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Paul Thomas talks about his new label UV on FSOE Recordings – Trance Hub (satire) (press release) (blog)

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Danzig

Paul Thomas has been on fire this year some fantastic new singles, their label Ultraviolet has been belting some amazing tracks and now hes announced the launch of his new label FSOE UV with a new single UV. We had a chat with this humble yet very ambitious man about UV and what more can we expect in 2017.

I actually first discussed it with Fadi at the Supersonic show in Pune, India show we both played earlier in the year. He mentioned he really liked my music, said he wanted to launch a proper progressive label. I then went to meet him in Amsterdam ahead of his open to close show there to discuss and we were totally on the same page for everything so it was very easy to work out. As for the artists and music, its going to be just great underground works. Theres a lot of my own stuff on there, as well as some really cool acts that both myself and Aly & Fila already support.

Well with this one I am running it with Aly & Fila. I have great respect for their wide ranging of music tastes and also for their knowledge and input, so its going to be more of a bringing together of the minds of 2 artists. UltraViolet took a long time to build up to where it is now, but due to the nature of what weve already got in terms of backing at FSOE, we are able to make a massive splash straight away, as youll hear with the music in the coming months.

I think its a great basis to tell people what we are going to be about for sure. I dont think we have a very strict output on the style. Its not like I am expecting everyone to deliver me a rolling underground melodic prog track for the label. It will be varied, but it will stay very underground. As for another collab, I have no idea! Its not something we have discussed as we havent got this track out yet J The guys are working on a new artist album so I am sure they have a lot of commitments to stick to. But who knows in the future J

That doesnt surprise me. Theres a definite upward trend around the world with trance at the moment so I am pleased thats reflecting in sales as well. Top 3 would be a massive ask. I would say house, deep house, tech house and techno are way too far ahead in terms of sales and exposure but who knows. I think youll definitely see a big rise in progressive house sales though. That will be taking off massively for sure.

I am toying with the idea of an album, but after spending 18 months writing one and then scrapping it last year because of the change in my musical direction, I am a little more sceptical now. But I have some great singles lined up. After the UV track with Aly & Fila I have one called Goliath out on FSOE UV at the end of August, a track called Dark Heart on Armada in September, and my first solo single since switching to progressive in October also on FSOE UV. We also have the Diablo remixes coming on UltraViolet later in the year too.

I cant wait for this. Its probably my biggest show to date, and I have done a lot of big shows in my career. I have already started editing tracks, doing some reworks and organising music especially for this show. Itll be a one-off set I wont play anywhere else. I dont think there will be a B2B at the main show. Obviously its Aly & Filas home city so I think everyone will be so excited for their set on their own. But as for at an after party, who knows! J

You could send promos to ed atfuturesoundofegypt dot com

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/paulthomasofficial

Twitter https://twitter.com/djpaulthomas

Curator of Edm4Pune, sports enthusiast assisted by having a taste bud for delicious food. Open to all genres of music yet staying close to his first love, Trance.

James Dymond! One of the purest of the trance producing lot took out some time to...

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Paul Thomas talks about his new label UV on FSOE Recordings - Trance Hub (satire) (press release) (blog)

Observer’s cyberpunk hallucinations are like being trapped in a Tool video – PC Gamer

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Danzig

My favorite cyberpunk stories are usually the ones about criminals and outsiders in situations way out of their league, and my least favorite are about badasses with future-guns shooting a bunch of cyborgs or robots or whatever. In between there's the third kind of classic cyberpunk story, in which an investigator gets too involved in a case and uncovers something they shouldn't while also confronting a bunch of philosophical questions about what it means to be human. It sounds specific, but that's genre for you. Observer tells that third kind of cyberpunk story, and is about as pure a version as you can imagine.

Developed by Polish studio Bloober Team and launching August 15, Observer is set in Krakow in the year 2084. You play Daniel Lazarski, voiced by Rutger Hauerpresumably cast on the strength of his performance in an iconic cyberpunk detective movie, by which I mean Split Second of coursewho has been cybernetically enhanced to perform neural interrogations, plugging himself into people's brainchips. It's as if he's walking around inside their subconscious, observing their memories and secrets. Observers are basically cops that can climb into your head. Yeah.

These hallways of the mind are represented as literal hallways. Bloober's previous game was Layers of Fear, a first-person horror experience full of mindfuck trickery, and that lineage is obvious when you perform a neural interrogation and find out it's actually super claustrophobic in someone else's head. In the part of Observer I've playedthe opening 10 hours or so, most of which takes place in an apartment building with a bad case of the murderseveryone I plug into is either dying or dead, and their mental landscapes are surreal.

Think Seinfeld re-runs are still on?

One victim works for the same corporation funding the Observer task force, and has been stealing data from them. Plugged in, I experience their fading consciousness as an Orwellian computerized job interview and a stealth sequence in an open-plan office, but also through more metaphorical scenes. In one, I have to cross a field where data cables grow like corn, while eye-in-the-sky camera drones patrol overhead.

At its best, the hide-and-seek pursuit stuff is reminiscent of Alien: Isolation, and at its worst it's every instafail stealth sequence shoehorned into a genre where it doesn't belong.

Sometimes things from outside their brain leak through, in such forms as memories of Dan's missing son suddenly overlaying the scene or a mysterious figure pursuing me through the dreamscapes. At its best, the hide-and-seek pursuit stuff is reminiscent of Alien: Isolation, and at its worst it's every instafail stealth sequence shoehorned into a genre where it doesn't belong. Two of the neural interrogations Ive played so far have involved sneaking. By the second I was hoping there wouldnt be more.

And wow does it get weird. Rooms repeat, I get trapped in mazes. Chairs and buckets hang in the air. Shadowy people-shapes, abstracted fuzzing representations of humanity, hurry past or block doorways. Sometimes lumps of flesh grow on things. I follow a floating screen and a glowing deer, walls explode into pigeons, and everything goes fish-eyed or wobbly like a Wayne's World dissolve. It's like being trapped in a Tool video. When the walls are breaking into shards that hang in the air or screens are flashing images of Polish dumplings at you, its trippy enough to invoke a full-on Keanu Woah!

Mostly though, it's hallways. It feels a lot like P.T., and after a while I start to develop a kind of psychedelic fatigue. More floating chairs? More old-timey black and white TV footage? Cool, cool. I'm glad to get back to the real world, even though it's a dystopian future Poland controlled by a corporation. Here, it's less horror and more adventure game, all investigating crime scenes and quizzing witnesses.

For the investigation scenes, Dan's cybernetic eyes kick in and I start scanning everything like I'm Batman with the detective vision, trying to piece together clues and find a way out of this apartment complex. It's under lockdown due to a disease called the nanophage because of course there's a cyberplague, and automatic security has trapped us all here together.

It's a long time to explore the one slum (and attached tattoo parlor), but worth it to get to know so many inhabitants. Their faces are obscured by crusty vidscreens because most of the tech in 2084 Poland looks like it comes from 100 years earlier (they even play a pixelated puzzle dungeon game straight off a Commodore 64), and through those screens I talk to a bunch of scared people hiding in their rooms, trapped in here with me.

They all have their stories, whether it's the guy going through holographic projector withdrawals or the widow who lost her wife to the nanophage. Cyberpunk is at its best when it's engaging with characters who usually get ignored in favor of people who fly spaceships. And even though Dan is a fancy cybered-up future cop, he spends a lot of time observing ordinary folks. There's even a confused guy knocked out of an extended VR session by the lockdown whos convinced he's a starship captain.

My favourite character in Observer so far is another ordinary person, a janitor. At first,my Dan is rude to him, a scrappy guy outfitted with junk cyber-parts, but then I get onto the janitor's computer and read his emailsbecause of course a cyberpunk game is about reading everyone's email. Turns out he's a war veteran whose current job excludes him from the veteran's group that used to pay for upkeep of his prosthetics. It's a common, relatable story: the people who most need help are ineligible for it due to bureaucratic nonsense theyre helpless against.

I see the janitor again later and choose a friendlier line of dialogue, and mumbly Rutger Hauer warms up to him. We stand in the courtyard while it rains, Krakow's skyscrapers and hologram ads on the other side of a wall we can't cross while we're stuck with the pigeons and glitching augmented reality data overlays that coat the walls like digital glaze. It's a moment, you know?

