NASA honors fallen astronauts with day of remembrance

Posted on by

NASA is honoring its fallen astronauts with a special day of remembrance Wednesday (Jan. 28), the 29th anniversary of the Challenger space shuttle tragedy.

Space agency officials are conducting ceremonies at several different sites around the country during the annual event, to pay tribute to the three crewmembers killed in 1967's Apollo 1 fire, the seven astronauts lost whenChallenger exploded in 1986and the seven crewmembers who died when the shuttle Columbia broke apart upon re-entry to Earth's atmosphere in 2003.

"NASA's Day of Remembrance honors members of the NASA family who lost their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery," agency officialssaid in a statement. "NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and other agency senior officials will hold an observance and wreath-laying at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia from 9 to 10:30 a.m. [EST] Wednesday." [NASA's Fallen Astronauts: A Photo Memorial]

Various NASA centers are also hosting their own observances, officials added. The deputy director of Kennedy Space Center in Florida, for example, will lead a brief ceremony at the facility's visitor center at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT), and Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama will hold a candle-lighting ceremony at 10 a.m. local time (11 a.m. EST; 1600 GMT).

TheApollo 1 fire, NASA's first mission-related tragedy, occurred on Jan. 27, 1967. Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee were inside their crew capsule at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, conducting a test of the vehicle, which was scheduled to launch on an orbital mission less than a month later. A fire broke out, and all three crewmembers were killed.

The next spaceflight disaster came 19 years and one day later. On Jan. 28, 1986,Challenger disintegratedjust 73 seconds after blasting off, killing Francis "Dick" Scobee, Ronald McNair, Mike Smith, Ellison Onizuka, Judy Resnik, Greg Jarvis and Connecticut teacher Christa McAuliffe, who was supposed to be the first teacher in space.

The accident investigation revealed that an O-ring in one of the orbiter's two solid rocket boosters failed on that cold morning, allowing hot gas to escape and causing the shuttle's huge external fuel tank to explode.

NASA grounded the space shuttle for nearly three years in the wake of the Challenger tragedy, returning the vehicle to flight in September 1988 with the STS-26 mission of the shuttle Discovery.

The shuttle fleet flew without any serious incidents for another decade and a half. Then, on Feb. 1, 2003,Columbia broke apartas it was gliding back to Earth after a 16-day space mission. All seven astronauts aboard were killed: Rick Husband, Willie McCool, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, David Brown, Michael Anderson and Ilan Ramon, who was Israel's first astronaut.

Investigators later determined that Columbia sustained damage during launch, when a piece of foam insulation broke off the external fuel tank and careened into the orbiter's left wing. The impact breached Columbia's heat shield in that spot, allowing hot atmospheric gases to infiltrate the wing during re-entry.

See the original post here:

NASA honors fallen astronauts with day of remembrance

NASA will keep using Russian Soyuz ferry craft

Posted on by

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft. NASA

NASA hopes to begin launching U.S. and partner astronauts to the space station aboard Boeing and SpaceX ferry craft in the 2017 timeframe, but agency managers expect to continue sending crew members up aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft -- and Russian cosmonauts aloft aboard U.S. vehicles -- as a hedge against problems, like crew illness, that could force some station crew members to make an emergency return to Earth.

Without mixed crews, an illness could force everyone who came up with the sick crew member to depart aboard the vehicle that brought them to the station. If it was a U.S. or partner crew member, everyone who launched with that astronaut aboard a Boeing or SpaceX ferry craft would have to return to Earth, leaving the station in the hands of Russian cosmonauts who launched aboard a Soyuz spacecraft and who are not trained to operate NASA systems.

And vice versa.

As a result, NASA managers believe it makes long-range sense to launch one U.S. or partner astronaut aboard every Soyuz and one cosmonaut aboard every NASA commercial ferry ship. Nothing has been finalized, officials say, but the U.S. space agency does not expect either side to pay for seats on each other's spacecraft after Boeing and SpaceX begin operational flights.

"I wouldn't call it a barter for seats, it would be more of an operational understanding," Mike Suffredini, the space station program manager at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, told CBS News in an email early Tuesday. "We would not be buying seats from each other."

