St. Louis Business Journal | Ascension opens first clinic under new unified name St. Louis Business Journal Ascension Medical Group has opened its first clinic in the country under the new unified name for the St. Louis-based health care system. Ascension Medical Group at Westwood opened this week in Wausau, Wisconsin. The 48,000-square-foot clinic offers ... |
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Ascension opens first clinic under new unified name - St. Louis Business Journal
ASCENSION The Ascension Parish Department of Public Works will begin prioritizing Parish President Kenny Matassa's recommendations for street widening and intersection improvements on several parish roads.
The following roadways are recommended priorities:
- Beco Road - C. Braud Road - Cannon Road - Duplessis Road - Germany Road - Henry Road - Leo Lambert Road - Roddy Road - Swamp Road - Tiggy Duplessis Road
Additional roads may be added as the parish council and administration work to finalize the projects. According to the Matassa's office, the projects with be funded through bonds.
"Transportation projects are vital for our continued success. This is the first step to funding and improving our parish roads in the near future, while continuing to cultivate long term solutions through the transportation master plan," Matassa said.
The Transportation Committee meeting will begin advancing the project recommendations forward at Monday night's meeting.
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Ascension to move forward on street widening and intersection projects - WBRZ
Card Coming Together For Saturday's FIP: Ascension
With the promotion's unpredictable nature, only a handful of matches have been announced. As seen by the takeover of Everything Burns by the new faction of Uncle John's Friends, anything can happen in the new-look Full Impact Pro.
FIP: Ascension takes place atThe Orpheum in Ybor City, Fla.Your FloSlam subscriptiongets you access to both the live streamand replayof the event, as well as the previous day's Style Battle S1:E2. Signing up gets you access to theevent plus every other live event on our calendar AND our ever-expanding library of past pro wrestling cards.
As previously announced, Brian Cage will challenge Fred Yehi for the FIP World Heavyweight Championship and Martin Stone will grant Jon Davis a second crack at the FIP Florida Heritage Championship after knocking out Davis with a chain at Everything Burns.
WWN recently added a special attraction bout between Jason Cade and Caleb Konley. The high-flying Cade was one of the men who took on Uncle John's Friends in the main event of Everything Burns. He made a big splash this past weekend when he came back to ACW at ACW: MyBloody Valentine.
Konley has been making a name for himself in TNA and also as part of The Revolt in PWX. A win over Cade would put him in position for a possible future title shot.
The Hooligans were set to defend their tag titles with an open contract, however Mason Cutter recently suffered a broken leg. It's unknown what the promotion will do about the tag title situation after the injury to half of the champions.
After Anthony Henry lost to Austin Theory at Everything Burns, Dontay Brown attempted to collect on his pre-fight bet with Henry and Amber Young. With the debt still outstanding, Brown has offered a reward for anyone who collects.
Uncle John's Friends will also be in attendance and that could mean bad things for anyone Sami Callihan, AR Fox and Darby Allin decide to target.
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Card Coming Together For Saturday's FIP: Ascension - FloSlam
Throughout the years, Ascension Parish has seen some of the best coaches in the state prowling the sidelines during games and teaching their players how to be champions and upstanding young men at practice.
Throughout the years, Ascension Parish has seen some of the best coaches in the state prowling the sidelines during games and teaching their players how to be champions and upstanding young men at practice.
Parish sports have reaped the benefits as many of their teams have earned state titles and many of their players have gone on to have successful careers in collegiate and even professional athletics.
Two of these great Ascension coaches were honored last week when the Louisiana High School Sports Hall of Fame announced their 2017 induction class.
Former East Ascension basketball coach Kenny Almond and former Ascension Catholic football coach Bucky Mistretta were among the six new inductees.
They were joined by Roman Bates, Jr., Tim Detillier, Don Jones and Bob Stevens.
This isnt the first time Almond has been elected to a hall of fame.
Back in 2012, Almond was inducted into the Louisiana High School Basketball Coaches Associations Hall of Fame. In 2014, he was awarded the LABCs Mr. Louisiana Basketball Award.
Almond made a name for himself while he was coaching at Woodlawn. He won three state titles with the Panthers.
His 2003 team went a perfect 39-0 and fished the year ranked sixth in the nation. His last two teams won a Class 5A record 56 consecutive games.
His next stop was Gonzales as he took over the East Ascension basketball program.
In his 10 years coaching there, the Spartans won 255 games.
"The kids did a fantastic job, and all the assistants did a great job. All of those guys put in a lot of hours and a lot of work," Almond said. "We built something that I think our supporters were proud of, and that makes me proud. We filled the gym many times. There was a time when there weren't many people watching."
Along with the big win total, East Ascension had tremendous playoff success under Almond. They made two semifinal appearances, and his tenure ended with three straight district titles.
I was ecstatic to get there and try to have the same kind of success we had at Woodlawn, and with the exception of winning state, I think we did. We did things the right way, Almond said.
In the summer of 2014, Almond left East Ascension to coach at Zachary.
Overall, Almond won 892 career games.
During his football coaching career, Mistretta coached at Lee High and Redemptorist, but his greatest success came at Ascension Catholic.
He had two stints with the Bulldogs.
His first go-around in Donaldsonville lasted 14 years and culminated in Ascension Catholic capturing the Class 1A state title in 1973. It was their first football state title since 1941.
Mistretta then left to coach at Redemptorist from 1977-84.
When he returned to Ascension Catholic in 1985, the Bulldogs instantly built themselves back into a 1A powerhouse.
In 1987, they reached the state semifinals, and in 1991, they finished as state runners-up.
In 1992, Ascension Catholic outscored their opponents, 254-64, in the postseasonincluding a drubbing of West St. John in the title game to claim another state championship.
When talking about those great Bulldog glory days, Mistretta said, "It's really heartwarming. A small community like that, they're really invested in the program. It was special for me because I was a small-town boy, and I was born and raised in Donaldsonville and graduated from Ascension Catholic. It was a great experience.
"A lot of the players on the '73 team were my classmates, and a lot of the players on the '92 team, they had parents that were on the '73 team. So, there was great continuity there."
Mistretta has passed on his football knowledge to his son, Guy. He currently coaches at Livoniawhere he has also won a state title.
Another former Ascension coaching great that was honored last week was Bill Jones as he received the Louisiana Track & Field Coaches Associations Lifetime Achievement award at the LTFCAs clinic in Lafayette.
Jones coached at both Donaldsonville and Dutchtown.
At Donaldsonville, his teams won four state titles, eight regional crowns and 11 district championships.
Under Jones, Dutchtown won one state championship and finished as runner-up on three separate occasions.
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Former Ascension coaches make HOF - Donaldsonville Chief - Donaldsonville Chief
Artificial intelligence is an amazing technology thats changing the world in fantastic ways, but anybody who has ever seen the movie Terminator knows that there are some dangers associated with advanced A.I. Thats why Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, and hundreds of other researchers, tech leaders, and scientists have endorsed a list of 23 guiding principles that should steer A.I. development in a productive, ethical, and safe direction.
The Asilomar A.I. Principles were developed after the Future of Life Institute brought dozens of experts together for their Beneficial A.I. 2017 conference. The experts, whose ranks consisted of roboticists, physicists, economists, philosophers, and more had fierce debates about A.I. safety, economic impact on human workers, and programming ethics, to name a few. In order to make the final list, 90 percent of the experts had to agree on its inclusion.
What remained was a list of 23 principles ranging from research strategies to data rights to future issues including potential super-intelligence, which was signed by those wishing to associate their name with the list, Future of Lifes website explains. This collection of principles is by no means comprehensive and its certainly open to differing interpretations, but it also highlights how the current default behavior around many relevant issues could violate principles that most participants agreed are important to uphold.
Since then, 892 A.I. or Robotics researchers and 1445 others experts, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and famed physicist Stephen Hawking, have endorsed the principles.
Some of the principles like transparency and open research sharing among competitive companies seem less likely than others. Even if theyre not fully implemented, the 23 principles could go a long way towards improving A.I. development and ensuring that its ethical and preventing the rise of Skynet.
1. Research Goal: The goal of A.I. research should be to create not undirected intelligence, but beneficial intelligence.
2. Research Funding: Investments in A.I. should be accompanied by funding for research on ensuring its beneficial use, including thorny questions in computer science, economics, law, ethics, and social studies, such as:
3. Science-Policy Link: There should be constructive and healthy exchange between A.I. researchers and policy-makers.
4. Research Culture: A culture of cooperation, trust, and transparency should be fostered among researchers and developers of A.I.
5. Race Avoidance: Teams developing A.I. systems should actively cooperate to avoid corner-cutting on safety standards.
6. Safety: A.I. systems should be safe and secure throughout their operational lifetime, and verifiably so where applicable and feasible.