When Observer isn't being David Lynch's Blade Runner it's a detective game where you don't have a gun and can't fall back on violence, an adventure game that's all about talking to people, guessing codes, hacking computers, and opening doors. Like all mystery stories, a lot will depend on its finale and whether it ties up the loose ends in a satisfactory way. I'm not allowed to tell you what happens after you make it out of the apartments, so I stopped playing there to write this, but I'm itching to go back and hunt around for more near future philosophy, or at the very least, I hope to have more honest conversations with lonely cyborgs.

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Observer's cyberpunk hallucinations are like being trapped in a Tool video - PC Gamer

Cyberpunk 2077 To Feature Photorealistic Environments … – SegmentNext

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Danzig

CD Projekt RED released The Witcher 3 back in 2015 and to this day it is one of the best looking games out there. The developer is currently working on a futuristic title called Cyberpunk 2077. The game is still far from release and there are minimum details available.

However, a new job listing has pointed out something very interesting about Cyberpunk 2077. According to the listing posted by CD Projekt RED, the game features Photorealistic graphics. The listing confirms that Cyberpunk 2077 developer is putting extra focus on the visual appearance of the title.

CD PROJEKT RED is currently looking for talented artists to join our environment art team in Warsaw to work on Cyberpunk 2077. The Environment Artist will create a wide range of photorealistic environments in futuristic settings, covering also physicalized objects and destruction models.

The artist they are looking for will be responsible for creating photorealistic environments with original textures using various tools and middleware. The game is also believed to be featuring destroyable environments.

This also indicates that PC gamers would require a hefty piece of graphics hardware to run the game. The Witcher 3 proved to be a very demanding title for PC users.

While amazing graphics and environment is something commonly found in modern games, there is one element thats unique about the new game.

Most games that are played on tabletops run a fairly simple group of classes, from warrior to barbarian to paladin to cleric to thief. The Cyberpunk 2077 classes, however, are going to be a little bit different. Based off the tabletop game Cyberpunk 2020, classes in the game include journalist, executive, rock star, and more.

Cyberpunk 2077 is releasing on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. No final release date has been announced. However, its promotional campaign is ready to go.

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Cyberpunk 2077 To Feature Photorealistic Environments ... - SegmentNext

Cyberpunk 2077 Dev Team Expansion Reveals Graphics To Be … – One Angry Gamer (blog)

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Danzig

(Last Updated On: July 27, 2017)

Cyberpunk 2077 is a sci-fi RPG currently in development and has no gameplay footage for the public to see just yet, but the game has a lot of anticipation surrounding it. As of now, CD Projekt Red seems to be making progress on the game in that the team recently posted up its development team is expanding, revealing that the game will have photorealistic graphics.

CD Projekt Red recently posted up a new batch of job listings via Twitter for its upcoming sci-fi RPG entitled Cyberpunk 2077. The game has a lot of people looking forward to its video game adaptation, as well as the upcoming tabletop game that is set to release around the same time as the video game version.

Looking to step things up a notch from the Witcher 3 to Cyberpunk 2077, the devs behind both titles upgraded the third iteration of RedEngine (the companys game engine) to RedEgnine 4. The step in upgrading the game engine will obviously give the devs behind the upcoming cyberpunk title more room to add better features, like what one of the new job listings reveal which is photorealistic original textures. Additionally, games like Battlefield 1 and Star Wars: Battlefront EA uses a similar photorealistic system that produces graphics that will hold up well in the years to come thanks to the Frostbite.

In addition to the above, the job of the Senior Environment Artist is set to produce such quality graphics for Cyberpunk 2077 and is followed by more job listings:

Moreover, my being a gamer and a crazy fanatic of all things cyberpunk, Cyberpunk 2077 has my attention and many others, and seeing that the game is slated to come out somewhere around 2019 or 2020 means that a lot could go into this game thanks to the game engine receiving an update. This means that the game could potentially be unlike any other cyberpunk title on the gaming market.

Lastly, given Cyberpunk 2077 is using photorealistic graphics in an open world with destructible environments, it could be likely that the game will not debut for PS4 and Xbox One, but the generation of consoles afterward given that the devs want to release it for the latest consoles and for PC when it is complete.

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Cyberpunk 2077 Dev Team Expansion Reveals Graphics To Be ... - One Angry Gamer (blog)

Tale of the Tape: EDAP TMS S.A. (NASDAQ:EDAP) Moves 4.06 … – Concord Register

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Danzig

EDAP TMS S.A. (NASDAQ:EDAP) shares have moved4.06% on the week. The stockclosed the most recent session at $3.33 after seeing104012 shares trade hands. This represents a change of3.74% from the opening.

The closing price represents the final price that a stock is traded for on a trading day. Its the most up-to-date valuation until trading begins again on the next day.However, most financial instruments are traded after hours, which means that the the closing price of a stock might not match the after-hours price. Regardless, closing prices are a useful tool that investors use to quantify changes in stock prices over time. The closing prices are compared day-by-day to look for trends and can measure market sentiment for any security over the course of a trading day.

Stock exchanges work according to the invisible hand of supply and demand, which determines the price where stocks are bought and sold. No trade can occur until someone is willing to sell a stock at a price that another is willing to buy it at. When there are more buyers than sellers, the stock price will rise because of the increased demand. Conversely, if more individuals are selling a stock, the price will decrease.

On any given trading day, supply and demand fluctuates back-and-forth because the attractiveness of a commoditys price rises and falls. Because of these fluctuations, the closing and opening prices are not necessarily identical. A number of factors can affect the attractiveness of a stock in the hours between the closing bell and the next days opening bell. For example, if there is good news like a positive earnings announcement, the demand for a stock may increase, raising the price from the previous days close. It follows that bad news will negatively affect price.

RECENT PERFORMANCE

Lets take a look at how the stock has been performing recently. Year to date EDAP TMS S.A. (NASDAQ:EDAP) is1.52%, 26.14% over the last quarter, and 1.22% for the past six months.

Over the past 50 days, EDAP TMS S.A. stocks -13.51% off of the high and 36.48% removed from the low. Their 52-Week High and Low are noted here. -13.51% (High), 48.00%, (Low).

RSI

Technical analysts have little regard for the value of a company. They use historic price data to observe stock price patterns to predict the direction of that price going forward. Analysts use common formulas and ratios to accomplish this.EDAP TMS S.A. (NASDAQ:EDAP)s RSI (Relative Strength Index) is 57.41. RSI is a technical indicator of price momentum, comparing the size of recent gains to the size of recent losses and establishes oversold and overbought positions.

Placing the Spotlight on Targeted Microwave Solutions Inc. (TMS.V): Technical Stock Update – Financial Newsweek

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Danzig

Targeted Microwave Solutions Inc. (TMS.V) shares are moving today onvolatility10.00% or $0.005 from the open.TheTSXV listed companysaw a recent bid of0.055 and62000shares have traded hands in the session.

Stock market investing can sometimes cause investors heads to spin. Following stocks on a daily basis, it is plain to see the amount of coverage that follows certain companies. This non-stop barrage of information may eventually become overwhelming for the novice investor. Filtering through all the data may involve taking a look at a company or stock from multiple angles. There are many investors out there that preach strictly following fundamental data. There are others that swear by the technical analysis. Many investors will opt to employ a research strategy that involves pieces of the two approaches. Knowing every little detail about a company may not be overly necessary, but it may help provide a bit more direction when navigating the stock market maze. Investors who put in the time to study all the fundamentals may want to also start watching the charts on stock that they are thinking about adding to the portfolio. Making sure that no stone is left unturned when examining a stock may end up being the difference between a big winner and a big loser.

Now letstake a look at how the fundamentals are stacking up for Targeted Microwave Solutions Inc. (TMS.V). Fundamental analysis takes into consideration market, industry and stock conditions to help determine if the shares are correctly valued. Targeted Microwave Solutions Inc. currently has a yearly EPS of -0.11. This number is derived from the total net income divided by shares outstanding. In other words, EPS reveals how profitable a company is on a share owner basis.

