Freedom waxes Concord in 1st round thanks to long-range barrage – Morganton News Herald

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The Freedom boys basketball team rained 3-pointers from seemingly everywhere, and before Midwest No. 16 seed Concord knew it, a game that many thought could be a 3A first-round playoff war turned into a laugher.

The West No. 1 seed Patriots (25-2) on Tuesday night at home trailed 5-4 early. Then in the span of less than three minutes, Freedom shot six 3s and drained them all, exploding to a 22-5 lead midway through the opening period and rolling from there in a 94-53 victory.

Freedom made 17 3s in all, tying a single-game program record set earlier this season. In the process, the Patriots also eclipsed the school mark for 3s in a season, 241, set by the 2012-13 team.

Weve talked about our ability to hit shots from the perimeter and the fact that we have a number of guys who can do it, Freedom coach Casey Rogers said. Tonight, I thought we did a really good job for the most part of continuing to get them off good, solid decisions.

(Concord is) athletic, dangerous. Theyre the best 10-15 team in the state coming in, I really felt like that. Im happy for us to get a win and get a chance to keep practicing. This time of year, you have to be smart on offense, defend in the halfcourt and rebound, and we did all three.

Patriots senior point guard Niguel Moore got the 3-point fest started when he assisted sophomore Fletcher Abee in the corner for a 7-5 lead, the hosts first. Moore again found Abee in the halfcourt for a 3, then located sophomore Jakari Dula for a transition trey.

Senior Alex Lineberger joined the act for a 16-5 lead, and Moores fifth straight assisted bucket went to Dula versus the zone at the top of the key. Abee took a heat-check 3 and found nothing but net, prompting a Spiders timeout.

Lineberger was true once more to end the quarter with the Pats seventh 3 for a 31-11 advantage. Freedom drained two more shots from deep in the first two and a half minutes of the next period, giving them nine in 10:30 to start the contest as the margin grew to 42-15.

The margin grew to 30 for the first time at 63-33 on Abees seventh and final 3 midway through the third period. Michael Logan also made a 3 late in the third in the record effort. Needing four in the final frame to tie the single-game FHS record, Dula, Lineberger (two) and Ben Tolbert made it happen.

The point total was Freedoms second-highest of the season and the 41-point margin their largest of the season. It was the Pats first mercy-rule win since the NCHSAA added the rule three seasons ago, as the spread reached 40 on a Kelvis Dula free throw with 3:25 left.

Abee led all scorers with 25 points, Lineberger finished with 20 and Dula chipped in with 17. Moore had a game-high nine assists, and junior Tobias Kanipe had nine points and 15 rebounds.

(Tobias) does all the little things so well, Rogers added. We preach to do the little things uncommonly well. He epitomizes that.

An eighth straight win moved Freedom to 17-0 this year at home, where theyll stay to face Midwest No. 8 Monroe Piedmont tonight at approximately 7:15 p.m. (after the girls game ends).

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Freedom waxes Concord in 1st round thanks to long-range barrage - Morganton News Herald

The true story behind the Marie Stopes eugenics trial of 1923 – Catholic World Report

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In the 1920s, a legal victory against the rising eugenic tide was won by a Catholic doctor over prominent birth control advocate Marie Stopes. While Stopes is lauded today at a feminist hero, the story of the eugenics libel trial has been largely overlooked.

Marie Stopes in her laboratory in 1904. (Image via Wikipedia)

In 1923 in Britain, a Catholic doctor won an important victory in the battle against one of the most harmful ideologies of the 20th century: eugenics. The battle was fought in the law courts when British birth control advocate Marie Stopes sued Dr. Halliday Sutherland for libel.

Had Sutherland lost the case, opposition to eugenics in Britain would have suffered a blow, and would possibly have been silenced altogether. Sutherlands success was in large part because he was supported by the most consistently vociferous critic of eugenics in Britain at that time: the Catholic Church. But having won the legal battle, Sutherland subsequently lost the history war when the narrative of the losing side became the received history.

It is time to correct the record and, whats more, demonstrate why it matters today. Recent developments in biotechnology mean that eugenics is back. The issues in Stopes v. Sutherland are still relevant today and, when the centenaries of past events are commemorated in the next few years, it is essential that the correct narrative is used to influence the contemporary debate.

The centenary in 2023 of the Stopes v. Sutherland trial will be an opportunity to challenge the falsehoods of the last 100 years. Catholics can reflect on the Churchs record of standing up for ordinary people against the master plan of the elites. Remembering these events will help to educate and inspire those who will take up the cause in the contemporary debate.

Fake histories are warehouses to store fake news.

Theres lots of fake news around these days, isnt there? This article is about one of the sources of fake newsfake history.

Heres an example from the BBCs online biography of Marie Stopes:

In 1921, Stopes opened a family planning clinic in Holloway, north London, the first in the country. It offered a free service to married women and also gathered data about contraception. In 1925, the clinic moved to central London and others opened across the country. By 1930, other family planning organisations had been set up and they joined forces with Stopes to form the National Birth Control Council (later the Family Planning Association).

The Catholic church was Stopes fiercest critic. In 1923, Stopes sued Catholic doctor Halliday Sutherland for libel. She lost, won at appeal and then lost again in the House of Lords, but the case generated huge publicity for Stopes views.

Stopes continued to campaign for women to have better access to birth control

A second example of fake history is a 2015 press release from Marie Stopes International celebrating the 90th anniversary of the establishment of Stopes second London clinic:

90 years ago a woman called Marie Stopes made an extraordinary decision. She would open a service in the heart of London that offered women access to free contraception. In 1925, three years before women would win the right to vote, Marie Stopes bucked convention by showing women they had a choice regarding whether and when to have children.

On what grounds do I say that these items are fake? In my opinion, they are fake because of what they leave out.

There is no mention of Stopes eugenic agenda or of her intention to achieve, in her own words, a reduction of the birth rate at the wrong part and increase of the birth rate at the right end of the social scale.

No mention of her view that, as she put it in 1924:

From the point of view of the economics of the nation, it is racial madness to rifle the pockets of the thrifty and intelligent who are struggling to do their best for their own families of one and two and squander the money on low grade mental deficients, the spawn of drunkards, the puny families of women so feckless and deadened that they apathetically breed like rabbits.

No mention was made that she advocated the compulsorily sterilization of the unfit, nor of her lobbying the British Prime Minister and the Parliament to pass the appropriate legislation.

No mention of the vituperative language she used to describe those whom she desired to see sterilized: hopelessly bad cases, bad through inherent disease, or drunkenness or character wastrels, the diseasedthe miserable [and] the criminaldegenerate, feeble minded and unbalancedparasites.

No mention is made of the bedrock tenets of the Society for Constructive Birth Control and Racial Progress, set up by Stopes to run her clinics: to furnish security from conception to those who are racially diseased, already overburdened with children, or in any specific way unfitted for parenthood.

No reasons were given as to why the doctor opposed her. Dr. Sutherland opposed Stopes because he opposed eugenics. His opposition began many years before, when he was nominally a Presbyterian and in practice an atheist.

No mention was made of the fact that Dr. Sutherland specialized in tuberculosis, an infective disease of poverty. This fact is key, because it brought him into direct conflict with eugenicists (more commonly known at the time as eugenists). Eugenists believed that susceptibility to tuberculosis was primarily an inherited condition, so their cure was to breed out the tuberculous types. While Sutherland and others were trying to prevent and cure tuberculosis, influential eugenists believed their efforts were a waste of time. Furthermore, these eugenists thought tuberculosis was a friend of the race because it was a natural check on the unfit, killing them before they could reproduce.

