WIRED by Design: An Aerospace Whiz Shows Off a Space Suit Made for Mars
Dava Newman and Gui Trotti at WIRED by Design, 2014. Skywalker Sound, Marin County, CA. To learn more visit: live.wired.com Watch WIRED on The Scene: http://...
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WIRED by Design: An Aerospace Whiz Shows Off a Space Suit Made for Mars - Video
3D Printing in Aerospace: How Plastic Parts are Replacing Metal
The aerospace industry is starting to move away from metal towards 3D printed parts, using a flame, smoke and toxicity-retardant plastic called Ultem that wa...
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3D Printing in Aerospace: How Plastic Parts are Replacing Metal - Video
Ball Aerospace's Operational Land Imager for the Landsat 8 mission. (Credit: Ball Aerospace)
Data analytics and imaging company OmniEarth is partnering with Ball Aerospace on a planned constellation of 18 imaging satellites, which is set to be fully deployed by 2018.
The 18 satellites will be about the size of a dishwasher, OmniEarth CEO Lars Dyrud told me. Were focused on small, low-cost satellites. Something that wasnt even conveivable 5 or 10 years ago.
The past few years have seen a number of new satellite imaging companies like Planet Labs, which builds low-orbit, inexpensive satellites only about a foot long, begin to compete with older companies such as Digital Globe, which builds satellites that are larger and more expensive but also with more capabilities). OmniEarths planned satellites are something of a middle ground in both size.
One key thing that OmniEarth seeks to use to differentiate themselves is the quality of the planned instruments. Thats where Ball comes in. The company has manufactured imaging systems for a number of satellites in the past, most famously the Hubble Space Telescope. Recently they also produced the instruments NASAs Landsat 8 satellite, which is used to image the Earth for a number of research projects.
Landslide in Washington as seen by Landsat-8. (Credit: NASA)
The Landsat science community is giddy at the results theyre seeing from the latest Landsat instrument, Balls Operational Space VP and General Manager Cary Ludtke told me. Its that much better than the last one. And this is really an unhappy group of scientists.
Dyrud concurred with that sentiment. Were looking to leverage that scientific and commercial understanding of Landsat, he told me.
The instrument on the OmniEarth satellites wont be precisely the same as in Landsat-8, Ludtke told me. But the technology is largely the same.
Lars and his guys have a need and requirement for scientific quality data to enable their success in the marketplace, Ludtke continued. Our experience on programs such as Landsat is directly applicable. Weve spent many years developing those kinds of products and capabilities.
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OmniEarth Partners With Ball Aerospace For 'Scientific Quality' Satellite Imaging
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A federal judge in Oregon ruled last week that secular humanism is a religion.
Senior District Judge Ancer Haggerty cited the Establishment Clause of the US Constitution in his ruling, which statesthat "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion."
The controversial case was brought by the American Humanist Association and federal prisoner Jason Holden. Holden sought to establish a humanist study group in the correctional facility, but could not because humanism was not a religious affiliation.
"As humanists, we believe in the ability of mankind to transcend their differences and to reach some common ground and make the world a better place," Holden told Uptown Radioin May. "We simply want the same thing other religious groups are provided."
Judge Haggerty sided with the Sheridan, Oregon inmate.
"The court finds that Secular Humanism is a religion for Establishment Clause purposes," Haggerty's decisionread. "Allowing followers of other faiths to join religious group meetings while denying Holden the same privilege is discrimination on the basis of religion." The judge also cited a 1961 Supreme Court decision, Torcaso v. Watkins, which referred to secular humanism as a religion.
While some humanists and atheists dispute whether secular humanism is a religion, many agree on a need for constitutional equality regarding philosophical beliefs.
"If secular humanism were a religion, then it wouldn't be secular," agnosticism and atheism expert Austin Cline wrotein a blog post. "The terms 'religion' and 'secular' are opposites. It is possible that a government body might need to treat secular philosophies like secular humanism as if they were religions if not doing so produces unconstitutional results, but otherwise the distinction between Secular Humanism and religion is total."
