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Letter: Anti-boycott law violates the First Amendment – Santa Cruz Sentinel

Posted on August 6, 2017 by Danzig

The Israel anti-boycott law penalizes boycotts, which are a nonviolent and legal freedom of expression. That violates the First Amendment. People complain about the over-regulation of business. This bill is a prime example. It would be an expensive, time consuming, and intrusive process for a court or other government agency to determine why a business was not doing business with Israel or Israeli companies. No matter what your views are on the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement are, I hope that people can agree that we need to protect our constitutional rights, especially in todays political climate.

Dorah Rosen Shuey, Davenport

The Sentinel welcomes your letters to the editor. Letters should be short, no more than 150 words. We do not accept anonymous letters. Letter-writers should include their full name as well as a street address and telephone number. We dont publish those details in the newspaper, but need the information for verification purposes. Occasionally, we reject letters simply because weve had so many on the same subject. Submit your letters online at santacruzsentinel.com/submit-letters.

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Letter: Anti-boycott law violates the First Amendment - Santa Cruz Sentinel

Why social media is not a public forum – The Washington Post – Washington Post

Posted on August 6, 2017 by Danzig

For Internet trolls, last week may as well have been Christmas.

On July 25, Judge James Cacheris of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia handed down a decisionstating that public officials may not block their constituents on social media.

The case, which will influence a similar casefiled by the Knight First Amendment Institute against President Trump, involved a dispute between defendant Phyllis Randall, chairman of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, and plaintiff Brian Davison. The facts allege that Randall banned Davison from her Facebook page titled Chair Phyllis J. Randall after Davison published comments during an online forum that, in Randalls view, consisted of slanderous remarks about peoples family members and kickback money (if the facts seem confusing or incomplete, its not just you neither party could recall the precise contents of the deleted comment).

Davison claimed the ban violated his First Amendment rights. The court agreed, reasoning that Randall had acted in her governmental capacity by hosting a Facebook forum open to the public and had engaged in prohibited viewpoint discrimination by choosing to ban only Davison. Granting declaratory judgment to Davison, the court reasoned, By prohibiting Plaintiff from participating in her online forum because she took offense at his claim that her colleagues in the County government had acted unethically, Defendant committed a cardinal sin under the First Amendment.

Although it is difficult to contest that Randall was acting in her official capacity, the courts conclusion that a social media platform is analogous to a public forum is ill-conceived.

The courts rationale rests primarily on Supreme Court dicta in Packingham v. North Carolina, a 2017 case involving a statute which made it a felony for registered sex offenders to access social networking websites. In that case, the court indeed compared social media networks to traditionally public spaces like parks and streets, but that comparison was hardly dispositive of the question, especially considering the courts decision rested primarily on the North Carolina laws expansive reach (the law constituted an absolute bar on mainstream means of communication). Moreover, the court expressly stated, this opinion should not be interpreted as barring a State from enacting more specific laws than the one at issue, a point that the court in Virginia tacitly acknowledged by recognizing that a degree of [comment] moderation is necessary to preserve social media websites as useful forums for the exchange of ideas.

In the Loudoun County case, however, the restriction was extremely lenient. As the court put it, the ramifications of Randalls ban were fairly minor. The ban lasted a matter of hours [and] during that time, Plaintiff was able to post essentially the same thing on multiple pages. Additionally, there was little indication that Plaintiffs message was suppressed in any meaningful sense, or that he was unable to reach his desired audience.

This distinction notwithstanding, the court doubled down on its premise that social media is a public forum, once again citing Packingham.

There is another reason, however, Packingham cannot stand for the proposition that social media is a public forum warranting First Amendment protection. If the contrary were true, Facebooks own terms of useand Community Standardswould violate the First Amendment. No public forum traditional or designated could ban, for example, hate speech, speech by people under the age of 13, speech by a convicted sex offender or speech that is misleading, malicious, or discriminatory, as Facebook does. Facebook even reserves the right to remove certain kinds of sensitive content or limit the audience that sees it, and provides users the unqualified ability to avoid distasteful or offensive content by unfriending, blocking and even reporting other users.

These rules to which Davison and Randall agreed in their decision to use Facebook fall under Facebooks proprietary domain. Accordingly, courts have no authority to alter or limit Facebooks rules regulating the conduct or rights of its users simply because one of those users is a public official. Under the courts reasoning in this case, Facebook would either be forced to permit the public official to use its website without requiring the officials assent to its terms of use or forgo the officials use altogether. Both are unfair to Facebook.

A better analogy than the courts in this case would have been a scenario in which a politician hosted a town hall at her private residence or business. The elucidating effects of such an analogy are immediate; surely, a homeowner does not surrender her property right of exclusion simply because she hosts an event open to the public? In the Loudoun County case, the only difference is that Facebook is the homeowner, and the public official enjoys a license from Facebook to exclude others at her discretion.

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Why social media is not a public forum - The Washington Post - Washington Post

First Amendment: When leaks dry up, we turn to FOIA – hays Post

Posted on August 6, 2017 by Danzig

Lata Nott

When we talk about the importance of a free press, what were really talking about is how important it is for the press to serve as a watchdog on the government. The highest responsibility of journalism is to supply the people with information about what their government is doing, so that the people can hold the government accountable, and make the best possible decisions when they vote.

But if youre not a journalist (full disclosure: I am not), you may not give a lot of thought to how journalists get that information in the first place. Official government press releases and briefings arent really the place to find information about government misconduct. Obviously, leaks are a much better source when it comes to getting the real dirt. But the recent emphasis on prosecuting leakers is likely to have a major chilling effect on that source of information.

But there is a way that journalists can get their hands on FBI records, secret military policy memos, and NSA email exchanges without having to worry about their sources getting arrested or fired.

They can ask the government for them.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a law that requires the government to hand over its records if someone asks for them. The act applies to federal government agencies, but every state has laws that allow the public to access its government records. Anyone can request information, whether theyre a U.S. citizen or foreign national. And anything can be requested.

A government agency can, of course, deny your request if it decides that the information youre seeking falls into an exemption category, like information that would threaten national security, or invade someones privacy. But if you think your FOIA request was unfairly denied, you can appeal, and if that doesnt work, you can sue.

Nabiha Syed, assistant general counsel for BuzzFeed, is intimately familiar with this process. A large part of her job involves getting government agencies to give up information that they would rather not share information that often ends up being crucial to BuzzFeeds reporting. She sees the right of the public to access government information as an exciting First Amendment frontier. For the most part, the First Amendment says, This is hands off, the governments not going to be involved, you guys figure out speech,' Syed says. And then you have the First Amendment right of access, which says, Yes, but also, we are going to allow you to use the law as a sword to get access to judicial proceedings, to official recordsto administrative proceedings.'

Requesting or fighting for government records is an instrumental part of BuzzFeeds reporting strategy. Such records have allowed the BuzzFeed News team to report on misconduct in death penalty executions, for-profit foster care scandals, and the widespread abuse of seasonal migrant workers. Just last month, BuzzFeed News obtained a secret Department of Defense report that stated that Chelsea Mannings disclosure of Iraq-related documents would be unlikely to have any impact on U.S. operations in Iraq (directly contradicting the governments position at Mannings trial).

