Select Page ::

Bitcoin Looks a Lot Like an Early Amazon – Investopedia

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Danzig

Investopedia does not provide tax, investment, or financial services. The information available through Investopedias Advisor Insights service is provided by third parties and solely for informational purposes on an as is basis at users sole risk. The information is not meant to be, and should not be construed as advice or used for investment purposes. Investopedia makes no guarantees as to the accurateness, quality, or completeness of the information and Investopedia shall not be responsible or liable for any errors, omissions, inaccuracies in the information or for any users reliance on the information. User is solely responsible for verifying the information as being appropriate for users personal use, including without limitation, seeking the advice of a qualified professional regarding any specific financial questions a user may have. While Investopedia may edit questions provided by users for grammar, punctuation, profanity, and question title length, Investopedia is not involved in the questions and answers between advisors and users, does not endorse any particular financial advisor that provides answers via the service, and is not responsible for any claims made by any advisor. Investopedia is not endorsed by or affiliated with FINRA or any other financial regulatory authority, agency, or association.

Connect With Investopedia

Bitcoin Looks a Lot Like an Early Amazon - Investopedia

The first investor in Snapchat explains why the bitcoin rally is just getting started – CNBC

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Danzig

Uncertainty about governments could make cryptocurrency like bitcoin an even more in-demand commodity, said Lightspeed Venture Partners partner Jeremy Liew.

"Bitcoin and the other digital currencies, they all really see a lot of benefit in times of political and economic instability," Liew said to CNBC. "Fundamentally when a citizen doesn't have faith in their currency of their country, then they are looking for alternatives, and a digital alternative like bitcoin becomes much more compelling in those circumstances."

Lightspeed co-led the first venture round in Blockchain, a bitcoin wallet, in October 2014. Liew also led the first venture investment in Snap, whose IPO in March turned a $485,000 investment into a stake worth more than $1 billion.

Liew said in parts of the Middle East, Africa, South America and Eastern Europe, concerns over the government being overthrown or persistent long-term currency inflation have been driving bitcoin's increasing valuation. A bitcoin is valued at a little over $2,800 as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Coindesk.

While there are other cryptocurrencies like ethereum, Liew points out it's currently valued at just a fraction of bitcoin's market cap.

"If you're going to be an investor in anything, you want to be where the most trading volume is happening, and right now that's happening in bitcoin," he said.

The first investor in Snapchat explains why the bitcoin rally is just getting started - CNBC

Comets draw first blood in battle for Shield – Coffs Coast Advocate

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Danzig

IF State of Origin players are allowed to lay around in the ruck tomorrow night as long as they were in tonight's Group 2 clash at Coramba, expect a slow Origin.

While Coffs Harbour was happy to walk away with the two points and take an 18 point advantage from the first Ken Orr Memorial Shield clash of the season against Orara Valley, there's very little both sides can take away from a scrappy affair.

As is expected in a clash between such long time rivals, there was no shortage of enthusiasm and passion from the combatants but it was a try either side of half time that edged the contest in Coffs Harbour's favour.

With only 10 seconds to go until the half time bell was going to be sounded at Coramba Sportsground, Coffs Harbour centre Alex Wilson crossed the try line to make the scores 18-6 in the Comets' favour.

In the first set after the resumption, Coffs Harbour was handed a piggy back down the field from a penalty before Josh Boyd scored to stretch the margin that only two minutes of football earlier was eight points out to 18, effectively sealing the result.

Orara Valley coach Col Speed was disappointed with a few aspects of the match but the amount of effort his team produced wasn't one of them.

"Even to the final whistle, everything that was thrown at us basically the boys kept putting their hands up," Speed said.

"We were just alweays on the back foot, always having to defend. The 50/50 calls unfortunately don't go to the teams that are down the bottom.

"We've just got to work hard to get those ones turned around but we'll keep plugging away."

Comets playing-coach Kerrod Selmes said the fact it was a clash of old rivals meant he expected a hard fought affair.

"Probably a lot of people have been taking them lightly but I never did. A Col Speed-coached side is always going to give it to you," Selmes said.

While both sides were more than willing to discuss the referees, the major talking point from the match was the alleged racial abuse Coffs Harbour forward Liam Kelly-Wynn received from a spectator.

The Comets have already said they will lodge an official complaint which will force Country Rugby League officials to investigate the incident.

Looking forward both coaches have said it will be a light training run on Thursday before the teams back-up again this weekend.

Coffs Harbour will play at Macksville on Saturday without centre Brogan Melrose who was taken from the field on a stretcher after suffering an ankle injury.

Orara Valley has another local derby this weekend when they play at Sawtell on Sunday.

COFFS HARBOUR 28 (Alex Wilson 2, Chad Isles, Coen van Dugteren, Kerrod Selmes, Josh Boyd tries; Nathan Curry 2 goals) def ORARA VALLEY 10 (Matt Dennison 2 tries; Hayden Spinks goal).

Excerpt from:

Comets draw first blood in battle for Shield - Coffs Coast Advocate

World’s top 10 travel influencers, according to Forbes – CNN

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Danzig

( CNN ) Already seething with envy over travel bloggers who make a career out of being on permanent vacation? Best look away now.

These social-media savvy sightseers are now clocking up so much online clout along with their air miles that annual Rich List compiler Forbes is taking notice.

But, says Forbes, these are the people many turn to for fantastic images of travel destinations, tips and more. Here are the travelers making the list in 2017:

Her lifestyle is aspirational, but still seems attainable. McCulley demonstrates to women that they can -- and should -- travel solo.

When someone's traveled to Iceland 28 times, you know they mean business.

Burkard's trips to Iceland aim to raise awareness for protecting the country's river systems.

Johnny Jet used to be scared of flying, now he travels the world.

Forbes calls Johnny Jet "the original travel influencer." He started his travel newsletter back in 1995 and his website in 1999.

"I was fortunate because I got started so early," Jet -- real name John DiScala, says. "I started my newsletter right when email was getting big".

CNN asked Jet what he thought the next big tech platform would be:

"Pinterest is going to take off," Jet says. "Pinterest drives traffic. People use Pinterest to plan, whereas everyone uses the others to share what they are doing now."

Alongside these quick glimpses into his jet-setting life, Cole also has several longer film projects on the go, including "Beyond Borders -- A Film Celebrating Unity," which is he crowd funding via Kickstarter.

The Planet D want to show you that anyone can travel, regardless of your background.

The fortysomething couple want to encourage everyone to go on adventures, regardless of their economic status or sporting ability.

Their motto? "Adventure is for everyone."

"Our top tip for traveling is to hire a local guide," The couple tell CNN.

"You'll not only save a lot of money by cutting out the middle man but you'll be supporting the local economy by putting the money directly into your guide's hands. Plus, you'll most likely come away with a friend for life and have a truly authentic travel experience."

Millennials Damon Dominique and Jo Franco met at college, bonded by a shared love of travel and learning new languages.

They've gone from broke students to internet sensations, thanks to their down-to-earth charm and adventurous spirits.

Eric Stoen is passionate about traveling with his kids.

"I'm passionate about family travel, and in inspiring and encouraging people to take their kids everywhere," Stoen tells CNN.

"The world is full of places that people don't think about taking kids but that are actually remarkably kid-friendly -- destinations where you can largely get away from other tourists and introduce your kids to new cultures, while still letting them be kids. I want to find those places!"

You can't check #travel on Instagram without spotting photos of a woman leading a man through a stunning setting.