The International Space Station.

NASA

"An example would be if a crew member became incapacitated on orbit," Suffredini said. "In this scenario, the entire crew that flew up with the incapacitated crew member has to go home with that crew member to care for the (ill astronaut), fly the vehicle and because if someone stayed on ISS they would be without a rescue vehicle.

See more here:

NASA will keep using Russian Soyuz ferry craft

NASA's 'International Year of Light'

Posted on by

7 photos

Located 30 million light years from Earth, this spiral-shaped galaxy, called Messier 51, has been nicknamed "the whirlpool" for its spiral shape. Data from a host of telescopes, including Chandra (X-ray shown in purple), Hubble (visible light indicated in green), Spitzer (infrared light in red) and the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (ultraviolet in blue) have helped create this mesmerizing shot of a galaxy similar in shape to our own.

7 photos

When a massive star exploded in one of our neighboring galaxies, known as the Large Magellanic Cloud, an expanding debris field with the catchy name of SNR 0519-69.0 was left in its wake. In this image, you can actually see the edge of the detonation in red surrounding the multimillion-degree gas captured in blue by the Chandra X-ray observatory.

7 photos

This jaw-dropping image shows the remains of a supernova explosion witnessed by Chinese astronomers almost 2,000 years ago. Thanks to advances in technology, modern telescopes can observe these remnants in light that would otherwise remain invisible to the human eye.

7 photos

We also saw the 100 millionth image of the Sun taken at NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory on January 19, 2015. The image's darker regions are areas of less dense gas known as coronal holes, where solar material is moving away from the Sun.

7 photos

NASA also released this remarkable bird's-eye panorama of part of the Andromeda galaxy last week. This is clearest image ever taken of our galactic next-door neighbor.

Original post:

NASA's 'International Year of Light'

NASA's New Robot Will Take the Plunge … Into a Volcano

Posted on by

NASA is gearing up to test an innovative new robot built to explore some of Earth's most inhospitable places: the fiery heart of volcanoes.

Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, are gearing up to drop VolcanoBot 2 inside Hawaii's active Kilauea volcano in March to create a 3D map of its fissures and crevices. And the hardy robot may one day help scientists explore volcanoes on other worlds.

VolcanoBot 2, and its predecessor VolcanoBot 1, are designed to fit inside crevices in volcanoes that are too small or too dangerous for humans to explore. The robots are the brainchild of Carolyn Parcheta, a volcanist and NASA postdoctoral fellow based at JPL.

"We've never had a chance to measure a volcanic conduit before because they usually get buried or destroyed during an eruption," Parcheta said in her project's entry in a National Geographic Expedition contest.

But Parcheta found two preserved, inactive fissures in the active Kilauea volcano in Hawaii. She and her JPL co-advisers, Aaron Parness and Karl Mitchell, already tested VolcanoBot 1.

In May, NASA sent VolcanoBot 1 down 82 feet (25 meters) to two locations on the fissure. The wheeled robot is about 12 inches (30 centimeters) long with wheels that are 6.7 inches wide (17 cm).

"In order to eventually understand how to predict eruptions and conduct hazard assessments, we need to understand how the magma is coming out of the ground," Parcheta said in a NASA statement. "This is the first time we have been able to measure it directly, from the inside, to centimeter-scale accuracy."

The scientists found, however, that VolcanoBot 1 was too large and it's motors too weak to reach the fissure's bottom. Therefore, VolcanoBot 2 was born.

With its length of 10 inches (25 cm), VolcanoBot 2 is smaller and lighter than its predecessor, with features that allow it to look up, down and around a fissure.

Data will be collected and stored onboard VolcanoBot 2, and the robot's 3D live- video feed will allow Parcheta and her colleagues to navigate its path more accurately.

Read more:

NASA's New Robot Will Take the Plunge ... Into a Volcano

Nanotechnology company gets incentives to move to Sarasota County

Posted on by

Published: Tuesday, January 27, 2015 at 4:23 p.m. Last Modified: Tuesday, January 27, 2015 at 4:23 p.m.

SARASOTA - US Nano LLC is moving from Indiana to Sarasota County to accommodate future growth, officials said Tuesday.