To be sure, the system is far from perfect, as many information-seekers can attest. As Jason Fagone wrote in his article The Secret to Getting Top-Secret Secrets, The Freedom of Information Act, passed in 1966 to increase trust in government by encouraging transparency, has always been a pain in the ass. You write to an uncaring bureaucracy, you wait for months or years only to be denied or redacted into oblivion, and even if you do get lucky and extract some useful information, the world has already moved on to other topics.

But when it does work, the payoffs can be enormous. As Nabiha Syed says, How do we at least inject the information we need into the commons, into the public square, to try and heighten the conversations were having? At least getting the underlying facts out there, in ways that are hopefully more authoritative than anecdotal, I think would be really helpful.

Lata Nott is executive director of the First Amendment Center of the Newseum Institute. Contact her via email at lnott@newseum.org, or follow her on Twitter at @LataNott.

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First Amendment: When leaks dry up, we turn to FOIA - hays Post

Bitcoin Price Holds Firm, Major Gains Catapult NEO Into Cryptocurrency top 10 – The Merkle

Posted on August 6, 2017 by Danzig

Everything is looking calm and quiet in the world of cryptocurrency. That is a more than welcome change after so many weeks of price volatility and uncertainty. The Bitcoin price holds its own around the US$3,175 mark for the time being, whereas other currencies also note some gains or small losses. Antshares, or NEO as it is known these days, is clearly the winner of the weekend with a 25.8% gain, though.

In the normal world of cryptocurrency as we know it, a Bitcoin price gain often leads to altcoins bleeding value. That has been the case for many years now, but it looks like the trend is reversing every so often. More specifically, the recent Bitcoin price gains to US$3,175 and beyond have not caused any major damage for altcoins yet. Bitcoin Cash is the one exception, but that project will face its own struggles for quite some time to come, regardless of how the Bitcoin price evolves. It is still the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap but losing ground quickly these days.

What is rather remarkable is how Ethereum is gaining in value as well. The past few months have not been easy for this alternative currency. Network issues, ICO hacks, and some other factors have driven the price down quite a bit. Things are finally looking up again for Ethereum, though, thanks to a 7.25% gain in the past 24 hours. Ethereum also has slightly more trading volume than Bitcoin, which could hint at more price gains to come in the [near] future.

Prices for Litecoin, NEM, Ethereum Classic, and Dash have all remained virtually unchanged, barring some small losses and gains. Status quo in the cryptocurrency world is a very rare sight to behold and it looks like this is certainly one of the few times we can actually witness it. Rest assured this situation may look very different in a few hours from now, but at the time of writing, it is almost a peaceful picture to behold. One has to appreciate the finer things in life as well.

That being said, there is one currency, which catapulted itself into the top 10 all of a sudden. We discussed the concept of Antshares now known as NEO not too long ago. The project aims to become the Ethereum of China, which is a pretty bold statement. Then again, it is good to see projects with no lack of ambition these days. There have been far too many clones and copycat coins over these past few years, that much is evident. NEO is now the tenth-largest currency by market cap, thanks to a 25.84% gain over the past 24 hours.

There are no boring days in the world of cryptocurrency, even when most top altcoins remain stable. The big news of this weekend is how Bitcoin finally broke the previous all-time high and is seemingly able to hold its own without much effort. Its nice to see a Bitcoin price in US$3,175 and higher, as it has been coming for some time now. With a market cap of nearly US$53bn, Bitcoin is looking a lot stronger than it has ever done before. Maintaining this position for an extended period of time will still be a challenge, even for the king of cryptocurrencies.

Next week will be an interesting period to keep an eye on cryptocurrency pricing charts. No major news is expected, but rest assured market manipulators and speculators will try to shake things up once again. It is unclear what this might mean for the Bitcoin price over the next few days, though. Most of the volume pushing the price up came from Asia. That volume can dry up pretty quickly as well as send prices crashing down again. These price charts will look very different a week from now, that much is almost a certainty.

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Bitcoin Price Holds Firm, Major Gains Catapult NEO Into Cryptocurrency top 10 - The Merkle

Blockchain Data Reveals Someone Is Trying to Slow Down Bitcoin Cash – Bitcoin News (press release)

Posted on August 6, 2017 by Danzig

Its been five days since the fork, and the Bitcoin Cash (BCH/BCC) blockchain is still on the move as 85 blocks have been processed by miners so far. The 85th block was mined by the mining pool Bitclub, a newcomer to the BCH network. The BCH chain is moving a bit more consistently now, but mining profitability and the gaming of the currencys mining difficulty continues to be a struggle for the newly born network.

Also read:Segwit2x and the Tale of Three Bitcoins

At the time of writing the BCH network hashrate, is roughly around 300PH/s with blocks occurring roughly every 1-2 hours and some with longer intervals. Currently, there seems to be four pools now working on the BCH chain and the largest of them is unknown. Another pool which has joined in on mining BCH blocks is a pool known as Suprnova.cc, and the group is known for writing a pretty interesting coinbase messages. Suprnova also mines many other digital currencies like Zcash and is only pointing very little hashrate towards the BCH network. At press time Suprnova has only 0.25 PH/s dedicated to BCH and only eighteen workers.

The first BCH block took approximately five hours to complete and was followed by a block with a 12-hour interval in between it as well. On August 1 the BCH chain started with the same difficulty as BTCs and the associated token was only worth $6-700 at that time. That means unless resources like electricity are completely free mining the BCH chain at that time was not profitable. At BTCsdifficulty, BCH would have needed to be around $2100 to be profitable.

This is why there was an initial 12-hour wait to find the next block because miners who support the new chain want the difficulty to drop. The difficulty did eventually fall several times, but the price also divedinto the low $200s as well making it 311% more profitable to mine on the BTC chain. The next difficulty drop should lock in soon and the Bitclub pool entry is showing more miners may be attracted to this chain.

Some people think a malicious miner might be gaming the network, so further lowered difficulty adjustments dont happen. A few people on forums noticed this happening as one person writes, Theres a pattern Im seeing, someone with quite a lot of hash power is ramping up and producing two blocks minutes apart every time the adjustment nearly triggers. Another individual observes the same situation taking place,

I have been noticing the same pattern in real time. We almost reached twelve hours, Viabtc has no more than 25PH mining, last block took 339 minutes and BAM we get a thirteen minutes block. This is the third time it happens when we reach over 11.5 hours.

Honest miners have been slowing down or pausing for twelve hour periods so they can lower the difficulty even more. Presently the BCH chains difficulty is 26 percent of the BTC legacy chains mining difficulty. The Bitcoin Cash protocol rules detail that in order for the difficulty to adjust down it utilizes Median Time Past (MTP) of the last block and the MTP of the 6 previous blocks has to be more than twelve hours for it to drop another 20%.

The malicious miner theory is entirely possible as these miners can use their hash power to produce a block between the paused intervals. This has caused people to speculate specifically on the unknown miner that has mined a majority of the blocks so far. It doesnt seem to be the Hong Kong miner who was advertising his new cryptocurrency center at the start of the BCH chain.

