Monthly Archives: March 2021

Government of Canada awards contract for the Vessel Life Extension of Canadian Coast Guard Ships Cape Roger and Cygnus

Canada NewsWire

GATINEAU, QC, March 18, 2021

GATINEAU, QC, March 18, 2021 /CNW/ - Through the National Shipbuilding Strategy, the Government of Canada is ensuring the Canadian Coast Guard has the vessels it needs to keep Canadian waterways safe and accessible, while creating jobs and generating economic benefits for communities across Canada.

Following an open and competitive process, Public Services and Procurement Canada, on behalf of the Canadian Coast Guard has awarded a $20.7 million (taxes included) contract to St. John's Dockyard Limited (NewDock), St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, to complete Vessel Life Extension (VLE) work on the Canadian Coast Guard Ships (CCGS) Cape Roger and Cygnus. These two ships perform offshore patrol missions in support of international fisheries surveillance, and are available for search and rescue and environmental response operations on Canada's east coast.

The VLE work will include regulatory inspections, installation of a new crane on each of the two vessels, hull blasting and coating, electrical replacement and refurbishments, overhauling of various components, and the replacement of piping, hull plating and deck steel.

This contract award falls under the repair, refit and maintenance pillar of the National Shipbuilding Strategy, which is helping to ensure that Canada has a safe and effective fleet of ships to serve and protect Canadians for years to come, while providing ongoing opportunities for shipyards and suppliers across Canada. The contract will help create or sustain up to 40 jobs.

Quotes

"Through the National Shipbuilding Strategy, the government is providing the members of the Canadian Coast Guard with the ships they need to carry out their important work for Canadians. The Strategy continues to provide meaningful opportunities for the Canadian marine industry, generating jobs and opportunities here in Newfoundland and Labrador while supporting economic growth across the country."

Story continues

The Honourable Anita AnandMinister of Public Services and Procurement

"The women and men of the Canadian Coast Guard are essential in keeping our oceans clean, healthy and safe from coast to coast to coast, 365 days a year. In order to do this our Government must be able to provide them with state of the art equipment and resources. Through the Vessel Life Extension on the CCGS Cape Roger and CCGS Cygnus our Coast Guard members will be able to continue their key role in the sustainable development of Canada's Blue Economy.".

The Honourable Bernadette JordanMinister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard

Quick facts

CCGS Cape Roger and CCGS Cygnus are both stationed in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.

The VLE work will include two 5-month work periods, commencing with the CCGS Cape Roger in May 2021, followed by the CCGS Cygnus in November 2021.

As of December 2020, the Government of Canada had awarded approximately $17.34 billion of National Shipbuilding Strategy-related contracts across the country. Of this value, approximately $5.65 billion or 32.6% has been awarded to companies in Atlantic Canada, including small or medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 250 full-time employees.

The CCGS Cape Roger and CCGS Cygnus are offshore patrol vessels capable of conducting various missions, including offshore patrol in support of fisheries surveillance. They can also support offshore search and rescue activities and environmental response when needed.

CCGS Cape Roger is named for a cape on the western side of Placentia Bay on the island of Newfoundland. The ship was commissioned into the Canadian Coast Guard in August 1977.

CCGS Cygnus is named after the constellation in the northern hemisphere Cygnus, or the Swan, which is also sometimes called the Northern Cross. In Greek mythology, Cygnus is the son of Poseidon, god of the seas.

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National Shipbuilding Strategy Blue Economy Strategy CCGS Cape Roger CCGS Cygnus NewDock

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Government of Canada awards contract for the Vessel Life Extension of Canadian Coast Guard Ships Cape Roger and Cygnus - Yahoo Finance

The University of Vermont today announced the appointment of Fitzroy B. Roy Beckford, Ph.D., as associate dean and director of UVM Extension in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS).

I am delighted to welcome Dr. Beckford to the UVM and UVM Extension communities, said UVM President Suresh Garimella. I believe deeply in Extensions value to the state and its ability to help UVM fulfill its land-grant mission. Dr. Beckfords leadership, experience and integrated approach will strengthen this, while aligning seamlessly with the Amplifying Our Impact vision.

Beckford spent over a decade with the University of Florida Extension as a county Extension director managing work in the areas of agriculture, natural resources, horticultural sciences, marine and aquatic environments, 4-H youth development, family and consumer sciences, food systems, small farms initiatives, and environmental sustainability. During his tenure as the state Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) program leader at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State Universitys (NCAT) College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, he provided administrative, financial, marketing and communications leadership, and was responsible for the ANR programs $9.5 million grant portfolio.

Beckford also brings a global perspective and an impressive record of setting up successful outreach programs and making lasting, impactful changes. He has worked in agricultural consulting around the world, including service with the government of the British Virgin Islands Department of Agriculture, as well as in Qatar and Belize.

Dr. Beckford has been described as a visionary and a change agent, someone who has made a lasting positive impact in his previous extension roles, said Leslie Parise, Dean of CALS and interim director of UVM Extension.

Vern Grubinger, Extension Professor and chair of the search committee, noted that Roy Beckfords many years of on-the-ground Extension experience delivering programs on everything from veterinary services, to agricultural diversification, to renewable energy will serve him well in this position.

