NASA working to fix Opportunity's memory

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NASA's Opportunity rover landed on Mars in 2004 and its 90-day mission has now lasted almost 11 years. Unfortunately, its age is beginning to show with the unmanned robotic explorer beginning to display signs of memory loss. Mission control at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, reports that Opportunity's computers have been resetting as its flash memory banks suffer fits of "amnesia," which engineers back on Earth are trying to repair.

Opportunity may be an extremely sophisticated piece of rolling scientific hardware, and it may be functioning a decade beyond its specifications, but its "brain" is still a computer relying on much the same components as any PC circa 2003. As anyone who uses computers on a regular basis knows, these components have a limited service life, which is why junk drawers inevitably fill up with dead tech. Worse, the Martian environment is extremely hostile to electronics, and microelectronics especially, because the incredibly dry, dusty climate generates static electric charges, and the thin atmosphere and almost non-existent magnetic field lets in dangerous levels of cosmic radiation.

Whether due to time or radiation, NASA says that Opportunity is now suffering from bouts of computer senility. Like most computers, the rover's uses a combination of volatile Random Access Memory (RAM), and a non-volatile memory in this case, a set of seven flash memory banks. The latter are especially important because Opportunity is solar powered. This means that it can't spare the power to keep the RAM operating at night because the batteries are needed to keep the electronics warm, so data collected during the day is stored in the flash memory until it can be transmitted to Earth.

This arrangement has worked fine until now, but in recent weeks the flash memory has refused from time to time to record new data, causing the computers to reset like a cranky tablet. To prevent this from happening again and to avoid lost data, mission control tried re-formatting the flash memory, but with little success, so in early December it ordered Opportunity to carry out a more extensive repair, including using the RAM to collect data and transmitting it to Earth before sunset. However, the space agency says that the main problem has been located in one of the seven flash banks, which NASA plans to isolate.

"The mission can continue without storing data to flash memory, and instead store data in volatile RAM," says Mars Exploration Rover Project Manager John Callas of JPL. "While we're operating Opportunity in that mode, we are also working on an approach to make the flash memory usable again. We will be sure to give this approach exhaustive reviews before implementing those changes on the rover."

Launched on July 7, 2003, Opportunity is the twin of the now defunct Spirit rover. It landed on January 25, 2004, three weeks after Spirit, in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars for a mission scheduled to last 90 Martian days, but ten years later, it's still going strong. It continues to study Martian soil and provide surface calibration for orbital observations by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and has traversed over 25 miles (40 km).

Source: JPL

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NASA working to fix Opportunity's memory

NASA exhibit blasts off at River Falls library

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In many exhibits, the rule is "look, don't touch." But that's not the case with the River Falls public library's new NASA exhibit in the downstairs gallery.

Gallery and event coordinator Katie Chaffee said kids are welcome to touch most items on display -- unless, of course, they're locked in a glass case.

"(Kids') moms say, 'You can't touch that,' " Chaffee said. "I say, 'Actually, you can.' "

The items, on loan from NASA's Houston and Cleveland offices, include a 1/25-scale model of a space shuttle, which stands about 9 feet high. That's high enough that Chaffee and her helpers had to dislodge a ceiling tile to fit the model shuttle into the gallery.

Other items include a "photo opportunity space suit," which is a model of a real space suit with steps in back so people can have their photos taken "in" the suit. There also are replica moon rocks, a space glove and the back tire from a space shuttle.

The space shuttle tire, Chaffee said, doesn't seem very impressive at first, especially not when compared to tractor tires that can stand taller than the average person. The shuttle tire doesn't initially appear much larger than an average truck tire.

However, the shuttle tire can handle a lot more than a truck tire. With very thick walls, and inflated to 340 pounds of air per square inch, it has a 142,000-pound load rating. That means it can carry three times the load of a Boeing 747 jet.

