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OpenPower, Efficiency Tweaks Define Europe’s DAVIDE Supercomputer – The Next Platform

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Danzig

July 11, 2017 Jeffrey Burt

When talking about the future of supercomputers and high-performance computing, the focus tends to fall on the ongoing and high-profile competition between the United States with its slowly eroding place as the kingpin in the industry and China and the tens of billions of dollars that the government has invested in recent years to rapidly expand the reach of the countrys tech community and the use of home-grown technologies in massive new systems.

Both trends were on display at the recent International Supercomputing Conference in Frankfurt, Germany, where China not only continued to hold the top two spots on the Top500 list of the worlds fastest supercomputers with the Sunway TaihuLight and Tianhe-2 systems, but a performance boost in the Cray-based Piz Daint supercomputer in Switzerland pushed it into the number-three spot, marking only the second time in 24 years and the first time since November 1996 that a U.S.-based supercomputer has not held one of the top three spots.

That said, the United States had five of the top 10 fastest systems on the list, and still has the most 169 of the top 500, with China trailing in second at 160. But as weve noted here at The Next Platform, the United States dominance of the HPC space is no longer assured, and the combination of Chinas aggressive efforts in the field and worries about what a Trump administration may mean to funding of U.S. initiatives has fueled speculation of what the future holds and has garnered much of the attention.

However, not to be overlooked, Europe as illustrated by the rise of the Piz Daint system, which saw its performance double with the addition of more Nvidia Tesla 100 GPU accelerators is making its own case as a significant player in the HPC arena. For example, Germany houses 28 of the supercomputers in the latest Top500 list released last month, with France and the United Kingdom both with 17. In total, Europe houses 105 of the Top500 systems, good for 21 percent of the market and third behind the United States and China.

Something that didnt generate a lot of attention at the show was the introduction of the DAVIDE (Development for an Added Value Infrastructure Designed in Europe) system onto the list, coming in at 299 with a performance of 654.2 teraflops and a peak performance of more than 991 teraflops. Built by Italian vendor E4 Computer Engineering, DAVIDE came out of a multi-year Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) project of the Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe (PRACE), a nonprofit association headquartered in Brussels. PRACE in 2014 kicked off the first phase of its project to fund the development of a highly power-efficient HPC system design. PCP is a process in Europe in which different vendors compete through multiple phases of development in a project. A procurer like PRACE gets multiple vendors involved in the initial stage of the program and then compete through phases solution design, prototyping, original development and validation and testing of first projects. Through each evaluation phase, the number of competing vendors is reduced. The idea is to have the procurers share risks and benefits of innovation with the vendors. Over the course of almost three years, the number of system vendors for this program was whittled down from four E4, Bull, Megaware and Maxeler Technologies with E4 last year being awarded the contract to build its system.

The goal was to build an HPC system that can run highly parallelized, memory-intensive workloads such as weather forecasting, machine learning, genomic sequencing and computational fluid dynamics, the type of applications that are becoming more commonplace in HPC environments. At the same time, power efficiency also was key. With a peak performance of more than 991 teraflops, the 45-node cluster consumes less than 2 kilowatts per node, according to E4.

E4 already offers systems powered by Intels x86 processors, ARM-based chip and GPUs, but for DAVIDE, the company opted for IBMs OpenPower Foundation, an open hardware development community that IBM officials launched with partners like Nvidia and Google in 2014 to extend the reach of the vendors Power architecture beyond the core data center and into new growth areas like hyperscale environments and emerging workloads including machine learning, artificial intelligence and virtual reality while cutting into Intels dominant share of the server chip market. E4 already is a member of the foundation and builds other systems running on Power.

Each 2U node of the cluster is based on the OpenPower systems design codenamed Minsky and runs on two 3.62GHz Power8+ eight-core processors and four Nvidia Tesla P100 SXM2 GPUs based on the companys Pascal architecture and aimed at such modern workloads as artificial intelligence and climate predictions. The GPUs are hooked into the CPUs via Nvidias NVLink high-speed interconnect, and the nodes use Mellanox Technologies EDR 100 Gb/s Infiniband interconnects as well as 1 Gigabit Ethernet networking. Each node offers a maximum performance of 22 TFlops. In total, the cluster runs on 10,800 Power8+ cores, with 11,520GB of memory and SSD SATA and NVMe drives for storage. It runs the CentOS Linux operating system

The Minsky nodes are designed to be air-cooled, but to increase the power efficiency of the system, E4 is leveraging technology from CoolIT Systems that uses direct hot-water cooling at between 35 and 40 degrees Celsius for the CPUs and GPUs, with cooling capacity of 40 kW. Each rack includes an independent liquid-liquid or liquid/air heat exchanger unit with redundant pumps, and the compute nodes are connected to the heat exchange via pipes and a side bar for water distribution. E4 officials estimate that the CoolIT technology can extract about 80 percent of heat generated by the nodes.

The chassis is custom-built and based on the OpenRack form factor.

Power efficiency is further enhanced by software developed in conjunction with the University of Bologna that enables fine-grain measuring and monitoring of power consumption by the nodes and the system as a whole through data collected from components like the CPUs, GPUs, memory components and fans. There also is the ability to cap the amount of power used and schedule tasks based on the amount of power being consumed and to profile the power an application uses, according to the vendor. A dedicated power monitor interface based on the BeagleBone Black Board, an open-source development platform enables frequent direct sampling from the power backplane and integrates with the system-level power management software.

DAVIDE takes advantage of other IBM technologies, including IBM XL compilers, ESSL math library and Spectrum MPI, and APIs enable developers to tune the clusters performance and power consumption.

E4 currently is making DAVIDE available to some users for just jobs as porting applications and profiling energy consumption.

Categories: HPC, ISC17

Tags: e4

Ethernet Getting Back On The Moores Law Track

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OpenPower, Efficiency Tweaks Define Europe's DAVIDE Supercomputer - The Next Platform

Sornette Supercomputer Calls For Crash – Investing.com

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Danzig

The supercomputer that monitors the stock market for Didier Sornette has diagnosed a bubble in four sectors of the market and has recommended shorting the FANG stocks.

Sornettes bubble calls result in a crash of at least 20% roughly 60% of the time. In those cases, the crash reaches its target within two weeks of the bubble call.

The other 40% of the time, the market starts a sideways move that can take months but usually breaks out downwards into a correction of at least 20%. Occasionally its less, like 15%. It can be a lot more (like the dot-com crash).

Occasionally the sideways move is fast and results in an upwards breakout that extends the bubble. You can get a few of these extensions (as at the top of the dot-com bubble) before a bigger crash.

QQQ is a Favorite to Put In a H&S with a Triangle Right Shoulder Here (Green Scenario)

PowerShares QQQ Trust Series 1 (NASDAQ:) is potentially putting one of the strongest possible topping patterns on its daily chart a head-and-shoulders with a triangle right shoulder. The likelihood of that topping scenario is increased by the big red candle QQQ put in a June 9. That was a Neely short setup for a retrace of the move out of the February 2016 low.

QQQ Needs a Retrace to the Bottom of its Light Blue Rising Wedge and Navy Blue Megaphone VWAP

QQQ needs a serious stab at a retrace to VWAP of its navy blue long-term megaphone, which started forming in July 2014, to be legal for an upwards breakout from the megaphone (green scenario). That would also retrace the light blue rising wedge.

QQQ could also go all the way for the navy blue megaphone bottom, but the fast topping process in the green scenario would make that scenario less likely.

The purple scenario becomes more likely if QQQ goes for delay and a more extended topping process. The charts are aligned beautifully with Sornettes call.

Sornette Supercomputer Calls For Crash - Investing.com

IBM pledges help tackle climate change with its virtual … – ZDNet – ZDNet

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Danzig

IBM on Monday pledged the equivalent of $200 million in computing resources, cloud services and weather data to help scientists research climate change and explore ways to mitigate its effects.

The company plans to sponsor up to five research projects that could benefit from the World Community Grid, an IBM initiative that provides huge amounts of free computing power for large-scale environmental and health-related research projects. The Grid is powered by computers and Android devices belonging to more than 730,000 worldwide volunteers. The volunteers download an app, and when their devices aren't in full use, it uses them to automatically perform virtual experiments.

The Grid has hosted a number of environment-related projects, such as Harvard's work identifying 36,000 carbon-based compounds with strong potential for converting sunlight into electricity. Scientists have also used the World Community Grid to study issues like crop resiliency and innovative ways to improve water filtration.

"Computational research is a powerful tool for advancing research on climate change and related environmental challenges," Jennifer Ryan Crozier, VP of IBM Corporate Citizenship, said in a statement.

IBM will choose the projects based on their scientific merit, their potential global impact and the capacity of the research team to manage a sustained research project. Scientists who submit proposals can apply to receive free IBM cloud storage resources and free access to global weather data from The Weather Company, an IBM Business. The company is accepting applications here on a rolling basis, with a first-round deadline of September 15.

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A tall order: Giraffe receives stem-cell therapy for chronic arthritis – Source

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Danzig

How do veterinarians help a giraffe ease its arthritis pain? Well, it takes a little more than an aspirin and a gulp of water.

Recently, Colorado State University veterinarians traveled to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo to help Mahali, a 14-year-old giraffe, with arthritis pain in his front left hoof.

Arthritis is a common problem for giraffes, especially geriatric giraffes like Mahali. Who can blame them? Weighing in at 2,000 pounds on average, their four feet support more than one ton of weight. Thats like carrying two grand pianos on your back all day.

