Boulder’s NCAR boasts powerful new supercomputer at Wyoming site – Boulder Daily Camera

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In the fall of 2016, the new Cheyenne supercomputer was installed at the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center. This is a video screen grab.

Key projects at Boulder's National Center for Atmospheric Research will now be supported by a powerful new supercomputer capable of more than three times the amount of scientific computing performed by its predecessor.

The new cyber-wonder is called Cheyenne, and it takes its name from Cheyenne, Wyo., the city where it is housed within the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center.

Projects that will be supported by the new supercomputer include studies of wind energy, long-range, seasonal-to-decadal forecasting, extreme weather, climate engineering and space weather, giving scientists a better understanding of solar disturbances that can affect the operation of power grids, satellites and global communications.

"Cheyenne will help us advance the knowledge needed for saving lives, protecting property and enabling U.S. businesses to better compete in the global marketplace," Antonio Busalacchi, president of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, said in a prepared statement. "This system is turbocharging our science."

NCAR is managed by UCAR on behalf of the National Science Foundation.

Cheyenne is one of the world's most energy-efficient and powerful supercomputers, a 5.34-petaflop system capable of more than triple the amount of scientific computing than that performed by Yellowstone, which was NCAR's previous supercomputer. Additionally, it is three times more energy efficient.

A petaflop is the ability of a computer to perform one quadrillion floating point operations per second. Cheyenne is currently the 20th-fastest supercomputer in the world and the fastest in the mountain west.

Since the 2012 opening of the NCAR-Wyoming Super Computing Center, more than 2,200 scientists from over 300 universities and federal laboratories have used it, according to a news release.

Charlie Brennan: 303-473-1327, brennanc@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/chasbrennan

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Scholar of spirituality: Frederick imam seeks to educate, learn about religion – Frederick News Post (subscription)

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By age 10, Imam Bilal Malik had memorized the Quran.

His desire to earn the highly respected honor of Hafiz the Arabic term for someone who has memorized the Quran stemmed from sibling rivalry. His older brother achieved the same honor when he was 12 years old.

It was more like a competition, Malik recalled in an interview Wednesday. His motivations for study have changed, but the holy book remains an integral part of his life.

His rsum boasts an impressive array of academic and religious accomplishments, knowledge of world religions and fluency in multiple languages. He earned two masters degrees from The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan. He taught world religions at universities and colleges in Pakistan and since moving to the United States in 2000. At the same time, hes devoted himself to spirituality as an imam to communities across the country.

Since 2015, Malik has served as the religious leader for the Islamic Society of Frederick. He teaches the messages of the Quran in prayer and sermons at the masjid, Frederick Countys only mosque, as well as in community events throughout the county. He has also continued academic studies and hopes this year to complete his doctorate at the Islamic University of Minnesota.

Malik, a Pakistani native who spent much of his childhood in Saudi Arabia, named his father as the inspiration for his spiritual and scholarly devotion.

I was going into medical life, he recalled of his original career aspirations. [My father] saved a lot of lives, at least physically.

Adopting a more serious tone, Malik explained how his fathers academic background shaped him and his seven siblings. His father, a renowned scholar in Pakistan and across the Middle East, frequently engaged his children in philosophical discussions about daily life and politics.

Literally, we got inspired by him, Malik said. He was to me not just my father, he was my mentor as well.

It was his fathers influence that awakened his desire to study and to share the teachings of the Quran.

His father also guided Maliks exploration of Sufism, the mystical element of Islam. Malik likened Sufism to Buddhism in their shared emphasis on meditation as a way to connect to ones soul and in turn, to higher power.

The sudden death of his father, who was killed by terrorists in Pakistan in 2002, further fueled Maliks pursuit of knowledge for both academic and spiritual purposes. Extremists shot his father as a statement against his fathers plans to open a religious and welfare center in Pakistan.

Their interpretation of Islam was misguided, Malik explained. He described other acts of extreme violence and terrorism committed in the name of Islam as the result of misunderstanding of the religions core teachings.

These extremists are heinous criminals, not true followers of Islam, he said. Islam is a religion of peace and harmony, evidenced in the traditional greeting of peace be upon you, Malik said.

But like any other religion or set of beliefs, it can become misinterpreted when believers stray from the original teachings.

The problem today ... they are not aware of their own message, he said. Most of the time, we are not educated through our books.

Shariah law, for example, is not a horrifying, extremist doctrine, according to the Quran. Shariah law is divine law, brought from God by his messengers prophets like Abraham, Noah, Muhammed and Jesus.

Every good Christian is practicing Shariah of Jesus, he said.

The Abrahamic religions in particular share many similarities, like branches of the same tree, he said.

But there are differences, too. Respect for those differences is equally important, Malik said.

As leader of the Islamic Society of Frederick, he has spoken at churches and participated in interfaith community events. He emphasized that he does not want to impose Islam on anyone, but to lay out its tenets and let people make their own decisions.

Freedoms of religion and speech are liberties he holds dear compared to the more restrictive environment of Saudi Arabia, which he likened to a bigger jail. Even Pakistan, a democratic parliamentary republic, is not truly representative of its people, he said.

His faith in the democratic process has provided solace amid national dialogue and policies targeting the Muslim community.

Asked about his reaction to the November election, he maintained his conviction that democracy will prevail.

He pointed to the temporary restraining order a federal judge issued on President Donald Trumps controversial Muslim ban as evidence of the democratic process at work. He disagreed with the ban, calling it a violation of religious liberties, but felt reassured that the democratic system would not allow it to continue.

Muslims in Frederick and across the country feel afraid, he said, but that should not force them into hiding. We need to be optimistic, he said. There is no other way.

In his experience, the Frederick community has welcomed him and fellow Muslims. He has never been attacked or vilified for his religion here, he said.

He was once the subject of vitriolic comments because of his religion when he lived in Memphis, Tennessee. He handled the situation peacefully, he said. He also began meeting regularly with the person who made the comments. He chalked up the initial attack to fear and misunderstanding.

Once people know the truth, once they are guided, then they are not going to hate you, he said. We must turn on the light, let people be out of the darkness.

Humble, progressive and very smart were among the words Dr. Syed Haque, president of the Frederick County Muslim Council, used to describe Malik.

He was exactly what we were looking for, he said of Maliks leadership for the Muslim community.

It was at the invitation of the Islamic Society that Malik moved to Frederick. Previously, he had served the Muslim community in Memphis, and before that, in Orlando, Florida.

Maliks teachings have been particularly instrumental for Frederick Muslims struggling to reconcile the conservative teachings of their faith with their modern identities as Americans, Haque said. Instead of shying away from these topics, Malik has addressed them head on.

