Beaches Medical Center Beaches considering $30M expansion of surgery center – Jacksonville Daily Record

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Tuesday, February 21, 10:23 AM EST

By Karen Brune Mathis, Managing Editor

According to Jarret Dreicer, assistant administrator of operations, the expansion would enlarge and upgrade operating rooms and more than double the size of pre- and post-operative areas.

Dreicer also said it would provide a new and convenient Emergency Department entrance with a modernized and comfortable waiting room.

The medical center is at 1350 13th Ave. S. in Jacksonville Beach.

If approved, construction would begin this summer. The contractor would be Brasfield & Gorrie General Contractors.

Dreicer said construction should take less than two years.

Before construction can begin, the Baptist Medical Center Beaches Board, the Baptist Health Finance Committee and the Baptist Health Board must approve the project, he said.

Dreicer said the current operating room dates back to 1988. He said modern surgery is complex, requiring more space, equipment and staff.

Each operating room would be more than 550 square feet and universal, meaning the rooms could accommodate all types of surgery, he said.

There also would be larger, private pre-operative bays with natural light that Dreicer said would provide a comfortable patient experience.

The St. Johns River Water Management District gave notice it intends to grant a permit for the project.

Those plans show the medical center proposes a 33,350-square- foot expansion along with a minor parking reconfiguration.

Dreicer said the square footage has not been determined.

The site is developed with the main hospital building, several smaller medical office buildings and a large surface parking lot, according to the Water Management District application.

Baptist Medical Center Beaches is part of Jacksonville-based Baptist Health, which is undergoing growth throughout its system.

Among its larger projects, it is expanding at its Baptist Medical Center South campus and developing a North Jacksonville complex.

Perhaps its largest project is the Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center building under construction near its main Southbank campus.

Food notes

BMR Dining Group applied for a certificate of use for Barrique of Avondale at 3563 St. Johns Ave. The Barrique Kitchen & Wine Bar is expected to open in the spring in the former Cowford Traders retail location in The Shoppes of Avondale. The 5,000-square-foot restaurant will seat 100 diners. Expected to be similar, the Barrique Kitchen & Wine Bar in Babylon, N.Y., features more than 150 wines, a full bar, small-plate rustic food, artisanal cheeses, thin crust pizza, mini desserts and more.

A shell building to include Jimmy Hulas was approved for construction at 9711 Applecross Road in the OakLeaf area. The 5,814-square-foot project will go up at a cost of almost $960,000. Plans say there will be three restaurant spaces that offer a total of 250 seats.

Chipotle Mexican Grills proposed Regency restaurant is in for zoning review for an exception to redevelop the former Pier 1 Imports property as a restaurant with the outside sale and service of food. Its at 9395 Atlantic Blvd.

Caf Freska LLC was issued a business license to operate Tazikis Mediterranean Caf at 14035 Beach Blvd., No. 108.

Retail notes

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will remodel its West Jacksonville Supercenter at 6767 103rd St., inside and out, at a cost of almost $690,000. Property records show it was built in 2006. The renovation permit includes updates on what appears to be every department and the addition of a mothers room.

Development notes

New signage was approved for Gramercy Woods, the former Bank of America office park at 9000 Southside Blvd. The city approved three ground signs, one of which includes the names of anchor tenants Bank of America and Aetna. Harbinger is the contractor.

Crocker Partners proposes to build-out a management suite at its Prominence business park in Baymeadows. The city is reviewing a permit for a more than $540,000 renovation at 8875 Liberty Ridge Drive for work on two floors. Work would include the management suite, a conference center, the main lobby, several offices, restrooms and more. The work is in Building 700. The contractor is Tenant Contractors Inc.

Its now the 6805 Building

The former Comcast operations and call center in Southpoint now is the 6805 Building.

JLL, the leasing agent, said ownership will invest hundreds of thousands of dollars into the property to update the front of the building for a more contemporary look.

While a spokeswoman said ownership preferred not to provide a more precise investment until renovations are complete, public records show at least $1.7 million in property and exterior work has been undertaken or planned.

The spokeswoman described the planned improvements as a transformation of the exterior from a complex with a largely industrial park feel to a sleek, modern office building.

Work includes roofing, new HVAC, skylights, parking lot upgrades and a significant exterior renovation.

The work positions the structure for back-office operations and other uses.

The JLL real estate services firm announced Thursday the building offers competitive parking of 6.3 spaces per 1,000 square feet of leased space, above the market average and important for back-office users that employ a large workforce.

JLL Vice President Jesse Shimp, the exclusive leasing agent, said the buildings large open floorplate makes it a prime location for such operations or a rapidly expanding tenant. He said improvements are set to begin in March and estimated for completion by July.

IP Capital Partners bought the building, at 6805 Southpoint Parkway, in April 2015. It is 118,780 square feet in size.

The property, in the Southpoint Office Park at Butler Boulevard and Interstate 95, was built in 1989. Its most recent tenant, Comcast Corp., moved to the Deerwood North office park.

kmathis@jaxdailyrecord.com

@MathisKb

(904) 356-2466

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Beaches Medical Center Beaches considering $30M expansion of surgery center - Jacksonville Daily Record

Astronomy park dedicated to John Glenn planned for Hocking Hills – ABC6OnYourSide.com

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(Courtesy: Foundation for Apalachian Ohio)

An observatory and astronomy park dedicated to John Glenn is planned to be built at Hocking Hills.

The Friends of Hocking Hills State Park and the Columbus Astronomical Society started planning the John Glenn Astronomy Park back in 2016.

With the passing of John Glenn, the park has seen an increase in funding. As of this writing, the park has received 60 percent of their $1.6 million funding goal.

Per the Columbus based M+A Architects blog post by project coordinator Lucia Hoehne, the site of the park is elevated enough for the telescope to be above the fog that collects on the ground.

The park will serve as an educational, recreational and research-oriented astronomy center featuring sundials, openings to mark solstices and equinoxes by sunlight, seating for lectures, and fields for telescopes and stargazing.

The observatory will house a large telescope for planetary nebulas, globular clusters, and galaxies. A second telescope will be used for astrophotography. Also, a small solar telescope will able to be taken to the plaza for public demonstrations.

The Friends of Hocking Hills State Park says that construction will start in the spring of 2017 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2017.

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Astronomy park dedicated to John Glenn planned for Hocking Hills - ABC6OnYourSide.com

Astronomers Reconstruct History of Solar Neighborhood with Evolutionary Tree – Sci-News.com

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A University of Cambridge-led team of astronomers, using chemical elements as a proxy for stellar DNA, has assembled an evolutionary family tree of stars in the solar neighborhood.

Phylogenetic tree of 22 solar twins in the solar neighborhood, created using 17 elemental abundances. Stellar populations are assigned considering the age and the dynamical properties of the stars and are indicated at the right. Branch lengths have units in dex, with the scale indicated at the left bottom. The background image shows the Carina Nebula, a region of massive star formation in the southern skies. Image credit: Jofre et al, doi: 10.1093/mnras/stx075 / ESO / T. Preibisch.

In evolution, organisms are linked together by a pattern of descent with modification as they evolve.

Stars are very different from living organisms, but they still have a history of shared descent as they are formed from gas clouds, and carry that history in their chemical structure.

By applying the same phylogenetic methods that biologists use to trace descent in plants and animals it is possible to explore the evolution of stars.

Writing in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (arXiv.org preprint), University of Cambridge astronomer Paula Jofre and co-authors describe how they set about creating a phylogenetic tree of life that connects a number of solar neighborhood stars.

In 1859, Charles Darwin published his revolutionary view of life, claiming that all organic beings that have ever lived have descended from one primordial form, the astronomers explained.

One important outcome of Darwins view of descent with modification was the recognition that there is a tree of life or phylogeny that connects all forms of life.

The key assumption in applying a phylogenetic approach is that there is continuity from one generation to the next, with change occurring from ancestral to descendant forms. This assumption is also applicable to stars in galaxies, even if the mechanisms of descent are very different.

The use of algorithms to identify families of stars is a science that is constantly under development, Dr. Jofre added.

Phylogenetic trees add an extra dimension to our endeavors which is why this approach is so special. The branches of the tree serve to inform us about the stars shared history.

Dr. Jofre and her colleagues from the universities of Cambridge and Oxford picked 22 stars, including the Sun, to study.

The oldest star in the sample, HD 220507, is estimated to be 9.8 billion years old, which is twice as old as the Sun. The youngest, HD 96116, is 700 million years old.

