Daily Archives: May 22, 2017

Dr. Rangi Mtmua hopes to revive Mori astronomy – Mori Television

Posted: May 22, 2017 at 4:29 am

Astronomer Te Kkau Himiona Te Pikiktuku's account of his people's Matariki tradition has been recorded by his great grandson Dr Rangi Mtmua in his new book Matariki, The Star of the Year.

The Waikato University academic took on the challenge of publishing the 400-page manuscript he inherited from his father Timi Rwiri, Te Kkau's grandson, in 1995.

Matariki is a symbolic cluster of stars that holds a number of traditions for Mori, the most significant being that it marks beginning of the Mori new year. However, Dr Matamua maintains that there is confusion between the moon calendar and solar calendar.

Mtmua says, I'm saying that we're looking for it at the wrong time, too early. Sometimes we are celebrating Matariki at a time when it's still below the earth.

Rangi says we shouldn't buy into the belief that the month we know as Pipiri is June. June is factored using the solar year and Pipiri is factored using the lunar year.

Most of the time, the right time to find Matariki is at the end of June, or the beginning or middle of July. Thats Pipiri on the Mori calendar.

Dr Rangi Mtmua wants to revive Mori astronomy.

The stories are there. Since Tne travelled to the heavens to hang the stars. The stars are a tribe of chiefs. Knowledge is the sustenance of chiefs. Therefore the knowledge is there amongst the chiefs suspended in the sky.

Wishing upon a star, Dr Rangi Mtmua has a vision that he hopes will attract and educate Mori youth and those passionate about astronomy and the knowledge and wisdom embedded within the stars.

I want to set up a Mori observatory. The idea is that it will be similar to the traditional observatories while incorporating knowledge from the modern world.

The Museum awards will be held tomorrow night,while the book Matariki - The Star of the Year will be formally launched on Wednesday.

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Astronomy: HoLiCOW! Measuring speed of universe expansion is no easy task – The Columbus Dispatch

Posted: at 4:29 am

Youve probably hear it many times the universe is expanding.

A harder question, at least for astronomers, is how fast is the universe expanding?

That speed is difficult to measure precisely. Several techniques are used to get the distance and speed of distant objects, but not all of these techniques agree with one another.

One method that uses the heat of radiation, or cosmic microwave background, left over from the Big Bang indirectly determines the expansion speed. This method uses a mathematical model of the expanding universe that includes mysterious dark energy.

Assuming this model is correct, it gives a precise value of the Hubble constant, or the speed of expansion.

Another method is a direct measurement of the expansion, but that is more difficult to perform.

This method involves observations of certain types of stars, called Cepheid variables, and also supernovas in distant galaxies. Astronomers have methods to determine the brightness of both of these at their source, and by comparing these to the light level measured by telescopes, the distance can be calculated.

Its like using the light in your eye from a distant light bulb and knowing whether it's a 60-watt or 100-watt bulb at the source to estimate the distance.

There is a new method to measure the Hubble constant, and it uses a technique called gravitational lensing, which was first predicted using Einsteins equations for gravity.

Maybe youve heard that light bends near massive objects such as black holes. Also, its been known for centuries that light bends when it enters glass, such as in the lens of a magnifying glass.

That means light from distant objects, such as quasars, can bend when traveling past a massive galaxy. The massive galaxy acts as a lens and bends the quasar light to a focal point.

This forms multiple images in a telescope on Earth if the quasar and the galaxy are lined up just right. Such a result of gravitational lensing is shown in the picture accompanying this column. In it, four images of a quasar surround the galaxy in the center.

Using gravitational lensing, a team of astronomers called the H0LiCOW collaboration (as in holy cow, Batman!) announced earlier this year a direct measure of the Hubble constant.

The key result is that H0LiCOW agrees with the Hubble constant found by the other direct measurements and disagrees with that found from the cosmic microwave background.

So whats going on? After all, we have only one universe, and its speed of expansion is fixed by nature. Obviously, one (or more) of the measurement techniques is flawed.

In my view, the most likely explanation is that the mathematics used to describe the dark energy in the cosmic microwave measurements is incorrect. There are other models proposed by theoretical physicists that put the effect of dark energy into the equations in a different way, so maybe one of these alternate models is correct.

The bottom line is that there are some details about the expansion of the universe that we still dont understand. All measurements agree that the universe is expanding, but whether the Hubble constant has a value of 66 or 73 (in the appropriate measuring units) is still an issue.

While this might seem a small difference between the different ways to measure the speed of expansion, precise measurements have the effect of telling us whether or not we have a correct physical model of the universe.