7. Failure Transparency: If an A.I. system causes harm, it should be possible to ascertain why.
8. Judicial Transparency: Any involvement by an autonomous system in judicial decision-making should provide a satisfactory explanation auditable by a competent human authority.
9. Responsibility: Designers and builders of advanced A.I. systems are stakeholders in the moral implications of their use, misuse, and actions, with a responsibility and opportunity to shape those implications.
10. Value Alignment: Highly autonomous A.I. systems should be designed so that their goals and behaviors can be assured to align with human values throughout their operation.
11. Human Values: A.I. systems should be designed and operated so as to be compatible with ideals of human dignity, rights, freedoms, and cultural diversity.
12. Personal Privacy: People should have the right to access, manage and control the data they generate, given A.I. systems power to analyze and utilize that data.
13. Liberty and Privacy: The application of A.I. to personal data must not unreasonably curtail peoples real or perceived liberty.
14 Shared Benefit: A.I. technologies should benefit and empower as many people as possible.
15. Shared Prosperity: The economic prosperity created by A.I.I should be shared broadly, to benefit all of humanity.
16. Human Control: Humans should choose how and whether to delegate decisions to A.I. systems, to accomplish human-chosen objectives.
17. Non-subversion: The power conferred by control of highly advanced A.I. systems should respect and improve, rather than subvert, the social and civic processes on which the health of society depends.
18. A.I. Arms Race: An arms race in lethal autonomous weapons should be avoided.
19. Capability Caution: There being no consensus, we should avoid strong assumptions regarding upper limits on future A.I. capabilities.
20. Importance: Advanced A.I. could represent a profound change in the history of life on Earth, and should be planned for and managed with commensurate care and resources.
21. Risks: Risks posed by A.I. systems, especially catastrophic or existential risks, must be subject to planning and mitigation efforts commensurate with their expected impact.
22. Recursive Self-Improvement: A.I. systems designed to recursively self-improve or self-replicate in a manner that could lead to rapidly increasing quality or quantity must be subject to strict safety and control measures.
23. Common Good: Superintelligence should only be developed in the service of widely shared ethical ideals, and for the benefit of all humanity rather than one state or organization.
Photos via Getty Images
James Grebey is a writer, reporter, and fairly decent cartoonist living in Brooklyn. He's written for SPIN Magazine, BuzzFeed, MAD Magazine, and more. He thinks Double Stuf Oreos are bad and he's ready to die on this hill. James is the weeknights editor at Inverse because content doesn't sleep.
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Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk Endorse 23 Asilomar Principles ... - Inverse
It's the stuff of many a sci-fi book or movie - could robots one day become smart enough to overthrow us? Well, a group of the world's most eminent artificial intelligence experts have worked together to try and make sure that doesn't happen.
They've put together a set of 23 principles to guide future research into AI, which have since been endorsed by hundreds more professionals, including Stephen Hawking and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
Called the Asilomar AI Principles (after the beach in California, where they were thought up), the guidelines cover research issues, ethics and values, and longer-term issues - everything from how scientists should work with governments to how lethal weapons should be handled.
On that point: "An arms race in lethal autonomous weapons should be avoided," says principle 18. You can read the full listbelow.
"We hope that these principles will provide material for vigorous discussion and also aspirational goals for how the power of AI can be used to improve everyone's lives in coming years," write the organisers of the Beneficial AI 2017 conference, where the principles were worked out.
For a principle to be included, at least 90 percent of the 100+ conference attendees had to agree to it. Experts at the event included academics, engineers, and representatives from tech companies, including Google co-founder Larry Page.
Perhaps the most telling guideline is principle 23, entitled 'Common Good': "Superintelligence should only be developed in the service of widely shared ethical ideals, and for the benefit of all humanity rather than one state or organisation."
Other principles in the list suggest that any AI allowed to self-improve must be strictly monitored, and that developments in the tech should be "shared broadly" and "benefit all of humanity".
"To think AI merely automates human decisions is like thinking electricity is just a replacement for candles," conference attendee Patrick Lin, from California Polytechnic State University, told George Dvorsky at Gizmodo.
"Given the massive potential for disruption and harm, as well as benefits, it makes sense to establish some norms early on to help steer research in a good direction, as opposed to letting a market economy that's fixated mostly on efficiency and profit... shape AI."
Meanwhile the principles also call for scientists to work closely with governments and lawmakers to make sure our society keeps pace with the development of AI.
All of which sounds very good to us - let's just hope the robots are listening.
The guidelines also rely on a certain amount of consensus about specific terms - such as what's beneficial to humankind and what isn't - but for the experts behind the list it's a question of getting something recorded at this early stage of AI research.
With artificial intelligence systems now beating us at poker and getting smart enough to spot skin cancers, there's a definite need to have guidelines and limits in place that researchers can work to.
And then we also need to decide what rights super-smart robots have when they're living among us.
For now the guidelines should give us some helpful pointers for the future.
"No current AI system is going to 'go rogue' and be dangerous, and it's important that people know that," conference attendee Anthony Aguirre, from the University of California, Santa Cruz, told Gizmodo.
"At the same time, if we envision a time when AIs exist that are as capable or more so than the smartest humans, it would be utterly naive to believe that the world will not fundamentally change."
"So how seriously we take AI's opportunities and risks has to scale with how capable it is, and having clear assessments and forecasts - without the press, industry or research hype that often accompanies advances - would be a good starting point."
The principles have been published by the Future Of Life Institute.
You can see them in full and add your support over on their site.
Research issues
1. Research Goal:The goal of AI research should be to create not undirected intelligence, but beneficial intelligence.
2. Research Funding:Investments in AI should be accompanied by funding for research on ensuring its beneficial use, including thorny questions in computer science, economics, law, ethics, and social studies, such as:
3. Science-Policy Link:There should be constructive and healthy exchange between AI researchers and policy-makers.
4. Research Culture:A culture of cooperation, trust, and transparency should be fostered among researchers and developers of AI.
5. Race Avoidance:Teams developing AI systems should actively cooperate to avoid corner-cutting on safety standards.
Ethics and values
6. Safety:AI systems should be safe and secure throughout their operational lifetime, and verifiably so where applicable and feasible.
7. Failure Transparency:If an AI system causes harm, it should be possible to ascertain why.
8. Judicial Transparency:Any involvement by an autonomous system in judicial decision-making should provide a satisfactory explanation auditable by a competent human authority.
9. Responsibility:Designers and builders of advanced AI systems are stakeholders in the moral implications of their use, misuse, and actions, with a responsibility and opportunity to shape those implications.
10. Value Alignment:Highly autonomous AI systems should be designed so that their goals and behaviours can be assured to align with human values throughout their operation.
11. Human Values:AI systems should be designed and operated so as to be compatible with ideals of human dignity, rights, freedoms, and cultural diversity.
12. Personal Privacy:People should have the right to access, manage and control the data they generate, given AI systems power to analyse and utilise that data.
13. Liberty and Privacy:The application of AI to personal data must not unreasonably curtail peoples real or perceived liberty.
14. Shared Benefit:AI technologies should benefit and empower as many people as possible.
15. Shared Prosperity:The economic prosperity created by AI should be shared broadly, to benefit all of humanity.
16. Human Control:Humans should choose how and whether to delegate decisions to AI systems, to accomplish human-chosen objectives.
17. Non-subversion:The power conferred by control of highly advanced AI systems should respect and improve, rather than subvert, the social and civic processes on which the health of society depends.
18. AI Arms Race:An arms race in lethal autonomous weapons should be avoided.
Longer term issues
19. Capability Caution:There being no consensus, we should avoid strong assumptions regarding upper limits on future AI capabilities.
20. Importance:Advanced AI could represent a profound change in the history of life on Earth, and should be planned for and managed with commensurate care and resources.
21. Risks:Risks posed by AI systems, especially catastrophic or existential risks, must be subject to planning and mitigation efforts commensurate with their expected impact.
22. Recursive Self-Improvement:AI systems designed to recursively self-improve or self-replicate in a manner that could lead to rapidly increasing quality or quantity must be subject to strict safety and control measures.
23. Common Good:Superintelligence should only be developed in the service of widely shared ethical ideals, and for the benefit of all humanity rather than one state or organisation.
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Experts have come up with 23 guidelines to avoid an AI apocalypse ... - ScienceAlert
A fascinating conference on artificial intelligence was recently hosted by the Future of Life Institute, an organization aimed at promoting optimistic visions of the future. The conference Superintelligence: Science or Fiction? includedsuch luminaries as Elon Musk of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, futurist Ray Kurzweil, Demis Hassabis of MITs DeepMind, neuroscientist and author Sam Harris, philosopher Nick Bostrom, philosopher and cognitive scientist David Chalmers, Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn, as well as computer scientists Stuart Russell and Bart Selman. The discussion was led by MIT cosmologist Max Tegmark.
