Monthly Archives: June 2017

The Catholic Review > Home > Renovations, new altar dedicated at … – The Catholic Review

Posted: June 7, 2017 at 5:30 pm

Archbishop William E. Lori consecrates a new altar at Church of the Ascension in Halethorpe May 28. (Christopher Gunty/CR Staff)

editor@CatholicReview.org

HALETHORPE Weve got a consecrated altar now, Father John Williamson, exclaimed to a parishioner greeting him in the narthex of the Church of the Ascension after a Mass May 28 in which the altar was blessed and the new sanctuary was dedicated.

Archbishop William E. Lori remarked in his homily that a lot of things changed at the church since he had last celebrated Mass at the parish.

The $200,000 renovations were accomplished in about nine weeks between January and Palm Sunday, said Father Williamson, pastor of Ascension and St. Augustine (Elkridge) parishes.

A new altar and ambo were installed, with carved-wood fronts. The altar depicts the Last Supper and the ambo, from which the readings are proclaimed, depicts the Ascension of the Lord, which was also the reading for the day for the dedication Mass, on the parishs patronal feast.

The orange carpet throughout the church was replaced with tile. The Stations of the Cross and statues of Mary and Joseph are the same as before, but their backgrounds were redone in blue to match the new color of the wall behind the altar and tabernacle. The tabernacle, which was originally from the Good Shepherd Sisters convent, was restored as part of the 2017 renovations.

Archbishop William E. Lori greets parishioners at the May 28 blessing of the renovated sanctuary at Church of the Ascension in Halethorpe. (Christopher Gunty/CR Staff)

The corpus for the crucifix was retained, but it is now on a new cross. New candlesticks and new sanctuary furnishings rounded out the interior renovations. Outside, the old bells remain in the bell tower, but they are now accompanied by a new carillon system that pealed both before and after the Mass.

In his homily, Archbishop Lori noted that the Risen Lord is present in all the sacraments, especially the Eucharist.

Thats why its so wonderful that were consecrating a new altar in this church today, the archbishop said. For it is upon this altar that the one sacrifice of Christ is offered day after day, upon this altar that bread and wine become the body and blood of the risen Lord, and from this altar that we receive the strength of Christ in the Holy Spirit to be the Lords disciples and witnesses in the midst of our daily lives.

Catholics are called to make the Gospel known through their words and actions and to undergo what Pope Francis calls a missionary conversion so that they can share the joy of the Gospel, not just as individuals, but as a community of faith, he said.

In other words, our parishes too must undergo a missionary conversion as we seek to reconnect those who, for whatever reason, are unconnected with the Lord and with his body, the church, Archbishop Lori said.

As part of the dedication, the archbishop placed a stone in the altar that contains a relic of St. Genarius, which had been part of past altars at the parish, providing continuity to the past, Father Williamson said. The altar also contains relics that came from the Good Shepherd convent of Saints Mary Euphrasia, John Vianney, Maria Goretti and Pius X.

Father Williamson said the parishioners have been overjoyed with the results of the renovations. Everyone has been very happy, he said.

He said the number of weddings scheduled has doubled now that the sanctuary looks better, which is a good sign that more young people are eager to be married in the church.

As of July 1, the parishes of St. Augustine and Ascension will be formally merged into a single parish, the Catholic Community of Ascension and St. Augustine. Father Williamson has been pastor Ascension since 2008 and also became pastor of St. Augustine in 2011. Since that time, the parishes have been working together.

The merged parish will be one of the pilot pastorates in the parish planning process that was announced in May. With 2,200 registered families at St. Augustine and 840 families at Ascension, the combined parish will be one of the largest in the archdiocese.

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Are You Ready for the AI Revolution and the Rise of Superintelligence? – TrendinTech

Posted: at 5:30 pm

Weve come a long way as a whole over the past few centuries. Take a time machine back to 1750 and life would be very different indeed. There was no power outage, to communicate with someone long distance was virtually impossible, and there were no gas stations or supermarkets anywhere. Bring someone from that era to todays world, and they would almost certainly have some form of breakdown. I mean how would they cope seeing capsules with wheels whizz around the roads, electrical devices everywhere you look, and even just talking to someone on the other side of the world in real time. These are all simple things that we take for granted. But someone from a few centuries ago would probably think it was all witchcraft, and could even possibly die.