Beckford said, It is my honor to join you at the University of Vermont, and I look forward to embarking on an exciting new journey with the entrepreneurial minds in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. I can think of no better place to call my new home than UVM Extension.

Beckfords hire will augment work already underway in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences to build and expand coalitions with stakeholders including state and federal agencies, local governments, nonprofit and private sector and commodity organizations.

Beckford will join UVM on May 1, and succeeds Chuck Ross who stepped down from this role in June 2020.

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Fitzroy Beckford Named Director of UVM Extension | UVM Today - UVM News

Guided-missile cruiser USS Port Royal (CG-73) transits the Strait of Hormuz, Feb. 8, 2021. US Marine Corps Photo

Decommissioning ships that have viable service life at a faster rate than industry can build new ones is not how the Navy should grow the fleet, the vice chairwoman of the House Armed Services Committee said Monday.

Speaking at a Hudson Institute online forum, Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) said the math doesnt work for the Navy to potentially decommission any ships early.

I dont see any other way, to reach a higher ship total other than service life extension programs for large surface vessels, like Ticonderoga-class cruisers until then, Luria said. She asked rhetorically: what do you do between now and then when new frigates and large unmanned surface vessels become available to the fleet.

Luria said that while the Navy will ultimately replace the cruisers, the service could evaluate how to use the platform if it is properly maintained and its service life extended.

When asked about the possibility of carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) not receiving a mid-life refueling as a way to save money in the upcoming budget request, she said that for now its only speculation. Luria added, theres not going to be a long-term savings if the decision is made not to refuel and refit.

Congress rejected a Trump administration proposal in the Fiscal Year 2020 budget request to retire Truman early. Lawmakers at the time were unsatisfied with the Navys argument that it could use the money gleaned from retiring Truman to put toward new unmanned systems and were concerned the service was retiring an asset in the fleet early in favor of new technology. For years, Capitol Hill has said no to Navy plans to retire cruisers that are fit for service life extension programs.

Last week, USNI News reported that the Pentagon is considering a reduction in the carrier force in the FY 2022 budget request the administration is expected to unveil in May.

If the carrier is refueled and refitted, Truman would have 20 more years of service in the fleet.

At the same time, Luria, a Naval Academy graduate who served more than 20 years on active duty, said the cutting of Truman would further strain carrier strike groups that are very stressed already. Using Truman as an example, she said it did double deploy duty most recently because there were not enough carriers to meet requirements in the Middle East and Western Pacific.

Luria added that these carrier duties were not the surge in responding to a crisis, as described in the Optimized Fleet Response Plan, but rather filling a gap in coverage and further stressing crews and ships.

When asked about the Battle Force 2045 call for a Navy of more than 500 manned and unmanned vessels and later about the tri-service maritime strategy, she said we have a lot of questions and these questions need to be answered. Luria said Rep. Rob Wittman, (R-Va.), ranking member on the HASC seapower and projection forces subcommittee shares these concerns.

In Congress, weve only been given the number of ships in the future battle force plan and not the assumptions and rationale behind the numbers. Im still looking for a briefing from the Navy [on] how they got the numbers in the plan, Luria said.

She said the history of problems when introducing new classes of ships like the Littoral Combat Ship, the Zumwalt-class destroyer and the Ford-class carrier before they were fully capable of carrying out all their missions underlines the importance of questioning assumptions.

Its not just numbers; its capabilities, like minesweeping that were supposed to be in place in LCS variants but still isnt there. Among the questions she has for expanding the number of large unmanned vessels in the fleet are how they would operate in a GPS-denied environment and how they would operate with manned vessels.

It is critical to understand the CONOPS [concept of operations] and what youre going to use them for before buying, Luria said.

To reduce the number of problems that surface in new classes of warships such as the weapons elevators and catapults on USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) is to have the Navy present the builder with more detailed plans of the capabilities it wants in the design phase, Luria argued. Then testing ensures the key component weapons elevators perform as needed, she added.

Luria also wants more consistency in systems placed in different classes of ships and even in the same class to reduce building costs and accelerate maintenance afloat and in shipyards.

The Navy hasnt done very well with this, she said.

Battle Force 2045 shouldnt be just a menu to buy, but a document that recognizes being able to build what we can build in existing shipyards and understands the need to maintain the ships in the fleet in public and private yards. Luria also saw it as a document that justified cutting classes of existing ships as a means to provide money for construction.

Luria wants shipbuilding and ship repair to remain stable to hold skilled workers in both and also to address the long delays in public shipyards that are refitting and refueling nuclear vessels. Its not just the yards; its the supply side [because] sometimes the Navy is the only customer, particularly for nuclear-related items.

If they go out of business, where do we go [to build and repair], she said.

Luria saw in a Biden administration plan to rebuild the nations infrastructure an opportunity to address major problems in public facilities. The example she used was the Norfolk Naval Shipyards struggle with rising sea levels that slow or halt production when major storms threaten Hampton Roads.

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Luria: Navy Should Not Decommission Ships Early in Favor of New Construction - USNI News - USNI News

Imagine watching a movie at home or typing on a computer and a message flashes across the screen: Service interrupted due to space congestion.

