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Beat the Flash Boys of Cryptocurrency Trading with AICoin – Finance Magnates

Posted on July 5, 2017 by Danzig

Gavin Smith is the CEO of First Global Credit, a London-based cryptocurrency capital markets company, who is behind an upcoming ICO for AICoin. He sat down today to talk with Finance Magnates about the idea behind the offering, the value it will deliver to investors, algo trading and how blockchain technology allows for new forms of cooperative organization.

Learn how to buy Bitcoin and Ethereum safely with our simple guide!

The interview was broadcast live and a video recording is available here:

In contrast to the recent wave of ICOs, Gavin explains that AICOIN is a fully functioning investment service (not an idea in development) that leverages blockchain technology to deliver revenue from two different but complementary profit streams.

The coin uses the power of artificial intelligence to generate ongoing profit. These profits are then used to finance investment in early stage companies focused on public blockchain or AI technology. The quarterly selection of start-up companies will use the collective knowledge and experience of all token holders who vote on which companies will receive investment.

Since AICOIN is built on the Ethereum blockchain, the function of the smart contract is to provide transparency to and supervisory control of the voting process.

Gavin has worked in the European financial service industry for over twenty years. His most recent role prior to founding First Global was designing the global risk strategy for one of the worlds largest physical commodity traders. He has the rare set of skills needed to navigate First Global Credit through the volatility of the Bitcoin market..

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Beat the Flash Boys of Cryptocurrency Trading with AICoin - Finance Magnates

Bitcoin could nearly double and reach $5000 soon, says Standpoint Research – CNBC

Posted on July 5, 2017 by Danzig

Stock research analyst Ronnie Moas said he bought bitcoin this weekend and thinks it could reach $5,000 within a year.

"$5,000 could happen in a few months. It's only starting to gain traction right now," Moas, founder of Standpoint Research, told CNBC in a phone interview Wednesday. "It's starting to spread like wildfire right now."

He pointed out that since only 21 million bitcoin can ever exist, increasing demand for the digital currency will naturally drive its price up.

Bitcoin briefly tripled in value this year, hitting a record $3,025.47 on June 11, according to CoinDesk. The digital currency traded Wednesday near $2,600, still more than double its Dec. 31 price of $968.

"This is not something I could keep my hands off of," Moas said. "What would be more painful than losing [money in cryptocurrencies] is not acting."

The research analyst said he invested a few hundred U.S. dollars each in bitcoin, ethereum and another digital currency called litecoin through Coinbase.com. After he releases a 40-page report on cryptocurrencies in the next few weeks, Moas said he plans to invest more in them.

The research analyst's view on bitcoin joins the optimistic views of others on Wall Street. On Sunday, Goldman Sachs' technical analyst Sheba Jafari said in a note that bitcoin could rise as high as $3,915.

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Bitcoin could nearly double and reach $5000 soon, says Standpoint Research - CNBC

What is Bitcoin ABC? – The Merkle

Posted on July 5, 2017 by Danzig

Scaling Bitcoin will happen sooner or later. The only question right now is how different teams of developers plan to accomplish this. There are different camps trying to make this happen, either through a softor a hard fork. One of the latest proposals trying to push for a Bitcoin hard fork goes by the name of Bitcoin ABC. It is an interesting proposal, which suggestsan adjustable blocksize cap.

Introducing a Bitcoin hard fork solution is always a contentious proposal. There are quite a few differences between a hard fork and asoft fork. In most cases a hard fork has a greaterchance of causing a network split, which is the last thing Bitcoin needs right now. Despite the risk, we currentlyhave a few Bitcoin UAHF proposals competing for community traction.

The latest project to gain some momentumis Bitcoin ABC. The ABC part stands for Adjustable Blocksize Cap, which indicates users can determine their preferred blocksize accordingly. This feature will be appreciated by both miners and users alike. However, this maycause issues for people dealing with slower internet connections or internet data caps. It appears the maximum block size of this proposal is 16MB, although that is only a temporary placeholder.

Certain aspects about Bitcoin ABC will interest some people and infuriate others. For example, Bitcoin ABC will not support replace-by-fee, whichhas been a popular solution to avoiding Bitcoin network congestion. In theory, a larger block size will be a more effective way to avoid paying high fees, but it may still warrant the use of replace-by-fee. Not supporting this solution is rather strange.

Additionally, Bitcoin ABC has no plans to activate Segregated Witness whatsoever. That should not come as a big surprise to many people. A large part of the Bitcoin community is in favor of seeing SegWit activate, but stillwant nothing to do with it. Moving away from SegWit is also in line with Bitmains contingency plan, which was introduced several weeks ago. A user-activated hard fork without SegWit makes sense for this particular part of the community.

It is possible Bitcoin ABC is one of the three UAHF implementations that Bitmainreferred to in their infamous blog post. This has not been officially confirmed by either party, although many suspect this is the case. The Bitcoin ABC developers are in contact with miners, as well as Jihan Wu and Haipo Yang. This seems to virtually confirm Bitcoin ABC is endorsed by them, evenwithout all the specifics of the program being available.

It appears Bitcoin ABC has the support of various mining pools, but the group behind the proposalseems hesitant to confirm or deny which pools. According to a recent Reddit post, it is up to the pools to publicly announce their intentions. It will be interesting to see which if any pools come forward in support of Bitcoin ABC. We can expect more specifications over the coming weeks and it will be interesting to see if this UAHF solution can truly contend with other proposed solutions.

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What is Bitcoin ABC? - The Merkle

Hackers who targeted Ukraine clean out bitcoin ransom wallet … – The Guardian

Posted on July 5, 2017 by Danzig

transferred to a second wallet on Tuesday night. Photograph: Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The hackers behind the NotPetya ransomware, which wiped computers in more than 60 countries in late June, have moved more than 8,000 worth of bitcoins out of the account used to receive the ransoms.

The transfer has added credence to messages purporting to be from the attackers offering to decrypt every single infected computer for a one-off payment of 200,000, after security researchers suggested they may be state-sponsored actors.