Of course, both the BBC biography and the press release are brief summaries and, as such, cannot include all of the details that I have outlined. But thats not the point. The point is that neither item properly summarizes the issues. The excision of Stopes eugenic agenda makes her a secular saint. How could anyone oppose her in good conscience?

And thats the question that brought me to where I am now. As a grandson of Dr. Sutherland, I often wondered why he opposed her, because I used to believe the fake version of this story myself. No onefamily or otherwisetold me differently. Following many hours of research, including the examination of Dr. Sutherlands personal papers, I now know a different version of events.

Halliday Gibson Sutherland was born in 1882, and was educated at Glasgow High School and Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh. He studied medicine at Edinburgh and Aberdeen, and he graduated in 1908. At that time, he came under the influence of Robert Philip, who pioneered modern anti-tuberculosis treatments.

Tuberculosis was responsible for one-ninth of the total death-rate in Britain at the time. Tuberculosis killed over 70,000 victims, and disabled at least 150,000 more each year. Given that the disease often killed the bread-winner of a family, it was the direct cause of one-eleventh of the pauperism in England and Wales, a charge on the State of one million sterling per annum, Sutherland wrote in 1911.

In 1910, Sutherland was appointed the Medical Officer for the St. Marylebone Dispensary for the Prevention of Tuberculosis. In 1911, he edited and contributed to a book on tuberculosis by international experts.

Sutherlands religious journey is pertinent to this story. He was baptized a Presbyterian. In August 1904, at the age of 22, he was in theory an agnostic and in practice an atheist, he would later write. Ten years later, there came the hazards of war, and for me the time had come when it was expedient to make my peace with God. At that point he was admitted to the Church of Scotland. He became a Catholic in 1919.

Also relevant to this story is the falling birth rate, and two groups which had strong views about population.

Britains birth rate increased from 1800 onwards. In 1876, it peaked at 36.3 per thousand, and began to fall. By the end of 1901 it had fallen 21 percent, and by nearly 34 percent by 1914.

Not everyone was worried about the fall in birth-rate; one group in particular, the Malthusians, welcomed the fall.

It was T.R. Malthus (1766-1834) who had observed: The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power of the earth to produce subsistence for man.

He drew up his natural law, that when the population increased beyond subsistence, the resulting competition for resources would lead to conflict, famine, and disease. Sexual abstinence was the way to keep the population at manageable levels. In the period of the Stopes v. Sutherland libel trial, the term Neo-Malthusian was used to differentiate Malthusians who advocated the use of contraceptives instead of abstinence.

Another group keenly interested in population were the eugenists. The word eugenics was coined by Sir Francis Galton, cousin of the naturalist Charles Darwin. But while the word was new, the idea was not; G.K. Chesterton described it as one of the most ancient follies of the earth.

In the decades before the Stopes v. Sutherland libel trial, eugenists were concerned about the differential birth rate, so-called because the poor were producing more children than the rich. Given that British eugenists used social class as a proxy for a persons racial fitness, it was clear that the worst stocks would be the progenitors of Britains future population. For this reason, British eugenists fretted about degeneration and race suicide.

While there was rivalry between the Malthusian League and the Eugenics Education Society, and they differed strongly over the use of contraceptives, both groups agreed that in relation to population, quality mattered. The areas of overlap meant that some people were members of both the League and the Society. One such person was Marie Stopes.

The reader of this article might assume that doctors cure diseases; this, however, was not always a pressing concern for some influential minds in medicine and science at the beginning of the 20th century, particularly in relation to tuberculosis.

Sir James Barr, president of the British Medical Association (BMA), provides an excellent example of the attitude of many of those in the medical establishment of the time. At the BMAs annual conference in Liverpool in 1912, Barr was explicit that moral and physical degenerates should not be allowed to take any part in adding to the race. He then he turned his attention to tuberculosis:

If we could only abolish the tubercle bacillus in these islands we would get rid of tuberculous disease, but we should at the same time raise up a race peculiarly susceptible to this infectiona race of hothouse plants which would not flourish in any other environment. Nature, on the other hand, weeds out those who have not got the innate power of recovery from disease, and by means of the tubercle bacillus and other pathogenic organisms she frequently does this before the reproductive age, so that a check is put on the multiplication of idiots and the feeble-minded. Natures methods are thus of advantage to the race rather than to the individual.

Sutherlands opposition to this mindset and to eugenics can be traced to the article The Soil and the Seed in Tuberculosis, published in the British Medical Journal on November 23, 1912. In it, he recognised that doctors had traditionally believed in an inherited disposition to tuberculosis, and admitted that he had been one of them. Now he had changed his mind.

Sutherland again spoke out against eugenics on September 4, 1917, when he addressed the National Council of the YMCA. He rebutted the notion that consumption was hereditary, and he attacked the eugenists:

But why should you set out to prevent this infection and to cure the disease? There are some self-styled eugenistswho declaim that the prevention of disease is not in itself a good thing. They say the efficiency of the State is based upon what they call the survival of the fittest. [World War I] has smashed their rhetorical phrase. Who talks now about survival of the fittest, or thinks himself fit because he survives? I dont know what they mean. I do know that in preventing disease you are not preserving the weak, but conserving the strong.

His disagreement with eugenists, previously on medical and scientific grounds, was now on ethical and moral grounds as well.

In March 1918, Marie Stopes book Married Love was published, became a bestseller, and made her a celebrity. According to biographer June Rose:

Marie had written Married Love for women like herself, educated middle-class wives who had been left ignorant of the physical side of marriage. Her tone in her book and in the letters of advice sent to readers implied that they shared a community of interests and of income. She had no particular interest in the lower classes and in Wise Parenthood had written censoriously of the less thrifty and conscientious who bred rapidly and produced children weakened and handicapped by physical as well as mental warping and weakness. The lower classes were, she wrote in a letter to the Leicester Daily Post, often thriftless, illiterate and careless.

It was in her other books that the eugenic agenda was more clearly expressed. In Radiant Motherhood, she urged the compulsory sterilization of wastrels, the diseasedthe miserablethe criminal.

Stopes and her husband opened the Mothers Clinic in Marlborough Road, Holloway on March 17, 1921. She established the Society for Constructive Birth Control and Racial Progress to run the clinic. She engaged eminent people as vice-presidents of her society, including Bertrand Russell, H.G. Wells, John Maynard Keynes, and Sir James Barr.

Birth Control

On July 7, 1921, Sutherland attended a talk at the Medico-Legal Society by Dr. Louise McIlroy, professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and first female professor at the Royal Free Hospital. In the discussion that followed her presentation, McIlroy addressed the negative physical effects of contraceptives. Sutherland, by this time a Catholic, wrote an article in which he observed that the medical profession now concurred with Catholic doctrine. The editor of The Month, in which the article appeared, suggested that he develop it into a book.

Sutherland wrote Birth Control: A Statement of Christian Doctrine Against the Neo-Malthusians. Despite the title, the book was very political and it described Malthusianism as an attack on the poor. It was a polemic for the fair treatment of the poor, and for an equitable structure in society to share the abundance of wealth. His conclusion foreshadows the demographic problems that developed nations face today:

The Catholic Church has never taught that an avalanche of children should be brought into the world regardless of the consequences. God is not mocked; as men sow, so shall they reap, and against a law of nature both the transient amelioration wrought by philanthropists and the subtle expediences of scientific politicians are alike futile. If our civilisation is to survive we must abandon those ideals that lead to decline.

In Birth Control, under the heading Exposing the Poor to Experiment, Sutherland wrote:

But, owing to their poverty, lack of learning, and helplessness, the poor are natural victims of those who seek to make experiments on their fellows. In the midst of a London slum a woman, who is a doctor of German philosophy (Munich), has opened a Birth Control Clinic, where working women are instructed in a method of contraception described by Professor McIlroy as the most harmful method of which I have had experience. When we remember that millions are being spent by the Ministry of Health and by Local Authoritieson pure milk for necessitous expectant and nursing mothers before and after childbirth, for the provision of skilled midwives, and on Infant Welfare Centresall for the single purpose of bringing healthy children into our midst, it is truly amazing this monstrous campaign of birth control should be tolerated by the Home Secretary.