He takes the basic curriculum, but he also tells us how to live in this country, Haque explained. Thats what we need.

Follow Nancy Lavin on Twitter: @NancyKLavin.

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"The Shack" author to talk spirituality at Lifetree – Petoskey News-Review

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BOYNE CITY William Paul Young, best known as the author of The Shack, will discuss the difference between being spiritual and being religious in a filmed interview, Spiritual but Not Religious, at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 19, at Lifetree Caf.

Nearly 30 percent of Americans identify themselves as spiritual but not religious, and the trend is growing. Youngs best-seller has prompted a national discussion of the difference between spirituality and religion.

I make a distinction between the church as an organization and the church as people, says Young. Biblically speaking, the church is people. Its only people. They didnt have the buildings, the structures, or platforms. Its simply people.

Admission to the 60-minute event is free. Lifetree Caf is located 401 S. Park St., Boyne City.

Lifetree Caf is a place where people gather for conversation about life and faith in a casual, comfortable setting. Questions about Lifetree may be directed to Julie Hasse at (231) 582-7983 or Lifetree@fpboyne.org.

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Economism Dampens The Revolutionary Spirit Of Marxism – South Asian Link

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By Dr. Sawraj Singh

We were in the Periyar National Park in Kerala taking the early morning boat trip. We met two young German girls. They told us that they were doing doctorate in philosophy in a German university. We invited them to join us for breakfast in our hotel. We started talking about Marxism. They told us that the biggest reason for the set back to Marxism in Europe was that for all practical purposes, Marxism was limited to economism and had lost its human aspect. They felt that only 50% of Marxism was economics and the other 50% was focused on alienation of people brought by capitalism. Once Marxism was reduced to only economism, it lost its revolutionary spirit and became ineffective. I was surprised to see these girls in their twenties understand Marxism better than many seasoned Marxists in Punjab. I was addressing a group of intellectuals in Ludhiana, the biggest city in Punjab. I was talking about fusing Marxism with Sikhism so that we can find some common ground between the two major intellectual groups in Punjab, the Marxists and the Sikh intellectuals. A university professor said that he has twenty five Marxist friends. All of these friends settled their children in America. He said that he had to conclude from this that American capitalist system works better than Marxism and Marxism has failed. I answered that it is not Marxism but the Marxists who have failed. They have not grasped the essence of Marxism which is revolutionary humanism. Marx and Engels were dedicated humanists who were very concerned about the degradation and the dehumanization brought about by capitalism. They presented their theory as a solution for the degeneration of the society as well as of the human relations and the human values as a result of the unbridled greed of capitalism. Some of our comrades have become great admirers of the western capitalism for keeping the western cities so clean and for maintaining law and order. However, Marx and Engels were living in the nineteenth century Europe. There are some written accounts about the filth in the European cities at that time. One could not walk through those cities without soiling ones shoes with human excreta and urine. As far as the respect of the law and order shown by the capitalists at that time, again there are some accounts about the capitalists hiring goons and bullies who herded the people and forced them to work in their factories without any compensation and without providing any living accommodation to these people. These people lived on the street and used the roads as toilets. We can get some idea about this phenomenon by looking at the railway tracks in some of the Indian cities where people still use them as toilet facilities. The railway lines were not available in the earlier part of the nineteenth century in Europe as the railways came to Europe in the later part of the nineteenth century. Because of these unsanitary conditions in Europe, epidemics of infectious diseases were very common at that time. It was the result of the struggle by the working class that the capitalists agreed to provide basic amenities to the workers. This struggle was inspired by the ideas of thinkers like Marx and Engels. However, the capitalists cleaned the people only physically. Mentally, people have become more polluted. They are more selfish, greedier, more impatient, more intolerable and more arrogant. Their physical health might have improved? Their mental health has become much worse. Fear, insecurity and anxiety are hall marks of capitalism. All these push people to depression. Depression is so prevalent in capitalist system that it is hard to find a person who has no symptom of depression at all. We only call those people depressed whose depression is so severe that they are having difficulty to cope with it. There are many more who are somehow coping with their depression, with medications or with homemade remedies. Besides antidepressants, people are using sleeping medications and anti anxiety medications. Out of the home made remedies, alcohol is the most commonly mistakenly tried for depression. Actually, alcohol is a depressant and makes depression worse. Alcohol is becoming very popular in the Punjabi community and is widely abused to cope with stress. Many Punjabi women in the western have also started drinking alcohol. Even in Punjab it is no longer a rarity to see women drinking. I have personally witnessed many tragedies, both in North America and Punjab, when alcohol was consumed to fight depression. Some Marxists or pseudo Marxists have either mistakenly or deliberately distorted Marxism and reduced it to economism. However, the Sikh philosophy is very clear that material wealth alone cannot bring happiness. According to Sri Guru Granth Sahib, if you have too much material wealth then you live in the fear and anxiety of losing it and if you do not have enough then you wander around to get it. True happiness comes from a balanced state. True happiness cannot be obtained by collecting more wealth or by watching dances and plays (entertainment), or by increasing your land and property. True happiness comes by singing praises of God (spiritual enlightenment). In the present context we can include TV, movies, smart phones, computers and internet in the category of entertainment. However, the message of Sri Guru Granth Sahib will remain eternal that true happiness will come from a balance between the material and spiritual aspects of life.

Dr. Sawraj Singh, MD F.I.C.S. is the Chairman of the Washington State Network for Human Rights and Chairman of the Central Washington Coalition for Social Justice. He can be reached at sawrajsingh@hotmail.com.

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Economism Dampens The Revolutionary Spirit Of Marxism - South Asian Link

Incredible video captured on the International Space Station stuns the world – BABW News

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Something absolutely mind-blowing happened on the International Space Station recently, and fortunately, video captured it all. Researchers on the ISS were able to catch the rare moment when blue lightning filled a storm cloud far below, and you can watch the video below.

Blue flashes are rare to see from the ground, as they typically happen high in the sky above the thunderstorms. Researchers pointed a special camera at the clouds in order to better study them, and they were rewarded with some amazing footage.

The results were provided to the National Space Institute in Denmark, which is making them public. These massive blue flashes of lightning are believed to happen at around 18 kilometers above the ground. One flash spanned 40 kilometers in length.

Heres what NOAA says about lightning.

What is lightning? Lightning is a giant spark of electricity in the atmosphere between clouds, the air, or the ground. In the early stages of development, air acts as an insulator between the positive and negative charges in the cloud and between the cloud and the ground. When the opposite charges builds up enough, this insulating capacity of the air breaks down and there is a rapid discharge of electricity that we know as lightning. The flash of lightning temporarily equalizes the charged regions in the atmosphere until the opposite charges build up again.

