Hong Kong experts to train mainland Chinese health care workers under new scheme – South China Morning Post

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Former Hong Kong finance minister Antony Leung Kam-chung has launched an ambitious project to recruit the citys talent to train health care professionals on the mainland, which is experiencing a serious shortage of high-quality carers.

Leung is trying to reverse the trend through his leadership of New Frontier, an investment group that owns Care Alliance, which operates a number of mainland health care facilities, including for the elderly and rehabilitation.

There is great demand for rehabilitation on the mainland, which is still looking at standards and the operation of services. But in Hong Kong the level of our services is relatively mature, Leung said, adding that Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen faced a shortage of one million carers.

How could we help to set and raise standards of rehabilitation on the mainland? I think Hong Kong could certainly help in the future, Leung said.

New Frontier said it would pump 1 billion yuan (HK$1.17 billion) into healthcare projects in southwestern parts of the mainland. This comes after it earlier this year pledged to inject at least 1 billion yuan into a Shenzhen-based medical group so it can take part in the Greater Bay Area plan, an integration scheme involving Hong Kong, Macau and nine Pearl River Delta cities.

Leung met Hong Kong journalists in Chengdu last week to introduce the Care Alliance Rehabilitation Hospital, a new facility in which New Frontier has invested more than 100 million yuan. The hospital is set to open late next month.

New Frontier has entered a partnership with a few Hong Kong institutions to train health care workers on the mainland.

For example, experts from the Vocational Training Council will provide training courses for carers in all health care institutions under New Frontier, while the Society for Rehabilitation will provide training for mainland physiotherapists and occupational therapists working in the firms Chengdu rehabilitation hospital.

Two young Hongkongers have joined the growing trend of taking part in exchanges between Hong Kong and mainland health care personnel by working as interns at a separate hospital under the Care Alliance.

Opting for elderly care might be a rather unusual career choice for Yeung Kwok-ho, 22, and Dickman Wai, 21, who have started a two-month internship after completing a higher diploma course in elderly care services at the citys Institute of Vocational Education.

I want to understand how elderly care homes operate on the mainland and whether there are any practices we can adopt, said Wai, who was motivated to study elderly care after seeing his grandmother suffering in a Hong Kong care home.

Would the elderly in China respond differently to the same techniques I use in Hong Kong?

The pair, who were the first two students in their programme to take up internships on the mainland, will help organise physical exercises for the elderly and cognitive training for those with dementia.

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Hong Kong experts to train mainland Chinese health care workers under new scheme - South China Morning Post

SC, NC rank among 10 worst states for healthcare – WBTW – Myrtle Beach and Florence SC

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(CBS/WBTW) More Americans now have access to health care than in decades past, but the cost and quality of service can vary widely depending on where someone lives.

With the continuing battle in Washington over thefuture of health care in the United States, experts at personal-finance website WalletHub decided to do some digging into the quality of health care on a state-by-state basis.

According to the latest data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the average U.S. adult spends nearly $10,000 per year on personal health care, and that number is expected to continue to increase over time.

But as costs rise, the United States remains well behind other wealthy nations when it comes tolife expectancy, quality of life, and overall health coverage.

To determine in which states Americans receive the best and worst health care overall, the analysts at WalletHub compared all 50 states plus the District of Columbia across 35 measures of cost, accessibility, and outcome.

Among the factors they took into consideration were the cost of medical and dental visits; average monthly insurance premiums; quality of hospital care systems;life expectancy;cancer rates; heart disease rates; and infant, child, andmaternal mortalityrates.

Hawaii topped the list with the lowest heart disease rate in the nation and a particularly high number of insured adults aged 18 to 64. Iowa, Minnesota, and New Hampshire also ranked high on the list.

According to the analysis, the top 10 best states for health care are:

In contrast, Louisiana was rated the worst state for health care overall, with the highestheart diseaserate in the nation, the third highest cancer rate, and a low number of dentists per capita.

North Carolina ranked 5th on the worst state list (47th overall), with the highest average monthly insurance premiums.

South Carolina ranked 7th on the worst state list (45th overall), but WalletHub offered no explanation as to why.

The 10 worst states for health care include:

To see how the other states stack up, seeWalletHubs full report.

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SC, NC rank among 10 worst states for healthcare - WBTW - Myrtle Beach and Florence SC

Editorial: The growth of regenerative medicine – Concord Monitor

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The field is called regenerative medicine, technology that shows promise of repairing or replacing human organs with new ones, healing injuries without surgery and, someday, replacing cartilage lost to osteoarthritis.

New Hampshire could become one of the centers of the new industry and become the next Silicon Valley, says Manchester inventor Dean Kamen. The governor and Legislature, however, arent doing what they need to make the potential economic and intellectual boom more likely.

Sever the spinal chord of a zebra fish, an aquarium standby, and it will regrow in a couple of weeks. Remove a limb from a salamander, and it will grow another one indistinguishable from the first. And even some humans, especially when young, can regrow a new fingertip and fingernail on a digit severed above its last joint. Medical science is moving ever closer to performing such wonders.

3-D bioprinters that use biologic materials instead of printer ink are already printing replacement human skin. A University of Connecticut scientist and surgeon believes it will be possible to regenerate human knees sometime in the next decade and regrow human limbs by 2030.

At Ohio State University, a team has succeeded in using genetic material contained in a tiny microchip attached to skin and, with a tiny, Frankenstein-like zap of electricity, reprogram skin cells to produce other types of human cells. Turn a skin cell into say, a vascular system cell, and it will migrate to the site of a wound, spur healing and restore blood flow. Convert skin cells to brain cells and, with a few more steps, it could help stroke victims recover. The technologys potential is enormous.

Kamen created the portable insulin pump, and he and his team at DEKA Research in Manchesters millyard produced the Segway human transporter, a device that provides clean water in places that lack it, an external combustion engine that will soon heat and power part of the states mental hospital, and other inventions. Their track record helped Kamen and DEKA beat out plenty of other applicants to win $80 million in federal funds to found ARMI, the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute in Manchester. Total funding is now just shy of $300 million.

The governments aim is to spur technologies that could be used to treat injured soldiers but whats learned could aid everyone and make New Hampshire a mecca for scientists, production facilities, pharmaceutical companies and more. DEKA will not create the new technologies but use its inventing and engineering expertise to help companies scale up and speed up regenerative medicine technologies so they can be brought to the market more quickly at an affordable cost.

The states university system has partnered with DEKA to train students who will one day work in the biotech field. The educational infrastructure is in place, but its handicapped by the states sorry funding of higher education. New Hampshire regularly ranks last or next to last in state support and its students carry the most debt of any in the nation.

To make New Hampshire the biotech mecca Kamen envisions will require lawmakers to better fund higher education, support the regenerative manufacturing institute and make housing available. A high-tech company that wants to come to New Hampshire cant do so if its workers cant afford a home.

Regenerative medicine is expected to become a massive economic engine, one that will create jobs and improve lives while lowering health care costs. The Legislature should be doing all it can to make sure that at least some of that engine is designed and made in New Hampshire.

