Holy Shit Even Fox News Is Calling Out Donald Trump’s Anti-First Amendment Comments – PerezHilton.com

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Just wow.

This exchange on live TV is really something.

On Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace went after Reince Priebus, who is Donald Trump's Chief of Staff in the White House, regarding Trump's comments about the news media being the "enemy of the people."

And you know how it is when you're The Donald and you've lost Fox News, well, you're probably losing everybody.

Related: John McCain Calls Trump A Dictator

Watch this particular exchange, where Wallace completely calls out Trump and Priebus over the anti-freedom of the press comments (below):

WOW!

Again, that's a Fox News host not afraid to call out The Donald's awful and destructive statements!!!

Video: Trump's Ridiculous Press Conference Goes To Late Night!

The entire interview is a thing of beauty, too and Priebus gets his ass handed to him repeatedly by Wallace, who doesn't back down for a second.

Watch the full thing (below):

Brutal for Priebus. Brutal for Trump. Sad!

But great for America and we need Fox News to keep calling out The Donald just like the rest of the media has been for the last two years!!!

Related: Trump Made Chris Christie Order Meatloaf While Dining In The White House!

What do U think about these clips, Perezcious readers??

Let us know in the comments (below)!!!

[Image via Fox News.]

Tags: celebrity feuds, chris wallace, controversy, crazzzzy, donald trump, fox news, fox news sunday, politik, reince priebus, scary!, tacky and true, tv news, viral: news, wacky, white house

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4 Cryptocurrencies With Much Faster Block Times Than Bitcoin – The Merkle

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One thing a lot of people do not like about bitcoin is how it takes an average of 10 minutes before a transaction receives a network confirmation. Various other cryptocurrencies, also known as altcoins, try to improve this block time by quite a margin. Some projects focusing on faster block times are more successful than others, though.

Litecoin is often referred to as the silver to bitcoins gold. Albeit not everyone may see it that way, Litecoin brings some very intriguing developments in the world of cryptocurrency, that much is certain. Compared to bitcoins block time, Litecoin generates network blocks 4 times as fast on the network. It takes an average of 2.5 minutes for this process to complete, which is quite an improvement.

For a cryptocurrency that offers privacy and anonymity features, Monero has proven to be quite a quick altcoin when it comes to generating new blocks on the network. With an average block time of just two minutes, Monero succeeds in providing users with anonymity features at 1/5th of the time bitcoin generates a block, which does not include any anonymity features.

It is interesting to note Monero used to have an even faster block time at one point in time. The developers decreased the block time to 60 seconds when Monero was first launched, yet they reverted it back to 120 seconds once the network started to settle. While 60 second block times may sound more preferable, 120 seconds does the job just fine for Monero.

Many people believe Ethereum is the worlds fastest cryptocurrency in terms of block generation time, but that is not the case It has to be said, Ethereum is somewhat in a league of its, with the average block time sitting at the 14 second mark ever since April of 2016. It is quite an impressive feat to see Ethereum keep the block time so low. Bitcoin users would like to see a similar strategy introduced by the developers, albeit it is doubtful that will happen anytime soon.

When it comes to generating blocks quickly, there is no competition for Ripple right now. Although Ripple is targeting a very different crowd compared to bitcoin,Monero, or the other coins mentioned above, the technology powering this network has proven to be quite solid. The average Ripple network block is generated in as little as 3.5 seconds.

Considering how Ripple is aiming to change the world of finance by collaborating with financial institutions all over the world, that 3.5 second mark is quite important. Blockchain-based assets are designed to make transactions more efficient. Ripple succeeds in allowing for very fast transfers at minimal fees, whereas bitcoin seems to get slower and more expensive until the scalability issue is addressed.

If you liked this article, follow us on Twitter @themerklenews and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and technology news.

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Centurion Cryptocurrency Launches Today, Offering Extremely Fast Transactions While Supporting – MENAFN.COM

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Centurion Cryptocurrency Launches Today, Offering Extremely Fast Transactions While Supporting
MENAFN.COM
LONDON, Feb. 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Centurion is a unique cryptocurrency launching today on February 9, 2017. The new cryptocurrency draws lessons from Bitcoin and other altcoins to offer an efficient and easy-to-use option for the cryptocurrency ...

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Top 6 Bitcoin Mining Pools Signalling SegWit The Merkle – The Merkle

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With the bitcoin scalability situation remaining a pressing issue, it is up to the developers to come up with an answer. Segregated Witness is touted as one of the possible solutions, albeit it requires a majority of the networks miners to support it before getting activated. Below is a brief overview of some of the worlds top bitcoin mining pools signalling for SegWit activation right now.

While most people may know Bitcoin India as a cryptocurrency exchange, the company is also running an official mining pool. Albeit this mining pool is very small compared to some of the others on the network, it is good to see Indias exchanges weigh on on the scalability debate. Moreover, to reach the necessary support before SegWit can activate on the network, every little bit helps.

CKPool is another bitcoin mining pool that has been around for quite some time. There are two different pools operated by the team, one of which is used for solo mining. Both entities support SegWit signalling as we speak. The normal mining pools controls 1.2% of the network, whereas the solo pool represents 0.3%. Once again, small percentages will add up in the long run.

The BitClub mining pool is well-known among cryptocurrency enthusiasts. It controls 2.3% of the total network hashrate, yet that is not enough to be considered as one of the top 10 bitcoin mining pools. However, that 2.3% can help push SegWit activation over the required majority threshold in the end. BitClub has always been loyal to Bitcoin Core and that situation will not change anytime soon, by the look of things.

One of the oldest bitcoin mining pools in the world goes by the name SlushPool. Albeit it only represents 65% of the total bitcoin network hashrate, Slushpool is an invaluable asset for SegWit supporters. Slush was also one of the very first mining pools to acknowledge the world start signaling SegWit and the code was implemented promptly. Many people see this pools support as vital to the potential activation of SegWit.