With its 17-giraffe herd trained for voluntary husbandry, including hoof trims, blood draws and radiographs, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is uniquely suited to help find better arthritis treatments for giraffes.

Dr. Amanda Morphet, who is training to specialize in exotic and zoo animal medicine at CSU, believes stem-cell therapy can help alleviate arthritis pain.

Currently, arthritis in these megavertebrates is managed through corrective hoof trims, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, cold-laser therapy and pain medications. But, these practices are not always enough to keep giraffes, which can live up to 30 years, comfortable as they age.

CSU veterinarians Dr. Val Johnson and Dr. Amanda Morphet, and the zoos lead veterinarian Dr. Liza Dadone, are determined to discover a more successful way to treat these gentle giants, and they believe stem-cell therapy is the answer.

Stem-cell therapy has resulted in dramatic clinical improvement in some cases of arthritis in horses and other species, but has not, until now, been attempted in giraffes, Johnson said.

The university and the zoo began working together seven years ago, when CSU veterinarian Dr. Matt Johnston and zoo veterinarians initiated a partnership to treat zoo animals while teaching veterinary students.

This specific stem-cell research partnership began in 2016, when Johnson and Dadone started treating a geriatric elephant for arthritis with stem-cell therapy.

Johnson, who is researching regenerative medicine at CSU, has safely treated a mountain lion, tiger, wolf, coyote and dogs with stem cells over the past five years.

Regenerative medicine is a promising new avenue for treatment of chronic age-related degenerative diseases, Johnson said. I want to develop more effective methods for treating animals.

Johnson and Dadone ran a crowdfunding campaign to develop a technique to grow stem cells from giraffe blood and grow multiple treatments of stem cells. The online campaign was quickly funded.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo staff and veterinarians use hoof-trimming techniques on giraffes to maintain foot health and help prevent foot arthritis in older giraffes. (Photo by Andrew Schroeder)

In April, Morphet and Johnson traveled with two CSU anesthesiologists, Dr. Marlis Rezende and Dr. Khursheed Mama, to Colorado Springs for the procedure on Mahali.

Mahali was in pain. He wouldnt leave pressure on his front left foot for longer than a minute or two, said Morphet, who is training to specialize in exotic and zoo animal medicine at CSUs James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

Mahali is trained for general footwork, but injecting stem cells requires absolute stillness. Anesthetizing a giraffe, however, is especially dangerous for the animal.

With the length of the neck and limbs, falling during induction and recovery is a big concern, Dr. Morphet said.

The large procedure room was packed tight with veterinarians, zoo staff and volunteers who assisted Mahali, which included repositioning his body, and elevating his head at different angles every 10 minutes to prevent muscle spasms, aspiration and brain swelling. The team of volunteers scooped sand under his back to help Mahali roll up once he awoke.

If this sounds like intense physical work, it is.

Veterinarians took radiographs and successfully injected stem cells while Mahali was anesthetized. Meanwhile, a farrier team trimmed his hooves.

The stem cells, which were grown from giraffe blood, were injected through a vein near Mahalis inflamed hoof. The cells remained at the injection site for 20 minutes to improve absorption into the hoof.

Under the watchful care of veterinarians and zoo staff, Mahali came out of anesthesia safely. And then, they waited six long weeks for the stem cells to take effect.

This was the first time a giraffe has received stem-cell therapy to treat arthritis. The big question: Did it work?

Six weeks after the procedure, Morphet and veterinary students visited Mahali for a check-up.

Weve seen a dramatic improvement in his clinical signs, Morphet said. Not only to his comfort level but the quality of his hoof. Hes letting us work with his feet.

Dadone, the zoo veterinarian, used a thermal camera to view the heat distribution in Mahalis feet.

With the thermal imaging, you can see hot spots in the limbs, said Kara Gendron, a fourth-year veterinary student. The warmer it is, the more likely its inflamed and painful. His left hoof was still a little warmer, but compared to what we were seeing initially, it was very similar to his right [hoof]. So, hes actually doing a lot better.

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A tall order: Giraffe receives stem-cell therapy for chronic arthritis - Source

Clinical trial for stem-cell therapy to reverse liver cirrhosis – The Straits Times

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Danzig

SINGAPORE - The use of stem cells to reverse liver cirrhosis - or the hardening of the liver - is being explored in a clinical trial.

Conducted by a multi-centre team led by the National University Hospital (NUH), doctors aim to determine if stem cell therapy can improve liver function.

Previously, liver cirrhosis, caused by various diseases such as chronic hepatitis B and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, was thought to be irreversible.

A liver transplant provides a definitive cure to end-stage cirrhosis.

However, in Singapore, less than 5 per cent of end-stage liver cirrhosis patients receive a liver transplant.

The number of people on the waiting list for a liver transplant has been increasing over the years, according to statistics from the Ministry of Health.

In 2007, there were nine on the waiting list, compared with 57 last year. There are around 50 waiting for a liver transplant this year.

Also, many patients do not fulfil the eligibility criteria to receive a liver transplant due to other health complications or being above the age limit of 70 years.

The $2.6 million study, which was launched on Tuesday (July 11),is funded by the National Medical Research Counciland 46 patients will be recruited for it. It will run for four years and patients will not need to bear the costs of the stem cell treatment.

Stem cells will be taken from a patient's own bone marrow and will be isolated and injected directly into the patient's liver to initiate the repair.

Similar therapy treatments have been conducted overseas in countries such asEgypt and India, although they have not been fully evaluated for efficacy.

Associate Professor Dan Yock Young, a senior consultant in the division of gastroenterology and hepatology at NUH, said: "We are conducting the study in a systematic and scientific mannerto get definitive evidence of the effects of the treatment."

He also notes that the stem cell therapy is not a substitute for a liver transplant. "This treatment is not intended to pull patients off the waiting list, but provide an option for those who are not eligible for a transplant."

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Clinical trial for stem-cell therapy to reverse liver cirrhosis - The Straits Times

Stem cell-based therapy for targeting skin-to-brain cancer – Medical Xpress

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Danzig

July 10, 2017 Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute have a potential solution for how to kill tumor cells that have metastasized to the brain. The team has developed cancer-killing viruses that can deliver stem cells via the carotid artery, and applied them to metastatic tumors in the brain of clinically relevant mouse models. The investigators report the elimination of metastatic skin cancer cells from the brain of these preclinical models, resulting in prolonged survival. The study, published online this week in the journal PNAS, also describes a strategy of combining this therapy with immune check point inhibitors.

"Metastatic brain tumors - often from lung, breast or skin cancers - are the most commonly observed tumors within the brain and account for about 40 percent of advanced melanoma metastases. Current therapeutic options for such patients are limited, particularly when there are many metastases," says Khalid Shah, MS, PhD, director of the Center for Stem Cell Therapeutics and Imaging (CSTI) in the BWH Department of Neurosurgery, who led the study. "Our results are the first to provide insight into ways of targeting multiple brain metastatic deposits with stem-cell-loaded oncolytic viruses that specifically kill dividing tumor cells."

In their search for novel, tumor-specific therapies that could target multiple brain metastases without damaging adjacent tissues, the research team first developed different BRAF wild type and mutant mouse models that more closely mimic what is seen in patients. They found that injecting patient-derived, brain-seeking melanoma cells into the carotid artery of these preclinical models resulted in the formation of many metastatic tumors throughout the brain, mimicking what is seen in advanced melanoma cancer patients. The injected cells express markers that allow them to enter the brain and are labelled with bioluminescent and fluorescent markers to enable tracking by imaging technologies.

To devise a potential new therapy, the investigators engineered a population of bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells loaded with oncolytic herpes simplex virus (oHSV), which specifically kills dividing cancer cells while sparing normal cells. Previous research by Shah and his colleagues shows that different stem cell types are naturally attracted toward tumors in the brain. After first verifying that stem cells injected to the brain would travel to multiple metastatic sites and not to tumor-free areas in their model, the team injected stem cells loaded with oHSV into the carotid artery of metastasis-bearing mice.. Injecting the stem cells loaded with oHSV into the carotid artery, a likely strategy for clinical application, led to significantly slower tumor growth and increased survival, compared with the models that received unaltered stem cells or control injections. The oHSV loaded stem cells are ultimately killed by oHSV mediated oncolysis, preventing the engineered cells from persisting within the brain, which is an important safety component in the therapeutic use of these stem cells.

Due to an increasing body of evidence which suggests that the host immune response may be critical to the efficacy of oncolytic virotherapy, Shah and his colleagues also developed an immunocompetent melanoma mouse model and explored treating with both stem cell loaded oHSV and immune checkpoint blockers such as the ones that target the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway. They found that PD-L1 immune checkpoint blockade significantly improved the therapeutic efficacy of stem cell based oncolytic virotherapy in melanoma brain metastasis.

"We are currently developing similar animal models of brain metastasis from other cancer types as well as new oncolytic viruses that have the ability to specifically kill a wide variety of resistant tumor cells," said Shah, who is also a professor at Harvard Medical School and a principal faculty member at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. "We are hopeful that our findings will overcome problems associated with current clinical procedures. This work will have direct implications for designing clinical trials using oncolytic viruses for metastatic tumors in the brain."

