Following beach closures, Westport officials talk water safety – SouthCoastToday.com

Posted on by

By Jeffrey D. Wagner Herald News

WESTPORT After town beaches were closed to swimming on Wednesday, Beach Committee members discussed an important topic how to keep the three town beaches even safer.

Committee members met with head lifeguards at Thursdays committee meeting and discussed how Wednesdays closure went concluding that people were kept safe and there were no major problems.

The waters and the impact of Hurricane Gert subsided on Thursday, leading to all beaches reopening.

Committee members entertained the idea of chained signs at town beach indicating when the water is unsafe. The committee took no action, however, and merely discussed some of the safety and other issues, including potential liability.

On Wednesday, during the closure, beach committee member Tim St. Michel arrived early on scene and five lifeguards were on duty. The gates of Cherry & Webb were closed as well, but people still walked over to catch sight of the huge waves, St. Michel and other officials have said.

Lifeguard Andrew Baptiste noted that there have been three rescues this summer, including last weekend, just before the high waves forced the closure of the state Horseneck Beach and the three town beaches.

Baptiste and fellow lifeguard Evan Audette noted that there are flags on Cherry & Webb beach that mark off the territories, indicating that lifeguards are not available beyond the bounds.

St. Michel said that two out of three of the rescue incidents this year involved people walking beyond and later swimming outside the boundaries. Luckily, all three incidents were minor, St. Michel said.

Audette, the head lifeguard, noted that signs indicating rough waters often get stolen and a chained sign might be the only option. He said even during hurricanes people park close to Cherry & Webb and walk over.

Longtime Beach Committee member Sean Leach concurred that such is the case with all other town beaches, including the Knubble Beach and East Beach.

Newly appointed committee member Constance Gee mentioned that she recently received calls about traffic increasing along the Knubble Beach during Cherry & Webbs closure, as well as reports of people swimming there.

Leach and St. Michel mentioned that all beaches were closed on Wednesday and Selectman Steven Ouellette mentioned it on a Facebook post.

You can put up signs with a chain and people will still be in the water, Leach said.

Gee also asked if the town could be held liable or the Westport Land Conservation Trust could be held liable if someone were to drown at the Knubble Beach. That beach, unlike Cherry & Webb, does not have a gate system to block traffic. It borders a town road Beach Avenue and has WLCT land adjacent to 102 feet of town-owned beachfront. The Knubble and East Beaches also do not have lifeguards on duty, and are known as scenic beaches, not swimming areas, St. Michel has noted.

Leach said the town and the WLCT would not be held liable unless they purposely encouraged people to swim during times of water closures.

In other beach news, the Beach Committee agreed to contact mosquito control about spraying the quarter-mile path from the Cherry & Webb parking lot to the beach. A mosquito with eastern equine encephalitis was confirmed in town this week. Baptiste and Audette confirmed that there is a heavy mosquito presence along the heavily vegetated path leading to the beach.

See the article here:

Following beach closures, Westport officials talk water safety - SouthCoastToday.com

Staffing issues blamed for early beach closures – Eagle-Tribune

Posted on by

The unofficial close of summer, Labor Day, is still two weeks away but many local town beaches are already closing for the season.

Sunday was the last day for lifeguards and sunbathers at town beaches in Methuen, Andover and North Andover, and more across the Merrimack Valley in Haverhill and Windham, Derry and Salem, New Hampshire are slated to close before the end of the month.

New Hampshire beaches tended to stay open a little later than those in the Bay State, but the recreation directors in every city and town pegged their closing dates on the same issue: high school and college students going back to school.

"We'd like to stay open a little longer, but we just don't have the staffing to do so especially with the lifeguards, that's the main reason," said Bill Pare, Methuen's recreation director. "We have discussed it, it's just a matter of, it's very difficult to get lifeguards."

Forest Lake closed its gates at the end of the day on Sunday, ushering in a new school year that begins next week.

In Andover and North Andover, the sentiments were similar.

Kim Stamas, the director of recreation in Andover, said she's tried to keep Pomps Pond open until Labor Day before, but to no avail.

"We've tried it several times and what happens is, the kids promise you that they'll stay, but when push comes to shove, they don't," she said, adding that she only managed to stay open later in the season once and only for a week.

"It's just a fact," she said. "You lose everybody."

In North Andover, Rick Gorman, the director of youth and recreation services, said he thinks it "makes sense" to close the beach as early as they do, because it aligns with the end of the town's summer programs; but he added that schools are starting much earlier than they used to not to mention high school sports pre-season training taking teenage lifeguards away from their posts earlier.

"When I was a young kid, nobody did anything before Labor Day. That's obviously changed over the last years," he said.

Haverhill's beach is open later than its neighbors: Plug Pond will likely be guarded until Aug. 29. When asked if the city ever considered staying open with its high school staff, on weekends or after school as some New Hampshire towns have considered, Recreation Director Vinny Ouellette said "the danger" of weekend-only hours is "everyone assumes if it's open on the weekend, it's open during the week."

"They're gonna go in no matter what. There's no lifeguard on duty, there's sanitary issues, there's safety issues and so forth," he said.

Beaches in Derry and Salem boasted late closing dates Aug. 27 and 28, respectively but Windham will only have lifeguards until the end of day Tuesday. Recreation Director Cheryl Haas said it's the last day she has enough of a staff to patrol the water.

Unlike many Massachusetts beaches, however, the parks in the Granite State are still open to the public after the lifeguards turn in; but the directors there also expressed a desire to keep lifeguards around later.

"We would love to stay open til Labor Day, but we're still trying to work out last minute details to see if we'd have any staff available," said Eric Bodenrader, director of Derry Parks and Recreation. He said Gallien's Town Beach will most likely close Aug. 27.

"It's safe to say it's an uphill battle," Bodenrader added.

Bodenrader, Pare and Salem Recreation Coordinator Doug Cole said they've struggled in recent years to find enough lifeguards even for the height of the summer.

Cole said that for the first time this year, the Board of Selectmen changed the town's policies, adding signs at Hedgehog Park that advise swimmers take a dip at their own risk when lifeguards aren't present. Only four lifeguards worked that beach this year, which Cole called a "typical" amount.

Bodenrader said there is a "definite shortage of certified lifeguards" in New Hampshire, and suggested it could be because certification is both time consuming and expensive, costing up to $400.

"I know it's definitely a deterrent for a 16-year-old to go take the Red Cross certification class," Bodenrader said.

Despite the many recreation directors who said they wished they could keep their beaches open, most admitted that about late August, the beaches start to clear out anyway, as students prepare to head back to the classroom.

"I wish I could keep it open, but at the same time, it's really not that busy," said Haas, of Windham. "All of a sudden, it's like, 'I'm not going to the beach anymore.'"

But Haas said coincidentally, she's not surprised Tuesday's forecast is hot a muggy.

"Whenever we close the beach, it's the hottest day," she said.

Beach Closings by Town

Massachusetts

Andover Aug. 20

Haverhill Aug. 29 (tentative)

Methuen Aug. 20

North Andover Aug. 20

New Hampshire

Derry Aug. 27 (tentative)

Salem Aug. 28

Windham Aug. 22

Read this article:

Staffing issues blamed for early beach closures - Eagle-Tribune

Falmouth Debates Tents on the Beach – CapeCod.com News

Posted on by

CCB Media Photo: Falmouth Heights Beach

FALMOUTH Falmouth officials are considering what to do as more and more beach-goers are erecting tents on town beaches, sometimes to the annoyance of fellow visitors.

The trend has drawn criticism from those who say that the tents are unsightly, take up space, obstruct views, and even pose a danger to others trying to enjoy their time in the sun.

The issue came up last month as the Falmouth Beach Committee heard public comment from exasperated beach-goers, both residents and those visiting, seeking action in response to what is being called a general nuisance.

Acting Beach Superintendent Bruce Mogardo says that they do have concerns when it comes to the presence of the tents on town beaches.

We dont like them to be in the line of sight for the lifeguards, we might ask someone to move them away from the waterline so that the lifeguards have a clear eyeshot to the shore, and the deep water, he said.

Members of the committee appeared to agree with the sentiment that the tents are inappropriate, offering their own reminiscences of a beach day ruined by the presence of a wanton tent.

One guy parks a tent in front of another, its like your beach experience is over, said committee member Paul Miskovsky.

While the board, and a significant portion of the audience, appeared to see eye to eye on the matter, members did express concerns regarding the legal ramifications of prohibiting tents on public beaches, particularly for those who have sensitivities to the sun.

The board agreed to have Mogardo look into tent use on town beaches, collect opinions from stakeholders, and investigate similar policies at other Cape Cod beaches.

Everybody has their own view on how to relax and enjoy the ocean, said Mogardo, sometimes it conflicts with other peoples approach to enjoying the same ocean.