In April, the US Army added "Humanist" to its list of religious affiliations that soldiers can select. The Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers (MAAF) called the rulinga "big victory."
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Federal court decides secular humanism is a religion
There is a need for political support across the spectrum for promoting safe and responsible genetic engineering research, said M. S. Swaminathan, chairman, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation.
He was addressing students at the 35 annual convocation of Anna University in the city on Wednesday.
Over one lakh students received their degrees in various specialities..
Mr. Swaminathan said that the present moratorium on field trials with recombinant DNA material was a serious handicap.
Agriculture is a State subject and it is very important that agricultural universities and State departments of agriculture are involved in the design and implementation of field trials. It takes nearly 10 years for a new variety to be ready for recommendation to farmers; therefore, speed is of the essence in organising field trials and gathering reliable data on risks and benefits, he said.
He added that public sector research and development institutions should give high priority to the breeding of varieties which can help farmers minimise climate and market risks.
M. Rajaram, vice-chancellor of Anna University, said in addition to imparting education, the university is sensitive to the welfare of society.
The unmanned aerial vehicle, dhaksha, designed and developed by the university, joined the rescue team at Moulivakkam, he said.
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Promote responsible genetic engg. research
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
5-Nov-2014
Contact: Kathryn Ryan kryan@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News @LiebertOnline
"New Rochelle, NY, November 5, 2014The e-incubator, an innovative miniature incubator that is compatible with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), enables scientists to grow tissue-engineered constructs under controlled conditions and to study their growth and development in real-time without risk of contamination or damage. Offering the potential to test engineered tissues before human transplantation, increase the success rate of implantation, and accelerate the translation of tissue engineering methods from the lab to the clinic, the novel e-incubator is described in an article in Tissue Engineering, Part C, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Tissue Engineering website at http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/ten.tec.2014.0273 until December 5, 2014."
"In the article "The e-Incubator: A Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Compatible Mini Incubator" , Shadi Othman, PhD, Karin Wartella, PhD, Vahid Khalilzad Sharghi, and Huihui Xu, PhD, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, present the results of a validation study using the device to culture tissue-engineered bone constructs for 4 weeks. The e-incubator is a standalone unit that automatically detects and regulates internal conditions such as temperature, carbon dioxide levels, and pH via a microcontroller. It performs media exchange to feed the cultures and remove waste products. The current design is compatible with MRI to monitor the constructs without removing them from the incubator. With proper adjustments, compatibility with other imaging technologies including computed tomography (CT) and optical imaging is also possible."
""Calibratable, hands-free tissue development environments are becoming increasingly important for the engineering of implantable tissues," says Tissue Engineering Co-Editor-in-Chief Peter C. Johnson, MD, Vice President, Research and Development, Avery Dennison Medical Solutions of Chicago, IL and President and CEO, Scintellix, LLC, Raleigh, NC. "In this new development, noninvasive imaging modalities are added to the spectrum of sensing and environmental capabilities that heretofore have included temperature, humidity, light, physical force, and electromagnetism. This represents a solid advance for the field.""
###
About the Journal
"Tissue Engineering is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published online with Open Access options and in print in three parts: Part A, the flagship, published 24 times per year; Part B: Reviews, published bimonthly; and Part C: Methods, published 12 times per year. Led by Co-Editors-In-Chief Antonios Mikos, PhD, Louis Calder Professor at Rice University, Houston, TX, and Peter C. Johnson, MD, Vice President, Research and Development, Avery Dennison Medical Solutions of Chicago, IL and President and CEO, Scintellix, LLC, Raleigh, NC, the Journal brings together scientific and medical experts in the fields of biomedical engineering, material science, molecular and cellular biology, and genetic engineering. Tissue Engineering is the official journal of the Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS). Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on at the Tissue Engineering website at http://www.liebertpub.com/ten. "
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New e-Incubator enables real-time imaging of bioengineered tissues in controlled unit
Supporters of efforts to label GMOs in foods turn out at a rally in Denverin 2013. A ballot measure that would such labels failed to pass by a wide margin Tuesday. Luke Runyon/KUNC/Harvest Public Media hide caption
Supporters of efforts to label GMOs in foods turn out at a rally in Denverin 2013. A ballot measure that would such labels failed to pass by a wide margin Tuesday.
