Lightning and ‘Probably Satellites’ Seen from Space …

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SpaceX launches and lands second Falcon 9 rocket in two days – Spaceflight Now

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The Falcon 9 rocket accelerates downrange south from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California after Sundays liftoff with 10 Iridium Next satellites. Credit: SpaceX

Two days after launching a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida, SpaceX sent another mission into orbit Sunday from Californias Central Coast with 10 new satellites for Iridiums voice and data relay network.

Like Fridays flight from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Falcon 9s first stage plunged back through the atmosphere and made a propulsive vertical landing on a barge stationed several hundred miles downrange from the launch site.

The back-to-back launchings and landings set a record for the shortest turnaround between two SpaceX flights from different launch sites, a milestone the company could repeat as it reactivates a damaged launch pad at Cape Canaveral later this year and begins service from a Texas spaceport as soon as next year.

The last time two orbital-class U.S. rockets of similar type lifted off two days apart was in March 1995, when aLockheed Martin Atlas 2AS rocket and a similar Atlas-E launcher flew separate missions from Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Air Force Base, delivering an Intelsat broadcast satellite and an Air Force weather satellite to space.

Russian Soyuz rockets, on the other hand, have flown the same day from different launch pads, most recently inMarch 2015, when Soyuz boosters took off two hours apart from the Baikonur Cosmodome in Kazakhstan with a three-man space station crew and from the European-run space base in French Guiana with two Galileo navigation payloads.

A four-day delay in SpaceXs previous launch from Florida, which carried a Bulgarian-owned communications satellite to orbit on a previously-flown, reused Falcon 9 booster, set up the weekend doubleheader.

Sundays mission began at 1:25:14 p.m. PDT (4:25:14 p.m. EDT; 2025:14 GMT), the instant when the Falcon 9 rocket could dispatch its 10 satellite passengers directly into one of the six orbital pathways populated by more than 60 Iridium communications spacecraft.

The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon launcher lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg, the primary launch site on the U.S. West Coast. After climbing through a soupy fog bank enshrouding the hillside launch pad, the Falcon 9 steered through clear skies on a southerly trajectory with its nine Merlin 1D main engines producing 1.7 million pounds of thrust, chugging a super-chilled combination of RP-1 kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants.

After consuming most of its propellant, the first stage dropped away from the Falcon 9s upper stage to begin a descent toward a SpaceX barge in the Pacific Ocean.

Four upgraded titanium grid fins, flying of the first time Sunday, extended from the top of the 14-story first stage and helped steer the rocket on its glide back to Earth. The booster ignited a subset of its Merlin engines twice, first to slow down for re-entry through the atmosphere, then to brake for landing.

A four-legged landing gear opened at the base of the booster just before touchdown, and the rocket braved high winds and challenging seas as it dropped through a low cloud deck onto the football field-sized drone ship, dubbed Just Read the Instructions, around eight minutes after blastoff.

The rocket will return to port in Southern California in a few days for inspections and possible reuse.

Elon Musk, SpaceXs founder and chief executive, said the new, larger grid fin design is more robust than the Falcon 9s previous aluminum fins, which had to be shielded against the extreme heat during re-entry, then replaced before the first stage could fly again.

The new finsare cast in a single piece of titanium and cut to form their shape, Musk tweeted. Hesaid the titanium fins are slightly heavier than the shielded aluminum fins, but the upgrade offers more control authority for stabilization and steering as the pencil-like 14-story booster glides back to Earth.

The Falcon 9 rocket can land in heavier winds with the upgraded fins, Musk said.

New titanium grid fins worked even better than expected, Musk tweeted after Sundays landing. Should be capable of an indefinite number of flights with no service.

The billionaire entrepreneur also gave a brief update on SpaceXs efforts to recover pieces of the Falcon 9 rockets payload fairings, the nose cone that protects satellites during the first few minutes of each launch. SpaceX intends to guide the fairing parts, which jettison from the rocket like a clamshell, with tiny thrusters and gently land them in the ocean with a parafoil.

Getting closer to fairing recovery and reuse, he tweeted. Had some problems with the steerable parachute. Should have it sorted out by end of year.

While the first stage made its daring descent, the second stage of the Falcon 9 rocket fired its single vacuum-rated Merlin engine into a preliminary parking orbit. After sailing over Antarctica, the upper stage reignited the Merlin engine for three seconds to reach a targeted 388-mile-high (625-kilometer) orbit to begin releasing the 10 Iridium satellites.

Fastened to a two-tier dispenser specially designed and built by SpaceX, the 1,896-pound (860-kilogram) satellites separated one-by-one at intervals of approximately 90 seconds. The deployments were complete by T+plus 1 hour, 12 minutes.

SpaceX and Iridium officials declared the launch a success, and ground controllers established radio contact with all 10 of the new satellites to verify they survived the trip into orbit.

Ten for ten, its a clean sweep, said Falcon 9 product manager John Insprucker, who provided commentary on SpaceXs live webcast of the mission. We can tie a broom to the Falcon 9.

Sundays launch targetedPlane 3 of the Iridium constellation, which is designed to have 66 satellites spread out evenly in six orbital planes around Earth. One of of the satellites will filla hole in Plane 3 where one of Iridiums aging communications platforms failed last year.

It was the second of at least eight Falcon 9 flights to deliver 75 next-generation satellites to replace Iridiums network with upgraded services and new spacecraft designed to operate for the next 15 years. Twenty of the satellites are now in space with the conclusion of Sundays mission.

Iridium ordered 81 of the new-generation Iridium Next satellites in 2010 from Thales Alenia Space, a French aerospace contractor. Thales partnered with Orbital ATK to build the spacecraft in an assembly line fashion in Orbitals factory near Phoenix.

Right now, its two down with six more launches to go, said Matt Desch, chief executive officer of Iridium, in a post-launch press release. Our operations team is eagerly awaiting this new batch of satellites and is ready to begin the testing and validation process. After several weeks of fine-tuning, the next set of slot swaps will begin, bringing more Iridium Next satellites into operational service, and bringing us closer to an exciting new era for our network, company, and partners.

Specifically for this launch, five satellites will go into mission in Plane 3, replacing existing satellites, or in one case, filling a hole in our network weve had for the last year or so, Desch said in a pre-launch conference call with reporters. Four satellites will be sent drifting down to Plane 2, where three of those satellites are expected to go into mission and one will be positioned as a spare.

One more satellite launched Sunday will drift to Plane 4 and go into operation there next year. It takes 10 or 11 months to reposition an Iridium satellite to another orbital plane.

The satellites will boost themselves to a higher altitude around485 miles (780 kilometers) above Earth in the coming weeks and months, rendezvousing with the older spacecraft each is intended to replace.

Desch said the satellites launched Sunday will replace aging members of the Iridium fleet that lifted off on a Russian Proton rocket from Kazakhstan in September 1997, and on two Boeing Delta 2 rockets from Vandenberg in March 1998 and February 2002.

The first-generation satellites were designed to last eight years, but most of them are still providing service, more than 20 years after the first batch of Iridium spacecraft reached orbit.

Iridium Next features the same unique interconnected satellite architecture as the original constellation, which is the key feature that distinguishes Iridium from all other commercial satellite operators, Desch said. Cross-links, as we refer to them, allow our satellites to bounce data and voice calls around the world nearly instantaneously, creating a true web of coverage around the entire planet, the key advantage of our network and one of the biggest reasons for our growth and success.

Improved service for Iridiums nearly 900,000 subscribers will also come with the new satellites.

Besides faster connections on voice calls and data relays, the modern satellites are the cornerstone of Iridium Certus, which the company says will link customers on-the-go via an L-band network that is not as susceptible to interference from poor weather and other factors.

Desch said the Certus initiative will provide Iridium customers with up to 1.4 megabits per second of L-band connectivity, up from 128 kilobits per second available with the existing satellites.

Certus is an L-band service built for reliability, coverage, mobility and able to be certified for safety services to ships and the cockpits of aircraft, he said, adding that Certus will go to market in early 2018.