Further, we know the Suprnova pools coinbase data said fuckbitcoincash and the pool could also be attack mining, but it has very little strength compared to the unknown mining majority. If anything is stopping these longer block intervals that are intended to drop the difficulty, its most likely this anonymous miner.

What do you think about the Bitcoin Cash chain getting attacked by malicious miners? Do you think this theory is plausible? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Images via Shutterstock, Twitter, Crypto Compare, and Coin Dance.

Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check ourtoolssection.

Blockchain Data Reveals Someone Is Trying to Slow Down Bitcoin Cash - Bitcoin News (press release)

Eczema and psoriasis treatment: THIS therapy could reduce the need for creams and tablets – Express.co.uk

Posted on August 6, 2017 by Danzig

Now, experts have said routine prescribing of UV light treatment for severe skin conditions could significantly reduce the use of steroid creams and tablets, according to new research from the University of Dundee.

Patients who experience the most severe forms of diseases such as psoriasis or eczema can find their lives affectged by their conditions.

Steroid creams are frequently prescribed but these can cause quite serious side effects and can prove inadequate to bring the disease under control.

In such instances patients may be referred to a dermatologist for more intensive treatment, which may take the forms of pills, injections or filtered UV light, known as phototherapy.

Experts from Dundee Universitys School of Medicine, examined the outcomes of 1800 patients with severe psoriasis who received UV treatment over a six-year period.

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They found that three-quarters of patients experienced significant improvements in their condition and that the need for steroid creams was reduced by 25 per cent.

Phototherapy involves safe, controlled delivery of narrow wavebands of ultraviolet radiation in specially constructed cabins.

It has been known to help skin disease sufferers for decades but this study is the first to demonstrate that its use can reduce the need for steroids in the treatment of psoriasis in routine practice and not just in a short-term clinical study.

Importantly, the findings also suggest that many patients can delay or avoid altogether the need for oral or injection treatments which can cause side effects such as gastric upset, liver dysfunction and infections.

Physicians have been using phototherapy or even direct sunlight to treat skin conditions for 50 years, said Dr Foerster.

We know that it helps patients with psoriasis and eczema but until now we did not know that it actually causes a reduction in the use of steroid creams and can reduce the need for patients to have their conditions controlled by tablets or injections.

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Getty Images/Cultura RF

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Resist the itch - Eczema is almost always itchy no matter where it occurs on the body and although it may be tempting to scratch affected areas of the skin, this should be avoided as much as possible

Phototherapy could reduce the need for eczema and psoriasis creams

These can work very well but can also have a downside.

The form of treatment we are talking about is targeted, non-dangerous exposure to filtered light to treat skin conditions that are so severe that they cant be contained with creams.

We were able to exploit a uniquely complete set of anonymised prescribing records that exists in Tayside and found that there was a very significant reduction in the amount of steroid cream prescribed to people who underwent phototherapy for up to 12 months after their treatment.

Access to phototherapy across the UK largely depends on a patients location.

Sadly phototherapy is not equally available around the UK, said Dr Foerster.

GETTY

Tablet treatments can be effective and safe with proper monitoring but it would be fantastic if everyone had the opportunity to try something that circumvents the need for any laboratory monitoring in the first place.

There are other risks resulting from a lack of access to phototherapy.

Sufferers of psoriasis or eczema may take matters into their own hands and seek out a sun-filled holiday or use sun beds.

I have seen this on several occasions and it brings with it the many well-known dangers arising from skin exposure.

The research is published in the journal PLOS ONE.

FIVE TIPS TO BEAT PSORIASIS

Eczema and psoriasis treatment: THIS therapy could reduce the need for creams and tablets - Express.co.uk

Filmmaker David Lowery explores issues of mortality and spirituality … – Houston Chronicle

Posted on August 6, 2017 by Danzig

Photo: Photo By Bret Curry, Courtesy Of A24

Casey Affleck is the apparition that is the focus of "A Ghost Story."

Filmmaker David Lowery on the set of A Ghost Story

Filmmaker David Lowery works on the set of "A Ghost Story."

Casey Affleck stars in "A Ghost Story."

Casey Affleck in A Ghost Story Photo by Bret Curry, courtesy of A24

Filmmaker David Lowery explores issues of mortality and spirituality

CHICAGO - The classic image of a ghost covered in a sheet haunted filmmaker David Lowery.

It seemed so lonely and out of place. Possessed by the image, the director, known for "Pete's Dragon" and "Ain't Them Bodies Saints," wrote the screenplay "A Ghost Story," in theaters now.

"A Ghost Story" unfolds slowly with limited dialogue and lingering shots. The movie follows "C," played by Casey Affleck, who - in one of the few scenes in the movie with special effects - turns away from the proverbial light and returns as the bedsheet-draped ghost to the house he shared with his wife, "M," played by Rooney Mara. She moves out, another family moves in, then another, and time marches on and loops back in a way that Christianity Today said offers "a tiny glimpse of that God's-eye perspective."

Lowery was raised in a "very religious" Catholic family, he said, with eight brothers and sisters and a theology professor father.

"It's not part of my life in a major way today, but having been so steeped in that tradition for so long, there's no way I can make a movie and not have it play some part in the stories that I'm telling, especially when the stories deal with issues of mortality and the afterlife," he said.

To read this article in one of Houston's most-spoken languages, click on the button below.

And when ghosts are invoked, questions about the meaning of life and what happens after we die take viewers into the realm of religion and spirituality.

Lowery discussed those questions and the continuing appeal of ghost stories at last month's Chicago premiere of "A Ghost Story."

Q: What captures our imaginations about ghosts?

A: On a very primal level, people enjoy being scared, and so there's a long-standing tradition of going to the movies or reading scary stories because it's fun to be scared.

But behind that enjoyment of fear lies a desire on our part as human beings to engage with various existential dilemmas, with various fears that I think are pretty universal across humanity. I think that ghosts are particularly well-suited out of all the monsters and creatures from the horror genre to explore those fears because they are projections of ourselves, and those projections are reflecting back at us from an idea of existence that we can't quite understand or grasp.

We can use ghosts to confront and deal with all sorts of fears that we have about our own mortality and our own existence, and so they're very useful in that way.

Q: There's something spiritual about what's seen and unseen. Can you talk about making seen unseen things?

A: Right now, I'm in Chicago, and my wife is back in Texas. I think about the fact that she is doing something there right now, and yet that house and the things that are in it are so far away from my current reality, all I can do is imagine it and have faith that it's happening because I can't see it in front of me. I spend a lot of time thinking about that and about all the things happening around us that I am not privy to because I have my own bubble that I live inside of, and my ego only goes so far.

In terms of this story, there's that old chestnut about how we all wish we could be voyeurs at our own funerals, and I think that's a profound idea. I think it's probably something that everyone has thought about from time to time. That desire to be part of something we no longer are a part of is purely an extension of our ego. Not to say there's no compassion mixed in there, but largely it's our ego wanting to live beyond that realm we've left.

Q: There's a scene in the movie where a man is holding forth on what he thinks is the meaning of life. You've summed up his argument as basically "live each day like it's your last." Does that reflect your own beliefs? Is that what you wanted to leave viewers with?

