new health and safety measures such as adhering to physical distancing and submitting to temperature screenings in the airport. If a passenger displays a high temperature, they'll be given a rapid COVID-19 test. If the result is positive, the government will put them up in a hotel, at no extra cost, for seven days, at which time another test will be administered.

When it comes to dining out in Panama, tourists should be aware that they might need to book ahead as restaurants are limiting the number of diners they accept. Contactless payment is also in operation across most hospitality establishments. Additionally, museums and other tourist attractions have reduced capacity to 50%. Making reservations online in advance will help your visit run smoother. Beaches and national parks are open, boats are taking tourists to the islandsand visitors can once again converge in Casco Viejo, the colorful Unesco World Heritage Site with its narrow stone streets, 19th-century mansions and cafes.

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Panama is reopening to tourists from all countries in October - Lonely Planet Travel News

We Could Cut Energy use in Half and Still Give 10 Billion People “Decent” Lives

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Danzig

Research suggests that restructuring global society could grant every human on Earth a decent quality of life while cutting energy use to 1960s levels.

Global Rebalancing

While politicians reject climate initiatives like the Green New Deal for their aggressive ambition, it turns out that it’s within our means as a species to cut global greenhouse gas emissions in half — and still provide a pleasant quality of life to every human on Earth.

New research found that, if we fixed inefficiencies and structural inequalities in global society, 10 billion people could enjoy a “decent” quality of life while only using as much energy as much as we did back in the 1960s, Earther reports, all of which could be provided by renewables. In other words, the researchers claim that slowing climate change is both possible and feasible.

Shifting Priorities

For much of the world, this quality-of-life-rebalancing would be an improvement, according to the research, which was published Tuesday in the journal Global Environmental Change. But for wealthy nations and especially the U.S., it would mean living in smaller homes and eating vastly less meat.

“We still get Duolingo, we still get laptops and internet, you can still… watch TV,” study coauthor Julia Steinberger, a sustainability researcher at the University of Leeds and University of Lausanne, told Earther.

Cleaning Up

Such changes are possible, but Steinberger says they would take a major cultural shift away from rampant consumerism in developed nations.

“There may be lower working times because we’re not working more hours to create more stuff for ever-expanding markets or to consume more,” Steinberger told Earther. “There may be more time for families, for leisure, for the things that, for many people, are what really matter.”

READ MORE: We Can Use Less Energy and Still Have Good Lives [Gizmodo]

More on carbon emissions: The Richest One Percent Emits Twice as Much Carbon as Half the World

The post We Could Cut Energy use in Half and Still Give 10 Billion People “Decent” Lives appeared first on Futurism.

China Reveals Rocket to Send Astronauts to Moon

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Danzig

China just showed off a rocket that could send astronauts to the Moon — but when is still a big question mark.

Crewed Space

China just showed off a rocket that could send astronauts to the Moon — but when that will happen is still a huge question mark.

The rocket features three massive stages, including a central core, reminiscent of the United Launch Alliance’s Delta IV Heavy and SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, as Space.com points out.

There’s little we know about the unnamed rocket so far. It’s designed to carry a 27 ton spacecraft into trans-lunar injection and will weigh three times as much as China’s current largest rocket, the Long March 5, on the launch pad.

Race to the Moon

It’s part of a larger global trend of renewed interest in exploring space beyond Earth’s orbit.

“The world is seeing a new wave of lunar exploration, crewed or uncrewed,” Zhou Yanfei, deputy general designer of China’s human spaceflight program, told Chinese media. “International cooperation projects in crewed lunar exploration are intertwined and influencing each other.”

While the country has been excelling at sending unmanned probes to the Moon in recent years, sending humans into trans-lunar orbit is an entirely different kettle of fish.

Baby Steps

We don’t know when China is aiming to launch such a rocket or when it will take on its first test flights. The country will also still need a lander, according to Zhou.

Before China is ready to take humans to the Moon, it will largely focus on establishing a presence in low-Earth orbit. The first components of the country’s space station are set to launch some time next year.

The country is also working on SpaceX Falcon-9 style rockets that are capable of vertical take off and landing.