Another key indicator that can help investors determine if a stock might be a quality investment is the Return on Equity or ROE. Targeted Microwave Solutions Inc. (TMS.V) currently has Return on Equity of -124.73. ROE is a ratio that measures profits generated from the investments received from shareholders. In other words, the ratio reveals how effective the firm is at turning shareholder investment into company profits. A company with high ROE typically reflects well on management and how well a company is run at a high level. A firm with a lower ROE might encourage potential investors to dig further to see why profits arent being generated from shareholder money.

Another ratio we can look at is the Return on Invested Capital or more commonly referred to as ROIC. Targeted Microwave Solutions Inc. (TMS.V) has a current ROIC of -108.54. ROIC is calculated by dividing Net Income Dividends by Total Capital Invested.

Similar to ROE, ROIC measures how effectively company management is using invested capital to generate company income. A high ROIC number typically reflects positively on company management while a low number typically reflects the opposite.

Turning to Return on Assets or ROA, Targeted Microwave Solutions Inc. (TMS.V) has a current ROA of -95.05. This is a profitability ratio that measures net income generated from total company assets during a given period. This ratio reveals how quick a company can turn its assets into profits. In other words, the ratio provides insight into the profitability of a firms assets. The ratio is calculated by dividing total net income by the average total assets. A higher ROA compared to peers in the same industry, would suggest that company management is able to effectively generate profits from their assets. Similar to the other ratios, a lower number might raise red flags about managements ability when compared to other companies in a similar sector.

Investors may be taking a closer look stock market trends as we move into the second half of the year. Investors often have to grapple with the timing of selling a stock. After all the research is done and the portfolio is rounded out, the time will eventually come when decisions need to be made about whether to hold a winner or sell to lock up some profits. Often times, investors will hold on to a certain stock for much too long letting profits erode. Thinking that a hot stock will keep going higher and higher, may lead to lost profits further down the road. On the flip side, investors may become emotionally attached to a stock and not be able to part ways when the time has come. Avoiding the trap of waiting for a stock to bounce back and just break even can lead to the undoing of the portfolio. The belief that a particular stock will definitely come back to the buying level may leave investors out in the cold. Being able to keep the emotions in check and stay focused on the pertinent data, may help the stock portfolio thrive into the future.

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Placing the Spotlight on Targeted Microwave Solutions Inc. (TMS.V): Technical Stock Update - Financial Newsweek

Tufts Hosts Engineering Conference – Tufts Now

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Danzig

Tufts University is academic host and co-sponsor of the 2017 IEEE Midwest Circuits and Systems Symposium, to be held Aug. 6-9. The symposium will include oral and poster sessions, a student paper contest, tutorials by experts in circuits and systems topics, and special sessions. All areas of electronic circuits and systems will be covered, including the latest innovations in the field.

The three keynote speakers are Linton Salmon, Jesse Wheeler and Donhee Ham. Salmon, a program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, will give a keynote titled Microelectronics: Challenges and Opportunities on Aug. 7; Wheeler, the neurotechnology business lead at Draper Laboratory, will speak on Neurotechnology: Biomedical, Biomimetic, and Beyond on Aug. 8; and Ham, the Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering at Harvard University, will speak on CMOS Electronics See Inside Biological Cellular Networks on Aug. 9.

Tufts Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering is well represented at the symposium. Associate Professor Valencia Joyner Koomson is technical program co-chair; Professor Sameer Sonkusale is publications co-chair; professor and department chair Eric Miller is advisory committee co-chair; and associate professors Mark Hempstead and Thomas Vandervelde are on the technical program committee.

Tufts undergraduate and graduates students will be presenters at the conference. Among them is Joel Dungan, a doctoral student in electrical and computer engineering, who has been selected as a finalist in the student paper contest.He will present research work on the development of a platform to study intercellular communication in non-neural cells as it relates to developmental biology and morphogenetic bioengineering. Co-authors on the paper are Koomson, biology postdoctoral scholar Juanita Mathews, and biology professor Michael Levin.

Other Tufts students presenting their research will be doctoral candidates Meera Punjiya,Yun Miao, Abigail Licht, John Chivers, Emily Carlson and Jun Jadormio, along with former undergraduate student Andrew Bourhis, E17.

For more information, and to register, go to the 2017 IEEE Midwest Circuits and Systems Symposium website.

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Tufts Hosts Engineering Conference - Tufts Now

Stryker reports 6.1% Q2 growth, installs 26 Mako systems: 7 things to know – Becker’s Orthopedic & Spine

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Danzig

Stryker reported 6.1 percent net sales growth for the second quarter of 2017, and raised full year guidance due to strong performance.

Here are seven things to know:

1. Stryker net sales reached $3 billion in the second quarter, a 6.1 percent increase over the same period last year. U.S. sales hit $2.2 billion, up 2.4 percent, while international sales were $811 million, a 2.7 percent growth over last year.

2. Orthopedics net sales hit $1.1 billion, up 5.5 percent over the same period last year. Here is the breakdown by segment:

Knee: $389 million, up 5 percent Hip: $322 million, down 0.3 percent Trauma and extremities: $351 million, up 7 percent Other: $79 million, up 32 percent

3. Stryker's MedSurg net sales were $1.3 million, a 6.2 percent increase over 2017. Here is the breakdown by segment:

Instruments: $392 million, up 4.1 percent Endoscopy: $406 million, up 13.9 percent Sustainability: $64 million, up 10 percent

4. Neurotechnology and spine net sales were $500 million, up 6.9 percent over the second quarter of 2017. Spine sales hit $183 million, a 2.9 percent decrease, and neurotechnology increased 13.9 percent to $352 million.

"We have some challenges [in spine] the market overall looks to be challenged certainly in this quarter," said Katherine A. Owen during Stryker's quarterly conference call, according to Seeking Alpha's transcript. "We've had some Stryker issues as we work through some of the supply challenges, but on the positive front, those do appear to be moderating for us. And we're also seeing really strong demand, but we are capacity constrained for our Tritanium products."

The company has several projects in research and development, and as a result expects to see improvement long term.

5. Net earnings increased 2.9 percent to $291 million in the quarter.

6. Stryker now expects 2017 organic net sales growth between 6.5 percent and 7 percent.

7. In the second quarter, Stryker reported 26 Mako robots were installed globally, a 5 percent increase over last year. There were 20 new systems installed in the U.S., and the company expects to "largely complete all U.S. system upgrades during 2018." There are more than 400 surgeons trained on the Mako system to date.

fMRI and EEG May Be Able to Reveal Consciousness in Comatose Patients – Physical Therapy Products

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Danzig

The use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) may be able to detect signs of consciousness among comatose brain injury patients in the intensive care unit (ICU), according to researchers.

Standard bedside neurological examinations often miss these subtle signs of consciousness.

Reasons why could include that the patient may be unable to speak, write or move due to the brain injury itself or sedating medications, or the doctor may misinterpret a weak but intentional movement as a reflex response, notes a media release from Massachusetts General Hospital.

The study included 16 severely brain injured patients in the ICU. The researchers suggest in their study that the use of fMRI and EEG may be able to reveal a level of consciousness that cannot be detected via a standard bedside examination.

Early detection of consciousness and brain function in the intensive care unit could allow families to make more informed decisions about the care of loved ones, says Dr Brian Edlow, from Massachusetts General Hospitals Center for Neurotechnology and Neurorecovery, in the release.

Also, since early recovery of consciousness is associated with better long-term outcomes, these tests could help patients gain access to rehabilitative care once they are discharged from an ICU, adds Edlow co-lead author of the study, published recently in the journal Brain.

Based on these results, our team is working on improving the accuracy of these tests, and we are planning a larger follow-up study in the near future, he concludes.

[Source(s): Massachusetts General Hospital, Medline Plus]

Times article on trans reforms slammed: ‘This is not political … – PinkNews

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Danzig

A Times article which says the governments plans to improve the process for changing gender will harm children has been slammed.

On Sunday, the government announced a move to streamline and de-medicalise the Gender Recognition Act, to allow transgender people to more easily change their legal gender.

The progressive move was welcomed by a huge number of LGBT activists.

However, it prompted a backlash from some who desperately yelped that political correctness had gone too far. Too many rights for too many people, it seems.

Today in The Times, Clare Foges, a former speechwriter for Prime Minister David Cameron, wrote that the new reforms which have not been proposed in any concrete way would create a world of confusion and anxiety for children.