Shortly after the book was published on March 27, 1922, Humphrey Roe, Stopes husband, wrote to Sutherland inviting him to publicly debate his wife. Sutherland did not respond to the letter, and a month later, he received a writ for libel.

Part II of this story will be published at CWR next week.

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The true story behind the Marie Stopes eugenics trial of 1923 - Catholic World Report

Robert VerBruggen Is Not a Nazi, But Eugenics Isn’t Rocket Science – The American Conservative

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Im tempted to say, in response to Robert VerBruggens lament, that yes, thats Twitter for you, and this is one of many reasons why Im not on it. But Ithink there is more to say about the problem of eugenics than merely its immoral but not ineffective.

First of all, as Im sure VerBruggen would agree, not all efforts to improve the gene pool are immoral, and though we may disagree about exactly where the line is, we both surely agree that its laudableto get tested for Tay-Sachs before you marry, and we both surely agree that forced sterilization of undesirables is an abomination. For myself, Ive written about this before, and I stand by what I wrote then.

Second, we shouldprobably limit the word eugenics to collectiveprograms to improve the gene pool, and not apply the word to individual choices about who to have children with, because only collective programs can actually change the population as a whole. As such, its important to recognize that to breed for particular traits, you have to prevent elements within the population thatdont have those traits from breeding. For example, if you assume that intelligence is highly heritable, and wanted to increase the intelligence of the population, it wouldnt do to get smart people to marry other smart people. Youd have to get smart people tooutbreed less-smart people. I cant think of away to do this that is both ethical and plausible and most of the ways I can think of are neither.

Finally, while we know from extensive experience in selectively breeding animals and plants that such programs work, by work we meanthat weve maximizedparticular traits, abilities and behaviors. And in the course of doing so, you always get tradeoffs. The swift greyhound has chronic hip problems. The highly-trainable poodle is also prone to stress. The large-breasted chicken cant fly. And so forth.

There is no reason to doubt that the same would be true of humans, and that any serious attempt to breed people for particular traits even if undertaken on an entirely voluntary basis and involving no abortion or sterilizationor whatnot would have unexpected side effects. Perhaps breeding for ambitionwill result in lower empathy. Perhaps breeding for intelligence will result in greater incidence of anxiety anddepression. Perhaps breeding for greater athletic prowess will result in higher rates of marital infidelity and divorce. Who knows?

We dont and we cant ethically conduct the kinds of controlled experiments that would allow us to determine with high confidence that we had avoided unexpected side effects. That cautionholdsaswell for genetictherapies that are surely on the horizon. Fitness is only meaningfulrelative to a set of environmental conditions. Narrow the set of traits by which you definefitness and you have implicitly narrowed the set of environments within which an organism will prove fit. Which is not, generally, a good way for a species to maximize its survival prospects.

Im not arguing that people should blithely ignore genetic history or the science of inheritance more generally in matters like mate selection. (If I did, nobody would listen to me anyway.) But I am arguing both for humility and for a broad understanding of what constitutes fitness. Someone especially smart who says, I need to marry someone just as smart as I am so that ourchildren are likely to be similarly smart and hence similarly successful is not only running the risk of disappointment due to mean-reversion (which remainsa factor even when you stack the deck in your favor), but running the risk of having ignored other vital dimensions of the human personalityby reducing fitness to a narrow, measurable trait.

(Also, if you want a good marriage, you should probably marry someone who you love and desire, who is good for you and who you are good for, andwith whom you share certain core values and a robustability to communicate,rather than thinking of your spouse primarily as breeding stock. Not to mention not treating your children as pint-sizedsuccess machines. And staying off Twitter when your wife is in the next room with the OB/GYN. Just saying.)

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Robert VerBruggen Is Not a Nazi, But Eugenics Isn't Rocket Science - The American Conservative

Cyborg failed to disclose banned substance use until after …

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Ive been trying for several weeks now to get confirmation from USADA about the rumors that Cris Cyborg failed to disclose her spironolactone use when she was supposed to. Early this morning USADA communications manager, Ryan Madden, sent the following statement:

Her use of the medication was not initially disclosed; but more importantly, once contacted by USADA, she immediately identified the medication as the source of her positive test, submitted all necessary medical information and demonstrated that it was being used for legitimate medical purposes without enhancing her performance. Those are the primary considerations when reviewing any TUE application.

Athletes are supposed to note all medications and supplements they are taking--banned or not--when filling out a doping control form at the time of a test. This means Cris should have listed her spironolactone in order to be fully compliant with USADA rules.

As noted by Erik Magraken at Combatsportslaw.com, USADA would appear to be well within their rights to punish an athlete for failing to disclose this information. Despite this, it appears USADA elected not to do so in the case of Cyborg.

As I recently wrote, the UFCs lax retroactive TUE policies allow athletes to use banned substances, and only apply for a retroactive TUE if and when they get caught. It is now evident that this is what occurred with Cris Cyborg.

Link:

Cyborg failed to disclose banned substance use until after ...

USADA granted Cris Cyborg exemption despite her not disclosing substance before test – MMA Fighting

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Cris Cyborg did not disclose before a December sample collection that she was taking a banned substance, but was still granted a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) by USADA.

One of the provisions in the UFCs anti-doping policy is that athletes must not provide fraudulent information to UFC or USADA, which can extend to not disclosing the ingestion of a banned substance to a doping control official during a sample collection.

Cyborg did not disclose that she was taking a prohibited substance, but USADAs TUE Committee felt like she met all the important criteria and ultimately decided to grant her an exemption last week. A non-disclosure does not automatically lead to a violation from USADA without other elements of the situation being taken into account.

In a statement, USADA spokesperson Ryan Madden explained that Cyborg was able to immediately identify the medication as the reason why she failed the drug test, then submitted all necessary medical information and demonstrated that it was being used for legitimate medical purposes without enhancing her performance.

The full statement is below:

Her use of the medication was not initially disclosed; but more importantly, once contacted by USADA, she immediately identified the medication as the source of her positive test, submitted all necessary medical information and demonstrated that it was being used for legitimate medical purposes without enhancing her performance. Those are the primary considerations when reviewing any TUE application.

Cyborg, 31, tested positive for the banned diuretic spironolactone in December. She was facing a one-year suspension from USADA if she was not granted the TUE.

In a statement after the news of the failed drug test was announced, Cyborg said she was using the drug as prescribed by a doctor to help treat side effects from her recent weight cut. Cyborg cut a large amount of weight to make the 140-pound limit to fight Lina Lansberg in September.

USADA, after an investigation done by its TUE Committee, announced last week that Cyborg had been granted a TUE after finding that she was taking spironolactone in accordance with her physicians recommendation for the treatment of a legitimate medical condition. It was the first time a UFC fighter had been granted a retroactive TUE since the UFC brought USADA on board in July 2015 to run its anti-doping program.

Cyborg, the best female fighter in the world, will be eligible to compete again in the UFC immediately. She should be next in line to face new UFC womens featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie.

USADA recognizes that over the course of a career, athletes may experience illnesses or medical conditions that require the use of a particular medication for proper treatment, USADA wrote last week in the statement announcing Cyborgs TUE. While athletes are educated and encouraged to apply for a TUE in advance of using a prohibited substance or method, the UFC Anti-Doping Policy permits athletes to file for retroactive TUEs where the use of a prohibited substance or method was medically justified.