The chemical elements were measured from data coming from ground-based high-resolution spectra taken with large telescopes located in the north of Chile.

Once the families were identified using the chemical DNA, their evolution was studied with the help of their ages and kinematical properties obtained from ESAs Hipparcos mission.

Three main stellar populations, i.e. groups of stars sharing a common ancestor, were identified, the astronomers said.

The first one, includes the following stars: the Sun, HD 2071, HD 45184, HD 146233, HD 8406, HD 92719, HD 27063, HD 96116 and HD 134664.

A second stellar population includes the stars: HD 210918, HD 45289 and HD 220507.

A third stellar population appears to be equally independent from the other two populations, and includes the stars HD 78429, HD 208704, HD 20782 and HD 38277.

Finally, six stars HD 28471, HD 96423, HD 71334, HD 222582, HD 88084 and HD 183658 can not be assigned to any population with enough statistical confidence.

We wanted to show that it is possible to apply phylogenetic analyses and tree thinking in the field of Galactic archaeology, the scientists said.

In biology it is commonly said that to study evolution, one essentially analyses trees. Galactic archaeology should be no different, especially now, during its golden ages.

The difference between stars and animals is immense, but they share the property of changing over time, and so both can be analyzed by building trees of their history, added University of Cambridge Professor Robert Foley, co-author of the study.

_____

Paula Jofr et al. 2017. Cosmic phylogeny: reconstructing the chemical history of the solar neighbourhood with an evolutionary tree. Mon Not R Astron Soc 467 (1): 1140-1153; doi: 10.1093/mnras/stx075

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Astronomers Reconstruct History of Solar Neighborhood with Evolutionary Tree - Sci-News.com

The brightest, most distant pulsar has a complex and powerful … – Astronomy Magazine

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The supermassive black holes found at the centers of galaxies are known for their extreme X-ray emission. This emission is associated with the massive hot disks of gas and debris that circle these monstrous black holes before it is consumed.

However, X-ray observations of distant galaxies have also uncovered additional luminous X-ray sources that arent associated with the galactic centers (where supermassive black holes are found). These are ULXs, or ultraluminous X-ray sources. ULXs have been traditionally explained as large stellar-sized (80-100 solar masses) or possibly intermediate mass (1,000-100,000 solar masses) black holes accreting material at high rates. Now, one famous ULX has been identified not as a black hole, but as a neutron star with a mass less than 1.5 that of our Sun, exhibiting a complex and powerful magnetic field.

Gian Luca Israel, a researcher at the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, and his colleagues used observations from the X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM-Newton) and Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) space telescopes to delve deeper into the inner workings of ULX-1 in NGC 5907, a ULX located 40 million light-years away in the edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 5907, often called the Knife Edge or Splinter Galaxy.

Within these observations, Israel and his team identified periodic variations in the X-rays coming from this object, which theyve now identified as a pulsar (a spinning neutron star). Furthermore, this pulsar is accreting material at such high rates that its spinning up, dramatically increasing the speed at which it rotates around its axis. They measured the pulsars period as 1.43 seconds in 2003, while observations made in 2014 clocked the pulsar at a faster rotation rate of 1.13 seconds. In a video accompanying the announcement, Israel compared this speed-up to the Earths day growing shorter by 5 hours in just 11 years.

The pulsar is both the farthest and brightest X-ray pulsar detected to date. Its intense radiation can only be explained by the presence of an extremely strong multipolar magnetic field, such as the type of magnetic field found in magnetars. A magnetar is a type of neutron star with a magnetic field measuring a quadrillion times that of Earths magnetic field (which, by the way, is dipolar, not multipolar). The magnetic field of the average (non-magnetar) neutron star is about a trillion times as strong as Earths.

Why is this determination so incredible? The luminosity of a black hole (or any stellar-type object) is limited by physics. Because photons can actually exert pressure on their surroundings, photons above a certain energy would overpower the force of gravity exerted by the mass of the star or black hole, disrupting an accretion disk and essentially turning off the source of its X-rays. This energy limit is called the Eddington limit, and its dependent on the mass of an object, and larger objects have larger Eddington limits. ULXs are objects that arent supermassive black holes, but are seen exceeding this Eddington limit for neutron stars and even normal stellar-sized black holes. The fact that theyre radiating above this limit, then, is a conundrum.

However, there is a catch to this argument. The Eddington limit assumes that an object is radiating isotropically in all directions. But pulsars are neutron stars that emit from only a very small area, beaming their intense radiation out into space in coherent beams like a lighthouse. These observations of periodicity in the X-ray emission and the determination that ULX-1 is a neutron star with a multipole magnetic field help to explain why this objects radiation exceeds the accepted Eddington limit of a neutron star by 1,000 times. Such a beaming effect would lower the true intrinsic luminosity of the source, and thus its mass, making the explanation of at least some ULXs as neutron stars within the realm of possibility.

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The brightest, most distant pulsar has a complex and powerful ... - Astronomy Magazine

In Memory Of John Glenn, An Astronomy Park Takes Shape – WOSU

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An astronomy park dedicated to the late U.S. Senator and astronaut was in the making almost two years before his passing last December. Now, the site will serve as a tribute by inspiring future generations of night sky gazers and explorers.

An organizer of the project, Omie Warner, says their efforts have received added support since Glenn's passing. Private donors have raised about 60 percent of their $1.6 million goal, allowing them to begin construction early this spring. Warner says the park will be completed by October or November.

Set in the wilderness of the Hocking Hills, the public park will include space for stargazing and eventually a telescope for Ohio State University researchers.

OSU astrophysicist Paul Sutter says Hocking Hills State Park is relatively free of light pollution and is in one of the darkest parts of Ohio.

If you want to see the night sky as it really is, says Sutter, this is your best bet.

"And so to have a park there, an observatory there, it makes perfect sense," Sutter says.

Sutter says he hopes to have the site designated as a dark sky preserve. In the same way a wild life refuge protects animals, this designation ensures surrounding developments don't drown out the night sky with light pollution.

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In Memory Of John Glenn, An Astronomy Park Takes Shape - WOSU

NASA’s Juno spacecraft to remain in current orbit around Jupiter – Astronomy Now Online

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Artists concept of the Juno spacecraft at Jupiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Concerns about the health of the Juno spacecrafts main engine have compelled NASA managers to keep the research probe in its current arcing, high-altitude orbit around Jupiter, a decision that will delay the full science return from the $1.1 billion mission but should still allow it to meet all predetermined objectives.

Juno fired its main engine to brake into orbit around Jupiter on July 4, 2016, maneuvering into an egg-shaped 53-day orbit that takes the spacecraft several million miles from the giant planet on each circuit.

At the low end of the orbit, the spacecraft passes within 3,000 miles (5,000 kilometres) from Jupiters cloud tops, permitting Junos instruments to peer deep into the atmosphere, measure the planets extreme magnetic field and radiation belts, observe its auroras, and take the first detailed images of its poles.

But engineers called off another engine burn planned for Oct. 19 to put Juno in a tighter 14-day orbit, the science perch envisioned by mission managers since the projects inception.Most of Junos scientific observations occur when the probe is closer to the planet, and the 14-day orbit was designed to give researchers rapid-fire data returns during close approaches every two weeks.

Ground controllers noticed two helium check valves inside the spacecrafts main propulsion system did not behave as expected during pressurization of Junos propellant tanks about a week before the planned Oct. 19 engine firing. The valves opened in several seconds before previous engine burns, but took several minutes to open in October.

Rick Nybakken, Junos project manager at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, told Spaceflight Now that engineers recommended canceling the maneuver and keeping the craft in its current 53-day orbit after a multi-month investigation.

The project recommended not doing the burn, Nybakken said in a Feb. 17 interview. Were in a great science orbit, the spacecraft is healthy, the instruments are healthy. Were getting incredible science, and its teaching us more about Jupiter, and there are a lot of very interesting surprises about Jupiter, so we recommended not to take any additional risk that might jeopardize that not to do this burn and ultimately NASA Headquarters agreed with that recommendation.

According to Nybakken, experts considered an option in which Junos Leros 1b main engine, designed and built by Moog-ISP in the United Kingdom, could have fired in a backup blow-down mode using residual tank pressure, bypassing the suspect check valves. In a normal burn, the check valves would actuate to regulate pressure in the propellant system feeding the thruster.