She states that giving children the freedom to self-define which seems to be outside of these potential reforms would worsen mental health problems in young people.

I am no expert on children, she says.

But, she continues, seeming to express intimate knowledge on the subject, childrenare being led to believe, on social media and in schools, that gender is simply a lifestyle choice.

Foges also says all of the great legislative battles on equality have been won, which will be news to many campaigners, before going on a tirade laced with hypotheticals.

If they dont enjoy girly things like make-up are they perhaps a boy?

She then confuses the concepts of gender and sexuality, saying: If they have a crush on people of both sexes could they be agender?

Foges adds: If they simply feel different to everyone else and uncomfortable in their own skin, common enough in adolescence, might they be genderfluid?

This viewpoint was dismantled by Susie Green, the chief executive of Mermaids, a charity which campaigns for the rights of gender nonconforming children.

Once again, people who this will never affect, who have no issues around their gender and never will are attempting to dictate to a vulnerable population how they should be supported, Green told PinkNews.

Pointing to the latest Stonewall statistics, she added: Trans children have a 45 percent suicide attempt rate, and 1 in 10 young trans people receive death threats in school due to ignorance and prejudice.

Surely, she added, any moves to both educate and support these young people should be embraced.

She said that young trans people feel invalidated, and that articles like this question their identity and sense of self.

This is not political correctness, this is children dying.

On the point Foges makes about all of the great legislative battles on equality having been won, Green said: I absolutely dont think so.

Weve got a very long way to go in looking at the way trans people are treated in all walks of life.

There still needs to be far greater protections, not to mention the way theyre depicted in the media.

Essentially, we want children to grow up and be valued members of society, so we have to acknowledge and embrace the differences that are there.

She said that not doing so is not helpful, and can actually be very detrimental to those young people affected.

Mermaids provided quotes from the father of a trans child, who said that our kids and youth are scared they are being bullied in our schools, they are being demonised in our press and they are self-harming.

A Stonewall spokesperson said: Were disappointed to see another attack on trans identities this week, and these comments certainly underline the need for more education.

Its vital that all young people feel supported and know that all identities are valid and, no matter who they are, they will be loved and accepted.

Foges is not the only person who has been given the chance to object to trans people gaining more rights in a major national publication.

Helen Lewis, the deputy editor of the New Statesman, wrote in The Times that coming out as trans should be treated like changing nationalities.

And a Sunday Times article also drew criticism for the way it reported the governments proposals.

Tim Shipman and Jason Allardyce wrote: Adults will be able to change their gender legally without a doctors diagnosis under government plans that will transform British society.

Men will be able to identify themselves as women and women as men and have their birth certificates altered to record their new gender.

Women would identify as women and men as men under the new plans, which acknowledge trans rights.

Paul Embery, a Fire Brigades Union official, also came out against the governments plan, comparing gender identity to weight, height and attractiveness.

He added that forcing society to recognise someone as one gender when he/she maintains the anatomy of another is ludicrous.

The FBU has refused to condemn Emberys remarks, despite Stonewall saying that comments like this underline how much work there is still to be done to make trans equality a reality.

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Times article on trans reforms slammed: 'This is not political ... - PinkNews

I’m a Female Minority at Harvard, and This is Why I Support PC Culture – Harvard Crimson

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Danzig

I support political correctnessnot because I come from a marginalized background, but because I am a human being. As a human being I understand the value of political correctness because I am aware of the harm that words can have on a person. I have learned the weight that words can carry.

The annual Leadership Conference for Best Buddiesa charity supporting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilitieswas this past weekend, and I reflected on my own time there two years ago. I reveled in the amount of strength and talent that could be found in people with disabilities when given the right spaces to showcase them. After spending so much time defending the humanity of the friends I had grown to love in my school, I finally got a glimpse of the kind of world we could live in. Best Buddies goal is to run their organization out of business by creating a world so welcoming and accepting that an organization creating inclusive spaces would no longer be necessarythey would exist naturally all around us.

We tried to create this world at my high school. One important step was the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign my school participated in each year. It was meant to stop the use of the R word because, believe it or not, words hurt people.

Throughout the years, the R word has developed negative connotations. People use it in place of words like stupid, dumb, ridiculous, crazy, and countless other negative words. This implies that people with intellectual disabilities are all these things. Throughout my years in Best Buddies, I had to see my friends excluded from so many social spaces because of the hostile environment created for them through all the negative views stacked against them. I had to witness the smile fade away from one of my best friends face as he told me about the way some of my classmates made him leave their lunch table. The need for a campaign asking people to say, this person has an intellectual disability, instead of, this person is mentally r*******, became obvious.

Through Best Buddies, I was presented with more appropriate terminology, terminology that defined people by their status as a person and not their disability. Best Buddies gave me my first real introduction to political correctness. It provided me with the proper language to help ensure my friends were being treated with the respect they deserved. Never in a million years would I have thought that being in favor of it was a sign of weakness or coddling. The whole thing is quite reasonable. If something you say makes another person uncomfortable or feel less than others, why would you continue to say it?

If you suddenly saw one child hit another, you wouldnt yell at the child who was hurt for being upset. You would tell the other child to stop. The same concept applies. PC culture is about avoiding verbal abuse, just as people should avoid physical abuse.

Opponents of political correctness argue that it is an attack on free speech. They argue that, in addition to limiting the oppressor by not allowing them to attack others, it also affects the oppressed by preventing them from welcoming different opinions, therefore stunting their capability for intellectual growth.

Why should we welcome opinions that intentionally discredit who we are? Being politically correct doesnt hurt anyone. Youre not going to feel bad because there havent been enough racial slurs yelled at you this week.

It wouldnt affect a person who will never be on the receiving end of those slurs. But rejecting political correctness does hurt individuals. Its not just about not liking what we hear because we dont agree with it. These hateful words are bullets that slowly tear down at our humanity with every shot fired.

The argument that silencing hateful speech would hurt me more because I wouldnt be able to grow intellectually absolutely baffles me. Do you know what actually has a direct effect on a persons ability to perform academically? Their mental health. Emotional well-being is the real prerequisite for intellectual growth. Having to listen to hateful slurs because people dont listen to your calls to end the use of dehumanizing language is what tears it down bit by bit.

Opponents call for educated discussion by asking that all emotional attachment to the issues to be left out. We cant be objective in issues that deal with our humanity. Anything we could possibly contribute on the topic would be inherently subjective. There is no way to disconnect the two. You cant leave your identity at the door for what are thought of as purely intellectual discussions.

The disconnect here is that ideas and opinions cannot be held to the same caliber as their negative impact on human lives. Im not sorry that you feel like you cant freely express your prejudiced thoughtsnot when you want to do so at the expense of another persons existence.

Laura S. Veira-Ramirez 20 is a Crimson editorial editor in Leverett House.

`Political Correctness' Hurts Liberals

To the Editors of The Crimson: In his opinion piece titled "The Myth of `Politically Correct'" [December 11], J.D. Conner

The Good Lie

Good lies are all damned, and theyre damned for good. But youve still got to love them.

Summers Decries 'Creeping Totalitarianism' at Colleges

Former University President Lawrence H. Summers discussed recent campus discourse and protests about race at colleges across the country during an interview, criticizing excesses of political correctness on the part of students and administrators.

Students Debate Merits, Pitfalls of Political Correctness

Q&A with Walter S. Isaacson

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I'm a Female Minority at Harvard, and This is Why I Support PC Culture - Harvard Crimson

Watch the World’s Quickest Mitsubishi Evolution – Automobile

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Danzig

The Mitsubishi Evolution is a rally champ. But when introduced to the automotive enthusiast world, it quickly became a street tuners best friend, able to put down extreme amounts of power thanks to its rally-bred all-wheel drive system. This Mitsubishi Evolution, however, takes the cake to the fifth power with a 91 mm turbo, slicks, and a redline of 13,000 rpm, or if youre using the stock tachometer, a redline of Snow.

Built by Extreme Tuners out of Athens, Greece, the shop specializes in high-tech high-performance parts for racing, marine, defense, and aviation industries with an in-house R&D group that is responsible for engineering, production and testing its products. The latest in a series of automobile applications is the Mitsubishi shown here and its spare-wheel-sized 91 mm turbocharger.