Kenneth Hicks is a professor of physics and astronomy at Ohio University in Athens.

hicks@ohio.edu

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Astronomy: HoLiCOW! Measuring speed of universe expansion is no easy task - The Columbus Dispatch

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Cloud Computing wins Preakness Stakes, dashing Always …

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Cloud Computing (2), ridden by Javier Castellano, wins the 142nd Preakness Stakes horse race ahead of Classic Empire, ridden by Julien Leparoux, Saturday, May 20, 2017, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.

Mike Stewart / AP

BALTIMORE --Cloud Computing pulled away from the competition to win the 142nd Preakness Stakes on Saturday in Baltimore, Maryland.

Ridden by jockey Javier Castellano, 13-1 long shot Cloud Computing ran 1 3/16 miles in 1:55.98.

Less than an hour before post time, Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming was the 7-5 favorite for the Preakness, as trainer Todd Pletcher looked to win his fourth consecutive race.

Classic Empire dueled with Always Dreaming throughout most of the race before taking the lead turning for home. It looked as if Classic Empire was going to win, but Cloud Computing came after him on the outside and beat him to the wire.

Senior Investment, a 30-1 shot, finished third. Lookin At Lee was fourth.

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Charlie Rose goes to horse country to report on the century-old tradition of "timber racing," an exhilarating and dangerous sport characterized b...

Classic Empire, who finished fourth two weeks ago at Churchill Downs, was the 2-1 second choice followed by Derby runner-up Lookin At Lee at 8-1 and Conquest Mo Money at 9-1. Every other horse in the field had double-digit odds to win.

The racetrack was listed as muddy after Friday's rainstorm. After three straight days of 90-degree weather, Saturday's high was 66 degrees.

Country singer Sam Hunt and electro pop producer Zedd co-headlined the pre-race concert under cloudy skies. Good Charlotte was also on the bill.

Cloud Computing #2 ridden by Javier Castellano, left, beats Classic Empire #5 ridden by Julien Leparpux to win the 142nd running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on May 20, 2017 in Baltimore, Maryland.

Patrick Smith / Getty Images

2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Cloud Computing wins Preakness Stakes, dashing Always ...

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Cloud Computing Wins Preakness Stakes, and Techies Are Stoked – Fortune

Posted: at 4:29 am

Thoroughbred race horses tend to have names ranging from poetic to outright bizarre , but the winner of yesterdays Preakness Stakes had a more utilitarian monikerCloud Computing.

The victory is a well-timed landmark for the technology the horse is named for, which over the last decade or so has gone from a promising idea to an everyday reality. Remotely-hosted services in everything from file storage to tax preparation to publishing now drive serious profits for major firms, particularly Amazon . And while naming a horse after a tech innovation may seem odd, theres a good explanation.

Cloud Computing, a 13-1 longshot to beat a field including Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming, is co-owned by hedge fund overachiever Seth Klarman. Klarman grew up near the Pimlico Race Course where the Preakness is held, and followed horseracing closely before building an investing career focused on underdog assets overlooked by other money managers.

That notably included buying heavily into depressed assets after the 2007-2008 financial crisis, and Klarmans Baupost Group is diversified across finance, energy, and health sectors. But its investments have also included tech stocks like Dell, which owns the cloud service VMWare, and Microsoft , whose Azure cloud service is trying to steal market share from Amazon . Klarman reportedly owns several other horses with names related to technology.

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Techies, business leaders, and cloud computing fans, not surprisingly, seized on the occasion to celebrate. Here are some of their tweets:

Werner Vogels, chief technology officer at Amazon since 2005, and one of the primary architects of Amazon Web Services, Amazon's cloud business:

Aaron Levie, CEO of Box, a cloud services company focused on business customers:

Cisco's cloud computing business chimes in about the victory:

Angela Nadeau, CEO of CompuData Inc.:

A Twitter handle focused on cryptocurrency bitcoin that referenced the serendipity of Cloud Computing's win and bitcoin reaching a $2,000 exchange rate:

Chris Urban, a project manager at Acquia:

Curtis Chin, former ambassador, public relations executive, and advisor:

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Cloud Computing Wins Preakness Stakes, and Techies Are Stoked - Fortune

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13-1 shot Cloud Computing edges Classic Empire, springs upset in Preakness – News3LV

Posted: at 4:29 am

Cloud Computing (2), ridden by Javier Castellano, wins the 142nd Preakness Stakes horse race ahead of Classic Empire, ridden by Julien Leparoux, Saturday, May 20, 2017, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Cloud Computing ran down Classic Empire in the final strides Saturday to win the Preakness by a head.

