NASA Jet Propulsion Lab Scientist Dies in Small Plane Crash

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A 47-year-old scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory who worked on robotic systems for exploring Mars and extreme environments on Earth has died in a small plane crash in Los Angeles, officials said on Saturday.

January 10, 2015

LOS ANGELES, Jan 10 (Reuters) - A 47-year-old scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory who worked on robotic systems for exploring Mars and extreme environments on Earth has died in a small plane crash in Los Angeles, officials said on Saturday.

Alberto Behar spent 23 years at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory where he worked on instruments for the rover Curiosity which landed on Mars in 2012 and the Mars Odyssey orbiter that launched in 2001, the Pasadena, California-based institution said in a statement.

The crash involved a single-engine Lancair aircraft that went down in unknown circumstances shortly after take off from Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles on Friday, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said in an email.

A limited liability company under Behar's name was listed as an owner of the plane in an FAA registry.

Behar's work included developing robotic systems for measuring ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland with the use of submarines, ice rovers and boats, according to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

"From his submarines that peeked under Antarctica to his boats that raced Greenland's rivers, Alberto's work enabled measurements of things we'd never known. His creativity knew few bounds," NASA headquarters scientist Thomas Wagner said in a statement.

When Behar in 2009 submerged a small camera 600 feet (183 metres) beneath an ice sheet in the Antarctic they captured images of a shrimp creature swimming beneath the ice, which surprised him and fellow researchers.

Behar, aside from working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, also was a research professor at Arizona State University. (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; editing by Andrew Hay)

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NASA Jet Propulsion Lab Scientist Dies in Small Plane Crash

Why NASA wants you to start dreaming

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Story highlights NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has produced vintage-style posters advertising trips to new planets Posters evoke golden age of travel from last century with classic art deco graphics and fonts Actual travel to newly discovered planets is unlikely for now as they're trillions of miles away

It does, after all, have two suns.

OK, so a long weekend visiting a planet 1,200 trillion miles away, may not be a realistic prospect just yet, but that hasn't stopped scientists at NASA from dreaming.

To mark the exciting discovery of a slew of potentially distant habitable worlds by its Kepler space observatory, the U.S. space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology has created a series of posters advertising imaginary vacations to some of them.

Rendered in the retro style of classic travel billboards of the 1920s, '30s and '40s, the posters depict these distant worlds as pleasurable destinations.

The image for Kepler 16-b -- previously compared to the fictional "Star Wars" planet of Tatooine because of its dual suns -- shows a space-suited figure basking in the light from the twin orbs overhead.

"Relax on Kepler 16-b," the poster says. "The land of two suns ... Where your shadow always has company."

Although the planet is depicted as a rocky, terrestrial world, NASA says it could also be a gas giant like Saturn with freezing temperatures that would make it hostile to known lifeforms.

A second poster shows an astronaut free-falling to experience the powerful gravity over HD 40307g, a "Super Earth" 44 light years -- or 264 trillion miles -- away.

Another sunny day on Kepler-16b.

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Why NASA wants you to start dreaming

Scientists find that exposure to nanoparticles could impact cardiovascular health

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Due to its huge potential in applications ranging from cheaper vaccinations to energy-storing car panels, there's plenty of excitement surrounding the emergence of nanotechnology. But a team of scientists are urging caution, with a study conducted at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology suggesting that exposure to silicon-based nanoparticles may play a role in the development of cardiovascular disease.

The scientists from the Technion Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Rambam Medical Center, and the Center of Excellence in Exposure Science and Environmental Health (TCEEH) worked with cultured laboratory mouse cells that resemble the cells of arterial walls, exposing them to nanoparticles made from silicon dioxide. The team was seeking to explore the effects that the nanoparticles have on the development of atherosclerosis, a condition that leads to the hardening of the arteries and cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke.

What the researchers found was a negative relationship between the silicon-based nanoparticles and macrophages, a type of white blood cell that destroys damaged or dead cells. The toxicity of the nanoparticles causes the macrophages to transform into foam cells or lipids, leading to the development of lesions and hastening the onset of atherosclerosis.