READ MORE: China is building a new rocket to fly its astronauts on the moon [Space.com]

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DARPA Is Considering a Nuclear Rocket for Moon Missions

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Danzig

Nuclear Thermal Propulsion

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) just handed out a $14 million dollar contract to develop and test a nuclear thermal space propulsion system (NTP), Space.com reports.

The concept is simple: an on-board reactor generates heat, which is then pushed through a nozzle to produce thrust.

The contract, to a company called Gryphon Technologies, is meant to support DARPA’s Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) program — essentially a project investigating whether the extreme temperatures produced by nuclear reactions can be used as a propulsion system.

Covering the Distance

“A successfully demonstrated NTP system will provide a leap-ahead in space propulsion capability, allowing agile and rapid transit over vast distances as compared to present propulsion approaches,” Gryphon chief engineer Tabitha Dodsonsaid in a statement.

According to DARPA, an NTP system offers both 10,000 times the thrust-to-weight ratio compared to electric propulsion and two to five times the efficiency of chemical propulsion.

The agency is hoping nuclear thermal propulsion will allow the US to keep up with “maintaining space domain awareness in cislunar space.”

Game Changer

NASA is eyeing a similar system for propelling its own spacecraft. Last year, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine called NTP a potential “game changer” for the agency, with the potential to revolutionize space travel and enable trips to and the eventual settlement on Mars.

Such a propulsion system could even allow for the generation of artificial gravity during such long trips through outer space, according to NASA research dating back to 2014, to address the health concerns surrounding long-term exposure to zero gravity.

More on nuclear propulsion: Nuclear Propulsion Could Be ‘Game-Changer’ for Space Exploration

The post DARPA Is Considering a Nuclear Rocket for Moon Missions appeared first on Futurism.

New Website Lets You Help NASA Find Alien Worlds

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Danzig

NASA launched a new citizen science project called Planet Patrol that asks for the public to help identify new exoplanets.

Call for Help

NASA just launched a new citizen science project — it wants the public’s help to find and identify brand new exoplanets.

The newly-formed Planet Patrol asks volunteers to look over images taken by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), Space.com reports, in which NASA suspects but isn’t sure whether there’s a new exoplanet hidden away. That way, NASA scientists can focus their efforts instead of sorting through the mountain of data themselves

Human Touch

This is the sort of work that technically could be automated with an algorithm trained to spot new worlds, Space.com reports. But it turns out that in this case, there’s no substitute for human judgment.

“Automated methods of processing TESS data sometimes fail to catch imposters that look like exoplanets,” Veselin Kostov, the NASA researcher leading the Planet Patrol project, said in a press release. “The human eye is extremely good at spotting such imposters, and we need citizen scientists to help us distinguish between the lookalikes and genuine planets.”

Crowded Space

Planet Patrol isn’t the only citizen science project poring over TESS data for signs of exoplanets, Space.com reports. Another initiative, Planet Hunters TESS, is working toward the same goal but analyzing the data in a different way.

“We’re all swimming through the same sea of data, just using different strokes,” NASA citizen science officer Marc Kuchner said in the release.

More on citizen science: Astronomers Call on Quarantined Citizens to Hunt for Galaxies

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Pharma Companies Never Agreed What Makes a “Successful” COVID-19 Vaccine Trial

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Danzig

Pharamceutical companies have different definitions of success for their COVID-19 vaccines, making it hard to tell if the first vaccine will be the best.

Each of the different pharmaceutical companies working toward a COVID-19 vaccine has a slightly different definition for success.

The differences are small, Wired reports, and the FDA will also have controls in place to make sure it doesn’t approve a vaccine that doesn’t actually work. But the discrepancy risks introducing new confusion and doubts over what it actually means to have a successful vaccine — and whether the first one to be deemed a “success” is actually the one that’ll help the most people.

A robust phase III clinical trial, the final stage of testing before the FDA can approve a new pharmaceutical, takes tens of thousands of participants. But the way the statistics work out, Wired reports, Pfizer could declare its trial a success even if six of its participants take the vaccine and still catch COVID-19.

That’s not a warning sign that the vaccine doesn’t work, per se, but rather suggests that it’s possible for a pharmaceutical company to declare victory without enough evidence to say the vaccine does work.

