Spirituality Center to offer recovery retreat – La Crosse Tribune

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Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results. Those who struggle with addiction undoubtedly know this pattern.

The Franciscan Spirituality Center, 920 Market St., will offer an opportunity to explore the spiritual treasure map that is the first three steps of Alcoholics Anonymous during Surrender and Live: A Serenity Retreat on Oct. 6 and 7. The retreat will begin at 7 p.m. Friday and conclude at 4 p.m. Saturday.

This serenity retreat will share a story of light and hope, presenter Tom DeZell said. It is a paradoxical story of surrender to those things that bind us in order that we might become free of them.

The format will include shared experiences, discussion, quiet reflection and prayer.

DeZell has sober for 10 years, having come to accept and understand the devastation caused by his alcoholism and drug addiction. He is a trained spiritual director, having recently graduated from the FSCs Spiritual Direction Preparation Program.

In order to protect anonymity, this retreat is closed to men and women who are members of a 12-step fellowship and active in their recovery from alcohol or drugs. Participation is limited to the first 20 people who register.

Cost is $145 for overnight stay and all meals or $95 for commuters, which includes lunch on Saturday. Confidential financial assistance is available for those who would like to attend but cannot pay the full price. For more information, call 608-791-5295 or visit http://www.fscenter.org.

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The End of Limp Noodle Mindset – How New Age Almost Killed Spirituality – HuffPost

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When you think of New Age what comes to your mind? Massages? Rolling brook soundtracks? Crystals? Psychic readings? Smoothies? Sushi? And perhaps little stretching and meditation?

I've been involved with yoga, spiritual growth and self-realization all of my adult life. I began translating Rumi in the late 80's, that's how far back I track in this lifetime. Even as a child I never really saw any difference between major religions, I thought of them as repackaged doctrine geared to the need of various groups.

I grew up in a Jewish family in an Islamic country until my early teens (before I was sent to a boarding school in NY) and personally didn't care what religion anyone had. My friends in Iran were Moslem, Christian, Jewish and Bahai and quite frankly we had a ball being young boys and having fun, although looking back at it now some of the other parents objected to us mingling outside of our designated religions. So it was OK for the kids to mingle but certainly not for the parents.

As a teacher of spirituality I see a serious downgrade of true intentions and motivations of what I call "Soul Evolution." In another word, just like the domification of movies and music, the great spiritual movement that blossomed in the 1960's has been turned into just a market for selling yoga, incense and crystals.

To clarify I have nothing against what I call Spa Spirituality or Feel-Good Spirituality. But that's not spirituality. Anyone wants to feel good and they look for various ways to bring it about, but it doesn't make you "spiritual." Your diet, choice of beverage and the type of hat or clothing you wear has nothing whatsoever to do with spirituality. In fact if you wear a so-called spiritual uniform of any type, you're just a high conformist and removed from true principals of spirituality. Spirituality is about shifting the personal and collective mindset from that of a slaved-mind to an empowered-mind. It is to shift from a conformist to an individualist.

New Age spirituality in fact promotes and instills a slaved mindset as it tries to turn young and vibrant people into deity-worshipping, narrow-thinking fanatics. There is no reason for you to ever bow down to anything or anyone. That's what a slave does. You are fortunate to be born at a very special time and special place that allow you to be totally self-reliant and truly free. Don't regress back to slave mindset.

Moses knew the slave mindset well and he was also aware that it's impossible to change the habitual behavior in older people so he famously took his time by years (whether it was 40 years or not is anyone's guess) in delivering the Jewish people into the new land for the dawn of a new era. He wanted Israelites who had never experienced slavery and who were never subordinate to others to usher in the new era. This is true spirituality.

By our today's unfortunate hyper-PC culture, his intentions may seem as harsh but spirituality is not about passivity. This notion that to be spiritual you must become a limp noodle bowing to wooden statues is simply preposterous. And this is where New Age not only fails but can also be seen as a dark force, or in fact anti-spiritual.

None of the great mystics I respect were pacifists. They were all what I call Fire-Breathers. Moses, Jesus & Rumi all came here not to tell you to smell the roses but to transform, to shift your mind, to upgrade, to elevate your soul and to do it now.

Part of the damage that New Age is doing to spirituality is caused by the shady gurus who came to the West after the 1960's with the sole intention of increasing their wealth and number of followers and almost all fell from grace. These gurus were very tactical; they injected mind-control methods and vocabulary into their practices to keep their followers constantly submissive and subordinate. They injected phrases such as ego is bad, logic is not the answer and the biggest scammer phrase of all time "surrender to the master." Surrender to the master is akin to a scam artist telling you "trust me."

Decades later these negative, growth-inhibiting phrases still permeate all of the New Age movement. It's time to change all that.

A positive note is that not all the younger people getting into spirituality are so gullible anymore but I'd like to see a movement away from New Age completely and into Soul Evolution. I envision a radical change in vocabulary used at yoga studies where they still preach about surrender, being small and bowing to statues. A friend who attended a yoga studio in LA said the instructor told the group that ego is not your amigo. My friend laughed out loud after hearing that old misleading phrase and after the class she confronted the instructor about it. The instructor said it's just something that he's been told to say.

I want to see a movement that relies on real teachings of spirituality which are self-reliance, self-awareness, self-discovery, self-worth, self-guided destiny and ultimately self-realization. I want to hear us chant Yoga Without Dogma! Hare Me! Not phrases worshiping mythical blue-skinned moody beings that fooled the early humans as being gods.

New Age has run its course, long live Soul Evolution.

tags: #rumi #yoga #god #goddess #love #spirituality #shahramshiva #growth #newage #soulevolution

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San Jose home tour celebrates a century of Spanish Revival – The Mercury News

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The bloom of Spanish Revival architecture in San Jose, with its distinctive red tile roofs, arched windows and ornate entryways, can be traced back to a century to the Panama-California Exposition in San Diego and to the partnership of residential designer Frank Delos Wolfe and Santa Clara architect William Ernest Higgins.

In just 14 years, the firm produced more than 500 buildings, almost all of which are in San Jose, Van Laan said. By 1922, the firm was known locally as the go-to architects for this style, and from that point on, they worked almost exclusively in the Spanish Revival style.

Eight homes and buildings that exemplify the style will be on display for the Presentation Action Councils fundraising home tour on Aug. 26. Tickets to the self-guided tour are available for $35 in advance and $40 on the day of the tour at http://www.WolfeandHigginsTour.com.

Van Laan had previously written about Frank Wolfe, a prolific San Jose architect who was responsible for more than 1,200 structures during his 34-year career. She was drawn to the Spanish Revival homes for the same reason most people are: Theyre beautiful.

The style incorporates arches, graceful lines, and exterior ornamentation such as sculptural terracotta and concrete relief work and decorative tiles, she said. I kept discovering that many of my favorite houses and buildings in San Jose are the work of Wolfe & Higgins, so I felt I had to do the book.

The homes on the tour are in the greater Rose Garden neighborhood and Naglee Park. Youve probably passed some and not realized their lineage. One of the homes on the tour is a 1928 mansion on The Alameda that once belonged to ambulance operator and San Jose power broker Charlie Bigley (It is now, perhaps ironically, owned by the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment). Another was built in 1929 as a Packard showroom and was restored in 2009 to serve as the headquarters for Biggs Cardosa Associates.

But not all of the homes were made to be mansions. Two of the Willow Glen stops are at smaller homes that still bear the signature look. Wolfe & Higgins worked for the most prominent people in San Jose, but they also designed smaller homes for the many residence parks that were developed in San Jose in the 1920s, Van Laan said. This was a type of design that appealed to everyone and came to be considered the architectural style of California.

ALL THE RIGHT MOVES: Last years CityDance San Jose series at Plaza de Cesar Chavez was such a hit that the city is bringing back the groovin for another season.

If you didnt catch the dance fever last year, heres the rundown: Each weekly event starts with professional instructors providing a 30-minute group dance lesson for a specific popular style, and then youre on your own for the rest of the evening. Theres a beer garden and food truck available for refreshment, too.

The series kicks off Aug. 24 with Salsa, followed by Country Two-Step (Aug. 31); Hip-Hop (Sept. 7); Bollywood (Sept. 14); Disco (Sept. 21); East Coast Swing (Sept. 28); Merengue and Bachata (Oct. 5); and Zydeco (Oct. 12). The floor opens at 5:30 p.m., with lessons at 6 p.m., and its free to attend.

I know, no Funky Chicken, right? Maybe for next year.

WEARABLE REMINDER: San Joses Director of Economic Development Kim Walesh and Rosalynn Hughey, the citys interim planning director, provided a rapt audience with an update on the citys economic progress at an SVO breakfast held Thursday at the Silicon Valley Capital Club.

They covered all the bases from upcoming residential projects to the potentially game-changing development around Diridon Station but they got the most cheers when they gave a gift of a T-shirt emblazoned with San Jose to Matt Mahood, CEO of the business group that switched names from the San Jose/Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce to the Silicon Valley organization last year.