Explore further: Stem-cell-based therapy promising for treatment of breast cancer metastases in the brain

More information: Wanlu Du el al., "In vivo imaging of the fate and therapeutic efficacy of stem cell-loaded oncolytic herpes simplex virus in advanced melanoma," PNAS (2017). http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1700363114

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Stem Cell Treatments in Use at Clinics Worldwide Need Regulation … – Multiple Sclerosis News Today

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Danzig

Advertising forstem cell therapies not supported by clinical researchoftenmadedirectly to patients and sometimes promoted as a cure for diseases like multiple sclerosis or Parkinsons is a growing problem that needs to be addressed and regulated, a team of leading experts say, calling suchstem cell tourism potentially unsafe.

Stem cell tourism is the unflattering name given to the practice of encouragingpatients totravel outside their home country to undergo suchtreatment, typicaly at a private clinic.

The article, titledMarketing of unproven stem cellbased interventions: A call to actionandrecently published inthe journal Science Translational Medicine, was co-authored by scientistswith universities and hospitals in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Belgium, Italy, Japan, and Australia. It focuses on the global problem of thecommercial promotion of stem cell therapies and ongoing resistance to regulatory efforts.

Its authors suggest that a coordinated approach, at national and international levels, be focused on engagement, harmonization, and enforcement in order to reduce risks associated with direct-to-consumer marketing of unproven stem cell treatments.

Treatments involving stem cell transplants are now being offered by hundreds of medical institutions worldwide, claiming efficacy in repairing tissue damaged by degenerative disorders like MS, even thoughthose claim often lack or are supported bylittle evidence .

They alsonoted that the continued availability of these treatments undermines the development of rigorously tested therapies, and potentially canendanger a patients life.

The researchers emphasizethat tighter regulations on stem cell therapy advertising are needed, especiallyregarding potential clinical benefits. They support the establishment ofinternational regulatory standards for the manufacture and testing of human cell and tissue-based therapies.

Many patients feel that potential cures are being held back by red tape and lengthy approval processes. Although this can be frustrating, these procedures are there to protect patients from undergoing needless treatments that could put their lives at risk, Sarah Chan, a University of Edinburgh Chancellors Fellow and report co-author, saidin anews release.

Chan and her colleagues are also calling for the World Health Organization to offer guidance on responsible clinical use of cells and tissues, as it does for medicines and medical devices.

Stem cell therapies hold a lot of promise, Chan said, but we need rigorous clinical trials and regulatory processes to determine whether a proposed treatment is safe, effective and better than existing treatments.

According to the release, the report and its recommendationsfollowed the death of two children at a German clinic in 2010. The clinichas since been shut down.

Certainstem cell therapies mostly involving blood and skin stem cells have undergone rigorous testing in clinical trials, the researchers noted. A number of theseresulted in aprovedtreatments for certain blood cancers, and to grow skin grafts for patients with severe burns.

Information about the current status of stem cell research andpotential uses of stem cell therapiesis availableon the websiteEuroStemCell.

Stem Cell Treatments in Use at Clinics Worldwide Need Regulation ... - Multiple Sclerosis News Today

Regenerating the Body With Stem Cells Hype or Hope? – Labiotech.eu (blog)

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Danzig

When the Japanese researcher Shinya Yamanaka managed to reprogram adult cells into an embryonic-like state to yield induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), this was supposed to herald a revolution in regenerative medicine. But 10 years after their discovery, a therapeutic breakthrough is still outstanding.

The overall stem cell therapy field has failed today to show a very clear cut clinical benefit, told me Georges Rawadi, VP for Business Development at Celyad. The field now needs some significant success to attract attention.

Even though investors prefer placing their bets on the hot T cell therapies these days, some stem cell technologies such as iPSCs are starting to get traction as big industry players are exploring the territory. Last year, Bayer and Versant threw $225M into the pot to launch BlueRock Therapeutics, a regenerative medicine company that plans to develop iPSC-based therapies. A year before, Fujifilm spent $307M to acquire the iPSC company Cellular Dynamics.

Although a big success story is still lagging behind, recent advances in the field argue that stem cells indeed have the potential to translate into effective therapies for currently intractable diseases. Heres an overview of what biotechs stem cells are up to!

Stem cell treatment is not a new concept hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) were described as early as the 1960s and bone marrow transplants have been used to treat blood cancer for decades.

The reason that we get excited about stem cell therapies comes from our experience with the hematopoietic stem cells. If you want to see what a mature stem cell therapy is like, you only need to look at bone marrow transplantation explained James Peyer, Managing Partner at Apollo Ventures, who has a Ph.D. in stem cell biology.

According to Peyer, the hematopoietic stem cell field is one of the most active areas in the stem cell world right now, mainly fueled by our advances in the gene editing space. Tools like CRISPR and TALEN allow for the genetic modification of a patients own bone marrow stem cells, which can then be expanded and returned to the patient for the correction of a genetic defect.

Last year, regulators gave green light to one of the first therapies of this kind. Strimvelis, developed by GSK, consists of an ex vivo stem cell gene therapy to treat patients with the very rare type of Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID). Using the patients own cells avoids the risk of graft versus host disease (GvHD), which still affects around 30% of people receiving a bone marrow transplant.

Small wonder that the CRISPR companies, CRISPR Therapeutics, Editas, and Intellia are all active in this field, with preclinical programs in a number hematological diseases.

To date, the most prominent stem cells in the clinic are mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which are moving through more than 300 registered clinical trials for a wide array of diseases. These cells are able to form a variety of tissues including bone, cartilage, muscle or fat, and can be readily harvested from patients or donors for use in autologous or allogeneic therapies.

While MSCs have deluded the biotech scene with good safety profiles in clinical trials, their actual regenerative potential remains controversial, and there have been a great number of clinical failures, which many blame on a lack of demonstrated mechanisms of action.

As Peyer explained, The problem here is that, as opposed to other adult stem cells, the MSC has been unclearly defined. We know roughly what it does but we dont fully understand the molecular mechanisms driving these cells. On top of being unclearly defined, the regenerative powers of MSCs have been massively over-claimed in the past.

Another reason for the lack of clinical benefit has also been attributed to the use of undifferentiated MSCs, as Rawadi explained to me. The Belgian biotech Celyad, which has been pioneering cell therapy in the cardiovascular space, is using bone-marrow derived autologous MSCs and differentiates them into cardiomyocyte precursors to produce new heart muscle in patients with heart failure.

Although the company missed its primary endpoint in a phase III trial last year, Celyad has staked out a patient subpopulation that showed significant improvement. Its technology still has the confidence of the FDA, which just handed out a Fast Track designation and Celyad is now planning a refined Phase III trial.

One of Celyads major competitors, Australian Mesoblast, is forging ahead using allogeneic MSCs with Phase III programs in heart failure, chronic low back pain (CLBP) due to disc degeneration, as well as a range of inflammatory conditions including GvHD and rheumatoid arthritis.

Although the ability of MSCs to regenerate tissues remains questionable, the Mesoblasts approach hinges on a body of evidence showing that MSCs can suppress inflammation and mobilize endogenous repair mechanisms through indirect effects on immune cells.

Indeed, the first-ever approved stem cell therapy, Prochymal, also depends on this mechanism. Prochymal was developed by US-based Osiris Therapeutics and in 2012 received Canadian approval to treat acute GvHD. But after Sanofi opted to shelve its partnership with Osiris prior to FDA approval, the biotech sold out its off-the-shelf stem cell platform to Mesoblast in a $100M deal.

In Belgium, companies like TiGenix and Promethera are also banking on the immunomodulatory properties of MSCs. The companies are developing treatments for patients with Crohns disease and liver diseases, respectively.

The ultimate hope for stem cell therapies has been to regenerate damaged or diseased tissues as found in diabetes, heart failure or blindness. Holostem Terapie Avanzate, a spin-off from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia was the first company to move towards this goal.

Building on 20 long years of research, the biotech has developed Holoclar, the first and only autologous stem cell therapy (apart from bone marrow transplants) to enter the European market. Holoclar is based on limbal stem cells, located in a part of the eye called the limbus, which can be used to restore eyesight in patients that have lost sight due to burn injuries.

Meanwhile, UK-based Reneuron is developing off-the-shelf therapies that aim to restore the cognitive function of patients following a stroke. Backed by no other than Neil Woodford, the company recently raised an impressive 100M to advance its lead therapy to the market.

The biotechs fetal-derived neural stem cell line CTX was able to significantly reduce the disability of post-stroke patients in a Phase II trial and ReNeuron is now planning to push its candidate into pivotal trials.

A major question in the space a decade ago was safety. Today, theres been a lot of trials done that show that safety is not an issue. I think safety is kind of off the table but efficacy is still a question mark. And thats what were trying to deliver now, Olav Helleb, CEO of ReNeuron, told me.

While neural stem cells and other tissue-specific stem cells are able to regenerate the cells of a particular tissue, Embryonic Stem Cells (ESCs) and their engineered counterparts, iPSCs, are capable of making every cell type in the body, a property known as pluripotency. Pluripotent stem cells can also expand indefinitely in culture and their identification unlocked massive expectations for these cells to transform the regenerative medicine field.

Yet, these cells come with significant challenges associated with the safety of the final preparation. Apart from ethical issues surrounding ESCs, today, a lot of companies have been cautious about using these cells for therapy, because undifferentiated pluripotent cells can drive tumor formation, explained Rawadi. Since ESCs can, in principle, form every cell type, they can lead to the formation of teratomas.