It is possible to see the movement of the ransom payments thanks to the public nature of the bitcoin currency: all transfers are recorded on the public blockchain, although the real-world identities of the individuals or organisations behind a particular payment address can be near-impossible to discern.

Currently, the blockchain records that the bulk of the ransom money, 7,872 worth of bitcoin, was simply transferred to a second wallet on Tuesday night, but two smaller payments, of 200 each, went to accounts used by two text-sharing websites, Pastebin and DeepPaste.

Around 10 minutes before the payments were made, someone made posts on both those sites claiming to be able to decrypt hard disks infected with the malware in exchange for a payment of 100 bitcoins.

The 200,000 offer has created more uncertainty about the motivations behind the ransomware. While it originally appeared to be created with the intention of earning a lot of money through ransom payments, researchers quickly pointed out that a number of features of the software made it appear that the ransom element was a smokescreen, with the real goal being widespread damage.

Significantly, the majority of infections occurred in Ukraine, due to the main attack vector being a compromised version of an accounting program, ME Doc, used to file taxes in the nation. That has led to many, including the Ukrainian government, suspecting Russian involvement as part of the ongoing cyberwar between the two countries.

Hackers offering to decrypt files for money suggests that the cash motivation may be more significant than thought but that too could be misdirection.

While the hackers continue to play games, the Ukrainian cybercrime unit is continuing its investigation. On Wednesday, it announced that it had seized ME Docs servers after new activity was detected there, and said it had acted to immediately stop the uncontrolled proliferation of malware.

Cyber police spokeswoman Yulia Kvitko suggested that ME Doc had sent or was preparing to send a new update and added that swift action had prevented any further damage. Our experts stopped (it) on time, she said.

It wasnt immediately clear how or why hackers might still have access to ME Docs servers. The company has not returned messages from reporters, but in several statements took to Facebook to dispute allegations that its poor security helped seed the malware epidemic.

Cyber police chief Coonel Serhiy Demydiuk previously said that ME Docs owners would be brought to justice, but Kvitko said there had been no arrests.

Warriors down Comets in regional softball opener – Ottumwacourier

Posted on July 5, 2017 by Danzig

KEOSAUQUA The road to Fort Dodge is officially underway.

In an instant, however, it came to an end this season for the young Cardinal softball squad.

The first round of Class 2A, Region 6 tournament playin Keosaqua on Monday night pitted two rivals and Southeast Iowa Superconferenceteams. Van Buren downed Cardinal 14-8 and will move on tonight to take on ninth-ranked Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremontin Eddyville.

Cardinal's team is made up of one senior, one sophomore, and everybody else is a freshman or eighth-grader. The young Comets, who have struggled this summer, jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning.

Maddy Cloke led off with a single, one of her two hits in the game, and later scored on a Warrior error. Lydia Moses, who reached on an error, also scored on the play.

"We've been able to do that some this summer," said Cardinal coach Sabrina Morrison. The two-time state championship player for the Comets wrapped up her first season as the head coach of the program.

Van Buren took the lead in the top of the second with a two-out rally that produced three runs. Hannah Hudson doubled, Grace Thomas beat out an infield hit, and Kortney Banks singled to drive in both runners. The third run scored on a Comet error.

The Warriors went up 7-2 after a four run fourth. They used five hits and a Comet error to score the runs. Hudson golfed a low pitch for her second double. One inning later, she flied out at the fence in center field.

"It's not hard to stay ready to hit in the dugout. Our coaches make sure we are mentally in the game," said Hudson. "I thought that last ball was going to get out."

Thomas' second hit drove in a run but the big hit was a two RBI double by Annalysa Noll. A hit from Hannah Heiserman drove in the final run.

The Comets, who have had trouble with big innings, gave up seven runs to the Warriorrs in the top of the sixth. Van Buren only needed three hits as the Comets contributed five errors, causing all seven runs to be unearned.

"Our defense has been better than that for most of the summer," said Morrison.

Thomas led off the Warrior sixth by drawing a walk. She would score all the way from second on a Comet error in the infield.

Thomas, who also made all the plays in center field, talked about her game.

"My speed plays a big role for my offense and defense," Thomas said. "I take the extra base whenever I can."

Sabrina Sayre singled for Van Buren and then the Warrior bench got involved. Pinch hitters, Darby Booth and Taylor Thornsberry each singled. Booths was good for an RBI.

After the Comets got the Warrior 11-hitter parade to the plate stopped, they came to bat in the bottom of the sixth down 14-2 and facing a shortened end to the game.

Cardinal did not go quietly. the first three hitters all reached base (a walk and two hits). Alexia McClure doubled in a run and Alexandra Herrera drove in two runs.

The game continued to the seventh and after Comet relief pitcher Megan Fitzsimmons blanked Van Buren in the seventh, the Comets headed to their last at bat down 14-5.

Again Cardinal cut into the Warrior lead. They used three hits and three Van Buren errors to score three times.

"We've been streaky on offense and defense some this summer," said Warrior coach Randy Smith. "We hit the ball okay tonight (12 hits) but we had way too many errors (six)."

Cloke's second hit, a double led off the Comet seventh. Two hitters later, Rachel Lewman singled in a run. Two Warrior errors after a single by Kassidy Verrips plated the seventh run and a ground out scored the third and final run in the 14-8 Warrior win.

"We made some OKcontact tonight but didn't hit enough balls solid," said Morrison.

Each coach and their team will have different roads ahead.

Morrison and the 2-26 Comets will be looking toward next summer.

"We will undoubtedly be better because of the experience for our young players," said Morrison. "Our pitching staff got stronger this season and will contribute to improve.

The Warriors (9-16) have a shorter road. Tonight they take on a highly ranked EBF team in Eddyville looking for a huge upset that would secure a berth in the Class 2A regional semifinal round.

"All the pressure is on them," said Smith. "We will need to be almost flawless and hang in there early."