But then imagine that person went back to 1750 and suddenly became jealous that we saw their reaction of awe and amazement. They may want to re-create that feeling themselves in someone else. So, what would they do? They would take the time machine and go back to say 1500 or so and get someone from that era to take to their own. Although the difference from being in 1500 to then being in 1750 would, of course, be different, it wouldnt be anything as extreme as the difference between 1750 and today. So the 1500 person would still almost certainly be shocked by a few things, its highly unlikely they would die. So, in order for the 1750 person to see the same kind of reaction that we would have, they would need to travel back much, much, farther to say 24,000 BC.

For someone to actually die from the shock of being transported into the future, theyd need to go that far ahead that a Die Progress Unit (DPU) is achieved. In hunter-gatherer times, a DPU took over 100,000 years, and thanks to the Agricultural Revolution rate it took around 12,000 years during that period. Nowadays, because of the rate of advancement following the Industrial Revolution a DPU would happen after being transported just a couple hundred years forward. Futurist Ray Kurzweil calls this pattern of human progression moving quicker as time goes on, the Law of Accelerating Returns and is all down to technology.

This theory also works on smaller scales too. Cast your mind back to that great 1985 movie, Back to the Future. In the movie, the past era they went back to was 1955, where there were various differences of course. But if we were to remake the same movie today, but use the past era as 1985, there would be more dramatic differences. Again, this all comes down to the Law of Accelerating Returns. Between 1985 and 2015 the average rate of advancement was much higher than between 1955 and 1985. Kurzweil suggests that by 2000 the rate of progress was five times faster that the average rate during the 20th century. He also suggests that between 2000 and 2014 another 20th centurys worth of progress happened, and by 2021 another will happen, taking just seven years to get there. This means that keeping with the same pattern, in a couple of decades, a 20th centurys worth of progress will happen multiple times in one year, and eventually, in one month.

If Kurzweil is right then by the time 2030 gets here, we may all be blown away with the technology all around us and by 2050 we may not even recognize anything. But many people are skeptical of this for three main reasons:

1. Our own experiences make us stubborn about the future. Our imagination takes our experiences and uses it to predict future outcomes. The problem is that were limited in what we know and when we hear a prediction that goes against what weve been led to believe we often have trouble accepting it as the truth. For example, if someone was to tell you that youd live to be 200, you would think that was ridiculous because of what youve been taught. But at the end of the day, there has to be a first time for everything, and no one knew airplanes would fly until they gave it a go one day.

2. We think in straight lines when we think about history. When trying to project what will happen in the next 30 years we tend to look back at the past 30 years and use that as some sort of guideline as to whats to come. But, in doing that we arent considering the Law of Accelerating Returns. Instead of thinking linearly, we need to be thinking exponentially. In order to predict anything about the future, we need to picture things advancing at a much faster rate than they are today.

3. The trajectory of recent history tells a distorted story. Exponential growth isnt smooth and progress in this area happens in S-curves. An S curve is created when the wave of the progress of a new paradigm sweeps the world and happens in three phases: slow growth, rapid growth, and a leveling off as the paradigm matures. If you view only a small section of the S-curve youll get a distorted version of how fast things are progressing.

What do we mean by AI?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is big right now; bigger than it ever has been. But, there are still many people out there that get confused by the term for various reasons. One is that in the past weve associated AI with movies like Star Wars, Terminator, and even the Jetsons. Because these are all fictional characters, it makes AI still seem like a sci-fi concept. Also, AI is such a broad topic that ranges from self-driving cars to your phones calculator, so getting to grips with all it entails is not easy. Another reason its confusing is that we often dont even realize when were using AI.

So, to try and clear things up and give yourself a better idea of what AI is, first stop thinking about robots. Robots are simply shells that can encompass AI. Secondly, consider the term singularity. Vernor Vinge wrote an essay in 1993 where this term was applied to the moment in future when the intelligence of our technology exceeds that of ourselves. However, that idea was later confused by Kurzweil defining the singularity as the time when the Law of Accelerating Returns gets so fast that well find ourselves living in a whole new world.

To try and narrow AI down a bit, try to think of it as being separated into three major categories:

1. Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI): This is sometimes referred to as Weak AI and is a type if AI that specializes in one particular area. An example of ANI is a chess playing AI. It may be great at winning chess, but that is literally all it can do.