Officials decided the risk of doing a blow-down burn was too great, Nybakken said. Any problem during such an engine firing could have stranded Juno midway between the 53-day and 14-day orbits in a less optimal perch for science observations.

In the 53-day orbit, Juno will avoid flying through Jupiters shadow, keeping the crafts power-generating solar panels in sunlight. If Juno ended up in an unplanned lower orbit because of a sub-optimal engine burn, the probe would have flown through a series of eclipses in 2019, starving it of sunlight and likely ending the mission.

The choice not to execute the orbit-lowering burn preserves the option to use Junos smaller maneuvering thrusters to steer clear of Jupiters shadow and keep the mission going beyond 2019.

It wasnt so much that the risk was unacceptable, its just that if anything off-nominal were to happen, you bring in these mission-ending eclipses in 2019, Nybakken said. In our current orbit, the size of the orbit is large enough, and the time of the orbit helps give us the operational latitude to avoid those eclipses.

Nybakken said the inquiry into Junos propulsion woes did not determine a root cause for the sticky valves. Officials quickly decided against using the valves for a regulated burn, and instead studied the backup blow-down option before eventually concluding Junos orbit should not be lowered at all.

At a high level, one of the leading theories is that we can have a very low level of interaction at the vapor level between fuel and oxidizer, and it can create products that can interfere with proper valve operation, Nybakken said. Beyond that, it is kind of to be determined. We didnt require root cause to realize the valves are not working as intended.

Engineers ruled out any link between Junos propulsion problem and engine failures on two geostationary communications satellites last year, Nybakken said.

The commercial Intelsat 33e and the U.S. Navys MUOS 5 communications satellites were to use on-board engines to raise their orbits to geostationary altitude 22,300 miles (35,800 kilometres) above Earths equator after launching in June and August 2016. Both satellites had to use backup thrusters to finish the job.

Nybakken said those engine failures were unrelated to the issue aboard Juno, and engineers with JPL and Lockheed Martin Junos prime contractor cleared the Leros 1b engine on the Jupiter orbiter in October, before encountering the sticky check valves.

There were a couple of failures last fall that we looked into, and we were able to determine that those failures did not represent any sort of increased risk to Juno, Nybakken said. And after we completed that investigation, we were, in fact, planning to go ahead with this maneuver.

One benefit of Junos predicament is the higher 53-day orbit will keep the spacecraft away from the worst of Jupiters intense radiation belts, which harbour hazards that mission designers believed would limit the missions duration to some time in 2018.

It turns out in the 53-day orbits, we cross the equator, where the radiation belts are, much farther out, so we have much less radiation dose, Nybakken said. Of course, with the orbits being larger, the dose as a function of time is much slower as well.

Junos next close pass by Jupiter is set for March 27, completing its fifth orbit of the planet since last years arrival.

Juno is healthy, its science instruments are fully operational, and the data and images weve received are nothing short of amazing, said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASAs science mission directorate in Washington, in a statement. The decision to forego the burn is the right thing to do preserving a valuable asset so that Juno can continue its exciting journey of discovery.

The Juno mission is funded through July 2018, for a total of 12 science orbits, down from the 32 science orbits originally planned, NASA said in a statement.

Junos science team can then propose to continue the mission for another two years as part of NASAs senior review process, in which a panel of independent researchers recommend to the agency which of its planetary science missions should continue to receive federal funding.

Juno is providing spectacular results, and we are rewriting our ideas of how giant planets work, said Scott Bolton, the missions principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. The science will be just as spectacular as with our original plan.

Were very excited about what weve seen so far, and every time we fly by the planet its like Christmas time, Nybakken said. The data is stunning.

Email the author.

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.

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NASA's Juno spacecraft to remain in current orbit around Jupiter - Astronomy Now Online

KaBLAM! A small asteroid carved out one of the youngest craters on Mars – Blastr

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What a difference an atmosphere makes!

On Earth, our air is pretty thick. Thats convenient, because space is loaded with shrapnel: small asteroids a meter across or even smaller. I know a rock that small doesnt sound like a big deal, but remember: Its orbiting the Sun at dozens of kilometers per second much, much faster than even a high-velocity rifle bullet. Were moving around the Sun at 30 km/sec, too, so impact velocities can be extremely high. At those speeds, a marshmallow would have the same impact as a ten-ton vehicle driving down a highway and slamming into you.

Yeah. Ouch.

But we have that thick, luxurious atmosphere. As a small asteroid barrels through the air, it sheds a lot of its energy while its still high above the Earth. For cosmic interlopers smaller than a few meters across, thats sufficient to stop them dead, long before they hit the ground. We get a fantastic (if very brief) light show an extremely bright meteor, also called a bolide or fireball and maybe a small shower of debris. Meteorites.

But Mars is different. At its surface the air is less than 1% as thick as ours. That means even small asteroids can manage to make their way down to the surface of the planet, still carrying a lot of their speed.

So what happens then? Well, this:

Thats a fresh impact on Mars. And by fresh, I do indeed mean fresh: Images taken by the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter showed this region as a flat plain in May 2012. That image was taken in September 2016, so at some point in the intervening 4.5 years, a small asteroid slammed into the surface there.

The crater, itself, is about 8 meters (25 feet) across, about the width of a tennis court. The ejecta the material blasted out form gorgeous rays that extend for over a kilometer. The rock that hit here was probably only a meter across;maybe less.

Hmmm. I wrote rock,but theres no indication of its composition. It may have been metal; many asteroids are metallic, made up of iron, nickel, and other, much tougher, materials. Some impacts on Earth, like the famous Meteor Crater in Arizona, were carved out by a metal asteroid.

Note that the image at the top of this article is enhanced color; its not really that blue. The surface of Mars is generally reddish due to rusty dust (literally:very fine powder thats rich in iron oxide). An impact blows that away, and in images with enhanced color, it greatly exaggerates the blue tint. If another image doesnt use a blue filter (like the one at the top of this article), those same areas can appear dark.

For example, Im fascinated by the smaller patches nearby (theyre bright in the enhanced color image and dark in the grayscale one). Those may be secondary craters, where small chunks of Mars blasted upward then fell back down, creating smaller impact craters. However, its also possible the asteroid broke up a bit before impact due to the huge pressures it was undergoing as it rammed through Marss air. Those would then be direct impacts, just from smaller asteroidal debris.

Quite a few small, new impact craters have been spotted in HiRISE data. Thats a huge advantage to having a spacecraft orbiting another planet for over a decade! Small rocks rain down on the Red Planet all the time, and its only by comparing older images to newer ones that we can find them.

These impacts tell us so much: whats under the surface of Mars, how often it gets hit, what the population of asteroids is like near the planet. That wasnt at all the main purpose of HiRISE when it was sent to Mars, but thats a natural outcome of scientific experimentation: Results you didnt expect. Surprises are where the fun is.

Tip o the Preservers asteroid deflection obelisk to Wil Wheaton who pointed me to a discussion of this new crater on reddit.

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KaBLAM! A small asteroid carved out one of the youngest craters on Mars - Blastr

Astronomy blasts into the future with gravitational wave detector Virgo – Blastr

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Gravitational waves were still a theory floating in space until last year, when LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) discovered two black holes had gone into a death spiral and collided 1.3 billion light-years away, sending tremors through space. It seemed like the be-all and end-all of astrophysics until scientists realized it had just opened the portal to a new frontier.

While the Virgo interferometer has been around since 2007, the newly upgraded experiment will soon be joining forces with LIGO to take the detection of gravitational waves and the mind-blowing cosmic events that cause them (think neutron stars smashing into black holes) to an unprecedented level. Virgo technology and the power of some of the most advanced telescopes in existence will give the two LIGO detectors a boost when it comes to picking up on these space shivers and the far-out phenomena they issue from.

Gravitational waves are ironically small for such a momentous discovery. These ripples in space-time, which have been sci-fi fodder ever since Einstein predicted them in his Theory of General Relativity over a hundred years ago, originate in the enormous energy bursts released by black hole collisions. By the time they reach Earth, they end up even tinier than quarks. That's about one ten-thousandth the size of an atomic nucleus. Though smaller than subatomic particles, gravitational waves are still able to bend and stretch the fabric of space-time even if the effect is infinitesimal.

Detecting a tremor is notoriously tricky. LIGO's dual super-powered lasers let scientists know when a gravitational wave passes through our planet and alters space-time ('slightly' is an understatement) by a tell-tale wobble that results from its lasers moving in and out of phase with each other. Scientists are able to measure the size of the black holes involved in the collision, as well as how far away it happened, from the wobble's shape. This all sounds pretty straightforward until you realize that anything can affect these highly sensitive lasers. Everything on Earth that vibrates can trigger a false positive.