The 13-1 long shot was one of five fresh horses in the Preakness that didn't run two weeks ago in the Kentucky Derby.

Derby winner Always Dreaming and Classic Empire dueled for most of the race before Classic Empire stuck his nose in front midway on the far turn. It looked as if Classic Empire would go on to win, but Cloud Computing ran him down on the outside.

Always Dreaming faded to eighth in the 10-horse field on a cool and cloudy day at Pimlico. A record crowd of 140,327 was on hand.

Ridden by Javier Castellano, Cloud Computing ran 1 3/16 miles in 1:55.98 and paid $28.80, $8.60 and $6. It was just the dark brown colt's second career victory.

Classic Empire returned $4.40 and $4, and 31-1 shot Senior Investment was another 4 3/4 lengths back in third and paid $10.20.

Lookin At Lee, the Derby runner-up, was fourth. Gunnevera was fifth, followed by Multiplier and Conquest Mo Money. Hence was ninth and Term of Art last.

Trainer Chad Brown earned his first victory in a Triple Crown race. Castellano won for the second time. He rode Bernardini to victory in the 2006 Preakness.

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13-1 shot Cloud Computing edges Classic Empire, springs upset in Preakness - News3LV

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Cloud Computing wins the 142nd Preakness Stakes in front of a record crowd [Photos] – Baltimore Business Journal

Posted: at 4:29 am

Cloud Computing wins the 142nd Preakness Stakes in front of a record crowd [Photos]
Baltimore Business Journal
The rain stayed away and talk of Pimlico Race Course's future was pushed to another day as Cloud Computing won the 142nd Preakness Stakes on Saturday in front of yet another record crowd. The Maryland Jockey Club announced an attendance of ...

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Cloud Computing wins the 142nd Preakness Stakes in front of a record crowd [Photos] - Baltimore Business Journal

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Watch Cloud Computing’s thrilling come-from-behind finish at the Preakness Stakes – For The Win

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By: Alysha Tsuji | May 20, 2017 7:18 pm

The Preakness Stakes had a crazy finish on Saturday at Pimlico.

Always Dreaming, the horse that just won the Kentucky Derby, fell behind, and it was looking like Classic Empire was going to take the victory. But then, Cloud Computing pulled ahead for the thrilling win.

It was this close.

Watch the full race here:

And with a name like Cloud Computing, there were some jokes:

cloud computing, Preakness Stakes, Horse Racing

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Alysha Tsuji is a writer at FTW. She's based in Los Angeles and enjoys writing about all sorts of sports.

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Watch Cloud Computing's thrilling come-from-behind finish at the Preakness Stakes - For The Win

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Rested and ready: 13-1 shot Cloud Computing wins Preakness – Fairfield Daily Republic

Posted: at 4:29 am

BALTIMORE Sometimes it pays to have a fresh horse.

Cloud Computing skipped the Kentucky Derby, while eventual winner Always Dreaming and Classic Empire mixed it up in the mud at Churchill Downs.

Two weeks later, Cloud Computing pounced on those two horses in the Preakness, pulling off an upset victory at 13-1 odds Saturday. He became the first horse to skip the Derby and win the second leg of the Triple Crown since filly Rachel Alexandra in 2009.

Some of the reason that we won today was because we were patient and didnt throw an inexperienced horse against a 20-horse field in the Derby on a very difficult track, winning co-owner Seth Klarman said. We made a great call.

Always Dreaming and Classic Empire dueled for most of the race before Classic Empire stuck his nose in front midway on the far turn. It looked as if Classic Empire would go on to win, but Cloud Computing ran him down on the outside.

Always Dreaming faded to eighth in the 10-horse field on a cool and cloudy day at Pimlico. The crowd of 140,327 and wagering total of $94,127,434 were records, bettering the marks set last year.

Ridden by Javier Castellano, Cloud Computing ran 1 3/16 miles in 1:55.98 and paid $28.80, $8.60 and $6. It was just the dark brown colts fourth career start, the fewest of any horse in the race, and only his second win. He didnt run as a 2-year-old because of injury.

Classic Empire returned $4.40 and $4, and 31-1 shot Senior Investment was another 4 3/4 lengths back in third and paid $10.20.

New York-based trainer Chad Brown earned his first victory in a Triple Crown race. Castellano won for the second time. He rode Bernardini to victory in the 2006 Preakness.

Castellano comes from a racing family, with a father, uncle and brother who have been jockeys.

Weve been working for a long time for this moment, he said. Its great for the family.

The 142nd Preakness had been billed as a match race between Always Dreaming and Classic Empire, and it was from the start.