Cyborg tested positive for an anabolic steroid in 2011 and was stripped of her Strikeforce womens bantamweight title at the time.

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USADA granted Cris Cyborg exemption despite her not disclosing substance before test - MMA Fighting

Cyborg Brain Electrodes Could Help the Paralyzed Walk Again – Futurism

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Glassy Carbon

Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) are more advanced now than theyve ever been, thanks mostly to researchthat has improved our understanding of how our brains works. BCIs make it possible for thoughts to be translated into machine commands. This has given hope to people suffering from neurodegenerative diseases or those that require the use of prosthetics.

Advanced as they are now, BCIs still mainly rely on implantable chips and electrodes that are placed on the brains surface to receive and transmit signals from brain chemicals known as neurotransmitters. Todays state-of-the-art electrodes, made from thin-film platinum, are highly susceptible to corrosion over time. The Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering (CSNE) a partnership between San Diego State University, the University of Washington (UW), and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is working on research to significantly improve this technology.Their study is published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports.

Instead of using platinum, the researchers, led by CSNE deputy director Sam Kassegne, developed electrodes built from a form of carbon called glassy carbon. Glassy carbon is much more promising for reading signals directly from neurotransmitters, Kassegne told San Diego State University. You get about twice as much signal-to-noise. Its a much clearer signal and easier to interpret. Furthermore, because its 10 times smoother than granular thin-film platinum, electrical stimulation corrodes glassy carbon more slowly. The material can also last longer than platinum or any other material used for electrodes.

The researchers think that glassy carbon can do much more than just improve brain signal transmission. They are also using the improved BCIs built using glassy carbon to record neural signals along the brains cortical surface and from inside the brain at the same time. If you record from deeper in the brain, you can record from single neurons, explained researcher Elisa Castagnola. On the surface, you can record from clusters. This combination gives you a better understanding of the complex nature of brain signaling.

Another potential application is even more promising. Mieko Hirabayashi, a student in Kassegnes lab, is exploring the possibility of using glassy carbon technology to make neural cells in spinal cords grow to replace damaged tissues. Hirabayashi is experimenting with rats to test if this neural growth can be triggered by precisely calibrated electrical stimulation. Without the new glassy carbon electrodes, Hirabayashi wouldnt be able to stimulate, read the electrical signals from, or even simply detect the neurotransmitters as easily.

With all the successes that existing BCI technologies have produced, its not difficult to imagine a future in whicha true merging of human and machineis be possible. Improvements such as CSNEs research bring this future closer to todays reality.

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Cyborg Brain Electrodes Could Help the Paralyzed Walk Again - Futurism

Jeremiah Danvers and Cyborg Superman return in new extended Supergirl trailer – Blastr

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Wed, Feb 22, 2017 11:45am

While this week's belated Valentines Day episode of Supergirl was more of a fun light-hearted affair with the appearance of Mr. Mxyzptlk (Peter Gadiot), it looks like the next installment of the high-flying superhero series will feature a good dose of #familydrama with the long-awaited return of Jeremiah Danvers.

If you guys will recall, the last time we saw Jeremiah was in "The Darkest Place" (Episode 7), where he helped Kara (Melissa Benoist) and Mon-El (Chris Wood) escape the clutches of Cadmus.

Well, now he's back, and the CW has released a tense and action-packed extended trailer for next week's episode, titled "Homecoming," which will see the return of Dean Cain (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman) as Kara and Alex's (Chyler Leigh) dad.

While the Danvers family (including Helen Slater, who is back as Eliza Danvers) is obviously overjoyed at Jeremiah's return, it doesn't take long for Mon-El to have suspicions about Jeremiah's "rescue" from Cadmus. That and the fact that Winn (Jeremy Jordan) seems to have found some damning evidence supporting this will lead to Kara starting to doubt her adoptive dad's story, creating a rift with Alex: "You're either part of the family or you're not." Ouch.

Also, Cyborg Superman (David Harewood) is back! This is going to be some intense stuff coming up right there. Have a look at the "Homecoming" synopsis before jumping into the extended promo.

When Jeremiah Danvers (guest star Dean Cain) is rescued from Cadmus, Alex (Chyler Leigh) and Kara (Melissa Benoist) are thrilled to have their father back. The Danvers arrange a family dinner to celebrate but things go awry when a suspicious Mon-El (Chris Wood) starts to question Jeremiah about his sudden return.

Supergirl airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on The CW.

(via Coming Soon)

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Jeremiah Danvers and Cyborg Superman return in new extended Supergirl trailer - Blastr

Cris Cyborg failed to disclose banned substance until after flagged drug test, scored USADA exemption anyway – MMAmania.com

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Invicta FC featherweight champion and part-time Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) headliner, Cristiane Justino, found herself in trouble with United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) last December following a violation of the organizations drug testing policy.

Cyborg was taking the banned substance Spironolactone, but failed to disclose the physician-prescribed treatment until after she was zapped by USADA, which raised questions about discretion and arbitrariness.

In short, special treatment (like this).

To help answer some the lingering questions about the decision-making process, USADA released a statement explaining the steps Justino took to earn a retroactive therapeutic use exemption (TUE).

From MMA Fighting:

Her use of the medication was not initially disclosed; but more importantly, once contacted by USADA, she immediately identified the medication as the source of her positive test, submitted all necessary medical information and demonstrated that it was being used for legitimate medical purposes without enhancing her performance. Those are the primary considerations when reviewing any TUE application.

Didnt work for this guy.

Now that shes free and clear, Cyborg can return to the Octagon at her natural weight of 145 pounds. Unfortunately, we still dont know who the Brazilian will fight, with newly-crowned division champion calling for a Holly Holm rematch.

Its lonely at the top.

Originally posted here:

Cris Cyborg failed to disclose banned substance until after flagged drug test, scored USADA exemption anyway - MMAmania.com

10 best beaches in the US and world according to Tripadvisor – Today – Today.com

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Do you find yourself daydreaming about warmer weather and the sand between your toes lately? Youre not alone. Thinking about the summer months and ocean is sometimes the only way to get through these dark and dreary months.

Luckily, TripAdvisor made that fantasizing a bit easier by announcing the winners of its Travelers Choice awards for the best beaches in the world.

Siesta Beach in Florida is the best beach in the U.S. according to TripAdvisor.

The travel planning and booking site revealed the best sandy spots in the U.S and around the world today, honoring a total of 343 beaches. The winners were determined based on the quantity and quality of traveler reviews and ratings for beaches on TripAdvisor gathered over a 12-month period. And according to a recent TripAdvisor survey, 49 percent of U.S. travelers say hotel prices are the most important factor when choosing a beach destination. So, TripAdvisor also identified the least expensive month for a hotel stay near each beach, meaning you can really start planning that much-needed holiday.

Traveling to a popular beach doesnt have to be expensive," said Barbara Messing, chief marketing officer for TripAdvisor, in a statement. "TripAdvisor can help find the best prices for highly rated hotels and has a variety of value options for those looking to get the most out of their money while visiting one of these amazing beach destinations.

RELATED: The 16 best places to go on vacation with a baby or toddler

So, which spot came in first place? Siesta Beach in Siesta Key, Florida, took the No. 1 spot on the top 10 list of best beaches in the U.S., and No. 5 in the world. Its conveniently located about 10 miles south of Sarasota on the Gulf Coast and is known for its white sandy beaches that look more like the Caribbean than Florida.

I can't say enough great things about this amazing beach, wrote one TripAdvisor reviewer. Perfect white sand, soft on the feet and yet look around and you can also find shells. Sunset was amazing! The best time to visit the stunning stretch of sand is actually in the fall as the least expensive month is September, with rooms costing an average of $214 per night.

Florida's Hollywood Beach landed in the top 10 as one of the best beaches in the U.S.

