Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2015

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With less than two weeks to go until the entry deadline for the 2015 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition, run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, we take a look at some of the best offerings so far.

For more information, or to enter your images, see http://www.rmg.co.uk/astrophoto

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On hearing there was likely to be an aurora, and knowing that his normal viewing location was clouded out, the photographer drove south and found himself at the head of the Waldronville Lagoon in Otago, New Zealand, just as the sun set. This shot was taken at the height of the aurora, during which time, the International Space Station passed through the field of view.

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Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2015

Star Castle (1980) First experimental artificial intelligence – Video

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Star Castle (1980) First experimental artificial intelligence
Star Castle (1980) (Arcade) First experimental artificial intelligence FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS GAME ON OUR SITE http://ultimatehistoryvideogames.jimdo.com/star-castle/ Playlist for all games...

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Star Castle (1980) First experimental artificial intelligence - Video

Modular brains help organisms learn new skills without forgetting old skills

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New research suggests that when brains are organized into modules they are better at learning new information without forgetting old knowledge. The findings--published this week in PLOS Computational Biology -- not only shed light on the evolution of intelligence in natural animals, but will also accelerate attempts to create artificial intelligence (AI).

Kai Olav Ellefsen (Norwegian University of Science and Technology), Jean-Baptiste Mouret (Pierre & Marie Curie University) and Jeff Clune (University of Wyoming) used simulations of evolving computational brain models called artificial neural networks to show that more modular brains learn more and forget less.

The brains of animals (including humans) are modular, which means they have many separate units, such as those for language and facial recognition. While natural animals tend to forget gradually, artificial neural networks currently exhibit what is called 'catastrophic forgetting'. They rapidly overwrite previously acquired knowledge when learning a new skill. The researchers found that modularity significantly reduced such catastrophic forgetting in these computer brains.

In future work, the researchers plan to dramatically scale up the complexity of the brain models and the difficulty of the tasks they ask the neural networks to learn. "Building models that incorporate both evolution and learning is critical to understanding the evolution of the animal nervous system," Jean-Baptiste Mouret says. Jeff Clune adds: "The ultimate goal of artificial intelligence research is to produce AI that can learn many different skills and get better at each of them over time, just as humans and animals do. We must solve the problem of catastrophic forgetting to realize that goal. This work is an important step in that direction, but it is just one step in a long journey."

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The above story is based on materials provided by PLOS. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Modular brains help organisms learn new skills without forgetting old skills

Korea Aerospace Industries wins preliminary bid for KFX fighter jet project – Video

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Korea Aerospace Industries wins preliminary bid for KFX fighter jet project
Korea Aerospace Industries has been selected as the top bidder for Koreas indigenous fighter jet development program. In partnership with Lockheed Martin Korea Aerospace Industries beat...

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Korea Aerospace Industries wins preliminary bid for KFX fighter jet project - Video

McBee Strategic Expands Leading Aerospace Practice with Addition of Erin Neal

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McBee Strategic Consulting (MSC), LLC, a leading government relations and strategic communications firm, today announced that aerospace and security policy veteranErin Nealwill join as an Executive Vice President in its advocacy unit later this month.

Neal spent twelve years in the aerospace industry prior to joining McBee, most recently as a director of government relations for Orbital ATK in support of the company's commercial, military, intelligence, and civil space programs. She also served as ATK Aerospace Systems' lead lobbyist. While at ATK, Erin led a successful effort on behalf of the entire U.S. satellite industry to reduce barriers to free trade, by modernizing antiquated export control regulations that had stymied this sector since the late 1990s. She came to ATK from Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., where she was a manager for government relations, serving as a business development liaison to NASA and NOAA headquarters, and a lobbyist to the hill for Ball's civilian and commercial programs.

Neal previously worked as a senior staffer to U.S. SenatorBill Nelson, supporting the Senator in his role on the Budget and Commerce Committees. She also served as a space and telecommunications policy analyst at the Congressional Research Service, was part of the Space Studies Board at the National Academy of Sciences, the Office of Space Science at NASA Headquarters, the Space Policy Institute at theGeorge Washington University, and in the offices for two Members of the House of Representatives.

"Erin's expertise in so many facets of aerospace policy will make her an incredible addition to our team," said MSC Managing Director and executive committee memberSam Whitehorn. "Her understanding of how industry and government can work together to develop new programs and policies in aerospace is unmatched."