The group touched on a number of topics about the future benefits and risks of coming artificial superintelligence, with everyone generally agreeing that its only a matter of time before AI becomes ubiquitous in our lives. Eventually, AI will surpass human intelligence, with the risks and transformations that such a seismic event would entail.
Elon Musk has been a positive voice for AI, a stance not surprising for someone leading the charge to make automated cars our daily reality. He sees the AI future as inevitable, with dangers to be mitigated through government regulation, as much as he doesnt like the idea of them being a bit of a buzzkill.
He also brings up an interesting perspective that our fears of the technological changes the future will bring are largely irrelevant. According to Musk, we are already cyborgs by utilizing machine extensions of ourselves like phones and computers.
By far you have more power, more capability, than the President of the United States had 30 years ago. If you have an Internet link you have an article of wisdom, you can communicate to millions of people, you can communicate to the rest of Earth instantly. I mean, these are magical powers that didnt exist, not that long ago. So everyone is already superhuman, and a cyborg, says Musk [at 33:56].
He sees humans as information-processing machines that pale in comparison to the powers of a computer. What is necessary, according to Musk, is to create a greater integration between man and machine, specifically altering our brains with technology to make them more computer-like.
I think the two things that are needed for a future that we would look at and conclude is good, most likely, is, we have to solve that bandwidth constraint with a direct neural interface. I think a high bandwidth interface to the cortex, so that we can have a digital tertiary layer thats more fully symbiotic with the rest of us. Weve got the cortex and the limbic system, which seem to work together pretty well - theyve got good bandwidth, whereas the bandwidth to additional tertiary layer is weak, explained Musk [at 35:05]
Once we solve that issue, AI will spread everywhere. Its important to do so because, according to Musk, if only a smaller group would have such capabilities, they would become dictators with dominion over Earth.
What would a world filled with such cyborgs look like? Visions of Star Treks Borg come to mind.
Musk thinks it will be a society full of equals:
And if we do those things, then it will be tied to our consciousness, tied to our will, tied to the sum of individual human will, and everyone would have it so it would be sort of still a relatively even playing field, in fact, it would be probably more egalitarian than today, points out Musk [at 36:38].
The whole conference is immensely fascinating and worth watching in full. Check it out here:
Continued here:
Elon Musk's Surprising Reason Why Everyone Will Be Equal in the ... - Big Think
LOS ANGELES: From collaborating with engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for designing a next-generation space exploration device to cut the distance barrier between cities, the global 3D design company Dassault Systemes is busy working on ideas to herald a new era for millennials.
According to Gian Paolo Bassi, CEO, SOLIDWORKS, Dassault Systemes, new space exploration devices will further expand our knowledge about the universe.
"We are working closely with JPL engineers to build a space exploration device that will be faster than any other machine of its kind of previous generation and will be able to carry heavier payloads," Bassi addressed the jam-packed Los Angeles Convention Centre as he kicked-off the four-day SOLIDWORKS World 2017 conference here on Monday.
"In order to safeguard our Earth from an asteroid impact in the future, we are also working with NASA to develop a planetary space defence system that can alert us in such threat in advance," Bassi told the gathering in the city of entertainment which was inundated with rain since morning.
Dassault Systemes is also working with the California-based aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company SpaceX on an ambitious hyperloop transportation project.
Proposed by SpaceX founder Elon Musk in 2013, the Hyperloop system envisages mass transportation at a speed of up to 760 miles (nearly 1300 km) per hour via low-pressure tubes.
"It means that once in use, the hyperloop pod ride will take you to San Francisco from Los Angeles in flat 35 minutes. We are working with engineers to design the low-flying vehicle," Bassi noted.
Last week, the Hyperloop competition pitted 27 research teams against each other for the chance to test-drive their model pods in a test tube built by SpaceX in California.
Following the competition, SpaceX released a video which takes viewers on a trip through the 1.25km tube, showing what a ride in a Hyperloop pod might be like.
Students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Munich Technical University and Delft University of Technology finally received the chance to send their pods for a test drive to see whose model was most impressive.
"Innovation is about experiences that we are creating for our customers and space research is one of those," Bassi said.
Not just space research, the 3D design solutions are also helping baby toy manufacturers build innovative toys, guitar makers develop new-age electric guitars and magicians create mind-blowing illusions to leave their audience speechless.
Being attended by over 5,000 engineers and designers from around the globe, the four-day event is organised by Dassault SystAmes, the 3DEXPERIENCE Company and a world leader in 3D design software.
Over 120 exhibitors are displaying new technologies and products amid 200 interactive training sessions at the annual SOLIDWORKS World 2017.
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Dassault Systemes sets eyes on space exploration, faster transport - Economic Times
Late last year, The Wall Street Journal reported that Rep. Jim Bridenstine, R-Okla. (A, 97%) was seen as the top choice for NASA chief. The announcement has not yet happened, but if Bridenstine is appointed and confirmed, that would mean another member of the House Freedom Caucus joins the Trump administration along with OMB nominee Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C. (A, 94%).
Nominating another solid conservative to be in the Trump administration would also show a commitment to an efficient and effective space program moving forward. NASA has had problems over the past few years with mission creep from space exploration to studying global warming. Hopefully, the Trump administration can get NASA back on track to focus on space exploration.
Maybe this is a new era for NASA. President Donald Trump mentioned space in his inaugural address, and conservatives hope that the future of space exploration is one that stresses fiscal sanity and stays away from mission creep that takes funding away from NASAs core function.
A conservative approach to NASA and space exploration should contain three elements in the Trump administration.
Space News reported on January 3, 2017:
Bridenstine, an Oklahoma Republican active on space issues in the House, has reportedly talked with Vice President-elect Mike Pence about the position, although no final decision has been made by the transition team. Bridenstines name has been under discussion for the position since immediately after the election, along with several other individuals.
Bridenstine is qualified for the position. His biography references his Naval aviation career flying the E-2C Hawkeye off the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier. Bridenstine flew combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan and gathered most of his 1,900 flight hours and 333 carrier-arrested landings. While on active duty, he transitioned to the F-18 Hornet and flew at the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center, the parent command to TOPGUN. This is a member who has practical experience flying.
After he left active duty, Bridenstine returned to Tulsa to be the Executive Director of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum & Planetarium. Bridenstine recently transitioned to the 137th Air Refueling Wing of the Oklahoma Air National Guard, where he will fly with an MC-12 squadron stationed at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City. His bio also mentions that he is on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.
Pretty amazing for a member of Congress to both have practical and political experience for the job of NASA administrator.
In addition to his qualifications, Bridenstine is a solid conservative member who has a high score on the Conservative Review Liberty Score. Bridenstine ran a Tea Party-style candidacy in the first district of Oklahoma against an incumbent establishment Republican in 2012 and won. Bridenstines first vote in Congress was against John Boehner for Speaker of the House, and he has been a constant thorn in the side of the establishment wing of the Republican Party. More points to Bridenstine for being a conservative leader in the House.
Putting a solid conservative who wants to drain the Washington swamp is a great first step to getting NASA back on track.
NASA was created to conduct space missions, not to study the impact of global warming on the planet. I cant think of a mission more removed from space exploration than the study of Earths climate change, yet President Obama increased funding for NASAs Earth Science budget from $1.38 to $1.77 billion.
NASA should focus less on the study of Earths temperatures and use those resources to conduct missions to other planets. NASA funding for climate change research should, at a minimum, be dramatically reduced.
Prominent conservatives who support NASA agree. The Atlantic reported on May 7, 2015, that two members expressed support for shifting resources at NASA from global warming studies to space exploration:
House Science Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican, last week moved a two-year NASA bill through his committee that would shift money away from the Earth Science program to spend on planetary exploration. "There are 13 other agencies involved in climate-change research, but only one that is responsible for space exploration," Smith said at a recent hearing.
Sen. Ted Cruz, another Texan, who oversees the Commerce subcommittee in charge of NASA, has likewise said it's time for NASA to refocus on space exploration. At ahearing earlier this year, Cruz said that the "core function of NASA is to explore space" and "NASA in the current environment has lost its full focus on that core mission."
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas (F, 58%) and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas (A, 97%) are correct, and Bridenstine would seem to be the perfect nominee to right the NASA ship.
Other nations are competing with the American space industry, and it is important that the U.S. keep a close eye on China when formulating space policy. NASA is not focused on using space exploration as a national security tool, yet NASA resources should be used for those purposes by the defense and intelligence apparatuses of the U.S. government.
NASA should be careful when allowing foreign interests to launch in the U.S. and should especially be wary of China. Dean Cheng of The Heritage Foundation worries that the communist Chinese are battling the U.S. for military domination of space. Although not a mission of NASA, it is impossible to have a space program that does not coordinate with the defense and intelligence arms of the federal government to ensure that the Trump administration keeps America safe from threats coming from space.