If that sounds like science fiction, consider this: There are about 6,250 satellites in space, roughly 3,700 of which are still functioning, according to the European Space Agency. Experts say an additional 10,000 to 50,000 satellites could be launched in the next few years to meet the expanding demand for telecommunications, weather forecasts, tracking ships at sea, hailing a ride-share car and smartphones.

Astroscale U.S., based in Denver, and other subsidiaries of Japan-based Astroscale Holdings are participating in a demonstration of its technology aimed at helping remove space junk defunct satellites, abandoned rockets and smaller fragments.

The launch of two spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan was scheduled for a few minutes after midnight Saturday, March 20, local time but was postponed. Astroscale said it was waiting for details about the delay and a revised launch schedule.

This is really important for us because this will demonstrate that we know what were doing, that were walking the walk, said Dave Fischer, the U.S. companys vice president of business development and advanced systems.

The demonstration will include a standard refrigerator-sized craft, what Astroscale calls the service vehicle, docking with a smaller craft, representing a satellite that a client wants removed or inspected. The next step will be to release the smaller craft, send it tumbling far away and then have the service vehicle retrieve and connect with it.

Thats exactly what a real commercial service on orbit will look like. Well use our sensors, well use GPS, the clients knowledge about (the crafts) position to rendezvous with it, Fischer said. All of that is critical for us to understand so we can do the commercial service that were talking about.

Fischer said the mission will be the first private on-orbit demonstration of so-called end-of-life services for satellites. A 2007 mission by the federal Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency involved one spacecraft connecting with another and transferring a battery, other equipment and propellant.

Other companies are in various stages of developing and testing technology to remove debris and nonfunctioning satellites and extend the lives of spacecraft that would otherwise be turned off, Fischer said.

This is pretty clearly an ecosystem thats going to be developing over the next decade and theres certainly a market need, Fischer said.

In a 2020 interview, Ron Lopez, Astroscale U.S. president and managing director, referred to the company as the AAA of space.

Most of the other companies working on debris removal are focused on low-Earth orbit, between 99 and 1,200 miles above the Earths surface and where much of the junk is. At this point, Astroscale sees itself as the leader in that part of space. And Fischer said the company is the only one aiming to provide the services both in low orbit and geostationary orbit, which is 22,236 miles above the Earth.

The NASA office of the Inspector General released a report in January that criticizes NASA on its work cleaning up space. Despite directives over the past decade, the space agency has made little to no progress in removing debris that threatens the loss of important space-based applications used in daily life, the report said.

There are millions of pieces of debris in low Earth orbit, according to the Inspector Generals office. At least 26,000 pieces are the size of a softball, which could destroy a satellite on impact, and more than a half million pieces are the size of a marble, big enough to damage a spacecraft.

The debris packs such an-out-of-this-world punch because its speeding around the Earth at approximately 17,500 mph. The report said the average speed at which one object hits another in space is more than 10 times faster than a bullet.

Then theres the Kessler syndrome, a scenario proposed by NASA scientist Donald. Kessler in which a collision in low Earth orbit triggers a cascading series of strikes that could disrupt the deployment of satellites to certain areas. That could lead to the interruption of space-based data for weather forecasts, communications and the global positioning system, which is used by the military and has all kinds of commercial applications.

Orbiting meteoroids also pose threats to the increasing number of satellites in space.

If we cant receive that information, we wont get accurate forecasting. We wont get data for natural disasters. It will have significant impacts on how we live our everyday lives, Astroscale spokeswoman Krystal Scordo said.

During the recent snow storm along the Front Range, Scordo said she had to brush snow off her TV satellite dish. The image on the screen said service is disrupted due to weather. Could you imagine an image on your screen that says service is disrupted because of orbital congestion?

The small-satellite industry acknowledges the problem with space junk and the concerns about the effects of the growing number of spacecraft, said Steve Nixon, president of the industry group SmallSat Alliance.

On one hand, our industry is very acutely aware and very sensitive and wants to be good stewards and wants to have good space hygiene, Nixon said.

On the other hand, Nixon said, the problem of space debris sometimes gets pinned on the small-satellite industry, which he said is inappropriate. The market for small satellites, some the size of mini fridges and smaller, is expected to keep growing as companies and governments want more information and images of Earth.

The ironic and interesting thing is that the main reason we think there is space junk up there has less to do with the new small-satellite industry and almost everything to do with the traditional industry that put a lot of things in orbit, like rocket bodies and things like that, and did not take the extra step of deorbiting the stuff they should have, Nixon said.

Deorbiting is the last step Astroscale will take during its demonstration, meaning the service vehicle and the second craft will leave orbit, fall toward Earth and burn up in the atmosphere. The so-called client vehicle Astroscale will launch is equipped with a magnetic docking plate the larger spacecraft will connect to.

As Nixon noted, plenty of satellites were launched without docking plates or similar equipment that newer satellites increasingly include.Fischer said the industry is looking at using such devices as grappling hooks or robotic arms to grab satellites that dont have docking plates.