About 146 people went through the exhibit during the first three days. About 100 people attended a program by Jon Montgomery, a River Falls native and director of NASA's Mission Support Office.

"There's a lot of interest, and it's fun because there's something for everybody," Chaffee said.

The exhibit can be exciting for kids -- especially the space food display and the space suit. It's also educational, and kids can touch most of the items.

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NASA exhibit blasts off at River Falls library

Mayo Clinic’s Dr. Timothy Nelson Discussing Regenerative Medicine Consult Service at #WSCS14 – Video

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Mayo Clinic #39;s Dr. Timothy Nelson Discussing Regenerative Medicine Consult Service at #WSCS14
Mayo Clinic #39;s Dr. Timothy Nelson, Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of the Regenerative Medicine Consult Service discussing the regenerative medicine consult service, during the...

By: Mayo Clinic

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Mayo Clinic's Dr. Timothy Nelson Discussing Regenerative Medicine Consult Service at #WSCS14 - Video

No. 1: Osteopathic Medical College A Game Changer For Region

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Editors Note: Each year, the Times Record newsroom staff votes on the Top 10 local stories of the year. Plans for an osteopathic medical school to open at Chaffee Crossing is the No. 1 story of 2014.

Believed by many to be a game changer for the region, the Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine at Chaffee Crossing is expected to have a significant local economic impact and improve health care access to one of the most underserved regions in the country.

Officially announced in February, the school will graduate its first class of doctors in 2020, and about 80 percent of them are expected to set up shop in western Arkansas, according to Kyle Parker, CEO and president of the Arkansas Colleges of Health Education.

In order to keep doctors here, there has been a huge emphasis on graduate medical education with hospitals across the region and the state, Parker said. If you dont do that, more than 50 percent of the doctors will leave. Were fortunate that the hospitals here want residents.

Two-year residencies will begin by 2018 at hospitals and clinics with Sparks Health System, Mercy Health, Cooper Clinic, and the Choctaw Nation to name a few. Third- and fourth-year medical students will have the opportunity to take residencies being arranged by the college as far as Lake Village and Dumas in southeast Arkansas, Baptist Medical and private practices.

With 150 medical students per class, and 100 college employees with doctorates and medical degrees, the estimated annual economic impact of the college is expected to be $100 million, Parker said. The cultural impact could be immeasurable.

Cream of the Crop

By mid-November, there were about 155,000 applicants for 6,100 slots at osteopathic medical colleges across the nation. About 70 percent of first-year medical students are age 21 to 30. They have an average GPA of 3.5 with an average MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) score of 27, Parker noted.

These will be the cream of the crop, Parker said of the college applicants. But if I get an applicant from Seattle who has the same scores as someone from Waldron, I want that one from Waldron because I know they will be more likely to stay in the area.

In fall 2016, the four-year, private medical college will have 150 students with slots for at least 75 physician assistant students to take part in a 28-month program. After four years, the school will support up to 600 students.

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No. 1: Osteopathic Medical College A Game Changer For Region

Robert Wood Johnson Medical School puts focus on veterans needs

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January 1, 2015, 10:59 PM Last updated: Thursday, January 1, 2015, 11:11 PM

One patient might be oddly reticent and distrustful of doctors. Another could exhibit mysterious symptoms, like recurring skin abrasions or rashes. Yet another might have a deep chest rumble even though he doesnt smoke and has no family history of lung disease.

Kevin Parks, a former U.S. Army medic who served in Iraq, is a fourth-year medical student at Rutgers' Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and taking part in a special training program for dealing with veterans' health problems.

All of these outward signs, and many more, could be symptoms of lingering trauma or exposure to elements that are common to combat veterans, but might go unrecognized by physicians and health professionals who have little experience treating them and no tools for penetrating what experts say is a mind-set thats unique to them.

An intensive new focus on health care for veterans, especially those who saw action, has led Rutgers Universitys Robert Wood Johnson Medical School to develop a program it hopes will become a model for other schools and a magnet for health professionals who now work, or may soon work, with vets.