China is intent on dominating space. Chengs testified before the House Subcommittee on Space and published in a Heritage Foundation paper titled U.S. China Competition in Space on September 27, 2016:
All of these developments reflect the reality that the U.S. and China are engaged in a competition regarding the ability to access and exploit space in support of national security objectives. For the Chinese, it seems clear that they hope to limit our ability to employ space systems, while ideally preserving their own capacity. This is an asymmetric situation, however, because the United States is far more reliant on space to conduct military operations than the PRC. Most American conflicts, after all, occur at a significant distance from our own shores and the Western Hemisphere. Communications, intelligence gathering, even weather prediction all rely more on space assets.
Any NASA missions to Mars or other space exploration will be answered by missions from China and other superpowers. Expect that NASA will again become a symbol of American exceptionalism, like it was during the Kennedy administration that pitted the U.S. against the U.S.S.R. in the race to put a man on the moon.
Putting a solid conservative in as administrator of NASA, retooling the mission, and making America first a core policy of the agency will all go a long way to restoring the vision of NASA that has kept that program in the hearts and minds of Americans who fondly remember the space race and the space shuttle missions from the Reagan years.
Brian Darling is a former staffer for Sen. Rand Paul. Follow him on Twitter @BrianHDarling.
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Obama gutted NASA. Here are 3 ways Trump can make space ... - Conservative Review
The thrill of space exploration takes an unexpected turn towards terrifying in this brand-new trailer from "Life," a science fiction thriller that will launch into movie theaters on March 24.
In this Space.com exclusive look, we get a 2-minute, 32-second look at what just might happen if we actually do discover alien life on Mars. It's a short trailer, but there's a lot to unpack (including some tense still images), so let's take a look:
The year is 2017 (hey, that's now!) and a crew of astronauts on the International Space Station are about to make history by retrieving the first sample-preturn probe from Mars. At first, everything seems great. We see an international crew of astronauts - quick look reveals Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom and Russia represented - celebrating the birth of a baby back on Earth (congratulations!).
Jake Gyllenhaal portrays astronaut David Jordan in "Life," a science fiction thriller that hits theaters March 24, 2017.
"Life" stars a crew of photogenic astronauts, among them Dr. David Jordan (Jake Gyllenhaal), who lays out the mission to capture the "research pod" from Mars. "This is the first capsule ever to come back from the planet," Gyllenhaal's Jordan says as scenes of the Martian surface - including actual views from NASA rovers - flash on the screen. Actors Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ariyon Bakare and Olga Dichovichnaya also star in the film. [These Scary Space Movies Will Freak You Out]
We see glimpses of what life in space is like for the astronauts (fixing a shower, running on treadmills) before the capsule's capture. Reynolds even gets a line "Star Trek" fans (a group that includes me) will love: "I'm an astronaut, not a gym teacher."
Ryan Reynolds is astronaut Rory Adams in the science fiction thriller "Life."
But as you'd expect, things quickly go from worse to catastrophic as the astronauts discover life in the Mars capsule that appears to grow fast and terrifying at cosmic speed. We learn that what ever it is from Mars may have destroyed all life on the Red Planet, and it's up to the space station crew to prevent the critter from reaching Earth.
Not since 2013's "Gravity" have we seen the International Space Station as shattered as we do in the new "Life" trailer, which closes with flashes of space action timed to lines from "Goodnight, Moon," a bedtime story book by Margaret Wise Brown that I read to my own daughter and will never think of the same way again.
"Life" isn't the first space movie of 2017 or even the first Mars-life themed one (the teen romance "The Space Between Us" which opened this weekend claims that title). But the upcoming film promises to be one heck of a sci-fi ride based on the new trailer, as well asthe first view we got back in November. It doesn't hurt that both trailers showcase some truly awesome and realistic-looking spacecraft and spacesuits, which we at Space.com always appreciate.
"Life" is not yet rated and will hit theaters on March 24, 2017.
Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him@tariqjmalikandGoogle+.Follow us@Spacedotcom,FacebookandGoogle+. Original article onSpace.com.
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New 'Life' Trailer Brings Terrifying Thrills from Mars (Exclusive) - Space.com
Nanotech is taking root in southern Italy. As of yesterday, Feb. 3, two new clean rooms opened in Puglia at the Nanotechnology Center of the CNR (National Research Council) on the campus of the University of Salento.
Italy's President Sergio Mattarella attended the opening day, as did Culture Minister Dario Franceschini, president of the Region of Puglia, Michele Emiliano, mayor of Lecce, Paolo Perrone, and president of the CNR, Massimo Inguscio.
Seeing here, in Lecce, areas of excellence like the CNR, the Atheneum, makes it clear how the cultural fabric that exists in the South constitutes an important element in the recovery of the area and the nation. And it's comforting to see that these are sites of real excellence, acknowledged around the world, Mattarella said.
A clean room is just that - a clean room where sophisticated systems and advanced ventilation and filtering technologies reduce the level of pollution. It's where tiny structures and devices, measured in nanometers (one billionth of a meter - the size of the point of a needle in a soccer field) are created for applications in various sectors like energy, telecommunications, electronics, precision medicine.
The facilities in Lecce are the largest such public structure in Italy for nanotechnology: more than 1,000 square meters of laboratories with a controlled environment.
The project launched 4 years ago and total investment was more than 10 million including the structure, facilities and equipment. It was split among the CNR, the Region of Puglia, MIUR (Ministry of Education and Research) and European funds. It employs 40 researchers under 35 years old, technologists with PhDs, and more than ten technicians. Some 60% of them women and 20% are foreigners, trained in physics, chemistry, engineering and biology.
CNR's Nanotechnology Institute of Lecce, directed by Giuseppe Gigli, is on its way to becoming a point of reference for the segment of Italian industry active in innovation and high tech. The labs can be used by large and small companies alike (including startups and spinoffs) that wish to pursue nanotechnology research: from biomedical to UCT to photonics to high-speed electronics. As of today, about ten multi nations and innovative startups have signed on. The Institute has a cooperation agreement with ST Microeletronics.
The Nanotechnology pole, said Inguscio, is an example of national success and collaboration among research entities and Italian and foreign universities, national institutions like MUIR, and local areas like Puglia.
He added that in line with the national research program, the group will continue to invest, including in the South, in order to support the revival of the national fabric, solid employment and attractive young and brilliant minds.
In 2017 and 2018, plans include signing new cooperation agreements for joint labs with high-tech multinationals and public hospital agencies in the area of medicine and precision equipment.
Original post:
Lecce debuts Italy's biggest nanotech clean room - ItalyEurope24 (subscription)
SAN FRANCISCO In the 1950s and 60s, psychedelic drugs including LSD and MDMA were considered promising treatments for psychiatric conditions. But scientists involved in the U.S.-approved studies at the time said that as millions of young people experimented with the drugs, the federal government yanked permission to study psychedelics and imposed a ban on the substances.
Now,CBS San Francisco station KPIX reports that a new generation of doctors and patients is exploring psychedelics as a therapeutic agent for a range of medical conditions and psychological traumas, including cancer patients and military troops suffering from PTSD.
In Marin County, patients gathered recently to talk about their legal experiences with an otherwise illegal psychedelic drug.
I went into the first real session and it just blew me away, breast cancer patient Wendy Donner told KPIX.
In Berkeley, a former public defender and Cal Law professor turned best-selling author described her experience with a different psychedelic, also illegal.
I was very pleasantly surprised that all I felt was good! said Ayelet Waldman, who has written about her struggles with a mood disorder and severe depression.
Then, in a home in El Cerrito, the husband of a cancer patient recalled the experience of his late wife, who was part of a clinical trial authorized to use a different illegal psychedelic.
I just thought this is like a miracle, exclaimed Richard Vaughn.
After decades of disregard, scientists said once again psychedelics are showing great promise as a therapeutic tool.
It opens you up to yourself, said cancer patient Andy Gold.
With permission from the FDA, California researchers are studying psychedelics in patients with life-threatening conditions, such as cancer.
Patients with cancer, particularly advanced cancer, have significant levels of anxiety, depression, and demoralization, explained UCLA psychiatrist Dr. Charles Grob.
One such patient was Annie Levy, who stopped enjoying her life when her ovarian cancer came back and she realized how her lifespan would be shortened.
It just seemed like it was a nightmare, her husband Richard said.
Before she died, Annie enrolled in a pivotal pilot study at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, California.
Along with 11 other patients, she used psilocybin, a psychedelic found in so-called magic mushrooms.
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The hallucinogenic drug psilocybin, the active ingredient in certain mushrooms, is being used to reduce anxiety and depression in cancer patients...
After a single dose, her anxiety and depression disappeared.
It was like someone had lit up a lightbulb in Annes head. She was a totally different person, Richard told KPIX.
No one had a bad trip, said Dr. Grob.
Grob headed up the UCLA study. The goal: to explore the safety and efficacy of psilocybin in patients with advanced-stage cancer and reactive anxiety.