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Editorial: The growth of regenerative medicine - Concord Monitor

Career Opportunity Explosion in Genetics – PA home page

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FORTY FORT, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) -- In a time when many wonder about career opportunities of the future, there is one that's showing signs of significant growth. It has to do with helping patients understand and address personal health risk factors.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports nearly 40,000 jobs were created last month in the health sector. Of that sector, one particular field is showing tremendous employment opportunity more than any other job.

What you're witnessing is the future of medicine: unlocking genetic code secrets to personalize treatment and even prevention of certain illnesses and conditions. Both in and out of these DNA labs are genetic counselors who gather and analyze family history and inheritance patterns to help identify individuals and families who may be at risk. "It's so such on the cutting edge of science and technology that it's continuously changing and there are always new things to really keep on top of and excite me," said Geisinger Genomic Medicine Institute Genetic Counselor Marci Schwartz.

Ms. Schwartz works in both cardiovascular and cancer genetics. By the end of 2024, the demand for genetic counselors like her is expected to grow by nearly 30 percent which is greater than any other job sector in the nation. So what's driving that demand? "We are now getting to the point where genetic information is really becoming relevant to clinical care," said Geisinger Genomic Medicine Institute Director Marc Williams, MD.

That care also includes targeted medicine in neurology, pediatrics, and prenatal genetics. Home to the 11 years and counting genome project "MyCode", Geisinger anticipates needing hundreds of genetic counselors in the next few years. "We have a huge opportunity but also this deficit in terms of training personnel," said Dr. Williams. Part of the genetic field job explosion is a recently created position by Geisinger called a genetic counseling assistant.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine in Scranton will soon offer a masters program in genomics but exploring career possibilities in this field can begin much sooner. "Some of the shadowing and volunteer experience can certainly be started in high school," said Ms. Schwartz.

You don't need to be a doctor to become a genetic counselor but you do need a masters degree. The starting salary for this growing profession is roughly $65,000 a year. You can learn more about career opportunities in genetic counseling by clicking here.

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Career Opportunity Explosion in Genetics - PA home page

Elon Musk’s OpenAI Created a Bot That Can Beat the World’s Best eSports Players – Futurism

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In Brief Elon Musk's nonprofit AI company has successfully beaten some of the world's greatest Dota 2 players. The game is much more complex than chess or Go, and the bot's ability to win is indicative of the increasing power of AI systems. An AI World First

eSports are growing in popularity and quickly becoming a surprisingly lucrative sport. eSports are a form of competition where the action takes place in an electronic system, usually a video game. There are a ton of formal competitions and tournaments for a wide range of games, such asStarCraft 2, Overwatch, and Defense of the Ancients (Dota) 2.

One way that developers of artificially intelligent systems teach their creations is through gaming. Googles AI, AlphaGo, became so advanced at playing the ancient game of Go, that it was able tobeat whatever human master was thrown at it. This was quite the achievement, as Go involves much more complexity than games like chess which theDeep Blue computer system was able to master in 1996.

Now, AI systems are coming for the best that eSports have to offer. Elon Musks OpenAI software has become the first AI to beat the world greatest eSports athletes. Musk took to Twitter to announce this achievement.

OpenAI published an accompanying blog post explaining the significance of what theyve built. Dota 1v1 is a complex game with hidden information. Agents must learn to plan, attack, trick, and deceive their opponents. The correlation between player skill and actions-per-minute is not strong, and in fact, our AIs actions-per-minute are comparable to that of an average human player.

The software taught itself how to play the game by playing itself. Our bot has learnedentirely via self-playto predict where other players will move, to improvise in response to unfamiliar situations, and how to influence the other players allied units to help it succeed.

OpenAI has a history of using novel approaches to train its AI. Last year, they let their system loose on Reddit, where it processed nearly two billion comments. It may be unclear what is in store for the future of OpenAI and other AI projects, but professional gamers are seemingly out of luck for a while.

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Elon Musk's OpenAI Created a Bot That Can Beat the World's Best eSports Players - Futurism

Bitcoin Continues to Plow Through Milestones By Surpassing the $4000 Mark – Futurism

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In Brief Bitcoin has surpassed another milestone by reaching worth of more than $4,000. Many are still optimistic about the currency's future.

Another day, another Bitcoin milestone passed. The worlds first and largest cryptocurrency surpassed the $4,000 mark for a moment yesterday. The new all-time high for Bitcoin is now $4,162.57. The price has dropped slightly since that high was reached, and at the time of writing now sits at $4,072.30.

This latest milestone marks the currencys seemingly unstoppable surge since the beginning of the year. In January, Bitcoin was trading at less than $1,000 per coin. Now, the burgeoningcryptocoinsare worth more than four times that amount. Early adopters must be rejoicing that their faith in the cryptocurrency is (thus far) being rewarded.

Experts remain optimistic about Bitcoins potential, yet some are beginning to fear that it has entered a bubble. Still, the trend seems to be in favor of its continued success. No one knows for sure what the future of Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies in general will look like. The debate of whether the reward is worth the risk will continue to rage on.

The bigger picture here though, is blockchain. While it is most closely associated with cryptocurrency at the moment, that doesnt even begin to scratch the surface of what is possible with this tech. So while cryptocurrency may still be considered a gamble, get ahead of the game and read up on blockchain, because it is, almost certainly, the future.

Disclosure: Several members of the Futurism team, including the editors of this piece, are personal investors in a number of cryptocurrency markets. Their personal investment perspectives have no impact on editorial content.

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Bitcoin Continues to Plow Through Milestones By Surpassing the $4000 Mark - Futurism

Real Time Updates: "Freedom Rally" met by "Solidarity Against Hate" counter-protest in Seattle – KIRO Seattle

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by: KIRO 7 News Staff Updated: Aug 13, 2017 - 4:58 PM

SEATTLE - The latest on the "Freedom Rally" put on by 'The Patriot Prayer', a conservative group, and the "Solidarity Against Hate" counter-protest in Seattle. All times local.

Click here to see photos of today's rally and counter-protest.

[4:57]

[4:45]

Seattle Police have made an arrest at 5th and Pine.

[3:54]

An update from the Seattle Police Department:

[3:47]

Demonstrators are marching back to Denny Park, according to the Seattle Police Department.

[3:03]

The Seattle Police Department has issued a Dispersal Order at 2nd and Pine. Police also have confiscated weapons, and have made arrests. The number of arrests is unknown at this point.

[2:00]

The "Solidarity against hate grouphas marched from Denny Park to Westlake Park where the conservative "Freedom Rally" group is located.

[1:00]

One of two groups that planned to march in downtown Seattle Sunday has said the group will not march, but gather in light of the violence that erupted at a Charlottesville, Va., rally Saturday.

The Patriot Prayer, a conservative, pro-Trump group, will gather at 2 p.m. at Westlake Park.

Opponents, which include members of the Veterans for Peace, Socialist Party, Washington Federation of State Workers and other groups, had planned to march after the Patriot Prayer group originally announced it would march in Seattle on August 13. They will gather at Denny Park at 1 p.m.