By DAVID BEATTY, CapeCod.com NewsCenter

View post:

Falmouth Debates Tents on the Beach - CapeCod.com News

In Mauritius, Secluded Beaches, Verdant Hills and Harmony – NRToday.com

Posted on by

Clearly I was dreaming.

Id drifted to sleep somewhere between Port Louis, the shabby but atmospheric capital of this remote island in the Indian Ocean, and the Grand Bassin lake, rocked into a pleasant slumber as my taxi wove its way down serpentine roads fringed by sugar cane fields. Without warning, the line between reverie and reality blurred as my eyes snapped open to behold a 108-foot statue of Lord Shiva gazing down benevolently at my drowsy figure.

I closed my eyes. I opened them again. Nope. Definitely awake.

My cabdriver, Roshan, led me past an entrance guarded indomitably by Shiva and his colossal trident to approach Ganga Talao, Mauritius answer to Indias sacred Ganges River. The late-afternoon sun glinted off a lake flanked by statues of Hanuman, Lakshmi and Vishnu while services were underway at the temple. This is the holiest site in Mauritius for the nations Hindu majority; every year during the Mahashivratri festival, Roshan told me, he walks here barefoot, three hours from his home in Rose Hill, alongside a half-million other devotees from across the island.

Somewhere not far from where I stood in Shivas shadow, people were living the tropical clich immortalized on office desktops across the globe. Not even a dozen miles away, revelers reclined on the sand, sipping languidly from straws piercing coconuts while they meditated on the color of the ocean. Is it azure? Turquoise? Cerulean? Its a Socratic dialogue that could take a whole day to resolve. Most tourists come to Mauritius for worship of a different sort than I found at Ganga Talao, a pilgrimage to the altar of the sun gods.

(BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM.)

After his visit to the Indian Ocean outpost in 1896, Mark Twain wrote, From one citizen you gather the idea that Mauritius was made first and then heaven; and that heaven was copied after Mauritius.

This prototype for paradise first entered my consciousness in the 1990s, when Mauritius became a preferred Bollywood dream-song setting. To wit: the hirsute heartthrob Akshay Kumar and the lissome Shilpa Shetty aggressively thrusting their pelvises incongruously to the lilting melody of Churake Dil Mera in the 1994 caper Main Khiladi Tu Anari. My limited impressions of the island were similar to those of the millions who converge on its all-inclusive resorts, only extricating themselves from beach chairs for the occasional constitutional toward the pool.

(END OPTIONAL TRIM.)

As a freshman at Boston College, I befriended my first Mauritian over a shared love of Bollywood films. Santosh became a source of endless fascination: I thought he was Indian, but he spoke English with a French accent, chatted with his parents in Creole and said he was from Africa. Where in the world could so many cultures meet?

Were a bit like a puzzle, said Santosh, when we reunited on his turf over 15 years later. There are very distinct pieces. People have held onto their own identities but found a way to make it work, so it fits into a picture of its own.

In the end, its that compelling mosaic that lured me to Mauritius shores. Scouring social media would lead a prospective visitor to believe that the island ends where the resorts do. I was eager to explore what lay beyond plunge pools and bath butlers.

The volcanic isle was first discovered by the Arabs in A.D. 975; but when the Dutch landed on Mauritius in 1598, it was uninhabited aside from wildlife like the dodo, a bird famously rendered extinct by Europeans but still resplendent on Mauritian rupee notes today. The French came in the 1700s, followed by the British. With the 1835 abolition of slavery, migrants flooded in from the east: Indian indentured laborers and Chinese shopkeepers. The Indians struggles are chronicled in Port Louis poignant Aapravasi Ghat museum, at the immigration depot turned UNESCO World Heritage site where they first came ashore.

Layers of migration have left an indelible imprint; today, nearly 70 percent of Mauritius 1.3 million citizens are of Indian descent, with Creoles, Sino-Mauritians and Franco-Mauritians rounding out the mix. Emerging from Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport on a humid evening, I followed signs that read EXIT in English, French, Hindi and Chinese.

Ultimately, the uniqueness of the place is in its people, Santosh said. Weve evolved our own breed fairly distinct from the origins each one of us came from. You have people who are sort of Indian but not really Indian, sort of African but not really African.

Todays Mauritius could be a role model for racial harmony (in these troubled times, the rest of the world might want to pay attention), but the countrys cultures mingle most effortlessly in the food. Disparate culinary traditions have collided here for centuries, and the result is a cuisine simmering with Indian, French, Chinese and Creole flavors.

But really, what of those beaches? Theres good reason tourists throng Long Beach, Grand Baie, Belle Mare and Le Morne, but the ways the locals experience the ocean is quite different from foreign sunseekers. On a secluded stretch of the beach Flic en Flac, on the islands western coast, I bought hunks of pineapple drizzled in tamarind and chili salt and enjoyed my snack in near solitude. I expected more tourists at Blue Bay in the east, but instead was surrounded by a flock of women singing and dancing to Bhojpuri songs. I struck up a conversation in Hindi with a few ladies swaying shyly at the periphery. Its a day off from the husbands, kids and responsibility, one of them told me of their monthly picnics.

View original post here:

In Mauritius, Secluded Beaches, Verdant Hills and Harmony - NRToday.com

Eclipse brings out astronomy buffs, curious observers – GoErie.com

Posted on by

Monday's solar eclipse began in Erie around 1:10 p.m. and concluded shortly before 4 p.m. The highlight or literal low light came at 2:30 p.m., when the moon covered 75.9 percent of the sun.

The blue sky turned dim.

Mother Nature flipped a switch to illuminate the ornamental lights outside Penn State Behrend's School of Science. People young and old climbed a step ladder to gaze through a telescope. Others, donning flimsy cardboard glasses, tilted their heads upward. Even the large pores of leaves cast crescent-shaped cutouts into the shadows below.

"It's amazing, Mother Nature, and everyone gathering together to celebrate this wonderful thing that's happening today," 48-year-old Anne Regener, of Erie, said. "It's pretty special, this natural phenomenon."

Monday's solar eclipse began in Erie around 1:10 p.m. and concluded shortly before 4 p.m. The highlight or literal low light came at 2:30 p.m., when the moon covered 75.9 percent of the sun. In other sections of the country, from Oregon to South Carolina, onlookers witnessed the first total solar eclipse since February 1978. The last visible partial solar eclipse for the region was in 1994.

Regener was among the hundreds of people who gathered for a free public viewing event at Penn State Behrend, which set up three telescopes outside the School of Science, offered tours of the Yahn Planetarium and handed out free eclipse glasses to the first 100 people in line.

"Beautiful," marveled Lydia Chimenti, of Erie, as she stepped back from an Orion telescope to see the early stages of the eclipse. "It took a big chunk out of (the sun). It looks like somebody took a bite out of a cookie."

Chimenti, an astronomy enthusiast, took astronomy classes at Behrend 15 years ago and returns periodically for special events at the planetarium. She's planning to travel to Iceland in October to view the northern lights. She took a half-day off work for the eclipse.

Johnny Carr, 13, of Franklin, drove an hour with his mom, Johnna Carr, and sister, Ava Carr, for the event.

"It kind of looked like a big piece of cheese with a cut in it," he said after looking through a telescope. "It was pretty cool."

Sophie Bleil, 10, a fourth-grader at Clark Elementary in Harborcreek, couldn't see much through the telescope, but her face lit up when she tried eclipse glasses.

"You can see a crescent," she said.

A few dozen people arrived at Behrend two hours before the event began to line up for free eclipse glasses, which most area stores were sold out of late last week.

Others arrived with their own creations. Kellan Loranger, 4, of North East, carried a makeshift eclipse viewer designed from an empty box of Shredded Wheat. Jay Amicangelo, a chemistry professor at Behrend, couldn't get his hands on the specialty glasses, so he transformed a shoe box into a pinhole viewer.

School of Science employees helped small children and students make their own pinhole viewers out of black construction paper and tinfoil. Holes were poked using tooth picks. Freshman Brandon Banas, 18, used his to capture the sun's crescent shape on a blank white sheet of paper he set on the sidewalk.

Priscilla Hamilton, 60, of Harborcreek, came armed with a paper towel tube that was covered by a pin-poked piece of paper at one end. But she didn't need it.

"I didn't think I was going to be one of the 100 people lucky enough to get my own glasses," the retired U.S. Army dentist said.

Then there was Bill Augur, 69, also of Harborcreek. He tried a contraption in 1994 without much luck, but gave it another try Monday after going online for help. Augur arranged a pair of binoculars on a tripod, covering all but the lenses with a large cardboard box. It also projected the sun's orange-peel shape onto a piece of paper.

