Ascension Public Schools announces three new assistant principals – The Advocate

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Ascension Parish Public Schools has hired three assistant principals who will assume their duties on July 1.

"These new administrators bring with them a wealth of knowledge and depth of experience in our school district," schools Superintendent David Alexander said.

Hope Gautreau will replace Tennille Lange at Donaldsonville Primary School as Lange becomes principal. The lifelong Ascension Parish resident has a bachelors degree with dual certification in general elementary education and special education and a masters degree in special education from Southeastern Louisiana University. Additionally, she completed educational leadership courses with Southeastern, receiving certification in 2008.

Gautreaus previous experience includes two years as a special education teacher at Gonzales Middle, 10 years as a special education and general education teacher at Gonzales Primary and School Building Level Committee facilitator at Gonzales Primary and Oak Grove Primary.

Courtney Mancuso, of Prairieville, becomes Dutchtown High Schools new assistant principal, providing additional leadership support as the size of incoming freshman classes increases. Originally from Sorrento, she holds a bachelors degree in secondary social studies and a masters degree in education from Southeastern.

Mancuso has taught sixth-grade world history at Lowery Intermediate/Middle, sixth- and eighth-grade world history and Louisiana history at Central Middle and, most recently, was an instructional coach at Dutchtown High.

East Ascension High School also created a new assistant principal role to deal with larger incoming freshman classes. Allison Brignac, originally of Bogalusa, will step into the position. She is a national board certified teacher with a bachelors degree in mathematics education from Louisiana Tech University and a masters degree in educational leadership from Southeastern.

Brignacs experience includes work as a teacher at Welsh High School in Jefferson Davis Parish and St. Amant High School, teacher and mentor teacher at Donaldsonville High, mentor teacher at Lowery Middle, teacher coach at East Ascension High and master teacher at Donaldsonville High.

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Ascension Public Schools announces three new assistant principals - The Advocate

Ascension economic development group hopes to move forward on MegaPark site – The Advocate

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DONALDSONVILLE Ascension Economic Development Corp. officials said Wednesday they hope an upcoming meeting with the landowners of 17,000 acres on the west bank of the parish will lead to a mixed-use development there one day.

Over the last two years, 75 percent of the more than 100 landowners have signed letters of intent indicating their interest in working with any future developers of what would be called the Riverplex MegaPark, the potential home of heavy, medium and light industrial uses, as well as limited commercial and residential uses.

The property is 17,000 acres of contiguous, undeveloped land, with more than 9 miles of Mississippi River frontage.

A dock and rail feasibility study funded by the AEDC, the Baton Rouge Area Chamber and the Louisiana Economic Development Department also has been completed.

The next step would be a massive marketing campaign, but it's time to regroup with landowners, AEDC officials said at their second-quarter board meeting Wednesday.

The letters of intent a majority of the landowners signed earlier "wasn't a stringent document, but indicated their interest in working with us," said Dwight Poirrier, the chairman of the AEDC board.

Most of those documents have expired, he said.

"You don't have anything unless you get the land locked down," Poirrier said.

"Hopefully, we'll be able to get a more binding agreement" from landowners, with more information on per-acre prices they'd consider, said Kate MacArthur, president and CEO of the AEDC.

Poirrier said after the meeting with landowners, scheduled for July 10, the AEDC will have a better idea of whether the pursuit of a Riverplex Mega-Park on the west bank of the parish "is a viable use of our resources and our partners' resources."

Also at the board meeting Wednesday, MacArthur said the AEDC, which works to promote and assist business development in the parish, is working with several active projects looking to come to Ascension Parish.

They include an approximately $500 million phase III of a production facility in Geismar; a new $1 million project by an existing major employer in Geismar and a potential $100 million additional unit for a current Geismar manufacturer.

Follow Ellyn Couvillion on Twitter, @EllynCouvillion.

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Ascension economic development group hopes to move forward on MegaPark site - The Advocate

Around Ascension for June 8, 2017 – The Advocate

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Brand it Blue Day

Saturday is Brand it Blue Day, a day of volunteerism sponsored by Express Employment Professionals of Gonzales. The company is hosting a nonperishable food drive through Friday at its office, 915 S. Nickens Ave., in Gonzales.

Volunteers will host a final collection day Saturday, then gather the donations for distribution to food pantries serving the River Parishes. Monetary donations from local businesses also will be accepted.

The summertime is an especially difficult season for children who depend on the meals they receive at school, Express owner Amy Velez said. The donations we receive will help provide meals for children and their families in our community.

Repticon Baton Rouge, a reptile and exotic animal show, returns to the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. VIP entry is at 9 a.m. Saturday.

The event includes vendors offering reptile pets, supplies, feeders, cages and merchandise, live animal seminars and free prize raffles.

Cost is $10 for adults, $5 for ages 5-12 and free for children younger than 5. Tickets, as well as special offers on two-day and VIP tickets, are available at repticon.com/louisiana/baton-rouge.

Ashleigh Fuller will lead Not a #Number for ages 13-17 in St. Elizabeth Hospitals Sister Linda conference room from 10:30 a.m. to noon Monday through Wednesday.

The curriculum uses information, critical thinking and skill development to teach youth how to protect themselves from human trafficking and exploitation.

The program is free, but registration is required; call (225) 621-2906.

A vegetable garden workshop with LSU Agricultural Center and Ascension Master Gardeners is slated for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center.

The workshop features discussions on vegetable varieties planted in the demonstration gardens, insect and disease issues and controls, announcement of the 2017 4-H Youth and Adult Garden Contest winners and a biggest tomato contest.

Those wishing to enter the biggest tomato contest should bring their biggest tomato to the workshop for a weigh-in, with a winner being announced during the workshop.

Call (225) 621-5799 by Friday so organizers can get a head count.

Hopeful Baptist Church, 39067 La. 22,in Darrow is planning its first men's conference, Building Spiritual Men, from 7:30 p.m. June 16 to 9:30 a.m. June 17.

Bishop Xavier D. Madison Sr. will lead the conference.

For registration, which is $20, call (225) 247-4661 or (225) 473-3300.

Contact Darlene Denstorff by phone, (225) 388-0215 or (225) 603-1996; or email, ascension@theadvocate.com or ddenstorff@theadvocate.com. Deadline: noon Monday.

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Around Ascension for June 8, 2017 - The Advocate

Ascension Parish School Board approves tax exemption for business – The Advocate

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DONALDSONVILLE The Ascension Parish School Board has given its approval for property tax exemptions for a manufacturer looking to build in Geismar.

Under an executive order issued by Gov. John Bel Edwards last summer, a manufacturer seeking an industrial tax exemption in the state must first get the approval of the School Board, sheriff and parish government in the area where the company hopes to build, before taking its request for a tax exemption to the state Board of Commerce and Industry.

DONALDSONVILLE The Ascension Parish School Board, Sheriff's Office and Parish Council will

The resolution the School Board approved Tuesday would provide an exemption from property tax at 100 percent for five years and at 80 percent for three years for the container manufacturer whose name hasn't been announced yet, at the request of the company.

Because of a request made last month by School Board member Robyn Penn Delaney, the resolution presented by board attorney Jeff Diez says the board "encourages that at least 50 percent" of the permanent employees of the company be residents of the parish.

Before the vote, Delaney asked Diez to change the wording to "strongly encourages."

Also on Tuesday, the School Board recognized the school district's 2017 School Nurse of the Year, Jodi Sheets.

Sheets has been a school nurse in Ascension Parish public schools for 16 years and is at St. Amant High.

The board also approved a resolution declaring a former Donaldsonville elementary school, West Ascension, which was closed in 2005, as surplus property. The board will be advertising for bids and a public sale of the school building on St. Patrick Street.