Iridiums clientsinclude the U.S. military, oil and gas companies, aviation and maritime operators, and mining and construction contractors.

Piggyback payloads on the Iridium satellites orbited Sunday will help commercial companies track and stay in contact with airplanes and ships outside the reach of land-based radars.

All of the Iridium Next satellites host radio receivers for Aireon, an affiliate of Iridium established in partnership with air traffic control authorities in Canada, Ireland, Italy and Denmark.

Aireon technology is hosted by us on every Iridium Next satellite and is poised to change how the world views the skies, Desch said. The only way to really provide 100 percent global aircraft tracking and surveillance in realtime is through the Iridium network and our unique cross-link functionality thats provided by our satellites.

Don Thoma, Aireons CEO, told reporters his companys service will help usher air traffic control into the modern era, making for more efficient use of airspace over oceans, where ground-based radars cannot see aircraft on intercontinental flights.

When aircraft leave terrestrial airspace, they fly very rigid formations, typically conga lines or highways in the sky, along fixed routes to ensure that the aircraft maintain safe separation distances from one another, and make sure the air traffic system is as safe as it is, Thoma said.

Thats all in the process of being changed, he said. Theres a major upgrade by the worlds air traffic control organizations to move from a radar-based technology to a new GPS-based technology called Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, or ADS-B.

While ADS-B signals were originally meant to be received by ground stations and other aircraft, the Aireon payload on each Iridium Next satellite can detect them from space.

ADS-B will provide realtime, very accurate, frequent updates on aircraft location to air traffic control, Thoma said.What Aireon represents is the ability to provide that not just over land-based areas, but over the entire world.

Touting financial and environmental benefits in fuel costs and pollution reductions, Thoma said Aireons position data will help ensure airplanes are not lost over remote oceans, like the case of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 that went missing with 239 passengers and crew in March 2014.

Well be able to pick up those (position) signals and provide them in realtime to air traffic controllers, Thoma said.This will truly be a revolutionary aspect of air traffic control, not only supporting the surveillance across remote areas like the oceans, but also providing a backup capability and additional gap-filling surveillance over significant parts of land masses around the world.

The first eight Aireon payloads aboard Iridium Next satellites launched in January are already receiving ADS-B position signals, he said.

Nine of the 10 Iridium Next satellites launched Saturday also have antennas to monitor maritime traffic for exactEarth, a Canadian company, and Harris Corp. of Melbourne, Florida, according to Nicole Schill, an exactEarth spokesperson.

Like all eight of Iridiums launches booked with SpaceX, Sundays flight used a brand new Falcon 9 first stage.

SpaceX has racked up two successful launches with recycled Falcon 9 boosters, including Fridays mission from Florida, which coincidentally was powered by the first stage that sent the first 10 Iridium Next craft to space in January from California.

I believe previously-flown boosters are fantastic, Desch said. I think its revolutionizing the industry. I think its fantastic, in the future, for the availability and cost of launches.

Desch said he was inclined, for now, to continue launching Iridium satellites on newly-built Falcon 9s.

Our using them or not using them is not a statement around the quality or capability of those boosters, he said.

Instead, Desch would like to see a steeper discount for flying on a reused Falcon 9 booster than SpaceX currently offers. Perhaps most importantly, he said, is determining whether a switch to a previously-flown Falcon 9 rocket will get Iridiums satellites up sooner.

Iridiums first 10 satellites were supposed to launch last September, but the flight was grounded until January in the wake of a Falcon 9 rocket explosion in Florida. A manufacturing bottleneck at SpaceXs headquarters near Los Angeles delayed the second Iridium Next flight from April to June.

When would they be available, and would they improve the current launch plan we have with brand new rockets that I basically contracted for a number of years ago, and have budgeted for and have paid for? Desch said. Thats the first thing. Will they improve my schedule because schedule, to me, is very, very important.

Secondly is the cost, and really the cost and risk are kind of aligned, he said. I believe the risk is pretty low right now, but its not zero because its a new thing.

He said the reduced cost of a reused Falcon 9 is minor right now, at least in our perception of it.

If that changes as there are additional launches, Ill reconsider that, but right now I think weve made the right decision.

While we are currently flying first-flown launches, Im open to previously-flown launches, particularly for maybe the second half of our launch schedule maybe in 2018 but I really want to see the answers to all those questions before wed ever make that kind of decision, Desch said.

The next Falcon 9 flight is set for takeoff from Kennedy Space Centers launch pad 39A some time next month. It will send an Intelsat high-throughput communications satellite toward its perch in geostationary orbit more than 22,000 miles (35,000 kilometers) over the equator.

Vandenberg is set to host its next Falcon 9 launch in late August, when it will loft a long-delayed Taiwanese Earth observation satellite, according to Taiwanese news reports.

Then 10 more Iridium satellites are set to go up on another Falcon 9 from Vandenberg some time in early fall.

Email the author.

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.

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SpaceX launches and lands second Falcon 9 rocket in two days - Spaceflight Now

Minotaur IV launch postponed 6 weeks – SpaceFlight Insider

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Christopher Paul

June 25th, 2017

A Minotaur IV pathfinder sits on the mount at Space Launch Complex 46 in February 2017. Space Florida has worked to revitalize launch sites at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. This summers ORS-5 launch will mark the first time that Space Launch Complex 46 has been used in nearly 20 years. Photo Credit: Vikash Mahadeo / SpaceFlight Insider

A Minotaur IV rocket scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) inmid-Julyhas been delayed to late August, according to the U.S. Air Force. The entirely solid-fueled Minotaur IV was scheduled to fly out of Launch Complex 46 at CCAFS in mid-July.

The press office at Patrick Air Force Base, which handles press affairs for CCAFS, told SpaceFlight Insiderthe launch will take place around the last week of August but declined to be more specific. No reason for the delay was given.

The rocket is slated to carry a small satellite called SensorSat for the Air Forces Operationally Responsive Space Office. The spacecraft is officially designated ORS-5, as it is the fifth launch of the ORS program.

SensorSat will be launched into a novel low-Earth orbit, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technologys Lincoln Laboratory, which is cooperating with the ORS on this spacecraft. Once there, it will look toward geostationary orbit the band of satellites whose orbital period is the same as Earths rotational period, making them appear to hover over one spot on the Earth. SensorSat will observe the debris of defunct and damaged satellites.

This debris, also called space junk, is of increasing concern to all spacecraft operators. Since collisions between uncontrolled satellites or junk can often spawn many more pieces of debris, its possible for one such collision to create a chain reaction, spreading more debris across all of Earths orbital space and denying everyone the use of Earth orbit. This chain reaction is called the Kessler Syndrome after the NASA scientist who first described the possibility.

The rocket carrying SensorSat is made by Orbital ATK. Minotaur rockets are derived, in part, from Peacekeeper missiles. They are usually launched from Wallops Island Flight Facility in Virginia, but they have also lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California as well as from Kodiak Island Launch Complex in Alaska. This is to the be first Minotaur fly from Florida in the history of the program.

Launch Complex 46 is being refurbished, in part, by Space Florida to support the ORS-5 mission and other launches.

The Minotaur IV usually has four stages, the last being a single Orion 38 solid fueled stage, but this mission will carry an additional Orion 38 to help SensorSat achieve its desired orbit. The ORS office expects a follow-on launch of a similar spacecraft sometime in the future, but no schedule is set.

Tagged: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Minotaur IV Orbital ATK ORS-5 SensorSat Space Launch Complex 46 The Range

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

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Minotaur IV launch postponed 6 weeks - SpaceFlight Insider

Anonymous Says NASA Is About to Announce Evidence of Alien Life – ScienceAlert

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Hacker network Anonymous has made headlines today, this time claiming that NASA is on the verge of announcing evidence of alien life.

It's a pretty bold statement, but before you get too excited, we've checked the science, and let's be clear right up front that Anonymous doesn't appear to have any substantial new evidence to back up their speculation.