This trend started back in 2011 with Russian couple Murad and Nataly Osmann: Murad posted a photo of Nataly leading him through the streets of Barcelona and the image went viral.

A behind the scenes look at #FollowMeTo in action.

Kiersten Rich AKA The Blonde Abroad quit her job to travel.

Stuck in an office job, Kiersten Rich realized the world of corporate finance wasn't for her and jetted off to see the planet.

Now he's CEO of his own digital platform, helping others follow in his footsteps.

Cameroon’s travel concerns highlight potential World Cup issue in Russia – ESPN FC (blog)

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Danzig

Cameroon manager Hugo Broos believes only a win against Australia can give them hope of progressing in the Confederations Cup.

ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA -- Hugo Broos' prematch news conference had been a standard affair lacking in particularly strong lines until, just before things wrapped up, events took a turn. The Cameroon manager was asked, facetiously, whether he would please remember that Thursday's Group B match against Australia kicks off at 6 p.m. local time -- in light of the fact that his team had arrived 45 minutes behind schedule for their first training session in St Petersburg on Tuesday and then half an hour late for Wednesday's news conference.

"It's not our fault," Broos said, his face darkening, before pointing out that Cameroon had also arrived an hour late to the stadium in Moscow, where they faced Chile. "Maybe the organisation team must review the way teams are transferred to and from the venues. I was extremely annoyed and from that point of view I think things must be reviewed."

It was the first real suggestion of infrastructural elements faltering at this Confederations Cup and Broos was happy -- in full earshot of FIFA media officers -- to elaborate during a conversation with ESPN FC after he had addressed his audience. The crux of his anger was that the means of guiding his squad through heavy traffic -- a particularly time-honoured problem in Moscow -- to their destinations was insufficient.

"There's only one police car in front of your bus and it's just following the traffic," he said. "It's not just the fact that you then get to training an hour later -- it means that everything gets put back an hour. So yesterday we had to eat our evening meal at 10 p.m. and it's too late. It's something they need to do something about next year when all the big countries are here [for the World Cup].

"We said to the people from FIFA at our hotel that it's unbelievable and we can't accept it. It was the second time. I know there is much traffic here -- it's a disaster. Even in Africa we get straight to the stadium. I hope they will learn from it otherwise there will be a big problem next year."

Given the distances involved in Russia and the amount of moving around that a successful campaign next year could entail -- a team that reaches the final could conceivably play at six different venues, all hundreds of miles apart -- it is vital that things run smoothly and clearly something is not working. Teams' schedules are tight and Broos said the knock-on effect for his party was "really unpleasant."

A FIFA spokesperson said that the issue was a local one, explaining: "FIFA is committed to providing all teams participating in the FIFA Confederations Cup with the best possible conditions. However, specific matters related to local transport fall under the scope of the LOC [local organising committee] which has sent a message of apology to FECAFOOT [the Cameroon FA]." Any impact on Cameroon's campaign remains to be seen -- though they also fell victim to another glitch in the buildup to what may be a decisive game for their tournament.

Neither they nor Australia were allowed to train on the St Petersburg Stadium pitch, as would be standard the day before a fixture. The revolutionary, sliding surface was relaid for a second time earlier this month after some high-profile problems and -- while it held up well enough in the opening game when Russia played New Zealand -- they are required to give it as much respite as possible. Both teams were due to practice at other venues on Wednesday evening.

These are all inconveniences that can make a difference when they stack up, but the overall vibe around Cameroon has been positive. They were well-beaten by Chile but Broos was happy enough with their performance.

"If we show the same spirit and way of playing as we did against Chile, and we don't qualify for the semifinals, I won't be disappointed," he said.

Cameroon have also taken heart from the way they have been received in Russia. Up to 250 supporters have reportedly travelled from the African country -- along with eight journalists -- and, while there had been a few negative preconceptions back home following some high-profile instances of racism in Russia, there have been no flashpoints so far.

"I haven't seen any evidence of that since I arrived," says Leopold Tchatchouang, a journalist from the La Symbiose newspaper. "The people have all been very kind and open; the only difficulty here is the language."

One group of Cameroon fans, momentarily lost on a Moscow street and puzzling over a Cyrillic-alphabet map when looking for their hotel, were saved further confusion when a local couple stopped their car, asked if they required assistance, ordered them a taxi to their destination and then paid for it.

That may be nothing you would not expect from a welcoming public but little touches like this go a long way: people know how their country is projected and simple acts of kindness like this can make a bigger difference on a wider level.

If there are any further interruptions to Cameroon's travel plans, Broos could do worse than acquire the number of that taxi company. There is a sense that the Confederations Cup -- teams, organisers, media -- is about carrying out a dry run for the following summer, seeing what works and what may not. So while the coach's concerns require acting upon they serve a useful purpose too, even if that is cold comfort now.

Cameroon hope that, in the short term, they help ensure them a smoother passage past Australia and beyond.

Nick Ames is a football journalist who writes for ESPN FC on a range of topics. Twitter: @NickAmes82.

See more here:

Cameroon's travel concerns highlight potential World Cup issue in Russia - ESPN FC (blog)

The world’s 20 most popular museums in 2016 – CNN

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Danzig

( CNN ) While elbow room is undoubtedly still very scarce around Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa," the museum that houses her is no longer the No. 1 most visited museum in the world.

After four consecutive years on record as the museum world's top draw, the Louvre fell to No. 3 for attendance in the 2016 Museum Index released in June by the Themed Entertainment Association and AECOM.

The blockbuster Paris museum was edged out for the first time in the index's five-year history by the National Museum of China in Beijing. Washington's National Air and Space Museum also bested the Louvre, ranking second in attendance figures in 2016.

The top three all topped 7 million attendees; the National Museum of China saw nearly 7.6 million visitors, while 7.5 million were recorded at the National Air and Space Museum and 7.4 million visited the Louvre.

The world's top 20 museums exceeded their previous collective attendance record by more than a million guests in 2016, racking up 108 million visitors, according to the report.

The Louvre, however, saw a nearly 15% decline in visitation from 2015, a drop pinned to an overall drop in tourism to Paris that has been attributed in part to economic and political events.

Another Paris museum, the Centre Pompidou, fared better with a 6% increase in visitation from 2015, putting it at No. 20 on the 2016 list with 3.3 million visitors. The city's Muse d'Orsay dropped out of the top 20 in 2016.

In London, an expansion at the Tate Modern that opened in 2016 propelled that museum's nearly 24% spike in attendance, putting it at No. 10 on the list.

The No. 1-ranked National Museum of China saw a 3.6% jump in attendance, an increase the report attributes to population size, free admission and the museum's location in the major tourist destination of Beijing.

For the full list of the world's most popular museums in 2016, click on the above gallery.

Go here to read the rest:

The world's 20 most popular museums in 2016 - CNN

Adventure Family Travels The World, Four Kids In Tow – GearJunkie

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Danzig

They ditched the nine-to-five to travel, explore, and make a difference. Meet Jack Wolfskin ambassadorsJens and JanaSteingsser and their four (4!) traveling kids.

The kids are stinky and tired.But they are full of self-confidence, empathy, and a connection to all life on Earth.

They used to live a normal life in Germany. Now, the Steingssers are devoted to researching and documenting humanitys impact on the natural environment.

And they make it a family affair.Jana and Jens Steingsser have four children: Paula, Mio, Hannah, and Frieda. But the couple journalist and photographer do not let that slow them down.

Their kids, now ages6 to 17, have lived a nomadic, and adventure-filled lifesince hitting the road about four years ago.