A: I think it's a good start. I think indeed we should live each day as if it's our last. I don't think that is the only way we should live. I think there's more to it than that. I think there's mystery there that we need to pursue. There are questionswe should keep asking.

Q: There's a recurring theme of people leaving hidden messages. What does that say about what we leave behind and how we want to be remembered?

A: There's something beautiful about the fact M is painting a message into the wall, knowing full well that no one will ever find it. Maybe C will find it. Maybe she's hoping his ghost will pick it out of the wall, but that's doubtful.

So she's leaving something of herself behind so she can feel that she belongs there and she's taken a little piece of it with her and leaving a little bit of herself behind, and that piece will always be there. That's something that I take great comfort in myself. Knowing that I've been in a place and left some sort of impact there is satisfying to me. It makes me feel connected to the world, and it makes me feel at peace with my movement through time and space.

I also feel that it's important to be able to let go of those things and walk out of a room and not look back and be OK with it. And so at the end of the movie, when the ghost is able to look at this thing that he has been trying to gain access to, the physical attachment that he's been holding onto is no longer there, and he's able to move on.

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Filmmaker David Lowery explores issues of mortality and spirituality ... - Houston Chronicle

Martin Luther topic of St. Peter’s Summer Spirituality Series Aug. 10 – CapeGazette.com

Posted on August 6, 2017 by Danzig

The St. Peter's Episcopal Church Summer Spirituality Series continues Thursday, Aug. 10, in the Parish Hall, 211 Mulberry St., Lewes, with a look at the spirituality of Martin Luther as the 500th anniversary of the Reformation approaches this October.

Led by St. Peter's priest associate, the Rev. Ray Michener, the topic is Five Hundred Years of Luther: The Reformation, which began in Germany in 1517. Ray will examine the ramifications of nailing things to church doors, indulgences, papal bulls, and finding oneself condemned by none other than England's notorious King Henry VIII. Luther's spirituality, as well as his understanding of doctrinal teachings of the church such as the sacraments, Maryology, and biblical interpretation, and his understanding of worship will also be discussed.

Michener is a retired Lutheran minister and Navy chaplain, licensed by the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Delaware to serve in the Episcopal Church. After nine years in parish ministry, he entered the Navy as a chaplain, serving Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard personnel and their families. He holds a master of divinity degree from Gettysburg Seminary, a ThM from Princeton Seminary, and a master of pastoral counseling from Loyola College. Before retiring and moving to Delaware in 2013, he served six interim pastorates in the Metro Washington, D.C. Synod. He said shared spirituality between Episcopalians and Lutherans is a foundation of the Concordat of Agreement, which has been in effect since 2001 when both churches began full pulpit and altar fellowship. The presentation will be followed by a King's Ice Cream social, giving participants the opportunity to mingle with Michener and one another.

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Martin Luther topic of St. Peter's Summer Spirituality Series Aug. 10 - CapeGazette.com

Talk of pop spirituality – Times of India (blog)

Posted on August 6, 2017 by Danzig

By:Thomas M Easley

In the beginning, a disciple in search of meaningful insight looked for a teacher to help him awaken the flame. To gain strength and a will more masterful than his own required that he make a conscious sacrifice to the authority of those ahead of him. This entreaty, once consummated, became the presumptive devotees first act of conscious will and the beginning of a lifetime of equitable service and study.

The modernist world of popspirituality refutes this premise. Pop-spiritualists celebrate self-help, self-potential, self-fulfilment, self-praise, selfishness, amarauding corporal egoism at labour to gain popular acceptance by semantic manipulation and progressive marketing.

Rather than contribute personal responsibility towards the well-being of the whole, popspiritualists promulgate an I-I-I, me-me-me canon. Pop-spirituality is a trend created by market forcesbut pop-spiritualists mistakenly believe that an individual, if he is truly individual, cannot mislead himself. But there is a difference between honest and dishonest spirituality, between real and imagined revelation. Because pop-spirituality is fashionable and followers of fashion must follow, pop-spirituality cannot create a mature leadership; it cannot enlighten our lone moment of death.

Having scant recourse to the mysteries, traditions of proven knowledge or self-sacrifice, pop-spirituality is paradigmatic of harbingers forecasting an inevitable rendezvous with the last disciple.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

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Talk of pop spirituality - Times of India (blog)

Wisdom’s Table’s third annual Friends and Neighbors Day mixes spirituality, music, art and social justice – LancasterOnline

Posted on August 6, 2017 by Danzig

As a way to welcome neighbors to this Sundays Friends and Neighbors Day at Wisdoms Table at St. Peters United Church of Christ in Lancaster, members of the liturgical art team crafted signs that read neighbors in multiple languages. But when they looked at them, one was missing.

We forgot to do it in English, said Diane Brandt, the churchs minister of liturgical art, with a laugh.

The multilingual signs are among the artworks on display at the church, which is hosting its third Friends and Neighbors service at 11 a.m.

Those entering the sanctuary at 816 Buchanan Ave. will be greeted with origami cranes made from No matter where youre from, were glad youre our neighbor signs suspended from the ceiling. The signs were conceived by Immanuel Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and have found homes from the Northeast to the Midwest and beyond.

Brandt said the message shows that were all connected.

The Rev. Lance Mullins, co-pastor of the church, said the artwork expresses the churchs message.

We often think about liturgical art as just being adornment for the space, he said. But what Diane has helped us do is find a home for our community at what we say is the intersection of art and (social) justice.

Brandt said the idea of turning the the welcome signs into peace cranes speaks to the essence of the church.

Wisdoms Table is an open and affirming church. Over the past 3 1/2 years, it has grown from an average Sunday attendance of 20 to 65-70.

This Sundays event is designed around the neighborhood. Following the service, the event will spill out onto the lawn at 816 Buchanan Ave., where games and food, all with a Hawaiian theme, will be available, said Donte Jones, the resident pastor for connection ministry. Those attending also can make artwork from tissue paper.

This marks the third Friends and Neighbors Day sponsored by the church.

In the past, Jones said, passersby would stop to dine and take part. Its part of what Mullins calls the churchs radical hospitality.

The idea, he said, is to break down the walls between us.

The music will be eclectic, as well.

We will have old hymns, old spirituals, The Beatles and Johnny Cash, Mullins said.

They also will feature a 1979 Sister Sledge song that fits the occasion: We Are Family.

It is all part of the churchs mission to re-establish itself as a church that serves all neighbors, regardless of color or sexual orientation.

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Wisdom's Table's third annual Friends and Neighbors Day mixes spirituality, music, art and social justice - LancasterOnline

SNDP to reinforce spirituality among people – The New Indian Express

Posted on August 6, 2017 by Danzig

KOCHI:In an attempt to counter the ignorance about the faith among the people and religious conversions, the SNDP Yogam is looking to rectify the issue.The SNDP, one of the largest religious organisations in the state, is set to revise and bring uniformity to its rituals and customs, including those for marriage and cremation.As part of this, the observance of Sree Narayana month, one of the main plans listed in a seven-point charter drafted by the Sree Narayana Dharma Sangham Trust and acknowledged by SNDP, will commence on August 17. Sree Narayana Guru favoured the freedom to choose ones own religion. There is nothing wrong in one selecting a religion after learning about all the religions, said Swami Dharma Chaithanya of Sivagiri mutt.