Lightning can occur between opposite charges within the thunderstorm cloud (intra-cloud lightning) or between opposite charges in the cloud and on the ground (cloud-to-ground lightning).

Lightning is one of the oldest observed natural phenomena on earth. It can be seen in volcanic eruptions, extremely intense forest fires, surface nuclear detonations, heavy snowstorms, in large hurricanes, and obviously, thunderstorms. What are cloud flashes? A cloud flash is lightning that occurs inside the cloud, travels from one part of a cloud to another, or from the cloud to the air. What is a stepped leader? A stepped leader is a stream of weakly charged particles that flows from the cloud it moves towards the ground, starting and stopping, and sometimes branching, trying to find the path of least resistance. Is it possible to have thunder without lightning? No, it is not possible to have thunder without lightning. Thunder is a direct result of lightning. However, it IS possible that you might see lightning and not hear the thunder because it was too far away. Sometimes this is called heat lightning because it occurs most often in the summer. Is lightning always produced by a thunderstorm? Thunderstorms always have lightning (thunder is caused by lightning, and you cant have a thunderstorm without thunder), but you can have lightning without a thunderstorm. Lightning can also be seen in volcanic eruptions, extremely intense forest fires, surface nuclear detonations, and in heavy snowstorms. What causes thunder? Thunder is caused by lightning. The bright light of the lightning flash caused by the return stroke mentioned above represents a great deal of energy. This energy heats the air in the channel to above 50,000 degrees F in only a few millionths of a second! The air that is now heated to such a high temperature had no time to expand, so it is now at a very high pressure. The high pressure air then expands outward into the surrounding air compressing it and causing a disturbance that propagates in all directions away from the stroke. The disturbance is a shock wave for the first 10 yards, after which it becomes an ordinary sound wave, or thunder. Thunder can seem like it goes on and on because each point along the channel produces a shock wave and sound wave. What is dry lightning? Dry lightning is lightning that occurs without rain nearby. The NOAA Storm Prediction Center routinely forecasts dry lightning because this kind is more likely to cause forest fires. What is a bolt from the blue? A Bolt from the Blue is a cloud-to-ground flash which typically comes out of the back side of the thunderstorm cloud, travels a relatively large distance in clear air away from the storm cloud, and then angles down and strikes the ground. These lightning flashes have been documented to travel more than 25 miles away from the thunderstorm cloud. They can be especially dangerous because they appear to come from clear blue sky.

A helmeted bicyclist experienced a lightning strike to the head under fair weather conditions with a cloudless sky. It was determined that the bolt probably originated in a thunderstorm that was about 16km away and obscured by mountains.

Lightning strikes the ground approximately 25 million times each year in the U.S. According to the NWS, the chance of an individual in the U.S. being killed or injured during a given year is one in 240,000. Assuming an average life-span of 80 years, a persons odds over their lifetime becomes one in 3000. Assuming the average person has ten family members and others with whom they are close, then the chances are one in 300 that a lightning strike will closely affect a person during their lifetime.

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Incredible video captured on the International Space Station stuns the world - BABW News

Commercial spaceflight sector receiving 10m UK government boost – Market Business News

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Her Majestys government plans to make 10 million of commercial spaceflight funding available to projects that will launch people and satellites into space from the United Kingdom. It is also introducing new legislation to regulate commercial spaceflight by 2020.

In a recent announcement about the plans, universities and science minister Jo Johnson says:

Spaceflight offers the UK the opportunity to build on our strengths in science, research and innovation. It provides opportunities to expand into new markets, creating highly-skilled jobs and boosting local economies across the country.

The UK government is inviting businesses developing spaceports and technology for operating commercial spaceflights to apply for funding assistance. Image is of United Kingdom seen from Sentinel-3A satellite Credit: ESA

Commercial spaceflight market 25 billion

Johnson says the commercial spaceflight market is estimated to be worth around 25 billion over the next 20 years and the governments ambition is for the UK to have 10 percent of the market by 2030.

Businesses developing spaceports and technology for operating commercial spaceflights are invited to submit proposals to access the funding.

In its call for proposals, the government says the aim is to make the UK the first country in Europe where operators can launch, horizontally or vertically, small satellites into orbit or sub-orbital flights for science and tourism.

Johnson says a dedicated Spaceflight Bill is also due to be published within the next few weeks.

Small satellite market growing

The global market for small satellites is developing rapidly. Clusters of hundreds of microsatellites are due to be launched over the next decade to provide telecommunications and enhanced imaging for a range of applications.

Plans at organizational, national and regional level are already forming to create the technology and low-cost services for putting these satellites into space.

For instance, 16 space agencies and universities from nine Asian countries including Japan recently formed an Asian microsatellite consortium.

Human spaceflight

Meanwhile, innovative companies are also working on affordable ways to put people into sub-orbital space whether for the purposes of scientific research, tourism, or high-speed travel.

One example is Virgin Galactic (VG), who recently carried out their first successful glide test of the VSS Unity, their first spaceship to be built in-house.

Eric Stallmer, president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation says the flight, which was completed at Mojave Air & Spaceport in California in the United States, brings VG one step closer to their goal of making access to space frequent and safe.

The government has set up a webpage for news, announcements, and guidance on commercial spaceflight in the UK.

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Belfast’s first ever Ginger Pride Festival brings redheads together – Belfast Live

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Redheads joined together in Belfast this afternoon to celebrate the city's first ever Ginger Pride Festival .

Hailed as the 'only redhead event in Ireland' in 2017, the carnival was enjoyed by a large number of flame-haired revellers and supporters.

They gathered at Aether & Echo in Belfast to enjoy the day's entertainment and craic, whilst also raising money for Cancer Focus NI.

Organiser Stevie McIntyre, formerly of Yelp, set up alternative events company Ginger Media NI in November to bring weird and wonderful events to Belfast.

And Saturday's Ginger Pride Festival was certainly wonderful.

There was a red themed menu on offer from Aether & Echo while ginger and carrot cocktails were also available to fit in with the theme.

The rally-goers enjoyed music performances and drinks demos, with organisers also picking a Ginger King, Queen and Child to be the face of the festival for 2018.

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Belfast's first ever Ginger Pride Festival brings redheads together - Belfast Live

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Rocket Stands Atop Historic NASA Launchpad for 1st Time – Space.com

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SpaceX is preparing to launch its Falcon 9 rocket from the historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket has gone vertical at NASA's historic Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) for the first time.