Jana and Jens devoted the last decade to environmental documentary workby seeking primary source information. Both use their skills to tell human stories about the environment stories that resonate.

An example: This summer, the Steingssers will head ona horseback journeyup one of Europes last wild rivers in Albania. The kids will come, too. While Jana and Jens explore hydroelectric powers impact on river ecosystems and local communities, the kids have time to enjoy nature, meet local kids, and discover some of Europes wildest places. (See more about this trip below.)

They dont citeabstract numbers or present doomsday graphs. The Steingssers examine people, animals, plants, ecosystems, and economies that tangibly cope with the influences of development and climate change.

So far they have produced documentaries in Greenland, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, the Alps, Morocco, South Africa, Australia, and Germany.

Their children join them on all these projects as a way to keep a tight family unit and raise the next generation of environmental stewards.

The Steingssers work has been featured in National Geographicand theJack Wolfskin Magazine.

It was part of the concept that our kids always come along, Jana explained. It is their inheritance that we jeopardize, and they are part of the solution.

The Steingssers never asked themselves whats possible when raising children in an adventurous lifestyle. Rather, they figured out how to make trips and projects a family activity.

During a deep winter trip to Greenland, their children fell in love with dogsledding and spent days outside with local families and children.

They stared in wonder as hunters returned into the fjords. And when given the choice between a Sami tent and a fancy summer-house, they chose the tent.

When asked what trip theyd like to repeat, the siblings all respond with a unified desire to hike the Alps again. At every opportunity, they chose adventure and the chance to learn.

Jana and Jens allowed their children to explore and develop their own special relationship with wild places, even when that means they might hurt themselves, or get wet, dirty, smelly, and exhausted.

To me, outdoor people try to leave as little trace behind as possible. I hope that our kids will learn to act responsibly while at the same time having fun and enjoying their outdoor adventures.

It doesnt matter how, we just want to be in the great outdoors, experience adventure, and meet people.

The Steingssers fell in love during a spontaneous outdoor adventure in the Outback. Unstructured outdoor play was the keystone of both their childhoods, a foundation that continues to hold up their lives today.

We are very different, Jana said. Jens is rather quiet and thoughtful, and I am a little bit too spirited. But we share a passion for nature, conservation, and spending as much time outside as possible.

In order to enjoy each moment to its fullest and stay in the elements as long as possible, the Steingsser family partnered with Jack Wolfskin. From the very beginning, Jack Wolfskin believed in the familysmission, and supplied equipment and project costs.

Jack Wolfskin produces equipment for different temperatures, climatic zones, and seasons that we test on our trips. Their rainproof jackets and pants always come with us, said Jana.

We realized that by using outdoor clothing, the handling for us as parents is so much easier. Less washing, fast drying, and little weight. Thats crucial. We are so busy researching for the project, filming, and interviewing.

The less time we spend with household duties and the less weight we have to carryjust think about walking across the Alps with four young childrenthe better for us.

Up next for the Steingsser family is another three-year journalistic project, this time focusing on water. They will head to Albania this summer and horse trek along the Vjosa, one of the last European wild rivers, with an Albanian family. And to add some more adventure, they will then head down the river on pack rafts.

But this isnt a sightseeing expedition; nothing ever is with the Steingssers. A massive hydropower boom that would put pressure on the ecosystems and the livelihood of the locals threatens the Vjosa and other Balkan rivers.

And why bring the kids? According to Jana and Jens, its a no-brainer: By coming with us, experiencing these places and people, our kids will understand nature is the basis that our human civilization depends on. Its not only a source for fun activities. Their future is being affected and our kids are our future.

This post is part of a series sponsored by Jack Wolfskin.Learn more about their commitment to sustainabilityand check out their outdoorproductson their website.

Excerpt from:

Adventure Family Travels The World, Four Kids In Tow - GearJunkie

Travel Community Reacts to London and Paris Attacks – TravelPulse

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Danzig

PHOTO: Palace of Westminster in London. (photo via Flickr/Berit Watkin)

Recent terror attacks in London, Paris and other parts of Europe have undoubtedly raised concerns among overseas travelers.

However, the bulk of touristshave been undeterred by the cowardly actions of a few.

The consensus among the travel community is that destinations like London and Paris remain as enticing as ever. Although some travelers have been turned off to them following recent attacks they aren't giving up travel altogether.

"I still have clients planning to travel to London, Paris, Dublin, Barcelona, Russia and especially Italy this summer and fall. The concerns have been few and no one has canceled," Angie Hendricks, President and CEO of Travel Leaders in Oklahoma City, told TravelPulse in a statement. "Of course, that can change at any minute but we are optimistic."

"I have several clients traveling to Europe next month with layovers in London and none are fazed by what is going on," Annie Charkalis of Naples, Florida-based Wanderlust Adventures told TravelPulse. "Most of them are doing trips of a lifetime and won't let these acts of violence interfere with their trips."

Tom Karnes of LaMacchia Travel in Chicago echoed that observation:

"We have not seen any cancellations because of the recent attacks in London but there is definitely a sense of awareness," Karnes said in a statement. "Clients are looking to have more dialogue with our specialists than ever before, they are looking for reassurance as well as insight."

Rey Alton, senior travel advisor of Travel Leaders in Houston, points out that any dip in interest in Europe signals opportunity for other destinations as travelers aren't being scared into submission.

"With the latest terrorism incident, some clients are more cautious when booking travel to Europe," Alton said in a statement. "For any clients looking to hold off on Europe for a little while, we are working with them to find other travel destinations. Recently, we have booked trips to Hawaii, Dubai and the Maldives, so people are still traveling."

"Our clients still want to travel and they understand that no destination is ever 100 percent safe, no matter where they travel, including in the U.S.," added Alton.

That realization combined with London's and Paris' undeniable draw have helped the destinations withstand not just one, but several attacks.

"England and London are specifically are very resilient tourism destinations," World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) President and CEO David Scowsill said in a statement following March's attack near the Palace of Westminster that left five people dead.

"We do not expect this isolated incident to have an impact on people's decision to travel to the country nor its capital."

Scowsill's assessment proves accurate even three months after earlier attacks in London. According to research from ForwardKeys, as of June 17, forward bookings for international arrivals in London for July and August are 12 percent ahead of what they were at the same point last year.

Despite a slight slowdown in bookings following the June 3London Bridge attack, ForwardKeys' research failed to uncover a significant wave of cancellations for air travel to the U.K.

"One needs to bear in mind that even though we have seen something of a slowdown in bookings for the U.K. in recent weeks, the forward booking situation for July and August remains extremely healthy and there has been a sustained positive trend in bookings for the U.K. throughout the year so ForwardKeys remains bullish on the U.K.s tourism performance in summer 2017," ForwardKeys CEO Olivier Jager said in a statement accompanying the data.

READ MORE:Travel Agents React to London Terrorism

In April, VisitBritain announced the U.K. was off to an unprecedented start to the year for inbound tourism, hosting 5.2 million visitors in January and February alone.

"This record-breaking start to the year once more underlines the strength of our tourism industry," Tourism Minister Tracey Crouch said in a statement. "Our fantastic welcome and world-class attractions are continuing to attract huge numbers of visitors from across the globe, which is great news for the whole country."

On Tuesday, the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau announced that the City of Light saw a "sharp recovery" in tourist numbers over the final weeks of 2016 and the initial months of 2017 after a year of decline.

While high-profile terror attacks tend to make and stay in the news, Dove Blanton of North Carolina's Dove Travel Inc notes that terrorism still ranks behind hurricanes and other weather events when it comes to what causes travel agents and their clients the biggest headaches.