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Warriors down Comets in regional softball opener - Ottumwacourier

Synergy Between Torah and Science: How Far is TOO Far? – Breaking Israel News

Posted on July 5, 2017 by Danzig

Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker, as a potsherd with the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him that fashioned it: What makest thou? Or: Thy work, it hath no hands? Isaiah 45:9 (The Israel Bible)

Photo: Shutterstock

Transhumanism, an intellectual and cultural movement supporting the use of science and technology to improve human mental and physical characteristics and capacities, a concept once limited to the realm of science-fiction, is now becoming more of a reality than ever before. The once outlier philosophy is quickly becoming mainstream, an accepted part of the social conscience that is the new religion for the anti-religious, including its own Messianic vision.

There are many aspects to the transhumanism philosophy, often abbreviated as H+ or h+, including physical longevity through medical breakthroughs and/or merging mankind with machines. Many transhumanists advocate transferring the sum total of a persons knowledge and experiences into a computer and recreating the individual as a form of artificial intelligence (AI) in order to extend an individuals life.

In its most extreme form, transhumanism advocates limiting human population. This extreme philosophy is criticized for being eugenicist master-race ideology and infringing on basic reproductive rights.

Rabbi Avraham Arieh Trugman, director of Ohr Chadash Torah Institute, noted that as in any social reform, the driving intention behind the movement is the key element, the factor that decides whether it will be a positive or negative influence on human history.

There is an aspect of this movement that is a culture of Me, Rabbi Trugman told Breaking Israel News. Individual freedom has become a form of self-idol worship. For example, having children for many people today does not fit into this emphasis on the individual as it necessarily limits ones personal freedom.

With technology as a central element of transhumanism, Rabbi Trugman noted that Torah is compatible with science and technology within certain limits.

Science allows us a certain control, ruling over the natural world, Rabbi Trugman said. But the verse that says we can rule over the world comes along with the commandment to be fruitful and multiply.

And God blessed them; and God said unto them: Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that creepeth upon the earth. Genesis 1:28

Many environmentalists blame religion for ruining the environment, Rabbi Trugman explained. But the Bible commands us to rule over the destructive aspects of nature, not to destroy the very earth that supports and nurtures us.

The synergy of science and Torah is a positive thing, but it requires limits, continued Rabbi Trugman. Technology cannot trump everything. There is an aspect of hubris, taking the place of God, when people set out to create a new being, which is forbidden by Torah law. Or ruling over creation and life through euthanasia or selective eugenics, choosing who reproduces.

Many of the new techno-billionaires are attracted to transhumanism: Peter Thiel, the founder of Paypal, adheres to a form of the philosophy called immortalism and invests heavily in projects to extend life indefinitely. Rabbi Trugman explained that this aspect of transhumanism is an exaggeration of love of self, a necessary and positive attribute.

The rabbi warned, however, that this trait can be exaggerated to the point where it becomes harmful to the individual and to the culture.

Zoltan Istvan, known for his endorsement of transhumanism as his political party and own philosophy, puts forth the idea that all humans desire to reach a state of perfect personal power, to be omnipotent in the universe. In this, the movement is a form of alternate Messianic movement. And therein lies a much larger danger.

I am sure that some of them have good intentions, to fix humanity and solve the economic and social problems of the planet, Rabbi Trugman said. But as we have seen throughout history, science, guided just by human nature, can run amok. A higher morality is required as a guide to ensure that technology doesnt end up being hijacked by those who would use science for less than benevolent purposes.

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Synergy Between Torah and Science: How Far is TOO Far? - Breaking Israel News

DEEP-EST Modular Supercomputer Enters Next Round – HPCwire (blog)

Posted on July 5, 2017 by Danzig

JLICH, July 3, 2017 Creating a modular supercomputer tailored to the complexity of state-of-the-art simulation codes and the growing range of tasks at computing centres this is the aim of DEEP-EST, an EU project launched on 1July 2017. The plan is to develop a prototype by 2020 that combines different computing modules according to the building-block principle. DEEP-EST is the successor project to the now successfully concluded DEEP and DEEP-ER projects and its plans include an additional new module suitable for applications managing large volumes of data. Sixteen leading international research institutions and companies are involved in the project, which is coordinated by Forschungszentrum Jlich.

For smartphones and laptops, it has long been more than simply computing power that counts: cameras, network interfaces, and GPS are just as important. A similar trend can be seen in the field of high-performance computing (HPC). In addition to compute-intensive simulations the traditional tasks undertaken in scientific computing centres new applications such as big data analytics and sophisticated visualizations are gaining importance but current supercomputer architectures cannot handle these tasks efficiently.

The optimization of homogeneous systems has more or less reached its limit. We are gradually developing the prerequisites for a highly efficient modular supercomputing architecture which can be flexibly adapted to the various requirements of scientific applications, explains Prof. Thomas Lippert, head of the Jlich Supercomputing Centre (JSC).

According to the Modular Supercomputing concept, accelerators and storage modules are no longer combined with individual CPUs using expansion cards but pooled into independent modules. Their units, called nodes, can be combined as needed. A flexibly adaptable system will be the end result, which will use pioneering technologies to form the basis for exascale computers: future supercomputers which will be more powerful by a whole order of magnitude than the fastest supercomputers today.

New module for big data

By 2020, a prototype is to be developed in DEEP-EST that should demonstrate the advantages of the concept. The project involves the introduction of a new data-analytics module to expand the ClusterBooster architecture of the previous DEEP and DEEP-ER projects. Making use of large storage capacity and flexibly programmable processors, called FPGAs, the data-analytics module is set to close a gap resulting from the different hardware requirements for high-performance computing (HPC) and high-performance data analytics (HPDA).

For conventional supercomputing applications, such as simulations from quantum physics, an extremely large number of mathematical operations are applied to a relatively small set of data. This requires systems with a lot of computing power but relatively little storage, explains Dr. Estela Suarez from the Jlich Supercomputing Centre (JSC). But applications are becoming significantly more complex and the volumes of data from present-day experiments, for example at CERN, are increasing in size. This means that supercomputers will require drastically larger storage capacities and they must be located as close to the processors as possible. Only then can the data be processed in a fast and energy-efficient manner, explains Estela Suarez.