The study was funded by the Heffter Research Institute of New Mexico. The Institute helps to design, review, and fund psilocybin research at prominent research institutions such as UCLA.
Grob, who is on the board of the Institute, said the study was very successful. It was a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. All the patients were monitored before and during the treatment sessions. Each patient received a placebo and the active ingredient randomly assigned to be administered on different days.
Grob said that while the psilocybin wears off in a few hours, the benefit lasted for up to six months; a single dose of the drug led to sustained improvement in mood and outlook.
The positive effects seems to sustain over a significant period of time, explained Grob.
This pilot study has now led to two other clinical trials at NYU Langone Medical Center and Johns Hopkins University.
In total, 92 participants were involved: all demonstrated statistically significant improvements with enduring positive effects for months after the single psilocybin treatment sessions ended,CBS San Franciscoreports. Researchers at the Heffter Institute expect to start the final FDA Phase 3 study sometime in 2017.
In Marin, in a different trial, psychiatrist Dr. Phil Wolfson legally administered a moderate dose of a different psychedelic known as MDMA to a different group of patients.
Its not addictive and weve never had a freak-out, Wolfson said. Wolfson is the principal investigator of the trial thats funded by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, or MAPS for short.
Use of MDMA, sometimes called ecstasy, was combined with psychotherapy sessions.
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The FDA has approved large-scale test trials of MDMA to help PTSD patients. CBSN's Jamie Yuccas has the latest on the controversial drug.
All of the patients who spoke to KPIX agreed: They experienced a profound benefit and emerged better able to cope.
With MDMA, everything opened up, said Wendy.
You start seeing things very, very clearly, said patient John Saul, whos been diagnosed with scleroderma.
It just gives you a view into yourself that I never had before, added another patient, Andy.
As to how psychedelics work, brain scans from healthy volunteers who took LSD may shed some light. The investigation was headed up by Dr. David Nutt, a British psychiatrist and neuropsychopharmacologist, now at Imperial College London.
Each volunteer took a sugar pill, and at a later date, took a common dose of LSD. Researchers then looked at the effect in the brain, using a functional MRI.
The brain under the influence of the LSD lit up like a proverbial Christmas tree.
With the hallucinogen, scientists believe disparate regions of brain communicate with each other when they normally dont do so. Psychedelics may indeed free your mind.
Our psychological defenses often suppress material that is too painful, that we dont want to deal with, and psychedelics bring that to the surface, said Rick Doblin, the founder and Executive Director of MAPS, a nonprofit group based in Santa Cruz.
What were really trying to do is legitimize psychedelic therapy, said Doblin.
Doblin envisions a time when psychotherapists can legally access a toolbox full of psychedelics.
I think a lot of them will start out with MDMA, which is the most gentle of the psychedelics, and then it may move to more classic psychedelics like LSD or psilocybin or mescaline he said.
But some individuals arent waiting for the medical community they are experimenting by self-medicating, like writer Ayelet Waldman.
I thought if anyone in the world is going to have a bad trip, its going to be me. I mean I can have a bad trip in a Pilates class, joked Waldman.
Waldman has a mood disorder. She fell into a terrible depression. Her prescription medication stopped working.
Out of desperation, for one month only, she took tiny micro doses of LSD.
Its possible that I experienced the mother of all placebo effects, she observed, but I had a very good month.
Waldman wrote about her experiences in a new memoir entitled A Really Good Day.
Now she wants scientists to seriously study microdosing for mood disorders.
Until we have more research, double-blind studies, using clinically evaluated LSD, were not going to understand this drug, explained Waldman.
Fifty years ago, Timothy Leary advocated the use of psychedelics and told folks to turn on, tune in and drop out. But now growing evidence is suggesting that under a doctors supervision, rather than dropping out, the drugs may help you get better.
The FDA just approved the Phase 3 trial for MDMA. MAPS officials hope the drug will be approved as a prescription medication for therapy by 2021. Researchers will begin screening applicants later this year for this last-stage trial.
See original here:
Psychedelic drug therapy including magic mushrooms, LSD and ... - CBS News
IT is perhaps the one thing every fitness and bodybuilding fanatic fears most; the disintegration of the man in the mirror once training and steroids stop.
Today, the gym world is huge. Muscles are being built to boost the missing chromosome of self-esteem and performance-enhancing drugs are so accessible that it is as simple as ordering a CD from Amazon.
But at BAFTA in Piccadilly on Thursday night, one man emerged from the shadows again to confirm that he is perhaps the most unique former bodybuilder ever.
I never had that worry [about losing my physique], said former six-time Mr Olympia Dorian Yates at the world premiere of the London Real documentary Dorian Yates: Inside the Shadow.
He was asked by a member of the audience about body dismorphia. How the threat of spiralling into depression when the god-like feeling of super-human strength and a physique to match gradually disappears before your eyes.
Maybe Im unusual. I was removed. Like I was working on this statue, that I was working on this product and the way to build the product was through self-discipline and mastery over yourself and over your instincts.
Dorian Yates
I never started bodybuilding because I thought Im not big enough, Im not strong enough. If you look back at my earliest photos, they would probably do well in a fitness contest now, so I probably came from a different point of view.
A lot of people, especially the young guys, ask me, When you look back at those photos, dont you feel like man I wish I looked like that now? Not at all, that doesnt apply to what I am doing now. I need a functional body that can cycle up hills. Before, I could lift 600lbs in squats and all incredible stuff in the gym but if I walked a couple of miles Id probably get out of breath. So its just not practical for me now, thats the way I look at it.
As long as Im in good physical shape, thats a passion for me, to be physically fit. Thats the main thing now, the look is secondary. But I think I look OK, not too bad for a 55 year old.
But if you start training and building your body because you feel inadequate or not confident then your whole confidence is tied up with having that physique then of course its very hard to let go of it because you feel now Im bigger and stronger and people respect me more and I feel more confident and people dont want to give that up.
I mentioned that with the whole steroid thing; once you get on the merry-go-round, if your self-esteem is tied up with having big muscles youre not going to want to let go of that.
Inside the Shadows
The documentary followed Yates rise to 260-pound, three-per-cent-bodyfat behemoth, to his clinical depression, use of psychedelics and cannabis where he wiped out the crew of London Real, who spent three hours lying on a Marbella beach after two puffs of one of his joints meditation and yoga. That the once-titan-like Yates fell over after failing to hold his balance on his first attempt at holding a yoga pose will be an image the gym world will find hard to illustrate.
I thought theyd been working hard and deserved a break, said Yates of the London Real crew he shared cannabis with having spent a few days in Spain filming the documentary. I didnt exactly hold them down. They did it [smoked] voluntarily.
It was the last day and I said if you want to smoke then no more than two puffs each. Then I said lets all go and have a nice dinner together and we can all relax. So me and my wife and my friend were in the restaurant and we were like, wheres Brian [Rose, front man for London Real], wheres the crew? Im trying to call Brian, Im trying to Whatsapp him and Im getting nothing. And Gal [Yates wife] said to me, dont you realise whats happened? I was like, what? You just fxxxxd them all up. No surely not, they had two puffs, come on. But apparently they were lying on the beach for two hours.
This movie was not just bodybuilding. Far from it. It was the transformation of a man who had been at the top of his game before his body gave out.
Inside the Shadow
Im not telling people they should do what I do, said Yates. They should absolutely follow their own path. I dont have ambitions to be a movie star or multi-millionaire. My challenges are more spiritual; to try and understand and develop that side of myself and to help other people. Thats what its all about, thats why I did the interview with Brian and thats why I did the movie.
Im not making any money, Im not being paid. Im not doing it to become a teacher or a guru but hopefully give that tip, a little hope to people and wake up that thing thats inside all of us. That little spark, that little light. Its inside of everybody. In some people its very faint and thats all Im trying to do.
So we will see what people think of this film. If they want to hear more we will do more if they dont want to hear anything I will go back to my shadow.
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Haroon Mirza, 2011. Photo: Simon Pollock.
I've worked with organic materials before quite a lot, mainly water and ants. I've also worked with plants before, but not in any great detail. I've always been interested in organic matter, material, and organisms because of their chaotic, unpredictable and autonomous nature, and also as a metaphor for other things - water and the sound of water is quite interesting because it produces white noise. Ants are chaotic systems, so you can create truly chaotic systems from using natural material. But then, on top of that, I've used a natural material constantly in my work over the last 10 years: electricity. Electricity is also a natural phenomenon, which we kind of think we control but we don't really. Electricity is completely chaotic.