The minimum bid price for the property is $212,500, which is 85 percent of its appraised value as required by law, the resolution says.

Follow Ellyn Couvillion on Twitter, @EllynCouvillion.

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Ascension Parish School Board approves tax exemption for business - The Advocate

Families rally for leukemia survivor – The Advocate

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A Facebook group for Ascension Parish mothers rallied together to provide their children an evening of fun while helping a7-year-old leukemia survivor, Paislee Townley.

Lil Bambinos Playtorium, in Gonzales, hosted children of all ages May 30. The event, which allowed children to play games and explore the center's equipment, raised about $1,000 to help pay for some of Paislees medical expenses.

Weve had an idea for a while now to have an event like this, said Lindsey Del Bosque, who helped organize Play for Paislee. We can make new friends, meet each others kids and help Paislee all at the same time.

(Play for Paislee) has been a great opportunity for the community to come together, said Derrick Taylor, Paislee'sstepfather. This community is a close-knit group that has been helping us out.

Paisleewas diagnosed in May 2016 on her sixth birthday with B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Since then, Paisleehas received chemotherapy treatments at St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, as well as its Baton Rouge affiliate.

Taylor believes Paislees diagnosis has brought their family closer. The family also includes children Alyssa, 18, and Blaize, 12.

There have been lots of tears shed through all this, but its helped us grow stronger as a family, Taylor said. Each one of us has to be strong for Paislee. We have to put aside our needs and pick up each other.

Paislee, currently in remission, still has a long journey of tests and treatments, including daily oral chemotherapy. Her mother, Courtney Taylor, said Paislee is in the final phase of her treatment plan. She added she hopes Paislee will be well enough to return to school this fall.

This is the maintenance phase of the plan, she said. But, its 120 weeks of treatment. Her last treatment is scheduled for November of 2018.

The idea for the event came from Del Bosque, according to Lil Bambinos owner Ashlee Lambeth.

I love to do this, Lambeth said. There are lots of people in this parish who want to help. Everybody is close, and we just love it.

The money raised at Lil Bambinos came from a $10 admission fee and raffles for a summer-themed basket and an LSU quilt, made by Virginia Austin and Mary Patricia Brashier.

People have been enthusiastic about helping out, especially in our moms group, Del Bosque said. "If you say somebody needs help, we jump in and are there to do whatever we can.

Donations to help defray Paislees medical expenses are being accepted at gofundme.com/22vk5pas.

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Families rally for leukemia survivor - The Advocate

Are You Ready for the AI Revolution and the Rise of Superintelligence? – TrendinTech

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Weve come a long way as a whole over the past few centuries. Take a time machine back to 1750 and life would be very different indeed. There was no power outage, to communicate with someone long distance was virtually impossible, and there were no gas stations or supermarkets anywhere. Bring someone from that era to todays world, and they would almost certainly have some form of breakdown. I mean how would they cope seeing capsules with wheels whizz around the roads, electrical devices everywhere you look, and even just talking to someone on the other side of the world in real time. These are all simple things that we take for granted. But someone from a few centuries ago would probably think it was all witchcraft, and could even possibly die.

But then imagine that person went back to 1750 and suddenly became jealous that we saw their reaction of awe and amazement. They may want to re-create that feeling themselves in someone else. So, what would they do? They would take the time machine and go back to say 1500 or so and get someone from that era to take to their own. Although the difference from being in 1500 to then being in 1750 would, of course, be different, it wouldnt be anything as extreme as the difference between 1750 and today. So the 1500 person would still almost certainly be shocked by a few things, its highly unlikely they would die. So, in order for the 1750 person to see the same kind of reaction that we would have, they would need to travel back much, much, farther to say 24,000 BC.

For someone to actually die from the shock of being transported into the future, theyd need to go that far ahead that a Die Progress Unit (DPU) is achieved. In hunter-gatherer times, a DPU took over 100,000 years, and thanks to the Agricultural Revolution rate it took around 12,000 years during that period. Nowadays, because of the rate of advancement following the Industrial Revolution a DPU would happen after being transported just a couple hundred years forward. Futurist Ray Kurzweil calls this pattern of human progression moving quicker as time goes on, the Law of Accelerating Returns and is all down to technology.

This theory also works on smaller scales too. Cast your mind back to that great 1985 movie, Back to the Future. In the movie, the past era they went back to was 1955, where there were various differences of course. But if we were to remake the same movie today, but use the past era as 1985, there would be more dramatic differences. Again, this all comes down to the Law of Accelerating Returns. Between 1985 and 2015 the average rate of advancement was much higher than between 1955 and 1985. Kurzweil suggests that by 2000 the rate of progress was five times faster that the average rate during the 20th century. He also suggests that between 2000 and 2014 another 20th centurys worth of progress happened, and by 2021 another will happen, taking just seven years to get there. This means that keeping with the same pattern, in a couple of decades, a 20th centurys worth of progress will happen multiple times in one year, and eventually, in one month.

If Kurzweil is right then by the time 2030 gets here, we may all be blown away with the technology all around us and by 2050 we may not even recognize anything. But many people are skeptical of this for three main reasons:

1. Our own experiences make us stubborn about the future. Our imagination takes our experiences and uses it to predict future outcomes. The problem is that were limited in what we know and when we hear a prediction that goes against what weve been led to believe we often have trouble accepting it as the truth. For example, if someone was to tell you that youd live to be 200, you would think that was ridiculous because of what youve been taught. But at the end of the day, there has to be a first time for everything, and no one knew airplanes would fly until they gave it a go one day.

2. We think in straight lines when we think about history. When trying to project what will happen in the next 30 years we tend to look back at the past 30 years and use that as some sort of guideline as to whats to come. But, in doing that we arent considering the Law of Accelerating Returns. Instead of thinking linearly, we need to be thinking exponentially. In order to predict anything about the future, we need to picture things advancing at a much faster rate than they are today.

3. The trajectory of recent history tells a distorted story. Exponential growth isnt smooth and progress in this area happens in S-curves. An S curve is created when the wave of the progress of a new paradigm sweeps the world and happens in three phases: slow growth, rapid growth, and a leveling off as the paradigm matures. If you view only a small section of the S-curve youll get a distorted version of how fast things are progressing.

What do we mean by AI?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is big right now; bigger than it ever has been. But, there are still many people out there that get confused by the term for various reasons. One is that in the past weve associated AI with movies like Star Wars, Terminator, and even the Jetsons. Because these are all fictional characters, it makes AI still seem like a sci-fi concept. Also, AI is such a broad topic that ranges from self-driving cars to your phones calculator, so getting to grips with all it entails is not easy. Another reason its confusing is that we often dont even realize when were using AI.

So, to try and clear things up and give yourself a better idea of what AI is, first stop thinking about robots. Robots are simply shells that can encompass AI. Secondly, consider the term singularity. Vernor Vinge wrote an essay in 1993 where this term was applied to the moment in future when the intelligence of our technology exceeds that of ourselves. However, that idea was later confused by Kurzweil defining the singularity as the time when the Law of Accelerating Returns gets so fast that well find ourselves living in a whole new world.

To try and narrow AI down a bit, try to think of it as being separated into three major categories:

1. Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI): This is sometimes referred to as Weak AI and is a type if AI that specializes in one particular area. An example of ANI is a chess playing AI. It may be great at winning chess, but that is literally all it can do.

2. Artificial General Intelligence (AGI): Often known as Strong AI or Human-Level AI, AGI refers to a computer that has the intelligence of a human across the board and is much harder to create than ANI.

3. Artificial Superintelligence (ASI): ASI ranges from a computer thats just a little smarter than a human to one thats billions of time smarter in every way. This is the type of AI that is most feared and will often be associated with the words immortality and extinction.