In fact, their latest video announcement centres around the Kepler Space Telescope's latest discovery of 219 new planet candidates outside our Solar System, as well as comments made by Associate Administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Thomas Zurbuchen at a USgovernment hearing back in April.

"Taking into account all of the different activities and missions that are specifically searching for evidence of alien life, we are on the verge of making one of the most profound, unprecedented, discoveries in history," Zurbuchen said during the recent congressional hearing of the committee on 'Advances in the Search for Life', on April 26.

He was also pretty excited about the Kepler announcement last week:

Anonymous has taken Zurbuchen's enthusiastic testimony from that hearing (which you can watch in full at the bottom of this story), alongside the latest Kepler discovery - as well as a few other statements from former astronauts and alien enthusiasts - as evidence "something is going on in the skies above".

You can check out their statement below:

So what's going on here? Are we really on the verge of finding evidence of alien life?

Well, no. It's safe to say Anonymous hasn't stumbled on some smoking gun of extraterrestrial existence here - sorry, guys.

While Zurbuchen's statement back at the April meeting does sound pretty tantalising when taken out of context, what he (and others in the scientific community) are actually excited about is the advances we've made in our ability to search for extraterrestrial life - not any specific piece of evidence.

For starters, there's the Kepler Space Telescope, which was launched in 2009, and scans patches of the sky, looking for the slight dimming of distant stars as evidence of exoplanets orbiting in front of them.

So far it has discovered more than 4,000 planet candidates outside our Solar System, including 30 planets similar in sizeto Earth that are located in the habitable zones of their stars - that means they're not so far away that water would freeze, and not too close that everything would be burnt to a crisp.

Notably, earlier this year NASA announced the discovery of a "sister solar system" - a star system known as TRAPPIST-1 that has seven potentially Earth-like planets orbiting it, and is a relatively close 39 light-years away.

"The TRAPPIST-1 system is just 39 light years away and its discovery tells us that there is plenty of planet making material in our little corner of the solar system, indicating that finding Earth-like planets may actually be closer to us than we originally thought. Future study of this planetary system could reveal conditions suitable for life," said Zurbuchen at the hearing back in April.

Since then, other research teams have contradicted the assumption that TRAPPIST-1's planets are habitable, but the fact that a solar system so similar to our own exists at all in our own neck of the woods suggests there are many more out there and is exciting in its own right.

And even better tools are about to come online to aid in the search for aliens.

Next year, NASA will launch the James Webb Space Telescope -an even more sensitive planet hunter - which will be an even more sensitive planet hunter, that will be able to detect the chemical fingerprints of water, methane, oxygen, ozone in an exoplanet's atmosphere - something that will help us sniff out signs of habitability if they're there.

In addition to looking for signs of life on planets outside of our own Solar System, NASA has also made significant advances when it comes to our own neighbouring planets - including the discovery of essential life building block hydrogen in the frozen oceans of Saturn's moon Enceladus, and evidence that Jupiter's watery moon Europa has oceans with very similar chemical composition to our own.

So Anonymous is right in one way - NASA is closer than ever to having the tools to find evidence of alien life... but unfortunately that doesn't mean that evidence already exists, or even that we'll find it in our lifetime.

But if it makes you feel any better, physicist Stephen Hawking is now "more convinced than ever that we are not alone". Although Neil deGrasse Tyson recently said in a Reddit AMA that he doesn't think we'll find alien life in the next 50 years.

You can check out Zurbuchen's full testimony at the April 26 Congress meeting below, starting from around the 39 minute mark.

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Anonymous Says NASA Is About to Announce Evidence of Alien Life - ScienceAlert

NASA delays Eastern Shore rocket launch for 10th time – Washington Post

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A rocket launch scheduled for the NASA site on Virginias Eastern Shore has been postponed 10 times this month, hinting at the hazards and hardships involved in rocket science.

The latest delay was reported Friday, when the space agency said the launch of its Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket, which had been scheduled for Saturday, was again put off. NASA said it was because of expected cloud cover.

The rocket was to be sent up from the Wallops Flight Facility to support ionospheric research by creating luminescent chemical clouds in that level of the atmosphere that would be visible along much of the Eastern Seaboard.

But clouds and other impediments have deferred the launch over and over. On June 1, wind was the culprit; on June 2, clouds; and on June 3, it was boats in the impact area. And so it has gone.

A new date has not been set, NASA said.

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NASA delays Eastern Shore rocket launch for 10th time - Washington Post

How much of the eclipse will you see? NASA develops interactive app for Great American Eclipse – ABC15 Arizona

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With the Great American Eclipse taking place on August 21, NASA has developed a special app that can show you minute-by-minute exactly how much of the sun will be eclipsed.

With the help of NASA, you can visualize the exact progress of August's solar eclipse.

The Great American Eclipse is one of the most significant astronomical events to happen in United States history.

A rare total eclipse of the sun will happen for those within a 70-mile-wide swath from Oregon to South Carolina. The swath cuts across major cities such as Kansas City and Nashville.

August's eclipse marks the first total solar eclipse to span from coast to coast in the United States since 1918. The upcoming total solar eclipse is also the first for the United States since 1945.

RELATED: How to safely view August's eclipse

For those on either side of the swath, the majority of the Sun will be blocked by the moon at some point during the day of August 21 for everyone living in the Lower 48. For those living near the swath, more than 90 percent of the sun will be obscured during the afternoon of August 21. But even those living in Southern California or Maine will still see nearly two-thirds of the Sun blocked.

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How much of the eclipse will you see? NASA develops interactive app for Great American Eclipse - ABC15 Arizona

Newly-Found Asteroids and Meteoroids Could Pose Collision Threat: NASA – KQED

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After a three-year mission hunting for near-Earth asteroids and comets, NASAs NEOWISE program has delivered a fresh batch of discoveries. In the past year alone, NEOWISE has detected 97 previously unknown solar system objects, 28 of which are Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) that come close to or cross Earths orbit, and can pose a potential collision threat.

In the past three years, NEOWISE has revealed the characteristics of 693 Near-Earth Objects, 114 of which are new discoveries. In the past year alone, it discoveredten potentially hazardous objects. An object is classified as potentially hazardous if its minimum distance from Earth is 4,647,790 miles or less.

NEOWISE is a reinvention of NASAs Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission, which was launched back in December 2009. WISEs goal was to map the entire sky with its 16-inch telescope looking for sources of infrared light, which it accomplished in six months of observation.

With extreme sensitivity to infrared radiation at four different wavelengths, WISE detected faint celestial heat sources across the cosmos such as galaxies billions of light years away, objects within the Milky Way such as black holes, forming star systems and cool brown dwarf stars, and asteroids and comets within our solar system.

Just within our solar system WISE observed about 154,000 objects, including 33,500 new asteroid and comet discoveries.

Being NEO-wise

In October 2010, WISEs primary mission ended. Then, in September 2013, NASA reactivated the spacecraft and re-purposed it to begin a new mission, focused on the hunt for asteroids and comets, with particular interest in Near-Earth Objects that could be potentially hazardous to us. The NEOWISE mission was born.

Knowing about a threat is the first step in avoiding it. In the case of Near-Earth Objects and potentially hazardous asteroids, which occasionally collide with the Earth to cause local or global mayhem, the more we know, the better our chances of predicting a future impact with enough warning to do something to prevent it.

In fact, due to the group efforts of NEOWISE and professional and amateur astronomers around the world, as of June 2017 we know of the existence of 16,294 Near Earth Objects of all categories (meteoroids, asteroids, and comets that come close to or cross Earths orbit). Of these, 1,806 are classified as potentially hazardousthat is, have the potential to come close to the Earth, and are large enough to cause significant damage should they impact us.

If these numbers cause you concern, there are some other numbers you can check out for a little reassurance that the sky is probably not falling anytime soon. The Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory posts on their Sentry site an automatically calculated list of the most significant risks of impact by potentially hazardous objects.

You can dig into the numbers if you have the time or statistical inclination, but perhaps the biggest takeaway from those probabilities is that we are exposed to numerous Earthly risks every daytraffic accidents, disease, slipping in the shower that rate much higher danger than any threats from these NEOs.