However, we have noticed many are lured to conversion by promising dwelling or money. This happens mainly due to ignorance about ones own faith. Hindu religion may not be devoid of errors.But it has several texts which offer answers to ones spiritual quest. Earlier, caste system denied a large section the chance to learn scriptures which are a treasure trove of spiritual knowledge. Now, it is freely available in Malayalam, he said.The month will encourage the observance of penance for around five weeks starting Chingam 1 - the birth month of the communitys spiritual leader Sree Narayana Guru - to Kanni 5 - the day of his mahasamadhi.

Most communities have an annual period of penance which cleanses the body and mind of those observing it. However, many, including those from the Ezhava community, do not have this. So we decided to observe it from this year. It will help them health-wise, too, said Swami Chaithanya. He said the month will not, in any way, curb the festivities of Onam which also falls in the Chingam month.Observing the month does not mean Onam cannot be celebrated. All it aims is to enforce a simple diet and abstinence from non-vegetarian food and alcohol, he said.SNDP vice-president Thushar Vellappally said the community was facing many challenges, including religious conversions due to an ignorance of spirituality.

The new charter is a step to make the rituals uniform for leading a life highlighting spirituality. The SND Sangham Trust and SNDP Yogam discussed this. SNDP Yogam can implement the charter via its 72,000 micro units and 38,000 family units under its 6,000 branches, he said. The charter also demands a stop to dowry, making wedding ceremonies simpler and avoiding non-vegetarian dishes and alcohol from the functions, restricting the observance of post-death rites to 11 days and conduct the ritualistic first feeding, naming ceremony and vidyarambham of children at the abodes of Sree Narayana Guru only.

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SNDP to reinforce spirituality among people - The New Indian Express

$90 million solar instrument panel created at CU Boulder headed to … – The Denver Post

Posted on August 6, 2017 by Danzig

A solar instrument panel designed and built by a University of Colorado Boulder lab and considered a key tool to help monitor the planets climate is at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida awaiting a November launch.

The instrument suite is called the Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor, or TSIS-1. It will launch on a commercial SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in a Dragon capsule for delivery to the International Space Station.

Once there, it will monitor the total amount of sunlight hitting Earth, as well as how the light is distributed among the ultraviolet, visible and infrared wavelengths.

We need to measure both because both affect Earths climate, said Dong Wu, the TSIS-1 project scientist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

TSIS-1 was designed and built by CU Boulders Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, or LASP, for NASA Goddard. The contract value to LASP is $90 million and includes the instrument suite and an associated mission ground system.

CU Boulder professor Peter Pilewskie of LASP, lead mission scientist on the project, said TSIS will continue a 39-year record of measuring total solar radiation, the longest continuous climate record from space.

These measurements are vital for understanding the climate system because the sun is the source of virtually all of Earths energy, said Pilewski, also a faculty member in the department of atmospheric and oceanic sciences. How the atmosphere responds to subtle changes in the suns output helps us distinguish between natural and human influences on climate.

Overall satellite measurements of the sun from space have shown that changes in its radiation during periods of both high and low solar activity measure only about 0.1 percent. While scientists believe changes in solar output cannot explain Earths recent warming, a longer data set could reveal greater swings in solar radiation.

One of TSISs two instruments LASPs Spectral Irradiance Monitor will measure how light from the sun is distributed by wavelength and absorbed by different parts of the plants atmosphere and surface.

This is important because measurements of the suns UV radiation are critical to understanding the conditions of Earths protective ozone layer, Pilewski said.

The TSIS instrument suite will be operated remotely from the LASP Space Technology Building in the CU Research Park.

The project involved about 30 scientists and engineers at LASP during its peak, as well as 10 support personnel from Colorado and another 10 people elsewhere, TSIS-1 project manager Brian Boyle said. The mission, slated to run at least five years, also has involved about 15 to 20 CU Boulder undergraduate and graduate students.

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$90 million solar instrument panel created at CU Boulder headed to ... - The Denver Post

Skywatch: Perseids meteor shower will occur this week – Tulsa World

Posted on August 6, 2017 by Danzig

Sunday: The Big Dipper will be visible in the northwest tonight and is one of the most recognizable star patterns in the night sky. This group of stars is also useful in finding other stars. Imagine the handle of the Dipper as forming part of an arc. Move along the arc to the bright star Arcturus, which the International Space Station passed by a few days ago. Arcturus is one of the brightest stars visible in the sky. From Arcturus, continue along the arc to another bright star known as Spica. The mnemonic device arc to Arcturus and speed on to Spica will help in remembering these two bright stars names and locations.

Monday: The full moon occurs this afternoon at 1:10 p.m. The full moon of August is known as the Sturgeon Moon. This moon was named by fishing tribes because a large number of sturgeons were caught at this time. A partial eclipse of the moon occurs today as well, but will not be visible in the United States. Remember, though, in two weeks the total solar eclipse will occur.

Tuesday: Tonight the planet Jupiter is about 20 degrees above the south-southwest horizon. A telescope aimed at the giant will reveal its four brightest moons all on the western side of the planet. The moons appear as bright stars near the planet and their motion can be apparent when they are observed for several hours.

Wednesday: There are a number of bright passes by International Space Station the rest of the week. Tonight the space station first appears 10 degrees above the northwest horizon at 10:12 p.m. Three minutes later the space station reaches its highest point of 61 degrees above the northern horizon. The ISS will be located halfway between the North Star and the bright star Vega. Also at this point the space station slips into the Earths shadow and disappears.

Thursday: The International Space Station takes a bright northerly track through the sky tonight. The spacecraft starts off in the north-northeast at 9:20 p.m. By 9:23 p.m. the space station has reached its maximum altitude of 35 degrees above the northeast horizon. A minute and a half later the ISS disappears as it enters the shadow of the earth 20 degrees above the eastern horizon.

Friday: The Perseids meteor shower peaks tomorrow afternoon, so the next two nights will be the time to look for them. but the moon will provide some interference. The radiant, or point in the sky where the meteors originate, is in the northern sky in the constellation of Perseus. At 4 a.m. the radiant is 50 degrees above the north-northeast horizon. Since the moon will be out for much of the night, rates of about 40 meteors per hour might be expected.

Saturday: The brightest International Space Station pass was held for the end of the week. Tonight the ISS begins its journey across the sky at 9:11 p.m. 10 degrees above the northwest horizon. The space station then passes through the handle of the Big Dipper and by 9:14 p.m. is directly overhead. As the spacecraft continues across the sky, appearing brighter than any other object visible at this time, it eventually slips into the Earths shadow 20 degrees above the southeast horizon.

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Skywatch: Perseids meteor shower will occur this week - Tulsa World

Interstellar Spaceflight Conference Launches Monday – Space.com

Posted on August 6, 2017 by Danzig

A ring-shaped warp-drive device could theoretically transport a football-shaped starship (center) to effective speeds faster than light. The concept was first proposed by Mexican physicist Miguel Alcubierre in 1994.