“What you’d like, in this very small number of events, going to the planetary population, is to have the most confidence you possibly can,” Eric Topol, a molecular medicine expert at the Scripps Research Institute who’s been serving as a watchdog for ongoing vaccine trials, told Wired. “That would be suppressing the worst events, sickness that requires a hospitalization and anything worse than that.”

“What if those 26 events are headaches and sore throats? Would that give you great confidence we have an effective vaccine? It sure wouldn’t give me confidence,” Topol added.

Thankfully, nine drugmakers pledged to not push their vaccines until they’ve completed a robust clinical trial despite President Trump’s push to grant them an emergency authorization before tests are complete.

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Pharma Companies Never Agreed What Makes a “Successful” COVID-19 Vaccine Trial

President Donald Trump Has Been Diagnosed with COVID

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Danzig

In a dramatic twist, US President Donald Trump admitted early this morning that he had tested positive for the coronavirus that causes COVID.

In a dramatic twist, US President Donald Trump admitted early this morning that he had tested positive for COVID-19.

“Tonight, [first lady Melania Trump] and I tested positive for COVID-19,” he wrote on Twitter. “We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately.”

The development comes with just weeks left in the presidential election, but it’s impossible to predict its results. Some people who catch the coronavirus become extremely sick, and a small percentage die. Many others have mild symptoms or remain entirely asymptomatic. Even if Trump’s case is not severe, though, it will likely force him to miss crucial weeks of campaigning and perhaps the next debate.

The news also comes as a weighty inflection point after the Trump administration’s uneven handling of the pandemic. Though Trump admitted privately during the early months of the outbreak that the virus posed a grave threat to public health, he has publicly downplayed its risk at every turn. He’s also ignored his own health officials and, during a particularly strange press conference in April, suggested curing patients by injecting disinfectant or shining ultraviolet light inside their bodies — notions that were universally decried by doctors.

He’s also refused to wear a mask at almost all times, and upbraided others for doing so. As recently as Tuesday night, at the first presidential debate, Trump mocked his opponent Joe Biden for wearing a mask in public.

“I don’t wear masks like him,” Trump said, sarcastically. “Every time you see him, he’s got a mask.”

Trump has also continued to schedule crowded political rallies during the pandemic, a move that’s attracted searing criticism from health officials.

In fact, one of those rallies appears to have infected close Trump supporter Herman Cain with COVID in June. Cain became extremely ill and died from the disease in late July. In a macabre twist, Cain’s twitter account has posthumously continued to play down the risk from the virus.

And it was likely another rally that led to the infection of Trump himself. Last night, before Trump’s diagnosis, Bloomberg reported that Trump aide Hope Hicks had tested positive for the virus — after traveling with Trump to both the debate and a political rally in Minnesota.

Before his own results came back, Trump took the opportunity to blame the military or police for infecting Hicks with the virus.

“You know, it’s very hard when you’re with soldiers, when you’re with airmen, you’re with Marines and police officers — I’m with them so much — that when they come over to you, it’s very hard to say, ‘stay back, stay back,’ you know,” Trump said.

For now, White House officials are holding out hope for a speedy recovery.

“The president and first lady are both well at this time, and they plan to remain at home within the White House during their convalescence,” White House physician Sean P. Conley said in a statement, according to the New York Times. “Rest assured I expect the president to continue carrying out his duties without disruption while recovering, and I will keep you updated on any future developments.”

The post President Donald Trump Has Been Diagnosed with COVID appeared first on Futurism.

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President Donald Trump Has Been Diagnosed with COVID

NASA’s New Space Toilet Is Heading to the Space Station For, Uh, Tests

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Danzig

NASA is about to send a $23 million space toilet up to the International Space Station — its first new toilet in 30 years — for a test run.

Delivering Cargo

NASA is about to ship a major, long-overdue upgrade up to the International Space Station (ISS) to handle one of the less savory sides of space travel: a $23 million titanium space toilet.