Astroscale plans a launch in 2023 to demonstrate its service called life extension for spacecraft in geostationary orbit. The service vehicle would use robotic arms to grasp the spacecraft by the payload adapter ring, the place it was mounted on the rocket. It will take control of the satellite, inspect it and make any necessary upgrades and burn its fuel to keep it in position longer than anticipated. That will extend the crafts life and allow the owner or government agency to push back building and launching a new satellite.

The current demonstration will take as long as needed to go through all the steps and perform all the services, Fischer said. Were our own customer so were not under any timelines from an external customer to meet certain schedules.

An Astroscale facility in the United Kingdom will handle mission control for the demonstration.

Well be doing a virtual watch party here. All the Astroscale affiliates around the globe will be doing watch parties, Fischer said. This is really exciting. This is what weve been working toward.

Updates with launch of spacecraft delayed and a new schedule to be released.

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Denver company aims to be the AAA of space by cleaning up junk in orbit - The Denver Post

PHILADELPHIA, March 16, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) AgroFresh Solutions, Inc., a global leader in produce freshness solutions, today announced that Peruvian produce leader Camposol BB #:283214 has decided to adopt the companys VitaFresh Botanicals plant-based, edible coatings to increase the shelf life of ripened avocados commercialized in Europe, the United States and China.

VitaFresh Botanicals is a proprietary, plant-based portfolio of solutions for a wide variety of crops including avocados, citrus and mangos. Its coating range utilize anti-thirst technology to boost the skins natural protection, creating a double skin membrane that reduces dehydration, maintains weight and locks in produce freshness throughout the supply chain.

Camposol, a leading vertically integrated global produce grower, exporter and marketer, will utilize AgroFreshs VitaFresh Botanicals to help expand and grow their business with European, American and Chinese retailers, taking a consumer-marketing end-user perspective.

Camposols ripenend avocados coated with VitaFresh Botanicals gives retailers a much stronger opportunity to market the best quality produce and increase consumer satisfaction, while reducing food waste and increasing profit potential.

By using the VitaFresh Botanicals coatings, Camposols ripened avocados will have an added two to four days of extended shelf life after arriving at retail locations (versus uncoated avocados), which will help to reduce retail food waste and potentially generate up to 200% retailer ROI.

This new strategic relationship represents another step forward in AgroFreshs decades-long commitment to providing innovative solutions to help our customers extend produce shelf life, and deliver superior eating experiences to consumers, said AgroFresh CEO Jordi Ferre.

It also represents a major step in our diversification efforts. By using AgroFreshs VitaFresh Botanicals coatings, Camposol can extend the shelf life of its ripened avocados, improve produce quality throughout their supply chain, and enable retailers to sell more great tasting, ready-to-buy and ready-to-eat avocados, said Ferre.

After evaluating multiple options on the market and conducting extensive trials, we chose AgroFresh and VitaFresh Botanicals because of their ability to achieve the technical performance and efficacy that we needed, said Jos Antonio Gmez Bazn Managing Director, Camposol International.

Whats more, as a global company, AgroFresh can support our global expansion and offer the post-harvest expertise and in-depth technical and R&D support that we need to attain our business objectives.

For easy application of the coatings, Camposol will install AgroFreshs Control-Tec Applicator equipment in their European and U.S. facilities, with plans to add equipment in China.

VitaFresh Botanicals coatings are sustainable and created using certified ISO 14001 environmental management system standards.

AgroFreshs vision is to be the guardian of the worlds fresh produce, and the company is proud to be a member of GLOBALG.A.P., an organization that promotes safe, responsible, and transparent farming for a sustainable future. With VitaFresh Botanicals, AgroFresh offers Natural-Powered Life Extension for Fruit, creating new opportunities for retailers and helping to influence consumers enjoyment of fresh, tasty produce.

About AgroFreshAgroFresh (Nasdaq: AGFS) is an AgTech innovator and global leader with a mission to prevent food loss/waste and conserve the planets resources by providing a range of science-based solutions, data-driven digital technologies and high-touch customer services. AgroFresh supports growers, packers and retailers with solutions across the food supply chain to enhance the quality and extend the shelf life of fresh produce. The AgroFresh organization has 40 years of post-harvest experience across a broad range of crops, including revolutionizing the apple industry with the SmartFresh Quality System for more than 20 years. This is powered by a comprehensive portfolio that includes plant-based coatings, equipment and proprietary solutions that help improve the freshness supply chain from harvest to the home. Visit agrofresh.com to learn more.

About CamposolCamposol, the leading agro-industrial company in Peru, is a multinational produce grower and marketer that provides families around the world with fresh and healthy food. The innovative company is involved in the harvest, processing and marketing of high quality agricultural products such as avocados, blueberries, grapes, mangoes and mandarins, among others. Camposol has customers in more than 40 countries and trusting relationships with the main supermarkets worldwide; operations in Peru, Colombia, Uruguay, Chile and Mexico; and commercial offices in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Camposol is a vertically integrated company that is committed to supporting sustainable development through social and environmental responsibility policies and projects. Visit http://www.camposol.com.pe to learn more.

