ORNL starts installing Summit, could be world’s most powerful supercomputer – DatacenterDynamics

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TheOak Ridge National Laboratory has begun to install what could become the worlds most powerful supercomputer - Summit.

The IBM-developed 10MW system will take six months or more to install, and will then be available toDepartment of Energy researchers and a few universities, before becominggenerally available to scientific users by January 2019.

Summit installation

Source: ORNL

Top500 estimates the supercomputer will enter its ranking list by next June, at which point it has a strong chance of beating out the current worlds most powerful supercomputer, TaihuLight, for the top spot.

TaihuLight currently has apeak performance of 125.4 petaflops and a Linpack result of 93 petaflops.Summit, meanwhile, isexpected to be five to 10 times as powerful as ORNLs current top system, Titan.

Titan is the fourth most powerful computer on Top500s list, with apeak performance of 27.1petaflops and a Linpack result of 17.6 petaflops. Summitwill be comprised of approximately 4,600 nodes, each with six7.5-teraflop Nvidia V100 GPUs and twoIBM Power9 CPUs, whichTop500 estimates will lead to an aggregate peak performance well over 200 petaflops.

The Department of Energy awarded$325 million in late 2014 to build both Summit for ORNLand the slightly less powerful Sierra for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.

Sierra wil be used by The National Nuclear Security Administration to ensure the safety, security and effectiveness of the nations nuclear deterrent without testing.

After Summits launch, the next big US supercomputer for ORNL is likely to be an exascale machine - a target that the US, China and EU are all racing towards.

In June, the DOE announced it would award$258 million in funding to AMD, Cray, HPE, IBM, Intel and Nvidia over three years as part of the new PathForward program, itself part of DOEs Exascale Computing Project (ECP).

Continued US leadership in high performance computing is essential to our security, prosperity, and economic competitiveness as a nation, US Secretary Rick Perry said at the time.

The Chinese government, meanwhile,is set to develop a prototype of an exascale computer by the end of this year.

A complete computing system of the exascale supercomputer and its applications can only be expected in 2020, and will be 200 times more powerful than the countrys first petaflop computer Tianhe-1, recognized as the worlds fastest in 2010, Zhang Ting, application engineer at the Tianjin-based National Supercomputer Center,told state-publication Xinhuain June.

The EU plans to build its own exascale prototype based on the ARM architecture,built by French IT giant Atos.

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ORNL starts installing Summit, could be world's most powerful supercomputer - DatacenterDynamics

Premier League 2017/18 table: Super computer predicts end of season final standings – talkSPORT.com

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Wednesday, August 9, 2017

In just a couple of days' time, Premier League football makes its long awaited return.

PLAY THE talkSPORT PREDICTOR GAME FOR FREE FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A TRIP TO LAS VEGAS... AND 1MILLION!

And to add to the already growing excitement ahead of kick off on Friday, talkSPORT.com has turned to the Super Computer.

The data has been fed and a predicted 2017/18 Premier League table has reached us, with it suggesting that Chelsea will have their crown removed...

Check out how the super computer has predicted the final standings for the incoming season by scrolling through the gallery above.

The table, of course, should be taken with a pinch of salt. As we know, anything can happen throughout the season, but it is always fun to speculate!

Where do you think your team will finish? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below...

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Premier League 2017/18 table: Super computer predicts end of season final standings - talkSPORT.com

Nimbus Data Unveils 50TB Flash Drive, on Path to 500TB – TOP500 News

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Flash storage specialist Nimbus Data has announced ExaDrive, an SSD that offers more capacity than any commercial hard disk drive (HDD) available today.

ExaDrive is available in 25TB and 50TB capacities and is designed to be a drop-in replacement for nearline HDDs. With a 3.5 form factor and supporting a standard SAS interface, the new offering represents the densest spinning disk alternative currently available on the market, and the only SAS-based SSD offering this level of capacity.

Nimbus Data says ExaDrive offers five times the density of nearline disk drives (based on 10TB HDDs), while drawing the same amount of power. The technology also provides inline deduplication and compression, which delivers a 3:1 data reduction, multiplying the capacity benefit by an additional 3x.

Other claims include 100 times more write IOPs (500 times for reads), 98 percent lower latency, and 65 percent less cooling again, all compared to high-capacity hard drives. Due to the superior storage performance, the company points out that applications will enjoy better CPU utilization with ExaDrive, since less time will be spend waiting for I/O.

Longevity is often an issue with flash-based storage, but Nimbus maintains its product supports up to 10 years of write endurance (with a write guarantee of 5 years), which would put it on par with HDDs. Thanks to the lack of moving parts, the drive supports up to 2 million hours of MTBF, which the company claims is 50 percent longer than a typical nearline HDD. All of that, despite the fact the Nimbus relies on the more error-prone MLC NAND technology for these drives.

The higher capacity and robustness of the ExaDrive is made possible by the use of multiple processors and a software-defined architecture. The Nimbus press release describes the rationale for such a design as follows:

Conventional SSDs are based on a single flash controller. As flash capacity increases, this monolithic architecture does not scale, overwhelmed by error correction operations and the sheer amount of flash that must be managed. In contrast, ExaDrive is based on a distributed multiprocessor architecture. Inside an ExaDrive-powered SSD, multiple ultra-low power ASICs exclusively handle error correction, while an intelligent flash processor provides wear-leveling and capacity management in software.

The release goes on to say that that the design will enable SSDs as large as 500 TB by the year 2020, achieving up to 600 petabytes in a single rack. Not surprising, Nimbus is targeting application workloads demanding high-capacity distributed storage that needs to scale quickly. These include cloud computing, digital imaging, technical computing, tactical environments, and artificial intelligence.

The ExaDrive is available today via Nimbus partners Viking Technology and SMART Modular Technologies. Viking offers the drive via its UHC-Silo product, which comes in 25TB and 50TB sizes. SMART offers those same capacities in its recently announced Osmium Drive. ExaDrive reference designs are available for other interested parties.

Image: 50TB ExaDrive. Source: Nimbus Data

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Nimbus Data Unveils 50TB Flash Drive, on Path to 500TB - TOP500 News

Test results after stem cell transplant for multiple myeloma can confuse patients and doctors about – Medical Xpress

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August 10, 2017 Dr. Gurmukh Singh, vice chair of clinical affairs for the Department of Pathology and Walter L. Shepeard Chair in Clinical Pathology at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. Credit: Phil Jones

It's a cancer of the plasma cells, which normally make an array of antibodies that protect us from infection.

With multiple myeloma, the cells start primarily producing instead a singular product, called a monoclonal antibody, or M spike, that leaves patients vulnerable for serious infections, like pneumonia, and can even eat away at their bones.

Sophisticated laboratory tests used to both diagnose the disease then follow treatment response, can send confusing messages to patients and their physicians, particularly after stem cell therapy to try to restore a healthy antibody mix, says Dr. Gurmukh Singh. Singh, vice chair of clinical affairs for the Department of Pathology and Walter L. Shepeard Chair in Clinical Pathology at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, is corresponding author of the study highlighting reasons for potential confusion in the Journal of Clinical Medicine Research.

The tests, serum protein electrophoresis and serum immunofixation electrophoresis, or SPEP/SIFE, and serum free light chain assay, or SFLCA, separate proteins into groups according to their electrical charge.

The M spike stands out as a distinctive, dense band of color among the layers of protein groups, while typical antibody levels create bands of lighter smears.

But after stem cell therapy, which first destroys cancerous plasma cells then restores healthy ones, follow up profiles often yield a lineup of antibodiescalled an oligoclonal patternthat can look eerily similar to the M spike.

The confusion comes because there again may be a prominent and likely short-lived band of proteins that emerges as the antibody mix begins, ideally, to normalize.

"We want to emphasize that oligoclonal bands should mostly be recognized as a response to treatment and not be mistaken as a recurrence of the original tumor," Singh says.

The key clarifier appears to be the location of the malignant, monoclonal spike when the diagnosis is made compared to the location of new spikes that may show up after stem cell therapy in these oligoclonal bands, says Singh.

"If the original peak was at location A, now the peak is location B, that allows us to determine that it is not the same abnormal, malignant antibody," Singh says, pointing toward different before and after treatment profiles on a patient.

Normally antibodies spread out in a usual sequence in these studies. "If it's in a different location, it's not the same protein," reiterates Singh. "If the location is different, this is just a normal response of recovery of the bone marrow that could be mistaken for recurrence of the disease," Singh says of the oligoclonal bands that can also temporarily show up in response to an infection.

He notes while the prominent bands are typically short-lived following treatment, the recognition that they are non-malignant may occur only in retrospect.

For the study, Singh and his team looked at lab and clinical data on 251 patients with multiple myeloma treated from January 2010 to December 2016; 159 of those patients received autologous stem cell transplants. Each patient had at least three tests, and at least two of the tests were following their transplant.

They found the incidence of oligoclonal patterns was significantly higher in patients who had a stem cell transplant than the patients who had chemotherapy alone: 57.9 percent compared to 8.8 percent. Only five of the 159 patients who received a transplant had an oligoclonal pattern before treatment but 92 had one afterward. More than half of the the oligoconal patterns developed within the first year following a transplant. The earliest pattern was detected at two months - as soon as the first post-transplant tests were doneand a few occurred as long as five years later.