Scientists, engineers and exploration advocates will gather in central California this week to help plan out humanity's journey to the stars.

The action is happening in Monterey Monday through Wednesday (Aug. 7 through Aug. 9), at a conference called Starship Congress 2017.

"Our question for Starship Congress 2017 is what role the moon can play to catalyze humankind's venturing forth to explore interstellarly," conference organizers wrote in a description of the event. "Furthermore, this year's theme builds on a key take-away from the Starship Congress 2015 summit at Drexel University: In order to make interstellar space exploration interesting to everyone, what must we do to make space accessible for everybody?"

The speakers include physicist Miguel Alcubierre, who in 1994 proposed a type of real-life warp drive that could theoretically enable faster-than-light travel without breaking the laws of physics; planetary scientist Franck Marchis; scientist and sci-fi author David Brin; and Richard Obousy, co-founder and director of Icarus Interstellar, a nonprofit dedicated to helping make interstellar flight a reality by 2100. (Icarus Interstellar is organizing the conference.)

To learn more about Starship Congress 2017, visit the conference page here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/starship-congress-2017-tickets-33352347770

Space.com's Mike Wall will be in attendance, keeping tabs on the most exciting developments.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter@michaeldwallandGoogle+.Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebookor Google+. Originally published onSpace.com.

Scientists demonstrate first quantum communication with microsatellite – SpaceFlight Insider

Posted on August 6, 2017 by Danzig

Tomasz Nowakowski

August 6th, 2017

Artists rendering of the SOCRATES satellite utilized for the quantum communication experiment. Image Credit: AES

A team of researchers from the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) in Tokyo, Japan, has recently reported that they succeeded in demonstrating the first quantum communication between a microsatellite and a ground station. The signal was sent by a quantum communication transmitter on board the SOCRATES satellite.

The instrument, known as the Small Optical TrAnsponder, or SOTA, is the worlds smallest and lightest quantum communication transmitter. It has a mass of roughly 13.22 pounds (6 kilograms) and its dimensions are 7 by 4.5 by 10.6 inches (17.8 by 11.4 by 26.8 centimeters). This shoebox-sized tool is capable of transmitting a laser signal to the ground at a rate of 10 million bits per second from an altitude of about 370 miles (600 kilometers) while orbiting at a speed of approximately 15,660 mph (25,200 km/h).

SOTA was launched into space as part of the Space Optical Communications Research Advanced TEchnology Satellite (SOCRATES) microsatellite in May 2014. The missions main goal was to test a standard microsatellite bus technology applicable to missions of various purposes. SOTA has successfully completed its objectives by demonstrating its quantum communication capabilities.

We are proud to say that the SOTA mission fulfilled all the success levels as foreseen and more than doubled its originally designed working life of one year, Alberto Carrasco-Casado of NICTs Space Communications Laboratory told Astrowatch.net.

SOTA transmitter. Photo Credit: NICT

According to Carrasco-Casado, four different success levels were established for the SOTA instrument: minimum success, success, full success, and extra success. The minimum success level required a basic check-up of all the lasercom subsystems, while the success level consisted of acquiring the laser beams transmitted from SOTA to the ground station by using different wavelengths and performing basic communication tests.

In order to achieve the full success level, a real data transmission from SOTA to the ground station by using error correcting codes to deal with variable atmospheric conditions was needed. When it comes to the most desired extra success level, SOTA needed to successfully conduct lasercom experiments with different ground stations around the world and the quantum-limited communication experiment that was recently described in the Nature Photonics journal.

The main achievement of SOTA was to be the first lasercom terminal in a microsatellite. Being such a tiny lasercom terminal, we could test several technologies and perform different experiments, Carrasco-Casado noted.

The scientists used three wavelengths for communications: 800-nm, 980-nm, and 1,550-nm bands each of them through a different aperture (small lenses to transmit the 800-nm and 980-nm band lasers, and a 5-cm Cassegrain telescope to transmit the 1,550-nm laser). Also, they used two different pointing technologies: a coarse-pointing gimbal for the 800-nm and 980-nm band lasers, and an additional fine-pointing system for the 1,550-nm, the latter being able to deliver a higher power to the ground.

The researchers were able to gather a great deal of atmospheric-propagation data using these technologies, which is critical to characterize the atmospheric channel for future missions. They managed to replicate the experiments in different ground stations around the world (Canada, Germany, and France), thereby achieving promising results.

For instance, regarding the French ground station, the French Space Agency (CNES) group demonstrated an adaptive-optic system to compensate the atmospheric perturbations suffered by the SOTA signals. Finally, they were able to carry out the first quantum-limited communication experiment from space.

All these technologies are key for the future development of space optical communications and quantum communications, Carrasco-Casado said.

He underlined that space lasercom will play a more and more important role in satellite communications in the future, and all the technologies that SOTA demonstrated are key to these future developments. For example, the SpaceX constellation plans to use over 4,000 satellites, and those satellites will use laser communications to communicate with each other. Moreover, many other constellations and communication networks are being designed at the moment where free-space lasercom plays a key role, with private companies like Google or Facebook investing a great deal of effort in their deployment.

If Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and lasercom systems can be miniaturized following the heritage of SOTA, this technology could be spread massively, enabling a truly secure global communication network. Prior to the commercialization of this technology, research organizations like NICT have to demonstrate its feasibility, which was the goal of the SOTA mission. In line of this endeavor, NICT is also actively collaborating in the standardization of lasercom technologies through the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS), and the data obtained with SOTA is another important result of this mission, Carrasco-Casado concluded.

Currently, the Space Communications Laboratory and the Quantum ICT Advanced Development Center in NICT are working together toward future missions that will leverage the expertise and knowledge acquired with the SOCRATES/SOTA mission in technologies related to space laser communications, quantum communications, and physical-layer cryptography.

Tagged: quantum communication SOCRATES 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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Scientists demonstrate first quantum communication with microsatellite - SpaceFlight Insider

Review: The Sky Below: A True Story of Summits, Space and Speed – SpaceFlight Insider

Posted on August 6, 2017 by Danzig

Jason Rhian

August 6th, 2017

NASA astronaut Scott Parazynski conducts an unplanned EVA to repair a damaged solar array on the International Space Station during STS-120. Photo Credit: NASA

Those suffering from an inferiority complex probably shouldnt read the new book, The Sky Below. An in-depth review of the many adventures of former NASA shuttle astronaut Scott Parazynski, it covers his many accomplishments and at the same time keeping a very conversational tone. For those interested in the background of some of Americas more recent space flyers it has much to offer.

Perhaps the first of these is what impels (perhaps propels is a better word considering one of his past occupations) the eternally-young looking Parazysnki to achieve all that he has.

Image Credit: Amazon

The Sky Below, covers how Parazynski has, starting at an early age, traveled the world, became a medical doctor,coached louge in the 1988 Calgary Winter Games, became the only astronaut to climb Mount Everest and rescued the International Space Station during one of the more risky extra-vehicular activities in recent memory. Those are just the high points.

Parazynski, along with Suzy Flory, detailed some of his many, many experiences in his new book, The Sky Below: A True Story of Summits, Space and Speed by Little A, an imprint of Amazon Publishing.