The most recent piece I developed with ants was called Pavilion for Optimisation (2013). To talk about the ants in the work, the term 'optimisation' is a mathematical reference to a kind of logic. So for instance, satellite navigation systems use optimisation algorithms, which they derive from ants. Ants find a food source and use pheromones to communicate where that source is in relation to their nest, and then find the shortest route from the nest to the food and communicate that. That method of communication and of finding the shortest route is also how navigation systems work. And it's similar with water. If you think of a window when it's raining, you get the little droplets of water coming down a window. The water works as a whole to create the shortest routes, and then other particles of water can join and follow the same route. It's partly to do with gravity as well, but there is sort of this optimisation logic that takes place, which is chaotic but controlled. So there is that tension in nature. Chaos theory itself is about those sorts of structures and logic in chaotic systems, like patterns, recognition, and microcosms. These are really exemplified by fractals, like in geometry. Fractals kind of work their way back round to psychedelics and entheogens, because they're a part of what's more commonly known as entoptic phenomenon, which is commonly what's seen when you ingest psychedelics or you have endogenous-altered states of consciousness. Whether it's induced by psychedelics or by other natural means - stress to the body, for instance - that's the first stage of psychedelic experience: images of geometric patterns and fractals.
The first thing that led me to psychedelics was just being a teenager and doing LSD. Taking acid as a kid, that was my first interaction with psychedelics. Then it kind of went away and I sort of made sure to not really take drugs and concentrate on other things. But I know full well those kinds of experiences have had a profound influence on my aesthetic and theoretical taste, specifically the aesthetics of audio or the timbre of sound that I adopt in my work. It predates going to Brazil, but that trip did lead me to ayahuasca.
My interests lie in consciousness, and how consciousness relates to scientific endeavours: what we know about the physical world and universe, and how that doesn't make sense in terms of metaphysics and consciousness, because we don't understand consciousness in scientific terms. But we claim to understand it through either religion or other forms of spiritual engagement, whether it's yoga, Vedic traditions or more westernised traditions of spiritual practice, or these mind-altering substances or practices that do the same thing. It's the same effect. It's not a proven thing, but it could be argued that a high-level effect of yoga is DMT releasing in the mind, which is the same as meditating or other spiritual experiences. It's linking these metaphysical and physical things, which are what we know about the world and the universe. But what joins these two together is consciousness, and that's the crux of my interest.
That's a funny one, because those words literally refer to objects that are in the piece. There's a speaker that's branded an 'Adam' speaker and there's another that's branded 'Eve' - they're kind of similar marketing schemes. Then there's a little LED device that is called a UFO. So 'the others' are just the other speakers in the installation, but at the same time they set up this sort of narrative that has all these references. It's a two-fold thing. It's about the real, everyday reality of the physical, reductionist, materialist world that we live in, which we sort of have to accept somehow to come to consensus. But then it also refers to this metaphysical, spiritual world that we don't really have any access to. We're not allowed legally to take a plant out of the ground and ingest it; we literally don't have access to this other world, or other level of consciousness.
There are various processes that are going on. The caps of the mushrooms are placed onto the copper and release spores to reproduce, so you get prints that are the fingerprint of the mushroom. Some are done like that, some are electro-etched. Through the mushroom you run a negative charge, and you complete the circuit with a positive charge on the copper so the moisture in the mushroom will actually oxidise on the copper itself. That can be quite beautiful, and specifically beautiful with the peyote cactus and the San Pedro cacti. A lot of the titles refer to what they look like, so there's one that looks like a cosmological nebula, and one that looks like a comet. Sometimes the titles are just descriptive of what they are - some of the mushrooms refer to constellations.
Yes, there's a sort of cosmological narrative in there - this relationship with cosmology, ritual, and psychedelic experience that kind of collapses. That's identified mostly in Dec 21 [a work included in the Contemporary Art Gallery show], which is a representation of an astrotheological idea. Astrotheologists are a group of people who believe that many religions are tied to celestial events. One of the most famous is the astronomical event happens every 21 December: Winter Solstice. If you look up at the sky on 21 December, you will see Orion. Orion's Belt has been known throughout history as the Three Kings, and also referred to as the Three Wise Men. Southwest of that is a very bright star called Sirius, which is in the Canis Major constellation. If you make a line from the three stars of Orion's Belt to Sirius and continue that line to the horizon, on that point is where Virgo and the sun both rise. Astrotheologists believe it was the personification of this event that led to lots of religious ideas. Nativity, for example, is apparently based on this: the Three Kings in the story follow the brightest star in the sky, and then the Virgin Mary gives birth to the Son. When you personify these celestial objects, the story and the myth grows.
It's pronounced 'ahh,' like you're thinking about something. It's a funny one, because it's playing with typography. This has more to do about typography and syntax, typography and its relation to sound and linguistics. It comes from, in a convoluted way, McLuhan's idea of acoustics in visual space. He talks about how pre-linguistic man perceived visual space and acoustic space as one form of perception. It was only with language and the advent of syntax and spoken word that we started abstracting the thing itself. -[O]
Continued here:
Polish author Stanislaw Lem is one of my favorite writers of science-fiction, philosophy and satire. The fact that he was also a trained physician, gave him that subtle edge over his contemporaries. In one of his books, "The Futurological Congress," the protagonist "Ijon Tichy," accidentally ingests an overdose of psychoactive drugs that were placed in the drinking water by the government to pacify rioters.
Tichy then goes through a spell of hallucinations and gets confused about whether or not, things happening around him were real. Eventually, he starts to believe that he had woken up in a world far in the future where everyone took drugs and reality was replaced by hallucinations. That future though, as it appears, is almost already here, with a few minor alterations to Lem's novel. The future world is set in the Silicon Valley and the drugs are called "nootropics." Unlike Lem's, they do not cause hallucinations, but induce alertness, apparently increase productivity and enhance brain power - so, some believe.
While the scientific community scorns the use (or abuse) of such substances, many productivity-obsessed and sleep-deprived engineers, developers and inventors of Silicon Valley consume them, in order to carve out another hour of work from the 24-hour day.
These drugs, sometimes conveniently labeled as supplements, belong to the "biohackers," subculture who would do anything or everything in pursuit of higher productivity. They experiment with prescription drugs and are even known to shock their brains with low voltage electricity. Why? Because the world they live in is fast-paced and requires constant alertness.
Success there cannot be achieved by just having a great idea, as all your contemporaries seem to have similar great ideas about the same time. So the focus is rather on "delivering that idea" as fast as possible, be it software, a business plan or business funding. This builds a lot of pressure on folks at Silicon Valley and like college students, they eventually come to believe that if they were able to stay awake, stay focused, they would pass another hurdle and eventually succeed.
So, what about caffeine, why is not it enough? In a way, caffeine is also a nootropics drug; however, it is not strong enough and as every coffee drinker would know, too much of it actually makes one jittery and takes away the focus. Enter: Nootropics designers. They make compounds in labs, heady cocktails of different kinds of herbs or Chinese medicine. Several nootropics companies have mushroomed to cash in on the new fad. They mix different substances into pills and sell to consumers. I looked into the products of one company, founded by a Stanford graduate, with obvious pill names like "Sprint" or "Rise," you can easily predict the probable consumers. Never tested in scientific labs, with questionable effects and unknown side-effects, these products are nevertheless not restricted in the marketplace. In addition to caffeine derivatives that will make the user sprint and rise (!), they also sell other products that contain "Omega-3," which is one of those substances that is "good for anything and everything." Interestingly, this company sells another pill called "Yawn," which exactly does what its name suggests, it makes you sleep. Since the "high alertness," induced by most nootropics will nearly destroy all human body regulators for sleeping and waking up, users will need other nootropics drugs to put them to back to bed.
None of these, however, is really new. Humans have been using naturally harvested or laboratory produced drugs for alertness for a long time. Both allied and axis armies are known for their abuse of substances like methamphetamine and morphine during World War II.
What is new though is nootropics drugs are re-branded in Silicon Valley to fit their terminology and culture and most of the users, who are white-collar workers, live in the California Bay Area. Since these products are sold as supplements, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not test or review them. The users share their stories and tips in online forums, and guess what: While short term successes are abounding, long-term success stories are, in fact, very rare. The story of nootropics shows humans will try just about everything to be different and in the context of Silicon Valley culture, the biohackers are just trying to "optimize" themselves.
Nevertheless, as one would have suspected, some of the early proponents of nootropics have already given up on them and changed their lifestyles. At least one of them, talking to a reporter, said that he is now back to eating normal meals, instead of "drinking or taking them." Good news.
See the article here:
Silicon Valley's 'nootropic' smart drugs a big business - Daily Sabah
What We Like is a new series that features genres we like in the electronic music scene.
TheWhat We Likeseries focuses on a sole genre that a contributor to the team is passionate about. Each month, that contributor will dive deep into the genre they care most about to bring you some history, information, and of course some music too. Our intention is to not just to provide some music for you to listen to, but to guide you on your journey in discovering new music or help you develop a deeper connection to genres you already love.This monthsedition of What We Like is focused on Tech Trance!