Autologous stem cell therapy is not considered curative for most patients with multiple myeloma. There is no clear cause of the disease but the risk does increase at age 40, Singh says.

Explore further: Excessive tests don't benefit patient, do increase cost in age-related immune disorder

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Test results after stem cell transplant for multiple myeloma can confuse patients and doctors about - Medical Xpress

India’s Advancells Reports Successful Reversal of MS in Single Patient Using Stem Cell Therapy – Multiple Sclerosis News Today

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Advancellssays its stem cell-based therapy completely reversed multiple sclerosis (MS) in an Indian pilot trial with only one MS patient.

The patient, Rahul Gupta, was diagnosed with MS seven years ago and has since suffered multiple relapses. His disease was progressing fast and he was quickly losing his ability to walk. Gupta, who lives in New Zealand, approached Advancells a company based in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh that specializes in the use of stem cells for therapeutic purposes.

After my last relapse, I became determined to look for alternative treatments for multiple sclerosis,Gupta said in a press release. I started looking on the net and found that stem-cell therapy [offers] hope for people suffering with MS [and] that it is safe and would not harm me in any way. I was determined to undergo stem-cell treatment, as my illness was progressing very quickly.

Gupta enrolled inAdvancells adult stem-cell therapy program as the trials single patient. In the procedure carried outin June at a New Delhi clinic doctors isolated stem cells from his bone marrow and re-infused them back into the patientat specific points. Apart from this procedure, Gupta underwent only physiotherapy and a dietary routine.

Straight after the treatment I saw major improvements, he said. I could walk a lot better, could climb stairs which I was unable to do after 2012 and even go on the treadmill.

Dr. Lipi Singh, head of technology at Advancells, said the company is frequently approached by MS patients from around the world who want to participate in its program.

Patient selection is a key criterion for us and Rahul suited the criteria perfectly, Singh said. He is young and still at a moderate level of the disease and in a very positive frame of mind. Patients at this stage are best suited for this kind of treatment and thus we decided to accept him as a pilot case.

Singh now expects to review Guptas response sometime this fall.

It will take approximately three months for us to review changes in the magnetic resonance imaging of the patient, but the drastic changes in symptoms clearly are an indication of the fact that the treatment is working and could become a hope for millions of patients across the world who are suffering from this disease. Singh said.

He added: This is a good start to a lengthy research phase, but it seems that we are on the right track and hopefully we will be able to make a significant contribution in eradicating not only MS but a host of untreatable diseases existing today.

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India's Advancells Reports Successful Reversal of MS in Single Patient Using Stem Cell Therapy - Multiple Sclerosis News Today

How these young Jews found spirituality outside the synagogue … – Jewish Telegraphic Agency

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Shir HaMaalot participants after Friday night services in Brooklyn, July 14, 2017. (Josefin Dolsten)

This is the third article in a series examining Jewish groups engaging young professionals.

NEW YORK (JTA) Michelle Reyf isnt really a synagogue-goer. Until recently, the 28-year-old, who works for a Jewish nonprofit, was perfectly happy to get her spiritual fulfillment at Buddhist prayer services and meditation retreats.

Synagogue did not appeal to her for a variety of reasons she found the crowd to be older and the atmosphere to be impersonal. And as someone who identifies as queer, she felt distanced from the traditional values she encountered in many Jewish spaces.

But in January, a friend invited her to attend Shir HaMaalot, an independent minyan, or prayer community, in Brooklyn. There, Reyf found a place that had some of the very same qualities as the Buddhist community she was a part of and that she had not found in traditional Jewish settings.

It feels like finding a home, and it feels like Im not a bad Jew for wanting different things than were being offered in most synagogues and Jewish communities, said Reyf, a senior digital organizer for the Jewish social justice organization Bend the Arc.

I thought maybe Judaism isnt for me or maybe Im just not doing it right or maybe Im different or theres something wrong with me that I dont feel like I fit in wherever I go. And then I came to Shir HaMaalot and I was like, These are my people,' she told JTA.

Shir HaMaalot a volunteer-led, nondenominational minyan that defines itself as a traditional-egalitarian havurah meets once a month in Prospect Heights and Crown Heights in Brooklyn, often in space rented and subsidized by a local Reform synagogue, Union Temple of Brooklyn. Following a musical Shabbat service, participants join together for a vegetarian potluck meal. There is no rabbi, and community members take turns leading the services.

Reyf is part of a cohort of millennial Jews finding spiritual fulfillment at independent minyanim rather than in the traditional synagogue. Though the groups vary in prayer style, customs and demographics, many are egalitarian or support increased womens participation in services. They tend to draw a younger crowd than the average synagogue.

Independent minyanim appeal to people looking for a type of religious experience, said Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, the author of a book on independent minyanim and president of Mechon Hadar, a co-educational, egalitarian institution of Jewish learning based in New York.

In my experience the people who are not going to synagogue its not because theyre anti-synagogue its more that theyre looking for something and if the synagogue has it theyll go there, and if the synagogue doesnt they wont. And I think thats where Shir HaMaalot comes in, Kaunfer said.

Kaunfer said Shir HaMaalot, which was founded in 2011, has a reputation for its use of music. In addition, I think also a place gets its own reputation just by who starts going there, so when people think about Where am I going to go on Friday night? now they know they have an option thats appealing to people in their age demographic, and that can also build on itself.

There are over 100 independent minyanim across the country, and they are especially accessible to millennials who often have yet to make commitments to Jewish institutions, Kaunfer said.

What it boils down to in large part is people in their 20s and early 30s have more flexibility in terms of their social groups and commitments, he said.

The young crowd at Shir HaMaalot was a draw for Gabriela Geselowitz, a 26-year-old journalist and part time Hebrew school teacher. Geselowitz knew she wanted to be involved in a Jewish community after college but had assumed she would be the only young person there.

When I moved to Brooklyn, I said I wanted to be near a Conservative shul, because that is generally traditional egalitarian, and I was sort of prepared to be the only young person at things. I did go to local synagogue a couple of times, and I was the only young person, said Geselowitz, who started attending Shir HaMaalot three and a half years ago.

At Shir HaMaalot, Geselowitz found both an age-appropriate crowd and an atmosphere that she enjoys.

This was even better than Hillel in college in terms of enthusiasm and volume of people and what Im looking for. I didnt really expect to find a space that would hit all of my buttons in the way that Shir HaMaalot does, said Geselowitz, who lives in Brooklyn.

The mood described by Geselowitz was evident at a recent Friday evening service, which she attended with her husband Michael Spitzer-Rubenstein, a 27-year-old working to launch a media startup.

Gabriela Geselowitz, fourth from right, and Michael Spitzer-Rubenstein, third from right, at their wedding with friends they met through Shir HaMaalot. (Courtesy of Spitzer-Rubenstein)

Around 75 people, mostly young professionals with a few older people and young families sprinkled in, sat in chairs set up in concentric circles around the prayer leader, who alternated between singing slow, soulful melodies and faster, more upbeat ones. At various points throughout the service, when the tempo quickened, a young man started playing a djembe drum and people clapped along to the beat. Afterward they gathered around tables in an adjacent room as they ate the buffet-style potluck and talked.

The majority of Shir HaMaalot attendees are young, said Russ Agdern, one of the minyans founders and a member of its organizing team.

It skews towards 20s and 30s, but its certainly not exclusively that, and thats certainly not our intention, said Agdern, 39, who works as director of recruitment and outreach for the Jewish social justice group Avodah.

Before the minyan was founded in 2011, there were not really any egalitarian spaces with full Hebrew liturgy in this part of Brooklyn, said Agdern, adding that the founders wanted to create a community-driven davening space.

The founders were active participants in the National Havurah Committee, a network of nondenominational grassroots Jewish communities. The organization has its roots in the havurah, or fellowship, movement, of the late 1960s and 1970s, when an earlier wave of young people sought to create Jewish prayer experiences outside of traditional synagogue settings.

Tobin Belzer, a sociologist of American Jewry at the University of Southern California, believes that the difference between the havurah movement and the independent minyanim is their attitude toward the Jewish mainstream. Because it was purposely positioned outside of mainstream institutions, the havurah phenomenon was often referred to as the Jewish counterculture. Participants published books and articles criticizing American Judaism, she wrote in a study of the two movements.

By contrast, minyanim represent a subculture, not a counterculture. Independent minyanim are not outside of the Jewish mainstream; they are on the margins of it, writes Belzer. In fact, many independent minyanim have strong ties with Jewish institutions. Some receive funding from Jewish foundations, others gather in borrowed spaces in synagogues, and still others use Torahscrolls loaned from area congregations.

Though communities affiliated with the havurah movement vary in terms of practice and affiliation, they are united in the fact that they are egalitarian, mostly volunteer-run and promote wide participation by community members.

Spitzer-Rubenstein likened Shir HaMaalots atmosphere to that of services at Jewish summer camps.

I went to Reform summer camp in California, and it was a similar sort of joy and celebration in praying, he said. I feel like there are a lot of Jewish spaces where praying isnt seen as something that should be fun, and one of the things that I really like about Shir HaMaalot is that people care about and make it something significant.

For Geselowitz, Shir HaMaalots energy reminded me a little bit of teenage Jewish youth group.