2. Artificial General Intelligence (AGI): Often known as Strong AI or Human-Level AI, AGI refers to a computer that has the intelligence of a human across the board and is much harder to create than ANI.

3. Artificial Superintelligence (ASI): ASI ranges from a computer thats just a little smarter than a human to one thats billions of time smarter in every way. This is the type of AI that is most feared and will often be associated with the words immortality and extinction.

Right now, were progressing steadily through the AI revolution and are currently running in a world of ANI. Cars are full of ANI systems that range from the computer that tells the car when the ABS should kick into the various self-driving cars that are about. Phones are another product thats bursting with ANI. Whenever youre receiving music recommendations from Pandora or using your map app to navigate, or various other activities youre utilizing ANI. An email spam filter is another form of ANI because it learns whats spam and whats not. Google Translate and voice recognition systems are also examples of ANI. And, some of the best Checkers and Chess players of the world are also ANI systems.

So, as you can see, ANI systems are all around us already, but luckily these types of systems dont have the capability to cause any real threat to humanity. But, each new ANI system that is created is simply another step towards AGI and ASI. However, trying to create a computer that is at least, if not more intelligent than ourselves, is no easy feat. But, the hard parts are probably not what you were imagining. To build a computer that can calculate sums quickly is simple, but to build a computer than can tell the difference between a cat and a dog is much harder. As summed up by computer scientist, Donald Knuth, AI has by now succeeded in doing essentially everything that requires thinking but has failed to do most of what people and animals do without thinking.'

The next move in which to make AGI a possibility and to compete with the human brain is to increase the power of computers hardware. One way to demonstrate this capacity is by expressing it in calculations per second (cps) that the brain can handle. Kurzweil created a shortcut for calculating this by taking an estimate for the caps of one structure and its weight, comparing it to that of the whole brain, the multiplying it proportionally until an estimate for the total has been reached. After carrying out this calculation several times, Kurzweil always got the same answer of around 1016, or 10 quadrillion cps.

The worlds fastest supercomputer is currently Chinas Tianhe-2 and has clocked in at around 34 quadrillion cps. But, thats hardly a surprise when it uses 24 megawatts of power, takes up 720 square meters of space, and cost $390 million to build. Perhaps if we were to scale that down slightly to 10 quadrillion cps (the human-level) we may be able to achieve a more workable model and AGI would then become a part of everyday life. Currently, the worlds $1,000 computers are about a thousandth of the human level and while that may not sound like much its actually a huge leap forward. In 1985 we were only about a trillionth of human level. If we keep progressing in the same manner then by 2025 we should have an affordable computer that can rival the power of the human brain. Then its just a case of merging all that power with human-level intelligence.

However, thats so much easier said than done. No one really knows how to make computers smart, but here are the most popular strategies weve come across so far:

1. Make everything the computers problem. This is usually a scientists last resort and involves building a computer whose main skill would be to carry out research on AI and coding them changes into itself.

2. Plagiarize the brain. It makes sense to copy the best of whats already available and currently, scientists are working hard to uncover all we can about the mighty organ. As soon as we know how a human brain can run so efficiently we can begin to replicate it in the form of AI. Artificial neural networks do this already, where they mimic the human brain. But there is still a long way to go before they are anywhere near as sophisticated or effective as the human brain. A more extreme example of plagiarism involves whats known as whole brain emulation. Here the aim is to slice a brain into layers, scan each one, create an accurate 3D model then implement that model on a computer. Wed then have a fully working computer that has a brain as capable as our own.

3. Try to make history and evolution repeat itself in our favor. If building a computer just as powerful as the human brain is too hard to mimic, we could instead try to mimic the evolution of it instead. This is a method called genetic algorithms. They would work by taking part in a performance-and-evaluation process that would happen over and over. When a task is completed successfully the computer would be bred with another just as capable in an attempt to merge them and recreate a better computer. This natural selection process would be done several times until we finally have the result we wanted. The downside is that this process could take billions of years.

Various advancements in technology are happening so quickly that AGI could be here before we know it for two main reasons:

1. Exponential growth is very intense and so much can happen in such a short space of time.

2. Even minute software changes can make a big difference. Just one tweak could have the potential to make it 1,000 times more effective.