While BTCC was one of Chinas largest cryptocurrency exchanges for some time, their mining pool has been growing steadily at the same time. Right now, BTCC represents 7% of the network hashrate albeit that number used to be a bit higher in the past. Then again, more decentralization in the mining world is never a bad thing, that much is certain. It is doubtful BTCC would ever switch allegiances and support Bitcoin Unlimited all of a sudden.

It is anything but surprising to learn BitFury supports Segregated Witness signalling. With its 10.3% of the hashpower, that is a major addition to the growing support for SegWit. Then again, BitFury is only the worlds third-largest mining pool, which means there is still a lot of convincing to do before the SegWit threshold can be reached. Antpool, the worlds largest bitcoin mining pool, said they would not run SegWit without an immediate block size increase. That statement dates back to May of 2016, albeit it seems not much has changed since then.

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Ransomware has exploded thanks to Bitcoin’s anonymity – VentureBeat

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Ransomware is one of the oldest cyberthreats, but ithas made a big comeback in the past couple of years because it has become much easier to perpetrate against consumers, businesses, hospitals, and government agencies.

With ransomware, cyber thieves steal a users data and threaten to destroy it unless the user pays them a ransom. One studyby Infobloxfound that ransomware increased 3,500 percent from the fourth quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of 2016. Ransoms paid also went up 10 times during that period.

Chris Young, CEO of Intel Security, said last week at a private dinner and in his keynote speech at the RSA security conference that ransomware was first detected in 1989, but it didnt explode until recently. In the past, it was easier for law enforcement to catch the perpetrator as they tried to pick up the ransom.

It wasnt until the advent of Bitcoin in our society that ransomware was able to take off, Young said. Because now, as an attacker, I can anonymously monetize my target.

Above: Chris Young, CEO of Intel Security, at RSA.

Image Credit: RSA

He added, The weaponization of data becomes a real threat to all of us. Id argue its quite likely to be our next advanced, persistent threat.

Bitcoin, the crypto currency introduced in 2008, enables two parties to exchange money without knowing who the other one is. During the past year, security firm Kaspersky identified ransomware as the biggest cybersecurity threat.

At first, cyber criminals used ransomware schemes against unsuspecting consumers. The criminals stole their passwords, locked down their computers with cryptography, and then demanded ransoms in the hundreds of dollars to unlock the computers. Faced with no choice, the victims paid the ransoms in Bitcoin. And that helped the problem grow and become much more lucrative, saidSteve Grobman, chief technology officer at Intel Security, at the dinner.

The ransomware threat has been growing.A ransomware app even made it into the Google Play store in January.

Young said that the growing number of attack types has also come with new attack surfaces, as the number of devices that we use in our daily lives is growing well beyond computers and smartphones. The Internet of Things devices, such as security cameras or TV webcams, are also vulnerable to viruses and other attacks. And they can be used as stepping stones to larger, more threatening attacks.

Andransomware is moving on to bigger targets. The focus is increasingly on places like hospitals, which have restrictions on what they can do with patient data. The bad guys find out where the computer backups are stored, they penetrate them and encrypt them, and then they hold the data for ransom.

Cyber attackers held an Austrian hotel network for ransom. The criminals demanded $1,800 in Bitcoin to unlock the network while preventing guests from checking in and out of the hotel and locking them out of their guest rooms. The hotel paid up.

A crypto ransomware attack also hit San Franciscos Municipal Transportation Agency as an infection spread across the Muni systems networks, taking down ticketing systems. The criminals asked for $73,000 in exchange for restoration of the Muni data.

Above: Ed Skoudis, instructor at the SANS Institute.

Image Credit: RSA

Ed Skoudis, instructor at the SANS Institute, predicts that the crypto ransomware perpetrators will go after small to mid-sized banks next.

One of the biggest problems in the last couple of years has been the explosion of crypto ransomware, Skoudis said in an RSA talk. Crytpo ransomware is so much more powerful, especially when it uses public key cryptography.

Crytography is useful in enabling secure communications and ecommerce, but there are 150 active families of crypto ransomware today, Skoudis said. Companies say this is one of their biggest fears, he said, and many more increasingly sophisticated attacks against networks are expected.

Young, meanwhile, worries about the attack targets in homes, thanks to the Internet of Things.

The target is now the weapon, Young said. Now we have to turn our attention to data being weaponized against us. What we used to think about protecting we now have to be protectedagainst. Its the strangest irony. The target is now the weapon. Weve given the enemy all of the scale they could possibly want by connecting our homes with smarter, better, faster devices.

Above: No More Ransom helps ransomware victims.

Image Credit: nomoreransom.org

And yes, Im still waiting for some good news on this front.

To prevent ransomware attacks, companies and individuals have to make themselves into harder targets. If one workstation gets attacked, it shouldnt make the whole network and its servers vulnerable.

If your organization gets hit with ransomware, who is going to decide whether to pay the bad guys? he said. Your business principles might get hit by the business reality.

Young said that the fragmented cybersecurity industry must work together.

Were the most fragmented sector in all of IT, he said.

The industry has formed the collaborative Cyber Threat Alliance group, and it has created No More Ransom, a site that helps victims of ransomware recover their data.

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Top 5 Things You Can Buy With Bitcoin – The Merkle

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Even though the concept of bitcoin continues to baffle quite a few people, cryptocurrency is becoming a more common payment method month over month. With a growing number of merchants accepting bitcoin, the products and services one can buy with cryptocurrency become more varied. Below are some fine examples of how one can spend bitcoin and gain something valuable in return.

All over the world, the trend of ordering food online has become more prevalent over the years. It makes a lot of sense to buy food online and have it delivered to your doorstep. Various of these platforms around the world accept bitcoin as a payment method. Takeaway.com is one of the largest platforms to accept bitcoin and they have seen their fair share of success in the process.