The participatory aspect of the minyan appeals to Andrea Birnbaum, a 27-year-old medical student who has been attending Shir HaMaalot for four years.

Its not performative in the sense that sometimes you go to synagogue and theres someone on the bimah [podium] who has the most energy, and theyre trying to get the crowd moving but the crowd has a low energy, said Birnbaum. Its not like that. This is participatory we rotate every time someone leads the davening, the prayer.

For now, Geselowitz and Spitzer-Rubenstein, who attend other independent minyanim in Brooklyn when Shir HaMaalot doesnt meet, dont feel like they are missing anything by not belonging to a synagogue.

Shir HaMaalot is free were happy to donate to it, but there arent synagogue dues. At this point in my life I actually like having a lay-led community rather than a single rabbinic authority, Geselowitz said.

Andrea Birnbaum enjoys the energetic atmosphere at Shir HaMaalot. (Courtesy of Birnbaum)

Participants are also attracted to Shir HaMaalots progressive values.

What also was really cool was that there were a lot of different gender expression, people who werent necessary [conforming to the gender] binary, and for me as a queer person that was really important to see that it isnt a heteronormative place where the gender binary was being enforced, Reyf said.

On its website, Shir HaMaalot encourages people to add your preferred pronouns to your name tag.

Pluralism is an important goal for the minyan, said Gregory Frumin, a 35-year-old social worker who serves on the minyans organizing team.

One of Shir HaMaalots core values is inclusive pluralism. We want to create an accessible and welcoming space for people of diverse backgrounds, identities, accessibility needs, he said.

At the potluck dinner after services, food is served on three different tables vegetarian, vegan and vegetarian cooked in a strictly kosher kitchen. Participants are also asked to list allergens on a spreadsheet prior to services.

I think its also important that Shir HaMaalot takes their religious observance seriously while still being welcoming to basically everyone, said Spitzer-Rubenstein.

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How these young Jews found spirituality outside the synagogue ... - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Understanding a spirituality of work – The Catholic Spirit

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Spirituality of work is a phrase that sometimes elicits a bemused reaction. After all, putting together words with such divergent meanings might seem nonsensical, unless we take a closer look:

Work an activity, mental or physical, paid or unpaid, and done in any number of locales, including a formal workplace or at home.

Spirituality in a Christian sense refers to our relationship with God and the ways that we seek to deepen that connection.

Put the two meanings together for a definition of spirituality of work an understanding that all human activity presents us with an opportunity to grow in our relationship with God.

St. John Paul II expressed it similarly in his encyclical Laborem Exercens (On Human Work): It follows that the whole person, body and spirit, participates in [work]. An understanding of the spiritual aspects of work will help all people to come closer, through work, to God and deepen their friendship with Christ in their lives.

We find the entirety of St. John Paul IIs theology of work in this 1981 encyclical. It was written to commemorate the 90th anniversary of Pope Leo XIIIs encyclical Rerum Novarum (On Capital and Labor), considered to be the first of the Catholic Churchs social teaching documents.

St. John Paul II wrote Laborem Exercens at a time he expressed to be the eve of new developments in technological, economic and political conditions [that] will influence the world of work and production no less than the Industrial Revolution of the last century. We can only stand in awe at the truth of his prediction.

In this document, St. John Paul II addressed many issues that have come to the forefront in our present day: increasing technological advances; the rights and dignity of workers; issues of work, society and family; and conflict between labor and capital. To help us find the right path through this minefield of modern work, he offered us wisdom from the Churchs teaching.

St. John Paul IIs discourse on work begins at the beginning, in the Garden of Eden: The Church finds in the very first pages of the Book of Genesis the source of her conviction that work is a fundamental dimension of human existence on earth.

Created in Gods image and likeness, man receives a mandate to subdue, to dominate, the earth and shares by his work in the activity of the Creator. This awareness that mans work is a participation in Gods activity ought to permeate even the most ordinary everyday activities, said the pope.

We know that we are created in Gods image, but have we thought, really deeply, of the consequences and responsibilities of that truth? It is a truth that implies a partnership with God. This partnership is not just a Sunday thing.

We are to live out our faith everywhere we find ourselves, and that includes the workplace.

The Second Vatican Councils pastoral constitution Gaudium et Spes decried the split between the faith which many profess and their daily lives [that] deserves to be counted among the more serious errors of our age. This strong statement should make us pause to consider if we live with such a split in our own lives.

St. John Paul IIs theology elsewhere presented work as a blessing, not a hardship: Work corresponds to Gods design and will. Work is a primordial blessing from the Creator, an activity permitting people to realize themselves and to offer service to society.

Again, in Laborem Exercens, he helped us realize that work has both an intrinsic and extrinsic value: Through work man must earn his daily bread and contribute to the continual advance of science and technology and, above all, to elevating unceasingly the cultural and moral level of the society.

Burkey is adjunct professor of pastoral theology at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey.

Tags: Gaudium et Spes, Laborem Exercens, Spirituality of work

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Understanding a spirituality of work - The Catholic Spirit

Religon and Spirituality Events: 8/9 | Spotlight | cecildaily.com – Cecil Whig

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Low-cost, local events happening this week. To be included, your event must be family friendly, cost less than $25 per person and take place in Cecil County as well as adjoining areas within a 20-minute drive. Please submit the event title, time, address to accent@cecilwhig.com. Once approved by an editor, the event will be listed until its completion date. It will run in the print edition as space allows. You can also submit to a separate online calendar at cecildaily.com.

THURSDAY 10

YOGA,9 a.m. to 10 a.m. at Painted Turtle Arts Studio, 13 N. Main St., North East. Ongoing $15 drop-in. Multi-level for everyone. Call instructor Laura Hannan at 1-540-421-0296.

CLUTTERERS ANONYMOUS,6 to 7 p.m. at Janes United Methodist Church, 213 N. Walnut St., Rising Sun. Clutterers Anonymous is a 12-step program to help people solve their problems with clutter/hoarding. There are no dues or fees. Contact Martha H. 443-350-1483.

YOGA,7 p.m. weekly classes at Cecil County Arts Council, 135 E. Main St., Elkton. Intro class is free. Then pay $10 per class or buy five classes for $45. Classes are designed for new and experienced yogis. Contact class instructor Sarah Mester at smester@comcast.net.

IMPROVE MENTAL HEALTH,7 p.m. at 229 E. Main St., Elkton. Panic, fear, anxiety, depression. Attend a free weekly meeting with Recovery International.

FRIDAY 11

FREE LUNCH,12 to 1 p.m. every Friday at Elkton Presbyterian Church, 209 E. Main St. provided by Elkton Community Kitchen. All are welcome. For more information contact elktoncommunitykitchen@gmail.com.

SATURDAY 12

SMART RECOVERY,10 to 11:30 a.m. at Janes UMC in Rising Sun. This meeting is for those recovering from the disease of addiction. This is an open support group that meets every Saturday.

SATURDAY EVENING SERVICE,5 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church, 105 N. Bridge St., Elkton. Will recur every week at this time.

YARD SALE, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Rock Run United Methodist Church, 4102 Rock Run Road, Havre De Grace. Something for everyone. For info, call443-903-5677 or 410-734-7189.

SUNDAY 13

OUTDOOR WORSHIP, 9:30 a.m.grain or shine outdoor interdenominational service at Elk Neck State Park hilltop shelter, 4395 Turkey Point Road (Route 272, 9 miles south of NEUMC). Gil Nagle.

PARISH SUNDAY SCHOOL, 9:45 a.m. at Zion UMC in Cecilton. Recurs weekly.

MUSICAL MINISTRY,3:30 p.m. at Griffith AUMP Church, 95 Cedar Hill Church Road, Elkton. The Sensational Stars of Kent County will be the guest group, and all are welcome to join. Contact 410-398-1136 or 410-620-4940 for info.

FAMILY AND FRIENDS DAY, services at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. at Providence U.M. Church, 157 East High St., Elkton.

CONCERT6 p.m. at Harts Amphitheater, 3203 Turkey Point Road, North East. Renowned Celtic and Bluegrass musicians Charlie Zahm and Tad Marks perform. Recommended donation of $10 and refreshments are available for sale. For info call 410-287-2650 or visit hartschurch.org.

MONDAY 14

DEBTORS ANONYMOUS,6 to 7 p.m. at Janes United Methodist Church, 213 N. Walnut St., Rising Sun. Debtors Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who help each other solve their problems with debt. DA is a 12-step program. There are no dues or fees. Contact Martha H. 443-350-1483.

NARANON MEETING,7 p.m. at Bethel Lutheran Church, North East. Hope and Peace every Monday. Contact Lorri: 443-250-0909.

WOMENS NA MEETING,7 p.m. at Bethel Lutheran Church, North East.

TUESDAY 15

YOGA 4 SENIORS,9 to 10 a.m. at Painted Turtle Arts Studio, 13 N. Main St., North East. Pre-registration is required. Call instructor Laura Hannan at 1-540-421-0296. $12 per class if all six are pre-paid or $15 drop-in.

SENIOR MEETING, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at St. Stephens Parish Hall in Earleville. Anyone 55 or older is invited to attend. Come and meet your neighbors. No membership fee. Lunch is served. Come for the fellowship, speaker, see what events we are planning. Questions call 410-275-8150. Recurs weekly.