Right now, were progressing steadily through the AI revolution and are currently running in a world of ANI. Cars are full of ANI systems that range from the computer that tells the car when the ABS should kick into the various self-driving cars that are about. Phones are another product thats bursting with ANI. Whenever youre receiving music recommendations from Pandora or using your map app to navigate, or various other activities youre utilizing ANI. An email spam filter is another form of ANI because it learns whats spam and whats not. Google Translate and voice recognition systems are also examples of ANI. And, some of the best Checkers and Chess players of the world are also ANI systems.

So, as you can see, ANI systems are all around us already, but luckily these types of systems dont have the capability to cause any real threat to humanity. But, each new ANI system that is created is simply another step towards AGI and ASI. However, trying to create a computer that is at least, if not more intelligent than ourselves, is no easy feat. But, the hard parts are probably not what you were imagining. To build a computer that can calculate sums quickly is simple, but to build a computer than can tell the difference between a cat and a dog is much harder. As summed up by computer scientist, Donald Knuth, AI has by now succeeded in doing essentially everything that requires thinking but has failed to do most of what people and animals do without thinking.'

The next move in which to make AGI a possibility and to compete with the human brain is to increase the power of computers hardware. One way to demonstrate this capacity is by expressing it in calculations per second (cps) that the brain can handle. Kurzweil created a shortcut for calculating this by taking an estimate for the caps of one structure and its weight, comparing it to that of the whole brain, the multiplying it proportionally until an estimate for the total has been reached. After carrying out this calculation several times, Kurzweil always got the same answer of around 1016, or 10 quadrillion cps.

The worlds fastest supercomputer is currently Chinas Tianhe-2 and has clocked in at around 34 quadrillion cps. But, thats hardly a surprise when it uses 24 megawatts of power, takes up 720 square meters of space, and cost $390 million to build. Perhaps if we were to scale that down slightly to 10 quadrillion cps (the human-level) we may be able to achieve a more workable model and AGI would then become a part of everyday life. Currently, the worlds $1,000 computers are about a thousandth of the human level and while that may not sound like much its actually a huge leap forward. In 1985 we were only about a trillionth of human level. If we keep progressing in the same manner then by 2025 we should have an affordable computer that can rival the power of the human brain. Then its just a case of merging all that power with human-level intelligence.

However, thats so much easier said than done. No one really knows how to make computers smart, but here are the most popular strategies weve come across so far:

1. Make everything the computers problem. This is usually a scientists last resort and involves building a computer whose main skill would be to carry out research on AI and coding them changes into itself.

2. Plagiarize the brain. It makes sense to copy the best of whats already available and currently, scientists are working hard to uncover all we can about the mighty organ. As soon as we know how a human brain can run so efficiently we can begin to replicate it in the form of AI. Artificial neural networks do this already, where they mimic the human brain. But there is still a long way to go before they are anywhere near as sophisticated or effective as the human brain. A more extreme example of plagiarism involves whats known as whole brain emulation. Here the aim is to slice a brain into layers, scan each one, create an accurate 3D model then implement that model on a computer. Wed then have a fully working computer that has a brain as capable as our own.

3. Try to make history and evolution repeat itself in our favor. If building a computer just as powerful as the human brain is too hard to mimic, we could instead try to mimic the evolution of it instead. This is a method called genetic algorithms. They would work by taking part in a performance-and-evaluation process that would happen over and over. When a task is completed successfully the computer would be bred with another just as capable in an attempt to merge them and recreate a better computer. This natural selection process would be done several times until we finally have the result we wanted. The downside is that this process could take billions of years.

Various advancements in technology are happening so quickly that AGI could be here before we know it for two main reasons:

1. Exponential growth is very intense and so much can happen in such a short space of time.

2. Even minute software changes can make a big difference. Just one tweak could have the potential to make it 1,000 times more effective.

Once AGI has been achieved and people are happy living alongside human-level AGI, well then move on to ASI. But, just to clarify, even though AGI has the same level of intelligence (theoretically) as a human, they would still have several advantages over us, including:

Speed: Todays microprocessors can run at speeds 10 million times faster than our own neurons and they can also communicate optically at the speed of light.

Size and storage: Unlike our brains, computers can expand to any size, allowing for a larger working memory and long-term memory that will outperform us any day.

Reliability and durability: Computer transistors are far more accurate than biological neurons and are easily repaired too.

Editability: Computer software can be easily tweaked to allow for updates and fixes.

Collective capability: Humans are great at building a huge amount of collective intelligence and is one of the main reasons why weve survived so long as a species and are far more advanced. A computer that is designed to essentially mimic the human brain, will be even better at it as it could regularly sync with itself so that anything another computer learned could be instantly uploaded to the whole network of them.

Most current models that focus on reaching AGI concentrate on AI achieving these goals via self-improvement. Once everything is able to self-improve, another concept to consider is recursive self-improvement. This is where something has already self-improved and so if therefore considerably smarter than it was original. Now, to improve itself further, will be much easier as it is smarter and not so much to learn and therefore takes bigger leaps. Soon the AGIs intelligence levels will exceed that of a human and thats when you get a superintelligent ASI system. This process is called an Intelligence Explosion and is a prime example of The Law of Accelerating Returns. How soon we will reach this level is still very much in debate.

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Are You Ready for the AI Revolution and the Rise of Superintelligence? - TrendinTech

The Origami of Space Exploration – Scientific American (blog)

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According to Robert Salazar, If you study nature from an artistic and scientific perspective while gaining proficiency in your medium, you can allow your artistic pursuits to give rise to engineering applications, and your engineering pursuits to give rise to works of art.

Salazar is an expert of striking the perfect balance between art and science. A master of origami and an environmental studies student, hes able to apply both his art and science skills to build solar reflectors for a project at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Salazars had to work incredibly hard: after attending five different high schools and losing his home, hes managed to follow his dreams by finding ways to allow his artistic endeavors to apply to impressive engineering pursuits. He documents all of his explorations on his website, and we were lucky enough to also chat with him about his story here. Check out the conversation below, which has been edited for clarity.

TERRI BURNS: Tell me about your background, what you're studying in school, and some of your interests.

ROBERT SALAZAR: I earned my associates degree before transferring to UCSB as a physics major, where I transitioned to a major in environmental studies with a minor in philosophy.

In school, I take the opportunity to familiarize myself with what is happening to our environment and to each other around the world, and how our understanding of the world coupled with our behavior leads to freedom from environmental degradation and involuntary suffering or otherwise. I take great interest in further developing the framework I use to approach these problems and identifying relevant theorems in a network context.

Additionally, I strive to further develop the ancient Japanese art of origami into a powerful expressive medium that can inspire social change toward environmental sustainability and peace. Ive spent 17 years folding origami, and 8 years designing them rigorously. Everything I fold is an original design from a single uncut sheet. My courses of study are well suited to origami design, where the objective is to establish harmony among many folded features that are intimately and geometrically related to each other, and take up a finite sheet of paper. In origami, these relationships can be transformed, but they can never be cut by scissors, nor can paper be added.

TB: Tell me about the work you're doing now as a JPL intern.

RS: At JPL I'm currently developing large origami deployable solar reflectors for the Trans-Formers for Lunar Extreme Environments project. The project mission is to illuminate permanently shaded regions in the interior of Shackleton Crater at south pole of the Moon. Though the rim of Shackleton Crater receives constant sunlight nearly all year long, its interior has remained in darkness for billions of years, allowing its temperature to cool to ~90K (~ -300F), a temperature well suited to the capture of icy debris from nearby comet impacts over the eons. The solar reflectors would be mounted in pairs on a support structure on the crater rim, and would track the sun to illuminate and power robotic explorers in regions of interest ~10km below.