Enter Virgo. Multiple detectors are needed because just one could be set off by any random vibration. Adding Virgo to the LIGO experiment will trace gravitational waves to a much smaller piece of sky than before, determining where in the universe a massive crash occurred with greater accuracy. It will also buy more time to detect them when maintenance means another machine has to be temporarily shut down. Even something as monumental as a supernova would be difficult to confirm with just one active detector. Joining LIGO with Virgo and more upcoming detectors may not make time travel possible, but it could allow scientists to see things they may have never imagined.

"It's incredible that we might be able to see a merger of two neutron stars," said Julie McEnery, project scientist for NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope of just one phenomenon scientists could possibly witness in the future. "The range of physics we're going to be able to probe by having all of this information is extraordinary."

(via Gizmodo)

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Astronomy blasts into the future with gravitational wave detector Virgo - Blastr

Astronomy meets art in Venice: 10 artists inspired by Hubble Space Telescope images – ItalyEurope24 (subscription)

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What could two of the most fascinating sciences, astronomy and art, have in common? At first sight they seem different: on one hand there are logic and mathematics, on the other hand creativity and irrationality. Two worlds which seem distant, of course, while at the same time the duty of artists is to reflect their era, and this is the era of the space exploration. So its time to review this way of thinking.

Through April 17 Venice will host Our Place in Space, a new exhibition organized by NASA and ESA (the European Space Agency). The show recounts the mysteries of the Universe. How? Its a journey in the Cosmos through the images of Hubble telescope accompanied from works created ad hoc by ten contemporary Italian artists.

Since the start of civilization people have tried to understand the Universe and their place in it both as a species and as individuals. This quest has led to several shifts in our perception of our place in space, shifts often generated by new astronomical discoveries.

Astronomers have placed the Earth at the centre of the Universe, and then proven that it is not. They have theorized that the Milky Way is all there is, and then discovered that we live in just one galaxy among billions. And they have demonstrated the ever changing nature of our environment, a Universe as inconstant as our attempts to define it.

As our ability to observe the Universe improves and we gain another perception on our environment, both near and far, we edge closer to our very human desire to understand our place in space.

In 2015 the international scientific community celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the launch of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, one of the most ambitious space astronomy missions ever flown.

The data, science and images from Hubble have helped scientists to see further and have shifted their perspective. They have inspired astronomers, artists and public alike to ask, and endeavour to answer, the deep existential questions that humans all share: Where do we come from? Where are we going? Are we alone?

The exposition reminds us not only has Hubble transformed our knowledge of the Universe but for more than two decades it has greatly impacted culture, society and art.

Hubble has broadened the reach of astronomical research, a science that for years was reserved for a privileged few, and made it a resource available to all. It has brought the Universe into homes and it continues to inspire generations of artists.

(Our Place in Space, Palazzo Cavalli Franchetti, Venice, through April 17)

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Astronomy meets art in Venice: 10 artists inspired by Hubble Space Telescope images - ItalyEurope24 (subscription)

Q&A with astrophysics professor Gerald Cecil about SpaceX’s rocket launch – The Daily Tar Heel

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Luke Bollinger | Published 02/20/17 9:13pm

UNC astrophysics professor Gerald Cecil

SpaceX launched and landed a Falcon rocket Sunday from a historic NASA launch pad at Kennedy Space Centerin Florida. This mission was a step forward for Elon Musk's company they plan to send a rotation ofpeople to the International Space Station and eventually to Mars. Daily Tar Heel Staff Writer Luke Bollinger spoke with Gerald Cecil, a UNC astrophysics professor, to discuss the privatization of the space industry and the future of space exploration.

The Daily Tar Heel:With this new element of a competitive space industry within the U.S., do you think this is good for research and further development?

Gerald Cecil: Yeah, it is good. What it does is lower the entry point for payloads into space. If you can get the costs of flying one of these things down to a few million bucks, then any university level (principal investigator) whos interested and wants to do something in zero G can fly on a Falcon up to a Bigelow-inflated space station and sit up there for years. At the moment, the entry point is more involved because you go through NASA. There are multiple runs before you fly your payload on the space station. With a privately available space station and private launching, cost price should be much lower.

DTH: What is NASAs role right now? Obviously they are still involved, but in what capacity?

GC: They run the space station. They run all of the science operations on the space station. Theyre responsible for contracting the rocket boosters. They dont provide their own booster; they contract them from SpaceX and Orbital ATK and a couple of other companies. Eventually, the idea would be that NASA would give up all of the low earth orbit stuff, including the space station, and focus on more distant destinations. I think we have to get to the point where Bigelow demonstrates that they can inflate one of their big space station modules and stick a couple together. All they have to do is stick two together and they get almost the same volume as the International Space Station.

DTH: How does a companys motivation to make a profit and make money for its shareholders affect the type of research or product design that they do?

GC: The most successful space products that have come out so far have been in pharmaceuticals. There was a flurry of all that in the '80s and '90s, when the shuttle started flying. I dont really think theres been any substantial advances since the space station got operational. Most of the programs you hear about are the NASA programs testing limited technologies potentially available for long-duration space flight to Mars and so on.

DTH: One of the big conversations you hear when discussing privatizing space exploration is space tourism. Could this possibly be a big funding factor? How would space tourism factor in the process of research and development?

GC: Bigelows modules are designed to be outfitted in some sort of configurations such as luxury, zero-G accommodation. If SpaceX demonstrates that all people have to do is endure a few gravities for eight minutes and half an hour down, then money is really the only issue. If you can crash the cost of access to space to 20 or 30,000 bucks, youre looking at people who would normally take a cruise somewhere in a luxury yacht or whatever now considering going up to space.What they do up there is another matter. After youve had your sky-high club experience, you can look out the window. Theres got to be some level of interaction up there that cant be done on the ground. Pretty much, its just the view at this point. If Bigelow is able to inflate something big enough, then you can imagine people floating around in giant volumes, in football stadium volumes. That could be kind of amusing, flying around and everything. But, theres not much discussion of that at the moment.

DTH: Juxtaposing the leadership of space exploration such as someone like Elon Musk and a government organization what are some of the differences that youve seen?

GC: Musk has a strategy because he has an end goal, which is to get to Mars, to die on Mars. Hopefully, later rather than sooner. The U.S. has no strategy in space beyond the one its executing now, which is a jobs program in a few congressional districts. The booster theyre building now is going to be so expensive. It will fly a few times at most before it will have to be mothballed because it will be vastly overpriced compared to the alternatives. Musks focus is to get the price as low as possible because he knows how many missions he will have to launch into Earth orbit to prepare to go to Mars.

@BollingerLuke

state@dailytarheel.com

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China May Soon Surpass America on the Artificial Intelligence Battlefield – The National Interest Online

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The rapidity of recent Chinese advances in artificial intelligence indicates that the country is capable of keeping pace with, or perhaps even overtaking, the United States in this critical emerging technology. The successes of major Chinese technology companies, notably Baidu Inc., Alibaba Group and Tencent Holding Ltd.and even a number of start-upshave demonstrated the dynamism of these private-sector efforts in artificial intelligence. From speech recognition to self-driving cars, Chinese research is cutting edge. Although the military dimension of Chinas progress in artificial intelligence has remained relatively opaque, there is also relevant research occurring in the Peoples Liberation Army research institutes and the Chinese defense industry. Evidently, the PLA recognizes the disruptive potential of the varied military applications of artificial intelligence, from unmanned weapons systems to command and control. Looking forward, the PLA anticipates that the advent of artificial intelligence will fundamentally change the character of warfare, ultimately resulting in a transformation from todays informationized () ways of warfare to future intelligentized () warfare.

The Chinese leadership has prioritized artificial intelligence at the highest levels, recognizing its expansive applications and strategic implications. The initial foundation for Chinas progress in artificial intelligence was established through long-term research funded by national science and technology plans, such as the 863 Program. Notably, Chinas 13th Five-Year Plan (201620) called for breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, which was also highlighted in the 13th Five-Year National Science and Technology Innovation Plan. The new initiatives focus on artificial intelligence and have been characterized as the China Brain Plan (), which seeks to enhance understandings of human and artificial intelligence alike. In addition, the Internet Plus and Artificial Intelligence, a three-year implementation plan for artificial intelligence (201618), emphasizes the development of artificial intelligence and its expansive applications, including in unmanned systems, in cyber security and for social governance. Beyond these current initiatives, the Chinese Academy of Engineering has proposed an Artificial Intelligence 2.0 Plan, and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Peoples Republic of China has reportedly tasked a team of experts to draft a plan for the development of artificial intelligence through 2030. The apparent intensity of this support and funding will likely enable continued, rapid advances in artificial intelligence with dual-use applications.