The California-based company is getting ready for a planned Feb. 18 liftoff from LC-39A, which is part of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Falcon 9 will blast SpaceX's robotic Dragon cargo capsule toward the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA, if all goes according to plan.

Over the years, Apollo moon missions and space shuttles lifted off from LC-39A. SpaceX signed a 20-year lease for the pad in 2014 and, after making some modifications, is now ready to start using it.

"This is the same launch pad used by the Saturn V rocket that first took people to the moon in 1969. We are honored to be allowed to use it," SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk posted on Instagram Friday (Feb. 10), along with a photo of the Falcon 9 at LC-39A.

The Feb. 18 launch will kick off SpaceX's 10th ISS resupply mission, during which Dragon will deliver more than 5,500 lbs. (2,500 kg) of scientific hardware and other cargo to the orbiting lab.

SpaceX plans to launch Falcon Heavy rockets as well as Falcon 9s from LC-39A. The Falcon Heavy is still in development; the booster's first flight should come sometime this year, Musk has said.

The last launch from LC-39A occurred in July 2011, when the orbiter Atlantis lifted off on the last-ever mission of NASA's space shuttle program.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter@michaeldwallandGoogle+.Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebookor Google+. Originally published onSpace.com.

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NASA Has Developed Electronics to Withstand the Toxic Hellhole That Is Venus – ScienceAlert

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Given that a return trip to Venus would be about 30 to 50 percent shorter than a round ticket to Mars, you might wonder why so much scientific effort revolves around getting us to the Red Planet, rather than exploring the second planet from the Sun.

Consider this: the longest-lasting probe that made it to the surface of Venus survived for a grand total of 2 hours and 7 minutes before its circuits were fried. Nope, Venus's scorchingly hot, corrosive, and heavy atmosphere isn't exactly inviting but new electronics developed by NASA could give us our best chance yet of studying this toxic hellhole up close.

Engineers at the space agency's Glenn Research Centre in Cleveland have come up with circuitry capable of lasting 100 times longer than previous Venus mission electronics.

That means we might finally have the technological basics for actually getting some long-lasting science done on the hottest planet in the Solar System, with an average surface temperature of 462 Celsius (863 Fahrenheit).

"If you look at Mars missions, there've been rovers on the surface getting all sorts of scientific data," NASA electronics engineer Philip Neudeck told Ryan F. Mandelbaum at Gizmodo.

"That dataset is totally missing from Venus, and that's because the electronics don't function on Venus."

While Venus's skies are made up of clouds of sulphuric acid, the real problem for sensors on the ground is the blistering surface temperature, along with the oppressively dense pressure of the planet's atmosphere.

Venus has a high-pressure carbon dioxide atmosphere, which offers more than 90 times the atmospheric pressure at Earth's surface. That means just standing on the surface of Venus would be comparable to the pressure you'd find 900 metres (3,000 feet) underwater on Earth.

With the dual challenges of insane pressure and scorching heat, regular electronics just wouldn't cut it on Venus, so previous Soviet missions to the surface have used thermal and pressure-resistant vessels equipped with hermetically sealed chambers to try to keep lander circuitry as cool as possible.

But the fact that 127 minutes was the survival record up until now set by the Soviet Venera 13 probe in 1982 shows a whole new approach is required.

To that end, the Glenn Research Centre engineers have developed semiconductor integrated circuits from extremely durable silicon carbide.

The integrated circuit before (above) and after (below) testing. Credit: NASA

Silicon carbide chips have very high heat resistance, whereas conventional silicon chips are only good up to about 250 Celsius (482 Fahrenheit) at which point there's so much energy in the system that electrons behave erratically, meaning the silicon effectively ceases to function as a semiconductor.

To test the new circuitry, the researchers put a pair of the silicon carbide chips in the Glenn Extreme Environments Rig (GEER) an 800-litre chamber that basically works like a hellish oven to accurately recreate the extreme heat and pressure of Venus's atmosphere.

The integrated circuits managed to withstand these pseudo-Venus conditions for 521 hours, a 100-fold improvement on previous tests.

"We demonstrated vastly longer electrical operation with chips directly exposed no cooling and no protective chip packaging to a high-fidelity physical and chemical reproduction of Venus' surface atmosphere," Neudeck says in a press release.

"And both integrated circuits still worked after the end of the test."

It's an impressive result, following on from previous NASA tests with similar silicon carbide integrated circuits, which showed the chips could survive more than 1,000 hours at 500 Celsius (932 Fahrenheit) with Earth's level of atmospheric pressure.

While NASA's current ambitions to explore Venus were put on hold recently in favour of other research missions, it's encouraging to know that studying this tantalising but terrifying planet is now at least technologically feasible.

"No one has ever made circuits run in this environment at this temperature for this long," Neudeck told Gizmodo.

"It really opens up a whole new way of doing Venus missions."

The findings are reported in AIP Advances.

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NASA update: Mars projects at Michoud Facility appear undamaged by tornado – WGNO

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WGNO
NASA update: Mars projects at Michoud Facility appear undamaged by tornado
WGNO
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) NASA says the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft being built at the Michoud Facility in New Orleans East do not appear to be damaged after Tuesday's tornado. NASA crews have assessed the hardware of the two Mars ...

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Scientists Devise New Platform to Overcome the Limits of MRI Contrast Agents – Scicasts (press release) (blog)

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Daejeon, Korea (Scicasts) A research team led by CHEON Jinwoo at the Center for Nanomedicine, within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), developed the Nano MRI Lamp: A new technology platform that tunes the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signals "ON" only in the presence of the targeted disease.

Published in Nature Materials, this study can overcome the limitations of existing MRI contrast agents.

MRI is an increasingly popular non-invasive technique for diagnosis and, importantly, does not use harmful radiation. Some tissues show a natural contrast on MRI, but for some specific types of imaging, patients are administered a MRI contrast agent to enhance the difference between the target area and the rest of the body. "Typical MRI contrast agents, like gadolinium, are injected in an "ON" state and distributed across the whole biological system with relatively large background signal," explains Director Cheon. "We found a new principle to switch the MRI contrast agent "ON" only in the location of the target." IBS scientists discovered how to switch the signal ON/OFF by using the Nano MRI Lamp.

The Nano MRI Lamp technology consists of two magnetic materials: A quencher (magnetic nanoparticle) and an enhancer (MRI contrast agent). The switch is due to the distance between the two. When the two materials are at a critical distance, farther than 7 nanometers (nm), the MRI signal is "ON", whereas when they are placed closer than 7 nm, the MRI signal is "OFF". The researchers named this phenomenon Magnetic REsonance Tuning (MRET), which is analogous to the powerful optical sensing technique called Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET).