A major reason for the fairly slow progress in the field is based on the difficulties of directing a pluripotent cell to exactly the cell type that is needed for cell therapy. We can readily drive the cells from the undifferentiated state to the differentiated state. However, getting those cells to pause anywhere in the middle of this continuum to yield progenitor cells is incredibly challenging, Peyer explained. Another challenge, he says, is to engraft the cells in the right place to enable them to become fully integrated.

Besides initial hurdles, companies like US-based Asterias or ViaCyte are now running the first Phase I/II trials with ESC-derived cells to treat patients with spinal cord injuries and to restore the beta cells in type I diabetes. So far, the eye has been the the dominant organ for many of the first human clinical trials with pluripotent stem cells, where the cells are assessed in diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) to restore the loss of the retinal epithelium.

Deriving retinal epithelium from pluripotent cells is relatively easy and in fact, researchers in Japan are now running the very first clinical trial using donor-derived iPSCs to treat patients with AMD. For reasons of safety and standardization, the trial is based on an allogeneic approach. However, since this doesnt offer an exact genetic match, allogeneic therapies raise the prospect of immune rejection, an issue that has been plaguing the use of ESCs.

But the scientists in Japan have contended that iPSC banks could potentially solve this problem. The team in Japan is currently establishing an iPSC bank, consisting of HLA-characterized cell lines from 5-10 different donors, which should match 3050% of Japans population.

Such haplobanks have the benefits of allogeneic cell therapy, namely cost-effectiveness and standardization, but you still have matching immune systems, Peyer agrees.

For now, this remains a vision for the future, but the potential seems enormous. As Julian Howell, CMO of ReNeuron, told me, iPSCs have still got an awful long way to go. For the iPSC program running in Japan, they recently acknowledged that it took about $1.5M and 6 months to treat each patient. Its a great idea but its still got some way to go before it reaches the scale that could get into the clinic.

Images via nobeastsofierce,Natali_ Mis,vchal/ Shutterstock

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Regenerating the Body With Stem Cells Hype or Hope? - Labiotech.eu (blog)

Cell therapy may be key to treating Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s – Economic Times

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Danzig

According to recent study, advancements in materials from this study could potentially help patients requiring stem cell therapies for spinal cord injuries, stroke, Parkinsons disease, Alzheimers disease, arthritic joints or any other condition requiring tissue regeneration. Earlier research revolved around the role of autoimmunity in terms of a treatment.

Its important in the context of cell therapies for people to cure these diseases or regenerate tissues that are no longer functional, shared Samuel I. Stupp, director of Northwesterns Simpson Querrey Institute for BioNanotechnology and Board of Trustees Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Chemistry, Medicine and Biomedical Engineering.

Cells in our bodies are constantly being signalled with many types of instructions coming from proteins and other molecules present in the matrices that surround them. For example, these can be cues for cells to express specific genes so they can proliferate or differentiate into several types of cells leading to growth or regeneration of tissues. One of the marvels of this signalling machinery is the built-in capacity in living organisms to make signals stop and restart as needed, or to switch off one signal and activate a different one to orchestrate very complex processes.

Building artificial materials with this type of dynamic capacity for regenerative therapies has been virtually impossible so far. The new work published today reports the development of the first synthetic material that has the capability to trigger reversibly this type of dynamic signalling. The platform could not only lead to materials that manage stem cells for more effective regenerative therapies, but will also allow scientists to explore and discover in the laboratory new ways to control the fate of cells and their functions.

One of the findings is the possibility of using the synthetic material to signal neural stem cells to proliferate, then at a specific time selected by the operator, trigger their differentiation into neurons and then return the stem cells back to a proliferative state on demand. The paper also reports that spinal cord neural stem cells, initially grouped into structures known as neurospheres, can be driven to spread out and differentiate using a signal.

But when this signal is switched off, the cells spontaneously regroup themselves into colonies. This uncovers strong interactions among these cells that could be important in understanding developmental and regenerative cues. The potential use of the new technology to manipulate cells could help cure a patient with Parkinsons disease. The patients own skin cells could be converted to stem cells using existing techniques.

The new technology could help expand the newly converted stem cells in vitro in the lab and then drive their differentiation into dopamine-producing neurons before transplantation back to the patient. In the new technology, materials are chemically decorated with different strands of DNA, each designed to display a different signal to cells.

People would love to have cell therapies that utilize stem cells derived from their own bodies to regenerate tissue. In principle, this will eventually be possible, but one needs procedures that are effective at expanding and differentiating cells in order to do so. Our technology does that, noted Stupp. While this process is currently only done in vitro with the vision of then transplanting cells, Stupp said in the future it might be possible to perform this process in vivo.

The stem cells would be implanted in the clinic, encapsulated in the type of material described in the new work, via an injection and targeted to a particular spot. Then the soluble molecules would be given to the patient to manipulate proliferation and differentiation of transplanted cells. The study was published in journal Nature Communications.

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Cell therapy may be key to treating Alzheimer's & Parkinson's - Economic Times

Developing a Spiritual Practice as a Way to Change Men and the World – The Good Men Project (blog)

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Danzig

At a recent gathering, I heard a man say the following: We are concerned with what type of world we are leaving our children; We should also ask what type of children are we leaving for the world.

As a practicing Buddhist for over ten years, my belief system is simple, effective and always provides me with opportunities to grow and evolve.

There are not many institutions that allow individuals to constantly strive to better themselves and as a result, the world.

Most religions and spiritual practices encourage a great deal of conformity and very little self reflection that can, if we allow it, lead to some serious transformation.

I know of no one outside of my practice who is committed to self transformation to the extent that we (practitioners of my particular sect of buddhism) pride ourselves on being.

It has always struck me as odd when people say they have no spiritual practice and believe in nothing but themselves.

One of the greatest aspects of a spiritual practice is that it allows humans to be with other humans.

We learn and grow from human interaction particularly if what we are doing is focusing on personal transformation that engenders global transformation.

While openly admitting to having a spiritual practice is often frowned upon, it is imperative that they exist and people look at all the ways they practice spirituality without labeling it as such.

Anybody who fights for human rights, ending violence in all its forms and eliminating domination and unfair treatment of others and oppression is doing spiritual work and has a commitment to a spiritual practice.

Bell Hooks refers to those who do the work of ending domination as doing the work of love.

Men who want to transform themselves would be wise to heed these words.

As men, we must not be afraid to humble ourselves to the parts of ourselves that cry out and demand serious, real connection, change and uplift.

The most powerful men I have met have a spiritual core and devotion to spirituality that is awe inspiring.

We can let go of domination and king of the hill shenanigans that mask fears of the other and an unwillingness to be vulnerable.

With spirituality there is a wonder (a not knowing) that most men are uncomfortable with and yet this is what is needed if men wish to allow the best, most loving and thoughtful part of themselves to prosper.

Men have been taught that to wonder and not know is dumb, weak, unforgivable and can only lead to trouble for all involved.

When man can retire the cape, get off the white horse and admit: I dont know; the world and themselves can change and true transformation can occur.

We should allow ourselves permission to not know, to dwell in the spiritual.

This must be allowed without interference, judgement or punishment.

We can not demand that men evolve when the essential component of spirituality is missing.

Men who care for children, support the elderly by driving them to agreed upon destinations and who listen to women and anyone who might know more about a subject than they do are practicing a sacred spirituality.

Men have been taught that to wonder and not know is dumb, weak, unforgivable and can only lead to trouble for all involved.

Invite the men in your life to a temple, a mosque, Sunday service.

Remember no revolution or inner transformation can survive without a devotion to the spirit.

When I pointed out this reality, some folks didnt agree and doubted that the core of any revolution and social change was based in a devotion to spirit.

Any time there is a break away from commonly held beliefs regardless of their effectiveness or sincerity, you are asking for and ushering in a revolution.

We are asking men to change and show us their best selves which is revolutionary and can only be carried out when radical spirituality is at the center.

Men are smart enough to figure this out and there should still exist space for us all to question, debate and sample all manner of spiritual commitment.

Maybe you were brought up in the Judeo Christian construct (and if you were raised in America, you were) and have a difficult time breaking away from what is familiar and moving into and towards the unknown.

It is important that we open our hearts and minds to what other folks believe and the ways individuals structure their lives according to what they find important.

If any institution, no matter how well meaning, suggests that you be less human or give up big chunks of yourself under the auspice that you will win later, run.

Anything that demands more of our humanity and not less is what we should focus on.

Previously published on Anthony Carter

Photo by Nana B Agyei

Anthony Carter combines his love of theatre, writing, storytelling, and black queer feminist theory to create projects that inspire all to greatness, including having been a semifinalist in the Strawberry One Act Festival 2007 with his play Breakfast for Dinner. His book Unfettered Mind: The Importance of Black Male Mental Health, released in 2012, offers several winning strategies for remaining mentally healthy and emotionally resilient in a rapidly changing world.

Mr. Carters second book, Strong Stuff: Tips on Surviving Unemployment, offers insight on maintaining self-esteem and personal friendships while one searches for work. Based on personal experiences (2.5 years of unemployment and some homelessness), this latest book is full of exercises and quick easy to read and apply tips for thriving despite being jobless. In February 2016, he is publishing his first collection of Sci-Fi/ - speculative fiction short stories entitled Rules of Reality.

Anthony Carter and his husband are joyfully co-raising nine grandchildren while relentlessly devising techniques for the worlds evolution. You can visit him onlinehere.