MENS YOGA CLASS,11 a.m. at Painted Turtle Arts Studio, 13 N. Main St., North East. Pre-registration is required. Call instructor Laura Hannan at 1-540-421-0296. $12 per class if all six are pre-paid or $15 drop-in.

COMMUNITY ARTS AND CRAFTS,1 p.m. free instruction at St. Stephens Church, 10 Glebe Road, Earleville. Ongoing drawing and painting classes for beginner or serious artists. bspelled123@gmail.com. http://www.communityartandcrafts.com. Call Jerry at 410-275-2945.

TOPS,5:30 p.m. at Rosebank UMC, Rising Sun. Nonprofit weight-loss support group, meets weekly. $6 monthly fee. First meeting free. topsrosebank@gmail.com.

NARANON,7 p.m. every Tuesday at Elkton United Methodist Church. A Nar-Anon adult support meeting for those with addicts in the family.

MEDITATION,7 p.m. every Tuesday with Three Roots Wellness at Painted Turtle Arts Studio, 13 N. Main St., North East. Learn basics of meditation practices and how to make it useful in your everyday life. Donation based. Registration is required email to angela@threerootswellness.com.

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Religon and Spirituality Events: 8/9 | Spotlight | cecildaily.com - Cecil Whig

5 Instagram Accounts To Follow If You’re Absolutely Obsessed With Astrology – Elite Daily

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Social media is more often than not a place we go to fuel up on fury. Whether it's politics, or someone who takes a joke too seriously, or even just people posting vacation pics while you're stuck at work, there's too much out there nowadays just waiting to set you off. But the good news is, social media gives you the power to literally erase the people who annoy you, and to curate the opinions, views, and jokes that cater to you. And,if you're a rabid fan of astrology, you can turn to these accounts for comfort. Say goodbye to your Trump supporting relatives and add these people to your following list. You won't be bored, and you might just learn something about yourself in the process.

Her bio reads, talking about astrology irl has put a strain on all my personal relationships so now I meme about it, and I CAN RELATE.

This girl is hilarious, and her memes are not only funny, they make you want to learn more about astrology. I didn't even realize what a stellium was until I followed her and it suddenly made since to me why I act more like a Scorpio than a Pisces. She has literally solved a deep personal mystery not even my therapist could solve, and I owe her for this favor.

I always get a kick out of this account, not just because it's funny, but because ithas some good posts specifically about Aquarius, and I happen to be dating one.

If you have an Aquarius in your life, or work with one, or even run into one on the street, you may need an account like this to help you navigate their world view. Every Aquarian should come with a manual.

Whoever runs this account knows how to keep shit simple and to the point, and they don't sugarcoat anything either.

If there's one thing I love about astrology, it's when someone can pinpoint a unique detail about a person's actions and pinpoint exactly what sign they are, and this account is the best at that.

Astrology with a creative and feminist twist? Yes, please. I love this account and I just started following it this week. If you don't you are missing out.

Hint: Libra is Cher, from Clueless. So on point.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention my absolute favorite, real-deal-holyfield astrologer, the one and only Chani Nicholas.

Chani writes beautiful, thorough weekly horoscopes that include affirmations for every sun sign and rising sign on her site, but if you follow her on Instagram you'll get dailygems like this one above.

I don't know this for sure but I would bet she's a Virgo, because she's able to write about astrology and spirituality in such a grounded way that I never think to myself, Hey, maybe she's a little out of her mind.

That's a rare find in the spiritual community.

So, there you have it. The top five Instagram accounts you should follow for daily astrological gems, not to mention some laughs.

You'll need those laughs, too, because let's face it, we're in the middle of eclipse season, and that's not easy.

Subscribe to Elite Daily's official newsletter, The Edge, for more stories you don't want to miss.

Rosebud Baker is a standup comic and writer in NYC. Follow her on Twitter, where she desperately seeks the approval of strangers, but will settle for just attention.

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5 Instagram Accounts To Follow If You're Absolutely Obsessed With Astrology - Elite Daily

Annual Parenting Conference Focuses on Care of the Soul – Greenwich Sentinel

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Chabad of Greenwichs Parenting Conference. (Michelle Moskowitz photo)

By Michelle Moskowitz Sentinel Correspondent

This years Chabad of Greenwichs parenting conference took an introspective journey into parenting, benefitting both parent and child.

The annual event, held at Carmel Academy at 270 Lake Avenue, is designed to inform, empower and inspire parents in the Greenwich community to become the best parent possible as they encounter the many challenges involved in raising a child.

Over a decadent spread of kosher sushi and wine, parents and peers gathered for an evening of guidance and inspiration. As one mother in attendance, Cori SaNogueira, said, My kids are the most important thing in my lifetheir positive growth is my lifes mission, but I need events like this to teach me and give me strength during the tough times to know I am on the right path.

This year the theme focused on cultivating respect and how to raise a child with an attitude of gratitude, particularly in a community as materially well off as Greenwich.

The first half of the conference was divided into two smaller seminarsone for parents of younger kids and one for parents of teenagers, each followed by a Q & A.

This reporter attended the seminar for teenagers, thinking she could gain some much-needed guidance about her rising sixth grade boy, who already possesses all the fixings of a teenager.

And she did.

The quiet, steady focus of the crowd of teenage parents conveyed their anticipation of Chabads Rabbi Yossi Deren and his words of wisdom: He is the father of ten.

Chabad of Greenwichs Parenting Conference. (Michelle Moskowitz photo)

Rabbi Yossi Deren smiled generously and started the discussion with his customary humor wrapped around a truth: Without a question of a doubt, a parent of a teenager is not just a parent, but a hero.

We are in a unique position as a parent of a teen and must remember when they make mistakes, that we have taught them well, but now they need to find their place as they figure out who they are and how to live on their own, unique path.

Rabbi Yossi Deren recommended three fields of empowerment and transition during these older years:

1. Transition from teaching our children to respecting our children. Our job is to pull out their potential as they work to figure out their identity.

2. Focus our parenting tactics from discipline to love. As children grow older, their need for love grows even more as they encounter many difficulties in their lives, whether it be academically or socially.

Rabbi Yossi Deren said a parents reaction to a crisis in their childs lives can completely change the trajectory of the relationship. If we react with shock and awe rather than showing our kids that we can identify and connect with their feelings, the outcome will be vastly different.

3. Move from more talking to more doing. The familiar adage Do as I say, not as I do does not hold up, according to Rabbi Yossi Deren. Teenagers are very, very smart today, and our actions as parents say everythinglet them become the teenagers that we want them to become and set good examples for them.

When asked what kind of impact social media has on teenagers, particularly with an increase in online bullying and constant exposure, he said, Embrace its power for the good of life lessons (he referred to the recent suicide of a young boy whose friend had been an accomplice) and let them be exposed to the dangers of it in order to help them navigate through those dangers.

Its our job to create that safe space and promote our teenagers peace of mind.

Rabbi Yossi Deren discussed the importance of Shabbat in the Jewish religion (Shabbat entails a full day of rest and spiritual enlightenment, devoid of all technology) beginning at sunset every Friday evening and ending at nightfall on Saturday.

Its a sacred time for people to be completely unplugged and just focus on talking and being with family and friends.

The second portion of the night featured an inspiring talk titled Raising a Child with Soul, powerfully delivered by keynote speaker Slovie Jungreis Wolff, a noted author, teacher and lecturer.

For more than 30 years, Wolff has been teaching weekly classes for couples and families, helping them focus on the meaning of kindness and gratitude in a fast-paced, complex society.

While guests grabbed a coffee and a cookie, the crowd instantly quieted when Wolff walked up to the podium and shared a painful story of loss: many of her family members perished in Auschwitz.

When you go through difficulties in life, dont sit in the darkness, said Wolff.

Its a gift to raise children, but kids need a spiritual foundation if we are to raise kids who stand for truth, honesty and have an attitude of gratitude, said Wolff.

Wolff discussed how kids today are growing up in a disposable society where they are always wanting more.

Today, kids have no patience and have a need for instant gratification with too much of everything at their fingertips.

She referenced the many parents who are quick to replace a lost sweater or pair of shoes, or continually provide their children with everything they want and desire, presuming its the panacea that will make them happy and peaceful.

Wolff shared the story of a family she had once worked with. They lived in a gorgeous mansion, filled with every game and toy imaginable, and yet their child would sit in the middle of it all and say to her parents, Im so bored. Theres nothing to do.

As the crowd shifted in their seats, Wolff posed a question: How are we going to fix this in our childrens character and create gratitude within them?

Wolff says it starts with a simple thank you. The following are her suggestions for raising a child with soul:

Teach kids to be thankful for all the people in their livesto say thank you to ones parents, grandparents, teachers, bus drivers, etc., for all that they do. Wolff said to encourage kids when baking cookies or challah to donate them to a charity or to the police, who are always helping others.

Convey how time together with family is a privilegeone for which kids should have gratitude (Wolff mentioned that its often when we lose a family member what regret not having more time with them.) With too many material things to focus on, especially our phones, kids tend to stop appreciating the people in their lives.