Some people tried to photograph the eclipse using their glasses as filters. Behrend sophomore accounting majors Khushi Kantawala and Katerina Ellis were among them. Kantawala, 18, propped up her glasses until Ellis was able to snap the perfect shot.

"It's actually really cool, I've never seen one," Ellis said.

"My mom called and said, 'Don't look at the sun. Go to your classes. Don't look up there,'" a laughing Kantawala said. "I said, 'Mom, it's college, you know I'm not going to (listen).'"

Darren Williams, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Behrend, used a yellow-painted Styrofoam ball about the size of basketball and a softball to demonstrate what would occur once the eclipse began. Williams said Monday's eclipse wasn't as dramatic as the one in 1994.

"In the '94 (eclipse) for Erie, the moon passed directly in front of the sun, but it was too far away," he said. "It looked too small to cover up the whole face of the sun, so you saw the edge of the sun peeking out from the moon."

That eclipse covered about 95 percent of the sun, compared to 76 percent coverage Monday.

For the next eclipse in 2024 the sun will be 100 percent covered for the Erie area, he said.

"That's very rare for one location on Earth to experience eclipses of this magnitude separated by only seven years," he said. "Usually it's 20, 30 or 40 years between major eclipses."

Matthew Rink can be reached at 870-1884 or by email. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNrink.

Read more:

Eclipse brings out astronomy buffs, curious observers - GoErie.com

Great American Eclipse: Everything you need to know – Los Angeles Times

Posted on by

Aug. 21, 2017, 11:59 a.m.

Reporting from Salem, Ore.

It took Amy Steel, an astronomy graduate student at the University ofMaryland, about 20 minutes to stop crying after the moment of totality passed in Salem, Ore.

"It was so pretty," she said, over and over again. "It was just so pretty."

"The moon was so black," she continued. "It was black like a hole in the sky. And Mercury! We never get photons from Mercury. It was so good."

Erin Meadors, who isabout to enter her sophomore year at Williams College, darted around the terrace ofa brick building sharing eight-minute video she took of the celestial event withfriends, coworkers and even a few strangers.

Meadors has spent herwhole summer preparing for the moment that just passed, checking camera and telescope equipment and then packing the instrumentsfor the trip from Massachusetts to Oregon.

Was it worth it?

"Oh my gosh," she gushed. "It was more than worth it. I should have been planning my whole life for this."

The rest is here:

Great American Eclipse: Everything you need to know - Los Angeles Times

Looking skyward: Astronomy enthusiasts lend hand to view historic eclipse – Glens Falls Post-Star

Posted on by

Conditions for eclipse viewing were almost perfect Monday afternoon, attracting about 200 people to the far end of the Washington County Fairgrounds' parking lot where astronomy enthusiasts had set up four telescopes.

People looked skyward with eclipse glasses. Some aimed homemade eclipse projectors. Tom Duffy from Greenwich had taped a No. 12 welders lens and a No. 5 braziers lens to a hole in a piece of foam board, making a safe way to view the sun directly.

Bill Frederick, organizer of the Salem Astronomy Club, had his 10-inch reflecting telescope with a filter over the lens, and a 3-inch refracting telescope equipped with a solar funnel. The hardware-store funnel, attached with a clamp, projected the suns image onto a piece of fabric stretched over the funnels big end, allowing several people to see at once.

Frederick explained that the tiny spots visible on the suns image werent dirt on the lens but rather sunspots, each as big as seven or eight earths. The spots move with the suns 28-day rotation period.

A man views the partial solar eclipse Monday afternoon at the Washington County fairgrounds in Easton. The region experienced a 66 percent eclipse while other parts of the country were left in darkness.

A man photographs an image of the partial solar eclipse Monday afternoon at the Washington County fairgrounds.

A man prepares to view the partial solar eclipse Monday afternoon at the Washington County fairgrounds in Easton. The region experienced a 66 percent eclipse while other parts of the country were left in darkness.

People view the partial solar eclipse Monday afternoon at the Washington County fairgrounds in Easton. The region experienced a 66 percent eclipse while other parts of the country were left in darkness.

People gathered at the Washington County Fair grounds and used telescopes and viewing glasses to view the solar eclipse on Monday August 21st.

Women wearing protective glasses look up at the partial solar eclipse on Monday afternoon at Moreau Lake State Park.

Brayden, Adrianna and Dianna Lum of Queensbury look up at the sun Monday afternoon during the partial solar eclipse at Moreau Lake State Park.

A boy tries on a pair of eclipse glasses to view the partial solar eclipse Monday afternoon at Moreau Lake State Park.

A group of girls look up at the sun Monday afternoon during the partial solar eclipse at Moreau Lake State Park.

State Park employee Emma Crockett holds a carboard tube with a pin-head size hole through aluminium foil for a boy to witness the partial solar eclipse Monday afternoon at Moreau Lake State Park.

State Park employee Margo Flewelling holds a colander for children to witness the partial solar eclipse Monday afternoon at Moreau Lake State Park.

State Park employee Margo Flewelling holds a colander for children to witness the partial solar eclipse Monday afternoon at Moreau Lake State Park.

David Hall of Adirondack Skywatchers Astronomy Club talks to visitors Monday afternoon during the partial solar eclipse at Moreau Lake State Park.

Spectators look up at the partial solar eclipse on Monday afternoon at Moreau Lake State Park during an eclipse viewing party.

The partial solar eclipse is seen Monday afternoon through a cut out cardboard box at Moreau Lake State Park.

Alli Schweizer holds a long cardboard box to display the partial solar eclipse on Monday afternoon at Moreau Lake State Park.

A man looks up at the partial solar eclipse Monday afternoon at Moreau Lake State Park.

A woman uses a spy glass to look at the partial solar eclipse on Monday afternoon at Moreau Lake State Park.

A man views the partial solar eclipse Monday afternoon at the Washington County fairgrounds in Easton. The region experienced a 66 percent eclipse while other parts of the country were left in darkness.

A man photographs an image of the partial solar eclipse Monday afternoon at the Washington County fairgrounds.

A man prepares to view the partial solar eclipse Monday afternoon at the Washington County fairgrounds in Easton. The region experienced a 66 percent eclipse while other parts of the country were left in darkness.

People view the partial solar eclipse Monday afternoon at the Washington County fairgrounds in Easton. The region experienced a 66 percent eclipse while other parts of the country were left in darkness.

People gathered at the Washington County Fair grounds and used telescopes and viewing glasses to view the solar eclipse on Monday August 21st.

Women wearing protective glasses look up at the partial solar eclipse on Monday afternoon at Moreau Lake State Park.

Brayden, Adrianna and Dianna Lum of Queensbury look up at the sun Monday afternoon during the partial solar eclipse at Moreau Lake State Park.

A boy tries on a pair of eclipse glasses to view the partial solar eclipse Monday afternoon at Moreau Lake State Park.

A group of girls look up at the sun Monday afternoon during the partial solar eclipse at Moreau Lake State Park.

State Park employee Emma Crockett holds a carboard tube with a pin-head size hole through aluminium foil for a boy to witness the partial solar eclipse Monday afternoon at Moreau Lake State Park.

State Park employee Margo Flewelling holds a colander for children to witness the partial solar eclipse Monday afternoon at Moreau Lake State Park.

State Park employee Margo Flewelling holds a colander for children to witness the partial solar eclipse Monday afternoon at Moreau Lake State Park.

David Hall of Adirondack Skywatchers Astronomy Club talks to visitors Monday afternoon during the partial solar eclipse at Moreau Lake State Park.

Spectators look up at the partial solar eclipse on Monday afternoon at Moreau Lake State Park during an eclipse viewing party.

The partial solar eclipse is seen Monday afternoon through a cut out cardboard box at Moreau Lake State Park.

Alli Schweizer holds a long cardboard box to display the partial solar eclipse on Monday afternoon at Moreau Lake State Park.

A man looks up at the partial solar eclipse Monday afternoon at Moreau Lake State Park.

A woman uses a spy glass to look at the partial solar eclipse on Monday afternoon at Moreau Lake State Park.

Don Minkle, who teaches astronomy and earth science at SUNY Adirondack, had a large reflecting scope that transmitted the suns visible light, creating a white image, and a smaller telescope designed specifically for viewing the suns chromosphere, which emits red light. People went from one telescope to another, peering through the eyepieces and taking photographs with smart phones and iPads.

As the eclipse progressed toward its local maximum at about 2:40 p.m., the crowd noted that the air was cooler, the light dimmer. Sunshine coming through small openings, such as the spaces between strands in a straw hat, made tiny bright crescents, just like the area of the sun that the moon was covering.

Layla Carnahan had come from Cossayuna with her three children, Hudson, 10, Grace, 9, and Noelle, 1.