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Developing a Spiritual Practice as a Way to Change Men and the World - The Good Men Project (blog)

History comes alive in Nauvoo – Fort Madison Daily Democrat

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Danzig

NAUVOO Three thousand chairs line the outdoor amphitheater in front of the stage, but tonight those chairs and the stage will be filled as the Nauvoo and British Pageants open the 2017 season.

More than 1,100 volunteers put on the Broadway quality shows about early Mormon history in the U.S. and England by presenting the British production, Truth Will Prevail, together with the Nauvoo production on alternating evenings.

The Nauvoo Pageant, through drama, dance and song, recounts the story of early Latter-day Saints church members who, in 1839, fled to Nauvoo to escape religious persecution. The British Pageant, Truth Will Prevail, tells the history of the Reformation in the British Isles and the story of the early Christian reformers that sacrificed much, with many giving their lives in defense of the truth. The British Pageant was performed in the U.S. for the first time in 2014 and will again be featured this year.

Her Directing Debut

Both pageants include scripts based on actual journals and historic records from the 1800s, as well as traditional and original music. In fact, Cynthia Collier, who is making her directing debut with this years British Pageant, was one of the original writers of the pageants.

It was a writing team, a process. They each did a piece of research, shared it with the group and we would decide what parts needed to be told, Collier recalled. Each person researched a portion of the history and we came together to sort through what was needed for the story to be told, Collier said. You really had to put your ego aside and do what was best for the story.

As director, Collier deals with a rotating batch of actors each week. Through the month-long pageant run, five separate family casts of about 130-140 each volunteer for two weeks; the first week they rehearse and run the pageants Country Fair, and the second week they perform on stage.

Some families have worked and saved all year to make this trip and volunteer to be part of it. One family says they decided that their Christmas would be coming to Nauvoo this summer, Collier said.

While directing is a totally different experience from writing, Collier said she enjoys working with the actors and would be willing to direct again if called upon to do so.

Volunteers find the days and evenings of their two-week vacation full. They rehearse 8 a.m. to noon; take a two-hour lunch break; have staging/dance rehearsal 2-4 p.m.; break for dinner and rest 4-6 p.m.; and then return to the stage to rehearse and stage lighting 6-9 p.m.

We try to finish by 9 as much as possible because of the smaller children in the pageant, but sometimes that doesnt happen. Last night it was about 10:30, Collier said.

But children are not expected to keep up such a rigorous pace. Still more volunteers are charged with entertaining and caring for the children that need breaks or rest.

But we tell the parents, especially the mothers, if your child needs you, go that is where you need to be, Collier added.

15,000 pieces of clothing

With 20 core professional actors and the hundreds of volunteer family actors, one can only imagine how many costumes must be prepared about 15,000 pieces of clothing is the most recent estimate.

But Elaine Huish doesnt have to imagine. She heads up the Pageant wardrobe team and is spending her fifth summer mending, sewing, and fitting costumes. She is quick to credit Jannette Lusk-Unterborn with the design of many of those costumes. Lusk-Unterborn continues to volunteer her talents on the sewing crew.

The Pageant Headquarters on the outskirts of Nauvoo has room after room lined with the womens sweeping skirts and colorful bonnets, and the mens garb from homespun to dress coats with tails spark the two productions with authenticity.

We have researched both the clothing worn in the British Isles and in America during in the mid-19th century to make these pageants as authentic as possible, says Huish of the costumes for both the Nauvoo and British Pageants.

Twelve to 16 volunteers, some from the area and others from other states, work 8-10 hours a day in a room in the headquarters sewing the costumes to depict the 1840s. The wardrobes are segregated according to which pageant they belong.

The British colors are a bit brighter, fashions were different, than for the Nauvoo pageant, Huish said.

Also, each actor has multiple costume changes. As the pageant progresses, the costumes become noticeably lighter in color to represent the spiritual enlightenment of the characters portrayed on the stage.

And remember, while the 20 core professional actors remain in place throughout the pageant runs, a new cast of volunteer actors arrives every week or so, which means costumes must be refitted for the new cast members.

The Workers Down Below

While the stage runs over with singing actors in colorful costumes, there is another crew of workers that are not seen by the audience, yet is just as essential to the elaborate productions.

They make up the work crew of 20 young men, ages 17-23, who set up, run, maintain and strike the pageant stage and operate technical equipment. Last year, cast members and other volunteers traveled from Japan, China, Mexico, Canada, England and many of the United States. Dozens more staff members work year-round, preparing for each years performance.

Many of the work crew are under the stage itself, waiting for the next cue from the stage manager that tells them what portion of the set to elevate or lower.

And, while actors often endure temperatures on stage under the lights well into the 90s, the work crew is down below, cut off from the outdoor breeze.

Further, while todays technology would allow some of the maneuvers to be done with the push of a button, Pageant coordinators decided to remain faithful to the 1840s. So, much of the lowering and rising of houses and other portions of the set are done by a group of strong volunteers working in sync with each other to perfectly time the moves.

The Country Fair & Bagpipe Band

The Country Fair is held prior to each 8:30 p.m. pageant performance and brings the 1840s to life as volunteers in period dress play games and demonstrate pastimes of the period such as round dancing.

Like the Pageants, admission to the Country Fair is free.

The bagpipe band then leads a colorful and energetic parade to the pageant stage for the beginning of the Pageant at 8:30 p.m.

Bagpipers in the Nauvoo Pageant band come from several areas around the United States. The band involves both youth and adults who volunteer part of their summer to participate.

Making A Day of It

In addition to the evening Pageants and the Country Fair, Nauvoo is filled with more activities and historic tours, complete with re-enactors in period dress, to occupy visitors during the day this summer.

In fact, there are 48 historic sites in Nauvoo including the Brigham Young Home, Browning Home & Gunsmith Shop, the period Print Shop, Boot & Show Shop, Joseph and Emma Smiths Mansion, the Joseph and Hyrum Smith Homestead and Memorial, and much more.

Free wagon rides and a series of historic vignettes are offered daily in July and August.

Pioneer Pastimes to engage younger visitors are offered daily.

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History comes alive in Nauvoo - Fort Madison Daily Democrat

All Our Waves Are Water’ Chronicles Surfer’s Spiritual Lessons From The Ocean – KPBS

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Danzig

Credit: Peter Dawson

Above: Author Jaimal Yogis holding a surfboard in this undated photo.

Aired 7/10/17 on KPBS Midday Edition

'All Our Waves Are Water' Chronicles Surfers Spiritual Lessons From The Ocean

GUEST:

Jaimal Yogis, author, "All Our Waves Are Water: Stumbling Towards Enlightenment And The Perfect Ride"

Transcript

The rhythm of surfing reflects the rhythm of life for many surfers.

A deep relationship with the ocean often prompts surfers to take spiritual lessons from being in the water.

Author Jaimal Yogis is sharing that journey in his new memoir All Our Waves Are Water: Stumbling Toward Enlightenment And The Perfect Ride."

Yogis takes readers from the Himalayas to Indonesia, a Franciscan friary in New York City and Jerusalem, while exploring the intersection of surfing, spirituality and self-discovery.

His latest book picks up where his coming-of-age novel, Saltwater Buddha, about his adventures in Hawaii as a teenager, left off.

When: Tuesday 7:30 p.m.

Where: Warwick's Bookstore, La Jolla

Cost: Free and open to the public

Yogis discusses Monday on Midday Edition the lessons he has learned and the people he has met through his experiences.

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All Our Waves Are Water' Chronicles Surfer's Spiritual Lessons From The Ocean - KPBS

Ray Wylie Hubbard’s 10 Most Biblical Tunes – Houston Press

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Danzig

Tuesday, July 11, 2017 at 3:30 a.m.

New album Tell the Devil I'm Getting There as Fast as I Can is one of Ray Wylie Hubbard's finest works in a career filled with them.

Photo by Eryn Brooke/Courtesy of Conqueroo

Exploring the notion of heaven and hell, and the pursuit of sinful pleasures, is front and center on the new Ray Wylie Hubbard album, Tell the Devil I'm Getting There as Fast as I Can, to be released on August 18 through Bordello Records/Thirty Tigers. Yet it's not just becoming aseptuagenarian in 2016 that has pushed the Texas singer to start thinking about life, death and the hereafter and inserting religious themes into his music. (Hes also been inserting references to obscure guitars and vintage amplifiers into his songs for several years, but thats another list for down the road.)

AsHubbard explained to me while we were hunkered down for an afternoon nearly a decade ago at his home near Austin in Wimberley when the renegade ruffian singer whipped up a meticulously prepared cappuccino for his guest he consciously decided to shift toward the ethereal after gorging on a pile of books by the likes of Edgar Allen Poe and H.D. Lovecraft while also listening to old-timey gospel music, as he was getting ready to release his 2009 album A. Enlightenment, B. Endarkenment. (Hint: There is No C). That movement toward the cerebral might also have been a reaction to his goofy 2006 song "Snake Farm" that fans insist he play at every show, just like "Screw You, We're From Texas" or that other familiar cash-cow ditty he wrote decades earlier that contains the words "redneck" and "mothers."

The new record the third in his trilogy exploring a life well lived is indeed one of Hubbard's finest pieces of work, and not because he has assembled stellar vocalists including Patty Griffin and Lucinda Williams to join in. Though the album leads off with the in-your-face biblical track "God Looked Around," that song doesnt even come close to several of the other, more memorable compositions that delve into Christianity's quirks and the age-old worries about mortality, part of what Hubbard described to me more recently as his spiritual awakening rather than merely finding religion.