The early stage nanotechnology company, coming from South Bend, Indiana, plans to triple its employees as part of the move to a 5,000-square-foot building at 1748 Independence Blvd.

There, the company has spent about $400,000 to build a state-of-the-art nanotechnology lab.

US Nano's move follows the company's selection for a $750,000 National Science Foundation grant and receipt of $1 million from investors.

"Sarasota is not only a beautiful location, but there is growing high-tech industry in the region," US Nano vice president Louise E. Sinks said. "Being part of Florida's High Tech Corridor is extremely appealing to any high-tech start-up."

US Nano develops flexible electronic devices printed on plastic. Its proprietary "nanowires" have the potential for many commercial applications because they can measure and manipulate light and heat. That ability can be critical to energy, health care, communications and defense firms, as well as consumer device makers.

Sarasota County will provide US Nano with $3,000 for every local job it creates. Executives hope to add eight jobs in its first year and two in the second, according to the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County.

Three US Nano professionals have moved to Sarasota County so far, and the company hired another two staffers this month.

Visit link:

Nanotechnology company gets incentives to move to Sarasota County

Engineer receives NSF CAREER award for nanotechnology research, educational outreach

Posted on by

IMAGE:Gurpreet Singh, assistant professor of mechanical and nuclear engineering at Kansas State University, has received a $500,000 National Science Foundation CAREER award for his nanotechnology research. view more

Credit: Kansas State University

MANHATTAN, KANSAS -- A prestigious award will support a Kansas State University engineer's research on nanosheets and will help organize educational activities for high school students and teachers.

Gurpreet Singh, assistant professor of mechanical and nuclear engineering, has received a $500,000 National Science Foundation CAREER award, "Scalable liquid exfoliation processing of ultrathin two-dimensional metal dichalcogenides nanosheets for energy storage devices."

Singh will use the award to develop ultrathin metal sheets that can help produce better rechargeable batteries, supercapacitors and catalysts for photoelectrochemical hydrogen production.

The award will help with more than research -- Singh also will organize hands-on educational activities. He is planning nanotechnology-oriented summer workshops for high school science teachers and female high school students.

"I want to create excitement about the opportunities in nanotechnology and also make others aware of the challenges related to scalable manufacture and high-cost that is currently hindering introduction in practical applications," Singh said.

The National Science Foundation's Faculty Early Career Development Program is one of the foundation's most prestigious awards for supporting early career faculty who effectively integrate research and education within the context of their institution's mission. Faculty recognition and awards are an important part of Kansas State University's plan to become a Top 50 public research university by 2025.

With his CAREER award, Singh will study large-scale production of ultrathin sheets -- a few atoms thick and several micrometers wide -- of transition metal dichalcogenides, or TMDs. Nearly 40 types of TMDs have been identified, including naturally occurring molybdenite.

Little is known about the structure of TMDs and their mechanical, electrical and electrochemical properties, Singh said.

Follow this link:

Engineer receives NSF CAREER award for nanotechnology research, educational outreach

Molecular Testing for GI Pathogens: Cost-Effectiveness, Clinical Impact and Lab Implementation, New Webinar Hosted by …

Posted on by

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - January 28, 2015) - The webinar will examine how rapid molecular stool pathogen diagnostic testing may minimize the burden of diarrheal illness throughout the entire hospital and to healthcare providers worldwide. Featured speakers include David Peaper, Assistant Professor of Laboratory Medicine, Yale School of Medicine; Director ofClinical Microbiology Laboratory, Yale-New Haven Hospital; and Director of Virology Reference Laboratory, VA Connecticut Healthcare System. Dr. Peaper will be joined by Marilyn Mitchell, Supervisor, Microbiology Laboratory, Community Regional Medical Center, Fresno, California.

Diarrhea caused by bacterial, viral, and/or parasitic infection represents a significant worldwide healthcare burden. Though most cases of diarrheal disease are generally self-resolving and not life-threatening in immunocompetent individuals, certain bacterial and viral infections can result in serious clinical morbidity and even death.