The toilet, the first one NASA’s installed in 30 years, is apparently going to undergo a months-long, well, field test, according to the Associated Press. Aside from being an important renovation project, the toilet is expected to accommodate increased traffic to the ISS expected in the near future, as well as being designed to be more inclusive.

Splash Landing

The existing toilet on the ISS — which isn’t being removed — was largely designed for men. Because of its inaccessible design, using it is an unpleasant ordeal for women, the AP reports, which the new design is supposed to fix.

If it does, and all goes well with the test, the design will also be used on the Artemis missions that seek to send astronauts back to the Moon.

Free Floating

The new design is meant to be more comfortable and to prevent spills through an elaborate air suction system, according to the AP. Solid waste is sealed off until landing, and liquids are filtered into drinking and cleaning water.

“Cleaning up a mess is a big deal. We don’t want any misses or escapes,” project manager Melissa McKinley of the Johnson Space Center told the AP.

READ MORE: Potty training: NASA tests new $23M titanium space toilet [Associated Press]

More on waste management: NASA Says It Needs a New Space Toilet for the Artemis Moon Missions

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NASA’s New Space Toilet Is Heading to the Space Station For, Uh, Tests

Elon Musk: Fusion Will Probably Be More Expensive Than Wind, Solar

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Danzig

In a recent tweet, Elon Musk argued that fusion energy will probably be more expensive than wind and solar. Experts are divided.

On Tuesday, a team of MIT researchers made a big splash when they announced that their “SPARC” compact fusion reactor is “very likely to work.”

The announcement, detailed in seven papers penned by dozens of scientists from a laundry list of research institutions, claimed that the researchers were on a straight path to achieving fusion power — generating power from fusing atomic nuclei together like the Sun, rather than splitting them, like a nuclear power plant. The promise is a never-ending source of clean power without running the risk of a nuclear disaster.

Tesla CEO and billionaire Elon Musk says he’s impressed by the research — with one major catch: the cost.

“It’s cool and for sure can and should be done,” he tweeted about the fusion research,”but I suspect its best case will be more costly than wind and solar (aka big fusion reactor in sky).”

Fusion energy has been the holy grail for energy generation for over half a century. While the science and technology surrounding reactor designs have come a long way, Musk is right that it remains an elusive dream.

Cost isn’t the only issue facing it. As of right now, it’s simply not viable yet.

Despite all that, the people working on the next generation of fusion reactors are undeterred. The SPARC team at MIT is hoping to get to the point where their reactor puts out ten times the amount of energy it consumes.

But as we’ve heard many times before, the technology is still well over a decade away — their goal is to start generating electricity starting in 2035.

And then, like Musk said, fusion energy could be a costly endeavor. The price of wind and solar energy have plummeted over the years, giving them a more-than-healthy head start over fusion.

Developing a functioning and efficient fusion reactor is also proving to be an extremely costly process. The ITER fusion power plant, soon to be the largest of its kind in the world, is an international collaboration with a sky-high price tag: a whopping $22 billion — a conservative estimate, critics say.

The US Department of Energy has long been skeptical of ITER’s plans. Congress confirmed it had approved a $115 million investment in 2016, but support for the project dwindled throughout president Donald Trump’s first term. Only $50 million were set aside by the Department of Energy this year — including for both national and international fusion energy research and development.

Despite the lack of enthusiasm for ITER, US lawmakers haven’t given up on solar [fusion?]. Earlier this month, the US House of Representatives approved a fusion energy commercialization program to support a burgeoning industry of private fusion startups.

The hope is to make fusion a reality through public-private partnerships — very much in the same vain as NASA’s collaboration with SpaceX and other contractors.

By scaling down operations — who needs a multi-billion dollar, football field-sized reactor? — some startups are hoping to come up with their own solutions in achieving fusion energy.

“Fusion is poised for a ‘SpaceX moment,'” CEO of startup General Fusion Christofer Mowry told NBC last year.

A 2018 paper explored what the economy of fusion energy could look like in the coming decades. While the costs strongly depend on what the exact designs of the fusion reactors look like, the electricity price could become comparable to that of solar and wind, the paper’s authors argue.

But it may not be a question of either or — fusion is perhaps more likely to be just part of the solution. According to a study commissioned by a British fusion power startup, fusion may be a way to make up for electricity shortfalls in the renewable energy sector.