RELATED: How this woman funded her record-breaking trip to every country in the world

Floridas beaches dominate the top 10 list. Seven out of 10 beaches are located in the Sunshine State, with St. Pete Beach coming in at No. 3, Clearwater Beach taking the No. 4 spot, Panama City Beach at No. 5, Hollywood Beach at No. 6, Pensacola Beach at No. 7, and Saint Augustine Beach at No. 8. In fact, the only other state to boast more than one beach on the list is Hawaii, with Ka'anapali Beach at No. 2, and Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve coming in at No. 9.

Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve is one of two Hawaiian beaches to make the top 10 list.

The only outlier is Ocean City Beach in Ocean City, Maryland, which moved up 15 spots to No. 10 this year. The reason? Its a family-friend location with lots of free activities and is perfect for aquatic sports. It has a beautiful deep sandy beach with lots on the boardwalk like shops, games, amusements parks, restaurants, and ice cream, to name a few things, noted a TripAdvisors reviewer. If youre looking to go, search for hotels in November as its the least expensive time to travel, with rooms averaging $109 a night.

RELATED: Tips for traveling with kids from parents whove been on the road for 1 1/2 years

Baia do Sancho in Brazil was ranked the best beach in the world.

In terms of the best beach in the world, Brazils Baia do Sancho came in at No. 1. While it can be a bit tricky to access the beach, which is located on Fernando de Noronha Island 220 miles off the northeast coast of Brazil visitors have raved about its beauty and incredible snorkeling opportunities. The award recognition is an opportunity for us to communicate all that this incredible place has to offer to global travelers, said Lus Eduardo Antunes, general administrator of Fernando de Noronha.

Check out the top 10 lists for Travelers Choice Beaches in the U.S. and the world below!

1. Siesta Beach, Florida

2. Ka'anapali Beach Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii

3. St. Pete Beach St. Pete Beach, Florida

4. Clearwater Beach Clearwater, Florida

5. Beach at Panama City Panama City Beach, Florida

6. Hollywood Beach Hollywood, Florida

7. Pensacola Beach Pensacola Beach, Florida

8. Saint Augustine Beach Saint Augustine Beach, Florida

9. Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve Honolulu, Hawaii

10. Ocean City Beach Ocean City, Maryland

1. Baia do Sancho, Fernando de Noronha, Brazil

2. Grace Bay, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos

3. Eagle Beach, Palm - Eagle Beach, Aruba

4. Playa Paraiso, Cayo Largo, Cuba

5. Siesta Beach, Siesta Key, United States

6. La Concha Beach, San Sebastian, Spain

7. Playa Norte, Isla Mujeres, Mexico

8. Radhanagar Beach, Havelock Island, India

9. Elafonissi Beach, Crete, Greece

10. Galapagos Beach at Tortuga Bay, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

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Florida’s Siesta Beach named best beach in the US by TripAdvisor – Orlando Sentinel

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Florida is king of the beach again in the annual TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice Awards with Siesta Beach on the Gulf Coast coming in at No. 1.

Overall, Florida landed seven of the top 10, and 10 of the top 25 in this year's awards, which honored 343 beaches across the world based on ratings on the travel site gathered over the last 12 months.

Siesta Beach, which is on Siesta Key, a barrier island on the Gulf Coast west of Sarasota, is no stranger to accolades. It was named best beach in the U.S. in 2011 on the annual Dr. Beach list, and was also named tops on TripAdvisor's rankings in 2015.

While the Dr. Beach list, which comes out ahead of Memorial Day, is based on criteria from Stephen Leatherman, the Director of Florida International University's Laboratory for Coastal Research, the TripAdvisor list is based on the quantity and quality of reader reviews in the TripAdvisor community.

While several Florida beaches on the TripAdvisor list don't rate in Leatherman's list, at least on Siesta Beach, the two jibe. Leatherman had been ranking top beaches for 25 years, with the winners of previous years pulled from consideration until last year, when he reset everything. Even then, Siesta Beach came in at No. 2.

The beach, a massive stretch that is part of a county park with ample parking and facilities, is known for its sugar-white, nearly pure quartz crystal sand that doesn't really get hot on your feet.

"Siesta Beach in Sarasota boasts that it has the finest and whitest sand in the world, and I cannot argue with this claim," Leatherman said in 2011. "The beautiful blue-colored water is clean and clear, making it so inviting to bathers and swimmers."

The other Florida beaches making the TripAdvisor list are St. Pete Beach at No. 3, last year's top beach Clearwater Beach dropping to No. 4, the beach in Panama City Beach at No. 5, Hollywood Beach at No. 6, Pensacola Beach at No. 7, St. Augustine Beach at No. 8, Fort Lauderdale Beach at No. 11, South Beach at No. 12 and Henderson Beach State Park in Destin at No. 17.

Overall, Florida rated the most beaches in the U.S. top 25 with 10 followed by Hawaii with seven, California with three and one each from Maine, Maryland, Massachuestts, Georgia and Virginia.

Siesta Beach ranked No. 5 in the site's world rankings, the only U.S. beach in the top 25. The No. 1 beach in the world is Baia do Sancho in Fernando de Noronha, Brazil.

This is the fifth year of the TripAdvisor awards, and the third year in a row a Florida beach has topped the U.S. list. Siesta Beach has always been in the top 3.

As far as 2017 goes, here is TripAdvisor's rankings for the U.S. top 25:

1. Siesta Beach on Siesta Key near Sarasota, Florida

2. Ka'anapali Beach Lahaina, Hawaii

3. St. Pete Beach, Florida

4. Clearwater Beach Clearwater, Florida

5. Beach at Panama City Panama City Beach, Florida

6. Hollywood Beach, Hollywood, Florida

7. Pensacola Beach, Pensacola Beach, Florida

8. St. Augustine Beach Saint Augustine Beach, Florida

9. Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve Honolulu, Hawaii

10. Ocean City Beach Ocean City, Maryland

11. Fort Lauderdale Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

12. South Beach Miami Beach, Florida

13. Wai'anapanapa State Park Hana, Hawaii

14. Ogunquit Beach Ogunquit, Maine

15. Wailea Beach, Wailea, Hawaii

16. Lanikai Beach, Kailua, Hawaii

17. Henderson Beach State Park, Destin, Florida

18. Driftwood Beach, Jekyll Island, Georgia

19. Virginia Beach, Virginia Beach, Virginia

20. Santa Monica Beach, Santa Monica, California

21. La Jolla Shores Park, La Jolla, California

22. Hapuna Beach, Waimea, Hawaii

23. Race Point Beach, Provincetown, Massachusetts

24. Carlsbad State Beach, Carlsbad, California

25. Poipu Beach Park, Poipu, Hawaii

rtribou@orlandosentinel.com, 407-420-5134

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Jersey Shore, Delaware Stops Snubbed From List Of America’s Best Beaches – CBS Local

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Jersey Shore, Delaware Stops Snubbed From List Of America's Best Beaches
CBS Local
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) In this region, we know the benefits of the New Jersey and Delaware beaches. We visit them in droves during the summer season and even find ourselves there at points during the off-season. We might know how great those ...

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Jersey Shore, Delaware Stops Snubbed From List Of America's Best Beaches - CBS Local

Florida beach tops list of best beaches in country – Palm Beach Post

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A Florida beach has won the distinction of best beach in the United States for the third year in a row.

TripAdvisors list of the top 25 beaches -- which ranks beaches based on the quality and quantity of online reviewers and ratings over a 12-month period -- named Siesta Beach as the best beach in the country.

TripAdvisor makes mention of Siesta Beachs restaurants and hotels, along with its status as a year-round vacation destination along the Gulf of Mexico, as factors that helped the beach earn the top spot. Siesta Beach also landed a top five ranking on TripAdvisors list of the Top 25 beaches in the world.