Chinas significant progress in artificial intelligence must be contextualized by the national strategy of civil-military integration or military-civil fusion () that has become a high-level priority under President Xi Jinpings leadership. Consequently, it is not unlikely that nominally civilian technological capabilities will eventually be utilized in a military context. For instance, An Weiping (), deputy chief of staff of the PLAs Northern Theater Command, has highlighted the importance of deepening civil-military integration, especially for such strategic frontier technologies as artificial intelligence. Given this strategic approach, the boundaries between civilian and military research and development tend to blur. In a notable case, Li Deyi () acts as the director of the Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence, and he is affiliated with Tsinghua University and the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Concurrently, Li Deyi is a major general in the PLA who serves as deputy director of the Sixty-First Research Institute, under the aegis of the Central Military Commission (CMC) Equipment Development Department.

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China May Soon Surpass America on the Artificial Intelligence Battlefield - The National Interest Online

Artificial Intelligence Explained – Computer Business Review

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In five questions or less, an industry expert defines and explains a technology, term or trend with this installment seeing Heather Richards, CEO of Transversal, tackle Artificial Intelligence.

HR: AI is a broad term describing machines that operate with some degree of intelligence. It can refer to a machine that mimics human thought processes or to a machine that achieves a level of creative autonomy, for example by being able to learn things beyond its original programming. AI encompasses many methods and applications, including natural language processing, problem solving, playing games and even recognizing emotions. In our business, self-service knowledge management, it helps make user interactions more intuitive.

HR:Most AI applications are designed for specific tasks. At a basic level, the designer maps out how an intelligent entity might solve a problem, and breaks down that process into steps that can be expressed as computer calculations. AI often uses nonlinear processing techniques, such as neural networks, to approximate more closely how a living mind works. It requires significant processing power and sometimes large volumes of background data to enable the computer to form judgements. Thats why AI has leapt forward during the past decade alongside the upsurge in data storage capacity.

HR:Deep learning and cognitive computing are both divisions of AI. Deep learning is a technique that enables a machine to learn more like a person does, by using a neural network of multiple layers through which calculations pass in succession with a cumulatively sophisticated result. Cognitive computing describes AI that mimics human thought processes in order to facilitate interactions between a person and a computer. For example, a cognitive application might understand input in natural language, or deduce what a user wants by interpreting disparate clues.

HR:Luckily, robots are still some way from overthrowing humanity! The effects of more benign automation are going to vary between sectors. In our business, we want AI to help employees rather than replace them. If routine, repetitive requests are handled by automated knowledge management, users can solve problems faster and employees can give more time to issues that need personal attention. AI can thus reduce effort and make work more interesting, but the human factor is still very much required.

HR:Many AI functions are small things, invisibly embedded in larger applications, that people might not even notice much less find a threat. Regarding the news-worthy manifestations of AI, like robots and self-learning machines, there is of course concern about how such machines might behave were they to become more powerful than their builders. Industry thought leaders are already developing guidelines about the ethics of AI and how AI should be steered for the benefit of humanity. From our perspective, though, AI is simply a helper. It doesnt supplant anyone; it makes for a more effortless experience.

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Emanate Wireless unveils artificial intelligence-powered … – Healthcare IT News

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Emanate Wireless, a vendor of systems that continuously monitor key clinical assets at healthcare facilities, introduced at HIMSS17 two new temperature sensors for its PowerPath Temp Solution. Emanate expects commercial shipment of both new temperature sensors to begin in the second quarter.

These two sensors add value to our current offering by supporting additional types of devices, and by making installation faster, which leads to cost savings for our customers, said Neil Diener, co-founder and CEO of Emanate Wireless.

The first new temperature sensor is an expanded range device capable of measuring down to -200 Celsius. This ultra-low temperature sensor enables the PowerPath Temp Solution to be used to monitor Cryogenic freezers and other deep freezers used in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. The expanded range sensor works with all PowerPath Temp Monitors.

The second new temperature sensor is a wireless Bluetooth Low Energy device. The wireless sensor makes it simple to deploy the PowerPath Temp Solution: Just plug in the monitor in-line with the AC power cord of the refrigerator to monitor AC current and the operation of the refrigeration unit, then place the wireless sensor inside the refrigerator to monitor temperature, the vendor said. This gets rid of the need for temperature cabling the wireless sensor communicates with the monitor device using Bluetooth Low Energy.

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Go Big With These Two Artificial Intelligence Stocks – Forbes

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Go Big With These Two Artificial Intelligence Stocks
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AI plays a critical role in the future of automobiles. The best way to invest in the AI revolution today is through big companies with scale and a proven capacity to bring lab work to life. Nvdia (NVDA) invested $2 billion in a deep-learning AI chip ...

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Go Big With These Two Artificial Intelligence Stocks - Forbes

If AI Can Fix Peer Review in Science, AI Can Do Anything – WIRED

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Heres how science works: You have a question about some infinitesimal sliver of the universe. You form a hypothesis, test it, and eventually gather enough data to support or disprove what you thought was going on. Thats the fun part. The next bit is less glamorous: You write a manuscript, submit it to an academic journal, and endure the gauntlet of peer review, where a small group of anonymous experts in your field scrutinize the quality of your work.

Peer review has its flaws. Human beings (even scientists) are biased, lazy, and self-interested. Sometimes they suck at math (even scientists). So, perhaps inevitably, some people want to remove humans from the processand replace them with artificial intelligence. Computers are, after all, unbiased, sedulous, and lack a sense of identity. They are also, by definition, good at math. And scientists arent just waiting around for some binary brain to manifest a set of protocols for identifying experimental excellence. Journal publishers are already building this stuff, piecemeal.

Recently, a competition called ScienceIE challenged teams to create programs that could extract the basic facts out of sentences in scientific papers, and compare those to the basic facts from sentences in other papers. The broad goal of my project is to help scientists and practitioners gain more knowledge about a research area more quickly, says Isabelle Augenstein, a post-doctoral AI researcher at University College of London, who devised the challenge.

Thats a tiny part of artificial intelligences biggest challenge: processing natural human language. Competitors designed programs to tackle three subtasks: reading each paper and identifying its key concepts, organizing key words by type, and identifying relationships between different key phrases. And its not just an academic exercise: Augenstein is on a two-year contract with Elsevier, one of the worlds largest publishers of scientific research, to develop computational tools for their massive library of manuscripts.

She has her work cut out for her. Elsevier publishes over 7,500 different journals. Each has an editor, who has to find the right reviewer for each manuscript. (In 2015, 700,000 peer reviewers reviewed over 1.8 million manuscripts across Elseviers journals; 400,000 were eventually published.) The number of humans capable of reviewing a proposal is generally limited to the specialists in that field, says Mike Warren, AI veteran and CTO/co-founder of Descartes Labs, a digital mapping company that uses AI to parse satellite images. So, youve got this small set of people with PhDs, and you keep dividing them into disciplines and sub-disciplines, and when youre done there might only be 100 people on the planet qualified to review a certain manuscript. Augensteins work is part of Elseviers work to automatically suggest the right reviewers for each manuscript.

Elsevier has developed a suite of automated tools, called Evise, to aid in peer review. The program checks for plagiarism (although thats not really AI, just a search and match function), clears potential reviewers for things like conflicts of interest, and handles workflow between authors, editors, and reviewers. Several other major publishers have automated software to aid peer reviewSpringer-Nature, for instance, is currently trialing an independently-developed software package called StatReviewer that ensures that each submitted paper has complete and accurate statistical data.

But none seem as open about their capabilities or aspirations as Elsevier. We are investigating more ambitious tasks, says Augenstein. Say you have a question about a paper: A machine learning model reads the paper and answers your question.