The video game sector has taken kindly to bitcoin these past few years. Prominent platforms, such as Kinguin, G2A and Steam have all integrated a bitcoin payment option into their platform. For the younger generation who is enthusiastic of bitcoin, this seems like a match made in heaven. Considering how most of these platforms also sell game time and other in-game prepaid cards, using bitcoin as a gamer has never been easier.

Buying gift cards with bitcoin has become a breeze, albeit most of these efforts are focused on the United States and Canada. A wide range of platforms accepts bitcoin in exchange for either digital or physical gift cards. Gyft, eGifter and Cryptodechange are just a few examples of places where one can buy a gift card with bitcoin. All of these platforms support a wide variety of online services and retailers, giving bitcoin users access to whatever their heart desires.

In this day and age of growing surveillance, ensuring ones internet activity is hidden from prying eyes becomes more important than ever. VPN services are a great way to surf the internet anonymously and at an affordable price. Interestingly enough, the vast majority of VPN service providers accepts bitcoin payments, due to its global appeal.

There is a secondary purpose to using bitcoin as a payment option for VPN services. Unlike traditional payment solutions, bitcoin allows users to maintain their privacy during the signup and payment process. For those people who take privacy seriously, paying for a VPN with bitcoin is the ultimate combination.

More expensive items and services can also be paid with bitcoin these days. Booking a hotel through Expedia, for example, can be paid in bitcoin. Flights can be booked through that site as well, but there is also CheapAir to take into consideration. It is expected more travel operators will start to accept bitcoin payments over the coming years.

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Bitcoin Hash Functions Explained – CoinDesk

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Anyone with an interest in bitcoin will have heard the phrase 'cryptographic hash function' at some time or other. But what exactly does it mean, and how is it connected to cryptocurrency?

Hash functions are an essential part of, not only of the bitcoin protocol, but of information security as a whole.

In the following article we'll take a look at some simple examples of how they work, with a simple demonstration, too.

In the abstract, a hash function is a mathematical processthat takes input data of any size, performs an operation on it, and returns output data of a fixed size.

In a more concrete example, this can be used to take a sequence of letters of any length as input what we call a string and return a sequence of letters of a fixed length. Whether the input string is a single letter, a word, a sentence, or an entire novel, the output called the digest will always be the same length.

Acommon use of this kind of hash function is to store passwords.

When you create a user account with any web service which requires a password, the password isrun through a hash function, and the hash digest of the message is stored. When you type in your password to log in, the same hash function is run on the word you've entered, and the server checks whether the result matches the stored digest.

This means that if a hacker is able to access the database containing the stored hashes, they will not be able to immediately compromise all user accounts because there is no easy way to find the password which producedany given hash.

You can experiment with hash values using Python, a programming language installed on Mac and Linux operating systems by default. (This tutorial will assume you're using some version of either OS X or Linux, as using Python on Windows is more complicated.)

First, open a terminal, type python and hit ENTER.

This will put you into the Python REPL, an environment where you can try out Python commands directly as opposed to writing a programme in a separate file.

Then, type the following, pressing ENTER after each line, and TAB where marked:

You have now created a function, hash(), which will calculate and print out the hash value for a given string using the MD5 hashing algorithm. To run it, put a string in between the parentheses in quotation marks, eg:

And press ENTER to see the hash digest of that string.

You will see that calling the hash function on the same string will always generate the same hash, but adding or changing one character will generate a completely different hash value:

In the bitcoin protocol, hash functions are part of the block hashing algorithm which is used to write new transactions into the blockchain through the mining process.

In bitcoin mining, the inputs for the function are all of the most recent, not-yet-confirmed transactions (along with some additional inputs relating to the timestamp and a reference to the previous block).

In the code example above, we've already seen that changing a small part of the input for a hash function results in a completely different output. This property is crucial to the 'proof of work' algorithm involved in mining: to successfully 'solve' a block, miners try to combine all of the inputs with their own arbitrary piece of input data in such a way that the resulting hash starts with a certain number of zeroes.

As a basic demonstration, we could try 'mining' with our Python hash function by manually adding exclamation points after "CoinDesk rocks!" until we find a hash that starts with a single zero.

Of course, solving the hash for a bitcoin block which at the time of writing must start with 18 zeros requires anextremely large amount of computation (and so the combined processing power of all the computers in the network still takes approximately 10 minutes to solve a block).

It's the need for this large amount of processing power that means new bitcoins get mined over a long period of time, not all at once.

In order to earn bitcoins through mining, you need to put in the huge amount of work necessary to solve a block and by earning that reward, you're locking in all of the new transactions into a block, which is added to the permanent record of all previous transactions: the blockchain.

Any crypto basics you'd like explained next? Email: editors@coindesk.com.

Bitcoin on keyboard image via Shutterstock

Bitcoin ProtocolCryptographyhash functions

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Nigerian Bankers Committee Plans to Legalize Bitcoin – The Merkle

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Quite a few countries are contemplating how they should treat bitcoin moving forward. Cryptocurrency poses intriguing opportunities, yet it is difficult to regulate as there is no centralized entity controlling the ecosystem. Nigerian banks are contemplating to legalize bitcoin, which would give the popular cryptocurrency a significant boost, to say the least.

It is not the first time someone brings up the concept of Nigerian banks legalizing bitcoin. The same idea was proposedseveral months ago. Albert no one saw this as a hint of what the future could hold, it would appear various Nigerian banks are thinking along the same lines. This development caught quite a few people by surprise, even though it makes a lot of sense.

An article appeared in The Inquirer, which talks about how the Nigerian Bankers Committee is studying blockchain technology. That is anything but surprising, as nearly every bank around the world is well aware of what distributed ledgers bring to the table. However, there has not been any major product to come forth from this interest so far. Experts predict a few of these blockchain applications will see the light of day in 2017, albeit that remains to be seen for now.