Applications determine development

A total of six applications from relevant European research fields are drawn upon for the co-design development of the prototype. The requirements of the codes will influence its design. At the same time, the codes will benefit from optimizations in the course of the project. For example, together with KU Leuven, the researchers aim to adapt a code used to simulate the effect that powerful solar storms have on the Earth. Although such events are rare, they threaten to cause enormous damage, such as a failure of satellite communications or disrupted GPS, internet, and telephone connections.

Tests will reveal to what extent highly complex space weather simulations will profit from the modular supercomputer architecture. Different parts of the complex scientific code are allocated to different modules for this purpose. The system software environment that will also be developed as part of the project will ensure the best possible distribution. A sophisticated resource management is also planned to ensure that the different components of the architecture are used as efficiently as possible at all times, thus saving energy.

In the case of space-weather simulations, for example, particularly the data-intensive analysis of high-resolution satellite images is ideal for outsourcing to the Data-Analytics module. In contrast, other parts of the simulation code for example the interaction of particles emitted by the Sun with the Earths magnetic field are distributed to the Cluster module, which has powerful general-purpose processors, and the Booster, which is based on interlinked, highly parallel multicore processors.

Source: JSC

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DEEP-EST Modular Supercomputer Enters Next Round - HPCwire (blog)

Second Tier of Supercomputer Rankings Shifts as Quantum Looms – IT Business Edge (blog)

Posted on July 5, 2017 by Danzig

Last month, Top500.org posted the 49th edition of its biannual listing of top supercomputers. The top of the list is stable. The Chinese supercomputers Sunway TaihuLight and Tianhe 2, at 93 petaflop and 33.9 petaflops, respectively, remain the top two machines, says Network World.

There are some changes, however. The Swiss GPU-based Piz Daint doubled its performance to 19.6 petaflops, which moved it from eighth to third on the list.

Perhaps more significantly, according to Network Worlds Peter Sayer, were changes to the middle of the list. He writes that a 432-teraflop computer built in 2015 by Sugon in China had entered the listings in 213th place in 2015. Since then, 108 supercomputers have joined the top 500 list and kicked the Sugon device all the way down to last on the list.

Big Data and artificial intelligence (AI) are two disciplines that rely heavily on high-end computing platforms. Last month, Cray, perhaps the oldest and best known name in supercomputing, introduced the Urika-XC analytics software suite, which offers graph analytics, deep learning and Big Data analytics tools for use on its flagship Cray XC supercomputer platform. The software enables identification of patterns within massive datasets.

Supercomputers are about more than raw power. Precisely how that power is harnessed is important as well. Huffington Post describes an approach being taken at Los Alamos National Laboratory, which has been home to more than 100 supercomputers over the decades. The lab has introduced Charliecloud, a crisp 800-line code that enables Big Data operations without demanding changes with which computer staffs are likely unfamiliar.

This all may change very quickly. Like much else in technology, supercomputing is on the precipice of great change. Quantum computing, which relies on sci-fi like and virtually impossible to conceptualize technologies, will radically increase the capacity of computers. These devices seem to be set to become factors in the commercial sector. This means that the Top500 list may look significantly different in the relatively near future.

Carl Weinschenk covers telecom for IT Business Edge. He writes about wireless technology, disaster recovery/business continuity, cellular services, the Internet of Things, machine-to-machine communications and other emerging technologies and platforms. He also covers net neutrality and related regulatory issues. Weinschenk has written about the phone companies, cable operators and related companies for decades and is senior editor of Broadband Technology Report. He can be reached at cweinsch@optonline.net and via twitter at @DailyMusicBrk.

Argonne’s Theta Supercomputer Goes Online – HPCwire (blog)

Posted on July 5, 2017 by Danzig

ARGONNE, Ill., July 5, 2017 Theta, a new production supercomputer located at the U.S. Department of Energys Argonnne National Laboratory is officially open to the research community. The new machines massively parallel, many-core architecture continues Argonnes leadership computing program towards its future Aurora system.

Theta was built onsite at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF), a DOE Office of Science User Facility, where it will operate alongside Mira, an IBM Blue Gene/Q supercomputer. Both machines are fully dedicated to supporting a wide range of scientific and engineering research campaigns. Theta, an Intel-Cray system, entered production on July 1.

The new supercomputer will immediately begin supporting several 2017-2018 DOE Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) Leadership Computing Challenge (ALCC) projects. The ALCC is a major allocation program that supports scientists from industry, academia, and national laboratories working on advancements in targeted DOE mission areas. Theta will also support projects from the ALCF Data Science Program, ALCFs discretionary award program, and, eventually, the DOEs Innovative and Novel Computing Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE) programthe major means by which the scientific community gains access to the DOEs fastest supercomputers dedicated to open science.

Designed in collaboration with Intel and Cray, Theta is a 9.65-petaflops system based on the second-generation Intel Xeon Phi processor and Crays high-performance computing software stack. Capable of nearly 10 quadrillion calculations per second, Theta will enable researchers to break new ground in scientific investigations that range from modeling the inner workings of the brain to developing new materials for renewable energy applications.

Thetas unique architectural features represent a new and exciting era in simulation science capabilities, said ALCF Director of Science Katherine Riley. These same capabilities will also support data-driven and machine-learning problems, which are increasingly becoming significant drivers of large-scale scientific computing.

Now that Theta is available as a production resource, researchers can apply for computing time through the facilitys variousallocation programs. Although the INCITE and ALCC calls for proposals recently closed, researchers can apply for Directors Discretionary awards at any time.

Argonne National Laboratoryseeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nations first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance Americas scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed byUChicago Argonne, LLCfor theU.S. Department of Energys Office of Science.

The U.S. Department of Energys Office of Scienceis the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit theOffice of Science website.

Source: ANL

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Argonne's Theta Supercomputer Goes Online - HPCwire (blog)

Atos Launches 40-Qubit Quantum Computing Simulator – TOP500 News

Posted on July 5, 2017 by Danzig

With universal quantum computers on the horizon, Atos has developed a simulation platform for programming the qubit-based machines.