We have a telescope but no filters, Layla Carnahan said. The kids were excited to come. This was the first solar eclipse for her as well as her children, she said.

J.P. Dartt, a member of the Salem Astronomy Club, was supervising the telescope with the solar funnel. The telescopes had to be adjusted every few minutes as the sun progressed westward across the sky. Dartt, experiencing his first solar eclipse, was excited to observe what he thought was rapid movement of a sunspot, only to realize that the sunspot wasnt moving, just the moons shadow across the face of the sun.

Annie Miller, director of the Greenwich Free Library, helped organize the event. We had huge interest, she said. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration sent the library 1,000 pairs of eclipse glasses. Miller gave 600 to other libraries and distributed all of the remainder to Greenwich library patrons.

I had no idea this would be so big, she said.

Other viewings across the region included one at Moreau Lake State Park, as many paused from fun in the sun and water to take in the eclipse.

Dianna Lum, with her children Brayden and Adrianna, of Queensbury, said they planned their day around the eclipse.

The trio joined dozens of others taking in the moment the eclipse started at about 1:30 p.m. at the state park.

David Hall, of the Adirondack Skywatchers astronomy club, was on hand answering questions for eclipse watchers as park employees provided eclipse viewers that ranged from certified glasses to homemade devices.

A long cardboard box, with the top covered with aluminum foil featuring a pinhead-size hole, displayed the eclipse's progress on a white piece of paper affixed to the bottom of the box through a hole cut in the side of the box.

Other items included a metal colander. When positioned correctly, it displayed the shadow produced by the eclipse.

We periodically get a solar eclipse once or twice a year somewhere on earth, Hall said.

Hall said during the eclipse it will appear two-thirds darker, which equates to about 5:30 or 6 p.m.

An eery shadow cast over the beach and water of the state park on Monday as the eclipse reached its peak at about 2:45 p.m.

The sun is about 400 times the diameter of the moon and the sun is roughly 400 times away from the moon, Hall said.

The amateur astronomers are teaming with Friends of Moreau Lake State Park to build an on-site observatory.

The partial solar eclipse on Monday will serve as a warm-up for the next solar eclipse, which includes New York in its path of totality. That eclipse will occur April 8, 2024. The path of totality will go just north of our region.

Well be at 95 percent (coverage) for that eclipse, Frederick said.

Online Editor Adam Colver contributed to this report.

See original here:

Looking skyward: Astronomy enthusiasts lend hand to view historic eclipse - Glens Falls Post-Star

Edmonton astronomy buffs take a shine to solar eclipse – Edmonton Journal

Posted on by

Yulia Shevtsov and her son Steven Shevtsov, 3, watch the partial eclipse of the Sun during a viewing party outside Telus World of Science, Monday Aug. 21, 2017. David Bloom / Postmedia

The queue of anxious fans snaked around the building, several hundred people deep. While they waited, the starstruck gazed at the object of their affection from a distance using filters for safe viewing, of course.

Mondays partial solar eclipse attracted neophytes and astronomy nerds alike to the observatory outside the Telus World of Science for a glimpse of the celestial event. Using technology as varied as a six-inch hydrogen alpha refractor telescope to a pinhole punched in a cereal box, viewers were anxious to see the dark circle of the moon obscure up to 70 percent of the sun.

Its known as one of natures greatest spectacles. We see the sun basically disappear behind a big black disc its something most people have a hard time comprehending. I know I do, myself, said Michael Breitkreutz, a science presenter managing the telescope viewings Monday.

Lucky viewers in a band across the U.S. from Oregon to South Carolina could see a total solar eclipse where the moon lines up perfectly between the Earth and the Sun, blocking much of the Suns light for several minutes.

In Edmonton, some enthusiasts lined up outside the 11211 142 St. observatory as early as 7 a.m. to get their hands on viewing filters which have sold out across North America. Looking directly at the sun during an eclipse can cause permanent eye damage. In the observatory, people peeked through five telescopes, including the hydrogen alpha refractor, which reveals a red-tinged suns flares and sunspots in higher detail.

Eight-year-old Luken Hicks lined up two hours in advance for his look at the moon taking a bite out of the sun.

He loves science and I love science, and its not very often we get to see this kind of thing, his mom Brytani McLeod said.

Sherwood Park friends Dean Gronman, 18, and Jade Oliver, 18, also lined up early for a look. Gronman had considered travelling to the U.S. to see the full eclipse, but balked when he saw some of the prices. Oliver is into astrology, and the Capricorn has enjoyed reading her horoscopes as the eclipse date approached.

Total eclipses are totally awesome, said 74-year-old David Rolls, as he sat on the grass in Coronation Park Monday morning, an old film camera strapped to the tip of his 9.4-millimetre telescope. He planned to add to his collection of eclipse photographs, some of which have been published in astronomy magazines.

Hes seen total eclipses in Tuktoyuktuk and Manitoba, and plans to travel to Ontario to see another total eclipse in 2024.

The next total solar eclipse viewable from Edmonton will be in 2044. The last one was about 600 years ago, Breitkreutz said.

Fellow astronomy enthusiast Larry Wood kicked back in a lawn chair while strangers lined up to glance into his giant, homemade telescope. The amateur astronomer made the 65-kilogram device in a friends garage about 30 years ago. Children and shorter adults clambered onto a stepladder to peek into the eyepiece on the giant cylinder.

Larry Wood looks through the viewfinder of his homemade telescope during a partial solar eclipse in Coronation Park on Monday, Aug. 21, 2017. Janet French / Edmonton Journal

Chris Kayes viewing apparatus was slightly less sophisticated. He stood in the park with a cardboard box on his head, a pinhole in the back showing light from a crescent-shaped sun on the inside.

jfrench@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/jantafrench

More here:

Edmonton astronomy buffs take a shine to solar eclipse - Edmonton Journal

These three countries are winning the global robot race – CNNMoney

Posted on by

The three countries are leading an artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, Malcolm Frank, head of strategy at leading outsourcing firm Cognizant, told CNNMoney in an interview.

Frank is the co-author of a recent book entitled "What to Do When Machines Do Everything," on the impact artificial intelligence will have on the global economy in the coming years.

"I think it's three horses in the race, and that's probably the wrong metaphor because they are all going to win," he said. "They are just going to win differently."

While AI is progressing quickly elsewhere too, Frank said the other development hotspots are mainly city hubs such as London and Stockholm, or far smaller economies such as Estonia.

"The big three [are] India, China and the U.S," he said.

Here's why:

America

Silicon Valley giants such as Facebook (FB, Tech30), Amazon (AMZN, Tech30), Google (GOOGL, Tech30) and Tesla (TSLA) are already investing billions in harnessing the power of computers to replace several human tasks.

Computers are already beginning to substitute for people in sectors such as agriculture and even medicine, not to mention the race to get driverless cars on the road.

"With Silicon Valley, and the vendors and momentum that exists there... that's going to continue," Frank said.

China

The world's second largest economy is also betting big on artificial intelligence.

Tech companies including Tencent (TCEHY) and Baidu (BIDU, Tech30) are competing with Silicon Valley to develop new uses for AI, and tech billionaire Jack Ma of Alibaba (BABA, Tech30), one of China's richest men, has even said CEOs may eventually be obsolete.

Unlike in the U.S., however, the biggest push towards this new world in China is coming from the government.

"You look at the playbook China has had very successfully, with state sponsorship around developing the [physical] infrastructure of the country," Frank said. "They're taking a very similar approach around artificial intelligence, and I think that's going to yield a lot of benefit."

The Chinese government has already laid out an ambitious plan for a $150 billion AI industry, saying last month that it wants China to become the world's "innovation center for AI" by 2030.

India

In India, the main shift towards artificial intelligence is coming from companies that make up its $143 billion outsourcing industry -- a sector that employs nearly 4 million people.

Top firms like Infosys (INFY), Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro (WIT), which provide technology services to big names including Deutsche Bank (DB), Lockheed Martin (LMT), IBM (IBM, Tech30), Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30) and the U.S. Army, are increasingly relying on automation in their operations.

"In India, you look at this remarkable platform that is in place now... of incredibly sophisticated skills that are focused on the needs of [global] companies," said Frank.

In addition, India's startup scene also makes him "very optimistic" about the future of artificial intelligence there.

Cognizant (CTSH), which is based in the U.S. but has most of its workforce in India, is also making ever greater use of AI -- from online bots managing clients' finances to helping create automated systems for smart devices.

Should we be worried?

Many are worried about the potential pitfalls of artificial intelligence, including Tesla's billionaire founder Elon Musk. He has warned that the technology could pose "an existential threat" if not used properly, and published a letter this week with over 100 other industry experts demanding a global ban on using it to make weapons.

Frank said that the development of artificial intelligence requires careful thought, by governments and companies working together to establish ground rules. The tech executive compared it to safety regulations for air travel and for cars, which have evolved several times over the years.