"Many that are still traveling are not going to let these acts keep them home, they feel that only lets the bad guys win," Blanton told TravelPulse.

You may use your Facebook account to add a comment, subject to Facebook's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your Facebook information, including your name, photo & any other personal data you make public on Facebook will appear with your comment, and may be used on TravelPulse.com. Click here to learn more.

Excerpt from:

Travel Community Reacts to London and Paris Attacks - TravelPulse

DAVIDE Supercomputer Named to TOP500, Green500 Lists – HPCwire (blog)

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Danzig

FRANKFURT, Germany, June 21, 2017 At the International Supercomputing Conference 2017, IBM Business Partner and OpenPOWER Foundation member, E4 Computer Engineering, the Italian technology provider of leading-edge solutions for HPC, data analytics and AI, announced that D.A.V.I.D.E. (Development for an Added Value Infrastructure Designed in Europe), a multi-node cluster powered by IBM POWER8 processor technology with NVIDIA Tesla P100 GPU accelerators and NVIDIA NVLink interconnect technology, entered the prestigious TOP500 list.

Twice a year, Top500.org publishes the TOP500 and Green500 lists. The TOP500 ranks supercomputing environments by performance capabilities, as determined by the Linpack benchmark, and recognizes the vendors and technologies that power the most powerful data intensive environments in the world. The Green500 list ranks the top 500 supercomputers in the world by energy efficiency.

D.A.V.I.D.E., developed within the Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe (PRACE), provides a compelling solution for workloads with highly parallelized code and demanding memory bandwidth requirements such as weather forecasting, QCD, machine learning, computational fluid dynamics and genomic sequencing.

The supercomputer represents the third generation of the Pre-Commercial Procurement project for the development of a Whole-System Design for Energy Efficient HPC, and its innovative design uses the most advanced technologies to create a leading edge HPC cluster that provides powerful performance, low power consumption and ease of use.

D.A.V.I.D.E. was built with best-in-class components. The machine has a total of 45 nodes connected via Infiniband, with a total peak performance of 990 TFlops and an estimated power consumption of less than 2kW per node. Each node is a 2U form factor and hosts two IBM POWER8 Processors with NVIDIA NVLink and four Tesla P100 data center GPUs, with the intra-node communication layout optimized for best performance. Nodes are connected with an efficient EDR 100 Gb/s networking.

The multi-node cluster was fully configured in April 2017 at the E4s facility in order to perform initial testing, running baseline performance, power and energy benchmarks using standard codes in an aircooled configuration. D.A.V.I.D.E. is currently available for a select number of users for porting applications and profiling energy consumption.

A key feature of the multi-node cluster is an innovative technology for measuring, monitoring and capping the power consumption of the node and of the whole system, through the collection of data from the relevant components (processors, memory, GPUs, fans) to further improve energy efficiency. The technology has been developed in collaboration with the University of Bologna.

We are delighted to have reached this prestigious result to be included in the TOP500 list. The team worked very hard to design and develop this prototype and is very proud to see the system up and running; we look forward to seeing it fully available to the scientific community, said Cosimo Gianfreda, CTO, E4 Computer Engineering. With our work we have demonstrated that it is possible to integrate cost effective technologies to achieve high performance and significantly improve energy efficiency. We thank all our partners for the close collaboration that contributed to this great achievement.

HPC and AI are converging and the D.A.V.I.D.E. supercomputer will help the scientific community to run both kinds of workloads on an accelerated system, said Stefan Kraemer, Director of HPC for EMEA at NVIDIA: Engery-efficient accelerated computing is the only way to reach the ambitious goals Europe has set for its HPC future.

About E4 Computer Engineering

Since 2002, E4 Computer Engineering has been innovating and actively encouraging the adoption of new computing and storage technologies. Because new ideas are so important, we invest heavily in research and hence in our future. Thanks to our comprehensive range of hardware, software and services, we are able to offer our customers complete solutions for their most demanding workloads on: HPC, Big-Data, AI, Deep Learning, Data Analytics, Cognitive Computing and for any challenging Storage and Computing requirements. E4. When Performance Matters.

Source: E4 Computer Engineering

Visit link:

DAVIDE Supercomputer Named to TOP500, Green500 Lists - HPCwire (blog)

Lenovo unveils world’s largest Intel-based supercomputer – BetaNews – BetaNews

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Danzig

Lenovo has revealed what it says is a part ofthe next-generation of supercomputers.

At the International Supercomputing Conference in Frankfurt, the company confirmed it has completed the delivery and implementation of the worlds largest, Intel-based supercomputer at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC).

Called MareNostrum 4, the 11.1 petaFLOP supercomputer will be housed in the worlds "most beautiful data center" at the Chapel Torre Girona at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Barcelona. There it will be used to power a number of scientific investigation processes, including human genome research, bioinformatics and biomechanics to weather forecasting and atmospheric composition.

The system is powered by more than 3,400 nodes of Lenovos next-generation servers, featuring Intel Xeon scalable processors, interconnected with more than 60 kilometers of high-speed, Intel Omni-Path Technology 100 Gb/s network cabling.

The new system has already struck a claim to be one of the biggest in the world, currently listed at number 13 on theTOP500list, released today, and Lenovo says it will also continue to grow over time.

"From the lab to the factory, to the on-site implementation teams, the delivery of a system of this size and complexity demands a superior level of integration and skill," says Madhu Matta, VP & GM of High Performance Computing and Artificial Intelligence at Lenovo. "It requires a focus on a holistic customer experience that very few companies are capable of delivering."

More here:

Lenovo unveils world's largest Intel-based supercomputer - BetaNews - BetaNews

Stem cell therapy relying on patient’s own unhealthy heart may be dangerous – Genetic Literacy Project

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Danzig

A new study at Tel Aviv University shows that stem cell therapy, one of the few treatments available to patients with severe and end-stage heart failure, can actually harm them unless it is done differently.

We concluded that stem cells used in cardiac therapy should be drawn from healthy donors or be better genetically engineered for the patient, said lead researcher Jonathan Leor of the universitys Sackler Faculty of Medicine and Sheba Medical Center.

Doctors use tissue or adult stem cells to replace damaged tissue, which encourages regeneration of blood vessel cells and new heart muscle tissue. But cardiac stem cells from a diseased heart can lead to a toxic interaction via a molecular pathway between the heart and the immune system, the study found.

We found that, contrary to popular belief, tissue stem cells derived from sick hearts do not contribute to heart healing after injury, Leor said. Furthermore, we found that these cells are affected by the inflammatory environment and develop inflammatory properties. The affected stem cells may even exacerbate damage to the already diseased heart muscle.

[Read the fully study here (behind paywall)]

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post:Study says some stem cells dangerous for heart patients

Stem cell therapy relying on patient's own unhealthy heart may be dangerous - Genetic Literacy Project

Watch Aubrey Plaza Get High, Talk Spirituality With Weed Nuns … – RollingStone.com

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Danzig

Aubrey Plaza blazed up with Sisters of the Valley, otherwise known as "the Weed Nuns," in a hilarious video hyping her new, convent-set film comedy The Little Hours.

The clip, part of Cut's "Strange Buds" series, alternates between conversations both spiritual and stoner. First, though, Sister Kate explained the mission of her mind-blowing group, which sells marijauna-based products in a self-sustained convent to "create honorable, spiritual jobs for women."