Several other Florida beaches appear in the top 10 of the 2017 rankings. Clearwater Beach, which earned the top spot last year, is ranked fourth, while Saint Pete Beach, Beach at Panama City, Hollywood Beach, Pensacola Beach and St. Augustine Beach are ranked third, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth respectively.

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7 Stunning Beaches That Will Make You Want To Travel To the Caribbean – Huffington Post

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Think all Caribbean beaches are the same? Think again. Home to some of the worlds most beautiful and diverse beaches in the world, the Caribbean islands are a feast for the senses. Every shoreline promises a new twist on relaxing in paradiseor cranking up the adventure with world-class water sports.

Weve teamed up with global cruise line Royal Caribbean to highlight seven of the most stunning Caribbean beaches that prove theres a lot more than swaying palm trees, gently lapping waves, and white sandy expanses to tempt nature lovers (although that also sounds pretty great). Kick your relaxation up a notch by exploring these one-of-a-kind beaches on your next Caribbean adventure.

Reinhard Dirscherl via Getty Images

Great for snorkeling right off the shoreline, Champagne Reef will also wow visitors with its vibrant coral and plentiful sea life. Less crowded than more well-known tourist spots, Champagne Beach also offers great nightlife at waterfront Melvinas Champagne Bar and Restaurant. Order a glass of bubbly or stay for rum punch and steamed fish as you watch the sunset.

Travelers also will want to check out the Bathsheba Pools for a sheltered place to take a dip away from the crashing waves. These shallow sheltered pools are a favorite spot for Bajans to gather for a soak in natures very own whirlpool.

Richard Cummins via Getty Images

History buffs will want to check out the Mayan ruin and nearby Celarain Lighthouse at Punta Sur. The Mayan ruin is embedded with conch shells that whistle when the wind blows, while the lighthouse offers a stunning panoramic view of Cozumelif youre willing to climb the 127 steps to see it!

MichaelUtech via Getty Images

A short ferry ride will take travelers from the vibrant Antiguan city of St. Johns to its neighboring island, Montserrat, where the typical image of white Caribbean sand evaporates as soon as you step onto the docks. Experience a lesson in chemistry on Woodlands Beach, where the dark basalt sand is the result of past eruptions from the islands volcano. With a backdrop of cliffs surrounding the black sand beach, travelers can cool off with a picnic and have a chance to spot migrating whales.

Grand Cayman may be best known for Seven Mile Beach, a coral-sand beach that stretches as far as the eye can see along the western shore of the island. And while travelers cant go wrong with the snorkeling, sunbathing, and resort amenities located nearby, adventure seekers who want something a little more exciting will want to check out the blowholes on the east end of Grand Cayman. When the trade winds blow, crashing waves are pushed into caverns that send geysers shooting up to 20 feet in the air. These powerful forces of nature are an impressive sight, but onlookers should keep a safe distance and wear sturdy shoes, as the rugged rocks that form the viewing area can be sharp. The blowholes are a perfect spot for taking a memorable photo on Grand Cayman, but swimming should be saved for the much calmer waters of Seven Mile Beach!

Pola Damonte via Getty Images via Getty Images

Paradise Beach, just minutes from downtown Nassau in the Bahamas, features some of the clearest waters for diving in the entire Caribbean. With visibility of up to 100 feet, scuba divers rejoice in exploring the waters of this world-renowned island. Here you can dive amongst the remains of several shipwrecks and the Lost Blue Hole, a natural cavern that extends 200 feet deep and is filled with impressive marine life, including nurse sharks, angelfish and manta rays. Divers call the Lost Blue Hole one of the most unique and memorable dive sites in the world.

Paris is for lovers, but so too is Magens Bay Beach with its unique heart-shaped coastline. A hotspot for destination weddings, beach bliss can be found here whether youre with that special someone, friends or family. Beyond the inviting strip of white sand and warm azure water, travelers can also enjoy the nearby nature trail, coconut grove, or the six-acre arboretum, home to trees from four different continents. This Caribbean stunner will cement your lifelong love of St. Thomas.

Why settle for one beach on your next vacation when you can seek out the worlds most unique beaches during the same trip? Make your next tropical adventure one to remember with Royal Caribbean, voted number one for 14 years and counting by Travel Weekly. Visit Royal Caribbean to find the most awe-inspiring destinations and your next unforgettable adventure vacation.

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7 Stunning Beaches That Will Make You Want To Travel To the Caribbean - Huffington Post

2/22/2017: Beaches Homelessness; Dave Walker; Women’s Leadership Conference; Girl Scout Cookies – WJCT NEWS

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Wednesday on First Coast Connect, we spoke with Mission House Executive Director Lori Delgado Anderson about their mission and work they do to help the homeless at the Beaches. Ahead of his appearance Thursday at WJCT host Melissa Ross spoke with former U.S. Comptroller General Dave Walker. Jacksonville Womens Leadership Forum Board President Chris Schwing talked about this years forum Game On! The Power of Women Its Our Time to Lead and Girls Scouts of Gateway Council CEO Mary Anne Jacobs talked about this years cookie drive.

Beaches Homelessness

Homelessness is not just an issue in Jacksonvilles urban core. There are also many homeless at the Beaches. At the Beaches, the face of homelessness has changed dramatically over the years.

Mission House in Jacksonville Beach was founded 20 years ago and has more than 500 volunteers. Its mission includes feeding people, helping them find affordable housing, medical services and help change the way homelessness is perceived in the community.

Dave Walker

As Comptroller General of the United States Walker often spoke about Washingtons fiscal mismanagement. Most recently, he has as CEO of the Comeback America Initiative, an organization Walker founded to engage his fellow citizens in what he calls the fight to restore fiscal sanity. On Thursday at a special event here at WJCT looking at the importance of fiscal responsibility. Hes a graduate of Jacksonville University and a frequent guest host of CNBC.

Womens Leadership Conference

The Jacksonville Womens Leadership Conference began six years ago when a local group of women wants to attend conferences that focused on the advancement of women in corporate leadership roles. This years conference focuses on the importance of being a fit leader mentally, physically and emotionally. The forum will be held March 9 at Everbank Field.

Girl Scout Cookies

One of the nations most beloved female leadership programs is the Girl Scouts. Studies consistently show girls who took part in the program go on to leadership roles when they grow up.

Its the time of year again when the girls take part in an initiative that teaches them everything from money management to decision making and people skills.

This weekend is National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend. Girl Scouts will be stores all over the community selling cookies, including a special visit to the St. Augustine Pirate and Treasure Museum from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Producer Kevin Meerschaert can be reached atkmeerschaert@wjct.org, 904-358-6334 or on Twitter at @KMeerschaertJax.

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2/22/2017: Beaches Homelessness; Dave Walker; Women's Leadership Conference; Girl Scout Cookies - WJCT NEWS

TripAdvisor confirms Queensland has the best beaches in Australia – Starts at 60

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Starts at 60
TripAdvisor confirms Queensland has the best beaches in Australia
Starts at 60
Sorry, Victoria. Our apologies, New South Wales. And our sincere condolences, Western Australia. But the news is in and it's official: Queensland has the best beaches in the country. If you don't agree, then you might like to takeit up with TripAdvisor ...

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TripAdvisor confirms Queensland has the best beaches in Australia - Starts at 60

This tiny solar system packs in seven Earth-size planets – Astronomy Magazine

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Like no other

That brings us to five planets. Intensive studies using both the TRAPPIST telescope and NASAs Spitzer telescope helped refine the orbit of the planets and drew out the presence of two more from the data. TRAPPIST-1b, -1c, -1f, and -1g are all very slightly larger than Earth. -1e is slightly smaller than Earth. -1d and -1h are closer to Mars in size.