Wolff went on to observe that the phone calls from the people on board the hijacked planes of September 11 spent their last minutes confessing their love and their sadness that their time with loved ones would endnothing else.

Parents also need to show appreciation for one another in the home and set the example. When Mom or Dad thank one another for making a nice dinner, or for working a long, hard daythat has a huge impact on the family unit.

Fostering Compassion:

Wolff said its important to teach our kids to be inclusive of the child that no one chooses on the team during gym class or for a playdate. Teach your child that you can change the world that way, and that compassion makes the world a better place.

Setting Priorities:

We need to foster a home filled with less presents, and more presence in the home, Wolff said. We live our lives in black and white and lose the color by letting little things get to us.

Wolff told a touching story about a young boy who kept asking his highly successful, yet preoccupied father how much money he made per hour. The parents were upset by this pointed question and were wondering where it came from.

So the father said $20.

The boy went away and then came back holding his piggy bank and a $20 bill that he had saved up.

He gave it to his father and said, If I give you this, then you can get off your phone for just one hour and spend time with me?

Visit chabadgreenwich.org for more information on the High Holiday schedule, Hebrew school, or to register for one of their fall classes, which include Mommy & Me: Musical Shabbat, Jewish Parenting & Family Values, and Womens Torah Study Group.

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Annual Parenting Conference Focuses on Care of the Soul - Greenwich Sentinel

Two Ohio authors to have children’s books read from space station – The Columbus Dispatch

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Eric Lagatta The Columbus Dispatch @EricLagatta

Not many authors can say that their books have traveled to space.

Two Ohioans whose children's books are bound for the International Space Station as part of an educational reading program will soon join that exclusive club.

The works by Jessica Fries-Gaither of Hilliard and Emily Morgan of West Chester, north of Cincinnati, will be aboard SpaceX Falcon 9,a rocket that is scheduled to launch Sunday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Once the books arrive at the space station probably within a day of the launch astronauts will record themselves reading the works aloud as part of the Story Time From Space program, which is designed to excite children about science.

Its such a unique opportunity to help put kids onto reading and learning science concepts, said Fries-Gaither, 39, who teaches science to elementary students at the Columbus School for Girls.

Kids are fascinated by space I mean, I think we all are.

"Notable Notebooks: Scientists and their Writings" by Fries-Gaither and "Next Time You See a Sunset" by Morgan both published by the National Science Teachers Association were two of four that the publisher sent last fall to be considered for Story Time From Space, saidClaire Reinburg, director of NSTA Press, which publishes about 30 books each year for both teachers and children.

I love these books, Reinburg said. Theyve really been able to translate some pretty complex ideas about science into language and an engaging storyline that children can learn from.

The two books are among nine science-themed children's works from a variety of publishers that will be included in the latest planned cargo-resupply mission.The payload willbring the total to20 books that the reading program has sent into orbit since Patricia Tribe founded it five years ago.

Tribewas the director of education at Space Center Houston for 13 years before she started Story Time from Space as a way to combine literacy with education in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). She and her team of six among them an astrophysicist and an astronaut seek books with accurate science and engaging storytelling.

The project of the nonprofit Global Space Education Foundation relies on support from NASA and theCenter for the Advancement of Science in Space, the nonprofit that manages the space station,to coordinate deliveries and record the readings.

The videos of the astronauts reading the books eventually end up online at http://www.storytimefromspace.com, where teachers are encouraged to integrate them into their curriculum. Some of the readings are tied to videotaped experiments.

Ive seen the power of space exploration being used to help space education, and what I feel we really need to work on is supporting educators in teaching STEM, Tribe said. We want childrens books that have accurate science (and) good information but are also really fun childrens books.

Published last August, "Notable Notebooks," written by Fries-Gaither and illustrated by Linda Olliver, tells the stories of several famous scientists whose discoveries were made possible because they meticulously documented observations and experiments in writing.

Although Fries-Gaither has published two books as teachers guides for lesson plans, the children's book is the first that she has written.The concept was a natural extension from her classroom, in which she requires her students to take notes on their projects.

By including both male and female scientists of different backgrounds and ethnicities, Fries-Gaither hoped to invoke curiosity about the world among young readers. The book's selection for the space program will only help expand its reach, potentially to an international audience, she said.

I want students to see themselves in that field, and having this wide global audience is really exciting to think that maybe this book will help spark a kids interest, Fries-Gaither said.Its been very rewarding, and I think its had the impact I hoped it would.

Morgan's book, "Next Time You See a Sunset," speaks to the science behind the everyday occurrence that some children might take for granted.

My hope is that after hearing the astronaut read (the book), that kids watching it will have a new sense of wonder when they watch a sunset from Earth, said Morgan, 43. Youre not just reading about nature, but youre experiencing it as well.

Morgan is a former middle-school teacher who also worked at the Hamilton County Educational Service Center. In 2000, she and Karen Ansberry, an elementary-school teacher, founded Picture-Perfect Science," a nonfiction illustratedseries published by the science teachers association, which helps elementary-school educators teach science concepts to students.

Morgan's career as a published children's author began in 2012 with Next Time You See a Sunset and Next Time You See a Seashell. The booksare now two of eight in the Next Time You See series, which alsohas entries on maple seeds, fireflies, pill bugs, clouds, the moon and spider webs.

Neither Morgan nor Fries-Gaither knew that the association had submitted their books to be considered for Story Time FromSpace. It was quite a surprise and honor when they learned in the spring that they had been selected.

Morganplans to attend the launch this weekend with her 9-year-old son, Jack.

It was kind of a moment of disbelief, Morgan recalled. Thats not even something you dream about because its just so wild.

elagatta@dispatch.com

@EricLagatta

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Two Ohio authors to have children's books read from space station - The Columbus Dispatch

Research to advance disease therapies, understand cosmic rays among cargo headed to space station – Phys.Org

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August 9, 2017 by Kristine Rainey NASA Astronaut Jack Fischer works within the Japanese Experiment Module on CASIS PCG 6. CASIS PCG 7 will utilize the orbiting laboratory's microgravity environment to grow larger versions of Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2), implicated in Parkinson's disease. Credit: NASA

The SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft is targeted for launch August 14 from Kennedy Space Center for its twelfth commercial resupply (CRS-12) mission to the International Space Station.

The flight will deliver investigations and instruments that study cosmic rays, protein crystal growth, stem cell-mediated recellularization and a nanosateliite technology demonstration. The vehicle will also deliver crew supplies and equipment to crew members living aboard the station.

Here are some highlights of research that will be delivered:

Investigation studies cosmic rays

Cosmic rays reach Earth from far outside the solar system with energies well beyond what man-made accelerators can achieve. The Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass (CREAM) instrument, attached to the Japanese Experiment Module Exposed Facility, measures the charges of cosmic rays ranging from hydrogen to iron nuclei. The data collected from the CREAM instrument will be used to address fundamental science questions such as:

Tested in several long duration balloon flights, the CREAM instrument holds the longest known exposure record for a single balloon-borne experiment at approximately 160 days of exposure. CREAM's three-year mission will help the scientific community build a stronger understanding of the fundamental structure of the universe.

Microgravity-grown protein crystals aid in understanding of Parkinson's disease

The microgravity environment of the space station allows protein crystals to grow larger and in more perfect shapes than earth-grown crystals, allowing them to be better analyzed on Earth. Developed by the Michael J. Fox Foundation, Anatrace and Com-Pac International, the Crystallization of Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) under Microgravity Conditions (CASIS PCG 7) investigation will use the orbiting laboratory's microgravity environment to grow larger versions of this important protein, implicated in Parkinson's disease.

Defining the exact shape and morphology of LRRK2 would help scientists to better understand the pathology of Parkinson's and aid in the development of therapies against this target.

Telescope-hosting nanosatellite tests new concept

The Kestrel Eye (NanoRacks-KE IIM) investigation is a microsatellite carrying an optical imaging system payload. This investigation validates the concept of using microsatellites in low-Earth orbit to support critical operations, such as providing lower-cost Earth imagery in time-sensitive situations such as tracking severe weather and detecting natural disasters.

Sponsored by the space station U.S. National Laboratory, the overall mission goal for the investigation is to demonstrate that small satellites are viable platforms for providing critical path support to operations and hosting advanced payloads.

Growth of lung tissue in space could provide information about disease pathology

The Effect of Microgravity on Stem Cell Mediated Recellularization (Lung Tissue) uses the microgravity environment of space to test strategies for growing new lung tissue. Using bioengineering techniques, the Lung Tissue investigation cultures different types of lung cells in controlled conditions aboard the space station. The cells are grown in a specialized framework that supplies them with critical growth factors so that scientists can observe how gravity affects growth and specialization as cells become new lung tissue.

Tissue mimic models such as this also have the potential to be used for assessing drug or chemical toxicity by biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and could allow for rapid testing of new chemicals and compounds, considerably lowering the overall costs for research and development of new drugs. The ultimate goal of this investigation is to produce bioengineered human lung tissue that can be used as a predictive model of human responses allowing for the study of lung development, lung physiology or disease pathology.

These investigations and others launching aboard CRS-12 will join many other investigations currently happening aboard the space station. Follow @ISS_Research for more information about the science happening on station.