The researchers tested the Nano MRI Lamp for cancer diagnosis. They detected the presence of an enzyme that can induce tumour metastasis, MMP-2 (matrix metalloproteinase-2) in mice with cancer. They connected the two magnetic materials with a linker that is naturally cleaved by MMP-2. Since the linker keeps the two materials close to each other, the MRI signal was "OFF". However, in the presence of the cancer, the linker is cleaved by MMP-2, which cause the two materials to be separated and the MRI signal switched "ON". Therefore, the MRI signal indicated the location of MMP-2, and the tumour. The scientists also found that the brightness of the MRI signal correlates with the concentration of MMP-2 in the cancerous tissue.

Most importantly, the Nano MRI Lamp remains switched off until it meets a biomarker associated with a specific disease, allowing higher sensitivity. "The current contrast agent is like using a flashlight during a sunny day: Its effect is limited. Instead, this new technology is like using a flash light at night and therefore more useful," explains Cheon.

Beyond cancer diagnosis, the Nano MRI Lamp can, in principle, be applied to investigate a variety of biological events, such as enzymolysis, pH variation, protein-protein interactions, etc. IBS scientists expect that it would be useful for both in vitro and in vivo diagnostics.

"Although we still have a long way to go, we established the principle and believe that the MRET and Nano MRI Lamp can serve as a novel sensing principle to augment the exploration of a wide range of biological systems," concludes Cheon. The research group is now working on developing safer and smarter multitasking contrast agents, which can simultaneously record and interpret multiple biological targets, and eventually allow a better understanding of biological processes and accurate diagnosis of diseases.

Article adapted from a Institute for Basic Science news release.

Publication: Distance-dependent magnetic resonance tuning as a versatile MRI sensing platform for biological targets. Jin-sil Choi et al. Nature Materials (February 06, 2017): Click here to view.

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Scientists Devise New Platform to Overcome the Limits of MRI Contrast Agents - Scicasts (press release) (blog)

Maker Develops Robot to Sort Skittles and M&M’s – ENGINEERING.com

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Willem Pennings is a young New Zealander living in the Netherlands. As an engineering student and maker he's received lots of attention for his projects, and this week I saw his color sorting robot pop up in a few different places.

The base function of the machine is to take a set of colored objects and sort them into separate bowls. M&M's and Skittles are the objects that the machine currently sorts, with a button to toggle between them, but Willem's machine specification page says that any colored object with a regular shape and even dimensions can be sorted.

Breaking the machine down into systems shows that both the mechanical and electrical projects are very well done. The structure and frame were designed in CAD and 3D printed or built from copper tubing and wood. Even the pillars, their only function seemingly to separate the top hopper section from the bottom sorted section, are an elaborate assembly of laser cut elliptical wooden discs with separate channels for wiring and connection laminated together. Two Arduino Nanos and two EasyDrivers are used to control the device. One Nano controls the color sensor and sorting function, the other controls the complex lights and effects built into the robot. The EasyDrivers control the two stepper motors that pull the candies down from the hopper without jamming the system, and turns the sorting tube back and forth between the different sorting bowls. Even the decorative bells-and-whistles system of decoration is intricate, with an LED strip built around the outside of the machine, and six LEDs nested in the bottom of the upper plate to shine down on the six sorting bowls. The power and candy selection buttons also light up, giving the full machine a great glow in several directions.

This is an amazing machine built with an eye on both form and function. It's obviously a maker project with independent spirit involved but the finished product looks more like an IKEA showpiece than a robot built in a garage. The machine was built between May and December 2016, and Willem estimates that the full build cost around 500. Color sorting robots, specially robots to separate Skittles or M&M's, aren't new and many can be found with a quick web search, but this one is definitely a great example of engineering and design. The project build page is incredibly detailed with notes on the design, the components, the process and materials used.

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Engineering dream diodes with a graphene interlayer – Phys.org – Phys.Org

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February 8, 2017 Shown above is the Internal Photoemission (IPE) Measurement System, developed by Hoon Hahn Yoon, combined M.S./Ph.D. student of Natural Science at UNIST. Credit: UNIST

A team of researchers affiliated with UNIST has created a new technique that greatly enhances the performance of Schottky diodes used in electronic devices. Their research findings have attracted considerable attention within the scientific community by solving the contact resistance problem of metal semiconductors, which had remained unsolved for almost 50 years.

As described in the January issue of Nano Letters, the researchers have created a new type of diode with a graphene insertion layer sandwiched between metal and semiconductor. This new technique supplants previous attempts, and is expected to significantly contribute to the semiconductor industry's growth.

The Schottky diode is one of the oldest semiconductor devices, formed by the junction of a semiconductor with a metal. However, due to the atomic intermixing along the interface between two materials, it is impossible to produce an ideal diode. Professor Kibog Park solved this problem by inserting a graphene layer at the metal-semiconductor interface. In the study, the research team demonstrated that this graphene layer, consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms, not only suppresses the material intermixing substantially, but also matches well with the theoretical prediction.

"The sheets of graphene in graphite have a space between each sheet that shows a high electron density of quantum mechanics, in that no atoms can pass through," says Professor Park. "Therefore, with this single-layer graphene sandwiched between the metal and semiconductor, it is possible to overcome the inevitable atomic diffusion problem."

According to Hoon Hahn Yoon, the first author, the study also confirms the prediction that "in the case of silicon semiconductors, the electrical properties of the junction surfaces hardly change regardless of the type of metal they use."

The internal photoemission method was used to measure the electronic energy barrier of the newly fabricated metal/graphene/n-Si(001) junction diodes. The internal photoemission (IPE) measurement system in the image shown above has contributed greatly to these experiments.

Explore further: New theory establishes a path to high-performance 2D semiconductor devices

More information: Hoon Hahn Yoon et al, Strong Fermi-Level Pinning at Metal/n-Si(001) Interface Ensured by Forming an Intact Schottky Contact with a Graphene Insertion Layer, Nano Letters (2017). DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b03137

Researchers at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have uncovered a way to overcome a principal obstacle in using two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors in electronic and optoelectronic devices.

Adding hydrogen to graphene could improve its future applicability in the semiconductor industry, when silicon leaves off. Researchers at the Center for Multidimensional Carbon Materials (CMCM), within the Institute for Basic ...

An HZB team headed by Prof. Silke Christiansen has made a surprising discovery about hybrid organic/inorganic solar cells. Contrary to expectations, a diode composed of the conductive organic PEDOT:PSS and an n-type silicon ...