Friday, June 30th is International Asteroid Day, a day of awareness of the risk of asteroid impacts, and for support of efforts to devise a defense against them.

Benjamin Burress has been a staff astronomer at Chabot Space & Science Center since July 1999. He graduated from Sonoma State University in 1985 with a bachelors degree in physics (and minor in astronomy), after which he signed on for a two-year stint in the Peace Corps, where he taught physics and mathematics in the African nation of Cameroon. From 1989-96 he served on the crew of NASAs Kuiper Airborne Observatory at Ames Research Center in Mountain View, CA. From 1996-99, he was Head Observer at the Naval Prototype Optical Interferometer program at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, AZ.

Read his previous contributions to QUEST, a project dedicated to exploring the Science of Sustainability.

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Newly-Found Asteroids and Meteoroids Could Pose Collision Threat: NASA - KQED

VIDEO: NASA’s Latest Tracking, Data Relay Satellite System Arrives In Titusville For August Launch – SpaceCoastDaily.com

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Astrotech Space Ops prepares TDRS for launch

ABOVE VIDEO:The first Tracking and Data Relay Satellite was launched in 1983 on the Space Shuttle Challengerss first flight, STS-6. The Boeing-built Inertial Upper Stage that was to take the satellite from Challengers orbit to its ultimate geosynchronous orbit suffered a failure that caused it not to deliver the TDRS to the correct orbit. As a result, it was necessary to command the satellite to use its onboard rocket thrusters to move it into its correct orbit.

(NASA) The next addition to NASAs Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) System has arrived in Florida to begin processing for its August launch.

The TDRS-M satellite, secured in a shipping container, was delivered Friday aboard a cargo aircraft that touched down at Space Coast Regional Airport in Titusville, Florida, near the agencys Kennedy Space Center.

The spacecraft then was transported to the Astrotech Space Operations facility to begin preparations for launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

TDRS-M will expand the capabilities of NASAs Space Network to support space communication for an additional 15 years.

The network consists of TDRS satellites that transmit data to and from ground stations on Earth for NASA missions and expendable launch vehicles.

The next addition to NASAs Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) System has arrived in Florida to begin processing for its August launch.

The Space Network allows scientists, engineers and control room staff to readily access data from missions like the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station.

Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems of El Segundo, California, built TDRS-M. NASAs Space Communications and Navigation Program, a part of the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, is responsible for the TDRS network.

Launch management of the Atlas V launch service for TDRS-M is the responsibility of the mission directorates Launch Services Program at Kennedy.

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VIDEO: NASA's Latest Tracking, Data Relay Satellite System Arrives In Titusville For August Launch - SpaceCoastDaily.com

The information age is over, welcome to the machine learning age – VentureBeat

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I first used a computer to do real work in 1985.

I was in college in the Twin Cities, and I remember using the DOS version of Word and later upgraded to the first version of Windows. People used to scoff at the massive gray machines in the computer lab but secretly they suspected something was happening.

It was. You could say the information age started in 1965 when Gordon Moore invented Moores Law (a prediction about how transistors would double every year, later changed to every 18 months). It was all about computing power escalation, and he was right about the coming revolution. Some would argue the information age started long before then when electricity replaced steam power. Or, maybe it was when the library system in the U.S. started to expand in the 30s.

Who knows? My theory it started when everyone had access to information on a personal computer. That was essentially what happened around 1985 for me and a bit before that in high school. (Insert your own theory here about the Apple II ushering in the information age in 1977. Id argue that was a little too much of a hobbyist machine.)

We can agree on one thing. We know that information is everywhere. Thats a given. Now, prepare for another shift.

In their book Machine, Platform, Crowd: Harnessing Our Digital Future, economic gurus Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson suggest that were now in the machine learning age. They point to another momentous occasion that might be as significant as Moores Law. In March of last year, an AI finally beat a world champion player in Go, winning three out of four games.

Of course, pinpointing the start of the machine learning age is also difficult. Beating Go was a milestone, but my adult-age kids have been relying on GPS in their phones for years. They dont know how to read normal maps, and if they didnt have a phone, they would get lost. They are already relying on a machine that essentially replaces human reasoning. I havent looked up showtimes for a movie theater in a browser for several years now. I leave that to Siri on my iPhone. Ive been using an Amazon Echo speaker to control the thermostat in my home since 2015.

In their book, McAfee and Brynjolfsson make an interesting point about this radical shift. For anyone working in the field of artificial intelligence, leaving the information age behind, we know that this will be a crowdsourced endeavor. Its more than creating an account on Kickstarter. AI comes alive when it has access to the data generated by thousands or millions of users. The more data it has the better it will be. To beat the Go champion, Google DeepMind used a database of actual human-to-human games. AI cannot exist without crowdsourced data. We see this with chatbots and voicebots. The best bots know how to adapt to the user, know how to use previous discussions as the basis for improved AI.

Even the term machine learning has an implication about crowdsourcing. The machine learns from the crowd, typically by gathering data. We see this play out more vibrantly with autonomous cars than any other machine learning paradigm. Cars analyze thousands of data points using sensors that watch how people drive on the road. A Tesla Model S is constantly crowdsourcing. Now that GM is testing the self-driving Bolt on real roads, its clear the entire project is a way to make sure the cars understand all of the real-world variables.

The irony here? The machine age is still human-powered. In the book, the authors explain how the transition from steam power to electric power took a long time. People scoffed at the idea of using electric motors and not a complex system of gears and pulleys. Not everyone was on board. Not everyone saw the value. As we experiment with AI, test and retest the algorithms, and deploy bots into the home and workplace, its important to always keep in mind that the machines will only improve as the crowdsourced data improves.

Were still in full control. For now.

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The information age is over, welcome to the machine learning age - VentureBeat

Mind – Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The mind is a general term for the way a person that thinks, reasons, perceives, wills, and feels. For science, what others call the mind is entirely caused by workings of the brain. The philosopher Gilbert Ryle called mind the "Ghost in the Machine". He said the idea that it was separate from the brain was the mistaken "Official Doctrine".[1][2] However, some think that mind is separate from the body and is called a soul (see dualism).

Many people argue about what makes up the mind. Some say that only reason and memory are part of the mind, because they are conscious. In this view the emotions like love, hate, fear and joy are different from the mind. Some people with this view say the emotions are part of the heart. Others argue that our rational and emotional states cannot be separated and should all be part of what we call the mind.

People often use mind to mean the same as thought: the way we talk to ourselves "inside our heads". This is where the sayings "make up our minds," "change our minds" and "of two minds" come from. One of the important things of the mind in this sense is that it is private. No one else can "know our mind."

The original meaning of the Old English gemynd was memory. This explains the sayings call to mind, come to mind, keep in mind, to have mind of, and so on. Old English had other words to express what we call "mind" today, such as hyge, meaning "mind, spirit". The word mind gradually grew to mean all conscious thought over the 14th and 15th centuries.[3]

Thought is when we absorb what happens around us so that we can deal with it effectively according to our plans and desires. Thinking is using information, like forming concepts, problem solving, reasoning and making choices.

Memory is when we store information in our minds, and can later recall it.

Imagination is the ability to invent worlds inside the mind, complete or not. The mind makes these by drawing on experience in the shared world.

Consciousness is knowing that we exist and the world exists, and being able to understand what happens around us.

Just like the body, a mind can be healthy. The measure of this is called mental health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there is not one way to measure mental health in all people, because there are many things in our surroundings that might make what is mentally healthier different from one person to another. In general, most experts agree that "mental health" and "mental illness" are not opposites. In other words, not having a mental illness does not mean you are in good mental health.

One way to think about mental health is by looking at how well a person lives. Signs of mental health include: feeling capable and happy, being able to handle normal levels of stress, making and keeping friends, and leading an independent life, and being able to recover from difficult situations.