Not everyone is charmed by the prospect of Dr. Roboto, PhD. Last month, Janne Hukkinen, professor of environmental policy at University of Helsinki, Finland, and editor of the Elsevier journal Ecological Economics wrote a cautionary op-ed for WIRED, premised on a future where AI peer review became fully autonomous:

I dont see why learning algorithms couldnt manage the entire review from submission to decision by drawing on publishers databases of reviewer profiles, analyzing past streams of comments by reviewers and editors, and recognizing the patterns of change in a manuscript from submission to final editorial decision. Whats more, disconnecting humans from peer review would ease the tension between the academics who want open access and the commercial publishers who are resisting it.

By Hukkinens logic, an AI that could do peer review could also write manuscripts. Eventually, people become a legacy system within the scientific methodredundant, inefficient, obsolete. His final argument: New knowledge which humans no longer experience as something they themselves have produced would shake the foundations of human culture.

But Hukkinens dark vision of machines capable of outthinking human scientists is, at the very least, decades away. AI, despite its big successes in games like chess, Go, and poker, still cant understand most normal English sentences, let alone scientific text, says Oren Etzioni, CEO of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence. Consider this: The winning team from Augensteins ScienceIE competition scored 43 percent across the three subtasks.

And even non-computer brains have a hard time comprehending the passive-voiced mumbo jumbo common in scientific manuscripts; it is not uncommon for inscriptions within the literature to be structured such that the phenomenon being discussed is often described, after layers of prepositional preamble, and in vernacular that is vague, esoteric, and exorbitant, as being acted upon by causative factors. Linguists call anything written by humans, for humans, natural language. Computer scientists call natural language a hot mess.

One large category of problems in natural language for AI is ambiguity, says Ernest Davis, a computer scientist at NYU who studies common sense processing. Lets take a classic example of ambiguity, illustrated in this sentence by Stanford University emeritus computer scientist Terry Winograd:

The city councilmen refused the demonstrators a permit because they [feared/advocated] violence.

To you and me, the verbs give away who they refers to: the city council fears; the demonstrators advocate. But a computer brain would have a hell of a time figuring out which verb indicates which pronoun. And that type of ambiguity is just one thread in the tangled knot of natural languagefrom simple things like understanding homographs to unraveling the logic of narratives.

Thats not even touching on the specific issues in scientific papers, like connecting a written argument to some pattern in the data. This is even the case in pure mathematics papers. Going from English to the formal logic of mathematics is not something we can automate, says Davis. And that would be one of the easiest things to work on because its highly restrictive and we understand the targets. Disciplines that arent rooted in mathematics, like psychology, will be even more difficult. In psychology papers, were nowhere near being able to check the reasonableness of arguments, says Davis. We dont know how to express the experiment in a way that a computer could use it.

And of course, a fully autonomous AI peer reviewer doesnt just have to outread humans, it has to outthink them. When you think about AI problems, peer review is probably among the very hardest you can come up with, since the most important part of peer review is determining that research is novel, its something that has not been done before by someone else, says Warren. A computer program might be able to survey the literature and figure out which questions remain, but would it be able to pick out research of Einsteinian proportionssome new theory that completely upends previous assumptions about how the world works?

Then again, what if everyoneAI advocates and critics alikeare looking at the problem backwards? Maybe we just need to change the way we do scientific publishing, says Tom Dietterich, AI researcher at Oregon State University. So, rather than writing our research as a story in English, we link our claims and evidence into a formalized structure, like a database, containing all the things that are known about a problem people are working on. Computerize the process of peer review, in other words, rather than its solution. But at that point its not computers youre reprogramming: Youre reprogramming human behavior.

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If AI Can Fix Peer Review in Science, AI Can Do Anything - WIRED

Aerospace and Defense 2017 Predictions – AviationPros.com

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2016 has been another very good year for the aerospace industry. At the Farnborough Airshow alone we sawUS$123.9 billion of deals recorded. The global A&D market continues to enjoy huge revenue momentum, with historically high backlogs for Tier 1 suppliers, and the industry has to try to keep up with this demand.

Airbus and Boeing are now at the point where they are no longer competing in the same way. There are now too many orders for both combined, and the new battleground moving into 2017, will be fought in their factories, as they race to see who can increase production rates to match their commitments. To tackle this, Boeing and Airbus have targeted 25-30% increases in production. Keeping pace with this will be a significant challenge for both companies and their supply chains, and we are seeing a huge drive for innovations that can support progress here.

But this is far from the only obstacle that the industry faces in 2017 and beyond. In this article, I will also explore developments that are happening in the aftermarket, how technology is transforming this and the manufacturing side of aerospace, as well as potential new entrants from the far East that could transform the market in decades to come.

When it comes to the aerospace manufacturing supply chain, production ramp-up is the number one priority, and it will continue to be for OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers throughout the year.Capacity is already stretched and suppliers are struggling to keep pace with the surge, resulting inbillions of dollars worthof inventory sitting in the parking bays. This has already played out in dramatic fashion in the interiors market, withserious output delays being reported by a major OEM. But this is indicative of the pressures felt across the wider supply chain.

Much of this demand is being driven out of Asia, especially China and India and this is set to continue for at least the next 18-24 months, when production rates are likely to stabilize. With this in mind, OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers are focusing on harnessing efficiencies through Operational Readiness, Supplier Management/Quality and Zero Defect production. However, this sprint for increased production, needs to be complemented with a longer-term view, in the knowledge that the abundance of orders is not an indefinite state of affairs. The supply chain is also under pressure to make these efficiencies while finding ways to reduce costs. By focusing on optimizing production processes the supply chain can achieve both in a sustainable manner, particularly when drawing on the benefits of automation as they become more established.

Zero defect manufacturing is certainly one popular answer here. With lucrative contracts at stake, suppliers cannot afford to let the slightest defect impact their reputation and bottom line; with the cost of missed deadlines incredibly high. Of course, at low volumes, defects can be managed through, but when demand for aircraft is so high, this becomes unsustainable. On top of this, there are also stringent safety requirements and exacting standards that have to be met for each flight. Pressure is therefore on OEMs to deliver vast amounts of product in very short time spans, to perfection; and efficiencies along the supply chain must be gained if this is to be achieved.

Though there is an initial upfront investment to correct defunct processes and get them to the optimal stage of production, the long term benefits are significant. For instance, due to the fact that fewer design iterations are needed, significant time savings can be gained, meaning the product lifecycle is reduced and components get to market far quicker than before.

Alongside this, as OEMs look to capture a greater percentage of the profits in the production line, we will also see more risk sharing partnerships, giving the supply chain further incentive to deliver under these difficult conditions.

The words on the supply chains lips are production rate, production rate, production rate. But increasing the volume without compromising the quality is the biggest challenge and OEMs are turning to the latest technologies in their pursuit of this zero-defect nirvana.

One of the most impactful, technological advances is additive manufacturing. The demand for additive manufacturing is growing: the global market is expected to increase from$3.07bn in revenue in 2013 to $12.8bn by 2018, exceeding $21bn by 2020. This is no more so apparent than in Aerospace and Defense (A&D) production and MRO applications.

The precision that it allows, particularly with intricate components, means that OEMs can manufacture, lighter and more accurate products faster than ever before. With greater efficiency and reduction in fuel usage high on the agenda, every gram of weight saved counts. The latter has a greater role to play in MRO as the constant high pressure placed on parts results in some components needing to be regularly replaced. The faster this can be done, the less time aircraft fleets spend grounded an issue that is costing the industry vast sums of money.Airbus China, for example, recently estimated the cost of a grounded A380 Airbus to be $1,250,000 every day.

Equally, the manufacturing process here is far more streamlined, reducing human error, and allowing rapid prototyping to stress test new innovations or design concepts, before going into mass production.

Despite the advantages of additive manufacturing in A&D, there are some challenges that need to be addressed before the technology can be adopted more widely across the industry. The nature of the inherent risks associated with aviation makes it a highly regulated sector and this impacts the speed at which 3D manufacturing processes are being adopted. The technology has drawnheavy scrutiny from regulatorsand manufacturers face a challenge in proving the safety of products produced by this new process and gaining accreditation. Some of the areas regulators are keen to focus their attention on over the next few years are how printed products will behave over time and based on the materials used, also it will be interesting to see how the industry adopts means to accelerate its adoption.

Nevertheless, despite the regulatory hurdles to overcome, significant cost and efficiency benefits are being seen across the design and manufacturing lifecycle. Additive manufacturing is set to continue to have a transformational impact on the A&D industry and it will be fascinating to see where the next innovations come from. The industry is still evolving their strategy when it comes to incorporating additive manufacturing into their operations. But all the signs are there for this technological innovation to create the biggest impact on this industry over the next 5-10 years.