The focus needs to be on creating a world "where AI is going to be safe and you get the benefits of it without the downsides," he said.

As for the other pervasive fear -- that more robots will lead to job losses -- Frank argues that AI will not only create more and different kinds of jobs in the future, but also enhance many of the existing ones.

"That's what happened with assembly lines, that's what happened with the steam engine, that's what we think is going to happen with artificial intelligence."

CNNMoney (New Delhi) First published August 21, 2017: 10:14 AM ET

Originally posted here:

These three countries are winning the global robot race - CNNMoney

I was worried about artificial intelligenceuntil it saved my life – Quartz

Posted on by

Earlier this month, tech moguls Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg debated the pros and cons of artificial intelligence from different corners of the internet. While SpaceXs CEO is more of an alarmist, insisting that we should approach AI with caution and that it poses a fundamental existential risk, Facebooks founder leans toward a more optimistic future, dismissing doomsday scenarios in favor of AI helping us build a brighter future.

I now agree with Zuckerbergs sunnier outlookbut I didnt used to.

Beginning my career as an engineer, I was interested in AI, but I was torn about whether advancements would go too far too fast. As a mother with three kids entering their teens, I was also worried that AI would disrupt the future of my childrens education, work, and daily life. But then something happened that forced me into the affirmative.

Imagine for a moment that you are a pathologist and your job is to scroll through 1,000 photos every 30 minutes, looking for one tiny outlier on a single photo. Youre racing the clock to find a microscopic needle in a massive data haystack.

Now, imagine that a womans life depends on it. Mine.

This is the nearly impossible task that pathologists are tasked with every day. Treating the 250,000 women in the US who will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, each medical worker must analyze an immense amount of cell tissue to identify if their patients cancer has spread. Limited by time and resources, they often get it wrong; a recent study found that pathologists accurately detect tumors only 73.2% of the time.

In 2011 I found a lump in my breast. Both my family doctor and I were confident that it was a Fibroadenoma, a common noncancerous (benign) breast lump, but she recommended I get a mammogram to make sure. While the original lump was indeed a Fibroenoma, the mammogram uncovered two unknown spots. My journey into the unknown started here.

Since AI imaging was not available at the time, I had to rely solely on human analysis. The next four years were a blur of ultrasounds, biopsies, and surgeries. My well-intentioned network of doctors and specialists were not able to diagnose or treat what turned out to be a rare form of cancer, and repeatedly attempted to remove my recurring tumors through surgery.

After four more tumors, five more biopsies, and two more operations, I was heading toward a double mastectomy and terrified at the prospect of the cancer spreading to my lungs or brain.

I knew something needed to change. In 2015, I was introduced to a medical physicist that decided to take a different approach, using big data and a machine-learning algorithm to spot my tumors and treat my cancer with radiation therapy. While I was nervous about leaving my therapy up to this new technology, itcombined with the right medical knowledgewas able to stop the growth of my tumors. Im now two years cancer-free.

I was thankful for the AI that saved my life but then that very same algorithm changed my sons potential career path.

The positive impact of machine learning is often overshadowed by the doom-and-gloom of automation. Fearing for their own jobs and their childrens future, people often choose to focus on the potential negative repercussions of AI rather than the positive changes it can bring to society.

After seeing what this radiation treatment was able to do for me, my son applied to a university program in radiology technology to explore a career path in medical radiation. He met countless radiology technicians throughout my years of treatment and was excited to start his training off in a specialized program. However, during his application process, the program was cancelled: He was told it was because there were no longer enough jobs in the radiology industry to warrant the programs continuation. Many positions have been lost to automationjust like the technology and machine learning that helped me in my battle with cancer.

This was a difficult period for both my son and I: The very thing that had saved my life prevented him from following the path he planned. He had to rethink his education mid-application when it was too late to apply for anything else, and he was worried that his back up plans would fall through.

Hes now pursuing a future in biophysics rather than medical radiation, starting with an undergraduate degree in integrated sciences. In retrospect, we both now realize that the experience forced him to rethink his career and unexpectedly opened up his thinking about what research areas will be providing the most impact on peoples lives in the future.

Although some medical professionals will lose their jobs to AI, the life-saving benefits to patients will be magnificent. Beyond cancer detection and treatment, medical professionals are using machine learning to improve their practice in many ways. For instance, Atomwise applies AI to fuel drug discovery, Deep Genomics uses machine learning to help pharmaceutical companies develop genetic medicines, and Analytics 4 Life leverages AI to better detect coronary artery disease.

While not all transitions from automated roles will be as easy as my sons pivot to a different scientific field, I believe that AI has the potential to shape our future careers in a positive way, even helping us find jobs that make us happier and more productive.

As this technology rapidly develops, the future is clear: AI will be an integral part of our lives and bring massive changes to our society. Its time to stop debating (looking at you, Musk and Zuckerberg) and start accepting AI for what it is: both the good and the bad.

Throughout the years, Ive found myself on both sides of the equation, arguing both for and against the advancement of AI. But its time to stop taking a selective view on AI, choosing to incorporate it into our lives only when convenient. We must create solutions that mitigate AIs negative impact and maximize its positive potential. Key stakeholdersgovernments, corporates, technologists, and moreneed to create policies, join forces, and dedicate themselves to this effort.

And were seeing great progress. AT&T recently began retraining thousands of employees to keep up with technology advances and Google recently dedicated millions of dollars to prepare people for an AI-dominated workforce. Im hopeful that these initiatives will allow us to focus on all the good that AI can do for our world and open our eyes to the potential lives it can save.

One day, yours just might depend on it, too.

Learn how to write for Quartz Ideas. We welcome your comments at ideas@qz.com.

More:

I was worried about artificial intelligenceuntil it saved my life - Quartz

Artificial intelligence expert Andrew Ng hates paranoid androids, and other fun facts – The Mercury News

Posted on by

Get tech news in your inbox weekday mornings. Sign up for the free Good Morning Silicon Valley newsletter. BY RYAN NAKASHIMA

PALO ALTO What does artificial intelligence researcher Andrew Ng have in common with a very depressed robot from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy? Both have huge brains.

HE NAMED GOOGLE BRAIN

Googles deep-learning unit was originally called Project Marvin a possible reference to a morose and paranoid android with a brain the size of a planet from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Ng didnt like the association with this very depressed robot, he says, so he cut to the chase and changed the name to Google Brain.

A SMALL WEDDING

Ng met his roboticist wife, Carol Reiley, at a robotics conference in Kobe, Japan. They married in 2014 in Carmel, California, in a small ceremony. Ng says Reiley wanted to save money in order to invest in their future they even got their wedding bands made on a 3-D printer. And instead of a big ceremony, she put $50,000 in Drive.ai, the autonomous driving company she co-founded and leads as president. In its last funding round, the company raised $50 million.

GUESSING GAMES, COMPUTER VERSION

One of Ngs first computer programs tried to guess a number the user was thinking of. Based simply on the responses higher or lower, the computer could guess correctly after no more than seven questions.

GUESSING GAME, ACCENT VERSION

Americans tend to think I sound slightly British and the Brits think I sound horribly American, Ng says. According to my mother, I just mumble a lot.

HE LIKES BLUE SHIRTS

He buys blue button-down shirts 10 at a time from Nordstroms online. I just dont want to think about it every morning. Theres enough things that I need to decide on every day.

More:

Artificial intelligence expert Andrew Ng hates paranoid androids, and other fun facts - The Mercury News

How do you bring artificial intelligence from the cloud to the edge? – TNW

Posted on by

Despite the enormous speed at processing reams of data and providing valuable output, artificial intelligence applications have one key weakness: Their brains are located at thousands of miles away.

Most AI algorithms need huge amounts of data and computing power to accomplish tasks. For this reason, they rely on cloud servers to perform their computations, and arent capable of accomplishing much at the edge, the mobile phones, computers and other devices where the applications that use them run.

In contrast, we humans perform most of our computation and decision-making at the edge (in our brain) and only refer to other sources (internet, library, other people) where our own processing power and memory wont suffice.

This limitation makes current AI algorithms useless or inefficient in settings where connectivity is sparse or non-present, and where operations need to be performed in a time-critical fashion. However, scientists and tech companies are exploring concepts and technologies that will bring artificial intelligence closer to the edge.

A lot of the worlds computing power goes to waste as thousands and millions of devices remain idle for a considerable amount of time. Being able to coordinate and combine these resources will enable us to make efficient use of computing power, cut down costs and create distributed servers that can process data and algorithms at the edge.

Distributed computing is not a new concept, but technologies like blockchain can take it to a new level. Blockchain and smart contracts enable multiple nodes to cooperate on tasks without the need for a centralized broker.