The current diagnostic challenge associated with detection of community-acquired diarrhea is twofold. Since clinical presentation of diarrheal disease does not narrow down the potentially responsible pathogen(s), physicians often end up taking the "shotgun" approach to diagnostic testing by ordering testing for a majority of stool pathogens. If physicians are able to characterize the patient's history, it could greatly narrow the number of diagnostic tests necessary for a given patient. On the diagnostic end, stool culture and ova and parasite (O&P) remain the gold standard diagnostics. Though generally considered sensitive and specific, these procedures are labor-intensive, unpleasant for technicians, can take as long as 5-7 days to produce definitive results in the case of stool cultures, and require a high degree of technical skill in the case of performing O&Ps.

Together, the excessive ordering of stool pathogen testing by physicians paired with less-than-ideal diagnostic options has led to what some consider significant inefficiencies in the clinical laboratory. As a result, medical technologists can spend unnecessary time working up negative stools, which can account for upwards of 95% of stools samples submitted for testing. Confirmation of a negative stool sample takes as few as 1-2 hours with a rapid diagnostic test, allowing laboratories to reallocate medical technologist time to other priorities.

The presenters will discuss rapid diagnostics for stool pathogens, which only recently emerged as viable options for testing for community-acquired diarrhea; infections caused by environmental enteric bacteria, viruses, or parasites. Since treatment decisions can vary depending on the identity of the infectious agent and the overall health of the patient, rapid identification of pathogenic bacteria, viruses, and parasites from a stool specimen is crucial.

The live broadcast takes place on Wednesday, February 18, 2015 at 1pm EST. To learn more about this event visit: Molecular Testing for Gastrointestinal Pathogens

P.A.C.E. Accreditation

Xtalks is approved as a provider of continuing education programs in the clinical laboratory sciences by the ASCLS P.A.C.E. Program -- Attendees will receive further details after the event.

About Nanosphere

Nanosphere is enhancing medicine through targeted molecular diagnostics that result in earlier disease detection, optimal patient treatment and improved healthcare economics. The Company's versatile technology platform, the Verigene System, enables clinicians to rapidly detect the most complex, costly and deadly infectious diseases through a low cost and simple-to-use multiplex molecular diagnostic test. The combination of this innovative technology and Nanosphere's customer-driven solutions keeps commitment to the patient at the forefront of its business.

Go here to see the original:

Molecular Testing for GI Pathogens: Cost-Effectiveness, Clinical Impact and Lab Implementation, New Webinar Hosted by ...

Sabb Interviews: VP Engagement, Ellie Cawthera

Posted on by

As part of the mini-series of 2015 sabbatical interviews, the Wessex Scene team are interviewing all sabbatical officers this week to catch up on their progress, whats gone well or badly so far and what plans they have for semester 2 and beyond.

At the midpoint of her term, Icaught up with VP Engagement Ellie Cawthera to talk General Elections,communications and communities.

What will be the biggest priority for the remainder of your time?

Can I pick two?

General Election, and encouraging and supporting student voter registrations, getting them to vote, and advising students on what issues are important to them so they can have an educated vote. Also, the other priority is Community relationships, and an initiative Im doing in January as part of Building bridges, door-to-door with police, students and council, student safety and theft, reminding students not to leave their windows open, putting footprints through the door. Also giving out teabags, which seems quite odd but it is going to have a message on it: have you met your neighbor, how about offering them a cuppa?

One of your biggest projects is going to be student participation in the General Election 2015. How do you think putting 20,000 into promoting voter participation will benefit students?

Union councilors have approved for SUSU to spend to up 20,000 but have been given 18,000 by trustee board. SUSU are doing a huge amount, and the initiative isnt just for University of Southampton students, its for Solent and Further Education (sixth-form) students too. Well be arranging hustings, which should engage loads of students. Well be doing large scale advertising, lobbying to make Mayflower Halls a polling station. Well also be creating our own website, where students can find out how they register, its also going to have a list of issues which will effect students, which they can order which is most important to them. So by the end of it we have a list of issues that effect students, and we can shake that stick to MPs and candidates what do you think about this?