Contact:Michael Wolfe Media RelationsICR Inc.Michael.Wolfe@icrinc.com

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Camposol will use AgroFresh plant-based coatings on its avocados Produce Blue Book - Produce Blue Book

Growing emphasis on the food safety and longer shelf life has played an important role in the development of ingredients that aid in food preservation. These ingredients vary from simple water content to salt or sugar to chemicals like antioxidants and are used to prevent growth of microorganisms, thereby delaying the spoilage process. In terms of origin, food safety and shelf life extension ingredients can be synthetic or natural in nature.

Food preserving ingredients have been an integral part of kitchen aisles in the form of lemon, ginger, vinegar, spices, salt and sugar. Their traditional utilization was replaced by synthetic ingredients with increasing commercialization of the food industry in past decades. However, with the dissemination of knowledge related to harmful effects of synthetic ingredients, currently, the industry is witnessing a prominent shift toward natural ingredients for food safety and shelf life extension.

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Shelf Life Extension Ingredients Market Notable Developments

Shelf Life Extension Ingredients Market Dynamics

Clean-Label Trend Fuels Synthetic to Natural Transition in Food Ingredient Landscape

Naturally sourced ingredients have gained significant traction as consumer preference for natural products continues to surge. In terms of effectiveness, natural preservatives are superior in delivering greater protection and longer shelf life. As they work with equivalent efficiency and are healthful in nature, adoption of naturally sourced ingredients is increasing consistently as compared to the synthetic options.

Natural ingredients such as antimicrobials or antioxidants have additional potential health benefits also. Well aware of the increasing consumer demand for natural food products that are without artificial ingredients, manufacturers in the food ingredient market are introducing bio-based or naturally sourced food safety ingredients.

Frozen Foods Drive Demand for Specialized Food Safety Ingredients

Ranging from salads to sauces or ready meals to rice, a plethora of food products are available in frozen forms. As the demand for fresh and frozen foods increase across the globe, food manufacturers are seeking innovative ways to introduce novel food safety ingredients to extend the shelf life of frozen foods.

Manufacturers in the food safety and shelf life extension ingredient market are introducing ingredients specific to refrigerated products. Along with providing safety, these ingredients are label friendly and help in reducing sodium content while enhancing consumers sensory experience.

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Shelf Life Extension Ingredients Market Regional Outlook

North America presents lucrative opportunities for the Shelf Life Extension Ingredients Market on the back of buoyancy in regions the food and beverage industry and presence of leading F&B companies.

The market is likely to witness increasing opportunities in the developing countries of Asia pacific. These countries are witnessing huge demand for frozen foods, RTD food and beverages and processed food, thereby presenting higher potential for the market in the future.

Shelf Life Extension Ingredients Market Segmentation

The Shelf Life Extension Ingredients Market is segmented into following,

Based on type, Shelf Life Extension Ingredients Market can be segmented in,

Based in function, Shelf Life Extension Ingredients Market can be segmented in,

Based on application, Shelf Life Extension Ingredients Market can be segmented in,

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Shelf Life Extension Ingredients Market to Witness an Astonishing Growth by 2028 Cabell Standard - Cabell Standard

submitted by Scott Angle, UF/IFAS

An 1,100-pound heifer can be a little intimidating even if youre not a 60-pound fourth-grader. Fear was no match for Tucker Padgetts fascination, though, when the middle-schooler tending to the animal invited her to jump into the pen to help.

Tucker was at a Santa Rosa County Fair 4-H prep meeting with her goats. UF/IFAS Extension Escambia County 4-H agent Aly Schortinghouse had a hunch that Tucker would find interest in cows, so she had arranged for Tuckers visit to the pen.

It went way beyond interest. Tucker, whos now a seventh-grader who lives in Molino, says she fell in love that day, with an animal and a way of life. The Black Angus named Blake Shelton kissed her. Tucker reciprocated with a fistful of Jolly Ranchers. That night she went home and told her parents she wanted a calf.

The next test was faith. Tucker sold 40 goats and many of her chicks to raise the money to buy a calf from Barnes Feed Store. For a 10-year-old, thats betting the farm.

She named the heifer Baby and worked for months to grow her. She brushed, cleaned, halter-trained and arranged for veterinary checkups. Tucker and Baby went to 14 competitions in Florida and Alabamacounty fairs and jackpot shows. Baby herself turned out to be a jackpot, as she and Tucker earned nearly $5,000 in premiums

Tucker is now a 13-year-old with eight cows and intends to breed them to grow the herd. While shes still fond of Baby, shes not sentimental. Babys not a pet, shes a producer. Tucker is learning about artificial insemination, selecting the bulls to breed her heifers, and arranging for professional techs to impregnate the animals.

The growing herd got the attention of neighbors who moved into Tuckers neighborhood in Molino a year ago. Hunter, 14, started asking questions and developing an interest in beef cattle. His sister Morgan, 12, wants to know more about dairy cows.

Hunter and Morgan havent committed to an animal yet, but theyre learning from a young master, showing up at the barn at 6 p.m. every night where Tucker is teaching them to wash, brush, treat for hair growth, clip, tie and walk the animals.

Tucker is a member of the JFCA and the Northwest Florida Cattlemens Association. She has addressed meetings of both associations to share her story.