We know you changed your name, but we wanted to remind you, Walesh said with a smile.

CHEERING SECTION: The Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps finished its 50th anniversary season by winning a silver medal at the Drum Corps International World Class Finals in Indianapolis last weekend among a field of 40 drum corps. The 300-member Vanguard Alumni Corps, organized to celebrate the milestone season, also made the trip and performed for the crowd at Lucas Oil Stadium after Friday evenings semifinal competition.

And a round of applause is due to more than 100 volunteers who were pulled together by Somos Mayfair last Saturday to spruce up the campus of Cesar Chavez Elementary School in the East San Jose neighborhood. With support from Microsoft, Intel, Alum Rock Union School District and Vice Mayor Magdalena Carrascos office, the group got out the paint brushes and rollers to add some color to the campus. What a great back-to-school gift for the returning students.

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San Jose home tour celebrates a century of Spanish Revival - The Mercury News

Inside the Blissed-Out, Tight-Lipped, Spiritual Movement That Has Hollywood Obsessed – Thrillist

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Jerry Seinfeld loves cars.He also loves comedians and coffee, which most people know by now. But none of these is Seinfeld's favorite thing in the world. No, the legendary comic's favorite thing in the entire universe is energy, and the best way to acquire more of it (he claims) is through Transcendental Meditation.

Seinfeld raved about TM on the SiriusXM radio show "Success Without Stress," calling energy "the thing that I love more than money, more than love, more than just about anything... I think this is the reason, by the way, that I am so enthusiastic about TM."

He's far from alone. "It's a game changer," Katy Perry beamed about TM in the April 2017 cover story of Vogue, explaining that it makes her feel illuminated by "a halo of lights."

"I come from a line of neurotic Jewish women who need Transcendental Meditation more than anyone," Lena Dunham told a crowd at the David Lynch Foundation, a nonprofit that provides scholarships and pro-bono TM instruction to underserved populations.

Other celebrity advocates include Hugh Jackman, Ellen DeGeneres, Cameron Diaz, Aziz Ansari, Gisele Bndchen, Lykke Li, Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Oprah, Sheryl Crow, Paul McCartney, Clint Eastwood, Mick Jagger, Heather Graham, and Moby -- to name just a few. In fact, the list of famous TM devotees could go on almost forever; it even includes Fox News and News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch, a firm non-hippie who probably doesn't even know about patchouli oil.

Among all the stars who practice TM, director David Lynch (Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks) is the most prominent and active evangelist. He and friend Bob Roth (a TM instructor and practitioner) founded the David Lynch Foundation in 2005, for which Roth serves as Executive Director. In the 12 years since, TM has become almost as ubiquitous in Hollywood as drinking green juice after sweating it out in a boutique cycling class.

But whenever a cadre of celebrities latches onto a spiritual movement and begins tossing around words like "energy" and "transcend," people want to know what the hell they're missing, whether or not this is some kind of cult, or if it's merely another example of the rich and famous existing on a higher plane.

Alternative spiritual practices have long been a hallmark of celebrity culture, with past examples ranging from the Source Family, the health-food pioneers parodied in Woody Allen's Annie Hall; to the Children of God, the controversial cult in which actor Joaquin Phoenix was raised. Then there's Scientology, which recently ignited a firestorm of controversy thanks to the documentary expos Going Clear.

Transcendental Meditation, on the other hand, doesn't have too many critics. Billed as an "effortless" form of meditation that must be practiced for 20 minutes twice a day, the TM technique requires practitioners to sit with their eyes closed and silently repeat a personalized Sanskrit mantra (word or phrase) to themselves.

The results are as varied as the people who practice it. Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons says it's "almost like magic -- when you're awake, things become easier." Hedge fund manager Ray Dalio describes it as making him feel "like a ninja in a fight," while actress Eva Mendes saysit"helps creatively on a level that I cant describe... Its tapping into something so deep that when I reap the rewards, I dont even know Im reaping them."Descriptions differ, but a consensus emerges among the advocates: Transcendental Meditation is freaking great.

As a trademarked (!) methodology, the teaching and initiation process of TM has been highly organized, standardized, and, yes, monetized -- the only way to learn the officially sanctioned version is from one-on-one instruction, taught by licensed TM teachers, who are uniquely able to teach the technique to new practitioners by assigning them a personalized mantra based on factors like their temperament and occupation.

Like the well-chronicled practice of Scientology, Transcendental Meditation groups require adherents to shroud their spiritual journey in some level of secrecy. Followers of Scientology reveal past traumas to select members of the Church during the "auditing" process, which is intended to remain private; likewise, TM instructors ask that new practitioners not share their specialized mantra with anyone.

A four-day course to learn TM will set you back between $900 and $1,000 ($960, according to Roth), though the promises to the dutiful lifelong practitioner are designed to render the cost minuscule by comparison. What price can you put on stress and anxiety reduction, more focus and clarity, and a healthier heart, not to mention the specific conditions it purports to alleviate, like PTSD, ADHD, and depression?

The word "transcend" doesn't exactly conjure up thoughts of lower blood pressure or less stress, but the $1,000 you're spending ostensibly gives you the chance to transcend on a regular basis. In his book Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity, Lynch describes the experience of transcending as "bliss -- physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual happiness that starts growing from within. And all those things that used to kill you diminish...

"There's so much room for anxiety and fear. But transcending makes life more like a game -- a fantastic game."

Not bad for $960.

Roth has a pragmatic response to why an effortless practice costs anything at all: "I believe teaching meditation should be a profession," he says. "The one-time $960 cost -- $480 for college students, $360 for high school students and younger -- is what helps the TM instructor have a salary. But if you don't have the money, we won't stop you."

Roth clarifies that the price is a sliding scale, and that there are myriad grants and loans available for those that are unable to afford the standard price-tag. "More people learn to practice TM for free through the David Lynch Foundation than pay," Roth adds. "But when you pay, you're helping to pay the teacher and the rent of the center -- and you're also helping to pay for a kid or a veteran to learn how to meditate for free."

That's the mission Roth returns to consistently: those who can afford instruction not only receive a lifetime of benefits, but they help provide those same benefits to schoolkids, veterans, inmates, and others who wouldn't be able to pay for the course on their own. And it's easy to see the broad appeal beyond those who struggle with PTSD or have other specific issues they'd like to address, especially when someone like Oprah describes TM as "a powerfully energizing yet calming experience. I didnt want it to end. When it did, I walked away feeling fuller than when Id come in. Full of hope, a sense of contentment, and deep joy."

On the other side of the coin, though, comes suspicion, especially in light of stories from former Scientologists like Leah Remini and Paul Haggis, who accuse the Church of Scientology of aggressively soliciting funds from its members and inventing excuses to charge more for reaching supposedly higher planes of spiritual enlightenment. In both cases, rigorous standardization and tight-knit community engenders purity and precision, but also a sense of intrigue and elitism, both of which are ageless -- even defining -- aspects of celebrity culture. In that sense, it's easy to see why TM has taken Hollywood by storm.

As for how it all happened in a relatively short period of time, Roth concedes that Lynch has driven TM's spread among the elite creative cohort. "People in his field -- a Martin Scorsese, or a Naomi Watts -- would go to him and say, What's this meditation thing?' and he would say, 'Bobby' -- people call me Bobby -- 'Would you teach Martin?'"

Long before Lynch ignited a word-of-mouth trend, Transcendental Meditation had roots planted firmly in pop culture. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi founded TM after beginning his ascent to guru-hood after spearheading the "Spiritual Regeneration Movement" in India in 1958. The following year, Maharishi himself brought the newly minted technique of Transcendental Meditation to the US, picking up steam in the '60s, during the glory days of alfalfa sprouts and Esalen, the latter of which was portrayed in the final episode of Mad Men. As cultural winds shifted and a new generation became interested in free thought, free love, and expanded consciousness, TM began attracting celebrity acolytes, most notably members of The Beatles and The Beach Boys.

Today's George Harrison is Lynch, who hasn't made a film since 2006's Inland Empire, and whose legendary TV show, Twin Peaks, only recently returned after a 25-year hiatus. It's clear that Lynch has spent the last decade primarily focused on his TM practice, supporting advocacy initiatives for TM education at the David Lynch Foundation, and spreading the gospel of TM to Hollywood and beyond. "It was important for me to say something to the people... about my personal experience," Lynch told The New York Times, reflecting on studying TM under the tutelage of Maharishi himself in 2002.