SpaceFlight Insider wanted to not just discover what caused him to produce the book, but to also find out a bit more about the man behind all of these achievements. We asked Parazynski to chat with us and he readily agreed.

SFI: Thanks for joining us today Scott!

Parazynski: My pleasure.

SFI: So,can you tell us about what got you started on drafting this book? Was this something youd wanted to do for a long time

Parazynski: I had a lot of encouragement from family and friends about the wonderful and crazy experiences that Ive had in my life. Throughout the years I had jotted down certain things that had happened in my life, but Id never written them all down as one, comprehensive story and really figured out what it might be.

SFI: Youve done some astonishing things, I mean, really, your book begs the question Is there anything he cant do? One thing that our readers would probably be most interested in, however, was the unplanned EVA on [STS] 120. Is that and other elements of your on orbit experiences covered at length in your book?

Parazynski: They will be immersed in the 120 solar array repair and the incredible team work that went into solving that problem. Much of the book, actually, is dedicated to my five space flights and, of course, the epic of all epics was the solar array repair. So, theres a lot of detail on that. If your viewers visit the Kindle store and get the enhanced eBook, they can actually see enhanced video from that day, video from launches and imagery throughout my space career as well.

This includes things that have rarely been seen, while theyre public domain, for various reasons, they didnt get the distribution that others did. There are some really neat pictures from my flight career that I think people will be interested in.

SFI: Should it present itself, are you interested in another journey beyond Earths atmosphere should it present itself via commercial means?

Parazynski: Im so bullish on the commercial space flight industry that Ive done some consultant work for the NewSpace companys that have emerged. So, I would love to get the chance to fly again if that opportunity were to present itself. I dont know if thats practical or likely or not, but Im real excited about the fact that were entering an age when so many more people will have the opportunity to fly in space.

I think one of the strong points of this book is that it focuses not just on the great successes, but also overcoming obstacles that we encountered along the way as well. Ive always said that the pathway to success is scattered with a few failures. I talk about all of that throughout the course of the book.

The Sky Below is available at Amazon.com and wherever books are sold and is highly recommended. The book is available as a hardcover, softcover, as an audio book as well as a Kindle in Motion EBook.

Video courtesy of NASA / ISS Mania 11

Tagged: Astronaut Mount Everest Scott Parazynski STS-120 The Range The Sky Below

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.

Review: The Sky Below: A True Story of Summits, Space and Speed - SpaceFlight Insider

James Webb Space Telescope may be delayed again – SpaceFlight Insider

Posted on August 6, 2017 by Danzig

Joe Latrell

August 5th, 2017

Artists rendition of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in space. Image Credit: Northrop Grumman

The much delayed and over budget next-generation James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has suffered another setback prior to itsjourney to the launch pad: the October 2018 launch may be in conflict with Europes BepiColombo mission to Mercury. Both spacecraft are to be flown on Ariane 5 boosters, but the spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana, cannot support two flights in the same month. BepiColombo has priority due to the tight launch window to reach Mercury. This will result in the JWST having its launch date pushed back to 2019 at the earliest.

The JWST is a space-based infrared telescope. To operate properly, it needs to maintain a temperature of 37 kelvins (236 C / 393 F). In order to achieve this when in space, the telescope relies on a large tennis court sized sunshield to protect it from external heat and light sources, such as the Sun as well as the Earth and Moon.

Light gathered from the segmented 6.5-meter (21-foot) diameter mirror is directed to the four science instruments: Fine Guidance Sensor / Near InfraRed Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (FGS/NIRISS), Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI), Near InfraRed Camera (NIRCam), and Near InfraRed Spectrograph (NIRSpec). Due to the requirement of the MIRI to operate at an even lower temperature than the other science instruments, it will utilize a cryocoolerto decrease its temperature to less than 7 kelvins (266 C / 447 F).

While smaller than telescopes here on Earth, the JWST is the most powerful space telescope ever constructed and is the science successor to the Hubble telescope.

Originally projected to cost $1.6 billion, the telescopes price tag has ballooned to over $8.8 billion. Several factors, from delays in choosing a launch vehicle to management issues, contributed to the soaring costs. Additionally, the vehicle proved harder to construct than originally envisioned. For example, during vibration testing, the spacecraft experienced several anomalies that required NASA engineers to stop the test. After analysis and modifications, the tests resumed and the JWST was given a clean bill of health.

Despite the technical issues and threats of cancellation, the project continued and the cost estimates grew. A launch delay into 2019 will only add to that dollar figure.

Artists depiction of the BepiColombo mission, with the MPO (left) and MMO (right). Image Credit: NASA

BepiColombo is a mission to explore the planet Mercury that is being conducted by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The mission is actually two spacecraft: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO). The objective is a comprehensive study of Mercury, including the planets surface, magnetic field, and interior structure.

The MPO is a solar-powered spacecraft carrying 11 scientific instruments. These instruments include laser altimeters, spectrometers, magnetometers, as well as several cameras. It has a mass of 1,150 kilograms (2,540 pounds) and is capable of producing 1,000 watts of power for onboard instruments.

The MMO has a mass of 285 kilograms (628 pounds) and carries five scientific payloads. Built mostly by Japan, this spacecraft will study plasma particles including high-energy ions and electrons emanating from the planet. A third spacecraft, the Mercury Surface Element (MSE), a small lander craft, was removed due to budgetary issues.

The two Mercury spacecraft are scheduled to arrive at the planet in 2025 after performing numerous flybys: one at Earth, two at Venus, and six at Mercury. The craft must launch sometime between October 5, 2018, and November 28, 2018, to reach the planet as scheduled.

Both missions as slated to fly on the Ariane 5 booster. The 52-meter (171-foot) vehicle is capable of lifting over 10,500 kilograms (23,100 pounds) to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).

Currently, the JWST is undergoing low-temperature checks at NASA Johnson Space Centers Chamber A. The temperature of the chamber is steadily being reduced to approximately 20 kelvins (253 C / 424 F) the same temperature that the JWST will be when operating in space. These tests will validate that the JWST instruments can operate properly at the extremely low temperatures.

Unlike Hubble, the JWST will be positioned at the Earth-Sun Lagrange point (L2) which is 1,500,000 kilometers (930,000 miles) from Earth. That location is currently beyond NASAs manned space capabilities; therefore, precluding the JWST from being serviced on orbit.

The new WebbCam overlay displays the temperatures in Houston and in Chamber A, in degrees Fahrenheit, degrees Celsius, and on the Kelvin scale. Image & Caption Credit: NASA

Tagged: BepiColumbo ESA James Webb Space Telescope Lead Stories NASA

Joe Latrell is a life-long avid space enthusiast having created his own rocket company in Roswell, NM in addition to other consumer space endeavors. He continues to design, build and launch his own rockets and has a passion to see the next generation excited about the opportunities of space exploration. Joe lends his experiences from the corporate and small business arenas to organizations such as Teachers In Space, Inc. He is also actively engaged in his church investing his many skills to assist this and other non-profit endeavors.