What is more interesting, however, is how the Nigerian Bank Committee still feels bitcoin poses somewhat of a threat the national financial ecosystem. To be more precise, the group touched upon the concept of dubious virtual currencies flooding the country. It is not hard to see which projects they are talking about, as OneCoinhas become somewhat of a popular concept in Nigeria. Additionally, there is also the MMM Global scheme, which only accepts bitcoin deposits in Nigeria right now.

It is evident the Central bank of Nigeria wants to gain a better understanding of bitcoin and its blockchain technology. That open-minded approach can mean big things for cryptocurrency in the country moving forward. Moreover, it only appears to be a matter of time until Nigeria introduces bitcoin regulation, which could occur as soon as this year. Introducing such a regulation would effectively legalize bitcoin in Nigeria, even though the current is not issued by the countrys central bank.

Nigeria is not the only country in the world looking to regulate and legalize bitcoin. Japan will be doing the same later this year, which will bring a lot more legitimacy to cryptocurrency moving forward. Albeit no one can effectively regulate bitcoin itself, governments can impose specific guidelines for companies dealing with customer funds, either in the national currency or bitcoin. Then again, running a financial business will always be subject to specific regulation and bitcoin enterprises should not be exempt from those rules.

Bitcoin regulation does not have to be a bad thing by any means. Chinas central bank issued a few new regulatory measures over the past few weeks, which has only helped the bitcoin price stabilizes as time progressed. It is unclear what Nigeria will do exactly when it comes to blockchain and cryptocurrency, but it will be an intriguing situation to keep an eye on.

If you liked this article, follow us on Twitter @themerklenews and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and technology news.

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Vietnamese Bitcoin P2P Platform Remitano Targets Global Expansion – CryptoCoinsNews

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Remitano, a Vietnam-based P2P platform for trading bitcoin, has expanded its services across the English-speaking world.

The company is targeting bitcoin exchangers, investors and users of remittance services, beginning with Asian countries, including Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia and China.

Leading sources of traffic on Remitano besides Vietnam are Nigeria and Malaysia.

Our new platform will help bring bitcoin to everyone, by means of preventing fraud and scamming among the bitcoin community, said CEO and co-founder Dung Huynh. Bitcoin fraud is a problem that is deterring people from partaking in this exciting market, hampering its overall potential. At Remitano, we want to fix that.

Fake exchanges, fraudulent bitcoin wallets which allow malware into a computer, phishing and Ponzi schemes are all things that would-be bitcoin traders need to look out for on a daily basis, according to Remitano.

Remitano features a simple user interface and responsive customer support. Customers in need of support can jump on a live chat and get questions answered quickly.

When a user opens a trade, Remitano holds the amount of bitcoins they wish to buy in escrow. The buyer can send payment to the seller without having to worry about not receiving bitcoin.

The bitcoin remains locked until the seller confirms the payment.

Also read: Bitcoin survey: 1 in 4 bitcoin users defrauded by exchanges

The Remitano support team will resolve disputes based on evidence provided by both sides.

The 0.5% fee charged by the platform is lower than the other major platforms in the market.

Remitano is owned by Babylon Solutions Limited, which is incorporated in Seychelles.

The team is comprised mostly by banking professionals with experience in financial products, electronic currencies and payment services.

The app is available on the App Store and Google Pay.

Image from Shutterstock.

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Vietnamese Bitcoin P2P Platform Remitano Targets Global Expansion - CryptoCoinsNews

Strong second half leads Lady Comets to 64-44 victory – Journal-Times

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Throughout the course of the 2016-2017 season, the West Carter Lady Comets have prided themselves on playing hard over all four quarters of a basketball contest.

So when Aaron Rayburn noticed that attention to detail slipping near the end of the second quarter, he challenged them to regain that focus.

The result? Two blistering runs a 14-0 blitz in the third quarter and an 8-1 spark in the fourth quarter to help lead the Lady Comets to a 64-44 victory over the Lady Rams Wednesday evening in Raceland.

For Rayburn, the second half performance was exactly how he wanted to see his unit responded to the adversity that faced them in the first half of play.

We were a little disappointed with how we ended the second quarter, Rayburn said. We let up in some areas and and made some bad decisions with the basketball. To the girls' credit, they came out in the second half and started to move the basketball really well. It was really fun to see the girls shine in a litany of different areas. That was good. I'm very proud of the girls tonight after this one.

Intially, West Carter looked like it was going to be able to pull away for an easy victory early on as a 7-0 run to start the contest, and an 11-2 spurt between the first and second quarters, had the Lady Comets out to an 23-9 advantage early on in the second quarter of play.

However, Raceland showed some grit of its own.

Behind baskets from Lauren Runyon, Adrianna Flocker, Chloe Collins, and Morgan Curley, the Rams shot out to a 13-3 run that cut the lead down to a 28-24 margin with 34 seconds left in the first half of play.

The heady trio of Stone, Ragan Adkins, and Hannah Bear, however, had other ideas.

Behind Bear's half-ending bucket, the trio and the Lady Comets, as a whole, got on a roll on both ends of the floor.

To start off the second half, there were mid-range jumpers by Stone, Burchett, and Adkins, who supplied two of her own.

By the time Bear added an and-one and Adkins accounted for her final points in the frame with her third three-pointer of the contest, West Carter had jetted out to a 16-0 run including a 14-0 spurt over the first 2:31 of the third quarter to head out to a 44-24 advantage.

In fact, the Lady Comets didn't allow a field goal over the first 5:49 of the frame en route to building its lead to as much as 24 in the quarter.

We had a couple of good things happen tonight, Rayburn said. Ragan Adkins has had a few rough games where it seems like the lid was on her basket, but she's stayed the course. To see her hitting tonight was great. (Allie) Stone was hitting tonight, Hannah (Bear) was just dishing it left and right, and Chyann Zeigler was just crashing those boards left and right. It was good to see all those things that we've been working on and all of those things that we've been trying to do get taken care of tonight.