Philosophy of mind is the branch of philosophy that studies the nature of the mind and how it is linked to the body. The main problem is how the mind is related to the body, but there are also questions about the nature of the mind that do not talk about its relation to the physical body.[4]

Dualism and monism are the two main ways people try to solve the mind-body problem. Dualism is when people believe that the mind and body are in some way separate from each other. It can be traced back to Plato,[5]Aristotle,[6][7][8] and the Samkhya and Yoga schools of Hindu philosophy,[9] but it was most precisely formulated by Ren Descartes in the 17th century.[10]

Monism is the belief that mind and body are not physiologically and ontologically distinct kinds of entities. This view was first seen in Western philosophy by Parmenides in the 5th century BC and was later held by the 17th-century rationalist Baruch Spinoza.[11] According to Spinoza, mind and body are two parts of a larger being.

Idealists think that the mind is all that exists and that the outside world is actually made up by the mind. Physicalists think that everything can be expressed by what is physical. Neutral monists believe that everything can be either mental or physical depending how you see it. For example, a red spot on a wall is physical, because it is an actual thing depending on the physical wall, but it is mental because our brain responds to the colour. The most common monisms in the 20th and 21st centuries have all been different kinds of physicalism, including behaviorism.[1][2][4]

Psychology is the study of the way we think, feel and act. It involves the scientific study of processes such as perception, cognition, feelings, personality, as well as things around us that might affect the way we think. From this study, psychologists try to form rules for why we act the way we do. Psychology also includes using this knowledge to help solve problems of everyday life and treat mental health problems.

Social psychology is the study of how we think, feel and act in groups of other people. Most people who study social psychology are either psychologists or sociologists.

The phrase Mind's eye refers to the ability to see things with the mind.

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Mind - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hackaday Links: June 25th, 2017 – Hackaday

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There will be no special badges for DEFCON. Everyone will still have badges and our expectations are tempered because of the one year on / one year off schedule forelectronicbadges there just wont be mind-bending puzzles wrapped up in the official badges. What this means: it probably wont matter if youre late forlinecon, and someone in the DEFCON hive mind still has a Facebook. Also, DEFCON is canceled.

In the past, we have decried the very existence of fidget spinners. Its what the kids are into, after all. However, anelectronic fidget spinner is an interesting engineering challenge. It combines the mechanical fun of bearing science, the exacting precision of balancing stuff, and stuffing electronics where no electronics should be. This Kickstarter is perhaps the best electronic fidget spinner weve seen. The electronics are powered by a coin cell and are packed into one of the spaces for the wing bearings, and two additional weighted bearings allow the spinner to balance. Theres a small magnet for a hall effect sensor in the stator cap so RPM can be measured. This design uses the most common mold for a fidget spinner, making it very manufacturable. Compare this design to the Internet of Fidget Spinners, a POV fidget Spinner, another POV fidget spinner, an educational electronic fidget spinner, or this amazing technique to measure the speed of a fidget spinner that will blow your mind, and youll see this Kickstarter project is clearly the superior design.

You kids are spoiled with your programmable drum machines like your 808 and 909.Back in the day, drum machines were attached to organs, and only had a few patterns. You couldnt change the patterns, you could only change thespeed. [Jan] has created one of these prehistoric drummachines in a microcontroller. You get hardrock, disco, reggae, rock, samba, rumba, cha-cha, bossanova, beguine, synthpop, boogie, waltz, jazz rock, and slow rock. Awesome.

Theres a new electronics magazine. Its called DIYODE, and were all kicking ourselves for not coming up with that name.

Do you need a new password? Humans really arent good at coming up with random numbers, and if you need a completely random alphanumeric password, its best left to a computer. Have no fear, because theres now a website that generates the single most secure password on the planet. This password, H4!b5at+kWls-8yh4Guq, features upper and lowercase characters, numbers, symbols, and twenty unique characters. This password was developed by security researchers and encryption specialistsinEurope, so you know it has absolutely nothing to do with the NSA, CIA, or any other American three-letter agency.

Speaking of three-letter agencies, last Wednesday was International Selfie Day! That doesnt mean you still cant get in on the action. Take a selfieright now and upload it to social media! Whats facial recognition?

Looking for a great little ESP32 breakout board with all the bells and whistles? Olimex has a new board outwith Ethernet, a MicroSD card slot, and 20 GPIOs broken out.

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Hackaday Links: June 25th, 2017 - Hackaday

NorthBay redefines community medicine – Fairfield Daily Republic

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FAIRFIELD Does community hospital conjure an image of a place where complex brain and spinal surgery happen on a regular basis?

Where life-saving orthopedic care is available 24/7/365?

Where cutting-edge technology, equipment and medical know-how allow cancer patients to get treatments close to home?

Where open heart surgery regularly saves lives?

Or where parents of fragile newborns can keep an eye on their baby using their cellphones and a video monitoring system?

Unless youve had a stroke, heart attack, brain tumor, traumatic accident or a fragile baby, chances are you dont realize these services exist in your local, community hospital.

But they do. And thats because NorthBay Healthcare has been committed to systematically redefining the concept of a community hospital, according to President and CEO Konard Jones.

NorthBay Healthcare is Solano Countys only homegrown health system, Jones said.

We not only make all of our health care decisions right here, we are residents, neighbors, family, friends and care providers. Weve grown with Solano County, he said.

Primary and specialty services have grown from ground zero to 130-plus providers in less than 10 years. Additionally, as a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, NorthBay physicians have access to more than 4,000 physicians and scientists at Mayo Clinic for second opinions, knowledge and expertise.

When it comes to saving lives, every minute counts. Advancing care in Solano County with the help from the No. 1 hospital in the nation is a badge of honor, Jones said.

NorthBay Medical Center in Fairfield was the first verified Level II trauma center in Solano County and is the only Baby-Friendly facility and accredited Chest Pain Center. Both NorthBay Medical Center and NorthBay VacaValley Hospital are accredited Stroke Centers.

And VacaValley Hospital offers a fully accredited Joint Replacement Program, specializing in hips, knees and shoulders.

NorthBay expanded in Vacaville in 2016, opening the VacaValley Wellness Center, which is now home to the Center for Diabetes & Endocrinology, the Center for Integrative Medicine and the 30-year-old NorthBay Cancer Center. Cancer patients have state-of-the-art equipment for radiation oncology, and spacious infusion bays for chemotherapy.

Also in the building is the countys first medical fitness center open to the general public for membership. The 56,000-square-foot NorthBay HealthSpring Fitness is managed by EXOS|Medifit, a worldwide industry leader in training professional athletes and the military, among others. On three floors it comprises workout equipment, rooms for exercises classes, three swimming pools, fitness specialists, massage therapists and more.

Work is progressing on the Fairfield hospital campus on a $183 million, 77,000-square-foot, three-story wing that will replace older parts of the 57-year-old hospital. It will offer six new operating rooms, 22 patient rooms of the future, a new caf, imaging services, cardiac catheterization labs and 16 post-acute care beds.

An expanded Emergency Department is also in the works.

Its an exciting time to work for NorthBay Healthcare, as were redefining what it means to be a community hospital, Jones said. We are committed to developing and growing services in neuroscience, heart and vascular, stroke and trauma care and to embrace new technology as we go.

That desire to embrace advanced medicine is not new to NorthBay, according to Elnora Cameron, vice president for strategic planning. In fact, it is part of the organizations mission statement, Compassionate Care, Advanced Medicine, Close to Home.

NorthBay Healthcare is the smallest health care system in the county, but ironically, we also provide the most sophisticated services, Cameron said. From neonatal intensive care to trauma to neuroscience, we have brought services home to Solano County, allowing patients to receive treatment here, instead of having to travel far from home, far from loved ones.

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NorthBay redefines community medicine - Fairfield Daily Republic

Dr. David Katz, Preventive Medicine: Truth about the bell curve and health – New Haven Register

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I was privileged this past week to deliver commencement addresses for Bastyr University on their campuses in San Diego, and Seattle, to a combined audience of several thousand, celebrating the graduation of hundreds of students receiving various bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees in the health professions.