Kate said she founded the convent in 2011 after learning of Michelle Obama's efforts to revamp the nutrition of school lunches. "Michelle Obama tried to talk to Congress about how unhealthy our children's meals are," she said. "Congress declared pizza a vegetable because it made our children's meals look healthier than they are. So I declared myself a nun. I said, 'If pizza is a vegetable, I'm a nun.'"

Plaza mostly maintains her trademark spaced-out daze, failing in an effort to trim some bud and sharing a brief, pot-related story from her youth. "One time, I hid a bunch of weed in my saxophone," she recalled. "And I think my mom found it."

As a timer clocks counts down their smoking session, the group discusses Catholic guilt, lapses in prayer, belief in a high power, holistic medicine and whether or not Jesus smoked weed. (The Sisters maintain that, "if Jesus lived, he probably [did].")

After learning of the convent's marijuana ways, Plaza sheepishly admits, "I want to be a weed nun."

The Little Hours, out June 30th, also stars Alison Brie, Dave Franco, Kate Micucci, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, Fred Armisen and Nick Offerman.

See more here:

Watch Aubrey Plaza Get High, Talk Spirituality With Weed Nuns ... - RollingStone.com

Author offers guidance for those on journeys of spiritual renewal – Pittsburgh Catholic

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Danzig

Saturday, October 22, 2016 - Updated: 5:00 am By Beth Griffin Catholic News Service

CNS photo/courtesy of Fordham UniversityJeannie Gaffifgan, comedy writer and producer of The Jim Gaffigan Show, speaks after accepting the inaugural Eloquentia Perfecta Award from Paulist Press and Fordham Universitys Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education Oct. 14 in New York. She is the wife of comedian Jim Gaffigan.

NEW YORK Laughing at ourselves and being open to sharing our failures and flaws within and beyond the community of faith is a powerful means to dispel the myth that Catholics are ignorant or judgmental or exclusive in any way, actress Jeannie Gaffigan told an audience in New York Oct 14.

The comedy writer and producer of The Jim Gaffigan Show accepted the inaugural Eloquentia Perfecta Award from Paulist Press and the Fordham University Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education.

The actress, who is the wife of comedian Jim Gaffigan and mother of their five pre-teenage children, said her Catholic faith and Jesuit education inform and inspire the scripts she co-writes for her husbands comedy specials and his series on the TV Land cable network.

She said the couple tries, in our own imperfect way, to present a household of faith in one of the most culturally diverse places in our country. The television show is loosely based on their experiences working in the comedy field and raising children in a two-bedroom apartment in New York.

The show invites its audience on a journey through familiar conflicts in faith, family and career and attempts to bring the entire community together in showing ourselves as flawed characters that must rebound with resilience from the hardships we all face in life, Gaffigan said.

When we laugh at ourselves, we can grow and change for the better, she said. It is a way to share what people have in common and is vital to the growth of the culture.

Gaffigan said working on a small cable network allows them to depict a family whose faith is central to its respect for, and interactions with, people they care about despite enormous disagreements and differences. Were trying to do what is good and keep a sense of humor and humility along the way, she said.

Nobody likes a preachy story, Gaffigan said. The process of resolving the dichotomy between words and deeds can become a gentle teaching opportunity where they can share their faith and shed light on the silliness of the culture wars, she said.

If we are called to evangelize, it must be done creatively and subtly, Gaffigan said.

The two groups that established the Eloquentia Perfecta Award are celebrating anniversaries in 2016. Fordham University was founded by the Jesuits 175 years ago and Paulist Press is marking 150 years in the publishing business.

Eloquentia Perfecta refers to a Jesuit educational tradition that values excellence in writing and speaking with logical clarity.

Paulist Father Mark-David Janus, president and publisher of Paulist Press, told Catholic News Service the award is intended to celebrate people in communications who take their vocation seriously, live their faith life and can serve as an inspiration to others.

Fordham Universitys president, Jesuit Father Joseph McShane, said the Gaffigans are proudly and publicly Catholic. Their faith is a part of their identity and shapes their creative work.

He said Jeannies humor is sly, gentle, illuminating of the human condition, optimistic and very funny. She renders family life with wit, intelligence, and self-awareness. Her work allows people to reconnect with themselves in a way that is at once entertaining and compassionate, Father McShane said.

C. Colt Anderson, dean of the Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education, said Gaffigans humor is funny without being mean, and is never sappy, preachy or moralistic, which is why its perfect for our time.

The Eloquentia Perfecta Award also was given to an undergraduate to encourage pursuit of excellence by a student who shows extraordinary promise, Father Janus said.

Anderson presented the inaugural award to Caitlin Sakdalan, a Fordham University junior in the communication and media studies program. He said she hopes to be a respected food connoisseur and have a television show on food, travel and philanthropy.

The evening award presentation was followed the next day by a conference on Communication as Vocation: At the Intersection of Media, Faith and Culture. Father Janus said the event was intended to give students access to Catholic professionals in the fields of broadcast, music, theater, film, video and publishing.

Read the original post:

Author offers guidance for those on journeys of spiritual renewal - Pittsburgh Catholic

International Yoga Day 2017: Visit these Yoga Retreats to relax your senses – India TV

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Danzig

Spiritual retreats are the best to relax one's mind and body.

Many of us prefer to spend our holidays vacationing on hills, beaches etc, but rarely we think of places like Ashrams where we can actually relax. There are many places apart from hills and mountains where we can relax our minds and souls by just meditating in Ashrams. On this International Yoga Day, Ixigo has come up with a great package where you can visit top destinations for a spiritual retreat. This place is surely going to give you a rare feeling of an enlightenment through a spiritual journey which soothes your soul and body.

1- Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry This place is considered as one of the best place in India to practice internal yoga. This Ashram is known for internal yoga which will help you have an intrinsically spiritual experience. Its main aim is to make a person self-consciousness on both mental as well as a spiritual level.

2- Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Dhanwantari Ashram, Thiruvananthapuram This place is more suitable for the beginners. Teachings here are basic and helps in basic understanding of meditation, focusing on both practice and theory. A typical course is for six days with a class of 90 minutes for each day. Apart from the basic meditation practices, the chanting of mantras to ease focus while meditating is one of the key features of this place.

3. Phool Chatti Ashram, Rishikesh Phool Chatti Ashram is situated deep in the Shivaliks at Rishikesh. This place offer beginners and intermediate courses in yoga. Usually running for seven days, there are two sessions of yoga; one for spring and one for autumn. Apart from course this place let you experience the life of an ashram.

4- Ananda in the Himalayas, Narendranagar This place is known for the most sought-after spas other than yoga retreat in the country. A group of yoga experts guides through the revolutionary practices of hatha yoga and Satyananda Yoga. The main teachings of this place is to aid you in attaining a work life balance. The various forms of meditation that you can practice at Ananda are Psychic Sleep, Chakra Cleansing, Inner Silence, Chidaksha Meditation and more.

5- Yoga Vidya Spiritual Retreats, Kochi A group of yoga teachers took an initiative and started this spiritual retreat. The teachers here teaches benefits of yoga to the, while also allowing them the rich experience of Ashram life. While trained yoga performers help you bring in your sync your body and soul, you can pick from several programmes designed for beginners as well as experts, depending on your proficiency of the practices.

6- Ayurveda Yoga Meditation Resort, Coonoor - Ayurveda, yoga, reflexology, acupressure, or just strolling around amidst natural bounty, this one offers it all. Add to it the panchakarma detoxification programme, weight loss programme, advanced therapies to deal with depression, and you've a perfect getaway from the din of cities. There are some five packages to choose from, while you get to stay amidst tea plantations.