Here is the original post:

Sabb Interviews: VP Engagement, Ellie Cawthera

Prof. Darshan Shankar, Vice-Chairman, Institute of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine, Banglore – Video

Posted on by


Prof. Darshan Shankar, Vice-Chairman, Institute of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine, Banglore
Panel Discussion on The Role of AYUSH Local Health Traditions Venue: India International Center (IIC), New Delhi Date: 20.08.2012 Organized by: South Asian Dialogues on Ecological Democracy.

By: Health Swaraaj

Read more here:

Prof. Darshan Shankar, Vice-Chairman, Institute of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine, Banglore - Video

American Board of Addiction Medicine Certifies 651 New Diplomates, and The ABAM Foundation Accredits Four More …

Posted on by

Contact Information

Available for logged-in reporters only

Newswise The American Board of Addiction Medicine (ABAM) today announced that 651 physicians passed its most recent addiction medicine certification examination, while The ABAM Foundation accredited four additional fellowship programs to train new addiction medicine physicians. The number of newly certified addiction medicine specialists represents the largest group of physicians to be certified in a single year, bringing the total number of ABAM diplomates (physicians certified by ABAM) to 3,363. With the addition of the four new fellowship programs, the total number of ABAM Foundation accredited addiction medicine training programs has reached 27.

The addiction medicine field is growing by leaps and bounds, and we are gratified to see that so many physicians have chosen to become ABAM certified in order to better prevent and treat the nations number one public health problem, said Patrick G. OConnor, MD, MPH, FACP, President of ABAM and The ABAM Foundation, and Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Section of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine. At the same time, we are happy to welcome the new fellowship programs, which will train North Americas future addiction medicine leaders. With so many physicians passing our rigorous examination, and so many completing this comprehensive clinical training, we are helping make evidence-based addiction prevention and treatment more readily available to those who need it.

The fellowship programs, which are modeled on the Foundations national guidelines, Program Requirements for Graduate Medical Education in Addiction Medicine, are based at leading medical institutions across the U.S. and Canada. Accreditation of these new programs means that there are now 56 addiction medicine fellowship slots available each year. The ABAM Foundation hopes to accredit 65 addiction medicine fellowship programs by 2020.

The new fellowship programs are the: University of Kentucky Addiction Medicine Fellowship Program (Lexington, KY); Caron-Reading Addiction Medicine Fellowship Program (Wernersville, PA); Oregon Health & Science University Addiction Medicine Fellowship (Portland, OR); and Rhode Island Hospital Addiction Medicine Fellowship (Providence, RI). (See table at end of this release for information on these programs, and detailed summaries of all ABAM Foundation fellowship programs at http://www.abam.net/2015_2016_admfellowships/.

The ABAM Foundation-accredited fellowship programs provide one and two year subspecialty training, which is offered to physicians already trained in primary care specialties (internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology) and other specialties. Accrediting these and future training programs will help to assure the American public that addiction physician specialists have the knowledge and skills to prevent, recognize and treat addiction. It will also help ensure that trained physicians are available to address common medical or psychiatric conditions related to the use of addictive substances.

The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology offers fellowships in the psychiatry subspecialty of addiction psychiatry. There are 46 addiction psychiatry fellowship programs in the U.S. Prior to the establishment of ABAM and The ABAM Foundation, psychiatrists were the only medical specialty that had board certification and sub-specialty fellowship training in addictions available to them.

The new class of ABAM diplomates represents the widest array of specialties yet nearly 40 specialties and subspecialties in all. The new diplomates hail from 48 states, the District of Columbia and four Canadian provinces. They work in a broad array of health care settings, including government agencies, corrections, universities, private practices and hospitals, among others. Of note, the average age of new diplomates has dropped with each exam cycle since 2010. ABAM certification is valid for 10 years, and all successful examinees are automatically enrolled in the ABAM Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program.

ABAM will offer its next certification examination October 16, 2015. The regular application deadline will be April 30, while the final examination deadline is July 1. For more information, go to http://www.abam.net/take-the-exam/. The ABAM Foundation is accepting applications on an ongoing basis from addiction medicine training programs seeking accreditation. For more information, please contact The ABAM Foundation accreditation office at AddictionMedicine@buffalo.edu.

Original post:

American Board of Addiction Medicine Certifies 651 New Diplomates, and The ABAM Foundation Accredits Four More ...