Following a decade of intensive research into graphene and two-dimensional materials a new semiconductor material shows potential for the future of super-fast electronics.

Researchers at the University of Tokyo demonstrate that using germanides of metals at the metal-germanium interface with suitable surface crystal planes, greatly improves the contact resistance and device performance germanium ...

The old rules don't necessarily apply when building electronic components out of two-dimensional materials, according to scientists at Rice University.

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), which is ubiquitously used as a solid lubricant, has recently been shown to have a two-dimensional (2D) form that is similar to graphene. But, when thinned down to less than a nanometer thick, ...

Researchers have introduced a new type of "super-resolution" microscopy and used it to discover the precise walking mechanism behind tiny structures made of DNA that could find biomedical and industrial applications.

For the first time, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists and collaborators have captured a movie of how large populations of carbon nanotubes grow and align themselves.

Cellphones and other devices could soon be controlled with touchless gestures and charge themselves using ambient light, thanks to new LED arrays that can both emit and detect light.

Positron emission tomography plays a pivotal role for monitoring the distribution and accumulation of radiolabeled nanomaterials in living subjects. The radioactive metals are usually connected to the nanomaterial through ...

Last summer, researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) announced a new, flat lens that could focus light with high efficiency within the visible spectrum. The lens used an ...

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SpaceX to Deliver a Deadly Superbug to the International Space Station – Interesting Engineering

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This will certainly be a Valentines Day present space agencies wont forget. On February 14, SpaceX will launch a deadly bacterium to the International Space Station.

The pathogen in question is methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and the superbug often leads to hospitalization. The antibiotic-resistant bacterium and others similar to MRSA are responsible for up to 10 million deaths each year, according to one study. In the U.S. alone, 11,000 deaths can be traced directly back to MRSA each year.

With NASAs funding, SpaceXs Falcon 9 rocket will launch the MRSA colonies to be cultivated in the U.S. National Laboratory onboard the ISS.

Anita Goel, the leader of the study and Chairman and CEO of Nanobiosym, has become one of the worlds premier experts in nano- biophysics. Nanobiosym won the first XPRIZE in Healthcare for its Gene-RADAR technology. The device allows for cheap and immediate diagnostic tests at one-tenth the cost of current rates.

Goel said by shipping biological substances into space, she and her team can test modern biological thinking with unconventional technology. Her current hypothesis is that near-zero gravity could rapidly speed up the mutations of MRSA weve yet to experience under earths current gravity:

Our work in microgravity on International Space Station is both very practical and fundamental. We are pushing the envelope of personalized, precision medicine, enabling better prediction of drug resistance and hence smarter drugs. On a fundamental science level, I am keen to test my 20-year-old hypothesis that the environment can deeply influence the information flow from both the genome and transcriptome.

By fast-forwarding through the MRSA mutations, Goel hopes that scientists can engineer biological solutions prior to the mutations themselves. Thus, we can have the treatment in place before it becomes too late.

Space offers a wealth of untapped potential, especially for tests like Goels. In 2000, Russian space station Mir housed a cloning project dealing with yeast while an earth-bound team performed the same project. Even NASAs twin study shows space has unforeseeneffects on our understanding of biological functions.

The only major issue comes from any contamination or spreading of MRSA throughout the station. MRSA spreads through contact and especially through close quarters. Symptoms include red bumps that can turn into abscesses.

For more information about MRSA, staph and other antibiotic resistant bacteria, read this comprehensive 2014 strategyfrom the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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SpaceX to Deliver a Deadly Superbug to the International Space Station - Interesting Engineering

Foundation Medicine Announces Timing for Fourth Quarter and … – Yahoo Finance

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Foundation Medicine, Inc. (FMI) today announced that financial results for the company's fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2016 will be released on Wednesday, February 22, 2017. The management team will host a conference call on Wednesday, February 22, 2017, at 4:30 p.m. ET to discuss the company's financial results and recent developments. The call can be accessed by dialing 1-855-420-0652 (domestic) or 1-484-365-2939 (international) five minutes prior to the start of the call and providing the passcode 61272791.

The live, listen-only webcast of the conference call may be accessed by visiting the investors section of the company's website at investors.foundationmedicine.com. A replay of the webcast will be available shortly after the conclusion of the call and will be archived on the company's website for two weeks following the call.

About Foundation Medicine Foundation Medicine (FMI) is a molecular information company dedicated to a transformation in cancer care in which treatment is informed by a deep understanding of the genomic changes that contribute to each patients unique cancer. The company offers a full suite of comprehensive genomic profiling assays to identify the molecular alterations in a patients cancer and match them with relevant targeted therapies, immunotherapies and clinical trials. Foundation Medicine's molecular information platform aims to improve day-to-day care for patients by serving the needs of clinicians, academic researchers and drug developers to help advance the science of molecular medicine in cancer. For more information, please visit http://www.FoundationMedicine.com or follow Foundation Medicine on Twitter (@FoundationATCG).

Foundation Medicineis a registered trademark of Foundation Medicine, Inc.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170206005255/en/

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Foundation Medicine Announces Timing for Fourth Quarter and ... - Yahoo Finance

Field in View: Valve, Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Sony Who Believes What’s Best For VR? – UploadVR

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I think its time to get things in order a little. To my mind, there are now five major companies publicly involved in the development of the VR ecosystem. Not just headsets, but the development, sale and distribution of content, and how they believe those processes will most benefit both themselves and the industry. Understanding what each is doing for VR is getting increasingly more complicated by the day.

Between Sonys PlayStation VR, Googles Daydream, Microsofts Windows Holographic, Facebooks Oculus, and Valves SteamVR, we dont just have different tech specs but different philosophies that will continue to seperate each of them as 2017 goes on and may ultimately decide who truly leads the industry in the years to come. Each will likely come under examination in a few weeks time at the Game Developers Conference, so lets set the record straight on each approach right now.

As wonderful a headset as PSVR is, Sonys approach to VR is probably the most incidental, not that thats necessarily a bad thing. In comparison to its higher-end PC rivals, PSVR offers a limited VR experience with its single tracking camera but excels as an entry-level headset that doesnt require people to transform a room in their house. It seemingly believes the compromises that it makes in a VR experience are worth it; many of PSVRs biggest games are experienced with a DualShock 4 gamepad and ports of games like Job Simulator have been adapted to accommodate the tracking.