My job was not just to celebrate and congratulate the graduates, pleasant though that might have been for us both. My job as commencement speaker was to provoke and harangue, goad and attempt to inspire. I had only faint hope of achieving all that, but in accepting the invitation, I had pledged my best effort.

Accordingly, and in service to that mission, I asked them to consider these lines from the famous poem If, by Rudyard Kipling: If you can bear to hear the truth youve spoken, Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools ...

Theres a lot there to ponder, I noted, in a post-truth world of alternative facts. There is a lot to those lines in a world where every opinion mistakes itself for expertise; every voice can access the megaphone of cyberspace; and every assertion can amplify itself in echo chambers populated by those attending carefully only to the opinions they already own, drowning out all else.

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We all presume that Kipling is speaking to us, and thus that the truth is our truth. But if everyone is the person to whom Kipling is speaking if each of us owns the truth then who is the knave, who twists the truth? Who is the fool taken in by such willful distortion? Recall the precautionary lyrics, courtesy of The Main Ingredient: everybody plays the fool, some time

Sometimes our view of the truth can be too narrow. Those of us who embrace and espouse holism see just that liability in staunch conventionalists who refute any truths that reside outside the bounds of their comfortable conventions.

Sometimes, though, our view of truth can be too broad. Not all that glitters is gold; not every therapeutic modality with intrinsic appeal and vocal proponents actually works. In the pursuit of truth, we must keep open minds but not ever so open our brains flop out!

We can all too readily believe what isnt true, and play the fool. In our fervor, we can pass along that misguided conviction, playing the knave- and making fools of others.

Sometimes, our view of truth is too proprietary. Many of us try on our own to be that source of truth that rises above the shouts of the knaves, and reorients the gullible fools. But in this age of incessant din and endless echoes of every opinion no one voice can reliably deliver the signal of truth; no one voice can overmaster the din. Only in our unity is there sufficient strength to try.

That, in turn, brought me to the one truth of my own I presumed to share with the graduates and their loved ones, reflecting on my own efforts to do good in the world. I believe the best measure of our worth is not how much better we can be than average, but how much we do to make the average better.

What difference does it make if you know that health care should be a right, but society treats it as a privilege? What difference does it make if you know that access to care should be universal, but it remains privileged? What difference does it make if you know that holistic models of care can be kinder and gentler and highly effective, but the system is unreformed? What difference does it make if you know that climate change is real, and we are complicit in it, but our culture remains committed to doing far too little far too late? What difference does it make if you know that multicolored marshmallows are no part of a 6-year-olds complete breakfast, but Madison Avenue doesnt give a damn?

Gertrude Stein famously said: a difference, to be a difference, must make a difference. To make a difference, we must make the mean different. We must raise the average. Society does not do the bidding of outliers; it heeds the tolling at the center of the bell curve. Society, and culture, regress to the mean. They are governed by the popular imperatives, not the best informed.

Like John Donnes famous church bell, the bell curve tolls for us all. We will rise or fall together.

The true measure of our worth is not how much better we can be than average, but how much we can do to make the average better. So I called upon these new graduates to put their shoulders to the unyielding line drawn through the mean and lift but to start tomorrow. The challenges will be there, waiting for them. Today, I suggested they simply honor the milestone and their personal triumph with family and friends.

Their youth and energy and idealism renewed my own hopes for the future. I was privileged to be there to say to them: we need you, welcome, and congratulations.

Dr. David L. Katz;www.davidkatzmd.com; founder, True Health Initiative

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Dr. David Katz, Preventive Medicine: Truth about the bell curve and health - New Haven Register

Marshall Sports Medicine Offers Concussion Testing for Children – The Exponent Telegram (press release) (registration)

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With pediatric concussions on the rise nationally, the Marshall Sports Medicine Institute is launching a new initiative to offer free baseline concussion testing for children.

This proactive approach to concussion management establishes baseline data in healthy patients using ImPACT Pediatric, the first and only FDA-approved concussion assessment aid for ages 5-11.

With this new pediatric concussion test, we can now evaluate neurocognitive function after sustaining a concussion and compare their function to baseline levels, said Tom Belmaggio, MS, ATC, CSCS, coordinator of the Marshall Sports Medicine Institute. This allows our physicians to provide safer return-to-play decisions for younger athletes who sustain a concussion.

According to a study by researchers from the University of Washington, Seattle Childrens Research Institute and the University of Colorado, nearly 2 million children suffer sports-related concussions each year.

As more children under the age of 12 participate in recreational physical activity, baseline testing in children is increasingly essential to overall concussion management, said Andy Gilliland, M.D., a primary care sports medicine physician with Marshall Orthopedics and an assistant professor of orthopedics at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine. This provides us greater insight into cognitive changes and develop a personalized treatment plan accordingly.

Free pediatric baseline concussion testing is available by appointment at the Marshall Sports Medicine Institute, located at 2211 Third Ave. in Huntington by calling 304-691-1880 and at Marshall Health-Teays Valley, located at 300 Corporate Center Dr. in Scott Depot by calling 304-691-6800.

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Marshall Sports Medicine Offers Concussion Testing for Children - The Exponent Telegram (press release) (registration)

Ex-FSU star Myron Rolle ready to begin med school residency – ABC News

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Myron Rolle has accomplished many things on and off the field. His biggest ones, though, might still be coming up.

Rolle's dream of becoming a doctor came to fruition on May 20 when he graduated from Florida State's College of Medicine. The former All-American safety and Rhodes Scholar has not had much time to reflect on the accomplishment. He moved to Boston at the beginning of June and will start his residency at the Harvard Medical School's neurosurgery program at Massachusetts General Hospital on July 1.

"It felt great to graduate," said Rolle, 30. "It put the finishing touches on an incredible and blessed story."

While growing up in Galloway, New Jersey, Rolle looked up to two people Dr. Ben Carson, who was a renowned neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital before entering politics, and Deion Sanders. When Rolle was in the fifth grade, he received a copy of Carson's book, "Gifted Hands," and has been interested in neurosurgery ever since.

While being recruited by Florida State, which is where Sanders rose to fame, Rolle told then-coach Bobby Bowden and defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews about his goals to go to the NFL, become a Rhodes Scholar and become a neurosurgeon.

"He was one of the most disciplined players who was focused on doing things the right way that I have coached," Andrews said. "How many people have an opportunity to excel in sports and academia? His motivation to excel in the classroom was every bit as strong as on the field."

In November 2008, Rolle made headlines when he interviewed in Birmingham, Alabama, as a Rhodes Scholar finalist and then flew to Maryland, where the Seminoles were playing the University of Maryland. Rolle got the scholarship and played in the game after arriving during the second quarter. At the end of the season, he was named to the third team of the Associated Press' All-America squad. He earned his undergraduate degree in 2? years.

"Being on the other side of the fence now working for a football team, you always want a guy that looks the part, can lead vocally and by example. Myron did the best of both," said Ochuko Jenije, a former teammate of Rolle's who is a student-athlete development director at North Carolina.

Bowden said Rolle is one of those players "who might come once in a lifetime in coaching" and that he was proud to see his former player reach his goals.

After spending 2009 studying at Oxford, where he got his master's in medical anthropology, Rolle was drafted in the sixth round by Tennessee in 2010. His NFL career was short, lasting less than three seasons. Rolle spent one season on the practice squad and was released in 2011. He was signed by Pittsburgh in 2012 but was cut in the preseason. He never played in a regular-season game.

Rolle entered medical school in 2013 and hasn't looked back. Many of the traits that made him successful in football translated to medicine. Rolle said that when he interviewed with hospitals for residencies, he heard that being an athlete would come in handy as a doctor. Now he sees why.

"You have to be able to be part of a team and stick to the fundamentals," he said. "You have to be prepared and perform under pressure. A lot of the same joy and adrenaline rush that I felt after making a good play or winning in football I feel now after a successful surgery."

John Fogarty, dean of the Florida State University College of Medicine, said what made Rolle stand out during medical school was his ability to accomplish each task.