The Patriot Prayer group had touted the event as a Freedom Rally; opponents of their messaging say the group is homophobic, racist and bigoted.

On its Facebook page, the Patriot Prayer groups posted:

Seattle is running our state with a pedophile as a mayor. The West Coast has slowly been infected with communist ideologies throughout our entire culture. It is a belief that the individual is weak and that we are all victims. This is the lie of the century. No matter who you are, we are all amazing people with the ability to do anything that we put our minds to. These liberal strongholds run off of hatred and negativity. Patriot Prayer will bring in a positive message to Seattle that the people are starving for. With light we will change the hearts and minds of those who are surrounded by darkness. Live music and motivational speakers to promote freedom, free speech, and the power of the human soul.

The group has been criticized for inciting violence at recent gatherings in Portland and Vancouver, B.C.The Columbian newspaper recently did a profile on the group's lead, Joey Gibson.

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Real Time Updates: "Freedom Rally" met by "Solidarity Against Hate" counter-protest in Seattle - KIRO Seattle

Religious freedom advocates, hungry for action from Trump, applaud pick of Brownback – USA TODAY

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Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback talks to the media during a news conference Thursday, July 27, 2017, in Topeka, Kan. President Donald Trump nominated Brownback to be ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom.(Photo: Charlie Riedel, AP)

WASHINGTON For advocates of religious freedom, President Trumps appointment of Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback to be Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom is a much-needed jolt from an administration that they feel has been otherwise sluggish to act on critical protections for people of faith.

If confirmed, Brownback will be be the U.S. governments representative on religious freedom abroad. He also has the task of advocating within the State Department for a greater focus on the issue, even at times when it may not run in lockstep with economic or military interests.

You need somebody who feels it in his bones and David Saperstein really did feel it in his bones and so does Sam Brownback, this is why Im grateful to president Trump, of whom Ive been a ferocious critic, Robert George said. Rabbi David Saperstein held the ambassador-at-large position most recently during the Obama administration.

On the campaign trail Trump had promised that the first priority of my administration will be to preserve and protect our religious liberty.Trump was able to get conservative Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch confirmed to the bench, a move which religious freedom advocates celebrated.

Early in his presidency Trump was reportedly considering an executive order that would scale back Obama-era protections for gays and lesbians, andreligious freedom advocates pressed him to move forward. But Trump ultimately signed a version that critics including George felt didnt go nearly far enough.

It was so watered down in the end that when it was issued it had no practical significance that I could see, said George, who was chairman of the independent U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in 2015 and 2016.I do not give the Trump administration high marks at all, so far, on religious freedom issues domestically ... Internationally I think it is too early to tell, but Im hoping.

We think that President Trump made a great choice in picking Brownback, said Emilie Kao,director of the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Religion & Civil Society at the conservative Heritage Foundation. I think its a very positive step on international religious freedom. I think that theres still much more that the Trump Administration could still do on domestic religious freedom.

I think hes almost made for the job and the job was made for him and he cares deeply so I think its a perfect appointment, former Virginia congressman Frank Wolf told USA TODAY.

Wolf introduced the law the International Religious Freedom Act which created the ambassador-at -large position. Brownback,who was a senator 1998 when the legislation passed, was a key player moving the legislation through the Senate.

Wolf, a who left Congress in 2014 after more than three decades,said the administration is going to do well on religious freedom and the reason we havent seen as muchis because theres no one at home,referring to the fact that the administration is not yet filled critical positions throughout the government.

Former Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., is pictured Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, April 12, 2013. Wolf introduced legislation that created the Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom.(Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta, AP)

Certain aspects of religious freedom domestically can be a bitterly partisan, such as battles over whether faith groups can be ordered to provide birth control in employee health insurance plans.But internationally, religious freedomis an overwhelmingly bipartisan issue.

The law that created the ambassador-at-large position, passed in the House by 375-41 and 98-0 in the Senate in 1998. An amendment to the bill in 2016 that strengthened the powers of the office passed by a voice vote in the House and unanimous consent in the Senate.

Saperstein, who was nominated to be ambassador-at-large by then-president Barack Obama, told USA TODAY that the basic areas of religious freedom rights freedom to worship, educate, speak about faith, etc. have broad bipartisan support domestically. The former ambassador-at-large said the friction comes with competing claims, moral claims, between religious liberty rights and other civil rights womens rights and LGBT rights, in particular so there are tensions in these claims. Do people have a religious freedom right to discriminate against other people?

He also cited friction over if corporations have religious freedom rights or if tax-exempt religious institutions can take a political stance, as dividing issues in the U.S.

Saperstein said there are important claims on both sides of these issues but they pale in comparison to the persecution happening abroad. More than three-quarters of the worlds population live in countries where restrictions on religion are either high or very high, according to Pew Research Center.

I pray for the day that the struggles for the religious freedom on a global level will be about whether corporations have religious freedom claims, whether clergy can use tax deductible money to endorse candidates how to best balance out competing claims between religious liberty claims and womens rights and LGBT rights claims, Saperstein said. He said that people around the world are subject to torture, prison and even death for their beliefs.

Saperstein pointed to Brownbacks long track-record of support for religious freedom issues when USA TODAY asked if the Kansas governor was the right pick to take over his job.

Its an issue he knows, he knows well and cares deeply about, Saperstein said.

More: Vice President Pence says ISIS is waging anti-Christian 'genocide'

Religious conservatives mixed on Trump's order targeting birth control, church involvement

'We are under siege,' Trump tells religious right group as Comey testifies

Andrew Bennett, the Canadian ambassador for religious freedom from2013 to2016, warned that Brownback may find himself arguing with othergovernment agencies over foreign policy.

At times, you know, Gov. Brownback and his office are going to find themselves working against other particular priorities that the United States might have in its foreign policy and so the challenge for Gov. Brownback is going to be to stand up in defense of religious freedom and to speak out, Bennett told USA TODAY.

Despite the bipartisan support for the position, some worry Brownback who has been opposed to strengthening protections for the LGBTcommunity could take the post in the wrong direction.

The position is obviously one that deals with religious discrimination and protecting people from religious persecution around the world which is something that, you know, LGBTQ people share in common. In lots of places where theres reallya lot of persecution that takes the form of religious discrimination, it also takes the form of anti-LGBT discrimination, said David Stacy, the government affairs director for the LGBT advocacy organization Human Rights Campaign.

Brownback has opposed gay marriage and as governor signed a law that allowed university groups to restrict membership, critics said that could lead to discrimination.

With Sam Brownback were certainly very worried that he will promote a particular brand of religion," Stacy said."Religion does not need to be in conflict with LGBT equality, but if you put someone like Sam Brownback in this position,he does view it that way: that its a zero-sum game

Some in Kansas may be happy to see Brownback go, after he ordered sweepingtax cuts that hampered the state's economy and narrowly won re-election in 2016.

Sam Brownback will be remembered for becoming the most unpopular governor in America. His tax experiment failed to grow the economy as he had promised, Kansas State Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley tweeted after Brownback was nominated.