Its a classic UF/IFAS Extension 4-H story. Its how a 4-H agent put opportunity in front of a kid, changed her life, and set her on a course to become a leader. The early signs are there in the hours Tucker now spends daily not only tending to her animals but extending that opportunity to others of her generation.

Pictured top: Tucker Padgett with J. Scott Angle, the University of Floridas vice president for agriculture and natural resources, during the UF/IFAS leaders visit to the area in December 2020. Pictured inset: Tucker Padgett with her calf, Baby. The pair has gone to 14 competitions in Florida and Alabama, earning nearly $5,000 in premiums. Photos UF?IFAS for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Scott Angle is the University of Floridas Vice President for Agriculture and Natural Resources and leader of the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS).

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Molino 4-H Member Falls In Love With An Animal. And A Way Of Life. - NorthEscambia.com

For the past decade, two administrations and twelve annual sessions of Congress have agreed on a strong bipartisan basis to both modernize the nations nuclear arsenal and simultaneously continue building such weapons in an arms control framework.

In a nation dangerously divided about public policy, such a consensus is a national treasure the country should not lightly give up.

That is not to say there are not some controversial measures in the nuclear modernization of Americas deterrent. But, in fact, key elements have been widely supported with nearly 98 percent of the funding requested for this past decade being approved by Congress.

Leaders of both parties have sought to have arms controlthe New START Treaty of 2010 between the United States and Russia now extended for five yearsthe framework within which the United States maintains its triad of nuclear forces, but with the former designed to accommodate our deterrent requirements, not the other way around.

To that end, 92 percent of all United States nuclear forces are governed by the New START rules.

But the New START rules assume the United States will build twelve Columbia-class submarines that never have to be re-fueled, saving billions over their expected sixty-year lifetime.

And acquire at least one hundred B-21 stealth bombers which give the United States an extraordinary coverage of adversary targets we need to hold at risk, while at the same time New START special counting rules do nothing to impinge on the conventional bomber force.

As well as buying the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent, a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), replacing Minuteman, and which will last through 2075, with a remarkable modular capability that will cut maintenance costs in some areas by fully 70 percent, while meeting the upgraded Strategic Command deterrent requirements. One key House vote in 2019 was a resounding 266166 in favor of proceeding with the ICBM modernization plan.

Not only are the three triad platforms being fully funded by Congress, but the two additional long poles in the tent have also secured very widespread support. In a world of growing cyber concerns, the nuclear forces need a new nuclear command and control network, known as NC3, and this applies to all elements of the triad whether legacy or modernized systems.

In addition, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has been working to stabilize the warhead life extension and nuclear fuel and pit production infrastructure that the country had let deteriorate. Over the past decade, a number of remarkable public servant leaders at NNSA have moved much of the NNSA business to being on schedule and within budget, a not insignificant accomplishment.

Since the United States first fielded a nuclear triad of ICBMs, submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and strategic bombers, twelve administrations, six Republican and six Democrat, have resisted calls to eliminate the ICBM force, cut the number of submarines significantly, or eliminate the cruise missile for the U.S. bomber force.

Policy ideas such as no first use have also been rejected, as well as the de-alerting of U.S. missiles, both land- and sea-launched.

Since 1962, when the first Minuteman missile went on alert on the day President John F. Kennedy revealed there were Russian nuclear-armed missiles in Cuba, U.S. missiles have been on alert for some seventy million minutes, and not once has the president ever ordered the missiles to be launched.

As Kennedy revealed after the Cuban missile crisis, Minuteman was my ace in the hole that prevented Armageddon.

One particularly important factor in the current decade-long progress in nuclear modernization has been relatively strong and consistent funding. Despite the Budget Control Act, the nuclear forces modernization programs secured strong funding, which allowed marked progress in upgrading the U.S. deterrent.

A critical element in Congressional support was also the consensus understanding that over the long haul, fully 50 percent of Americas nuclear costs are simply to maintain nuclear legacy system that are variously going to be between forty-two to sixty years old prior to replacement. Congress recognizes that the current U.S. nuclear deterrent force is the oldest since the dawn of the nuclear age some seventy-five years ago.

And as such further realizes that the prompt attention to modernization will save considerable resources, as sustainment costs of the to be replaced legacy systems continue to escalate.

This is why Americas defense leaders, especially the vice chairman of the joint chiefs, have urged Congress to move modernization forward at the speed of relevance.

Critical to the success so far is that despite some differences, the four previous Nuclear Posture Reviews, or NPRs, going back to just after the end of the Soviet empire, contained widespread agreement on the path forward.

Finally, consensus also exists in how Congress views the threat. It is understood Russia has modernized 92 percent of its long-range nuclear forces while fully 55 percent of its overall nuclear arsenal comes under no formal arms control limits.

And that China while shielding its nuclear forces from scrutiny, is now projected to at least double and probably redouble its nuclear arsenal in the next five years.

Consensus and agreement are hard to achieve in Washington. But with respect to Americas nuclear deterrent, which is the nations most important priority and the bedrock upon which all U.S. security rests, a bipartisan agreement remains and must continue to guide us through the next decades.