"He is such an incredibly humble young man who worked very well with his classmates," Fogarty said. "He is a wonderful teammate because medicine and surgery relies a lot on teamwork.

"He really doesn't fit the description of a prototypical surgeon rough and gruff. He can sit with patients and family members and discuss all the options. Between head trauma and injuries, those are often difficult discussions."

Rolle's primary interest remains pediatric neurosurgery, but at Harvard he also will be at the epicenter of concussion research. Harvard has partnered with the National Football League on concussion and the players' union on a long-term health study looking at players after they retire.

Besides the effect on football players, Rolle thinks the concussion research could benefit soccer players and soldiers who suffer traumatic brain injuries in the field.

While Rolle thinks his first-hand experience as an athlete can serve as a benefit into research, that wasn't the reason why he thinks Boston is a good fit.

"I got along with everyone and felt good about them. I felt like I was joining a team," he said.

Rolle's goals remain centered on young people, including opening clinics in low-income countries that do not have a pediatric neurosurgeon. With the start of his residency, Rolle sees it as another step in an interesting journey.

"The process of getting here and sharing my story has been very exciting," he said. "Everyone that I have worked and played with has been a part of it."

More AP college football: http://collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/APTop25

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Ex-FSU star Myron Rolle ready to begin med school residency - ABC News

Wall & Main: UMass Medical School’s $1.6 billion economic contribution – Worcester Telegram

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The University Of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) is an important part of the Worcester economy. A 2015 study by the Donahue Institute, a U Mass-affiliated provider of research, training and consulting on economic and public policy, estimates that UMMS contributed $1.6 billion to the county's economy.

The Donahue Institute study found that "UMMS generated $1.6 billion in economic activity including contributions of the local operating expenditures of the university, including $49 million in one-time major construction, the spending of UMMS faculty and staff, and the spending of its students in fiscal year 2015 Spending by UMMS and its faculty, staff and students support an additional 4,943 jobs in Massachusetts."

Medical research is a major contributor to UMMS' economic impact. According to a June 19 email from James B. Leary, UMMS vice chancellor for community and government relations, "In terms of economic impact our medical research enterprise is a major driver. UMMS now ranks 29th among medical schools nationally in National Institutes of Health funding (out of nearly 150 schools) and is third in New England behind only Yale and Harvard. UMMS currently has approximately $260 million in sponsored research including $206 million from federal grants, of which $153 million is from the NIH. To put the impact of that in context, a 2015 national study on NIH funding indicated that in Massachusetts, every dollar of NIH funding yielded a nearly $2.30 in multiplier impact ("NIH's Role in Sustaining the U.S. Economy, 2015 Update", published by United for Medical Research). So, while I can't state the impact by project with specificity, we know the multiplier impact of research is very significant and certainly helps drive the local economy."

UMMS has also patented its research in a significant way, although I would imagine it is difficult to quantify the economic impact of those patents. According to Mr. Leary, "UMMS has been very successful in patenting research breakthroughs, thereby providing a foundation upon which new companies can be founded or new therapies can be developed by existing companies. Today, UMMS has 184 licenses with 109 companies. Among these, is Biomere/BRM, a Worcester-based contract researcher, and Cambridge-based Voyager Therapeutics, [a publicly traded developer of therapies for neurological diseases which generated $14 million in 2016 revenue while posting a $40 million net loss and had a June 19 market capitalization stock price times shares outstanding of $273 million]."

I believe there is significant promise in the steps UMMS is taking to boost its future economic impact. As Mr. Leary explained, "In terms of medical research, we are committed to continue investing in research and seeking grant funding for promising areas of inquiry from federal and other sources. In addition, in recent years we established an office of innovation and business development, the sole focus of which is to increase the types and number of industry partnerships and collaborations, as well as help launch new companies."

UMMS is happy to be located in Worcester. "We have always operated in Worcester and see many positives from this location. Central Mass has a vibrant higher education and health care sectors, both of which are a draw for our scientists, who come here from across the country and across the globe. We have a highly skilled workforce in the city and the region, which is critical for our success. And Worcester is a great place for collaboration with other colleges and universities, with businesses and with government leaders," Mr. Leary contends.

However, it sees a challenge in attracting talent to the heart of Massachusetts. "The only real challenge is that of perception sometimes people from outside the area don't know or appreciate how Worcester's economy has transformed over the past three decades. But once they visit and see it for themselves, they appreciate that this is a real center of innovation and collaboration," he said.

UMMS believes that Worcester's labor statistics, researcher credentials, licensing revenue, and National Institutes of Health funding help make the case for Worcester. As Mr. Leary argued, "47 percent of employment in the city of Worcester is in the education and health services sector a figure that does not even include jobs in the private life sciences."

He also highlighted the talents of UMMS' researchers. "The outstanding credentials of many of the researchers who have chosen to work here. These individuals are from all over the world, and they could work virtually anywhere. The fact they have chosen UMass and Worcester sends a strong message to others who may not be familiar with us. (Members of our faculty include awardees of the 2015 Breakthrough Prize, 2008 Lasker Award, 2006 Nobel Prize for Medicine, seven Howard Hughes Medical Investigators, six National Academy members, three Keck Award winners and three Presidential Early Career awardees.)" he pointed out.

Finally, Mr. Leary provided evidence of UMMS' licensing revenue and NIH funding. "Most years, the University of Massachusetts system ranks very highly nationally in annual licensing revenues (top 15), indicating success in turning laboratory discoveries into commercial therapies or technologies. UMMS accounts for the vast majority of this licensing in the university system typically over 95 percent. And UMMS ranks highly in NIH research, all of which is competitively awarded based upon peer review merit scores."

Peter Cohan of Marlboro heads a management consulting and venture capital firm and teaches business strategy and entrepreneurship at Babson College. His email address is peter@petercohan.com.

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Wall & Main: UMass Medical School's $1.6 billion economic contribution - Worcester Telegram

New chart illustrates graphically the racial preferences for blacks, Hispanics being admitted to US medical schools – American Enterprise Institute

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The bar chart above is based on selected data from the table below the chart and shows the acceptance rates for US medical schools based on three different combinations of MCAT scores and GPA by ethnic/race group during the 2013-2016 period. As I explained in previous CD post that featured the table above (but not the new bar chart, which was just prepared with assistance from Olivier Ballou):

For the 2015-2016 academic year, the average GPA of all students applying to medical schools was 3.55 and the average MCAT score was 28.3 according to data from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). The highlighted dark blue column in the middle of the table above displays the acceptance rates to US medical schools for applicants from four racial/ethnic groups for applicants with: a) GPAs that fall in the 3.40 to 3.59 range that includes the average GPA of 3.55 and b) MCAT scores in the range between 27 to 29 that includes the average MCAT score of 28.3. Acceptance rates for students with slightly higher and slightly lower than average GPAs and test scores are displayed in the other columns. In other words, the table above displays acceptance rates by race/ethnicity for students applying to US medical schools with average academic credentials, and just slightly above and slightly below average academic credentials.

Bottom Line: Medical school acceptance rates in recent years suggest that medical schools must have affirmative discrimination and racial profiling admission policies that favor black and Hispanic applicants over equally qualified Asian and white students. Even if factors other than GPA and MCAT scores (which are probably the two most important ones) are considered for admission to medical school, wouldnt it still be very hard to conclude that admissions policies to medical schools are completely race-neutral and completely free of any racial profiling practices that favor blacks and Hispanics over equally qualified Asians and whites?

Heres why the issue is important: In some states like California, Washington, Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, New Hampshire, and Michigan, racial preferences in college admissions to public universities are currently prohibited by state law. For example, Proposal 2 in Michigan, which was passed into Michigan Constitutional law by a 58% margin of voters in 2006 (and upheld by the Supreme Court in 2014), states:

The University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Wayne State University, and any other public college or university, community college, or school district shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.