On the project, I design the solar reflectors and their deployment mechanisms. I use finite element analyses and simulations to determine what materials would allow a reflector to deploy very flat under tension, within 1mm/m deviation, and operate under constant solar radiation and temperature extremes for years on end, while maintaining >95 percent directional reflectivity. Then I write algorithms to design origami crease patterns that would allow a solar reflector to deploy to the size of the Statue of Liberty from a package ~1 cubic meter in volume and ~100kg.

TB: What's your backstory? How did you get where you are today?

RS: I faced difficulties graduating high school. I had attended five high schools, and lost my house twice during that time. Later, my first summer of research was at UCSB, where I discovered the photoacoustic effect in nanostructured thin metal films. This discovery ultimately led to a photoacoustic phased array, and a much cheaper alternative to the production of ultra-high frequency ultrasound. I spent the next summer at JPL developing thermoelectric materials for cooling X-ray detectors aboard space telescopes.

In the summer of 2015 I returned to JPL as an intern to work on the Starshade project [a free-flying spacecraft that would block the glare of a distant star so a separate space telescope could see its much fainter planets]. My task was to develop a crease pattern that would allow the slightly conical optical shield of the Starshade to stow to a well-defined volume and create a perfect light seal with its mechanical truss throughout deployment. The challenge required me to write an algorithm that could design a crease pattern to fit its given stow requirements, boundary conditions, and material thickness. My success on Starshade led me to the Transformers project the following summer.

TB: How did you get interested in solar reflectors specifically, and why are they important?

RS: The advantages of renewable energy and the mission of the transformers project got me interested in developing solar reflectors. Their ability to generate and redirect energy, catalyze chemical reactions, propel spacecraft, and be deployed from small lightweight packages to large surface areas further solidified my interest. Their traditionally low cost, simplicity, and reliance on an abundant, though diffuse, energy source, makes them an attractive technology.

TB: What do you want to do in your career? Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

RS: I plan to continue at JPL to meet the origami challenges of the future and to continue building my company, Orisun into one that can deliver portable origami deployable solar concentrators for desalination, water purification, rain capture, energy generation, atmospheric water generation, and solar cooking to people who have been displaced by war, climate change, and natural disasters. I will also continue to develop origami into a powerful medium that is well-acquainted with a grand diversity of interactive materials for artistic expression and engineering.

TB: What is something that you would love to see happen someday in your field of study?

RS: Just as every unit of surface in a sheet of paper gives rise to all of an origamis folded features, so too does energy and matter give rise to the systems we take part in.

I would love to see the rise of technology that has been designed with its downstream life cycle in mind. I would love to see an end to the labeling of materials and energy as waste, when each has its own unique potential to be something new or to do useful work. In any finite system where energy and matter are conserved, you can almost be certain that energy is flowing and materials are changing. Everything that ends is giving rise to something else. If we can develop a world where we find utility in everything we make throughout its life cycle, we can achieve sustainability, as nature has shown us we can.

TB: What advice do you have for other students who may be interested in doing the kind of work you do?

RS: Well acquaint yourself with the problems of the world. You never know how valuable something you made or discovered will be for many other purposes.

If you study nature from an artistic and scientific perspective while gaining proficiency in your medium, you can allow your artistic pursuits to give rise to engineering applications, and your engineering pursuits to give rise to works of art. Pursuing them together, can take your designs and your medium to very interesting places.

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The Origami of Space Exploration - Scientific American (blog)

Will Space Exploration lead us to a Global Space Agency – Space Daily

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The Global Space Exploration Conference (GLEX 2017) has officially opened its doors on Monday 6 June 2017 with a welcome address by Li Yuanchao, Vice-President of People's Republic of China who also read a participative letter from Xi Jinping, President of People's Republic of China stating that "China is ready to strengthen cooperation with the international community for a better future to humankind".

Lei Fanpei, President of the Chinese Society of Astronautics (CSA) and Jean-Yves Le Gall, President of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), welcomed over a thousand delegates from 51 countries.

This Chinese call to cooperation has been the main focus of the Heads of Agency Plenary where the idea of a global space agency has been analysed; Roberto Battiston, President of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) praised this dream of a global space agency and the great impact it would have on mankind; he also added that this could be achieved by "the ultimate endeavor in front of us: sending men to Mars".

However, Pascale Ehrenfreund, Chair of the Executive Board of German Aerospace Center (DLR), defended "the role that national space agencies have in fostering national businesses".

Afterwards, delegates attended the International Platform for Diversity and Equality in Astronautics (IDEA) Diversity luncheon, moderated by IAF President, Jean-Yves Le Gall. Yang Baohua, Vice President of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), presented the impressive results of China's space development contribution to 3G (Gender - Geography - Generation).

The audience discussed, among many other topics, the role of female space leaders, the characteristics of the first astronauts' crew landing on Mars, the work of space nations and emerging space countries to foster diversity.

Delegates then attended a Plenary organised by the Chinese Host focusing on the key role played by China in space cooperation with Cheng'E-4 mission and ESA, DLR and NSO have been awarded by CNSA for their commitment and support to the mission which was a great success.

Finally, Jan Woerner, Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA) expressed the wish to invite the global space community to join a cooperative Moon Village concept.

Both Global Networking Forum (GNF) and Technical Sessions received a huge interest from the delegates and left us with the reassuring conviction that global partnerships is vital in order to ensure the successful inclusion of all countries in space exploration.

Follow the conversation online #GLEX2017.

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Will Space Exploration lead us to a Global Space Agency - Space Daily

Space Exploration Game ‘Outreach’ Receives First Gameplay Trailer … – Hardcore Gamer

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A new trailer for the upcoming indie game Outreach, where you explore an abandoned Russian space station during the cold war, received its first gameplay trailer on Tuesday, giving us a look at what to expect from the graphics and some of the things youll be doing in the game.

Playing as a Russian astronaut named Alexy, youll explore a secret space station built by the Russians in the 1980s to try to discover what happened to the crew. Youll be working on computers trying to get them back online, and talking with ground control back home.

Check out the Initial Gameplay Trailer below:

Outreach was announced back in 2015, and has slowly made its way onto the scene using some high quality, live action trailers meant to portray the tone that they are going for. You can check them all out at developer Pixel Spills YouTube channel. Outreach is to be released sometime later this year on Steam.

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Space Exploration Game 'Outreach' Receives First Gameplay Trailer ... - Hardcore Gamer

Space Exploration: Can Private Companies Operate in Space? – Law Street Media (blog)

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Space: the final frontier. Outer space has been in the news a lot recently. The recent discovery of seven Earth-sized planets orbiting TRAPPIST-1in February excited many people at the possibility to explore further into space. Whats more, different companies have been conducting successful experiments tolaunch commercial flights tospace. Richard Bransons Virgin Galactic and Elon Musks SpaceX have both been conducting successful tests of their burgeoning passenger spaceships.

The allure of space goes beyond the human need to explore new places and see new sights. The financial gain could be huge as well. There are asteroids full of valuable elements, such as platinum. According to a 98-page client memo, Goldman Sachs said that a craft could be built for $2.6 billion and could extract anywhere from $25 to $50 billion worth of platinum from an asteroid.

Of course this raises many issues, one of which is the risk of inundating the market with platinum and tanking its value.

via GIPHY

Another potential issueis the Outer Space Treaty,drafted in 1967 by the U.S. and the USSR. The countries main fear was nuclear weapons being put in space, but the treaty laid the groundwork for space exploration. Essentially what the treaty established was that the act of space exploration should be used to benefit humankind. In fact, one line of the treaty explicitly says:

Believing that the exploration and use of outer space should be carried on for the benefit of all peoples irrespective of the degree of their economic or scientific development

When the treaty was signed, national governments, and not private companies,had the capital available to venture into space exploration. In 2017, the economic landscape is a bit different. If Goldman Sachs wants to send itsown personal spaceship to an asteroid to mine it for platinum, will theprofits be used for the benefit of all peoples as the treaty would require?