7 - Tushita Meditation Centre, McLeodganj - Apart from guided meditation and spiritual discourses, you can also opt for sessions on Buddhism. Located in McLeodganj, Tushita Meditation Centre exile of the Dalai Lama in India, there's the added treat that comes as "movie days" and more, when you can join the other followers for interactive sessions. You can choose from personal and group retreats. Giving you company here are the usually snow laden Dhauladhars.

8- Osho Meditation Resort, Pune - Situated at Koregaon in Pune, Osho Meditation Resort is a hub of meditation. There are a number of workshops, courses, massage options and the much-followed Daily Meditation Program. Spread over an area of 28 acres, it's a perfect retreat for the people of nearby Mumbai. If not meditation, you can simply stay here or go for a swim in the campus pool. There are people from more than a 1000 countries coming in for meditation here.

9 - Dhamma Giri, Igatpuri Dhamma Giri is known for Vipassana. This place provides with a course of minimum of ten days. This place is presided by SN Goenka, one of the pioneers in the field of Vipassana. Considered to be one of the best meditation forms for self-awareness, Vipassana is one of the toughest forms too. The meals served here are strictly vegetarian, while you can choose dormitories, single occupancy rooms and double occupancy rooms to stay here.

Go here to see the original:

International Yoga Day 2017: Visit these Yoga Retreats to relax your senses - India TV

COSMIC CAFE: What Really Happens on the Solstice – Planet Jackson Hole

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Danzig

Planet Jackson Hole

COSMIC CAFE: What Really Happens on the Solstice
Planet Jackson Hole
The sun's journey ushering in the four seasons is also thought of as a symbol of the journey to enlightenment. From this perspective, each solstice and equinox corresponds to the phases in a person's spiritual path to enlightenment. The sequence begins ...

Follow this link:

COSMIC CAFE: What Really Happens on the Solstice - Planet Jackson Hole

CASIS and NCATS Announce Five Projects Selected from … – GlobeNewswire (press release)

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Danzig

June 21, 2017 12:00 ET | Source: Center for the Advancement of Science in Space

Kennedy Space Center, FL, June 21, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), today announced five grants have been awarded in response to afunding opportunityfocused on human physiology and disease onboard the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory. Data from this research which will feature tissue chips (or organs-on-chips) will help scientists develop and advance novel technologies to improve human health here on Earth. These initial five projects are part of a four-year collaboration through which NCATS will provide two-years of initial funding of approximately $6 million, to use tissue chip technology for translational research onboard the ISS National Laboratory. Awardees will be eligible for a subsequent two years of funding, pending availability of funds, based upon performance and achieving milestones for each project.

The opportunity to partner with CASIS to perform tissue chip science on the International Space Station is a remarkable opportunity to understand disease and improve human health, said NCATS Director Christopher P. Austin, M.D. Physiological functions in the microgravity of the International Space Station will provide insights that will increase translational effectiveness on earth, including identifying novel targets for drug discovery and development.

The NCATS grants will support the following research projects:

Lung Host Defense in Microgravity

George Worthen, M.D. and Dan Huh, M.D, Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (PA)

Implementation Partners: Space Technology and Advanced Research Systems (STaARS) and SpacePharma Inc

There is a link between infections and the health of our immune system. Infections are commonly reported onboard spacecraft where exposure to microgravity negatively affects immune system function, but the mechanisms responsible are not well understood. The goals of this project are to test engineered microphysiological systems that model the airway and bone marrow; and to combine the models to emulate and understand the integrated immune responses of the human respiratory system in microgravity.

Organs-on-Chips as a Platform for Studying Effects of Microgravity on Human Physiology: Blood-Brain Barrier-Chip in Health and Disease

Christopher Hinojosa, M.S. and Katia Karalis, D.S., M.D, Emulate, Boston (MA)

Implementation Partner: SpaceTango

The objective of this project is to validate, optimize and further develop Emulates proprietary Organs-On-Chips technology platform for experimentation with human cells in space. The intent is to develop an automated platform and software to accelerate experimentation in space that will become available to the broader scientific community for studies in human physiology and disease in space. The scientific findings will provide new advancements for Earth studies in human disease and drug discovery. The Brain-Chip to be studied in microgravity is a prototype for an organ system centrally positioned in homeostasis and thus, involved in the pathogenesis of multiple types of disease including neurodegeneration, traumatic injury, and cancer.

Cartilage-Bone-Synovium Microphysiological System: Musculoskeletal Disease Biology in Space

Alan Grodzinsky, Sc.D., M.S and Murat Cirit, Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge (MA)

Implementation Partner: Techshot

This research focuses on a cartilage-bone-synovium joint tissue chip model to study the effects of space flight on musculoskeletal disease biology, motivated by post-traumatic osteoarthritis and bone loss. The effects of pharmacological agents to ameliorate bone and cartilage degeneration will be tested on earth and in the International Space Station, using a quantitative and high-content experimental and computational approach.

Microgravity as Model for Immunological Senescence and its Impact on Tissue Stem Cells and Regeneration

Sonja Schrepfer, M.D., Ph.D., Tobias Deuse, M.D., and Heath J. Mills, Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco (CA)

Implementation Partner: Space Technology Advanced Research Systems (STaARS)

Many space-related physiological changes resemble those observed during cellular aging, including defects in bone healing, loss of cardiovascular and neurological capacity, and altered immune function. This project aims to investigate the relationship between an individuals immune aging and healing outcomes, and to investigate the biology of aging from two directionsnot only during its development in microgravity conditions but also during recovery after return to earths environment.

Effects of Microgravity on the Structure and Function of Proximal and Distal Tubule Microphysiological System

Jonathan Himmelfarb, M.D., and Ed Kelly, M.S, Ph.D., University of Washington, Seattle (WA)

Implementation Partner: BioServe Space Technologies

When healthy, your two kidneys work together filter about 110 to 140 liters of blood to produce about 1 to 2 liters of urine every day. Dehydration or diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure impair kidney function and result in serious medical conditions including protein in the urine and kidney stones. Like osteoporosis, these conditions are even more common and follow an accelerated time-course in people living in microgravity. This project will send a kidney model to the International Space Station in order to understand how microgravity and other factors affect kidney function, and to use these discoveries to design better treatments for proteinuria, osteoporosis, and kidney stones on earth.

Our partnership with NCATS builds upon dramatic results fostered by public and private investment in organ-on-chip research and enables these pioneering researchers the opportunity to leverage the ISS National Laboratory to further advance an integral and burgeoning area of medical discovery to improve human health on Earth, said CASIS Deputy Chief Scientist Dr. Michael Roberts. Additionally, through these creative and collaborative partnerships with established granting agencies like the NCATS, the ISS National Lab demonstrates that research in microgravity is a viable setting to push beyond the terrestrial limits of scientific discovery and opportunity.

All grants and subsequent flight opportunities are contingent on final contract agreements between the award recipients, NCATS and CASIS.

For more information on the NCATS Tissue Chip for Drug Screening Program, including Tissue Chips in Space, please visit https://ncats.nih.gov/tissuechip.

To learn more about the on-orbit capabilities of the ISS National Lab, including past research initiatives and available facilities, visitwww.spacestationresearch.com.

# # #

About CASIS: The Center for Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) is the non-profit organization selected to manage the ISS National Laboratory with a focus on enabling a new era of space research to improve life onEarth. In this innovative role, CASIS promotes and brokers a diverse range of research inlife sciences,physical sciences,remote sensing,technology development,andeducation.