Once AGI has been achieved and people are happy living alongside human-level AGI, well then move on to ASI. But, just to clarify, even though AGI has the same level of intelligence (theoretically) as a human, they would still have several advantages over us, including:

Speed: Todays microprocessors can run at speeds 10 million times faster than our own neurons and they can also communicate optically at the speed of light.

Size and storage: Unlike our brains, computers can expand to any size, allowing for a larger working memory and long-term memory that will outperform us any day.

Reliability and durability: Computer transistors are far more accurate than biological neurons and are easily repaired too.

Editability: Computer software can be easily tweaked to allow for updates and fixes.

Collective capability: Humans are great at building a huge amount of collective intelligence and is one of the main reasons why weve survived so long as a species and are far more advanced. A computer that is designed to essentially mimic the human brain, will be even better at it as it could regularly sync with itself so that anything another computer learned could be instantly uploaded to the whole network of them.

Most current models that focus on reaching AGI concentrate on AI achieving these goals via self-improvement. Once everything is able to self-improve, another concept to consider is recursive self-improvement. This is where something has already self-improved and so if therefore considerably smarter than it was original. Now, to improve itself further, will be much easier as it is smarter and not so much to learn and therefore takes bigger leaps. Soon the AGIs intelligence levels will exceed that of a human and thats when you get a superintelligent ASI system. This process is called an Intelligence Explosion and is a prime example of The Law of Accelerating Returns. How soon we will reach this level is still very much in debate.

The Origami of Space Exploration – Scientific American (blog)

Posted: at 5:29 pm

According to Robert Salazar, If you study nature from an artistic and scientific perspective while gaining proficiency in your medium, you can allow your artistic pursuits to give rise to engineering applications, and your engineering pursuits to give rise to works of art.

Salazar is an expert of striking the perfect balance between art and science. A master of origami and an environmental studies student, hes able to apply both his art and science skills to build solar reflectors for a project at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Salazars had to work incredibly hard: after attending five different high schools and losing his home, hes managed to follow his dreams by finding ways to allow his artistic endeavors to apply to impressive engineering pursuits. He documents all of his explorations on his website, and we were lucky enough to also chat with him about his story here. Check out the conversation below, which has been edited for clarity.

TERRI BURNS: Tell me about your background, what you're studying in school, and some of your interests.

ROBERT SALAZAR: I earned my associates degree before transferring to UCSB as a physics major, where I transitioned to a major in environmental studies with a minor in philosophy.

In school, I take the opportunity to familiarize myself with what is happening to our environment and to each other around the world, and how our understanding of the world coupled with our behavior leads to freedom from environmental degradation and involuntary suffering or otherwise. I take great interest in further developing the framework I use to approach these problems and identifying relevant theorems in a network context.

Additionally, I strive to further develop the ancient Japanese art of origami into a powerful expressive medium that can inspire social change toward environmental sustainability and peace. Ive spent 17 years folding origami, and 8 years designing them rigorously. Everything I fold is an original design from a single uncut sheet. My courses of study are well suited to origami design, where the objective is to establish harmony among many folded features that are intimately and geometrically related to each other, and take up a finite sheet of paper. In origami, these relationships can be transformed, but they can never be cut by scissors, nor can paper be added.

TB: Tell me about the work you're doing now as a JPL intern.

RS: At JPL I'm currently developing large origami deployable solar reflectors for the Trans-Formers for Lunar Extreme Environments project. The project mission is to illuminate permanently shaded regions in the interior of Shackleton Crater at south pole of the Moon. Though the rim of Shackleton Crater receives constant sunlight nearly all year long, its interior has remained in darkness for billions of years, allowing its temperature to cool to ~90K (~ -300F), a temperature well suited to the capture of icy debris from nearby comet impacts over the eons. The solar reflectors would be mounted in pairs on a support structure on the crater rim, and would track the sun to illuminate and power robotic explorers in regions of interest ~10km below.

On the project, I design the solar reflectors and their deployment mechanisms. I use finite element analyses and simulations to determine what materials would allow a reflector to deploy very flat under tension, within 1mm/m deviation, and operate under constant solar radiation and temperature extremes for years on end, while maintaining >95 percent directional reflectivity. Then I write algorithms to design origami crease patterns that would allow a solar reflector to deploy to the size of the Statue of Liberty from a package ~1 cubic meter in volume and ~100kg.

