Snapshots of the Heavens: Amazing Astronomy Photos

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TIME Science astronomy Snapshots of the Heavens: Amazing Astronomy Photos The Royal Observatory culled through over 800 entries from astronomers and astro-photographers around the world to release its compilation of the best astronomy photos of 2012. Astronomy Photographer of the Year is run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich and Sky at Night Magazine. The competition drew a wide array of subjects captured by amateur and professional photographers from around the globe.

The Royal Observatory has culled through over 800 entries from astronomers and astro-photographers around the world to release its compilation of the best astronomy photos of 2012. The contest is run by Royal Observatory Greenwich and Sky at Night Magazine.

Should you have plans to be in London, an exhibition featuring the work is on display at the Royal Observatory Greenwich Planetarium throughout October 2012 in The Universe Exposed: photographing the cosmos.

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Snapshots of the Heavens: Amazing Astronomy Photos

ASTRO Receives Three MarCom Awards

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Newswise Fairfax, Va., December 5, 2014The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) received three 2014 MarCom Awards. MarCom Awards were presented to ASTRO for the Summer 2014 issue of ASTROnews, the RO-ILS: Radiation Oncology Incident Learning SystemTM marketing campaign and the most recent edition of the Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer patient brochure.

The MarCom Awards, administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communications Professionals, is an international creative competition recognizing outstanding achievement by marketing and communication professionals. More than 6,500 entries from the United States, Canada and 15 other countries participated in the 2014 competition.

The Summer 2014 issue of ASTROnews received a Gold MarCom Award in the Magazine/Association category. This issue focused on patient safety and included special features on APEx: Accreditation Program for Excellence, RO-ILS, the importance of peer review in radiation oncology and how international standards impact patient safety.

The RO-ILS marketing campaign received a Gold MarCom Award in the Marketing/Promotional Campaign category. The submitted campaign included promotional ads in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics, ASTROs official scientific journal; two marketing postcards sent to members and used to promote RO-ILS during meetings and other events; and the RO-ILS brochure, which includes information on how to participate in RO-ILS. More information on RO-ILS is available at http://www.astro.org/ROILS.

The Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer patient brochure received an Honorable Mention in the Brochure/Educational category. This brochure was updated in June with a new look and size and expanded content that includes elements of ASTROs Choosing Wisely list of Five Things Physicians and Patients Should Question, a national initiative of the ABIM Foundation that aims to promote conversations between patients and providers about appropriate care. ASTROs patients brochures, including Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer, are available on RTAnswers.org.

ASTRO is honored to have our work recognized with these three MarCom Awards, said Laura Thevenot, ASTRO CEO. These publications, promotional materials and patient brochures are an integral part of our continued work to keep our members informed of important programs, initiatives and research that can help them provide the best and most appropriate care to cancer patients.

ABOUT ASTRO ASTRO is the premier radiation oncology society in the world, with nearly 11,000 members who are physicians, nurses, biologists, physicists, radiation therapists, dosimetrists and other health care professionals that specialize in treating patients with radiation therapies. As the leading organization in radiation oncology, the Society is dedicated to improving patient care through professional education and training, support for clinical practice and health policy standards, advancement of science and research, and advocacy. ASTRO publishes two medical journals, International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics (www.redjournal.org) and Practical Radiation Oncology (www.practicalradonc.org); developed and maintains an extensive patient website, http://www.rtanswers.org; and created the Radiation Oncology Institute (www.roinstitute.org), a non-profit foundation to support research and education efforts around the world that enhance and confirm the critical role of radiation therapy in improving cancer treatment. To learn more about ASTRO, visit http://www.astro.org. ###

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ASTRO Receives Three MarCom Awards

Sure, Artificial Intelligence May End Our World, But That …

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The robots will rise, were told. The machines will assume control. For decades we have heard these warnings and fears about artificial intelligence taking over and ending humankind.

Such scenarios are not only currency in Hollywood but increasingly find supporters in science and philosophy. For example, Ray Kurzweil wrote that the exponential growth of AI will lead to a technological singularity, a point when machine intelligence will overpower human intelligence. Some think this is the end of the world; others see more positive possibilities. For example, Nick Bostrom thinks that a superintelligence could help us solve issues such as disease, poverty, and environmental destruction, and could help us to enhance ourselves.

On Tuesday, leading scientist Stephen Hawking joined the ranks of the singularity prophets, especially the darker ones, as he told the BBC that the development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race. He argues that humans could not compete with an AI which would re-design itself and reach an intelligence that would surpass that of humans.

The problem with such scenarios is not that they are necessarily falsewho can predict the future?or that it does not make sense to reflect on science fiction scenarios. The latter is even mandatory, I think, if we are to better understand and evaluate current technologies. It is important to flesh out the philosophical issues at stake in such scenarios and explore our fears in order to find out what we value most.

Mark Coeckelbergh

Mark Coeckelbergh is Professor of Technology and Social Responsibility at De Montfort University in the UK, and is the author of Human Being @ Risk and Money Machines.

Yet an exclusive focus on AI and robotics in terms of end of the world and other doom scenarios (or, in Bostroms case, utopia) is that they tend to distract from very real and far more urgent ethical and social issues raised by new technological developments in these areas. For example, is there still a place for privacy in the ICT world we are creating? Does work become increasingly stressful due to information overload and the increasing speed of communication? Do large and powerful corporations such as Google, Facebook, Apple, and so threaten democratic governance of technology? Will they take over, if anything? Will further automatisation lead to (even) fewer jobs? Are new financial technologies a danger for the world economy? Is the internet conducive to a free and fair society? Is capitalism (or capitalism in its current form) changed by the new technologies, and is it morally and politically sustainable at all? What is the environmental impact of mobile devices? (To the credit of Hawking, privacy is mentioned in the interview, but then the discussion takes off to the end of humanity.)