Since 2011, the ISS National Lab portfolio has included hundreds of novel research projects spanning multiple scientific disciplines, all with the intention of benefitting life on Earth. Working together with NASA, CASIS aims to advance the nations leadership in commercial space, pursue groundbreaking science not possible on Earth, and leverage the space station to inspire the next generation.

About the ISS National Laboratory:In 2005, Congress designated the U.S. portion of the International Space Station as the nation's newest national laboratory to maximize its use for improving life on Earth, promoting collaboration among diverse users, and advancing STEM education. This unique laboratory environment is available for use by other U.S. government agencies and by academic and private institutions, providing access to the permanent microgravity setting, vantage point in low Earth orbit, and varied environments of space.

# # #

Attachments:

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/87bf4685-0ff3-4650-98dc-6ba3709e125a

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4efb40f5-4081-428a-8548-9602bcb08511

Go here to read the rest:

CASIS and NCATS Announce Five Projects Selected from ... - GlobeNewswire (press release)

Army Scientists Hope Space Experiment Unlocks Clues to Bone Healing – Department of Defense

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Danzig

By Crystal Maynard U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command

FORT DETRICK, Md., June 21, 2017 Scientists at the U.S. Army Center for Environmental Health Research here are hoping to determine how bones heal in microgravity, based on an experiment that launched to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX in February and returned to earth aboard SpaceX's Dragon cargo craft in March.

Through the Department of Defense Space Test Program, the USACEHR Integrative Systems Biology group and their partners at the Indiana University School of Medicine collaborated with NASA and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space to have the scientists aboard the International Space Station conduct the experiment for a month.

The primary goal of this research project is to translate new discoveries in bone regeneration for osteoporosis, fracture healing and other bone disorders. Between 2002 and 2009, extremity injury accounted for up to 79 percent of reported trauma cases from combat theaters. Improvised explosive devices and high-energy explosions can cause extremity trauma so severe that often amputation is the only treatment.

Bone Healing

"We're trying to understand what happens in the body as the bones start healing," said Dr. Rasha Hammamieh, director of Integrative Systems Biology at the USACEHR and the study's lead scientist. "Understanding of bone healing is a mission critical subject for both the military and astronaut community."

The researchers carried out systems biology studies to understand the physiological events associated with wound healing mechanisms when subjected to gravitational forces and to identify potential signatures to predict the healing outcomes. USACEHR hopes that the results will provide a new understanding of the biological reasons behind healing mechanisms, as well as show the efficacy of the osteoinductive drugs at stressed conditions and their susceptibility to gravity.

According to Hammamieh, 40 mice were segregated into a specially-designed habitat under different treatment regimens for a month aboard the International Space Station. While in space, the mice were cared for and monitored by astronauts while the USACEHR and University of Indiana School of Medicine team monitored their progress daily via video. Following the completion of the testing, the mice were shipped back to Earth for comparison with a control group that remained on the ground.

Read the original post:

Army Scientists Hope Space Experiment Unlocks Clues to Bone Healing - Department of Defense

SpaceX to launch, land 2 Falcon 9 rockets just days apart – SpaceFlight Insider

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Danzig

Lloyd Campbell

June 21st, 2017

Double Feature: SpaceX will attempt to launch two Falcon 9 rockets in just two days. The first will be the BulgariaSat-1 mission on June 23, 2017, which will fly out of Kennedy Space Centers Launch Complex 39A. The second will be the Iridium-2 mission on June 25, 2017, which will liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Bases Space Launch Complex 4E. Pictured is the Iridium-1 mission, left, and the NROL-76 mission, which launched in January and May 2017 respectively. Photo Credits: SpaceX

Due to an adjustment in its mission manifest, SpaceX will attempt to fly two Falcon 9 rocketsa little more than 50 hours apart from opposite sides of the United States. Using two different launch teams, it would set a new record for successive launches by the NewSpace company.

The first mission is scheduled to take flight Friday, June 23, 2017, from Kennedy Space Centers Launch Complex 39A. Originally scheduled to launch June 19, this flight was delayed following the discovery of a problem with a pneumatic valve in the payload fairing, which SpaceX determined needed to be replaced to ensure a safe deployment of the satellite.

SpaceX performs a static fire test on flight-proven core 1029, paving the way for the BulgariaSat-1 mission to launch. Liftoff is targeted for June 23, 2017. Photo Credit: SpaceX

The valve is responsible for separating the two halves of the fairing during flight after the payload is above the thickest parts of the atmosphere. While there is redundancy in the system, SpaceX decided to err on the side of caution and replace the suspect valve.

Having already completed all of its pre-launch testing, including a static fire test over the weekend, the flight-proven Falcon 9 should be ready to fly once it is returns to the pad.

This will be the second flight of this particular first stage, core 1029, having previously launched the first 10 Iridium NEXT satellites in January 2017 during the Iridium-1 mission.

The payload for the EastCoast flight is a television broadcasting satellite called BulgariaSat-1, which will provide direct-to-home television to the Balkans, among other areas.The two-hour launch window opens at 2:10 p.m. EDT (1810 GMT). If the flight does not happen Friday, a backup opportunity exists Saturday with the same window.

Nearly three minutes into the flight, core 1029 will separate from the second stage and attempt to land on the Of Course I Still Love You drone ship which will be stationed downrange in the Atlantic Ocean.

Two days later, on the other side of the continent, a second Falcon 9 mission will take place. Scheduled for Sunday afternoon from Vandenberg Air Force Bases Launch Complex 4E (east) in California, this will be the fourth liftoff SpaceX has executed from that facility.

The company completed a successful static fire test on the rocket Tuesday, June 20. It involved filling both stages with liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene in a simulated countdownculminating in the nine first stage Merlin-1D engines igniting for just over 3 seconds to confirm everything was functioning properly.

With the test out of the way, SpaceX can now move ahead with integrating the payload,the second set of 10 Iridium NEXT satellites,with the rocket. These spacecraft will give Iridium Communications customers better voice and data service.Liftofffor the Iridium-2 mission is set for1:25 p.m. PDT (4:25 p.m. EDT / 20:25 GMT). This will be the first flight for this specific Falcon 9 first stage, core 1036.

The company will attempt to land core 1036 on its West Coast drone ship, Just Read the Instructions, following the separation of the second stage some 2.5 minutes into flight. Assuming a successful recovery, SpaceX plans to refurbish and reuse the booster for a future launch.

Tagged: bulgariasat-1 Falcon 9 Iridium-2 Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A Lead Stories Space Launch Complex 4E SpaceX Vandenberg Air Force Base

Lloyd Campbells first interest in space began when he was a very young boy in the 1960s with NASAs Gemini and Apollo programs. That passion continued in the early 1970s with our continued exploration of our Moon, and was renewed by the Shuttle Program. Having attended the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on its final two missions, STS-131, and STS-133, he began to do more social networking on space and that developed into writing more in-depth articles. Since then hes attended the launch of the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover, the agencys new crew-rated Orion spacecraft on Exploration Flight Test 1, and multiple other uncrewed launches. In addition to writing, Lloyd has also been doing more photography of launches and aviation. He enjoys all aspects of space exploration, both human, and robotic, but his primary passions lie with human exploration and the vehicles, rockets, and other technologies that allow humanity to explore space.

Visit link:

SpaceX to launch, land 2 Falcon 9 rockets just days apart - SpaceFlight Insider

Spaceport America talks commercial space flights, introduces new tenants – KFOX El Paso

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Danzig

On June 21, 2017, Spaceport America announced it's vision and direction ahead. They talked about how the facility is being used and about commercial space flights. Credit: KFOX14 / CBS4

New Mexico is getting closer to commercial space travel, according to officials at the Spaceport America facility in Truth or Consequences.