In the fourth quarter of play, West Carter continued its tear by going on an 8-1 run to push its lead to as much as a 61-35 margin. The Lady Comets emptied their bench following this run, and cruised home to a 64-44 victory for their 17th win of the year.

During the contest, West Carter also showed off some of the younger members on its bench. Kylie Gilliam showed off her impressive ballhandling skills while bringing the ball up as a point forward, while Kara Jordan used her length to create problems for Raceland's bigs in the low post.

It's been 10 games since Maddie (Hanshaw) went out with her ACL tear, Rayburn said. The biggest thing, for me, is to put more trust and patience in Kylie and Kara. They're just eighth-graders, and we're asking them to do big things. Tonight, both of them were great. There's definitely stuff that we can work on and things that we see that we need to get better at, but tonight, they did great coming off of the bench.

Kara's just so tall, and when she gets those arms up, she can really deflect some shots. As for KG, she's got a really good game; it's just a matter of learning how to play to her strengths and play within herself.

With the win, West Carter improved to 17-12 on the year. The Lady Comets tied their decade-high in wins with their 18th tally in a 60-43 victory over Greenup County and will play Morgan County Monday evening at 7:30 p.m. at East Carter High School in an attempt to obtain their fourth consecutive win, their 19th victory of the year, and a berth to the regional tournament.

West Carter 18 12 23 11 64

Raceland 9 15 10 10 44

West Carter Adkins 7-0-17, Bear 4-3-11, Burchett 3-0-6, Gilliam 2-2-6, Haynes 0-1-1, Nichols 1-0-2, Stone 7-1-17, Ziegler 2-0-4, Totals 26-7-64.

Raceland Adkins 2-0-4, Boyd 0-3-3, Collins 3-3-11, Curley 2-1-5, Flocker 1-1-4, Garvin 1-1-3, Maynard 1-0-2, Runyon 4-2-10, S. West 1-0-2, Totals 15-11-44.

3-Point Goals West Carter 5 (Adkins 3, Stone 2); Raceland 3 (Collins 2, Flocker).

Records West Carter 17-12, Raceland 5-20.

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Strong second half leads Lady Comets to 64-44 victory - Journal-Times

Phantoms outpace Comets in Sunday matinee – Utica Observer Dispatch

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The Comets peppered Alex Lyon and the Phantoms with a season-most 47 shots Sunday, but those quality chances werent quite enough to get past the American Hockey Leagues highest scoring team.

UTICA The Utica Comets had their chances against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

The Comets peppered Alex Lyon and the Phantoms with a season-most 47 shots Sunday, but couldnt cash in on those quality chances to get past the American Hockey Leagues highest scoring team.

Instead, the Phantoms broke a tie game with two quick goals early in the third period to skate past the Comets for a 7-4 victory on Sunday afternoon in an intense, back-and-forth affair in front of another announced capacity crowd of 3,870 at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.

"You get 47 shots, youre doing a lot of good things," said Comets coach Travis Green, whose team allowed two empty-netters late. "We had some good chances. The pucks just arent going in the way we want."

Cody Kunyk continued a recent hot streak with a shorthanded goal and an assist and Jordan Subban, Andrey Pedan and Alex Grenier also scored for the Comets, who had more than 40 shots for the second time in a week. Rookie Thatcher Demko totaled 26 saves for the Comets.

"It is a tough one to lose," said Grenier, whose 15 goals tie him for the team lead. "Obviously, its hard for us. Especially with all the bounces we arent getting."

It equaled another tough loss for the Comets (20-23-6-2, 48 points), who had two leads erased by the Phantoms. The matchup continued a busy stretch for Utica, which remains outside of a playoff spot in the North Division with 25 games remaining. The Comets, who are 2-7-1-1 in their last 11 games, play a total five contests in seven days.

"You cant sit there and start counting games. Its too early for that," Green said. "You cant accept (the loss). We have to come back and put our work boots on."

Lyon, who had allowed two goals in two previous starts against the Comets, finished with 43 saves and T.J. Brennan scored three goals to help pace the Phantoms (34-16-2-0).

First period

The Comets and Phantoms combined for 25 shots in a physical and intense opening frame.

Utica took a 1-0 with help from a patient Borna Rendulic, who has figured into the first goal in each of the last four games. On the play, Rendulic broke in on the left side and found a streaking Subban in the right circle, where the defenseman fired over Lyons glove for his 11th of the season with 4:57 remaining.

Second period

The teams combined for five goals in a wild frame. The Comets had leads of 2-0 and 3-2, but the Phantoms answered.

Three goals were scored less than two minutes apart early with Pedans fourth of the season a blast from the left side of the blue line giving the Comets a two-goal lead with 14:31 remaining.

However, Lehigh Valley countered with a power-play goal and an even-strength tally 54 seconds apart soon after to draw even.

Green said the Comets, who allowed two power-play goals on six opportunities, took too many penalties against one of the leagues power-play top teams.

"Its hard sometimes to stay out of the box," Grenier said. "We cant give them that many chances."

Special teams played a role later in goals scored 26 seconds apart. With Joseph LaBate in the box, Pascal Pelletier sprinted down the right side and backhanded the puck to a streaking Kunyk, who tipped it in the puck with 2:09 left.

Lehigh Valley answered again when Brennans power-play blast with 1:43 remaining knotted the game at 3.

Third period

The offense continued with the teams combining for 30 shots.

The Phantoms took control on goals less than a minute apart by Robert Haag which gave the team their first lead -- and Brennan about seven minutes in.

The Comets, who totaled 16 shots in the period, answered soon after on the power play with 12:26 left. Grenier ended an eight-game goalless streak when he scored from the right circle to make it 5-4.