While the exact masses and orbital periods arent known yet, preliminary results suggest that they may be in resonance. That means that when -1b orbits eight times, -1c completes five orbits, often marked as 8:5. -1c and -1d are in 5:3 resonance; -1d and -1e are in 3:2, as are -1e and -1f. -1f and -1g are in 4:3.

All of them seem to be in the habitable zone of TRAPPIST-1. That means that they could, under the right conditions, sustain surface water, but theres no proof that any of the planets do. For instance, in our solar system Venus and Mars are in the habitable zone, but both are fairly inhospitable in our present time.

Of the seven, the researchers believe that -1e, -1f, and -1g are the likeliest to be habitable based on where they sit in the solar system.

While seven planets have been confirmed, thats not all the system may hold in store.

It is just the beginning for many reasons there might be more on top of that, Julien de Wit, a co-author on the paper, says.

Slow your roll

There are other considerations before we declare the planets quite ripe for life, though. M-dwarf stars like TRAPPIST-1 tend to start out very active with high energy flare events. This could strip away the atmosphere of young planets.

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This tiny solar system packs in seven Earth-size planets - Astronomy Magazine

Astronomy hosts public observing night – The Crimson While

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By Justin Smith | 02/23/2017 12:11am Sam MacDonald / Alabama Crimson White

TheDepartment of Physics and Astronomy'spublic observation night at the Moundville Archeological Park on Friday at 7 p.m.

Hollywood stars will shine on Sunday at the Oscars, but it will take a telescope to catch the real deal tomorrow night.

The Astronomy group within the Department of Physics and Astronomy will host its monthly public observation night at the Moundville Archeological Park on Friday at 7 p.m.

Every month the Astronomy group hosts a public night for people to come out and view the sky through several different telescopes on and off campus. The event is free to everyone and will end at 10 p.m. This is the third one this semester.

Ronald Buta, eventhost and astronomy professor, said they decided to use Moundville Archeological Park because campus had too much light pollution, making it difficult to view some of the things that they hope to capture.

We have one of the largest telescopes in the world to view things like the Orion Nebula, Buta said. The night sky has a lot of interesting things to see.

The Moundville Archeological park is a National Historic Landmark that contains over 26 large pyramid-shaped mounds within its 320 acres. The park is located approximately 16 miles south of Tuscaloosa.

Several members of the UA Astronomical Society will assist with the event.

UA Astronomical Society president and founder, Ray Schlsser, said he always encourages some members of the organization to help out in the public night in any way that they are needed.

The public nights are always packed, saidSchlsser,a senior majoring in astrophysics. Its a great way to meet new people, so I never have any complaints from any members about volunteering to be part of the event.

The Astronomical Society was founded for the purpose of introducing astrophysics majors to one another for career opportunities. They are currently in the process of planning trips to several graduate schools. The society will host its own observation nights later in the semester.

Our society gives younger students a great opportunity to meet others with their major, Schlsser said, This helps them make better decisions on which courses to take and which professor to select.

Spectators will get the opportunity to look at the night sky through telescopes of different sizes. The telescopes are going to be placed in front of the Moundville Archeological Museum. All are welcome to come and gaze at the night sky with Professor Buta and company.

This public night is one of the astronomy group's deep-sky observing sessions. The group will use their 16 inch and 17 inch telescopes to view some of the hidden features of the night sky.

There is also a good chance they will use their 20 inch telescope, "The Big Little Telescope," that was recently donated to the department. The telescope is set up on a pad in the field across the road from the museum. The park will not charge anyone for entering the park after hours.

Butasaid he is hoping that the weather will allow them to have a successful gazing experience. The skies were clear on the previous public night. If the weather does not permit, the event will be cancelled, with alerts on the astronomy department's website.

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Tech physics, astronomy professor talks NASA discovery – LubbockOnline.com

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When Robert Morehead was in high school in 1995, scientists discovered 51 Pegasi b the first planet to be found orbiting around a sun-like star.

That just blew my mind, said Morehead, who is now a Texas Tech instructor of physics and astronomy and director of the Preston Gott Observatory. I thought that was just so cool and how neat it was that they were able to find little balls of rock around distant stars. This may surprise you but its not the easiest thing to do and the people who found out the original techniques were pretty clever; it was pretty impressive.

Morehead felt that same excitement Wednesday after NASA announced the discovery of seven Earth-size planets orbiting closely around a single star. Three of those planets were described by NASA as being within the habitable zone.

The discovery sets a new record for greatest number of habitable-zone planets found around a single star outside our solar system, according to a NASA news release. All of these seven planets could have liquid water key to life as we know it under the right atmospheric conditions, but the chances are highest with the three in the habitable zone.

Morehead, who recently finished a dissertation on exoplanets and systems with multiple planets, said there are different ways to define habitable zone, but the key factor is liquid water.

(Habitable zone) means theyre close enough to their star that they get enough sunlight (and) theyre warm enough to have liquid water on their surface, he said. If you can have liquid water on the surface, (thats) one ingredient we think is absolutely necessary for life. Were not exactly sure, but all life on Earth has to have liquid water. Life can live in a hot spring or down in the bottom of a salt lake or stuff like that, but the one thing that it absolutely has to have is liquid water.

The latest discovery means scientists are one step closer to answering the question: Is there life outside of Earth?

Kind of the big picture what does this mean for life, the universe and everything (is that) every time we get a result like this, its looking more and more solid that theres probably a lot of potential real estate in the galaxy, Morehead said. That leads to all kinds of interesting questions.

sarah.rafique@lubbockonline.com

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SF State astronomy professor looks for habitable planets 14 light years away – Golden Gate Xpress

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An SF State astronomy professor is making headway with his research on exoplanets that may have conditions to support life.

Stephen Kane, who teaches Introduction to Astronomy, Stellar Astrophysics and Exoplanetary Science at SF States physics and astronomy department had his work published in the latest issue of the prestigious peer-reviewed Astrophysical Journal, gaining him recognition in the science and astrophysics community, according to a University Communications press release.

The professor has been spearheading research on Wolf 1061, a solar system in the Milky Way galaxy approximately 14 light-years away from our own system, according to Kane.

Miranda Waters, an astronomy major who graduated in December and one of Kanes former assistants, initially introduced the Wolf 1061 system to his corpus of research.

Waters thought the system orbited by three planets was odd and brought Kanes attention to it. According to the alumna, their team jumped right in to help find out more, and was able to get additional help from outside sources, such as Tennessee State University, to aid in research.

We had great tools at our disposal, like telescopes in Tennessee and Arizona, Waters said.

Along with the help of several other SF State graduate and undergraduate students, Kane and his research assistants then submitted their newest research paper entitled, Characterization of the Wolf 1061 Planetary System, to the Cornell University Astrophysics Journal, which explored the new findings on the system that houses three different planets.

The paper, which was also written and revised by contributors Kasper von Braun, Gregory Henry, Tabetha Boyajian and Andrew Mann, examined Wolf 1061s habitable zone conditions, according to the same University press release.

Habitability is exciting because its talking about if the planet is small in size like the Earth, does it have a rocky surface, could it have an atmosphere that could support life and does it have the right temperatures? Kane explained. And thats what we call a habitable zone around a star, where it [the planet] could still have liquid water on its surface.

According to the research, planets in the Wolf 1061 system have a rocky, or terrestrial, surface and one of the three planets sits right on the edge of the habitable zone both are potentially habitable characteristics.

1061c (the planet in the middle of the system) is at the right distance, its right on the inner edge of the habitable zone, where you could have liquid water, Kane said.

However, according to Kane, many more elements of a planet need to be explored in order to determine if any form of life could exist.