"This exposure may be especially chronic for those employed in research laboratories and in high tech industry where workers handle, manufacture, use and dispose of nanoparticles," says the study's lead author, Professor Michael Aviram. "Products that use silica-based nanoparticles for biomedical uses, such as various chips, drug or gene delivery and tracking, imaging, ultrasound therapy, and diagnostics, may also pose an increased cardiovascular risk for consumers as well."

This study isn't the first time concerns have been raised about the dangers of nanotechnology. Operating at a scale of 1-100 nanometers (a nanometer is one billionth of a meter), the chemical reactions when dealing with nanotechnology can be somewhat unpredictable. Previous research has turned up some unsettling results, including that silver nanoparticles can materially alter a person's immunity, and that titanium dioxide nanoparticles cause systemic genetic damage in mice.

The researchers warn that adopting a cautious approach is critical in the near-term, with nanotechnology-based consumer products on the rise, a world market they estimate will hit US$3 trillion by 2020.

This reality leads to increased human exposure and interaction of silica-based nanoparticles with biological systems," write the researchers. "Because our research demonstrates a clear cardiovascular health risk associated with this trend, steps need to be taken to help ensure that potential health and environmental hazards are being addressed at the same time as the nanotechnology is being developed."

The research was published in the journal Environmental Toxicology.

Source: American Technion Society

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Scientists find that exposure to nanoparticles could impact cardiovascular health

State & National

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It was on Christmas night 1951 when her father, Harry T. Moore, was murdered instantly when a bomb placed by racists exploded under the familys Mims home.

Nine days later, her mother, Harriette V. Moore, died as a result of injuries sustained in the bombing.

The Moores were some of the earliest civil rights leaders in Florida and began their work in Brevard County. Harry Moore, a graduate of Bethune-Cookman College (now University), was the Florida state field secretary for the NAACP. He fought for equal pay for teachers, spoke out against violent atrocities against African-Americans,and registered thousands of voters.

At the time they were killed, Harry Moore, who also founded the Brevard County chapter of the NAACP, was registering large numbers of blacks to vote and protesting the circumstances around a rape trial in Groveland including the killings of two of the defendants by the Lake County sheriff.

Such activism, in a state still under the harsh rule of Jim Crow, drew the ire of the Ku Klux Klan.

Circumstantial evidence In 2006, Floridas then-Attorney General Charlie Crist spoke about the Moores murders under a rambling oak tree just yards from where the Moore home stood, now the site of a cultural center honoring the couple.

Crist said strong circumstantial evidence unearthed during a 20-month investigation pointed to ultra-violent factions within the KKK as being responsible for this horrible act.

In the Moore case, investigators interviewed more than 100 people and combed through 50 years of documents. The bombsite was even excavated, though it yielded no new evidence.

But the stories of witnesses did. They told of a particularly violent group of men who were working to squash the efforts of the Moores. Those implicated were Earl J. Brooklyn, Tillman H. Bevlin, Joseph N. Cox and Edward L. Spivey. Crist, who said others may have been involved, failed to elaborate on the roles each man played.

All dead Spivey reportedly confessed to investigators and an anonymous tipster before his death from cancer in 1980. But by that time, the case was nearly 30 years old and the other three men were long dead.

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National Guard: Domestic abuse and the halls of justice

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The Pentagon is looking into a second complaint filed by a woman alleging the Indiana National Guard has been dismissive of concerns about domestic abuse or harassment.

Shannon Dickerson filed a complaint alleging Indiana Guard officials failed to take appropriate action after she told them that her then-husband, Guard attorney Brian Dickerson, had beaten her.

The complaint filed with the National Guard Bureau in Arlington, Va. also alleges Guard leaders were "derelict" in ensuring that her ex-husband provided required financial support for herself and her children.

Brian Dickerson has denied the abuse allegation, but a judge in the couple's divorce case found him responsible for breaking her foot.