TB: What's your backstory? How did you get where you are today?

RS: I faced difficulties graduating high school. I had attended five high schools, and lost my house twice during that time. Later, my first summer of research was at UCSB, where I discovered the photoacoustic effect in nanostructured thin metal films. This discovery ultimately led to a photoacoustic phased array, and a much cheaper alternative to the production of ultra-high frequency ultrasound. I spent the next summer at JPL developing thermoelectric materials for cooling X-ray detectors aboard space telescopes.

In the summer of 2015 I returned to JPL as an intern to work on the Starshade project [a free-flying spacecraft that would block the glare of a distant star so a separate space telescope could see its much fainter planets]. My task was to develop a crease pattern that would allow the slightly conical optical shield of the Starshade to stow to a well-defined volume and create a perfect light seal with its mechanical truss throughout deployment. The challenge required me to write an algorithm that could design a crease pattern to fit its given stow requirements, boundary conditions, and material thickness. My success on Starshade led me to the Transformers project the following summer.

TB: How did you get interested in solar reflectors specifically, and why are they important?

RS: The advantages of renewable energy and the mission of the transformers project got me interested in developing solar reflectors. Their ability to generate and redirect energy, catalyze chemical reactions, propel spacecraft, and be deployed from small lightweight packages to large surface areas further solidified my interest. Their traditionally low cost, simplicity, and reliance on an abundant, though diffuse, energy source, makes them an attractive technology.

TB: What do you want to do in your career? Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

RS: I plan to continue at JPL to meet the origami challenges of the future and to continue building my company, Orisun into one that can deliver portable origami deployable solar concentrators for desalination, water purification, rain capture, energy generation, atmospheric water generation, and solar cooking to people who have been displaced by war, climate change, and natural disasters. I will also continue to develop origami into a powerful medium that is well-acquainted with a grand diversity of interactive materials for artistic expression and engineering.

TB: What is something that you would love to see happen someday in your field of study?

RS: Just as every unit of surface in a sheet of paper gives rise to all of an origamis folded features, so too does energy and matter give rise to the systems we take part in.

I would love to see the rise of technology that has been designed with its downstream life cycle in mind. I would love to see an end to the labeling of materials and energy as waste, when each has its own unique potential to be something new or to do useful work. In any finite system where energy and matter are conserved, you can almost be certain that energy is flowing and materials are changing. Everything that ends is giving rise to something else. If we can develop a world where we find utility in everything we make throughout its life cycle, we can achieve sustainability, as nature has shown us we can.

TB: What advice do you have for other students who may be interested in doing the kind of work you do?

RS: Well acquaint yourself with the problems of the world. You never know how valuable something you made or discovered will be for many other purposes.

If you study nature from an artistic and scientific perspective while gaining proficiency in your medium, you can allow your artistic pursuits to give rise to engineering applications, and your engineering pursuits to give rise to works of art. Pursuing them together, can take your designs and your medium to very interesting places.

Will Space Exploration lead us to a Global Space Agency – Space Daily

Posted: at 5:29 pm

The Global Space Exploration Conference (GLEX 2017) has officially opened its doors on Monday 6 June 2017 with a welcome address by Li Yuanchao, Vice-President of People's Republic of China who also read a participative letter from Xi Jinping, President of People's Republic of China stating that "China is ready to strengthen cooperation with the international community for a better future to humankind".

Lei Fanpei, President of the Chinese Society of Astronautics (CSA) and Jean-Yves Le Gall, President of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), welcomed over a thousand delegates from 51 countries.

This Chinese call to cooperation has been the main focus of the Heads of Agency Plenary where the idea of a global space agency has been analysed; Roberto Battiston, President of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) praised this dream of a global space agency and the great impact it would have on mankind; he also added that this could be achieved by "the ultimate endeavor in front of us: sending men to Mars".

However, Pascale Ehrenfreund, Chair of the Executive Board of German Aerospace Center (DLR), defended "the role that national space agencies have in fostering national businesses".

Afterwards, delegates attended the International Platform for Diversity and Equality in Astronautics (IDEA) Diversity luncheon, moderated by IAF President, Jean-Yves Le Gall. Yang Baohua, Vice President of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), presented the impressive results of China's space development contribution to 3G (Gender - Geography - Generation).