So while it might be easy to come with a list of Hubbard's best countrified party songs, we're sticking to 10 of the best songs over the years that have featured his musings about God, the Devil and everything in between. Can we get an Amen?

10. "Ask God" The Grifter's Hymnal, 2012 Not all of Hubbard's forays into religion have been steeped in imagery or shaded by lyrics where Hubbard might have spent hours trying to find a word that rhymed with "metaphysical." This one is a tribute to the kind of simple, gospel songs his grandmother took to heart, with a repetitive refrain that doubles as affirmation as Hubbard boosts the intensity level as each verse moves along: "When some devil knocks you down, ask God to pick you up."

Bordello Records/Thirty Tigers

9. "Prayer" Tell the Devil I'm Getting There as Fast as I Can, 2017 A song that fits comfortably in the stripped-down, acoustic arrangement Hubbard favors for his live shows these days working only with two backing musicians and the finger-picking style he didn't learn until he was in his forties, which has since become his signature style. Here, Ray Wylie delves into his favorite theme of someone wrestling with spirituality: "When I seek to unravel the sacred I get perplexed and overwhelmed." You certainly won't find any Nashville country stars tossing in the words "ecclesiastical and "ethereal" into their songs, as Hubbard does in this track.

8. "The Way of the Fallen" Snake Farm, 2006 Hubbard has written countless songs that tell tales of n'er-do-wells who inhabit the world that he often describes as devils, whether they're actually in the employ of Hades' headmaster or not. In this case, driven by a military beat and some subtle slide work, this song tells of one particular devil's frustration in that he seems to be losing out to the growing need by the world to find religion or at least in Corpus Christi, where the song is set. "Perhaps I should mention," the devil says as the song reaches its zenith, "I prefer to die with a bottle of wine than the comfort of religion."

7. "Preacher" Growl, 2003 Another stripped-down blues song in which a preacher shows up at the door one day to pitch his idea of redemption and how those who find God can expect heavenly rewards. While they're talking, the protagonist is spending most of his time exactly where he wants to be: distracted by watching the woman next door hang out her washing, and asks the preacher if he's seen anything as fine. At that point, the preacher closes his Bible and leaves: "Must have been something I said."

6. "New Year's Eve at the Gates of Hell" The Grifter's Hymnal This rousing country-rocker features Hubbard alternating between tongue-in-cheek references and hitting stride in full snarl, as he name drops some people he'd like to settle up with. When he wonders what the stench is coming from hell, he knows right away: "It's Jimmy Perkins and all the sons of bitches who ripped off musicians and stole their riches, they're burning over yonder with the Fox News whores." Perkins is the label chief Hubbard struck up a deal with for distribution of his Snake Farm record. Didn't quite work out to Hubbard's satisfaction, apparently.

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Ray Wylie Hubbard's 10 Most Biblical Tunes - Houston Press

Chinese students to live 200 days in sealed space module with nothing going in and nothing coming out – USA TODAY

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Danzig

If you have ever wondered what life on a different planet might be like, it might look a little like this. Susana Victoria Perez (@susana_vp) has more. Buzz60

Student volunteers wave from inside the Lunar Palace 1, a laboratory simulating a lunar-like environment, in Beijing.(Photo: STR, AFP/Getty Images)

They tried it with animals; now its time to try it with humans.

Yes, a group of human guinea pigs actually, four Chinese university students are trying to find out how it feels to live in a self-sustaining space station on another planet.

They are part of a project aimed at creating an ecosystem that provides everything humans need to survive, Reuters reported.

The students, from Beihang University, previously known as the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, entered the Lunar Palace-1 module on Sunday with the aim of living self-sufficiently for 200 days.

The module containsfour bed cubicles, a common room, a washroom, a waste-treatment room and an animal-raising room, according to a report by the official Xinhua News Agency and the People's Daily newspaper.

"I'll get so much out of this," Liu Guanghui, a Ph.D student, who entered the 1,700-square-foot temporary residence on Sunday, told Reuters. "It's truly a different life experience."

Human waste will be treated through a bio-fermentation process, Xinhua reported,and vegetables and other crops will be grown with the help of food and waste byproducts.

The experiment comes as China seeks to become a global power in space exploration, with plans to send the first probe to the dark side of the moon by 2018 and to put astronauts on the moon by 2036, Reuters reported.

Liu Hong, a professor at at the university who is leading the project,said everything needed for human survival had been carefully calculated.

Four student volunteers take an oath before entering the Lunar Palace 1, a laboratory simulating a lunar-like environment.(Photo: STR, AFP/Getty Images)

"We've designed it so the oxygen (produced by plants at the station) is exactly enough to satisfy the humans, the animals and the organisms that break down the waste materials," she told Reuters.

The project also is a test of the psychological impact on humans of a long stay on another planet.

"They can become a bit depressed," Liu told the agency. "If you spend a long time in this type of environment it can create some psychological problems."

The project's support team has found mapping out a specific set of daily tasks for the students is one way that helps them to remain happy, Reuters reported.

"We did this experiment with animals, ... so we want to see how much impact it will have on people," Liusaid.

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Chinese students to live 200 days in sealed space module with nothing going in and nothing coming out - USA TODAY

NanoRacks CEO discusses trends in commercial space hardware – Phys.Org

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Danzig

July 11, 2017 by Tomasz Nowakowski, Astrowatch.net, Universe Today Credit: NanoRacks

Founded in 2009, the Houston, Texas-based company NanoRacks LLC provides commercial hardware and services onboard the International Space Station (ISS) for government and commercial customers. To date, the firm has sent more than 550 payloads from over 30 countries to ISS, creating trends in commercial hardware in space. In an interview with Astrowatch.net, Jeffrey Manber, the founder and CEO of NanoRacks, talks about the company's future and past achievements.

Astrowatch.net: What are you future plans for the company? What is your priority for the coming years?

Jeffrey Manber: We are growing into the world's first commercial space station company. Today, our focus is on completing our commercial airlock on the ISS, which will allow far larger satellites and cargo to be deployed from the station. We are also moving forward on re-use of existing in-space hardware for commercial habitats and marketing other real estate in space, such as Blue Origin's suborbital New Shepard platform. We want to be the market leader in owning or operating as much real estate in space, from low-earth orbit to deep space to the moon and Mars, as is commercially possible.

Astrowatch.net: Your company is involved in many projects onboard the ISS. Could we call NanoRacks a trend setter when it comes to developing commercial hardware on ISS?

Manber: I would like to think that is correct. We were first to market on the station in owning and marketing our own hardware. We were first to have non-U.S. customers, first to have commercial satellite customers using the space station and we paved the way for using the space station in myriad commercial projects, from education to basic research to biopharma.

Astrowatch.net: How is your cooperation with NASA going? Do you plan some projects involving other space agencies?

Manber: Great question. The relationship with NASA has matured in many ways. NASA and the space station program office no longer question whether companies can and should make a profit providing services on the station using their own hardware. The space station office now supports our new projects, such as airlock, where we are self-funding. So the partnership with NASA has matured. They are at times a customer, they are our regulator and they are our landlord. Just as it should be in a commercial relationship!

We have very good relations with other space agencies. ESA is a customer of ours for satellite deployment. So, too, the European Union Commission. We work extensively within the Japanese module KIBO via the U.S.-Japan barter arrangement, so we have wonderful relations with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and so too with the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos), with whom we work on both Progress and Soyuz.

NanoRacks is unusual in how deep is our relations with non U.S. space agencies. This is good as we look to return to the moon and move on to Mars.

Astrowatch.net: Are commercial space companies the future of spaceflight?

Manber: The industry is on the cusp of having space be just another place to do business. We are seeing multiple private launch vehicle efforts, we are seeing government behaving more and more as a customer. We are seeing companies like NanoRacks beginning to look beyond the International Space Station to see a marketplace where there are multiple space stations, all commercial, some unmanned for in-space manufacture, some manned as hotels, some for professionals to train for deep space missions.

Astrowatch.net: Which of NanoRacks' products on ISS is the most important for you and why? Which one was the biggest milestone for your company?

Manber: Right now our satellite deployment hardware is important because it is a large percentage of our current revenue! But as we look to the future, the airlock will be key, because not only will it increase our revenue from today for cargo egress and satellite deployment, but at some point in the future, we will remove the airlock from ISS and attach it to our own commercial platform.

How cool is that? Oh, I would say our biggest milestone was successful deployment of satellites. Or when we agreed to accept NASA funding for a research hardware called Plate Reader and NASA was nervous because we were new. So we agreed that if Plate Reader did not work, we would refund the taxpayers money. Luckily, it all worked! But I have not seen any other company make that same offer when taking the space agency's funding. But it was a turning point for us when NASA realized we were serious.

Astrowatch.net: You have recently made a statement that the company's mission is to democratize access to space. How close to achieving this goal is NanoRacks?

Manber: It is fair to say that after 550 payloads in seven years of operations from over 30 nations, including high schools and new nations to space, that after stimulating the growth of an entire new marketcommercial CubeSatsNanoRacks is today democratizing use of this incredible new frontier. Anyone, anywhere, from China to Vietnam, from Peru to Brooklyn, can and has used NanoRacks to undertake a commercial space research project. We have even had multiple customers whose funding came from crowd sourcing websites. It is a revolution and we are proud to be a leader in realizing this revolution in space utilization. Who knows what will be the situation in just five years?