In other words, wind and solar alone won’t be enough to meet demands and keep climate change in check. Fusion could help by replacing current power generation from coal and natural gas.

More on fusion: MIT Researchers Say Their Fusion Reactor Is “Very Likely to Work”

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An Earth-Sized Planet Is Floating Around Without a Star

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Danzig

Astronomers have spotted something strange and unexpectedly sad: a rogue planet floating freely in the dark confines of our galaxy.

Astronomers have spotted something strange and oddly sad: a rogue planet floating freely, without a star.

It’s an example of what astronomers call a “rogue planet.” Some are believed to start as normal planets, but leave their stars after colliding with another object that sends them flying into space like a billiard ball. Other rogue planets may also form when clouds of gas and dust implode to form a planet rather than a star.

“The universe could be teeming with rogue planets and we wouldn’t even know it,” Scott Gaudi, a professor of astronomy at Ohio State University who helped discover the new planet, said in a NASA statement.

The planet spotted by Gaudi and his colleagues turned out to be roughly the mass of Earth or Mars.

What makes planets like it extremely difficult to spot is that they’re very dim, since there are no stars nearby to light them up. That’s why we’ve only spotted a few of these worlds so far.

Making them even more difficult to identify is the fact that they tend to be very cool, meaning that they don’t show up on infrared telescopes.

To spot the latest rogue planet, Gaudi’s team used a new technique called “microlensing,” as detailed in a preprint uploaded to the archive arXiv this week. The technique observes the warping changes the mass has on the fabric of space-time.

Basically, when a rogue planet moves in front of a more distant star, the light from that star bends around the rogue planet from our vantage point as it passes through the warped fabric of space-time near the planet. The more massive the planet, the more extreme the effect.

The team used NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope to spot the lonely planet — a feat that would’ve been impossible without the specialized ‘scope, according to the team behind the discovery.

“The microlensing signal from a rogue planet only lasts between a few hours and a couple of days and then is gone forever,” Matthew Penny, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Louisiana State University and c0-author of the paper, said in the NASA statement. “This makes them difficult to observe from Earth, even with multiple telescopes. Roman is a game-changer for rogue planet searches.”

Roman is designed to hunt these rogue planets and to see how common they are. Such a discovery could influence the way we understand the formation and evolution of planets.

“We would never find out without undertaking a thorough, space-based microlensing survey like Roman is going to do,” Gaudi added.

More on rogue planets: Life Could Exist On “Rogue Planets” That Don’t Have Stars

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People in Trump’s Age Range Are 90 Times More Likely to Die From COVID-19 Than Young Adults

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Danzig

President Trump says he caught the coronavirus. If it's true, his weight and age put him at an above-average risk compared to the typical patient.

Early Thursday morning, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19, the same disease that he’s spent the year downplaying despite it killing hundreds of thousands of his citizens.

Tangible details on the situation are still few and far between, but it’s worth noting that at 74 years old and 243 pounds — categorized as overweight — Trump falls within demographics that face a substantially higher risk of dying from the infection.

According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), coronavirus patients between the ages of 65 and 74 are hospitalized at five times the rate of 18- to 29-year-olds, and they die from coronavirus infections at 90 times the rate. And at 74, Trump is right on the cusp of the 75-84 age range, who are hospitalized at eight times the rate of young adults — and are 220 times as likely to die, according to the CDC data.

“He’s at a much higher risk of dying if he does develop that bad pneumonia,” Dr. Barry Dixon, an intensive care physician at Melbourne’s St. Vincent hospital told The Guardian. “There are other risk factors and co-morbidities such as whether you are a heavy smoker, have diabetes, or have heart disease. The key risk factors for Trump that we know about are his age and the fact he’s overweight, and they’d be high-risk factors.”

Of course, the President will receive far better and more consistent care than the typical coronavirus patient, especially given the number of outbreaks in the U.S. that were centered around strained-to-the-limit hospitals or crowded prisons.

White House physician Dr. Sean Conley released a statement on Thursday in which he said he and his team would “maintain a vigilant watch” and expects Trump to continue working while sick.