More: Kansas governor faces tax cut challenge

Republicans in Congress push for religious liberty executive order

Republicans ask Jeff Sessions to reaffirm no religious tests for government posts

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Religious freedom advocates, hungry for action from Trump, applaud pick of Brownback - USA TODAY

Freedom Of The Press Is A Fundamental Human Need – HuffPost

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The United Nations adopted 17Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, which were designed to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all. These goals are intended to promote basic human needs and include: zero hunger, quality education, and clean water. While the SDGs are seemingly comprehensive and straightforward, the goals neglect to include one of the most important, and most undervalued, prerequisites for a healthy society freedom of the press.

Considering a free press to be as vital as water might seem absurd or melodramatic, as well as counterintuitive to Maslows Hierarchy of Needs. However, corruption is often the driving force behind ongoing environmental and socioeconomic issues, such as water crises, that pose major risks to public welfare. Consequently, unless such corruption is confronted and resolved, people will continue to die at the hand of government abuse and neglect. Corruption needs public exposure before confrontation can occur, which is not possible without an uncensored media. Human lives are relying on the existence of a free press for survival in these instances.

Food, water, and shelter do not exist in a vacuum. Governments have the capacity to influence the production of and access to these essential resources, especially in more authoritarian states. For instance, the looting of resources this year by South Sudanese politicians has resulted in a famine with a death toll currently in the thousands and rising. The lack of transparency on behalf of the South Sudanese government was the primary reason these politicians were able to get away with committing such abuses. These situations highlight how accountability over the control of essential resources can be just as significant to the preservation of life as the existence of such resources in the first place. A free press is the key to achieving this accountability.

This dynamic is already observable in many developed countries. When Donald Trump Jr. released emails in early July indicating that he had planned a meeting with a Kremlin-connected attorney about incriminating information regarding Hillary Clinton, he was not doing so out of some unwavering commitment to transparency. He did it because the New York Times had reached out prior to inform him that it was going to be running a story on said emails. Secret meetings may not be as devastating as famines, but the general idea holds true that leaders have a harder time hiding their corruption when the press is able to function independent of government oversight.

This is not a groundbreaking concept, nor is the idea that accountability leads to better governance. Nevertheless, these considerations suggest that freedom of the press should not simply be regarded as a human right, but as a human necessity. Research conducted at the University of Missouri suggests that a freer press leads to higher quality of life and a healthier environment. Additionally, countries experience greater economic growth and productivity when they are less corrupt.

These facts might make freedom of the press simply seem like a great benefit to society rather than a necessity, but consider what happens in its absence. The United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that approximately $2.6 trillion is lost annually to corruption. That is foreign aid, foreign direct investment, and government revenue all being diverted away from public goods into the pockets of fraudulent politicians and bureaucrats, inevitably hurting the common people. Look again at South Sudan, where thousands of children are at risk of starvation due to misuse of resources. When this kind of corruption remains unreported, or when media coverage of it gets stifled by the government, the issues go unresolved and more lives continue to be lost. These peoples lives rely on having such information disclosed, which is where freedom of the press becomes as necessary as the water they drink and the food they eat. The lack of transparency is causing loss of human life.

Fortunately, the rise of internet access in countries like South Sudan has made it possible for the press to circumnavigate legal limitations. This is not a solution in itself, since various websites dedicated to exposing corruption are targeted by government efforts. For example, Tanzanias Jamii forums have not been immune from state suppression. The internet is instead an accessory for transparency activists to use while international organizations and NGOs attack the problem at the source by fighting for a freer press. An important part of this battle will be for organizations like the United Nations to view freedom of the press as being on par with other basic necessities. Humans need clean water to survive, but they also need to know what their leaders are doing with that clean water in order to truly preserve the wellbeing of society.

John J. Martin is the Global Transparency Fellow at Young Professionals in Foreign Policy (YPFP). John earned his BA in International Relations from New York University.

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Concern over changing definitions of freedom – The Hindu

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KOZHIKODE: Youth leader P.K. Firos, writer Narayan, and actor Mamukkoya represent different walks of life, and their interests may not be common. As they spoke at various sessions on the second day of the Festival of Democracy here on Sunday, there seemed to be agreement on the changing definition of freedom in the country.

Mr. Firos, State general secretary of the Muslim Youth League, while speaking at a session on Celebrating Freedom, pointed out that only a few got the fruit of freedom, while the dispensation ruling the country was trying to marginalise other sections of society, like minorities. Towards this goal, efforts are on to portray Muslims as the other and turn public conscience against them, he observed.

He said while he was attending a press meet in New Delhi, some journalists from Kerala had asked him as to why the largest number of Muslim terrorists who joined terror outfits were from Kerala.

I failed to understand from which source they got the information. There are around 90 lakh Muslims in the State, of whom around 20 are suspected to have joined Islamic State. How can you paint the entire community as a breeding ground for terrorists? he asked.

Mr. Firos said such experiences would make anyone insecure. On this January 26, one Intelligence Bureau official called me to ask if I had observed Republic Day, as if suspecting my commitment to the nation. I have never had such experiences in my life, he said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Narayan, the author of the path-breaking novel, Kocharethi, which chronicles the life of the tribal population, alleged that some people were dictating to writers as to what they should write and what they should not.

He was speaking at a session on My Writing, My Freedom. The National Book Trust [NBT] had earlier decided to publish the translated versions of some of my short stories in English and other Indian languages. After the change of guard at the Centre, the NBT chairman was replaced with someone who had earlier worked with Panchajanya, who said there was no need to publish my stories, he said.

Injustice

Mr. Narayan added that Oxford University Press had described him as the first novelist from the tribal community in south India. By not publishing my works, they [NBT] have done injustice to an important section of the Indian population, he added. Mr. Mamukkoya, who earlier opened the session on Celebrating Freedom, pointed out: We could have freedom only if we permit others to raise their opinions. Going by the recent developments, I dont know how long this freedom will last. What we can do is preserve whatever independence we have. Religious organisations and political parties will not discuss this issue as their views on freedom are different.

He said holding long lectures would not do any good, but there should be discussions, creative criticism, and joint celebration of freedom, which should be a model for future generations.

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Concern over changing definitions of freedom - The Hindu

The Minifree Libreboot T400 is free as in freedom | TechCrunch – TechCrunch

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The Libreboot T400 doesnt look like much. Its basically a refurbished Lenovo Thinkpad with the traditional Lenovo/IBM pointer nubbin and a small touchpad. Its a plain black laptop, as familiar as any luggable assigned to a cubicle warrior on the road. But, under the hood, you have a machine that fights for freedom.

The T400 runs Libreboot, a free and open BIOS and the Trisquel GNU/Linux OS. Both of these tools should render the Libreboot T400 as secure from tampering as can be. Your Libreboot T400 obeys you, and nobody else! write its creators, and that seems to be the case.

How does it work? And should you spend about $300 on a refurbished Thinkpad with Linux installed? That depends on what youre trying to do. The model I tested was on the low end with enough speed and performance to count but Trisquel tended to bog down a bit and the secure browser, an unbranded Mozilla based browser that never recommends non-free software, was a little too locked down for its own good. I was able to work around a number of the issues I had but this is definitely not for the faint of heart.