Tech Trance is best described as a sub-genre of electronic dance music that marries elements from both techno and trance production. In essence, it is the edgiest of all the trance sub-genres and one thathas garnered quite the massive following in the trance community since its emergence back in the mid-1990s. Now, although its relevancy sits high among those with close ties to the trance genre, tech trance actuallyfocuses more on the techno elements, incorporating traditional elements of techno, with its repetitive nature and strong 4/4 beat, while deriving its melodic elements from Trance.
Tech Trance productions tend to have a tempo of around 135-150 beats per minute and the synths on a tech trance pieceare often short, more repetitive, and contain fewernote changes than traditional trance, often having the same note played in a unique or alternative sequence. In addition, tech trance tends to gravitate its focus on adriving sound while often using distortion as an effect on the melodies. But what aboutbreakdowns and builds? While these may be indispensable elements of many of the most popular genres and sub-genres of electronic dance musicthey are much less prevalent in tech trance. As a result, more abrupt stops and starts are used to increase the effect of sudden changes within the music. In other words, themelody will suddenly stop, leaving the drums and a completely different synth to begin, whereas trance songs would generally continue with the same melody (ManyAlex Di Stefano productions are a brilliant example of this type of breakdown).
Although it saw its beginnings back in the mid-1990s, tech trance really didnt begin to evolve until the early 2000s. With a slew of producers like Keith Edwards, Skyscraper, Owen Vallis and DJ Amberon the job, tech trance began to find its way. It wasnt until 2006 and after when artists likeDave Schiemann,Simon Patterson, Bryan Kearney, Will Atkinson,Matt Bowdidge, Sean Tyas, Alex Di Stefano,Jordan Suckley, John Askew, Marco V, Indecent Noise, Tempo Giusto, and Mark Sherry, just to name a few,would stretch their tech trance legs seeing that thegenre would begin to explode. Today tech trance is on the rise and has fast become one of the most celebrated and sought after sub-genres in the trance community, breathing new life into the true trance underground.
One of the best ways to discover new music, artists and labels isby listening to radio shows that thrive on sharing whats out there.Check out these six shows and their curators below!
Simon Pattersons Open Up brand has truly become the bench markfor high quality underground trance, tech and psy. His weekly radio show aired every Thursday at 10:00 GMT onwww.di.fm/trance(Digitally Imported Radio) deserves some serious accolades as it is the hottest showcase of music from the tech and psy scene as well as it is the first place to hear the fresh new sounds emerging from Simons studio. In addition, Simon has recently been named as one of the VII elite, a new record label and brand pushing the boundaries of cutting edge tech and psy. Among the ranks with Simon arepsy and tech masters Astrix, John Askew, Freedom Fighters, Sean Tyas, Will Atkinson and Blazer. On a personal note, one of my favorite Simon Patterson tech trance productions to date would have to be Thump. This trackdishes out tech trance perfection in every way and even has room for a melodic breakdown in the middle of the piece revealing to all who listen that Simon Patterson truly is nothing short of a multidimensional genius!
Check out our featured interview with Simon Patterson righthere!
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Aleksander Stawierej, aka Indecent Noise is no stranger to the techier and darker side of trance and if you have ever had the chance to check out his extraordinary radio show called Mental Asylum Radio, airing every Thursday at 9 pm GMT / 10 pm CET on afterhours.fmthen you know exactly what this trance master is capable of. Recently celebrating its 100th episode and celebrated as the most appropriatehome for the mentally insane, Mental Asylum Radio features the sounds of the electrified, twisted, and more up tempo side of trance. In addition, Indecent Noise holds nothing back when it comes to his live sets and original tracks. Oozing with speed, power, insatiable techno kicks and crunchy beats blended with that sweet trance euphoria, Indecent Noise always comes with the fire.
Check out our very special interview called MyStro Presents Storylines With Indecent Noise by clickinghere!
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Is he techno? Is he trance? One listen to Alex Di Stefanos Podcast that he has dubbed FireCast Radio, airing every 1st of the month, and it becomes unbelievable clear that this is an artist who has forged his own unique path, crafting a style of tech trance all his own. Alex Di Stefanobrings a breath of fresh air to the electronic dance music scene with his out of the box styleand his implementation of only the grimiest of the underground sounds. If we rewind time and take a look at his artistic growth, history would show us thatAlexs desire to try new sounds and musical flavors would ultimately lead him to Rimini where he would hone his craft, unveiling a brilliant talent that highlightscombining techno and trance styles made evident in his 1998Hesperia EP with Blue Waves, Mizar EP with Volcano, and Mizar EP II. As the years progressed, Alex would begin torelease tracks in more minimalist style which would evolve itself to what we call his tech-trance style of today, avoiding all the mainstream evolutions that seem to be flooding our current scene.
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Now, we cant talk tech trance without giving a shout out to the tech trance king himself, Tempo Giusto! Debuting in 2008 with the single Agent Orange Tempo Giusto has since hit the big time with six top ten hits on Beatport. Tempo Giusto has redefined the art of driving trance and both 2015 and 2016 will forever be known as the years that Tempo Giusto reigned supreme. He was namedFinlands best selling trance artist in 2015 and #29 globally with hitsingles including trance hits Benzin (#4 on Beatport), Blacksmith (#4 on Beatport), Majestic (#8 on Beatport) and TechCorp (#9 on Beatport). Described as a true magician and the king of triplets by some critics and artists, Tempo Giusto is without a doubt an innovator of his genre and one of the future driving forces in the club music scene.If you want to hear the latest and greatest of all that is tech trance, fans have to look no further than Tempo Giustos wildly infectious podcast calledGlobal Sound Drift.
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Hitting the airwaves every third Tuesday from 9:00 pm to 10:00 pm GMT on Digitally Imported Radio, Damaged takes you deep into the twisted realm of tech trance with Jordan Suckley leading the way. What you will find as you listen is that Damaged Radio hostsa slew of maestrosboth new and fresh to the scene as well as well established artists boasting the very best in tech trance genre-defining sounds. When it comes to Jordan Suckley, track selections with a lot of edge are his go to choices, alwaystakinghis listeners on the ride of their lives. HIs unmatched drive to take his passion for both the techno and trance genres is clearly translated through all that he does whether it be in hislive shows, original productions, or radio show. With a flair for the acid sound mixed with deep bass, melodic breakdowns, and a whole lot of tech driven kicks, Jordan Suckley has this genre on lock. And if we are going to be honest, the tech trance genre would not be complete without this talented young artist firmly planted in the drivers seat.
Check out our interview with Jordan Suckley HERE!
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As is made evident by Mark Sherrys brilliant Outburst Radio show track selections, this is a man with true diversity and experience. While not always locking himself down to one specific sub genre Mark Sherry has built an empire surrounding himself with everything that oozes trance! MarksOutburst Radio Show, airing every Wednesday at 12 pm on the DJ Mixes Channel on Digitally Imported Radio has amasseda huge global fan base but continues to stay true to its trance and tech-trance beginnings. This weekly 2 hour show and iTunes podcast has boasted huge guest DJ mixes from some of the scenes biggest names such as Ferry Corsten, Gareth Emery, Judge Jules, Fergie, Arty, Lange, Rank 1, Andy Moor, Michael Woods, Sean Tyas & Orjan Nilsen just to name a few. Clearly this is a man with a broad repertoirebut at the end of the day, it is in tech trance that Mark Sherry finds his sweet spot. To get a true feel of who he is as a tech trance artist check out his set from Circus Hell in Montreal Canada and be prepared to be blown away with some of the darkest tech trance beats this man could offer up!
Check out our Mark Sherry live at Circus Hell event review righthere!
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Bryan Kearney is probably one of the most diversitile artists on this list and his attention and passion for the tech trance genre certainly deserves some major praise. While you never know what Bryan may be in the mood to deliver, his knowledge and expertise of everything trance has seen him dive into the world of tech trance through his insanely popular podcast appropriately titled Kearnage. His genius tech trance expressions are also very much presentwithin his original productions, 2 perfect examples being Ridiculous and El Gatounder his tech alias Karney. Bryan Kearney has mastered literally every trance art form and when it comes to his tech trance expertise, he is at the top of his class. The set that I have chosen to highlight below is the perfect example of his diversity but his true tech trance soul shines brightly in the latter half of the set. Now, this may be a contraversial choice for an article focusing solely on tech trance but in my opinion, everything this man touches turns to gold and with tech trance high on his list of mastered musical art forms, I certainly had to give him a nod.
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Maria first fell in love with electronic music in the early 2000's when she heard a little tune called "Satisfaction" by Benny Benassi. Since then she has dived head first into the scene and become passionate about the trance, techno, and tech house genre's. Festival's like EDC, Dreamstate, and TomorrowWorld hold the key to her soul and dance music will always and forever be a major part of her life.
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Wipe the blood from your teeth and get in the pit: its time for a recap of this weeks best hardcore, metal, and punk rock. Its a new year and the perfect time to get amped up on some new heavy tunes. Looking for some new death metal to bring into your life? Got you covered. Need some grindcore to get your wedding reception off on the right foot? Say no more. Strap in, kiddies; its time to rock.