The Guard confirmed to The Indianapolis Star that the Department of Army Inspector General is investigating. The Inspector General's office declined to comment.

Previously, The Star reported the Pentagon also is reviewing the actions of another Indiana Guard attorney who inadvertently sent an email to a different woman suggesting she take her harassment claim to Dr. Phil.

For some local advocates for domestic abuse victims, the two complaints suggest a disconcerting behavior in the Guard's legal office and raise larger questions about whether there is a culture problem within the Indiana Guard that would hamper taking seriously domestic abuse allegations. The Indiana Guard says that is absolutely not the case.

The Dickerson complaint revolves around the couple's contentious and protracted divorce. Contained within the more than 3,000 pages of the divorce records are a series of accusations and counter-accusations.

But if the divorce was complicated and messy, the issue before the Pentagon and the primary question for victim advocates is more simple: When did Indiana Guard authorities become aware of the abuse allegation and what did they do about it?

Those questions are important because at the time of the alleged abuse Brian Dickerson was the senior full-time legal adviser to the Guard's top commander, Adjutant General Martin Umbarger.

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National Guard: Domestic abuse and the halls of justice

Indiana National Guard: Domestic abuse and the halls of justice

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The Pentagon is looking into a second complaint filed by a woman alleging the Indiana National Guard has been dismissive of concerns about domestic abuse or harassment.

Shannon Dickerson filed a complaint alleging Indiana Guard officials failed to take appropriate action after she told them that her then-husband, Guard attorney Brian Dickerson, had beaten her.

The complaint filed with the National Guard Bureau in Arlington, Va. also alleges Guard leaders were "derelict" in ensuring that her ex-husband provided required financial support for herself and her children.

Brian Dickerson has denied the abuse allegation, but a judge in the couple's divorce case found him responsible for breaking her foot.

The Guard confirmed to The Indianapolis Star that the Department of Army Inspector General is investigating. The Inspector General's office declined to comment.

Previously, The Star reported the Pentagon also is reviewing the actions of another Indiana Guard attorney who inadvertently sent an email to a different woman suggesting she take her harassment claim to Dr. Phil.

For some local advocates for domestic abuse victims, the two complaints suggest a disconcerting behavior in the Guard's legal office and raise larger questions about whether there is a culture problem within the Indiana Guard that would hamper taking seriously domestic abuse allegations. The Indiana Guard says that is absolutely not the case.

The Dickerson complaint revolves around the couple's contentious and protracted divorce. Contained within the more than 3,000 pages of the divorce records are a series of accusations and counter-accusations.

But if the divorce was complicated and messy, the issue before the Pentagon and the primary question for victim advocates is more simple: When did Indiana Guard authorities become aware of the abuse allegation and what did they do about it?

Those questions are important because at the time of the alleged abuse Brian Dickerson was the senior full-time legal adviser to the Guard's top commander, Adjutant General Martin Umbarger.

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Indiana National Guard: Domestic abuse and the halls of justice

Convergence of regulatory, reimbursement forces threaten patient care, experts say

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The Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP), the premier global, non-profit organization serving molecular testing professionals, announced the release of an important white paper addressing the consequences of regulatory and reimbursement forces directed against molecular diagnostic testing that threaten patient care. The paper, titled, "A Molecular Diagnostic Perfect Storm: The Convergence of Regulatory & Reimbursement Forces that Threaten Patient Access to Innovations in Genomic Medicine" is now available online at http://bit.ly/1yGlghJ.

"The breakthroughs made possible by mapping the human genome -- a multi-billion dollar project that took more than a decade to complete -- are being threatened by government regulations, which in turn are threatening patient access to truly revolutionary treatments," said Victoria M. Pratt, PhD, Indiana University School of Medicine, active AMP Member, and lead author of the paper. "We hope that this manuscript further enlightens regulatory and reimbursement stakeholders about the storm brewing in Washington that could dismantle the development and coverage of important molecular diagnostic tests."