They broke out of the starting gate next to each other and the fight was on. Always Dreaming took a slight lead with Classic Empire on his flank.

Meanwhile, Cloud Computing was back in third as Castellano watched the duel unfold in front of him.

Always Dreaming was the first to throw in the towel, surrendering the lead to Classic Empire midway around the final turn.

We didnt have an excuse, said Todd Pletcher, who trains Always Dreaming. We were in a position we expected to be, and I think the turnaround was a little too quick. He ran so hard in the Derby and today just wasnt his day.

Always Dreaming lost for the first time in five races this year. Hed won his first four by a combined 23 1/4 lengths.

Classic Empire and Julien Leparoux went into the stretch with three-length lead, seemingly on his way to the winners circle.

At that point, trainer Mark Casse thought he was headed there, too.

Of course, he said. But I thought I was going to win a lot of times before, so it doesnt shock me.

But Classic Empire also paid a price for putting away Always Dreaming. Classic Empire fought on to the finish line, but couldnt hold off a fresh horse in Cloud Computing.

Certainly Im not going to dispute the fact that I brought in a fresh horse as part of our strategy, Brown said. Our horse is very talented, too. Classic Empire and Always Dreaming are two outstanding horses, and our strategy was, if we are ever going to beat them lets take them on two weeks rest when we have six (weeks), and it worked.

After Cloud Computing ran third in the Wood Memorial, Brown and the owners decided the colt would benefit from skipping the Derby. He came into the Preakness after a six-week break.

It just didnt work out in the Wood. We just ran out of time, Brown said. We just really zeroed in on this race, and thankfully it worked out.

The victory was especially sweet for Klarman, who grew up a few blocks from Pimlico. He turns 60 on Sunday. He and William Lawrence have been buying and racing horses together since 2006.

This is the culmination of 25 years of hard work and learning and trying to figure this game out, said Klarman, president of the Baupost Group, a hedge fund valued at $31 billion.

In my regular life, Im a long-term value investor. This is gambling. Its really been a thrill and this is the highlight of our career so far as thoroughbred owners.

Klarman, who races as Klaravich Stables, is a minority owner of the Boston Red Sox.

Lookin At Lee, the Derby runner-up, was fourth. Gunnevera was fifth, followed by Multiplier and Conquest Mo Money. Hence was ninth and Term of Art last.

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Rested and ready: 13-1 shot Cloud Computing wins Preakness - Fairfield Daily Republic

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US playing catch-up in quantum computing – The Register-Guard

Posted: at 4:28 am

The May 14 Commentary essay, Miracle Machine needs fuel, co-authored by Alphabet executive chairman Eric Schmidt, touted quantum computing as an upcoming revolutionary technology with the capability to affect our lives in major ways, and argued that government support for its development is essential. Schmidt is correct: The time is right for a major U.S. investment in quantum computing.

Most technologies that benefit us resulted from earlier science breakthroughs, many of which were enabled by government investment. For example, the Internet was invented by university and industry scientists supported by federal government grants. When it became operational, it was supported further through infrastructure investments for many years until private corporations saw the benefit of taking it on.

Now an international race is on to see who can create the first working quantum computer and to put it to beneficial uses.

What is quantum computing, and how is it revolutionary?

A quantum computer would be able to compute answers to many important problems that no ordinary computer could handle: designing new industrial materials, determining the optimal molecular structures of pharmaceutical drugs, monitoring patterns of activity in communication networks, searching databases and other yet-to-be discovered applications.

Ordinary computers store each bit of information in the states of miniature electrical switches. A switch can be on or off to represent a bit of data. A program of switching these on and off drives a computers operation.

A quantum computer would store information in quantum switches, or qubits, which can in a sense be in the on state and the off state simultaneously. This gives quantum computers unique capabilities.

The challenges to building working quantum computers are formidable. Controlling qubits is extremely difficult because they can be disrupted by any unwanted outside influence.

Scientists have yet to create a quantum computer, but they are getting closer. They have learned how to tame qubits and entice them to perform the needed steps to carry out calculations using quantum principles.

Some leading companies, including IBM, Microsoft, Google and Intel, have begun investing in efforts to construct quantum computers. But a gap exists between the kind of trained experts the companies need and the available scientific labor pool. What is needed are quantum engineers, and industry is not in a position to train such a workforce. And, really, at this point no one has the engineering know-how to build quantum computers.