That said, you are getting a nearly fully open computer. The 14.1-inch machine runs a Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 processor and starts at 4GB of RAM with 160GB hard drive space. That costs about $257 plus shipping and includes a battery and US charger.

Once you have the T400 youre basically running a completely clean machine. It runs a free (as in freedom) operating system complete with open drivers and applications and Libreboot ensures that you have no locked-down software on the machine. You could easily recreate this package yourself on your own computer but I suspect that you, like me, would eventually run into a problem that couldnt be solved entirely with free software. Hence the impetus to let Minifree do the work for you.

If youre a crusader for privacy, security, and open standards, than this laptop is for you. Thankfully its surprisingly cheap and quite rugged so youre not only sticking it to the man but you could possibly buy a few of these and throw them at the man in a pinch.

The era of common Linux on the desktop and not in the form of a secure, libre device like this is probably still to come. While its trivial (and fun) to install a Linux instance these days I doubt anyone would do it outright on a laptop that theyre using on a daily basis. But for less than a price of a cellphone you can use something like the T400 and feel safe and secure that youre not supporting (many) corporate interests when it comes to your computing experience. Its not a perfect laptop by any stretch but its just the thing if youre looking for something that no one but you controls.

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Freedom pitchers finally give up run, still beat Grizzlies handily for sixth in a row – User-generated content (press release) (registration)

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Tony Vocca returned to form and the Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, won their sixth game in a row on Saturday with a 7-1 victory over the Gateway Grizzles at UC Health Stadium.

In the top of the fifth, with the Freedom (50-28) leading 3-0 and the scoreless innings streak reaching 33.1 innings, a leadoff triple by Gateways (24-54) Brent Sakurai off Vocca (7-5) paved the way for a Matt Hearn RBI-single, snapping the streak and cutting Florences lead to two. Vocca, however, would not allow another run over his six innings of work, inducing four double plays and striking out four while scattering nine hits.

Florence started the scoring in the bottom of the second when Austin Wobrock laced a line drive into center off Gateway starter Vince Molesky (5-7), scoring Collins Cuthrell, who had singled. Andre Mercurio extended the Freedom lead to three when he parked a two-run shot to right off Moleskyin the home half of the third.

Mercurio would lead the Freedom with three hits and three RBI in the game and also scored two runs.

With Florence leading 3-1 in the bottom of the fifth, Andrew Godbold lined a double to the wall in right-center, scoring Taylor Oldham, who was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Mercurio then reached on an infield single before Cuthrell plated Godbold with his second single of the game. Keivan Berges followed suit with a line drive into left that scored Mercurio and pushed Florence in front, 6-1.

The Freedom would count one more insurance run off Grizzlies reliever Tanner Cable in the sixth. After hitting Garrett Vail with a pitch and issuing a walk to Daniel Fraga, Cable gave up a run-scoring single to Mercurio.

Enrique Zamora, Jack Fowler and Sam Brunner each threw one scoreless inning of relief, with the help of an additional double play in the eighth, as the Freedom won their sixth straight game and secured the series win over Gateway.

The Freedom will pursue a seventh straight win and the series sweep in Sundays finale. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. at UC Health Stadium, as Steve Hagen (6-4) will start for Florence against Gateways Will Anderson (2-11).

The Florence Freedom are members of the independent Frontier League and play all home games at UC Health Stadium located at 7950 Freedom Way in Florence, KY.The Freedom can be found online at FlorenceFreedom.com, or by phone at 859-594-4487.

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Freedom pitchers finally give up run, still beat Grizzlies handily for sixth in a row - User-generated content (press release) (registration)

How ‘Mister Fantastic’ Came to Become the Cyborg Superman – CBR (blog)

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This Ive Been Here Before, a feature that deals with a term that I coined called nepotistic continuity, which refers to the way that comic book writers sometimes bring back minor characters that they themselves created in the past as characters in their current work.

In every installment of this feature, Ill spotlight an example of a character that did not appear in a comic for at least two years before then showing up in a comic written or drawn by the creator of the character.

Today, we look at Hank Henshaw, most famously known as the Cyborg Superman, but when he first showed up, he was based on an entirely different character.

Adventures of Superman #466 was relatively early in Dan Jurgens stint as both the artist and the writer on one of the three main Superman titles of the period (Superman, Action Comics and Adventures of Superman). Initially working with finisher Art Thibert, Jurgens then worked with finisher Brett Breeding for a long run and the two would move over to take over the flagship Superman title, Superman, where they would later famously do the final chapter of the famous Death of Superman storyline, the issue that actually included the, you know, death of Superman.

But back in early 1990, Jurgens was still pretty new on the book. In Adventures of Superman #466, he started a clever two-part story that opened with four scientists basically going through the same thing that the Fantastic Four did in Fantastic Four #1 (Jurgens had always been a very notable and vocal fan of the Fantastic Four).

The various astronauts went through different reactions that were inspired by the original FF

Anyhow, things go horribly wrong for most of the crew and by the end of the issue, only Terri, the wife of Hank Henshaw (the Reed Richards of the group) is still alive.

However, in Adventures of Superman #468 (following a Batman/Superman crossover that split the two-parter over three issues), we learn that Hank survived, but he survived by transferring his consciousness into machinery!

When he realizes that his very existence causes pain for his wife, Hank then transfers his consciousness into the birthing matrix/rocket ship that took Superman to Earth when he was an embryo. He then uses it to travel the stars and thats it for Hank Henshaw for the next two years.

As we noted, Superman then passed away in the Death of Superman storyline and this was followed eventually by the Reign of Superman, which introduced four men each claiming to be the real Superman (well, three of them, at least John Henry Irons never really claimed to be Superman, so it was weird that he was always lumped in on that aspect of it all) in Adventures of Superman #500 (released precisely two years after Henshaw vanished). One of the heroes was a Cyborg version of Superman

Eventually, it turned out that this was Hank Henshaw, who had used the birthing matrix to copy Supermans DNA and mixed it with his power to control machinery, he became the Cyborg Superman. He had also been driven mad, as when he teamed up with Mongul to come back to Earth to destroy it, beginning with nuking Coast City! After he did that, he showed off even more how evil he was in Adventures of Superman #503 (by Karl Kesel, Tom Grummett and Doug Hazlewood)

It was rather clever of Jurgens to go back into his catalog of characters (which obviously was not yet that extensive at the time) to find his Cyborg Superman, ultimately creating one of the best new Superman villains of the past 25 years.

Thats it for this installment (at a casual glance, I think it might be almost three years since Ive last done this feature. That cant be right, can it?)! If anyone else has a suggestion for a future edition of Ive Been Here Before, drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com!

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Water levels rising in Great Lakes, effects felt at Holland-area beaches – HollandSentinel.com

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The monthly water level average for July 2017 in Lake Michigan was the highest recorded since October 1997.

Deb Thompsons eight mile runs on the Laketown Beach are getting tougher.