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NanoRacks CEO discusses trends in commercial space hardware - Phys.Org

One small step for US-China space cooperation – SpaceNews

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Danzig

A Chinese DNA experiment was among the 25 NanoRacks-brokered experiments a SpaceX Dragon delivered to ISS in early June. Credit: NASA

This articleoriginally appeared in the June 19, 2017 issue of SpaceNews magazine.

Collaboration between China and the United States in space is difficult. Federal law prohibits NASA from bilateral cooperation with China unless the agency first receives congressional approval. Export control restrictions prevent U.S. companies from selling hardware to Chinese companies, or launching satellites on Chinese rockets.

One initiative, though, could open the door for greater cooperation between the two space powers, eventually. One of the payloads delivered to the International Space Station on a Dragon cargo spacecraft in early June was an experiment developed by Deng Yulin, a professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology in China. The experiment will test the effects of the space radiation environment on DNA.

The experiment was one of more than 25 brought to the station by NanoRacks, the Houston-based company whose services include delivering and operating experiments on the ISS. What made the experiment stand out was not so much its science or technology but that it was the first Chinese-built experiment to go to the station.

Jeffrey Manber, chief executive of NanoRacks, said the decision to fly the payload was based on business, not politics. Why are we working with China? Because theyre in space, he said during an event in New York June 5, the same day the Dragon berthed to the station.

The experiment flew once before on a Chinese mission, Manber said, with an abnormality detected in the DNA. We dont know yet if its due to the microgravity or the radiation, he said, hence the desire by Deng to fly it again, this time on the ISS.

The experiment was able to navigate a narrow path to overcome legal obstacles to U.S.-China space cooperation. Because the agreement is with NanoRacks, and not NASA, it does not violate existing limitations on bilateral cooperation between NASA and China. Moreover, since the experiment is imported to the United States, it does not run afoul of export control restrictions.

The company, in a June 5 statement, emphasized that the experiment will remain installed on a NanoRacks platform inside the station, with no access to NASA or other ISS systems. There is, NanoRacks added, no transfer of technology between NASA and China. NanoRacks also worked with NASA to ensure there were no issues flying the experiment.

For us, its not about a political statement, but that we now have another unique international customer, Manber said in that statement.

While the flight of that experiment may not have had geopolitical motivations, it might yet have geopolitical implications. In the U.S., the experiment got very little attention until after its launch. However, in China, it was major news, where it was seen as a milestone. This is a new model of cooperation that we can follow in the future, Deng told the state-run Xinhua news agency.

If a Chinese experiment can fly on the ISS, how else could the United States and China cooperate in space? For now, there are no signs of major changes in current U.S. policy, but its clear the issue cannot be ignored, especially as Chinas spaceflight capabilities grow.

Theyre very active, NASA Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot said at a June 8 hearing of the House Science Committee, when asked about Chinese space capabilities. For us, we have to decide at some point whats going to be our interaction with them.

Manber has his own ideas of how he would like to work with the Chinese in the future. They have a space station as well, he said, and Im going to work as hard as I can to make it international.

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One small step for US-China space cooperation - SpaceNews

The Space Station Fires Music-Playing Satellites Into Orbit – Inverse

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Danzig

A group of five softball-sized satellites have had quite the journey: After a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted them into space, astronauts on the International Space Station received the tiny instruments, and on July 7 they shot them into Earths orbit like cannonballs, whose epic flight is shown in the image below.

These five mini-satellites are cubes, not spheres, and they comprise a fleet of instruments called BIRDS, developed by AMSAT-UK, a private organization that designs, builds, and operates amateur satellites. Their mission, aided by the International Space Station, is to improve radio communications from satellites to the receiving stations used by regular folks down on Earth, aka amateurs.

Each of the five BIRD satellites is identical and built by an international team comprised of five disparate nations Bangladesh, Nigeria, Mongolia, Ghana, and Japan. As the little cubes zip around Earth, the radio operators will try and pass control of the satellites between different ground stations around the globe, with an added game-like component: If the ground stations can successfully send data to the satellites, Earthlings everywhere will be rewarded with space-made music.

To get the music, global researchers will upload digital music data (MIDI files) to the little cubes as they pass overhead, and the satellites themselves will transform the data into music using a vocal simulator. This processed music will then be emanated down to anyone interested in listening to these cosmic sounds. AMSAT-UK provides directions for tuning in here, and says that all one needs is a common hand-held receiver and hand-made Yagi antenna positioned to track the satellite at each given pass over the region.

The International Space Station shoots CubeSats into orbit using a Star Wars-like weapon, the double-barreled JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer, which has no malicious or defensive capabilities; it simply fires little cubes into space, sending them to their appropriate locations in Earths orbit.

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The Space Station Fires Music-Playing Satellites Into Orbit - Inverse

BepiColombo Mercury mission tested for journey into ‘pizza oven’ – Spaceflight Now

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Danzig

A view of the BepiColombo spacecraft stacked in launch configuration at the European Space Agencys ESTEC test center in the Netherlands. The sunshield cover for Japans Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter is pictured at lower right. Credit: Airbus Defense and Space

Three spacecraft built in Europe and Japan have completed their final joint tests to ensure they are ready for departure to Mercury on an Ariane 5 rocket late next year on the nearly $1.9 billion BepiColombo mission to survey the solar systems innermost planet.

Officials displayed the BepiColombo spacecraft to the media last week in the Netherlands, where engineers are putting the probe to the test in the extreme thermal, acoustic and vibration environments it will encounter in flight.

Readying the mission to survive the searing temperatures at Mercury proved to be one of the biggest challenges in BepiColombos two-decade development.

We have to survive 10 times the solar radiation we are experiencing at Earth, plus surface temperatures of up to 450 degrees Celsius (842 degrees Fahrenheit), said Ulrich Reininghaus, ESAs BepiColombo project manager, in a press briefing last week.

The European Space Agency-led project will dispatch two scientific orbiters to Mercury with instruments to map the planets landscapes and topography, peer into darkened craters that may contain water ice and a mysterious frozen organic sludge, and probe the scorched worlds interior structure by measuring its magnetic field.

I think our two spacecraft we send to Mercury will, first of all, do a very comprehensive and thorough investigation of the planet and its environment, said Johannes Benkhoff, BepiColombo project scientist at ESA. It will help to unveil the mysteries of Mercury and hopefully provide clues to better understand the formation history of the planet and of our solar system.

A propulsion module will go along on the 7.2-year trip to Mercury to steer the robotic science probes through the solar system with the aid of four ion engines.

Scheduled for launch in October 2018, the tandem mission developed by ESA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is the most ambitious expedition to Mercury yet mounted, and the first time the blazing hot planet will be visited by a spacecraft not owned by NASA.

Two previous NASA missions Mariner 10 and MESSENGER previously explored Mercury. Mariner 10 zipped by Mercury three times in the 1974 and 1975, photographing less than half of the planet before MESSENGER made its own flybys and eventually entered orbit in March 2011 for a four-year global science campaign.

BepiColombo will follow on MESSENGERs results and get even more details (about Mercury), Benkhoff said. We will be able to answer many, many of the questions that were raised by the MESSENGER mission.

Those questions include the nature of water ice deposits hidden deep inside permanently-shadowed craters near Mercurys poles, and the source of the planets unexpected magnetic field.

BepiColombos European-built Mercury Planetary Orbiter carries 11 instruments, a suite comprising a high-resolution mapping camera, a laser altimeter, an accelerometer, and a set of spectrometers on a downward-facing science deck that will remain pointed toward the planet throughout each orbit.

The Japanese-made Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiters five science sensors will study the plasma environment around Mercury, attempt to image the planets sodium-rich tenuous atmosphere, and measure Mercurys magnetic field.

The Mercury Transfer Module will shepherd the two science orbiters on the 5.5-billion-mile (8.9-billion-kilometer) voyage from Earth to Mercury. The engine section hosts no science instruments, but its two electricity-generating solar panels each stretching nearly 40 feet (12 meters) long will produce power for four rear-mounted xenon-fueled electric thrusters.

The ion engines, which can fire two at a time, will provide more than half the impulse BepiColombo needs for the one-way trip. The spacecraft will also use nine gravity boosts from flybys with Earth, Venus and Mercury to line up for orbital insertion at the innermost planet.

Named for Giuseppe Bepi Colombo, the Italian mathematician and engineer who helped design Mariner 10s Mercury flyby trajectory, the mission is due to arrive at its destination in December 2025.

The flight plan calls for the spacecraft to jettison the transfer module and fire rocket engines to slip into orbit around the planet. Japans magnetospheric orbiter, cocooned in a protective sunshield during the missions interplanetary transit, will be released in an egg-shaped elliptical orbit stretching up to 7,232 miles (11,640 kilometers) above Mercury.

Then the sunshield will be ejected as the European orbiter spirals closer to Mercury, eventually ending up in a tighter orbit ranging between about 300 miles (480 kilometers) and 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) from the planet.

The dual spacecraft will spend at least a year observing Mercury.

ESA and JAXA officials said last week the mission is on track for liftoff at the opening of an eight-week launch window Oct. 5, 2018.

BepiColombos launch window opens the same month the James Webb Space Telescope a U.S.-European-Canadian observatory that will succeed Hubble is set for blastoff on a different Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana.

Arianespace officials will meet with managers from both projects in September to determine which high-profile science mission will go first.