In terms of ecosystem, PSVR has adopted a similar approach to the PS4 that it works with. The company publishes exclusive content from first-parties like RIGS, arranges either full or timed exclusive VR games like the recent VR support for Resident Evil 7, and welcomes both big publishers and independent developers to work on its platform, though with added processes to launch on the PlayStation Store. The optimization needed to bring PC games to PSVR combined with the added method of getting onto the Store means games often come to the headset later than they do Rift or Vive.

Though Oculus and Samsungs Gear VR might have had a significant headstart, Googles mobile VR ecosystem, Daydream is poised to lead the smartphone charge in the coming months. Google wants to essentially create the Android of VR by building on top of that exact operating system. Its working with companies like Huawei and Samsung itself to create handsets that support Daydream with all the same functionality that its own Pixel phone offers. In theory, if the approach is successful, many thousands of people will be walking around with Daydream phones in the years to come.

To fuel its ecosystem right now, Google lined up a range of exclusive content with other developers, but the company itself is not developing exclusively; Google Earth and Tilt Brush are both available on the HTC Vive and may come to other devices in the future. While the companys tactics arent as often discussed as PC VR right now, theyre bound to be just as important as mobile VR grows in prominence over the years.

Microsoft probably has the most curious approach to a VR ecosystem right now, simply because we dont know all that much about it. The company believes that the Holographic operating system its developing, seemingly part of Windows 10 itself, could be the main OS for immersive headsets; not just VR but HoloLens too. To help prove that faster than it will take to get HoloLens to the consumer market, its teaming with the likes of Dell and Lenovo to make new VR headsets.

Those devices are launching later this year, but we know very little how theyll exist alongside SteamVR and Oculus Home. Microsoft claims its devices dont need high-powered PCs and its inside-out tracking trumps the external sensors for Rift and Vive. If it can convince consumers of that, then it could make a major play for VR dominance. The question is what that possible future would mean for other devices.

Over the past year no one has come under fire for their approach to a VR ecosystem quite as much as Facebooks Oculus. The Rift launched in March of 2016 and with it a dedicated Home app where people buy games and connect online. Home does not sell content thats compatible with other headsets and Oculus has lined up a lot of exclusive content to help sway people to buy its headset over others.

Rifts tracking technology is entirely proprietary, which puts it at odds with Valves SteamVR which currently powers the HTC Vive and will, in the future, fuel other headsets too. If Facebooks headset becomes the best-selling VR device then it will be definitively controlled by Facebook itself. There are many advantages to the singular approach in terms of simplicity, but its the fears over that control that have many people worried about the companys policies. Whether those concerns are unfounded or not will be one of VRs biggest stories for the next few years.

In SteamVR and OpenVR Valve is heavily pushing an open ecosystem that it thinks is exactly what the tech needs to thrive. Just this week Valve has expressed its disdain for exclusive software, and this years CES was peppered with headsets that utilized SteamVR. Companies like HTC are bringing new gadgets into the ecosystem like the Vive tracker that allow developers to experiment with VR in ways that they couldnt on other platforms.

As pioneers of room scale technology, Valve wants VR to be an uncompromising experience. It was the first to offer a headset that you can walk around a tracked space with. That means its tech is expensive and likely inaccessible to many people right now, but the company envisions a future in which its ecosystem becomes increasingly viable in the home space.

Tagged with: Daydream, facebook, google, oculus, sony, valve, VR

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Field in View: Valve, Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Sony Who Believes What's Best For VR? - UploadVR

How I found love online — in 1991 – CNET

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This is part of CNET's "It's Complicated" series about the role technology plays in our relationships.

When I met my husband Rob online, Prince Charles and Princess Diana were still married. To each other. Gas cost about a dollar a gallon and Facebook's wunderkind CEO Mark Zuckerberg was 5.

The author at the 2016 Minnesota State Fair with her husband, Rob, and daughter, Kelly.

It was 1991. I was just out of college in Minnesota, and my parents bought our first home computer. My mom was so pleased it was an authentic IBM, "not one of those clones," and that it had a color display. She didn't know or care, but the machine also could support a new online service called Prodigy, served up on a floppy disk that came in a little yellow box.

Prodigy, founded as Trintex back in 1984, was one of the first internet service providers, and by 1990, it swelled to around 465,000 subscribers. Online services, including AOL, CompuServe and GEnie, were like the kiddie pool of what would later become the deep ocean that's the internet.

Membership was limited to those who loaded the service and paid $10 a month, so Prodigy members only interacted with other Prodigy members, and only read Prodigy news and content. It was like we'd all been transported to a weird auditorium where we could flit about and chat with strangers, but our room was sealed off from the one with AOL users.

I certainly wasn't looking for love. Computer dating to me was just a cheesy punchline from an Archie comic book, and I already had a boyfriend. But I explored the nooks and crannies of the clunky service, reading out-of-town news stories, playing games, reading movie reviews and getting sports scores.

Like most every other Prodigy member, I loved two things about the service: the bulletin boards and a newfangled thing called e-mail. I spent the most time on a board called The Arts Club, reading and posting about TV, movies, books and music. You could mostly find me on the "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "The Young and the Restless" threads, and for a retro fix, the one that focused on "The Brady Bunch."

Today's internet users would recognize the meaningless but fun banter that took place on Prodigy: joking about Tori Spelling's acting ability, inventing episodes of "The Brady Bunch" that never aired. If we'd been able to upload funny cat photos, we probably would have.

The same people wouldn't, however, recognize the innocence of those online times. Hideous graphics looked like a blindfolded kid drew them with a crayon and took forever to load over a 28.8 modem. Socially, the community was mostly self-policing, and rude losers didn't last long. We couldn't imagine nuisances like Twitter stalkers and trolls and Nigerian spam princes.

I'm not sure where Rob and I first met on Prodigy. I knew he was a law student in Los Angeles, and I admired his wit and encyclopedic pop-culture knowledge of everything from Batman to Bret Easton Ellis. He also lived 2,000 miles away, so there was no pressure. I figured we'd never meet.

The author and her husband, Rob, pictured on their first date in 1991.

When I'd been online for maybe a year, Prodigy dropped the bomb. It didn't want users to hang out and talk "Brady Bunch" anymore. It wanted us to shop, and, if we didn't, we were going to pay. We were suddenly limited to 30 email messages a month, and charged a quarter per message for anything over that. A lot of us quit in protest.

People today agonize over taking digital vacations, but I don't remember it being difficult to live without Prodigy. Life moved on. I landed my first journalism job, my boyfriend and I broke up, my best friend moved away. A year passed. And sometimes in the back of my mind I wondered what that guy from Los Angeles was up to.