This is because the water level of Lake Michigan is rising and is leaving less beach to run on, Thompson said.

Thompson, a resident of Holland for the past three years, is right. Lake Michigan beaches are shrinking and water levels in the Great Lakes are on the rise.

The monthly water level average for July 2017 in Lake Michigan was the highest recorded since October 1997, according to data from the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory.

The laboratory measures Lake Michigan and Lake Huron as one unit.

Lake Michigan water levels hit a record low of 576.02 feet in January 2013, but have been above average since July 2014.

"For me I always run right along the water line anyway and today it's fairly calm, Thompson said. But days where the water is really rough, it's hard because you are running against these crashing waves and you don't have much beach to run on.

Thompson isnt the only one feeling the effects of the rising waters of Lake Michigan in the Holland area.

Holland State Park Supervisor Sean Mulligan said the crews from the state had to re-locate a deck used to help people with disabilities access the water.

The sand underneath the deck was being washed away due to high water levels. Life ring stations also had to be moved further inland due to rising water.

"The water is coming up higher and it's actually eroded away the beach further up than usual, Mulligan said. We've got little drop offs now instead of smooth transition from the beach into the water."

Sidewalk flooding is an issue when the water gets rough because it is coming over the walls of the channel between Lake Michigan and Macatawa Bay at the state park due to high water.

Because of the state parks extensive beach, Mulligan said the impacts havent really been felt by visitors. Maintenance issues due to rising waters are the biggest problem, he said.

Bob Reichel, a parks operations manager for Ottawa County Parks, has been taking care of the countys lakeshore parks since the last time water levels were well above average in 1997.

Some Ottawa County beaches arent as large as the one at Holland State Park and Reichel said most of the beaches he manages have lost somewhere between 100 feet to 150 feet of dry sand due to rising water levels.

We've lost that much sand area and our beach area is very limited now, especially compared to what it has been in past years when we had lower lake levels, Reichel said.

Another impact of the rising water levels is the washing up of eroded dune grass on beaches in Ottawa County.

Reichel said high waters have also washed up other debris, such as pieces of deck and large tree trunks, onto Ottawa County beaches.

The beaches, which have lost the most dry sand are Kirk Park in West Olive and Rosy Mound Natural Area in Grand Haven, Reichel said.

Al Meshkin, Laketown Township manager, agreed with Thompson that Laketown Beach is another area hit hard by rising water.

"My understanding is there's not much beach left, Meshkin said. The water level is pretty high and the water levels fluctuate all the time. Right now we are going through a very high water level time."

Drew Gronewold, a hydrologist with the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, said high water levels in the late summer months are part of a seasonal process.

Water levels in the Great Lakes normally rise in the spring as snow melts, peak in August or July and then decrease in November and October as water evaporates from the lakes at a high rate. Water levels usually hit a low for the year in the winter months.

If that process continued with average snowfall, average runoff in the spring and average evaporation in the fall then water levels would stay around the same level, Gronwold said.

Since early 2013 precipitation in the Great Lakes region has been above average and evaporation has been below average. Gronewold said this is the cause behind the increase in water levels since 2013.

Really the story is since then, over the past couple years it has been very wet and the precipitation has been above average and water levels have been high as well, Gronewold said.

This process has caused the increase of water levels not only in Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, but all the Great Lakes.Lake Ontarios June 2017 monthly water level average was higher than any monthly average recorded for the lake since 1918.Lake Eries monthly water level average for June 2017 was the highest recorded since April 1998.Lake Superiors July 2017 monthly water level average was the highest recorded since September 1996.

"There is part of a larger story here that all the lakes are all very high right now and not just because its summer time, Gronewold said. They are high for even this time of year relative to the long term average."

Gronewold said the rise of water levels in the Great Lakes can be associated with a natural, cyclical process as well as human impact.One example of human impact on water levels is the dredging of channels between lakes to make sure large ships can pass through.Although the impacts of dredging are minor, Gronewold said dredging allows more water to flow through channels thus changing the water levels of the lakes.

Diversion of water in and out of the Great Lakes also has an impact on water levels. Gronewold said water is diverted out of Lake Michigan near Chicago.The outflow of water in Lake Ontario and Lake Superior are also controlled and regulated.The impacts of dredging, diversion of water and controlling the outflow of some of the Great Lakes are relatively small compared to real drivers of water level changes, Gronwold said.

The natural hydrologic cycle, climate change and climate variability are what really impact water levels in the Great Lakes on a large scale, Gronewold said.

As water levels in the Great Lakes are at the highest levels in about a decade, questions still remain about how much impact humans are having.

"There's still the question of how much of the changes we are seeing are due to human induced climate change and that's something we still are doing research on, Gronewold said.

Follow this reporter on Twitter @SentinelJake.

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Blue-green algae-related toxin warnings remain at Russian River beaches – Santa Rosa Press Democrat

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(1 of ) Ashley Brown of the Sonoma County department of Health Services staples a precaution notice alerting visitors to positive test results for a potentially dangerous naturally occurring neurotoxin, Anatoxin-a, linked to harmful type of blue-green algae, Wednesday July 27, 2017 at Healdsburg Memorial Beach, (Kent Porter / Press Democrat) 2017

MARY CALLAHAN

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT | August 10, 2017, 5:17PM

The Russian River tested clean this week for a toxin related to blue-green algae that prompted cautionary signs at 10 popular beaches last month and in each of the past two summers.

The river remains open to swimming and other recreation. But warning signs urging visitors to avoid ingesting river water will remain at 10 popular beaches between Cloverdale and the river mouth as a precaution against exposure to the neurotoxin involved, the Sonoma County Department of Health Services said.

The weekly sampling suggests the threat, already minimal, could be diminishing. But precautions can only be lifted after several weeks pass without detection of the neurotoxin called anatoxin-a, county health personnel said.

State guidelines developed for static bodies of water like lakes require at least two weeks of negative test results for blue-green algae, formally called cyanobacteria, before the signs can come down, Sonoma County Health Officer Karen Milman said Thursday.

In a long swath of water with a moving current, theres greater potential for harmful blue-green algae to relocate and be present in an area that hasnt been tested, indicating a more conservative approach may be prudent.

In addition, county environmental health personnel monitoring the Russian River have seen growth of blue-green algae that still could release toxins at some point, as well as filamentous green algae in which cyanobacteria can intermix, Milman said.

Besides testing, we want to take into account other things, she said.

County environmental health personnel posted the caution signs July 27 after routine testing of river samples revealed very low levels of anatoxin-a, a potentially dangerous substance naturally produced by certain kinds of blue-green algae, which have proliferated in fresh water lakes, ponds and streams around California and the rest of the planet in recent years.

Anatoxin-a attacks the nervous system, causing symptoms that may include staggering, fatigue, convulsions, paralysis or even death.

Dogs and small children are particularly susceptible, given their size and potential for ingesting contaminated water. Studies indicate the odor of blue-green algae actually attracts dogs, who may eat it.