The game remained that way until late when Demko was pulled and the Phantoms added two empty-net goals to seal the victory.

"Its a hard deficit to come back, especially against a team like that," Grenier said.

Up next

The Comets hit the road for a rare Monday afternoon game when they take on the Albany Devils at 1 p.m. at the Times Union Center. The meeting is the first between the North Division teams since Jan. 6 in Utica. The Comets, who won that game, are 3-2 against the Devils this season.

Notes: Sundays game was the 81st consecutive sellout for the Comets, though there were a few unfilled seats throughout the Aud. Demko also added his third assist of the season on Greniers goal. New Hartfords Mike Zalewski was not in the lineup Sunday due to an injury. He is day-to-day, according to Green. Derek Hulak (31 consecutive games) and John Negrin (18 consecutive games) remain out of the lineup with injuries. Former NHL star John LeClair was at Sundays game. LeClair and Comets president Robert Esche were teammates while playing for the Philadelphia Flyers.

Phantoms 7, Comets 4

Lehigh Valley 0 3 4 7

Utica 1 2 1 4

1st Period-1, Utica, Subban 11 (Rendulic, Carcone), 15:03. Penalties-Pedan Uti (slashing), 8:25; Brennan Lv (slashing), 8:53; Uti (bench minor - too many men), 12:22; Virtanen Uti (slashing), 15:08; Zengerle Lv (hooking), 16:17. 2nd Period-2, Utica, Pedan 4 (Virtanen, Kunyk), 5:29. 3, Lehigh Valley, Conner 16 (Knight, Miele), 6:20 (PP). 4, Lehigh Valley, Hagg 6 (Morin, Fazleev), 7:14. 5, Utica, Kunyk 8 (Pelletier, Shields), 17:51 (SH). 6, Lehigh Valley, Brennan 15 (Sanheim, Martel), 18:17 (PP). Penalties-Hamilton Uti (holding), 6:11; O'Neill Lv (slashing, roughing), 14:05; LaBate Uti (cross-checking), 14:05; Morin Lv (boarding), 15:48; LaBate Uti (holding), 16:38; Hagg Lv (interference), 19:47. 3rd Period-7, Lehigh Valley, Hagg 7 (Laughton), 5:34. 8, Lehigh Valley, Brennan 16 (Conner, Carey), 6:28. 9, Utica, Grenier 15 (McEneny, Demko), 7:34 (PP). 10, Lehigh Valley, Brennan 17 (Lyon), 18:25 (EN). 11, Lehigh Valley, Bardreau 8 (McDonald), 19:48 (EN). Penalties-Aube-Kubel Lv (hooking), 6:33; Subban Uti (hooking), 9:47; Hagg Lv (unsportsmanlike conduct), 12:32; Archibald Uti (unsportsmanlike conduct), 12:32; McDonald Lv (diving/embellishment), 17:41; Robak Uti (slashing), 17:41. Shots on Goal-Lehigh Valley 12-7-14-33. Utica 13-18-16-47. Power Play Opportunities-Lehigh Valley 2 / 6; Utica 1 / 6. Goalies-Lehigh Valley, Lyon 21-10-2 (47 shots-43 saves). Utica, Demko 9-11-4 (31 shots-26 saves). A-3,870 Referees-Peter Tarnaris (17), Tim Mayer (19). Linesmen-Matt Brady (86), Francois Dussureault (60).

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Phantoms outpace Comets in Sunday matinee - Utica Observer Dispatch

Wave 7, Comets 5: Able to maintain its edge – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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special to the journal sentinel Published 11:51 p.m. CT Feb. 18, 2017 | Updated 24 hours ago

Indoor soccer(Photo: Getty Images)

The Milwaukee Wave scored three straight goals in the second period, then stayed a step ahead of the Kansas City Comets the rest of the way in earning a 7-5 win and clinching a playoff spot Saturday night at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

The Comets took a 3-2 advantage in the second quarter on a goal by Ignacio Flores.

But Hans Dinessen, Max Ferdinand and Ian Bennett found the goal before the end of the quarter, with Bennetts tally coming 4 seconds before the break, to put the Wave in charge, 5-3.

In the second half, the Wave always had an answer for Kansas City.

First Brian Harris drew the Comets within one at 4:29 of the third with a goal, but Ferdinand restored the Waves two-goal cushion at the 14:34 mark.

Harris once again drew Kansas City within one with 41 seconds left, but Bennetts empty-net goal with 17 seconds left iced it.

Kansas City 1 2 1 1 5 Milwaukee 2 3 1 1 7

First quarter 1, KC, Rodriguez (Flores), 8:10. 2, MIL, Nelson (Mattos), 12:02. 3, MIL, Sobreira (Ferdinand), 14:49. Penalties MIL, Hayne (foul), 1:21; MIL, Leite (foul), 2:33; MIL, Ferdinand (foul), 8:41; KC, Sinclair (foul), 9:33; KC, Sosa (foul), 11:58; MIL, Rampa (foul), 13:44.

Second quarter 4, KC, Pino (Paterson), :42. 5, KC, Flores (Adan), 6:09. 6, MIL, Denissen (Grable), 11:34. 7, MIL, Ferdinand (Leite), 13:46. 8, MIL, Bennett (Ferdinand), 14:56. Penalties KC, Palmer (foul), 2:06; KC, Sosa (foul), 10:37; MIL, Ruggles (foul), 11:10; KC, Palmer (foul), 11:55; KC, Flores (foul), 12:59; KC, Sinclair (foul), 14:23; KC, Matingou (delay of game), 14:56.

Third quarter 9, KC, Harris (Palmer), 4:29. 10, MIL, Ferdinand, 14:34. Penalties KC, Rodriguez (foul), 2:07; KC, Harris (foul), 3:43; MIL, Hayne (too many men), 7:08; KC, Sinclair (foul), 9:56; KC, Palmer (foul), 11:18.

