Fewer drownings at beaches

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Fewer drownings at beaches

The number of drownings at Australian beaches has fallen by a third over the past year, a report from Surf Life Saving Australia shows.

The 2014 National Coastal Safety Report shows 84 people drowned off Australias coast in 2013, with more than half that number happening more than 5km offshore.

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This represents a significant increase on the previous year and was the highest in the past 10 years.

What that tells us is that the Surf Life Saving patrols are saving lives. The system works when people heed the warnings and swim between the red and yellow flags. We cant save you if we cant see you, Surf Life Saving Australia President Graham Ford said.

However, the fact that we still had 19 people lose their life while swimming in areas outside of our patrolling zones is a national concern and I would urge people to please stay between the red and yellow flags this summer.

In WA, 38 people drowned.

LIFE SAVER PM ON BEACH PATROL WARNING OVER PADDLING POOLS TODDLER DROWNING DEATHS ON THE RISE

In 2013-14, 38 per cent of drowning deaths nationwide occurred at beaches. A third of all drowning deaths were offshore and a quarter of all fatalities were on rocky coastlines. This is consistent with concerning increases in the drowning deaths of rock fishermen and people using boating and watercraft.

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Fewer drownings at beaches

Drownings down at Australian beaches

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The number of drowning deaths at Australian beaches has fallen by a third over the past year.

Surf Life Saving Australia has won high praise from Tony Abbott, with a report showing drowning deaths at beaches fell by nearly a third over the past year.

The 2014 National Coastal Safety Report shows 84 people drowned off Australia's coast, down 29 per cent on last year, with over half happening more than 5km offshore.

The prime minister, who launched the report at Sydney's Queenscliff beach, said the drop in drownings was impressive, particularly considering there were no deaths between beach safety flags over the year.

"If you swim between the flags you can be very confident you will be looked after and you will be safe," he said.

Surf Life Saving Australia President Graham Ford says the figures show his organisation saves lives.

"The system works when people heed the warnings and swim between the red and yellow flags," he said.

"We can't save you if we can't see you."

Over the year, 38 per cent of drownings were near beaches and a quarter happened on rocky coastlines.

Men accounted for 89 per cent of deaths, while a startling 91 per cent of male drowning victims were aged between 60 and 64.

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Drownings down at Australian beaches

Drownings at Australian beaches down: National Coastal Safety Report

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Swim safe: There were no drownings between beach safety flags in the past year. Photo: Domino Postiglione

Drowning deaths at Australian beaches fell by nearly a third over the past year.

The 2014 National Coastal Safety Report shows 84 people drowned off Australia's coast, down 29 per cent on last year, with over half of the incidents happening more than five kilometres offshore.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who launched the report at Sydney's Queenscliff beach, said the drop in drownings was impressive, particularly considering there were no deaths between beach safety flags over the year.

"If you swim between the flags you can be very confident you will be looked after and you will be safe," he said.

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Surf Life Saving Australia president Graham Ford says the figures show his organisation saves lives.

"The system works when people heed the warnings and swim between the red and yellow flags," he said. "We can't save you if we can't see you."

Over the year, 38 per cent of drownings were near beaches and a quarter happened on rocky coastlines.

Men accounted for 89 per cent of deaths, while a startling 91 per cent of male drowning victims were aged between 60 and 64.

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Drownings at Australian beaches down: National Coastal Safety Report

Beaches pass water quality tests

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FLORIDA KEYS

Beaches pass water quality tests

Water-quality testing performed by the Florida Department of Health in Monroe County indicates that all of the beach samplings during the latest biweekly test period were in the acceptable ranges, officials reported this week.

The health department samples 11 beaches in Monroe County, including four in Key West -- Fort Zachary Taylor State Park, Higgs Beach, Smathers Beach and South Beach. All the beaches were rated "good," meaning they registered less than 36 enterococcus per 100 milliliters of marine water.

Enterococci bacteria, which normally inhabit intestinal tracts of humans and animals, are an indication of fecal pollution, which may come from stormwater runoff, pets, wildlife and human sewage.

For information, call 305-293-1653.

You can also visit http://www.floridahealth.gov/, click on the Environmental Health tab, choose Beach Water Quality and then click on Monroe County.