"I'm excited to add my experience to McBee Strategic's already impressive team," Neal said. "MSC knows how to navigate the intersection of the public and private sectors for its clients like no one else inWashington."

Last year MSC, through an acquisition byWiley Rein, became an independent subsidiary of the law firm. Together, the two firms create aWashington, D.C.legal, advocacy and communications powerhouse providing sophisticated client services.

ABOUT McBee Strategic Consulting

McBee Strategic advises corporations, institutions, and trade associations across a range of services including traditional advocacy, strategic communications and digital media. Founded in 2002, the firm represents some of the world's most innovative companies and associations in the aviation and aerospace, defense and security, energy, financial services, health care, technology, and transportation sectors. Since its inception, the firm has been consistently recognized as one ofWashington'spremier advocacy and strategic communications firms. For more information, please visitwww.mcbeestrategic.com.

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McBee Strategic Expands Leading Aerospace Practice with Addition of Erin Neal

Ball Aerospace Instrument Setting Gold Standard for Accuracy on Global Precipitation Measurement Mission

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The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission Core Satellite's Microwave Imager (GMI) built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. under contract for NASA has performed flawlessly in its first year on orbit as the most accurately calibrated radiometer in the twelve-satellite GPM constellation.

The NASA Precipitation Measurement X-Cal working group noted the radiometer's accuracy after analyzing GMI's performance during its first year of operation. GMI launchedFebruary 27, 2014aboard the joint NASA and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Global Precipitation Measurement mission's Core Observatory. GMI provides a standard of calibration that will substantially improve the accuracy of the precipitation data measured by other radiometers in the constellation.

"The Ball GMI enhanced subsystems design enables excellent science data performance with calibration accuracy that is unparalleled," saidJim Oschmann, vice president and general manager of Ball's Civil Space and Technology business unit. "GMI incorporates lessons learned from other radiometers which have taken Earth science measurements from low and medium Earth orbits for the last 20 years."

The Ball Aerospace GMI engineering design features a radio frequency (RF) receiver subsystem that is highly temperature stable, including a shade that protects the instrument electronics from the sun's heat. This helps prevent high temperatures from compromising the calibration accuracy of the instrument. GMI also features two standard calibration points, one at the cold end of the temperature range and one at the high end. As GMI spins at 32 revolutions per minute, it continuously self-calibrates so it can accurately measure Earth's brightness temperatures. A special coating on GMI's main reflector collects and channels RF energy so that the high frequency channel data are not compromised. GMI is the first radiometer to use noise diodes at specific frequencies to provide a 4-point calibration system that enhances accuracy.

As an essential part of an international satellite mission, the Ball Aerospace GMI is capturing next-generation observations of rain and snow worldwide every three hours. The GPM Core Observatory is delivering unprecedented 3-D views of hurricanes and snowstorms and contributes to monitoring and forecasting weather events such as droughts, floods and landslides.

GMI is one example of Ball's long support of the country's weather observation and climate science. The GPM constellation includes the Ball Aerospace-builtSuomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership(NPP) satellite, which launched in 2011, and will include the firstJoint Polar Satellite System, currently in development at Ball meeting cost and schedule requirements. Both satellites enable faster, more accurate weather forecasting.

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. supports critical missions for national agencies such as the Department of Defense, NASA, NOAA and other U.S. government and commercial entities. The company develops and manufactures spacecraft, advanced instruments and sensors, components, data exploitation systems and RF solutions for strategic, tactical and scientific applications. Ball continues to invest and innovate in affordable, high resolution imaging systems, contributing to the needs of civil, military and commercial customers. For more information, visithttp://www.ballaerospace.com/.

Ball Corporation (NYSE: BLL) supplies innovative, sustainable packaging solutions for beverage, food and household products customers, as well as aerospace and other technologies and services primarily for the U.S. government. Ball Corporation and its subsidiaries employ 14,500 people worldwide and reported 2014 sales of$8.6 billion. For more information, visitwww.ball.com, or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter.