The audience discussed, among many other topics, the role of female space leaders, the characteristics of the first astronauts' crew landing on Mars, the work of space nations and emerging space countries to foster diversity.

Delegates then attended a Plenary organised by the Chinese Host focusing on the key role played by China in space cooperation with Cheng'E-4 mission and ESA, DLR and NSO have been awarded by CNSA for their commitment and support to the mission which was a great success.

Finally, Jan Woerner, Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA) expressed the wish to invite the global space community to join a cooperative Moon Village concept.

Both Global Networking Forum (GNF) and Technical Sessions received a huge interest from the delegates and left us with the reassuring conviction that global partnerships is vital in order to ensure the successful inclusion of all countries in space exploration.

Follow the conversation online #GLEX2017.

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China willing to cooperate in peaceful space exploration: Xi – Space Daily

Posted: at 5:29 pm

Chinese President Xi Jinping has sent a letter of congratulations to the Global Space Exploration Conference, which opened Tuesday in Beijing.

In his letter, Xi said China is willing to enhance cooperation with the international community in peaceful space exploration and development.

Hailing the achievements made in space exploration in the 20th century, Xi said progress in space science and technology will benefit people around the world in the future.

China has attached great importance to space exploration as well as innovation in space science and technology, the president said, noting that the country wants to use these achievements to create a better future for mankind.

He also expressed hope that the ongoing conference will promote space science development and international exchanges and cooperation.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

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Space Exploration: Can Private Companies Operate in Space? – Law Street Media (blog)

Posted: at 5:29 pm

Space: the final frontier. Outer space has been in the news a lot recently. The recent discovery of seven Earth-sized planets orbiting TRAPPIST-1in February excited many people at the possibility to explore further into space. Whats more, different companies have been conducting successful experiments tolaunch commercial flights tospace. Richard Bransons Virgin Galactic and Elon Musks SpaceX have both been conducting successful tests of their burgeoning passenger spaceships.

The allure of space goes beyond the human need to explore new places and see new sights. The financial gain could be huge as well. There are asteroids full of valuable elements, such as platinum. According to a 98-page client memo, Goldman Sachs said that a craft could be built for $2.6 billion and could extract anywhere from $25 to $50 billion worth of platinum from an asteroid.

Of course this raises many issues, one of which is the risk of inundating the market with platinum and tanking its value.

via GIPHY

Another potential issueis the Outer Space Treaty,drafted in 1967 by the U.S. and the USSR. The countries main fear was nuclear weapons being put in space, but the treaty laid the groundwork for space exploration. Essentially what the treaty established was that the act of space exploration should be used to benefit humankind. In fact, one line of the treaty explicitly says:

Believing that the exploration and use of outer space should be carried on for the benefit of all peoples irrespective of the degree of their economic or scientific development

When the treaty was signed, national governments, and not private companies,had the capital available to venture into space exploration. In 2017, the economic landscape is a bit different. If Goldman Sachs wants to send itsown personal spaceship to an asteroid to mine it for platinum, will theprofits be used for the benefit of all peoples as the treaty would require?

Article VI of the treaty, the only article that addresses non-governmental entities, says that the nation the private entity is located in would have to police its actions. It states:

States Parties to the Treaty shall bear international responsibility for national activities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, whether such activities are carried on by governmental agencies or by non-governmental entities, and for assuring that national activities are carried out in conformity with the provisions set forth in the present Treaty. The activities of non-governmental entities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall require authorization and continuing supervision by the appropriate State Party to the Treaty

The U.S. would have to ensure that Goldman Sachs use the profits of itsmining to benefit all peoples.

Space, as of right now, is technically res communis, or common territory, like a park or the high sea. Unfortunately, what you can and cannot do there is not as clearly defined as it is in these territories. The treaty prohibits national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, so does that mean that no one can build a hotel on Mars? And what about that gold mine (well, platinum mine) in the asteroid? Does Goldman Sachs even have the right to mine it, even if itcan get there?