Article VI of the treaty, the only article that addresses non-governmental entities, says that the nation the private entity is located in would have to police its actions. It states:

States Parties to the Treaty shall bear international responsibility for national activities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, whether such activities are carried on by governmental agencies or by non-governmental entities, and for assuring that national activities are carried out in conformity with the provisions set forth in the present Treaty. The activities of non-governmental entities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall require authorization and continuing supervision by the appropriate State Party to the Treaty

The U.S. would have to ensure that Goldman Sachs use the profits of itsmining to benefit all peoples.

Space, as of right now, is technically res communis, or common territory, like a park or the high sea. Unfortunately, what you can and cannot do there is not as clearly defined as it is in these territories. The treaty prohibits national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, so does that mean that no one can build a hotel on Mars? And what about that gold mine (well, platinum mine) in the asteroid? Does Goldman Sachs even have the right to mine it, even if itcan get there?

For now, space is a legal gray area. We have a long way to go before we become like The Jetsons or Zenon. But its still fun to think that one day we could get there.

via GIPHY

Anne Grae Martin is a member of the class of 2017 University of Delaware. She is majoring in English Professional Writing and minoring in French and Spanish. When shes not writing for Law Street, Anne Grae loves doing yoga, cooking, and correcting her friends grammar mistakes. Contact Anne Grae at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Space Exploration: Can Private Companies Operate in Space? - Law Street Media (blog)

Pence reiterates plans to reestablish the National Space Council – SpaceNews

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Vice President Mike Pence applauds NASA's newest class of astronauts in a June 7 ceremony at the Johnson Space Center. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

WASHINGTON Vice President Mike Pence used a ceremony announcing NASAs latest class of astronauts June 7 to restate the administrations plans to reestablish the National Space Council, but set no timetable for formally doing so.

Pence, in an address at NASAs Johnson Space Center, said the plans to restore the council, inactive for nearly a quarter century, was part of a coherent and cohesive approach to space policy by the administration, one that the White House has, so far, offered few details about.

Im especially excited to say to announce, after more than two decades from when it was disbanded, that soon, President Trump will relaunch the National Space Council, and it will be my great honor as Vice President of the United States to chair the new National Space Council, Pence said in his remarks.

America needs a National Space Council once again, he said, noting the two previous times the council was active, during the early years of the Space Age in the late 1950s and 1960s, and again during the administration of President George H.W. Bush in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Our National Space Council will reenergize the pioneering spirit of America in space, and it will ensure that America never again loses our lead in space exploration, innovation and technology, Pence said.

Pence did not indicate when the council would formally be reestablished, but his comments at the astronaut ceremony were not the first time he discussed the council. At a March 21 signing ceremony for a new NASA authorization bill at the White House, Pence said that the president would sign an executive order establishing the council in very short order, with Pence chairing it.

That executive order has not been signed yet. At a May 1 symposium on ultra low cost space access, Bob Walker, a former chairman of the House Science Committee who, as a space policy advisor during the Trump campaign, recommended reestablishing the council, said the order had been drafted and was awaiting the presidents signature.

Its a matter of timing, Walker said at that event. I think theyre hoping to announce the executive secretary of the space council at the same time that they announce the formation of the space council.

Pence offered few specifics in space policy, other than a suggestion that the administration will focus NASA on human space exploration over areas like Earth science. We must reorient our civilian space program towards deep space exploration, and provide the capabilities for America to maintain a constant presence in low Earth orbit and beyond, he said.

He also emphasized increased collaboration with commercial space industries in his speech, but offered no details about what such collaborations might entail.

Pences speech otherwise offered generic support for NASA and space exploration, including a personal interest in space what he described as space fever that he said dates back to watching launches from the early space program as a boy growing up in Indiana. He also discussed the presidents support for the issue. President Donald Trump is firmly committed to NASAs noble mission, leading America in space, he said.

The address was the keynote of an event where NASA unveiled a new class of 12 astronauts. That group seven men and five women comes from a mix of science and technical backgrounds, including some from academia and the military, as well as one engineer who previously worked for SpaceX.

The new astronauts, selected from a record-high applicant pool of 18,300, will begin two years of training in August, after which they will be eligible for flight assignments. That will include preparing to fly both NASAs Orion spacecraft as well as commercial crew vehicles under development by Boeing and SpaceX for missions to the International Space Station.

You have joined the elites. You are the best of us, Pence told the astronaut class. You carry on your shoulders the hopes and dreams of the American people.

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Pence reiterates plans to reestablish the National Space Council - SpaceNews

China Positions to Start WW3 Alex Jones’ Infowars: There …

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China Positions to Start WW3 Alex Jones' Infowars: There ...

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‘No one will survive’ Russian president Vladimir Putin in chilling nuclear war confession – Daily Star

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RUSSIAN president Vladimir Putin has revealed his chilling belief everyone will die if the world is plunged into nuclear war.

The bombastic leader made the shock confession as the globe is on the brink of all-out conflict.

North Korea and its tyrant leader Kim Jong-un are building up their nuclear weapons in defiance of international law and the US and Russia are at loggerheads over the Syria conflict.

Speaking on a new US documentary The Putin Interviews due to be released next week, Putin said US President Donald Trump would not win if war broke out.

GETTY

I dont think anyone would survive such a conflict

I dont think anyone would survive such a conflict, Putin told US film director Oliver Stone.

Relations between Russia and the US are at the lowest ebb since the Cold War but Putin isnt too hopeful of this turning around.

There is always hope. Until they are ready to bring us to the cemetery and bury us, Putin added.

Putin has an arsenal of state-of-the-art weaponry at his fingertips. Could this be the hardware that wages WW3?

1 / 11

The T-90 tank: equipped with a 125mm smoothbore cannon and remote controlled anti-aircraft gun

The preview also featured a clip of the president in his military situation room.

He showed the camera a video feed from a Russian military jet in Syria.

The bald president then decries that NATO is an instrument of US foreign policy.

SHOWTIME

Once a country becomes a NATO member, it is hard to resist the pressures of the US, he said.

And all of a sudden any weapons system can be placed in this country.

An anti-ballistic missile system, new military bases and if need be, new offensive systems.

As tensions between NATO and Russia escalate, 4,000 soldiers have turned up on Putin's doorstep to show him what he'd be messing with

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A British soldier waits inside the cabin of a military truck, waiting for passports custom control

Russia is forced to take countermeasures over the ever-increasing NATO threat and armed military build-up on Russias borders, Putin claims.

We have to aim our missile systems at facilities that are threatening us. The situation becomes more tense, Putin said.

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'No one will survive' Russian president Vladimir Putin in chilling nuclear war confession - Daily Star

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How to Handle a Pushy Mother-In-Law without Starting WW3 – eMaxHealth

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I recently heard a young woman lament that it was going to be her daughters first birthday and her mother-in-law wanted the other children to get presents and the traditional first birthday smash cake too, even though it was not their birthday. Her rationale was so they wouldnt feel left out or be upset over a one-year-old baby getting attention.

Well I think that really says it all.

It may sound like a minor thing but turning one happens only once in a lifetime and its a milestone. Turning one used to be a huge thing because many kids died before they reached their first birthday.

So, I dont think its too much to ask for that day to be special for the child whose birthday is being celebrated.

Children are egocentric but they can understand it's not always supposed to be about them and they can be taught respect even at a very young age. If you don't begin early taking these opportunities to teach life lessons you are either going to create selfish children or set a precedent that every other special occasion means they have to be part of the limelight or get presents. Either way you're doing a disservice to the children. Chances are since the mother-in-law already anticipates a problem she's behaved this way in the past and had used bribery to pacify a tantrum. Better to be honest and take the opportunity as a teaching lesson.