Fourth quarter 11, KC, Harris (Palmer), 14:19. 12, MIL, Bennett, 14:43. Penalties KC, Sosa (foul), :09; KC, Sosa (foul), :58; MIL, Vandegriffe (foul), 1:05; KC, Sosa (foul), 6:50; MIL, Chamale (foul), 9:01; MIL, Grable (foul), 10:10; MIL, Sobreira (foul), 11:41; MIL, Bennett (foul), 14:11.

Shots on goal KC 26; MIL 19. Saves KC, Paterson 7; MIL, Lemos 14. Power plays KC 0 for 0; MIL 0 for 0. A 3,525. T 2:04.

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Wave 7, Comets 5: Able to maintain its edge - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

‘Closing Borders Risks Jobs,’ World Travel & Tourism Council Warns US Administration at Routes – MENAFN.COM

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MENAFN Press - 19/02/2017 (MENAFN Editorial) "The United States is in danger of taking the same path it took after the 9/11 terror attacks, which led to a decade of economic stagnation in the travel and tourism sector," were the powerful warning words from David Scowsill, President and CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), while speaking at the Routes Americas aviation conference in Las Vegas today (14 February).

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150730/250177LOGO )

"The Trump Administration is in danger of steering the country in the same direction, which could have a huge impact on the country's travel and tourism sector, which generates over 8% of the country's GDP and supports nearly 10% of total employment in the US."

Scowsill spoke directly at the Administration during his speech, offering five pieces of advice to the President's advisors:

"Travel and tourism thrives by breaking down barriers, not building them; by making it easier for people to travel, not applying blanket bans. Our sector bridges divides between cultures, fosters understanding across religious and geographic boundaries. It is a massive generator of jobs and economic growth," Scowsill concluded.

Routes Americas 2017, 14-16 February, ARIA Resort and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada.

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'Closing Borders Risks Jobs,' World Travel & Tourism Council Warns US Administration at Routes - MENAFN.COM

SLO County couple sold everything, including their home. Now they travel the world. – The San Luis Obispo Tribune

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The San Luis Obispo Tribune
SLO County couple sold everything, including their home. Now they travel the world.
The San Luis Obispo Tribune
Richard and Kathy Howe have traveled the world full time in their motor home for the past 15 years. They have visited 48 states, 12 provinces and territories across Canada, most of Mexico and more than 50 countries on four continents outside of North ...

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SLO County couple sold everything, including their home. Now they travel the world. - The San Luis Obispo Tribune

Stem Cell Therapy, Surgery, Transplant & Treatment | Stem Cell

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The body of man [is] Gods drug-store and [has] in it all liquids, drugs, lubricating oils, opiates, acids, and anti-acids, and every sort of drug that the wisdom of God thought necessary for human happiness and health.

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Stem Cells in the news

How common is back pain? Back pain is incredibly common. It can impact anyone. However, there are factors that increase your risks of developing back pain. Age. Although people of all

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Every now and again, the news will mention regenerative medicine. This term may be confusing, as its often not explained in any detail. Most stories that are exciting enough for

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OSTEOARTHRITIS What is osteoarthritis? Also known as degenerative joint disease, osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis. Cartilage functions as your bodys natural shock absorbers. This slippery material at the ends

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Regenerative medicine is a game-changing field thats full potential is only just now beginning to come to light. If you follow the news about stem celltreatments, it feels like some

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Stem Cell therapy is future of anti-ageing – Bangalore Mirror

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Chronological aging shows the natural life cycle of the cells as opposed to cells that have been unnaturally replicated multiple times or otherwise manipulated in a lab.

In order to preserve the cells in their natural state, Penn researchers developed a system to collect and store them without manipulating them, making them available for this study. They found stem cells collected directly from human fat -- called adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) -- can make more proteins than originally thought. This gives them the ability to replicate and maintain their stability, a finding that held true in cells collected from patients of all ages.

Our study shows these cells are very robust, even when they are collected from older patients, said Ivona Percec, MD, director of Basic Science Research in the Center for Human Appearance and the studys lead author. It also shows these cells can be potentially used safely in the future, because they require minimal manipulation and maintenance.

Stem cells are currently used in a variety of anti-aging treatments and are commonly collected from a variety of tissues. But Percecs team specifically found ASCs to be more stable than other cells, a finding that can potentially open the door to new therapies for the prevention and treatment of aging-related diseases.

Unlike other adult human stem cells, the rate at which these ASCs multiply stays consistent with age, Percec said.

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Stem Cell therapy is future of anti-ageing - Bangalore Mirror

The Spirituality of Wine – Patheos (blog)

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Im again reading through Gisela Kreglingers bookThe Spirituality of Wine, and it is a terrific read.

The chapter begins with the words, Wine is a great mystery and a profound gift. And while one might think that the Bible would speak against the desire and temptations of wine, it speaks far more of its enjoyment. She write:Many learned women and men have marveled at this lavish gift of God and have put their delight and gratitude into poetry, song, and reflections. It should not surprise Christians that win features so prominently in the Bible, but it often does surprise people, especially those in religiosu communities that view alcohol in negative terms only. She points out that the spread of Christianity in western Europe coincided with the spread of viticulture, many monastries specialized in wine production.

Kreglinger maps the origins of viticulture in the ancient near east, Greece, and Palestine. She surveys wine in the Bible, noting claims that it is a gift of God, its use as a medicine and metaphor, and its role in eschatology.

This is a book to read with some pasta, a glass of rot wein, and a comfy chair!

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The Spirituality of Wine - Patheos (blog)

5 Spiritual Habits That Will Change Your Life – Beliefnet

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Most people want to change their lives but few people actually do. The difference comes down to the power of habits. Habits govern our lives and allow us to engage in a multitude of daily tasks without overloading our cerebral circuitry. Over the past few decades, advancing science in brain research has given us untold insight into how God has hardwired us when it comes to habits, especially how to start, stop and change habits.