Two dogs died after frolicking in the Russian River near Healdsburg in 2015 at the height of Californias historic drought prompting widespread awareness of the potential for harmful algae blooms in warm, slow-moving water.

But after plentiful rain this past winter, water quality officials say, abundant runoff could have increased concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorous and other substances from fertilizer and other sources that feed toxic algae blooms.

The levels of anatoxin-a detected first at Cloverdale River Park Beach, Del Rio Woods Beach in Healdsburg and Patterson Point beach, located just downstream of Monte Rio, were extremely low, averaging 0.15 micrograms of toxin per liter of water.

Warnings against swimming and other water recreation arent required until at least 20 micrograms per liter is present.

But the state requires public notifications even when the smallest concentrations of anatoxin-a are present and a beach remains open to recreation, which has been the case with the Russian River in recent weeks.

Health officials urge visitors to avoid algae in the water and refrain from drinking, cooking with or washing dishes with river water. In addition, they advise bathing after exposure to river water, monitoring children closely and preventing dogs and other animals from drinking river water or eating algae scums.

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Blue-green algae-related toxin warnings remain at Russian River beaches - Santa Rosa Press Democrat

Kuwait battles oil spill in Persian Gulf close to popular summer beaches (VIDEO) – RT

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The Kuwaiti authorities are working to contain an oil spill that has tarred the beaches and left long black slicks in the area of Ras al-Zour, but activists have accused it of covering up the full scale of the damage.

On Saturday, the government announced that boats and crews were dispatched to drop containment booms in the area, a kind of floating barrier to stop the oil spill moving further. According to the state-run Kuwait News Agency, the authorities priorities were first to secure waterways, power plants and water facilities.

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Emergency teams from the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC), several other oil companies, the Ministry of Electricity and Water and Environment Public Authority, have harnessed all efforts and capabilities to deal with the oil spill in south Kuwait, said Kuwaiti oil sector spokesman Sheikh Talal Al-Khaled Al-Sabah, in a statement carried by the official KUNA news agency. They are now focusing their efforts on protecting water outlets near the country's northern and southern Al-Zour power and water stations.

Nearby beaches will be cleaned once power and water plants are secured and the oil spill is put under full control, he added.

Since then, oil minister Essam al-Marzouq told the al-Rai newspaper on Sunday that no more patches of oil have been found and the authorities were working on clearing up those that were closest to shore. According to al-Marzouq, the clean-up operation should be over by the end of the week.

Its not yet clear where the oil spill originated, but some experts quoted by Kuwaiti media place the blame at the feet of an old 50-km pipeline from the joint Saudi-Kuwaiti Al-Khafji offshore oil field, where they estimate as many as 35,000 barrels of crude oil may have leaked into the waters surrounding Ras al-Zour. However, al-Khafji Joint Operations has said its facilities are safe and unaffected by the spill, instead attributing the accident to a tanker. Sheikh Abdullah al-Sabah, a member of the ruling family who is head of the Environment Public Authority, told AP there will be severe consequences to those responsible for this incident.

But Khaled al-Hajeri, the president of Kuwait's Green Line Society, has accused the government of covering up the full scale of the spill, saying the authorities already knew about the leak on Thursday.

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"The government failed to issue a statement communicating the severity of this disaster. There was no warning people against fishing or entering the polluted area, even though it is close to some of the most popular summer destinations in Kuwait," al-Hajeri told AP. "This media blackout is intentional, and wrong. People have the right to know. This will have an impact on the fish, the food people consume, and it directly affects their health and safety."

Assisting in the clean-up operation is the American oil giant Chevron Corp., which operates oil fields on both the Saudi and Kuwaiti sides of the border, as well as Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL).

Ras al-Zour is the site of a new refinery that is being constructed by the Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC), due to be the largest in the Middle East with a capacity of 615,000 barrels per day and $11.5 billion worth of contracts.

Kuwait is home to the six-largest estimated oil reserves in the world, which make up around 95 percent of its export revenue. During the 1991 Gulf War, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein ordered the oil fields to be set alight as his army retreated from the forces of the US-led coalition in Operation Desert Storm.

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Kuwait battles oil spill in Persian Gulf close to popular summer beaches (VIDEO) - RT

Concern over cigarette butts littering Greek beaches – euronews

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The large number of cigarette butts on Greek beaches and streets is causing grave concern among people who want to protect the environment and their health.

At a beach in a southern suburb of Athens, many holiday-makers were seen smoking while enjoying the sea and the sunshine.

Some of them left cigarette butts on the beach after smoking. As a result, they dotted the beach as far as the eye could see.

Smoking in public is banned in Greece, and the No Smoking law has been in place for seven years.

However, nearly 22 billion cigarettes butts, totaling 3,500 tonnes, have been dropped by smokers in Greece, half of them on the beaches along the countrys coastline, according to the Greek Cancer Society (GCS).

Every time I go to the beach, I collect rubbish. When I find it, I collect it. Why? Because I like clean beaches, clean sands, clean sea, said Dillian Cowes, a Greek doctor.

But the GCS say only a few people bother to collect them and put them into bins.

They are urging people to take their cigarette butts seriously and refrain from leaving them on the countrys beaches.

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Stay up to date with the next big astronomical events with a new digital calendar – The Verge

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Last week, The New York Times soft-launched a new feature called The New York Times Astronomy and Space Calendar, which previews some of the notable upcoming astronomical events. Theres a neat twist to this: you can sync it to your personal calendar on your computer or phone.

The Times calendar features a light range of upcoming events: meteor showers, notable anniversaries, and major events such as the August 21st solar eclipse. Each entry comes with a short blurb about the significance behind the event, as well as links to the Times coverage of each event.

The calendar isnt comprehensive, and thats by design, says Times Senior Staff Editor for Science editor Michael Roston, who was one of the calendars creators. He explained that while there are plenty of other science and astronomy calendars out there, such as the Jet Propulsion Laboratorys Space Calendar, we wanted to produce something that was curated with a more casual space and astronomy fan in mind.

One example he highlighted is SpaceXs flurry of activity. Theres a launch tomorrow, but thats not on the calendar. Roston explained that their focus us more on adding events that are of interest to the casual astronomy fan, and not to overwhelm the calendars of subscribers. So, when SpaceX eventually launches its Falcon 9 Heavy rocket that will likely pop up on the calendar, while some of the more routine satellite and commercial launches will be left off.

The project, Roston says, is intended to be a new format for service journalism, used as a conduit for the Times reporting on the field. Ben Koski, the Deputy Editor for Interactive News, also worked on the project, and explained that they are starting out slow, opting to launch with Google and Apple calendars, but theyve since added on a WebCal link for other users. The project launched last week, and the pair say that theyll integrate the feature into articles in the near future.

I synced up the calendar to my devices on Friday, and Im pleased to see entries for the Persied meteor shower alongside more mundane reminders for dentist appointments and bills. I never studied astronomy in college, but its a topic that Im endlessly fascinated by, and its a field that I follow, professionally and personally, and what I appreciate about this project is that its a simple way to work a bit of astronomy into your regular day. Its a good demonstration that you dont have to have a science degree to enjoy the universe: sometimes, you just need a heads-up that something cool is about to happen.