There are a lot of pieces that go together to see if its [the system] habitable or not, Kane said. So the smoking gun for any planet is to be able to measure the composition of its atmosphere in order to look for biological activity that is influencing the atmosphere.

Levels of oxygen from plant photosynthesis and methane excrements from animals like cows are signs of biological activity that would affect atmosphere, according to Kane.

Once the newest NASA James Webb space telescope is launched, Kane and his team should be able to extend their research to measure the atmospheric density of the planets in the system.

The James Webb telescope has been in the works for the past 10 years and is due to launch in early 2018, which could help, Waters explained. Right now were just using our imagination to see what these worlds could look like.

According to Waters, the most rewarding thing about studying and researching exoplanets is the idea of being able to see into the recesses of our galaxy.

I honestly think it is just amazing to see whats out there in the neighborhood and wondering if we are alone, Waters said.

Maarten Golterman, former Department of Physics and Astronomy chair, said that many students in the program are taking great interest in Kanes work and that it is certainly inspirational for the students.

Exoplanets appeal to the public imagination, because there may be other planets out there like ours, Gloterman said.

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SF State astronomy professor looks for habitable planets 14 light years away - Golden Gate Xpress

Artificial intelligence in the real world: What can it actually do? – ZDNet

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AI is mainstream these days. The attention it gets and the feelings it provokes cover the whole gamut: from hands-on technical to business, from social science to pop culture, and from pragmatism to awe and bewilderment. Data and analytics are a prerequisite and an enabler for AI, and the boundaries between the two are getting increasingly blurred.

Many people and organizations from different backgrounds and with different goals are exploring these boundaries, and we've had the chance to converse with a couple of prominent figures in analytics and AI who share their insights.

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Professor Mark Bishop is a lot of things: an academic with numerous publications on AI, the director of TCIDA (Tungsten Centre for Intelligent Data Analytics), and a thinker with his own view on why there are impenetrable barriers between deep minds and real minds.

Bishop recently presented on this topic in GOTO Berlin. His talk, intriguingly titled "Deep stupidity - what deep Neural Networks can and cannot do," was featured in the Future of IT track and attracted widespread interest.

In short, Bishop argues that AI cannot become sentient, because computers don't understand semantics, lack mathematical insight and cannot experience phenomenal sensation -- based on his own "Dancing with Pixies" reductium.

Bishop however is not some far-out academic with no connection to the real world. He does, when prompted, tend to refer to epistemology and ontology at a rate that far surpasses that of the average person. But he is also among the world's leading deep learning experts, having being deeply involved in neural networks before it was cool.

"I was practically mocked when I announced this was going to be my thesis topic, and going from that to seeing it in mainstream news is quite the distance," he notes.

His expertise has earned him more than recognition and a pet topic, however. It has also gotten him involved in a number of data-centric initiatives with some of the world's leading enterprises. Bishop, about to wrap up his current engagement with Tungsten as TCIDA director, notes that going from academic research and up in the sky discussions to real-world problems is quite the distance as well.

"My team and myself were hired to work with Tungsten to add more intelligence in their SaaS offering. The idea was that our expertise would help get the most out of data collected from Tungsten's invoicing solution. We would help them with transaction analysis, fraud detection, customer churn, and all sorts of advanced applications.

But we were dumbfounded to realize there was an array of real-world problems we had to address before embarking on such endeavors, like matching addresses. We never bothered with such things before -- it's mundane, somebody must have addressed the address issue already, right? Well, no. It's actually a thorny issue that was not solved, so we had to address it."

Injecting AI in enterprise software is a promising way to move forward, but beware of the mundane before tackling the advanced

Steven Hillion, on the other hand, comes at this from a different angle. With a PhD in mathematics from Berkeley, he does not lack relevant academic background. But Hillion made the turn to industry a long time ago, driven by the desire to apply his knowledge to solve real-world problems. Having previously served as VP of analytics for Greenplum, Hillion co-founded Alpine Data, and now serves as its CPO.

Hillion believes that we're currently in the "first generation" of enterprise AI: tools that, while absolutely helpful, are pretty mundane when it comes to the potential of AI. A few organizations have already moved to the second generation, which consists of a mix of tools and platforms that can operationalize data science -- e.g. custom solutions like Morgan Stanley's 3D Insights Platform or off the shelf solutions such as Salesforce's Einstein.

In many fields, employees (or their bosses) determine the set of tasks to focus on each day. They log into an app, go through a checklist, generate a BI report, etc. In contrast, AI could use existing operational data to automatically serve up the highest priority (or most relevant, or most profitable) tasks that a specific employee needs to focus on that day, and deliver those tasks directly within the relevant application.

"Success will be found in making AI pervasive across apps and operations and in its ability to affect people's work behavior to achieve larger business objectives. And, it's a future which is closer than many people realize. This is exactly what we have been doing with a number of our clients, gradually injecting AI-powered features into the everyday workflow of users and making them more productive.

Of course, this isn't easy. And in fact, the difficult aspect of getting value out of AI is as much in solving the more mundane issues, like security or data provisioning or address matching, as it is in working with complex algorithms."

Before handing over to AI overlords, it may help to actually understand how AI works

So, do androids dream of electric sheep, and does it matter for your organization? Although no definitive answers exist at this point, it is safe to say that both Bishop and Hillion seem to think this is not exactly the first thing we should be worried about. Data and algorithmic transparency on the other hand may be.

10 types of enterprise deployments

As businesses continue to experiment with the Internet of Things, interesting use cases are emerging. Here are some of the most common ways IoT is deployed in the enterprise.

Case in point -- Google's presentation on deep learning preceding Bishop's one in GOTO. The presentation, aptly titled "Tensorflow and deep learning, without a PhD", did deliver what it promised. It was a step-by-step, hands-on tutorial on how to use Tensorflow, Google's open source toolkit for deep learning, given by Robert Kubis, senior developer advocate for the Google Cloud Platform.

Expectedly, it was a full house. Unexpectedly, that changed dramatically as the talk progressed: by the end, the room was half empty, and a lukewarm applause greeted off Kubis. Bishop's talk, by contrast, started with what seemed like a full house, and ended proving there could actually be more people packed in the room, with a roaring applause and an entourage for Bishop.

There is an array of possible explanations for this. Perhaps Bishop's delivery style was more appealing than Kubis' -- videos of AI-generated art and Bladerunner references make for a lighter talk than a recipe-style "do A then B" tutorial.

Perhaps up in the sky discussions are more appealing than hands-on guides for yet another framework -- even if that happens to be Google's open source implementation of the technology that is supposed to change everything.

Or maybe the techies that attended GOTO just don't get Tensorflow -- with or without a PhD. In all likelihood, very few people in Kubis' audience could really connect with the recipe-like instructions delivered and understand why they were supposed to take the steps described, or how the algorithm actually works.

And they are not the only ones. Romeo Kienzler, chief data scientist at IBM Watson IoT, admitted in a recent AI Meetup discussion: "we know deep learning works, and it works well, but we don't exactly understand why or how." The million dollar question is -- does it matter?

After all, one could argue, not all developers (need to) know or care about the intrinsic details of QSort or Bubble Sort to use a sort function in their APIs -- they just need to know how to call it and trust it works. Of course, they can always dig into commonly used sort algorithms, dissect them, replay and reconstruct them, thus building trust in the process.

Deep learning and machine learning on the other hand are a somewhat different beast. Their complexity and their way of digressing from conventional procedural algorithmic wisdom make them hard to approach. Coupled with vast amounts of data, this makes for opaque systems, and adding poor data quality to the mix only aggravates the issue.

It's still early days for mainstream AI, but dealing with opaqueness may prove key to its adoption.

How the cloud enables the AI revolution:

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Artificial intelligence in the real world: What can it actually do? - ZDNet