Explore further: Crystals grown aboard space station provide radiation detecting technology

Research into crystal growth in microgravity was one of the earliest investigations conducted aboard the International Space Station and is continued to this day. The unique microgravity environment of space provides an ideal ...

A wide variety of research relies on growing cells in culture on Earth, but handling these cells is challenging. With better techniques, scientists hope to reduce loss of cells from culture media, create cultures in specific ...

Models of human disease are beneficial for medical research, but have limitations in predicting the way a drug will behave within the human body using data from non-human models because of inherent differences between species. ...

Growing significant numbers of human stem cells in a short time could lead to new treatments for stroke and other diseases. Scientists are sending stem cells to the International Space Station to test whether these cells ...

Crew members aboard the International Space Station will begin conducting research this week to improve the way we grow crystals on Earth. The information gained from the experiments could speed up the process for drug development, ...

SpaceX is scheduled to launch its Dragon spacecraft for its eleventh commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station June 1 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center's historic pad 39A. Dragon will lift into orbit atop ...

An asteroid the size of a house will shave past Earth at a distance of some 44,000 kilometres (27,300 miles) in October, inside the Moon's orbit, astronomers said Thursday.

(Phys.org)An international team of astronomers has discovered a Jupiter-mass alien world circling a giant star known as HD 208897. The newly detected exoplanet was found as a result of high-precision radial velocity measurements. ...

NASA's Cassini spacecraft will enter new territory in its final mission phase, the Grand Finale, as it prepares to embark on a set of ultra-close passes through Saturn's upper atmosphere with its final five orbits around ...

A bright Moon will outshine the annual Perseids meteor shower, which will peak Saturday with only a fifth the usual number of shooting stars visible to Earthlings, astronomers say.

Scientists have discovered why heavyweight galaxies living in a dense crowd of galaxies tend to spin more slowly than their lighter neighbours.

New evidence from ancient lunar rocks suggests that an active dynamo once churned within the molten metallic core of the moon, generating a magnetic field that lasted at least 1 billion years longer than previously thought. ...

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Research to advance disease therapies, understand cosmic rays among cargo headed to space station - Phys.Org

Local Boy Scouts Prepare To Send STEM Experiment To International Space Station – Journal & Topics Newspapers Online

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After winning a contest sponsored by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) for the past two years, Boy Scout Troop 209 AMES has been preparing to send an experiment to Space.

The Scouts created a project that will be brought to the International Space Station to study the rate of mutation of DNA in microgravity. The experiment could impact the future of cancer and tissue growth research.

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Local Boy Scouts Prepare To Send STEM Experiment To International Space Station - Journal & Topics Newspapers Online

Bridgeport high school sending experiment to International Space Station – CT Post

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Photo: Contributed / Contributed

From left to right, Fairchild Wheeler studentsKiana Laude, Raysa Leguizamon, Uchenna Oguagha, Kiana Laude, and Jucar Lopes.

From left to right, Fairchild Wheeler studentsKiana Laude, Raysa Leguizamon, Uchenna Oguagha, Kiana Laude, and Jucar Lopes.

Fairchild Wheeler Aerospace students get their experiment ready for the space shuttle

Fairchild Wheeler Aerospace students get their experiment ready for the space shuttle

Standing, teacher Luke Fatsy sitting, from left; Uchenna Oguagha Kiana Laude, Raysa Leguizamon, and Jucar Lopes, all of Fairchild Wheeler Interdistrict Magnet School

Standing, teacher Luke Fatsy sitting, from left; Uchenna Oguagha Kiana Laude, Raysa Leguizamon, and Jucar Lopes, all of Fairchild Wheeler Interdistrict Magnet School

Standing, teacher Luke Fatsy sitting, from left; Uchenna Oguagha Kiana Laude, Raysa Leguizamon, and Jucar Lopes, all of Fairchild Wheeler Interdistrict Magnet School

Standing, teacher Luke Fatsy sitting, from left; Uchenna Oguagha Kiana Laude, Raysa Leguizamon, and Jucar Lopes, all of Fairchild Wheeler Interdistrict Magnet School

The International Space Station (ISS).

The International Space Station (ISS).

The International Space Station (ISS).

The International Space Station (ISS).

The International Space Station (ISS).

The International Space Station (ISS).

Bridgeport high school sending experiment to International Space Station

BRIDGEPORT If all goes as planned a mission to the International Space Station with 21 student experiments on board, including one from Fairchild Wheeler will finally take off on Sunday.

Delayed four times already, the Student Spaceflight Experiment Program (SSEP) Mission 11 is set to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The Bridgeport experiment comes from four students at the Aerospace/Hydrospace Engineering and Physical Sciences School at the Fairchild Wheeler Interdistrict Magnet Campus in Bridgeport.

The team included Jucar Lopes of Milford, Uchenna Oguagha of Bridgeport, Kiana Laude of Trumbull and Raysa Leguizamon of Bridgeport.

Entitled Microgravity's Effect on Immune System Response of Model Species: An Interaction between Daphnia magna and Pasteuria ramosa, the experiment looks at the effects of microgravity on the human immune system.

The experiment substitutes water fleas for humans and looks at how well they can fight off a foreign invader in this case a bacteria called Pasteuria romosa.

On earth, water fleas can handle that bacteria pretty well. In space, against freeze dried samples of the bacteria? Time will tell.

Once the experiment is completed by astronauts on the space station, the water fleas will be returned to Earth to measure the protein levels in their blood.

The Fairchild experiment was selected from among 1,959 student team proposals, engaging 9,870 grade 5-16 students in microgravity experiment design. Fairchilds is one of two experiments from Connecticut. The other comes from East Hartford.

Others originated in California, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and two from Canada.

Before it was sent to SSEP, there was an internal competition among Fairchild seniors all working on capstone research projects exploring solutions to real world problems. Three were submitted for consideration.

Fairchild Wheelers participation in the SSEP was funded in part by the Connecticut Space Grant Consortium. Community partners include the University of Bridgeport and the Discovery Museum and Planetarium.

It is expected the mission will last five weeks.

Because of the launch delays, a backup team of students met on campus in July to pack up and ship the experiment to Florida, said Jay Lipp, principal of the Aerospace school.

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Bridgeport high school sending experiment to International Space Station - CT Post

Station-bound instrument to open new chapter in the story of cosmic rays – Spaceflight Now

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This mosaic image of Crab Nebula, a six-light-year-wide expanding remnant of a stars supernova explosion, was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Recent research shows that galactic cosmic rays flowing into our solar system originate in clusters like these. Credit: NASA/ESA/Arizona State University

Physicists are gearing up to send a re-engineered science instrument originally designed for lofty balloon flights high in Earths atmosphere to the International Space Station next week to broaden their knowledge of cosmic rays, subatomic particles traveling on intergalactic routes that could hold the key to unlocking mysteries about supernovas, black holes, pulsars and dark matter.

Fastened in the cargo bay of a SpaceX Dragon capsule, the cosmic ray observatory will be robotically connected to a port outside the space stations Japanese Kibo laboratory for a three-year science campaign sampling cosmic rays, particles accelerated to nearly the speed of light by violent and mysterious forces in the distant universe.

First discovered more than a century ago, most cosmic rays are blocked by the atmosphere from reaching Earths surface, requiring scientists to send up detectors on high-altitude balloon flights or space missions.

Their name is a misnomer. Cosmic rays are not a form of light like gamma-rays or X-rays, but bits of matter sent careening through space by powerful forces elsewhere in our galaxy and beyond.

Cosmic rays are direct samples of matter from outside our solar system, possibly from the most distant reaches of the universe, saidEun-Suk Seo, lead scientist on the Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass, or CREAM, instrument and a professor of physics at the University of Maryland.

Scientists have flown variants of the CREAM instrument seven times on balloon research missions, logging more than six months of flight time. Engineers modified the existing science payload for the rigors of spaceflight, finishing the instrument for as little as $10 million to $20 million, Seo said, a fraction of the cost of a standalone space mission or an instrument developed from scratch.

Changes to the balloon-borne instrument, managed at NASAs Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, included making the on-board electronics more robust against radiation, and ensuring the package could survive the shaking of a rocket launch.

Dozens of stacked layers of silicon pixels, carbon targets, tungsten planes and scintillating fibers will detect particles, ranging from subatomic units of relatively light hydrogen to heavy iron, coming from deep space and determine their mass, charge and trajectory.

Each cosmic ray comes with its own backstory, and the particles will reveal clues about their origins as they collide with the matter inside CREAMs detector. Scientists will trace the shower of secondary particles generated by each cosmic rays crash into the instruments cross section of pixels and targets.

The most energetic cosmic rays can penetrate all the way to Earths surface, but detectors on the ground only pick up the leftovers generated from collisions with oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the atmosphere, producing air showers of secondary particles the rain down on the planet.

The original cosmic rays, for you to detect them, you have to fly an instrument in space, Seo said. Thats what we are doing. We identify (cosmic rays) particle-by-particle, tell what they are, how much energy they have, and characterize them. We (sample) them directly before they are broken up in the atmosphere.

CREAM will be sensitive to cosmic rays with higher energies than previous cosmic ray detectors flown in space, including the $2 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer delivered to the space station on the second-to-last space shuttle flight in 2011.