This is especially useful for Internet of Things (IoT), where latency, network congestion, signal collisions and geographical distances are some of the challenges we face when processing edge data in the cloud. Blockchain can help IoT devices share compute resources in real-time and execute algorithms without the need for a round-trip to the cloud.

Another benefit to using blockchain is the incentivization of resource sharing. Participating nodes can earn rewards for making their idle computing resources available to others.

A handful of companies have developed blockchain-based computing platforms. iEx.ec, a blockchain company that bills itself as the leader in decentralized high-performance computing (HPC), uses the Ethereum blockchain to create a market for computational resources, which can be used for various use cases, including distributed machine learning.

Golem is another platform that provides distributed computing on the blockchain, where applications (requestors) can rent compute cycles from providers. Among Golems use cases is training and executing machine learning algorithms. Golem also has a decentralized reputation system that allows nodes to rank their peers based on their performance on appointed tasks.

From landing drones to running AR apps and navigating driverless cars, there are many settings where the need to run real-time deep learning at the edge is essential. The delay caused by the round-trip to the cloud can yield disastrous or even fatal results. And in case of a network disruption, a total halt of operations is imaginable.

AI coprocessors, chips that can execute machine learning algorithms, can help alleviate this shortage of intelligence at the edge in the form of board integration or plug-and-play deep learning devices. The market is still new, but the results look promising.

Movidius, a hardware company acquired by Intel in 2016, has been dabbling in edge neural networks for a while, including developing obstacle navigation for drones and smart thermal vision cameras. Movidius Myriad 2 vision processing unit (VPU) can be integrated into circuit boards to provide low-power computer vision and image signaling capabilities on the edge.

More recently, the company announced its deep learning compute stick, a USB-3 dongle that can add machine learning capabilities to computers, Raspberry PIs and other computing devices. The stick can be used individually or in groups to add more power. This is ideal to power a number of AI applications that are independent of the cloud, such as smart security cameras, gesture controlled drones and industrial machine vision equipment.

Both Google and Microsoft have announced their own specialized AI processing units. However, for the moment, they dont plan to deploy them at the edge and are using them to power their cloud services. But as the market for edge AI grows and other players enter the space, you can expect them to make their hardware available to manufacturers.

Credit: Shutterstock

Currently, AI algorithms that perform tasks such as recognizing images require millions of labeled samples for training. A human child accomplishes the same with a fraction of the data. One of the possible paths for bringing machine learning and deep learning algorithms closer to the edge is to lower their data and computation requirements. And some companies are working to make it possible.

Last year Geometric Intelligence, an AI company that was renamed to Uber AI Labs after being acquired by the ride hailing company, introduced a machine learning software that is less data-hungry than the more prevalent AI algorithms. Though the company didnt reveal the details, performance charts show that XProp, as the algorithm is named, requires much less samples to perform image recognition tasks.

Gamalon, an AI startup backed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), uses a technique called Bayesian Program Synthesis, which employs probabilistic programming to reduce the amount of data required to train algorithms.

In contrast to deep learning, where you have to train the system by showing it numerous examples, BPS learns with few examples and continually updates its understanding with additional data. This is much closer to the way the human brain works.

BPS also requires extensively less computing power. Instead of arrays of expensive GPUs, Gamalon can train its models on the same processors contained in an iPad, which makes it more feasible for the edge.

Edge AI will not be a replacement for the cloud, but it will complement it and create possibilities that were inconceivable before. Though nothing short of general artificial intelligence will be able to rival the human brain, edge computing will enable AI applications to function in ways that are much closer to the way humans do.

This post is part of our contributor series. The views expressed are the author's own and not necessarily shared by TNW.

Read next: How to follow today's eclipse, even if you live outside the US

Read the rest here:

How do you bring artificial intelligence from the cloud to the edge? - TNW

We Must Stop The Artificial Intelligence Arms Race At Any Cost – Huffington Post Canada

Posted on by

My visit to Japan has coincided with the 72nd anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombings. On August 6, 1945, the nuclear bomb dropped by the Enola Gay Boeing B-29 exploded, killing an estimated 140,000 people. Three days later, the U.S. dropped the second bomb by the Bockscar B-29 on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 75,000. Within weeks, Japan surrendered. On the occasion of the 72nd anniversary ceremony about 50,000 people, including representatives from 80 nations, gathered at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. During the occasion, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for global cooperation to end nuclear weapons.

Even today, there are victims who are still suffering from the bombings. During my conversations with my Japanese friends, one thing was clear to me: that they all have at least someone linked to their family who was a victim of the bombing. Their stories speak to us. They ask us to introspect about what the world might become.

While viewing the picturesque terrain of Japan during a train journey from Tokyo to Kyoto, I was trying to find an answer to a question: At the end of the day, what did nuclear science achieve? Nuclear science was supposed to bring unlimited supply of energy to the power-starved countries of the world.

Nuclear bombs were not what Albert Einstein had in mind when he published the special theory of relativity. However, the bombs killed or wounded around 200,000 Japanese men, women and children. Our trust in the peaceful nuclear program has endangered humanity. The United States and Russia held over 70,000 nuclear weapons at the peak of the nuclear arms race, which could have killed every human being on the planet.

Recent advances in science and technology have made nuclear bombs more powerful than ever, and one can imagine how devastating it could be to the world. These advances in science and technology have also created many unprecedented and still unresolved global security challenges for policy makers and the public.

It is hard to imagine any one technology that will transform the global security more than artificial intelligence (AI), and it is going to have the biggest impact on humanity that has ever been. The Global Risks Report 2017 by the World Economic Forum places AI as one of the top five factors exacerbating geopolitical risks. One sector that saw the huge disruptive potential of AI from an early stage is the military. AI-based weaponization will represent a paradigm shift in the way wars are fought, with profound consequences for global security.

Major investment in AI-based weapons has already begun. According to a WEF report, a terrifying AI arms race may already be underway. To ensure a continued military edge over China and Russia, the Pentagon requested around US$15 billion for AI-based weaponry for the 2017 budget. However, the U.S. doesn't have the exclusive control over AI.

Whichever country develops viable AI weaponry first will completely take over the military landscape as AI-based machines have the capacity to be much more intense and devastating than a nuclear bomb. If any one country has a machine that can hack into enemy defence systems, that country will have such a distinct advantage over any other world government.

Without proper regulation, AI-based weapons could go out of control and they may be used indiscriminately, create a greater risk to civilians, and more easily fall into the hands of dictators and terrorists. Imagine if North Korea developed an AI capable of military action that could very quickly destabilize the entire world. According to an UNOG report, two major concerns of AI based weapons are: (i) the inability to discriminate between combatants and non-combatants and (ii) the inability to ensure a proportionate response in which the military advantage will outweigh civilian casualties

My visit to Japan is also marked by concerns in the region about the possibility of nuclear missile strikes, particularly after U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un threatened each other with shows of force. As Elon Musk said, "If you're not concerned about AI safety, you should be. [There is] vastly more risk than North Korea."

AI technology is growing in a similar fashion as the push for nuclear technology. I don't know if there is a reasonable analogy between the nuclear research and AI research. Nuclear research was supposed to bring an unlimited supply of energy to the power-starved countries of the world. However, it was also harnessed for nuclear weapons.

A similar push is now been given to AI technology as well. AI might have great potential to help humanity in profound ways; however, it's very important to regulate it. Starting an AI arms race is very bad for the world, and should be prevented by banning all AI-based weapons beyond meaningful human control.

In 2016, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the government's Pan-Canadian AI strategy, which aims to put Canada at the center of an emerging gold rush of innovation. So, what does this actually mean for the AI arms race that is well underway?

We are living in an age of revolutionary changes brought about by the advance of AI technology. I am not sure there lies any hope for the world, but certainly there is a danger of sudden death. I think we are on a brink of an AI arms race. It should be prevented at any cost. No matter how long and how difficult the road will be, it is the responsibility of all leaders who live in the present to continue to make efforts.

You can follow Pete Poovanna on Twitter: @poovannact and for more information check out http://www.pthimmai.com/

Also on HuffPost:

Follow this link:

We Must Stop The Artificial Intelligence Arms Race At Any Cost - Huffington Post Canada

The Artificial Narrative Of Artificial Intelligence – Above the Law

Posted on by

As the legal community flees Las Vegas, leaving another successful ILTACON and several hundred thousand dollars in bad decisions in their wake, two questions weigh upon my mind. Is there something broken about the way we talk about artificial intelligence, and why does the airport give a goddamn about my mixers?