The AAMC doesnt provide acceptance data by individual medical school, so we cant conclude that any of the four medical schools at public universities in Michigan (University of Michigan, Michigan State, Wayne State and Oakland University) are practicing illegal racial discrimination or racial preferences in admissions, but its clear that Michigan state law, and the laws in several other states, expressly prohibit that practice. Based on national data, is there any conclusion other than the obvious one that US medical schools are granting special preferences for admissions on the basis of race for certain preferred minority groups (blacks and Hispanics) over other equally qualified non-preferred minority groups (Asians) and whites? When a black applicant with average academic credentials is four times more likely to be admitted to a US medical school than an equally qualified Asian applicant, what other conclusion is there?

Note: Unfortunately, it might difficult to get these exact data on medical school admissions by race/ethnic group and GPA/MCAT score in the future for the following reasons:

1. The MCAT test was recently re-scaled from the tradition point range of 20-35 to a new scale that ranges from 475 to 525 points, and that change was in effect for the most recent AAMC report on Applicants and Matriculants Data for the 2016-2017 academic year. In the past, the AAMC would report the data on acceptance rates by GPA/MCAT scores and race/ethnic group over the most recent three-year period, so it might wait for several more years before it would have three years of data under the new MCAT test score range.

2. The AAMC this year also hasnt yet reported acceptance rates for the 2016-2017 academic year based on various combinations of GPA/MCAT score by race/ethnic group like it has in the past. Its possible theres a delay in reporting these data, and its also possible the traditional grid report on GPA and MCAT scores by race/ethnic groups may no longer be reported as it was in past years?

Continued here:

New chart illustrates graphically the racial preferences for blacks, Hispanics being admitted to US medical schools - American Enterprise Institute

Program aims to make Liberty more competitive – Houston Chronicle

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Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Chad Taylor is always thinking, trying to find a better route to success for his students.

Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Chad Taylor is always...

Every coach is looking for a competitive edge. Chad Taylor is no different.

The athletic director and head football coach at Liberty, following last year's successful year for most of the sports programs, has been brainstorming to find an additional edge. He's not satisfied.

At the Liberty ISD school board meeting, Taylor presented a program that should give Panther teams a step up on their competition and in some cases, at least bring them up to the same level.

The coach presented a pre-athletics program for students in the fifth and sixth grades that he hopes will change the way Panther programs are represented at both the middle and high schools.

"At the end of the day we're just trying to identify those kids who might be interested in athletics at an earlier age and begin teaching them ball skills," Taylor said.

"We're working with them two years in advance," he said, "and I'm hoping that will give us a distinct edge over our competition, and in some cases, bring us up to their same level of play."

The Panthers find themselves on the low end of the stick against rivals like Tarkington volleyball whose students participate in select ball - a great investment, but expensive for families who may not be able to make the financial sacrifice.

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

"That's where we get hammered from schools like Tarkington. Those girls in Tarkington, they start participating in select volleyball or the AAU program early. The same way with Hardin-Jefferson basketball," the coach said.

With his new program, Liberty students will get the same kind of attention, but without the expense of the travel involved with select ball.

"We'll find those kids who are extremely talented in those areas (volleyball, football, basketball) who can't really do select ball," Taylor said. "They won't play a single game for the Liberty Panthers for two years," the coach said since the program begins in the fifth grade and UIL competition for most athletics begins in the 7th grade, but, he said, they will be ready for a higher level of competition when they do reach that grade.

Casey Vaughn, one of the best athletes to ever come out of Liberty, wants to be a coach but she's a couple of years out from her degree, but that's not stopping Taylor from hiring her to assist.

"When we get to basketball, we can create an intramural league that will allow us to let the kids play against each other and get some real game experience," he said. Vaughn would help lead the intramural league.

The program doesn't violate UIL rules in that the coaching comes during regular physical education (PE) classes.

"I can coach any kid in Liberty ISD from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. while it's in the classroom or class time," Taylor said.

The way the program will operate is that all students in the fifth grade, for example, will attend agility drills during their physical education program on Mondays. Coaches available during the period of 12:45 p.m. and 2 p.m. will be present to work with the kids - including the regular classroom PE teacher and coaches from across the district.

Wednesdays will be regular PE class as scheduled prior by the elementary teachers.

"We want to keep that class social so that the kids all still get to intermingle with others in their regular classes," he said.

Fridays will be the actual pre-athletic day.

"We will create a block schedule where those who want to be in pre-athletics can come in for extra instruction and ball skills," the coach said. That class will last 80 minutes, instead of the regular 45 minutes.

The board voted unanimously to approve the measure.

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Program aims to make Liberty more competitive - Houston Chronicle

Liberty prepared to celebrate Fourth on the third – Chron.com

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By David Taylor, dtaylor@hcnonline.com

The flags are already flying and Liberty residents are preparing to celebrate the nation's independence in style with barbecue and all the fixin's.

The holiday, which falls on a Tuesday this year, will be celebrated by the city of Liberty on Monday, July 3 - a Fourth tradition.

The festivities begin at the municipal park around 7 p.m., said City Manager Gary Broz.

"We'll have music playing in the park with some guest musicians," he said.

The toe-tapping music won't be the only thing.

Broz said there are all kinds of games and fun planned for families, including their children. Face painting is always a favorite along with various other novelties.

Broz said there will be vendors set up to sell food.

"We ask residents to bring a blanket to sit on or lawn chairs," he said.

Alcoholic beverages are prohibited, but sodas, tea, and water are allowed.

The big celebration begins at 9:15 p.m. with the fireworks show that typically lasts 15-20 minutes.

The fireworks can be viewed from the park and several other areas nearby.

Residents are encouraged to arrive early in order to park nearby.

For more information on the evening activities, call city hall at 936-336-3684.

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Liberty prepared to celebrate Fourth on the third - Chron.com

Celebrate and reflect why we proclaim liberty – The Record-Courier

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As we approach the day of celebration, reflection, thanksgiving, honor, and the proclamation of liberty we should take time to remember where our liberty received its source. The pilgrims who began this journey were seeking to find a place where freedom would be the primary focus. They were oppressed both religiously and politically. Freedom of worship, speech and many other liberties were denied them. The foundation upon which our liberty was built has produced the greatest nation ever to exist. We have enjoyed this liberty and sometimes taking it for granted we fail to preserve the freedom by eroding the foundation on which it stands. Let's look at a few statements of those who were around when this great experiment was born.

Noah Webster (1758-1843) was an American lexicographer, textbook author, spelling reformer, political writer, word enthusiast and editor. He has been called the father of American scholarship and education. In his public school textbook "History of the United States," published in 1832, he stated:

"Almost all the civil liberty now enjoyed in the world owes its origin to the principles of the Christian religion.

"It is the sincere desire of the writer that our citizens should early understand that the genuine source of correct republican principles in the Bible, particularly the New Testament or the Christian religion.

"The religion which has introduced civil liberty is the religion of Christ and His apostles, which enjoins humility, piety, and benevolence; which acknowledges in every person a brother, or sister, and a citizen with equal rights. This is genuine Christianity, and to this we owe our free constitutions of government.

"The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures ought to form the basis of all of our civil constitutions and laws. All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery, and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible."

On July 3, 1776, following the signing of the Declaration of Independence, John Adams wrote to his wife, reflecting on what he had shared in Congress concerning the importance of that day: "The second day of July 1776 will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America, I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forever.

"You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost to maintain this Declaration and support and defend these States. Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is worth more than all the means; that posterity will triumph in the day's transaction, even though we (may regret) it, which in God we shall not."

We must as citizens of this county remind ourselves that our liberties were established upon a moral foundation that is sure and solid. It is essential that this foundation be maintained or the structure built upon it will not stand. If moral erosion is not limited and prevented, the entire edifice will eventually collapse. I am reminded of the scripture in Proverbs 22:28, "Do not remove the ancient landmark Which your fathers have set."

This Fourth of July let us celebrate our great country, heritage, foundation and the One who made us the greatest.

God restore America, You have already blessed us!

Pastor Leo Kruger of Valley Christian Fellowship is a member of Carson Valley Ministers' Association.

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Celebrate and reflect why we proclaim liberty - The Record-Courier