An effort to label genetically modified foods in Colorado failed to garner enough support Tuesday. It's the latest of several state-based GMO labeling ballot measures to fail. UPDATE: A similar measure in Oregon was also defeated by a narrow margin.
Voters in Colorado resoundingly rejected the labeling of foods that contain the derivatives of genetically modified - or GMO crops, with 66 percent voting against, versus 34 percent in favor.
In Oregon the outcome was closer, with fewer than 51 percent voting against the measure. Political ad spending in Oregon was more competitive than in Colorado, where labeling opponents outspent proponents by millions of dollars.
Meanwhile, a proposal in Maui County, Hawaii, skipped the labeling debate altogether. Voters there narrowly approved a moratorium on GMO crop cultivation. The state has been a battleground between biotech firms and food activists. Some Hawaiian farmers grow a variety of papaya genetically engineered to resist a plant virus.
Polling prior to the GMO labeling vote in Colorado was scarce. Polls found Colorado's measure faced an uphill battle in the final weeks before the election. A Suffolk University poll found only 29 percent of registered voters favored the measure, while 49 percent were likely to vote against it. A Denver Post poll was even more damning. According to that poll, 59 percent were opposed to GMO labeling in Colorado, 34 percent in favor.
Colorado's Proposition 105 would've required food companies to label packaged foods with the text "produced with genetic engineering." Oregon's Measure 92 says food labels would need to include the words "genetically engineered." Many processed foods contain soybean oil, corn syrup, refined sugar and cottonseed oil. Those oils and syrups are often derived from GMO crops that farmers have adopted over the last 18 years. Few whole foods, like the ones you see in the produce aisle, are genetically engineered, though some GE varieties of sweet corn, squash and papaya are approved for sale in the U.S.
The failed measures in Colorado and Oregon follow a nationwide trend. Similar ballot questions in California and Washington state were rejected in 2012 and 2013, respectively. This summer, Vermont's governor signed the nation's first GMO labeling requirement into law. It's supposed to take effect in 2016, but a coalition of biotech firms and farmer groups have filed suit to prevent that from happening.
Groups opposed to GMO labeling poured big money into efforts to quash the ballot measures, spending more than $15 million in Colorado alone. In Oregon, opponents of labeling raised more than $18 million, making the ballot measure the most expensive issue campaign in the state's history. Most of that money came from large seed corporations like Monsanto and DuPont Pioneer, and from processed food companies like Pepsi, Land O' Lakes and Smucker's. All of that outside money opened labeling opponents up to criticism of being tied to corporate interests.
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Colorado, Oregon Reject GMO Labeling
Irvine, CA (PRWEB) November 06, 2014
The Virginia Tech College of Engineering recently announced the completion of Goodwin Hall (formerly the "Signature Engineering Building") - Smart Infrastructure Laboratory. The Virginia Tech Smart Infrastructure Laboratory (VT-SIL) aims at advancing education and research in areas that utilize sensor information in an effort to improve the design, monitoring and daily operation of civil and mechanical infrastructure, as well as investigate how humans interact with the built environment.
Goodwin Hall is the most instrumented building for vibrations in the world with over 240 accelerometers distributed throughout the building. The facility will be extremely valuable in the improvement of research in fields including structural health monitoring, building dynamics, foot pattern tracking, behavioral science, and smart energy use.
Virginia Tech required partners in the development of the data acquisition systems for Goodwin Hall, and VTI Instruments' reputation and history as a flexible, precision DAQ provider allowed for a partnership in the development of this system to be forged.
"We required a data acquisition provider that was flexible and would work with us as a partner and not just a vendor, especially as this project evolves," said Dr. Pablo Tarazaga, Founder & Co-Director of VT-SIL. "VTI and Virginia Tech were able to work side by side in the creation of a solution that would be open to expansion without sacrificing the fidelity of the instruments."
The development of the continuous data collection system on open IVI driver standards, as well as the incorporation of COTS equipment protects Virginia Tech's capital investment and mitigates obsolescence, ensuring longevity of the DAQ system for the lifetime of the building.