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Scientists Create Clear, Glasslike Material Out of Wood

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Danzig

Transparent Wood

Heating and cooling a home is costly, and inefficient building materials often make a house’s carbon footprint even worse.

But thanks to a new generation of futuristic building materials, those materials could be poised for a significant upgrade. A team of researchers at the USDA and several research institutions say they’ve developed “transparent wood,” a glass-like material made almost entirely out of trees that they claim is stronger, safer, more cost efficient and more thermally efficient than glass.

Kicking Glass

It’s a lucrative concept that has drawn the attention of multiple research teams across the globe, all working on similar concepts.

The problem with conventional glass is that especially in a single pane configuration, it’s a terrible insulator. Producing it can also come with a heavy carbon footprint, emitting about 25,000 metric tons per year, according to a recent statement by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

In their paper published in the Journal of Advanced Functional Materials, the researchers claim their transparent wood result in windows five times more thermally efficient than glass.

Going Green

Creating the novel material is also a far greener process. For one, it’s made from the sustainable, fast-growing balsa tree. The wood is oxidized in a special bleach bath and then penetrated with a synthetic polymer.

The resulting material is not only virtually transparent, it acts more like plastic — it can withstand impacts much better than glass and tends to bend and splinter like wood instead of shattering into pieces.

Color the USDA impressed.

“With all of these potential benefits for consumers, manufacturing and the environment, the case for transparent wood couldn’t be… clearer,” reads the statement.

READ MORE: Transparent Wood Could Be the Window of the Future [USDA]

More on transparent wood: This “Transparent Wood” Could Cut the Cost of Heating Your Home

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Astronomers Spot Galaxies “Trapped” by Giant Black Hole

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Danzig

Astronomers found a supermassive black hole slowly feasting on galaxies trapped nearby when the universe was still under a billion years old.

Cosmic Feast

Peering back into some of the earliest days of the universe, astronomers came across a brutal scene: a still-forming supermassive black hole feasting on six entire galaxies it had ensnared in a gigantic cosmic web.

The grisly scene played out when the universe was only about 900 million years old, according to research published Thursday in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. And since the black hole plus the trapped galaxies are together more than 300 times the size of our galaxy, it could explain how supermassive black holes formed and especially how they did so when the universe was so young.

Hidden Tendrils

The supermassive black hole was surrounded by a web of cosmic filaments that allowed matter to flow between trapped galaxies and the black hole, like feeding tubes fueling its rapid growth.

“This research was mainly driven by the desire to understand some of the most challenging astronomical objects — supermassive black holes in the early universe,” lead researcher Marco Mignoli, an astronomer at Italy’s National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), said in a press release. “These are extreme systems and to date we have had no good explanation for their existence.”

Iceberg’s Tip

The six galaxies are among the faintest that astronomers can see, suggesting to the researchers that even dimmer galaxies could be trapped around the black hole as well.

“We believe we have just seen the tip of the iceberg,” coauthor and INAF astronomer Barbara Balmaverde said in the release, “and that the few galaxies discovered so far around this supermassive black hole are only the brightest ones.”

More on black holes: Physicists: Supermassive Black Holes May Actually Be Wormholes

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Elon Musk: “Starship Update Coming in 3 Weeks”

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Danzig

Starship Update

According to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the space company will give an update on its Starship spacecraft in about three weeks.

“The design has coalesced,” Musk tweeted. “What is presented will actually be what flies to orbit as V1.0 with almost no changes.”

SpaceX has been churning out prototype after prototype to get Starship off the ground. Previous prototypes, such as SN5 and SN6, have already completed “hops” to 150 meters (about 500 feet).

Belly Flop

The company is currently working on SN8, which is being prepared for a much more ambitious test flight to 12 miles. But there’s still no indication when such a test will take place.

The design was recently outfitted with two flaps and rolled out onto the launch pad. The flaps will help it slow its descent back down to Earth during a daring “belly-flop” maneuver.

Lunar Lander

Starship is designed to carry up to 100 passengers or 100 tons to faraway places including the Moon and Mars.