According to Atos CEO Thierry Breton, this is the highest performing commercial quantum simulator in the world and reaffirms his companys ambition to be an industry leader in this emerging technology.

Quantum physics will lead to profound changes notably in cybersecurity, one of the key strategic priorities of businesses, said Breton. We must be planning for the impact of these today. The teams at our Atos Quantum laboratory have made remarkable progress, recognized and supported by an internationally renowned Scientific Council, to provide, today, scientists and engineers from around the world with a simulation environment which enables them to develop quantum algorithms to prepare for the major accelerations to come.

The simulator, known as the Atos Quantum Learning Machine (QLM) runs on a ultra-compact supercomputer, which the company says is the size of a regular enterprise server. It comes in five power configurations, from 30 to 40 qubits and is equipped with specific hardware components to accelerate specific quantum calculations and which can eventually be replaced by quantum accelerators.

The simulator itself appears to be implemented in firmware, which abstracts the quantum model onto conventional digital hardware. It can be programmed in a language called aQasm, which stands for Atos Quantum Assembly Language. Although it is currently meant to be used by quantum computing researchers to develop applications and algorithms for the simulator, the hope is that it will eventually be used on actual quantum computers after they come online. Being an assembly language, aQasm enables programmers to access the low-level elements of a quantum computing system, in this case, the quantum gates.

One of the critical application areas for quantum computing is cybersecurity. Ironically, because these systems are particularly adept at factoring integers into their prime components (Shors algorithm), it would make current encryption algorithms obsolete, thus threatening the digital security that protects banks and the internet. According to Atos, one of the intended uses of this technology is develop algorithms that cant be decrypted by quantum computers once they are built.

Both Google and IBM have constructed multi-qubit prototypes of universal quantum computers and expect to launch systems that can outperform conventional computers within the next few years.

Image source: Atos

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Atos Launches 40-Qubit Quantum Computing Simulator - TOP500 News

Spirituality – Order of Saint Augustine

Posted on July 5, 2017 by Danzig

The spirituality of the Order, whose principal features are presented here, proceeds from the following of Christ according to the teachings of the Gospel and the action of the Holy Spirit. Its principal point of reference is the teaching and example of Saint Augustine, complemented by the tradition of the Order. The principal document of our spirituality is the Rule, which must direct our lives and action. Augustinian spirituality, developed over time, and enriched by the example and teachings of our forebears, ought to be lived according to the circumstances of time, place, and culture and in harmony with our charism.

The fundamental norm of religious life is the following of Christ, set out in the Gospel, that motivates us to live in love according to our particular consecration. So above all, we must have love for God and for our neighbor (Mt 22,40), as the supreme norm of the Gospel and the mandate of Jesus to his disciples, after the model of the early community of the Church in Jerusalem, established under the holy apostles (see Acts 2:42-47).

To love Christ means to love the Church which is his Body, mother of Christians and depository of the revealed truth. In the Church, we have been made into Christ. If he is the Head, we are his members, for the whole Christ is the Head and the Body. Let us be,therefore, witnesses of intimate union with God and a leaven of unity for the whole human race.

The Christian life will be renewed daily in us and will flourish in the Order if each of us will assiduously read, devoutly listen to, and earnestly learn the Sacred Scriptures, especially the New Testament, because almost every page resounds of nothing but Christ and the Church. Moreover, the friars should remember that prayer should accompany the reading of Scripture so that there may be a dialogue between God and man.

The Eucharist is the daily sacrifice of the Church, the Body of Christ, which offers itself to God in him. Therefore, all of us who have consecrated ourselves to Christ, who is loved above all things, should experience the same love for that great mystery that set the heart of Saint Augustine on fire. For the Eucharist is the sign and cause of the Churchs unity in the bond of love, and inspires apostolic activity and involvement in the world and in history.

We are all members of the Whole Christ together with Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mary is the sign of the Church: she gave corporal birth to the Head of this Body. The Church gave spiritual birth to the members of this Head.Because of her authentic faith, firm hope and sincere love Mary accompanies us while we journey in this life and sustains our apostolic activity.

We tend towards God continually and insatiably, consciously and unconsciously, in order to enjoy the infinite good that fulfils our desire for happiness, because God has made us for himself and our hearts are restless until they rest in him. For that reason, our common dedication is to seek without limits Him who should be loved without limits. But we cannot seek God together, except in Christ Jesus, the Word made flesh for us. He is for us the way, the truth and the life, such that starting from the visible flesh we arrive at the invisible God. For this reason, personal and community prayer, study and the cultivation of knowledge, reflection on the realities of our time and apostolic activity, are indispensable factors in our search, which lead us to the things which are the concerns of society. For nothing human is foreign to us, but rather involves us more in the world, the ambit of God's love (see Jn 3:16) and of encounter with him.

Love comes from God and unites us with God, and through this unifying process it transforms us, so that overcoming all divisions, we are made one, until finally God is all in all (see 1Cor 15,28). This communion of life which Augustine proposes to us in imitation of the primitive apostolic community (see Acts 2:42-47), is an anticipation of complete and definitive union in God and the way to achieve it. While it is true that this holy sharing of life among the brothers is a gift of God, still each one of us must make an intense effort at perfecting it until unity in love is achieved. This unity in love, composed of many souls, will continue to exist in the heavenly city, which "will be the perfection of our unity after lifes pilgrimage. Our communities ought to strive on earth to be signs of this unity, keeping the example of the perfect community of the undivided Trinity before our eyes.

Following the example of Saint Augustine, love for the Church brings us to a total availability for its needs, by accepting the tasks which the Church asks of us, according to the charism of the Order. Friars should remember that this availability for service to the Church constitutes one of the essential characteristics of Augustinian spirituality. In addition, when we are open to the world we feel ourselves in solidarity with the human family and involved in its concerns, especially through an openness to the needs of the poor and the suffering, in the knowledge that the more we are united to Christ the more fruitful will our apostolate be.