Engineers last month simulated the vibration and noise BepiColombo will experience during its rocket ride from Earth, capping a series of tests on the combined spacecraft in its launch configuration, which towers around 20 feet (6 meters) tall.

The ground team will disassemble the spacecraft in the coming months, conduct additional electrical checks, then place BepiColombos transfer module in a space environment simulator modified to mimic the extreme temperatures at Mercury. The propulsion sections thermal test follows up similar exposure verifications already completed on the European and Japanese orbiters.

ESA originally intended to launch the BepiColombo in 2009 when the mission was formally selected by the agencys science committee in 2000.

Crafting a spacecraft capable of withstanding the hot temperatures at Mercury turned out to be tough, officials said.

Engineers had to design new solar cells, develop heat-resistant pointing mechanisms for BepiColombos antennas and solar panels, and install mirrors to reflect sunlight and infrared heat.

Much of the technology had to be invented just for BepiColombo.

The challenge was to develop a solar cell assembly that was capable of withstanding high temperatures and ultraviolet radiation at the same time, said Markus Schelkle, BepiColombo program manager at Airbus Defense and Space in Germany, the missions prime contractor. This was (something) we learned, and due to that, we had a really hard, long way to find a solution.

BepiColombo also carries ceramic thermal coatings and titanium parts covered in silver and gold to ensure its communications antenna can function in the furnace-like temperatures at Mercury.

We had several delays, Reininghaus said. Work on the solar cells and high-temperature mechanisms cost us much more time than we expected, he said.

The database on materials we had, even for qualified products, was good up to 125 degrees Celsius (257 degrees Fahrenheit), Reininghaus said.

That was not good enough for BepiColombo.

Were flying into a pizza oven, Reininghaus said. This is why we had to test materials at very high temperature regimes, sometimes with very unwanted results.

Email the author.

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.

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BepiColombo Mercury mission tested for journey into 'pizza oven' - Spaceflight Now

Multiple fatalities prompt Roscosmos to step up safety measures – SpaceFlight Insider

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Danzig

Curt Godwin

July 11th, 2017

File photo of workers recovering a spent booster after it crashed into the ground in one of the designated drop zones. Photo credit: Roscosmos

The death of two workers following the June 14, 2017,launch of a Soyuz rocket carrying the Progress MS-06 resupply spacecraft to the International Space Station has prompted Roscosmos officials to step up safety efforts.

The two workers were part of a team tasked with mitigating the effects of falling, spent rocket components after impacting in designated drop zones. Those hazardous areas, located on the flat, grassy Kazakh Steppe, often experience extreme weather conditions.

Beyond large temperature swings sometimes more than50 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius) over the course of a day the treeless plains encounter strong wind gusts.It was one of these gusts that claimed the life of YuriKhatyushin.

According to reports, when Khatyushin arrived at the drop site, a strong gust fanned the flames of a brush fire that had erupted from the fallen rocket stage, engulfing hisvehicle.

Another worker,Vyacheslav Tyts, suffered serious burns when removing fallen pieces from the Soyuz rocket.Tytslater died from his injuries after being hospitalized for more than two weeks.

In order to prevent similar incidents, state corporation Roscosmos has introduced additional measures intended to minimize possible negative consequences from launches, a representative from the Russian space agency said inTass.

To lessen the likelihood of future occurrences, Roscosmos officials, in cooperation with the Kazakh government, have proposed monitoring the drop zones via both satellite and aerial imagery. Thoughits not clear exactly what may be monitored, weather and environmental conditions likely top the list.

It is also unclear if these safety precautions will be implemented before the launch of the Kanopus-V-IK satellite aboard a Soyuz rocket, currently slated to lift off on July 14, 2017.

Launch video of Progress MS-06 courtesy of Roscosmos

Tagged: Kazakh Steppe Lead Stories Progress MS-06 Roscosmos Soyuz-2-1a

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

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Multiple fatalities prompt Roscosmos to step up safety measures - SpaceFlight Insider

Creating trends in space: An interview with NanoRacks CEO Jeffrey … – SpaceFlight Insider

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Danzig

Tomasz Nowakowski

July 10th, 2017

CubeSats that are part of the QB50 constellation of CubeSats provided by countries from around the world are deployed from the NanoRacks CubeSat deployer. Photo Credit: NASA

Founded in 2009, the Houston, Texas-based company NanoRacks LLC provides commercial hardware and services on board the International Space Station (ISS) for government and commercial customers. To date, the firm has sent more than 550 payloads from over 30 countries to the ISS, creating trends in commercial hardware in space. In an interview with Astrowatch.net, Jeffrey Manber, the founder and CEO of NanoRacks, talks about the companys future and past achievements.

Astrowatch.net: What are your future plans for the company? What is your priority for the coming years?

Jeffrey Manber:We are growing into the worlds first commercial space station company. Today, our focus is on completing our commercial Airlock on the ISS, which will allow far larger satellites and cargo to be deployed from the station. We are also moving forward on re-use of existing in-space hardware for commercial habitats, and marketing other real estates in space, such as Blue Origins suborbital New Shepard platform. We want to be the market leader in owning or operating as much real-estate in space, from low-Earth orbit to deep space to the Moon and Mars, as is commercially possible.

Astrowatch.net: Your company is involved in many projects on board the ISS. Could we call NanoRacks a trendsetter when it comes to developing commercial hardware on [the] ISS?

Manber:I would like to think that is correct. We were first to market on the station in owning and marketing our own hardware. We were first to have non-U.S. customers, first to have commercial satellite customers using the Space Station, and we paved the way for using the space station in myriad commercial projects, from education to basic research to biopharma.

Artists rendering of NanoRacks Airlock Module attached to the ISS. Image Credit: NanoRacks

Astrowatch.net: How is your cooperation with NASA going? Do you plan some projects involving other space agencies?

Manber:Great question. The relationship with NASA has matured in many ways. NASA, and the Space Station program office, no longer question whether companies can and should make a profit [when] providing services on the station using their own hardware. The Space Station office now supports our new projects, such as Airlock, where we are self-funding. So the partnership with NASA has matured. They are, at times, a customer, they are our regulator, and they are our landlord. Just as it should be in a commercial relationship!

We have very good relations with other space agencies. ESA is a customer of ours for satellite deployment. So,too, the European Union Commission. We work extensively within the Japanese module KIBO via the U.S.-Japan barter arrangement, so we have wonderful relations with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and so, too, with the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos), with whom we work on both Progress and Soyuz.

NanoRacks is unusual in how deep is our relations with non-U.S. space agencies. This is good as we look to return to the Moon and move on to Mars.

Astrowatch.net: Are commercial space companies the future of spaceflight?

Manber:The industry is on the cusp of having space be just another place to do business. We are seeing multiple private launch vehicle efforts; we are seeing government behaving more and more as a customer. We are seeing companies like NanoRacks beginning to look beyond the International Space Station to see a marketplace where there are multiple space stations, all commercial, some unmanned for in-space manufacture, some manned as hotels, some for professionals to train for deep space missions.

Astrowatch.net: Which of NanoRacks product on [the] ISS is the most important for you and why? Which one was the biggest milestone for your company?

Manber:Right now, our satellite deployment hardware is important because it is a large percentage of our current revenue! But as we look to the future, the Airlock will be key, because not only will it increase our revenue from today for cargo egress and satellite deployment, but [also], at some point in the future, we will remove the Airlock from [the] ISS and attach it to our own commercial platform!

How cool is that? Oh, I would say our biggest milestone was [the] successful deployment of satellites. Or when we agreed to accept NASA funding for a research hardware called Plate Reader and NASA was nervous because we were new. So we agreed that if the Plate Reader did not work, we would refund the taxpayers money. Luckily, it all worked! But I have not seen any other company make that same offer when taking the space agencys funding! But it was a turning point for us when NASA realized we were serious.

Astrowatch.net: You have recently made a statement that the companys mission is to democratize access to space. How close to achieving this goal is NanoRacks?

Manber:It is fair to say that after 550 payloads in seven years of operations, from over 30 nations, including high schools and new nations to space, that after stimulating the growth of an [entirely] new market commercial CubeSats NanoRacks is today democratizing use of this incredible new frontier. Anyone, anywhere, from China to Vietnam, from Peru to Brooklyn, can and has used NanoRacks to undertake a commercial space research project. We have even had multiple customers whose funding came from crowdsourcing websites! It is a revolution and we are proud to be a leader in realizing this revolution in space utilization. Who knows what will be the situation in just five years?

Jeffrey Manber. Photo Credit: NanoRacks

Jeffrey Manber founded NanoRacks and serves as the CEO of this company since 2009. His prior experience includes serving as Managing Director of Energia USA, the American arm of RSC Energia. Later, he represented the Russian space organizations when the basic contracts to realize the ISS were negotiated.

As CEO of MirCorp, which leased the Russian space station Mir, he oversaw the first ever commercially funded manned mission to this orbital outpost. Manber also co-developed the first fund dedicated to commercial space on Wall Street (Shearson Lehman) and has served as an adviser to numerous companies and governments.

In 2012, he was awarded the NASA Exceptional Public Achievement Medal, and, in June 2017, he received the Pioneer in NewSpace Award from the Space Frontier Foundation (SFF).

Tagged: International Space Station Jeffrey Manber NanoRacks 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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Creating trends in space: An interview with NanoRacks CEO Jeffrey ... - SpaceFlight Insider

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