Then one day, close to Christmas, I found his mailing address from a cassette mix tape he'd sent me (because it was the '90s) and mailed him a Christmas card. He wrote back, and in a matter of days we both joined Prodigy again. (We only stuck around for a few more months each. Prodigy itself hung on until at least 1999 in some form.)

By the next summer, Rob took his first flight to Minnesota so we could meet in person -- although I dragged a friend along to the airport in case he was a serial killer. In person, he was exactly who he was on screen, the same bright, captivating guy whose posts I'd always relished reading. There was no hidden core of snark or mean, and his humor came from a warm heart.

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Eighteen months and seven airplane visits later, he proposed at a coffee shop in Uptown Minneapolis. We got married in October 1993, and now live in Seattle with our daughter and more rescue cats than we intended.

I have single friends who show me Tinder and OK Cupid. And in a way, I'm jealous. It's all so smooth and professional. You can snoop out your intended's looks and Google their LinkedIn profiles. It's sleek and technologically advanced.

These days, of course, people connect online all the time, but when Rob and I were first married, I never liked to tell people how we met. Back then it felt embarrassing, like I couldn't find love with people who actually knew me, so I had to turn to a computer.

But as Rob and I approach our 25th wedding anniversary in 2018, I've finally made peace with Prodigy. I now find charm in the wide-eyed way we came to find each other -- "The Brady Bunch"? A quarter an email? Cassette mix tapes? That time won't come again, and probably for the best, but I'm glad to have been a part of it.

Thank you, little yellow box.

Batteries Not Included: The CNET team shares experiences that remind us why tech stuff is cool.

CNET Magazine: Check out a sampling of the stories you'll find in CNET's newsstand edition.

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How I found love online -- in 1991 - CNET

Medicine turns to solar energy – Rutland Herald

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By Rutland Herald | on February 11, 2017 By SUSAN SMALLHEER STAFF WRITER SPRINGFIELD

SPRINGFIELD Springfield Medical Care Systems is going solar.

The corporate parent of Springfield Hospital and the Springfield Health Center has completed its first solar project, with the installation of four solar panels in front of the entrance of the health center at One Hundred River Street.

Larry Kraft, a hospital spokesman, said the hospital will build a full solar array on land adjacent to the hospital later this year.

Kraft said Friday the two solar systems were different: One would produce hot water for use for the doctors and patients at the health center, and the larger system at the hospital would produce electricity to offset the hospitals usage.

He said the original intent of the project was to install a system on the rooftop, but the centers engineers determined the roof was not suitable.

But he said a portion of the building near the river is sheltered and receives what he called excellent sunlight, and the panels were installed there.

The four panels were installed before the onset of winter and have already started decreasing the centers use of fossil fuels, he said.

During the next 10 years, the hot water system will offset the use of 2,500 gallons of propane, which would ordinarily heat the 600,000 gallons of water used annually by staff members, patients and visitors to the health center. He said the total cost of the system was $30,000, and panels were installed by Springfield Heating and Ventilating Co. The system was paid for by donors, including a grant from the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation. Kraft said that while a rooftop installation was originally considered, it was determined that the system would produce more electricity from the ground. He said the solar installation would be built on unbuildable ground farther up Ridgewood Road and across the road from the hospital. He said the site is currently wooded.

We will produce electricity, he said, with a netmetering project, rather than hot water at the health center system.

Under a net-metering project, the hospital will receive credits for the electricity it generates, and those credits will be used to offset its electric bill.

susan.smallheer @rutlandherald.com

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Medicine turns to solar energy - Rutland Herald

DC Surgeon Says His Journey to Medicine is One of Survival – NBC4 Washington

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A D.C. surgeon who is credited with saving many lives through his pioneering work in organ transplant medicine says his story is one of faith and survival.

Dr. Clive Callender, a transplant surgeon and professor of surgery for Howard University Hospital, was born in New York City in 1936.

His mother had prayed for another son after two of her sons had passed away.

"She got pregnant again and low and behold, twin boys," Callender said.

But within 48 hours, Callender's mother died of complications from delivery, leaving he and his brother in foster care.

When their father, who worked on a railroad, couldn't care for them, his devoutly religious aunt took them in to raise them with her own family.

"I spent most of my early days in church, reading the bible and then ... decided I wanted to be a medical missionary," Callender said.

Hoping to realize his dream, Callender started high school. But at the age of 15 he contracted tuberculosis -- putting his high school education to a grinding halt.

He spent 18 months in the hospital and said despite that experience, he still wanted to do medicine.

"I had the opportunity to see people dying, people living," he said.

Without going to school since entering the hospital, the prospect of medical school appeared dim.

But Callender stuck with his goal.

"It was amazing to me and to the rest of my classmates, when ... I was the first person in the class to get accepted into medical school," he said. "How that miracle took place, I'll never know."

He went on to become a doctor and to make miracles happen for others by becoming a medical missionary and eventually he created the transplant center at Howard University Hospital.

"It's amazing how in my life I've had faith and would step out and the ground would be there," he said.

Callender just celebrated his 80th Birthday in November.

Published at 9:20 PM EST on Feb 10, 2017 | Updated at 9:22 PM EST on Feb 10, 2017

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DC Surgeon Says His Journey to Medicine is One of Survival - NBC4 Washington

Russia delivers over 200kg of medicine to Latakia amidst US-led … – AMN Al-Masdar News (registration)

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More than 200kg of medicine destined for children undergoing treatment in the Tishreen University Hospital organized by the Fair Aid foundation was delivered to the Russian operated Khmeimim airbase in Latakia by a Russian Defense Ministry plane.

We delivered here humanitarian cargo for patients of the Tishreen University Hospital, for children who are undergoing treatment in the general medical division and the special care nursery, an aide to the organizations executive director, Natalya Avilova, said. We delivered 12 types of medicines weighting more than 200 kilograms in total.

The spokeswoman then emphasized that their is a critical shortage of medicine in Syria because of US-led sanctions on the country.

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We had to intervene because they have wonderful doctors and other specialists, they have enough equipment to perform basic surgeries, but they have no medicines. There are medicines that are not available to them because of sanctions, the official said. More children can be treated and more lives can be saved if medicines of vital importance are delivered here in time.

Meanwhile, a doctor in Syria explained that the only aid that arrives in the country comes from Russia.

As long as I work here, I see only Russian aid. No one else helps. A delegation from the UK arrived once, they came in, looked, smiled and left. Thats all, the Doctor Odai Joni said.

ALSO READ BREAKING: Al-Bab battle heat up as the Syrian Army reaches its southern gates

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Russia delivers over 200kg of medicine to Latakia amidst US-led ... - AMN Al-Masdar News (registration)