Artificial intelligence is a sufficiently ominous sounding invention. It gets the Asimov-obsessed firm stakeholders all hot and bothered in a way that predictive coding never really could. But ultimately, discussions of artificial intelligence in the law break down to one of two flavors: vendors willing to tell you frankly that this technology requires carefully constructed processes, vigilant management, and meticulous attention to detail; and those who tell you its MAGIC! Seriously, just buy yourself some AI and your firm is set! Somehow, after years and years of AI talk in the legal profession, there are still people peddling the latter option. Havent we all figured out what AI really is by now? Are there still clients out there falling for robotic nerve tonic?

Speaking of tonic, I ask the bartender for a vodka soda no use wasting the last minutes in this desert monument to excess sober. She tells me she cant serve those until 10:30. Is it really morning?

Its no secret that, for the sake of laughs, well always compare AI to the Terminator movies. A cold, unfeeling strand of code ruthlessly burying associates. But ditch the glossy ad campaign and, in reality, these products arent going to master a 100TB document review by osmosis. No, much like the T-800 these robots show up on the job naked and need to beat your biker bar full of associates to death before it can do its job properly.

Sure itll learn from your first-pass reviewers but what will it learn? Will it pick up all their bad habits? Will it learn the systemic oversight your client never passed along? Most importantly, will it learn to forget all these mistakes as soon as you uncover them or will vestigial f**k-ups keep infecting the process months after they get caught? AI may be brilliant, but if the processes that set it down its path lack detailed consistency, its going to end up throwing your firm out an airlock. Like the surgeon with a scalpel, lawyers who fail to understand that the profession is mastering the tool itself, will just chain themselves to expensive trinkets that do the client more harm than good.

When did a vodka soda become verboten this early in the morning at the Las Vegas Airport? Look, I get that some states have Blue laws, but generally Vegas isnt puritanical about the gross consumption of liquor. Whats the deal with booze? She tells me before 10:30 she can only make Bloody Marys and Screwdrivers. Wait, so vodka is on the menu? Because these arent premixed drinks.

This is all so confusing. Does Vegas really care about my mixers? Has Big Orange spread its tentacles from the Tropicana deep into this McCarran bar?

Not that there arent still some musing about the fully automated lawyer a cognitive map of a present-day rainmaker that firms can license out to clients who want to plug the BoiesBot 3500 on their latest matter. Its not that the technology required to perfect this strategy is far off though it might be but raise your hand if you imagine a bar association will ever sign off on disrupting the profession like that. Theyre scared enough about raising bar cut-off scores to allow a handful more humans into the market. A practicing attorney firms can duplicate at zero marginal cost? Not likely to pass that muster any century soon.

Strong AI solutions are the future hell, strong AI solutions are the present but before you invest in anything, take measure of how the vendor sees its own product. The best are always a little leery of the phrase artificial intelligence. Theres more enthusiasm for machine learning and other synonyms that dont carry the same baggage as AI. The key is looking for someone who can admit that their products power is all about your commitment to it as a client and how hard youll work to make it give its peak performance.

The guy next to me, a cybersecurity expert who Id say modeled his whole ethos upon The Dude if I didnt know he rocked that look long before Jeff Bridges, runs afoul of the same libation limitations when he asks for some champagne. She can only offer him a mimosa. Goddamned orange farmers hit us again! Thats when something special happens. He tells the bartender to give him a mimosa, but put the orange juice on the side so he can control the mix. And thats how he got a glass of champagne.

Cybersecurity Dude hacked the bar AI!

Because anything as a service is only as powerful as its instructions. He recognized the flaw in the establishments process an instance of bad tagging that let the bartender miss something critical. Thats how he found the key item the bartenders rules missed.

And thats how I, eventually, got my vodka soda.

Screw you, Tropicana.

Go here to see the original:

The Artificial Narrative Of Artificial Intelligence - Above the Law

Civil Air Patrol to hold Aerospace Extravaganza – Rapid City Journal

Posted on by

[Wing HQ, Rapid City, SD] Aerospace education is one of the three congressionally mandated missions of the Civil Air Patrol. This coming weekend aircraft and vehicles will bring officers and cadets from across the state to Sioux Falls to participate in the South Dakota Wings Aerospace Extravaganza for 2017.

The mission base will be at the headquarters of the Sioux Falls Composite Squadron at the Sioux Falls Regional Airport. From there cadets will have the opportunity to fly on powered aircraft orientation flights in and around Sioux Falls area. In addition, cadets will be ferried in groups to Worthington, MN where they will participate in glider orientation flights.

While waiting for their turn to fly in the aircraft and gliders the cadets at mission base will take part in a plethora of activities including building and test flying balsa-wood model gliders, building and launching model rockets, fly radio-controlled model powered aircraft and model powered gliders, fly computer flight simulators, receive instruction in how control surfaces affect flight dynamics.

Also included in the weekends activity is a guided tour of the South Dakota Air National Guards 114th Fighter Wing facility at Joe Foss Field.

Project Officers for the Aerospace extravaganza are Lt. Col. Todd Epp, commander of the Sioux Falls Composite squadron, and Lt. Col. Buck DeWeese, vice commander of the South Dakota Wing of the Civil Air patrol. Epp can be contacted at 605-351-5021 and DeWeese at 605-641-2362.

The South Dakota Wing of the Civil Air Patrol, with squadrons in Sioux Falls, Brookings, Rapid City, Pierre, Custer and Spearfish has approximately 300 members, seven light aircraft and 17 multi-purpose vehicles. These assets are available to federal, state and county governments, emergency responders and law enforcement agencies to perform search and rescue, homeland security, disaster relief, humanitarian assistance and counter-drug missions. For information: Wing website at http://sdcap.us, Wing Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/SDWingCAP,Wing Twitter @SDWingCAP, Wing photos Flickr https://twiter.com/photos/102270464@N02/sets.

Civil Air Patrol, the longtime all-volunteer U.S. Air Force auxiliary, is the newest member of the Air Forces Total Force, which consists of regular Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, along with Air Force retired military and civilian employees. CAP, in its Total Force role, operates a fleet of 550 aircraft and performs about 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and is credited by the AFRCC with saving an average of 78 lives annually. Civil Air Patrols 56,000 members nationwide also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. Its members additionally play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to more than 24,000 young people currently participating in the CAP cadet program. Performing missions for America for the past 75 years, CAP received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2014 in honor of the heroic efforts of its World War II veterans. CAP also participates in Wreaths Across America, an initiative to remember, honor and teach about the sacrifices of U.S. military veterans. Visit http://www.capvolunteernow.com for more information.

Read the original here:

Civil Air Patrol to hold Aerospace Extravaganza - Rapid City Journal

Nucon Aerospace’s largest production facility comes up in Hyderabad – Livemint

Posted on by

Nucon Aerospace provides comprehensive aviation and defence manufacturing solutions to clients like Hindustan Aeronautics, Isro and DRDO, BrahMos and Rafael.

Hyderabad: Nucon Aerospace on Sunday said its largest production facility has come up in the city. K .T. Rama Rao, Telangana minister for IT and industries, inaugurated the facility, the company said.

Nucon has earned a remarkable position in the aviation space and defence products and provided comprehensive solutions to some of its prestigious clients like Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML), Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL), Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), BrahMos and Rafael, the company said in a release.

Hemant Jalan, chairman and managing director, Nucon said, We are grateful for the support rendered by our esteemed partners, who indeed helped us in building this world-class facility and also grow over the years.

Speaking at the function, Rao said the state government is actively considering setting up a third aerospace park near the city.

He said the government has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with UKs Cranfiled University for setting up an aviation university in the state capital.

Excerpt from:

Nucon Aerospace's largest production facility comes up in Hyderabad - Livemint

Ripple Price Forecast and Analysis – August 21, 2017

Posted on by

Is Ripple entering the Chinese market? Is Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) secretly running a validator node? What impact would it have on the Ripple price prediction? So many questions, so little time.

Last week was essentially this—a ton of Ripple news without enough time for the market to digest it. To make matters worse, the story about China came out in dribs and drabs, leaving investors with more questions than answers.

That said, we noticed a few positive signs for Ripple prices.

XRP/BTC is doing better than XRP/USD.
In the last 24 hours, Ripple is up 1.26% against Bitcoin. By contrast, it only advanced 0.64% against the U.S..

The post Ripple Price Forecast and Analysis – August 21, 2017 appeared first on Profit Confidential.

Read the original here:
Ripple Price Forecast and Analysis – August 21, 2017

Ascension: "Night Three" Review – IGN

Posted on by

Share.

Warning: Fullspoilersfrom Ascension's "Night Three" event to follow.

Going back to the old-school '60s vibe, Ascension's final two-hour block kicked off with the Birth List ceremony -- or the "Ostara" -- which included a few surprises right off the bat. After seeing Christa's display of power in the last two episodes, it wasn't all that surprising that communicating with the dead was also one of her abilities. Here, we heard Enzmann refer to this as "morphic resonance" (the idea thatmemory is inherent in nature), which would make sense given what we've seen of Christa's powers so far. This also happened to dovetail with a humiliating video of Denninger and Lorelei popping up at the celebration, which marked a major setback for Denninger and Viondra's plans --seemingly, anyway.