What CREAM is going to do is to extend the direct measurements to the highest energies possible, to energies that are capable of generating these gigantic air showers that can reach all the way to the ground, Seo said.

Huge explosions like stellar supernovas, along with extreme gravitational forces from other cosmic phenomena, send cosmic rays shooting through space at mind-boggling velocities approaching the speed of light. One of the CREAM instruments chief objectives is to study where the particles come from.

NASAs Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope proved some cosmic rays come from the expanding debris remnants of supernovas, but the case is still open for other types of cosmic rays.

Its generally believed that cosmic rays originate in supernovas, Seo said.There are other possible contributions or accelerators, pulsars, colliding galaxies, black holes, AGNs (active galactic nuclei).

But some cosmic rays are believed to be too energetic to be accelerated by supernovas.

A supernova is very powerful, but still its a finite engine, Seo said.

Subatomic particles like protons are the most common type of cosmic ray at lower energies, and cosmic rays become rarer as scientists look at higher energies. But balloon science campaigns found the drop-off in particle detections at higher energies is not as steep as predicted, a result known as spectral hardening.

At high energies that are in our energy range there are more cosmic rays than were expected from the simple supernova acceleration scenario, Seo said.

Comparisons of two types of particles protons and helium suggest low-energy and high-energy cosmic rays could come from different sources.

At lower energies, we already know protons are the most dominant component, but as you approach this acceleration limit you expect to see this composition change, Seo said. But this hasnt been observed yet because we are not able to do the direct measurements at that higher energy. With CREAM, we are to explore these higher energies to actually observe such composition changes to confirm such a supernova acceleration scenario.

Seo said CREAM will build up statistics on the flux, or variability, of high-energy cosmic rays with continuous observations not possible on a short-duration balloon flight.

By utilizing the space station, we can increase our exposure by an order of magnitude, Seo said. In order words, every day on the station, we will increase the statistics, and as the statistical uncertainties get reduced, and we can detect higher energies than before.

One way physicists say cosmic rays could be born is during collisions between particles of dark matter, a mysterious substance that makes up about 27 percent of all the mass and energy in the universe. Only 5 percent of the universe is regular matter stuff we can see and touch while the rest is dark energy, an enigmatic force that helps drive the expansion of the universe.

The question of whether these are from an exotic source like dark matter has generated lots of excitement, but for us to actually know whether there is some exotic source like dark matter, or an astrophysical source like a pulsar we will need a lot more understanding of cosmic rays, Seo said.

Scientists from the United States, South Korea, France and Mexico are part of the CREAM project. The instrument weighs about 2,773 pounds (1,258 kilograms) inside the Dragon spacecrafts payload trunk.

Liftoff from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida is scheduled for Aug. 14.

Its a very exciting time for us in high-energy particle astrophysics, and the long development road of CREAM culminating in this space station mission has been a world-class success story, Seo said.

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Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.

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Station-bound instrument to open new chapter in the story of cosmic rays - Spaceflight Now

Poor weather forecast delays launch of Japanese navigation … – Spaceflight Now

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Updated Aug. 10 with new launch window.

The Japanese space agency said Wednesday the launch of an H-2A rocket with the countrys third navigation satellite was preemptively delayed at least 24 hours to Saturday to avoid thunderstorms with lightning in the forecast later this week.

The 174-foot-tall (53-meter) rocket, currently standing inside the vertical assembly building at the Tanegashima Space Center, is now scheduled to launch some time during an unusually-long window Saturday that opens at 0440 GMT (12:40 a.m. EDT; 1:40 p.m. Japan Standard Time) and extends nearly nine hours.

The launch was originally scheduled for Friday.

Rollout of the H-2A rocket to the launch pad at Tanegashima is scheduled around a half-day before liftoff. Technicians will connect the two-stage rocket to the pads electrical, telemetry and cryogenic propellant infrastructure before the final countdown.

The payload aboard the H-2A rocket is Michibiki 3, the third member of a four-satellite network Japan is deploying to supplement GPS navigation coverage over its territory. The launch of the 4.4-ton (4-metric ton) Michibiki 3 satellite comes after the delivery of two similar navigation stations to orbit by H-2A rockets in September 2010 and in June.

Another Michibiki satellite is scheduled for launch on an H-2A rocket as soon as late this year.

The four-satellite fleet, entirely compatible with the GPS network, is being positioned in orbits loitering over Japan at altitudes more than 20,000 miles (33,000 kilometers) above Earth. The first two Michibiki spacecraft went into inclined geosynchronous-type orbits that oscillate between the northern and southern hemispheres, while Michibiki 3 will launch into a geostationary orbit that hovers over the equator.

GPS satellites, operated by the U.S. Air Force, circle Earth in lower orbits, meaning different spacecraft are visible in the sky at different times, acting as navigation beacons to triangulate the location of ground users.

Japans Quasi-Zenith Satellite System will add more beacons to the sky over the Asia-Pacific, resulting in more precise position estimates and improved service in urban areas and remote regions, where high-rise buildings and mountains can obstruct signals from GPS satellites low on the horizon.

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Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.

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China eyes manned lunar landing by 2036 – SpaceFlight Insider

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Tomasz Nowakowski

August 9th, 2017

The Chinese Yutu rover on the Moon. Photo Credit: CNSA

Recent and rather bold statements made by Chinese officials suggest that the country is moving forward toward its goal of sending Taikonauts to the surface of the Moon.

China is the third country (after the Soviet Union / Russia and the U.S.) that has independently sent humans into space. In October 2003, Yang Liwei flew on board the Shenzhou-5 spacecraft, becoming the first Chinese in orbit. He now serves as the deputy director general of China Manned Space Agency.

China is making preliminary preparations for a manned lunar landing mission, Liwei said in early June, Xinhua state news agency reports.

Liwei made a speech during the 2017 Global Space Exploration Conference in Beijing on June 6. Some of his remarks were in reference to the future of the Chinese lunar exploration program.

He noted that it would not take long for the manned lunar landing project to get official approval and funding. During the conference, he was also asked whether he has any plan to step onto the Moon.

The far side of the Moon with Earth in the background. Taken by Chinas Change 5-T1 at a distance of about 200,000 miles (322,000 km) from Earth. Photo Credit: CNSA

If I am given the opportunity, no problem! Liwei replied.

China intends to realize itsplan of a manned landing on the Moon by 2036, according to a state official who revealed this deadline last year.

Wu Yansheng, the president of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), has also confirmed that the country is working on fulfilling the envisioned manned lunar landing program. He revealed that the proposed mission would consist of a crewed spaceship, a propulsion vehicle and a lunar lander. According to him, the manned spacecraft and the lunar lander will be sent into circumlunar orbit separately.

Chinese officials disclosed no further details about the project. However, during the last months conference, China announced that it would carry out at least four manned spaceflight missions over a period of five years in order to build its space station.

According to Liwei, the launch of the first core module of the space station is scheduled for 2019, which will be followed by launches of two experiment modules. Two manned space missions are currently planned to be conducted in 2020, while the space station is expected to be fully completed in 2022.

So far, Beijing has sent into orbit two Tiangong space laboratories, designed to test key technologies for the future modular space station.

China has already made huge steps toward the realization of its ambitious lunar exploration program. On December 14, 2013, the countrys Change 3 successfully reached the Moon, becoming the first spacecraft to soft-land on the lunar surface since the Soviet Unions Luna 24 in 1976.

TheChange 3 landerdeployed a rover known as Yutu. Although the rover became immobile after 42 days, it continued to operate on the Moon and return intermittent but useful data until it had finally ceased functioning on July 31, 2016.

The next unmanned lunar mission, Change 4, is currently planned for December 2018, while the countrys first sample return mission, designated Change 5, is scheduled for 2019.

Tagged: China China National Space Administration Moon The Range

Tomasz Nowakowski is the owner of Astro Watch, one of the premier astronomy and science-related blogs on the internet. Nowakowski reached out to SpaceFlight Insider in an effort to have the two space-related websites collaborate. Nowakowski's generous offer was gratefully received with the two organizations now working to better relay important developments as they pertain to space exploration.

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US Geological Survey’s Landsat 9 satellite progressing toward 2020 launch – SpaceFlight Insider

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Jason Rhian

August 10th, 2017

Image Credit: Orbital ATK

The U.S. Geological SurveysLandsat 9 spacecraft is making steady progress toward its planned launch in December of 2020. If everything goes as currently planned, the satellite will be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The contract to produce the spacecraft was awarded in 2016 and will mark the continuation of a program that can trace its lineage back 45 years.

When it launches,Landsat 9 will map the terrain far below its position in Sun-synchronous orbit from which it will collect data and space-based imagery. Data will be used by officials for land-management, agricultural purposes, emergency response (to include disaster relief), and mapping.

As the fourth Landsat satellite built by Orbital ATK, Landsat 9 aptly demonstrates thecompanys expertise in delivering high-quality land imaging satellites that exceed theexpectations of our customers, said Steve Krein, Vice President of Science andEnvironmental Programs at Orbital ATK, via a release issued by the company. Based on NASAs positive assessment of ourprogress, we are well positioned to build on our legacy of Landsat success and executeon the next phase of development.

Orbital ATK was awarded the contract to produce the Landsat 9 spacecraft in October of 2016. The Dulles, Virginia-based company is both designing and constructing the satellite, which will incorporate instruments provided by NASA and the USGS.