The second track off of Pissed Jeans upcoming Why Love Nowis a monstrously angry and bitter number. Ignorecam is devoid of melody and harmony; it just pounds you with ugliness and growls. Pissed Jeans get a lot of different labels, but theres no way you can listen to this and think its anything other than punk freaking rock. The fact that these guys are capable of making catchy, melodic numbers makes the steadygrind of Ignorecam all the more oppressive. Its like theyre mad at you. Pissed Jeans arent trying to win you over; theyre trying to stab you in the gut and watch you bleed. It hurts so good though and its the sort of punishment we beg for. Take a listen below.
The fact thatWiegedood has members of Oathbreaker and Rise & Fall within its ranks is enough to make them an instant buy. Were sold before we even press play, and hearing their breakneck black metal assault is just icing on the cake. This stuff leans a lot closer to Oathbreaker than it does Rise & Fall, but labeling these guys based on their other bands is unfair.Wiegedood is its own beast. There are no hints of hardcore or punk on these tracks; nothing more than the blackest of black metal. Its highly technical stuff that wallows in darkness and intensity. These guys are from Belgium, but their sound hews closer to the modern black metal scene in America (or maybe its just that anything that sounds viciously hostile feels very American right now). Theres no denying that Wiegedood has distinct East Coast vibe; think Yellow Eyes but more intense. Whatever you want to call it, its good.
(CLRVYNT)
Show Yourself is going to seriously divide Mastodon fans. Not only does it sound nothing like any of the bands previous output, but it also has a real classic rock tone to it. This is Mastodon going full-blown Thin Lizzy and that is bound to upset some longtime fans. The song is catchy and built for popular radio, no doubt, but its still got some awesome riffs and furious drumming. If you cant accept the fact that the Mastodon is evolving and trying new things, youre going to miss out on some cool rock jams. They arent repeating themselves; theyre not just pumping out another Blood Mountain and thats a good thing. Change is a good thing. Plus, we kinda like Thin Lizzy.
Were not a hundred percent sure how you pronounce Xibalba, but we are a hundred percent sure that they freakin slay. This stuff heavy as all hell. Its steamroll your eardrums and crush your bones into dust. If you like your metal to be caustic and deadly, youll love Xibalba. It has elements of hardcore, metal, a grind, but the mix is unique and hostile. Its listening to your own death; a soundtrack that is abrasive and painful. Sometimes, you just want to wallow in blood and gore. Sometimes you just want to embrace your inner demon. Sometimes you just have to listen toXibalba and let the heaviness consume you.
(CLRVYNT)
Unearthly Trance manage to be trippy and psychedelic while dragging themselves through the mud. The song Scythe is thick with sludge and feedback. Its a creeping track that feels like a beast inching closer towards you in a pit of blackness. Then, when things are at their heaviest, the band let their sound soar. It gets transcendent for a moment, with the guitar bringing in hints of melody.Unearthly Trance never let you get too comfortable though, because that melody never stays for long and things quickly descend into bleak doom. Its like they let you come up for air before pushing your face back into the dirt. Unearthly TrancesStalking The Ghostdrops on February 24th and trust us, you want it. Its a ritualistic odyssey of punishing metal and bizarre dissonance, perfect for those last, dark days of winter.
(Decibel)
Lastly, we leave you with a full stream of Iron Reagans Crossover Ministry. The album is out now and, as weve said many times now, its absolutely awesome. This record is a party from start to finish, a thrash punk masterpiece thatll get your blood pumping. Its a circle pit waiting to happen, a bloody nose lying in wait. You cant listen to Iron Reagan and not get fired up.Crossover Ministryis relentless and kinetic, a blitz of an album that never lets up. We highly recommend buying this, inviting your friends over, and having a hardcore party. Get rowdy, kids. Youve earned it.
(Noisey)
Thats it for us this week. Got a grindcore, deathcore, hardcore, metal, or punk jam you think the world needs to hear? Let us know about it in the comments below.
Image:Unearthly Trance
Gif: Warner Brothers/Tom and Jerry
Benjamin Bailey writes for the Nerdist and can be found onTwittertalking about Godzilla, comic books, and hardcore music.
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Scream at a Wall: UNEARTHLY TRANCE Bring a Heavy Sense of Doom - Nerdist
Armin van Buuren revealed that he will air the 800th edition of his A State Of Trance broadcast from a brand new studio in Amsterdam last month (January).
Now, ahead of the first broadcast from the studio at 7pm GMT (8pm CET) on Friday 3rd February, van Buuren has offered the first glimpse inside in a series of posts on Twitter. You can see the images below.
Armin previously described the new studio build as a "new chapter in the history of A State Of Trance.
Earlier this year scientists also found that Armins A State Of Trance compilations aid in the growth of test tube babies.
Check out the first glimpse of Armins brand new A State Of Trance studio below.
The first time in my new @asot studio ! Tune in tomorrow at 8 PM CET! #ASOT800 pic.twitter.com/4jdyxq4jXq
This week #ASOT800 the VERY first LIVE show from the new @asot studio with too many guests to mention! pic.twitter.com/HDAepKYf1S
Rob McCallum is DJ Mags deputy digital editor. Follow him on Twitterhere.
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Armin van Buuren offers first glimpse of new A State Of Trance studio - DJ Mag
TMW Systems has integrated its TMW Suite and TruckMate transportation management software with the 123Loadboard freight-matching service.
Users of either TMW platform who also have accounts with 123Loadboard can now post loads or trucks to its online marketplace via TMWs Freight Board Interface. Through the integration, users will be able to add, update, cancel and remove loads from within either TMS program.
Posted loads auto-populate in 123Loadboard, giving carriers and others using the platform access to many loads in real time. Drivers can post trucks available for use, enabling brokers and asset-based carriers to take advantage of 123Loadboards platform.
The 123Loadboard platform posts more than 45.6-million truck loads annually to more than 325,000 carriers, owner-operators, brokers and shippers that use the service. The new integration also works with 123Loadboards mobile app versions, allowing its 150,000-plus mobile app users to find more loads while they are on the road.
This TMW integration will enable 123Loadboard members to post their loads and trucks to the load board quickly and easily using automation to simplify the process, said Loarn Metzen, vice president, 123Loadboard. Plus, having immediate access to up-to-date load and truck data will ensure that 123Loadboards platform remains efficient while helping brokers and fleet owners move greater freight volumes.
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TMW Suite, TruckMate TMS Now Integrate With 123Loadboard ... - Heavy Duty Trucking
Just when WhiteHouse.gov shed its Spanish version a temporary issue said Trump Press Secretary Sean Spicer, although the Spanish option has yet to be restored as of press time two weeks later the New Jersey Supreme Court directed the statewide rollout of a new, consolidated Language Access Plan across its judicial system, according to a court press release dated February 2, 2017.
US Language Access initiatives target persons of limited English proficiency (LEP) to give them access to government services, in this case, the state courts. New Jersey State has a population of over one million LEP persons, nearly 600,000 of them Spanish speakers, based on the latest census. In 2015, interpreters were used in 82,927 New Jersey court events in 83 languages, including American Sign Language.
The New Jersey Judiciary Language Access Plan is said to be grounded in the basic tenet that, among others all costs for interpreting are to be borne by the Judiciary, except in very limited instances. The new, consolidated version updates and replaces all previous state language access plans and directives and incorporates all other existing policies into a single, 75-page document. It also defines a set of 11 goals to guide the states efforts.
According to the State Supreme Court-issued directive, the rollout of a new statewide system for managing interpreting services was completed in June 2015, and data collection and analysis efforts (i.e., case type, interpreter name, call log, etc.) have begun. The next step is to assess compliance with the Language Access Plan.
Said to be immediately effective, implementation of the Language Access Plan is expected to be complete in state-level courts by June 2017, and in the municipal courts by December 2017. Assessment of compliance will begin in 2018.
The New Jersey Judiciary has led other states in its approach to language access; for example, in setting up clear credentialing requirements for court interpreters. Other initiatives include translating documents for LEP court users, training for judges and staff, and information drives to tell the public that language services are available throughout the judicial system free of charge.
Among the material published by the court system in New Jersey are documents for self-represented litigants in non-English languages. Given that 85% of the demand is for Spanish, the courts now have available hundreds of translated forms, brochures, information packets, etc. in Spanish, but will seek to translate more, according to the new, consolidated Language Access Plan.
The New Jersey Judiciary website is available in English and Spanish. Additionally, the courts employ a number of bilingual staff who can directly serve court users in Spanish. Under the new directive, however, the state will also translate more materials into our other high demand languages, which include Haitian, Korean, Polish and Portuguese, and implement translation project management software (read: translation management system or TMS) and expand staffing.
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