Though Lynch has been meditating for more than 40 years, it was only after practicing TM with its founder -- spending an eye-popping $1 million to do so -- that Lynch began his journey as a missionary for the cause. Never mind that Maharishi didn't even make a physical appearance, merely communicating with Lynch via dial-in from his room. Apparently, it was one hell of a teleconference because it convinced the director that he needed to evangelize on behalf of Transcendental Meditation, eventually culminating in the formation of the David Lynch Foundation. "Lynch doesn't even want to make films anymore," director Abel Ferrara asserted in an interview with Indiewire back in 2011. "I'm a lunatic," Ferrara added, "And [Lynch is] pushing Transcendental Meditation."

It's that $1 million price tag to study with an absentee guru that gives cause for suspicion of this supposedly rigorous spiritual practice. And with celebrities now at the helm of TM's revival, it's no wonder that people have begun to wonder about its "cultic dimension." At what point does belonging to a costly spiritual community cross the line separating benign practice and coercive sect?

The very conceit of meditation is democratic, that anyone and everyone can benefit from its practice without a cost-based barrier to entry. So perhaps the draw of TM for celebrities is that it offers a sense of exclusivity: why wouldn't famous multi-millionaires spend a relative drop in the bucket to be a part of a spiritual cool kids' club? And the air of secrecy surrounding the mantra may offer a small sense of privacy to people who normally get very little of it, even though that secrecy could create the impression that TM is a relatively benign kind of cult.

Carole Cusack, Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Sydney in Australia, cautions that "cult" is an amorphous word used by the public to sensationalize stories about fringe spiritual practices, and not by scholars studying new religions and spirituality, "[The word cult] belongs to the world of tabloid journalism and sensationalist revelations about abuses in communities, etc.," she says, explaining why it so often appears in stories about Scientology.

"A cult is a religion or a spirituality that you don't like," she adds. "All the things that people criticize about Religion A happen in other religions; it's just that Religion A gets stigmatized."

Transcendental Meditation isn't a religion per se, so it can more easily avoid accusations of cultishness. But for Cusack, it's difficult to distinguish a practice from the religious tradition that spawned it: "TM is mostly taught as a technique... I think that it's a bit simplistic to imagine that you can completely sever a practice that is meant to be religious from its religious context." In other words, even if TM is for everyone, can it truly slough off its roots in Hindu religious practice? And if it's inherently religious, doesn't it open the door for accusations of cult-like practices? After all, it was founded and spread by a self-styled guru who charged David Lynch $1 million for a teleconference, and who by some accounts promised followers they could learn how to fly.

Since Maharishi's death in 2008, more and more critics have sought to interrogate the roots of TM, calling Maharishi a "controversial figure" and even "a fraud," pointing to John Lennon's eventual opinion of his former spiritual teacher. In 1986, former TM practitioner Robert Kropinski went so far as to sue the Maharishi University in Fairfield, Iowa for $9 million over allegations of fraud, neglect, and emotional damage (a jury gave him $138,000).

Today, Maharishi remains positioned as the iconic pioneer of the TM community, responsible for the organization's growth into a multi-billion-dollar empire -- while the David Lynch Foundation operates as a nonprofit, spreading any message (religious or otherwise) to the masses costs time and money, which means the DLF must raise funds. And soliciting money, no matter the cause, always has the potential to veer into coercive territory.

Roth wasn't shaken by the critiques of TM, which he addressed one by one: its price tag, its apparent secrecy, its elite celebrity cachet, its seemingly inexplicable trademark, even whether it could be considered a cult or passing celebrity craze.

"It's not a craze," he says. "We teach 10,000 kids and nobody knows about it. But when we teach 20 Hollywood actors, the whole world knows about it and thinks everybody in Hollywood is doing it. In fact, tons more kids... are learning it."

Cynthia Ann Humes, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Claremont McKenna College and an expert on Hindu practices and gurus in America, also points out that there's far more mainstream, casual acceptance of meditation than many people realize. "You have so many doctors completely on board with teaching patients meditation so that they can overcome [health] problems. Meditation is not fringe anymore. It is an accepted form of behavior that can produce multiple goods."

It shouldn't be a surprise that the kids receiving TM education, or patients with heart conditions learning meditation, aren't splashed on the covers of In Touch or Us Weekly. But Roth also doesn't deny that celebrity endorsements help the current goals of the David Lynch Foundation: "To raise sufficient funds to do large enough independent research studies on TM... and to make it available to anyone and everyone who would like to learn," in his own words. "The wealthy people I teach are the ones who are funding all these programs for the kids anyway," he explained. "Remember, the $960 pays for a lifetime of instruction and helps a child or veteran learn for free."

So when Hugh Jackman says, "In meditation, I can let go of everything. Im not Hugh Jackman. Im not a dad. Im not a husband. Im just dipping into that powerful source that creates everything. I take a little bath in it," he is also, by Roth's formulation, performing a transitive act of charity because he supports TM and the work of the David Lynch Foundation.

While Humes points out that many of the medical and psychological benefits of meditation don't necessarily specify that you have to practice a trademarked version to drop your blood pressure or reduce anxiety, there are also studies suggesting TM in particular offers benefits: the official TM website boasts 380 peer-reviewed research studies in more than 160 scientific journals. This enumeration closely mirrors the list of proven benefits of other, untrademarked meditation methodologies, from mindfulness to loving-kindness to Vedic meditation (a mantra-based technique that is said to be nearly identical to TM, minus the $960 price tag).

"There's too much siloing," Roth laments, speaking of people's tendency to over-categorize the array of meditation techniques out there. "They're different tools. And I think people should be given access to as many tools that are scientifically validated to work."

In explaining TM's particular methodology, Roth makes a sensible defense for the TM trademark: it's a matter of "quality control." Given that meditation has been rendered so much a part of capitalism that people casually market themselves as mindfulness "coaches," there's an even greater need for standardization. "Mindfulness is so diffuse that anybody can say anything," Roth said. "And from a scientific standpoint, that's very dangerous."

More simply: Are you transcending with a small t, or Transcending, capital T? For instructors of TM, it makes all the difference, and keeping the mantra a secret is a part of standardizing TM instruction, according to Roth.

"Keeping [the mantra] private is actually to avoid confusion. When you learn, I give you a sound, a mantra, and it's yours. These mantras are over 5,000 years old. I don't have 7 billion different mantras, someone else could have your mantra," he says. "But the way you think it, the way it fits you, fits your person, whatever it is, is going to end up being different than somebody else. And so we ask someone, when they learn, just keep it to themselves."

One thing is for sure: Celebrity support for TM has raised cultural awareness of meditation's benefits, which isn't just an inherent good, but potentially a cheap tool to help combat many of the chronic physical and psychological illnesses that currently require expensive, drug-based treatments to remedy. If saying, "I meditate" is no longer synonymous with dwelling in an incense-filled commune, subsisting on unhulled flax meal from the bulk aisle, then more people can reap its benefits. Companies like Google, Amazon, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank offer meditation classes to their employees for reduced stress and boosted productivity. From celebrity culture to professional life, meditation has become cool, normal, mainstream.

Whether or not its popularity will peter out in Hollywood remains a question. Will TM disappear from tabloid pages if and when David Lynch tires of holding its banner?

For Roth, it's an irrelevant question; only results matter. "Our whole focus is research now," he says. "If the VA pays for veterans to have Xanax, Ambien, or Klonopin, why can't they also pay for a veteran to learn TM or mindfulness or something else if there's research to show that it works?" Roth is quick to qualify that he has "nothing against the pharmaceutical industry," but his comparison demonstrates a compelling point. We don't dismiss pharmaceutical companies as unethical for promoting pills that have pages of adverse side effects, but we shudder when hearing that a branch of meditation cares about quality control, research, and compensation for its instructors.

Another thing Transcendental Meditation has in its corner is that it doesn't ask all that much of anyone who wants to practice it. "With TM, people dont have to agree to accepting the whole shebang -- Hinduism for example," Humes notes. "Scientology requires you to accept everything. TM isnt a religion in that sense. Its not even a fringe religion. It doesnt require you to change any belief patterns. The only thing you need to believe is that you need to practice meditation." Despite Cusack's skepticism of the distance from religion a technique based on religion can achieve, Hollywood has yet to convert to Hinduism en masse.

Unlike the bannermen of Scientology, Jerry Seinfeld will probably not be replacing his annual physical with spiritual devotion -- and we similarly dont have to worry about Katy Perry and Lena Dunham raving about Thetans. Tom Cruise, on the other hand, will likely continue to use the Church of Scientology as a reason to regard chemical depression as bunk.

Regardless of whether you think meditation is hokey, or Transcendental Meditation is an excuse to charge people more for something that should be free, it's somewhat reassuring to know that teachers and practitioners of TM take its name seriously. As Roth puts it, most of us would be pretty horrified to meet someone who said "I'm a cardiologist" who turned out not to be a cardiologist: "It shouldn't be like a horrible odyssey to find out the phone number of somebody who's a properly certified meditation teacher." If you seek out meditation, you shouldn't have to risk shelling out money to a genuine huckster with no training whatsoever.