By incorporating the VTI CMX09 PXIe chassis, the EMX-4250 PXIe DSA, and the EMX-2500 PXIe LXI Ethernet controller, Virginia Tech was able to create a 288 channel modular, scalable, DAQ solution distributed throughout the building on multiple floors.
VTI's incorporation of the IEEE-1588 Precision Time Protocol via Ethernet allowed easy synchronization with no additional time synchronization cabling required. With all channels synchronized, dynamic events can be tracked, analyzed, and phasing can be maintained for modal analysis.
"Working with Dr. Tarazaga and helping further the education of our future engineers brings great pleasure to us at VTI," said Tom Sarfi, VP of Product Management. "We see great benefit coming from this building, not just for education but also furthering our research in regards data acquisition and analysis."
Learn more about VTI Instruments' Precision Data Acquisition Solutions.
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Virginia Tech Partners with VTI Instruments to Advance Education and Research in Infrastructure Monitoring
Barak Seener - Speech at NATO Parliamentary Assembly
#39;Strategic Impact of Iraq, Syria and ISIS on Gulf States #39; October 3, 2014, Catania Sicily. Barak Seener 2014.
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Barak Seener - Speech at NATO Parliamentary Assembly - Video
Iron Sword 2014: NATO Stages Massive Military Drill In Lithuania!
http://www.undergroundworldnews.com Servicemen from nine NATO member states are taking part in nearly two weeks of military exercise in Lithuania. What used to be a national military drill...
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Iron Sword 2014: NATO Stages Massive Military Drill In Lithuania! - Video
NOWHERE TO HIDE Nato military Talios bomber targeting pod
Another good idea for Nato military aircraft the Talios targerting pod will make finding terrorists much easier. TALIOS Designed entirely around operational feedback from users, TALIOS is the...
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NOWHERE TO HIDE Nato military Talios bomber targeting pod - Video
NATO Secretary General with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs - 04 NOV 2014
Joint press point with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and EU High Representative Federica Mogherini - Opening remarks by the NATO Secretary General, 4 November 2014.
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NATO Secretary General with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs - 04 NOV 2014 - Video
#39;Russia serves as pretext for NATO build up #39;
NATO #39;s commander in Europe has asked the Pentagon to send more troops. He wants to offer reassurance to alarmed allies over the claims Russian militaries have been massing on the Ukrainian...
By: RT
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EU, NATO blame Russia for "illegal" Ukraine vote
At a press conference in Brussels senior EU and NATO officials described elections in the eastern Ukraine cities of Donetsk and Luhansk as illegal and they blamed Russia for having orchestrated...
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Turkey continues inaction in Kobane despite US, NATO criticism
Turkey continues to reject criticism that it #39;s not doing enough to save the northern Syrian town of Kobane from the onslaught of Islamic State fighters. Turkey has been reluctant to intervene...
By: CCTV America
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Turkey continues inaction in Kobane despite US, NATO criticism - Video
Campus Shut Down an Anti-NSA Petition, but This Student Fought Back
Vincenzo Sinapi-Riddle #39;s troubles with Citrus College began on Constitution DaySeptember 17last year when he asked another student to sign a petition protesting the NSA #39;s surveillance...
By: TheFIREorg
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Campus Shut Down an Anti-NSA Petition, but This Student Fought Back - Video
PM #39;s office NSA to review border infrastructure with China
The Prime Minister #39;s office and the National Security Advisor will be reviewing the border infrastructure with China. Principal Secretary to the PM, and the NSA Ajit Doval will be attending...
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PM's office & NSA to review border infrastructure with China - Video
NSA Chief Bet Money on AT T as It Spied on You
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/11/03/nsa-chief-cashed-in-on-at-t-as-it-spied-on-you.html.
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New ruling may affect police access to smartphones
A federal judge in Virginia ruled that fingerprints are not protected by the Fifth Amendment, which could affect police access to fingerprint-protected devic...
By: CBS This Morning
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Center For Disease Control/First Amendment Audit
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