I dont think you can overstate the potential positive disruption here, as additive manufacturing could fundamentally change how every OEM operates. The supply chain is set to move into a transformative period in 2017.

The most dynamic area of the aerospace industry, moving into 2017, will be in aftermarket services. With the efficiencies being imposed on manufacturing, Tier 1 suppliers are looking to garner more of their profits from the aftermarket business. They will continue to take more control of this area, either by signing long term maintenance contracts or by signing Pay-By-The-Hour agreements with airlines. But this move does not come without resistance from the rest of the market, as they will be jostling for space with traditional MROs that already operate in this space.

The aftermarket is certainly going to be the area to watch for two reasons: first the growing presence of OEMs in the aftermarket and second the disruption caused by new technologies that drive improved aircraft availability. On newer platforms, OEMs are increasing their footprint in the aftermarket and are incentivizing buyers to enter into all-inclusive aftercare packages, rather than engage with different MROs on a case-by-case basis. While OEMs see a positive long term revenue outlook here and are breaking even on new platforms faster, the buyer must accept that, given the level of IP protected technologies on-board, the OEM is better placed to manage this than any third-party MRO.

While for the older programs, OEMs are disrupting the direct component/part supplier chain by trying to become super suppliers. If we try to understand the effect based on the type of the operator: smaller and newer ones will be more willing to be a part of OEM aftercare packages, so they focus on their operational efficiencies and save their base maintenance CAPEX. Larger ones, who tend to have their own MROs for component and base maintenance and drive their operational costs down through direct component/part supplier sourcing, will now look towards OEMs for part supplies. With the newer platforms still settling in, it will be interesting to see how traditional third party independent MROs face this disruption.

The aftermarket is also where we are going to see digital transformation have the most impact. In 2017 we will continue to see sizeable investments going into big data and analytics. This will focus on developments in health monitoring, predictive maintenance and driving efficiencies throughout the MRO ecosystem, as Tier 1 suppliers look to improve reliability, reduce maintenance costs, and increase business visibility across their network.

Digital solutions are at the center of this, with modern aircraft producing upwards ofhalf a terabyte of data per flight. Sifting through this information to uncover useful, actionable intelligence is crucial. This is because data-driven decision making, when applied to traditional maintenance procedures, drives efficiencies, improving and even preventing costly operations as a result.

A practical example of this is seen in predicting maintenance requirements. Using data transmitted from sensors throughout the aircraft systems and subsystems, in line with pre-programmed safety parameters, maintenance crews can foresee the requirements of an asset before an incident occurs. As this technology develops, well soon have the ability to stream this information in real-time, while the plane is in flight, so teams on the ground will have sight on immediate maintenance requirements, and can be ready with the appropriate solution before the plane has even landed for inspection.

New players are breaking into the market and the search for real-time health monitoring of the entire aircraft and predicting unforeseen maintenance requirements could dramatically reduce costly aircraft on ground incidents and maintenance costs.

Though not an immediate concern, the industry is keeping a careful watch on new entrants to the market and the customer receptiveness to newer platforms like the Bombardier C-Series. However, the question on everyones minds moving beyond 2017 to the next 10-20 years, is What plans does China have for the aerospace market? While the introduction of Asian platforms like MRJ, ARJ, Comac (C919, C929), and CJ series of high bypass turbofans bring some fresh air, sooner or later we could soon see China raising its head above the parapet with genuine contenders to challenge traditional Tier 1 supplier platforms.

If executed correctly, new entrants from China have the potential to transform the way that planes are sold and disrupt the entire lifestyle of the aircraft from manufacture through to delivery and maintenance. With aggressive pricing, and by leveraging their large cash surplus to upend current leasing models, Asian aerospace companies could pose a threat in new markets like Africa, using this base to launch into the more established European and American markets.

As technology continues to transform the way the aerospace industry manufactures, sells and maintains its aircraft, companies throughout the supply chain must evolve, and fast! One thing is for sure, following on from a year characterized by global political and economic uncertainty, 2017 is set to be an exciting and turbulent year, and it will be fascinating to see how the race for aircraft production unfolds.

Anand Parameswaran, Sr. Vice President Aerospace & Defense, Cyient

Anand heads the Aerospace and Defense business unit. In this role, he is responsible for driving superior outcomes for clients by leveraging Cyient's extensive capability across product design, manufacturing, and aftermarket solutions. In his previous role he was the Global Head of Human Resources and Business Excellence.Anand has earlier led Global Sales and Delivery for the Heavy Equipment, Transportation, HiTech, Consumer, and Medical (HTH) business unit. He was responsible for driving engagement, profitability and revenue growth across these industry verticals.Before Cyient, Anand worked in various information technology (IT) industry leadership roles in North America, Europe, and Asia, including positions at Wipro and Cognizant, two leading global IT consulting firms.Anand received a degree from Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani, India.

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CEO Series: Launching Arizona’s aerospace industry – AZ Big Media

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In 1992, Kjell Stakkestad, president and CEO of KinetX Aerospace, helped develop a prototype satellite ground system using off-the-shelf hardware and software products to demonstrate that a satellite ground system could be rapidly, cheaply and reliably developed. (Photo by Mike Mertes, Az Business magazine)

KinetX Aerospace faced a Herculean challenge when it was asked to develop a navigation system to guide the fastest spacecraft ever launched to the farthest destination ever explored.

We have done navigation to a number of planets, but it was a different kind of challenge going to Pluto, says Kjell Stakkestad, president and CEO of KinetX Aerospace. We had to travel 3.5 billion miles and had to hit a very precise box. It was like having to hit a dime from 5 miles away.

But KinetX delivered. After a journey of 9 years and more than 3 billion miles, the team from KinetX helped the New Horizons spacecraft hit its mark and captivate the world with the first close-up images of Pluto.

Operating out of Tempe, KinetX Aerospace is a privately held company that specializes in the design, development and operation of large-scale space systems, in addition to working on deep space missions. It is the only private company involved in deep space exploration.

Az Business had an out-of-this-world discussion with Stakkestad about the state of space in Arizona.

Az Business: Whats the story of KinetX?

Kjell Stakkestad:What we do is we make systems work. We helped the IRIDIUM satellite system get working and we are the longest-running subcontractor for IRIDIUM. We have also worked on defense projects and worked on communications systems for the military.

Now, we are trying to use what weve learned to develop intellectual property that allows soldiers to use cell phones instead of big backpacks for communications. We are using our systems to tie genetics to cancer treatment and drug trials. The medical community has all these great methods to measure everything you could imagine in a patient. But how does it all fit together? Thats what we do: systems engineering.

AB: What are you working on now?

KS: The most flashy stuff we do is space and we are very proud of that. We just launched a mission to get asteroid samples from Bennu. This project is difficult because Bennu is only 500 meters across, so navigation is tricky. There is a lot of physics and a lot of math. Theres no plugging it into a formula and doing it. But the information were going to get from Bennu will help scientists examine the origin of our planet, so its exciting.

AB: How is Arizona as a place to operate an aerospace company?

KS:The state is fantastic and has a lot of spectacular space work going on. ASU, Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona have some of the best programs in the world. But the state has some problems, too. Arizona helped put the largest set of satellites into orbit and got almost no press. Arizona is in the top three or four states for aerospace and we tout it far less than other states. I think there are a lot of opportunities for Arizona to get itself more on the map and we miss those opportunities.

AB: What should we be doing so we dont miss those opportunities?

KS: If we had a vibrant advocacy group fighting for (and focused on) the aerospace industry, you would see commercial space and space work in Arizona grow dramatically. Arizona is a place where people want to come. The only drawback is that we have to do something about the education system. When we try to attract people here, they say, Youre 49th in education. It doesnt preclude people from coming, but these are educated people and they want their children to be well educated. So we need to do something about that.

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CEO Series: Launching Arizona's aerospace industry - AZ Big Media

Senator fighting Philippine president’s war on drugs charged without ‘iota of evidence,’ lawyer says – CBC.ca

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Monday February 20, 2017 more stories from this episode

One of the staunchest opponents to Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte's deadly war on drugs is now facing drug charges herself but her lawyer says the chargeshave been trumped up in a bid to silence her.

Senator Leilade Lima was charged Friday by prosecutors accusing her of receiving bribes from detained drug lords. Her lawyerAlexPadilla says she expects to be arrested any day now.