As for whether Transcendental Meditation compares with Scientology as a coercive spiritual practice, Humes offers a telling anecdote. "I used to invite Scientology people into my class on cults. I stopped bringing them into the classroom because it was so complicated. The students were almost frightened by the people sent to represent Scientology. Its not the same."

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Charlotte Lieberman is a writer whose work has appeared in theHarvard Business Review, Cosmopolitan, and other publications. Follow her on Twitter @clieberwoman

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Inside the Blissed-Out, Tight-Lipped, Spiritual Movement That Has Hollywood Obsessed - Thrillist

WATCH: During eclipse, NASA sees Space Station move across sun – Palm Beach Post

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A NASA photographer captured a stunning image during the total solar eclipse on Monday.

The photo shows the International Space Station clearly set against the sun as the moon began to cast its shadow.

The Space Stations Twitter account also posted a video that shows the massive orbiting spacecraft moving from the right to left across the face of the sun.

The video was shot with a high-speed camera in Banner, Wyoming, according to the tweet.

People on Twitter were quick to react to the photo and video, with one person calling the photo thethe neatest thing about this eclipse.

Only the ISS is cool enough to photo bomb the eclipse, another person tweeted in reply to the video.

Later, the Space Station crew tweeted images only they were able to see: the solar eclipsesumbra, or shadow, visible on Earth.

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WATCH: During eclipse, NASA sees Space Station move across sun - Palm Beach Post

SEE IT: International Space Station witnesses ‘umbra’ of eclipse on Earth’s surface – New York Daily News

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SEE IT: International Space Station witnesses 'umbra' of eclipse on Earth's surface - New York Daily News

WATCH: International Space Station flies across sun during eclipse – WBIR-TV

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Lindsay Maizland , TEGNA 2:55 PM. EDT August 21, 2017

In this NASA handout, acomposite image, made from seven frames, shows the International Space Station as it transits the Sun at roughly five miles per second during a partial solar eclipse, Monday, Aug. 21, 2017 near Banner, Wyoming. (Photo: Joel Kowsky/NASA via Getty Images, 2017 NASA)

If you look closely at this photo and video of the solar eclipse, you will see a tiny speck crossing the sun. That speck is actually the International Space Station with a crew of six astronauts onboard.

Station transits sun at 5 miles per second in video taken at 1,500 frames per second with high-speed camera from Banner, Wyoming. pic.twitter.com/x6NNvCc0Af

NASA shared the video on Monday, Aug. 21 as a total solar eclipse swept across a portion of the United States. It was shot from a camera in Banner, Wyoming and was sped-up to 1,500 frames per second. The station moves at five miles per second.

Millions around the country watched the total solar eclipse, or when the moon completely obscures the sun, on Monday. It started along Oregon's west coast shortly after 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT). The sky turned dark for a few minutes in the middle of the sunny day. It will end along coastal South Carolina before 3 p.m. ET.

2017 TEGNA MEDIA

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WATCH: International Space Station flies across sun during eclipse - WBIR-TV

Here’s what the 2017 solar eclipse looked like from space – The Verge

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The 2017 solar eclipse has come and gone! Now, its time to stare in awe at all the amazing images captured by NASA, the European Space Agency, their satellites, and the luckiest folks off Earth: the astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

Yes, while you were pinching and zooming on your phone trying to nail the perfect Instagram moment, space agencies around the world were gathering the kinds of eclipse images that we could never dream of capturing ourselves.

To wit, there are already plenty of great images of shadow that the Moon cast across the country. Lets start with a few GIFs and videos of that, made from images captured by GOES-16, a satellite that launched into orbit last November:

The astronauts aboard the ISS were well-prepared to shoot the eclipse. American astronaut Jack Fisher tweeted a photo this morning of the dozen or so cameras that he and his space-bound co-workers were planning to use, while Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli shared a close-up of the giant solar filter covering his telephoto lens.

The ISS crew saw the Moons shadow from a more dramatic angle than the straight-on satellite shots.

While the astronauts were shooting the eclipse from a few hundred miles above, a very well-placed NASA photographer back on Earth captured the ISS as it crossed in front of the eclipse. It might look like its moving slowly in the video, but the ISS actually travels at about 17,000 miles per hour.

Another satellite operated by the European Space Agency, Proba-2, caught one of the most otherworldly images of the bunch. The satellite used a telescope that studies the extreme ultraviolet light coming from the Sun to capture this view of the eclipse:

More images of the 2017 solar eclipse are still pouring in, so well add any other space-related ones here if we spot them. And as always, feel free to drop your favorites in the comments below!

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Here's what the 2017 solar eclipse looked like from space - The Verge

Eclipse chasers keep fingers crossed for clear skies – Spaceflight Now

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With thrilling cosmic clockwork, the moon will pass in front of the sun Monday, casting a 70-mile-wide shadow that will sweep across the United States from coast to coast, giving millions along the path of totality a chance to marvel at one of natures grandest spectacles, a total eclipse of the sun.

It is the first solar eclipse visible from the United States since 1979 and the first to cross the entire continent in 99 years. Some 12 million people live in the path of totality, and many experts expect that number to at least double when veteran eclipse chasers, armchair astronomers and the merely curious rush in, possibly at the last minute.

So instead of being 12 million, were expecting 20 plus, said Rick Fienberg, a spokesman for the American Astronomical Society. I would be surprised if that was an inaccurate estimate.

Weather permitting and with eye safety in mind everyone in the continental United States, Canada, Central America and the northern quarter of South America will enjoy a partial solar eclipse, with the moon blocking some or even most of the sun as the three-hour event unfolds.

But for the millions of residents who live in the 14 states along the path of totality, along with millions more who braved predicted heavy traffic to join them, the sky will darken as the sun is completely obscured, the temperature will drop, bright stars and planets will come out and a 360-degree sunset will be visible around the horizon.

In the seconds before the sun is totally obscured, brilliant shafts of light passing through lunar valleys and chasms around the moons limb will flicker and flare, a phenomenon known as Bailys Beads, before a brief, final burst of concentrated sunshine giving the sun the appearance of a diamond ring.

And suddenly, that final flare will vanish, the sun will disappear and its outer atmosphere, the normally unseen, super-heated corona, will shine and shimmer with the brightness of a full moon, a crown-like halo stretching away in all directions.

If youre in the path of totality, it will get dark, it will get cool, you will experience a total eclipse, Fienberg said in a telephone interview from Oregon.

Of course, the part thats most exciting is actually seeing the corona and seeing the beautiful sunset colors and seeing the stars and planets come out. Hopefully, as many people as possible will see that. Whatever the weather, I suspect this will still go down as the most observed eclipse in history.

Michael Bakich, a senior editor with Astronomy magazine, put it like this:

Do you know the difference between a partial and a total eclipse? Its the difference between a lightning bug and lightning, he wrote. Between testing negative and positive with a pregnancy test. Between a paper cut and stepping on a land mind. In other words, theres no comparison.

I think of it as awesome in the truest sense of the word: able to inspire or generate awe. I guarantee that if you stand in the moons shadow under a clear sky, youll never forget it. Furthermore, it will stand out as one of the greatest if not the greatest sights you ever have or ever will behold.

The spectacle begins near Lincoln Beach, Oregon, when the moons outer shadow, or penumbra crosses the coast at 9:05 a.m. PDT (12:05 p.m. EDT), marking the start of a partial solar eclipse.

One hour and 11 minutes later, at 10:16 a.m. local time (1:16 p.m. EDT), the dark inner heart of the moons shadow the umbra will cross the coast. For the next one minute and 58 seconds for those along the coast, the moon will totally block out the sun as the umbra, moving at some 2,400 mph, begins its race across the heartland of American.

Because of the swiftly-changing geometry and the motions of the Earth and moon as they wheel about in space, the duration of totality increases as the shadow races eastward, lasting an additional four seconds by the time it reached Madras, Oregon, three-and-a-half minutes after landfall.

A town of 6,200 with historically clear skies, Madras braced for a veritable flood of visitors.

Theyre expecting about a million people to enter the state, a million out-of-towners are supposed to come to the state of Oregon, said CBS News Correspondent Jamie Yuccas. Where were located in Madras, theyre expecting between 100,000 and 200,000 people.

She said the local residents have been really, really nice and accommodating.

What the mayor said to me was kind of funny, Yuccas said. He said you know, I think its going to be one of those situations that you might not get your newspaper, you might not have your daily Starbucks and if that happens, I guess its a first-world problem, and youre going to have to figure out your own survival skills.'

She laughed, saying there are going to be some minor inconveniences, but I actually think they had a pretty good plan together.

Fienberg also was in Madras, leading a tour group for his 13th solar eclipse.

Its like children, you know, you love them all, you cant have a favorite, he said. Im excited for this one. This is he first opportunity I have to actually shoot pictures with a tracking telescope mount and computer controlled camera. Im usually traveling to far, distant lands where I cant bring all that stuff.