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Beaches pass water quality tests

Mexico's Punta Mita beckons with beautiful beaches, uninhabited isles

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I plunged feet-first into a Jacques Cousteau daydream recently. I had been skimming across the clear, blue waters of Mexico's Banderas Bay in a power boat when our guide stopped near the rocky, uninhabited Marieta Islands and invited us to put on snorkel gear and jump in.

Within a few minutes, our group of eight swimmers entered a craggy tunnel, emerging on the other side at stunning Hidden Beach, a paradise accessible only to those who make the short underwater journey. I said a silent thank you to Cousteau, who loved these islands so much that he started a movement to protect them.

Cousteau, the great French undersea explorer and conservationist, would have been happy that his efforts helped the Marieta Islands become a national park in 2005, eight years after his death.

The Marietas are a short jaunt from the Pacific Coast resort of Puerto Vallarta, where a neighborhood earned the nickname "Gringo Gulch" after Liz Taylor and Richard Burton behaved scandalously there during the filming of "The Night of the Iguana" in 1964.

Now a new generation of celebs is turning nearby Punta Mita into another gringo gulch.

If you haven't heard of Punta Mita, you must not be keeping up with the Kardashians Kim visits often and vacationed here with Kanye West or other rich and famous A-listers: Tom Cruise, Beyonc, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Rihanna, Jennifer Aniston and Kate Hudson.

The arrowhead-shaped peninsula called Punta de Mita is about a 45-minute drive northwest of the easy-to-navigate Puerto Vallarta international airport, PVR (officially named Licenciado Gustavo Daz Ordaz).

A resort and residential development there, called Punta Mita, has evolved into one of Mexico's most exclusive luxury communities, with multimillion-dollar villas, two Jack Nicklaus golf courses and a couple of high-end, well-known hotel brands: Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita and St. Regis Punta Mita Resort.

Tourism in the region is exploding. The Four Seasons and St. Regis resorts cater to big spenders, while a handful of less expensive resorts nearby offer more modest accommodations. All have one thing in common beautiful beaches.

The boom is a welcome change in fortune for the Mexican state of Nayarit, which has long tried to distinguish its 200-mile stretch of beaches, including Punta Mita, from Jalisco state's popular Puerto Vallarta. Seven years ago, Nayarit branded itself as Riviera Nayarit to promote its beaches and resorts, but the jury is still out on how well the campaign is working overall. Riviera Nayarit hasn't become a household phrase yet, but Punta Mita is gaining ground, especially among celebrity watchers and surfers.

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Mexico's Punta Mita beckons with beautiful beaches, uninhabited isles

Immaculate Heart of Mary Solar Astronomy Education Dec 11 2014 – Video

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Immaculate Heart of Mary Solar Astronomy Education Dec 11 2014
Please share these videos freely... Its about Science! Please support The Charlie Bates Solar Astronomy Project with your tax deductible donation at http://www.charliebates.org (a nonprofit 501c3...

By: Stephen W. Ramsden

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Immaculate Heart of Mary Solar Astronomy Education Dec 11 2014 - Video

A date with astronomy in Puducherry

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: Making use of the favourable time for sky watching, 25 government school students and five teachers from Puducherry visited the Vainu Bappu Observatory located in the Jawadhu Hills, Kavalur, Vellore district on a science tour.

The tour was organised by the Pondicherry Science Forum (PSF), with support from the Department of Science, Technology and Environment.

The astronomical observatory is owned and operated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics.

Students went on a guided tour and got to see the 2.3m Vainu Bappu Telescope and were told about its contribution to the discoveries of minor planet 4130 Ramanujan, confirmation of planetary rings around Uranus in 1977 by C. Velu, Senior Research Assistant, said a release from PSF.

They were given insights into astronomy by Anbazhagan, engineer at the observatory. At night, the students observed celestial objects through the visitors telescope after watching the film, Cosmic Collusions.

The science tour to the Vainu Bappu Observatory, a regular activity, is a much-awaited event among young science enthusiasts of government schools.

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A date with astronomy in Puducherry

What Artificial Intelligence Is Not

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Editors note: Rob Smith is CEO of Pecabu.

Artificial Intelligence has been in the media a lot lately. So much so that its only a matter of time before it graduates to meaningless buzz word status like big data and cloud. Usually I would be a big supporter. Being in the AI space, any attention to our often overlooked industry is welcome. But there seems to be more misinformation out there than solid facts.