IGN's Ascension: "Night Two" Review

It was pretty cool to see the star couple's back-door dealings finally pay off. The video was obviously a step backwards, and it was interesting to get hints about what happened in the past -- for example, Viondra falling in love with Denninger in light of their "bargain." From this we saw a loyalty between them that went far beyond love and into a deep, mutual trust. While it was kind of obvious that Denninger was setting Jackie up to report back to Rose with false info, it was still great to see Rose have the rug pulled out from under him at the Council hearing, revealing one of Rose's own colleagues to be the father of the unclaimed.

That said, the first half of tonight's episodes was a bit slow in other parts. James and Nora's continued conversations over fate and love were a little more tolerable than in the last two episodes -- if only because they were more forthright in the way they talked to each other. But again, their scenes were a little too "Attack of the Clones-y" for my taste, and featured the episodes' worst dialogue. I admit, though, I was intrigued by James' line about destroying the Birth Computer to incite change on the ship. A storyline about that could be neat, should Ascension go to series. (Plus, it would give James something useful to do.)

There was also the stuff between Emily and Duke, who I'd almost forgotten were characters. Since Gault and Emily's affair had been so downplayed in previous episodes -- they'd had, what, two scenes together? -- it was hard for me to get invested in their storyline. Theoretically, that could change, especially if Emily continued her affair with Gault, but the two guys' bro-down at the beach wasn't exactly the climax I was hoping for. Really, it's only significance was that it happened at the same time Christa let out that surge of energy, disabling the ship. And that's when things really kicked into high gear on-board the ship.

Conversely, things heated up pretty quickly on the outside. These episodes did a good job of making Enzmann seem a little more sympathetic than the last go-round, emphasizing his desperation to see the project through. Admittedly, Warren and Enzmann's back-and-forth slowed the pace a little bit, but Krueger working with Stokes was a pretty rad storyline. Brad Carter's acting here was particularly strong, as he was met with revelation after revelation: seeing the ship's exterior for the first time, seeing the sun and moon with his own eyes, and being overwhelmed by the sheer convenience of a convenience store. It was all really well played. I also liked the dynamic between Stokes and Krueger, specifically their scene at the motel when Krueger said she wanted balance, and Stokes posited the idea that one action doesn't make up for another. This I think was a reference to his own misgivings early on and maybe even shaping his future in potential episodes to come.

Of course, one of the big moments to come out of that storyline was the return of Eva Marceau, the conspiracy theorist Krueger briefly encountered in the last two episodes. It was such a bummer when Eva betrayed and killed Krueger, leaving Stokes on his own -- I was really starting to like the idea of the three of them going "full Snowden" and working to expose the project from the outside. At the same time, I was caught completely off guard by the twist, so in that sense I guess it was effective. I only wonder how long Stokes can last on his own.

As for the surge, I thought it was a great way to give the last half-hour a real sense of urgency. (Never underestimate the value of alarms and blinking lights!) Here, we got some of the episodes' finest moments, including Gault and Denninger going back down to the lower levels to get the air systems running again. It was a nice touch having Enzmann explain that the star field outside had been hardwired into Ascension's design, so as not to shatter the illusion. This in turn solely left it up to the crew to save themselves, which helped make the situation feel more dire, despite the fact they weren't actually in space. (Also, those shots of the crew experiencing rain for the first time? Good stuff.)

However, the real payoff for Viondra came when she was promoted to captain, which was a huge moment for her character. Granted, her power brokering had been somewhateffective already, but only to the extent that it kept her husband in the captain's chair. Honestly, it wasn't until she assumed the role of captain herself that Viondrareally came into her own (and, frankly, gave Tricia Helfer a reason to stick around). By far the most awesome scene here was Rose trying to take over and Viondra yelling back at him, "Get the hell off my bridge!" (Right on!) The question is, now that Viondra's frozen the chain of command, do you think she'll let Denninger take back his rank? Hmm...

Leading up to the final moments, during the fight with Globus and Gault (dude gets his ass kickeda lot, doesn't he?), we again saw that giant orb of light -- which I suspect is the "Star Child" Eva was referring to right after she shot Krueger. (Goofy 2001 name, but let's roll with it.) More importantly, Christa seemed to have some control over the orb, or she was at least able to communicate with it. In any case, Christa now pretty much knows that Ascension is a hoax, which begs the question: will she let everyone else know on the ship? I feel like she can't really yet, as that would pretty much end the show as we know it.

Gault also seemed to have a connection with the orb, as he was seemingly guided by its cosmic energy. (Heis presumably of that third generation, like Christa.) And that final shot of him teleported to the alien planet was pretty wild! Especially for viewers who were disappointed with the end of the first episode -- i.e., no space exploration -- it looks like interstellar travel is still very much in the cards. In fact, going off of Enzmann's comment at the very end, FTL travel seems to be the exact endgame. Now, it's just a matter of whether Ascension will get more episodes from Syfy...

The Verdict

Ascension's two-part finale offered a rousing conclusion to the Syfy miniseries, while also opening up the doors to new possibilities. While the show still has a few kinks to work out -- particularly with some of the less important characters -- these last two episodes were entertaining in their own right and had plenty of fun reveals to keep things interesting.

Ascension: "Night Three" debuts Wednesday, December 17 at 9:00pm ET/PT on Syfy as part three of a three-night event.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love by following @Max_Nicholson on Twitter, or MaxNicholson on IGN.

Editors' Choice

View post:

Ascension: "Night Three" Review - IGN

110 Photos of a Heavenly Ascension in Asbury Park – Advocate.com

Posted on by

The legendary festival came home to the States and landed in New Jersey for three days of dancing, pool parties, cocktails, and men. Read more below.

Thousands of men, all worked up and ready to go, descended on this years Ascension Party in Asbury Park on the beach in New Jersey.

We are thrilled to bring Ascension back to the States, party founder Eric von Kuersteiner told HuffPost. The party previously took place in Greece and occasionally Fire Island.

But wait, theres more than a party going on here. Money raised here goes to charitable causes. The Facebook mission statement says, The Fund in the Sun Foundation was established in 2006 as a not-for-profit public charity dedicated to Fire Island Pines. The foundations mission is twofold: First, to provide funding for projects and initiatives designed to protect, enhance, and maintain the environment, culturallife, health and infrastructure of the Fire Island Pines community.

"Since its inception, the Fund in the Sun Foundation has offered financial assistance and underwriting to The New York City Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, Friends in Deed, Camp Heartland, The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, Live out Loud, The Nature Conservancy of Long Island, Dancers Responding to AIDS, Dress for Success, The Trevor Project, The Hetrick-Martin Institute, Friends of the Fire Island National Seashore, Standing Tall, and Answer."

Thanks to Eric for letting us post these photos by Giovanni Sienna for Ascension.

Visit link:

110 Photos of a Heavenly Ascension in Asbury Park - Advocate.com

Small plane crashes in Ascension Parish field; Baton Rouge, Prairieville pilots uninjured – The Advocate

Posted on by

BURNSIDE Two men survived an emergency landing Thursday morning in southern Ascension Parish after their single-engine plane lost power shortly after takeoff, sheriff's deputies said.

Pilot Brad Arton,of Prairieville,was able to fly the Beechcraft Bonanza into a hay field north of La. 22 about 9:40 a.m. after lifting off from nearby Louisiana Regional Airport. The general aviation airport is in Ascension Parish off Loosemore Road northwest of La. 22.

Ascension Parish Sheriff's Chief Deputy Bobby Webre said the landing was a good one, if not for a ditch in the field that caused the plane to nose forward after touching down.

Deputies said the landing left 314 feet of tire marks across the field, which is between the Pelican Point subdivision to the north, the Ascension Trace subdivision to the south and between the La. 22/La. 44 intersection and the Word of Life Church.

The crash site also happened to be just down the road from the Fifth Ward fire station. Deputies and firefighters responded to the crash, Webre said.

Webre said the pilot, later identified as Arton, who turns 43 Friday, and co-pilot Michael Graham, 58, of Baton Rouge, suffered no injuries. The crash also sparked no fires nor leaks of fuel or other hazardous materials, Webre said.

The National Transportation Safety Board was waiting Thursday afternoon for an aircraft damage assessment to determine what role to take, said Keith Holloway, agency spokesman.

What caused the plane to lose power was not known Thursday.

Webre said the plane had damage to its propeller and engine cowling.

Originally posted here:

Small plane crashes in Ascension Parish field; Baton Rouge, Prairieville pilots uninjured - The Advocate