Medical professionals in universities, cancer centers, clinical laboratories, and pharmaceutical/manufacturing companies across the country have honored the public trust in the Human Genome Project by developing hundreds of innovative diagnostic tests and therapies that are advancing modern medicine in ways that would have been impossible without this breakthrough. By eliminating the barriers outlined in "The Perfect Storm" paper, genome-based research will continue to play a critical role in the development of more powerful tools to treat complex diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

Threats stemming from efforts by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the two federal agencies that oversee molecular diagnostic testing, are the cause of this "Perfect Storm."

The FDA's new policies will effectively reformulate existing medical device regulations and consider medical professionals as manufacturers which will impose substantially new and duplicative requirements on clinical laboratories and hospitals. Meanwhile, CMS, who runs Medicare, the nation's largest insurer and whose actions are frequently mimicked in the private sector, has taken a heavy handed approach in denying coverage or reducing payment for several medically necessary molecular pathology tests. Unfortunately, health care providers -- those developing and delivering innovative diagnostic tests -along with patients, who are the ultimate intended beneficiaries, are caught in the middle.

"AMP is addressing the consequences of this gathering perfect storm of regulatory and reimbursement challenges directed against molecular diagnostic testing with recommendations designed to preserve patient access to these essential medical services" said AMP President, Janina Longtine, MD. "We are greatly concerned that these forces are coalescing to bring about consolidation of laboratory testing, to the detriment of local testing. This would have far-reaching negative effects on the healthcare system. As such, AMP is committed to working with the regulatory and reimbursement bodies to find a resolution that optimizes patient safety and offers access to important medical tests."

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

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Convergence of regulatory, reimbursement forces threaten patient care, experts say

The Tricks Apps Play On Your Mind To Keep You Hooked

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Mobile apps can be great fun, but they can also cumulatively take up a lot of your time and distract you from work. Youll need more than just willpower to properly control your appetite for apps you need to understand how they work, and why theyre extremely addictive.

Photo by Mo Riza, Wonderlane, XKCD and m01229

Apps are awesome. Many apps entertain you while killing the idle five-minute segments in your day. Some apps actually help you stay in touch with friends and family that youd otherwise have lost contact with. Theres a reason so many great businesses and experiences have been built on mobile apps. But as a reader told author Nir Eyal, If it cant be used for evil, its not a super power.

There is a darker side to apps that a lot of us arent aware of. For example, we spend way more time on them that we think. As information research firm Nielsen reports, we now spend 65% more time each month using apps than we did just a couple of years ago. By the end of 2013, on average, we spent 30 hours and 15 minutes per month using apps. Thats almost two full days of being awake.

If you need further convincing were becoming addicted to our apps and phones, venture capitalist and mobile analyst Mary Meeker reports that on average we check our phones 150 times every day in her May 2013 Internet Trends Report.

Mobile analytics company Flurry defines a mobile addict as someone who launches apps more than 60 times per day. Based on their data from 500,000 apps across 1.3 billion devices, they saw the number of mobile addicts users grow 123% between 2013 and 2014. In March of 2014, there were 176 million mobile addicts, up from 79 million in March of 2013.

Where manufacturers of earlier technology also wanted to make their products more engaging, they didnt have the data or algorithms to the extent app makers do today. Developers can track every single interaction you have with the app, and use that data to make their products more addictive. And they will people who make apps literally use addiction as a success metric.

The solution isnt to throw apps out the window. Theyre extremely convenient and they bring great benefit and joy to our lives. Theyre also only going to more and more useful. Youd probably rather live in a world with apps than one without them. Much like how youd be cautious around substances like alcohol, which can be potentially addictive, you can enjoy it in healthy, controlled, amounts.

Apps arent passive (by default). They constantly reach out to you through your inboxes and push notifications. These notifications require a human element to overcome. Heres how apps are designed to be addictive, how you can take back control of your time and energy, and how you can live happily with apps:

You may have an almost Pavlov-like reaction to the sound of a text message, a push notification, or a phone vibration in your pocket. App developers and marketers specifically design these hooks to draw your attention back to your mobile device.

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The Tricks Apps Play On Your Mind To Keep You Hooked