Daughter and mother-in-law relationships are often adversarial. The mother-in-law is probably used to making decisions regarding her son or at least having influence and often feels it is still her right even after her son is married.

Daughter-in-laws and sometimes sons dont want to rock the boat and would rather just try to keep the peace, but there comes a time and place when a gentle reminder is appropriate.

Voicing a preference can be an assertive action rather than an aggressive or passive-aggressive one. Take the high road.

In the case of the young mom trying to throw a special party for her one-year-olds birthday this suggestion is worth a try.

Deliver the message with love (even if youre not feeling it) at the moment. Try to muster a little feel good emotion and keep the focus simple then say, "I understand that it would be cute for the kids to all smash the cakes, but this is a special birthday celebration, and I would prefer for there to be only one smash cake. Thanks for understanding."

Now you've turned the tables and done it nicely.

You cant really control any other action such as her giving the other children presents rather than teaching them how to focus on someone else without having a meltdown or having to get presents to avoid a selfish display, but you can ask that the attention for the day be on your child. As a grandmother she should understand even if shes used to running the show.

As to presents most people have party favors so you can give small items such as hats or noisemakers without taking the focus away from the birthday girl or boy.

If the mother-in-law still doesnt get it after you've done everything you can and you are feeling magnanimous, suggest perhaps having cupcakes for the girls to take home and smash at grandmas house and be sure when you make that suggestion you do it with love and a HUGE smile! Then hand the cupcakes in little boxes to the kids and say, "have fun smashing these at grandma's!"

I think your mother-in-law will get the point.

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How to Handle a Pushy Mother-In-Law without Starting WW3 - eMaxHealth

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The Three Types of Hallucinogens: Psychedelics …

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Human hallucinogen use precedes written history, and has shaped many lives and cultures throughout time. These drugs can be quite different from each other, however, and are commonly grouped into three major categories: psychedelics, dissociatives, and deliriants.

Psychedelics

Examples: cannabis (marijuana), methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstacy), lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin mushrooms

The category psychedelic drug is a blanket term for many chemical compounds with a variety of effects. The three sub-groups of psychedelics are cannabinoids, empathogens (also known as entactogens), and serotonergics. The underlying similarities between all three types of psychedelic drugs are that they produce changes in consciousness that are generally unfamiliar, while other classes of drugs such as stimulants or depressants give rise to familiar, if greatly magnified, states of mind.

Cannabinoid drugs, which work as antagonists of cannabinoid receptors in the brain, are named after the prototypical drug in this class, cannabis (also known as marijuana), which contains the psychoactive compound tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Effects of cannabinoids vary between dosages, users, and the types and amounts of particular compounds (different cannabis strains contain differing ratios of many different cannabinoid compounds). Users commonly report mild euphoria, senses of well-being, increased awareness of external sensations, increased hunger, and disruption of linear memory processes.

Empathogens are a class of psychedelics that release serotonin in the brain and derive their name from one of their major effects: increased feelings of empathy. The best-known drug in this class is MDMA, although several similar compounds exist as well. Users generally report heightened feelings of love, openness, euphoria, and overall enhancement of sensory experiences.

Serotonergic drugs are so named due to their activity as agonists of a specific serotonin receptor (5-HT2A) in the brain. Drugs in this class include LSD, DMT, psilocybin (the psychoactive compound in hallucinogenic mushrooms), and phenethylamines such as mescaline and 2C-B. Users of these drugs experience intense, fundamental alterations of perception, including synesthesia, visual and auditory hallucinations, and unusual thought patterns or emotional responses.

Dissociatives

Examples: ibogaine, phencyclidine (PCP), ketamine, dextromethorphan (DXM)

Dissociative hallucinogens, including ibogaine, PCP, ketamine, and DXM (at dosages many times larger than its use as a cough suppressant), work as antagonists of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in the brain. While many of these drugs produce perceptual alterations similar to the psychedelic drugs listed above, the distinguishing features of dissociatives are feelings of depersonalization, or being disconnected from ones body. Derealization, or the sensation that ones surrounding environment is somehow not real, is also a characteristic of these drugs.

Deliriants

Examples: atropine, scopolamine (hyoscine), diphenhydramine (benadryl)

Deliriants are a class of psychoactive drug that generally block the neurotransmitter acetylcholine from binding to receptors in the brain and central nervous system. As recreational drugs, deliriants produce vivid and generally very unpleasant hallucinations in addition to potentially dangerous side-effects. While users of psychedelics and dissociatives often report having euphoric, spiritual experiences, users of deliriants almost universally report unpleasant effects and have no desire to use these drugs again.

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Britain Decides: Are we about to ‘snap’ out of our trance? – The London Economic

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It was a question we posed in November last year that was to set the tone for the unravelling of the Conservatives election campaign. How, after twoterms of crippling austerity cuts, dismantling of the welfare state and a referendum that was used as bait to secure a second term did the Tories ever get such strong public backing in the first place? Coming in to this snap election pollsters were predicting a huge majority for Theresa May on June 8th, but as the public have since learned, such heights of popularity was thegreatest trick the Tories ever pulled.

Whatever the outcome of tomorrows election we have learned some important home truths about the Conservative party over the last few months. A much-desired majority would grant them freedom to reverse the ban on fox hunting, liberty to cut social care and public services such as policing and give them a remit to deliver ahard-line in Brexit talks. No wonder they have done all they can to keep their true message out of the media. They started with a great lie and did all they could not to let it unravel, but unravel it has, and if sources close to the campaign trail are to be believed The Tories are increasingly paralysed by panic.

But take a look at how the Conservatives have campaigned over the last few weeks and their fear-stricken rhetoric becomes quite apparent. They say Jeremy Corbyn must have access to a money tree if he is to deliver on his ambitious manifesto promises even though they are all grounded in sound logic. They say Corbyn isnt a born leader even though hes roused significant momentum behindan anti-establishment message, they say hecant protect the country even though the latest terrorist incidents are happening on their watch and they say Labour cant manage the economy, even though our economic situation as we stand is less than enviable andpublic spending as a percentage of GDP is rocketing under the current administration.

Ultimately, it is reality that hasreally killed the Conservative campaign. The average Brit has seldom been as worse off in modern history and it is high time the majority gets heard in this election rather than the few, which became Labours alternative strapline to Mays lukewarm Strong and Stable pledge. AsRay Barron Woolford wrote here, in Tory Britain the rise of the food bank and debt is the fastest growing sector for business opportunities. The Government no longer sees this a badge of shame or failure it refers to it as the Third Sector. AsPaul de Hoest added in this piece, inequality and the housing crisis are no accident they are a direct consequence of Government policy, and the Conservatives answer to a crisis at the bottom is to impose less welfare spending and more tax cuts for the already wealthy.

Jeremy Corbyn had the relatively straight-forward job, he says, of simply pointing this out. And what a job he has done. On Monday night thousands of people turned out to watch him speak on the banks of the River Tyneas Theresa May struggled to fill a medium-sized room on her campaign trail. He packed out Birmingham last night and received rapturous support inScarborough, Hebden Bridge, Liverpool, Cardiff, Reading, York, Leamington Spa, Manchester and Cambridge.As Adam Turner wrote here, Corbyn has done more than any politician in history to engage young people in politics.

In the end hismessage was simple; Britain needs to snap out of its trance if things are to change, and with hours left before we go to the polls it seems the hypnotists grasp may just have faded away.