The computer is programmed to track the sun and take 300 pictures between the start of the eclipse and its conclusion. And Im not going to have to touch it! Im going to get to look this time instead of spending half my time trying to take pictures manually, Fienberg said.

From Madras, the moons shadow will sweep across Oregon and into Idaho, passing just north of Boise before moving on across Idaho Falls at 11:33 a.m. local time (1:33 p.m. EDT), and Casper, Wyoming, at 11:42 a.m. (1:42 p.m. EDT).

Steven Young, publisher of Astronomy Now magazine in Great Britain, picked Casper because of its generally clear August weather and grand western vistas. He was not alone.

Theres a map here that people are putting pins into, Young said by telephone. There are people from Australia, the Philippines, all across Europe, Russia, India, South Africa who have put pins in. Everywhere you go, people are here for the eclipse.

City managers closed off the historic section of downtown and most businesses, the library, offices, are all going to be closed, like a national holiday, Young said. I think the population here is 50,000, but the locals have been told to expect that to double. Theres definitely a lot of excitement. Everywhere you go people are talking about the eclipse.

From Casper, the shadow will race along to Grand Island, Nebraska, at 12:58 p.m. (1:58 p.m. EDT), St. Joseph, Missouri, at 1:06 p.m. (2:06 p.m. EDT) and nearby Columbia six minutes later. By this point, the shadow will have slowed to about 1,500 mph.

Residents of the northeast corner of Kansas City, just inside the path of totality, will enjoy about a minute of darkness around 1:08 p.m. (2:08 p.m. EDT) as will residents in southwestern St. Louis a few minutes after that.

Crossing the Mississippi River, the center of the umbra will pass just south of Carbondale, Illinois, at 1:20 p.m. (2:20 p.m. EDT) before moving over Paducah and Hopkinsville, Kentucky, at 1:24 p.m. (2:24 p.m. EDT). A few miles south of Carbondale, eclipse watchers will enjoy the maximum duration of darkness, about two minutes and 43 seconds of totality.

Illinois Southern University in Carbondale is hosting eclipse watchers at its football stadium, where 20,000 spectators are expected, along with amateur astronomers spread out across an adjacent field, scores of vendors, area residents, students, journalists and veteran eclipse chasers. The small town took on a carnival atmosphere in the days leading up to the eclipse as city managers and residents implemented a detailed, smooth-running plan years in the making.

NASA Edge, a popular space-centric science and technology show carried on NASAs satellite television system and streamed on the internet, was set up at the ISU stadium as part of the space agencys megacast of eclipse events.

Were essentially covering the entirety of the eclipse from the west coast to the east coast, focusing on totality here in Carbondale, said executive producer and co-host Blair Allen. Its the crossroads of the eclipse. In seven years, in some bizarre twist of natural fate, Carbondale happens to be where (the next U.S.) eclipse comes in 2024. Since its coming again, this is sort of a sneak preview for 2024.

A suite of sophisticated cameras and telescopes, one with a nine-inch lens, were set up to stream live images of the sun throughout the day in multiple wavelengths.

You dont have the opportunity to see this kind of astronomical event with any kind of regularity, Allen said. So for us, its right up there, because even though we know in seven years there will be another one, you never know if youre going to make it, you never know whats gong to be happening or, more important, whether therell be good weather. Were keeping our fingers crossed.

From Illinois and Kentucky, the shadow will move across Clarksville and then Nashville, Tennessee, the largest city in the path of totality, at 1:27 p.m. (2:27 p.m. EDT). A few moments later, it will pass over Interstate 40 near Silverpoint, TN, where home builder Tommy Thomas prepared for a mega-eclipse party of his own on the family farm, a stones throw from the center of totality. He expected about 200 guests.

He said his twin daughters called me one day and said Dad, the eclipse is crossing your driveway. We want to have a party. I said Im up for it. We brought in a tent, we brought in restrooms, weve got electricity, weve made a bar out of the barn, weve got areas for different social groups, weve got fire pits, were going to have games.

Life is meant to be celebrated, and if you dont do it, its your fault, Thomas said. Were going to sit out here, drink a drink, make a toast and enjoy life.

Crossing central Tennessee, the moons shadow will pass over the Smokey Mountains, the southwest corner of North Carolina and then race over the heart of South Carolina where viewers in Greenville, Columbia and Charleston will enjoy totality between 2:38 p.m. and 2:47 p.m. EDT.

The moons shadow then will move off shore and out over the Atlantic Ocean, one hour and 33 minutes after the umbra crossed the coast of Oregon some 2,500 miles away.

Many, many people are going to be losing their eclipse virginity on Monday, Fienberg said. Its going to be a pretty exciting day.

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Eclipse chasers keep fingers crossed for clear skies - Spaceflight Now

Swindon spaceflight expert bound for TV on BBC2’s Astronauts – Swindon Advertiser

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A Swindon-based human spaceflight expert will be part of a new BBC2 show which launched last night, putting 12 contestants to the test to see whether they have what it takes to become an astronaut.

Libby Jackson, the Human Spaceflight and Microgravity Programme Manager at the UK Space Agency, based in Swindons Polaris House, has contributed her expertise to ensure that Astronauts: Do You Have What It Takes? provides a realistic challenge for the aspiring spacemen and women.

Libby, 36, who will be making an appearance herself later in the series, manages the UKs human spaceflight programme, as well as looking after the community of British researchers who are involved with the International Space Station.

She said of the programme: I think it is superb, I think it is wonderful to see the British space industrygetting such a prime-time slot.

I was pleased to see that everyone seems to be so excited about it, and it is going to be fascinating, to see how the candidates progress over the next five weeks.

The first episode saw the participants challenged to hold a helicopter in a steady position, repeat long lists of numbers backwards while exercising, and draw their own blood.

And Libby believes they make for a genuine representation of the selection process: It is very realistic, the team of experts they have got is fantastic. They have worked with the producers of the programme to put together a very realistic set of tests.

They are based on real tests, so they are good representations of the kind of things that people go through in astronaut selection.

Libby first became interested in human space flight herself at 17, after undertaking a placement which included shadowing a flight director at NASAs Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas.

After completing her undergraduate degree at Imperial College, London, she studied for a Masters in Astronautics and Space Engineering at Cranfield University.

She started her career in satellite operations, then moved to Munich as a flight controller and instructor of astronauts, before joining Europes Mission Control for seven years.

Libby has been based at the UK Space Agency for the last four years, where she managed the education outreach programme for astronaut Tim Peakes mission, reaching over 1.6m children and one third of the UKs schools in the process.

She said still feels the same enthusiasm for her career: I love it. I have always gone to work and can never quite believe that I get to do something I enjoy so much it is my passion.

I was fascinated by space my whole life, motivated by the Apollo missions. While I was at university I realised that this was something I could do for a living.

When I was at university, the UK didnt support human space flight programmes - now I manage the human space flight programme for the UK.

I still cant believe Im doing this.

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Swindon spaceflight expert bound for TV on BBC2's Astronauts - Swindon Advertiser

SpaceX launches cargo capsule full of science experiments … – Spaceflight Now

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Credit: SpaceX

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket climbed into space Monday from NASAs Kennedy Space Center atop a column of gleaming exhaust, shooting a commercial resupply vessel toward the International Space Station with research projects looking into cosmic rays, the origin of Parkinsons disease, the utility of small satellites and an experimental radiation-tolerant supercomputer.

Crammed with more than 6,400 pounds (2,900 kilograms) of supplies, the Dragon capsule bolted on top of the Falcon 9 rocket also carried computer and camera gear, components to maintain the stations life support system and medical equipment, and provisions for the stations six-person crew, including clothing, fresh food and ice cream.

The 213-foot-tall (65-meter) rocket took off from pad 39A at the Florida spaceport at 12:31:37 p.m. EDT (1631:37 GMT), pitched toward the northeast to align with the space stations orbit, and roared through scattered clouds before disappearing into a blue summertime sky.

Nine Merlin 1D main engines at the base of the booster generated 1.7 million pounds of thrust, pushing the rocket into the stratosphere before the first stage switched off and fell away at an altitude of 40 miles (65 kilometers).

A single Merlin engine fired on the Falcon 9s upper stage to power the Dragon capsule into orbit. Glowing red-hot, the second stage engine throttled up to more than 200,000 pounds of thrust for its six-and-a-half minute firing.

Meanwhile, in a maneuver now common during SpaceX launches, the first stage flipped around with guided pulses of cold nitrogen gas to point tail first, then reignited three of its Merlin engines to boost itself back forward Cape Canaveral.

Two more braking maneuvers were needed to slow down the descending rocket, steering it back to the coast with the help of aerodynamic fins before extending four landing legs and settling on a concrete target at Landing Zone 1 less than eight minutes after liftoff, around 9 miles (15 kilometers) south of the Falcon 9s departure point at pad 39A.