Other kinds of quantum technologies are also on the horizon. Quantum communication technologies have been invented that can promise complete security against messages being intercepted and read while in transit over the Internet. Quantum-based gravity sensors and accelerometers can be used in geo-exploration and in navigation where GPS is unavailable. And quantum magnetic-field sensors can enhance medical diagnostic technology and research.

For these reasons, I recently became involved with a wide cohort of scientists and engineers in industry, government laboratories and universities who are calling for a major national investment in developing the engineering framework and scientific workforce needed to bring quantum technologies to fruition. This would be a quantum moonshot effort, like the government-funded Human Genome Project, which now affects medical research and practice in big ways, and creates growth in the economy.

Following a meeting last fall at the White House Office of Science and Technology, some of us began working together and with professional scientific societies to encourage a major federal investment in quantum technologies, including quantum computers.

The U.S. is playing catch up, as European governments are investing around $2 billion and it is believed Chinas investment in quantum technology is moving quickly, including the launch of a quantum-enabled satellite.

It would be nice if we could leave it up to the private sector to create the first quantum computer, but there are limits to what industry can achieve on its own. Its easy to say that taxpayers shouldnt have to foot the bill for science and engineering, but in many cases these investments provide exponential returns to the people who pay for them. The Internet, GPS, medical imagers, and countless other innovations have come about thanks to federally funded basic and applied research.

Ultimately, these partnerships benefit the taxpayers, private industry and society. The same kind of successes can be had with quantum technology, but only if we commit to a race whose finish is far closer than once thought.

To hear about the development of quantum computers from one of the pioneers in the field, you can attend the free public lecture at 7 p.m. May 30 by Nobel prize-winning physicist David Wineland, in the Straub Hall auditorium on the University of Oregon campus.

Michael Raymer, a University of Oregon professor of physics, is the author of Quantum Physics: What Everyone Needs to Know.

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Quantum Computing Research Given a Boost by Stanford Team – News18

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Stanford University electrical engineering Professor Jelena Vuckovic and colleagues at her laboratory are working on new materials that could become the basis for quantum computing.

While silicon transistors in traditional computers push electricity through devices to create digital ones and zeros, quantum computers work by isolating spinning electrons inside a new type of semiconductor material.

When a laser strikes the electron, it reveals which way it is spinning by emitting one or more quanta, or particles, of light.

Those spin states replace the ones and zeros of traditional computing.

In her studies of nearly 20 years, Vuckovic has focused on one aspect of the challenge: creating new types of quantum computer chips that would become the building blocks of future systems, Xinhua reported.

The challenge is developing materials that can trap a single, isolated electron.

Also read: Schools Using Smartphone Technology Against Sexual Assaults

To address the problem, the Stanford researchers have recently tested three different approaches, one of which can operate at room temperature, in contrast to what some of the world's leading technology companies are trying with materials super-cooled to near absolute zero, the theoretical temperature at which atoms would cease to move.

In all three cases, the researchers started with semiconductor crystals, namely materials with a regular atomic lattice-like the girders of a skyscraper.

By slightly altering this lattice, they sought to create a structure in which the atomic forces exerted by the material could confine a spinning electron.

One way to create the laser-electron interaction chamber is through a structure known as a quantum dot or a small amount of indium arsenide inside a crystal of gallium arsenide.

The atomic properties of the two materials are known to trap a spinning electron.

In a paper published in Nature Physics, Kevin Fischer, a graduate student in the Vuckovic lab, describes how the laser-electron processes can be exploited within such a quantum dot to control the input and output of light.

By sending more laser power to the quantum dot, the researchers could force it to emit exactly two photons rather than one. It has advantages over other leading quantum computing platforms but still requires cryogenic cooling.

So, the result may not be useful for general-purpose computing, but quantum dot could have applications in creating tamper-proof communications networks.

Also read: Ransomware Decrypted: French Researchers Find a Way to Save WannaCry Encrypted Windows Files

Another way to electron capture, as Vuckovic and her colleagues have investigated in two other cases, is to modify a single crystal to trap light in what is called a colour centre.

In a paper published in NanoLetters, Jingyuan Linda Zhang, a graduate student in Vuckovic's lab, described how a 16-member research team replaced some of the carbon atoms in the crystalline lattice of a diamond with silicon atoms.

The alteration created colour centres that effectively trapped spinning electrons in the diamond lattice.

Like the quantum dot, however, most diamond colour centre experiments require cryogenic cooling.

But the field is still in its early days, and the researchers aren't sure which method or methods will win out.

"We don't know yet which approach is best, so we continue to experiment," Vuckovic noted.

Also read: New Nano-Material to Help Curb Pollution From Vehicles

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Quantum Computing Research Given a Boost by Stanford Team - News18

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