Landsat 9 recently underwent, and successfully completed, itspreliminary design review, which was carried out between July 18 and July 20 at Orbital ATKs facilities in Gilbert,Arizona. The test checked out all of the spacecrafts system and schedule requirements.

With Landsat 9, the overall length of the Landsat Program will reach half a century. Orbital ATK also built Landsat 8, 5, and 4, which were launched in 2013, 1984, and 1982, respectively.

Landsat 9 is based on theLEOStar-3 satellite bus platform, which was also used for Landsat 8 and is what the ICESat-2 and JPSS-2 spacecraft being developed for NASA will use.

Tagged: Landsat 9 NASA Orbital ATK The Range United States Geological Survey

Jason Rhian spent several years honing his skills with internships at NASA, the National Space Society and other organizations. He has provided content for outlets such as: Aviation Week & Space Technology, Space.com, The Mars Society and Universe Today.

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US Geological Survey's Landsat 9 satellite progressing toward 2020 launch - SpaceFlight Insider

Our SpaceFlight Heritage: Curiosity’s fifth year on Mars marked by celebration and song – SpaceFlight Insider

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Christopher Paul

August 7th, 2017

NASAs Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity has marked its fifth year on the surface of the Red Planet. Image Credit: NASA / JPL

NASAs Curiosity rover celebrated 5 (Earth) years on Mars on Saturday, August 6. After launching on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 541 rocket on November 26, 2011, and then cruising through interplanetary space for nine months, the rover descended through the Red Planets atmosphere to the surface via its Skycrane system. Curiosity landedon Mars at exactly 05:17:57 SpaceCraft Event Time (SCET) UTC (1:17 a.m. EDT) on August 6, 2012.

At the time, Curiosity was the heaviest payload ever launched to the surface of Mars and required anentirely novel landing method. The rover still slowed itself from interplanetary speeds by aerobraking,protecting itself from the heat with a heat shield, then descended by parachute until the Skycrane activated.

The Sky Crane, NASAs name for their innovative landing system, was a separate landing vehicle thatused rocket thrust to hover over the surface of Mars, then lowered the Curiosity rover down to the surfacevia cables. After the rover touched the surface, the Sky Crane vehicle detached the cables and flew off toget away from Curiosity, crashing on the Martian surface some distance away a short time later.

The Curiosity rover itself carried a number of novel instruments and technologies to Mars. Curiosity wasthe first nuclear-powered rover on Mars, drawing its power from a Multi-Mission RadioisotopeThermoelectric Generator (MMRTG). Curiosity also carried the ChemCam, a geochemistry instrumentthat fires lasers at rocks to determine their chemical make-up. The CheMin instrument is the first X-raydiffraction analyzer on Mars and uses X-rays to determine the mineral content of samples. And the SAMinstrument, for Sample Analysis at Mars, is the first wet chemistry instrument sent to Mars since theViking probes.

While Curiosity is a technological marvel, and one of NASAs flagship missions, that doesnt meanthat the robot has had smooth driving all the way. One of the most serious challenges the rover has facedis just driving. Curiosityswheels are machined from aluminum and include thin sections reinforced bygrousers, thicker rib sections that support the thin sections and connect the surface of the wheel to the huband motor. In 2013, engineers began to notice the wheels were wearing more quickly than had been expected.

Problemswith the way the rover drove and with the unique terrain of Gale Crater and Mount Sharp were beginningto put holes in the thin sections of the wheels. Engineers eventually created new rules for driving therover, avoiding certain kinds of terrain in their commanded drives and programming the rover itself toavoid those terrains when driving autonomously.

But engineers believed that as long as no grousersbroke, the wheels would remain functional. In early 2017 engineers noticed some grousers beginning tobreak, but continued to believe the wheels would be fine for several years. They also adjusted the roversdriving algorithms to put less stress on the wheels when climbing over rocks.

Despite these challenges, Curiosity has made powerful discoveries, some of which lead scientists tobelieve that Gale Crater may have hosted habitable conditions for potentially millions of years.

Engineers have also programmed the rover to be more autonomous. The rover can now select targets forits ChemCam instrument on its own and relay the results back to Earth. The rover can also chart its ownpath to destinations chosen by its human controllers.

The rover has driven 10.57 miles (17.01 kilometers) in total since its landing and has endured the harsh conditions ofMars for over 1700 sols (Martian days). While August 6 was Curiositysfifth Earth-year on Mars, it has only been two and two-thirds in Martianyears.

The roughly one-ton rover is just now preparing to resume science operations after the solar conjunction the time when theSun is between Earth and Mars forced operations to pause afterJuly 14.

NASA plans to build on Curiosityssuccess with its Mars 2020 rover, which shares much of Curiositysdesign but with some improvements, such as stronger wheels, a drill for taking sample cores, and asystem for leaving sample caches behind for future explorers. NASA is currently working to select alanding site, with thelaunch date expected to be sometime in July/August 2020 and the landing sometime in February 2021.

So how does the rover mark its birthday every year? As was noted on the aptly named Curiosity.com website, it uses its Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument to sing Happy Birthday to itself.

Video courtesy of NASA Goddard

Tagged: Curiosity Mars Science Laboratory NASA The Range

Christopher Paul has had a lifelong interest in spaceflight. He began writing about his interest in the Florida Tech Crimson. His primary areas of interest are in historical space systems and present and past planetary exploration missions. He lives in Kissimmee, Florida, and also enjoys cooking and photography. Paul saw his first Space Shuttle launch in 2005 when he moved to central Florida to attend classes at the Florida Institute of Technology, studying space science, and has closely followed the space program since. Paul is especially interested in the renewed effort to land crewed missions on the Moon and to establish a permanent human presence there. He has covered several launches from NASA's Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral for space blogs before joining SpaceFlight Insider in mid-2017.

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Japan gearing up to launch Michibiki-3 navigation satellite – SpaceFlight Insider

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Curt Godwin

August 10th, 2017

The Michibiki-3 satellite, part of Japans QZSS navigation system, sits on display ahead of launch. Photo Credit: Japans Cabinet Office, National Space Policy Secretariat

The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is in final preparations to launch the third of the countrys Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) series atop anH-IIA rocket. The satellite, also called Michibiki-3, will augment Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation services in the island nation.

Archive photo of H-IIA. Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA

The mission is scheduled to launch at 1 a.m. EDT (2 p.m. Japan Standard Time / 05:00 GMT) on Aug. 12, 2017, from Pad 1 at theTanegashima Space Center. The Japanese space agency will have a 9-hour window to get the mission off the ground, should weather or technical difficulties spring up.

Although GPS provides reasonably accurate positioning to civilian receivers worldwide, its signal can be blocked or attenuated when penetrating dense urban canyons and mountainous terrain, something in no short supply in the Japanese archipelago.

To combat this shortcoming, Japan has developed its own line of satellites designed to provide a more effective service for its citizens and emergency response personnel.

Michibiki-3 will join its two on-orbit siblings, providing more accurate positioning information to surface-based receivers, though from a vastly different vantage point. While the first two spacecraft are operating in a highly inclined and slightly elliptical orbit that draws a figure-eight ground trace, Michibiki-3 will be positioned in a geostationary orbit high above the equator at 127 degrees East.

Once complete Japan plans to field a constellation consisting of at least four satellites this combination of spacecraft in Tundra and stationary orbits will provide a tailored navigation service that will augment the U.S.-developed GPS system.

Like the other satellites in the series, Michibiki-3 was constructed on the Mitsubishi Electric DS-2000 spacecraft platform. Tipping the scales at approximately 10,361 pounds (4,700 kilograms), Michibiki-3 will be outfitted with twin solar panels and a propulsion system utilizing theR-4D rocket engine.

Primary payload on the satellite is an array of navigation transponders, along with S-, Ku-, and L-band antennas, supporting messaging communications for the QZSS Safety Confirmation Service (Q-ANPI). Rounding out the vehicles capabilities is an SBAS-signal antenna that will provide error correcting positioning information to aircraft.

The satellite has an expected life span of approximately 15 years and will be delivered to orbit atop an H-IIA launch vehicle. The H-IIA, manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and outfitted in its 204 configuration (four solid rocket boosters attached to the core), can deliver up to 13,227 pounds (6,000 kilograms) to geostationary transfer orbit.

This will be the fourth H-IIA launch of 2017, and the second in the 204 configuration. The 204 has seen a 100 percent success rate, though it has a short flight history of only three launches. Michibiki-3 will mark only the fourth mission of variant.

This also will mark the final flight of 2017 for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

Video of the launch of Michibiki-2

Tagged: H-IIA Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency JAXA Lead Stories Michibiki-3

Curt Godwin has been a fan of space exploration for as long as he can remember, keeping his eyes to the skies from an early age. Initially majoring in Nuclear Engineering, Curt later decided that computers would be a more interesting - and safer - career field. He's worked in education technology for more than 20 years, and has been published in industry and peer journals, and is a respected authority on wireless network engineering. Throughout this period of his life, he maintained his love for all things space and has written about his experiences at a variety of NASA events, both on his personal blog and as a freelance media representative.

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Japan gearing up to launch Michibiki-3 navigation satellite - SpaceFlight Insider