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Britain Decides: Are we about to 'snap' out of our trance? - The London Economic

All about Blueprint with Ferry Corsten – Trance Hub (satire) (press release) (blog)

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Talk about albums that have been a game changer in the genre, and the first name that comes to our heads is Blueprint! Every time one listens to this album, they happen to discover something new.Ferry Corsten has always tried to push the boundaries of the genre by combining different musical elements and genres to create something magical. His tracks always have a story to tell. Animated by the thought of combining music and a story-line that surpasses the confines of this planet, Blueprint is truly an exceptional one that captivates the listener immediately. So today, we sit down with the man behind this masterpiece and get him to answer a few questions for us. Here is Mr Ferry Corsten for you!

Get your copy here :https://flashover.choons.at/blueprintalbum

Hi Ferry! Firstly, congratulations on the release of your album Blueprint. Ithas been no time at all since the albums release and its already being toutedas a game changer for the genre. How does it feel to be at the receiving endof such a positive response?

Hi There! Thanks for interviewing me. Im absolutely over the moon with the response of my fans and reviews regarding the album. It was a really long process to make the album, blood, sweat, and tears, but seeing the responses, it was worth all the work.

We have always seen you being extremely inclined towards sci-fi and weconstantly see you questioning the beginning of the universe and its creationswith your tracks. How did the idea for blueprint come about? Does this albumanswer all your questions?

Ever since I was a little kid, Ive been a big sci-fi fan. The interest in the unknown and what lies beyond that always grabbed me. For this project I had a chance to work with both my favourite interests, scifi and music. So this was actually a no brainer. When I hooked up with David it was great to work together and build a storyline from my idea. The album definitely gives me some answers to some questions Ive had, or rather shares in a concept level what various possibilities can be.

How did the collaboration with David H. Miller happen? How was yourexperience working with him?

I got to meet the David (the screenwriter) from my manager who was a friend of his. We hit it off very well and working together was easy and fun. The flow was fantastic. Working on the storyboard and at the same time the music definitely inspired me in creating the flow and mood of each track that was to be made.

Can we see you working on upcoming albums with a similar concept or bycollaborating with a writer?

I always say never say never. I dont want to pigeon-hole myself to a corner that all my albums will have a story or collaborated with a writer, but it was always a dream I had and glad that I took the time to do it. I must say the process of creating this album was absolutely amazing.

The album follows a storyline. It has a lot of pieces that come together as yougo with the flow of the album. You will also be going on a Blueprint albumtour. What can fans expect to see on this tour? Can we probably see a tourconcept coming up which uses visuals along with audio to recreate this storyon a larger platform to give the fans a complete musical and sci-fi experience?

We definitely have a lot of visuals made for this album that I will be using for the tour. I definitely want clubbers to enjoy the experience of the music and not entirely of the audio story so there will be snippets here and there but it will not be an album listening session. That is for sure. At the end of the day, the album was also for the music, so my fans will becoming to listen to that.

You recently visited the NASA John F Kennedy Space Centre! How was yourexperience there? Can we expect it to inspire any of your work in the future?

It was AMAZING!!!! Im so lucky to be able to have gotten that opportunity. It was a dream come true. It was definitely inspiring, but actually more jaw dropping.

We see you working with a little bit of Morse code on this album. You haveearlier used Morse code on L.E.F too. What is the message you are trying tosend out through it? And how did the fascination for Morse code arise?

Yes I did on L.E.F and there was an actual meaning connected to it. It was so cool to see how some people deciphered it too. Ive always been fascinated about morse code. Its music, theres a tone and a rhythm. Music communicates to people in different forms.

We saw you use a very different strategy to release your album where fanshad to unlock parts of the album which would take them to the next step. Howdid it work for the album? Was it carried out to give more of a mysterious feelto the album?

It was a lot of fun to see how my fans were curious about the album. We did it because we wanted to have a more mysterious feel, and at the same time, due to its complexity allow people to understand the flow of how the album is played.

Who is Lucas in the album based on? Does it represent you?

Hahahaha, maybe just a little bit. Im nerdy enough to be Lucas but not that much of a loner

Finally, do you have any message you would like to send to all the peoplelistening to the album? Any suggestions as to how one can enhance theiroverall album listening experience?

Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to my album. Ive been following my social media closely when my album was released because I was curious ( and yes ) a bit nervous on what the feedback would be like. Im touched and grateful for the positive responses Ive seen so far. I love it that some people have gotten the concept on the first listen, Im honoured that some continued and ended up falling in love with the album and have kept listening to it over and over again. Although I do love every track Ive made , Ive always felt that when I listen to the audio in the beg, it helped me set the mood of the meaning of the song. Again, thank you for your support and allowing me to do this.

Trance enthusiast. Armada Ambassador. Content writer. Im not afraid of 138! Making people give Trance a chance.

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Cyberpunk Is Now Reality | The American Conservative – The American Conservative

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The most tantalizing predictions of cyberpunk never came true. There are no gangs of cyborgs ruling shantytowns in New York City and there are no corporations larger than the federal government. But the sci-fi subgenre envisions such dystopias being underpinned by something subtler: the state of mans soul when there are no longer limits.

The 1980s provided fertile ground for the piercing new vision of science fiction pioneered by William Gibson and his contemporaries. The global capitalism of Reagan and Thatcher ceded agency from nation-states to nation-agnostic corporations. Less obvious but just as important was the fact that the space race was over and Star Treks naivety was laid bare. Computers, not spaceships, would become the measure of progression towards the future. The sleek, utopian vision of the mid-century futurism was further discredited by soaring crime in urban centers.

Modernity that was once expected to bring matching space unitards instead brought radical self-expression. The overabundance of choice, these authors suggested, leads to decadence, decay and a society where people cant see clearly without losing their humanity.

And so the heroes of cyberpunk are outsidersthe punks to which the genre owes half its name. In cyberpunk, there are no more grand narratives about progress and triumph. Humans have nowhere to go and decay is globalized; this is sci-fi without the comforting thought of alien life. Readers experience an Earth where the concept of place has passed its expiration date. Protagonists, like the megacorporations they tangle with, exist across borders, anywhere being as familiar or foreign as anywhere else. Neon Japanese syllabary studs skyscrapers that loom over the crowded downtowns of American cities. Virtual reality is at once a catalyst and a coping mechanism for social breakdown.

What is an individual to do in the face of such brutal atomization? Why, he takes individualism to its perverse conclusions, William Gibsons Neuromancer suggests. Take the following passage:

His face was a simple graft grown on collagen and shark-cartilage polysaccharides, smooth and hideous.

The novel implies that the character might appear a little later with a completely different face. Self was another uncertainty that had been sloughed off by ceaseless momentum. Even the authors jargon serves to impart a feeling of unfamiliarity.

Were starting to live in a time when such terrible and wondrous things are not only technically possible but socially acceptable. Headlines were made last month over a fetal lamb being grown in an artificial uterus. The creature, invaded with tubes, suckles and kicks inside its bulging, rippling enclosure. The juxtaposition of twitching organism and sterile, utilitarian plastic is simply cyberpunk. Gender is going the way of that thugs cartilage-grown face. Male and female is looking more like Coke and Pepsi, with some opting to make their own artisanal cola blends. As rootlessness moves from exception to rule, obligations to others begin to look like hindrances. It isnt difficult to see how three-parent babies in polycarbonate wombs fit into all of this.

Change is fast these days. We can feel acceleration that was once only perceptible between generations. At the same time, the past is more crystallized than its ever been before. Todays everyman, immersed in a data-sphere orders of magnitude more efficient than any library, can see more clearly than ever that things were different in an ever-familiar past. A world with meaning resolves ever sharper as we speed away from it.