The program comes as a new crop of veterans nationwide is expected to seek medical treatment from civilian doctors rather than government hospitals and clinics. In the wake of egregious wait-time delays and poor care at some U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities nationwide, Congress last year passed a law that gives vets the option of visiting a non-military doctor if they live more than 40 miles from a VA location or have to wait more than 30 days for an appointment.

There are 428,000 veterans in New Jersey, 312,000 of whom have served in combat, according to VA data.

Passaic County Veterans Service Officer John Harris said educating civilian doctors is sorely needed if only to encourage men and women who have avoided the VA network to seek medical care.

I really think that in the medical field the professionals the doctors, nurses the people who work hands-on with patients do need some generalized information on this, said Harris, a Vietnam War veteran.

Robert Wood Johnsons one-day training program is designed to prompt doctors to ask key questions that could help them better identify health problems and their causes. Students hear from the creators of a program at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, then from a panel of veterans who share their experiences in both military service and in health care. And they learn how to build a medical history, said Dr. Carol Terregino, senior associate dean of education at the school in Piscataway.

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Robert Wood Johnson Medical School puts focus on veterans needs

UC Riverside med school stresses preventive care

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By G. Richard Olds5 p.m.Jan. 1, 2015

The United States spends more money on health care than any other country in the world. So how does Costa Rica outperform the United States in every measure of health of its population? Costa Ricas government spends more money per capita than ours on prevention and wellness.

Sadly, it has become the American way to leave many chronic diseases untreated until they become emergency situations at exorbitant cost to the U.S. health care system. For many patients, this care is too late to prevent life-changing disabilities and an early death.

When people ask me why we started the UC Riverside School of Medicine last year the first new public medical school on the West Coast in more than four decades I talk about the need for well-trained doctors in inland Southern California. But we also wanted to demonstrate that a health care system that rewards keeping people healthy is better than one which rewards not treating people until they become terribly ill.

At UC Riverside, we are supplementing the traditional medical school curriculum with training in the delivery of preventive care and in outpatient settings. Our approach is three-pronged.

First, we work with local schools and students to increase access to medical school through programs that stimulate an interest in medicine and help disadvantaged students become competitive applicants for admission to medical school or other professional health education programs. These activities start with students at middle school age, when students begin to formulate ideas about what they want to be when they grow up.

Second, we focus on students from Inland Southern California because students who live here now will be among those best equipped to provide medical care to our increasingly diverse patient population. Doctors who share their patients backgrounds are better at influencing their health behaviors. And we need to increase the number of physicians in Inland Southern California in primary care and short-supply specialties. Our region has just 40 primary care physicians per 100,000 people far below the 60 to 80 recommended and a shortage in nearly every kind of medical specialty. Students who have been heavily involved in service such as the Peace Corps, or who are engaged in community-based causes, are more likely to go into primary care specialties and practice in their hometowns.

Then, we teach our medical students an innovative curriculum. For instance, the Longitudinal Ambulatory Care Experience, called LACE for short, replaces the traditional shadowing preceptorship, where students follow around different physicians. Instead, our students follow a panel of patients and gain an in-depth understanding of the importance of primary care, prevention and wellness. Our approach also includes community-based research that grounds medical students in public health issues such as the social determinants of health, smoking cessation, early identification of prediabetic patients, weight loss management and the use of mammograms to detect breast cancer.

We try to remove the powerful financial incentive for medical students to choose the highest paying specialties in order to pay off educational loans. We do this with mission scholarships that cover tuition in all four years of our medical school. This type of scholarship provides an incentive for students to go into primary care and the shortest-supply specialties and to remain in inland Southern California for at least five years following medical school education and residency training. If the recipients practice outside of the region or go into another field of practice before the end of those five years, the scholarships become repayable loans.

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UC Riverside med school stresses preventive care