Finally, in order that our Order may always go forward in keeping with its true spirituality, the friars should strive to offer "free service to God," not forced by necessity, but moved by love. Without seeking their own righteousness (see Rom 3:10-20; Gal 2:16) let them do all things for the glory of God, who works all things in all (see 1 Cor 12,6). Let them live in the assurance that: "It is a grace of God that the brothers live in community; it is not the result of their own doing or their own merits; rather it is his gift." This is to fulfill the saying of the Rule that we should observe all our obligations in a spirit of charity "as lovers of spiritual beauty ... not as slaves living under the law but as men living in freedom under grace." We who have been freely created and redeemed, freely called and justified, should render thanks to God and carry out our mission in peace and humility, rejoicing in hope and in the expectation of the crown of life (Rev 2:10), by which God, in rewarding our good deeds, will in fact be doing nothing more than crowning his own gifts.

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Spirituality - Order of Saint Augustine

Why Millennials Are Leaving Religion But Embracing …

Posted on July 5, 2017 by Danzig

Spiritual but not religious.

This tagline has become increasingly popular with the millennial generation aged 18 to 34 and University of Virginia Associate Religious Studies Professor Matthew Hedstrom has spent a lot of time asking why. Hes finding answers in todays consumer capitalist culture.

A Pew Research Center survey, published in November, revealed that millennials are less attached to organized religion than their parents or grandparents were at the same age, with only about 40 percent saying religion is very important in their lives. However, the same survey revealed that about 80 percent of millennials believe in God and increasing numbers identify with statements like I feel a deep sense of spiritual peace and well-being or I experience a deep sense of wonder about the universe.

UVA Today sat down with Hedstrom to find out more.

Q. What are some factors driving millennials away from organized religion?

A. I think that a lot of it has to do with the perceived political entanglement of religion, especially Christianity. Really, when we are talking about people leaving religion, we are talking about people leaving Christianity. When you look at the numbers, the growth of the religiously unaffiliated is almost entirely related to people leaving Catholic and Protestant churches.

There has been a particularly steep drop-off since the 2000s, which I believe can be attributed, at least in part, to the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic church and the debate about gay marriage.

This does not mean that millennials dont believe in God. There are a growing number of religiously unaffiliated millennials who still report believing in God, and even praying regularly, and many of these call themselves spiritual but not religious.

Q. What is the relationship between millennial spirituality and consumer capitalism?

A. Spirituality is what consumer capitalism does to religion. Consumer capitalism is driven by choice. You choose the things that you consume the bands you like, the books you read, the clothes you wear and these become part of your identity construction. Huge parts of our social interactions center on these things and advertising has told millennials, from birth, that these are things that matter, that will give you fulfillment and satisfaction. This is quite different from agricultural or industrial capitalism, where someones primary identity was as a producer.

The millennial approach to spirituality seems to be about choosing and consuming different religious products meditation, or prayer, or yoga, or a belief in heaven rather than belonging to an organized congregation. I believe this decline in religious affiliation is directly related to the influence of consumer capitalism.

Q. The abundance of choice available to many Americans today has led to what psychologists call analysis paralysis being afraid to make a choice because there are so many options. How has this impacted millennial spirituality?

A. Millennials, especially middle- and upper-class millennials, have so many options, as it has become easier to move around and interact with the rest of the world. A peasant living in 14th-century France would not have faced the same conundrum about whether or how to be a Catholic. A millennial today can access information about Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and various pagan beliefs with just a few clicks, or just by talking to people they encounter.

This is both liberating and paralyzing. Having so many options creates a lot of anxiety about which religious beliefs, careers or relationships millennials should choose. Spirituality allows millennials to avoid choosing one religion and instead combine elements from many.

Q. There are many criticisms of the millennial generation that theyre entitled, lazy or materialistic. Youve studied them and taught them for years. How would you characterize millennials?

A. In many ways, I see this turn toward spirituality as a rebellion against the materialism they have been surrounded by. The millennials I see have a lot of economic anxiety, which is very understandable after the recession. They wonder if they will be able to have the same lifestyle their parents had. They are worried about student loan debt and about getting a job in the current economy. They want to be financially comfortable, but I think most of them only see this as a means to an end.

They also want to be a part of something larger a spiritual belief, perhaps, or a movement to improve the environment, or social justice. I dont see millennial college students today as shallow or selfish. I see a deep amount of understandable anxiety and a lot of care for the larger world and lifes big questions.

Q. Do you see the move away from organized religion continuing?

A. It is hard to say for certain, but I do think that many of the things driving this shift such as consumerism or scientific critiques of traditional religion are not going away anytime soon.

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Why Millennials Are Leaving Religion But Embracing ...

Spirituality is Manan Vohra’s ally – The Hindu

Posted on July 5, 2017 by Danzig

The Hindu

Spirituality is Manan Vohra's ally
The Hindu
The batsman from Chandigarh is only 23 but says he has found his peace of mind from being spiritual. Here in the city to represent CromBest in the TNCA first division league, Vohra told The Hindu on Tuesday, I feel spirituality has helped my cricket ...

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Spirituality is Manan Vohra's ally - The Hindu

Spirituality, magnetism in parallel – The New Indian Express

Posted on July 5, 2017 by Danzig

CHENNAI: As children, many of us have played with magnets and discovered the quantum-electric fact that the like poles of magnets repeal each other, while the opposite poles strongly attract each other. This attraction-repulsion phenomenon of electromagnetism is what makes the generation and its usage of electricity, practical in so many ways. Interestingly, the properties of electrical energy can be compared amazingly well with those of the spiritual energy or soul. There are several interesting parallels between the two.

From a spiritual perspective, balance is the most vital principle for a happy life. Hence, we need to be detached and loving while playing our roles in the world. We need to discern and decide wisely how much thoughts and emotions we should invest and when we should be detached and silent. Just as any aberration in the flow of current blows the electric fuse, lack of balance in human nature makes one confused. There are certain things that can be called good conductors of electricity while some can be called bad conductors. Similarly, our intellect may also act as a good or bad conductor.