Before — or if — it ultimately makes the long journey to Mars, a lunar lander variant of Starship is being considered by NASA to carry American astronauts to the Moon as part of its Artemis program as soon as 2024.

More on Starship: Watch a SpaceX Starship Test Tank Explode Spectacularly

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Trump Exposed Countless People to COVID-19 After Learning He Might Have It

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Danzig

Trump may have shown COVID-19 symptoms as early as Wednesday, meaning he could have inadvertently and knowingly spread the disease during his busy week.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced Friday morning that he had tested positive for COVID-19, but some of his close aides suspected he was sick as early as Wednesday. And he knew by Thursday morning that his senior adviser Hope Hicks, who he had traveled with on Marine One the previous day, had tested positive for the virus.

But he didn’t stop meeting with officials and supporters until Thursday evening, when his own test came back positive, meaning that he likely spread the disease to a large number of people — a lack of caution that tracks perfectly with his administration’s flustered, inconsistent national approach to fighting the pandemic.

“Trump [knew] he should’ve quarantined under CDC guidelines as soon as Hicks test known, but he didn’t,” tweeted Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist at the Federation of American Scientists.

On Wednesday, the day aides noticed that Trump was acting lethargic and hoarse, he held a fundraiser in Minnesota, during which guests — many of them GOP officials — embraced each other and even sang karaoke.

The next morning, the White House learned that Hicks had the bug. Instead of calling off events, though, Trump went ahead and attended a fundraising event that evening, just hours before he himself tested positive.

Now, CNBC reports that the 30 to 50 attendees who came within close proximity of the president are now “freaking out,” according to an anonymous source briefed on the event.

Prior to any of that, The New York Times documented that Trump went unmasked to several fundraisers, rallies, press conferences, and meetings over the past week. This includes the first presidential debate against Democratic nominee Joe Biden, though Biden and his wife both tested negative for COVID-19 after Trump announced his own infection.

Because of the coronavirus’ incubation period, it’s likely Trump could have been spreading the coronavirus during those appointments and events, especially because he almost never wears a face mask.

A number of figures close to Trump have already been tested, including Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen, who are reportedly negative.

A number of attendees of the Saturday Rose Garden event at which Trump announced his nomination of Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court have also tested positive, including Senator Mike Lee and Notre Dame President John Jenkins. Barrett tested negative since then, but met with Lee again days before he was diagnosed.

The full implications of Trump’s infection may not be clear for days or weeks until more people are tested and infections run their course. While coming near someone with COVID-19 doesn’t guarantee transmission, the coronavirus can readily spread through the air, potentially putting everyone who was near Trump over the past week at risk.

It’s depressingly consistent that the same President who from the beginning deliberately downplayed the dangers of the pandemic, which has now killed over 208,000 in the U.S., would continue to hold fundraisers in person even after he learned he had been exposed to the virus himself.

Hopefully, as more officials and staff continue to get tested, a clearer picture of the White House’s own COVID-19 spreader events will emerge.

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Masks Still Aren’t Required on White House Grounds, Official Says

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Danzig

U.S. President Donald Trump has been diagnosed with COVID-19. Still, the White House says it will not require people to wear masks.

The same day that the President of the United States announced that he’s sick with COVID-19, the White House says face masks are still merely “recommended” on White House grounds.

A White House official told Axios that even Trump’s recently-announced illness won’t prompt staff to mandate the use of protective face masks on the grounds. Instead, it sounds like business as usual. Whether it’s because of Trump’s well-documented disdain for masks or something equally incomprehensible, the protective face masks that are great for stopping passers-by from transmitting a deadly virus to one another will remain optional.

“Our standard protocol is CDC best practices and recommendations,” the official told Axios. “Facial coverings are recommended but not required. There’s hand sanitizing stations located throughout the complex, frequent washing of hands and good hygiene is strongly recommended and social distancing is encouraged. So, I don’t foresee those things changing.”

The official added that the White House also implements randomized testing. But Trump and his circle’s open mockery of masks raises questions about how seriously any of these measures are actually taken.

Just to be clear: masks are at least moderately effective at stopping the coronavirus from spreading, and should be worn — properly — around others as much as possible while the pandemic continues.

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