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James Webb Space Telescope may be delayed again - SpaceFlight Insider

Red hot rod turns heads at Thunder in the City – Meadville Tribune

Posted on August 6, 2017 by Danzig

Could you imagine racing that? one woman asked as she walked by a red hot rod parked at the north end of Diamond Park on Saturday afternoon.

Wow. Thats a race car, a child exclaimed as he passed by.

The most popular question on everyones mind, however, as they passed the custom hot rod built by Meadville resident Ron Williams, was, How fast does it go?

Ehhh, I dont know, Williams responded. Beyond what I want to go. It gets there in a hurry. Lets just say that.

Williams Ford red hot rod was a show stopper at the annual Thunder in the City Bike and Car show on Saturday. The car was one of a few dozen on display, but one of the only, if not the only, one made from scratch.

Its a hot rod made out of a 1923 Ford Model T, Williams said. Its my retirement project.

His retirement project took three years and more than $30,000 to complete. The engine, an original from the Ford Model T Bucket, cost roughly $10,000 to $12,000 alone.

Theyre getting harder and harder to find, Williams said.

Williams had always had desire to build a hot rod.

I went to vocational school, he said. And one of my boys is very interested in hot rods. So I decided to build one. I retired and got to the point where I could afford one.

Williams carries with him a photo album documenting each stage of his build, which included cutting a new door and installing a new dashboard and a wooden trunk lid, built using tongue and groove by Williams brother-in-law, Larry Larson, of Fairfax, Va.

Of course, those were just a few of the projects.

I worked when I wanted to, Williams said. And when things started to go bad, I could walk away for a while.

I had as much fun making it as I do driving it, he added.

And for those really wondering, Williams said the speedometer has read 100 miles per hour while cruising before. But he hasnt tested it any harder.

I dont really take it too far, Williams said. Erie is about as far as I will go with it.

Thunder in the City concluded Saturday with the Rusty Hanaway Memorial Bike Parade highlighting the days events. Attendees also enjoyed a Corvette parade, a variety of vendors, free live music and a cornhole tournament.

See the exquisite fossil that revealed the colors of a giant armored nodosaur – Tulsa World

Posted on August 6, 2017 by Danzig

For the biggest animals, bulk is a great defense. Other creatures need tricks, like the snowy coat of an arctic hare or a hagfishs choking slime clouds. But elephants and rhinoceroses get by with tough hides and sheer size. They have little to fear from predators and little need for camouflage hence their dull gray skin.

A new fossil analysis reveals that things were different in the Cretaceous period, 110 million years ago. Even massive dinosaurs with thick skin and long spikes needed to avoid hungry eyes. Under pressure from ferocious predators, these herbivores evolved camouflage, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Current Biology. For the first time, paleontologists detected color in the fossil of a giant armored dinosaur called a nodosaur.

The nodosaur was the sort of creature that wouldnt bother with a disguise if it lived today. It had horns and scale plates for defense. And it was huge 2,900 pounds or more when full-grown, bigger than a black rhino. But size and armor were not enough.

The authors discovered chemical traces of pheomelanin, the same pigment that gives redheads their hair color, within the dinosaurs fossilized hide. The nodosaur was darker red and brown on top than on the bottom. This pattern, one seen today with deer and antelope, obscures a creatures silhouette.

It gives you a sense of how nasty the theropod predators would have been back in the Cretaceous, said Caleb M. Brown, a paleontologist at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology in Canada and an author of the new report.

That the scientists could find color at all, let alone a pattern, surprised other experts.

I never seriously thought that color preservation on this scale would have been possible, said Thomas R. Holtz, a vertebrate paleontologist at the University of Maryland who was not involved with the study. This skeleton is truly spectacular in terms of the quality of completeness.

The dinosaur died in 3-D, still covered with fossilized skin and with the remnants of its last meal in its stomach. Theres no other dinosaur specimen like it, Brown said. And, rather than the severe contortion of many dinosaur skeletons, this nodosaur looks almost peaceful as though its last act was a nap on Medusas porch.

A man digging in Canadian oil sands in 2011 struck the fossil with his backhoe, as The Washington Post reported in May. A sea once covered that region in northeastern Alberta. People had discovered bones there before, mostly aquatic reptiles like plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs, but the nodosaur was the first dinosaur discovered in the Alberta mine. Researchers hypothesize that the animal tumbled into a river and died. Its body floated out to the sea, where it sank. There, layers of sand kept scavengers at bay as the carcass settled into rock.

It is an unusual depositional environment for a dinosaur, Holtz said. But it was a lucky one for paleontologists. Scientists have found color traces in fossils before, though most of those were small animals dug up from ancient lakes.

After the miner found the nodosaur, a fossil preparer named Mark Mitchell worked for more than five years to expose the creature within the rock. The animals scientific name, Borealopelta markmitchelli, honors his 7,000 hours of labor.

When Brown and his colleagues examined the fossilized skin, they found molecular signatures left by pheomelanin pigment. Whats more, these analyses showed the reddish-brown was more pronounced on top than on the bottom, a pattern known as countershading.

The further you went toward the belly, the less and less of this stuff there was, Brown said. It was darker pigmented on top and lighter on the bottom. The pattern obscures an animals outline, brightening bellies in shadow and darkening where light falls from above. Its a common camouflage, found in chipmunks, gazelle and giraffes but never before in a land animal the size of a rhino.

Even though this was the first time this pattern had been found in a large dinosaur, the discovery was incredibly reasonable, in Holtzs view.

The largest living land predators big bears and tigers are dwarfed by the giant dinosaur predators, he said. (The latter really were nasty: The 20-foot-tall Tyrannosaurus rex, though it lived a bit later than this nodosaur, could pulverize bones with a powerful chomp.) We have plenty of other evidence of big predatory dinosaurs having attacked living plant-eaters, with those other prey fossils showing partially healed bite marks.

This wont be the last time we hear about this nodosaur. Thanks to the detail of the fossil, you can test some ideas and aspects of their biology that werent possible before, Brown said. The paleontologists plan to examine the preserved stomach contents to see what it ate before it died. Theres going to be a lot more work on this particular animal.

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See the exquisite fossil that revealed the colors of a giant armored nodosaur - Tulsa World

9-year-old writes letter to NASA asking to be considered for a job – WSB Atlanta

Posted on August 6, 2017 by Danzig

Updated: Aug 6, 2017 - 6:46 AM

A 9-year-old alien enthusiast from New Jersey sent a handwritten letter to NASA asking to be considered for a job working with astronauts.

In the letter, dated Aug. 3, fourth-grader Jack Davis asks to apply for a planetary protection officer position at NASA. He writes in the letter provided to ABC News by his family that despite his young age, he thinks he would be "fit for the job."

"One of the reasons is my sister thinks I'm an alien," Jack writes before revealing the source of his expertise. "Also, I have seen almost all the space and alien movies I can see."

Jack ends the letter stating the other attributes that would make him perfect for the position, such as his "great" video game skills and his youth, which will make it easy to "learn to think like an alien." He then signs the letter, "Jack, Guardian of the Galaxy."

In an interview, Jack told ABC News that he wrote the letter because it thought it would be "really cool" to work for NASA.