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Stay up to date with the next big astronomical events with a new digital calendar - The Verge

Astronomers are preparing to watch a star swing by our supermassive black hole – Astronomy Magazine

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Theres a supermassive black hole in the center of our galaxy called Sagittarius A*, or Sgr A* for short. This massive but invisible object lies about 26,000 light-years away and weighs in at 4 million times the mass of our Sun. Although its challenging to observe the area around Sgr A*, its not impossible and now, Sgr A* is helping astronomers once again prove that Einstein was right.

The mounting evidence supporting Einsteins theory of general relativity has been recently published August 9 in the Astrophysical Journal. That evidence consists of precise measurements of the motion of a star, dubbed S2, which orbits Sgr A* closely, and seems to be deviating from the orbit expected if it wasnt affected by general relativity. This deviation indicates that Einsteins theory is indeed in play.

S2 is one of many stars known to orbit Sgr A*, but specifically it is the star that comes closest to the supermassive black hole. That orbit brings it particularly close to the black hole every 16 years an event that will take place in the middle of next year. As it passes through that region, S2s orbit is expected to change as a result of the warping of space-time due to Sgr A*s huge mass.

As 2018 approaches, S2 is already nearing that closest point. Astronomer Andreas Eckart of the University of Cologne in Germany is leading a team that has painstakingly compiled observations of S2 taken over more than 20 years to trace out its orbital motions. Although this data includes another close pass by the black hole 16 years ago, those observations were taken with instruments that dont have the precision available today. Thats why the upcoming pass is so important now, astronomers will finally have the resolution necessary to measure more definitively whether S2 is following a Newtonian orbit, which doesnt take into account general relativity, or an orbit predicted by Einsteins famous theory.

This artists concept shows the motion of stars close to Sgr A*, including S2. Credit: ESO/M. Parsa/L. Calada Eckarts team is already finding deviations in S2s orbit that are extremely close to the expected values according to general relativity, he said in a press release. Thats good news for Einsteins theory, which has held up to all previous tests, and looks like it will again pass with flying colors.

However, these results are only preliminary, and theyre still subject to significant uncertainty. Only continued monitoring as the star swings past the black hole next year will provide the precision necessary for a more confident measurement that will show whether general relativistic effects are truly at play near the massive black hole.

Those measurements will be taken with GRAVITY, a new instrument on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) array. Using this instrument and two of the VLTs 8.2-meter (27 feet) telescopes, Eckarts team will be able to produce images equivalent to those achievable with a telescope mirror 120 meters (nearly 400 feet) across; today, the largest telescopes available have mirrors 10 meters (33 feet) in diameter. Such high resolution could finally yield the measurements that will convince scientists once and for all that Einstein was right.

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Astronomers are preparing to watch a star swing by our supermassive black hole - Astronomy Magazine

Big asteroid to sweep close September 1 – EarthSky

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Asteroid 3122 Florence named for the founder of modern nursing on August 27 at 11:50 pm CDT as seen from central U.S. Illustration by Eddie Irizarry using Stellarium.

The next attraction coming up in our skies after the spectacular total solar eclipse of August 21 might be an asteroid big enough to be seen in small telescopes, and maybe even in binoculars, as a small, very slow-moving star. Asteroid 1981 ET3 also known as 3122 Florence is a huge space rock at least 2.7 miles (4.35 km) in diameter. According to Paul Chodas at the Center for Near Earth Object Studies:

Florence is the largest asteroid to pass this close to our planet since the first near-Earth asteroid was discovered over a century ago.

Asteroid 3122 Florence will safely pass by our planet on September 1, 2017 at over 18 times the Earth-moon distance. The asteroid will not be visible to the unaided eye. It will, however, become visible in small amateur telescopes by late August, in the course of what will become the closest encounter to Earth by this asteroid since 1890.

It wont come this close again until after the year 2500.

Observers using a computerized or Go To telescope can point the instrument on August 27 a few minutes before 11:50 pm CDT to star HIP 106824 or to RA 21h39m 11.9 s / DEC -314109 and watch for about 5 to 10 minutes to detect the asteroids slow motion across the stars. Illustration by Eddie Irizarry using Stellarium.

Among the near-Earth asteroids classified as Potentially Hazardous, Florence is one of the biggest. Bigger asteroids include 1999 JM8 (4.3 miles or 7 km), 4183 Cuno (3.5 miles or 5.6 km) and 3200 Phaeton (3.2 miles or 5.1 km), which is thought to be the parent body of the Geminid meteor shower.

Of these, however, Florence is brightest, making it an excellent target for possible glimpses via small telescopes and binoculars.

Its size of about half the elevation of Mount Everest should allow it to reach a visual magnitude of +8.75 to +9, making it a relatively easy target for experienced observers at sites with dark skies.

Astronomers will study the flyby of the huge asteroid. Radar observations are scheduled from NASAs Goldstone Radar between August 29 to September 8, 2017. The Arecibo Observatory will also analyze Florence from September 2 5, 2017. Paul Chodas of the Center of NEO Studies said:

The September 1 flyby of Florence will provide astronomers with an excellent opportunity to make detailed measurements of a large near-Earth asteroid. In particular, radar scientists expect to obtain high-resolution images of Florence that could reveal surface features as small as about 10 meters (30 feet).

The asteroid rotates in about 2.5 hours and radar observations may reveal if Florence is a close or contact binary, or even if the space rock has its own small orbiting moon.

Closest approach to Earth is expected to occur at about 8:06 am EDT on September 1, 2017, but backyard observers using a telescope can try to get a glimpse of the space rock a few nights before that date.

On the night of August 27, the asteroid is in the constellation of Piscis Austrinus reaching about 19 above the southern horizon as seen from central U.S. Late in the night of August 29, the space rock gets into Capricornus and reaches an elevation of 33 as seen from Kansas.

Its distance will make it difficult to detect its slow motion across the stars, unless you are using at least a 5 diameter or bigger telescope and observe in the right direction.

Although asteroid Florence is travelling at 30,266 miles per hour (48,708 km/h), the distance will make it appear so slow that observers should keep watching the fairly bright asteroid for about 5 to 10 minutes to detect its movement across the stars.

Florence was discovered on March 2, 1981 from the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia. It is named in honor of Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), the founder of modern nursing.

Have a Go To computerized telescope? Point it to star HIP 104557 or to RA 21h11m57.45s / DEC -92333.6 a few minutes before 11:40 pm CDT on August 30, to see the asteroid forming a slowly changing triangle with these stars. Illustration by Eddie Irizarry using Stellarium.

Bottom line: Asteroid 3122 Florence will safely pass by our planet on September 1, 2017 at over 18 times the Earth-moon distance. Its the largest asteroid to pass this close to our planet since the first near-Earth asteroid was discovered over a century ago and might be visible to observers at dark sites using small telescopes, and even binoculars.

Read more about large Asteroid Florence from the Center for NEO Studies

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Big asteroid to sweep close September 1 - EarthSky