From what Ive heard, its right on the bullseye and (had a) very soft touchdown, so its a great pre-flown booster ready to go for the next time, said Hans Koenigsmann, SpaceXs vice president of flight reliability.

SpaceX has reused two of its recovered first stage boosters to date, and engineers are prepping another previously-flown rocket for a mission with an SES communications satellite this fall.

The rocket launched Monday was a fresh vehicle, but its landing legs were scavenged from a vehicle flown on a previous mission, Koenigsmann said.

The upper stage continued rocketing into orbit, turning off its engine just after the nine-minute point in the flight, then deploying the Dragon capsule into an on-target slightly egg-shaped orbit averaging around 175 miles (280 kilometers) above the planet.

The second stage went into a near-perfect orbit (and) deployed Dragon, Koenigsmann said in a media briefing around two hours after the launch.

Dragon primed propellant and has performed the first co-elliptic burn at this point in time, he said, referring to the first in a series of thruster firings on tap to guide the capsule toward the space station.

The supply ships power-generating solar arrays extended shortly after it arrived in space, while the Falcon 9s second stage reignited for a de-orbit maneuver to avoid the creation of space junk.

With Mondays launch, SpaceXs Falcon 9 rocket family has accomplished 39 missions since debuting in 2010, and 38 of them have succeeded in their primary objectives. Those statistics do not include a Falcon 9 rocket that exploded before takeoff during testing on the launch pad, destroying an Israeli communications satellite.

SpaceX has landed the Falcon 9s first stage intact 14 times in 19 tries since the company attempted its first rocket landing on a barge at sea in 2015. Six of those touchdowns have occurred at Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral.

The automated cargo freighter will reach its destination Wednesday, when astronaut Jack Fischer will take command of the space stations Canadian-built robotic arm to capture the commercial spaceship around 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT).

The robotic arm will install Dragon on the space stations Harmony module for a planned 32-day stay.

While astronauts inside the station will unpack cargo inside Dragons internal cabin, the Canadian and Japanese robotic arms will transfer a NASA-funded cosmic ray sensor to a mounting post outside the Kibo laboratory.

Derived from an instrument carried aloft on high-altitude balloons, the Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass, or CREAM, payload will spend at least three years sampling particles sent speeding through the universe by cataclysmic supernova explosions, and perhaps other exotic phenomena like dark matter.

Scientists think the subatomic particles could hold the key to unlocking mysteries about the universe.

One experiment stowed inside the capsules pressurized section will investigate the origins of Parkinsons disease in a bid to find a therapy that could slow or halt its development, and another will study the affects of spaceflight on the development of bioengineered lung tissue, potentially helping scientists lessen the chance of organ rejection in transplant patients.

A supercomputer developed by Hewlett Packard Enterprise will spend at least a year on the space station, helping engineers gauge the ruggedness of commercial computer components in the harsh conditions of space.

Most computers sent into space are physically hardened to withstand radiation, cosmic rays, and other rigors of spaceflight. Hewlett Packard said its spaceborne computer experiment was hardened with software, reducing the time, money and weight of the supercomputer.

The experimental computer passed at least 146 safety tests and certifications to win NASA approval for the trip to the space station. If it works, Hewlett Packard officials said it could help future space missions, including a human expedition to Mars, have the latest computer technology.

Four small satellites inside the Dragon capsule will be moved inside the space station for deployment later this year.

The biggest of the bunch, named Kestrel Eye 2M, is a pathfinder for a potential constellation of Earth-imaging spacecraft for the U.S. military. About the size of a dorm room refrigerator, the Kestrel Eye 2M satellite was developed by the Armys Space and Missile Defense Command over the last five years.

Three CubeSats sponsored by NASA will test technologies for compact telescopes that could help astronomers observe stars and search for exoplanets, demonstrate a more reliable small satellite design, and study space weather.

Mondays Falcon 9 flight was the first of three launches scheduled from Cape Canaveral in the next 11 days.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket is scheduled to roll out Wednesday to pad 41 at the Cape ahead of liftoff Friday at 8:03 a.m. EDT (1203 GMT) with a NASA satellite designed to track rockets climbing into space and relay communications between scientific spacecraft in orbit around Earth.

An Orbital ATK Minotaur 4 rocket is being readied for launch at 11:15 p.m. EDT Aug. 25 (0315 GMT Aug. 26) from Cape Canaverals pad 46 with a military space surveillance mission.

The next mission on SpaceXs manifest is scheduled for Aug. 24 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. A Falcon 9 rocket will haul the Taiwanese Formosat 5 Earth observation satellite into a polar orbit, and its first stage will attempt a return to a barge downrange in the Pacific Ocean.

SpaceXs team at the Kennedy Space Center will prepare a Falcon 9 to deploy the U.S. Air Forces reusable X-37B spaceplane no earlier than Sept. 7.

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SpaceX informed NASA of slowdown in its commercial Mars program – Spaceflight Now

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Artists concept of a Red Dragon spacecraft on the surface of Mars. Credit: SpaceX

Confirming rumors and suspicions that SpaceX is adjusting its plans to begin dispatching robotic landers to Mars, NASA officials said the commercial space company has informed the agency that it has put its Red Dragon program on the back burner.

Under the terms of a Space Act Agreement between NASA and SpaceX, the government agreed to provide navigation and communications services for the Red Dragon mission, which originally aimed to deliver an unpiloted lander to Mars in 2018. SpaceX confirmed earlier this year the launch of the experimental lander on a Falcon Heavy rocket had slipped to 2020.

But Elon Musk, SpaceXs founder and chief executive, said last month that the company is redesigning its next-generation Dragon capsule, a craft designed to carry astronauts to the International Space Station, to do away with the capability for propulsive, precision helicopter-like landings as originally envisioned. Returning space crews will instead splash down in the ocean under parachutes.

The Red Dragon is a robotic, unoccupied version of the Crew Dragon capsule. The concept publicized by SpaceX called for it to use side-mounted jet packs to slow down in the Martian atmosphere, then brake for a rocket-assisted touchdown.

But with that capability removed from the Crew Dragon, outsiders raised questions about the Red Dragon initiative. Musk has not specifically addressed the future of Red Dragon, and a SpaceX spokesperson did not respond to questions on the matter.

Jim Green, head of NASAs planetary science division, told Spaceflight Now in an interview that SpaceX has told the agency that it has put Red Dragon back on the back burner.

Were available to talk to Elon when hes ready to talk to us and were not pushing him in any way, Green said. Its really up to him. Through the Space Act Agreement, wed agreed to navigate to Mars, get him to the top of the atmosphere, and then it was up to him to land. Thats a pretty good deal, I think.

NASA officials said last year that the agency expected to spend about $32 million to support the Red Dragon program over a four-year period. That was expected to be around 10 percent of the total cost of the first Red Dragon mission, one NASA official familiar with the agreement said last year.

The Red Dragons would have delivered cargo and experiments to the Martian surface and tested supersonic retro-propulsion in the planets rarefied atmosphere for the first time. NASA engineers say a rocket-braking mechanism like the Dragons SuperDraco thrusters is needed to safely land heavy supply ships and crew vehicles on Mars.

The space agency signed up to support the privately-developed Red Dragon project to gather data on supersonic retro-propulsion officials said NASA would be unable to obtain until at least the late 2020s with a government-managed mission.

Musk wrote in a tweet that SpaceX has not abandoned supersonic retro-propulsion at Mars.

Plan is to do powered landings on Mars for sure, but with a vastly bigger ship, he tweeted last month after the announcement that SpaceX is omitting the propulsive landing capability on the Crew Dragon.

Musk said his team at SpaceX is refining how the company could send people to Mars, eventually to settle there. He revealed a Mars transportation architecture in a speech at the 67th International Astronautical Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, last year, but the outline has since changed.

A vision for gigantic interplanetary transporters Musk presented last year has been downsized, he said.

Musk said he will unveil the changes during a presentation in September at this years International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide, Australia.

Launch opportunities from Earth to Mars come every 26 months or so, when the planets are aligned in their orbits around the sun to allow for a direct interplanetary trip.

What Ive said is, Im ready, Green said. When they contact us and say, Green, start a solution for going from here to Mars in 20-whatever, then Ill do that.

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SpaceX informed NASA of slowdown in its commercial Mars program - Spaceflight Now

Japan launches navigation satellite after week-long delay – Spaceflight Now

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Japans H-2A rocket lifts off Saturday from the Tanegashima Space Center. Credit: MHI

A Japanese H-2A rocket soared away from a launch pad on a rocky overlook on the Pacific Ocean on Saturday, hauling into orbit the countrys third Michibiki satellite to join a constellation of navigation aids to improve positioning services across the country.

The third satellite to join Japans Quasi-Zenith Satellite System took off at 0529 GMT (1:29 a.m. EDT; 2:29 p.m. Japan Standard Time) Saturday, eight days later than originally scheduled.