The original 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine has been destroked to just 1.8-liters, increasing its redline which now redlines at Snow in the Drive Mode selector housed in the cars tachometer a billet tungsten crankshaft, titanium valves, beryllium seats, and asymmetric billet cams. All of which is quite interesting, especially the tungsten crankshaft, but lets get back to the ludicrous 91 mm turbocharger sticking out the hood like an intake or human skull from Mad Max: Fury Road.

The turbocharger itself is an in-house creation and CNCd from aluminum and features a carbon-fiber turbine wheel. Extreme Tuners hasnt released how much boost the shop is running through the 1.8-liter engine, but based on the laundry list of heavy duty parts, were guessing quite a bit.

In short, it makes around 2,000 horsepower to the crank, or about 1,300-1,400 to the wheels. When the car launches, it darts from left to right then back to left a few times, the driver fighting the beast of a drag car all the way down the drag strip. It almost seems too powerful to control, but wed absolutely love a chance to get behind the wheel.

The part of the video we love the most is the camera trained on the speedometer and tachometer. It goes from zero to 185.34 mph in just 7.902 seconds, but the way the speedometer never lets up reminds us of a superbike.

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Watch the World's Quickest Mitsubishi Evolution - Automobile

The Evolution of Cryptocurrency Visuals, Memes, and Bitcoin Street … – Bitcoin News (press release)

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Danzig

The decentralized currency Bitcoin has grown incredibly popular over of the past year. In parallel with this increased interest in cryptocurrency, the technology is also affecting pop culture and the art world. In 2017 there are a lot of artists incorporating the concept of bitcoin culture into their mediums.

Also read:The Curious Cases of the Alphabay Kingpin and Hansa Takedowns

Bitcoin is an incredible technology that has changed the way the world looks at money. The protocol has spawned lots of innovation and a revolutionary spirit among those who use the cryptocurrency. This spirit has invoked a lot of artists that are tethering the bitcoin concept into their creative activities. This week were going to look at a few designers bringing cryptocurrency to the visual arts.

Block Bills

The Los Angeles-based artist Matthias Drfelt has created a new type physical bitcoin that looks similar to the paper fiat notes people use every day. Drfelt uses the hashes from 64 random blocks and turns them into an eccentric design that was created by his own software. Further, Drfelt created his own symbols for the hexadecimal numbers that he uses along the bottom of every bill. There are numbers in a typeface that Drfelt generatedto represent the time the bitcoin was mined. The artist says every bill is created entirely with code except for the signature he signs that says Satoshi. In contrast to traditional fiat where theres a number that tells people how much the bill is worth, Drfelt uses the number of transfers stored in each block.

Each digital print is 5.9 X 3.3 inches, and Drfelt has created a series of 64 banknotes from the blockchain.

Satoshi Gallery

The artist Valentina Picozzi decided to bring cryptocurrency to the masses with Satoshi Gallery, a collection of crypto infused images and wearables. The Italian artist based out of London says that Bitcoin needed art and thats why Satoshi Gallery was created. Satoshi Gallerys work includes images of the most expensive slice of pizza, dollar bills saying oh no, and an iconographic landscape of other crypto-related subjects. We need to bridge the gap between technical developers, experts/insiders and everyday people Thats why we need art.

Art for Crypto

The well known visual artist, Vesa Kivinen, the founder of Artevo Contemporary has recently started a new cryptocurrency infused platform called ArtForCrypto.com. Vesas work uses various mediums such as digital photography mixed with oil and canvas paintings. The mixed media artists paintings consist of visual depictions of the bull and bear, Satoshi Nakamoto, and one called the Split among many others. Vesa also has a few altcoin paintings for tokens like ethereum, litecoin, and steemit. Additionally, the artist covers subjects like the Silk Road and the possible August 1 fork as well.

Phneep

Phneep is a popular crypto-artist that calls himself a pixel bender and is well-known among the bitcoin community for manipulating movie covers, logos, and other images from pop-culture with bitcoin-related imagery. The artist got into bitcoin in 2012,and in 2014 decided to focus on bitcoin satire because he wanted to contribute to the crypto-ecosystem but couldnt code. Phneep has worked with a lot of community members within the bitcoin economy including the host of the Youtube show Mad Bitcoins, Thomas Hunt.

As long as the core devs are kicking and making successful changes to the protocol itself, and as long as Hollywood keeps crapping out these blockbusters, then Im going to keep finding ways of mashing them together, explains Phneep.

Friends of Satoshi

Friends of Satoshi is a resource for bitcoin artists and creators that aimto empower a decentralized collective of individuals. The organization says that its focus is dedicated to promoting Bitcoin through media and art. Just recently on the 9th anniversary following Zimbabwes hyperinflation, five artists from five different countries collaborated on the Friends of Satoshi Zimnote. The crypto artists who helped with the project include Qrypto (India), Zoran Kutuzovi (Croatia), Satoshi Gallery (U.K), Crypto Imperator (Spain) and The Bitcoin Penny Co. (USA). The Zimnote series consists of ten notes hand painted or drawn, says Friends of Satoshi. Each note contains a fractional amount of Bitcoin, and only four notes will be publicly released, explains the artist collective.

The Rare Pepe Blockchain Community

The Rare Pepe blockchain trading card community is a very vibrant and energetic group of meme artists. Since last year the Rare Pepe community has created a large assortment of collectible cards that are tethered to the bitcoin blockchain. Only the dankest Pepes make the cut into the series, and the Rare Pepe Foundation votes on each entry. We were the first to link Pepes and cryptography to bring you the first truly Rare Pepes secured by the Bitcoin blockchain. The Rare Pepe community also has its own token called Pepe Cash which has a $9.9 million market cap.

Cryptograffiti

The artist Cryptograffiti is a well-known designer within the crypto-community that creates art through the lens of the blockchain challenging the status quo. Cryptograffiti is an early bitcoin adopter and was the first artist to utilize a public-facing cryptocurrency wallet to receive donations for street art. His work has been seen all over the crypto-circuit, shared by luminaries, and featured in online publications.

What do you think about the bitcoin artwork these crypto-artists create? Let us know in the comments below.

Images via Cryptograffiti, Art for Crypto, Block Bills, Phneep, the Rare Pepe blockchain, Satoshigallery, and Friends of Satoshi.

Show the world how cutting-edge you are with abitcoin T-shirt, hoodie, bag, key-ring, even a Trezor hardware wallet.Shipping all over the world, quality merchandise and, of course, a payment system that makes people say wow!

The Evolution of Cryptocurrency Visuals, Memes, and Bitcoin Street ... - Bitcoin News (press release)

Paleoanthropologist explores roots of evolution – UChicago News

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Danzig

Story and photo by Matt Wood

The study of human evolution here has very deep roots. Continuing that legacy and thinking into the future is exciting. Prof. Zeray Alemseged on UChicago's reputation in paleontology research

In 2000 Zeresenay (Zeray) Alemseged unearthed a 3.3 million-year-old, nearly complete skeleton of a 2 year-old girl in Dikika, Ethiopia. In the years that followed, the paleoanthropologist and fellow researchers slowly chipped away the sandstone surrounding the delicate fossil, using advanced imaging tools to analyze its structure.

Alemseged first revealed the Australopithecus afarensisfossil, known as Selam, to the world in a landmark publication in Nature in 2006. At the time, he was a senior scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, before moving to the California Academy of Sciences two years later.

In the fall of 2016, Alemseged left the California coast to join the University of Chicago faculty, where he quickly made international news. This past May, Alemseged co-authored a landmark study about Selam, which showed portions of the human spine that enable efficient walking motions were established millions of years earlier than previously thought.

The study, which Alemseged said shed new light on one of the hallmarks of human evolution, is the kind of impactful research that adds to UChicagos storied reputation in paleontologyone that includes some of the most famous names in the field, both present and past.

The study of human evolution here has very deep roots, said Alemseged, the Donald N. Pritzker Professor in Organismal Biology and Anatomy. Continuing that legacy and thinking into the future is exciting, but when you leverage that with the ability to work with some of the brightest students in the world, the opportunity to collaborate with them is one of the great legacies a scientist could have.