Peter Huessy is president of Geo-Strategic Analysis of Potomac, Maryland, a guest instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy on nuclear deterrence history, and the creator of a nearly four-decade-long series of Hill nuclear deterrent breakfast seminars.

Image: Reuters.

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The U.S. Military's Nuclear Arsenal Is What Keeps Us Safe - The National Interest

The documentary We Are As Gods focuses on Stewart Brand, a fascinating man whose main current obsession is de-extinction. Brand supports the idea of bringing back various extinct species and restoring ecosystems. His most ambitious project involves the woolly mammoth, a close species (the Asian elephant) and technology for gene editing. The incredible theory claims that the "rebirth" of the "mammoths" could counteract the alarming consequences of global warming in the Siberian region.

In We Are As Gods, documentary filmmakers Jason Sussberg and David Alvarado tackle Brand and partners project, even accompanying him to Siberia. At the same time, they shine a light on people, sometimes close to Brand, who question the notion of de-extinction. At one point, for example, they make the obligatory cinematic reference to the classic Jurassic Park, where "playing God" certainly brings disastrous consequences.

We Are As Gods is a complete portrait of Brand, an influential visionary. At the beginning hes described as a kind of Zelig (Woody Allen) or Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks), because hes been involved in several important chapters of modern history. In the 1960s, Brand lived in San Francisco, California, where he was part of the Merry Pranksters, friends and followers of Ken Kesey (writer of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The heyday of psychedelic drugs (Can you pass the acid test?) and Grateful Dead music, the development of the counterculture and the hippie movement.

Brand contributed to the growth of environmental awareness: he pushed for a photo of the entire Earth, taken from space, to be published for the first time (Why haven't we seen a photograph of the whole Earth yet?). He also created the publication Whole Earth Catalog, a famous source of information considered "the Google of its time."

Admired by Steve Jobs, Brand always had a fascination for technology and his contributions were decisive in the personal computer revolution. Today he still thinks ahead, focused on building a clock that will last 10,000 years and, of course, on making it possible for mammoths to walk the planet again in several hundred years.

Ahead of the world premiere of We Are As Gods at SXSW 2021, directors Sussberg and Alvarado shared their thoughts on Brand, drugs, climate change, scientific advances, and de-extinction.

ScreenAnarchy: Why do you make documentaries about science, technology and people who think about the distant future?

Jason Sussberg (JS): Were interested in science and technology, a lot of that leads itself to futuristic ideas. Its definitely a discipline thats not like history or social sciences which tend to look backwards; science and technology is very much about our modern world that we inhabit but it also has a step in the future. The most interesting stuff to us is the leading edge of science, using technology to do extraordinary things: life extension or bringing back extinct animals.

David and I love that Arthur C. Clarke quote: science at a certain point is indistinguishable from magic. Because we can fly on airplanes, picking up a cellphone, or were on this Zoom call. Its an extraordinary, magical ability, its telepathy but its not, its telepresence, because of technology, the scientists and physicists that did all the hard work that lay the path for the technologists to be able to build awesome products.

Thats the world that were drawn to, but theres not just the technology, its about the people at the center of it and their emotional stories. Were definitely drawn to the charismatic personalities at the center of these extraordinary abilities.

David Alvarado (DA): As filmmakers, were also interested in making sure that science plays a role in democracy, you cant have a healthy democracy without a scientifically literate population. Telling stories in this space is really important.

How did you conceive WE ARE AS GODS?

JS: Ive been a fan of Stewart Brands work since I can remember, when I was 18 I read one of his books and I ran across an old Whole Earth Catalog. After we finished The Immortalists about life extension scientists who are trying to live forever, Stewart had launched this project called de-extinction. When I first read about it I was like holy shit! Theyre going to bring back animals from extinction, this is like Jurassic Park.

In 2013, we made this video on Stewart and the de-extinction movement for Time magazine. After that, we asked Stewart: can we make a film about your life and de-extinction? And he passed on it actually. We went and made Bill Nye: Science Guy and then came back to Stewart.

We went to Skywalker Sound in Northern California, we showed Stewart our film Bill Nye: Science Guy. We got to tour the facilities, afterwards we couldnt go watch the movie because we got bombed by Star Wars: The Last Jedi. To kill time for the next two hours, we ended up getting a bottle of wine and having dinner, we were at this beautiful location and we got to know each other. Stewart watched and liked the movie, then the next thing you know we pitched him on doing the film and he said yes.

DA: Stewart has been a little bit of a hermit, he doesnt really go out and look for press. Which probably explains why he was telling us that he wasnt interested in the film. Now hes in his eighties, I think he was at the right time to think about his life and how people will think about what hes done. He told us that The New York Times technology writer John Markoff is writing the biography.

And there hasnt been a better time: one of the most pressing parts of his life and one of his best projects is this de-extinction project, because thousands upon thousands of species are constantly dying because of the imprint that humanity has on the environment. At what point do we start to become aware of that and start to revert the actions? If a dodo bird is killed off, what is the responsibility of humanity to reverse that action that we ourselves did? Its not a question that We As As Gods really answers, its a question that the film asks. We hope that the audience continue to talk about that question after the film is over: what is the role of humanity in repairing the damage that we ourselves have done to the environment?