Weather pushed back the missions initial Aug. 11 launch date, and a leaky helium pressurization system scrubbed a launch attempt Aug. 12, forcing ground crews to roll the rocket back to its hangar for repairs.

The 174-foot-tall (53-meter) H-2A launcher, powered by a hydrogen-fueled main engine and four strap-on solid rocket boosters, headed east from the Tanegashima Space Center, a spaceport built on an island at the southwestern edge of the country.

Climbing through a clear afternoon sky on 2.5 million pounds of thrust, the H-2A rocket quickly exceeded the speed of sound and left a twirling column of exhaust in its wake.

The four solid rocket boosters let go from the launcher around two minutes after liftoff, and the shroud covering the Michibiki 3 spacecraft jettisoned a couple of minutes later.

The H-2As cryogenic upper stage engine performed back-to-back burns to guide the Michibiki 3 satellite into an oval-shaped geostationary transfer orbit that will take the payload more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) above Earth at its highest point.

The Japanese launch team reported no issues during the flight, and they announced an on-target separation of the Michibiki 3 satellite around 29 minutes into the mission, prompting applause from engineers in the H-2A control center.

The satellite was expected to radio its status to a ground station soon after launch, and Michibiki 3s on-board engine will conduct multiple firings over the next few days to circularize its orbit at geostationary altitude around 22,300 miles (35,800 kilometers) over the equator.

Built by Mitsubishi Electric, the navigation craft joins two similar satellites launched on H-2A rockets in September 2010 and in June of this year. Those previous spacecraft circle Earth in orbits tilted at an angle to the equator, causing them to oscillate north and south, but remain always fixed over the Asia-Pacific region.

A fourth Japanese navigation satellite will launch later this year on another H-2A flight.

Michibiki means guiding or showing the way in Japanese.

The network will help ensure drivers, hikers and other users can constantly locate themselves. Skyscrapers in cities, such as Tokyo, and mountainous terrain can block signals from GPS satellites, which are located in orbits closer to Earth than the Michibiki satellites.

The GPS constellation, operated by the U.S. Air Force, flies 12,550 miles (20,200 kilometers) above Earth. Although there are at least 30 operational GPS spacecraft, only a small fraction of the fleet is visible from a single point on Earth at one time.

It takes four GPS satellites to calculate a precise position on Earth, but a Michibiki satellite broadcasting the same four L-band signals will give a receiver an estimate if there are not enough GPS satellites visible, or it can help produce a more accurate position calculation even with full GPS service.

The Quasi-Zenith Satellite System is the first in the world to transmit sub-meter and centimeter level augmentation signals, said Hiromichi Moriyama, executive director of the National Space Policy Secretariat in Japans Cabinet Office. It will be in charge of communications linking evacuation shelters and emergency response headquarters in times of disaster.

Officials say urban planning, agriculture, disaster response and national security will be supported by the four-satellite navigation fleet.

Japan is not the country developing a regional navigation fleet to improve GPS signals over its territory.

India has launched seven navigation satellites with an eighth due for liftoff later this month to work in concert with the GPS satellites across the subcontinent.

Meanwhile, European nations and China are developing and deploying separate navigation networks to provide global services independent of the GPS constellation. Russia already has its own satellite navigation system with near-global coverage.

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From Strawberry Blonde To Burgundy, These Are The Best Eyebrow Products For Red Heads – Sporteluxe

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Recently, I found myself in a bit of a hair rut after having locks that could be best described as boring brown for years. I desperately needed a change-up, so I had it coloured a burgundy shade. Not long after I had it done, I went to my brow place for my usual shape and tint. Medium brown for the tint, please! I said to the brow technician out of habit. She took one look at my hair and said Yeaaaah no, thats going to look really weird. I was told there was no tint that would go with my new hair colour.

No worries, I thought. Ill just go to Sephora and find a brow pencil thatll match my hair. Turns out, thats not a thing. In fact, eyebrow products for red heads arent really a thing, full stop! I was shocked to discover that for all this time, our flame-haired sisters have been at a serious disadvantage when it comes to getting their brows on fleek. Upon doing some further research, I discovered that brow products for ginger gals do exist theyre just very few and far in between.

So, in the interest of saving you time, we decided to put together this guide for you. Whether youre a burgundy babe or a copper queen, weve got you sorted with the best brow products for your hair colour. Oh, and keep in mind youre never meant to match your brows exactly with your hair, but a shade or two lighter should do the trick.

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From Strawberry Blonde To Burgundy, These Are The Best Eyebrow Products For Red Heads - Sporteluxe

NASA jets will chase solar eclipse at 50000 feet – KWCH

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The best view of the eclipse will not come from the ground but the skies.

Cary Klemm is of four NASA flight crew members that will get the view of a lifetime.

They will be chasing the eclipse over Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky at 400 miles an hour in 1960s-era former bomber jets.

"My job is to calibrate and initialize the camera payload that we'll be using to look at the eclipse. That includes focusing and zooming in to get the best shot," says, Klemm.

All crew members will be wearing solar eclipse glasses during the flight.

Klem says, "It's actually even more important to wear the eclipse glasses at high altitudes. There's less air to block the sun, and the sun's a lot stronger."

The planes will be outfitted with special cameras in their nose cones so the planes can get a good look at the solar corona, the outer atmosphere of the sun.

NASA says the results of this flight will lead to a better understanding of the corona, which will eventually lead to a better understanding of flares and coronal mass ejections.

The best way to understand what erupts off the sun's corona - is to photograph it over long periods of time - but ground-based cameras will only have about two minutes of total eclipse time.

Since two planes will be flying tandem along the eclipse path, scientists will have an unprecedented look at the sun.

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NASA jets will chase solar eclipse at 50000 feet - KWCH

NASA: Wave at the moon during the solar eclipse – CNET

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The LRO snapped this photo of Earth during the 2012 solar eclipse.

While you're standing outside enjoying the spectacle of the great North American solar eclipse, be sure to reach a hand out toward the moon and give an enthusiastic wave.

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) will turns its eyes from the moon and instead aim its camera at Earth during Monday's eclipse, so the space agency wants you to say "hi" to the distant spacecraft.

The LRO will snap a portrait of Earth around 11:25 a.m. PT, so be sure to set an alert on your calendar. NASA's LRO team member Andrea Jones notes that you don't have to be in the path of totality to participate, saying "everyone in an entire hemisphere of the Earth can wave at the Moon as LRO takes our picture."

The LRO captured an image of Earth during the 2012 solar eclipse. A dark blotch shows where the moon's shadow fell at the time.

The LRO's camera will again get a great look at the Earth's surface features today, but it doesn't have the resolution to make out individual people. It's the thought that counts, though. With millions able to witness the eclipse, the moon-wave is all about bringing us together for a shared experience at a moment in history.

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31 amazing photos of solar eclipses (pictures)

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NASA & PARI scientists in prime seat to analyze the eclipse – WLOS

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While tourists and locals are enjoying the eclipse in and around Western North Carolina, NASA and PARI scientists will be analyzing the eclipse from the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute. (Photo credit: WLOS Staff)

While tourists and locals are enjoying the eclipse in and around Western North Carolina, NASA and PARI scientists will be analyzing the eclipse from the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute.

Officials say because the core of the sun will be blocked by the moon it's a chance for them to study the outer rays, which officials there say is huge for them.

PARI, which is near Brevard, is the first research institute of its kind to be in the path of a total eclipse.

So researchers say they don't know what they'll discover.

They'll be using a number of optical cameras and radio telescopes to make that happen.

Scientists are on-site all day, but the magic moment comes at 2:36 p.m. and lasts about 1 minute and 47 seconds.

Scientists say for everyone else, to really take in what this eclipse has to offer, it's extremely important to be in the right spot.

Don Cline, President, Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI), "some people feel that they can go out and watch the eclipse from their home or location like for Asheville and if you do, you'll miss the main feature of seeing the solar eclipose and that is stars in the middle of the day."

Cline says you have to be in totality to see stars.

PARI is offering a live stream, starting at 9 a.m., from their YouTube channel. You can watch presentations from NASA researchers and PARI's very own Dr. Bob Hayward.

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NASA & PARI scientists in prime seat to analyze the eclipse - WLOS

NASA Chief: There is More Going on Right Now in Space Than I’ve Ever Seen in My Career – Futurism

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In BriefSpaceX's Falcon Heavy launch, Blue Origin and VirginGalactic's upcoming space tours, and NASA's plans for the ISS makeit clear there's a lot going on with regards to space, and NASA'sActing Administrator couldn't help but noticed. All Eyes on Space

Its an exciting time for those interested in space and everything it has to offer us. Between our potential to travel in space and how much weve come to learn (and can still learn) from unmanned probes and satellites, its hard to not be hopeful for the future of our interest in the seemingly-boundless expanse that surrounds us.