Alemseged filled a niche in the Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy as its resident paleoanthropologist, studying human origins and the environmental context of human evolution. The other senior researchers on the faculty occupy key branches on the evolutionary tree of life. Prof. Michael Coates, studies the origins of early vertebrates and fish. Prof. Neil Shubin studies the first tetrapods and their transition to land. Prof. Paul Sereno covers dinosaurs and the emergence of flight, and Prof. Zhe-Xi Luo, studies the origins of mammals.

Alemseged extends this expertise to the species that dominates our planet today, with a new breed of research that combines high-tech imaging analysis of fossils with traditional geology and fieldwork. Using these tools, he explores the milestone events in human evolution since our split from the apes.

Hes a top-notch scientist who can use geology, biology and the latest technology in his work, and has a very good sense of public outreach, said Sereno. Im so happy he chose to come here, putting UChicago at the cutting edge of the newest research in human evolution.

Alemseged returns to his native Ethiopia every year for several months to continue work in the Afar, a paleoanthropological hotspot, collaborating with researchers from across the globe, including the National Museum of Ethiopia, where the fossils are prepared and curated.

You can say that one-half of my lab is back there, he said. What I enjoy the most is the quiet moments that I have in my lab in the process of making the little incremental discoveries that, when combined, will allow me to tackle questions pertaining to those milestone events.

Originally published on July 28, 2017.

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Paleoanthropologist explores roots of evolution - UChicago News

The Evolution of the Women’s 100-Meter Breaststroke World Record – Swimming World Magazine

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Danzig

Photo Courtesy: The South African Swim History Project

By Ailish Dougherty, Swimming World College Intern.

Lilly Kings world record-breaking performance in the womens 100-meter breaststroke this past week at the 2017 FINA World Championships in Budapest stunned many in the swimming world. Yet at the same time, it was so unsurprising it was only a matter of time beforeher confidence would drive her to the fastest swim in history.

Kinglowered Lithuanian Ruta Meilutytes previous world record of 1:04.35, set at the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona, to a 1:04.13. Kingsfirst 50 alone was the fifth fastest 50 breaststroke in history, and the second fastest ever (tied with Jessica Hardy) done by an American.

Kinghad her sights set on a world record, and she delivered. Lets take a look at how her performance made history as the fastest 100-meter breaststroke ever swum. Going all the way back to 1921, the first recorded 100-meter breaststroke world record was set at 1:37.60 by E. Van Den Bogaert of Belgium. Thetimes then dropped sharply every one or two years for the next 30 years, getting as fast as a 1:16.90 by Eva Szkely of Hungary in 1951. The next recorded world record was set in 1958 by Karin Beyer of Germany, and it marks a shift in the way breaststroke was regulated.

In 1933, breaststrokers realized that an over-the-water arm recovery was faster and more efficient than an underwater recovery. During thisyear, American Henry Myers became the first swimmer to racewith a breaststroke frog kick paired with what we now call butterfly arms. As you can see at around the 1:40-mark in the video below from 1936, competitors began to use this technique more frequently. In 1952, however, butterfly was established as an individual stroke by FINA, and breaststrokers were forced to go back to an underwater recovery. The archive of world recordsrestarted.

Thus, a new world record was set at 1:20.31 by Germanys Beyer in 1958. However, it didnt take long for breaststrokers to evolve with the stroke, and in the next four years the worlds best timedropped by three full seconds. In the new era,Claudia Kolb became the first American to set the 100 breaststroke world record. In 1964 she set the record with her time of 1:17.90. Agnes Geraghty had been the only other American to hold the world record before 1964. Even at the 1964 Olympics, however, breaststroke looked very different than it does today. As you can see in the video below, from Tokyo in 1964, the widely-held belief at the time was that the closerone held their head to the water, the lower onekeptto the surface, the faster shewould slice through the water.

Since 1964, otherrule changesanddevelopments in techniquehave further affected the evolutionof the stroke. Breaststroke has evolved to be more undulatingand powerfulthan ever. Fourmore American women have held the coveted title since Kolb. Most recently, it wasHardyin 2009. Germany hasheld the world record in the event the most times in history, while Australia and South Africa are also top contenders. Penelope Heyns of South Africa has held the world record five times, as she brought her own record down from 1:07.46 in 1996 to a 1:06.52 in 1999, untilAustralias Leisel Jones took over with a 1:06.37.

In the past 15 years, the world record has dropped from Joness1:06.37 in 1999, to a 1:06.20 by Hardy in 2005, to 1:05.09 by Jones in 2006. In 2009, American Rebecca Soni was the first woman under 1:05.00, swimming to a WR of 1:04.84 in 2009.However, she did not hold the title for long, as Hardy lowered it to 1:04.45 just 11 days later. Finally, Meilutytes 1:04.35 has held strong since 2013. Until now.

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

King is the seventh American woman to ever hold the world record in this event. Why? As we all have seen, Kings stroke rate is incredibly fast, which has been a common theme inrecent history. However, what King does differently is that she retains her energy remarkably throughout her races, allowing her to keep up her stroke count and out-pace her competition. She also gets incredible height during her pull, so that on the recovery, she can drive her hands forward with power getting more distance perstroke than ever before. Kings breakout speed is also incredibly quick, just as Hardys was. Her closing speed, though, is unmatched by any breaststroker.

Elite womens breaststroke has quicklybeen improving over the past century and its only going to get faster. When asked about Kings world-record breaking swim, Meilutyte (the only Lithuanian world record-holder in the event in history) said that she had been expecting it.

Photo Courtesy: NY Times // Womens 100M Breaststroke World Record Progression

Meilutytewas also very hopeful about the future, and her place in it,

Its amazing to see how much womens breaststroke is improving. I think were going to see a 1:03 one day, so its just a matter of time, really. I think withthe progress that the distance is going, its definitely possible. I will certainly do my best to be in the mix.

As for King, she has said that she is never completely satisfied with a swim, so shewill surely be looking to be the first woman in history under 1:04 flat. And when she sets her mind to something, she does it.

All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.

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The Evolution of the Women's 100-Meter Breaststroke World Record - Swimming World Magazine

Science, Evolution And Our Intimate Parts – HuffPost

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Danzig

An opinion piece was recently published in JAMA Internal Medicine with the provocative title: No wonder no one trusts us.The writer, a doctor, imagines a dialogue with a patient- Mr. Jones- based on the shifting recommendations of the US Preventive Services Task Force about prostate cancer screening.Mr. Jones, receiving updated advice from his doctor that differs from the updated advice he received last time, grows predictably exasperated.(In case you are wondering, the current Task Force position on prostate cancer screening is: Grade C.This means there is a close balance between potential benefits and harms, and clinicians should discuss prostate cancer screening with patients, and reach individualized decisions together.)

The writer is not so much complaining about the Task Force as about the challenges of turning the evolving state of medical evidence into guidance patients can both understand, and trust.The piece is tongue-in-cheek in any case.But still, there is a complaint being lodged, and fundamentally, its about the nature of science and the publics relationship with it.

Science evolves.And maybe thats a particular problem for Mr. Jones, and Mrs. Smith, and their countless counterparts in our culture- because we so blithely, selectively dismiss science and replace it with GOOP as the spirit moves us. Maybe we cant disparage, dismiss, and deny the science of climate change, immunization, nutrition, and evolution for that matter- and appreciate the evolution of science.

Science is something of an in for a penny, in for a pound proposition.What I mean is, you either accept the value of the scientific method, and the voluminous evidence that it works, and thus pay attention to it even when you dont like what it has to say- or you really should disavow the voluminous evidence that it works.Lets be clear about that choice: disavowal means no planes, or trains, or automobiles; products of science, all.It means no antibiotics or microwaves; it means no radio, television, or Internet.It means, quite simply, that it should not be possible for you to be reading this now.

Science works, and we all know it- because we are beneficiaries of its effectiveness every day.You really cant beam well-behaved electrons through cyberspace and throw shade at science while doing it.Pick one!How easy it is, though, to embrace the products of science we like, and renounce the conclusions we dont.