For instance, every habit has a cue, a routine, and a reward. If your habit is to go to the gym after work, then your cue is when that clock hits 5:00 pm. Your body begins to anticipate a good work out. After the routine of an hour at the gym, your body feels energized and refreshed, flowing with positive chemicals released throughout the body. If you want to start, stop, or change a habit, you need to deal with cues and rewards. If you want to refresh your soul and take your faith to new heights, here are five spiritual habits that will change your life.

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SpaceX rocket heads for International Space Station – Press Herald

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. A SpaceX rocket soared from NASAs long-idled moonshot pad Sunday, sending up space station supplies from the exact spot where astronauts embarked on the lunar landings nearly a half-century ago.

It was the first flight from NASAs legendary Launch Complex 39A since the shuttle program ended almost six years ago, and SpaceXs first liftoff from Florida since a rocket explosion last summer.

The crowds at Kennedy Space Center watched eagerly as the unmanned Falcon 9 rocket took flight with a cargo ship bound for the International Space Station. They got barely 10 seconds of viewing before clouds swallowed up the Falcon as it thundered skyward.

As a special treat, SpaceX landed its leftover booster back at Cape Canaveral eight minutes after liftoff, a feat accomplished only twice before. Most of SpaceXs eight successful booster landings have used ocean platforms. As they did during the shuttle era, sonic booms heralded Sundays return.

SpaceX employees at company flight headquarters in Southern California cheered as the 15-story booster landed upright at its designated parking spot at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

SpaceX chief Elon Musk celebrated the successful touchdown via Twitter. Baby came back, he tweeted.

The celebratory roar grew when the Dragon cargo ship successfully reached orbit a couple of minutes later. It will reach the space station Wednesday, delivering 5,500 pounds of food, clothes and experiments.

It was SpaceXs second launch attempt in a row. Saturdays effort was foiled by last-minute rocket concerns. The repairs paid off, and even the clouds parted enough to ensure a safe flight.

Musk said hes honored to use Launch Complex 39A. The company hopes to launch astronauts from this spot next year, bringing U.S. crew launches back to home soil after a longer-than-intended hiatus. SpaceX Mars missions, first robots and then people, could follow from here.

If the pad weathered Sundays launch well, another Falcon could be standing there for a satellite send-up in just two weeks.

Kennedy Space Centers director Robert Cabana, a former shuttle commander who flew four times from 39A, is thrilled to see the pad used for commercial flights like this instead of just sitting out there and rusting away. Its a stark contrast, he noted, to the depression that followed the final shuttle mission in 2011.

It was a momentous comeback for SpaceX. The last time SpaceX had a rocket ready to fly from Cape Canaveral, it blew up on a neighboring pad during prelaunch testing on Sept. 1. Although the company successfully returned to flight last month from California, the focus was on getting leased Launch Complex 39A ready for action given that the pad with the accident was left unusable. The damaged pad should be back in action later this year.

Built in the mid-1960s for the massive Saturn V moon rockets, Launch Complex 39A has now seen 95 launches. Apollo 11s Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins left Earth from here on July 16, 1969, on the first moon-landing mission. The first space shuttle pilots, John Young and Robert Crippen, soared from here on April 12, 1981.

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SpaceX rocket heads for International Space Station - Press Herald

Craft Academy experiment on its way to space station – The Independent

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MOREHEAD A biology experiment spearheaded by two Craft Academy students at Morehead State University is en route to the International Space Station.

From the same launch pad that propelled the first moonwalkers in 1969, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took off for orbit Sunday morning inside, 5,500 pounds of resupply cargo and an experiment that began in a biology classroom at MSU.

The International Space Station introduces a really new and exciting platform for us to use for biology research in microgravity, said Danielle Gibson, a student enrolled in the universitys Craft Academy.

She and Will Casto are seniors in the program, which allows select high school students to take college courses full-time. Their undertaking, involving the effect of microgravity conditions on smooth muscle cells, could give health researchers a better understanding of issues that have a big impact on Kentucky and the Appalachian region.

Smooth muscle lines are arteries and veins, so it plays an important role in conditions such as hypertension and, as we all know here in Eastern Kentucky, hypertension is a very prevalent issue facing Appalachia and its people, Gibson explained.

Both students attended Sundays launch in Florida.

The Space X Falcon rocket launches Sunday, Feb. 19, 2017, from the Kennedy Space Centers Launch Complex 39A. (Handout Photo/Space X)

According to a 2015 report from the United Health Foundation, hypertension, otherwise known as high blood pressure, plagues 40.3 percent of males and 37.9 percent of females in Kentucky.

The better we understand the contraction and the contractile mechanisms, the better we can manipulate it and control it hopefully for the benefit of not only Kentuckians, but for people across the globe, Casto said.

ORLANDO, Fla. The payload Will Casto travel to Florida to see blasted into space is about ha

The students started the project about a year ago with Dr. Michael Fultz, biology professor and health researcher at MSU.

This is truly original research that may pave the way for potential drug development later down the road, Fultz said.

WATCH THE ROCKET LAUNCH!

Jennifer Carter, assistant director of academic services for Craft Academy, connected the trio with Space Tango, a Lexington-based research institute that designed and engineered the containment vessel for the experiment.

[It was] a couple of students taking the initiative with a professor and then coming to me and asking how they could make their research work, and I said lets put it in space, Carter said.

The rocket launched at 9:39 a.m. from Launch Complex 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It was scheduled for a 10:01 a.m. takeoff on Saturday, but was delayed due to launch concerns. It is expected to reach the ISS Wednesday.

Jacob Lindberg is a Morehead State convergent media student and staff reporter for the Trail Blazer

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Craft Academy experiment on its way to space station - The Independent