A good intellect will retain powerful thoughts and vibrations and channelise them into positive actions, whereas negative or waste thoughts will obstruct the intellects ability to imbibe wisdom.So in order to maintain a constant flow of energy, a soul needs to avoid contact with negative things. Just as a flaw in an electrical circuit leads to a short circuit, similarly any flaw in the soul will lead to failure or short-lived success. However, a soul can experience constant happiness, success & peace in life by connecting to almighty the supreme powerhouse. When we connect our mind to HIM in soul consciousness, i.e. by removing the insulation of consciousness, we are able to draw unlimited power from HIM. This energy then empowers the soul to perform actions that not only bring happiness to ones own life but also to others with whom one interacts.

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Spirituality, magnetism in parallel - The New Indian Express

Religion and Spirituality Events: 7/05 – Cecil Whig

Posted on July 5, 2017 by Danzig

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

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

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

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

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

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

BUFFET BREAKFAST, 7 to 10 a.m. at Oxford UMC, 18 Addison St., Oxford, Pa. Buttermilk pancakes, french toast, scrambled eggs and more. $7 for adults, $3 for children 3 to 10. Non-recurring.

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

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

SUMMER SING CONCERT, 6 p.m. at Bethel UMC, 208 Bethel Church Rd. in North East. Special Guest Ninth Hour Legacy with appearances by 3 Days Torn, Dean Sapp and Bay Church Worship Team. Concert is free to all. Contact: 443-309-9965 / 443-907-9236. Non-recurring.

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

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

FAMILY AND FRIENDS DAY, 3:30 p.m. at Elkton Presbyterian Church, 209 E. Main St. in Elkton. Special guest: Sensational Stars. Non-recurring.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Religion and Spirituality Events: 7/05 - Cecil Whig

Reasoning with truth – Beliefnet

Posted on July 5, 2017 by Danzig

From 21st Century Science and Health:

If God causes a person to be sick, sickness must be good and therefore health must be evil, for all that He makes is good and will stand forever. Or, if violation of Gods law produces sickness, it is right to be sick; and we cannot if we would, and should not if we could, annul the decrees of wisdom. It is the transgression of a belief of human mind, not of a physical law or law of divine Mind, which causes the belief of sickness. The remedy is Truth, not mortality with its beginnings and endingsthe truth that disease is illusion. Anything unlike God is unreal.

If sickness is real, it belongs to spirituality; if sickness is true, it is a part of Truth. Would you attempt with drugs, or without, to destroy a quality or condition of Truth? Lets say sickness is not real. Lets say sickness and sin are unfiltered and unprocessed images that can be filtered and processed by divine Science to show us health, holiness, and spirituality. This process or clarification of information is accomplished through Spirit, Christ, or the advanced appearing of Truth. This is the deliverance which comes through God, the divine Principle, Love, as demonstrated by Jesus.

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Reasoning with truth - Beliefnet

Indian court allows guru’s disciples to continue preserving his body in freezer – The Guardian

Posted on July 5, 2017 by Danzig

Indian followers of deceased guru Ashutosh Maharaj sit in front of posters bearing his image at a stall during a congregation at his ashram. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

An Indian court has allowed disciples of a spiritual guru to preserve his body in a freezer, as they believe he is in a deep state of meditation and will return to life.

Ashutosh Maharaj, founder of the multimillion-dollar sect, Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan (Divine Light Awakening Mission), apparently died of a cardiac arrest in January 2014.

But his followers insist he is in a deep spiritual state called samadhi and have controversially kept his body in a commercial freezer at his heavily guarded 100-acre ashram in the northern state of Punjab.

On Wednesday, the Punjab and Haryana high court dismissed a three-year-old petition by Dalip Kumar Jha, who claims to be his son and who wanted his fathers body to cremate him, as per Hindu rituals.

Jhas lawyer, SP Soi, told AFP that it was unclear whether the court approved the sects argument that Maharaj was alive. But they dismissed our petition, which is disappointing, and we will challenge it in the supreme court, said Soi.

The court, while rejecting their plea, set aside a 2014 judgment that had ordered Maharajs cremation after doctors confirmed him clinically dead.

Maharajs disciples had challenged the courts cremation order, saying he had simply drifted into a deeper form of meditation, something he did often in sub-zero Himalayan temperatures.

The guru established the sect in Punjabs Jalandhar city in 1983 to promote self-awakening and global peace, with millions of followers across the world and properties worth an estimated $120m in India, the US, South America, Australia, the Middle East and Europe.

Jha claims that the gurus real name was Mahesh Kumar Jha, and he left his native village in eastern Bihar state in the late 1970s before founding the sect.

Jha and Maharajs former driver, Puran Singh, filed petitions in court soon after the gurus death demanding a criminal investigation, and alleged the sect members were deliberately holding his body to retain control of his vast financial assets.

Maharaj is one of several gurus who in recent decades have built huge empires and command millions of followers, particularly in northern India.

For followers, gurus play an integral role in daily life, including a path to enlightenment. Followers offer spiritual devotion and donations to ashrams, temples and charity projects.

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Indian court allows guru's disciples to continue preserving his body in freezer - The Guardian

Writing Waves | Books & Literature | North Bay Bohemian – North Bay Bohemian

Posted on July 5, 2017 by Danzig

There is something about immersing oneself in saltwater for extended periods of time and dodging walls of waves that lends to some deep thinking about life and our place in the world.

Surfing has recently produced some excellent works of nonfiction that have little to do with stoned-out surfer stereotypes. Last year's Pulitzer Prize for autobiography went to William Finnegan for Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life. Steve Kotler's West of Jesus: Surfing, Science and the Origins of Belief is a fine book on the intersection of surfing and spirituality. And I'll add Jaimal Yogis' new memoir, All Our Waves Are Water: Stumbling Toward Enlightenment and the Perfect Ride, to the mix.

Yogis, a San Franciscobased author, wrote the book as a follow-up to Saltwater Buddha, a coming-of-age story that blends surfing and spiritual seeking. All Our Waves picks up where he left off in and chronicles Yogis' multidisciplinary spiritual quests and more earthbound struggles of career, friendship and starting a family. Yogis' spiritual and physical journeys take him to the Himalayas, Jerusalem, a Washington Heights friary, Puerto Escondido, Mexico, and the cold water of San Francisco's Ocean Beach.