The result of that is calamitous.The same stance that allows for the denial of evolution despite incontrovertible evidence has forestalled our collective response to climate change for decades.I hate to say it, but perhaps it has forestalled our response for too long.As glaciers melt, species die, floods rage, aquifers desiccate, Antarctica falls apart, and ever more trees in these New England forests I love so much sicken and die- I shudder to think how inconvenient this truth may prove to be for us, and especially our children.We may have walked in a blinkered trance right past inconvenient, to devastating.

That same, convenient dismissal of facts we happen not to like perpetuates pseudo-debate about vaccines, when the reality of monumental net benefit is as clear as it is robustly evidence-based.

In a display of serendipity, a deadly serious opinion piece in the Annals of Internal Medicine followed the facetious one in JAMA Internal Medicine by a mere day.This one was entitled Statin Denial: An Internet-Driven Cult With Deadly Consequences, and was aboutthe deadly consequences of statin denial.Statins are the most popular drugs for lowering LDL cholesterol, are highly effective, and when used appropriately- decisively reduce mortality.In other words, they save lives.

As the commentary suggests, there are all sorts of alternative realities on-line, raising doubts about the benefits of statins, the value of lowering LDL, and the relevance of elevated LDL to heart disease risk.One readily finds debate about the cholesterol hypothesis on-line, but finds virtually no such debate among cardiologists.These alternative realities are alternatives to reality, and the commentator is right to point this out as an urgent matter of life and death.As a Lifestyle Medicine expert, I hasten to note that diet and lifestyle can do the job that statins do, and there are strong arguments for a lifestyle approach- but thats a topic for another day.The effectiveness of lifestyle in preventing and treating heart disease does not obviate the corresponding effectiveness of statins.

We mishandle science in several fundamental ways.For starters, science does evolve; it is incremental, listing toward truth in a series of small additions to, and frequent corrections of, what we thought we knew before.We treat every study as a replacement of all we knew until yesterday at the peril of our perennial ignorance.

For another, we treat science as a circus, hawking hyperbolic headlines as a matter of routine.In reality, the findings of science make for good sound bites only very rarely.Often, the findings of studies are nuanced, the conclusions qualified and provisional.

For yet another, there is almost never unanimity- if only because many people favor their own ideology over any other kind of ology, and because human beings are good enough at being wrong that you can invariably find someone who is prominently so, on any given topic.That some dissenting voice can be found- such as on the topic of climate change- does not a legitimate controversy make.I was recently invited to debate vaccines on a podcast, and I declined, not wanting to pretend that there was a legitimate controversy on that topic left to debate.

That more Americans believe in angels than evolution may seem a matter of inner philosophical convictions, disconnected from real world consequences.But that is not so.Selective disrespect for science poisons the well of it, and proves toxic in surprising and intimate ways; as intimate as ones prostate, or uterus.

Medicine is ineluctably a bit of art, but is- or should be- a whole lot of science.There is no way for patients to participate as they must- as key partners in the stewardship of their own health- if they dont understand the basis for important decisions.

Its bad, in other words, that people dont know, or respect the incontrovertible science of evolution.But that problem tends to be at least somewhat remote. Its arguably worse that people dont know, or respect the incontrovertible fact that science evolves- and that the evolution of science will cause medical practice and advice to drift and shift over time.Doubt and discomfort born of that is consequential up close, quite personally, and in our most intimate parts.

Senior Medical Advisor, Verywell.com

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Science, Evolution And Our Intimate Parts - HuffPost

SKN robotics team excels at international level – The St. Kitts-Nevis Observer

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Danzig

Washington, D.C. In its first-ever appearance at the FIRST Global Robotics Competition, a group of three students from the federation, accompanied by Dr. Ricardo Neil, placed 36th out of 163 nations in a three-day competition from July 14-17. Jermelia Henry, Zhavier Shaw and Jervik Lapsley represented the nation with flying colors at the Robotics Olympics. Competitors aged 17 or 18 were tasked to design and create a robot that could separate different colored balls that simulated clean and contaminated water, as well as pull itself up off the ground and drive on an incline.

But the team barely made the competition, as Neil found out only in March that it was occurring. The students were quickly assembled and willing to work until 2 or 3 in the morning to make this journey a reality.

At the end of the first day of competing, SKN Robotics had risen has high as fifth place, which served as an extraordinary boost to the teams confidence.

For us to go up against Russia, Ukraine, North Korea, South Korea and the United States, and actually beat them, says a lot, Neil said. Some of these countries had robotics programs going on for years, but our students were able to outwit them with the ways they drove them. We were able to maneuver all over more quickly than the other nations.

SKNs team designed a robot that was smaller than what some other competitors had to offer, which made the group nervous when they first examined other robots. This turned out to be an advantage, as the decreased size, as well as two different types of wheels that worked together to increase the robots speed and turning ability, gave them excellent scores. The students worked tirelessly and took their time to ensure they had developed the right robot.

There were several prototypes before, Neil said. They had to design and redesign endlessly until they got one that was flexible, workable and could maneuver in the pit. We were able to design a robot that had an arm that hooks an area and actually pulls itself up, so we were able to achieve something that not many other countries could do.

The robots ability to lift itself up separated SKNs team from the competition immediately, as they were able to gain five more possible points than most other nations, whose robots couldnt lift themselves fully off the ground and instead focused on driving at an incline. The teams ability to hit the ground running and establish SKNs robotics program on a world stage left an impact on competitors.

We have got the respect from a lot of countries who may have not heard about St. Kitts and Nevis, Neil said. Now they want to visit. We had people coming to us asking about our country. You had that kind of build up, people did not expect us to rise so high. When the competition started, most people overlooked us, but when they realized we were outperforming some of the more developed countries in terms of resources, then we began to garner a lot of respect.

After a day of alliance competition, where the SKN robotics team grouped up with Slovenia and Zimbabwe, and another day of solo competition, SKN finished the Robotics Olympics in 36th place overall, third out of Caribbean nations and first in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States.

Neil and the team came back to Basseterre with their heads held high and went right back to work. They were invited back to the competition next year, and hope to increase their success with more time to work on the robot.

One thing that we hope to do going forward is to open the recruiting process a bit broader, Neil said. We want to open the competition to the secondary schools and see how well these students can perform so we can give everyone a chance to be a part of this. We want to make sure that the students are being highlighted, we have heard a lot of negative things about young people, so Im happy we were able to showcase something positive that is happening.

The team outperformed expectations and established that St. Kitts and Nevis is capable of producing students who can compete on an international level. The team is ready to continue to build on their success, but will be retiring the robot that took them so far in this competition as a memory of what they can do if they are given the opportunity.

I want to personally take the time to congratulate the TVEMS Information students for valiantly representing St Kitts and Nevis without being intimidated by the representatives of other countries, Neil said. Instead, you were able to form meaningful relationships and in the process create a network [that] secured valuable connections all over the world.

Thank you. You achieved the impossible. Your performance exceeded that of more than 120 countries in your first appearance at the Robotics Olympics. If this doesnt deserve the welcome afforded to heroes, there is nothing more that can be said.

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SKN robotics team excels at international level - The St. Kitts-Nevis Observer

Academy hosts leadership conference with FIRST Robotics Mentors – U.S. Air Force Academy

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Danzig

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --

The Center for Character and Leadership Development hosted 25 robotics educators from across the U.S. at the FIRST Leadership Experience June 24-26 in Polaris Hall.

Air Force Recruiting sponsored and accompanied the teachers, all members of the national organization For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, or FIRST. Most teach at the middle and high school level and are commonly called FIRST Mentors.

"We wanted to attract the best and brightest here and create a STEM connection with them," said Capt. Ross McKnight, an Academy grad and Air Force recruiter.

The mission of FIRST is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders and innovators, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based robotics teams that build science, engineering and technology skills. They engage kindergarten through high school students to build their STEM skills and inspire their imagination by fostering self-confidence, communication and leadership.

"Our vision is to transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders," said FIRST Founder Dean Kamen.

McKnight said the mission of his office is to connect the Air Force with like-minded organizations who foster STEM goals in U.S. education.

The teachers participated in sessions designed to hone their mentoring skills through immersion with the Air Force core values. Sessions covered team building, leadership, creative problem solving and organizational skills.

Adrianne Strange of Air Force Recruiting said the CCLD was the obvious place to bring the group to discuss new ways of leading tomorrow's STEM stand-outs.