The general public seems to view AI as the mythical purple unicorn of technology; Elusive, powerful, mysterious, dangerous and most likely made up. And while there is plenty of debate in the scientific community, I can at least tell you what AI is definitely not.

First of all, AI is nothing to be frightened of. Its not a sentient being like SkyNet or an evil red light bulb like HAL. Fundamentally, AI is nothing more than a computer program smart enough to accomplish tasks that typically require human quality analysis. Thats it, not a mechanized, omnipresent war machine.

Secondly, AIs are not alive. While AIs are capable of performingtasks otherwise performed by human beings, they are not alive like we are. They have no genuine creativity, emotions or desires other than what we program into them or they detect from the environment. Unlike in science fiction (emphasis on the fiction) AIs would have no desire to mate, replicate or have a small AI family.

Next, AIs are generally not very ambitious. Its true that in very limited context, an AI can think similarly to us and set tasks for itself. But its general purpose and reason for existence is ultimately defined by us at inception. Like any program or technology, we define what its role in our society will be. Rest assured, they will have no intention to enslave humanity and rule us as our AI overlord.

Additionally, AI is not a single entity. Computer programs, even artificially intelligent ones, work far better as specialists rather than generalists. A more likely scenario for achieving artificial intelligence within our lifetime is through a network of sub programs handling vision (computer vision), language (NLP), adaptation (machine learning), movement (robotics)etc. AI is not a he or a she or even an it, AI is more like a they.

Finally AI, like all computer programs, are ultimately controlled by humans. Of course AI can be designed with malicious intent and weaponized like nuclear or biological technology, but thats not a fault of the science but of ourselves.

While Elon Musk is a personal hero of mine, and a genius on so many levels, his recent comments on artificial intelligence have been a little less than brilliant. He mentions that AI is more dangerous than nuclear weapons and that we may summon an AI demon (his words, not mine). My only explanation is that he must have fallen asleep watching Terminator.

In the meantime, companies such as IBM, Google and Apple are developing the next generation of AI-powered applications, using small bits of specialized AI code to replace the human element in many tiring, dangerous or time-consuming jobs. These are very specific, almost tunnel-vision-like programs that only improve our society and should instill fear in no one.

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What Artificial Intelligence Is Not

How Electroimpact's unconventional founder created an aerospace giant

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Dan Bates / The Herald

Peter Zieve talks with mechanical engineers Patrick Brewer (left) and Michael Kessler about the satellite fixture they have been working on.

Dan Bates / The Herald

Peter Zieve founded Electroimpact and led it to be one industry leaders in aerospace. From the beginning, Zieve envisioned the company as a haven for engineers. He eschews the suit and tie at work.

Dan Bates / The Herald

Peter Zieves ElectroImpact has moved well beyond the original riveting and drilling assembly machines of its earlier days.

Dan Bates / The Herald

Electroimpacts newest building, the F building, is nearly completed, just a block or two from the main campus of buildings. Peter Zieve says it is the largest in the area.

By Eileen Bjorkman For The Herald Business Journal

Published: Wednesday, December 10, 2014, 12:01 a.m.

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How Electroimpact's unconventional founder created an aerospace giant

Science decides: if you want to defeat men wear high heels

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by Anorak | 13th, December 2014

Do high heels make you men go weak at the knees? This just in from science:

Scientists from the Universite de Bretagne-Sud conducted experiments that showed that men behave very differently toward high-heeled women. The results, published online in the journal Archives of Sexual Behaviour, may please the purveyors of Christian Louboutin or Jimmy Choo shoes yet frustrate those who think stilettos encourage sexism.

The study found if a woman drops a glove on the street while wearing heels, shes almost 50 percent more likely to have a man fetch it for her than if shes wearing flats.

Another finding: A woman wearing heels is twice as likely to persuade men to stop and answer survey questions on the street. And a high-heeled woman in a bar waits half the time to get picked up by a man, compared to when her heel is nearer to the ground.

Womens shoe heel size exerts a powerful effect on mens behavior, says the studys author, Nicolas Gueguen, a behavioral science researcher. Simply put, they make women more beautiful.

So. Would you help a man in heels? For the sake of sexual equality, and all

Anorak

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Science decides: if you want to defeat men wear high heels

Trivedi Global CEO Makes Appearance at 2014 Annual World Congress on Anti-Aging Medicine

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LAS VEGAS (PRWEB) December 13, 2014

Alice Branton, CEO of Trivedi Global, Inc., will be one of the noted VIPs in attendance at the 22nd Annual World Congress on Anti-Aging, Regenerative and Aesthetic Medicine, taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada, December 11th13th, 2014.