Yogis sprinkles the book with quotable quotes that connect with the here and now: "God is a circle whose center is everywhere and circumference nowhere" (Voltaire); "Without going into the ocean, it is impossible to find precious, priceless pearls" (Vimalakirti Sutra); and my favorite and most apt to this book, "You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop" (Rumi). Buddhism is the guiding light, and the book and Yogis offers a practical tour of Buddhist philosophy.

The subtext of All Our Waves is not surfing, but the search for the universal and the divine in whatever form she/he/it takes. "The word 'spiritual' can be a bit confusing," Yogis says. "In Zen and other non-dual schools of spirituality like Vedanta yoga, everything is considered spiritual, even the most mundane tasks like washing dishes. So surfing is just one of the things I do because I love to do it.

"And because I practice meditation and am interested in what you might call spiritual or philosophical questionswhy are we here, how do we realize our potential, how do we reduce sufferingthe sea becomes another place to practice."

With equal doses of humor, self-deprecation and well-rendered storytelling, Yogis does a great job making these heady themes accessible and entertaining through personal experiences.

In the toxic fumes that characterizes American political and cultural discourse of late, All Our Waves Are Water is a lungful of fresh air and a poignant reminder of the wider world beyond the glow of the TV screen. And Yogis is a sharp and insightful writer who has the good sense to temper his spiritual pursuits with a healthy dose of humility and humanity.

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Writing Waves | Books & Literature | North Bay Bohemian - North Bay Bohemian

‘There Goes Dragon’: ISS Astronaut Snaps Incredible Shots of Departing Capsule – Space.com

Posted on July 5, 2017 by Danzig

A Dragon cargo vehicle departs from the International Space Station on July 3. Photo by NASA astronaut Jack Fischer

Astronaut Jack Fischer caught some amazing pictures of SpaceX's Dragon cargo capsule leaving the International Space Station today (July 3), and shared the images on Twitter.

The first two pictures show the Dragon space capsule attached to the ISS' robot arm, called Canadarm2, and the capsule moving away from the station. The last one shows a silhouetted Earth and the Dragon streaking through the atmosphere on its way down.

The Dragon capsule, built and launched by Elon Musk's private spaceflight company SpaceX, is the first private cargo spacecraft to make a second delivery to the station. The vehicle was refurbished following its first delivery mission, which launched in September 2014.

"And there goes #Dragon Goodbye to our 1st return visitor since Atlantis in 2011--Come on back anytime, well leave the lights on for you!" ;Fischer tweeted about the departing vehicle. His tweet refers to the final flight of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, a reusable crewed vehicle that operated for almost 25 years.

A Dragon cargo vehicle streaks through Earth's atmosphere after leaving the space station on July 3. NASA astronaut Jack Fisher tweeted this photo with the caption: "Beautiful expanse of stars-but the 'long' orange one is SpaceX-11 reentering! Congrats team for a successful splashdown & great mission!"

The space station released the Dragon spacecraft at 2:41 a.m. EDT (0641 GMT) for its 5.5-hour journey back to Earth, where it splashed down at 8:14 a.m. EDT (1214 GMT). The Dragon capsule launched to the space station on June 3.

The Dragon ferried some 6,000 pounds (2,700 kilograms) of cargo to the space station and brought back 4,100 pounds (1,900 kg). Some of that returning cargo includes experiments that were sent to the space station previously, which will be analyzed in laboratories on Earth. Among the experiments were samples from mice used in testing an osteoporosis drug and one looking at the impact of microgravity on stem cells, according to a statement from NASA. The osteoporosis drug could be of particular importance to future space crews as it might help arrest the bone loss that is a symptom of long periods in microgravity, the statement said.

A Dragon cargo vehicle was separated from the space station on July 3 with help from two NASA astronauts and the orbiting outpost's robotic arm.

SpaceX's Dragon is currently the only space vehicle that can bring cargo to orbit and return intact; other operating cargo carriers Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft, Russia's Progress freighter and Japan's H-II Transfer Vehicle are designed to burn up in the atmosphere after one use. Reusable vehicles could reduce the cost of launches if the cost of refurbishing and repairing the vehicle is lower than the cost of building a new one.

Another Dragon launch to the ISS is scheduled for Aug. 1, to be followed by another in November.

You can follow Space.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook & Google+.Originally published onSpace.com.

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'There Goes Dragon': ISS Astronaut Snaps Incredible Shots of Departing Capsule - Space.com

Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood Sing to Space Station Astronauts (Video) – Space.com

Posted on July 5, 2017 by Danzig

Country music legends Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood serenaded NASA astronauts Jack Fischer andPeggy Whitson who are both currently on the International Space Station during a visit to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston on June 29.

"Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being such an inspiration to so many," Fischer said to Brooks in a video of the encounter.

Whitsontweeted her appreciationof the musical number, writing, "Loved the @garthbrooks serenade today! I hope you enjoyed meeting the #NASAvillage. Be sure to try the mac and cheese in the food lab!"

Brooks and Yearwood visited the Johnson Space Center to talk to the astronauts from mission control. Fischer confessed to being a huge fan of Brooks, noting that Brooks' song "The River" has been "pretty much my anthem for the last three decades." The song was even played for Fischer while he was waiting on the launch pad to travel to the space station, he said.

"I think that you have so many great songs and so many great messages," Fischer told Brooks. "But it's the heart you put into every performance and the soul that you put into those songs that make them so impactful."

Brooks and Yearwood then went through a few verses of "The River," singing into the telephone that links voice communications between the ground and the space station. In the video, Fischer can be seen singing along.

Brooks also took selfies with the two astronauts. "Could this be the longest-distance selfie ever?"he tweeted.

Brooks isn't the first country star to sing to the astronauts on the orbiting outpost. In 2014, Brad Paisley sent the song "American Flag on the Moon" via tweetto astronaut Reid Wiseman.

Editor's Note:Space.com senior producerSteve Spaletacontributed to this report.

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Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood Sing to Space Station Astronauts (Video) - Space.com

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