Mentors were also given tours of the CCLD, mechanics lab, aero lab, robotics lab and cadet pavilion. They also took a turn on the ropes course.

"It's great to be reminded of how the Air Force core values should be at the fore-front of our leadership and therefore our teams and classrooms," said Tom Shultz, a teacher and FIRST Mentor from Michigan. "I'm grateful for this tremendous opportunity which will undoubtedly make a positive impact on my classroom students and [robotics] team. I'm sure I speak for the other 24 teachers when I say I'm excited to see the domino effect that this will have on all of the students in our lives."

At South Jersey Robotics, gears and switches set careers in motion – Philly.com

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Danzig

At a summer robotics camp for high school and middle school kids in South Jerseys Salem County, failure is an option but only temporarily.

When 17-year-old Noah Halsted switched on his teams 3-by-2-foot, gear-packed robot and absolutely nothing happened, he took just a second to groan, That failed, before grabbing some electrical tape, fixing a cable, and sending the reenergized robot to scoot across the floor on six wheels, scooping up plastic balls with a cleverly hidden broom.

In the room next door at Salem Community College, 14-year-old Christian Goldsborough programming a smaller robot made from Legos said he knows the feeling. Whats cool about robotics, the Penns Grove teen said, is that when you mess up and youre frustrated, then do the right thing. A job well done is the best part.

The kids can-do, blue-collar approach to high-tech wizardry reflects the scrappy nature of the program they are part of South Jersey Robotics, a volunteer effort that for nearly a decade has steadily built a network of competitive robotics teams and worked with programs like this GEAR UP! summer camp to promote tech careers in one of the poorest stretches of the Garden State, where job opportunities have been shrinking.

These are counties that are forgotten, said Rosanne Danner, the retired DuPont engineer who as president of South Jersey Robotics has seen the program expand to 15 teams with roughly 100 high schoolers and middle schoolers in Cumberland, Salem, Atlantic, and Cape May Counties. This is about exposing them to STEM science, technology, engineering, and math and STEM careers, and things they can do. This is about giving them the belief that they can have opportunities beyond what is happening in the counties.

South Jersey Robotics is pushing to expand into several of the regions chronically underfunded schools, where STEM education has lagged behind more affluent suburbs where some kids learn coding in kindergarten. The programs target counties include five of New Jerseys 31 so-called Abbott districts cited in a landmark court case as victims of an unfair school-funding formula. Three of those districts Vineland, Bridgeton, and Millville are in Cumberland County, which has the states highest poverty rate.

We have no robotics, no STEAM (STEM learning with an arts component), no nothing for middle school students, said Joanne Colacurcio,supervisor of instructional technology and career, tech, and education classes for the public schools in Millville, where 80 percent of kids qualify for free or reduced lunches. Thats slated to change this fall with an Intro to STEM class at Lakeside Middle School and a new First Lego League Robotics team supported by South Jersey Robotics.

For Danner and other backers of South Jersey Robotics, getting kids from rural and underdeveloped corners of South Jersey to compete in FIRST Robotics in which students around the world try to outdo each other with game-playing bots is a vehicle to put them on a path toward studying science or math in college and toward career choices where job opportunities are more plentiful and more lucrative. The group says more than 95 percent of its participants move on to post-secondary school and more than 70 percent major in a STEM field.

But along that path, winning is still important. The programs two high-school-level teams including the LuNaTeCs, whove been around since 1999 have been to the national/world competition in cities including St. Louis and Atlanta five times. This year, three of the programs 11 teams in the Lego League, geared toward middle schoolers, advanced to the South Jersey district finals at Rowan University.

In addition, the teams work on tech-oriented community projects. For example, the high school students in LuNaTeCs built an adaptive device that allowed a child born without a left hand to jump rope.

Danner said the clubs are structured so that kids learn not just tech skills but marketing, networking, finance, public speaking, as well as more access to scholarship money skills that should help later in life.

Margo Reed

Mya Gregory (left) and Niajah Mitchell work with robotics at Gear Up! Camp at Salem Community College on Wednesday, July 26, 2017. ( MARGO REED / Staff Photographer )

At the GEAR UP! program, experienced middle- and high-schoolers from South Jersey Robotics come in two days a week to teach robotics skills to seventh-, eighth- and ninth-graders at a camp designed to spark future career ambitions.

Halsted, the 17-year-old from Lower Alloways Creek, said hes been fascinated by robotics ever since other club members came to his grade school and did a demonstration. Now a junior at Salem County Career and Technical High School studying computers, animation, and drafting, he said he knows how to program in nine computer languages and is aiming for a career in information technology.

There are no school teams around here, no [school] clubs, said Halsted, whos working with officials at his school to create an IT internship program. He said taking part in South Jersey Robotics and its Velocity team is a lot of fun. You get to meet new people at every event. Theres always something new you can learn.

Tim Roy, a 13-year-old camper and an eighth-grader at Penns Grove Middle School, helped program a Lego robot to perform tasks on a game board. You can express your feelings about Legos, he said. When Im able to do something like this, I feel good about it.

He said he wants to become a mechanical engineer; his campmate Goldsborough said his career ambition is sound engineering. That kind of talk is music to the ears of the adults backing South Jersey Robotics.

David Stump, director of grant development and management at Cumberland Community College, said he believes robotics is the vehicle to get more kids focused on tech as a career option in a poverty-plagued county where too many kids dont stick with STEM learning.

His college has partnered with First Jersey Robotics, two adjoining school districts in Millville and Morris River Township, and Salem Community College in applying for a $1.2 million federal grant under a program called Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers, or ITEST, that targets underprivileged youth to start robotics teams in more local schools.

Stump said the program could be a huge boost for Cumberland County, where long-term unemployment is nearly double the national rate and just 13 percent of students earn bachelors degrees.

Although the federal dollars if they come at all wouldnt arrive until 2018 at the earliest, First Jersey Robotics, which now has about55 volunteers and cobbles together an annual budget of roughly $80,000 to 90,000 through grants and fundraising, last year partnered with East Greenwichs Samuel Mickle Middle School to launch robotics teams and clubs and to help train teachers.

Program volunteers like board member Sandee Rodriguez, whose son competed with the LuNaTeCs and is close to earning a computer and electrical engineering degree from Grove City College in western Pennsylvania, say this is the best escape route in a county where many families struggle to get off public assistance. What were doing is changing lives, Rodriguez said. Were trying to provide opportunities that werent there before.

Published: July 28, 2017 3:01 AM EDT

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At South Jersey Robotics, gears and switches set careers in motion - Philly.com

Local Tech Company Gives Riviera Robotics Team a Hand – Noozhawk

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Danzig

Posted on July 28, 2017 | 2:16 p.m.

IntriPlex Technologies Inc., an MMI company, helped Riviera Robotics, a local teen robotics team, achieve its goal to participate in the 2017 FIRST Robotics championship in Houston.

After excelling at two regional competitions the Riviera Robotics team made a strong showing at the championships with its unique and formidable robot.

This achievement did not come easy and was a true team effort from the teens, mentors and local supporters like IntriPlex.

We all have hopes of helping out in our community, said Lawney Falloon, managing director of IntriPlex, Inc.

Knowing that we were able to make specialized components that helped the Riviera Robotics team complete their robot is very gratifying. We are proud of their achievement, Falloon said.

This year, MMI helped us machine two critical metal components called collectors for our robot, said Andrew Duerner, lead mentor for the Riviera Robotics team.

We have worked with IntriPlex in the past and we knew we could count on them to help us with the detailed work needed for these two parts," Duerner said.

"We look forward to future collaborations and appreciate that our teens are exposed to a local technical manufacturing company," he said.

IntriPlex is an innovator in ultrahigh precision metal stamping. Over the past 30 years it has developed and produced billions of parts for the hard disk drive and other industries from its production facility in Goleta.

Riviera Robotics, founded in 2016, is a nonprofit robotics program open to high school students in Santa Barbara County.

The team is comprised of some 20 students and six mentors from the fields of engineering, computer programming, electrical design, business, outreach, and finance. For more information, visit http://www.rivierarobotics.org/.

Julie Fishman for IntriPlex.

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Local Tech Company Gives Riviera Robotics Team a Hand - Noozhawk

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