For now, space is a legal gray area. We have a long way to go before we become like The Jetsons or Zenon. But its still fun to think that one day we could get there.

via GIPHY

Anne Grae Martin is a member of the class of 2017 University of Delaware. She is majoring in English Professional Writing and minoring in French and Spanish. When shes not writing for Law Street, Anne Grae loves doing yoga, cooking, and correcting her friends grammar mistakes. Contact Anne Grae at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Space Exploration Game ‘Outreach’ Receives First Gameplay Trailer … – Hardcore Gamer

Posted: at 5:29 pm

A new trailer for the upcoming indie game Outreach, where you explore an abandoned Russian space station during the cold war, received its first gameplay trailer on Tuesday, giving us a look at what to expect from the graphics and some of the things youll be doing in the game.

Playing as a Russian astronaut named Alexy, youll explore a secret space station built by the Russians in the 1980s to try to discover what happened to the crew. Youll be working on computers trying to get them back online, and talking with ground control back home.

Check out the Initial Gameplay Trailer below:

Outreach was announced back in 2015, and has slowly made its way onto the scene using some high quality, live action trailers meant to portray the tone that they are going for. You can check them all out at developer Pixel Spills YouTube channel. Outreach is to be released sometime later this year on Steam.

Pence: America will lead in space and ‘world will marvel’ – Politico

Posted: at 5:29 pm

"Anything is possible if we have the courage to lead," Vice President Mike Pence said. | AP Photo

By Negassi Tesfamichael

06/07/2017 03:54 PM EDT

The Trump administration will ensure that America leads in space exploration, and the "world will marvel," Vice President Mike Pence told a group of new astronaut candidates Wednesday.

The vice president addressed a group of 12 candidates selected as NASA's astronaut class of 2017 at Johnson Space Center in Houston Wednesday, which happened to be his birthday. Pence was accompanied by several Republican lawmakers including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

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"Under our administration, NASA will have the resources and support you need to continue to make history to advance American leadership to the boundless frontier of space," Pence said. "Under Donald Trump, America will lead in space once again and the world will marvel."

The White House has its work cut out for it. No nominee has been named for three key posts at NASA, including administrator. Acting administrator Robert Lightfoot attended the ceremony.

Pence also noted the administration will soon re-launch the National Space Council, a group of advisers to the president regarding space policy, which the vice president will chair.

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The council was created in 1989 under President George H.W. Bush but was disbanded in 1993 after infighting within the group. Its functions had since been absorbed by the National Science and Technology Council, but President Barack Obama had also pledged to reboot the group.

Pence first mentioned that Trump would re-start the National Space Council during a signing ceremony at the White House on March 21, but it has not yet formed.

The president's 2018 fiscal budget requested $19.1 million for NASA, a 0.1 percent decrease from the current level. Lightfoot noted when the budget proposal was released that several missions would be discontinued under it along with NASA's Office of Education, but he called it "a very positive budget."

Pence touted the role of the private sector in space exploration, saying that the country "must have the courage to find answers where we haven't found them."

"Anything is possible if we have the courage to lead," Pence said.

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Pence: America will lead in space and 'world will marvel' - Politico

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SpaceX wins launch of US Air Force X-37B space plane – Reuters

Posted: at 5:29 pm

By Irene Klotz | CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp will fly its first mission for the U.S. Air Force in August when it launches the military's X-37B miniature spaceplane, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said on Tuesday.

Four previous X-37B missions were launched by United LaunchAlliance Atlas 5 rockets. ULA is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) and Boeing Co (BA.N).

"SpaceX will be sending the next Air Force payload up into space in August," Wilson said during webcast testimony before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee. She later specified that the payload would be one of the Air Force's two X-37Bspaceplanes.

Launch contracts are usually announced about two years before a flight but the Air Force did not disclose the X-37B contract until Tuesday, a mere two months before the flight. The Air Force declined to say when the contract was awarded or provide other details.

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell declined to comment.

SpaceX's first publicly disclosed launch contract for the Air Force was awarded last year for a next-generation Global Positioning System satellite flight in 2018. A second GPS launch contract was awarded in March. The contracts are valued at $83million and $96.5 million, respectively.

In May 2016, the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office disclosed it had hired SpaceX to launch a spy satellite aboard a Falcon 9. The mission, which was arranged through an intermediary, Ball Aerospace, took place last month.

SpaceX is owned and operated by technology entrepreneur Musk, who is also chief executive of electric car maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O).

(Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Matthew Lewis)

CHIRPAN, Bulgaria A team of excavators in Bulgaria has resumed a search for fossils of an ape-like creature which may be the oldest-known direct ancestor of man and whose discovery has challenged the central hypothesis that humankind originated in Africa.