But the left-liberal ethic that was once a vantage point from which the genres founders saw so far is now fogging their sight, restricting them to toiling within the status quo. Cyberpunk has come true in ways that makes progressives uncomfortable if they are unpacked. The genres founders married a criticism of corporations to the dreary aesthetic of rootlessness, but progressivism only offers a critique of the former on its own merits. Take away the violence and grit and you get Brave New World, a world that the gender ideologue cant levy an argument against. Consumerization of the body, reproduction and social relations lost their conspicuous ugliness when they were rebranded as liberation. (Outside of sci-fi, the only major literary figure who tackles these issues, Michel Houellebecq, is painted as a reactionary.)

Gibsons upcoming book, Agency, has a plot one would expect from a lesser author: the future is awful because Trump was elected president. This might seem like a perplexing lack of creativity, but consider the intervening third of a century. Gibson was in the business of scrutinizing Frankensteinization when it was a distant flight of fancy. But becoming a Frankenstein monster of hormones and surgery is here and celebration is mandatory. Dialing down ones own ability to notice things to the level of a Daily Kos commenter becomes a matter of survival. This new subject matter reflects the aesthetics of culture that snapped his leash: lifeless and brutal in its insipid repetition.

Stories motivated by political disappointment are doomed to be forgotten as the election cycle resets. Cyberpunk, on the other hand, is more popular now than even during its literary heyday of the 80s. The blockbuster Ghost in the Shell hit theaters earlier this year and will be followed by a sequel to the seminal Blade Runner in October. Their combined budget probably exceeds that of every cyberpunk film that came before (there arent many.) Cyberpunk 2077 is set to cost around $100 million, making it the most expensive role-playing video game ever made. If we put on our cyberpunk goggles, all of this means something. Capitalism is a computer that processes desire.

Cyberpunk is not becoming marketable because it offers a solution for society. The message is clear that, in face of inexorable rot, the individual loses his sanity or loses his soul. What the genre does offer is a third choice: to view breakneck dehumanization as a roller coaster ride. There is grim exhilaration in the acceptance that an awesome decline cannot be stopped. A future that was once dark and hopeless is now dark and beautiful when one dives headlong into it. Ugliness becomes thrilling and alienation becomes adventure. The homogenous, numbing light of Brave New Worlds dystopia is replaced by the dreamy atmosphere of neon-lit alleys. Sisyphus cant change his fate, but he can refuse to nod and clap, blank-eyed, at the worlds loss of meaning.

Robert Mariani is the opinion editor at The Daily Caller and the co-founder of Jacobite, a magazine of the post-political right. Follow him on Twitter @robert_mariani

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Here’s The Latest Rumors Regarding Cyberpunk 2077 And Its E3 Appearance – One Angry Gamer (blog)

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Some rumors have surfaced regarding Cyberpunk 2077 that just might hint at something far bigger than what gamers were expecting. The information also coincides with recent information released by CD Projekt Red. This info that sits on the rumor side comes from various forum boards that relates to E3 and Mike Pondsmith himself.

I should note that all of this information may or may not be valid about the much anticipated game Cyberpunk 2077 by CD Projekt Red, but there is a high chance, if true, that this info regarding the game hints at something far bigger, given that it comes from Mike Pondsmith.

Firstly, on the Cyberpunk 2077 Reddit page, a user by the name of Xenolith234 caught a comment that Mike Pondsmith posted, who goes by the screen name of Therealmaxmike, and noted that

Mike Pondsmith commented last night on a thread and said that CDPR is pulling out all the stops. Curious.

If you dont know what that means, the devs are planning to go all out with whatever information there is about Cyberpunk 2077, meaning that it will be grander when news drops.

In addition to the above, this information links into what CD Projekt Reds CEO of the studio, Marcin Kicinski, announced during an investor call as noted below.

The promotional campaign (for Cyberpunk 2077) is already planned. Its main element is the surprise, so I cannot even say when it will begin. Simply because it has to come as a surprise.

Now I know what you are thinking, E3 is right around the corner, arent they going to show the game off there? Although it seems likely, but Im not ruling it out, according to E3s Exhibitors page (by Alpha), the devs dont appear to be showing up at the event. The information about CDPR not showing up can be seen below.

The above links into CDPRs 2016 financial results that contained the information about how 2017 is the year of GWENT. Again, Im not saying that the team may not do a secret appearance, but dont be shocked if nothing Cyberpunk 2077 related appears at this years E3.

Looking past the semi-heart breaking news and on to some heart warming news about Cyberpunk 2077. A certain user on the Cyberpunk 2077 forum board, Darthraver8686, noted something rather interesting. The comment lies below.

Yo im trying to keep my composure but something is def going on. Theyve hired marketing managers now and people to change the website.not too mention that on the subreddit cyberpunkgame mike pondsmith himself posts alot and in his last comment from the other day he said its his last comment on the boards for a while cuz hes going radio silent. He said that some projects are ramping up and life is getting busy. Not sure if hes talking about cp2077 but it sure sounded like it. I think somethings gonna happen soon. N im not saying E3 but wouldnt that be crazy if that was the surprise?

I already know what youre thinking, Thats not real. Well, youre wrong, because it is real. Upon doing research regarding Darthraver8686s findings lead me to a Reddit user named Zirfeld, who had asked a question recently and Mike Pondsmith himself actually answered the user. Zirfelds comment sits below for those interested:

Roleplaying games have become a very popuplar content on the web lately on twitch, youtube and other services. I am talking about channels like Geek & Sundry with Titanquest, Critical Role, Foreververse (and the occiasional game on Tabletop) or HarmonTown HarmonQuest on the more comical side of it. Shows with a relatively high prodcution value and recognizable players. Im not saying not so recognizable players cant be fun, too. But having a bunch of entertainment professionals sure helps the flow of the game (that and editing of course).

Is there any chance we are going to see something like this with Cyberpunk 2020? Maybe even the creator of the game as GM? I think a show like this would fit perfectly in the phase before the real marketing campaign starts to gain some momentum, and I sure would watch it.

Mike, I hope you find the time to answer, seeing that you have been very active here lately.

And here are all Pondsmiths replies to said user, which is rather surprising to me that he actually answered an everyday persons random comment.

Nothing planned that I know of (RTG media overlord Kirin handles that part of my life), but we will be doing Cyberpunk games at GenCon. I just got back from doing a live broadcast CP game onstage at Pyrkon in Poland and it was pretty awesome, so Im definitely up for a streamcast. Will let you all know if Kirin comes up with something.

Also, Ill probably be going dark on reddit for a bit, as Production is ramping up on several projects and life is getting busy.

Notice how he capitalizes the p in production when talking about these several projects ramping up. Its likely that hes talking about the Cyberpunk 2020 board game here, which is set to release exactly around the same time as the video game that CD Projekt Red is currently developing. Also, notice in the post that he mentions his appearance over in Poland, this information links into the most recent talk about the game in that he went to said country and was pleased with CDPRs progress on Cyberpunk.

So what does this all mean? Well, it means that when the game appears the devs will go all out and show everything there is to show in a surprising and breathtaking way or better put pulling out all the stops. This also means that the game may not show up to this years E3, but will more than likely appear during next years lineup of big game conventions in a flashy way. And lastly, it also means that Pondsmith is heavily involved with the board/video game and that both will be close to his envision of the original work.

You can learn more about Cyberpunk 2077 by hitting up cyberpunk.net.

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TMS’ Hawg Heaven BLT Dawg is a worldly creation – Fort Worth Star Telegram

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TMS' Hawg Heaven BLT Dawg is a worldly creation
Fort Worth Star Telegram
The BLT Dawg is the latest in the speedway's bacon-infused treats from Lincoln Engstrom, Levy Restaurants' executive chef. The BLT Dawg's ingredients are East-West Kobe beef frank, crispy thick-cut bacon, Italian-inspired double tomato bruschetta, and ...

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