Flights to space on Virgin Galactic were supposed to begin in 2014, but were delayed.

On Wednesday, Spaceport America announced it's vision and direction ahead. They talked about how the facility is being used and about commercial space flights.

"We have access to space 24/7," said Dan Hicks, CEO at Spaceport America.

He said more companies are becoming interested in the site for space testing.

"One of the key attributes we have is restricted airspace," he said. "So from surface to unlimited, we have a partnership with White Sands Missile Range and the Department of Defense."

Virgin Galactic was the first anchor tenant at the facility.

Hicks said there are now five tenants.

Jonathan Firth is the executive vice president of Spaceport America and talked about Virgin Galactic's strategy for space travel.

"We have our flight test system, going through flight tests right now," Firth said. "We have a new spaceship that we've built, we've been testing it for 9 months now in flight tests and we're going to continue doing that for the rest of this year, and probably into the early part of next year."

KFOX14 asked when the first commercial space flight would happen. But Firth said they're not releasing a time frame.

"The approach now is that when we're ready, we'll fly, and we're not going to announce a date ahead of time," Firth said.

Both Firth and Hicks said they believe New Mexico is beginning to feel the economic impact the Spaceport America facility is bringing to the state.

"Just the rent payments, and you know the user fees that we've paid to the Spaceport already exceeds $7 million so far," Firth said. "If you look at our relationship with New Mexico, supplies in general, and other things that we need, we've looked locally wherever possible. We've spent more than $9 million dollars."

Mark Russell is the founder and CEO of the company Pipeline2Space. The company began using Spaceport America back in April to further a project of its own.

"Flying on demand here , and that's really the key here," he said. "Because of its proximity to White Sands Missile Range, you are able to fly when you want to, and we want to fly on a five minute metronome."

Russell said this New Mexico facility has given him opportunities to further his project that he wouldn't have had otherwise.

He also said he feels his company is contributing to the New Mexico economy as his project pushes ahead.

"We need to put holes in the ground, and we need to create infrastructure, and we need to create operations teams that live, work and go to school right here in New Mexico," Russell said.

See the original post:

Spaceport America talks commercial space flights, introduces new tenants - KFOX El Paso

NASA’s Mars rover is really good at laser-blasting rocks without human input – The Verge

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Danzig

For the last year, the Curiosity rover has been studying the surface of Mars with more independence than ever before, saving human time and energy. The partly autonomous exploration is also helping people sidestep the constraints of working across vast distances in space.

This new capability is powered by software called Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science, or AEGIS. It allows the rover to control its own use of ChemCam, an instrument that learns the chemical composition of rocks by zapping them with a laser and studying the resulting gasses. Between the new softwares deployment in May 2016 and April 2017, the rover did this 52 times after moving to a new location.

Combined with the observations controlled by NASA scientists, the automation has helped increase the average number of laser firings from 256 per day to 327 per day. More laser firings means more data collected, and that means NASA gets a better understanding of what Mars is like, and more importantly what it used to be like.

Any time Curiosity rolls into a new area of Mars, even if its just a few feet from its last location, AEGIS can autonomously scan the environment using the rovers cameras. There, it identifies and ranks the best patches of bedrock to study with ChemCam. AEGIS then triggers that laser and performs those measurements. NASA announced the initiative last summer, and a paper published today in the journal Science Robotics details how well its gone.

Yes, while scientists sleep on Earth, their robot on Mars is now doing some of their work for them. Its helping lift a massive burden, too. Curiositys ChemCam laser has fired more than 440,000 times at around 1,500 targets since it landed on the Red Planet in August 2012, according to Raymond Francis, the studys lead author. Before AEGIS, almost every one of those targets had to be selected back on Earth.

Thats an especially laborious process, because the science team is working with a robot thats always about 150 million miles away. It can sometimes take up to 20 minutes for a signal to get to, or from, Mars. The Earths constant rotation also means that Mars isnt always in view.

AEGIS allows NASA to work around this problem in an entirely new way. The program was originally written for and used on the Mars Opportunity rover, but was adapted for Curiosity two years ago. The 21,000 lines of code that make up AEGIS were added to the nearly 4 million that make up Curiosity rovers flight software in late 2015, and after months of testing, scientists started using it in May last year.

When Curiositys operators send the rover its commands for a day of driving, they now include AEGIS targeting sessions in those plans more than half the time. AEGIS is especially useful on those driving days because the rover can scan and study the best targets in its new workspace, Francis says in an interview with The Verge. And when this happens, the science team has new data to look at by the time theyre awake and talking to the rover.

Curiosity has fired its laser at Mars rocks almost half a million times since 2012

You've got all this science time after [each] drive, and often you have a few hours of [Martian] daylight left, but Earth has not yet seen this new place that the rover is in, Francis says. And there's no ability for people on the Earth to make decisions about what to target. That decision has to be made on Mars, and now we can make it on Mars. So that makes use of those hours that otherwise you wouldn't have been able to do these kinds of measurements.

Before AEGIS, rover operators only had a few options at maximizing time for science on driving days. They could do more science with ChemCam in the morning, but that meant driving later in the day, which often means using more of the rovers energy to keep itself warm. The other option was whats known as blind targeting, where the science team would tell the rover to shoot its laser at a specific angle without having visual confirmation of what was there. This blind firing would only hit the targets the science team was looking for about 24 percent of the time better than nothing, but not great.

By contrast, AEGIS has proven to be 93 percent accurate at finding the types of rock the science team is looking for. The software was also built in such a way that the science team can outfit AEGIS with different target profiles, which will allow Curiosity to look for different kinds of rocks as the robot rolls into new, unexplored Martian territory.

AEGIS is also helping the human operators back on Earth by using algorithms to refine their targeting of smaller features, like narrow veins of rock. So far, though, its main use has been to let Curiosity do its own scientific exploration. And its doing well enough that its shaping future missions. AEGIS is already being worked into Curiositys successor, the Mars 2020 rover, according to Francis.

2020 is a very ambitious mission with a long drive list of places that it's going to have to go, and distances it's going to have to cover, and samples to take. And we expect that, as a result, faster work on board and more autonomous science is probably going to be a big part of how we do that, he says.

Letting these robots do more tasks on their own could change how we approach space exploration

Francis thinks this is just the beginning of letting robots do more of the work, especially beyond Mars. If you're flying by an asteroid, or a comet, or if you're near Saturn, and Enceladus has got a plume of water coming out of the undersurface ocean, Earth might not know exactly where that thing is going to be, he says. The spacecraft has to be able to react to that on its own.

He also says autonomous software like AEGIS would be helpful for missions to extremely hostile worlds, like Venus. The only landers that have gone there have had minutes of lifetime, tens of minutes, and so you dont have a lot of time for cycling with Earth in the loop, he says. AEGIS could be a solution to that. He argues that a lander equipped with AEGIS could quickly suss out the most important targets, study them, and get scientific data back to Earth before the spacecraft is ruined by the planets immense heat.

But while its tempting to imagine NASA sending fleets of robots out into the Solar System that are all capable of doing their own science, Francis says AEGIS wont be replacing human scientists anytime soon. Its a tool for the science team, not their replacement.

We certainly don't have a long-term goal of replacing the scientists, because this is a science and exploration mission, and it won't get far without its science team, he says. AEGIS is making use of that time that otherwise couldn't have been used.

More here:

NASA's Mars rover is really good at laser-blasting rocks without human input - The Verge

Select Page ::