LONDON Drinking even moderate amounts of alcohol is linked to changes in brain structure and an increased risk of worsening brain function, scientists said on Tuesday.

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SpaceX wins launch of US Air Force X-37B space plane - Reuters

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SpaceX Defeats Technician’s Wrongful Firing Case at Trial – Bloomberg

Posted: at 5:29 pm

Edvard Pettersson and Jason Booth

June 7, 2017, 1:41 PM EDT June 7, 2017, 2:37 PM EDT

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. persuaded a jury to reject a former technicians claim he was fired for telling supervisors he thought test protocols werent followed and results were falsified.

Jurors in Los Angeles state court on Wednesday agreed with the rocket builder that Jason Blasdell was terminated in 2014 because of his poor job performance and not in retaliation for his taking his concern about improper testing procedures as high as Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk. He was seeking as much as $6 million in damages.

Blasdell sued Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX two years after he was fired. He had worked at the private company for more than three years, testing avionic components of Falcon 9 launch vehicles and the Dragon spacecraft, according to his complaint.

He claimed technicians were pressured by their managers not to follow written procedures for testing rocket parts and to report the parts had passed the tests even if the protocols hadnt been followed. Blasdell said he pointed out the deviations from testing protocols to his supervisors, the companys chief operating officer, and eventually to Musk.

SpaceX countered that Blasdell barraged his supervisors with rude, disrespectful and unprofessional emails about what he thought were inefficient testing and documentation procedures.

He never once complained that any laws were broken at the testing laboratory, which is a prerequisite for his claim that he was wrongfully terminated, according to SpaceX. He was fired because he had become disruptive and his co-workers were concerned about their safety, the company said.

We are pleased that we were cleared of the allegations that were clearly false,SpaceXs lawyer, Lynne Hermle, said after the verdict.

A lawyer for Blasdell,Anthony Nguyen, declined to comment on the verdict, as did jurors.

During the trial, Blasdell testified that he witnessed one of his managers demonstrate a test on a type of coaxial cable differently than it was described in the test procedure.

I suggested that he was not performing it as the written instructions told him to, but I also told him that in honesty the way he set it up I felt was the best version of the test that I had seen anyone perform, but it still didnt match the written instruction," Blasdell said under cross-examination by Hermle.

Hermle said in her closing statement that Blasdells main complaint was that the tests werent clear to him. Whereas other experienced technicians completed six to seven tests a day, Blasdell only managed one, she said.

"He couldnt accept that other technicians could complete tests as written," Hermle told the jurors. "If he couldnt do it, they wouldnt be able either and the results would have to be falsified."

Hermle said it wasnt until after Blasdell was fired that he claimed tests were falsified, which is a federal crime if rocket parts are involved.

SpaceX said in court filings that its test procedures arent static and that they are constantly revised and refined based on feedback from technicians and engineers. Technicians perform shock, thermal and vibration tests on component according to written procedures and they are expected to provide feedback, including proposed changes, to the responsible engineers, the company said.

An attorney for Blasdell, Carney Shegerian, said in his closing statement that his client isnt the lunatic that he was portrayed as by SpaceX. Blasdell won the companys Kick Ass" award for showing initiative the year before he got fired, Shegerian said.

The case in Blasdell v. Space Exploration Technologies Corp., BC615112, Los Angeles County Superior Court.

SpaceX Defeats Technician's Wrongful Firing Case at Trial - Bloomberg

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Monthly Archives: June 2017

The Catholic Review > Home > Renovations, new altar dedicated at … – The Catholic Review

Are You Ready for the AI Revolution and the Rise of Superintelligence? – TrendinTech

The Origami of Space Exploration – Scientific American (blog)

Will Space Exploration lead us to a Global Space Agency – Space Daily

China willing to cooperate in peaceful space exploration: Xi – Space Daily

Space Exploration: Can Private Companies Operate in Space? – Law Street Media (blog)

Space Exploration Game ‘Outreach’ Receives First Gameplay Trailer … – Hardcore Gamer

Pence: America will lead in space and ‘world will marvel’ – Politico

SpaceX wins launch of US Air Force X-37B space plane – Reuters

SpaceX Defeats Technician’s Wrongful Firing Case at Trial – Bloomberg

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