In an age of one-sided documentaries, why was important to show both sides of the de-extinction debate?

JS: Not taking a side is not because of some journalist balance or any sort of quest for objectivity. Its because life is not simple, life is not black and white, its not for and against. The loudest people in the room are on Twitter having passionate cases, but in reality everybody is nuanced, we live in the shades of grey, so film should live in the shades of grey.

One of the reasons David and I take these big, bold topics, like life extension, a personality like Bill Nye or de-extinction, is because theyre amazing, really fascinating topics that need to be talked about. If were going to be living thousands of years, my God, shouldnt we explore what would that entail? If we are going to bring back a wholly mammoth, its not fair to just say yeah lets do it, or to be hammering against it. These are issues that deserve a hearing through film, debate, and discourse.

On a personal level, which side of the debate are you on?

DA: We should absolutely be developing ways to prevent and reverse some species. If you care about conservation, if you care about there being only so many black-footed ferrets or white rhinos left, that kind of technology to diversify the gene pool of the remaining animals and thereby prevent extinction is great, just like we did with the California condor.

Whether or not we should have wholly mammoths around? I mean, its an interesting question. It would be really awesome to see a wholly mammoth, if somebody resurrected one, put it in the wild and it was living a happy life, it wasnt being tortured or anything like that, I would take an airplane and go see that. I dont have any opinion whether thats the most important project worked on right now. It certainly is a fascinating one.

What do you think of the recreational use of LSD and other drugs? A notorious scientist and professor uses heroin regularly.

JS: That sounds like Carl Hart, we actually had the pleasure of interviewing him about his thoughts on drugs. He uses heroin presently, talks about the positive benefits of drugs.

DA: I wouldnt suggest kids do it or anything like that, but I definitely think LSD is really interesting, how it can open your mind in different ways. Like any other drug, it shouldnt be abused, but Im fascinated by adult drug use and what that can do for expanding peoples minds.

JS: The interesting thing about Stewart, to go back to what he was doing at the time (the 1960s), was that he started using LSD back when it was actually state-sanctioned. There was a whole movement to have psychiatrists give people this drug, and it wasnt just for people who were sick or needed medicine but it was actually for healthy normal people to see if it could actually help spark creativity. And it did exactly that, then it escaped the laboratory and they started using it in culture, it became a fixture in the counterculture.

Now its having a renaissance moment but its not through a countercultural movement, its actually through people like Michael Pollan writing books about it, about how to change your mind. Its been promoted by podcasters like Tim Ferriss, whos funding actual studies in Boston about depression treatment. Its a good thing.

As Stewart would say: drugs are a technology. Something that we can use to help people, to spark creativity and to become as gods, which is the point of our movie: we have these God-like abilities, and absolutely LSD factored into our ability to break through barriers of our own perception. Its awesome, drugs are awesome, thats the pull quote... Im kidding, dont do that (laughs).

What do you think of how we talk about climate change?

DA: Climate change is one of the most important issues right now. The de-extinction of animals in order to help fight carbon emissions, thats super interesting. Slowing down our carbon emissions is likely not enough, so say the scientists. Well, its time to start trying to reverse it somehow.

Solar geoengineering and carbon capture are now becoming more and more a part of the solution, but so too is trying to rebalance the ecosystems, specially when the ecosystems are the way theyre now because of human mistakes. To me it feels very clear: if part of your house catches on fire, put the fire out and then repair the damage. I know its more complicated than that, but just by analogy that feels like what people like Stewart are talking about. That makes sense, I feel like thats the right direction to be moving.

Stewart Brand was vital in the personal computer revolution. How important is to introduce him to new generations?

JS: Computers at the time in the 1980s, maybe even in the 1970s, were seen as this cold, hostile, IBM, corporate megaloads. Stewart was able to take this thing that really didnt have a personal angle and create the aura of this new technology helping people: instead of being the great oppressor, this force that enslaves you, technology can be, in personal computers, a great liberator. When we were doing the research, people were saying that that turn of phrase, the personal computer, the PC, was a Stewartism, because it was the first time it appeared in print: Stewart had written for Rolling Stone this idea of computers coming to the people. That really was a rallying cry, that you could use this new technology to empower people to write their own books, to live a DYI lifestyle, to code their own existence.

Technology is now overreached, Silicon Valley has created this renewed IBM culture of being enslaving us in a way. Facebook is now the new IBM. Google whose phrase was dont be evil, is now doing exactly the opposite of what they set out to do. David and I are hopeful that theres a younger generation of hackers and coders who look back at the founding fathers of their industry: Stewart, Kevin Kelly and other founding fathers of personal computers, to use new technology thats going to actually act as a great liberator, maybe thats the blockchain, it might actually capture this spirit. Theres a hungry audience out there, that is looking to capture that vibe of information being free, using tools for spiritual and personal satisfaction, away from this IBM oppressor that were currently in. I hope kids watch We Are As Gods, I hope new techies are learning where they came from and where we can go.

A version in Spanish of this interview was also published at Cinema Inferno

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SXSW 2021 Interview: WE ARE AS GODS Directors Jason Sussberg And David Alvarado On The Man Who Wants To Revive The Mammoth - ScreenAnarchy