NASAs Acting Administrator Robert M. Lightfoot, Jr. feels the same about the exploration of space. To him, the many plans, projects, and initiatives focused in this respect are well worth getting excited about.

There is more going on right now in space than Ive ever seen in my career, he told Futurism.

Its easy to empathize with this perspective. SpaceX, the company founded by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, plans to send astronauts to space in 2018, and recently helped deliver a supercomputer to the International Space Station. If that wasnt enough space travel, it also has a highly-anticipated event slated for November: the first launch of the Falcon Heavy rocket.

At the same time, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his company Blue Origin are looking to make space travel more accessible by providing brief tours to everyday people.Their New Shepard capsule, while not meant to reach other planets, or even the Moon, is powerful enough to reach a suborbit, allowing passengers to see space. Its expected to begin offering commercial flights next year.

In both public and private spaces, SpaceX and Blue Origin are often viewed as direct competitors, and as such its no secret that this is a race to see who makes it happen first. That said, theres more competition when it comes to commercializing space travel, such as Virgin Galactic, which also hopes to put people in space next year.

We are getting to space a little differently than we used to. Its not just us anymore by ourselves, said Lightfoot.

Despite how committed private companies are, NASA isnt leaving all the fun to them. Though it doesnt have plans to send people on space tours, it still has probes and other spacecraft out there. Cassini, which recently sent back new data from Saturn as part of its final mission. Theres also the revival of New Horizons, a spacecraft thats been dormant for the last several months that will now be used to investigate a mysterious object in the Kuiper Belt. Getting more people into space is enticing, but for now there are some places only a satellite is capable of reaching.Click to View Full Infographic

As for its own future developments, NASA has plans to improve upon the International Space Station, and its solar arrays, and the benefits of the refit may reach become a part of our quotidian lives. Known as the Roll Out Solar Array, or ROSA, this technology could make it far easier to transport and collect solar power. The tech could also improve services weve come to rely on, like GPS, weather forecasts, and satellite radio. ROSA still has a few quirks to work out, but its quickly on its way to becoming the most efficient solar array created.

Lightfoot is right to take note of how many things people have planned for space, and it feels like the momentum will lead to new developments and discoveries. Fingers crossed this trend doesnt slow, and people continue to have an interest in space for years to come.

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NASA Chief: There is More Going on Right Now in Space Than I've Ever Seen in My Career - Futurism

Lungs in space: research project could lead to new lung therapeutics – Phys.Org

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August 15, 2017

Space travel can cause a lot of stress on the human body as the change in gravity, radiation and other factors creates a hostile environment. While much is known about how different parts of the body react in space, how lungs are affected by spaceflight has received little attention until now, say researchers at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and Houston Methodist Research Institute.

That will change, though, once their research project, which aims to grow lungs in space, reaches the International Space Station. UTMB and HMRI researchers say what they learn from the study could have real implications for astronauts, as well as those still on Earth, and could lead to future therapeutics.

"We know a lot about what happens in space to bones, muscle, the heart and the immune system, but nobody knows much about what happens to the lungs," said Joan Nichols, a professor of Internal Medicine and Microbiology and Immunology, and associate director for research and operations for the Galveston National Laboratory at UTMB. "We know that there are some problems with lungs in space flight, but that hasn't been closely looked into. We hope to find out how lung cells react to the change in gravity and the extreme space environment, and then that can help us protect astronauts in space, as well as the lungs of regular people here on Earth."

This investigation represents the third of four collaborative projects currently active at the HMRI's Center for Space Nanomedicine. The center, directed by Alessandro Grattoni, chairman and associate professor of the Department of Nanomedicine at HMRI, focuses on the investigation of nanotechnology-based strategies for medicine on Earth and in space. The research is supported by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, NASA and HMRI.

Scientists from UTMB and HMRI prepared bioreactor pouches that include lung progenitor and stem cells and pieces of lung scaffolding. The scaffolding is the collagen and elastin frame on which lung cells grow. Space X successfully launched the payload containing these pouches Aug. 14 on its 12th Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-12) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and is expected to arrive at the International Space Station Aug. 16. Once on the ISS, the cells are expected to grow on the scaffold in a retrofitted bioreactor.

Once the lung cells have returned to Earth, researchers will look for the development of fibrosis, the structure of the tissues and the response of immune cells, among other changes and damage that could occur to the lung cells. Lung injuries have been found to accelerate in space, and it is through close study of those cells that therapeutics hopefully could be developed.

Nichols and Dr. Joaquin Cortiella, a professor and director of the Lab of Tissue Engineering and Organ Regeneration at UTMB, have successfully grown lungs in their lab in Galveston, but now they will see if astronauts can do the same in zero gravity. Jason Sakamoto, affiliate professor and former co-chair of the Department of Nanomedicine at HMRI, has applied his novel organ decellularization process and nanotechnology-based delivery systems to support this overall lung regeneration effort.

"We have experience working with the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space to study our nanotechnologies in action on the International Space Station," Grattoni said. "However, we are extremely excited to be a part of this clinical study, since it may play a pivotal role in how we approach future space travel in terms of preserving astronaut health. What we learn during this fundamental experiment could lead to science-fiction-like medical advancements, where organ regeneration becomes a reality in both deep space and here on Earth."

Researchers at HMRI will take the results from UTMB and work on developing therapeutics that could help astronauts, as well as people on Earth.

"This exploration will provide fundamental insight for the collaborative development of cell-based therapies for autoimmune diseases, hormone deficiencies and other issues," Grattoni said.

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The moon is likely very dry in its interior according to a new study from researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, published August 21, 2017 in the Proceedings of the National ...

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While Monday's total solar eclipse in the U.S. will be a once-in-a-lifetime sky show for millions, there's a small group of people who have experienced it all before and they can't get enough of it.

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NIOSH Report Highlighting Second Decade of Research Agenda Includes Nano Developments – Nanotechnology News

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Home > Nanotechnology Columns > Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. > NIOSH Report Highlighting Second Decade of Research Agenda Includes Nano Developments

Abstract: On August 10, 2017, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a report entitled National Occupational Research Agenda: Second Decade in Review | 2006-2016.

August 21st, 2017

On August 10, 2017, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a report entitled National Occupational Research Agenda: Second Decade in Review | 2006-2016. See https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2017-146/default.html The report outlines the progress and impact made in addressing occupational safety and health research needs over the second decade of the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA). The 21 cross-sector programs included in the report include the Nanotechnology Program, which "conducts research and promotes adoption of approaches to reduce adverse effects of exposures to materials containing structures with a length scale below 100 nanometers." Impact stories in the report include:

- NIOSH Recommended Exposure Limits (REL) for carbon nanotubes and titanium dioxide provided the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with information to develop regulations to protect workers who handle engineered nanomaterials;

- NIOSH methods to measure protective clothing's resistance to nanoparticles contributed to new guidance documents, requirements, and test methods from other government agencies, organizations, and manufacturers;

- NIOSH work led to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and EPA developing recommendations for working with multi-walled carbon nanotubes;

- The NIOSH virtual Nanotechnology Research Center (NTRC) has supported or influenced more than 90 researchers in pioneering studies to understand better the potential occupational health and safety risks in the nanotechnology industry, and to incorporate effective precautions as the industry grows;

- NIOSH work to measure nanoparticles penetrating respirators informs researchers and organizations developing new or revised standards in this area; and

- NIOSH scientists invented a way to suspend carbon nanotubes in air while controlling the concentration of particles. The report states: "This was a true breakthrough because it was the first time a well-characterized controlled aerosol of a carbon nanotube had been generated, providing a resource for studies on these minute particles, whose properties and characteristics are not well understood."

In addition to the main report, NIOSH published the Sector and Cross Sector Program Supplement, which provides program-specific results on the work of each of the ten NORA sectors and 24 cross-sector programs developed by NIOSH to support the NORA sector program goals and objectives. See https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2017-147/pdf/2017-147.pdf According to the report, the mission of the NIOSH Nanotechnology Cross-Sector Program is to provide national and international leadership in investigating the implications of nanoparticles and nanomaterials for work-related injury and illness, and to explore their potential applications in occupational safety and health. NTRC developed an effective program of research resulting in a better understanding of the hazards of nanomaterials; methods to evaluate potential areas for worker exposures; guidance on hazard evaluation and risk assessment, including RELs; a framework for human health evaluation; guidance on engineering control strategies to minimize exposures; and general risk management guidance that ensures worker protection and promotes responsible development of nanotechnology. The report states that onsite evaluations of nanomanufacturing process investigations allowed NIOSH to measure worker exposures and develop recommendations for techniques to control and mitigate exposures. Key outcomes include actions from companies that have modified engineering controls, work practices, and in-house RELs. NTRC-authored publications have been cited more than 5,000 times in the peer reviewed scientific literature; the primary citations have resulted in over 82,000 secondary citations.

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NIOSH Report Highlighting Second Decade of Research Agenda Includes Nano Developments - Nanotechnology News