Known as the world's largest and most acclaimed Anti-Aging conference, the event will convene over 70 leading health care professionals, researchers, and thought leaders to share scientific and contemporary approaches to lifestyle medicine, and to discuss their revolutionary advances and efforts in the world of anti-aging medicine and wellness.

Experts such as Dr. David Katz, who is one of the worlds most respected experts in integrative medicine, Dr J. Craig Venter, known as one of the 21st centurys leading scientists on the quest to treat age-related disease, and Dr. Alex Zhavoronkov, a pioneer in scientific aging research, are scheduled to give keynote presentations. Alice Branton, who is a high level business executive and respected spiritual leader, is also the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Trivedi Global, Inc. an international company with offices in the UK, United States, and India who has achieved unprecedented results in the wellness field and in particular, in the areas of anti-aging and disease reversal.

The source of these successes is known as The Trivedi Effect, a naturally occurring phenomenon that occurs through the Energy Transmissions of Mahendra Trivedi and the Trivedi MastersTM.

With over 4,000 scientific studies validating and showing the dramatic results of the miraculous power of this Intelligent Energy, it has been demonstrated to consistently alter materials and organisms, enhancing their performance to an optimal level. In a model mouse study conducted on the Trivedi Effect at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, researchers confirmed its promising anti-aging benefits. As Dr. Katalin Csiszar, Ph.D., noted: "These aging-related changes are very striking and may have significant implications for improving human age-associated conditions."

The company has also gained notoriety for their skincare line, Dahryn SkincareTM. By infusing a powerful, Silver Nanotechnology-based solution with the natural Trivedi Effect, they launched their first product, Dahryn Silver GelTM, to much acclaim.

Customers have touted its effective treatment of everything from age spots and wrinkles, to dry/oily skin, sun damage, blemishes, scar tissue, acne, and skin problems such as rosacea, eczema and psoriasis.

I feel like years have been erased from my face in terms of wrinkles on my forehead, around my mouth and eyes. Sandy B.

...I looked in the mirror and had a moment where I felt like I was looking at myself a decade ago... after years of trying some of the best skin care lines available, I have finally found a product that feels like it was customized to fit me perfectly! Andraya C.

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Trivedi Global CEO Makes Appearance at 2014 Annual World Congress on Anti-Aging Medicine

Alnylam Pharma Announces Pipeline Growth Strategy For RNAi Therapeutics

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By RTT News, December 12, 2014, 07:18:00 AM EDT

(RTTNews.com) - Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ( ALNY ) announced its pipeline growth strategy for development and commercialization of RNAi therapeutics across three Strategic Therapeutic Areas, or STArs: Genetic Medicines, Cardio-metabolic Disease, and Hepatic Infectious Disease. The company said its strategic therapeutic areas will remain focused on liver-expressed and genetically validated or pathogen-derived disease targets, with biomarkers for assessment of clinical activity early in Phase 1 trials.

In Genetic Medicine STAr, Alnylam said it is advancing a broad pipeline of RNAi therapeutics for rare diseases. Across the Genetic Medicine STAr, Alnylam plans on commercializing its products through direct marketing and sales in the U.S. and EU, while leveraging its landmark partnership with Genzyme, a Sanofi company, for commercialization in the rest-of-world.

In Cardio-metabolic Disease STAr, Alnylam is advancing pipeline of RNAi therapeutics toward genetically validated, liver-expressed disease targets for unmet needs in dyslipidemias, hypertension, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, and type 2 diabetes. The company intends to seek strategic partnership opportunities for programs in Cardio-metabolic Disease STAr, while retaining significant product commercialization rights in the U.S. and EU.

In Hepatic Infectious Disease STAr, Alnylam is advancing a pipeline of RNAi therapeutics that address major global health challenges, including hepatitis B virus and hepatitis D virus infections, amongst other hepatic infectious disease opportunities. The company intends to seek strategic partnership opportunities for programs in its Hepatic Infectious Disease STAr, while retaining significant product commercialization rights in the U.S. and EU.

For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com

http://www.rttnews.com

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Alnylam Pharma Announces Pipeline Growth Strategy For RNAi Therapeutics