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Ball Aerospace Instrument Setting Gold Standard for Accuracy on Global Precipitation Measurement Mission

BBC: Draconian censorship of homosexuality in Singapore revealed – Video

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BBC: Draconian censorship of homosexuality in Singapore revealed
During a 45-minute BBC documentary to mark 50 years of Singapore #39;s independence aired on 1 March 2015, presenter Sharanjit Leyl interviewed theatre doyens Haresh Sharma, Ivan Heng and Alfian.

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BBC: Draconian censorship of homosexuality in Singapore revealed - Video

YouTuber Amos Yee arrested: Singaporean police arrest 16-year-old for Lee Kuan Yew video – Video

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YouTuber Amos Yee arrested: Singaporean police arrest 16-year-old for Lee Kuan Yew video
Amos Yee has been arrested by Singaporean police after the 16-year-old posted a YouTube video criticising the dead dictator Lee Kuan Yew because Singapore really respects freedom of speech...

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YouTuber Amos Yee arrested: Singaporean police arrest 16-year-old for Lee Kuan Yew video - Video

Dont confuse reporting of lies as freedom of speech

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NGO head says journalists are not above the law and the police only arrested TMI staff because a report was lodged against them.

PETALING JAYA: Staff of The Malaysian Insider were arrested for their tendency to habitually pass off false and inaccurate information as truth, said the head of the Centre for Political Awareness, Huan Cheng Guan.

He said that contrary to the accusation that the government and police were stifling freedom of speech, TMI broke the law by putting out a highly erroneous article on hudud and implicated the Conference of Rulers in the process.

The error is very serious because if it were perceived as truth, the possibility of a Malay uprising is there, he said, in a statement today, adding that it was only right that TMI take responsibility for its actions, which to date it has refused to do.

He pointed out that the news portal refused to amend the article which till today can be accessed from its site and that the police only took action because a report had been lodged with them by the Keeper of the Rulers Seal.

Action was taken based on the police report lodged by the Keeper of the Rulers Seal and not because of any other person/parties, he said.

He also condemned watchdog bodies like the National Union of Journalists, among others who did not seem to realise that TMI had flouted a Code of Ethics by deliberately deceiving the public with false statements.

The role of such watchdog bodies should be to pressure fellow journalists to report truth. They and other critics should not derail the whole scenario by accusing the government of victimising TMI, Huan said.

Defending the governments action and arguing that they acted within the parameters of duty, he added, Had this occurred in other authoritarian governments, the whole portal would have been closed down, owners fined and guilty ones immediately charged.

He made reference to 16-year-old Amos Yee of Singapore who insulted the late Lee Kuan Yew and Christians in a YouTube video, saying that was a good example of how strict enforcement shows no mercy.

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Dont confuse reporting of lies as freedom of speech

Head Of Local Interfaith Center: Anti-Islamic SEPTA Ads Do Not Represent Our Philadelphia

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April 1, 2015 2:07 PM

Weekdays: 9 a.m. 12 noon Which Philadelphia talk show host c...

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) Rev. Nicole Diroff, associate executive director of the Interfaith Center of Greater Philadelphia, spoke with Talk Radio 1210 WPHT midday host Dom Giordano about the ads going on SEPTA buses that many people feel are anti-Islamic and the rally that they had to garner support for their removal.

Yesterday in Love Park, Civic and religious leaders gathered to say that these ads that up on SEPTA buses do not represent our Philadelphia, do not represent the Philadelphia that theyre a part of, and inviting people to be part of a Dare to Understand Campaign in responseto have an elevated positive response spreading different images throughout this region. People of diversity standing together in cooperation and collaboration.

While the Interfaith Center of Greater Philadelphia does believe in the freedom of speech, Diroff says that they disagree with the message that it sends.

So, I think that we are finding that our Muslim partners and friends do not find these ads accurate, and for me personally, the emotional response that they give to me is one of pain and hurt, and so we are responding with an emotional response of love and hope. As a Christian minister myself, I am acutely aware of the ways in which many of our scriptures can be taken and interpreted in many many different ways. They can be used to back lots of different positions. So, were trying to respond with something thats elevated beyond the content of the ad.

Rev. Diroff has received an exceptional amount of financial response to go along with the outpouring of emotions by already raising more than $27,000 for more ads to support the billboard placed on I-76.

Though she hopes that the ads will not spark any violent responses, a fear remains that it will happen.

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Head Of Local Interfaith Center: Anti-Islamic SEPTA Ads Do Not Represent Our Philadelphia