"She says quite proudly that she will become the first political prisoner of this administration, and I think that may be about to come true,"Padilla told told As It Happens guest host Helen Mann Monday.

Prosecutors allege de Lima, while she was justice secretary under presidentBenignoAquino, received huge bribes from detained drug lords to finance her senatorial campaign last year, and they say some of the drug lords would testify against her. The bribes were allegedly solicited by her former driver and lover, who was also charged.

"Thisis notthe product of politics, this is the product of drug trading,"Justice SecretaryVitalianoAguirreII said in announcing the charges.

But Padilla says the charges are politically motivated.

When de Lima was a top human rights official, he said she tried unsuccessfully to haveDuterte prosecutedfor unlawful deaths occurring during his anti-drug crackdown while he was mayor of the city of Davao.

On Aug. 22, 2016, Senator Leila De Lima gestures as she stands near relatives of slain people during a hearing investigating drug-related killings in the Philippines. (Romeo Ranoco/Reuters)

When Dutertebecame president last year and expanded thecrackdown nationwide, Senator de Lima launched an inquiry into thousands of killings at the hands of police and vigilantes.

"It's wrong. We cannot end drugs by ending lives. We cannot justify killing in the name of fighting or in the name of this so-called war against drugs," she told As It Happens guest host Laura Lynch at the time.

One month after launching that inquiry,she told CBC News she feared for her safety.

"There is a long history between Senator de Lima and PresidentDuterte," Padillo said. "On the part of President Duterte, well, I would assume that he never forgave her for those intrusions."

Duterte has publiclylashed out at de Lima with foul language, calling her a sex-crazed immoral woman whose election opened "the portals of the national government ... to narco politics."

While the allegations against the senator centre around bribery,Padillosays she's been charged with drug trading, a harsher crime for which she cannot be granted bail. If convicted, she faces life in prison.

"There was notan iota of evidence about drugs," he said.

De Lima also deniestaking money from drug lords, he said.

"Those alleging this were actually convicts who were getting immunity from prosecution," Padillosaid. "I am confident that once we get into trial, we will be able to show the character of their witnesses, the paucity of their evidence and everything else that we believe was wrong about this investigation."

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, whose war on drugs has been linked to thousands of deaths, has called the senator a sex-crazed immoral woman. (Ezra Acayan/Reuters)

For her part, de Lima has remained steadfast.

"If the loss of my freedom is the price I have to pay for standing up against the butchery of the Duterte regime, then it is a price I am willing to pay," she said in a statement. "But they are mistaken if they think my fight ends here. It has only begun."

More than 7,700 people have been killed in the narcotics crackdown sinceDutertetook office on June 30, 2016, with about 2,500 of those dying in police operations.

Human rights groups believe many other deaths that police attributed to vigilantes were carried out by assassins likely colluding with police. The government and police vehemently deny extrajudicial killings have taken place.

With files from Reuters

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Senator fighting Philippine president's war on drugs charged without 'iota of evidence,' lawyer says - CBC.ca

The ‘War On Drugs’ Has Been A Deadly Failure – Huffington Post Australia

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In my line of work, early morning telephone calls are never good news. It doesn't matter whether you are on-call for your hospital, or anticipating a sleep-in of sorts, the incessant vibration of mobile phone in the wee hours is always a cause of apprehension.

So when I finally got up to silence the bleating phone, and blearily worked my way through the half dozen or so messages that were making such a racket, I had to turn on the light to make sure that what was being described was real, and not the exotic nightmare of an emergency physician: A mass overdose of GHB, in 2017? But that's so last decade!

I saw and treated my first overdose of gamma-hydroxybutyrate in Adelaide, soon after arriving in Australia in 1999. I had recently arrived from London, a town not unfamiliar with drugs. But 'G'? Never seen it before. A young person, comatose, unable to maintain their airway, from a liquid drug that I had never heard of? Australia was turning out to be a bit more interesting than box jellyfish and Bundaberg.

At the time, all we knew was how to keep the patient alive. Support the airway, and wait for the patient to wake up; we're a pragmatic bunch in ED. Once we had achieved that objective, we then had the chance to learn some more about what we were dealing with. Gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB) is a naturally occurring neurotransmitter -- it is in all of us.

Outside of us, it was developed by a French man to work out the inner workings of the human mind. Someone noticed it worked well as an anaesthetic in mice, and for a couple of decades it found a similar use in humans. It's still used medicinally in the form of sodium oxybate, as treatment for narcolepsy.

The route to illicit use was more circuitous. It was noted to increase human growth hormone in mice, and was subsequently embraced by the bodybuilding community as a supplement. Somewhere along the line, they noticed that at a point just shy of sedation, it caused euphoria -- as it turns out, a fairly significant euphoria. And so it took off, in the '90s in the U.S. and the '00s in Australia.

As is the way of things, GHB was banned, but predictably in the whack-a-mole game that is the War on Drugs, two precursor drugs -- 1,4-butanediol (1,4-BD) and gamma butyrolactone (GBL) -- quickly emerged to take its place. These were more problematic because they are 'dual use'; not only can they be used for recreational purpose, they are also very important chemicals in the solvent and plastic industries.

There were legitimate reasons for big business to have in their possession industrial quantities of these chemicals. Given the volumes shipped globally, it is impossible to account for every litre, and so some goes missing, diverted into the illicit market. It is far more likely that any overdose in Australia from a GHB-like substance was due to either of these than caused by the mother compound.

One of mythologies doing the rounds in the early days was that GHB, on its own, couldn't really hurt you. It's true that, in combination with another sedative like alcohol, it represents a particularly dangerous proposition. The perfect storm is the scenario where young people, already drunk, pass around a repurposed water bottle, and take unmeasured swigs of GHB/GBL/1,4BD. That's the likeliest scenario for what happened at Electric Parade last Saturday. But GHB and its analogues don't need alcohol to be lethal.

Our paper in the MJA in 2007, with Australia's National Coronial Inquest System, showed quite clearly that it was capable of doing the job on its own.

So, like Jack Nicholson hacking his way through a wooden door, why is this drug back in such a dramatic fashion?

We know that it's always around, but at less than 1 percent population prevalence, it's pretty 'niche'. By the late '00s, despite the 'Tough on Drugs' approach, the Australian health community had managed to get strong messaging to consumers about the hazards, and how to stay safe. A community knowledge developed, and other drugs emerged; the scene moved on.

A lot of that corporate knowledge has ebbed away, like the fading of a response to immunisation -- users from 'back in the day' now have jobs, and kids, and mortgages and while some wistfully reminisce about their youthful misdeeds, few are still involved.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, we are faced with a generation of consumers who are completely untouched by the Nancy Reagan message of 'Just Say No'. For generations where trends are measured in weeks, the failure of Australian drugs policy to keep up with the emerging market appears glacial in pace.

This fault does not lie at the door of the doctors and scientists. They have indicated -- unanimously -- what is needed.

It lies squarely on the shoulders of legislators who are happy to dither in the face of an active public health emergency. Sure, when they read this, they'll howl about how much is being done, how much is being spent (overwhelmingly on law enforcement, and not health) -- but it's not what the experts are calling for.

We are flailing in our attempts to reduce the supply of illicit drugs into Australia, and ignoring, almost entirely, any attempts to address the demand side of the equation. This juxtaposition of a disaffected, unengaged group of users with a generation of politicians, paralysed with fear at the prospect of appearing anything other than a cold war "drug warrior", makes these sort of events ever more likely.

And that's the reality we now face in Australia. Legislators have been given the evidence and opportunity to show some moxie, and introduce the measures that now all experts are calling for. These measures, like MSICs, like pill-testing, place 'saving life' in the box seat.

Failing to take that opportunity is a failure of leadership, and it will be punished. Not by the experts, who can but stand by and watch their expertise being ignored. Rather, by the parents of children who don't come home.

I have yet to meet with one, in the course of treating thousands of drug overdoses, who would not have done anything to ensure their child's survival. Not one who has said "I don't mind them dying, as long as their death serves as lesson to others".

There will be more deaths in the months to come, and as the disparity between expert recommendation and government action becomes more apparent, so will the anger of (voting) parents and loved ones. And every time there is another tragic, unnecessary loss of a precious, precious young Australian, those who stand in the way of what the health community is demanding -- now -- need to take a long hard look at themselves.

Because they have just a little more blood on their hands.

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The 'War On Drugs' Has Been A Deadly Failure - Huffington Post Australia