These issues are far less sexy perhaps than that of superintelligence or the end of humankind. They are not about intelligence or about robots as such; they are about what kinds of lives and what kind of society we want to have.

These are ancient questions we have faced since the beginnings of science and philosophy, and today new information technologies, which indeed rapidly change our world, force us to ask them again. Let us hope that the best human minds of our age begin to focus most of their energy and attention on those questions rather than the end of the world.

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Sure, Artificial Intelligence May End Our World, But That ...

Artificial intelligence: Hawking's fears stir debate

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REX/Jason Bye Professor Stephen Hawking at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, Britain, Oct 19, 2012. There was the psychotic HAL 9000 in "2001: A Space Odyssey," the humanoids which attacked their human masters in "I, Robot" and, of course, "The Terminator", where a robot is sent into the past to kill a woman whose son will end the tyranny of the machines.

Never far from the surface, a dark, dystopian view of artificial intelligence (AI) has returned to the headlines, thanks to British physicist Stephen Hawking.

"The primitive forms of artificial intelligence we already have, have proved very useful. But I think the development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race," Hawking told the BBC.

"Once humans develop artificial intelligence it would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate," he said.

But experts interviewed by AFP were divided.

Some agreed with Hawking, saying that the threat, even if it were distant, should be taken seriously. Others said his warning seemed overblown.

"I'm pleased that a scientist from the 'hard sciences' has spoken out. I've been saying the same thing for years," said Daniela Cerqui, an anthropologist at Switzerland's Lausanne University.

Gains in AI are creating machines that outstrip human performance, Cerqui argued. The trend eventually will delegate responsibility for human life to the machine, she predicted.

"It may seem like science fiction, but it's only a matter of degrees when you see what is happening right now," said Cerqui. "We are heading down the road he talked about, one step at a time."

Nick Bostrom, director of a programme on the impacts of future technology at the University of Oxford, said the threat of AI superiority was not immediate.

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Artificial intelligence: Hawking's fears stir debate

UTC Aerospace Systems provides critical control systems for NASA's Orion spacecraft

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UTC Aerospace Systems' employees helped build NASA's Orion spacecraft, which completed its Exploration Flight Test (EFT-1) today fromKennedy Space CenterinFlorida. The team provided critical control systems, including active thermal control, pressure control, power control and switching hardware for the Orion spacecraft, as well as key systems for the Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle. UTC Aerospace Systems is a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX).

"We are honored to partner with Lockheed Martin and United Launch Alliance in this important milestone for NASA," saidAllen Flynt, General Manager, Human Exploration and Launch Vehicles. "Orion is the vehicle for the next generation of space exploration, and our employees are helping to make that a reality."

The active thermal control system provides pumps and thermal expansion control of fluid circuits for cooling of the avionics boxes. The power control and switching hardware provide power connectivity from external power sources, conditioned power to the crew and service modules, and communication to environmental control and life support systems components. The pressure control equipment consists of a negative pressure relief valve, which allows for pressure equalization between the vehicle interior and the outside air during reentry in the event the cabin pressure has leakage.

"These systems are key to crew and craft survivability," said Flynt. "Results of this flight test will help inform the development of the crewed version of the Orion spacecraft, which our employees are already working on, for its first un-crewed exploration mission (EM-1)."

The Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle will eventually take humans farther into space than any other space vehicle to date. It will be capable of low-earth orbit and lunar or deep-space mission.

UTC Aerospace Systems also provides critical systems for the United Launch Alliance Delta IV launch vehicle that put the Orion capsule into orbit. These include: the hydraulic power systems that provide hydraulic fluid to steer the launch vehicle; the power control and switching elements; fluid sensing units; and telemetry subsystems for both the common booster cores and the upper stage of the Delta IV heavy launch vehicle.

UTC Aerospace Systems designs, manufactures and services integrated systems and components for the aerospace and defense industries. UTC Aerospace Systems supports a global customer base with significant worldwide manufacturing and customer service facilities.

United Technologies Corp., based inHartford, Connecticut, provides high technology products and services to the building and aerospace industries.

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UTC Aerospace Systems provides critical control systems for NASA's Orion spacecraft

D.N.Age Brings Genetic Engineering and Monsters to Premium Mobile Games

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Seoul, South Korea (PRWEB) December 05, 2014

Imagine yourself as a mad scientist on a quest to breed the perfect beast. Thats exactly the premise behind Remimorys latest release D.N.Age.

Set inside a fantasy world, players take on the role of a lost adventurer who finds himself transported to an alternate dimension. In order to get back home, he must search for magical items in forests, deserts, and dungeons with the help of a team of monsters.

D.N.Age strikes a perfect balance between a dungeon-crawler RPG and monster raising simulator with a very unique twist. The upgrade system is unlike anything seen before, based around genetics and DNA manipulation. Players can collect monsters on dungeon raids, then analyze their DNA for specific traits and breed them with other monsters to improve their traits and make them stronger.

The game brings a whole range of customization options including the ability to dress and style your virtual assistant a rather attractive elf who guides you on your quest; a medicine crafting clinic; and a lab to grow special herbs.

Remimory has gone with a premium model, pricing the game at $4.99 USD, to avoid pushy free-to-play monetization strategies. The game can is now available on Google Play and the App Store.

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.remimory.projectd

App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/d.n.age/id941496594?mt=8

For more information contact Curtis File at curtis.file@latisglobal.com.

About Remimory: Remimory is a small, indie game studio based out of Seoul South Korea. They are known for the game Color Symphony, a simple side scrolling RPG for PC. D.N.Age marks the companys foray into the premium mobile sphere.

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D.N.Age Brings Genetic Engineering and Monsters to Premium Mobile Games